Naturally, Yusuke was more than a little shocked.

"What? Dying?!" He nearly flew back onto his feet, now toe to toe with Botan. "What do you mean, dying?!"

Her hands shot up immediately in her own defense as she began to inch backward, correct in sensing Yusuke to be more than a little hostile right now.

"Honestly, Yusuke, calm down. I know this his news to you but—"

"You're damn right it's news! How long has this been going on exactly?!"

A noticeable bead of sweat was now making its way down Botan's lower left temple. Her form was trembling, rightfully so, and she was beginning to believe that if she didn't give Yusuke the information he demanded, she'd soon find herself booted out of the Urameshi residence in the crudest manner Yusuke could think of.

"Well, Yusuke, it's complicated…"

"Complicated?!"

For a moment, Yusuke forgot himself, now lost in his own rage. He wanted nothing more than to tear Botan limb from limb…but after a few tense moments, the urge subsided, leaving him slightly weary and very much drained of his strength. Yusuke looked at his former assistant cautiously and with a very stern sounding voice, addressed her formally.

"Botan, whatever it is, it's going to have to wait until tomorrow."

Two very confused pink eyes gazed up at him, blinking systematically.

"Yusuke?"

"Please," he grabbed his head, suppressing a snarl. "Just go."

Botan looked as though she wanted to apologize. Somehow, she actually believed that this information was the cause for Yusuke's behavior. She offered a hand, but when he snapped another goodbye at her, she left immediately.

As Botan stood outside of the apartment a frown crossed over her face. She summoned her oar and departed for the Spirit World, a single question on her mind.

"All right. Give me the details."

Both Yusuke and Botan were standing unaccompanied and well concealed beneath a remote underpass where very little traffic would drive by and notice them. It was the best hiding spot they could find at this time of day, but it was better than nothing.

Botan had chosen it, but was now having second thoughts. However, after Yusuke's little outburst last night, she knew she didn't want to be trapped in an enclosed area with him again anytime soon.

With a long sigh, she finally started in on her story.

"We first started to notice some, changes, about six months after you had all begun to go your separate ways."

"All right."

"We thought nothing of it at first. No one was really using their powers anymore, so we figured that it was just due to languidness."

Yusuke nodded.

"It's hard to say when it all started, but the first big surprise to us was a report from Demon World about Hiei. Rumor has it that he's going blind, Yusuke!"

"What? Blind?"

Botan nodded. "An effect from the Jagan, it seems. No one really understands though. We've had our teams researching it, and they've come up with nothing. We thought perhaps this was just a special case, but it seems that this has happened before in the past. It's rare, but…" she trailed off. There really was nothing more to say on the matter.

"How is he taking it then?"

"He won't admit to it. He says he's fine…but his skills have diminished as well because of it. He's suffered numerous injuries from multiple attacks and attempts on his life from power hungry apparitions. Mukuro has begged us to help him, but….well, you know how Hiei is."

"So he hasn't learned to compensate for his shortcomings yet?" Yusuke suddenly wondered to himself if there was a pun somewhere in that statement, but he dismissed it almost immediately. This was serious.

Botan shook her head. "No, and he's only getting worse. We're all afraid that it's only a matter of time before someone is successful at killing him."

Yusuke nodded in understanding.

"Does Kurama know?"

Botan shook her head again. "No, and he's another matter. He may even be worse off than Hiei."

"Don't tell me he's going blind and deaf?"

"No, but he's fallen terribly ill."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "So why hasn't his mother taken him to a doctor then?"

"It's not that simple, Yusuke."

The once-spirit detective sighed and looked away. Why could nothing ever be simple? Just once? Was it too much to ask?

"Human technology can't trace the disease at all, and there's no known cure for it."

"You mean using our technology?"

Botan nodded. "Right, but it's not that simple to cure for us, either. The only known antidote for this disease is the root of a plant that supposedly went extinct over a thousand years ago."

"But isn't Kurama's specialty plants?"

"Yes, but he can't exactly do anything with a plant that doesn't exist anymore."

He sighed again. Damn it, this was all getting so frustrating. "And Kuwabara?"

Botan looked away, her eyes growing heavy with emotion. Her shoulders seemed to have just taken on some great, invisible weight, and her mouth went through an open-and-shut process multiple times before any words ever actually came out.

"Your friend Kuwabara is losing his powers all together."

Yusuke blinked. "Okay, well that doesn't sound too bad."

"Except that the draining of Spirit Power, especially one so strong, means that his spirit itself is also being drained. At least in this sense…"

"Is someone else doing this?"

"We don't know, Yusuke."

Yusuke leaned back on the wall behind him, crossing his arms and looking pissed. "Are you people good for anything?"

Botan's eyes fell away and dropped to the ground. She bit her bottom lip to the point where Yusuke thought it might bleed, and her eyes were now twitching with an unnatural amount of built up moisture.

'I guess I said too much this time,' he thought to himself.

"I'm sorry."

Botan shook her head, and immediately replaced her sadness with the characteristic smile that was so utterly confusing for someone in her position.

"It's all right, Yusuke. I can understand you're angry. We're all frustrated, but…" her expression grew somber. "Please remember, we are doing the best that we can. This isn't easy, you know."

Yusuke nodded.

"You're the only one who knows about this though. I haven't said anything to anyone else about the situation with the others."

Yusuke nodded again. Damn it, he wanted a cigarette.

"When will you tell them?"

There it was again, the sad face that Yusuke just couldn't stand. This must have been pretty serious to sully Botan's cheery demeanor so many times in one conversation.

"I don't know. Right now you seem to be the only one who can do anything for them, Yusuke. We just want to keep you on the up and up in case we need to give you a call."

"All right."

Botan summoned her oar and hopped on.

"Maybe you should go visit them, Yusuke. Just to see how they're doing. I'm sure Kurama and Kuwabara would be happy to know that you at least are doing well."

The idea didn't sound too bad…but at the same time, it didn't sound too good either. What could be worse than rubbing in the fact that they were all sick and he was doing great?

"Meh."

Botan smiled and waved. In one quick swoop she was fading away into the clouds overhead, leaving Yusuke behind, who now looked very uneasy.