Disclaimer: We don't own YYH or the characters.

Written by: FireStorm1991 and Just 2 Dream of You


Confessions in Ice

Chapter Two

Kurama couldn't believe that Yomi would stoop so low as to send him to an alternate dimension just to avoid having to fight him. It was an act of cowardice, not that Kurama wasn't impressed that he had thought of it. He still couldn't get past the fact that he was in his demon form in the middle of Demon World, though. Just where had Yomi sent him?

Well, the only way he could find out was to familiarize himself with the landscape. He knew he would have to lie low since, wherever he was, he was still bound to be recognized as the legendary thief. Being spotted would definitely cause problems for him.

So he began his trek through the forest recognizing he was in Gandara, Yomi's old territory. He heard the cries of victims in the night, screaming as something tore into them to feast and realized that it seemed more violent than he remembered. Like nothing at all had changed.

Ever since Yusuke, apparitions had become, so to speak, more civilized, throwing away acts of random violence and murder. But now blood drenched the air and it was becoming more and more apparent that these creatures here were not like that.

He continued on, soon hearing voices and stopped behind a large tree to watch. Two demons stood, one large and foreboding while the other tiny and insignificant. Quite the pair. He let his ears pick up the conversation and soon heard his name. Well, his old name, that is.

"I heard that Youko was there last night," the large one commented.

"Really? What did he do this time?" the little one squeaked and looked around, paranoid.

"He killed them all - no mercy. Even the children. The women were found torn apart with thorns all over them and the men were even worse. And what's worse; all he was after was a necklace. Some ancient thing."

Kurama gasped. They couldn't be talking about him...could they...?

"I think you need to see your true self. What would have happened if you had not been tainted by humans. You need to see you are no better than me." Yomi's words echoed in his head and he swallowed.

The two demons heard his gasp and turned to see Youko standing behind them. They screamed and fell back on their tails, backing into the building behind them.

"O-oh, Youko, we didn't know you were standing there," the bigger one said nervously. "Um, we don't really have anything for you. We're just poor demons-"

"Please don't hurt us," the other one begged, interrupting his friend's lame attempt at salvation. "We didn't mean anything; I swear. Please, we'll do anything."

"But I'm not-" Kurama started to say, but he couldn't finish his statement. It was obvious; in this world he was a cruel, cold-hearted demon. He had prided himself in not becoming like that, but now he didn't know what to think. Had his mother really had that much of an effect on him? Had he truly been evil when he entered her womb?

Kurama, rational as he always was, couldn't bear listen to the demons groveling at his feet. Instead, he let his emotions shine through and ran away from the truth of what he was in this world; a murderer.

He didn't know where else to go, so he decided to find his old hideout. He was certain that his men would still be there. It was difficult to find having not been there for the longest time, but eventually he managed and was disturbed at what he saw. Blood was everywhere; bodies of his former men were decaying, some stabbed through with plants, others straggled by vines around their neck. Kurama backed away as slowly as he could, horrified that he could have done anything so terrible to his own team, his comrades.

This couldn't be true! This was a different dimension so it wasn't his own doing. This wasn't him. It wasn't him. He had to find a way back home. The only thing he could think of was finding the Reality of Change here, if there was one.

He could only hope there was.


What exactly did he have to eat this afternoon? Fish? And it was mixed with some sort of spice that was curling the hairs in his nostrils mixed with the stench that could gag a skunk off a gut wagon. Whatever it was, the prince secretly hoped that this wasn't the sort of food he served at his ramen stand. Be that as it may, he had more pressing issues as the ex-detective's hand was around his collar, threatening death with his rancid breath, screaming in his face, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN KURAMA'S MISSING?!"

"If you would let me explain, Yusuke..."

"Yusuke, please..." Botan eased, pulling the stinky teen away from the ruler of Spirit World.

Koenma cleared his throat. "As I was trying to say before you tried to kill me with your poor hygiene…" Yusuke raised an eyebrow, "I said that Kurama was sent to get a very important item from Yomi."

"No, you said he was missing! That you couldn't trace his energy anymore. And lemme guess, I gotta kick Yomi's ass now. And what did you mean 'poor hygiene'?"

Koenma sighed and rubbed his temples. "Never mind that now, Yusuke. What I said was that I sent Kurama to get an artifact from Yomi. Yomi must have used it on Kurama. It's called the Reality of Change, and it can send individuals into other dimensions, though it only works one way."

Yusuke's expression did not get any better. "So, not only is Kurama missing, because we obviously don't know what dimension he went to, he's trapped there?!" The ex-detective shouted.

"Well, no, not trapped exactly," Koenma said causally. "If he was sent to a dimension where the Reality of Change still exists, then he can get it and come back."

"And if he was sent somewhere WITHOUT it?" Yusuke stressed.

"Um…then he's trapped there," Koenma finished nervously.

Yusuke grew eerily calm making Koenma and Botan even more nervous. "You sent my teammate and friend to take back something Spirit World lost track of knowing he could be sent somewhere where he can't come back, and then you expect me to be okay with this? You're even stupider than I gave you credit for. This is a new low, even for you. Don't even bother giving me any orders. I'll go retrieve that stupid reality mirror thing with Hiei and Kuwabara, and we will be doing it on our own terms, NOT Spirit World's." Without another word from anyone, Yusuke stormed out of Koenma's office and went off to find his friends.

Botan followed him as he whipped out his cell-phone and dialed.

'Uh, hello?'

"Kuwabara, get to my house. NOW."

'But - '

"NOW!" He hung up and turned to Botan. "Take me to Alaric."

The reaper fidgeted. "Mukuro's territory? Oh, but, Yusuke - "

"If not you then maybe I'll force some other girl to do it. How about that one who's always kissing Koenma's ass?"

Botan sighed. "Oh, alright..." She made a portal to Alaric and soon Mukuro's moving fortress became visible. She flew them both down to it and Yusuke entered with a bang. Literally. "YUSUKE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Botan screamed at the giant hole he had created.

"HIEI! GET OUT HERE!" Instead, he was greeted by Mukuro herself.

"What in the world do you think you're doing?" She snarled out with venom. "This is my home and you just put a massive hole in it."

"Where's Hiei?" He asked eerily calm.

"That is none of your business. I asked what you think you're doing here. I gave you a lot of respect because of Raizen and the things you have done for Demon World, but if you think I'll let this slide -" Not much ever stopped Mukuro's train of thought, but when he turned and stared into her with eyes that burned of utter hatred, she found herself unable to continue. In any second he was going to blow and it wouldn't be good.

"Where. Is. Hiei." He asked again slowly.

Mukuro sighed. "I don't know. He left a few weeks ago."

"And you can't contact him?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Give me one good reason why I should."

Yusuke looked at Botan and then back to Mukuro. "Because I think Yomi killed Kurama." It was easier to put it that way instead of explaining the whole thing.

Mukuro looked momentarily shocked, soon molding into understanding. "I see. I have a way to contact him. If you tell anyone of it, I'll kill you. Or maybe he will." She reached into her shirt and pulled out a tear-stone.

"A hiruseki?" Botan asked. "But that looks like...oh." She shut up and looked away.

"This stone carries Hiei's energy. We found out by accident that when someone touches it while raising their own energy, he can sense it no matter where he is. So..." She grasped it in her hand and it glowed red. "Now we wait."

"How long?" Yusuke asked looking around.

"Depends on where he is. I can't be sure." She paused as she put the stone back. "Are you sure Kurama's dead?"

He sighed. "No. All I know is that there's a good chance he might not come back. And it's all Yomi's fault." Yusuke's eyes went cold. "I can't believe I let him win at the tournament. I should have finished him. I let him walk away and he goes and does this crap? I swear when I get to him I'm gonna kill him!" He slammed his fist into the wall, creating another small hole.

Mukuro rolled her natural eye. "I like renovations as much as the next woman, but could you stop with the windows? It'll get breezy in here."

The air went dead and Yusuke blinked. In a second he was turned around, with a blade in his hand. Botan shrieked as she saw Hiei come out of thin air, his sword aimed at Yusuke's neck. "Jeez, Hiei is this how you're always gonna greet me?" Yusuke spat.

Hiei growled at his former teammate. "What are you doing here?"

"Decorating, what does it look like?" Hiei scoffed at the joke and let down his weapon. "Yomi did something to Kurama." Hiei's eyes went wide at that. "And I need your help to send him to Hell."


"You do realize that as soon as you enter his territory, he'll hear you?" Mukuro asked blandly after Yusuke explained the situation in his oh, so eloquent way.

'Yomi sent Kurama to another reality so let's kick his ass!' Yeah, something like that.

Hiei snorted in response. "It would be suicide. We have no way to ambush him."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Who said anything about ambushing him? He knows we'll be coming. I say we just go there and raise hell."

"I swear it must be a miracle that you haven't been killed," Mukuro drolled.

"And what makes you think I will be helping?" Hiei added and Yusuke scoffed back at him.

"Please, you and Kurama are BFF's with a serious bromance goin' on. I know you'll help me." He paused. "'Cause if you don't I'll kick your ass."

Mukuro looked at Hiei. "Do I want to know what BFF and bromance means?"

Hiei shrugged. "I don't pay attention to human drivel."

"Lord Mukuro!" a lowly demon burst in and she immediately beheaded him.

Yusuke swore a myriad of things, none of which could be understood. "What the hell was that?!"

"They know better than to come in here without permission," she answered plainly.

Yusuke sputtered as Hiei looked at the body. "He asked for it."

"He was probably coming to warn you about me," said a low controlled voice and all looked up to see the subject of their talk; Yomi.

Yusuke clenched his fists. "What the hell!"

Mukuro growled. "How did you get in here without being detected?"

"Oh, I was detected, just too late for anyone to sound the alarms. I am awful sorry to have killed fifty of your guards."

Hiei swung out his sword and Yomi put a hand up. "Now really, we don't need to resort to that. I am just here to tell you that Kurama is safe and you don't need to worry about his whereabouts."

Yusuke took a step forward, feeling his power surge. "You stuck him in another reality, didn't you?" Yomi shrugged. "I want him back."

Yomi chuckled. "That won't happen unless he finds another Reality of Change in the world he's now in. That is rare in and of itself, but if anyone can do it, it would be Youko."

Yusuke grit his teeth and raised his energy. Hiei took a stance and Mukuro just eyed him. "I could care less about Kurama, but you broke into my fortress. That is not acceptable," she stated and readied herself.

"No love lost about the dead guards, huh?" Yusuke asked and she gave him a look.

"I see we must do this the hard way. Very well. But I have to warn you; I haven't missed one day of training since we last fought," Yomi stated and all got ready.

And he disappeared.

They didn't have time to even gasp as a huge explosion rocked the room they were in. It was like all the walls disappeared and blew outwards into the brush. Yusuke hit a tree and screamed as dozens of energy balls were thrown at him, leveling the dense population of forest around him. "WHAT THE F - "

He slammed into the ground and slid for what seemed like miles, as boulders disintegrated and piled on top of him. He groaned and sat up to see his shirt mysteriously gone and looked up to see Mukuro and Yomi duking it out in mid-air. Hiei reappeared next to him, shirt torn and about gone as well, causing Yusuke to snort. "Why is it the chicks never loose their shirts?"

Hiei rolled his eyes. "We need to come up with a strategy. Obviously, his strength has increased greatly."

Yusuke nodded. "I wish we could just get rid of him."

Hiei's eyes went big and then his Jagan glowed. Mukuro blinked and briefly paused, only to have a fist slammed into her jaw. She spit out some blood and went about attacking Yomi the hardest she could. Nothing was held back as she relentlessly pummeled him. She went for his legs and swung him around, slamming him into a mountain. "I see you haven't lost your vigor," he mused, wiping blood from his mouth.

"Hm." She vanished and reappeared, her elbow in his gut, various fluids spewing out of his mouth. Just then she noticed something slip out of his pocket and fall to the ground. She smirked and blinked again.

Hiei smirked in return and disappeared. "What are you doing?!" Yusuke yelled and Mukuro threw Yomi down to him.

"Letting you get a piece."

"Aw, hell yeah!" Yusuke pounded his fists and jumped up, pile driving Yomi further into the dirt, a crater where he once was forming beneath him. "This is for whatever the hell you're trying to do!" Pound. "And this is for making us look bad!" Pound. "And this is for Kurama!" Pound. "AND THIS IS FOR PISSING ME OFF!" Pound, pound, pound.

Soon Yomi was lifeless in his living grave.

Hiei reappeared and disappeared as a tiny beep sounded.

Then Yomi vanished.

Yusuke panted and sat back in the crater. "What happened?"

"I used this." Hiei held up the Reality of Change. "I sent him to a place where he can never come back. A place that does not have any items like this. A place where he will be completely powerless."

"Oh, you knocked it out of his pocket, Mukuro?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, he gave it to me." Yusuke wiped sweat from his brow.

"I knew I'd be the only one fast enough to activate it and touch it to him without it taking me," Hiei explained.

Yusuke nodded. "Wait, you two know about this thing?" They looked at each other. "AND YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING?!" They said nothing. "UGH!" he fell backwards in Yomi's pit. "Oh, well..." he sighed. "I wonder where it sent him...?"


He woke up covered in what felt like a fabric of some kind. He groaned and sat up then he opened his eyes and gasped.

He could see.

He was in what appeared to be a hospital room, several beeping machines surrounding him. He ached everywhere, sharp pains passing through him and he immediately laid back down.

The door opened and a human walked in - a human! "I see you're awake. How do you feel?" she asked.

"Where am I? I demand to know," his voice was hoarse and so unlike him.

"Relax, mister. Some good Samaritans found you in an alley, and you were beaten up pretty badly. You were taken to Mercy Hospital and we are currently taking care of your wounds, which are pretty severe. Several broken ribs, a broken leg that will need surgery and possibly head trauma, though I am glad to see you're awake."

"Why am I in a human hospital?!" he yelled. "I don't belong here! Release me!"

She blinked. "Okay..." she walked out and he growled. There was a side table next to him and he reached for the shiny thing that lay on it. It was a mirror. He looked into it and gasped.

His face...it was old and worn with massive amounts of hair on it. His ears were all missing except two small ones that looked human themselves! The hair on his head was matted and frayed, his eyes bloodshot and sunken in. But the truly disturbing thing about it all was...it all seemed much more...real. He couldn't explain it. It appeared...more dimensional than his world. More visceral. More...real.

"What...where am I?! What kind of place is this?! DAMN YOU!"

The nurse outside shook her head. "Poor guy. Homeless and beaten up behind a dumpster..."

~To Be Continued


A/N: Yomi was actually sent to "our" world.