Hallo. I would like to thank what-the911, Demon of Evilness, OneOutOfControlChick, Lonelyfox, and neko kitkat. Thank you all. I have finally updated, and hope to get the next chapter up soon. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 4: Connections: Denial and Sensory

The following day, Kurama came back to the temple. He still looked awful though, and the others couldn't help but wonder what exactly was wrong with their friend. When asked about it, he refused to answer, saying he was fine and that nothing was wrong.

Yusuke let it drop, and though Kuwabara was a bit more stubborn, he too eventually gave up. But Kuwabara could sense something was wrong. He could sense misery and pain in his friend's emotions, underneath all those masks he set up. Kurama would force a smile and pretend to be happy, but Kuwabara saw it all due to his sixth sense. Though, he didn't show it when the kitsune was looking.

Kurama's actions of denial continued for the next few days. But almost everyone noticed that everything that he did that was remotely happy was faked or forced. Yukina didn't notice this because of her innocence, for which Kuwabara was glad that she didn't have to see Kurama silently suffering. Yusuke was being purposefully blind, as he had been before, then he got to the state where they were sure that it wasn't purposeful anymore, he just couldn't see it. Keiko had no idea, because Yusuke hadn't told her anything was happening and the last time she had visited was right before this started. Koenma didn't know because they weren't talking to him. Botan didn't know because she was too busy at the moment. (Apparently a plague had started somewhere in Africa, but other countries had yet to notice.)

Shizuru had come to the temple one day after hearing about the problem from her brother. Later, she wished she hadn't. She didn't like the vibes she was getting off of Kurama. Too much misery, sorrow, pain, and confusion for her to handle. Such pain and misery reminded her of the Dark Tournament, when she saw Sakyo be crushed under the collapsing stadium.

The night after, Kuwabara was twisting in his bed. "Come catch me, Yoko!" a dark blue-haired girl said gleefully as she jumped on a stepping stone in the middle of a river just before a waterfall. Kuwabara had to admit, she was very pretty. But not as pretty as my Yukina, he thought. Slim, tall, with a good build. Then he spotted a silver-haired guy coming after her. Then he realized this was a slightly younger-looking Yoko Kurama. "Careful! You might slip!" The girl paid him no mind though, she was in her own world, being there had enveloped her in such magnificent happiness. Yoko quickly came after, with a smirk on his face. Then his eyes widened in horror. The stone beneath the girl had just moved, and she had slipped. She seemed to have gone into shock. The rock-no, demon turtle-moved forward from being disturbed while sunbathing, and the girl fell backwards onto it. There was a sickening thud as her back hit the turtle, then she fell into the river and was carried towards the waterfall. Yoko was quickly running down the side, trying to get in front of her. The water was moving too fast though. He'll never make it, Kuwabara thought erratically, he wanted to help, but couldn't since this was a dream. Then Yoko took a daring move, by diving straight into the river. Moving in the same direction as the flow, he quickly caught up to her. Grabbing her carefully around the waist, he managed to swim them both to the side, instead of trying to fight the current. He pulled her shaking, unconscious form onto the grass in the bed of some tree roots, out of the way of any demons that happened to pass by. He did his best to quickly shake some of the water off of himself, and then proceeded to wring the girl's hair out. He quickly checked her back for any injuries, only to find that she had just hit her back and it would only bruise. He sighed in relief. Having no more energy to get them somewhere safer, he crawled up next to her to keep each other warm and gently wrapped his arms around her protectively. Then he drifted off to sleep after making sure that the tree roots hid them well enough. Kuwabara looked up just in time to see a pair of purple eyes and a mischievous grin.

Kuwabara woke with a start. "Man, he must've had the hots for her. I wonder who she was. Maybe this is why Kurama's been so freaked out. He's been havin' these scary dreams and then doesn't know what they mean. I'll bet he probably doesn't remember that girl. Though I don't know how he could forget a pretty face like that. Screw what Urameshi said, I'm gonna ask Kurama what's wrong. Maybe then I'll get some answers to my questions."

Kuwabara thought for a while before deciding to go back to sleep and deal with it in the morning. He was unaware that his spirit energy still had a connection to Kurama's, as was the person who kept causing the dreams.

Yoko was running through the forest, coming back from one of his thieving escapades with Kuronue. What? Oh no, not again, Kuwabara thought. They both came to a well hidden clearing, where they could smell something that smelled good. What's that smell? Smells good, Kuwabara thought. "Dinner's ready," Kuronue said with a smirk. "Yum," Yoko said sarcastically, "Well, we must be thankful that you're not cooking." "HEY!" They both had a good laugh. Kuwabara saw the girl from before cooking something, which caused all the thieves present to give their appreciation for not letting Kuronue cook. Apparently whenever he cooked, most skipped dinner and others, desperate enough to eat it, ended up eating something burnt and not resembling whatever food it was supposed to be. Yoko had walked off somewhere, while Kuronue was gladly excepting some of the dinner, then he turned to see the retreating form of his friend. "Did something go wrong, Kuronue?" the girl asked quietly. Kuronue looked a bit confused. "No. No one died, and we got what we aimed for, plus a little more. Maybe you should go check on him," Kuronue suggested. If she hadn't been so worried, she might have been suspicious about the sudden grin on Kuronue's face. Um. Should he be grinning like that? Kuwabara said nervously. Kuwabara followed the girl to where Yoko was, he saw that Kuronue had also followed. "Yoko? Are you alright?" the girl asked quietly as she cautiously put one hand on his shoulder. "Hm? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. I got you something," Yoko said kindly, which amazed Kuwabara to no end, considering that he had been told that Yoko was cruel and vicious, not to mention that that was all he had ever seen of the fox demon. "Close your eyes," Yoko said softly as he stood up. The girl complied and closed her eyes. Yoko slid something over her head and around her neck. Kuwabara saw that it was a beautiful necklace. It had a silver chain which held a blue diamond in a swirly, silver casing at the end. "There. Now you can open your eyes," Yoko said with finality. Her eyes slid open and looked down at the jewel on the silver chain around her neck. She stared at it for a moment with wide eyes. Then she jumped forward and hugged Yoko. "It's beautiful. Thank you," she whispered. Wow. Yep. Yoko definitely has the hots for her. But still, who is she? Kuwabara wondered.

The dream faded and Kuwabara sat up groggily. "Well, that was interesting. Can I stop having your dreams now, Kurama? I'll have to talk to shorty about this later, since he's the only one who seems to care. Whoa, that was weird. Shorty caring? Heh, guess it's not all that impossible after all. Of course, Kurama is his best friend, even if he won't admit it. Gah! I'm insightful in the morning."

"Kazuma! Shut up! It's only 7 in the morning!" Shizuru yelled through the wall. "Seven, huh? Guess it's alright to go visit the temple now." Kuwabara got up and dressed. Then he left the house after telling Shizuru where he was going.

The walk down the road to Genkai's was uneventful and spent wondering who he should tell this to first. Hiei or Kurama? Or maybe Genkai? He decided he would visit Yukina first and then ask Hiei.

Just as Kuwabara had woken up, so had the redhead of the group. He had gone home that day, under Genkai's permission. He slowly woke up to find those dark brown eyes belonging to his mother staring down at him worriedly. "M-mother?" Kurama asked softly as he squinted up at his mother. "S-s-s-sh. It's ok, sweetie," she replied, running her fingers through his hair.

"W-why are you here?" Kurama asked. "I was walking past your room and heard you mumbling something. You looked pained at first, then later, you looked confused. I was worried. Did you have a nightmare?" Kurama smiled reassuringly. "Not really. I'm alright mother."

"Then go back to sleep. It's still early and you look very tired." Kurama nodded and yawned. Then he rolled over and went back to sleep. Shiori got up from the side of his bed and went to leave the room, but paused at the doorway and looked back at her son. That reassurance and smile had seemed a bit forced to her. She sighed and left the room, carefully closing the door without making a sound, so as not to wake her son.

She was going to speak to Hatanaka-san about this; he always seemed to understand things like this and give her some good advice. "Did you find out something Shiori?" Hatanaka-san asked pleasantly. Shiori nodded.

"He hasn't been happy lately. Every smile or happy act is forced for our sake. I'm sure he thinks we won't notice. He hides a lot of things from me. And even more from you and Kokoda. I'm not sure if I understand him anymore, or if I ever did." Shiori sat down on the bed, next to Hatanaka.

"Don't talk that way, Shiori. It might just be a mood swing. We both had them when we were his age," Hatanaka suggested. Shiori sighed.

"I know that. But I'm fairly sure that that's not it. Just before he went to Genkai's temple, he seemed normal and happy. Now that he's back, he's so depressed and pained. So confused and lost. I just don't know what to do. A mother is supposed to help and guide her child, but I don't know how I can help him," Shiori whispered. She put her face in her hands.

"It'll be ok. If it'll make you feel any better, we can follow him the next time he goes to Genkai's. Then we can see what he really does there. We'll be able to see if there's anything there that would really upset him," Hatanaka replied soothingly. He put one hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry so much."

Shiori giggled slightly. "It's natural for a mother to worry. Alright. We'll follow him the next time he goes to Genkai's."

Kuwabara continued to trudge up the stairs to Genkai's. He sensed Hiei's energy about halfway up the stairs, along with Yukina's and Genkai's. Though, strangely enough, he could sense that Hiei and Genkai were in the same room, and Yukina was in the gardens behind the temple.

Maybe it would be better to talk to Genkai and Hiei first, then I'll have Yukina to cheer me up. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Kuwabara entered the temple and wandered down the halls to where he could sense Genkai and Hiei. But he stopped just outside the doors to listen to what they were talking about. He knew it was rude and that he shouldn't, but he was curious after they mentioned Kurama.

"So you've noticed it too?" Hiei's rough, dark voice asked. "Yes. I also saw you two in the forest. Yes the entire thing Hiei," Genkai's old, but wise voice replied. Kuwabara heard Hiei growl.

"You should be a bit more open about the fact that you do consider him a friend. It's what he needs right now. I'm not sure what's going on, but if he looked that miserable, it certainly can't be good. You're the only friend he has right now that could possibly help him. Kuwabara doesn't know what's going on with him, Dimwit's too blind to notice his friend in pain, so that leaves you."

"Hn. I think that Kuwabara may actually have something, contrary to your opinion," Hiei said.

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" Genkai asked. Hiei opened the door and Kuwabara fell in.

"You're getting as bad as Botan, Kuwabara," Genkai said after taking a sip of tea. Kuwabara stumbled back up and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hn. What brings you here Kuwabara? If you're looking for Yukina, she's out back," Hiei said, slightly hoping the idiot would just leave. Kuwabara shook his head.

"Actually, you're the person I was looking for," Kuwabara stated seriously. He saw Hiei look at him in shock.

"Why?" Hiei asked. "I saw Kurama's dreams last night," Kuwabara stated seriously once more. Genkai leaned in at this and set her cup of tea down.

"What did you see Kuwabara?" Genkai demanded. Kuwabara sat carefully at the low table where Genkai and Hiei were sitting.

"I-I'm not exactly sure. But I know that someone is planting those dreams into his head. His dreams are really weird too. I saw two dreams. They both had a blue-haired girl in them, and Yoko. Actually, I think I saw Kurama's old partner, Kuronue, in them too. In the first one, I had looked up just in time to see him in the tree. And he followed them in the second dream. Come to think of it, it sounds kinda like he was playing matchmaker. I dunno. If you want, Hiei, you can look in my head. I'm pretty sure it's not as dangerous as trying to look in Kurama's."

"Well, I'm going to trust your judgment for now, considering I want to find out what's wrong with Kurama," Hiei said uncertainly. He reached to put his hand on Kuwabara's forehead.

"Show me as well," Genkai said after taking another sip of tea. Hiei reached over and put his other hand on her forehead. The two of them entered into Kuwabara's mind and watched the dreams.

MA: I'm baaaaack. Heh heh heh. Well, I need all you lovely reviewers to review. I'm feeling English right now. And I bloody hate/love it. Oh no, I said bloody again! Ugh. This is what I get for reading excellent James/Lily fics in the Harry Potter section.

Yusuke: (Howling with laughter in background) It's hilarious...You talking with a British accent and everything! Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!

Kurama: (snickering) I'll have to agree with Yusuke on this one. It's very comical.

MA: Oh shut it. I've heard you two do it plenty of times. In fact, I think I may have recorded it somewhere.

Yusuke and Kurama: WHAT!

MA: Yes. It's somewhere. Though I doubt you'll find it in this mess.

Yusuke: Ok, this is getting annoying now. Can't you just go back to speaking German and confusing the hell out of us?

MA: Ja, I s'pose so. Schpreken ze Deutsch? (I apologize if I spelled that wrong, for all you German-speakers out there)

Kurama: Umm. I'm going to take a chance and guess what you said, not to mention use the only German vocabulary I have. Nein.

MA: Ah. Ja, ja.

Yusuke: (completely confused look) What did you say Kurama?

Kurama: I said no. I think she said 'do you speak German'.

Yusuke: Oh.

MA: I'll say this once, because mein kopf hurts. REVIEW!

Yusuke: Uhhhh, 'mein kopf'?

Kurama: I believe she said 'my head'. But I'm just guessing.

MA: Ja, fuchs-junge! (gives Kurama a hug)

Yusuke: Kurama?

Kurama: No clue.

MA: Review bitte!