• 1-Selfish Desire
• 2-Chapter 2
• 3-Chapter 3
• 4-Chapter 4
• 5-Chapter 5
• 6-Chapter 6
• 7-Chapter 7
• 8-Chapter 8
• 9-Chapter 9
• 10-Chapter 10
• 11-Note
• 12-Last Chapter
• 13-Epilogue
• 14-Yukina and Kuwabara, a Romantic Night

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction based upon the manga/anime
characters of Yu Yu Hakusho. This story was written for entertainment only
and may be freely shared as long as the disclaimer ane aue author's name are
intact and none of the contents of the story are altered.

The scent of blood was thick in the air, though it was unlike the stench
of decay that was sometimes laced within the breezes of Makai. It was the
smell of fresh blood, like that odor during the Ankoku Bujutsukai, as if
someone had struck a pig with a knife to begin gutting it.

For some reason, he felt as if he were at the tournament all over again.
If I have to fight that overstuffed, blonde idiot one more time... the
fire demon thought sourly before continuing. The front gates of the arena
were vacant, without the crowd that had loitered outside as the real
event had taken place. The complete silence gave proof to the fact that he
was alone, as he heard no voice over the loud speaker indicating memories of
Juri or Koto haunting this particular structure of the fox's mind.

An overwhelming sense of dread seized his heart before he could even
continue towards the arena. The building was an exact duplicate, down
to the last detail of the place that he, Kurama, Genkai, Yusuke, and
Kuwabara had fought for their lives. He could make his way through it
easily by memory, despite the years that had passed. Yet, he did not wish to.
He could almost hear his blood pulsing, as his delicate senses picked up
that he was not alone, after all. He wanted to turn back, and to
leave, already able to imagine what he would find in that arena center. He
knew what he would find, he simplyn'tn't want to see it.

Fear and worry made each footstep heavier and more difficult to take, but
determination forced him to push onward and continue for the darkened
corridor, where a rectangle of light showed the way to his destination.

Hiei touched his katana, reassured by the cool metal beneath his
fingertips. His last step brought him outside into the main area of the
arena, its very center where the ring was now within full view. The
jaganshi had arrived with expectations, almost certain he would find one
more manifestation waiting to put him through his torture, but no... apparently,
the torture wasn't meant for him after all.

The two figures that occupied the ring didn't even seem to notice his
presence. Hiei walked forward, staring blankly at what he saw, more in
surprise than anything else. How could...? But that's impossible. he
thought, his mind working furiously to process what he saw. That's
right. This is nothing more than a memory of what did occur that day during
the finals, he decided as Kurama was struck by a bomb that could not be
seen by human eyes, and stood bleeding helplessly, unable to tell what
direction they came from in order to dodge them.

Hiei had no choice but to watch the defenseless fox as the memory played
through of one of his worst moments ever.

He was wrong...this was torture. During the finals, it had been concern
for a friend that caused him to worry and tensely observe the battle between
the kitsune and mad bomber, but now, it was fear of what would occur if this
battle were not to play out as it had during the true event. What would
happen if Kurama's inner self lost the fight against his memories?

"Kurama, transform!" he shouted from the sidelines. The redhead had been
backed into a corner, where he helplessly stood without calling on his
kitsune self. At Hiei's shout, he turned and glanced back at the fire
demon. The hopeless look on his features was enough to transmit the message
between them.

He couldn't transform. His true self had been able to transform for
nearly eight years, but for some reason, this mental knock off of the real
fox was stuck in a bind...a human bind that he couldn't escape from without
his demon powers. But no, that wasn't true. Kurama did manage to summon
the Makai Blood-sucking plant at the end of the fight, whether it had been a
technical loss or not, the battle had been won by the human aspect of kit kitsune, rather than his Youko half.

Hiei felt as if he were sitting on pins as he watched the fox's body
explode in various places, gory splashes of blood and muscle erupting from
the contact points of body and bomb. The slick, red-stained surface of bone
was visible in several places on the kitsune's body already, although he
remained on his feet throughout the torturous event, receiving every bomb in
painful succession, one right after the other. The redhead's body spasmed,
first tossed forwards, then back, tremoring violently with each explosion
until the onslaught came to an end. A puddle of blood formed beneath him,
spreading out and staining the arena floor beneath him. The silent figure,
nearly a corpse from blood loss and sustained injuries, moved and struggled
to stand, shifting and pressing his palms to the ground.

Bright light engulfed Kurama, a sheen of sweat dripping into his eyes,
blood draining from multiple wounds earned from surviving the dozens of
explosive attacks from his enemy. Already, Hiei knew what to expect. This
was when the plant should burst into full bloom, and impale the
golden-haired demon through the heart, bleeding him dry of every drop of
blood.

However, this was something not to occur this day, as Kurama merely
groaned and collapsed again rather inelegantly, face first to the ground.
His eyes were closed, and he moved no more, while Karasu began to close in the
distance between them, walking over to the unmoving kitsune. Hiei's fists
tightened, and he could hardly contain his rage. Karasu was now the
smirking and arrogant victor, standing above his fallen prey. The ten count
would have long been over, had Juri been there to preside over the match as
she had throughout the end of the real event.

Why isn't the fox moving? Such an attack didn't kill him last time...he
couldn't have been defeated. Those thoughts were interrupted by the
sight of Karasu charging his ki for a final attack to the prone form of
Kurama. Regardless of whether or not Hiei had the power to intervene, his
body moved, almost separately from his thoughts and mind. Instinct
propelled him forward, and the blade of his katana passed through the air.
While his attack did catch the memory off guard, it was no where near
as effective as the fire demon may have liked. A thin stream of blood was
the result, trickling down the bare chest of Karasu.

The next attack did have the desired effect, and the steel tip of Hiei's
blade slid cleanly through the crow's torso.

The blood-sucking plant had failed Kurama, but Hiei had not.

***

"Do I really have to meet with your parents, Keiko?" Yusuke whined as he
was dragged along the sidewalk towards the direction of his former Uncle and
Auntie's shop. It was no secret that they no longer thought as kindly of
him as they did when he was a child, or even a young adult for that matter.
Everything had changed that faithful day Keiko's mother managed to pry and
coerce a partial explanation of what occurred. From there, both were able
to make assumptions to fill in the blanks, and come to the conclusion that
Keiko had found Yusuke cheating on her.

And they treated him like a bastard ever since.

"Once I explain everything, they'll be fine again, Yusuke. I can't just
leave without letting them know that I'll be safe with you. Mom would
worry, and I wouldn't want Dad to spend money hiring people to look for
me...and I need them to inform Kenji that I won't be coming back."

"What about your things?"

"I can get new clothes in Makai, can't I?" The thought hadn't occurred
to her until then. She had no clue what the Makai was like, only what type
of people inhabited it. Were there markets? Stores? Shops? She doubted
there were many places of entertainment, considering the only thing demons
seemed to delight in was the taking of life and spilling of blood.

"I could have a tailor brought to you," Yusuke replied, shrugging. "But
I meant your other stuff."

"Kenji will send those back to Mom and Dad. Then I can pick them up next
time we visit Ningenkai." Worry etched her features, creasing her brow
slightly. "We'll visit, won't we, Yusuke?" she asked, her voice the softest
whisper, barely a breath that passed beyond her lips. There were so many
things she had neglected to consider, suddenly every fear and possible
outcome she had neglected to ponder swarmed and swooped down on her.

"Well, yeah. We don't have to stay there forever, but its not like
visiting someone from across town, Keiko. It's a long trip, especially to
Toranin. We can't just visit every week."

She nodded, then turned towards the front door of the restaurant, which
Yusuke kindly opened for her and allowed her to walk into first. Following
behind her was safer anyway, considering her parents had a fondness for
throwing knives and other deadly kitchen equipment when upset. He'd learned
that the hard way while inhabiting Kuwabara's body during his first death.

No sooner had they stepped through the door, did Mr. Yukimura leap the
counter and approach the two, cleaver dangerously gripped between
white-knuckled fingers. "Keiko, what are you doing with that punk?" he
began in a low voice, glaring harshly at Yusuke who could only gulp and wait
for Keiko to explain.

Keiko's mother gave Yusuke a cross look before joining her husband,
passing around the restaurant counter the correct way and arriving a few
moments later. "Kenji called several times this morning to say you never
arrived home. He's been worried sick, and frankly, so were we. Keiko,
where have you been, and what could have possessed you to not call your
parents and husband to let us know you were okay?"

The brunette took in a deep breath, then slowly slipped her hand within
Yusuke's, her slender fingers entwining with his thicker, battle-calloused
digits. "I've spent the last night with Yusuke, and we've come to a decision.
I won't be returning to Kenji because I don't love him, not when we can be
back together again."

Her father's face distorted into a mask of rage, his brows practically
raising above his hairline, and lips curled into a vicious snarl. He was
even angrier now than he had been when he believed Kuwabara had been
impersonating Yusuke on the day of his funeral. "What?!"

"Kei"Keiko, you can't possibly mean that. Don't you remember how you ran
home crying and told me Yusuke had wasn't interested in you anymore?" Her
motherly concern filtered out the majority of her own anger, and unlike her
husband, her voice never raised above the usual speaking tone.

"It's a long story, Mom...but we've straightened out our problems."

"Uncle, Auntie, just give me a chance to explain--"

The cleaver pointed directly at Yusuke's forehead. "Don't 'Uncle' and
'Auntie' us, Yusuke! We know what you did to our little girl, now you're
trying to break up her happy marriage!"

"She's not happy!" the dark-haired young man exclaimed, while Keiko's
hand remained within his. He stared down her father, without backing down
or admitting defeat when it came to the love of the one woman he wanted to
speak his life with, or at least, the rest of her own human life. "You
always supported Keiko's decisions and trusted her. Trust us both
this time." He swallowed nervously, then glanced at Keiko who nodded
approvingly of his words, and squeezed his hand gently. She couldn't have
said it better herself.

"I don't know about this...Keiko was so hurt," Mrs. Yukimura murmured.
"But I want to trust you again Yusuke, and believe you won't hurt our little
girl again. Do you two really believe you can pick up where you left off,
after so long a time has passed?"

Two emphatic nods were her reply, and a dead set expression filled with
determination was on the face of the raven-haired ex-thug.

"Then...you have my blessing." Mrs. Yukimura looked at her husband, who
had calmed enough to lower his cleaver.

"I'm warning you, Yusuke. Don't hurt her again."

"I won't."

Their dialogue was followed by a tense silence, interrupted by Keiko who
remembered her other reason for justifying a trip to her parents'
restaurant. "I have something else to tell you guys...we're going to be
moving."

***

"Is there any change, Yukina-san?" Noobutsu asked from the doorway. The
diminutive monkey demon strode forward, balancing a tray that held Yukina's
breakfast. After noticing their kind hostess had not awakened with the
coming of dawn, both she and the only other boarder to have safely returned
took it upon themselves to throw together a suitable breakfast.

Makoto was not a cook, but he was good at fetching ingredients from high
shelves that Noobutsu's height forbid her to reach. The two extra layers of
ice on the demons had been forming a puddle on the wooden floorboards,
which already showed signs of requiring replacement. Luckily, during the
morning, a team from Reikai appeared to whisk away both youkai criminals,
claiming that Koenma didn't notice the disturbance until he saw two frozen
bodies occupying the main room of the shrine. ng tng their apologies, they
thawed out both demons and departed as quietly as they arrived.

"None," the koorime replied, using one small fist to rub her sleepy eyes.
One glance to the window told her it was near noontime, and that she had
slept soundly through the night, and most of the morning. "Oh no! Is
everything okay? The two demons in the--"

"Don't worry about them, Yukina-san. Reikai agents removed them hours
ago. The extra ice you layered upon both held through until morning, and
there was no need to awaken you. You appeared to need the rest."

"I did," Yukina admitted, although she was still ashamed to have fallen
asleep while the other two demons were left to fend for themselves. She was
ready to apologize, when a sharp gasp from Noobutsu caused her to turn
around and face her brother. Kurama was sweating feverishly, bangs dampened
and sticky against his forehead. Each labored breath seemed as if it could
very well be his last.

"What's happening to him?"

Yukina slid out of her seat and rushed to the bed to Kurama's side.
"Noobutsu, a washcloth please," the koorime asked, using what bit of her
healing ki she had remaining after the expenditure of power used to seal
away the two monsters the previous day.

The other female nodded, and ran out of the room, leaving Yukina to do
what she could for the suffering fox. A glance at her brother showed him to
be doing no better. Hiei's breathing rate increased, and she could feel his
battle ki flare even in his sleeping state. Confusion flickered across her
features, and the Koorime could only wonder what her brother and Kurama were
going through for their physical bodies to react this way.

***

There was no need to remove his sword from Karasu's body, already, he was
nothing more than a faded memory of the past, and Hiei doubted he woulauntaunt the fox any longer. Has he really thought of that dark-haired
freak all of this time? Sure, Hiei knew how much Karasu had disturbed
Kurama, and how helpless he had felt in his human form while battling for
his life. He'd known the desperation the redhead felt as he summoned the
blood-sucking plant that saved him from death only because Kurama
told him about it. Otherwise, he would have never known Kurama had been
afraid, and that he thought he was going to die in that arena and never see his
mother again. No more second chances. Most likely, Koenma would have taken
extreme measures to ensure Kurama didn't obtain another human body by the
methods he employed previously.

"Kurama." When the fox didn't stir, Hiei hesitated to touch him because
of the numerous injuries covering his body. Something in his gut told him
this was the final, and most important of the manifestations, and that
maybe...just maybe...it was the true Kurama that had been hidden amongst the
imposters and emotions that the kitsune's wise and devious mind was
comprised of. "Kurama...come back to me," the fire demon muttered lowly.

***

It was a haze of fog in an endless world of pitch black. Darkness
engulfed him and pain was all that he knew. Many times, he had told himself
it was nothing more than a dream, but since when had a dream ever felt so
real, so much like he was awake and conscious? His awareness was far from
clouded, despite his inability to see, and he could feel a familiar presence
in the whirling clouds of mist that sought to obscure his view.

Despite all of his wisdom, Kurama had entirely no idea where he was. It
felt like hours had passed, although he was certain it had been no more than
a few minutes since he had been thrust into darkness. He had no choice but
to search, feeling his way around, trying to find a way out, and encountering
nothing more than darkness. His memories were jumbled, a blurred mess of
events that had no sense of time or depth.

"Hello!?" he finally called, after searching blindly without success.
His own voice replied, echoing several times, before fading into silence.
An infuriating presence throbbed around him, so familiar, but lost in the
recesses of his confused mind.

"Kurama...come back to me."

"Hiei?" the redhead called out. "I do not see you. Where are you?" The
sound of his lover's voice brought the fox a moment of clarity, at least,
enough memory to realize that he was not in the real world, and that the
pulsing and dark presence he felt was the Jagan. The Jagan...yes...that's
why I am here. The residual effect of the link must have interrupted some
internal or mental balance. Hiei must be in my mind correcting it.

"You can fight this. You're stronger than this."

"I can't find you!" he shouted, listening to the echo of his own voice.
Hiei gave no response to his cry, but continued speaking, as if he heard
nothing.

"It was foolish of me to subject you to the powers of the jagan for so
long."

Hiei admitted to being foolish for something? Kurama almost stopped
right there, believing another imposter or false memory was at work, yet the
sincerity behind the words, and anguished tone as the speaker carried on
only convinced him to follow the voice. The mist became denser, as if it
possessed a will of its own and desired to keep him from his goal, away from
the source of salvation and the lamenting voice of his lover. "Hiei...I'm
coming...Lead me to you, firefly."

Notes: I choose to take some references from the manga, rather than
the anime. Like the part where Yusuke visits Keiko's parents while in
Kuwabara's body. They chase him out of the store with knives and cutlery.
Also, it seems we're getting to the last chapters, about one or two more
should finish it.

Replies:

Kuroi: Its no problem really, actually whenever I click on the live journal
link I see the posts just fine. You positive that it is set to friends
only?

Sachiroyurei: Good. Kuwabara doesn't get nearly enough credit, glad to
have converted one more person.

Ataure: Kazaa, Emule, aftermathanime.net

Everqueen: Fun with demons. I like that one a lot. I'm missing your
updates so much :o

Thanks to:

Rachel

Spede

Kitsune Michiko

Sweet Chaos

Kiara

Skittles

Kooriya Yui

Mz.bitz

Aenima

Katy

Mhmartini: Psst, everyone should read her story 'Coming Clean' on mm.org