If Only Tears Could Bring You Back

by Momo no Hana

"You okay?"

Kurama glanced up, his eyes locking with Yusuke's. The Spirit Detective was frowning at him, and the rays of the setting sun cast dark shadows over his concerned face. Kurama managed a weak smile for the boy's sake, though he was more tempted to cringe. Blood was gushing from his abdomen, streaming over the hand he had pressed to his wound.

"Don't worry about me. I've had worse," Kurama said. His eyes moved away from the human's face, settling instead upon the girl Yusuke carried on his back. Her hair shone prettily in the sun, and her cheek was pressed against Yusuke's shoulder. All three of her eyes were closed. "You should be more concerned about your friend. If her body rejects the Jagan, she could die."

Yusuke bit his lip.

"It's my fault." Yusuke ducked his head with shame. "It's all my fault! I should have been able to beat him—"

"No," Kurama cut the other boy off before he could really start. "Don't blame yourself for the way things have turned out. Hiei had every possible advantage today. He's stronger, faster, and more experienced than you are. It follows logically that he would beat you."

"But… It is my fault. Now Keiko's a monster, and it never would have happened if I had just beaten Hiei. And what about you, Kurama?" Yusuke gave Kurama a regretful look. "You trusted me to stop Hiei, and I let you down. Now you're as much a target as I am."

"I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to help you." Kurama sighed, his dark green eyes falling to the ground sadly. "I was so desperate for Hiei to snap out of it. I wanted him to understand that he was wrong, that stealing the Artifacts was wrong." He dipped his head even further, and his bangs cast shadows over his eyes. "It was foolish of me to hope."

Yusuke gave him a shaky smile.

"Come on. So Hiei got away. It could have been worse, you know." His smile almost broke. "He could have killed you. At least he showed some mercy." Kurama murmured something, but it was too quiet to hear. The Spirit Detective frowned in confusion. "What?"

"I said, I would rather have died," Kurama said flatly. "Hiei may have spared my life, but it was not out of mercy. He knows my every weakness, and he knows exactly what to do to hurt me. Hiei can come back whenever he feels like it, kill me at any moment—or so much worse. Sparing my life, only so that I can live in terror…" Kurama's eyes went blank. "Is that what humans call mercy?"

Yusuke looked away.

"I never thought about it like that," he said quietly. He looked at Kurama again, staring at the red-haired demon. "You sure you're going to be okay?"

Kurama smiled.

"Don't worry about me. I can get through this." There was a strange shadow behind his eyes. "Like I said, I've had worse."

"Okay, okay. You can take care of yourself," Yusuke granted. "That doesn't mean I can't worry about you. That's what friends do, you know."

Kurama tipped his head to the side.

"I have never been friends with a human before," Kurama informed him. He calmly placed his free hand over his abdomen. He brought the other hand to his mouth and lapped at the blood with his tongue, cleaning himself. "Humans are not very accepting of my kind."

Yusuke turned his head and stared at Kurama. Strangely, he was not freaked out by the demon's method of cleaning himself. It just reminded him of a cat grooming its paws.

"You made yourself a target for my sake," Yusuke said. "Demon or not, you helped me, and that's more than I can say for most humans."

Kurama's eyes softened.

"Thank you, Yusuke. As your friend, I will everything in my power to help you catch Hiei." Kurama swept his long hair over his shoulder. "But before that, we should see what we can do about your friend's Jagan. Shall we go to my house?"

A/N: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. In other news, from the episodes I have seen them in, I have concluded that Kurama and Hiei make a good couple. Therefore, this story includes shounen ai. -sweatdrops- This concept has already been done before, but it's never been the way I wanted it, so here's my story. Read and review, mm'kay?