Thanks for the feedback. :3 It's appreciated! Here's the next part.

This chapter was a challenge to write because describing action is hard for me at times. And this chapter is filled with it(though so are the previous ones, this story is kinda fast-paced.) This one's also more violent than the others, just so you know.

One thing I wanted to point out is that there won't be any characters from the Chapter Black saga and onwards. Even though this story takes place in Makai, Mukuro and Yomi won't be in it. The idea is to make the Reikai Tantei the big ancestors of demon world. It's like Yusuke is Raizen(takes his place), instead of him coming from the human world and going through all that. Hard to explain. xD Hopefully you'll see what I mean later. (Keiko's counterpart would be the un-named doctor lady, by the way.)

Please let me know if there's something I need to improve on. I don't have a beta(trying to work on that problem), but I did my best to pick out any mistakes.

Enjoy!


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Chapter Three- The Search Begins

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"Run this by me again, you did what?"

Shizuru Kuwabara leaned back against the wall, a skeptical expression on her face. She watched Botan and Keiko attempt to explain themselves. Her eyes narrowed in disapproval, light brown hair tossed over her shoulder. "That's stupid and reckless. You could have gotten yourselves killed!"

"I know I know!" Botan said, her voice slightly squeaky. She expected go get a lecture and maybe a pop on the head from Shizuru. "And we're very sorry, but we had to do something!"

Still, the bluette believed that going to Shizuru's place was a better plan than running home and waking a wrathful Shuichi. She could persuade her to make up some excuse as to why her and Keiko weren't home in the morning, and say Yukina came from a neighboring village. Well, maybe. Fate had been on their side so far.

"She was being tortured." Keiko said calmly, sitting back against the wall, keeping her distance from Shizuru. "We couldn't ignore that, I mean..."

"Yeah well, since when is it your job to rescue people?" she replied. Shizuru crossed her arms and walked over to Botan, glaring down at the younger girl. "If either of you ever do something that stupid again I swear I'm gonna..."

She stopped, looking past her and at Yukina. She had settled next to Keiko, sitting with her legs tucked underneath her. She kept quiet during the whole argument, studying them with those calm ruby eyes.

Shizuru's angry demeanor melted. "Hey. Is Keiko right? Were people hurting you?"

Yukina lifted her gaze, lips turning into a polite smile. "Yes. And I'm sorry that I put your friends in danger, I tried to warn them not to rescue me...but-"

"Oh well I don't mean it that way. No offense to you, it's just..." she paused, rethinking her words. "Actually, we're glad you're here with us. Sorry I'm being so rude."

"You're not. It's nice to meet you."

She smiled. "Likewise."

Shizuru turned around, facing the hall that led to her brother's room. It was pitch black outside, and all the windows were shut tightly. Candles lit up the darkest of corners, casting shadows across the wall, giving the house an sleepy, comforting atmosphere. "Kazuma! Get out here, we've got guests."

There was a faint shuffling sound, followed by a loud groan. Someone stomped down the hall like an angry bear, and soon a young man appeared in the doorway. He was tall and bulky, with a bright patch of orange hair on his head. His eyelids drooped with sleep. "Who the heck visits this late in -- oh. Hey you guys."

"Evening Kuwabara." Keiko said. "Sorry to wake you."

"Kuwabara, this is Yukina." Botan said, gesturing towards the girl. "She's uh, new here."

Yukina gave him the same look she had shown Shizuru. "Hello, nice to meet you."

Kuwabara's brown eyes turned to her. "How's it-" His jaw dropped, as if an unseen forced suddenly slapped him in the face.

A baffled look crossed Yukina's features. She bowed low, thinking she had somehow offended him. Her green kimono shifted with her when she moved, framing her petite figure, like a butterfly wrapped in velvet.

He stared, not bothering to blink.

Shizuru coughed loudly.

She snapped him from his daze. He straighted up, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "S-sorry, where're my manners? Yukina was it? I'm Kuwabara, but you can call me Kazuma." He flashed her a wide grin. "Are you from the neighboring village?"

Yukina blinked, a nervous smile at her lips. "Um..."

Keiko held in a giggle, and Shizuru rolled her eyes. "Little brother, you're an idiot."

Kuwabara scowled, swinging around to face his sister. "C'mon, I'm being nice."

"Right. Well please don't make a fool out of yourself." She grumbled, then directed her attention to Yukina, who watched them both with a perplexed expression. "We don't get many visitors, as you can tell."

Her smile brightened. "It's ok. You all seem nice to me."

Kuwabara dropped down next to Shizuru, eyes still straying to Yukina. Botan laughed to herself, amused by the situation. Keiko studied the flame of a candle, chewing her bottom lip, the light catching the auburn shades in her hair.

She had to know. "Not to kill the mood of the conversation, but..." Keiko whispered, placing a hand on Yukina's shoulder. "Why were you held up in that awful place?"

Botan's eyes flashed, but she said nothing.

Yukina didn't wince, nor did her facade falter in the slightest. Keiko's question had been floating in the air all evening. "I was captured a long time ago."

Kuwabara frowned. "Captured? What're you talking about?"

Shizuru nudged him. "I'll tell you later, alright."

"Where do you come from? I mean...why would anyone want to take you?" Keiko pressed.

"My tears," she gingerly touched the corners of her eyes, "are valuable to some. I didn't know this when I left my village, but the pearls of ice apparitions are sought after by youkai and humans." She sighed. "Some bandits found me and took me prisoner, and I've been locked up there ever since."

"Ice apparition?" Shizuru quirked an eyebrow.

Keiko cringed. "So you're not..human?" she asked, removing her hand from her shoulder.

Yukina peered at her with mild surprise. "Why would you think that I was? I'm a youkai."

A startled silence filled the room. Everyone fixed a heavy gaze on her, and the friendly faces suddenly became serious. It was as if she has uttered a shocking taboo.

Keiko swallowed her natural fear, her expression slipping into one of caution. "You're a demon?"

"You don't act like one." Shizuru pointed out.

"You don't look like one." Kuwabara said.

Yukina fiddled with her kimono sleeve. "But aren't my features unnatural to humans?"

"That's true, but look at Botan. Her hair's blue, and she's human." Shizuru said.

"Y-yeah!" Botan chirped, plastering a fake smile on her lips. The sudden attention on her made her jump. She had been keenly listening to the conversation, noting every word spoken. Hope no one noticed her hesitation.

They didn't, all eyes were on Yukina. Kuwabara leaned forward. "You can't be a youkai. Youkai are big nasty monsters, and you aren't any of those things."

"Some of them are bad, yes, but not all. I come from a village of youkai women, and we don't go around killing humans or fighting each other. We live in peace."

"Are you a youkai human mix then?"

Keiko gaped at him. "That's not possible. Who would..."

Kuwabara shrugged. "I dunno, I've heard stories."

Botan spoke up suddenly. "So you don't have anything against humans?"

Yukina looked away, disregarding their judgment. She couldn't blame them for it. Humans were treated so badly here. "No. There are good and evil ones, just like there are good and bad youkai. Humans and youkai held me captive, so in my eyes they're the same."

The room became quiet again. Her words sunk into everyone's thoughts, cooling down their curiosity and bringing sympathy back up to the surface.

"We're the good ones." Kuwabara said, holding his hands out as if to comfort her. "Sorry that you've been hurt, but we're not like that. Please don't hate us."

She caught the sincere tone in his voice. "I know that. After all, Botan and Keiko saved me." she beamed at him. "It's okay."

"And we know you're not like..most youkai." Keiko said, giving her a cool smile. "We're glad you're safe."

"Thank you."

Shizuru let out a long breath. "Now that that's over with...come over here Yukina, we've got to bandage those wounds. Keiko and Botan, you two get yourselves cleaned up, you can borrow some of my clothes."

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"I think we killed all of 'em."

Hiei swung a burning gaze to Yusuke, his lips pulled back into a snarl. "I don't understand, she should have been here! She was here, dammit how did we miss her?!"

Yusuke examined a cut on his fist, ignoring the aching wounds on his side. "Maybe she escaped," he said, "she couldn't have gone too far."

The demons stood in a ruined castle, a section of one wall destroyed, the broken bodies of men and youkai visible to the outside forest. The smell of meat and blood hung so thick in the air that they could taste it. Yusuke grimaced at the flavor of copper on his tongue.

"She's definitely not here, anyway." he said.

Hiei removed the bandanna around his forehead and closed his eyes. A pulse of power echoed throughout the room as his Jagan eye opened, it's iris a glowing splash of violet.

Yusuke frowned. "I thought you couldn't find her with that."

"They had her sealed up with some kind of sutra, but not anymore."

His third eye gave out another wave of energy before it revealed the images to him. He saw the thick woods and empty plateaus that made up this region. He saw numerous, unnamed youkai blundering through the distant mountains. Nothing useful.

Hiei's forehead ached as he waited, but the vision of his sister finally brought the images to a halt.

"She's in a neighboring village."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. One had to poke and prod to get an informative conversation out of Hiei. "Great, lets go then! Can't stand here forever you know, my attention span's limited."

Hiei's Jagan closed shut as his eyes fluttered open. "Something's not right, I can't pinpoint her exact location."

"What, your Yukina senses aren't tingling?"

He sent him an angry look. "This isn't something to make jokes about."

Yusuke ignored the glare and wiped a smudge of sticky liquid off his own cheek. He never liked Hiei's cut and slash technique, it was too messy. "There shouldn't be many villages around here. We can search a few, find her then leave."

"You know it doesn't work that way." he said, wrapping his bandanna back around his head. "We'll wipe out any vermin too."

Yusuke opened his mouth in a reply, but closed it, rethinking his words. "Yeah, about that..."

A pained groan sounded to their right. They turned to face the noise, their eyes widening when they saw its source. "Oh. I forgot he was still alive." Yusuke remarked, shrugging. "He hurt your girlfriend, so I guess you can do the honors."

"She's not my girlfriend." Hiei snapped, eyes locked on the dying man.

He slinked over to him, the way a wolf walks to it's wounded prey. The man lay flat on his back, fists clenched in pain. His entire body began quivering at Hiei's approach, fat lips choking on air like a fish out of water.

Yusuke leaned against the wall, eyes distant and face turned away. Having to listen to the carnage was bad enough.

Hiei drew his sword downwards, stopping an inch from the man's neck. "Any last words before I cut your throat?"

The man shook violently, his eyes rolling back into his head.

"Hn, I didn't think so." Hiei pressed the blade further down until it pierced skin, then swung it sideways with full force, cutting the bone and severing the head from the shoulders. An ugly slick sound echoed loudly as liquid hit the floor.

Hiei stared at the dead man, gripping the sword so tight that it sent surges of pain through his fingers. He had done it. He killed the source of his sister's suffering. Yet he felt no better, the hate was still there. Why?

"There's a village uphill from here." He told Yusuke after a moment. "Look for her, turn the place upside down and I'll catch up to you tomorrow night. I'll search the one up in the mountains."

Yusuke peered at him, all humor gone from his face. "Do I need to summon the crew for a raid?"

"Not yet. Wait until tomorrow."

Yusuke scowled. "How am I supposed to find her? I don't know what she looks like. You failed to tell me those details."

Hiei fixed a heavy stare on him, but Yusuke caught his hesitation. "She's an...ice maiden. Long green hair, pretty features, red eyes. Don't forget it."

With that he was gone, seeming to flit away back into the shadows.

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"This wild goose chase is getting old! I mean I wonder if that girl even exists. Maybe I'm running after a figment of his warped imagination." Yusuke grumbled to himself, smacking leaves away from his face as he made his way towards the village.

He stomped through the underbrush of the forest. The pink tint of morning hung over the horizon, the rising sun chasing away the darkness. Yusuke concealed his powerful demon energy in the hope that some clueless youkai would pick a fight with him. He was tired, irritated, and in the mood for a good brawl.

But not a good murder. He cringed despite himself. He knew that the bastard had deserved it in the end, but watching Hiei's cold apathy towards slaughtering a human had been disturbing in so many ways.

Personally he'd rather use his fist to knock the hell out of some demon. Not a human, it wasn't a fair fight. He couldn't blame Hiei for doing what he did, though.

He stopped, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind. A devious smile eased across his face as he waited.

A snarling youkai sprang out from the bushes. "Food!" It growled out in a rough, calloused voice, lunging towards him with giant claws. "I'll kill you!"

Yusuke's smile busted into an all out grin as he grabbed the creature by the wrist, avoiding it's claws and nearly jerking the arm out of it's socket. "You wanna fight me then?"

The youkai let out a scream. "No, no forgive me I thought you were human!"

Yusuke dropped the demon and it fell to the ground with a thump. It gaped up at him with big yellow eyes, trying to make itself as small as possible. It's snout was a mess of teeth and blood. Yusuke sneered. "Didn't know I was a youkai huh?" he said, frowning. "And..what the hell happened to your nose?"

The demon backed up, creeping out of his way. "Two armed human women." It growled.

Yusuke threw his hands up in exasperation. "Girls! The source of everyone's problems these days!" He sighed. "Seriously, am I the only one who's not driven crazy by some chick? Get lost gecko, you're too puny to beat up anyway."

It slithered into the bushes and took off, disappearing into the forest. Yusuke watched it go, his mind drifting once again. He shook his head, his thick hair brushing against his back. He sneaked down the hill, unmasking his demon energy in a vague warning to the village. "Here we go again." He whispered.

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Yukina's eyes snapped open. She bolted upright in her futon, her hands quivering in fear.

She had been locked in a deep sleep, finally able to rest knowing that she was safe. No bandit lurked behind to harm her when she was helpless. Bandages covered the scars and burns on her arms, a clean kimono on her back.

But something had jarred her awake. Danger tugged at an invisible string, sounding the bell of alarm in her head. She sensed that only someone ridiculously powerful could carry that much energy, and they probably weren't friendly.

She reached out and tapped Shizuru, who lay less than a foot away. "Miss Shizuru, please." She shook her, trying to rose her from her sleep. "You have to wake up, we need to get out of here."

The brunette rolled over and blinked, waiting for recognition to sink in. "Huh?" she groaned, messy hair hanging in her face like a silk certain.

"Someone's coming this way," Yukina persisted, "I don't know who, but they're strong. You need to get everyone someplace safe!"

There was a loud banging on the door. The girls jumped up, startled, immediately searching the room for weapons. Shizuru grabbed a katana that was laying on the floor and walked over to the barrier between them and a possible monster. She listened through the door, completely awake now. Her heart pumped wildly in her chest.

All the noise woke Botan and she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What's 'goin on?"

Yukina pressed her back against the wall, a faint blue aura surrounding her body. The temperature dropped in the room as her panic rose. She feared the bandits found her and were out for revenge. They would slaughter everyone in this little village, and she could do nothing.

"Let me in, it's Shuichi!"

Shizuru dropped the sword, which fell to the ground, forgotten. "Thank god!" She swung the door open. Shuichi and Shiori stood in the entrance-way, still wrapped in their night kimono, holding out a dying candle. Shadows danced across Shuichi's face, revealing flecks of gold in his eyes. His mother looked worried, her brows drawn up in sadness and her dark hair falling out of its braid.

"Are you trying to scare the hell out of us?" Shizuru yelled, but stopped when she noticed his stern expression. Her blood ran cold. "What's wrong?"

"We need to head for the forest, something nasty is coming this way." Shuichi warned, his voice eerily calm. "Have you seen Keiko and-"

He spotted Botan in the corner. She cringed, but gave him a sheepish smile. "Um. Hi." She rose her hand as if to wave, then dropped it back to her side.

"How did you-" He rubbed his temples, letting out a great sigh. "You know what, never mind, we don't have time."

Kuwabara appeared in the room. "What's all the yelling about?"

Shizuru yanked her brother to her. He grabbed on to Yukina, pulling her along as everyone crowded together, trudging faithfully behind Shuichi. Botan picked her katana off the floor and sheathed it against her hip.

The ice maiden tapped Kuwabara on the shoulder, ignoring his hard grip on her wrist. It was uncomfortable, but not tight enough to hurt. She could tell that he was terrified, she could almost feel the fear trailing from his hand. "Where're we going?" She asked.

He smiled, but no warmth reached his eyes. "To safety, don't worry."

They hurried past neighboring houses and gardens, meeting a group of villagers standing on the outskirts of the forest. More and more people dribbled into the crowd, toting pets and crying children with them into the woods.

A large cave appeared, standing out among the trees, it's hole a mass of cold darkness. The brown rocks surrounding the entrance were jagged, the ground around it damp and soggy. Every person in the village had seen it before, it was their only source of refuge from attack in times of emergencies.

Groups of four and five creeped into the entrance, a single candle their only guide through the black. The trees blocked the light of morning as families hovered together for comfort. Men and women held onto dull blades and spears, prepared to fight if forced to.

Shiori had a deep frown on her face as she surveyed the members of her own party. She had never seen Yukina before, but she hardly noticed the girl. Something else bothered her. Someone was missing.

"Where's Keiko?"

Everyone whirled around to gape at her, mouths hanging open in shock. "Keiko!" Botan screamed. "I can't believe we didn't notice!"

Shizuru's hands began trembling but she kept a calm voice. "She was..there when we went to bed."

The group erupted into a frenzied conversation, trying to remember where she was last seen and where she could have gone.

Kuwabara cracked his knuckles. "I'll go look for her, we can't leave her out there alone."

"No." Shuichi stopped him, that dark note still laced under his tone. "You stay with the women and protect them here. I'll find her."

No one protested. Shuichi was their best fighter and probably Keiko's only chance. Kuwabara nodded, vowing to defend the girls no matter what.

Shiori tugged on her son's shoulder. "Please be careful." she whispered. "They don't know what's out there. It's a youkai, I don't want to lose you to those monsters."

"Don't worry," he smiled, "I'll be back. Those...monsters, won't harm me."

Botan watched with apprehension, chewing on her nails. How could she not have noticed? "Oh Keiko..."

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She headed home, padding quietly across the rusty landscape, keeping her senses alert to any signs of danger.

Keiko ran a hand through her chestnut color hair, sighing ruefully. She had snuck out of the Kuwabara home to take a walk, despite her better judgment. She couldn't sleep, couldn't dream, and she was tired, both in body and soul. She was on the verge of exhaustion, but still..she couldn't go to bed. Too many things bothered her.

So she had gone out in the wee hours of morning when the moon finally descended along the horizon. She went to her spot on the hill to think. Maybe make some sense why she was feeling so blue. She was never good at picking out her emotions.

Those ruby eyes were kind, but...foreign. Yukina was nice, and she liked her so far. The girl was polite, considerate, and probably more traumatized than Keiko could ever imagine. So she was drawn to her in the way that friends are drawn to one other. Yukina was hurting, and she wanted to help her through the pain.

But it was different. Yukina wasn't human. No matter how she acted or where she came from, she was still an enemy.

She didn't see her that way. That was the problem! She felt guilty sympathizing with someone she should hate. Her parents would surely be disgusted if they saw her helping a demon. Compassion couldn't transcend the boundaries between human and youkai.

Keiko came to a stop when she reached the village. What she saw made her glance around in confusion.

No one was there. The howling wind scraped across empty rooftops.

It was early in the morning, but still..there would be at least a few people moving about between houses. She should hear the happy barking of a dog or the gossiping of neighbors. Yet there was nothing.

Logic screamed at her when the facts finally sunk in. It took her a minute to process what she knew, because she didn't want to believe it. "Shizuru? Botan? Hello?" she called in a hoarse voice.

For the second day in a row terror gripped her senses and refused to let go. And empty village meant a youkai came through. But there were no bodies or broken buildings. The people must have fled to the forest.

And she was left alone.

She heard footsteps somewhere close. Keiko didn't bother to turn around as she bolted, running as fast as her legs could carry her.

She dove into her house, almost tripping on the porch in the process. Something laughed at her in a deep, predatory voice, the way a cat laughs at a dying mouse. Fury mixed with her fear. Life was only a toy to them, wasn't it?

Keiko slammed the door, bolted up all the locks and ran into a corner. She clutched the katana to her chest, praying to the gods that her friends were safe and that she could survive this.

The door busted open off it's hinges, and Keiko let out an angry cry. "Get away from me!" She was backed in a corner. Her fists, the sword, and her adrenaline the only weapons against a creature that had many ways to kill her.

The dust settled and she forced herself to peek up at the enemy. She couldn't stop the confusion from showing on her features when she found herself staring at a young man. His hair was a black mess down to his knees, with markings thrown across lean muscle.

Her eyes narrowed. No, not a man, a monster.

And he was coming closer.

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Too many damn 'S' names. Shiori Shuichi Shizuru. Bet you can't say that ten times in a row. xD I tried to avoid repetition but it's hard, lol.

Character jabber; included Shizuru because she's almost like a pillar of strength for the girls in the series(especially Keiko). So she'll have an important impact on their emotions later on.

Alot of people love to exclude Kuwabara, but I like him, so he's in there. One can't really cut him out of a story where there are so many supporting characters. He's one of the main ones! It wouldn't make sense. Also I like his relationship with Yukina.

Shiori is important because she keeps Kurama there with the humans. They don't know he's Kurama, obviously, but you readers do. XD He would be on the youkai's side if it weren't for her, so he's hiding out as Shuichi. I'm not exactly sure how to portray Shiori, other than the typical loving mother.

Anyway, thanks for reading! ;3;