Hiei trudged heavily into the temple and flopped down against the wall near the door, away from the others. He waved his sister's concerned look away irritably and stared out the open door. His bearing made it obvious that he wasn't going to answer any questions. They could look to Kurama for explanations.

Yukina started to go to her brother but settled back down at his scowl. She was a bit hurt, but she knew Hiei was just not used to so much attention and was probably about at his limit for dealing with social interaction. She smiled at him and turned her attention to Kurama instead. "Kurama-san. I didn't expect you back until morning." She said slowly, the question of why they had returned implied by her tone.

Yukina paled at the news and covered her gasp with her hands. That was terrible, a demon invasion and Tay was missing as well? She nodded at Kurama's suggestion that they take turns resting. Someone had to keep watch over Hiei and Katsumi. "I can keep oniisan and Katsumi-san company first." She said softly.

Hiei frowned and looked over at his sister and the others. "You can all get some sleep at once. I don't need a babysitter." He said firmly. In truth he wasn't convinced he would be able to stay awake much longer, but looking at how worn out Yukina was, he wasn't going to admit his weakness. Her health was more important than his own.

Hiei scowled at the fox but it did no good. The redhead was already asleep. "Go to sleep Yukina." He ordered. "I won't."

Yukina shook her head and moved over to sit beside her brother with a small smile. "I'm not sleepy." She lied badly. "I'd rather talk to you while everyone else sleeps." That part was true. She wanted to talk to her brother privately and this was as good an opportunity as any. In fact, if they couldn't get Hiei's problem fixed very soon, she might not have many more chances to talk to her brother at all. She pushed the upsetting thought away, careful not to let it show on her serene smiling face.

Hiei frowned but seeing the stubborn glint in her eye, he conceded gracefully....meaning he snorted and looked away but stopped arguing.

The borrowed kimono was slightly short but nothing too horrendous. Kat was thankful to be rid of her bloodied clothes and fit wasn't quite a priority at the moment. As she approached the room everyone was conjugated in, she heard the two siblings talking and figured that they probably need some time to themselves after everything that's happened the past day or so. Instead of interrupting, Katsumi exited the temple and seated herself at the top of the stone stairs. The demoness propped her head up on her hands and yawned softly. She spent the next several minutes thinking up ways to keep herself awake, then she was suddenly ripped from her plotting by a strange energy. It was pretty stationary and kind of far away. Had it always been there? Had she been too tired to notice? Kat tossed her head back toward the forest and cocked her head as she tried to pick up the presence further.


Meanwhile, the seemingly unobservant spirit detective of Earth was still inside lounging on the sofa. His eyes were fixated on the ceiling and unless he was directly spoken to, anyone's words would probably fall on deaf ears. 'So. The nightmare thing is some kind of link. It's also a territory. That guy that showed up earlier was also using some kind of territory and now that kid's gone missing. I wonder if these incidents are all connected to something..bigger. Urgh. Toddler better hurry his ass up and call soon.'


Sensui held back a devious smile as Taykayo replied. This was all going so much smoother than he had anticipated. "Those people you talk to, that red-headed classmate of yours and his friends, are all very evil beings. The majority of them are not actually of this world and they want to deceive and use you for their own benefit."

After refusing a drink from Yukina, the spirit detective's eyes flickered over to Kurama and where his line to spirit world sat waiting somewhere on his person.

Th communicator buzzed softly from within the fox's pocket a moment later.

.::.

Kat descended the temple stairs steadily, the borrowed kimono restricting long strides. She could feel it. Something waiting just up ahead for her. Her head throbbed as she took the stone steps one at a time, coming closer and closer to the ominous presence. It was masking its energy well, and she knew that the only reason she could feel it was because of the damn territory encroaching on her thoughts. She briefly wondered if Hiei could feel it as well.

Taykayo looked at Sensui for a moment and then looked away, down at the floor as he thought about the words. "They seemed so nice." He said softly, but when he tried to think about it, he realized that it would make sense for them to try and gain his trust. He looked up, clearly confused as he tried to work out the idea that his classmate was really the bad guy. "W-what should I do?" Taykayo asked after what felt like an eternity to himself.

---

"It's okay Yukina, I don't need anything else." Kuwabara said with a warm smile directed at the ice maiden.

Not even a moment later the communicator was sitting in the palm of his hand and Yusuke was staring straight at his unusually teenaged-sized boss. "Speak Koenma. Now." The human boy spoke bluntly, agitated by his own lack of understanding for everything that's been going on.

"My, my Yusuke. Are you actually going to do your job for once? I was getting used to Kurama answering." Junior retorted with a huff, rolling his eyes.

"Shove off. Just get to talkin' already!"

"Aren't we hasty? Is everyone there?" Koenma questioned as Yusuke set the communicator on the coffee table for everyone present to see. Koenma couldn't personally see who all was within earshot, but he trusted that everyone was at least nearby, unless he was told otherwise.

"Everyone...but Kat's here. She went to change clothes a little while ago, but I think she stepped outside for some air as well." Yusuke replied as he plopped down on the floor in front of the communicator.

"Yusuke..."

"Look. She's fine. I can still feel her energy close by so she hasn't taken off yet. Chill out already." Yusuke grumbled, as he brushed loose strands of hair from his forehead.

"NO! You don't understand!" The spirit prince suddenly exclaimed, slamming his fists onto his desktop violently. "The man responsible for what's happening to her and Hiei, we know who he is! And the last lock we got on him, he was heading your way!"

.::.

As her foot touched down on the next step she felt a shift, just as before. A thick fog suddenly engulfed her body and she had to strain to see her own hand in front of her face. Still, she pressed forward. She knew that once she was inside, there wasn't a way to turn back anyway. Her energy disappeared as the territory she entered totally masked it. To an outsider, there was no fog. It was only after one crossed into the territory's perimeter did its owner play tricks on his pray. The territory's perimeter crept up the stairs until it reached the top, just waiting for anyone to descend the seemingly innocent stairs.

.::.

"Yusuke, listen to me! His name is Kazuo and he's a fugitive wanted in the Spirit and Demon Realms! This demon's territory is stronger than the one you faced earlier! When inside, the person relives the most traumatic experiences of their life before them, as an outsider looking in. Once the victim is in total hysterics, he contracts his territory into their mind where he lurks, injuring them in their subconscious until the person either dies from wounds inflicted during sleep or commits suicide. Even if you beat the territory and manage to find him, he's still a very dangerous demon capable of--"

"Save it, binky-breath. She's probably just walking around outside. How dumb would you feel then, eh?" Yusuke teased as he rose to his feet.

.::.

"That would be helpful. Anything you could tell us would be most useful, Taykayo." Sensui spoke, too kindly for him. It was a bizarre tone that he hadn't used in quite some time. "As long as you are our ally, you are free to return to your life to better accomplish your task and gain more knowledge on our targets. We wouldn't want to worry any family, now would we?" The tall man paused, a flicker of recognition in his eyes. 'Kazuo just opened his territory. What is that idiot doing?' He quickly regained his composure and slipped a pager-like device from his front pant pocket, holding it out to the blonde child. "This connects to a direct line for when you need to get in touch with me."

Taykayo took the pager and smiled at Sensui. "Okay, I'll do my best and let you know if I find anything." He said almost too cheerfully. He was happy to be doing something good, espeically if he was really helping someone. No matter what, as long as he was helping someone with something, he was usually always glad to do it. Already he was too trusting to see that he was being lied to.

Sniper was shocked that the kid had responded so well and without any need for Sensui to show him the video. This kid is too easy to convince. Everything seems too easy, what if he's actually fooling us? He thought silently as he watched the scene before him. He shoved the thought away for now, better to warn Sensui afterwards.

---

Kuwabara looked at the Communicator and frowned when he noticed the kid was in his teenage form instead of his usual toddler form. Sure he'd used that form a lot during the Dark Tournament and everything, but it was a little strange. It must mean that the situation was in fact veery serious. If only Urameshi was more observant he'd probably see it too. He thought silently as he watched the punk stand up to go check on the demon girl, Kat.

Hiei had silently blurred from his place by the open door, while the others were distracted with the communicator. Something was pulling at him and though he knew it was likely to be a trap he was too tired to fight it. He slowed as he reached the top of the stairs and started down them warily. Only a couple of steps down he was swallowed up by the fog that hadn't been there a moment before and he silently cursed. 'Right, so it was definitely a trap.' He thought sourly as he pressed on into the blinding fog. He considered using his jagan to trying and see through it but decided to wait. He wouldn't be able to maintain the energy needed to use the third eye for more than a few seconds so he needed to be sure he could make those seconds count.

Yukina looked around once the Reikai princeling had finished talking and gasped in horror. "Where's Oniichan?" Her eyes were wide in fear as she latched onto his energy near the temple stairs only to feel it vanish completely a moment later. "Hiei!" She jumped up and headed for the door, ready to ignore all of Koenma's warnings and go after her brother.

An abrupt pain flashed through her body as the fresh scars of healing wounds began to throb. Kat immediately paused at the top of next step, grimacing. Once the pain dulled, she held her right arm out in front of herself and pushed the kimono sleeve back roughly, searching the surface of her skin for the source of bizarre pain. Her search was disrupted though, by the sound of quickly approaching footsteps which seemed to be tackling the stairs in stride and coming straight for her. The fog was a blanket and the demoness waited quietly for the approaching being to be within at least some kind of visual range.

To her surprise, the approaching person was a familiar face. It was one she'd happily laid her eyes upon countless times. One that had been a huge part of her life up until about a month ago. Her supposedly deceased teammate, Takeo, came to a stop just inches from her body. He glanced around uneasily and didn't seem to notice her presence in the slightest.

"T-Takeo?" Katsumi whispered, extending a shaking hand out to grab him. Nothing. Her fingers went totally through his torso, as if he was nothing more than a petty illusion. Surprised, Kat recoiled and pulled her hand back to her chest. 'Of course, it's not real, you idiot. He's dead, remember?' She reminded herself, though it didn't make the contact feel any less foreign. Then, as quickly as he appeared, Takeo just kept on walking. A shiver ran up her spine as he passed through her on his way forward. It was cold, like a chilly gust of wind. 'What's going on?' Her eyes shut as she gave her body temperature a moment to steadily rose back up to its norm. With a frown, she watched his back fade into the obnoxious foggy conditions.

.::.

"Yeah, I'm with ya." Yusuke nodded as he came up to Kurama's side. "But if this person is using their territory, doesn't that mean that they're in it somewhere as well?" The Spirit Detective tossed his head in slight annoyance, shaking loose hair from his eyes. He should've slicked it back better. Oh well. "Anyway, looks like we're going in. Gotta rescue the damsel and the uh-....the uh..friend...in distress." It was really weird to imagine Hiei as someone who needed to be saved. Atleast...it was for Yusuke anyway. "So, you guys game?" He questioned of his two male friends with his trademark smirk.