Chapter 3: Back in Action, Maybe

By the end of the week, Botan had called to tell him to meet in Koenma's office. Kurama had had a good first week at his job, but now he needed to think of an excuse to leave early on Friday so he could see what the demi-god wanted. When he asked Rick about leaving early, he didn't even have to give a reason. Rick just assumed that Kurama wanted to get a head start home to see his family. Now the red head had a bigger problem, what to tell his okasan. He decided to wait and see Koenma before calling to say he would be late or not be coming to visit after all. Sure enough there were two demons trying to wreck havoc and eat ningens.

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama stepped out of a portal, right into a war zone. They were in a low populated area, but there were still ningens dead everywhere and total destruction of property.

"Let's do this." Yusuke said, taking off after seeing one of the demons.

"Right." Kuwabara followed, calling his spirit sword.

This left Kurama dealing with the second demon, which had seen the three coming out of the portal and who was now behind him. The fox sensed the demon and turned to see a big seven foot something coming right at him. Reaching into his hair, he waited until the demon was in range before calling his 'rose whip'. He slashed the demon many times and thought it was over only to realize the demon was still coming at him. It ended up knocking him on his backside. The red head rolled, coming up in a crouched position to try and see why the demon was not dead. Quickly realizing the demon was wearing some sort of armor and on closer examination realizing it was a thick skinned creature, thus the whip lashes had only scratched the surface of the skin. He started going on the defensive when the demon attacked, trying to think of its weaknesses and a way to kill it.

'I really wished Hiei were here. He would be wearing this thing down and I could then think of something to do to kill it.' He thought, knowing Hiei's katana would have had the same affect as his whip on the skin. All he ended up doing was staying one step ahead in the thinking of how not to get himself killed. He tried to tie the demon up with branches and grass, but the demon just kept pulling out of the hold. He wondered what the chances were of getting a death seed in one of the open cuts. 'That would require me to get close.' He surmised and decided it was the only way. Standing still, in hopes the demon would throw a punch so he could grab its arm and put the seed in a cut, he wasn't so lucky.

Unfortunately what ended up happening was the demon got a hold of Kurama by the throat. The red head lost focus for a second at the realization that he was having trouble breathing and was now two feet off the ground. Managing to calm himself, he found his focus and threw the seed down the demon's opened mouth, quickly followed by a hit to the chin with an open palm to close the mouth. This caused the demon to drop the red head and start choking. Kurama landed hard on his feet before landing hard on his knees. Not taking any chances, he immediately rolled away, coming up in a crouch position a few feet away from the still coughing demon. By the time the red head got his breathing under control, so had the demon. "You'll pay for that." It yelled, heading right to him.

"I don't think so." Kurama hissed.

The demon's eyes went wide as the cuts all over his body started spouting flowers. He fell forward, dead before he even hit the ground.

Standing up, Kurama started brushing himself off, noting many bruises, but they would heal quickly. What he really noticed was the pain in his neck when he turned his head to find the others. When he found them, he saw Yusuke hit the other demon with a spirit blast causing it to stumble and then Kuwabara slicing it in two. He made his way over as the two where giving each other high fives.

"Damn Kuwabara if I didn't know better I'd say you've gotten better." Yusuke praised, slapping the big guy on the back.

"I've been training with Genkai, not doing as much as you did, but just enough to stay on top of things." The orange haired boasted, slapping Yusuke right back.

"I have to admit Kuwabara that was impressive." Kurama's voice came out horse, causing him to cough.

"Oh shit Kurama are you okay…sorry about that, I guess we're just use to Hiei being with you. We will definitely have to change that." Yusuke said with concern, walking up to the third member. He took a hand to lift the red head's chin to get a look at the bruising that had started to show. "We need to remember to watch out for you." He added.

"What do you mean by that?" Kurama growled. Even though his voice was harsh, he was able to raise it. "I'm 'fine' Yusuke, I was doing fine before Hiei and I will do fine without!" Because his throat hurt he made himself calm down and say more neutral. "I did take care of Yomi by myself. Now that this is over, I need to go, my okasan is expecting me to come and visit. If I leave now I can make it without an excuse." The red head then turned without another word, leaving the other two wondering what the comment about Yomi meant and what did they do wrong.

This had been their first mission together as a team since returning from the Makai. Kurama knew he shouldn't let this one time bother him, but for some reason it made him realize he was now a third wheel. Having Hiei there meant that they could tag team off each other in taking down an opponent and now Yusuke was acting all of a sudden like he was a weak link that needed extra protection. He had to admit to himself that he got distracted and wished the fire demon had been there, but he would not let it happen again. Hiei was not coming back. Kurama would have to learn to fight solo again. It was not so much as fighting solo per say as just realizing that backup was not going to be there like it was. He trusted the others, don't get him wrong, but Hiei was always right there to take over if he was down.

He got on the road for the several hours trip ahead of him, giving him just enough time to heal his bruises and if needed come with an excuse to why his throat was sore.

a)a)a)a

The next several months only got worse as Kurama's work got busier and the demons just kept coming into the Ningenkai. There was at least one mission a week and he was running out of excuses at work. Not only that, but now he had to take night classes so he could get the knowledge needed for work. The excuses to his okasan were getting harder too, he was lucky if he could make it home one weekend a month and get to stay the whole weekend at that. He was using his weekends to make up work and do homework for class. Not to mention the demon fighting that might be happening at the time. That is if he did get to fight, it seems since the first fight when Yusuke said he needed to be 'looked out for' really meant 'being shoved out of the way'. The biggest thing on his mind though was Hiei and every time he went into battle, no matter how hard he tried, he could not stop thinking about the black haired.

The red head needed the fire demon now more than ever. He had always been there to talk to. Yusuke would try to be there, but he had Keiko and they were dealing with the 'now open' restaurant. Kuwabara had his own classes and when he wasn't fighting with them and doing homework, he was seeing Yukina.

Kurama decided to put his foot down and do what he thought after his first talk with Koenma about quitting. He stopped going to the 'meetings' and was having Botan give him the information as to where he needed to go. Sometimes he would make it on time for the fighting and sometimes he would make it after it was all over with. The more he made it late to a fight the more he realized that he was a third wheel and that Kuwabara was now more than capable of helping Yusuke. In his mind he was no longer needed.

One evening after getting home from work, Kurama found a note on his door from Genkai. It stated that he was to come over and help her with Puu's once a month bath. He thought about not going, needing to finish some work, but thought 'why not' he needed a break and going to see the 'old master' was a treat, not to mention he did like Puu. Changing into a pair of old blue jeans and a t-shirt, that he could get wet, he made his way over.

When he reached the main door at the top of the stairs, he felt several presences, but didn't know whose they were because they were masking themselves. Walking in, he saw Koenma, in his teenage form, sitting in the middle of the floor with his arms crossed and sucking very hard on the pacifier in annoyance. The red head was just about to turn around, to see who he sensed behind him, when the door slammed closed. Genkai and Botan were standing there blocking the door. "I'm sorry Kurama, I don't have a say in this." Genkai said, folding her arms and looking off across the room. Botan didn't say anything, but her eyes said that she too was sorry.

"Well, that was a sneaky way of getting me here." Kurama said walking over and sitting down cross legged in front of the Lord, placing his hand on his knees.

Koenma leaned forward, saying. "Before you go off half cocked, she had nothing to do with this. It was my order…understood?" He made it a point to look right at Kurama when he said it.

"Yes." Turning to look at Genkai, Kurama stated. "We can give Puu a bath after this little chat, I won't be long."

Genkai gave a smirked. 'The poor boy's asking for it.' She thought.

Koenma sighed. "Look Kurama…I'm not going to apologize for this. You were not coming to my office anymore and not answering my calls. I want to know what's been going on and believe it or not, I want to help. You're a good employee and despite what you may have heard, I do have a heart." The Lord dropped his arms to his lap, trying to show contentment.

"First off." Kurama started. "I am not an employee. I am not on probation anymore, so I do not see where you get that from. And second, when did your heart care for anything outside of what you have wanted?" He had managed complete control over his voice, for he was not going to fall for the Lord's sappiness.

"Okay." Koenma said, leaning back. "Let's try this again. I told you that I needed your help with the transition period of the new rules set by King Enki. I assumed you would fulfill that commitment." He held up is hand to stop the red head who was about to speak. "I'm not done yet. I told you your probation was over after the Dark Tournament since you helped in that mess, but it really wasn't over by any means. You had no choice but to participate in the Tournament because of Toguro's request that you be there or everyone dies. And I know you helped with the Sensui case, but again, you had no choice, the earth as we know it was coming to an end. I'll get to the point, because of the stunt you pulled going to assist Yomi, you are back on probation."

Kurama couldn't control his anger. Everything he has done over the years after stealing the sacred artifacts with Hiei has been for Koenma. Has he not paid enough for that crime? Koenma was being a cold hearted bastard now, coming up with an excuse as lame as Yomi to get him to do his bidding.

The Lord continued, saying softly. "It will only be for a few years Kurama, I told you that. Then the system will work out and anyone who breaks the new rules will be handled by the new squad that's being trained right now. Besides, you have worked around your personal life before…you can hang on a little longer."

Kurama's voice turned cold as he said. "I can not believe you would step so low to get me to keep helping you." He thought he had learned to control Youko better since the spirit yoko's last appearance, but he lost it. It was Youko's cold voice that finished the statement. "I guess you are going to go and drag Hiei back so you can put him on probation as well?"

Koenma was not going to let the yoko intimidate him. Ignoring the sweat forming on his brow when he saw the gold in the eyes, he managed to say calmly. "If I thought I could find him and bring him back…then yes, I guess I would. Now I want you in my office the next time there's a case…is that understood?" He crossed his arms to make his stand that this was the end of the discussion and that nothing Kurama could say would change the decision he had made.

Though Youko had gone dormant, Kurama's voice still had an edge. "Understood…but I assure you, you are not going to like me when this is over. When this is all said and done, I never want to see or hear from you again." He said getting up and walking to the door. Genkai just stepped to the side, but Botan tried to stop him by grabbing his hand when he went to open the door. Seeing tears in the corner of her eyes, he gave a nod to her before opening the door and walking out.

The move caused her to pull her hand back quickly and just watch as the red head jogged down the stairs out of site. Tears started flowing as she turned to stare at her boss.

"You didn't need to be so mean Koenma." She said with her voice cracking.

Koenma sighed. Closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose, he said. "We need him Botan, Yusuke needs him. It was the only way I could think of. There's something wrong here and I hope we, or better yet he, can work it out."

End Chapter 3