Fate: Here it be. It was fun to write, once I stopped procrastinating. Hiei and Yusuke both swear a lot, so...uh...yeah. Not like you didn't know that. Moving on.

Disclaimer: IT'S NOT OURS, NOW TOSS OFF! *sigh*

&

"...fuck."

This was Hiei's summary of the situation at hand.

Thank you, Hiei.

"I'm sorry..." Kurama whispered, sitting upright at last and scrubbing at his bloody face. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

Hiei stared at him. "...?"

Kurama huddled in on himself once more and kept murmuring. "I'm sorry...I'm such...such an awful...I'm a demon..."

"Yes. Yes, you are," Hiei said coolly. "I thought we'd been over this several times."

Kurama swallowed. "Good. Someone agrees with me." Sniffle.

Hiei stared again, this time with one eyebrow raised. "Kitsune."

Sniff. "I'm sorry."

Hiei considered hitting himself in the forehead. Very hard. Several times. With a heavy, blunt object. Perhaps the nearest wall would suffice. Then he went on to have strange fantasies about beating Kurama's head on the wall as well. "So you were only a demon up until now, eh?" he asked. "Well, what are you now? Another sniveling, spineless human?"

"Humans are evil." Sniffle. "I guess that's me."

Those headbanging fantasies were starting to look better and better to a certain fire demon. "This is getting nowhere," he growled, and turned to stalk away down the alley.

"I'm..." Kurama began.

Hiei sighed and kept moving. "Save it for someone who gives a flying fuck about your humanity!"

The end of the alley was silent. Hiei debating speeding away and not coming back. Hiei also considered giving the dumbass demon reject behind him a few lumps for the day's troubles. Turning back around was also an option. When demons were quiet, something was usually on the not-good side. And Kurama was definitely silent back there.

Hiei's eyes narrowed as nothing more happened, then put one hand on his katana sheath and took a step forwards in preparation to kick it up to superspeed.

A bloodstained hand with bitten nails grabbed his upper left arm, holding him in place. Hiei's eyes flew wide again, and his sword flew out of its sheath and through the air in a blur of silver and black.

Whoever-it-was turned with him, then whirled around, pulling him sideways hard and catching the double-edged blade as it moved.

Hiei scowled up at Kurama. "What the hell do you call that?"

"Don't leave yet," Kurama said, his eyes shadowed by his hair. Fresh blood dripped from the hand tightening around the double-edged blade, a sharp contrast to the dried blood covering his formerly innocuous outfit. "Don't."

"And why should I do that?" Hiei sneered.

"Because I don't want you to," Kurama said softly, stubbornly. "I want you to talk to me."

"What about, the bleeding weather?" Hiei demanded.

"About how much of a demon you think I am," Kurama said, finally tilting his head enough that Hiei could see his eyes.

Hiei stared at him again. "...?"

"I mean it," Kurama snapped, his lips curling back over teeth that had never quite been human. Orthodontists and dentists just couldn't correct the pronounced incisors, though everything else about him was perfect. It was his one flaw, the one thing that kept him from being the next demonoid Adonis. "Sometimes you treat me like a demon, and sometimes you treat me like a human. Sometimes you act like I'm your equal, and other times you just won't talk to me at all. What the fuck is your problem?!"

Hiei blinked. "Now when did Minamino Shuuichi start cursing out anyone – let alone his elders?"

"I'm older," Kurama retorted, his eyes narrowing. "Stop dodging the subject and answer me! The sooner you answer me the sooner you can go back to your boring little life hiding in the trees and stabbing unsuspecting small mammals!"

Hiei rolled his eyes eloquently. "Che." Together, these two things spoke volumes.

"Will you just answer me? How much of a demon do you think I am?" Kurama snarled. "How much?!"

Hiei stared at him for a long moment. "Right now? You're human as hell."

Kurama slowly let him go. "Human...as...hell..." He took a step back, his hair falling over his eyes again. "Human as hell..." A soft laugh escaped his lips. "Clever of you not to answer my question at all!" He leapt forwards, grabbing Hiei's shoulders this time. Hiei automatically put his sword up to Kurama's neck. Kurama didn't notice. "No more of your games. I don't see the point! I go away, once you give me a straight answer. I can just go on my merry little way back to my horrible human life! So why won't you tell me what you really think I am! Humans think I'm human! Humans don't know the difference! Humans don't know anything! You know. Tell me!"

Hiei stared at where his blade met Kurama's neck. If he moved his wrist in the slightest--

Muscles shifted.

The sword dropped away.

"Stupid fucking youko. Your lot always make a fuss over nothing," Hiei mumbled, breaking free of Kurama's grip with no small effort on his part.

"You...ko..." Kurama said slowly.

"Yes, youko," Hiei repeated impatiently. "Kitsune, youko, youkai, what else do you want to be called?"

"I always fancied 'Duke Peachypoof de Panteris'," Kurama said, and sniffled again.

"...if you're serious, I'm going to have to rip your entrails out. With my teeth. Right now."

Kurama sniffled again and began shuffling along the alley, heading for the street.

"Now what are you doing?"

"I have to go talk to the police," Kurama whispered.

"What for?" Hiei inquired.

Kurama turned back to look at him, tears slowly making tracks down his grimy face. "My mother died. They'll...want to arrest me. They'll think I killed her."

"Then why are you going to talk to them?" Hiei asked, rolling his eyes. "Idiot."

"The longer I stay away, the more suspicious I am," Kurama said, his voice catching.

"Then why go at all?" Hiei asked. "Kitsune, this is your problem with being human. You have all these strange ideas."

"I...I have to go," Kurama said shakily. "I...I know the man who killed her. I don't have to be arrested. I have to go. It's as close to vengeance as I can get. I have to...I want to do something to that man...anything."

Hiei looked at him for a long moment. "..."

"Come with me?" Kurama asked imploringly.

Must...resist...stupid...fucking...youko...eyes...

"...hn."

Kurama sniffled some more, swiped at his face uselessly, then slowly turned and shuffled into the street. Hiei discreetly followed, as though it was his own idea.

It actually was his own idea. Really. The youko eyes had nothing to do with it. At all.

"This is it," Kurama murmured, stopping at a cinderblock building and looking at it with some apprehension. "I don't know what to do..."

"Kuramaaaaaa!"

Kurama tensed. Hiei flitted out of sight. Yusuke burst through one of the doors and ran up to Kurama. "Kurama! It's all over! He confessed! He signed a confession and everything! There's all these legalities to go through but he confessed and no one's challenging it! Look, come inside, and we'll get everything sorted out. I know everyone here, they'll treat you right," he said, slinging an arm around Kurama's shoulders and tugging the demon along with him. Hiei watched as they approached the door, then caught up before he could be locked out of the action.

"Jesus, Hiei, would you put the sword away before they lock you up?" Yusuke hissed. "Why can't you go back to lurking in the corners?"

Hiei ignored him as two people ran up to them in the hall, dragging Kurama from Yusuke's grasp and packing him off into a small room. The door slammed, and Yusuke and Hiei were left staring at each other in the hallway.

"Do you mind telling me what the hell is going on here?" Hiei asked.

"Oh, they're just going to get a statement or something from him. You know, supporting evidence or...or...dammit, what did they say? And I just watched that show last night, too..."

Hiei stared at the ceiling. And quite an interesting ceiling it was, too. Yes. Interesting. Bleeding fascinating, it was. You didn't see ceilings like this one in the Makai.

Are you convinced?

"Are they going to kill the human?" Hiei asked.

Yusuke shrugged. "Usually they go down fighting the cops."

Hiei finally tore his eyes away from the ceiling. "..."

"Kurama's gonna be fine," Yusuke said.

"...?"

"Aren't you worried at all?" Yusuke demanded, throwing his hands into the air.

"Hn," Hiei said dismissively. "Now that he no longer has that one weak spot in his abilities alive, he'll either become much stronger or much weaker."

"Is that all you care about? Ah, what am I talking about, of course that's all you care about. Jesus, demons, I'll never get used to them." Yusuke said with a sigh.

"If you get used to something, you're going to lose it. Like that fox in there," Hiei said, jerking his head towards the closed door.

"Aren't you talkative," Yusuke replied. "You volunteered a whole sentence by yourself."

"..."

"You even started a topic!"

"..."

"I think the world might be ending. You should check if the Makai is freezing over next time you go there," Yusuke kept going.

"..."

Suddenly the door across from them swung open. Hiei put his hand on his sword automatically.

"Put that away," Yusuke hissed.

"Here's your friend," a man said briskly, stepping out with Kurama wavering next to him. The demon's eyes were even darker than before, and he looked to be on the verge of collapsing. "He's been put through a very nasty reminder of what happened today. The doctor looked at him quickly before the statement, so he's certainly physically all right. Mentally...well, no one can ever be really prepared for something like this. Do you have a place for him to stay?"

"I'll take him home. Is his house a crime scene?" Yusuke asked.

"We'll get your contact information, Urameshi," the man said, waving him off. "And don't let me see you around here again!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Yusuke said airily, taking Kurama's arm and starting towards the door. Hiei trailed behind quietly as Yusuke paused inside the door, lit a cigarette, blew the smoke at the receptionist with a charming grin, then hauled ass out of there.

"You're taking me to your house?" Kurama asked softly. "Thank you very much. I'm sorry to be so much trouble to you."

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Yusuke said, brushing it off. "You seem to have picked up a stalker, though."

"Hn," Hiei said sulkily. "I'm going. There wasn't any torturing of that human."

"No, that's after we get the lawyers," Yusuke insisted. "They handle all that."

Hiei looked intrigued.

"He's kidding," Kurama cautioned.

"...che." With that, Hiei sulkily bounded up into the trees and vanished.

"Yusuke..."

"Yeah?"

"I don't know what's happening anymore," Kurama whispered.

"You don't, when stuff like this happens. I'm...I'm amazed you're still in one piece," Yusuke said quietly. "Look, you're lucky, I live out here too. It's a good thing we're not going to Kuwabara's. He lives way out."

"I have to take these," Kurama said, holding up a paper envelope filled with pills.

"Sleeping pills?" Yusuke inquired.

Kurama nodded. "They said it would help me with the shock. They want me to come back and talk to them more when I'm...in better shape."

"I'll take you back when you need to go," Yusuke offered. "Look, we're here. You can crash in my room, and I'll take the couch."

"I wouldn't want to – "

"You're not, I sleep out there all the time anyway," Yusuke told him cheerily as they went up the stairs. He opened the door and stuck his head in. "Mum? You there?"

"Yusuke?" Atsuko looked out. "Oh...man, you don't look good," she added on seeing Kurama.

"Mum, this's Kurama...you've seen him around. He's gonna crash with us for a bit. Kurama, I'm gonna show you my room and then I'll talk with my mum a bit," Yusuke said.

"Okay," Kurama said softly as he was ushered into a small, messy room.

"I'll leave you to do whatever you want. Bathroom's across the hall, towels are...somewhere. Futon's under the...I think the manga, but if it's not there, check under the DVD player," Yusuke said. "I'll be right back."

Kurama nodded, then slowly started cleaning off the futon from under what looked like all the manga sold in the past few years. About halfway through, his eyes drifted closed and he hit the futon with a soft thump.

The branches shifted outside his window.

There was no wind.

$

Fluffy: *is busy dancing in the middle of the room* Eh? I'm supposed to say something? *blinks*

Nips – Heh, Shiori's a little occupied, but...well, you'll see. Oh, and I'd like to be a professional fiction writer, so it's good to know that my fanfiction is actually doing something for my writing style! ^_^

higashikaze – Disturbed is better. That needs to be on a shirt as a slogan.

HieilovesBotan – *blush* Thank you!

Randall Flagg – See? I updated faster!

Psychopathic Sixth Grader – O_O *stares* ...

Duel: Hiii~i! *waves* Review or I'll have to kill you! That'll be all! *sticks the Review Stick of Doom into the ground and leans on it*