Shonen

A Yuyu Hakusho fic
by Chester Castañeda

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV and St. Pierrot. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

C&C is the soul of the fanfic. It is a just an empty shell of its former self without it. So, if you would please... C&C.


Chapter 1: Seeds


Darkness. This was what greeted Hiei as he came to. A flat darkness that made no difference whether or not he opened his eyes. However, it brought him a certain sense of relief to be in the dark. It was... comforting to him.

Darkness. To some it was a symbol of fear... of coldness... of death. But to him it was a welcome sight. Was he not a former resident of the Demon World, which was always filled with veritable darkness? And, as accompaniment to this darkness, were there not also fear, coldness, and death?

Yes, he was familiar with fear, whether it was in the eyes of an opponent faced with imminent death by his hand or his own fear of some great power finally destroying him in the end. He always had a degree of respect for power; he himself was a firm believer of the rule, "Survival of the Fittest". Outside of that, he had nothing else to fear.

Coldness. It was a relative term to him. He was used to it. Perhaps it was because of his mixed koorime lineage, but at times he drew comfort from the cold the same way humans drew comfort from warmth. Whatever. He felt as he felt, it held no importance to him.

Death. It was a loaded word to many people, but to him it simply meant the end. He was never afraid of the finality death brought; he actually looked forward to it. He was glad by the fact that he was given a reason for being since the time of his birth. An image of an ice lady who was the last thing he saw before he was inexplicably thrown into a chasm in his infancy, as well as images of his... of Yukina... filled his groggy mind. They represented his reasons for being.

Death had been a constant threat to him since the time of his banishment from the Land of the Koorime, yet he had always done with it like a human game of Russian Roulette with his opponents. He could never die, not him. Not even death could stop him from what he had to do. But if there came a time when all ends were tied, he would welcome his demise like an old friend... by means of a warrior's death, no less. But until then-

"Hiei! Hiei! What's happened to you!" It was the kitsune. That damned fox demon came through for him, as usual.

Darkness... the goddamned darkness. It came to him quicker than he had anticipated. How embarrassing-to faint in front of Kurama, no less. Yet he felt a strange feeling of comfort as a thought surfaced in his mind before he finally slipped into unconsciousness.

'Until next time, old friend.'


Kurama breathed a sigh of relief once he found where his fire demon friend lay. Then a wave of concern hit him once he realized the sorry state Hiei was in. His analytical eye surveyed the amount of damage his friend attained as he assessed the situation carefully.

Hiei's unconscious state was probably due to fatigue from using his ultimate attack, the Kokuryuha, as well as various other factors manifested by the demon's countless contusions and bruises. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in Kurama's mind. Hiei was beaten in a fight. There was a time when Hiei was in worse shape. His burnt right hand had given him a whole new world of pain during the Ankoku Bujutsukai.

Kurama stopped in mid-thought as the youkai moaned. But still, Hiei was going to be really pissed off once he woke up. Kurama suppressed a giggle at the thought. That was Hiei; he with the legendary pride.

Kurama quickly sobered up from his mirth and turned his attention to the situation at hand. He scanned the surrounding area. True enough, the rubble and debris gave more weight to his suspicions; a battle had actually occurred. But he'd expected a lot more wreckage from the surrounding area because of the apparent involvement of the Kokuryuha.

'It must have been stopped somehow, or else there would have been a lot more wreckage here,' Kurama reckoned as he further surveyed the area. It was a narrow alley, and even though one would expect a bit of filthiness in this sort of place, it was still pretty obvious that there had been a struggle.

But no matter how many times Kurama inspected the immediate environs, he could find no sign of Hiei's supposed rival. If he didn't find the idea absurd, he could have almost sworn Hiei hurt himself with the Kokuryuha-which was simply not the case, because Hiei would have just absorbed the attack, if ever.

'I'm too late. He's already gone,' Kurama thought as he continued his investigation. 'Whoever he is.'

Kurama checked out his nearby surroundings beyond the alley. True enough, because it was already past midnight, there was not a soul in sight. The streets were empty, slightly illuminated by what few lights remained open on this side of the city. It was an entire block of urban poverty. He walked back to the fallen demon, his stare lingering at the rooftops of the nearby apartments.

Kurama gently picked up his friend, gingerly staring at his face. Hiei was softly snoring now, probably due to exhaustion more than anything else. From there, the youko quietly leaped over the surrounding buildings, cradling Hiei's body all throughout. He wordlessly jumped from one rooftop to another, his mind filled with questions that left him troubled and anxious.

"Who? Who was it? Why?" Kurama accidentally asked aloud, the questions echoing in the entire block, as if they were mocking him.


"What the HELL?" was the calm assessment Yusuke Urameshi gave to the situation Kurama related to him. Kurama, on his part, stayed calm and composed as he'd always been in the past few minutes of the dialogue. Yusuke had no intention of even budging from the doorway of his home. Kurama sighed as he continued to inform the younger man of the past events.

"That's right, Yusuke. Someone beat up Hiei, and I don't know who. Hiei's been beat up real bad, so that's why he's still unconscious. I can't worry about kaasan discovering Hiei since she'd never seen him before, so that's why he has to stay here in your apartment for the time being, while your mother is away," Kurama carefully repeated, putting his words into terms the younger boy could easily understand. That was because Yusuke was quite the... excitable type, and Kurama couldn't risk a misunderstanding at this point in time.

Yusuke simply stared back at Kurama as if the kitsune had told him that he was about to be tied up and given the whipping of his life-or something similarly disturbing. It took the boy sometime to evaluate the situation before saying, "Oh, I get it!"

Kurama sighed in relief. "That's good, Yusuke."

Yusuke nodded eagerly. "This is some kind of practical joke made by that bastard, Kuwabara, isn't it? Well, just let me at him, Kurama. I'll rearrange his ugly face seven ways to HELL!"

If Kurama was a lesser man, he would have facefaulted. The fact remained that he was the Legendary Youko, so the best that he could do was sweatdrop. All vestiges of gravity on his face were replaced by wide-eyed confusion as he non-characteristically said, "Huh?"

Kurama simply fell silent at that point. He had no idea how to reply to that sort of statement. Yusuke always had that effect on him. So he motioned towards the nearby tree in the yard and the teen was off. He counted the seconds before hearing an expected dead silence. '...Two. Three.'

Kurama slowly approached Yusuke as the now dumbstruck teenager gaped at a peacefully sleeping Hiei. Although the demon was a sight in himself to behold, what with all his loud snoring, it was obvious that the sheer amount of bruises the youkai sported was really the clincher to Yusuke's shock.

Hiei looked worse off than after battling Bui in the finals of the Ankoku Bujutsukai. Yusuke could not believe that the fire demon was beaten so thoroughly... not after he'd finally mastered the Kokuryuha and was able to keep up against S-Class Demon Lords like Mukuro. It bordered on nigh-impossible at that point.

Kurama patted the younger boy's back. "Now do you get it, Yusuke?"

"Hey, Kurama. You weren't kidding. Hiei has been beaten up real bad," Yusuke noted the obvious, looking warily at the sleeping demon. "Who... did this to him?"

Kurama smirked at Yusuke's sentiment. The unofficial leader of the Spirit Detectives was never one to ask who or why. Most of the time, he acted before he thought. Still, Kurama's seriousness eventually won over his mirth as he related in a somber voice, "I have no idea, Yusuke. I simply saw him like this in an alley. I'm not sure who or what could have done such a thing."

Yusuke hefted Hiei's body over his shoulders. The fire demon hybrid shifted his weight, groaning in pain.

"Careful, Yusuke. Hiei's ribs are broken. I've given him some herbs to dull the pain, but there's nothing else I could do. The fractures are closed, but any more shifting and they could become dislocated."

"Sorry, I'll be careful. But we don't have a stretcher. How are we going to lift Hiei into the apartment?" Yusuke asked.

"The same way I put him near the tree," Kurama answered nonchalantly.

Faster than Yusuke could decipher with his eyes, Kurama lifted Hiei up, the latter's body straight and seemingly floating in the kitsune's arms. And, in the same way he wafted through the alley a while ago, he effortlessly entered the Urameshi residence, seemingly gliding with each step.

Yusuke had seen how fast Kurama moved before, but he hadn't seen him use it under these circumstances. He followed the two into his room and caught up with them just as Kurama was already lightly placing Hiei on his living room futon.

"That sure was cool, Kurama," Yusuke enthused appreciatively. He turned his attentions back at the slumbering youkai and made a face. "You're really going to make me baby-sit this little bastard?"

Kurama laughed daintily. It was hard to keep a serious disposition in the company of the earnest young lad. "Your call... though I could always come over and look after him myself."

Yusuke looked at Kurama and smiled. "You don't have to bother with that. I'll have a fun night with shorty here. He's in good hands." He couldn't help but grin evilly at the last statement.

Kurama just looked at Yusuke before chuckling at that. "I'm sure you'll both have fun together."

Yusuke merely grinned in kind before adding thoughtfully, "Does Koenma know about what happened? Because we've never been attacked outside of a mission before."

"Yes, but you have to admit, there were those missions where we simply stumbled upon the enemy. We just reassessed our bearings if ever we were attacked first," Kurama brought up. "But I agree, this was the first time we were directly attacked before we went against whatever agenda our enemy had."

Yusuke nodded to that. "Hey, have you seen Botan lately? She's usually the one supplying the facts for this sort of thing."

Kurama shrugged. "She typically contacts you first, then gets a hold of the rest of us afterwards for backup, as though you were the main character of the story or something."

"Heh. Spare me. What usually happens is that we tend to stumble into each other during the course of a mission," Yusuke countered, a impish smile once again sneaking in the corners of his mouth.

"Our modus operandi." Kurama smiled back. "Just remember, as much as possible, don't let Hiei out of the house. He's in no shape to cavort around the Human World, swearing vengeance upon whoever did this to him."

Yusuke idly nodded, though he knew that him stopping Hiei from chasing after the supposed new enemy was as likely as, well, him stopping himself from doing the very same thing, if he could help it.

"I'll be having a word with Genkai tomorrow. She'd know what to do. Still..." Kurama trailed off, pensively adding, "I'm almost certain that the Spirit World has something to do with this incident. Call it a gut feeling."

"And I'll be having a word with that pacifier-sucking brat once we finally meet as well," Yusuke assured, cracking his knuckles to illustrate his point. "Once we get this cleared out, we'll kick some demon ass and get this over with, pure and simple."

'Pure and simple. Unfortunately, this situation is anything but,' the redhead considered. 'Hiei used the Kokuryuha-an attack that's even more powerful than a fully charged Rei-Gan. If ever Yusuke or any of us came across... him, it's doubtful that we'd have a chance against the creature. And what of the mission Koenma informed us on? Why did Koenma summon Hiei and me? Was it like before, when he notified Hiei first about the mission concerning the kidnapping of Yukina?' More questions pervaded into Kurama's consciousness, yet no sure explanation presented itself.

As Kurama bade his farewell to Yusuke, the questions he said hours ago resurfaced on his mind and echoed back and forth in his psyche. Who? Who did this? Why?

Why?


Kurama stared at the ceiling of his room. As a youkai, he had his own kind of third eye for sensing trouble that's altogether different from Hiei's literal third eye. But it was usually reserved for sneak attacks or for recognizing the ki of his enemies during battle.

His sense of premonition in this situation was entirely different. It was something that humans were more familiar with-that feeling of dread whenever something bad was about to happen. Through this emotion came a jargon of semi-coherent thought.

'What if that thing suddenly goes after Yusuke or Kuwabara? The odds are certainly against them, with him having beaten Hiei. How is Hiei faring anyway? I hope he survives. What if this thing goes after me? I think I could handle it. But what about kaasan...?'

Kurama froze at the last thought. There was a noise coming from his mother's room-somewhat akin to metal clanking on the floor. The redhead instinctively ran to his mother, fearing the worse, then heaved a sigh of relief once he saw her safe and sound by the window. She was doing some needlework and her toolkit just fell. She was a bit startled though, and was now looking at Kurama with worry in her eyes.

"Shuichi, is there something wrong?" Shiori Minamino, his mother, asked.

Kurama let out a slight laugh. "No... Nothing's wrong, kaasan. I was just a little worried by the noise. What are you doing?"

'Shuichi's' mother brightened up with his last statement. "I've decided to take up needlework as a hobby, son. I'm a little rough at it, though. I haven't done this since I was a child." She let out a delicate laugh, to which Kurama could not help but laugh with as well. It had always reminded him of tinkling bells ever since he first heard it as a child.

From there on end, an animated discussion on needlework followed. Actually, it was more like Kurama listening and Shiori making detailed accounts about the wonderful world of needle and thread. This kind of situation may bore to death any other boy his age, but Kurama had high regard and respect for his mother and whatever she did.

After the discussion was finished, Kurama left Shiori with her hobby. He mouthed the words, "Oyasumi nasai, okaasan. Ai shiteiru," in the doorway of his mother's room, to which he got the silent reply of "Good night, Shuichi. I love you too."

In the outer hallway of the Minamino residence, Kurama swore to himself, 'I won't let any monster touch my kaasan. Not even one hair.'


On a cliff overlooking the dance of sea waves, he stood. It was he who was able to stand up to a fire demon-koorime hybrid without even breaking a sweat. Huh. Breaking a sweat. He'd laugh at the thought, if he could. He hadn't broken a sweat or laughed at anything for years, and he felt dead inside because of it.

He continued gazing into the horizon. The moon was still shining as brightly as it could. The waves continued pounding on the rocks. The leaves of the trees in the surrounding area of the cliff all rustled from the stiff sea breeze. He couldn't care less for such peace. If anything, all of it irritated his senses-irritation and senses being relative terms.

He breathed heavily, probably more out of habit than anything else. He hefted his entire breastplate off, revealing a cavity in his chest. It was a dark chasm, as dark as his skin was pale. The breeze became stronger and began stroking his long, straight hair, strands of it flying all over his face. His violet eyes became slits as his concentration intensified. The fire demon had fed him quite nicely, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough. He hungered for more.

The wind blew more fiercely as the waves started to pound furiously on the rocks below. The moon shone more brightly than ever before. Everything intensified and bristled to life. The blades of grass became greener and more alive, as if they were breathing. The rustling leaves became animated as well. In color, sound, sharpness, smell and touch: most everything became exaggerated. It was as if he could smell again, breath again, touch again, and see again-all at the same time and with more exuberance and feeling. Then it was all released into the ether as he whispered the words:

"Jaou-En-Satsu-Kokuryuha."

The Dragon of the Darkness Flame emerged, slowly dissipating into embers as it crashed into the sea below. What occurred afterwards was strange indeed. It was as if an explosion happened in reverse. Everything died down: the waves calmed, the waters became stagnant; the grass died then and there; the trees slowly shed their leaves as if it were autumn, their trunks suddenly decaying. Everything in the surrounding area had a deathly pallor. No color. No life.

The effeminate man sighed. Even the moon's sheen seemed dimmer than before. But he ignored all this as he nonchalantly picked up his breastplate, replaced it on his cavity and went on his way. This was all routine for him. He was way beyond feeling any emotion. He did what he had to do and that was that.

Yet he hadn't killed Hiei. It could've given him a few more days of exuberant life, yet he couldn't bring himself to do it. No. He hadn't killed anyone ever since he discovered that there was a way for his one loose end to be tied, finally giving him the closure he yearned for so long.

There was a way. There was a way he could still give meaning to his damned existence. She was finally here, in the flesh. She'd at last come back to him after sixteen long years of waiting, and he now had the opportunity to correct the mistakes of his past by fulfilling her will to live and rescuing her from the damnation that he himself wrought upon her.

Centuries ago, she traveled with him up until the time he turned into a monster. She then desperately offered her soul to cure him of his terminal illness. Yes, the cure; she thought herself and her love for him to be the cure for his damnation. She gave it her all. She died trying.

But now she was back. He would soon be given a second chance, but not to selfishly use her return to save himself. No. He had learned his lesson from before and would never again put her through such a nightmare. The fact that she came back signified a new lease in her life, not his.

Nothing could stop him now, not while it was in her will to live on and reestablish her broken string of fate. This was his final mission: To make amends and undo his sin hundreds of years past. This was his last chance. He would do everything in his power to bring about her rebirth. In a way, she was still his salvation. She was his last thread of humanity. Her will was his will. He would not fail.

"Asuka-san. You've come back to me," he whispered silently to the dead waters of the sea.


"Kurama!" Hiei yelled in his sleep, which awoke a very irritable Yusuke from his.

"Hey, what's the big-Oh, you're finally awake," Yusuke muttered in yawning breaths, still rubbing his eyes off of the remnants of drowsiness. "Kurama wasn't kidding when he called you a noctu... noctu... a night person."

Hiei simply deadpanned at the dumbass... or some Demon World expletive he wanted to refer to the teenage boy which escaped him at the moment. "Where is he?"

"Who?" Yusuke shot back casually as he cleaned his ears with his pinky.

"Kurama," Hiei elucidated.

"Back at his kaasan's. What's it to you?"

Hiei was getting annoyed. He knew that the... human, for lack of a better term, was toying with him. He could have clopped off the... human's arm right then and there, only that his katana was missing. 'Damn.' The Kokuryuha was out of the question, so that left-

From a passerby's point of view, one could almost swear that there was a mini-earthquake happening at one side of the apartment building where a certain Yusuke Urameshi happened to be taking residence.

"YOWCH! You couldn't take a joke, could'ya?" Yusuke chortled gleefully. He was now in a stranglehold care of a certain angry fire demon. The teen glanced back at Hiei and, with a simple movement of his head, butted him on the forehead.

Hiei recoiled. Yusuke took the opportunity to direct some punches at the jaganshi's face. After three quick jabs, he quickly backed up to ready an uppercut. Hiei knew this was a ruse and simply blocked both the uppercut and the planned hook after it. With his jagan opened, the fire demon was able to counter every strike, which he followed up each time with heavy blows of his own.

Yusuke was surprised that Hiei was still able to put up a decent fight, considering his condition. He abruptly adjusted his speed and began a dance of blow-parry-blow with the demon. Both produced an equal amount of damage to each other, up until Yusuke accidentally ribbed Hiei, which made the latter crumple on the ground.

Yusuke wiped off the trickle of blood on his mouth as he surveyed the damage surrounding him. 'Wow. We were really going at it for quite a while,' he thought, amazed at the whirlwind that leveled their side of the Urameshi apartment. Another thing Yusuke noticed was that he was looking through one eye now, his left eye swollen shut. In any case, the teenager readied himself as the fire demon slowly stood up.

"I never thought you'd resort to a cheap shot, Yusuke," Hiei spat with a smirk plastered on his face.

"You don't look like no slacker either, Hiei," Yusuke conceded, pointing at the jaganshi suspiciously. "How was it possible that you were beaten up so thoroughly, then? Did you throw the fight or did you do something stupid and let the other guy win? You can take on S-Class demons now, you spiky-haired knucklehead! What's wrong with you?"

Hiei was taken aback. How dare the bastard think that his skills were slacking! Still, he was ashamed to admit, he was hurled around like a piece of wet cloth in his last fight. His bruises and fractures flared in pain as a reminder of that. As such, his ensuing reply was broken up and hesitant.

"He... He was no o-ordinary demon," he finished with his eyes darting back and forth across the room.

Yusuke savored the moment of uncharacteristic confusion on the demon's part. Still, he himself was more than a bit flummoxed with the fact that Hiei could be manhandled so easily. "What was it that attacked you? Did it have a face?" He cracked his knuckles. "If he has a face, I can certainly rearrange it."

To this, Hiei sneered, "Humph. You'd be in worse shape than I if you ever faced that monster."

"We'll see." Yusuke then stared oddly at Hiei as the demon suddenly froze. The sleek-haired teen quite possibly hadn't seen the demon so troubled save the times when he teased him about Yukina's true identity. "What?"

Hiei suddenly prepared to take his leave. Yusuke almost missed Hiei as he made a grab for the fire demon's arm. "Hiei, what the hell's the matter with you?"

The fire demon gave Yusuke a livid look. "Let go, you idiot! The monster is after Kurama! We've got to warn him! He's going to kill the damn kitsune!"


On a treetop overlooking a house stood an armor-clad figure. He appeared heavy in his garb, yet it seemed like he was floating on the branches and leaves. He maintained his stance as he observed the neighboring area of the property. Sure enough, he soon saw what he was looking for.

"Such loveliness," he whispered. He let the words float in the air, relishing their smoothness they echoed across the landscape. He swooped down, now truly suspended in midair, towards the second-story window of the Minamino residence.

There she was, like a fragrant rose bud. 'You always did remind me of that.' She walked slowly in her room, fresh and clean like a newborn, slipping into the bed sheets as elegantly as only she could.

She was supposed to save him from the silent screams-from agony and pain and the absence of agony and pain. There were times when a person would rather have pain than emptiness.

But now that she was here, reborn, his plans had changed. He could feel her will to live surging through that human shell. She came back after she was stolen from him by another. Regardless, his devotion remained only to her and her alone.

'Let me take her now or else be damned forevermore,' he had said once upon a time, and that ultimately led to both their damnations. But now that their situation was reversed, he would now serve as her salvation this time around. He had been damned for so long; but now, she had arrived to give his subsistence some worth and consequence once again.

He had killed so many. He knew of their faces. They were forever etched in his memory. They were a part of him-every fiber of their beings. They belonged to him now. They screamed in horror... silent shrieks. The silence was deafening to him.

Even now, the screams remained. The silence remained.

The emptiness ate his whole being, if he could still considered a being, and not just some tool of mass destruction.

He currently had one goal; to bring her back the life and identity that was supposed to hers but was stolen from her. It was neither a simple goal nor would it automatically resolve all of the troubles he'd caused her after so many centuries. All the same, doing so was for her own good.

He had no life left to sacrifice for her, but he was willing to use up whatever was left of his shattered soul to give her back the fate and destiny she was supposed to have in the first place.

However, the fulfillment of his final task wasn't only up to him, but also up the person who stole his beloved's shattered soul from him. The armored shadow man had no willpower to speak of, but through that person and the influence of her spirit inside of him, they could all soon bring her destiny back on track. Their will shall be done.

He gingerly fingered the glass pane of his beloved's window, heaving a wistful, breathless sigh; an apology for his past sins. He was truly sorry that his attempts at salvation and the salvation of many others had come at the cost of his angel's tears.

He intimated his last apology, and disappeared. He simply disappeared.


Kurama stirred in his sleep. He was usually beyond the frivolities of emotion, but tonight, there were at the forefront. Since his days as a youko thief, he never had an opportunity to express his feelings. He was Kurama, the ice-cold killer of the Demon World: immovable, indestructible, cunning, and calculating-the same Kurama who was now letting his fears and worries finally surface.

Was this true? The cruel youko thief, the one who always knew what to do in any situation, was feeling apprehensive? 'Well, of course,' he berated himself. He let his doubts emerge because he was smart enough to be honest with himself. He had no idea of the truth behind the situation and it was a natural reaction for humans to fear the unknown. And he was human. 'Well, sort of,' Kurama thought sardonically.

This was nothing more than him acknowledging his emotions, instead of wearing that mask of cruelty and calculating assuredness that he always wore to face uncertain situations.

Heart of Ice, Soul of Steel; these were what characterized his long and arduous life as a youko thief in the Demon World. No mercy. Kill or be killed.

Enough. Things were different now. How? He didn't know.

All he knew was that he was afraid for his mother. His dear, sweet mother whose life had been threatened constantly because of him. 'Hiei.' Hiei was injured and beaten badly, and Kurama blamed himself for not being there for the fire demon when it counted. Just like with Kuronue.

Kurama went to sleep. He didn't expect himself to drift into slumber so soon. In moments, there was only stillness. Soon, the nightmares began.

There was darkness-a flat, dull darkness. Then came a flicker of light from a glinting jewel swaying along the emptiness. It began to give form. Then there were strands-long strands of shiny hair. Features soon gained depth. A long thin mouth came into view, forming into a smile. Afterwards, narrow yet mischievous eyes fluttered into existence.

The long strands of hair played with the strange person's features as it effortlessly merged with the void. It was a play of contrast of light and darkness as his pale skin and playful eyes shone like the jewel gently swaying on his neck. Back and forth it swayed, like the swinging blade of a flying guillotine.

Kuronue.

The scene replayed itself painfully. The loss was silly, stupid. The irony of it all lay in its stupidity and silliness. Then came the gentle tinkling-like a little bell.

His smiling face casually glanced back at the jewel he accidentally dropped. He couldn't be stopped. That jewel meant a lot to him. He promised that he would come back-all that for a simple necklace that he always wore a certain way. He was always so headstrong. He always went about things in a straightforward manner.

This... his efforts to always be true to himself... led to his own death.

Bamboo shoots shot up as Kuronue was helplessly caught in the elaborate deathtrap. Blood dripped mercilessly on the ground; an unwanted blood offering. He still clasped the jewel with his right hand in an iron grip. It gently swayed in the wind.

It swayed back and forth, glinting... like a flying guillotine.

Darkness.


Yusuke Urameshi was having a hard time.

For one thing, it was quite hard for a person such as him to stop a crazed fire demon-koorime hybrid from accomplishing whatever stupid, reckless, and totally irresponsible thing said demon wanted to accomplish. Mainly because he wanted in on whatever stupid, reckless, and totally irresponsible thing said demon wanted to accomplish.

Life was good for Yusuke Urameshi.

"He was that powerful?" Yusuke gasped, literally salivating in delight. Boy, it had been a while since he'd sunk his teeth into a real, honest-to-goodness mission. Ever since that incident with the rogue demons from a separate Demon World... the Meikai, a sort of Nether World counterpart of the Reikai... nearly conquered the Human World, there hadn't been another challenge that quite matched up with that. "He simply ate the Kokuryuha! That's great! Where did you meet him?"

"We just met. He was in an alley. He was looking for someone. He seemed tired. I was there," Hiei informed cryptically. He would rather not waste any more of his time with the stupid, sleek-haired, half-demon bastard if he could help it.

But if all it took was to join forces with Yusuke to defeat the monster, then Hiei was willing to tolerate the inexplicably overpowered Spirit Detective's annoying antics.

"What do you mean, 'He seemed tired'? Could it be that he was some sort of ki vampire?" Yusuke queried.

Hiei merely shrugged to that. "It doesn't matter."

"Well, if he were a ki vampire, why didn't you just slash him to death like you usually do other demons?"

"He was like a spirit. It didn't work on him. The blade just passed through him."

In one of those rare instances of insight, Yusuke knew he couldn't just blast this unknown entity with a Rei-Gan straight to hell. He already fought one of those demons, in fact. His precious attack was rendered nigh-useless with this youkai who had the ability to deflect the goddamned Spirit Ball back to him.

With a resigned smile, he continued his 'interrogation' with the vague and reluctant fire demon. "So, what's this about Kurama being in trouble?" he pressed.

Hiei glared petulantly at the fourteen-year-old mazoku. 'The moron doesn't need to know about that part of the story.' What the jaganshi really intended to do was trick the simple-minded buffoon into going head-on with the monster and getting beat up to a pulp while he, the true Demon World warrior, looked for some sort of weakness that the creature might possess in the meantime. They always had some sort of weakness.

Yusuke frowned at the fire demon... the ice demon... whatever he was. All he knew was that the thing that attacked Hiei probably had some sort of agenda; evidenced by the fact that he didn't randomly kill the pint-sized flamethrower. Then shorty mentioned Kurama-

"What did he say about Kurama?" Yusuke casually asked. Hiei was dumbstruck for a while, realizing he just fell for the human's ruse.

"DAMMIT, WHAT THE HELL DID HE WANT WITH KURAMA?"

"I don't know," Hiei spat. 'Humph. He figured it out.' "All he said was that he wanted Minamino Shuichi."

"Wha-Isn't that Kurama's human name?" Yusuke was taken aback. "What did he want with... with...? Does it mean that he doesn't know about Kurama the Youko? Or his other self, Minamino Shuichi?"

"I don't know," Hiei admitted; he was quickly losing interest in the conversation. It was quite obvious that the human wasn't planning to hunt any monsters at that point. 'He's a lot smarter than I give him credit for.'

Yusuke gave up contemplating the situation. He had quite enough of that. He was a man of action. This type of idle chitchat was not for him. But he knew he couldn't do anything. The so-called enemy he was facing wouldn't even attack directly, the coward.

It had no desire of conquering the Human World. It wasn't readying itself to lead a massive invasion nor to get some incredible power that would turn it into a feared force of nature in all three worlds. It just waited, like a cobra. No one knew what its true motive in attempting to capture Kurama was, if 'capturing' was what it had in mind.

Yusuke glanced back to where the fire demon once stood. Sure enough, the diminutive bastard was already gone. The teenager sighed. It was just as well. He was sure Kurama wouldn't even be half surprised by this. Still, he knew Hiei was capable of taking care of himself. Besides that, his mother would be back in the apartment by morning, anyway.

He settled in for the night. He had classes tomorrow, but he could care less about that. He could afford to skip a day or two. The only thing he cared about right now was sleep. He needed it.


The sun shone on the backdrop of a blue sky. Birds chirped. The leaves on the trees rustled. People went about their usual business. It was just another ordinary day.

"Minamino-sempai! Minamino-sempai! Wait up!"

But there were just so many connotations to the term 'ordinary.'

'Oh no, not again.'

"What is it, Shigeru-kun?" Kurama questioned through a strained smile. He was not in the best of moods that day, but he did his best to put up a cheerful front.

Mornings at Meiou High weren't exactly the happiest Kurama would remember for the rest of eternity. For one thing, he had to deal with a certain group called the "Legion of Minamino-sama", which was composed of quite a number of... people who were always putting pressure on him.

He wasn't particularly happy about it; especially now, due to the fact that there were some members who had already begun to become more 'forward' with their advances. He hadn't been at all that pleased with the current developments, but he never took any serious action against them. He did have far more important things to take care of.

"I wrote you a poem, Minamino-sempai!" Shigeru Amano cheered, his round face beaming like the moon. He wasn't exactly part of the love brigades that had begun to spread in popularity in the school. He was more like 'Minamino's little admirer,' since he was about one year Kurama's junior. He was older than Yusuke, but he looked a lot younger than his actual fifteen-year-old age would suggest.

Sure, Shigeru had been known to irritate Kurama with incessant questions about his love life, his favorite color, his type of shampoo, and other similar insubstantial-type of questions. He was even prone to stalking the redhead to a point much worse than the 'Legion'. Yet Kurama always had a soft spot for the little boy, especially when he did sweet and considerate things like this.

"What's it about, Shigeru-kun?" Kurama asked, intrigued and touched by the gesture. "It's certainly not my birthday, and there seems to be no particular special occasion today that comes to mind. What is this for?"

"Oh nothing. It isn't particularly about you. I just wanted to share... between friends..." the young boy revealed shyly. "It's about... Just read it."

"Okay."

Kurama carefully unfolded the piece of paper and made note of the carefully written characters. It was obviously a labor of love, a poem that was given great consideration in writing. Every stroke was finely arranged. It certainly didn't look anything like Shigeru's sloppy old handwriting. But Kurama was rather shocked as he read its contents.

It was numbing... as if from a dream
You're suppose to feel something
Yet deep inside you feel nothing
It's all unsettling and confusing

It's as if you're from a distance
As if you're protecting yourself
From a world of pain and suffering
Making the calm all the more unsettling

Through the daze, unbidden it comes
Silly questions came... Ironic ones
Silly because it's all so ridiculous
Ironic because its silliness hurts

We cover up, one way or another
A mask of courage over a vulnerable face
A facade daunting over the grievance
Tears run below this constructed mask

Or instead, you let yourself feel the pain...
Of course it will come, sooner or later
It's a wound, bleeding. Continuously.
No word of comfort can appease it, once it's there.

"Minamino-sempai? Was it that bad?" Shigeru queried disjointedly, a look of hurt apparent on his childlike face. The fact that he looked like a junior high student was made more apparent as he made a face akin to that of an infant who was about to cry.

Kurama took sometime to recover from his surprise. He didn't notice that a deep frown had begun to form on his lips as he read the piece, nor the fact that he was out of it for quite a while. He gave Shigeru a grin of reassurance.

"It was... beautiful. I don't know what else to say about it. You're a gifted poet. Thank you for sharing that," Kurama appraised, giving the boy his gentlest of smiles. Unlike the cruel smiles he usually showed to his old Demon World enemies, it was a smile which he learned from his mother; a smile of genuine appreciation.

If looks could kill, this one just woke up the dead. Shigeru practically radiated upon hearing his upperclassman's compliments.

"WA-I! SEMPAI!"

Kurama accepted the subsequent hug. Shigeru, irritating as he was with his participations with the Legion and his continuous harassment of the redhead, was a very likeable person. Albeit obsessed and a bit too spontaneous, he was still likeable.

"Then I hope you could forgive me for telling the entire Legion your locker combination."

"..."

Shigeru wisely took Kurama's time of contemplation to take his leave. But not before saying these last few words: "The poem... It was for my grampa. He just died a-and I didn't know what to do. I wrote it during my spare time. I know I could trust you with it, sempai."

These were words that Kurama wasn't able to forget for the rest of the day. And more came forth from those words. His own.

"I know. I also lost someone."


Waking up from his short reprieve, Kurama sighed. That episode with Shigeru Amano the day before Hiei was attacked suddenly bobbed up to the surface of his mind. He hadn't since talked to Shigeru about it, both feeling a sort of awkwardness toward the topic whenever it was mentioned.

Kurama stared up at the bus terminal. This was his stop. From there, he proceeded to begin his trek towards a temple atop a mountain path from the nearby forest... towards Genkai's not-so-humble abode.


"YUSUKE, GET UP!" an oh-so-familiar voice roused Yusuke out of his bed. Despite throbbing eardrums, he still managed to unsteadily get up on his feet. 'Ouch. For someone who was injured, Hiei sure packed a punch.'

"What is it, mom?" Yusuke mumbled sleepily, oblivious to the fact that he should already know the answer to his own unthinking question and was just adding fire to the flames of his mother's wrath.

"It's time for SCHOOL, you no good LOUT! I'd have you know that no son of mine..." was his mother's exuberant response. Or at least that was what Yusuke heard before he blocked out the rest of his irate parent's sermon in his head.

But he still had enough insight to overhear, "...And then your friend Shuichi-kun dropped by and gave me this letter for you early in the morning WHEN YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWAKE! I admire how much more responsible that Minamino boy is compared to you."

"Huh? What letter?" Yusuke asked suddenly, his interest aroused. Usually, he just waited for his mother to either throw some kind of hard object at his head from utter frustration or to simply tire out from her sermon and just leave it at that.

"Get it yourself. I put it right on the counter, under the coffee mug," Atsuko said idly, adopting an entirely opposite personality from the screaming banshee that she was just a while ago. She afterwards proceeded to the sofa to sleep. She would rather go to the futon, but she was just too damn tired from all that talking and from her night of partying yesterday.

Yusuke swiped the message from under the mug eagerly, nearly toppling the ceramic. With the prospect of getting into something far more interesting than school (and the possibility of him actually having to skip school; his favorite part of having missions, aside from a good fight), Yusuke eagerly read the letter.

Gone to Genkai's. We'll be having a meeting, since there's no sign of either Botan nor Koenma
filling us in on the details concerning what happened yesterday. Bring Kuwabara there, and if
you could, Hiei. Perhaps Genkai can provide us some insight on the events.

No more goading was needed for Yusuke. Even before the flying slip of Kurama's memo lightly landed on the wooden floorboards, the youngster was already up and running towards the nearest bus station.


Hiei carefully replayed the events of the fateful night in his mind. He and the fox demon were supposed to have a meeting underneath the tree where he usually slept. Fact was, there was an obscure presence that suddenly crept nearby.

Not that the jaganshi sensed him. What really disturbed Hiei was that the creature had totally no energy in him. Even the weakest and stupidest of humans or demons had at the very least a bit of ki in them. But this one-this one had none at all. Had the diminutive youkai not seen him in the corner of his eye, he would have missed him entirely.

"Minamino Shuichi is coming here. Isn't he, koorime?" the being assumed, his demeanor ostensibly lacking in feeling as Hiei struggled to feel the nonexistent presence of the armored being.

'Yet how in the world could he have known where Kurama was otherwise?' Hiei brooded over frustratingly. It made no sense. It was as if the shadow man was second-guessing everything and was lucky to have his gamble pay off.

There was something else about the entity that left Hiei disconcerted. The bleakness of his statement, the dismal stare, and the monotone of his voice were all irrelevant. It was his utter lack of life energy that irked the forbidden child to no end. Yet in spite of that, or rather because of it, Hiei wanted to fight him all the more.

The fight confirmed his assumption; yet ironically, instead of things finally making sense, it added more to his confusion. 'How could he exist? He has no soul!'

Hiei felt something cold hit the nape of his neck. Another one-repetitiously... 'Humph. It's raining.'

Hiei whisked through the treetops towards his destination. His fractured bones had healed in record time, although most of his body still ached like hell. He also retrieved his katana from the Minamino residence. 'Stupid fox.' So there was only one more thing he had to do.

Find something that was not supposed to exist.


"GRANDMA! KURAMA! I'M HERE!" Yusuke casually yelled as he reached the top of the long stairs overlooking the valley that surrounded his former master's mountaintop residence. As if in response, all the various fauna nearby began scattering away from the source of the raucous.

Genkai, master of the Spirit Wave technique and avid lover of peace, shook her head. She was looking forward to feeding her beloved sparrows and the various other aviaries that frequented her abode, only to see them fly away in fear of Anarchy made Flesh. Pacifist as she was, she did what any peace lover would do.

"OW! What was that for!" Yusuke shouted, grabbing hold of the lump that formed at the back of his head.

"Yukina, would you please prepare some tea? We have a visitor," Genkai requested of the blue-haired koorime sweeping the yard, totally ignoring the rambling youth. The girl nodded, gave Yusuke a polite bow, and then made her way into the house.

"Is Kurama already here?" Yusuke inquired, his mood swinging in rhythm with his sudden shift of interest. He looked around the area for any sign of the kitsune. He was certainly curious about what Kurama had planned for them during this so-called meeting.

"Yes. He's inside the dojo," Genkai replied, motioning towards her training hall. "I do believe he has some interesting news for all of us-Thank you, Yukina."

Yusuke kindly declined the tea the ice maiden offered. "Do you have any idea what kind of enemy we're facing, granny?"

"All in good time, Yusuke. All in good time," Genkai said as she took a sip of her own tea. "The rest of the Urameshi Team will be coming here soon, yes?"

"I don't know about Kuwabara. Come to think of it, I forgot to tell him about the meeting in the first place. But I guess Hiei will be hanging around." Yusuke shrugged. "Is it important that we're all here?"

"Yes," Genkai responded, slowly moving towards her home. "But there's nothing to worry about. They'll be here. We'll all be here."


"Yusuke! Good. You're here," Kurama said, his face barely seen with what little daylight was let in the dojo by the slightly opened door. The half-human, half-youko was in a somber state that the younger Spirit World Detective had rarely seen outside of mortal combat.

"Yeah. What's up, Kurama?" Yusuke addressed, not missing the solemn look Kurama gave him. This must be serious. "What's going on? Does the old woman know anything about... him?"

"Genkai-baasan and I had a very interesting talk about that. But let's wait until everyone's here," Kurama commented patiently.

With an exasperated sigh, Yusuke gallingly settled on the dojo floor, sitting cross-legged. The teen always wondered why Kurama had to take the subdued, beat-around-the-bush tactic. He was more of the straightforward, cut-to-the-chase type of character, in fighting and in life. All this waiting, for him, was more of a waste of time than anything else.

Kurama was always amazed at the amount of obnoxious impetuousness that Yusuke possessed. He guessed that he must be irritating the hell out of the impulsive boy with all this waiting-but it was more than just for ceremony. It was all necessary in the end, and if his deductions were correct, then everything would soon make sense after their gathering later on.


To be Continued...

Next: A meeting in Genkai's house, as well as the coming of an unwelcome guest.

Note that I put in the title Shonen not Shonen-Ai. Shonen-Ai (male-male relationship) and yaoi are just not my cup of tea. This is dedicated to Chimamire Kitsune for giving me the inspiration to write this fic. Wherever you are, this is for you.

Ja ne!
Abdiel