Chapter 6 – The File

Yukina sat up abruptly. She was sweating and breathless and a quick glance around the room told her that the anxiety she had felt in her nightmares had manifested itself into the waking world, as the bed she was lying in, the floor, the roof and three of the walls were lined with a sparkling layer of ice. She cautiously pushed aside the sheets covering her and slipped off the bed, her bare feet walking with ease across the frozen wooden floor to the nearby window. She grabbed the curtain with the intention of pulling it open to gauge what time of day it was, but she had apparently underestimated just how anxious she had been, as the frozen curtain shattered at her touch. She quickly retracted her hand, glancing about the room before tip-toeing to the door, which was open, and leaning out into the hallway beyond.

The house was oddly silent, almost as though it was the middle of the night, but there were no interior lights on and the hallway was still well-lit, which obviously meant that it was day time. It was difficult for Yukina to guess what time it was or even what day it was – she could remember little after requesting an operation in demon world. With that thought in mind, she crept down the hallway to a long mirror by the front door, seeing that she did not look very different, but that was probably only because someone had had the foresight to wrap a long length of material around her head in a makeshift bandana.

By the fact that the makeshift bandana was pink, Yukina could only assume that it had been Botan who had created it.

She gave a small smile as she touched the bandana, fleeting snippets of Botan's voice drifting in and out of her mind: she was almost certain the ferry girl had been at her side after her operation. And thinking about Botan soon began a chain reaction of thoughts that brought Yukina back to what had awoken her in such a blind panic: she had been in the middle of a vividly accurate dream about Koenma leaving spirit world with a folder of documents and leaving them in demon world with a large, red-skinned demon with a cheerful demeanour.

At the faint sound of voices, Yukina padded her way, barefoot, through the house to the back door, stepping into the garden where she found Yusuke and Kurama standing beside Puu with Keiko and Shizuru standing across from them. Puu called out cheerfully to Yukina as he spotted her, causing the others to stop their hushed conversation and turn in her direction.

"Yukina!" Keiko gasped. "You're up!"

"How are you feeling?" Shizuru asked. "You sure you're alright to be up and about already?"

Yukina moved past them, approaching Puu. She reached out her hands towards the spirit beast and he slid his long face between her palms, relaxing into her touch.

"Hey new Hiei," Yusuke said.

Yukina turned to him questioningly and found him glancing back and forth between Kurama and Shizuru, looking suddenly very nervous.

"I meant because of the extra eye," he hurriedly added. "Because now she has a jagan eye, just like Hiei. Not because of any other possible reason she might be like Hiei."

"Smooth," Shizuru muttered.

"So, uh, Yukina, how ya feeling?" Yusuke asked, grinning at Yukina in a way that almost made her want to pull away from him.

"I feel better thank you," she said. "Where's Botan?"

"Why would you ask for Botan?" Kurama asked.

Yukina turned to face him, surprised to see that he looked even more suspicious than he had sounded.

"I thought she helped me heal," she said.

"I see," Kurama replied.

"She's back in spirit world," Yusuke offered. "I'm sure she'll come see you when she's finished doing her ferry girl duties."

Yukina nodded. Looking around the others she noticed Koenma was also absent, but another look at the still suspicious way Kurama was regarding her stopped her from asking after the spirit world prince.

"Anyway, we're off to demon world," Yusuke said.

"Will you be alright without us?" Kurama asked Keiko and Shizuru.

"Of course we will!" Keiko replied.

"Beats going to demon world," Shizuru added. "I don't mind looking after things on this side, but I've got no burning desire to cross over. No offense."

"What about you, Yukina?"

The group fell silent and Yukina slowly turned to Yusuke, feeling surprised that he was addressing her despite the fact that he had used her name.

"Me and Kurama are gonna go to demon world to look for someone, you wanna come help us?"

Yukina pointed at herself silently.

"Yeah, you," Yusuke said. "Do you want to come to demon world and help us? You could test out your new eye."

"That's really not a good idea, Yusuke," Kurama said.

"Why not?" Yusuke asked. "You said yourself this guy won't be easy to find and either Yukina will be able to use her new powers or she won't, and if she can't, she can stay with Puu and we can call her when we find the guy so she can come pick us up."

"Your second idea is acceptable, but it would be really unwise to try the first," Kurama replied.

"Okay then," Yusuke said, turning back to Yukina. "Are you ready to go?"

Yukina looked down at herself.

"Can I change my clothes first?" she asked.

"Best put on a disguise," Kurama suggested. "Nothing you made yourself or took from the ice village."

Yukina nodded and hurried back into the house. She quickly changed into some of the human clothes she kept for when Kuwabara took her places she could not practically wear her kimonos to and then hurried back outside, where she found Yusuke already on Puu's back. Kurama lifted her up and Yusuke took her hand, pulling her onto Puu's back behind him.

"Hold on," Yusuke warned her.

Yukina adjusted herself to a comfortable position – assuming that had been Yusuke's meaning – and began waving to Keiko and Shizuru as Puu stood up. When Puu leapt up into the air and began flapping his wings, Yukina let out an involuntary squeal of surprise as she was thrown about from side to side. She realised then what Yusuke had meant and threw her arms around his waist at the exact moment that Kurama grabbed an arm around her from behind, both of them slumping forward against Yusuke's back.

"You guys…" Yusuke said, smiling over his shoulder at them.

Yukina was sure he was mocking her somehow, but she was concentrating too much on not falling to care. Kurama released her after a brief pause, but she still held onto Yusuke, peering down over one the side of Puu's neck as the landscape below them shrank. They passed through a brief fog of clouds before soaring into open blue skies, the air cold and thin, the way it was in the ice village. Yukina closed her eyes and breathed it in; but the moment was short-lived as the air suddenly changed and Yukina opened her eyes again to see black skies, distant storm clouds and the all-too-familiar ridged grey landscape of demon world.

"Okay Yukina, we're looking for a guy named Iruka," Yusuke called over his shoulder to Yukina as they started to descend. "He's a bandit, so Kurama is gonna check some his old haunts from his bandit days, I'm gonna go check with my contacts and I've got an idea of something you could do that would be really helpful."

Yukina waited until Puu had landed, grunting from the impact and promptly blushing when she saw the way Yusuke was grinning at her reaction.

"You can take Puu and go ask Enki if he knows anything," Yusuke explained.

"Enki?" Yukina echoed.

"That's not a bad idea," Kurama said before jumping off of Puu's back.

Yukina flinched involuntarily when she saw that Kurama had reverted back to his full demon form, a hard look from his golden demon eyes far more intimidating and fearsome than one from his soft, green, human eyes.

"That's as close as he ever gets to admitting he was wrong about something," Yusuke whispered to Yukina before jumping down himself.

"Enki is a benevolent demon, you will be safe with him," Kurama said to Yukina. "And he knows many well-travelled demons, he may be able to tell you something useful."

"He lives up at the top of that mountain," Yusuke added, pointing to a mountain peak. "Puu knows the way, he'll take you there. When you get there, tell Enki I sent you and that I'm looking for this Iruka guy. If you find out anything interesting, come back to this point, okay?"

Yukina nodded, grabbing at Puu's feathers nervously as the spirit beast opened out his wings again.

"And remember to hold on!" Yusuke added, grinning and waving.

Yukina made to answer him but before she could Puu had taken to the air and she was forced to focus all her efforts onto holding herself in place. The flight up the mountain was mercifully short, and despite initially dreading the impact of another landing, she barely noticed the jolt she received when Puu's feet hit the ground, her attention fully focused instead on the dwelling the spirit beast had brought her to.

It looked exactly the same as the one she had seen in her dream, the one Koenma had brought a spirit world file to.

Yukina slid off of Puu's back and started towards the temple, studying every aspect of it as she walked, only stopping when a very powerful, yellow-haired female demon swaggered into her path.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman shouted at her, the stench of alcohol on her breath arguably more intimidating than her tone and energy level combined.

"Easy there, Kokou," another voice said.

A very large demon joined the woman and Yukina froze, her eyes wide.

"Hi there," the second demon greeted her. "Can I help you?"

"Yusuke sent me," Yukina managed to make herself answer.

"I see that," he replied, pointing at Puu. "I'm Enki and this is my wife Kokou."

"I'm Yukina of the ice village."

Yukina bowed her head but she felt detached from everything around her: Enki was the same red-skinned demon she had seen in her dream.

"Well Yukina of the ice village, welcome!" Enki said cheerfully. "Is there anything we can help you and Yusuke with?"

"Iruka," Yukina numbly replied. "We're looking for a demon bandit named Iruka."

"I'm sorry little lady, I've never heard of him," Enki said. "But come on inside, I'll ask around, see if anybody else knows who he is."

"Probably some asshole who owes Yusuke money…" Kokou grumbled before taking a swig from a bottle she was carrying.

Yukina followed cautiously as Enki and his wife led the way into the temple. The interior of the temple was in no way familiar, but in her dream she had seen Koenma meet Enki outside the temple, where he had been cooking food over a fire and Koenma had clearly handed him a brown paper file. Still feeling a little dazed – and unable to deny the thought that the dream had perhaps been a vision witnessed by her jagan eye – Yukina was almost glad when Enki stopped walking and invited her to sit down on a stone bench in front of a low table that was piled high with a messy arrangement of magazines and newspapers.

"I'll go talk to my men and I'll get someone to bring you some tea," Enki offered. "I won't be long. Help yourself, by the way."

He indicated the piles of paper paraphernalia on the table and Yukina nodded, waiting until he had left the room before picking through a few very old copies of the Demon Daily, pushing aside several tattered issues of Play Demon and recoiling in disgust as she uncovered the rotted, maggot-infested remains of what had once been some sort of flat pie. She started to sit back but paused as she spotted something lodged under a copy of the Demon's Digest. Carefully reaching her fingers into the piles of paper, mindful of the maggots, she felt out the shape of a chunky folder of papers. She slid it free from the pile, unsure if she felt surprised or vindicated to find the same file she had seen in her dream.

It even bore the royal seal of Prince Koenma of spirit world.

And it was titled "Raspberry Sundae".

Yukina glanced about herself to be sure that she was alone before emptying out the contents of the folder onto the stone bench at her side. She spread out the papers within, finding them to contain the sort of information she had more or less expected them to: they all appeared to be reports of information the leader of the rebel cat demons had relayed to spirit world. They were reports about demons conspiring to enter the living world, about breaches in the barriers between the worlds and about demons conspiring to take over spirit world. All the documents looked the same except for one, a slightly longer document positioned at the bottom of the pile as it had obviously been at the very back of the file.

It was a report about the day the rebel leader had perished.

Yukina could remember the day far clearer than she would ever admit to anyone else. She had been returning from the living world after another unsuccessful search for her missing brother and the rebel leader had met her in demon world as reliably as ever and together they had started the journey towards the ice village. Along the way they had encountered a male cat demon who had often appeared before them, but this time he was not alone. There must have been more than a dozen demons accompanying him and they were all heavily armed and it was the first – and last – time Yukina ever saw the rebel leader look worried. Usually she would laugh and run circles around anyone who tried to stop her, but that day she panicked and told the ice maiden to run back the way they had come from. Yukina did as she was told, knowing that the danger was great if running away was the best strategy the rebel leader could think of. When she reached the portal to the living world she stopped and turned around.

She saw the rebel leader running at her, a bloodied wound at her shoulder and her pursuers gaining on her. The last thing she saw was the urgent look in the rebel leader's blue eyes before she thrust out both hands and shoved Yukina through the portal.

The impact of the landing had knocked Yukina unconscious and by the time she had come to her senses and returned to demon world, all that remained by the portal was a blood stain and three pink and cream petals from the raspberry sundae the rebel leader usually used as a weapon. Several days later Yukina heard from demons in the marketplace that the rebel leader had been slaughtered and her fellow rebels had fled the area in fear for their lives. With no way of confirming this information and no real reason to feel the need to question it, Yukina had accepted it as fact. The rebel leader had always joking told her that she expected to meet a bloody demise one day, claiming that the "price on my head is too high for someone not to want to cut it off of my body"; but because she was always so cheerful and had always made evading her enemies seem so effortless, Yukina had assumed that she would never be caught. That day when she was caught though, it seemed only logical that she had died.

Yukina turned the page and scanned through the file concerning the rebel leader's death: it confirmed that she had been attacked by the male cat demon and his cohorts and it confirmed that she had been fatally wounded. The file explained that the SDF had encountered the altercation and had intervened; but what happened next was both new and unbelievable to Yukina.

The more she read, the harder it became to breathe.

When a hiruiseki dropped onto the stone bench and rolled to the floor Yukina remembered where she was and what she was doing and she hurriedly stuffed all the documents back into the folder, successfully hiding it again amongst the mass of old media on the table an instant before Enki returned to the room with a tray of tea. As she watched him attempt to balance the tray atop the piles of paper, she silently wondered why Koenma had thought demon world was a safe place to hide such controversial information about a demon world problem.

Kurama forced a polite smile as he approached the bar and his gesture was returned with an indifferent glare, delivered over the top of a pair of very unflattering and old-fashioned eyeglasses.

"Good afternoon," Kurama greeted the insect bartender. "You may not remember me, but I–"

"I remember you," the bartender interrupted him before spitting into a glass and wiping it with a grubby cloth. "You're that fox demon."

Kurama glanced up at the angled, semi-reflective metal plate at the back of the bar that the bottles of alcohol were mounted onto, seeing the face of Yoko Kurama looking back at him.

"Yes," he said, lowering his eyes to the bartender again. "What gave me away: the ears or the bushy tail?"

"Yeah, I remember you," the bartender said, placing the glass down on the bar top. "Funny guy. Kurama."

"Yes, that's me," Kurama patiently replied. "Mister Comedy."

"You're hilarious. You crack me up. You never paid your tab before you left last time. You owe me money."

"I haven't been here in over twenty-five years."

"You owe me money."

"Right. Well I'll pay you whatever it is you think I owe you if you can answer me one simple question."

"I don't like you and your fox trickery."

"Have you seen Iruka lately?"

"Who wants to know?"

Kurama's lip twitched; he always found it so much harder to remain diplomatic when he reverted to his full demon form.

"I do, obviously," he said.

"I might have seen him," the bartender replied.

Kurama turned his head to glance at the array of wanted posters stuck to the back wall, starting towards them as he spotted a few faces he recognised. He smiled in spite of himself, pointing to a crude pencil sketch of Kuwabara's face.

"I hardly think this one is a wanted criminal," he told the bartender.

"If there's a reward offered, I let them hang whatever they want," he replied.

Kurama started to argue that there was surely no reward before stopping short as he saw the words "three fresh slug sausages or a basket of soft fruit". He shook his head before turning his attention to the posters depicting wanted rebel cat demons, unsurprised to see Tora and several other faces he recognised.

"This is a mistake," he said, tearing down the poster depicting the rebel leader. "This is a picture of Raspberry Sundae. She died thirty years ago."

Kurama placed the poster down on the bar and the bartender glanced at it.

"Your angry little friend said pretty much the same thing when he took down the poster," he said. "But Iruka made a new poster and put it up this morning."

Kurama paused, unsure if he had heard correctly or not.

"My angry little friend?" he said quietly.

"The little one with the spiky hair and the quick temper," the bartender said.

"Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"Probably," the bartender replied.

"Hiei was here?"

"Yeah. He didn't stay long, he just stole all the wanted posters that Iruka had hung up and ran off again."

"Including this one?"

Kurama picked up the poster he had placed on the bar and the bartender nodded.

"I see," he said, turning the poster around to look down at it again.

He scanned over the text before shaking his head in disbelief.

"This poster implies that she lives," he concluded.

"Yeah," the bartender replied. "Are you gonna settle your debts or buy a drink? Because this ain't a library, you know."

"Raspberry Sundae is dead," Kurama said.

"Iruka said she's alive."

"No. That's just a legend. That's just a rumour, no doubt started by some of her followers who struggled to accept her death and hoped to scare off their enemies. She is definitely dead."

"You make it sound like you're talking to a guy who cares. You want answers? Try asking the guy who made the poster."

Kurama nodded.

"So Iruka was here this morning?" he asked. "Any idea where he might be now?"

"Who wants to know?"

Kurama growled in annoyance and left the tavern, relieved when he found Yusuke outside.

"Hey, I found a guy who said he might be able to get Iruka to meet us tomorrow morning at the corn field outside this town," Yusuke greeted him.

"Perfect," Kurama said. "Let's get out of here."

"You didn't find anything out?" Yusuke asked.

"Nothing," Kurama replied.

Yusuke whistled for Puu and they started back towards the agreed meeting point.

"So who is this Iruka guy anyway?" Yusuke asked as they walked.

"He's the deputy leader of the loyalist cat demons."

Yusuke frowned.

"Aren't the loyalists the bad guys?" he asked.

"There is no good or bad here, at least not as far as you or I are concerned, Yusuke," Kurama replied.

"Okay…"

They continued on in silence, eventually finding Puu awaiting them with a very pale and bewildered looking Yukina on his back. Yusuke jumped up in front of her, grinning back over his shoulder at her.

"Did you survive flying Puu solo, Yukina?" he asked.

She nodded but she looked as though she was ready to pass out. Kurama jumped up behind her and they took off again, heading back to the living world.

"Did you learn anything new at Enki's?" Yusuke asked Yukina as they passed through the portal to living world.

She shook her head.

"Ah well," Yusuke said with a shrug. "This Iruka guy better damn well show up tomorrow."

After excusing herself on the basis of poor health, Yukina returned to the bedroom she usually slept in in the Kuwabara household, quickly stuffing a giant teddy bear Kuwabara had won for her at a carnival under the bedsheets and arranging it to look as though it was her own body asleep in the bed. She then crept down the stairs and out the front door as the others noisily debated a television show in the living room. She had learned enough about the city to know her way around and so she caught a bus that took her to the beachfront, and from there she quickly walked to the city harbour, stopping by an empty dock. The sun was setting, but she was aware that she was a day later than the last note from Tora had advised she ought to be.

However, despite her lateness, she did not have to wait long for Tora to arrive.

"Yo."

Yukina turned around and found Tora had arrived alone.

"I've told you all I know," Yukina said.

"That's probably true," Tora replied. "I can see that now. But the problem is, one of our prisoners has kind of implicated one of your friends as withholding information from us. And I'm still waiting for Koenma to answer me."

"Koenma won't meet with you, you must know that," Yukina pointed out. "And even if he did, there's nothing he can tell you that you don't already know."

"That depends on what I already know, doesn't it?"

"If your problem is with Koenma, you have no reason to hold my friends. Please let them go."

"Hmm… Let them go… No, I don't think I'm going to do that."

Yukina sighed.

"Please," she tried. "You're not gaining anything by holding them prisoner. You're only drawing attention to yourself – Mister Hiei is in charge of the border patrol in demon world, his absence will be noticed, and those who would come looking for him might not show you any mercy."

"I don't expect you to understand, ice princess, but this is a matter of honour," Tora replied.

The cat demon had commenced pacing back and forth and Yukina was unsure if she was doing so out of frustration or to make her feel trapped.

"If you'd ever cared about anyone, you'd understand how important it is to understand and avenge the circumstances of their death," Tora continued.

"That's what this is all about?" Yukina asked. "Vengeance?"

"It's not vengeance, it's honour," Tora argued. "The spirit world soldiers told me our leader was killed by Iruka and his lackeys, but that's not the story Iruka tells."

"Isn't Iruka one of your enemies?"

"Yes."

"Then how do you know what he says about anything?"

"I have my sources. My point is, there is another version of events circulating in demon world: Raspberry Sundae was fighting Iruka and his associates but the spirit world soldiers arrived and broke up the fight. They say it was one of the spirit world soldiers who dealt the fatal blow. After she spied for them and just before they were due to hand over the land they promised us, they turned around and killed her so that they wouldn't have to fulfil their end of the deal!"

"That's not true!"

"Oh no?"

Tora stopped pacing and glared at Yukina.

"If I tell you what really happened, will you release my friends?" Yukina asked.

"I thought you said you didn't know any more…" Tora growled.

"I found something out today, something that might change your mind about what you're doing right now," Yukina said.

"Tell me."

"Will you free my friends?"

"Tell me and I'll consider it."

"Okay… Raspberry Sundae was fighting Iruka and his men and they did fatally wound her. The SDF – the spirit world soldiers – intercepted the fight and took your leader back to spirit world to try to save her life. They did all they could, but they couldn't save her. That's why you never found her body or her weapons. She was taken to spirit world."

"And?"

"That's it."

"I don't believe you."

Yukina took a cautious step back.

"I see you've had a little operation since the last time we met," Tora said, pointing a finger at Yukina's pink bandana. "It's a funny thing, the jagan eye. It takes years to master it. It's taken me months just to figure out how to do the basics, I bet you haven't even figured out how to control yours yet."

"I just…"

"And your own powers aren't exactly the most intimidating…"

Yukina saw movement on the edges of her vision and realised fearfully that Tora had not come alone to meet her.

"If you're so keen to see your friends, why don't I reunite you with them?" Tora said with a malicious grin. "And maybe while you're there, you'll consider telling my everything you know; though if you don't tell me willingly, I have plenty of ways of getting the information out of you…"

"It seems we may have made some progress," Kurama said, looking around the others.

Yusuke was sitting on the floor playing with Eikichi, Shizuru and Keiko were sitting together on a sofa and Koenma and Botan were sitting together on another sofa.

"We have to return to demon world tomorrow morning, but we believe we will be able to find the one we were looking for," Kurama continued. "And hopefully he will be able to help us figure out what the rebels want."

"I thought they just wanted Yukina?" Keiko asked.

"No," Kurama said, shaking his head. "I think this is part of the problem."

He passed her the wanted poster of the rebel leader.

"It seems some in demon world are perpetuating an old rumour that the rebel leader never really died," he explained.

"That's ridiculous!" Koenma said, leaning across the room and snatching the poster from Keiko's hands.

He ignored the harsh looks Keiko and Shizuru gave him, but did linger on the curious way Yusuke was regarding him.

"You haven't spent this long out of spirit world since the Dark Tournament," Yusuke said, as though sensing that Koenma was awaiting an explanation. "Or since the whole mess with Sensui."

"What are you implying, Yusuke?" Koenma asked.

"Ooh, look!" Botan said, tugging the wanted poster from Koenma. "She looks familiar! Is this the leader of the rebel cat demons?"

"You don't know her!" Koenma snapped, snatching back the poster.

"She looks like Koneko," Botan replied.

"Who's Koneko?" Keiko asked.

"The key keeper of spirit world," Kurama replied, giving Koenma a hard look.

"And how would you know what the key keeper of spirit world looks like, Kurama?" Koenma shot back.

"Well obviously she looks like this fool," Yusuke said, poking a finger at the wanted poster in Koenma's hand. "Botan just said she did. Weren't you listening?"

Koenma drew in a breath to argue, to point out that Botan had not explained who Koneko was, but changed his mind as another thought occurred to him.

"Who are you meeting in demon world tomorrow?" he asked Kurama.

"Somebody who may have answers," Kurama replied.

"Who?" Koenma pressed.

"We're not telling you," Yusuke cut in. "Because you never tell us anything useful."

He nodded at Keiko, who shook her head.

"I never said Koenma was keeping secrets, you said that," she reminded him.

"I'd like to know," Koenma insisted, glancing back and forth between Kurama and Yusuke. "A gang of demons hiding in the living world and taking prisoners is a concern for spirit world, you know."

"We'll tell you tomorrow," Yusuke said with a grin. "After we've met him."

"I don't like the fact that neither of you will tell me who it is," Koenma grumbled.

"Sucks to be kept in the dark until the last minute, eh Koenma?" Yusuke replied.

Koenma sighed, deciding to leave the matter, as Yusuke would clearly only continue teasing him rather than give a straight answer if he did try to push it any further.

Kuwabara began to awaken, fleeting images of Yukina in peril bothering his mind as he blinked back the vestiges of sleep and the waking world came into focus around him. He started to wonder if the visions that had plagued his dreams were a warning of something ominous to come: but as he lifted his head and looked around, he quickly forgot all about his dreams, realising then that he was the one in peril.

He was sitting on a flat, damp rock, his back resting against another rock, and his arms were held up at his sides by what looked like plain ivy. There were further lengths of ivy around his waist and ankles, all binding him to the rocks. He was overlooking the sea from a high vantage point at the top of a crumbled cliff ledge and by the colour of the sky and the length of the shadows on the water it appeared to be either late evening or early morning. He was not really sure where he was or how he had ended up in such a compromising position, but by far his biggest concern was the tennis ball sized sphere of tiny yellow eyes mounted on thin yellow stalks that was resting on his left thigh.

Kuwabara blinked. The ball of eyes all blinked. Kuwabara began trying to wrestle his arms free whilst attempting to kick his left leg to dislodge the creepy, sticky object watching him. When he failed to free himself he tensed up and let out a jolt of spirit energy from his entire body, his bonds snapping and a high-pitched squawk paining his ears. He quickly scrambled to his feet, looking down to see that the ivy that had been holding him in place belonged to the ball of eyes, which was apparently some kind of demon plant. He quickly stamped a foot onto the ball, grinding it into the rocks before stumbling back and looking about for an escape route.

As he looked around, he noticed three things, feeling increasingly desperate with each discovery: he first noticed that he appeared to be on a small, overgrown, uninhabited island, he then noticed that Hiei was in the same position he had just freed himself from and finally he noticed two small faces watching him silently from the top of the collapsed cliff.

"Hey!" he shouted up to them.

The faces moved and he felt even more bewildered to learn that they belonged to two identical little girls, each no taller than one of his legs.

"Did you do this to me?" he asked them. "You little brats!"

When they did not respond, he started to climb the rocks towards them, but after just a few steps, they began to scream. He stopped, looking about himself nervously, before deciding to press on.

"What are you doing to my children, you oaf?"

"Huh?"

Kuwabara stopped one rock away from the girls as a woman appeared behind them; he realised then that the little girls were not really little girls and that the woman with them was not really a woman.

"How did you get free?"

Kuwabara did not recognise any of the three cat demons in front of him – neither the fully grown one nor her offspring – but he knew that they were surely part of the group of cat demons who had attacked him at the junk yard.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"In hell!" the older cat demon shouted back.

"What the-ah!"

Kuwabara stumbled back as a hissy little piranha plant sprouted out of the older cat demon's hand. His initial reaction to any demon plant was always one of fear, but as he looked down at the miniscule plant and thought about how easily he had over-powered the ivy plant, he started to think that the demon plants the cat demons used were probably only as powerful as the cat demons themselves: and Kurama had said that the cat demons were quite weak.

"Listen lady, I don't want trouble," he said, deciding to try to reason with her. "I don't know why you tied me up with your weird plant, but if I was able to break out of it, then Hiei will definitely be able to break out and when he breaks out, he won't be as nice to you as I've been."

The cat demon narrowed her eyes and lifted her hand, bringing the little plant up in front of her face.

"What's that little thing gonna do?" Kuwabara asked with a grin. "Chew on my finger?"

"No, it's going to blind you."

"What?"

A second later the plant spat something white at Kuwabara's face and he felt as though his eyes had been set on fire.