Thank you, Neriede, for changing my password on me. I'll get you for that. Chapter eighteen up! I'm talking to Nissi as I type this. Poor girl hasn't been able to talk on the phone for five days. Haha. Short chapter.

Chapter Eighteen

"What a strange movie."

Vanessa scratches her head and gathers her trash as everyone else departs up the aisle and out the numerous exits. Jin pulls at his jeans, uncomfortable. His green eyes suddenly widen and he yanks Touya back.

"Someone's watching us."

"I know…"

Kurama looks at them and nods to show that everyone knows that something isn't right. They reseat themselves and wait for all the persons to leave; they don't have to wait long. Soon everyone has exited through the main entrance and the gang quietly exits through the back door.

"We need to lead them away," Hiei commands, jumping ahead.

Olivia jumps after him, Kurama and Nissi behind her. The dark presence grows stronger until it has surpassed Vanessa, Kuwabara, and Yukina in the back and has moved in front of Malia and Jin.

"You…left me…"

Malia pales, "W-what?"

"YOU LEFT ME!"

Furious gusts of wind surround Malia, Jin, and the dark presence. The presence fades in and out of existence, reappearing here and there with no apparent pattern. Malia, overcome with fear, lets her powers loose and blows up a tree.

"Malia you need to relax..." Jin murmurs to her. "This is my wind--it's keeping everyone else protected, okay?"

"O-okay..."

(a/n: Grr...my quotations are all messed up. WordPad quotations are all straight and the Microsoft ones are all curvy...as shown above...i'm done ranting...)

"How could you stand that mortal? How could you love him more than me?"

"I don't even know you!" Malia stamps her foot. "How am I supposed to love someone I don't even know?"

"Denial!"

The presence fades out and does not return. Malia stands defiant, hands on her hips, eyes flashing and flaring. Jin lowers his winds, steps out, and grabs Touya, muttering furiously to him. Touya nods gravely, whispers to Yusuke, and the two disappear.

"We need to go back to the mansion. Meg, can you teleport?" Malia questions, taking everyone by surprise.

"S-sure...just touch my shoulder."

Everyone except Hiei, Kurama, and their charges touch Meagan's shoulder lightly, feeling the jerk as they are teleported back home. Kurama sits on the couch with Nissi on his lap. He nods as they teleport in.

"Glad you're safe. Where did Jin and Touya go?"

"They decided to leave for Makai for a few days. They want us to hold off on the mission until they figure something out, so we will. Are you guys okay?"

"Yes, we're fine. But the police are going to wonder what caused the tree to come down."

"What?"

"Forget it. Where's Olivia? I need to talk to her about my powers."

"...Upstairs with Hiei. I'd advise you not to bother them. Hiei seems pretty upset about something."

"Then...I guess it'll have to wait until morning. I'm going to bed."

She trudges off, feet feeling like lead. She climbs the stairs and moves to her room. In Olivia's she hears hushed voices and, walking past it, a muffled yell. She closes the door to her room and plops herself down on her comforting bed, asleep moments after she hits the mattress.

With Hiei and Olivia

"I don't know what you're so concerned about, Hiei--it was one villain. He's gone now."

"Onna, leave me alone."

"Don't call me onna."

"This one...he's different."

"Hiei, they're all different. Welcome to the world of fighting demons, Hiei," Olivia wraps her arms around him and pulls him into a hug.

Hiei tries to pull free but is unable to untangle himself from his charge's grasp. You need to relax. He raises his eyes to look at Olivia. Relax. Sit with me. Come on, it won't hurt you. A laugh echoes through his head. I love talking telepathically. Don't you, Hiei?

Yeah, I guess...

Olivia drags Hiei to her bed, sits down, and lays her head down on his shoulder, happy to feel this comfortable after such a long day of incident, to say the least.

"I...haven't felt this comfortable in a while..."

Olivia raises her head to look at Hiei, smiling. "I feel the same way, Hiei. Feels really nice, doesn't it?"

"Yeah..."

With Yusuke and Meagan

"I'm scared..."

"What?"

"I said: 'I'm scared.' I don't like the way this is playing out, Meg."

Meagan stares at her boyfriend, dumbfounded. The famous/infamous (depending on which side you are on) is confessing to her that he is scared. This is not something she had counted on. She lowers her eyes as she thinks of something to say.

"And not just because he's powerful, which he is. It's more because...now it's personal for all of us. This isn't just some random demon off the street. This is a guy that's going after your friend, and I know you, Meg--you're going to fight this guy no matter what. And if you have to go down, you'll go swinging. And I just can't help but think of what might happen...we might lose you..."

"Yusuke."

"It's true, Meagan! You think everyone has come back neat and clean from all the other missions before we met you?"

"I--"

"We haven't. In the Dark Tournament, Kurama was nearly killed. Hiei couldn't use one arm. Genkai died--she might not've come back--, and Kuwabara had to pretend that he was dead so I could unlock my friggin' powers. I don't want to repeat that!"
"Yusuke!"

"What!"

"Be quiet!"

Yusuke sits stunned. Meagan looks at him with tears brimming in her eyes. "If you say things like that...it just makes them all the more real. I don't...want to hear things like that..."

Pulling himself out of his miniature coma, Yusuke reaches out and pulls her to him, wrapping her in a hug and kissing her cheek. He closes his eyes for a moment and stays like that until Meagan struggles to be released. She has just thought of something.

"I need to speak to Nissi..."

Traveling down the stairs, she finds Nissi flipping through the channels of the television and sits down next to her. "Nissi."

"Yuh?"

"Remember that one time you were telling me how much it killed you to see Yusuke's hair gelled up?"

"Of course."

"Think really hard of something we could do to remedy that problem."

"Well, I don't really know what we--ooh. o.0"

"Exactly."

"Tomorrow morning, bright and early?"

"I'll go tell the others."

"Excellent."

What exactly are those two weirdos planning? Heh. I'm going to give props in advance to Nissi for the idea which shall be explained in the next chapter. The plot deepens, oh you will be so shocked --at least I hope you will be-- when you realize what I'm planning. If you realize. (evil laugh) Ja ne!