!-Begin Chapter Seventeen-!

A Close Call

The others followed Nuema. Waiting there to greet them was yet another female. She was shorter then the others and a bit heavier set. She also seemed older with her stormy gray hair and gray eyes. She wore a soft gray kimono with a pure white obi. In front of her bare feet was a game board, although it was a really odd one.

She looked up at the group as they entered. Everyone eye her with varying degrees of mistrust ranging from Nuema with very little to Hiei and Shiei with complete.

"Hello, my name is Gura." She looked over at the group again, "The ones named Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke have already fought and will not fight again. The one named Nuema has been requested to fight our leader. The ones named Hiei and Shiei remain to fight and only one will." She spoke as if she was stating her thoughts aloud.

Hiei and Shiei gave the other a look that said, "I'm fighting, you aren't so deal with it."

Gura shook her head at the two. "It won't be an actual fight, but a test of your mental strength." Shiei glared and looked disgusted and disgruntled.

'Hiei, you fight.'

Hiei just smirked and walked foreword. Gura had a look of pure nonchalance, after all she really didn't care who her opponent was out of the two.

"This is a very simple game. Just sit down in front of the board." Hiei glared at her and sat cross-legged in front of it. After Hiei was settled, Gura knelled on a cushion. "This a more demonic version of the human game called chess, however it is harder to play and will take your fullest concentration." Therein she explained the complex rules in less then five minutes. Now it was Hiei's turn to be nonchalant, he was bored by the end of the explanation.

"Let's just get over with already." Sounding very arrogant, this was Hiei's statement.

The game lasted about ten minutes. Hiei was actually making no arrogant moves when he could have, which was quite a shocker. Of course, that couldn't have lasted for too long, considering the fire demon's personality.

Hiei only had a piece left while Gura had fiver, four were grouped together and one was off to the side. Hiei had two options, take the one off to the side first and then go for the larger group, or go for the larger group and not move for two turns and most assuredly lose.

The former being more cautious and the later being more arrogant. Of course, knowing Hiei he would choose the later. Which he did and Gura, who had actually been expecting this had set it up that way on purpose. After Gura took Hiei's last piece and Hiei had lost the game, Shiei couldn't hold a statement in any longer.

"Hiei! You arrogant little demon!" She sounded slightly concerned but more annoyed.

Hiei didn't hear her though, for at that moment his head titled forward as if the back of said head had been hit hard. He blinked. When his eyes opened, the fiery red orbs in them were in a large lack of pupils. Mechanically, lacking his usually arrogance, he flicked back his cloak and drew the katana concealed under it on his waist. A dark psychic aurora was surrounding the blade, however only Nuema saw it. The aura caused her concern. Hiei turned to face the group, Shiei in particular.

Shiei glared at Hiei, her previous concern completely behind her, she though he was irked about being called 'little'. "Hiei, you're a moron." Of course, if he was irate, that wasn't helping her.

Less mechanically, Hiei's eyes narrowed into a glare. He readied his sword and charged at Shiei. Nuema started to run, knowing exactly Hiei was going to do and tried to stop him. However in mid-step of her first step while one of her legs was off the ground, psychic energy surrounded her, freezing her in the motion. Her eyes widened as she watched the same energy surrounded Shiei, preventing her from moving to avoid Hiei's sword. The sword stabbed through her, seemingly going through her heart. She coughed and fell forward, barely able to cough out a feeble, "why?" before going limp and closing her eyes, held up momentarily by the psychic aura before it dissipated.

"Hiei, you bastard!"

Hiei wasn't paying attention, however, he was staring at the top of Shiei's head, which was resting on his hand holding the hilt of his sword, icy tipped black strands of hair resting on the appendage itself. Hiei's eyes were twitching in shock. He pulled his sword out of Shiei's supposed corpse and lifted it, staring in shock at it, mainly the crimson blood coating most of the steel. He turned to glare at Gura, giving her a glare he reserved only for those that were about to die. He flicked the blood off his blade and charged at Gura. Gura stood up from where she had been knelling and raised a hand at Hiei, a gust of wind forced him into the earthen wall behind him. Gura sat back down.

"Damn you!" Hiei growled as he got up seconds later. "You will die!" He glared and stood up, readying to charge again. However, he stiffened and fell face first into the dirt halfway there. Gura's head fell onto the table, making the piece of the forgotten game jump.

The energy faded from around Nuema, finally allowing her free movement once more. Her foot hit the ground and her arms fell to her side, but she didn't notice at all. "I don't get it. Hiei failed both tests, so Yusuke and Kuwabara should be dead...unless." Nuema's eyes widened and she ran over to where Shiei lay, bleeding profusely from the wound in her chest. She turned the demon over. Nuema pressed two fingers against the back of Shiei's neck and closed her eyes. In five seconds' time she opened her eyes in shock. She had sensed some activity running down Shiei's spine.

Kurama had also quickly placed two and two together, "Odd, if Hiei did fail in his fight with Gura why is she dead as well, instead of Yusuke and Kuwabara?" Since only one conclusion could reached, Hiei did not fail, Kurama went over to where Hiei was, quickly taking note of the fact that he was breathing.

While that was happening, elsewhere the fight was continuing. Gura and Hiei were standing in a large clearing which was surrounded by trees in the distance. Hiei looked around and then looked over at Gura continuing to give her that extra special glare.

"Where are we?"

"We're in the realm of the mind. You only have the strength, skills and endurance you think you should have. Once this fight is over, our fates will be decided. We both have passed and failed one test each. From this fight, only one of our souls will return to our body."

Hiei smirked, snickering with an ominous tone. He lifted his right arm up, cloak sleeve fell, revealing thin white bandages bound around said limb, "Bringing me here was a mistake you won't live through."

In a few seconds Hiei's eyes opened and he sat up. He had won, but at what price? Suddenly a shadow was over him. He was pulled up by his scarf, "Hiei! Even if I didn't like her, you don't kill your team mates!"

Hiei caught the punch aimed for him and glared at Yusuke, "Hn!"

"Answer me, dammit! You killed a team mate!" Nuema looked over at Kurama who quickly got the picture.

Kurama walked over and forced Yusuke's hand down, so that Hiei's feet were once again touching solid ground. "Yusuke, it would be wise to make sure that Shiei was indeed dead before punishing, Hiei."

"What is that supposed to mean, fox boy? You saw it too, he killed her!"

Nuema closed her eyes and used some telekinetic energy to severely whack Yusuke. "Yusuke, shut up and let go of Hiei." Yusuke let go of Hiei's scarf and turned to look over at her. "Two things. First, Gura had a strong grasp over Hiei's actions at the time. Secondly, Shiei is still alive." Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei stared at Nuema as if she had grown a third head.

"It makes sense. After losing the game, Hiei never died, and at first his motions were more like a puppet doll's. When Hiei collapsed, neither you or Kuwabara died, Yusuke. If he had failed after losing, the both of you were supposed to be killed along with Hiei. Gura also collapsed. Gura's fight must have been in multiple parts and that game was only one of them."

"What does that mean, fox boy?"

Yusuke got bopped on his head once more, this time by Nuema's fist. "Dolt, what he said, basically, is evidence proving what I said and some other oddities. Delis told me that Gura's fights do take place in three parts, she likes to call them tests, one must pass two out of the three to beat her. The first one is her chess game, the second is resisting her mind control and the third is to beat her in her mental realm. Hiei lost the first test, he must have passed the second, which means he couldn't have killed Shiei since Hiei did beat Gura."

Hiei took all the new information in, but he needed to make sure. So he walked over to Shiei and stopped, starring at her limp body, sensing faint energy throbs coming from it. He really couldn't believe it, how had she survived?

As if she had read his thoughts, which she probably had, Nuema spoke up, "Shiei's a very stubborn person. That injury would have killed anyone else by now."

"Why don't you heal her?"

Nuema didn't move from where she was standing. Her gaze was focused on the door that had opened during their friendly discussion including cursing, yelling and insults. She clenched a hand that was covered in blisters.

"I won't be able to spare the energy. She should last long enough for me to heal her though." She took a few steps foreword to the door and stopped, "Come on." She walked through the door. Everyone eventually followed her at their own pace. Hiei came last for he picked Shiei up in his arms and carried her to the next room, unable to let her stay there.

!-End Chapter Seventeen-!

Oh, yeah basically, Yusuke was only pissed about Hiei "killing" Shiei because well, Shiei was a teammate of his. And so was Hiei. And I think teammate's killing another like he thought Hiei had would piss him off. Sorry if I'm wrong.