~*~*~*~*~ Chapter 17 ~*~*~*~*~

Yusuke yawned and stretched his arms as far as they could go. They'd been walking for hours on end. But it wasn't the walking that was making him tired, O no, it was the immeasurable amount of boredom that had consumed and numbed his mind that did it. Hiei remained steadfast in his decision not to communicate. He merely stared at the empty darkness before them, guiding the way with his Jagan eye. The last he'd spoken it had been a very sharp and to the point "hn".

"Hn." That was Hiei in a nutshell. Apart from "baka," "hn" was perhaps his favorite word. Or at least you'd think so from the vast amount of times he had used it. It was his all purpose answer to everything. Neither "yes" or "no". Had Yusuke been any sort of psychologist-or the type of person who analyzed his friends- he might of though this word was a subtle cry for help. Or perhaps a sign of his unwillingness to make a decision. But being Yusuke, he merely assumed that Hiei was the sort of stand-offish type that hated to talk. To summarize, Hiei was anti-social, and hardly one to consider when you wanted to converse.

And then there was Kuwabara.

That red-headed teen wasn't in the least bit anti-social. If anything he was too social. Sure, you could get him in a conversation easy enough. But the results often had the same effect as a marathon of the children's TV show Barney. In other words, Kazuma Kuwabara killed brain cells.

Though don't let it be said that Kuwabara didn't have a deep side. He was loyal, a fairly good fighter and, above all, someone who'd always stand by you. In some respects he was a tad annoying but at least there was good in him. You just had to stand the bad parts to get to it.

Presently, Kuwabara was the caboose of the troop and was whistling a tune that sounded suspiciously like "Winter Wonderland."

That song was trying his patience. Some time after the icicle had come crashing down, Yusuke had started humming a little snippet of the song. More or less something to distract him from the eerie silence. Soon afterward, he discovered the song had entered his head and refused to leave. Now, no matter what he did, he kept repeating the same line over and over in his head.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....Walking in a Winter Wonderland...Walking in a- It was like a broken record! If only he knew a little more of the it then perhaps he wouldn't find the impertinent song quite so annoying.

At length, Yusuke ventured to break the silence- and the record- with an insight that had been weighing on his mind for the majority of the walk, "You know, I almost wish we had run into a monster. At least it'd be sort of exciting."

Kuwabara was more then happy to help in his silence breaking, "Yeah. This is so boring. This maze has got to end soon." Kuwabara probably meant to be make idle chit chat but it came off as whining instead.

Of course, Hiei couldn't stand whining, "If you want excitement so badly, there's an ice dragon waiting down that path there." He pointed down an adjourning path to their right.

Kuwabara took one look down the foreboding path, pictured himself being snapped in two between the ice dragon's teeth, and decidedly declined. There was probably a boss monster at the end of the maze anyway. And it was better to rest up for the, no doubt, trying battle rather than go flouncing of after every monster.

He voiced this, but in a less cowardly and more braggart way. His opinion made Yusuke agree and Hiei scoff with his trademarked "hn." (Which may or may not be a cry for help or a sign of indecision.)

Then again, perhaps Hiei was just afraid to voice his opinion. Afraid of how others would react to it. Ah, a complex specimen, that Hiei. So filled with inner turmoil and self-doubt that one wonders why he still gets up in the morning.

"If you must know, we're reaching the end of the maze."

This brought Yusuke and Kuwabara such joy at finally being out of the incessant cycle of boredom that they broke free from their ranks and went rushing pat Hiei, screaming "huzzahs" and "hoorahs" all the way.

Hiei watched after them with a startled expression that his face so rarely featured, and then ran after them. There was no one to see him do so after all.

When Hiei got up with the two-It didn't take long, despite the fact that the teens had much longer legs he still more them matched them for speed- he found Yusuke and Kuwabara in state of shock.

He looked at the thing that had caused this state and had his personality allowed it, would've been in the same state.

Before the group stood a woman. A scantily clad one at that. She was perched in her white and revealing costume atop a small ledge which could be reached be a nearby staircase.

Though she may have been at a considerable height away from the three but they could clearly tell who this mysterious person was. Her identifiers were her long white-blond hair and her seductive smile.

Indeed, it was the woman they'd clearly seen in the mug shot.

Arisu.

~*~*~*~*~

Koenma looked around him. There wasn't an ogre in sight. Why would there be? They were all on their lunch break after all. Koenma hadn't wanted to give the ogres a lunch break- or a break of any kind for that matter. Had the Rekai prince had his way the ogres would be working seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, and three hundred and sixty-five days out of the year. Three hundred and sixty-six on leap years of course.

But, unfortunately, the blasted ogre's Union had called for it. So he had to give it to them.

But for once, the toddler hadn't been so furious when the ogres took their leave. In fact he'd been somewhat relieved. It gave him a brief moment out of the day in which he could reflect on the disturbing news he'd been feed not but this afternoon.

Arisu.

He hadn't wanted to believe it at first but the scent was undeniable. Lemons and snowdrops. She'd always smelled like that.

He cast a wary glance about him. Searching for prying eyes. After all seemed to be clear, Koenma bent down and pulled a the bottom drawer of his desk open. The drawer was empty.

Almost empty. One thing dwelled in the drawer.

A picture. And fairly old by the look of it. Koenma transformed into his teenage form so that he wouldn't have to get off his chair to lift the photograph from its wooden prison.

It was one of his most treasured possessions. But what did the picture hold?

It was a picture of Koenma. His form was that of a teenager as he was now. He hadn't changed in the least. On his arm was a woman. The smiling woman was none other then Arisu.

It pained Koenma to think of what had become of her. From the smiling woman he'd cared so deeply for to the horrible thief in the mug shot.

And it was her brother's doing! She'd gone off to see him. He'd sent word that he'd fallen ill and wished for company. Arisu had been so caring of her twin that she didn't even thought twice before packing and leaving for the castle in the frozen realm of the demon world.

She'd never come back. Koenma never knew what had passed between her and her brother. What had made her resort to a life of crime. And he never would find out. The next he saw of her was the mug shot.

And what a sad day that had been.

The prince pushed the memory aside. He didn't want to think of it. Mad with himself and the girl who betrayed his trust, he put the photograph back into the drawer. He rose to his feet and with a pop he was his old toddler-self again. With a fleeting look at the drawer he scampered out of his office and over to the cafeteria. Maybe there was a doughnut or two left.

~*~*~*~*~

The first thing Botan did when she finally snapped out of her trance was cry hysterically. Honestly, what would you have done in her situation? There was no way out the tower. And if there was she'd still be lost in a frozen wasteland.

She flung herself on the bed and wept into her pillow. Her tears had soaked through it by the time she had finally managed to cry herself to sleep.

Little did she know Hakuma had watched the entire thing from his mirror.

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