Enjoy. I was on a roll with this one, but had to end it because I not only wanted to keep my chapters somewhat consistent, but felt that the next progression of events would not fit well with the theme of this chapter.

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho © Yoshihiro Togashi.

The Seibu Project

By Zelia Theb; © Zelia Theb.

I was an utter mess, a walking bag of ground meat in bloody bandages. We managed to return to the meeting place first, and only had to wait about fifteen-minutes before they got back. It was still awkward. I could tell that Hiei was trying his hardest not to take care of me any more, but his eyes were fixated on my wounds and wrappings. Kuwabara was stunned to see that I had been stabbed not once, but twice in the short time, and Kurama had this stale expression on his face that said more than I'm certain he wanted to.

They were no sight either. Kuwabara had one hell of a bruise on his left cheekbone, and part of his top had been torn, as if he had avoided a cutting to the skin but not the clothes. Kurama looked a little more raggy than Kuwabara, with blood from a light scratch on his right shoulder.

"What did you two see?" I asked them, figuring that explaining our various cuts and bruises would waste time. It was obvious that we had both had our fights, but with what was the question.

"Well," Kurama began, "we happened upon the apparition of a very powerful psychic who had attempted to use a sensory overload tactic on me, which might I add, failed. He was easily dealt with." His eyes scanned my body again, and the skin between his eyebrows wrinkled in what I would have called displeasure. "Kuwabara's swordsmanship was exceptional, and his detective skills utterly remarkable. We uncovered various old consoles, all of which were unpowered and inoperative."

"So then, we walked a bit further, which is why we were a little late," Kuwabara stepped in, "and found some sort of room that had broken screens or something for all of its walls, except for this one by the door which was like a two way mirror that you see in cop shows." Wonderful. So we had either prisoner torture on our hands, which would account for even more pissed off ghosts, or we had some sort of observation room where that monster was created.

"There was an emptiness that both Kuwabara and I felt there. A void." Kurama stopped as I faltered, my legs were starting to give out mid-story and Hiei was not prepared for it. As the redhead brought me up on his shoulder, he informed us, "As Kuwabara was busy taking photographs for Koenma, I was lost in the dizziness of scents from the center of the room."

"Scents?" I asked naively. The whole trip had been pretty weird, and stank of rotten mold and rusty metal. My questions from our latest battle had been answered in his reply, and trust me, I had no idea how the heck he had managed to smell what he did. Physics either heavily applied in this situation, or not at all.

"I smelt people. Creatures. Gunpowder. Metal. I even smelt the ocean, Yusuke," said Kurama. The cadence of my name was our cue to start moving out.

"Hn. All of that time vortex crap again," Hiei muttered. "Save the report for Koenma."

"Fine, Hiei," Kurama complied curtly. There was still an uneasiness between them, which I think stems from that moment when Kurama betrayed Hiei to save my life. It's all a laughing matter now, but when the two aren't talking strategies on the sidelines, Hiei seems completely annoyed by him.

"Uh, Hiei?" Kuwabara cut in to our pace, probably afraid to piss off Hiei even more.

"What is it?" the demon scathed in return. Sometimes I wished those guys would cut it out, and that was one of those times. But thankfully, I think my wish had actually come true for once.

"Seeing as you're the only one who's in perfect shape, maybe you should, uh…" I knew my friend was stopping due to not wanting to suggest any advice to the already peeved demon, but his suggestion was worthwhile and smart. He finished, "Maybe I should carry Urameshi. I'm kinda the most useless of you four…" I felt his pain as he admitted his weakness, but really, I think it was mainly to boost Hiei's ego as a means of persuasion.

"What don't we know," Hiei remarked.

"Basically, what I mean is that Kurama is pretty strong, and you don't have a single scratch on ya, so you guys should probably lead us back and be ready to fight in case that monster is waiting for us back at the lobby." Ah yes, leave it to Kuwabara to remind us all of the fact that our pathway out was not going to be so happy-go-lucky. We all knew that maybe the thing had stayed on its course while chasing us, and could be around the next corner. There was also that chance that we wouldn't have to face it…but then again that would mean our mission was a failure.

I felt Hiei stop, though. He had taken Kuwabara's suggestion to heart. I wondered if he had felt guilty for not being able to prevent my injuries, and if he was just as scared as the rest of us. I mean, sure, he showed it, but was it as deep?

"Don't accidentally stab him with that knife," Hiei chided him. "We know he's already been stabbed enough today and we don't need Koenma's prized employee dead." I was flattered. Hiei had his own way of showing that he cared, and in this case it was telling Kuwabara not to hurt me.

Hiei seemed to be feeling very verbose at that moment. As I literally changed hands from he and Kurama to Kuwabara, Hiei said, "We are just going to leave. There is no point in staying just to die. Koenma has all he needs and he can't force us to do this."

It was confirmed then. Hiei was scared. Scared enough to forfeit even more of his freedom, because after all, defying Koenma could add on years to his sentence. It was times like this that I had wished I could have known Hiei a lot sooner.

We walked on, and on, and on. The hallways were seemingly endless, and probably because we had that anxiety to return home as soon as possible. It's like staring at the clock for that last five minutes of class; sometimes it seems like the hands are going backwards. We had begun to see familiar territory again, but our relief was halted by sounds. First it was the echo of a door slamming, or maybe it was machinery. Then it was a high pitched shriek that not one of us could identify. We could not stop, we did not stop, but then…

Then there was the echoes of many men. We halted, we had to. What lay ahead for us? We knew we had stopped for too long once the echoes grew closer, chanting to the timpani of their footsteps. Kuwabara readied himself, asking me if I was alright to stand. I lied and answered that I was, although Kurama's plant-like morphine was nearly worn off. I was in pain.

"They're coming," stated Hiei, hand ready upon his sword and anxious to dual-wield blades again. Kurama nodded and took a defensive stance, reminding Hiei that these were most likely living and breathing humans that we should not kill. He uttered a growl, since we had been given the right to sin-free murder, and sheathed his weapons in disgust.

"Kurama," I asked, knees weakening and hand propping me up on the wall, "is there any way you can block them?" At least, I had hoped, long enough for him to give me even more of that drug which I so desperately needed.

"No." He thought to himself for a moment, hoping that his immediate answer was not the only answer, and explained, "If we were outside, perhaps. It would be too risky to turn my rose whip into a barrier. It would be sharp, but certainly they may find a way to burn through it. Then I would be left without a long ranged weapon."

"Kuwabara?" I turned my head to the side, "What about you? Got any ideas?"

"Could cut the pipes above us with my Spirit Sword," he mused, "but that would block our path and ya never know what's going through there. Or we could go back."

"And face those apparitions again? They're undead, you idiot," Hiei reminded him in a belittling tone.

There was not much time left before we were to face our opponents. I had to make a decision, and fast. My teammates were counting on me to organize our efforts, and the majority of us did not want to kill as a means to survive. Only one thing came to mind, and that was to charge them. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have some sort of contingency plan either.

"Everyone," I addressed them, "give Hiei your communicators and any evidence." I turned to Kurama and instructed, "If there ain't enough of that drug to put all of them to sleep, then pop some in my mouth so I can help blast our way out of here." Kurama nodded, revealing the tiny remainder of the plant and feeding it to me before turning back into his stance. It didn't work instantly, but I figured that once confronted I'd be able to fight and not care that my legs would be weeping blood.

"Detective…" Hiei urged me to give an end to the order. "Hurry."

I smirked, a false sense of hope to reassure them that I was my old self and ready to kick some ass. I then finished with, "Hiei, you're going to bust through on the left, and Kurama is going to follow behind on the right. Kuwabara and I are gonna punch out some stragglers, and I'll use my Spirit Gun if it gets too intense."

"Heh," Hiei let out. "So what you're saying is to just cause complete and utter chaos while we run out." I nodded back at him, and he replied, eyes forward and ready to run, "Got it."

We waited, and waited…and waited. We all knew that something wasn't quite right. They hadn't come for us, but they were so close! Kurama had suggested that perhaps they knew of a passageway that we did not, and maybe they were hoping to attack us from both ends. Hiei, on the other hand, stated something far more morbid.

"Just stick together and run out. Don't bother to stop and help the dying." Our eyes nearly burst open, but then Kurama began feeling it too. He held his hand to his face, claiming that the strong scent of blood was making him dizzy.

"Are you saying they're all dead?" Kuwabara asked.

"Not all. Most."

It was chilling. These commandos were strong, maybe not so much as the ghosts, but they were strong. And they probably already knew what was inside here, but yet they all were wiped out like that? How long would we have before they became malevolent spirits themselves? At least we knew one thing: the number of our opponents would be smaller if we hurried.

"Wait," Kurama said quietly, leaning on a wall, "feel this here." His hand was resting upon a loose metal panel that shifted like a scale when he changed pressure on it.

"That proves your other passageway theory, fox," stated Hiei, "but that doesn't explain the death in the air nor the fact that my Jagan was unable to detect it."

"There must be something…" the redhead said, feeling his way around the edges of the panel to find a leverage to pry it off. Standing on his toes, he felt the seam at the top, and pulled his hand back as if he had touched an open electrical outlet. He let out an exclamation of pain and pulled his fingers away to reveal charred fingertips. He shook his hand off and stated, "A cleverly disguised ward."

"Your talent as Youko Kurama was in breaking seals, was it not? Get rid of it already." Hiei was growing impatient, and his impatience only made me that much more scared. At least we held comfort in the fact that no monster would be able to pass through such a secret corridor due to the ward, however…

"I cannot. It is neither Japanese nor demonic in nature." Kurama looked with disdain over at Kuwabara, and requested, "Kuwabara, would you mind removing the seal? All you would need to do is peel off the piece of sheet metal on the top seam."

"Sure, no problem," my classmate replied. His height allowed him to easily reach the ward, and his strength allowed him to pull it off with ease. He tossed it down to the floor and gave us all a cocky grin of victory, and declared, "Okay! Now that good ol' Kuwabara has peeled off the seal, let's smack this bad boy down an--"

Hiei shouted, "No!"

The metal panel hit the opposite wall with loud clank, and then onto the floor. My eyes could barely discern what happened among the shock and the earthy dust that came through the opened hallway, but I believe that Hiei pushed Kuwabara and Kurama onto the floor just as the wall broke. That same high shrieking sound destroyed our ears, I think it had made us all go temporarily deaf. I had run to their sides to ask them if they were alright, and Hiei's mouth was shouting at me to move, but I never heard him as the deep claw dug into my back. I could not hear myself scream as the black scythe tore a straight line next to my spine.

Hiei immediately drew his sword and dismembered the creatures hand from its arm. I could only tell because I no longer felt force behind the slicing motion as the large claw fell to my side. Kurama grabbed at my shoulders and pulled me away, leaving me but a bystander laying on the floor, bleeding to death. Through the red that filtered over my eyes, I could see the beast which they battled.

It was very similar to the vegetative beings we had fought at Maze Castle. It's shape was humanoid, its skin a blend of bright magma and browns, with thorns protruding from his shoulders and skull. It's claws resembled a wolverine. It was frightening.

The battle was as well balanced as it could be in such a confined area. The creature's blood was black and spewed from the wounds Hiei inflicted, filling the hallway with the scent of garbage. It was as slow as a human when it came to attacks and movement, thankfully Hiei was prepared for such an advantage from the previous information handed out to us by that insane scientist. Unfortunately…

The worst part of our deafness was that the others did not see the remainder of the men come from the exit hallway. The United States Military was keeping its distance from the creature, but had opened fire both on it and us. Bullets fell to my side as Hiei and Kurama deflected them, however I still could not hear anything. I couldn't move, and felt my breath declining. I twitched as two ricocheting bullets struck just below my left leg wound, and into my left bicep as well.

My life was literally draining from me. I could no longer see, in addition to the deafness and temporary paralysis. I could not focus enough to even shoot from my Spirit Gun. I could only communicate through finger twitches.

I was reaching for the last place that I knew the ward was. I whispered, "Use the metal ward," hoping that Kuwabara would at least sense me and fend off the demon with the sharp metal on the floor. It might not have done much, but at least it could give them all a chance to concentrate on the barrage of guns attacking them, and flee down the newly opened corridor.

There was nothingness. It had grown far more dark in that hallway. I felt surrounded by an intense heat created by a tornadic whirlwind of evil energy. I was certain…so certain. I wanted to protest the action, but I had no way of communicating. I had fallen into a deep slumber that erased all memory of what had occurred beyond that, one which scared away any comforting dreams, leaving me with nothing but a lost period of time, and a pissed off mentality that I was such an easy target for injury this mission.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

So many clues in this little chapter. There are still many unanswered questions though to think about. Does anyone die? What was up with that little Kuwabara POV in Chapter 3? And what exactly were those spiders eating to live?

I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews so far. The longer they are, the better!

Zelia