Of course, James couldn't hide for much longer in the Makai, Hiei had caught him and nearly grinded his bones into the ground for forgetting that important sliver of information.
"I'm sorry!" James defended as Hiei merely glowered at him from afar. The trio of Hiei, Kurama, and James were lounging in the Makai, keeping an eye out in the Makai, and waiting for Hiei to start his part of the big mission.
"You know Hiei, Koenma will be quite mad if you maim our only informant, well, only trusted informant." Kurama idly commented as he watched Hiei and James. The Jaganshi let out a snort of disdain before rolling his eyes.
"He's got a dead wife, right? Why not ask her once I maim her husband." The short demon said in more of a statement than a question. James quickly edged away from Hiei towards Kurama while Kurama let out a low chuckle.
"Good to see that mission of yours isn't getting to your 'cheery' sense of humor." The red head drawled with a teasing smile. James shot Kurama an incredulous look before shaking his head and muttering,
"…Does that imply that he had a sense of humor to begin with? Since when?"
"….Hn.."
It was dark, it was clammy, cold, dreary, creepy, and oddly enough, becoming home to Yusuke Urameshi. The greasy haired teen couldn't help but shudder at the dull medieval settings of the castle as he followed the black robed figure through the stony corridors.
"Oi, are we at least almost there?" Yusuke impatiently asked. The guide glanced back at Yusuke with an annoyed scowl before growling out,
"You're lucky you're a demon of great power, or I would've killed you right here, right now." The cocky boy simply shot him a grin.
"Whatever, could we hurry it up here? The longer I'm gone the more time it gives for Koenma to noticed that damn letter is gone." He grumbled as he thrust his hands into his pocket and moodily slouched as he walked.
"Well….we certainly wouldn't want the annoying brat to die now would we?" the guide dryly muttered under his breath.
Weeks had come and gone, Hiei gave the Reikai frequent visits after he did a day of training with his trainees, while Kurama mysteriously disappeared, then reappeared in the Reikai with a report ready for Koenma, and only Koenma, and no explanation for anyone else. Yusuke spent most of his time in the Makai running errands…or so he claimed, while Kuwabara made sure to keep an eye out for any signs of dark magic within the non-magical human boundaries of Ningenkai.
"Now….it seems it's up to the Wizarding world to make its move." Kurama idly commented as he stared out the window of the small café where Yusuke, Hiei, and him were enjoying the nice day of peace.
"Yeah…."Yusuke muttered in agreement as he poked his drink with his straw. Hiei looked up from analyzing the purpose of a menu, and glanced at Yusuke.
"I know what the Kitsune's mission in all of this is, as well as the baka's, but what's yours?" the young demon ruler instantly tensed and dropped his straw before quickly regaining his composure.
"Oh..uh…I umm….gotta' prepare my people for the inevitable war….and uh….keep the Makai informed on what's goin' on." He nervously stumbled through his answer. The Jaganshi shot Yusuke an unreadable look before returning to his analysis on the menu.
"Hn." Yusuke's shoulders sagged with relief while continued to idly stare at the window.
"You know," the red head lazily commented, "if wizards are the problem in the Makai, how are demons taking the fact that we are helping the problem?" Both demons glanced at Yusuke who once again tensed.
"Well, they don't know….yet. I mean, they don't know about our missions, only the high demon lords and Enki do!" Yusuke hastily explained. Kurama fixed Yusuke with a concerned look while Hiei raised his eyebrow at the boy's strange behavior.
"Yusuke, are you alright? You seem a bit…." The red head trailed off, thinking up the perfect description.
"…..nervous," the koorime bluntly put it.
"Well….it's because I'm not exactly sure why I haven't had any demon trying to maim me at night." The half demon replied, his composure back in place. He let out a small mental sigh of relief when the two demons seemed satisfied with the answer. "So then….what has Koenma said about the progress in Hogwarts? Does it look like that school will be running to ya' soon?" Yusuke asked in a successful attempt to change the subject.
"He tells me 'soon', but his constant 'soon's are losing their affect." Hiei dryly answered. Kurama nodded in sympathy while Yusuke made a mental note to inform his new….allies of this. The fire demon was just about to get up and leave, out of pure boredom, when a cheerful voice intervened.
"Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, good news!" Botan practically yelled as she came sprinting towards the three's tables. She ignored the bewildered looks she was getting from other costumers as she skidded to a halt in front of the group, "Guess…..what…?" she wheezed as she got her breath back.
"What, you ran the Reikai race and won?" Hiei drawled. Botan scowled at him, then quickly replaced it with a smile of barely contained anticipation.
"No!" she eagerly chirped, "It's even better!" she gave the boys an even bigger grin, "An owl came with a letter, and it was Hogwarts! It seems the headmaster wants you at the school by Thursday!" she announced.
"Thursday, two days from now?" Kurama inquired with a raised eyebrow, "Isn't that a bit last minute for a notice?" the spirit guide adapted a sheepish smile.
"Yeah well…..we got the message a while ago…" The three boys almost fell off their seats.
"…What?!" Hiei growled. Botan instinctively got on the defensive and hastily explained,
"We would've given it to you sooner, but Koenma-sama lost it!" Yusuke sweat dropped while he shook his head in mock disbelief.
"I wonder how that happened…."he drawled, knowing full well where "Koenma misplaced it,"(1)
"Typical…."Hiei grumbled to himself while Kurama let out a light chuckle.
"Well then, I guess we won't be seeing you for awhile, Hiei. As I said before, good luck with your mission." The fox demon comforted. Hiei rolled his eyes, like he needed comfort, tch yeah right. He got up from the table and gave his two friends a sloppy good-bye salute, before turning to face Botan.
"Ok, we need to get you to London with your stuff…..and you have thought of your teaching plan, right?" she uncertainly asked. The short demon nodded and left the café without a backwards glance.
"GO TO PLATFORM 9¾ IN THE LONDON TRAIN STATION….AND ACT INCONSPICUOUS IN FRONT OF THE HUMANS!!" Botan yelled after him. Once the last word in her sentence was said and done, Hiei flitted away towards the Reikai, then it was on his way to London.
A/N: Erk, sorry for the long time of no updates. My B-day just passes and I got a bunch of new games. (FFX-2, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, and Jak & Dax 2!) ^_^;; they're all just too fun! Anyways, please R&R, and unfortunately, look to another long time of no updates, I have another string of projects approaching….then I'm off to Hawaii for a week(Day after Christmas). Sorry! And…. HAPPY (late) THANKSGIVING!!