CHAPTER TWO
Search Party Forms
Eclipse walked in the door. She was rather short, no taller than Hiei, with brown hair that had a blonde streak on one side, and she always wore blue. Blue, blue, blue...
"Shadow!?" she called. She hadn't rung the doorbell, because she knew it was a really evil doorbell, but instead had just walked right in.
Hey, it was unlocked, isn't that just okay?
"SHADOW JAGANSHI, ARE YOU HOME?!" she screamed. Shadow came darting into the room.
"Eclipse! Hi! Look at me! I'm wearing Hiei's clothes!" she said cheerfully.
"That's... nice... Aren't you just ever so slightly afraid of being murdered?"
"No."
"... Oh. I would be. I suggest you go change. Why are you wearing Hiei's clothes, anyway?"
"Because... He's not here, and I want to see how P.O.ed he'll get if he finds out I not only stole his clothes, but wore them too," Shadow answered cheerfully.
"Oooo...kay..." Eclipse said, giving Shadow the 'you are insane and seemingly proud of it which makes it all even worse' look.
"Wanna play cards? Why'd you come here? Bored? Want some highly caffinated soda?"
"Uh... I guess..."
"WOOHOO FOR HIGHLY CAFFINATED SODA!!!" Shadow screamed as she ran into the kitchen for a bottle of Mello Yello.
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Shadow and Eclipse were playing cards when the door burst open. Tons of shouting and arguing were the first things heard.
"I don't understand why you insisted on coming with me! Reikai is a better place for a person like you! I don't understand why Koenma let you stay with me!" Hiei was saying.
"Because Koenma-sama is a nice person who cares about family togetherness," Mai said. Shadow was up in a second, not knowing who this girl was.
"WHO THE HECK IS THIS GIRL AND WHY IS SHE IN MY HOUSE?!" Shadow yelled, pointing at Mai. "AND WHAT IS THIS ABOUT FAMILY TOGETHERNESS?!"
"SHADOW JAGANSHI, WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD ARE YOU DOING WEARING MY CLOTHES?!" Hiei screamed.
"Hiei-san! You have a wife?!" Mai said, startled.
"HELL NO!!!" Shadow and Hiei said simultaneously.
"I'm wearing your clothes because I felt like it. They fit, and they're comfortable," Shadow answered, shrugging.
"Well, change out of them as soon as possible. By the way, we've got a major problem," Hiei said.
"Major? Like how?"
"Kurama went missing," Hiei answered.
"WHAT! KURAMA IS MISSING!? NOOOOO!!! MISSING HOW?! WHY WEREN'T YOU WITH HIM?! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" Shadow screamed.
"Shadow flipped her lid," Eclipse muttered as Hiei walked past.
"Wow, you're so observant," he muttered. He turned back to Shadow. "I'm leaving again as soon as I can so I can go find him."
"And who is this little girl?" Shadow asked.
"Little who?! I'm not little, miss! You'd be best off if you shut up, because---"
"Her name is Mai Youjo. I met her when she was really young, several years ago, and she hasn't forgotten me ever since," Hiei replied, interrupting Mai. "She thinks I'm her father."
"You?! A FATHER?!" Shadow said, laughing hysterically. She stopped so fast, all expression leaving her face, that it made everybody nervous. "What about Yusuke and Kuwabara?"
"They're fine, unfortunately... I mean... er... They're fine. I wish Kuwabara would have fallen over that damn cliff, though... He came so close... I should have pushed him harder..."
"Hiei!?" Eclipse said, startled. "Are you pushing people over cliffs?"
"I tried, but he didn't fall," Hiei muttered sullenly. "Like I said, I should have pushed him harder."
"Hiei... Don't kill Kuwabara. He may seem too stupid to be human, but he is, and you can't kill humans, remember?" Shadow said, shaking a finger in his face. He grabbed her wrist to stop her from poking out his eye.
"I'm going to pack some stuff, then I am turning around and going straight back to that lousy cliff," Hiei said coldly. He turned and walked up the stairs.
"Does Hiei-san live with you?" Mai asked once he was upstairs.
"Yes. Yes he does," Shadow answered, smiling, with her head tilted towards the stairs slightly. A second later she heard what she was listening for.
"SHADOW JAGANSHI, BAKA WOMAN!!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!!!"
Shadow snorted, trying to cover up laughter, but a second later when Hiei came down the stairs holding a dress, she couldn't hide it, and burst out laughing.
"YOU'RE WEARING MY CLOTHES, YOU STOLE MY OTHER CLOTHES, AND YOU REPLACED THEM WITH A DRESS?? I WANT MY CLOTHES BACK!!!" Hiei screamed. Shadow and Eclipse were rolling on the floor laughing. Mai was appalled.
"How could somebody be so cruel to a sweet guy like Hiei-san?" she said, her mouth hanging open and her eyes the size of dinner plates.
"Sweet?!" Shadow gagged. "Sure he's sweet, probably because he eats all the CANDY I buy!!!"
Hiei turned red, from a cross between anger and embarrassment.
"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SEARCHING IN MY ROOM AND YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE KNOWN!!!" he shouted.
"WELL WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT AROUND? JUST SIT AROUND HERE EATING CANDY THAT DOESN'T EXIST BECAUSE YOU STOLE IT ALL? SIT AROUND HERE WATCHING TV AND GETTING FAT?!"
"Getting fat? You already are fat," Hiei said dryly. Shadow stopped laughing instantly and went stiff.
"You hit a nerve, Hiei. A very... very... sensitive nerve..." Eclipse muttered, backing away. Shadow slowly walked toward the stairs. At the bottom, she turned and glared at Hiei.
"You want to die?" she asked. "Oh? You do? TODAY'S YOUR LUCKY DAY!!!" She ran up the stairs. Hiei took off up them. Both of them went out of sight of the two girls in the living room. A second later, there was a loud thud, some scuffles and yells, and Shadow and Hiei came tumbling down the stairs together, wildly clawing at each others' faces.
"Are they like this all the time?" Mai asked. Eclipse nodded slowly. "How can Hiei-san put up with something like that?"
"I don't know. I'm surprised he's still alive. I'm surprised any of us are still alive after knowing Shadow..." Eclipse said, her voice strangely high-pitched and spaced-out sounding.
"..."
"SHADOW! LET GO OF ME!"
"TAKE IT BACK! APOLOGIZE!"
"I'M SORRY! I TAKE IT BACK! LET GO!!!"
Shadow had been holding Hiei's wrist with one hand, digging her nails in. She hadn't cut them in about a week, so they were long enough to draw blood. She had had her other hand on Hiei's throat.
Hiei sat up, watching a drop of blood trickle out of the fingernail wound.
"God, you're vicious," he muttered. He quickly licked the blood off and headed back upstairs. He stopped halfway up. "Now, I need my clothes, because I don't intend on wearing the same outfit I've been wearing for two days, for another week or more."
"Okay, fine... I'm coming with you, by the way," Shadow said, pushing past him and going up to her own room.
"What?! You can't come! All you'll do is make it harder! Shadow! Are you listening to me?!"
"No I'm not!" Shadow answered. Hiei sulked up the stairs after her, muttering under his breath to himself.
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Kurama slowly regained consciousness. He looked around. He could see dark, blurry shapes around him; nothing he could recognize. After a second, his vision cleared up a bit. He sat up.
From what he could tell, he was in a room made of concrete, or some similar material. That made no sense, because the last thing he remembered, he'd been in a forest. The only light came from a bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling, and it was very dim. There were no windows, and the door made Kurama suddenly think of a prison cell door, the old solid type with a small sliding opening near the top to look through.
He shuddered. He had a strange, creepy feeling. The room had an oddly familiar vibe to it. One that he most certainly did not like, because it reminded him of...
He shuddered again. Definitely not liking the feeling of this. He stood up. It seemed that somebody was in the room with him.
"Hello?" he said cautiously. All of a sudden he was overcome by the eerie feeling as an all-too-familiar energy swept over him.
"Yes, you remember me, I should hope, Kurama," said a voice. It was cold, but had a certain lustful tone to it. Instantly, Kurama shuddered and realized he had been right to dislike the vibe he had been getting.
"K... Karasu?" Kurama said nervously, stepping back.
"That's right, my friend." Karasu stepped out of the shadows by the wall and walked forward until he stood only three feet away from Kurama.
The boy let out a little squeak. "But... but you're..."
"Dead? Yes, I know that's how it seemed... But... Koenma is really quite easy to manipulate," Karasu said lazily.
"What?" Kurama said meekly.
"I bribed him."
Kurama's eye twitched and a whimper escaped his throat. He tried to say something, but it seemed that his throat had sealed up and no words were coming out anytime soon.
"Yes... Koenma sure is a sucker for squid..."
Kurama's eyes get about ten times their normal size, and he felt like he was about to cry.
"I gave him about fifty of those squid-on-a-stick things that they were selling at the Dark Tournament, and he instantly turned me around and sent me back to Earth alive."
Koenma let Karasu come back to life for squid?! Karasu, the man who had tried so hard to do so many twisted things to Kurama during the tournament, was allowed to return to life so he could go about his harassing, just because of some measly squid!? Fifty! He could have at least tried for a higher number, like, around two thousand! This was Kurama he was putting at risk here!
Kurama made a mental note to murder Junior when he saw him next. If he saw him ever again. Karasu continued.
"I probably could have used my body... But I decided not to. The squids worked fine, and now I've still got my body to use on you, Kurama."
That sentence caused complete mental overload. Kurama passed out.
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"You're coming too?" Hiei asked skeptically, looking at Eclipse and Mai. Eclipse nodded.
"Of course we are, Hiei! Kurama's my friend too, and besides, I can't trust you and Shadow alone in the wilderness for who knows how long!" she replied.
"Trust us...?" Hiei said, confused. Shadow knew what Eclipse meant and punched her in the head.
"You are a SICK person!!! I swear to God! We're going on a search-and-rescue mission here! Not a 'let's-go-out-in-the-wilderness-and-supposedly-search-for-our-friend-but-really-be-doing-naughty-things-together' mission!!!" she screamed, shaking her friend the entire time. She finally dropped her. Eclipse fell over with swirls for eyes.
"That's friendly..." Mai muttered, staring at Eclipse. "Hey, I don't have any changes of clothes, so if anybody has anything they'd like to donate to me for this trip, I'd be happy."
"All we have is black. Eclipse has blue. We're the solid color type of people..." Shadow said. "I'm assuming you like white?"
"I don't care what I wear, as long as it fits comfortably."
"In that case, I might have something," Shadow said. "I'll be right back." She ran upstairs.
"This is stupid. I wanted to go alone. I wanted to leave YOU in Reikai," Hiei said, pointing at Mai, "and Eclipse and Shadow should stay here and waste their time playing cards or something!"
"Why? We could be helpful, you never know!" Eclipse said, standing up and dusting herself off.
"I doubt it, girl," Hiei said coldly.
"I HAVE A NAME, YOU KNOW!!!" Eclipse screamed.
"Obviously. Doesn't everyone?"
"No. I knew this guy once, and he never told anybody his name, so we just all ended up calling him That One Guy. That was his name," Eclipse said. "Well it eventually turned out that he got sick of that and he told us his name was Bob. I liked 'That One Guy' better and kept calling him that. He tried to put out my eyes."
Mai laughed. Hiei snorted.
"You deserved it," he said.
"Did not! Cuz eventually it turned out that Bob wasn't his real name either," she replied indignantly. "Like I said, he didn't have a name!"
Just then, Shadow came back downstairs with several bags slung over her shoulders. She handed each person their bag (except Hiei; he already had his).
"Mai, you'd best deal with whatever's in there, cuz those are the smallest clothes I could find. I don't exactly keep my clothes from as long ago as when I was as scrawny as you," Shadow said. "LET'S GO!" She led the way out the door, ignoring everybody else's comments and grumbles on anything that had happened in the past hour.
"Hey Hiei, did you tell Koenma about this?" Eclipse asked.
"This what?"
"Well, this girl. And Kurama vanishing. And you and us going to find him. Did you tell him any of this?"
"Well, Mai is part of the mission I was gone on. Turns out that she was the one we were sent to rescue. Obviously, he knows Kurama vanished since when we went to Reikai, Kurama wasn't with us. And if he hasn't got the IQ to figure out that Kurama is my best friend and I actually care enough to go looking for him, I don't know how he ended up becoming Prince of Reikai in the first place," Hiei answered.
"How do you define vanished?" Shadow asked. "Was he kidnapped? Did something kill him? Did he jump over a cliff? Did he go swimming and not come back up to the surface?"
"He went into the forest after the freak whose arm I cut off to save Mai, and didn't come back out, and eventually we found the body of the demon, but no Kurama," he replied dryly. "I can't believe I let you three come along with me. This is nuts. Three girls, two of them half-breeds, one of them having no idea how to fight, and me. This is the worst team I have ever heard of. It's even worse than when Kurama and I first cooperated with Yusuke on a case and Kuwabara was there and we were all trying to rip each other's throats out. Wait... That was mainly just Kuwabara being stupid enough to try to rip out my throat, and me provoking him because it was funny... But anyway, this is worse than that."
"Gee, thanks, Hiei. You're just such a great person," Shadow said sarcastically.
"Aren't I though?" Hiei said cheerfully. Shadow snorted.
"Yeah, maybe once I finish freezing Hell with an ice cube you will be..."
"Wow! Do you really want to wait that long for Hiei-san to change?" Mai asked. Shadow sweatdropped.
"Hiei, not only is this girl dumb, but she's the second stupidest person I know! She'd get along great with Kuwabara."
"Kuwabara?! That bumbling human dolt? I hate him! He's not only the stupidest person I know, but he's really dumb, too!!!"
"Hey, wow, you to have actually got something in common!" Hiei said, looking from Shadow to Mai. The two girl glared at each other and were instantly walking on opposite sides of Hiei.
"Now, now, children, let's all try to get along..." Eclipse said nervously. Shadow glared at her.
"You die now, Eclipse Shinomori," she said, running after the scared girl. The two of them were running circles around Hiei and Mai, who were still walking, for at least an hour. Finally, Shadow stopped, having completely forgotten what she was chasing Eclipse for. They both collapsed.
"Baka. You went and used all your energy," Hiei said, annoyed. He started to walk past, but Shadow reached up and grabbed his ankle, tripping him.
"No, you're not going anywhere! Just walk off and leave us behind like that, you would?" she said. "I think not. We'll stay here for the night."
"Yeah, see, it's already getting dark," Eclipse said, pointing at the sky. The sun was behind a cloud.
"Oh yeah, that's real dark, Eclipse. All we're going to do is waste time we could be looking for Kurama," Hiei said.
"We don't even have anything to go on, except that he's gone. Besides, you have to find some way up that huge cliff other than climbing, since that is physically impossible for a person such as myself," Shadow said. "I am not some macho 'woo-look-at-me-I'm-strong' type of person, I'm more of the weak 'you-mess-with-me-and-I-have-enough-strength-to-whip-your-ass-and-find-my-way-to-the-hospital-afterwards-before-I-pass-out-from-exhaustion' type of person."
"Yes, obviously."
"Are you sure we shouldn't bring Yusuke along?"
"Not if he doesn't want to come."
"What?"
"If he volunteered to, I would have agreed, but he didn't."
"Well that's cuz he's an ass hole," Shadow answered. Hiei shrugged.
"Hn. True."
"Glad you agree. Good night," Shadow said. She pulled her bag off her back and put it under her head as a pillow.
"Otousan, who is Kurama?" Mai asked. "I mean, I must have seen him, because I know there were three other people when I first saw you, but I don't remember him."
"Long red hair, green eyes, tall, and he was wearing white."
"Oh. Yeah, okay, I think I remember him now."
"Good for you," Hiei said dryly. He dropped his bag and walked away.
"Otousan! Where are you going?" Mai yelled.
"I'm just going to wander around here for a little while. Don't worry, I'm not just abandoning a bunch of nearly helpless girls in the wilderness. I might not be very caring, but I've got honor enough not to do that," Hiei said. He vanished into the forest.
"He's a loser, Mai. Why do you call him otousan?!" Eclipse asked.
"Because... Hiei-san is a really nice guy. He saved me twice! Yesterday being the second time, and the first time we met was because he saved me. I stayed with him for a while after that, before he just left one day. I vowed I would find him again, and now I have!"
"... Do you like... love him or something?" Eclipse asked.
"Otousan? Hiei-san? I love him as a father, nothing more."
"But... he's not your father."
"I wish he was. Then he wouldn't go and ditch me like he did."
"Don't be so sure..." Eclipse muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing!"
"Are you saying that if Hiei-san had kids, he'd just leave them somewhere alone in the forest?" Mai asked, horrified.
"Maybe, but I don't think he's going to have kids anytime soon... I think he's got his sights set on Shadow, and she's not quite into the whole kids thing, you know? Especially with Hiei. I think she likes Kurama better..." Eclipse said. No sooner was this out of her mouth than two black forms pounced on her.
Insert cloud of cartoony dust and stars and random shouted curse words.
"I HAVEN'T GOT MY SIGHTS SET ON ANYONE!!!"
"KURAMA?! KURAMA TRANSFORMS INTO THAT PERVERT FOX! I HATE HIM!"
"GOD HELP ME, I'M BEING MURDERED!"
"I REFUSE TO HAVE KIDS!"
"IF I LIKED KURAMA, THEN THAT WOULD PLEASE THAT DAMN FOX, BECAUSE HE KNOWS EVERYTHING THAT KURAMA IN HIS HUMAN FORM KNOWS!!! AND I'M NOT ABOUT TO HAVE ANY KIDS ANYTIME SOON EITHER!!! I'M FIFTEEN!!!"
"HEEEELLLLLPPPPP!!!"
Mai stared at the screaming ball of dust until finally Eclipse came flying out and slammed into a tree trunk. The dust and stars subsided and Shadow and Hiei were left standing there glaring at Eclipse. They realized how close they were, and they both seemed to vanish, then reappear at opposite ends of the clearing.
"How sweet," somebody said. "They're afraid of each other!"
Shadow spun around. "YUSUKE!" she shouted happily. Then she looked mad. "Baka lil' ass, you sneak up on me one more time like that and make some lame comment, I'll rip your heart out and feed it to you through your nose! GOT THAT?!"
"Yes ma'am!" he said sarcastically.
"Where's the real baka?" Hiei asked, looking around nervously.
"Kuwabara? Oh, I told him I was going out to buy some donuts. He's still at his house. He probably won't get suspicious until tomorrow morning when he decides he wants leftover donuts for breakfast and discovers nobody ever bought any donuts."
"Oh good. By then, even with three girls, we'll be far enough ahead he'll never catch up. Thank God you came, by the way, because if you hadn't I'd have been stuck with three girls until I found Kurama. Then I'd still be stuck with three girls... Just not alone..."
"Well, I take it we're camping here for the night?"
"Yeah, thanks to Shadow," Hiei said. Shadow smiled innocently.
"Okay, that's fine with me! I ran most of the way here anyway, just to catch up with you guys. I'm tired."
Yusuke suddenly fell asleep standing up. Very talented. A second later his legs gave out and he fell flat on his face, still not waking up.
"That's smart," Shadow muttered sarcastically. She lay down with her head on her bag and fell asleep almost as fast as Yusuke had, only she wasn't standing up.
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As Karasu gazed at Kurama's unconscious form, he was overcome with feelings and several rather disgusting, perverted ideas of what to do to the poor boy. He managed to control himself. He knelt beside Kurama.
"Kurama, wake up," he said quietly, shaking him. Kurama groaned.
"Hnnn... I don't..." he mumbled, waking up. He suddenly froze. Somebody was gently running their hand down his leg. He didn't like that, because last time he checked, he didn't know of anybody who would do that while he was asleep. Or while he was awake, either, come to think of it. Wait.
His eyes snapped open. Karasu's face was above him. Karasu's hand was on his leg. Kurama screamed and jumped up and backwards so fast he nearly fell over. Luckily, the wall was behind him. He leaned on it for support.
"Stay away from me! Don't touch me, you gay pervert!" Kurama yelled.
"Oh dear. You have no idea how hard it is for me to hear that from you, Kurama. I thought of all the people in the world, you might understand my needs. But now I see you're just like everybody else in this world..." Karasu said chokingly. He sniffled. "You're just like everyone else! You're just a stuck-up bastard who thinks he's better than everyone else! Too good to explore new experiences!"
Karasu ran crying from the room.
"Well that was... odd..." Kurama muttered.
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I think Kurama said it best. "Well that was odd…" Heh. Sorry, this is just slightly disturbing, I'm writing this story on a sugar high… Two chapters in one day, that's pretty good, right? Heh heh heh heh… *start laughing insanely*
R & R Pleeeez