As the sun began to rise in the sky, Makoto made her exit quietly from the temple. But before she left, she made sure that she left behind a small gift for Kimika along with a thank you note. She didn’t want to leave because she loved the warm feeling that Kimika and her mother gave her when she was with them, but Makoto knew that she had to. She had a mission that she couldn’t stray from. She couldn’t rest until Yusuke Urameshi was dead.

  When Kimika woke up, she found a small package on the bed beside her. She opened it up to find a necklace along with a note inside. She was amazed by the beautiful blue diamond pendant hanging on a silver chain. It was extremely gorgeous and unusually carved into the shape of a starburst.

  She placed the necklace around her neck before reading the note.

  “Kimika,

Thank you for your hospitality. Thank your mom for me too. I also would like to thank you for your friendship. I made this necklace just for you to help with your control of your powers. It can also be used to call me if you are ever in trouble. I hope that our paths cross again.

                                      Your friend,

                                               Makoto”

  A smile crossed Kimika’s face while she was reading Makoto’s note. Behind all negative loner type behavior, Makoto really wasn’t such a bad person. She really hoped that she could meet her again one day.

  She tucked away the note in her nightstand so she could get ready for her day. With her mood completely lifted, Kimika was able to get ready much quicker than usual. As she was finishing getting ready, her door flew open and her mother rushed into her room.

  Kitinia was cradling a medium size travel bag and an old box. Her mother seemed to be in a hurry about something. She was completely out of breath and very anxious.

  “Kimi, do you mind doing me a favor and taking these things to the shed before school begins?”

  Kimika shook her head yes. Then she turned away from her so she could take out her seed from her book bag and kiss the pouch for good luck like she did every day. While her mother stuffed the box inside the bag, she noticed the pouch in Kimika’s hand.

  That pouch she had seen many times before. She didn’t know what was in it or the significance it had on her daughter, but she knew that it meant a lot to her.

  “Don’t worry about putting that away now, Kimi. Take that with you and put it back later. I need you to hurry and do this now.”

  Her words made suspicions run through Ronami as he watched her from the corner of Kimika’s bed. Kimika’s mother was acting strange. She was too anxious for her to do such a small task. Maybe she drank too much coffee before and he was just being anxious. Regardless, He wanted to see what was so special about the shed that she was making Kimika go to.

  Ronami jumped off Kimika’s bed to follow her as she left, but as he was stopped when he reached the door. Kitinia stood in his way while looking down at him with a huge grin.

  “I know that my son sent you, Ronami. You don’t need to worry about protecting her because he will be doing that himself from now on.” Kitinia spoke softly.

  ‘What did you do, Miss Kitinia?’ Ronami asked nervously at her strange behavior and actions.

  “Nothing. I just gave her what she desired. I sent her to go find her brother. Hopefully, they will be able to help one another.”

  Ronami could see the worry and uncertainty lurking in Kitinia’s eyes. He could tell that the decision that she had made was very hard on her. She obviously knew the danger that waited for Kimika. So why would she risk her daughter’s life? Was giving Kimika what her heart desired really worth sending her to her death?

 

  When Kimika opened the door to the shed, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A black hole was swirling in the middle of the shed. She quickly tried to shut the door, but the suction from the hole her inside it.

  Kimika tried to scream, but her cries could not be heard. Her lungs felt like they would burst as the air escaped her body as fast as she tried to take it in. The little bit of light that was there was consumed by the darkness.

  The darkness surrounded her completely. She could feel herself slipping in and out of consciousness. As her eyes closed and she begin to think that she would die, she felt her body being thrown into somewhere landing hard on something with a thud. She wanted to open her eyes, but she had no strength to do so. Even though she couldn’t open them, she could still see the light shining through them.

  “It’s a girl.” She heard someone say.

  “Urameshi, are you alright?” Another person asked while moving closer to her. She could feel something moving from underneath her and move her body.

  ‘Urameshi? That name… Why does that name sound so familiar?’

  “Yeah. I’m okay, but is she?” She heard Urameshi say. By the sound of his voice, he seemed like he was extremely close by.

  “Hey, Urameshi. Doesn’t she look familiar? I think she goes to our school? Look at her uniform. It’s the same as the one that the girls wear in our school.”

  She felt someone lift her in their arms. She tried to open her eyes to see who the person was, but she still couldn’t. She could feel her breath slowly going back to normal, but she still didn’t have the strength to open her eyes.

  “You are right. I know this girl. Her name is Kimika Rotaru. She is one of the school’s hottest and smartest girls. Her face is kinda hard to forget.”

  After he spoke, he could feel someone place their hand on her chest. She immediately jumped up and smack them hard.

  “How dare you?!” Kimika yelled angrily while covering her chest with her other hand.

  When she woke up, she saw a boy with short black hair fly head first into a nearby tree. She looked around to see that she was surrounded by a group of people. There a tall boy with short orange hair and a brooding physique, a very pretty girl with long blue hair and purple eyes, and a small masked person.

“Well, I see that she is still breathing.” The boy with short black hair said smiling in slight amusement. He pushed himself up off the ground making his way back over to them.

  As he drew closer, Kimika recognized him right away. Yusuke Urameshi, the known hard of her junior high. He had a reputation of being so bad that hell wouldn’t take him. That was why he came back to life.

 She couldn’t understand why everyone was so terrified of him. He didn’t seem very scary. He just seemed to be a e.

“What are you doing here, Kimika? Actually I should ask, how did you get here?” The tall guy with orange hair asked Kimika.

  He was also a familiar face to Kimika. Kazuma Kuwabara, he was another one of her school’s bad boys. He was also the biggest rival to Yusuke. She was slightly surprised to see them together.

  “I found a portal in the shed at my temple. I was inside and ended up here. By the way, where are we?”

  Kimika looked around her to see that they were completely surrounded by trees. Wherever they were seemed to be very beautiful with all the different plants growing all around them.

  “We are on Hanging Neck island. A place that is dangerous for a school girl like you.” Kuwabara answered while moving closer to her.

  “And what makes this place any less dangerous for you and Urameshi? You are in the same grade as me.” Kimika snapped while stepping back and crossing her arms. “Why are you here?”

  The masked person turned to Botan and talked softly to her. “Botan, this girl is giving off a great amount of spirit energy. She is no normal junior high girl.”

  Botan turned back to Kimika and looked her over carefully. She seemed like a normal girl. There was no way that she could be something more.

  “Are you sure? If that is so, then why hasn’t Kuwabara noticed it yet?”

“Someone has put a strong spell on her masking her spirit energy from less experienced demons and mystical creatures. Kuwabara isn’t experienced enough to be able to see her energy.”

“Whoever she is, she must be powerful to know a spell as strong as that. Do you think she is a threat?”

“I don’t think that she was the one to cast the spell on her. It is too powerful for someone of her energy level. When it comes to her being a threat, I highly doubt that she is. She doesn’t seem like she has any intention in hurting anyone. There is no need to fear her.”

“Well, little lady, Urameshi here is a very important person called a spirit detective and I am his spiritually aware friend. We are here for a martial arts tournament called the Dark Tournament.” Kuwabara said putting his arm around her trying to intrigue her with his story. But his plan failed for Kimika’s facial expression didn’t change at all.

“The Dark Tournament. How do you expect to survive that? That is a very dangerous tournament.” Kimika asked while looking up at Kuwabara.

When she spoke those words, everyone looked at her in surprise. They couldn’t believe that she knew about the dark tournament. Who was that girl?

 

  While they were training, Hiei and Kurama felt a familiar energy coming from where Kuwabara and Urameshi were. They stopped what they were doing and ran back towards the others.

  When they reached the opening where the others were, they saw that Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan, and the masked fighter were talking to a girl with long red hair. Hiei and Kurama waited until they could get a better look at the girl before moving closer.

  When they were finally able to see her face, Hiei and Kurama were paralyzed in shock. Kurama could feel his heart stop. His blood felt as though it was running cold. His skin grew pale as he watched the girl.

  He couldn’t believe it. It was really her. Hiei jumped down to Kurama’s side when he noticed his behavior.

“She is here. Your sister found where you were hiding. Are you just going to stand here with your mouth wide open? Or are you going to go over there and talk to her?”

“She… She… She is here… But how?” Kurama stammered softly as he tried to absorb the surprise of her arrival.

  Kurama could feel some excitement and joy begin to grow in his heart. A part of him was happy to see her. He wanted to run to her and embrace her tightly. But there was a part of him that was scared. It was scared that she was there.

  She shouldn’t be on the island. It was too dangerous. He had to watch over his teammates. Now, he would have to watch over her as well.

“Well, you could stand there, but I’m going to say hi. I am also going to rescue her from those two morons.” Hiei walked away from Kurama’s side and over to where Kuwabara and Yusuke were circling around her.

“Stop acting like idiots. Step away from her. Can’t you tell what she is by just looking at her?” Hiei growled while teleporting in the middle of Kimika and the others.

  Kimika couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the person standing before her. It was Hiei. A big smile crossed her face as she threw her arms around him.

  She hadn’t seen Hiei in a year. She was so happy to see a familiar friend especially him.

  Everyone stared at Hiei in shock as they watched him embrace Kimika. They had never seen Hiei show that sort of compassion or affection to anyone or anything.

 “Wait. How do you know each other?” Kuwabara asked with a look of confusion stuck on his face. He looked over at Yusuke who had the same expression on his face before returning his gaze to Hiei and Kimika.

 “Are you really that stupid? Doesn’t she remind you of someone?” Hiei rubbed Kimika’s head softly as she held onto him.

 “No. Not really. Who is she supposed to look like?” Yusuke asked trying to rack his brain of all the people he knew.

“Don’t be dense, Yusuke. She looks like Kurama.” The masked fighter said looking Kimika over once more.

“But how do you know for sure?” Yusuke moved in closer to Kimika so he could get a better look at her face and features.

“I knew it once I saw her. I knew that she looked familiar and I was right. She must be Kurama’s sister.” The masked fighter answered while looking at them as he watched Yusuke racking his brain for some kind of alternative explanation.

“She is my twin sister.” Kimika shot her head up toward the direction of the voice. She wiped her eyes a few times to make sure that she was seeing correctly.

 Her heart leaped into restricting her words. She could feel her pulse quicken and her breath begin to slow. It was him. It was her brother.

“What?! Kurama has a sister and it’s Kimika Rotaru! But how come your last name is different from hers?” Yusuke looked at Kurama and Kimika then turned back over to where Hiei was with Kimika.

“Don’t you get it, you fool. Kurama took the name of his human family. Rotaru is probably a name that their real mother made up when they began to live among the humans.” Hiei said roughly. Kimika let go of Hiei and ran towards Kurama while Hiei was talking.

  Tears began to form in her eyes as she was looking at the person in front of her. The facial features were exactly the same. The only difference was his hair length and height. She placed her hand on his chest over his heart.

  He was real. She could feel his heartbeat. She felt her body tremble and the tears fall down her cheeks. Kimika pressed against him putting her ear to his chest. The tears began to increase as she tried to say something.

  “I…I…I…I finally found you. One long year and I finally found you, Kurama.” Kimika pressed her body close to him, embracing him tightly so that she didn’t lose him again.

  Kurama wrapped his arms around her while saying softly. “I’m sorry that I’ve been away for so long.”

  Kimika looked up at him and pushed him away from him softly. Then she brought her hand back and slapped him hard across his cheek. Kurama looked down at her in shock as he put his hand over his cheek. He could see all the hurt and pain that was deep down in her eyes.

“I thought you were dead! You know how many nights I spent crying, hoping that you were alright! Why didn’t you come let me know that you were alright?! You could have sent a letter or something! Don’t mom and I deserve that much!”

Kimika backed away from him and turned towards the woods. She ran as fast as she could into them. Kurama tried to reach out and stop her, but she avoided him.

“No, Kimika! Come back!” Kurama yelled after her as he started to run in after her, but he was stopped by Yusuke.

“Kurama, you can’t go in there by yourself. It’s too dangerous.”

“But I have to get my sister! She’ll get hurt or killed! Let me go!” Kurama yelled pushing past Yusuke.

“I hate to admit this, but Yusuke is right. You aren’t going in there by yourself. I’ll go in there with you.” Hiei said while moving next to Kurama.

“Correction. We are all going with you as a team.” Kuwabara said. “At least if we are looking for her together, no one would get in your way. Also we’ll be able to get to her quicker.”

“Ok. Let’s go before we lose her.” The masked fighter said while running behind Kurama into the woods.

  While everyone was running into the woods, Botan stopped to pick up a book bag that was on the ground. She didn’t remember any of them bringing a bag so it had to belong to Kimika. She swung the bag on her back then ran after the others.

 

  The forest was thick and filled with shadows. Kimika looked around to try and figure out which way she should go. After a moment, she decided that if she went straight that she might be able to find a way out of the forest.

 She ran for about ten minutes when she began to smell something burning like bark. She went a little further until she was surrounded by flames. There was no way out and she couldn’t head back to where she was. The only thing that she could do was put the flames out.

  Kimika made an invisible circle with her hands while her eyes were closed. She concentrated all her energy inside the circle made by her hands. In seconds a big ball of water formed in between her hands. She waited until it grew big enough that it was her height before she fired it all around her.

“Tsunami Blast!!” The water from the ball released in a rush surrounding all the flames and putting them out.

  When all of the flames were out, Kimika huffed in exhaustion. She couldn’t believe how tired she was from using only one attack. It must be because she hadn’t really used her powers in such a long time.

 

  Tired or not. Kimika wasn’t going to stop now. She began to climb over the debris of soaked wood entering the heart of the forest. Kimika jumped over to a small clearing that looked like it had been scorched, but there was no flames.

  Kimika crouched down and ran her fingers over the scorched ground. It was damp and warm which meant that it had just been relieved of the flames. By the energy they left behind, it was a very powerful demon.

  She couldn’t understand why there was so much fire in this area. The sky was clear of any storm clouds. There wasn’t any sign of gasoline or a match causing it. So it must have been the result of one of the demons who entered in the tournament.

   “I don’t get it. Why would anyone demon or not want to cause a fire especially on such a small island?” Kimika stoop back up to sniff the air. She could smell more wood burning nearby. “There is more fire coming from over there. I should go check it out just in case someone needs help.”

         Kimika turned around when she heard the sounds of rustling in trees around her. Kimika looked up where the sounds were coming from and powered up. The energy from before had returned. She just hoped that they wouldn’t want to fight her because she was still too weak. She would die if she fought anymore.

         “Show yourself! I know that you are here!” Kimika yelled up at the trees. She formed an ice ball and threw it into the tree leaves toward where she heard the sounds.

         “Horrible aim, Lassy. You missed us completely.” Said a demon with short red hair and a horn as he floated behind her. Kimika jumped away from him and screamed in surprise when she finally noticed him.

         “Who are you?”

         “Mi name is Jin, lass. Master of the wind, I am.” Jin answered while he floated closer to her. He smiled when he took a better look at her face. “Cute little lass you are. What are you?”

         “Jin, huh. I heard of you. You are one of the Shinobi. I am very honored and intrigued to meet you. I used to love following each of your movements especially you and the ice master.” Kimika smiled softly. She started to blush red at Jin’s closeness and at how cute he was. “My name is Kimika. I am a fox demon/earth/water sprite. I guess you can say I am a mutt.”

         “So, Miss Kimika, You are half demon and sprite. What a treasure you are Touya and me are the ones that you are intrigued about. You are in luck, lass. He happens to be here with me.” Jin laughed while floating around Kimika. Kimika watched as he floated up to a nearby branch. There a short man appeared.

         That was Touya, the master of ice. Kimika couldn’t believe her eyes. She was actually getting to meet him. He didn’t seem like much, but Kimika could tell by the strength of his energy that he was the one who had extinguished the flames. He was just as cute as Jin with his short blue hair with sea green bangs and his piercing ice blue eyes.

         “I guess you are right, Jin. She is a cute girl.  What is someone like you doing here?”

         “Personal business. I’m trying to find my way out of this forest. But wherever I go everything has been scorched.”

         “Well, little lady. We don’t advise going that way since the destruction is much worse. We are actually on our way back to the hotel. We don’t mind bringing you back.”

         “Why do you want to help me, Touya? It is not in your nature to help strangers.”

         “That is true. We normally don’t care for anyone out of our shinobi sith. However, we will make an exception for you. You intrigue us as well. Mainly I am. I wouldn’t mind helping you with control of your ice powers.” Touya smiled softly to the beautiful girl who was looking up at him.

         He knew that the others in his team wouldn’t think highly of his decision, but he didn’t care. He wanted to take her on as his apprentice. He noticed a power in her that was hidden away. A power that he desperately wanted to help her discover.

         “You want me as your apprentice? I would love to, but I first have to help whoever is in trouble because of all this destruction. I also have to find out the source of all this destruction. You are welcome to help me.”

         Jin and Touya looked at one another before shaking their heads no. “As much as we would love to help you, lass, we already know the source of this destruction. We aren’t in a hurry to die before the tournament.”

         “Tell me please. What is the source of all this destruction, Jin?” Kimika begged them before they went on their way. Jin made his way back to her side then he put his hand on top of her head. He had a big grin on his face when he said his goodbye.

         “Beware of the rogue one, lass. She is the source of this destruction. If you survive, lass, come train with us. We’ll wait for you, Kimika.”

         “Bye, Miss Kimika.”

         Touya and Jin disappeared after they said their goodbyes. Kimika couldn’t help, but think about what they said. Beware of the rogue one… Why did that sound so familiar? She knew that she heard that somewhere before.

         Kimika just followed the smell of burning wood while, hoping that she would remember where she heard it from before it was too late. Kimika jumped over some fallen trees and pushed away some fallen branches. She came across a path along a small creak that was still burning with flames.

         Kimika was going to turn back around when she saw a person lying on the floor. Kimika tied her scarf around to prevent most of the smoke inhalation. She made her way over to him slowly being careful not to let the flames catch her clothes on fire.

         She put her left arm up to guard her face from the increasing flames. She pushed her way to his side. She knelt beside him. She checked his pulse to see if he was still breathing. His breathing was faint and his body was badly injured.

         The man was no human by the clothes that he wore. He was definitely a demon. Regardless, he didn’t deserve to suffer in such a way.

         “Please, wake up. Tell me. Who did this to you?” Kimika shook the demon to wake him from his unconscious state. The demon opened one eye, but he closed it right away for he was in too much pain.

         “The… The… The rogue one.”

         Kimika could feel the demon’s energy fading slowly away. She shook him once more time so that he wouldn’t fall unconscious again.

         “Please. Tell me. Who is the rogue one?”

         “The rogue one was once so pure, but an act of extreme darkness made her heart grow cold. Beware of her for she longs for demon blood… Your blood.” After those last words, the demon died and his body disappeared into the flames.

         Kimika stood up and ran alongside the river that was by the burning grove of trees. She covered and nose, but the smoke was too much for her. She felt like her lungs were going to collapse. She couldn’t breathe. She soon became light headed.

         As she was nearing the end of the river, her legs began to buckle causing her to fall to her knees. She tried to crawl, but her strength was leaving her rapidly. Within moments, she lost consciousness as she felt the flames surrounding her.