Chapter 52: Unexpected Kidnapping

Fay stretched her arms over her head, feeling glad that the school day was finally over. 'Now I won't have to deal with this until after the New Year.' Hopefully by then they'd have forgotten about it. Everyone had treated her like some fragile vase. Even the principal had stopped by to check on how she was doing. She'd had to clamp her mouth shut to keep from telling him to shove it where it hurts.

"I see you managed to escape your new fan club." Yusuke said as he caught up with her.

"No thanks to you." She grumbled.

"Don't look at me; I'm not the one who came up with that stupid excuse."

'Stupid is right.' Fay thought.

"I'll see you guys next year, bye." Kuwabara waved goodbye to his friends and hurried to catch up to them.

"Hey, where's Keiko?" he asked, noticing she was missing.

"She said she had to attend some last minute council meeting." Fay explained.

"Shouldn't we wait for her then?" Kuwabara asked.

"What for? Who knows how long that dumb meeting's going to go." Yusuke said.

"But what about the factions?"

"Unless they have a death wish, I doubt any of them will go after anyone but Fay anymore." Yusuke answered.

Even as he said this, Fay noticed him looking over his shoulder at the school building.

"We could wait for her, you know." She offered.

"She's the one who told us not to wait, so drop it already!" Yusuke stomped away.

"Maybe they had a fight?" Fay thought out loud. She wasn't sure when that could have happened though; she'd been there when Keiko had told them about the meeting.

"I don't think that's it,' Kuwabara said. "If I know Yusuke, he's probably worried and trying to pretend he isn't."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

The two joined him at the gate, Fay looking around for Kurama. "He's not here yet."

"He's probably still at his school working on some last minute experiment." Yusuke muttered.

"In that case let's go meet him there,' Fay looked one way then another. "Which way is his school?"

'Might as well.' Yusuke thought. Kurama's school was closer to the train station anyway. He gestured. "Down that way, oh and before I forget,'

Fay looked back at him. "Yeah?'

"When we're around normal people, remember to call him Shuichi."

"Shuichi?" Fay asked.

"That's uh…his human name." On second thought... that might not have been the best way to phrase it.

"Oh, you mean he uses Kurama to hide his real name from the demons?" Fay asked.

"Uhh…yeah,' that would work. "Something like that."

Fay headed down the street. "Sounds like a good idea, too bad I couldn't do that in the beginning."

"Hey, Urameshi." Kuwabara leaned closer to Yusuke, whispering. "I can walk Fay to Kurama's school if you want, and you can stay to wait for Keiko."

"Nah, I told you she'll be fine." Yusuke placed his hands behind his head. "The one we have to worry about is Fay. If she gets kidnapped on my watch again, I'm going to start looking like a sissy."

"If you say so." Kuwabara replied, sounding uncertain.

"Yeah, I say so. Come on, if she goes any faster we'll end up losing her again."


"Shuichi!" Kurama came to a halt, looking back at the three girls in uniform who came towards him.

"Hello, is there something I may I help you?" he asked politely.

"We were just wondering,' a black hair one and the apparent leader of the group spoke. "If you'd like to come with us to a Christmas party this Saturday."

He smiled gently. "I am afraid I must decline. I already have plans for the holidays."

The girls let out a disappointed sighs. "Well, I could give you my number, and if your plans change you could always-"

"Shuichi!"

The girl's words were interrupted by a voice Kurama would know anywhere. Before he could turn to greet her, Fay wrapped her arms around his waist, smiling as she peeked at him on his left side.

"You were taking too long so we decided to come pick you up." She informed him with a smile.

Kurama felt a little startled, not that they had decided to meet him here, but that she had hugged him of her own accord. True, Fay had done so before, but only rather spontaneously, even surprising herself at times. He quickly hid his surprise, smiling warmly down at her.

"I apologize; one of my lectures ran longer than usual."

"That's okay."

It was only when a brown hair girl spoke that Fay deigned to notice the group of girls.

"Shuichi…is she a friend of yours?" the girl's voice sounded uncertain and hopeful.

His placid smile returned. "Yes, Fay is also-"

"I'm his girlfriend." Fay announced, her grip on his waist tightening the slightest, her words surprising him once more.

The group of girls looked to him for confirmation.

He nodded. "Yes." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, wondering exactly why she was acting this way. She couldn't possibly be jealous…could she?

"Oh,' a third girl said, her pleasant words sounding choked and forced. "Since when?"

"We met on my trip to the states." He informed them.

"So were you moving to Japan before you met Shuichi?" a new girl asked.

Kurama finally noticed that they were attraction more attention than he liked, mostly from the female student body.

"Uh…I guess you could say that." Fay answered. It was as close to the truth as it came, even if it wasn't precisely it.

"That sounds very romantic." The girl's words still sounded forced.

"You guys done over there!"

The couple, and the rest of the girls, glanced over to the two tall boys waiting by the gate.

"Isn't that uniform from Sarayashi jr. high?" One of the girls asked.

The rest turned to study Fay. "You're wearing their uniform too." It almost sounded like an accusation.

"Yeah, I transferred there." She'd never been amidst a group of angry bears, but she was pretty sure this is how it felt. Well they could just keep growling! She was not giving up Kurama!

"I heard that its run by a gang lead by a really scary guy named Yusuke Urameshi."

Fay couldn't help the snort of laughter. "Please, Yusuke's only scary when...well; actually, he's never been scary to me." She pointed. "And that's him over there, the black hair one."

The girls seemed to step back in horror, then look as one at Kurama. "He's…he's…your friend, Shuichi?" when he nodded, the girls looked taken aback, though they tried to hide it.

"I…I guess he…he…ca…can't be as bad as the rumors say." One of them stuttered out.

"Rumors are often over exaggerated and incorrect." Kurama sounded just the slightest chiding.

"I…I guess so." Another girl said.

"Are we going to have to wait any longer?" Yusuke called out to them. "We're going to miss the train."

"If you will excuse me ladies." Kurama took a hold of Fay's hand and led her through the throng of girls to the two waiting youths.

Fay looked over her shoulder, smiling at the group of glaring girls and waved.

She was probably digging her own grave, but it wasn't as if she was going to be seeing these girls anytime soon, and even if she did, as if they could take her.

"About time,' Yusuke complained. "I thought you were starting a convention back there."

"Sorry." Kurama's apology came out distracted, most of his attention on Fay.

"You were jealous?" he asked.

Fay couldn't help the blush, even though she really tried. "Well, what else was I supposed to feel when there's a bunch of, obviously infatuated girls, surrounding you?"

Until now, Fay hadn't had any reason to believe she'd have competition for Kurama's affection. Stupid, but there it was.

After all, the girls she hung out with only saw Kurama as a friend, so there'd never been any reason for Fay to feel jealous. But seeing those girls… Fay realized that she wasn't the only girl who wanted Kurama to look only at them.

It made her feel jealous, uncertain, and a little scared. A lot of those girls were really pretty, much prettier than her, not to mention probably had a lot more in common with Kurama than she did. And were probably more refined as well.

She had the strongest urge to hug Kurama tightly and convince him that she was the one who loved him the most in all of the universes (how corny was that!) so he should only ever look at her.

In the end, it was Kurama who hugged her, reassuring her. "There is no reason for your jealousy; the only girl I will ever love is you." The fact that he was not the only one who suffered jealousy calmed him.

Yusuke's eye twitched. 'Do they have to get into this conversation right now?' Some of those girls were still following them, trying to be covert about it. A blind and death guy could tell they were there.

"Me too,' he heard Fay say, making him wish they'd waited for Kurama at their school. "I'll only ever love you."

Were those wails and sniffles he heard behind them? 'At least Jin and Kuronue aren't here.' They'd probably do something worse than those girls.

"Hey Urameshi,' Kuwabara whispered. "Do you think they know we're being followed by those girls?"

Before he could answer, Kurama spoke. "Let's go, the train will arrive soon."

'Bout time.' Yusuke thought.


'I guess that's it until after New Year's.' Keiko put the last of the notes into her bag. She closed her bag, pausing momentarily to look out the window. 'It looks like rain, I better hurry up.' She picked up her bag and headed out when she heard the sound of something dropping. Looking back, Keiko noticed the bracelet on the ground.

'How did this get here?' Keiko picked up the bracelet she knew belonged to Fay.

'Fay will be really worried if she can't find this. I better hurry up and return it to her.' She stood and headed out, waving goodbye to some of the council members and the last remaining teachers she encountered in the corridors.

Her cell phone rang as she approached the train station. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hello, Yusuke. Yeah I'm fine; the meeting just went on a little longer than expected."

A pause. "I'm at the train station already, with enough time to catch the train back. I should be there in half an hour, so I'll see you then." She stepped aside as a tall man in a dark brown coat walked past her.

"Yeah, that would be nice." She noticed a black box fall away from the man.

"I won't, promise. I'll be there soon, gotta go."

After Yusuke said goodbye, Keiko hurried to pick up the box and run after the man. "Excuse me?"

He paused. "Yes?"

Keiko held out the box. "You dropped this back there."

He finally turned to look at her, making Keiko involuntarily catch her breath.

"And has been delivered into your hands, where it belongs." Azrael stepped closer to Keiko, brushing her cheek. "I have finally found you, Kathleen."

"No!" Keiko shoved him away from her, dropping the box she now understood contained the jewelry.

"I'm not her!" She whirled around and ran but he quickly caught up, wrapping an arm around her waist and lifting her up.

"Let go!" she demanded, trying to slap him, but her position made it impossible.

"You will remember me soon enough Kathleen,' he whispered gently. "Then everything will be as it should have."

"No! Let go! Yusuke!" Keiko shouted, struggling against him.

'Why isn't anyone helping?' She could see people passing by, but it was as if they couldn't see the two.

"Help!" Keiko shouted.

There was a swoosh from behind her as enormous white wings spread out from Azrael's back.

"Yusuke!" Keiko screamed once more.

It wasn't Yusuke who responded, but a blur of black that struck out with his katana at Azrael.

The angel dodged back, not letting his grip on Keiko slip.

"This is none of your business, demon." Azrael warned Hiei. "Now leave."

Hiei scoffed. "It may not be my job to keep her safe, but if I don't, I'll have to hear the detective's loud complaints in my ears."

'Hiei.' Keiko didn't know why he was here, but she was very glad to see him.

"I'll give you only one warning,' Hiei pointed his katana at the angel. "Let her go and leave now, or I won't hesitate to kill you."

Feathers began to drift around them. Remembering the last time this had happened, Hiei charged.

"I will leave, but I won't leave Kathleen behind."

"I'm not Kathleen!" Keiko shouted. "Yusuke!"

The feathers drifting around them attacked Hiei, slowing him down so that he was unable to get to the two before they disappeared.

'Damn!' The feathers disappeared the moment Azrael did.

Hiei picked up the bag Keiko had dropped. 'They were never after Fay, they were after Keiko.'


"Look at this place." Fay stopped at the top of the stairs leading to the temple, looking at the Christmas decorations that had been set up.

Colored lights ran across the edges of the roof, changing color and adding a cheery glow to the fallen snow.

"Guess they decided to decorate while we were at school." Yusuke mumbled. At least he hadn't had to help with this, and he already knew who'd probably bullied the rest of the guys into it.

"Come on, I want to see if they've set up the tree." Fay ran inside, the three boys following a little more slowly.

"We're back!" she called as they entered the living room.

The girls and Rinku were finishing up decorating the tall Christmas tree. Rinku was using Chu's shoulders as a step ladder to set the star at the top of the tree while Puu circled around them.

"Yukina, my love. I'm back!" Kuwabara exclaimed running over to her. "Did you miss me?"

"Yes, and welcome back Kazuma. How was your day?" Yukina asked sweetly.

While Kuwabara tried to amaze Yukina with what he did in school, Botan greeted the rest of them. "Welcome back. I hope you don't mind that we started decorating without you guys, but I thought it'd be a nice activity for us to do." Mostly so the boys, who couldn't train that day, didn't go stir crazy.

"Hold on…where's Keiko?" she asked, noticing the girl was missing.

"She stayed back at some stupid council meeting, but she should get here soon. Good job on the tree." Yusuke left the living room, reaching for the cell phone in his pocket.

"I'm done with the star." Rinku jumped off Chu's shoulders and looked up at his handy work. "You were right, Botan. This was fun."

Botan grinned. "I told you it would."

'At least it was fun for them' Shishi silently muttered, stacking the last of the empty boxes. He'd been stuck putting up the decorations outside and had almost slipped off the roof a couple times. Not that he couldn't have caught himself easily, but it still felt like grunt work.

"So did Jin and Touya pass their test?" Kuwabara asked, finally done listing his school activities to Yukina.

"Of course they did." Nina answered. "It did take them a while but they managed it. Isn't that right, Isis?" The Shaman looked over at the Magus; the only one of the girl's who wasn't helping with the last of the decorations. Instead she was sipping hot chocolate at a table.

"They did fine." She answered, shooting Nina a glare.

Isis stood, setting her empty cup down. "Well, since this is over, I'm leaving. I'm getting all weirded out with this whole 'Christmas in July' scene."

"We'll expect you tomorrow at the same time." Genkai reminded her.

Isis had to struggle to keep a whine from escaping her throat. "Okay, okay, jeez you don't let anything go." She lazily waved a goodbye at the others and headed for the door.

"Isis, could you please wait."

Isis glanced over her shoulder at Yukina. "Wait?"

Yukina nodded, heading out of the room. "I have something I want to give you."

"Sure you don't want to stay?" Botan asked the Magus. "As soon as Keiko gets here we'll be doing Secret Santa."

Isis stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. If I don't check in with dearest mother,' her tone on the word was sarcastic. "She'll come looking for me." And she wanted to go home and be lazy for a while, not proactive. The word sent shivers of dislike down her back.

"If you're sure…" Botan trailed off.

Isis nodded.

"Where's Hiei?" Fay asked looking around the room for him. "Didn't he help with the decorations?"

"He disappeared shortly after all of you left." Kuronue said, walking into the room. "We assumed he went to keep an eye on Fay."

Kurama reached for her, but Kuronue was faster, wrapping his hands around her waist and lifting her up. "It's good you're back, I missed you."

Fay smiled. "And I missed you too buddy,' she patted him on the head, something that made his eye twitch and Kurama hide a smile.

"Now, could you let me go, we should look for Hiei. We can't start the secret Santa without him either, you know."

Botan quietly sighted in relief. 'I guess I really don't have to worry about those too.' She doubted Fay would ever look at anyone but Kurama. She was still keeping an eye on them, just in case.

"I'm sure the bloke'll show up soon." Chu said, sitting down now that he'd done his part. "Now that everyone's here."

Yukina returned, a bundle of items in her hands. "Here." She presented them to Isis.

"It's for…helping us…so much." Yukina handed a pink box to Isis, then a larger black one, along with what looked like a lunchbox.

All but Fay, Kurama, and Kuwabara really knew what she was doing, though Kurama noticed the expressions on most of his friends' faces. 'I believe I may be missing some information here.'

"Please…' Yukina bowed. "Enjoy them."

Apparently, she had now turned into a delivery girl. Isis looked at the pink wrapped box; that seemed to be for her though.

"Yeah…I'll…I'm sure I'll enjoy it a lot, and will be really, really thankful for it." Great, now she was sounding like a dork.

Yukina smiled up at her. "Thank you very much."

Isis nodded and took her leave.


Yusuke walked into the next room, dialed Keiko's phone number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Keiko, you okay? And what's taking you so long to get back?" He asked.

He listened to her answer.

"You mean a lot longer, it's almost dark. Where are you right now?"

'Half an hour…' It was already dark; she'd probably get lost on her own.

"Do you want me to meet you at the stop here?"

He listened. "You're not going to take your time at some dumb shop and miss the train, right?" He wasn't looking forward to waiting who knows how long in the cold.

He nodded when she answered. "Okay then, I'll see you there." He hung up and rejoined the others.

"I'm going to go meet Keiko at the…" he trailed off as a cold feeling overtook him, kind of like someone throwing a bucket of cold water on him.

At the same time, Shizuru dropped a small angel she was about to hang on the tree, and Kuwabara froze.

"Something's wrong," Shizuru said. "I think Keiko might be in trouble."

Yusuke whirled around and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, Yusuke!" Genkai called after him.

"Where do you think!" he shouted. "I'm going after Keiko!"

"Think! She's more than thirty minutes away; you'll never get there in time."

He stopped, realizing Genkai was right. "Then what the hell am I suppose to do! Just stand and wait!"

"No,' Genkai turned to the rest of the group who had followed them, her gaze landing on Nina.

"You're supposed to use that brain of yours; it's there for a reason. Nina, you can make portals, correct?"

Nina nodded. "Yeah, I can."

"Then do it right now!" Yusuke demanded, taking a step towards her.

Nina winced. "Please control your emotions, they really pack a punch. Everyone else, step back." They did as she asked, watching as she lifted her hand and called up a portal. It began as a stream of light that drifted from her hands, intertwined in midair and took on an archway look.

"What's going on?" Touya and Jin joined them, both still looking a little tired.

"Something's happened to Yusuke's sheila." Chu explained. "We're going after her."

"Not all of us will." Genkai said. "Half of us will stay here with Fay; it may be that this is a distraction. The rest of us-"

"There's no need for that." Hiei stepped through the portal, to everyone's surprise.

"Azrael took Keiko,' he informed them. "He thinks she's his long lost dead girlfriend reborn."

"That makes him stupid as well as dead!" Yusuke turned to Nina. "Make a portal to your world; if he thinks he's keeping Keiko, he's got another thing coming!"

Nina stepped slightly behind Fay. "Even if I were to do that, we don't know where Azrael is. Control your tempter!" she suddenly snapped. "And do as Genkai said! In this case, call the enforcer of the war."

Yusuke had to think a second to realize what she meant. "Mary Anne!"

The Guardian appeared next to him dressed in dark blue pajamas, a glass of orange juice in her hand.

Her emotions were so strong, Nina felt her stomach churn and she ducked further behind Fay, making the girl glance back at her in worry.

It had been like this ever since Nina could remember, a few weeks after becoming friends with Fay back when they were kids; Nina had realized that Fay acted like a sort of emotional shield for her. She now understood why, but back then, and even now, she was just glad Fay was with her.

"Unlike you guys, I'm not on vacation." Mary Anne informed them through gritted teeth. "And I am not a twenty four hour service line so this better be-"

"The Malaika kidnapped Keiko." Kurama informed her, shooting Yusuke a glance that clearly told him to control himself.

"And I care about this why?" Mary Anne demanded.

"Hey, you're the one that said that if they came after-"

"If they came after Fay again, now that they're out of the war,' she informed them impatiently, cutting off Kuwabara. "I would kill them. They did not come after Fay. This business is completely outside of the war. Therefore none of my business."

"That's why they dropped out, didn't they,' Shizuru suddenly realized. "So that you wouldn't come after them when they did this."

Mary Anne nodded with a shrug.

"You can't just let them get away with this!" Rinku exclaimed. "They might start thinking they can get away with other stuff too."

'No, I doubt they will.' Mary Anne thought with a roll of her eyes. This was not her business, period.

"Please help, I know you're not heartless." Botan pleaded. "Just think how scared Keiko is feeling right now."

Frankly…Mary Anne wasn't all that concerned with it, but she knew if she left, Yusuke, who looked ready to do her damage, would keep calling her back. She would either have to kill him...well there really wasn't another option. But it did kind of irk that the Malaika had managed to tie her hands up so well.

"Try not exploding Yusuke." Her drink disappeared from her hand, replaced by a very thick book. "I can't help you, but then I doubt you really need my help, I did notice you now have a Shaman with you." She glanced at said being. "So I'll give you what information I have on the Malaika and Keiko's whereabouts. Since I've met Keiko, and we have now had direct contact with the Malaika, I should have some info on them."

She looked at the content page, her fingers going down the list, then began flipping pages until she found it. "Here it is, Keiko Yukimura."

'Impressive.' What this gal was doing with Yusuke, Mary Anne glanced at him from the corner of her eye, she had no idea.

"Well?" Suzuka asked when seconds stretched into minutes and she didn't speak. "Where did they take Keiko?"

"Hmm…sorry to have to tell you this, but Keiko is the reincarnation of Kathleen."

"The hell she is!" Yusuke protested, which Mary Anne ignored.

"Azrael did not take her to my world, however, actually she's still in this one, but it's not a question of where she is more of when she is."

AN: Till next chapter ^^

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"Sorry, but I can't do that."

"Why so hesitant to help?"

"Welcome home, Kathleen."

"Once your memories are restored…"