Part Nine: Kidnapped

Kuwabara leaves that evening and returns home. Once he's arrived, he finds that the other three detectives are waiting for him. "Where have you been?" Yusuke demands, "We've been looking for you all day."

"I've been with Ani," Kuwabara answers without thinking about the consequences of such an admission.

"You were WHAT!" Yusuke yells. Kuwabara cringes at the accusatory tone.

"I went to visit Ani," Kuwabara repeats steeling himself for the coming confrontation.

"Why the HELL would you go and see him?"

"Because I needed to apologize."

"You don't need to apologize to that...thing!"

"Excuse me? Excuse me! What gives you the damn right to criticize and insult him?"

Yusuke stares at him in shock. "Why the hell are you defending him?"

"Because I can! Leave him alone, Yusuke, or I WILL hurt you!"

"What the fuck did he do to you while you were there? You would NEVER defend him under normal circumstances!"

"These are NOT normal circumstances, Yusuke! He's pregnant with MY child! I think that I have a reason to want to check up on him."

"Yusuke, leave Kuwabara alone," Kurama cuts in, "He's told us where he was so let it go."

"I don't think Koenma would appreciate the knowledge that he went and made a social call to the Toguro Brothers."

"I don't care what he thinks, Urameshi. He has no right to tell me what I can or cannot do…not anymore."

"How can you honestly say that?"

"He LIED to me! He deliberately LIED to me! I can't forgive that easily."

"Get over it. He had to do what was necessary to keep your mind straight. Give him credit for seeing the big picture."

"No, he had no right to blatantly lie to my face because he seems to think that it will make me more able to do my job. I have every right to be furious just as I have every right to check on Ani because he's pregnant."

"Please, what's so special about a pregnant male?"

"Only that maybe four have ever become pregnant and none of them lived through the nine months."

"Well, at least you won't have to deal with him anymore."

"Would you stop seeing him as our enemy for a moment? I am being serious. Only four have ever become pregnant and they have DIED. I don't particularly want this to happen to Ani."

"You're acting like you care about him!"

Kuwabara grits his teeth before he makes an admission that he has been trying to avoid even thinking about. "That's because…I DO care about him."

"What!"

"Never mind, Yusuke. Just go away. I'm tired and I want to lie down."

"No, you are going to tell me what you just said!"

"Not today. Go away and leave me alone. I'm tired and I don't want to deal with you." Without waiting for a response, he walks around his friend and heads for the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Yusuke come after him and braces himself. The dark haired demon grabs him by his shoulder and spins him around.

"You WILL answer me or things will get very ugly!"

"Are you threatening me?"

"Yes."

"Yusuke, leave him alone!" Kurama snaps angrily. His green eyes are now flecked with gold and his demon-side is wanting out.

"Mind your own business, Kurama!" Yusuke snaps back at him, "This has nothing to do with you!"

"Kuwabara is old enough to make his OWN decisions! You need to respect them and leave him alone!"

"He went to see ANI TOGURO!"

"I know who Ani is, Yusuke."

"How can you condone him going there and seeing him?"

"He has every right to see the one who's carrying his child and you have NO right to stop him."

While they are arguing, Kuwabara slips out of Yusuke's grasp and heads inside. He locks the door for good measure and heads into his room. He feels the beginnings of a headache. 'Great, I just told Yusuke that I care for Ani. What the hell was I thinking?' he wonders. He cannot believe he just admitted to caring for an enemy that caused him the most trouble. He sits down on his bed and lets out a soft, mournful sigh. Why did this have to become so complicated?

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After dinner, Ani decides he needs some fresh air and heads outside. He takes a deep breath outside and tries to calm down. This pregnancy was more difficult then any trial he had faced and he doesn't know if he can last through it. Sighing, he walks around the pond and sits on a rock. 'What am I doing?' he wonders to himself, 'Why am I wanting to keep this child when it is the offspring of the one person in the universe that I CANNOT stand?' He has no answer for himself and that makes it even more difficult. He sighs and stares into the pond. Nothing made sense anymore. Though, in all honesty, life had NEVER made sense to him.

Soon, he realizes that he is not alone and looks around. Two demons observe him coolly from a distance. "Do you need something, gentlemen?" Ani inquires. Something in him warns Ani to run but he doesn't. He starts to really wonder when the demons look at him unpleasantly. Warnings go off in his mind and he decides that getting them away might just be the best course of action but when he tries to use his spirit energy…it doesn't work. Startled, he looks down at his hands wondering why the hell his energy won't work. While he hesitates, both demons approach. He doesn't notice until they are standing right in front of him. "What do you want?" he demands.

"You," one of the demons answers before the other presses a cloth over his nose and mouth. Startled, Ani doesn't struggle and by the time he realizes the danger, the chloroform takes affect and he passes out.

Hours pass and when Ani doesn't return, Karasu begins to get worried. He walks to the window and looks outside. "Has he come back in yet?" Oto inquires. Karasu shakes his head. "Where is he? He should be back by now."

"He's probably throwing stones in the pond outside," Bui remarks, "I would go and check but he'd run off crying if he saw me."

"Yeah, well you DID upset him."

"How was I supposed to know that he'd have a major mood swing? I've never dealt with a pregnant female let alone a pregnant male."

"You could have been a little less insultive. My brother does his best to be kind to you."

"Yeah, I'm sure he does."

"Don't be snide."

Karasu rolls his eyes. "If you two want to continue this delightful conversation, go right ahead. I am going to go outside and find Ani," he interjects before heading out of the room. 'Those two can be so immature sometimes,' he thinks as he walks. He comes upon the pond but doesn't find Ani. He looks around to see if the smaller demon was curled up between any of the rocks nearby. After a few feet, he notices a white rag. Curious, he leans down and picks it up. He immediately smells the chloroform and his heart almost stops. He turns and races back inside. "Oto, we have a problem!" he yells. The burly demon comes quickly to him.

"What?" he asks.

"I didn't find Ani, but I did find this," Karasu answers holding out the rag to him. Oto looks at it and then looks back at Karasu and even through his thick lenses; it's obvious he's startled.

"Someone took my brother?" he asks.

"I believe so," Karasu answers almost dreading the burly demon's reaction. Oto's fist clenches and his shoulders tense.

"When I find out who is responsible for this I am going to kill them," he growls.

"We should call Kuwabara. He has a right to know about this," Karasu remarks, "better, yet, let ME call Kuwabara." Without waiting for a response, he heads to the phone and picks it up. Hopefully, the Spirit Detectives could help find Ani. He dials Kuwabara's number and waits.

"Hello?" It is Shizuru.

"Hello, is Kuwabara there?" he asks.

"Yeah, just a minute. Kazuma!"

A few minutes pass before someone picks up the phone. "Hello?" Kuwabara asks.

"Kuwabara, it's Karasu."

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes, we have reason to believe that someone's taken Ani."

For a moment there is nothing but silence but just when Karasu's feared the carrot-top has hung up, he speaks. "How sure are you?"

"Well, we can't find him and I found a rag with chloroform by the pond where Ani normally goes when he wants to be alone."

"Damn!"

"Will you help us find him?"

"You had better believe it. No one is going to get away with this. He's pregnant! You shouldn't use chloroform on a pregnant person!"

"That is definitely a concern at this point. Do you think you could call Koenma and see if he will help you find him."

Once again there is silence and the violet-eyed demon is afraid he was pushing too far. "I guess…for Ani's sake."

"Thank you. We'll keep looking here."

"We'll find him, Karasu, and whoever took him had better not hurt him or they will be dead!"

"I believe it. Call Koenma and see what you can find."

"All right, I will."

After Kuwabara hangs up, Karasu sighs. Something warns him that things were only going to get worse. 'Why would someone want to kidnap Ani? Do they know he's pregnant? That can't be the only ones who know are the spirit detectives, Koenma, and Oto, Ani, Bui, and I. This doesn't make sense,' he thinks. Deep down, however, he has a suspicion about who, out of the list of people who knew, MIGHT want Ani. 'Let me be wrong…please let me be wrong.'