Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Chapter 2

The plants had retreated, leaving no mark of their passing. The chairs and table remained undisturbed, although the paper was now blank, its letters having faded with the conclusion of the game. Three soulless bodies still stood on one side of the table, their souls lined up on the other side, as if mocking them.

Kaito, a deep emerald green soul resting above his outstretched hand, stood staring blankly in front of him. He didn't move when Yana came up behind him.

"Four souls? I guess that means you defeated them, huh? But... where's the fourth body? Suuichi's body, I believe." He paused, waiting for Kaito to reply. Nothing.

"Kaito?" Yana walked around in front of Kaito. He waved a hand in front of Kaito's face. He didn't so much as flinch.

Yana took out a cell phone, dialed a number, then put it to his ear.

"Master Genkai? I think we might have a problem."

~*~

Two hours later, Genkai had managed to find out what had taken place earlier. Although Kaito had no clue what those events meant, Genkai had realized immediately what had happened. She gave Kaito instructions to replace the souls in their respective bodies and then bring everyone to the third floor where Yuusuke was being held by Kiddo. As Suuichi's body was not here, nor soulless, Kaito was to keep Suuichi's soul in his possession for the time being. They weren't sure what would happen if it were to be released and Genkai didn't want to risk losing him. Genkai herself went up to keep Yuusuke from killing Kiddo when he was freed.

Kaito directed Hiei's, Botan's, and Kuwabara's souls all back to their bodies, keeping Suuichi's soul safely in his hand. Genkai had given him strict instructions that no harm was to come to that soul. Kaito didn't want to think of her punishment, should he fail in this task.

Hiei was the first to come to his senses. He looked around, getting his bearings and assessing the situation. Botan, however, was the first to speak.

"What happened?" she asked.

Kaito, having somewhat recovered from his encounter with Youko earlier, answered her. "You all spoke the taboo word, thus your souls were removed from your bodies."

"Then why are we all standing here, now?" This question was posed, somewhat sarcastically, by Hiei.

"The game is over. While I did not lose, my master requested your souls be returned to your bodies. There have been... complications and I was instructed to bring you to the third floor, where your friend is being held," Kaito explained, turning to go.

The others began to follow until Kuwabara realized something. "Hey, guys, where's Kurama?"

Hiei was cognizant of Kurama's absence, but hadn't thought anything of it. The kitsune was more than able to take care of himself, after all.

It was Botan who noticed the soul still hovering above Kaito's hand. Didn't Kaito just say he didn't lose the game? "Kaito-- whose soul is that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer. Hiei's head jerked up at her words.

Kaito looked back at them, a bored expression on his face. "If you must know, it's Suuichi's."

"Where's his body? Both Hiei's and Kuwabara's bodies stayed here when they said 'hot'-- oops!" Botan covered her mouth, her eyes widening. Not again! she thought, waiting for her soul to be captured.

Kaito smirked. "I changed the taboo word. It's quite safe to say 'hot,'" he explained.

"What did you do with the kitsune's body?" Hiei's cold voice demanded.

Kaito turned to look down at the diminutive fighter. Hiei looked as if he were ready to pounce and beat the information out of the teenager. Kaito smirked, superiorly. "How should I know? I never touched his body," he said, again walking toward the door that led to the upper levels.

A shield flared to life behind him, with a resounding thump as a body was thrown back, connecting with the wall. Looking over his shoulder, Kaito saw Hiei glaring up at him from his place on the floor. "My, you have a short memory. You're still in my territory. No violence is permitted in here. Now, if you are done wasting time, I believe your questions will be answered by my master, who's waiting for you on the third floor."

The group, albeit somewhat reluctantly, fell into step behind Kaito, wary of any more traps.

~*~

They encountered no more traps, but were very surprised when they reached the third floor.

"Genkai?!" Botan and Kuwabara both chorused in disbelief. Who would've thought that she was involved in this?

Yuusuke looked up as they came in. "Hey, guys! Wait-- where's Kurama?" he asked, looking around to make sure he hadn't missed the redhead.

"That's what we would like to know," Hiei replied, looking pointedly at Genkai.

The old woman looked at each of them in turn before addressing them as a group. "You may be wondering what's going on here. In short, this was a test of sorts, which you all failed-- miserably, I might add. Yes, Yuusuke, that includes you," she added, before he could phrase the question.

"Oh, come on. I never would have been captured if I'd known what kind of lame-o power he had," Yuusuke said, waving it off.

"Are you stupid enough to think an enemy will give away that kind of information?!" Genkai practically yelled. Her student could be so dense sometimes. Seeing she had his attention, she continued in a normal voice. "If you get captured, you're as good as dead. If you remember nothing else, remember that!"

"Don't avoid the question by changing the subject. Everyone else's souls were returned, why not Kurama's? And where is his body, for that matter?" Hiei asked, neglecting to mention that he was part of the group to have their souls returned.

Genkai turned her attention to the fire demon. "Something went wrong in the first test. While I expected everyone to lose their soul except Kurama, I didn't realize he would be fighting two battles at the same time."

"Two battles? But I thought you couldn't fight in that dude's territory," Kuwabara said, pointing at Kaito.

"Not physically, no. However, Kurama and Kaito were engaged in a battle of wits," Genkai clarified for Kuwabara.

"But that's still only one battle," Yuusuke pointed out.

"Yes, and there was no one else in the room, except him," Botan said, pointing at Yana. "Was he the other person Kurama was fighting? That's no fair, ganging up on Kurama like that!" she said, scolding Kaito and Yana.

"No, Botan, they didn't gang up on him. The second was a battle of wills, waged between the two halves of Kurama's personality," Genkai explained.

"Two halves of his personality?" Kuwabara echoed, confused.

"Yes. Two souls reside in Kurama's body, each making up half of his personality. One soul is that of Suuichi and the other is Youko Kurama. I believe that normally the souls balance each other out, with neither having complete dominance over the other. The end result is the Kurama that each of you know. From what Kaito said happened, it sounds as if Suuichi and Youko were battling for dominance. Suuichi was winning, but he made a taboo sound. His soul was captured and removed from his body, as per the rules in Kaito's territory. After that, Kaito said that Suuichi's body changed to that of Youko. I'm not sure what he said exactly, but he does not want Suuichi's soul back in the body. He finally got his demon form back, and I believe he wants to pick up and continue his old life where he left off."

To Be Contunied