I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Oh… er heh heh, EAE! HELP! (frantically trying to activate Peeka-chan's forcefield only to find it has run out of battery) AHHH! (is mobbed by angry reviewers)

EvilAlterEgo: (deadpan) It's your own fault for getting writer's block. As my moronic hikari said, we are back, for better or for worse I'm not entirely sure (darkly) although I have a pretty good idea. As the author appears to be otherwise engaged (Shikani: xx) I'll have to sort out this mess. Righto, a few points to take care of:

Firstly, the demon which attacked Keiko and Kuwabara is not the same one that Kurama, Jin and Touya killed. That was just a gutter demon I was using to get some BLOOD around here. Secondly for those who thought that Kurama was OOC during that bit where he got "scared" seeing the demon that Touya killed… that's 'cos he was acting scared to lure the demon into a false sense of security. Because he likes screwing around with people's brains because he is sadistic no matter what the fluff people may think. Thirdly the reason dumbarse here (prods Shikani with her toe) was away for so long was a combination of writer's block, family matters and exams. I would beg for your forgiveness if I was the sort to beg. But I'm not. So I won't. Shikani will when she wakes up (looks doubtfully down at stricken author) if she wakes up…

Replies (kicks Shikani awake) OI DUMBASS! Come talk to your reviewers!

Reviewers? REVIEWS! Of course! I am miraculously recovered.

EAE: Get on with it.

IwuvMyKenshyPoo: (falls over laughing) You better still be reading this! I'll cry if you aren't. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long and you are still really scary and I can't lose such a wonderful reader! Now for your questions, the eyeball eating thing is explained above, the Kuwabara thing will be sorted out shortly, the Kurama thing is right (the bit about him being mad) and yeah Yusuke is still pissed. I'll sort everything out soon don't worry.

Dragontamer103088: Er… heh you may have to wait just a little teensy bit longer and he is a baka yeah but it's not all his fault (shrinks under glare) um… eep?

MikuSama: Oh you are so nice to me. It's good to know my writing is at a reasonable level, I'm thinking of becoming a writer later on. The hints and mysteries are just a bad little habit of mine (sheepish) I will explain everything eventually.

LoversPastForgotten: Sorry, not this chapter, but probably next chapter ;) Promise!

xXDaRkNeSs RoSiNeSsXx: That's a good enough review for me. Sorry you're so confused and the cliffies will be happening on a fairly regular basis but the pieces will be fitted together. Eventually…

Ani Mei: (hugs) GOMEN! I'll try to sort things out but I can't rush this or I'll spoil it. Hope you understand. 

Taiyou: EEP! (cowers) don't kill me. Yeah they're all mad at Koenma… well I haven't really come out and said it yet, I will outline exactly what happened in future chapters, but hints have been dropped everywhere and things have been partially explained.

Peeka-chan: That forcefield you gave me was so wonderful (is covered in bumps, burns and bruises) but it turns out there was a very angry EAE with a waffle iron… (EAE: WELL I USE IT ON DUCKS!) Heh heh, I spelt it right (sticks tongue out at EAE. Peeka-chan's smarter than you! (notices Peeka-chan brandishing waffle iron) er… can't we talk this over? I'M SORRY! Here is next chappie! I love you for being so wonderful so PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! Did I really make you cry? Wow… (sniffs) I feel so… happy…

KyoHana: I understand you completely believe me. I'm mean aren't I? I should be ashamed and I am. Here is next chappie and promise to update more (evil cackle) but if you think you're going to get less agonising cliffies you are sadly mistaken my friend!

Coffeegrl: Really? Arigato!

Uma Thermus: Hiei will come! Be patient! I want to see him as much as you do believe me, he IS my favourite character after all.

Apparition7: I answered your queries about and I understand about the smacking Yusuke over the head thing but it would probably do more damage to the oar than it would to Yusuke's head so… And yeah, you aren't the only one with the lack of patience thing (shifty glance in KyoHana's direction) and everyone says they won't join the conspiracy (paranoid) BUT I KNOW THE TRUTH!

EAE: Okay that's enough now, you still have concussion from all those things the reader threw at you. Personally I find all this rather entertaining but oh well.

Finally I would like to sincerely apologise for the delay and hopefully we're back on track. I have more time to write now and my writer's block is partially cured. I need REVIEWS people. Let me know you're still there for me and I will love you forever! In a philos kind of way.

Disclaimer. I think this is fairly self-explanatory, let's move on shall we?

Botan stared back at Yusuke, her wide tearfilled eyes fixed on his in desperation, willing him to understand. Yusuke himself seemed to have forgotten his strict refusal to listen to anything she said, his face was clouded with worry, the sad shadows momentarily leaving his eyes to be replaced by an overwhelming anxiety.

"Whaddaya mean the shrimp's missing? What the hell happened to him?"

Botan could only shake her head. "I don't know," she sighed, sniffing, "But if we're ever going to find him I know we need your help Yusuke. Kurama's been searching for ages and he still hasn't found him."

Yusuke's eyes widened, "What! Kurama hasn't found him? What the hell?"

Botan nodded silently.

He turned around completely, "That's bull! Kurama can find anybody. He's the super smart ages old fox demon isn't he? I know Hiei's small but he's not that small."

Botan shrugged, dragging the back of her hand across her eyes with a sniff.

"I don't know the details exactly, Koenma-sama doesn't like to talk about it much, but I'm sure he's doing everything he can to find – "

"Everything he can? Oh yeah, we've seen how effective that is."

Botan winced at the sarcastic tone but jumped at the opportunity.

"Well, if you want to do something about it then come and help! You have no idea what good having you back would do us, we're practically grounded without you, all of our detectives have been eliminated and even the SDF is struggling to cope with issues in the Makai."

"SDF? That's whats-his-face lord person's elite unit isn't it?"

"Lord Enma," Botan stressed, unknowingly slipping back into the tone she had always used when about to explain something, "it stands for "special defence force" and yes, they are the elites, although they aren't as powerful as you are individually. If we have you back, that's you and Kurama, and once you find Hiei, which I know you will, then we will have practically all of the Reikai Tantei back together – "

"So that's your plan is it?" Yusuke overrode her, "you come back when you need me, pick me up and use me as a weapon against Reikai's enemies and then when you're done, just drop me back in the gutter? I don't think so."

"Yusuke no!" Botan shook her head, fear and frustration rising in her, "please understand, we tried not to trouble you, really we did, and I'm so sorry for everything you've been through and suffered for! But we need you back. You. You're our last hope, you're the only one strong enough to right the balance. Please Yusuke I'm begging you, not just for Reikai, but for all of us, your friends. Remember how hard you fought in the early days? Toguro, Sensui, all of it, with the others at your side. You all made sacrifices, don't let those sacrifices be in vain!"

For a moment there was hesitation in Yusuke's eyes, a spark of that old fire, that faint sense of courage and defiance that had kindled the fighter within him. The fighter that was his true self, the fighter he was trying so hard to turn away, to ignore, in his attempts to forget.

"Yusuke…"

Both he and Botan jumped at the quiet voice that came from the room's only other occupant. Caught up in their own verbal and mental struggles, the other two had momentarily forgotten Keiko was there. Yusuke walked back to the table, setting the dishes in his arms back down and taking his wife's hands. Keiko freed one of them to lightly caress his face.

"Do you want to leave?"

Yusuke jerked in surprise, staring at her.

"What?"

She bowed her head.

"It's just… you been cooped up so long. I don't know what it's doing to you… there's so much I can't see now. If there's anything I regret it's that – "

"Stop," Yusuke commanded, pulling her into his arms, "I'm fine Keiko, okay? Do you hear me? The old life doesn't matter to me now. What matters is you. Only you."

Keiko buried her face in her husband's muscled shoulder, clutching him tight.

"I'm just… scared, that if you don't leave now… then you might later… without saying goodbye…"

Yusuke took her shoulders and gave her a firm shake. "Keiko you listen to me. I will never leave you, do you understand? Especially without saying goodbye."

Botan felt lost. She didn't want to rip her two dearest friends apart, did not want to be the cause of that pain… and yet if she didn't, all of Reikai and Ningenkai would suffer the consequences. She lowered her head, clenching her fists. Two different ways of life. One of them she had to destroy. She closed her eyes, a sob rose in her throat but she choked it back. She couldn't do this… she had no experience in these matters. Her heart was too soft, too kind… too human for this.

Yusuke held his wife tight in his arms, his eyes darkening. He had allowed her to be hurt before. He would not hurt her again.

"Botan."

The ferry girl looked up, her eyes wide, desperate, and for a moment, his heart wavered. He shook himself, his mind flashing back to that night… he couldn't see that again…

"Keiko! Keiko! Kuwabara! Where the hell are you!"

"What happened here?"

"KEIKO!"

"Yusuke… Kuwabara… he…"

"What's wrong with you? Dumbass wake up!"

"Yusuke he's – "

"You shut up! Kuwabara!"

"Yu…suke…"

"Keiko… oh my god…"

"WHO THE HELL DID THIS!"

He shuddered at the memories that, even now were so vivid and painful it was untrue. He curled his arms tightly around his wife. Nothing else mattered. Nothing…

"All along we thought you were a clever strategist. Really, you're just a lucky foo.."

"Hn. Just try not to die."

"Oi! Urameshi! I'm gonna beat you into the ground!"

He closed his eyes.

Nothing…

Hiei is going through a tricky change. It appears he's beginning to like you…

Nothing at all…

Koenma's office lay in ruins, the walls deeply scarred, shredded paper littering the floor. Touya had been forced to take Jin right outside the gates of the building leaving Kurama alone with the little god. The fox demon himself sat in his chair, hands clasped in his lap. One could almost have called his bearing relaxed. That one however would be an ignorant nobody whose opinion would generally be discarded by anyone important and is therefore irrelevant.

"So," said the fox demon in a voice of chilling, detached contemplation, "not only did you lie, and tell us that the demon responsible for Kuwabara's death and Keiko's injuries was dead, you prevented Hiei from reaching them."

He looked up, the glittering shards of emerald pinning Koenma's rigid form under the intensity of their power, "I would like you to repeat for me exactly what you did. I just want to make sure I caught it correctly."

Koenma swallowed. It was no use denying it; he was terrified, not just scared or shocked. His insides were curling up and shivering within him, every instinct telling him to flee, his brain frozen up and his body trembling. It was all he could do to sit upright. His pacifier had been ground down a good few millimetres in the last hour. The oni had long since fled and he didn't blame them. All activity in the offices of Reikai had ground to a halt and he was in the middle of it. He closed his eyes, concentrating on keeping his voice at a bearable pitch.

"Had Hiei been allowed to reach them it would have just meant one more casualty. I did what I had to do for the greater good, that demon was much too powerful."

"The greater good…"

Something about the way Kurama selected and repeated those few words made him want to curl up, whimpering. The fox demon leaned back slowly in his seat, clasping his hands and resting his chin thoughtfully on them.

"So… allowing Kuwabara to die, Keiko to be injured, Yusuke traumatized and emotionally devastated and myself sent off on a fruitless search while the enemy's forces slowly gathered… was all for the greater good."

Without warning, Kurama threw back his head and laughed, the clear, pealing sound echoing off the cracked, slightly blackened walls, sending chills down Koenma's spine. Bit by bit, the laughter died away, the silence creeping behind it, driving slowly and inexorably into the demigod's senses, shutting down his thought processes, leaving him with nothing but a feeling of tense, sick anticipation in his stomach, unable to think at all. He could only wait.

"And as for what you did to Hiei…"

Kurama's eyes snapped from emerald to liquid gold in a fraction of a second, the intensity of his stare doubling, burning into the little god's soul.

"Betrayal is unforgivable," he said simply. "When this is over, you will understand that. But for now I am taking this situation into my own hands, as Reikai authorities seem to possess all the survival instincts of a bunch of chronically depressed lemmings." he stood, stretching, catlike, "For now I take my leave. Oh and Koenma?"

The little god flinched as those scary gold eyes turned back on him, "I will expect a doorkey on my return." With that last cryptic comment, the fox demon was gone. Koenma slid to the floor in a tangled heap, almost sobbing in relief. Well, that had gone better than expected. He checked himself over. Yep, all four limbs.

What if they bring Hiei back here?

Koenma froze as that thought entered his mind.

Oh hell…

Yep, that's pretty much what it would be. He sighed, burying his head in his hands. This was like Sensui all over again, guilt twisting his insides like some malignant, deformed serpent. He had done what he thought was best and once again, it had been the very worse thing he could have chosen.

He sat miserably in the midst of the wreckage that had once been his office. He wished now, more than ever, that his Mufuukan had worked that day and that he and Sensui had been bound in a dark net of energy for all eternity. Things would have been so much simpler. He'd just have himself and the seven crazies. He could handle normal stuff like that.

They could have played cards… and talked… and exchanged death threats…

With that thought, the little god of Reikai sank into a miserable daydream of what could have been…

"Koenma-sama! Koenma-sama!"

The little god of Reikai looked up irritably from his stamping.

"What is it this time Jorge?"

The blue oni skidded to a halt beside his chair, knocking over the "To heaven/To hell" pile for the third time that morning (for some reason the "To hell" pile was significantly larger…) and thrusting a document under his nose.

"Koenma-sama. It's… it's not true is it? Just a mix-up right?"

"What on earth are you…"

Koenma's voice trailed off as he read the flowing kanji. The stamp dropped from pudgy fingers as he leapt onto the desk, snatching the paper from the oni's grip and staring at it. Jorge looked on, rather disheveled and still panting.

"Koenma-sama? I found it in the incoming souls box. You just wrote the wrong names down… right?"

The demigod slowly shook his head, wide horrified eyes never leaving the paper.

"I don't write these forms Jorge."

"But… but it says…"

The paper dropped from Koenma's fingers, fluttering gently to the paper-strewn ground.

"Kuwabara Kazuma…" he stared, agonized at the empty air, although he did not need the paper to see the names emblazoned before him, etched into his eyeballs, "and the Jaganshi… Hiei."

(Oh, just before the end of chapter rant, that last bit was a flashback that Koenma was seeing)

HA! Never saw THAT one coming now didja? Heheheheheh… oh crap… er EAE finish up here will ya? Cheers. (sprints out of range)

EAE: Bloody hikari… HIEI IS IN THIS STORY. DO NOT PANIC. DO NOT KILL. WHAT HAPPENED TO HIEI WILL BE REVEALED NEXT CHAPTER.