Authors Note: So, so, so sorry everyone. It's been far too long! I know. Lots of family drama, lots of school drama and just a lot of things happening all at once and on top of it all I had lost interest in this story (and Twisted Realities) so it took a while to get back onto the track of things. However, I have a new chapter and for all who were waiting, please forgive me!

On the bright side I managed to fit both Hiei and Kurama into the story now. Yay.

Chapter Three: Bad News

Crowded school halls were not the type of place to have the kind of conversation that Yusuke and Kuwabara needed. They needed complete privacy, where there was no risk of anyone overhearing who wasn't meant to. Kuwabara had also thought it would only be right to have both Kurama and Hiei present, who could possibly offer their services in protecting Keiko. In keeping the dream from becoming a reality.

Therefore it wasn't till hours later, just about sunset when the four boys finally got the chance to try to sit down and actually talk. Well, three of them were really the only ones that could be considered sitting, while Hiei was leaning against the wall to the living room of Kazuma Kuwabara's. It didn't matter if his sister overheard, as she knew the boys secret already.

What was more important was being absolutely sure that there was no way that this dream could or would come true. Kuwabara didn't like not knowing who the next opponent was. He felt like a sitting duck with absolutely nothing to do, his "spiritual powers" were on the fritz, Yusuke was still worn out from his fight with Toguro, and Hiei and Kurama were still recuperating from the Dark Tournament. It was probably the worst possible time for something like this to be happening, and yet, they had no choice in the manner.

"Earth to Kuwabara…" Yusuke broke Kuwabara from his morbid thoughts, waving a hand in front of his face. "What's this about?"

Kuwabara jumped, nearly toppling out of his chair as he quickly threw out his hands out for protection, he managed to stop his fall in time, thankfully. "Don't do that!" He snapped at Yusuke in return. Shooting the spirit detective a glare, if only looks could kill then he would be dead.

"A little jumpy?" Yusuke smirked.

"No!" Kuwabara defended himself. He didn't want to admit to it, but he was on edge. Yusuke would be too if he had, had the same… dream…? Vision…? Premonition…? What the hell do I call it? Either way, whatever the heck it should be called, it would have had Yusuke just as on edge as Kuwabara was, if not more so.

"Get on with it already then!" Yusuke shot, impatiently.

How do I word this? "It's Keiko…" Kuwabara's mouth worked, without his conscious thought. Two words and he already had Yusuke's full attention. Still, the pause did nothing for Yusuke's attention.

"What about her?" Yusuke demanded, Hiei let out an amused smirk from his position.

"She's… in danger Urameshi." Kuwabara admitted, the easiest thing was just to admit the truth for now. He knew that dream was more than just a bad nightmare, and it definitely didn't have a thing to do with what he had been thinking about before he had fallen asleep… nor did it have a thing to do with anything he had eaten. Last time Kuwabara could recall Yakitori did not cause one to have dreams of a friend's death.

Yusuke was definitely paying attention now; his usual carefree look was replaced with one that was a thousand times more serious, ready to face off whatever demons he would have to fight. "Just tell me who I have to beat the living shit out of already!" Yusuke demanded, his temper rising as his patience was shortening with each passing second. If any of the sore losers from the tournament even thought of touching Keiko he'd… His hands were clenched into fists and there was a deep growl in the back of his throat at the mere thought of it. More than anything, he wanted to protect her.

"It's not that simple Urameshi!" Kuwabara defended. He understood the need to rush, to just protect her by taking out the bad guy but he had a problem with it. He didn't know who the bad guy was. If there was more?

"Make it simple." Yusuke demanded, shouting at his friend.

"Perhaps you should tell us what you know." Kurama cut in, ending the argument that was on the horizon with some well placed words. "The more we know of the situation, the better it would be." He explained. The red head watched Yusuke's reaction as he spoke, the spirit detectives form falling back and his fists unclenched and clenched back up again.

"I can do that, but it's not much." Kuwabara admitted. "I fell asleep in class… and I suppose my powers, since they've been on the fritz they're trying to warn me of something. Something big. I dreamt… there was Keiko, and she was calling for you Urameshi, she was told you to run and then… she… she wa-she was…" The teen stopped the pause filled the room quickly, the next word didn't need to be spoken in order for them all to know what it was. She was dead. "Her heart was gone. After that there was a cold voice, laughing and mocking… and… I woke up."

"Are you sure…"

"It wasn't just a dream." Kuwabara said. "It felt real, Urameshi. Too real!"

Hiei stood up from the wall. Moving towards the door… "Where are you going?" Yusuke demanded. The shortest male of the group looked bored as he stopped at the door and turned to face Yusuke, in order to give the answer to the spirit detective.

"This matter doesn't concern me."

"Hiei…" Yusuke called out after him, as the short man began to leave again.

"Relax, if I happen to see anything I'll help the human, but I'm not going to go out of my way to do so." Hiei replied, raising one arm and not looking back as he left the homestead of Kuwabara's. Yusuke simply nodded his thanks, knowing he could count on the shortest man.

"What do we do?" Yusuke asked, voicing the question that both he and Kuwabara were thinking.

"We start from the beginning, we find the possible threat." Kurama interjected his wisdom. It was going to be a long night but it was one they were all willing to face as long as it meant saving Keiko.