Okay!! Here's an update finally! Thanks for all the reviews!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.
There's nothing I feel I have to reply to, so I suppose it's straight to the story.
-Nagem
"So . . . he's missing. Why does this concern me, Kurama?"
Koenma's teenage form rapped his knuckles against his desk, eyeing the Youko turned human in front of him. Kurama had come in, demanding an audience with Koenma, threatening half the demi-god's secretaries in the process. Koenma knew it wasn't a good idea to piss off Youko Kurama, but he felt the kitsune had overstepped the boundaries.
"I thought you didn't even care about him," Koenma went on.
"I don't," Kurama said, eyes narrowing. "But my 'kassan does. That's why I'm here. I thought that perhaps Yierugan had found me, and figured out my connection with him . . . and. . . . " Kurama broke off, and, despite the hatred he had for his stepbrother, felt a mixture of concern and guilt rise in his chest.
Koenma ignored Kurama's sudden silence. "Even if Yierugan had learned so much about your human form, why would he kidnap Yuki? If he was as informed as you make it sound, he'd know that you care for your mother than the boy."
"I don't know," Kurama said. "I was just . . . making sure that I was wrong." Kurama gritted his teeth as he looked at the ground. "I can't be sure of anything."
"I know," Koenma said, suppressing a sigh. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll check with Yierugan and see if any ningens have entered his territory."
"Domo arigato," Kurama said, and left.
"So, what did Koenma say?" Yusuke asked as he and Kurama walked through the Ningenkai to Kurama's home-the kitsune had somehow gotten roped into helping his fellow tantei work on his homework-again.
"He's going to ask Yierugan if any ningens have entered his territory-namely, Yuki," Kurama said, his voice flat and without emotion. "Somehow, I don't think Yuki would be able to manage his way through the Makai and into Yierugan's territory. And I don't really believe that Yierugan would have captured Yuki-Koenma's right. If he did know that much about my ningen life, then he'd go for 'kassan instead."
"Koenma said that?" Yusuke asked. Kurama nodded. "Wow, the toddler does have a brain." Kurama choked back a laugh, but his good mood was quickly smothered by the sight of policemen surrounding his house. Green eyes narrowed as Yusuke said, "Somehow, I don't think that's normal."
"You have quite a way to state the obvious, Yusuke," Kurama commented as they approached the house. Several eyes shaded by sunglasses stared at the teenage boys. Kurama ignored the tendril of fear snaking through his back-he'd never liked police officers.
"Shuichi! Yusuke!" Shiori ran out of the house to greet them, throwing her arms around Kurama in a brief hug.
"'Kassan?" Kurama asked tentatively, motioning to the policemen.
"Keiichi called them in when Yuki didn't show up," Shiori said.
Kurama frowned. "I thought he said that Yuki had vanished like this before, and was just fine."
"He did," Keiichi said, joining them on the front lawn. "But, lately, Shiori and I have been finding clothes of his that are bloodied, with holes ripped in the back of the shirts. I don't know what it means, but it worries me."
"When did you find them?" Kurama asked, intrigued that Keiichi was so worried but hadn't done anything before just then.
"This morning," Keiichi said. "It doesn't make any sense."
It doesn't, Kurama thought, but remained silent, his face blank. There were too many things about Yuki that Kurama didn't know-he realized that then as he stood in front of his parents, wondering where the goth could be. Thoughts of the Makai fled his mind as he put the facts together-there couldn't be any way that Yuki could be in the Makai and be able to drop his clothes where Keiichi could find them.
"Shuichi?" Shiori said, jerking Kurama out of his thoughts. Kurama caught her eye and nodded to show he was listening. "Please keep an eye out for Yuki when you go anywhere."
"Hai, 'kassan," Kurama said, nodding. He carefully walked past the police and into the house. Once he and Yusuke were in the kitsune's room, Kurama turned to the tantei.
"Doesn't make sense, does it?" Yusuke asked before Kurama could open his mouth. The kitsune shook his head, suddenly unable to comprehend the situation exactly. "I don't get it either."
"Nothing fits together," Kurama burst out suddenly. "Usually situations like this have facts that fit together, like a puzzle." Yusuke stared at Kurama, watching in interest. "But this time, I have a part of the picture, but the other part has so many pieces missing I can't even begin to make out the rest of the picture." Kurama seemed to come to himself and stared at Yusuke. "I'm sorry, things have never been this. . . . "
"Odd," Yusuke finished for him. "I know."
"Let's get started then," Kurama said, setting his school bag down and pulling out several sheets of paper. "What are you having the most trouble on?"
"This problem here," Yusuke said, pointing.
Three days later found Kurama inside Koenma's office again. Beside him stood Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara, with Koenma pacing in front of the group. The room was tense, the air was heavy and there seemed to be a sort of accursed silence that no one with sense was willing to break.
So Kuwabara took that duty. "Why are we here?" he asked finally. "I mean, I think it's kinda pointless to watch Koenma walk around in circles." The occupants of the room stirred slightly at the ningen's words, and a grunted, "Baka," was heard from Hiei.
Koenma cleared his throat. "Yierugan has ignored us completely," he said. "I believe it's about time that we did something."
"As in?" Kurama asked, his voice cutting through the air.
"We send you in," Koenma said, turning to the tantei. There was complete silence, even Yusuke didn't yell out his usual complaints. All of the tantei were in deep thought. If Yierugan was ignoring Koenma's summons, that meant he was either very powerful or overconfident. They were all hoping that it was the latter.
"When?" Yusuke asked. "I have a date with Keiko day after tomorrow, and Kurama shouldn't go anywhere without telling his mom."
"Sorry, Yusuke," Koenma said. "But you'll have to postpone your date. I'm giving you enough time to settle things in the Ningenkai, about three hours, and then you're leaving. As for you, Kurama. . . . Just tell your mom that you're going on a school trip." Finishing his sentence, Koenma rubbed his temples, where a headache was threatening to overtake him. He hated to do this to his tantei, especially after helping to get one of them in trouble.
"That excuse is overused," Kurama said, not expecting anyone to answer him.
"I know," Koenma said. "All right, I'll send Botan for you in a few hours." He nodded a dismissal, and watched as the tantei filed out the door one by one. He rubbed his temples again and ordered Jorge to get him a painkiller.
Kurama slipped into his room relatively unnoticed, except for the brief greeting given to him by Keiichi. He took out a small bag and began packing. He didn't pack much-it was bad to be found with too much on you in the Makai. A spare pair of pants, a brush, some spare seeds. He tucked the bag under his bed, and went to talk to his mother.
"Shuichi?" Shiori looked up from where she was making dinner. She saw his face, put down what she was working on, and walked up to him. "Is there something wrong?"
"You know about my part time job, right?" Kurama asked. That's what the Rekai Tantei was to Shiori-a part-time job for her son. She nodded. "Well, as a . . . promotional thing, they've invited me on a trip." Kurama winced inwardly-the lie sounded fake even to his own ears.
"Where to?" Shiori asked.
"America," Kurama said quickly, too quickly. This wasn't turning out like he had wanted it to.
"That seems like a long trip for a part-time teenager," Shiori said, returning to whatever it was that she had been doing before Kurama had spoken.
"My superiors . . . enjoy my company," Kurama said. He winced visibly-Shiori was getting wise to his lies. "They said that I could represent the teenage population of Japan better than they could." Kurama honestly had no idea where this conversation was going.
"I see," Shiori said. "Where can I reach you if you go?" Even though he knew why she asked, Kurama still felt a pang of anger at her for questioning him like she was. When he didn't answer, she turned to him. "Shuichi?"
"I'd say my cell phone, but I don't know if I'd have any service," Kurama said. It was true, he had never tried to use a cell phone in the Makai. He doubted it would work. "And I don't know the phone number of the hotel we're staying at."
"Well," Shiori said.
"Please 'kassan?" Kurama asked.
"All right," Shiori said, rather reluctantly. "But call me as soon as you can, all right Shuichi?"
"Right," Kurama agreed. "I will." If I do get the chance, Kurama thought.
"How soon are you leaving?" Shiori asked.
"In a few hours," Kurama said. "I had better get going." He kissed Shiori on the cheek and left quickly, hoping to avoid any further questioning.
Kurama met up with Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei at the park they used to create a portal to the Makai in. It was old, deserted because of the rusty playground equipment and overgrown biking paths. The tantei had never seen anyone there before, and if there was a visitor, it was probably the drunk sort who would think that four teenage boys disappearing into a dark portal was just a hallucination. Three of the four (Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama) carried small packs over their shoulders, holding enough to last them an overnight trip.
"Well?" Hiei said finally, after what seemed to be hours of silence, even though it had only been ten minutes since the group assembled. "Is he going to come or are we going to sit around here all day?"
"I don't know," Kurama said. "He didn't say he'd come, but he didn't say he wouldn't."
"Well damn him then!" Yusuke snorted. "Stupid toddler."
"Yusuke!" Botan came flying in on her oar, managing to smack Yusuke on the head with it as she landed. "Watch your mouth!" The four stared at her, Yusuke rubbing his head, as she turned to an empty space of air. "Koenma-sama's filling out another form for another robbery, so he couldn't come. I'm filling in."
"Stating the obvious," Hiei grunted.
Botan went several shades of red, hearing the insult. "Be quiet, you!" she hissed. Turning to the other three, she smiled. "You're to find Yierugan-his territory is deep in the Makai, in one of the more dangerous forests. Kurama and Hiei have been there before, though." The named tantei nodded. "You find him, tell him to answer to Koenma's summons, fight him if needed, and then come back." She grinned at the looks on their faces. "Sounds tougher than it is."
"Right," Kuwabara answered weakly.
"Let's get it over with," Kurama said, a note of confidence in his voice. But he was white. Very white. He had no desire to face his partner's killer. Botan nodded and backed away from the boys, letting Kurama take the lead. The kitsune raised a hand that glowed with ki. He drove it through the damp air of the night around them. For a moment, it looked like a piece of confetti falling slowly, then the portal opened. Kurama shook his hand, and the ki vanished from it.
"Well, come on," Yusuke said, walking past Kurama into the portal. The kitsune watched Kuwabara followed, then entered himself. A few moments later, he felt Hiei's ki behind him.
Yusuke was speaking when he and Kuwabara materialized in front of Kurama. ". . . Kurama and Hiei can lead us, and then I'll do the fighting."
"What about me Urameshi?" Kuwabara protested as Kurama shook his head to clear away the haze the trip had left in his mind. "I gotta do something!"
"You're just there to look stupid," Yusuke grinned. "Hey, Kurama, Hiei."
"Hn," Hiei grunted from behind Kurama. "Let's just get this stupid thing over with."
"Lead the way," Yusuke replied, stepping to the side, letting Kurama and Hiei take the lead.
They had been walking for hours. Yusuke and Kuwabara trudged along a makeshift path-if one could even call the narrow spaces between the trees that-following a flashing silver tail in front of them as Hiei flitted through the trees. Every once in a while, Yusuke and Kuwabara would loose sight of the silver tail, and Kurama would voice a short bark to make his teammates look in his direction.
"Why did Kurama decide to walk in that form?" Kuwabara asked.
"I don't know," Yusuke said. "Something about Yierugan's smell being easier to track down like that."
"Bakas," Hiei said, landing in front of the group. "It's easier for him to follow ki trails like that-he can smell them in that form." Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at Hiei for a moment before the silver-haired Youko Kurama appeared from what seemed like nowhere beside them.
"Don't do that!" Kuwabara shouted, jumping away from the golden-eyed youko.
"What's up, Kurama?" Yusuke said, turning to face his teammate.
"I just wanted to let you know that we're entering the forest Botan was speaking of," Kurama said gruffly. "And give you a warning-there are man-eating trees in this forest. I suggest you be on your guard."
Kuwabara paled. "Right."
"How much longer?" Yusuke asked, looking to either fox or fire youkai for the answer. Hiei's Jagan glowed as Kurama sniffed at the air.
"A day's travel," they said together. Kurama continued, "We should make camp soon. Yeirugan is no easy foe-even fully rested we hardly have a chance to defeat him." He looked up into the sky. "We have about an hour before sundown."
"I vote we make camp right here!" Kuwabara declared, terrified at the thought of facing man-eating trees.
Yusuke shook his head. "We should travel at least a little while longer," he said. Kuwabara bit his lip, but nodded, and the group resumed their journey.
The rest of the day was uneventful-Kurama stopped them ten minutes before sundown to tell them that if they didn't at least start a camp now, they'd be doing it all in the dark. Yusuke and Kuwabara quickly responded-dumping theirs and Kurama's stuff, they bolted into the woods to find firewood. Yusuke made it back before sundown, but in the thickly-wooded forest it didn't make much difference. Kuwabara was right on his heels, screaming about man-eating trees.
"I warned you," Kurama said as he reverted to his human form.
"But-but-but-it came out of nowhere!" Kuwabara protested as Yusuke yelped and jumped away from the fire pit as Hiei flamed the logs, sending sparks in every direction. "One minute I was fine, the next I was ten seconds away from having my head bitten off."
"They do that," Kurama replied.
After an uneventful supper (save Kuwabara's constant yelling about the trees) Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama laid out their bedrolls and fell into them, worn-out from the constant traveling of the day. Hiei vanished into one of the trees, and the group knew he'd keep one eye open for any intruders. Still, they debated about watch until Hiei yelled that he would do it if they would just shut up-they were going to attract too many moving, man-eating plants this way.
"He's not serious?" Kuwabara yelped, diving into his sleeping bag, Yusuke not two seconds behind him into his own.
"He's telling a lie," Kurama said, snuggling his head into the miniature pillow he had brought. "Now sleep." As he heard Yusuke and Kuwabara's soft breathing melt into snores, Kurama was sure he wasn't going to be able to get to sleep, but his pillow smelled of his mother, and brought him comfort as he drifted off.
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