Title: The Eternal Distance
Author: Etsuki-chan
Summary: (Hiei/Kurama, Youko/Yukina) Koenma had finally discovered a way to separate Kurama and Youko! But when his plan accidentally traps both Youko and Yukina in Demon world will Kurama and Hiei be able to pull together and rescue the ice maiden before Youko snaps?
Pairings: Hiei/Kurama, Youko/Yukina, Koenma/Botan (Possibly more minor pairing later…)
Warnings: Language! Possible lemons (I'll decide later…) and some violence.
Disclaimer: If I owned Youko Kurama do you honestly think I'd be pairing him with Yukina? I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the characters.
A/N: Hi all! This is my first ever anime fic. (Not to mention Yu Yu Hakusho) So it is VERY important that you review and tell me how it is. In case you were wondering the whole Hiei/Kurama thing is actually more for my friend Enjeru. I like Yukina and Youko together, but I have yet to find anyone else who agrees…oh well. Let me know how it is!
Chapter 1: Koenma's MistakeYukina watched in silence as Hiei walked away. His last words still hung in her heart, his last message playing itself over and over again throughout the night.
"Your brother is dead…forget him and move on…there's nothing more I can do."
"I won't forget," Yukina whispered. Hiei paused and glanced back at her in surprise. "If he's dead…then that's it and there's nothing I can do. But…that doesn't mean I have to forget him. That doesn't mean he gets to just disappear. It's not fair! Death…death is not the end, Hiei-san. The only ending is when you forget the one's you love. That can be your only downfall…will you forget us, Hiei-san? Will you disappear out of our lives like my brother?"
"I am not your brother," Hiei said softly looking across the trees to somewhere far away. Somewhere Yukina knew no one could reach him. "The one's I love? I have no loved ones…Yukina. There…there is no one I wish to protect."
"There's Kurama," Yukina whispered glancing over at the fox with pleading eyes. Kurama on the other hand simply shrugged and glanced towards the sky.
"It's up to him," Kurama whispered, "If…if he wants to leave, let him. Who'd want to be there when it happens anyway? It's supposedly an extraordinarily painful experience."
"That's why we're coming, Kurama!" Keiko cut in, stepping up beside Yukina, "You're our friend. We would never let you go through that alone. Right, Hiei?"
"Why would I come to see you separated?" Hiei said with a sneer glancing at Kurama, "I'm really not that interested. I'd end up leaving right after anyways."
"Of course," Kurama said softly turning away and strolling through the trees. "We better get going. Koenma says it has to be exactly at twelve and not a minute after. We are wasting our time."
Slowly one after the other, Kurama and his friends made their way through the forest mentally preparing themselves for what they would face when Youko and Kurama were torn apart.
"What happened, Yukina?" Keiko asked glancing down at her friend in concern when Hiei made no attempt to follow the progressing party, "I've never seen Hiei act this way. Especially towards Kurama."
"I'm not sure," Yukina shrugged as they picked their way through the bushes surrounding them, "I think it has something to do with this whole separating ceremony. Hiei doesn't agree. You know Koenma said it's highly dangerous, he's listed off all of the terrible risks Kurama would be taking, but…he can't stand having Youko inside of him anymore. But Hiei…I don't think Hiei is ready to see Kurama in such pain. He denies it so, but I really do believe that Hiei cares for Kurama very much. He doesn't want to see him hurting and…he doesn't want things to change."
"What things?" Keiko said on a sigh, "There is nothing between them. There never has been. We can all see how much Hiei means to Kurama but…there's never been anything. I suppose we can blame that on Hiei's stubbornness."
"I don't know about that," Yukina said softly, "I think Hiei's afraid. He doesn't want Youko to leave Kurama, because he's afraid everything else will leave him as well. He's afraid Kurama…won't be Kurama anymore. That terrifies him, and Hiei's never had to deal with being afraid. So he tries to counter it by pushing everyone away. He…he's scared he'll be rejected."
"How ironic," Yusuke said under his breath as he listened to Keiko and Hiei's sister talk.
"We're here," Kurama said softly stopping in the center of the forest. "Koenma said to wait for him here."
"It's not guaranteed that you'll die in this process," Yukina said softly sitting beside him in the grass, "Koenma…he said it's only a slight chance, right?"
"Right," Kurama said with a bitter smile, "The possibilities of something going wrong, however, are endless. Most likely either Youko or myself will end up trapped in Demon World. That wouldn't be so bad I suppose, not for Youko anyway."
"Couldn't you just come back?" Yukina said in confusion, "You've been in Demon World before…it's not that hard, is it?"
"It's different this time," Kurama said distantly, "There would be no way to return home. You see, this separating ceremony…it has to be performed right where the World's collide. It's such a narrow line; it is quite likely that one of us should become lost within one of the Worlds. And since it is a certain, birth right you could call it, as we were both being pulled apart and born anew, we would be unable to leave the world in which we fell. Well, not without sacrifice from one of the parties involved, and I'm not placing any money on Youko helping anybody but himself."
"I…I don't think I quite understand," Yukina began hesitantly.
"If Youko and Kurama fall into Demon world, or any world for that matter," Koenma explained strolling out of the trees and scaring them all, "The will become permanently trapped. Unless, of course, one chose to end their own life for the other to return. As you can probably tell Youko isn't exactly a selfless person."
"That…doesn't seem too big of a risk," Yukina said glancing to Kurama in confusion.
"Well, you would think," Kurama said with a frown, "However the stipulations are unclear. It is literally impossible for someone to survive if they are tipped into Demon World after this ceremony with an extremely…eccentric Youko. Besides, there is no telling in which part of Demon world we would land. So, rescuing us would be pretty much out of the question."
"But…"
"Besides," Botan cut in stepping up beside Koenma, "Those really are only some of the things that can go wrong. But…we shouldn't dwell on it. Both Youko and Kurama are extremely powerful. I highly doubt either of them will be harmed in this process."
"Right," Kurama nodded, getting to his feet, "Then…let's start, shall we?"
"Of course," Koenma nodded and motioned for Kurama to approach him. "This will not be a painless experience, Kurama."
"Trust me," Kurama whispered looking bleakly into Koenma's eyes, "I already know. But there's not much more I can lose now so…proceed."
Koenma nodded and took a deep breath. The next few moments seemed frozen forever in Yukina's eyes. As the doors to Demon World opened, Koenma began the ceremony…and Kurama began to scream. It was the worst thing Yukina had ever heard. The pain of their souls being ripped apart was agonizing, and Kurama's tortured screams had a mind of their own. As the ceremony progressed they grew worse and worse as another figure and voice began to join in. A figure with shocking white hair. Youko.
"Botan!" Koenma called as the winds began picking up and Kurama and Youko began to teeter towards the drop off between two worlds, "Seal the doors, Botan!"
"Kurama, hold on!" Yusuke cried out as they pitched dangerously in the wind.
"They won't shut!" Botan called in a panic as she attempted to close off the surrounding worlds, "They've caught the sent of Demons. What do I do?"
"Stupid fox!" Gasping in surprise, everyone stared in awe as Hiei appeared out of nowhere. "Don't you go and die on me!" Reaching forward Hiei grabbed Kurama by the arm and jerked him backwards.
"No Hiei, don't do that!" Koenma shouted, "If you interfere it'll go for someone else!"
"What the hell do I care?" Hiei sneered.
"Youko," Yukina breathed staring in transfixed horror as the figure of Youko Kurama began to fall. Unconsciously she stepped forward as though to help him. That's all it took. Sensing another presence the winds gathered Yukina and swept her towards the hole.
"Yukina!" Keiko screamed lurching forward to try and stop her friend's abduction.
"The doors are closing!" Botan cried grabbing Keiko before she could throw herself into Demon World. "There's nothing we can do!"
"Yu…Yukina?" Hiei whispered as he watched his sister disappear. "What…what have I done?"
"Shit!" Yusuke gasped holding on to Keiko's arm as the winds faded and the doors closed with a resounding thud.
"What…what are we going to do?" Botan whispered staring at Koenma in horror.
"I…I don't know," he whispered.
"Hiei?" Kurama said blearily glancing around and pulling himself away from the smaller Demon in confusion. "What's going on? What happened? Did it work?"
"It sure did, you stupid bastard!" Hiei hissed shoving himself away from Kurama in disgust. "You idiot! D o you know what you've done?"
"No…what happened?" Kurama murmured looking around at the surrounding audience. "What's the matter?"
"Yukina…Yukina was taken," Keiko finally whispered, "Yukina and Youko are trapped in Demon World. Together."
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Well that was fun! I know the whole 'ceremony' took place really fast but that's actually supposed to be the point. Anyway, please review and tell me how it was. Thanks!