A/N: Hello once again, Lovers of Yu Yu Hakusho!

This chapter contains my favorite moment of all time between Akari and Kurama. At least...up to this particular point in the roleplay it's definitely my favorite scene between them. I'm sure you'll see why when you get to the end of it.

Symbols Guide:

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.
Unless it's used in a sentence like this, which merely indicates emphasis.
"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!

A demon named Gekijou on the Ninth Level of Demon World has had contact with Otento,
and Koenma wants any and all information about Otento and his plans that she knows.

Shikiyoku agrees to go on the mission for the Prince, but on her terms,
which includes a slip of paper of her demands which she gives to Koenma.

She knows Koenma cannot promise her that the warrant will be lifted, since it was his father who issued it,
and Koenma tells her that he will try his best to do as she asks of him.

And so, Shikiyoku and Hiei's trek into Demon World goes off without a hitch
They arrive in the Ninth Level, Shikiyoku's birthplace,
and make the easy journey to a valley within the Keppan Mountains,
a place Shikiyoku considers home.

Meanwhile...back in Spirit World...

The room was silent, other than the occasional sound that echoed off the walls, accompanied by heavy breathing and an occasional sound of frustration. The lights were brighter here than in the rest of the castle Akari had seen, and it made the room seem as if it were hotter than any other.

Her hair, which was up in a long ponytail, slapped against the bare skin of her back, sticking to the stream of sweat that had formed all over her body. Her hand wiped at her face, forcing the salt from her eyes as she gave a huff and took a step back from her opponent, who, for the moment, was an actual person Koenma had allowed her to borrow.

Or rather, he'd sent this demon to ensure she was satisfied, and, well, this was how it had ended up.

Her fists flew again, meeting the pads of the fighting equipment that the demon wore, who easily ensured that his hand blocked hers from his body. He hadn't given many pointers in the last hour, and quite frankly, she was fine with that. It gave her an opportunity to think as if this person were an actual enemy.

Except that he wouldn't allow her to use her energy. He wearily evaded her shadows, sending warning glares each time her energy began to spread throughout the room again. She hadn't been able to test her newest idea on him, since he didn't allow such close contact to be made.

A growl escaped her and she hit him on the chest this time, hard, with her flat palm as a signal of surrender. She wasn't gaining what she'd originally intended anyway.

"I appreciate the tips, but I'd rather be alone," she huffed out at the demon, who merely nodded, dropped the pads he'd been holding, and promptly left the room without even a glance back. She watched him go, using the towel she'd placed around her neck to dab away at her face again, her other hand pulling her hair from her back.

She glanced down at herself and sighed. She hadn't considered Koenma sending people to check on her, otherwise she would have worn something other than the human training outfit that did very little in concealing her scars. With shorts that were almost too short to be comfortable and only half of her upper body covered, she considered placing her jacket and sweats back on.

But she should be left alone now. For a while, at least.

She turned and glanced at the many different pieces of fighting equipment in the room, eyes fixating on the largest punching bag that hung from the ceiling, roughly the size of the demon she and Kurama had taken down. Determined to continue on for a few more hours, in the least, she wasted no time in crossing the room and taking her stance again, this time imagining her training days with Sensui and starting from the beginning, fists flying with as much speed as she could muster. *

~!**!~

Kurama shifted his weight around on the short wooden stool upon which he sat, crouching back over the trough that barely rose in height above his ankles.

He held his hands over the white dirt within, eyes closed, though the room was pitch black around him save for the seed that pulsated with a silver color in the dirt that he concentrated manipulating with his energy.

A drip of sweat ran a trail down his cheek to his chin before dropping between his thighs to the concrete floor and he could feel his back sticking to the white sleeveless shirt he wore, the jacket he'd worn into the room already cast off to the side.

Feeling the seed with his energy, feeding it, coaxing it, he managed to split it into two identical slivers of life that each pulsed together as if of one heart.

At that, Kurama released them and sat back, stretching his neck and feeling it pop on the one side before he rotated his shoulders around once in their sockets in an attempt to release some of the tension that had built up all along them and his chest.

Putting his hands on his knees, he pushed himself up from the stool and rubbed a hand absently on the back of his neck as he picked up his jacket and walked over to the door he could barely make out in the gloom.

He blinked when he opened it, the bright lights of the gym blinding him briefly as he bent over the gym bag he'd carried inside with him and placed his jacket on top of it.

Leaving the door open behind him, he turned back to the room full of his various gardening-type manipulation tools and plucked the two seeds from the dirt, holding one in each hand before heading back out into the gym, his eyes searching the room.

He moved towards a pair of dummies, picking them up by the throats easily and placing them a few feet from the door he'd come through. He went and gathered two more, spying the last one near the biggest punching bag the room had.

As he got closer, the sound of fighting rang in his ears and he realized the sound had been there the whole time, but that he'd only just now taken notice of it.

He made no motions to hide his path directed at the dummy he sought to snag, but when he got around the edge of the bag and saw Akari, his paused for just an instant to watch her before turning with a small smile and moving to pick up the final dummy.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku knew nothing of the encounter Hiei was having with the sour fruit behind her, and so when she took a bite of the sweet fruit in her hand, her eyes widened and she immediately spit the piece out, her brain all sorts of confused as she held the fruit away from her body as if it were poisoned, eyeing it balefully.

She smacked her lips together twice, running her tongue inbetween her teeth in disgust as she found herself unable to comprehend the flavor that she had fully expected to be completely sour.

But if this was the sweet one...that meant the sour one...

Oops.

She turned to see the last of Hiei's experience, him spitting out the juice from his mouth, and she quickly sped as quietly as possible to a nearby tree, several feet beyond the clearing, hiding up inside it lest she be a target of Hiei's obvious ire.

When she got in the branches, she maneuvered around so that she was on the opposite side from the clearing, and consequently Hiei, crouching on the tips of her toes and sitting very still, her hair and outfit blending almost perfectly with the leaves and the trunk she sat back against.

She wasn't quite so frightened that she forgot about the fruit in hand, however, and this time around when she took a large bite the sweetness burst wonderfully onto her tongue and she munched happily for the moment, forgetting about all about Hiei as her eyes closed in an expression of enjoyment. 3

Hiei had seen the very last motion in the tree of a passerby skirting up into the branches, and his eyes narrowed. He hadn't appreciated her "joke" in any way at all, and he found his irritation rising at her retreat. He stood there for a moment, judging where Shikiyoku had gone before he slowly and quietly moved to the base of the tree she had shimmied up. His red irises looked up into the branches, searching expertly for a shadow that did not move with the leaves as a slight breeze passed.

After a moment, he heard the smallest of sound and he moved with instinct, quickly slipping up into the darkened branches and following his instinct, quickly closing the distance between himself and Shikiyoku, who, when he got closer, he could see chewing happily on the fruit in her hand.

The scent that wafted to his nose was one he better associated with sweetness than anything else in the area, and without even a beat's hesitation, he descended upon her, the slight breeze making his cloak whip behind him at the sudden fall from above. A single hand grabbing the wrist that held the fruit and taking it from her grasp, replacing it with the half-squeezed sour fruit and promptly taking a bite from the sweet one he now held in his possession.

Now that's more like it.

As he chewed, he stared at her with flashing irises, daring her to challenge him.

~!**!~

Akari had gotten back into a rhythm in mere moments, eyes focused on the large red bag that hung from the ceiling, her mind creating images of an attacker. It was all she could do, since the demon she'd attempted to fight with had been rather uncooperative and hadn't given her the chance to try anything worth her time.

Her fists hit, making a pop sound against the leather before her foot followed after, the thunk echoing throughout the spacious room as she imagined the attacker coming at her. Completely immersed in her own world of fighting, her body moved, bouncing slightly back and forth as she constantly continued moving about, as any demon smart enough would do.

At the edges of her mind, she registered the slightest sound in the room, but ignored it since the equipment tended to slide around sometimes, and the most recently moved equipment had been stacked in a precarious pile nearby.

When her fist struck this time, it was with every ounce of her strength, making a small sound bubble from her lips before she stepped away in thought, trying to remember anything else that might help while she had the time to herself, still completely unaware of anyone else in the room as she again peeled her hair from her soaked back. *

Kurama quietly made his way back to the other dummies, which he shifted further backwards before taking a stand about fifteen feet away from them.

He stood absolutely still for another moment, closing his eyes and reaching with his demonic energy into the seeds in his hands.

More beads of sweat formed at his hairline and his eyebrows twitched slightly in concentration as he divided the seeds in his palms one more time until he held four.

Taking another minute to strengthen them, he allowed one in each hand to start pulsating with power again before bringing his hands up and crouching, picturing the dummies before him in his mind's eye.

Rose Whip!

Two white vines erupted from each hand, covered in thorns, elongating until they rested onto the ground, then growing two more feet.

Kurama's breath came heavier now, and a sheen settled over his bare arms and shoulders from the sweat.

He began lashing out at the dummies, eyes still closed, whipping out an intricate pattern between the two vines he held as he rolled his wrists to vary the attacks. He took steps to the right, continuing the variations and slowly started circling in that direction around the five dummies, hearing the whips lash successfully against their bodies each time.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes widened considerably at the sudden appearance of Hiei, her mouth having been opened in preparation of taking another huge bite of the fruit which he had just snatched from her grasp only to replace it almost instantaneously with the one she meant to feast upon in the first place.

She sat paused in that position for a few seconds as he munched, silently challenging her to take the fruit back, and then she finally sank her own teeth into the sour fruit she held, eyes turning downwards to consider it as the flavor exploded into her mouth.

She did, however, half-heartedly reach out with her other hand in a brisk motion in an attempt to steal the fruit from Hiei back. 3

Hiei took a second bite of the fruit in his hand, much more satisfied with this taste than his previous one. The flavor was remarkable, even better than sweet snow. Okay, so maybe not so much that…

But he did enjoy it immensely, even as he moved it just out of Shikiyoku's reach with a warning glare. He swallowed the mouthful of the fruit he had at that moment before actually deciding to speak up, moving to the branch above to ensure she couldn't make another swipe at the fruit in his hand so easily.

"Get another. I have claimed this one for the trouble you caused."

He took another bite, happy with the sweet juice that flooded his mouth.

~!**!~

Akari stared at the object in front of her in thought, trying to ignore the feeling of sweat running down her shoulders, her arms, her neck and legs. How long had she been here? It was hard to tell since she'd been so focused today.

A sigh left her lips as another small sound was heard in the room. Footsteps? But just as soon as she thought she had heard the noise, it was gone, and she ignored it, turning back to the punching bag with a new idea in mind. Her energy moved about her, staying within close proximity as she attempted to concentrate the majority of it in her hand.

But this time, there was no mistaking the sound she heard within the room. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the loud crack that resounded, her eyes widening. When had someone entered? How had they done so without her notice?

Carefully, she stepped away from the punching bag, looking about until her eyes landed on a form that moved about in a manner that reminded her of a hunter stalking its prey. Kurama lashed at some dummies she hadn't seen be moved, and for the mere second, her breath stopped.

She hadn't brought her bag close enough for her to get into without notice.

Maybe, if she just…. quietly moved across the room… she wouldn't be seen in such a ridiculous outfit, and the fox wouldn't have to see the marble scarring of her skin. *

Kurama knew the instant the punching from the other side of the room stopped and he stood up, dropping his hands to his sides and opening his eyes to see Akari watching him.

"Sorry." He apologized, lifting one of the whips to indicate he meant for the noise they caused, his breath currently taking a moment to catch up. He began moving towards his bag near the open door, flicking both wrists to gather the vines of the whips into his hands, his shirt sticking to his chest uncomfortably now.

"I had hoped you wouldn't be interrupted." He nodded to her as he got closer, sensing her uneasiness, but still stopping at his gym bag like he meant to.

Before he had a chance to recall the whips into their seed form, they pulsed angrily in his hands, their entire forms quivering once before shattering in his grasp like so much glass.

He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his face away as the pieces flew into the air, one managing to slit his cheek just enough to make it bleed, and he could feel blood beginning to trickle in his hands as the slivers dissipated into the air like nothing happened, leaving behind no trace of existence save for the tiny stripes of cuts they left behind.

Kurama ruefully opened his hands to look at the two seeds left in his palms, seeing the various breaks on his skin where the previous silver whips had been moments before. He sighed longsufferingly and continued the last few steps to his bag, starting to unbutton the top two buttons of his shirt as he did so.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku started to stand up and turned to face Hiei, reaching upwards and mumbling, "I meant to give you that one in the first place."

Her free hand brushed his shoulder as she bypassed him completely and grasped the fruit hanging near his head, plucking it from its place and promptly biting into it, releasing the sweet smell of its fragrance into the air and glaring right back into Hiei's eyes as she defiantly took another bite before she finished chewing the first. 3

Hiei ignored Shikiyoku's words altogether, finding that they took away from the amusement he had briefly felt at having simply taken from her, only to end up even more disappointed when he realized they were sitting in the very tree that harbored the same fruit he just popped the last bit of into his mouth.

So much for that.

He looked down at her with a raised brow, as if asking "and your point is?" Almost as soon as he swallowed the last bite of the fruit he had confiscated from her, he found another, inspected it for soft spots where it could have begun going bad, and once satisfied he bit into that one as well. This one had more juice than the other did, some even dripping onto his fingers once the skin of it had been torn away.

"The sour ones are disgusting," he finally replied, deciding he might as well continue the conversation.

~!**!~

Akari had jolted to a stop mid-step backwards when Kurama looked up, his eyes smiling as he apologized with the small huff of air he gave that almost identically matched her own. Immediately, her arms crossed over her stomach, hiding as much of herself as she could manage.

Why today, of all days?

"Next time, you should, uh" she paused, her mind scrambling to form a coherent thought that wouldn't have anything to do with getting away, "I dunno, let someone know you're here? Not that I would've done much harm, but an attack of any kind isn't pleasant, don't you think?"

She was rather proud of herself for the slightly sarcastic recovery.

When he passed by her, making it so that his back was to her as he reached a bag she hadn't noticed, she quickly turned to retreat, making a swift attempt for her own bag that was, sadly, almost clearly across the room from her.

Of all people… *

"I could say the same to you." He replied congenially. "I'm fairly certain I have been here much longer today than you."

The shirt only had a couple of buttons at the top and after getting them undone, Kurama slipped it off over his head, promptly using it to wipe away the blood from his hands.

As he looked down, he noticed a particularly long strike down the side of his stomach and he released another brief sigh of a breath, wiping away at the blood there too as he absently considered what he could do next time to either strengthen the demonic seeds or perhaps lengthen their allowed existence in whip form. He made a mental note to check his work on the dummies to make for sure there were no inconsistencies in the pattern he marked upon them.

"You have nothing to be self-conscious about, you know." He called out to the only other person in the room, his eyes alighting on the scars that decorated his now-bare chest and abdominal muscles here and there, some only slivers of regrown skin barely visible while one or two others-like the slice across his stomach-were nearly as harsh and dark as the ones Sensui claimed as self-inflicted.

He knew his back was coated in the same fashion, 'trophies' of the high constitution that he used to his advantage in order to analyze his enemies in battle, and he spied the rather nasty one on the inside of his right arm where he'd planted the death seed in the Dark Tournament, the former injury having left permanent scars looking almost like he'd purposefully tattooed a viney plant that ran up from his wrist to his elbow where it not for the obvious scar tissue in place.

"They're just a living testament to the fact that you survived whatever was thrown at you."

Kurama did not feel ashamed of the scars. At least it did not appear so to anyone that knew him. But somewhere in the back of his mind he must have viewed them as...imposing perhaps, considering he was supposed to be the model student and loving son. He had not gone around without long-sleeves in several years, much less allowed himself to be seen without a shirt. In fact, he doubted even Hiei knew of the markings.

He tossed a quick glanced over his shoulder at Akari.

For that matter, he did not think anyone had seen them before, though he sensed that Toriko knew about them well enough.

He realized he'd stopped his cleaning after a moment of staring down at the blood-stained shirt and shook his head to clear his thoughts, spying another fresh cut or two on the upper parts of his arms and reaching over to at least get the running blood away quickly, before Akari could get much further away.

His skin still glistened with sweat, though having the shirt off helped cool him immensely.

He'd completely forgotten about the slice on his cheek, the blood moving slowly for his chin only feeling like another drop of sweat, as he turned to face Akari again, lowering his hands to gaze after her only long enough to pull one hand out of the shirt, crumpling it up in the other as he trotted silently to catch up to her, lightly touching her shoulder with a hand to let her know he was there, hoping she might turn around and face him.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku hadn't sat back down, still standing on the branch she'd gotten onto to reach for the sweet fruit and she munched quietly for a moment.

"I like sour things." She murmured more to herself than to him, "And I bet you're enjoying the sweetness of that fruit all the more now because of it, too."

She lifted her head as another cool breeze swept over them, her eyes closing in enjoyment. She did not feel tired, per se, but she did think she might enjoy a bit of rest, and if there was one thing this valley did right, it was the kind of rejuvenation one felt after resting within it. 3

Hiei lowered himself to sit on the branch, deciding he would very much enjoy sitting among the branches of the tree he would very much enjoy eating from the most often. Yes, the other fruits had been delectable, especially when combined. However, Hiei found himself much more satisfied with the sweetness than anything else. Perhaps his sweet tooth was never satiated.

His red eyes followed Shikiyoku's movements as she spoke up, though he wasn't really sure she was talking to him specifically or just thinking aloud. But he responded anyway with a slight shrug, "I could do without." He paused, his lips lifting into a slight sneer, "Actually, I'd prefer to stay as far away from it as possible."

He took another large bite of the fruit, pushing the chunk to the left side of his mouth, pressing against his cheek as he chewed little by little, savoring the taste.

"Sweet, however, is my favorite."

~!**!~

Akari's feet almost scuttled across the ground as she scurried away, eyes locked on her bag with determination to at least receive her jacket, despite the sweat that still rolled down her arms and neck. She didn't reply to the words that seemed to only drift across the room at her, though several emotions did arise at his words. She didn't have to guess that he had scars of his own, but his were different.

She hadn't realized he had caught up to her until his hand made contact with her bare shoulder. She quickly pulled away from him and spun to face him, jaw set as she bit back words only for a moment.

"This is different," she replied quickly, voice quiet as if she had trouble deciding what tone to use. "Yours were from battles, from fights that you could have gotten away from if you so desired." Her breath hitched slightly and she turned her eyes to the side, only glancing at his own scars for a moment before turning away from them.

She slowly let out a long huff of air through her teeth, taking another step away from the redhead. "Yours are different." *

Kurama stood silently as she spoke, refraining from mentioning that several of them originated from the Dark Tournament, something he could not actually get away from without sacrificing the lives of his comrades, and possibly his own.

"Different, how?" He pressed. "Different in that they make my words any less true?" He had to resist reaching out and drawing a hand over over one of hers. "You may consider them marrings, and I would tell you they are not. Each one has a story. A beautiful one, because it is in the past and it did not kill you. Your past, your memories, they may make up who you are, but I can see as well as anyone that you do fairly well in not letting it define who you are."

He tilted his head to consider her for a moment, before suddenly jumping back and activating the two seeds still in his hands, the white vines snaking out from his grasp as he cracked one in the air beside him.

"Show me." His gaze stayed steady on her as he crouched, his words low, almost a dare.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku found that she couldn't help the softening that reached her eyes as Hiei sat down and she stood there only a moment longer herself, briefly lost in her musing.

She wasn't exactly sure what possessed her to show Hiei this place.

Her eyes gazed past him into the surrounding area.

It was really a very private thing.

There had not been a single other Champion that she even whispered about 'home' to, and yet here she was, practically giving Hiei tips to surviving within the valley. As if she expected for him to return to it one day, as if she prepared him for that inevitability.

The air rustled the leaves around them in the pair's silence, and Shikiyoku hopped down from the tree with ease, slowly starting to meander off as she looked around her, taking in each bush and tree and plant as she slowly made her way off. 3

Hiei had just gotten comfortable watching her curiously, noting the expression on her face was almost a far away one, as if she were lost in another world briefly. For the first time, he wondered what had her looking by him like she was, curious about her thoughts. But he let his curiosity simmer before it died away as she moved away as well.

He didn't make any motion to follow, instead taking another fruit from the tree as he took a bite from the one he still had yet to finish, taking his sweet time in finishing it off.

If she wanted him to follow, then she would turn around and wait on him, or in the very least she would say something.

He leaned further back against the bark, eying the fruit that hung around him. He hoped they didn't have to leave so quickly.

~!**!~

Hazel eyes turned back to Kurama as he spoke, her expression forcing into a neutral mask in an attempt to veil the thoughts that ran across her mind. Several different choice words came to mind, but none of them would have accomplished much of anything other than upsetting herself, since she knew Kurama would simply talk through it, as he was doing at the moment.

"Some stories are preferred to be left untold," she responded dryly, only just noticing the stream of crimson that had slid down his face. She considered it for a moment before deciding to ignore it, since he moved away from her.

The crack of the whip he conjured made her give a small start, and just as quickly as he had moved, she was in defensive mode, weight on the front of her toes and eyes wearily regarded the weapon. What are you up to?

The tone he used made her eyes narrow at the redhead. "Don't," she said quietly, voice low to match his tone. She wasn't sure what he wanted to accomplish, but fighting him in any way was not something she wanted to do. *

Kurama stood back up, a white, thorny vine still in either hand. He lazily raised one arm and pointed it at her before flicking his wrist, making the whip crack next to her body before lowering that arm.

"Why not?" He had no intentions of stopping, keeping his eyes trained on hers.

He did the same with the left arm now, raising it slowly before flicking his wrist again and snapping it near her face.

"You'll have to stop me yourself." He made a dash towards her.

~!**!~

Just before she wandered out of range of the tree she knew Hiei would likely fall asleep in, Shikiyoku paused and dashed back up it, reappearing by his side in little less than an instant, her hands bracing herself on a branch next to him.

Without allowing herself time to think, she leaned over it and kissed Hiei softly on the cheek, pulling back and murmuring, "Thank you." Before blushing deeply and running off again, disappearing as a mere black blur back into the forest that blended in exceedingly well with her surroundings, refusing to look back at him. 3

Hiei wiped at his chin idly, realizing he'd had some of the juices from the fruit escape him. He glanced at the fruit where he had bitten away from, the yellowed inside almost completely drenched. He quickly took another bite before the sticky liquid could fall away from him, not wanting to waste any part of the fruit in any way.

And as he pulled the fruit away, Shikiyoku was suddenly beside him, her lips making contact with his cheek that had the fruit pressed against the inside. His body went still aside from his eyes, which slid over to catch a glimpse of the girl who retreated just as quickly as she had approached.

After a few moments, he turned away and resettled against the bark, calling, "I've done nothing more than eat your fruit."

~!**!~

Akari's eyes narrowed further at Kurama as the whip cracked nearby, all thoughts of anything else gone and replaced with caution and concentration. He wouldn't…. would he?

The second lash of the whip that came close to her face this time made her flinch slightly at the extreme proximity, but otherwise she stood her ground. She opened her mouth to speak, to try and talk her way out of the predicament, but he was already moving towards her, telling her that the only way she would get away is if she made him stop.

She quickly moved away, out of range of the weapons he wielded, all thoughts and attempts of talking through the moment staunched and replaced with thoughts of movements that would not land her with a strike.

Obviously, close contact was not an option.

She tugged at her energy, letting it slowly move through her veins and fuel her movements, making her steps more fluid and sure as she danced away from Kurama as much as possible. "I hope those fall apart," she commented with a tone of irritation as her energy began tugging at shadows around the room. Almost immediately, a dark figure formed in the shape of a person roughly Kurama's size that moved fluidly in front of the redhead as a deterrent. *

Immediately Kurama lashed out at the shadow, his whip making contact with it several times before returning to his side, but appearing to do nothing as his weapon passed through its form.

He made no move to slow down or consider it otherwise, instead continuing on through the shadow to get to Akari.

The sickness that hit his stomach was immediately analyzed and promptly ignored, though he heightened his awareness of his own body to make for sure there would be no lingering effects other than the chill whose shiver he did not allow to do much more than pass across his mind.

Gripping the whip in his left hand tighter for a moment, he passed his energy through it as he raised it and flicked his wrist.

The thorns on the vine disappeared into the white surface, making it smooth as it contacted with Akari's wrist and wrapped itself around her forearm.

He followed quickly after his whip, closing the distance between them and tugging Akari back towards him.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku skidded to a stop, lifting her ear to hear Hiei's words carry to her on the wind, and she turned around for a moment, smiling broadly with her hands on her hips.

"You've done much more than just that, flame-boy!" She called back, staying like that for another moment as she focused her eyes in on him, easily picking out the white star of his hair and the white fabric around his neck against the darkness.

As for what else he'd done, Shikiyoku left him to muse on it, whipping back around and strolling off again, shoving her hands down into the pockets of her black pants.

When she remembered the direction she was going though, and why she'd chosen that way, she picked up the pace again, pulling her hands out as she began to run for the sake of it and feeling the stickiness between her fingers. As she licked her lips, she realized she must have picked up some of the juice from Hiei's cheek and the smile that had faded away returned at the thought as she swiped the back of her hand against them. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku as she turned to look up at him, spotting him easily it seemed, though he figured it was made easier because of the scarf he had brought with him that contrasted so much with his surroundings. Her response was one that made him raise a brow curiously, suddenly wondered what she thought he'd done that meant he deserved thanks.

Sure, there were instances, but the only thing he could think of that called for appreciation was the Otento-

His mind immediately shut out the image that tried to weasel its way into his mind's eye and looked to the fruit in his hand. After a small moment of silent contemplation, he took another bite and turned to Shikiyoku again, watching as she broke into a run across the landscape.

"Hn."

Akari felt it in her energy when Kurama passed through her shadow, because the form dissipated almost as soon as he had broken away from it, practically returning to her in the form of broken up shadows that swirled about lazily around her feet, waiting for orders that she didn't have. She huffed to herself as she saw him lift the whip again, and in a single moment, she found it wrapping about her wrist and arm, thornless, and her instincts kicked in.

She pulled on it, slightly desperate, while her shadows made quick work of enveloping the weapon in hopes of making it easier to break free. If her energy clashed with his, maybe it would allow her the ability to get away.

But to her own dismay, she found herself being tugged towards the redhead who was still moving to close the distance. "Let. Go." she growled out as she continued to pull and resist, not really earning much leeway.

The only thing she earned was a slight stumble as her feet attempted to create traction on the wooden floor, which was near impossible. *

Kurama could feel the energy within the whip begin to quiver as soon as it ensnared Akari's wrist, his asking of it to become thornless accelerating its deterioration.

He felt surprised then, as just when he was about to pull it back so that it would not shattered against Akari, she covered it in shadows, dulling the slight glow the weapon held, but also encasing it somehow, holding it together.

With a precision he could only reserve for his right hand, Kurama snapped his whip out again as he kept coming, making it draw a line from the bottom of the left side of her ribcage-just shy of her top-all the way across her torso down in a slant to her right side, stopping at the edge of her waist where her shorts sat on her hips.

The slice seemed to freeze in time for a moment before blood started dripping down from it, and then Kurama was upon her, his second strike with his free whip to snare her right arm in another thornless vine before he came to a stand-still at her front.

"Now. That's deep enough to leave its own scar." He stood nearly up against her, looking down into her eyes. "If you want to be rid of it, I can take it away, but if I do so, all of your other scars will be removed in the process. Is that what you wish?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made it all the way over to the other side of the valley before slowing, the tree she left Hiei behind in no longer visible to her eyes when she glanced back.

The forest grew thicker here, the undergrowth more dense as she picked her way forward. A mist permeated just above the ground, whispering its way about her feet and the air grew thicker with moisture and heat.

Without warning, the forest gave-way to flat, blackened stones that provided a disjointed shoreline to a small hot springs, perhaps twice the size of the ground floor in Toriko's home. There was a waterfall on the opposite side, making noise as it plunged down into the rest of the springs, feeding the water with a river that disappeared off over the side of the mountains in the distance.

The mist rose higher from the ground here, more like steam, but it came no higher than her knees as Shikiyoku began shucking her clothing off into an invisible, black pile on one of the stones.

Her steps were not hesitant as she crouched down at the water's edge, putting her hands down and slipping forward into the springs as the edge dropped off immediately after the flat shoreline the stones created.

The water was practically scalding, but Shikiyoku adjusted quickly, the water up to her stomach here, and began walking forward where the black sands beneath her feet began sloping down. She pulled her long, dark hair together over a shoulder as it began sticking to her skin from the humidity.

As soon as the black-hued water got high enough to touch her mid-back, Shikiyoku hissed in pain as it stung and threw her head back over her shoulder in an attempt to see what she had all but forgotten was there.

Of course, her attempt was to no avail and she stopped short of going farther into the water as she tried to recover her suddenly scattered thoughts.

In her mind's eye, the pain giving her the vision, she could see the three swipes she had once used a mirror to view. They went from her right shoulder blade down and across her back slant-wise, ending at the bottom of her ribcage on the left side.

They had been deep, claw wounds that had left her in a bed on her stomach for days, and when healed they remained as wicked scars, slivers of silver skin in the midst of them.

Shikiyoku bit her lip, wondering at the properties of the water that made it react in such a way as she peered into it. The last time she'd been here, she hadn't had the injuries.

She thought she could even feel the scars reopening, blood starting to drip down her back. That was impossible though, wasn't it? They were very old. Surely she was only imagining it, her mind reminded of how she received them in the first place and reliving the experience.

Hearing cries of terror, smelling blood and gore and being able to do nothing to stop it...

And then receiving the wounds and her world starting to fade to black.

She viewed the scars as a sort of penance for the events of that night, but...

Such things were easy to forget when one could not see them oneself. 3

Hiei didn't move from his spot in the trees, simply eating one fruit after another as he watched Shikiyoku disappear from his view. He lounged lazily on his branch, ankles crossed and cloak moving with the wind that passed by occasionally. He periodically accessed the bond he could now feel within himself, checking on Shikiyoku in this way rather than getting up and moving to find her.

If she had wanted company, she would have at least hinted at it.

So he sat there in the calm silence, perfectly content to eat as many of these fruits as he could manage.

~!**!~

Frustration welled up, mingling with panic and desperation that continued to mix and create chaos within her. She pulled and pulled at the vine that held her captive, the room silent aside from her sounds of struggle and Kurama's breathing.

The sound of the whip moving through the air made her snarl just as loud as she could, both in pain and anger at the strike. She didn't have to look down to see the damage done, because her mind was simply too overwhelmed with the fact that he had struck, when she hadn't even made a move to do any sort of harm.

By the time she was at a standstill, looking up at the redhead, she had several ideas in mind of what she could do, but her anger held her still even as he spoke. At first, her muscles began to shake with the growing anger at the redhead, a continuous rumble in her chest. "What have I done to you?" she growled out, at first not hearing his words, more by choice than anything else. She couldn't move much thanks to the hold his vines had, but quite frankly, that was likely the only thing keeping her out of trouble at the moment, because she could only imagine what would happen if she did try to strike back.

Her eyes moved from his and to the cut on his cheek, staring intently at it as ideas surfaced, but those ideas died away when his quiet words registered. Her growl left her in a small huff of air at his… offer… and again she met his gaze squarely, eyes flashing with defiance. "If this is an act of kindness, you have a crooked way of showing it."

Her words and expression of anger were all she could do at the moment, because internally, she was a sudden mess of scrambled thoughts and emotions. Anger, because not only had he struck, but he'd struck hard enough to cause another scar later on. But, she was surprised by his offer to make each and every one disappear. She didn't even know what she'd look like without them now. Defiance, because his offer was something she saw as an act of pity- not that she hadn't brought it on herself. It was her own fault she was in this situation.

With this demon, she tended to place herself in many situations.

Embarrassment welled up next, joining her other swirling emotions and almost making her feel lightheaded, dizzy.

"You're crazy." she finally growled out, not willing to simply stand here in silence. She tugged at his hold, her muscles even more taut than before now that she was scrambling, both inwardly and externally. "Let me go!" *

Kurama made no move to change their circumstances, despite her demands that he do so, instead continuing to stare down at her face, his expression unreadable, stoic.

He couldn't really explain to her what exactly she'd done to him yet. Or at least, perhaps, he had not fully admitted to himself exactly what that was yet. Purely by conscious choice. Which he dismissed now that he had her exactly where he wanted.

Searching her hazel eyes for another moment, seeing the confliction about his offer, ignoring her protests and struggles, he waited until she seemed like she would say no more before he spoke one last time.

"I will wait for your answer until after the mark I gave you sets in." He paused briefly before going on, intending by his continuing to prevent her from interrupting, "Until then, I sincerely hope every time you look at yourself in the mirror, you will first see my scar. And that instead of thinking back to past moments belonging to those underneath it, you'll instead be reminded of this moment," He started to lean his head down closer, his eyes beginning to close and his voice lowering as he finished, "Right here."

He let his soft breath move over her face as he finished speaking, drawing closer until finally touching his lips against hers just long enough that there could be no mistaking the gesture.

Kurama pulled back an inch, opening his eyes again to see that Akari stared. He smirked at her.

And then suddenly, he was gone, the whips around her arms disappearing all at once as he stepped back and regarded her for a millisecond seeing how her own mental faculties had shut down. He nearly chuckled, but only shifted his face back to the unreadable neutral it had been for the moment prior.

He turned and walked off, leaving no time for her to recover, slinging his bloodied and torn white shirt over his shoulder and reaching down as he passed to grab his gym bag with the same hand, repositioning both it and the shirt over his shoulder as he left without saying another word. 3

Akari had struggled, her entire body writhing as she pulled and pulled against his hold, not surprised at all when she got nowhere. In the back of her mind, she knew it was hopeless. If Kurama wanted her to stay, she would stay there just as long as he wanted her to. And that made her struggle even more, small grunts from her protesting surfacing from her lips here and there.

Otherwise, she said no more. Why would she, when it was so clear he had no intention of letting her leave? And for a few minutes, the only sound in the room was of her struggle, her feet sliding across the floor as each muscle in her body tried their best to free her, defiant and conflicted eyes flashing at the green ones she glared into in a silent demand.

By the time she gave in and went still, arms held up in front of her torso to reinstate the blood flow in her arms, Kurama was speaking again, voice low and quiet. At his pause, she opened her mouth to retort with a rather nasty comment, but shut it again and deciding not to say anything at all, allowing him to continue uninterrupted anyway.

A small growl left her throat as he leaned closer, a small warning about personal space. She attempted to growl out a rather rhetorical, angry question about his intentions, but with their proximity closing, she felt a movement in her stomach that silenced her again as his breath washed over her face. What are you-

Her thought, which had been intended to be voiced, was cut short when his eyes closed and, before she could even register the second, his lips gently touched hers.

Soft was the first impression.

But that was blown away within the next second by confusion that scattered her thoughts, shock making her mind go blank but emotions roll and roil within her core, making her entire body tense up just as he pulled away, eyes reopening to reveal the shocking green that had hidden from her own gaze for the moment.

Something flashed across his eyes as a smirk colored his expression, and all she could do was blink at him as he removed himself and his vines from her bubble of space, leaving her standing there, staring at the spot he had been standing moments before as he left. Her mouth hung open only slightly, her lips parted to release a small breath of surprise as she stared blankly in front of herself.

What just happened?

Only when the sound of the door opening sounded through the room did she turn and watch his retreat, her eyes taking in the muscles that moved, the light in the room flashing against scars across his back. She took in each motion his muscles made, each bounce of his hair, each step he took She took in the marbled skin here and there, realizing that she hadn't noticed he had been actually planning on this the entire time.

And yet she was powerless to do anything other than watch him leave. *

The chapter is a little shorter than the other ones have been, but it's just such a great place to stop and I didn't want anything else rambling on to take away from the moment.

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star