Yay! More reviews! ::nearly faints from happiness:: Wouldn't Kurama and Hiei be happy to see what you did to Otuko, he he! But alas, the chauvinist lives. Well, here's chapter nine! Posting again, that I am, both chapters nine and ten. One leads directly into the other, so there's no goodbye on this one or hello on ten. Be warned...this gets violent, but it's brief violence. On with the shiz-ow!

Kurama's Nightmares

-Hiei-

Hiei returned to Kurama's bedroom moments after he left to put dishes in the sink. He'd just watched Yukina and Kurama fall asleep. He brought her over to spend Christmas with the gang and she was sleeping in Kurama's bed. Kurama was on the floor next to the bed and from the window sill, Hiei could watch over both of them.

They were sleeping soundly, except for the occasional toss and turn. Hiei went over to the bed to watch Yukina a little more closely. She looked peaceful in her sleep and that set Hiei's mind at ease. He went over to the floor and kneeled over Kurama, kissing him gently on the forehead. He watched him for just a while longer before returning to his seat on the window.

-Kurama-

Kurama was half asleep when Hiei returned to the room, and barely felt the kiss he'd been given, but his forehead was warm. He turned over once more, thinking about everything as he normally did when he was about to fall asleep. Everything went blank for a moment, and when the picture returned, he was sitting on a log in the middle of a field filled with wild flowers.

Wild animals were near, and there was a forest behind him. Everything was colorful, the flowers and trees were in full bloom and the sky was as vibrant as ever. Kurama was sitting still, his expression serious, looking off into the distance. It was a while before he realized he was posing.

Teito was sitting on the porch of a tiny house, busily drawing Kurama's pose. He looked intent and focused, and Kurama wasn't moving an inch. But then he stopped suddenly, and dropped his sketch book. It bounced down the porch and sprawled out on the grass at the foot of the steps. Kurama perked up when he did, wondering what was wrong.

Teito stood up, his face angry and his fists balled up. He went over to Kurama slowly, menacingly, pointing a finger at him accusingly as he stopped in front of him. Kurama looked confused as he watched him, wondering what happened that had angered him.

"Teito?" he said, his voice a little distant.

"You should have told me there was someone else," Teito said, and slapped Kurama hard in the face. Stunned, Kurama grabbed his face. He could only sit and watch as Teito walked away. He stood up and looked after him. Teito disappeared into the forest. Kurama shook his head and turned around, his eye catching the white of the sketch book paper against the green of the grass.

He walked over to it slowly, bent down and picked it up. He flipped the pages of it; it was full of pictures of Kurama and of flowers...but the last picture was of Hiei in his demon form, stabbing Teito mercilessly through the heart. The expression on Hiei's face...it was frightening to look at. It spooked Kurama awake and he sat up quickly, grabbing his cheek and trying to understand what had happened.

-Hiei-

"You okay?" Hiei asked, looking over to him. Kurama looked disoriented, but it was the middle of the night and he'd been asleep. It was expected.

"Yes," Kurama said, clearly lying. Hiei kept looking at him and he laid back down.

"Do you...need anything...?" Hiei asked.

"No, but thanks for offering." Hiei came from the window and sat down next to Kurama, blocking the moon light from his face and staring at him until he appeared to have fallen asleep again.

He felt strange about it. Had he had a nightmare? In all the years he'd watched over him, Kurama hadn't had very many, only when...he had an encounter with Otuko. Well, that explained it for Hiei. Kurama must have been thinking about what had happened the previous night.

Once Kurama stopped moving, Hiei resumed his position at the window. He kept glancing back at Kurama, making sure he wasn't doing anything unusual. He looked out into the night, barely making out the stars beyond the snow covered tree branches that stretched towards Kurama's apartment.

He could hear the faint scratching of the twigs against the brickwork of the building, a sound that often put him to sleep when he was in the tree. But he ignored it that night, thinking only of Yukina and Kurama.

-Kurama-

Suddenly, Kurama was in a bedroom, one that was not his own. He was sitting on the bed with his legs hanging down over the edge, watching television and commenting on what he saw. He seemed to be in a bad mood, because he was saying offensive things, and kept making references as to how he could...kill the people on the screen.

Hearing a knock at the door made him angrier. He stood up and left the bedroom, walking straight down the hall and to the door. Everything was dark, it was hard to see anything in front of him.

He reached for the door knob, thinking of ways to kill whoever was on the other side for bothering him. He opened it, but saw nothing. It was too dark. He could hear voices, though and they irritated him even more. Looking beyond them, he could see the silhouettes of tress around.

He chuckled evilly, holding out his hands to the closest tree and causing its branches to grow. They reached where Kurama stood and he commanded the tree to envelop whoever was there.

That was when he heard the familiar voices come louder, confusion spreading into panic and then came the screams... Kuwabara, Keiko...Yusuke. Teito, Yumari... Shi...Shiori and Yohiro... He was killing them, they were all suffering a ghastly fate, yelling and screaming, pleading for their lives.

And yet, the initial flood of guilt wore off and he felt proud that he'd gotten rid of them, especially so violently, letting the branches sever their limbs and impale their bodies. He looked down at his hands. They were pale, with long fingernails. He turned them over, admiring them, feeling an odd sense of freedom.

He felt something drip on them suddenly, looking at them closely to see that it was...blood. He pulled away and looked up, seeing nothing above him through the darkness. He looked back down and noticed the dripping again. He reached up and touched his cheek, looking at his fingers and rubbing the red substance between them. He was crying. Tears of blood.

Kurama sprang awake, this time gasping for air. He grabbed his stomach; it felt like it was on fire. Hiei jumped from the window, quickly going over to him and grabbing him by the chin.

"Hiei..." Kurama gasped, reaching out for him. He grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down, in doing so remembering the most horrid part of his dream. Hearing them screaming at him... Their voices were so clear in his mind. He began to tremble. Hiei put his arms around him.

"It's alright, Kurama, it was only a dream," he coaxed. Kurama shook his head. He had to see them again...to make sure that it was not true...that that had not happened. Hiei leaned forward, causing Kurama to lie down.

"Hiei?" came a timid voice from the bed.

"Go back to sleep, Yukina. It's alright." Kurama shook his head again, still holding his stomach. He curled up on his side and rocked himself, trying hard to make the pain go away. Hiei sat next to him, not leaving his side even after he fell asleep again. Kurama could see his shape, but could barely make out any details. It was too dark...

There was a bright light suddenly, and Kurama closed his eyes again. It was another dream and this time he was in his bedroom. It was well lit, much brighter than usual. He was lying in bed, covered up by a white blanket that was pulled up to his chest and his hands were folded across his chest.

It was so bright, he could hardly see, and everything in the room was stark white. He focused more on himself, seeing how frail he looked lying there. He must have been sick... deathly ill, somehow. It was hard watching himself that way, but Kurama had no other choice.

"See...in the end you're alone," a voice urged. The ill Kurama shook his head.

"They will come for me," he said. "They will be here."

"They don't care about you," the voice said. "In the end you're alone. Completely alone."
"Hiei will definitely be here," Kurama said firmly, coughing from the effort.

"Listen to yourself, how pathetic. You think he really cares about you? You're a bigger fool than I thought."

"Leave me alone. Let me die in peace if I have to be alone."

"I cannot wait to reemerge," the voice continued. "What a pathetic life you lived, Shuuichi."

"I learned so much...and I got to experience the world outside of your life. Outside of the emptiness and loneliness of your life."

"Keep telling yourself, that, Shuuichi. You fool. You are such a fool. Working...schooling...loving... And why? So that you can end up here, alone and wasting away... all that so called hard work. Is it really paying off now, Shuuichi?" The voice laughed mockingly.

"And I suppose I should prefer your existence, Youko?" Kurama asked. "The thrill of the steal, right, Youko? Never getting caught... Leaving everyone else behind? Love them and leave them, right? I'll have you know I know you more than you think. I can feel your pain when you bring me memories... The hurt, the anger at being alone. If only just for a moment, Youko, remember? If only just for a moment...If only someone showed you true love..."

"You won't get me with that, Shuuichi," Youko said lowly, sounding livid.

"Get you?" Kurama asked, coughing again, his voice becoming raspier with his failing health. "I've already gotten you."

"Nonsense."

"You don't love him?"

"I love no one."

"Not even yourself," Kurama stated. "That's the existence for me." His tone was sarcastic when he said that, and the room grew quiet. "Tell me you don't love him." Still nothing. "Even though no one is here with me now, at my final moment...I have no regrets. I experienced love, Youko. Friendship. And if only for just a moment, then so be it. The memories are enough to last for eternity."

"Are you through?" Youko asked childishly. "Do you need a Kleenex?" Kurama chuckled.

"One last thing," Kurama said slowly. "You and I make up Kurama, Youko... and he loves Kurama eternally. Even as I fade...just know...that...Hi...ei...is..." The room fell silent. Kurama shivered awake.

-Hiei-

Hiei was prepared this time with a glass of water. He sat Kurama up and handed him the cup, watching him expectantly. Kurama was still shivering, still holding on to his stomach. He drank some and coughed a little and then wiped his mouth.

"I'm so sorry..." he said.

"Learn when to be selfish," Hiei said, rubbing his shoulder. He looked up to see Yukina staring down at them. "Yukina, it's alright...really. Just get some sleep." She turned around again and curled up. Hiei squeezed Kurama's shoulder.

"It hurts so bad," he said, gripping himself tighter.

"This will not last forever, Kurama, just put it out of your mind." Kurama turned around and laid back down, sighing harshly and closing his eyes. Hiei rubbed his back, hoping he was helping him to relax a little.

-Kurama-

Kurama was standing on a pier near a lake, looking out over the crystal blue waters peacefully. Some people were waving to him from a boat off in the distance. He waved back, barely making out who it was. It was Shiori and Yohiro.

Once he realized this, he became happy and dived into the water to swim to them. He swam without looking at his target, confident that when he did look up, they wouldn't be that far away. However, when he came up for air, he saw that they seemed even further than before.

Frustrated, he began to swim again, this time working harder to get there faster. He could hear them calling for him, and he just knew he was close to them. But coming up again, they were just as distant as before.

He dunked under and heard a muffled noise, something similar to a thump. He surfaced, looking at the boat. It was sinking and Shiori and Yohiro were trying desperately to reverse the situation.

They needed him more than ever now, he had to get there as soon as possible. He swam, hearing them more clearly, sure that he would make it there in no time to rescue them. He heard something among it, though...was it...laughter? There was no mistaking it, someone found this humorous.

Angry, he came up to save them, but found that they were out of his reach yet again. He couldn't understand it. He was trying so hard to get to them, how was it that he had swum so far out and hadn't reached them?

He tried desperately again when he saw that they were going under with the boat, seeing that they couldn't swim when they didn't come up for air. He looked underwater to try to see them, but he saw nothing but the boat, which was just inches away from him suddenly.

He dove under again, searching desperately among the bottom of the lake for his mother and brother. He couldn't find them in time and was forced to come up for air. Fuming mad at the continuous laughter and at not being able to save them, Kurama went under the water again and stayed under until he couldn't handle it anymore. He came up, breathing hard and coughing, and then went under again.

He could see the boat at the bottom of the lake, resting upside down where his family should have been. He noticed the hole that had caused the boat to sink and came up for air again. The laughter was behind him, and he turned around quickly, seeing Otuko standing on the pier with a hammer in one hand and the piece of the boat in the other.