I said I would release this chapter begin January, well let's just say writers block got the best of me.
I don't think next chapter will be last but I don't think you'll mind.

Disclaimers:
English isn't my native language so please excuse some grammar and sentencing errors. Please do report repeating errors.
I don't own any of the YYH characters.

Hiei might be a bit out of character, might try to tweak that later.
Otherwise enjoy.


"Sir, they are leaving." Kamiya seemed unusually calm for the events which were slowly unfolding.

Ichigaki looked at one of the security monitors, watching how the prison cells were emptied by the four demons he had placed his trust and faith in. "Let them."

Kamiya stood behind the doctor, eyeing him with interest, his hands were folded behind his back and his ears were slightly pointed upwards, a sign he was smiling. Kamiya had taken notice of Ichigaki's traits, how he acts when he's nervous, scared, feeling threatened or frustrated. All of those small gestures, the twitching of his eyelid, how he would fidget his fingers, scratch behind his ear, but most important of all, how his ears would point up when he was excited of had some sort of 'genius' idea. Kamiya scoffed. "So you're just going to let them leave?"

Silence filled the room for a few seconds before Ichigaki answered. "... Yes." The smirk on his face seemed to widen.

...

Their footsteps echoed through the endless hallways, especially as they were no longer occupied by guards. They had passed some dead bodies but Kuwabara knew who was responsible for that and paid them no mind. The body which laid over his shoulder began to slip, he sighed, not wanting to drop their loot Kuwabara slowed down and adjusted his arm around the detective. Just as he was about to catch up again he felt Kurama threatening to slip from his grasp, his arm ached but he knew they needed to get out of here, at least get outside. Kuwabara stiffened his arm and walked, keeping his eyes on the small demon walking in front of him, although he never actually showed it, he appreciated the shrimp.

'The moonlight shone dimly through halve closed curtains as they waved along with the steady flow of wind, entering the room from the outside, however, wether the room was lit or darkened didn't really matter to him anymore. Kuwabara laid on top of the bed, his hair softly ruffled by the breeze, the sheets nearly thrown off onto the floor. He sighed and laid one arm over his eyes in an attempt to calm his mind from the endless scenario's which were unfolding in his mind's eye. His sister's relieved and Keiko's worried expressions.. Keiko's worry, the thoughts started taking shape again, one darker then the other. He scoffed.
A pair of footsteps haunted the halls of Koenma's sleeping quarters. Ferry girls resign here, Koenma had given them rooms to rest and most importantly, be safe. The echoing sounds of the footsteps intensified as they came closer to his door, the sound recoiling from the hollow walls lacing the rooms. As soon as they appeared, they disappeared again, appeared again and disappeared again. Kuwabara could feel the spirit energy bouncing off of the person, an energy signature he had become accustomed to.

He sat up on the bed, the pale moonlight illuminating the items inside of the room. A sudden knock caught his attention, did the familiar roamer have trouble sleeping too? He got up and opened the door, in front of him stood the small figure of the fire koorime. The bags under his eyes suggested he wasn't sleeping either, or he just couldn't sleep. Kuwabara was about to ask but halted after their eyes met, there were no words needed for something they had in common.

"Are you coming in or..?" Kuwabara asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Move.." Hiei whispered and walked past Kuwabara, entering the room.

He watched Hiei for a little while, the small demon stood in front of the open window, the wind brushed softly against his skin as Hiei opened the window further and stepped onto the balcony. Kuwabara followed him carefully and stood next to him, leaning forward against the railing. Looking down, they seemed to almost be on the top level of the structure. The silence only lasted for a short moment, Kuwabara had asked a question of which he already knew the answer, a conversation starter.

"Can't sleep either huh?" It wasn't that much of a question, more of a uncertain nudge towards conformation.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Hiei didn't look at him, instead he focused his gaze onto the unending array of stars. "What's bothering you?"

Kuwabara was slightly taken aback by the sudden expression of concern. He followed Hiei's gaze to the stars as words left his mouth. "Thoughts."

"About what?" Hiei frowned as he spoke, Kuwabara saw that. He thought maybe Hiei was battling the same thoughts as him.

"I just.." Kuwabara lowered his head, leaning heavier onto the railing of the balcony. "I just can't stand the waiting." He felt Hiei's eyes looking at him, instead of looking back at him he gazed at the stars again. "Who knows what situation they're in now.."

"I know." Hiei sighed. "I've been tailgating Koenma and nagging for a plan for days, but all he wants to do now is interrogate those two run-aways."

"Do you trust them?" Kuwabara asked.

"No, not yet, though they might be the only source of information we can get.." Hiei shook his head slightly.

"And they might be our only way back in." Kuwabara finished his sentence. Silence fell upon the two once more, but for a brief moment.

"Why should we wait for orders? All we need is a plan and we're on our way." Hiei scoffed.

Kuwabara chuckled. "Kurama would have come up with a plan in no-time."

To Kuwabara's surprise, the corners of Hiei's mouth lifted upward with the mention of his friend. He wasn't extremely surprised, he knew the two shared an unique bond, they've known each other the longest and gained each other's trust, becoming allays and friends.

"And Yusuke would have stormed out ahead of us all to start a rampage." Hiei's mood seemed to have lifted a little and Kuwabara smiled at the thought of Yusuke ravaging through the threshold. Silence fell again as the chuckles died down.

"It's all so empty now." Hiei's voice dropped, a sadness Kuwabara had never seen in the koorime first-hand, though small, Kuwabara could hear it in his voice.

"It's not like you, you know.." Kuwabara felt Hiei looking at him. "You're not the one to miss us when we're gone, sometimes I think you'd rather not have us around at all." Kuwabara stiffened at the sudden confession, it was true he didn't feel appreciated by the small demon but he never thought about confessing it to him.

Hiei didn't turn away nor did Kuwabara meet his gaze. "Don't you think I care about them?"

Kuwabara's heart tightened. "That's not what I meant." He knew Hiei cared, it was just rare for him to actually show and express his concern. "Look, you have a tighter bond with Kurama, just like I have with Yusuke, you tell him more then you tell Yusuke and me combined..! Not that I mind." Kuwabara shook his head as he saw Hiei lifting one eyebrow in confusion. "You know what, forget about what I just said." Kuwabara continued. "You care about them as much as I do and our priority is bringing them back."

"It is true, I express appreciation in a different way." Hiei turned around and leaned back against the railing.

If Kuwabara had a drink he would've either spat it out or chocked on it. He looked at Hiei in surprise. "Did you just take criticism? From me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, I appreciate you by not killing you with my bare hands..." Hiei scoffed. "Kurama told me."

"What did he tell you?" Kuwabara asked.

"He told me something about 'self evaluation', no clue what he actually meant with it." Hiei lowered his eyes. "Should've asked him."

"You can ask him when we get them out of there." Kuwabara's overpowering optimism was showing. "We'll beat their asses and get them back! And after we've finished this we'll go back to our old lives, I still gotta beat Yusuke in a battle of Goblin City."'

The creaking of a door and a sudden blinding light snapped him out of his trance, blinking several times, he saw Hiei keeping the door open, waiting impatiently for him to exit the building.

...

"But why?" Kamiya kept his voice low. He wasn't mad, well, not at Ichigaki that is. He was mad at himself for diving in as far as he had, some days he wished he could just go home, back to his own studies, his own life, his own interests. He had become self-concious of his descent when they started working with the detectives, especially when two of them managed to escape. When he was assigned to "look after" the two remaining members of team Urameshi, which included Urameshi himself, he saw the amount of damage Ichigaki intended to cause. At one point, Ichigaki wanted them to die, ordered that they would not receive any water or food in the hopes they would either starve from hunger or dehydration. Kamiya had gone against his orders and started sneaking food and water to secure their survival. He felt regret when he was ordered to experiment on them, after a while, they didn't look at him with fear anymore, nor did they look at Ichigaki with fear. Kamiya would treat them afterwards in the hopes it would take away his feeling of guilt. Saying he regretted diving this deep would be an understatement.

"They are also taking the fox and the detective outside." Ichigaki's words were soft yet the cackling way in which he spoke them send a shiver up Kamiya's spine.

"So...?" Kamiya said questionably.

"They have no idea how long it takes until the prefrontal cortex is recovered, until then, they remain hostile." Ichigaki pointed at one of the monitors.

Kamiya hesitated but eventually stept forward to get a better view of what was projected on said monitor. The footage was blurry, black and white and the grain enabled them to see details. He saw a small figure, the silhouette immediately connected to the fire demon and a larger figure, Kuwabara. The langer silhouette seemed to be carrying something over his shoulder and under his arm.

"I see.." Kamiya hummed. He mentally flinched as Ichigaki spoke again.

"They won't be able to escape anyway." Ichigaki clicked his tongue.

"What do you mean?" Kamiya watched Ichigaki in curiosity.

"You might wonder why you haven't seen any of my guards when you arrived here.." Ichigaki raised his eyebrow. "I've dispatched them to the border, just because they are outside does not mean they are safe."

"What about us?" Kamiya's voice barely above a whisper.

...

"Now what?!" Hiei scoffed as he heard Kuwabara's whining and turned around. Kuwabara had dropped Kurama to the ground, smearing the red liquid from his hand onto his pant leg. "We have to keep going." Hiei said flatly.

"Can't we have a little break? These two are starting to get heavy and you're not helping much." Kuwabara scoffed back at Hiei. "Plus, we're outside."

"Hurray to you but if you think we're safe then you are-" Hiei mentally cringed as he was loudly interrupted.

"He moved!" Kuwabara took a few steps back as the body he dropped before, twitched slightly.

"He's alive." Hiei sighed. "It would be weird if he moved while dead, but he's alive, so yes he moves. You imbecile." Hiei mocked.

"Uh, Hiei." Kuwabara tried getting Hiei's attention but failed as the fire demon had turned his back to him and began ranting.

"All you do is whine, you didn't even have the balls to hit that idiot detective when he tried to kill you."

"But I-"

"And then you question my actions?! I'm trying my best to get all of us out of this mess and I don't think you understand what's going on at all."

"Hiei-"

"But now you want a break, because they are 'heavy', we need to get out of here as soon as possible and you're thinking of a break!"

"Hiei!" Kuwabara raised his voice. Hiei turned around to find Kurama trying to get up on his feet.

"I-is he okay?" Kuwabara hesitated. "Dude, are you okay?"

"Stay." Hiei held up his hand to stop Kuwabara as he tried to step closer to the fox, which worked.

"Hey shrimp I'm not a dog, you look more like a dog then I do-"

"Can't you ever sense threat?! Put Yusuke down and stand back." Hiei's voice dropped, his tone low and warning. Kuwabara slowly dropped Yusuke, leaned him against one of the trees and stepped back.

"Now what?" Kuwabara raised both his hands as he walked backwards.

"Prepair to fight." Hiei said firmly as he slowly maneuvered his hand towards the handle of his broken sword in instinct, not looking away from Kurama. Hiei's eyes widened as Kurama straightened himself, causing their eyes to meet. Something was different now, Hiei squinted, then whispered. "His eyes.."

Kuwabara overheard him and stammered. "What's wrong with them?"

Hiei didn't answer. He saw a spark in Kurama's eyes, it was faint but noticeable. A spark which wasn't present when they were reunited within the halls of the bunker. A spark which wasn't present when he dodged his attack. A spark which wasn't present when he had released the dragon on him. A spark which wasn't present when he had plunged the remainder of his blade into his abdomen.. A spark..

The gears within Hiei's mind started to turn more rapidly. "Can you hear me?" Hiei hesitated. "I know you can."

No answer came from Kurama.

"What are you doing?!" Kuwabara exclaimed as he saw Hiei dropped his guard. "They wanted to kill us then, they surely want to kill us now!"

Kurama didn't move a muscle, it was as if he was stuck in a staring competition with Hiei. "I know you're in there." Hiei kept staring.

"Man, I don't know what you're rambling about but this is not the time to turn yourselves into statues.." Kuwabara silenced as Hiei waved him off with his hand. He looked at them for what felt like an hour before deciding he would tend to Yusuke.

"Uhm Hiei.."

"What now?" Hiei sounded impatient as he monitored the fox for movements.

"Where's Yusuke?" Kuwabara looked at the tree he was sure he had placed his friend.

"Right where you left him." Hiei replied dryly.

"Yeah, but, he's not here.." Kuwabara rubbed the back of his head but quickly tensed as he felt a change in the air. "It's a trap!"

Hiei was about to turn around but was unable to lift his feet, looking down he saw vines crawling up his leg. "You sneaky asshole." However, Kurama's psyche was not shaken. Hiei tried yanking his legs from their grasp but realised their grip was too tight for him to escape. Summoning a flame, he incinerated the vines, freeing himself.

"Aah help me!" Kuwabara screeched as his leg was caught by some of the greenery. Hiei shook the charred plants off of his legs and made his way to Kuwabara, using his broken blade to try and cut him free.

"What were you trying to do? Negotiate?!" Kuwabara spat as he kept struggling, the plants tightening around his body with each move he made.

"Do you have any other idea's?!" Hiei kept cutting at the plants.

"No but we better think of one soon, he's leaving."

Hiei turned around to see Kurama walking into the forest, the plants and trees moving as he passed them, as if magnetically attracted. The vines loosened their grip as Kurama disappeared out of sight allowing Kuwabara to free himself.

...

"So now what?" Kamiya sighed as he watched his muddied shoes in disappointment. They had left the threshold and moved towards the rear side of the building, avoiding the walls and open area's, they walked through the forest. "And why are we making a detour through the forest? Can't we just walk straight there?"

"Patience Kamiya." Ichigaki waddled, his tiny legs moving twice as fast as Kamiya's. "We're looking for someone."

"Who?" Kamiya held his journal close but almost dropped it as the ground became softer, almost making Kamiya trip. Ichigaki didn't have to answer as the person they were looking for appeared in front of them. Kamiya regained his composure and froze as he stood eye in eye with the fox.

"Perfect timing." Ichigaki chuckled. "I'd almost given up on surprising our guests."

"What? Surprising who?" Kamiya frowned. "Our guests... The prisoners?"

"Bingo." Ichigaki smiled at Kurama. "Your female friend uses that word quite a lot if I recall correctly." There was no answer but Kamiya could see a clear change in the way he looked, his eyes weren't as dull as before, a sign he was slowly returning to his senses.

"What is she to you?" Ichigaki tilted his head to the side, widening his grin. Kurama didn't reply. "Hmm." Ichigaki hummed. "Didn't expect an answer anyway." He turned towards Kamiya who immediately tensed.

"Calm down." Ichigaki laughed. "He's on our side."

Just as he said that, Kamiya saw Kurama's brow twitch, it unnerved him but he knew Kurama disapproved of his statement. "Hehe, yeah.." Kamiya laughed nervously. "So what are you planning on doing with this so called surprise?"

Kamiya immediately regretting his question as he watched Ichigaki's eyes lit up.

"Let's just say the hunted becomes the hunter."


There we go.

I'll be using my quarantine time to write the next chapter faster... Hopefully I'll have it up near the end of April but we'll see.
Stay safe!

See ya!