Authoress: eeeehehehehe...^^
Hiei: *eye twitches*
Kurama: um...what happened last time? (Lost all memory of...ahem...yeah...)
Authoress: eh...nothin'...really *suspicious smile*
???: really?...I thought...wait...never mind...
Yusuke: who ARE you? *sniffle* makin' me think that you are Keiko...grrrr...
???: *smiles*
Kuwabara: why do you look like Koenma?
???/Authoress: Oo...no reason...really
Koenma: yesh...the resemblance IS uncanny *stares at ???, grinning*
???: um...yeah...Hiei-san...save me...*runs from Koenma and hides behind Koorime*
Hiei: *eye twitches uncontrollably* GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!!
???: *sniffle* pweeze Hiei-san?
Hiei: not after what you did to Kurama
Touya: What about what he did to ME!?
Jin: what did he do to you??
Touya: *shuts up very quickly, hiding in the corner of the room* nothing...
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho...nope...nothing...nada...zilch...got it?...*sniffle* I never
owned ANY OF IT!!!!...wait...I own...*stares around room*...um...no...Loddie (A.K.A. the
'Father') paid for that...and...me Mums bought this...that one's Zannie's...yeah...okay, I do own
nothing at all...*smiles* I have my Twinkies, though...heh...^____^
Chapter Seven
"It looks like all of you have passed...so far...very good. I congratulate all of you..." a voice
stated, making Kurama open his eyes, looking around. 'I didn't close my eyes...' Kurama
thought, then saw that he was no longer in his room with 'Hiei.' His new surroundings were
unfamiliar, a forest behind him, and a river in front of him. The river was a dark, only a few
shades lighter than black, red, the ground was also dark in color, as was the cloudy sky.
"Who are you?" Yusuke asked as he appeared, literally, out of thin air to Kurama's right. The
kitsune stared at the Reikai Tantai for a moment, and when he glanced around again, he saw Jin,
Touya, and Kuwabara had all appeared.
"No one...If you don't mind...I'd like to ask a question of all of you. Why couldn't you accept
the lives I gave you? They were what you always dreamed of...but you didn't want...to live
here...why?" the deep voice questioned. Kurama thought for a moment, knowing that he
recognized the voice, but he couldn't think of a face to match with the sexy disembodied voice.
"We knew it wasn't real...so why should we live in a place where everything is an illusion?"
Touya replied quietly, his blue eyes shifting around the grassy area, searching for a source to the
voice. 'I almost...believed his illusion...' Touya thought to himself, sighing inwardly.
"I see...you couldn't live in a world where things are perfect...interesting..." the voice said
thoughtfully. Kurama glanced around their surroundings, sensing a flare of youki. 'Someone's
here...but...it seems like he is...everywhere...' the kitsune thought to himself. "I also have another
question to ask all of you...why are you here?"
"We came to save Hiei," Yusuke answered, sensing the youki too. 'How can he...be
everywhere?'
"Hiei...why would you risk your lives to save such a...unusual demon?"
"Because he is a friend," Kuwabara retorted, wishing he could glare at the owner of the voice.
"Not that you would know what a friend is..." 'Little bastard...he knows where Hiei is...and he's
just playing with us...'
"You're right, spirit detective...I don't know what friendship is...and I do know where Hiei is..."
the voice stated. "I will give him back to you...if you defeat me...fighting me will be your final
test..."
'Fighting him? How can we do that...when we don't know where he is?' Yusuke asked inwardly,
glad he finally knew what their 'test' was, and that it was something that all of them excelled in.
'Good thing it didn't have anything to do with intelligence...Kuwabara would surely fail...heh...'
"Where are ye hidin' so we can start fightin'?" Jin asked, his eyes darting back and forth. 'His
youki's everywhere...'
"I am not hiding...just observing..." the voice replied as the five Reikai Tantai stared at the trees,
where the loud, sudden rustling was originating from. Kurama's eyes widened when he saw their
opponent, finally remembering who the voice belonged to.
"Kuro..." Kurama whispered, staring at the bat youkai. He looked exactly the same as the day
Kurama was forced to leave him behind, even down to the reddish pendant tied to his side.
"You know him?" Touya asked, glancing over at the kitsune.
'It's an illusion...Kuronue died...a long time ago...' Kurama thought to himself in disbelief.
"H...hai..."
"It is an illusion, Kurama...but not in the way you think..." Kuronue replied, his blue eyes landing
on the kitsune. "Kuronue is dead...but I am not an illusion..."
"What are you talking about?" Yusuke asked, finally recognizing the bat demon. 'It's that
guy...one of the Netherworld gods...but...he was only pretending to be Kuronue...' Yusuke
thought to himself.
"I've been here so long...I can't remember what I look like...but I do remember that I looked
almost identical to my older brother...and I can picture him in my mind..." Kuronue answered
quietly, a hint of sadness in his voice. "The last time I saw Kuronue...he told me he'd be back..."
'...his older brother...' Kurama thought to himself, remembering one of his numerous
conversations with Kuro.
"Kurama...why did you become a thief?" Kuro asked, glancing over at his lover. Kurama
shrugged his shoulders, tightening his embrace around the other youkai.
"Why did you?" Kurama questioned, nuzzling his nose against Kuronue's neck.
"I...I needed the money..." Kuro replied quietly.
"For what?"
"...I was born into slavery...like the rest of my family. After my parents died...I was the
only one that could take care of my younger brother and sister. I...I got enough money to free
myself...and left, promising them...that I would free them...but...I found out...that a little while
after I left...that they had been killed...by Reikai Tantai. So now, I have no reason...to live..."
Kuro replied sadly. "I failed them...if I had remained there...I could ha-"
"Kuro...you tried...that's all you could have done..." Kurama said, gingerly kissing the bat
youkai's long neck. "Anyways...I need you...so you do have a reason to live..."
"I guess you're right, Kurama..." Kuro sighed heavily, leaning back against the youkai.
"What were they like?"
"...they were twins...and they looked, and acted, like smaller versions of me..." Kuro
replied, smiling weakly. "They both were extremely intelligent and very strong...but my sister,
Yume...she was the strongest youkai I've ever seen...and the kindest...my brother, Kura...he was
very...clever..."
"They must have been menaces," Kurama commented, trying to cheer up the bat.
Kuronue nodded his head curtly.
"I was always getting yelled at for something they did...and made it look like I had done
it..." Kuro replied, turning his head to look at Kurama. "I got enough whippings because of those
two to last a lifetime...they always apologized afterwards...but did something even worse the next
day..."
"I wish I could have met them..." Kurama said, nibbling on Kuro's pointed ear, receiving a
soft mona from the bat youkai.. "They sound like very interesting children..."
"They were...they were very interesting..."
"But...he said his brother and sister were killed..." Kurama pointed out, trying not to cry as he
remembered the youkai he had fallen in love with. 'If they weren't dead...then they would
be...around five or six hundred...'
"My twin died...but I was saved by Master...and I've been here ever since..." Kuronue replied
quietly. "Now, fight me, before the spell begins to drain your lives from you..."
'If he is stuck here...then the only way to free him...is to kill him...' Touya thought to himself,
watching as Yusuke and Kuwabara rushed at the bat youkai, readying their Rei weapons. 'That
must be why he is here...fighting us...'
'A youkai with a death wish...then we won't be havin' much of a fight...' Jin said inwardly,
watching Kuwabara and Yusuke assail the demon, hitting their opponent. Kuronue staggered
back a bit, then smiled slightly.
"Not bad...but you have to do better than that, detectives...you have to kill me to defeat me..."
Kuronue stated, standing up straight, his body already repairing itself from the wounds though his
abdomen.
"What the hell..." Yusuke growled, attacking again, but stopped when he realized something.
'We're still in the dream world...so...how can we beat someone...who lives here?'
"Very good...an even better question is how can you save Hiei...and yourselves...after you kill
me..." Kuronue replied, chuckling. "If you kill me here...you kill my body in the real world as
well..."
"And? Like I care if you die?" Yusuke pointed out, aiming his Rei gun at Kuronue. 'He...he's
hinting at something...but what?'
"You should..."
Authoress: Fwahahahah...CLIFFHANGER, HELL YEAH!!!!!
Hiei: *eye twitches* I wasn't even in this...
???: ...so? At least you found out more about me....*grins*
Kurama: *stares at Yomi look-alike*
Yusuke: what's that supposed to mean... 'you should'????
Authoress: all will be explained next chappie...and if you, my wonderful reviewers, have figured it
out yet...I shall laugh...I've given so many hints...it's obvious...but, ya know...I KNOW what's
gonna happen...and it's twisted...oh, yesh...very twisted...
Koenma: *staring at lightning lightbulb* zap...*touches light* zap... *licks light* HOT!!!!! zap,
zap, zap
Kuwabara, Yomi, ???, Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, Authoress: Oo...
Authoress: what ARE you doing?...*pulls swan shaped light away from deity* Mine...
Koenma: thash nosh fairsh
Authoress: ??...so?...I don't care if it's fair...you licked my blue light of coooooolness...*begins to
wash (still plugged in) light* ZAP!!!!.............X____X
Hiei: *points and laughs hysterically*
Yomi: *leaves room, mumbling that he knows none of them*
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, ???: *follow Horny Doom*
Hiei: hn...ningen no baka...
Authoress: X.X
Koenma:...um...I don't think she's okay...SO I'LL DO THE BYE-BYES!!!!!...
Hiei: the 'bye byes'??? Oo...
Koenma: buh bye until...what was the number she used...????
Hiei: hn....five...
Koenma: OH...five...SPANK YOU!!!!^_____^...until five reviews!!! JA MATA!!!!! *waves*
Hiei: ...hn...
Authoress: X__X;;;
Hiei: *eye twitches*
Kurama: um...what happened last time? (Lost all memory of...ahem...yeah...)
Authoress: eh...nothin'...really *suspicious smile*
???: really?...I thought...wait...never mind...
Yusuke: who ARE you? *sniffle* makin' me think that you are Keiko...grrrr...
???: *smiles*
Kuwabara: why do you look like Koenma?
???/Authoress: Oo...no reason...really
Koenma: yesh...the resemblance IS uncanny *stares at ???, grinning*
???: um...yeah...Hiei-san...save me...*runs from Koenma and hides behind Koorime*
Hiei: *eye twitches uncontrollably* GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!!
???: *sniffle* pweeze Hiei-san?
Hiei: not after what you did to Kurama
Touya: What about what he did to ME!?
Jin: what did he do to you??
Touya: *shuts up very quickly, hiding in the corner of the room* nothing...
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho...nope...nothing...nada...zilch...got it?...*sniffle* I never
owned ANY OF IT!!!!...wait...I own...*stares around room*...um...no...Loddie (A.K.A. the
'Father') paid for that...and...me Mums bought this...that one's Zannie's...yeah...okay, I do own
nothing at all...*smiles* I have my Twinkies, though...heh...^____^
Chapter Seven
"It looks like all of you have passed...so far...very good. I congratulate all of you..." a voice
stated, making Kurama open his eyes, looking around. 'I didn't close my eyes...' Kurama
thought, then saw that he was no longer in his room with 'Hiei.' His new surroundings were
unfamiliar, a forest behind him, and a river in front of him. The river was a dark, only a few
shades lighter than black, red, the ground was also dark in color, as was the cloudy sky.
"Who are you?" Yusuke asked as he appeared, literally, out of thin air to Kurama's right. The
kitsune stared at the Reikai Tantai for a moment, and when he glanced around again, he saw Jin,
Touya, and Kuwabara had all appeared.
"No one...If you don't mind...I'd like to ask a question of all of you. Why couldn't you accept
the lives I gave you? They were what you always dreamed of...but you didn't want...to live
here...why?" the deep voice questioned. Kurama thought for a moment, knowing that he
recognized the voice, but he couldn't think of a face to match with the sexy disembodied voice.
"We knew it wasn't real...so why should we live in a place where everything is an illusion?"
Touya replied quietly, his blue eyes shifting around the grassy area, searching for a source to the
voice. 'I almost...believed his illusion...' Touya thought to himself, sighing inwardly.
"I see...you couldn't live in a world where things are perfect...interesting..." the voice said
thoughtfully. Kurama glanced around their surroundings, sensing a flare of youki. 'Someone's
here...but...it seems like he is...everywhere...' the kitsune thought to himself. "I also have another
question to ask all of you...why are you here?"
"We came to save Hiei," Yusuke answered, sensing the youki too. 'How can he...be
everywhere?'
"Hiei...why would you risk your lives to save such a...unusual demon?"
"Because he is a friend," Kuwabara retorted, wishing he could glare at the owner of the voice.
"Not that you would know what a friend is..." 'Little bastard...he knows where Hiei is...and he's
just playing with us...'
"You're right, spirit detective...I don't know what friendship is...and I do know where Hiei is..."
the voice stated. "I will give him back to you...if you defeat me...fighting me will be your final
test..."
'Fighting him? How can we do that...when we don't know where he is?' Yusuke asked inwardly,
glad he finally knew what their 'test' was, and that it was something that all of them excelled in.
'Good thing it didn't have anything to do with intelligence...Kuwabara would surely fail...heh...'
"Where are ye hidin' so we can start fightin'?" Jin asked, his eyes darting back and forth. 'His
youki's everywhere...'
"I am not hiding...just observing..." the voice replied as the five Reikai Tantai stared at the trees,
where the loud, sudden rustling was originating from. Kurama's eyes widened when he saw their
opponent, finally remembering who the voice belonged to.
"Kuro..." Kurama whispered, staring at the bat youkai. He looked exactly the same as the day
Kurama was forced to leave him behind, even down to the reddish pendant tied to his side.
"You know him?" Touya asked, glancing over at the kitsune.
'It's an illusion...Kuronue died...a long time ago...' Kurama thought to himself in disbelief.
"H...hai..."
"It is an illusion, Kurama...but not in the way you think..." Kuronue replied, his blue eyes landing
on the kitsune. "Kuronue is dead...but I am not an illusion..."
"What are you talking about?" Yusuke asked, finally recognizing the bat demon. 'It's that
guy...one of the Netherworld gods...but...he was only pretending to be Kuronue...' Yusuke
thought to himself.
"I've been here so long...I can't remember what I look like...but I do remember that I looked
almost identical to my older brother...and I can picture him in my mind..." Kuronue answered
quietly, a hint of sadness in his voice. "The last time I saw Kuronue...he told me he'd be back..."
'...his older brother...' Kurama thought to himself, remembering one of his numerous
conversations with Kuro.
"Kurama...why did you become a thief?" Kuro asked, glancing over at his lover. Kurama
shrugged his shoulders, tightening his embrace around the other youkai.
"Why did you?" Kurama questioned, nuzzling his nose against Kuronue's neck.
"I...I needed the money..." Kuro replied quietly.
"For what?"
"...I was born into slavery...like the rest of my family. After my parents died...I was the
only one that could take care of my younger brother and sister. I...I got enough money to free
myself...and left, promising them...that I would free them...but...I found out...that a little while
after I left...that they had been killed...by Reikai Tantai. So now, I have no reason...to live..."
Kuro replied sadly. "I failed them...if I had remained there...I could ha-"
"Kuro...you tried...that's all you could have done..." Kurama said, gingerly kissing the bat
youkai's long neck. "Anyways...I need you...so you do have a reason to live..."
"I guess you're right, Kurama..." Kuro sighed heavily, leaning back against the youkai.
"What were they like?"
"...they were twins...and they looked, and acted, like smaller versions of me..." Kuro
replied, smiling weakly. "They both were extremely intelligent and very strong...but my sister,
Yume...she was the strongest youkai I've ever seen...and the kindest...my brother, Kura...he was
very...clever..."
"They must have been menaces," Kurama commented, trying to cheer up the bat.
Kuronue nodded his head curtly.
"I was always getting yelled at for something they did...and made it look like I had done
it..." Kuro replied, turning his head to look at Kurama. "I got enough whippings because of those
two to last a lifetime...they always apologized afterwards...but did something even worse the next
day..."
"I wish I could have met them..." Kurama said, nibbling on Kuro's pointed ear, receiving a
soft mona from the bat youkai.. "They sound like very interesting children..."
"They were...they were very interesting..."
"But...he said his brother and sister were killed..." Kurama pointed out, trying not to cry as he
remembered the youkai he had fallen in love with. 'If they weren't dead...then they would
be...around five or six hundred...'
"My twin died...but I was saved by Master...and I've been here ever since..." Kuronue replied
quietly. "Now, fight me, before the spell begins to drain your lives from you..."
'If he is stuck here...then the only way to free him...is to kill him...' Touya thought to himself,
watching as Yusuke and Kuwabara rushed at the bat youkai, readying their Rei weapons. 'That
must be why he is here...fighting us...'
'A youkai with a death wish...then we won't be havin' much of a fight...' Jin said inwardly,
watching Kuwabara and Yusuke assail the demon, hitting their opponent. Kuronue staggered
back a bit, then smiled slightly.
"Not bad...but you have to do better than that, detectives...you have to kill me to defeat me..."
Kuronue stated, standing up straight, his body already repairing itself from the wounds though his
abdomen.
"What the hell..." Yusuke growled, attacking again, but stopped when he realized something.
'We're still in the dream world...so...how can we beat someone...who lives here?'
"Very good...an even better question is how can you save Hiei...and yourselves...after you kill
me..." Kuronue replied, chuckling. "If you kill me here...you kill my body in the real world as
well..."
"And? Like I care if you die?" Yusuke pointed out, aiming his Rei gun at Kuronue. 'He...he's
hinting at something...but what?'
"You should..."
Authoress: Fwahahahah...CLIFFHANGER, HELL YEAH!!!!!
Hiei: *eye twitches* I wasn't even in this...
???: ...so? At least you found out more about me....*grins*
Kurama: *stares at Yomi look-alike*
Yusuke: what's that supposed to mean... 'you should'????
Authoress: all will be explained next chappie...and if you, my wonderful reviewers, have figured it
out yet...I shall laugh...I've given so many hints...it's obvious...but, ya know...I KNOW what's
gonna happen...and it's twisted...oh, yesh...very twisted...
Koenma: *staring at lightning lightbulb* zap...*touches light* zap... *licks light* HOT!!!!! zap,
zap, zap
Kuwabara, Yomi, ???, Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, Authoress: Oo...
Authoress: what ARE you doing?...*pulls swan shaped light away from deity* Mine...
Koenma: thash nosh fairsh
Authoress: ??...so?...I don't care if it's fair...you licked my blue light of coooooolness...*begins to
wash (still plugged in) light* ZAP!!!!.............X____X
Hiei: *points and laughs hysterically*
Yomi: *leaves room, mumbling that he knows none of them*
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, ???: *follow Horny Doom*
Hiei: hn...ningen no baka...
Authoress: X.X
Koenma:...um...I don't think she's okay...SO I'LL DO THE BYE-BYES!!!!!...
Hiei: the 'bye byes'??? Oo...
Koenma: buh bye until...what was the number she used...????
Hiei: hn....five...
Koenma: OH...five...SPANK YOU!!!!^_____^...until five reviews!!! JA MATA!!!!! *waves*
Hiei: ...hn...
Authoress: X__X;;;