...For those of you wondering... there is no Shota-con (AdultxChild) content in this story. Trust me, Hiei was well... capable... when he started with Kurama... Eh, hee, hee, hee... Guess I didn't clear that very well, huh? Woopies... (okay, maybe just a LITTLE shota-con... but only like a kiss or somethin'...)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, its charaters, or its plots in any way, shape, or form... Though I do own Saiko, Saiko's bodygaurd, Lex, Ensho-sama, and all of the youkai dolls... so there.

Chapter Nine...Waterfall

One could not guess what was happening between the trees near Yusuke's place if they were merely on-lookers.

"REI-GAAAAAAN!"

Well, maybe you could.

A blast of blue energy flew through the tree branches, as youkai dolls were blown to bits. Yusuke relaxed his arm, and sighed tiredly. He had been doing this for over an hour. No matter where he went, no matter how many dolls he killed, they still found him in large numbers. They weren't hard to fight, mind you, but shooting reiki blasts repeatedly over a long amount of time will exaust anyone's enegry.

The hanyou whipped around to punch three more dolls that snuck up on him, "Man... I'm getting weaker an' weaker... Wait... What if this was the youkai's intention in the first place!"

"Hm...," laughed a small voice near Yusuke. He looked into the branches to see a small child youkai come out of them, "Seems you've figured us out. Oh, well. I'll just have to kill you know. You're weak enough."

"Who're you!" the hanyou stepped forward.

The child paused for a while, then said, "Saiko."

"Psycho? I'll belive that...," Yusuke laughed.

The child just smiled calmly, "Your hair's quite the mess, Mr. Urameshi. That's your mother's last name correct? Must be, since demons don't have last names. We don't like to be tied down to title given by parents."

"I am not "Mr. Urameshi", never say that again."

"Why? What's wrong... Mr. Urameshi?"

Yusuke charged at the child, but a giant arm flew out of nowhere a smacked him right in the face, causing him to be thrown backwards. He looks up from the ground tho see a much larger youkai standing in a protective stance near Saiko, "The... hell?"

"Oh? Meet my personal bodyguard. He's really quite nice, a little shy though..."

"SHUTUP!" Yusuke got up again. He was enraged. He didn't have time to listen to this child. He had to kill them both quickly and get to his friends. He could feel their energy failing...

"Angry, are we? You're more of a child than I."

Yusuke growled, as his ki flared to heights unknown. His eyes grew catlike, his long brown hair turned white, mazoku tribal marks became more vibrant on his body. Saiko blinked at the unexpected change, "Heh... what fun..."

Kurama let out a small cry as he very ungracefully fell over his own feet. He had blood and dirt on his face and arms, and a major stab wound in his stomach. He had defeated all the dolls after him. In fact, they had mysteriously disappeared after Yusuke's energy flared and few minutes ago...

"Kuso...," he hissed to himself as his stomach wound started to bleed again. He sat up and placed a hand over his wound in a feeble attempt to reconnect the skin. He crawled back a bit and leaned against a tree trunk, "Man... I'm screwed...," he whispered. Then, he felt a youki nearby. He tried to stand up in case it was a doll, but instead Hiei fell out of a tree a few yards away, "Hiei...?"

But the hiyoukai apparently didn't hear him. Hiei stood up and faced the tree he fell out of. A youkai doll jumped at him, and he unsheathed his sword as quick as lightning. He managed to cut the doll's arm off, but it still attacked. Kurama could tell Hiei was tired too, by his choppy movements. Kurama tried to stand up, but the pain paralyzed him. The doll kicked Hiei hard in the stomch, and the demon fell over, coughing up blood. He growled when the doll laughed, and thrust his body upwards, causing the doll to fly into the tree. Hiei stood up and slashed off its head. He nearly fell over, but somehow kept standing depite his injuries.

"Hiei," Kurama said louder. For some reason, he couldn't yell. Hiei, free of distractions, heard him this time. He looked in the fox's direction, and seemed very surprised to see Kurama there, no less looking very weak. He ran over to Kurama as fast as his injury would allow, "Kurama, what happened?" he asked as he kneeled next to him. Kurama was more than surprised at the concern in his voice.

"It's just... a cut," he said. His voice cracked from the pain.

"A cut? A cut?" Hiei growled, "How can say that! Your stomach's practically split in two!"

"It's nothing to be worried about..."

"Shut up! You're always like this! Even when I was a kid! You lie about your injuries, even when you're on the brink of death! It... It makes me sick...," Hiei looked down, probably because of the pain.

"I'll survive! I swear, I'm not gonna die like this..."

"I don't care," Hiei looks up, "I don't like it when you're hurt, 'cuz it makes me feel even worse!"

"...Huh?"

"Don't go thinking I don't care if you live or die! I do! I may hate you, but I don't want you to die!" Kurama sat there, wide eyed, at Hiei, both of them bloody and bruised and dirty.

"Hiei... I-mmfgh!" his words were cut off as Hiei pressed his lips against his own. He felt Hiei licking his lips, and his tongue invading his mouth. And in his state, the fox couldn't push him away. He soon felt an odd, warm feeling in his mouth, and soon Hiei pulled away. He put his youki into my body..., "Hiei?" said youkai's eyes rolled back, and he promtly passed out on Kurama, "Hiei! HIEI!" he pulls the smaller man into his lap, and sees on his right arm the black dragon fading into view, meaning, "He used the kokuryu-ha a while ago... He pushed the the last of his concious energy into me? Why...?"

Kurama shook his head. This wasn't the time for questions. He had to get himself, and more importantly Hiei to a safe place, where the youkai dolls wouldn't find them easily. He stood up, and after many minutes of wincing and grimacing, he managed to put Hiei over his shoulder, and headed off in search of a safe place...

"A... ahh... I... I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" Saiko pleaded after he was witness to his bodygaurd's muder. Toushin Yusuke stared cruelly down at the sobbing boy, "And... Why should I, exactly?" the boy whimpered, "Please! I'm not the one in charge! I can tell you where he is though!" Saiko had tears in his eyes. Yusuke raised an eyebrow, and leaned in close to the boy, "Who?"

"Will you let me live if I tell you?" tears stained the boy's face, as did fear. I don't wanna die...!

"It depends," Yusuke grabbed his hair, "Tell me!"

"Agh! He's... He's a mile or so away to the east! I dunno his name! I swear! He makes us all call him "Ensho-sama"! I SWEAR!"

Yusuke laughed, "Thanks kid."

"You're... not gonna kill me?"

"Nah...," he said as his hair and eyes returned to normal, "Sadly, I have more human in me than I'd ever like to admit..."

"...H-huh..."

Yusuke strode away, first in search of the others, then this "Ensho-sama".

"Shimatta...," Kurama clenched his teeth as his wound reopened. He had managed to get up out of his spot, but carrying Hiei was turning out to be quite the chore... And Hiei wasn't all that heavy, making it even more embarrasing. He gasped for air, as pain filled him, giving him a headache. He sighed loudly, and sat against a rock wall, resting Hiei on the grass next to him. He put a careful palm over his injury, and used what was left of his energy to reclose his wound. Once done, he sighed once more in both relief and sadness.

The shirt he bought yesterday. It was once white. Now it was bloody with dirt spots all over it. Now he understood why Hiei always chose to wear black.

He pressed his back flat against the wall behind him. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore his pain. He stayed that way for a long while, until he came to realize he heard water running nearby. He opens his eyes and looks around. Seeing nothing, he decides to get up and search for the source of the noise. He really wanted to wash off the blood on his arms and face...

After walking around for a minute or so, he came across a river. He realized it was the same one he was at earlier, but more upstream, "How far did I walk?" he stepped toward it, and saw that it was in fact the start of the river, because a waterfall was at it's end. Kurama remembered somthing that might help him. He now walked toward the waterfall.

"Uhnn...," Hiei blinked his eyes open, only to see he didn't know where he was. He sat up, and saw he was in a cave, and over the opening to that cave was water, rushing downwards over the entrance. The fox was sitting in front of this, using the water to wash dried blood out of his hair. Kurama turned when he heard Hiei wake up, "All nice and rested?"

"Hn. Why're we here?" Hiei looked around.

"We were wide open to attack where we were. So I took you over my shoulder and found this place," the reflection of the water gave Kurama (wet from washing his hair) a slight blue glow.

"Hn. That's stupid. You could've passed out long before this," Hiei turned his attention to one of the walls, not willing to see what look Kurama had on his face.

A pause filled the small cave until Kurama decided to finish what he was doing, "It's a good thing I remembered caves form behind waterfalls sometimes. This way no one will see us until we leave."

"Baka," Hiei snorted, "What if there wasn't a cave? What then?"

"I would have found somewhere else," Kurama stated. Hiei didn't reply, "...Thank you..."

"For what?"

The fox just smiled and shook his head. He knew Hiei would choose to ignore the fact he had given the last of his energy to him. A few minutes go by in silence until Kurama was done, and he walked over to Hiei and sat next to him. Hiei looked at him, and blinked at the sight. Kurama was still wet, and beads of water clung to his bangs and eyelashes, "Something wrong?" Kurama said after Hiei stared at him for a while. The hiyoukai blushed slightly and turned his attention back to the wall, "Why're you stll wet?"

"I don't have anything to dry myself off with."

"You're a fox, right? Don't dogs usually shake themselves dry?" Hiei smirked as he looked back to Kurama.

"Are you joking? I 'd never do something as degrading as that," Hiei laughed at this. They stared at eachother for a while, bathed in the bluish light given off by the water. Hiei then turned to look at the entrance, "You remember this morning?"

Kurama blinked as he tried to. Ah, yes, the naked thing... So much had happened he'd forgotten all about it, "Yes, what about?" even now, he blushed about what had happened.

Hiei didn't speak for a long time, but Kurama knew he was going to eventually. He sat back and stared at the same water Hiei was, "...I'm... sorry...," Kurama sat up straight once more and stared disbelievingly at the man next to him.

"E-excuse me?" Did he just... apologize? Hiei apologize? For what?

"What're you, deaf?" Hiei said, not looking at the fox, "I said I was sorry."

"For... for what?"

Hiei closed his eyes for a long moment, then said, "This morning... I was... a pissant. I mean, I know I am a pissant, but what I said this morning was uncalled for. So, I'm sorry."

Kurama continued to stare at the smaller one for a long time, "Hiei..."

"I was just... amused, I guess at what might have happened last night," Kurama smiled unwittingly, and found himself leaning on Hiei's shoulder, surprising them both, "Kurama, what...?"

"You haven't changed after all," Kurama whispered from the curve of Hiei's neck.

"What?" the fox shook his head, telling Hiei it wasn't important.

"I'm tired. I didn't get to sleep for three hours like you did. I'm so tired, I'll sleep on the first thing I fall on. And for now, that's you," Kurama explained, as he shifted to rest more comfortably on Hiei shoulder.

"Hn," Hiei put an arm aroung the fox's shoulders to he wouldn't fall when he finally went to sleep. It was only then he realized Kurama was still wet.

TADAEND

Woot, another chapter!

Shorter than last, but whatever!