Whee! It's been a while, ne? Oh well, I've already got most of the next chapter done, so as long as I keep writing, updates might come more often now.

Interesting note of the day: Spellcheck wanted to place "Yuki" with "Yuri" I don't think Yuki-kun would like that very much. . . .

So, yes, review, and I think I'm actually starting to get somewhere here.

Kurama sat up in bed, reading, occasionally raising an eyebrow as his ears registered sounds from the house. It had been two days since he had woken up, and he still didn't feel strong enough to go to school, as he still vomited blood every few hours. Shiori had been insane with worry the first time she had seen her son with blood flowing smoothly out of his mouth and dripping down his chin, but he assured her that it was not a problem. He wasn't sure if his mother believed him, but she had nodded and let him go back to bed.

"Hey! He's up!" Kurama would have jumped up and fallen into a fighting stance if he had had the strength, but all he could manage was a kind of half-flop out of the bed. "You shouldn't be trying stuff like that, buddy."

"Thank you for the advice, Yusuke," Kurama retorted as the tantei helped him back into a sitting position. The kitsune shook his head, trying to clear it, and regarded the two people in front of him. Yusuke was grinning insanely, and Kuwabara smiled from his post at the door.

"You're still that weak, huh?" Yusuke asked, striding over and taking a seat at Kurama's desk. "This isn't like you, to get sick."

"Technically, I'm not supposed to," Kurama replied. "But this isn't an illness. I was. . . . " He trailed off for a moment, unsure of how to phrase his next thought. "Poisoned, sort of. By Yeirugan."

"How?" Yusuke asked.

"Those vines," Kurama replied. "Alive, they heal, but in death, under a necromancer's control, the dust they give off is poisonous."

"Oh, yeah," Yusuke said, thumping his right fist into his left palm. "I remember something like that. Inhaling dust."

"You sure, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked. "I don't remember that."

"That's because you were unconscious, baka." The voice was cold, and came from Kurama's open window.

"I don't need that from a shrimp like you!" Kuwabara retorted as Hiei jumped in, avoiding the kitsune's bed, landing gracefully on the floor. Hiei gave a snort which could have been a "hn" of sorts, but no one felt like deciphering it at the moment, and glared at Kurama.

The glared-at kitsune sighed half-heartedly. "I know, Hiei, I let my guard down," he said. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again, okay?"

"Hn," Hiei replied, taking a seat on the windowsill and tuning out of whatever conversation he had interrupted.

Yusuke stared at him. "Was that just me, or was that a tiny hint of Hiei caring for someone other than himself?" Hiei, who had heard the comment, glared at Yusuke, who instantly shut up. The four sat in silence for a few moments before Yusuke coughed once into his fist. "So . . . um . . . I noticed Yuki's gone . . . again."

"Yes," Kurama replied. The kitsune stared intently into his lap, trying to hide the blush that lingered on the edges of his cheeks, waiting to take over. "He said he was . . . going to get the cure for the poison." Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded at each other-Kurama guessed that Yuki must have told them that it was what he was planning.

"He knows the cure?" Hiei's voice cut sharply into the conversation. Red eyes focused on Kurama as the kitsune looked up from his bed sheets. "How?"

"I have no idea," Kurama murmured.

"Does it matter?" Kuwabara asked.

Hiei gave a sharp nod, and when Kuwabara didn't look any more understanding, resigned himself to explaining. "That plant that Kurama's talking about is unknown to most of the Makai."

"Okay, so why shouldn't Yuki know about it?" Kuwabara asked, completely confused.

"There's nothing wrong, per say, with him knowing about it," Kurama filled in. "But it is . . . curious. Only plant-users, such as youkos, and those in their . . . " Kurama trailed off, unsure how to phrase his next thought. "'Inner circle' of friends or partners would know even about it, and only the more experienced youkos, such as Yeirugan and myself, would know about the cure to it. So it's odd that he would know how to find the cure."

"I see," Kuwabara said.

"So what do you think it means?" Yusuke prompted as the room threatened to fall into silence. No one answered, and after a moment, realization dawned on Yusuke's face. "Think he's in cahoots with Yeirugan?"

The kitsune sighed, obviously not wanting to go with Yusuke's theory. "It's possible," Kurama replied slowly. "But unless Yeirugan didn't mean for that plant to poison me, it doesn't make sense."

"Of course," Yusuke said. "If Yuki was in league with Yeirugan, then he wouldn't go get the cure, because he'd want you to die thanks to the poison."

"He'd be trying to earn the kitsune's trust," Hiei grunted from the window. "Yeirugan would want someone close to Kurama, to inform him of the kitsune's every move and weakness-" Here the fire youkai fixed Kurama with a glare. "-and perhaps become close enough to kill him." Hiei's words rang into a complete and uncomfortable silence.

Finally, Kuwabara swallowed hard and addressed Hiei timidly. "But . . . there isn't any proof that that's what's going on, right?" His voice was wavering at the thought of Kurama dead. "He could have just known someone, once, and happened to remember."

"But what are the chances of him 'just remembering'?" Kurama asked, his tone bitter. His hands were shaking as they gripped the sheets of his bed, and his face was going pale. He sighed, and seemed to collect himself. "Yeirugan's a . . . powerful youko. Not just territorial, or strength, but influential, too. He can talk anyone into anything, promise the exact things that you would die for, just to get you to work for him."

"That's scary," Kuwabara offered.

"My point," Hiei snorted.

Yusuke sighed. "I'm sorry, Kurama," he said, putting a gentle hand on the kitsune's shoulder. "I know how you felt about him. But with everything that's going on, I wouldn't trust him. Don't take the cure he brings back unless you know it's the cure, okay?"

"Right," Kurama said with a small sigh.

Yuki trekked up a mountain path that seemed long forgotten. The Makain version of evergreens hung closely over it, providing a constant shade that was sometimes more unnerving than pleasant. The Makai had a habit of that, making things that, in the Ningenkai, would be refreshing, pleasant, or welcomed, seem as though they were spooky, out of place, or dangerous. The goth shook off the feeling, nearly tripping over a vine that had wrapped itself around his ankle.

"Hey now," he said, frowning at it. "You're going to get yourself hurt if you-" Yuki looked up and saw what the vine had been attached to. "Okay, never mind." The large, carnivorous flower loomed over him, gnashing its teeth as the goth threw himself away from it. "Hey, I didn't mean any harm, really. I'll just be on my way now, if you don't mind." He turned, and the flower roared, lunging at him.

Yuki landed a ways away, hair bouncing as he shook out the tingling feeling in his legs. "Apparently, you do mind." His eyes narrowed as the flower spit out a mouthful of dirt and turned to face him, even angrier than before. "Quite a bit, from the looks of it." The flower roared again, and this time, Yuki flicked his wrist. As soon as the flower began its charge, the vine supporting it cut into four parts, and it crashed to the ground, writhing as a green liquid spurted from the cuts in the vine. Instantly, Yuki's ears filled with the chattering of angry sprites, tiny fairy-like creatures that inhabited the plants.

"That's not fair!" a sprite said, coming up to Yuki's face and pinching his nose. Behind it, another larger version of it, a Spriteling, followed, looking just as angry. "You killed it!"

"That was our only protection against other youkai," the Spriteling admonished him as it caught up it its younger friend. "Now they're going to be after us, worse than before!"

"I'm sorry," Yuki said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't know there were any sprites here, and your flower friend attacked me first." He was polite as possible-the sprites weren't trouble in twos or threes, but a whole pack of them, like the one Yuki saw looming in the trees, could be trouble for a lone traveler. "Honestly, I meant no harm . . . "

The sprites were not looking any happier about it, and some of the ones that had been hiding in the trees were starting to come out, glaring at him. "Hoo boy, this could get . . . messy, I think," the goth murmured, backing away as some of the larger Spritelings came out, looking just as foreboding as their tiny counterparts.

"Master's Friend?" A small voice rang out from one of the bushes, and a Spriteling came slowly out. She was smaller than the rest of her kin, yet larger than the sprites themselves. "Is that you?"

Yuki blinked, holding his hand out to welcome the tiny Spriteling. "Medlina?" Medlina looked as though she would be a toddler to ningens, had bright green hair and eyes, and wore a dark green dress. To complete the theme, Medlina's wings were lightly colored with yet another shade of green, specks of a darker forest-color flung across them like glitter.

"Master's Friend!" Medlina squeaked. "It is you!" She flung herself to him, and Yuki felt his arms wrapping about the small creature. He hadn't seen Medlina since he had first gone to the Ningenkai. He hadn't been sure if the little thing was still alive. "Why you here, Master's Friend?" Instead of answering as he should, Yuki eyed Medlina's companions, who still looked ready to kill. The tiny Spriteling noticed this, and lifted from his arms, chattering quickly to them in a language Yuki couldn't understand. She seemed to be making an offer, and the others quickly accepted it. Too quickly.

"What'd you say?"

"That I'd leave them if they left you alone."

"Medlina!" He had been right. They had agreed too quickly. Something told him the group didn't like the little Spriteling. "Come on, let's keep hiking. I don't want to be around when they change their minds." Medlina giggled.

"Why you here?" the Spriteling asked again.

"I'm looking for a cure," Yuki replied. "You know, the plant where alive it heals, but dead it. . . . "

"Kills," Medlina cut in. "Yes, yes. Why you look for that?"

"A friend of mine," Yuki said. "He got hit by the dust, and he's in pretty bad shape-or was, when I left, anyway."

Medlina shook her head sadly. "Those who use the plant are no good," she murmured. "Master never ever used that plant."

"I know," Yuki said, starting to lose his patience with the small creature. "But someone very bad used it and hurt one of my friends. Medlina, could you please help me find the cure?"

"Of course!" Medlina responded quickly with a small, girlish giggle that was almost a shriek. "Just wait here!" She flew into the forest, still giggling madly. Yuki watched her for a few seconds, then dove into the trees after her. Occasionally, he would hear her laughter, and follow it, until the trees began to thin, and then suddenly stopped. In front of the two was a lake.

Yuki swallowed hard, remembering something he had forgotten. "Medlina? The cure . . . is an underwater plant, isn't it?"

"Of course, silly!" Medlina admonished, giggling at him. "How could you forget?"

"Easily," Yuki hissed. Although it wasn't widely known, the goth had a deep fear and hatred for water.

Medlina paused for a second, and then she too remembered, and burst into a fit of giggles, making the color rise in Yuki's face. "Oh, you afraid of water, Master's Friend!"

"Thank you very much for pointing that out, Medlina," Yuki grumbled. As Medlina continued to giggle, the goth closed his eyes tightly, making himself see Kurama slumped there on the floor, blood pooling around him as he hacked, each sound pain-filled. He grumbled slightly, took a tentative step closer to the edge of the lake, and then jumped in, hardly pausing to take a breath.

"MASTER'S FRIEND!" Medlina shrieked from somewhere above him, her voice sounding muffled thanks to the water that now was pressing against Yuki's ears as he pried his eyes open and looked about the lake bottom. He thrust his hands out in front of him and began to swim downward, looking for the waving weeds of the plant he was looking for.

There! Yuki thought, delving down, hands reaching out and wildly grasping for the floating strands. He caught one, yanked hard, and it disconnected from its fellows with a barely audible snap! Content to swim back to the surface and grab a breath of air, he looked at the strand and wondered, Is this enough?

"You can't swim!" Medlina's muffled voice sounded from above. Deciding that what he had was, in fact, not enough, Yuki grabbed at several more strands and snapped them from the rest of the group. His air supply was quickly running out, and he opted to start moving for the surface rather than stay and grab more of the plants. "You can't swim!"

Thanks for reminding me, Yuki thought, his chest starting to hurt, demanding air. A few seconds later and nowhere closer to his destination, Yuki began to feel somewhat desperate. Oh, shit, I'm really not going to survive this, am I? The pain in his chest increased, and darkness began to fade in as Yuki fought to get to the surface. Can't . . . let go . . . Shuichi. . . .

"MASTER'S FRIEND!" And there was Medlina, splashing into the shallow water with him, hugging him.

"Geroff," Yuki choked out once he had gotten some air. "I need'ta . . . I need'ta . . . breathe." And with that, he passed out on the shore of the lake, the cure for Kurama's poison clutched tightly in his hand.

Kurama shuddered, nearly dropping his book. His heart was racing, for some reason, as though he were scared, and goose bumps rose on his arms. As cold shivers danced their way up and down his back, Kurama set the book down, swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and got up, making his way down to the kitchen where Shiori was busy cooking dinner.

"'Kassan?" Kurama called quietly, and Shiori turned.

"Shuichi! What are you doing up?" She strode over to him and put her hand on his forehead, "tsk"ing when she discovered that he was still warm to the touch. "You're sick. You should be in bed."

"I know," Kurama replied quickly. "I just wanted to know if Yuki's back yet."

"Yuki?" Shiori shot him a strange look. "That's the first time I've ever heard you ask about him. But no, he's not back yet." Setting plates full of food down on the table, she regarded her son with curious eyes. "Why do you ask, Shuichi?"

"I . . . felt strange," Kurama murmured. "Almost as if something happened."

Shiori smiled, but anyone could tell that she was worried too. "I'm sure he's fine. Like Keiichi said, he's vanished like this before and come back."

"I know," Kurama said. "There's just this horrible feeling that I can't shake."