Okay, so yeah, I've been busy with college and World of Warcraft, good game. Been at least a year since I've written anything of the sort, taking a Japanese class, and reading back on this story I think I could do better! Well, I mean the idea is good, but needs to be better formatted, etc etc. Anyhow, let's get back to the story shall we?

blah -typed

blah -telepathy

'blah' -thought

(blah) -translation

Farewell Butterfli
By Ryoken

"Nosy damn Hiei...too stupid for his own good..." Mizu muttered to herself as she went down the fire-escape stairs. In a huff, she had left Hiei at the top of the skyscraper, not wanting to continue that conversation. She couldn't tell him what had happened in her dream. It was too...frightening to her to let anyone know what had happened in it, especially not Hiei. If he ever found out, Mizu didn't know what she'd do. Hell, she wouldn't even know what Hiei would do! She decided she was more afraid of what Hiei might do, of what he might think of her if he knew.

When Mizu had first started down the steps to the first floor, she had been too angry and too involved in her own thoughts to care about her surroundings. Now that she had cooled down some, she realized that being alone in the stairwell might not be such a good idea, especially after the recent attempt to kidnap her.

"Go back up and face Hiei, or continue down alone and risk being kidnapped again. Decisons, decisons..." Mizu thought outloud. Despite the fact that she didn't want to face Hiei again, she knew it would be in her best interest to have an escort, even if it was the demon who could see into her mind so easily, and without her knowledge.

Starting up the stairs, slowly, quietly, for fear of some other being, be it apparition or human, finding or hearing her, Mizu strained to hear anything that would give away her hunters. All she could hear was the sound of cars outside and the creeks and cracks of the building. She opened the door to the roof, but didn't see anything.

"H-Hiei?" She whispered. Mizu came out of the doorway to have a look around. There was no one on the rooftop with her. That meant she was on her own to get down safely. "Great," Mizu sighed. Suddenly, an icy blast of air blew tenderly on the side of her neck, like a breath. She turned her head to look and saw Hiei staring her in the face.

"GEEZ!" Mizu cried out as she flinched. "Don't do that, Hiei, you scared the crap outta me," she sighed, relieved that he wasn't the wraith-like apparition from earlier. But something in the way Hiei looked hungrily at her made her very nervous. "Uh, are you feeling...okay?" She asked, trying to steady her voice. She knew that look. She had seen it on his face only once before, but she'd never forget it. "Hiei..." Mizu started to say, backing slowly towards the door to the stairs. Before she could take another terrified step, she found her arms pinned against the very door that she was going to use to escape.

Hiei gave her a look of longing. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you," he said, removing one hand to stroke her cheek. Mizu was startled to find a piece of cloth suddenly against her mouth. Horror-stricken, she tried to get her mouth away from the cloth, but couldn't get away from it. As her surroundings began to turn dark as she became unconscious, she heard him say "finally, Reim, you'll be where you belong..."

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"VT, where are you going!" Kuwabara shouted at her from down the hall.

"I'm going to find Mizu, what's it look like?" She responded, not stopping her pace towards her car, treetree, one bit.

"How? You don't have any way of tracking her!"

"Sure I do, baka boy, I've got you! You can track Hiei down, now can't you?" She said rather cooly as she started her treetree.

"No! I don't have that kind of power! Maybe Kurama or Urameshi, but not me! I can only sense stuff nearby!"

"Then that'll have to do! Get in!" She said.

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In a matter of seconds, VT's car was screaming down the street, honking for people to get out of her way.

"Geez, at least lemme get a seatbelt on first!" Kuwabara cried.

"Look down every street and alley we come across, you got that? Don't miss any of them!" VT said, a look of great determination on her face.

"I'm lookin, I'm lookin!" He said, trying to appease her.

The two searched for half an hour before they found Yusuke and Kurama standing in an alleyway with two parked Hondas, one white, one black. VT's treetree came to a screeching halt.

"Did you find her!" VT said as she came running up to the two. They looked puzzled.

"No. Only these," Yusuke said.

"It seems the ones who took Mizu were going to change cars, so that we would have a harder time tracking them down. But something seems to have happened, as though perhaps their plan went wrong," Kurama informed them.

"Whaddya mean, something went wrong? WHERE'S MY MIZU!" VT shrieked, gripping Yusuke's shirt.

"We're working on it! We haven't got a lot to go on here, you know!" Yusuke said.

"For now, it might be best if you went home, VT, and before you say anything, it's for your own protection. We were sent here to protect you from someone dangerous, as Koenma put it, and I wouldn't be surprised if they came after you next," Kurama said.

"Absolutely not! I'm going to help you find Mizu, and that's that!" VT stated matter-of-factly. Kurama looked at Yusuke, and he nodded. "What are you doing? HEY! PUT ME DOWN!" VT shouted as Yusuke picked her up and put her over his shoulder as she kicked and hit.

"It's for your own good, VT!" Yusuke said through gritted teeth as he took the blows.

"Hn, relax, Mizu's fine," came a familiar voice.

"Hiei! You're okay!" Yusuke said, putting VT down. She gave him a final punch to his arm. "Ow!"

"Where's Mizu?"

"Right here!" Came yet another familiar voice as a red-headed young woman came from around the corner.

"MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" VT yelled as she glomped her.

"Can't...breathe..." She said, gasping for air.

"We were soooooooooooooooooo worried! What happened!" VT asked, releasing her.

"I'm not sure myself. I was going down the hall when the nurse opened the door to the alley and she shoved me into this car," she said, pointing to the black car. "Someone threw Hiei in then after me and we drove off. Then we stopped in another alley and they tried to make us go into this white Honda here. Hiei then saved the day and brought me back here!" She said.

Hiei looked at her strangely. "Saved the day?" VT asked suspicously. Mizu nodded happily. "I think maybe you better get some rest, Mizu, you don't seem well..."

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause I said so. You know, too much excitement for one day and all that."

"If you say so!" Mizu said as she cheerfully as she let herself into VT's car and waited patiently. VT took that moment to talk quietly to the others.

"You didn't bonk Mizu on the head while you were 'saving the day', did you, Hiei? Because that isn't the Mizu I know," she said.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Kuwabara piped in.

"Hn, how should I know?"

"Hiei, what happened? This...kind of cheerfulness doesn't seem like the Mizu we know," Kurama said.

Hiei shrugged. "All I did was get her out of harm's way."

"Be specific, please."

He grunted. "I took her across some buildings away from the kidnappers and an apparition appeared. It seemed to get scared or something and flew off. I turned to see Mizu with some sort of aura around her, she said it was a spirit from her dream, we fought and then she stormed off down the fire-escape. Then she came back up, and apologized and I took her back here."

"Hmm," Yusuke pondered. "Alright, let's get her back to the hospital where she can rest. Then we-"

"Might I remind you, Yusuke, that the hospital is likely swamped with police officals, and most likely newsreporters. I would suggest we head back to the Parker's. It would be much easier," Kurama said.

"I have an even better idea!" VT said. "In our backyard we have what we like to call our sanctuary. Mizu spends most of her time there after school when we aren't doing something, it'll be perfect!" They nodded. "Into the treetree getaway car!!"

"Hn, I'll take my chances on my own," Hiei said, and before anyone could protest, he was gone.

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"Ohhh, wha...what happened..." Mizu said as she began to awake. She sat up and took in her surroundings. She was in a small cave, on a makeshift-bed of oddly soft leaves she'd never seen before. Next to her was a small campfire, just big enough to keep herself warm and not fill the cave with smoke. She looked into the tunnel that connected with the alcove, and saw nothing but darkness.

"And what the hell have I gotten myself into..." She asked herself. Mizu went to the tunnel to see if she could navigate her way out. To her surprise, there was a bend a short distance away, and around the corner was the exit. Outside, there was nothing but trees and an orangey-red sky. There weren't any places that Mizu knew of that had this kind of forestry in her city, even outside of the city. She could hear birds chirping and a distant river or large stream, but nothing more. She couldn't see anything else beyond the trees due to a steep slope. It didn't seem like it would be easy escaping this place.

"Reim, you're awake." She whirled around to see Hiei standing there. He smiled a smile Mizu thought she'd never see on his face. One that didn't have any callousness behind it, it was almost...happy.

"Did you hit your head on something back there, or did that reaper-thing take your sanity?" She said, trying to hide the fact that was she rather nervous.

A curious look came over him, as though he was trying to work out what she meant, but then he decided to let it go.

Seeing that he wasn't going to answer her question, she asked "Okay, I give; where are we?"

Hiei chuckled slightly. "We're in demon world," He answered, slowly making his way towards her, not taking his eyes off her.

"Ha ha," Mizu laughed nervously. "Very funny, Hiei."

"Nothing funny about it," he said, looking at her as though she was crazy.

"But...why?"

"Why not?"

"Let's start with the fact that I really don't belong here," Mizu said.

"Whatever are you talking about?" He asked, standing in front of her.

"I don't belong in demon world! Do I have to spell it out for you??"

He looked as though he wanted to tell her something, but instead, shrugged and walked passed her. "I have to take care of something. Stay in the cave, you'll be safe there."

"Um, alright..." And with that unusual happy smile, he teleported away. "What in the world is going on...?"

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'Time for a little investigating,' VT thought as she prowled to the Sanctuary. Something was up with Mizu, and she was going to find out. Even though it was dark, well past sunset, VT could see her way well enough. On tiptoes, she peered around the corner. Mizu, or what looked like Mizu, was lying comfortably on the hammock, asleep no doubt. 'Good, I can catch her while she's unaware of me. She'll tell me where the real Mizu is or BOB is a liar!' VT silently crept up beside Mizu, ready to pounce when Mizu suddenly spoke, but not in her own voice.

"It's about time you came out here alone, little one," she said. The voice sounded female, but demonic and yet seductive, though it had no effect on VT. Mizu sat up and her form began to change. Her hair became slightly shorter and purple, horns grew from her head, a purple tail grew from behind, purple wings grew from her back, and a whip appeared in her hand. Not only that, but except for a few things covering vital areas, she lost the clothing she was wearing. The strange demon grinned at VT.

"YOU BE SUCCUBUS!" VT shouted aloud as she backed up a few steps. "BUT WHERE BE MIZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU?"

"That isn't for you to know," the succubus answered. She rested the hand with the whip on her hip and took a gradual step towards VT. "Now you will be coming with me."

"I doubt that, horned witch!" VT provoked as she began running to the other side of the pond. But with her wings, the succubus merely floated over the water to catch up.

"Oh no you don't!" the demon cried as VT then began running towards the gate. She lashed with her whip and caught VT by the ankle, then with barely a flick of her wrist, VT, while trying to take another step, spun and landed flat on her face. With a growl, VT tilted her head up and leered back at the succubus. Grinning, the succubus began to drag her prize towards her as VT seemed to clutch at the grass. "Fool, you think grass is going to help you?"

"Naturally! Anything to keep me away from you, you gaishou no mesuinu kara makai." (whore bitch from hell)

Snarling, the succubus began to pull harder on the whip, making her body scrape across the ground. Suddenly, VT's body stopped in place. Thinking she had gotten a hold on something, the succubus pulled even harder on her whip, but made no more progress. She glided from her current spot to another, trying to see what the little wretch could be holding onto. Her eyes widened when she saw that the blades of grass had grown and tightly wrapped themselves around the girl's wrists.

'Hmm, this could prove very troublesome. She's already developing her powers!' The succubus thought. 'I'll have to be more careful.' Using her wings, she leapt to VT's hands and slashed at the grass. To her amazment, the grass was too thick to actually slice through with her claws.

"Fine. I'll just cut off your hands!" As the succubus gleefully raised her clawed fingers to gouge off VT's closest hand, something wrapped around her outstretched arm. As she looked back to see what had latched onto her, she gasped in dismay as the vines from the willow tree were snaking their way around her encoiled body, squeezing her like a boa constrictor. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get her arm freed to try and escape. The tree then started dragging her over to the pond and proceeded to hang her upside down.

VT stood up and brush the dirt from her clothes. "Well, that went well," she said, shaking off the succubus' whip from her leg. Sauntering, VT came to the edge of the pond and poked the trapped creature in her face repeatedly. She could tell that the poking was really getting on her nerves, so she continued for a little while longer. "Now, Lila, can I call you Lila? Would you please tell the jury where da Mizu is?" She said, tilting her head.

"Mmmph mm mmm mph mph!" The succubus tried to say, the vines covering her mouth.

"I'm sorry, but cursing will get ye nowheres!"

"Mmpph mmmm mmm mm mm mmpphh mmphh mmmph mmmmmppppphhhhhh!"

"Hmm, I sheee. Then maybe this will clear your memory!" VT yelled as the vines suddenly constricted tighter.

"Mmmmmph!"

"Is everything okay, VT, we heard-HOLY CRAP WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Yusuke said, falling on the ground in shock. Kuwabara, Kurama, and he had just come around the corner to see what the commotion was about. VT then released the hold the branches of the willow tree had around the succubus' mouth.

"I'll never tell you anything, you wretched little brat!" She shouted, wriggling and struggling to get free.

"Sure ya will!" VT stated. Suddenly the vines grew thorns all over, and the succubus screamed in agony. "Start talkin or the vines start scarrin!"

"No! I-I can't!"

"Can't means won't!" The vines started to constrict, and the succubus wailed.

"Uh, VT? Wo-would you excuse us for a second?" Kurama stammered.

"Sure sure," she answered, not even looking back at them. The three stepped out of the garden and out of hearing range.

"WHAT THE HELL!" was all Yusuke could think of to say. The screams of the succubus continued.

"I thought these girls needed to be protected? Looks like they can protect themselves pretty gosh darned well to me!" Kuwabara said.

"I think we'd better have a talk with Botan," Kurama suggested. He looked sightly disturbed.

"Talk with me about what!" Came the bubbly voice from the sky as the said ferry girl landed gracefully next to them.

"About why these two girls need protecting when they can clearly fend for themselves," he demanded.

Botan looked surprised. "What do you mean? What's happened? And what is that awful screeching?" The three boys pointed to the gate. Tentatively, Botan looked around the hedge. "Oh my...This...this wasn't supposed to happen, not so soon!" She said coming back to them.

"What do you mean, this wasn't supposed to happen!" Yusuke said angrily.

"Their abilities weren't supposed to manifest themselves like this!!"

"And just what kind of abilities do they have?!" Kurama chimed in.

"Well, from what we were able to gather, VT can control plants, sort of like you, Kurama. But we think uh...she can...talk to them..." Kurama gave her a weird look.

"And Mizu? Wait, lemme guess, water, right?" Yusuke said.

"Yes, but we're not exactly sure what she can do with it."

"Now explain why we're here!"

"BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW WHY OR HOW THEY GOT THESE POWERS AND THEY COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS IN THIS WORLD!!" Botan furiously yelled, hitting Yusuke with her oar. "Did you think they had these abilities this whole time?! NO!!" She hit him again for good measure, then sighed. "Now I have to go tell Koenma what's happened. You stay here and keep a close eye on VT!" She said as she flew off into the distance.

"Don't tell me we have to go back in there..." Kuwabara complained.

"I'll go first, and you two follow after, then," Kurama said.

Cautiously, Kurama peeked around the corner. He saw not only that the succubus had stopped struggling and screaming, but that VT was heading towards them, looking extremely pleased with herself.

"Attention K-mart shoppers!" She said as soon as she came out. "I've found where they be keeping the Mizu! Hey!" She said. "Where be the Short one?"

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"My Lord, I am pleased to report that I have one of the two in my grasp," said a male voice.

"Excccccellent," a mysterious voice echoed. "And the other?"

"She is proving to be more difficult than we planned. But we will capture her soon enough."

"Gooooood. Everything isssssss falling into place. You may go; I exsspect another report in a week."

"My Lord."

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Recapping, we have a weirded-out Mizu, an even more dangerous VT, and an unknown guy who wants the girls! And what's up with Hiei? Tune in, more to come soon!