It has been months since Yuiko won the right to train with Genkai. Keiko, who was still out of the bubble, became very frustrated with Yuiko's absence and mad at Kuwabara since he wasn't saying anything to her about where Yuiko was. Mrs. Urameshi had no idea where Yuiko was either, and if Yuiko hadn't been calling every three weeks, she'd be crying her eyes out. When Yuiko finally did come back from Genkai's, she received an unexpected greeting.
Yuiko walked into school in a green version of the boys' uniform. Everyone was surprised since she normally only wore green jeans instead of the blue pleated skirt. Yuiko stepped into Homeroom and got stared at from everyone, especially the teacher. Kuwabara was the first to say something, and it didn't take more than a few seconds.
"Hey, Yu-Yu!" Kuwabara exclaimed, running over to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "About time! I thought you were going to end up living up there!" Yuiko politely removed Kuwabara's arm and smirked.
"Some people would have liked that, wouldn't they?" Yuiko commented. Keiko finally stood up and stomped over to Yuiko. The two girls held each other's gaze for a minute before Keiko slapped Yuiko across the face. It left a pink hand print but Yuiko showed no signs of feeling anything.
"Where were you!?" Keiko demanded. Yuiko shrugged.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Keiko." Yuiko replied in an obviously fake oblivious tone. Keiko huffed and slapped her other cheek, Yuiko's face still not allowing the expression of pain which everyone watching was expecting. "Look, I know you were worried, but there's nothing to tell you about. I'm here now, and the past is the past, so get over it." Yuiko then took her seat, the window on one side, Kuwabara on the other.
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A few days later, Yuiko, Kuwabara, and Keiko were walking around the city, trying to find something to do, when an odd looking bug flew past Yuiko's face. Yuiko watched it fly away, and turned to the other two. "Did you guys see that insect?" she asked.
"Yeah." Kuwabara answered. Keiko huffed again, like she always did whenever the two fighters kept on talking about some Genkai person.
"I don't see anything. Is this some secret way of talking amongst yourselves without me knowing what you're saying?" Keiko said. Yuiko stared blankly at Keiko.
"What do you mean you didn't see it?" The detective set her thumb and index finger three margins apart from each other. "It was this big!" Kuwabara made a surprised sound (gasped would probably be the wrong word to use here) and pointed behind Yuiko. Yuiko turned around and gaped at the thousands of insects flying everywhere. "What the hell?"
"Yuiko! Kuwabara!" Botan's voice filled the air. Yuiko and Kuwabara turned toward the source and saw Botan running toward them, the Grim Reaper in her pink shirt, blue jeans, and brown waist jacket. "I need your help! Come on!" Botan stopped when she saw Keiko. Botan shrieked slightly in a surprised way and sweat dropped. "Oops."
"Okay." Yuiko stated, her expression becoming serious and set. "See you later, Keiko." Yuiko grabbed Kuwabara's wrist and dragged him away from his insect-gazing.
"Hey!" Keiko shouted. "What do you mean 'see you later, Keiko'!?" The brunette looked really mad. Her pigtails seemed to be lifted up by the angered energy being eradicated from her.
"Sorry, but it's an emergency! I promise I won't take so long to come back!" Yuiko called over to her while running off with Botan, Kuwabara still being dragged. Keiko stood there, glaring at Yuiko's back like a little sister would when left at home while her older sister was allowed to go somewhere without her.
"If you take more than two days to come back, you'll be sorry, Yuiko Urameshi!" Keiko screamed at the retreating trio before turning on her heel, stomping toward home.
Yuiko, Kuwabara, and Botan ran to an abandoned warehouse before they stopped. "Botan, what's going on?" Kuwabara questioned, panting and putting his hands in his pockets. Botan pushed a compact into Yuiko's hand before explaining.
"The insects that you've seen flying around are Makai Insects. They can be controlled by a whistle that is currently in the hands of one of the Four Saint Beasts, a group of demons that are too dangerous to be left to do their own bidding. The demon is making the insects go after humans and turn them into violence-seeking monsters." Botan paused to allow Yuiko to gasp and Kuwabara to yell what at the top of his lungs. "The reason this demon is doing this, is so that Koenma-sama removes this force field surrounding where the Four Saint Beasts live, but doing that would cause chaos to Demon, Spirit, and Human World, and maybe the end of Human World. It's up to you and, if Kuwabara wants to help, him to go to the house of the Four Saint Beasts, get the whistle, break it, and restore order to Human World." Botan took a deep breath before continuing with a brighter note in her voice, making her sound much more hyper. "And the compact I gave you, Yuiko, is a Communication Mirror! You and I can keep in contact with it. I have one too! Now, let me show you to your portal to Demon World!" Botan jogged into the warehouse, Yuiko and Kuwabara following. Inside, on the floor, was a pink, purple, yellow, and sky blue colored portal. Yuiko cocked her head to the side and Kuwabara knelt down to get a better look at it. "All you have to do is jump in and poof! You're in Demon World!" Botan grinned at them.
"Alright!" Kuwabara exclaimed, standing up. "I'm coming with! By what Botan called them, there's four of these demons. Four against one isn't fair, no matter how strong the one is!" Kuwabara jumped into the portal, but not before saying, "Geronimo!" Yuiko sweat dropped before leaping into it herself.
"Cowabunga!" Yuiko cried by instinct. She felt like hitting herself after saying that, but since she ended up landing face down on the earth of Demon World, she didn't think she needed to inflict any more pain, even though it didn't really hurt. She stood up and gaped at what was in front of her. A dark castle stood in the distance, and fields of monsters were all the way there. Kuwabara was shaking next to her.
"I thought we only needed to fight the Four Saint Beasts!" Kuwabara whined. Yuiko narrowed her eyes, partly to concentrate, and partly out of annoyance. Before she could make a snappy reply, part of the demon army in front of them fell to the ground in a bloody heap. The rest of the army flew, ran, or crawled away as fast as they could. Standing in the middle of the bloody mess was Kurama and Hiei. Yuiko suddenly smiled.
"Hey! Kurama!" Yuiko greeted, running over to the red-head. She gave him a high five. Kurama smiled at the detective, his green eyes sparkling with a friendly welcome. "How are you and your mom doing?"
"Just fine, Yuiko. And so is Mother. You?" Kurama asked.
"As okay as a girl can be when she's about to fight Four Saint Beasts which she knows absolutely nothing about. I mean, who she knows absolutely nothing about." Yuiko corrected herself, grinning with embarrassment. Kurama was, after all, the smartest boy in town. Kurama's smile widened. Yuiko turned her gaze onto the glowering Hiei. "And how's the infamous criminal doing?" Hiei glared at her. Whether it was hate or annoyance, it was hard to tell.
"Hmph. I'm now on community service. Baby-sitting you and this oaf is part of it." Hiei spat.
"Hey! Who are you calling an oaf!?" Kuwabara demanded. Hiei glanced at him.
"Who do you think, human? I don't see any other useless bags of human dirt around." Hiei snapped. Kuwabara flamed with anger at the insult. Hiei looked back at Yuiko, only to find her staring into space, her eyes directed at him. She was remembering how hot the demon looked without a shirt on. Hiei raised an eyebrow at her, hesitant to probe her mind because of the thoughts she had had last time he had done that. "Why are you staring at me like that?" Yuiko blinked and shook her head.
"Sorry. Just thinking." Yuiko apologized. Hiei blinked once and turned his gaze away from her. She was strange. No one had said sorry to him before. Then again, no one had ever beaten him before or thrown him in jail. "Well, what are we standing here for? Let's go kick some Saint Beast butt!" She placed a grin on her face and led the way to the creepy, dark, evil-echoing castle.
"Hn." Hiei grunted. Kurama and Kuwabara followed her, Hiei making up the end, but quickly walked past Kuwabara. Kuwabara glared at Hiei and in the long run the two of them ended up having a race to see who could reach the entrance first just because Kuwabara didn't want to be out-run by a 'shrimp', and that Hiei wouldn't let a 'pathetic human' defeat him at anything even if it was as stupid as reaching the castle first. Kurama and Yuiko sweat dropped, but Yuiko found it cute that the short demon had a huge amount of pride that made him act like a child and he wouldn't even realize it. Hiei won the race easily, Kuwabara second, Yuiko and Kurama third, but only because they hadn't ran there. The entrance was a gigantic mouth with sharp stone feline teeth hanging from the top. Kuwabara paled at the terrifying sight. Yuiko, Kurama, and Hiei just walked in like there was nothing to worry about. Yuiko stopped and turned around.
"You coming or what, Kuwabara?" Yuiko questioned, crossing her arms. Kurama stopped in his tracks as well, but Hiei only stopped when he remembered Koenma's words to him before he was sent there.
"Don't leave Yuiko at all, Hiei! She has no idea who the Four Saint Beasts are, let alone how powerful they are! Make sure she's with you or Kurama throughout the time that she's there. If you don't you will stay in prison for the rest of your life! HEAR ME!?"
Hiei sighed and walked back to where the others were. Yuiko was dragging Kuwabara again, this time Kuwabara was whining like a little kid. Hiei rolled his eyes and Kurama chuckled in amusement. "KUWABARA!" Yuiko yelled, stopping Kuwabara's rambling. "If you don't quit embarrassing yourself, and me, in front of Kurama and Hiei, the first thing you're going to be facing is my Spirit Gun before any of the Saint Beasts, got it!?" Kuwabara nodded. "So you're going to walk by yourself now?" He nodded again. Yuiko let go of his sleeve. "Good." Yuiko then walked ahead to where Hiei was. Kuwabara scrambled to his feet and the four of them walked a long way down the damp hall. It felt like hours before something actually happened. The four of them all stopped in their tracks when they saw a floating, one-eyed, round purple thing with no legs, no mouth, no ears, no arms, just a tail and some sort of antenna thing on top of its head. Hiei and Kurama didn't look impressed, but Kuwabara made a disgusted sound and Yuiko let out a "What the hell is that".
"Hello, travelers, and welcome to the Gate of Betrayal." The thing greeted. Kuwabara gaped at it and Yuiko just stared in confused shock. How was it talking?
"Yu-Yu, that creature's talking!" Kuwabara exclaimed.
"Thank you for stating the obvious, fool." Hiei commented. Kuwabara growled at the demon clad in black. Kurama forced himself not to laugh.
'I wonder if Kuwabara is always like this. If he is, then he must give Yuiko a very hard time.' Kurama thought.
"Ahem. As I was saying," the creature continued, its tail weaving itself onto a switch. "welcome to the Gate of Betrayal!" The creature pulled the switch down and the ceiling came down on them. The quartet held their hands up to keep the ceiling from crushing them. "Heh heh heh heh heh. The Gate of Betrayal is heavy enough to be held up by all of the people underneath it by all their strength. If one of you gives in, you all die! If one of you tries to escape, the rest die! It's a matter of loyalty and betrayal. Only a traitor can survive!" The creature laughed its head-of-a-body off, Kuwabara growling.
"Well, that's very nice of the Four Saint Beasts." Kurama said sarcastically. Yuiko gritted her teeth in frustration. Man, the ceiling was heavy! It was hard to give it all she had, but she remembered the intense training Genkai had put her through. She should be used to giving things all she had by now. Suddenly, an idea hit her.
"Hiei!" Yuiko gasped, trying to talk and hold up the ceiling at the same time. Hiei glanced at her. "Do you think you can run over there and flip the switch back? I'll put my Spirit Energy in do to your part until you've done it if you can. You're a lot faster than the rest of us, so I think you could do it."
"Yu-Yu!" Kuwabara shouted, sweat dripping down from his forehead and nose. "What makes you think he can be trusted!"
"Hn. The oaf's got a point. What makes you think I won't leave you three here to die? To be crushed by this Gate of Betrayal?" Hiei asked, sweat beginning to dampen his face. Yuiko smirked as best she could.
"'Cause I don't think that's your style. Besides, you want a rematch with me, don't you? How can you have a rematch if I'm dead?" Yuiko answered. Hiei blinked in a slightly surprised way. How could this human girl know so much about him already? "I'm trusting you here, Hiei." That was enough to make the demon highly surprised. Hiei looked away from her eyes which shined with sincerity and something else that he couldn't place. Hiei thought about it for a moment before nodding. Yuiko smiled before producing her Spirit Energy so that it made up for the lack of Hiei's strength. Hiei sped over to the switch and was half way to flipping the switch back when he stopped. The purple creature laughed evilly, thinking it knew what was going through Hiei's head.
"You don't want to save those two humans, do you Hiei? No, you just want to save yourself. You can join the Saint Beasts if you do, you know." the creature laughed. Kuwabara screamed traitor from where he was standing, and Kurama closed his eyes, honestly not knowing what Hiei was going to do.
"Hiei!" Yuiko cried, the weight starting to become too much for her. Hiei flipped the switch so that the Gate stopped putting pressure on them. The creature's eye widened.
"What? AH!" the creature shrieked in agony as Hiei sliced its eye in half. The creature flew away, Hiei glaring after it. Kuwabara and Kurama crawled out from under the Gate and Kurama smiled at the demon.
"Thank you Hiei. I almost thought you weren't going to do it." Kurama admitted. Kuwabara mumbled a thank you. Hiei turned his gaze from the guys to Yuiko who was having trouble crawling out from under the Gate.
"Curse not crawling on all fours since I was an infant." Yuiko grumbled. Half of her was out at the moment. When she finally stood up, she flashed a smile at Hiei. "I knew all along you weren't going to betray us." Yuiko laughed, knowing that they knew it was a lie. Hiei just stared at her. Yes, Yuiko was different from what Hiei thought humans were like.
"Hn. Whatever." Hiei snapped. "I just want a rematch with you. That's all!" Hiei turned on his heel and walked down the hall. Yuiko frowned slightly.
"That's Hiei for you. But, he's actually improving if you can believe it." Kurama informed. Yuiko put her hands in her pockets and followed Hiei silently, the other two males following her.
"So, how do you know Yu-Yu?" Kuwabara asked Kurama. Kurama smiled.
"She saved my mother and my life." Kurama replied. "She's rather sweet." Kuwabara made a choking sound.
"Yuiko? Sweet? Cheerful, yeah, but I think sweet's the wrong word for her description." Kuwabara said. Yuiko stopped and turned around, glaring at him. "EEP!" Kuwabara hid behind Kurama. Hiei shook his head.
"Humans." the demon commented.
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The room was dark. The only light was coming from a crystal ball in the middle of the room. Inside the crystal ball were the foursome walking, talking, arguing, and getting on each other's nerves. "They've gotten past the Gate of Betrayal. This is the first time more than one person has done it." stated a silhouette in the shadows.
"Yes. But they won't get up here." assured another.
"Who will go and 'greet' our dinner - I mean, guests?" asked a third.
"I will! They will perish at my powers and my room of stone!" cackled a fourth. The Four Saint Beasts chuckled to themselves as they watched the two humans and the two demons make their way to the next stage.
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Hi, it's me, Yuiko. Next episode, we're facing this huge stone guy who's the first of the Saint Beasts. He has some freaky powers, and Kurama says he's going to fight him by himself. I have just one question. How's he going to do that with a flower? You heard right, a flower. He's going to kick butt with a flower. Well, just like Mr. Mighty Mountain, Kurama has some tricks up his sleeve too. Tune in next time to find out!