Chapter 3

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at the entrance small cave in unison.

"What was the mission again, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked Yusuke.

"We have this mission to track down this criminal that escaped almost a week ago from Spirit World to this world. Here's a tip: his name is Hiei, a fire demon from the Demon World, and he can kick ass if we are not careful or strong enough. That's why we are teaming up together. Beating this guy is hard if he releases all of his concealed energy," Yusuke explained carefully as possible to Kuwabara, who had listened to every word. "What do you say?"

"Yeah, why not!" Kuwabara raised a fist in determination, "I could use a good challenge to beat ya up afterward!"

Yusuke chuckled at his "almost" rival, being motivated. This mission is going to be more entertaining now as if they have already forgotten how strong or how much of a threat Hiei actually was. "Not if I beat ya up to it first!"

Hiei felt the need to prepare for a possible upcoming battle encounter with those two humans that were selected by Koenma to stop him. Anything could happen…

Outside the cave, Yusuke and Kuwabara readied themselves into a position to dash inside the cave and attack Hiei on a preemptive strike.

Yusuke furrowed his eyebrows in concentration to use his Spirit Gun. He should have plenty of energy to fight the fire demon than in the last time… "Ready or not, Hiei, here we come!" he shouted when he and Kuwabara began to sprint inside the cave together…

…

After they made it past the entrance:

"Geez! It is so dark here!"

"Hold on! I think I have a small flashlight in my pockets or something…"

The two of them stood in the middle of inside the cave only to find:

"Huh? There is nobody here…" Kuwabara commented, being very confused, as he tried to look all his surroundings in the cave with the illumination that the small flashlight provided. "I swear I did sense something earlier. It was no joke, I swear, Urameshi!"

Yusuke frowned as he held the small flashlight with one hand. He, somehow, believed Kuwabara and he was not going to just say it out loud just yet. Perhaps Hiei made a last-minute escape as his ultimate resort? Still, in his opinion, Hiei didn't look like the type of demon to run away from a battle.

"Hello! Anyone in there!?"

This caught Yusuke's attention that he looked upon the entrance, and Botan came as she wore her own school uniform with her bag hanging on her shoulders and held a flashlight with her right hand.

"Botan? What are you doing here?" The Spirit Detective was curious because he wasn't supposed to meet up with the ferry girl until the next day.

"That is also my question," Botan said as she remembered seeing Yusuke and Kuwabara standing outside the cave not too long ago while she was on her oar in the skies. She spoke again: "Anyways, thank goodness I found you, I got newsflash: Koenma has a last-minute mission for you. There are three low-rank demons lurking around the city. They are hidden in human disguise, which they are stealing from households in certain neighborhoods. You should be able to defeat them at ease."

"Sounds like this could be an appetizer for the main course of tomorrow. Sure, I'm game," Yusuke said nonchalant, already feeling comfortable with his role as a Spirit Detective. Any extra work given by Koenma was beginning to be expected as much.

"Urameshi!" The two looked to see Kuwabara, who was kneeling on one foot on the floor right among the left corner of the cave. He stood on his feet to face Yusuke. "You wouldn't believe what I found!" He stopped his sentence to look at Botan. "Oh hi!"

"Hello, there!" Botan waved her free hand in a greeting manner. "What did you find?"

Kuwabara stood aside to show Botan what he had been looking so distracted. "Please, come this way… I found dried blood and some hair lying around over here. Plus, this seems like food waste." He pointed to the corner where he was.

"Good job, Kuwabara. Now I'm going to take a small sample of the blood and hair to examine it. Hold this for a moment for me, please." Botan gave Kuwabara her flashlight as she approached the corner and knelt on her feet. Botan took her pink bag off her shoulders to take out a small, user-friendly and compact DNA-Identity match system created by the Research and Development facility in the spiritual realm. She opened the round and compact technology to take out a tweezer. With it, she picked up three strands of hair to insert it, followed by an exceedingly small portion of the ground that had some of the dried blood with it. The compact technology was closed that it began analyzing the samples for a match.

The trio looked intently as the technology worked silently…After a minute or so: "Bingo! We have a winner!" Botan announced as the technology made a few ring sounds. She stood on her feet as Yusuke and Kuwabara joined her side to read the results. "All this belongs to none other than Hiei."

"So that demon was actually here…" Kuwabara said to himself in amazement. His older sister was right: his sixth sense was rather underdeveloped to the point that he could actually manifest it if he kept working on using his "dormant" psychic abilities on a regular basis.

Yusuke, who was silent as he watched Botan collecting and examining the samples of Hiei's DNA, came up with a conclusion: "So this is where Hiei was hiding after he escaped from Spirit World almost a week ago. That means that he could be anywhere around here. Listen up, you guys! Let's go fish up those three bad guys and if we find Hiei along the way, we send those four back to Koenma tonight. All right?"

Botan and Kuwabara slightly nodded in agreement with Yusuke's words of leadership.

MEANWHILE:

Hiei found himself standing in the middle of the same personal chamber of yesterday where his wounds were treated. Just when he was about to face Yusuke and Kuwabara, the Jagan eye acted on its own accord upon the last second by teleporting its wielder to safety out of the cave. It was the first time the fake evil eye would such thing for its wielder… He needed to get out of here before-

"Well, well, if it isn't the Mystery Guy himself."

Hiei looked at the door's direction when he heard that familiar voice.

It was the same red-headed young human from yesterday who spoke, and he was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. He had this glance on his eyes, one that could be said of relief. He smiled kindly at his visitor: just when he entered the room and closed the door, Hiei appeared of what it seemed to be out of nowhere. "Nice of you to drop by. I was wondering about the wound on your arm. Can I please take a look at it?"

Hiei looked at Shuichi for a moment. This human had no means of harm to him, so he raised the right sleeve of his black cloak all the way up to his shoulder in approval.

Then, Shuichi proceeded to approach Hiei to look closely at the bandaged wounds, which there were some bloodstains on the surface of the bandages. "Your arm's bandages must be changed. I can do it if you would like that," he offered to Hiei.

"Do as you wish," the reply came rather nonchalant for Hiei, as if he didn't mind a mere human touching him before his presence- specifically, this human.

Shuichi slightly nodded. "Good boy. Now, would you mind sitting on my bed with your cloak and your scarf off while I get the first aid kit?" He said as he went to another door that leads to his own bathroom. He returned eventually to the room with the said first aid kit on his hands as Hiei already did as he was told to do.

Changing Hiei's bandages on his right arm and the bandages that were wrapped on the abdomen was very uneventful that the two were quiet during this whole process. One, being without the cloak and the scarf on his body as he sat on the bed with patience reflected on his features while the other had to take out the old bandages to change it for the new set of ones.

Hiei was deep in thought…The way Shuichi was changing his bandages… It reminded him of the occasional times that Youko Kurama would help him treat his wounds with his healing herbs back on the Demon World. He couldn't help but to point out the following: both Youko Kurama and Shuichi were similar on the way how they put great care and delicacy on treating Hiei's health and expected nothing in return for the voluntary service. However, there had to be a difference in all this! Both were from two different species and worlds, and how could they act in the same manner when it comes to treating the fire demon's health? This getting was beyond Hiei…

In the meantime, Shuichi silently looked at Hiei with this mysterious glint in his bright emerald eyes, as if he were contemplating hard on his next move…

Finally, Hiei shook his head. His thoughts were getting absurd on him. This wasn't the proper time and space to be thinking about the past, about the Silver Fox that had walked out of his life forever, or the human. He turned around to face Shuichi, who was sitting next to him all this time. "Are you done?"

The question brought Shuichi out of his reverie, "Yes, I am... Huh? Excuse me?" Well, he was sort of out of reverie because Hiei had said something to him that he couldn't quite comprehend.

"I said you make a good healer," Hiei repeated to Shuichi. "You seem to have the skills, knowledge and the patience to heal somebody else."

Shuichi gave a small chuckle, being rightfully flattered by the words. "Oh, so I've been told before. So yes, I'm interested to become a doctor with a specialty in natural remedies someday, or being a botanist is also a wonderful option."

"How come you are not a healer now?" Hiei thought that Shuichi would make a fine healer and the occupation was more suitable for his extroverted personality than working and studying plants somewhere secluded all day.

"Well, I am currently going to school and it is going to take several years for that to happen."

"So you need to go to this school for a long time in order to become a doctor? Get approval from society itself and everything else?"

"Yes, you are correct," Shuichi was impressed at Hiei, a mysterious one with an introverted personality. He was able to tell of how smart Hiei was and how much he can learn in a period in a short amount of time.

Hiei had finally noticed during their short conversation how close he and Shuichi were actually sitting together in the bed. He was listening to the red-haired human talk that last sentence. He watched him at the face, or better yet; he was looking straight at the shine that reflected on his bright emerald eyes.

Shuichi noticed the unexpected silence when Hiei moved on his seat and made more space between them on the bed. He wasn't making his guest uncomfortable, right? "What's wrong?" he asked as he unconsciously reached out to softly place a hand on one of Hiei's shoulders. "Tell me. I want to know what you are thinking," his statement was out of genuine concern.

Great, not only the human was noisy but also touchy-feely. "You are weird, that is all," Hiei commented dryly. Are all humans the same as this tall redhead? Shuichi was the only human that the fire demon came in contact so far and he was already questioning if they behave like this on a regular daily basis. If this was the case for all humans, then those happen to be weak traits that Hiei despised greatly apart from lacking strength and power like demons.

That comment made Shuichi a bit concerned towards himself, becoming somewhat self-conscious. No one in his life has dared to call him such, which he was intrigued and interested at the same time. He was always perfect in every aspect without flaws, according to other people's opinions. "You really think I'm weird?" He asked in surprise, putting his other hand on the other free shoulder of the fire demon.

Hiei rolled his eyes, getting slightly annoyed by the red-haired human. He took off both hands off his shoulders to stand up from his seat. He took his black cloak from the floor so he can wear it on him again. "Not in a bad way. You are not that bad to be around with, I guess," he said as he was putting the cloak back on.

Shuichi gave Hiei a radiant smile because to him, the fire demon may be rude and reserved but he found that he was charming in his own way due to his honesty and being simply sincere. "You have complimented me two times in a day. This is too much coming from you. Thank you," his voice was sincere and grateful as his eyes shone once more.

Hiei looked back at Shuichi after he had picked up his white scarf and placed it around his neck. "Now, don't get it all over your head." He crossed his arms to his chest and glared at the other, "You are annoying, emotional, and weak for my taste."

Shuichi pouted at that last cold and harsh statement. However, he understood quickly since it was expected from Hiei for the sole fact that both have different personalities. "You are so mean and brutally honest…" he said, feigning a bit of hurt for the other to see. "Perhaps you are not bad yourself as well if I get to know you more, which I am sure, I will do so. Who knows, we'll become friends despite our differences," he said in optimism.

Hiei's eyes narrowed this time at Shuichi, feeling repulsed all of the sudden. "Hn."

Out of the blue, Shuichi's demeanor changed completely. The human had his gaze set at the window with a serious and determined look on his face. He stood from the seat of his bed to walk to the door. He turned to face Hiei and gave him a courteous smile. "Can I ask you to stay in my room a little longer? I need to check on something outside."

Hiei was slightly taken by the change of behavior. He swore that he saw the eyes of a predator with the need to look for a victim or the look of a hunter determined to get a treasure. He uncrossed his arms with both his fists clenched. "I need to go outside as well."

"Please, I insist that you stay here," Shuichi insisted to Hiei, hoping that he would not get stubborn on him.

"…Tch. Fine, don't take too long," Hiei said calmly, much to Shuichi's surprise.

"Good, it is settled then. I'll be back before you know it," Shuichi said before giving Hiei a wink and leaving his room through the door.

It has been an hour since Shuichi had left his room to go outside his house. Hiei was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed to his chest once more. He frowned because something wasn't right. He quickly unwrapped his bandana from his forehead to use the Jagan eye. The Jagan eye glowed as it began to scan for Shuichi's energy… and it wasn't anywhere to be found near the premises of the house...

"Where are you, human…?" Hiei asked to himself, being curious himself. Then, his Jagan eye had also scanned three other energies that belonged to three low-rank demons from the Demon World. The fake evil eye had shown to its wielder their appearances in human disguises and their possible current location. "I know them…What are they doing here of all the three worlds?"

Hiei felt the need to go outside the house and find those three demons. Perhaps he can extract the information on how they made it to the Human World without the Spirit World's knowledge. Before Hiei could make another move to go out:

"Hello, Hiei. No time, no see."

Hiei looked at all his surroundings. He recognized the voice but he wasn't sure where it was exactly coming from… "Shigure? Where are you?" He finally asked in his mind.

"I'm in the Demon World, so I'm speaking to you through the Jagan eye."

Hiei felt the fake evil eye still glowing, "I see."

"Anyways, how is the Jagan eye working for you? But more importantly, how is your stay in the Human World?"

"It's been quite a ride, thank you very much. I wouldn't recommend it to another demon for vacationing purposes, " Hiei said mentally in sarcasm.

Shigure chuckled, he could imagine it all too perfectly. "Yes, so your stay is not as pleasant, isn't it?"

"Why did you contact me after all this time? What gives?"

"Ah yes, I was looking through the Jagan eye the recent events you were encountering so far in the human realm, and I've taken the liberty of doing some things you should know."

Hiei raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Enlighten me."

"First, I was the one who took you out of the cave before you even encountered the Spirit Detective and his human partner, who appears to be somehow a psychic. That's why it looked like it was the Jagan eye's doing. Second, I did some minor modifications to the Jagan eye while you were out of commission."

"What did you do?"

"Let's just say it was going to help you on your search for Youko Kurama since you weren't able to find him yourself in the past few years. And guess what? You just found him."

Hiei could tell that Shigure was smirking all the way from his shelter-clinic in the demon realm at this very moment. Besides that, he was very confused right now. "…I don't understand."

"Let's just say that whenever that human sees some flashback in the Demon World is a dead giveaway. Here's a valuable tip: If you pay close attention and are conscious the next time, you can actually feel Youko's aura emanating from that human boy you are personally associating with lately. "

Hiei narrowed his eyes and clenched both fists hard. It was getting to him as he made some realizations. "Impossible. Youko Kurama would never come here to this world, especially to hide from the entire Spirit World," he said with a grunt. He tried to keep control of his emotions as he digested the newfound information coming from the demon Osteopath. He knew Youko Kurama very well and he was better than to go so low at the level of a weak human…

Then again, Hiei remembered some of Youko Kurama's words on the day that the two were last together:

"After this, we will never see each other again. Who knows what fate has in store in our path…"

"...Who knows what it'll be this time. We might meet again in another lifetime and under different circumstances. I'll leave that entirely up to you."

"Let's just say it is for old time's sake...I'm going to miss you dearly, so I ask nothing more of you for a going-away present."

Those words are coming to make some sense to the fire demon…Especially when they had that conversion one night in the demon realm:

"Hey, if you would reincarnate in the afterlife, what do you think you would be?"

"There is no such thing as reincarnation, Fox. After a demon dies, the Spirit World judges your soul and sends you to the very fiery pits of the Under World."

"As I thought: those words would be coming from your mouth...Well, my turn; I would possibly reincarnate in another body the day I cease to exist. Perhaps as a human to atone for my sins committed in my past life as a youko. Then, when I die in my human body, I will get judged in the Spirit World, and go to the Under World…At least that's what happened to me in a recent dream."

Shigure noticed that Hiei was having a hard time because he was still struggling with his emotions. He was able to see what Hiei was thinking of since the Jagan eye granted him that access. Sadly, that dream that Youko Kurama once had in his past life was actually a premonition that became real. He knows this thanks to the information he had gathered from a certain Demon Lord that had visited him unexpectedly one day during his travel.

"Who knows…maybe he had changed for the better, trying to leave his past behind him," the demon surgeon said in irony to Hiei.