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Chapter 21: The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

"Kira, wait!" Kurama took off sprinting down the dimly lit hallway in pursuit of the fleeing wolf, who had already disappeared from sight completely. He knew she would be heading to the outside as he practically slid into the elevator, pressing the button to the top floor feverishly, over and over again in hopes of speeding up the process. He needed to get to her before she had the chance to really run.

The doors whizzed closed and he waited anxiously as the elevator jerked upwards, taking only around 15 seconds to come to a halting stop. As soon as the doors reopened, Kurama ran down a second hallway, seeing the gate which lead to the roof exit: it didn't even look as if it had been opened. He silently prayed to himself she was up there.

He flinched slightly as the rusted steel door creaked open slowly, peeking his head through the opening before breathing a sigh of relief. Kirazuki stood upon the very edge of the roof, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath, her head was tipped back slightly as she stared at the two moons of the Makai, "Kira!" Kurama called out, coming all the way out of the hotel and beginning to approach the wolf with caution, "Kira, listen to me…" He attempted to sound as calm and soothing as possible as he walked up behind her, "I know what you're feeling right now-"

"Well I don't!" Kira screamed back as she spun to face him, accidently freezing over a portion of the roof; her mismatched eyes widened in surprise at the outburst of ice; she held both of her hands out in front of her to signal for him to stay back, "I don't know what this is.." She paused, placing one of her hands on her sternum to steady her breathing and lifting her eyes to Kurama's, "I just need to be by myself,"

"Kira… It's not safe for you to be on your own right now," He argued as he attempted to verbally subdue her, holding her vision firmly, "Please, just come back inside-"

"I can't!" She yelled again, her anger soaring; just as last time, the ice flared out upon the roof, feeding off of her emotion, she almost recoiled from it, she needed to get herself under control, "I'll be back, just.. Please, stay away," She pleaded, quickly turning around and jumping from the roof.

"Kira, wait!" Kurama shouted, running to the edge of the roof. But she was already long gone.

Kurama sat hunched over upon the burgundy floral couch within the room he and Hiei shared, his head heavy as he cradled it in his hands, replaying the last several hours over and over again in his mind. How did things go so wrong, so fast? Perhaps he could blame Hiei; perhaps he could blame Kira; or perhaps he could blame himself in some part for scrutinizing Hiei about the wolf.

No matter who was to blame, or if anyone was to blame, Kira was missing in action, and there was army laying in wait to exploit her power. His emerald eyes glanced up at the massive Grandfather clock in the room: 7:48 AM.

With a heavy sigh the fox placed his hands upon his knees, pushing himself out of his seat; it was time to wake Yusuke, Kuwabara and Taryuu: they needed to know what had happened, and Kurama wasn't looking forward to explaining.

"Alright, so now what?" Yusuke asked mindlessly, leaning back in his office chair as he folded his arms behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. Their second informant had just left, and it was 9:25PM, and they had absolutely nothing to do but wait until tomorrow.

"We'll set off to the North-West in the morning," Kurama stated decisively, "I guess that's really our only course of action from here,"

"Well yeah, but what do we do until then?" The Spirit Detective grinned, "You know, before we march off to our death?"

Simultaneously Kira, Taryuu and Kuwabara returned his mischievous grin, picking up on his subtle hints, "I mean, there is a bar downstairs.." The dragon said slyly.

Kurama sighed, shaking his head, "I don't know if that's-"

"Come now fox," Kira cut him off quickly as she sprung up from her seat, "You heard the Detective, marching off to our death."

"Might as well have some fun first!" Yusuke shouted, slapping a hand down on Taryuu's massive shoulder.

Kurama sighed, exchanging a weary glance with Hiei, who simply smirked and shrugged a shoulder casually as they watched the 4 hastily exiting the conference room.

Kurama trailed down the dimly lit hallway, pausing at the door to Kira and Kanami's room; the key to their room still sitting on the floor exactly where it had been dropped, the carpet damp from melted ice. His fox side wanted to pick up the key and open the door, see what was behind it; but his rational side refused that curiosity, pushing him to continue his walk to the trios door. He had more important things to do than satisfy his fox side. He knocked gently at the dark wood, though he was positive none of them would be awake.

"No thanks!" Came the Spirit Detective's voice, muffled by, what he would assume, was a pillow; Yusuke must have thought he was the maid.

"Yusuke, it's me," Kurama tapped at the door again, "Something's happened…"

"What do you know about card readers?" Kira questioned randomly over the pounding music as she swirled her tiny red straw around mindlessly with her tongue; Yusuke had ordered a drink for her, and he was completely right when he said she'd like it. She could barely taste the alcohol; although that was certainly a poor combination.

Kurama tilted his head curiously as he leaned back against the sturdy booth they were seated in, "Why do you ask?"

"That old woman from yesterday.. She said she was a card reader," The wolf explained, following a particularly drunk, stumbling man with narrowed eyes as he bumped into Taryuu who was standing outside of the booth with Yusuke and Kuwabara; she silently hoped he didn't lose his temper.

"Most of them are simple con-artists I'm afraid," He chuckled in response with a sympathetic smile, "They read certain social cues, or make broad, sweeping statements that your own mind automatically connects with things that apply to you,"

Kira sighed as she mimicked his posture, her drink dangling from one of her hands, "She seemed accurate enough, even surprised by some of the cards she drew,"

"Like what?" Kurama questioned; normally he would dismiss such claims, he was more of a logical thinker, but perhaps the alcohol was sparking his fox-like curiosity.

"She used the terms.. Archangels, and The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.." Kira elaborated, closing her mismatched eyes when the room gave a little spin, "Destined to bring great things, and a traitor in my midst…"

Kurama smiled as he shook his head, "I'm not too sure about the Archangels, but logically, it would be impossible for anyone to go through life without being betrayed by someone they trust; you could probably assume it a 'broad, sweeping statement'."

"Hopefully…"

Kirazuki stood upon the cliff's ledge, watching the Makai sun rise spectacularly into the sky for the very first time, the smallest of smiles on her face as her eyes traced the vibrant array of oranges, bleeding into reds and pinks before spiraling into purple above the forested tree peaks: It was breathtaking, and it calmed her animalistic soul as the warm breeze caressed her cold skin and swept her hair across her back. She decided at that exact moment: someday, somehow, this would be her home. Her skin bristled as she inhaled the fresh morning air peacefully, but it was soon replaced with that sinking feeling in her stomach once again.

She knew she needed to head back to Kajino Roiyaruzu soon; they were supposed to start looking for Tobikuma and Tatsumi's den just about now. The thought of going back was unsettling, embarrassing even, after the scene she had made over nothing.

'It wasn't over nothing,' Whispered the tiny voice in her head.

But she knew deep down it was. She was acting childish, she knew that much: She had been promised nothing and it was clear that it was all in her head (although she wasn't quite sure what that was, either) yet she had thrown a tantrum like a toddler who had been told 'no'.

"They'll live for a few more hours…" Kira rationalized softly with herself as her smile returned. Yes, just a few more hours was what she needed. Her mismatched eyes peeked down the cliff one last time before she jumped.

"Wait…" Yusuke's voice cracked slightly as he spoke, a look of complete baffle upon his face, "Kira.. and… Hiei?"

"Oh man…" Kuwabara began to guffaw uncontrollably, "Shorty finally has a girlfriend!" He spoke through his uncontainable laughter with a grin, "Well, almost, but whatever,"

Taryuu's eye twitched in a strange combination of irritation and confusion, "That explains.. Why she shot me the first time I tried to pummel him…"

Yusuke sweatdropped, the same look still plastered on his face, "That was… So wait….What?"

Kurama sighed as he massaged his temples; there was no way he could explain what had happened without telling them this information first, but he instantly regretted it; Hiei was certainly not the type to put his.. Personal matters on display for the entire world to see: and he had just told everyone, "Well.. That leads me to my next point…" He spoke cautiously, "Kira's missing,"

"What do you mean she's missing!?" The trio boomed in perfect unison, leaping from where they were seated.

"You.. Are literally the nicest person I have ever met. Eeeeevery single time we drink, there's Kurama, being nice and stuff," Kira rambled in a haze as she was ushered into a brightly lit elevator by Kurama, who had made the decision that she was done for the night, "Where did you learn that?" She demanded, leaning against the golden support bar at the side of the small cubicle.

Kurama sweatdropped as he pressed the button to the level their rooms were on, "I suppose it's been an acquired trait,"

"Because you're so old," Kira nodded, gasping as the elevator jerked upward and her stomach lurched, 'Please don't puke, please don't puke…' She thought to herself as she slid down into a seated position on the floor. Elevators and alcohol were not friends with each other.

Kurama chuckled, "Yes, I suppose that plays a part in it…" He couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt; she thought he was so kind, yet his conversation with the fire demon just hours before certainly didn't qualify as anything of the sort. But to him, it was necessary: they had no room for error in this mission.

The elevator came to another halt at their floor, and Kurama couldn't help but wince as Kira gagged at the motion, he was really, really hoping she didn't vomit on him. She wasn't horrendously drunk, but it clearly wasn't mixing with her nerves tonight. He knelt down next to the wolf and gingerly tucked her arm over his shoulders before lifting her up into a standing position, "Let's get you to bed,"

"I can walk on my own, you know," Kira sighed, but she didn't resist the help, it did make her feel significantly less queasy.

Kurama chuckled as they trailed down the hallway, "Yes, but I do want to make sure you actually make it to your room tonight," He said as he halted outside she and Kanami's door, "Key?" He spoke, hoping deeply that she hadn't lost it.

"Botan taught me this," Kira stated proudly, reaching her hand that was not around Kurama's shoulders through the neck of her dress and into her bra; the fox couldn't help but sweatdrop and sigh as she produced the key to the room, shakily inserting it into the lock and twisting it clumsily before removing it again, "Thank you, fox," She smiled as she finally opened the door.

But what was revealed behind that door caused her stomach to drop, as the key tinked uselessly to the already frozen floor.

She certainly sobered up fast.

"You've done so well, child," A man's voice spoke almost in a coo from the shadow of an old, tall tree, "It looks like your double life is finally over, and you may breath a sigh of relief. Rest your head easy knowing you played the most intricate role in our liberation, everything will be in your thanks,"

Kanami stood in a small clearing, nervously twisting her hands into the front of her elegant silver dress as her crystal eyes peered into the looming tree, "Master…" Her voice was laced with worry as her heel dug into the soft ground behind her, "How do you plan to find her..? She's run off.. And she has that necklace..."

There was a large, howling gust of wind mixed with an unusually flapping, and before the meek psychic stood a muscular, avian-like man: Tobikuma.. "Your Mistress has already taken it upon herself to keep an eye on the little wolf. She's been watching you all for some time.. Again, all thanks to you," He spoke with a confident smirk upon his face.

"Master.. I truly don't feel she will join with us.. She's grown very attached the Spirit Detective and his friends.. She doesn't see what we see, she doesn't share our vision..." Kanami confessed anxiously, "She sees no wrong in the Reikai's ways,"

"Dear, dear, gifted one…" Tobikuma smiled as he approached her, placing two large, calloused hands upon her reddening cheeks, "You underestimate the gravity of what you've done for us. You've left her alone and susceptible. You've already placed the wedge between them, and we simply need to hammer it in. Now, let us go collect the fruit of your labor,"

Kurama's emerald eyes widened as the deep mahogany door swung open; the room was dark, but not dark enough to conceal what was within.

Although they could only see the back of the couch, they could also see what was undeniably the outline of Hiei's hair poking above the couch, clearly from a seated position. But as the key clinked deafly to the ground, the dark also couldn't hide the shine that the hallway light reflected upon long, wavy white-blue hair, perched atop the fire demons lap with her face buried in the crook of his neck. They had definitely just interrupted something..

The fox quickly snapped back to reality, making a desperate grab for Kira knowing she would try to run.

But he was too late, she had already disappeared, "Kira, wait!"

"I'll rip his damned head off!" Taryuu's voice boomed through the enclosed hotel room as he stood from the couch, taking large, lumbering steps towards the door.

"Hey hey hey big guy," Yusuke scrambled to his feet and grabbed the dragons arm, but it was promptly ripped from his grip, "You can't just-"

"No!" Taryuu turned around with a growl, his tail crashing into a small end table by the wall and shattering as he did so, "He might be your friend, but she's like my sister and this is his damn fault! If anything happens to her..." He shouted, spinning back around and practically ripping the door off of it's hinges as he entered the hallway, Kuwabara and Yusuke both attempted to subdue him, while Kurama simply trailed behind the 3 in silent observation. The dragon began to pound on the door which formerly belonged to Kira and Kanami, "Open up!" He screamed, but received no response.

"Knock it off!" Yusuke shouted in anger as he tried to get in the way, but Taryuu simply pushed him as he stepped backwards, delivered a massive kick to the center of the door and causing it to fly from it's hinges, entering the room.

Kurama peeked into the still-dark room, noticing that not only was Hiei not even remotely stirred by the commotion, but he was slumped in the exact same spot as he had been last night. And Kanami appeared to be.. Well, gone. He observed in silence as the dragon began shouting at his motionless figure, getting increasingly frustrated by the fire demons inactivity. Taryuu stormed around to the front of the couch, plucking up a limp Hiei by the front of his shirt and cocking a clenched fist back. Why wasn't he waking up? Hiei was normally stirred awake by even the smallest of sounds, let alone a dragon storming him. His eyes suddenly widened, "Wait!"

Ryuu halted in his tracks, glancing curiously towards the sudden interjection from the fox, "What?" He spoke in a low growl, his tense muscles relaxing a small amount.

Kurama rushed around to the front of the couch, placing a gentle hand on the dragon's large arm, "Something isn't right. Please, put him down," He instructed firmly; Taryuu hesitated, his deep blue eyes burning into emerald orbs before he sighed, roughly dropping the fire demon back onto the couch. Kurama knelt down in front of him, placing two fingers against his neck: he definitely still had a heartbeat.. He gently tapped his hand against Hiei's warm cheek, but he received nothing. Yes, something was definitely wrong…

The fox gently reached forward with both of his hands, tucking each of his thumbs underneath the thin white fabric at Hiei's temples; but his eyes widened once again when he lifted it to reveal that his Jagan appeared to be almost stuck open. He cautiously reached a hand forward towards it, but around an inch from the eye several sparks danced from it, electrifying Kurama's fingers as he quickly jerked it away. It was a seal...

"Kurama…" Yusuke spoke in a wavering voice with widened chocolate eyes, "What's going on..?"

"I'm afraid…" Kurama paused as he placed a hand on his forehead as his brain worked away at what was going on; he certainly didn't want to start making accusations before he knew without a shadow of a doubt what was happening, "Kuwabara," He beckoned to their orange-haired comrade, waving him over.

Kuwabara blinked a few times before cautiously approaching, "Yeah..?"

"I need you to produce your Spirit Sword.." He lifted his hand back up, pointing it directly at Hiei's widened Jagan, "Right here.."

"What!?" Kuwabara and Yusuke shouted out simultaneously in surprise, looking back and forth between each other. Taryuu was still brooding silently to himself.

"There's a seal attached around it right now," Kurama attempted to explain, although he was growing a tad frustrated, time was precious right now, and he needed Hiei conscious to confirm his suspicions, "Something, or someone, is.. Keeping him asleep, so to speak.. We need to break it," He asserted firmly.

Kuwabara began mumbling incoherently as he stood in front of Hiei, "This is a bad idea…" He spoke wearily; sure, he and Hiei didn't see eye to eye on.. Anything, but he still didn't want to do this. What if he ended up stabbing his weird third eye?

"If I'm not mistaken," Kurama began to elaborate, "Your Spirit Sword should sort of.. Short out the seal,"

Kuwabara held his hand out, his fist clenched about a foot away from Hiei's Jagan, "If somethin' goes wrong, this wasn't my idea," He asserted in a grumble before taking a deep breath to steady himself, grabbing his wrist with his free hand, "Spirit Sword!"

As the glow of orange energy shot from Kuwabara's hand it collided with the same blue sparks that had danced across Kurama's; he almost withdrew his Sword from the deafening crackling that began to echo around the room, "Keep it steady!" Kurama commanded; Kuwabara gritted his teeth together and continued to push, squinting his eyes into the brightening light.

There was a final, extra loud 'crack', and a boom of light, before it all disappeared.

"What the hell happened?!" Yusuke shouted, Kuwabara was sitting on the floor rubbing his head, and the spirit detective promptly knelt down next to him to check for injury.

Kurama leaned closer to Hiei, gently beginning to tap on his cheek, "Hiei…" He spoke quietly, not wanting to startle him. The fire demons crimson eyes shot open as he snatched Kurama hand from the air, but soon recoiled his hand onto his own forehead, groaning in pain as he hunched over on the couch, "Hiei, I need you to listen to me," He said firmly, placing both of his hands on Hiei's shoulders; his eyes snapped up to the fox, "I need to know the last thing you remember happening from last night,"

Kurama sighed, exchanging a weary glance with Hiei, who simply smirked and shrugged a shoulder casually as they watched Yusuke, Kuwabara, Taryuu and Kira hastily exit the conference room, "I suppose I'll be playing babysitter to them tonight," Kurama joked lamely as he stood, making his way out the door.

Hiei shook his head as he stood as well, "Better you than me," He said to no one in particular, trailing behind the fox quite a few yards as he left the room, he could faintly hear the psychics light footsteps somewhere in his wake as he watched Kira practically swing herself around the corner as she chatted animatedly with Yusuke.

"I am so sorry.." He heard a small voice whisper from directly behind him, causing him to whip around in surprise; but Kanami stood only a few inches away from him, her hand up in front of her, it just so happened to land directly in line with his Jagan.

He tried to step away, he meant to scold her for following to closely, but quickly found he could do neither, "I'm sorry, but I need you," She said sympathetically as grey began to cloud his peripheral vision, and he was soon claimed by unconsciousness.

Kurama sighed and placed his hand on his forehead as he sat back on the floor, shaking his head: he hated being right so often… "What the hell is going on?" Hiei spat as he looked around the room, still clenching his own forehead; Kuwabara was still on the floor with Yusuke, and Taryuu still glaring at him; he was fairly clueless as to where Kira and the psychic were, or why everyone looked so grim, or why the dragon seemed to dislike like more than usual at the moment.

"Kanami has deceived us all," Kurama said slowly, he was positive of it now, "Hiei, she put a seal on your Jagan that kept you out long enough for this all to transpire.. When Kira and I returned here last night.. Well, Kira's gone," He was struggling with how to explain the situation without giving away the fact he had already explained everything to everyone else.

"What do you mean she's 'gone'?" Hiei snapped as he stood, but quickly winced as the sudden movement caused a shooting pain through his skull.

Kurama quickly motioned for the trio to leave the room, and they did so quickly (although Taryuu stopped before he lamely set the door back against the door frame to stare Hiei down), he sighed as he stood as well, casting quite the cold look in his direction, "I warned you this was dangerous game, I warned you they were all unstable, they don't have an understanding of what they feel," He said sternly, "Last night when Kira and I walked back here, the psychic had you knocked out on the couch, sitting on your lap. But I suppose you can venture a guess what she wanted that to look like from our point of view," He paused in his lecture only momentarily, "Kira took off, honestly I'm surprised she kept herself under control enough not to kill someone, the ice was feeding off of her emotion, and because of that collar we have no way to track her, for all we know she could already by with Tobikuma and Tatsumi,"

Hiei's blood began to boil, towards that damned psychic for not only knocking him out, but daring to even lay a finger on him, but the fox as well, "Then why aren't we looking for her?" He knew something so petty wouldn't just cause her to abandon her loyalty to their group; loyalty was in her nature, it was part of who she was. He also knew this would be a moment where she would grin, twitch her ears a few times, and say 'Wolf genes, remember?' But he quickly shook the thought from his head.

"We have no way of knowing where she's gone," Kurama tried to reason, following the agitated fire demon as he walked towards the broken door, but when he tucked his fingers against its seam and pulled, Yusuke and Kuwabara fell clumsily into the room on top of the mangled door, having been eavesdropping on the other side of it. Taryuu stood leaning against the wall, a scowl on his face: clearly still angry.

Hiei's eye twitched in annoyance at the nosey humans, "Rivers, lakes, and cliff sides: it's not that hard to figure out." He practically snarled, before completely disappearing to conduct his own search.

Kurama sighed once again, looking towards the trio, "You three should stick together, Hiei and I know these lands, you could easily become lost." He explained as Kuwabara and Yusuke untangled from each other.

"What are we doing now?" Yusuke asked seriously, looking the fox dead in the eye. He wanted to find Kira just as bad as any of them (not to mention Keiko would probably kill him if anything happened to her).

Kurama sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, beginning to trail off down the hallway, "Remember: Rivers, lakes, cliffsides, basically anywhere with a view… I guess we're going on a little hunt.."

Hiei jumped in flashes from tree to tree, scanning the area with his Jagan, growing heavily frustrated with that damned contraption from the Reikai. He knew Kira could more than take care of herself, he also knew she wouldn't join forces with the pair; what he didn't know was why he gave such a damn she was gone if he knew these things.

'Where are you, you foolish Mutt…' He thought to himself as he halted to a stop on the edge of a cliff, narrowing his eyes into the distance. He could faintly see something black on the ground below, and quickly lept from the ledge. He couldn't help but smirk when he reached the bottom, picking up the silver to black faded heel on the ground.

'Barefoot.. Of course,' He shook his head, dropping the shoe back into the grass and disappearing again. At least he knew he was on the right trail.

Kirazuki sighed lazily to herself from where she lay on her stomach in the sandy river bank, rhythmically dipping her finger tips in and out of the flowing water and freezing over small, stone-sized chunks of water as she did so. She listened to the little jingle of Keiko's charm bracelet against her wrist; it was slightly comforting, but she was beginning to grow restless, she really did need to head back soon.

She tipped her head to the side and laid it onto her arm, swinging her legs back and forth as her other hand mindlessly played with Yukina's necklace, poking the tiny gems into the sand and yanking them back out by the chain. She smiled to herself as she thought of the kind little ice maiden, but scowled as her mind traveled to 'the twin'.

'That's not fair,' She scolded herself mentally for the scowl, 'Stop acting like a pouting child over nothing,' But it wasn't nothing to her. That feeling she got when they opened that door was the same feeling as when she realized it was Keiko's arm she had dislocated, she just didn't know how to put whatever that was into words, or how the two incidents caused the same reaction. Kira groaned as she rolled her forehead onto her arm so her face was towards the ground; emotions were complicated, and things were easier when she was just an Alpha in the Reikai and all she needed to worry about was who's ass she was kicking that day and why the food was so bad, "Just go baaaack," She tried to convince herself, but the sun was just so toasty here..

Her ears gave a small twitch as she heard a rustle coming from the treeline, her head perked up, but she quickly deduced it wasn't a threat, resuming her finger-dipping. There was another, louder rustle now, but she still didn't move.

"Kira!"

Keep an eye out for Lone Wolf 'Chapter 22: Fight or Flight'!

-B.J.