Chapter 14

Thank you to everyone still reading. Really sorry for the delayed and sparse updates. Work has been killing me since January 2nd mentally but I'm finally able to take some time to continue writing. I wrote this chapter awhile ago, kinda buzzed and it looks logical to me so here it is.

Last chapter:

BEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

The communication mirror blared wildly as Yusuke pulled it from his left pants pocket. Koenma was on the other side.

"Yusuke, are you there?" Koenma asked sternly.

"Yeah diaper genie, what's up? You just interrupted Kurama's great pep talk.

"I have news regarding Enki's death"

The room stood silent in anticipation. Yusuke leaned closer to the mirror waiting for Koenma to explain what he knew. The air became cold and dense. Everyone was holding their breath.

"Enki was..." Koenma was cut off.

Static.

"Koenma? Koenma?!" Yusuke screamed at the mirror.

"Yusuke, what happened?" Kurama asked.

"He was...cut off" Yusuke muttered under his breath.

"So, detective, what does this mean?" Hiei asked annoyed.

"We find out as much as we can until Koenma can contact us again" Yusuke's head hung, still staring at the mirror, hoping Koenma would come back.

Meanwhile, in Koenma's office...

"Yusuke? Hello?" Koenma stared at the mirror waiting for an answer.

His office was full of ogres waiting to hand him paperwork but he'd obviously told them to wait. The line extended across the office and out the door into the hallway.

"Koenma, sir? What's going...?" George stopped when he saw the look of despair on Koenma's face.

"Koenma, sir, are you alright?" George asked

"No, Ogre, I'm not alright. I had some very important information to pass on to Yusuke regarding his mission and the signal for the communication mirrors was lost. I haven't been able to get it back." Koenma explained.

"If you can't talk to them why don't you monitor their progress from the TV, sir?" George asked.

"That's totally useless! They need to know this. It would cut down on their investigation time!" Koenma yelled.

He turned the TV on anyway. He could see that the group had split up. The group consisting of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Chu, and Toya was making its way to Raizen's gravesite, the last place Enki was seen alive and also where his body was found. He changed the channel and saw the other group, Kurama, Hiei, Shishiwakamaru, and Jin standing where they'd been before trying to determine their course of action.

Back in demon world...Kurama's group

"I don't give a damn what fate Enki met before this tournament. I am here to fight!" Hiei snarled.

"Don't be so ugly Hiei. You're a part of this group and the reason we're here besides the tournament is to find out what happened to Enki." Shishiwakamaru retorted sarcastically.

"That'srightthere'snopointingettingangryatuswe'rej ustheredoingwhatwe'resupposedtowhilewewaittogetbac ktothefunsodon'tbesuchastickinthemud." Jin added.

"I suggest we go back to the stadium. Maybe we'll be able to eavesdrop on Yomi and Shura to find out their plans." Kurama proposed calmly.

The group agreed and walked back into the stadium. As they entered they could see Yomi speaking to Shura at one of the lower exits. Shura's face showed a great deal of fear and Yomi seemed extremely tense. Kurama stopped the group and attempted to read Shura's lips as he was facing Kurama's direction. He could only make out small bits.

Not sure...Sorry father...what happened? I...black. He...gone...woke.

Kurama took a step back in confusion. The rest of the group took notice. Shishiwakamaru spoke first.

"What did Shura say, Kurama?" Shishi inquired.

"He...he's saying he blacked out? He's saying he doesn't know what happened." Kurama spoke confused. Was this a ploy to throw them off or was Shura actually unaware of everything that transpired?

Back at Yusuke's group...

Yusuke and his group searched around for clues near Raizen's gravesite. Nobody was able to find anything until...

"Is this...dried up blood?" Yusuke asked out loud to no one.

Yusuke had run his hand along the wall of Raizen's grave and found a red powdery substance on his hand when he picked it back up. It smelled like blood but he damn sure wasn't going to taste test it.

"It could be, where did you find that?" Kuwabara asked.

"Over here, by the worn down candles. Almost like it was a splatter from a lethal attack. But then, where is the rest of it?" Yusuke pondered harshly. Unsure if the killer would really make such a rookie error.

"It doesn't make sense that the killer would go about murdering Enki so gruesomely and not remember to clean up the entire site. Unfortunately, we're not a forensics team so there's no way to tell just WHO'S blood that is." Toya suggested.

"You're right. We need Kurama. We should reconvene with the other group and see what they've found out. We have to..."

BOOM!

Yusuke was interrupted by a large energy blast that impacted in front of them, probably a warning shot. The trajectory suggested it was shot from the air. They weren't sure if intimidation was the intention or they accidentally missed. They all scanned the air to find the shooter, but couldn't see anything. The smoke cloud caused by the explosion was so thick it was difficult to see past it. Jin saw two shadows disappear.

"OylookuptheretheyjustdisappearedI'mgoingtogethose punksforscaringuslikethatwhomakesaboomatsomeone'sf eet?!" Jin rambled angrily.

"Calm down, Jin." Yusuke ordered.

"If they wanted to hit us they probably could have. This was a warning to stop looking around. We're obviously on the right track." Yusuke suggested.

"So if they don't want us looking around why scare us instead of trying to take us out?" Kuwabara asked.

"We need to get back to the stadium. Kurama might be able to come up with something to explain what just happened. I hope he's doing alright. Suzuka's death seemed to hit him pretty hard. I hope he doesn't do anything stupid, but then again, it is Kurama. Stupid retaliation isn't his tihng." Yusuke spoke convincingly.

Yusuke and his group made their way back to the stadium. An hour had passed. They started looking for the other group and spotted Yomi and Shura in a corner, as Kurama's group had witnessed. They were sitting cross legged, meditating apparently.

"What are you two freaks of nature thinking?" Yusuke asked out loud.

"Talking to yourself, Yusuke?" Kurama asked as he approached with his group.

"It just pisses me off that they can sit there so calm after everything that's happened." Yusuke shook angrily.

"Well then this isn't going to improve your mood in any way. It seems Shura may be completely unaware of what transpired during his match." Kurama informed.

"What do you mean?" Yusuke asked confused.

"Yomi and Shura were in that same corner some time ago, Yomi seemed to be speaking sternly to Shura. I was able to pick out a few words while reading Shura's lips. He was apologizing to Yomi and said that he blacked out during his transformation." Kurama informed.

"So that little brat has no idea what happened to Suzuka?" Yusuke asked.

"No, he seems to be completely oblivious." Kurama confirmed.

"Son of a bitch. He kills a man that happens to be from a group composed of known enemies and he says he doesn't remember." Yusuke said angrily, forming his right hand into a fist and punching his left hand. He was anticipating the next match.

"I have something to tell you too, Kurama." Yusuke mentioned.

"Oh? Did you find something?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah. I found some dried up blood on Raizen's grave. And then someone shot an energy blast at our feet but we couldn't see who it was. They got away before the smoke cleared. We're still unsure if they meant to miss us or if they missed by accident." Yusuke added.

"An assassination attempt? During a tournament of this magnitude? Something is very off." Kurama lamented.

Sorry for the long wait. I wrote this chapter awhile ago. I never intended this to drag out for so long. Hopefully you're still reading and thank you in advance for the reviews.