Here is Chapter 4 of "Sleeper".  It is titled "The Investigation."  Yeah, I
know, it's been a while since I've worked on this one.  Have fun reading.
Constructive C & C are welcome.

-Shuichi Minamino
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SLEEPER
Ch 4 The Investigation

	Kurama sat at his chair and chewed absentmindedly on his pencil.  He should
be studying but instead he found himself thinking about Karasu.  What was he
suppose to do with this "situation" at hand?  He knew that he couldn't keep
Karasu in his house for too long or Shiori might start to wonder.  But then
he didn't think it was right to send him away to Makai either.  How about
telling Koenma about this?  Kurama dismissed the idea immediately.  There
was no telling what Koenma might do about this.  Besides, Koenma already had
too much things to do already.

	A loud crashing sound followed by the sound of shattered glass snapped
Kurama out of his thoughts.  He ran down the stairs and went into the
kitchen.  He found Karasu kneeling in front of a pile of shattered dish ware
and glasses, a guilty and apologetic expression on his face.

	"Uh...I was trying to put them away and ... "  Karasu explained. "Sorry."
Karasu resumed what he was doing previously and clumsily picked up the
shattered glass to dump them into the garbage can.

	"Let me do this," Kurama interrupted. "you'll end up cutting yourself."

	"No, it's all right," Karasu refused. "I made the mess, I'll clean it up."
He hurrily gathered up the shattered glassware but in a frenzy sliced his
left wrist.  He gasped when he felt the pain.

	"I told you to let me do this," Kurama said as he tried to find a first aid
kit.  "You almost cut your artery.  That won't be a good idea.  People might
think that you're trying to commit suicide." He joked lightly as he finish
wrapping the bandages around Karasu's wrist.

	"I know that," Karasu said uncomfortably.

	"You okay?" Kurama asked lightly as he felt the tension in Karasu.

	"Yes.  I'm fine," Karasu replied. "just...just don't mention suicide again."

	*Crap! I must've striked a nerve somewhere...* Kurama realized.

	"You know, for some reason I think I've met you somewhere before, Hiei,"
Karasu spoke.

	"Really?  Well, I am friends with er ..." Kurama paused.

	"I don't mean that Hiei.  I can't seem to remember anything about Kurama
except that I was suppose to kill him.  As for you, I don't remember meeting
you anywhere before, but still...you seem familiar to me."

	"Ah...Karasu, how far back can you remember?" Kurama asked cautiously.

	Karasu frowned and thought hard.   He winced softly as a sharp pain ran
through him, "I can't remember.  My head ... hurts when I try to remember.
All I know is that I am in some kind of tournament with two brothers and
another youkai called Bui.  I remembered our going to that island where the
tournament was to be taken place.  And then...I can't... my head..."  He
shook his head and stood up to leave the kitchen.

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

	"Shit!  You mean he couldn't remember anything about us at all?!" Hiei
demanded.

	"Sorry to say, yes."

	"Fuck!  How long are you planning on keep that bastard at your house anyway?"

	"I don't know.  I am running out of excuses for his prolonged stay," Kurama
said.  With an exasperated sigh, he sat down next to Hiei on the grass.

	"Damn you Kurama!" Hiei said suddenly. "You don't have to keep him you
know.  Just hand it over to that dumbass Koenma!"

	Kurama shook his head.  "I don't feel right about this," he said gravely.
"we don't even know why he had returned from the dead.  Koenma probably
didn't know about this or else he would've done something about it already."

	"Ch!  That's why we should leave it to that bastard!" Hiei remarked.

	"I know that something is wrong, Hiei," Kurama said again. He laid down on
the grass and closed his eyes.

	Then he heard a soft rustle of grass and someone leaning toward him.  He
waited for Hiei's further advance but after a few minutes, Kurama finally
gave up and was ready to find out why Hiei didn't kiss him.  He opened his
eyes and stared right into Hiei's face.

	"Your book," Hiei said flatly, his intense amber eyes staring back at
Kurama's green ones.  He then handed the book to Kurama.

	*Sucks!  I thought he was going to do it.* Kurama thought to himself, he
was obviously very disappointed.

	"Oh.  You're done with it?"  Kurama flipped the book open.

	Hiei shrugged.  Kurama took it as a "yes." 

	"Read page 56," Hiei said suddenly.

	"In many cases..." Kurama read aloud. 

	"No you moron!" Hiei snapped impatiently.  "Line 23!"

	"Well how should I know what you mean?!"

	Hiei snatched the book from Kurama.  "Baka!" he shot another insult at
Kurama before settling down to read the text himself. "In some cases the
dead can be brought back alive by black magic.  The creature who possess
this power can do this through the sharing of the body and souls of itself
and the dead.  However, this theory has not yet been proven..."

	"Are you saying..."  Kurama started.

	"What do you think?"  Hiei cut Kurama off. "That is the point!  Can't
believe you can't figure that out."

	Kurama sighed.  "Great!  There is such a thing among youkais..."

	Hiei glanced at Kurama.  "There are?"

	"Yes, not many of them," Kurama replied. "you haven't been around long
enough to hear about them.  They are mages.  Whoever that brought him back
to life must have had a reason to do that.  I don't think I want to know why."

	"If you are planning on keeping that idiot at your house, don't expect me
to see you until you get rid of that bastard!" Hiei snapped.

	"Hiei..." Kurama started.

	"Hn!" Hiei gave Kurama another one of his glares and left in a flash.

------------Sleeper: The Investigation End (TO BE CONTINUED)---------

	      --Shuuichi Minamino
	      ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~` 
	    *      Shuuichi Minamino / Silver Fox / Youko Kurama       *
	    * The Proud Maintainer of the Yaoi/Slash Info Mailing List *
	    *  Firm Supporter of the YYH Dynamic Duo: Kurama X Hiei    *
	    *       A Thousand-Year-Old Fox Spirit As Human            *
	    *   Innocent Student At Large in Northwestern University   *     
            *              http://www.kurama.ranma.com                 *  
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