Author's note: Happy to see I still have faithful readers despite my few months break, but sad to notice that I had no reply concerning my request from previous chapter :(

Still MERRY CHRISTMAS and good reading!


File 48: Hunters and Hunted

The green pickup truck sped through the city ignoring every single safe driving rule there could be... and causing a series of accidents as the other cars veered or pulled the brakes to avoid it, sometimes resulting in explosions. There could be no easier trail to follow for Yusuke and Akari. The detective was chasing on bicycle while the girl, who had made sure to stay invisible, was bulleting through the air like a rocket. She still had that savage smirk.

I have a chance! If they're truly only seven... there are three in the car, Mitarai's at the apartment, that Kamiya bastard's in jail, the sorcerer can't leave the center of the distortion, that leaves that sniper who's started chasing us. I'll let Yusuke defeat him and I'll fight Sensui, it'll be my turn to shine when we leave the city!

When Koenma and Genkai returned to the building, they noticed Shizuru, injured, who had collapsed. The prince of the Reikai picked her up and they hurried to Yusuke's apartement. There were a few fissures but nothing much. The old woman noted they were lucky her granddaughter had had the presence of mind to put a kekkai or the damage could have been quite worse. It seemed she did grow a bit after all. But why would Sensui not aim for Yusuke and instead blow the apartment? Junior inferred that Mitarai should have been the target. Still to kill his own men so easily... but given his perfectionism, that was something he'd do.

They entered Urameshi's apartment. As expected, its state was more severe but less than feared. They went to Yusuke's room. There were a few small bits of concrete here and there but the most worriesome was that the bookshelf had fallen on Botan's back. Koenma put Shizuru on the bed. Genkai hurriedly put the piece of furniture back in place while the prince raised his out cold subordinate. They lay her back down on her stomach and the Master rolled up her shirt and healed her. Botan was coming back to her senses when Kurama and Keiko arrived. Koenma reassured the new comers. Neither woman was in critical condition. Still, how could Botan have ended up under the bookcase? Surely she could have dodged that. She apologized sheepishly. But seeing her get scolded (teased) like that, Mitarai, who had stayed rooted in a sitting position against the wall with a dumb look until now, felt compelled to defend her.

"She was trying to help me! The bookcase was falling on me but she moved to protect me and was the one pinned instead. I don't get it... both you and Kuwabara... why would you save me?! I'm your enemy! I'm Sensui's comrade!"

"You may think that way but is the feeling truly mutual?" Koenma questioned, making the child doubt. "As to why she'd save you..." He turned to the Spirit Guide.

"Why, you ask... the explosion happened suddenly... and then I saw the bookcase falling..." And she had dived, and shoved him out of the way, thus finding herself under the piece of furniture, unable to dodge from her position. "...Well, it was like a reflex. I'm not the type to think about things too much." She laughed and scratched the back of her head, embarassed.

"That's what it's like when people help each other. It's best not to think too much. There probably hasn't been anyone like that in your life until now, and the video only comforted you in your opinion. That's why you're disturbed now. However, as Akari said, you only saw one aspect of humans. If all of them were like this, I wouldn't be on their side. And you should be able to see now that not everyone is like you think they are." Kurama explained gently.

After a time, Mitarai decided to tell them about Sensui's goal. He planned to use Kuwabara's dimension-cutting ability to cut through the kekkai set between the Makai and Ningenkai and allow B-class, A-class, and even S-class youkais to freely enter the Human World. Kurama wanted to immediately go after Yusuke and (especially) Akari. Genkai agreed. If they could plan everything this far, it wouldn't be too big a stretch to imagine they could have prepared a counter against those two. She also asked to contact Kaito and Yanagisawa. Keiko and Shizuru would stay here with Atsuko who should be back soon to take care of things here, including the talk with the police.

"What about me? What should I do?" Seaman inquired.

"I don't intend to lecture you any further. We've got to get out of here right now before the police come. You're free to choose your own way. You may choose to oppose us again, that's fine too. But if you do that, I won't spare you the next time we meet." The fox warned. He, Genkai, Koenma and Botan left. Kiyoshi was still hesitating. But he resolved to go with them. He put his blouson on and joined them in the emergency stairs of the back exit. He staggered and helped himself against the wall. He wanted to go with them, and walk the same path as them. "Need a hand?" Kurama smiled kindly as he reached out his hand to him. Mitarai smiled too and grasped it. "Surely that isn't the case so there should be nothing to worry about, but I must warn you though that I won't show any mercy either if you're after Akari." His gentle smile turned ominous, menacing, and terrifying.

On his bike, Yusuke chased the car on the winding mountain road... and was even gaining on it, while on the said car, Kazuma wanted to know why Sensui wouldn't kill him. That was because he was going to join their side, since he had an ability they needed. Of course, Kuwa flatly refused him but his will didn't matter. They would use his ability regardless, just like it was the case for Toguro-ani. This shocked the teen. That guy wasn't dead?! He had survived the tournament... and had been devoured by Makihara. Kuwabara remembered his fight with the youkai and recognized the ability restraining him. So that chunky guy had eaten Toguro and obtained his ability...

However, meantime Urameshi had caught up with them. The two on the front seat were amazed, and also worried. Sensui reassured them. He had already taken the necessary measures. And indeed Kaname arrived on his motorbike and shot a die that broke the bicycle's frame. Yusuke fell at high speed and ricocheted and rolled on the asphalt. The friction tore his T-shirt to shreds, leaving him shirtless and sore. The car drove away. As Kaname rode past him, he aimed at four places on his torso and stopped just a little bit further. The detective had no idea what he had done.

"It's over. You won't be able to escape from me." The sniper declared. "Shimon – Jujihan." He extended his hand and activated his territory. Four target marks appeared on Yusuke's body: one on his abdomen, one on each upper arm, and one on his heart. Those were the Death Crests Cross Spots. Sensui's lackey explained that those were targets. No matter where he tried to run, his attacks would not miss those targets. As demonstration, he imparted his ki in a few stones and tossed them up. The pebbles stopped in mid-air and like homing missiles, bulleted towards Urameshi, aiming for the marks on his body. He caught them but an expression of pain crossed his features. He dropped them. The force of the impact of the ki-strengthened projectiles had caused his palms to bleed more than it should have. "Well done. Now keep paying attention to your surroundings and stay on edge. This is the name of the man who killed you, remember it well: Hagiri Kaname. Ability name: Sniper." And he drove away, ignoring his prey's insults. Of course, the Reikai Tantei went after him.

Akari continued the pursuit. She waited until they got far enough from Yusuke... Then she used the same tactic as that pesky Sniper... she shot one of the rear wheels. The next second when the car tilted and wrecked everyone inside out of balance, she shot between Kuwabara and Sensui, almost blowing Sensui's arms as he reached out to his captive, and forcing him to jump away. She dived, grabbed her friend, cut the rope thingies, and took him away. Since he started screaming in fear and struggling, the girl revealed herself. But then Sensui had started chasing her and shooting at her... what more... his energy allowed him to levitate like Bui! And he was catching up fast! She dived into the forest and dropped Kuwabara. They should be far enough from those two others but now they were close to that peashooter. There was no other choice though. She told him to be careful when joining with Yusuke. The female psychic soared back into the sky and zoomed straight at the enemy at full speed. She felt her blood boil and her lips curve into a savage bloodthirsty grin. She finally had that delicious prey all to herself! And seeing that, Sensui smirked too. He would subdue that refined warrior wearing the thick skin of a mad ravenous beast.

They clashed. Her punch was naturally parried but when his leg was about to hit her she stabbed it with a spirit blade from her palm. Blood gushed out. She grabbed the leg and pivoted on it to kick him. He caught her leg but then she shot him at point blank range. The shot still got him partially but didn't cause much damage as he had shielded himself with his energy. What more, after the energy dissipated, she saw a smile that froze her blood in veins for a second. Something had changed! It was bad! She was hurled away. Even as she was flying back, Akari fired a shotgun that was cancelled out by the blazing energy splinters of her enemy's Resshuu Shiendan. She used element-based attacks and failed as they crashed against his barrier. The girl was then targeted by a multitude of energy balls from all directions... that were absorbed by her own kekkai and converted into her own energy. She launched a reigun that was countered by the man's Reikou Resshuuken but a second later, Akari was bulleting through the smoke and collided against Sensui. She brought him down and made him crash on the ground, causing a large crater and tried to emprison him in earth and plants but it failed too. He came out and dusted him before smiling, and vanishing. Then she felt hands on her shoulders and was paralysed.

"When you face a strong enemy, don't give him a chance to breathe, attack relentlessly, vary distance and movements, don't let him get used to anything, create an opening... is it?" The man suddenly acted like a proud older brother or uncle. "Thanks to that, it was only now that I found the time to greet you. Hello, I am Shinobu. Nice to meet you." He held out a hand to her for the handshake.

"Ah, hello there. How are you?" Katsuyama shook his hand and smiled amiably.

"I wasn't planning on coming out now but it seems you were too strong for the others after all. Since you managed to draw my blood, I had no choice but to come out. Before you, no one had ever succeded in injuring me like this. You're the first one." He seemed strangely happy.

"Is that so? But you know, I don't get what you're babbling about at all!" She suddenly attacked again, a large vein on her temple despite her smile. What kind of stunt was that dude pulling so suddenly?! Was he mocking her?! No, there was more important. She could sense that his level of danger had suddenly skyrocketed. But... so what?! Who cared? She had already fought beings immensely more powerful than even him!

Yusuke found his enemy's motorbike at the edge of a wood. He entered the forest. Every noise or movement would startle him. He cursed and challenged his opponent to no avail, he started running around again, unaware that he was being watched by a small black haired red eyed demon standing on a high branch. Hiei stared at the human with a displeased look and vanished. The detective came out in the open. The wind blew the leaves. He noticed blades of grass moving strangely. Suddenly, they attacked him but he managed to cut them all. Then he saw a cloud of rocks. They sped towards him. He ran away but it was useless as they followed him like a pack of starving dogs after a good piece of meat. He turned to face the assault and punched every single rock to smithereens.

"Come out! Those attacks won't work on me!" The boy yelled. After a time, he saw something shining in the sky. The new wave? He was ready! It was useless no matter how many times that guy tried anyway. But his confidence wavered when he saw the nature of the new projectile. They were all blades, mostly knives but also screwdrivers and other sharp tools like chisels. That was bad! Even one of those could be fatal! Since they were controlled by ki, they caused more damage than ordinary weapons! As he couldn't avoid them all, he destroyed them with his shotgun. However, he still missed a knife and a screwdriver. Urameshi was able to evade them but as expected, they changed their course and kept coming towards the targets on his body. He caught the two blades between his fingers and broke them.

The Sniper was clearly making it a contest of endurance. He kept his safe distance while exhausting Yusuke with those tactics and waiting for him to make a mistake. The detective didn't know the radius of that guy's territory either. He had to either get out or find that guy who was surely at some vantage point from where he could track him down. The shirtless guy moved through the forest, more cautiously this time, constantly on alert. Then, surprised, he heard Kuwabara's voice screaming his name. So Akari had managed to save him? But... that idiot! What was he doing?! The enemy was going to shoot him! He returned to the road... just in time to see a car stop and a big guy come out and capture him and take him away once more. He started chasing them when a truck came. The boy hoped to hitch a ride despite his current appearance... until he noticed there was no driver in that truck. It was another 'projectile'! He ran back into the forest where the trees stood as many obstacles, though they only served to slightly slow it down. He couldn't use his reigun on a tankful of gasoline since he'd be caught in the explosion. This wasn't a contest of endurance after all! That bastard was really planning to settle this for good!

Akari and Sensui charged again, and a high-speed close combat began. Close combat, yes, but that didn't stop her from suddenly elongating the reach of her sword hands with blades of reiki or shoot fire from her palms whenever they'd come into contact with him or use every trick she knew. But after the first hit, he had started protecting himself well and she could no barely cut him even though normal people would be completely sliced into sashimi or carpaccio. He had gotten faster too and it was growing more difficult to block, evade or parry him. Which was good or it wouldn't be fun otherwise. Still, they were just warming up. She was gradually getting stronger, faster, and recovering her reflexes. However, she had this highly aggravating gut feeling, or rather, certainty, that he was just toying with her. While usually it would have made her positively furious, for this time she was somewhat grateful... because her instinct was also telling her that at her current level she couldn't win if he were to give it his all. It would have been good if she could end it in a flash by using her full power but she could tell that she didn't have what it took. And failure was not an option in this case. That was why she couldn't give her all and make him do the same. This world would be in danger, and she didn't want to risk wrecking her home beyond repair. But she had to beat him. So while he was still going easy on her she'd chip at him until she saw her chance. Even shallow cuts could be used to weaken your enemy if you could cause enough of them. And she had already landed some. As soon as she saw her chance... no, she was going to make that chance! She attacked but suddenly she threw up blood and fell on her hands and knees. Her chest hurt so much even though no blow had hit that area. What had happened?! Since when?!

"You look surprised. Were you so intoxicated by the fight that you didn't even feel what was happening in your own body? Sorry, but this is not a duel. We're waging a war here." The Dark Angel showed a seryinge. "Inside was an egg. It entered your system, fed on your reiki, fixed itself onto your heart and hatched. It feeds on reiki, the more you use it, the more it will grow, and tighten around your heart." He explained.

"I have no clue what you're talking about but I don't think you needed to go through such trouble just to kill me though." The girl put on a front, but inside she was cursing herself for having screwed up like this. They were much more well-prepared than she had imagined.

"We won't kill you. We need you alive, so until then we'd like you to behave yourself. Too bad we couldn't fight with everything we had. We'll do that once the tunnel is open... without any agenda this time..."

"Is that so? But since you're so well-informed about us you should know I won't make it too easy for you!" And she attacked again.

Kurama, Genkai, Mitarai and Botan joined Kaito and Yanagisawa at Mushiyori City. Koenma had returned to the Reikai to take some measures in case things would go bad. They were shocked that Kuwabara had been abducted but the elder would be telling them the details on the way. Kaito had taken a map of the area to go to the Irima Cave. He asked about the new guy. The fox reassured him. He was a friend who would lead them around the cave.

Kaname watched on from the top of a cliff with his binoculars, wondering how his enemy was faring with this attack. But then he swayed a little. Moving such a large object really did a number on him. He took out a gun and loaded it. And with the truck, he spurred Urameshi to run in his direction. The fleeing detective looked up and saw the Sniper aiming the gun. He cursed. Hagiri fired and smirked, satisfied when the bullet hit the tank that blew up in flames, knowing his opponent couldn't have escaped that explosion. However, when he turned to leave he stopped, stunned. Hiei was there, holding Urameshi by the neck.

"Hiei..." Yusuke whispered.

"It's still a little too soon for you to die." The youkai said as he walked forward. Hagiri aimed and fired. Hiei dodged, like he had suddenly disappeared from view. He reappeared right before the Sniper and stabbed his chest with his sword. Kaname fell down, unconscious. The target marks on Yusuke's body vanished. The small demon returned to his comrade. "What a nostalgic wind. It's pleasant and calming. It's the wind of the Makai, mingled with rotting flesh and blood. Look, the lid of hell is about to open." They looked over at Mushiyori City where the stagnant miasma and energy had formed a dome and was leaking to the sky in a column where it was spreading like dark ominous storm clouds. The human punched the ground in frustration.

Akari collapsed.

"Sorry, but I couldn't afford to reveal all my cards now. Our real duel will be in the Makai where we will be able to give our all." Sensui picked Akari's body. Despite the parasite inside her, she had put up a good fight, showed great resilience and cleverness to bypass her handicap. Her resourcefulness almost allowed her to escape from him a few times but he always caught her back. She had managed to cause some significant damage but given her condition, it had been impossible for her to win.

He returned to the cave where the Gourmet and Gamemaster had just arrived in a new car along with Kuwabara who was still screaming and demanding to be killed. That was until he saw Akari's unconscious form. He demanded to know if she was alright, what they did to her, what they planning to do to her, and he was threatening them. But Sensui's allies were shocked. Their leader actually had several bloody wounds! It was Katsuyama Akari who had done that?! Even though not a single person had been able to injure Sensui in all his years of existence? How could she be that strong?!

"This makes me sick! It's so hard to deal with these guys! They won't attack head-on! I didn't think they were going to be so much trouble. Damn it! Kuwabara!" He stood up with great effort and moved, one step at a time. "This is no time for me to be griping. I've gotta hurry..."

"Hurry? Where to? What for?"

"Isn't it obvious?! I'm getting Kuwabara back! Then I'll destroy them!" He tried to walk away when he suddenly felt Hiei's presence right behind him and barely avoided the sword slash by jumping away. However, his balance had been ruined already and Hiei closed in in an instant and had the tip of his sword against Yusuke's neck the second the latter landed. The psychic glared.

"That's the second time you've died today. Is this the way you're going to defeat them?" The demon looked down on him, his smirk full of contempt. He lowered his sword. "Kuwabara's an idiot for getting himself carried off by them." He proceeded to anger Yusuke some more. Urameshi stood up.

"Why you...!"

"Should I kill you for real?" Hiei challenged, annoyed at how Yusuke kept spinning his wheel.

"Fine with me!" The human punk stared back down at the youkai. The tension between them was rising, and so was Hiei's youki. The pressure he emitted made his cloak levitate and fly up, and even blew Yusuke away. He recovered and started releasing his reiki to similar levels. They lunged and punched each other's face. But that didn't faze them. That was the start of a good plain ol' fistfight with no holds barred, a purely raw and straightforward clash of bodies and feelings. Though at first the match was dominated by the demon and Yusuke took a good number of hits, the human soon started to recover his instincts, his grit, his self, and began to retaliate. The fight became even. They even stopped thinking about dodging or guarding. It was just hitting and being hit. They ended in a deadlock, left fist against the other's forearm. Their energy clashed until the pressure blew them apart. They recovered their breath. The demon lowered his stance and started licking the blood on his forearm. Yusuke was wondering what he was up to.

"I'm relieved. It appears your spiritual power hasn't gone weak on you." [even if you, yourself, have gone weak]. It took a while for the always so brilliant detective to figure out what had exactly happened.

"You bastard! You provoked me just to test me, didn't you!" He angrily yelled out. He was always dancing to someone else's tune... Genkai, Akari, Sensui, that Sniper and now him... they were all pissing the hell outta him!

"How did it feel, running wild with all you've got after all this time? Up until a moment ago, you had a look of frustration all over your face. Those guys came at you with a clever tactic. Their strategy was to suppress your power down to its minimum while utilizing their own abilities at maximum level. With you brain in an uproar like it was, no matter how much you fought them, you'd still get taken in the same way." He said while slipping his cloak back on. "Fight with a cool head. Though telling you that might be a waste of time." That declaration caused a fit of laughter in Urameshi. He had never thought Hiei of all people would tell him to cool his head. And that angered the fire youkai who thought that maybe he should really kill him after all.

"Hiei, thank you. It has been really invigorating." The reikai tantei spoke with unexpected earnestness. He then asked Hiei to come with him. They had no time. They had to get back Kuwabara before the hole opened the next day. However, the demon had no intention of helping. He actually wanted the hole to open so he could return to the demon realm. So as incentive, Yusuke offered to give him the Black Chapter video as a reward, the one containing all the atrocities of mankind that Sensui swiped. He wouldn't mind sneaking it to him once Sensui was defeated. That got Hiei's interest but that video was top secret material of the Reikai, did he think they'd just let him get away with it? The detective couldn't care less about that though. It was a small price to pay for a larger victory and he hadn't received any order concerning that tape either. The demon smirked. Yusuke was finally starting to act like himself again.

But then they noticed two really ugly low level youkais flying towards them. They landed, surprised to see a human and a demon acting all chummy after they had come beckoned by the scent of prey. Mushiyori City had already entered the third phase, which meant that soon, this place would be crawling with these types of idiots. That comment of Hiei enraged the big idiots who decided to eat him first.

"Yusuke, I just realized one more reason to lend you guys a hand. If we do nothing, I'm going to have to deal with this kind of naïve trash constantly. That would be truly unpleasant."

"Absolutely." Yusuke concurred. Being ignored and made a fool of to this extent by shrimpy weaklings caused the two goons to snap and attack... only to be reduced to nothingness in a single second. The two fighters walked to the cave. The sun was setting when they joined up with Kurama, Botan, Genkai, Kaito, and Yanagisawa. Wait, where was Akari? What had happened to her?! There had been no sign of her!