Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OC.

Kurama's POV

It happened too fast. One moment he was there, looking strong, determined, defiant even. He looked untouchable and unbeatable although we knew better and we knew exactly what he was up to. The next…he was flying in the air because of the force of Sensui's blow. His body was blown few dozen feet away, and at that moment it looked like everything was happening in slow motion. Blood was pouring violently from his chest wound, but he didn't seem to care. The confident smile was still on his face, though his eyes were closed. He looked peaceful, almost. Until his body hit the floor and the grin was wiped clean from his face, leaving a dream-like expression.

We were too late. Even with Kuwabara's unique ability to cut through territories which helped us escape, we were too late.

Yusuke Urameshi, the proud Spirit Detective and our friend was dead.

After we saw the shocking truth with our own eyes we were acting completely on instinct. An instinct that drove us to follow Sensui through the tunnel between Human World and Demon World, break the Kakai Barrier (to be able to follow him), and go to a place that we called as our battleground.

We were all enraged beyond any point of control, though I at least tried my best to think straight. It wasn't wise to be driven by anger, but at this particular moment, in this particular situation, it seemed the best thing. It was too hard, and frankly, I didn't want to. It was so much easier to be driven by an insane rage and let it take over me; do whatever I wanted to do, with no conscience holding me back. We were in for the kill. All four of us.

I would've killed him right that second. We all would've. But we could hardly come near him at all, let alone touch him. Such incredible frustration and anger I hadn't felt in a long time, but I blossomed in it. We all did. The rage didn't consume us. No. This time, we were consuming the rage, feeding off of it, becoming stronger because of it with each fleeting moment. I could feel Demon Energy surge through me of a magnitude I've never felt before. This was a whole new level of power. Power that I will use with all my might to end Sensui's life, whether it was the last thing I did.

And if I died, at least I could die knowing that I tried my best, but even after death I will forever be haunted of the thought that this murderer survived while our friend had to die.

The others were no less determined to our cause to avenge our friend's death. Hiei looked murderous and beyond control. His crimson eyes were literally boiling with anger and – I couldn't believe I was seeing it – pain and freezing with mercilessness and the urge to kill. He already fired his Dragon of the Darkness Flame once, and though that would normally drain him of energy, now he was still standing strong and ready for more, though his body was covered in cuts and bruises.

His attitude surprised me though. Yusuke was probably the first person he'd ever been ready and willing to die for, although he gave the distinct impression he was the type of person who didn't care about anybody except himself. But I was right about him all along. Hiei Jaganashi has a heart.

Kuwabara was on the ground right now, but got to his feet in no time. He looked more tired than any of us, but, like the rest, didn't give up. His Spirit Sword was held tightly in his fist as he clutched it tighter and plunged toward Sensui once again. He failed, and was thrown in the air a few dozen feet away by the mere force of his energy – Sacred Energy I might add, the most powerful there is – though Sensui didn't move at all. His expression was odd. He looked almost sad that he had to fight us, which angered me even more.

If there was one thing we didn't need was pity. His pity on top of it.

I tried to attack once again. I ran at full speed, so fast, I would probably be just a silver blur to a normal human; silver because I had the current form of Yoko Kurama though I kept my human personality – a side effect of the concentration of demon energy that I was subjected to when the tunnel opened. I attacked from the side, and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hiei going on at him from the other side.

I summoned the Rose Whip and fired at him as Hiei attacked with his Sword of the Darkness Flame. Sensui's sacred shield didn't let us touch him, as we came to a foot from his actual body until our weapons stopped in mid air and were redirected at us. I moved out of the way just in time before my own whip took a blow at me. Just as before, we were pushed back, the shield obediently protecting its owner.

I landed not far form where Iris was. I saw her fully for the first time since we came in Demon World and the image brought back a little sense into me. The first thing that I thought was that I was grateful she wasn't a normal human, otherwise just the air of this wretched world would made her crumble to the ground. My second thought was that she looked angrier, scarier, more afraid and more wounded than I ever saw her, all at the same time.

Her long, dark brows were curled mercilessly over her turquoise eyes that were ablaze. They were showing more anger than I ever thought her possible of expressing. I saw a muscle on her jaw clench and unclench, just as she was doing with her fists. Her long, black hair was blowing all around her, though there was absolutely no breeze. Then I noticed that her body was on fire in a blue flame. Spirit Energy. It was burning, boiling in her blood, as it was working her ways, no doubt trying to get in Sensui's head. I saw her eyes turn a very bright white that was almost ghostly and rhythmic lights appearing on her cheeckbone, outlining the outside of it almost as if caressing it.

Her clothes were ripped in many places, and she had many cuts and bruises like the rest of us, her entire body covered in dust from the many times that she fell to the ground. She was, however, in a better state than any of us, because her powers were more psychological than physical. I looked at Sensui again, trying to come up with another strategy for an attack.

I didn't think she was succeeding though. At some point, her lips parted slightly and I saw her teeth clenched and a groan of frustration escape from her throat. Of course, seven people were a lot harder to deal with than one. Sensui had Multiple Personality Disorder and seven different people were – technically – populating his brain, all with different names and personalities and fears and likes and dislikes.

Not to mention that although I didn't have per powers, I knew that there was nothing that could scare Sensui now. I have fought against him for long enough now and I have grown to known him and his ways. He was the farthest thing from somebody weak-minded and had seen it all – literally. There is nothing more frightening than the two hours of the cruelest things human beings have done to each other, all included in the tape called Chapter Black, a tape which he had seen for the first time a long time ago for the first time and had scared him witless. A tape which he saw regularly now, and was currently watching it just as we interrupted him after we defeated the Game Master.

Just as I was about to plunge into another attack, I saw her move and looked at her again curiously. Her eyes were wide, lips parted slightly still, but this time her face was relaxed. Iris had an idea. I decided to keep my attack until and see how she does.

She was close to the very edge of the cliff we were on, looking straight at Sensui, determined, yet…confident. I wondered what she could be up to, because there was nothing around us to control except the dry earth. And I knew that no matter what she did with it and however she manipulated it, it would have no effect what so ever on him because of his Sacred Energy that created a shield around him. Hiei and Kawabara retreated afar from him, because they didn't know what she might pull.

She raised her hands straight in front of her and parted, as if she was about to break into an embrace. She frowned deeply, concentrating and I started to feel it. It was an odd concentration in the air, but I couldn't quite tell what it was. It felt strange, and it made me feel slightly weak, almost nauseous. What was she doing?

Then, under my eyes, I saw her starting to close the embrace, slowly and deliberately. Sensui let out a gasp that I heard all the way over here. I knew what she was doing now. That was no gasp of shock or emotion at all. It was a gasp that said "I can't breathe." She was closing in the air on him, eliminating the oxygen slowly from around him until he would have nothing left. That's why I felt this way, because of the sudden change of concentration of oxygen.

Sensui's gasps were even more prominent now as he coughed a few times and I saw his Sacred Energy starting to flicker. He was losing air, fast and was also losing concentration on keeping his shield around him. This is our chance, I thought, and hoped Hiei and Kuwabara got the message too.

They did.

This was the end of it. An attack now, when he was barely holding on to his energy, when he was weak and defenseless would end it all. We all started to run toward him, drawing our weapons, ready for a big blow, until—

A saw a flash of Sacred Energy fly past me at the speed of light, so close it actually caused a breeze and blew around my long silver hair. I froze, something I don't do very often. I had a bad feeling about it, because Sensui doesn't miss… Then I heard it. A distinct chocked gasp. Sensui started gasping for air, a triumphant smile on his lips because the air wasn't closing in on him anymore. This could mean only one thing.

"Iris!" I cried in panic, turning around in time to see her fall to the ground, landing dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Her hair was whipped all around her, her body crumpled on the spot she was previously standing on. Under my very eyes, I saw her sliding, and realized she was closer to the edge than I thought. The blow must've pushed her back a few feet.

Then it all happened in just a few short, but crucial seconds. I ran. I ran after her before she could fall. At that distance, she would certainly die. I had to save her. I ran at full speed and picked up even more when she slid off completely. I threw myself off the cliff, and when I was within reach I grabbed her hand. I quickly reposition myself so that I was in a standing position and she was lying safely in my arms.

Then we landed. The impact with the ground was very hard, and though I didn't have any injuries, my legs buckled under me and I fell on my knees. I pinned Iris to my chest against the blow instinctively, afraid of breaking her more than she already was.

I sighed relieved and looked at her face. It was peaceful, but her brows were furrowed slightly, as if still bearing the mark of her concentration to beat Sensui down. I was so happy that I saved her and she will be all right, that I momentarily forgot the fight was several hundred feet up from where we were, that the whole world was in danger. That my two friends were fighting by themselves. I was so happy at the pure glory of this moment that I rested my head lightly on her chest, closing my eyes at the feel of her against my skin and her smell and the fear that I might not have ever been able to do this ever again. That I might have lost her forever.

I retreated my head away and looked at her face again, relishing how right she felt in my arms, though the moment was hardly anything to relish about. She was so much stronger than I gave her credit for. At that thought, I smiled at her, though she couldn't see it.

Then, in the silence, I heard her breathing irregularly, and I felt myself panic again when I realized it was scarce. She was just barely holding on. I looked all around her, remembering the blow she got from Sensui and tried to identify it.

And I did. It was right below her rib cage, a deep gash. What used to be a blue shirt was now stained with so much blood from the wound that I could hardly tell the shirt was originally blue and I gasped out loud. She was losing blood and very quickly, I had to do something quick. I had to decide quickly what was more important, more critical. It was the hardest decision I have ever done: leave my friends and fight the enemy by themselves to go back to Human World and try to save Iris? I knew I didn't have much time and I went with my gut instinct, something I almost never did.

I will apologize later, I thought, if there is going to be a later. I took her in my arms again, pinned her to my chest protectively and made a run for it, climbing on top of the mountain of apparitions and demons formed in their eagerness for their turn to go through the tunnel and into the Human World. Anybody who tried to stop me I took him down. I conjured a Rose Whip directly out of my hair and let it slash out anybody in our way, just as I did at the Dark Tournament. There was no time to waste.

In the tunnel I made my way toward the Kakai Barrier and then toward Human World, which, for now, was still safe. I hoped the Spirit Detective Force was keeping anybody who tried to go past within its barriers.

On the way I met with the one person I was certain I would never ever meet again: Yusuke, on a huge blue bird that was awfully familiar and yet I never say it before in my life. Poo? Although I was pressed for time, I couldn't help not to stop and stare at him, my eyes wide in shock. He was alive, but…how? How could it be? We watched him die. We checked his pulse. His heart wasn't beating.

Then I felt it.

Demon Energy.

It was emanating form Yusuke's body like heat was in a sauna. I didn't have time to ask questions, but I did have to tell him why I was shamlessly leaving my friends behind. "Yusuke, I—" His dark eyes darted toward Iris's body in my arms and then to her wound then back to me.

"Do what you must, Kurama. I will take care of Sensui," he interrupted me, and flew past us without another word.

I didn't have time to dwell on that. I made my way down the tunnel, right by the Spirit Defense Force, right by Koenma who just followed me with his stunned gaze and out of that wretched cave.

*****

I didn't know where else to take her, so I went to the only place I could think of at that moment: Kuwabara's house. Nobody was there, and I only briefly wondered where Shizuru and Keiko went. It wasn't really safe in the city after all, at least not until the SDF sealed the tunnel, which they will…in less than two days. Hopefully, nothing will go past them and our world will be safe again.

I laid her gently on the big couch they had in the living room and I went toward the bathroom and got a clean tower and bowl filled with water. I lifted her shirt just enough to see the wound. I conjured some plans that I knew had healing powers, crushed them impatiently in my hands and threw them in the little water that I got. I knew I needed it to be very concentrated for this wound, since it was a very serious one. The leftover leaves from the plant I crushed them very well and the small juice that came out of them I let it drop on her open gash.

After I cleaned it completely, I conjured another plant whose flower was very good at healing open wounds such as this, so I took off the petals and laid them on it. I secured them to her skin with some bandage that I wrapped it very carefully around her stomach. After that, with the small towel soaked in water I cleaned all the other wounds that were visible, including the ones on her face, adding a bandages or Band-Aids where it was necessary, such as the cut on her right cheek.

I knew the plants would make her feel better relatively quickly, they are very rare and the best of their kind, but I still felt anxious. I leaned closer to Iris's face. The frown wasn't there anymore and she simply looked like she was in a deep sleep. Her breathing was normal again, and that made me feel better. I started leaning away, until—I stopped. For some reason, I just stopped. Some...unknwon force wasn't letting me go, it was pinning me to her.

I didn't know if it was her vulnerability that made me want to stay as close to her as I could, or the fact that this was the first time since she joined our Spirit Detective team for two years now, that I became fully aware just how truly breakable she was, despite the image that she's trying to impose on people. Despite her powers, she was still as fragile as any other human. Except that she wasn't just any other human. She was Iris.

Iris…Iris…Iris…it was almost as if my soul was calling out to her.

And hers was calling right back at me. Kurama, I heard it whisper my name, feeling it as if it was a cool spring breeze.

I lifted my hand, then stopped it in mid air, just inches from her face, debating it for just a moment. I touched her face gently, relishing how soft and flawless her skin was. With my thumb, I traced the features of her face, her eyes, her bold lashes, her long eyebrows, her high cheekbones, her soft, full lips. I barely touched her at all, afraid I might wake her from her healing slumber. And yet, I couldn't stop. I leaned a little closer and cupped the entire right side of her face where I put the Band-Aid on and stroked her cheek.

I sighed in awe and in gratitude that I was strong enough to save her. Then, surprising even myself, I leaned even closer, and, though I hesitated the tiniest moment when her sweet breath brushed my face, I pressed my lips softly to her slightly parted lips. Then I leaned away.

I will stay here with her, watching her closely for any movement or trace of awakening. I had a strong sense of déjà-vu, remembering clearly the time when we had found her on the floor in the forest, not very far from her house, her situation not much unlike this one. Life surprises you everyday.

Who knew, that day, when we saved this girl from dying, things would turn out the way they have? With us becoming friends? With her having these incredible powers that would save us form a potential disaster? With her joining our Spirit Detective team? With us fighting against the most dangerous person that has ever crossed paths with the spirit detectives?

With me falling completely and utterly in love with her?

I certainly did not. But, again, life surprises you everyday.

*****

Iris woke up more than two days later. She was exhausted and used up most of her Spirit Energy, not to mention that all that blood lost took a lot out of her.

The team was back the day before and told me that Yusuke defeated Sensui, due to his transformation to a half-demon (because he had a demon ancestor). They were patronizing at first, but eased up because of their victory. The tunnel was sealed. No demons could make it through anymore.

Our world was safe once again.

They all asked me questions of Iris, how she got hurt, how was she doing, how much longer she had until she woke up and I answered them all as best as I could. I was reassuring and smiled at them meaningfully, but inside, I was still feeling anxious. I knew I would keep feeling that nauseous clenching in my stomach until she woke up and I saw with my own eyes that she was all right.

I was alone with her when it happened. Shizuru and Keiko had just left. All the others were somewhere in the apartment, visiting her regularly. I stayed with her at all times, day and night. I was sitting on a chair, beside her bed, looking outside the window absentmindedly, when I heard a distinct sound that sounded like movement on the bed – she had been moved to Shizuru's bedroom – and something that sounded like a sleepy moan.

I turned toward Iris quickly, and saw that her lids fluttered open to reveal those magical turquoise eyes. They found me immediately and I smiled at her widely and she gave me a weak grin in return, then covered her mouth to cover the yawn that was too powerful to overcome.

"Hey," I said softly and I leaned closer. I took her hand in both of mine and I felt, with a rush of happiness, that she squeezed back, though weakly.

"Hey," she said, her crooked grin still in place.

I wanted to tell her how much she scared me, how I had almost came to regret not being more adamant with Koenma about her joining the Spirit Detective Team, about her being so reckless, about how much I realized I loved her… but instead, I told asked her, "How are you feeling?"

"Stiff as a rock," Iris said and she tried to sit up. I saw her tense and I realized the wound must still be in the healing process. She sat up anyway. Stubborn. Her hair was framing her face nicely, even though it hasn't been combed in two days, and it was with no doubt, still dirty from our fight. And yet, at this moment, I thought she'd never looked more beautiful.

I heard her intake a sharp breath because of what I suspected was a pang of pain. Her eyes peered around then, stopping at the spot where her wound was and she touched it gingerly, wincing because it was still tender. Then her eyes found me and flashed me a dazzling smile.

The smile must've done it. It broke through all my defenses and made me do it. Although I shouldn't say she broke through my defenses because the verb sounds too brutal. She melted my defenses away with her radiant smile. She got the best of me. I dropped all pretenses and took her in my arms. "I'm so glad you're all right," I said, one arm securely around her shoulders, the other's fingers entwined through her dark hair. "You gave me quite a scare, Iris."

Iris seemed at a loss of words. She wasn't saying anything at all, and I didn't know if I should take this as a good or a bad sign. She did return my embrace after few moments, leaning her head against my shoulder, as if listening intently.

I swallowed, and continued, "I—When I saw you—" I broke off in mid-sentence. This was obviously wasn't going too well. I didn't think I would be stammering at this moment, but… I took a deep breath and pulled away enough so that I could look her in the eye. There were so many fleeting emotions playing across her face, her eyes especially, that I momentarily forgot what I was about to say and looked closer. I saw curiosity, puzzlement, uncertainty. I also saw – and dearly hoped it wasn't my imagination – traces of excitement, happiness and…hope.

I started again, feeling my voice a lot more confident than I felt. I wanted to do this right.

"I thought I'd lost you forever," I said, and I had to swallow again, "If that were the case," I paused, realizing that this turned out to be harder than they show it in the movies, "I would've died along with you, because you would've took my heart with you."

Iris's reaction took me by surprise, since this wasn't either of the potential ones that I thought I would receive. Her body started shaking the slightest bit, but I didn't know if it was because she was keeping herself from crying, from laughing, or because she sat up too much and she had to lie down. For the first time, I was at a loss of words.

Then something unbelievable happened. A small tear escapted her lid, leaving a slight track on her cheek and she took me in her arms, pinning me to her body with more strength that I thought she had. All three of my assumptions were wrong, technically. That was a tear of happiness. I held her right back, feeling almost chocked with emotion myself.

That was the perfect moment. I broke away from the embrace, but only enough to be able to look at her face. She was absolutely radiating. I only did what my gut was telling me to do, so I cupped her face in my hands and, for the second time ever – and for the first time when she was conscious – kissed her on the lips.

To my delight, she returned it eagerly, and a small sound escaped her lips, though I wasn't sure if it was a moan of pleasure or a sob. This time, she broke the kiss and took me in her arms again, holding me tightly, and me embracing her right back, feeding off of each other's happiness, until—

"Whoa!" I heard Yusuke's startled voice, and both me and Iris reacted on instinct, startled and broke away form each other. My gaze shifted to her face the shortest moment, and saw that she was a deep shade or red. I only briefly wondered what kind of shade I was, until I looked at Yusuke, and saw that he looked grimly satisfied, even snickering.

"Sorry," he said. He looked at me, grinning and didn't even having the decency to hide it or look even remotely apologetic, "I didn't mean to interrupt. I thought I heard voices and I knew Kurama's not the type to talk to himself, so I thought I should check it out." He cleared his throat in an action to hide his chuckle, then turned to Iris and his expression changed. He looked relieved and happy. "Welcome back, Iris," and made his signature move of a gun-shooting motion toward her.

Iris grinned right back, looking more like herself again. "Thanks."

"I'll—uh—let you guys alone."

And he left. Just like that.

I turned toward Iris and noticed with amusement that her eyes were wide in an expression of horror. "Brace yourself, he'll tell everybody about it faster than I can get out of this bed."

"I'm not gonna worry about that right now," I said, and I truly wasn't. Instead, I took her hand that was closest to me, squeezed it and pressed my lips lightly to the back of her hand. She squeezed my hand back and that simple action seemed to make the world go 'round.