Hours passed. Long after the battle had ended, Kuwabara was the first to awaken. He blinked a few times and tried to stand up. He got on his feet and leaned against a tree for some support. He checked his wounds. "Whoa… That's weird," he said as he fingered the slash marks lightly. They were almost completely healed. Kuwabara looked to the side and noticed Yusuke and Hiei lying a few feet apart from each other. They weren't in as good condition as he was. He stumbled forward and began to search for any signs of what went on.
He saw something else further ahead, so he began to run toward it. He'd come very close when he slipped and fell. "Ah!" Kuwabara grunted as he hit the ground. He looked down and realized that for the second time in a matter of days, he had come too close for comfort to the slimy remains of a demon. Kuwabara let out a distressed shout and jumped around trying to get away from the demon's severed limbs. He backed away, a disgusted look on his face. He tripped again, "Damn it!" he rolled over to see what it was, hoping it wasn't more of the dismembered oni. To his surprise, he ended up looking into the unconscious face of Kurama. "Kurama!" Kuwabara shook him to try and wake him up. Kurama didn't move. Kuwabara couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, and feared that the youkai wasn't going to wake up.
Kuwabara was about to give up when Kurama's fingers moved slightly. His eyes slowly slid open. He lay there for a moment, blinking and casting his eyes about. Struggling a little, he slowly sat up. He looked at Kuwabara but said nothing. He simply gathered various herbs from his sash. He smiled slightly, as he was almost certain he wouldn't have enough healing herbs for himself. He ate some of them and put others on his wounds, yet he looked much better than he did when he fell unconscious. Being a demon, he healed quickly.
"You all right, foxboy?" Kuwabara asked. Kurama didn't answer him, but stood up and made his way toward the demon remains. Kuwabara followed him. Kurama knelt and examined the demon closer, trying to figure out anything about it. Suddenly, Kurama stood up quickly and looked around.
"Kuwabara," Kurama said quietly, not looking at him, "wake the others."
Kuwabara blinked a few times, "But what's that going to do? Besides, they're practically de—"
"Kuwabara, you obviously do not understand the situation. So do me a favor, wake the others, or it could be your life," Kurama cut him off.
Kuwabara said nothing and did as he was told, Kurama's last comment lingering, leaving him to use his imagination as to what the demon fox meant by it. He walked over to Yusuke and Hiei and tried to wake them. "Maybe he's dead." He sat down next to Yusuke and poked his forehead repeatedly. He continued to do so until he heard Yusuke start to mumble. Kuwabara waited for a moment for Yusuke to speak, but he seemed to just fall back asleep. An evil grin crossed Kuwabara's face, "Time to return the favor, Urameshi!" Kuwabara grabbed the Spirit Detective by the collar and began slapping him, screaming at him until Yusuke's eyes shot open and he leapt up to punch him square in the jaw.
Kuwabara hit the ground with a thud, "Glad to see… that you're awake… Urameshi…"
Yusuke stood, stumbled a bit, and steadied himself. He checked his wounds, which, thanks to Kurama, had started to heal. He glanced down at Kuwabara, who had been reduced to a heap on the ground. He prodded Kuwabara lightly with his foot, "Hey, Kuwabara, where's Kurama?" Kuwabara simply pointed in Kurama's direction. "I see," Yusuke said as he looked to Kurama, "Well, he's alive. That's good. I'm gonna go see how he's doing. You stay here and wake Hiei up."
"What?" Kuwabara said, grabbing Yusuke's ankle, "No way! I choose life! I woke you up and you punched me! He'll probably sick his big black dragon… thing on me! You wake him up!" Kuwabara stood up.
Yusuke sighed and rolled his eyes, "Fine. You wake Hiei up and I'll go check on Kurama. Deal?"
"Uh…" Kuwabara paused, "Deal." Kuwabara grinned.
"Good boy," Yusuke said as he began walking in Kurama's direction. Heh heh… Idiot, he thought to himself.
Kuwabara's face fell. He ran the conversation through again in his head. He clenched his fists and grumbled. "Damn you, Urameshi!" he shouted. Yusuke simply waved him off with his hand and continued walking. Kuwabara walked over to Hiei and poked his shoulder, trying very hard not to annoy the sleeping koorime into tearing him apart. "H-Hiei?" Kuwabara whispered, "Hiei!"
One of Hiei's crimson eyes shot open and glared at Kuwabara. He opened both eyes and sat up. He looked down at the ground for a moment.
"Uh, Hiei?"
Hiei glared at Kuwabara again and stood.
"Careful, Hiei. You might hurt your—"
"Move," Hiei said coldly, pushing him aside.
"-self…" Kuwabara finished weakly and followed him. The two walked over to Yusuke and Kurama, who seemed to be discussing something about the demon.
"So the Demon Hunter was really a demon?" Yusuke asked.
Kurama shook his head, "No, I believe Ryoushi was deeper than that."
"How so?" Yusuke was only becoming more confused.
"The Demonic Binding," Hiei said quietly, picking up on the conversation rather quickly.
"The Demonic what?" Yusuke and Kuwabara asked in unison.
"Demonic Binding. It's a technique that binds an oni or a lower class demon to oneself by using one's own name, but I've never seen it done. I've only read scrolls."
"So what does it do?" Yusuke wondered.
"A person can bind themselves to a demon by offering a piece of their very being, their soul. In time, the demon takes on all the physical attributes and mannerisms of the one it is bound to."
"And you think that's what Ryoushi did?" Yusuke was trying very hard to take all of the information in.
Kurama nodded, "But look," he said as he pointed to the scattered body parts, "these remains are that of a demon."
"Yeah, I was sort of wondering what the whole 'Demon Binding' thing had to do with this," said Kuwabara, "So what are you trying to get at?"
"I used several fatal techniques on Ryoushi, including Seed of the Death Plant, yet he lived through all of them," Kurama explained, "The only way he could have done that is if he switched places with his demon bondling. That way, they would have shared the damage."
"Then how come none of us noticed him switch?" Kuwabara asked.
"Because one, you were unconscious most of the time, and two, a demon bondling takes on the physical and mental attributes of the one it is bound to. You'd know that if you were paying attention, but as always, you weren't," Hiei stated plainly. Kuwabara simply grumbled as a response.
"I'm confused. That's a demon lying in pieces, not Ryoushi," Yusuke said, rubbing his forehead.
"The scrolls said that if the bondling dies, it returns to its original form," Kurama began, "So that is not Ryoushi, but his bondling."
"That still doesn't explain how he switched with the demon," Kuwabara said gruffly.
Hiei licked at an open wound on his wrist before speaking, "He was obviously trained in the arts of ninjutsu," he said as he tied the wound in a bandage that was wrapped around the length of his arm, "His finishing claw technique gave him away. No human can move that fast unless they've been trained to do so with proper teaching. I'd say he used the ninja art of substitution with his own bondling."
"So you're saying that psychopath is still out there somewhere?" Kuwabara gasped.
"Yes, but I doubt he'll be back any time soon," said Kurama, "He's badly wounded and his bondling is dead."
Everyone was silent for a few moments, then Yusuke spoke, "So what now, Kurama? Are you coming back?"
Kurama took a moment to answer, "No."
"No? What do you mean, no?" Kuwabara huffed.
"I've returned to my true form. I'm no longer welcome in the Ningenkai. Reikai forces will be after me."
"Couldn't you go back to being a human again?" Kuwabara asked.
"This is the form I've been trying to attain my entire time in the Human World. Now that I've attained it, there's nothing more for me here. In my sleep, my demon spirit, my true form built up enough energy to finally release itself. I'd be a fool to go back on that now."
"But we need you here!" Yusuke shouted.
"I'm sorry, Yusuke, but you don't understand!"
"No, you don't understand! We've gone through too much for you to ditch us now," Yusuke snapped.
Kurama was becoming frustrated, but no one would have known. His face showed almost no emotion, a façade one would expect from Hiei. He looked down at his feet, "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."
"There is. You're just too selfish to figure it out," Yusuke said coldly, and turned around, "It was nice knowin' you, Kurama." With that, he began to walk away. Kuwabara followed. Hiei, however, stayed where he was.
Hiei waited until the other Detectives had gone out of earshot. "There is something you can do. Your subconscious demon opened a portal of sorts. There's no reason for it to be closed. It's been created, so as long as you don't let that ki fade, it will stay."
"But the Reikai—"
"If worse comes to worse, escape to the Makai. But for now, if you don't return I'll never hear the end of it from those two idiots. And the fact that 'Shuichi' has no memory left of anything having to do with what you've done while you possessed him only makes him more annoying. Attain your human form again. Should you want or need to, you can transform into Youko." Hiei turned on his heel and started to walk away, but he soon stopped, "One last thing,"
Kurama blinked, "Oh?"
"Don't get caught."
"I'm fairly good at that," Kurama chuckled.
"Don't you think you were a little hard on Kurama?" Kuwabara asked as he walked behind Yusuke.
Yusuke scratched the back of his head, "Eh… Maybe I was…"
At that moment, the red-haired Shuichi walked by. "Do you think we'll ever see him again?" Kuwabara asked.
"I dunno. We might. We might not." Yusuke replied. They continued walking.
Shuichi turned around and watched them leave.
"You will… Sooner than you think… What's lost has been found. I know my purpose."