Hiei was using his jagan to scan the area around the temple for any sign of trouble. He caught a flicker of something behind him and focused in on it. He relaxed, 'It's only Kurama...no...who is that with him?' He thought with a frown. Their was just a tiny hint of demonic energy in that area that did not belong to the fox. He hesitated, part of him wanting to continue forward and get to Yukina quickly, but another part wanting to back Kurama up if there was some sort of altercation going on. Finally, deciding that he didn't want the unfamiliar demon getting any closer to Yukina, he blurred back the way he had come.

Taykayo smiled and took a deep breath, finally managing to steady his breathing, though his heart was still racing. "I couldn't sleep, and then I saw you out here. I'm sorry, I know it's probably none of my business, but I was curious." He said softly as he looked at Shuichi.

'Something about this boy disturbs me. He's not what he seems.' The deep voice spoke in his mind again and Taykayo nearly flinched, but held his composure together. 'Be wary, something is coming this way.' The voice warned.

Taykayo ignored the voice of his other half and continued. "Well, is everything alright, Shuichi? It seemed like you were in quite a rush." He asked softly, hoping that he wasn't prying too much.

Kurama listened attentively to Taykayo's explanation and nodded to show his sympathy. A twinge in his subconscious informed him that Hiei had turned back and was now heading in their direction. Almost as instinct, Kurama gave a quick warning to the approaching demon, <Slow down> before replying to his classmate. "No, it's fine, or it will be I should say." Kurama smiled again and continued to explain himself, "My mother's cat got loose so I was trying to catch her. It's really no trouble though, she always comes back on her own, it's just easier to find her first so my mother doesn't worry." The lie slipped easily from his lips.

Taykayo's expression quickly changed from curious and concerned to one of shock. "Oh!" He gasped, he looked around a little bit and then smiled. "Do you need any help finding her? I'm much too awake to go back to bed. I'm sure I could be of some help." He said with a bright smile. 'Be cautious, my young friend.' Patronis' deep voice spoke again. Taykayo knew what Patronis meant, even he could sense the demonic energy that was approaching. Taykayo wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up the human pretense if there was a demon coming closer.

Kurama smiled at the offer but gracefully denied the offer, "No, I couldn't possibly ask that of you. I'll just look a little longer and then go back to bed. If I don't find her she'll likely be back by morning." Kurama could feel Hiei coming closer and hoped the demon would heed his warning, things might get awkward otherwise... Turning his attention back to the classmate before him, he tried to further remove the boy from the fictional situation he had just created, "I'm sure you recall we have a biology exam soon, perhaps if you spent some time studying you could tire yourself enough to sleep..."

Taykayo knew that Shuichi was right about the exam coming up soon and he looked even more surprised. He was about to say something in agreement with his classmate when he paused. It was like his whole body had frozen on the spot, and in fact, Taykayo had frozen. Images were passing through his mind, some of them extremely startling, his expression had been frozen in an expressionless manner but slowly changed to one of horror. He wasn't sure what to say, but his breathing grew more erratic as he tried to make sense of the images.

Hiei dropped down to human speed as he approached the pair. He tracked Kurama's lies from his surface thoughts and deposited his Katana in a bush just out of sight before he approached the two of them at a human run. He felt like he was crawling but if Kurama thought his human facade would keep this peaceful, Hiei could play along.

"No cat that way." He said truthfully, "Who's this?" He asked, eying Taykayo warily as the boy seemed to become very afraid all of a sudden.

Kuwabara had enthusiastically opened his mouth to accept her offer when the ice apparition suddenly appeared distracted. His mouth closed slowly, removing the ear-to-ear grin that had just a moment earlier taken up the majority of the teen's face. "Yukina?" His normally obnoxious voice was suddenly much smaller as a look of worry spread apparent in his eyes. "Yukina, are you alright?" The second toughest punk at Sarayashiki Junior High asked softly, placing a large, protective hand on the small girl's shoulder.

Taykayo seemed as if he was about to agree and Kurama readied himself to take leave when something strange occurred. The body of the boy before he seemed to tense and turn rigid and his expression slowly contorted into one of horror. The fox's thoughts turned immediately to his partner. Kurama was well aware that Hiei was telepathically able to flash thoughts into the minds of others but surely he wouldn't be so bold as to do it to one of his classmates...

Feeling a familiar energy approaching, Kurama looked up caught sight of Hiei. <If you are torturing this boy telepathically, stop immediately!> Kurama lanced the telepatic message to his counterpart and looked him in the eye to impress upon him the seriousness of the situation. Kurama then called out the Taykayo's name and gave his shoulder a gentle shake in an attempt to snap the boy out of it.

Yukina blinked and shook her head slowly to clear it. The feelings were gone and she couldn't sense Hiei anymore, perhaps he had left. She looked up at Kuwabara with a weak smile, "I'm fine, Kazuma-kun. I thought I saw something out in the trees, but I'm probably just tired. Were you going to join me for supper?"

Though he could tell fairly quickly that she was lying, Kuwabara didn't want to take the chance of upsetting her further so he just let the incident slide by. "I'd love to stay for dinner! I'm sure anything you've made will taste amazing, Yukina!" He replied happily, his wide grin returning. "Do you need any help with anything?" He questioned as he slipped his wet shoes off and placed them outside of the door. The last thing he needed was to be yelled at by Genkai for ruining her floors with a little rain water.

It took a while for the images to fade from his vision, but they still burned in the back of his mind. Taykayo glanced at the new boy in the area, noticing that he was the source of the demonic energy. It raised the question of whether Shuichi knew that, or whether he didn't care about that critical detail. The images were still very fresh in his mind and he was still worried about them. "I-I'm alright, Shuichi." And in a sense, Taykayo was fine. He was more worried about the girl that had been in the images. She'd been very beautiful, too much so to be human.

The vision still made him dizzy, and sick to his stomach. The girl's face had been contorted in pain, her aqua hair spread around her head in a frantic manner. Taykayo noticed one other thing, taking a closer look at the black haired boy, he noticed that he'd been in the flashes, trying frantically to save the girl. A single name had broken through with the images, the only sound from the vision. "Umm, who's Yukina?" Taykayo asked, looking more at the boy he didn't know than looking at Shuichi.

Hiei lunged, grabbing for the boy's throat, much too fast for any human eyes to follow. "Who are you?! What do you know!?" He growled out. 'Did this boy with the demon energy have something to do with that dream?' Hiei was determined to find out. The jagan glowed behind his headband as he prepared to scour the boy's mind for information. 'Nobody threatens Yukina!' he thought grimly.

Yukina smiled more genuinely and tried to push the lingering worries from her mind. Hiei could take care of himself. "This way. It's already ready. I'll just need to set an extra plate on the table."

Taykayo would have flipped if he even knew what was going on. He just barely managed to see the boy move and he tried to move out of the way, sadly, he tripped over his own feet and fell backwards. A small icy blue crystal in the shape of a cross came flying out from under his shirt, he fell so fast that the silver chain went up over his head, the cross hitting the ground. Taykayo looked at it, alarmed, completely unaware of the black-haired boy as he felt his energy stir and awaken, flaring out like a beacon. Taykayo lifted his hands to his face and covered his eyes, trying to understand what was going on. 'Do not be so alarmed, young one. You would have been discovered, eventually.' Patronis voice rang through his head, but Taykayo ignored the words, still afraid of the boy who's fury was bewildering to him.

Keiko could hear the pitter patter of the rain as it pelted against her window, yet she still couldn't get to sleep. She sighed and closed her eyes regardless of how awake she was, wondering what Yusuke was up to, and if anything had happened that she should be aware of.

---

Genkai was close to her home again, and she could sense the idiot, Kuwabara, was there with Yukina. She sighed lightly as she moved onward, trying to keep track of the demonic energy that was far behind her, watching her, and following her. She began to wonder if she should take care of the demons first before going further, so that there would be none left to follow her. As she contemplated that, a high-pitched shriek came eerily from the distance, it was a sound of agony, perhaps one of the demons had run into something stronger.

---

Shadow was mad that hi meal had been disturbed, so instead, he was going around, killing the pesky little impish demons that were too close to his lair. His eyes had faded to a dull sea green, and as he moved from one demon to the next, the color began to dilute back into red. At first it was a dull, faded sort of red, but it grew brighter with each kill. Blood was scattered all over the area, and Shadow smiled mischievously as he licked some of it off his fingers. "What nassty little buggerss." He said. His voice would have been hard to describe by anyone, it was low, smooth, and snake-like. He sensed something else nearby and moved further into the woods, locating the source, an old woman whose back was turned to him. She was heading towards some kind of home, temple sort of thing. He frowned and his brow furrowed as he tried to understand what was going on, but he dismissed his thoughts and ran off into the forest again.

Kurama gave a mental sigh of relief as Taykayo seemed to come around. Still, Kurama was doubtful that the boy was just as fine as he attested to. His classmate looked rather pale and unsteady. The fox was just about to question Hiei further through telepathy when a single question rolled off of the Taykayo's tongue. A chill ran down the redhead's spine mere milliseconds before Hiei knocked his classmate flat on the ground.

"Hiei!" Kurama yelled out angrily split seconds before the thin silver chain unloosed itself from Taykayo's neck unleashing an unusually strong burst of power. Kurama's expression betrayed a hint of surprise despite himself. He of all people should have know that appearances could be deceiving. He had known there was something not quite right about the boy, but for him to be a demon? Kurama quickly recovered his composure and hissed at Hiei, "Don't kill him... Yet." Then focusing on Taykayo he demanded coldly, "Explain yourself."

Taykayo was even more alarmed by the sound of Shuichi's voice as it turned cold and he uncovered his eyes, looking up at his classmate. For a split second he thought about running, or at least trying to, but remembering how fast the black haired boy moved, knew that he'd have no chance to outrun him. Taykayo looked at his feet, tears unwillingly welling up in his eyes. He quickly reached for the necklace and pulled the silver chain over his head, and felt instantly more secure as the crystal cross fell to his chest. He looked up at Shuichi, a confused and bewildered look in his eyes.

"There is too much to explain, and I don't even know what his problem is." Taykayo said, his voice too soft. He had never been a very serious person, and his fear betrayed him. Taykayo had always been too fragile, too innocent, even Patronis had said it once, but he didn't care about that. "I can explain, it's just, I don't think this is the best place for it." He looked around, and even though he knew none of the humans in the area had heard the exchange, he didn't want to chance anyone coming around and discovering them. His right hand flew up to the crystal cross, holding onto it lightly, as he stared blankly at his feet.

"Are you sure we should be doing this? We could get in quite a bit of trouble, you know." The bubbly, grim reaper spoke up, her tone weary as she looked over her shoulder to catch a glance at her passenger.

"Don't worry!" Katsumi smiled, her arms outstretched as if to touch the clouds they were surrounded by. "I'll take full responsibility. I just needed to get out of that place." The fire demon added with a sigh of relief. She felt so exhilarated to be free from that tiny room she'd been left in to 'heal'. Not to mention that she was glad to be wearing her own clothes again, though they were just a pair of jeans and a couple neatly layered tank tops. Kat did, however, feel slightly guilty for using Botan as her way out. Surely Koenma wouldn't be too pleased once word reached him of her absence and the happy-go-lucky, 'Guardian of the River Styx' would definitely get some heat for it. 'I'll make it up to her someho--' Her thoughts interrupted by a sudden gust of wind that knocked her sharply backwards. With a surprised squeal she swiftly brought her arms back down and held onto the blue-haired girl's oar for dear life.

Botan laughed warmly, well accustomed to wind turbulence herself, "Sorry, that happens sometimes." In actuality, she wasn't so much afraid of Koenma's wrath so much as she was worried for the health of her friend. After all, she was in the hospital for a reason... "Katsumi, we'll be over Tokyo in a few minutes. Where shall I drop you off?"

"Anywhere is fine, I know my way around," Kat replied with a small smile. In all honestly, she would've preferred to return to her home world, but she knew that she was too weak in her current state to tackle demon world. So, the human realm would have to suffice.

"Alrighty! Hold on!" Botan aimed the oar downward and began a quick descent toward the city they hovered above. Thank goodness it was night-time already.

.::.

Kuwabara nodded, wandering into the dining room as Yukina went to fetch another plate. It was hard to grasp just how far he'd come since the first time he set a foot in Genkai's temple in the competition to become her apprentice. He smiled fondly at the memory as he stood behind a chair, waiting for Yukina before he sat down.

"We're not going anywhere until I find out how you know that name." He snarled. There were no humans around at this hour of night but Hiei really wouldn't have cared if there were at this point. Between the horrible dream he'd had and this boy's unnerving question, Hiei's limited patience had snapped. The jagan flared and the headband fell away, burned through by the power of the evil eye. He delved into the boy's mind. Hiei was determined to have the truth of this right now and it took a very very skilled person to lie in their thoughts.

Yukina grabbed a plate and a bowl and a pair of chopsticks from the cabinet and hurried back to the dining room. She bowed slightly as she set the items out on the low table, across from her own place setting. "I'm sorry if any of it has gotten cold. It isn't much. I was not expecting company to arrive so late in the day." She apologized politely. "Please sit down, Kazuma-san. You must be tired from walked all this way in the rain." She knew the stairs up to the temple were a lot for most humans to manage even well conditioned ones like Kazuma-kun and Yusuke-san. They weren't a problem for her, but then again she could be up and down them before anyone saw her move if she was so inclined, which she rarely was. Moving as fast as she was capable of moving always made her feel as if she was missing half of the joy in life. Beautiful trees and scenery went by to fast to focus on and she scared the birds and other small animals away. She didn't know how Hiei could stand it but she supposed he had had to move that fast as a matter of survival until he was old enough to defend himself. It wasn't easy being a child on your own in the Makai. Running must have become as normal as breathing for him. She realized she was lost in thought and snapped her mind back to the present. Thinking of Hiei always left her wondering if she was right in her strong suspicions that he was her brother. That led to wondering why he wouldn't tell her if he was....was he ashamed of her because she had foolishly been captured by Tarukane? Or worse, was he secretly angry that he had been thrown away when she hadn't? Did he hate her? He didn't act like he hated her....She firmly pulled her mind away from such thoughts as she sat down on her cushion beside the table. She forced a cheerful smile and picked up her chopsticks. "Itadakimasu." She said serenely.

Hiro sat back a bit as he set his chopsticks over the now-empty rice bowl. He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair and stood, picking up the remains of his simple meal. After washing them, he went back down to the main floor of the Dojou, wanting to get out a bit of energy before attempting to sleep.

He tried to get the radio to come in, but the on-coming storm made all the channels turn to static. 'Kuso... I really need to get that fixed...' he thought as he shuffled through CDs. A smile came to his face as he found one he liked, a mix of songs from fighting games. He chucked a bit and put it in, the sound of Mortal Combat filling the training room. He took off his uwagi, tossing it to the side as he reached for a bamboo stave. Soon the sound of the flexible pole hitting one of the training dummys echoed through the Dojou

(( Sorry for the long post... ^ ^;; ))

Taykayo was beyond bewildered at this point in time, he was completely in shock, but he gave no resistance as he felt a presence enter his mind. But he closed his eyes as he felt a sharp pain that resulted from the forced entry into his mind. His breathing grew heavier and he reached for the crystal cross with both hands this time to help him endure. He could feel the boy's anger, and also his fear and concern for the girl who had been in the visions. As much as he tried to focus his thoughts, they were still all over the place, too sporadic to make much sense.

Patronis would have none of it. As Hiei’s search delved even deeper into the boy’s mind, he struck back at the presence with his own power. 'There is really no need for that. Your interference is unnecessary.' Patronis' voice broke through the barrier protecting himself and his human half’s deepest, most inner thoughts. He pushed harder against Hiei's mind, forcing him and the power of the Jagan eye out of the boy's head, forcing protection over his human self as he forced the barrier wider. Taykayo could feel it happening, all of it was painful to him, and he flinched each time Patronis pushed against Hiei's mind. 'No, it's ok, I can handle it.' Taykayo thought desperately. 'Taykayo, your mind is too young and weak. You will not last an extended invasion of your mind. It would be best if you allowed me to handle it.' Patronis' deeper voice spoke to his human half. 'No, let me do it. I have nothing to hide anymore, and it would be pointless to try and hide who I am now that they've felt my energy.' Taykayo replied, his voice was much stronger in his own mind than the way it was when he spoke out loud. There was a sigh in his thoughts as the barrier retreated and allowed Hiei full access into the boy's mind, but Patronis refused to allow Hiei to access his thoughts as a demon. 'Thank you.' Taykayo thought softly as he focused his thoughts, concentrating on the images of the girl.

'I don't know who she is. These things come to me for a reason. It's never definite and sometimes I can never make sense of them. Flashes of images here and there, sometimes people I know. You were trying to save her, and in the images I heard her name. Other than that, I don't know anything more. Please, I am sorry if my questions and thoughts have upset you, but I can't control the visions. I fear those images, I don't understand them, but I don't wish that girl any harm.' Taykayo had felt fear and concern from the boy called Hiei. But he, himself was truly concerned about the images, wondering who the girl was, and why the images showed her in pain. It was something he didn't understand. His mind became distracted by another image, the one from his dreams, of the black hole with demons waiting in the dark, lurking in the shadows, waiting to break through and attack him. Taykayo cringed away from the image in his head, while his outer appearance remained worried and confused.

Kurama stared down at the boy before him without pity. Taykayo's eyes shied from his gaze at first but then confronted the redhead's deep green irises after replacing his necklace. Kurama felt the boy's demonic energy dwindle as the cross fell back into place. 'Interesting trinket...' he thought to himself briefly before his classmate gathered himself to speak.

Kurama's heart twinged slightly at the second part of his phrase 'I don't even know what his problem is...' The combination of the tears in Taykayo's eyes and his soft tone almost made the fox regret his earlier tone but he maintained his steely outer composure. He would not relent until some answers were found. He would leave that up to Hiei for the time being however, provided the fire demon did not become overly hostile. Kurama would not allow any great harm to befall his classmate without just cause despite the puzzling circumstances.

As Hiei's jagan eye revealed itself Kurama began to doubt his earlier accusation. If the fire demon indeed had been torturing the boy telepathically, he would have no doubt already located the thoughts on Yukina that he was currently attempting to extract from his victim. The question still remained then as to Taykayo's odd behavior moments earlier. What could have caused the brief outbreak of horror in the new found demon? Kurama did a quick scan of the area but it revealed no unusual disturbances.

Hiei was fighting back against the demonic presence in the boys mind when it suddenly fell away and Taykayo's thoughts were revealed to him. He relaxed slightly. The boy was speaking the truth. He didn't know what his visions meant. Hiei extricated himself from the boy's mind much more gently than he had entered. He cursed himself for becoming soft, but he even used the jagan to soothe away the pain from his intrusion. He couldn't do a thing for his own blinding headache, but at least he felt less dishonorable for attacking the boy. He ignored the throbbing in his head with only a slight grimace, and pulled his spare headband from a pocket. Tying it in place with practiced ease he watched Taykayo curiously through crimson eyes.

"He's clairvoyant." Hiei informed Kurama simply. "Are your visions always accurate?" He asked grimly. His determination to reach Yukina quickly was renewed but he wanted to get a better idea of what he might be walking into first. He would do her no good if he got killed trying to save her.

Kurama felt a slight sensation of relief when Hiei finally extracted himself from Taykayo's subconscious. He didn't exactly enjoy seeing the boy suffer but he would become his serious opponent in an instant if the boy turned out to be a foe. Kurama studied the shorter fire demon as he removed a small strip of white cloth from a pocket and retied it over the jagan. The jagan was an amazing tool and weapon but it also came with a price.

Kurama nodded sagely when the dark haired demon revealed at least one truth about the situation. Clairvoyance.. How could he not have imagined it earlier? Still, it wasn't often that one would encounter the rare gift. Kurama mentally shrugged, it had been a slight oversight on his part. Kurama could almost sense his partner's haste redouble as he interrogated Taykayo on one final point. Perhaps if the boy could be trusted, the three of them could head to dojo together. The only setback however would be his classmate's apparent lack of stamina...

Taykayo was relieved when Hiei finally stopped looking through his head, a slight headache was starting, but it seemed the boy eased it as a final note. Taykayo was slightly confused, but he was glad that this demon wasn't quite as mean as he'd seemed from forcing himself into his mind. Then he heard the question and Taykayo changed his position so that he could start to stand, but he made no move to actually stand up yet. "For the most part they are, but my visions are subjective." Taykayo explained easily. "The future can always change. It depends on when people make a decision. Usually the visions are the direct path of a decision, but it can always change if a person changes their mind." He looked at both of them, still confused.