Okay, guys... I am SO sorry! I've been going through a lot and just couldn't find any inspiration for it. BUT I DIDN'T ABANDON YOU! I really hope this chapter makes the wait worth it.

They sat around the living room, watching the girl walk up the stairs.

"She's nice." Kuwabara broke the silence, leaning back in his seat on the couch. Genkai continued to sip her tea, while Yukina and Botan nodded. The boys all looked at him. "What? She is."

"We're not disagreeing with you. It's just that we don't know her." Kurama carefully crossed his legs. "We can all tell that she's a demon, but we have no idea what she's capable of. All we know is that she can put Hiei in a compromising position in less than a second."

Hiei scoffed, looking out the window from his place leaning against the wall. Kurama held back a smile at being able to get under his skin so easily.

"That's not fair, Kurama. She's been abused." Botan frowned. She liked Suteki. She doubted that the little wisp of a woman could hurt a fly.

"We don't know that. We don't know how long she was with that guy. She could've just gotten there when we walked in." Yusuke looked unsure about what he was saying, but it was plausible. "I mean, you guys had documents about all of the other slaves, and what you didn't have, dude's records did. She wasn't anywhere. It was like she didn't exist."

"Koenma's working on that. He's trying to get Enma's permission to look through life files so he can find her." Botan defended her.

"That could take years. I'll talk to her tomorrow. Now all of you dimwits go to bed." Genkai snapped, finally annoyed with the back at forth. She set her teacup down and stood, heading to her bedroom and hinting strongly that the others should do the same. Reluctantly, they complied.

I woke up to light filtered through the window, dancing across the blankets covering me. Looking out the window, I noticed it was still relatively early. So I swung my legs off the bed, and quickly dressed in another baggy kimono before the chill could hit my bare body. This one was a dark blue, very simple, but the fabric shimmered when it moved. It would've been beautiful on someone that had the right dimensions, but once again I just looked like a child that had gotten into her mother's clothes. When I was tying the knot, I noticed that my hands were stiff. I popped my knuckles and reflected that I hadn't signed this much in years.

I walked to the bathroom and changed my bandages, cringing at the yellow and red stains that had soaked through. A gurgled hiss managed to seep past my lips when I globed the ointment on.

After I had finished, and thoroughly washed my hands, I headed out my bedroom and started down the stairs. Peeking around the corner, I noticed the only light that was on was in the kitchen. I glanced around the living room and saw a notepad and pencil sitting on the coffee table. My hands twitched. Maybe it would be good to give them a rest. I snatched it up and crept in the kitchen. I noticed Kurama was sitting at the table, reading what I think was a newspaper and drinking something.

He heard my footsteps and greeted me with a smile. I nodded my head in response and sat down, opening the notepad. I started drawing swirls, looking out the window absent-mindedly. I wanted to go into the woods today, but I didn't know if there were rules about that.

"You may go outside, if you wish." Kurama's voice startled me.

Was Hiei already awake? Kurama answered my unspoken question with a smile and nodded. I smiled back, standing. I took the notepad and pencil with me.

Soon I was out the door and in the woods. I took a deep breath, noting that the rattling had already subsided to a loud hiss. I found a clearing and sat in the middle. Emptying my hands, I buried them in the grass around me. Dew still clumped the crisp blades together.

Dirt wedged its way under my fingernails, and finally I made the connection I so desperately craved. It wasn't long after I was born that I knew my power. It wasn't much, but I could make a connection with the surrounding areas so long as I could touch the soil.

A small group of deer were grazing in a field on the other side of her temple, I could hear the branch falling that startled them. A flower was blooming fifty yards left of the path leading up to the temple, the delicate fragrance tickled the tip of my nose. Finally I came across something interesting. A dark figure perched in a tree. I could feel the wind brushing through the hair on the back of his neck. Everything in Genkai's territory was in my reach.

I blocked my knowledge of the goings-on of the house, deeming it inappropriate and an invasion of privacy. Instead I just melded with the earth, relaxing completely.

Her mind was unreadable. I was just keeping tabs in the back of my mind, when all of a sudden all I could make out was a blinding light. A taste filled the back of my throat, a mix of sharp green, bark, and earth. My eardrums felt like they were about to burst with the sound that flooded through them. I had to shove out of her mind and cut all ties before I was overwhelmed.

What on earth was she doing?

I stood and started my way through the trees to the place she had went in the woods. When I reached her she was just sitting. Her calloused hands were buried in soil, her eyes closed. I didn't understand what she was doing. The dark blue of her kimono glittered in the mottled light through the canopy of leaves.

There was only one explanation to what was happening. She knew that I was in her mind and she had issued an assault. This was unacceptable. I jumped down in front of her. She was apparently startled that I had figured out her attack. Her eyes jolted open and her hands pulled from the dirt and went to cover her face. She was terrified.

She had every right to be.

"Did you think you could attack me and get away with it?" I stared down at her, eyebrows knitted together in anger. I drew my blade but then felt her brush gently against my mind.

'I wasn't attacking! I thought you broke the connection as soon as I stepped outside.' This was the first time it was her actual voice in my mind, instead of just signs translated. It was a soft voice, terrified at first but then calmer when my katana hesitantly lowered.

"What were you doing?" I kept my glare on her, silently reviling at the feeling of being so obviously dominate.

'I can show you, if you'd like.' She gestured for me to sit down. I scoffed, but sheathed my katana and obliged. It wasn't as if this puny girl could hurt me, even if my guard was lowered. Yesterday had been a fluke. 'You have to stay calm, or it will overwhelm you.'

I felt her mind completely relax into mine, resisting nothing, as her fingers dug back into the soil. I so easily could've stolen every single memory she owned, or made it so she couldn't remember how to breathe. I could've killed her right then. But instead I just watched her. Her eyes slid shut again and her thin shoulders slumped slightly.

I began to feel what she felt. It was hard not to tense, remembering what happened last time, but I stayed calm. She felt as though she was a part of the earth and everything interacting with it. The taste returned to the back of my throat, but this time it was pleasant. The sounds came back as well, but with her filtering them more carefully they were not overwhelming. She shifted to the outside of the house where I could feel footsteps vibrating the ground. She slowly pulled away from my mind, till only enough of a connection was left that I could sense her public thoughts but nothing else, and opened her eyes.

Abruptly, I stood. The taste of crisp grass was still tickling my tongue so I spit on the ground. I saw her wince, but she stood as well.

As she was walking in front of me towards the group that was headed to the training grounds, I tried to probe her mind to find out more about any powers she was hiding. She stopped harshly and turned to look at me. I caught a look similar to the one she gave me while she had her hands around my throat yesterday, and returned the look with my own withering glare. Her gaze softened, but didn't bow as expected, before she turned back around and continued walking.

Stupid girl.

Good? Horrible? Eh? I'm not going to lie, it might be a while before the next update, but it shouldn't take as long as this one did. I hope it's adequately long enough. In the next chapter Genkai will talk to Suteki, and we'll maybe get to see some fighting going on. Tell me what you think! (Again, thank you so much for sticking with me!)