Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho; I make no profit from this story.

Be advised: Alternate Universe

Burning Angels
by R. M. Weiss

Chapter 1:

Rain spattered against the window in a harsh pattern created by the wind. It was like this every night for the past week, like some divine power was telling them to stop from continuing on with their plans. Leaning his arms against the glass, the green haired man frowned and let out a quiet sigh. In the background he could hear the deep rumbling voice playing through the speakers on the antique record player and the lyrics rang in his ears.

"If you're done woolgathering perhaps you'd like to join us, Gatekeeper?"

Closing his eyes, Itsuki bumped his forehead against the glass, gripping the window sill. "Does it really matter where I stand? I can hear you fine, Gourmet."

"Itsuki-san, please sit," a thin blonde spoke up, rousing himself from his chair and attempting to stand, only to have his shoulders grabbed and be forced back into his seat.

The golden eyed man gave up the internal struggle he'd been waging and faced his companions. He couldn't let their second youngest member put himself through any more pain; the boy had proven his worth to the team and had nearly lost his life doing so. Kamiya had warned them all not to let the teen exert himself for no reason, and Itsuki intended to honor the good doctor's request, owing it not only to Mitarai but to his now dead lover.

'Take care of them and they will take care of you.'

The words were an invisible slap to his face and sent him into motion, slipping into a seat by Mitarai who simply graced him with a thankful smile before returning his attention to their new leader.

"It's been five weeks, Itsuki, mourn like a widowed wife if you must but don't bring it in here," Sadao instructed. Ever since Sensui's death at their warehouse lair he had been asserting himself in the position as leader of their unit, determined to work his way up the ladder into becoming a kumicho. The odds had been stacked against him yet Gourmet had found a way to use the grief suffered by the rest of the group to his advantage. With Itsuki lost to the claws of heartache, Sadao had quickly gone and sought the other crime bosses and gained their favor. He was going to have to work to keep it, the other kumicho around their territory still unsure of his talents and much more biased towards Itsuki whom they had known far longer. If anything, the other kumicho would prefer to have Sadao as nothing higher than a fuku-honbucho.

Turning his black eyes on Itsuki, Gourmet felt his lips quirk. The old second-in-command would be no problem for him. The fire in those gold eyes had already faded, and Gourmet had a sneaking suspicion that soon Itsuki would be joining Sensui.

"Is there something you wanted to talk to us about?" Hagiri snapped, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. Sitting on the soft sofa next to brown haired and wide eyed Amanuma, he shifted restlessly, wincing when his wounded arm was jostled the wrong way. He had been shot in the warehouse scuffle, though his wounds were superficial compared to the near evisceration suffered by Mitarai.

Having drifted off, Itsuki opened his eyes and shot an unreadable glance at the group's professional sniper. It was rare that the teen let anything bother him, and Itsuki knew the only reason Hagiri was speaking up was because he was in pain. Making to stand, he rolled down the sleeves of his pressed linen shirt.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sadao asked, startled by Itsuki's abrupt standing.

"It's no business of yours," the man replied coolly, pulling his jacket on. He would not stay any longer and have Gourmet dangle them all on a string before getting to the point of the meeting. If he left then there was a strong chance that their new leader would dismiss everyone for the night.

With a wave of his hand, Itsuki motioned for Amanuma to follow him, taking the boy by the shoulders the second he was in reach. 'He won't go on if I take you with me,' he thought, gently pushing the boy towards the front door of the apartment. 'He wouldn't break the rules Sensui put in place. Kamiya would storm out and Hagiri wouldn't listen if he did. Mitarai would leave with Kamiya.'

"Should we have left?" Amanuma asked as the door closed tightly behind them. Looking up at Itsuki, he felt a pang of sadness pull at his heart. He knew how much Itsuki had loved Sensui, it was hard not to know since he had been living with them for the past two years, taken in off the streets and treated as if he was their son. Thinking about Sensui's death, Amanuma felt as if he had lost his father all over again. Shoulders tensing as he felt the sudden urge to cry wash over him, the boy fisted his hands at his sides, moving closer to Itsuki.

The movement did not go unnoticed by the golden eyed man, and Itsuki felt his own heart ache as he witnessed the boy's obvious distress. Pulling Amanuma against his side, he held his hand, unfolding it from the tight fist that it had clenched in. "Let's just get home," Itsuki said in as calm a voice as he could muster.

The boy sniffled and clutched harder at his guardian's hand. Neither of them noticed the black car sitting across the street as they exited the tall building.

- - -

"Hiei….Hiei, wake up," Kurama whispered, lightly touching his partner's shoulder. They had been sitting in their undercover car for the past four hours and finally they had hit the jackpot. Tonight was their big break. They had the word from the chief of police to track any of the boryokudan, and on the top of their list was the Seventh Shinobu-gumi, though considering the recent death of the kumicho, its name would soon become 'Eighth Shinobu-gumi.'

Opening his eyes even before Kurama's hand touched his shoulder; Hiei quickly scanned the scene before him. Itsuki, Sensui's saiko komon, was walking away from them, his hand gripping tightly to a young boy's. Briefly part of his mind began to consider the possibility of the boy being some kind of bait to ward off the police, yet his gut told him that the brown haired child was more likely someone's son learning the business of the boryokudan. Why Itsuki had the child with him was beyond Hiei, but he wouldn't dwell on such matters for now. Shifting the car into drive, he began to ease out of the space he had claimed hours ago, not bothering to warn Kurama who jolted forward and nearly hit the dashboard.

"If you get close enough I'll try and snap a few pictures of their license plate if they have a car. If we can find out where it's registered to then maybe we can go in and plant a tracker," the read head commented the moment he recovered from his sudden lurch forward.

"Hn."

"We're not going to make the light if you keep going this slow."

"Well then you can drive," Hiei replied, letting go of the wheel.

Reaching out, Kurama grabbed it in a panic, "Hiei! You just got you license! Do you want to lose it already and get into an accident?"

"I never wanted it in the first place."

Sighing softly, Kurama pushed on Hiei's knee to signal him to break. "Koenma's orders, Hiei, you know that. We couldn't say 'no', not with the contracts he has over our heads."

Keeping his foot firmly pressed down on the break, Hiei glared at the red traffic light that had stopped their extremely low-speed pursuit of Itsuki. Shifting as he realized Kurama's hand had yet to move from his knee, he let out a barely audible grunt as the red head slid his hand back to lay a teasing touch on Hiei's fabric covered crotch.

"What do you think you're doing, fox?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Passing time," Kurama replied with a slight smile. It was just like old times for a moment, before they had been picked up and sentenced to working for the police. Back then they had run a very lucrative business that dealt with stealing priceless items and selling them on the black market, a business that crumbled the day the city's most promising up-and-coming detective blew their plans wide open.

Hiei switched his foot to the gas pedal the second the light changed, maneuvering into the next lane over so he could pull into the parking garage that he had last spotted their quarry entering.

"Park here. We'll walk up," the green eyed man in the driver's seat said, gesturing towards a vacant spot on their right as they cleared the third level of the building. If it was possible Kurama wanted to walk right by the now un-ranked yakuza member, hopefully getting enough time to glimpse at Itsuki's car. It would be less suspicious if he was walking, and with Hiei there dressed in plain clothes they would look like two friends simply hanging out.

Slipping his black pea coat the red head took a moment to tie his hair up in a quick pony tail and slip on a pair of fake glasses. Grabbing his gun out of the glove compartment he slid it into the hidden inside pocket of his jacket. He wouldn't take a chance at being immediately recognized or caught unarmed. "Shall we?"

Hiei fixed his shoulder holster and pulled his loose jacket over it, stepping out of the car without bothering to respond, his actions speaking loud enough on their own.

A series of rapid gun shots rang out as they rounded the corner to the fourth parking level. The squeal of tires and smell of burning rubber being the only warning they had as a car came barreling by, flying over the speed bump in front of it and roaring out of the building as fast as it could.

Sharing a look, the ex-cons broke into a sprint, running towards the car at the very end of the floor that blared a high and constant panic alarm, the three cars around it also screaming their own warnings.

Pulling out his cell phone, Kurama quickly punched in Koenma's number, using his shoulder to hold the phone as he drew his gun out of his pocket. "Sir we have a situation!" he called, skidding to a halt when he reached the car.

Having run a little faster than Kurama, Hiei was kneeling on the ground, restraining the struggling brown haired child they had seen earlier, the boy screaming and crying and begging them to do something.

On the ground behind the hysterical boy, Itsuki lay in a crumpled heap, blood spilling from the wounds left behind by the bullets that had torn into his chest and abdomen. The dark green car behind him smeared with blood, the back window broken and the exterior punctured by a spray of bullets.

Frozen, the redhead found himself quickly stripping out of his jacket, his gun lying forgotten on the floor. Getting down beside the fallen yakuza he put pressure on as many wounds as he could, "Koenma," he called into the phone, "get me an ambulance. We have a man down."

TBC...

A short first chapter, I just want to get a reaction from people and see if they think I should continue.