Bffimagine: Alright… New chappie and all!

Hiei: I hope there's a PLOT in this one?

Bffimagine: O.o I kinda think that's the point -.-'

Kurama: Nothing makes sense in the ningenkai anymore…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"URAMESHI!"

The spirit detective cringed.

"What is it, Kuwabara? Yer yellin' an' all." Yusuke knew his speech sounded slightly slurred; he wasn't much paying attention to what he was saying.

"Lil' Koenma dude sent me up here to get you. We're goin on another mission!"

"Ugh. Be right down."

'Do Kurama and Hiei…'

Yusuke shook his head fervently and trotted off after Kuwabara.

"What is it, toddler?" Yusuke was in the least surprised Hiei and Kurama were there, but made quite sure his face didn't show it.

"You're mission starts today. It's rather straightforward; infiltrate enemy fortress, destroy all who get in the way, get all information from enemy then wipe him out."

"Okay… sounds easy enough," Kuwabara said as if he were counting his fingers.

"All you need to get from him is the place they took Botan."

"BOTAN? But… wasn't she right here…" Yusuke's head whipped around the room incredulously. There was NO Botan.

"They kidnapped her? From when?" Kurama ignored Yusuke and looked down at Koenma, also skeptical about the matter.

"Oh… around… three hours after you left yesterday."

Hiei shook his head.

'Baka…'

"So all we have to do is basically get her back and kill all the demons holding any information about her whereabouts and any involved in this issue?" Hiei concluded.

"Yes."

"Did ya PLAN all this, little guy?"Kuwabara accused threateningly.

"No. Genkai and I just said you needed a more challenging mission and led you on to thinking we HAD one, but we didn't. Then this came up… golden opportunity."

Yusuke fell back onto his head with an audible 'FWAP'.

"We'd better be off," Kurama turned and he and Hiei left the room.

Genkai, who had been silent the whole time, whispered into Koenma's ear, "Interesting that they'd want Botan at all… ne Koenma? And it's actually giving Yusuke a work out… only thing is, why does Koronosuke want her in the first place?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"How long have we been walking for?" Kuwabara whined.

"Three minutes." Yusuke sighed; never take Kuwabara on long trips by foot.

"We'll go maybe… ten miles then take a break," Kurama calculated, taking a tentative glance at Hiei.

"Is that far?" Kuwabara complained again.

"It's half way there," Hiei closed off.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Team Urameshi walked in silence for half an hour.

"Have we gotten farther?" Kuwabara piped in again.

"Yes."

"How much farther?"

"We've gone two miles."

For the rest of the journey, Kuwabara miraculously kept quiet.

And it was almost dusk when they had reached ten miles from Genkai's house.

"We aren't making very good time," Yusuke muttered, "It's been a day and we've only gotten ten miles."

"Kurama and I could scope ahead," Hiei offered, obviously impatient to finish the assignment as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Nodding, the kistune showed his agreement.

"Stay together… no, we have to stay as a team."

"Then we'll have to set camp here." Kuwabara chimed happily, plopping down onto the soft, moss-covered ground.

"I suppose we will," Kurama sighed softly. Hiei sat gracefully—as he was with all his movements—and closed his eyes.

Emerald eyes peered at Hiei with concern. Kurama had noticed a definite sway in the half-koorime hiyoukai, and not as much aura radiated off of him.

"Oi! Hiei! Start this fire for me!" Yusuke was standing over a neatly arranged pile of tinder, wood and kindling.

Hiei obviously didn't have enough youki, ki, or reiki to summon anything, but not wanting to appear weak, he did as he was told, sending a bright golden spark at the flammable objects. Immediately it burst into flames, and the hanyou smiled triumphantly at him.

"Thanks."

Kuwabara had fallen asleep long ago, slumped onto the moss without poise or structure. Yusuke shifted closer to where Kurama was seated and where Hiei was lying on the ground.

"Hey, listen," Yusuke whispered to them both. Hiei's ears pricked up, but he didn't move, and Kurama looked at Yusuke unblinkingly.

"Kurama… I know you have the hots for Hiei. And obviously, Hiei has a thing for you as well, so I don't wanna break you guys up or anything. It's just…" Yusuke trailed off as soon as he saw two pairs of youkai eyes staring at him, both the size of extremely large dinner plates.

"Aw, c'mon. It's so OBVIOUS that you guys are IN LOVE with each other!" Yusuke whisper-shouted.

A tense moment passed, as Hiei and Kurama looked at each other, then back to Yusuke, then to each other. Finally they turned away from each other and blushed.

"Uh… anyway, since you two may as well be a couple now, I think I deserve a 'thank you' for playing matchmaker, because believe me fox-boy, you ain't the only one that thinks Hiei's beautiful." Yusuke flushed but Hiei just blushed even harder.

"Yusuke…" Kurama began.

"Thank you." Hiei breathed, half an utter of disbelief that Yusuke did in fact love him, but also that Kurama did as well.

Yusuke smiled down at them.

"Well, I'm gonna go to sleep now. You two… just don't kill each other by morning." Yusuke winked and walked a little farther away to settle down. He was sleeping in seconds.

"Kurama?" Hiei's hoarse whisper made Kurama's ears twitch. Both demons knew their acute senses were much to their advantage… well, most of the time.

"Hai? What is it?"

"Aishiteru."

Although he'd been waiting for this since he had first lain eyes on Hiei, Kurama was speechless. On one hand, he felt like just melting into a gooey puddle on the floor, and on another hand, he wanted to grab Hiei and just make sweet, sweet love to him.

"Aishiteru, Hiei."

The corners of Hiei's lips were tugged upwards into a small, bittersweet smile.

Rough, ragged breathing was all Kurama heard as he fell asleep. He knew Hiei was in pain; there was a sway in the younger youkai's steps. And he would NEVER have obliged to Yusuke if it weren't for weakness and fatigue. The trip was much to trying for Hiei in his condition.

'Good night, my Hiei.'

Kurama chuckled at his statement, very softly.

'MY Hiei.'

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Quiet dawn light spilled over the horizon, dim yet brightly colored in warm, soft oranges, yellows, reds and pinks, like oil paints slathered over blank canvas, dripping onto the trees and grasses in small trickles as to only kiss the surface.

"Rise and shine, Kurama."

Kurama stifled a yawn and blinked as he woke. From where he was lying, he was staring straight into Hiei's bold, crimson eyes.

"Ohyahou ne, koi. Aishiteru." (A/N: MY FIRST ALL-JAPANESE SENTENCE!) Kurama sat up and smiled brightly at the younger demon.

"Aishiteru… koi." The last words were foreign but sweet on Hiei's tongue, satin sliding past his lips.

The two demons gazed adoringly into each others' eyes for a second, then reluctantly broke away to set at the task before them.

Rousing Kuwabara and Yusuke.

"WAKE UP YUSUKE!"

Yusuke woke with a violent start.

"Oh, it's only you two. How do you wake up so—" YAWN "—Early?"

"How do we wake the baka?" Hiei scoffed and pointed at Kuwabara.

"Simple." Evil smirk.

Grabbing the ash from the fire, Yusuke loomed menacingly over Kuwabara.

"AGH! THE SKY IS FALLING!" he mocked Yukina's melodic voice almost perfectly—making Hiei twitch—and threw the ash all over Kuwabara. The ningen quickly shot up and swept Yusuke off his feet, saying heroically, "I'll save you Yukina!"

Then he realized what happened, and a series of whacks and punches and smacks were delivered.

Finally, team Urameshi began to move again.

Hiei and Kurama walked in the front, and Yusuke and Kuwabara lagged a good five or so feet behind them.

"Kurama… I sense some sort of foreboding aura. We should send the ningen and Yusuke farther back so we can divert the you-kais. Their aura is formidable… I can tell they will be able to overwhelm us within seconds." Hiei looked up as Kurama seriously.

The kitsune's face reflected the solemn, thoughtful look on Hiei's features.

"Yes. Yusuke needs to survive to find the oar girl…" Kurama's ears gave a small twinge, "And even though we can probably take these demons out… there are about twenty or so of them, and they are all powerful. Hiei, you should go with them."

"Of course not. I have to make sure you don't die, fox."

"No. I wouldn't be able to live with myself anyway if you died."

"And you think I'd be able to live a life without you?" the most sincere, heart-melting look of love was in Hiei's eyes, and Kurama couldn't help but lean closer to the hiyoukai/koorime's beautiful face and seal his lips with a kiss.

Hiei's lips were soft and warm, as were Kurama's. The kiss was chaste, gentle, but it held the full love of both youkai.

"Be careful," Hiei whispered candidly.

"Same to you. We'd better send them on… I think if we send them a little off to the left then they'll find Botan eventually, though it may take a little bit longer."

Nodding, Hiei seemed to disappear and reappear behind Yusuke and Kuwabara, who had dragged quite far behind.

"Kurama and I found that it's a dead end where we've gotten to. Move on to the left, then just keep going. Here…"

Hiei whipped out a piece of paper and a thin piece of coal he had salvaged from the last fire. Quickly, he drew a magnificent picture of the woods, and clearly marked their path. Yusuke took a look at it and gaped at its accuracy.

"I'll go get Kurama now. We'll meet up with you at the fortress."

With that, the small demon disappeared.

Shrugging, Kuwabara and Yusuke trudged on in the new direction.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"They've gone," Hiei whispered quietly.

"And they think we're walking right into their trap," Kurama had the slightest trace of a smile on his lips after he referred to the demons waiting to ambush them.

Both youkai held a quiet conversation only they could hear with their incredibly sharp senses. They also kept a sharp eye out for any signs of other demons.

'Here it comes…' the kitsune and half-koorime thought in unison.

Several powerful demons bounded out of the nearby undergrowth. They slid behind Kurama and Hiei with neck-breaking speed, ready to cut both demons clear in half.

"I'm not that easy to kill…" Hiei smirked and disappeared with blinding swiftness. He appeared behind another demon, watching Kurama out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't blink!" Hiei shouted as he lopped the head off one of the demons. Another took its place and sank its claws into Hiei's back.

Not a sound escaped Hiei's lips, though blood spattered out of his mouth. His partially healed wounds ripped open again.

"This one's already wounded!" the demon shrieked shrilly, followed by an unearthly chorus of high-pitched squeals of delight.

Kurama had estimated incorrectly.

There were over a hundred demons.

"Stand back, Kurama!" Hiei hollered, making sure Kurama took cover. Once the red-headed fox was out of his attack radius, Hiei let off a wave of blazing fire that instantly charred about fifteen demons, wounding twenty others.

But the demons refused to die. Instead they grew themselves out of their blood and remains, becoming more and more powerful each time.

'DAMN!' Hiei dodged quickly, but his broken legs swayed violently underneath him. His arms moved unsteadily, as both had been crushed under another enemy's attack.

Every part of Hiei had been cut and ripped and crushed and torn. He couldn't even stand.

"K-Kurama…" his voice was weak and tired, but Kurama picked up on it right away.

"Go far, far away from here."

Shaking his head, Kurama's eyes met Hiei's.

"I can't leave you here."

"Then… I'll just… send you off…" Hiei's bloody lips were tugged into a slight smirk.

"What—"

Kurama never finished his sentence. Hiei had expended most of the reserve of youki he had left to transport him to Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"Aishiteru."

The soft whispered phrase was the last Kurama heard of Hiei's voice.

"HIEI!"

"Dragon Fist of the OVERLORD!"

Hiei's demon fire was summoned solely with his reiki, and it killed all the demons in an instant, killing them beyond death to a point where they couldn't regenerate or come back to life. But it also burned Hiei since he didn't have the youki to protect himself, and had to coat his skin in a thin layer of frost to prevent himself from bursting into flames and being cremated alive… or half-alive…

The faint traces of energy Hiei had left dissipated, and he fell to the ground in a pool of crimson. He was thankful for his koorime blood.

Poisoned, injured, Hiei lay on the ground, knowing he had no youki left and barely any reiki. His aura had become cold around him. Cold and black. His life energy seeped out with all his blood, and the crimson eyes closed.

With the last ounce of energy, Hiei opened the Jagan to see Kurama one last time.

"Aishiteru…"

Hiei willed a kiss to Kurama's lips, the collapsed completely, a single Hiroseki tear falling into the pool he was lying in.

Tears streamed over Kurama's cheeks, and mingled with his blood. He had a disgusting wound from a demon's hand going straight through his lower abdomen, and his shoulder had been slashed. But otherwise he was fine, since Hiei did most of the fighting and took most of Kurama's blows, taking the damage aimed for the kitsune.

"H-Hiei…"

Crystalline water splashed against the ground. The flowers around gently cried, mourning Kurama's grievous loss.

"Kurama?"

Eyes greener than the lush rolling hills in the Reikai Tantei looked up at Yusuke, lined with tears waiting to be shed.

"Y-Yusuke…H-Hiei…" Kurama couldn't finish.

"I could feel his energy a few seconds ago," Yusuke looked sad, "But… then… it just… went… kaput. It disappeared completely."

"No…" Kurama fell to his knees, face buried in his hands.

"No…"

Yusuke wrapped a comforting arm around his friend.

Kuwabara looked confused.

"What about the little shrimp?"

"H-Hiei… he's… he's… d-dead…" Kurama choked and began to sob.

The orange-haired ningen froze.

"Yukina… she'll be heartbroken…" Kuwabara breathed, pupils becoming dilated.

Pain… it was unbearable. But it wasn't from the wounds. Kurama knew it wasn't from the wounds. It felt as if… as if his heart had been ripped from his body and shredded by Hiei's sword, then repeatedly shot by Yusuke's reigun.

'Hiei: he felt his life was not as important to him as the lives of his friends and sister. He would do anything to protect those close to him, even die. He hid his emotions, and his self-esteem was low, although he would only fight those better than him as opposed to making himself larger than others. He… he didn't show it, but he thought himself very lowly. Yet he was so good at not showing it… almost no one noticed. He was so embittered by such a sorrowful past… he close to never spoke of it. He held his friends and family… and me, in such high regard, he'd do almost anything for us. And now… now he's gone…' Kurama's eyes glazed over stonily. The thoughts in his head reeled over and over again.

"Aishiteru… Hiei."

Kurama's whisper wafted loftily on the wind, and his quiet, melancholy voice caressed the air.

"I can still smell his blood," Yusuke murmured softly, "We can track him down. There's a chance we can revive him."

Nodding, Kurama wiped his tears and stood. Kuwabara snapped out of his 'oh-my-god-what-am-I-going-to-tell-Yukina' trance and the trio set off, following Yusuke and Kurama's leads.

'We'll find you, koishi, and I will make sure you come back to me.'

"I sense Hiei's presence… only it's too cold to be him…" Kuwabara shivered visibly.

"Then… he really IS gone…" Tears threatened to fall again, but Kurama sniffled discretely and shook off the urge to cry.

"But he's actually not far… I think if we just go through this forest here…" Yusuke closed his eyes and shot a bright, but small, ball of reiki through the dense thicket of trees. With the spark he saw the end, and ran right toward it.

Long, red hair trailed after Kurama as he ran through the trees. The smell of blood was getting stronger…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

bffimagine: So far I didn't leave a cliffie, so I decided I'd better put one in…

Kurama: Ningens are very difficult to understand…

Hiei: And you never believed me before…

Bffimagine: As the boys go and debate over my comprehensibility, REVIEW!