Lone Wolf: I'm back-! Been working on my other story and trying to finish it up, but now, it's finally Ice's turn once more. Okay, it's been awhile...few months I think. I need to get back into Ice's mood so parts might seem weird at first. Then again, probably most of you read this recently. And, of course, many thanks to the reviewers, you all get a strawberry. (Gives strawberry.) I've been obsessing over them for a while...don't ask. Anyways, on with Chapter 8.


Chapter 8: Icy Allies P2

He is one who can voice his thoughts and feelings easily. He is the furthest thing from a shinobi one can get. He does not even try to hide his emotions but rather lets the whole world know. A cross between Kuwabara and Jin. How...interesting.

"So, Yukina, can you fight?" Kiikuro asked, stupid smile still plastered over his face. She nodded slightly, "A little bit...Hiei-san taught me." "Hiei? You mean the fire demon with three eyes?" "Mm," she nodded once more.

"Sugoi! Wow...then you guys probably have the rest of the Tantei on your side, right?" he asked, amazed. "Yeah." "Do you really need more allies?" Yukina nodded for the third time in two minutes, "Touya-san and Kurama-san think we should. The more the merrier? Something like that." She smiled.

"Gosh. You're really cute when you smile, Yu-ki-na-chan," he winked at her, only to receive a faint blush from the demon girl.

I'm glaring at him, annoyed. Jin talking, I can stand. Him? Never. Stupid loud, obnoxious voice.
Maybe you're just jealous of him.
Why the hell would I be jealous of that guy? He's a moron.
Maybe, but he's getting awfully close to Yukina, isn't he? A bit too friendly if you ask me.
Well no one asked you. Why am I talking to my stupid conscience, anyway?
Because you missed me. I haven't been able to talk to you for sooo long. I was so lonely. You're so cruel, not giving me anything to talk to you about for so long.
I remember why now.
Hey! That's not nice!

(A/N: I just had to do that. Heh...)

During Touya's inner quarrel with himself, Yukina and Kiikuro had continued their conversation. Yukina's katana now laid unsheathed in Kiikuro's hands with the male demon taking a look at it.

"Sugoi! You can really use this thing?" he asked, mouth slightly open in awe.

"Of course she can. Why else would she have it? She was trained by the best of all sword users. Do you think she's weak? She killed over a dozen youkai singlehandedly. Just who do you think you are, looking down on people?" Touya demanded, losing his temper upon having returned to reality.

"Mm. You really have lost your touch with that poker face. Tsk. I was just surprised; I don't think she's weak. Who am I to judge? I haven't seen her fight yet," Kiikuro replied calmly.

"Give. Her. Back. Her. Sword," he told the demon opposite him, trying very hard not to lose his cool. "Sure. No problem. I wasn't exactly planning on stealing it." Having stopped during that brief argument, the trio began walking again.

The entire time Mizuiro traveled with Jin and Hiei, she was riding waves, her blue clothes blending in with the dark blue water, the energy filled liquid also concealing her own energy. Hiei cursed under his breath multiple times, trying to walk along the side and not get wet. Jin flew around playfully in the sky, occasionally diving toward the water and skimming it. A few times, he accidentally hit Mizuiro's head, causing the two of them to burst out in laughter. Hiei was really wishing he was somewhere else or with someone who wasn't either a complete hyper moron or a water surfing girl. Finding more allies would be impossible; the water would wash everything out of their path.

--

"We really let an idiot rule Makai this time, didn't we?" Yusuke said to Enki as they sat by Raizen's grave. Chu stood to the side, chatting away eagerly with Natsume, the girl barely paying attention to him. Enki nodded in agreement. Manako had really made a mess of things and, like a small child, expected you to clean up after him. He would do as he pleased, hoping no one would scold him, running around with random friends and breaking everything he wished to.

--

"Oh! Hey, look! That girl looks a lot like Botan!" Kuwabara yelled in Shishi's ear. The loud noise caused the bat to turn back into his normal form, "You idiot. That's because it is Botan. She's even riding her oar and wearing her pink kimono. Besides, how many other girls do you know have light blue hair?" "Oh...right. So...what's she doing here?" "How the hell do you expect me to know?" "I always knew you were stupid." "Look who's talking, distorted face." "Bat face." "Moron." "Idiot." "Human!" "Damn you!"

--

"Hooray! I told you that we'd find her. But nooo-. No one ever listens to the short guy with the yo-yos," Rinku said as they came across Sasuga sitting on a boulder, tired. She cocked her head to the side when she heard the voices, "Rinku?" "You remember me!" Suzuki sweat dropped. Little guy was head over heels.

--

"Mm! You're real fun afta ya stopped thinkin' we were enemies," Jin told Mizuiro as he continued skimming the water, "Even my ears are wiggling." "You're not too bad yourself," she complimented in turn, "Nice flying, by the way." Jin smiled happily, "Thanks!"

Hiei watched, somewhat disturbed. It wasn't February yet; there wasn't supposed to be love everywhere according to Yusuke. First Touya and Yukina, now this. He blamed it all on Manako, who must've somehow messed with the months, just for the sake of blaming the purple youkai.

"A-anou...Touya-san...?" Yukina started, uncomfortable in the silence. He turned his head to her, not saying a word. "Maybe we should go back...there's no one around..." Touya sighed, "You're right. Let's go back." He turned and began walking northeast, the other two following him.

Much to Yukina's dismay, they continued walking in the dreaded silence, a noticeable tension between Touya and Kiikuro present. The ice master seemed to have very little respect for the archer and the archer seemed not to know how to behave in front of someone he admired. Touya truly wished that it had been Jin or Kuwabara who had found the blonde boy walking with him. They would get along quite well with him.

"Oi...what's that?" Kiikuro asked, stopping in his tracks. He knelt down and put his ear against the dirt ground, listening, "Sounds like...water..."

Shimatta.

Touya, more alert than the other two, scooped up Yukina and jumped to the side, leaving Kiikuro directly in the path of Mizuiro's waves. The navy-haired girl was unable to stop the water in time since by the time she saw the other youkai, it was already too late. Luckily, thanks to the wind master, Mizuiro did not collide with Kiikuro. The ice master smirked when the blonde finally poked his head out of the water, soaked.

Serves him right.

"He's another idiot, isn't he?" Hiei asked Touya, noticing the expression on the ice master's face. Touya gave a curt nod and continued to watch the green-clothed boy shake himself dry. He finally turned to Hiei, "Imagine a cross between Kuwabara and Jin. That's what he is. He was hitting on Yukina, too." "Hitting? He hurt her?" "No, the other meaning." "Hn. The fool. I'll deal with him later."

--

"Ugh. Can't you control that thing?" Kiikuro complained to Mizuiro, indicating her water abilities. "Can't you watch where you're going or at least be on alert?" she threw back. Hiei and Touya sighed, "And the bickering begins."

"Oi, blondie. Unless ya want ta get wet again, I suggest you stop arguin' with Mizuiro," Jin warned. "What? That's all she can do? Play with water? Feh. Water conducts electricity," Kiikuro smirked. He materialized an arrow out of nowhere and, taking the bow that hung on his back, aimed and prepared to fire at Mizuiro who was drenched in water. The end of the arrow began to glow, static waves surrounding it, ready to explode.

"Shimatta. Jin, get her out of the way," Touya called.

What a pain he is...

"Kiikuro! Stop. Put that thing down," Yukina yelled, "If you want to kill someone, go kill Manako. Leave her alone." Hearing this remark, Hiei watched curiously; Yukina never yelled.

"Pathetic. You've made even Yukina mad," Touya shook his head. He looked at the ground, trying to keep a laugh from escaping.

"Eh? Yukina-chan..." Kiikuro uttered before putting the bow away and making the arrow disappear. Within seconds, Hiei was at the other boy's throat, katana in hand, "Don't act so friendly with her. I suggest that you shut up unless you wish to meet the same fate as my other, deceased opponents." As an afterthought, the fire demon added in a taunting whisper, "You're in third right now." Hiei walked away, allowing Kiikuro to breathe once more. He thought over Hiei's statement, confused greatly.

(A/N: Ahaha. Attack of the older brother. Kiikuro got the same treatment as Kuwa.)

--

"So why are you sitting here on a rock all by yourself?" Rinku asked Sasuga as he took a seat beside her. "I've been looking for Manako for days and I think I just overworked myself," she told him, smiling weakly, "I'm not by myself though." From behind the rock, a white rabbit came out, but it was only a rabbit for a few moments before it changed into a demon girl. "Usagi desu," she said, winking as she stood up. She came up to about Suzuki's chin. Her snow-like hair was shoulder length and was tied in a loose ponytail. Instead of human ears, she had two drooping bunny ears hanging from the top of her head. Thin whisker marks were painted on her face across her cheeks, the brown lines matching her eyes. The rabbit girl wore all white, her outfit consisting of a short sleeved button up top, shorts, elbow length gloves, and knee length boots. A pink ribbon tied around her waist added some color.

"I'm Suzuki," the clown introduced, smiling.

Cute...

"I'm Rinku. Thanks for keeping Sasuga company," the yo-yo user said.

(A/N: I couldn't think of another animal. Koto's a cat girl so I couldn't make Usagi a cat. Sasuga's like a cross between a cat and a dog. Juri is a cross between a fish and dragon. So I picked the rabbit because bunnies are cute and it was the first animal that came to mind. I was being lazy with her name, too. It's rabbit in Japanese if any of you didn't know...enough of my rambling. On with the story.)

"No problem," Usagi replied.

--

"Oh, hello Kuwabara, Shishi. Where are the others?" Botan greeted. "They're around here somewhere looking for more allies," Shishi told her. "Oh, I see." "So what brings you here, Botan?" Kuwabara asked. "Genkai told me to get Yukina back to Ningenkai. She said it's too dangerous for her to wander around Makai while Manako's around, even if she is just on Koorime."

"Eh? What are you talking about? Yukina's with that Touya guy," Kuwabara said, confused. "What?!? But she said she was only going to visit her mother's grave!" Botan and Kuwabara began freaking out while Shishi looked on, amused.

--

"Oh crap. She's drinking again," Yusuke groaned, pointing at Kokou who was downing bottle after bottle of sake while leaning against Raizen's tombstone. "She must feel that it's...necessary since we're here," Enki said. "Even Chu's not drinking and he's always drinking," the former spirit detective complained, "She's going to kill us for no reason later or start bitching at us."

"Oi, Natsume. You should give the guy a chance at least," Kujou told her, laughing. "Ugh. Shut up Kujou. Let's go train, Chu. We're not leaving anytime soon," she ordered, dragging the drunken fist user to the side.

"Urameshi, when are we leaving?" Saizou asked. "We're wasting time here," Shuu added. "I told you already. We're waiting for Souketsu to come back with Hokushin and the others." "Well you should've sent someone faster," Tetsuzan replied. "Will you guys get off my back already?!? I'm sure they'll be here any minute now!"

--

"Hey...how come I can't sense your aura?" Rinku asked. "Me?" Usagi responded, pointing to herself. "Yeah. How come I can't sense your aura?" "Oh, it's because of this," her finger moved to point at the pink ribbon, "It hides my aura for me whenever I wear it so I don't have to worry about it." "Sugoi!" Suzuki exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Usagi smiled at him, "Doo-mo."

Feh. He's more head over heels in love than I am.

(A/N: I hope no one's getting annoyed with all the originals I'm sticking in. I usually hate original characters but they need allies so I'll give them allies. Meh. Don't worry, there won't be any real pairings including the OCs unless you guys want.)

--

"Why are we standing here wasting time? We should either go back or find more allies who aren't complete fools," Hiei said. Looking over at Yukina, Touya saw that the girl was exhausted, "We'll go back. If the three...no, four of you want to keep going, go ahead. I'm taking Yukina back to the others."

"Eh?!? It's okay, Touya-san. I'm fine. We can keep going," she said, trying to reassure the ice master. "Well, I'm tired and I want to go back. Getting away from the blonde idiot over there will be a bonus," he told her before walking off with the girl in tow.

"Hn. This is why you're in third," Hiei said, directing the comment at Kiikuro. The blonde youkai only returned a confused stare. "Jin, take these two and find more allies. I'm going back," the fire demon ordered. Instead of listening, Jin placed a hand on Hiei's shoulder, "You come with us. Let them go." He gave a knowing smile, then removed his hand. The Jagan user, deciding to give in, turned around and began walking in the other direction. He had no time to waste picking a fight with the wind master.

You'll see that it's for the best, Hiei.

--

Touya stopped in his tracks, waiting for Yukina to catch up. He had released her hand by the time they had been far enough to be out of earshot of the others. "Do you want me to carry you?" he asked when she finally reached him. "Ah! Of course not! I'm fine," she replied in her normal manner. Ignoring her, Touya picked her up and carried her the rest of the way, "We're moving too slowly." "Oh...gomen nasai..." she apologized. "It's not your fault," he told her, cursing his stupidity. He wasn't having the best of days.

--

"Choko, fly up and see if you can find Yomi," Kurama said. Without a word, the butterfly child unfolded her purple and white wings and flew up into the sky to take a look at her surroundings. Hours had passed and the kitsune still had not found his former partner.

Choko landed once more, shaking her head, "There's no one around for miles." Kurama turned to her and sighed. Frustrated, he wondered how everyone else was doing and if they'd found any more useful allies. The only thing Choko could do was fly, stun, poison, and make you fall asleep. So she wasn't completely useless but she was a complete klutz. She had fallen several times when she landed and nearly bumped into the face of a mountain when she was flying. Her nearly waist-length lavender hair got tangled with twigs and branches multiple times and every other time she landed, she complained that something had gotten into her purple eyes. Put simply, she was one annoying demon.

"Itai! I think I sprained my ankle!" she shrieked, sitting down on the ground. Kurama put a hand to his forehead. Forget the fact that she was a klutz. Her yelling and shrieking was the worst. When she spoke normally, it was fine, but other times, her voice was a high-pitched, ear-piercing sound. Leave it to him to find the annoying and useless one.

"You were fine just a minute ago. Get up and fly if you have to," Kurama ordered and began walking again.

Hopeless girl.

--

"Ah-! You mean she lied?!? Yukina lied. Are you serious?!?" Botan shrieked. "Uh...maybe...you...read the note wrong?" Kuwabara suggested. "I'm not stupid you know! Do I look stupid to you?!?" she yelled. "Uh...well...um..." he uttered. "If you want to see a real idiot, go look in a mirror, Kuwabara," Shishi cut in. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!?" "Ugh."

Hiei and the others continued going south while Yukina and Touya returned to the campsite but via a different path. Jin was flying about once more; Mizuiro continued to surf. She occasionally 'accidentally' hit Kiikuro causing the blonde to explode with nasty remarks. That of course, caused Jin, and even Hiei, to yell at Kiikuro to shut up.

"Hn. This is pathetic. Between two groups we've only found one ally each. Our current situation is no different than before we looked for assistance," Hiei said, fairly annoyed at how things were going, "And these two. They keep arguing. They'd be helpful if they worked together as the blonde idiot said before, water conducts electricity. But no. They use their abilities against each other which does not benefit anyone." "You have to admit though; Mizuiro's a lot more helpful than Kiikuro," Jin said, the two youkai having fallen to the back of the group. The other two led, glaring at each other, Mizuiro looking down upon the male while he shot daggers to above.

--

"Aren't we supposed to be looking for allies?" Shishi asked Kuwabara, already knowing the answer. "Oh...uh...well...yeah," the carrot-haired boy responded.

Hah. How predictable.

"Well...we're looking for demons so...oh! Hey, Botan. Do you have that whistle on you? The demon whistle thing...that you used last time to find Hiei," Kuwabara asked. "Hm...I should...one second..." she mumbled, looking for said whistle.

Fifteen minutes later...

"Oh, here it is," Botan exclaimed, causing Shishi to sweat drop. "Well hurry up and use it then," Kuwabara told her. Botan nodded, then took in a breath and blew. Shishi's hands immediately flew to his ears while Kazuma pointed at the youkai and laughed. Soon enough, a few demons made their way to the source of the high-pitched sound while clutching their ears. Out of air, Botan stopped blowing, her face a deep crimson.

"What the hell was that supposed to be?" "Who's the idiot who was making that noise?" "Does anyone else smell a human?" "Is it Manako?" "Is that a ferry girl?" All these could be heard from the newly gathered crowd.

"Okay! How many of you hate Manako?" Botan asked, standing on her oar. The name of course caused an uproar, indicating that all, or at least most of the youkai surrounding them did. "Good. Now could one of you give me a head count of those who are willing to take Manako down?"

--

"It's been over an hour Urameshi. Where is he?"Saizou asked, annoyed. "Ugh. Fine. I'll go look for them. You guys stay here. I need some peace and quiet," Yusuke said, giving in. Note to self: never gather so many whiny demons who just happen to be friends with your ancestral dad.


Lone Wolf: Eh...basically introducing a few more named allies and a little bit of TouyaxYukina mixed with Kiikuro bashing so I can keep myself from teasing Kuwa. Who's your favorite now? Kiikuro, Mizuiro, Usagi, or Choko? Yes, I know. I don't like them much either but they'll be part of the building blocks for the finale...which won't be for awhile, haha. Another update will come...eventually.