A/N: Sorry for the delay in update; I wish I could say the next chapter would come sooner but I doubt it. Work is nasty. :(

Chapter 2

For a moment everything was silent. Then Hiei said, "Kurama."

"Yes?"

"Would you mind not breathing so hard?" Whatever was wrong, it was not that serious, as Hiei sounded normal - pissed.

"Sorry." Kurama slowed his rapid breathing - and so did Hiei.

Botan made another nervous noise, and Kurama lifted his head off the floor enough to give her something that would have been a glare coming from anyone but him. "If you believe you are here to arrest us, you are operating under a serious misconception."

"I am not going back to jail," Hiei concurred, giving his own rather fiercer glare.

"But... well, I mean, this wasn't exactly done quietly... everyone will find out!"

"Find out what?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yeah, mind letting us in here?" Yusuke added, aggravated.

"They've broken the law!" Botan squeaked.

"We have not," Kurama said firmly. "I assure you, Botan, nothing illegal has happened here."

"Even if that's true, Koenma can't just sit back and ignore this, it'll look like he's favoring you!"

"I believe it is standard practice to make an inquiry in cases such as this," Kurama said calmly. "Perhaps Hiei and I could remain in Spirit World while that inquiry is being made. As guests, of course," he added firmly.

"I... suppose that might work..." Botan said hesitantly. Hiei grunted.

"Hiei, please," Kurama said softly.

Everyone watched Hiei. "Fine," he finally said sourly. "We'll need to recover somewhere; I suppose Koenma can prove himself useful for once."

"Excellent, it's all settled then!" Botan said brightly. "Everyone aboard who's coming!"

And the next thing Yusuke knew, Hiei and Kurama had been carted off to Spirit World, leaving him and Kuwabara behind.

Two hours later a harrassed and irritated Yusuke barged into Koenma's office, flanked by Kuwabara. "What the hell is going on?" Yusuke demanded.

"Yusuke, what do you mean by barging in like this? You made me spill my paperwork!"

"To hell with your paperwork! Why did Botan take Kurama and Hiei off like that without telling us anything? Kurama stopped breathing, Koenma! I want some answers. Is this like one of those one of the three people who misses you most has to kiss you kind of things?" In the time it had taken them to get themselves to Spirit World that was the only theory Kuwabara and Yusuke had managed to come up with.

"It's nothing like that," Koenma said stiffly. "Hiei's in a great deal of trouble. What he did is illegal and there's only so many times I can bend the rules for him, or wipe his criminal record."

"How is a kiss illegal?" Yusuke demanded.

"It's not just any kiss; it's called the Kiss of Life." Koenma rubbed his forehead, looking irritated. "I should have known I would have to explain this to you two."

"Well somebody better!"

"Calm down, Yusuke! No one's going to jail." Koenma rubbed his forehead again. "Kurama insists it was consensual, and while I don't believe him for an instant it does give me an out..."

"Out from what?" Kuwabara asked.

"I just told you, it's illegal." Koenma sighed. "The Kiss of Life is an ancient demon practice that literally melds a part of two demons' life force together. People who have shared this kiss will forever breathe in sync with each other, and their hearts will beat as one. If one of them is injured the other will feel half the pain, and if one dies the other will too even if there isn't a scratch on his body."

Yusuke and Kuwabara were silent. Koenma continued, oblivious or uncaring to their shock. "It was made illegal a few centuries ago because it was being used so unscrupulously. Once someone starts to administer the kiss there's no stopping it. Oftentimes the person receiving it has no choice. Assassins will force underlings to administer the kiss and then commit suicide, taking the other with them. Jealous lovers will use the kiss to kill or maim their partners; worst of all, demons will administer the kiss to someone's parent or child to force them to do things they wouldn't normally do. Even demons will stand up for their children." Koenma rubbed his forehead. "There are only two circumstances in which the kiss is legal. One is a consensual kiss between lovers, which you really can't outlaw even though it so often goes bad later on. The other is to save somebody's life."

"Wait, why didn't Hiei just die?" Kuwabara asked.

"Because the wound would have to be greater than Hiei and Kurama's demon energies combined to kill them. Any wound either of them receives from now on will be halved between them."

"And the shrimp did that for Kurama?"

"Yes, and it's going to get him into a fair bit of trouble if Kurama and I don't do some fast thinking."

"But you just said it was okay to use it to save someone's life!" Yusuke protested.

"Only if prior consent was given. Usually in that situation the two demons who agreed to use it if one of them was in danger of dying will have some sort of proof, but Hiei and Kurama can't produce anything. Frankly, I don't believe for a second that they agreed to this maneuver beforehand. Hiei would never do something like that."

"Uh, news flash, Koenma: Hiei just did something like that."

"I know. Which makes this case all the more difficult to deal with. There's nothing in Hiei's personality profile that indicates a willingness to share his soul with anybody, even Kurama. If we can't prove that this was agreed upon beforehand, your friends could be in some serious trouble."