Disclaimer : I still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Darn.

Author's Pre-Note : Nothing much to say. Oh, of course there are many-a-thanks for the fine reviews I received. A hole 5 reviews! Thankies for them! Now, I've figured some reviews could use some serious replying. It'll clear minimal things up. It won't clear up as much as the previous chapter did, but it should help your confused brain out some! Two words for my current plan for this story: Plot Twist

YokoYoukai Of course I'm right. n.n Don't be so sure what you read is truly the thruth. Two words: Plot Twist!

Hoshiko Megami Ah ha! And I shall! Here's that wanted update!

Kurayamihikari Welcome back to the Hiei / Youko-ness! I always recognize my reviewers, I like communicating with you all. So, you're welcome! Enjoy!

Agent Dark Moose My very words... before I said them! Be mindful though: Plot TWIST

Kurama's Fox - Ritsu's Monkey Hiei-chan didn't kill ya yet, did he? Thankies!

WARNING :

1. This story will contain Shonen-Ai in later chapters (will be mild.) Don't like? Don't read!

2. Rated for reasons: Language and future scenes! (Blood, etc.)

You have been warned!

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CAPTURED

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Standing in front of the small hole in the kekkai barrier set up by Koenma himself, Youko narrowed his eyes in concentration. Kuronue stood behind the fox, watching intently as the kitsune worked his 'magic.' The youko held his hands out on the barrier, the small hole gradually became larger, big enough for Youko's fox form and Kuronue's bat form to slip through without injuring themselves. Kuronue was watching with focus so he too could learn how to operate the task.

Cutting a hole through the kekkai did not come without a price, however. Kuronue leaned over the youko's shoulder, looking at the foxes hands, which still rested on the kekkai. He smirked.

"Oh, look. A mar on your good looks." Kuronue said, turning one of them over. Youko looked at his upturned hand. He turned his head away in a gesture of indifference. "Come on, 'Rama. We both know you've got to be the most vain kitsune of all time. Don't tell me you're not the tiniest bit upset that your perfect hands are burnt."

"Okay then, I won't." Youko glanced at the chimera out of the corner of his eye, "Happy now?"

Kuronue rolled his eyes, "Hai, absolutely wonderful!" He said, voice laden with sarcasm.

"I see you still have that wonderful sense of humor." Youko said, returning his focus to the kekkai. "If you would like to hurry up and jump through the hole, I wouldn't be sacrificing myself over your slowpokiness."

"Ah-ha! You are fretting about your pretty little fingers!"

"Shut up, baka. Go through the damn hole already!"

"I'm going, I'm going." Kuronue looked at the hole, it hadn't gotten any bigger. He supposed that was the best Youko could do after three nights without rest. Sighing, the chimera transformed into his more animalistic form, and flew quickly into the breech in the kekkai.


As his arms, along with the rest of his body, grew silvery fur, nose and mouth forming into a muzzle, body shrinking to that of a silver fox, the youko himself slipped into the world the barrier protected.

The fox tilted his head upward, sniffing the air in greedy helpings. A bat fluttered down and settled onto the foxes back. The kitsune flicked an ear, acknowledging the bats presence. Turning around back towards the kekkai visible only to demonic creatures.

Putting his paws on the barrier, the hole closed up, sealed off tightly. Licking one paw, which was slightly burnt, delicately, the fox seemed to pout. The bat seemed to snicker. Turning back around, the silver kitsune swished its five tails softly with the wind. They were there;

Ningenkai.

( Part Eight : Surprise )

"For the last time, do not call me that."

"Why shouldn't I call you Hiei-chan, Hiei-chan?"

"Because, I'm not a child."

"Actually, if you compare your own existance, in years, to mine, yes you are like a child. Almost..."

"No, not almost."

"Yes, so."

"No!"

"Yes so!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No! Don't you ever shut up?"

"... Sometimes." The fox fell into silence. Hiei didn't complain, it had only been a day and the fox was well on its way to being blown up. Of course if he didn't deliver the fox to Karasu, or Kuronue, he'd never get his money. He needed it too.

He let his mind wander during the appreciated, not that he'd tell Youko that, silence. Why exactly would Kuronue be working for Karasu? Weren't, as the many legends go, Youko and Kuronue the two most legendary bandits in all three realms? Hiei thought of the stories, the two were stuck together like glue. Youko let Kuronue join him, and saved his life occasionally, and Kuronue vowed to do that same for the fox.

Why then was Kuronue betraying the fox - letting Karasu have his companion?

"Running outside in the dead of night

While the stars in the sky are shining bright
Stealthily stalking through the trees
Silent and quiet as the midnight breeze
Trudge two demons with grace like a cat
Youko Kurama and Kuronue the chimera bat
Kitsune motte koumori - mayonake heihi

Fox with bat - midnight bandits"

Well, that was how Hiei remembered the old song the ningen children from the three major human villages in the Makai would sing while picking up twigs and such for their families.

Hn, Hiei thought, some midnight bandit he turned out to be. He snorted, flickering his eyes onto the fox, for a mere second.

The kitsune's face was impassive. The fox was thinking.

He still managed to get the hiroseki.

Ah, the ever rebellious inner voice.

And? I still got his little rose.

He got the gem when you were off guard. He is a legendary thief, baka. He can escape.

What good would it do him? I've got this precious little rose of his...

He could lead you on a chase. He knows you'd go after him - for the gem.

And? Hiei would have glared at the voice; had it been facing opposite of him. I'd catch him.

Of course you would. You could re-catch the infamous Youko Kurama, cunning, seductive, cold, ruthless.

Yes, I would. Shut up.

And so ended the conversation, this time.

Presenting the fox with another glance, Hiei saw the fox was looking thoughtful. Curious.

The silence pressed on, Hiei continued his daily job of glaring at the darkness. They were still in the Kuro Mori. They'd been wondering around for what seemed, to an impatient demon like Hiei, absolute years. He knew, however, that it had been just a day and a few hours. Stealing yet another glance at his captives face, Hiei saw the Youko looking at him, his golden eyes glittering dangerously in the darkness. They seemed to glow unnaturally, a sheen of hazy yellow light just seemed to float off of his eyes.

Those eyes were... enchanting, to say the least. While Hiei himself had been in the thievery business for a couple hundred years, his mind slowly - yet automatically - produced words to describe them.

Pretty... Dangerous... Sparkly... Gold... Amber... Bright... Cold... Glowing... Glittery... Mocking... Amused... Curious... Deep... Shallow... Shiney... Shiney object... Jewel, shiney pretty jewel. Want shiney pretty eyes...

Hiei shook his head furiously, thoughts like that had no right to invade on him during such an important job. It would not be wise to fall under the kitsune's spell.

I wouldn't get paid. The jaganshi thought with a somewhat glum tone.

Snapping back to reality, Hiei found he was still glaring at the fox, his own crimson eyes narrowed. The kitsune was still staring at him with laughter in his eyes.

"What are you looking at!" He snapped at the amused youko.

"Who, me?" The fox pasted on his cheerfully innocent face, complete with a matching voice.

Innocent my ass. Thought Hiei darkly.

"Well, it's come to my attention that you've managed to get yourself... lost."

Hiei took in a quick drink of his surroundings. The youko happened to be correct. He looked closely and saw the burnt tree he had... exerted his anger on the other day. They had already passed it multiple times. Each time Youko had cut a tally hastily across the charred trunk, it read l l l l. Four tallies, for passes - at least. Hiei didn't exactly know when Youko started keeping track of their movements, but he supposed it started somewhere after the fifth or sixth time they had first passed the blackened tree.

Not wanting to entirely admit that he was lost, he resorted to his monosyllable language - the one only he knew. He had a sense of pride to uphold.

"Hn."

Youko, having been gifting with a clever mind, was able to loosely translate the code. It meant something like:

So what if I'm lost? I'm stubborn and I'm not going to ask you for help.

If only Hiei knew someone was well on their way to cracking his language - his sense of pride would be all the more vulnerable.

"Need some navigational help?" Hiei's glared deepened.

"Hn." What's it to you? Like I'm gonna listen anyways.

"Yes Youko, I'd love some directions!" Youko mimicked Hiei's voice, rather successfully, "That's great! Now, all you have to do is turn around. Then you walk, and you walk, and after you walk, or run, for a while you end up at the edge of the Kuro Mori."

Hiei turned around and stared at the youko full on - glaring was more appropriately how he looked at the fox, the word's being over-used...

"Hn." Whatever.

Even though he had his pride, and even though he most certainly did not want to prove to the fox he was lost, Hiei sucked it up and walked on past the kitsune. His dark figure was soon obscure to Youko's vision.

The fox smirked in an 'I-won-you-lost' kind of way. To his keen kitsune eyes, he could still clearly see the demon, even though he used his plants, the forest, as his sight too. The forest was dark, after all.

Youko quickly walked up after the koorime/hi-youkai demon.

"Well, then Hiei! Who, may I ask, has asked for you to capture me?"

He saw the jaganshi stop, and quirked a brow. "Yes?" He inquired, once again.

The jaganshi turned around and gave him a sideways glance, before smirking maliciously.

"Karasu," Hiei watched the fox. For the slightest of seconds he saw a flicker of - was the intense hate? - across the youko's features. "And a chimera, calls himself Kuronue."

Hiei must have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the expression of surprise and disbelief written across Youko's face. The fox was sure that the jaganshi was bathing in his shock. Karasu... that left room for a whole other story of explanations.

However - it wasn't too surprising that Karasu was being the damned sadistic, obsessive, bastard he normally was - it was extremely shocking to found out that Kuronue - Kuronue - was working with the crow. Why would the bat work for Karasu? He'd listened to Youko retell his story. It was the only time he told anybody what happened those three nights. Only three people knew, Karasu, Kuronue, and Youko Kurama. And the fox was certainly trying to keep it that way.

He suddenly let out a growl, unconsciously Hiei noted, Karasu was using that little fact as blackmail. Karasu needed Hiei to catch the fox, yes, he was too stupid to do it on his own. He needed Kuronue to find Hiei, and to tell the crow most likely all he knew about the fox.

Oh, no, it wasn't like Karasu had, bluntly said, raped him or anything like that.

It was just that when Karasu had an obsession, he liked to see it die. He liked to see it die a hard, painful, slow, torturous death. Youko had a scar, below his left shoulder, where Karasu had launched a rather powerful bomb at him. It was Karasu's unfortunate luck, and Youko's good luck, that Karasu had missed. How, the kitsune never found out. He escaped then, but that was most certainly not the point. The point was...

Kuronue... would he really have backed down on Youko's trust? After all they had stolen together? How many fortresses had they destroyed, such as that one below the cliff blowing it up the next morning? How many villages had they wreaked havoc on, setting houses on fire, taking the towns-demons precious items? What about the occasional human village or two they scoured? What about entering the Ningenkai, the first demons to dare to try it?

Kuronue, Youko Kurama thought out, What the hell do you think you're doing?

The kitsune had unknowingly transformed into his animalistic form. His hackles were raised, the fur on his back stood erect.

Hiei watched this all with growing curiosity despite how the inner voice told him to "butt out." What exactly had happened between the fox and the crow? What about the bat?

There was only one thing worse Hiei could think of - what in the hell had he gotten himself into now?

A quick flash of silver darted pass Hiei, bounding off somewhere into the darkness of Kuro Mori. Hiei noted, thankfully, that the fox was headed out of the forest. Quickly, with his jagan, tracing the key signal, Hiei too flickered through the trees after the fox.

The signal he was tracing was one of pure hate. Rage. Despise. Regret.

Though he was running at a fast pace, Hiei quirked a brow.

So there was something more to this than originally seemed? It was obvious that the youko spirit did not want to go back for a reunion with Karasu. What fine, nice, cheery welcome-back party it would be! What about when Kuronue met Youko once more? Hiei was practically gagging in all the confusion and mystery.

The jaganshi darted past the trees that cast the eerie darkness throughout the area of the forest. The sky was still not yet visible. However, coming around a turn that the youko took, Hiei could see a breach in the darkness through the tree's thick trunks. There was a ray of light spouting from in between the trees, and Hiei was fast approaching it.

And so he came out from the Kuro Mori and was instantly bathed in sunlight. Hiei was certainly not your average happy-go-lucky demon or guy, yet he had to be somewhat thankful to be out of the forest now behind him. He did not, however, have time to celebrate escaping from the dark woods. Not that he really wanted to, but if he had, he couldn't have. Youko was still on the move, and Hiei had a job to do. Whether Youko liked it or not, he was going straight to Karasu as soon as Hiei extracted the foxes past dealings with the crow. Hiei wasn't a real curious person, but he did like to know about the people he worked with. He knew enough about Karasu and Kuronue through stories and rumors that he didn't really care if he worked for them or not.

Youko Kurama, was however, another story almost completely. Of course there were rumors and stories about him. Everyone knew how "cold hearted" and "evil" and "heartless" the kitsune was rumored to be. Hiei had a feeling that though these stories were true, they were just that; rumors also. Spending only a while the kitsune and Hiei saw the fox was more playful than he was cold hearted. He was more curious than evil. Not that fox was actually nice... but now Hiei was rambling - he didn't particularly like to ramble.

And now Hiei could see the kitsune sitting, in his more animalistic form, in front of a river. The fox was just sitting. Youko had obviously blown off most of his steam, but still refused to revert back into his more humane looking form. Hiei glared at the infamous youko,

"Follow me then, if you're not going to change back."

The fox let out a sort of snort, yet complied with no more complaining and followed beside the hi-youkai. Hiei took in his surroundings, he noted he wasn't far from Yuusuke's actual house. The human was Koenma's top spirit detective, and Youko Kurama was Reikai's most wanted criminal. Hiei was sure the two would click right off. Yuusuke, though he was somewhat obedient to Koenma, didn't do things that were... wrong.

Hiei stooped just a few minutes later in front of a house-like creation. It was similar to a house from in the Ningenkai, yet it was more rough looking, built for hard times and not for show. It was built in the shape of a square, about fifty feet long on all four sides, but Hiei knew that underneath the wooden floor boards was a whole other maze of rooms and chambers.

Koenma had them specially made, and he had set up a kekkai barrier around the entrance to the miniature town under Yuusuke's house. The house itself was unshielded, but that didn't matter. It was under it's foundation that needed the most protection. Inside and under Yuusuke's feet was where the rest of Yuusuke's "team" resided. There was Yuusuke, a spirit detective. Keiko, his girlfriend (they might have been married now.) Kuwabara, another detective of Koenma's. He and Yuusuke worked in the only town where youkai and ningens would coexist running Yuusuke's bar of sorts. There was also Genkai, Yuusuke's sensei. She, along with Botan and Yukina, were the healers of the little group. There were others such as Jin and Touya, but they didn't live in the dwelling, they came and went. The two had no loyalties to Koenma, but were simple Yuusuke's friends.

Yukina.

Hiei would be dead before he ever told her, but she was his sister. Only Yuusuke, Keiko, Botan, Koenma (who knew "all,") and few others knew about this. Kuwabara did not know, and Hiei was not planning on telling the Oaf this bit of news.

Hiei himself did not live in the house, or underground, it with these people. He did not work for Koenma. He would be caught dead too before he worked for that midget of a God.

Still, as he approached the door he told Yuusuke, mentally, harshly, to get his damned Rekai Tentai ass out there and let him in. It wasn't that he couldn't go through the kekkai, he just liked annoying the idiots that lived in the house. Except Yukina, of course. Yuusuke, not ever wanting to be on the bad side of Hiei complied with as much haste as he could. That meant that it took only five minutes.

As Yuusuke opened the door, Keiko was behind him. They both looked outside and Yuusuke looked shocked to find Hiei had come with a traveling companion.

When Keiko found out just who this 'companion' was, she gave out a rather shrill shriek. Who wouldn't though? What would you do if Youko Kurama was just appeared on your doorstep next to Hiei?

I'm sure it'd be something along those same lines.

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Authors Note : I don't rightly know if you care, but I typed most of this up in a day. It was longer than most of the chapters, so I hope you can enjoy that factor! So; how does the plot twist seem? I couldn't have a story without an obsessed Karasu over a Youko, or Kurama. So, wala! Of course it's a little different than all those other "Karasu-Captured-Youko/Kurama-Oh-No!" kind of stories. It's with a twist! I hope you can enjoy that.

It means that NO Karasu did not rape Kurama or anything like that... I dun wanna write about that kinda stuff just yet. I'm saving it for my story in the makings. I couldn't resist. But hey, who doesn't love a little bit of "Karasu-dies-in-the-end-muwha-ha-ha!" n . . . . n Heh.

Oh yes, as always please have a heart and review? It's most refreshing! Like lemonade! Or limeade! :smiles:

Note: I did fix one or two issues within this chapter, hope you enjoyed it! (3-15-05)

Eve