Author's Note: Hello everyone! Here's the fourth installment. I hope those of you who enjoy it continue to enjoy it. I wanna thank Annmarie and SakiHamajima1 for reviewing so far! I appreciate it guy. :3

Oh, to answer you Saki, you don't have to worry about things moving too fast as far as the romance goes. Hell, I've written up to chapter ten and the two have barely said two words to each other. I'm hell bent on taking their romance slow. xD. So I hope that quells any fear for a fast and not plausible romance. Thank you for reviewing!

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

When The Sun Goes Down

Chapter Four

Ayumi placed her key in the lock of her apartment and let herself in, taking a look around the living room. Taking her shoes off and putting her slippers on, she shuffled around the quiet apartment, looking for her grandmother. Frowning, she noticed a note attached the fridge and she approached it, taking the note into her hand.

'I've gone shopping ichi-hiki. It's come to my attention that we've run out of food. I'll be back around dinner time.'

Rolling her eyes, Ayumi threw the note away and leaned against the kitchen counter. She was fairly certain she was just being paranoid, but for some reason the apartment just felt off. Maybe it was because she was by herself and it was just so quiet. It only took her a moment to make a decision and she quickly scribbled a note back for her grandmother, and hardly a minute later she was knocking on Yusuke's door. It opened and Yusuke stared at her, a little surprised.

"My grandmother isn't home and I don't feel safe in my apartment by myself anymore," she said quickly, ducking her head a little in apology and a bit of embarrassment.

She heard Yusuke chuckle a little. "Well, nobody's gotten anywhere near the apartment building. Not with all the spirit energy my friends and I are giving off," he explained, opening up the door a little and allowing Ayumi to follow him inside.

"Spirit Energy?" she asked, eyes wide as he laced his fingers together and placed them behind his head.

"Yeah. It's kind of like a 'beware of dogs' sign to anybody who isn't human, and we're the really big dogs." He turned and headed into his kitchen, leaving Ayumi in the living room. "Want anything?" he called.

"I'd love some orange juice if you have it." He didn't respond so she assumed he was preparing their drinks. "So, what exactly is spirit energy? I mean, is it only for non-human people?"

Yusuke came back into the living room holding a glass of soda and a glass of orange juice, which he handed to Ayumi. She thanked him and took a sip, taking a seat on the couch. Yusuke downed half the glass in one go and placed it on the table, looking at Ayumi out of the corner of his eye. "No. Every living thing has spirit energy inside of it. Some humans have the ability to call out their spirit energy and use it as a weapon, like Kuwabara. But most don't realize that they have it, and never do."

Ayumi raised an eyebrow at this, surprised. "Oh really? So even I have it? And my grandmother?" Yusuke nodded. "So what can Kuwabara do then?"

"He can make his spirit energy take the physical form of a sword."

"And you?"

Yusuke frowned at that and crossed his arms. "I'm a little more complicated than most. As far as the human side of me goes, I can use my spirit energy like somebody would use a gun." He leaned forward a bit and made an 'L' shape with his hand. Ayumi watched, transfixed, as a soft humming noise seem to come from Yusuke's hand before a brilliant blue energy ball gathered at the tip of his pointer finger. The light disappeared and Yusuke let his hand drop. "You're taking this rather well, or at least you're taking the things you do know rather well. About demons and…non-humans."

Ayumi tilted her head to the side and shrugged. "My family has always believed in things like spirits and ghosts. Demons aren't really that far off for me, although I didn't expect them to look so…human," she started, pausing with a soft chuckle, aware of the irony in her words. "Not that I was ever expecting to run into any of those things in my life," she admitted, looking down at the clasped hands in her lap.

"Well, just as there are different types of humans, there are also different types of demons. Some do look completely human, like Kurama. Some look humanoid, which can be anything like Hiei, who looks almost completely human with the exception of his eye color and his Jagan eye, to something that just barely seems humanoid. And then there are demons that aren't humanoid at all. Just depends," Yusuke explained with a shrug. "Nothing you should really concern yourself with at the moment anyways."

Ayumi smiled a little at this, amused at his choice of words. "So what should I be concerning myself with at the moment?" Yusuke smirked at her.

"Well, if you don't finish your juice it's not going to be cold anymore."

Ayumi nearly deadpanned at this. "My juice? That's a very 'living in the moment' response."

"I'm a very 'live in the moment' type of guy," he defended, shrugging his shoulders. Taking a good look at Yusuke, she could clearly see that's exactly the type of guy he was. Ayumi didn't know how somebody could be like that. There were very few times when Ayumi has ever 'lived in the moment' and it usually backfired on her. Tilting her head to the side, she picked up her glass anyways and drank the rest of its contents.

The air in Makai always smelled of death and blood, the smell of home to most inhabitants of this world. The thick odor was comforting, and even soothing to those who have been away. In a particular village, a lone demon stood in the center of a nearly abandoned village, breathing in the thick air as if he was breathing for the first time. Though not a particularly good-looking demon, or even particularly smart one for that matter, he seemed to be breathing in the air with a specific purpose in mind. Squinted eyes turned from the sky to the one building still running in this village, and his thick figure moved one foot in front of the other with slow, but determined, precision.

The building this demon managed to walk into was filthy, disgusting, and the only place in the village to get anything that resembled a drink. Normally full of demons, the place was completely empty save for the bartender, a rather tall and gangly looking rabbit demon. His hand was already on a weapon and suspicious eyes were trained on the intruder.

"Purpose?" the bartender asked, his hand never leaving the weapon hidden at his side. The larger demon made his way to the counter top and leaned heavily against it.

"Drink," he said plainly, glazed eyes staring hard at the bartender. The taller demon looked uneasy and debated on if he should comply or not. "Drink!" With a sigh he released the weapon and poured the demon a drink, sliding him a glass filled with a murky colored liquid.

"I must say, you're pretty brave to be wondering around here at this time of night," the bartender started, grateful for some company, even if it was from this apparent lug head. From the looks of it, the demon that was now drinking from his glass looked pretty inebriated already. But far be it from the bartender to tell anybody when they've had enough.

"Why?" Surprised by the sudden question, the bartender leaned forward a bit and tilted his head to the side, the rabbit-like ear on top of his head flopping over.

"You don't know?" he asked, earning no response from his larger companion. "There's a man who can raise the dead," the bartender started to explain, lowering his voice as if someone else could hear them. "Don't know how, but he makes them do his bidding. Hard to kill what's already dead, you know? Some say he's leading some sort of revolt, but I think he's just working for someone else." This apparently caught the large demon's interest as he slammed his now empty glass down onto the table.

"Who? And drink!" he called. The bartender refilled the glass.

"Don't really know whom," he started, tracing the grooves that had been worked into the counter top over the years. "Some say he's more of a what. All I know is that they call him Chi no Tsuki."

The large demon finished off his glass and slammed it onto the counter top again, thinking over the bartender's words. "Who raises the dead?"

The bartender frowned at this. "You some kind of bounty hunter?"

"Name!" the large demon shouted. The bartender sighed and shook his head.

"Aruku-shitai, I believe his name is."

The large demon abruptly stood and turned to leave, causing the bartender to take a startled step backwards. He stumbled back out and breathed deeply again, the glaze slowly leaving his eyes. A moment later a clear-eyed demon blinked the confusion out of his eyes, looking back and forth. He took in his surroundings with narrowed eyes, an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Where the hell am I?" he asked himself quietly.

Miles away from the large demon, another stood completely still on top of a large tree branch. His Jagan eye closed shut before he placed a white bandana over it, quickly knotting it at the back of his head. With an irritated sigh, crimson eyes opened up to take in the view in front of them. How unfortunate it was that the only demon available for Hiei's hypnosis was a complete waste. Well, perhaps not a complete waste, as Hiei did gain two names out of the process. One of them he was fairly certain belonged to Demetri. Of course in Makai he was apparently known as 'Blood Moon' instead.

As for the second name, Hiei wasn't sure if he should even believe such a demon could exist. Necromancers were from an ancient past and were said to be extinct, and Hiei wasn't about to open up a door to the past when he should be looking elsewhere. Even still, the name rung in his ears and he couldn't quiet the sound. Aruku-shitai… corpse walker.

"Nonsense," the hiyoukai announced to himself. Hiei turned to leave just as the wind suddenly changed direction, and a foul smell assaulted Hiei's nose and stopped him in his tracks. His eyes widened as he turned towards the North, the smell washing over him again and almost making him gag. If the air in the Makai smelled of death and blood, this smell was a thousand times worse. It smelled rotten. "What the…" His attention was caught then at the ground rather than the horizon, and his eyes widened at the sight. There were at least a hundred things walking towards him, and the hair at the nape of Hiei's neck stood up.

Why the hell couldn't he sense them coming!? He stared at several of the walking figures, noticing the strange way they moved and the strange way they looked. His blood seemed to run cold as he realized he couldn't sense them because there was nothing to sense. They were corpses. He wasn't sure if they were sent to kill him or if they were just passing through, but one thing was for certain: you couldn't kill what was already dead. Deciding he had stayed long enough, Hiei turned and attempted to take off towards the barrier.

Before Hiei could take off of the tree he was in, there was a flurry of movement to his right and Hiei was knocked off of the tree. Fortunately, he was able to perform a back flip that allowed him to land on his feet. Unfortunately, he had landed in front of the aforementioned army of corpses. Close up, the corpses were even more disgusting to look at. Though they all varied in particular species, they all had decaying skin that looked gray. Their eye sockets were all empty and between the bones that were showing through in various places and the bugs that were hovering in close range to each corpse, Hiei was about ready to retch.

They noticed him and Hiei took off, not in the position to take on an army of corpses by himself. The small army noticed his movement and several of them took off after him, all of which were incredibly fast. Looking over his shoulder and seeing that he was being gained on, he cursed and sped up. This was why Necromancers were so damn hard to kill. Not only was it difficult to kill something that was already dead, but also the individual corpses retained the powers of their respective species, making the army as a whole incredibly versatile.

One of them caught up to Hiei and reached for him, who ducked and pulled his katana out. Metal flashed in the night and went completely through the corpse, slowing it down. Unfortunately, it's severed middle began to fuse together once more. Hiei kept running, not wanting to lose his momentum. Four of them caught up to him and were running along side him, and he narrowed his eyes. The two closest to him dived in and he jumped, their heads crashing into one another. Landing behind them, he prepared to fight before he caught wind of something from the East. He turned slightly and breathed in, smelling something awfully familiar. Realizing what it was, he skidded to a complete stop before turning and running towards it, slightly throwing the corpses off. They weren't thrown off for long and eventually they were all gaining on him again.

Cursing, he sped up to his maximum speed, racing across Makai as a black blur that was nearly undetectable. Two of them caught up to him again, and before Hiei could dodge, the corpse morphed his hand into a dagger and plunged it into Hiei's shoulder blade. Grunting in pain and rolling forward, he gripped his sword as the second one came at him. He slashed him completely in half and twirled the katana in his hands so the blade was facing backwards, and he stabbed it through the others neck. The other two caught up and Hiei took off at a run again, heading directly towards a thick forest of blue leafless trees.

He reached the edge of the forest just as the four caught up to him again and a massive plant suddenly burst from the ground, with four towering stalks and at the end was a bulbous flower head. One of them opened its mouth and headed straight for Hiei, covering him completely within the petals. It lifted itself back up into the air, Hiei still trapped within, and the plant came to a still as the four corpses stopped their pursuit, staring at the plant with disinterest. Now that they no longer had a target to chase, they were nothing more than still corpses. Their eye sockets began to glow a dull gray color and they turned, running back towards the rest of them as if someone was suddenly commanding them.

The plant waited until the corpses were completely gone before one of them started to shake its head back and forth, almost as if it was experiencing some sort of discomfort. A second later and the plant made a spitting noise as it released Hiei, the demon grunting in pain as his back hit the ground. With a wince he stood, feeling a little gross now that he was covered in plant saliva. He turned towards the forest with a small frown.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd be incredibly annoyed at you," he announced casually. A small chuckle came from within the shadows at the base of the forest.

"And under these circumstances?" the voice asked teasingly.

Scowling, Hiei tore his coat off and used the inside of it (which was free of saliva) to being wiping himself off. "Under these circumstances, I suppose I should be grateful that one didn't have any teeth." Another chuckle as a familiar redhead showed himself from the shadows, a small smile on his face as he recalled the large plant, magenta light covering it entirely before it slowly formed back into a large seed that Kurama pocketed.

"You're welcome," he told Hiei, placing his hands into his pockets. He quickly frowned as he looked out over the horizon where he knew the groups of corpses were. "Their stench is nauseating." Hiei nodded in agreement as his stomach finally had enough and he turned away from Kurama, bending over and emptying the contents of his stomach. When he was finished, he spit onto the ground with a disgusted look on his face.

"You're telling me," he muttered darkly. Kurama was at his side then, a concerned look on his face as he regarded Hiei. Apart from looking ill and the wound on his back, he seemed okay. But there was something in his eyes that was bothering Kurama. Hiei caught his friend's stare and shrugged him off, standing up straight again.

"What is it?" Kurama asked.

"Nothing."

"Hiei…"

"I said it was nothing." There was a tense silence between the two of them before Hiei turned and began to head back towards the barrier, Kurama following him after a moment. "I think that Necromancer is working for Demetri," Hiei finally said, hoping Kurama would take the change in subject. Fortunately Kurama did, and for that Hiei was grateful.

"I can't believe there's a Necromancer that's still alive. The last one I ever encountered was when…well, when I was around your age," he said with a short laugh. "There was never that many around to begin with. I wonder where in the world Demetri found this one."

"His name is Aruku-shitai."

Kurama grimaced. "Walking corpse. How befitting."

"I can't believe all of this is for that pathetic human girl," Hiei suddenly said, sounding incredibly annoyed.

"Forever the misanthrope," Kurama mumbled with amusement, ignoring Hiei's glare. "Besides, we don't know if Ayumi is Demetri's only aim. I doubt it is." The two walked in silence after that, and eventually Kurama stopped and looked up at the sky. "We should get moving. If there is a Necromancer roaming about, it's not safe."

"When has Makai ever been safe?"

"Let's just get going." The two sped up and began to run at Kurama's full speed, Hiei matching his pace so as not to leave him behind. "I remember when there was enough room in the Makai for all demons," Kurama said after a while, sounding almost nostalgic. Hiei nodded in agreement.

"It's getting awfully crowded," the hiyoukai muttered with annoyance.

"Obaachan, could you tell me about my mother?" Ayumi asked, catching her grandmother by surprise. The old woman regarded her granddaughter with wary eyes and wondered why she'd be asking these questions, and why all of the sudden. Ayumi could see the question in her eyes and she looked down at her lap, fidgeting a little. "You never talk about her. I just want to know."

The old woman's eyes softened a little as she suddenly finished off the rest of her dinner. "What do you want to know?" Ayumi adjusted herself on the large pillow she was sitting on, moving from seiza pose to the more casual pose, her legs starting to hurt from having them tucked under her like that.

"What was she like?" she asked, thinking that was the easier question.

"Headstrong, and perhaps even a little foolish. But…her heart was always in the right place," her grandmother started. "She was always so ready to believe in anything, so ready to go off on her own adventure. If she had gotten her way she would have wandered off and would have never come back, and she certainly tried. She was…a dreamer who always had her head in the clouds."

Ayumi thought about this, her eyebrows furrowing. "Am I like her at all?"

Her grandmother laughed a little at this. "I'd like to think so, ichi-hiki. Though I am glad your head is more so on your shoulders than up in the clouds," she said, lightening up the mood a bit. Ayumi smiled at this as her grandma finished her dinner and Ayumi stood, beginning to clear everything up. She carried the dishes from the tatami mat they ate on and into the tiled kitchen and set them in the sink. "Would you mind cleaning up tonight? I'm feeling a little tired."

Ayumi blinked and turned to face her grandma, concern clearly written on her face. "Are you okay obaachan?" She nodded in response and waved Ayumi off.

"Yes, yes. Just tired. I'm not as young as I used to be, you know," she said with a laugh. "When you're done, make sure you get some sleep as well. It won't do to have you missing any school." Ayumi smiled and watched as she left and went into her bedroom, and for a while Ayumi just stood there, staring at nothing in particular. Her head may have been on her shoulders, but her thoughts were a million miles away, perhaps even up in the clouds.

Ayumi turned to the dishes as the sun disappeared over the horizon.