Kirei na Kanjou

~ Beautiful Feeling ~

by feifu

01/14/2002

homepage: www.freewebs.com/killersrant

email: domain_of_fire@yahoo.com

Disclaimers: (Can't make a fanfic without putting this) Yuyu Hakusho, and all its characters and plot, is the original creation of Yoshiro Togashi. I do not claim to own any of the characters in this story except for Faith Phillipp and Annette Barton, who are my own creations and are inspired by people I know in real life. Any similarities to real life people/events or if you by chance know anybody whose names are similar to the two characters, I avow that these are mere coincidences. I don't profit from writing this fanfiction so please don't sue.

1

"He's there again!"

"Huh?" Annette looked up from a book she had been reading.

"That guy in black's there again," her roommate, Faith, smiled at her from where she was standing near the window. "Ne, Ann, why do you suppose he never goes through Minamino-san's front door?"

"I dunno," Annette mumbled, turning her face away from her friend and returning to her reading.

"Ne ne, you think maybe he's some kind of spy?" Faith asked excitedly, peering through the white Venetian blinds to stare outside again. "Or maybe he and Minamino-san are lovers? Tihee! Maybe they are, come to think of it. He never comes over unless the building is totally dark already… Ne, Ann, what do you think? Think there's something going on between those two? I hope not… How about you? Ann? ANNETTE!" She trudged to where her friend was and shook the other girl's arm. "Mou… You're not listening to me."

"In case you haven't noticed, my dear roommate," Annette sighed and put her book down. "I'm reading. I have to finish this before tomorrow. You know well enough that we have that big test tomorrow! How come you aren't studying?"

Faith smiled. "You know me. I never study! It'll ruin my reputation if anyone sees me studying."

"I can never understand you're reasoning."

"Oh come on. That book's easy! You know our professor never even asks anything in the test that wasn't in his lectures, so, you'll do fine. You don't have to read that book anymore."

"Have you even read this book at all?"

"Yeah. It's my second time to read it already so it's ideas aren't that new to me anymore."

"Argh! I haven't read it yet, ok?"

"But that's just Plato…"

"That's exactly why. So quit bothering me."

"But I thought you said you wanted to get to know Minamino-san…"

"What's that got to do with Plato?"

"Nothing whatsoever," Faith smiled. "But what Minamino-san's doing is way more exciting than the writings of someone who's been dead for centuries. 'Sides, I really wanna see what that guy in black looks like! Come on! Let's watch what they're gonna do!"

"Faith, do you know what being a voyeur means?"

"Uh-huh." Faith nodded. "So?"

"You are totally hopeless…" Annette sighed.

"Should you be here at all?" Kurama was just sitting down on his bed.

"Hn. It's not like I have a choice." Hiei looked out of sorts these days.

"The Tournament won't be held until next month so we have a lot of time to solve this one."

"Why couldn't Yusuke do this? He's the tantei."

"We really can't ask a guy who's on his honeymoon to go on a mission, can we." Kurama smiled. "If Yusuke doesn't kill us for asking, Keiko certainly would."

"Hn. Ningens and their stupid customs."

"Stop being a sourpuss."

Hiei's eyes narrowed to slits. Ignoring what his friend just said, he asked, "Now what did Botan tell you at the briefing?"

"Well, it seems a lot of people are dying off ahead of their time here in this area," Kurama said, hiding a smile. Hiei hasn't changed very much even after all these years. "A lot of unexplained deaths are coming in, and the souls of those dead haven't reported at the Reikai yet. It started about a month ago. Botan showed me a tape of some of the bodies found lately…" he paused. "The bodies had been mauled, the heart and brain missing. Rumors say a werewolf's loose in the city."

"What does the Reikai think?"

"They seem to agree with the rumor. Botan told me that the attacker must at least be a B- or A-class being from the Makai."

"A Barrier-breacher?"

"Probably."

"What the hell are those fools doing?" Hiei had been part of the team that guarded against humans crossing over – accidentally or not – to the Makai and vice versa. He had been relieved of that duty after Mukuro had been assigned as one of the Makai Emperor's Councilors. Mukuro left her kingdom for Hiei to run in her stead.

"It isn't your job anymore, Hiei."

"Wakatta. Shikashi…"

"I know. With the coming Tournament, they've probably gone off somewhere to train."

"So what do we do? Wait for the next attack, then strike?"

"We can't let whatever it is have another victim."

"You don't think it's that wolf-thing the rumors talk about."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Kurama frowned.

"Why? What are those things anyway?" he asked impatiently.

"Eh? You don't know what werewolves are?"

Hiei gave him a look.

"Suman ne. Sometimes I forget that you aren't from this world."

"Hn."

"Anyway, here in the Ningenkai, werewolves are mythical creatures, a kind of monster that roam the night. It's said they're humans who've been bitten by other werewolves – they're normal by day, but then when the full moon comes out they turn into werewolves themselves. They lose control of their bodies, and usually attack several or at least one victim the night they change."

"So they're changelings…"

"Yes, but the problem is that when they revert to being humans, they have no recollection of what they did while they're changed."

"When's the next full moon?"

"Tomorrow night."

"So we patrol around the city tomorrow and wait for it to show up."

"But it doesn't coincide with what Botan told me about the deaths of the other victims."

"How come?"

"There've been several victims since last month. A full moon only lasts for a few nights. A werewolf wouldn't have enough time to kill all those people given the time limit it has."

"It means we're dealing with something else then," Hiei stated.

"Yes," Kurama agreed. "But what?"

"In any case," Hiei climbed the windowsill, "I'll be out on patrol tomorrow night."

"I guess I'll be too."