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+On The Other Side+

+Chapter One: From The Dreams And Hiei+

Hiei looked back at the raven-haired boy who was their team leader. His face showed no emotion –like always- but in his mind he was wondering what the baby had to say to Yusuke that the others couldn't hear. He could have easily used his Jagan to listen in. In fact, he tried, but there was some kind of magical barrier that prevented him from seeing into Koenma's office. It must have been something big for the baby to put up a barrier that blocked even the Jagan's power.

Or had that barrier always been there? He could not exactly recall ever sensing it before.

But, back to the matter at hand. Yusuke had seemed gloomy ever since he had stepped out of the portal into Makai. Yes, the Makai was a gloomy place, but not gloomy enough to make someone like Yusuke cry. Oh yes, he had seen the tears, but no one else had. Well, perhaps Kuwabara had seen them, but he couldn't be sure. All he knew was that Yusuke had stepped out of the portal and, after checking discreetly to see if anyone was looking, started to rub his eyes furiously with the sleeve of his green shirt. Of course, Hiei had witnessed this out of the corner of his eye.

Now, Kurama had the map, and was leading them to Kami-sama knew where, Kuwabara was looking around at the depressing scenery of one of Makai's largest forests, and Yusuke was walking at the back of the group, apparently deep in thought. Hiei was walking behind Kuwabara and in front of Yusuke. Suddenly, Kurama stopped, as did Kuwabara and the short koorime. The spirit detective, however, did not notice this, and crashed into Hiei's back.

"Watch where you're going, detective!" Hiei replied immediately, a natural reflex of his. He regretted it instantly. Said detective backed up, looking into the shorter man's eyes. Hiei froze as some unrecognizable emotion flitted through his eyes, but it was gone only a moment later.

"Sorry, Hiei, I wasn't paying attention." Ordinarily Hiei would have snorted at such a response, because since when has the spirit detective ever paid much attention? But now, he was worried, and he was unsure why. Was there something wrong with the normally cocky boy? What did Koenma say to him? His mind returned to that. I'll kill that baby when we get back! He suddenly thought. Unsure of why, though, he ignored it for now. Instead, he turned his attention to Kurama, who was speaking.

"Be careful," he was saying. "I can sense some demons, and they may not be friendly."

How many? Hiei immediately wondered. Another reflex of his. He had to know how many he was up against and how strong they were. How much power he would need to defeat them. Spreading his senses out, he found several –maybe twenty in all- low class ookami youkai and one high-class kitsune youkai. He closed his eyes and under his white bandana his Jagan cracked open, and he looked through the trees to the east, where the power of the youkai resonated.

As soon as his suddenly blurry vision cleared the sight of a bloody battlefield greeted him. He could see the ookami closing in on a kitsune with five tails. Their fangs were bared and they were growling. Though the kitsune was powerful, it was also weak from battling. Apparently, from the sight of all the dead ookami bodies, it had been battling alone, and it's powers were surely diminished.

Hiei's Jagan eye closed and he looked to the other members of the little ragtag team. They were all staring at him expectantly. "Twenty low class ookami youkai surrounding a weakened, high-class, five-tailed kitsune youkai." He answered their unasked question coolly. "East, about half a mile." With the newly supplied information they took off; Hiei in front, followed by Yusuke, who somehow managed to keep up with Hiei's demonic speed, then Kurama, with Kuwabara by his side.

They reached the site of battle in virtually no time at all. They saw that two ookami youkai were standing away from the battle, watching it quietly. I must not have noticed them. Hiei assured himself, somewhat miffed that he had missed them. From what he could sense, they were not much stronger than the rest of the pack. They should have been easy to pick up. But, for know, he took to ignoring them as he launched himself straight at the tight circle that had formed around the fox.

Drawing his katana, Hiei struck at every ookami that dared to oppose him. Blood splattered his black clothes and face and dripped from his weapon as he cut through each enemy. At one point, an ookami managed to slash at his face. He was hit on the cheek and, while the unusual pain temporarily blinded him, it pinned him down, about to take a chunk out off his neck with it's huge canines.

Luckily, before it could do any damage, it was thrown off him by Kurama, who quickly killed it with his Rose Whip. "Are you alright, Hiei?" Kurama asked concernedly, peering down at him. Hiei only nodded, not bothering to say that he could have handled the weak youkai. However, as he struggled to stand, he discovered one very important fact.

"Fox, I can't move!"

Kurama stared down at him in shock. Hiei mentally cursed himself for allowing some of his panic to seep into his voice. As he stared at Kurama, who was deep in thought, he noticed another ookami behind the oblivious redhead. The youkai had a claw raised, about to rip through Kurama's neck. Hiei was about to call out, to warm Kurama, but Yusuke came to the rescue.

"Spirit Gun!" The blast shot from the raven-haired boy's index finger and hit the ookami in the side. It let out a final earsplitting howl of pain and disintegrated, leaving behind no trace that it had been there.

"Thank you, Yusuke. You saved us." Kurama thanked, smiling gratefully. Yusuke nodded in acknowledgment.

"No problem! Any time!" Then he looked around, as if searching for something. Hiei, too, allowed his eyes to roam. All of the ookami were dead, that was evident enough by the blood and bodies. The battle had been won easily and no one was fatally injured. "Hey, where's Kuwabara?" Yusuke suddenly asked.

"I believe he is with the kitsune." Kurama supplied. And, as he said, Kuwabara was, indeed, with said youkai they had saved. He was crouched over it, back to them so they could not see what he was doing.

"Hey, Hiei, what happened to you? Why are you still lying on the ground?" Yusuke said, looking down at him.

Hiei growled and responded: "I can't move."

"The ookami's claws had a paralyzing poison on them." They all looked to Kuwabara, who walked toward them while explaining. "That's why he can't move. When Hiei was hit by one of their claws the poison entered into his bloodstream. He probably won't be able to move for at least twenty-four hours, maybe longer, maybe not. It all depends on how much got in him."

"Wow, I'm amazed." Kurama said. "How did you know that?"

Kuwabara grinned and said, "Yukina! She taught me a few things about poison and gave me a book on the different kinds and their antidotes."

"Okay, so what is the antidote for Hiei? What do we have to do?" Kurama asked.

Kuwabara's grin turned into a frown. "Well, there is no antidote. You have to wait it out."

"And how long is this going to take, again?" Yusuke asked. He was frowning too. He was probably impatient with the delay.

"Well… it really depends on how much poison got in him, like I said," he explained. "But, judging by how it's only a small scratch, I'd say about fourteen hours at the very least."

Yusuke groaned while Hiei mentally growled at his situation. If he was stuck like this for fourteen hours there's no telling what could attack in that time. The Makai is full of youkai just itching to tear into anything that breathes. He wouldn't be able to defend himself. Also, many youkai would just love to gloat about how they killed him. After all, Hiei is one of the most powerful youkai out there. So, it's easy to understand how pissed he was. He shot a glare promising death at Kuwabara, as if it were his fault that there was no immediate cure for the paralysis.

"Well, we better find somewhere to camp," Yusuke said suddenly, breaking the silence that had descended upon them. "I don't know about you guys, but I really don't enjoy the smell of rotting corpses." He smirked slightly. It was true. The setting Makai sun was already heating the flesh of the dead ookami, causing waves of a nauseating smell to rise from them and cover the area.

"What about the kitsune?" Kurama asked. Hiei looked toward the kitsune and, for the first time, Hiei got a good look at it. It had a beautiful black coat while the tip of it's ears were white, as were the tip of it's five tails and it's paws.

"Sorry, guys. She didn't quite make it. She died a few minutes after I finally got to her." Kuwabara supplied. So it was a she. Hiei absently noted. What a pity. We wasted all that time and energy only to find that she died and I got paralyzed. Hiei mentally sighed in annoyance.

"Okay, so let's find a place to stop for the night." Yusuke said as he walked toward Hiei. Hiei would have slapped away the other's hand if he could, but of course he couldn't so he settled for growling again.

"Don't worry, I'm only gonna carry you." Yusuke reassured him. He knew how much the koorime hated being vulnerable. And that's exactly what he was at the moment; vulnerable. So Hiei allowed Yusuke to pick him up and put him on his back. He wrapped Hiei's arms around his neck and held his legs while his head rested on Yusuke's shoulder.

Faintly, Hiei could smell the sweet aroma much like the one of a vanilla candle. It covered up the scent of rotting corpses, and for that Hiei was grateful. Only after a few minutes of walking did he finally realize that the lovely vanilla smell was coming from the young man whose back we was on. It must be his natural scent. He concluded. Everyone had a natural scent that was his or hers, and his or hers alone.

Know that he thought about it, he could name all of their scents. Kurama's was roses; fitting because he loves roses: Kuwbara's was something like the smell of the ocean; confusing because as far as he knew Kuwabara never visits the beach or anywhere like that: and Yusuke's was a sweet vanilla. His own natural scent was strawberries; very confusing because he hardly ever ate strawberries… Well, except for his favorite Sweet Snow flavor, strawberry.

Hiei finally came out of his musings when he felt his back touch the hard ground. They were finally far enough away so that the smell of corpses couldn't bother them anymore. Kurama gave Yusuke instructions and Kuwabara a bucket and instructions before digging through the backpack he brought. Kurama was the only one who thought ahead of time to bring a few supplies. When Yusuke got back he had an armful of sticks. Kuwabara came back with a bucket of water.

Kurama immediately set about making some Ramem. He boiled the water and poured it into the small cups the Instant Ramen came in. Then they all ate, except for Hiei, who refused to take anything in his state of immobility. This sucked for him 'cause Ramen rocks.

Crimson eyes snapped open in the dark and Hiei blinked, allowing his eyes time to adjust to the darkness. Being a youkai really came in handy because as soon as his eyes adjusted his youkai powers kicked in and he could see through the gloomy darkness that covered him just as if it were day. He couldn't be sure what awoke him. Perhaps it was the silence. Perhaps it was someone's snoring. Or perhaps it was the ceaseless whimpering that came from his right.

Experimentally, he shook his head, finding that for the most part he could move it. The poison still hadn't worn off, though, so other parts of his body couldn't move. Hiei turned his head and, to his surprise, found Yusuke lying next to him, asleep and whimpering. He looked at Yusuke's face, which was facing him, and watched as it became contorted with pain that must be in his dreams. Or nightmares. His lips were moving but no sound came out and he whimpered some more.

Hiei, taking pity on him, called to him in an uncharacteristically soft voice. "Yusuke! Wake up! Yusuke!" Finally, when he wouldn't wake up and the smell of fear on him became even stronger, he snapped, "Detective, wake up!" And he finally saw said detective open his chocolate eyes and shoot up into a sitting position while looking around wildly, his hair sticking out at odd angles with no hair gel to keep it tame. "Detective, stop your whimpering." Hiei said, sounding harsher than he meant to. On the contrary, he was quite relieved. The waves of rear rolling off Yusuke had been intoxicating so when he woke up it had been a relief. And, in the back of his mind, something said that he was worried about the raven-haired detective, though he snorted at the thought of him being worried about Yusuke.

"Wha…? Oh, Hiei," Hiei could see Yusuke blush in the darkness. "Sorry, I was having a bad dream. That's all." He lay back down and closed his eyes, as if going back to sleep. However, even then, the short koorime knew that the man next to him was wide-awake.

Then, a sudden nagging curiosity began gnawing at the back of his mind. It started small, then grew, becoming like an itch that you can't quite reach to scratch. Finally, it overwhelmed Hiei, and that usually never happens. Just to satisfy it he turned his head toward Yusuke, who was still awake, and asked quietly, "What did you dream about?" At fist, when he didn't reply, he thought that he must not of heard, and he was about to turn back, when Yusuke finally spoke.

"It was about... something that I just remembered. It was… about one time, when I was like five or something, we, me and my mom, were walking somewhere when, while my mom was looking through the window of some shop, I walked out into the road, to cross it. I remember that my mom grabbed me at the last second and pulled me out of the way of a car." And through all of that, Hiei could sense that Yusuke was lying. That every word he said was a complete lie. What is he hiding? Hiei wondered.

When Yusuke finished Hiei voiced his thoughts. "You're lying." In the darkness Hiei could see Yusuke's slightlydumbstruck face.

Yusuke sighed and looked away from Hiei. "Yeah, I am lying, but I don't want to tell you what it was about." Yusukeconfessed, still looking the other way. "It's kind of… painful,I guess.Oh, and Hiei? Promise me you won't use your Jagan to find out, okay?" Now he was looking back at him and, even though Yusuke couldn't see in the darkness, he was staring Hiei straight in the eyes. The look was so intense Hiei thought it could almost rival his own. Almost. Hiei felt himself getting lost in those intense chocolate eyes, but Yusuke's voice as he continued drew him back. "I mean it Hiei, promise you won't."

Hiei could detect a hint of pleading in Yusuke's voice and eyes and sighed. Then, he agreed. "Fine," –he sounded almost like a child who had agreed grudgingly to clean his room- "I promise Iwon't read your mind. Besides, I'm sure there's nothing of interest in there -full of some mediocre things that would only pollute my own." Whoops, that wasn't supposed to slip out. Another defensive reflex to hide that he had actually sounded disappointed. He regretted it instantly, and waited for the verbal lashing that was sure to follow... And waited... And waited... And waited...

But none came.

As he looked questioningly at Yusuke, he could see that he had gone rigid, his face a stoic mask. No emotion showed onhis normallygrinning face.Then, he rolled over, away from the koorime, so Hiei had a good view of the other's back. But Hiei had seen Yusuke's eyes before he had moved, and only now did he understand what that unknown thing in his eyes before was. It was regret, betrayel, and sorrow. Hiei had no idea what it meant. He could feel something in his stomach, or maybe his heart, clench, but he ignored it. He had never seen Yusuke like that, and, in a way, it scared him. He closed his eyes, deep in thought. But, before long, he had drifted off. Off into a sleep plauged with dream of a certain spirit detective.

+TBC+

A/N: There it is, Chapter One of "OTOS" What do you think? Yeah, it sucked. Not enough angst.Sorry, it's been slow aroundhere. I've started taking guitar lessons from my brother in-law. Anyways, VOTE ON PAIRING! MUST BE SHOUNEN-AI! ANY AND ALL SHOUNEN-AI PAIRINGS! Well, please leave a review! I accept flames! I love to bitch at flamers! Well, bye!

Insomniac Jaki