"I will not be here forever, Yusuke," Hiei grunted from his position on my couch, again running his fingers through his hair. I suppose the loss of a few pounds of crap from his hair still bothered him.

"Well, no duh!" I cheerfully replied. "Besides, what would I do with you?"

"In fact, I'll probably be gone by tomorrow at the earliest," he continued, ignoring my comment.

"What?" I exclaimed. "That early?"

"Of course. I'll be sufficiently healed then to stay on my own, and I still have to fight Eight-Hands and settle my score with the fox, Shuuichi, I believe. Did you honestly think that I would stay?"

"Well, I…"

For once, I didn't have an answer. A day. That's all I'd had. A day. A single goddamn day with the only demon that I would probably ever meet, and now he was going to leave and expect me to just go back to my life. How could I? After knowing that there was much more out there, that there really were supernatural beings with third eyes and fire powers and gravity-defying hair, how could I honestly go back to living a normal life? There was no way in hell that I could.

"Well, what? I've made it quite clear from the beginning that I was not to become some kind of household pet to you," he bluntly went on. "Why are you so surprised?"

"Well, y'know, I thought that we were…friends," I lamely replied. Of course the demon assassin-killer-thief-whatever the hell he was wasn't my friend! How stupid was I? He said so himself that he may have lied to get into my house in the first place. And he had given me that weird look when I said that he was my friend… God, I sounded like some lovestruck little girl! Would I really be that affected if Three-Eyes left? I just met him, after all!

Something told me that I would be. He was just so…unique! His utter lack of manners, his temper, his seeming inability to smile… Humans just didn't come like that.

He stared, taken aback for a second. He seemed thoroughly confused.

"What?" I asked.

"You honestly consider me a friend?" he said after a bit, voice soft.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't want to be your friend!" he vehemently spat, turning away from me. "I don't need friends at all! 'Friends' are all well and good—until they stab you in the back! I don't want or need anyone!"

I stared, shocked by his sudden display of violent fervor.

"Damn it, man, all I said was that I thought that you were a friend! If you're going to be all pissy about it, then leave if you want! I don't care!" I yelled.

I never knew the true meaning of the word "fire" until I stared into his vicious crimson eyes right then. Lighter reds and oranges danced behind his usual garnet red, and the irises themselves seemed to shift and swirl until it made me almost dizzy. His pupils, instead of dilating in anger, had contracted to the point where they were mere dots of black, and the red in his eyes seemed to have consumed part of the whites immediately around them. In all actuality, his eyes appeared as orbs of blazing hellfire, and they were truly unnerving, like looking into some sort of creature's eyes. I didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or not, but it was still pretty frightening.

"Fine!" he yelled, running for the door. He was moving so fast my eyes could barely even follow him, and even then he was but a black blur. He opened the door, glared back at me, then bolted…into the bright light of daytime, where anyone could see him. Cursing myself for my stupidity, I ran after him. The careless bastard had even left behind his sword and clothes!

Thinking quickly, I grabbed his blade, trying to belt it to my hip as I ran. Granted, running around with a sword was an easy way to get myself arrested, but he probably wouldn't fully leave without it and I wasn't going to risk leaving it at home, where he might steal it back. No, I'd haul Three-Eyes back if it killed me!

It wasn't long before I found a few people gawking at something. Shouldering my way through them, I saw a small puddle of blood. It had to be Hiei's! His wound probably reopened, and now he was leaving a trail that even I could follow.

"Yes!" I cheered, eliciting some weird stares. Who cheered at the sight of blood?

With that, I looked for the next bit of blood. There was some in a fairly easy to follow path leading away from my apartment, so I, like a couple other people that had noticed, ran after it.

It led on for quite a bit, before cutting off entirely. Around the last of the blood splatters was a whole crowd of people, gawking and staring like it was the Tokyo Dome martial arts tournament, only minus the cheering and the kick-ass fighting. Either Three-Eyes found some alternate means of travel, like, say, hailing a cab or something, he was dragged off by someone or something else, or, haunting though it was, he died and his corpse faded out of existence. Figuring that even in his wounded state, Hiei would not have been killed, I ruled out the last one. He seemed almost as tough as I was, and I'd never get myself killed! So, either he went somewhere else on his own or he was hauled off. Who would kidnap Hiei, though? Only that Eight-Hands dude or whoever that fox was… Oh, what did Hiei say his name was?

"C'mon Yusuke, think, damnit!" I thought aloud. "What was it? Shu-something, right? Shuki? Shuui? God, what was his name?"

"Are you looking for Shuuichi? As in, Shuuichi Minamino?" a girl next to me asked.

I turned to stare at her. She could help me find Three-Eyes, and she wasn't too bad to look at, if you catch my drift. She was pretty plain-looking, with short black hair and wide brown eyes, a combination shared by me, but right now I didn't care.

"Shuuichi? Yeah, that was his name! You know him?" I asked, hoping that she knew the right Shuuichi. I doubted it, since fox demons probably didn't just befriend random chicks off the streets, but it was as good a start as any.

"Know him? Of course! Shuuichi's my best friend," the girl replied. "Why do you need to find him?"

"Well, uh, this is gonna sound weird, but did Shuuichi ever, like, slash up some black-haired demon kid with red eyes?" I questioned.

God, she's going to think I'm a psycho! Yusuke, you dumbass!

She stared at me suspiciously.

"How do you know about that?" she demanded.

Whoa…shocker there. Not only does she not think I'm a nutjob, but I'm right! Score!

"It's not important! I have to find him!"

"Are you…in league with them?"

"Them? Who the hell is 'them'?" I asked.

"The evil demons here, like that one you mentioned. If you are, I'll have you know that the police will have you arrested in seconds."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Dude, I'm human, for one. The only demon I've ever met is black-haired and grumpy, and certainly not evil. He said he got in a fight with a fox demon named Shuuichi in a misunderstanding. Look, I just have to find Shuuichi, okay? I have to! Someone's life depends on it!" I yelled.

"So…you're spiritually aware, like me?" she asked.

"Well, I guess… I dunno. The point is, I need your freaking help!"

She nodded.

"I'm Maya Kitajima. You are?"

"Yusuke Urameshi. Get used to the name, 'cause I'm the toughest street fighter in Sariyashiki Junior High and soon to be the best fighter ever!" I explained.

She shook her head.

"Not if you have to fight demons, you won't be."

I was miffed at that. Hey, I had helped Three-Eyes when he was bleeding to death, and I could take on any wussy demon I met!

"Humph. You'll see."

She shrugged, leading me away from the blood smears. Maya didn't say anything for a while, and it started to bug me. I like noise. If she wouldn't talk, then I'd have to make some noise on my own. I whistled one of my favorite songs as we walked, trying not to think about what would happen if I was wrong and that Shuuichi had nothing to do with this. If he didn't, then Three-Eyes was probably dead. It was a fact I had to face.

We arrived at a large house in a nice neighborhood, something that looked about ten times more expensive than anything my mom could buy. A really nice car was parked in the driveway, and a beautifully grown garden was in the front. I carefully examined the ground, the grass, the car, and everything else for any signs of blood, but there was nothing. Ah well. I hadn't figured that it would be that easy anyway.

"Here we are," she announced.

I nodded.

"So, we go in, interrogate Fox-Boy, and then leave if he doesn't have Hiei?"

"Interrogate? No one is interrogating Shuuichi! He wouldn't kidnap your demon friend without a very good reason!" she exclaimed. "We ring the doorbell, ask him if he's seen Hiei, then if he doesn't, we thank him and try to get his help. What do you think you are, some kind of SWAT member?"

"Nope! No SWAT team dude, but a future detective! After all, I got this far from nothing, right?"

I laughed at my own joke, and she even chuckled at it. She was no Keiko, but she was pretty nice. But seriously…I could be a good detective. It sounded interesting, but not really me. I was a fighter, not a private eye!

We stepped up the walk to the door, and I rang the doorbell. No response for about five seconds, and I rang it again impatiently. Maya could only shake her head.

"Yes?" a redheaded boy asked, opening the door. "Oh, Maya! What are you doing here? And who is this?"

"Well, we're here to-" she started, but I cut her off.

"The hell have you done with Hiei?" I demanded.

He stared, surprised.

"Who are you?" he insisted, green eyes narrowing dangerously. "If you mean me harm, I will show no mercy!"

"Geez, man, you and your girlfriend are both so touchy! I mean, geez! I'm not some evil demon dude or whatever; I just want to find where Three-Eyes went!"

After a second, he nodded.

"I think you two should come in," he stated, opening the door wide.

"Great!" I exclaimed, ducking under his arm and stepping in, kicking off my tennis shoes. Maya followed behind, seeming more confident now that Shuuichi was close by. Maybe she had been afraid that I was some kind of psycho killer-rapist or something. Nah, never! That was weird even for me!

"Mother, I have some friends here!" he called out.

"That's wonderful, Shuuichi! Who are they? Is Maya here?"

"Yes, Mother! It's Maya and-" He stared at me.

"Yusuke."

"It's Maya and Yusuke!" he yelled.

A middle-aged woman with long, jet black hair tied back in a bun came out of the kitchen, wearing a pleasant smile. It didn't take a genius to see that she was a cheerful person by nature—the laugh lines around her eyes and mouth clearly told that. You know, I think I need to stop using that expression. 'It didn't take a genius to…' is kind of obvious, since I'm no genius and I'm noticing all this. Let's just dispense with that expression altogether, okay? Okay! Now that we've agreed on that, are there any other expressions that just need to die? I mean, I can't think of any right now. 'More than one way to skin a cat' is actually a great one, especially since Kuwabara freaks out if you use it around him. Ah, good times, good times…

"Hello there, Yusuke. It's nice to meet you," she greeted, shaking my hand. Now, that woman had a handshake like something else. This wasn't some pathetic, little old lady. She was strong for a normal mom!

"Nice to meet you too," I replied, trying to be polite.

"Hello there, Mrs. Minamino," Maya chimed, smiling at her.

"It's good to see you too, Maya."

"Great! Now that the happy introductions are done, we can start with the important stuff! Isn't that right, Shuuichi?" I said.

"Yes, that school project does need to be done. Come into the kitchen and we'll get some snacks, okay?"

I blinked, about to point out that I didn't even go to his freaking school, before a quick glance from him shut me up. Ah, yeah…cover ups. Right! Right! I'd never get anywhere in my fictitious detective career without a good cover up!

We followed him into the kitchen, his mother deciding to leave her son alone. That, I could appreciate. Ah, sweet freedom.

We sat at the table as he dished out some chips, before sitting down as well.

"What do you know about Hiei?" he asked at last.

"Well, uh, he's a three-eyed demon and he went missing a few minutes ago. You better not have taken him hostage, fox-boy! If you did, so help me god I'll rip your lungs out and feed them to you!" I exclaimed. Maybe not a detective, then. Maybe a cop. Yeah, I could be good cop and bad cop. Yup. I was just that good.

His calm expression didn't so much as waver. Either he was used to dealing with uncouth teenage punks, or he was just that kind of person. Neither of those two options sounded particularly nice to me right now. I mean, either way, he was dangerous. Still, what kind of dangerous fox demon dude wore a pink uniform? I mean, really!

"I have not seen this 'Hiei' since he attacked me two days ago," he told me.

"Yeah, and you just left him to freakin' die! If he hadn't showed up on my doorstep, he would've bled to death! Isn't that nice, buddy? You just willingly kill off a completely innocent guy!"

"Yusuke, Hiei is by no means innocent. He is famous in the demon world as a thief and killer. That, and he attempted to kill both Maya and I," Shuuichi explained.

"Yeah, well he seemed plenty fine to me, and now he's gone! Someone or something got him, and we have to find him!" I steamed, pacing around his kitchen.

"Eight-Hands!" he exclaimed.

"Wait, you know who that is too?"

"This is bad. If Eight-Hands has taken Hiei, who knows what could happen? Fine, Yusuke, I will help you. Maya, now, you don't have to-"

"I'm coming," she declared. "I'm as much a part of this as you are."

"Great. Now, c'mon, team handshake, everyone!" I called out.

Shuuichi chuckled lightly at that, before placing his hand in the middle of the group. We placed our hands on top of his, then nodded and pulled our hands back. We were going to rescue Hiei!

So, yup, it's Mayatastic fun! Who can't help but love having Maya? Yup, Sora Sotara, there. You wanted her in here, and it was so very easy to do, not to mention terribly convenient for me. Yup. Woot! So, uh, just review...Nice,happy review... Gotta love it!