Chapter 14

"Massacred!"

"They just fainted the moment they came out of the tunnel," stated Yusuke, confused.

"It's probably because it's their first time in the Makai," explained Hiei, arms crossed. "They aren't yet used to the overpowering gases here."

"What gases?" asked Kuwabara. "The first time I came here, I didn't feel nothin' unusual."

"That's probably because you were much stronger than they are now," Kurama put in. "Not to mention, your sixth sense may have exposed you more, therefore building your immune system faster and stronger than theirs."

"Huh. Good point," said Kuwabara, pleased with the compliment.

"Here," said Kurama, handing a small bit of powder to Hiei, "I expected something like this to happen, so I prepared this. They simply need to breathe it and it will coat their bronchi and protect them from the fumes."

"Why didn't you give it to them before?" asked Yusuke.

"Because they will be receiving significantly less air and will therefore be much more lethargic. However, they should get used to it after the first few days and return to their normal selves."

"Gotcha."

Hiei held Sarah up in a sitting position and held the powder in front of her nose and watched as the granules slowly retreated inside her nostrils. Kurama did the same for Natalie.

"…They're not waking up," stated Yusuke.

"It won't take affect for a few more minutes," responded Kurama, sighing inwardly. "It takes a while for the bronchi to become completely coated."

So they waited until the girls woke up…

"Unnnhh," I groaned as I opened my eyes to a very blurry version of Hiei's face. "Unh-What happened?" I asked, rubbing my face and sitting up. I was so tired. Yusuke gave me his hand and pulled me up. I immediately felt dizzy and my knees broke from under me. "Wooaahh…" I groaned. I took in my surroundings and realized that we must be in the Makai.

"Wait a minute…isn't this…Yusuke's territory?" I asked, recognizing the barren wasteland.

"You bet!" said Yusuke cheerfully. "No better place to stay than my place!"

"Oh, Yusuke, you're not that stupid." I said pleadingly.

"Excuse me?"

"UUGGHHH!!" I shouted, immediately becoming dizzy. "YUSUKE!!!" I wasn't the only one feeling this way. A glance around me showed shaking heads and disappointed looks. Hiei was practically growling (while trying to help me up again).

"WHAT???!!"

"Don't you think it would be kind of a bad place to hide?!" said Natalie.

"………Oh…"

(Groans)

"So, now what do we do?" I asked no one in particular.

"I don't know," Yusuke responded, "any ideas, Kurama?"

Kurama looked thoughtful for a moment, and then looked at Natalie, concern in his eyes. Apparently, she noticed it, too.

"Kurama, if you know of a place, just say it. We need a place to hide, and if you think I won't like it, just think about what'll happen if we don't have a hiding place."

The redhead sighed. "Well…Youko has a series of hidden caves, as you well know. It's an obvious place to hide, but no one knows where they are. And if they find one of them, we can simply move to the next one in the chain. Natalie?"

"…Okay."

I looked at her with worried eyes, remembering her last encounter with the Fox. I didn't know what had happened to cause him to come out and scare her so much, and I hadn't thought of asking her yet. Her face had apprehension written all over it, and her body had become tense. I had never seen anything but Shishi's death cause this kind of effect in her.

She glanced at me and smiled weakly, mouthing the words 'I'll be fine.'

I nodded in reply and looked at the others, taking in their current emotions: Yusuke just looked ashamed for his goof, but thankful for the cave save. Kuwabara looked miserable, probably thinking of his "darling Yukina." Kurama looked concerned about Natalie, eyes filled with guilt.

Finally, I looked at Hiei. His back was turned to the rest of us, and his headband was off. I walked over and looked at him, seeing that his Jagan was glowing. He was trying to find his sister. After a few seconds, he tied the white band back on, cursing under his breath.

"She's using the same talismans that prevented me from finding her the first time," he said so that only Kurama and I could hear. The redhead bowed his head in thought, then walked over to talk to Natalie and the others. Hiei continued to look out over the vast wasteland that was the boundary of Yusuke's territory, a look of severe anger in his eyes.

I looked at him curiously. Right after the news of Yukina, he had been furious, then relaxed when he was helping me with my fighting clothes, and now he seemed furious again.

I just stood there for a moment, knowing he wouldn't like it if I put my hand on his shoulder or anything like that. Finally, I said "We'll find her, Hiei, before anything happens to her. Don't worry."

"Shut up."

…I definitely hadn't expected that. I knew that he was angry, but…

"…I'm sorry…but getting mad at others isn't going to help. You of all people should know that." I said this calmly and gently, not wanting to make him any more upset.

Before he could retort, I walked back over to where Yusuke and Kuwabara were almost in a fist-fight (whenever aren't they?) and Kurama was holding Natalie in his arms. When she saw me walking toward them, Natalie released herself and asked "Why are you crying?"

"Huh?" I rubbed my eyes and realized that they were wet and stinging. "Oh, I guess it's just an effect of the atmosphere." She nodded, but I could tell she didn't believe me. Neither did Kurama. Yusuke and Baka were now brawling in the dust, completely unaware of what was happening. "Well…let's get going!" I said with a fake cheery smile. "Lead the way Kurama!"

And we took off (thank GOODNESS I was a much better runner now)!

We made it to one of the caves by nightfall. Turns out, by "cave", the fox actually meant "cave complex"! About a hundred feet in from the mouth of the original cave, a series of smaller caves appeared, each with its own security system. We had divided up the caves already (Kurama and Natalie were the only ones paired up, so Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and me had our own "room"). Hiei hadn't even looked at me, much less spoken to me since he had snapped at me earlier. I didn't mind that much, or at least…that's what I told myself and Natalie, although I knew that it did bother me. I figured (hoped) that he just didn't want to apologize, and wasn't still mad at me.

I lay down on my bed (made of plant life) with my arms folded behind my head and my knees propped up and crossed. My mind wandered after a while to everything that had happened since we'd gotten here, and I realized how many questions there were. Why – when I had only ever seen death – did I see me and Natalie being taken to this universe? Why was I receiving the powers of the Phoenix before I was meant to? Why had that other Youko called me "Meeha"? Why had I ended up in my universe if my mother was in this one? What was with Hiei's mood swings? I felt like all of these questions had one common answer, and I just couldn't figure it out.

"Open up, Onna," called a familiar voice. I said the word that would cause the bamboo-like door to unlock itself.

As the figure walked in, I looked over and said "Hey, Bajito. Feeling any better?"

His brows furrowed in caution and confusion. "Aren't you mad at me?"

"Hm? Why would I be mad? You were feeling cruddy and just let it out the wrong way. Everyone does it," I responded matter-of-factly, hiding my relief that he really wasn't still mad.

"Hn." He snorted. "You really are strange," he chuckled, also hiding his relief (ineffectively) as he came over and sat on the edge of my plant bed. I remained in my relaxed position and looked back up at the ceiling again, closing my eyes and smiling as all tension left my body. "You seemed like you were deep in thought."

"Yeah…" I explained to him what I had been wondering about (somehow forgetting about the one referring to his mood swings…). When I was finished, he told me that he had been wondering the same things. I started to sit up, but he pressed me back down with a kiss, gentle at first, but getting more…fervent…by the second. When did he lose his cloak?...And his shirt?...Ummm…what happened to my jacket? And how did the ties of my (kimono?) get undone. Honestly? I didn't really care. My heart was beating so fast and I had felt like my entire body had tiny electric charges going through it. Right now, there's only me and him.