Disclaimer: Don't own YYH, as per usual.

Linkin Park Rox- Well, thanks for everything, and everyone else who was so supportive. (RebelWriter Particularly)

Chapter 9: Realization

I open my eyes. Was the sun always that bright?

Was the entire alley always this bright?

No, it couldn't have been…

I shoot up and open my eyes. I realize I'm not with my trash bags either, or should I say my kin.

I suddenly remember a huge ugly redhead…

The reality comes back with this hospital vision lying before my eyes.

I was caught.

But how could I have been caught? How?

This is me we're talking about here!

Wasn't I infamous for escaping from every situation that was stupid enough to challenge me, the great Kara Azhura?

Not in that state I was in. No one, not even Jackie Chan, could resist capture while that beaten up.

I suddenly come back to reality. If someone caught me, where have they taken me?

There doesn't appear to be anyone in here. I see a dark tunnel leading outside, which must eventually come back to the surface. Maybe I could get through there.

I sit up farther, and look around. Maybe I could just escape while that teenage captor of mine is gone. Stupid of him to leave me lying here on a cushion.

I stand up, and hit my head on something, hurting my twisted knee indirectly. I curse and look up. It's a huge florescent light. That's where all the brightness came from. I walk toward the edge of the cushion and run into something again.

This time I fall down on my butt and almost cry out of frustration.

In an utter rage, I stretch out my only good arm.

I feel something.

It must be that new invisible glass product. Supposed to be a rich people accessory.

I feel around in an exact circumference.

Then, I feel up and down as well.

The horrible truth takes a moment to set in to my tired brain.

I'm totally boxed in.

Or, domed in if you want the proper term. The light bulb that I hit is at the very top of a 2 yard cage.

Cage.

All my life I have hated cages. I may be claustrophobic, who knows. But I can't stay in here.

Well, if it really is glass, then I'll be able to break it, right?

I rap it hard. Nothing happens. I get the funniest feeling that it isn't glass at all.

I hit it hard, but only get a stinging pain in my hand. Seconds later it starts to swell, for I have always been a huge sweller.

I stare at it in disgust as it starts to change color. Gross.

And that's the last of my five limbs gone, if you count my head. My right leg : bruised. My left : lashed to bleeding. My left arm : broken most likely. My right : swollen hand. My head : aching where I hit it. And you can't forget my twisted knee.

I lay back.

I'm going to die.

If no one helps me fast, I'm going to die.

Either my wounds or my captors are going to be the death of me yet.

I want to die.

No. Maybe just insanity would be better. I mean, if you're insane, you lose the ability to feel pain. You are shut off from the world. You no longer have to suffer through pain that you know will never end.

But insanity is hereditary. There's no way I could make myself go insane.

But, I could kill myself.

I could just hit myself in the perfect spot on my neck or my head.

Yes. That's what I'll do. I won't give my kidnappers the pleasure the torturing me for information or whatever. I'll totally foil their plan.

I sink into even more morbid thoughts. Death is the coward's way out, true, but it must be better than life. I mean, it certainly can't get any worse.

How bad could death be? One little nick…I won't feel a thing.

But how to do a suicide?

I was thinking of hitting myself with my arm, but both my arms are now incapacitated. Damn!

I guess I have to wait for my body to heal before I'll be strong enough.

But what's the point of that? Healing just to die?

I don't know anymore. I just know that killing myself is my last option, and I can only do so by waiting for my body to heal.

But maybe if I escaped I wouldn't have to kill myself.

I start searching the walls thoroughly. If I can find even one weak point I just might be able tot ake advantage of that and get free.

Suicide will have to wait.

As I search, it becomes my new goal to break free so I can die.

Morbid goal, but it keeps my strength up.

Finally, I hear something down the dark passage. I listen closely.

"Hiei! You don't hafta follow me! I'm just getting some food for that girl in there!"

"Ooooh do we have a little crush here? And did I not tell you already that there's food for her in there?"

"Yes, you did, but when you refused to show it to me, I figured you were just playing me, and I was right. There is not food in there!"

"That's where you're wrong, Kuwabara. She gets her nutrients through the light bulb. Something my sister dreamt up."

My god, are these tow obvious buffoons my captors?

They continue to argue, until finally I hear them come in. I instantly drop to the cushion and pretend to be asleep. I'll hear more.

"Hiei, I'm going to hit you if you don't stop whining!"

"You and what army? And you're the whiner of the two of us."

The rough voiced one is silent, seemingly at a loss for a comeback. I would be too. The one referred to as "Hiei" definitely has the upper hand.

Finally, I hear something being lifted. A loud scraping sound is made, and "Kuwabara" says, "Hiei, put the chair down. C'mon, put it down. I'll fight you."

An insane note is in Hiei's voice. "Die, NINGEN!"

"DON'T make me hit you!"

"OR WHAT?"

I recognize that they aren't going to say anything important, and I pretend to wake up from all the racket. I rub my eyes for effect, and I watch.

The tall red-haired guy notices me out of the corner of his eye, and looks over, which proves to be a big mistake on his part. A smaller guy with spiky dark hair and a white bandana brings the mentioned chair over his head.

As soon as the red-haired guy is down, the little guy stomps on him. The redhead can be hear saying "her…"

"Her?" He asks. He looks at me and freezes. I notice tiny red eyes.

I mutter, quite audibly, that I think he's won.

"Why…why of course I have! I'm not really hurting Kuwabara here, right?" He grins fakely, and helps Kuwabara up. He has the look of a kid who has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Of course not!" Says Kuwabara stoutly, standing up. He tries to hide all of the bruises that now litter his head area.

"Um…I guess you're Hiei, then?" I ask to the black-haired one.

"Uh…yeah."

"Okay."

I suddenly notice this Kuwabara punk was the one who dragged me out of my alley. Why didn't I recognize him before?

"So…Kuwabara, is it?"

"Yes."

I take a deep breath. "WHO THE F- DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, DRAGGING ME OUT OF MY COMFORTABLE LITTLE TRASH BAGS, ANYWAY? WHY THE HELL HAVE YOU BROUGHT ME HERE? YOU HAVE SOME NERVE, YOU TWO BASTARDS! DRAGGING AN URCHIN IN HERE! WHY HAVE YOU BEEN STALKING ME? WHY HAVE YOU NOT LEFT ME ALONE? ARE YOU COPS? HAVE YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT MY DAD OR SOMETHING? I DON'T CARE! DO YOU HEAR ME? I – DON'T – CARE! GOT IT? LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW!"

They both look stunned, and I pant slightly. I'm a little disappointed that my shout didn't at least break my prison.

"Um…" Begins the Hiei person.

"UM WHAT?"

"Listen, girl…" says Kuwabara.

"NO! YOU LISTEN! LEMME OUT OF THIS CAGE RIGHT NOW OR I JUST MIGHT BREAK IT DOWN!"

Now they both look nervous.

"NOT KIDDING!"

"Okay, okay…now just see here. You are needed by us for your bizarre strengths." Says Kuwabara.

"What strengths? Stealing? Cuz that's not a strength, it's a talent! Which neither of you have."

I think that got Hiei mad, for he turns all red.

"Kara, listen up! You'll be able to help a lot of people if you just cooperate!"

I swear my eyes bulge. "HOW AM I GOING TO HELP PEOPLE IF I'M IN A LITTLE GLASS EMPORIUM?"

"You'd be out of there by now if you showed a willingness to cooperate."

"I'M NOT COOPERATING WITH A BUNCH OF SADISTIC KIDNAPPING BUFFOONS!"

"I'm not a sadist." Says Kuwabara. "He is, though, you want to watch out for him." At this, Hiei goes back to his old game of hitting Kuwabara with the chair, also getting quite dented through it's participation in the war.

"YO! I HAVEN'T FINISHED YELLING AT YOU!"

Hiei stops and stares at me. It's pretty funny. I don't think anyone's ever said that to him in his life. Kuwabara also stands up.

"No ningen tells me what to do." Growls Hiei.

I mishear, and stand up in a flash, pressing my face against the glass. "WHO'S A NIGGER?"

Kuwabara's mouth drops open. "NINGEN! NIN-GEN! NOT THE N-WORD!"

"Oh."

They both seem immensely relieved that I am not going to kill them anymore. And I should be more courteous. Once they trust me, I'll be able to slip right by before they'll know what hit them.

"So why am I here again?"

"You have a special ability other ningens do not possess."

"You know, what the hell is a ningen anyway?"

"It's a mean word for a-"

What it is, I never find out. Kuwabara, the speaker, is distracted by something outside. I think I hear footsteps.

After a long pause, a person with very long red hair comes in.

I think it's a guy. He is wearing pink clothes, which clash horribly with his hair, and he has eyes like emeralds. He is also very tall.

Could he be…Mr. Hair?

No. Mr. Hair had a whip, and you can't exactly hide one of those on you.

But could he have hidden it somewhere else?

IT IS MR. HAIR!

"MR. HAIR!" I scream.

He looks shocked.

"WHY DID YOU WHIP MY LEG?"

"Uh…"

"WHY? I KNOW IT'S YOU! DON'T LIE TO ME! WHY DID YOU HURT ME?"

"Who the hell is Mr. Hair?"

"YOUUUUUUUU!"

"Me? A whip?"

"YES, YOU, A WHIP!"

"I don't have a whip…"

Well, he does look kind of innocent, but…"YOU MUST BE! IT WOULD MAKE SO MUCH SENSE!"

"It's not me."

I pant against the glass wall. "YOU HAVE TO BEEE!"

I recoils, and I finally have to accept it. My attacker would not back away from a caged girl.

"Damn…" I mutter.

The red-haired guy just watches me as if I'm a bomb, and then he takes Hiei's a Kuwabara's arms and drags them away down the tunnel.

I watch in shock, and then I pass out onto my cushion.

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"Hiei, you idiot, why haven't you healed her yet?"

"How could I have?"

"Uh…"

"Listen, what I mean to say is that it's not fair to hound all over me for it. This idiot here…" He jerks his head at Kuwabara, "was having a problem adjusting to your absence. He had us go look for you, and of course that took any healing time out. And we don't know how strong she is yet. We must keep her weak until we know if she can escape or not, in which case only Kuwabara will be able to stop her, which is in turn not very reassuring at all. He seems to have problems feeding himself, let alone following instructions."

"HEY! I DO NOT! AND WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, SHORTY?"

"Shut up! We don't want her to hear us talking about her, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, O Almighty Midget Dude. I wish you'd stop harping on me already. It's driving me crazy."

"Are you saying that you weren't already?"

Kuwabara turns to Kurama. "See what I mean? He insults me whenever he can! Make him stop!"

"You sound like a two-year-old. Quiet already. We need to get communications to Yusuke as soon as possible. If we don't get the girl up there fast, it's the Spirit World that's going to suffer along with Yusuke."

"I still can't believe he got his butt kicked. I mean, he defeated Tigoro. TIGURO. It's unbelievable how he lost to a –"

"SHUT UP!" hisses Kurama. "I thought we agreed we weren't going to discuss this while still out in the open!"

"All right," mutters Kuwabara. "I was just clarifying how pathetic that fight was. I don't even get why he lost."

Kurama shakes his head. "I'll try later. You just watch the subject."

"All right, Kurama, I got it."

"Me too." Says Kuwabara.

They both turn back into the lab.

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"Who's Yusuke?" I ask loudly when I hear them come in.

"No one." They say in unison very quickly.

"No one who?"

"Quiet."

"Why did Yusuke get his butt kicked, and by who?"

"He didn't get his butt kicked. We were practicing our…uh…May Fool jokes." Says Kuwabara.

"It's an April Fool joke, retard. But why practice April Fools jokes in the summer?"

There is a very sustained angry silence.

"And why do you pick on Kuwabara, Hiei?"

Hiei stiffens and stares at me. "I don't. You heard a completely biased side of the story."

"But Kurama seems to agree. Kurama is that red-haired guy, right? Mr. Hair lookalike?"

"Yeah, whoever Mr. Hair is, and Kurama's opinion doesn't count."

"Why not? He seems intelligent."

"Kurama is a bisexual."

I'm surprised. "You don't like bis?"

"It's not bis I have anything against."

"Yeah," pipes up Kuwabara. "Kurama just freaks him out. Hiei assumes that Kurama is all vague like that because he's a bi. Our Hiei here ain't too bright."

Hiei ducks the arm that was about to pat his head.

Isn't Kuwabara here one to talk? "Uh…right. So Hiei is afraid of Kurama because he's a bi?"

"No, it's just because Hiei thinks Kurama's all collected because he's a bi."

"So, if Kurama is a bi, Hiei thinks that makes him collected?"

"Yeah, I…think."

"He doesn't like collected people?"

"Um…I guess. Hang on…"

I press on relentlessly. "So, he doesn't like himself? Hiei here is pretty collected."

"I dunno. Hiei, do you have a grudge against yourself?" Kuwabara asks vaguely.

"NO, I am happy to say that I don't."

"But if you don't like collected people, and you are collected, then you don't like yourself, am I right?" I say quickly. Keep him reeling.

"No, its just Kurama that freaks me out!" Oh. A little anger there.

"But Kurama would not freak you out if he was not a bi, correct?" I begin my interrogation.

"No, it's just his calmness."

"And you blame his calmness on being a bi, correct?"

"Um…yes? Bis are very calm, but Kurama takes it the extreme."

"So then, you assume calm people must be bis, right?"

"Wait a minute…"

"So then, using Kuwabara's perspective, we can determine that you are calm, correct?"

"Yeah, he is." Says Kuwabara.

"So, once again using the laws of logic, we can determine that Hiei is a bi."

Hiei's mouth drops open. "I AM SO STRAIGHT! STRAIGHT AS AN ARROW! STRAIGHT AS A PENCIL! STRAIGHT AS A…A…"

"I don't think you are." I say shrewdly. "You think Kurama's calmness is a result of his bi-ness. You then said that holds true for all bis – their calmness. So then, you are a very calm person. Kuwabara agrees. Then, using your own twisted logic, we can determine that you are also a bi because you're calm. And that also means that you don't like yourself, because bis freak you out."

Hiei looks ready to kill himself. He keeps whispering, "…flawless…flawless…" trying to find a hole in my plan. He walks over to a desk, and lays his head on it, shaking it side to side slowly.

That's the idea. There is no flaw. Once I was talking to this little street beggar, trying to find out if she smoked crack or not because I was bored, and I used the same methods and got it out of her. Later, she told me that when it came to the laws of logic, I was the master.

But the reason I'm using it this time is purely for business purposes. If I can make my kidnappers start doubting themselves, they may go crazy enough to let me right out.

Okay. Now for Kuwabara. One down, one to go.

"Kuwabara, do you have a girlfriend?"

He stares. "Why?"

"Just wondered."

"It's his little sister." Kuwabara points at Hiei, or what's left of Hiei.

At this, though, Hiei stands directly up. "Yes, and I'll break you two up yet!"

"Yeah…right. You're too worried about her. You don't want to hurt her, and breaking us up would hurt her."

Hiei smolders.

Hm. So far I haven't encountered any flaws with Kuwabara. Better probe deeper.

"What do you fear most in the world, Kuwabara?"

He blushes for some reason. "Um…"

"It's kitties." Says Hiei instantly, and gets hit hard over the head by Kuwabara. But then – Hiei isn't there.

I see him reappear on the other side of the room.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Okay." He'll tell me one day, I'll see to it.

"Now, Kuwabara, you fear kittens?"

"No…" He goes redder. "I fear them being in pain."

"Yes," says Hiei curtly, "He'd probably kill himself if he let one die of something other than natural causes."

"HIEI!"

"Well, it's true, right?"

Kuwabara is silent.

"Who do you love more, kittens or Hiei's little sister?"

"Let me tell you about Yukina. That's her name. She has the loveliest aqua-colored hair, the sweetest personality, and I love her because-"

"-Because she's the only girl you'll ever meet in your lifetime who'd want to go out with you."

"HIEI!"

"Oh get over it. At least it shut you up about how wonderful she is. Talk about your kittens."

"Ah…kittens. Fuzzy and cuddly and warm and soft and always nice and happy-"

"And oh-so-adorable." Finishes Hiei in a high voice. "I must have heard that speech 1000 times."

"Shut up, you bi!" Yells Kuwabara.

At this Hiei recoils. I can't tell for a moment if he's going to hit Kuwabara or cry.

But fortunately for us all, he simply gives Kuwabara one upside the head.

Kuwabara faints.

Hiei watches him in disgust. Then he goes over to his desk and puts his head in his hands. He doesn't answer any more of my questions. He just lays there. I think he would have crawled under a rock if one had been big enough.

When I am sure he's asleep, I measure their crazy levels. It's highly inaccurate but fun. Within a few weeks, Hiei should go mad, so it'll be crucial to get him to free me before he's totally lost it. And as for Kuwabara – he's very flexible. It's a lot harder to bend open-minded people to your insane touch.

But Hiei seems immeasurably smarter, and if I can make him crazy, I probably won't need Kuwabara, sane or insane.

But Kuwabara is certainly much stronger.

But Hiei seems to have powers. What was that teleporting thing, anyway?

I don't know. But once I make him go completely insane, I'll have all the answers I want – and my freedom.

I settle back on my cushion and sleep.

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A/N Long chapter, huh? I'm now trying to make them all 6 pages like this one, but it's hard… review and make me feel better!

And you know what sucks totally and completely? I found out a few months ago that Kurama is a bisexual, and that he's meant to end up with Hiei! That's why he tries to look like a girl! But the thing is, it wasn't meant to be! Hiei is straight, (I'm pretty sure), and Kurama just doesn't seem like a bi in the way he talks to guys vs. girls! It just wasn't meant to happen! That is why I hate yaoi stories between Kurama and Hiei! It just wasn't meant to happen!

At least, in my world it wasn't meant to be…AND IN MY WORLD I CONTROL EVERYTHING! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Um, just review, and lave me to my hyperactivity already. You probably want no more of my blah-blah. Oh, wait.

This was not meant to offend any bisexuals, as are any other chapters. It was just meant lightly in a humorous way. I have nothing against bisexuals at all. I know a girl who is a bisexual, well, not know her, but I know her name, and she's all right.

I REPEAT, THIS WAS JUST MEANT LIGHTLY!