Oh, by the way, I have changed this fic to have main characters Kurama and then Hiei, because though they aren't the main characters in the story, they become the next most important characters after Catalyn. Just so you know.

Now, let me ask you readers a question: why am I updating? I haven't gotten any reviews for the last chapter, so what reason do I have to update? How do I know people are liking my story, and therefore I should continue? The answers: There is no reason to update, and I don't know if people like my fic because of the lack of reviews. But, I am updating because it's Christmastime. So happy holidays to everybody, and please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH. If I did, I'd be the happiest person on the planet.

CHAPTER THREE – RECOVERY

Many things had happened while Catalyn was unconscious, so of course she knew nothing of them. What she did know, however, was that there were hushed voices all around her. She felt something warm and soft against her back. She was lying down on this, and her eyelids were heavy. Part of her didn't want to open them, but she was so confused as to what was going on that she forced them open.

Only blurriness awaited her at first, but after a few hard blinks, she noticed someone with long red hair and emerald green eyes watching her intently. His face broke into a smile as he called to someone unknown, "She's awake." A door opened and shut somewhere in the room. She racked her brains, trying to figure out who that person was. She knew she had seen him before, very recently, actually – Kurama!

And everything else came back to her so quickly she felt like her skull was exploding. The demon! She was singing – and then – what the hell was going on? She bolted upright, exclaiming in a panicked voice, "What happened?" but her vision swam so badly that she fell backwards, back into what she now recognized as a bed.

"Take it easy, now," Kurama coaxed gently. "Don't get too excited yet; you might pass out again."

Her head was pounding, and she felt sick. "What's wrong with me?" she asked weakly.

Kurama was momentarily spared of answering her when the door burst open and three people came running through. This time her brain was quicker to remember them as Yusuke, Botan, and Kuwabara. Following them slowly was Hiei, frowning as what she remembered was usual.

"You're awake!" Yusuke yelled as he barged in. "About time!"

"Are you feeling better?" Kuwabara asked, sounding quite worried, but Catalyn couldn't really care less for how he felt about her.

"I'm fine," Catalyn lied to them. She didn't want to admit that she felt extremely weak and sick. She had always hated being considered weak. Then she asked her question again: "What happened to me?"

"Hiei found you," Kurama explained. "He got there before any of us, so he knows what happened best. I'll let him explain." Everyone turned to Hiei. He glared at Kurama, then at Catalyn, who returned the glare, and made no reply. With a sigh, Kurama continued. "When we got there the vampire demon was dead, and you were bleeding badly, especially from your arms and your neck."

That's when Catalyn realized that her entire upper body was covered in bandages, except for her head, but there was a small patch on her cheek. Some of the bandages were a bit wet from blood, and she figured they would have to be changed soon.

"You've been unconscious for two days now," Botan said with a smile. "I'm really quite surprised you're already okay. You lost so much blood. You're made of pretty tough stuff."

"Probably from your demon side, eh?" Yusuke commented. Catalyn nodded, though she'd much rather not have a demon side at all. Then he looked at her weirdly and asked, "Hey, what happened to you before you got knocked out?"

Catalyn thought about it for a moment, trying to remember what happened, and then the fog covering her mind cleared and she was able to recall everything up until the point where she had passed out. "Well, he had these bat minions of his that were sucking up all of my blood and energy, but he said he'd spare me if I sang for him so I agreed but then…" She trailed off, not wanting to say the words, "I fainted", but they all understood.

Then a harsh voice said, "You IDIOT." Everyone looked at Hiei, the speaker, with surprised looks on their faces. Catalyn frowned at him but said nothing. Hiei took a step forwards. He had been lurking in the shadows, by the door, but now that he had stepped into the light, she was able to see his full expression – a face full of scorn. "You gave yourself up to him completely! You were asking for him to kill you by doing that! He was sucking up your energy through your voice, through the strings of blood he had around your neck. He was an inch away from biting you – and his fangs would have killed you instantly!"

Catalyn felt as though she'd been punched in the chest. She realized his point, but couldn't admit to it, for that would make it seem like she was weak. "What else could I do?" she demanded, struggling to sit up.

"Easy," cautioned Kurama, but she paid him no mind. She was too angry now.

"You should have attacked him while you had the chance, baka onna!" Hiei snapped.

"And when did I have the chance?" she retorted at the top of her lungs.

"Figure it out, bitch!" he roared.

That was the last straw. Out of everything Hiei had done so far, nothing had hit her as hard as that did. Her temper flared as she bolted up, her aura bursting out around her, ready to unleash itself upon Hiei, but suddenly there was a stabbing pain in her chest, and it was as if a TV was shutting off as the world blanked out around her.

In the blink of an eye, she was bolt upright again. The world instantly faded away and she fell back, but this time, strong, gentle hands caught her around the shoulders and steadied her into a sitting position. Blinking slowly, her vision cleared. Kurama was helping her up, and the rest of the room was empty. She looked around wildly, not understanding what just happened. Where had everyone gone so quickly? What happened to her?

"Kurama…" she whispered in a shaky voice. She tried to put on a normal tone, but she was so scared that her breaths came out in huge gasps as she began to cry. She hadn't felt this type of fear since the day she'd been demonified. It was terrible.

"You fainted from shock and fatigue, I think," Kurama said quietly. "I warned Hiei to be gentle with you when you first woke up, but…when he really wants to speak his mind, nothing will stop him."

She tried desperately to blink back her tears, to make them all stop, but they just came down harder. No! Catalyn thought. Why must this happen to me in front of him?

Kurama gave her a pat on the back. "You don't have to be ashamed of crying," he told her. She started and stared at him, the tears still going. "I won't tell the others if you don't want me to. And I don't think you're weak or anything. In fact, quite the opposite. I think you're very strong, both mentally and physically."

Catalyn smiled through the waterfalls running down her cheeks. "Thanks," she managed to say.

As the tears began to slow down, Kurama said, "You're very strong to have held out so long against that vampire demon. And you made it out okay. Well, except for those scars on your arms."

She jerked up, looking at him with wide eyes. "Scars?" she asked in shock.

Kurama nodded sympathetically. "Yes, I noticed them when I was bandaging your arms up. I think they might be permanent."

"It's okay," Catalyn told him with a shuddering sigh, wiping her eyes.

"And don't worry about Hiei," Kurama told her. "He's a good person. You'll see."

With the help of some Kleenex tissues (thank goodness for Kleenex!), Catalyn was finally able to dry the remainder of her tears. Kurama retreated from her bedside to a couch in a corner of the room. That was when she asked the question that had been nagging her: "Where did everyone go?"

"They all left after you passed out," Kurama said solemnly. "You should have heard them all, yelling at Hiei for getting you worked up. Besides, you weren't looking good at all. Your face was – and still is – quite pale. You shouldn't be doing anything active for the next few days while you get your strength back."

Catalyn groaned at this comment. "I've never stayed awake in bed for more than ten minutes," she muttered.

Kurama smiled. "You'll live through it," he said. "We'll all keep you company in the meantime, so it won't be so bad."

"As long as Hiei doesn't badger me," she said with feeling. "I hate him."

"He won't," Kurama assured her. "In fact, I don't think he'll bother you for a while now. He doesn't show it, but I can tell he feels guilty about what happened."

Yeah, right, she thought sarcastically. Like Hiei would ever feel guilty about something.

A knock sounds at the door. Catalyn looked at Kurama, who shrugged and became interested in the fox-shaped cloud out the window. "Come in," she called.

The door opened and Botan rushed in, looking positively delighted about something. "Oh, you're up!" she said, surprised. Then she got to the point, or almost did. "Guess what?"

"What?" Catalyn asked her, confused. What on earth could be making her so happy?

Botan hurried to her bedside. "We have a lead on the demon cat!" she exclaimed.

Catalyn nearly jumped out of the bed for joy, but she didn't have the strength to, and it probably wasn't a good idea anyway. "What? Really?"

"Really!" Botan confirmed, nodding enthusiastically. "We can't pinpoint her exact location because she's off in a different dimension right now, but we're keeping tabs on her!"

"Botan, that's awesome!" Catalyn said. "When do we start?"

Botan stared. "I beg your pardon?"

"When do we start?" she repeated. "You know, looking for her."

The Grim Reaper threw her head back and laughed. "You're so excited you probably have no idea how tired you must be! You wouldn't last a minute out there in that shape. You need to get better first." She said all of this in an I-know-what's-best-for-you type voice, which Catalyn didn't like. She scowled.

"Don't worry about it too much," Kurama said with a smile. "You'll get your shot eventually. And once you're back in shape, Koenma will have found her exact location."

Catalyn nodded, trying to hide her frustration. Botan turned to leave the room, saying, "I'll be bringing you your dinner soon so you can eat in bed…later!" She winked and shut the door behind her.

After she had left, Catalyn was struck by a sudden thought. "Kurama, where exactly are we?"

Kurama smiled, as if he'd been wondering when she would ask him that. "We're in Spirit World, Koenma's headquarters," he explained. "We had to deliver a report to Koenma after completing the mission, and we needed to get you medical attention, so he prepared this room for you. We couldn't take you to a Human World hospital with those ears and tail of yours. Well, I'm going to get myself a bite to eat," he added, rising from his chair. "I'll come back later."

"Okay," Catalyn said, and he strode out of the room, making sure to close the door behind him.

During this time alone, she was able to reflect on what had happened during the past few days. A sudden pang in her chest confirmed her doubts about her sensei, and whether or not he was safe. There was also something else on her mind…her secret…how long would she be able to hide it from them? Kurama had almost discovered it…she sincerely hoped that she could find Kitkit before they figured it out.

Eventually, she completely forgot that Botan was going to bring her some food. Her exhaustion had already carried her off to sleep.

-later-

Catalyn ended up staying in bed for three more days. Yusuke and Kuwabara dropped by occasionally, but they never stayed long –Yusuke because he'd get bored, and Kuwabara because she kicked him out after he'd start sweet-talking (she couldn't literally throw him out, but she did come up with some good threats). Hiei stopped by once because the boys had picked out of a hat who would bring her lunch one day, and luck had not been on his side. However, the two of them did not say a word to each other. They didn't even look at each other. Botan came whenever she could, but her duties as the Grim Reaper took a lot of time out of her busy schedule. She would tell her about Kitkit (still no exact location) and helped to change her bandages, never noticing the scars on her arms.

But it was Kurama who was with her the most. He would talk with her for a couple of hours at a time. He told Catalyn a lot about himself, like how he was really a demon called Yoko Kurama in the body of a human. In turn, she told him everything about herself except for her secret and the whole sensei thing, because no doubt he had heard the alternate story already. She felt very guilty about lying to him since he was such a nice, understanding guy, but that couldn't be helped.

Finally, the day came when Botan told her that she could get out of bed. In her excitement, she trapped Botan in the biggest bear hug she could muster. Botan laughed. "Hey, you're still out of shape, Catalyn. Keep that in mind. Oh, and Koenma wants you to start training with Hiei until your strength returns and your skills can match his before he sends you to find your cat."

"WHAT?" Catalyn yelled. "With HIEI!"

"You'll have to put up with it if you want to find Kitkit," Botan told her seriously. On a brighter note, she added, "Oh, yeah, the boys are going on another mission this evening, and though you haven't recovered yet, Koenma would like you to go with them."

Catalyn stopped thinking of vulgar words towards the little demon and asked, "Why, then?"

"Well, the boys will be able to look after you if things don't go too well, and it will serve as good training," Botan said. "So, meet Koenma at five o-clock sharp in his office, and he'll give you the details."

"Okay," Catalyn said, and Botan left her so that she could get ready.

A new mission so soon. But then again, Botan was probably right. She'd get some good training and would be able to get back in shape. She grinned suddenly with excitement.

This was going to be fun.