Yay! 30 reviews. I feel special. This chpt would have been up sooner, but we've been having computer problems. Hopefully u guys read the author note and hopefully u will try to do it. Plez. I've only got one right now and it's a good one. So get them in soon. Thank you!

And a special thanks to pinkwitch for sending me her poem/song. It was very good.

Chapter 17: Underground Hideout

A shocked Kuronue gawked at his daughter and the guy she was locked in a passionate kiss with. He was wide-eyed and glued to the ground. Yoko just stood there looking quite amused with the situation. It only took a minute before Kuronue snapped out of his daze. He then stormed over to the two still oblivious to their audience. One hand on each collar, the bat pulled Hiei and Kurenai apart, tossing them two feet away on each side.

Hiei and Kurenai stood up straight and looked at the one who had torn them apart. The girl's mouth dropped open a bit at the sight of the male komori. "Father?" Her dark eyes became moist. "Father!" Kurenai ran to her father. Kuronue hugged the girl tightly. "Kurenai," He gently caressed her hair. "I've missed you so much!" Kurenai said as she pulled back reluctantly. "How can this be?"

Placing both of his hands on his daughter's shoulders, Kuronue looked into her eyes. "Koenma brought me back to help find you." Kurenai's joyous expression faltered. "So you're leaving again." she said with remorse. "I knew this was too good to be true." She took a step back. Her wings expanded a bit making the komori gasp in pain. All three men quickly moved to her side. Kuronue gently pulled her right wing out with his hand. A rather large piece of blue tinted glass was lodged into the leathery skin.

"Must have buried itself there when you fell out." Yoko stated, examining the wound. Kuronue was about to verbally agree when they heard a call coming from the forest. "Damn it to hell." murmured Kurenai. The elder komori turned on his daughter, his eyebrows knitted in anger. "Watch your mouth, young lady." Hiei snickered at the parental command, which earned him an elbow in the chest from Kurenai. She folded her wings back in and said, "It's Shinya. You have to leave."

To add to their predicament, raging shouts from angry guards floated out of the palace. The girl quickly told them again that they had to leave. "No. You are coming with us back to the human world." Hiei said sternly. The sound of boots on wood was vibrating through Kurenai's ears. There was no way she was going to risk her loved ones getting hurt. "I can't leave yet. Rumaru will just come after me again. Look, I'm going back with Shinya." The fire demon opened his mouth to argue, but Kurenai put her index finger on his lips. "You can follow at a safe distance. Just don't do anything. Please," she begged them.

Kuronue and Yoko agreed, but the apparition still needed some convincing. Not knowing what else to do, Kurenai grabbed each side of Hiei's face making him look her in the eye. "I promise you that I will be okay." She pressed her lips against his, much to her father's disliking. "Fine." She gave them all a small smile and turned to leave.

The young komori found Shinya in less than a minute. "There you are! Did you get the ring?"
he asked irritated. Inwardly Kurenai was laughing at Shinya's torn shirt and the scratches on his face. "Lose a battle against a tree?" she said sarcastically. Shinya's lips drew into a thin line. "Did you get the ring?" Kurenai nodded. "Good. Now let's..." He stopped when he saw the blood barely visible against her dark wing. "What happened?"

Shinya walked over to her and pulled out the komori's wing like Kuronue had done before.
He spotted the piece of glass still wedged in the thin membrane. "Tripped and fell out the window." Kurenai explained with as little detail as possible. "Never thought you'd make such a careless mistake." he said. That got him a glare from the girl. He smirked. "Better get this out before it causes anymore damage. Lucky for you it missed your face. We wouldn't want such beauty scarred, now would we?"

The back of his hand slid down Kurenai's cheek. She slapped it away, pleasing Hiei very much. Without another word, Kurenai grasped the glass and yanked it out with no more hint of pain than a wince. She then turned on Shinya with anger burning in her eyes. "Keep your hands off me or this," She shook the sharp blood covered shard in front of his face for emphasis. "...will bury itself in your heart." The glass fell to the ground with a thud. "And you know all too well, Shinya, what Rumaru is like. With just a few sweet words I can convince him that you are worthless." She pushed her way past the shocked demon.

'Did she just...' Shinya whirled around and watched the girl's retreating form. Deciding to deal with this later, he stormed off behind her. Unknown to Shinya, three unexpected visitors silently followed.


The sun was taking it's last look at the world when Shinya and Kurenai finally came to a stop. Shinya's hearing wasn't extremely acute, so it was easy for the fox, bat, and apparition to follow without detection. They were now in the middle of the forest, surrounded by old, misshapen trees. Limbs moved around like flailing arms. The branches bent like claws reaching out to scratch and tear at whomever crossed by them.

Shinya strided over to a dying tree. He pulled back the weeds growing at the trunk of the enormous plant. The outline of a door was almost invisible to the naked eye, but it was there. The demon stood up straight, put his hand on the bark, and pushed. The chunk of tree outlined gave way and swung inward. Shinya stepped aside and extended his arm in a gesture of welcome. "Home sweet home." he said mockingly with a glint in his eye. Kurenai didn't reply. She walked past him into the hollow tree and started down the stairs, Shinya only a few steps behind.

As the door began to close, Hiei and Yoko made a move to go after them. "Don't follow them." Kuronue quickly told them. The two froze and watched the hidden door shut completely. Hiei looked at the komori with a stern glare then lunged at the tree. He did the same thing Shinya had done, but nothing happened. After five more attempts, each one more vigorous than the last, the only change was the color of Hiei's knuckles.

"Why the hell did you stop us? We could've made it!" said an angry apparition. Kuronue was unaffected by the threats that Hiei started mumbling. The kitsune, too, looked a bit frustrated with his friend. "I am sorry, but Kurenai said not to go in." explained the bat demon. "She also said to wait here and that she would be back soon." Yoko understood, but Hiei didn't care.

'That stubborn girl! Why wouldn't she just return with us? Once she is safe, I can kill this damned Rumaru.' Amongst his angry thoughts was a voice in Hiei's head continuously telling him that she was doing this to protect her friends. No matter how hard he tried, Hiei couldn't deny the truth in those words. Rumaru had nearly killed one of Kurenai's friends already. Who's to say he wouldn't destroy all of the Black Hearts next time if she leaves? Lost in his own mind, the apparition was not aware of the conversation going on behind his back.

"Yoko, how did that little devil trick my daughter into kissing him?" Kuronue had been itching to find out what had conspired between his baby girl and the vile creature before him. The kitsune barely managed to hide his chuckle at the question. "Hiei did not trick anyone. Kurenai has developed feelings for him of her own free will." Yoko's smile only grew at the disbelief evident in his partner's face. "And you did nothing to stop it?" the komori accused. "There is no reason to stop their relationship. I'm sorry to inform you of this, my old friend, but Kurenai is no longer a child. She has grown into a beautiful young woman who will act as her hormones tell her to."

Kuronue knew the last part was said only to tease him, but it still scared him to the core,
although he didn't let it show. He tried to relax while they waited impatiently, all the time thinking that he was going to have a serious talk about the subject with Kurenai later.

"I think I've got a way to get in." Yoko said at long last. It had been only ten minutes, but something wasn't right. All of them sensed something wrong. "The door must only open to a familiar aura. If we recreate one of those auras, we could trick the door into allowing us entrance." "Is that possible?" Hiei asked skeptically. He knew it was, but the only time he'd seen it done was by a demon god. None of them possessed the power of a demon god, so it was highly unlikely that they could create a fake aura.

"Nice thinking, Yoko." "What?" Hiei questioned again. "I could try to only focus on Kurenai and possibly be able to do it." Kuronue said. That was it. Hiei was now pissed at being left out of this idea. "One of you better tell me what is going on before someone gets hurt." "I apologize, Hiei. It seems that Kuronue and I still think alike after all of these years. Yes, it is possible for one of us to recreate another person's aura. It is difficult, but can be done. Since Kuronue's blood runs through Kurenai's veins, he can create her aura by concentrating only on her. Does that make sense?" Yoko's explanation was still a bit confusing, but Hiei nodded anyway.

Kuronue stood in front of the dying tree. He placed his hand on the bark and closed his eyes. Yoko and Hiei stood still, careful not to make a sound. The komori focused his mind on nothing but Kurenai. A strange tingling feeling ran through him. Concentrating even harder, the tingling sensation intensified until it felt as though his blood was on fire. But it was soon over as he felt the door give in. He opened his eyes and saw the staircase inside the hollow tree.

The kitsune came up and clapped him on the back. "Excellent." The three of them began to descend the long staircase. It looked like it was neverending, but they eventually reached the bottom. "This guy must like his privacy." Kuronue commented. He took a step into what they assumed was the hall that would lead them to Kurenai, and was welcomed by a piercing scream.


There you go. Hope u enjoyed. And don't forget to send me ur songs! Thank u! Review!