Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho? No, I don't own it, but a bunch of other lucky people do! I envy them . . . shhhh . . . don't tell anyone! ^_^

Author's Note: Okay people! This is chapter 5 of A Snag in Love. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, and will enjoy this one as well. I guess there isn't much to say here, but um . . . more stuff to come, alright? Please review, although, I've been so irresponsible with my updates lately that I don't deserve them! However, maybe a few reviews will fix my procrastination, hm? Well, we'll hope. Cross your fingers everyone. Okay, thanks, love you all! ^_^

Chapter 5

Keiko awoke to the feeling of a soft bed beneath her. The blankets covered her body, giving her a warm fuzzy feeling all over. She felt as though she should go back to sleep before someone noticed that she was awake. However, she was a little late in her plan, for then entered a tall woman with purplish skin and long, gray hair. She wore a simple outfit and was holding a tray in her hands. The moment she saw Keiko with her eyes open, she rushed from the room.

This action did give the young woman adequate time to think about where she was and how she had gotten here. Her head ached as she pondered and forced her mind to remember.

'Oh, the demon world, that's right. Now let's see here . . . who's missing from this picture. Ah, Kurama and Hiei. Where could they be?' She thought to herself.

She was about to get out of the bed, although it would have been a reluctant move, but the doors to the room opened revealing a tall demon. His eyes were closed, but that didn't, in any way, mare the strange look of serenity about his features. Also though, there was a strong sense of power, a complete contrast to the grace he used as he walked over to her bedside.

Gracefully, he sat on the side of the bed and smiled at her warmly. "I see you've awakened." He said softly, and yet his voice was strong and controlled.

Keiko attempted to sit up, realizing that this demon was Yomi and that she was probably in Gandara. However, she was still rather weak, and her arms gave out, leaving her to fall back against the pillow. Keiko couldn't suppress a light blush.

Yomi smiled gently. "Here, let me help you." He said, and helped her up to a sitting position.

Keiko blushed again, as she wasn't accustomed to this kind of treatment. However, she cleared her throat, vanquishing her bashfulness. "Thank you." She said. To this Yomi merely smiled and nodded.

"How are you feeling?" Questioned the king, slightly tilting his head.

Keiko shrugged. "I don't know, a little dizzy I suppose."

Yomi nodded. "It is to be expected. How many horns do you see?" He asked, then, smiling.

Keiko blinked. ". . . Uh, 12 horns and two you's. Wait! Is this supposed to be a trick question?" She asked, as she gazed at the horns, and Yomi's second head hat magically appeared.

Yomi looked somewhat confused by her answer. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked behind him, seeing who was there in his mind. Shura was looking thoughtfully at Keiko, who returned the gaze.

"Ah, I see. No, I'm sorry. Here, let me introduce you, Ms.Yukimura, to my son, Shura."

Shura bowed his head, and Keiko did the same. Then, she turned back to Yomi. "Keiko." She said, starring rather frankly at him.

"What?" Asked Yomi.

"I said my name is Keiko, not Ms. Yukimura. . . just plain and simply. . .Keiko." Now Yomi smiled and acquiesced.

"Anyway, moving right along, where are Kurama and Hiei?" Keiko asked, suddenly feeling rather bold.

"They've been notified that you are awake and will be here shortly. I'm afraid they left without an explanation. However, you should rest and regain your energy. Obviously, you haven't used your Reikai very much. I will have Ellena bring in some food for you." And with those words, both Yomi and Shura left the room.

Silence filled the room once more, and Keiko began to feel small. For the bed she was sitting in was large enough, but the room was unbelievable. It was kind of an empty feeling. Most rooms have decorations or something to give it a comfortable, warm feeling, but not this room. Actually, she found it somewhat unnerving. But, this was probably what the entire castle was like. 'Yomi may be powerful, but he's really not that creative.' She thought.

The doors opened again, and in walked the same female demon that she had seen before. The woman smiled as she placed the tray gently in Keiko's lap.



"Hello dear. How are you feeling?" She asked kindly.

Keiko smiled back. "Fine, thank you." She answered.

Ellena was tall with long, gray hair that reached a little past her waist. She had had kindly facial features and elfin ears that slightly protruded from underneath her hair. Large, gleaming brown eyes clashed with her light purple skin color, although, Keiko had to admit that it was somewhat of a tasteful clash. The woman wore a loosely fitting, long sleeved shirt underneath a simple red tunic, and a black sash hung around her slim waist. White pants, somewhat identical in style to the shirt that she wore, were tucked casually into a pair of black boots that just barely reached her knees.

Ellena patted her knee. "That's good to hear. Now, why don't you eat all of this up, and be sure to drink the tea as well. It's a special herbal tea that will help bring back your strength in no time. If you want to bath, you may do so right through those doors. I have a few chores to do, but rest assured, that I will be back shortly."

Keiko nodded and thanked the kindly woman. Then, she set to work on eating the food she'd been given. All in all it was rather foreign looking, but tasted fine. She was not so complimentary on the tea, though. The beverage had something else in it besides simple herbs, and if she wasn't mistaken, she thought it was alcohol. None-the-less, the drink did seem to take away the haziness that had settled in her mind. When she felt a little more energetic, she managed to pull herself out of the bed. It took her a moment to get the hang of walking again, and this brought about the question that she had forgotten to ask. How long had she been sleeping for?

She carried herself to the doors that had been pointed out to her earlier and entered. Keiko gasped. The bathroom was nearly half the size of the actual bedroom, and that was pretty big. Of coarse, it had an empty feeling just like the previous room. It was made up in mainly cold blues and grays. However, the tub was huge, but inviting. It was already filled with bubbly water, and all the necessary toiletries were neatly sitting on a black marble vanity.

Keiko sighed as she got into the warm water. All of her muscles, which over the years had become more defined, relaxed instantly. She sighed and closed her eyes. Silence has a tendency to be an uncomfortable presence, but in the correct atmosphere, it can become quite blissful. Such was the situation for Keiko.

Thoughts ran through her mind. They went quickly, and she didn't care to catch any of them. Currently, she just preferred to let them wander; let them run wild whilst she relaxed. However, one thought did not care to be so free as the others. It sat at the back of her mind, poking at her, whispering to her. Slowly it began to move forward so that the idea began forming itself, forcing her to think about it. Yes . . . this thought was always in her mind somewhere. Yusuke, he was always on her mind. No matter how she tried, she could not rid herself of his image. She could not forget the sound of his voice, or the pleasing memory of his presence.

'Why, though? He was such a. . .a. . .bastard!' Now she was angry with herself. She hated him! ". . . don't I. . .?" She asked. Perhaps the walls would be kind enough to answer the question that her mind would not. Keiko groaned, and let herself sink deeper still into the water. 'Yusuke Urameshi. I've known you since kindergarten. You've always been a jerk, but. . .that was just something else that I loved about you. Why did it have to end this way? Why couldn't you just put aside your stupid ambition long enough to see what was happening to us? Why am I here right now? I don't want to see you, and I don't want to talk to you. So what if you're probably hurting yourself? I don't care, why SHOULD I care? You're not my responsibility any longer, and it's not MY job to pull you out of trouble. You never cared about. . .about my problems. You weren't there for me when I needed you. Damn you! Damn it all!'

Keiko rose from the water, suddenly filled with a new frustration, and a new anger. She wrapped a towel around her body and in her hair. As she was about to get dressed, there came a knock at the door.

"What!?" She called irritably.

There was silence, almost like a hesitance. Keiko realized what she probably sounded like to the other person and sighed. "I mean. . .yes, who is it?" She called softly.

"Dear, It's me, Ellena."

Keiko sighed again, and walked to the door, opening it slightly so that they were face to face. Ellena greeted her with a smile, and Keiko politely returned the gesture.

"I've brought you some clothing to wear. It would probably be safer for you if you wore clothes that were a little more suited to the Makai. Most demons find humans to be a rare delicacy, and the garments you had practically screamed ningen."

"Oh, thank you. I suppose you're right. Um. . . Ellena, I'm sorry for yelling before. . . it's just that I'm a little. . ."

Ellena smiled sympathetically. "Frustrated." She said simply, finishing Keiko's sentence for her. Keiko nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"Don't worry dear, it happens to the best of us. Now, better get dressed. Kurama and Hiei are waiting for you." Said the elfin demon. She gave a quick wink of her eye and disappeared, pulling the door shut behind her.

Keiko waited a moment to fully dry herself off and then proceeded back into the uncomfortably large bedroom. On the equally uncomfortably large bed was a pair of white pants, and a short blue kimono. On the floor right next to the outfit was a pair of simple black boots. She shrugged and put it on, finishing last with the boots. There was a full-length mirror in the bathroom, where Keiko went to inspect herself. She nodded in approval. The pants were tied loosely about her slender hips with a thin blue sash and the kimono, which only reached the middle of her thighs, was tied with a thin white one. The pants were comfortable and downy soft against skin, and they were tucked into the black boots that reached about the middle of her shins. She had to admit, she rather liked this simple ensemble.

Suddenly, there came a soft knock on the large doors that divided Keiko from the rest of the castle. The girl snapped her head toward the doors in slight surprise before going to answer them. She pulled them open with surprising ease, as she had not expected such gigantic structures to be light. When left hanging ajar, they revealed two forms, one familiar, and the other familiar but not quite as the first one. It was Hiei and the beautiful Youko Kurama.

Keiko stepped politely to the side, offering her friends entrance. They both did what was expected and stepped over the threshold.

"How are you feeling?" Asked the silver fox, his golden eyes flashing.

Keiko blinked. Youko Kurama had something different about him. His presense was rather intimidating. However, he still had many traits common to the Kurama that she knew. His eyes were emotionless, filled with secrets and a little sadness, although, not as much as when he was in his human form. His voice held compassion, but his features remained the same, not necessarily cold, but not warm either. Those traits were something that his human and his youko form shared apparently.

Keiko smiled. "I'm fine now." She said, placing her observations to the side.

The youko raised his eyebrows at her sudden peppiness. "Is that so? Well, you still look a little tired. Are you sure you don't want to sleep some more?" He asked.

"Oh Kurama, you worry to much. I'm fine, really. Anyway, we're on a time limit from what I understand. I don't want to be here for any longer than I have to be. And keep in mind that I'm only here because you guys sent me on a major guilt trip, WHICH, I will be getting you back for sometime in the near future, is that clear, or do I need to use more adjectives?"

Kurama smirked. Keiko had indeed changed. "Yes, I think we've got it." He replied, crossing his arms over his chest. He'd been hanging around Hiei to long.

"How long have you been using your reiki, Keiko?" Came the sudden, baritone voice of Hiei. The fire demon was standing next to Kurama, his posture perfectly imitating that of his friends.

"Oh, about four and a half weeks now. I guess it was a little too early to be using so much of it against a demon, but it was a necessary risk."

"You've been training then?"

Keiko fidgeted at the questioning Hiei was doing. It was a little embarrassing to admit that a mere human had been training at the martial arts for a few years. She was nothing compared to Hiei and Kurama, or even Kuwabara. She was a beginner, but she was making progress.

"Um . . .yeah, I guess you could say that. I mean I had to learn SOME stuff. When Yusuke left I didn't have anyone to come to my rescue every time a couple of thugs decided to take a shot at me. Kuwabara has a family now, and it wouldn't be fair to ask him to take on the responsibility of protecting me 24/7. Also, with my travels and work and what not . . . I guess, it was just something that I needed to learn." Hiei nodded in approval. Keiko had always been just some person. Yusuke's woman, to him. She was either in the way, or not on his mind at all. However, with the recent events and her obvious change in character, he was beginning to feel like she was her own person, someone he could consider a possible friend, and ally. Anyway, he couldn't associate her existence with Yusuke anymore, could he?

"I think you should keep it up." He said simply.

Keiko blinked in surprise. That was good thing that Hiei just said right? Wasn't it good that Hiei spoke anyway? She smiled. "Uh . . . I guess I'll be doing that." She said. She didn't imagine that her reply sounded intelligent, but hey, it was all she could think of!

"Hiei is correct, but don't try to use your reiki again. Your body is inexperienced and could not take stress so soon after recovery." Said Kurama, offering his share of advice.

Suddenly Keiko felt like a little girl whose parents were explaining to her why she shouldn't have put her finger in the electrical outlet in the first place, gotten shocked, and then done it again just to see if the same thing would happen. However, she nodded, knowing that her friends were correct, and that trying her powers again or putting her finger in the electrical outlet probably wouldn't end happily.

"Well this is all well and good, but when do we leave?" Asked Keiko, deciding on a quick change of subject.

Kurama's downy silver ears pricked up ever so slightly, and he smiled slyly at her. "I thought you said you didn't want to see Yusuke again." He said.

Keiko blushed, and tried to hide it in vain. "I DON'T want to see that stupid bastard again . . . ever again and I mean it from the bottom of my soul, but . . ."

"But what?"

She frowned at Kurama's remark. "BUT, I'd like to get this whole thing over with so I can go home and continue on with my life as planned! I'll thank you to please remember that Yusuke and I are through, have been through, and will remain through for the remainder of our lives, which is a hell of a lot longer for Yusuke than it is for me! So there!" Keiko turned her back to them and crossed her arms over her chest indignantly. She bit her lip. That stupid blush was hotter on her face than it had been before!