Premonitions-A YYH story, part 1

~Kurama's POV~

Autumn leaves littered the stairs to Genkai's home. Some of them crunched under my feet as I climbed, and reflected on things.

Everything was slowing down now. Polaris was married to Shizuru, and Orion lived alone with Valerian as her neighbor. The three of them-Orion, Polaris, and Valerian-changed our lives so much.


Of course, the change was most evident in Hiei. He had taken to wandering the Maki more often. Avoiding the Ningenkai. Avoiding Orion.

the last time I had visited orion, even she had noticed hiei's strange behavior.

'Ano...Kurama-kun, have you talked to hiei lately?' she asked me hesitantly, pouring me coffee. Rai never liked tea.

'Hiei? Well, the last time I talked to him was last month. Why?'

'He's just been acting...weird lately. I talked to him last moth too. That's the last time I saw him. But...I feel his aura sometimes...Have you sen him?'

I slowly chewed the feathery biscuits she had offered me along with the coffee. In fact, I had caught Hiei spying on Rai late last night. When he felt me, he left. I wondered briefly what I was going to say.

Hiei, I thought, this is your call. Instead I said, 'No, I haven't.'

She frowned slightly, confused. 'Oh. i must've been just imagining things.'

I had grinned, not willing to betray Hiei nor lie to Rai. 'These
are pretty good,' I commented, looking at my cookie.

'Thanks.'
...
In the middle of all my musing, I felt a presence behind me. I suppressed a smile. what was that expression?

'Hi, Hiei,' I said simply.

Oh, yes. speaking of the devil. and now here he was.

He didn't greet me, which was to be expected. Noticing my rather amused expression, he growled, 'What are you smiling at?'

'Nothing,' I said promptly. Apparently I was not such an expert in concealing my emotions because the next thing he said was, 'You're lying.'

'It's not important,' I told him.

'Kurama,' he said, 'you-'

'Hey Kurama-kun! Hiei!' said a voice we knew. We turned to see Orion skipping up to us, Shizuru and keiko right behind her. 'I haven't seen you in a while, Hiei,' she said cheerfully. 'Have you been avoiding me?'
Hiei was speechless. Rai looked casual enough in jeans and a tee, witha jacket and a scarf to kep her warm in the autumn wind. Green crystal sparkled at her ears. But her eyes glittered more brightly, teasing Hiei.

'Hey, Rai, what did you bring to Yukina's birthday party?' I cut in to save Hiei's face.

'This,' she said, showing me a wrapped box. 'And this.'

'Is that wine?' i said with self-interest.

'Oh, don't worry, i don't plan on geting any of you drunk,' she said slyly. 'I just don't think any of you tasted anything other than sake. it's actually Valerian's idea. He even chose it for me.'

'You took advice from him?' Hiei said sharply.

'Oh stop it,' she said. 'He's a friend of mine, although not yours, Hiei. And besides..I'd never do anything to endanger my niece...and nephew.'
nephew and niece?
'What?' I said.

Keiko grinned. 'She's right. we only got the news today. Shizuru and Polaris have twins.'

Shizuru smiled, too. I've known for a while that Shizuru was pregnant, but...

'Shizuru, that's wonderful!'I said. "Does Polaris know yet?'"

"Not yet. He's off somewhere. He forgot to grab Yukina a gift. He'll be here soon."

"he even made her stop smoking," smiled Keiko.

"Don't remind me," Shizuru snapped.

We all laughed, save Hiei. It was a bit of a wonder how Shizuru and Polaris got together, but they seemed a good fit. And they made
their relationship work.

Fifteen minutes later the party had started....but Polaris still hasn't arrived.

why?
~your POV~

To Genkai's consternation, your bottle of wine was one of the first things that was opened, thanks to Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Aside from Genkai, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Kurama, Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina, botan was also there. It was so much fun, having all of them there. Yukina especially said that she was having fun.

You really did see to it that nobody got drunk, but you couldn't prevent Yusuke and your brother-on law from becoming tipsy.

For your part, You were outside Genkai's temple, your face bathed in the setting sun. There was a wineglass in your hand. You were walking around, worrying about your brother.

You didn't notice Kurama come up.

"Hey, Rai.'

"Oh. Hi." you said lamely.

"Polaris hadn't come?"

Your throat tightened. "No." you drank your wine, and was surprised to see it empty. Kurama smiled gently.

"we've all seen you pacing around."

Through the windows, you could hear the others singing on the karaoke. You didn't see Hiei anywhere-the sounds must've scared him away. "gomen," you whispered. "I didn't mean to worry you."

He came closer. "You don't have to apologize. We're worried, too. He'd known about this, it's impossible he'd forget."

You bit your lip. "Yeah."

"Have you tried to contact him?"

"Yeah, but...he's not answering his phone." Your eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "there's something else, Kurama. I've got this feeling...that he's in danger or something. That he wants to call for help but couldn't."

There, you've said it. The premonition that you have had all day.

"Did you call anyone? Koenma, perhaps?" Kurama asked, his voice concerned.

"Yes. Yes. I called Koenma and he said that the last time he saw him was this morning."

"Tell me what happened," Kurama prodded. "From the beginning."

oh my...
you took a deep breath to calm your panicky heart. "This morning,before Shizuru woke up, Polaris went to Koenma to hand in some paperwork. Then he went back in the house. Shizuru and Polaris were planning to go to the doctor's today. But then Polairs remmebered that he didn't have a gift for Yukina.

"so he called me and Shizuru called Keiko to go with her. Polaris promised to follow as soon as he could. He was excited about their child...."

"And that's the last you saw him?"

"Yes. We dropped him off at the mall. We offered to go with him, but he said that we were already late for the appointment. And that he could do his own shopping.

"I've requested Valerian to snoop around. He's the only one that knows Polaris that isn't invited to the party. I'm expecting his call any minute now."

"Rai, it's going to be fine. Polris propably just wants to get Shizuru a present, too."

You smiled. "Yeah, he's the type that would do that, huh? I'm so stupid for worrying."

"I don't think so, Orion," Kurama protested.


Then your phone rang.
Valerian!
You grabbed your phone and answered before the second ring, even forgetting to excuse yourself before Kurama.

It was Valerian.

"rai."

"Valerian?" Your voice higher than usual. Something was wrong. You could feel it in his voice.

"Rai...I...."

"Have you seen him? Or have any news?"

"I haven't seen him...but..."

"But? Valerian, Don't beat around the bush!"

"Rai, calm down. Allright?"

"I AM calm!"

"No, you're not."

You scowled and pulled the phone away from your ear. How come anyone could easily read your feelings? You took a deep breath and cleared your mind. Then you turned to your phone again.

"Valerian?"

"Calm now?"

"Yeah, but don't make it too long."

You heard a snort. "Of course not."

"so, what's up?"

"I went to where he shopped. He went to a toy store and brought a music box. Then he bought some cake. Then he went to the flowershop, he bought some roses and lilies."

The caker and the music box, you knew, were for Yukina. The roses were for Shizuru. But the lilies...were for you. They were your favorite flowers.



sorry if lilies are NOT your favorite flowers...
"Then?" you said tensely.

"Then, nothing. No one seemed to know what he did after that, nor where he went."

"You're sure?"

"I'm absolutely sure."

Your stomach seemed to clench.

"rai, have any of you seen the news lately?" Valerian asked, his voice suspiciously casual.

"No. Why?"

"I think you should."

"Why?"

"Orion, just go."

"All...allright. And Valerian?"

"Yes."

"thanks."

"you're welcome."

You clicked the phone off, then turned to Kurama, who had been waiting for you politely. When he saw you, he frowned.

"Rai, you're pale. are you-"

"We need to watch the news."

"Rai, are you-"

You walked past him and into the house. Three minutes later, you had turned on the t.v, cutting off the karaoke to do so, not answering any of your friends' questions. Kurama explained everything for you.
i wonder what's going on...
All of you sat before the t.v, tense. It was worse than you expected.

Every channel seemed to feature only one thing: the mysterious attack at the playground. AS you watched dully, you recognized chunks of crystal-Polaris' power. And since there were no other light and crystal demons in the vicinity, you were sure it was him. One place was gouged with crystal spears- anothe sign of Polaris' fighting. It was a live shot.

"Oh, Polaris," shizuru sighed.

The report was sensational, according to one reporter (my brother? sensational? you thought numbly) The crystals had just appeared out of nowhere, all at once. No one had seen anyone who could have put it there.

Suddenly you saw Valerian in the background. The camera had passed over him, and he gave a discreet wave and melted into the crowd.

The crystals, according to one of the kids who had seen it first, had been there since three. It was almost five.

As a geologist came into view to confirm if the rocks were really crystal, you switched it off. you had not said a word all throughout the news flash, but now you spoke.

"We've got to tell Koenma."

oh lala, to the Spirit world we go!

Well! I hope you liked that...smells of danger from here, doesn't it? Please take the next quiz...but don't forget to rate and message! Ja ne!