Hi! I'll spare you the details of my life. Instead, I'll let you enjoy!

Hiei lands on his feet, with the wondrous catlike grace that experience has given him. The punch didn't hurt, not in the way that punches from opponents that match him in strength do. He did register some pain, like a sting all over his face, it's not like the wallop was entirely ineffective. Human spirit energy hits different. When Yusuke fought Yomi in the Demon World Tournament, it was a reminder to all that even Super S-Class demons should beware of its force.

Alexa swaggers up, a boastful hop to her step as she recognizes he's not mounting a counterattack on purpose.

"And that is a reminder that I am alive and well, and ain't going anywhere," she says, her music swelling with something ridiculous-sounding. Some… "meme." He decides to look bored, rather than outright disgusted. He can't let this moment get blown out of proportion, even if it was an admittedly passable attack. Just passable. Not superb.

"Get to work. Then perhaps, your punch will have an effect," he says, clipped and curt as he stands. She sticks her tongue out at him, still sunny, before turning her back on him to face Yusuke.

"Sorry, had to take care of business quick. Let's get started."

Yusuke, having watched the exchange while wishing for some very strong coffee, smiles bitterly. He watches as Hiei jumps out of sight behind her after leveling a not-too scalding glare at the back of her head. Despite everything, he couldn't help but think that their interactions weren't surface-level, as if there's some secret plot going on, and he kinda dislikes it. He prefers when things are up front and obvious.

"No problem. I love getting up early to watch petty drama, it makes me just like my mom," he drawls. Alexa swipes her hand through the air dismissively.

"Dude get over it, we both know you slept in compared to training with Genkai. So, what are we doing first? Warm-up? Spar? Show off reiki techniques?"

A silence ensues where the two stare at each other. It becomes apparent as the seconds tick by that Yusuke put no real thought into what he was going to do, as the main trouble was getting up to the mountain compound in the first place. Genkai didn't exactly leave an instruction manual or a how-to guide. He curses his old mentor for leaving him high and dry and thinks he can hear her cackling somewhere in the back of his mind.

"Uh… Right. I think we both know how each other fights in general, since y'know, we had the same teacher. You were super normal before you came here right?"

Alexa nods, allowing the music out into the air as she's getting ready to fight. The song in question makes Yusuke scrunch his nose; her taste and his don't quite match up, it seems. It's something dancey and pop-y and girly, more up Keiko's alley than his. She doesn't notice his reaction, allowing him to school his face before she can.

"Well yeah, by your standards I'm sure. I am—was, I mean—a musician. Most dangerous thing I ever did was…" she trails off, then her face turns bright pink. "Never mind. What are you thinking?"

Yusuke raises an eyebrow at her behavior but knows commenting would be a pain.

"What I'm thinking is that you need to experience the real stuff. I started on the streets, right? Helped me out so far, figure it could teach someone as resourceful as you've been," he says. It's her turn to scrunch her nose.

"You… want me to get into a street fight?" Okay, so she has good reason to be skeptical. This idea sounded more fantastic when he discussed it with Keiko (who, he now realizes, made the suggestion with a significant measure of jest) but he's not going to falter now. It makes sense to him, and it's a foundation he's familiar with. Much better than blindly hopping from idea to idea for how to train.

"It's different from all the special moves crap, it's just going for it," he replies, shrugging. Difficult to explain something that is so natural to him. She doesn't seem to buy it.

"You do realize that fighting normal people at the skill level I'm at is basically cruelty, right?"

Yusuke blinks at this setback. She's right. She's much better than any punks back in the city. He grumbles at the fact. It was a good idea and it doesn't work, and he should've been able to see that. Alexa shrugs, throwing him a sympathetic look.

"HEY ALEXA?! THERE'S SOME PEOPLE HERE ASKIN' FOR YA!" Rinku's voice reverberates through the woods from the direction of the compound. The training partners growl in frustration at their time getting interrupted. Alexa begins a hasty jog back after rolling her eyes, mumbling under her breath about weirdos seeking a temple worthy of posts for Instagram or Tiktok. Despite the remote location on the mountain, people find a way.

When she gets back to the temple, Yusuke on her heels, she notes that there's a small audience. Irked, she crosses her arms when she stops in front of them. Rinku, Chu, Shishi, and Suzuka are at the forefront, and seem awfully excited about something. She figures Jin and Touya are absent due to a mission.

"What's up? I was busy," she asks, fibbing a little. She wasn't doing that much before.

"There's some guys that came here looking for you, said they're fighters," Suzuka says, voice lilting in annoyance. She wonders why, since he likes influencers. She's directed to the courtyard at the temple entrance. The group follows behind with an air of glee. Her training friends know quite well how grumpy she gets at random solicitors, so she reasons that that must why.

She turns the corner to see a group dressed in dark and earthy colors, meant for martial arts training. It seems they are fighters, at least. The apparent leader is a tall bald man with a Buddhist manji tattooed on his forehead. A curious decision, but she won't judge. The way he's looking at her doesn't make a good impression.

"How can I help you, gentlemen?"

Bald Guy raises an eyebrow at her insolence. Behind her she can hear her friends snickering in excitement. Something about "tearing his nuts off" is loudly whispered by Rinku. Bald Guy doesn't appear to hear it.

"We are here to challenge the final student of Master Genkai," he announces, clearly unaware that he's staring at said final student. Yusuke steps up next to her with a mischievous expression. He remembers this guy.

"Heeeey, you're that ninja guy I beat way back when. What's up, wanna have another go 'round?"

Alexa squints her eyes, scanning, before they widen in recognition.

"Oh hey, you're right! I watched that fight on tape, you won by dumb luck."

"Whatever, Grandma made me her student, didn't she?"

Bald Guy glances between the group behind him and Genkai's students in a panic, hoping the two wouldn't divulge too much about his embarrassing loss. He had been so close to becoming the successor. No one knew he had lost out to a ridiculous, stupidly lucky fourteen-year-old.

"I'm looking for Alex Orlov, the final student. Is he here or not?" he demands, and a hush falls over everyone as Alexa blinks rapidly. She creaks her head over slowly to look at Yusuke, who looks down at her trying not to laugh.

"Did he just say…?"

Yusuke nods, a snort escaping.

Alexa turns back to her friends behind her who are also trying not to laugh.

"Didja hear that? Alex Orlov, everybody! MAN of the year, Alex Orlov, final student extraordinaire, the Big A. Fellas, you seen him around?"

Her arms are swiping out, as if a melodramatic theater major going overboard for an audition. Her friends don't hold back their grins now, as they're ready for her to demolish this dipshit. She snaps back around to smile madly at her challenger, putting her hands on her hips.

"What's your name, dude, I don't remember it offhand," she asks, gearing up her energy for some fun. The song goes into a pulsing bass beat.

"It's Kazemaru. What is this about?"

"There is no Alex Orlov, Kazemaru. The one you're looking for is not, and has never been, a man. You're looking for me, and I'm Alexa Orlov."

The revelation is met with raucous cheers from her friends, and confusion from the group around Kazemaru. She stares them down, waiting for them to process the information. The seconds it takes sets the music into a false build. It ends when Kazemaru opens his mouth.

"I was quite certain the final student was a male, but if you're offering to meet my challenge, then I will accept."

Alexa bows and turns to lead everyone away from the buildings. She doesn't want to risk destroying anything.

Hiei watches this from the trees. He understands her indignation at the stranger assuming Genkai's final student must be a man. It's the idea that she's bothering to waste her time fighting him that has him stuck. She'll easily defeat them. Their energy outputs are pathetic, and even if she's doing so to learn something, then what? What could she possibly learn? The best fights are against foes of equal or greater strength; Yusuke works that way, and he'll admit to himself that it's how he's gotten so far too. If this is merely about being scorned, she has a bigger ego than he thought.

Not like he's been chided for letting his pride get ahead of him.

He shifts trees to keep an eye on her. If her fight with Mukuro, and the subsequent cold shoulder he received from his former partner, had anything to do with the way Alexa fights, perhaps she'll manage to show him here. He may train with her, but watching from afar could provide more insight. He didn't see her rebound at the attack after he protected her from that DEvision witch. She fared well, or so he heard. It brings solace knowing that he's not completely wasting his time, even if she needed rescuing.

He recalls their time at the hotel. They were both tired, though for him it was nothing like the draining of energy he gets from using the dragon. For her though, he could tell the events of the attack were taxing. Even with all her training, the first time she truly faced death, she floundered. He's not surprised. He begrudgingly can't even hold her to his own standard: The first attempt on his life was when he was a baby. From what he can tell, she was born into a family that doted on her from the beginning.

It's here he realizes that Alexa never talks about her parents. And also…

She's not once contacted them.

He hears Yusuke complain about this "Kazemaru" person refusing to battle him, since he's the true successor to Genkai. Hiei rolls his eyes at this: Yusuke is much too overpowered and knows it. Kazemaru is apparently aware of his exploits as well, and reasons that Yusuke has already proven that his skills are superior. What he doesn't understand is why this man would think that Alexa isn't a woman. Why would he assume Genkai's final student is a man? Genkai was a woman. Sexism seemed moot. Perhaps there's a generally agreed upon theory that Genkai was an outlier.

Alexa and Kazemaru have the field cleared and the fight is about to begin. The pulse of the beats resonate around them as her energy readies. Her shoulders are back, confident. He's not used to seeing her so brazenly relaxed facing an opponent. Their training must be having an effect on that as well.

Yusuke calls the beginning of the fight. Instead of darting into speed, or head on, or even moving, the music goes quiet to a nerve-tickling hum. She's deferring the first move to Kazemaru. Even from a distance, her poise is perfect. She's letting none of her plans and motives show. At least Kazemaru seems to be taking this seriously, and ensues with a standoff. Hiei wonders how long it will last, given that Alexa has a tendency to fill stillness and silence with any goofy song she can.

That's when the saxophone comes in.

Her stupid face splits in that infuriating grin, full of crazed instigation as she starts bobbing her head to the beat. He wishes she wouldn't be so embarrassing, but at the same time, her full-hearted devotion to what she's doing makes it work in her favor. She mentioned once during training that she doesn't care what others think about it, as she's apparently grown old enough to do what she wants. He doesn't quite believe her.

Kazemaru certainly doesn't seem to understand her sense of humor, and it gets him frustrated, as she intended. He charges her, though not with everything he's got. He watches for her response. Just as he gets within arm's reach, the song changes to a different saxophone EDM track and she ducks his introductory hit by going into the splits. She whoops, grabs his right leg with both hands and pulls while pushing herself back to standing. He obviously didn't expect anything close to this as retaliation. He throws his arms back to catch himself and keep his head from hitting the dirt.

She anticipates his next move of attempting to kick her away. The look on her face is molded into a confident smile, not scrunched in concentration or anger like when she's against Hiei. He glances at Yusuke to see that while he also has a smile on his face, it's distracted. He's watching closely at her technique, no doubt. Yusuke is taking his role as her new instructor seriously.

The fight ends while Hiei is distracted. She has him pinned, subtly glowing finger pointed at his nose. Kazemaru taps the ground in surrender, and she lets him up. It was a quick match, as expected. She holds her hand out to shake, and says "no hard feelings." Hiei smirks. Of course she would say that, as the winner. Kazemaru takes the offered handshake, but doesn't seem too pleased about it.

Hiei narrows his eyes in distaste. Whatever this man's problem is, Alexa must be making it worse.

She didn't think she'd have that easy of a time fighting this guy. Making some fun out of it was an idea she got, since she didn't want anyone thinking she was really all that angry. Besides, she's trying to enjoy her life a little bit more like Chu advised her. If that's the way to go, she has to bring it to her fighting too. Alexa can't wait to hear what Yusuke has to say about her new process. She could tell he was giving intense scrutiny.

"So, now that you have your answer, is there anything else I can do for you sir?"

Her question is answered by Yusuke when Kazemaru fails to respond immediately.

"I have an idea. Kazemaru brought a bunch of lackeys with him, why don't you all fight her at the same time?"

Alexa grimaces and Kazemaru tilts his head in interest. Yusuke only gives her a look to say a goading "why not?", and she sighs. Turning to her challenger, she asks if that suits them. Kazemaru glances at the group of fighters he brought with them. They seem eager, already shedding coats and/or shirts altogether.

In the next few minutes, they have her surrounded, ready to go. The music thrums the air, less jovial than in her last bout. Her eyes are narrowed in focus now, any smug smirkiness gone. Even so, she's confident. Kazemaru stands at the back of the group circled around her. Yusuke calls the start of the fight, but just like last time, no one makes a move. Alexa doesn't even enter into a joke song.

Someone twitches. It begins the charge, the onslaught. The group of men fill the air with their yells. It doesn't faze Alexa. She waits until the last possible moment before possible contact from the first to reach her. Her music turns into a latin beat as she twirls around him, using his back to roll over and face the next, who misses by a hair's breadth because of her smooth transition into ducking from his fist. This continues. Swerving, twirling, and smooth avoidance, until her aim is reached. Alexa laughs shortly when the fighters start hitting and running into one another. Her dodge and weave fits perfectly with the song she exudes. Yusuke nods as if he's been proven right about a hypothesis.

Once a few contenders are down and out, she starts lashing out. Trips, teeth-crushing uppercuts, eye pokes, and so on until Kazemaru is again her only opponent. A gripping hush falls over the spectators as energy swirls around him. It appears he's upping his game a bit. The music drops away, but there's an inaudible feeling that makes everyone all the more tense. Hiei leans forward in interest. He's seen her fire off her spirit gun before, and he's welcoming this chance to see it again.

"I'm able to fire energy from my palm, Miss Orlov. How about we see whose energy can last?" Kazemaru beckons, his entire right hand glowing. Alexa grins, making sure to tone down the charge a bit. She doesn't want him to get roasted, after all.

Her right hand stretches out ahead of her as she pivots to the side, using a sharpshooter pose. Light glimmers at the tip of her index finger and the air pressure around her changes. She nods to signal, and squeezes the trigger in her mind.

"SPIRIT GUN!"

While she has a name for her attack, Kazemaru does not. He merely yells at the exertion as his purplish colored energy bursts from his hand. It isn't nearly as fast or large as Alexa's bullet. But to the surprise of many present to watch, the bright flash that occurs when the energies meet is short-lived as Kazemaru's attack slivers through hers.

"Oops, shit!"

The second she has to respond to the mishap is one she spends wisely. Placing her feet, she holds her hands up in a steadfast block. When the remnants of his energy reach her, she dispels it. Kazemaru smirks in triumph at his energy breaking through and negating her spirit gun, only to be bowled over. Those who know of the strange side-effect of Alexa's energy all nod knowingly because knowledge is the key to being in the know. Suzuka, on his very nice new phone, even got the whole thing on video.

Yusuke has never known of this side effect and stares between Alexa and the fighter on the ground.

"Okay, okay, that's the match, I think. The hell was that, Alexa?" he asks, stomping up to her and ignoring the disappointed groans of the defeated.

"You held back too much spirit energy, you should have shown off what you're capable of."

Hiei materializes next to them and makes Alexa jump out of her skin shouting an expletive. Yusuke is too used to that crap to be surprised anymore.

"Why are you like this?!" At receiving nothing but an unimpressed grunt, she moves on with a huff. "I don't want to be a complete showoff. If I'm going to do that it has to be against someone who can take it."

Yusuke shakes his head, mystified, as the two lock eyes with some sort of… gross tension or whatever. He should be hyped. But instead, he feels like he wants to be anywhere else. Hiei's even got that cocky smirk on his face. Whatever disagreement they had is over now, so Alexa's kindly whack to Hiei's jaw must've strengthened the unsolvable math problem that is their relationship. At the very least, Yusuke can understand the power of a hit; Keiko has a famed smack, and she uses it when necessary.

"Anyway, you gonna answer my question about what happened to Jerkface over there or what?"

The three glance over at Kazemaru, who's laid out and surrounded by his group. Alexa shrugs.

"Dunno. Genkai hypothesized that it had to do with the unusual density of my spirit energy. Makes my techniques a little more difficult to perform, but when I use them they do better than usual. Apparently. According to her. I dunno," she says, and while Yusuke thinks over this answer, Hiei growls.

"And you didn't think to inform me of this fact when we started training?" he snarls. She tips her head back with an eyeroll and a groan.

"Dude, you're the one with the hokey mind-and-energy reading eyeball, maybe use it next time?"

Before any argument can freshly spew, Yusuke swipes a hand between them to get their attention. He's figuring this out.

"I fought a guy who had pretty dense energy too, once. But also, I think I might know how to fix the street fighting issue. I've got a great idea."

Alexa brightens considerably, ready for the opportunity.

Yusuke sticks a smart finger in the air, opens his mouth, aaaaaand…

Three wails pierce the air. The com-pods. A quick scan of the tiny screens trumps any disappointment at postponing training. She, Hiei, and Yusuke have been summoned back to Demon World, which must mean another mission awaits them.

At his desk, Kurama scrolls mindlessly through social media. He gapes a bit and scrolls back when many familiar people appear on screen. He checks the name of the streaming account.

His lips curl up as he taps the follow button.

Oh boy, getting into another mission, Hiei and Alexa are tumultuous as always, and Kurama... KURAMA.

Thanks again to everyone!

Til Next Time,

-A