Disclaimer: I claim no rights to Yu Yu Hakusho, nor any related characters or merchandise, and I make no profit from the writing or distribution of this work of fiction.
Kuwabara can hear the hiss and whistle of chained blades and Kurama's voice murmuring in the fog below him as he moves forward instinctively, already feeling the warm crackle of reiki in his palm.
But much to his surprise, Hiei steps into his path, hand on the hilt of his katana, and levels a steady glare at him. And when Kuwabara growls a warning deep in his throat, Yusuke takes his shoulder in a grip almost hard enough to be painful and shakes his head.
"Not your fight, " he says, calmly resigned. Kuwabara can't believe this is happening.
"He could be dying in there," Kuwabara reasons, shooting for something close to calm logic. He fails as the sound of flesh parting smoothly under cruel steel whispers through the air, sending sparks of his reiki leaping defensively off his skin in response. To his credit, Yusuke never flinches, only tightens his grip and stares Kuwabara down when the larger boy looks back.
"As if that matters," Hiei murmurs softly, and Kuwabara doesn't understand where any of this is coming from.
"You won't care if that…that thing kills him?" he asks incredulously, but the fire-demon only scoffs in return.
"It would serve you well to listen," he sneers. "I only said it didn't matter that he may be dying down there, because it doesn't. Kurama can still fight while dying, and he can certainly still kill while dying. That's all that matters."
Kuwabara only shakes his head and starts forward again, desperately fighting to block out the metallic tang of blood – whose, he doesn't even want to consider – that comes wafting to his nose. But Yusuke pulls him back again, and this time, Kuwabara snaps.
Without thinking, he whirls on Yusuke, but his friend catches the blow and turns it aside easily, sending Kuwabara staggering for a moment. When he regains his footing, he turns, but his teammates are standing against him.
"This is more than a mere battle; can't you see that?" Hiei snarls impatiently. "It's a mission of passions, now – a struggle against his own past."
"It's his fight," Yusuke adds, a solid presence between Kuwabara and the raging battle. But he glances over his shoulder for the briefest of moments when the blades whistle again, and Kuwabara just catches the worry that flits across his features when he turns back. "There are some battles a guy just needs to go alone."
And Kuwabara reluctantly subsides, because that he can understand. He has seen battles like that himself, after all. Resigned to watching, waiting, he strains every sense he possesses for some hint of the tide of battle.
It comes as something of a shock when the fog explodes into a forest of bamboo, the stench of blood becoming almost unbearable, yet Kuwabara hesitates still, unsure. With every ounce of willpower he has, he somehow manages to keep from rushing into the mist, though his breath quickens and his muscles tremble from the strain.
Then Hiei plants the hilt of his katana, none too gently, into the small of Kuwabara's back and growls, "What are you waiting for? You were about ready to cut us down to get to him before." The sideways glance he casts at Kuwabara has a surprising – if incredibly grudging – sheen of respect.
A hand on his shoulder makes Kuwabara turn, but now Yusuke is smiling at him, and urges him forward with a good-natured roll of his eyes. "Go on. He's probably waiting for you."
That's more than Kuwabara needs. He heads down into the fog and the forest without a backwards glance, searching desperately for his lover. He doesn't know – doesn't care – what he might find, because all that matters to him now is that he take Kurama into his arms and bring him back to the present moment – and to the future to come.