Disclaimer: Hey guess what! I just bought all the rights to Yu Yu Hakusho! Mua ha ha ha!!! Ok that's sarcastic evil laughter. I don't own any of this, I'm just playing with someone else's characters.
Kurama leaned against a wide tree trunk taking deep shuttering breaths. The experience had left him shaken but he thought he understood what was happening to him now. Slowly he pushed himself up the length of the tree and stood on wobbly legs.
Hiei and Yusuke were standing a few yards away, the human leaning over the prone form of Kuwabara. With a deep breath, Kurama walked slowly over. The unconscious teen lay on his back, his eyes closed and his breathing slow.
Yusuke looked up at Kurama as he approached. He noticed how pale his face had gone. At least he was not shaking as badly as he had been a few moments ago. "You feeling better?"
Kurama nodded. He did not trust his voice just yet.
"We should get out of here," Hiei suggested quietly. He glanced at Kurama and then down to the dozing idiot.
"Right, we need to regroup," Yusuke said. "I doubt we are going to run into that demon again tonight. I'll get Kuwabara home. You two go to Kurama's house; I'll meet you there, and then someone can explain what the hell just happened. We need to get this guy now. We can't leave this idiot in a coma."
The two demons nodded and Yusuke pulled Kuwabara's arm over his shoulder. He hefted the larger teen with a grunt and headed off in the direction of Kuwabara's house.
Hiei watched Kurama out of the corner of his eye waiting for him to start. The kitsune was acting very strangely. His hands shook and he did not seem particularly steady on his feet. He could feel the energy pouring out of him in strange waves.
The walk to Kurama's house was slow. Hiei kept the slow pace his companion set, which did not bother him until it started to rain. "Hn," he snorted. He hated getting wet.
"Go ahead, Hiei," Kurama said quietly. "You can be there in a few seconds; the window is open."
Hiei hesitated as though he was about to say something but then closed his mouth resolutely, and continued walked at the slow pace. Kurama hid a small smile as they continued on towards his house.
~*~*~*~
After several unanswered knocks, Yusuke opened door to Kurama's house. "Kurama?" he said tentatively. He did not know if Kurama's mother was home not. She did tend to have the convenient habit of often being absent in the evenings.
He stepped inside. Hiei was standing on the stairs leading up to Kurama's room with his arms crossed rather arrogantly across his chest. He watched the spirit detective with his crimson eyes.
"Why didn't you answer the door?"
Hiei frowned slightly. "Is that what you were waiting for?"
Ok then, Yusuke thought. Apparently demons do not knock on doors in the Makai. Or maybe they didn't have doors. "Where's Kurama?"
"In the bathroom. I think he's done throwing up."
"What?" Yusuke asked, surprised.
Kurama appeared though at the top of the steps, before Hiei could answer, frowning slightly at Hiei. He had changed his clothing and obviously cleaned his face and hair. If he had been ill, he showed no signs of it now. With an elegant sweep of his hand through his hair, he motioned for them to follow him into his bedroom.
As Yusuke shut the door behind him, Kurama sat down at his desk and said quietly, "My mother is in the room at the end of the hall downstairs and she is a heavy sleeper, but I think we should still keep it down. Otherwise you'll likely be force fed tea and cookies."
Yusuke laughed as he sat down on the neatly made bed. Hiei was already propped up in the window frame. "You're ok now?" Yusuke asked the former fox demon.
"Yes," he answered quickly. "That was a side affect of blocking off my youki."
Yusuke abruptly tried to sense his demon energy, but could not sense anything. "It's like you're completely human," he said with surprise and confusion. "I can't feel anything."
"Yes, it seemed like the best way to end the fight."
"Explain," Hiei said coldly.
"Koenma was wrong about the pendant, at least partially," Kurama started. He sat with perfect posture, his legs crossed and his hands folded on his lap. Yusuke could help but be reminded of a teacher. "It isn't that the pendant can sap reiki. It can sap humans, and physically, I am human."
"But you aren't in a coma," Hiei stated dryly.
"No, and that's because I had enough time to block off my youki," Kurama explained. "The pendant was not designed with youki in mind and it is not equipped to handle the vast amounts demons have. Reiki may be stronger, but youki exists in far larger quantities." He said it as though that made everything clear.
"Wait a second," Yusuke said. "How come you kept shifting between your human and demon form?"
"Well, it's only a guess, but I believe that the pendant got confused. Normally in any energy capture there is a human and a demon involved, and the pendant sends its energy to the demon," Kurama paused. "This time though, it's as though there was say, a demon and a half. The pendant started to feed me the power Kiosh had drained. It was more than a human body could handle, so I shifted."
Kurama frowned. "If I changed back though, I'd say Kiosh is gaining more and more control over the pendant. If I hadn't been able to block my youki, in a few more seconds I fear Kuwabara and I would be in the same boat."
"So it's just me, then, right?" Hiei asked.
"What do you mean?" Yusuke demanded.
"Kurama cannot use his demon energy, even if he could unlock it, he'd just get drained. And if the demon drains you…" Hiei left the statement unfinished. He disliked reminding Yusuke how strong he was.
"No," Kurama said slowly. "Kiosh can't drain Yusuke."
"What? Why not?" Yusuke asked scratching his head in a classic display of confusion.
"I don't know," Kurama shrugged. "I just know he can't."
"How do you know?" Hiei said with more than a hint of irritation.
"When he tried to drain me, I got…" he paused as he searched for the right word. "A glimpse, I suppose is the best way to describe it, of his mind. He doesn't know why either, I don't think."
The three friends sat in silence for a few moments. "You will be able to unblock your youki eventually, right?" Yusuke asked suddenly.
"Probably."
"Probably? What the hell does that mean?" His voice was a bit louder than Kurama was comfortable with.
"Well it isn't something most demons do. It makes me terribly vulnerable. I think with some meditation though I can break down the barrier." Kurama chewed his lip a moment in thought. "Regardless, it won't take Kiosh long to recover getting violently shut out of my mind."
"We'll start tracking him again tomorrow. It's late, and I'm tired. What time is it anyway?" Yusuke yawned.
Kurama glanced at the display of his alarm clock. "Two o'clock," he said with a frown. "I have to get up in a few hours for school. I suppose you'll be…taking the day off of school?" he asked gently.
Yusuke gave him a crooked grin that served as an affirmative.
"Contact me if you find him then."
"What are you going to do?" Hiei asked derisively. "Throw flower petals at him? Somehow I doubt that will impress him."
"If you don't remember, I have fought battles without access to my energy," Kurama said calmly. He obviously expected Hiei's reaction. "I am a skilled martial artist and at the very least I will serve as a distraction for you two."
"Sounds good, whatever," Yusuke said with a yawn and a wave of his hand. He stood up and headed for the door. "I'll see you guys later."
After Yusuke left, Kurama stood up and grabbed the pair of grey sweat pants he slept in from his closet. When he turned around, he was surprised to see Hiei still sitting on the windowsill. He waited for a moment in surprise, then asked incredulously, "Are you staying the night?"
"Hn, of course not," he answered with his eyes closed. "Yusuke may not be able to sense it, but you are still leaking youki. You may have fooled him, but I'm not so trusting, kitsune."
Kurama shot him a smile. "You never fail to impress me, Hiei. I'm not stupid enough to block off all of my power. Hopefully, Kiosh will not be able to find the holes in my barricade though."
"You play too many games. You still aren't telling me everything." Hiei opened his eyes to fix Kurama with an intense red-eyed look. "And you won't, will you? No mater what I ask, you won't let anyone know what's going on with you."
Kurama smiled with a shrug. "I suggest you find a comfortable tree limb while the rain has let up."
Hiei left without another word. I think he's actually mad at me, Kurama thought baffled. Normally he would have at least snorted.
A/N: I'm sorry it took so long, but I have a good excuse, I swear! My brother tripped on the telephone cord and pulled the jack right off my modem. So ninety bucks for my new modem and four days later, here is the next chapter. Hm, not much action in this chapter, a lot of explaining. I kind of think Kurama enjoys knowing what everyone else is in the dark about. Please review and hopefully I'll be motivated enough to get the next chapter out before I start moving next week, cause that will put a cramp in my schedule.
BTW, I put out a one shot about Kurama and as far as I know, no one has read it. So if you could, just take a look. I don't care if you hate it, but I'd like to know that someone, anyone has read it.
Oh, yeah, almost forgot. I have not seen the movies or the end of the anime series, but it is my understanding that Yusuke eventually finds out that he is part demon. If this is untrue, oops, pretend like it is, cause that's the reason Yusuke isn't affected by the pendant. He's not going to find that out in this fic, but I wanted to let you know that there is some method to my madness.