A spark of silver flickered across his vision. Three eyes instantly snapped open as Hiei bolted upright. A quick glance to his left confirmed that the toushin remained peacefully asleep. The even breaths coupled with the slow rise and fall of his chest was almost enough to convince the jaganshi he had been mistaken. His clenched fists slowly released the bed sheets.

But that energy had been unmistakable.

Hiei swept out the room in a blur of black. His jagan quickly accessed the situation: none of the guards' energies showed any signs of agitation. He focused on where the weakest guards were, the ones who had the longest shifts, and the largest areas unprotected. The searching calmed him but-

Why now?

Hiei had confidently dismissed Yusuke's warning. The demon lord was too distracted by his own memories to respond so precisely to reality. And besides, there had been years of complete silence followed by decades of clear avoidance. There was no reason why things would have changed now.

Except-

Four of the guards' energies flickered and then disappeared. Units were responding. Energies levels rose but Hiei closed his jagan. He had just been kidding himself. He knew exactly who the target was. He became nothing more than a black blur as he veered sharply into a dimly lit hallway.

"Hiei." Said an amused voice.

"Fox." Growled a decidedly less amused one.

His katana glinted in the dim light. The silver bandit and the apparition stared each other down. They waited, neither wanting to make the first move. Both knew the other well enough to tell what would signal an outright intent to fight and what would reveal capitulation. But then again, that familiarity had surely ended with their partnership. Now they faced each other as demons with drastically different desires and priorities than those they had claimed centuries ago. But distance and missed chances could be confronted another day.

The only important question now was if they were still on the same side.

"Well don't start the party without me." Interjected a third. Yusuke leapt directly between them. A grin stretched across his face at the momentarily baffled looks the other two wore. Did they really have to be so serious? Murderous rampages and threatening weapons aside, he was certain that fun brawls could be had. Fighting Kurama again would be sure to prove exciting. Even sitting and drinking tea together seemed a much better use of Kurama's visit than a staring contest. Silent contest of wills and dependable analyzing be damned.

Kurama's eyes narrowed. Yusuke's appearance had proved troubling. Although Yusuke and Hiei enjoyed surprising their allies on occasion, the complete lack of communication he had just witnessed between the two worried him. Hiei had acted alone, attempting to place himself between the threat and Yusuke and choosing to leave Yusuke completely in the dark. Hiei's determination to protect Yusuke from him was a puzzle in itself. Hadn't the selfsame demon gone out of his way to ask for Kurama's help in protecting Yusuke?

Yusuke had clearly acted on his own as well. While the man was known for being impulsive and rash, leaving his most loyal and capable guard out of his plans seemed excessive. He had expected that the centuries spent as lovers would have strengthened their bond, but instead the effortless coordination between the two seemed to have vanished.

Either way, Kurama knew that with Yusuke's appearance, he had the upper hand. While Hiei could not fool Kurama into believing false ideas, the apparition was able to hide his emotions and thoughts well. Yusuke, on the other hand, was an open book in those matters, often times shouting out his plans himself.

Yusuke yawned loudly, stretching his arms.

"Right. Well, I'm going back to sleep. Kurama, you want to crash here tonight? Or is there something that we should talk about now?"

Hiei snorted. Leave it up to Yusuke to invite an active killer into his castle. To hell with Hiei's careful planning, ward set-up, and guard system. Yusuke seemed to enjoy reducing years of effort into rumble in mere seconds.

"You do realize that part of the fun in killing my victims comes from some sort of challenge in murdering them?"

"Can't hurt to take it easy for once."

"If only all my targets had this much consideration."

"I'm just special, foxboy."

Hiei sighed. It was the short, quiet, suffering sound of someone who was saddled with idiots. Infuriating fools. The both of them.

Hearing his sigh, Kurama and Yusuke looked at each other and grinned like the best of co-conspirators. Sneaking quick glances at Hiei's attempted impassive expression, they couldn't help but burst into laughter. As soon as one's laughter started to subside, a new wave of infectious laughter would hit.

Hiei watched them until they were reduced to leaning against each other for support.

"S- Sorry." Yusuke gasped out between breathless laughter. "It's just- you're trying so hard not to kill us."

One of Hiei's eyes twitched. And that amused him?

He desperately hoped that this was just one of Yusuke's sleep deprived rambles.

Kurama gracefully righted himself. "To think, I was worried that all this time apart made us question our friendship. But Hiei, you've just reminded us that we can always bond over a mutual enjoyment in annoying you." Kurama said happily.

"We love you short stuff."

"…"

"So… alcohol?"

"Sounds lovely."

"…."

Yusuke threw an arm around Kurama. "You'd be amazed at how much the monks keep around. It's good stuff." He pumped his fist into the air. "Okay, let's have a good time and then get drunk! Maybe not in that order."

Neither flinched as a katana barely passed over their heads and embedded itself solidly into the wall.

"Of course you can join us Hiei. No need to be shy." Kurama said contently.

Hiei's glare could have set lesser demons on fire.

"Hiei." Yusuke cleared his throat., deciding that the fire demon was reaching his limit being teased. "Listen, I know it was stupid to jump in like that but I woke up and you weren't there. So I guess I panicked a bit."

Hiei huffed, turning away from them both quickly.

"Hiei, are you blushing?" Kurama asked amused. Maybe his earlier assessment had been too hasty, prompted by strained nerves and death threats. It didn't seem to matter too much because Yusuke was right next to him with a grin that could light Tokyo on fire. Kurama wondered why he had put this off for so long.

"Don't you care about your life?" Hiei said after a pause.

"I'm not the one that left." Yusuke replied.

"…"

Kurama frowned. Were the shadows playing tricks on him? Did he see Hiei flinch just then?

"If you're that worried. Then just never leave my side." Yusuke said with a smile.

Kurama wished that he could see Hiei's expression at that moment, but Hiei still had his back turned to them. He wondered if it was an expression of happiness or a look that would have broken his heart.

A/N: I just want to start off by thanking any readers who have stayed with me this long and any new readers. You guys make my day when you read this.^^ I took quite a while off, but now I'm back and ready to finish writing it. My writing style has changed a bit, but I'm going to stay true to the original plot and ideas of this story. Thanks again everyone!