Hey guys, really really sorry for the very late update. BUT, I do have a good reason. My basketball team made it into playoffs, so we've been having a lot of extra practices lately. AND I am taking a college-level course, which isn't fun. Especially since I'm a sophomore in high school……….arg! All I want to do is write but, no. I have to spend countless hours reading advanced history material, solving advanced math equations, doing advanced chemistry experiments, and to top it all off, playing extra hours of basketball. How do I get myself into these situations?

Anyways, sorry for the rant, but I've been a little stressed out lately.

On with the show!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A putrid odor met Hiei's nose as he entered Makai. Rotting flesh, freshly spilt blood…boy was it good to be back home.

The fire demon took in his surroundings. Yes, yes, he remembered now' this was Red-Eye Valley. On the other side, supposedly dwelt a great dragon. No one had ever defeated him, and many foolish demons wandered towards their demise trying to slay the fell creature.

Of course! There was a small village only a few miles to the east of here. A village, hopefully, with information about Taiya Weed.

He flitted from tree to tree until he arrived at the aforementioned town.

Wrapping his cloak tightly around himself, Hiei leapt lightly down from the cypress that he had just landed on.

The small demon walked down the busy street that was crowded with apparitions. Occasionally a scuffle would break out, but Hiei paid them no mind. He had a job to do, a person to find.

Ah, here it was, the Bloody Dagger. The fire apparition headed in and walked towards the counter.

"What do you want shorty?"

"Information. I'm looking for Ubido."

The bartender, a shifty-looking raccoon demon, glanced around the tavern. "Ubido, eh? Well, he got into a bit of trouble with Spirit World a couple months back, and he's been in hiding ever since."

"Where?"

"From what I've heard, he's in one of the caves in the Cracked Skull Mountains."

"Hn." The short demon turned to leave.

"Hold it. Everything's got a price, even information."

"Idiot. You should have considered that before you started talking." Hiei became the fleeting shadow, setting a course for the Cracked Skull Mountains.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Genkai it's not working!" Yusuke looked down onto Kurama's bandages. They were saturated with blood, and starting to stain the futon he was lying on.

"Yukina, please change Kurama's bandages." As the ice maiden approached, the fox's eyes shot open.

"No," he moaned. "I'm sorry, just don't—don't leave." Yukina looked puzzled for a moment. "These must be the side effects, hallucinations." She spoke softly to the spooked demon, attempting to soothe his fears as she redid the bloodied bandages.

After she was finished, the demoness stepped back. Sensing that he was alone again, Kurama softly cried out.

"Stop. No, no, no. I didn't mean too. Please stay!" The fox made a noise Yusuke had never heard him make before. He whimpered.

This really pulled at the spirit detective's heartstrings. He knelt down and took the taller boy's hand into his own. Little did he know, the torment going on in Kurama's mind was much worse than he let on.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Swirling mist surrounded the fox, making it impossible for him to see. Making his way through the dense fog, Kurama kept his hands in front of him in order to not run into anything.

"Hiei! Yusuke! Kuwabara!" Kurama knew that it was not the smartest idea to yell out into the void, but he could not stand the inescapable solitude.

After stumbling around for another fifteen minutes the kitsune tripped and fell over a small ditch in the ground.

While he was still down, his surroundings shifted. Now he was in a thick forest, and he heard something that sounded like the flapping of wings. He looked behind him to see…no, it couldn't be.

"Kur-Kuronue?" Kurama stood up, his eyes wide.

Indeed it was the old bat demon. "You, you died all those years ago, but it is so wonderful to see you again my friend!"

"Friend?"

"Don't you recognize me, Kuro? Well I wouldn't either, but it's me, Youko."

"I knew that, but what I don't know is why you chose to stay in that wretched form."

"Kuronue, I—"

The bat's voice was hard.

"Yes I know dear friend, you would rather stay in Ningenkai with those accursed ningens, than come back to where you belong? You are a bandit, Youko, not some ningen schoolboy. You think that saving a few lives can make up for your past? There is so much blood on your hands, including mine. You are worthless, undeserving of these new friends that you have made. In fact you are undeserving of me as a friend."

Kuronue whipped out his scythe and flung it at the fox. Kurama attempted to leap out of the way, but the blade still snagged his shoulder. The redhead gasped as his shoulder exploded in fiery pain.

The fox fell to his knees, not understanding why he felt so weak.

"You should give up you worthless human." Kuronue spread his wings and prepared for flight.

Kuronue, wait. You were my best friend, don't leave."

Kurama hated the pleading tone in his voice, but anything was better than this extreme loneliness.

The bat only spat at him, as he rose into the sky.

"Don't leave me."

Once again, the kitsune's surroundings shifted. Soon he was back, enshrouded by the blinding mist. The fox looked around, hoping to see, hear, or at least smell someone. But no one came.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Genkai, GENKAI!" Yusuke's worry increased to tenfold to panic as he saw a new injury forming before his eyes.

"What?" The psychic's eyes widened as she saw her student hurriedly trying to mop up what appeared to be blood from….a new wound?

"What did you do!"

"Nothing, he just started bleeding!"

"Yukina! Bring in some extra bandages now!" The ice maiden appeared with fresh bandages only moments later.

Genkai attempted to staunch the flow and wrapped the bandages around the wounded kitsune's right shoulder. After the initial shock had passed, Genkai turned to the spirit detective.

"What happened? I leave for five minutes and I come back only to find Kurama with a new injury!"

"Don't yell at me you old hag! I didn't do anything!"

"If I may interrupt, Master Genkai, I think I know what may have happened."

"Go ahead Yukina."

The ice maiden looked sadly down at the fox.

"Well before, Kurama was moaning words in his sleep. I thought that they were just hallucinations, but it appears that they are more than that. It seems that if he is injured in these dreams, it happens to his real self."

As he was listening to Yukina's suspicions, Yusuke was becoming more and more angry. The knuckles on his balled fists were turning white.

"Dammit! This isn't fair. Even when the bad guy is dead, Kurama is still getting beat up. This is all my fault."

Yusuke stormed back to the kitsune's side. "Come on man. You've got to pull through. Who's going to confuse me and Kuwabara with stupid quotes and ideas? Who's going to keep a cool head while the rest of us are to mad to think straight? Please wake up."

Genkai and Yukina, seeing that this was a personal moment, left the room silently.

"Yukina, find Kuwabara and keep him busy, I don't think Yusuke would want him to barge in now."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It had been six hours since Hiei had started his search for the illusive Ubido, and the fire apparition was defiantly looking worse for wear. The terrain was rocky, and his cape was tattered from being caught on countless outcroppings. His face was smudged and cut and he looked exhausted.

'I'll only sit for a moment.' The rock that Hiei was currently occupying gave a great lurge and sunk into the ground to reveal a hidden passage.

"Well that was unexpected." The demon peered into the newly formed cavern, and seeing nothing amiss, walked in.

'This is too simple." Hiei's senses were on full alert, but they wouldn't prepare him for what was about to happen.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Yes I know it's a cliffy, please don't hurt me! Don't forget to review! Hugs, MM