A/N: Holy cow, this is effing short… Oh well. Please read, enjoy, and review! Second-to-last chapter here!

16. Back From the Dead – Kurama's Sacrifice

Reishi knelt down next to Hiei, bowing her head in respect. Her eyes were closed, and she mumbled a quick, mournful prayer for the dead fire demon. Koto did the same, followed by Koenma. Kuwabara was hesitant to show his respects for Hiei, but the cold glare Yusuke gave him was enough to make him get down on his knees and mutter a few nice words.

"You were mean to me, but I guess I'll miss you. Have a good afterlife."

"Hiei…" Botan sobbed, tears sliding down her cheeks. She was at a loss for words. She had seen Yusuke die before – it seemed so long ago! – but this was different. Yusuke was able to come back to life. Hiei would not have that luxury…

Hiei would be dead forever, killed so ruthlessly by a demon bent on world domination. Jiusenki had murdered him dishonorably – not even a real fight! This was certainly not the way Hiei would have wanted to go down. But unfortunately, time could not go back, and Hiei's life could not be spared.

Just then, a white light whizzed by and absorbed itself into Hiei's body. The light was barely visible, but it left a blinding, silver streak in midair; that was how the group was able to see it. Hiei's body began to glow and shimmer. The color was coming back to his skin, and Hiei's chest rose, his lungs filling with air once more. Botan gasped and put a hand to Hiei's wrist; there was a pulse. Hiei was alive!

"Whoa, what's going on?" Kuwabara shouted, jumping back, a frightened expression on his face.

"Is he…?" Koto started, too shocked to finish her sentence.

Hiei's lips parted, allowing the air to come in and out. He was breathing normally and living, but the question remained – why? What happened? Was Hiei never really dead…?

No, he was surely dead. They had seen him die – Botan, Koenma, Yusuke, Koto, Reishi, and Kuwabara… But… what happened?

"Woah, I just sensed Kurama's Spirit Energy!" Kuwabara blurted out suddenly. "It was left behind from that freaky light flash thing!"

This statement caught everyone by surprise. Yusuke, Botan, and Koenma all looked around frantically, searching for the fox demon. In all of the chaos of defeating Jiusenki and Hiei dying, nobody had even noticed that Kurama was not present.

"Where is he? Where'd he go?" Yusuke asked, twisting his head around. "I can't see him!"

There was a loud whistling noise, and the group then all turned their attention towards Killer, the soul-carrying bird. Killer didn't look very well; his flesh was pale and he looked wilted, like a rose that had been left without water for too long. His eyes had lost their luster; they were nothing but grey spheres now. Kuwabara then gasped, for this was where Kurama's Spirit Energy was coming from!

"It's there!" he yelled, pointing at Killer. With one final, tragic wail, Killer then evaporated into dust, the single soul inside of it finally gone. "That's… Kurama…" His voice fell out like a plug being pulled on a drain.

Kuwabara was right. The single soul that had still been trapped inside of Killer was, indeed, Kurama's. The miniscule white, flickering dot of Kurama's soul then dissolved into thin air, and Kurama's body replaced it, sprawled on the ground of Reikai. His skin was paler than usual, his long crimson hair splayed all over in a haphazard pattern. He looked like he had just been spit out of blowhole of a whale.

"Kurama!" Yusuke exclaimed, rushing over to him.

Kurama lifted his head weakly, his hair falling limply into his face. He looked so tired and ill, unnaturally pale and fragile. The fox demon looked past Yusuke and saw Hiei, breathing steadily, alive, and he smiled.

"So… it worked…" he whispered, satisfied. He then let his face fall forward as he slipped in a comatose stupor.

"What…?" asked Yusuke, cocking his head to one side in confusion.

"Yeah, what was that all about? What did he mean 'it worked'?" Kuwabara asked, equally confused.

"I get it," Koenma whispered, smoothing back his hair with a sauve motion of his hand.

"What is it, Koenma?" Botan asked.

"Kurama stayed behind in the soul-carrier," Koenma explained, "once he figured out that Hiei was dead. He then transferred some of his own Life Energy into Hiei – that was the white flash we saw."

"You mean like how I transferred energy to Yusuke in that tournament thingy at Master Genkai's?" Kuwabara interrupted.

"Yeah, like that," Koenma affirmed. "However, he used so much of his own life energy to bring Hiei back, and now he is almost completely drained. He may even… die."

NEXT TIME – FINAL CELEBRATION – A TRUE HAPPY ENDING!

--crazykitsune17--