Author's note (IMPORTANT): This chapter is just a filler for what's to come, nothing really happens in this chapter, but it had to be done. I'm not going into great detail with the Yu-gi-oh characters, as I'm assuming everyone reading this knows about them a little bit. This takes place a little after the Battle City Tournament, in case you were curious. Oh, and Tea Gardener isn't my favorite character, but I will be trying to restrain my dislike for this story. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask them, because if you have a question then it is more then likely someone else has that same question, and it will benefit everyone for me to answer them.

Disclaimer: Must I really say this again? I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, nor do I own Yu-gi-oh. There, are you satisfied? Good.

Thank you all for the lovely reviews, I really do appreciate them! Enjoy!

A Rose with no Thorns

Chapter Three

"It looks like there was no struggle at all . . . it's as if mother just walked out of her own accord," Kurama murmured quietly, staring at Hiei with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

Hiei did not reply in words, but he did put a hand on Kurama's shoulder. If Kurama had been standing he wouldn't have been able to do that, as he wasn't nearly as tall as Kurama was, but Kurama was sitting on the couch in the living room, so it was rather simple. Before waking Kurama up he had made sure that Shiori was really missing by checking with Koenma in the spirit world. Koenma had looked for a couple of hours, but there was not a trace of her. Shiori had disappeared.

"Where was it that you smelled her scent? I should go and see if I find anything," Kurama asked suddenly, coming out of the trance like state he had been put into.

Hiei sighed, "I went back there after checking with Koenma and the alley was empty. The barrier was no longer put up, but Shiori's scent was no where to be found either."

"Have you tried your jagan?" Kurama narrowed his eyes, thinking that if Hiei couldn't find her then she would be gone forever. He couldn't accept that though. Kurama had been through a lot with Shiori, and had almost died for her several times. He wouldn't let her disappear without trying his best to find her.

"Yes, but it won't work. Every time I try to look for your mother specifically my jagan shuts down completely," Hiei replied with a grimace. His jagan could find anything, and admitting to someone, even someone as close to him as Kurama was, that he couldn't find a missing person was humiliating.

Kurama shook his head, "No, no, don't tell me that Hiei, please don't tell me that. The only reason your jagan would stop working was if the person was no longer in the living world . . . or it could mean . . ." Kurama trailed off there, thoughtfully gazing up at the ceiling. Hiei let him think; just standing by quietly in case he needed anything.

"You say your jagan shut down completely? In what ways does it shut down?" Kurama asked finally, staring seriously at Hiei.

Hiei thought for a moment, "Usually when I use my jagan to search out something I see the images of where it is in my mind, like a moving animation on your television," He paused to point toward Kurama's television set, "But when I searched for Shiori it was as if the screen went black."

Kurama paled, "That could only mean one thing then. Koenma, while telling me about the demon we're going to be hunting, mentioned that the jagan would 'go black', as he called it, whenever someone with a jagan tried to look for the missing victims."

Hiei's eyes widened, and Kurama nodded, "Then, I didn't understand what he meant by going black, but now it makes perfect sense."

"That bastard took my mother, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her back," Kurama stood up, letting Hiei's hand fall gently from his shoulder. He walked calmly up the stairs and brought down his one small bag of necessities that he was going to be taking to Domino City. He then proceeded to the front door, Hiei trailing after him. The clock struck two o'clock in the morning, and they both ignored it.

"We're going to Domino City, and we're leaving now."

"Yusuke! Get your lazy ass up because we're leaving early!" Kuwabara, dressed only in pajama pants, stood outside Yusuke's house with his hands around his mouth to make his voice project into the house. Kurama had arrived at his house at around two thirty, literally pulling him from his bed and dragging him to Kurama's van.

He barely had any time at all to grab his own bag of clothing before being dragged away, and now, he was cold.

"Yusuke! If you don't get out here right now I'm sending Keiko in there to get you herself!" The threat was valid, as Keiko had been picked up before he was and currently sat comfortably in the back seat of the van, more then likely sleeping. It was much too early for this, and no one really knew why Kurama had decided to leave so early.

Yusuke walked out then, his hair ruffled and his green jumpsuit in wrinkles. He also carried a bag in his hand, no doubt filled with all of his clothing, "What the hell is going on? We're supposed to be leaving at like nine, not two!"

Kuwabara crossed his arms, "I don't know, Kurama just said that we have to leave now. He looked really mad. Anyway, Keiko's in the van, and I think the shrimp is runnin' there, because he said something about not liking human machinery. So let's go already!" He turned around and quickly got into the van, looking around for his bag to get some clothes on.

A moment later Yusuke followed, making certain that the door to his house was locked before doing so. Atsuko, his mom, wasn't inside the house, and probably wouldn't be for a long while, and he didn't want anyone breaking in and stealing . . . well, the only thing worth stealing was the television, and it was old anyway. Yusuke smirked as he got into the passenger seat of the van and thought to himself that at least he never had to worry about thievery.

As soon as all of the doors were shut Kurama started the van, pulling out of the parking lot he was in and heading toward a main road. Yusuke looked in the back to find both Keiko and Kuwabara asleep in their own respective seats, Keiko sleeping more quietly then Kuwabara. He then turned to look at Kurama, who was looking ahead and remaining silent as he drove.

"Hey Kurama?" Yusuke asked both quietly and softly, "What's wrong? I mean, you just look like you want to kill something."

"Maybe that's because I do want to kill something, Yusuke. Don't worry about it, just go to sleep and we'll be there when you awaken," Kurama replied without taking his eyes from the road, his voice cold and hard.

Yusuke decided that an angry Kurama was not one that he wanted to make even angrier, and promptly shut up.

"Are you sure that your yami didn't have anything to do with that, Ryou?" Joey Wheeler, a self-sacrificing duelist and one of the ex-bullies of the school asked with narrowed eyes, looking at Ryou Bakura in suspicion. It was currently lunch time, the best time of the day in Joey's opinion, and all of his friends were sitting around him, including Ryou.

They were trying to figure out if Ryou's yami had anything to do with the vicious killing that had recently taken place only a few blocks from the school, and so far they had gotten no where. Ryou didn't seem to know anything about it, and there was no evidence that the crime was the tomb robber's fault, but they all had to admit that Ryou's yami liked to do things viciously. It could very well have been him, and if so they needed to find out immediately.

The only efficient way to figure out if the tomb robber had anything to do with it was to let Yugi Motou's Yami forcibly draw him out of the Millennium Ring with his own Millennium item.

For some reason though, Ryou didn't want them to do that.

Ever since they had returned from the Battle City Tournament Ryou has been defending his yami. Every time someone said something bad about his yami he'd get defensive and counter it with a good quality he supposedly had. Not that they didn't believe Ryou when he told them of how kind his yami was becoming . . . they just had their doubts.

Many, many doubts.

Ryou glared, "Of course I'm sure. How many times must I say that Bakura would never kill a young girl without reason? He's changed." He called his yami Bakura, simply because no one knew his real name.

"Fine, I understand, but you can't deny that your yami could've done it. I mean, he can be pretty evil," Joey couldn't help but try to persuade Ryou into letting them force the evil tomb robber out. It was, after all, for a very important reason.

"I don't believe I heard any of you trying to blame Yugi's yami, and he's just as bad!" Ryou said with another glare before grabbing his half eaten sandwich and standing up, "I don't want to hear about it anymore. I think I'll go spend my time in the library, at least there I'll have a little bit of peace," With that said he turned swiftly and walked out of the cafeteria, leaving his four miserable friends behind.

"Yami is not nearly as bad as Bakura! In fact, Yami is better then most people!" Tea Gardener, the only female of the group had to shout, defending the person she felt she loved. Yami was what everyone called Yugi's yami, and everyone thought of Yami as another part of their group.

Yugi seemed torn, "I know what Ryou's going through though. If someone blamed Yami for the murder I would defend him with my life. Ryou probably just feels like he has to protect his yami, since they share a bond."

Tea huffed, "I still don't think he should've said that about Yami. In fact, he should apologize."

Tristen Tayler, the other ex-bully of the school and the last of the group joined in on the coversation there, "Maybe we should just give him time. For all we know Ryou could be tellin' the truth and Bakura could really have gone good."

Everyone turned toward him and stared blankly, and Tristen laughed nervously, "Or, you know, he could just be trying to protect Bakura, like Yugi said." Everyone stared for another moment before going back into a discussion of what they should do about Ryou and his Yami, while Tristen could only sigh.

He sometimes felt as if he didn't belong with the group anymore, like they were far better then he was. He couldn't duel, and that had a major effect on his place in the group. He was always the last to be invited to go to the arcade with them, always the last in everything when it came to them. Tristen didn't really know why he bothered. He knew that he could find friends who appreciated him more somewhere else, but he just never tried.

Perhaps it was time for a change.