Author's Note

I know, this took forever to update. Here's what happened:

I had a lot of this chapter written long ago. Unfortunately, this was saved solely on a laptop that decided to crash and forget that it had anything installed or saved on it. I was very disheartened by this, and lost the drive to rewrite what I had. Then, here and there, I would type a paragraph or two, think I had lost the ambition, and then stopped. In the past few days, I decided to just go for it.

I am currently going through and updating my works (typos, grammar, plot-holes, whatever). Keep an eye out for those, and the occasional new story. If you spot any errors in anything new (or anything that says it was updated in 2008), let me know (be detailed, and if you have a good website that can better explain, please refer me).

Speaking of previous works – since I have the ambition back, I want to get some feedback from everyone on my stories, so head to my profile/forums and vote in two polls that I have up. Thanks!

I'd also like to thank all previous, current, and new readers. I hope you enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho © Yoshihiro Togashi. Black Suicide © Zelia Theb.

Black Suicide

A Yu Yu Hakusho Fan-Fiction

By Zelia Theb

The boys next case leads them to a popular club and hotel, owned by one Hiroshi Takenawa, a man Koenma suspects is actually a demon. After following an intuitive lead, Kurama finds himself talkative, tipsy, and rapidly changing into his former self. Meanwhile, drama erupts on the dance floor when Koenma announces his engagement to Yusuke's crush, Shizuru, and Kuwabara gets an accidental earful of Yusuke's past. Nearing the end of the night, Hiei reveals the location of the Royal Belt to Yusuke, and much more...

Nightmare Nightclub: Act II

Hiei was tired. Despite his exhaustion from releasing the belt, he had never slept. The detective had, on the other hand, and quite well.

The long and deep breaths that had Hiei's pillow rising slow and steady transformed gradually as Yusuke came into a waking state. A gentle hand moved from the base of Hiei's spine to the back of his head, feeling the silky strands he had never gotten the chance to touch before.

Yusuke opened his eyes, surprised to find that his hands weren't deceiving him. However...

Hiei released himself from his position quickly and sat upon the edge of the bed, leaving Yusuke's nude form open to the eyes of the world. He too, sat up, but kept his distance, realizing that more intimate touches might cause the demon to flee.

His garments. Hiei bent over, retrieving his pants first, and his ward second. The detective watched carefully, still trying to decipher exactly what occurred the previous night. He remembered nothing, not even how he had gained the mysterious tattoo that crawled across his skin.

"I was too late," Hiei painfully admitted, buckling the belts at his waist. "A pathetic failure."

"Huh?" the man's only response was. Had he done something wrong? He couldn't remember, and was beginning to understand that perhaps Hiei would not give him the response he needed.

Hiei moved across the room, collecting the rest of his clothing as he made his way to the bathroom. He stepped in only to emerge a second later, and hissed, "This, Yusuke!" From his hands dangled two plastic resealable bags, both partially filled with illegal substances, one of which had been enjoyed by Yusuke moments before his shower.

Yusuke flinched as the Hiei threw the bags with immense force at the wall next to the entry, shattering a mirror and somewhat denting the wall behind it. The bags and their contents exploded, blending themselves into the dangerous mess. He stood up fast, now wrapped slightly within a sheet, and glared at Hiei for an explanation. He knew he had done wrong, but what gave Hiei the right to be so angry with him?

"You've turned me into a fool!" the demon shouted with fervor. "How could I have been so easily manipulated by you again?"

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Yusuke returned. "It's my life, I don't need you to babysit me."

A flash. Hiei was within inches of him again, eyes carrying an emotion Yusuke never remembered seeing. "It was nothing, Detective. It was nothing because I was obviously too late to stop it."

"Stop what? And what the hell does that have to do with us waking up the way we did today?" He was answered by an unusual yet deserved slap in the face.

"Nothing happened, Yusuke. You passed out because you couldn't contain yourself for one second. And I was too late to stop it."

"And that makes you the fool?"

Hiei snarled viciously. "Yes, it does! I wasted my time getting that precious belt for you; I was even foolish enough to get caught again!"

Yusuke stopped himself. Hiei had planned this in advance...before the team had their reunion, which meant Hiei had cared for him all this time, even when Yusuke had thought he would really never see him again.

"Hiei, I'm sorry."

"Whatever." And just like that, Hiei was gone.

An overwhelming sense of failure engulfed Yusuke. His selfish actions already doomed his cause. He remembered the reason why he had agreed to do this. He thought momentarily about returning the belt to Koenma to ensure Hiei's freedom; however, that very action could put him at risk again, and would invalidate everything that Hiei had done for him.

As for what he felt about the their encounter, he couldn't say. It was hardly romantic, and he had never realized that the two of them had that sort of tension between them. Waking up that way felt amazing to him, amazing. It was a privilege to have the attention of Hiei. But...

It was also a privilege to have the attention of Kurama. And Keiko.

And yet, he felt no need to medicate the depression that fell upon him. In fact, the depression itself wasn't as deep as he expected it to be. This was the true power of the M'Hassir.

A knock at the door prompted him out of his thoughts. He quickly retrieved a shirt and a pair of pants, and slipped them on before answering it. Kuwabara, Botan, and a normal looking Kurama quickly stepped in, each with their luggage. Botan immediately set hers down on the floor and got down to business.

“Yusuke, we have a problem,” said Botan, her dark circled eyes darting toward the broken mirror. “What happened here?”

Scratching beneath the hairs on the back of his head, Yusuke stretched and replied, “Hiei.”

“I knew this was a terrible idea!” Botan exclaimed, slapping her hand to her forehead in frustration. “Well, we've got no time for that now. Look, we have to clean up and get out of here. The police are downstairs and the floors are under lock down.”

“What?” asked Yusuke. “Why?”

“It appears that there was a murder last night,” Kurama answered. “The body was found in the stairwell near the club's restroom.”

“And the creep called the police?” Yusuke questioned. “That doesn't make a whole lotta sense for a drug dealer.”

“It's a plant, Urameshi,” Kuwabara said.

“What?”

Botan stepped further in, fearing that her voice would be heard through the door, and said, “Yusuke, their main suspect is Kurama, and with good reason too.”

“What? That's impossible, we all came back upstairs! There's no way Kurama did it!”

“Well...” Kurama paused, frightening Yusuke the same way that Hiei had earlier.

“Well?”

“I transformed last night.”

“Yeah, I was there, remember? Gray hair, stress, tails?”

“I blacked out.”

“What?”

“Yusuke,” Botan addressed him, “what he means to say is that he doesn't remember what happened last night.”

“Yeah, and? Weren't you two with him?”

The truth was that they were. But they had eventually fallen asleep during their watch, that is, until they were woken up by a raucous in the room.

“And when we got up to see what was the matter, Kurama was just standin' there, starin' at the window with his hands all balled up, lookin' real pissed,” Kuwabara finished. “The room was trashed.”

When they called out to him, Kurama didn't seem to notice. He just stood there for several minutes, until finally, he let out a heavy sigh and collapsed on the floor, covered in sweat. They had brought him over to a bed, which wasn't an easy task as his Youko form was rather tall, and checked for signs of life. Kurama was okay. They had decided it best to pack, and when they had finished, Kurama, back to his normal human self, woke up, unaware of what had transpired.

Kuwabara had left the room to check out the hallways, trying to pass himself off as just another guest looking for a vending machine. That's when he had run into the police and some hotel staff.

“Return to your room, sir. This floor is under lock down.”

“Does that mean I can't get a coffee?”

“You'll have to wait.”

“Hey, I'm paying for this stay, and I want my damn coffee!”

The hotel staff broke into the conversation, and said, “Sir, it is safer in your room. Please, do as the officer says and return to your room.”

“Safer? What the hell do you mean?”

“Sir, they found a body in the F stairwell. They believe the murderer is still in the building.”

“Holy crap!” said Kuwabara, only slightly feigning surprise. “How come ya don't have guards walking around?” Kuwabara had made a note to rub his hands together nervously, as if he were paranoid. It had mostly been a lie, but not entirely.

“Return to your room at once,” the officer had commanded him, showing how upset he was at the staff member for spilling the beans, “or I shall have you arrested as a suspect.”

Kuwabara got the hint. He bowed to the men politely before turning to comply. That was when the officer warned him.

“If you see a man with long red hair and a slender build, call the front desk immediately.”

“He could have only meant Kurama.”

“Shit,” Yusuke swore. “Kurama's pretty recognizable. We were definitely near the F stairwell last night.”

“Precisely,” said Botan.

The detective's mind turned on. This was looking worse by the second.

“They have motive, too.”

“They do?” blinked Botan.

“Drunken brawl gone wrong. There were at least two people that could confirm he had been drinking.” Yusuke began pacing. “One of them being the bartender, who likely knew what he was really serving in those drinks. He possibly knew who he was serving them to. It'd be easy to pin on Kurama.”

“You do have a point,” she remarked. “This isn't good.”

“And, to top it off, they know exactly where to look, too. Kurama had a tab going, billed to the room.” Kurama's face felt hot; how could he have been so negligent?

“But why didn't they just come straight to our rooms then, huh Urameshi? They prolly woulda had more police by the exits.” Kuwabara was hoping that he was right; it would certainly make things a lot easier.

“They were probably waiting for back up.” Yusuke didn't like the sound of the words leaving his mouth. He bent down and began to pack up his own things, forgetting that he had a wad of disfigured evidence for his own crime laying so close to his friends.

“And,” he said, closing his bag, “if they had any video cameras, they saw Kurama go back there, but they sure as hell didn't see him exit.”

“They saw me as Youko” Kurama stated. “If they saw me at all.”

“But any eyewitnesses would not have seen that head of red hair. Kurama, you were half gray when I-”

Footsteps. Knocking. Words. More footsteps.

“Shit, we gotta get outta here.” Yusuke ran to the window. No cops directly below them, but a few at the corner. He could hear sirens growing. Back-up. He looked up. He looked down. Either way was suspicious. Then he looked across the street.

“Bingo,” Botan said. “Come on boys.”

A smile crossed the detective's face. “Let's hope that thing can seat four.”

“Extra trunk space, too!” She joked, revealing her oar. “Grab your bags!”

“They may look here next, Botan,” said Kurama. “We should relocate.”

The team had moved to the building across the street from the club, parking themselves behind the exit on the roof for cover. Kuwabara was on watch, his head occasionally peaking around the corner to make sure it was still safe. Yusuke was slumped against the wall, with Kurama and Botan next to him.

“Nonsense! We have a case to work on!” she replied, opening up her briefcase and switching on the laptop inside.

Kurama was still worried. “Botan, I may have murdered someone.”

“You absolutely did not! I am sure of it!” She pressed a few keys on the laptop.

“What are you doing, Botan?” yawned Yusuke, drained from the M'Hassir.

“I forgot that I had placed a Spirit World Surveillance Bugs in our rooms. As long as the one in our room wasn't destroyed, at least not until after the ordeal, we can see if Kurama ever left the room last night.”

“Spirit World Surveillance Bugs?” asked Yusuke. His attention had perked at their mention; he was hoping that she wouldn't accidentally reveal any footage from his room.

Botan reached into her luggage and pulled out...nothing. Until she opened her hand.

“Ugh! Flies?” Kuwabara yelped.

“They're actually robots, the latest in Spirit World technology!” she explained with a smile. “You just put them on a wall, and they can see just about everything around them. Neat, aren't they?” Pressing another key, she said, “Bingo. I'll adjust the speed so we aren't sitting here for hours.”

After a few minutes, Kurama pointed at the screen. “Stop.”

“What? What do you see?” she asked.

“A shadow, in the window.”

“Good eye Kurama,” Yusuke remarked.

The four sat quietly, watching the footage. The shadow first became a claw, then an arm, and then a gruesome and gaunt demon with long red fur growing from its head to the middle of its back. Its ragged lips pursed like a fish, and then spit out a powder that seemed to vanish as soon as it appeared.

“A sleeping powder, of course!” said Kurama, shifting on the gravel beneath him. “No wonder neither of you detected anything.”

The skeletal claw gripped to the curtain rod above, tearing it from the wall, and then stripped it of its garments. The creature then moved toward Botan, its new weapon raised high above its head, and went to strike. Before the blow could land, a flash of silver and snow grabbed its arm and threw it across the room, breaking a table. The demon charged back, only to be grabbed at the throat by Kurama, and tossed to the side like a rag doll. The fighting went on like this for several moments, until finally, it looked as if Kurama had broken the creature's arm, and it fled.

Then Kurama just stood.

“Uh, Kurama?” asked Kuwabara. “If that was sleeping powder, how come we're gonna wake up soon and find you?”

“I'm not certain,” the fox answered, eyes fixated on himself. “This demon was of the Morpheus clan. The effects can last for two hours at the lowest dose. Perhaps this demon wasn't seasoned enough yet.”

And still he stood.

“Come on, anytime now,” muttered Yusuke.

“Kuwabara,” said Botan, “do you see the clock?” She pointed to the lower right of the screen.

“Whoa.” He blinked. “We don't get up for another two hours.” The attacker wasn't a rookie after all.

The four were silent for a moment. Yusuke was the first to speak.

“Speed it up again.”

Kurama stood, and stood, and stood. Unwavering, for two hours. A painting on the wall could take it no more, and crashed to the floor, causing Botan and Kuwabara to stir. The rest of the footage confirmed their earlier story.

“Thank goodness,” uttered a relieved Kurama. “They surely will find the mess. Is it possible they will find the bugs?”

“It's possible,” answered the ferry woman, “but we have a contingency plan.” She closed the footage on the screen and opened up a separate program. The screen read, “Self Destruct.” After hovering a finger over another key, she dramatically dropped it down, and announced, “There, we're all set!”

Yusuke yawned again, before asking, “Botan, who else has this footage?”

“Just me, I suppose. I still have to upload it to Spirit World.”

“Don't upload the stuff taken from my room.”

“Why not?” Her tone was serious and cold.

Yusuke was at a loss for words. What could he say? He had used off-camera, but Hiei openly spoke about it later. He was almost certain that something had at least almost happened, and that something was not for Koenma, nor anyone else, to see.

Not to mention that it revealed the location of the belt.

“Yusuke?”

“Please, Botan?”

She stared at him, eyes stern and searching for a reason to go against Spirit World policy. She found it.

“Alright.”

“Really?”

“I promise.”

“Thanks.”

Ring ring. Koenma flashed on the screen. Takenawa was dead. He was calling them back.

The four reconvened at the first hotel. Long locks of red fell to the floor, coiling upon themselves like snakes. Botan had undertaken the task of cutting Kurama's hair, in an attempt to thwart suspicion. They were seated before the laptop, talking about Takenawa's murder with Koenma. Yusuke and Kuwabara had resigned themselves to watching the news, hoping to catch the media's version of the murder.

“You were right, Kurama. It appears that this demon was from the Morpheus clan. We're trying to get a match on the face so that we can identify him.”

“The question is, why Takenawa?”

“Do you want me to razor it?” Botan asked Kurama, interrupting.

“No!” the redhead replied, losing his cool. “I absolutely will not have a buzz cut.”

“I'm not going to shave your head, silly!” she informed him. “I'm asking if you want the rest of it layered and blended. To 'razor' means to do that, with a razor.”

“Oh, then that's alright.”

A throat was cleared. Koenma didn't have time to play salon with them.

“He was connected with Black Suicide, somehow. We have two problems at play here. First, we had no idea Takenawa's time was up. Second, it seemed like this was our final lead. We were certain that Takenawa would lead us to our dealer.”

Though irate with Koenma, this caught Yusuke's attention. He felt like he had all of the focus in the world at that moment.

“Turf wars,” he said, standing to his allies' right. “The drug was in beta, and was about to officially come out onto the black market. Sounds like this Morpheus clan wanted control over it.” He rubbed at his chin; he needed a razor himself. “But you could probably ask Takenawa all of these questions, right?”

“We can't find him.”

“Seems you can't find much these days,” Yusuke snickered, thinking of the belt he now wore.

“If you wish to speak to me Yusuke, we can talk man to man after the case, for now-”

“Man to man? Weren't you a baby for...I dunno, centuries? Now you've suddenly shed that skin, and you can get married?”

“Yusuke!” Botan hissed, nearly missing Kurama's ear with her blade.

“Whatever, I'm going out to get lunch.” He had wanted to say that he was going out for a smoke, but the urge to inhale simply wasn't there. Either way, he had already caused a scene, and it was best to get away from them for a while.

Koenma continued over the slamming of the door, saying that Yusuke, despite his callous attitude, was most likely on the right track. He said that Spirit World would try and locate members of the Morpheus clan operating in the city. The group was to take it easy and stay out of trouble in the meantime. Kurama was told to be extra careful. Spirit World would try to eliminate the suspicion surrounding him, but in the meantime, the haircut would help. Hiei was never brought up in the conversation.

No one had mentioned that he had left.

Botan finished the haircut as the communication ended. As she dusted the stray hairs off of Kurama's shoulders, Kuwabara turned off the television. He had some questions for her.

“What's gonna happen with Shizuru?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, is she gonna live in Spirit World now? Am I ever gonna see her again?”

“Oh, you'll be able to see her. You may even get an invitation to live in the palace.”

That shocked him. He enjoyed his life in Japan.

“But what happens when she gets all old, and stuff?”

“She won't grow old, Kuwabara.” Giving up on her task of cleaning off Kurama, she briefly said, “Sorry, you're still covered.”

“Quite alright. A shower might do the trick.” The fox then excused himself from the discussion.

“She'll be immortal?” the tallest continued.

“In the way that I am, I suppose.” Botan held a finger to her lips in thought. “Were someone to murder her, we'd have a problem. But she would no longer age or be vulnerable to illness.” She looked to the side despondently. “I'm worried about Yusuke.”

“I'm not.” Kuwabara sensed Botan's confusion, and explained, “He seems different today. It's like, I can't feel his emotions the way that I could last night or the days before, but not in a bad way.” He shrugged. “It's not like he's trying to cover 'em. They just aren't there like they were before. He doesn't feel 'em.”

Botan's eyes widened slightly. “Do you think it has something to do with Hiei?”

“I dunno, maybe.”

The woman shook her head and let out a frustrated sigh. “I shouldn't have deleted that footage.” Quickly, she moved to the laptop, and brought it into her room. Kuwabara followed closely behind, though uninvited. She sat on the mattress, a glow from the screen illuminating her face.

“Hey, you promised him!” Kuwabara reminded her.

“I'm not going to upload it,” she assured him. “I just want to see what he was hiding.”

“But you said you deleted it!”

Her face didn't move from the screen. “I can go into the recycle bin and restore it.”

Kuwabara sat beside her, ashamed that he wanted to pry as well. He asked, “What do you think he's hiding?” Quieter, he followed up with, “Drugs?”

“Maybe,” she replied.

“Wait.” Kuwabara put a hand on the laptop and slightly closed it. “Are we sure we want to see this?”

“No,” she stated with honesty, “but I'm worried and you're not. There is something going on here.” She made an attempt to move the man's hand, but was stopped.

“Wait,” he reiterated. “You an' I gotta make a pinky promise. We can't tell Koenma anything we might find out from here. That'd break your promise to Yusuke.” He held out a pinky to her. “Do you promise?”

She returned her own finger, and said, “I promise.”

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

If you have any specific questions, please be detailed in your review so that I may properly respond. Thanks for reading!