Disclaimer: YYH, its characters, and anything quoted from the show do not belong to me. Kiyoshi, Ayame, and story's plot do.
The walk up the mountain went quicker than Hiei expected while having a child with him. Kiyoshi seemed more than anxious to get to the top. When they reached the outskirts of the village, Kiyoshi started laughing and ran towards the gate. Hiei ran in front of him to stop him, leaving the boy to look at him in confusion.
"What's wrong, daddy? We're here." His innocence made Hiei want to let him continue his sprint into the town, but he stood his ground.
"We can't just run into the town. We aren't exactly welcome here," Hiei said calmly.
"Of course we are," Kiyoshi said. "We were born here. It's our home."
Hiei shook his head. "It's not our home. Just stay close to me, okay?" Kiyoshi nodded.
They entered the town and Hiei thought back to when he first came here. The women were the same now as they were back then. They took their daughters into their homes at the sight of the two males that had just entered their village. One girl didn't seem to notice them and was still playing with her daughter. Hiei and stopped in front of her; and when she saw him and Kiyoshi, she gasped, picked up her daughter, and tried to go into the house. Hiei was faster than her and blocked her way and grabbed her wrist. The girl looked at him as if he had just committed a serious crime worse than all of his other crimes.
"We are not here to hurt you," Hiei said calmly. "We are looking for Rui."
"You should not be here," the girl said harshly. "Go now before I get the elders and you are punished for trespassing here." Hiei let go of her wrist and let her run into her home. He shook his head as he started walking back over to Kiyoshi. The two of them started walking deeper into the town until they reached the cemetery where Rui had taken Hiei the first time he had visited.
The two boys saw two people standing there, Rui and Yukina. Hiei's eyes widened; he was not expecting to see Yukina there.
Kiyoshi's face lit up, and before Hiei could tell him not to say anything, Kiyoshi ran over to Yukina and hugged her. "Auntie Yukina, what are you doing here?"
Yukina looked down and was surprised to see Kiyoshi there. "This is where I used to live. What are you doing here?"
Yukina looked over to Hiei who turned his head away. He was not ready to face her as her brother and could not look her in the eye. He knew his secret was about to be blown at any second and closed his eyes waiting to hear the truth come out.
"Daddy told me where I was from and that I was a Forbidden Child like him and I wanted to come find my mommy," Kiyoshi said innocently, still not understanding why he was "forbidden."
Yukina looked up at Hiei who still wasn't looking at her, even though his eyes were opened as soon as Kiyoshi said they were both "Forbidden Children." He knew Yukina had figured it out. Rui went over to the boy and took him off to the side to leave the two siblings alone to talk. She was very happy to see how Kiyoshi had turned out and mentally noted that her decision to leave the baby with Hiei was the right one.
"I knew," Yukina said, standing in front of Hiei. He moved his eyes towards her, but still tried to force himself not to look at her. He said nothing in return. "I knew that you were lying when you said my brother was dead." Again, he said nothing and looked down at the snow. "I knew that you were staying quiet to avoid telling me what was really going on." He closed his eyes and then felt a hand on his shoulder. "What I don't know is why," she stated calmly.
Hiei looked at her and then looked away from her again. "You would have been better off not knowing," he said sadly.
"Why do you say that, Hiei?" Yukina asked him.
"I'm a terrible person. I grew up with thieves. I stole; I killed; I enjoyed committing those crimes. How could you accept a brother with such a dark past?"
Yukina pulled him into a hug which caught Hiei off guard. His eyes widened as he saw the smile on Yukina's face. "Just because that brother had a dark past doesn't mean he is a bad person." Hiei couldn't help but smile at that and he awkwardly returned her hug.
"Daddy!" Kiyoshi called to Hiei.
Hiei moved away from Yukina. "What is it?" he asked.
"Aunt Rui said she knows who my mommy is and that she'll bring us to see her."
Hiei smiled. Kiyoshi was finally going to get what he wanted. It wasn't until they reached the house that they were at before when Hiei's smile faded. He was praying that the woman who had told him off earlier was not Kiyoshi's mother. Rui saw the look on Hiei's face and immediately understood.
"Yukina, would you mind taking Kiyoshi over by that tree to play for a little bit. Hiei and I are going to talk to the girl first." Yukina nodded and she and Kiyoshi ran over to the tree.
Hiei and Rui entered the home of the young girl and her daughter. The girl was not happy when she saw Hiei next to Rui. "Rui, what are you doing with that horrid creature and what happened to the abomination that was with him?" Venom was evident in this girl's tone. Rui bit her lip as she saw Hiei tense up and clench his fists to the point where he cut his skin and his blood fell. She could sense his anger at the girl's hateful words.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "That abomination is your son!" he hissed at the girl. She didn't seem to care. She just looked at Rui.
"Rui, you were ordered to kill that mistake. Why didn't you?" Hiei was getting more pissed every time he heard the girl speak.
"Because killing him would have been a mistake. I couldn't make the same mistake again that I had made with Hina's son."
"Hina committed a crime and for that she was punished. That boy should have never existed. What does it matter that you killed him?" Hiei was fighting not to take this woman out now.
"He lived," Rui said. "And he was hurting, and seeing that made me realize the mistake I had made. Hina did not commit any crime in my book. She fell in love and she loved her son. It seems the only crime in this village is to love."
"How could I love an abomination?" the girl asked. "I was taken advantage of. That child was not a product of love, but of hate. I want no part of him. You should have killed him."
Hiei was too pissed off at this point to think. "AND WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO SAY THAT?" Hiei screamed at the girl, causing her to move back. She was afraid he would hit her; but even though he wanted to, he wouldn't.
"Who are you to question anything I say?" she asked, her back against the wall as he walked up to her.
"I am the one who has been raising him and he is a good kid and very happy, and all he wanted was to come meet his mother so he could have some type of closure, but I will not let him be exposed to this kind of hatred. I will not let your words harm him."
At this, Kiyoshi and Yukina had walked into the house. The look on Yukina's face told that the two had heard everything and Hiei's heart sunk when he saw the tears in Kiyoshi's eyes. The boy looked devastated and he took one last look at his mother and ran out of the house as far as he could. Hiei would have continued screaming at the woman, because he certainly had more to say, but he chose to chase after Kiyoshi instead hoping he could change the boy's opinion of himself.
"So are you sure Kuronue won't mind if we eat without him?" Julia asked, setting up a blanket in a field of flowers.
"I may have forgotten to mention that we decided to go on a picnic," Youko said with a devilish smile causing Julia to slightly blush.
"You know, you have to stop trying to smooth talk me. It won't work, you know?" she teased as she started taking the food out of a basket she made.
Youko took her by the arm and pulled her closer to him with a serious look in his eyes. "Maybe smooth talking you won't win you over," he said revealing a faint smile, "but this might." Julia closed her eyes as Youko leaned in to kiss her. When their lips met, they both were attacked by the overwhelming scent of irises being blown in the wind.
He put his hand behind her neck and deepened the kiss and she lied back, putting her arms around his neck. He put his hand on her hip and moved to her back when the couple heard someone clear their throat.
"You two do realize that this is probably the worst place to do that, right?" Kuronue asked, grinning at the two lying on the ground.
Youko narrowed his eyes at Kuronue but softened when he felt Julia rub his ears. "He's right, you know?" she said. "We could be attacked at any minute."
Youko sighed. "I know," he said. "Maybe we should get you home now."
Youko looked over at Kuronue. Kuronue grinned and said, "Oh no, I'd rather eat the food she made. You two go have fun." That last part he said, winking at Youko. Youko just shook his head and held his hand out for Julia to take.
They made it back to her home and before Youko left, he felt Julia rubbing his ears again. He let out a quiet chuckle and turned to take her in his arms. "And what do you think you're doing?" he asked, rubbing her arms. Julia just answered him with a smile and then moved in to kiss him. Youko accepted the kiss and ran his hands through her hair. Before they knew it, they made it over to her couch and completely lost themselves in each other.
Youko woke up the next morning to the sound of Julia singing and cooking. He grabbed his robe and got dressed before walking over to her. He hugged her from behind and nuzzled in her neck taking in her scent. She smiled and moved her hand to his head, running her fingers though his silver hair.
"I think I've found what I'm looking for," he said in a whisper.
"Me too," she said with a smile.
...
Youko and Kuronue stayed in the town for a few more weeks until they had to leave…more like, they were being forced to leave. A bounty hunter had been traveling and ran into the two thieves and recognized them instantly. A chase began and the two thieves managed to lose the bounty hunter. They looked at each other understanding the danger they were in. They went to Julia's house, not to hide, but to say goodbye for good.
Kuronue stood guard at the door and waited for his friend to say his goodbyes. Julia did not take the news very well, but she always knew that the day would come where he would have to leave and return to a life of crime and she had no plans on holding him back, even if she was pregnant. He still needed to live his life. She gave him the necklace, as a token to remember her by, and one final kiss.
"I will never forget you, Youko Kurama," she said, fighting back tears. "Please, be safe."
He put his hand to her cheek. "I will be. And I will never forget you either, I promise. I will come back to you…someday."
With that, the two demons left and managed to get away from the angry citizens of the town, never looking back. Years later, Kuronue was killed by the same bounty hunter who had run them out of that town and Youko was forced to work alone, but not for long. A member of the Spirit Defense Force found him less than a decade later and "killed" him. That was when Youko had escaped to the human world and was born as Shuichi.
He kept the promise that he would never forget Julia, but he was never able to go back and find her. The only times he had been in the Makai since he became human was during the fight with Sensui, when he was forced to live at Yomi's palace and train an army, and then for the Demon World Tournament. He hadn't been back in Demon World since, but it didn't matter now.
What mattered now was the daughter who was mourning over her mother's death. Kurama knocked softly on her door when he heard muffled sobs coming from behind. When he didn't receive an answer, he let himself in and found Ayame curled up in a corner crying. He quickly walked over to her and gave her a hug.
"Ayame," he said not letting go, "please tell me what's wrong." Ayame shook her head and Kurama got more forceful. His voice got really dark as he said, "You will tell me what's wrong."
Ayame knew he wasn't going to drop it. She looked him in the eye, but then looked away as if she were ashamed. "I lied to you," she said, still crying.
Kurama looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
Ayame turned away from him. "My mother is dead because of me."
Kurama tried his best to conceal his shock. He asked her to explain so she did. She and Julia had stopped in a town and were just getting some supplies. The demons who attacked them later had met Ayame there. They were talking to her and being friendly while her mother was inside a store, asking her what she was doing there. Ayame's mother always told her never to tell who her father was (mostly because she knew that his enemies would use it against him), but Ayame didn't like being told she couldn't do something and let it slip that Youko was her father. That's why the thieves had attacked them at the dimensional hole between the Makai and human world.
When Ayame was done explaining, she got up and tried to run out of the room, but Kurama stopped her. "Let me go," she whispered.
"Not a chance," Kurama responded. "You are my daughter and you are upset. I refuse to let you leave like this."
"But I got my mother, the one you loved, killed," she cried. "You should be mad at me, not concerned."
Kurama forced her to look at him and he shook his head. "What happened was not your fault. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine. You couldn't have known what they would do. So no, Ayame, it was not your fault."
He took out the necklace that Julia had given him and placed it in Ayame's hands. Her eyes widened. "Is this-?"
She was cut off by his nod. Obviously Ayame knew about the necklace and about his time with Julia. "What did you see?" she asked him.
"Julia," he said. "And you?" She looked into the pendant.
"The both of you," she answered.
