Disclaimer: Don't own anything really but in essence Mikai, Senkai, Carden, and Kubo. Cat owns Sotto; The A owns Asuka; The Last J owns Reijii; Mikey owns Lei; and Nicole owns Yuzu. Damn…I've just realized how many characters I really don't own…oh well, they're still my girls and I love 'em!

"Haha!" Mikai threw her hand back and laughed out loud, a grin of victory over her face. "I told ya I could kick your ass!"

Yusuke shot a glare in her direction, hands clenched around his controller. The words 'Winner: Player One' flashed in bright red font on the screen in front of the both of them, Mikai's character cheering while his lay on the ground, out cold. He growled, the damn woman had won the past three games in a row she had to be cheating or something he never lost to her this much.

"And I've got screwed up hands and everything!" Mikai said through her laughter, moving her still bandaged hands in the air to prove her point.

"One more round!" Yusuke shouted, halting her laughter. "If I win this one, then you've gotta back out and let Kuwabara play!"

She glanced over at him, an eyebrow cocked. "Why? Wanna beat someone for once or something, Yusuke?" She laughed and turned her attention back to the screen. "Fine, let's see if I can kick your ass again."

"Fine!"

"Hey, hurry it up!" Kuwabara said from the couch behind the two. "Some other people would like to get the chance to kick Urameshi's ass ya know!"

The black haired boy ignored Kuwabara's stupid antics for the moment, and watched as Mikai selected 'VS' on the game's main menu. They each chose who they were going to fight with in the selection they were given, and the game flashed a black screen with the words 'loading' in the middle of it all. The sounds of the others filled the room since the game's music had yet to start, along with the shouts from him and Mikai, and he could hear most of the people who had shown up. After a quick call to Kuwabara, he invited Keiko, and Yuzu who were more than willing to come. Botan showed up as well, and spent her time chatting it up with Kurama and Shizuru.

"I don't see what's so funny about it!"

Strange, he hadn't seen any signs that she and Kurama were dating. They weren't all over each other or anything but Kurama had answered the door…It was just so weird when had the two clicked? Was it because of the whole 'demon past life thing' or did they get together so well during those three days that they ended up liking one another?

"She wouldn't just run off with some guy when she's crushing on someone else without telling me!"

Wait…Kurama couldn't have been that guy! They hadn't met, though they had heard of one another, until Yusuke had introduced them so what happened to that guy she liked? Did she just give up on him or something?

"GO!" the announcer in the game shouted.

Focus! Screw the relationship shit for now! You've got your reputation on the line!

Yusuke's fingers flew over the buttons, pressing them in motions that brought on combo moves on the screen. Minutes passed between the two fighters, each one taking his or her time to battle against the other. He defended himself against Mikai's attacks, watching as she did her best to break through his defensives while looking for openings in his combos. The sounds of her buttons sticking caught his attention, and there was his opening! Ha!

Mikai shook her head. "Oh hell no! This isn't right!"

"Hell yeah it is!"

He watched with a grin as Mikai's character screamed and fell to the ground, his still standing and posing. "Winner: player two!" the announcer said, music playing in the background.

"Score!" Yusuke threw his hands in the air, grinning. "I won!"

"Tsh." Mikai gracefully lowered her controller. "It's about time, Urameshi. Oh!" She perked a bit. "I almost forgot this!"

She reached over towards him, and punched him on his upper arm. The pain hit him right away, catching him off guard. Sure Mikai had hit him plenty of times before but this one hurt! He hissed and grabbed the muscle that she hit, clenching it between his fingers.

"What the hell? That hurt!" he barked. "You put something in to that or something?"

She chuckled and stood with a cocky grin on her face. "Maybe. But that's what you get for laughing when I told you about me and Kurama."

"You and Kurama? What about you and Kurama, Mikai?" Kuwabara asked as the group fell silent at the question. "Aw hell did I get left in the dark again?! Come on guys don't leave me out like this!"

The redhead chuckled a bit, drawing attention to himself. "Don't worry Kuwabara it's not like we're formally announced it," he said, a smile over his face. "Mikai and I are dating now, that's all."

Keiko giggled, and smiled over in Kurama's direction. "Congratulations, Kurama, I'm happy for you."

He nodded in her direction. "Thank you."

"Really?" Yuzu glanced over at her best friend, her eyes wide. "Since when?"

Mikai's cheeks flushed. "Since this morning."

The young girl with highlighted hair inched towards Mikai. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to," Mikai chewed her lower lip for a moment, "but I had a hard time getting it through my own mind, plus I've been so busy cleaning this place up and catching up with mail and shit. Anyways—"

Ring.

What a moment for the damn phone to ring. Mikai sighed, the pink tint from her cheeks fading as she advanced over to the kitchen. He watched as she brought the phone up to her ear and answer in English.

Must be her aunt or something.

"Come on Kuwabara!" Yusuke said as he waved towards the TV; there wasn't a point in hounding Kurama anymore, like he'd reveal something more anyways. "Let's see if you've gotten any better since the last time I kicked your ass!"

The group began conversation once more, but Yusuke knew that there were questions each one had, even Keiko. He still had to explain that whole thing to her, he promised that he would always tell her of his missions but he hadn't had the time, until this break. He knew that she would grill him tonight (if they left early enough), but he owed her, after all she was his girlfriend.

One question lingered: When had they fallen for each other? How much did Youko Kurama and Senkai have to do with this?

Don't think that way, it doesn't matter.

Yusuke grabbed his controller once more as Kuwabara did the same. As the game restarted and they entered 'VS' mode, Mikai hung up the phone with a heavy sigh that sounded too familiar and came over to the couch where she sat down beside the redhead. He moved his arm over the back of the sofa, the same one where he had laid when Kubo attacked him, and wrapped it around Mikai's shoulders. A small, comforting gesture and Yusuke couldn't help but smirk.

Nah doesn't matter.

"See ya, Yusuke!"

Kurama grabbed his scarf from the side of the couch, and started wrapping it around his neck as Mikai closed the front door. "You leaving all ready?"

He turned, still wrapping his scarf. "I'm afraid so," he answered. "My mother has arranged a family meeting around seven since we couldn't all be together tonight. I'll be all yours tomorrow evening, however."

She pushed herself off of the door, and nabbed his heavy jacket sitting on the chair in her dining room. "I suppose one night will be enough for what I have planned for you."

A slight tint of blush came to Kurama's cheeks; he hadn't been expecting that. Damn she was getting better at teasing him. Clearing his throat, he took his jacket from her and started slipping it on when he felt something hard bump against his hip.

I'd almost forgotten.

"Why didn't you tell Yusuke?"

"About?"

"You leaving," he said as he adjusted the jacket around his shoulders. "I thought you mentioned that you were going to do it tonight, before he left."

She inhaled deeply through her nose, and her shoulders slumped forward. "Well I figured that I'll just tell him a day before or something, that way he can't bitch me in to staying. He's done it before."

He chuckled a bit, and brought his right hand to the side of her face. "Perhaps I should commission him for the next two weeks."

Mikai's face grew red as she rested her head on his hand. This was what made it so easy to be around her, she spoke freely, and he was allowed to do the same. No holding back, no secret names, just what he wanted and what she desired. That fact alone made it that much worse when she confessed to him that she would be leaving in the next two weeks for America to see her family for an unknown amount of time. She didn't know if she would make it back in time to start an appropriate semester in school, which posed the prospect of her remaining in America for the remainder of the school year.

And for the second time in his life he became completely selfish. He didn't want her to go, to leave him again. Reality, however, had other ideas.

"By the way," Kurama withdrew his hand and stuffed it in his pocket near his waist, "I have something for you."

She blinked a few times. "For me?"

"Only you."

He removed a small dark blue box from his jacket pocket and looked from her, to the box as he held it out towards her. The redness on her face grew darker when she spotted the box, and her eyes grew wide. Her hands moved forward in a slow pace, and what felt like hours was only minutes as she opened it, and her mouth fell open, wordlessly.

"When did you have the time?"

"When we returned this morning," he answered, the smile widening at her reaction. Good, he had been right in his choice. He walked over to her, and moved her hair to the right. "I know necklaces aren't first choice when fighting, but I don't want to put any strain on your hands."

At the mention of the injury, they both glanced down at her hands. Burned from the amount of demon energy and spiritual energy in the bomb that Senkai released, said that it would take a few days for the burns to heal for the mere fact that she had to rapidly rebuild skin cells, veins, and muscle tissue. From his experience burns were hard to heal, even with the plant knowledge he had the best he could do was lessen pain and promote skin growth. The skin had recovered a great deal, and resembled something like a sun burn now, skin peeling off around certain areas but he didn't want to risk her wearing the ring he had picked out.

The fox demon carefully took the ring looped in a silver necklace, and put it around her neck. She moved a few stray hairs out of the way, and he locked the lobster claw clasp together. As soon as he was done, she whirled and dropped her hair back over her neck. The silver coloring of the necklace and ring stood out against the black hue of her long sleeved shirt.

"It looks perfect."

"More than perfect!" she said as she toyed with the ring. "I really can't wait until I get to wear it…Kurama."

She took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, over the scarf and jacket protecting him. He in turn hugged her body against him, holding her tight. She nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck the best she could with the clothing there, bringing a slight blush to his face once more.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much, Kurama."

"You're more the welcome, Mikai."

She moved her face away from the comfort of Kurama's neck and looked straight in to his deep green eyes. He watched her, searching for any question or demand in her eyes but he could not find one, he just saw her: Mikai. This look was so different from the others they had given one another, so intense and intimate.

Slowly Kurama moved his lips towards hers, an effort that he had never felt before in this lifetime. This wasn't out of lust, no, this desire to feel his lips against hers was for him as well as for her and nothing else. No back story, no promises, just now.

His lips met with hers in their first kiss, and he laced his fingers through her hair to bring her closer to him. She slid her hands down from his shoulders, and clung to the white button up shirt underneath his jacket. Blood rushed through his ears, pounding over and over again as he felt the warmth from her lips heat his entire body.

Everything went sort of hazy.

Adrenaline soared through his veins at the soft touch of her lips against his, a careful and gentle touch. The kisses he had shared as Youko Kurama didn't compare to this, but why? What made this one so different? Was it the whole human element of it?

Her lower lip moved a bit, and the sensation of the kiss grew stronger, better than anything else he could have imagined. The redhead returned the gesture but just as it grew heated, Mikai withdrew and bumped her nose against his. The heat of her face warmed his, and the idea of heading out in to that snow was the one thing he didn't want at the moment.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He laughed a bit, and rested his forehead against hers, looking her straight in the eye. "Anything, Mikai."

Four days.

Four wonderful days of hanging around with friends, eating all he wanted, and spending long nights out around town. How could the whole Senkai incident just blow over like that? Now it was almost like it had never happened, almost like the Dark Tournament. Back to a normal life, the one that jumping in front of a car had changed.

Yusuke wouldn't change it for the world.

He couldn't help but love the days he got to just being a teen again, that he had to admit to. He spent time hanging around and catching up with Keiko, then made his way to the arcade where he met up with the usual Kuwabara and Mikai. The only thing that did seem to change however was the fact that Mikai went back home around nine at night, leaving him alone to drink as she spent time with Kurama. A small change, at least she wasn't blowing him off completely like some of the horror stories he had heard through Keiko and her girlfriends.

But just as things came together, Botan came flying down on her oar with a message from Koenma. Within a few seconds he found himself strolling through the hallways of Koenma's house or work office, whatever the hell it was.

"This had better be worth it," he muttered as he came to two enormous dark blue doors, the same color as the walls all around him. The lime green light inside made him twitch, but when he saw Koenma awaiting him, the humor died. This did not look good.

"What did the demon do now, pinky breath?" he asked as he came in, the door slamming behind him.

"Come here Yusuke, I have something to show you."

Uh-oh.

Doing as told, Yusuke approached the desk littered with papers and stood in front of it, his eyebrow cocked. "What?"

"I have two fugitives on the run that I think you have come in contact with," he said, focusing on the young man. "I want to know what information you have on the two of them."

Two pictures came up on the screen the toddler used to watch Yusuke and the others when on missions, both pictures the two women who had helped them on the mission with Senkai. Asuka's picture appeared on the right, and the other woman's on the left. Both looked like mug shots, the women looking forward with frowns and their name sprawled beneath the picture.

Reijii. That was the other girl's name.

"Aw did she take that other girl with her?"

Well at least I can tell Kuwabara her name now, too bad we'll be hunting her down now.

"I don't know anything," Yusuke said, turning his attention back to Koenma. "They just showed up at the fight, I don't know either one of them or where to find them. Why?"

"They are both wanted criminals," Koenma responded. "I need you to see if you can locate them and bring them in for me, I have a few questions to ask the both of them."

"Wanted?" Yusuke blinked, confused. "Wait you're not going to throw them away are you? They helped out on a case! How are they still wanted?"

"Yusuke," he began in a firm tone, "the crimes that they have committed are those that cannot be excused with the promise of helping on a single mission. I will take in to consideration the idea of erasing a few of their records, but I must meet up with them first and speak with them."

Hadn't saving Mikai's life, as well as Shiori's, been enough? Two lives, two women with criminal records, as long as they hadn't killed anyone things would be cleared right? Hell they had done it for Hiei, but would it take fighting in a tournament to do so? True the hybrid demon was still on probation but it was better than being thrown away for any amount of time!

"And you want me to bring them to you?"

Koenma nodded. "Before New Year's Eve would be best."

Short notice!

Raging anger.

He broke out from behind the wall Mikai had created as if someone had shot the starting gun. Screaming out loud, he bolted forward and attacked Kubo with everything he had, all his anger, rage, and sorrow. The three took turns attacking the dark demon, but when his first break came, he found himself looking over in the direction where Mikai's body lay. Kurama had gone straight over to her, and looked over in Asuka's direction in sheer desperation. The black haired boy watched for a moment (even though it felt like hours) as Asuka removed a golden star and placed it over Mikai's broken chest. An unknown spiritual energy flared, and he watched as the girl he knew too well inhaled.

She was physically alive.

Breathing, her heart pumping and blood leaking from her body as her heart moved once more. Without a soul her body wouldn't be able to heal, but he watched as Asuka grabbed Mikai's hand. Within seconds the wounds on her chest began sealing, almost as if Mikai was in there. All because of Asuka's touch, because of her spiritual abilities Mikai was allowed to live without a soul.

But that was going to change.

"Fine." Yusuke clenched his fist as he shook off the random flashback. "Just remember that I'm not going to drag those two in here like some of the scumbags I've dealt with before."

"I understand, Yusuke."

Growling the young man turned on his heel and marched out of the spiritual office with his fists balled at his sides. Talk about a kick in the face.