This is taking me longer and longer to write as I approach the end of the
story.  Here's Chapter 17 of "Hunter & Prey."  It's titled "Departure."
Have fun reading.  Constructive C&C are welcome.  Enjoy.

--Shuuichi Minamino
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HUNTER AND PREY
Ch 17 Departure

	Ryuma exited the room and closed the door quietly behind him.  He stepped
into the living room and found everyone waiting.

	"I'm sorry to bother you all about this," Ryuma said.

	"Why are you saying sorry?" Yusuke asked. "It's not you who's laying on the
bed here."

	"Ah, well...he wouldn't be here if it weren't for my brother," Ryuma
replied. "I'm sorry, but I think I'll leave the explanation to my
brother...when he feels up to it that is."

	"Ryuma..." Kurama started.

	"I'm leaving," Hiei interrupted and disppeared.

	"That jerk!" Kuwabara muttered.

	"I think maybe we should get going too," Kurama said.  "it's late and I
think everyone needs to get some rest."

	"Thank you," Ryuma said to Yukina and the Kuwabara family. "my brother
really appreciates it."  Then he went out the door with Kurama.

	"What??" Kuwabara stared after them dumbfounded.  "Urameshi!  What the hell
is this about?"

	Yusuke frowned and then shrugged.  "Beats me," he said.  "well, none of our
business anyways."

******************

	"I hope what I did will help solve the problem between them," Ryuma said
aloud on the way home.

	"What, what did you do?" Kurama asked.

	"I made sure he could see Sonoma's side of the story," Ryuma replied
silently.  "I know that Sonoma won't like it but if he doesn't do something
about it, Yukon will end up killing him anyway."

	"You mean, Sonoma won't defend himself?" 

	"Sonoma believes in poetic justice," Ryuma sighed.  

	"And...so..."

	"Kurama, Sonoma took revenge upon the youkais who hurt him and I," Ryuma
said soleumly.  "now that he believes that he had done a similar thing, so
he is not going to plan on defending himself against Yukon."

	"Are you sure that it's just his sense of honor?" Kurama asked quietly.

	"Hn, maybe more than that," Ryuma smiled. "but then that's my brother's
business.  I am not going to tell everyone everything about him.  I've said
enough about his private life already."

	"I understand."

	"Oi! Hiei!" Ryuma called.  "Come on out!  Stop eavedropping on us!"

	"Ch!" Hiei jumped down from a nearby tree.

	"You hid your ki but I can sense your thoughts," Ryuma smiled. "you gotta
work on that more."

	"Shut up!" Hiei growled.

	Ryuma laughed. "I'm going to miss that bad attitude of yours when I go back
to Reikai."

	Hiei shot him one of his best glares.

	Ryuma cleared his throat and continued, "I think it's about time.  Sonoma's
body is healed.  I've done all I can, it's time to go."

	"Thanks for everything, Ryuma..." Kurama said.

	"Heh, nah...it's an honor to meet Youko Kurama in person," Ryuma smiled. 
	Hiei snorted on the remark while Kurama chuckled.  "Same here, Ryuma, same
here."

	"Saa...better go.  Oh, one more thing!  Kurama, take care of that kid for
me, all right?" Ryuma then winked at Kurama knowingly. "Be honest with him!"

	Then he was gone.  The person who stood in front of them was now Sonoma.

	"Ryuma..." Sonoma whispered.

*************************

	"Hiei."

	"What?!"

	"You've been awfully quiet after Ryuma 'left.'" Kurama said.

	"None of your business," Hiei scowled.

	Kurama sighed as he sank down on the sofa.  Ryuma's spirit had returned to
Reikai shortly after their visit.  Although he had no idea what went on
while Ryuma was in the room with Yukon, he had a feeling that it was of
extreme importance.  Kurama looked at Hiei again.  Obviously the fire spirit
was not too happy about Ryuma's departure.  Meanwhile, Sonoma had seemed to
be in a much better shape ever since the departure of his brother.  As far
as Kurama could see, Sonoma's youki has definitely rised.

	*Ryuma must've done a good job healing him,* Kurama thought. *well, now
what?  What am I going to do with Hiei there?  I can't believe this, he's
depressed."

	Finally, the ringing of the telephone broke the uncomfortable silence.
"I'll get it," Kurama said and answered the phone.

	"Hai.  Nani?!" Kurama demanded. 

	"I said 'He's gone.'  Gone." Kuwabara said impatiently. "When we checked on
him this morning, he had vanished."

----------Chapter 17 Departure End (TO BE CONTINUED)---------

   --Shuuichi Minamino
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  * "J'aurais                        "I would have wanted                 *
  *           voulu ne pas mourir.                not to die.             *
  *  J'aurais voulu                   I would have wanted                 *
  *           ne jamais grandir.                  never to grow up.       *
  *  J'aurais                         I would have                        *
  *           voulu me casser l'ame."           wanted to rend my soul."  *
  *                                                                       *
  *                ~Cirque Du Soleil                 ~Circus Of The Sun   *
  *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
  *             http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/2848                *
  *                  http://www.kurama.ranma.com                          *
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