(Goggles at hit count for this fic.) Sheesh; I hadn't realized it had gotten so high…

Thanks so much everyone for the support and reviews. You keep me inspired. I was just thinking while reading the reviews for chapter ten…I have the best reviewers in the entire world. (Hugs and love for everyone!) Sniff. Sorry for becoming all mushy. Sniff sniff.

It was a full two days before Hiei would even admit out loud that Kurama had gone. During those two days, while he glared and sulked and made himself even more unpleasant than usual, Yusuke, Botan, and even Kuwabara hunted around Dai'shaal for signs of anyone who had seen Kurama before he had gone missing.

He had not even gone to the people he was supposed to question the day he had vanished. Hiei and Yusuke could very well have been the last to see him.

"Maybe it wasn't his choice." Yusuke said reasonably one night as Hiei huddled close to him in the bed and insisted that Kurama would not have left him.

"Gossip moves around Dai'shaal more freely than the breeze." The small demon had answered with a halfhearted snort. "Had someone attempted to take my fox he would have fought back and someone would have seen it." He rose up, peering down at Yusuke. Even in the darkness Yusuke could see something in his eyes that frightened him.

Without Kurama, Hiei was…lost.

"Have you offered anyone money for information?" He asked, hope in his voice. He was like a child alone in the night – frightened and alone and grasping for any comforting thought.

Yusuke looked away, unable to meet those expectant, frightened eyes. "Nobody's seen anything." He whispered. He had offered money. He had offered more than money. It wasn't like their investigation, where the people were too frightened to answer questions – the people just didn't know.

He felt Hiei staring at him for a long stretch of time before the small demon rose.

"Useless." He heard in the darkness.

Hiei left that night without another word.

"We're sending in three separate teams to look for Kurama, and an additional team to finish your case." Botan said as they walked side-by-side down the streets of Dai'shaal. "Yusuke; you and Hiei and Kuwabara need to go back to the human world. We've got a transport set up for tomorrow."

Yusuke paused to ask a group of children about Kurama before bothering to answer her. It was with some worry Botan noticed the drawn look to his face, the dark circles under his eyes.

"Kuwabara should go home. But Hiei won't and neither will I. Kurama is ours."

She shook her head. She should have known Yusuke would be pigheaded about it.

"You're too closely involved because he's your friend. You can't be involved in the case."

"Why the hell not?"

"Look, we just can't have you interfering."

Yusuke stopped short, staring incredulously at her.

"Interfere…" His eyes narrowed with realization. "Botan." His voice was quiet, a low, dangerous growl.

Botan sighed.

"Kurama is a convicted criminal, Yusuke. It's easier to forget that because he's a member of your team, but the entire reason he fights with you is to avoid jail time. It looks to spirit world like he ran away to get out of his punishment."

"So when they find him…"

"He'll be treated like a criminal." She nodded. "At least until it can be proven that he didn't run away."

"Kurama wouldn't run away." Yusuke growled, unconsciously mirroring Hiei.

"I know that, Yusuke, but there's nothing either of us can do about it!" She was getting annoyed now. It was so difficult to have patience when dealing with the quick-tempered spirit detective. "The best thing we can do is let the investigators do their job and find him. I'm sure that if you and I testify, he won't see any jail time but there's nothing we can do for him until they find him." She reached out and touched him arm, surprised at how upset he appeared. She hadn't realized they were so close. "There's really no other choice, Yusuke. Fighting this will only do more harm than help. Tomorrow we'll send you home and…"

"And what?" He asked with a humorless laugh. "Wait?"

"I'm sorry."

Yusuke stared at nothing for a long moment before, abruptly, his features smoothed themselves out. He looked at Botan and smiled.

"I guess there's no point in continuing to look around town when I know there's a team coming in, huh?"

"No, there's not." She answered, surprised by how calm he had grown.

"Thanks, Botan. What time will the transport come tomorrow?"

"I'll come to fetch you boys at ten."

He nodded. "Right. Thanks then."

Yusuke entered the inn room, mind full of so many thoughts that he knew he was going to have to sit down if he was ever to sort through them all. He looked up to find Hiei already in the room, pacing back and forth before the window. Somewhere, Yusuke was surprised to see him. A part of him thought the small demon had already left to look for Kurama himself.

Yusuke was so preoccupied, however, that the part of him that was surprised was very, very far away.

But he knew, without even thinking about it, that he had to tell Hiei what Botan had said.

And what he had decided.

"I have something to tell you."

Yusuke blinked, closing his mouth, surprised that Hiei had been the one to speak first.

"Sit down, detective."

Still silent, he did as told. A part of him knew it was foolish – that there was something wrong with him that was keeping him strangely detached, but…

Hiei stared at him a long moment before speaking again. Perhaps he, too, was surprised by how mildly Yusuke had taken his order. Or perhaps he was rethinking his decision to confide in the young human. Whatever it was, after a few moments of close scrutiny, he abruptly turned away to face the window again.

"The tallest building of Dai'shaal is the bank." He stated, back to Yusuke. He was so tense, so stiff. "And, as it is a demon town, there are no electronics to pose interference." He sighed, a heavy, tired sound. "I was there all last night and for most of the day, searching."

He was silent for a long moment.

"Hiei?"

The small demon turned back to him, a light in his eyes.

"I found a trail." He said triumphantly.

Yusuke stood. He couldn't breathe.

"You…?"

"It's very, very faint, but I found it. I wouldn't have returned until I did."

Yusuke was hugging Hiei, and he didn't know how it had happened. Hiei's arms were tight around him, his small body trembling from the effort not to cry.

"We're going to find him." He whispered fiercely.

Yusuke was actually the first to pull away. "But he's only been gone a few days." He stated. "Shouldn't his trail be…fresh?"

"Someone tried to cover it up." Hiei stated, crossing his arms and looking away. "They did a good job at it, too. Like they knew we would be searching with jagan."

This made cold rush down Yusuke's spine. Hastily he explained what Botan had told him, dread growing with each word that spilled from his mouth.

"Do you think it's possible?" He asked at last.

"That Kurama would have run away? No. He would have seen such a thing as more cowardly than cunning. And even if that were not true – he would not have left without me." Hiei's eyes blazed, red as blood, so full of belief because he had to believe. He couldn't allow himself even the smallest doubt.

"You're right. At least, that's what I think, too." Yusuke answered quietly. "So what do you think happened?"

"Someone or something got to him – and they caught him by surprise, because there was no struggle. They knew I was with him, and so they went to a lot of trouble to hide his trail from me. The bastards took him away and expected to get away with it."

"Can't allow that, can we?" Yusuke attempted a grin, but Hiei glared him down. "What do we do then?" He whispered.

"I'm going to go after him. Whatever you do is none of my concern." He stared at Yusuke a moment before sighing. "That was an invitation, detective."

"It was?"

"Are you coming with me or not?"

"Of course I am."

"Good, then - ." Kuwabara entered the room and Hiei fell silent, glaring. He waited until the large human was on the other side of the room, rooting through the mini fridge, before fisting a hand in Yusuke's shirt and pulling him down so that his lips could easily reach the human boy's ear. "We leave tonight." He hissed. "Do not tell Botan and do not tell the oaf. Only bring what you can carry; I will come for you once the oaf is asleep."

He released Yusuke with a violent shove, so that the dark haired boy fell backwards and hit the ground with an oath. Without another word, he turned and stalked from the room.

"Guess the honeymoon's over." Kuwabara commented with a snicker.

Dark like liquid velvet caressed every object in the room like the hand of a lover as a lone figure slipped in through the window and moved silently to the bed, where a young man slept fitfully by himself.

He gazed down at the figure a long moment before covering the young man's mouth with his hand.

The darkness made his chocolate brown eyes appear much, much deeper as they snapped open, staring up into twin rubies.

The intruder held a finger to his own lips, and the young man nodded. The intruder moved away and the young man sat up, pulling back the covers to reveal he was still dressed. Just as silently as his companion, he picked up a backpack full of supplies and slung it over his shoulder.

Through the darkness, the two slipped past the figure snoring loudly on the couch and walked out the door.

A derisive snort, an ostentatious roll of the eyes.

"Don't eat so fast, detective. There's no telling how long these supplies will have to last us – and spirit world won't be restocking us."

Yusuke didn't bother to swallow his food before answering.

"What does me eating fast have to do with anything?" He demanded sourly.

"Eating too fast causes indigestion. Besides, if you eat like that you won't feel as full when it's gone."

"I didn't know you cared." The human boy answered sarcastically.

"Don't blame me when your stomach is empty and there's nothing left. Trust me; no human can live off the kind of food found in the demon plane."

Yusuke looked at him before slowly and deliberately licking his spoon, holding Hiei's eyes all the while.

The truth was, Hiei didn't care how fast his companion ate. The small demon had rationed out their food supplies carefully enough to make it last quite a while. If they began to run low, he would resort to demon fare and let Yusuke take the rest of the human provisions.

The truth was, he had just wanted an excuse to speak to the young man. They had been traveling together for nearly a week now, and had barely spoken at all. They slept side by side in each other's arms – neither willing nor ready to be alone at night, due to some vulnerability both suddenly felt but neither would speak of – but other than that they had been ignoring each other.

Still, what was there to talk about with the human? Hiei's need to tease and embarrass him had died down with Kurama's disappearance; it just didn't feel right without his fox there, smiling and advising him on how to most quickly worm his way under the human's skin.

Besides…

Kurama was the only one Hiei had ever been with romantically. The fox did not know this and, in fact, Hiei had spent a considerable amount of time producing sufficient evidence that this was not true, but the fact still remained. Hiei had never trusted anyone else enough for that sort of thing. Not only that, but he had never wanted anyone else.

Until Yusuke Urameshi.

Damn it.

Silence passed between them once again.

Finally Yusuke spoke.

"Spiky haired punk."

Despite himself, Hiei began to smirk.

"Ignorant human." He answered.

"Three-eyed freak."

"Incompetent fool."

The two looked at each other, Hiei's smirk so large it was nearly a smile, Yusuke's grin splitting his face. Later, neither would be quite certain who had begun to laugh first.

Stars dotted the inky black sky above them, and were it not for the three gleaming moons visible in this area of the demon plane, Yusuke would have almost been able to convince himself he was back in the human realm.

As Hiei had grudgingly explained, Makai was more different than Yusuke had previously imagined. Unlike the world of humans, where everything was pretty uniform and influenced only by weather and average temperatures, in the demon realm areas would often change drastically within a few steps of entering a new Climate. Few Climates were mapped out by spirit world but, as Hiei had explained, they would range from looking identical to the human world to so alien as to be "beyond your pitiful capacity for imagination." There were some Climates where no sun or moon existed, others where they were around in multitude. Some had no gravity, some extra. Some Climates were completely liquid, some upside-down, some eternally dark. Hiei had seemed to like the subject; he had spoken of it for a long time.

Well, anything to get their minds off of…

Each night before bed Hiei would go off on his own, remove his headband, and begin the search for Kurama's trail. Some days it was clear and shining, others he had to search for a long time to find it, to make certain that they were still going in the right direction.

They had been lucky in two things. Firstly, whoever had Kurama was not making many unexpected turns, making following them easy. Secondly, they had not yet run into anyone from Spirit World.

Yusuke didn't care what the consequences would be for their going against orders to search for Kurama. As far as he was concerned, if they were arrested, they could just share a cell.

So walking during the day, a jagan search at twilight, and the nights spent cuddled in each other's arms under the stars.

The last had happened without discussion, to which Yusuke was glad. The last thing he needed at the moment was to go back to struggling through his feelings for the small demon. A discussion on what they were doing and why was the last thing he needed.

Besides, Yusuke told himself – for some reason feeling the need to defend himself to himself – it wasn't as if they were going anything wrong. Neither felt right without the presence of the vibrant fox which they had both grown so accustomed to. There was something comforting and innocent in cuddling up next to Hiei at night.

At least it kept him from being quite so lonely.

"Do you know of how the fox and I met?" Hiei asked quietly, voice ringing out in the stillness of the night.

"You mentioned something about seeing him on a street in Dai'shaal." Yusuke answered, a little surprised his companion would volunteer information. Then again, Hiei seemed to need to talk every once in a while. No doubt his thoughts had been on Kurama and the hole now left in their lives as well. "That's all I know."

Hiei shifted behind him, cuddling close. "He had decided to tell you…"

"I know. We just never got the time."

"When I first saw Kurama he was entering a brothel. He lived and worked there." Hiei was silent a moment. Perhaps he was waiting for Yusuke to say something. Perhaps he was merely struggling with his memories.

Yusuke fought to stay silent, unwilling to interrupt.

"Our relationship began that day, though we did not become lovers for many years afterwards. I came to see him whenever I passed through Dai'shaal. Then one day I decided…One of his customers had hurt him, and I knew he could no longer stay there. Blood ran in rivers the night I chose to steal him away."

Another long stretch of silence. Yusuke realized belatedly that Hiei had finished his tale.

"So that's the big secret then? Kurama used to be a - ?"

"Don't say it." Hiei warned sharply, voice a dangerous growl against the back of his neck. "Whatever his occupation, Kurama was never - !"

"I know."

Hiei shifted against him again, arm tightening.

"He's been a part of my life for so long…"

"What did you do when…?"

"When what?"

"When he died?"

Hiei was silent for so long Yusuke thought he had decided not to answer. But finally he spoke.

"I thought he was dead, just like everyone else." He answered grudgingly.

"You must have been devastated."

"It's none of your business, now is it, detective?"

"Sorry. But you found him again, so…"

"I came to the human realm hunting a demon who I had heard had killed someone whose description matched my sister's. I didn't even recognize Kurama until he gave me his name…then I knew. The strange human boy I had found with demonic powers was my fox, and it didn't matter how or why."

"Have you told him?"

"Told him what?"

"That you're in love with him."

Hiei kicked him. "Stop being stupid and go to sleep."

"I think you should tell him. When we get him back."

Another kick, this one sharper.

"You first."

(Z)

To Be Continued

Hmm…a minor catch. The plotline for this arc has changed a little, and so the events leading up to the eventual "hook-up" must as well, meaning I won't be able to use a lot of the old stuff…and I was really fond of some of it. Ah well. I'm going to have to be super careful not to go to fast though…Ah! The Pressure has returned!

As I stated before, I'm trying to toggle my updates to make life easier. It may be three weeks before I can update again. Sorry, but be patient with me! I don't want to risk burning out and disapearing for a few years again!

Response to Unsigned Reviews:

kit-kit - Poor Kurama...hmmm...what happened to him? What indeed...

Abi - LOL. Anything I can do to help!