Hi guys! I'm not dead. I swear. I'll be honest with you guys though, I've had this chapter written out for about a month or so. I just haven't been able to get on the computer much.

Anyways, thanks to all my reviewers and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nada. But someday, all you people will be reading something I wrote! Or so I hope. But it is most likely that I will never own YYH.

Chapter 6: Sing Loud and Proud

Singing had to have been the worst, and most certainly most embarrassing part. Hermione ended up singing White Flag by Dido. Harry had sung Hero by Nickelback. And Ron sang I Love This Bar by Toby Keith. Hermione like her song, Harry didn't mind his so much, but Ron did not like singing or the song he had to sing.

But Kurama had made a fair point for the three of them. Which had been, "These are the only songs we have in English, but if you'd rather attempt to sing in Japanese it can be arranged." And they liked sticking to a language they knew and were fairly comfortable with.

Kurama scribbled down the scores as they were told to him. "48 for Ron, 49 for Harry, and 72 for Hermione. Not bad, not-" Kurama stopped abruptly, turning his head to look in a certain direction. His face split into a mischievous smirk and he handed Kuwabara the clipboard, then he took off out another door that led outside. Everyone else followed after him.

A yell was heard in the distance as Kurama ran into the forest. The other six did their best to follow Kurama as he twisted through the dense and suddenly dark forest, which was weird considering it was midday. When the six managed to catch up, they found Kurama standing in front of a mass of enormous vines that were slowly wrapping themselves around a pale teenage boy with blonde hair.

Kurama chuckled darkly and walked towards the boy. The vines wrapped fondly around Kurama, but allowed him to move freely. The whole thing was disconcerting, especially when Kurama had seemed so nice, though Harry had been suspicious of him since the 'evil store'. The plants definitely creeped the trio out, but the others—Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara—seemed used to this occurrence.

Kurama approached the boy with an eerie grace, and seemed to carefully regard the person before him, who was ensnared in his trap. The boy had a strange aura, much like the trio that had just recently arrived. He bent down to a large, five-petaled, orange and yellow flower that stood off to the side of the path in front of the mass of vines. It had some strange purple bulb-like thing in the middle of the flower, and it was shining a soft purple light.

"Good job reporting this intruder to me. I'll take care of the rest," Kurama said softly to the flower. He tossed something toward the sphere in the middle of the petals and the sphere became a large set of gnashing teeth that quickly ate whatever it was, before becoming innocent-looking once more.

The trio and the boy in the vines gulped audibly and paled. The flower was like nothing they had seen before. They stepped forward cautiously, trying to get a good look at the boy in the vines without treading on some possibly-dangerous piece of foliage. Now they understood why Yusuke had said not to go into the forest without someone else until Genkai thought they were ready.

"What the bloody hell is that thing?" Ron asked fearfully. Kurama looked back at him for a moment before responding.

"The plant is called a Goeiwana. While it isn't one of my lethal plants, it is quite useful for guarding places or trapping an unsuspecting enemy. Normally it is in its nature to crush its victim on contact, but I have trained the ones around here to merely capture its victim and render it immobile. That is, unless it is just one of the petty creatures that reside in these woods."

Harry shivered at the words and the cold manner in which the redhead had spoken them. And if this wasn't one of his lethal plants, he didn't think he wanted to see one that Kurama actually considered lethal. Then his curiosity of who the boy in the trap was overcame him again. He edged his way through the tangle of vines to get a closer look, and was surprised at who he did see.

"Malfoy," Harry muttered hatefully, glaring the blonde in the vines. "Why are you here?" he asked in a much louder voice.

Kurama turned to Harry. "You know him?" the red-haired kitsune asked, pointing at Malfoy. Harry nodded.

"We're enemies. He was supposed to kill Dumbledore, but he chickened out at the last second and Snape had to kill Dumbledore. He's one of Voldemort's Death Eaters." Kurama looked thoughtful for a moment.

"If he hesitated to kill, he can't be all bad." Harry gawked at the redhead. "B-but he's a Death Eater! He's on Voldemort's side!" Hermione screeched.

Malfoy glared at everyone. They were talking as if he wasn't there, and he did not like it. He cleared his throat to remind everyone that he was still there. Yusuke looked over at him.

"Got a problem, blondie?" he said mockingly. Malfoy glared at him too. "Ooh, you're so scary, mister death muncher! Please don't hurt me!" Yusuke said in a high-pitched, sarcastic voice.

Hiei chuckled darkly at the indignant look on the boy's face. "Why don't we take him up to Genkai's for now? She can help decide what to do with him," Kuwabara said from behind Yusuke.

Kurama and Yusuke nodded in agreement, Hiei 'hn'd'. "You aren't taking me anywhere, you ugly muggle!" Malfoy said, while struggling to get out of the plant.

Kurama looked over at the blonde with a smirk. "Oh really? So you'd rather be plant food. Kami knows my plants could use a good meal, though you don't look all that satisfying." Malfoy gulped audibly, and mumbled a 'Nevermind' under his breath. The trio briefly wondered how Kurama could think of someone as a meal.

Hiei walked over to him and hit him over the head, knocking him unconscious. The vines let Malfoy go, and Hiei tossed him over to Kuwabara to carry. No one wanted him to remember the way there if he was really a spy. Then they headed back to the temple.

Kuwabara set him in the room that Genkai directed them too. Hiei made sure to get any sort of weapon away from him. They'd taken his wand, a few hidden knives, some of the Weasley twins' Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, and the Hand of Glory.

Kurama had tied him to a chair with some vines, and they made sure to lock the room behind them as they left. Once they had reached the main room, Genkai turned to face the three wizards.

"Tell us everything you know about that kid," she barked demandingly in her aged voice. Despite the fact that she was probably only 3 or 4 feet tall, the trio found her to be very intimidating.

"Well, he's an evil git," Ron supplied nervously. Genkai looked up at him with a look on her face that clearly said 'You're a hopeless idiot. Is that all you can say?'.

"Back at the forest, Harry said that he was supposed to be the one to kill Dumbledore-san, but was too afraid to really kill," Kurama supplied from beside the door. Genkai turned her sharp gaze to Harry, "What else?" she asked.

Harry was surprised that she didn't ask how he knew that, or that she wasn't shocked that Malfoy was actually supposed to kill Dumbledore. "Well," he started, "he likes to brag a lot and enjoys bulling people weaker than him or smaller than him. He doesn't like to do things that don't benefit himself and he always has some sort of sleazy look on his face." Harry could have gone on, but he had the feeling that Genkai got the gist of what he was saying.

"So he's pretty much a threat in every way. If he hesitated to kill, then there are really only two forces that could have caused that: Some form of good conscience or the fact that it was going to be a first kill. Simply because everyone is nervous about their first kill, unless they were thoroughly enraged, but even then, they would feel some sort of distress afterwards. Guilt is something everyone feels, until they're so neck-deep in repression, hatred, anger, and insanity that their mind and soul are no longer capable of processing guilt. But if the negativity is taken away—if only for a moment—then the guilt can come back, for it is a fast-acting emotion. Remember that."

Kurama turned away from the group and left, leaving the trio to wonder at his abrupt exit. Ron was about to ask about it, but stopped when Genkai sighed sadly and turned to the others.

"I want you to go through the Makai and take that brat in there back to England, where he belongs. I don't want to waste time on someone who probably can't provide us with any information. But keep some of his weapons; they may be of use to us. Hiei, erase his memories of what he encountered here, and make sure you do it thoroughly. I've heard that this Voldemort character has powerful magic; we don't want to take any chances. Yusuke, you can take him back to England."

"What!?! No way! Why me?" Yusuke yelled indignantly. "I don't wanna have to deal with that ferret-faced runt! And won't the air in Makai kill him anyway?" The trio quickly backed away and moved their hands to cover their ears from how loud the yelling was.

"Too bad, dimwit!" Genkai yelled back tauntingly. "You'll listen to me whether you want to or not! I chose you because the demons respect you just enough to stay out of your way! And you can handle any that don't! Besides, you're starting to get out of shape."

"No I'm not! Fine! I'll take the stupid runt, but I won't like it!" Yusuke conceded, glaring at his mentor as hard as he could.

"I never said you had to like it, I just said you had to do it," the pink-haired woman corrected. Yusuke just growled in response.

"So where am I supposed to drop him off? Anywhere?"

Genkai sighed and led Yusuke away, while Hiei went back into the room Malfoy was being held in. Kuwabara and the trio stood confused and abandoned in the hallway. All was quiet for a few moments (and a tumbleweed rolled by in the silence).

"So……now what?" Harry asked, facing Kuwabara. Kuwabara shrugged in reply.

"Aren't you concerned about Kurama?" Hermione asked accusingly, pointing down the hall in the direction the redhead had gone.

"Of course!" Kuwabara shouted back indignantly. "But it's pointless to try to understand his mind. And one of our 'unspoken rules' as friends is that we don't pry where we're not wanted. Besides, Kurama can handle it. He'll be fine later."

The trio glanced uncertainly at each other, but didn't question any further. Something in Kuwabara's tone warned them not to pursue the subject, so they did just that.

The next morning found the trio in the dining room of sorts, eating a breakfast provided to them by a cheery redhead, who was, at the moment, happily eating a blueberry muffin. His mood seemed completely different yesterday and he certainly didn't seem too mental, but they felt as though they were somehow treading on thin ice just being in the same room as him. Though that could be due to the fact that they were still a little freaked out from yesterday, that and the redhead appeared utterly oblivious to their discomfort.

The door to the room suddenly slammed open as it was slid back rather forcefully, causing Harry, Ron, and Hermione to jump simultaneously. Yusuke—who had been the one to slam the door—walked in sleepily, barely stifling a yawn and subconsciously reaching for the muffin Kurama held up.

He plopped down onto a mat next to Kurama and began eating his own muffin just as the door banged open again, causing the trio to jump…again. Kuwabara walked in this time, still half-asleep, and received a muffin from Kurama as well. The silence continued on until they'd had their fill, Yusuke and Kuwabara had fully awoken, and Hiei had appeared seemingly out of thin air.

"Genkai says we need to start training them today. Of course, that'll have to be done after we get a full assessment of their abilities. I know little about this magic of theirs, and I know these two numbskulls don't know anything. What about you, Kurama?" Hiei inquired grumpily.

"Well I have heard a few tales…and run across a few sorcerers before. Though I never really had much of chance to talk to them or assess their abilities," the redhead replied slyly. "As you probably know, there is little use for sorcery in the Makai. They tend to be arrogant little creatures too. Quite annoying really."

"Once again, Kurama knows all. All hail the master of knowledge and wisdom," Yusuke announced drolly, mocking a bow. Kuwabara soon joined him, and together they mock-bowed to Kurama, who sarcastically went along with and pretended to enjoy the praise.

"What? You're not going to bow to me, too, Hiei?" Kurama inquired innocently.

"Hell no! I bow to no one!" Hiei snarled in his usual unpleasant manner.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Genkai's voice asked unenthusiastically as she slid the door closed.

Everyone besides Hiei and Kurama jumped at the sound of her voice, followed by Yusuke's indignant yelling.

"Shut up, Dimwit, and give me a muffin," Genkai ordered coolly, resulting in Yusuke grudgingly handing her one of the doughy, blueberry-filled pieces of goodness.

"Fox, you may choose between your experimenting and assessing these three today. Hiei, you have no choice, so don't try to weasel your way out."

Hiei only growled and glared at her in response.

"I'd like to continue my experimenting, if you don't mind, but I would appreciate it if you would record the session for me," Kurama answered hesitantly.

Genkai gave a sly grin that normally Kurama could only pull off and merely said, "I was planning on it."

Yes. The trio had quickly learned that mornings with the Reikai Tantei were weird, odd, and everything else under that category, and not to be questioned.

MA: Yeah, I know. The muffin bit was totally random, but I'm completely obsessed with them. You'll find more muffins in my other stories as well.

So. These are the questions you should be asking yourself right now:

1. What the hell?

2. What's Kurama's little 'experiment'?

and 3. Why the hell am I reading this?

Though seriously, if you're thinking number 3, it means I've failed in my duties as an author.

...even though I've probably failed most of those duties already...

Yusuke: Yep.

MA: (glare) What was that?

Yusuke: meep! Nothing!

MA: I thought so. R&R please!