Hey!

Phew Man, school is killing me, 50-75 minute classes each day, plus homework, no wonder i havent been updating. Anyways, about the beta reader thing, there are some other people, but what i am going to do is send you the chapter and whoever beta-reads it best gets to be my beta-reader (they have to have a LOT of patience though with me). So yeah, this chapter will be the test!!

FANG: at long last, part one of 3-4 parts...the time has come...

TOSHI: it was...a...long...wait...

FANH: I know, I know. I planned to add three chapters when I went back home to the Bahamas. You wouldn't believe how inspirational the islands can be!

HIEI: idiot, you were just lazy.

FANG: Anyway! On to the story!! This is for my sista! (might be a little weak though...)

The room was white and had no color to lighten the mood one felt when coming into such a place. A strong smell of medicine and alcohol would make any one dizzy in the head. The shiny objects that promised relief yet a traumatizing experience at the same time shimmered in the morning light. Beds covered in thin white sheets lined against walls in a certain part of the room. On one of those beds lay an unconscious girl.

Her name was Toshiba. Or Toshi for short. And she was in the one place her brother dreaded the most: the nurse's office.

There was more than one reason why Trey hated, absolutely loathed and despised the nurse's office. But the main reason why he hated it, the one that rose above all others, was the freaky nurse that took care of the students. She wasn't hideously disfigured, oh no, she was the complete opposite of it. The male population loved her, the female population worshipped her, and the faculty let her get away with things that would get anyone else thrown out of the place. Everyone loved her, and even Toshi, despite her fear of needles, thought that she was nice. It was only him, the only sensible one at

that school, that didn't like her at all.

His reason for that was-

"Good morning!" came the cheerful yet alluring voice of the nurse as she entered sweeping in from behind the curtain. Trey instantly went on the defensive, body tense, and watched her as she glided in. Her fluid movements were the epitome of grace.

"Hello Trey," she cooed, whispering into his ear all of a sudden. The stunned boy jerked back, shivering and alarmed at her behavior.

"Did you come all this way just to see me?" she continued in that same honey tone, the one everyone loved, but he despised. She advanced on the poor boy, placing her hands on his lap and leaning in as if to kiss him. "How sweet of you."

Toshi stirred, bringing the attention of the nurse and causing Trey, who had leaned back as far as his chair would go to escape the nurse, tipped backwards when her weight lifted and hit his head on the banister behind him.

"Oh, poor Toshi!" the nurse cried, her tone changing from seductive to care and worry as she looked upon the girl. "The rejected thing!" she turned and scowled at Trey. "What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything!" Trey growled in protest, teeth clenched together as the throbbing pain in his head started to subside. "She just fainted!"

"Toshi! Your brother is so heartless!" the nurse cried, evidently not paying attention to him, as all of it was directed to her subject: Toshi. Now she fawned over the girl with every care a nurse had for a sick patient. "Don't worry; I'll fix you right up!"

"I didn't do anything!"

Trey cursed under his breath as he got up. That nurse was a complete loon, a crazy carnal woman. Every time he walked through that door she would hit on him as if he was a grown. The only reason why he was in this godforsaken place was because of Toshi and her alone. If it had been any one else...

"Oh, Trey did you hurt your self too?" the boy froze as he felt a pair of arms wrap lovingly around his neck and something soft press against his back. "Don't worry, I'll treat you right."

Sweat poured from the boys face as lines of horror and disgust lined his face. He had to escape, he had to get away from this crazy women. Ever since she started working here at his school, she had taken notice of him. Now she seemed to stalk him at school even when he did his best to keep her away! She was older than him and the way she acted toward him scared him witless. He wasn't some dirty old man, he was a teenage boy! As the headache from earlier on continued to pound with fresh vigor in his head, he started to wish that Toshi had never fainted.

Then again, this was Toshi.

Yusuke paced.

Since Toshi left the room and out the door he had done nothing but pace and throw curses out. Now that everyone was out the house the boys were able to get out of their hiding places and, for the first time, get a really good look around. With all this freedom and opportunity to do what they wanted, Yusuke chose to pace and curse.

Kurama sat on the sideline watching the boy as he went through his grumpy mood. He figured out he was pacing because he was nervous and couldn't keep still. He knew whom he was cursing at, it didn't take a genius to know that, and that that person wasn't here. He was out at school with Toshi. Then again, that same reason was the cause for the detective being so unsettled.

Hiei was off to the side tending to his sword. He tsked in disapproval as he watched the detective go on his child like behavior. Just because he couldn't get what he wanted didn't mean he could throw a fit over it. He knew perfectly well, just as the fox, why the detective was in a foul mood, though he could find no reason for it.

So both demons sat and watched, not doing anything but allowing the boy to get it out of his system. They blinked when he kicked the bed stand and they felt a bead of sweat role down their head when he hopped up and down gripping his foot in pain and cursing the wooden object. He powered up and was about to blow up the thing when Kurama decided that this was enough.

"Yusuke, as much as you hated losing to Kuwabara and letting him go with Toshi, don't take your anger out on her things. You know where that got a certain someone." He didn't have to turn to know that Hiei was glaring at the back of his head.

Yusuke let out another curse and forced himself to cool down. He sat, arms folded, grumbling. The fox sighed, a bit annoyed at the boy's behavior. Jealousy was such a low thing.

"I'm sure Toshi is fine Yusuke," he reassured the boy. When Yusuke didn't answer he continued. "Even though Kuwabara is neither the strongest nor smartest one out of all four of us, he is a kind person and wouldn't allow anything to hurt Toshi. It was a right choice, his spirit awareness will come in handy and he can take Toshi to safety. You should feel relived." Seeing that his words weren't really getting through Yusuke's thick skull he decided to leave the boy be and let him figure it out for himself. But before leaving he said this:

"Out of all people Yusuke, you should be happy that Kuwabara is with Toshi. Seeing you jealous like this…it makes me wonder if you really care about her at all."

With that he left the detective alone, his words hitting right at home.

Toshi stirred slightly from underneath the covers. A pair of desert eyes slowly made their appearance and held a dazed and tired gaze. The head that the eyes were connected to turned slightly to the side and blinked. Suddenly her whole upper body shot up as she realized where she was.

Inside the nurses office.

'How did I get here?' she pondered, looking about. She knew she wasn't hurt or was feeling ill...nor that she ran into any doors lately. So why was she here? Her mind wandered back to a few hours ago where she last was. A sudden feeling of fear and dread gripped her. Now she knew why she was in the nurses office sitting on the nurses bed, it was because Trey told her that Spike was lose, and the thought of an anaconda on the run while the guys stayed clueless in her room made the poor girl faint. In fact, she felt light headed already.

However, the thought of her little friends brought her back to the one she had in her bag: Kuwabara! Worried, the girl hurried up, wobbling a little on her legs, and cautiously made her way over to her bags. When she got there and noticed the one that held the tiny boy was open her heart leapt and she softly called out his name.

"Ku…wabara?" she called out timidly, looking carefully for him while at the same time taking baby steps in case she accidentally stepped on him. "Kuwa…bara?"

"Toshi!" The girl turned her head and relief swept through her as she saw the called boy come from behind a box of tissues on the counter. He ran out to greet her, smile beaming from his face. "Toshi, I found you!!" he cried happily.

"Sorry...if I ..worried...you," she told him, going down to his level.

The boy shook his head. "It's okay, just as long as your fine. Hey! Guess what I found?!" He didn't give the girl time to reply as he ran back, disappearing into the rows upon rows of jars. Toshi waited silently, wondering what Kuwabara had found. When he came back he had a giant white ball with him. He seemed to struggle slightly as he pushed it forward for the girl to see.

He stopped and took a couple of deep breaths. "I found this giant cotton ball! Watch this!" He pulled and struggled as he climbed up. When he was on top of the thing he moved his feet, arms out to keep his balance as he directed the fluffy ball in circles.

Toshi laughed. She thought he looked like a bear in the circus. She guessed that when you were their size, even the simplest of things can be tons of fun. Suddenly Kuwabara let out a yell as he pitched forward, dangling dangerously near to the edge. Toshi gasped and shot her hands out, catching the boy before he fell over. Kuwabara landed with a 'Oof!' and pushed himself up, shaking his head clear.

"Ha, ha, ha! Guess I lost my balance," Kuwabara said rubbing the back of his head a bit embarrassed. The last thing he wanted to do was make a fool of himself in front of someone as pretty as Toshi. He quickly regained his composer and acted tough off of whatever pride he had left. "So uh, are you feeling better?"

Toshi nodded her head. "Yes...thank you."

There seemed no hurry to tell Kuwabara about the snake thing. Though she hated to keep it from him while he talked about the adventure he had while she was unconscious in the nurses office, one part being about needles. There he suddenly went into the fatal position and rocked back and forth, crying "Needles! Don't let them get me mommy!", and causing the story to end there while she tried to comfort him. Yes, Toshi thought it best. Besides, she was positive the guys could take care of themselves despite their small size. Well, there was a slight doubt in her, but she refused to dwell on it, and place her belief in them. They were the Renkai Tenti after all, and fought demons day in and day out. An anaconda shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Right?

The halls outside were dark, a long, scaly figure slithered through them unseen, unheard, and undiscovered. The head of the twenty-foot lizard raised in the air, a pink, fork-like tongue flickered in and out. It tested the air, and smelt prey. Ravenous, it made its way silently towards the morsels it deliciously smelt. He came upon his masters, what he supposed as younger sibling, room. Spike peeked from the cracks and tiny shadows moved from the other side. He heard voices.

"Darn it! I can't take this anymore!" a voice shouted.

"Yusuke, please, calm yourself," another said. "There is no use in getting upset over something as trivial as this. The best thing to do is wait until Toshi and Kuwabara comes home."

"Hn, if the fool hasn't gotten her killed yet."

"Shut it Hiei!"

The snake flicked its tongue in and out; the smell came from in here. Following its instincts, the powerful beast slithered towards the opening in the wall that it came upstairs with. Behind the walls and beneath the floor boards, the snake made its way, winding through the insides of the house and towards its un-expecting victims of prey.

The fox sighed, tired, irritable, and just plain bored. He had more than enough of his share with Yusuke's foul mood and temper. It was useless trying to talk to the boy; he wouldn't listen to sense or reason. He could tell that his behavior now foreshadowed times yet to come.

Hiei, on the other hand, didn't care for the romance or the affections that might have, or will, manifest between the stupid human girl Toshi, and the stupid Spirit Detective Yusuke. It was all nonsense to him. Like the fox, he grew irritated with each passing moment, each second, each minute, and each hour. Here was when temptation reached its fullest with him, because right now, as he watched the detective fume and sulk in his anger, his patience wouldn't last much longer.

"Control your self Hiei," came the calm, yet cautious voice of Kurama. "Don't do anything you might regret."

"Hn. Too late for that." The fire demon retorted. "You want to silence him just as much as I do."

The fox sighed, but didn't object. "Matters of the heart are a complicated thing, Hiei."

"I wouldn't know."

"You make it sound like you have no heart." The fox laughed a bit. Hiei shot him a glare from his position near the bed post. If anything, the fox was getting on his last nerves too. He growled and went back to cleaning his sword, the only thing that kept him sane.

Yusuke got louder.

Hiei concentrated harder on his task, rubbing the piece of cloth up and down the length of the shining metal.

Yusuke got more vulgar.

A twitch appeared in Hiei's hand holding the handle of the blade. He had to ignore what was going on and clean his sword!

"I swear Kuwabara cheated!!"

That was it.

Hiei disappeared in a flash.

"Hiei? Hiei! Don't do anything too rash!" Kurama shouted at his friend and ran after him. He rounded the corner just in time to see Hiei pin down Yusuke with his sword and point the tip dangerously to his neck. Kurama rushed forward, saying as calmly as he could not to rally his comrade any more, "Hiei, put the sword down!"

"You can't make me, nor will I do it," Hiei snarled, clearly irritated to the extreme.

"Hiei, calm down and take deep even breaths," instructed Kurama, approaching his seething friend. He looked mad, down right ready to snap. Kurama was cautious and could only pray Yusuke didn't say or do anything stupid to anger the fire demon any further.

"What the hell is wrong with you Hiei?!" Yusuke demanded, eyes fixed on the blade in front of him. The fox let out a groaned "Idiot" and prepared for the worst when Hiei snatched the detectives collar and yanked him up yelling-

"What's wrong? What's wrong?! I'll tell you what's wrong! I can't take your senseless complaining, it's driving me insane!" He pointed the tip of his blade at Yusuke's forehead, eyes set to kill. "You and your useless love struck mind is annoying!! If you care about the stupid woman so much, then tell her and rid all of us this stupidity!"

With that said, he dropped the detective and turned, sheathing his sword in one swift, irritated movement. Yusuke sat there, silent. Kurama heaved a big sigh of relief, a small smile on his lips, for he never expected Hiei out of all people to be giving love advice. His calm was short lived though, for the next moment he tensed upon hearing a loud hissing sound. Hiei abruptly stopped in his tracks, and turned his head. Yusuke stood up slowly, turning to face the area where the noise came from. Their eyes averted to the shadows of Toshi's closet. Hiei placed his hand again once more on his sword, Yusuke slowly placed his hands together, finger tip glowing slightly blue, and Kurama reached into his hair and pulled out a rose.

The group went into defensive; ready for whatever might come hurtling out of those shadows. Though, as they soon found out, they never expected a ravenous snake named Spike to appear.

Dinner was served.

Toshi sighed a heavy sigh as she carried her heavy book bag slumped over her shoulder by two straps, the small delicate package she had bouncing ever to slightly on her upper thighs when she walked. She had just gotten out of the infirmary, which, she might add, was a hassle. The girl who heartedly loved the nurse. But the nurse apparently, when she gave constant winks and certain...gestures to her brother, loved Trey more than an injured specimen. It was a tough battle but in the end Trey was able to steal away from the pestering nurse, carrying his now conscious, and by his quick judgment (not the nurses), healthy sister. When they were far enough, and the cold sweat along with nervous panting diminished, he slowly went back into his calm demeanor. Trey bid Toshi a farewell and left, not even bothering to ask why she fainted in the first place. This was Toshi after all.

Now the girl walked by her lonely self in the bustling hallway. Filled with chattering students and popular crowds, who didn't even take the time to glance at the quiet, shy anime crazed fan girl as she went to her locker and opened it with a combination.

So many more things buzzed in her head than normal as she switched some books for her first period classes before lunch. Maybe it was because her life was veering off the road of normality, and onto the rough terrain of insanity. But the parcel, which she took great care not to harm or toss in any way as she moved about, held more than enough evidence to prove her sanity (or what was left of it) . It was just the fact that she couldn't believe all of this was actually happening to her: demons, magic, spirit energy, midget people; all of this was reality.

'Then again,' she slightly mused walking into her homeroom, 'reality is proving to be more fiction than not.'

Taking her seat in the back and being completely ignored or unknown to the rest of her classmates, Toshi took this time to check up on her parcel. Opening the zipper part way she peeked inside and whispered, "Kuwabara?"

His head popped into view and he smiled at the girl, waving goofily. "Hey Toshi!" He always seemed happy to see her.

"Are you...all right?" she asked, worried that she might have been a little rough on her journey over. The hallways were so busy and she always got shoved and pushed from all four sides. Sometimes she wondered if the students were humans at all. Kuwabara gave the girl a reassuring look and even did one of his famous 'punk poses' that 'impressed' the girls to no limit. Sniffing rather indulgently, "Of course I'm alight; nothing ever fazes the great Kazuma Kuwabara!" He laughed out right at his own power (if he had any at all).

A small simple smile graced her face before quietly disappearing as the teacher came in ordering everyone to sit down and shut up. Giving the boy the sign to be quiet and a little wave she hastily, yet gently, zipped up the parcel and tried to appear normal. Outside she looked like the ordinary non-existent Toshi everybody knew, or rather saw transparent, as she sat in her chair back straight and looking attentive as possible as the teacher called out names and the students droned out a response.

However, on the inside, her mind was twisting and her spirits were troubled. She constantly worried about the boys back at the house. Were they alright? Did they have enough food? Could they possible eat some of her oatmeal cookies stashed in her room? Did Yusuke even like oatmeal cookies? Useless thoughts really, but she was worried. Spike hadn't been feed at all that morning and he was loose out in the house no less! A small groan escaped her as she slowly slumped in her seat, dreading the worst. She didn't want to worry, oh no, she was quite understandable that they could take care of themselves, yet at the same time they were so small, and the world so big. What if they ...?

'No!' she told herself roughly, shaking her head lightly to clear it all up. 'They're strong! They can handle themselves. They are the Spirit Detectives after all.' She clasped her hands in front of her. 'I need to be strong too... if I'm not going to be burden. I have to get stronger as well. I can't be weak if I want to help.' She could imagine Hiei coming to her rescue after easily killing off a weak demon she couldn't even herself fight, and glaring at her with bored and irritated eyes, saying, "Hn. Worthless."

Toshi wanted nothing more than not to be that stupid women he was referring to her as. She wanted to be strong and brave, courageous, outgoing, like her mother and brother were. But she was just Toshi; small, timid, quiet Toshi. And it's hard to change something you've so unknowingly grown used to.

"Toshiba," the teacher's sharp voice brought the girl back from her little mental room upstairs. She jumped in her seat a bit and then hastily, unnecessarily stood up and stammered, "H-H-Here!"

"Miss.Toshiba, do please try to pay attention, even when I'm taking attendance." A few of the students snickered and whispered in low hushed voices, glancing back at the girl who flushed from embarrassment and slowly slumped back into her seat.

Oh yes, it is very hard to change.

FANG: AH!! Don't kill me please!!

TOSHI: um...please?

FANG: Not you, the people! Okay, I know it's short and have been forever (I hate it when people do that too!) but this is going to be a three four part thing. And this was part one, so please, bare with me.

Oh yeah, about the beta read thing...hm, I've got two people I've liked so far, and this chapter was kind of a mixture of both (don't know if you can do that….) and yes, how many reviews I get from this chapter will help with the decision. So keep them coming!

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