New chapter, woot woot! And Ayeri is pronounced Ah-year-ee. WEASEL WAR DANCE FTW! (wishes ferrets weren't illegal in California) Also, the song that is sang is called Rock Me by Liz Phair.

Disclaimer: I own Mizu, Ayeri, Mystery-Demon-X(Not gunna spoil it for you!! P)...and this story...that's about it...

Farewell Butterfli

By Ryoken

Mizu awoke with a start. She sat up to take in her surroundings, but a throbbing headache soon forced her to lie back down. So she took in her surroundings lying down instead. She could hear birds chirping and the wind blowing. She was lying in a room similar to that of some sort of Japanese home, although it was something a little more oriental; wooden walls with traditional sliding paper doors, a mat for a bed on the floor where she lay, a dresser, and a low table with some bandages on it and a small yet familiar device. It was one of the translators that Yusuke and Kuwabra wore while they went to school with her, short as their stay was.

Curiosity settling in, Mizu slowly sat up, hoping that getting up slower wouldn't cause nearly as much pain to her head as the last time. It didn't. Mizu took the translator in her hand and looked at it. She wondered if it worked the other way as well. Figuring that it couldn't hurt to try, she put it in her ear. She started to stand up and found that she wasn't in her shredded clothes anymore. She was wearing some skin-tight white shorts and an open white robe with oriental pink flowers on it that stopped at her knees and she was covered up in bandages that wrapped her up from her bellybutton to her upper chest.

She started making her way to the door when a strange shadow quickly passed by the paper in the door. Mizu froze when the door started to inch it's way open. Suddenly, a small rodent-like head with light blue tipped ears poked its head inside, looking around. Seeing Mizu standing there, it seemed to make a happy squeak and squeezed the rest of it's body inside. Before her sat a ferret; the most unusual she had ever seen. It was white, with the same light blue color rings wrapped around it's fur, but didn't have the common mask that some ferrets have.

"Well aren't you the cutest little fuzzie I've ever seen," Mizu whispered, smiling. She knelt down slowly so as not to frighten the little guy, but he merely took the opportunity to climb up onto her shoulder and hide under her hair on her neck before she could grab him. Mizu stood up again. "Okay, fine," she said as the ferret snuggled up against her. "Just don't go blaming me if you fall out."

Continuing on her quest of discovery, she finally opened the door and gasped as she walked out onto the wrap-around porch. She realized she knew exactly where she was: Genkai's temple. And she remembered. Boy, did she remember. She recalled now who she was and her past. With a slight giggle, she looked up in the sky to see if she could glimpse Jin flying around, but, as expected, saw nothing.

"I see you're up and about already; that's good," came a voice from behind. Mizu spun around to see Kurama coming towards her from around the corner.

She flashed him a smile. "Yeah. Hey, have you seen this guy hanging around here before," she asked him, lifting some hair off of her neck to reveal the strange critter snoozing. Kurama shook his head.

"I've never seen a ferret before, but I'm pretty sure they don't come in that color," he said. "Where did you find him?"

"He found me. Came into my room and just nestled himself in my hair as if he owned it!" She huffed, giving him a poke. The ferret opened an eye at Kurama and blinked. Kurama laughed.

"Then I suppose you should give him a name," he suggested.

"You really think he's gunna stick around?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

Mizu contorted her face to look deep in thought.

"AYERI!" She shouted. The ferret, startled by the sudden loud sound, started to bristle against Mizu's neck and soon the two could smell something similar to a skunk. "Aww, man, Ayeri! Did you have to do that!" Mizu said, pinching her nose, Kurama doing the same.

"I'm going to go check on VT; you should probably go and try to get that smell out," he chuckled, hustling back around the corner, but not before pointing her in the direction of the bath.

"Come on, you, you're the one who started this whole thing, so you're getting a bath too," she said, dragging him out from his hiding place and holding the fuzzie firmly in her arms.

As she was going along, a blue haired young girl clad in a light blue kimono rounded the corner. At first she smiled and was about to greet Mizu when she screwed up her face from the stench and pinched her own nose. In answer to Yukina's unasked question, she pointed down at the criminal and waved quickly as she hurried onward.

After scrubbing for what felt like a half an hour on herself and ten minutes on Ayeri to get rid of what stench she could, Mizu rewrapped herself with the bandages and put her clothes back on. Ayeri decidedly planted himself in her hair once again and fell asleep. As she looked down at her job of bandaging herself, she noted that it wasn't nearly as good as when someone else had done it, whoever that was, and tied the robe closed.

She decided that she should probably go visit VT. Knowing that she had done potentially lethal damage to her best friend, the least she could do was say hello and apologize for her actions. But as she wandered around on the porch, looking for something that might give her a clue as to her location, she became decidedly lost.

Fortunately for her, Yusuke came to the rescue.

"Lost?" He asked, smiling that stupid grin of his.

"Kinda, yeah."

"I guess I can see how it could be a bit confusing for someone new here. What're you looking for?"

"VT's room. Wanted to drop in."

Yusuke's grin faded. "Oh. Well, it's right behind you, actually." Mizu sweatdropped.

"Are you freakin kidding me?"

"No." Mizu sighed. She did a 180, and quietly opened the door, Yusuke right behind her.

The sight was horrible. VT was hardly recognizable; it wasn't that the wounds had mangled her face, but that bandages had covered up most of her head, which was the only body part that wasn't covered by a blanket. Yukina and Kurama were on either side of her, doing what they could to help her wounds heal. Hearing the door open, the both of them looked up to see the bewildered Mizu and Yusuke in the doorway.

"Yukina, would you take over for a moment?" Kurama asked.

"Sure."

Kurama stood and came up to Mizu, placing a hand on her shoulder. Mizu seemed to not notice as she stared blankly at her dear friend.

"Come on, Mizu, let's get you some tea, alright?" He suggested gently. "Yusuke, would you…?"

"Yup," he answered. Taking a hold on Mizu's shoulder, he led her away from the room , but she never took her eyes off of VT until Kurama shut the door.

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"…If it weren't for VT loosing control, she'd probably be dead, Lord Koenma!" a familiar bubbly voice shouted from the room in front of her. "How can you even think of doing such a thing! They saved her life!"

"That may be, but think of what's at stake, Botan. We can't let a couple of girls like these run around freely. Especially since they have no real control over them."

Yusuke looked at Mizu, who was leaning on his shoulder; the color had drained from her face. "You know, I'm all for eavesdropping," he whispered. "But I really don't think this is what you need to be hearing right about now."

Suddenly the door in front of them opened and Genkai stood there. She sighed. "I'm guessing you heard that." Mizu could do no more than stare at the ground. If it weren't for VT…loosing control…? "Well, don't just stand there looking stupid, Dimwit, get her inside."

Yusuke grimaced at the old woman as he sat Mizu down at the low table.

"I apologize for what you overheard, no thanks to Yusuke, here-" Koenma said.

"Hey!"

"But please don't take it the wrong way; having lost your memory and being told lies from this peculiar demon, it wasn't your fault."

Mizu stayed silent for a moment as she stared at her teacup. "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to go back to my room now."

"Of course, Mizu!" Botan said. As the two left, Yusuke shut the door behind them.

"Now what the hell was all THAT about?" He asked.

Koenma, in his teenage form, sighed heavily. "We were discussing our options as to what to do with the girls. They can't stay here in Ningenkai; they're a threat to the population. But we can't really send them into demon world either," he said before Yusuke could argue. "Because they'd be slaughtered before they knew how to defend themselves. Their...powers..." he said, choosing his words carefully. "Are far too unpredictable…I hate to say it, but I think the best course of action is to..."

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"Here we are, Mizu!" Botan said as they got back to her room. "If you need anything, please just let one of us know, alright?"

"Botan."

"Yes?"

Mizu lifted her hair and yanked the sleeping ferret from his perch. She handed him to Botan.

"Would you…look after him for a little while…for me?" She said.

"Sure, I guess…" She said, looking over the strange colored ferret sleeping in her arms.

"His name's Ayeri," she said. "Thanks."

As Botan walked away, Mizu shut the door and looked around her room. "Time to get the hell out of Dodge."

Mizu opened the drawers in her dresser and found some of her own clothes packed neatly away. Throwing them on floor, she picked out a spaghetti strap shirt and some jeans with a butterfly stitched into one of the pant legs. She looked in another drawer and found her precious bandana, blue with a Pegasus on top, and tied the bandana on her head. She changed into the clothes and carefully opened her door, not wanting to alert anyone nearby. Seeing that the coast was clear, she quietly ran to the stairs leading down the mountain and was gone.

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"VT! You're awake?" Kurama said, surprised as VT sat straight up, eyes wide and alert. "Lie down, you're in no condition to even be sitting up right now!"

"Mizu's gone," she said bluntly, not lying back down.

"What are you talking about? She just left to go have some tea and relax."

"Mizu is gone! What part of that don't you understand!" She said, getting up without loosing her balance. Determined to find Mizu and battling against Kurama's physical attempts to get her to lie back down and Yukina's insistent urgings, VT forced her way in the general direction of Mizu's room. On her way there, she ran into Botan holding the blue and white ferret.

"VT!" Botan said, startled at seeing the teen up and about. "What are you doing walking around! You should be in bed!"

Hearing the shouting awoke Ayeri. He looked at VT momentarily and then jumped out of Botan's arms, running to Mizu's room to tuck himself back into his niche in her hair.

"Oh, come back here, you rascal!" Botan shouted, running after him.

"What's that?" VT asked Kurama as they hurried to catch up to Botan.

"Ayeri, Mizu-" But he was cut off by Botan yelling again.

"SHE'S GONE!"

Kurama looked at VT, who only glared coolly at him. "How did you-"

"I TOLD you Mizu was gone. Now we gotta find her!" VT said, hurrying back to her own room to get her beanie and BOB.

As VT was about to turn a corner, she got the feeling of being watched. She pounded on the wall next to her and yelled. "Hiei, get your Jagan eye butt down here!" She said, and kept moving.

The fire demon suddenly appeared to the side of VT's room, out of her path. He had some minor cuts and bruises, nothing Yukina or Kurama couldn't heal, but something else seemed wrong with him. VT passed him by as she went to fetch her things, but as soon as she came out she looked him square in the eye.

"Come help us find Mizu, Hiei," she said.

"If you think barking orders is going to make me do anything, you're-"

"Please," she said. The stern look wasn't about to leave her face. Hiei turned away.

"Hn, why should I?"

VT sighed. "I know you're upset about what happened," she said quietly. "But that wasn't something you had control over. Besides, Mizu would probably appreciate you coming along to help," she said.

Hiei raised an eyebrow. "Hn," was all he said before doing his disappearing act.

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Mizu had incredible luck that day. Just as she had reached the bottom of the stairs of Genkai's temple, the bus that would take her into the city arrived and she paid the driver and sat down. As she stared at her hands, she started pondering.

'What the hell am I?', 'Why me?', 'The hell is going on?', 'What am I going to do now?' were only a few of the questions that ran through her mind as the bus ran along it's designated path.

It was near 10:00 PM when the bus reached the city, and Mizu decided it was as good a place to start as any. She got off the bus and stepped into a heavy rain. Unsure of what to do, she merely started walking towards the inner part of the city, not really aware of the biting cold.

From a doorway she passed, she felt tons of warmth as well as music playing. She turned her head and saw she was in front of a dance club. Because it was raining, there were no people waiting in line, so Mizu decided to slip in and check it out. She was blasted with hot air from the amount of heat all the people dancing were giving off as she entered and took off her shoes.

Inside, many people were crowded on the dance floor, colored lights moving and flashing all about, proving the only light source. Up front was a stage where a DJ was playing music and a girl was singing karaoke. To the right was a long table with plenty of plastic cups and kegs of beer. Upon seeing the people lined up for the kegs, Mizu assumed that this was a rave. She saw a chair near the back and decided to sit down for a bit and dry off.

"Hey!" A boy of about 17 said as he came up to Mizu. He had black spiky hair and wore sunglasses on top of his head. She looked up at him from her inner thoughts. "What's a pretty girl like you doing all by herself?" He asked politely.

"Er…Just, uh, relaxing," she said, glad for the fact that the translator worked.

"Here," he said, handing her a cup full of beer. She looked at it timidly. She'd never tried the stuff before, but then again, she'd never been around it before either. "I've had better, myself, but it's not bad," he commented.

'Ahh screw it. This might be one of the last nights I'm in the human realm anyway,' she thought as she sighed and took a large gulp. It had a very bitter taste to it and she screwed up her face.

The boy laughed. "I didn't think it was that bad!" Mizu took another sip. "Come dance with me!" He asked. Mizu looked for a place to set down her cup and decided on the floor under her chair, then let him lead her out onto the floor. "So, what's your name? Or should I keep calling you pretty girl?" He smiled.

Mizu smiled back. "Name's Mizu. You?"

"Satomi!" He shouted over the music that was blaring.

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"Considering how large the city is, I think you should bring them along," Koenma said.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea, Koenma?" Kurama said.

"Just bring em already! We're losing valuable time here!" VT said stubbornly.

"Yeah, what harm could they do?" Yusuke said, ending the argument. "Hey guys, let's get going!" He shouted behind him.

"Awlright! Finally, we get te go into the city, mates!" Chuu said ecstatically.

"Please don't forget what you're supposed to be doing in there, you six. Find the girl and get your asses back here immediately," Koenma repeated.

"Keep yer diapers on, well be in an outta there before ye can say 'May ye be in heaven half an hour a'fore the devil knows yer dead!'" Jin said.

As they all left, Koenma began having his doubts about sending those other six into the city.

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As they all reached the city, they split into pairs. Jin was with Touya, Chuu with Rinku, Suzuka with Shishi, Kurama with Kuwabara, and Yusuke with VT. Despite Kurama's insistent urgings for her to slow down because of her wounds, VT never stopped quickly walking through the streets looking for Mizu.

Hiei, however, looked on his own. He could search the city faster than anyone using his Jagan, and though it proved tricky because of all the consciousnesses squished together in one place, he finally found Mizu in a large building and reached out to her with his mind.

Mizu! He shouted as she was dancing. It was so clear in her mind, Mizu thought she had heard her name being called out loud instead of hearing it in her head, which caused her to look to the doors.

"What's wrong?" Satomi asked, seeing her stop.

"I thought I heard someone calling my name, but I guess it was just my imagination," she replied.

Hiei tried speaking in her mind again, but she seemed to be ignoring him somehow. He sighed and decided to go and talk to her in person.

As he reached the doors with his super-human speed, he found that VT and Yusuke were only about three buildings width away from him. He looked at them and nodded his head towards the doors. Once at the doors, they too could clearly hear the loud music being played inside.

"She's in here?" Yusuke asked. Hiei nodded. "Then let's go."

They opened the doors and were immediately hit with a blast of hot air. Hiei looked to where he sensed Mizu was and immediately blushed. She was dancing with some black-haired boy in a rather provocative manner and one of the straps of her shirt had fallen down, not to mention she was swaying off-balance at times.

"Where is-" VT started to say when she and Yusuke spotted Mizu as well. VT's jaw dropped while Yusuke grinned and blushed.

"She's, uh…" Yusuke tried to say.

"She's DRUNK!" VT almost shouted. The two boys looked at her strangely. "Well, she is."

"Not what I was gunna say, but alright," Yusuke said. "Well, go get her, Hiei!" He said as he and VT gave him a sudden shove.

Hiei glared at them. "Why do I have to get her?!" He asked suspiciously.

"Because!" VT said.

"That's not an answer."

"Too bad!"

Hiei glared at her some more, but it didn't deter her resolve. He sighed and started to go up to her, blushing the entire way and feeling like a fool. Before he got to her, she ran off to the stage, startling not only Hiei, but the boy as well. Now Hiei was starting to get annoyed; he just wanted to get out of this weird place. The boy that she had been dancing with followed her towards the stage. Seeing this, Hiei pushed his own way through the crowd, making more progress than the boy, but found he was a little late in grabbing her when she jumped on the stage and grabbed the microphone.

"Oh baby, you're young, but that's okay. What's give or take nine years anyway? I'll bet you that cigarette, you won't regret my time!" Mizu started singing as she started dancing on stage. "I wanna be with a guy like you, so uncomplicated, so in tune! Just take off my dress, let's mess with everybody's mind. I gotta tell you! Baby, baby, baby, if its alriiiiiiiiight, want you to rock me aaaaall night! Baby, baby, if its alriiiiiiight, want you to rock me aaaaall night, all night, yeah! Rock! Me! All! Night!" She sang. "Heeeyaaaaaaaa yeaa! Heeeyaaaaaaaaa yeaa! I wanna play Xbox on your floor, say hi to your roommate who's next door, you don't have a dime, but I don't mind, who gives a damn? Your record collection don't exist, you don't even know who Liz Phair is!" She sang, pointing to herself. "Pure potential with no credentials, your mama taught you how to be a sensitive man!" She continued singing, and spotting Hiei in the crowd, she pointed at him. "I gotta tell you! Baby, baby, baby, if its alriiiiiiiiiiiiight, want you to rock me aaaall night, baby baby if its alriiiiiiiiiiiight, want you to rock me aaaaall night, all night…"

Because she had pointed at him at such a short distance, some of the people there turned to look at him. Feeling humiliated, he made his way directly in front of the stage and gave Mizu a death glare, which she didn't even notice. Even more annoyed now, he jumped up on stage, grabbed her by the arm and started to drag her off stage, seeing as she was still trying to sing into the microphone, which she was dragging along with her. The DJ then came over and forced the microphone out of her hands, putting it back in it's place.

"Get up, Mizu, we're going back to the temple," Hiei ordered, who was not in the mood for Mizu's drunken antics as she continued singing from the floor.

"Hey, what's your problem?" Came a voice. It was the black-haired boy.

"Stay out of this," Hiei said as he continued to try to drag her as well as get her to stand up.

The boy grinned and snapped his fingers. Two large and muscular bouncers came from the shadows.

"Yes, boss?" One of them asked.

"Throw this troublemaker out, will you?" He ordered.

One of the bouncer made to grab Hiei, but he was too fast, and knocked him flat. However, the second one came up from behind in surprise and caught him. No matter how hard Hiei struggled to get free, he found it surprising that he couldn't get free.

"Hey, what're you doin, Shatomi?" Mizu asked as she got up, her words starting to slur.

"Just getting rid of the riffraff," he said slyly as the bouncer made for the door.

"Riffraff? Hiei's not a riffraff!" She argued.

"No? I don't think he enjoyed your singing very much."

"So? That don't make him a riffleraffle!"

Satomi chuckled. "That kid? He's just trying to make trouble, forget about him!"

Ignoring him, Mizu ran up to the bouncer and started kicking his foot. "Put! Him! Down!" The kicking wasn't doing much good, especially once the other bouncer picked up Mizu, who started flailing.

"Eh, throw em both out, she wasn't that pretty anyway," he said, turning his back to his guards. As the guards left to throw the two of them out the backdoor, Satomi came face to face with Yusuke Urameshi and VT. A very angry Yusuke Urameshi and VT.

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"Get off of me!" Hiei yelled furiously as he struggled to get out from under Mizu and the mud he was now covered in. Not wanting to piss him off more, she pushed herself off and onto her side in the mud. He quickly stood up and looked himself over, then growled at Mizu. Then he took out his katana and pointed it at Mizu's throat. "I… should kill you…for that humiliation."

"So why don't you?" She asked, exposing her throat for him. Hiei raised an eyebrow. "Well, what are you waitin for?" She stumbled as she stood up and roughly took the end of the blade in hand and placed it at the right side of her throat. "Death is probably gunna be better than where ever the freakin hell Koenma's gunna send us!!!" She asked, then placing it over her heart. Her hand was bleeding.

Hiei sighed quietly. He gently removed the sword from Mizu's hand and replaced it in it's scabbard. Before Hiei could say anything further however, Mizu stormed off in the direction of the street. "Why do I even bother," he muttered as a satisfied Yusuke came out the backdoor giving VT a piggyback ride, who was exhausted to the point of passing out.

"Hey, Mizu, wait up!" Yusuke shouted after her as he jogged to catch up with her. "You dropped this," he said handing her a charm bracelet. It had the kanji for water on it.

Puzzled, Mizu said, "this isn't mine," and handed it back to Yusuke.

"You sure? VT had it in her hand when she dropped it backstage. See, she even has one just like it," he said, holding up a limp arm. Indeed it was quite like the water charm, except this one had the kanji for tree.

Mizu quietly took the charm back and put it on her wrist. "You're right, Yusuke. It is mine." She stared hard at the sleeping VT, and nodded slightly in understanding. The trinket was meant to tell Mizu that there were no hard feelings about what had happened in Makai, and that she needn't feel the need to stay away.

"You alright?" Yusuke asked. Mizu nodded with a smile. "Then let's get back to the temple!"

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Seeing as this particular part got so long, I'm postponing the funny part until the next chapter. Until then!