Hi guys! I'm finally back! I'm really sorry about the original 'Becoming Mates' but it just wasn't coming out right. I lost my writing spirit for a while plus I've been working like crazy and life just got in the way. I've been playing around with a couple different ideas and this is the one I decided to start with.

Hopefully you guys will enjoy this story. Don't worry about this beginning, I had to start somewhere.

Chapter One

Hiei walked into Alaric and was immediately seen by Mukuro. He knew what she was going to say but he wasn't in the mood to hear about it right now.

"Hiei, you're neglecting your troops with all these trips to Ningenkai that you're taking." Mukuro scolded like he was a child.

Hiei grunted and walked passed her to head for his room. Mukuro did not want to be ignored however and stopped him. She reached and took a hold of his arm. Hiei flared his energy briefly and glared at her.

"I will not be ignored. You were gone for over a month Hiei! You better start explaining what you were doing or I'm not letting you leave here again." Mukuro glared back not fazed by the fact that Hiei flared his energy. She knew something happened while he was gone and she wanted to know what it was.

"Leave me alone woman! I was in the human world, that's all you need to know. Now leave me alone and let me get back to work." Hiei pulled his arm free and used his speed to flee to his room.

Hiei opened the door and slammed the door shut. With a flare of energy he set the wards around his door to keep everyone out. He stripped down naked and flopped down on his bed. He knew before he left that he shouldn't have gone. He knew that his sister didn't need him anymore.

However, he went back and seen them. He talked to them and realized that he was losing his place there. They talked about things that were happening but Hiei didn't feel right there. He didn't really understand much of what they were saying.

Then he had talked with Kurama. Pain gripped his heart when he thought about it. The pain was so great that Hiei got out of bed and flitted out the window. He headed to the spot that he had last talked to Kurama when he came to Makai.

It was a field that held many different kinds of Makai flowers. It was hidden in the western part of the Alaric forest. They had come across it one day when Kurama caught the scent of rare flowers that he hadn't seen in centuries. It was about a year ago after a meeting between Alaric and Gandura. They wanted some time alone to just talk without being interrupted.

The field was just as Hiei remembers it being. More pain gripped his heart as he thought about Kurama leaving him that day to return to his human mother. He had to go back to Kurama. He had to see him again. It didn't matter what Mukuro wanted him to do, it was a matter of what he had to do.

That night when Hiei didn't show back up to do his work Mukuro knew where he ran off too again. It made her mad to know that Hiei put his life in Ningenkai ahead of the one he had in Makai. She hoped that he got everything there sorted out quickly so he could come back where he belonged.

Yukina sat on the steps of the temple. She knew that Hiei would be coming back soon. Hearing a noise she looked behind her to see her husband, Kuwabara, coming out of the temple.

"Would you like some company my sweet?" Kuwabara asked with his usual goofy grin. He knew she was waiting for Hiei but it was getting late and he would not allow her to be unprotected.

"That would be lovely Kazuma, thank you." Yukina smiled at him. She was glad he was there; it made her feel much better. Yukina leaned against him and closed her eyes. Kuwabara put his arm around her and looked out to the forest.

"How is he doing?" Kuwabara asked softly after a moment. Yukina knew who he was talking about.

"There's nothing else I can do. That's why I'm waiting for Hiei." Yukina's voice was soft and sad.

They waited out there for another hour before Kuwabara heard a noise. Looking at his wife he noticed she had fallen asleep against him. Looking to where the noise came from he saw Hiei.

"Thanks for coming back. He's still where you left him. His condition is not changing." Kuwabara said quietly to not awaken Yukina. Hiei nodded and walked inside the temple.

Going to the room Kurama always stayed in he quietly slid back the door and stepped inside. Closing the door silently behind him he stared at Kurama's face. The first emotion he felt was the pain, just like he had in Alaric. Then he felt the anger.

He was angry for not being there to protect Kurama. Angry that Kurama had called out for help and there was no one around. Hiei was angry that he put his job ahead of his friends. Now he could lose his best friend and it was his entire fault.

Kurama laid on a futon in a guest room. He was pale and his breathing shallow. Yukina had healed all his injuries but he lost a lot of blood and energy. They would take turns supplementing energy. They could only give him small doses at a time; too much at once and it could destroy his human body.

Hiei walked over and knelt next to Kurama. Slowly he held out his hand and placed it on Kurama's cheek. He could tell that he was colder than normal and so Hiei slowly raised his energy. Even if it was only to help a little he had to do something.

Two months ago Kurama had taken a trip to Makai to check in at Gandura. Though he was no longer one of Yomi's advisors he still went to see how he was doing and to help with anything Yomi needed.

Flashback

Yomi was in an afternoon meeting so Kurama decided to go for a walk. It was a beautiful day and there was no reason not to enjoy the little time he had left here. He planned on leaving in the morning so his human mother wouldn't worry as to where he was.

Seeing no harm in staying in his human form he headed out the back gate to the forest. It was early afternoon so it was still light out and there weren't many demons around. The smell of fresh flowers had him turning heading east away from the forest. Once out of the forest Kurama looked around and realized he was far from the Gandura Castle.

Smelling the flowers once again Kurama ignored the fact that he was so far from Gandura and raced after the smell. Small houses started appearing every fifty feet or so and Kurama slowed to a walk. He recognized the style of the houses and knew that he went too far.

These houses belonged to a tribe of bandits that wreaked havoc all across Makai. They made multiple tribes in different regions and they always kept them well stocked. Knowing this they didn't like outsiders of any kind.

Hoping they would ignore him, Kurama tried to get away without being seen. A couple of them spotted him and attacked. Prepared for the attack Kurama dodged the attack by leaping into the air. He reached into his hair for his rose whip.

The bandits stopped their attack momentarily and looked at each other. A larger, more bulker demon walked up to the bandits. "Why do you hesitate? Kill him! Outsiders who find our camp die!"

The bandit who started the attacked pointed to Kurama. "Sir, that creature is not a normal human. If that is truly the weapon known as Rose Whip then that human is Yoko Kurama."

Kurama knew he had been discovered and looked around for an escape. There were more and more bandits crowding around wanting to be one who took down the great Yoko Kurama. The leader saw him looking around for an escape.

"Kill him! Do so and you'll all be rewarded!" The leader yelled pointing at Kurama. His tribe would become legendary if they were able to kill Yoko Kurama. Even if it did cost some of his men it was well worth the risk.

Kurama's only options was to run, however, the only way to run was away from Gandura. If he kept running he would eventually end up in Tourin but it could take hours to get there. As he began to run red hair turned silver as Yoko came out. He was able to run much faster in this form and if he were to be injured the demon could handle it better than the human.

Yoko tried to slow the bandits with the plant life around him, even pulling out a few seeds from his hair. Some of the bandits were killed while others were simply entangled. A few managed to get close enough and the attacked his legs hoping to slow him down.

Every time he felt a slash on his legs Yoko would falter just a bit. His blood made the grass around him red but he continued to run. It would still be at least an hour or more to even reach one of his dens. This is why he avoided this place when he was Yoko.

It was almost two hours later when he could smell fresh water and knew his den was nearby. There were still some bandits after him but most were called back by their leader. The Yoko was badly beaten. After attacking his legs the aimed for his arms so he couldn't pull more seeds from his hair. Then they had shot poison arrows into his back, one even catching his in the neck.

He didn't know how he was still standing. Feeling himself start to fade he lost all his power to hold his form and transformed back into Shuichi. His human form was not injured and he hoped he could at least make it to the den.

Though he wasn't injured physically, he could still feel the strain from Yoko's injuries. That could only mean that Yoko was near death so Kurama picked up his pace. As he neared the den one of the bandits dropped down from the trees and tackled him to the ground.

"I know Master said to kill you but I like to play. Do you like to play?" He sneered showing his long teeth. Kurama started to struggle but he couldn't seem to get anywhere. The bandit got mad with Kurama struggling and pushed on his ribs.

Two of Yusuke's guards found Kurama about an hour later. Obviously he had been toyed with to the edge of death. They brought him back to Tourin and had the healers there stop the bleeding and heal what wounds they could.

Yusuke then got a hold of Koenma for a safe transportation into the human world where Yukina could help him. Once he was settled in the temple and Yukina finished healing his injuries Yusuke went to get Hiei.

For two months they've cared for their friend. Yusuke and Kuwabara went to Shiori's and told her that Kurama had been injured and that he was in a coma. She came to visit him as often as she could but it was hard for her to see her son laying there alive but unaware.

With one last look at Kurama, Hiei made himself comfortable on the window ledge and went to sleep.