Kurama woke in the morning to find Hiei peering down at him.
"Good morn..." Kurama began and was cut off as the Jiganshi leaned suddenly close to him. "Hiei?" Kurama asked, but instead of answering, Hiei pulled off the bandana he had sometime during the night secured to his third eye. Not understanding, Kurama watched as the jagan rolled open and stared aimlessly. "Hiei?"
"Hn." Hiei said, not moving, the jagan peering left and right as though searching for something. "I can't see you, Fox."
"What?"
Hiei leaned closer. "My jagan can't see you. I can see you. I..." He stopped and pulled away. He kept his face turned away. He spoke through his teeth as though he wanted anything else than to be explaining this to Kurama. "There is something wrong with my jagan. I can't see her at all anymore..."
"Her? You can't find Yukina, you mean...?"
"I mean what I said."
Kurama sighed. "How long has it...?"
Hiei didn't answer, but Kurama, who had stood and come up to him saw the troubled look on his face, the frustrated thinning of his lips.
Kurama reached out toward the eye and touched it. Hiei growled and slapped his hand away, cupping the eye in a hand. "What are you doing, Fox?"
"Perhaps you should talk to Koenma."
"That buffoon." Hiei said, but Kurama knew he must have already thought about him.
"Talk to him, Hiei." Kurama said, then added, because he knew the effect, calculated it, knew it would work, "If nothing else you can ask him about Yukina. Koenma knows much more about the spirit world and the human world than either of us, Hiei."
"Hn." Hiei said and Kurama knew he would do it.
"Hiei?" Kurama asked."What happened last night...why...?"
When Hiei stayed silent, Kurama thought the Jiganshi had ignored the question. He was wrong. "I couldn't see you." he repeated, then added. "I hurried back and I....fell."
"You fell?"
Hiei looked back at his incredulous look with seeming disinterest.
"Go see Koenma, Hiei." Kurama said. "I'll find out what I can here. I'll see the psychic, Genkai...perhaps...." Kurama stopped in the middle of his words.
He couldn't say when he had gone, but Hiei was nowhere in sight.
Kurama sighed.
...to be continued...