Thank you to Forbiddensoul562, neko kitkat, Demon of Evilness, and OneOutOfControlChick. Demon of Evilness, what's it like to be stuck in a black hole with only a computer? Do you plan to kill Kuwabara when you get out? Did you know that a black hole has enough gravity to pull light? Forbiddensoul562, don't leave Hiei in the closet for too long, it's not good for him. Sorry for hurting your brain, but I must. If I get enough reviews for this I might just do a special story for Hiei.

THIS FIC USED TO BE MEMORIES OR DREAMS.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. I just own the mangas, complete set of DVDs, trading cards, andthe lunch box. Soon, I will own plushies and keychains, then comes the wall scrolls and action figures! I must have it all!

Chapter 3: Excuses and Confusion

"Koenma!" Yusuke roared as he slammed open the giant doors to Koenma's office. "Do you know what the hell is wrong with Kurama!"

"Something's wrong with Kurama?" Koenma asked blatantly. "Yes, something's wrong with Kurama! Why don't you check on him?" Yusuke suggested angrily.

Koenma flipped on his giant TV and hit a multitude of buttons. This resulted in bringing up a picture of Kurama. His face was twisted in pain and confusion, and he was breathing hard. Yukina and Genkai were there, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He was muttering something, but none of them could make it out.

"Yusuke," Koenma started angrily, "It looks to me as if Kurama is taking a nap and having a nightmare. Please explain why you are here. It better be good."

"Why the hell would he take a nap in the middle of training! Why don't you think about that! Then, why would he not wake up, no matter what we do!" Yusuke yelled in Koenma's face.

"First off, Yusuke, get a breathmint. Phew! Second, WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE?" Koenma yelled right back into Yusuke's face.

"YOU DIDN'T FRICKEN' ASK!" Yusuke yelled twice as loud as Koenma. They glared at each other for a moment, before Koenma's face drew up into a look of contemplation. "Oh. You have a point," Koenma said thoughtfully.

Yusuke blinked a few times from the surprise of actually winning that argument and Koenma actually agreeing with him. That most certainly was a shocker.

"Toddler, you should know that when I tried to enter his mind to find what may have happened, I briefly saw what appeared to be a memory before I was pushed out by another force. A force coming from a demon that, from what I could sense, is an A-class superior," Hiei stated darkly from the corner he was leaning against.

"WHAT? A-CLASS SUPERIOR? This is gonna be trouble." Koenma leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen with a picture of Kurama for a moment. "You're sure that it wasn't Kurama pushing you out of his mind? I mean, he does like his privacy," Koenma suggested meekly.

"No. I'm fairly sure it was an outside source. Besides, Kurama wouldn't expend that much power to get someone out of his mind, unless it was something he desperately wanted to keep to himself. Even if this was the case, he wouldn't have used so much power as to throw me into a wall."

"I dunno Hiei. We're probably just getting worked up about this. Maybe all these months without training have really gotten to him. Maybe he just blacked out when my Spirit Gun hit him, and his energy was protecting him while he's out," Yusuke sighed. This just wasn't his day. Now all he wanted to do was go home and sleep.

"You're the one who suggested we come here in the first place! Now you just want to forget all about it!" Hiei yelled.

"Yes! Yes I do! I'm sick of all this weird stuff happening to me and my friends! I just want to relax and be normal for a while! If I can help it, I'm not going to try to fight some 'evil demon' when we don't even have a clue as to what's going on! You can ask Kurama about it, but he'll deny it. I've noticed that he does that if it'll stop his friends from worrying about him. We're not going to get anything from him or anyone else, so let's put it behind us. If things do get serious, we'll confront Kurama or search for this mystery person, but no sooner," Yusuke compromised, for once actually being somewhat-wise.

"That would be advisable," Koenma stated, "I'll have some ogres look into it, but I want you to just pretend nothing happened. We don't want Kurama to get worked up over nothing. I'll keep an eye on him for today to see if anything else happens."

"Hn. Fine," Hiei growled, before flitting off.

"Thanks Koenma," Yusuke said gratefully. "You're welcome Yusuke."

"Hey look! He's wakin' up!" a deep, but funnily stupid voice yelled. Suddenly, Kurama felt very crowded. He cracked open his eyes to see what he thought was everyone he knew surrounding him.

"Wha-what's going on?" Kurama asked as he sat up. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so miserable and confused. He didn't even understand why he felt that way.

"You blacked out man. Urameshi shot you with a puny Spirit Gun and you just blanked out. What happened to ya man?" Kuwabara asked, purposefully leaving out the fact that Hiei had been thrown through a wall when he tried to check the red-haired kitsune's mind. Yusuke had told him that they were dropping the subject for now.

"I-I don't know," Kurama stuttered. He was very confused as to why he had blacked out; he didn't even remember the Spirit Gun hitting him.

Then he remembered; he'd blacked out before the Spirit Gun could hit him. He'd had another dream, or memory, or something. He couldn't remember anything else, except the 'dream' itself.

His body tensed as he remembered the 'dream'. It had been awful. Just the thought of what had happened in it made him sick to his stomach.

"Excuse me," Kurama muttered as he ran out of the room and into the forest nearby—his safe haven.

As soon as he reached a clearing in the middle of the forest, he collapsed. He was panting and sweating, but all of this seemed to be surreal to him. His eyes were unfocused and his expression was detached. Tears formed in his eyes, but never fell. He lay there for what seemed to be hours.

He finally managed to sit up and regain some of his composure. The girl, they had harmed her. Though it wasn't shown in the 'dream', he knew that would scar. That long gash down the side of her arm would not just go away.

Her scream of agony still echoed in his ears, forbidding any relief of the already troublesome event. So much blood. And as Yoko in that dream, he hadn't been in any better shape after trying to protect her. Kuronue had been pretty cut up too. They all had suffered injuries, but he just couldn't get the picture of the girl out of his head. It had seemed so real. Was it truly just a dream?, he wondered.

Then there had been another 'dream'. Kuronue, himself, and the girl were already much older. It was a little after Yoko had managed to get a good reputation as a thief. The girl was sprawled on the floor, bleeding from several large, but not deep, cuts. She wouldn't die from the cuts themselves, but she could die from all the blood loss. Yoko and Kuronue were desperately trying to stop the bleeding and help her. The worry in Yoko's eyes had been much greater than in Kuronue's. Why? Kurama couldn't figure out. They finally managed to get her to what appeared to be stable. Yoko had refused to leave her side, saying that Kuronue should get some rest since he had used so much energy trying to heal her. Kuronue had been hesitant, but finally left. Later, Yoko had fallen asleep and Kuronue came into the room with a mischievous look on his face. He lay Yoko down and threw a blanket over him, then sat down against the opposite wall. He was holding what appeared to be a bag of sleeping powder. He had said one thing before the 'dream' faded away. "I know you're worried about her, but you need your rest. You're the one who used too much energy trying to save her in the first place. You just think it's your fault. Don't blame yourself so much." He then began to make kissy faces and noises, which caused Yoko to hang him from the ceiling by a vine without waking up. Kuronue then screamed, yelled, and threatened for many hours.

Then the tears that had been held back for so many years began to fall from his eyes as he felt as though a piece of him had broken, or something inside him had finally cracked.

They searched desperately for him in the general direction that he had headed. But they all knew that it was in vain. If Kurama didn't want to be found, and was in a forest, then he would not be found. They all also knew better than to search in the general direction that he headed if he didn't want to be found. It was all a futile effort, but they had to do something, right?

They each decided to split up and head in different directions. They figured that with the five of them searching in different locations, they would find him eventually.

Yusuke wandered around the forest aimlessly. He called out his friend's name every few yards, hoping that he might be heard by the missing kitsune.

Kuwabara also wandered around aimlessly, well, almost aimlessly. He used his sixth sense to try and find Kurama. So it wasn't exactly aimlessly, but Kurama masked his energy and with the demonic aura of the forest to cover up the little bit of Kurama's energy, it was just as futile as walking around and yelling out the kitsune's name. But hey, he actually thought of something more practical than Yusuke, so he's not such an idiot, just intelligently impaired.
Genkai was running through the forest as fast as her legs could take her without wearing herself out very much (which was still pretty fast). She searched for even the faintest signs of Kurama's energy. Since she was so used to the aura of the forest, it made tracking him a little easier, but not much. She hadn't found a trace of him yet. But being the famous fox thief that he is, not many would even bother to attempt at what she was.

Then she saw light tracks in the dirt ahead of her and stopped to look at them. It looked as though Kurama had been this way and slipped. Then she noticed tiny, circular dots in the dirt. Tears, she thought. Was he…crying? She noticed that the tiny dots trailed up ahead, then turned to the right. She followed this now.

A few miles later, she noticed that no matter how much she turned, she always ended up heading in the same direction that she had been going a few moments before. Like Kurama had been heading somewhere, but was trying to keep others off of his track. She also noticed that Kurama had headed towards the area that they had Hiei checking. She decided to keep following the tear tracks; they would eventually lead her to Kurama.

Yukina, being very friendly with the woodland animals, asked them to help, since they seemed to understand her slightly. They helped her search throughout the area that she was designated to search. Though this did not help much either, seeing as he didn't seem to have come this way at all. None of the animals could pick up his scent.
Hiei jumped from tree to tree, not bothering to look above him, since he knew Kurama wouldn't be there. He looked down as he flitted through the branches. He was headed in a single direction, where he knew the fox to be somewhere along. Being an ex-thief himself and having the Jagan had helped him to somewhat locate his friend. He was luckier than the others, he knew around where to search for Kurama, but knew after Yusuke's outburst in Koenma's office that he was the only one who suspected something was really wrong with Kurama.

He moved faster when he began to hear sounds and sense his friend's energy getting closer. Though when he arrived at the clearing, he wished he hadn't even searched. Seeing his best friend in such a state of weakness was just awful. The redhead was sobbing against his knees, curled up into a ball surrounded by the roots of the giant oak he was leaning up against.

He looked so lost, helpless, weak, and miserable. Hiei wanted to help him, but was afraid that Kurama would be angry at him. And angry at himself. There was no telling what Kurama would do if he knew that Hiei had seen him like this. Kurama could be so predictable at times; but there were other times when there was no telling what he would possibly do next. Kurama was just as much of a puzzle as he was.

Hiei was having trouble deciding whether to help the fox or not. He carefully weighed the possibilities of what might happen. Then decided that he wanted to help and find out why Kurama was like this. Besides, for once he could confuse the kitsune.

He jumped down from the tree he was in right in front of Kurama. "Kurama? What's wrong?" Hiei asked, doing his best to sound concerned, since he had never openly been concerned before. Kurama didn't answer, he didn't even move. Apparently he wasn't sobbing pitifully anymore. In fact, Hiei wasn't sure if he was still conscious.

"Kurama?" Hiei asked, now genuinely concerned. He walked to the redhead's side and kneeled next to him. He put his hand on the young man's shoulder and shook it lightly.

"Hiei?" Kurama moaned weakly. Not bothering to look up from his knees or even slightly turn his head. "Yeah, it's me. What's wrong with you?" Hiei asked again softly, doing his best to calm him down.

"It was awful. Such screams of agony. Something inside me just…broke. The sudden flood of emotions. It was so…overwhelming. I couldn't let the others see me like this, so I…left. But…it wasn't just some normal haunting nightmare. At that one point, I just…snapped. Something like that shouldn't cause such a fracture in my barriers, I've seen worse. It felt bigger than it should have been," Kurama said in between small sobs. Leaving Hiei to contemplate what Kurama was talking about and what he meant.

"I'm…sorry," Kurama said weakly, snapping Hiei out of his thoughts of what could have been so awful as to make Kurama like this.

"Sorry? For what?" Hiei said, feeling just too much pity for the fox. "For worrying everyone. Including you," Kurama said pathetically. Though Hiei couldn't see Kurama's face, he knew that it was tear-stained and depressing.

"It's ok Kurama. It's not your fault," Hiei said, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with all this concern he was feeling. But he had to help his friend, right?

"Kurama," Hiei started uncomfortably, knowing this was a rather touchy subject, "What happened? What did you see? I need to know. Maybe then we can help you." Kurama froze. His hands had gone a deathly pale and Hiei guessed his face was too.

Underneath, Kurama's eyes were wide, and his mind calculating. The main questions that kept running through his mind were: Should I tell him? Would he believe me? Would he understand, or just say I'm weak? Will he think I'm crazy? Should he know? It was all just too confusing.

Hiei saw Kurama's hands move to hold his head. For once, he regretted asking. "Stop it," Kurama whispered shakily. "Stop hesitating." "What?" Hiei asked. "Stop hesitating. If you want to look in my head, go ahead. I don't care anymore. Go…ahead."

Hiei's brows furrowed in frustration and confusion. Should I try? Or will I get thrown back again? I don't want to scare Kurama. He's already frightened enough. He doesn't need to know that something's really wrong with him. "No. That's not what I want to do," he answered, as he stood up and began to walk away. (Take this in some sicko way, and I will kill you.)

Kurama looked up in astonishment. Hiei heard Kurama move and turned to look at Kurama's face.

Sweat plastered some of the kitsune's brilliant red hair to the sides of his normally pale face, which was a ghostly white right now. Those normally calculating, sharp, cunning emerald eyes were dull and filled with pain, misery, and other emotions that weren't as prominent as the first two. There were tear streaks running down the sides of his face, and there were still fresh tears welled up in his eyes. He looked exhausted and weary. No wonder Kurama hadn't looked up when Hiei had come over.

Hiei stood there, completely frozen. His…friend. He was in pain. Hiei had never realized before, how much he cared for his friends. He would never admit it out loud. This could never be shown. Something like this was normally fatal in the Makai. But he did care, and his honor code refused to just leave Kurama there. Though, it was strange to call someone a friend for the first time.

There was another thing that was strange about this sight, Hiei noticed. Kurama, the age old, prideful kitsune, had been crying. After the Dark Tournament, he had seen Kurama as a brilliant fighter, capable of handling any problem and never showing emotion. He had admired Kurama for being able to keep his emotions in check so well, unlike himself, who had gotten angry at slight things. It felt wrong. Kurama wasn't supposed to cry. Not even Kuwabara cried. It wasn't right. Kurama never showed his emotions. What could torture him so much in such a small amount of time as to make him cry?

Kurama looked slightly off. Those dull eyes never ceased to scare Hiei. Kurama then collapsed against the tree, which seemed to hold him protectively. Hiei smirked at this. The tree will take care of him. He'll be fine, Hiei thought. Then he realized just how weird it sounded to entrust a tree with the safety of your best friend. He rolled his eyes before flitting off.

Genkai watched from behind a tree as Hiei questioned Kurama. She preferred to spy on them and let Hiei figure out his own head than to let him have her do the questioning and not figure out anything.

She was deeply concerned about Kurama's words, realizing the fox was much more fragile than anyone else knew. That, and someone was planting things into the fox's mind.

Kami, he looks awful. Maybe after this we should check him for a fever or something, he looks ill. I wonder how we're going to explain this to his mother, Genkai thought.

"Perfect," a dark figure whispered. "He's finally beginning to understand. He'd better figure it out soon though. Can't waste much more time. Took me too long to find both of them." The figure mentally cursed himself for a moment, before flitting off as Hiei had done just moments before.

MA: Sorry it took me a while. But I just had to make this a long one. Now I want reviews!

Yusuke: I'm untied! YES!

MA: Yusuke, be a good boy and go fetch Kuwabara for me please.

Yusuke: You won't tie me back up once I get him, will you?

MA: (shifty eyes) No. Of course not.

Yusuke: (completely oblivious) Oh. Ok then! Here Kuwabara! I've got kitties! (off in distance) Kuwabara!

Kurama and Hiei: Idiot. (burst out laughing)

MA: Now. As soon as Yusuke gets back with Kuwabara, we can proceed with the torture.

Kurama and Hiei: (abruptly stop laughing) What torture? O.O

MA: (overly sweet voice) You'll see.

Kurama: Why must you torture me?

MA: Because everyone loves you and your past is unclear. A good mystery story drags in the reviewers.

Kurama: Oh. Still, I don't like to be tortured.

MA: Don't worry. I'm pretty sure it will have a happy ending. (very quietly) That is, until I start the sequel.

Kurama: What was that?\

MA: Oh nothing!

Hiei: Why am I being nice?

MA: Because you're trying to confuse Kurama and because you are just realizing exactly how much you care for your friends.

Hiei: Friends are a crutch for the weak. The detective, the fox, and the idiot are merely allies.

MA: That's what you always say, but we all know that deep down inside you think of them as friends and love them.

Hiei: How would you know this?

MA: Because I have the complete set of Yu Yu Hakusho DVDs! Mwahaha! (pops DVD #30 into TV that came out of nowhere)

Kurama and Hiei: Where did that come from?

MA: Shut up and watch.

Kurama and Hiei: Review so that she gets too distracted to make us watch! REVIEW!