A Bigger Issue
Chapter 7: Karasu's Return
Harry:…um Shiny-chan, why am I here?
Shiny-chan: You are here to make sure I don't get arrested for copyright infringement!
Harry: I'm pretty sure that by doing this you'll be arrested for kidnapping.
Shiny-chan: Just say what I want then I'll let you leave kapisch?
Harry: Even though she has kidnapped me for the time being, ShinythiefXblast does not own me or any of the characters for Yu Yu Hakusho as they belong to Yoshihiro Togashi and J.K. Rowling respectively. Can I please go now?
Shiny-chan: hmm let me think…. NO! Mine Mine Mine Mine Mine! Well not really… I'm borrowing! XD
Hey everyone sorry it takes me so long to get new chapters out. It almost seems that every time I get a chapter out I instantly get a bad case of writers block but I stand by my promise that I won't abandon my stories! On with the chapter!
Hermione looked out the kitchen window where she was assisting Mrs. Weasley in cleaning the kitchen and saw Yusuke appear in the yard as if he had apparated there. He was holding a limp form bridal style and was covered in some sort of green substance. She watched him lay the figure down on the ground and that was when she caught the flash of red hair.
"Mrs. Weasley something's wrong with Auror Minamino! Look outside!" Molly Weasley dropped the scrubber she was gripping and looked out the window. She blanched and headed towards the door. She flung the door open and screamed.
"Oh Merlin!" Then she vanished Auror Minamino's shirt and began to heal the wound but something wasn't right. Her most powerful healing spell had never failed before! Molly was stymied.
"I don't understand! The wound should have closed entirely! It must have been deeper than I thought. What in the world happened to you?" The wounded Auror looked at his partner and then spoke in a resigned tone.
"We found what we were looking for." Hermione drew closer and looked at the wound that remained. It was still very deep and highly gory and Hermione suddenly didn't want to know just how bad it had been before Mrs. Weasley's spell. The short, bad-tempered auror shoved her out of the way and knelt by the injured man's side.
"Step aside woman, I am accustomed to healing battle wounds like this rather than children's scrapes." The young man held his hand over Auror Minamino's stomach and it was enveloped in the blue aura that began to emanate from his hand. The two women watched in amazement as the wound rapidly closed as if it had never been there. Auror Urameshi flipped Auror Minamino over onto his stomach to reveal what seemed to be another gory wound which was quickly healed in the same fashion. Hermione had a sudden harrowing realization.
"You were impaled….weren't you?" He lifted his head from the ground and his dull, verdant eyes met hers.
"Unfortunately I wasn't paying attention like I should have and allowed the Youkai to sneak behind me and run me through with his claws. Yusuke tried to warn me but I wasn't fast enough. Yusuke was able to neutralize that youkai after I was wounded but I fear many more are still in the area." The Spiky-haired Auror finished healing, snorted in disgust, and flitted off to who-knew-where. Mrs. Weasley gazed in open admiration in the direction he had gone and sighed.
"A man that good at healing needs to be a Healer at St. Mungo's." The young men shook their heads in unison.
"Unfortunately his bedside manner leaves much to be desired, Molly." Yusuke agreed whole heartedly.
"Yeah he's a nice guy waaaaaay deep down but he'd be more likely to put them out of their misery especially if they were whiny…." Kurama hid another smile behind his hand as he got up off the ground and stretched playing with the area of the wound.
"Hmm this heal is almost as good as Yukina's." Yusuke looked at Kurama sidelong.
"Come to think of it I haven't see Yukina at Genkai's anytime recently, what happened to her?" Kurama went back towards the house, leaving Yusuke and the confused women to follow behind them. Kurama paused for a moment before entering the house and he sat down at the kitchen table.
"Yukina…" Kurama started before rubbing his fingers through his hair in a jerky motion.
"What about her? Who is this Yukina?" Hermione asked slowly.
"You don't really know Hiei outside of what you've seen the past few days but he is acting more like a loner than I have ever seen him. Yusuke, Yukina has gone back to the koorime and didn't listen to Hiei's advice. She felt like she belonged there and Hiei didn't want his precious sister turning into the monsters who dropped him off a cliff. He's very upset right now."Yusuke looked at Kurama incredulously.
"That just isn't like Yukina, She came to Ningenkai in the first place to find her precious brother and now she's left him? Are you sure there isn't some kind of Shigure situation going on here, like she's forbidden to see him in exchange for some kind of service or power?" Hermione gasped.
"Oh my lord! His family dropped him off a cliff! That's terrible!" Yusuke scowled. Kurama sighed and explained.
"Hiei comes from an all female society not unlike the amazons who only kept female children and disposed of the males. When Yukina found she had had a twin brother, she left them immediately to find him." Yusuke butted in.
"Yeah but instead of finding him, she got kidnapped by a non-magical mob boss who wanted to use her for her powers. By that time, Hiei was working with us and ended up being the one to save her and he immediately realized who she was even though they're fraternal twins. They were getting to know each other and she seemed happy staying with the old lady but something must have happened." He finished ruefully.
Mrs. Weasley looked saddened and infuriated at the same time and went to busy herself with finishing up the dishes. Kurama's eyes widened and then narrowed.
"Yusuke, a quick word?" Yusuke nodded curtly and joined him in the corner of the kitchen without a word.
"You know what we have to do Yusuke, right?" Kurama looked at Yusuke in resignation.
"I wish we didn't have to, I have almost gotten attached to them." Kurama sighed.
"That's exactly why we have to, Yuu-kun. The longer we stay here, the more likely it is that they'll be killed. We must assume they know exactly where we are."
"I got it, I got it. I'll go now and make arrangements." Yusuke padded toward the stairs and climbed up out of sight.
Hours later, Yusuke came down the haphazard stairs to join Kurama in the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was moving busily around the kitchen preparing dinner for the occupants of her house so Yusuke sat next to Kurama at the table. The kitsune was quietly sitting and writing a lengthy looking missive so Yusuke took a moment to study him. Kurama's gaze was steady and intent on the piece of paper so he either didn't notice or didn't care that he was looking. Although he did not want to admit it to himself, Yusuke was deeply worried about Kurama. His wound may have been healed, but the natural blush his skin normally held was gone due to blood loss, leaving an unnatural pallor to his face. His normally fluffy hair lay lank and its vibrant color seemed to have dulled a shade or two. Kurama stopped scratching at the parchment and looked at Yusuke quizzically.
"Is something on my face? You've been staring for the last twenty minutes" Yusuke jerked abruptly and blushed heavily. He averted his eyes from Kurama's and shook his head.
"You're too pale, Kurama. Are ya really alright?" Kurama smiled slightly at him and chuckled.
"I will be fine once I've eaten you know." Yusuke flushed even deeper and met Kurama eyes for a moment.
"Please be careful Kurama, I have a really bad feeling about our mission this time. I can't stand to see you hurting so badly!" Kurama looked bemused.
"It was only a minor injury Yusuke. It isn't a big deal to heal from something this inconsequential."
Yusuke sighed and glared weakly at him.
"But you always end up getting injured the worst on our missions because of something stupid!" Kurama's gaze drew decidedly chilly and his face set into a blank mask.
"So says the man who died on our last mission." Yusuke shivered at the frigid inflections of his voice. Kurama tilted his head down slightly and Yusuke could no longer see his eyes in the shadows of the fringe surrounding his face. Yusuke's voice shook as he fought to get his words out.
"I may have died in that mission but you get a life threatening injury in every damn one Kurama. Do you know how fuckin' hard it is to watch the person you love get hurt like that so many damn times I can't even count? Why!" Yusuke screamed. Mrs. Weasley jumped and Kurama's head jerked up so quickly his bangs bounced out of his face to reveal his wide, green eyes. Kurama's face paled as he saw Yusuke's face. Yusuke was glaring angrily at him from a mottled red face and Kurama could see the hints of tears developing in his eyes. Yusuke whipped around and stalked towards the kitchen door, opened it, and slammed it behind him. Kurama wilted and slammed his head on the kitchen table in frustration. Mrs. Weasley walked up to him and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.
"You should go after him you know, dear." She said kindly. Kurama shook his head.
"No, Molly-san, I can't do that. He is already at least three miles away and he has hidden his energy. He doesn't want to be found right now." Mrs. Weasley picked up the chair that had been thrown across the room and placed it next to Kurama before sitting in it.
"What are you going to do about it then? You can't just leave it like this."
"I know but right now I don't really have a choice. Even though I love Yusuke, now would be the worst time to start a relationship that could interfere with the mission. We still have no viable leads as to the whereabouts of the other demons or the ringleader…" Mrs. Weasley interrupted him quietly.
"You love each other right?" Kurama looked at her instead of at the table.
"Well, he said he loved me, but he didn't make it clear whether he loved me platonically or as a lover. I love him as I would a lover but I refuse to risk my friendship with him if there is any chance my feelings aren't returned." Mrs. Weasley had a sympathetic look on her face as she got up to tend to the food.
"You really should work this out with him, dear. This isn't the sort of thing to be left hanging for any period of time." Kurama pushed his chair back and rose from the table.
"I know. I will address it after the mission ends." Kurama swept outside and sat in the very same spot he had been healed in that very morning. He ran his fingers through the bloodstained grass that had lain below him and Yusuke earlier. He caught wind of a very familiar scent and looked sharply to the right. There, sitting on the Weasley's whitewashed fence, was Karasu. He had abandoned his power limiting mask and his long blond hair flowed across his shoulders and down to his legs, which were crossed lazily beneath him. As a purely knee-jerk reaction, Kurama pulled out his rose and transformed it into his customary whip. Karasu's mouth stretched into a smarmy grin that had Kurama itching to slice his head in half.
"Oh Kurama," Karasu breathed, "Did you really miss me that much?" Kurama's finger twitched as his urge increased exponentially, but then visibly relaxed. His classic enigmatic smile came over his face.
"I cannot say I even noticed your absence until I smelled your return. Tell me, however did you escape our last encounter alive?" Karasu's eyes narrowed in badly-concealed ire before he too relaxed.
"Come now my dear, I told you that you would be mine did I not? I had decided to live for that alone, though my recovery was both painful and lengthy."
"Why should I not kill you where you stand?" Karasu grinned wildly.
"Well for two reasons right now, the first being that two humans in that dwelling are watching this encounter and the second is that we are no longer enemies since that tournament ended." Kurama had to keep himself from whirling around to see who was watching, but knew he couldn't afford to take his eyes off Karasu.
"I have no intention of ever becoming your life mate so I do believe you are wasting your time here. Please remove yourself from my presence." Karasu became overwhelmed with rage and was surrounded by a green aura.
"Be it on your head what happens, fool! Here I had come to make sure you still lived after my servant injured you, and then you spit on my kindness! You will be mine, after I break the rebellion from your heart. Tata my beautiful kitsune! We shall meet again soon!" Karasu left quickly, utilizing speed he had not had previously during the tournament. Kurama retracted his whip and stalked pensively back to the house. He entered the kitchen and Molly Weasley grabbed his arm with a stricken look on her face as she looked into his eyes.
"W-who w-was that? He w-was g-g-glowing an-and you had y-your weapon-" Kurama plopped into the kitchen chair.
"Molly." She quieted instantly.
"If you ever see him again, even the tiniest glimpse, apparate as far away as you possibly can. He is the demon mastermind behind the attacks. I would have killed him but for the reason that I cannot use my full strength right now and he would have destroyed everything in at least a mile radius had we fought. His presence complicates things immensely, Molly. Yusuke will be livid that he still lives." Kurama's hands shook as he silently prayed that the bomb-happy demon had not grown in strength over the years.
"He must die or he will continue to be a thorn in my side." And he intended to make sure Karasu stayed dead this time around.