A/N Thank you to all the reviews last time. That made me extremely happy! Please make me happy again! You'll like me when I'm happy…(Happy means I'll write more).

Kurama sped through town toward the deserted warehouse district where he felt a strong demonic energy flare. Hiei and Yusuke were in the throes of heated battle, that much was certain. When Kurama felt a sudden upsurge of power from Hiei, he knew Yusuke was losing. Hiei must be desperate to revert to that form. With clenched fists, Kurama redoubled his pace as he was nearing the building. He would not let Yusuke die, not after all he had done for him. He cringed inwardly at how Hiei would take his actions. It would be a fierce betrayal in his eyes. If Spirit World jail couldn't hold the little demon, then Kurama would surely die in retribution.

Kurama entered the warehouse, and with inhuman speed, placed himself between the detective and the demon as Hiei struck what would have been a killing blow had he been human. He felt the searing stab go straight through his body, mercifully avoiding his internal organs. He grimaced in pain. Hiei stood stunned before him, hand still on the hilt of the sword now imbedded in his partner's flesh.

Kurama heard Yusuke stammer his name in shock.

Forgive me, Hiei…

"Are you insane!" Hiei riled in answer to his telepathic plea. Kurama steeled himself for what he was about to do. Slashing his own palm on the sword, he flung the blood into Hiei's Jagan. With a howl of pain Hiei backed away, dropping the sword and rubbing his eye with his now swordless hand.

"Hey, I'm free…" Yusuke muttered, for the telekinetic bonds that had bound him dissolved.

"The eyes on Hiei's body are for amplification. The eye on the center of his forehead is the source. I blinded it so that will even things up."

"You didn't have to do that," Yusuke said softly, his voice laced with equal measures of appreciation and confusion.

"I'm alive only because of you. I'll use my powers to keep the girl from transforming while you deal with Hiei. It is the least I can do to repay you."

"But you have a sword through your gut!"

Kurama pulled the Shadow Sword from his stomach with a small gasp. "I'm a demon, remember? I'll get over it. Now defeat Hiei before he recovers!"

With a nod of understanding, Yusuke turned back to his opponent,

"Kurama, how could you, you TRAITOR! You won't get away with this. I'll massacre you!" Hiei's bloodlust filled pledge filled Kurama's heart with sadness as he moved to tend to Yusuke's girlfriend.

Kurama approached the ferry-girl and the human girl. He inclined his head at the blue haired one and motioned for her to drop her hand. Taking a deep breath, Kurama replaced her hand with his own over the girl's forehead and poured as much ki as he could into the eye. It shut immediately and stayed that way.

"Whoa, you're powerful…I'm glad you're on our side," the girl whispered in awe, wiping her forehead and wincing as she scraped the numerous cuts on her hand as she did so. Kurama smiled slightly at her and offered his hand. Looking confused, the ferry-girl gave the demon her injured hand. Using a bit of his ki, he easily sealed the wounds. Such small scratches didn't require the summoning of a plant as a catalyst for the healing process. She looked at her hands in wonder and muttered a shy thank you.

Kurama stood and moved to lean on the crates by the far wall where he could watch as the fight progressed. It seemed Yusuke's anger had given him the edge he needed. He slid down the crates and sat panting for a moment. Hopefully, Yusuke could manage a win soon. He needed to tend to his own injury. It wasn't quite as minor as he made it seem…


Kurama was silently thrilled at the brilliance Yusuke demonstrated in defeating Hiei. He had been worried that his efforts were to be in vain, and Hiei would kill them all regardless.

When Yusuke staggered over to the girl, he began to feed her the antidote from the hilt of the sword. Kurama closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could on willing himself to stop bleeding, arm firmly over the weeping wound in an effort to prevent his bleeding to death.

Turning to him, Yusuke began in a concerned voice, "How ya doin', Kurama? I owe you man!"

Kurama opened his sparkling green eyes and smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, Yusuke. My trial's not for while. I'm under house arrest, so to speak, until then, so I'll stay home and mend."

Satisfied with that, Yusuke turned back to the ferry-girl as she began to speak.

"So spill it. When did you learn the Spirit Gun could bounce off mirrors?"

"Umm…about five minutes ago." Was the blunt answer.

"What!" the ferry-girl screeched.

"You weren't certain?" Kurama asked, leaning forward in astonishment but regretting it the moment he did. The movement ripped at his flesh, but his grimace of pain went unnoticed as Yusuke turned back to the blue-haired shinigami.

"Well, we bounced light off mirrors one day in science class...one of the rare days I didn't skip, and I thought, hey this might work!"

"Might! Might?" the blue-haired girl ranted. "You risked our lives on a might? What exactly would you have done if the Spirit Gun hadn't reflected off the mirror?"

"Get torn to pieces, I guess," He replied somewhat cheerfully offhand given the subject matter.

Kurama laughed at this as well as at the ferry-girl's indignation. Yusuke was as he had first surmised. He merely dove in head first, with no plan. His instincts were truly remarkable. "All the while we were thinking you were a brilliant strategist when really you're just a lucky fool."

"Hey, watch it, Fox-boy. What's that word mean, anyway?" Yusuke asked defensively.

"A strategist is someone who used his brain," Kurama jibed.

"Hey…" Yusuke raised a threatening hand, but the girl hurriedly began to placate. "Now, now, boys."

Kurama merely laughed.

"What do we do about him?" Yusuke asked, indicating the unconscious and still smoking form of Hiei.

"A Spirit Retrieval Squad should arrive soon and take care of him," she answered dismissively.

"I should make myself scarce before they arrive," Kurama announced moving to stand up, but abruptly stopping and sliding down the crates again. Both of his companions exchanged a worried look, and Yusuke asked, "Can you take Keiko home, Botan. I'll help Kurama."

Botan, for that must be her name, nodded and summoned an oar. She placed Keiko, for that must also be the other girl's name, on the oar, wrapped her arms around the unconscious human, and rode off into the night.

Yusuke approached Kurama and took him by the arms, helping him to stand. From there, he snaked one arm around the demon's waist and grabbed his wrist with the other, placing his arm across his own shoulders.

"I'm really fine, Yusuke. I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own," Kurama protested half-heartedly.

"Bullshit," was Yusuke's blunt reply. Kurama blinked at his rudeness but laughed softly as he began to lead him out of the building.

"Hey, Kurama, can I ask you something?" Yusuke began uncomfortably.

"Anything," Kurama replied sincerely. He was growing rather fond of this bold and brash young boy.

"Well, that Hiei guy was acting pretty maniacal, but I get the feeling he isn't always like that."

Kurama was stunned yet again at this display of astuteness, but he wanted to know how he came to that conclusion. "What gives you that impression?"

"Well, there were three of you: the muscle, the skill, and the mastermind. Goki was clearly the muscle. You being a master thief, you had to be the skill. That left Hiei to be the brains of the operation, right?"

"You are indeed correct," Kurama answered simply.

"So why was he making such stupid mistakes? I mean first he underestimates me, twice, then he monologues, then he falls for my admittedly weak mirror trick. What gives?"

"Well, I have a theory…" he began.

"And let me guess, your theories are usually right?" He replied cheekily.

Kurama laughed again. "Indeed." Kurama paused to collect his thoughts.

"Well, spit it out already," he said, impatience coloring his tone.

"I believe that sword had the power, not only to control humans, but demons as well. The dark power it emits seemed to merge with Hiei's own powers. It appeared to influence his decisions and feed off the more demented portions of his soul. I noticed he had been acting strangely since he acquired it. While he certainly isn't pleasant by anyone's standards, he usually isn't so very…evil."

Yusuke mulled those words over a bit before replying. "Were you and he close?"

Kurama considered the question for a moment. "We've known each other for about a year now; though we hadn't seen much of one other since we met until Hiei asked if I were interested in this heist. We bonded after our meeting and worked rather well together, but our partnership is more than likely over now…"

There was something wistful in his voice as he spoke, and Yusuke must have picked up on it. "But you betrayed him to save me?"

Kurama regarded the detective. "Well, as much for his sake as for yours. If he were allowed to kill you, he would have been severely punished for it. Now that he is away from the sword's influence and can come to his senses, there may be clemency for him."

Yusuke nodded at this. It was about that time that they arrived at Kurama's house. With a last wave, Kurama crossed the threshold, thankful his mother was still being held in the hospital for observation. He was sure the sight of him covered in his own blood would land her straight back there anyway.

A/N So, this is the penultimate chapter, guys and girls. The last chappie will be up next Sunday. Happy Mother's Day, any mothers reading this!