AbhorsenSabriel87: Well, that went well.

Teresa: Yeah, it was okay... considering you didn't even wait for people to review before typing this chappie.

Sabriel: Ah... heh heh. Oops. Actually, I'm only writing the AN Sectional right now. Everything else will wait until I get some reviewers... although responses will be postponed until I can make a chapter for them alone.

Teresa: You mean like a dedication page or one of those crappy Emmy(R) speeches?

Sabriel: No! Nothing like the Emmy(R)s or the Oscar(R)s! --looks around, petrified--

Teresa: o.O ...Riiight, Sabs. Calm down, okay?

Sabriel: --returns to composed form-- Okay, yeah, I got it. --sighs-- Anyway, yeah. It'll be like a dedication page to all of you dedicated readers! --sniggers--

Teresa: Lame play-on.

Sabriel: I know. On with the fic.

Teresa: Wait! Didn't you say that you were going to wait?

Sabriel: Meh, who cares? I sure as Hell don't, so let's move one already.

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---The four Spirit Detectives met up at Kurama's house at 5:00 sharp, except for a dark haired teen about Kurama's height who arrived only nine minutes late. He came running up with a bit of a goofy smile on his face (and a jean outfit over his well-toned frame) and explained, "Sorry about that, but I got a bit hung up as I was going out the door."

---"It's no problem at all Yusuke," Shiori replied, smiling in her motherly fashion. "We were waiting for Kazuma to finish changing before going anyway." A tall copper-haired teen much taller and lankier than the others shrugged, wearing a dress coat, navy slacks, and a white dress shirt. "I wanted to look good for a night out at the Tokyo theatre," he insisted.

---"That could take some work," Hiei retorted quietly, himself wearing the black dress tunic he had worn before when Koenma had summoned him a week prior. As Yusuke and Kurama (who wore and dark emerald green vest over a white long-sleeved shirt and black slacks) laughed silently at the minor insult, Kazuma glared at the shorter Detective as Shiori drove her new company car, an old fashioned but well taken care of convertable Camero, out of the garage and allowed the boys to climb into it. The small car was only meant to seat four, so Hiei sat between Yusuke and Kazuma on the back of the bench seat since he was the smallest and could most easily fit there. At precisely 5:14, the group left and drove out of the city that they had all resided in for at least the past three years.

---About two hours later, Shiori drove the group into the heart of Tokyo just in time to get good parking for the Shakspearean play that they were about to see, Romeo and Juliet. According to Kurama, it was a play about a guy named Romeo Montague who fell in love with his father's enemy's daughter, Juliet Capulet. In the beginning, Romeo is a depressed person because another woman chose chastity over him (this Yusuke laughed at Romeo for), and in turn his friends Mercutio, a nephew of the reigning Prince of Verona (where we lay our scene), and Benvolio, a friend of the Montague house, try to cheer him up by taking him to a Capulet masquerade where he falls in love with Juliet. As he was about to explain more, Hiei told him to stop and allow them to watch the play before he gave away everything. So the five went into the theatre and waited for the 7:30 show to start.

---After the show, which in itself took just over two and a half hours, the group chatted merrily over the plot and some of the unexpected pieces that Yusuke and Kazuma didn't think would happen (as they had never seen a Shakspearean play before tonight) as well as their disappointment of a few of the character's deaths. At 10:12, the five went to the restraunt where they had reservations at 10:15 and ate a full Italian meal (all seven courses). When they finally left, the clock showed almost midnight and most of the traffic had long since died out as they headed home.

---"I'm glad you two enjoyed the play," Shiori called back to the two boys in the backseat. "It really is a great thing to see with friends and family, a play by William Shakespeare."

---"Yeah," Yusuke agreed. "I really like how they made it so realistic while acting over-dramatic. I mean, Mercutio has got to be the funniest character in the whole thing."

---"He kinda reminds me of you, Hiei," Kurama admitted, glancing back at his friend. Hiei cocked an eyebrow at him and answered, "I think it'd be best for me to ignore that comment, Benvolio." Yusuke and Kazuma laughed at his remark as Kurama rolled his eyes at them and turned his eyes to his mother. "Am I really that bad?" he pouted, giving his mother a pleading look. Shiori, smiling a bit at the very obvious fit of the character to her son, said nothing. Hiei noticed Yusuke and Kazuma laughing and added aloofly, "But hey, that's not as bad as Romeo and Tybalt here." He grinned in the direction of the two human boys next to him as they protested loudly at the accusation and the mother and son laughed in the front seat.

---"Putting that aside," Shiori proceeded, "how have your missions been going boys? I haven't heard much as of late."

---"That's because we haven't been getting much," Yusuke mentioned off-handishly. "For some reason, things have been really quiet right now according to the shrimp boat." Hiei shook his head at the nickname Yusuke had given Koenma, refusing to laugh. Yusuke looked off at the stars above them and sat up straight, gaping at them. "Whoa..." he murmured, causing Kurama, Hiei, and Kazuma to look up as well. "You can't see this many stars in the city," he observed.

---"Too much pollution and light," Kurama listed, "as well as all the clouds we get all the time." The red head looked over at Hiei and asked, "Can you see them this well in Makai, Hiei?" The fire demon trained his eyes heavenward and pondered the question before answering, "Better actually. There's no pollution or modern day devices to block the view. But here is fairly nice, too." Shiori smiled and glanced back at the boys as the convertable began to drive around the winding road the traced along the edge of a rather large ravine that could almost qualify as a small canyon because of its size. "Well, I'm glad to see you four can enjoy the simple things in life dispite what you do," she commented kindly.

---"It's because we do what we do that we can enjoy things like this," Kazuma mused. Yusuke looked at the other human, an expression of mock-surprise on his seventeen-year-old face. "You being philosophical, Kuwabara?" he teased, sounding shocked. "Oh wow! Has Hell frozen over?" As Kurama and Hiei laughed at this, Kazuma reached over to bonk Yusuke on the head, but decided to let it go and just fume over it. Smiling and happy for the first time since his meeting with the Underworld Council, Hiei looked out over the ravine to the road as it wound its way through the valley. Puzzled at the prescence of other lights on the road (considering the time of night), he narrowed his eyes and tried to get a better look at the fast moving pair of lights. As the headlights pulled up ahead of the small car, he could tell three things; the headlights belonged to a truck at least twice as big as the Camero, it was going over the speed limit by quite a lot, and the driver must be drunk considering that it was neither slowing down nor keeping to one lane. Without much time to think, Hiei turned back to Shiori and shouted to pull the car to the side and stop. When she looked back at him, confused, he darted forward and forced the steering wheel to the left as Shiori noticed the truck and slammed on the brakes, giving Yusuke and Kuwabara only a second to grab onto whatever they could to prevent themselves from flying through the windsheild if their seatbelts snapped.

---The impact with the truck had the same force as if the car had hit a solid steel wall; the little car, having been hit on Kurama's front side hard, was sent backwards almost fifteen feet, five feet from the edge of the ravine. Both engines had stalled and the five in the Camero were in a daze. As Kurama shook himself out of it, he saw that because Hiei had leaned forward to jerk the wheel to the side (which was why all of them were still alive in the first place), the little demon had smashed headlong into the dashboard and now lay unconscious with his small body between the front seats. As he blinked to relieve his eyes of the "trauma dots" dancing before them, he saw that although Hiei was still breathing, it was shallow and he was bleeding over the carpeted interior and some of his blood stained the dashboard where he had hit. He looked over at his mother and gripped her shoulder gently, who seemed fine but had a little trouble breathing after slamming into the steering wheel, then looked into the backseat, asking hoarsely (as his seatbelt had knocked the wind out of him) if the other two were all right.

---"Fine back here," came Yusuke's own strained response. Kurama shifted his eyes to Kuwabara, who nodded as well. "We should call the hospital," Yusuke continued, unfastening his seatbelt so he could breathe easier. "Hiei took a big crack on the head, and who knows about the guys in the other car." The dark haired teen squinted at the truck, whose lights were still on, and got out of the battered Camero. "I'm gonna check on those guys," he said, closing the door and tossing Kurama his cellphone. "Call the hospital and the cops, 'kay?" When Kurama nodded and called up the operator, Yusuke walked over to the driver's side door of the truck and knocked on the window.

---"Operator, state your name and emergency," a female voice asked through the staticy connection as Kazuma also left his seat to check the passenger side of the truck. "My name is Suuichi Minamino," Kurama replied, trying to steady his voice. "My mother, my friends, and I were just in an accident on Southbound Route 7 outside Tokyo. One of my friends is badly injured and we need an ambulance and police."

---"All right, sir. Wait a few moments and we'll have what you need in a few minutes," the operator answered back. "Just hang on until then, okay?"

---"All right," Kurama muttered. "Thank you." As he hung up the phone, Yusuke pounded harder on the driver's window and shouted, "Hey! Anyone alive in there? Answer me if there-!" He was cut off by the door swinging open with enough force to send him flying into rock face and pinning his right arm at the shoulder. Kuwabara shouted at the driver as the passenger door opened and Kurama took off his seatbelt warily. Yusuke was shouting various curses at the driver and shoving the door, trying in vain to make the metal object release his arm, and a slender young woman got out of the passenger side, coming up behind Kazuma quietly. Too quiet for a human Kurama thought suddenly, but before he could shout his warning to Kuwabara, Yusuke did instead, and the other teen turned around as the girl's hands became claws and she slashed at his unprotected neck. Only his fast reflexes managed to keep her from taking off his head completely, but she moved fast enough to still slice open his eyes in a spray of blood. Shiori screamed in terror as Kazuma doubled over, clutching his eyes to keep the pain at bay, shouting curses and trying to keep a good distance from his attacker on the narrow road without seeing where he was going.

---Instantly, Kurama jumped out of the car and summoned his Rose Whip to his hand, cracking it at the woman, who (unfortunately) dodged the assult as Yusuke yelped loudly, his shoulder making a sick cracking sound and sending his arm completely limp. The door pulled away and Yusuke dropped to the ground, clutching his shoulder and biting his lip to stifle a scream of pain. The woman, her short pale green hair mussed about her elfin face, grinned wickedly at the incapacited Spirit Detectives, keeping a wary sapphire gaze on Kurama, who walked around the front of the Camero to protect the two within it. "Mother," he murmured softy, never taking his eyes from his enemy, "please take Hiei and Kazuma and get to a safer location. Run, please, we'll handle this."

---Afraid for her boy but respecting of his wishes, Shiori nodded and tried to unbuckle her seatbelt but found it locked shut. Trying her hardest to get it unlatched, she could only watch as her little Suuichi helped Yusuke to his feet and drew a second seed from his hair, his whip flicking slightly from side to side. The woman before them smirked darkly and rushed at Yusuke, narrowly missing Kurama's whip cracks as the driver stepped from the truck and grabbed the thorned rope out of the air. A gasp escaped Shiori's lips as she gazed upon the new threat; a man so large it made Arnold Schwartzanegger look like a skrawny nerd about Hiei's height. As Kurama tried in vain to free his whip, the man smirked and yanked hard on it, bringing the kitsune flying towards him as Yusuke aimed a Spirit gun at him and fired, cutting through the whip before it could take his ally any further. But as Kurama's feet touched the ground, the woman kicked him hard, sending him into the rock face and causing a few chuncks of rock to fly from the wall, one hitting Yusuke's forhead hard. As the teen cursed and attempted to get the dirt out of his eyes with his able hand, Kuwabara summoned his Spirit Sword and slashed at the woman with trained psychic sight. The slash caufgt the woman off-guard and cut deep into her arm as Kurama pulled himself from the rock and threw something at her. Whether it hit her or not no one could tell as the giant backhanded Kazuma into Yusuke hard enough to send them flying through the Camero's windsheild and off the trunk. Shiori spun around to see if they're all right, still struggling with the seatbelt. The two don't reappear into her line of sight.

---The woman cried out in suprise and Shiori turns back to see that the girl had green vines twining over her body and quickly spreading. She glanced at her son and stared; the look upon his face was one that she had never seen, one of hatred and resolution. "You've attempted to kill my friends, my mother, and me," he accused, his eyes flashing a frightening gold in his rage. "Now you shall taste your own medicine. Farewell." At the last word, the vines burst out at an alarming rate and the woman fell to the ground, never to rise again. Enraged by his accomplice's fall, the other rushed at Kurama and grabbed him by the jaw, lifting him into the air (no matter how hard the kitsune struggled) and slammed him hard into the asphalt.

---"Suuichi!" his mother shouted, still trying desperately to unlatch the stuck belt in her panic. The shout caused the formerly unconscious demon next to her to stir and lift himself onto his hamds and knees, blood dripping down his face from his head wound and his eyes slightly unfocused. "What...?" he started, trying to concentrate on anything but the peircing pain running through his skull and neck.

---"Hiei! You're awake!" Shiori exclaimed, helping the fire demon to his feet. "Suuichi, Yusuke and Kazuma have been attacked! Please help them!" Startled by her words, he raised his eyes to Kurama, whose hands were still trying desperately to tear the behemoth away from his throat and breathe. Hiei reached back to grasp his sword but found only empty air. On the one day I decide not to bring it, he thought moodily through the fog in his mind. He didn't have time to move from his position when the giant demon threw Kurama into the front end of the Camero hard enough to make it roll a few inches further back. When her son didn't rise from the ground, Shiori sobbed out his name and Hiei's garnet eyes flashed in bloodlust. As fast as he could with his injury and depleted strength, he jumped out of the car and drew a dagger from the lining of his tunic, slashing the giant demon's arm open and standing away from Kurama so not to harm him further.

---As predicted, the demon turned from Kurama (whose red hair was now stained darker from his own head wound) and set himself on the small fire demon, at best only a third of the demon's height. With a yell of rage, the giant rushed at Hiei, swinging his fists the size of boulders in hopes of knocking the smaller off the cliff. But, although handicapped, Hiei avoided his swings and ducked beneath him, slashing through the brute's stomach. Shockingly, the demon seemed unaffected and turned switfly, snatching the smaller up in his heavily muscled right arm, clenching his fist tightly. Hiei stifled a yelp of pain as he heard and felt his left arm and ribs cracking and breaking beneath the enormus pressure. Taking the first shot he saw without any regard to the sanity of any still conscious nearby, he glared darkly at the giant creature, eyes flashing dark violet before he plunged the dagger into the demon's forehead.

---As expected, the demon dropped him to the ground instantly and swayed backwards away from the battered fire appiration. Hiei stood slowly and looked at Kurama, listening for the sirens that should have been coming if anyone had called for an ambulance or the police, then turned to Shiori, his eyes returning to their normal ruby hue. Before he could say anything however, Shiori shouted in warning and he spun around in time to be hit in the chest and sent rocketing back against the Camero. He cried out in pain as he felt not only the vent of the sports car but his lower back shatter and fell to the ground, darkness trying to once more force its way upon him. Distantly, he heard Mrs. Minamino shouting and gravel and bones crunching, and turned his head towards the car...

---...Just as it started falling into the ravine. Trying to ignore the searing pain all over his body, the small demon tried to rise and help Shiori, who he saw was still in the car, but could only catch her terrified look as the car fell out of view and the distant wail of sirens touched his acute hearing. "Shiori..." he whispered, trying to move at all in his fear for her safety. Somewhere behind him, he heard the sound of a body hitting the ground and something slipping off the road. When he looked, the two demons attackers were gone with no explanation and darkness fell on him again, painful and tormenting.

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Sabriel: Yeah yeah, it's shorter than the other one, but I just don't wanna write anymore until I get some reviews or flames... which I undoubtedly be getting from Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, and the rare Kuwabara fan girls.

Teresa: ...What Kuwabara fan girls?

Sabriel: You'd be suprised. --shudders-- Anywho, I hope you enjoyed it, angst readers, and to anyone who hates it, I really don't care all that much because I'm writing it for Teresa's enjoyment alone.

Teresa: ...And you need a place to put your freaky little OC.

Sabriel: Shuddup you. I'm already writing two fics for you; don't make me delete them.

Teresa: Why don't you have the readers decide whether or not you should delete them.

Sabriel: ...Whatever. Review please. I so badly need exposure. Also, read Trenity170's fics. They're pretty damn good, even a reviewer named Hiei666 says so, and she's supposed to be a really good writer herself.

Teresa: I thought we weren't going to do-

Sabriel: WE'RE NOT! I'm just giving Tren the exposure she needs if she needs it.

Teresa: --sighs-- Hurry and write the next chapter.

Sabriel: Once I get at least one honest review that's not something like "I love it! Please write more!" Ugh. I need real reviews and crits people! Tell me what's wrong with the damn thing and don't be shy about it!

Teresa: Besides the fact that you've- --gets "spoiler" sticker slapped over mouth-- Mmm!

Sabriel: Don't give it away, dumbass. C'ya readers, if there are any of you out there anymore.