Chapter 3

Hiei groaned. Once again the light was in his eyes, but this time it wasn't a natural light. The fire demon opened his eyes to see a green sphere suspended in the air casting off a green glow; it looked very familiar to him. "The Ruffian Sphere," said Hiei, sitting up. Apparently too fast, because the room began to spin and he almost blacked out again. Hiei closed his eyes and raised a hand to hold his head. The sound of metal on metal greeted his ears. He opened his eyes again to see two iron shackles and long chains going from his wrists to the floor.

"What-" he started to say, but stopped when he heard a soft, almost gentle voice speaking to him.

"I wouldn't overdo it if I were you. I'm rather surprised you woke up at all."

Hiei looked over his shoulder at Korin, one of the youkai they had been sent to find and capture. "You," he growled, turning to face him still on his knees. He felt so weak and yet no wards held him except the ones on his Jagan and Kokuryuha.

The tiger demon smiled at the fire demon. "You know, you look like him. Even more then your last life."

"My last life," murmured Hiei. His head was still foggy. "What the hell are you taking about?" He remembered that this demon and his partners had stolen the three treasures and some kind of files with his and the rest of his team's pervious lives in them. He glanced up at the sphere above him. Hiei really didn't like that soul-sucking ball floating over his head.

Korin laughed to himself. "Want to hear a story, boy? Almost a hundred years ago, I was on the trail of a tall, dark chimera youkai. He had leathery black wings, long black hair, and pale white skin. It took me many years to find him and when I did he was working as the partner of a famous silver Youko who I believe you know rather well."

"Kurama?" said Hiei. He could think of no other silver Youko he'd ever met. The black-winged chimera sounded familiar as well. "No.... Kurama's partner, Kuronue?" He'd never met the real winged youkai, but he'd seen what the chimera looked like from when one of Yakumo's demon gods impersonating him.

"Very good!" Korin smiled at Hiei. "Yes, that was his name. Kuronue. I tracked him for so long trying to see if I could use him to wake up Suoh. But....." The tiger Youko frowned. "He was killed trying to steal a mirror from a demon fortress and I had to start my search all over again."

Suoh? wondered Hiei. Who was Suoh? And why would he need a winged chimera to wake whoever he was up? What the hell did this crazy youkai want with him?

As if reading his mind Korin spoke, "I don't have to worry about hunting different youkais any more. You're the key to waking up Suoh now."

"What the hell do you mean!?" growled Hiei. "Who the hell is this Suoh bastard?!"

Korin's grin widened. "You are."

Hiei was slightly taken aback by the tiger demon's answer. "You're mistaken."

The demon shook his head. "Oh no. There is no mistake, you are indeed Suoh Ryu."

"You're crazy! I'm Hiei, a fire demon!"

"Not for much longer you are." Korin smirked. He made a gesture with his hand and a red cycle formed under Hiei's feet. Symbols and runes filled it. The Ruffian sphere overhead intensified its glow.

"Damn it!" shouted Hiei, jumping up to his feet. He wished he hadn't as spots danced before his eyes, he swayed.

"I told you, you shouldn't overdo it," said Korin as the fire demon fell face first to the floor out cold.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Damn it, Koenma!" shouted Yusuke, glaring down at the chibi god. "Why the hell did those youkais take Hiei! Tell me! You must know 'something'!"

The chibi god covered his ears and glared back at Yusuke. "Quit yelling!" screamed the godling at the top of his lungs.

"You never said anything about Hiei having connections to the three treasures," said Yusuke, still obviously angry. He wasn't really mad at the Prince of Death he was frustrated that he hadn't managed to protect a member of his team. Who knew what they were planning to do to the Koorime boy.

"I never said anything about him 'not' having any connections to the treasures either!"

"Koenma," said Kurama. He hadn't said a word since Korin had taken Hiei. "Koenma, please, do you know anything?"

Koenma looked at the miserable fox. He is taking this a lot harder then the others. I can't blame the fox, especially since Hiei slipped up trying to help him. The godling sighed loudly. "There isn't much to go on. I had my onis check the other files around the same time period that Kurama had the three treasures. But I mainly had them look into that silver fox god in Kurama's past existence." Koenma looked hard at Kurama with a very serious look on his face. "Kurama, you might want to sit down. I've found the reason you've always been born as a fox."

"I'll stand," said Kurama. He didn't care about why he was always reincarnated as a fox. He was more concerned with Hiei's safety at the moment and how they were going to get him back.

"Kurama, the reason you're always reincarnated as a fox is because 'you' were that silver fox god."

It took a moment for Koenma's words to fully sink in, but when they did Kurama found himself staggering back into Kuwabara.

"Koenma, this isn't time for any of your sick jokes! I'm sure many girls will agree with you when you say Kurama is a god, but this is hardly the time to talk about that!"

"I'm not joking!" Koenma shouted.

"Koenma, think about it! If Kurama was a god he'd have been immortal! Therefore, he never would have died in the first place!"

Koenma's face was gravely serious then he closed his eyes and scratched the side of his cheek. "Well, you see... we're still looking into that."

Wham. Yusuke was on the floor twitching.

I'm a fox god thought Kurama. No, I was once, but not any more. That wasn't even my life, there's no point in even thinking about it. We have to find and save Hiei.

Kurama suddenly gave a cry of pain and fell to his knees clutching his head with both hands and staring with wide eyes straightforward. His breath sped up and he began to shake all over.

"Kurama!" shouted Kuwabara going down on his knees and grabbing hold of the redhead's shoulders. "Kurama?! What's wrong, Kurama!?"

Kurama squeezed his green eyes shut as images running through his head all blurred and fuzzy. He could vaguely hear sounds, voices, but they too were distorted. An image of Hiei standing in a tournament ring flashed before his eyes. The fire demon slowly unwrapped his arm to reveal the Kokuryuha to Bui his dark youki blazing around him. Then suddenly Hiei's figure changed to another figure in black.

"Kuronue!" shouted Kurama. He reached out, but grasped at nothing but air. "Wait, Kuronue!" To Kurama's eyes the black chimera stood right in front of him a sexy grin on his face. With a playful wink he turned and ran; Kurama ran after him. "Kuronue! Stop, wait!" The dark youkai didn't seem to hear him. Kurama watched in shock as a silver Youko holding a mirror ran up beside the winged demon, they exchanged brief looks of triumph.

"What? That's... me?" said Kurama. "Am I dreaming?"

The two ran through a forest of bamboo and Kurama watched helplessly as the necklace holding the red pendent around the chimera's neck broke and fell.

"NO! NO! Not this dream again! I don't want to see this, not again!" cried Kurama holding his head. He wanted to look away, but couldn't. He could only watch as the dark youkai ran to retrieve the fallen treasure. "No!" shouted Kurama running forward to try and push the chimera out of the way. He reached Kuronue and leapt. His eyes widened in shock as he passed right through the youkai the same time as Kuronue's eyes spotted his incoming death. Kurama landed in a heap on the ground. He turned his head and watched as the shoots of bamboo pierced through his friend.

"No!" he sobbed. "Why am I seeing this?! Why?!"

The redhead dared a look as he heard new voices.

"I'm going to get you!" laughed a deep male voice which was followed by a female's also laughing. Two Youkos ran through a meadow, the male was all black with golden eyes. The female was also black with white tipped ears, tail, and deep red eyes. Kurama glanced around in confusion. What had happened to the forest of bamboo, where had Kuronue's body gone?

The male coiled and pounced landing on the running female and rolled with her in the tall grass. "See," he grinned. "I told you I'd get you." He then leaned down to kiss the female Youko, his hands roaming up her body.

Kurama looked on in bewilderment as the two began pulling at each other's clothes. They didn't seem to sense him.

"Um, excuse me," said Kurama walking over to the two. He blushed as the male yanked the female's shirt off revealing her chest. The male Youko ignored him and finished unclothing himself and the female.

"Um, hello!" shouted Kurama waving his hand in front of their faces. They didn't even blink. He passed his hand through them as they locked in a passionate embrace. Kurama turned around as the two started making love.

"I don't understand," he said out loud. "Who are they, why am I here?" The scene changed again right before Kurama's eyes.

"There you are," said a male voice.

Kurama turned around to see a short man, with black hair, dark brown skin, and red eyes, possibly an Arab. He picked up a pure white fox from the ground.

"Did you bring me a message from Suki, Sylphiel?"

The fox yipped and licked the dark-skinned man's face. Kurama could see that there was a tube with a piece of paper stuffed in it around the white fox's neck. The man took out the message and read it. He then put the fox down and pulled out a short sword.

"Will you come and bring me luck Sylpheil?" he asked the fox. The fox danced on its heels in a circle then bolted off through the trees. The man followed behind at a fast run.

Kurama watched them run out of sight. He thought about following them, but had a feeling that it would do no more good then his attempt to get the two black Youkos' attentions.

More images passed before Kurama's eyes, always of a fox of some kind and a dark creature often with wings or red eyes. Kurama felt like he was seeing thousands of lives pass before his eyes in one continuous circle. He saw passionate moments between lovers, scenes of battle and carnage, death, and displays of affection between friends. It seemed there would be no end to it all. Then, everything went black.

Kurama thought for a moment that he'd gone blind or mad. He couldn't be sure.

"Hello," he said his voice barely over a whisper. Kurama heard movement behind him and turned. He saw before him was a creature shorter then he. He appeared to be covered in smooth black scales that shimmered a dark blue if he turned in the slightest. His face and belly were pure white contrasting sharply with the rest of his black body. Large leathery wings extended from his back arching graceful out. A short black tail moved slowly back and forth as he stood on his toes like a bird with sharp claws. The creature wore gray almost translucent robes forked in the back for his tail. Gold, silver, and gems covered his body in various pieces of jewelry and a blade-less sword hung from his belt.

"Hiei?" asked Kurama. The creature 'looked' like his lover. Although, Kurama couldn't help but notice that many of the animals and people he'd just seen reminded him of the Koorime boy. But this one had Hiei's face. The same wild hair minus the white star burst, the same button nose, the same full lips. This creature, however, was obviously not a fire demon or a Koorime. A small, curved horn stood in the place where the Jagan should have been. His ears were long and elfish. A pair of slightly curved long white horns stuck out from the wild mess of hair, which was longer in the back and tied in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. But those eyes... He could never forget that burning red gaze.

"Who are you?" asked the Hiei look-alike.

Kurama glanced around. There was no one else there but them. Could this one see him? "I am Kurama."

"Kurama," said the black creature, rolling the name off its tongue. Kurama wanted to go up and hug the strange Hiei; he was overjoyed that he'd finally found someone that could see and sense him.

"Hiei, it's you, isn't it? Hiei. God, I was worried about you. What happened to you? You look so different!"

The winged creature stepped back from Kurama. He did not seem to recognize him. "I know not this Hiei you speak of. I am the black ryu Suoh."

"Suoh?" said Kurama. He had heard that name recently, but where? Hadn't it been the name he'd heard Inari say before he left?

"Someone calls you," said the black ryu.

"What?" said Kurama. It seemed as if he was suddenly getting farther and farther away without even moving. "Wait!" shouted Kurama, trying to run toward the ryu. "Wait, do you know where Hiei is?!" he shouted. "Come back!" The ryu faded into the black and light engulfed Kurama.

Kurama gasped and looked around in confusion. Where am I?

"Kurama!? Kurama!?" someone shouted shaking him. He focused on the person in front of him and recognized the set of brown eyes and black hair that stuck up wild in different places.

"Yusuke?" said Kurama still confused. Where had Suoh gone?

"Kurama, are you okay?" asked Kuwabara from behind him. "You fell to your knees and you were staring blankly forward for the last couple minutes."

"Minutes?" said Kurama. It had felt like years, more time then he could estimate. He tried to remember, but it was starting to get fuzzy.

"Yes, Kurama. You said some things while you were out of it. You called out Kuronue's name, and Hiei's. What did you see?" said Yusuke.

"I'm not sure," said Kurama running a hand through his bangs. "I'm not sure... people, places, different lives... At the end there was a dragon who looked like Hiei. He said his name was Suoh."

"Suoh?" said Kuwabara. "Koenma, do you know anything about a dragon called Suoh?"

The godling scratched his head. "No, I've never heard that name, but I'm not really familiar with many dragons. We get few of them in the Reikai. I'd say only one of them dies every 1,000 years or so."

"Are you going to be okay, Kurama?" asked Kuwabara, helping the redhead up to his feet.

"Yes, I think," said Kurama, rubbing his forehead. He was trying to hold on to all those strange images, but they were fading so fast.

"Do you think that Hiei was trying to send Kurama a message or something?" asked Kuwabara.

"No," said Kurama, shaking his head. "Whoever it was, it wasn't Hiei. At least, not the Hiei we know," he said quietly.

They were all silent a moment pondering those words.

"Koenma, I've been thinking," said Kuwabara. "Just how old is Hiei?"

"What? Why are you asking stupid questions at a time like this?" shouted Yusuke.

"Just answer me! How old is he?!" growled Kuwabara.

"I'd say Hiei is not even a hundred years old," said Kurama, still rubbing his head.

"Are you sure?" asked Kuwabara. "Is there any possibility that he could be over 600 years old?"

"No, I'm sure he's not that old," said Kurama.

"Kuwabara, what are you getting at?" asked Yusuke.

"That tiger demon, Korin, said he'd been looking for Hiei for over 600 years. How could he look for someone that wasn't even born yet?"

"You're right," said Yusuke. "I remember him saying that."

"Koenma-sama!" shouted George the blue oni, running into the room. "Koenma-sama, we've got those names you wanted!"

"Ahh, good. What are they?" said Koenma leaning forward in his chair.

"Names?" questioned Kuwabara.

"The names of your previous lives when Kurama was the silver fox god. Go ahead, George."

"Yes sir." The blue oni cleared his voice and looked at the paper he held in his hand. "Yusuke at the time was a black lighting dragon called Rouin. Kuwabara was Huma, a powerful beast master. Kurama was, as you know, the silver fox god Inari-"

"What a minute!" said Kuwabara. "Wasn't the gold fox god also called Inari?"

Koenma nodded his head. "Yes, he was. Apparently, they both go by the name of Inari. How strange."

"And Hiei?" asked Yusuke.

"Hiei," said Kurama drawing their attention. "Hiei was a black ryu by the name of Suoh, wasn't he?"

George gasped and glanced down at the paper that he held. "That's right! How did you know, Kurama?"

Kurama began to tremble.

"Kurama!" called Yusuke, grabbing his friend before he fell back to the ground.

"Oh god, Yusuke," said Kurama. There was a pounding in his head that seemed to be getting stronger. "Something is wrong. Not just with me, there's something wrong with Hiei. He's-he's.... gone."

"Gone?!" shouted Yusuke giving Kurama a shake. "What do you mean 'gone'! Do you mean he's dead?!"

"I don't know," gasped Kurama. His head felt like it would split in two.

"Koenma! Is he?! Is Hiei dead?!"

The chibi god panicked. "No Yusuke! He's not dead; no files have come in regarding Hiei! So wherever he is, he's alive."

"Kurama, calm down. You heard Koenma. He's not dead. Get a hold of yourself," said Yusuke.

"No, no," said Kurama shaking his head. "Hiei's gone. You don't understand Yusuke, I just saw him. I saw them all: Hiei, Kuronue, that black female Youko, the Arab, Suoh, they were all him!"

Koenma now held the paper that George had ran into the room with. He scanned it quickly his eyes growing larger. "Kurama, I think you should go lie down," said the godling putting down the paper.

Kurama was going to protest. They needed to find Hiei and see what they'd done to him, but the pain in his head was only increasing. Before he knew it George was supporting him and pulling him out of the room.

"God, Koenma. What's happening to Kurama?" said Yusuke.

"His mind feels like it's on fire," said Kuwabara looking in the direction Kurama had gone.

"It's backlash from his brief connection to Suoh's, or should I say Hiei's, mind."

"What? What do you mean?" asked Kuwabara.

"According to these papers," said Koenma picking up the papers. "Not only has Kurama always been reincarnated as a fox, but Hiei has always been reincarnated with Kurama. You, Kuwabara, and some of the others also pop up repeatedly throughout Kurama's existence, but Hiei, he's always with the fox."

"Why is that?" asked Yusuke.

Koenma breathed in a shaky breath. "I think that Kurama owns Hiei's soul."

"What?!" shouted both boys.

"Something happened between Suoh Ryu and the silver Inari, something that bound them so tightly that not even death can separate them. Kurama's youkai partner, Kuronue, was Hiei's last incarnation before he became Hiei. If Kurama was a god, perhaps Hiei was his servant, or he somehow lost his soul to Kurama. All I know is that Hiei is always at Kurama's side."

"Hiei is Kurama's servant?" said Kuwabara.

"I'm not sure, but that's the most plausible explanation. Some people's souls are tied together, not always by force, but usually."

"God, what happened in the past? Just what is this whole damn case about?" said Yusuke.

"The Meikai war," said Koenma.

"Meikai! You mean Yakumo!"

The chibi god nodded. "That is why we know so little. Most of the files that contain information about the Meikai war no one but my father has access to."

"Why? What's he hiding?" asked Kuwabara.

"I don't know Kuwabara. I really don't know," said Koenma.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Kurama wasn't even aware when George helped him onto a large soft bed. He curled up into a ball, fists digging into the sheets.

He wanted to speak to Suoh Ryu again, but whatever he'd had with the black ryu was now gone. However, he felt that seeing Suoh was awakening something inside of him.

Kurama buried his face into his pillow and bit down on the inside of his cheek.

"What is it?" he said voice barely over a whisper. "What is it that I'm supposed to remember...?"

Kuama's body finally gave in to the pain and he found himself in the land of dreams. Or were they long-ago memories of another life?