Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Note: My goal for each chapter is ten reviews. I'm not saying if I don't get ten new reviews for each chapter I won't update, it's just my goal. Reviews are good for every author's inspiration. And thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter.

I've also decided to take a new approach with this story. In all my others I like to convey the character's feelings by what they say and dialogues, but in this one I'm going to try and reflect emotions more through what they're thinking or what I'm writing. We'll see if it works.

Also changed the rating.

Wild Goose Chase
Chapter Two: Let The Games Begin

Now Genkai was never the kind of person to panic in any kind of situation, but to return to her home where two girls that were supposed to be there weren't and her furniture thrown about wasn't doing anything for her aged nerves. Especially when the wards she put up around her temple to keep away demons were burnt to a crisp. After rushing into each room and calling the two women's names for about fifteen minutes, the elderly woman finally had to rest and take a deep breath. Leaning against the wall for support, she ran a wrinkled hand through her hair.

They're not here. I can't sense them at all. Obviously there was an attack, but were they taken or did they get away?

Grunting, Genkai pushed herself off of the wall and walked into the kitchen. Careful not to step on the broken glass, she walked to the phone and dialed the number of her least favorite student.

"Thank goodness, Yukina! We finally made it to a town!" Botan chirped, pointing excitedly over the hill and to what seemed to be a small, but busy village. The fact that it was little made it even more beneficial to them since they had no intention of being noticed.

Yukina smiled at her enthused friend and allowed herself a deep breath. Walking down the path had put her on wits end, along with Botan, at how potentially dangerous it could be. Their hair made them easy to see and the trees shadowed much of the danger they could have walked past. In other words, there wasn't much chance that they would have made it out of another attack without any mortal wounds. Now that they were out of much of harm's way, Yukina could permit herself to relax a little. Not to say they were anywhere near safe currently, but it put a lot less strain on the two if they could see the threat coming instead of being blind-sided.

Botan wound her arm with Yukina's and pulled them towards the small town. Demons were staring at them, but for the most part ignored them. It was mostly the demons outside of towns that would attack you, but that doesn't mean trouble doesn't brew in the villages too, so the two girls tried to keep their distance the best they could.

The two had reached the town's center after weaving through all of the demons around them, the town really was busy. Yukina pointed out an empty bench they could rest on for a few moments before continuing with their plans, and Botan fervently tugged them over there, plopping onto the bench. Behind the bench was a fountain, which Botan found odd because demons didn't really take the time to admire beauty or architecture.

Maybe Ningenkai really is starting to influence Makai…

Yukina looked around wearily, noting all of the small shops surrounding them. Demons were buzzing in and out of them, scurrying to their own homes. It was nice to be in a small and civil town in Makai, it almost reminded her of the island. Almost.

After they'd both had enough time to gather their bearings, Yukina and Botan stood up, trying to decide on which shops to go to, like which one was more important to their needs right now.

"I think we should get some clothes first, we're spotted easily enough. Then maybe a place to stay for the night, we can get food and supplies tomorrow and make way towards Hiei's territory. He's the only one of the Reikai Tantei in Makai right now. So, what do you think?" Botan asked her friend, still looking around at all the different shops the town had to offer.

Yukina nodded with a smile. It had been a while since she'd seen Hiei; he was always so nice to her. She really wondered why sometimes, he didn't seem to like many people. She never bothered thinking too hard on it though, she was happy enough thinking they were friends; she didn't like having any sort of conflict with people.

That decided, Botan and Yukina went into the first clothing boutique they found that didn't seem like a tip off or sold anything revealing. The demon at the register nodded to them when they walked in. He had piercing blue eyes, straight, dark blue hair that went into his eyes in some places, and pointed ears with two earrings on each. He was good-looking, but there was something about him that Yukina didn't like.

Botan hummed and walked into the women's section, grabbing a few kimonos. They were a little too on the dark side for her liking, but that was a given if she didn't want to be seen. She tried to pick the lightest ones she could that wouldn't make her stand out. She picked a nice blue one, a purple, and a green one. Next she decided to get a cloak so her hair wouldn't be so noticeable. She quickly pulled out a navy blue one and stuck it in her arms with the rest of the clothing she picked. Finally, she grabbed a dark knap-sack that would hold their food, clothes, and supplies.

She made her way over to Yukina who'd just finished picking out things for herself. She'd also decided on blue and purple kimono, but her green was much darker than Botan's.

Botan handed Yukina a smaller cloak she'd found; it was a forest green one. She smiled as Yukina took it gratefully; she knew the koorime had a fetish for the color green. Yukina also decided to grab a knap-sack so Botan wouldn't have to bear all of the weight of their stuff.

The two quickly went to the register and handed the man the clothes to ring them up. While he was doing that Botan bit her lip and looked down at her companion, "I saw an inn when we first got here. They seemed clean enough, how about that one?"

Yukina nodded, she remembered passing it too. It was two stories and probably the cleanest place to stay in the village. It reminded her of a ningen hotel, but much smaller and probably without a TV.

The man at the register rung them up and Botan took one of Yukina's hiruseki stones out of her obi and handed it to him. His eyes widened, but Botan ignored it and walked out of the small shop with Yukina after they pulled on their newly bought cloaks, the bell ringing behind them as the door closed.

It was too bad they didn't notice him latching something onto their cloaks while he rung up their clothing…

"What do you mean they're gone?" Yusuke shouted, pounding his fist on the table. Botan and Yukina were supposed to be safe!

Genkai glared at her student, "Just what I said."

The Reikai Tantei, minus Hiei, were sitting around the dining room table in the temple. After Genkai's call they came rushing over to find half of the things in the temple smashed or turned over. They found the old woman staring at the wall when they came into the dining room; relieved to see she was all right. It didn't take long to notice Yukina and Botan weren't there with her.

Keiko frowned worriedly at Genkai, "So you came home and everything was like this and Botan and Yukina weren't here?"

"Yes."

Kurama took in the information and was silent a moment before speaking his mind, "Have you checked the communicator?"

Shizuru shook her head, pulling out the one she took from Kuwabara before they left the house to come to the temple. She opened and a red button lit up on the inside, "We have a message…"

Everyone in the room gathered around as she fumbled around with a few buttons until the message screen popped up and Botan's frantic face appeared.

"Guys we were attacked at the temple and went through the portal in the clearing, we're in Makai and we're lost! I don't know how long we'll be able to last here, please come find us. Right now we're- Yukina! Look out!"

Keiko felt tears come to her eyes as the screen turned fuzzy. What happened to them? Were they even okay? Apparently they made it away from the demons who'd attacked the temple, but she wasn't so sure they could make it through Makai. She'd only been there once… she didn't like it.

Yusuke wrapped a strong arm around his girlfriend and squeezed gently, but he didn't feel any better about the situation than she did. Botan and Yukina weren't exactly the fighting type and he seriously doubted they'd make it in Makai alone for very long.

Kuwabara finally stopped staring at the screen and started bawling, "My snow princess, oh my snow princess! What has become of you?"

Shizuru whapped him upside the head and rubbed her temples before setting the communicator down on the table. They didn't even know who attacked or why.

"Call Hiei," Kurama stated, his eyes narrowed. Not only was his best friend's sister in danger, so was Botan, "He can use his Jagan to find them."

Hiei's eye twitched when he heard the annoying jingle of that stupid communicator the ferry girl had given him. He absolutely detested the ring, and even more so the color. Especially when he was in his lush, black, feathered bed and staring quite contently at the ceiling after an extremely long and boring meeting. It rang a second time before he growled, already fed up with the irritating sound, and roughly pulled it out of the drawer it sat in inside the end table next to his bed.

"What?" He grit out, looking at all of the faces on the other side of the screen. Only, something was missing. It took him a moment to realize it, and he nearly blinked. Where was his sister? …Where was the ferry girl?

Yusuke's obnoxious voice came from the speaker on the side-panel, "Check your messages, Smiley."

Hiei sneered at the detective before pressing the message button and a wet and bruised Botan appeared on the monitor. He watched in a raged silence as the message ended. Botan and Yukina were lost, and it didn't look too good for them at the end. His sister was attacked and who knew what happened to Botan. He clenched his free fist before the screen went back to the group. With his eyes narrowed dangerously and his lips set in a firm line he growled, "Why the hell are they in Makai?"

Genkai's voice rung out from behind them, "I got back from vacation and the wards around the temple were burnt. When I walked in all the furniture was turned over, all the dishes were smashed, and their tea was still out."

I can't believe I left my sister in the hands of these incompetent fools.

"Didn't any of you check on them?" Hiei grit out, trying to control his anger. If his sister was hurt in any way, shape, or form then heads would roll. Luckily she wasn't alone; she was with the ferry girl. At any rate the two worked well together, meaning they had better chance of survival until he found them, which he would.

"Of course we did!" Kuwabara barked, "But not today! We were all in school and it rained!"

Hiei scowled at the oaf and activated his Jagan. He emitted a low snarl when all he saw was black, "Something's interfering, I can't locate them. But they are alive."

The last thing he heard was Keiko's and Shizuru's sighs of relief before he turned off his communicator and nearly threw it at the wall. Keeping his anger in check, he stuffed the communicator in his pocket and walked out of his room, making sure to slam his door on the way out.

Yusuke scratched the back of his head as the monitor on the communicator went black, "I'm surprised he didn't rip his wall down and promise us all a slow and painful death."

Keiko kicked him, "Yusuke, this is no time to be a jerk!"

Kurama turned to them as Yusuke shrugged, "We should inform Koenma, he'll want to know Botan's gone and he may be able to help us."

We'll need all the help we can get if something's blocking Hiei's Jagan. Looks like I'll be doing some research…

Koenma sucked furiously on his pacifier, trying not to start hyperventilating. Yusuke had just given him the news, and everyone was waiting for his reaction. But the thing was, he didn't know what to do. His top ferry girl and assistant to the Reikai Tantei was gone. Hiei's sister was missing along with her. Not only would his father have his head if something happened to Botan, but Hiei would have the rest of his limbs if any harm was to come to Yukina. Plus they were both his friends, so yes, at the moment he had no idea what he was going to do.

"…Any clues left that could tell us who attacked? That would be a good place to start," Koenma mumbled moments later, finally able to think straight. He would need to call Ayame in later to pull out some files of the people who had anything against Botan or Yukina, and maybe to help calm his frazzled nerves.

Genkai shook her head, "Not in the temple. But none of us checked the surrounding forest around where that portal is."

Koenma nodded his head, "That's where I want you all to look first. In the mean time, I'll have Ayame help me pull out some files of anybody we think has something against the two of them."

"Koenma, Hiei tried to find them with his Jagan. Something was hindering its abilities," Kurama said from his position leaned up against the wall. He hadn't said much of anything yet, still trying to think of anything he knew that could possibly do that.

Koenma groaned, "Great, more problems."

Shizuru got up out of her seat, "We're wasting time, let's get to that portal," she sighed. The longer they took here, the longer they would take finding Botan and Yukina.

Botan threw herself onto the plush bed in the room she and Yukina had gotten at the inn. Inside was a lot nicer than it was on the outside, and they got the best room they could get with Yukina's hiruseki stone. The two women were understandably tired after being attacked, finally finding a village, and getting lost on the way back to the inn (courtesy of Botan).

She let Yukina get a shower first, just wanting to lie down. She leaned into the pillow, giggling in delight. The room they were in was a mahogany color, and there were two beds covered in crimson blankets and pillows. It was nice to relax after the last day they'd had, and after hearing the water run she really wanted to get her shower too; she felt extra dirty and needed to relax her muscles.

About ten minutes later when Botan was about to doze off, the water stopped and Yukina emerged in a fluffy robe, steam coming out from the open door. She grinned and ran in, leaving Yukina to grab her cloak and throw it over herself, instantly falling asleep. Botan immediately stripped off her clothes, got in the shower, turned on the hot water, and sighed happily as all the dirt and blood washed off.

I hope we get to Hiei's territory all right… we have a long way to go. I wonder if anyone got our message yet?
Yusuke's eyes narrowed as he saw blood down the path in the forest. Apparently Kurama saw it too because he could feel his aura slightly flaring along with his own. The group had decided not to split up in case somebody returned to finish the job, not wanting to put Shizuru and Keiko at risk too.

The trees around them swayed eerily as the wind blew past, leaves swirling in front of the group's path. The sun was starting to set, meaning they didn't have a lot of time to find any clues. Not only that, but that meant it was already dark in Makai, leaving Yukina and Botan out there to fend for themselves in its most dangerous hours.

Kuwabara started wailing when he too saw the thick crimson in the dirt, "My ice pop! Oh, she's been injured! Not my sweet, sweet, cream bunch!"

Kurama glared, he was scaring the girls. They wouldn't have even noticed hat he not said anything. Yusuke slapped his forehead as tears started welling in Keiko's eyes, "Aw, come on, Keiko. They're fine. Yukina and Botan have healing powers, remember?"

Keiko smiled over at him, nodding and whipping her eyes embarrassedly. Shizuru put a hand on her shoulder and smiled, "Yeah, listen to the dummy. He knows what he's talking about."

"I'm not dumb!" Yusuke mumbled, finally making it to the end of the forest.

Okay, well maybe I am, but- …What the hell is that?

Yusuke blinked and scratched the back of his head, looking into the clearing, "Hey, does anybody else see some ugly ass demon sticking out of a pole in the ground?"

Shizuru squinted her eyes and nearly gasped, "That's not a pole, that's ice!"

"Oh, good. 'Cause I thought I was going a little loopy, ya know? …Wait. Ice? Does that mean Yukina did that?" Yusuke asked, running up to the carcass. The ice was already half melted, blood dripping down the side of it. Keiko's nose scrunched and she backed away. It was gross.

Shizuru stared blankly at it before saying, "So they were being attacked and Yukina killed it… I hope she's handling that okay."

"With Botan around and being stuck in Makai, she'll probably forget about it until later," Kurama commented quietly, looking for any indication on the demon about where it came from.

And then she could quite possibly break down… But then again, maybe not. She's not completely fragile, she did grow up in Makai and made it through the whole Tarukane experience more or less fine.

Kuwabara was pulling at his hair, "My poor princess, she must be horrified!"

"Kuwabara, would you shut up?" Yusuke scowled. He kept riling up Keiko, and it was pissing him off. He understood that the guy was in love with Yukina, but there were other people who cared about her! His shouting was just making it worse, and to top it off, it was giving him a headache.

Kuwabara was about to go off on him, but stiffened and nodded. When he saw the look on Keiko's face he felt really bad. He wasn't trying to scare anyone, he was just worried about his girl, "Sorry, Keiko."

She smiled sadly and shook her head, "It's okay. Did you guys find anything?"

Shizuru shook her head, "Kurama and I can't see anything that would tell us who these damn jerks are. It's getting late, should we head back?" she asked, looking up at the moon in the sky. It was getting cold too, and the howl of the wind was really creeping her out.

"We can come back in the morning and make sure we didn't miss anything. Genkai put the wards back up so I don't think any demons will sense the carcass," Kurama said, leading the group out of the clearing and back towards the temple.

Demons quickly moved out of Hiei's way as he stalked down the corridor and to the training room. They knew when he was in a bad mood to stay away from him; if they got in his way they'd lose their heads. He instilled fear in them, that's what made him a good leader. He threw the door open to find Mukuro examining the weapons lined along the walls.

He stopped when he was next to her, "I'm leaving."

Mukuro simply turned her head and raised her eyebrow at him before going back to examining, "Under whose orders?"

"My own."

She scoffed, running her finger down one of the blades. He heard her grumble about it not being sharp enough before she turned her attention back to him, "You can't leave. We're in the middle of negotiations."

Hiei glowered at the back of her head. She was just stringing him along until he told her why he needed to leave, and she knew that he knew what she was doing. He didn't appreciate the irritation at the moment, "Hn. I'm aware of that."

"Hm," Was Mukuro's only response as she walked another foot along the wall to look at a different set of weapons. At the moment she was squinting at some shuriken and frowning. Their servants had really been slacking off.

Hiei growled, knowing he was wasting time, and grudgingly said what he needed to say to get the hell out of there, "Yukina's lost in Makai."

"Alone," She murmured, more of a statement than a question.

"No, she's with the onna."

Mukuro nodded, as if she was taking the information in, "Hm."

"I'm leaving," Hiei said again, walking towards the door. He'd already decided to start with the villages on the outskirts of Mukuro's border, since he didn't have anything else to go on. If only his damn Jagan would work, it would take no time at all. Sadly, that wasn't the case, and he wished Mukuro would hurry the hell up and say he could go.

"Before you go, tell the soldiers to get in here and sharpen their weapons."

Hiei smirked, not showing that he acknowledged her statement, though he did, and walked out with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Hopefully the detective would call soon with something useful he could use. And knowing Yusuke, that probably wouldn't happen.

((End Chapter))

Okay, I've already got most of the next chapter planned out, so all you need to do is review! n.n