Wow. I realized something the other day.

I've been on for over a year now.

That and this chapter wasn't posted. (I thought I had!!)

Anyway, I'm working on chappie ten, so hopefully it won't be so long between updates this time (of course, with school, who really knows?) Thanks to all the reviewers, as always!!

The trees were silent, and Hiei was glad for that. For some reason, at this hour of the night in the Makai, there were no fights, no commotions, and best of all-no stupid screaming ningens. Like Kuwabara. The fire youkai leaned against the tree, enjoying the rare peace. Just as he was about to drift to sleep, there was a rustling sound. Hiei jerked awake, his hand going to his katana, fingering its hilt. His eyes narrowed and the Jagan opened wide, searching for a trace of energy to tell Hiei who was disturbing his peace. The rustling grew louder, Hiei's grip on his katana more firm. Just as the first inch of the blade left the sheath, a silver blur darted by, nearly knocking Hiei out of the tree. Several branches below his original resting place, Hiei stood and stared after the blur, his eyes wide.

That couldn't have been. . . . he thought, and raced after it.

A youkai waited in the trees overlooking a clear pond, watching its prey. It would have a meal tonight, it would. The kitsune below the trees was completely immersed in thought, leaving it wide open for attack. The youkai shifted position to get a better view of what its prey was doing. Still staring at the water. That was good. The youkai pounced, hollering hoarsely.

Just as Hiei's blade was about to cut through it, several very thorny vines sprouted from out of nowhere, penetrating the thing's vital organs and ripping them apart. Hiei darted away from the bloodbath, having no desire to be the plant's next victim or to have his clothes stained with youkai gore, and turned to the silver kitsune sitting at the edge of the pond.

"And here I thought you were off your guard," Hiei commented. "Guess that shows me what I know about Youko Kurama."

The named kitsune laughed. "Guess that shows me that you do care," he said. "Would you have killed that thing had my plants not taken care of it?" Kurama kept his back turned, and kept staring at the pond, and Hiei had to wonder what was wrong.

"Wasn't I about to before they did?" Both turned and looked at what remained of the youkai. There wasn't much. Many of the vines had budded and sprouted sharp-toothed mouths that, done with the youkai's vital organs, were content with fighting over the body while a single, smaller vine munched on it.

"They'll notice that little guy soon," Kurama said. Hiei had a brief second wondering what Kurama was talking about before he saw the kitsune staring forlornly at the plants. "They'll notice him, and take him out before he can finish his meal."

"You've seen this before?"

"In many different forms," Kurama said. "Just when it seems like the underling is going to win, someone bigger and stronger takes it away from them." His lips curled into a sad smile. "May I inquire why you've decided to join me? It doesn't seem likely that you're just trying to be social."

"What happened in the Ningenkai?" Hiei asked. He frowned as Kurama's smile vanished. "Was it your stepbrother?"

"I said something stupid," Kurama replied. "And he did something stupid back. I couldn't deal with it, so I left."

"That sounds like how you usually get in fights," Hiei said. "Why should this time be any different?"

"It was about something that meant something to me," Kurama said. "He made fun of it and threw it in my face." This was a lie-Yuki did no such thing, Kurama scolded himself mentally under Hiei's gaze. He only did what I thought he would do, but I still couldn't deal with it.

"Your mother?"

"Hiei, drop it."

"I want to know what upset you so much that you'd come to the Makai to sort it out!" Hiei demanded. He was growing tired of Kurama's secrecy and irritated that he only heard half the story. "Believe it or not, fox, I consider you a comrade-a friend, if you will-and if a comrade is upset, then it's my job to see why you're upset and try to set it right."

"So that it doesn't distract the comrade while he's fighting," Kurama finished. Hiei made an irritated noise in the back of his throat, and Kurama looked slightly startled. "Fine, you want to know what we were fighting over?"

"What?"

"Love."

"Excuse me?" Hiei blurted, sounding surprised. "That stupid ningen emotion?"

"'Stupid ningen emotion' or not, that's what caused all this," Kurama said, almost as mad at Hiei as he was at Yuki earlier. It wasn't that Hiei had wronged him in any way, it was just that he was tired, and the little things were starting to get to him.

"Hn," Hiei replied. "That's stupid. You should go back."

"Not yet," Kurama said. "I'm going to stay here for a little while to try and sort things out."

"Fine." And Hiei left.

"He hasn't come back yet?"

"Hush!" Yuki clapped his hand over Kuwabara's mouth, suddenly very aware of why the ningen's teammates often got frustrated with him. They stood in Kurama's room, discussing the kitsune's absence, and Yuki would rather that Shiori didn't hear what they were talking about. "Listen, Kuwabara, he hasn't come back yet. Shiori-san's got the police looking all over the place, but they haven't found a thing."

"But what if he's in the Makai?" Kuwabara whispered as Yuki removed the hand covering his mouth. "We could ask Koenma. . . . "

"We could," Yuki said. "But there's no guarantee that he's in the Makai yet. I'd rather wait until we're sure he's not here." The two boys fell silent as they heard Shiori walk by the room, muttering to herself. "I wonder if he even thought about what Shiori'd do."

"I wonder why he ran away," Kuwabara said, sitting down on Kurama's perfectly made bed. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Yuki said, gritting his teeth. "If it helps, blame me for his absence."

"Really?"

"We got into a fight."

"But you always fought before."

"Kuwabara!!" Yuki hissed. "I don't want to tell you! You and Yusuke are just like each other, always poking your noses into other people's business! Don't you guys have anything better to do?"

"Geez, you don't have to get so worked up about it," Kuwabara said. "I just wanna know what happened to Ku-Shuichi."

"What'd you say?" Yuki asked, turning to face Kuwabara.

"I said Shuichi!" Kuwabara yelped, not wanting to deal with Kurama if the kitsune found out the ningen had blown his secret. "Why? What did you think I said?" Kuwabara bit his lip and tried desperately to think of something to distract Yuki.

"Sorry, I must be hearing things," Yuki said. "Shuichi's run away has really got me thrown into a loop."

"You must care about him then," Kuwabara said. "I mean, you guys are brothers . . . kinda."

Yuki sighed, and made some sort of a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. "We are brothers, stepbrothers at least," he said. He made the noise again, and Kuwabara jumped backward slightly. "And that's what got us into this whole damn mess."

"What do you mean?"
"Something you wouldn't understand," Yuki said, looking over his stepbrother's neat room and heading for the door.

Kuwabara followed. "Are you calling me stupid?"

"Perhaps."

"He's not back yet Urameshi," Kuwabara said, walking into Koenma's tiled office where the Reikai Tantei were supposed to meet with the demi-god. Said demi-god wasn't there yet, so Yusuke and Kuwabara had a chance to talk.

"You asked, you didn't just assume?" Yusuke questioned.

"I found Yuki and I asked, Urameshi, just like you told me to," Kuwabara confirmed, crossing his arms and looking slightly angry. "I don't see why you can't do it yourself if you're so worried."

"I said I wouldn't walk back into that house until Kurama returned," Yusuke said. "And I plan on keeping to my word." At that moment, they fell silent as Koenma, Jorge, and Botan walked into the room. "What's up?" Yusuke asked as Koenma eyed the two skeptically.

"Where's Kurama and Hiei?" Koenma asked. "Didn't I say that all four of you were supposed to come?" He placed his hands on his hips and looked over the two tantei. "Didn't I, Jorge?"

"Oh, yes, Koenma-sama," Jorge said.

Yusuke let out a breath. "Kurama ran away from home and no one can find him," the tantei said. Koenma's jaw dropped open. Kurama had run away? What had gotten into him? "And without Kurama, there's no chance at finding Hiei, so we didn't even try."

"Well this is just great," Koenma muttered, walking back to his desk and falling into the chair. He looked strained. "We're missing two fighters when this sort of thing has to happen."

"What's up?" Yusuke asked. "Did that Yeirugan guy not respond again?"

"Our little threat worked too well," Koenma said. "Yeirugan's sent messengers to tell us that he will be in the Ningenkai in less than a week, demanding a fight with the Reikai Tantei." Said tantei's mouths dropped open in horror. "Exactly. Kurama told you two that Yeirugan is a formidable foe, did he not?"

"Said something like that," Yusuke said, barely able to get his words out. He coughed, and put on an air of confidence. "But why do we need Kurama and Hiei? I can take 'em just fine."

"Hey, what about me, Urameshi?"

"Told you once, told you enough Kuwabara. You don't fight, you sit there and look ugly," Yusuke said, grinning sarcastically at Kuwabara, not wanting the other to know that the tantei might actually need his help.

"Urameshi!!"

"To answer that question, Yusuke, Yeirugan wants to fight all of you," Koenma said. "If all four of you aren't there, he says he will refuse to fight, and go on a killing spree." The tantei's mouths hung open as a silence filled the room.

"But . . . that doesn't make sense!" Yusuke finally yelled.

"Much of what Yeirugan does makes no sense," Koenma retaliated. "I think that he believes you are not strong enough to take him on alone. Unfortunately, both for him and us, he is mistaken."

"But if Kurama thinks he's strong," Kuwabara said slowly, as if he were working out what he was going to say as he said it. "Doesn't he mean that he is strong?"

"Not for sure," Koenma said. "I suspect that Yeirugan used dirty tricks when he fought with Kurama and others in the Makai. But we'll be monitoring him here, so he won't have a chance to use them, or if he does we can warn you about them." Koenma sighed. "Either way, we have to get Hiei and Kurama back, or this whole discussion on how strong Yeirugan is will be for naught!"

"Hang on," Yusuke said. "If he goes on a killing spree, can't we just kill him? It'd be easier to attack him while his attention is distracted rather than fighting him outright." The other two males stared at the tantei.

"So you do use your brain," Koenma mumbled, then coughed. "Yusuke, do you really think he's that stupid? It's likely that he'll teleport to some remote area that it'll take you guys days to get to . . . like America or something."

"So, lemme get this straight," Yusuke said. "Yeirugan wants to fight all of us-in a battle royal of sorts-and if one of us isn't there, he'll teleport to someplace like America and start killing people?"

"That's the whole of it," Koenma said.

"It still doesn't make sense," Yusuke stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If I may add my two cents, Koenma-sama?" Jorge cut in. He had been silent most of the conversation, but now he just had to speak up. "Yeirugan might be testing his own strength, by seeing what he see him as."

"You know what," Koema began, "that actually makes sense." He coughed. "Whatever it is, you guys look for Kurama and Hiei, all right?" Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded before walking out the door.

"What's wrong?" Yuki had caught Yusuke and Kuwabara not soon after they had left the Reikai, and seemed concerned by the hopeless looks on their faces. "Did you guys ask about Shuichi?" When neither answered, Yuki's face fell. "It isn't . . . that bad . . . is it?"

"Shuichi's not in the Reikai," Yusuke said. "Because Koenma doesn't seem to know where he is either. Or if he did, he was trying to hide it." He sighed. "But that's not the problem right now. Yuki, have you heard of a youkai lord named Yeirugan?"

Something flashed in Yuki's eyes, but it was gone before either Yusuke or Kuwabara had a chance to identify it. "Yeah, I've heard his name a coupla times," the boy said. "But what of it? Have you gotten on his bad side?"

"Worse," Kuwabara mumbled. "In a week, he'll be here to fight us."

"Less than a week," Yusuke corrected. "And that's not even the worst of it. He wants all of us there-me, Kuwabara, Shuichi, and Hiei."

"And if we don't locate Shuichi and Hiei?"

"He'll go on a ningen killing spree somewhere where we can't get to him," Yusuke finished. "Yuki, we should see if Shu's in the Makai . . . it's our only chance."

Yuki's mouth hung open. "A . . . ningen killing spree!?" he yelped. "That man must be mad!"

"That's what I thought," Yusuke commented. "Now, Yuki, you know the problem, can you help us?" Yuki opened his mouth, but Yusuke cut him off. "The only ones who know how to open a portal to the Makai are Shu and Hiei, Kuwabara and I just follow 'em in."

"All right. . . . " Yuki said slowly, looking Yusuke over. "But I'll have you know that a good tantei can travel through the realms without having the help of a youkai." He folded his arms over his chest as Yusuke winced. "Do you guys think we have until tomorrow?"

"Hey!" Yusuke protested. "You didn't even give me a chance to reply to that last remark!!"

"Oh, was I supposed to?" Yuki questioned with a small smile on his face.

The dark-haired tantei clapped a hand to his forehead. "I can see why Shuichi gets into fights with this guy," he growled. "You say something and he completely rags you for it without giving you a chance to fight back."

"Oh come on," Yuki said, a smile still on his face, flipping his hair back over his shoulder in a mock-flirt gesture. "I'm not that bad, am I?" The smile fell. "Seriously, though, do you think we could start the search early tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I think so," Yusuke said, mulling over the facts in his mind. "We only got the news an hour ago."

"So we have to search the whole Makai in less than a week," Kuwabara stated, hoping he was wrong.

"WHAT?" Yusuke shouted. "You gotta be kidding me!" He turned to Yuki, who had his arms crossed and face turned down in thought. "Tell me there's an easier way to find him!"

"There is," Yuki said, raising his head. "Given the time, I could probably track his energy signal."

"All right!" Yusuke shouted.

"But it'll take a while if he doesn't want to be found."

"Damn." Yusuke looked at Yuki, who seemed to be deep in thought. "I know he doesn't want to be found, but isn't there a quicker way? Some sort of thing where we could just zap and have 'im here?"

"Not really," Yuki said. "But if Shuichi were to get into a fight or something that makes him use energy, I could find him."

"That doesn't help," Yusuke groaned, clapping a hand to his forehead. Kuwabara looked clueless as Yuki fixed Yusuke with an unreadable glare. "But . . . it's the best plan we've got, so let's go."

"That's what I wanted to hear," Yuki grinned.