DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYh (even though I'm totally psyched because I got the 'Born Anew' DVD and it's totally awesome!) but Mai and all my original characters are mine. (and I do not own DJSammy for the last few lines of this chapter)

a/n: …

PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! I've had a butt-load of homework and a bunch of projects due lately that I haven't had much time to work on this fic (don't ask me about the FMA fic—I take more pride in this story, so I takes me longer to right the chapters)

Anyway, it's actually quite refreshing to be working on this fic again, so I hope I can make Yoko as great as he was in the show…(even though Kurama may be a bit of a sap, but he kind of was during this episode now that I think about it…)

AND I AM SO TOTALLY PUMPED THAT I GOT THE 'BORN ANEW' DVD!

LoL, cookies to all my reviewers!

Umeko Saito: YES! Yoko is totally awesome! LoL—and thank you! T.T I'm so touched you love my story!

Little Sakura 87: LoL (does that mean I did well describing it? Hm, I guess it's kind of easier to describe those situations anyway…) I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Shadowkitsune7: T.T I'M SO LOVED! Thank you so much! I really and truly hope you keep reading!

Princess of Innocence: Aw jeeze that's sick…but funny. Haha, seriously, you should make a parody of this; I wouldn't mind (but like you said: where would you start?)

Daylight Dancer: Hehe, that would be pretty funny—but she does ask herself a lot of questions, doesn't she? I'll have to work on that…

Shadowkitsune7: (didn't you already review this chapter?) Anyway, thank you for liking my story!

Fangimation: um…heh-heh, no comment? (Besides—even though I took it off awhile ago—I think I warned everyone what the pairing was going to be…)

Thoughts

Forever Fornever II

:A Legendary Bandit:

A fierce aura swayed around Yusuke's body as he sat hunched over on all fours. Mai shivered from the power that emitted from him; how was he possibly able to hold so much energy? The guardian had long lost any feeling in her body—even though it continued to quiver against her will. Her eyes remained wide in horror and never left the detective, no matter how agonizing his test seemed.

Beside her, Genkai side grimly, "…At least we don't have to worry about him giving up; he's as stubborn as an ass, especially when it comes down to times like these…"

Mai didn't answer her; even though if she probably tried to, she wouldn't be able to respond anyway.

It suddenly occurred to her—and hit her almost with a painful force…

That Yusuke was dying…

-:-

Shishiwakamaru made his way to the center of the ring again and held the dice aloft in his palm. Across from him, the three members of the Urameshi team gritted their teeth in anticipation—all except for Kuwabara who was nearly biting off his fingernails hoping that the dice wouldn't land on his name. Kurama and Hiei, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get back into the ring.

The aqua-haired demon smirked and flicked his wrist, causing the tiny cubes to clatter dully against the marble tiles. They rolled to a halt and Juri was instantly beside them when they stopped.

She raised her microphone to her lips and shouted, "It's the luck of the dice once again! This match: Uraurishima from team Uraotogi and Kurama from team Urameshi!"

Kazuma's sigh of relief could almost be heard throughout the entire stadium while the other redhead tried to conceal his satisfaction. Hiei, however, was nearly fuming beside himself. But without saying a word to his teammates, Kurama promptly stepped into the ring as the child-like fighter appeared before him.

Onji smirked quietly to himself as he cocked his head up towards Shishi, "Quite an interesting turnout, don't you agree? Uraurishima seems to be the best match against Kurama…"

His team member smirked as well, "Yeah, and with any luck, Ura will be able to get rid of him for good."

Quickly, Juri approached the center of the ring and held her hand high above her head, "Fighters ready? Then let the next match begin!"

Uraurishima fingered the fishing pole resting along his shoulder, while Kurama quietly withdrew the rose whip from beneath his hair—without letting his eyes leave his opponent that is.

But as if reading one another's thoughts, both fighters suddenly lashed out at one another. Both whips cracked sharply against one another as each of them were able to block their opponent's attacks. Unfortunately, they both seemed evenly matched.

Hiei frowned—still not quite over his loss over this fight, "Kurama needs to start fighting for real if he wants to get out of this match alive," he muttered to Kuwabara, "That damn fox never creates a strategy until he fully understands his opponents."

The redhead lashed out harshly with his whip—when he suddenly felt something prickling at the back of his mind. He shook his head, as if to rid himself of the feeling, but it would not leave him.

'Please, you have to help me.'

His eyes widened when he realized that it was Uraurishima talking to him, but through his shock he nearly stopped fighting entirely.

'Don't stop fighting!' he told him hastily, 'They'll get suspicious if we do! Please, you're probably the last one who'll be able to help me; I need you to kill me now.'

He furrowed his brow, 'And why would you want me to do that?'

Kurama heard him sigh, 'I needed money to help my grandmother—she was deathly sick. And Shishiwakamaru promised that he would give me money to help her if I fought…At least if you kill me I'll have done the right thing for once…'

Both fighters began running parallel to one another at the same time—still whipping at each other.

'Suicide is not the answer!' he tried to persuade him, 'There is neither honor nor redemption in that.'

Ura's eyes seemed to widen in surprise, 'But it's the only way!' he insisted.

'No. I'm not about to let anyone die needlessly; we can fake your death. I can sting you with my rose whip in a way that will merely knock you out.'

It seemed as though Uraurishima was unsure about this option, but then he nodded in determination, 'Alright.' He agreed.

The redhead shifted his grip on the whip in his hands and abruptly changed his direction and instead headed straight towards his opponent. In the same motion, he was able to leap into the air and raise the vine above his head. He flicked his wrist and the whip lashed back out towards Ura—just slightly towards the side of his temple to create enough of a shock that would knock him out.

But as his whip began to crack as he sliced it downwards, he noticed with a start that Uraurishima was no longer in front of him—

How did he—?

Without warning, Kurama suddenly felt something binding his body. He gritted his teeth as the sharp twine twisted around his arms and torso. Above him, Ura had managed to leave over his head and was now landing behind him, tugging his fishing pole with him—and causing the line to constrict. The redhead cried out painfully as the twine pierced flesh and drove deeper into his skin.

Ura quickly withdrew the line as he landed behind him. There was a smug look of satisfaction etched across his face as he watched Kurama drop to his knees in pain. The child smirked and rested the fishing pole against his shoulder.

"You're a real sap, you know that?" he laughed openly in front of him, "And gullible too…who the hell would fall for something like that, besides you?" he put on a mocking reenactment, "'Oh, please help me! My grandmother's so sick!'"

Kurama frowned darkly while his fists began to clench beneath him, "You lied to me…" he growled.

"The hell I did!" Ura answered, "And you know what else? While you were busy trying to figure out my motives, you were too dull to notice the nifty little force field I put up around this place!"

And even as he was talking, it suddenly became apparent to all of those who were watching that lines—of what appeared to be fishing line—stretched over and around the ring; trapping the fighters inside. But despite this, Kurama had no need to look away from his opponent; especially now that he had betrayed and lied to him.

Now, Uraurishima was fumbling with something within his cloak. After a moment, he withdrew a crimson-colored box and held it in his hands, "This was an interesting little trinket I picked up a little while…called the Idunn Box—perhaps you've heard of it? The smoke it contains with in has the power to convert the user's opponent into a younger age."

With a smirk, he tauntingly lifted the lid.

Almost at once, the ring was completely surrounded in the foggy mist. Kurama desperately tried to cover his mouth and hold his breath; however, the nauseating smoke became too much for him, and before he could even draw in the last remains of the air around him, it had seeped into his system. Almost immediately, he grew dizzy and began to stagger.

"Dammit, I can't see anything! What the hell's going on in there?" Kuwabara frantically wanted to know as he tried to see through the mist.

Beside him, Hiei's features darkened as he stared at the fog in front of him. His frowned deepened however, when he suddenly felt Kurama's energy disappear entirely…there wasn't even enough to make up the energy of a baby…

He found himself starting in shock when he suddenly realized something. His eyes widened as they penetrated through the mist—Kurama wasn't gone…

But another side of him was beginning to surface…

Ura smirked haughtily as he folded his arms over his chest; heh, there's nothing left of that bastard now…

Unexpectedly, his eyes grew wide when he suddenly felt a shiver race down his spine. Slowly an enormous amount of energy was beginning to surface before him—but through the smoke, he could see nothing. It was deliberate, as if awakening from a deep sleep.

He felt his body beginning to shake uncontrollably.

He recognized this power…

Uraurishima fervently shook his head, "No…no, he's supposed to be dead!" he shouted through the mist, "He died fifteen years ago! He can't be here—not now! Gods, not now!"

Before him, an omniscient shadow began to form and sparks of energy shot out from a point directly in front of him. Beads of sweat formed along his brow and his eyes grew even wider—if that was physically possible.

But from the area head of Ura, there was a deep, malevolent chuckle of amusement.

"There is no room for your fantasies of denial, little vermin. Be assured…I am alive…"

Through the gloom, Uraurishima began to tremble at the sight before him. Amidst the smoke, a silver tail flicked quietly; stirring the mist around it while streams of silver hair cascaded along the back of the demon.

Hiei was able to smirk now as he folded his arms calmly over his chest, "So Yoko's risen from the dead…" he mused aloud.

Kuwabara blinked, "What? What are you mumbling about over there, shrimpy?" he demanded.

But instead of ignoring him (like he probably would have done on any normal basis), the apparition watched the ring in amusement.

"Kurama's finally returned to his full-demon form…Yoko Kurama. Fifteen years ago, he was thought to have died when he carelessly fell into a trap—but in a desperate attempt, he fled to the living world and hid in what you have known as Kurama…" He casually flicked something off of his fingers, "He thought no one would find him there—unfortunately for him, I did…" he turned his head slightly towards Kazuma, "Do you know why I have Kurama on my side? So I'd avoid having to fight him myself—especially if the soul of Yoko still resides in him…"

Ura was nearly crying in fear. He staggered backwards, as if hoping to get as far away from the kitsune as physically possible. But from in front of him, a pair of golden eyes narrowed towards the child-fighter and flashed with a dangerous glint.

The fox-demon growled softly under his breath as he withdrew something slowly from the folds of his cloak. He raised his hand, palm upwards, out before him to reveal a tiny seed. But as Yoko's fingers clenched slightly, the seed began to give off a pale blue glow and started to hover above his palm.

Steadily, tiny sprouts cracked from beneath the kernel's shell and began to wrap around the kitsune's hand and eventually down the rest of his arm.

"I'm flattered you've heard of me…" he told Ura slowly as the plant continued to spread out around him until it was nearly twice his size, "But as you can see…those stories were incorrect…"

One of the branches broke off into a giant bulb—but not a moment passed before the 'bulb' began to quiver…and open its mouth. Rows upon rows of white-fanged teeth lined the creature's mouth as it hissed threateningly towards Uraurishima. A putrid substance dripped from those teeth and dropped onto the arena floor—only to have it completely disintegrate a part of the ring.

Ura whimpered pathetically as he continued to try and move away from the kitsune.

Yoko glared at him as he held the plant aloft by his arm, "…The Death Tree contains a poison that can melt through lead; it eats away slowly at my opponent at an excruciating pace…" his golden eyes flickered, "It has also grown a taste for its victim's screams of pain…"

His opponent blanched to the color of a sheet as he continued to tremble violently. Ura suddenly dropped to the ground when his legs failed to support him anymore—but nonetheless, he continued to scuttle away from the fox-demon.

"P-Please!" he shouted, "Please grant me mercy!" he pleaded as one of the branches slowly began to creep towards him.

The kitsune eyed him dangerously, "I don't believe in mercy…" he growled.

He shook his head fervently as sweat continued to pour down the side of his face. Yoko did nothing for a moment, but then he decided to take a step closer towards his opponent.

"…Maybe I'll make your pain slightly shorter if you tell me one thing: what is the secret of the Idunn Box?" he growled.

Uraurishima's eyes widened, "I-I don't know!" he told him shakily.

Yoko's eyes narrowed again, "Don't lie to me, low-life…" he snarled, "I can see straight through your feeble deception…"

He paled violently, "…I-It was Onji and Shishiwakamaru! Hell, I'm not even Uraurishima!" he blurted frantically as he scuttled further away from the approaching demon, "Shishiwakamaru and Onji gave me the Idunn Box because they said it would make me a high-class warrior! I can even tell you who made the items—!"

Without warning, there was suddenly a shower of crimson blood that erupted from the side of Ura's collar. A sword was suddenly protruding from his neck and he staggered forward for a moment and let out a small gurgle before he completely toppled onto the arena floor. Uraurishima's skin seemed to blur and almost melt away, only to reveal an entirely different creature.

The kitsune frowned darkly, "…Just a lower-class beast…" he muttered.

Around him, the mist began to fade away as the force field was lifted. Gasps filled the audience as—for the first time—they were able to see the demon now standing in the center of the ring.

"Wow…" Koto gushed as she leaned forward in her eagerness; pressing the microphone close to her face, "Isn't this the shocker of the season? It's that foxy Yoko Kurama! Who would have thought that the akage could turn into a hunky fox demon? Come on, ladies, you've just gotta love that tail and those cute little ears—!" she cut herself off suddenly when there was a beam of light that shot out of Yoko and disappeared with the remaining mist.

The wind blew eerily across the arena and rustled Kurama's red hair—now that he had returned back to normal.

"Aw poop…" Koto pouted as she sat down again, looking rather disgruntled, "Well it looks like Team Urameshi has taken another wind for this round! Juri, how bout you announce the next fight?" the stadium was silent and she waited, "Juri?"

From the edge of the ring, a pair of tiny hands tried to grab onto the concrete arena—and after a bit of struggling, the tiny, child-like version of the referee appeared at the foot of the ring.

Koto sweatdropped (probably along with the rest of the audience), "Uh…um, well then…I guess as Juri tries to recover, I'll have to take over for the time being—YES!" she pumped her fist eagerly.

Across from the Urameshi team, Shishiwakamaru calmly stepped onto the arena with the dice in his hands. But instead of rolling them at once, he strode over towards the corpse of 'Uraurishima' and yanked out the hilt of his sword.

He smirked, "Let's see who's the next lucky one, shall we?

-:-

"Ah…" Keiko quickly glanced down at Puu and Hywein. The penguin-like creature whimpered and seemed to be in pain while the second spirit beast attempted to comfort it.

Botan turned around when she noticed that she had stopped, "What is it, Keiko?" she stopped when she noticed the condition of the two spirit beasts, "Oh…oh, that's not a good sign…" she said to herself quietly, hoping that the other girls wouldn't hear her.

"Puu's in pain…" the brunette said softly, "Does…that mean Yusuke is too?"

The ferry-girl started, "I-I'm not quite sure—"

Unexpectedly, Puu began to squirm in Keiko's arms and without warning; he wrenched away from her grip and started to flap frantically up into the sky. Hywein quickly followed and dashed into the woods and out of their sight.

"Wait! Puu, Hwyein!"

-:-

Genkai sighed heavily and stared up at the sky where the clouds began to recede away from the island. Her features were grim and she rubbed the bridge of her nose gingerly.

How long should she have waited…should she have waited just a little bit longer until she found a student that could have withstood her powers?

She winced as she heard one of Yusuke's screams echo out of the cave towards her.

The older woman gritted her teeth, "…Please forgive me…"

-:-

Shishi let the dice clatter along the arena floor and waited until they came to a halt. He walked over towards them until he was standing next to them—and a smirk curled along his lips.

"Well what do you know…I get to fight for once…" he drawled and his eyes flickered towards the team across from him, "So which on of you wants to be my victim?"

-:-

The guardian's eyes shimmered as they grew wider with each passing moment. Her arms trembled violently at her sides and her legs shook, as if they would collapse beneath her at any moment.

It was like she was in a dream…

…This wasn't real…

Yusuke wasn't really dying…

But she was lying to herself. The situation was all too real…and Yusuke really was dying…

…Right before her eyes…

Mai suddenly found herself shaking her head, without letting her eyes leave the detective. Almost as if it was against her will, she took a staggering step forward and blinked. She blinked again—this time relieving herself of her daze-like state.

Now this time when she shook her head, it was in angry denial; she couldn't take it anymore! And without warning, she suddenly rushed forward and in an instant found her arms wrapping desperately around the detective's abdomen. He appeared to cry out as she touched him, but she would not let go.

"Stop it, Yusuke!" she nearly screamed herself as tears swelled within her eyes, "You're killing yourself! I can't stand it anymore, Yusuke! I can't stand the thought of you leaving me alone!"

At this, the detective seemed to freeze—while his breathing continued to be ragged and heavy. But then Mai suddenly noticed his fists clenching beneath him.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Without giving her any warning, he turned on her; lashing out at her with his arm. Whatever happened in the next few seconds was all a blur to her, but when she was able to recover, she found herself leaning up against the side of the cavern wall. Her eyes grew wide with both surprise and hurt. Yusuke glared at her only a moment longer before he whirled and furiously began punching another one of the walls.

The guardian's hand shook at her side as she stared off vacantly in front of her. But when her shock had resided, her head slumped and her shoulders began to quiver gently as she raised a single hand to cover her face.

-:-

Shishiwakamaru smirked as he glanced into the stadium where more than a hundred demon girls were screaming and cheering for him. Each one of them swooned as he casually waved to them from the arena.

Kuwabara gritted his teeth, "That jerk…he thinks that he's such a big-shot…" he grumbled.

But as if he had heard him talking, Shishi turned his head towards the Urameshi team again and pointed suddenly at the redhead.

"I'm not really feeling like a fight, really…so let's just make it easy and have you fight me…" he drawled slowly and mockingly.

Kazuma's eye ticked, "What's that?" he demanded, "Are you trying to make fun of me, punk?"

"No one has to try to make fun of you, baka…" Hiei muttered beside him. He cracked his knuckles a moment later, "I'm going to take this bastard; he's seems the strongest anyway…"

But Kurama cut him off, "No, I should fight, Hiei; after all, we know nothing about Onji, we'll need you to rest so that you can fight him—"

The apparition sent him a dangerous glare, as if daring him to step into that ring. All three fighters were determined not to back down from the position and looked as though they'd be ready to fight each other just to get back into the ring.

Kuwabara muttered something under his breath, "I say we settle this with Rock, Paper, Scissors…"

"That does seem to be a logical choice, doesn't it?" Kurama replied, "Seeing how it is that none of us are going to let the other fight any other way—"

"What the hell are you two babbling about?" Hiei demanded, as if feeling left out.

The redhead turned to him, "Rock, Paper, Scissors; it's a ningen game" he explained and showed him the hand motions that went along with each one, "Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper."

He frowned, "How the hell can a piece of paper beat a rock?"

Kurama sighed, "Never mind, Hiei…Ready?" he asked them and held his hand in front of him. The other two followed his lead, "One, two, three!"

The two demons came up with rock, while Kazuma revealed paper.

Kuwabara pumped his fist, "Sweet!"

But Hiei's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You cheated, baka…" he growled.

He stopped in his celebration and glanced down at the apparition, "What'dya mean?" he demanded, "How the hell did I cheat?"

"You delayed your sign…" he answered simply, "We're going to try it again."

"What?" Kazuma shouted, "I won fair and square, shorty! I'm not going to—"

He noticed Hiei's hand fingering the shattered hilt of his katana (that was nonetheless still sharp), "We're doing it…again…" he growled.

But when they did it again, they all somehow managed to pull up rock…

And the next time, they all came up with paper…

When the next round came, however, the two apparitions each had scissors while Kuwabara held out rock.

He smirked smugly and stuck out his tongue at Hiei—who was eyeing his scissors grudgingly, "See? Now I won, shrimpy—what do you say to that?" he called to him as he made his way towards the arena.

The apparition narrowed his eyes at the redhead, "This game sucks."

-:-

Yusuke furiously smashed his head against the rock-face and gritted his teeth against the pain.

But as he clenched the rock between his fingers, there was something that flashed across his eyes. He began to heave in the air around him and his body trembled violently as he stood frozen with his forehead plastered against the wall.

Unexpectedly, the detective slumped to the ground and went still.

Mai drew in a sharp breath when she no longer heard him moving. Removing her face from her hands, she sat paralyzed in shock. But it was only for a moment. With an extreme amount of effort, she made it to her feet once again and staggered to his side, dropping instantly to her knees. Tears of sheer horror filled her eyes as she reached a shaky hand out towards him—only to withdraw it in fear of finding his skin cold.

Her hands covered her face and she began to sob; her tears trickling down through her shaking fingers…

…One managing to land at the corner of the detective's mouth…

The salty teardrop rolled gently along his skin until it trickled through his parted lips.

What…what is that…? Is someone there…? He tried to move his body, but none of his limbs would respond, dammit…gods, what's wrong with me? What the hell happened…?

Weakly, he was just able to open his eyes enough to make out the guardian's quivering form.

Mai…

The girl started suddenly when she saw his hand twitching slightly; carefully dragging itself towards her. The tears steadily began to subside as she watched him slowly revive himself.

"Yu-Yusuke…?"

He wheezed quietly, "You're…a real sap…you know that, Mai?" he whispered.

She choked on a small laugh as she wiped weakly at her eyes. But the detective soon returned back into his comatose state and the guardian blinked in surprise.

"Yusuke!"

"…Puu…"

Mai turned slightly to find the penguin-like creature waddling precariously towards them. His brow was furrowed in concentration as it cupped its precious supply of water in his ears. Behind him, Hywein carefully made sure that he was alright and mewed sorrowfully when a drop of water spilled.

She watched them quietly, "…Puu…Hywein…"

The guardian allowed herself to back away a little bit as the spirit-beast dribbled the water onto Yusuke's cheek. The water trickled through his mouth, but he didn't stir.

After every drop had been spared, Puu waddled back to the pond sitting at the back of the cave while Hywein followed after. They…they were trying to help him.

Uncertainly, Mai staggered back to her feet—only to nearly fall forward in the process. But she caught herself and stood frozen for a moment—almost hunched over from her near-fall.

She took an unsteady step forward towards the two spirit beasts. The earth around them began to shake as pebbles trickled down from the ceiling. After Urameshi's attacks on the cavern walls, the cave was now losing its structure and was starting to fall apart.

The guardian suddenly collapsed as her knees buckled beneath her.

She winced, "…Ow, dammit…"

Hywein's ears perked and she quickly turned around and trotted back towards her owner. The spirit beast cocked her head up at her worriedly and tried to get the guardian to pet her by forcing her head against her hand. But Mai only heaved desperately the air around her and stared off blankly at the ground.

What was she thinking? There wasn't anything she could do to help him now…he was on his own…

Yusuke groaned quietly as his eyes slowly opened a second time.

Dammit…I'm not only letting Mai down…his eyes flickered towards the spirit beast ahead of him; comforting her desperately…but my inner self too…

Larger chunks of rocks suddenly began to crash into the ground around them, but Mai couldn't find the strength to move out of the way. Her legs sat useless beneath her as Hywein tried to help her.

"…Puu!" the spirit beast frowned and unexpectedly turned around and began flapping towards the pond nearby.

Mai quickly looked up at this, "—Ah! Puu, wait!" she called out hurriedly as she noticed the falling debris. Her legs trembled as she tried to stand and Hywein mewed unhappily. The guardian stumbled to her feet and staggered after the spirit beast as he flew awkwardly away from her, "Dammit, you're going to get hurt!"

But the penguin-like creature continued to flap away from her towards the pond; desperate to get another bit of water—even as dangerously large chunks of rocks crashed around them. Beads of sweat seemed to appear along his brow, but he also seemed to be loosing his strength as well.

The guardian desperately staggered after him, "Dammit, Puu, stop it!"

He suddenly let out a small whimper as his strength failed him and he started to fall back towards the cavern floor.

"Ah!" Mai stumbled forward and opened her arms to catch him. The spirit beast plopped into her arms as she collapsed to the ground once more and she held him tightly to her chest in a protective fashion. Hywein trotted up beside them and cocked her head up at them.

Yusuke shifted carefully as he tried to lift himself up. The boulders falling from the ceiling began to increase in size and shook the ground when they fell.

Dammit, you—move you're sorry ass!

He grunted painfully as he gradually raised himself a few inches off the ground. His body shook tremendously while he watched the boulders crash around him. Dammit, why wouldn't she move? Was she frickin blind or something? With these thoughts beginning to anger him, he was steadily able to get to his knees.

"Dammit, Mai!" he grunted.

The girl turned at the sound of his voice and blinked at him almost dumbly. She still clutched Puu to her chest and tears streamed down her face.

"Move—!" he cut himself off suddenly and his eyes widened when he noticed the ceiling above her beginning to fall away. The guardian quickly followed his gaze and nearly blanched. With Puu in her hands, she tried to move out of its way, but her legs quickly crumpled beneath her and she swore angrily. Above her, the rock continued to break away.

To Yusuke, what happened next was all a blur. Without putting any thought to it, he suddenly found himself dashing madly towards her with only one thing on his mind. As the rock began to fall, his fist shot out in front of him and tiny pebbles clattered around them.

Mai—who had been using her body to shield Puu and Hywein, drew in a sharp breath when she suddenly felt the detective's body lean on top of her. She gasped and on instinct, shot up—only to have Urameshi's form slide to the ground. When she turned, she noticed wisps of energy emitting from his body; the power sent a shiver down her spine.

But the detective didn't stir.

Tears filled her eyes and raced down her face as she fervently shook her head.

"YUSUKE!"

-:-

The gray sunlight streamed through the small clearing and through the moist tree leaves. As she sat against the trunk of the tree, Genkai sighed heavily and lowered her eyes towards the ground. Inwardly, she kept cursing herself; what had she done?

Silence filled the clearing—all save for the quiet chirping of the birds nearby. The older woman sighed again and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

But she froze when a faint noise broke the silence.

Genkai quickly glanced up through the hazy sunlight. She had to blink several times before she was able to see clearing through the glow. With a grim smile, she creakily rose from her seat.

"You surprise me, Yusuke…" she told him as he limped into the clearing, "For awhile there I thought my eagerness had killed my favorite dimwit."

He was able to manage a weak smile while he leaned heavily against Mai's shoulder. But the guardian looked as though she was having an even harder time standing.

The detective glanced down at the crook of his arm wearily, "Yeah…just…make sure Mai watches Puu for me, will ya old hag…?"

He grunted when the old woman took the spirit beast from him and he crumpled. On instinct, Mai reached out to catch him, but buckled down to her knees from his weight.

The guardian winced as she fell to the ground. Hywein mewed weakly beside her and gently rested her head on her knee.

Genkai was quiet for a moment as she watched the girl lean up wearily against the trunk of the tree with Yusuke lying in her lap. With a sigh, she let her head rest against the bark.

Slowly, the older woman came to stand beside her, but her eyes never made contact with the guardian.

"…That test wasn't just for Yusuke…" she stated bluntly.

Mai closed her eyes, but didn't answer right away, "…I know…" she answered quietly and let another pause fill out between them, "…I…kind of realized that when you didn't stop me…even after you told me not to interfere…"

The older woman smirked and chuckled softly. She too, didn't answer right away and her smile slowly faded away, "…I needed to know if you were willing to help him, even when I told you not to; I need to know what your feelings are for him…" she noticed the guardian flush slightly, but she didn't object.

For a moment, Genkai was silent; thinking over what she was going to say next.

"Mai…I need to know what you were willing to do for him…" she continued gravely, "Because I needed to know if you would sacrifice everything for him…"

The guardian suddenly went rigid at her words, "…Wh-Why…?" she whispered.

She didn't reply. There was another silence before she slowly shook her head, "…Don't worry about it, Mai…" she said quietly, "Just rest now; you won't be any use to your team if you're not able to stand…"

But the girl frowned; how could she sound so calm so quickly? You can't just start talking casually after saying something like that! But Genkai didn't exactly notice her perturbed features, however—either that or she was ignoring it.

The older woman started walking out of the clearing, but before she had entirely disappeared, she called over her shoulder, "And no hanky-panky while I'm gone!"

At this, Mai immediately blushed and glanced down at the detective with her cheeks burning red. Then her eyes found the two spirit beasts lying nearby, cuddled up close together.

Baby you're all that I want…

Her eyes were beginning to droop, and she was beginning to lull herself to sleep.

Great.

She pouted softly and stared back down at Urameshi while trying to conceal her embarrassment. Taking one of her fingers, she gently prodded him in the shoulder.

Man, he was out cold…

Her head was now beginning to rest against the trunk of the tree as she continued to watch the top of the detective's head. For some reason, all she could think about was how happy she was that he was actually alive; that he had survived Genkai's final test. But at most…

…He hadn't left her alone after all…

When you're lying here in my arms…

Mai smiled weakly as she took her finger and gently prodded him in the cheek.

"…Poke…" she whispered just as her eyes closed.

I find it hard to believe

There was a moment where that scene was almost frozen in time…until Mai quietly slumped against the trunk of the tree and the entire clearing when silent.

We're in heaven…

-:-

a/n: eh, the lyrics seemed a little random in the places I put them (but it kind of goes with the scene, no?)

Anyway, here's my update! After about two weeks :nervous laugh:

PLEASE ENJOY! PEACE AND LUV EVERYONE!