A/N: I couldn't wait for reviews and wanted to get this posted. Again, killersmurf is no longer my pen name. You might have figured it out. So anyway. I know that Hiei doesn't master the Dragon technique until the dark tournament, but I said at the beginning of the story that this was right after the Yukina mission. It's confusing. I wrote this when I'd only seen up to the Yukina episodes, so if the dragon technique isn't quite right, then blame it on my ignorant self last summer. Enjoy, from KS01224.

Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I make any attempt to say that I have any claim on the characters and ideas of Yu Yu Hakusho. Again, don't sue me as I already have money issues.

Part Two: The Black Dragon

The Black Dragon entered the room. Yusuke looked down on him—literally. 'This guy's shorter and smaller than Hiei and he looks weaker too. He must be full of himself to wear black ninja clothes like that, cover his face so we can't see what he looks like, and call himself the Black Dragon. How do we know that this is the real Black Dragon? What if he's just some loser off the street, imitating him?'

Kuwabara seemed to be thinking along the same lines, "How do we know this is the Black Dragon? How can we tell that he's not a fake?"

Hiei replied, "Why don't you fight him and find out?"

The red-heard looked at the demon and replied, "You know shorty, I think that's a good idea. I think I will fight him."

Kurama looked at Kuwabara, Hiei, the Black Dragon and Kuwabara again. "Kuwabara, I do not think that Hiei was being serious in his suggestion. It is not necessary for you to fight— " He was interrupted by a small motion. The Black Dragon raised his arm and called Sani to him. After a few seconds, Sani flew to Koenma who relayed the message: "Sani says that the Black Dragon would be more than willing to fight you, but requests that you fight only to knock unconscious. He says that he does not want to kill you before you have a chance to lose to someone else."

"Okay shorty, we'll duke it out right here!" Kuwabara was getting angry. Koenma interrupted, "Why don't we move into a larger area so that we do not destroy anything. Shall we?" He floated out the door with Botan right behind him. Yusuke and Kuwabara quickly followed them out. Only the Black Dragon, Kurama and Hiei remained. As they followed the Black Dragon out, both of the demons were thinking hard.

'This must be a human, the ki is so weak. It is quite possible that this person is not the real dragon, but merely an imposter. If it is, Kuwabara should have little difficulty fighting him.' Kurama continued to wonder about the true identity of the small fighter. Hiei on the other hand had his mind on other things. 'So familiar…'

Aniya was cursing to herself. 'Just what does it take for me to prove that I can fight and that I'm really the Black Dragon?! I mean, how hard is it to accept that I'm short? Okay, maybe that's not the hard part…the hard part is being a girl but…'

When she had joined the Arena, she had to disguise the fact that she was a girl because there were only a few demons who would willing fight a girl. 'A waste of time,' one of them had said. Aniya had been determined to make it in the Arena though, so she started dressing completely in black, hiding her feminine features. No one could tell that she was a girl. Size didn't really matter in the Arena. Hell, wasn't there that Toguro brother Ani who was practically doll sized?

So Aniya disguised who she really was, calling herself the Black Dragon. Since that day when one of those demons had said that it was a waste of time, she had vowed on several things: one, to track that demon down and make him eat his words; two, beat the crap out of anyone who chose to fight with her; three, try to survive doing the first two things. She had pride and she wasn't going to die until that fighter realized that girls could fight just as well.

'Well, this will be good practice for me won't it? Anyway, I'll wait until I've won the fight to show them that I'm a girl. That way, only they know and it'll be more of a shock.' Aniya smiled beneath her mask, following the two human boys. 'It will be good practice for showing who I really am to that bastard who refused to fight with me six years ago.'

"Here we are! Now, Kuwabara, you can be on this side and Dragon, you can be on this side." Koenma organized the match. It took Kuwabara a couple of seconds to see something: "Hey, why I am facing you guys?" Hiei replied, "Because you're less likely to cause permanent damage if you happen to miss." Kuwabara started to yell back when Botan noticed something: "Guys, I think the Black Dragon is ready to fight!" The Black Dragon had settled into a fighting stance, prepared for what was coming.

Kuwabara got out "SPIRIT SWORD!!!!" He charged at the Black Dragon. Aniya thought as she watched his approach, 'Wow. He's really bad. It's going to be a pity that this fight won't last ten seconds.' Kuwabara yelled as he ran toward Aniya. "Shorty, today is the day that you meet Spirit Sword." Aniya laughed silently, 'Hello spirit sword.' She grabbed the sword as it reached her and used it to fling Kuwabara away. 'What's that? You have to go, so sorry. Hope you like meeting two new people: Wall and Floor.'

"Oomph!" said Kuwabara as he hit the wall. "Ugh!" he said when he hit the floor. Aniya paused. 'Oops, I think I might have flung him a little too hard. Oh well. Next person.' She turned to face the others. Raising a hand, she beckoned Yusuke forward.

"Okay, you want to fight me now? Is that it?" Yusuke looked a little worried. "Detective, don't worry. Your ugly friend was weak, you will be fine." Yusuke turned, "Thanks Hiei…I think." Over in his corner, Kuwabara mumbled, "Who you calling ugly?" before he met another friend, Unconsciousness.

 Yusuke walked forward. 'Hmm, wait to use the spirit gun.' "Why don't I start off with a SHOT GUN!!" He ran and aimed at the entire wall behind the Black Dragon. He landed and watched as the smoke started to clear away. "No one can dodge the shot gun." He heard Hiei add, "Lousy tactic, you didn't even have to aim." Yusuke laughed. "How do you like that Black Dragon?" He faced Koenma "Well, I guess the Black Dragon can't come with us." He paused because he saw Botan and Koenma staring at something in the middle of the gym. Come to think of it, Kurama and Hiei were staring at it too. 'Don't tell me…"

Aniya stood there like a rock. 'Hmm…not a bad attack. That attack though releases too much energy. Luck for me that I managed to absorb almost all of it. I'll have to keep tabs on that one. Let's see, what should I use…?' She grinned evilly, 'Why not? It almost seems too cruel…oh well.' She formed a gun with her fingers of her right hand.

Yusuke saw the Black Dragon form a gun with his right hand. "No way. I use the spirit gun!" Yusuke began to form his own spirit gun and prepared to take the stupid Dragon down. 'Okay, this Dragon is really beginning to piss me off. First he manages to escape the shot gun, then he uses the spirit gun? What the hell is up with that?'

She gathered all of the spirit energy that she had absorbed from Yusuke's shot gun and put it behind the trigger of her spirit gun. Silently she thought, 'Now children, this is how you do a real spirit gun…..SPIRIT GUN!' She watched as the energy shot out to Yusuke. 'That is a spirit gun, Yusuke style.'

Yusuke tried to run as the blast came for him. But the energy just followed him. 'Why the hell is it doing this? It's just a spirit gun. Spirit gun attacks can't change course.' Then he realized there was something strange about the spirit energy. But the energy hit him before he could realize that the energy that was following him was his own.

Aniya smiled as she walked back to the center of the gym. She looked at Kurama and Hiei. 'Which will fight next?' she wondered. 'I am very interested in fighting both of them.' She looked as Kurama asked, "Hiei would like to have the next fight, or shall I?" Hiei smirked. "You can have the next one. Those two were weak and allowed him to use their own attacks to attack them. Fighting this…creature would be a waste of my time."

Aniya froze. 'Fighting this creature would be a waste of my time…' Those words echoed in her brain as she suddenly came to the realization that it was him! She beckoned Hiei forward, eager to hurt him. She might not be allowed to kill, but by gods, she could make him wish she could. Hiei saw the Dragon beckon towards him. 'The Black Dragon wants to fight me?' "Kurama. Let this fight be mine. The Dragon seems to be insisting on it."

By this time Kuwabara and Yusuke were awake. "Hiei is going to fight the Dragon? Now the Dragon doesn't stand a chance." Kurama spoke, "I don't know about that Yusuke. The Black Dragon is well known and has amazing powers." "Shh! I want to see this!" Koenma seemed interested in the fight as well.

Hiei walked to the middle of the gym. "I suggest we raise the stakes a little. Anything goes." Aniya nodded. It didn't matter if she died. At least she would die kicking his ass. "Ready?" Aniya nodded again. Hiei ran toward her with amazing speed, but she had anticipated this and stepped out of the way just as quickly. Hiei pivoted and came at her again, this time with a fist flying. Aniya ducked and stuck out her foot, forcing Hiei to do a sumersault and land in a crouch. 'He's fast,' thought Hiei, 'but I'm faster.' He charged at her again. This time, she didn't move, but met his attack with a block. Fist, arm, block, punch, kick, kneel, flip…the attacks didn't seem to end.

By this point, all the rest of the people saw were blurred figures. "I guess they haven't decided to use weapons yet." Yusuke said. "How do you know?" "Simple, Kuwabara, if they aren't using weapons, then there is nothing for the light to reflect off of, which is what causes the flashes of light when Hiei attacks with his katana." "Oh." Then they saw flashes, "Now they're using weapons."

Hiei and Aniya both whipped out their swords. Sparks flew as the two fighters exchanged blows. Neither of them were getting any where. Hiei flipped out of immediate danger and watched as the Black Dragon did the same. "I suggest that we use power attacks now since neither of us seem to be getting anywhere." He noticed that the Black Dragon was removing some of his armor from his left arm. Hiei removed his coat and the bandages from his arm and forehead. With his jagan eye exposed, he could begin to really fight.

Aniya removed the armor from her arm. She only needed to blow on the scar in order for her powers to be activated. 'Let's see how he likes it, with me using my full powers now.' The three little scratches on her hand glowed a bright blue. The bright blue light increased and encased all of Aniya's body. She put the armor back on.

"Why is she putting the armor back on? Doesn't that mean that she's restricting the powers she uses?" Kuwabara asked. "It doesn't matter. All we need to worry about right now is Hiei's dragon wave attack." Yusuke looked at Kurama, "Why?" Kurama replied, looking at Hiei again. "If his attack works, then what will we do about the mission? Koenma seems to think that we need the Black Dragon. If his attack fails, what will he do then?" The group looked at the two fighters watched each other.

Hiei began to concentrate on his attack. Aniya was a little worried, 'What is he using? I can't sense it.' Hiei's eyes opened as he released the attack. The giant black dragon came soaring at Aniya. Aniya raised a fist and thought at it, 'Calm down, there is no need for you to be so angry.' The dragon stopped its attack. 'What you really want is to be here, be my friend. I won't hurt you. Come on, there's a good boy.' Everyone stared in amazement as the dragon settled down on the floor next to the Black Dragon. 'Good boy. It's a pity you're only a spell.' She raised her arm again and the dragon vanished. She immediately felt weak. 'Shit. That spell was strong. Almost too strong.' She tried to stay on her feet.

Hiei looked at her. 'Dammit! Where did the dragon go? The spell didn't work but it must've because it didn't consume me.' He watched with widening eyes as the Black Dragon continued to walk slowly toward him. He raised his sword as Aniya attacked him, with silver claws from her hands. Hiei was tired from the spell and couldn't keep this up much longer. Aniya twisted the sword out of his hands and before she caught it, she retracted the shining claws. As the sword landed in her hand, Hiei fell down from exhaustion.

Aniya pointed the sword at Hiei's throat. He fell back and looked at her with furious eyes. "Acknowledged. Your victory." As he stared at her, Aniya remembered that day a long time ago, the day she became the Black Dragon…

"'Scuse me, who do I fight today?"

"You want to fight? We don't let little girls fight."

"But you let little boys fight, why am I any different?"

"'Cause you're a girl. Shouldn't you be at home with your mom or something, kid?" He looked at the determined little face. 'I can't break the rules. If the kid says she wants to fight we have to. But there is a way to insure that she'll never be back.' " Okay…wait a minute." The demon running the pairing for the battles in the Arena turned on his megaphone. "Will Hiei come up here?" Turning off the megaphone, the demon turned to her and asked, "You sure you up to fighting again? I mean it looks like you're gonna take a pounding if you fight him"

Aniya squared her shoulders. "I can fight anyone! Just watch!" She looked as a short demon walked up to the area where the fighters met. The demon was dressed in all black, and demanded "Do I get a fight?"

"Yup. You're fighting Aniya."

"Aniya, who the hell is that?"

"That's me!"

Hiei looked down at the little girl that stood at his feet. She was about eight or nine, he gathered. Silver hair and crystal blue eyes were part of her adorable face. Of course, Hiei thought she should be at home, grooming that face instead of fighting. 'This is so insulting. To think that I would fight someone like it?'  He looked at the demon running the show. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope. The kid wants a fight. So, rules are rules."

"I am not fighting a weak female."

"Who are you calling weak?! Come here you bastard!" Two guard demons picked up the girl and threw her out as she yelled, "You wouldn't do that if I was a boy!!"

Hiei laughed and the last thing Aniya heard before she was chucked out in the street was "Fighting this creature would be a waste of my time." Aniya sat there outside the big gates as it started to rain. 'Whoever you are, wherever you go, I'm going to track you down and I'll show you who's weak or I'll die trying.'

Aniya returned the next day, but she disguised herself in black. Being the smart person that she was, she created a creature called Sani to talk for her. She went to a different clerk and requested a fight. She got her fight and from then on, she was known as the Black Dragon.

Hiei looked up the Black Dragon. "Who…are...you?" he said, as he began to fall asleep. Aniya looked at him sharply. Dropping the sword, she turned around, so that no one could see her face. "Who am I? You want to know who I am?" She unwrapped the black strips that had hidden her face from every person she ever fought. Removing the last of the mask, she shook out her silver her. Turning, she looked at everyone. She looked at Hiei. "I am Aniya, the Black Dragon."

Hiei stared at her in shock. 'It's…the…little…girl…from…the Arena.' He managed to say "damn" before he fell asleep. Aniya looked at the rest of the group and suddenly swayed, "His spell was powerful. Almost too powerful for me to counteract it." She looked at him one last time, counted slowly to ten, and then dropped to her knees. "..Ten. ..I win…" She smiled before she hit the ground. "Life is one big Arena battle, and I just won." With that she fell to the blackness.

The entire group was looking at Aniya with hanging jaws until Kuwabara summed it up, "So he's a she? That means…I hit a girl?!" He looked shocked at breaking his own honor code. Yusuke clapped him on the back. "Don't worry. I wouldn't call that 'hitting'. You attacked and never touched her. So it doesn't really count as fighting." "You're really asking for it, Urameshi…"

"Boys! Now is not the time!" Botan yelled at the two teenagers who looked ready to beat the crap out of each other. "We need to get Hiei and …Aniya someplace so that they can recover. You guys looked like you could use some healing as well." Koenma agreed, "You two need to get some rest. When everyone is recovered, then you have to go on this mission. While you are recovering, you can learn more about the stone and Katomi from Aniya."

Both boys groaned. "Now you're giving us homework? On a weekend? What's up with that?!" Koenma looked away, "I'm sorry boys, but this case won't be like any that you've faced yet, so you need lots of time to prepare." They grumbled some more, but followed Botan.

"Koenma sir?"

"Yes, ogre?"
"Where would you like me to put the guests?"

"Put the two boys in guest quarters. Hiei and Aniya can go in the infirmary."

"Yes, sir."

Kurama asked, "Where would you like me sir? I do not have any injuries and currently have nothing to do."

Koenma smiled, "You can go to the infirmary too." Seeing Kurama's look of surprise, he added, "I don't want Aniya and Hiei to kill each other once they wake up. I don't think we can afford to waste much more time." Kurama nodded and followed the ogres who were carrying Aniya and Hiei. Koenma smiled and rubbed his hands. "Now that that's out of the way, I can eat another sugar-coated strawberry rice cake."

* * * * *

Aniya was having troubling dreams again…

She was running to catch up to someone. She couldn't see who the person was, but she knew that she had to beat that person to wherever it was that they were running. For a while, it looked like Aniya had the lead, but then she slowly began to fall behind. Tripping, she fell flat on her face, mere paces from a glowing barrier. The other person ran through the barrier and walked up to a pedestal. On the pedestal was the Astoria stone!

"No!" Aniya shouted, and then she heard a cruel laugh. It was a laugh that Aniya had learned to hate ever since she had met the person. "Katomi, give it back!"

Katomi turned around. "You want this back? Tough luck. It's mine but you took it anyway. I warned you not to cross with me. Now you and all your friends must pay." She paused, "Oh, what's that? You don't have any friends? If you did you could have gotten the stone." Katomi turned and walked toward a shadow, "Here you are, the Astoria stone, just like you asked sir."

"Good work Katomi." The shadow turned gleaming red eyes on Aniya.  "My dear, do you realize that you could have been the one holding the stone right now if you had become friends with those people Koenma sent you to work with? They wouldn't be about to die and you wouldn't have to watch them."

"What?! Why should I care if they die?" Aniya bluffed, while she thought on the inside, 'Leave them out of this. They didn't need to get caught up in this fight.' "Your fight is with me, not them and I think it's rude that you're ignoring me!" 'There, that ought to make him leave them alone. Come on, pick a fight with me, not with them.'

"Oh really? Turn around." Aniya was forced to turn around and invisible bonds held her there. "You see this little old lady? She could have taught you many things about defeating opponents without leaving marks. But because you did not seek her help, she will die." Aniya tried to close her eyes as she watched blood seep out of the little old lady.

"Next, you see this little person?" She tried to remain impassive as she noticed it only a toddler. "He tried to help you, tried to help protect the stone by making that bargain with you. If you have just followed the bargain, he wouldn't be dieing right now." Aniya couldn't do a thing as the apparently little boy burned. 'Just pick a fight with me, not with them. They never should have interfered!'

"Here's a pretty girl. She could have helped you learn to fit into society, to mingle with humans and demons so you wouldn't be such an outcast. But you chose to kill her when you chose to ignore her." Aniya watched, 'Damn, what's the use of being the Black Dragon if I can't help people?' The girl with the blue hair slowly choked.

"Stop! Leave them alone! They didn't do anything!" The shadow laughed at Aniya's pleads. "They didn't do anything because you wouldn't let them. You thought friends were crutches, but because you chose to go after the Astoria stone on your own. Your pride and your want to be alone were your faults. Now you must face the consequences of ignoring their help." The shadow produced a spirit sword and threw it into the boy with the orange hair. The boy with the green outfit died from his own attack, as the shadow shot him with a spirit gun. A red-headed demon fell as his rose whip turned on him. The shadow looked at the last two people.

'No, don't hurt the girl. Please don't hurt the girl.' The shadow looked at Aniya. "These two could have been your greatest allies. Now, who do I kill first, the girl or the boy?" Aniya shouted at the shadow, "Kill the boy. He made fun of me, he has to pay." 'Leave the girl alone, please.' The shadow laughed. "Wrong choice. To kill the boy is to kill the girl." Aniya watched at the boy died in flames and the girl ran over to help him, and ended up dieing too.

Katomi laughed too, "You see, Aniya. That girl could have helped you make friends. Without her, you can never make friends. Pity that she had to die. The only person who can tell you how to find her is the boy! Hahahaha!" Suddenly she began to choke. "Katomi, you get to die too, because you weren't supposed to tell her that. Aniya, you see what happens to people who do things they aren't supposed to? Now I'm going to give you a choice. You can either die now, or you can die later?"

"What kind of choices are those?"

"You can either die now without friends, or you can die later, trying to fight with your friends. Either way, both you and they die….what, what was that? I don't hear an answer. I'll have to choose for you. You can…die now!" With that he released a storm of torment on her. As the shock hit her, Aniya suddenly learned all the names of the people she had just watched die. 'Gengkai…Koenma…Botan…Kuwabara…Yusuke…Kurama…Hiei…and…who was the girl?'

"You want to know who the girl is? Well I'm afraid I can't tell you that. I can tell you my name, Aniya. My name is Sukeisa."

'Sukeisa?! You bastard!'

"Sukeisa!!"

"Sukeisa!!" Aniya sat up, breathing heavily. 'Damn those dreams. They keep interfering with my life. Wish they would just go away.' Going through calming down exercises, she slowly decreased the rate of her breathing. Aniya slowly got out of bed and noticed that she was in a room that looked a bit like a hospital. 'Hell, I hate hospitals.' Her first visit hadn't been pleasant. She didn't plan on ever getting in one again. She walked over to the window that was open. 'That's funny, there must be really good security for them to leave the windows open.' Leaning out of the window, she saw the stars. 'Stars…I haven't seen stars for a while.'

She heard a footstep behind her, "Trouble sleeping?" Aniya whirled around and saw the red-haired demon. 'That's him, the one with the rose whip.' She hid her surprise and replied, "No. Is it a crime to walk around at night?" The demon hid a smile, "No, but you should be in bed, I do not think you are completely healed yet."

"Really? Then why does it seem that I'm walking around just fine? I think I'm done fixing myself." Aniya turned back to the open window and stared at the stars. Kurama looked at her, "If your well, then would you mind telling me what your dream was about? You were talking in your sleep."

Aniya jerked. 'Hmm, I never knew that. I'd better learn to put a silent spell on me first before I go to bed or I'll end up shouting everything to the world.' "That's interesting. What did I say?"

"Nothing of any signifigance, except for one thing. You seemed to be bothered by some girl. A girl with the kind face. You didn't seem to want her hurt. Who is the girl?" Kurama inquired.

Aniya laughed, "Actually, I don't really know. She's just someone that I used to dream about a lot when I was little. When I was younger, I lived on the streets. I used to have dreams that involved lots of blue and silver light. Most of the time I couldn't understand them, but by the time I was two or three, I started having dreams about this dragon person. He always told me this stupid little poem that went:

Even though I may be dead,

Sukeisa lives, his evil blood was not shed.

When the stars align in a winter sky,

His evil powers, will once again, begin to fly.

Who will help the good? Who could fight a power so wild?

Aide will come in the form of a dragon child.

She can wield the power in the stone and save you all,

But what good will she be is does fall?

Only with friends, can she let the power free,

So seven friends there will be,

Until the last minute, when it is almost too late,

Then and only then, will there be eight.

The seven will help her find the last,

Someone from her bitter past.

And without the eighth friend,

All that is good and pure will come to and end.

"Later on, when I was about four, the dragon person always showed me pictures of this girl. She looked about my age, but she was small. She had the kindest face that I ever met. In my dreams, along with the stupid poem one, I would get to see what she was doing. I got through each day, just so I could see her. She inspired me to live, in a sense. I pretended that I was the dragon child in the poem and she was the last friend. I imagined that we would be sisters and together we would defeat whoever this Sukeisa was. As I got older, I realized that I couldn't be the dragon child, and I would probably never meet the little girl who lived in the snow." She stopped, "I'm not boring you am I?" Seeing Kurama shake his head, she continued, "I've never told anyone so much about my life at once. Consider yourself lucky. I probably won't do something like this again."

Kurama smiled. "I do not mind. I know how it feels to have to tell things to people." He remembered the day that he told Yusuke his history and why he needed the forlorn mirror. "So what was so bad in this dream?"

Aniya shuddered. "This wasn't a dream. Up until Katomi took me in," she was interrupted. "Katomi took you in?" Aniya nodded. "Yup. She quote, unquote 'trained' me. Then she sent me to steal the Astoria stone. It must have come as a shock to her when she found out that not only had I stolen the stone, but I hadn't been caught. Anyway, once Katomi took me in, I still had the other dreams, but I began to have nightmares. My nightmares always dealt with me either running out of time, energy, strength or life so I couldn't reach the stone. This shadow man kept talking to me, telling me that I would never become anything good. I was discouraged, but I imagined what the little girl would think if I let him get to me. One night, he told me that I would never have any friends, and if I did, he would track them down and kill them. Of course I didn't believe him. I was about six at the time." Aniya paused and looked out at the stars.

"One day, I was walking around on this errand the Katomi had sent me to do. 'Go there and come straight back' she'd said. But I had no intention of listening to her because recently she had begun to appear in the dreams as well. I didn't like her. I was walking around and I met this little human boy. He asked if I would play with him because no one else would. I agreed and for the first time in my life, I knew what it was like to have fun. He asked if I could come and play again tomorrow and I said yes." Aniya's fists clenched, "That night, I came home and Katomi wanted to know where I'd been. I told her that I did her errand, and did it matter where I went? She sent me to bed, and later I had a nightmare about the shadow man came to me. He showed me this orb of light and inside was the little boy I had played with earlier today. He looked at me and he said, 'Didn't I tell you I would kill your friends?' He snapped his finger and in the orb, the little boy went limp. His mother ran to him and rushed him to the hospital, but he was dead.

"When I woke up, I told myself I would never have any friends because I didn't want them to get killed. That's why I joined the Arena at an early age. I wanted everyone to stay away from me and if I fought everyone, they'd either be too afraid to talk to me or they'd want to fight." She looked back at Kurama. "I nearly didn't agree to that stupid bargain of Koenma's, but he was threatening my life in the Arena. Without the Arena, I thought people would want to be my friends, I didn't want them to get hurt. I assumed I would never lose the stone, so I wouldn't have to worry. Now I have to work with people."

Looking at the floor, she finished, "The dream I had just now, it showed the seven people." She racked her brain to try and remember the names, "The shadow man showed me each of the people dieing, the seven people from the poem. Then he told me their names. Gengkai. Koenma. Botan. Kuwabara. Yusuke. Kurama. Hiei. I don't want any of those people hurt, so that's why I have to go after the stone alone. If they become my friends, then they will lead me to the dream girl who lives in the snow, and she will die. I don't want anyone else killed because of me."

Kurama looked at her. "You do not have to worry. Everyone can take care of themselves. In fact, we might be able to help you defeat this shadow man. If we eliminate him, then you don't have to worry about the ice maiden dieing."

Aniya looked at him sharply, "Ice maiden? Do you know her? Do you know her name?"

He smiled, "Her name is Yukina."

She smiled. 'Yukina. Now I know her name. But I can't let her get hurt.' "It doesn't matter what her name is. I still have to leave, to protect her, to protect the people." She started toward her bed, where she had left everything. A hand stopped her from packing.

"You shouldn't leave. We won't let Yukina or anyone you mentioned die."

Aniya looked up with hope in her eyes, "Really?" He nodded. "What's your name?"

"My name is Kurama."

Aniya was happy. 'I have a friend, I know the name of the dream girl and I kicked the ass of that short know-it-all who pissed me off six years ago. Life is good.'

A/N: Sorry about the stuff at the beginning. Oh, and word of advise, if you're reading this for the first time: try not to focus on having all the details match the poem exactly because you will get very confused, right about chapter 15 or so. Nijert! KS01224