Yohko's Note to the General Public:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I took FOREVER to update. Gimme a break. Be happy I'm even updating at all! Oh, and I'm going to delete the censored version. It's too much of a pain. Please disregard any spelling errors speech-wise... is being an ass. Another oh: Sorry for the repetitive potty-mouthing this episode.

HAPPY FRICKIN NEW YEAR! AND MARDI GRAS! AND VALENTINE'S DAY!

Disclaimer: I don't own YuYuHakusho, although I plan to once I become official Dictator of Earth. Kura and Kuga, however, are entirely mine. Touch em, you die. Its that simple. (Unless of course I've just given you permission to touch em. Different circumstances, different story, got it?)


Installment the Fourth : A Bird in the Hand is Worth Nothing in France

Kuga's amulet glowed a pale, attractive white, illuminating her pale, delicate fingers as she fondled it. She was muttering quick, gentle words in a tongue Yusuke couldn't understand, and her eyes were glassy with concentration. A sudden white light, thin but distinct, flashed between the cross in Kuga's hands and the stars along the horizon and stayed there, wavering ever so slightly. Her words became louder, but it incomprehensible gibberish none of them could grasp, excepting Botan who seemed to understand bits and snippets of it.

With an even brighter and astounding flash, something pulsed between the necklace and the sky and the line stretched ever so tremulously between them shivered hard and unceasingly. And out of the blue a huge voice was speaking, echoing throughout the heavens and earth all at once.

"�����" it said in the same strange, otherworldly language Kuga had been muttering in.

"��������" she responded, her own voice ringing clear and sweet into the warm night.

"������"

And then it was silent. Yusuke glanced about, confused. "Where'd the big voice punk come from" he wondered aloud. Hiei kept himself quiet with difficulty, as Kurama shushed Yusuke himself. Kuwabara looked as if he might pass out from shock and Botan wasn't looking all-too-much better.

The string of light suddenly gave an unbending pulse and Kuga's eyes widened. "No...not there..." she whispered, taken aback. How could Kura have possibly been so close without her knowing? What about...she gasped frightened for Genkai's safety. Did the Master know"Oh no" she groaned softly.

"What" Yusuke yelped, charging in. "What's going on" Kuga said nothing for a minute, then turned to look up at him.

"This is going to be a long night."


They got there as quickly as they possibly could, running all the way. Their footfalls echoed in the walled streets as they slapped against the pavement, going as fast as they possibly could.

"I can't believe I could've missed her from this distance!" Kuga yelled over the whoosh of air in their ears. Kurama frowned worriedly. 'Neither can I,' he thought to himself. He should've realized it. He had been getting weird pulsations in the back of his mind since they had gotten home late this afternoon. He had waved them off and taken some Tylenol, dismissing it as a headache, completely disregarding it as familiar. He had felt this sensation whenever he was near Kura ever since the last time he had seen her. Ever since she had left him to live and die as he wished. He should've realized it. He should've known.

"What's the problem?" Hiei hollered over the wind, jogging casually, accommodating for his companions who sprinted, sides heaving, beside him. "We found her didn't we? That's all that matters."

"Because if she's at Genkai's, Yukina and Keiko are also at risk!" Kurama shouted, unable to contain himself any longer.

"Wha-HOLY SHIT!" Yusuke screamed. In the chaos it had totally slipped his mind that Keiko said she had been going to see the small ice demon who had taken up residence at Genkai's Shrine. Putting on a sudden burst of speed, he flew the distance, going neck-and-neck with a just as riled Hiei, who had seemed to recollect the same thing. They both nearly missed the turnoff; Yusuke used one foot to skid into a right turn and the other to retain his balance, and Hiei ricocheted off a wall. Still, neither of them slowed. It was a race for speed now...a sudden race to protect the ones they cared for most.

They dashed up the steps and into the courtyard, not stopping even an instant for breath they no longer had any need for. Without thinking Hiei slashed the oncoming door in two, moving to resheath his katana as he landed but then thinking better of it. In a single movement he brought the sword in front of him, the bandana covering his Jagan fluttering to the floor, the metal of his blade reflecting the light of the street lamps outside. He felt Yusuke come to a halt behind him, Spirit Gun cocked and at the ready. Ignoring the others who showed up seconds later, he scanned the premises in a second's time and found her. Unfortunately, he found her sitting directly above them.

All of Hiei's eyes sprung to the ceiling, searching quickly and frantically for something he already knew was there. Nothing. The shadows were empty. If she had been there once, she was not there now.


Kura listened to them, hunched within the confines of the wall. She adored old shrines like this. The walls never contained anything...they were always hollow. And, to top it off, the had a great many of thread bare spots, where the wood was so thin it acted like a one-way screen, especially in the dark. It was a perfect set-up: she could watch her prey as much as she could ever want and they would never know where she was. She smirked, fingering the two small stones about her neck. They would never know where their friends were either. Not the way they were searching now. Jagans would never be able to pinpoint her directly.

She watched as one of the taller boys ("Greasy" she had mentally noted him) looked to the pineapple-headed midget with the Jagan, whom she assumed, with a malicious sort of satisfaction, was the alleged midget Circe had specified earlier. "Got anything Hiei" Greasy said to Runt. Runt shook his head, a look of enormous discontent on his face. "I had something...it vanished."

Greasy scowled and dropped his Spirit Gun stance (one which Kura had instantly recognized) and cupped his hands about his mouth. "HEY, GRANDMA!" he hollered, his booming voice echoing up and down the halls. He dropped his hands to his pants and listened into the silence. Nothing. No response. The shrine was as empty as the wind as far as he knew. He gritted his teeth in frustration. She had to be here...

Kura watched him with an icy sort of deadpan, conveying no emotion, but feeling ultimately satisfied. She shifted her gaze from the two standing foremost in the empty room to her back and glanced over at the other four: a tall boy that was looked surprisingly like a very hairy carrot, and just as appealing; a blue-headed girl with pink eyes, most likely one of the Brat's minions; and...ah yes.

There was, of course, no mistaking her sister. There was, however, the fact that Kugami had a look on her face Kura had never seen, but once: calm anger. 'Anger...Imagine that, hah,' the Goddess smirked to herself. She was probably the only one who could've achieved such a thing from her sister. She loved the sensation of angering her younger sister, seeing that enraged glint at the back of her pearlescent eyes, and the stiff way she held herself. 'How delightful.' How she wanted to see that rage boil over and dominate Kugami's features...

And then...and then there was Yoko. Her beautiful Yoko. His hair was different, a deep red, and he was built in a slightly different way. But his eyes...there was no mistaking those eyes. Or his face. No, this was Yoko. For certain. Even with its different coloration, his hair still shimmered and fell in the same fashion, and even his green eyes, replacing the familiar golden, conveyed the same brilliant mind...that same rebellious yet endlessly brilliant mind. 'Yoko...my little Yoko, no matter what you do, you cannot hide yourself from me. Even being the magnificent actor and con-artist you are, I know it's you under under that human exterior. You can't fool me, little Yoko. Not anymore...'

A small rubbing of fur against the skin of her leg coerced Kura and looking away from her thoughts and into Circe's large, glowing yellow eyes. She shook her head lightly, warning the cat demon to lay low until she said otherwise. Her minion blinked and nodded curtly in acknowledgement, clambering lightly over Kura's tan legs in order to peek out of the whole herself. She batted her ears once and then dropped back down to all fours, proceeding to saunter down the narrow corridor between the walls, soft tail wavering over bony hips.

Kura watched her go and glanced back through the screen of the worn wood. She twitched involuntarily, and fingered her hair. She should probably move...she'd been here too long. Her human legs ached painfully from being in such a cramped space for so long...but...she didn't want to move. It would be a foolish error. To move now would mean creating a small and ever-traceable blast of ki, one she couldn't afford. (1) The Runt would sense her before she'd even finished the spell, and (2) her sister would find her. At this close a range, she doubted if even Yoko would have trouble pinpointing her directly and without issue. So she would either have to reveal herself or wait for the imbeciles to move.

She groaned inwardly, cursing the fates. 'Damned karma. I hate waiting.'


Kugami's gaze swept the shrine thoroughly checking through everything in a mental checklist of hiding places. "Shoot..." she murmured to herself. "This is what happens when I don't see her for centuries at a time. First thing I do when we get her is schedule a family reunion. Shoot shoot shoot..." There was nothing for it. The two of them had been apart far too long...she couldn't even guess the places Kura might be able to squeeze into by now. As she put, everyone needed a hobby, and the Goddess of Destruction loved playing with her own body, squeezing it and pushing it into contorted deformities no mortal could've ever dreamed of. Kuga had simply decided, after a while, that, alone as she was, it was probably a good thing Kura's favorite playmate was herself. Now, however, she wasn't quite so sure...

"Can you sense anything Hiei? Kurama?" she said, concernedly, looking to both of them in turn. "I just said I lost it," Hiei snapped irritably, resheathing his katana and stuffing his hand in his pockets. Kurama simply shook his head. "I know she's here...but other than that..." he glanced downwards. "I'm sorry I can't be better help to you."

"It's fine, Kurama," Kuga sighed, ignoring Hiei.

"No it's not," Yusuke murmured, face ashen and fists balled. "It's not fine. Grandma's lying around here somewhere and not answering me when I yell at her..." He clenched his teeth and spat between them as he continued. "Keiko and Yukina are nowhere to be found...this is not fine!" Grandma should've had killed him for knocking down the door and yelling so loudly at this time of night. Keiko should be chewing him out, and his ears should be killing him. Yukina should be sitting quietly in the corner, blushing faintly whenever Kuwabara made an attempt to flirt with her. Hiei should be watching them, steam billowing out of his ears as he fumed about having been flustered by a false alarm and Kurama should be trying to console him so that they were all still alive in the morning. This wasn't fine. This was anything but fine.

Botan put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Yusuke. It'll be okay," she said, consoling him to the best of her ability. She turned to the rest of them. "C'mon everyone, let's go look for the girls, alright? They have to be around here somewhere."

Receiving only nods as acknowledgement, and ignorance from Hiei, the YuYu Gang rustled forwards, peaking around the bend of the door into the corridor cautiously before proceeding deeper into the house. The floorboards creaked beneath them ominously as they glanced the whole place up and down. Yusuke stared down the familiar halls warily, poised to attack whenever necessary. Once they had checked through every room, they reemerged in the parlor. Kuga slumped against the wall, exhaling loudly.

"Ugh...her presence is so blatant...how's your head Kurama?" she sighed gloomily, glancing up at the red headed kitsune.

"Not all too well. To tell you the truth...it's really killing me," he groaned, massaging his forehead.

Yusuke frowned and cast him a worried glance before turning back to Kugami. "Why can't we find her then? If it's so definite that she's here, why can't we find her?"

Kugami had only started to answer when she shuddered suddenly and violently. Kurama jumped forward just as suddenly, as if he had struck through the back with a knife. Both of them went very pale.

"Wha!" Yusuke began as Kurama's hand clapped itself over his mouth and the fox gesticulated quickly for silence. 'What the hell Kurama!' Yusuke thought violently, conveying each word through his eyes and hurling them at his friend for acting so weird. Hiei, Kuwabara and Botan froze and stared at them both, obeying Kurama's commands for soundlessness.

And then it erupted.

"ROSE WHIP!" he shouted, his cry slicing the dead air as his weapon did the wall directly beside them. It fell immediately, it's center support beam cleaved in two, the two halves of it hitting the tatami covered floors with a deafening boom as his teammates watched in utter disbelief. Chalk-white dust filled the air as wall connected with bamboo flooring, shattering into thousands of irreparable pieces. The whip returned to its master like a boomerang, encircling his hand expertly, three of it's thorns glistening softly with blood, the others faded by paint and chalky dust.

And then Yusuke saw her.

"Holy fuck."

She was just sitting there, feet propped up against the shattered remains of what used to be the remains of a wall. The dust was shrouding her, covering most of obviously black clothing and dark grey hair. Her tan chin rested on her knees, which were covered by thigh-high black socks, and her hands (covered in bike gloves) were meshed in front of them, holding her in one of the most uncomfortable positions Yusuke could ever imagine. How did back bend that way...? She looked dead, eyes closed and calm. But as the air cleared of debris, Yusuke could see very clearly that this was not the case.

She blinked once after the night-air had resettled and all eyes were upon her. Blowing absently at a few unruly tresses wafting in her face, she coughed starkly. "Mm. Dusty," she said lightly to herself, as if she had not noticed the Spirit Detective's presence. She released the hold on her knees and straightened up into a more manageable position. She held her gloved hand in front of her face, glowering at them. "Damned karma...figures I'd get trapped in this body of all things. Can't even manage minor spells without completely revealing itself. How utterly bothersome."

Yusuke didn't even see Hiei leave his side before he noticed the small demon rushing their target, katana unsheathed, cloak whipped off and forgotten. In an instant he flared up his aura, channeling his dragon into his sword and he was upon her. "Hiei..." Yusuke barked, desperately, only just know recovering from the shock of finding the Apocalypse hiding within his mentor's parlor wall. The demon ignored him, slashing downward...

into nothing. With a chink! metal sword met plaster and empty air. Hiei, unprepared for the sudden ceasing of motion, flew over the handle of his katana, skidding to a halt using his shoulder as he tumbled head first over the schism in the building and into the next room. He glared back at Kura, crimson orbs flashing with ire as he gritted his teeth, the skin of his bare arm burning from where he had used it as a brake.

"She's fast!" Kuwabara squeaked as they all stared at the Goddess who was leaning casually against the wall. She ignored them, perusing the long shallow cut on her forearm nonchalantly as her burgundy blood dribbled from it slowly, spidery fingers bared like claws in the way she held them.

"Hm..." she murmured to herself, gray slitted eyes flashing as she finally permitted them notice. Or atleast, permitted Kurama notice. The demon gripped his whip more tightly, gaze hard as his eyes narrowed.

"Your aim certainly isn't what it used to be, Yoko darling," she said, her voice constricting them, deep, calm and dark, like everything else they could tell about her. Kurama grimaced gripping his whip, if possible, even tighter. Shifted her cold eyes back to her arm and then lifted it, so that she was staring around it at her former student. "You used to cut so much more deeply. What's the matter?"

She stepped away from the wall, her apathetic movements gentle and flowing as she stared at Kurama. "You wouldn't be...concerned for an old friend's safety perhaps? Heh, how flattering."

With a glitter of her malicious eyes thousands of gooey strings sprang from the floorboards, enveloping them all. It seized their arms and legs, tethering them where they stood, immobile. Thousands of strands wove themselves about Yusuke's arms and legs, binding them, making them useless, and did the same to Botan, Kuwabara, Hiei, Kuga and Kurama. They all writhed feverishly but to no avail. The strings continued to come, and restrict their motion ever more, until breath and blinking were all they could manage. She chuckled cruelly.

"Thankfully, I cannot say I feel similarly for you, sweets," she chortled, looking up at him with icy amusement while controlling the strings like a puppeteer. Her laughter rumbled deeper as she watched Yusuke struggle to get free and retort. She pulled at on of her gray strands tucked lightly behind her ear as she watched him. "What's the matter, dear? Cat got your tongue?"

In an instant, Circe was beside her ankles. Kuwabara realized that he had only blinked and it had appeared there just as she had said it. 'Weird...how'd that cute little kitty get in here?' It hadn't been there a minute ago, he was sure. Or even a nanosecond ago. Weird...

"Circe," Kura chided, glancing down at her pet. "If you wouldn't mind, I have places to go. And I believe our guests do as well. Would you kindly escort them to their graves for me? I'd do it myself, I really would, but I have to be somewhere by sunrise." The cat purred softly in acknowledgement, as Kura massaged the skin of her ears, and the Goddess smirked fondly. "Good girl."

She stood to go, but was halted by a pinprick at the back of her skull, the red flag in her mind going up at the muffled words of "SPIRIT GUN!" echoing behind her. She leapt out of the way, just in time, Yusuke's blast decimating the ground her feet had just left moments before. She landed on her feet gently, sliding to a halt and giving Greasy's produced carnage a once-over.

"Shit. And that almost hit me too," she said softly, sidling over to give it a better look. "You must be Genkai's boy, eh?" she murmured, glancing back up at him with a slightly curious deadpan. She traced her foot along the edge of the smoldering hole left in the floor, looking down at it. "How funny. She wasn't able to hit me either."

Yusuke's eyes widened at the comment. "No..." he muttered. "What...WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!"

Kura glanced back up at him with slightly raised eyebrows, still pawing at the crater's edge. "I'm not sure what you mean, Detective. Could you possibly put that into greater specifics?"

Yusuke positively glowered. "WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?"

Kura shook her head in mock exasperation. "Well, you see, that's the problem. I've done quite alot of things, in my existence. Like I said before-if you were listening-you'd be better off specifying which thing it is that I've done to make you so angry. That way I can fulfill your dying wish and, in excruciating detail, reveal to you 'what I did.'"

"Cut the bull! Where's Genkai! Yukina and Keiko!"

At this, Kura's face lit up in a smirk that they could almost taste, her eyes curling with it. "Who, them? What, you haven't seen them yet? They're right here" she sneered, tapping at a pair of stones dangling around her neck. "My, you certainly aren't very observant for a Detective. Things have definitely deteriorated since Sensui's age, there's no doubt in my mind. The Brat can't even find simple competence to fill the spot any more. How pitiful."

Hiei's eyes widened as he watched her play at those pebbles about her throat. She couldn't possibly be implying what he thought she was implying...could she? Certainly she couldn't be that powerful when she was drained...

"No..." Kurama murmured, his eyes shining in the moonlight.

"Oh yes" said an apparently delighted Kurami. "Little Yoko, I'm sure you recognize the phrase 'take what you can, when you can'? I simply used a window of opportunity to my advantage. Whether it influences you in any other way than what intended doesn't really matter to me, but I can see already that it's having the desired effects overall."

"Freak-ass! What the hell are you talking about!" Yusuke yelled, swaying dangerously from where he was bound.

Kura stared at him boredly, arms folded across her chest. "You really are a pain in the neck, ain'tcha? Hn. Not such a tough guy as you appear though. She's the only one you think knows that, hm? How pitiful. If she's really your 'girlfriend' you ought to spend more time with her rather than skipping class and playing 'Battle Royale', don't you think?"

"Wh-what-"

And then it clicked.

The stones.

Keiko.

Yukina.

"Oh God."

The Goddess smirked ever wider as Kuwabara turned from face to face, trying to decipher what was so outrageous that it had all of them silent.

"...Prove it," Yusuke snarled with determination. "I want proof you aren't shitting me."

"My my, a boy who wants his dimes-worth. Don't we get an awful lot of those Circe?" The cat mewed shortly, filling the brief interval in Kura sadistic comments. "Oh well. I suppose I will have to prove it in order to get you to believe me. How terribly pitiful. You'd think that even Koenma could come up with something better than this whole 'seeing is believing' shitload, but whatever."

Her fingers suddenly sprang to life as a black aura pulsed from them, emanating and surrounding each bony segment, slithering its way over calm, dark skin until it hummed about the jewels making them rattle. Several small detonations surrounded them in quick, unending pops as Kurama's worst fears materialized in front of the Goddess of Death, the silhouetted misty forms of three women frozen still projected from between her hands.

"Yusuke..." Keiko cried out, frozen as she was. Said Detective wrestled madly to break away from the strands affixing to the floor, but in vain. He could not break free.

"No...that's impossible..." Hiei growled, eyes reflecting the image of his younger half sister. "No one could manage that type of power if they were bereft of it..."

The corners of Kura's eyes creased with the wicked grin that danced splay-leggedly across her face as the projected images of Keiko, Yukina and Genkai melted into the darkness. "Well then it's very good that I'm not bereft of it."

She turned to face Yusuke once more, the smile evaporating. "Satisfied? I'll be on my way, then." She made for the door way, pausing to glance back at them all. "Oh, and I suggest you give me a good amount of space. These jewels, the manifestation of your feminine counterpart's souls, tend to be very fragile. You wouldn't want my hand to slip and...oh, I don't know...accidentally break one? That would be so very awful."

She turned back to face the direction she was going and left the room with a quick and absent-minded "Finish them Circe".

Yusuke watched her go, chewing heartily on his lower lip, brimming with frustration. "Damn it..."

The cat Circe watched her Mistress go as well, footsteps fading into shadows as the large rumble of an explosion at the opposite end of the shrine signaled Kura's departure. She closed her eyes with a soft sigh, her taught muscles rippling beneath velvety fur. "Ugh...oui. 'Damn it' is right, kid."

With a gentle trembling of aura there was no longer a feline lounging on the floor in front of them. "Hmph...I really am not going to enjoy this," the woman in front of them purred, standing from where she had been knelt upon the boards.

She was taller than Kurama remembered, the dark eyeliner surrounding her violet spheres, which were slitted in a similar fashion to Kura's, thickened substantially. Her skin was extremely pale, nearly as white as Kuga's, and her dark purple hair curled about her high, framed cheekbones. Every part of her glided perfectly into the other, even beneath her clothing: a tight fitting sleeveless ebony mini-blouse with a vampirish, high collar, that hid most of her chin, cut off at the star of her ribs; her navel was just covered by top of a pair of form-fitting shorts with cuffed hems; similar to Kura, a pair of woolen knee-high socks covered her otherwise bare feet; one small silver hoop earring dangled from the left cat ear perched atop her head.

"Look," she said, looking up at them, eyebrows knotted. "I don't wanna kill you. And technically I can't kill Kuga. So I'm gunna le'you down. But you're going to fight me. And summa you are gunna leave, and summa you aren't. I gotta follow orders, and you heard le mademoiselle. She wants you dead. So I have to atleast half-ass it, right"

"Wha-"

Yusuke had no more time for thought as the strings binding him, Kuwabara, and Hiei were suddenly cut by Circe's claws as she swiped them in two. Both humans let out a cry and scrambled to land on their feet, hitting the floor with unprepared and stinging toes, protected only by the rubber of street shoes. Hiei, surprised, but prepared, hit the floor in a feline-mimicking crouch, legs bent and sprung upward into a battle ready position in a matter of seconds.

Circe bent her elbows so that both of her hands, held so the palm faced away from her, were positioned in front of her face, left over right, with the latter pointing outward, thumb to her face, and the former pointing outwards. Her fingers curled as glistening nails extended, protruding out about six inches, shimmering like knives in the slatted moonlight that shone in through the window.

"Begin whenever you're ready," she said calmly, face portraying no emotion.

Kuwabara's eyes widened. "B-Begin? To what? Attack you? But...but...you're a-"

"A minion of Kura's and nothing more. If the fact that I'm of the female gender troubles you, Mister Kazuma Kuwabara, you may choose to ignore my chest, although there isn't much to ignore, incase you didn't notice. Now come. We should get this under way."

Yusuke almost started up laughing at the direction this conversation was going, and at the cat-demons fierce deadpan expression as she said all this, but choked it all down. "How the hell do you know his first name?" It was a good question. No one had said he had any more of a name than "Carrot-topped Moron" (which Hiei had called him while they were examining the house), and he was certain that if an occasion was slipping his mind, they certainly hadn't called him by his first name.

"It is amazing what you can learn from the Spirit World archives. Mostly boring stuff, oui, but also very valuable information. I hacked in about 16.43 minutes ago and counting."

"But, that was..." Botan said, eyes bulging white. "That was...just as...we arrived!"

"Yes, I thought it more polite to address you all by name, Botan-chan."

"But, the archives! How did you possibly-"

"Look, if one of you doesn't attack me soon, I'm going to need to instigate something," Circe snarled vaguely, turning back to the Detectives. "We can't just keep standing around, 'kay? Either one of you attack me now or I'm going to do it."

Hiei finally broke a long standing silence on his part, unsheathing his katana with god-like quickness and bringing it so that he held it directly in front of him, directly between his eyes. "Gladly," he snapped with a scowl. "It's not as if chivalry on our part is going to get us anywhere."

And with that he launched, feet carrying him unbelievable fast. His hair whipped back as he flew at her, katana drawn back in a preparatory move to slash forward with all of his weight. Circe smiled warmly, glad to have some attention paid her. He was right...chilvary would get them nowhere. But neither would carelessness. This one was going to a regular fire demon; she could see it by the rage and hatred boiling up from within his glinting blood-red eyes. She would need to wear him down...hone him a little and teach him a thing or two about using such careless style against a cat demon of the Nihiki(1) clan.

She was ready as he threw himself foreword, every intent to drive the sword through her, and for the second time of the evening, piercing nothing but air. However as Circe continued to lead him forward with a speedily placed left hand on his wrist, and prepared to deal him a blow with the other in crystal slowness (despite the fact that it all took place in a matter of 3 seconds) he was ready.

Ducking the blow by bending backwards, he escaped her premature hold on his wrist and spun backwards on his right heel, taking a lunging swing at her exposed chest.

"Oh!" she exclaimed jutting out of the way just in time. Impressive...he had completely thrown her off guard by feinting that dead-on attack. It wasn't many who could fool her that way...very impressive indeed. Perhaps Hiei Jaganshi was more fit an opponent than Mistress Kura gave him credit for. She smiled warmly, sliding to a halt as both she and the Jagan-wielding Forbidden Child took stance once more. How fun...

"What're you smiling about?" Hiei glowered, eyes hard and narrow.

"Yeah," Yusuke snarled, his own clenched fist glowing blue with the power he has charging. "Somehow, I don't find anything even remotely funny about the situation, especially looking at it from your end. You sure the men in white gave you the right subscription?"

"'Men in'...? Oh, you mean to suggest that I am mentally unstable? I'm quite sane actually. I didn't mean to seem happy about anything...it's just that...I can tell that you two are going to give me Hell. And that sounds like a lot of fun right now!"

"Quite sane my ass..." Yusuke blinked, eye twitching at the girl's happy-go-lucky-attitude.

"Think whatchu want monsieur," Circe said nonchalantly, shrugging Yusuke's insidious comments off as if they were nothing. "Strike when you're ready."

Hiei lunged, bringing his blade and swinging it down in front of him at her chest once more. She jumped backwards just as she swung at her feet. With another "oh!" she pulled them up just in time, only to meet in a head-on collision as Yusuke's fist connected with her cheek. Sailing through the air, she tumbled, somersaulting, through empty space where a wall should've been and instead hit the floor. Digging her nails into the boards of the floor, she brought herself to a halt after a fearfully unpleasant screech as she stooped. Standing, and rubbing at a bruising cheek she winced slightly. "Ow. You're definitely Genkai's underling...only she can hit like that. Heh...shoot, that really hurts."

Both young men watched her, Hiei in utter disgust, Yusuke in plain-and-simple disbelief. How can one of Kura's minions be so...happy? It's like she enjoyed getting pummeled. "God...what a weirdo," Kuwabara uttered in a low voice from behind them both, mouth slightly agape.

Circe blinked and then sighed. "How is going to take me to train you into just attacking me and not giving me random intervals to recover? This is getting boring."

"I'll show you BORING!" Yusuke hollered, fed up, and charged her. "I'LL SHOW YUH BORING 'TILL YOU DON'T KNOW WHICH WAY IS UP!" Both of his clenched and raised fists glowed dangerously, as he dashed towards her.

"Good! That's better!" she giggled happily, blocking his fist as it smacked up against her palm.

Endlessly frustrated, Yusuke continued punching with everything he had. Punching punching punching punching, had to keep punching. He aimed for nothing, attempting everywhere - anywhere - but with each blow it seemed she only became more prepared for the next, no matter how randomly it's placing. No matter how fast he went, no matter what he did, he hit nothing but hands that were raised to stop him. He was getting extremely frustrated. It had only been minutes and a few attacks since they'd begun and already this nutty cat-thing had mocked him...twice. And he had only hit her once. This was so stupid! Why couldn't he hit her? She couldn't be that powerful. Kuwabara hadn't even known she was there.

Well...but then, Kuwabara hadn't known Kura was there, either.

Suddenly Yusuke encountered more than a blocking hand. Instead, he found his fist locked against a knee, leaving Circe's left hand free for attack. Caught off guard, Yusuke jumped backwards just in time to avoid a full on blow to the gut, but felt it as the cat-demon released a powerful blast that sent him tumbling into the next room and crashing into the opposite wall. Immediately, he was pinned by one hand at his collar and knee in his ribs as two claws introduced themselves to his cheek. He yelled, more out of surprise than anything else, and was tossed by the wrist into the floorboards, his nose exploding in pain as he hit them.

Hiei was suddenly above him, launching off of the spot of wall the Spirit Detective had just fallen from, sword at the ready. He drove forward with it, intending to spear her as he had caught her unaware, but she flipped her head backwards, bending her spine back as quickly as was humanly possible in order to avoid the blade that split the air just above her. She winced slightly and flipped to the right over her shoulder, just in time to avoid it as it came down. However, it was the Forbidden Child that was now vulnerable, and she doubled him over with a quick jab of the foot to the stomach, and he flew back, hitting the wall and then slumping onto the floor.

She got to her feet, a disgusted sort of look settling upon her cheeks, and brushed herself off. "Whew! You guys are tough," she said, finally, looking at Yusuke who glared up at her from the floor. "Oh, c'mon, don' be like that. It's not as if I'm going to attack you while you're in that position." She extended a pliable hand to him from above, claws withdrawing. "C'mon. We got punches to throw."

Yusuke stared at her incredulously.

She stared back down at him. "Hey, don' gimme tha look. I ain't heartless you know."

For the first time in a long while, Kuga's voice skittered into the midst of things. "Circe...won't you...you'll be in such trouble if you do this..."

"Don't you dare get thankful on me, Second Mistress," Circe snapped, suddenly all business. "You'll need that anger when you catch up to her." Her hard gaze shifted to Kurama as violet eyes met sharp green ones. "...You...you either...Yoko...Yoko, sir." Her eyes wavered ever so slightly, and she cast them downwards once more, shading them halfway with darkly dressed lids. "You two...you two are the only ones who can make sure she...doesn't do anything...irrational. I have tried my best but...that oath...that oath when we swore her our loyalty...do you remember that Yoko, sir? We swore we would never abandon her, that we would have faith and never betray her 'til our ends...I can not forget it. I can not leave her even after all these many years. If I did...I..."

"You would no longer have any reason to live, would you Circe?" Kurama's soft, sympathetic tones caused everyone to turn and stare at him, his deep, burgundy bangs over shadowing his eyes. Circe closed her eyes completely, nodding slowly and with great sadness.

"You...don't have anything else...but Kura, anymore. You're a good person...I know that but...you have alot of trouble living...simply for the sake of living...don't you? You can't live...for just yourself. Can you, Circe? If you're all alone...you simply can't find a reason to go on. You need someone who...needs you...even if its such a subtle thing as being Kura's underling. I know that about you Circe. I've always known that. That's why you...continued following me, wasn't it? Those last years in the demon world...I was all alone except for my band and...you..."

Circe squeezed her eyes tight as if they might spill all of their fleshy contents.

"You followed me all that time...I told myself I didn't care but...you were my friend. A person I could trust. It gave me a reason to keep going, your trust. Knowing that there was someone in this world who trusted me...who I could help. I liked knowing that I didn't even really have to do anything about it...that you would be fine so long as we had our brief little chats here and there."

"Yes," Kuga said, eyes misty and warm. "You two had each other. Having each other...even if you didn't really understand one another...you liked each other's company simply because it was another's company."

"Oui…it wasn't much, but it was enough. Kura was so easily annoyed those days…even Nira and Neru thought it best to avoid her. They left without telling me where they were going and, even back then, I wouldn't have been tempted to follow them. We didn't – don't – get along. So…for that length of time…I was all alone. I couldn't take that loneliness, that bereft feeling. Kura's become like family to me…without her…if I lost her, I'd just want to die. I know she can seem evil at times but…even knowing that…even accepting that, I can't give her up. I simply can't. And you, Yoko-sir…I don't think I could survive without you either. You kept me alive all through those months, until I could get up the nerve to go back to my Mistress. And I think you two…I couldn't think that you two would hate each other! I just couldn't! All those years that we spent together…all those memories…certainly, it wasn't the easiest of times, and Mistress Kura wasn't the easiest of masters but…she loved us all! She really did! Not like normal people but…Yoko-sir, she was so distraught when you left us. And I knew you felt it too. You simply wanted freedom…you both had a naturally rebellious nature. I knew you two had never really meant to war with one another…but you're both so stubborn. Neither would apologize because…both refused to apologize because both maintained that they had done nothing to spite the other.

"You don't really hate her do you, Yoko-sir? You don't…I could see it in your eyes from the moment you first got here. When you were talking about her earlier this afternoon…you knew I was watching. You pretended you didn't but…I could tell. You don't hate our Mistress…my Mistress, now, I suppose. But, you don't, do you? You can't just throw her away as if she meant nothing to you. As if…Toketsu and I meant nothing to you. Can you? I know you, Yoko-sir. Your heart won't let you forget, will it? Even after all this time…she's still something to you. A relic you and I both used to cherish as one of the only things we belonged to in the world…that belonged to us.

"She was the first one to tell us that we were worth anything. A simple tap to the cheek and we were meant something. Things that Kura did for us as her pupils…little pointless things that no one else would've accepted as anything worth anything…meant the world to us all. They gave us a reason to live, to become stronger. Even if we had to do everything she said without asking questions…no matter how dark her heart truly was…she adopted us as her own. In truth, she raised us, and molded our souls to the state they are in today. Even if she doesn't seem like the type, you and I both know that she loved us in her own special ways. She protected us from things she heartlessly exposed others to. That is a type of affection, a way of warmth in the heart. Those simple, rare shows of affection…they were enough to keep us all going. Enough to make us want the power she was willing to teach us.

"I know you say you don't like her know, Yoko-sir…but…you still love her, in your own way, don't you? You still can't bring yourself to abandon her and all that she taught you, can you? Oui…even if our ways are different, we are still loyal to her, aren't we?

"You were her favorite of all of us, Yoko-sir. I can see it in her eyes, every time she looks at me…how much she'd rather be looking at you. Loyalty…that word means nothing since your departure and abandonment of her. She wanted your loyalty…not mine. You were her favorite. She loved to train you because she loved to see you grow. She was disappointed when you left her, to say the least. She had planned on keeping you close until your death…you, her favorite.

"I know you like to say its not true but…you know it is. The Mistress liked Toketsu and I…but…she was in love with you…infatuated with you, even, so much as a dark soul as hers can be. Every day, she thought about you. How to help you improve, new things she could teach, new things she wanted you to learn. I think it was because…you reminded her of herself. She wanted you to succeed in ways she could not because she was not of mortal flesh. She wanted you to belong to her, because you were like her reflection, more so than even her own twin sister. And so…she was…crushed, I suppose, if you can think of Kura that way. She was so upset…so frustrated…she blamed herself, you know. She cut herself off from you because – believe me or not – she was actually concerned that she was hurting you by interfering with your life. She didn't know what to do with herself…with anyone.

"She's hardened herself against 'going soft' ever again, since then, as you might imagine, but…I still don't think she's truly a bad person. I don't think you think she's a bad person, either, Yoko-sir. She doesn't hate you, you know."

Kurama blinked, emotion flitting briefly through his eyes. He had known all of that before…but…to hear it shoved in beneath his nose so gruffly certainly contrasted it from memories he'd been trying to keep away for the past several hours.

"You…want me to go after her, don't you Circe?"

"Please Yoko-sir. You and the Second Mistress are the only ones who have the power to stop her before she…does anything…regretful," Circe said solemnly, staring up at him with pleading eyes of twilight crystal. "I must fulfill her wishes by attempting to kill a few of you but…there are loopholes I am tempted to take advantage of. For instance, the Mistress has not specifically dictated that I must kill you all…nor that I need put my heart or power into it. Should I fail her, I may be in trouble but…I still want you to go after her."

Kurama hesitated before nodding vaguely. "Alright then."

Suddenly his bindings, as well as Kugami's, had vanished into thin air, their enchantments dissipating as both landed with expert clacks on the wooden floor in front of a stunned and silent Yusuke, a stoic Hiei, and an uncharacteristically speechless Kuwabara. Kurama flicked his hair back, staring Circe straight in the face, level with her gaze as well as the Goddess to his left. He finally nodded curtly and glanced over his shoulder at his comrades.

"Be careful you two," he said softly, before disappearing in a blur and out into the night beyond the hallway. Kuga nodded to them as well. "Take care," she murmured, before following her sister's disciple.

Circe watched them go betraying no emotion until they were both gone when a small smile, soft and sad, floated down upon her thin lips. "Ganbatte kudasai(2), Yoko-kun…Bring our Kura back safely…"


Whoot! Finally done! Aintcha proud a' me? Yup…I've been writing this for three months now -.-;; If you don't review I shall kill you, you hear me? There's no way in hell I'm breaking my back for nothing . However, a huge thanks to my previous reviewers:

Muriko: Ne! Someone new! Yes, I'm definitely planning on making dear Genkai-obaa survive. What's the fun without Grandma to whoop our dear Yusuke's ass every once in a while!

DarkRubyMage: Hi! I love your fic too…hope this chapter gives you more ideas for "Reikai Tantei Meets the Spirit Detectives".

Kittengrl : Okay, you haven't reviewed in a long while, but I'm still grateful!

Definitions:

(1) "Nihiki" : Specifically means "two birds". It's Circe-san's family name .

(2) "Ganbatte kudasai": Means "please do your best" or "goodluck, please" (if you really want it translated literally, which is REALLY not a good idea when dealing with Japanese)

If anyone was confused about the spelling during Circe's speeches, read it phonically. She's speacking with a French accent…and I tried to bring that out in the way she was talking. Nira and Neru shall be introduced soon…so, yeah. And the title was completely random. Heh. Had absolutely NOTHING to do with the chapter, darlings.

Please review! Please! Goddammit you guys! I'm begging you! PLEASE!