Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize from Yu Yu Hakusho. I do not own anything, plain and simple. This whole disclaimer thing is starting to become annoying. smiles

Author's note: I thank everyone who reviewed, as this chapter could never have happened without you guys. There's a dream that Kurama has in italics somewhere in this chapter, and it is rather important to the plot, just in case you're wondering how that has anything to do with this story. I've also decided that the Yu-gi-oh characters will be in the next chapter whether this story likes it or not, as I'm getting rather impatient and want to bring them into this as soon as I can.

I'd also like to congratulate the reviewer, 'sleep all night rock all day', for getting the quote that I used in the last chapter correct! Wonderful job, I can tell that you're a Yu Yu Hakusho fan!

Now, on with the show! Enjoy!

A Rose with no Thorns

Chapter Two

"Koenma sir, we've got a problem!" Boton said in a shaky voice as she ran into Koenma's office, out of breath and looking ruffled.

Koenma looked at her in concern, "What is it this time? There's always something wrong!"

"There's been a killing in Domino City, sir, a young girl named Yuro was killed in an abandoned warehouse," Boton quickly placed the girl's file down on Koenma's desk and tried to control her heavy breathing. She had come from the scene of the crime directly to Koenma's office, and that had been a rather treacherous journey.

Koenma opened the file to the first page and nearly swallowed his pacifier in shock. There were two photo's on the first page, one of the girl before her death and one of her after it had happened, "When did this happen?"

"It was only a couple of hours ago, Koenma sir," Boton's voice was sorrowful, "She was only eight years old, and she was t-tortured so much! I've already taken her soul to spirit world, so she can rest in peace. The poor dear," Boton let out a small sniffle.

Koenma shut the file, already too disgusted to look any further, "We knew that this would happen eventually, but I had no idea it would start out this bad. Boton, I need you to take this file to Kurama and tell him that under no circumstances is he allowed to show this to anyone else. We need the rest of the team to be ready for anything, and if they see this they'll panic."

Boton bowed respectively and took the file back, "Okay, is there anything else I can do?"

Koenma closed his eyes, "Pray, Boton, pray."

After the meeting and when everyone had left Kurama set about cleaning up the coffee cups scattered around the room. Yusuke had walked Keiko to her house, and Kuwabara had left with them, claiming that he was going to be watching after Yusuke. Of course, Yusuke had not taken well to that and another one of their fights had ensued, but Kurama could at least be grateful that they had waited until they were outside before starting.

Hiei had left as soon as the meeting was over, not saying anything to anyone, but that was to be expected of the fire koorime. Talking had never been his stronghold.

"Shuiichi, I'm home!" Kurama heard Shiori call out from the living room, and he quickly turned off the sink water he was using to clean the dirty dishes to go and greet her. Wiping his hands off on the sink towel, he made his way out of the kitchen and saw his mother sitting on the couch, wearing her usual smile.

Something didn't really make much sense, "Hello mother, where are the groceries you were going to be buying? I'll put them away for you."

Shiori seemed to look uncomfortable, "Well I was going to buy them, honey, but I decided to stop at this lovely new restaurant that I saw as I was walking. I'm afraid that I lost track of time and forgot to buy them," She stood up and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Oh, well it's alright, we aren't really running low on anything anyway. Why don't you sit down? I'll go make you a cup of tea and we can talk about this new restaurant. I wasn't aware that a new one was being opened." Kurama didn't miss the startled look he was given in return for saying that, and wondered what exactly his mother was thinking. If only Hiei were here, he thought with a small smile as he went to the kitchen to prepare tea.

His mother was acting slightly off, Kurama noticed that she held her cup of tea in her right hand instead of her usual left, and he wasn't sure quite what to make out of it. Shiori was left handed, and holding a cup with her right hand usually leads to it being spilt upon the floor. Now though, she held it with such poise that he had to wonder if she were alright.

"Mother? I'm going to be leaving tomorrow morning at around nine with a couple of colleagues. We've been invited to enter into a school in Domino City because of our exceptional grade point average, and I was wondering if you're feeling well. I wouldn't want to leave you here alone if you're unwell," Kurama looked at his mother in concern as she almost dropped the tea cup she was holding out of surprise.

There had been several other times when he had to leave for long periods of time, thanks to his work, and this was the first time in a long while that Shiori had been so surprised.

"Oh, I feel perfectly alright, honey, don't you worry!" Shiori said, actually sounding enthusiastic, "Now, do you have everything you need packed already? If not I'll be happy to help you!"

Now Kurama was definitely suspicious. Shiori was never excited by the prospect of him leaving. In fact, she usually had trouble keeping her tears at bay. Something was most certainly wrong.

"Yes, I've already gotten everything packed, and are you certain you're alright, mother? You aren't acting your usual self," Kurama narrowed his eyes as Shiori assured him once again that she was feeling quite alright. Her scent was the same, and there was nothing to indicate that anything was really wrong, but he could tell that she was not her usual self.

The clock struck eight o'clock, and Shiori jumped at the sound before turned back to him abruptly and smiling, "It's so late! Why don't you head up to bed now, since you're leaving so early in the morning. I want you to be well rested for your trip tomorrow! When will you be back?"

Kurama looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments before standing up and bending down to give her a quick kiss on her forehead, "Alright mother, I suppose you are right. Will you be awake tomorrow, so that I may say goodbye properly?"

She nodded hesitantly and gaze up at him, "Of course honey, I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning then. Goodnight, mother," Kurama waited until she said goodnight herself before heading up the stairs to his bedroom.

Something was wrong, he thought in confusion as he sat down at his desk, and he couldn't figure out what it was.

Hiei wasn't feeling particularly happy. Far from it, in fact. While roaming the city after leaving Kurama's house he had seen something moving in one of the alleys, and had gone to investigate. Sure, things moved in alleys all of the time, and there was no particular reason why he should have stopped for that one.

Except for the fact that he thought he briefly smelled something coming from that alley that had the same stench Kurama's human mother had. That had made him want to look.

All that he got for it was a broken wrist.

He knew that there was something odd going on the second he ran into what felt like an invisible shield. The alley had been blocked, and without him even realizing it. He had never been caught unaware in the human world before, it was a new experience that he'd rather not have again.

When he rammed into the invisible barrier he had been thrown backwards, the collision between the ground and him snapping his wrist out of place. He was going too fast to feel the barrier before colliding into it, and he knew that he had to tell Kurama. It was, after all, his mother's scent all over that alley.

Hiei, after wrapping his wrist with the bandages that he always carried around with him, disappeared from the human street in a blur, heading toward Kurama's house.

"What is it?" Kurama eyed the suspicious looking emerald in distaste. It was an old thing really, and overly large as well. The emerald was much too large to fit into his mother's locket, so why did she have it?

Shiori chuckled and held the stone up to the attic window. The moon was full, and the emerald made small rainbows around the room as the moon light touched it, "Your grandmother found it when she was a child, she liked to call it her secret treasure."

"It's beautiful when you shine it like that," Kurama murmured, staring at the stone in his mother's hand unblinkingly. Without light it looked like a mere rock, but with light it was more then just that, "Where'd she find it?"

Shiori held it up a little while longer, watching as the rainbows danced along the walls of the attic, "When your grandmother was little she got into everything," She glanced from the rainbows to Kurama and gave an affectionate smile, "just like you."

Kurama blushed, "Continue with the story," He didn't want to get into how he got into everything, because he knew that it was true, and he purposely did that. He couldn't understand why his mother adored him so, after all he always tried to make things difficult for her.

"Alright, alright," Shiori chuckled and lowered the emerald, turning it back into a dull shade of green, "She was around seven, just like you are, when she decided to go exploring in her neighbors yard. They had gone away for the weekend, you see, and she had all the time in the world to explore."

"Well, it turned out that they had a quiet little dog that she didn't know about. He had been left in the backyard with a couple of bowls of food, and was in the middle of digging through their garden when she came in and scared him," She paused and looked down at the emerald in her hand, gazing at it fondly.

"After calming the little pup down, your grandmother decided to play with him. They dug in that garden for hours, and by the time they were through with it the flowers were all scattered around the yard and your grandmother was covered from head to toe in dirt. She told me that she found that emerald buried under one of the flowers. She said it was buried into the roots of the flower and that she worked for several minutes trying to get it untangled from them. She treasured this emerald with all of her heart, Shuiichi, and I'm sure that you will, too," Shiori ruffled her sons hair and handed him the treasure.

"Keep it safe, son, because that thing is special."

Kurama looked at the large, ugly rock in his hands before nodding solemnly, "I will."

"Kurama, wake up!" Kurama jumped awake, startled by the voice above him and by the urgency he heard in it. He rubbed his eyes slightly and looked to see Hiei standing by his bed with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Hiei? What is it?" Kurama asked, concern dancing through his eyes. His friend was rarely ever so emotional.

Hiei shook his head, a look of sadness briefly flashing through his eyes, "Your human mother is missing."

Kurama's heart stopped.