CHAPTER 1: FOUND

Somewhere in the Makai...

Three hooded figures stood in a large office, facing a wooden desk; the figure on the left was incredibly tall- about six feet, the next one reached his shoulders and the one furthest to the right was about as tall as the first one's ears. They had been waiting for their host for approximately thirty minutes now- they were here on serious business.

Eventually, a fat green Oni with long grey hair and dark red, beady eyes walked into the office; his sharp incisors peaked from behind his upper lip and his nose twitched at intervals, as if searching for food.

"Please sit." The Oni said to the hooded figures. They did not even flinch. The demon swallowed loudly and made his way to his chair. "Now, gentlemen, I understand you have been waiting long... forgive me; we can quickly finish the transaction and I'll let you go on your way... On sale, we have a few slaves from around the Makai; Inu, Neko, human, even-"

"We heard you had a kitsune." The hooded man to the right said, cutting off the Oni.

"Namely Kurama." The shorter one said.

"We want him."

The tallest of them nodded silently.

The Oni broke out in cold sweat; he could feel that these hooded men were very powerful- he could practically taste the reiki -he did not want to refuse them but, "Gentlemen, Kurama is not for sale... he is my superior's most prized possession... I'm not supposed to sell her slaves; the ones I sell are not missed, however, she will surly know if Kurama was missing." The Oni paused and shivered in fear. "I apologise but it's too much of a risk."

There was a deafening silence; the Oni could feel a sudden rise in reiki but a gesture from the shorter man, and the reiki suddenly dropped. The demon swallowed again as the figures stood deathly still.

"Very well then; take us to see the kitsune." The shorter one said. "To glimpse the King of Thieves in chains, weak and helpless will bring us much... pleasure." He struggled with the last word but the Oni did not notice.

The Oni smirked. "Speaking of pleasure..." he drawled. "With ten bags of gold, I can let you... spend the night with the kitsune; surly you've heard of how sensual they-"

A sudden burst of reiki and shreds of cloth shut the Oni up quickly and he gasped in surprise when, in the place of the man on the right, was none other than Spirit Detective, Yusuke Urameshi.

"Reikai Tantei!" The Oni gasped. "GU-!"

Fast as lightening, a katana was at the Oni's throat, which caused him to quickly quieten. The short figure held the katana with one hand and used the other to pull back his hood, revealing angry crimson eyes and gravity defying pitch-black hair.

"Make a sound and it will be your last." Hiei warned lowly. The Oni swallowed for the third time and nodded slowly, wary that the sharp blade may cut into his throat if he nodded too enthusiastically. "Where is Kurama?"

The Oni looked at them with pleading eyes; it was his job to guard Kurama, if he goes missing or dies, his boss will have his head.

"Talk, you sick fuck!" Yusuke yelled. He batted Hiei's katana away and raised the Oni high over his head with one hand around his thick throat. "Where the hell is Kurama!"

"I...I..." The Oni stammered.

"I wouldn't waste my time if I were you... Yusuke is not the patient type." Hiei said, sheathing his katana. "Better yet, instead of telling us where Kurama is, you're going to take us to him."

When it seemed that the Oni was about to protest, Yusuke bang him hard against the wall and released him, causing him to slide to the ground with a painful groan. "Walk." The Mazoku growled. "And don't make a sound."

The Oni nodded again and tried to stand up too quickly, causing him to fall flat on his ass but another glare from Yusuke and the demon stood up successfully.

"But Urameshi," The tall one said, pulling back his hood and revealing curly orange hair. "What about your cloak? You can't run around this place like that!"

Hiei nodded. "The oaf is right, Yusuke." He said. "You'll draw suspicion to us."

Kuwabara scoffed. "He's Yusuke Urameshi, Makai's famous Spirit Detective: he'll draw more than suspicion to-" Suddenly he stopped and pinned Hiei with a glare. "Did you just call me an oaf?"

Hiei smirked irritably and said in calm tone, "Well, well, Kuwabara, your brain seems to be catching up much faster now... that's an improvement."

Kuwabara turned red. "Who are you calling an oaf you short stack piece of-"

"ENOUGH!" Yusuke yelled and Kuwabara obeyed. The tall brunet then turned to the confused Oni and said, "Get me a cloak and take us to Kurama."

YYH

The group weaved quietly through the castle; they were given some suspicious stares but when they saw the Oni leading them, they smirked; they knew how the Oni would rent the King of Thieves out to those rich enough to pay. Soon the Reikai Tantei and the demon were making their way down to the dungeons, away from prying eyes; it got colder and colder as they went lower and soon, even Yusuke was tugging on his cloak to keep himself warm.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the stairs and the hooded men stopped when they spotted an insect demon sitting in front of a barred cell. "Hey boss... I see you've brought more guests." It called with a smirk, wiggling its mandibles. "You wouldn't believe-" His head fell to the ground before he could finish.

Hiei turned to the Oni, katana in hand. "There are others who paid to spend the night with Kurama, isn't there?" The Oni gulped and nodded while Yusuke gave an unearthly growl. "Kuwabara." Hiei said.

The tall man smirked and cracked his knuckles. "I'm gonna enjoy this."

"No." Yusuke growled. "Don't kill him." He stepped forward and took the bunch of keys hanging from the Oni's belt. "Beat the shit out of him all you want but I am the one who would kill him."

Hiei folded his arms. "He's not only yours, Yusuke." The half fire demon said, narrowing his eyes. "He belongs to me as well."

"I don't care." The tall brunet ignored the youkai's snarl and opened the cell before cautiously stepping inside.

It was large yet it was incredibly dark and cold, very cold; Hiei could identify at least three different scents of blood in the room, the stone walls and floor were damp, contributing to it's cool state.

Kuwabara gasped, "Oh Inari." as he pushed the Oni ahead of him. Being a psychic, he shivered as he felt different emotions; disgust, fear and usually, hope. "Kurama is in here?" he asked no one in particular.

"Not for a few minutes." Yusuke said as he entered deeper into the gloom of the cell. "Kurama." He called.

There was no answer; Hiei stepped in as well and called out but still, they were greeted by silence. After a few moments, the fire-demon could make out a slumped figure at the corner of the cell. "Yusuke." He said urgently as he ran to the form.

Yusuke was not far behind and they both gasped at the sight; low and behold, an unconscious Kurama laid with his head beside a pool of vomit, he was naked and covered in bruises all over. Looking at the dark purple ring on his right ankle, Hiei deduced it might be twisted or broken; his once vibrant red hair was a mass of tangles and knots but the most horrific of the sight was the dried blood between his thighs.

Yusuke swatted down and gently touched the red hair; when he got closer, he could smell blood and after searching for the source, he found a shard of glass clutched tightly in Kurama's hand, cutting into his palm, on the edge of the shard was a dried purple matter.

Hiei, as gently as he could, removed the shard and sniffed at the purple stuff. "Blood." He said.

"He tried to defend himself." Kuwabara said, slightly sick as the emotions of the past bombarded him. "He stabbed one of those demons and tried to escape but..." he trailed off and quickly turned a corner before he heaved his breakfast.

"You." Hiei turned to the Oni and growled, unsheathing his katana. "You did this." He stalked the shivering demon. "You let this happen!"

"P-please." The Oni stammered in fear. "M-mercy please!"

"Why should I show you any?" Hiei said with a dangerous smirk.

Kuwabara walked away from what would inevitably be a bloody execution and removed his cloak to cover Kurama's body. "Urameshi, call Botan and tell her to open a portal." When he got no answer, he looked up; Yusuke seemed frozen by shock and rage, Kuwabara could feel his reiki rising quickly. "Easy, Yusuke... you don't want to do that when he's close by." He motioned towards Kurama.

Yusuke nodded and thrusted the communicator to Kuwabara when he saw the man was about to touch the red head. "Call Botan." He said calmly, his reiki slowly dropping once again.

"But what about Kurama-"

"I'll take Kurama." He said in a deathly low voice. "Call Botan."

Kuwabara swallowed nervously and nodded before he took the communicator.

A blood-soaked Hiei returned to Yusuke's side. "I'm sorry Yusuke but you have nothing left to kill." He cleaned his katana on a strip of the Oni's cloth before putting it back in its scabbard.

Yusuke said nothing- he knew if he had touched the Oni, he would not stop until the whole castle was in flames; he tentatively lifted up Kurama, making sure the cloak was securely around him and held him close.

Suddenly, a blue light appeared behind them, swishing around like a black hole as the Reikai Tantei walked in.

YYH

Tourin (Yusuke's Castle)...

"It was a good thing you got there when you did." The blue-haired ice apparition said calmly. "Any longer and he may not have made it."

Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara, Yukina, Botan and Koenma stood beside the large bed that Kurama resided on.

"He has a few broken ribs, a twisted ankle, a few cuts to the wrists- I think it was self-inflicted, a deep cut in his right palm which is infected, pneumonia and torn muscle tissue." She said the last words in a whisper.

"He was raped?" Koenma asked.

"Repeatedly." Yukina whispered with a small sob and Botan gasped.

"Thank you, Yukina." Koenma said with a curt nod. "We will leave you to finish healing him."

The koorime nodded mutely and set to work on Kurama while the other left the room.

"I'm going to take her down." Yusuke growled.

"You will not." Koenma said firmly. "The Architect is very powerful... powerful enough to reduce the King of Thieves to a body of blood and bruises."

"So we are to do nothing after everything our mate has been through!" Hiei yelled, glaring at the god.

Koenma glared back. "Yes." He said evenly but then sighed and softened his features, looking from Hiei to Yusuke's frustrated faces. "I apologise for your mate's condition but threatening the Architect is an incitement for war... she has many, many allies and they will not hesitate to crush us... we need the element of surprise on our side; she will surly gather forces knowing that you will seek revenge for your mate... it's prudent to wait."

"Until she gathers even more forces?" Kuwabara said. "But Koenma-" He started again but he was silenced with a raised hand.

"That's that." Koenma said. "I will not have hundreds of innocent people dying for-" He stopped but Hiei finished his sentence.

"Dying in the name of one person." The fire demon said.

The hall was deathly silent and Koenma looked down, ashamed of his choice of words. "Well... yes." He said. "I'm sorry." With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared.

Yusuke gave a frustrated howl and punched a neat hole in the stone wall.

"Save your strength, Yusuke." Hiei said. "We're going after her."

"No." Botan said. "You won't last long."

"But-" Kuwabara tried to say.

"Listen to me; Kurama was careless, that's how she got him... if you go there, she be waiting for you... she will trap you and treat you just as she treated Kurama... maybe even worse."

"We can take care of ourselves." Yusuke growled.

Hiei spoke urgently. "Wait Yusuke, Botan is right." At the Mazoku's widened eyes, he continued. "Kurama has never been easy to trick... if she could get to a 1000 plus year old kitsune, then she can surly get to us... will get revenge but we need a plan."

Botan nodded with a small smile. "Besides, Kurama needs you now more than ever."

Yusuke stared at all of them, confused that nobody was willing to get revenge, hurt that nobody was willing to get revenge and most of all angry that nobody was willing to get revenge because trying one now will be foolish.

"Fine." The tall brunet said. "We'll wait for Kurama to get better."

As if on cue, Yukina came out of the room. "I've healed all that I can find, when he wakes up, he will be able to tell me where else hurts."

Yusuke nodded and entered the room, Hiei gave her a grateful smile and followed while Kuwabara led his wife away and back home, giving the three lovers some privacy.

Yusuke sat beside Kurama and rubbed small circles with the pad of his thumb on the red head's hand while Hiei sat beside Yusuke planning, strategizing and practically salivating at the chance to rip the Architect apart.

A/N: that's chapter 1 (it's also on my livejournal account- you can find the link on my profile); tell me if you like it... I don't want to waste my time writing if no one is going to read it... in other words, review!