Author's Note: Yeah, this was supposed to be out a year ago, but. . . whatever. Whoops!
Warnings: Yaoi/shounen-ai/boyxboy, Hiei-x-Yuusuke, post-manga, language, jealousy issues, sexual situations, major character death
Summary: Kyrinne (4/22/12): "An idea, even if it is spur-of-the-moment: Hiei loses consciousness due to his dragon... Yusuke 'volunteers' to take him in, while a watching Keiko realizes that she may lose her ideal mate to an unconscious demon, who speaks with Yusuke through the human's dreams."
Disclaimer: Yuu Yuu Hakusho and all its characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. The plot of this work of fiction was given to me via review from Kyrinne, all credit for it goes to them.

EVEN HEROES FALL
URAMESHI YUUSUKE AND JAGANSHI HIEI
PART 1

But even as Fionn brought the third handful of water to Dermot's bloodstained lips, the wounded warrior shuddered once - and died.

Fionn looked at the water cupped in his hand and said softly, 'I tried.'

Oisin stood and pulled off his cloak. He straightened Dermot's limbs and then covered him with his cloak. 'No father,' he said, without looking at him, 'you did not try. You have what you always wanted: Dermot dead ... and I will never forgive you.'

He stood whilst the remainder of the hunting party slowly filed past and laid their cloaks over the still body.

'For here lies one of the noblest of the Fianna.'

'And when Grannia heard of her husband's death - and there were some that whispered murder - she wept bitterly and blamed herself. She went immediately to Benbulbin, but when she arrived there she found Angus standing over the cold body with a host of the De Duanann. And the god sorrowed with her, and he took the body of Dermot with him into the Shadowland where he instilled a flicker of life into it - but only a flicker, for it was beyond his power to bring the body back to full life.

And each evening, as the amber sunlight fades across the god's gardens, he walks with Dermot amidst the groves and magical arbors.

And until the day she died, Dermot would pass through the Veil of Sleep and walk and make love to Grannia in the Land of Dreams.

And death re-united them.' (Scott, 68)

-Transcribed by Michael Scott-

Mukuro had warned him, "You may be the Dragon, but I've never met a person who could control a God."

He was never one to listen. He thought he knew his limitations. He had used the dragon twice within the same hour and all he got was a headache and fatigue. Thrice pushed the envelope. Four times shattered the world. He was devoured bodily by his own energy. It was a mutiny, a betrayal, and a stupid mistake, and all for nothing.

Fanatics had popped up hither and thither across Makai ever since Yuusuke triumph over the zealots terrorizing Reikai. They, in Hiei's opinion, had transformed from total idiots to something of a challenge. The isolated pockets had grown from just that to massive armies that seemed to spring out of thin air to attack. Their bodies had gone from looking beautiful, elvhen, and even, in rare cases if one could look past the crazy, desirable to humanoid, dark, cloudy-eyed beasts with intelligence that only just set them apart from monsters. They were hardly detectable, unless one was looking for them, and they attacked with no regard to their own lives, berserking into any situation and catching even the most seasoned of warriors off-guard.

Hiei had been caught in that exact situation. While it was true he had people at his back, they didn't last. Even Mukuro's former Right fell under the multitude of fanatics clawing and tearing at his flesh. He was gone in seconds. Lucky bastard.

It was soon only Hiei and the horde, and he was being worn away. He desperately wished he hadn't sparred with Mukuro before leaving to do his rounds. He had wasted another dragon on her; a bullet was gone from the chambers, and its kin were rapidly following. A second dragon left his joints feeling brittle and achy. A third, unheard of until that moment, was a great help in halving the massive onslaught and blackening the Earth around him, but made his gums bleed, his muscles snap and tear, and his bones turn into nothing more than a fine powder. More monsters seemed to spring from their comrades scorch marks and left Hiei little choice.

A fourth dragon was called, and while the horde was reduced greatly, in fact down to a mere sixth of its imposing presence, the sacrifice wasn't enough. The beast with pit-like eyes gleaming something akin to true darkness and malice turned on itself, the man, the warrior who held it and became it, and demanded everything that he was in return for its services. It knew that Jaganshi Hiei was too weak to resist as its jaws opened to encase the fire-demon.

His flesh graced its tongue, but fangs and throat never got to savor all that its master had to offer when it was dissipated. A radiant light, a blazing blue glow of confidence and firm justice, forced the dragon to retreat into the body it desperately wanted to devour, but not before dragging its master down into sleep with it. Hiei only got a glimpse of his savior before falling. His was a familiar silhouette, a welcomed friend, a treasured equal.

Yuusuke had come a moment too late.

.~:|:~.

"You're trying to tell me, Hiei won't wake up?"

"I'm only saying that it is very unlikely."

"But there's still hope, right? Like, it's possible that he will."

"Yes, Yuusuke, there's always that possibility."

"What should we do with him then, Kurama?"

"Someone will have to monitor him. Other than that, there's not much we can do."

So they were just going to watch him slowly ebb away until his blood stopped flowing in his veins and he started to decay? Yuusuke refused to accept that would happen.

Not a scratch was on Hiei now, but even still, he hadn't awakened. His energy levels were low, lower than Yuusuke and Kurama had ever experienced from anyone, and his breathing, though even, wasn't that of a well person. If Yuusuke hadn't been told otherwise, he would swear that Hiei would wake up at any moment, yell at him, and move on as if he didn't get his ass royally handed to him.

"I cannot keep him with me."

Yuusuke started at the finality in Kurama's tone, "But if you can't take him then-"

"You'll have to. You know very well Mukuro doesn't like repeats. She's had him under her supervision once."

"Why can't you take him? I thought you and him were tight."

"My brother."

Oh. Yuusuke scowled at the thought. He knew what Kurama was getting at. Keiko was used to nonsense. Mini-Shuuichi had no fucking idea that outside his high school and the baseball field was a whole wide other-world that his elder stepbrother was intimately acquainted with. That little brat was staying with Kurama these days, wasn't he? Something about better atmosphere and good influence or some such shit.

Even then, Kurama could definitely come up with some sort of lie to pacify his stupid little brother!

"I can't take him either! Keiko will shit a brick!"

"Then I guess she'll need to."

"Hiei hasn't been around the boys since they were learning to walk!"

"Then this is perfect. You can condition them to his presence while he's unable to bite their cute little heads off."

"You know damn well my little hellions aren't going to be 'conditioned' by anything."

"Your problem. Not mine."

"Fucking bastard!"

Kurama smiled, "You're too kind."

And so here Urameshi Yuusuke was, Hiei lying in his guest bedroom, his two children at his bedside in wide-eyed sparkly wonder, and his wife biting his fucking head off. He tried to be cute. The moment he entered his house with the temperamental (and thankfully very comatose) fire demon, he said with the utmost cheeriness, 'You know how the boys wanted a puppy? Well, I did one better! And he already has a name!'

Didn't go as well as he planned. The boys were tickled pink; Keiko... not so much, but that went without saying.

"I cannot believe you would do this."

"Like I fucking planned this, Keiko." Seriously? She was really blaming him for all this noise? "I don't see what the big deal is. It's just until he wakes up."

"There is a FIRE APPARITION in our GUEST BEDROOM just before the weekend my PARENTS ARE VISITING! They stay in that room! The room you put Hiei in! And from what I understand, he might never wake up! How the hell am I going to explain this? Where am I supposed to put my parents?"

"We got a fold-out couch for this."

"No, we got a fold-out couch so I had somewhere to put your ass when things like this happen."

Yuusuke huffed, "Just tell them the guest bedroom has rats or we're renovating it or the boys decided to be monkeys and fling shit at each other in there. We just haven't gotten around to cleaning it."

Keiko opened her mouth to retort, but a loud laugh interrupted them. Takeshi, their youngest at just four-years-old, nearly dropped all the paints and brightly-colored markers he held in his tiny, pudgy arms, "Monkeys do that?!"

Yuusuke snickered, "Yeah, monkeys do that."

"That's so gross!" Takeshi laughed harder.

"Yup. What are you doing with all that, squirt?"

"Me and Yori are gonna, we're gonna, gonna draw on the sleepy guy!"

"Yori and I," Keiko corrected and pointed a hard, accusing finger at her son. "Go put those away right now. You know better than that."

"But-"

"Go on, squirt," Yuusuke gently directly. Takeshi pouted, but toddled off. "Keiko, don't worry so much."

"I know this whole demons-playing-nice thing with humans is happening, but Yuusuke, not everyone understands. My parents don't get it. They probably never will. If they find out that there's an apparition in the next room, who knows how they'll react. They still don't even know about you! Our kids!"

Gently, Yuusuke placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled, "They'll still love their grandsons regardless. If worse comes to worse, Hiei is just a friend who's fallen on hard times and is pretty depressed. He'll just be sleeping whenever they ask about him. Depressed people do that."

"So now he's just depressed. Not in a coma at all."

"Jesus, Keiko," Yuusuke pulled his hands from her shoulders and rubbed at his temples in small circles. He flopped down onto the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. "It's not like I wanted to bring him here. He had no where else to go."

"Kurama?"

"Has his little brother staying with him."

"That woman Hiei likes?"

"Won't tolerate another incident with him."

Keiko was quiet for a moment, "Kuwabara?"

Yuusuke shot her a look, and the conversation was officially dropped. Why did this have to be so hard?

.~:|:~.

"You're little bastards are more annoying now that they can talk, detective."

"Yeah, well, they take after yours truly," Yuusuke paused. "According to Keiko."

Everything was fuzzy at the edges, and Yuusuke felt that he should be concerned about that, but he couldn't bring himself to be concerned about anything aside from the fire demon perched on a glassy, black hunk of rock directly across from him. He rubbed at his eyes, but nothing changed.

He knew something was wrong with this picture. But what? It was so hard to remember; even harder to focus.

Nothing seemed off about the tangible shadows flitting from corner to corner as a dark sun traveled in circles across the misty, goopy-looking sky. Nothing seemed off about the blackened earth, rock, and boiling river separating Yuusuke from Hiei. Nothing seemed off about the unintelligible voices rising and falling from everywhere, whispering nonsense and singing so sadly. In fact, it almost felt downright familiar if Yuusuke allowed anything other than the nagging twitching about in his brain to rule over it.

He rubbed his neck and chewed the inside of his cheek. What the fuck was wrong here?

"And she says it with such disdain," Hiei spat.

"It comes from a good place. Everyone gets irritated. You should know a thing or two about that. Kids are irritations sometimes."

"I don't know the first thing about children."

"Not what I was going for."

Hiei sighed, and a frown pulled at his face. Yuusuke found himself enthralled, entranced, by all the tiny lines and creases in Hiei's skin. Since when was Hiei so expressive? He had hardly ever seen Hiei crack a genuine smile, but to see sadness, and so suddenly, mar his features, was both exhilarating and deeply upsetting.

"I have things to discuss with you, Yuusuke. You're not going to like any of it, but fuck you. This is about me."

Yuusuke's eye twitched and he spoke through gritted teeth, "Fuck you too then. It's so good to know that I can still have an opinion."

"You can have all the opinions you want. I just don't give a shit about them. You will listen. You're the only one that can hear this anyway."

"Look, dude, I'm not really a therapist. I put up a good front for Kuwabara because I know what the guy wants to hear, but hell if I know what to say to you."

"When did the Great Urameshi stop to think before he spoke?" Yuusuke nodded in agreement, blissfully vain, and Hiei continued, "In any case, I just need you to listen, but knowing you as I do, you'll get more than one smartass comment in before this is over. I'm okay with that. Maybe when the gravity of the situation finally cracks your thick skull, you'll be able to listen to me seriously."

"I think this is the most you've ever spoke, shortie."

"Smartass counter up to one, and not even five minutes in. I wish I had a bell to ring or a bouquet of flowers to give to commemorate this momentous occasion."

Yuusuke snickered, enjoying thoroughly Hiei's irritation, "Someone's full of sass today. If only we could bottle it, make you into a sass factory, we'd make a damn killing."

"I'm counting that as two, so the counter is up to three," Hiei growled. "In all seriousness, detective, this is important. I'll just come out and say it. I won't be waking up."

"What? You're awake now."

"It doesn't make sense now, but it'll dawn on you soon," The reds of Hiei's eyes flicked toward the ever changing black river and his voice dropped to a whisper. Somehow, Hiei's muttering seemed to boom in Yuusuke's ears. "No one escapes the dragon. No one escapes death. I thought myself immune to the fear behind losing one's life, and I am to an extent, but thinking on it now makes me realize how much I wanted to do. It's enough to cripple anyone. To think I won't have a warrior's death. We'll be the cause of it, but it won't be the end."

"You're freaking me out, dude."

Hiei's gaze snapped to him so suddenly and so fiercely, it frightened him, "Good."

"No, it's not go-"

"Shut up," Hiei's body wavered, like a faulty picture on an old television. "This is about listening. You will have your turn in a moment."

The river separating them exploded with thousands of tiny bright sparks and ignited into green flames. One billowed up, blocking Yuusuke's view of Hiei, and forced him to shield himself and step back. He hissed at the intense burn licking at his skin and screwed one eye shut to stop the tingling pain from the all too bright blast. What the fuck was this? What is going on?

He was stopped by a hard body to his back and without thinking, whipped around. Hiei stood there, looking up at him, with his head cocked just slightly, enough to give him a false innocence, a cherub's guise. All at once, the flames and the noise Yuusuke had only just registered was gone. It was only Hiei and him again, but his heart wouldn't stop racing. His muscles wouldn't stop twitching.

"We can probably prevent this. Though the dragon has told me it's futile, a fish can still flail on a hook, in a fisherman's grasp, in the barrel it's thrown in. You just have to accept what I say, do as I command, and maybe things will work out," Hiei paused, and Yuusuke could have swore he saw the hint of hope flicking across Hiei's smooth face. "For the both of us."

"I still don't understand, but okay?"

"Leave Keiko, take your boys, run, and raise them as Toushin," Yuusuke opened his mouth to stop him, but Hiei continued, "Do not eat your food where you have cooked it; do not sleep where you have eaten, and do not sleep in the same place twice." (Scott, 50)

"You act like Keiko's some sort of monster!"

"She is a monster!" Hiei's roar shook the fabric of this land, causing waver upon ripples upon waves of distortion and throwing Yuusuke off his game, "Jealousy will twist a person and make them do things they would never dream possible. I've seen my fair share of thrill kills, of passion-driven cruelties. I see it in her. She's full of hatred, whether she recognizes it or not, towards you, your children, and soon, me!"

"You're full of shit! I don't want to hear anymore, Hiei! PISS OFF!"

"I won't! You'll see me every night. She will get worse. Then, I'll die because you wouldn't listen. I'm just repeating what the dragon has foreseen, and what the Jagan knows. You don't have to believe me, detective. We all know that you wouldn't," Hiei briskly walked toward Yuusuke, to which Yuusuke backed away and hit the firm wall of iron suddenly there in place of the river, "It's your turn to talk."

"I don't have anything to fucking say to you anymore."

"That's too bad, but we'll have plenty to say to each other soon enough. I'll leave you with this."

Hiei closed the distance between their bodies and sealed his lips firmly over Yuusuke's. Yuusuke could only stand, frozen in this weird world, and watch as everything melted around him.

Then, darkness.

Yuusuke awoke drenched in his own sweat and clutching the sheets in tight fists. His lungs couldn't gulp down air fast enough and his heart clawed at his ribs. The one time his heart decided to work, it wanted to fucking race. Go figure.

"Yuusuke?" A sleepy Keiko called, "What's wrong?"

"Bad dream. Really bad dream."

He swung his legs off the bed and ran his fingers down his face. The dream played over and over and over in Yuusuke's mind's eye until it scorched its image onto his brain. It wasn't Hiei's cruel words that had thrown him as he was used to Hiei's occasional callousness; it wasn't the creepy dream world he had constructed as Yuusuke was used to creepy and stupid by now; no fear struck him so hard. Hiei's kiss, his mind's picture, had his blood boiling and adrenaline rushing.

Dare Yuusuke say it, Hiei's kiss, even in dream, had excited him in a way he hadn't been in a very long time.

"About what?" Keiko was more awake now, and Yuusuke quickly stood and crossed the room to the door. He wanted to avoid her realizing, as he knew she would, just what was eating him.

"It was stupid, Keiko. Nothing to worry about," He yawned for effect. "I'm gonna check on the boys and Hiei."

Before she could reply, Yuusuke was already out the door and shut it behind him. He leaned against it and tried to will away the fresh, vivid dream still gnawing at his brain. He couldn't decide what the better scenario was: if he had constructed it himself, or if Hiei's stupid ass had somehow started to fuck with him. Short of Hiei waking up and clarifying the whole issue (which Hiei surely would not, Yuusuke grumbled), he wouldn't get a straight answer.

True to his word, Yuusuke looked in on his children, finding them fast asleep. Yori slept curled around a much tortured and very loved alligator plush in the exact middle of his bed. A small, almost giddy smile was plastered on his face as he dreamed. Takeshi, however, was not so pristine. His blankets were skewed and twisted almost beyond recognition, and the little boy was nowhere to be found on his bed. Instead, he lay butt-up on his rug, obviously having fallen off his mattress, with his mouth wide open, drooling, and snoring.

Yuusuke shook his head, but made no move to right his youngest. He would just fall out again anyway.

Reluctantly, Yuusuke looked in on Hiei and found no change in the petite warrior. He deflated a little at that. Just what he was expecting, he couldn't say, but seeing Hiei in the exact position Yuusuke had left him was very disheartening. He moved toward him silently and stared down at his friend. No emotion or strain pulled at the muscles in his face, no nerves caused his digits or skin to jump in response to a stronger demon so close, and no spiritual energy spiked at the flood Yuusuke bombarded him with.

He should have been angry, but Yuusuke could not summon up that emotion. He knew Hiei was behind his dream, his fault or not, and wanted desperately to be upset with him; Yuusuke could only kneel beside him and rest his head on his folded arms on the mattress and stare at the marmoreal face of his friend.

"Hiei," Yuusuke called, loud enough to rouse the deepest sleeper. "Come on, dude. Wakey, wakey."

Nothing.

"You're staring to piss me off, man."

Liar.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do with you? Just what the hell do you want me to do?"

Hiei's warning played over and over in his mind. I won't be waking up. Yuusuke clamped his hands over his ears and screwed his eyes shut, but that only intensified the dream's echo. Leave Keiko, take your boys, run, and raise them as Toushin. He couldn't leave Keiko! He loved her! She gave him the boys! She put up with his shit! Jealousy will twist a person and make them do things they would never dream possible. Keiko wasn't the jealous type!

You'll see me every night. She will get worse.

"Then don't come to me, you bastard," Yuusuke hissed into the sheets. "Leave me alone. Wake up and fucking leave. I want to keep things the way they are!"

You don't have to believe me, detective. We all know that you wouldn't...

"I do believe you, but I don't want to."

He had seen the cruelty Hiei spoke of. He grew up rubbing elbows with a gang, with an abusive father and a stupid mother, and he had seen, oh had he seen, the bruises, the blood, the broken bones, and the bodies that had come with the fights over his mother's affections. Atsuko had fancied a man not his father, but he didn't want her body, and she didn't want anything from him. Genuine love. Genuine care. Genuine affection. Yuusuke had liked him. He smiled a lot, bought him toys, played games with him, and sternly corrected behavior, never punished.

He was consistent and kind and loved his mother. And he paid for it.

But so too did Atsuko. Ayumu brought down a fury that rivaled the Gods of Old. How dare this woman run around behind his back? How dare she threaten to leave him for someone better? How dare she let their son fall in love with him as well, call him father, and go to him for comfort?

Atsuko ended up in the hospital and she was lucky. Her boyfriend wasn't seen again. The memory was yellow and dusty, but Yuusuke remembered clearly the rage and jealousy glinting like a bibelot in Ayumu's eyes and in the eyes of Atsuko's 'family.' It no longer frightened him and no longer populated his nightmares as it had when he was a child, but he was beginning to fear it again. He had seen a shadow of the same glint in Keiko's eyes more than once. When he spoke too long with Botan or smiled at some stupid cashier in a shop or even tried to make friends with some of the demon girls wandering about lost and in awe and new in Ningenkai, looking for his guidance and advice, it was there along with a myriad of questions with no right answers.

He had lied when he said Keiko wasn't the jealous type. Everyone was at least once in their life.

Yuusuke didn't want to accept Hiei's words, but he knew them to be true. Hiei wouldn't wake up, Hiei would come to him every night, and Keiko would turn on him. Why couldn't Yuusuke ever have the easy way? Why did everything have to be so fucking complicated and painful for him? He should have nipped this relationship thing in the bud way back during the Dark Tournament. He should have taken Hiei up on his offer right before the Sensui face off.

Yuusuke shivered at the memory, but firmly pressed his body's response down and locked it back in the dark vault where it belonged. Hiei had no business offering something so lewd and inappropriate and stressful and sexy right before the fucking apocalypse.

Oh, God, he said sexy. He called Hiei's fucking advance sexy. Hiei probably heard. In his comatose, Hiei was listening to his thoughts and was wickedly snickering. He was getting to him, just like he wanted, and it depressed and aroused and infuriated and embarrassed the Toushin lord to no end.

He looked up at Hiei for guidance, for comfort maybe as well, but found nothing except more fuel for his emotional fire. Without thinking, he wrapped his fingers around Hiei's hand, so tiny it seemed in his palm, and squeezed.

"You should wake up, dude. Prove yourself wrong."

He pulled his hand close enough to rest his cheek on and continued to watch Hiei's unmoving face. At the door, a set of wide honey-brown eyes fixated on Yuusuke at Hiei's side and couldn't look away. Clutching her robe around her tighter, Keiko dug her fingers painfully into the soft cotton and ground her teeth nervously.

This didn't bode well.

.~:|:~.

Yuusuke forced himself to stay awake for the next three days. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue. As a demon, he found that he could do things he could have never as a human, even a human with heightened gifts. After all, he ran for four days straight without stopping once and fought a stronger demon for seventy-two hours without rest. He had thought this would be no big deal, but just knowing he couldn't and having nothing else to distract him (a few pushy toushin or Yomi for example) just made it much worse.

Thankfully, whenever he nodded off, the boys could be counted on to wake him, especially Takeshi. He never even got close enough to dreamland for Hiei to come fuck it up.

Though, this whole business of staying awake was making his already short fuse much, much shorter. He couldn't choose the lesser of the two evils: being pissed in his dreams and waking up even more pissed or being pissed while awake about being pissed in his dreams and horribly deprived of sleep which made him pissed at everything.

Both sucked. There, Yuusuke thought, problem solved, Yuusuke wins.

Sorta. . .

"Tou-san!" Yuusuke opened his eyes at the call. He had almost been asleep too. Damn. "Look! I a scary monster!"

Yuusuke looked over and took in the little hoodlum in all his monstrous glory. Head to toe this child was covered in shaving cream, play-doh, paint, and, let's not forget the topper on this ensemble, glitter. As irritated as he had been, Yuusuke forgot it all and couldn't control the outburst of laughter ringing out of his chest.

"You're pretty scary alright!" Yuusuke exclaimed through peals of laughter. "Kaa-san would be scared shitless!"

"I didn't scare you?" Takeshi pouted. "I scared Ri."

"Tou-san isn't scared often."

"Only of sleep!" Takeshi giggled, and Yuusuke's tittering instantly died. "You don't need to be scared. There's no monster under the bed! And if there was, you would beat it up! Pow! Pow!"

Little bits of foam and glitter were flung about by his mighty, mini punches and even more trailed him as he toddered off, no doubt in search of his defenseless elder brother.

If only it was that easy kid.

God, he wished he could just kick Hiei's ass and be done with it. Crying for the fucking moon again, eh Yuusuke?

He should probably get off his ass and clean the little monster up, but fuck it. Let Keiko come home to that "disaster." If anything, her yelling at him would keep him up another five minutes.

.~:|:~.

If she was yelling at him, Yuusuke couldn't hear her; dead to the world is what he was, and he was smack dab in the middle of a new one. At least the river of tar was gone, along with the blackened earth, but he felt like Alice in Wucking Fonderland with all these big ass mushrooms and grass taller than the Eiffel Tower.

So this was what it was like to be Hiei. Being short is such a bummer.

"Smart ass!" Hiei shouted, making Yuusuke whip around to meet his fury.

Yuusuke couldn't decide if he wanted to snicker or scowl. Fuck Hiei and his mind-reading stupidity.

"You should have known better than to try to avoid me, Detective."

"Yeah, well, you know me, always pushing my luck. It made you into a liar. You didn't see me everything night."

"Oh, I saw you. I saw you being a fucking idiot as usual, just making things worse."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, alright Genkai. Calm your wrinkles."

"This isn't a fucking joke, you dense jackass!"

"Whoa, geez, settle down, spitfire. Just making a joke."

"That's right! Laugh! It's all you ever do! I don't even known why I bother!"

"Don't act like it's not because I'm cute and irresistible. I'm ice cream to your depressed woman watching her soaps."

"I hate that analogy, but unfortunately there's some truth there."

"I was kidding."

"And I was not."

"We've been over this. I'm married, you have your little thing with Mukuro, and we would end up killing each other I'm quite sure."

"None of that matters here. All of that is in consciousness, and, lest you have forgotten, I am not going to wake up."

"Stop fucking saying that!" Yuusuke finally burst. "I am so sick and tired of this already, Hiei! Just-Just stop! I don't want to hear any of it! Let me have some hope! Damn!"

The distance was closed between them suddenly, and Yuusuke couldn't bring himself to mind this time. Here he was, kissing Hiei yet again in his dreams, and he didn't care. He should have taken up Hiei's offer a long time ago.

"Do as I say, and there just might be some hope."

"Shut the fuck up already."

Conversation from there quickly devolved into primitive need. Yuusuke had been keeping so much bottled up, as he was wont to do, for far too long. It was only a matter of time before it exploded, even if it was in some stupid little Beyond the Looking Glass world or something. As he kissed and felt, nothing mattered. Keiko, his children, his in-laws, his clients, Hiei's coma, it was all gone.

This was exciting, if sudden and unjustified. Yuusuke's skin jumped with pleasure as muscles and senses came alive under Hiei's practiced ministrations. He dared to touch, lick, and kiss places Keiko would never, and had blatantly told him so, and stroked at his demonic desires in all the right ways. He knew demon and human anatomy wasn't all that different, but to lie with a demon versus lying with a human was something like comparing water and wine. Both quenched thirst, but one was so much more satisfying depending.

Yuusuke was beginning to think he was something of an alcoholic, as it were.

Hiei was just so... wow. Keiko was wow too, but Hiei was wow. He didn't think energy could be played with like that or that his calves and wrists could be erogenous zones or that having a finger or tongue or lips touch just below his naval was almost as good as, if not better than, having them touch his core.

This was wrong, but oh, so good. Yuusuke knew he had a lot to think over now, but it would have to wait. He couldn't think at the moment.

And the fact was, he avoiding thinking for the next two days. He avoided everything and had taken to sleeping as much as he could. Hiei came to him every time he fell under. It became harder and harder to stand the thought of waking every time. He knew what Hiei had told him was true; he wouldn't wake up, and that hurt Yuusuke's heart. He had already lost Genkai, was slowly losing Keiko to Hiei, and he would soon lose Hiei too.

Worst of all, Yuusuke suspected Keiko knew. Whenever he woke, she would be right there, staring down at him with wide, hurt eyes full of questions he would refuse to answer. It was only a matter of time before she started voicing them and what could he tell her if not the truth? This was weird what he was doing. He was freaking her out, he was freaking the boys out, and quite frankly, he was freaking himself out.

Maybe it was for the best he didn't take Hiei up all those years ago. He'd be a strung out idiot, a sex addict, Hiei's personal sex-doll and whore, had he done so.

And he was perfectly okay with that. Yuusuke cringed inwardly as Keiko talked to her mother on the phone in the background. He needed some serious help. Like serious, serious help. Maybe medication or shock therapy or an exorcism or something.

"Well, they're coming this evening instead of tomorrow morning," She nearly slammed the phone back on the receiver as she wheeled around to him, "So I guess we need to get this out of the way instead of arguing at six in the morning."

Ah, shit. He was too tired for this. (He grumbled about that under his breath. How the fuck did you sleep more and then feel more tired afterwards? That didn't make any fucking sense.) He waved causally at the open seat next to him as if she needed an invitation, and she immediately took it. All was silent before Keiko finally opened her mouth.

"Well? What's this about Yuusuke?" She started. He quirked an eyebrow, and she immediately backpedaled, realizing she had left her question far too open and easy for Yuusuke to weasel out of. "You've been sleeping at least fifteen hours a day, and when you're not, you're a zombie and standing over Hiei like you're at a viewing. I don't think you've played with the boys in days and you haven't said more than four words to me a day. What is going on?"

Yuusuke braced himself. Keiko had always told him she wanted him to be honest, so here it goes, "I've been having dreams lately. They started off really bad, kinda weirded me out a bit, but when I just let things run their course, it got better. They're telling me things, things I don't really want to listen to and feel bad for, but I need to."

Might not be the entire truth, but it was a start. At least she could ask him questions and not feel like she's just listening to him babble.

"What things?"

"Things like Hiei not waking up-"

"Oh, Yuusuke," She reached out and covered his hand with hers. "He will. He'll surprise you with it."

"Hiei's the one that told me," Something in her face changed. "He's been coming to me in my sleep, talking to me, telling me things I didn't want to hear."

"Are you sure it's really him?" She sounded hesitant.

"Positive."

"What other 'things' has he been telling you?"

"That's where it gets a little harder to explain. I'm not really sure if I should tell you."

"Does this have to do with the boys? Are they going to be okay?"

"What? Yes. The boys aren't in any danger. Chill."

"Maybe you should talk to Kurama-"

"Keiko."

"I'm serious. He can sort this out. Or Kuwabara, he has psychic dreams all the time. He could help too if that's what is happening."

"Keiko. You're getting too worked up."

"Maybe this isn't even Hiei. You're just dreaming it's him because he's got this problem-"

"He wants me to leave you. He wants me to leave you and take the boys to demon world."

She fell deathly silent and stared blankly into Yuusuke face, "What?"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"So you're going to leave me?"

"I didn't say that-!"

"You're just going to run off with our children into the night, knowing full well I won't be able to find you, is that it?"

"I just said that's what Hiei told me to do. I didn't say I was going to follow through with it!"

"What the hell else have you been talking about in your little dreams, hm? I can't imagine you talked for fifteen hours a damn day about leaving me and KIDNAPPING your sons! Unless you're sitting there plotting like a maniac!"

"Would you listen to me?! When the hell do I ever do what people tell me, Keiko?! Hiei says take your kids and run, I say fuck off, I do what I want! Not hey, let's see how I can fuck Keiko over!"

"That still doesn't tell me shit, Yuusuke!"

"You really want to know what else I've been doing?! Hiei and I have been fucking like rabbits, okay?!"

Silence again. Both stared, unable to believe Yuusuke just blurted that out. Slowly, Yuusuke brought his hand up over his mouth and covered it while Keiko choked on her own breath.

"Oh," Keiko tried. "My god. Out of all the people in the world- No. No. I cannot believe you just said that."

"Keiko, I-"

"Shut up. Just, shut up. I'm sorry we ever talked about this."

Keiko rose from her seat slowly, turned on her heels, and headed into the kitchen, "I'm sorry too."

They were joined with Keiko's parents not but three hours later. Tensions had gone from a full boil to a simmer for the moment and it was felt by everyone present. Keiko's mother nervously looked the pair over, but couldn't find the words to say. Her father ground his teeth gently and waited for someone else to speak. Yori sat silently while Takeshi sat confused at the quiet.

"What's wrong?" Takeshi blurted out.

"Shh! Takeshi!" Yori immediately hushed.

"Nothing's wrong," Yuusuke tried.

"Of course you would say that," It was Keiko who spoke.

Yuusuke let his eating utensils drop onto the table with a clatter and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms in the process. What the fuck did she want from him? Had he said something other than nothing was wrong, she would have flipped her goddamn lid.

"Keiko, honey, what is the matter?"

"Yuusuke decided he was going to have a friend stay with us unannounced. He's causing quite the stir."

"His name is Hiei!" Takeshi shouted, proud of his knowledge. Again, Yori gently shushed.

"Well, that's understandable for irritation, but if I didn't know any better I would say you two are about to tear each others' heads off."

"She's going to tear mine off if anything. I can't be bothered with the whole thing."

"And that's it then, isn't it? It doesn't bother you that you're having these weird little dreams and that there's a demon in comatose in our guest bedroom. I'd venture to say you really enjoy this."

"What?" Keiko's father and mother squawked in unison.

"And here I thought I was in the wrong for wanting to tell him what he was, but that's okay. Everything's just fine when Keiko breaks the rules versus the whole world going down in a fiery explosion when Yuusuke does it."

"When you break the rules, it's more likely than not to end up that way!"

"You say this like it's my fault! I didn't want any of this in the first place! I was forced, and it stuck! You could have avoided the whole thing by not kissing me and saving my ass way back when I got hit by the car! Then none of this would be as it is right now!"

"Don't you DARE blame any of this on me and don't change the subject!"

"Come on boys. Let's go play a game," Keiko's father shooed the boys off into the other room, leaving his wife to decipher everything and trusting her to fill in the blanks later.

As it turns out, Keiko's mother couldn't really tell her father anything. Yuusuke and Keiko, even amongst the rage, had stayed as obscure and indirect as possible. All her mother could make out was that a man named Hiei was threatening enough to Keiko that she felt the need to fly into a jealous rage whilst Yuusuke could only barely yell back his defense as this Hiei being an old friend with a very complicated past, and present as it were.

Needless to say, Keiko and Yuusuke were having problems. Yuusuke had retreated into the living room while his in-laws anxiously fled to their daughter's side, no doubt to justify her in every way. Yuusuke was always the bad guy; wasn't that just how it went? Men bad. Women good or some shit. He went to light a cigarette, a habit he had 'given up' a while ago, but he always kept a pack or two lying around for just such an occasion. However, the tobacco never even got close to the little flame in his hand. Yori looked up at him, seemingly have come from nowhere, and was frowning.

"Is this mine and Takeshi's fault? I'm sorry for whatever we did. We didn't mean to make you and Kaa-san so mad."

Shit, Yuusuke cursed inwardly, "Aw, little dude, nothing's your fault. Kaa-san and I are just having a bit of trouble."

"Maybe I can help?" Yori looked hopeful, but knew the moment Yuusuke sat with his legs folded under him in front of him that there was nothing he could do. "I'll clean Takeshi's room for him."

Yuusuke chuckled, trying to defuse the tension, "He needs all the help he can get, doesn't he?" Yori smiled a little, "But in all seriousness kiddo, this is between me and Kaa-san. There's a lot of weird grown-up stuff going on, and, ah geez, it's really hard to explain. I'm not even really sure if I understand it, but most grown-ups don't even have the same problems I do."

"I thought that maybe we did something wrong, and you didn't love us anymore."

"What? What would make you say that?"

"Well, people who love each other don't yell at each other like you and Kaa-san do," Yori looked down at his feet, curling his toes. "You do love us, don't you?"

Yuusuke took his eldest son's hands in his own, successfully commanding his attention, "Of course I do. Don't you ever think otherwise. You and Takeshi are the best damn things I've ever done in my entire life," Yori's smile returned and brightened slightly at this. "Don't forget that."

Yori hugged his father around the neck tightly, "I won't."

"I'm sorry I made you feel crappy," Yuusuke returned the hug tenfold and rose to his feet, bringing Yori with him. "Don't feel bad, little dude. Everything happens for a reason, alright?"

Yori nodded, and Yuusuke carried him up to Takeshi's room to spend some much needed time with his boys.

.~:|:~.

The devolution into total chaos was quick and precise. It wasn't like the old days where Yuusuke and company could quietly skirt along humanity's vision and save the world. Everyone knew about him now; well, everyone that mattered knew about him. It started out as thrice daily. Demons of all races would show up on his doorstep and ask to speak with him.

The zealots had attacked their homes; the zealots had taken their children; the zealots had killed their families; the zealots had been seen in human world.

General mayhem.

Despite their plans to stay, Keiko's parents had scrammed the very next afternoon upon their arrival when Juri had shown up. One night was all they could stand with Yuusuke's and Keiko's bickering and then the sudden appearance of these eccentrics Yuusuke called 'friends.' Keiko wasn't kidding when she said her parents couldn't, or wouldn't, wrap their brains around the fact that demons existed. It was all too much.

What was worse, they wanted to take the boys with them, and Keiko was about to leave. Yuusuke would normally have no problem with his in-laws taking his children for a few days, but the moment Keiko suggested she go with, Yuusuke's blood boiled. If she thought she was going to try to disappear with his children, she had another thing coming. Just because she was jealous and hurt didn't mean they couldn't have some civility. He loves his children, and not saying she didn't too, she was not going to use them as leverage and pit them against their parents.

Yuusuke wouldn't allow his children to grow up like he did, hating their father, never seeing him, and feeling generally bitter about everything because their parents were too much like children to act like adults.

After three days and more demons, and humans as well, coming to him for rescue and guidance, Yuusuke couldn't think of anything else to do but rally his troops, what little they were. Problem was, he couldn't get a hold of Kuwabara or Kurama. Upon questioning, neighbors had told him Kurama had left almost immediately after arriving home the day Hiei fell into a coma, and Kuwabara was supposedly out of town.

Why wouldn't they have told him they were leaving?

The uneasiness in his stomach bubbled and threatened to spill out. So, Yuusuke did the only thing he could think of doing: he slept.

Almost immediately, he was pulled into Hiei's little world, and yet again, it was different, but he recognized this. It was the warehouse he had confronted Hiei for the first time, back when he was a dick (well, an evil dick) and had kidnapped Keiko, planning on turning her in to the first of many in his demon army. Hiei was perched on a crate and swung his leg lazily over the side, almost as if he were waiting.

"Hiei," Yuusuke greeted and the little demon looked up, "I need your help."

"I know, but I can't do anything for you. I warned you a while back Yuusuke. There's nothing you can do now except struggle and wait."

"Don't say that," Yuusuke couldn't put any force behind his words. He knew what Hiei said was true. "Look, these assholes have moved in on Human World, and I can't find Kuwabara or Kurama. I need-"

"To run. This is your last chance. Run."

"I need you and Kuwabara and Kurama. I can't save the world on my own!"

"You can't. Period. My time is almost up. Kuwabara will not return in time to help, and Kurama is already fighting in Demon World. You will get no help from them. You cannot get anymore from me. And you will not survive alone. Even KoEnma cannot come to your rescue, as little help as he would provide. He has his own difficulties. These zealots are not contained to just the demon and human worlds."

"So this is just it? I leave the humans on their own? Run to Demon World and raise my boys to fight? Hide Keiko?" He paused, his breath hitched, "Leave you to die?"

Hiei stared, red eyes burrowing into Yuusuke's skin, and sighed out a breathy yes.

"I won't accept that!"

"I know," Hiei muttered. "If you leave now with your boys, at least you'll still have them."

"You're avoiding my wife."

"She's hardly your wife anymore," Hiei was suddenly in front of him, "Isn't that right? In fact, she's going to be the reason I die. She'll lead them right here to where I lie, and they will kill me."

"She's not that hateful."

"You don't even know her," Hiei sighed again, heavily; the sigh of a tired man. "She could revive me, the same way she revived you, but she won't."

"Why can't I?"

"Your energy is caustic to me," He whispered. He didn't feel like explaining anymore; he'd talked so much these past few days. "Don't cry, detective."

He couldn't help it. Yuusuke knew that Hiei wouldn't lie to him at this critical moment. In fact, Hiei hadn't lied to him so drastically the entire time he knew him. Yuusuke was going to lose them both. Hiei would die, Keiko would leave, and Yuusuke would be alone to face a war that he had no way of winning. He covered his mouth to stop the sob that threatened to break lose. Never had he felt so utterly helpless, hopeless, and weak.

He wanted to shove Hiei away when he felt his embrace. He wanted to scream the moment Hiei pulled his hand from his mouth. He wanted to bite Hiei's tongue clean off the moment it breached the barrier that was his lips. But he couldn't; he knew this was to be cherished and not scorned.

Yuusuke woke up hours later and felt as though he hadn't slept in days. His eyes were swollen, his head full to bursting, and his skin felt too tight. He went to Hiei's side, ever stoic, and stared down at the little demon. He didn't move until a small voice, the voice of his eldest, called to him.

"Otou-san," Yori called, quivering slightly with nervousness, "Someone is at the window. This one floats and speaks real fast." Yori frowned, in an almost frightened way, "Takeshi won't stay away for long."

"Floats?" Yuusuke turned, genuinely confused and left, letting Yori lead.

There was indeed a man floating and speaking rapidly when Yuusuke arrived, but he was hardly outside the window anymore. He was inside the kitchen, amazing Takeshi with tricks of wind and helping him to float just as easily as he was. Takeshi hadn't stayed away for long; he had opened up the window for a stranger. Yuusuke would have told him off had the stranger actually been a stranger, but as it was, it was only Jin. Yuusuke couldn't decide if he was more relieved or anxious upon seeing his friend.

"Urameshi!" Jin exclaimed, nearly dropping Takeshi out of the air.

"Jin, now isn't the best time for a visit-"

"A visit?! I don't make house calls, Urameshi! At least, not without an invitation! What are ya still doin' here? Terrible thin's been goin' down everywhere! I didn't think you were one to sit on yer arse and twiddle your thumbs!"

"Life happened, Jin. I can't be everywhere at once."

"Ah, none of yer guff! Come on! We need to get goin'!"

Jin grabbed his wrist, and Yuusuke jerked out of the hold, firm and determined, "I can't leave the boys by themselves, Jin. That's not happening."

"Bring 'em with ya!"

"No!" The force of Yuusuke's voice made the walls quiver, and his sons instantly backed away. Yuusuke immediately regretted it, "No," He said more calmly, "They can't see things like that. I don't want them to."

"I'll watch the, what do you say?, ah, rugrats! Yer a bigger help than I'd be!"

Yuusuke huffed, "Since we're using each others' words, I have one for you. Hump off!"

Jin was caught between absolute giddiness (after all, it wasn't every day that someone used his slang) and being positively livid (just what the hell was wrong with him?!). The wind master crossed his arms and glared down at the former detective. A spark, more like a flicker, twinkled in his sky-blues, and before Yuusuke could react, his children were in Jin's arms and out the window.

FUCK! He did NOT have time or patience for Jin's BULLSHIT! Yuusuke immediately went after. Even if he was a higher level demon, he couldn't fly and he couldn't very well blast Jin out of the sky without hurting his kids. Had he been younger, had he kept up with his discipline, maybe Yuusuke could have grabbed him before he grabbed Yori and Takeshi.

If only he hadn't been so freaking lazy these past couple years!

Author's Note: First, I would really like to thank everyone that took time to put in ideas for me, and I would like to apologize for not getting to them sooner, this one in particular. I put a lot of research into this work of fiction and took me months to find a myth I was comfortable with using in the circumstances set by the prompt. I went through two six-hundred page books on Russian and Japanese folklore in an attempt to make this close to home for Yuusuke and Hiei, one six-hundred page collection on Celtic mythology, three two-hundred page volumes on Irish Folklore, and one four-hundred page book on Greek and Roman mythology, and Dermot and Grannia came out on top. I'm sure you can find the full story of Dermot and Grannia somewhere on the internet, and keep in mind there's variations on the spelling of Grannia's name; I took the previously seen prose from the book entitled Irish Folk & Fairy Tales Omnibus by Michael Scott and reorganized it for the purposes of my story. He has done an amazing, amazing job with the tales I've read, weaving so much detail into so few words. It's enchanting, equivalently so with the fantastic stories themselves.

Second, again, I apologize for the time it took to make this. Originally, it was going to strictly be a one-shot; unfortunately I gave too little credit to just how in-depth this prompt actually is, so it will be a two-shot. It's also why this ends at a weird place. I had to divide the hugeness of this ficlet into two pieces. The second part will be out hopefully soon.

Lastly, I would particularly like to thank Kyrinne from the bottom of my heart for this idea. What I really liked about it was that it went hand-in-hand with a multi-chapter fic I'm planning on writing for Dragon Age called "Lucid Dreaming". The plot is very similar to this fic, so I felt it would be very good practice, especially since I'm working with characters I'm very fond of and also very comfortable writing about. Now all I need to do is dissect the characters I'm not used to working with (in this case, Hawke and Fenris) and splice them into the story. (Sort of, kind of, not really.)

Bibliography
(Yes, people actually do these)

Scott, Michael. Irish Folk & Fairy Tales Omnibus . 1st ed. II. London: Warner Books, 1989. 68. Print.

Scott , Michael. Irish Folk & Fairy Tales Omnibus. 1st ed. II. London: Warner Books, 1989. 50. Print.