Kaori- I am sooo sorry this took so long. My computer is kinda picky, and I forgot most times. Please forgive me! Anywho, I obviously don't own this, so read and review.
P.s./ means telepathy/
Chapter 12Everyone sat around the main room in Genkai's temple in silence. Jin and Yusuke were still unconscious from their faints and Kuwabara was rendered unconscious by Kyo for his comment on how hot she looked. No one knew what to say to end the eerie silence, so it continued. Thankfully, Koenma came walking in. He looked at all the faces staring blankly back at him, stopping at Kaori and Kyome.
"You two are in your demon forms?" he asked shocked.
"Yes," Kaori said.
"Why?" Koenma asked. "Don't you know it will be easier for Lekku to track you down?"
"Well, we didn't before, but who cares? He already knows we're here," Kyo said, polishing her scythe. "We're only like this because he attacked us and we needed to defend ourselves."
Koenma opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he saw Yusuke. "What is my Spirit Detective doing unconscious on the floor?" he asked tentatively.
"He fainted," Kyo said, looking over at her brother.
"And Jin?" Koenma asked.
"Ditto," Kaori said, poking Jin's lifeless form.
"I guess the same goes for Kuwabara," Koenma guessed.
"Nah. Kyo knocked him out for saying she was hot," Kaori said, still poking Jin.
"Riiight," Koenma said, sweatdropping. "Well, whenever Yusuke wakes up, tell him I want you all to get ready to move out. Spirit World has tracked down Lekku's lair, but you must move quickly. We have to catch this madman before he sends more of his minions to get you two." With that, Koenma turned and walked out the door the same way he entered.
"That was an interesting visit," Kayko said.
"I'm bored, and I'm starting to get a cramp in my right wing," Kyo complained, rubbing it. "Can we please do something?"
"NO!" Yusuke said sitting up and scaring almost everybody. Kyo screamed and flew up in the air. Kaori screamed, but fell back and took out Kurama. Kayko and Yukina just screamed, and Hiei and Genkai sat looking at them.
"She better not make a hole in my ceiling," Genkai muttered.
"Wha did ya do tha' for?" Kaori screamed, finally sitting up off of Kurama and getting over her initial shock. Yusuke started laughing at her. "It weren't funny!"
"I beg ta differ," Jin said, sitting up. Kyo, who had just gotten down, screamed and flew right back up. Kaori fell back onto Kurama again.
"Stop doin' tha'!" she yelled, sitting up once again. "Wha' are ya tryin' ta do? Gimme a heart attack?"
"Gimme a good reason, lassie!" Jin retaliated. "All ya been doin' is getting' me all worried like an' makin' me heart get all fast and rushin'."
"Well I be terribly sorry tha' ya worry sa much!" Kaori yelled. "But there don' be no need to scare th' lot o' us out o' our minds!"
"Don' ya raise ya voice a' me!"
"An' why not?"
"SHUT UP!" Kyo screamed. Everyone looked up at her hovering above. "We do have a mission to complete here!"
We? everyone thought.
"Can we all just stop the bickering until this Luke guy is dead?" she asked. Kaori and Jin nodded. "Good."
"You do know his name is Lekku, right?" Hiei asked.
"Who's that?" Kyo asked. Everyone did an anime fall. "What? Who is he? I don't know of any Lekkus. Is he famous?"
--------------- Scene Change -----------
The gang was once again walking through the woods of Makai. Jin had to stay behind and "help Genaki" with some things so he wouldn't worry and Kaori could get away. This time, they almost knew where they were going.
"Are we lost?" Kaori asked Yusuke for the umpteenth time.
"No, we're not lost," he said, getting aggravated while looking at Koenma's map.
"Then how come this is the third time we've passed my gum wrapper?" Kyo asked sweetly. Yusuke just glared at her.
"I still don't know why you're even here," he grumbled.
"So you know where me and Kaori are and so I can read the map," Kyo said, snatching it out of his hand. She stared blankly at it for a few seconds before handing it to Kurama. "Yep, I did my civic duty for today." Yusuke's eye twitched.
"That was pointless," he said.
"Thanks for noticing," Kyo grinned at him.
"Kyome, can you fly up and tell me what you see?" Kurama said. Kyo saluted and flew straight up into the trees.
"There's a big balancing rock to the west and a lot of water to the south!" she called down. "The woods began a little over two miles ago."
"Then we're about here," Kurama said. He pointed to a spot about ten miles from where they were going.
"Man, that was fast," Kuwabara said. "I wish I could read a map that quickly." Kyo landed next to Hiei.
"You wish you could read anything," Hiei mumbled, causing Kyo to snicker. Kuwabara sent him a glare and got a smirk in return.
"I got a question!" Kaori said, hopping up and down and waving her arm.
"What?" Botan asked. Everyone jumped.
"Why do you keep sneaking up on us?" Yusuke yelled.
"Hey, that wasn't my question," Kaori said. Everyone stared at her and waited in silence. "What?"
"What was your question?" Kyo asked.
"I forgot now!" she whined. "Why does this always happen? Interruptions always ruin my train of thought."
"Funny, I didn't know you thought," Kyo laughed. Kaori just glared at her.
"Anyway, Botan. Why are you here?" Yusuke asked. She stood thinking for a while. Then, she shrugged, causing him to do an anime fall.
"Koenma told me to tag along," she said. "Something about so the red-head won't worry or something." Kaori rolled her eyes.
"Stupid over-protective brother," she mumbled.
"Perhaps we should take a break, since it's like nine thirty or something," Kurama said. "We can get there in the morning." Everyone agreed and sat around in the clearing. Kuwabara complained about the cold, thus making the only noise.
"Hey, Kyo," Yusuke asked. "Did you ever meet our dad?"
"Nah," she said, playing with her sickle-thing (I forgot what it's called. I'm soooo sorry). "My mom said that she came to the human world once and met him. They had fallen in love, but after she got pregnant, he disappeared. Did you?"
"Unfortunately," Yusuke said, looking at the stars. "The jerk left when I was about a year old. I don't even remember what he looks like."
"That's too bad," Kyo said.
"Can we get off memory lane?" Kuwabara complained. "All these sad thoughts aren't getting us any closer to solving this case or any warmer."
The group sat in silence for a good thirty seconds. "I can't do this!" Kyo suddenly yelled, jumping up.
"What! What's wrong?" Kaori asked.
"What's wrong?" Kyo repeated. "I'm being hunted down, I'm wearing a DRESS, and I'm BORED! I gotta do something before I go crazy and hit somebody!" She started pacing back and forth, trying to think of something to do.
"You could always hit Kuwabara," Hiei offered. Kuwabara jumped back.
"Or you could go off and make out with Hiei," Kuwabara offered too. Surprisingly, Yusuke was the first one to hit him.
"Just SHUT UP!" he yelled. Kuwabara looked up at him from the ground shocked. "I'm TIRED and I ain't in the mood to deal with all of your CRAP! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" He stormed off a few yards to the edge of their clearing and sat with his back to them.
Everyone was silent for a long time. Kyo started to twitch. Badly. Kaori noticed this and slid away from her. "What's with her?" Botan whispered to her.
"She hates being bored," Kaori whispered back. "And the silence. I hate it almost as much as being surrounded by a crowd of people." Kaori stood up and walked away. Botan looked confused.
"It's a kitsune thing," Kurama assured her. Botan merely nodded. Kaori sat next to Yusuke.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey," he answered.
"Are you mad at us?"
"Not really. It's just…we've been through a lot in the past few days. It's pretty stressful." Everyone sat in silence again.
"Then there's only one thing to do," Kaori said standing. "Where's the whiskey?"
"What?" Botan and Kuwabara asked.
"Kaori, not everyone drinks," Kyo said.
"I didn't know you were an alcoholic," Kurama said.
"I'm not," she said. "I'm Irish. Sure, I don't really drink a lot. But in these drastic times, we can't have depression in the group. There's gotta be something. Whiskey, rum, gin, even scotch."
"We're too young to drink!" Kuwabara protested.
"Seriously? There's an age limit?" Kaori asked, shocked by what she was hearing. "What's with you humans? Is playing a fiddle illegal too?"
"Besides, no one brought anything," Yusuke said.
"Man, I almost wish Jin was here," Kaori said. "Oh, well." She climbed up the nearest tree. "G'night everyone!"
"How can we sleep when it's freezing out here?" Kuwabara whined again. Kaori started a fire right in the middle of the clearing. "Thank you!"
"Good night," Kaori said. A series of good nights, grunts, and one hn followed. Kurama sat against the tree Kaori was in, with Kuwabara sitting across the fire from him. Yusuke came back and sat next to Kuwabara, staring at the fire. Kyo and Hiei were side by side near Yusuke.
------
About two hours later, the fire went out. "HEY!" Kuwabara yelled up.
"She's asleep, baka," Hiei snapped.
"Oh," Kuwabara said. The two of them were the only ones still awake. Kurama and Yusuke were sitting against trees and Kyo was laying on Hiei. Kaori was sleeping up in her tree. Kuwabara stood and said in a happy tone, "Good night, short stuff."
"Good night, stupid oaf," Hiei replied in an equally happy but false tone. Kuwabara walked a few feet and lay down by another tree to get some sleep, facing away from the group. Hiei stayed in his spot holding the sleeping Kyo.
"You know, nothing's going to happen to her if you go to sleep," Kurama's voice said after a few minutes.
"Hn," Hiei said. Kurama chuckled. "And what is so amusing, fox?"
"It's just that you've never been so worried about anyone else before," he said, looking up at him. /Well, except for Yukina./
/What's your point/
/Oh, nothing./ Kurama couldn't help but smile. Suddenly, Kyo screamed, waking up. Kaori jumped and fell out the tree. Kurama caught her bridal style before she hit the ground.
"What's going on?" Kaori asked, being thefirst one to wake up. Kurama put her down as she looked around for some action. "What happened?"
"What is it, Kyome?" Hiei asked. She looked up into his eyes, almost surprised he was really there. "Kyome?"
"I-I had this dream," she said, looking spooked. "W-we got t-taken away. It was horrible. And then,…" She sat numbly, not finishing the rest.
"Then what?" Kaori asked. "What happened! Tell me! I wanna know!" (A/N: I do this to 'Kyo' all the time. )
"Hey, hey, hey!" Yusuke said, waking up. "What are you guys doing? Can't a guy get some sleep without people having a fit!"
"Just relax, Yusuke!" Kaori said. "Kyo had a crazy dream and something happened and freaked her out. We were trying to find out what that was." This argument woke up Kuwabara.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Kyo had a nightmare," Hiei said, quick and to the point.
"We were all here," Kyo began to explain slowly. "And some guys came and took us away. You came to save us, but…you died."
"We all died?" Kuwabara asked. Kyo shook her head. "Well, that's a relief."
"Then who died?" Kaori asked.
Kyo looked at her sadly, then looked over and met Kurama's gaze. "Kurama died," she answered. His eyes widened slightly and there was a long moment of silence.
"Why are we freaking out over a dream?" Yusuke asked. "It was a nightmare, that's it. Nothing's gonna happen to fox boy cause he's the smartest one out of all of us. Just relax."
"Yeah, nothing's gonna happen to him," Kaori said, trying to calm herself down, as well as Kyo. "You probably let your imagination roam too far."
"Exactly. Now, let's all just go back to-" Yusuke was interrupted by and explosion right in the center of the group. They all were throw backwards by the force, and a huge cloud of dust filled the air.
"Is everyone ok?" Kuwabara asked as the smoke settled. Yusuke nodded. "Where are the girls?" They all began to look around frantically.
"Kyo?" Yusuke called. "Where are you?"
"Kaori!" Kurama yelled. A shriek rang out from above.
"KYO!" Hiei yelled, recognizing the voice. A heavy cloud came down, making them all cough. It burned into their throats, lungs, and stung their eyes.
"What is this stuff?" Kuwabara gasped, falling to his knees.
"K-Kaori," Kurama whispered, losing consciousness.
"N-no," Hiei gagged, succumbing to the darkness.
-- End chapter! --All- NOOOO!
Kaori- I know you all hate me for the cliffie, but I wanted to get the kidnapping in this chapter. Next time, we meet the bad guy and the rescue mission begins!
Kyo- it doesn't finish?
Kaori- …I dunno yet. I haven't decided. All I know is that this is almost over! I'm so proud of myself!
Kurama- why do I have to die?
Kaori- I didn't say you would, though it would be really dramatic…. And plus, I couldn't think of a way to kill Hiei-
Hiei- WHY ME?
Kyo- WHY HIM?
Kuwabara- WHY NOT HIM?
Kaori- I don't know! Just wait for the update and leave a review. You guys have been a good inspiration, so keep 'em coming! Oh, and I'm not trying to make it seem like all Irish people drink, but they sure know how to party! Yay, Ireland!
- End
