Author's Note: I skipped a chapter I had been planning to write…. I just really felt like putting this in. By the way, I've figured it out – the story will be ten chapters long. I hope.

Thoughts

Song

Disclaimer: I don't own… "Passive" by A Perfect Circle.

Chapter 5

"Lost or Found"

"We have a problem."

Kurama looked up from his almost completed homework, startled. "What is it, Hiei?" he asked.

The fire demon jumped into the fox's room and began pacing, staring at the floor. "Yukina thinks it's her fault that the oaf's gone. She's depressed, more so by the second. When I found her she was yelling at herself and crying."

"I see." Kurama pondered for a moment. "Any luck with your Jagan?" he inquired finally.

Hiei shook his head.

"Dead as dead can be" my doctor tells me

"Perhaps Shizuru would allow us to search Kuwabara's room then. We'll see what we can find." Kurama stood. "Come on; I can finish this later."

Shizuru opened the door after a few knocks and was surprised to see Kurama and Hiei on the other side. "Did you find him?" she asked hopefully.

Shaking his head, Kurama replied, "No, but we were hoping to find some leads."

"I already told you, there wasn't anywhere he ever mentioned going."

Kurama nodded. "I know. We were wondering, however, if we could look through his things for some clue as to his thinking, or maybe even a destination."

"Oh…" Shizuru stepped back and let the two of them enter. "Fine. His room is second on the right upstairs."

But I just can't believe him, ever the optimistic one

Kurama thanked the elder Kuwabara and followed Hiei up the stairs. He entered the already open room to find Hiei throwing things out of the closet. "Um…" sweatdrop, "What are you doing?"

"Finding the idiot," came the terse reply.

"Hiei stop, you'll just make it harder to discern the clues." Kurama looked around.

The room was nearly spotless, except for the mess Hiei had created. Kuwabara's bed was neatly made, his clothes hanging in his closet or on the floor, having fallen off hangers and been tossed around. There were a few boxes on a shelf in the closet and a desk in the corner under the window with a computer on it.

I'm sure of your ability to become my perfect enemy

Kurama smiled. "Hiei, why don't you check those boxes," he suggested, pointing to aforementioned objects. "I'll look through Kuwabara's computer."

Hiei nodded, pulling the three boxes off the shelf and settling on the floor to look through them. One was full of pictures of Kuwabara when he was little, his parents, and his sister, along with a few random pictures of the gang from festivals and ningen holidays. Hiei looked at the pictures for a moment, debating whether or not to burn them. He decided against it; it wasn't worth the lecture he would receive from Kurama, and possibly Shizuru.

Wake up and face me

Don't play dead

'Cuz maybe

The second box contained school papers, many of which were scored lowly, though the percentages got higher the closer to the top of the box the papers were, since Kuwabara had applied himself to his school work much more in the past years. Hiei scoffed. I could probably get better scores than that.

Within the third box resided old toys from Kazuma's childhood. There were action figures, sock monkeys, hangers (a/n: You can make anything with a wire hanger!), some little cars, and even teething rings. Hiei riffled through them with some interest, trying to imagine what humans could possible see in plastic objects that could be so entertaining. Wait, what's that little piece of paper? Don't tell me humans find paper interesting too.

Someday I will walk away and say

"You disappoint me maybe you're better off this way."

Meanwhile, Kurama had opened just about every file in Kuwabara's computer. There were no emails, sent or received, left to indicate the man's location, if there had been any in the first place. Most of his other files were school related, therefore having no bearing whatsoever on the matter. The computer journal stopped even before Kuwabara had left school. Was he planning this even back then? Kurama thought.

"Hey, fox," Hiei said suddenly, interrupting Kurama's train of thought.

He shook his head to clear it. "Yes, Hiei, what is it?"

"It's and address."

"Good! I'll call Yusuke and Koenma and we'll go find out if whoever lives there knows what happened to our friend." Kurama pulled his communicator out of his pocket.

"You really got an address?" Koenma shouted.

"Er… yes, sir," Kurama replied, leaning against a tree in the park.

Leaning over you here, cold and catatonic
I catch a brief reflection of what you could and might have been

"Hold on I'll be right there!" Koenma jumped up.

"Koenma, sir!" a voice shouted in the background. "Sir, it's terrible, it's horrific! We need your help!"

Koenma looked a little frustrated. "Grr! Kurama!" he turned back to the screen. "You and the others go NOW! I'm too busy, it seems. GET GOING!" The screen went blank.

Hiei 'hn'd. "We were going to go whether or not he gave his permission," he muttered.

Yusuke jumped off the bench he was sitting on. "So let's go!" He started running.

"Yusuke, wait up! You don't know where you're going!" Kurama raced after him, leaving Hiei to shake his head in sad amusement.

"Idiots."

It's your right and your ability
To become my perfect enemy

After much confusion and dragging Yusuke halfway back along the recklessly winding path he had taken, Kurama explained the way they needed to go.

"Kanazawa, huh? Not what I would have picked, but ok," Yusuke acknowledged, running his fingers through his slicked back hair.

"We'd better get going," Kurama ordered, opening the car door.

"Yeah." Yusuke opened the passenger side front door, but Hiei sat in the seat instead.

"Hn. Stupid detective." Hiei kicked his feet up on the dashboard.

Kurama gave the toushin a sympathetic look. "Sorry Yusuke. You'll have to sit in the back, I guess."

Wake up (we'll catch you) and face me (come one now)
Don't play dead (don't play dead)

Yusuke rolled his eyes, but, eager to kick Kuwabara's butt for ditching them, didn't argue.

"Katsu! Katsu, wait up!"

Kuwabara turned automatically, halting. He watched the young woman running down the street towards him. "Hey, Melissa," he greeted cheerfully.

"Katsu, I heard about what you did last night! You're so great! How do you do it?" Melissa asked breathlessly.

Kuwabara shrugged. "Dunno. I just like helping people. Besides, I have experience from back home."

Melissa's eyes widened. "Really? Oh, that's so cool! What did you do?" She grabbed his arm and pulled him to an ice cream parlor nearby.

Kuwabara laughed a little, following. "I was a detective," he said truthfully.

"Wow."

'Cuz maybe (because maybe)
Someday I'll (someday I'll) walk away and say

"You disappoint me maybe you're better off this way."

"It's not that great; lots of people do it."

"But I bet you were the best!"

Kuwabara was silent for a moment, then he shook his head. "No… I really wasn't."

Melissa laughed lightly. "That's hard to believe!"

Kuwabara smiled. "Nah, you'd just have to see the others in ac…tion…"

"Katsu?"

"Could you excuse us for a moment, miss?"

Melissa looked over her shoulder, startled. "Oh… of course," she stammered, staring at the tall, elegant red haired man as he smiled down at her.

"Thank you."

Maybe you're better off this way
Maybe you're better off this way
Maybe you're better off this way

"I'll… talk to you later, Katsu," Melissa said as she walked away, looking slightly dazed.

"Sure." Kuwabara looked down at his ice cream intently.

Kurama took the vacated seat. "Hiei and Yusuke are here too, Kuwa-"

"Katsu. My name's Katsu… at least, it is now," Kuwabara said sharply.

"Alright then, Katsu it is. Anyway, the others are here. I had to lock them in the car; both of them seem a tad bit…" Kurama searched for the right word, "angry. And violent, to say the least."

Kuwabara nodded understandingly. "So, what lead you here?"

"An address."

"I probably should have taken that with me…"

You're better of this

You're better off this
Maybe you're better off

Kurama smiled. "I'm glad you didn't. We need to talk."

Kuwabara shook his head. "Can't you guys just leave me alone? I've got a nice life here, you know?"

Kurama frowned. "We all miss you, Ku—Katsu. We want you to come back."

"No you don't."

"Yes, we do. You've upset so may people, and you could lose your job-"

"I've got a new job, and if I leave here I'll upset more people than I already have." Kuwabara stood. "Goodbye, Kurama. Tell the others whatever you want, but don't come back."

Kurama sighed, leaning back in his chair. Well, that didn't go so well…

Hiei growled as he watched the streets of Kanazawa. "Fox, he's there." The kajihenge pointed to a head of orange hair sitting with a girl at a café and laughing.

Wake up (can't you) and face me (come on now)
Don't play dead (don't play dead)

Kurama pulled into a nearby parking lot. "So let's go get him."

"Alright!" Yusuke cracked his knuckles. "Time to knock some sense into the ditcher!"

Kurama sighed, stepping out of the car before he locked it. He opened the back doors, setting the child safety locks. "Yusuke, you aren't going anywhere if all you're going to do is beat him up. And Hiei" Kurama gave his friend a stern look, "you shouldn't interfere either." He walked away.

'Cuz maybe (because maybe)
Someday I'll (someday I'll) walk away and say

"You fucking disappoint me maybe you're better off this way."

"Damn kitsune!" Hiei muttered under his breath. He glared at the red head's back, then turned his attention to Yusuke, who was pulling on the door handle like he was trying to break it. "Detective, you aren't going to be able to get out."

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke started clambering over the front seat, trying to reach Kurama's door so he could unlock it and get out.

"Yes." Hiei hit Yusuke, sending him back into place.

"Hey, what'd you do that for? You want to beat him up as much as I do, don't deny it!" Yusuke shouted.

"But I have restraint."

"Hmph."

Silence.

Go ahead and play dead
I know that you can hear this

That idiot. What are they talking about? The moron had better be saying he'll come back or I'll… Hiei let his thought wander over all the possible things he could do. That man is going to pay for what he's done to my little sister.

Meanwhile, Yusuke was contemplating some thoughts of his own. If he comes back here, Kuwabara's going to get the beating of a life time! Wait… where's he going? No! Damn it!

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted. "Get your ass over here, Kuwabara!"

Go ahead and play dead
Why can't you turn and face me?

Hiei rolled his eyes. "He can't here you, idiot."

"KUWABARA!"

"You're giving me a headache. Shut up before I cut out your tongue."

Why can't you turn and face me?
Why can't you turn and face me?

"KUW-"

"Yusuke, please. There is no need to shout like that." Kurama unlocked the doors and got in.

"What does he think he's doing?" demanded the detective.

Why can't you turn and face me?
You fucking disappoint me

"Kuwabara had decided to continue residing in Kanagawa. We shall meet with Koenma and see what we can do from there." Kurama replied.

One thought echoed through Yusuke's and Hiei's minds.

Passive aggressive bullshit

He is going to pay…

Author's Note: Wooo! I updated without being messaged even once! That's so awsome! I just feel all productive. I've done so much cleaning already since school got out! Today I felt like typing, so I put the urge to good use and gave you people another chapter!

Anyway, R&R so I can have some feedback! And if I DO get lazy again and wait too long, let me know! P (I ish in a super good mood today, go figure.)

Amaya