Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies…

Warning: This story contains yaoi, but is not a lemon!

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Hiei didn't look a day older then the day Kurama's soul disappeared. For that matter, he didn't look a day older then Kurama had met him, at all. The fire demon never seemed to age at all. It was as if he was trapped in time. Frozen, in an endless ring and preserved in a block of ice.

He sat by Koenma's desk, slouched down in the chair, his legs blocking his face from view. If you had been able to see the demon's face, all you would have been able to see was a scowl, the normal expression he always bared. But he bore it well and seemed to match his angry spirit perfectly. They were being sent on another mission, and this time it was unlikely it would involve any fighting at all. This was, naturally, the cause of his discontent.

'I'm still looking for Kurama's soul!' Hiei thought angrily. 'I haven't given up that mission yet, even if everyone else has!' But he knew, somewhere deep in the buried depths of his heart, that he would probably never see the fox again. Yusuke and the others, although it would kill them to admit it, had long ago given up the search. Fourteen years was long enough. The soul was gone and there was nothing they could do. Whether it was taken to a torturous hell or pulled into oblivion, they would probably never know. Kurama was gone, and as much as they hated it, that was that.

Hiei, being the stubborn one of the group, always continued with his search. Continuously searching through soul banks and looking at the list of lost souls that had been spotted or found, the fire demon had not yet given up. But fourteen years was a fair amount of time, particularly for an impatient fire demon. Even he would not search forever. And one day, the fruitless search would end entirely and Kurama's chances of ever being found will drop significantly, to almost nothing.

"So what's this new mission you have for us, pacifier breath?" Yusuke asked the small toddler of a demi-god. The fourteen years had barely effected the childlike god at all, making him seem like Hiei, a never aging creature. He would age, but for a fifteen hundred year old god, the aging process might take a while.

Yusuke on the other hand had changed drastically in looks, but little in personality. Still unruly and wild, forever being the punk he would probably always be. At thirty, Yusuke was still a bachelor , although with his fifteen year steady girlfriend Keiko, there was little doubts as to who he would marry. Well, perhaps "steady" is not quite the word for it. Their relationship was rocky, as everyone's relationship with Yusuke's was. But that's just the way he was. Everyone was constantly getting furiously mad at him, and just a few hours later making up through either kisses (from Keiko) or acceptance. But there you have it. Yusuke was Yusuke and he would probably never change.

"We've found a boy living in the human world, with an tremendous amount of spirit energy. He's radiating it constantly and there's so much of it, he's causing a bit of trouble. Demons are starting to spot him and we've got to teach him how to control it before he gets captured and killed by some kind of ki eating demon," Koenma told the rest of the group through his blue pacifier.

Kuwabara nodded sympathetically, sympathizing with the kid. With his own powers as a child, he had often had it a bit rough himself and so immediately felt a warm hearted passion for anyone else who had gone through similar experiences, Hiei excluded, of course.

The red haired boy was one person who had changed drastically over the fourteen years. Although he was still a fabulous fighter, his toughness had diminished greatly over that time. He was more somber, and if not polite, then certainly not ill-mannered. Just five years after Kurama's disappearance, Yukina and he had married, unsurprisingly, and were now living in the human world in a small house by Genkai's temple.

Yukina herself had changed little, too. Like Hiei, her body seemed for the most part completely preserved, trapped in time. But most demons were like that. Motherhood had agreed with her though, and she and Kuwabara had twins, Abilina and Nento, both sweet and kind, but with enough power to punch a significantly large size hole in the wall. When the six year olds were old enough, they would be a wonderful addition to the group of spirit detectives.

"What are the details?" Botan asked. The river pilot had changed little also, but that was only natural for a spirit. If anything she had become a bit more softhearted toward the group, only hitting Yusuke with her oar about once a day. It was a major improvement from the typical five times.

"The boy's name is Eino Masaki and he's fourteen years old last April. He lives in Tokyo, Japan with his mother and two little sisters, ages ten and seven. His father was in a car crash five years ago and died."

"Wonderful!" Hiei said sarcastically, speaking up from his chair. "Another death saddened child! Weak human children…"

"Actually, his father's death had little effect on him. It's unknown why but they never really got along. His father was just never fond of him."

"Hn," Hiei responded, looking away with a huff.

"When do we leave?" Kuwabara asked the demigod.

"Tomorrow morning," Koenma told him. "You're going to have get there the typical way and drive. It'll be much easier that way and it only takes a few hours. I'll have Botan give you more information as we get it."

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Eino walked down the dirt path, kicking gravel as he went. 'I hate school!' he thought irritably. 'I know everything there! Who made those text books anyway? First graders? No one can blame me for skipping school if I get A+ on all my tests and grades.'

He glumly kicked a small chunk of dirt, making it fly across the ground with a series of thwacks. Suddenly, he noticed something odd. That vine there, by that Dragon Tree (a/n: I have a Dragon Tree in my room, right beside where I'm typing!), it wasn't any species he recognized.

'That's strange,' he puzzled to himself, taking a step closer. 'I've always known a lot about plants, but I don't remember ever seeing or hearing of one that looked like that.'

He leaned down, stretching out his hand to brush the rims of one of the leaf's edges. Suddenly, the plant leaned toward him and made a funny snapping noise, causing him to quickly pull his hand back in fright, tumbling down onto his bottom. 'It's just the wind,' he told himself panicked. 'It's just the wind, that's all it is…'

Then he heard a crunch behind him. Standing up and whirling around, Eino's eyes suddenly snapped around to the place where the crunch had come from. There, standing just ten feet away was one of the most hideous creatures he had ever seen. It resembled a human for the most part, but it had a long green scaled tail that waved back and forth behind it.  Its hair was bright blue and its eyes glowed purple, making them sparkle and glimmer in the dark of the overhanging trees. But the creature's teeth were the most horrifying part, with each carnivorous one hanging out of its mouth like a saber tooth tiger's, gleaming white like a well shinned pearl.

"W-who are you?" Eino half stuttered, half demanded.

"Your last visitor, my tasty meal," the creature growled, licking its long teeth and slowly advancing.

'Meal? What does he mean?' Eino wanted to ask, taking a quick step backwards. But before he could do so much as ask the question, a black flash flew out of the trees, in a blurry speed, impossible to see.

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Hey again!

Okay, new chapter up! The story is starting to get a little less dark, but that's okay. My writing style tends to be not quite as dark as the last chapter.

I hope you guys didn't find the descriptions to boring. I just wanted to let everyone know how the characters acted now. I really didn't want to turn this into a future fic so far from the original time of the series, but that was the best way to set up the story… oh well!

New chapter will probably be up on Tuesday the 3rd, but if not, then on the Thursday after! It might be on Thursday because with the end of the school year coming up, we're having a load of tests!!!

That's all for now!

Dream Fox