The group was in the middle of doing push-ups, when the vixen suddenly stopped and her ears twitched nervously as she stared at the forest near the dojo.
"Did you hear that?", she asked as she stood, her voice tense and worried.
"Hear what?", Kuwabara asked, confused.
As if to answer him, a moment later a shrill cry came from the forest and Sayuri dashed in that direction without hesitation, the other two demons hot on her tail. Yusuke and Kuwabara tried to run after her as well, but were quickly snatched back by Genkai, who glared at them.
"And where do you think you're going, you dimwits?", the old master asked.
"Let go, old hag! Someone's in danger!", Urameshi yelled, trying to get out of her iron grip, but she tossed him on the grass like a ragdoll.
"Your training for the day is not over yet".
"But you let them go! Why not us too?".
She snorted, "Because the two of you are weaker than them, of course. And don't think they're off the hook anyway: as soon as they come back, they will get back to training and I will make sure to give them a harsh punishment for leaving without asking for permission first", she added with a scary smirk.
The boys shuddered and quickly resumed their push-ups without saying a word, but deep down they pitied their friends for the fate that awaited them. Meanwhile, the three demons were running at top speed through the greenery when another cry broke the air.
"It sounds like a female", Hiei said.
Kurama gritted his teeth, "It sounds like a child", he replied as his eyes darkened with worry.
They soon reached the source of the sound: it was a little girl, she looked to be four years old at most and she was running for dear life as a huge purple-skinned oni with three spiraling horns on his head chased her.
"Come here, little human", the monster laughed, licking his yellow fangs, "I'm sure you'll be a delicious meal", he reached out to grab her with a clawed hand...
And suddenly, a vine wrapped around his arm, stopping him from reaching his prey just in time.
"Don't you dare touch this kit!", Sayuri seethed, landing between the leaf and the oni, her delicate face twisted with unbridled fury.
The monster just laughed in her face, "Or what, uh? Do you think I'm afraid of a delicate little thing like you?".
She smirked dangerously, "Of me? No. But you should be afraid of him".
A second later, there was a flash of light and the oni was sliced into a dozen pieces by Hiei's sword before he could even realize it, just like it had happened to Seiryu months ago, the bits scattering around on the grass like a grotesque bloody puzzle.
The fire demon grimaced at the sticky black blood staining the blade, "Ugh, this is disgusting", he grumbled as he tried his best to clean it on the grass.
Kurama sighed, "The only thing that matters is that the child is safe", he said and gestured for his sister to take care of the little girl, who was curled up in a ball sobbing her heart out and shivering like a leaf in the wind.
Sayuri nodded and kneeled next to the child, "Hey there, sweetie", she cooed softly, "It's okay, you're safe now. Come on, don't cry, it's okay, we're here to help you".
The little girl peeked through her fingers hesitantly, "Really?", she asked, sniffling, a tear trailing down her chubby cheek as her big black eyes looked up at the stranger in front of her.
"Really, I swear, the bad monster is gone now. My friend here sent him away", the vixen added, gesturing to Hiei as he sheathed his sword.
"Okay", the child lowered her hands from her face and shot Hiei a small shy smile, "Thank you, mister. You're a hero".
He crossed his arms on his chest and turned his head in a fruitless attempt to hide the faint pink on his cheeks, "Hn. Whatever", he muttered with a shrug as if he didn't give a damn, but hearing those simple words spoken with such honest gratitude warmed his heart through and through: it was the first time in his life that anyone called him a hero and if he were to be completely honest with himself, he kind of liked the sound of it.
"Uh? Are you mad, mister?".
"Don't worry, honey, he's just a bit shy and doesn't like talking much", the vixen said with a giggle as she noticed the blush on Hiei's face.
The child let out an 'oooh' and nodded in understanding, "Okay. Are you a kitty, lady?", she then asked, pointing at the woman's ears.
"No, I'm a vixen. A female fox".
"Oooh. Your ears are pretty!".
Sayuri nearly died from the cuteness, "Aaaaww, thank you, sweetheart", she cooed, placing a kiss on the girl's hair, "Now, are you hurt?".
The child bit her lower lip and showed the older female her hands and knees, they were bruised and scraped and bloodied.
"Poor kit", Sayuri stroked her head tenderly, "It's okay, now I will do a magic trick and your boo-boos will disappear".
The child's face lightened up, "Really?".
"Yep, watch this", the vixen placed her hands on the injuries and poured her energy into them, the ruined skin healing slowly until it was once more intact and a healthy rosy hue, "Ta-daaa!".
"Wow! Thank you, pretty fox lady!", the little girl cheered and without warning, she threw her arms around Sayuri's neck and hugged her tightly.
"You're most welcome, darling. Where are your parents? Are they nearby?".
"I dunno: I was looking for nice flowers to gift my mommy, but then that scary monster came and wanted to eat me and-and…", tears once again filled her eyes and the vixen placed her in her lap and cuddled her.
"Ssshhh, it's okay, the monster is gone and you're safe, don't cry, honey, it's all right".
Kurama kneeled next to them and shot the child a warm, reassuring smile, "My sister is right, little one, you're safe now".
The little girl looked at him and blushed scarlet, "So pretty…", she breathed with a dreamy look in her eyes, "Are you a prince?".
Sayuri arched an eyebrow, amused: it was clear as day that the child had a crush on her brother and she would totally use it as teasing material at some point.
For his part, Kurama chuckled softly, "Sadly no, I'm no prince, but thank you all the same. You're a very pretty lady yourself", he said, making the child beamed happily, then he retrieved a seed from his pocket and grew it into a beautiful blue flower with petals streaked with purple, "Here, this flower is for you, my lady", he added, his free hand brushing over the petals so fast that no untrained human eye could have noticed the movement.
"Thank you, mister!", the little girl took the flower with a huge smile, not noticing the thin layer of dust on the centre and sniffed at it, only to fall into a deep sleep a couple of seconds later.
"Ah, the good old Gallowbrush dust", the vixen commented, recognizing the grayish powder on the petals, "Wise choice, Rara".
Hiei arched an eyebrow, curious, "What is it?".
"It's a powder made of crushed Gallowbrush roots, a very powerful sleeping drug. It never fails: one sniff and you're out like a light", she answered, "It's a rare plant native of a desert area of Demon World, Rara and I discovered it more or less five centuries ago during a treasure hunt".
"Hopefully, when the child wakes up, she will think it was all a dream", her brother said, then turned to Hiei, "The two of you should go back to the dojo. I will search for her family and leave her nearby, so they will find her and think she simply fell and hit her head while walking".
"What about the corpse?", Hiei asked, frowning at the bloody remains on the grass.
"I got it", Sayuri took a seed from her satchel and it grew into a big carnivorous plant that didn't waste time in eating the corpse.
"Hn. This doesn't do anything for the blood", he noted.
"No problem, I'll just make the grass grow a bit more and feed off of it", she kneeled, placing her hand on the ground and pouring a sliver of her demonic energy into it and lo and behold, the grass absorbed the blood and grew a few inches taller, "Child's play for a Yoko", she boasted with a smug smile.
Kurama chuckled, amused and glad that she was so proud of their heritage, "Well done, Yuyu. Now go, I'll join you in a few minutes".
"Okay, see you later", she pecked his cheek and ran away with the fire demon.
When they got to the dojo, they found Yusuke and Kuwabara in the middle of doing sit-ups and Genkai was standing a few feet from the border of the forest with a bone chilling smirk.
"Hiei?", Sayuri called, gulping nervously.
"What?", he replied.
"I have a feeling that we're neck deep in shit".
He shot a look at the old master and shuddered despite himself, "Yeah".
"Ah, you're back!", Genkai greeted them, "Where is Kurama?".
"He's bringing the child back to her family", the vixen answered, "There was a little human girl who was being attacked by a low-class oni".
At those words, Genkai tensed and her eyes darkened, "An oni, on my land?", she growled, enraged.
"Yeah and we have no idea where he came from, or how he managed to get so close to the dojo. Hiei killed him though, so it's okay".
"It's not okay, girl! No demon should get on my land without my permission!".
Kuwabara cleared his throat sheepishly, "Sorry to interrupt, but how did this demon get into Human World anyway?".
"As I said, he was low class, quite weak for a demon", the vixen answered, "The barrier between Human World and Demon World is flawed, it stops the higher class demons from passing, but it does nothing to stop those in D-class or weaker. And with the Dark Tournament about to take place, it's likely that more of our kind would come here: he probably came to watch the Torunament, but while he was here, he needed to eat and well…Human flesh is considered a delicacy by some of us".
The ginger paled at those words and glanced at Hiei in worry, "B-but not by you guys, right?".
The fire demon just shot him an evil grin, enjoying the fear in the poor human's eyes, but Sayuri laughed.
"Relax, none of us three has ever eaten human flesh and we never will", she said reassuringly.
"Hn. Speak for yourself, I could still do it in the future. And maybe I will start with this one", Hiei joked and she shook her head, amused.
"Stop it, you're scaring Kazuma".
Kuwabara blushed, "What! I'm not scared!", he protested, "I-I was just worried, I mean shorty here is not exactly the most reassuring guy around!", he added, causing the vixen and Yusuke to laugh out loud.
"Tsk. Scaredy cat", Hiei snickered.
Just then, Kurama joined them with a smile, "The girl is safe: I left her close to the campsite and her parents have already found her".
Sayuri smiled back, happy and relieved, "Great! Did she tell them anything?".
"She did, but when she mentioned the 'purple monster' they just dismissed her words as a dream. Also, I created a barrier of trees to block the entrance to the forest, so that no other human will be able to get in unless they come through the dojo first".
"Oh, Rara, you're a genius!", she cheered, glomping him and he laughed as he held her up.
"I didn't do anything special, Yuyu".
"You are special", she praised him, looking at him with utmost adoration.
Genkai cleared her throat, breaking the tender moment and her grin promised hell, "Since the problem has been taken care of, now you three can go back to training. And since you left without asking for permission first, you will have to balance yourself on a needle using your demonic energy, while standing upside down on the tip of your index finger, until next morning".
The vixen's face fell, "Okay, I take that back: we're not neck deep in shit. We're completely submerged in shit".
Her brother sighed, "That we are. It was worth it, though".
"Yeah".
oxoxoxoxoxo
Author note: the Gallowbrush plant is one of the many herbs mentioned in the Lone Wolf gamebooks saga written by Joe Dever. In this story it's native of Demon World because I needed a fictional sleeping herb and being a huge fan of the Lone Wolf saga, I couldn't help throwing in this little shout-out to it. For Sommerlund and for the Kai!