Well I'm glad to see that everyone was quite satisfied with the events occurring in chapter 2, and I hope that you will be equally pleased with the events that are to take place within this chapter. Now, I'm not promising anything big, but I think you'll all be pleasantly surprised with what's about to happen. I've decided, however, to hold any major plot twists until the end of the story, so you can all take a breath. But, I have yet to figure out how many chapters this particular installment is going to be. You see, I have the habit of telling myself how many chapters an installment is going to be and I stick to that no matter what (hence why the last chapter is always the longest one). But I guess that really doesn't have much to do with anything. Best to just continue on with the story. ENJOY!

I do not own jin and touya nor yu yu hakusho (like sands through the hour glass, so are

the days of our lives)

Taking Yusuke to the spirit world had been one thing, taking two fully developed B class demons (Botan soon discovered) was another. There was no direct path leading to King Enma's palace, and the only conventual method of getting there was flight. In this department, the wind master was fully covered, but the grounded half breed was not so fortunate. Botan had taken a great deal of time in explaining to Hiei that he would have to ride on the oar with her, but he continued to refuse saying that he'd rather burn in the pits of demon hell than ride on the back of a stick with a overly happy blue haired freak.

"Why Hiei, I don't go around making fun of YOUR hairstyle. And trust me, it could use some work. Now come on. Swallow your pride and get on."

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU, NO!"

"But why not? It's not like you're afraid of heights or anything." Only silence was given in reply. "Oh my gosh. You are aren't you?!"

"HA HA! Now that's somethin' you'll not be hearn' everyday! 'Ol black hearted Hiei scared a bein' up high! HA HA!

"I AM NOT AFRAID YOU FLYING IDIOT!"

"Awe come on now, it's nothin' ta be bein' ashamed a. We've all got somethin' we're bein' afraid of." He leaned down close to Hiei's ear. "Mine's spiders. I just can't be standin' those things they're bein' so creepy and all. I get Touya ta squash 'em when ever they're getting' too close." He stood erect once again. "All ya've got ta be doin' is facin' yer fears and Gama was once tellin' me that the best way was ta be jumpin' right in! So, with that in mind. . ." The wind master jumped high into the air, using the force of his tremendous wind to lift him higher still, until he was only a small speck in an endless sky. But he did not remain that way for long. The former shinobi dove towards the two remaining demons gaining more and more speed as he did. The black haired youkai did not have time to react. Before he knew it, he had been swept up into the air, being carried by his underarms by the wind master.

"I'm warning you Jin, if you don't let me down this instant I'll send you to spirit world myself!'

"Awe, stop yer strugglin' Hiei and we'll be bein' there before ya know it. COME ON BOTAN! I'VE GOT HIM!"

"Alright, let's be on our way!" And with that, the demon girl mounted her oar and rose into the darkening sky.

!#$&()

"Koenma sir, maybe you should stop pacing. You're going to ware a hole in the floor and King Enma won't be too happy."

The toddler demon turned to face his blue skinned companion, his eyes shut in angered concentration. "How can I stand still when the entire makai is about to be destroyed?!"

The ogre grew a look of panic, but then replaced it with a favored widened grin, a single bead of sweat hanging from his forehead. "Awe, come on now Koenma, it can't be that serious. So a clown has gotten hold of a few souls, what's the big deal? You control the spirit world after all."

"Errrr. . .IT'S NOT THAT HE TOOK THE SOULS YOU BLUE IDIOT! IT'S WHAT HE'S GOING TO DO WITH THEM THAT'S THE PROBLEM! If Sazuka is able to harness the true power of the demon triad, the all the powers of the three worlds combined won't be enough to stop him."

"Is that why you sent Botan out to get Hiei and Jin?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that. I needed. . ."

"KOENMA WE'RE HERE!" The demon trio had burst through the large set of double doors and was now running (or flying as it were) toward the demonic prince. "Sorry we're late." The youkai girl said as she stood before him.

"Ya, I'm bein' a bit sorry to. We couldn't be getting' Hiei ta ride the oar so I was havin' ta carry 'im, but that's kind of a long story. And as me master was always sayin', 'better late then never'!"

"Indeed, but be that as it may, in times of crisis such as this it is often good to be on time."

"Excuse me, but would it be alright with all of you if this jibberish talking idiot were to PUT ME DOWN!"

The three grounded demons looked upward to see a struggling and very angered Hiei, still being held by the smiling wind demon. "Oh sorry Hiei! I was holdin' ya there for so long it was kindda feelin' like you were part a me! Down ya go then!" Hands released and the black haired youkai fell calmly to the floor, using his incredible speed to make it appear as though he had teleported there.

Their eyes once again fell on Koenma, and it was Hiei who asked the question they all had burning within them. "So, why exactly are we here?"

"I'm glad you asked, Hiei. You undoubtedly know that Sazuka now has all that he needs to create the demon triad." Jin nodded in response. "And you must also know that power of the triad is so great that a demon could, in theory, rule the entire makai and the worlds beyond with it?" Again a nod from the wind master was given. "Then the reason I called you here should come as no surprise. I need you both to track down that clown and stop him before he has a chance to begin the spell."

"Hn. Why don't you just get that fool Yusuke to do it? You've had HIM do your dirty work in the past, not us."

"Trust me, I would Hiei. But unfortunately you and Jin are the only ones the souls will respond to."

"What do you mean?"

"Souls are like children, Hiei, they cling to those they are familiar with. Mujihi will recognize you instantly and will follow you once you find him." He turned his gaze toward the wind master. "The same is true for Touya's soul, Jin. If anyone else were to try to persuade these beings into coming back to spirit world, they would revolt and only hold more strongly to their current master."

"Well that's bein' good for the ice and the fire, but what about Kanzaki?"

"What?"

"The wind part a the triad! Ya know? Supika's mom?"

Koenma thought for a moment, his pacifier moving slightly in his mouth as he did. "I would imagine that Kanzaki's spirit would follow Mujihi's, as she was in love with him at the time of her death. But, if she will not come then it's of no concern to us right now. It's better if Sazuka has one demon instead of two or all three. And if worse comes to worse, I'm sure Supika would be more than willing to assist us."

"And what do WE get for bailing you out?"

"I though I told Botan to explain it to you. It is not a very easy matter bring those that have died back into the living world. Putting them back in their original bodies is only half of it, there's also mountains of paperwork that have to be filed years in advance! It really is a pain in the rear. But. . .I've already may the necessary arrangements to have both Kurama's and Touya's souls returned to them. . .providing you win your battle and the spirit world is still under MY control."

"Botan was sayin' somethin' about the spirit world fallen apart and that's why you were needin' us. But the place is lookin' damn near fine ta me!"

"That's because, Jin, the damage that is being done is not happening on the outside."

"Huh?"

"You see, when a soul arrives here, it is assigned its resting place based upon the amount of good verses bad deeds done in the mortal life. Once it is placed, the spirit must remain there until another physical body can be provided or, in the case of those who lived an immoral life, their sentence is up. If a spirit is removed before its time is up, it creates an upset in balance. The world starts searching for the missing souls, and in the process starts to eliminate other souls in order to shorten the amount of places it must search. I fear that we may have little more than a week before the spirit world is entirely wiped away, and with nowhere to place the souls of the newly dead, people will become immortal, both the makai and nigenkai will become overpopulated, and all three worlds will come to an end."

"So you're saying we have a week to find the bastard, kill him, and return here before everything is destroyed?"

"In a nutshell. . .yes."

"Hn."

"Awe come on Hiei! Have a heart!"

The fire demon's only response was a rather quick turn of the head, his red eyes cast upwards in a look of detest and utter annoyment. "Ah! See? I KNEW YOU'D BE BEIN' A PAL! COME ON THEN! WE'D BETTER BE OFF IF WE'RE ONLY HAVIN' A WEEK!"

Again, there was only silence from the half breed. He knew that this was something he had to do. . .he just wished he wouldn't have to fly back down in the arms of that red haired idiot.

!#$&()

Outside Koenma's palace, the two youkai stood ready to depart. Botan had stayed inside to help the demon prince with some last minute paperwork, so there was no one to see them off. "Hiei, I'm really bein' glad that ya decided ta do this and be taggin' along."

"Hn. Rest assured I'm not doing this for Koenma, the idea of immortality suits me fine."

"Then, why be doin' it at all then?"

"Don't you ever shut up?"

"Alright then, shall I carry ya like on the way up?"

"No. I can manage the way down without your oafish assistance."

"Suit yerself then. SEE YA ON THE GROUND!" The wind master jumped once and then began his descent toward the earth below. Behind him, the black haired youkai took his mark, ready to make his final leap.

"Good luck Hiei."

The demon turned, startled by this sudden new found voice, and behind him stood the sight he had secretly longed to see. Kurama, with his silver locks floating in the stale wind, gazed upon him with look only a long time friend and lover could give. It was the most beautiful thing the fire youkai had ever seen and he feared that it was all about to end too quickly. "I miss you already itoshii (my love)."

Hiei gave the kitsune his secret half smile, then one he saved for his lover and his lover alone. "I'll be back soon. . .I promise."

"I'll be waiting. . ." And just as suddenly as Kurama had appeared, he was gone, lost among the endless clouds and stars. But the dragon knew that this would not be the last time he would see his itoshii (lover). . .or at least. . .that's what he forced himself to believe.

IF I DON'T SAVE HIM IN TIME. The black haired demon thought to himself as he fell toward earth. IT WON'T MATTER IF THE WORLD IS DESTROYED. . .MY WORLD WILL ALREADY BE GONE. . .

So sorry to have had it take this long everyone! But I'm sure you all can forgive me! I had so many problems, what with school, friends, homework, studying, and things like that. Plus, the site told me I was reported and couldn't post for awhile. Oh well, that's all in the past now, time to move on and such. I hope you all enjoyed chapter 3 and will give me many, many good reviews (seeing as how I had to remove this story so all former reviews were deleted). I hope to have chapter 4 up within the first few weeks of October, but like always I make no guarantees. Just try and bare with me until December (it'll be x-mas break and I'll have the whole month off!). See you all soon and don't forget to extra review to make up for the ones that were lost! –smiles wide and teeth shine- pretty please?