A/N: I'm back! Yippee! This is a holiday present for all my fantastic reviewers. Chapter 8 was a huge stumbling block, and the response was heartwarming. I love you all. This one is for you. And this ride is coming to an end, sadly. Probably two more chapters left, one if the epilogue doesn't count. It's time for me to fish around for another project.

Some of this might be confusing. If it is, then I haven't done my job right, so please ask questions. Clarification is my specialty. Okay, maybe I wouldn't go that far...

Enjoy!

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"Why love if losing hurts so much? We love to know that we are not alone."

- C.S. Lewis

The house was so empty it almost seemed to ring with silence. Kurama stood alone in the doorway of the great dining room, eyes unfocused and unseeing. His mind was turned inward. Just the mere thought of Hiei caused him an almost physical pain. It was not something he was used to. Not something he had expected.

He wondered, almost casually, exactly when he had fallen in love. Then found he couldn't pinpoint the exact time or place. He had only realized it once he was too far gone to stop.

And now he had lost that love, and his heart was breaking. There was always a price to be paid after a grand failure. This time he was the one paying.

"Kurama?"

He whirled, startled. Shizuru stood a few feet away, her arm slung around Kuwabara's shoulders. She looked pale, dark circles apparent under her eyes. Still, she offered him a weary smile. He couldn't bring himself to grant her one in return.

"Yes?"

"We're going to take off now. I already brought down food for…her, so you don't have to worry. Tomorrow's Sunday, so we won't be in again until Monday morning." She removed her arm from Kuwabara and took a step forward. "Unless you want us to stay?"

There was an offer, there. Somehow he wasn't surprised she had picked up on the way his thoughts were tangled in and around themselves; Shizuru seemed to know everything.

"No, thank you." He waved a hand casually, forcing a small smile to his lips, "You may go."

They left, and he was alone again. Kurama turned back to the ballroom, his eyes catching on the blue vase that lay cracked on the floor—some overeager partygoer. He had given Shiori that vase as a gift several years ago. He frowned, reaching out to lift it up. His eyes caught on a flash of gold peeking up from the base.

Curious, he turned it over. There was an inscription carved into the ceramic, embossed in gold:

"It is on our failures that we base a new and better success."

He remembered then; it had been just around the time she was diagnosed, but before the doctors had given up on her.

He, Kurama, had vowed never to give up on her. And here he was, moping about Hiei. He had almost forgotten the real reason for it all—and that was unacceptable.

Kurama closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, they were hard as emeralds, and gleamed in the dim light. There was work to be done.

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His limbs were on fire. Yusuke heard the dim murmur of voices from somewhere behind him, but couldn't work up the energy to focus and find out whose they were. He lay on his stomach, face pressing into the damp grass.

Several deep breaths later he forced himself up onto his knees, bringing his hands forward to keep balance. Then, in one excruciating motion, rose up onto his feet. He felt lightheaded for a moment, colors swirling before his eyes.

Knew the only way he had found the strength stand was the fact that Jin was still stooped, a few feet away, in worse shape than he was.

The murmurs sharpened slowly until they became words.

"…owe me."

There was a loud groan, "Jin! Lettin' me down mate!"

"You lost," Touya said smugly. "Pay up."

More grumbling. Yusuke ignored them, and the pain in his neck, as he turned his head to look at Jin.

The redheaded wind master was standing as well, and staring straight forward, a small smile twitching his lips. Yusuke stumbled over and stretched out his hand.

"Good match. Fun. We should do it again some time."

Jin glanced over and smiled more widely. "Yeah."

Their eyes locked, and Yusuke could feel his lips curving upward in return.

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Hiei sat on the windowsill, staring out into the night. There was nothing particularly fascinating about it, but he could tear his eyes away. His mind had settled into a blessed state of numbness. If he moved, it would shatter. And then, then he would be forced to think.

And right now, thinking hurt too much.

He curled his hands into fists, feeling the bite of his nails as they broke the skin of his palms. He wondered when he had become such a coward. The old Hiei wouldn't have backed away from the problem. The old Hiei lived for confrontation.

All he had to do now was find that person again. The Hiei of the past would never have gotten into a situation like this.

But he was here now, and all that was left was to deal with the situation. Quickly, and efficiently. Starting with escape…

Odd. He'd come full circle. Hiei smiled slightly. He had learned from his mistakes. They wouldn't be repeated. Now he knew the ins and outs of the mansion. He knew the people who worked there, where and when.

He knew which ones could aid, albeit indirectly, in his departure and which ones would be nothing but a hindrance.

This time, he would succeed, he thought as he slipped out the door. It closed gently behind him. He eyed the security camera with bland disinterest as he walked past in the direction of stairway. They had grown comfortable enough with him to allow him to wander around the area. One of his excursions had taken him to the ground floor, almost by accident, where he had discovered one crucial fact.

There were no cameras in the basement.

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Touya was whistling as he walked away from the manor. The moon was especially bright that night, but at the moment it was muffled by clouds. No matter—he could see well enough in the dark.

He put his hands into his pockets and felt the brush of coins against his palm. He smiled. Chu and Rinku had paid up what they'd lost, surprisingly without bloodshed. Actually, he was pretty sure the money was all Rinku's. Chu had gone drinking earlier that evening.

He was still reminiscing about the interesting fight when something unexpected hit him behind the knees. He went down, twisting so his head wouldn't crack on the pavement. A steel toed boot found his ribcage violently, and he curled onto his side, wheezing.

"Stupid. You have been very stupid. Not what we expected of you, especially, Touya."

Oh, no. Touya froze. The voice was cold, unforgiving, and all too familiar. He staggered to his feet. They let him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he coughed, a harsh choking sound, and added, "sir."

"Groveling will get you nowhere."

And then his cheek met the concrete, and his vision swam. He realized they had only let him up the first time so they could knock him back down again. A lesson.

"What do you want?"

The shadows shifted, and suddenly his attacker was crouching beside him. "The same thing you did. Information. Who is paying you to spy on our researchers?"

Denial was one of his favorite tactics. He wasn't sure it would work in this particular situation, but it never hurt to try. "I don't know what you're talking about. The doctors hired me to be a pharmaceutical consultant."

A huge hand grabbed a fistful of his hair and slammed his face onto the sidewalk. So maybe attempts could be painful.

"Lying to us is not wise."

Silence was another favorite. After denial failed, of course.

"Neither is avoiding the issue. Very well, I'll rephrase. Why is Kurama paying you to spy on our research?"

They knew too much, Touya realized. That fact chilled him to the bone. But they didn't know enough, yet, to act. Otherwise they wouldn't have been wasting their time trying to beat the truth out of him.

He wasn't fool enough to think he could take on his captors, even were he not dazed and slightly off balance. But he could make sure they wouldn't be getting any information from him tonight. And maybe it would give Kurama enough time. He'd said the operations were ready to go, and if Touya didn't report back by tomorrow morning as promised, his employer would know there had been complications.

Hell, Touya had been expecting complications from the beginning. Everyone wanted something to hold over a powerful, influential, rich-as-Midas heir. It was a surefire ticket to the easy life. Or a way to shatter the easy lives of others.

And that was something men would kill for. Or die to protect.

But Touya didn't feel like dying quite yet. And make no mistake, to betray Kurama's trust in a matter this important would mean death. So he only smiled to himself, and raised his head up as far from the pavement as possible.

The clouds shifted away from the moon, and Touya caught a glimpse of light refracting off a pair of black sunglasses as he smashed his head with as much force as possible back onto the ground.

This time there was no dizziness, or spots before his eyes. The world went immediately black, with the roar of a frustrated predator echoing in his ears. And then he was out cold.

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The door was metal, shiny, and far too modern to belong in the ornate, wallpapered hallway. Hiei knew it wasn't prudent to be so curious about it, but he couldn't help himself. Secrets were made to be discovered, and he wasn't about to leave this one last stone unturned.

He approached the door slowly, and stared calculatingly at the keypad. So he needed a password to get inside.

He touched the door, and it moved slightly. Maybe not. Whoever had been there last had failed to shut the door completely. Too bad for them. He eased open the door and stepped inside, being careful to leave it ajar. Who knew what could happen if he locked himself inside?

"Suichi?"

Hiei whirled, muscles tensing. But it was only a woman, lying in a bed in the far corner. She was sitting up, a tray of food balanced precariously across her blanketed knees. There was a jug of water and a bottle of pills resting on the floor nearby.

"No." Hiei said shortly, striding over to her. "Who are you?"

She regarded him calmly, and gestured toward the chair near her bedside. "I am Shiori. Please, sit down."

Shiori. The name wasn't familiar. But something about her manner was. It reminded him strongly of…Kurama.

"You are Kurama's mother?" The words escaped his lips before he could catch them.

She smiled faintly. "Yes. But I still don't know who you are."

Hiei sat. "It isn't important."

She just looked at him. "It is very important. But you don't need to tell me anything. I think I already know, anyways."

Hiei doubted that, but another look at her expression took away some of his certainty. "Why does he keep you locked away down here?" She didn't look insane. Not that he would have been surprised to learn that insanity ran in that family.

"I'm sick," she said, as if it should have been obvious, "Dying. My immune system was the first to go. One little airborne virus could kill me if it got inside. This room is sterile. Or it was," she added, eyeing him.

"I don't get sick," Hiei told her. But he wasn't really paying attention to the conversation anymore. The wheels were turning in his head, and the pieces of the puzzle were finally beginning to fall into place.

"What is the cure for your illness?"

Shiori gazed at him sadly. "There is none. The doctors say it is in development, but will never be ready until it is too late for me. I have, perhaps, a month more to live."

And then he knew. Hiei knew what the whole game was about—the mask to hide something much greater. He knew the secret Kurama was guarding with his life. He knew the reason for all the strange, inexplicable things that happened inside the manor. It was all working toward one, single goal.

Kurama was going to fight back death with stolen knowledge. He was going to save his mother's life.

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(-suspensful music swells-)

Not much left now! The end draws near!

Please review--those keep me going when even coffee fails!