If you haven't already, go back and read the re-done version of the first chapter/prologue. That includes all you people that reviewed before. 'Kay?

Disclaimer: Yada, yada. I don't own YYH or IY.

Author's Note: I have yet to see the end of YYH, unfortunately. My sister hoarded the DVD's and then returned them without letting me see them. I've only got a glimpse of what the castle might look like - and only an idea of how the Makai works. Feel free to correct me. Politely, please.

Warnings: There are spoilers for Yu Yu Hakusho in these chapters.

Chapter One

Alliance

Any normal person would have cowered in fear under the circumstances that Botan had been given. Any normal person would have been reduced to a sobbing, shaking, infant. Any normal person would have run for their lives at the prospect of delivering bad news to Raizen's heir.

Then again, Botan was never normal.

"What? What d'you mean there's another mission?"

Botan, although out of breath and pink from the flight, managed to produce a cheery smile. "Oh Yuusuke. I'm sure you wouldn't mind doing this one." Twitch. Botan was getting jumpy. This was taking far too long.

"Really. But wasn't I supposed to be retired from field work?" Yuusuke tipped his chin upward slightly, a motion that signified his (quite rightfully earned) image of power. The tattoos on his body flared with his rising emotions and his fangs were bared in a demonic instinct.

Botan, however, was unfazed. "Yes. You were. But . . ." She replied merrily, her smile unfading. A smile, Yuusuke believed, had to be hiding some . . . other information. ". . . We have a bit of a problem."

A sigh. "And only I can fix it." It was a statement, not a question in any form.

"Precisely." Botan confirmed, standing straighter as though to emphasize the importance of this task. Rarely ever had the demon lord seen her in such a state. The last time that had happened . . . it had to have been years ago, back during the Sensui incident. And it had to be very serious for her to have come to him when she knew he was retired.

Another sigh. Yuusuke rubbed his temples in irritation, a low growl emanating from the back of his throat. He really didn't want to be doing this. Then again . . . he just might be able to return to the Ningenkai. He hadn't been able to since he retired. "Fine. I'll do it. What's the gig?"

A relieved look took over Botan's face. "Thank you, Yuusuke." She cleared her throat as she prepared to give Yuusuke the briefing of his mission. "There's recently been a rip caused by an -"

"There she is!"

Yuusuke abruptly looked up and Botan turned around in a snap as the two guards from earlier that evening stumbled breathlessly into the hall. Their helmets were crooked and their faces red (although whether from anger or by cause of the run it was not evident). The first one, the one that Botan had pushed past, she realized, pointed his weapon accusingly at her. He was shaking with fury and most likely indignation at having let the wild ferry girl through. "You! Y-you foolish - foolish -"

"Stand down." Yuusuke commanded. A shiver ran down Botan's spine. He no longer sat, but now stood tall, his head held high. "She's with me."

The guard shook even more - he knew his lord's power, just like every other demon in the Makai. "B-but m'lord! She's -" He protested, starting to move forward.

"I said stand down." Yuusuke scowled, making sure to expose his demonic fangs to the guards. The tips of his fingers glowed blue making the guard back down, for fear of further angering his lord even further. A smile graced Yuusuke's lips. "Now," He stated firmly, locking the cowering guards with a glare. "I'm leaving. I don't know for how long." He looked to Botan, as though asking her whether she knew. Botan shook her head and shrugged her shoulders - she didn't know, that didn't bode well. "Reki is not to leave the castle grounds without and escort."

"Y-yes, milord." The second guard stated, shaking visibly. "The young prince will be cared for accordingly." The demon lord sent him a look that scolded the guard for interrupting his instructions.

"You are to do whatever Reki's mother says as though you were taking orders from myself. Do you understand?"

"Yes, m'lord." Their reply was simultaneous and emotionless, but it was obvious by the looks on their faces exactly how they felt about taking orders from a human.

Yuusuke uncrossed his arms and strode forward, Botan practically skipping behind him. "Good. Now, I must-"

As though Botan had read Yuusuke's thoughts, she placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "No, Yuusuke, it's urgent. We must get there as soon as possible." As Yuusuke passed a glance down the hall that would have led to his and his wife's chambers, Botan continued. "I'll leave her a message as to why you've left." She assured, almost urging the young demon lord to move down the other hall, in the direction of the exit.

". . . Very well." Yuusuke closed his eyes half-way, silently contemplating the results of his actions.

"But on one condition, Yuusuke! You must tell me when you're going on another one of these "missions" again!"

He sighed. Oh was he going to get a telling to when he got home.

Youko Kurama flinched under the heated glare he was getting from the dog. He whimpered and struggled to get away, but the grip the dog on him was like steel. None of his plants could help him in his position. His energy just barely brushed the bush he had been hiding in. The leaves of the said bush ruffled in reaction to the fox kit's distress.

The dog's nose twitched in annoyance at the fox's attempts. Furious gold eyes narrowed as the dog examined the child. "What we're you doin' following us, kit?"

"Inuyasha what were you doing." It was a lady, the fox kit immediately registered, and she carried a scent unlike anything he had ever smelled before. The dog scrunched his nose in a frown, and looked away from the fox he held prisoner to her.

"This fox has been following us." The word "fox" was spit out so bitterly it caused Kurama to whimper again and make another attempt at escape. "Hey!" The dog cried out as Kurama nearly ripped himself out of his grip. "Why you-" He gripped the fox around the neck, reeled him back and prepared to toss the poor kit when he was stopped by the lady.

"Inuyasha! Sit!"

A light. A thud. The dog was now face down in the dirt. Kurama took this chance and changed into humanoid form with a soft poof. He squirmed out of the dog's (Inuyasha did she say?) grip and blindly ran away from the scene.

Right into something. A very soft something. A very soft and cuddly something.

Kurama winced as he rubbed his behind, where he had rebound upon when he had ran into - whatever he had ran into, before he looked up and into two large red eyes. The fox twitched his ears, registering what had happened, before grinning widely. "Kittie!" He hugged the unsuspecting cat demon tightly, giggling childishly as one would expect from such a kit.

His moment with the cat, however, did not erase the existence of the dog - or of his other companions. At that moment the dog was pulling himself from the crater in the earth, and turned wildly to the young lady. "Kagome! What did you do that for?"

The lady, Kagome, placed her hands on her hips and frowned. "You were going to throw him! What was I supposed to do? Let you toss the poor thing?"

Inuyasha, however, thought that was a brilliant solution. "Of course! That fox was probably hunting to steal the jewel shards from us!" His eyebrow twitched as he pointed a finger accusingly at the silver bundle of fur, who was still cooing over the cat. "All those foxes ever think about is stealing!"

"Hey!" A small, childish voice spoke up indignantly. It was a red fox, just a kit himself, who had been listening in the entire conversation from the shoulder of a man dressed in monk's robes.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha with an equally angry frown on her face. "That wasn't nice, Inuyasha."

"Yeah? So?"

Kagome, although used to Inuyasha's persona, had to force herself to not gape at the dog's insensitivity. With a deep breath, Kagome turned away from the hanyou. "Sit."

With Inuyasha in yet another ditch of earth, Kagome moved next to the silver fox kit. The red fox leapt to the ground and skittered over as well. He sat right next to where Kagome knelt, and watched on curiously. "Hey," Kagome said softly as to not frighten the kit. Luckily, it seems that the kit had sensed them coming from behind, and looked up without a sliver of fear in his eyes anymore. "The dog" was on a leash, meaning he was no longer in immediate danger, and these people (well most of them anyways) seemed nice enough. The cat mewed in his arms, but made no attempt to escape. Instead, she rubbed her head against the fox child's chin in affection.

"Yes?" He asked dully, looking down again, and petting the cat on the head.

Shippou crawled over to the other kit, and placed a small hand on his knee. Kagome's eyes softened. "What's your name?" She started. "Where are your parents?"

"My name?" The fox stopped petting the cat briefly and once again looked up at the lady, his gold eyes now possessing a look of mischief in their depths. "It's Youko Kurama." He stated proudly. "And someday my name will be feared by demons and humans everywhere!" He pumped a fist into the air and giggled at his own goal.

Kagome couldn't help but laugh as well. He was quite ambitious, as were most his age. "Yes, but where are your parents?"

Youko paused, placing a finger to his lips in thought. "Well . . . I don't know. I've never known my parents."

"Really?" Kagome was aghast. "How could you not know your parents? Who raised you?" Her hands were to her mouth, stifling her gasp.

"Kagome," A new voice spoke up, one Kurama identified as being female. Her scent proved that, and the fact that she wasn't so much of a foreigner as this lady, Kagome. "Could it be possible that Youko was abandoned? Shippou, is that normal do you know?"

The red kit looked up, as though he had been addressed. "Well," He started, "It's not unusual, especially if the parents have too many kits to care for - but then he would have been cared for by another in the tribe." Shippou (it appeared that was the kit's name, as he had reacted to it when the woman had said it) looked at Kurama, biting his lip. "There might have been nobody to take care of the kit and so he was left in the wilderness to fend for himself."

"Then again, it could always be something else." It was the monk man now, also knelt next to the fox kit.

Kurama twitched. He didn't like being talked about as though he wasn't there, it made him unstable and upset. The cat in his arms rubbed against his chin once more before she jumped from his arms into the lap of the other lady - not the Kagome girl, Kurama noted.

"What are you all blabbering about?" Well, it seemed the dog was up.

Kagome looked up briefly at Inuyasha angrily, still upset with him from earlier, and then looked down at Kurama, not having said a word to the hanyou. "Kurama, would you like to come with us?"

"What? You're not letting that thing come with us, are you!"

Once again, Kagome gave Inuyasha a severe look, and then looked away. "Well?"

"I . . ." Kurama looked down at his hands. Well he wasn't really doing anything other than stealing at the present moment. All his time previously had been absorbed by tracking down that pretty object. "Sure!"

Shippou squealed and latched onto Kurama in a hug. "Yay! I've got a friend!"

Even with Inuyasha yelling his complaints, Kagome in turn scolding Inuyasha, the laughs of the others in the party, and the giggles of two fox kits you could almost feel the plants' relief. Their master was safe. For now.

A haze of darkness covered the ground like a blanket of fog. Grass swayed in the distant wind. The boards of the dark palace creaked, though the sound went nearly unnoticed by those that were inside.

Specifically of those that should be noted, was the one Naraku. He sat in the dark room, shadows cloaking his human form. The robes he wore settled on the edge of his shoulders, revealing his chest just visible in the moonlight that spilled from the window.

A child dressed in white sat properly with her legs tucked under her body. Her white appearance made her stand out starkly from the rest of the dark room. White hands gripped a silver mirror, and it was held in such a way that Naraku could see it. She looked, however, not at the mirror, but at another figure in the room.

This other figure was one that had her face darkened by the shadows in the room. It was obvious she was a woman by the way her long, red dress (not a kimono, or any other traditional garb that a female would wear, Naraku noted) hung off of her body, and her feminine figure. Locks of red hair tumbled down her chest and back, hiding her face even more than the shadows had. It was still possible to see the terrible, insane grin she had upon her lips.

"Naraku," She spoke slowly, "So, what do you think about my . . . proposal?"

Silence greeted her. Naraku didn't even bother to look at her. Instead, he gazed out the window to the moon. The woman was unfazed and kept her composure, waiting until he replied.

Finally, "What's the catch?"

The woman laughed, a harsh, insane laugh. She breathed in a deep breath, and looked upon Naraku, drawing a finger along the wall. "I only want revenge."

The wall caught fire.

Reki Yuusuke and Keiko's son. He will show up again, though he won't be joining in on the mission. Don't worry, I'm watching his development - no faulty Original Characters here. (Though in my experience this doesn't reassure anyone at all, and in most cases assures the reader that it indeed is)

"And someday my name will be feared by demons and humans everywhere!": Nya ha, simple joke. His name will be feared - by at least demons, though, as the worlds would be separated by Enma-sama during Youko's youth. Am I the only one who remembers hearing somewhere in the beginning of the series that Youko was like the Boogie Man to demons in the Makai? Or am I just hallucinating?

"Yay! I've got a friend!": Ne, Shippou has barely even spoken to Kurama and he's considering him a friend. I guess that's what happens when you get two fox kits together. They are just bound to, well, bond.

Ending Author's Notes

Well, what d'ya think? Took me all day to write this. :) Yay for spring break, ne?