Kurama smiled and nodded, "Of course, and really, if you should need someone to talk to..." He trailed off, leaving the offer implied since he'd already said it once and he didn't want to seem pushy. "Come along Hiei." He said as he stood up, reversing his plants back to seeds and scooping them up. He turned his calm smile on Hiei. "Are you sleeping over, Hiei? I heard it was going to rain." He asked with some amusement as he headed for the door.

"Hn." Hiei nodded once at Kat and followed the redhead out, "She didn't need to know that, Kurama. My sleeping arrangements are none of her business." He muttered once they had reached the hallway.

Kurama smiled apologetically and shrugged, "She needed something to take her mind off of her troubles. A little normalcy when one's world has been turned upside down can be very grounding."

Hiei processed that for a moment before his curious expression went blank again. "Hn. Nothing about either of us is normal." He huffed. Demon criminals working for Reikai, a male fire demon from a tribe of entirely female ice demons, and an ancient demon fox masquerading as a teenage boy to protect a human woman's feelings. No, nothing remotely normal about them.

Kurama chuckled, "True." by this time they had reached the doors to Koenma's office. Kurama reached up to knock but Hiei simply pushed the door open and flitted inside before the redhead's knuckles could make a sound. He walked inside sedately and smiled at the assembled group.

"HA! SEE! Twenty bucks, Koenma!" Yusuke shouted upon Kurama and Hiei's arrival. He leaned forward on the toddler's desk and shoved an open hand in his face. "Pay up, shrimp." He added with a huge, I-told-you-so grin.

"Oooh, I could've sworn I won with that tremor earlier." Koenma huffed and tossed his head in another direction, causing his entire chair to turn, successfully knocking the spirit detective's greedy palm away. "I'll have to give you an IOU on that one." The young king replied, though it was clear he never intended to back up that IOU with monetary means.

While the two fussed over the results of their silly bet, Botan clapped her hands together and smiled welcomely. "I'm so relieved that you boys are alright! How'd it go?"

Kurama shrugged elegantly, "She told me to apologize for her behavior earlier." He said to Koenma, "She didn't have a great deal to report, apparently it was too dark to see much. She only says that it was a man with red eyes and dark hair, and that he was good with a blade."

OOC: Is there any possibility that Hiei could have caught more from her flashbacks, since he wasn't as emotionally involved in them? Also....Kurama's description could fit Hiei. O_o'

[[OOC: XDDD Very true! I just had a flashback of old Pokemon episodes where it would be like, 'WHO'S THAT POKEMON' Lol, black hair, red eyes, sword, 'IT'S HIEI!' Annnnnyway, pm me and we'll talk about it. XD I'm sure he could've, I just haven't set anything in stone in regard to the villains as of right now. So we can brainstorm other things he may have seen.]]

"Dark hair...red eyes...good with a sword..." Yusuke stood back and tapped his chin with his index finger as he thought. Then it hit him. "Sooooo, like Hiei?" He teased, throwing a smirk in the shorter man's direction.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Yusuke." Koenma sighed. "But atleast we have a physical description. Maybe she'll remember more in time." He suggested, his eyes flickered back toward his unfinished paperwork. "I suppose that's all the information I have to share with you all. I'll have Botan inform you if we discover anything or Katsumi recalls any further details."

Hiei glared at Yusuke, "If it had been me, she wouldn't have survived." He said flatly, offended at the very idea that he'd do anything so sloppy. He was mulling over the snippets of memory he'd gleaned from Kat's surface thoughts and he thought there might be something there that she'd missed, but he couldn't place what it was. He decided to keep quiet until he had something solid to report.

Kurama chuckled at Hiei's unusual, but most likely very true proof of his innocence, "I believe she may have said long hair as well." He added thoughtfully. He shrugged and nodded a tiny bow to Koenma. "If that's all, I need to be back in my room before Mother notices I'm gone." He said meaningfully.

Yusuke chuckled at Hiei's response. He knew the fire demon was serious, and it was just that morbid sense of humor kicking in.

"Ah, that's right!" Koenma said, jabbing a finger roughly in George's direction. "George, initiate a portal for them, pronto!" He added, instantly intimidating the loyal ogre.

"Y-Yes sir!" George replied quickly, flinging out of the office door as if he were being chased.

"It should be here shortly and return you to your bedroom." Koenma spoke calmly as he went back to stamping papers.

"..Stalker." Yusuke coughed and turned his head to the side, covering his mouth with his closed hand as a swirl abruptly materialized in the same place the earlier portal was.

Kurama smiled at Koenma, "I'd appreciate it if you'd drop Yusuke somewhere else." He turned an amused eye on the green clad boy, "You'll have to forgive me, Yusuke, but I fear stealth is not your strong suit." He hurried into the portal without waiting for a response. 'I hope Mother took my advice and relaxed for a long while before supper.' He thought to himself worriedly as he went through and popped out in his room. He hurried to his door and forced himself to walk calmly down the stairs. The redhead was relieved to find his mother in the kitchen, humming to herself as she stirred something on the stove. "I'm done with my homework." He lied cheerfully. "I thought I'd come down and see if I could help set the table."

Shiori smiled, "I've already done it, Shuuichi, but thank you for offering. Why don't you go change out of your uniform and get comfortable before we eat. It'll be ready in about ten minutes."

Kurama nodded and hurried back upstairs.

Hiei blurred through the portal a few seconds after Kurama and popped out just as Kurama was leaving the room. By the time the fox came back, the little fire demon had stolen one of the pillows off the bed and was making himself a pallet in the corner with his cloak and the pilfered cushion.

"If you want to come down to the door, I'm sure Mother wouldn't mind me having a friend over for supper." He offered hesitantly. Hiei rarely accepted any invitation that had him pretending to be human, but Kurama always offered anyway.

Hiei frowned and sniffed the air. Something did smell good, but was it worth the aggravation? After a moment of contemplation Hiei nodded stiffly. "Just don't expect me to make small talk." He warned.

Kurama laughed at the very idea. "Of course not. I'll do the talking as usual." Kurama had introduced Hiei to his mother, several months earlier, as a friend from school. However, he suspected Shiori thought Hiei was some sort of street urchin that her 'sweet gentle son' had befriended. It was actually closer to the truth than the story he'd told, but Kurama wasn't about to share that thought with the volatile fire demon. He liked his hair unsinged. "Ring the door bell in five minutes." He said instead, as he grabbed some jeans and a shirt and went into his bathroom to change.

"Hn." Hiei blurred out the window, leaving his cloak and katana in the corner.

Kuwabara scratched his head. "Where the heck is everybody?" He'd been late to school today, because Eikichi had gotten stuck in the tree outside his window. He'd had to get little Eikichi down before the kitty got hurt. Urameshi hadn't been at school at all. Probably just headed to the arcade again. When he'd checked though, Yuusuke hadn't been anywhere. Not at the arcade, or on the school roof, or at his apartment, or at Keiko's. He winced at the memory, "And if you see Yuusuke, tell him he's a colossal jerk!" Keiko had shouted when he'd asked her if she'd seen Urameshi. He'd checked Kurama's too; he'd thought he sensed the shrimp around that part of town, but they were nowhere to be found. "You guys better not be fighting evil demons without me!" he shouted at the sky. "'Cause I'm the Great Kuwabara, number one punk at Sarashiki High, and you can't leave me behind!" Yukina! Of course, maybe she or Genkai would know where everybody went. Even if she didn't, he'd get to spend time with his love, beautiful Yukina. "I'm comin' Yukina!" He hurtled away towards the bus stop.

Shizuru cursed as she headed home from work. She'd heard Kuwabara shouting outside the salon. That boy was way too loud for his own good. "Don't get yourself killed, baby brother,"she muttered in the general direction of the bus stop. "I don't want to have to go all the way to Reikai to kick your ass. He better have cleaned his room."

OOC: SORRY!!!! Fritzy internet and evil school!, I'm back now though.

Yukina stirred the curry she was making, still pondering the lack of company she'd had all day.

Hiei rang the doorbell as Kurama had instructed and watched as the redhead spun a story about having forgotten inviting him over. As usual, Shiori simply smiled and said it was fine. Hiei ate his food in silence, but Kurama covered it with frivolous talk about his schoolwork and other things that Hiei had no interest in. After they ate, Hiei went out through the door and back in through Kurama's open window.

Kurama came upstairs a few minutes later. "I think Mother approves of you." He said with a grin. "This makes three times you've showed up unannounced for dinner and she still looks happy to see you. The one time I let Yusuke come over, she was much more eager for him to leave."

"Hn," Hiei grunted. "Then she has good taste." He pronounced sarcastically. "The woman is far too trusting." He propped the pillow against the wall and sat down on his cloak, his katana resting between his knees. "Now, leave me alone so I can sleep."

"Certainly, I have to finish my homework anyway." Kurama turned off the overhead light and went to his desk, flipping on the desk lamp and settling in to wrap up the small amount of homework he hadn't completed in class. "Goodnight, Hiei."

"Night. Now shut up." came the grumpy answer from the darkened corner.

Kurama chuckled and turned his attention to his English homework.

Kuwabara hadn't realized how late it was when he hurtled off to see Yukina. In fact, he hadn't even noticed it was getting darki until he'd gotten off the bus and headed up the stairs. Even then, he hadn't put much stock in it, since as night fell it started raining. Soaked and bedraggled, he made it to Genkai's right around dinner time; that's what it smelled like at any rate. As soon as he got in, he'd have to ask Genkai if he could borrow a phone to call Big Sis. In the meantime, he knocked and waited, ignoring the rain. If he got a cold, he was sure his angel's hands could chase the bug away.

Yukina heard the knock just as she was setting the food on the table. Genkai wasn't home so she had been expecting to eat supper alone. She went to the door and opened it a crack to peer out into the rain. "Kazuma-kun!" She squeaked. "You're drenched. Please come in and get dry." She pushed the door all the way open and stepped back for the large orange haired boy to enter.

Koenma had eventually sent Yusuke off through a portal for his own home, just in time to hear rain crash into his bedroom window. "Hmph. Don't remember anybody mentioning any kind of rain." He mumbled to himself as he fell back onto his mattress. He wasn't particularly excited about this new mission, especially since Koenma couldn't offer too much background knowledge. It was almost like stabbing in the dark and that, clearly, wasn't such a great idea after all. Plus, he had yet to speak to Keiko today and he needed to make things right with her soon. "Argh, what a pain." He sighed, shutting his eyes.

Katsumi shifted uncomfortably in her hospital bed. Her fingers dug into the sheets as a bead of sweat ran down the length of her face. The demon girl had fallen asleep about half an hour after her visitors had taken their leave, hoping to escape her immediate reality for a few hours. That wasn't the case. Her dreaming mind was suddenly being plagued by constant, cruel and tormenting images of loved ones, friends alive and dead alike. Atleast in her comatose state, her subconscious had retreated deep into the depths of her mind to shield itself from feeling the physical pain of her wounds and the emotional pain of the loss of her friends. However, now that she was in a more stable frame of mind, it appeared as if something sinister lurked within her head and generated these horrific images as she slept. Her shaking physical state drew the attention of a passing nurse.

Kurama was just heading to bed when he heard Hiei stir in his sleep. That was very unusual. A person who sleeps in trees can't very well be prone to rolling around. He approached the sleeping fire demon cautiously but did not touch him. Hiei didn't take well to being touched when he wasn't expecting it. "Hiei?" The fox demon called out quietly, mindful of his mother sleeping in the room next door.

Hiei's eyes shot open, "Yukina!" He gasped out, grabbing his katana and blurring out the window into the pouring rain.

"Hiei wait!" Kurama tried to catch him as he passed, knowing it was hopeless with Hiei at full speed. The little demon was gone before the fox could get close. He eyed the black cloak still pooled in the corner. Sighing, he picked it up and grabbed a raincoat from his closet. He locked his bedroom door and headed out into the night after his friend.

Just as the nurse reached her hand out to shake the demon girl awake, Katsumi bolted completely upright. Her bangs stuck to her forehead from the sweat and she desperately grabbed her chest as she breathed heavily.

"Katsumi-san, it was just a nightmare. You'll be alright, so just take deep breaths and try to relax." The nurse piped up as she stood a couple feet away. "If you don't calm yourself, I'll have to get the doctor."

Katsumi nodded as she shut her eyes and focused on her breathing. The dream was so real. Her eyes flickered open as she held her hands out in front of her face. She was startled to see that they were just as they were before she drifted off to sleep. 'So, none of that was real, huh?'

((quick question, on the spirit energy and strength and al that how are you doing it is 9 the strongest or 1?))

It was unbelievable, Yusuke had done it again. Despite how much she wanted to forgive him, he had ditched her again, without warning, and with no excuse. She let out a frustrated sigh as she stormed up the stairs to go to her room. Sometimes she just couldn’t stand that boy, even though she knew that she liked him. Keiko wondered if it was more than just that, especially since she never looked at other boys; at least not in the way that she looked at Yusuke Urameshi. Sometimes it felt like she all she could really see was him, as if there was a halo around his head. Naturally Keiko knew that there was no way that Yusuke was an angel, not in any sense of the word.

She walked into her room and sighed as she let herself fall back onto her bed. Yusuke could be such a jerk sometimes, it was a pain to deal with; that and the fact that she had to constantly remind him to go to class and do his homework, and even to tell him not to skip out on school, period. “What am I going to do about that? Maybe I should ignore him for a while.” She felt a tightening of her chest and knew that it was impossible to stay away from him for long. She was staring at the ceiling. “I suppose I should do my own homework for now. I’ll figure out something to do later.” She said softly, speaking to herself.

---

She was trying to meditate again, trying to keep focus, but her thoughts kept wandering back to her home. She had left Yukina behind as she went further into the mountains that surrounded her home. Genkai had done this to get a sense of peace and quiet so she could meditate easier. She felt a little guilty for leaving the peaceful ice demon behind all by herself, especially since it was going to rain. The girl would be alone, though Genkai could sense that the ice apparition would not be alone for long. When the rain started, Genkai ignored the droplets of water that pelted her as she sat there meditating.

Something told her that her peace would be disturbed shortly anyway, so she didn’t want to take too much time away from her home. She figured that a good hour would be enough before she headed home; especially if she ended up having to see Yusuke and his friends again. She hadn’t seen the dimwitted Spirit Detective since the end of the Dark Tournament, something that she was glad for, but still a little wary of. The calm had a perculiar feel to it, like the calm before a storm, and she was certain that something big was about to happen; something that would end up with her getting involved with the dimwit once again.

"Ah, Yukina!" Kuwabara grinned widely as his favorite demon answered the door. To be honest, he hadn't actually noticed the rain until she expressed concern over how wet he apparently was. The teen's mind had been too preoccupied with thoughts of visiting his beloved and also, occasionally, of his sister and the guaranteed scolding he would recieve once he was back home to notice the sudden, abrupt change in the weather. "I'm alright, it's just a little rain! Nothing I can't handle!" He bellowed warmly as he entered and was instantly greeted by the smell of a fresh, homecooked meal. "Are you all by yourself, Yukina? Where's Master Genkai?" The orange haired boy questioned, slightly offended at the thought of Yukina being left by herself.

Hiro slid the outer door to the Dojou shut, the sudden rain coming off the ocean pounding against it. He sighed as his tabi became soaked and his feet slipped a bit in the puddles. "I like rain, really, just not inside the Dojou." He said, not really sure if he was talking to the water or just himself. He moved out of the pool of water and took off the tabi, tossing them into the dirty towel hamper as he walked to the closet. He grabbed a few rags and a small bucket, sliding the door shut with his foot before going back to the front room. Just as he got to the archway, he saw the rain pouring in from the doorway again.

"Kuso!" he swore as he dashed forward, grabbing the heavy sliding door and closing it again with his free hand. 'How in the....' He looked to the floor, seeing wet footprints trailing from the now larger puddle to the training room. He quietly set down the bucket and the newly dampened towels. His bare feet barely made a sound as he rounded the corner, glancing into the room before entering. 'Another one?' He thought as he gazed on the intruder. It was a small, impish demon with sickly grey-blue skin. It's big, bug-like eyes looking about the room as it hopped about a bit. ' I'm getting really sick of these things...'

Hiro started to form a bit of energy in his left hand as he quickly stepped into the room. "Sorry, this is the only thing on the menu tonight" He said, making the creature turn about in surprise only to be pierced with several needle-like darts of energy. It gave a shriek, then fell to the floor, quickly misting away, from skin down to bones until nothing but dust was left. "Great another thing to clean up." He sighed, rolling his eyes a bit. He brushed a bit of damp hair from his face and went back to the main room once more, thinking about the low-powered creatures that kept showing up everywhere.

Genkai huffed out a sigh as she finally opened her eyes, coming out of her meditation. She was soaked through, almost to the bone, as one might say and she stood up, slowly. There was a peculiar aura around the area, and she looked off into the trees, seeing that several small demons were watching her. She barely managed to control herself, but she let out a soft laugh. "What a bunch of pathetic creatures." She said simply as she began walking away. She had to get back to her home, preferrably before she got deathly ill from the rain.

---

He was sitting against a flat, stone surface, one that was cold and slightly damp. All around him was darkness, one of the best places to be. Shadow smiled widely as he closed his eyes and let the rest of his senses take over. He could hear others about ten feet away, they had been unlucky to enter his lair. The poor little humans didn’t know that these caves were ruled by a demon, and a blood-thirtsy one at that. He almost couldn’t stifle the laugh that was building up within his chest. The sound of their feet shuffling along the stone floor of the cave, it was almost hypnotic, the rhythm the sound seemed to create.

Slowly standing from his spot on the floor, he gathered his thoughts and snuck out of the little cavernous room to get his new meal. His eyes peered through the darkness easily as he stealthily made his way over to the unsuspecting couple. As he was getting ready to attack, he felt a presence nearby and he retreated back into the darkness, hissing at the couple, alerting them to the danger. The couple made a run for it, and Shadow mumbled darkly under his breath as he tried to recognize the new aura. He hissed when he realized it was nothing more than a low D class demon and he quickly moved from the sanctity of his cave to destroy the worthless creature.

Yukina smiled warmly at the orange haired boy. He was so funny sometimes. "Genkai-san has gone out. Would you like something to eat? I was just going to have supper..." She felt a familiar flicker at the edge of her awareness. It seemed she was going to have more company coming.

Hiei sped through the night, oblivious to the rain. Images from his nitemare flashed through his head leaving dark, festering wounds on his mind. He stretched out with the jagan, trying to reach Yukina's mind and see if she was okay, without letting any of his thoughts slip through to her. However his control wasn't what it usually was, so he withdrew from her mind as quickly as possible. He slowed his pace as he neared the temple. Yukina's thoughts were relatively calm and he caught the oaf's familiar presence nearby. The boy was an idiot, but Hiei knew that Kuwabara would never allow anything bad to happen to Yukina while he was around.

Yukina gasped as very strong emotions washed through her mind. Worry, fear, and concern most prominent among them. They faded as quickly as they had come, leaving her leaning against the door frame and staring out into the night. What was wrong with Hiei? He didn't usually broadcast emotions when he spied on her.

OOC: And since Kurama is no longer mine to play, I will leave his next actions up to whoever has taken him over.

Kurama shivered lightly in the cool night air as he took his first step out into the darkness. It only took him a moment to pick up on his demon counterpart's unique energy before setting off at a brisk jogging pace in his direction. Kurama knew that he would never be able to match Hiei's abnormally fast pace so he set his own rhythm. He knew that he would eventually catch up with the smaller fire demon, it would just require some patience and persistence on his part.

Nimbly dodging a rather large puddle, Kurama contemplated what could have provoked such a frantic reaction from his counterpart. It was so unlike Hiei... Kurama reached out again to pick up on the fire demon's energy. It was fading quickly as the distance between himself and Hiei greatened but it was still there, faintly.

It had been a long night, for once he had been unable to sleep at all. Too many thoughts and images lingered in his mind from the strange dream he'd had. That made the fifth time this month that he had dreamed of the strange black hole. Whenever he looked carefully through the images of his dream, he could see the shadows and silhouettes of demons behind the darkness of the black hole, longing to come out. Longing to kill him and take his power away. Taking a deep breath, Taykayo shoved the thoughts and images into the back of his mind. It was only two in the morning so far, and he was certain he'd never get to sleep at this rate, so he was simply lying in bed, waiting for something to happen.

'You haven't been getting much sleep lately.' A deep voice said. He knew it was in his head and he sighed. "Yes, I know. Those dreams keep coming, like some kind of sign." Taykayo said in his softer voice. 'Perhaps it is a sign.' The other voice said with a similarly tired sigh. Taykayo nodded slowly as he got up and moved to his window. Looking past the rain streaming down the glass, he could see a familiar figure run by on the street below. If he was correct, it was Shuichi Minamino, one of the boys from his Biology class. Wondering what was going on, Taykayo grabbed his coat and opened up the window, climbing out and landing on the ground. Sadly, he did not land on his feet, and it took him a moment to regain his composure as he got back onto his feet and ran off, trying to see what was going on.

"Shuichi!" He called out in the hopes of catching his classmate's attention. He hadn't realized that Shuichi was so fast, he had never seen him run before or participate too much in physical education.

Kurama increased his speed as he felt Hiei's energy slow down. 'Now is my chance to catch up...' the redhead thought to himself. He was just considering further quickening his pace when a voice called out his human name. Sliding to a halt on the slickened pavement, Kurama turned his attention to the one who had called his name. Running towards him was a boy from his class, Taykayo. Although they hadn't often spoken directly, Kurama had been keeping an eye on the boy. There was something just a bit off in the boy's scent, though he had yet to place it.

As the boy approached, Kurama adopted a more relaxed posture and began quickly calculating an excuse for what surely seemed an odd behavior. In the back of his mind however he remained focused on Hiei's energy signature. The fox was feeling a mixture of pressures; on one hand he had to maintain appearances for the human boy in his class, while on the other he felt a stronger duty to continue in pursuit of the frantic fire demon. Hopefully he would be able to end their encounter quickly...

Taykayo caught up to Shuichi, but he was rather out of breath, he had always hated physical activites. He smiled politely and paused as he sensed that something was off. "Hey there, it's really late at night. What are you doing up and out in the rain?" Taykayo asked in a slightly concerned manner. The rain was dampening his hair, making it fall flat on his face. His pale blue eyes gazed beyond the other boy in the street, as if looking for something in the distance.

Kurama mentally took note of Taykayo's physical condition as he caught up. Just another tidbit to add to his mysterious file in the deep recesses of Kurama's mind. Kurama coolly replied when questioned, "One could ask you the same thing, Taykayo," turning the question against himself and directing it back towards the other boy. Kurama flashed a brief smile to show that he meant well despite his words and awaited a response.