Okay, wasn't last chapter fun! There is nothing special before the story in this chapter, so if you're like me, and you always skip to the story, go right ahead. I think this story will have about five more chapters, and maybe an epilogue. But I'm not sure. Okay, it's time for Youko to return to Kuronue after his little tantrum in the town.

Lita Kitsune: I'm glad you like it so much. I'm also glad my story is unique, here's the update you called for.

BlackRoseVixen05: I agree, I just had to put him there, it added a nice little twist to the story.

Shiorifoxiesmom: Hiei found Youko feeling self destructive and in his own way, he helped him. I also wanted to put a little romantic interest between the two, as well as reveal the fact that they knew one another.

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It's a Secret: Chapter 10

Youko arrived at the camp after running non stop about five minutes later. (What can I say? He's fast and he wasn't that far away.) He raced to his mate's tent and barged in without consulting Sho about Kuro's condition, prepared for the worst. When he got inside he breathed a sigh of relief. Kuronue was awake, he was still lying weakly on the cot, but he was stable. Sho got out of the chair by Kuro and left, saying only, "I'll leave you two alone."

Youko rushed to his lover's side. Kuronue smiled. "Morning love." he greeted weakly as Youko grasped his hands. Before he could speak, Kuro did. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this, and that's an order." Kuronue could read him like a book. Annd he read books very well. The arrangement they had made when Youko first became Kuro's apprentice had never really gone away. Kuronue rarely used it, unless it was really important.

"But if I hadn't," Youko began. He was interrupted when he noticed Kuro examining his bloody hand. He had only managed to clean one of them. Seeing the knowing look his bat gave him he grinned sheepishly. Like a kid being caught with cookies before dinner, instead of being caught red handed by his lover for murder, literally. "Oh that, well you see, I was so angry that I had to let off some steam, and the only thing I could destroy was the town. Plus, I didn't intend to, I was provoked by them. They were asking for it!" His eyes widened slightly, almost like they were desperately trying to convince him.

Kuronue laughed softly. "I'm not mad foxy boy. If you had stayed you probably would have scared away all of the bandits we have." His eyes became serious. "Who was the villian kissing you though?" Youko looked up, surprise clear only in his eyes, the rest of his expression impassive. "Did you forget I could sense some things that happen to you through the bond between us?" He reached up and brushed his fingertips over the narrow cut on Youko's throat. "Who must I kill for marring your beautiful skin?" he asked, ice creeping into his voice.

Youko decided not to go into detail about the event. "I took care of it." was all he said. He knew Kuronue would assume he had killed whoever dared to touch him. Kuronue didn't know he'd enjoyed the kiss. In fact, all Kuronue knew was that Youko had been kissed, and injured without his consent.

"Back to you bat." Youko said. "If I hadn't used that powder you wouldn't be hurt. And then none of this would have ever happened." Three tears fell, more than he had cried since before Kuro found him. He never really thought about his time as a slave, so it seemed like he cried for the first time ever. "It's all my fault." he whispered.

"We'll be having none of that now." A voice said from the entrance to the tent. Both lovers turned their gaze to the speaker. It was Akiko. At thirteen years of age, she already had the personality of a kind, but fiery old lady. (Like Genkai but nicer.) She also loved to eavesdrop. "Didn't you hear lord Kuro's order? He said no blaming yourself."

Youko nodded and smiled slightly, a special smile he had only shown to her and Kuro. "Alright I'll stop. But with all due respect, Stop listening to our private conversations. Go bother someone else, I'll continue training you and Yomi later." She yelped and hurried away.

"A little harsh, love." Kuronue pointed out dissaprovingly. "But never mind that, if I hadn't saved the book, I wouldn't have been hurt. The fact is that I did and I was. We can't change the past. So dwelling on it just makes you look stupid, got it?" Youko smiled again (Wow, twice in one day.) and nodded.

"Speaking of the book, I found something interesting." he informed his partner. Youko leaned back in his chair. "Oh?" he asked. Kuro opened the book to a page entitled Spirit circles. "Well, it's a good thing I saved the book, because if I hadn't, we'd never learn this interesting stuff."

"Do enlighten me." Youko said wryly. Kuronue handed him the book. It seemed to explain something called Spirit Circles (duh). Apparently you could use magic items made in a particular way. Forming a mental link with these items could allow you to do many things. But the items had to remain intact for the spell to last. It was a method that used to be common, but nobody knew what the items were that you could do it with. Apparently you could use souls to do it as well, but that's another story.

The spell had many uses, for instance it could place your soul in different bodies, bring people back to life, or supposedly make you near immortal. As long as the items survived. The latter was what caught the lover's interest. It read

Using the spirit circles you can become immortal, or nearly so. Nothing may be felt harming you, but it is possible be wounded. If you are however, contact with the items used for the spell will completely heal you. If you carry them with you, you will heal instantaneously. That is not advised however, for if the spell is broken, your soul will be wrenched from you body, so concealing them elsewhere is advised. Normally, the spell would just break, but with immortality spells, you would no longer have a living body.

It went on to describe the spell. There was a picture below it of what the spell should look like when cast or in use. The circle was complicated. (If you've seen full metal alchemist, picture a fancy transmutation circle with nothing in the center.)

Youko checked the next page, he was surprised to find that there was a list of items that worked for the spell. And even more surprised to find that the statue's he had (think about chapter 5 and 6) were listed. He checked the list and there was only one more item they needed. He stood and gave the book to Kuro.

"As soon as you've recovered we'll go steal this." Youko said. He left the tent after kissing his mate. Then he went to get his apprentices for training.

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I didn't tell you what the last ingredient is because even I don't know yet. But that's jumping ahead. Kuro will need a chapter or two to recover his strength. And in the meantime, Yomi gets greedy, and Youko just doesn't like it. So please review, I work hard on this and I want to know what you think. Just say "hi, I like it." or something like that if you don't want to be original. Okay, I await those Reviews.