Disclaimer???
Reiko: Say for the readers.
Kurama: Okay already! I sincerely apologize to my apparent fiancé for being a complete and total jerk. -kisses her-
R: -giggles and blushes- Thank you, Kitsune…
K: -smirks- You're welcome…
Karine Dragon'sheart: -sigh- I don't own YYH.

She was finally asleep, after the long day of hell she'd just gone through. No, no, I'm not talking about labor, but rather the strenuous shopping Rei, Keiko, Botan, Yukina, and Shizuru had just accomplished. Reiko's innate form was surrounded by bags and boxes of baby clothes and toys, with a brand new crib sparkling in the corner. I just stood over her, tsking, when Genkai popped her head in.

"Kurama, we…My lord, these girls had a heyday! How much money did they spend?" I sighed, and groaned the answer.

"Close to 10,000 yen. Easily. If credit card collectors come after me, blame them." "She chuckled.

"My apologies. I'll see if Koenma will grant you a raise, at least till the debt problem has been solved. Anyway, I came up here to call you to a meeting with the boys in the living room. We have a new danger."

Her words chilled me, and my mind wandered back to the Dark Tournament, to Karasu. His voice still worried me to this day, even though I was the one to kill him. I shook my head of those phantoms, and turned to Genkai with an easy smile. "I'll be down as soon as I navigate this maze of bags. Just give me a minute." She nodded and disappeared. I left a kiss on Rei's forehead and managed to get to the door with relative ease. Gazing back into the room, I felt a quiet calm as I lovingly watched my young water-mage shift on our bed. Had I known then what I know now, I never would have left her alone…

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Kurama closed the door after his eyes took in my supposedly sleeping form. I heard his footsteps on the stairs, then the soft voices of the Reikei Tantei below. I shifted a little on the bed and found a comfy spot, where my body could curl around my baby and I could finally sleep. I was finally nearing nine months, content to wait for the right time. Poor Kurama knew a lot of things when it came to the human anatomy and healing, but that man had no idea what to expect from a pregnancy, other than how to diagnose it. Genkai had been my saving grace in the past months. She had introduced me to a midwife friend of hers, who was more than happy to assist the birth. She left Kurama and I specific instructions to call her at anytime, for questions or for the actual event.

I smiled a little and rubbed the soft skin of my belly, another kick pronouncing my little one's existence. I was offered the chance of a sonogram, but I didn't accept, feeling it wiser to leave the sex of the baby unknown. Perhaps I learned it from my parents, because they had always told me, when they noticed me, that a child was a sacred thing, not to be defiled by technology's probes. Of course, had I sensed anything wrong, that child would have more sonograms taken than if he or she were royalty. A breeze fluttered on my face, and I opened my eyes, sure that Kurama had closed the balcony doors. A ghastly, grayish hand covered my mouth with cloth, a cloth soaked in a cloyingly familiar liquid. Chloroform, I wanted to scream as two huge arms picked me up, but the smell was too much, and I lost consciousness…

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Suddenly, I felt a strange urge to race upstairs, to Reiko. I obeyed it, and smashed clear through the door. The balcony doors were wide open, the room lit with bright sunlight, yet my beloved was nowhere to be found. I surged out onto the balcony, and screamed her name.

"REIKO!" My rage was growing, a vast, incredible anger like none other.

"Kurama! A note!" Hiei's voice was just as angry, and the slip of paper in his hand trembled when I whirled around. Everyone had followed me, and they all, except the aforementioned demon, stepped back in fear.

"Read it, Hiei." I replied coldly. He took a breath.

"Reikei Tantei. Your greatest weakness is now ours, your greatest strength in her womb. Do not alert the Spirit World. Appear in front of the main factory in the oil fields, with nothing more than yourselves. If you wish for the water-mage and her child to survive, follow these instructions. Disobey, and both she and the child plunge to their deaths. You have until sunset to appear." Hiei's voice was just as cold, but when he looked up, the fear was evident. I could see the care he had for Reiko, that this pained him just as much as I.

"Sunset…We go now." I had a hard time not thundering those few words. My breathing was short and fast, my heart racing. Youko was fast resurfacing, his rage at her kidnapping akin to mine. We must work together. We must fight together. His words echoed in my mind. I strode to the doorway, and Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei followed me silently, all intent on our newest mission. I shoved open the front door and barely heard the whispered goodbyes to their loved ones. My heart wrenched when I turned and saw Yusuke give Keiko a hug and kiss, and Kuwabara kneel before Yukina. Even Hiei brushed a few of Botan's tears away. I threw my long form into the back of Hiei's truck, and Kuwabara joined me. Hiei and Yusuke got in the cab, and Hiei took off, gunning it in the afternoon sun.

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The cell was cramped, cold, and totally dark. I felt an anger towards these jerks, but at least all they did was ignore me. This hole, though cramped and grimy, had a cot to rest on, and that is all I need right now. The fright is understandable, but all I could do was curl up and pray that Kurama found me. But while I did that, I also extended my spirit senses, exactly how Hiei and Kurama had taught me in the past many months. Stretching those invisible tendrils, I searched long and hard for a water source. Anything, anything at all would suffice. A sink, a water pipe, even a glass of the stuff. At first, I couldn't find a single water container, until I brushed against a massive cistern, full to the brim. I smiled in the darkness, and began to pull the shifting molecules into the form of a powerful dragon…

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We sped down the highway, the winds screaming past our ears. We passed through the different parts of town, from the suburbs to downtown to the slums to the industrial. The gray towers of steel and green veins of copper arched above our heads, creating a cage. I snarled silently up at those bars, wanting to rip them away. Finally, after an agonizingly long journey, Hiei pulled up in front of a tall factory. The sign had long ago rotted away, but we all knew what it had once been. The Terasu Steel factory had been the backbone of this city, until the owner mysteriously died and it was overrun by a former street gang. This new yakuza group now ran the entire factory town with an iron fist.

I want to kill them all. They deserved far more, but to kill them, strangle them for stealing away my bride was more than enough to satisfy this hunger for revenge. We got out, I and Kuwabara leaping, Yusuke and Hiei stepping down. We all strode to the main gate, and stepped inside, the fury barely controlled. Suddenly the intercoms blared.

"You have been seen. Stay exactly where you are, and your challengers will be outside shortly. Do not attempt to storm the factory, or the water-mage dies." It took all three Spirit Detectives to hold me back, Hiei and Yusuke dragging along on my legs, and Kuwabara's whole weight on my back.

That voice was too distorted by the ancient megaphone to be recognizable, and I could not place it. But that really didn't matter anymore. I felt the barrier between Youko and I thin ever more, and with a savage burst of spirit energy, I shattered it. Great, blinding winds enveloped my body as my eyes, hair, and clothing changed to silver and gold, and as a silvery tail and ears sprouted out from my head and back. Youko, the Dark King of Thieves, has finally returned.

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The dragon was nearing completion, and as I was just about to add the final stitch to my little spell, the gray-skinned man opened my cell door. I quickly tied it off, and set my creation free. A deep roar sounded through the massive building and the distinct sounds of concrete, steel and glass being destroyed began to echo. He looked out, his attention diverted to the screams and yells of his comrades, and when he turned back, a cot threw him over the edge of the catwalk. I waddled out, glancing all around for guards, and seeing none, picked up a sharp piece of broken aluminum and jogged to the ground level.

The gray-skinned man didn't survive his fall, and I squeezed through the crack in the massive doors to my right. I jogged as fast as I could, both without jarring the baby and without missing a guard. Daylight shone in front of me, and suddenly, I was outside, staring bewilderedly at a sliver-haired, golden-eyed demon, whose only word when he saw me was my name.

"REIKO!" He shoved at Yusuke, Hiei and Kuwabara.

"Let me go, you fools, she's safe!" He roared. They all saw me, and they all saw the massive creation of mine that burst through the roof of the factory. I was in shock. Kurama's demon? I wondered, frightened by the man. He seemed to see that fright, and he closed his eyes, and suddenly, there he was.

"KURAMA!" I screamed, jogging to him with my arms out wide. He scooped me up and planted a warm, longing kiss on my lips.

"Reiko, Rei, Rei,…" He couldn't stop repeating my name into my neck, his tears hot on my collar.

"Kurama-koishii…" I whispered, curling up tightly. We stood there for a moment, then he raced me back to the blue truck idling by the curb.

"Hiei, get in and drive. We're going home." He said, his voice weary. The short demon nodded in disbelief, and got in. Kuwabara and Yusuke hopped in back, a little scared by my creation. With a flick of my fingers, the dragon dissipated into plain old water once more.

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She is ours once more…Yes, I know, I replied, my heart still soaring after that wonderful kiss. I sacrificed my freedom for her…And I thank you, Youko. You could have just taken her there, and you didn't. Am I truly rubbing off on you? Don't push it, ningen. Perhaps you are, but I enjoy the woman as much as you do, and I don't like to see fear in her eyes. I thought fear was your main weapon. It is, but…You love her. Yes. I do…

I've been reading too many Battosai, Rurouni stories. But I get the feeling that this is what a true split soul is. Anyways, if I screw up any Japanese, flame me. I probably deserve it.

KD