Not much to say... but I plan to finish the next chapter sooner than this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except Kaya.

Two items recovered, one demon dead, one demon turned in, and said turned- in demon my past mate. Great. Now just one item and one demon to go.

How we were going to deal with this last one was beyond me. This guy is way more powerful than Gouki could ever dream of being and there's no way he'll use the sword for anything good. However, I would guess he's power hungry enough to want the other two items as well as his own.

Question is, what's he gonna do to get them?

"Kaya. Hey Kaya! Wait up!"

I froze. 'Huh?'

"Kaya, I wanted to ask you something."

I slowly turned around. Oh, it was just AJ. I let out a sigh. 'Great… groupie number one. At least it's not another demon. I think I'm getting paranoid again.'

He walked up next to me, just a little too close. There was a slightly suspicious smile plastered on his face.

"I'm just going to come out and ask. Would you like to go to a movie with me this Friday? If you're not busy of course," he quickly added.

Wow. Last question I expected after thinking about demons. 'Oh boy, what do I say? I really don't want to encourage him any …'

So I did what had done the most damaging and the most amazing things to my life. I spoke without thinking. Not smart for someone who deals with seeing future events.

"I'm sorry AJ. I have a boyfriend." 'Crap, what made me say that? What if he asks who it is? I don't know if Kurama is free from prison, let alone still interested! And now I'm just assuming he's going to stay with me… I think Koenma took away most of my rationality when I called in that favor…'

"Oh. Okay. Well, I guess I will just see you around then."

As much as I wanted AJ to back off, I felt kinda bad at the look on his face. He looked so sad. Even his mind was filled with grumbling about no one liking him. "Look, I'm sorry. Maybe if I wasn't seeing someone…" Oh, wrong thing to say. Again.

A triumphant smile lit up his face. "Then I'll still be waiting if you need a shoulder to cry on. See ya 'round babe!" He kissed my cheek and ran off.

'Wha… what just happened??'

"Stupid jerk! ' It's a long story.' I'll bet it is!" a voice broke through my dumbstruck brain. I turned to see Keiko stalking past me with a nasty grimace on her face. This day just keeps pulling out surprises.

"Um, Keiko? What happened?"

"Oh nothing. Just ask your jerk brother and his new girlfriend!" she spat at me before turning a corner.

'Wow. That's one of the scariest things I've ever seen. What did Yusuke do?'

I promised myself to ask at the end of our next class together. Which lucky me, was a literature class. Can it get anymore boring for someone who was there when the books were written?

I never got the chance to ask what happened between the two. About half way though class, Yusuke's demon compass began to go off. Mr. Takanaka stopped in the middle of his lecture about the works of Plato to ask where Yusuke thought he was going.

"Sorry old man," he yelled while running out the door. "Mom's callin'."

'Bad excuse dimwit.'

I got up and followed him. "I'm sorry sir. He'll have the report done by the end of the week."

"Make sure he does it on his own Miss Urameshi!"

'Yes, because we all know I want to do an extra paper.'

I caught up to Yusuke and saw Botan running next to him. "Okay what happened? Who made the compass go screwy? I'm guessing it was Hiei. I saw a quick flash of him in a vision earlier and we've been going for more than a mile, so Yusuke can't possibly be responsible for it, he's not strong enough. Not to mention he's the last thief left of the group. By the way, what did you do to Keiko, Yusuke?"

Yusuke gawked at me before asking Botan if I had always done this.

"Um, yes she has been known to do this from time to time. Remember that she has to control several trains of thought at once, so she's used to it." She turned back to me. "Now to fill you in Kaya, Hiei is manipulating his energy to lead us to him. Mind you he's a telepath, though not nearly as strong as your powers, you should still be alert. He's been telling me terrible things, among them that he has taken Keiko."

'Oh crap. Now I'm glad I'm here. Yusuke's not ready for this.' "Let me guess. He wants the other two artifacts."

I heard no response. That must mean I'm right.

We reached the docks the compass had been leading us to.

I gave a low whistle. "This guy's got some power, probably will have more in the future. But I don't think it's all his in there. He must have used the sword already."

"Then let's stop wasting time." Yusuke pushed open the doors of Hiei's hide out. "Get out here, Hiei! I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Real subtle, bro. Real subtle." "Please stop pissing off an already moody demon."

"But Hiei's got Keiko!"

"One track mind."

"I certainly can agree with you, girl," a snide voice said.

A bunch of blank faced humans approached us from behind the boxes in the warehouse. None of these belonged to the voice.

"Who are these creeps?"

"They're humans Yusuke. Their minds are just being controlled, although this is a rather large number to control at one time. I presume Hiei can use a Jagan if he's controlling this many."

"Oh well done." We finally located the demon in the middle of the group of humans. "You're quite astute for a human girl. Very knowledgeable and spiritually strong."

'Excuse me?! I think not!' My eye twitched. Just because my energy level was currently rather low does not mean I am human. "You didn't let me finish kid. You're doing a poor job of controlling them. And I AM NOT a human, thank you."

Ohh that made him mad. I didn't have to hear his thoughts to know that. He began to pace toward us. We could now see that he did in fact have a Jagan.

"Whoa, that's one big pimple."

"Idiot, that's the Jagan," Botan hissed at Yusuke.

"Oh, and I don't need a Jagan to control someone's mind." I couldn't help my smug smile. I was apparently in the mood to be pissy.

Hiei growled. "I should kill you for your disrespect, but I think I could use your information. Besides, my fight today is with the detective."

'Smart boy.'

"Now that we're back to me, where's Keiko?!"

"Right here." He gestured to some of the controlled humans holding up an unconscious Keiko. "You were able to take out Gouki, so you must have some strength. I decided to take the girl for insurance."

"What do you plan to do with her?"

"Nothing more if you've brought me the weapons."

Yusuke pulled out the two artifacts we had attained and handed them over to Hiei.

"Good boy. You may have the girl back." The zombies tossed Keiko to the ground just as we ran to her. Something was slightly off about the situation though. It was way too easy.

"Finally, all three weapons are in my control. Those fools in charge will soon bow to me."

"You know, you really shouldn't brag so much. It'll only make it more embarrassing when you lose. Now that I have Keiko back, I'm gonna beat your ass right back to Spirit World!"

"Ha. You can try. I'll give you a head start."

"I'm getting really sick of that cocky little laugh!" Yusuke lunged at Hiei, just hitting the after image.

'He's fast… faster than I can follow at the moment.'

"He vanished!"

"I'm still here. I merely stepped gently to the side. I can hardly believe that was a real attempt at a hit."

'Please stay calm Yusuke. Don't let him get to you.'

"Oh and as for Keiko, did you really think I would relinquish my hostage without the reward? Look at her closely, detective. You'll see that she's still mine."

"You're lying!" Yusuke raced over to check Keiko. I finally noticed something that normally would have been obvious to me.

Hiei had cut her with the Shadow Sword. She now had a demonic eye.

"Botan quick! The eye is opening!" I already had a hand over the eye with spirit and demon energy pouring out to keep it closed. Botan quickly added her energy to the effort.

"What is that thing?"

"It's a copy of Hiei's Jagan, Yusuke. If it opens she'll become a low class demon under his control."

"Hiei…" he growled out.

"She's right detective. Soon, dear Keiko will be serving me."

I peeked up at my brother's frightened face. He really did care for Keiko. "Don't worry Yusuke. Botan and I can keep it closed. Knock him out for us."

"Go ahead. But you better do it fast – I can feel the energy they are losing trying to keep the eye closed."

Yusuke looked over to me. "Yes it is draining; I haven't slung energy around like this for awhile. If I have to, I will keep it closed with my mind, but it will stay closed. You haven't seen anything of what I can do."

That appeared to calm him slightly. "Just hurry up and drop kick the punk, alright?"

He gave me a nod before turning back to Hiei. "Let's go."

Short stuff started to laugh. "I'm glad you're so enthused. The game will be more exciting this way."

"What game?"

Hiei lifted the sword. "The hilt of this sword is hollow, containing the only antidote to stop the swords effect. If you get the sword, the girl will live. Fun, right?"

It was my turn to glare. "Yusuke, move it. I'm very close to showing him my brand of 'fun'."

Yusuke gave a quick burst of speed and managed a hit on Hiei. I began to tune out of the fight and focused on Keiko. Botan knew to leave well enough alone about my previous comment. She knew I would force the full extent of my power out if things went sour. But for now, we had work to do.

As the fight progressed, there were plenty of taunts thrown back and forth with a couple of energy spikes from Hiei's unchecked anger. For once I was quite happy to be so focused on something that I couldn't hear his no doubt murderous thoughts. That is, until he decided to transform.

The energy coming off of Hiei caused the third eye on Keiko's head to react, sending energy sparks out at Botan and my hands. Botan shrank away from the eye with a pained shout.

"You okay Botan?"

"I'm not sure I can help you fight it much longer at this level. I don't have enough power."

"That's fine. Just be ready to heal everyone later. I can handle this part," I gave a terse answer.

Hiei wasted no time once he transformed to put Yusuke into psychic bonds. Immediately after, Yusuke was slammed into the floor with a painful sounding 'smack'.

"I have a great idea. How about I give you a choice." Hiei grabbed the sword as he spoke. "I can end your life now, or if you prefer, I can turn you into a demon."

I stared up at the fight again. 'Is this guy totally sadistic? Or just mental?'

He laughed again. "You want me to choose? Fine by me." He lunged at Yusuke.

I closed my eyes. 'No! I can't stop the sword and hold the eye closed - I'm not in full control again yet!' I heard the soft slice of the blade through flesh and Botan's gasp. But I didn't hear a body fall.

"You really have gone insane!"

'Huh?'

Another slice and I heard Hiei shout in pain.

"Kaya, look up. You'll want to see this." I looked up at Botan and then over at Yusuke.

Kurama had come to help us and took the sword strike through his stomach. And he was now explaining to Yusuke how Hiei's extra eyes work... 'Oh of all the times for a strategy lesson Kurama! In the middle of a fight with a hole in your body? Really?!' I shook my head. This fight was almost over; I just couldn't yet see how it would end.

Kurama began to stagger towards us. "Botan, please go help him over. I'm good for now." She gave me a nod and I turned my attention back to Keiko.

In no time, the sound of someone dropping to the floor reached my ears. "You're trying to keep the eye closed? I thought you were having troubles controlling your powers. Your energy was so low when you came to help me."

I nearly laughed. "It's because I'm using everything to a bare minimum. Almost all my energy is going to Keiko – if I weren't having control problems, I would also be able to assist Yusuke. As it is I'm going to have a major headache from this."

"What in the three worlds is Yusuke doing?" We both looked over at Botan. She was watching Yusuke shuffle along the base of the wall, Hiei following his every move. Apparently, he had recovered from the blood that had gotten into his Jagan.

All of us watched as Yusuke fired his Spirit Gun – and then watched as Hiei jumped right over it.

"My, what an ace you had up your sleeve. Too bad you wasted it on poor aim." No sooner had Hiei spoken then a blast of energy flew into his back. "How? You missed…"

Everyone looked behind him. There sat the Forlorn Hope. "I see," Kurama spoke. "He reflected his energy off of the mirror."

I watched Hiei fall unconscious and looked down, seeing the eye on Keiko's head slowly close, the energy disappearing from it. Finally, I took my hand from her forehead and made my way over to sit next to the slumped over red head. "I am so glad that's over. However, now I have to take care of you." I gave him a pointed look towards his stomach. This wouldn't be the first time I had needed to bandage up an injury to that area.

He had the good grace to look sheepish. "Maybe we should help Yusuke with the girl first."

I gave him one last glare and looked back to where my brother held the now separated sword and hilt.

"A couple drops should do it, Yusuke. The eye will quickly disappear."

"Alright, we'll listen to the smart guy." He lifted the hilt to Keiko's mouth and let a few drops fall. Within seconds, the eye completely disappeared. "Good bye Keiko monster."

I leaned back and laughed. "Wait 'til Keiko hears that one Yusuke."

He turned pale. "Shut up Kaya."

"You know Yusuke, I still can't believe what you did back there."

"Oh and what's that Botan?"

"Why didn't you tell me your Spirit Gun could bounce off of mirrors? When did you figure that out?"

Yusuke scratched the back of his head with a guilty smile. "A few minutes ago…"

Botan and I yelped at the same time. "What do you mean?!"

"Well, Hiei was way to fast, so I thought, 'hey why not hit him from the back'. Then I saw the mirror behind him and decided to give it a try."

I sat in near shock. No wonder I couldn't see how the fight would end. "So you had no idea what you were doing? It was a split second decision?"

"One time in science they bounced light off of mirrors and I thought it might work out the same."

Kurama grabbed my hand before I could lunge at my so called brother. "Might?! You risked the fight on a might? What you have done if it hadn't worked idiot?"

"Ah, probably get chopped into little pieces."

I heard a faint chuckle behind me. "And all the while we thought you were a brilliant strategist. Really you're just a lucky fool."

"No arguments there. Please tell me you could have helped if it had gone wrong."

Kurama stared at me in surprise. Guess it had been awhile since he heard me in his head. "Sorry, but I was not and am not in any position to physically help much with anything at the moment, so it was all up to Yusuke."

My brother interrupted our mental conversation. "Watch it fox boy! What does that word mean anyway?"

'Idiot.'

"A strategist is someone who uses their brain."

"Unlike you, dear brother."

"Now, now everyone, calm down before Keiko wakes up."

"Guess I should take her home. Botan, you can take three eyes over there to Spirit World and Kaya if you can maybe help out Kurama."

I was already wiping up the blood. "Of course Yusuke. I'll see you at home later."

Kurama and I watched him pick up Keiko and waited until both Yusuke and Botan had left before turning back to each other.

"So… how about we get this wound stable and then I help you walk home?"

He offered a small smile. "That would fine, thank you."

I began adding my own energy to what Kurama was already poring into the wound. "Akari, you don't have to expend any more energy. Just help me wrap the cut after the bleeding slows."

"I know, but I want to help. It's been so long since I've been able to do anything for you."

He sighed. "Yes, about that. You and I need to sit down and discuss what we will do now that we know we're both alive and well. But for now," he removed my hand from his stomach, "keep what is left of your energy after draining so much on Keiko."

"When did you become so polite?" I slapped my hands over my mouth. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that!" My anxious expression turned to confusion as he started to laugh.

"Please do not worry about speaking your mind. I have missed that all these years." Kurama took my hands in his. "Akari, I have changed since I began living here. My mother has taught me many things in that time, as well as reinforced what you have taught me."

I gave his hands a squeeze. "I guess we have a lot to learn about each other again, starting with calling me Kaya for now. Although, maybe we could discuss the rest somewhere a little more… pleasant?"

He laughed at the look on my face. "I'd forgotten how adorable that face is. Now, about getting reacquainted, I know of a nice restaurant in town just a couple blocks from your school. It's an American restaurant. We will give ourselves some time to recover from this experience, say two weeks, and meet up then."

"That sounds good." I gazed down at his front. "Um, how are we going to get you through the city with this gaping hole? I can only block an image out of so many peoples' minds…"

"I'm sure you'll think of something. Not that I would complain about being alone with you in an abandoned building of course."

My eyes went wide at his words and that irritating little smirk. "Well, one thing certainly hasn't changed. You are just as horny as ever fox."