Want to see images for this fic (Including Hiei in his school uniform? hehe)? Go here: Images Reaching Your Limits: A YYH alternate universe Episode 12: Yuusuke's Reiki. The Girls in Danger Hiei wearily lay down on his bed as he prepared to sleep, having already stripped his clothing off and completed the little bit of homework that was due tomorrow. It was a rare occurance that he would actually feel tired. However, the day had been startlingly stressful. Well, the last part of it anyway. He hadn't thought that Yuusuke's spiritual power would manifest itself during battle. Given the other's reputation, it now seemed obvious enough to him that Hiei had to wonder how he'd been foolish enough to have looked over it before. Yuusuke had the type of power that would remain dormant until it was necessary, coming out in the format of a fighting energy. The group had been seperated slightly when the girls had decided that they wanted to do a bit of shopping. Yuusuke hadn't been too thrilled, but had gone along when Keiko threatened to stop making him lunches. Any protests Kuwabara might of had were quickly forgotten when Yukina had turned hopeful eyes to him. Shuuichi seemed to be the only one out of the males who wanted to go shopping, although he had furiously defended himself from being a stereotype by stating that he needed them for working in the garden. Personally, Hiei didn't really care either way. It might give him a chance to talk with Botan again. Also, he needed to make sure Kuwabara kept his hands to himself when around Yukina. And, a small part of his mind nagged, he wanted to spend more time with Minamino Shuuichi. Pushing that small part of his mind back as far as he could, Hiei focused on recalling what had happened. Keiko had decided she needed a new bra. As Yukina had only had one, since such things were not worn in the Demon world, she'd agreed that the underwear store, whatever the hell it was called, should be their next destination. Needless to say, the four men had waited outside. A half an hour passed before Shuuichi, having lost their game of rock-paper-scissors, went inside to get the girls to hurry up. Not to be rushed, the girls said that they would meet the guys at a nearby movie theater in an hour. They wanted some time for feminine bonding, or something like that. However, when Hiei and the others had made their way to the movie theater, they found the girls in trouble. A group of five guys, with the usual digusting looks of trouble making punks, were hoarding the girls into an alley. There were not many other people on the street. Those that were had either not noticed Keiko's furious yells or had chosen to ignore them. Botan and Yukina looked to frightened to do anything. Even Keiko, despite her loud protests and attempts to punch the punks, looked afraid. Yuusuke didn't pause for a second when he saw them in danger. Kuwabara, who had never raised a fist while in Yukina's presence, was not far behind. His own protective instincts toward his sister had Hiei moving forward quickly, not caring when he exerted his demonic speed to take the down the guy closest to the girls in a flash that lasted perhaps the blink of an eye. As the guy hit the cement, Hiei felt a flash of power behind him and turned to see Yuusuke sharply kicking one of the punks to the ground. Hiei moved to his sister's side and watched, feeling the untamed and untrained spiritual power shifting around Yuusuke's body as he and Kuwabara made short work of two more of the would-be attackers. Shuuichi, Hiei was surprised to note, could deliver a solid punch as well. The red head hadn't been far behind and took down the only member of the small gang that had been smart enough to try and run away. "You guy's okay?" Yuusuke questioned, concern in his eyes despite the casual grin on his face as he stepped on one of the punks on his way to Keiko's side. Keiko looked torn between lecturing him on fighting and thanking him. Finally, one side of the argument won and she smiled. "For once, I'm glad you're a delinquent," she commented. "Hey!" Yuusuke said, pouting. He motioned for the other's to look over. "Look at this! See how she treats me?" Still, there was a mischevious glint in his eyes. "Yukina-chan, are you okay?" Kuwabara exclaimed, rushing up to the young girl and taking her hands in his own. Hiei was unable to help a snort as Yukina flung herself into his arms. It wasn't like she hadn't helped Hiei fight much stronger opponents before. "I'm so glad that you saved me," she exclaimed. The fire demon rolled his eyes when Kuwabara swooned and blushed and giggled all at the same time. "Anything for you!" he declared. In the end, they had decided not to stay for the movie. The girls were still a little shaken and the guys were all but willing to skip a sappy romance show. Yuusuke took Keiko home, Shuuichi going with them since he lived in the same direction. Kuwabara walked with Yukina, Botan, and Hiei to the bus stop, but had to leave on a seperate bus. Once he was gone, Hiei simply slipped his sister onto his back and carried her to the temple at a faster pace than the bus could ever hope to go. Botan had simply jumped on her oar and returned to the Spiritual World in order to fill Koenma in on what Hiei and Yukina had discovered so far. The twins talked breifly of the strength of spiritual power Yuusuke possessed, but were uncertain what to do with the knowledge besides report back to Koenma about it. Which lead him to where he was, laying in bed and pondering ways to be able to discover exactly how strong Yuusuke's spiritual power was. *** Shuuichi picked up the telephone as he glanced at the clock, both of which were on his bedside table. It was late at night and he'd already been in bed when the phone had rung. True, he hadn't been able to fall asleep, but it was still rather annoying. With his mother being so ill lately, he didn't want it to keep ringing for long and possibly wake her. "Hello?" he questioned, curious as to who would be calling this late. "Ah, Shuuichi?" he heard Yuusuke's voice question. "Of course. Why are you calling so late, Yuusuke? It's almost midnight," Shuuichi replied, slightly scolding. He heard Yuusuke laugh a little. "Sorry about that. I just couldn't forget about what happened earlier, and I had a thought. I was so concerned about Keiko, that I hadn't really thought about it until just now," he replied. Curious, Shuuichi tilted his head to the side. "What is it?" he questioned. "Well... did you notice... Hiei...." Yuusuke stumbled over what to say. Shuuichi smiled softly. "Yah, I noticed," he replied. Truthfully, that had been what was keeping him up as well. One minute, Hiei had been beside him. Hardly a second later, Hiei was halfway up the block and punching the lights out of one of the punks. He hadn't even seen the young man move. "One minute, he was behind me. The next moment I saw him, he was in front of me and already fighting. He moved with such an ease that I have the feeling he has fought a lot before. Shuuichi, I really think we should be careful around him. He and Yukina are keeping a secret. Something that has to do with how he could move so quickly. I've never seen a human that could move that fast." "I realize," Shuuichi said with a sigh. "Promise me that you'll be careful. I know that you like him, but I don't want you to get hurt," Yuusuke said, his voice determined. The day before, when Yuusuke and Kuwabara had spoken of their unease around Hiei, Shuuichi had dismissed it. Now, he couldn't deny that there was something strange about the crimson-eyed youth. "I promise I'll be careful," he replied. The two of them spoke only a few words after that before hanging up. As he laid down on his bed, Shuuichi looked up at the ceiling and frowned. Images of his attack from the night before came back. Specifically, the black blur that had taken down Shuuichi's attacker in the blink of an eye. Today, Hiei had done the same thing. Perhaps he should come right out and ask Hiei what was going on. The worst that could happen was him being wrong. Right? Sighing, Shuuichi rolled onto his side and forced himself to go to sleep. End Episode 12