Hello everyone! I'm so sorry it has taken this long to post another chapter! Finals were hell in a hanky, but THEY'RE OVER! Anyways, I should have more time to write now so another chapter will be up in the next few days. I'll also try to work on my other stories as well.

Oh! For future reference I wanted to know how detailed you readers wanted the "possible" romance scenes. If some aren't comfortable with details I'd be more than happy to make them their own chapters or put up a "DOING THE DIRTY" sign before anything happens. You can message me if you don't want others to know you "Want to hear Marvin Gaye singing 'Let's Get It On' in the background ;)"

LAST NOTE! I wanted to dedicate this chapter to Kaigirl16 as thanks for sticking with my story and being my personal reminder :) I hope you enjoy it!

(OK, really my last note) PS I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Hiei (damn), only Selina, Ryo, Mariko, Takashi, and Takeo.

Chapter 15: Rock vs Rose

"Terrified. Isn't that more like it?"

A tremor shot down Selina's spine at the sound of the harsh grating voice. It reverberated off the stone walls, making it hard to pin point the exact location of the maker. She bent her knees in a defensive stance as the group instantly stood back to back. The only one who didn't seemed bothered by it was Hiei, who stood beside her with his hands in his pockets, looking bored.

"Hey! Who said that?" Kuwabara stammered.

The creepy voice laughed. "There's a door behind you. Please, take it."

As if on cue the corridor brightened, and a large bronze double door was revealed to them. It was simple in its design. Bolts bordered the edges and two hanging bronze rings served as the doorknobs. Selina glanced at the others and followed Yusuke and Kuwabara to the entrance. The two boys shoved the doors open. For a moment they stood there, staring into the dim room.

"Ladies first."

Selina rolled her eyes at Yusuke and stalked past him, followed by the others. She stopped, Yusuke and Kurama on either side of her. The room was cave like in appearance, with jagged walls and a slightly uneven floor. There were stone pillars that were placed ten feet or so on either side of the group. More were scattered throughout the room. Iron sconces with burning torches were bolted to some of the stone columns. They gave off enough light for them to see each other and a staircase about ten yards away, but farther into the room it was obscure.

A rank scent mixed with stale air caused Selina to wrinkle her nose. She heard Kuwabara's heartbeat start to quicken. Yusuke's was surprisingly mellow. It was still creepy, she thought, that she could hear that type of thing. She wouldn't have paid attention to it, but the eerie silence made the lightest noises resonate. Selina nibbled on her lips in nervousness. The hairs on her arms stood on end. Something in the darkness was watching them. She could feel it. They needed light if they were going to face this foe, so Selina walked over to one of the torches. On her tiptoes, she reached up for the torch.

"Need a stool?"

"Hardy frickin har. You're hilarious Yusuke." Some chuckles were heard from behind her. Selina thanked Kami for that boy's sarcastic nature. It helped to lighten the mood. Wrapping her hands around the rough wood Selina lifted the torch out of its holder. She turned her head and stuck her tongue out at Yusuke, who was looking smug. A slight scraping sound caused Selina to snap her attention back to the shadows. With narrowed eyes she chucked her light into the middle of the room.

Selina, Yusuke, and Kuwabara gasped at the sight of their opponent. It was a giant golem, at least twenty feet tall. Its back was hunched over and resembled a turtle's shell. A long tail, made of individual rocks connected together protruded from its posterior. It sported stone spikes atop its fat head, and had a horrible under bite. The demon laughed again as Selina backed up a couple steps.

"Well, I think we've found the interior designer for this stupid castle," she muttered.

"He's fired," replied Yusuke.

"Welcome trespassers."

"Eh! Ok I'm surprised!" Kuwabara leaned back away from the monster before him, as if that would prevent said beast from attacking him.

"I am Genbu of the Four Saint Beasts. Do you have a request before you die?"

"Ya, tell me how a beast is a saint. I'm lost." Yusuke said while grabbing Selina's shoulder and pushing her behind him next to Kurama. She made a sound of protest and shoved his hand away. As sweet as the chivalric act was, it irritated her. She would expect Yusuke to understand by now that she could very well hold her own.

"This stairwell is the only way up to the tower. You can either defeat me or be dragged up there once you've stopped breathing!" Genbu slammed his stone tail against the ground creating a small crater in the floor. "Why don't you all attack me at once, then the last one left won't feel lonely."

"Oh yay. I've always wanted to be stoned to death by Bowser's mutated twin." Selina crossed her arms over her chest. 'When in doubt, be sarcastic' she thought with a slight grin. A snort was heard from her left. She glanced over to see Hiei staring forward in his usual bored stance. Her body tensed a bit, realizing she was so near to him. A waft of smoky cinnamon teased her senses. 'Damnit, this is not the time to wonder if Hiei tastes as good as he smells.' Her eye twitched at her traitorous thoughts and she mentally slapped herself. 'Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it! Just think of him as another Yusuke. An ugly, fat, hairy, smelly, Yusuke.'

"He's a rock Urameshi! How're we supposed to fight against a talking rock!" Kuwabara whined. Kurama stepped forward, looking calm and collected.

"I will fight him."

"Are you sure?" Yusuke asked, watching the fox.

"It would be ill advised for all of us to attack without first knowing his power." Kurama glanced back to the group, his lips slightly upturned. "Besides, I can hardly let Selina get all the credit for this mission, now can I?"

One side of Selina's lips lifted, but there was worry in her eyes. "Be careful Kurama." The fox nodded and turned to Genbu, strolling up to him like he was taking a walk in the park.

"You want to die one by one? I can do that too," Genbu said, amused.

Yusuke took a step forward and clenched his fists. "Hey, wouldn't we be better off trying to lure him back to the drop down ceiling or something?"

"Obviously you are underestimating Kurama." Everyone looked at the fire demon. "Do you know why I chose him to be my partner? To avoid fighting him myself. He's more cutthroat than I am when it comes to battle, and unbelievably precise."

"I don't know you guys. He's still a talking rock." Kuwabara looked unsure.

"Trust me Kuwabara, there are weirder looking demons than Genbu. Take Hiei for example," Selina motioned towards the fire demon, secretly pleased with herself for acting nonchalant towards him.

Hiei glared at her, but then his lips came up in a smirk. "That's not what you were thinking in the warehouse."

Selina's eyes grew large as her jaw dropped, completely mortified. Her cheeks instantly heated, and she knew her coloring was making apples envious.

Hiei, on the other hand, was greatly amused with her reaction. Before her change, her mental guards had been poor. When he'd been in close contact with her, he'd heard her thoughts. It had amused him that a weak human found him attractive. However, he'd found it disconcerting that his body had responded to the female. That moment in the warehouse when he'd caught her before she could grab the artifacts, a warm sweet smell had smashed into his senses. He hadn't even realized that he'd buried his nose in her neck to inhale her scent. And then to have her small body wriggling underneath him made his blood boil and parts of him awaken.

At first he'd been sure she was some sort of witch, causing his body to react to her scent, the feel of her skin, her lips. But, being locked up in Spirit World for six months had given him much time to ponder over it. She'd been sincerely confused when he had accused her of sorcery. He grudgingly admitted that the only solution was that he was genuinely attracted to her as well. Him, a demon attracted to some frail human. It had disgusted him.

But now things were becoming interesting. She had revealed that her father was a Dhampir. He'd met a vampire before. Not being able to sense them by their energy was annoying, but that didn't cause him to hate vampires like so many other demons did. Vampires were prospective enemies, just like everyone else. A dhampir though he'd never met. Which wasn't surprising since many vampires hated the halfbreeds and made it their purpose to hunt them down and kill them. However she was only half dhampir, and he could guess that her mother wasn't human by the way she had eluded mentioning what she was. The woman was more than she seemed, and knowing that she wasn't fully human made it easier for him to accept his attraction. That still didn't mean he had to like it though.

Since he had been dragged into this pointless mission, he might as well get some entertainment out of it. Embarrassing the female was proving to be extremely humorous. However, being the cold-hearted demon he thought himself to be, his face did not betray his inner musings.

Selina snapped her head forward, going to stand by Yusuke, who was giving her a questioning look. She ignored his stare while muttering, "Jerkass telepath".

'I can't believe he actually said that! And I was doing so well! Oh Kami, that means he heard everything I was thinking!' Selina checked to make sure her mind was securely guarded. It was. A sigh of relief escaped her lips.

Takeo had made sure to strengthen her mental blocks during training. Since her dhampiric powers had been released it had been easier, due to the fact that all vampires were psychic to some degree. Every fledgling was gifted with mind manipulation. Only powerful enough to control a weak minded human. It wouldn't do to have their food run off screaming and alert the public to bloodsucking monsters. Selina didn't seem to have that talent, but seeing as she took her blood from a plastic bag, it didn't bother her.

It was only later in life that a vampire learned what their personal psychic gift was. The older they were, the stronger they became. She remembered her father saying his power was telekinesis. So far, Selina could guard her mind fairly well and that was it.

"Sir, the first move is yours." Kurama said, sounding deceptively polite. Genbu just guffawed and tried to stare down the fox.

Movement caught Selina's attention, and her eyes darted to the rock demon's tail. It had melted into the floor. Before she could warn the fox, Yusuke beat her to it. "Hey! Stone man is doing something freaky with his tail!" He pointed.

Kurama crouched in a defensive stance. His eyes swiveled around the room while still trying to keep Genbu within his field of vision. A second too late, he noticed the point of Genbu's tail as it shot out of the stone floor. Kurama leapt back into the air, but the sharp side of Genbu's tail slashed him across the stomach. The fox barely managed to back flip and land in a crouch.

"Kurama!" Yusuke yelled. Selina clenched her fists as she scented blood. There was enough to make her worry for her red-haired friend.

Genbu laughed. "Thanks to my body's structure I can become one with any type of rock. With a little rearranging I can make any stone my tail."

"Ya, we're in trouble," Kuwabara mumbled.

"And since this whole room is made of stone, I have you surrounded. There's no where to run!"

Kurama grabbed his torso and stood up. Kuwabara chewed on his fingers making nervous squeaks. Hiei glanced in disgust at the oaf. 'Weak' he thought.

"Oh man, now he's wounded." Yusuke brought his clenched fists up to his chest.

"Maybe we should help?" Kuwabara pointed.

"There is no need." Kurama side glanced at his companions. "I've been hurt, but he will not take me by surprise again." His composure remained calm as always, yet Hiei caught the self-assured glimmer in the fox's eyes. The fire demon inwardly scoffed. 'Stop wasting time Kurama' he thought.

"Ha! Wait until you see the full extent of my power! Then you won't be so confident!" To the group's horror, Genbu started to sink into the floor.

Selina sucked in a quick breath. "He's becoming part of the floor! We have to do something!" Hiei grabbed her upper arm, halting her intent to run into the fox's battle. Cerulean eyes locked onto his.

"Let me go." Her eyebrows creased in confusion.

"No. This is Kurama's fight, not yours. Unlike you weakling, he is strong, and Genbu will die by his hands." Selina's eye twitched and she pulled her lips back in a silent snarl. Her pale cheeks started to flush a dark red. Hiei watched all this with a straight face, but inside he was smirking at her reaction. Making her angry was too easy.

"Well this weakling saved your ass from a ceiling. What does that make you?" she bit out, yanking her arm out of his grasp.

Hiei's eyes narrowed, all amusement gone. He closed the distance between them and got in her face. Her eyes widened for a split second, but she refused to back down from him. An inch or two separated them. It was more than close enough to smell her again, warm and sweet. Not only was she challenging him, she smelled good, too good. His body tensed, fighting against an urge, to do…something, he didn't know what. All of this was royally pissing him off.

"Smart enough to know that the switch was a trap," he growled. Hiei felt her shiver, so close were their bodies. A pink tongue darted out to wet her lips, and Hiei's gaze was drawn to the movement like a magnet.

"You'll never beat me by just running away," Genbu laughed. The irritating sound of rock on rock brought Hiei and Selina back to reality. She stumbled back from him, as if pushed. His intense gaze was too much for her. She spun around and walked back to Yusuke's side just noticing her heart was pounding against her chest. 'What the hell was that?' she thought. The gel-headed teenager raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you two done making googly eyes at each other?"

Selina felt her face heat up again and she smacked Yusuke's arm, giving him a dry look. "Shut up Yusuke." She looked back at the fight.

"Yes Genbu, I believe you're right." Kurama smirked and ran his hand through his long scarlet mane, producing a rose the same color as his hair.

"A flower?" Yusuke said, shocked.

"Now that's weird. If he's trying to win the beast over, I don't think that's a good idea." Stated Kuwabara. Selina rolled her eyes, and heard Hiei chuckle darkly behind her.

"It's no ordinary flower. Rose whip!" Kurama flicked the rose, transforming it into a long vine whip, complete with deadly thorns. Petals from the rose drifted in the air, filling the room with its divine aroma.

"Well, everything's coming up roses," said Yusuke.

"It smells girly. I don't think I like it."

Selina smirked. "I guess he should be manly like you Kuwabara and be obsessed with kittens."

"Nice one!" Yusuke snickered, high fiving his smaller companion.

"Shut up you guys!"

That just caused Yusuke and Selina to laugh harder at the flustered teen.

Genbu laughed mockingly. "You still don't understand. What good will a fancy whip do you when you can't tell where I am."

Kurama closed his eyes, one side of his lips upturned. "Yes, not being able to find you is a problem."

"Ha, you just can't be scared, can you? Well, I'll soon change that!"

Kurama stood poised, his whip at the ready. "Found you!" The same moment he uttered those words, Genbu dove out of the ceiling. The rock demon stood no chance as Kurama slashed his whip multiple times, dicing his solid hide.

"It's over. The thorns on Kurama's whip can slice through any substance, including solid stone," Hiei said haughtily. Selina tensed a bit as the fire demon came to stand beside her, shoulders almost touching. He ignored her, and it ticked her off. 'Fine', she thought,' if he wants to act like nothing happened, so be it. Prick.' She heard Kuwabara gasp. Genbu's body parts fell to the floor in a heap.

"How did you find me?" said Genbu's decapitated head.

"Your smell. After filling the room with the rose's sweet aroma, your putrid odor was easy for me to find." Selina laughed at the fox's slightly arrogant response, and walked up to him, the other boys following at her sides.

"Well that's no fair. Why is it none of my fights can end that quickly?" joked Yusuke.

"You beat him in one blow! Now that's what I call a wimp." Kuwabara put a fist on his side, impressed with the red head.

"You idiots. It only looked easy because Kurama was the one fighting. If you had fought, you would have died in under a minute." Selina sighed at Hiei's mocking tone, knowing it would incite an argument. She was right. Kuwabara came stomping up to the short demon with his fist raised, and Selina quickly got out of his way.

"Why does everything you say make me wanna bash your face in!"

"Hn."

Selina, Yusuke, and Kurama shared a look as Kuwabara stood up straight and pointed at himself. "Listen. I just happened to place third in master Genkai's fighting tournament. The only ones who beat me were Yusuke and an evil monster."

"What's your point?" Hiei closed his eyes, unimpressed.

"You little!" Kuwabara grabbed the short demon by his white scarf, pulling back his fist to punch him. Selina grabbed the wrist of the hand Kuwabara was holding Hiei with. She turned an annoyed look at the carrot haired teen.

"Enough! Stop acting like children and save your fight for the Saint Beasts!"

Kuwabara clenched his jaw, but let go of Hiei's scarf. In turn Selina let his wrist go. The giant teen gave her a pout. "Ok, but he started it."

Selina smiled at him, but then frowned and turned to the other male next to her. "And you should know better Hiei. You're supposed to be older than him, so act like it."

Said demon narrowed his eyes at her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do not chide me woman."

Selina mirrored him. "Well then don't give me a reason to demon." Both their heads turned to the detective who was laughing and pointing at them. Kurama was trying not to grin, and failing horribly at it.

"It's the battle of the midgets!" Howled Yusuke. Both short persons did not look amused.

Kurama chuckled a bit, but then gasped as he heard rock sliding against rock. "It seems my fight is not over." That got the attention of the others. Yusuke and Kuwabara's jaws dropped as they looked over and saw Genbu's body parts molding together. Selina sucked in air through her teeth and muttered, "So much for a quick fight."

Genbu's head laughed as his now solid body picked it up and attached it back onto his neck. "Who's dead? Not me."

"Uh guys, I think he's uh, putting himself back together," Kuwabara stuttered.

"You can dissemble me all you like. I'll come back together every time. Actually, it makes for a very nice attack!" Genbu launched his hands, pieces of his arms, and head at Kurama. The fox demon snapped his whip at the oncoming rocks, turning them into smaller pieces of gravel.

"Right in the head! Let's see him come back from that!" Yusuke grinned. Genbu's parts started flying back through the air, again connecting with his body.

"Wanna try again?" Genbu chuckled, the sound annoying the group.

"Uh, ok, that was luck." Yusuke said uncertainly.

"Let's end this! How would you like to be stoned to death!" Genbu launched his body parts again. Kurama brought his arms up to block his face and tried to dodge the rock missiles. Some hit his shoulders, but he dove to the ground before he could be pummeled by the worst of it. The projectiles hung in mid air, grouping together.

"They're coming back!" yelled Kuwabara.

"Kurama!" Worry laced Yusuke's voice.

The red haired demon stood, facing the incoming storm of Genbu parts, not moving.

"What the hells he doing? He's gonna get himself killed?" The black haired detective clenched his jaw.

Selina cried out as Kurama was hit repeatedly with the flying stones. "Fox!"

The bombardment passed and Kurama fell to one knee, panting.

"You're not even fighting back now. Those blows must have made you insane!" Genbu mocked.

Kurama stood up and chuckled, while everyone else had his or her jaws dropped, speechless.

"Yes, I'm sure of it! Now you're laughing at nothing. Wait, uh how did you get on the ceiling? Uh what's wrong!" Genbu's head was now connected to his crotch, his tail coming out his side, and other limbs in places they shouldn't be. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Selina started howling in laughter, pointing at the ridiculous sight.

"I've heard of brass balls before, but c'mon!" Tears streamed down Yusuke's face.

"Ya, I'd like to see him use the toilet!" Kuwabara added.

"Now he can give himself head!" Selina fell to her knees, clutching her gut, laughing her ass off.

"What did you do to me!" Genbu bellowed.

Kurama held up a pulsing red stone. "I took this."

"What's that!"

"I believe this is the equivalent of the hypothalamus portion of your brain. It regulates all the functions of your body, including the process of putting yourself back together. It seems to relay an energy signal when you separate, making it very easy to find."

"You can't do this! Give it back to me!"

Kurama threw the stone up in the air, his eyes narrowed. "Farewell." With one flick of his wrist, his whip separated the pulsing stone. Instantly the first Saint Beast exploded into dust. Selina blew out a breath of relief, her shoulders sagging. It was fleeting as the scent of blood came back to her nose.

"I don't think he liked that!" came the intelligent response from Kuwabara.

"Good work Kurama!" Yusuke cheered.

Kurama let slip a light groan of pain and fell to a knee while clutching his stomach. Selina ran over to his hunched form, putting a hand on his shoulder. The others followed right after.

"You ok?"

"No, he's not ok Yusuke. His wound must have reopened during the last part of the fight." Selina crouched next to Kurama, taking off her cloak.

"Is she right?" The fox looked up to the young spirit detective and nodded his head.

"Yes, I'm afraid."

"If Kurama is injured, we're going to have some problems," said Hiei, his eyes wide.

"Foxy, take off your shirt." All the boys looked at the small female in shock.

"Selina, I don't think now is the right time to proposition Kurama!"

The black haired woman growled at Yusuke. "I'm going to wrap his wound you pervert!" Selina took her last knife out of her boot and started cutting her cloak into strips. Kurama put his hand on her arm to stop her motions.

"You don't need to do that."

Selina just stared at him. "Off." The fox chuckled and let the stubborn woman have her way. While he unbuttoned his uniform top, Kuwabara made a strange noise. Everyone looked at him.

"Wait, how did you know he was bleeding Selina?"

Selina put her knife back in her boot and looked up to the tall teen. She tapped her nose.

"Eww! You mean you smelled his blood!" Kuwabara screeched, looking a little green.

Hiei rolled his eyes at the dumb human. "She is part vampire you fool."

"I know, but, ugh."

Selina giggled and smirked at Kuwabara. "I can hear your heartbeat too." Kuwabara blanched and made a noise similar to a choking seagull. Kurama and Yusuke chuckled. Hiei just smirked.

"That's not creepy," Yusuke grinned, putting his hands in his pockets. Selina returned the grin and then turned back to her patient. Kurama's wound was bleeding, but not enough to be fatal. She bunched one of the strips into a ball, using it to clean up some of the blood around the wound. Taking another one she folded it a couple times and laid it on top of the wound itself. "Hold this," she told Kurama. He did so, his eyes showing amusement. Selina took a long strip and started wrapping it around his torso, holding the folded piece in place.

Hiei watched the female work, wrapping her arms around Kurama to get the strips around his torso. Her fingers brushed against his skin and for some reason that irritated him. It ticked him off that he was irritated. He clenched his jaw. She was taking far too long he thought. Her hands lingered on Kurama's skin seconds longer than they should have. He closed his eyes, fisting his hands in his pockets. 'I don't give a shit.' At least, that's what he told himself.

"Will you play nurse with me later too?" Yusuke grinned. Hiei's eyes shot open, narrowing on the detective. His action did not escape the notice of a certain red haired fox. Selina picked up the extra strips of her cloak and stood.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled.

"That's Keiko's job," Selina smirked back at her partner. His cheeks flushed and he "hmphed" and turned away from her.

"Whatever."

Kuwabara laughed and started making jokes about Yusuke and Keiko. It ended up turning into a brawl. Selina rolled her eyes and smirked. 'Yusuke's so cute when he gets flustered over her.'

Kurama had finished buttoning up his uniform top, and stood up off the floor. "Thank you," he said smiling at the short woman standing next to him.

Selina returned the sentiment. "Of course. I couldn't have you bleeding all over yourself."

Kurama, Selina, and Hiei turned to look at the two teenage boys who were still yelling at each other, throwing a punch every once in a while.

Selina smirked and rolled her eyes. "Come on you two, I don't think the Saint Beasts are going to wait for you two to stop bickering like an old married couple."

Yusuke and Kuwabara instantly stopped fighting, springing away from each other like they'd just seen something revolting. Both boys looked at the small female in horror.

"We're not married Selina!" yelled Kuwabara.

"Could've fooled me." Selina grinned, but then squeaked as Yusuke ran up and threw her over his shoulder. "Yusuke Urameshi, put me down now!"

"Damn Li you weigh nothing. You need to eat more," Yusuke laughed while Selina flailed.

"I'm gonna eat you if you don't put me down asshole!"

"Such language."

"Yusuke!"

Said male turned to the rest of his laughing or glaring companions, a smirk on his face. "Well times a wastin'. Let's go."

"I'm fighting the next monster!" Kuwabara stated, grinning at Selina's legs kicking in the air. The guys nodded and walked to the stairwell.

"Prick! Put me down!"