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Chapter Four
Shocked By the Unknown Powers

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'I want out of this place.' Rhys was running faster than she ever had in her life. At least when she had been staying with the demons they hadn't been prying into her thoughts and pretending to be worried about her.

A nasty voice in the back of her head spoke up. 'So you'd rather stay with low-life scum than with people Lord Koenma sent after you?' She stopped running, gasping for air and clutching her side.

Night was beginning to fall, long shadows created by the trees swaying in the wind. She leant her back against a gnarled, old oak tree and closed her eyes. She didn't know what she wanted anymore. 'It's better if I leave, I guess. Then I won't be such a burden.'

As she caught her breath, the air began to feel gradually colder and smelled of rain. Rhys wrapped her arms around herself. 'Good.' A storm would match her mood perfectly.

Fat raindrops splattered the ground and she stepped out from the shelter of the trees, her face turned upward. A sigh escaped her lips as she felt the rain fall against her face.

She loved the rain. She liked it even more when it was dark and raining. The darkness covered her tears and the rain carried them away. She forgot her pain and stood in the clearing smiling. The rain washed over her, soaking her thoroughly and making her shiver in the cold, but she didn't care.

She shook her ponytail out and ran her fingers through her hair. It was really getting to be long. Perhaps she should cut it. She grabbed the knife she had stolen from the kitchen and admired its blade. A flash of lightning made it glint. Bunching her hair in her hand, she was about to chop it off when the knife was wrenched from her hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" a cold voice asked.

She whirled around and gasped. "Hiei!"

He eyed her coldly, twirling the knife with his fingers. "Trying to hurt yourself more?"

"I - No! What do you care, anyway?" She turned away from him and stalked to the shadows of the trees.

'This isn't going to be easy,' thought the fire demon grudgingly. Rhys had already climbed to the middle branches of a tree and was still going. He watched her progress, surprised at her speed. Then she disappeared in the dense foliage, but a flash of lightning showed she had stopped somewhere near the top.

Thunder sounded distantly and Hiei was a tinge worried. That tree looked like the tallest around - and lightning struck the highest point in any area. This was getting dangerous. He jumped nimbly and landed neatly on the branch underneath the one she stood on.

Rhys glared down at him and went to climb higher, but he was on her branch in a flash and held her arm.

"Leave me alone!" she cried, trying to wrench her hand from his grasp. A flash of lightning lit the scene and Hiei suddenly dropped her arm as if she had shocked him. Rhys' eyes widened as she saw her arm start to glow. 'What did I just do?'

She felt electricity running through her whole body, but it didn't hurt her. Instead it seemed to hurt Hiei. His eyes were also wide, and he looked...scared? She had never seen him like this before, and it made her uneasy.

Another lightning bolt flashed and struck the tree next to them, burning it. Rhys gave a little scream, but Hiei stood as if in shock. She panicked. 'What did I do! Oh gods, help me someone...' She waved her hand in front of Hiei's face, but to no avail. She gripped his shoulder and gasped. As soon as she had touched him her hand sparked and glowed bright gold. Tiny lightning bolts sparked into his shoulder and she pulled her hand away. Hiei blinked, almost losing his balance. He looked away from Rhys.

"I'm sorry..." she said. He didn't say anything. She looked away from him and watched the lightning hit another tree. Thunder rumbled in the distance and stray raindrops fell beneath the leaves. Something bad was about to happen. She could feel it in the air.

Lightning struck the branch below them and barely missed hitting Rhys. She didn't flinch, but Hiei grabbed her around the middle and moved her closer to him so that her hair tickled his nose.

She was about to pull away and object when she heard a giant crack. She flinched and lashed her head around to see the part of the branch she had just been standing on fall to the ground and shatter to pieces.

Her knees gave out and she sank into him weakly, staring at the shattered branch on the ground. He glanced down at the top of her head, feeling her shake with fear. She raised her head to look into his eyes, trying to thank him. But she found the words eluded her as she continued to stare into those beautifully crimson orbs and time itself seemed to stop.

A few moments passed before she realized how close they were and pulled away, blushing furiously. "I-I'm...I didn't...sorry..." she stammered, unable to look at him. She was backing away, forgetting that the branch ended just inches away from her feet.

She took one last step back when she realized there was no more branch to stand on, but it was too late. Rhys was falling, and fast. Her body tensed naturally and she closed her eyes, prepared for the fall that she hoped would kill her.

But instead of being crushed into wet earth, she felt soft, strong arms cushion her fall. Her opened eyes met with troubled dark ones. Hiei. She might have known. He couldn't let her die, not while he was watching. He'd be blamed and punished.

She closed her eyes again, feeling tears welling up inside of them. 'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry...damnit, you can't let him see you cry...' Too late. Tears leaked from her eyes like watery beads of betrayal.

She felt his feet meet the ground and his gaze on her face. "Please...just don't look at me," she whispered pleadingly. He dropped her feet and helped her get her balance back, his arm around her shoulders.

She pulled away and stood with her back to him, ashamed and feeling horribly weak. He turned his face up to the sky, where millions of stars shone brightly next to the moon. The storm was over. So were Rhys' tears. She sniffed and turned to face him, catching him staring at the sky.

He looked so calm...like what just happened meant nothing. It annoyed her to no end. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but she couldn't find any words.

Instead, he turned to her. "Why are you so afraid?"

"Of what?" she choked out, still annoyed at him.

"Afraid of people finding out your little secret?"

'My secret? Does he mean...' "What secret?" Rhys stared into his eyes, determined not to give anything away.

He stared at her with equal coldness and replied, "That you cut yourself."

Inside she panicked. Her mind was screaming at her to run, but she knew it was hopeless. That and she couldn't seem to move her legs. "What are you - I don't - that's stupid - why would anyone want to cut themselves?"

"You tell me."

She hated the casual way he spoke about it. He didn't care. No one cared. She wished she had her knife back, but it lay yards away from her reach. She just wanted to stop hurting. To stop the pain.

Her eyes left his face and traveled to the ground. "I don't know."

Now he was annoyed and his hand rested on his sword hilt. "You're telling me that you hurt yourself for the fun of it? If that's the case, then I can save you the fun part and kill you now - if that's what you really want."

Her head jerked up to stare into his face. His eyes were like dark icicles, trying to drill through her wall of defiance. He didn't understand at all. She wanted him to go away. Leave her. Forever. Let her live in peace with her knife.

"You don't care. Leave me alone," she replied softly, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Anger boiled up inside of him, showed only in his burning eyes. He was about to say more when he heard approaching footsteps. He cocked his head to one side. Kurama and Yusuke appeared to his left.

Kurama took one look at the crying Rhys and the angry Hiei and sighed softly. Yusuke looked between Rhys and Hiei, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Are you all right?" questioned Kurama.

"Never better," Hiei said through clenched teeth. He had disappeared in a flash, leaving the three behind.

"Yusuke? Could you take Rhys back to the house?"

"What? Oh, sure thing."

"Thank you." Kurama walked off into the direction Hiei disappeared and Yusuke approached the girl.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Never better." She smiled to prove her point. Out of curiosity, she asked him a sudden question. "What do you know about Hiei?"

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It only took Kurama ten minutes to find Hiei lounging in a tree.

"Hiei," he called up to him. Hiei turned his head away.

Kurama stood near the trunk of the tree. "Come down here."

Silence.

"Please?"

More silence.

"Hiei, I don't want to, but I can resort to blackmail if you don't come down here right now."

He didn't say anything but climbed down a couple branches. "Hn."

"Hiei what happened with Rhys? I told you to bring her back to the house."

"I was going to."

"When, tomorrow?"

"I was trying to get an answer out of her, but you came when she was about to tell me something!" Hiei was annoyed and didn't care that he was lying.

"I'm sorry about that, but it got dark and I got worried."

"Hn." Hiei jumped to the ground.

"What took you so long?"

"She climbed a tree and wouldn't come down."

Kurama smirked. "And that's too much for you to handle?"

"She used her powers on me."

"What powers?"

"She absorbed the lightning from the air into her arm and shocked me."

Kurama wrinkled his brow, in deep thought. Then a look of realization came across his face. "Now I understand. I believe that attack she used while she was sleeping was also an electrical attack."

Hiei looked away, uneasy. "What is it?" asked Kurama.

"I don't think she knows what her powers are. When she attacked me she acted as if she didn't know what she was doing."

"Perhaps she didn't. But why would Koenma send us a demon who didn't know she was a demon?"

Hiei shrugged. He didn't want to think about it anymore. He wanted to sleep.

Kurama noticed Hiei's attention fading. "Will you be sleeping outside tonight?" Hiei nodded. "I have to get back to the house. Good night." Hiei watched Kurama disappear into the trees and settled into the branches of a sturdy tree.

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Yusuke looked away from Rhys uneasily. "I shouldn't be the one to tell you."

They were walking back to the house, the moon lighting their way. Rhys didn't say anything else.

"All I can say is that he had a...rough childhood." She thought that over. Was that why he was so cold and misunderstanding? "The rest you have to ask him about."

She shook her head. "He wouldn't tell me."

"Yea, you're probably right." chuckled Yusuke. "That's just the way he is. And it annoys the hell outta me."

By this time they had reached the house. Lights were on and as they approached the back door it swung open forcefully. "Oh, you're back! Are you okay? Where's Kurama and Hiei?" called a bubbly voice.

Yusuke gave a tiny cringe at the sound of her voice. "She annoys me, too," he muttered to a smiling Rhys. "We're fine, Botan. And the others are still back there," he said, pointing behind him to the trees.

Botan ushered them inside and into the living room. There they found Kuwabara and Yukina sitting close together on the couch, Yukina listening patiently to Kuwabara ranting about the time he had killed another 'dangerous' demon.

Botan left Yusuke there and brought Rhys upstairs to change from her wet clothes. Minutes later the two girls descended the stairs, Rhys now dressed in long jeans and a soft orange shirt.

They heard the back door closed gently. "Kurama's back!" Botan cried happily, abandoning Rhys and hurrying to meet him. Rhys descended the stairs slowly, knowing Hiei was probably with him. She didn't want to deal with him now. Her head peeked around the corner.

Where was he? She pulled her head back and meandered into the living room. There she found Yusuke and Kuwabara playing a video game. She silently sat on the couch with Yukina and watched.

"Damn you, Urameshi!" Kuwabara threw down the game control as he lost yet again. "Best 5 out of 7!"

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "I'm still going to beat you. But if you really want to drag your humiliation out - "

"Shut up and play!" A smile tugged at Rhys' lips. The two fell silent, engrossed in their game.

Voices drifted into the room. It sounded like Kurama and Botan. Rhys cocked her head, straining to hear the words, but finally gave up. The game was too loud.

The ferry girl waltzed into the room a couple minutes later, looking a bit red and smiling broadly. She sat on next to Rhys and sighed deeply. Yusuke turned away from the screen. "What's up with you?"

Botan looked dreamily into space. "Nothing," she said airily.

"Where's Hiei when you need him?" Yusuke grumbled. That reminded Rhys - where was he? Her thoughts were interrupted by loud yelling from Kuwabara. He had finally beat Yusuke.

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Rhys slept uneasily that night. A few hours of sleep would pass and she would wake up in a cold sweat. A dream would come sometimes, but she was too tired to remember it and fell asleep again, only to repeat the cycle.

She finally dragged herself up with the late morning sun streaming onto her face. The smell of breakfast still lingered in the air, making her stomach rumble. Her feet led her to the kitchen, but once there she halted in the doorway. She didn't want to eat anything. That was strange. Maybe she had gotten used to not eating in the mornings...

Yells sounded from outside. Rhys forgot her problem and hurried to the backyard, where the yelling was coming from.

Yusuke and Kuwabara faced each other, screaming their lungs out. Kurama stood to the side looking slightly amused at the two fighting teens. Her eyes scanned the area, finally finding Hiei staring down at the scene from the branches of a tree. 'What was he, raised in a tree?' Rhys thought mockingly as she made her way to Kurama, but she couldn't help but feel uneasy at the thought of having to talk to Hiei again.

Kurama smiled as the kiyone approached him. "Good morning."

She nodded. "Good morning." Then she looked at the two Spirit Detectives. "What are they doing?"

The red head looked to where she did and sighed. "They're supposed to be training, but all they can do is yell at each other. Neither wants to make the first move." Rhys smiled slightly.

"It kind of reminds me of some people." Her grin disappeared and she glanced sharply up at him. What did that mean? He didn't return her look, but instead looked towards the back door. Botan emerged from it with Yukina not far behind, both looking very happy for some reason.

Kuwabara had just been about to scream something back at Yusuke when he whirled around, smiling broadly. "Hi, Yukina!"

Yukina gave him a sweet smile in return. "Hello, Kazuma."

Kuwabara faced Yusuke again. "I'm gonna pound your face in, you hear!"

"About time," sneered Hiei. Rhys jumped when she heard his voice and realized he was standing right next to her. He didn't even look at her, much less act like he knew she was there.

Meanwhile, Kuwabara had started throwing punches, which Yusuke easily avoided. "Stay still, dammit!" Yusuke just dodged and smirked while Kurama shook his head.

Suddenly Kuwabara stopped fighting. He stood still even while Yusuke came running at him. "Wait, Urameshi. There's something weird going on here."

Yusuke dropped his fist and stood in front of Kuwabara. "What's up?"

"Someone's coming."

"Wanna tell us who?"

"Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate!" Yusuke smirked, knowing Kuwabara really didn't know. Hiei, Kurama and Botan approached the two teens, Yukina and Rhys staying on the side. All eyes were on Kuwabara.

"I think it's another demon," said he finally. "He's pretty strong, but his spirit energy is doing something really strange. It's - "

Kuwabara was cut off by a muffled scream from behind them and they all turned to where Rhys and Yukina stood. "It's coming and going? It's called the Spirit Jump. Really comes in handy when I want to kill other demons - and when I want to kidnap some," said the muscular, red-eyed demon holding a terrified Yukina. Another taller demon, who shared his accomplice's piercing red eyes, held a struggling Rhys.

They both chuckled at the team's baffled expressions and disappeared before even Hiei could reach them.

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