Author's Note: Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Oh, I just love spending the holidays with my family and friends! I'm so sorry I haven't been able to update in so long. Holiday turmoil, you know. My sister got a mouse for Christmas. A mouse! His name is Benny. He's really cute.

I'm listening to Yellowcard, the Ocean Avenue album. It goes great with this chapter.

Well, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

"Well, here it is," K'Ray said. "Trickster's Cavern." She climbed the last ledge that bordered the thunderous waterfall.

Hiei climbed up too, regarding the cavern's entrance with apprehension. The nightmare kept coming back, images of K'Ray and Kurama dead swimming before his eyes. He angrily shook his head, gripping the hilt of his katana. No baka dream was going to mess with him.

"Come on," he snapped, and walked toward the waterfall. K'Ray rolled her eyes before following him. Even though he had said he loved her, he still acted like a jerk. It was in his makeup.

The Ryokun stepped lightly into the pool that the waterfall spilled into. She waded in carefully, stopping when the water was playing around her knees.

"Well?" she asked Hiei, who still stood by the water's edge. "Aren't you coming?"

"Of course," Hiei replied. "I'm just…making sure there's no danger."

"Uh huh," K'Ray said, unconvinced. "Come on, you coward, it's just a little water. It's not even cold."

Hiei glared at her. "I'm not scared of water," he snapped. "But I'm a fire demon. Water and I don't…mix."

"Yeah yeah," K'Ray said, waving him off. "Get in."

Cursing fluently, Hiei stomped in, boots and all. K'Ray grinned before stepping farther into the water. Suddenly, her foot slipped on some algae. She plunged into the water, completely submerged.

Hiei's heart flared with fear, but it was quickly dispelled as the girl came splashing back up, laughing hard. She smiled, blushing.

"Well, that was embarrassing," she commented. "Forget that ever happened."

Hiei laughed. "No problem," he said teasingly. K'Ray splashed him before continuing her journey into the water. Hiei followed until the bottom of the pool dropped from beneath their feet and they were swimming. K'Ray looked back once more before diving towards the bottom and under the waterfall.

Hiei took a deep breath and plunged underwater after the Ryokun. The water was crystal clear and he could see K'Ray was she struggled against the current and finally slipped under the waterfall. He followed her, swimming with strong, definite strokes. There was an instant of intense pressure as he passed under the waterfall, then it was gone.

He broke the surface, shaking his sopping hair back into its gravity-defying shape. Clambering onto the rocky sore in front of him, he studied his surroundings with tactical curiosity.

The cave he was in was relatively small, about thirty feet in diameter. Behind him was a large tunnel, winding its way through darkness. It took a sudden turn and the rest of the path was swallowed in black.

Hiei stood up, raising his body temperature to dry his clothes. "K'Ray?" he called. The said girl poked her head around from the tunnel's entrance.

"It's safe," she said. "Come on, I can feel Kurama's ki."

Hiei ran after the girl, his crimson eyes shining with doubt and hope, a very dangerous mixture. Kurama was here, but so was his nightmare.

Looking in front of him, Hiei caught the sight of K'Ray's back and she quickened her pace and disappeared into the darkness.

Hiei cursed, fear eating his heart. "Get back here!" he hissed, but he received no answer. The fire demon sprinted around the corner, down a tunnel that was about one hundred feet long, and around another corner. He pulled up quickly, finding himself in a huge, brightly lit cavern.

The exact same one from his dream.

The demon that had started everything, Matsuji, was lounging in a throne at the other side of the cavern. A blond demon stood next to him, carelessly examining her nails.

"Hello," Matsuji greeted, "I've waited so long to meet you." Hiei's breath caught. Those were the same words that haunted him.

"Where is Kurama?" he demanded. He felt for his katana hilt, ready for anything.

"Right here," Matsuji replied. He clapped his hands, summoning forward two demons. Just as Hiei feared, one had Kurama, tightly bound and gagged, in his grasp. The other had K'Ray.

"Want to watch me kill them?" Matsuji asked brightly. "You don't know how long I've waited for this. It's been about a month since Kurama left you, right? How does it feel to see him again?"

Hiei growled. "I'll kill you," he said. He refused to look at his friends; it would kill him if he did.

"All right, but let me kill them first," Matsuji directed. Before Hiei could react, the demon had darted from his chair and was standing in front of K'Ray. With a smirk, he drew a lethal dagger.

"I did love you," he said to K'Ray, "but you've caused me too many problems." He stabbed K'Ray, the dagger's blade sliding effortlessly into the girl's furiously beating heart.

"Matsuji!" the blond demon by the throne exclaimed. "You promised I could kill her!"

"Sorry," Matsuji said with a shrug. Hiei recovered quickly and began running toward Matsuji. As if he didn't even remember that Hiei was there, Matsuji ripped out the dagger from K'Ray's chest, turned, and slashed Kurama across the throat.

"No!" Hiei screamed. Everything was happening exactly as it had in his dream. Matsuji looked over his shoulder to meet Hiei's eyes. He smirked one-sidedly.

Red fury tinged Hiei's vision. He didn't know what he was doing; if he had, he might not have made the same mistake again.

He threw his katana, determined to strike down Matsuji.

The black-haired demon stepped fluidly to the side, directly into a portal that he had summoned on the spot. Predictably, the katana flipped around before thudding wickedly into Kurama's chest.

Hiei's angry charge faltered. He had done it—he had killed his best friend, just like his nightmare. And this was no dream. This was real.

The fire demon fell to his knees beside his friends. One thing was different from his dream, though. They were both dead when he got there.

Guilty tears spilled from Hiei's eyes. They clattered as they hit the stone floor, their sharp reports the only sound. K'Ray's beautiful eyes had closed forever, but Kurama's wise emerald orbs stared unseeing at the ceiling, their depths forever filled with pain and sadness. Hiei punched the floor, bloodying his knuckles. No words could describe the pain he was feeling as he stared down at the compassionate, intelligent fox that had become his truest friend and the lovely, witty girl he had fallen for. It was like watching was someone took his soul and tore it into the oblivion. It was like he would never feel alive again.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

He was so overwhelmed by his emotions that he didn't notice the figure that came up behind him. He didn't notice the ki that was so familiar.

But he did notice when the blade of a dagger sliced into his back.

Hiei jerked forward, away from the pain. He spun around, the sight in front of him sending his senses reeling.

Kurama stood there, wielding a knife.

"But—but how-" he stammered. He looked down at the ground—Kurama was still lying there, dead. But he was also standing in front of him. What was going on?

"Like my plan?" Matsuji asked. He was back in his throne, smiling smugly. "I thought it was clever, myself. Answer me this—which Kurama is the real one? Do you know?"

Hiei stared at him blankly for a moment. Suddenly, a single word came to him, causing everything to make sense.

"Doppelganger," he said. Matsuji clapped.

"Good job!" he said. "When K'Ray popped up from the waterfall, I had my general, Tyar, grab her. She was replaced by my doppelganger. She was the one that you saw in the tunnel. She's the 'dead' K'Ray. Don't worry, the real K'Ray is in safe hands. She'll be joining us shortly."

"So, the dead Kurama was a doppelganger too?" Hiei asked.

"Yes," Matsuji replied. "The real Kurama is the one that stabbed you." The demon motioned to the redheaded boy that was standing in front of Hiei. Kurama had a vacant look in his eyes. "You see, he's lost his memory and doesn't know who you are. But I promised him his memory back if he killed you. Nice and simple, right?"

"Right," Hiei snarled. He turned to Kurama. "Snap out of it, you baka fox! Remember something."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "Sorry, but I really don't want to listen to you, whoever you are. I want my memory back. So, don't be offended when I do kill you. It's nothing personal, Ok?" He shrugged apologetically, the dagger glinting in his hand.

Suddenly, K'Ray came running into the cavern. She surveyed the room before, understanding everything in a second.

"You no longer have a general," she informed Matsuji, waving her bloodstained dagger at him.

"A pity," Matsuji replied. Ren stepped forward eagerly, pulling out an elegant looking sword.

"Can I kill her now?" she asked. Matsuji nodded.

"Go ahead," he said. He knew full well that Ren had no chance against the Ryokun, but it would still be a good show.

"Hiei, try and make Kurama remember," K'Ray pleaded. "Please!"

Hiei nodded. His heart ached as he looked at his best friend, wondering about what kind of tortures the fox had endured. "I'll try."

Kurama darted forward, dagger leading. Ren leaped at K'Ray, sword shining. Matsuji laughed, amused.

It had begun.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: Well, how'd you like it? I hope you enjoyed it all. I had fun writing it. I'm rockin' out to Def Leppard right now. I finished the Yellowcard CD. I know, I'm a music freak. Please please please review! Love you all, and Happy New Year! Have fun guys!