A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading/reviewing/favouriting. This is a weird!fic, and I make no apologies for it, it was just something I had to do. This fic is like Marmite – either you love it, you hate it, or you're too scared to try it!

Recap: Hiei was impervious to the attack of a band of wood nymphs, Botan continued to scheme to have an adventure and the boys arrived at a medical transporter, where they were told they are all infected with the virus.

Chapter 5: Terrence Nightingale

"So we're all gonna die?" Kuwabara asked.

"No, we're not gonna die from some stupid virus, because we don't have it!" Yusuke snapped.

"If you've been travelling with an infected party, then there's virtually no chance that you don't have the virus," the doctor said.

"Do your damn test and I'll prove to you I don't have your stupid virus!" Yusuke argued, pushing out his arm again.

The doctor returned to the table, donning a facemask and rubber gloves and then returning to take a blood sample from Yusuke's arm.

"How could you do this to us, Hiei?" Kuwabara asked. "You've killed us all!"

"You're a human, you can't catch it, remember?" Kurama reminded him.

"Humans can catch this virus, though they react slightly differently to it," the doctor called over to him.

"You selfish little bastard, Hiei!" Kuwabara whined. "You took your infection to Genkai's temple! What if you've infected my sister and Keiko and Yukina?"

"You need to stop talking," Hiei quietly answered him.

"Why?" Kuwabara asked. "Because you're too stubborn to admit you got sick?"

"No, because you don't know what you're talking about," Hiei replied.

Kuwabara frowned, unsure how to react: Hiei did not seem aggressive, defensive or even panicked. His tone was alarmingly calm and smooth and the look in his eyes was a confident one, but there was a hint of something sinister there too.

"You've tested positive," the doctor announced.

"What?" Yusuke echoed.

"You're infected," the doctor replied. "You'll need to wait another few minutes for the test to determine how far advanced the virus is."

"But… I don't feel sick at all! Take the test again, you must have made a mistake!"

Yusuke held out his arm again, but the doctor shook his head.

"There is no mistake, you have the virus," he insisted. "Now while we wait to find out how far along the infection has progressed, I think I should test your associates."

Kurama stepped forwards, nodding at Yusuke.

"Are you sure humans can catch it?" Yusuke asked the doctor as he prepared a fresh syringe for Kurama.

"Absolutely, but only if they enter demon world," the doctor replied. "We get humans wandering into this realm all the time, and, sadly, those who have accidentally entered demon world lately have all died before we could even return them to human world."

"They died instantly?" Kuwabara asked.

"Almost," the doctor casually replied, inserting the needle into Kurama's arm. "There was a lot of convulsing and retching and screaming, but death did come rather quickly."

"Well done on getting that information, Kuwabara," Yusuke muttered.

"I only checked living world!" Kuwabara snapped back. "How was I supposed to know people were coming here and dying?"

"I didn't realise the infection was so severe or so widely spread myself," Kurama said. "We've all misjudged the situation, and we should have known better. Look at Hiei."

Hiei flinched and hunched his shoulders defensively as everyone turned to look his way.

"I'm too young to die," Kuwabara moaned.

"You're not gonna die," Yusuke assured him.

"He will if he has the virus," the doctor pointed out.

"Don't listen to him," Yusuke whispered.

"Denial won't help the situation," Kurama warned.

"You've got it too," the doctor said as he disposed of the emptied syringe.

Kurama swallowed carefully, his face flickering.

"We're all gonna die," Kuwabara said again.

"You don't understand," Hiei quietly answered him.

"You don't understand, Hiei!" Kuwabara argued. "You did this to us!"

"You're next," the doctor said, moving towards Kuwabara.

"What's the point?" Kuwabara asked. "We already know we all have it and we're all gonna die!"

"We don't have the virus Kuwabara, it's a mistake," Yusuke insisted. "None of us have been sick."

"None of us sensed or could see through the wood nymphs' ambush," Kurama pointed out, allowing the doctor to take a sample of his blood.

"Hiei could, and he really is sick!" Yusuke said.

"He could see through them because he's getting better," Kuwabara said. "We couldn't because we're getting worse! Hey mister doctor? How long before I start obsessing over pretty soaps and get all skinny like Hiei?"

Kuwabara watched the doctor expectantly, but he appeared to be distracted, holding a test-tube of one of the blood samples he had just obtained up in front of his face.

"Is that mine?" Kuwabara asked. "It is, you took mine last. It's bad news isn't it? Tell it to me straight if it is, doc."

"This is unbelievable," the doctor muttered.

"Don't tell me, I don't wanna know!" Kuwabara wailed, covering his ears with his hands.

"Idiot," Yusuke muttered.

"What have you found?" Kurama asked the doctor. "Is Kuwabara unaffected?"

"No, he tested positive too," the doctor flatly replied.

Kuwabara turned to Hiei, but Hiei was watching Kurama, and did not so much as flinch under Kuwabara's accusatory glare.

"It's you," the doctor said to Yusuke. "You clearly have the virus, but you seem to be immune to it. You haven't been unwell because the virus isn't having any effect on you."

"I'm immune?" Yusuke asked, smiling smugly. "That's because no stupid little cold is enough to slow me down!"

He turned to the others and his smile vanished as he saw the dark look Kuwabara was giving him, the disapproving look Kurama was giving him and a glance at Hiei reminded him that strength had nothing to do with fighting off the effects of the virus.

"You're the first to show any sort of immunity," the doctor added.

"Perhaps the virus is weakening?" Kurama suggested.

The doctor picked up another vial of blood.

"Maybe, because you're immune to it too," he said.

"That's good news," Kurama said. "Perhaps our immunity can help in your search for a cure."

"Your ugly human friend is immune too."

Kuwabara leapt up and punched a fist in the air.

"I knew I wasn't sick!" he said cheerfully. "And I – hey wait, who are you calling ugly?"

"It would be helpful if the two of you would donate blood," the doctor said to Yusuke and Kurama. "Whatever it is in your system that's fighting the virus, it must be in your blood, so if we can take a pint of blood from each of you, we could have enough antibodies to cure everyone on this transporter."

"I'm okay with that," Yusuke agreed.

"As am I, naturally," Kurama added. "There won't be a problem with my body being human?"

"You've got enough demon energy in you, it should be alright," the doctor replied.

"What about me?" Kuwabara asked. "Do you want my blood too?"

"No, you're too human," the doctor replied. "And as for Hiei, he obviously has a very low level of immunity to the virus too, which is why he's still alive. He's no help to us in creating a vaccine, but maybe you should bring him back to me once we've worked out a decent remedy and I can help set him on the road to recovery."

"I don't need anything from you," Hiei told the doctor.

Yusuke rolled his eyes.

"Well if Yusuke and I are to stay here to help the doctor, perhaps you and Kuwabara could talk to the others onboard this transporter?" Kurama suggested to Hiei.

"Right, we just need one of those fancy suits and we're good to go, right?" Kuwabara asked.

"You don't need a suit if you're immune to the virus," the doctor replied.

"Yes, so put your shirt back on," Hiei spat at Kuwabara.

"Relax, Hiei!" Kuwabara sneered, pulling his shirt on again.

"We will do as you asked," Hiei said to Kurama.

"Good luck," Kurama replied. "Hopefully by the time we are finished here, you and Kuwabara will have uncovered some more information about those we seek."

Hiei nodded and turned to the door as Kuwabara opened it.

"Just let me do all the talking," Kuwabara said as he pushed his way out of the room ahead of Hiei. "You're still too weird to talk to anyone… Wait a minute, you were always too weird to talk to anyone… Hm, I guess the virus didn't affect you as badly as we all thought it did…"

"Let's strike a deal then," Hiei said, following Kuwabara along the corridor beyond the room. "You can talk to everyone we meet as much as you want, just stop talking to me."

"Fine by me, mister "I'm too tough to need a vaccine"!"

Kuwabara and Hiei continued on in silence until they reached the patient area of the transporter, where Kuwabara had to do a lot of explaining to the doctors about why they were not in biohazard suits before they were allowed full access to the ward beyond. After the initial kerfuffle, Kuwabara and Hiei were left standing at the top of a room filled with beds of demons in various stages of grave illness.

"Wow, that's pretty bad," Kuwabara commented.

"State the obvious, I enjoy a running commentary on the unnecessary," Hiei sarcastically replied.

"Hey, there's that guy Urameshi fought in the Dark Tournament!"

Kuwabara had taken off before Hiei could question him, and so he simply followed after him, arriving at the bedside of one of the least sickly patients, a tall, tanned demon with a blue Mohawk and a stripe of black face-paint over the bridge of his nose.

"Chu!" Kuwabara greeted him.

"Oh hey there," Chu replied, squinting up at him. "You're Urameshi's mate."

"Yeah, that's right!" Kuwabara agreed. "Urameshi's here too, he's giving blood because he's immune to the virus."

"Immune to the virus?" Chu asked. "Yeah, I reckon it would take a guy like Urameshi to be immune to this. Who's your little mate there?"

Kuwabara stepped to one side, clearing Chu's line of sight to Hiei. Chu broke into a smile and sat up in his bed.

"It feels like it's been weeks since I've seen a decent Sheila, come over here and gimme a hug!"

Hiei tried to move away, but Chu grabbed at his cloak and sat back hard, pulling back on Hiei and causing him to lose his balance. He fell awkwardly against Chu's bed and Chu grabbed an arm around his neck, pulling him closer.

"You smell like that pretty girl who dances at my favourite bar," Chu said, sniffing at Hiei's hair.

"Let me go!" Hiei growled, struggling against his hold.

"Tell Urameshi I said he's a real mate for sending me over such a pretty little lass," Chu said to Kuwabara.

Kuwabara started to laugh quietly and Hiei's struggles became even more desperate.

"You're a feisty little filly, I like you!" Chu said.

Hiei barely managed to ram the heel of his hand into the side of Chu's chin before he connected with a kiss, his lips smacking at empty air mere inches from the tip of Hiei's nose. In the momentary confusion that followed, Hiei finally managed to wriggle free of Chu's hold, falling to the ground at Kuwabara's feet.

"She's a real live one," Chu said to Kuwabara, who was laughing more and more openly with every passing minute.

"That was not funny!" Hiei snapped as he found his feet again.

"That was hilarious!" Kuwabara replied.

Hiei glared at Chu, who blew him a kiss and winked at him.

"He's sick, he doesn't know what he's doing!" Hiei protested as Kuwabara wiped away a tear of mirth.

"He thinks you're a girl!" Kuwabara chuckled.

"I don't care what he thinks!" Hiei yelled.

"He thinks you're a girl, because you're small, and now you're all thin and dainty too!"

"If I was a girl, would you still think what he just did was funny?"

Kuwabara stopped laughing, turning his head to look directly at Hiei.

"What kinda question is that?" he asked.

"The kind of question I already know the answer to," Hiei quietly replied.

"What?"

Hiei shook his head and turned from Kuwabara and Chu.

"Don't go, sweetheart!" Chu called out as he started to walk away.

Kuwabara turned to Chu, who looked almost as sweaty and feverish as Hiei constantly did.

"You should keep your eye on that one," Chu said, attempting to look serious. "She's up to something."

"You're probably right," Kuwabara agreed. "I always did think she was a major bitch."

He turned to see where Hiei had gone off to, but found him standing only a few feet away, looking back at him with a strangely intrigued look on his face. Apparently though it was all part of the virus, Kuwabara concluded as he turned back to look at Chu again, finding him looking equally as off character. And in that moment, Kuwabara was infinitely glad that he would not fall ill too.

"Here are the books you asked for, Miss Botan."

"Put them down over there."

George carefully placed down the large pile of hefty tomes he had recovered onto the desk Botan was hunched over. The lighting in the back of the spirit world library was quite poor, and he started to suggest to her that she ought to move to a brighter area to do her reading, but she dismissed him before he could finish. He trudged away dejectedly, but Botan failed to notice his misery, her head only lifting as she finished the chapter she had been studying.

"This is getting me nowhere…" she muttered, tilting her head to one side to read the spines of the books George had brought to her.

She had been in the library for most of the day and her head was starting to ache from trying to decode the ancient texts: she had worked through the more modern books first, but had since been forced to resort to the older reference books in search of an answer, and still she had yet to find one. Her original plans of chasing after Yusuke and his team had temporarily been put on hold and instead she was concentrating on finding an answer as to what was wrong with Puu. He was becoming a handful, chasing after her persistently whenever she entered living world, making it almost impossible for her to get any work done, and he was becoming more and more aggressive. The obvious answer was that something was wrong with or that something had happened to Yusuke, but Yusuke seemed alright, and so the problem was obviously with Puu himself.

But no book in spirit world offered any sort of explanation for why a spirit beast would act independently of its master.

Botan had a silent fear that Puu's behaviour was in some way connected with what was happening in spirit world. She hoped that maybe if she could figure out what was wrong with Puu, she could figure out what the SDF were fighting against, and maybe she could do something to help. She wanted to feel useful – because often she felt quite useless, and never more so than when Yusuke had been fighting Sensui and she had been left alone outside of the cave – but she did not know how to convince Koenma that he could trust her with the truth and Yusuke that he could trust her to be an effective assistant. Shizuru had mocked her plans, but Botan had been serious: she was becoming so desperate to get involved that she was willing to go undercover – even if it meant something really extreme like dressing up as one of the officers of the SDF.

She closed the book she had been reading and managed a small, wry smile: dressing up as someone else was a ridiculous thing to do, she told herself silently. Apart from anything else, it was a pointless venture, because Yusuke and others would see through any disguise she donned, and she already knew that she could not keep up the pretence of being someone else for longer than five minutes without saying or doing something stupid.

"Oh well," Botan said through a sigh. "I suppose it's back to the books. Let's see… How about "The Beast Whisperer"?"

She dragged the dusty old book from the top of the pile, letting it fall to the table where it released a cloud of dust. She sneezed and waved a hand in front of her face to clear the air before dragging her sleeve over the cover.

"The Beast Whisperer," she read aloud. "101 ways to woo a beast."

She opened the cover, flipping past the blank preliminary page to the contents pages, where she found an unreasonably explicit colour illustration of a ferry girl and some sort of bull demon.

"Oh my!" she gasped, slamming the cover shut to hide the image again. "Wrong type of beast!"

She slid the book away from herself, but her hands remained on it, an idea slowly forming in her mind. She glanced about herself to be sure that she was alone before sliding the book back over and opening it to the first chapter.

"He does it with better grace, but I do it more natural," she read aloud. "That's the general consensus of how a demon and a spirit give love, but does it always have to be that way?"

"Don't look so worried," Kurama said, smiling in spite of himself. "This room comes with an en suite, so you'll have no problems bathing tonight, at least."

Hiei looked directly at him, and, to Kurama's surprise, he appeared to blush slightly.

"Hiei? Are you feeling feverish again?"

Kurama reached out towards Hiei and was again surprised that he did not try to move away: apparently he was still too dumbfounded at the situation he found himself in to think to protest, and so Kurama managed to press his hand against Hiei's forehead. At the contact, Hiei's eyes suddenly seemed to find focus and he jerked back, stumbling into the metal ladder behind him; but not before Kurama noticed something strange. He slowly turned his hand over, looking down at it curiously. His little finger was the only part of his hand that had made contact with skin, the rest of his hand having either touched Hiei's bandana or his hair, but even though only his smallest finger had made only the briefest contact with Hiei's forehead, it was still slightly damp with Hiei's sweat.

"How do you feel, Hiei?" Kurama asked, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the wet mark on his little finger.

"Hot," Hiei replied, tugging at his scarf.

"The typical symptoms of a fever are that the sufferer believes himself to be cold, but his skin is hot to the touch," Kurama said slowly.

"I feel really hot," Hiei replied. "All the time."

"But your skin is very cold," Kurama pointed out.

"That's just your opinion," Hiei retaliated, turning his back on Kurama to inspect the beds.

Since most of the day had passed with Kurama and Yusuke donating blood and then joining Kuwabara and Hiei in an attempt to learn more about the band of demons they were looking for, the group had eventually reached the decision that they would accept the doctor's offer to spend the night onboard the transporter, in the staff quarters. They had been assigned two rooms between the four of them, with Yusuke and Kuwabara taking one room and Kurama and Hiei taking the other. Kuwabara had insisted that he needed a big bed, and so he and Yusuke had taken the room with two single beds in it, leaving Kurama and Hiei to take the room with bunk beds built into one wall.

"Do you want to go on top?"

Hiei spun around to look at Kurama, his face even paler than before.

"I thought you might prefer to be on top," Kurama explained.

"Wh-why?" Hiei asked, colour returning to his face and once making him appear to blush.

"Because you like to sleep in trees and other high places," Kurama replied. "And there isn't much room between the top bunk and the roof, and you're smaller than I am, so it makes more sense for you to go on top and for me to stay on the bottom."

"Are you teasing me?" Hiei asked, his voice a faint whisper, as though he was not really sure of the validity of what he was asking.

"Do you need help to get on top?" Kurama asked.

Hiei rapidly shook his head.

"You don't have to be proud, it's just the two of us now," Kurama reminded him.

"N-no, I'm fine," Hiei replied, his voice back up to normal volume. "I'll sleep up here, and you sleep… Down there…"

He turned and hurriedly scrambled up the ladder to the top bunk, shuffling around on the bed until he was kneeling low facing out towards where Kurama was still standing.

"I'll use the bathroom first then, if you don't mind," Kurama said. "And once we're both done, we should take this opportunity to wash our clothes–"

"I'm not taking my clothes off."

Kurama frowned slightly and Hiei shuffled slightly further back on his bed.

"Your clothing is stained with dirt and blood after what we went through today," Kurama pointed out. "There's not really much point in cleaning your body and not your clothes. And, as you are still ill, your immune system will be weak and vulnerable, so it's just as important for you to avoid infection as it is for us."

"I'm fine, viruses have no effect on me," Hiei replied.

Kurama started to remind Hiei that, in fact, a virus had just had a huge effect on him, but stopped short when he noticed the stubborn and slightly snotty look on Hiei's face that clearly showed he was not prepared to listen to any counter-argument.

"I'll let you get settled here then," he said instead, before spinning on his heels and moving towards the small shower room.

As he closed the door behind him, Kurama caught a glimpse of Hiei sitting forwards watching him. Once the door was closed and he was sure that Hiei could no longer see him, Kurama allowed himself a small smile: he had not seen Hiei look at him that way since the early days of their acquaintance. The first time he had met Hiei had been when he had attacked him, thinking that he was the demon rumoured to have eaten an ice maiden, and, after collapsing from injuries he had been too proud to admit to suffering from – much like how he was now pretending that the virus was not causing him any problems – Hiei had been at Kurama's mercy. After an initial hostility, Hiei had eventually conceded to team up with Kurama, and together they had destroyed the demon who had been eating young women. It had been a temporary agreement between them, and when they had completed their task, Kurama had not expected to see Hiei again until the end of his human life and his eventual return to demon world.

But, to his surprise, Hiei had lingered in human world. Over the weeks that followed their initial meeting and collaboration, Kurama saw flashes of black and white in the treetops as he walked to school, he frequently caught the scent of ashes and metal in the air and sometimes he had even heard Hiei's slightly clumsy attempts to hide on rooftops above where he was studying or sleeping. Kurama had never asked Hiei about those times. Hiei had, after some weeks of moderate and somewhat unsubtle stalking, eventually shown himself to Kurama and asked him to join him in some minor criminal activities, but neither of them ever spoke about the period of time where Hiei had simply been studying Kurama in what he had obviously thought was a concealed and secretive manner. Sometimes Kurama had managed to catch brief glimpses of Hiei's face watching him back then, usually when he passed a reflective shop window or pond, and although his view of Hiei had been brief and often distorted, the look on Hiei's face had always been the same: it was the same look Hiei seemed to be giving him again now, after a long acquaintance where he had seemed to have outgrown that gesture.

It was an apprehensive and curious look. It was curiosity from questions he was too proud to ask, curiosity about how powerful Kurama might actually be behind his façade of pacifism, curiosity about whether or not he could trust Kurama and curiosity about something else that Kurama had never quite figured out.

As he showered, Kurama wondered if now was a good time to ask Hiei what he had been thinking all those times he had been watching him from the shadows. Hiei was clearly not himself, and although he was still quite hostile, he seemed less likely to be offended or else turn his weapon on Kurama for asking a personal question.

Maybe now would be an ideal opportunity to explore a lot of the unspoken matters that the two of them had been through together.

Kurama stepped out of the shower, loosely wrapping a towel around his waist and then opening the door to the bedroom again, waiting for the steam to dissipate to pick out where exactly Hiei was. He felt his face twist as he finally located Hiei knelt by the door, in the process of dismantling the air duct. Kurama quietly moved into the middle of the room, watching patiently as Hiei successfully removed the grating and then flattened himself to the ground to peer inside the duct beyond. He reached a hand inside it and tapped at it a few times before eventually sitting back onto his heels.

"What are you doing?" Kurama asked.

Hiei gasped and hurriedly pushed the grating back on, frantically screwing it back into place.

"I thought there was something in there," he said awkwardly.

"Like what?" Kurama asked. "Something valuable, like a jewel perhaps?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"Let me have a look."

Kurama walked over and knelt down beside Hiei, who finally turned towards him, letting out a short, muted yelp as his eyes landed on Kurama's still-wet and semi-naked body.

"Maybe I can get it out," Kurama offered, assuming the panicked look on Hiei's face was somehow related to his inability to recover whatever it was he had sighted in the air duct.

"No, no, I don't think so," Hiei replied, shaking his head.

"I can try," Kurama offered. "My arms are longer than yours, or maybe I could send a plant in there…"

He leaned forwards to look through the grating and behind him he heard Hiei draw in a shuddering breath.

"It ran away."

Kurama moved his eyes to Hiei's distorted reflection on the top of the frame of the grating.

"The jewel?" he asked.

"I think it ran away already," Hiei replied, scrambling backwards.

Kurama straightened up again, turning to watch as Hiei awkwardly got to his feet.

"The jewel ran away?" Kurama asked.

"I heard its feet moving," Hiei replied. "That was how I knew it was in there in the first place."

Kurama peered into the air duct again, and he heard Hiei sprint across the room behind him, turning his head in time to see the bathroom door slam shut.

"It's going to be a long night…" Kurama muttered to himself, standing up again.

Some time later, after drying himself off and donning a pair of pyjama bottoms he found in a linen cupboard in the room and then poring over a map of the interior of the transporter, Kurama heard the bathroom door click, and before it had fully opened he was hit by a smell so overpowering it suggested that Hiei had used the entire supply of bathing oils and shampoos that had been provided in the little shower room. Wincing slightly against the excessive scent, Kurama turned towards the bathroom door to watch as Hiei stepped out. Apparently he had had the same idea as Kurama, as he was dressed in a pyjama set he must have found in the linen cupboard too – only the outfit was ridiculously big on Hiei, and, even with the legs and sleeves rolled up at the ends, his hands and feet were still hidden from view.

"I found a plan of this vehicle," Kurama offered, standing up from his bed and holding up the plan to indicate his point. "According to this there is a navigation and communications room, I think we should try to get access to that tomorrow morning, we can call some of our friends in other parts of demon world to get a better idea of how widely spread this virus is and perhaps even ask if any of them have seen any signs of suspicious activities."

Hiei nodded and walked quickly around the edge of the room, giving Kurama a ridiculously wide berth before darting towards the bed and scurrying up the ladder to his own bunk, where he quickly wrapped a blanket around himself.

"But I suppose it has been a long day, and we should probably get some sleep," Kurama said, eying Hiei over suspiciously.

Hiei nodded again and lay down, gathering more of his bedding about himself until he had transformed into an amorphous mound of fabric with a small, pale face sticking out.

"Well good night then," Kurama said, replacing the plan to the shelf he had taken it from and switching out the light.

He made his way back over to his bed, the room looking slightly eerie as there were small strip lights in the floor that led towards the exit, and their soft blue light was creating exaggerated shadows on the walls around them. Kurama lay down on his back and pulled a single blanket over himself, closing his eyes and hoping that this night he would at least sleep better than he had done the night before: although the ridiculously floral smell of Hiei's over-pampered form lying above him was something of a distraction.

And, just as he had finally managed to suppress his urge to sneeze, Kurama became distinctly aware that he was being watched. He opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Hiei's head hanging down at the side of his bed, watching him with large, worried eyes.

"Is everything alright?" Kurama asked him.

"I've been thinking," Hiei replied.

"That's a dangerous past-time," Kurama said.

He smiled, but Hiei's face remained unchanged, apparently oblivious to his attempt at humour. Kurama sighed quietly and pushed himself up onto his elbows, his blanket sliding down his chest. Hiei's eyes widened slightly and he shot out of sight again. Kurama frowned, rolling his eyes upwards to the underside of Hiei's bed.

"I need to ask you something," Hiei said suddenly.

Kurama turned his head, finding Hiei leaning over the back of his bed. He shuffled around to lie on his front, resting his chin on his pillow and looking up at him.

"I think you should go back to Mukuro and get back into a healing chamber," he said. "Does that answer your question?"

"You don't know what I'm thinking," Hiei quietly replied.

"Is that what you wanted to ask?"

"No. It's about what you said to me this morning at breakfast."

Kurama looked down at the floor as he tried to remember anything about breakfast at all. He had been so distracted by the smell of the ice village flowers, he had been thinking of little else, and the memory of that made him strangely glad that Hiei had used too much shampoo that night – perhaps he had even done it deliberately in an attempt to wash out and mask over any remaining smell of those damn flowers.

"What you said about Yukina and Kuwabara," Hiei added when Kurama did not answer him. "I wanted to ask what you meant."

Kurama looked up at Hiei again, trying his best to look apologetic.

"I don't really remember what I said, I'm sorry," he offered.

"Oh…" Hiei said, looking briefly irritated by his response. "Well, you said Yukina doesn't return Kuwabara's feelings. I just wondered how you would know that for sure."

"I can tell she doesn't return his affection, it's obvious," Kurama replied. "She smiles and humours his attentions and she's polite and welcoming enough, but there's no depth of feeling there. I'll concede that she perhaps feels more strongly about Kuwabara than she does about anyone else, but at the end of the day, she's still an ice maiden, and they are a race of unfeeling creatures."

Kurama smiled.

"Why am I telling you this?" he asked. "You know better than anyone how emotionless and cold the ice maidens are."

"That's not true," Hiei quietly replied. "Yukina isn't unfeeling."

Kurama started to feel confused. He had been certain that Hiei shared his opinion on this particular matter, though as he could not really recall having ever openly discussed it with him, he supposed he could have been wrong.

"She's pleasant enough," he said. "But she is shallow."

Hiei's eyes started to glow and it was clear from their shape that he was sneering.

"I thought that would please you," Kurama said. "This way she won't ever take a lover, and you certainly wouldn't want that for her, lest she birth a child as temperamental as you."

Kurama smiled at Hiei, expecting his friend to insult him back and pretend to sulk; but instead he looked strangely pensive, a look that was clear even though the light levels in the room were very low.

"Life in human world is lonely for Yukina," he said.

"She doesn't seem to mind being alone," Kurama replied.

"She feels lonely sometimes."

"Are you sure? Are you sure you're not just imagining it? Are you sure it's not more a case of your concern for her solitude bothering your conscience than actual feeling on her part?"

"Yukina does feel things, Kurama. She was devastated when Genkai died."

"We all were."

Hiei sighed and slowly moved back up out of Kurama's line of sight. Kurama leaned forwards over the top end of his bunk, looking up to see it Hiei was still at all visible, seeing one last flick of black hair as he lay down onto his bed again. Kurama copied Hiei's actions and lay back down in his own bed, closing his eyes as he assumed that the conversation was over and that Hiei intended to sleep then.

"You're very old."

Kurama's eyes snapped open, staring up at the underside of Hiei's bunk.

"Sometimes I think about how long you've lived, and all the things you must have seen and done," Hiei continued. "Sometimes it overwhelms me. My life seems small and lacking in comparison."

"It's unfair to compare experience and time between my life and yours," Kurama assured him. "I've lived a lot longer than you have. Let's have this conversation again next century, it will be a fairer comparison by then."

"I'd like that."

Kurama closed his eyes again, though he remained tense for some time, concentrating on listening to the rhythm of Hiei's breathing, listening for the moment he fell asleep, as he was not entirely sure that Hiei would not suddenly start talking again. Eventually he heard Hiei's breathing become slow and shallow, and Kurama was able to relax, quickly slipping into a deep slumber too.

Keiko looked at her watch: she still had half an hour until her first class of the day started, and she was at a loose end. She had not slept for worrying about Yusuke and so had gotten up early and gone to the library in the hope of getting some reading done – but that had proved a hopeless venture too, as her eyes had kept wandering to the nearest window, her mind expecting to find Yusuke there, even though he had never randomly visited her on campus before ten in the morning. She desperately needed a distraction, because she was reaching the point where her concern was making her feel physically sick.

Keiko screamed and stumbled to a halt as she suddenly noticed someone standing blocking her path. It was not so much that someone was blocking her path or even who it was that had startled her, rather it was the physical state of the person she was looking at.

"We have to do something, Keiko," Botan said, before spitting out a blue feather.

"What happened to you, Botan?" Keiko asked.

Botan was standing – barely – with her oar in one hand and her pink kimono hanging very loosely about her. Her hair had mostly fallen out of its ties, she had a smear of mud up one side of her face, her clothes were torn, her oar was chipped and cracked and she was missing a sandal.

"I don't want you to be alarmed Keiko, but I think there may be a small problem with Puu," Botan eventually replied.

"Puu did this to you?" Keiko asked.

"Yes," Botan answered. "He's been a little… Ferocious since the boys left for their mission."

"Yusuke must be in trouble," Keiko said. "Call him and ask him what's happening!"

Botan nodded, reaching into the loose and ragged remains of her kimono. Her notebook fell to the ground, the cover slightly torn, the Mystic Whistle fell from one sleeve and the chewed remains of some Mejiru Shiiru labels frittered downwards from the other sleeve.

"Oh dear, Puu's destroyed some of your special items!" Keiko said.

"He swallowed the Concentration Ring," Botan groaned. "Lord Koenma said I have to get it back when it comes out the other end…"

"Ew…."

"Still, it could have been worse."

"How?"

"He could have gotten the Mystic Whistle caught in his throat, and then every time he breathed out it would have sounded. Can you imagine that?"

"Well I'm glad you're putting a brave face on all of this."

"Bingo!"

Botan smiled as she recovered her slightly dented communication mirror and Keiko moved over to join her as she flipped it open to call Yusuke. After a short pause Yusuke appeared in front of them, grinning obnoxiously.

"Yusuke?" Keiko said, tilting her head in confusion.

"Hey Keiko, Botan," he replied. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much…" Botan dryly replied.

"That hairstyle doesn't suit you, Botan," Yusuke added.

Botan started to correct him but stopped when she realised that Kuwabara and Kurama were laughing behind him.

"Well it's nice to know you're really taking this mission seriously, boys!" she snapped.

"Oh, no, you don't understand," Yusuke replied. "Yesterday, we met Chu, and he thought Hiei was a girl, so now we're calling Hiei Hime instead of Hiei, and he's getting really, really pissed off about it."

"Sounds fun," Botan said flatly.

"So you're okay?" Keiko asked, leaning closer to the communicator.

"Yeah, I'm great," Yusuke replied. "Turns out I'm too strong for that virus that's going around demon world. The doctor here is making a cure using my super-powered genes."

"Antibodies," Botan corrected him.

"Call them what you will, my tough virus-fighting skills are saving lives! I'm like that dude version of Florence Nightingale!"

"There was no "dude version" of Florence Nightingale, Yusuke," Keiko pointed out.

"Sure there was," Yusuke said. "Terrence Nightingale, wasn't it?"

Botan and Keiko exchanged exasperated looks, but Yusuke was too distracted by the hilarity behind him to notice their pains.

"I gotta go," he said. "Was there a reason you called?"

"Your spirit beast has gone wild," Botan replied.

"Did you remember to feed him?" Yusuke asked.

Botan sighed.

"Okay, see ya!"

"Yusuke–!"

The link terminated before Botan could yell at Yusuke for being so flippant, and so she angrily snapped shut her communicator and stuffed it back into her kimono.

"Maybe Puu is just hungry," Keiko said. "He flew into the city for no real reason yesterday, maybe it was desperation because he's hungry!"

"That can't be right, because Yukina feeds him, changes his water and grooms him twice a day!" Botan pointed out.

"Well maybe you should ask Yukina if she knows why he's acting out," Keiko suggested.

"Well shouldn't you know the answer to that, Keiko?" Botan asked, rolling her eyes impatiently.

"Me? Why would I know whether or not Yukina's been feeding Puu?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because Yukina is living with you?"

"Yukina's not living with me."

"Well, no, not you exactly, but she's staying with your parents, isn't she?"

"No!"

"Oh… Oh, now I remember! Yukina is staying with the Kuwabara family!"

"Really? Oh my, poor Kuwabara! He'll be devastated that he's stuck on some dangerous mission while Yukina is sleeping over at his house!"

"I know, it's hilarious, isn't it? I'll talk to Shizuru. Maybe she hasn't been able to take Yukina up to the temple, it is quite a journey to make every day."

"Okay, well, good luck Botan. And if you need anything, let me know, okay?"

"I still think my costume idea was a splendid one. You, me and Shizuru could have all gone, you know."

Keiko shook her head.

"It was a bad idea Botan," she said gently. "A really, really bad idea."

Next Chapter: Yusuke and Kuwabara torment Hiei with their new nickname for him and when Yusuke and Hiei run into trouble, Yusuke sees Hiei do a few things that don't seem to make any sense. Meanwhile, Yukina continues to elude Botan. Chapter 6 – There Next