Author's Note: Well, after some long chapters, we're back to some short ones. But regardless of how short they are, I hope you'll find them interesting.

I have sailed to many lands.
Now I make my final journey. -

"Ghosts of the Navigator"-Iron Maiden

An End to Bliss

Chapter XI

After a quick breakfast Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Chu took a train out of the city to Genkai's mountain compound. When the five of them reached the temple summit they entered the temple. The inside of the temple was hardly any warmer than the outside, since Genkai was no longer there to build a fire. In the master bedroom, Genkai's body continued to rest peacefully. Each of the five paid their respects to the fallen master of the spirit wave, while Yusuke opened up an extra window of cold air to help preserve Genkai's body.

Once the five had left the master bedroom, Yusuke turned to Kuwabara and Kurama.

"Kuwabara, do you sense anything…what about you Kurama?"

"…I don't sense anything," replied Kuwabara.

"Neither do I," added Kurama.

"You wouldn't think that Elder Toguro'd be in the temple," replied Hiei. "Genkai's body doesn't look to be desecrated, and that's one of the first things I'd expect Elder Toguro to do."

"Yeah, I agree with that," Yusuke said.

"So, if Elder Toguro's here, where do you think he might be hidin'?" asked Chu.

"It's hard to say," answered Kurama. "This is a big place. But if I was to take a guess, I would think that he might be hiding in the forest."

"What makes you think that?" asked Kuwabara.

"It's based on something Koenma said last night."

"Which was?" replied Chu.

"Last night, Yusuke made the comment about how there're some powerful apparitions in the forest around Genkai's temple, but Koenma pointed out that none of them had the energy level as Elder Toguro."

"So what does that prove?" asked Yusuke.

"It doesn't prove anything. But it does leave to suspicion that Elder Toguro's hiding in the forest."

"…I don't get it."

"Neither do I. How you figure, mate?"

"After Elder Toguro threatened Kayko and Kosuke, I'm sure that he knew Yusuke'd come after him…"

"You're damn right about that!" declared Yusuke, while he pounded his right-fist into his left palm.

"Therefore," continued Kurama, "the forest is a good place to seek shelter from Yusuke's potential wrath, hiding among the other apparitions that posed no threat to Elder Toguro. The elder Toguro probably also assumed that Yusuke'd be stupid enough to leave Kayko and Kosuke at home by themselves, giving him another opportunity to attack while Yusuke was away trying to find him."

A drop of sweat gently descended from Yusuke's forehead. "Thank god I had Kayko stay with either her parents or Shizuru."

"It was also a perfect way to mix his energy with the other demons," finished Kurama.

"But that's a huge forest," replied Kuwabara. "Where could he be hiding?"

"We'll find him," responded Hiei. "We'll be able to sense his demon energy."

Yusuke and his companions exited Genkai's temple, and entered the adjacent forest, which was as old as creation.

"Last time I was in this forest, I was barely a spirit detective," said Yusuke.

"The last time you were in this forest Urameshi, was the last time I was as well. And even though we didn't know it at the time that was our very first case together."

"The one where we battled Rando?"

"Yeah…Hey, Urameshi, I just thought of something!"

"What's that?"

"What if this guy that's helping the elder Toguro's, Rando?"

"Doubt it, since he was put in lock down after I defeated him, and I'm sure Koenma would've told us if it was him…Of course, it's not like Spirit World to screw up so bad where it could actually be Rando."

"Well, now that you're done reminiscing about the past, perhaps we can move forward," replied Hiei.

"Oh…yeah, right…Um, Kurama, Kuwabara…do you guys sense anything?"

"Plenty of demons that's for sure, but nothing specific," answered Kurama.

"Yeah, same here," added Kuwabara.

"Looks like we'll just have to keep moving forward until something happens," replied Chu.

"I guess so," smirked Yusuke.

"Uh, Urameshi, what's with that look on your face?"

"Oh…I'm just interested in running into an old friend."

"You mean Elder Toguro's benefactor?"

Yusuke chuckled. "That'd be interesting."

"Just what exactly're you talking about, mate?"

Yusuke continued to chuckle. "Yeah, I forgot that it's something I never shared with any of you, and Kuwabara's forgotten about it."

"I have?"

"Yeah, stupid. Don't you remember when Genkai gave us the test run through this forest and I was late?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I happened to get in this fight with this man-bat known as, Baldok. And if we keep going straight we're bound to run into him."

"We don't have the time to get into unnecessary fights, Yusuke," Kurama reminded him.

Yusuke chuckled once again. "Hey, don't worry about it. There won't be any fights so long as Baldok doesn't say or do anything stupid."