Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just my OCs.

Another day came with the sun peeking over the horizon. Vegeta was already awake before sunrise, as he was usually up at this time training. Standing outside the tent with crossed arms, he looked at the orange orb in the sky, studying it with hardened features. The wind was calmly blowing and fresh, yet the Saiyan prince felt something amiss. He had woken up to this feeling. He spent hours pondering this feeling. Every time he looked back at the tent he shared with Hiei and Kaiya he felt this feeling.

Something was wrong.

Now, Vegeta had felt this feeling before only two times. The first was when dealing with Frieza. Anytime he had to deal with the now deceased tyrant, he felt a sense of dread, but also a sense of determination. The other time he felt dread was when he was sent to the mudball he was currently standing on, and yet he still felt determination in the thought of training to fight Kakarot again. This time, he simply felt dread.

That can't be right, Vegeta mentally scolded himself. There was nothing for him to feel dread over.

He decided to go back into the tent and saw Hiei awake and hovering over his sister. She was still asleep, but tossing and turning from nightmares. That was another thing that was wrong.

Kaiya still seemed to get nightmares after she linked them in the mind scanner. Vegeta, thankfully, had none whatsoever. He had expected her to be fine as well once the truth was out, yet here she was suffering from those terrible dreams.

Hiei did not know Vegeta was awake. He had woken up to Kaiya stirring in her sleep and had not been paying attention to the prince. His main concern was Kaiya. He attempted to coax her awake, but failed numerous times as she continued to throw her weight around in the sleeping bag. When her eyes opened after a while, he sighed and pulled her into his lap, not pressuring her to talk.

Vegeta watched the two fire demons, Hiei stroking Kaiya's hair. The girl seemed to relax, but she continued to stare at a spot on the fabric floor. "I…I can't keep having this vision, Hiei," she squeaked out. "I can't keep watching Jiro attack my brother."

To say the Saiyan prince was appalled was an understatement. His sister couldn't possibly think him to be weak, yet she was now concerned about him fighting a human?

"You don't know that the attack will cause much damage," Hiei assured her. "You knew from your vision what would happen to you, but you aren't seeing more than just the attack. Anything past that, we can only guess at."

"I just don't want anyone to get hurt," Kaiya whispered as she put her arms around her legs and buried her face within to hide her tears.

Hiei sighed and placed a hand on her back. "Kaiya, it will be fine," he stated simply. "I killed Jiro before, somewhat easily. We can do it again, and, according to Bulma, the Dragon Balls won't bring him back again."

"B-but," Kaiya muttered, "what if it happens again? What if I can't get strong enough before he comes after me? Last time…last time I did fight him, and it still wasn't enough and you had to finish the battle for me."

"You will be training. I will be training. We are all training, and he is not going to win," Hiei told her with his voice filled with forceful optimism. "Jiro is a failure, Kaiya. He failed when it came to his deal with Frieza. He failed in attempting to raise you to be fit for that lifestyle. He failed in keeping you down."

"But I failed in staying alive," Kaiya reminded him. "I failed when I told you to leave me alone."

"Kaiya, enough!" Hiei shouted at her. Vegeta glared at the fire demon for making his sister cringe, but he did agree that Kaiya needed to let go of the past. That had to be what was holding her back.

Kaiya was looking at Hiei as if he had slapped her and pulled away from him. Hiei was staring at her with a stern, yet apologetic expression. He hadn't meant to yell at her. In fact, he always did his best to keep his feelings on the situation out of the discussion, but maybe that had been a mistake. He sighed in frustration, placing his hand over his eyes for a minute and taking a deep breath.

"I didn't mean to yell," he said as calmly as he could muster. "But you have to stop, Kaiya. This is nothing new. It's what you've been saying."

"But I still feel it," Kaiya admitted. "I can't make it go away. I've tried. I've used the techniques Genkai taught me. I've meditated like Vegeta taught me. I can't make the pain go away, Hiei. I just can't."

"I understand," Hiei revealed before moving over to where she was. He sat next to her and looked to their tousled sleeping bags. "Believe me, I understand. I still haven't let it go. In fact every time I hear that bastard's name, I feel rage that I didn't think I could feel save for that night."

Kaiya looked shocked, but accepted it and relaxed. "You've never said anything," she pointed out.

Hiei shook his head. "I did not want to upset you further. You seemed to be doing fine before he returned. You were not able to talk about that night, but you had accepted you weren't at fault and that anything that happened was his doing. He shows up again and we're back to square one."

Kaiya looked away in shame. Hiei was right and she knew it, but she could not understand why she couldn't let it go. "I don't know what you want me to do," Kaiya said, the hurt evident in her voice before she scoffed. "If you don't want me to talk about it anymore, then I'll just stay quiet."

"Kaiya," Hiei growled. "That's even worse and you know it."

"It doesn't matter, Hiei," Kaiya returned, telling Hiei that she was serious. "I refuse to be a burden anymore."

Hiei continue to stare at Kaiya who refused to meet his gaze. He had not expected her to shut down on him. "Kaiya, don't do this," he ordered. "I was not telling you not to confide in me. I was telling you that we need to work on this. Stop being difficult."

Kaiya's expression softened before she looked over to Hiei. The fire demon was taken aback by seeing an emotion she had never expressed before save the moment she learned Jiro was a demon hunter, distrust. She had never expressed this emotion with him before, even when they first met and simply hated each other. Kaiya had always trusted him, but now…he couldn't get over the look she was giving him.

"Hiei," she said sadly, "I already made this decision earlier. When were you going to tell me you were leaving?"

Hiei was again shocked. He hadn't been planning on telling Kaiya until the time was right. His thoughts, he believed, were well guarded. The only one who knew other than him, Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuronue was Vegeta, and he had just told him hours earlier while Kaiya was out of earshot.

"You only thought I was out of earshot," Kaiya explained having read his thoughts. "You were keeping this from me for a long time, Hiei. You lied to me."

"I didn't exactly lie," Hiei countered. "I just didn't tell you what was going on."

"Like Jiro," Kaiya jabbed, her voice ringing with muted anger. "You of all people should know how I feel about being misled and kept in the dark. Did I not prove that I was worthy of your trust? That I was trustworthy enough in keeping your secrets? Do you think so little of me?"

"We got closer," Hiei stated as his defense. Kaiya looked at him like he had grown three heads in addition to those three eyes of his. His argument didn't make any sense to her. "I do not want to leave you. If it were up to me, I would bring you…but there are many in Mukuro's stronghold that would come after you for having human blood. Yusuke has become a political icon before you use that as a comparison, but you would be at risk. I refuse to take you from one hell and bring you to another."

"What does that have to do with you not telling me?" Kaiya sneered. "It's just an excuse."

"It's not just an excuse!" Hiei responded with anger as he stood up. "You have no idea, Kaiya! No damn clue, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" Kaiya said with equal force, standing to meet his eye.

"I don't want to leave you with Jiro," Hiei stated again. "I don't want to fight in the damn tournament because that means having to leave you. I don't know how long it will be until I come back. We got closer, and I did not want to say anything to interfere with that. If I had told you, me leaving would be real, to both me and you."

Kaiya still didn't understand, but she let Hiei's words sink in, finally, and then understanding washed over her with the sounds of the ocean waves. "You don't know if you're coming back," Kaiya whispered.

Vegeta, still listening in, narrowed his eyes at the couple. Hiei hadn't mentioned that part to him earlier.

"Yes and no," Hiei answered, confusing both the Saiyan prince and princess.

"Hiei," Kaiya huffed in frustration, "I don't understand. Will you please just be direct for once? I can't take being talked in circles."

"There was a policy last time," Hiei began, "where the losers of the tournament had to act as border patrol agents and deal with the humans who stumbled into Demon World. I worked that post for a long time, and returned briefly when you and the girls came to Genkai's. It was the reason I disappeared so much. When you returned from your break, and I came back before Mayonaka showed up, the reason I acted how I did was because I was freed from my post. Free to be with you." Kaiya tilted her head in confusion before Hiei took her hand. "I am not going to win, Kaiya, because there are still strides we need to make in our training before we can beat the current ruler. Most likely he will win again and everything will be fine. The only reason I am even going to this is because Mukuro would have my head if I didn't show up, again for political measures, and because Koenma has ordered it."

"Wait, Koenma…he ordered you guys to fight?" Kaiya asked. "I thought he wanted to keep us from fighting in these types of things because of the past."

"Koenma didn't want me to fight," Hiei admitted, "because unlike you and the others, he still sees me as a thief and criminal who wants to wreak havoc on the human realm."

"Oh?" Kaiya replied shyly. "Why? And if he didn't want you to fight, then why are you being forced to go?"

"I had to convince him to keep someone else from fighting a bunch of demons, who would rip her apart for being part human, and now for being of another planet," he finally told her.

Kaiya didn't know what to say. Hiei was not one to be forced into something he didn't want to do. The Dark Tournament had been an exception, but everything else he did in his own time table. He hadn't wanted to tell her for many reasons, including the fact that he desperately didn't want to go. It made sense to her now. If he left her unprotected and abandoned her when she needed him, just as they were getting closer, it would hurt her. If he hadn't taken her place, she would have gotten hurt. Either way, it was a lose-lose for both of them, and Hiei did not want her to know the kind of position they were both in.

"Can I talk to Koenma?" she asked Hiei.

"For what?" Hiei questioned.

"Well, first, I want to tell him I'm unhappy that he tried to control me, putting you in this position," she started. "And then I want to punch him in the face for separating us for who knows how long. Then I'm going to politely ask him to make it up to me."

"Make it up to you how?" Hiei asked, suspicious of his girlfriend's change in demeanor.

"Well," she breathed out, "I don't think it's fair that he can mess with our lives and put us in the position to kill to protect the Human World, but he doesn't allow us to protect ourselves from humans without punishment." Hiei and Vegeta were both watching her, though they had no idea that Vegeta was listening in. "I'm going to ask, no demand, that none of us, demon, human, or Saiyan, will be punished for anything that happens to Jiro. He has no right to put us in danger and then leave any of us unprotected from him. I'm done with this."

Hiei smirked at Kaiya, chuckling at her attitude. It had been a long time since he had seen her this fiery. The girl killed by Jiro was gone, and Kaiya somehow managed to get herself back, or at least he hoped so. Hiei didn't know how long it would last, but the fact that she was starting to fight back made him feel a little better about leaving her. "Good to have you back, onna."

Kaiya smiled at Hiei before motioning to their sleeping bags, and as she moved, Hiei grabbed her wrist stopping her. "Still," he said, "it doesn't explain the immediate change in attitude in regards to killing Jiro. Are you sure you're all right?"

Kaiya placed her hand on top of his and looked at him seriously. "It was never about what you think," Kaiya muttered. "I wasn't trying to protect him. After I found out about Vegeta and the whole blood experiment thing, Koenma wanted to speak to me."

"Why?" Hiei growled before Kaiya's serious expression told him all he needed to know. "The idiot told him, didn't he?"

"In Kuwabara's defense," Kaiya said with raised hands, "Koenma would have found out about all of this eventually."

"Not likely," Hiei grumbled. "So, what did the brat want?"

Kaiya frowned and looked away. "Um, don't tell Vegeta this," she whispered causing Vegeta to crouch closer. What didn't his sister want him to know? "Koenma wanted to see me to remind me of the rules. Just because I come from a warrior race doesn't mean that I can kill a human, even in self-defense. Then he proceeded to tell me that he'd feel better if he held any existing Saiyans to the same standards. In so many words, he pretty much said if you, me, any demons we know, or any Saiyans meaning Vegeta, and even Kakarot, were to kill Jiro to defend me, they'd be placed in Spirit World jail for an extended period of time, and I'm sorry, but I'm NOT losing any of you because of him."

Vegeta clenched his fists and shook with anger at the thought of his sister being given an ultimatum like that by some…whatever…and that this person thought he could hold power over him, the Prince of Saiyans. It was not only insulting, but misguided. It was obvious to Vegeta that this "boss" of the spirit detective team didn't seem to care about the wellbeing of his team. "Hiei?" Kaiya's voice rang, piercing through his thoughts. "Say something."

"I have always hated Spirit World," Hiei stated calmly, "and the only reason I assisted on cases with Yusuke was because that was my punishment for crimes against them. I no longer work for Spirit World, but since we are still a team, that idiot thinks that Kurama and I are still his to command. Truth is we've only put up with it to get inside information and continue to protect the balance between the three worlds. He now has crossed a line that I cannot accept. If he does not accept your terms, then deity or not he will meet my blade in the most unpleasant fashion."

"Tell me how you really feel," Kaiya joked cautiously. "Anyways, I'm sure he'll listen to me. He's already put us in difficult positions, and now it's interfering with both of our security. Hopefully by the time you get back, I can deliver good news that you guys can take Jiro out." Kaiya lied down after releasing herself from Hiei's grip. Still, the fire demon did not take his eyes off of her. "What?" she asked awkwardly, feeling strange being under his forceful stare.

"I thought it would hurt you if I killed him again," he admitted.

Kaiya shook her head. "Hiei, it was never about that," she explained again. "I didn't want anyone getting in trouble because I can't defend myself. I can't bring myself to fight him, but I want to. I can't stand the thought of him hurting someone else, you know?" Hiei gave a stiff nod in response. "I wanted to avoid having to fight him as much as I could, but it's getting worse. I mean, he attacked a child…a kid that has nothing to do with his animosity towards me. I found out that he helped a guy who endangered planets and people for a living…not to mention suggested the destruction of Planet Vegeta. And now my visions are telling me he wants to go after Vegeta. He…he can't get away with this."

Hiei said nothing after she whispered her last statement. Instead, he pulled her closer to him in their sleeping bags so that he was hugging her from behind. "Get some rest, Kaiya," he ordered. "Enjoy our trip and then, when we get back, we'll train. We'll work on everything up to and including the animosity you feel when fighting family. We can get through this together. You don't have to take this on alone, no matter what Koenma says, and especially not what Jiro says."

Vegeta nodded from his spot before making his presence known to the two fire wielders. Kaiya paled, but Hiei didn't seem to mind Vegeta overhearing. "V-V-Vegeta," Kaiya stuttered nervously. "What are you-?"

"Don't worry about this fool's orders," Vegeta growled. "He holds no power over us. We are Saiyan royalty after all. Make sure he understands that."

Kaiya gave an affirmative shake of her head as she grinned up at him. "I will, Geta. No one else is going to mess with our lives."

Vegeta smirked at his younger sister, happy with her change in attitude. He had been slightly concerned by her lack of Saiyan fighting spirit, but it seemed to him now that she just needed a push in the right direction. This also made him accept Hiei a bit more seeing as he was the one who incited this change in Kaiya's demeanor. Now that she was ready for a fight, maybe training her would be easier as well.

Bulma was at home reading a science magazine in attempts to find new ideas to improve her inventions. While reading she came across a picture of Dr. Gero and rolled her eyes. The man didn't look all that tough, but then she remembered that he was going to be the one to create the androids that would be going after her friends. She closed the magazine and threw it across the lawn just as Kaiya's SUV pulled up. She had almost forgotten that it was already the end of the weekend.

Kaiya got out and picked up the magazine. "Bulma, whatever is in this magazine that upset you is no reason to litter," she said kindly. "It would be bad in the wind blew it away and it got into the ocean."

"Sorry, kid," Bulma teased, not yet knowing Kaiya hated being called a kid. Vegeta was surprised that Kaiya didn't get as angry with Bulma as she did with him when he called her that. "So how was camping?"

Kaiya frowned for a second before she uttered, "Interesting," as Hiei said, "Stupid," and Vegeta said, "Boring." Bulma chuckled, not noticing the tension among them before getting up from her chair and stretching.

"That's nice," she replied jokingly. "Now, what are you guys in the mood for tonight? My parents are out so we have the whole place to ourselves."

"What about the idiot?" Hiei asked bitterly.

"Oh," Bulma muttered, looking away from the group, although Vegeta thought he caught the hint of a frown. "Yamcha moved out yesterday. No big deal."

Kaiya could hear the sadness in her tone and ignored her boyfriend's, "Good riddance."

"Are you okay, Bulma?" she asked quietly. "Did something happen?"

"It's not important, Kaiya," Bulma lied. "Just let me know what you guys want me to order, okay?"

Bulma went inside to go through take out menus when Kaiya sighed and went to the car with Hiei to unload. "What's the matter?" Hiei asked her.

"I think something happened that made Bulma upset, but she probably doesn't want to talk about it," Kaiya told him.

"Don't worry about it," Hiei muttered. "You have your own problems to worry about. They must just be having another one of their fights."

"I guess you're right," Kaiya replied before smiling. "Now come on. I want to get the car unpacked quickly. I'm getting hungry."

Vegeta had gone into the compound and found Bulma in the kitchen. She heard his footsteps, but didn't know who it was. "So what did you guys decide on?" she asked. When she got no reply, she turned around to see Vegeta standing right in front of her. She nearly fell backwards, letting out a small yelp as she managed to grasp onto the table. "Vegeta, don't do that!" she scolded. "What do you want?"

Vegeta smirked at her before saying, "My hope was to torment the poor fool who resides here, but you will do just fine."

"Vegeta, I'm not in the mood for this," Bulma grumbled before he took the menus away from her. "Hey! Give those back or you don't get food!"

Vegeta chuckled, knowing that the woman wouldn't keep food away from them, especially his sister. "Did he get bored with you already?" Vegeta asked. "About time. If I had to see his face around here anymore, I would have rearranged it."

"Vegeta, shut up," Bulma muttered before crossing her arms and turning away from him. She was not one to cry, but even she felt bad about why Yamcha left and how they got into yet another fight.

Vegeta frowned and glared at the woman in front of him. She was not fighting back like she usually did when he mercilessly teased her, and that irritated him more than hearing her shrill voice. "What's wrong with you?" he asked her angrily.

"What's wrong with me?" Bulma nearly screamed. "What's wrong with you, oh mighty Prince of Saiyans? I just want to eat and get through this night. I don't want to talk, and I don't want to deal with your attitude, so tell me simply what you want to eat and then leave me alone!"

Vegeta was taken aback by Bulma's attitude. He had never once seen her acting like this since he moved into the compound. He heard the laughs of his sister as she and Hiei were coming in with a bunch of their stuff before he said, "Pizza. Kaiya likes it."

"Fine," Bulma retorted before picking up the phone to dial. As she leaned against the counter, she glared at Vegeta once more before waving him off. Vegeta scoffed, not liking being ordered around by a weak female. Instead, he decided to lean against the doorway with his arms crossed, glaring back at her with equal, if not more force.

"Yes, I'd like to order about two dozen pizzas and ten orders of garlic bread," Bulma said into the phone as she stuck her tongue out at Vegeta.

Vegeta rolled his eyes before flashing Bulma the finger. "Yeah, just charge it," Bulma said with a sarcastic tone as she returned Vegeta's gesture. That caused Vegeta to smirk victoriously as he finally brought out the woman's fight. He started walking over to her as Bulma hung up the phone. "I loathe you," she said half-heartedly.

"The feeling is mutual, wench," Vegeta teased before disappearing in a flash.

"Jerk," Bulma muttered, still not feeling any better about her current situation.

It was tense that night as the four of them ate, but even more tense in the morning when Kaiya had to say goodbye to Hiei. He was going to train with the others for the tournament and, later, Botan was going to get her to bring her to Spirit World. She was going to deal with Koenma today whether he wanted to see her or not.

Vegeta woke up late, having been up the majority of the night after having a nightmare. He wasn't sure why he had had such a bizarre dream regarding Frieza, him, and his sister. The evidence that it had been a bad dream littered the room since the majority of his borrowed furniture was fried by ki blasts. He leaned back and recounted bits and pieces from the dream.

Their ages were their current ages, and Frieza, who was now officially dead, had Kaiya in his clutches with one hand choking her and the other aimed at her heart, much like it had been when he had killed Vegeta. Frieza was taunting him with the fact that he held his sister's life in his hands. Obviously there was nothing Frieza could do to her now that he was nothing but nutrients for dirt, but still the dream left Vegeta feeling wary. It made him worried about Kaiya being alone on her own. Until she was properly trained, he would have to keep tabs on her.

Speaking of which, she was outside and alone now. This made Vegeta blast out of bed and into the yard, searching for her position. Her energy felt slightly weak and wavering, but he eventually pinpointed it to the gravity room. He grew concerned, wondering if she had known to reset the gravity level before turning the machine on and quickly raced into the GR.

He found Kaiya on her hands and knees, shaking every few seconds from the intense pull she was feeling. Vegeta turned off the gravity levels making the girl relax and lie down on the cold metal floor.

"Thank God," she breathed out. She looked up to her furious brother before smiling sweetly. "Hi Geta. Thanks for turning that off."

"What were you thinking?" he yelled. "Do you not know anything about this room? I train on a much higher gravity than you do! You need to reset the gravity levels before you turn on this blasted machine!"

"I'm sorry, Vegeta," Kaiya said, her face falling when Vegeta started yelling at her.

"You shouldn't even be outside by yourself! It's like asking the enemy to come after you! Don't you know that?"

Vegeta hadn't meant to go off on her and stopped speaking when he saw the tears forming in her eyes. "I...I'm sorry," she said again. "I just wanted to do some training on my own."

Vegeta sighed in frustration. "Look," he growled out, "you need to be more careful with your life for now. You aren't that well trained, and are certainly not ready to be training on your own."

"Ouch," Kaiya muttered narrowing her eyes at her brother. "Tell me how you really feel."

"It's not an insult," Vegeta told her, "just a fact. Where you have received a fair amount of training, none of it is useful for fighting. Simply learning to control your spirit energy or demon energy or whatever it is, as well as sparring does not constitute training. You need to learn your strengths and weaknesses with your own body as well as each and every move you know. The only way to train in the beginning is to have someone who can pick out such weaknesses."

"Fine," Kaiya muttered. "That what do you suggest?"

Vegeta motioned to the door. Kaiya looked at him strangely as she left the pod, her brother following close behind her. "We are going to fly to a location of my choosing, and I will be going at top speed so you better keep up."

Kaiya knew this would be a test for her. She was faster than him on the ground, but having only learned to fly only a month before left her confidence a little shaky in that department. Still, she nodded at him and followed him up into the sky as he led them to their new training field.

"So, did you get the information?" Jiro asked one of his loyal followers.

"Yes sir," the one who wished him back replied while handing him over a file. "That's all the information regarding the last tournament in Demon World, the participants, and the dropped barrier. I'm sure with your wisdom, you will be able to find the entrance."

"Kiss ass," the girl beside him muttered. "With all due respect, sir. Why would you even want to go to Demon World?"

"What is your name, girl?" Jiro asked.

"Mizuki," she replied. "Again I ask, why-"

Out of nowhere, the teenaged girl received a mild electric shock, knocking the wind from her. After taking several gasps of air, she looked up to a smirking Jiro. "Don't ask foolish questions, Mizuki," he chided. "It doesn't suit you. As for you," he directed to his male servant, "you have done well for me, Jake. You will be rewarded when the time comes. Until then, I want you two to gather as many demon hunter psychics we have on file. We're about to make our comeback, and we're going to start with the ones closest to the fighters in the tournament, especially those friends of my treacherous daughter."

Mizuki glared up at the man, but kept her opinion on what he was doing to herself. She didn't want to receive the same treatment he awarded his daughter right after feeling only a mildest hit from his abilities. No, she would obey him until she could break away. This wasn't what she signed up for when she offered up her ability to protect her young spiritually aware siblings. Unlike many in the organization, she knew that not all demons were like the ones who took their parents away from them. She only hoped that she would not be ordered to harm anyone innocent anytime soon.

Hiei was in the middle of sparring with Yusuke as Kurama and Kuronue tended to the garden. They ignored their friends' battle cries and the attacks that subtly missed the garden. Yukina and Kuwabara were watching from the porch as the ice maiden poured some lemonade into two glasses.

"Why are they fighting so hard?" Yukina asked concerned.

"They're just training, Yukina," Kuwabara stated sincerely. "Seems the shrimp has learned so really good stuff training with that Vegeta guy. His stamina is excellent. He even used the Dragon of Darkness Flame earlier and is still keeping up with Urameshi. Whatever training they're doing, it's given him an unexpected edge that no one is going to expect after last year's tournament."

"And that's a good thing?" Yukina questioned. All she could think of was her brother getting harmed by this so called training. She knew that the tournament was important as it would determine the fate of all three worlds, but she did not want her brother getting hurt in preparation for it.

"It is," Kuwabara told her. "It means your brother is going to be one of the favorites to win like last time, and this time, he'll be more prepared for the fights."

Yukina nodded, but still didn't like the idea of the tournament. She was all for Yusuke suggesting it. That was the only way that Spirit World would bring down the barrier. She knew from Kurama that the majority of the demons expected to win would keep the peace between the three worlds. Now that the peace was there, no one wanted to destroy it. Demons were no longer considered threats by Spirit World, and likewise, they were free to reside in whichever world they wanted provided they not kill humans. Thanks to human food, demons learned they could eat other things and new demon trade routes were formed to transport food and goods.

Yet there were still those who wanted to sully this unity. They were the ones Yukina worried about. Not only that, but with Kaiya's father back in the picture, the demon hunters would surely come after them once again. She didn't want Hiei to know that she feared for him, as he would probably think her silly for worrying, but Yukina was starting to stress out more and more as of late. There was something she really needed to tell her brother, or at least remind him of something regarding their race. She didn't know how well he was going to take it.

"Hello, Yukina!" Botan greeted cheerily from the roof of Genkai's compound. "AH!" she screamed as she felt off in attempts to dodge Yusuke's Spirit Gun. "Yusuke, you jerk!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry, Botan," he waved quickly, before dodging Hiei's flaming fist. He punched back hitting Hiei, but Hiei moved his head with the fist and ended up behind Yusuke hitting him with a flaming kick to the back. "Damn it, Hiei!" he shouted as he tried to stand up, but Hiei smirked and continued his onslaught. This was the first time he was going to beat Yusuke in a fight, and he wasn't going to pass on the opportunity.

"Hi, Botan," Yukina finally greeted back. "Would you like some lemonade? I can get another glass."

"Oh, thank you, dear, but no," Botan declined. "I just decided to stop by before finding Kaiya. She wanted to go speak with Koenma today." The ferry girl didn't notice the fight behind her pause. "I have no idea what she needs to discuss with him, but she didn't sound happy about it. I hope she's all right."

Botan froze before turning behind her and saw Hiei glaring up at her. "Listen to their conversation when you take her and then you tell me if you think she's all right." Hiei flash-stepped back into the yard, in another, more offensive stance than he was in previously.

"Thanks a lot for reminding him, Botan," Yusuke muttered. "I'm the one who has to deal with cranky pants over here."

"Shut up and fight, detective!" Hiei growled out before charging at his teammate.

Yusuke sighed before calling out as usual, "Tell Keiko I love her!"

"Tell her yourself," replies came from Kuwabara, Kurama, and Kuronue.

"Again, you guys suck!" Yusuke shouted as his and Hiei's energies collided as the moved to punch one another.

Yukina shook her head, wondering why Hiei was so upset. Then she thought about Kaiya for a minute. She had become very friendly with the girl, and thought maybe she should talk to her regarding her problem. At least Kaiya would have insight on how to bring up such a delicate subject with her brother. She really had nothing to lose if she did confide in the younger girl who acted like her protective older sister. If anything, maybe she would be able to help her tell Hiei so she wouldn't have to do it alone.

"Botan, can you take me with you?" Yukina asked her. "I'd like to speak with Kaiya."

"Sure, Yukina," Botan chimed. "I hope you don't mind flying. We'll get there faster on my oar, okay?"

Yukina smiled and nodded before kissing Kuwabara's cheek. "I'll see you later, Kazuma," she whispered.

"I'll be counting the minutes, my sweet," he returned before giving her a tight squeeze. "Have fun with the girls, okay?"

Yukina nodded before Botan helped her onto the oar. She looked over to Hiei and waved, but he was too caught up in his "friendly spar" to see. She chuckled slightly and shook her head. There were some things about her twin that she'd never understand. Still, she loved him dearly and didn't want to do or say anything to upset him. Hopefully Kaiya would give her good advice.

Kaiya looked around this new training ground of theirs. It was very mountainous and cold as the winds wisped by each second. It was a perfect place to learn survival as there was barely anything there except animals that were keeping away from the Saiyan siblings. When Vegeta paused in his strides, Kaiya also stopped. "We're here," he stated monotonously.

"Where is here?" Kaiya questioned. She had never seen such a lifeless place before.

Vegeta just shrugged. "I found this place before I found out about you," he admitted. "It's the perfect place to train without interruptions. Now," he said as he faced her, "I want you to come at me with everything you have. Use no ki, but use whatever attacks you've learned thus far in your training."

"But…but what if I hurt you?" Kaiya asked. "Demon energy and spirit energy are different than ki energy."

Vegeta rolled his eyes and huffed. "No offense to you, but you would not be able to hurt me even if you tried. I've been through a lot worse than a simple spar with another Saiyan. Remember that for our future battles."

"Well, okay then," Kaiya said, still unsure of how much energy she wanted to release. The hybrid took her hands and placed them out in front of her in a move that somewhat resembled Kakarot's Kamehameha attack. "Swirling Fire Storm!" she cried out as small to medium-sized flames shot out and rotated in circles as more flames were added to the swirl.

Vegeta crossed his arms and let the attack hit in attempts to show Kaiya the flaw in her attack. Smoke covered him from her view, and Kaiya worried that he attack had done damage. They were flames after all. They would burn anyone to a crisp if they hit dead on.

"I seriously hope that was not you best move," Vegeta said as he appeared yet again, the smoke disappearing from his body but residing around him. The smoke created a haze that left the battle ground dark. "If it was, you will have to learn new ones. That attack was the worst one you could ever use."

"W-Why?" Kaiya asked, becoming a little insulted. The Swirling Fire Storm technique was the first move she had ever come up with on her own.

"In a fight with multiple opponents, it is fine," he explained, "but in a fight with a single opponent, all they would have to do is move to the center of the storm and they could avoid every hit and then hit you with an attack while you have no ability to defend yourself. You leave yourself wide open for a direct attack."

Kaiya had never thought of it that way. She always assumed that the attacks that used up energy were the best ones to use in a fight, but this weakness seemed kind of obvious. She couldn't believe that she didn't see it, but then again, she had developed that attack when fighting Hiei, and he would never have taken advantage of that weakness, although he had done exactly what Vegeta had said could happen during her graduation match. She had used a different move afterwards to counter. "Alright, then I'll try something different," she stated.

She got into a different stance that reminded Vegeta of Kakarot's Spirit Bomb attack. He started to wonder if all Earthlings had a similar fighting style. These moves they used either left them open for attack or took time to power. Either way, whatever move she used next…he doubted it would be useful to her in a fight against Jiro.

"Wave of Fire!" she shouted as a large wall of flames shot out of her and merged into a wave. The flames moved towards Vegeta, but he was not fazed. Instead, he used a single ki blast, aiming at the middle, to break the wave in half and extinguish it. Kaiya just stared blankly at the open space in front of them, blinking in shock. She had never seen her flames diminished so easily before.

"Please tell me you've acquired a decent move after training for years," Vegeta shouted over to her.

Kaiya shook her head. "Not really," she said shamefully. "I can use my flames in hand to hand combat, and Hiei worked with me on using the katana before we nearly got ourselves thrown out of a hotel. I'm good with strategy and apparently breaking and entering, but that's it. Those two moves are it. I do have the ability to create a shield though."

Vegeta was angry, not so much at her nor Genkai since she had explained her purpose in training. He knew Hiei could not be faulted either as he taught his sister all of the useful techniques she had. He was angry and both Jiro and Frieza. Whatever training facilities Frieza had had on the planet failed in preparing Kaiya for a real fight. Jiro, likewise, never taught her anything, and the Saiyan prince could see why he failed in his promise to Frieza. Kaiya could not fight a powerful enemy, not alone as he had observed before. But there would be times where she was alone, and Vegeta needed to make sure she was prepared.

"Everything you have learned up to this point," he spoke slowly, "forget it. This is a clean slate for the both of us. I don't care how uncomfortable you are with these new techniques, but you need to be able to battle, not just spar like you are used to. Do you understand me, Kaiya?"

Kaiya simply nodded, but was a little fearful of her brother's new attitude towards her fighting style. Sure, it wasn't the most polished style and she knew he hated that she fought more defensively than offensively, but part of her believed he was slowly accepting what she was taught. Now she was a little more hesitant to train with him.

"First thing's first," he said darkly, "we're not leaving this spot until you come up with a move that can hit me." This was going to be a long day.

Kaiya and Vegeta returned to the compound a few hours later after she had finally thought enough ahead to create a move that Vegeta wouldn't be able to dodge so easily. She couldn't wait to try it on Hiei, but right now, she was just too exhausted. A knock on her window reminded her that she had something to do that day.

"Hey, Botan," Kaiya greeted before she noticed Yukina. "Oh, and hey, Yukina. What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you later," Yukina whispered. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure, but I have to take care of something in Spirit World first. You can wait here if you want. Hiei should be home shortly."

"No!" Yukina exclaimed. "I mean, it's really important that I talk to you first."

"O…kay," Kaiya replied. "So Botan, did you actually keep quiet like I asked?"

"Yes," the ferry girl replied happily, "although I have no idea why you wanted to keep your arrival a secret from Koenma. It seems a bit silly and counterproductive if you ask me."

"Trust me," Kaiya said bitterly, "he will be able to see me."

Koenma had been alerted to Kaiya's arrival and knew what it meant. He had not expected to have any other interaction with the girl unless he were to give her a mission, which was unlikely considering she now had demon blood coursing through her veins. Well, at least he had a deal for her that would benefit him greatly if she accepted, which he assumed she would.

Kaiya entered his office, ignoring the ogres following her around. Yukina and Botan were waiting outside the room while listening in on the girl's conversation with the Reikai ruler.

"You know why I'm here," Kaiya stated as fact.

Koenma sighed before nodding. "I take it Hiei told you. I was banking on the fact that he didn't want you to know."

"You were almost successful in your gamble," Kaiya admitted, "but enough is enough."

"Gamble?" Botan asked. "What is that girl talking about?"

"I have no idea," Yukina said in shock. She had never heard Kaiya so angry before.

"Kaiya…" Koenma tried, but the Saiyan princess would not have it.

"No, Koenma," she growled. "You will listen to me first. I have tolerated a lot of crap from Spirit World in these last few years. First, you send us on a mission where I have to fight my twin sister and some mental, sadistic nutcase that wanted to kill me. Then, we have to deal with demon hunters we know nothing about, led by my father, a conspirator WITH the mental, sadistic nutcase who you let escape from prison, without any warning that my father had any connection with that. Then he kills me and you explain why I'm able to come back and allow us to kill my father to prevent him from causing any other damage. Then we meet his apprentice, who was dating my cousin and tortured us, not allowed to kill him. You assure us that he won't be a threat, and then he escapes, which only leads me to believe he was the one who wished my father back right?"

Koenma gave no answer and stayed silent as he sensed there was more. "And then because you find out Jiro is back and I have alien blood in me as well as the 'accursed' demon blood you're so damn worried about, you bring me in to tell me I'm not allowed to kill Jiro in self-defense. Hiei and the others can't kill him to defend me or our family members. You dictated that you'd put my brother and his rival behind Spirit World prison bars for eternity if they so much as break a damn bone in that bastard's body. And yet you have the audacity to try to force me into a tournament where demons would eat me alive for being part human, and then pretty much blackmail Hiei into taking my place? This isn't going to work with me, especially when you can't even ensure our protection."

Botan gasped in shock, but Yukina just froze, feeling numb at the fact that her brother was being forced to fight to protect Kaiya. Koenma really had crossed a line this time, and the girls knew it.

"Kaiya, what would you have me do?" Koenma asked. "It's my father's law that any demon that kills a human be severely punished. At least I've been able to cut back on the punishment types. Jail time is much tamer than his law."

"If you can change that," Kaiya said angrily, "then you can change everything else." Koenma just blinked at the girl before she raged again. "Come on, oh mighty ruler of Spirit World. You can't even keep the real threats locked up in this place. You mandated that two Saiyans who have nothing to do with this multiverse can be imprisoned for helping me.

"Multiverse?" Koenma interjected, not really understanding the slang, human term.

"Jiro is evil, and a bigger threat than we are," Kaiya continued without even registering Koenma's confusion. "He's already gone after a child, who is half human by the way, by attacking me. Had I been hit, I'd be dead again, and you know Hiei would level this place if that happened, forget throwing him in a prison for killing Jiro. You cannot dictate our lives and then forbid us from protecting ourselves. It's like you want us to die. At least add a loophole for self-defense for demons. Demons have become much more tolerant of humans than humans have become of demons. Hell, most people don't know they exist! And why is that? Because your team has done their best to protect this skewed balance you wanted for the three worlds!"

"You make a good point, Kaiya," Koenma admitted. "But I still can't make this deal, unless you are willing to do something for me."

"What?" Kaiya growled. "And if I don't like the answer, I will let my inner Saiyan take over and show you what the Princess of Saiyans can really do."

"No need for that," Koenma told her calmly. "I believe my way will benefit us both greatly." He took out a new file in a red folder and said, "I have a case for you to take while the boys are training for the Demon World Tournament. In this file I have enclosed a description, location, target, and mission goal. I will not tell you what this case is or what type of opponent you will be facing before you agree, a blind mission if you will. No one is better suited than you. I will allow you to make up your own team and give you an allowance for such a mission. If you accept, I will rewrite the law with as many loopholes and changes as you want, and will even have Kurama look it over. When you are done with the mission, I will implement the change and whatever happens to Jiro happens. Agreed?"

"What the hell?" Kaiya said with a shrug. She held out her hand for the file. "Agreed."

Botan brought Kaiya and Yukina back to the compound before muttering and apology and leaving. Kaiya wasn't mad at the ferry girl as she had no idea what Koenma had put them through. She felt worse about having Yukina witness the whole discussion. The girl was clearly distressed about something else and learning all about the corrupt and unorganized nature of Spirit World would not help things.

"Yukina, are you okay?" she asked cautiously. "I didn't mean for you to have to bear this burden."

"I'm not upset about that," Yukina told her. "Well, maybe about the part that Koenma wanted to force you to fight and then blackmailed Hiei. Now you're going on a mission you don't even know the details to."

"I know," Kaiya muttered. She knew Hiei was not going to be happy about this. Hell, Vegeta would probably find a way into Spirit World himself to eliminate Koenma himself. Still, she took the mission (or was forced to take it), so she would complete it regardless of her boyfriend's or brother's opinions. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Yukina sat down on the side of her bed and looked to the floor. "I have to tell Hiei something," she told her. "It's something he won't take well, and I need advice on what to say. You know him better than I ever could."

Kaiya could detect the girl's sadness and sat down next to her. She pulled the ice maiden into a hug and patted her back. "Nothing you can say will ever make Hiei mad at you," she cooed in comfort.

"I know that," Yukina continued. "It's not me he would be angry with. It's Kazuma."

"What did Kuwabara do?" Kaiya asked fearfully. If the human psychic had done anything to hurt Hiei's little sister, there would be nowhere he could hide that Hiei, even without the Jagan, could find him.

"Nothing bad," Yukina assured her. "It's just…well…" Yukina paused to collect her thoughts before giving Kaiya an ice maiden biology lesson. "When an ice maiden turns one hundred, she becomes pregnant with a baby girl. In our mother's case, she had relations with a man and then became pregnant with twins, me and Hiei. In our culture, those types of relationships are forbidden…like, if you were an ice maiden and were dating Hiei, you would be in a lot of trouble. My relationship with Kazuma is forbidden, just like my mother's was."

"Forbidden," Kaiya said scoffing at the word. "If I ever hear anyone call Hiei a 'forbidden child' or 'imiko' or whatever the heck they termed him-"

"Kaiya, I'm pregnant," Yukina told her. "Mine and Hiei's birthday passed a few weeks ago. I'm having a girl, obviously…but I'm also having a boy."

Kaiya's mouth dropped open when Yukina made her confession. First, because she Yukina pretty much just admitted that she had sex with someone Hiei couldn't stand and reluctantly gave his approval to, and second, that Hiei and Yukina were both more than seventy, almost eighty, years older than her. "Wow…" Kaiya said in a daze. "That's a lot to take in. I never knew that about ice maidens. Hell, I don't even know when yours or Hiei's birthday is. He refuses to tell me."

"How am I going to tell him?" Yukina asked.

Kaiya's phone rang, interrupting the conversation. "Hello?" Kaiya asked answering the call. Her throat was so dry, she was surprised she was even talking. "Hiei!" she exclaimed in shock. Yukina's eyes widened in a mix of fear and shock, before Kaiya let out a breath of relief. "No, I don't mind if you stay with the guys tonight. Training is the most important thing right now." After a moment of silence, she added. "Yeah, I'll tell you how everything went tomorrow." She looked over to Yukina and nodded. "There's a lot we have to discuss…Okay, see you then."

Kaiya hung up the phone and then looked over to Yukina. "Two things," she said to the ice maiden. "One, are you and Kuwabara mated, and two, does he know?"

"Yes to the first and no to the second," Yukina admitted. "I don't know how to tell either of them."

"The only thing that will save Kuwabara is that the two of you are mated, and that Kuwabara isn't going to chicken out and bail on you and the babies."

"He would never do that," Yukina assured her. "We mated on demon terms, and he wants to marry me in human culture as well. We've already been talking about kids, especially since he knew one way or another I'd be having at least one because of my race. He just didn't know about my birthday either, and I was afraid to tell him. Like you said, it's a lot to take in, especially since Hiei and I are so much older than you two."

"That's fine," Kaiya said soothingly. "You should tell Kuwabara tomorrow. I'll drive you back to Genkai's. Then I will deal with Hiei. I'll make sure he knows the situation and I won't let him leave here until he processes everything. No sense in him running off in a psychotic rage, right?"

Yukina merely nodded before Kaiya placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It'll be okay, Yukina," Kaiya told her. "Besides, it might be nice for him to have a little niece and nephew to look after."

"Thank you, Kaiya," Yukina said, hugging the girl. "I knew you would help me and understand."

"I know, Yukina," she said softly in reply. Patting the ice maiden's back softly, she repeated herself. "I know."

Vegeta was feeling that feeling again, that dread. He and Kaiya had trained, and where he felt confidence in her ability to improve and think, he still had little confidence in her ability to defend herself and fight a real enemy. His random nightmares were doing little to ease the feeling as well. Multiple dreams of Kaiya being attacked and dying…he could even imagine how Hiei felt having witnessed it. It was becoming too much for Vegeta to stomach when he woke up after another vision of some caped crusader strangling his sister and cutting into her with a knife. Something was wrong, and nothing was making sense anymore.

To ease his mind from all those dreams, he entered Kaiya's room and found her asleep on the bed next to Hiei's sister who was curled around her brother's pillow. Kaiya was snoring softly, sleeping peacefully except for a few expressions of pain. Her breath began to pick up before she opened her eyes and saw Vegeta. He only stared at her, not saying anything, before Kaiya smiled and waved him off like the first time he had seen her. Something was wrong, and he knew it. And Vegeta did not like it one bit.