A/N: Chapter 6 is here! So we've met almost the entire cast of characters, but so far, almost no action. That comes later. Anyway, I've noticed that since i wrote this on Word, it looks and reads a lot better if you use that rather than this site, but whatever. You'll just have to deal with reading long paragraphs. A quick note from me to you: I have a tendency to switch POVs during this fic, which I've stopped doing in my other stories (at least not as much), but you'll have to pay a bit closer attention. Italics are thoughts, if you haven't picked up on that yet and I still have absolutely no ownage of YuYu Hakusho. Now read.

(Hiei's POV)

Hearing Li-Sanya's thoughts as she broad-casted them unconsciously, I turned from looking out the window to see her sit down in a chair with a thick, leather bound volume. I stared at it for a second, then suddenly realized what it was. As she moved to open the cover, a strangled shout came from what I barely recognized as me.

"No!" She looked up, startled, and stared at me, her shock clearly written over her face. Kurama also looked up at me, confused. Then again, he couldn't read her mind, so he had an excuse for being confused. I continued to stare at Li-Sanya. "No." I repeated, a little more calmly. "Don't open that book."

She glanced down at the book she held in her lap. Kurama also looked at the book. His eyebrows suddenly shot up as he, too, realized what it was.

"Why not?" She asked innocently. I sighed mentally, wondering how in Makai she didn't know what the book was, when I knew she was at least 3,ooo years old. Older than the book, anyway.

"Don't you know anything?" I said impatiently, feeling as if I was talking to a particularly dense five year-old. "That book is a census of all the beings in the Makai as well as all of the magical items ever crafted there, and their status. It's extremely dangerous to look at it, let alone use it. The author died shortly after finishing the spells to create it." I told her. Now everyone was looking between Li-Sanya and I, including Yusuke and Kuwabara who didn't even glance down when one of the animated characters on the screen died.

"Oh. Is that it?" She said finally, after staring at the book for a moment. She looked back up at me. "I mean, honestly, I've handled stones with more power than this."

I sighed; she still wasn't getting it. Kurama seemed to finally be with the program, though, as he was looking at Li-Sanya with a worried expression. Briefly, I wondered exactly how he felt towards her, but I had to push that thought aside to deal with the more immediate problem of preventing Li-Sanya from reading that volume.

"You may have." I conceded. "But you had all of your power then, and you don't now. That makes a big difference. If you had all your power, I wouldn't be so worried for your life." I said flatly. Suddenly, what I'd just said hit me. I blinked. "That was a figure of speech." I added, trying to mask my slip-up. Yusuke caught it though, as did Kurama, and I knew I would hear no end of it, if not from Kurama, then definitely from the idiot. Li-Sanya hadn't caught it, though, and I gave a silent, relieved sigh.

"Oh." Was all she said before getting up and replacing it on the shelf. I watched her slightly nervously until she sat down again with a different book and started reading. Glancing around, I saw the two humans return to their game, as did the girls. Kurama was staring at me, and I raised an eyebrow.

What? I asked silently, not wanting to draw attention to our conversation.

Nothing much. He replied. Just…you seemed really concerned about her.

Oh, and I suppose you'd be the expert? I said sarcastically, wanting to end this conversation, but unable to do so without him getting suspicious.

No, I'm not, but I know you and you really don't hide it well when you're truly worried about someone. At least, it seems that way to me. Others may think you're just the same, regardless. He said calmly. I was silent for a moment, trying to think of a response to that.

Well, it's not as if I'm the one with a fairly major crush on her. I said finally, smirking slightly as Kurama's face turned a rather bright shade of red. You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been spending too much time around those roses of yours; you're starting to look a lot like them. I continued, pleased that my hunch had been correct.

How did you-no, never mind. I don't want to know how you know. He said after several attempts. Still, leave the roses out of it; they haven't done anything to you.

No? How about that time I was sent to find you and they decided you'd be better off without me, so they tried to make me part of their fertilizer?

Well…there was that one time…

Or that time when- He interrupted me by snapping his book closed and standing up. Just then, the grandfather clock out in the main hall chimed the hour and he seized the opportunity.

"Okay, you guys. It's nine o'clock, time for training." He said, causing the others to groan. Yusuke turned from the TV to face Kurama.

"Aww, Kurama! Do we have to?" He complained, trying to give the redhead a puppy dog look and failing.

"Yes, we have to." He replied firmly. The two humans got up slowly and, still protesting went out of the room. I also got up and started to leave the room, but I paused before I went by Kurama. Looking up at him, I raised an eyebrow.

"You may have avoided it this time, but I'll get you later, you know." You told him quietly enough that the girls wouldn't hear. He glanced down at me.

"Hmm. Maybe. But of course, I'm not the one who wants only to use her to get what I want, either." He shot back in a casual tone. I froze as I felt my face heat up. How had he known…?

"That's none of your business!" I hissed, storming out of the room.

(Li-Sanya's POV)

I glanced up, slightly startled, as Kurama snapped his book shut and got up and announced that they were going to be training. Yusuke and Kuwabara left, complaining about how unfair it was, and Hiei started to leave, but stopped and talked to Kurama for a moment. Kurama said something I couldn't quite make out, but it obviously hit one of Hiei's nerves, because he hissed a reply and stormed out of the room.

I came up behind Kurama. "What was that all about?" I asked, looking out the door after Hiei. He spun to look at me, startled.

"Oh, Li. That? Oh, nothing. Just Hiei being Hiei." He said by way of explanation. I raised an eyebrow; somehow, I got the feeling he wasn't telling the whole truth. Deciding not to investigate right now, I looked at him hopefully.

"Could I come watch you guys train?" He paused to think before nodding.

"Sure. I'll show you the way, since I'm going there right away." He said. "Come on, it's this way."

As he led me down several hallways and down a flight of steps, I stared at his back, wondering what he'd said to Hiei to make the fire demon flip like that. From what I'd seen, Hiei generally kept his emotions under tight control, except for his temper, which always seemed to be just on the breaking point. Making a decision to find out as soon as possible, I carefully slipped into Kurama's mind to figure out what he was thinking about. Luck was on my side, as I found him (presumably) thinking about what Hiei and he had been talking about.

He's probably wondering how I knew his secret. He should know by now that if I want to find something out, I can one way or another. Still, he was right about one thing; I do seem to be feeling more than just friendship for her…Youko would probably even go so far as to say I'm falling in love with her, but his opinion doesn't matter right now, considering he isn't here…

Just then, another voice started talking in Kurama's head and I nearly pulled out in surprise, but stayed in at the last minute to hear what the newcomer had to say. What do you mean I'm not here? I'm always here, in case you've forgotten. Hiei's right, you really do have your head all messed up from thinking about that silly cat demoness. (Here, my eyes went wide at the reference to me and I listened closer) It's not as if she's even your species, anyway. Though, she did have a good point with the prophecy, I'll give her that. Of course, I would have noticed it sooner or later; she just beat me to it…

Oh, shut up, Youko. Kurama said wearily. If you really don't like her that much, then tell her yourself later, but keep your opinion out of my thoughts.

Fine. I will. But don't come crying to me when she chooses someone else because you were too afraid to make the first move. Then Youko's voice was gone. I heard Kurama sigh. I pulled out of his mind just as he stopped in front of a large door made of solid oak and coated in protective charms and spells to keep it from being destroyed.

"Here we are." He said, turning to me. He opened the door and gestured for me to go through first. Complying, I stepped into a large room with a sawdust floor. Around the edges were benches and in the center was a large ring circled by a two-foot tall wooden fence. Across the room, I could see several racks of various training weapons, spanning from swords to spears to small throwing knives and everything in between.

Just as I took a seat on one of the benches, the door opened and Yusuke and Kuwabara entered, arguing about something or other. I watched, bemused, as they started throwing punches and kicks at each other. Finally, it just erupted into an all out fight. I was so absorbed in watching them fight that I didn't even notice Hiei come up next to me. Then he spoke and I nearly fell off the bench in surprise.

"So, Kurama let you come as well?" He said, sullen as ever. I gripped the bench edge tightly as I turned to glare at him.

"Yes, but I'm just watching." I informed him. "And why do you always have to be so quiet? It gets annoying sometimes."

"Hn." Just then Kurama decided to settle Yusuke and Kuwabara's fight once and for all. He stepped forward and, waiting just a split second, reached out and grabbed them both by the collar of their shirts, hauling them apart and holding them up.

"Okay, you guys, training time." He said, setting them down again. I watched as he went to one side of the enclosed circle and turned to face them. "You two can go first." They groaned, but obeyed and jumped over the short fence to take fighting stances facing each other. Kurama continued with the rules. "No spiritual energy allowed, otherwise, anything goes. A count of five will be used to determine out of bounds and the end of the match." He raised an arm and checked to make sure they were ready. "Ready?…Go!" He brought his hand down in a swishing motion and they charged forward towards each other.

For a while, the two humans were equally matched, each giving their best to knock the other out or out of bounds. As I watched, I realized for the first time how really powerful they were. Then I berated myself for having underestimated them. Silly, of course they'd be strong. What did you expect, after they beat Suzaku and Seiryu, your best students? I was watching the boys and caught up in my own thoughts so much that I didn't notice Hiei's startled look as he read my mind. I did catch the odd glance he cast at me, but dismissed it as just Hiei being Hiei and glared at him. Just then, Yusuke caught Kuwabara in the jaw with a hard left uppercut that sent the taller boy sailing out of the arena to land heavily on the sawdust floor. I turned back to see if he would get up and continue fighting; Kurama had started the count as soon as he had landed.

"One…two…three…four…five." He called. "Kuwabara is out and Yusuke is the winner. Next match, myself against Yusuke. Hiei, will you judge?"

"Hn." The fire demon replied, going over to take Kurama's place. "Listen up, bakas, I'm only going to say this once. This match is Yusuke against Kurama, all attacks are permitted and you are allowed access to any weapon on the wall as long as you get it within the five counts. Ready?" The two opponents nodded, watching each other. "Then…GO!" He stood there, watching as the two started circling, Kurama holding one hand under his long red hair and Yusuke tightening one hand into a fist.

Then Kurama pulled out a rose. I stared at it for a moment, confused, before I realized it was a weapon. Yusuke narrowed his eyes slightly and tightened his fist. Kurama whipped his arm to the side, the rose transforming into a long thorny whip that cut through the air to catch Yusuke in the arm, leaving a long shallow cut. The human winced and bit his lip, but didn't stop from the pain.

Suddenly, I realized Yusuke's fist was glowing and I frowned, unsure of what this attack was. Kurama seemed to know, though, and watched it intently, tensing as if to jump out of the way. Bringing his fist up slowly, Yusuke turned at an angle to Kurama, keeping his eyes on him and still circling. All of a sudden, a bright ball of energy shot from his hand to speed towards Kurama, who dodged to the right. What the fox demon didn't seem to expect though, was that the ball of energy would twist and come after him, as if it had a life of its own. Wide eyed, he dodged back to the left, the bright sphere following him. He slashed at it with his whip, but it did nothing to the purely energy attack. That split second cost him, though, and the ball sped up to connect with his chest in an explosion that tossed the demon out of the ring.

Kurama lay on the sawdust floor for a moment before propping himself up on one of his elbows. Looking over to where Yusuke was still standing, he grinned wryly. "Well, I didn't know you could do that." He said, standing up slowly. Yusuke grinned back.

"Yep. I've been trying to do what that kid did at the tournament." He replied with a smug look.

I perked up at the mention of a tournament. Had they been in the previous Dark Tournament? I could recall my own participation in the Tournament, almost a thousand years ago now, and the team of five we'd had. There had been me, an ice demon named Toya, a shape-shifting earth spirit with a dual personality named Shiki or Hyaku, depending on which one he was, Kugo the always cheerful (and mischievous) fire demon, and Niseka, the cunning black kitsune healer of the group. All of us had been closer than siblings; after ten years together, we knew each other as well as we knew ourselves. We had been the champions for a decade running and were trying for our eleventh year, against the other final eight teams. One of those teams had had two young up-and-coming demons with exceptional powers. It was mainly by my adaptation powers and a broad streak of luck that we managed to defeat them at all. They had stuck around, though, to watch us to the end, where we narrowly beat the last team to become the champions again. Afterwards, they came to me, wanting me to teach them more about their powers and how to use them. I liked their spirit, both of them wanting to become stronger, so I consented and we spent the next two decades together, getting to know each other and me helping them to strengthen their already quite formidable powers. Finally, though, we went our separate ways, they to find their own niche in the Makai and me to begin my ascension to the Makai throne. I never saw them again, but I thought about them often. Then came the day when I had to flee my palace before someone found out about my reduced powers. I wandered around the Makai, trying to become one of the simpler demons again, but failing because of my personality and unconscious attitude.

About two years ago, I had finally heard some news concerning my previous students. They had joined up with two other demons with powers similar to their own and had risen in the ranks to become the top demons in their area. Because of their ambitions, though, the ruler of the spirit world had sealed off that part of the Makai from the Ningenkai. They had still found ways to infiltrate the human world, though, and it had become desperate enough that Koenma had had to send his spirit detectives, along with a couple of demons as back-up, to take care of the situation once and for all. After a hard trial, one of them, a fire demon, had beaten Seiryu, one of my students, and one of the humans had beaten Suzaku, my other student. A little careful investigation had revealed their identities, Hiei Jaganshi and Yusuke Urameshi. I had been a close friend of one of Koenma's assistants, the grim reaper, Botan, for a while, so I pulled a few strings and found out where they were. With a bit of time manipulation, I found out even more about how Yusuke had risen so quickly from a simple human to one of the most feared in the Makai, as well as the most wanted. It was during one of these trips that I actually witnessed my students' downfall. Now, though, here I was, making friends with the very same people.

A slight whistling, my only warning of what was coming, interrupted my thoughts. Almost automatically, I raised a small shield to deflect the attack and send it back the way it had come. Looking up, I glanced around at the boys staring at me. Sometime during the time I had been lost in thought, Kuwabara had woken back up and he now stood next to Yusuke, who was staring at me with a raised eyebrow and a smoking arm where the attack had hit him after reflecting. Hiei was also staring at me, but it seemed more like a glare, which, on second thought, it probably was. Then there was Kurama, or rather, whom I had to assume was Kurama. The red haired, green-eyed boy I knew had been replaced by a tall fox demon dressed in white with long silver hair and slanted silver eyes, a lot like my own.

A/N: Okay, that third and second to last paragraph had a ton of information that really has no correlation with this story except as background for Li, how she had known who the guys were (ish) and an intro for characters in the sequel. It also makes no sense whatsoever if you actually take the time to digest it, so I suggest you don't.

On a different note, I'd like to thank Luca4ever for the review! I hope to hear from the rest of you I know are reading this! In the meantime, I'll prepare the next chapter, 'cause I'm not mean and hold chapters hostage for reviews. Though, if you want the chapters faster, reviews seem to help with that...

Haliaetus out.