NOTE TO READERS: I am completely open to criticism; I think it helps me grow as a writer. I prefer constructive criticism, but I'm all for freedom of speech. However, if there is a pairing or plot point that you don't like, please make sure the review that you leave is not a Guest review so that I have a chance to defend/explain myself. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the story!

Author's Note: Hello! It's been a long time, hmm? I've had this story brewing in the back of my mind since the ending of Love, Where Is Your Fire? It's been a year and a half since then, and I think I'm finally ready to write it. I won't promise speedy updates, but I am excited to write this. This first chapter, and probably the next one too, is just background. Setting the scene and learning the characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I own parts of the plot, but that's it. If you're confused about who owns what, it's safer to assume that I own nothing.

Title Credit: Enough by Tyrone Wells

Post Date: 15 December 2015

Word Count: 2735

Chapter One
As You Wish

3013 BC

Demon World

"Raizen!" The loud bellow came from the west, and the weary demon slowly pushed his feet through the carnage on the ground. He'd lost track of how long they had been fighting the shadow demons. Years? Centuries? Alaric came to Tourin's aid, but not even the great Zankou had been enough to end the fight quietly. Raizen's own father, Kage, couldn't put a stop to the beasts.

"What is it, Enki?" Slim arms wound around one of his, and he saw a flash of green and red. Koku was going to be pissed. She hated washing blood and entrails out of her hair.

"I am sorry, my lord." Raizen felt like spitting at the title. He was no lord. His father was the ruler of Tourin. He opened his mouth to tell Enki right where he could stick that title, but then he saw what all the others were staring at. Souketsu was kneeling next to the body, with deep gouges spread all across his form. There was another Mazuko demon standing next to him, with a hand firmly placed on his shoulder. The demon's face was covered, but Raizen could see where he was looking.

"Kage?" He couldn't remember the last time he called the demon lying before him any kind of endearment, so he wasn't going to start now. He bent one knee to rest on the ground and a singular dark eye rose to his. The demon next to him, Zankou, was already dead. As were the shadow warriors farther out. Kage would soon join them.

"Tourin is yours now, son." Kage was never one for kindness, and Raizen could feel his tired body aching to fall to the ground. He couldn't. He had to be strong. For Tourin.

"I will protect Tourin with my life. Father." Kage almost looked like he wanted to smile, but his one remaining eye fell closed instead. Raizen could feel it when his father was no longer in this world and only hoped that the angry bastard could find peace somewhere.

"So it is true then. Zankou and Kage have both passed." The few demons gathered turned to look at the newcomer, and the pristine young prince stood out amongst the death and destruction.

"Yes, and all the shadow warriors have been defeated," Raizen declared.

"Not all, my lord!" The title straightened his spine and put a bad taste in his mouth, but it was something that he would learn to get used to. In time. Shu stumbled his way through the others until he was at Raizen's side, and he dropped the squirming bundle he was holding. The rags parted to show two small children; one was only a few years old, the other looked as if it was just born. "I found them hidden in a ditch, covered by the dead. The little one cried out."

"You can't hurt her!" The boy was so young, but the grip he had on the younger child looked strong. Strong enough to make the little one cry out. Raizen knelt to see the two children, the last of the shadow warriors.

"What are your names?" The little boy was lightly rocking the small girl, to quiet her crying, and dark red eyes glared up at Raizen. It was amusing to see something so small glare up at a king.

"I am Azuma Kurosawa!" Hair the same color as his eyes, the same color as the blood streaked across their skin, was just long enough to brush his shoulders. The smaller child had hair of an unidentifiable color, she was still too young, but bright green eyes looked up at him.

"And this little one?" He reached a finger down to touch the small girl's blood smeared cheek, but the boy snapped out and bit the end of his finger. Instead of becoming angry, like the onlookers predicted, Raizen laughed and lightly patted the boy on the head with his other hand. The boy released him, looked at the little girl, and met Raizen's eyes once more.

"Our mother had her during the battle. She died before she could name my sister." A child born during battle, such a rarity. According to myth, a child born during battle would grow to be a great warrior.

"How old are you?"

"Five." Yes, very young. Perhaps just young enough.

"Will you kill the last of the shadow warriors, Raizen?" It was the young prince, Koenma, that asked. He should kill them. The shadow warriors wanted to control all of Demon World; they rose up to paint the world in death, and they succeeded in that much. Two of the three demon kings were dead, but he was not.

"If I let you and your sister live, will you serve me? Will you give your lives for my line?" It was an unfair thing to ask of a child who did not know the consequences of such a request, but Raizen would not chance another war like this one. The little boy, Azuma, looked down at his sister as he thought.

"May I name her?" A reasonable request, so Raizen nodded his head. "Kita and I will serve you."

"Very well. Hold still." With each hand, he reached down past flesh and bone until he could feel the very essence of each child. No one around him dared to speak a word, and he focused what was left of his energy as he inserted a claw into each child's heart. Once he was sure that a claim was made, he pulled back. The wounds sealed immediately, with the Tourin crest resting over their hearts. The same crest that rested below his left eye.

"What have you done?" Prince Koenma asked. The demons around them knew, and they looked down at the small children with wide eyes.

"I have bound them to me, my blood, forever. They will serve me and whatever children I have." The little boy nodded his head at that, and he gathered the small child into his arms so that he could stand.

"Who will rule Alaric?" Raizen rested one hand on Azuma's head and looked at the demons that fought by his side. Which of them would stand up and take the place of a king?

"I will." It was the demon that stood next to Souketsu; the demon that appeared in the middle of a battle and systematically slaughtered every shadow warrior within a ten mile radius.

"And your name?" Souketsu asked. Ah, yes, Souketsu liked spending time in Alaric. Said the air had better minerals.

"Mukuro."

"If that is all, Prince Koenma?" Enki asked, always the pleaser.

"Kage and Zankou will be placed accordingly. Hopefully we can avoid any more bloodshed like this." Mukuro huffed as Prince Koenma disappeared, and Raizen looked down at his charges. It was time to return to Tourin.

58 BC

"Have you heard the news, my lord?" The voice was light and teasing, and Raizen grunted. "Jakren has been defeated, by some blind goat. Can you believe it?"

"I've heard that Mukuro is already on his way to visit," the second voice added. Kita and Azuma Kurosawa. Kita's voice was like the wind, light as a breeze or strong as a hurricane, depending on her mood. Azuma's voice was like a rockslide, both lazy and like a strike against the ground. His strong guardians had been with him for three thousand years; they drifted around him like smoke, always ready to defend him and his territory.

"We'll need to go as well," Raizen finally said.

"You're on your own, babes! That Mukuro freaks me out!" Koku called from farther into the palace.

"Honestly, Raizen, why do you put up with that woman?" Kita groaned. The two women never got along. Once, back when he first brought the children to Tourin, he thought Koku would step up and be a mother to them. That was as far away from the truth as they could get. Azuma didn't care either way, but Kita and Koku could barely be in the same room with one another without a fight breaking out.

"I heard that, ya little brat!" Kita opened her mouth to argue some more, but Azuma was quick to cover his sister's mouth before another part of the palace could be destroyed.

"Come, you two. Let's see this new ruler." Kita rolled her eyes but nodded, and the two shadow warriors disappeared moments later. Raizen knew that the two were with him as he ran across the sands of Demon World, because they were always with him. There was no limit to their movement when in shadow form, and it was a form that they both preferred.

It took a day to reach Gandara, and Raizen met Mukuro at the gates to the great city. The covered ruler looked up at him and then past his left shoulder; it was times like this when he was sure that the other king could see the shadow warriors standing just behind him. Together, they walked into Gandara and right up to the main palace. They were led inside and introduced, and Raizen looked at the Demon World's newest ruler. The goat was younger than he and Mukuro, but not by much. Raizen could feel the power residing inside the goat despite just recently defeating Jakren, and he looked comfortable on the ornate throne.

"Yomi! What are you doing up there?!" Kita appeared on Raizen's left, and Azuma quickly took form just behind her. The youngest shadow demon had her long blonde hair put up in a ponytail, and Raizen could see her bright green eyes staring up at the goat. The newest ruler breathed in deep and then smiled.

"The Kurosawas. I thought I would never see you again," the goat said with a smile. It was then that Kita seemed to realize what had happened, and she crossed her arms.

"You've been blinded."

"You know this goat?" Raizen asked his two guardians.

"He was a member of Yoko Kurama's team," Azuma answered.

"Friend of yours?" Kita looked up at him, and he couldn't read the look in her dark eyes. His guardians had been allowed to travel at their leisure over the years, because they could always feel his call, so he knew they had met all manners of demons.

"Unless you order me otherwise." On his other side, Mukuro sighed. When Raizen looked over, the other ruler met his eye.

"I guess this means we will not be challenging the new ruler?" Mukuro did not even wait for an answer; he simply turned on his heel and strode from the room.

"Do you know why we do not fight one another?" Raizen asked the youngest. He could feel how tense Kita was at his side, and Azuma had one hand braced on her shoulder. To comfort or to contain her, he wasn't sure.

"Why is that, Lord Raizen?" The goat sat forward in his throne and rested his elbows on his knees, and Raizen reached up to hold Kita's other shoulder.

"If two of us fight, the third will wait until the end and take out the weak. Even if we all fight at once, the third will eventually win. We reign in balance. Understood?" The goat seemed to think it over, hummed low in his throat, and sat back in his throne.

"Understood. I only wish to rule my territory." At the declaration, Kita and Azuma both faded into smoke and then into nothingness. Raizen raised his chin, because he would never bow his head to another, and turned to leave.

12 AD

"As of this day, no humans will be consumed in my territory!" The few demons who dared to protest were quieted by Raizen's roar, and the ruler of Tourin turned back to face his throne room. The demons that had stood by him for centuries, his friends, looked at him in confusion. When he just shook his head, they left the room. Raizen sunk into his throne and ran his claws through his hair. How could he explain to them what he had seen? What he had done? How he felt? One human now held his very being in her fragile hands, and he would never again consume human flesh.

"But, Raizen, you'll die if you don't eat," Kita whispered.

"Is it worth it?" Azuma added.

"My decision has been made," he declared.

"It's your funeral," Azuma grumbled and disappeared from sight.

"How do we protect you from yourself?" Kita asked and followed after her brother.

His only regret was that the two shadow warriors were condemned along with him. He had no heirs, and he had no will to create one now. Not after her.

13 AD

"You are not even half the demon you were before! Where is the demon I fell in love with?!" Koku screamed at him. He had told her, several times over, that he had no more interest in her. He had devoted himself to her.

"All of the others have left, Raizen. And now we are too," Enki said quietly. He knelt for one last time at Raizen's feet, and Raizen placed one clawed hand on top of the massive demon's head.

"I cannot change what has come to pass, but I will miss you. My oldest friend." Koku was still screaming obscenities as Enki tossed the demoness over his shoulder and carried her from the palace, and Raizen knew the moment that Kita and Azuma appeared on either side of him.

"I think I might actually miss the crazy bitch," Kita finally said.

"I will miss them, but it's for the best," Azuma said. His oldest friends had gone into seclusion, and it would only take a few more years for the hunger to start. Turning away his friends was his first test. The hunger pains would be his ultimate test. How long would it take for his body to waste away into nothing?

1975

Kita lightly rubbed against her chest, over the spot where her heart rarely beat, and Raizen narrowed his eyes. Azuma had done the same thing earlier, but the older shadow demon had passed it off as nothing. A strained muscle from too much training. Kita would probably give him the same excuse. Could they feel how weak he had become? The growls from his empty stomach helped mark the passing of time in Demon World, and Raizen knew that the end was drawing near. He believed that he would already be dead if it weren't for Azuma and Kita; they were bound to him, so their energy also belonged to him. Before too much longer, all of them would be too weak to carry on. It was wrong to force them to die for his cause, for his belief, but they had not asked him to change his mind since that first time. So many centuries ago, he bound the shadows to him. They should have been slaves, but they had proven to be loyal guardians. Yes, taking them with him would be a shame. Even that knowledge was not enough to make him change his mind.

1990

"You will serve him now." His descendant, the first half-breed strong enough to carry his demonic heritage, was sound asleep somewhere else in the palace. The palace that had been turned into a tomb over the centuries.

"Of course. We will always serve your line, Raizen," Azuma said.

"Yep, always," Kita added. It almost wasn't fair. He forced them into this when they were both far too young, but they have always remained loyal and never resented him.

"Keep yourselves from him until he learns to accept who he is. Only then will you swear yourselves to him." The two shadow warriors bowed their heads, and Raizen let out a sigh. It was nearly time now. Nearly time for him to rest. Maybe he'll get to see her again. Enma might allow him that for keeping the peace all these centuries. "And once I'm gone, repair the palace. This tomb isn't fit for the king of Tourin."

"As you wish," Azuma vowed while Kita whispered, "Finally!"

1991

His descendant, Yusuke, found a way to stop the Demon World from falling into chaos. Azuma and Kita stayed close to the boy, kept their watchful eyes on him but didn't interfere. That was all that Koenma would tell him. He was then escorted into a room that seemed to stretch on for miles and was left alone, until they came to him one by one.

Kage, the father who turned him into a ruler with hard fists and words sharper than knives.

Kaisra, the mother he could barely remember and who used to hold him when he slept.

Finally, he saw her. Midoriko. Her hands smelled like healing herbs, and there was a light in her eyes meant just for him.

Yes, now he could finally rest.

Ending Note: I learned during my last big story that I sometimes don't explain things well. So I'm going to do a quick rundown.

Thousands of years ago, Tourin and Alaric went to war with the shadow demons. The ruler of Tourin was Kage, Raizen's father. The ruler of Alaric was Zankou. The shadow demons were completely wiped out, except for two small children that Raizen bound to him for eternity. Sometime later, Yomi defeated the current ruler of Gandara (Jakren) and took over. What's his connection to Kita and Azuma? That will be learned later, mostly because this story isn't about the shadow demons. It just introduces them.

This story is about Koto. She will be making an appearance in the next chapter. This chapter was like a setup, so that things will make sense later on. If there's any questions, please let me know.