Author's Note:Whatever I felt was missing from the last chapter, this chapter has in spades. We touch base with each character for a bit and then the story begins. I really hope you all continue to enjoy this story. As of now it has the honor of being my longest fan fiction.

Chapter 14

Had it really only been one week? Kurama stared out his window, it was Thursday morning and outside the birds were singing, welcoming the new day. The atmosphere inside the house was a different matter entirely and nobody was welcoming it. The kitsune found it hard to believe that only a week ago everything in his long life was starting to fall into place and one chance meeting had managed to throw all he held dear into chaos.

After returning from Koenma's the previous night, now fully armed with the information he had acquired from Botan, Kurama had informed his mother of his plans for this weekend.

Naturally, he had not been able to tell her the truth, that would be a far more difficult conversation. One that he hoped would never have to transpire. Still the watered down lie hadn't left his conscious feeling much cleaner.

Shiori was pleased that so many collages seemed to be taking an interest in her Shuichi, but felt terrible that she had not known about his trip to visit one until the night before he was supposed to leave. Shuichi had apologized profusely for not mentioning it sooner, but explained that he didn't think he'd be considered and had only just found out that he was invited that day at school. This also explained why he had been late coming home after school.

Kurama hated lying to his mother, hated making up stories to deceive her when she had spent so much of her life protecting and caring for him. It seemed to him a most ungracious way to thank her and his personal honor suffered greatly from it.

Still his demon side naturally looked toward the outcome of a group of actions, rather than the consequences of individual ones. Being able to discover the truth was his top priority, all other things could be dealt with or mended afterwards. At least, he hoped this was true.

Hiei did not accompany him to school that day. Kurama felt great sorrow at this, but it had been expected. The truth was, Kurama was ashamed of how he'd been treating Hiei lately. When he had begun his relationship with the yokai he'd known it would take a lot of time and work before Hiei would learn to be open and trusting with him. At the time Kurama had assured himself that he was up to the task of dedicating as much time as it took to make this work. The events of the past week however were proving otherwise.

He knew he loved the little fire demon, there was no question in his mind about that, but at the same time this business with the ookami could not be ignored. Hiei seemed to resist strongly to him devoting any energy at all to anything having to do with the ookami.

Still Kurama could not fault him. With as withdrawn as Hiei had been when Kurama had first begun having feelings for him, it was evident that the yokai had never known what it was to love or be loved. Kurama's first attempts at being close to Hiei had been exceedingly difficult for them both, but over time Hiei had gradually begun to accept them as part of a relationship.

Now, Hiei was seeing another side to his fox, a side that longed for something that Hiei couldn't understand. It was no wonder he was confused and angry, and Kurama had done nothing to qualm his fears. If anything he had only given the yokai more reason to worry.

Arriving at the school, Kurama passed right by his homeroom and made his way directly to the office. There he explained about his school visit that had come through at the last minute and how he would need to leave immediately if he was to make his train. The administration was surprisingly receptive to him and the fake letter he had brought along from the collage he was supposedly visiting. He had received numerous real letters in the past, so his forgery was perfectly refined.

Classes would be beginning soon, but Kurama was unconcerned. He had only one last stop before he left, the office of Mr. Kitanaka.

"Shuichi, it's good to see you again, I didn't expect you until this afternoon," Kitanaka greeted warmly as the red-head entered the classroom.

"Actually Mr. Kitanaka I'm afraid something has come up and I won't be able to attend any further sessions," Kurama said smoothly, "Please let Kahli know I'm deeply sorry."

"Well this is unfortunate," Kitanaka frowned.

"I apologize for giving such short notice, I hope you will be able to assign Kahli another partner," Kurama said sincerely.

"Miss Akita came by yesterday and informed me that due to personal reasons she would be dropping out of the competition," Kitanaka began, "Now today you are also resigning. Is there something I should know?"

"Kahli came by yesterday?"

"Yes, she left her notes for you to use, but said she couldn't be part of the assignment any longer."

"I see," Kurama hesitated for a moment, but refused to let his resolve waiver, "As I said I am very sorry."

"Shuichi, wait a moment please."

"Yes sir?"

"Please be honest with me, is there something between you and the Akita girl? I'd hate to see you both drop out of this project over some petty argument. I could always give you both different partners if that were the issue."

Kurama sighed slightly, but forced a smile, "No sir, I'm afraid it is merely a personal issue that prevents me from attending, as I said."

Kitanaka looked him over carefully as if his untrained human eyes could possibly detect the lies Kurama easily fed to him. The fox had no worries and with a dismissive nod Kitanaka merely remarked, "very well then," before letting Kurama go.

With a last glance back as the school bell sounded Kurama made his way toward the train station.

Hiei felt listless all day. He had sought refuge as deep in the forest as he cared to go and spent the majority of the day stretched out on a tree limb scowling at his own thoughts.

He wished he could figure out why Kurama was behaving so irrationally. One of the deciding factors in his involvement with the fox had been that he had felt Kurama was someone he could understand. Being somewhat of a bandit himself, Hiei had no reservations about being associated with someone with a less than pristine past.

Naturally had been attracted to the red-head, he had tried to mask it as merely a respect for the fox's proficiency, but when he was alone at night he had felt a yearning to be closer to Kurama. The yearning burned inside him and troubled him greatly as he could not explain what is was. He tried his best to ignore the longing, until the day the fox had come to him with a very interesting proposal that had changed everything between them.

Hiei envied how easily Kurama could put his arms around him, the way the fox could tell him he loved him without a moments hesitation. Initially he had been concerned that it was some elaborate trap, but Kurama's patience with him had never faltered, until recently.

Mulling over the events of the previous week, Hiei tried to find where things had gone wrong. Of course the easy answer was that it had all started with the ookami. The yokai felt his temper flair at the thought of the girl who had so artfully drawn his fox from his side.

It was far easier to blame the girl, but Hiei knew it had been foolish of him to do so when he'd seen her yesterday. It had served no purpose save to make him look paranoid. He gritted his teeth angrily and stood up on the branch. He leapt skillfully to the next closest tree then another, making his way out of the forest.

Once he reached the park he had calmed a bit and leapt down to walk along the path that would lead him to the sidewalk. Upon reaching the sidewalk he decided that he had nothing better to do so he might as well go and wait for Kurama outside of the ningen school.

The final bell rang for the day and Kahli quickly gathered her things and scampered for the door. Sadly the teacher noticed and called out to her.

"Kahli, please stay behind a minute," Kitanaka said without even looking up from the papers he was grading.

Kahli's face fell immediately and she sighed as she wheeled around back towards the instructors desk. She stood tentatively in front of it and waited for him to acknowledge her. The rest of the class filtered from the room.

"Sir?" She asked finally.

"Kahli, I had an interesting visit this morning with Shuichi Minamino," Mr. Kitanaka said looking up at her carefully as his hands folded themselves on top of his desk.

"I see," Kahli said dully.

"I suppose you already know he came to tell me he was dropping out of the program."

"No sir, I was not aware of his intention to do so."

"Is there more going on here than what we discussed yesterday? I would appreciate an honest answer," he displayed his best authoritative look as he waited for her answer.

"No sir, I needed to take a part-time job after school and can no longer devote the required time to the project," Kahli replied, "I felt it would be best to let you know early so Shuichi could be reassigned, but I see that will no longer be necessary."

"Is that all?"

"Yes sir, I really should be going."

Kitanaka nodded and Kahli turned quickly for the door. She had not expected Yoko to back out of the project as well. That had been one of the reasons she had been in such a hurry to leave today, but perhaps it was for the best. She had nearly made it to the exit when a girl from her history class called out to her.

"Kahli, there you are!" Pausing Kahli rolled her eyes inwardly. It wasn't that she disliked people, but they were unable to understand how stressful it was to be in human form all day. After a day of school she wanted nothing more than to return to her den and change back, anything that prolonged this release could only be seen as an unwelcome interference.

"Akane, was there something you needed?" Kahli asked, she was still working on communicating in a friendly manner. Ookami were much more direct than humans in expressing their opinions and it had taken her quite sometime to learn to be polite to those she considered an inconvenience.

"Is it true? About you and Shuichi?" The dark-haired girl blushed and two other girls whom Kahli did not know quickly fell in beside her as if waiting for an answer. Unfortunately Kahli wasn't sure if there had been a question.

"Excuse me?" The wolf raised an eyebrow at the shorter girl, which for some reason caused all three girls to erupt in a fit of giggles.

"Your secret is out, the whole school is talking about you and Shuichi Minamino getting together," Akane said, she looked as though she might burst at the seams from excitement.

Kahli's face turned red, "What did you just say?"

"Don't try to deny it, I heard about the note he passed you at lunch the other day, then everyone saw you guys arguing, and now you've both dropped out of Kitanaka's program. It has to be a cover up," the girl to the right of Akane said matter-of-factly.

"I can't believe the two of you managed to keep it a secret this long, no wonder Shuichi is always turning everyone down, he already has a girlfriend," Akane said bouncing.

"I'm afraid there has been a rather large misunderstanding," Kahli felt as though she would be sick.

"You really should wait until you've both finished school, eloping seems rather rash, don't you think?" the girl on the left asked.

"Eloping? Who said anything about eloping?" Kahli's head was spinning.

"Well isn't that why Shuichi had to leave school this morning?" Akane asked, all three girls leaned forward awaiting her response.

Kahli took a deep breath, reminding herself that they were only human and her only choice was to remain calm no matter how idiotic they were.

"I don't know where any of you got this information, but I assure you that it is false, there is not now nor has there ever been anything going on between Shuichi and myself, I would appreciate it if you would let others of your ilk know this as well," Kahli finished and quickly turned to leave before they could lob anymore questions at her.

"Do you think she's telling the truth?" Akane asked hopefully as the brunette retreated.

"You just want him for yourself," the girl on the right teased.

Kahli paused a moment to take in some much needed fresh air as she exited the school building. Glancing around quickly she noticed several other students eying her suspiciously and felt her blood boil once more. She was going to kill Yoko for this.

Hiei's eyes narrowed as he spotted the wolf mixed in with the crowd of students leaving the building. She seemed in an unusual hurry and bumped into a boy nearly knocking him over. She mumbled something to him without stopping and headed towards the park. Once she was safely out of view Hiei crossed his arms and leaned back against the tree to continue waiting for Kurama.

Eventually the throngs of students dwindled down to none. Then the teachers slowly filtered their way out, juggling briefcases and folders. After several hours Hiei realized the building was empty. He found it impossible that he had missed the fox leaving, and even if he had surely Kurama would have come over to him. He was standing in his usual place.

A brief moment of concern choked the fire demon, and he quickly set off for the fox's home. He noticed Shiori's car in the driveway, so he reasoned that Kurama should also be home. Landing softly on the tree outside Kurama's window he reached for the latch only to find that an envelop had been taped to the outside of the windowsill.

Hiei's concern grew as he reached out and snatched the envelope before darting away to a more secluded area. Once he was safely situated behind the houses he tore into the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

Hiei,

Let me start by saying that I am deeply sorry for the trouble I have caused you. I know this is difficult for you to understand, but I must discover what I have lost. The only way to do so is to travel to Rukonagai and seek the answers there. Please do not tell Yusuke or Kuwabara where I have gone, I'd hate to drag them into this mess, as I have already done to you.

Please understand that none of this compromises even one ounce of the feelings that I have for you. I know you are upset with me right now, but I swear that once I am home again I will do whatever it takes to make this up to you.

Though I know that I have no right to ask a favor of you I'm afraid that due to the uncertainty of my mission I have no choice. If for any reason something prevents me from returning to this world please look after my mother. She is a good woman and deserves far better than I have provided her. Watch over her as you do Yukina and I will rest easier knowing she is safe.

I love you sweetheart, please take care of yourself as well, until my return.

Kurama

"Baka," Hiei breathed, he quickly folded the letter and shoved it into his pocket and darted off quickly. A car horn blared as he raced across a street, but he paid it no mind. He had to find Kurama as quickly as possible and put an end to the fox's foolishness.

He had no way of contacting Spirit World without the detective and leaving the human boys out of this matter was the only part of Kurama's letter that Hiei could agree with at this point. That left only one option, only one person who knew where Kurama was going, and Hiei knew exactly where to find her.

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