File 16: The winner takes all

In the mansion, Tarukane was sitting in an armchair while his attendant was pouring him a glass of red wine. In front of him, five huge screens were lit, where five men appeared. This parlor had been specially made for holding teleconferences with them. Most were aged between fifty and seventy, except for one man who was not even thirty. With Tarukane these six men formed the Black Book Club, a powerful underground organisation of corrupt businessmen who used the crookest methods - like dealing with demons - to amass their dirty wealth.

After the greetings, Tarukane – the sponsor of this time's event - told them about the wager: the intruders who had come to uncover the secret of the hiruiseki stones against the band of youkais led by the Toguro brothers. Of course, since the gamblers knew nothing of the two youngters, they would bet on the band of youkais.

"Not at all! Every once in a while I must offer you a special service." The disfigured evildoer smiled amiably and ordered Sakashita to tell his 'guests' about the situation. He showed them first the three intruders, then a map of the surrounding area where fourteen youkais were on their way to slaughter the three youths.

The seasoned old men quickly understood that the bet was just for fun and that in fact, he was charging them just to see the bloody scene of intruders being ruthlessly done in. The wager of any gentleman who won would be returned double. The four elders bet two or three hundred millions each, thus falling into Tarukane's trap. Indeed, Toguro had told him about two human boys, Kuwabara and Urameshi, who had recently been doing especially well against youkais by defeating notably Rando and Suzaku, who were no small fries... And that these boys were accompanied by a girl. The intruders were certainly these three. If that were the case, then the youkais outside might not be able to kill them.

However, against all expectations, the 'young' Sakyo bet five billions on the victory of the two youths. The others thought he had gone crazy. After all there was no way that two human kids could defeat a whole band of youkais. But that was precisely what bothered him as he had caught wind of a rumor that two young men were going around killing youkais. Tarukane seemed to take it lightly by laughing and praising his audacity, but truth to be told he resented that shrewdness.

Suddenly, Younger Toguro reacted: "Hmm, just this moment, I felt the loss of six of my men. Not bad." He was rubbing his chin, slightly impressed, but Tarukane did not seem overly happy.

Indeed, Yusuke and Kazuma had quickly deafeated the six demons that had come at them in the same time. Kuwabara attached a ribbon on his forehead with Yukina's name and a heart. He was especially spirited and unforgiving to anyone who would stand in the way of his love. And a few seconds later, they finished the next six off just as fast.

Sakyo had won the bet.

The sensor watch detected three powerful youkis that could not be compared to the ones from before and Botan decided to go check it out, telling Yusuke to be careful as Kuwabara was not in a state where he could listen to any such piece of advice. She took off on her oar.

In the parlor, the Black Book Club was discovering the three next opponents the intruders were going to face, namely, the band of youkais Sankishu, whose ability was on a whole different level than those outside: one horn, Miyuki ('ogre of enchantment'), two horns, Inmaki ('concealed demon ogre'), and three horns, Gokumonki ('hell gate ogre'). The three handpicked among Toguro's minions. This time again, the gamblers were certain that the demons were going to win and bet two, three, or five millions on the Sankishu. All except Sakyo who bet twenty billions on the youths. At this Tarukane's eyes almost popped out his orbits. The others thought it was absurd but he sure had guts. After all he would get forty billions yens if he won.

"We, the Sankishu, are being underestimated." Miyuki remarked, slightly resentfully. The current sponsor was obviously angered and ordered the three to use all their power to kill the intruders.

Botan was flying above the mansion and checking her watch when a detonation nearly made her fall. As if triggered by this first explosion, there was another series of explosion and soon the forest was ablaze and the front of the mansion was protected by a tall line of flames and black smoke rising toward the sky. The boys had stepped on mines. Tarukane's men fearfully ran away. Botan cried out her friend's names, flying as close as she could to the fire. But there was no need to worry. Yusuke and Kuwabara coolly came out of the flames, unscathed, their hands in their pockets, their spiritual energy shielding them. It filled the place for another moment before they stopped the flow. After overexerting themselves in the Maze Castle and temporary losing their powers, they had come back stronger than before.

They entered the mansion itself and easily dodged the bullets and knocked out the normal gards, but suddenly, a demon appeared... in the appearance of an elegant and beautiful young woman with long wavy blue hair and one horn protruding from her forehead.

"I, Miyuki, first horn of the Sankishu, will be your opponent." She introduced herself. Of course, Kuwabara, as a gentleman – or a macho depending on the point of view – refused to fight as hitting a woman went against his principles. Miyuki said he was a kind boy but disliked the discrimination. On the other hand, Urameshi had no scruples. He was going to face her.

The fight began. Both jumped. But when they landed, the demon was holding her chest, her face red with embarrassment and anger. Yusuke turned around smirking, saying he had seen through her and to stop the futile resistance. But the first Sankishu was not down yet. She took a strand from her hair that she turned into a whip and lunged at Yusuke who managed to dodge before the fierceness of her attack made him lose his balance. The youkai took advantage of that moment to coil her whip around the boy's neck screaming that she would not let him dishonour her.

At first, both Kuwabara and Botan had no idea what the demon was talking about. But then after reviewing the scene more carefully in his mind, Kazuma remembered that Urameshi had indeed handled that woman's right breast. At this he angrily told his friend to go and get himself beaten up already. Miyuki jumped, broke the ceiling with her fist and landed in the space between the ceiling and the roof. She heaved Yusuke's dangling body. If he did not die by choking then he would be pierced by the sharp pointed end of the whip. Tarukane was already certain the demon had won but the human was not done yet. Using the hair that was strangling him as a rope, he climbed up by himself before swinging until he gained enough momentum to break through the ceiling too. He then punched down the youkai and stomped her through the ceiling again. The first horn tried to attack again but was once more mercilessly and heavily punched away. When Kuwabara chastised Urameshi for not going easy on a girl, the boy replied that he would have held back if it had really been a woman. But that was only a transvestite. When he had checked the chest, the breast had just bulged out like it was an implant, and then to be sure, he had felt the truth between the legs. That was a man, no doubt about it. Miyuki retorted that the body may be that of a man but the heart was that of a woman. To what Yusuke got angry and told her not to be so half assed if she really were a woman at heart. The demon admitted her defeat.

But somehow she had reminded him of someone else. Akari was just the contrary: a girl's body but a man's heart! Every time she behaved girlishly was an act! That was probably why she went along so well with the feminine looking man Kurama.

They looked at the surveillance camera, taunted 'Tarukane-chan' and went on.

On the way, Kazu asked his friend what he would have done if it had really been a girl. Yusuke answered that of course he would have just been glad to have done it.

"Ehh, I'm going tell Keiko-chan." The tall teen taunted, grinning like a merchant who had found the perfect person to rip off. Urameshi froze an instant before grabbing his collar.

"Look you! She's got nothing to with it!"

"As it so happens, there's this CD I want reeaaal bad..." Kubarawa looked back innocently, his arms behind his head.

"Are you trying to blackmail me you bast...!?" From this issued a cat fight. The aggravated Botan tried to stop them, ordering them to cut it out and asking them if they had forgotten about Yukina-chan. At this Kazuma pushed Yusuke away.

"That's right! We don't have time for that nonsense! Yukina-san, I, Kuwabara the Man, am coming immediately to save you!" He was proudly holding his right pinky up. Suddenly, his keen spirit awareness sensed an impeding danger and once more he shoved Yusuke and Botan away, just as something flew by at high speed, cutting his headband and making a bloody gash on his arm. A new enemy was there.

In the forest, Hiei was jumping from branch to branch until he stopped on one. He looked at the cloudy sky, and at the mansion. In this mansion was the little sister he had searched for so long. He had already seen her once, a long long time ago. It was in the eternally frozen land. She was innocently playing in the snow, in the wind, with the small animals, foxes, rabbits, and birds alike. She looked so happy. Until she felt that a snowstorm was coming. She was sad that they would not be able to see each other for awhile. She asked them to go home, which they did because they loved her. That time too, Hiei had been hiding behind a tree on a high branch.

The fire demon woke up from his daydream when he heard someone coming his way. That was Akari. She landed on a branch in front of him.

"I found an entrance that we could use. And since some people are going wild inside, there're practically no guards either. Let's go." She told him. The girl turned back and left. Hiei followed her. That was not like him to daydream like this. And that was not like her to be this curt and serious, so unlike her usual exuberant self.

The demon who had attacked the trio in the mansion revealed himself. He was short, half of his face was concealed with a cape that flowed behind him. His fists were closed over clawed gauntlets.

"Enter second horn, Inmaki." Inmaki's cape covered him entirely and he became invisible to the eye. He ran around his preys, too fast for Kuwabara to pin point his youki. Urameshi felt a hand on his right shoulder, and a second later, he had three bloody claw marks from hid mid-back to his shoulder. As they could not hope to beat him like this, the three ran away and suddenly turned right. And then, as soon as Kazuma sensed that the youkai had also turned, he gave the signal to Yusuke to fire his shotgun. The projectiles of spiritual energy filled the corridor from top to bottom. On the wall, the impacts had drawn the form of the archway, except in the middle where the second horn appeared. Despite his velocity, there was no way he could have dodged so many blows. The youkai fell down.

"Shoot enough reiguns and even a poor shot like you will hit him!" The orange head taunted.

"What?!" Urameshi shot back. Kuwabara had reminded him of the time when Akari had also criticised his aim after they had beaten Hiei in that storehouse at the docks. Even when she was not there, he felt like she was, always so taunting, so criticising, so annoying, so violent, so scary, so ruthless, so… so…

So sheer fear for his life in case she would hear his thoughts made him focus back on the present situation. The youkai had asked how he could have been defeated.

"That mantle of yours was unable to conceal your youki. All we needed was the direction you'd be coming from and the timing." Kazuma began naturally.

"At Kuwabara's signal I launched my shotgun such that you had nowhere to run so you had to be hit."

Then, they taunted Tarukane before the video camera again and went on with Botan in the lead.

Once more the tall and intuitive young man sensed danger before his companions. He warned the spirit guide but it was too late as the wall on her right crumbled and a three-meter tall red youkai came out and grabbed her by the back of her jacket. He was hairy and very muscular, wearing only a loincloth and a mace. And three horns were sticking out of his forehead.

"Sankishu third horn, Gokumonki, is your opponent now." He introduced himself. Yusuke wanted to shoot a reigun but the demon had a struggling hostage.

"Yusuke! Do something!" Botan whined and begged for help. The third horn took out his huge mace and tried to crush the two humans but they jumped out of the way and he only destroyed the house. Kuwabara summoned his reiken but because he was afraid he would hit Botan he held back and failed too, and the demon sent him flying away with his mace. Urameshi went over to his friend who had managed to lessen the impact. Gokumonki got really confident, but Yusuke was not that stupid. He told Botan to raise her arms. She did and was able to slide down to the ground and immediately went over to the boys. Now free to attack the way they wanted, they ran, jumped, and kicked their opponent in the face with their reiki-active feet. Gokumonki was down. That was a perfect twin taunted Taru-chan again.

The old man's toady face was sweating a lot. He had never thought that these guys would be this tough. They had easily defeated the Sankishu and Sakyo was the sole winner again. As he had already won fifty billions, he suggested that Tarukane gave up the bet now. However the four others were not satisfied at all. Sakyo might have won big, but they had lost; and they were not going to let him win it all. This time, they were going to bet the same as Sakyo. Gonzo was gnashing his teeth and sweating more than before. Then after a few seconds he calmed down and put on a more confident face. The last bet: the Toguro Brothers against the two kids. Who will win? Tarukane challenged Sakyo who in turn bet seventy billions on the two youths.

"Seventy billions!? But that's more than a state budget! It's completely absurd!" The sweat and colour drained from his face. His eyes were almost popping out of their orbits.

"It's not as though you can't do it, right? If you squeeze the money out of all your property, you should be able to manage it." The young gambler replied confidently, a cigarette at his lips.

As the one who put the game forward, Tarukane had to see it to the very end. At this, the four other members decided that they would be only observers. No matter who won or lost, seeing other's misfortune was always entertaining. The toad-like villain first wondered where Sakyo's confidence was coming from. Did that 'brat' have something up his sleeve? Did he know something that he didn't? But lured in by all the money he could make if he won, he agreed to that bet. He ordered the Toguro Brothers to go fight the kids. The elder was laughing evilly. The younger took off his jacket and cracked his knuckles, smirking. How long had it been since his blood boilt so much? Then, Tarukane ordered Sakashita to bring Yukina so that the other members wouldn't see her and to put low level cursed tags so she would not escape. This last order had been given in a low voice so the five gamblers would not hear it.

As Botan, Yusuke and Kuwabara were running, Botan's watch sensed youki in the same time as Kuwabara. They stopped. Since the presence was not evil, Kazuma was certain it was Yukina's. He was going to try and communicate with her. Soon it succeeded.

"Who are you?"

"A Hero of Justice, Kuwabara Kazuma! I and my companions have come to free you!" This proclamation was followed by a Kuwabara-like speech and poses worthy of those traditional Japanese plays from the Edo period. However, his one-man play was cut short by the Ice Maiden's selfless request.

"I beg you, save yourselves! Tarukane has employed the Toguro brothers! You are humans, you don't stand a chance!"

"Don't worry, we'll defeat them! We'll save you and it'll be over!" The 'hero' replied thoughtlessly.

"It's impossible, they're right next to me..."

"They must be pretty pathetic. I can't sense any youki from them." The boy bragged again. Yukina remained silent. She already knew what would happen. Against the Toguro Brothers, this lack of ability and discernment could only get them killed.

The three ran downstairs, through a gallery of cages, past the bloody corpse of a huge monster and always further in until they saw a door that was being shut. That was surely the place. They ran and passed and the door closed behind them. They were in a huge circular room of reinforced concrete. The ceiling was high –at least a good twenty metres above them-. On the other side Tarukane was hiding and observing behind a glassy screen, along with his attendant, a few security guards... and Yukina. Kuwabara was as confident as ever that he'll be able to free her soon and telepathically conveyed his feeling to her, but she remained unresponsive. Below that huge screen were five slightly smaller screens where five rich-looking men were also watching them. The transmission had been redirected. This way, they could all safely watch the fight to their heart content. And in front of them stood a tall muscular man with sunglasses and a shorter man on his shoulder. Kuwabara still could not feel any youki from them, hence that groundless confidence of his. On the contrary, Yusuke was not so sure: he felt that this guy was hiding his game and they should watch out for him. The four observers of the Black Book Club were quite amused to see how Tarukane was losing his composure. On the other hand, Sakyo could not appear more relaxed. His smirk was brimming with confidence.

Toguro-ani contorted and turned himseld into a sword. The three intruders were already impressed enough as it was. But that wasn't all. It was the wielder they should be careful about. Indeed, Toguro-otouto raised his ki tremendously. The two humans and the ferry girl were almost blown away by the sheer pressure. And as he increased his ki, his muscular mass also increased dramatically. Suddenly, the huge demon lunged at them and swang his sword downward. The boys barely had the time to dodge. The blow had made a burrow in the ground and a tear in their uniforms. He was really fast. Then he slashed at Kuwabara who instantly summoned his reiken and had to apply all his strength to keep the 'human' weapon from cutting him in two. But Toguro was holding his sword with only one hand. He formed a punch with the other and aimed at Kazuma's belly. The human noticed and instinctively jumped backward to limit the impact that still made him throw up blood and damage the wall behind him. Yusuke fired a reigun but Toguro easily dodged by jumping high. Once in the air, he parried the shotgun with his aura. Then Urameshi lunged straight at him but that was a feint and as the youkai was swinging his sword, the detective suddenly disappeared and reappeared on his left at face level, not fifty centimetres from him and fired a reigun at point blank range. However, when the dust cleared, Toguro did not have a single scratch. The sword had turned into a shield and had protected him. The demon took advantage of this moment and punched Yusuke, sending him rolling away. As he struggled to stand up, he was repeatedly attacked. Toguro was literally toying with him. Tarukane was exulting and already boasting to Sakyo; although for an unknown reason, the young gambler appeared as confident as ever.

In the Reikai, Koenma was wondering what he should do. Kurama arrived at the same time.

"That large man, don't tell me..."

"That's right. They're the Toguro Brothers."

"They are?"

"Aaahh I hope Akari doesn't see or sense them... But then again she's the only one who can stop them... But she'd be more likely to blow the whole estate and everyone in it during the fight... She probably won't be able to hold back if she sees them, and if humans are killed…. And just what is Hiei doing?! Arrrgg what should I do?!"

"Did something happen between Akari and the Toguro Brothers?" Kumara inquired. He was remembering conversations he had had with her, whose content had been a mystery to him, but now that the pieces were beginning to fit together...

"Ah, yes, well... I should probably tell you... but if I do and she comes to know... well she didn't make me promise not to tell, but seeing how angry she gets whenever that is mentioned, if I blabber I won't get away so easily... Arrg what should I do?!" Now Koenma was holding his head.

"It's alright." The fox smiled reassuringly. He was going to wait. Although innerly he was far from being calm or composed. That conversation had unsettled him, much more that what his face could ever show. He needed to go there. He needed to see her, as soon as possible. He began to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"It's not in my nature to just sit around. So, if you'll excuse me..."

"Where could he be going?" Georges asked his master after Kurama had left.

"It's obvious, to Tarukane's estate."

"Eh? Will he be there in time if he goes now?"

"With Yusuke and the others in this condition, there's nothing we can do but rely on Kurama. Even supposing he doesn't get there in time..."

Hiei had entered the mansion and was taking care of the remaining guards. Akari had disappeared a while ago. They had sensed a monstruous youki, the colour of her face had drained, her features had contorted into an expression he had never seen her before, an expression that cast a chill over him, like she had been a completely different person, and she had taken off without a word. And although he was there to save Yukina, now Akari's expression kept flashing through his mind and he had another cause of concern he could not shake off no matter how much he tried to.

That cause of concern had followed the hateful youki and snuck in the control room where she had made herself invisible and completely hid her aura. She was not going to do anything. She wanted to watch, she wanted to see everything with her own eyes, not lose a single of their movements. She wanted to know. And she wanted Yusuke and Kuwabara to know.

And while Yusuke was throwing up blood after a heavy punch in his guts, Yukina turned her head away and tightly shut her eyes. She could not bear to see people suffering. But Tarukane cupped her chin and violently turned her back.

"Look well! Look at the death of your saviours! Look!" He spat at her, and then, more softly, he added with a malicious smile: "Just like that time!"

Kuwabara was still unable to get up and his consciouness was fading. His hypersensitiveness, coupled with the loss of his sense of self, allowed Yukina's consciousness and memories to flow into him: when she was being held still by two men and Tarukane was laughing gleefully as he was torturing her and and burning her with those cursed wards, and the time when the kind young and new employee had tried to free her. He sympathized with her because he had a little sister looking her age. And then day came when Tarukane was on a journey and the guard was light. A golden chance to get her out of here. Because he was so kind, Yukina did not want to trouble him but he had told her not to worry about others. However, he had barely got her out of her cell that Tarukane and a few of his men were waiting for them and he was mercilessly shot to death.

Toguro once more sent Yusuke flying. He was disappointed. He would have liked to entertain himself more.

"I can't believe it." Kuwabara suddenly said. Toguro looked back at him. The boy had got up, the left side of his head all bloody, his uniform and t-shirt torn before his abdomen, but his reiki was rising to an unprecedented level. He was burning with rage. "Are you really human!? Is that really how a human should act?!"

The tall demon was surprised and glad, thinking he would be able to play some more. He tossed away the one he was holding by the collar, no longer interested. Botan rushed to Yusuke's side. But Kuwabara said he had no business with him.

"Out of the way! The one I want to kill is that filthy rotten low-life behind you!"

"What? You mean me?" Tarukane burst out laughing. "Interesting! Come up here if you can brat! Toguro, the final blow!"

"You heard that? How unfortunate." Toguro said, only slightly sorry that he could not go on with his twisted way of having fun. He had been employed and he had a job to do.

"Die!" Kazuma yelled, summoning his reiken and lunging at him. He ceaselessly slashed at his enemy who easily blocked every single blow before once more punching him away. The boy skidded to Yusuke's place. With this speed there was no way he could defeat Toguro, and he had no other choice but to ask for Urameshi's help. It was a very dangerous plan. If it failed, Kazuma would die for sure. But even so, for him death was better than defeat. For all they knew, no one would come to help them. That was their only way. If it failed, they would all die. Once more, Kuwabara summoned his spirit sword and charged in head first. It was beyond reckless, it was suicidal.

"You mean to sacrifice yourself. Fine then! I'll slice you in half!" Toguro raised his sword over his head with both hands. Kuwabara jumped, aiming for his guts.

"This is the end!" The youkai shouted, ready for the kill. But suddenly Yusuke fired, the reigun hit Kazuma's back and propelled him against the enemy who was pierced through before he could lower his weapon. By using Urameshi's reigun as a propeller he was able to gain the speed he lacked and by taking it over his whole body he was limiting the burden too. Indeed, coming from him, that was not a bad idea at all.

Tarukane's face was livid. Sakyo was smirking victoriously. The young gambler demanded that the money be ready by the end of the month and cut the connection. The other members of the Black Book Club leered at him and left too. Tarukane was panicking. He was going to flee with Yukina. As long as he had her he would not have money problems.

But then the door opened, and Hiei appeared in the frame. He disposed of the guards and assistant in an instant. Because of the cursed tags he had not been able to locate her. The moment the crooked gambler had taken her out was the moment his luck had run out. Still, Tarukane tried to win Hiei to his side with money – the money from the Hirui Seki – which only angered the demon more. The youkai heavily punched his face. And from the arena, Botan, who had gone to help Yusuke, saw him repetively punching Tarukane. She told the Spirit Detective that no matter the reason, a demon must never kill a human or it will become a criminal. They had to stop him.

"Hiei! Stop it! Don't kill him!" Urameshi yelled. Hiei looked at him then gritted his teeth. He would not let that trash off so easily. He grabbed the collar of the bloodied man.

"Don't think you're getting off... so easily!" The fire demon was going for a punch that would have probably smashed Tarukane's head if Yukina and Akari had not stopped him. The ice maiden was tightly hugging his left arm while the human girl was firmly gripping his right wrist with her left hand.

"Stop! Please stop already!" The Yuki Onna implored.

"What do you mean?! This is the human who made you suffer isn't it?!"

"Hiei! If you kill a human, you'll be treated as a criminal, no matter the reason. Don't make me arrest you..." Akari tried to reason him. She was frowning deeply. Hiei glared at her. It still did not seem like he was going to fold. The injustice of the situation was too much for him. "Hiei, if you persist, I will have to fight you..." The human girl was speaking calmly and clearly, heavily weighing each word. The demon's blazing red eyes bore into her piercing golden ones. She too, was insistently begging him to stop. She did not want to fight him. And yet should it come down to it she would not hesitate a single second. She would never let him kill a human. And that strong resolve could be felt as keenly as her silent plea.

"Please stop." Yukina repeated in her piteous voice. "I've had enough. I don't want to see any more of people injuring and hating each other." Her eyes were tightly shut.

Hiei looked insistenly at them both. Yukina, the little sister who had been his sole solace for years, Yukina he had lost and found again, Yukina whose purity and innocence he had always wanted to protect no matter what. And Akari, the mysterious human girl, brighter than light, stronger than youkais, warmer than fire, gentler than water, sharper than metal, more playful and unpredictable than the wind, reliable like the earth, and as lively and changing as nature itself and yet who still possessed the frailness and vulnerability of her species; Akari, the human girl with the uncanny ability to spark and stir unknown emotions into people's hearts. And as he was wavering, Yukina got the better of him as the tears that had been gathering at the corner of her eyes fell with a cling on the ground.

No, he did not want to fight them. He could not fight them; especially if they were looking at him like this. Not Yukina, not Akari.

"Alright then," He gave in. "There's no need for you to cry over that type of guy."

Akari was surprised. That Hiei could have such a soft expression when looking at someone. His little sister really meant a lot to him. More than his pride would ever allow him to say.

"Thank you so much!" The ice maiden exclaimed, happy and grateful. The girls let go of him who in turn let go of Tarukane. They smiled sweetly. Botan and Yusuke were reassured too. They ran to Kuwabara who was waking up, asking if he were alive and saying he had such crazy ideas. But the boy trusted his friend. Yusuke had told him he could control the force of the reigun so he did not think he would make a mistake.

"Hum, who are you?" Yukina suddenly asked. Hiei's eyes widened in surprise. He had not been expecting that question. Akari kept quiet. After a time he finally answered.

"A friend... of theirs..." He nodded to the guys down in the arena, and after a hesitation, "... and of hers." He nodded toward the pink-haired one.

"That's right! This is awful!" Yukina exclaimed, distressed, as she was reminded of the boys' condition. She hurried to them after a quick polite bow to Katsuyama who kindly looked at her until she had gone out of her sight.

"Nee, nee, nee, you count me as a friend?! Really?! Yippee! Even though I knew it already." Akari hugged Hiei like a child would have hugged her big teddy bear. Which was why Hiei had hesitated. But it was too late to have regrets now and he let her do as she liked, even if it still annoyed him. But that was one of her aims too. "You're so nice and cute. It's so great that's we're all friends! Nee, Ku-chan?" She was grinning ear to ear.

"Yes, it is, even though it seems I rushed all the way here for nothing." Kurama was leaning against the wall in a corner of the room, his hands in his pockets.

"Not for nothing! I'm glad you're here too!" Akari replied childishly.

"Hn, I told you to stop covering up your presence and coming near me. It's poor taste." The little demon replied, obviously irritated but for some reason, and even more so than usually at the fox's presence. He not too roughly removed the girl's arms and left. Sheesh, he was such a boorish guy, but he was kind, and that was what was cute about him. Kurama joined Akari before the control panel, his hands still in his pockets. They looked at the empty doorframe where Hiei had disappeared, both smiling resignedly.

Yukina first reach Yusuke but he told her he was alright and to go to Kuwabara. She knelt at his side.

"Please don't move. It's not much, but I do have some power to heal wounds." The Ice Maiden let her hands hover closer to Kazuma's cheeks. Yusuke left, telling Botan that they should go upstairs see how things were doing. Ater a time of hesitation she understood what it was about, grinned, and followed the detective. They saw Hiei behind the door and Urameshi got angry at him for being so secretive and not coming to help them sooner. "I'm sorry, all this for me."

Then Kuwabara noticed the burn mark on her arm.

"I should be the one apologising. You've had such a terrible time. I won't ask for forgiveness... but there are a lot of good natured humans too. Those around me... they're all idiots, but they're plenty likeable too. And so... and so... Yukina-san, please don't hate all of humanity." The boy begged. "Please." He hung his head. And before such a gentle and sincere heart, Yukina cried again. Only this time, it was tears of happiness. She put her hands on his arm.

"It's alright. I... like humans." The maiden smiled. And Kuwabara cried too.

"He didn't say anything after all." Akari sighed, referring to how Hiei had not revealed the truth to his sister.

"Did you expect him to?" Kurama asked her.

"Not really. That isn't his character at all, although he's been changing lately. Oh well, I guess things are just fine as they are." Then through the glass the young woman looked at Yukina and Kazuma who seemed to be overflowing with relief, joy, love, and tears. "haahaa," She sighed, "Such a tearful reunion, it seems like another cute and stupid couple has appeared. They look like the beauty and the beast, but Yukina has apparently no idea about Kuwa's true feelings, poor him."

At that moment, Kurama thought that she seemed to have no idea about what he was beginning to feel for her, although he did not know whether he should be glad about it or not. Then he noticed Akari looking at the couple with a mischievous look, obviously planning something. He smiled, amused.

She will never change.

And he put his arm around her shoulders from behind, dragging her out of the room so she had to walk backward. Katsuyama asked what he was doing, to what the fox answered not to tease them now.

"Ehhh? Why not?" She sounded sad and sulking.

"Even Yusuke didn't tease them."

She twitched.

"She'll probably leave soon and we don't know when they'll be able to see each other again, so don't you think you should let them enjoy their time alone?"

She twitched again.

"Kuwabara will probably be quite depressed if you don't."

And she twitched again.

"Please, Akari, have a little more compassion."

And Akari gave in. And upon seeing her so down consequently to having her fun spoiled he gave in too and decided to treat her. She would probably empty his wallet but at least she would be happy and smile. She had seemed normal and he was reassured. But the uneasiness had not completely disappeared either.

And indeed, some time later, as they were all leaving, Akari suddenly left, saying she had forgotten something...