Four chapters in four days! Is the world ending or something?

I don't really have much to say about this chapter... It doesn't really progress the story very much, but it goes into how Ashton and Kilala came to know each other, and I thought that was necessary to the story. So that's what this chapter is, and I'm happy with how it turned out

Also, I've recently been debating writing either a prequel or a sequel to this story, or maybe even both. I haven't completely made up my mind yet, though, but what do you guys think of that idea? Would you be interested in reading it, or not?

Yu Yu Hakusho rightfully belongs to the wonderful Yoshihiro Togashi, who, sadly, I am not. All I own are the ideas in my head and my OCs.

"My, my… You have changed quite a bit since I last saw you, Ashton," Kilala commented, gazing into the jeweled mirror she was holding in her hands. Instead of seeing her reflection as with any normal mirror, she was looking at Ashton's sleeping form, studying her old friend. A contented purr escaped from her lips, quickly turning into a giggle.

"What's so amusing?" Kilala looked up from her mirror to see her boss standing in her room's doorway. The neko smiled and sat the mirror on her bed.

"Just thinking what I'm going to do to that bitch when I get my hands on her, Merihk,"she cheerfully replied. "She's the reason that I was killed. I'm not going to let her ending be nearly as quick as mine was." Merihk watched the girl through narrowed golden eyes.

"You can do whatever you want to her just as long as she stays alive. If our plans are to succeed, she must not be killed," he finally said. He turned and left the room, and Kilala picked her mirror up again. A scowl found its way to her face as she continued to watch Ashton. She remembered being brought back to life by Merihk, pledging herself to him and everything that he did. Currently, their plans centered around capturing Ashton and the things they could do once she was in their possession. With the idea of revenge fresh in her mind, Kilala couldn't help thinking back to the day on which she'd died.

A runaway from a wealthy ice kingdom in the most secluded northern area of the Demon World, Ashton had taken refuge in a small village in one of the World's many forests as a child. It was there that she'd been befriended by Kilala. The two had been close, doing everything together. In their early teens, they'd aspired to one day be just like Youko Kurama, going so far as to try to attain his legendary status. It was after one of their thefts that Kilala had been attacked and killed by the wolf pack, who'd wanted revenge after they'd discovered they'd been robbed of a valuable artifact by the two. Ashton had the artifact in her possession at the time and had left, claiming she was going to hide it away and then return to help Kilala.

She never came back. Kilala died that fall morning lying beneath an ancient tree in the forest, her glassy eyes staring up at the sky even though she could no longer see it, and Ashton disappeared from the village. She took with her every valuable piece that she and Kilala had take possession of in the weeks prior. Before leaving, she set fire to the cottage she'd come to call her home. All that was left was a pile of ashes. It was almost as if she'd never been there at all.

Kilala was dead for nearly three years before she was resurrected. In the first few weeks after she'd been brought back, she hadn't trusted Merihk at all, having vowed to kill him as soon as she regained all of her strength. Upon discovering that they shared a common goal, though, she'd slowly let herself come to trust him.

Eleven years had passed before she'd begun to search for Ashton again. She'd acquired her mirror around that time, the one that allowed her to look through distances to see whoever it was that she was searching for. Seven months after her search started, Ashton's image had finally showed in the mirror. Since then, Kilala and Merihk were careful to keep a close eye on her, lest she slip away from them again. For five months, they'd been watching her, waiting for the perfect moment to make their first move against her. Kilala could sense that the time was fast approaching.

A movement in her mirror pulled Kilala from her thoughts, and she held it closer to her, watching the scene with bated breath. The door to Ashton's bedroom had opened, and the redhead that Kilala had encountered earlier –Merihk had identified him as Kurama, one of the four members of Koenma's Spirit Detective's team– slipped into the room, a thick blanket in his arms. He gingerly walked over to Ashton's bed, taking great care not to make any sounds. He unfolded the blanket and gently placed it atop the other quilt on the bed. A tiny smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

"The nights are starting to get cool. Stay warm, Ash," the fox murmured before leaving as quietly as he'd come.

"Interesting," Kilala commented as the door in the mirror closed. A grin formed on her lips. "I have such a lovely idea…"

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Botan had taken the boys to Spirit World for a meeting with Koenma. Keiko had returned to her own home for a few days, and Madarao had taken off into the forest for what she said was going to be a self-training session. Ashton had locked herself in her room. She opened her nightstand drawer and reached inside. She pulled out a silver chain with a crystal-shaped emerald pendant. It was rumored to be a source of great power, and even if it did turn out to be powerless, it would fetch a high price at the Black Market on any day.

Ashton studied the necklace, lightly running her fingers over the crystal. Over the years, she had come to associate many emotions with the piece of jewelry. Pain, sorrow, hatred, and death were among the top. It was the last thing that she and Kilala had taken in their days as thieves nearly two decades before. She remembered the day that they'd been attacked as clearly as if it had just happened the day before. They'd been walking back to their village together when they were ambushed by the pack. Kilala had urged her to take the necklace to safety, and Ashton finally, reluctantly, agreed to. On her way back to help her friend, though, she had been ambushed by members of the pack that had decided to follow her. By the time they were defeated and she made it back to Kilala's side, she found that it was too late to save her friend. Kilala had been killed in the short time that she had been away.

Knowing that the villagers would blame her for the death, she'd left. Having no place to go, she traveled on her own, staying in nowhere for very long. That was how she spent most of the fourteen years between the death of her friend and meeting the people she was with now.

"She can't be back," the kitsune whispered, clenching the pendant in her fist. After a minute, she dropped it back into the drawer and slammed it shut. "I saw her body with my own eyes. There is no possible way that she's alive."

"Talking to yourself, my dear? I'm afraid that you always did have that terrible habit…" The voice made Ashton freeze where she was. After a long minute, she slowly turned away from the nightstand and rose from her bed. She found herself looking into the eyes of the one who'd died years before: Kilala Mitsuki.

"How are you alive?" Ashton quietly asked, staring at Kilala as if she would disappear at any given moment. The neko scowled, baring her teeth at her old friend.

"That matters not!" she snapped. She took a slight step closer to Ashton. "What matters is how I'm going to get back at you for allowing me to be killed. Maybe I'll do the same to you… Or maybe I'll go after that gorgeous redhead you've come to be so close to." Ashton blinked several times before she realized who Kilala was talking about.

"Kurama?" she asked. She glared at Kilala. "You leave him out of this! He didn't have a damn thing to do with you dying." The neko laughed before speaking.

"I must admit that you are right. It's your fault that I was killed. You abandoned me that day, but now I've returned with a vengeance." Ashton opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again when Kilala produced a small fan and a vial from the inner folds of her kimono. The container was about half full of a pink, shimmery powder.

"What… What're you planning to do with that?" Ashton asked, taking a step away from Kilala. The neko grinned and pulled the cork from the bottle with her teeth. She poured a bit of the powder into her hand.

"Don't you worry about that, my dear. Sleep well, Ashton," she purred, putting the bottle away again. She opened the fan and blew the powder at Ashton. Upon breathing it in, the edges of the kitsune's vision began to blur. She fell to her knees, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Why are you doing this, Kilala?" she asked, her voice reduced to a whisper. The girl merely laughed as her old friend hit the ground, unconscious.

And that's that! :) Thank you for reading, and please make sure to review! Reading reviews makes me feel very, very loved, and they motivate me to continue on.

Oh, and if you do bother to review, tell me who your favorite character is. It could be an OC or one of the original characters. It doesn't matter to me. I'm just curious to see what you guys like!

Much love,

Pandah