Chapter 4: Kinikakeru… To trouble one's heart… part I

'Timber!' everybody yelled. They couldn't find her; she had run away when no one was looking. Yukina felt bad, and decided to help find Timber and apologize.

'Timber! Oh crap, Yukina, this was the worst timing you could have,' Yusuke complained. Kuwabara put an arm around her and glared at Yusuke.

'It isn't her fault! She just couldn't hold it in for… wait, how long have you known this, anyways? A week? A day? I could understand if it were even a month!' Kuwabara stood up for Yukina. She smiled, but then frowned.

'Yea Yukina, if Hiei told you not to tell, I could understand how hard it must have been,' Kurama said, sighing. She nodded, but then started crying again; she just couldn't tell them how long she had held it in.

'Yukina come on, you can tell us, we won't hurt you, we promise,' Botan smiled happily and promised. She nodded and backed away from them all for a moment.

'10 years,' she told them, worried about their reactions. They all gasped along with the gasping mice, and Keiko sighed.

'How did you hold it in for that long!' Kuwabara screamed like a little girl. Yukina shrugged.

'Please don't tell Hiei-ni-chan,' she started crying. Kuwabara hugged her.

'If he finds out, then it was from Timber, as she was the only one not here,' Yusuke said. Everyone nodded.

'You know, I don't mean to be rude, but when I first saw the two, I thought that they made a cute couple,' Shizuru said. 'I mean, I never really knew Hiei, and Phire, well, I never knew who she was, but just looking at them, I could feel that they had some type of relationship.'

'I felt… sort of the same way,' Kurama added in, 'but when I knew Phire a little more, I knew she would be best friends with Hiei; she didn't seem really good as a girlfriend to him; it wasn't right.' Everyone nodded.

'Wait, so if they kissed,' Yusuke said, 'that means that it was out of tomodachigai, not netsuai!' Everyone nodded his or her heads.

'Oh no! We have to tell Timber before something bad happens!' Keiko gasped. Everybody nodded and they sighed as they forgot where Timber had gone.

'Wait, I think I know where to find her!' Kurama exclaimed. 'I bet she has found Hiei, and I can sense Hiei easily!' Everyone exclaimed in glee and they all followed Kurama into the forest.

The thunderstorm continued to rain on Timber. She felt so sad and so angry at the same time that she had to hold back her wolf form.

'Hiei-chan, why didn't you tell me? I would have understood then,' Timber thought to herself, still crying. 'If you tried telling me now… I don't even want to know why you two kissed for so long!' she screamed to herself, causing more tears to rush out.

It was about 25 minutes later that Timber had found remains of the animals that had gone through the haze; of course, she never knew there was a haze; she was just worried as to what had happened.

'Nante,' she thought to herself as she saw more and more dead animals. After walking for about 5 minutes straight through dead animals in wolf form, she saw a body with dark clothes in a pool of blood, just like the animals.

'No, this can't be happening!' Timber thought as she recognized the body. She ran over and turned it over. It was true; it was Hiei.

'Hiei! HIEI! WAKE UP!' Timber growled, shaking him. She was so angry from before that it just came out now. He still didn't move or budge; blood merely dripped from his mouth. Timber shook her head and realized that she should care less about that momentarily and abet Hiei.

'Hiei? You aren't dead, are you?' she asked, touching his face, which was really cold. Timber started shaking; was he really dead?

'No, he can't be… Iie! Iie! Oh yes! The pulse! I bet it must be at least weak if anything!' Timber thought, as she checked his pulse; it wasn't there, or else Timber just couldn't feel that low of a pulse. Timber froze; this wasn't happening to her. How could Hiei just suddenly die?

'It doesn't look like suicide, nor homicide,' she thought to herself. 'And whatever caused it did a very very very small genocide.' She kept pondering over what could have killed him, but then sighed. Just then, she heard voices.

'Timber! Where are you?' she heard the calls more clearly, and when Kurama and the others caught up with her, they gasped at the amount of tears that mixed with the pool of blood that belonged to the corpse that Timber held.

'Doushita, Timber?' Kurama touched her shoulder and asked as he recognized the corpse by smell and then face. Kurama just stood next to the sitting Timber and didn't move.

'Kurama? Doushita?' Yusuke asked as he went over next to Kurama and stood frozen. Everybody pretty much did that, and they all were silent, so only the drops of rain from the storm could be heard.

'Is he… dead?' Yukina asked, a few tears rolling down the sides of her cheeks. Timber didn't answer, but then Kurama checked Hiei's pulse from his wrist.

'I can't sense a pulse,' Kurama muttered as he kept moving two fingers across Hiei's wrist, trying to find a pulse, and hot tears and cold tears went down his face while he tried. Everyone just stood silent, and Yukina burst out in tears, and Kuwabara hugged her.

'I-isn't there a-another w-way to find p-pulse?' Yukina asked in a cracked voice. Kurama nodded, but then said that it isn't common but decided to try it anyway. He took the same two fingers and put it on Hiei's neck, but it was 'under' the face. He still couldn't feel a pulse, and nearly 10 tears rolled down his face without Kurama actually crying. Timber hugged Hiei tighter and never let go of him. She didn't want him to leave; he was the only one she truly wanted to stay alive.

'CPR?' Yukina suggested. Timber never knew how to do it, but Phire had once taught Yukina CPR when Phire had bought a mannequin of Kuwabara to kill.

'Who would do it?' Kuwabara asked. 'Kurama, do you know it?' he nodded, but was hesitant, so he looked to Yukina, whom he knew that had been taught some survival skills by Phire; how, who knows.

'I will,' Yukina muttered, going towards Hiei. She tried to hold back tears so she could attempt, but then she hugged Kurama's leg, which was right next to her, and he bent down and hugged her.

'Do you want me to try?' Kurama asked. Yukina shook her head, and then performed CPR. Kurama checked Hiei's pulse again, but felt zilch. Yukina hugged Kurama tightly, and he hugged her back. Timber continued crying.

'This is not right; what killed him?' Genkai asked, confused. She stood silent behind everybody else, trying to analyze the situation.

'Well, didn't we just see dead animals?' Yusuke said. Kurama, as he cried, started analyzing the situation.

'Some sort of… enmu haze,' Kurama suggested. Genkai clapped her hands once.

'I know now; this can only be performed when there is already a storm, and there was,' Genkai explained. 'This was enshi no enmu Death by smoke suffocation haze! I cannot believe I could not recognize it! This kills by suffocating any creatures within the haze,' she continued explaining. She then sighed.

'Heh, you all have the right idea…'

'Nante,' Kurama said, hearing a mumble. Everyone looked to Kurama; they thought he was going mad.

'Doushita, Kurama-kun?' Yukina asked, still grasping his shirt. He was still frozen, as though in a trance, but sensed another presence go away.

'Nothing,' Kurama told them. He narrowed his eyes to one of the trees that looked very suspicious; it was purely green, and was not an evergreen tree, and that type of green was only seen in Natura, but then a lightning strike caused it to go on fire.

'We should take Hiei back to the temple,' Genkai suggested. They all looked to Timber, who fell asleep while holding Hiei close and snug. She still had tears rolling down her cheek, though. Kurama sighed, and lifted Timber onto his back, while Yukina held Hiei.

'Yukina, you seemed to have gotten stronger over 10 years,' Yusuke complimented her. She blushed a little and turned her face opposite, and didn't say anything.

'Hey, we really should hurry up,' Kurama suggested, blushing. They all looked to him and noticed that Timber was muttering something and kept "feeling" down Kurama's chest. They all laughed a little, but were still sad from Hiei's death. Kurama sighed and carried Timber bridal style instead. She rested her head against his chest and didn't move or fidget. Kurama sighed in relief.

Finally, after reaching the temple, they placed Hiei in a bed, and Timber was placed in a different room. They all decided to go to sleep, but Kurama and Genkai were up nearly all night trying to prove that Hiei wasn't dead; he couldn't be, but they had no proof of him coming alive, and they later slept.

'Heh, Mizu was at least smart enough to get away, but that Hiei kid is pretty strong himself… probably I'll have to wait a little longer for the vicious female demon to arrive and determine whether they come into my army or not… Oh yea, and what is with that Hinote dude that Mizu mentioned? He seems powerful… he may come when the female does, so I better get ready for some action… for now, I only have Hiei and Mizu to join… from them I've heard the female is difficult to convince, so I'll get her tatsujin to convince her, and maybe have him under my rule… finally, after so long…' was the voice heard in the clouds, but no one heard it.