I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho they belong to the creator and such…..

Summary: Picks up after King Enma's Kishi: Kurama and Hiei decide if they want to get together, but even if they decide to. An enemy may not let them.

Rated M

Atsumaru

Chapter 1: A Gathering and a Story

"Come on…tell us. How do you know what we'll think? Yusuke asked again, for what seemed like the twelfth time in the last half hour. "They might find it boring, but I'm up for a good bedtime story."

The said "they" consisted of Yusuke and his best friends Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei. They were sitting on cushions on the floor around a low round table at Genkai's temple, having tea with the master and house guest Yukina.

This time the group had gotten together to wait for their 'boss' Koenma, who was apparently running late.

Kurama placed his cup of tea down, saying. "Yusuke, as I said before, I acquired the chess piece and it is a very boring story. I could tell you many others that…" He was cut off by the sound of the shoji door sliding open and Koenma stepping in, followed by Botan.

"Actually Kurama, I wouldn't mind hearing it myself." Koenma, in his teenage form, said. Walking over to take a seat on a cushion next to the table and accepting a cup of tea from Yukina with a smile around his pacifier.

Botan also took a seat and a cup of tea before saying. "Do tell, no matter how boring, it's still an adventure about the famous Youko, legendary thief."

"Yes, my father found it hard to believe that the great Youko didn't steal it and that it just happened to come into his possession." The demi-god said, giving the red head a look over the rim of his cup before taking a sip.

Kurama, having seen that look many times before, knew he was going to have to tell the story that he'd been dodging for a little less than two weeks. He kept telling himself it should have been an easy mission to retrieve that blasted chess piece. But it had nearly cost him his life, leaving the others to come and rescue him.

"Even back in my rebellious days when I thought I was invincible, I would never have thought to break into King Enma's private quarters. If I had, I would have taken the whole set, it would have been worthless just to take one piece and besides, I could not afford, at that time, to go to prison." Kurama said looking to Koenma. "Your prisons can be so boring."

"Hey…Youko spent time in the Reikai prison?" Kuwabara asked.

"How awful." Yukina said, placing her hand to her chest.

Hiei smirked. "Knowing Youko, he spent the time grooming his tail." Everyone in the room knew the fox was vain when it came to his appearance and that the trait seemed to have passed on to his ningen form.

The red head looked over at the fire demon and stuck his tongue out.

"Youko had been in Reikai prisons off and on for years. Well, until he crossed over to the Ningenkai and then Kurama himself was in one for a brief time after the theft of the three sacred items." Koenma informed. "But we all know about that. So tell us the story Kurama."

Kurama decided to tell it just like it was for there was no sense trying to hide what was going on in his life at the time he met Komori. He considered everyone in the room a friend and didn't he owe it to them for saving his life? "Well, as Koenma said." He finally started. "The chess piece was taken over two hundred years ago. I had apparently lost track of weeks, if not months, before Komori came into my territory."

The others got real quite as the fox began telling the story. They didn't know much about the great Youko thief and Kurama was never one to tell them much about his previous, or even present, life.

"Just a minute…did you say Komori?" Koenma asked, putting down his cup and sitting up straighter.

"Yes." Kurama answered, looking over.

"Komori, he was a human/bat demon correct?" Koenma continued when he received a nod from the red head. "He was a personal servant of my father, it was just after the theft that my father had him and everyone else fired because he blamed all the servants for allowing someone to get in and steal it. Are you telling me Komori had the chess piece? I didn't think he had the brains." The last part was said under his breath.

"Apparently." Kurama shrugged. "Like I was saying, I was at my lair in the Mori no Hitei forest. It was after Kuronue's death and I was…for the lack of a better term, sulking. Kuronue and I were close. I had not had such a close partner in hundreds of years. After the problems of keeping track of a large band of worthless thugs and keeping in eye on Yomi, who ended up being a traitor, I went on my own for years until I ran into Kuronue. I think my lack of companionship is what drew me to him, that and he was just as much of a recluse as I was at the time. We needed each other." The red head's voice had gotten soft at the memories of his friend. He took a sip of tea as the others watched and waited.

Yusuke was getting ready to tell the fox that he didn't have to continue when Kurama started speaking.

"Sorry, I was losing track of the story." He apologized. "After a few weeks of me sitting there and not doing anything and I mean anything. No baths, grooming, eating, sleeping, or for that matter doing any thieving, a human/bat demon came into my territory. I did not have a care at the time, nor the motivation to kill anyone, so I let him stay. He started out by making me eat, after which he introduced himself and we started talking. Again, I thought I felt like I needed a companion and he was a good helper, cleaning and taking care of all my possessions. After about a week or so, he said, he wanted to give me something as a show of friendship, which was when he gave me the chess piece. I did not really care, I knew it was worth something for the gold itself and the emeralds, but without the whole set, I had no real hope of selling, pawning or trading it. I did not even ask where he got it. I just put it in a box in the cave and forgot about it. Over the next several months, Komori started trying to become my apprentice and it was getting annoying. He wanted to go on heists and for me to teach him the art of stealing. I started leaving and not coming back for months on end, but I let him live because like I said, he was a good worker, even though he was not the brightest demon. I told him I would be having acquaintances drop by from time to time while I was gone and to not kill anyone. I thought that if he did not attack anyone that he might just get himself killed. However each time I came back, there he would be, bowing and calling me his 'Great Lord.' Until the day I did not come back at all. That being the day I so called 'died' and came here to Ningenkai." Kurama finished, looking somber as he looked around to see everyone's reactions.

"Wow…you were right, that was kind of boring." Kuwabara said and ended up receiving a whack to the side of his head from Yusuke.

"Blockhead…that wasn't nice." Yusuke scolded and hit him again.

"Oh that was sad…I mean about the death of your friend." Yukina said.

"So…to think…he survived all that time, protecting your treasures in the hopes that you would return." Genkai stated.

"I guess so. I had not been back in over a hundred years." The red head said.

"That's a long time don't you think? I mean I would have left by then." Yusuke commented.

"Hn…fool. Demons don't worry about time. A hundred years is nothing." Hiei scoffed.

"He's right Yusuke." Koenma said "You have the Mazaku blood running through you now. You'll be living a lot longer and it is hard to keep track of hundreds of years."

The raven haired lowered his head, muttering. "Don't remind me." It had been hard for him to accept when he first found out that he would be living longer than some people he cared about, namely Keiko.

Kurama continued. "I was really surprised to see him alive. And I know what you are going to ask. How was it he was able to attack me, correct?" Looking around the room and seeing the nods from everyone, he answered. "He was lucky, I guess. I honestly did not think anyone would be there and I knew that after the tournaments, the rumors of me being alive might just keep others from claiming my territories, so I just walked in. I will admit I was distracted." The red head gave a quick look to the fire demon across from him. It didn't go unnoticed by the others. "He did attack me from behind and I was so out of it, I was lucky to make it to the cave. I guess it was not my day." He shrugged. "That and the fact he obviously did not listen to me when I told him not to attack anyone."

"So why didn't you just kill him earlier, I mean, you said he was becoming annoying?" Botan asked.

"I really do not know." Kurama said in ponder, picking up his tea and taking a sip. He looked to Koenma. "Was there a reason you wanted to see us?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Oh yes." He said. "I just wanted to say 'thank you' again for finding the chess piece and for revealing the location of one of your hideouts. I would never have put you in that situation to give up your hideout, but if you wish to give me more, I'm sure more people will be happy to get their items back. And last but not least, I also want to 'thank you' for staying with the team for as long as needed." Koenma looked at the others, seeing their smiles at the news that the spirit fox was staying with them.

"I can not give away any more of Youko's hideout locations just yet." Kurama said.

"Why, I mean you said that you might as well give them up since you weren't going back to the Makai for a long time." Yusuke said.

"Yes, I did say that." Kurama said, looking at the raven haired. "But it is a lot more complicated than that. Because Komori was there, Youko had to disable the traps he usually had around the area. There were only two people who knew how to get around all the traps set at each location and one is deceased. I will need to go back and let Youko disable them before anyone makes a foolish mistake." He replied, finishing his tea and standing up. "If you will excuse me, I need to go, it is getting late and I have work tomorrow." Looking again to Koenma, he asked. "Was there anything else?"

"For what it's worth, I am sorry for the loss of your friends and I never meant for you to get hurt over something that's, in a way, worthless." Koenma said, meaning every word.

"I know." Kurama said, bowing his head in acceptance of the apology. "It was not your fault for my stupidity. Genkai, Yukina, 'thank you' for the tea." The red head bowed to the ladies. "Good night everyone, I will see myself out."

Just a few minutes later Hiei got up and left without saying a word. No one thought anything of it, as he left like that all the time.

"I didn't mean to make fox boy upset." Yusuke said, looking to Koenma.

"It was just as much my fault as any, Yusuke." He replied.

a)a)a)a)

Just outside, a cloak figure was watching the red head make his way to a side gate on the temple grounds. He watched as the red head placed his hands on the gate, pause and take a deep breath before opening the gate and walking through. Hiei then leaped to the tree closest to the wall as Kurama made sure the gate was shut before heading to his apartment.

The fire demon didn't try to hide himself has he followed Kurama back to the apartment and sure enough, when he arrived, the front door was wide open. He stood there and watched as the red head put papers back into a briefcase that was on the truck in the living room.

"Will you be staying here tonight?" Kurama asked, not even looking up from the papers.

"Yes, unless you want to be alone?" Hiei replied, walking in and shutting the door.

"No, that is fine." The red head said with a shake of his head. "I will see you in the morning then. Goodnight." He placed the briefcase next to the door and made sure the door was locked before heading upstairs.

Hiei muttered a "goodnight" and went to the couch, arranging the pillow and blanket that had been there for the past two weeks.

End Chapter 1

Atsumaru - meaning - get-together