Still only own Akiko, Kasumi, Kiyoshi, and Takeshi. Thanks. R&R. BTW, the bit about the stream is unimportant at this point. I just wanted an opportunity to have Akiko say the first comment to Kasumi. And what is now my favorite part of each chapter to write first appears in this chapter. Thanks to all my reviewers. :)

After six weeks of training, Genkai felt that each of her four teenage students had improved a reasonable amount.

Kiyoshi could now make plants grow faster than they should have. He couldn't yet summon them or transform them into weapons, but the speed at which the plants were growing and the speed at which Kiyoshi was progressing, made her wonder if she and Koenma had underestimated the boy.

Takeshi had also progressed in the direction she had hoped. He had gone far enough with a highly charmed object—the tip of a wooden sword, the same one Kuwabara had used, in fact—that she had forced him to move on to summoning it from nothing. He couldn't keep the sword out for long, but she was still pleased with how far he had come.

As for Akiko and Kasumi, they were both on the same training program. She pushed them like she had pushed Yusuke, and eventually—after about two weeks for Akiko and four for Kasumi—they snapped. When they did, they both reached the full aura capacity their bodies could handle at the time. When this happened, she be can training them to subconsciously be able to summon that total power. Kasumi was closer to that goal than Akiko by now, but Akiko had more unused aura due to her demonic nature, so she had had farther to come. Genkai was impressed by how hard both of them trained.

Then, halfway through the seventh week, Koenma called Genkai. "I hate to do this, but I really have no choice. I need them now. Have you observed them long enough to at least choose a leader? I know they haven't really had long enough, but this mission has already been postponed for as long as it could; longer, really, than it should have been."

"Yes. I can choose a leader. Are you sure they can handle this mission?"

He looked at her for a moment before answering. "No. I am not. But there is a natural hole in the force field that refuses to disappear. At least five humans have walked through it in the one and a half weeks it's been open. I'll finish explaining when I see all of you at one o'clock this afternoon."

"Okay."

Two hours later, Koenma stood in front of the four teenagers. Soon he turned to Genkai. "Have you chosen?" She nodded. "Any questions?" he asked.

"Will our lineage…" Kasumi began slowly, "in any way affect who you chose? As in who on the last team we're connected to?"

"Not exactly." Master Genkai said. "The only part of your ancestry I took into consideration was your blood—human or demon. I did my best to be an impartial and unbiased judge."

Kasumi nodded. "Fair enough."

"Before I announce who I chose, I wish to tell you each of my evaluations, and I wish for them to be present so they can hear where they could use some improvements." Genkai said, addressing Koenma. He nodded.

"Takeshi is strong, and getting stronger every day. He has the drive to do anything and everything asked of him. He has the most passion out of anyone on the team. However, at fourteen he is the youngest and I wonder if he is mature enough to handle the responsibility. His spirit and humor are good, but I have noticed that that passion often overshadows his seriousness, making it difficult for him to concentrate." She nodded to Takeshi, smiling. He nodded in return, keeping his emotions in check, trying to display how serious he could be.

"Kiyoshi. He has probably made the most dramatic improvement of the four in the last six and a half weeks. He is also the most intelligent of the group." She nodded her approval at the boy. "However, he was the last to be truly introduced to this world and its entirety, and still has far to go before catching up to the others. Also, he is quiet and rather introverted, going along with whatever the others suggest, very rarely saying what's actually on his mind. I fear that this passive behavior would make it difficult for him to lead the others."

"Akiko is strong, and talented. Of the four, she is currently the strongest. However, her demonic nature concerns me; she has no ties to the humans in the human realm, the main focus of the team's protection. Also, she doesn't care what the team does, so long as it doesn't endanger her. If she were to become the Underworld Detective, and then leave, it would throw the team into chaos."

"Finally, Kasumi. At sixteen, she is the second oldest. She is second in overall power, however has the most variety in her attacks and defenses. She learns well, when she stops talking long enough to listen. However, the fact that she is a throwback makes me a bit nervous; I don't have any idea how her body and her mind will respond to the flood of new genetic material, should she transform. Of the few who have undergone the transformation, several went haywire. Based on family history, however, it should go off without a hitch. And, in my opinion, family statistics are more reliable than overall statistics. However, most demons feel no loyalty to humans whatsoever. But since she's human now…" Genkai sighed before continuing. "I'm sorry for this comparison, Kasumi, but I think she is like Yusuke. The only reason he ever left was his guilt and grief over Kuwabara's death. He remained loyal to Koenma, though." By now she was talking to herself, and she sighed again.

Remembering what she was supposed to be doing she then said, "Well, I deliberated and, although I know this will complicate things between you and your father, I decided to go the one they all unintentionally—almost subconsciously—rally around. Kasumi."

Koenma nodded before saying, "Now back to your last statement about Yusuke… How do you know how Yusuke feels?" He stared at her.

She stared back evenly. "He visits me. Not often, and not for long, but he once told me that."

"Why didn't you report his presence?"

"He asked me not to, and I decided to respect his wishes. I figured that seeing him every twenty-five years or so, and knowing he was safe was more important than telling you. If he finds out I told you, I doubt he'll ever stop by again. Between the three of them—who were still traveling together fifteen years ago,—there was no way you would have found them anyway, even with the tip."

Koenma nodded, understanding her reasoning. He then turned to the group. "Now for your first real mission."

He went on to say, "I wish it wasn't this difficult, this soon, but I need you to travel into the demon plane. A natural hole has occurred and it won't seal itself. Several humans have already gone through it. All of them disappeared into a forest a short distance away. They then got lost in the forest, and all of them described the same location to Botan when she escorted them through Reikai."

"We think," he continued, "that a demon is the cause of this. Many demons have disappeared there over the years, but humans were never in any danger. Also, the number of deaths has drastically increased in the last three weeks. It used to be that demons would come away from the place injured but alive, telling stories of an unseen attacker that didn't pursue if you attempted to escape. Now, it seems, anyone who comes near disappears completely."

"So here is your mission: you must ambush and kill the demon. The only information I can give you concerning him and his fortress is this: it is located in a relatively safe part of Makai, in a forest. All the defense and weaponry is plants. Kiyoshi might be a significant part of your attack, in that respect."

"Finally, Botan will accompany you to the edge of his fortress before returning to Reikai. I wish you all the best of luck."

They nodded before going to collect what they would need for the trip. As they filed out, Koenma said, "Kasumi, a word, if you please."

She walked up to him and he told her, "As the new Detective, you have a greater responsibility than the rest of the team. It is up to you to keep them together and doing what it is they are supposed to. However, although you ultimately make the final decisions, you must listen to the others as well. And you must not be bossy." He smiled. "Now go and get your things together."

She nodded. "Yes, sir." She then turned on her heel and ran to go pack.

An hour later, the group, each with a backpack, boarded a bus. Botan followed them. A while afterward, she led them off at the correct stop.

Thankfully, the area where the hole to Makai was, was sparsely populated. However, Makai in that same place looked similar, making it easy for a human lacking a sixth sense to pass through without noticing.

All five of them knew it, the moment they stepped into the demon plane. The air itself felt threatening.

Almost immediately they reached a forest. It extended farther than they could see in both directions and, according to Botan, was larger overall than the largest forest on earth. The forest itself had an aura, on that undulated between dangerous and completely unthreatening. Akiko was the only one who didn't feel threatened, knowing from experience that other parts of Makai were much, much worse. She merely hoped they would never be required to travel to those places.

Hiking through the forest, Botan told Kiyoshi not to destroy the plants. He had been, but she told him that it was better to conserve his spiritual energy, which was more difficult to regenerate than physical energy.

After six hours and four and a half miles, Botan stopped. "We are about a quarter of a mile away from the threat. We will stop here for the night. This area is safe—for Makai. However, although it is generally unthreatening, with the exception of that single demon, and we can sleep here, one person must be awake at all times. I'll do the first shift."

They ate dinner before lying down to sleep. Every hour and a half they switched shifts.

In the morning, Kasumi got up early. She went to a nearby stream she had heard during the night. Just as she was reaching towards the stream, Akiko said, "I wouldn't do that, were I you."

"And why not?"

"It could be poisonous. At least for you, if not me."

"So how can I tell?"

Akiko sighed, then began searching the riverbank for something. "Here." She handed a small read flower to Kasumi. "You're lucky there was some here; where it grows is totally erratic. It has approximately the same hardiness as the average human, and is intolerant of roughly the same things. Toss it in the water; if it doesn't shrivel up in the next thirty seconds, the water is safe. It is a great joke among demons, however, that a simple flower is as strong as most humans."

Kasumi did as Akiko suggested, ignoring the last comment, and nothing happened. She drank some of the water, washed her face, and stood up. She then found more of the flowers and collected their seeds. When they had returned to camp, she gave them to Kiyoshi, who accepted them without questioning.

They ate again and packed up their camp. They followed Botan again, this time for only about twenty minutes. "This is it," she said, "I must now leave you and return to Reikai. Goodbye and good luck." And with that, she disappeared, leaving the four teenagers alone.

Before them stood a section of forest much more menacing than the part they had traveled through. Other than the plants, it seemed to be devoid of life. Not even the demon plane-variety insects that had plagued them since they arrived seemed to live there.

It was beautiful. And deadly. A death trap of the most dangerous and elegant kind. All four of them, Takeshi and Kiyoshi and Kasumi and even Akiko, shuddered slightly at the thought of entering. But they had no choice.

Meanwhile…

Three people walked with silent footsteps through a desolate canyon, that burned from the intensity of the sun. The tallest asked, "Why must we move so often?" It was more of a groan than a question, as if knowing that hearing the answer would change nothing. As if he already knew the answer.

"Koenma would find us," the second tallest replied. "You know that."

"The first speaker spun around to face the other. "Any of the places we've stayed would have been safe. If he found us, even he wouldn't be able to get in. No one has ever been able to get in. I do a check every time we stop. Nothing has ever been taken. If someone had gotten in, they would have taken it for themselves. There is no way anyone has been in there since the last time I visited it, two hundred and thirty one years ago."

"Precaution. That's why we move. There wasn't a strong concentration of aura there when you weren't there. Someone might notice our aura if we stayed there too long. Why do you even care?"

"The more places we visit, the more deaths there will be. My defenses have a tendency to react to my presence. They were incredibly difficult for anyone but me to get through when we arrived. Now it will be nearly impossible. Any one who tries and makes one wrong move will not walk away.

The other man just shrugged.

The shortest of them interrupted impatiently, "Could you two stop talking and start moving? I don't want to be in this godforsaken ditch any longer than I have to be." The others nodded and the group continued walking.