I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

So it was decided then, we all broke up into groups of two.

Yusuke and Kurama.

Hiei and Kuwabara.

It was actually Hiei who wanted to pair with Kuwabara. Kuwabara didn't seem to mind, surprisingly. I assume they figured if Yukina was in danger, the two could coordinate a rescue and thus save her twice as effectively.

They didn't trust me to take care of her myself, I guess. It appears the only person who had faith in my ability was Kurama.

And so, it was with Yukina I was paired.

We would begin our search for Sho and his leader in the park, which was surprisingly vast. Yusuke and Kurama decided to take the Northern and Eastern sections of the park to patrol through. Kuwabara and Hiei claimed the Southern and Western portions. This left Yukina and I to wander through the unclaimed center, most of which was taken up by a large fountain and pond. They left the simple stuff to us, to ensure Yukina's safety. It bothered me some, and yet it did not. For if anything should happen, it would be my head.

We all began to split ways, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Yusuke turned away to begin their duties. Yukina had started to walk ahead of me, when I felt a hand on my arm.
Startled, I turned very quickly to see who it was.

It was Hiei, yet, he seemed so displaced. There were emotions playing across his face that I couldn't identify. However, whatever they were, they were clearly troubling him. He looked at me not in the harsh typical way, but with soft eyes. Something was indeed troubling the fire demon, and it seemed the longer his eyes lingered on mine, his troubles merely intensified. It was so very strange to see him as this, to think that the mighty and strong Hiei could ever have an expression such as this. Curiosity burned through me. I wanted so badly to ask him what was wrong. Fear was the dominating emotion within me, and so I remained silent. We stared at each other for what seemed like an exceedingly long time. All the while I, myself, couldn't help but to start feeling strange. I wanted to reach out and touch his face, it seemed so soft and gentle, like the ocean after a raging storm. Wait- what on earth was I thinking? Hiei hates me! And I was nearly certain I hated him, too, with just as much intensity.
Reminded of this, I began to grow impatient.

"Hiei?" I asked sharply.

His red eyes burned into me a bit longer, then he finally spoke.

"Be careful out there. Don't get hurt." He said quietly.
I felt so very angry as he said this.
"Oh, of course, Hiei! I wouldn't dream of getting hurt! However would I be able to protect your dearest sister?" I said as quietly as I could, though I feared my anger would get the better of me. "Thank you for your genuine concern over my own well-being." I pulled my arm roughly from his grasp, turned, and ran a bit to catch up with Yukina. I didn't dare turn back to look at his expression. What an arrogant asshole!

I joined Yukina, then slowed down my pace a bit as she was having trouble keeping up with my longer strides. We walked together in blissful silence for a bit, and I very dearly hoped that she would not question me about my previous episode with Hiei. I made every attempt to divert her from asking such questions, commenting on the enormity of the fountain that we had been previously sitting on. When trying to walk its circumference, it did seem much larger. A few minutes into such frivolous conversations with her, and I felt satisfied that all thoughts of Hiei had vanished into thin air.

It was unfortunate that, just as I was beginning to relax and let my guard down to her, she did indeed ask me.

"So, what did Hiei want back there?" She asked, her gaze fixed ahead of us as she watched two birds chase each other.
"Back where?" I asked, trying to pretend I had no idea what she was talking about.
"When we were splitting up. He pulled you aside."
"Oh, that." I was trapped. I had to think of a good excuse, a believable one. There was no point in having Yukina concerned that she was creating problems within the team. "Hiei was just demonstrating to me what a pretentious person he is."
Yukina giggled slightly at this.
"You know the feeling?" I asked her.
"Oh, it's just that it seems a lot of people find Hiei very disagreeable. Kuwabara does, and Yusuke does too, at times. Although, I must admit, I find Hiei to be sweet."
"And I suppose you find ravenous wolves and such to be adorable as well? Disagreeable is hardly the word I would choose to describe him." I scoffed slightly at her protection of such an impudent ass.
She merely giggled again.
"Do go easy on him," She told me, her voice somewhat lowered as if she were telling me a secret. "There is something strange about his energy."
"You shouldn't worry about that, there's something strange about nearly every aspect of him."

She threw me a playful yet disapproving look. "Be nice," She chided lightly.
"Oh I can't help it!" I said, concentrating on kicking a rock that lay on the path before me. I tried my best to keep it straight in front of me, yet after a couple paces, it was to no avail. "Ever since I've showed up he's shown nothing but abrasiveness and contempt toward me. It just makes me so uneasy."
"That's just his way." Yukina explained.

I sighed. There was no use in trying to convince her in my belief otherwise. Besides, it was not my wish to poison her against her brother.

I began to get serious, and focus on my search for Sho and whatever brazen demons that might be out today...yet there was that strange feeling of being watched. It was very irksome... and yet interesting. This felt very different from the previous times it had occurred. There was something dark and menacing to this surveillance, and it encouraged me even more to be on my best lookout.
All around me, there appeared to be humans, nothing more, nothing less. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary so much as that feeling. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. Yukina, a demon, who possessed an awareness greater than I, seemed to be completely ignorant of the fact that we were being watched. If not, she would not let it bother her.
Perhaps it was not of the utmost importance, yet it was still quite irksome.
It had appeared that no one was watching us, and we continued on our way which was, consequently, toward the Southern end of the park.

Up ahead, there appeared to be some sort of vendor. The scent emanating from his cart was so peculiar, I couldn't help but be drawn to it. Yukina had wrinkled her nose, clearly disagreeing with the scent.
"Ugh! What is that?" She asked, pulling a sleeve to her nose.
"Let's find out." I said, pulling her toward the cart.
"Perhaps we shouldn't...Yusuke and the others would be very angry if-"
"How would they ever find out? C'mon." I succeeded this time in pulling her to the cart.

A young man stood behind the cart, and he could be described in no other way but brown. His hair was brown, his eyes were brown, even his mature-looking mustache was brown. It seemed all very plain, yet he did look like a typical vendor, and for this I found no harm.

"Hello, there." I nodded to him in greeting. Yukina smiled sweetly at him. "My friend and I were walking through the park and we couldn't help but...smell....your cart...What is it that you're selling."
The man seemed very pleased to have business, and indicated to a small picture of a strange looking apple, taped to the top portion of his cart.
"Pickled apples..." He said shyly.
"Pickled apples?" I repeated. That sounded quite awful. I couldn't imagine anyone eating that. The man was looking at me very strangely.
"I know what you're thinking." He said to me as he stared at me very intently. This made me paranoid. He could read my mind? See my thoughts? Could he be the demon we were searching for? I began to ready my spirit energy, when he seemed to add something to his previous comment.
"You're a bit skeptical of the idea of pickled apples, right?" His whole demeanor shifted back to that of pleasantry. "I was, too. But when I had my first pickled apple, I was surprised to find that they do taste very good. Please take my word for it, they are good. Many people don't believe so." He looked down, forlornly at his full cart. "I don't get customers very often."

"I believe I'll just have to take your word for it..." I said, a bit uneasy. Yukina had already backed up a few steps to relieve herself of the smell.
"Ten percent of our profit is donated to charity." He was trying to push me into buying an apple. I gave him a sympathetic smile and shook my head no. I did love to help out charity, and my negative decision began to wane as I mulled this over, even as I turned with Yukina, ready to continue on.

"Try it before you decide you don't like it!" He called after me.
This made me turn around.
"What?"
"Well, it's my personal philosophy to try everything once. I mean, you never know until you try it, right?"
I nodded, completely stunned that such a stranger would share a view so similar to mine. "I completely agree!"
He flashed me a smile, and that, no matter how shallow it might sound, won me over. I pulled money from my pocket and purchased one apple. I would have bought one for Yukina, but it was apparent that she found the smell to be too disagreeable.

We thanked him, and went on our way.

Curious and scared, it took me quite some time before I dared to take a bite of the apple. But when I did, I found it was one of the most wondrously delicious things I had ever tasted. An addiction to the apple began to overtake my senses as I continued to eat the fruit. It took all my strength to resist scarfing it down at once, or swallowing it whole. I wanted to savor the flavor, and vowed to myself that I would have to remember that cart the next time I was at the park.

Poor Yukina, I did feel bad for her, though. She was forced to hold her sleeve over her nose as we continued our patrol, the overpowering aroma of my apple too intense for her sensitive sense of smell.

We continued on nonetheless, making our way around the southern portion of the park, heading up toward the east section.

Kuwabara was very proud of himself. He had thought to bring Walkie-talkies today. He had given one to Hiei, so that the two of them could split up and tackle the West and South parts of the park separately.
And good riddance, too. Kuwbara thought to himself. It sure as hell beats having to deal with the shrimp.

They had decided that Hiei would venture around the west, and Kuwabara, the south.

Kuwabara had just finished checking his assigned area, and everything seemed to be pretty normal.

He picked up his own walkie-talkie and contacted Hiei.

"Hey, half-pint. Anything weird up your way?"
"No, fool. It's safe to say that my area is all clear. Is there anything suspicious in your section?"

Kuwabara took a moment to answer. He was about to give a hearty 'Nope!' when he began to choke on a very bad smell. He looked around anxiously, attempting to figure out the cause of the smell. Upon seeing the vendor nearby, more particularly, what he was selling, he gagged.

"Fool? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Hiei." Kuwabara choked out. He then began to pant heavily, unaware that he had been holding his breath.
"What's wrong with your breathing?"
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just some weird vending cart. Pickled apples." Kuwabara nearly felt the bile rising in his throat again.
There was an eerie silence on the other line.
"Purchase one." A concerned voice pleaded on the other end.

Kuwabara put the waklie-talkie back in his pocket, purchased an apple, and then walked a safe distance away from the vendor.
"Okay, Hiei. I did it."
"Use your heightened spirit awareness to detect if there is anything strange about the apple...aside from its edible nature."

Kuwabara examined the apple, finding, at first, that there was nothing more to it than the apple itself and the disgusting attributes that made it a pickled apple. Pushing his concentration to the limit, he found that there was something more. It was a substance unlike any he'd ever encountered before. Because of this, he was unable to determine whether or not it was harmful... but he could discern one thing...it was a very powerful substance. This alone was enough cause for concern.

"...Hiei..." He quickly and clumsily picked up the walkie-talkie. "The apple seems normal, but there's something more to it. I can't exactly identify what it is, but I can say that.... it's laced with something...."

:D

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