"Yes, that's exactly the one I want," he said. Two figures dressed in suits stood watching a large screen in a dark room. They were the type of suits that would allow this pair to blend into a crowd of businessmen and never warrant a second glance. "What is his name again?" dark figure number one asked number two.

"He is called Hiei," the latter answered.

"Of course, so this is the controversial demon that possesses the Jagan eye, how wonderful." Displayed on the screen was a crude recording of the battle with Tsumetai on the snowy mountain top, which had taken place only the day before. This was the only light in the room and the scene played repeatedly while the two spoke.

Turning in his chair, figure number one could be seen if one strained one's eyes, but he appeared to be nothing more than an average man of middle age. Plain suits, plain faces, and plain haircuts allowed these men to go virtually anywhere without being noticed, but concealed within this average exterior was something much more sinister.

"I've made my decision," figure number one proclaimed, apparently the commanding presence of the two. "I would like Hiei next. Go fetch the bait, now, will you?"

"Yes sir," replied figure number two, and he left the room immediately.

The remaining man continued to watch the recording, then pressed a button somewhere in the darkness, pausing the action on a still screen of Hiei. He studied the image carefully and eventually a the corners of his thin lips curved upwards to form a smile.

"Hiei..."





"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Hiei thought, momentarily wondering what had possessed him to do the disgustingly human thing he was about to do.

He stood on the walk in front of the Minamino home, getting ready to ring the doorbell. He had been there for quite a while, debating whether or not he actually wanted to use the front door, rather than jumping through Kurama's bedroom window.

Finally, he summoned enough nerve and rang the bell. He waited, listening to footsteps from inside that sounded like they belonged to a woman. He cringed a bit, not wanting to face Kurama's mother but had prepared for it during his long time standing outside.

The door opened and he was now face to face with a navy blue haired woman, smiling at him. It was Minamino Shiori, Kurama's human mother, who had given him his second chance at life in his current body and who he loved dearly.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a polite and friendly manner to this small stranger.

"Is Ku - is Shuuichi home?"

"I'm afraid he's stepped out for a while with a friend, would you like me to tell him you stopped by?" she answered, still smiling. Hiei's death glare did not seem to affect her cheerful attitude at all.

"No, thank you, goodbye," he replied, and began walking away as quickly as possible, so Shiori would not have a chance to say anything further.

"He must be with that girl again," Hiei mumbled, knowing that Yusuke and Kuwabara had decided to stay home and waste the day sleeping after their battle on the mountain top. Though he knew it was ridiculous to care even the littlest bit about what Kurama did with this human girl, he began to feel a slight twinge of jealousy. He paced down the sidewalk, forgetting his usual route through the tree tops and became lost in thought. His attire of black robes was slightly strange in this warm spring weather and he received one or two stares from passers-by, but he did not notice.

"What's wrong with me..." he growled under his breath, scaring a nearby chipmunk close to death. Having feelings for anyone was not something Hiei wanted, it was far too inconvenient. Even caring for his own sister sometimes felt like a burden he did not deserve, but he loved her all the same. Letting Kurama into his heart, though, would surely prove too much to bear. Why, then, did he feel this sudden closeness?

"Hiei!"

The sudden sound of someone in the living world that was not familiar to him calling out his name startled him right out of his deep thoughts. He looked around, trying to find the owner of the voice and spotted Kyo running towards him.

"Hiei! Please, you need to help me!"

He stared at her for a moment not saying anything when she reached him. She was panting furiously and appeared to be injured. Her legs and face were covered in bruises and scrapes, and her clothing was dusty and torn in some places.

"Please, Kurama is in trouble!"

Hiei was now very interested in what she had to say.

"Kurama!?" He grabbed her by the shoulders tightly and raised his voice considerably. "What's happened to him!?"

"S-some beast flew out of the sky towards us," she stuttered, obviously frightened by the small man's grip on her, and even more so by the fact that he had fangs, which she had not noticed during their first meeting.

"What kind of 'beast'?" Hiei growled, leaning closer to her. She was very hesitant to answer, fearing he would do something terrible if she said the wrong thing.

"A huge black beast with wings... it looked dead, with rotting flesh and bones sticking out, and it stank horribly." Hiei loosened his grip slightly, some part of him suddenly realizing he was hurting a friend of Kurama's and making the muscles in his hands relax. Kyo, now becoming less worried that her arms were about to be broken, continued a bit more confidently.

"Then Kurama... he did something amazing, he pulled a huge vine of thorns out of nowhere and began fighting. Some people were running to call the police, but then the monster spit something at him, he fell to the ground and the beast carried him off in its talons..."

Hiei had now let go of her, his teeth were clenched in rage after listening to her recount what had happened.

"Hiei... what if it's killed him?" She choked out, falling to the ground in a heap as tears welled up and she began sobbing. Hiei, of course, had never dealt with a weeping girl before and apparently did not realize how distraught she was. He glared down at her for a moment, narrowed his eyes, and dashed off. Kyo had heard the rustle of grass and looked up not a split second later, but Hiei was gone. From her point of view, he had vanished into thin air, since she knew nothing of the Jaganshi's incredible speed. In fact, she knew nothing of the demon world at all, few humans did, and as anyone could imagine, the sights of her closest friend being kidnapped by a gigantic monster and a black haired boy disappearing before her eyes were overwhelming. Not knowing what else to do, she brought her hands to her face and cried, long and hard.



****

'Poor Kurama! Will our hero ever be able to survive this ordeal?'

'Oh, sir... really now, you already know what happened after that!'

'Yes but, hearing it again, the suspense is just killing me!'

'Let me continue then.'

****



"Yusuke!" A woman's voice shouted from outside the teen's bedroom window. "Yusuke, wake up! It's an emergency!"

"Nng... Go away mom, I'm tired..." He moaned, rolling over in his bed and covering his head with a pillow.

"Yusuke, It's Botan! I'm right outside your window, now wake up!" She called to him, pounding on the window pane.

"Huh...? Botan?" He finally managed to drag himself out of bed and walk over to the window. Opening it, he looked down and saw that Botan was floating on her oar, with Kuwabara waiting on the ground below.

"What's the big idea, waking me up like that? And what is that doofus doing with you?" Yusuke groaned, giving Botan a dirty look and wiggling his pinky finger around in his ear.

"You need to get dressed right away, Kurama's been taken."

"Taken!" He now jumped to attention and leaned out the window urgently. "Taken by what!?"

"We haven't been able to find much information on the demon that took him, other than it has a paralyzing saliva that it spits at its enemies to knock them into unconsciousness. They're trying to find out where it came from back in Spirit World, but right now your only goal is to save Kurama!" She informed him while he slipped out of his pajamas and started putting on clothes, not even caring if Botan caught a glimpse of his boxer shorts.

"Crazy acid spitting demons..." Yusuke mumbled as he tugged a shirt over his head.

"Also, just so you know... Hiei's gone on ahead of you, he ran off as soon as he heard what had happened."

"He would..." Yusuke growled when he had finished dressing. "I'll meet you guys outside," he said, hurrying out of his room. He was caught off-guard when he ran into the living room, however, by the sight of his mother, Keiko, and another young girl whom he had never seen before.

"Uh, what's going on?" he asked, scratching the side of his nose and staring at the three like a confused puppy.

"Yusuke, finally you're awake!" Keiko scolded and jumped up in front of him.

"Who is that?" He asked, pointing at the sobbing girl on the sofa who was being offered some cookies by his mother.

"Kurama's friend..." Keiko said in a softer tone, looking back at Kyo. "She was there when Kurama was kidnapped, we're kind of trying to break the whole demon thing to her slowly. Botan thought she deserved to know."

"I guess one more human knowing about demons isn't really going to hurt anybody..." he said while he studied the girl on the couch.

"You'd better get going, Yusuke!" Keiko shouted quickly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot!" He turned and raced out the front door without saying goodbye to meet with Kuwabara and Botan outside.

"Follow me, boys, you can take the bus across town but after that I'm afraid you're going to have to run the rest of the way!" Botan called, flying off towards the other side of town.

"Man, that crazy ice demon and now this, all in the same week!" Kuwabara complained and they ran after Botan.

"It's like somebody is seeing how much we can handle all at once," Yusuke said, glaring up at the sky and wondering if a certain toddler in Spirit World had it out for him.