pThe four of them entered a hot room that had platforms all over the place and lava was at the bottom of the large pit. Yuiko whistled. "Hate to fall down there." she commented. "Well, the only way to the door toward the third Saint Beast is on the other side of this room, so here we go!" Yuiko jumped onto the closest platform, and the part she was standing on broke off. She let out a scream. In seconds, Hiei was on the platform and grabbed her wrist. Yuiko looked surprised and dazed at the same time. Hiei pulled her back onto the platform, Yuiko leaning slightly on the demon. "Uh," Yuiko blushed and turned her head away from him. "thanks." Hiei grunted a "hn" as though he could care less, but inside he was embarrassed and confused as hell. He was embarrassed that she had said thank you to him, and confused on why he felt embarrassed! Kuwabara raised a suspicious eyebrow at Hiei.

p"I don't trust him." the teenaged human boy informed to Kurama. Kurama smiled at him.

p"Why?" Kurama asked innocently. Kuwabara crossed his arms.

p"How do we know that he's not one of those perverted demons? He might try hitting on Yuiko." Kurama laughed at Kuwabara's claim.

p"Hiei? Think a human girl is cute, let alone 'hot'?" Kurama used his hands to make quotation marks when he said hot. "You're barking up the wrong Saint Beast hideout, Kuwabara." Kurama chuckled.

p"Hardy har har. You laugh all you want, but I'm not the one who uses a wimpy thing like a flower to kick butt with."

p"But you do have a cat who you've been dotting over whenever you're not studying, kicking ass, hanging out with your other friends, or at school!" Yuiko shouted. "Now get your butts down here!" Yuiko froze when she realized she had cursed. Her face went pink and she glanced at Hiei. He didn't show any sign of caring that she had used the word ass.

p"Coming!" Kurama called back to her, jumping off toward them. Kuwabara followed.

p"Okay, who ever gets to the door last has to buy everyone food if we get out of here alive!" Yuiko challenged. As soon as Yuiko jumped to the next platform, Hiei was already at the door. 'That, was quick.' The results were Hiei first, Yuiko second, Kurama third, and Kuwabara fourth. "Ha! Looks like Kuwabara has to buy the food!" She laughed at Kuwabara's pissed off look.

p"Enough with the childish antics, Detective." Hiei growled. Hiei pushed the doors open and they walked down yet another hall. They entered a room where there were a bunch of doors leading to different ways. Yuiko groaned.

p"Great." Yuiko said sarcastically.

p"Which one should we take?" Kurama asked. "I may be spiritually aware, but my sixth sense isn't that advanced." Kurama smirked politely. "And Hiei doesn't have a sixth sense." Hiei growled at the red-head.

p"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Hiei muttered.

p"We should take the second from the right." Kuwabara informed. Hiei narrowed his eyes at the door in question.

p"Okay, second to the right it is!" Yuiko said.

p"I dunno. Are you sure about this? I wouldn't want to get my butt kicked just because I'm exhausted from fighting their brainwashed human minions." Hiei commented.

p"Don't worry, Hiei. Kuwabara has a strong sixth sense. He has female ax-wielders trying to kill him in his dreams." Yuiko stated.

p"YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL EVERYONE!" Kuwabara ran after Yuiko in a chase blinded by his anger and encouraged by her playfulness. She sped off down the right path, laughing as Kuwabara chased after her. "GET BACK HERE, YUIKO!"

p"Hn. Humans. Such irrational and compulsive creatures." Hiei said. Kurama smiled.

p"You may be right about Kuwabara, but Yuiko's just playing. She is only in the eighth grade." Kurama declared. Hiei raised an eyebrow at the spirit fox.

p"And that means?" Hiei asked. Kurama closed his eyes while he was still smiling. (It was to increase a more dramatic effect.)

p"It means that she's only thirteen or fourteen."

p"WHAT!?" Hiei turned his gaze to the two teenagers making fools of themselves. She was only thirteen? But she had so much power! He had never even thought a human female like her could ever like fighting, let alone hand his head over to him in a brawl, before he had met her. He thought her to be near her early twenties.

p"You seem shocked, Hiei. You thought she was older?" Hiei couldn't help but nod and feel stupid. (Not one for surprises, is he?) Yuiko dodged another one of Kuwabara's attempts to catch her and glanced at the two demons who were walking very slowly.

p"What are you? Snails? Hurry up!" Yuiko exclaimed. Kuwabara roughly grabbed her arm.

p"Ha! Caught you!" Kuwabara announced. Yuiko growled at him.

p"Idiot! I wasn't paying attention, so that doesn't count!" Yuiko declared.

p"We're not little kids anymore, you know!"

p"Who said?"

p"You're thirteen!"

p"So are you, but you're still scared of your older sister!"

p"I am not!" And that started another argument.

pBy the time that the group made it to the entrance to the next Saint Beast's den, Yuiko had hit Kuwabara on the head and was refusing to speak to him. Kurama just sweat dropped and smiled nervously while Hiei was puzzled on Yuiko. When they had fought, she was completely business and didn't seem so childish to him. But now that she was around the human idiot, it was like she was a little kid who just loved to fight for the thrill of it. He was also puzzled on why he felt the way he did when he saw her hug Kuwabara. Hiei couldn't put his finger on it, but he crossed out all the things it could have been just because he didn't want it to be any of them. A couple of those things were jealousy and envy.

pAnyway, time to get back to the action. "Whoa!" Yuiko gasped at the bronze dragon statues and the huge doors. "This isn't anything like Genbu's or Byakko's! A lot more impressive."

p"You're telling me." Kuwabara agreed. Hiei narrowed his eyes at the statues.

p"Bronze statues. Feh! Worthless!" Hiei criticized. The other three looked at him. "They might as well be metal painted gold!"

p'He, has high expectations.' Yuiko thought. Kurama coughed into his hand.

p"Hiei, I don't think it would be wise to insult a Saint Beast's decorations." Kurama stated.

p"Hn. That's your opinion." Hiei snarled. Yuiko shrugged and pushed the doors open. Inside the room was a blue-skinned male demon. His hair was black and he had a hat on.

p"Suzaku-sama finds you four to be a nuisance. I will kill you after I tear you limb from limb." the Saint Beast greeted.

p"That's Seiryu." Kurama stated. "He's an -"

p"Ice apparition." Hiei interrupted. Yuiko blinked at the change of his voice. He almost sounded angry. Seiryu stared intently at Yuiko. She actually looked pretty cute in person.

p"Hm. We have an uninvited guest." Seiryu announced. Kurama, Hiei, Yuiko, and Kuwabara turned around, suddenly feeling a presence of something. "Something dragging along. It's coming from down the hall." The doors cracked open and in came -

p"Byakko!?" Kuwabara screamed, hiding behind Yuiko. She blinked, then narrowed her eyes and sweat dropped.

p"Some fighter!" Yuiko shouted at the human teen.

p"I'll crush you four right here and now!" Byakko declared. Seiryu narrowed his eyes in disgust.

p"I'm afraid you can't, Byakko. You're considered defeated by them, meaning they're next opponent is me. There's really no use for you now that they've come this far." Seiryu said. Hiei's eyes widened.

p"Get away from the door now." Hiei ordered. Kuwabara crossed his arms.

p"Why should we listen to you?" he questioned. Hiei sent him a side glare.

p"Just do it, Kuwabara." Yuiko snapped. Seiryu got into a fighting stance. Byakko started to panic, and the four heroes quickly got out of the way. (Yuiko had to drag Kuwabara to the side, mind you)

p"Fall to Ghostly Ice Fist!" Seiryu yelled. In seconds, Byakko was frozen in ice. Kuwabara's jaw hung in midair, thinking that if Yuiko hadn't pulled him away, he would have been caught in the assault. "Heh. I laid 100 ice punches on him. No one save Suzaku-sama can avoid that." Seiryu smirked and kicked Byakko, sending the tiger demon into several pieces. Yuiko growled at the ice demon.

p"You -" she started but Hiei interrupted her.

p"Save that anger for Suzaku. You'll need it." Hiei advised. Yuiko blinked and raised an eyebrow in confusion. Hiei walked up to fight Seiryu. Seiryu's smirk turned into a frown.

p"Turned traitor, have you?" Seiryu asked. Hiei said nothing. He just glanced at Byakko's now body-less head. Hiei took off his black coat, revealing his well-built chest, and threw the coat over Byakko's head. The coat landed right on top of it so no one had to look at it. Yuiko blushed slightly, trying to not take note on how hot the demon ally looked without a shirt on. "A sentimental gesture? From you? I thought you to be like us - ruthless to the core! You must be hanging around the human filth too much." Yuiko and Kurama stared in confusion at Hiei, while Kuwabara just stood there clueless. Suddenly Kuwabara gasped in a manly way.

p"The shrimp's energy!" Kuwabara exclaimed. Yuiko's jaw dropped. It was higher than it was when she had fought the demon.

p"Amazing. Self-interest is not what moves him now. Seiryu's action seems to have awakened something in him that I didn't know existed. His spirit energy is reaching to the highest peek I've seen from him." Kurama commented. He glanced at Yuiko and saw the pink across her cheeks. Jealousy abruptly flared up in him and he shut his mouth tight. Hiei and Seiryu stood in fighting positions, Hiei's ready to pull his kantana out, Seiryu's right fist ready for his Ghostly Ice Fist.

p"I'll crush you." Seiryu declared. "DIE!" In a half a second, Hiei and Seiryu lashed out at each other, and in the other half of the second, Seiryu fell to the ground into pieces (literally), blood splattering all over the ground underneath the ice demon. Hiei looked unharmed until he turned around to look at his kill. A sheet of ice was frozen on his chest.

p"Wow! Hiei!" Yuiko gasped, a grin appearing on her face. "Man, you're fast! He looks way too much like small pieces of beef for you to only slice him eight times! How many cuts was it?"

pHiei closed his eyes and grunted. "Sixteen." Kuwabara's jaw, even though it had already dropped, dropped some more.

p"S-sixteen? He was mince meat before I even blinked!" Kuwabara gawked.

p"I only saw the flashes." Kurama admitted to Kuwabara in a low voice.

p"Really? Sixteen? Man, am I in trouble whenever we have a rematch!" Yuiko said. She then noticed the sheet of ice on his chest. "He got you, anyway?" Hiei glanced at his chest and grunted again. Suddenly the room heated up quickly and the ice disappeared. Yuiko blinked. "You a fire demon or something?" Hiei only nodded slightly and went to get his coat back. She giggled to herself. Hiei, his hand inches away from his coat, glanced back at her with a confused expression on his face.

p"What so funny?" Hiei demanded. She better not be laughing at him. Yuiko turned to look at him.

p"Oh, nothing. It's stupid anyway." Hiei raised an eyebrow at her, the other two boys choosing to do the same. She put her hands behind her head and walked off to the doors on the wall ahead of them, still giggling. Hiei quickly put his coat back on and grunted again.

p'Females are confusing.' Hiei thought as the boys followed her.

p-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

pCRASH!

pThe crystal ball that showed the remaining Saint Beast to see the foursome coming his way broke into smithereens thanks to the last Saint Beast's anger.

p"Fools! I'll have to destroy them myself!"