Apparently, Maya didn't need people to pose for her Territory to work. All she needed to do was catch one person in the square and voilà, their death was shown to her! Which was convenient. Asking people to pose for a fake camera would've been terribly awkward.

She prevented about twenty to thirty horrible deaths, counting those of animals, with her Territory. There were times when all she needed to do was redirect a person or warn them about whatever object or thing or person had caused their death in her vision. Other times she needed to intervene. Thankfully she had enough awareness that some deaths were going to need strength and skill to put a stop to, therefore she joined a Kenjutsu Club alongside her Photography Club and took part in after school self-defense classes to better train herself for situations that needed them. There were times when had gotten hurt, but they weren't bad as they could've been without the practice and bokken strapped to her back.

Like what Genkai said, not everyone could be saved, and she couldn't use her Territory on everyone. That, and the trauma from witnessing all those possible deaths, would put a damper on her morale. Guilt would nibble on her mind and heart, but she wouldn't allow it to fester.

Now as a second year, her proclivity in warning people, no matter how discreet she attempts to be, became the talk of the school. There were students, classmates and students from other classrooms and years, who would walk to her desk and nervously ask her for predictions. As much as she loved helping people avoid a gruesome death, she wasn't all that fond of being seen as an even bigger freakshow than before. Oh well, you know what they say: can't have the good without the bad and all that jazz. At least she made a new friend thanks to it. A nice underclassman named Keiko Yukimura.

Maya met her during the school's entrance ceremony, they talked about favorite classes, clubs, and the rumors circulating about Maya and they'd hit it off ever since. Smart, beautiful, sweet—if Maya was attracted to girls she probably would've asked her out on the spot! After figuring that Maya was trustworthy, Keiko had told her about a friend named Kuwabara who was a psychic like her, piquing her interest. A meeting hadn't been set up yet, they had their busy schedules to blame for that.

"Doesn't it get tiring to see so much death?" Keiko asked during their lunch together. It was warm today, so they were sitting out in the courtyard.

Maya was mid-bite of her store-bought yakisoba pan. She chewed with a thoughtful hum. She swallowed then shrugged. "It sure does. Seeing death after death after death really messes with the noggin! Not that it's anything new for me." She started to giggle behind her hand. "I'm used to seeing disfigured ghosts and having them haunt my dreams just cause. The malicious sorts can't really do anything to harm people like in the movies, they mostly just stalk me and try to scare me, so it's not all that bad. I just push all the bleh stuff to the back of my mind and try not dwell."

Maya's giggles faded when she noticed Keiko's concern. She self-consciously scratched her cheek. "Oh, uh…I'm sorry, was that inappropriate?"

"No…Yes?" Keiko slowly shook her head, tapping the tips of her chopsticks against her bento. "I'm mostly concerned with how unhealthy that coping mechanism sounds. Although I've seen some," her lips twisted with displeasure, " things that could traumatize any person, if I were in your shoes I would've snapped a long time ago from the overwhelming stress. For you to laugh about such disturbing circumstances like that, you must have one heck of a tough spirit."

"Hm, I mean, I guess so? How come you're asking about my Territory and mental health all of a sudden?"

"Well…" Keiko considered her words for a moment. She sent Maya a guilty smile. "Remember when I told you about that childhood friend of mine? The one who's currently staying with his distant relatives for three years."

Maya nodded. "Yuh-huh, yuh-huh! Yusuke Urameshi. Infamous delinquent and guy you're totally head over heels for."

Keiko's cheeks turned a bright red, but she didn't argue against it. "Yeah, him. He has a pretty bad rep and with a bad rep comes making enemies with the wrong crowd. Since I'm his—close friend who happens to be a girl, I'm liable to get caught up in a messy situation. So I was thinking that since you could see people's deaths you could check if, you know…check if there's a chance that I might die from unnatural causes." She quickly placed her chopsticks down and waved her hand in a 'I'm so sorry for being a bother' gesture. "But I've been fine so far! I don't want you to use your Territory on me and have it turn out to be nothing! Wouldn't want to scar you even more for no reason!"

Keiko owlishly blinked when Maya squeezed her hand, staring into her eyes with fiery determination.

"Nonsense! Of course I'll check for you! What kind of friend and upperclassman would I be if I ignored your worries and didn't prevent your death? Unreliable ones, that's what!" Maya exclaimed. She shoved the rest of her pan into her mouth to avoid dropping it from the resulting jolt and formed her hands into a camera, catching Keiko's startled face.

Everything froze around her: wandering students, birds at mid-flight, and the wind rustling leaves. The image of Keiko warped, changing into a scene of her screaming, face bruised as she attempted to struggle out of an out of shot person's grip on her wrist. She bit that person's hand, drawing blood, and was subsequently tossed off what looked to be the school's roof in a fit of rage.

Maya snapped out of it, arms wildly waving as she was about to shout at Keiko what she just saw. She clutched her throat, face turning blue as she choked on her lunch. Yelping, Keiko hurried to her feet and pulled Maya into a Heimlich maneuver. After Keiko managed to save her life Maya went about telling Keiko about her vision to save her's.

While Keiko was pale, she took the news of her falling to her death pretty well. "Getting thrown off a roof. Great. Do you know when I might get attacked?"

Maya sipped her water bottle to ease her aching throat. She let out a sigh. "Sadly, my Territory doesn't give me a time or date, usually I use context clues to estimate the time and keep my eyes and ears open." She set her bottle down and lifted four fingers. "In my vision, it was the late afternoon. You were dressed in the freshman uniform so it's definitely going to happen this year. The skirt of your uniform was stained with what looked like blue paint. And if I saw correctly, you were pushed off this school's roof."

"Figures I'd get attacked at school again, real original…" Keiko mumbled. "So what do you suggest I do, Maya?"

"Avoid roofs for one." Maya crossed her arms, grinning. "And you have a bodyguard right here. We'll watch out for any paint splatters that get on you, and any time you need to stay at school late, I'll be there to look after you. You can even get Kuwabara to wait for you at the gate since he's strong and spiritually aware! If he senses anything wrong, he'll come running inside and help us out if we need it!"

"Yeah…Yeah! That sounds good!"

"'Operation: Keep Keiko Alive' is underway!"

Days passed without issue. Maya followed Keiko around in the hallways every time she could, watching out for any blue paint and people that seemed out of place. She stayed with Keiko whenever she needed to stay after school for the student council or for tutoring a peer, and even walked her home with Kuwabara. It was nice getting to know the taller boy, he seemed very friendly, very lovestruck too with how much he talks about this Yukina girl, and even invited her to come over someday to see his adorable cat!

It all came ahead at the sixth week of waiting. Students were preparing for Culture Day, and while in the process of painting a giant poster with her classmates, light splatters of blue paint ended up on Keiko's skirt. Keiko showed the bright stains to Maya.

"Those are the exact stains I saw in my vision." Maya said. She propped her hands on her hips, glaring at the stains as if it personally offended her. "So our mystery villain is planning on attacking you today, huh? Not on my watch! I'll knock them out before they could even think of getting you near a roof!"

As the day waned, the sun losing its shine, many students were hurrying out the school's doors, happy to spend the rest of the day home or spending time with friends while others stayed behind for club activities. Keiko stayed, having promised to help tutor a classmate yesterday and unable to come up with a proper excuse to bail without seeming like a flake. Keiko and Maya walked side by side down the dim, empty hall in grim silence, light occasionally splashing onto them every time they passed a window.

Arms crossed and fingers restlessly tapping her elbow, Maya broke the silence, "I don't sense Kuwabara standing guard outside. He's usually here around this time."

"Kuwabara would have let me know beforehand if he was going to be late. Do you think my attacker did something to block him from coming this time?"

"It's possible."

Keiko chewed on her lip, taking on a contemplative look. She turned to Maya, tone serious and wary. "Maya. I haven't been telling you the complete truth. Now that Kuwabara isn't here, this situation might end up even more dire and the last thing I want is for you to get hurt. If whoever killed me in your vision is here because they want to get back at Yusuke, there's a high chance of them being a demon."

Maya's brows raised. "Huh, so you know about demons? Is Yusuke like some sort of undercover demon hunter or something?"

Keiko weakly smiled. "Close. It's a long story. But, seriously, if you want to back out now—"

Maya shook her head. "No, Keiko. I promised to help you and help you I will. Anyway, I dealt with demons a few times before, so I'm not inexperienced."

They stopped at the school's library. Sensing danger was near, Maya whispered to Keiko to stand a bit behind her as she slid the door open and took a step inside. At first glance the room was empty, discounting the lone pigtailed student, Wakaba Hanamura, sitting at a round table not too far from them. She looked away from the open textbook in front of her to wave in their direction.

"Oh! Yukimura, you're here…" Wakaba frowned once she noticed Maya. "…and you brought Upperclassman Kitajima? Is she going to study with us?"

Maya narrowed her eyes at the aura surrounding Wakaba. Red. Last time she checked, the real Wakaba was one hundred percent human. She ran her eyes over the library, feeling relief when she sensed the energies of the actual Wakaba and the librarian. Only unconscious. Good to know there wasn't an indiscriminate killer on their hands; pragmatism was their ally today.

Maya pulled her bokken out of its bag and pointed it at the false Wakaba. "There's no use in trying to fool us. I know what you are. If you're here to hurt Keiko, you're sorely mistaken if you think I'd let you."

A beat passed. The false Wakaba slowly stood from their seat with a miffed exhale, peering down at them as if they were dirt beneath their heels.

"Looks like you got yourself another psychic friend. How nice for you. And here I was hoping for this nab and grab to be quick and easy." The false Wakaba began to change. They grew taller and lost their curves, now shifting into wiry limbed yet muscular form. Beige skin turned a pale, grayish-yellow pallor, eyes dark and beady, lips thinning to reveal rows of jagged teeth and black gums, dark hair now a milky white and puffing out of its pigtails into an untamed mane that reached past their sharp shoulders, and the school uniform was exchanged for a loose tank top and baggy black pants. "If you don't want your friend to get killed protecting you, I suggest you give yourself up now before things get ugly."

Keiko's hands balled into fists as she glared at the demon over Maya's shoulder, feeling almost insulted at being proven right. "Let me guess, you're hoping to either use me as bait or leverage against Yusuke. Get back in line buddy, I'm sure there's plenty who want to do the same. You're not special."

The demon scowled. "Fine. The hard way it is."

Maya positioned her bokken over her head to use as a shield, hands and handle pointing up, when the demon rocketed towards them, fist raised and slamming into the bokken strengthened by her spirit energy. She was pushed back a bit from the strength of the blow, arms and hands stinging, but held her ground. Her grip tightening on the wooden sword, she swung her bokken to toss the demon back into the library. Maya grabbed Keiko's wrist and they sprinted down the hall, with the demon on their tail. Keiko could only sigh at the nostalgia this gave her, glad that there was one threat after them rather than many, while Maya was trying to come up with a plan. The demon climbed the walls then the ceiling as if he were a gecko, and landed before them, blocking their path to the stairway. Maya rushed at him, using the length of her weapon to her advantage—jabbing, swatting, guarding as she was taught.

Having enough of getting bruised and battered by a teenage girl than he originally thought, the demon grabbed hold of her bokken and a game of tug-o-war began, lasting a few minutes until the demon whipped the bokken up and tossed Maya overhead. She let out a strangled cry as she roughly landed on the floor, ears ringing from the pain. The demon snapped her bokken on his knee and tossed the broken pieces her way, turning to leer at Keiko, who was in a fighting stance. She put up a good fight, kicking and punching every weak spot she could find while Maya struggled to pick herself up. Seeing that the irritated demon was going to hit Keiko, Maya snatched the pointed part of her bokken and slid under his arm to take the punch for her friend. She stumbled into Keiko's arms, cheek bruised and lips split and bloodied. Maya groaned. This was going to be so hard to explain to her mother!

When Maya proved she was still capable of standing, Keiko turned to the demon with a snarl. "Bastard!" With her hand open, Keiko leapt at him. First, she slapped him and then she backhanded him into a wall. Now that he was in a daze, Maya stabbed her broken bokken into his shoulder, making him scream. Both girls didn't waste time running to the staircase.

"Keiko, quick, climb my back!"

"Huh?"

"Just do it!"

Reluctantly, Keiko climbed the slightly taller girl's back and she grimaced in realization when Maya climbed up the railing and peered down the bottom floor.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"Eh, probably," Maya said, before leaping off, legs enveloped in spirit energy.

Keiko's arms and legs tightened around Maya's neck and waist respectively as she shrieked throughout the fall. Maya landed in a crouch, eyes squinted and watery as she hissed, pain shooting up her legs. As much as that was going to hurt later, it could've been much, much worse. Keiko slid off of Maya's back and draped Maya's arm over her shoulders to assist in carrying her. They both glanced to the side after feeling someone staring at them and saw a third year student at the foot of the stairs gawking at them. An awkward moment passed before Keiko put on a panicked voice and pointed upstairs.

"There's an intruder in the school! He attacked a student and the librarian! Please, tell the principal, quick!"

"S-seriously!?" The student looked upstairs then back at their frazzled forms and turned to hurry to the principal's office.

"Keiko, we're at the bottom floor. Let's get out the first window we see and make a break for it." Maya mumbled. She seriously hoped that this was all over soon, her body was aching.

The sky was a mix of amber, gold and orange. The girls were outside the school, running as fast as they could to the gates. Keiko skidded to a halt and cursed when she saw the demon there waiting for them.

"You damned wenches," he hissed as he stomped towards them, cheeks noticeably swollen and bokken still stuck in his shoulder. "I ought to tear you both to bloody shreds for being such thorns on my side!"

"As if I'd let you, you punk! Spirit Sword!"

Before the demon could even turn around, he was sliced in half at the waist by a golden-yellow light. Keiko called out to Kuwabara with a gleeful smile while Maya crumbled to her knees with a relieved sigh. Spirit Swird dispersing, Kuwabara ran over to the girls to fret over them while Shizuru casually followed behind, stepping over the demon corpse without a second glance as she smoked.

"Ah, geez! Are you two okay!?" Kuwabara gasped when he saw Maya's face. "Did he hit you!? That jackass, what kind'a man strikes a woman in the face! I'm so sorry I came late! This coward had his lackeys distract me so I wouldn't come to your guys' aid in time!"

Shizuru sneered. "Motherfuckers wrecked my car, so I wrecked their shit." She cracked her knuckles for emphasis.

Kuwabara blanched at the memory. "Y-yeah, even if they managed to survive that, I doubt they would be able to walk or talk again…"

Keiko laughed. "I'm just glad you came! I thought we were goners!" She smiled at Maya. "Look! You prevented my death like you promised, Maya! I'm really grateful for your help."

Maya gave Keiko a thumbs up. "Of course! I take promises very seriously, you know!" She turned to Kuwabara with a tight expression. "Hey, you mentioned before that Yukina was a healer, any chance you could hook me up? I'm in a lot of pain right now and in need of as much healing as I can get. Hehehe…ow…"