Jin had managed to get Yuki-girl away from team Urameshi's leader just in time in the wind demon's opinion. Especially since not even a few moment's later, the poor girl doubled over and began retching. Either due to her present condition or due to the fact that the human male's spirit energy was so stifling that it had made her ill.

Either way, he'd gotten to her just in time it seemed.

Careful to stay out of her way as she emptied the contents of her probably already empty stomach, Jin held back her long silken hair and absently rubbed the girl's back in what he hoped was a soothing manner. He never really knew if what he was doing was helping or just making things worse.

In fact Toya was much better at handling situations like this one.

And Jin...

Well he was fairly good at running around like a chicken with it's head cut off and making a nuisance of himself. Albit he didn't mean to do so, but usually in situations when Yuki became ill- he just couldn't seem to either get out of the way fast enough or remain calm enough to be of any real help to anyone.

Why the first time the poor girl had fallen ill, he had thought she was dying.

So much so that he'd flopped himself down on the ground next to her feverish body and gathered her close to his body and had all but screamed his flipping head off.

If he hadn't have been found by Rinku who had taken the little human gal from him and checked her while telling him to knock off the shit and go get some damn ice, he probably would have wound up just another victim of Rinku's deadly yo-yo's.

Though in Jin's defense, Yuki-girl was the absolute first human that he or the other's had ever come across that wasn't afraid of them.

In fact, the little human was just so damned sweet that to him it appeared as if she didn't have the common sense that god gave a flea. The very first time he had met her, she had been a tiny little mite, no older than three or four. And she had somehow mysteriously managed to wind up in demon world through a tiny crack in the barrio that separated demon world from the human world.

He had been playing at the time. Flying here and there and using his wind to uproot tree's and the like that he'd accidentally uprooted the tree that she had been climbing and had been about to toss it when he had felt eyes on him and his ears had began to wiggle a bit at the uncomfortable sensation mere moments before he'd heard a peeved little voice growl out, "You mind putting me down?" right next to his ear, nearly causing him to scream and drop the tree with her in it.

Luckily he hadn't dropped the tree or the wee lass would have suffered great injury if not more. Instead he had twisted around until he was face to face with this tiny little person- to be honest he'd never seen a human up close before. Especially a little human since the bigger ones tended to grab the little one's and hide them anytime they believed a demon was running amok the countryside.

So naturally he'd been curious.

What demon worth anything wouldn't be curious about this tiny little thing? He wondered to himself as he had reached out and very carefully, so as not to accidentally hurt her or drop her, took hold of her and pulled her out of the tree and then dropped it while shifting his body so that he could lie on his back in mid air and placed her carefully on his stomach, hoping that she would be safe there.

Where he had kept her for a good portion of the day and well into the night, just talking. Well more like interrogating her when he wasn't occasionally poking her in the stomach or ribs or something.

His first assumption upon finding her was that she was another demon like himself, but she lacked the things that made a demon. The characteristics or lack there of should have been a dead give away as to what she really was, but like he had said before- he'd never seen a tiny human before.

Still that being said, he had checked her for fangs, pointy ears (he was sort of hoping that she was a wind demon like him since females of his kind were incredibly rare) and even claws. Which he had to say- for a human- she'd had sharp little nails.

Nothing at all like a demon's mind you, but sharp enough to be painful if used on him. And she had used them on him a score of times. Usually when trying to straighten his wild mane of red hair a bit, or when his back really itched- Hn, he was getting a bit off topic here wasn't he?

Anyways, he had made friends with the wee human girl- not for any nefarious reasons- to be honest he had nothing nefarious planned. He simply liked her company.

And about a year or so after he had met her, the others had wandered into his territory.

Toya, Rinku, and Chu.

They hadn't been friends then. In fact he had been in the middle of a visit with his little human when they had wandered into his territory, and scared the ever loving hell out of him. He'd grabbed Yuki up so fast when the first attack had happened that the girl didn't even have time to register what had been going on much less scream as he took to the air. His only thought had been to get her as far away from the dangerous trio as possible since he couldn't protect himself and her too.

And he had almost gotten her completely to safety too. Until stupid Toya had trapped him in a net, causing him to drop Yuki.

His hand stilled against her back for a moment as he remembered the sound of her frightened scream as she had fell from his grasp. His violet eyes had gone wide in his pale face, his clawed finger tips had hooked through some of the netting as his heart had nearly stopped right then and there as he imagined her small body hitting the tree skewered ground below.

He imagined the sweetly copper scent of her blood- something that he'd become almost intimately knowledgeable about in his time with her since she was so fucking awkward. Always tripping over her own feet and falling down hills and such.

Always covered in scratches, gnashes and bruises.

He imagined the usually rhythmic sound of her heart suddenly ceasing to beat and had screamed in rage. Rage for the little girl he had befriended so foolishly. Rage for not keeping her safe from harm like he had promised he would. But most of all, he had screamed in rage for the small light her life provided his dark world- being snuffed out far too soon.

However she had never hit the ground, while he was busy imagining the worst and freaking out- Toya and Chu had seen her tiny figure heading towards the ground and both had moved at break neck speed to catch her as she had somehow managed to snag a tree branch some ways from the ground and halt her fall for a few minutes, allowing the two demons to get into position under her and catch her.

And just like that the fight had been over for him. But it hadn't come without it's own price. While he had sustained little more than cuts and bruises here and there, little Yuki had sustained far worse.

Broken ribs, a fractured wrist, one of her legs had somehow been pulled out of joint at the hip. And the entire time he had hung from the net, watching as Toya did what he could to provide medical aid to the little lass as soon as she was out of the tree.

Jin must have hung there for what felt like lifetimes. Days, hours, weeks, months, years- time had slowed to a snail's pace for him as he had watched Toya treat his little friend. And with every twitch and pained cry she had given, his heart had broken a little bit inside, until finally after what felt like forever, Chu had walked over to the rope supporting the net holding him and had used one of his knives to cut through it before Toya or Rinku could so much as protest.

Dropping the furious wind demon from where he'd been down to the ground where he ran over to Yuki's still form and had all but snatched her up in his arms and began growling at the three.

The sound growing louder and louder with the more time he spent watching them with unblinking eyes as he had used his spirit energy to see if he could read Yuki for signs of life. Not really bothering to trust his nose or his ears at that very moment because his mind was still flashing images of her death to him, confusing him as much as it was angering him.

But his spirit energy had been able to draw out some of her own, proving to him that she wasn't dead. Which was a relief, he supposed but he still hadn't have been too terribly happy with the three invaders that had attacked him.

In fact he had been about to kill the whole lot of them for what they had caused, but he had stilled his hand when Toya had slipped some medicinal herbs into his hand and told him to use them to care for Yuki and then had politely bowed and turned to leave.

Jin however had had other thoughts, and had bared his fangs and had all but snarled at the lot of them about taking responsibility for their damned actions (a little something that he'd picked up from spending time with Yuki).

They were the one's who had almost murdered an innocent little girl. And they were damn well going to stick around and help him care for her until she was well enough to decide what their fate should be.

She had that right.

Or at least she would have if she had been a demon, however he had conveniently left that little bit of information out since it was more than apparent that they believed Yuki was just another demon like themselves.

They had spent almost a week alternating between hunting for food, medicinal herbs and plants, while Jin had taken careful precautions to see to it that Yuki had fruit and other things from human world to eat once she was strong enough.

He had even slipped through the crack that she used to come see him so that he could procure things for her more easily.

He had even gone to her home. It was a nice, quiet place with lots of woods, some natural lakes, ponds, creeks and even waterfalls. Where as her home rested somewhere in the middle of the wilderness surrounding it. It was a large home- well, large for just one person- and no one had been there.

No mother.

No father.

Not even a sibling or elderly human was in sight.

And after grabbing some things, pots, pans, some food out of the metal beast's belly, as well as some other things- clothing, towels, he'd even found a nice big bag to carry everything in.

Once he was finished packing up some of the things he'd come to her home to get he had slipped out the door and started back towards the barrier when he'd seen an odd little trail leading just off to the side of the trail that he had used to get to her home.

Curious about where it led, he had followed it. An odd feeling of dread settling in the pit of his stomach with each step that he took further into the woods.

He'd gone barely a mile in a half when he'd finally reached his destination. A secluded area, seemingly cut off from the surrounding woods and such by a small, old wooden and a small stone wall fence. Stepping into it, he noted the various little statues and stones and wondered idly if this was an odd human decoration or something until he had come across some bigger stones.

Some with etchings and writing on them.

Hunkering down in front of one of them he stared at it for a moment before realizing that it bore names. Human names. As well as dates and some even had little etchings of hearts, wings and so on. All scratched deeply into the stones. Realization set in pretty damn quick after his discovery.

That he was standing in a human graveyard.

And the stone he had been sub consciously reading bore the imprint of Yuki's mother and father's names upon it along with the dates of their deaths. Which had been just days before she had first stumbled across the barrier and into demon world and met him.

Yuki was an orphan.

No wonder the little lass hardly wanted to leave him everyday when he returned her to the place where she slipped through the barrier to come see him.

Her family was gone. There was really nothing left for her here.

Running his fingers through his wild mane in an anxious manner, Jin sighed and sat himself down on a small patch of grass next to the stone bearing Yuki's parent's name and he began talking.

Slowly, for once in his life. After all he wished for her family to hear his voice and understand him since spirits and the like were funny creatures indeed.

Now demons had their own traditions when it came to the dead.

Some buried their loved ones, some ate them, some burned them, and others sank their loved one's bodies in the clearest, deepest water that they could find so that the body could return to whence it came.

Wind demons like himself were different in many regards.

When they died, their physical bodies returned to the wind from whence they were first created. It was wind that gave them power in life. And in death it was what allowed them to remain a part of the world, so that they could watch over their loved ones even if they had no physical existence anymore with which to do so.

So it only seemed natural to him to confess just how fond he was of little Yuki. He had wanted the restless spirits he could feel hovering about the place to understand that he cared for the girl as if she were his own little sister or something.

He loved her in a way that very few demons could actually love a human without destroying said human.

And then he had told them of the incident with Toya, Chu and Rinku (not that he felt he could actually hide such a thing- those restless spirits could easily become vengeful spirits and come after him). He explained that he was hiding the fact that Yuki was a human from them in order to protect her.

How instead of leaving her defenseless as one might have assumed he did whenever he had gone to get her some food and such, he had used an old spell from his homeland and attached it to Yuki so that if something should happen to her physically or emotionally- he would automatically know and be able to teleport straight to her side.

He was as open and honest with the spirit's of his young human's family as he possibly could be.

Even going so far as to swear a blood oath to them that they didn't need to worry too much about her- he would always protect her should she need him to.

And with that, his talk with her family's spirits concluded, he politely excused himself as he had tipped his head back and looked up at the sky, noting that it was growing dark and he had been gone for quite some time.

Imagine his surprise upon returning back to where the other's were, to find Yuki sitting propped up against Chu's leather clad leg as the demon had slowly cut up a few pieces of fruit for her to eat. Clutching tightly at the fur blanket that Jin had provided for her, holding it up around her bandaged chest. Her thick dark hair mussed from her long rest as he had walked back into the clearing with the bag of goodies and automatically dropped it so that he could move to kneel next to her and rest his forehead against hers as he grinned.

She never questioned him where he had been that day. Possibly because she had been more than a little bit busy handing off some of the fruit that Chu had cut up for her to himself, Toya and Rinku.

Shortly after that, once she had started moving around on her own again, Jin had told her that she needed to decide on what to do about the three. And had been more than a little upset when she had simply stated, "Those three can leave if they want. There's no reason for them to feel badly about something that is simply their nature Jin."

To which he had argued. Strenuously in fact, that yes, they should feel badly for almost killing her. And no- she shouldn't let them get away with it.

To which she had merely sighed and fallen silent, knowing that he was much like a dog with a bone when he got like this, and had simply told him to give her a few days to think.

Which he did. And when he had finally asked her again about what they should do with the three, he could practically sense the three tensing up for a fight when Yuki had taken the wind right out of all their sails by simply stating, "We're going to be friends. All of us. Which means no more fighting unless you're just playing around. I don't want any of you accidentally hurting each other or worse. Understand?"

Oh they had understood alright. Jin thought as he had practically goggled at her reply to his question. He had never been more shocked before in his life. Really he hadn't. And after casting a quick look at the others, all of whom were sitting around the fire gaping at her like a bunch of loons, he suddenly felt like this was the best choice for dealing with them.

Besides if they were to become friends then it meant that he could draw out their punishment indefinitely without killing any of them. Something that he found quite devious of his Yuki. Especially since it was something that she obviously felt he would enjoy immensely.

Seeing that Yuki was finally done retching, the wind demon reached out and carefully grasped the young girl's arm in his hand and helped her stay upright when she began to weave just a wee bit. "Feel a bit better now, little one?" He asked in a gentle tone. Making sure to speak slowly just in case her latest bought of sickness had caused her to develop a little bit of a headache.

Especially since she often times tended to become a little bit violent when she had really bad headaches.

She made a low humming sound as he wrapped an arm around her slender frame and the two of them began walking again towards the arena where he and the others were supposed to be fighting today. Smoothing back her slightly damp hair from her face, he crooned in what he hoped was a comforting tone.

"Don't worry none girly. It won't be much longer now until we have our answers..." He said before placing a chaste kiss on her temple as they finally reached the arena.

The roar of the crowd today was just as deafening as it was the day before, and the day before that and so on. The loud sound causing Yuki to jump nearly out of her skin as he ducked his head slightly so that he was more or less hiding her from the view of many of the demons that they wound up passing by as he helped to maneuver her over to where the rest of their team was waiting.

Barely bothering to cast a glance towards the opposite team to see who they were supposed to be fighting today. Truth be told, it didn't really matter who they fought- he and the others had decided to participate in the dark tournament with the hope of using their one wish to learn the identity of the person/person's responsible for attacking and raping her well over a month in a half ago while they had been waiting for her to return home from school.

She had been missing for exactly seven days before he and the others had finally managed to find her laying just a mile or so from her home in a small puddle of her own blood, her throat slashed- bruises, scratches and cuts littering her unclothed body.

Her eyes staring blankly ahead, her expression had been an odd combination of horror and pain. But that by far wasn't the worst of it- the worst of the situation aside from finding her as she was had been that they were able to smell exactly what had been done to her.

Jin still remembered the broken keening sound he had made as he had dropped down to the ground next to her and slowly gathered her almost lifeless body into his arms.

Uncaring of the fact that her blood was staining his clothing and skin as he had placed his head against her small breasts and listened to the faint fluttering beat of her heart as Toya came over an dropped down beside him and had Chu pretty much pry his hands from her so that her neck wound could be tended too before she perished from blood loss.

However the wound wasn't meant to be immediately fatal.

Jin had known that before he had even touched her.

The wound had been meant to only knick the artery in her throat so that instead of a quick and almost painless death, she would suffer for hours before succumbing to her fate.

And then there was the smell to deal with.

The scent of freshly spilled virgin blood mixed with a man's musk and female pheromones.

A human man's musk stuck to her skin as if it were her own. Jin recalled vaguely fighting with Chu to get to her, the need to erase the scent from his human friend's young body was triggering his instincts on a dangerous level. He might have actually succeeded in getting his hands on her so that he could do as his instinct demanded, however as soon as Toya finished closing the wound on her neck he had then tuned to Jin and right before the wind demon could so much as touch her- he had been ruthlessly rendered unable to move.

"Is this really what you should be doing now Jin? Throwing a fit?" The words had been spoken quietly, yet held as much sting to them as a whip slicing through his skin. "Yuki needs to be tended to. Not fought over."

She is a person.

He knew that.

Not an object.

He knew that too.

She would need time.

Dammit he was aware of that fact! It didn't make things any less difficult for him though. He was Jin. The first wind demon to befriend a small human girl and adopt her as his own kin.

And the day that he had figured out that she was pregnant with her rapists/would be killer's child...was the day that he had cried endlessly for being unable to keep his blood promise to her family.

He had never quite felt like such a failure before except for the time when he had almost lost her. That was why he and the others were participating in the Dark Tournament. It wasn't for fame, glory or fortune like many other's participating.

He wanted a name and location so that he and the others could personally pay a visit to the sorry piece of shit that had stripped Yuki of her innocence so brutally and almost killed her.

He wanted to look the fucker in the face as he killed him for messing up her life.