I struggled to keep this chapter Kagome-less, as the previous one had been Kurama-less. And guess what? I succeeded! No Kagome in this chapter – sorry if it disappoints some of you. I really wanted to tackle the issue from both sides of the battlefield, as I've told you.

The next chapter should be out next weekend, consisting out of three scenes (from what I have planned at the moment): one focusing on Kurama, one on Kagome, and the third on the confrontation that you've all been waiting for!

"Life is like a boat" is the j-pop song. I omitted the parts sung in Japanese because most people wouldn't understand them, but everyone should really go listen to this song! It's just perfect… and it fits Kurama (and Kagome too) just as it fits the Bleach character it was intended for, Rukia. At least, I think so.

On a side note, I know I promised to update my PotO fic sooner, but it's turning out more difficult than expected. Please have patience with me, guys. I don't want to give you less than you deserve – certainly not something too OOC – and I want to surprise you as well. But I guarantee that half of the chapter from Erik's POV is finished and approved. All I need is the closure for that chapter.

Thank you a zillion times for your patience!

X X X

After dark

X X X X X

Nobody knows who I really am
I never felt this empty before
And if I ever need someone to come along,
Who's gonna comfort me, and keep me strong?
We are all rowing the boat of fate
The waves keep on coming and we can't escape
But if we ever get lost on our way
The waves would guide you through another day

Nobody knows who I really am
Maybe they just don't give a damn
But if I ever need someone to come along
I know you would follow me, and keep me strong

And every time I see your face
The ocean heaves up to my heart
You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon
I can see the shore
Oh, I can see the shore
When will I see the shore?

I want you to know who I really am
I never thought I'd feel this way towards you
And if you ever need someone to come along,
I will follow you, and keep you strong

- Rei Fu, Life is like a boat

X X X X X

The overall victory in the semifinals was somewhat bittersweet. Of course, all of them had performed to the best of their abilities – and perhaps that was the problem.

They could go no further; they had reached the limits of their current strength. And their next and final opponents had power of almost double measure compared to them and the other competitors in the tournament. In the end, without some boost of power, the task of surviving the finals seemed impossible. But Kurama didn't want to wipe the relief and joy off the faces of his friends and comrades by reminding them of that. They were celebrating somewhat; the return of Genkai had brought them a spectacular victory in the end, despite them being still one member short.

To remind them of tomorrow would be cruel. Today was all that mattered.

Besides, he had more urgent troubles to deal with besides trying to figure a way to survive his final match. Botan confirmed that when the girls finally arrived. Once Genkai had departed to seek her privacy and solitude again, the blue-haired ferry girl approached him with less than her usual bubbly smile. In fact, if Botan could ever be considered anxious, that moment was now.

The way she said: "Kurama-kun, we have a problem." along with a deep breath before she spoke, it was more than enough to show that she had both spoken with Kagome already and that the priestess had not taken the turn of events.

In fact, it was almost worthy of pity, the way she seemed to think that all the guilt of the world rested on her shoulders. "Does this by chance have anything to do with Kagome, Botan-san?" it was a question posed simply to encourage her to speak, because she had started fidgeting.

"Bingo." The ferry girl said, stressing the second syllable, as was her habit. She chewed on her lower lip momentarily, before summing up the basics of the situation in less than five words. "She's angry."

Kurama nodded, more to himself than to her.

"That's understandable." There had been three possibilities as to her reaction: anger, grief or hatred. That she had chosen the first was, in a way, what fit her personality best. It showed that she still wasn't indifferent to him, but that her spirit hadn't been broken by the previous horrors. Passion still lived within her; the will to live, perhaps. "I was expecting it, actually. You met her with her, I presume?"

Botan didn't really answer that question. She seemed to want to express exactly how Kagome had reacted, but she didn't have the words to offer a proper description. "You don't get it. She wasn't her usual exploding-with-anger kind of mad. She was really, really scary mad." she added lamely, the words escaping her.

"Did she say anything beyond death threats and initial impressions?" Kurama asked, dismissing the concerns of the ferry girl with a patient but quite intense expression that afforded no room for unnecessary objections.

Besides, Kagome was actually quite a talkative person and he expected that she had left some sort of message or at least said something that could be of use to him.

And indeed it appeared that she had.

"Keiko-chan asked her what we should tell you and she said… she said that she would talk to you, but didn't want you near her right now." Judging by her expression, it was clear that Botan was quoting this from memory. Then, she shook her head with a look of misery on her face. "I-I'm sorry, Kurama-kun. I messed up." she said bleakly.

"What are you talking about?" The ferry girl had nothing to apologize about; none of what had happened had been her fault and clearly she was as much on the receiving end of Kagome's anger as he was.

"I didn't know what to say to make it all better." Botan confessed. "She didn't even listen to me most of the time, I think. The others tried too."

"I suppose it was inevitable." Kurama sighed. Usually, Kagome was able to bond quite well with people that were relative strangers to her, even in times of duress. Apparently, that didn't always apply. She must have been more shaken than she let on. "Anything else?"

"No. Except for the fact that Shippo likely started hero-worshipping you by now." Botan added, her face lightening up for a moment. "But I don't think Kagome will be as affected by that as she usually would have been."

Normally, the will of Shippo held more sway over Kagome than the Jewel or Reikai could ever hope to. Clearly, she had found herself something to protect; something to keep her will focused and her sanity safe from any cracks in it throughout the years.

For the second time, he was crushing her harmony, her stereotype in life. The routine of days, years, centuries. But, though realizing that it was selfishness, Kurama had no intention of backing down from the goal Youko had set years ago.

The jewel was now well beyond his grasp and he accepted that. But that hardly meant that he intended to give up on the goal he had chosen. In an ideal situation, he would be able to manoeuvre Kagome back into her more gentle side and get Koenma to grant her leave, so that she could – naïve as it may be – finally begin the life she was supposed to have been living with him for fifteen years already. With them, now, in a sense.

It wasn't as if the initial concept hadn't been crossing two worlds with their union, except that Ningenkai was somewhat of an exception. There, humans were blissfully ignorant of the goings-on in the other two realms. There, they believed that demons and even gods were only products of the imagination of the fanatic, the deluded and the insane.

Perhaps it was a combination of all those three aspects, to expect that this would work out as smoothly as it might sound in his mind. The human world would be a drastic change for Kagome, a place where she perhaps no longer fit or belonged. He himself could call it home only because he had experienced a human life from birth there – was still experiencing it – and that he had been born to the woman who could be considered the embodiment of goodness.

He was still not entirely used to everything that the life of a human teenager involved.

There was one more thing to try, though Kurama waited for a while before doing so. Kagome had clearly gone off somewhere to vent her anger somewhat and wouldn't be back immediately. But when everyone had gone their separate ways and the fuss over the tournament semifinals had passed for the day, he approached the hotel room where Koenma was staying, along with his ogre assistant.

Just as he was about to knock, a scream from behind the door confirmed that someone was home. Knocking would have hardly been heard over all that racket, the kitsune wisely realized, and so he opened the door quietly and closed it behind him equally soundlessly.

And even that had almost gone unnoticed by the ruler of Reikai, who, now back in his usual childlike form, was practically growling orders at George the ogre, who was running around the suite with a frantic air around him.

Kurama noticed with vague curiosity and surprise that the little princeling had a red mark on his cheek and nose that he was struggling to rub, though it was obviously too painful to be examined in such a manner.

It looked like the mark of a sharp slap… or, rather, a very solid and well-aimed punch. And, judging by the size of the mark, it had been the fist of a female.

Adding two and two together wasn't drastically difficult.

"Hurry up with that ice, ogre!" Koenma yelled, spotting the red-haired kitsune at the door moments later. "Kurama! Where in the blazing hells have you been?!" the child-god demanded with an air of impatience.

Deciding that it might be best to start from the beginning – meaning the beginning that he wanted to take things from – he posed the natural question. "What happened here?"

Snatching the bag of ice from George, Koenma pressed it to his face with a slight expression of pain and relief both. "For some unfathomable reason, Kagome seemed to be under the impression that I was the one responsible for this mess!" Koenma grumbled, his voice surprisingly high-pitched as he gained steam and quickly strayed from his topic of interest. "Why didn't Botan warn me that this was going to happen?! That girl is getting spankings!" he was almost jumping up and down with anger and childish stubbornness to blame someone else. "It's all her fault anyway!"

"Where did Kagome go?" Kurama interjected, likely sparing Botan several hours of pain that way.

Of course, Koenma didn't look too pleased that he had been cut off from his spectacular ramble, but decided to behave authoritatively this time, as he always tried to do these days. "From the looks of it, she was just storming off to a random destination, but she has to return to her room eventually, I guess."

"Thank you." Kurama said with a last glance at the now purple bruise before strolling out of the door once more. "Try to press it hard, so that it doesn't swell too much."

"Like this?" George asked helpfully, pressing the freshly collected bag of ice to his master's face with force that almost managed to knock Koenma off his feet.

"OW OW OW OW OW! OGRE YOU USELESS BIG BLUE NINNY!"

Team Urameshi should by now be all too grateful that their rooms weren't on the same floor as Koenma's.

The second possibility he tried was the ultimate one, perhaps. Kagome's room. He took the life to the designated floor, not even thinking about how he was going to handle the situation. He hoped both that she would be there and that she wouldn't, but most of all, he wanted to see her again, with her knowing at last to whom she was speaking.

But he was not to meet Kagome in the hallway. In fact, his senses couldn't detect her, but he nevertheless kept the slight hope that he was simply too limited or she too skilled by now at concealing herself. But there was no concealing the power of the sacred jewel, just as there was almost no chance of him miscalculating something so easily measured as his own power. The priestess just wasn't there.

The person who was locking the door to her room was Kagewaki Hitomi, who had also looked for Kagome there, only to find her room unlocked and empty. He was the only person except Shippo who possessed an extra key in case of an emergency, and so he had decided to dissuade anyone from being tempted to see the inside of the suite, which actually didn't contain any personal belongings of true value.

Kagewaki spotted the kitsune even as he withdrew the key from its lock, his neutral expression morphing into a somewhat cold frown. He certainly did not appreciate the unexpected turn of events, though even the previous course of the tournament hadn't been exactly to his liking.

"I would suggest that you leave, Kurama-san." the daimyo said in an emotionless but slightly stern voice, gazing at the fox demon with surprising coldness.

Kurama returned the unwavering, unblinking gaze evenly. He had expected that he would someday have to speak with the imposing companion of the priestess, who seemed to be the shadow enshrouding Kagome and drawing her further still from everything else. Ironically, though they had never actually met before, these two knew almost everything of true significance about each other, through their connection to Kagome. Always the central point of everything, Kagome was, always the defining factor of the universe.

"I have business with Kagome." Kurama replied in the voice of Youko. He had always supposed that they wouldn't like each other, Kagome's benefactor and him. As most of the time, his predictions had proven to be entirely true.

If it was possible to sneer yet remain completely impassive in expression, never wavering in the silent display of contempt, then Kagewaki did just that.

"You have had quite enough business with her already." He spoke almost quietly, but with great confidence. "And I might not be far off when I say that Kagome-sama has no desire to speak with you."

A flash of gold, the display of summer, clashed with emerald green for less than a second. Within Kurama, Youko was already analyzing. What claim did this man have on Kagome? Certainly nothing that could override his own, the most important one, if yet to be sealed completely. What bond forced him to help her and act on her behalf? Did Kagome trust him? There was power within the demon, carefully concealed, and a smell that Kurama couldn't fully identify.

"I have been told otherwise." he said, each syllable covered with a layer of gentle frost. After a millennium of existence, intimidating him wasn't for the inexperienced or the faint-hearted.

To his slight surprise, Kagewaki nodded, almost courteously. "I see. Unfortunately for you, Kagome-sama has departed. I had thought you would be able to sense that."

Mockery. Subtle, just enough to make one wonder if it truly was there. Impertinence. Had he not decided to conserve his strength, had he not exhausted himself previously, had he… there were so many conditions to fulfil, but Kurama was quite certain that if his self-control slipped for even a second, someone would walk away from this meeting with a severed head.

"She has grown in power and skill. I have diminished in my exile." Kurama said without pride or shame. These were facts. "But I will wait for her, if I must. She will return eventually."

"Indeed she will. But time will not." Kagewaki paused, as if evaluating just how much he should say. "She has refrained from even speaking your name for fifteen years. Embarrassed, I imagine, by her own lapse of judgment. You were renowned for your intelligence. I urge you to use it."

"I will. To the best of my ability."

As Kagewaki walked past him with indifference, Kurama gave no indication of the slight sting the demonic daimyo's words had inflicted on him. He was very much able to sense falsehoods.

She has refrained from even speaking your name for fifteen years. That hadn't been a lie. Of course, that didn't make the rest the truth, but somehow, it was a remark that had partly penetrated his indestructible mental defences.

The room was empty. But he was willing to wait. Kagome had to return for the finale and to pick up her entourage. She couldn't vanish into thin air.

Though he wasn't forced to wait for too long, again, it wasn't Kagome who entered the corridor. Instead, it was a tall young man, the transformation of Shippo, and the little kit changed into his normal demonic form of a small child the moment he saw the elderly kitsune.

"Kurama! There you are – I've been looking everywhere for you!" Green eyes wide with either concern or excitement – perhaps both – Shippo sprang onto the nearest cabinet, careful not to knock over the vase placed on it, the only way he could be more or less on eye level with Kurama without having to transform into anything else.

"Greetings, Shippo." Kurama said, much more amiably than he had spoken to Kagewaki, but remained sitting in the chair he had found. It would be easier to maintain eye contact that way. "Why in such a hurry?"

"To find you!" the kit proclaimed, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. Actually, it likely was, because Shippo had to have good youki detecting abilities himself. "You're looking for Kagome, right?" No answer, but for Shippo, that was more than enough. "I haven't seen her since she passed us by during the semifinals. She was… well…" The kitsune grimaced slightly. He, too, didn't have the words.

Fortunately, Kurama was quick to comprehend that nonverbal communication. "So I've been told. It was never my intention to shake or hurt her. I'd like you to know that." he said, knowing that honesty was his best option now. Besides, though Botan had mentioned that Kagome might not be swayed by Shippo this time, it never hurt to have a valuable ally on his side, either. The kit was clever and persuasive and talented, which was more than he could say for most demons.

He was also likely the only member of Kagome's group besides the priestess herself that he might be able to convince of his intentions.

"This is a bit weird." Shippo said flatly after a minute or so of silence.

One flame-coloured brow quirked at that. Weird wasn't one of the words he would have used to describe the situation. Awkward was more like it, but he could admit that it was a strange position to be in.

"Weird how?"

"Well, I thought I'd be dead scared of you. You see, Pa…" Shippo swallowed and looked away from Kurama for a moment. The older fox demon understood the psychology of such a reaction. In fact, he would have been more than willing to bet all his former fortunes on the fact that the cub's father was long dead. Hopefully not by Kagome's hand, but he imagined that there were thousands of menaces in Makai that might threaten a solitary demon, especially one with a cub. It didn't seem as though Shippo had known his mother, else he would have mentioned her first. "My Pa, he always said to run and hide if I ever saw a silver kitsune."

His usage of the past tense only confirmed Kurama's theory. But what surprised him most was that he felt something akin to pity force its way to the surface of the melting pot of his emotions. He himself had never had an actual father figure to look up, not for long as a human child and certainly never as a demonic cub. That seemed – and had been – over a thousand years ago, so such thoughts were slightly blurry, but he had always been keenly aware that he couldn't depend on anyone else for survival.

"It seems that he was wise in knowing when to fight and when to retreat." He said, hoping that his voice sounded comforting enough without actually trying to forcibly soothe the ache of something that seemed as abstract to Shippo now as the concept of winning the tournament now appeared to him. "Knowing your weaknesses is a strength."

"Yeah!" Shippo raised his gaze; his large eyes had brightened up considerably. It seemed to prove some kind of point to him and Kurama wondered if Botan hadn't hit the mark for once in her describing Shippo as a hero-worshipper of his past self now. "But you don't seem to be as scary as he said you were. But Kuwabara's rambling descriptions shouldn't be completely dismissed, I guess. The girls and I met him at the old stadium. That's where he got teleported to."

Kurama's lips twitched in a slight smile. He didn't like to talk ill of his companions, but no kitsune could ever resist a subtle teasing. "Twice, it seems."

"Could you transform again?" Shippo asked eagerly after another short moment of silence. He seemed to be regretting not having been able to see the transformation for himself, as the battle had ended before he and the girls had arrived.

"I wish I could."

Kurama almost sighed. Hadn't he been contemplating that for the better part of the past few hours? If he was able to reach out for his old strength once more, no member of Team Toguro would stand much of a chance against him, though he didn't yet know which one he might be up against. It wouldn't be the team captain; that was highly unlikely, as Toguro had gone to lengths to bring Yusuke to the tournament – he was simply one of the team members that had been required to join. But even in his currently awakened state, Youko Kurama was more than a match for any of them. But he had no way of consciously disrupting the merge save for killing himself, of course, which wasn't desirable in this situation. He had to get a hold of the secrets of that box!

But of their former enemies, only one team member remained alive and after the way he had been treated during the tournament, even Kurama had doubts that he would be willing to cooperate. And he didn't want to overdue the persuasion in this case, lest he risk poisoning or some serious misinformation. Intimidation could only get you so far; especially with people who were mentally instable enough to willingly dress up in clown outfits and stand proudly in front of the crowds.

"It could prove to be the cutting edge in the final battle. But no, I cannot."

Shippo seemed disappointed, but also understood. "Oh, Kagome might be able to help." he noted, trying to be helpful. Now that they had established some sort of friendly relationship, Shippo didn't feel as anxious as he had been at the beginning. Truth to be told, he had always been wary of Kurama, even though he had been the one team member to treat him most cordially, but if Kagome had trusted him at his worst, there wasn't really any other argument needed to persuade him to do the same. "She has access to practically all Reikai records…"

"I don't think there is enough time for that extensive a search… or that Kagome would feel very inclined towards aiding me so at the moment." Shippo took note of the carefully veiled bitterness in his sempai's voice. Well, that settled it – who needed Botan and her matchmaking "skills" or Shizuru with her interrogations? – obviously, Kurama liked Kagome. Shippo didn't try to think beyond that, as his ideas of love weren't entirely formed. Besides, his experiences with couples amounted to seeing Miroku and Sango interact, which wasn't saying too much. Still, it was better than nothing.

Of course, that didn't mean that he was going to start setting the two up. He wasn't some girl, for kami's sake.

"Kagome is far too nice to be angry with you for very long. Besides I think she was more shocked than anything else." Shippo said rationally, shrugging lightly. The best he could do was return the comforting words, no more. "She liked you before, I know it."

"Before." Kurama repeated the word almost like a question.

"Yeah, but meaning both times. Now and years ago." For the first time, a frown crossed Shippo's brow, making his face seem older, in stark contrast to his young visage. "But she never really talked about you, which I kind of don't get."

And perhaps Shippo was imagining it, but it seemed Kurama winced, as if struck – and then again, he hadn't moved at all. It was just a clever illusion, subconscious, perhaps. He had competition, the little kit realized. That and someone rational to talk to, except Kagome, of course, it seemed.

But if there was anything he was outmatched it, it was vagueness. Kurama was obviously an expert in changing the subject when a conversation ventured too deep into dangerous waters.

"Do you have any idea where Kagome might have gone off to?" he asked diplomatically. Shippo decided to turn a blind eye just this time.

"Not really. Probably just to patrol around for a bit. I guess she was just… well, a bit overwhelmed. She doesn't get many heart-attack experiences, but I think she really wasn't expecting this. Probably one of the few things she hasn't yet seen." Shippo mused, then scowled somewhat, with the hint of a childish pout. "I wanted to go with her, but she told me to stay with the girls. But I thought she'd be back now, it's been hours already. I'm a bit worried, I guess."

To be worried about Kagome's state of health was… charming, in a way, but Kurama wouldn't dwell on that too much. It was her mind that concerned him more; not that he believed that she would fall into madness or something of the sort. Madness couldn't break Kagome, because she was simply too stubborn for any kind of surrender. She couldn't be bent or broken so easily, unless she herself had the desire. And that rarely happened. What he was concerned about was what kind of approach to the situation she would settle for once her initial anger would evaporate and she would realize that nothing had changed, unless she willed it to be so.

"I'm certain that those that try to ambush her now are the ones that should be worried." Kurama said instead, somewhat dryly.

Shippo shook his ginger head. "Actually, I don't think many demons will try that anymore."

It was the truth. The demons that had come to see the tournament had learned their lesson for the most part. Most of them had already seen a demon or two being incinerated by holy energy and certainly had no wish to experience that on their own skins. Naturally, a demon or two still tried their luck, but such attacks were becoming rarer and rarer. Though no one speculated out loud that the priestess had more power than the strength of the finalists combined out of fear of being overheard and having their lives ended prematurely, slowly and painfully, it was far more than an urban legend or mere rumour.

"So… what are you going to do?" Shippo asked again, breaking Kurama's train of thought for a moment.

The fox demon blinked, looking back at Shippo. He had seemed withdrawn from reality a second ago. "Pardon?"

"You know, about you and Kagome! And about the tournament!" Shippo urged, crossing his little arms. "I'm no expert on power levels, but I'm sure that if I was, right now, the numbers wouldn't be looking too rosy."

"You have a talent for understatement, it seems." Kurama said, smiling wryly. This time, he did sigh, if only slightly. "I will need some time to think on both counts."

"Oh, okay! Do you want to go get some candy?" Kurama blinked. Candy? But it seemed that it was what Shippo associated with thinking, as he said a moment later. "We've got loads in our suite and Kagome hardly ever eats any. It always helps me think!"

Well, it wasn't as if he received quality chocolate every day. Save for the occasional poor quality heart-shaped candy from giggling schoolgirls who were often blushing so much that he was estimating it would take about five more minutes of the current blood pressure to cause the veins of their heads to explode in a flash of crimson.

And… it had been a very long time since he had talked to someone simply for the sake of talking, as normal people his age might with friends that expected nothing from them aside from them being themselves.

He gave a smile that would have made any of those schoolgirls melt more quickly than their cheap chocolate pralines would in the heat of direct sunlight in summer. "That would be nice."