"So where do you think Hiei ran off to," Yusuke asked as he walked down the sidewalk with Kurama away from Genkai's temple.

"I'm not sure, but he didn't seem very pleased."

"Heh, no kidding, ya think?"

The Kitsune sighed, folding his arms over his chest and closing his eyes slightly, staring at the ground in front of his feet as he walked. "Well, on another matter, what confuses me is how there was no detection of another being on Kuwabara at all when we found him. Which meant that-"

"That whoever the hell had beef with him didn't want to stand out, so he hit fast then ran off, right?"

"Exactly."

"Well whose got a reason to kill him? I mean- I know Kuwa doesn't have the best rep or anything, but he's a good guy."

Kurama nodded, his fingers tapping at his arms as his lips pursed in thought, his brows furrowing together with concentration.

"Perhaps…the answer is hidden right beneath our noses."

Blinking, the spirit detective tilted his head to the side, then stopped and looked down, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"It was only an expression," Kurama added as he continued to walk, smiling a bit to himself.

"Uh, yeah I knew that, I was just thinkin," the black-haired teen replied quickly with a bit of a blush, catching up to his companion then sighing as his head tilted back. "This sucks ya know…what if the attacker was aiming for Yukina and just missed? That's possible, isn't it?"

"I suppose, but the wound seemed deliberate enough to be assumed precise."

"…In English please?"

"Gomen, I'm saying that the attack was close range, directly in front of him as Yukina tells us, and the attacker was quick enough to have stuck her as well, but he did not. He didn't want to hurt her, only him."

Yusuke nodded, shrugging his shoulders a little bit. Yeah, that made sense. Course Kurama could say that birds swam under water and he'd believe it. Something just seemed off about the whole thing…especially the timing.

"Hey, you know that Kuwa proposed to Yukina earlier that day right?"

"Hai. Do you think that could lead to a motive," Kurama asked, shifting his emerald pools over, his brows lifted in curious speculation.

"Pssh, I don't know. She definitely didn't have another boyfriend on the side or anything, that's for sure. Besides, Kuwabara would've known, and he's without a doubt a jealous guy." He laughed a little at that to himself, remembering the countless times Kuwabara would see someone looking at Yukina and he'd blow up and try to start a fight until the koorime would settle him down with just a pat on the arm and a sweet smile.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. It's always possible that a youkai simply was able to detect his ki and recognized it, then stuck for revenge or some other purpose. The only other I see that would have motive would be-"

Suddenly the two stopped, whipping their heads to look at each other, as they thought the same thing, before their eyes widened and they turned on their heels, sprinting back towards the temple as fast as they could.

Hn, why didn't you just die?

Hiei growled aloud as he sat in the tall cherry blossom tree, scowling towards the small window of Yukina's room. "Baka."

I should have cut off his head…But no, not in front of Yukina.

The screams alone were enough. They still rang through his ears, which twitched irritably every now and then. Was it that she was only mortified of the situation, or did she scream because of the fool?

"Maybe I am jealous…"

--Of course you are. You've been jealous all along Hiei. It has nothing to do with the fact that you dislike him; you don't want anyone to be with your Oniisan except for you. Or a demon at least…--

Was that it? The fool was a nigen, his sister an apparition. It wasn't meant to be from the start. Demons weren't supposed to mate with humans, it went against…Well, it was wrong.

"Damn."

But I hate him…the stupid arrogant idiot that he is. Yukina deserves better. She deserves to be happy.

--She is happy…--

Grrr, didn't I tell you to shut up already?!

The small fire demon snarled, leaning back against the main section of the tall tree as a faint breeze blew small pedals through the air under the clear sky.

How could his sister be happy with him? There were so many faults to him. Their heights were a problem for one; she was so petite and he was so giant. And he was clumsy and dumb and ugly and weak.

Although his sense of balance had improved over the years and he was studying hard to get into some nigen 'learning' college and he had overheard his sister telling him on occasion that he was very handsome and he had won well over his share of fights and was an asset to the Urameshi team because of his physical and mental abilities…Perhaps Kazuma Kuwabara had been underestimated.

As Hiei looked across Genkai's garden, his gaze returned back to the window of his sister's room. It looked as if the fool had fallen asleep again. He slept a great deal as it was, so the fire demon couldn't tell if it was because he was lazy or if he was truly drained.

"I'll give this nigen his chance, but if he makes one mistake… then I will kill him," he said finally after staying silent for a few minutes, calculating things to himself in his mind. He then stood on the branch, nodding to himself with one final glare towards the window, and flitted off again in a black blur.