HEEEEYYY!! Sorry it's been a while. I was gone, didn't feel like working on it, and then I was gone again. Ooops. Oh, well, thanks to those of you who reviewed . . . and I hope more people do!! Anyway, here's chapter 3. It makes me sooooo happy!! *Hugs Kurama plushie*

Hiei: I should think so. You make Kurama clueless enough.

Nagem: What does that mean? *Throws Kurama plushie at Hiei's head* OH NO!! WHAT HAVE I DONE???

Hiei: I'd venture to say that you threw this at me.

Nagem: x.x

CHAPTER THREE.

Botan threw nervous glances at Kurama as she opened the portal to the Makai. He seemed to be playing along so far . . . (But he'll eventually find out what's going on,) Botan thought. He seemed to be quite content at the moment, chatting with Yusuke while Kuwabara watched Botan, looking as though he had seen a ghost. As she made the final adjustments to the portal, it turned a sickly purple.
"There," she said, putting an end to the conversation. "I think that's it." Kurama and Yusuke nodded, while some green tinged Kuwbara's pale face.
"You don't have to come," Yusuke said. "We can handle this."
"Whadda ya talking about Urameshi?" Kuwabara demanded. "Of course I'm coming!! You'd screw it up without me."
"Don't I count for something?" Kurama asked, coming forward, toward the portal. Yusuke grinned, and Kuwabara looked slightly put-out.
"Sorry," Kuwabara said. "Yeah, you count." He though for a moment. "I wasn't talking about you, though."
"Right," Kurama said. It was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "Well, then, shall we get going?"
"You should," Botan said. "The sooner you catch the criminals, the better." She thought about it. (Take your time,) she thought. (We have no idea how long it will take to catch Karasu. Poor Kurama.) She nodded at Yusuke, hoping he got the message as he stepped into the portal.
"We'll be back," Kuwabara promised as he followed Yusuke. Kurama didn't say a word, but nodded at Botan, as if he knew exactly what was going on. When all of them had dissappeared, she sighed and closed the portal.
"Sorry, Kurama," she said to where the young man had been standing a minute before. "But I think this is the best way to keep you out of trouble." She summoned her oar and flew off for the Spirit World. "I'm sorry."

Koenma fidgeted nervously in his chair as he waited for Botan to return. He didn't even look at the television, where the three monitered fighters moved through the demon world. He had glanced at it when they had first entered the screen, and gave a sigh of relief. Kurama had appeared to be playing along, seemingly turning all his mind to the mission ahead of them. Botan came in, her pink kimono ruffled from the wind.
"So, did Kurama suspect anything?" Koenma asked. Botan avoided his eyes and looked around nervously. "Well?"
"Worse, Koenma sir," Botan said. "He acted like he knew exactly what was going on, and what we were doing."
"Poopy!" Koenma said.
"But Koenma sir, it doesn't mean he really knows," Jorge said. "It could be just an act. You know how he is."
"Of course!!" Koenma yelled. "I knew that! I was just thinking about what we were going to do about Karasu. We have every spare oni looking for him in the Spirit World, but there's no way we can search the human world!"

"Do you think that's where he is?" Botan asked.
"Yes," Koenma said. "But there's no way we can search there without someone noticing!!" He turned to Jorge, who was watching the screen with a puzzled look on his face. "What's wrong?"
"Where's Hiei?" he asked.
"That's it!!" Koenma said.
"What's it?" Botan asked.
"Bring Hiei to me," Koenma said. "I've got a little something for him to do while the others are away." Botan and Jorge looked at each other, smiling as they realized what Koenma was planning.
"A very good idea, Koenma sir," Jorge said as Botan walked out the door. Koenma grinned.
"Yep! I'm full of 'em!" Koenma said. Jorge scratched his head.
"Not from what I remember, Koenma sir," he said. Koenma leaped up and hit him on the head. "Ow!! You didn't have to hit me!!"

"So . . . where do you think we should start looking?" Yusuke asked as he, Kuwabara, and Kurama walked through a thick forest where they had arrived. Kuwabara looked nervous, but Kurama acted as though he was right at home. (Well, he did live here for nearly all of his life,) Yusuke reminded himself sternly.
"Kurama, what are you doing?" Kuwabara asked as Kurama knelt down next to a patch of flowers. Yusuke stopped and watched, too.
"Sorry," Kurama said. "It's just that Makai flowers are much more effective as weapons than human realm flowers are." It was part truth, but what he wasn't going to tell them was that these flowers, tended in the right manner, let their owner sleep dreamlessly. (Just what I need,) Kurama thought as he tucked the flowers in his hair and slipped the seeds in his pocket. Meanwhile, Yusuke and Kuwabara had taken to planning the next course of action.
"I think we should ask around and see if anyone had heard anything about the theives," Yusuke said.
"Are you kidding?" Kuwabara asked. "Remember what the demons were like the last time we were here?"
"Yeah," Yusuke said.
"So then what makes you think that they're going to tell us anything?"
"We'll just threaten them until we get the information we need," Yusuke said.
"I think that you and Hiei need to stop hanging around each other," Kuwabara said as he glanced over at Kurama. "What do you think?" Kurama smiled.
"I think you might be right," Kurama said. "He does seem to be picking up some of Hiei's characteristics." Yusuke scowled as Kurama and Kuwabara laughed silently.
"Fine, be that way, I think it's a good idea," Yusuke said.
"It was a joke," Kurama said.
"Yeah! Lighten up, Urameshi!!" Kuwabara said, though he couldn't help but laugh as Yusuke grumbled to himself.
"He is right though," Kurama said, "That is probably the only way we'd get any information out of the demons around here." He looked around. "I think we should go this way to get out of the forest." Yusuke smiled in spite of himself, and they walked in the direction Kurama had pointed.

"You called?" Hiei's scowl was more meanacing than Yusuke's as he surveyed Koenma while Botan waited nervously in the background. "Well?"
"I have something I want you to do," Koenma said.
"Well, I know that," Hiei growled. "What is it?"
"Karasu has returned." Hiei's eyes widened slightly. "And we want you to go and find him in the human realm, where he is probably hiding, plotting his revenge against Kurama."
"Ah, that's why you wanted to send Kurama to the Makai. As if it wasn't any more obvious before," Hiei said. It had to be the closest thing to sarcasm he had ever managed. Koenma frowned, and Botan backed away from the two of them.
"Well, will you?"
"Why not?" Hiei asked. "I've had nothing to do lately."
"Then it's settled!" Koenma said. "Botan, take Hiei to where Karasu would most likely be hiding."
"Right, Koenma sir," Botan said. "Hiei, folllow me." Hiei nodded and walked out of the office behind Botan.
"Well, that takes care of that," Koenma said.

Somewhere in the Makai, not too far away from where Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama were, a dark shadow lurked in one of the trees. A hand moved and played with its owner's long black hair in a bored manner.
"Things are going as planned," Karasu muttered to himself as he played with his hair and listened to the sounds of the three Spirit Detectives moving through the forest. He had hired a band of demons to steal a rare treasure to lure Kurama into the Makai. Of course, when they demanded the payment he had promised, he would kill them, but it was working.
"Yo! You there!" Karasu turned to see three of the demons he had hired walking to him. Karasu sighed. He had no time for trivial interruptions like this.
"What do you want?" he asked, jumping from the tree he had been resting in to face the three. They were obviously of lower rank in the band. The others wouldn't "waste" their time talking to him. They thought he was worthless, even after everything he had "promised".
"Our boss wants to know when you're gonna give us that money you said you would," one of the demons said. Karasu sighed.
"I think your boss has forgotten his place," Karasu said. "I told them I wouldn't pay them until I had gotten what I want."
"We have the treasures," said the second demon. "But you won't take them!!" Karasu smiled and put his hand on the demon's neck, forcing him to look Karasu in the eyes.
"Perhaps what I want is not the treasures, but something else," Karasu mused. The demon scowled, obviously not sensing the yoki the other demon was forcing into his body.
"Then what do you want?" the demon asked. Karasu smiled as he stopped the flow of yoki. He let go of the demon and walked to the tree.
"That is for me to know," he said. And with those words, the demon he had been talking to exploded.
"What the-?" one yelled.
"How'd that happen?" the other exclaimed.
"Simple," Karasu said. "I didn't like his tone of voice, so I decided to get rid of it." The other two looked horrified.
"YOU blew him up?" they asked.
"Yes," Karasu said simply. "And I'll do the same to you unless you tell your little boss what I told you." They ran off. Karasu thought a moment. "Now, what was that again? How many demons does it take to deliver a message?" He watched the two retreating backs. Then he smiled to himself. "Of course, how silly of me to forget. It takes one." He leapt. One demon turned aound fearfully, and Karasu laid his hands on the one who kept his back turned. As he leapt away again, the demon blew up.
"Shit," the remaining demon cursed.
"Remember," Karasu said. "This is why you do not turn your back on me without a proper send-off." The demon gulped. "Do you hear me?"
"Yes, sir," the demon spat.
"I don't like you, either," Karasu said. "But I think it would be hardly sensible to send a message without any messangers. I'll kill you another day. Begone." The demon ran. Karasu watched him as he vanished into the trees, and he turned back to where he had been listening before.
"You'll be mine, Kurama. Soon enough, you'll belong to me."



Hah, Hiei, I told you I'd get my plushie back. *Squeezes Kurama plushie*

Hiei: Hn.

Nagem: Right. Anyway, how do you like THAT turn of events? Hee-hee, I am so evil.

Hiei: Yes, you really are.

Nagem: Do I need to shut you up again? Anyway, please review.

Hiei: Makai knows she needs it.

Nagem: Hey!! *Throws Kurama plushie at Hiei* NOOOOOO! I DID IT AGAIN!!

Hiei: Hah! You're not getting it back this time.

Nagem: Yes, I forget how much you wuv you wittle Kuwama.

Hiei: Shut up!! *Throws Kurama plushie*

Nagem: x.x

Hiei: Oh, well. She told me to say, "Please review!!"