**AUTHOR'S NOTES: After many, many years away from , I have decided this story means too much to me to leave unfinished, and so I have finally decided to return to it. My hope now, is there are still some Yu Yu Hakusho fans out there to enjoy the continuing tale of Kurama and Hiei and the future of the demon world!**
Chapter Four
Outside, it was still the dead of night, and the storm that had continued since the fall of the Ice Country was carrying flakes of snow through the air on freezing gusts of wind. Inside the makeshift den of the Untouchable Bandits, the air was hot with fury and aggravation. Hiei sat along the wall, stripped down to his pants and boots once again, glaring at the young youkai taking up his bed. He was seething. Blood boiling, he was barely able to keep from striking her unconscious body as Kurama tended to her frostbite.
The fox had dragged her into the burrow and peeled away her outer layers of clothing before hanging them to dry beside the fire. Her appearance could now be observed more fully, and it quickly became obvious she had spent far too much time in the frozen environment above ground. Her slender hands and patches on her face were raw and red from the intense cold.
A mane of wavy brown hair spread out beneath her, framing a pale face and long, pointed ears adorned with two golden earrings. Bindings covered her ankles and wrists, along with her well proportioned chest. Billowing white pants tightened around her calves, and two white boots had been cast aside by Kurama at the entrance of the burrow. She was pleasing to look at, though nothing extraordinary in Hiei's eyes. The fact that she was even still alive and taking up his lover's time was turning his stomach.
"Well, she should be all right, thanks to my ingenuity," he said as he finally sat back, apparently pleased with himself.
"Good, if you're done, may I kill her now?" Hiei said, reaching for his sword.
"Hiei!" Kurama turned to look at him in exasperation. "Why are you so determined to kill her? I told you, she poses no threat to us, she's practically a child."
"She was stalking us!" he growled. "I think that's reason enough to be done with her."
"Not for me," the fox said with an air of finality. "At least wait until she wakes up and can explain herself."
"I'm not going to let you keep this female around like some kind of pet!" Hiei roared, springing to his feet so he could look down on his towering partner.
"Who said anything of the sort?" Kurama replied.
Before Hiei could counter again, the youkai lying on the furs began to stir, shuddering slightly as she regained consciousness. Kurama leaned over her and smiled warmly as she opened her milky white eyes.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked. "You nearly froze to death out there."
Hiei clenched his teeth, ready to wring Kurama's neck. Had she not been such an innocent woman, he would have cursed Shiori's name for softening the kitsune like this. If one were to judge him according to his reputation, it would have seemed impossible for Kurama to show such compassion, yet there he was, nursing a strange youkai back to health as though she were an injured puppy.
The girl remained still for a moment, staring up at Kurama. She seemed to be trying to recall where she was and how she had gotten there, but suddenly gasped and flung herself into a sitting position.
"You saved me! I can't believe, of all the people to be saved by, I was saved by one of the Untouchable Bandits!" she clasped her mended hands together with joy.
"Ah... you're welcome." Kurama said, still smiling kindly. "Though, you did say you were following us, so it shouldn't be such a surprise to you that we were the ones you found."
"Oh, but it is!" she responded, gazing at Kurama as though she were viewing a prized artifact. "No one has ever been able to hunt you down before. Actually... for a while I didn't think I was going to do any better, but I showed them!"
"Them who...?" Hiei muttered as he resumed his spot on the floor, staring her down and hoping there was still a chance she would drop dead.
"Everyone at home and along the way who told me it was impossible." She grinned at Hiei, gazing at him too with a sense of wonder.
"Just how did you find us, anyway?" Kurama asked, offering the girl a cup of hot broth that had been left over from one of their meals. She drank from it heartily and jumped into her tale.
"I've been following you since you were in Scythe City. My hunt began long before that, though. Ever since I was little, I was told stories about the bandits who no one could catch. My relatives often claimed a thief so elusive could only be the infamous Youko Kurama, but he was said to have died decades ago."
"Your relatives must be intelligent youkai," Kurama remarked, basking in her flattery. Hiei rolled his eyes.
"Yes! It was their stories that sent me on my quest to begin with. For years I traveled from town to town, searching for clues. Anywhere there had been a robbery, I was there, and eventually my hunt led me to Scythe City. While I was wandering the streets, I heard a rumor about a white clad demon and his small companion who had been in the city buying medicine and threatened a shop owner. After talking to some other youkai, I learned that the two had fled the city and headed for the forest, and THAT," she said gleefully, "is where I picked up your trail."
"I'm impressed that you were able to track us through the forest," Kurama said. "Though I suppose you plan to turn us in now that you've found us?"
"Of course not!" she shouted, practically throwing herself towards Kurama. "No, no! Nothing like that!"
"Then, just why are you following us?" he asked, leaning away a bit and sitting her back against the furs before she could fall into his lap.
"Because I want to join you!" she cried, staring up at him desperately.
"You're kidding..." Hiei said lowly, his anger morphing into disbelief.
"All my life I've wanted to be a thief as great as the two of you. I've been training for so long, learning everything I could about picking locks and disarming charms, but I knew that the only way to really become great would be to learn from the greatest of all, and that's you!"
"Well..." Kurama glanced at Hiei, who looked dumbfounded. "We're not really recruiting partners, currently."
"Or ever," Hiei added harshly, snapping out of his daze.
"Oh, please! At least give me a chance, I could be really helpful to you, I'm a great archer! And I've traveled to all kinds of places, I could help you find new treasures!" she pleaded.
"Listen, why don't we worry about all this a bit later," Kurama said, trying to diffuse the situation and calm her down, or at least prevent Hiei from exploding with rage. "Right now, why don't you rest and tell us a bit more about yourself?"
"I'll tell you anything you want to know!" she cried. Nearly freezing seemed to have done nothing to dampen her enthusiasm.
"Why don't you start with your name?" Kurama said, handing her the half eaten cup of broth again.
"My name is Ai Calypso," she said, sipping at the broth once more, though her body still seemed charged with excitement.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kurama said.
"Hardly..." Hiei mumbled, though their unexpected guest didn't seem to hear him.
Kurama heard, but ignored the angry demon. "Your relatives were correct in their assumption," he continued. "I am Youko Kurama, and my companion is Hiei."
The young demon's eyes grew to the size of saucers and she choked on her broth. She leaned forward, but Kurama interjected before she could begin babbling again.
"Ah, so! I'm curious, you look somewhat familiar. Tell me, what race of demon are you?"
She seemed a bit startled at having been cut off, but recovered quickly.
"I'm Fujin."
"A wind spirit?" Kurama asked, to which she nodded eagerly.
"All the members of my tribe are born with the ability to speak to the wind. Our youki has adapted to control it as well, though some of us are more talented than others..." she seemed a bit embarrassed after finishing her statement, causing Kurama to wonder if she herself was one of the less talented ones.
"Your kind is not very prominent these days. In fact, I've only met one other wind spirit," Kurama said, glad she seemed to be relaxing ever so slightly.
"There are a lot fewer of us since the kekkai was dissolved... Masters of wind are highly prized by demon hunters because of their ability to fly. I guess humans find it amusing," she explained, her zealousness suddenly defusing even more.
Hiei twisted his lip up and leaned against the wall, wishing those demon hunters could have taken care of the wind spirit sitting in his burrow. Just why was Kurama being this friendly anyway? When they were younger, he had come to expect this sort of politeness and charm from the fox, but it was always false. His gentle demeanor was a show put on in the presence of other humans, but this time there was no one watching, no reason to display this level of hospitality. What did the ancient youkai have up his sleeve?
Kurama had moved closer to the fujin girl to take her cup, setting Hiei even further on edge. He was smiling affectionately though somewhat sadly at her story; she was still explaining the manner in which her family members had been taken by demon hunters, though Hiei had stopped listening. The fox's eyebrows were turned up slightly in the middle, his features were gentle, his head cocked to the side as he took in the girl's words. It was then Hiei realized he had seen that look before, directed towards only one other person.
"Kurama," he said loudly, surprising the other two occupants of the burrow. He got up swiftly, heading for the door and making it clear he expected the fox to follow.
It took standing bare-chested in the cold for a few minutes to lure Kurama outside, but finally he was fully dressed and emerging behind Hiei.
"Hiei, what are you doing? You're going to give yourself frostbite this way, even if you are a fire demon," Kurama scolded, obviously annoyed with his mate's behavior.
The small youkai glared up at his partner. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Well, I'm standing outside in the bitter cold, thanks to you. What are YOU doing?"
Hiei clenched his teeth before shouting up at him, "You feel sorry for her! You look at her the way you used to look at that human mother of yours, but she's not human, and neither are you, so stop acting like one!"
Kurama stiffened. "I will act however I please. But, you're right, I do feel sorry for her..."
"Hn!" Hiei turned away smugly, thinking he had finally won an argument.
"On the other hand," Kurama continued, shattering his mate's confidence, "I'm also somewhat impressed. She did manage to follow us all the way through the forest without being detected."
"That's because her youki is so low she's not even worth detecting!" Hiei shouted, angry once again. "Tell her to go away so I can finish what I came here to do in peace!"
"Hiei," Kurama stared down at him seriously now, his bushy white brows furrowing, though more harshly than they had towards their guest. "What did you come here to do? You must realize there's almost no chance you're going to find your mother."
"I've told you that I'll stay here as long as it takes," he growled.
"Look at that mountain!" Kurama said, motioning frantically towards the rubble towering over them, though barely visible through the thick cloud of snow. "It would take a century to dig through that by yourself! We've been here for weeks and you've barely made a dent. I know you think what you're doing is noble, but it's pointless! There's no reason to punish yourself because you lived and they didn't!"
Hiei bared his fangs and dove at Kurama, his anger getting the best of him as they tumbled into the snow. It was rare that their arguments turned physical, but Hiei was so overwhelmed, he could not help bringing his fist down to the kitsune's face, blood spraying from the lip of the unprepared owner.
Kurama retaliated, he knew that his mate was beyond words, now. Flinging Hiei to the side, they rolled in the carpet of white. The fire youkai was dead set on punching him, and even Kurama's considerably longer arms could not keep the angry attacker from his body. He finally returned a blow, kicking Hiei clumsily away from him and scrambling to his feet, his heart pounding and his mouth and nose gushing.
The slender demon tumbled across the ice before springing back, but the fox was prepared this time. He caught Hiei's wrists in his hands, slamming him down onto his back and pinning him against the blood spattered snow with his great weight.
"Stop this!" Kurama bellowed, his deep voice overcoming the howling wind.
"Fuck you!" Hiei screamed back, thrashing beneath the massive fox. There was no thought of grace or artistry in his head, only unbridled rage. Had Hiei been in his right mind, he could have easily escaped from Kurama's grasp, but his senses were not with him. He could do nothing but tense in the clenched hands, bucking upwards in a blind attempt to free himself.
"HIEI! I'll knock you out if I have to!"
Hiei growled loudly, shutting his eyes as he tried to break Kurama's hold. "SHUT UP!" The youkai's body temperature began to raise then, his skin growing hotter and hotter in an attempt to burn Kurama off of him. The great fox winced, but held on tightly, keeping Hiei pinned beneath him even as his hands began to blister.
"Why do you always have to try and be RIGHT!?" Hiei screamed, his eyes shooting open and dancing with fire. He stared up at his lover, feeling sick, feeling outwitted and helpless. "My mother said I've come here to do something important, and she's up there! UP THERE! BURIED!"
"Your mother is dead! There's nothing you can do for her!"
"Stop pretending you know everything! You know NOTHING!"
"Hiei, I love you! I won't allow you to torture yourself like this!"
"Please stop fighting!" a shriller voice suddenly cried out. Kurama and Hiei froze, looking up towards the mouth of the burrow. In their frenzy, the two had all but forgotten about the girl sitting inside, waiting for them to return. Now she stood, wrapped up loosely in her outer cloak with the wind beating against her. She looked horrified.
"Why are you fighting each other!?" she exclaimed, in disbelief. Hiei's shock at her stupidity broke through his anger long enough for him to cool his body down. Kurama fell back onto his rear end when Hiei's wrists suddenly stop searing him and he cradled his hands in his lap, looking like a scolded child.
"Is this because of me?" she asked, her white eyes even wider and more blank looking. She was trembling, feeling as though she had broken something very precious with her presence.
Like Kurama, Hiei brought himself to a sitting position, and saw another look he had seen before. It was a look of regret, one he had seen on his sister so many years ago. By just living, and through no fault of her own, she had caused fighting among others, even death. This was the look he saw on the face of the young youkai who had followed them. He realized that this girl did not simply admire them, she worshiped them, and now believed she had inadvertently caused their suffering. Suddenly, he felt sorry for her too.
A few hours later, Kurama had treated and bandaged his hands, though his face still looked a bit worse for wear. Hiei had apprehensively agreed to let Ai spend the night in their burrow, and was now seated by the fire, staring into it and turning over the fight with Kurama in his head.
"She's asleep," Kurama said lowly, pulling himself beside his mate and observing the dancing flames with him.
"Hn..."
"Hiei..." Kurama sighed, knowing what still needed to be said but not wanting to drag Hiei over the edge again. "I meant what I said out there. Don't you think it's time to leave?"
"No..." Hiei continued to stare into the fire. "I haven't finished what I came here to do. It's my duty to lay my kind to rest and destroy whatever killed them."
"Hiei, there's nothing here..."
The youkai glared sideways at his partner. "Besides, my mother said I was going to meet someone important. We have to stay."
"But we have met someone," Kurama offered.
"Her?" Hiei remarked incredulously. "This person is supposed to be a savior to demon world, that girl couldn't even save herself."
"You don't know what's going to become of her or of us after we leave here. Maybe this is the first step on a longer journey." Kurama reached his damaged hand out to touch Hiei's warm cheek, and was not surprised when he shied away.
"I'm not leaving," he said resolutely, and ignored Kurama until they had both fallen asleep.
That night, Hiei slept restlessly. Visions of someone he had seen in his dreams many times before haunted his unconsciousness: Yukina. In this dream, she was forever moving away from him, away from the Ice Country, away from their valley. No matter how he ran, he was unable to follow her. It was not until Hiei had reached the most unlikely of places that he was able to join her. It was Gandara, Yomi's city, as mighty as it had been a century before in spite of its founder's absence. Before he was able to ask why his sister had come to be in such an unusual place, though, he awoke suddenly. A sharp stream of sunshine was in his face, tickling his eyelids and telling him morning had come.
There was Kurama, curled up on the floor beside him, surrounded in his vast white robes. The youkai looked down to find his mate's tail draped over him as usual. It would seem their fight had done nothing to disrupt Kurama's sleeping habits. Among the pile of furs in the corner, the girl was still there, sleeping away the excitement of the previous night.
His thoughts quickly drifted back to his dream and Yukina. Perhaps it was a sign that Kurama was right, it was time to leave this solemn place. But what business could someone like his sister have in Gandara? There was nothing there for any of them now, no friends who called the city home. In fact, the only point of interest the cold city held at all for Hiei was...
"The tournament," he mumbled, before rolling over and going back to sleep.
"Well, I guess this is where we part ways," said Kurama.
Four days had gone by, and the trio was standing at the border of Scythe City. Each was concealed from head to toe in robes, Kurama and Ai in white, Hiei in black. A combination of his strange dream, the appearance of the young female youkai, and Kurama's constant cajoling had finally convinced Hiei to abandon the fallen Ice Country. He was now eager to get home to their own den, though the sense of loss that had been there since the fall of the island still gnawed at his insides.
"Oh no, please!" the girl pleaded, gazing up at Kurama from beneath her hood. "Let me do something to prove I'm a good thief! I'll do anything."
Kurama sighed, "I'm sorry. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but Hiei and I prefer to work alone."
"Anything!" she begged, not so easily deterred. After all, she had spent a good portion of her short life searching for this pair, and she was not about to lose her one chance to be with them.
The fox stared down at her, his yellow eyes gleaming from the shadows of his robe.
"All right," he said at last.
Hiei nearly lost his balance. He had been ready to march off into the city and never give the girl another thought, yet Kurama was relenting again!
"There is a fortress just outside the city to the west of here, made up of several concentric courtyards and stone walls. The inner structures are shielded with a kekkai, so it's impossible to penetrate the compound from above," he explained. "The only way inside is through a series of hallways, but I must warn you, they are all either booby trapped or heavily guarded. If you can steal the treasure that lies in the innermost chamber and bring it back to me, I'll let you stay with us, understood?"
She nodded eagerly, her lips pressed together tightly with determination. She gasped then, apparently having held her breath since Kurama began speaking.
"The fortress is not far from here," he continued. "Hiei and I will wait in the city until tomorrow morning, so you have until then to return with the treasure."
"I'll get it! I promise!" she cried, flinging her arms around Kurama's waist and squeezing him gratefully before dashing off through the city streets, nearly knocking passing youkai over as she sped away.
Kurama straightened his disheveled robes and sighed with relief before turning to Hiei and smiling.
"You bastard... you sent her to that place?" Hiei said, glowering upwards. Now, he felt even more sorry for the naïve girl, not only because she would surely die, but because she had been so easily fooled by his manipulative mate.
"Well you wanted to get rid of her so badly, I thought you would be pleased," the fox answered as they strolled into the city.
"Hn, so all that compassion was just an act after all," Hiei commented. "You don't care what happens to her."
"Oh, Hiei, don't be ridiculous. I have no desire for the poor girl to die."
"Then why did you send her back there? That place landed me in a coma for three days, if you had forgotten! A weak youkai like that stands no chance."
"When she sees how impossible the fortress is to penetrate she'll most surely give up and go back home," he replied. "No one could be foolish enough to actually follow through with a task like that."
Hiei scoffed and walked on silently beside the graceful fox. He could think of several people who were that foolish, or perhaps more so.
That evening, the two laid together in a rather nice inn, Kurama having robbed the neighboring inn to pay for the night's rent. The fox stretched out in the expansive bed, the first real bed they had slept in for weeks. Undressed and comfortable, he snuggled up beside Hiei, who was unwinding the ward on his arm and relaxing his youki for the night.
"Mmm... it feels so good to be out of that cold," Kurama said lazily, savoring the softness of the bed. "I can't wait to get home and check on my garden."
Hiei removed the covering over his Jagan then and leaned back against the overstuffed pillows. Normally, such an indulgence would have annoyed him, but he had to admit, the silk cushions and feather filled quilts felt good against his aching body. He stared up at the darkened room, watching the shadows cast by the dim bedside lamp dance on the ceiling.
"Kurama," he said softly. Though still annoyed, and wounded, Hiei had been unusually nice to his mate since their fist fight in the snow. When he'd realized how badly he had burned the fox's hands, the small youkai had become remorseful and eager to apologize.
"Yes, Hiei?" Kurama said smoothly. He shifted closer to his mate, allowing his long hand to travel up the well formed little body and come to rest on its firm chest. Kurama toyed with the glimmering hiruiseki that rested there while waiting for Hiei to answer.
"I had a dream about Yukina the night before we left," he said, still staring at the ceiling.
"That's not surprising," Kurama responded, fingering the precious stone lightly.
"She was in Gandara, but I don't know why."
"Gandara?" Kurama said, somewhat surprised, and raised his eyebrows.
Hiei turned to look into the kitsune's yellow eyes. "Do you think Yukina could really be in Makai?" he asked.
"I suppose it's possible, but I can't see why she would be. It's safer for her in the human world, the way things are right now."
Hiei sighed deeply, losing himself in thought and not bothering to resist when Kurama's arms snaked around his body. He was pulled in, pressed against his mate protectively until he could hear his heart beating. He saw visions of his sister alone in Yomi's city, kidnapped perhaps, or being used. These thoughts were disturbed suddenly, though, by a commotion at the window and the loud bang of someone tumbling into the room.
The duo shot up immediately, covered only by their blankets but ready to fight. Hiei's sword, which had been laid to rest beside the bed, was in his grasp in a second, and he pointed it before him swiftly.
"Show yourself," commanded Kurama, a clump of seeds in his hand that would surely jump to life as soon as he willed it.
"I'm back!" cried a familiar female voice, and soon the young wind spirit was kneeling at the foot of the bed, completely intact with a pouch clutched tightly in her fist.
Hiei's mouth fell open, not merely at the ridiculousness of the situation, but at the fact that the girl was somehow still alive.
"Back...?" Kurama opened his eyes widely, in as much disbelief as Hiei.
"Here you go!" she said, and dumped the contents of the pouch – two glittering white jewels – into Kurama's lap.
"Inari's Tears..." Kurama said in astonishment, examining the jewels and gazing into their facets with awe. Hiei had to admit, they were quite beautiful, but was unsure of their importance. As though reading his partner's mind, Kurama turned to look at Hiei and explain. "These gems were said to have been cried by Inari when the world began. They're priceless among kitsune, comparable to the Holy Grail in the human world." He then turned back to Ai, who was still sitting on the bottom of the bed and appeared to be beside herself with pride. "How did you ever get inside?" Kurama asked with exasperation.
"I asked," she said simply.
"What do you mean you asked?" Hiei exclaimed suddenly. "I nearly died trying to get into that place!"
"I told the guards I was a concubine and they brought me inside. Then, once I had the treasure, I blinded everybody and left," she explained.
"You blinded them, how?" Kurama inquired.
"With a flash bomb," she stood and reached into her robe, taking out a tiny brown sphere. "See?"
Suddenly there was a blinding light in the room and a loud crack, followed by Hiei roaring with pain and clamping his hands over his Jagan.
"AUGH! My eye!" he yelled, throwing himself away from the light and into the bed coverings.
"Oh no! I'm sorry!" the girl cried, leaping onto the bed and tugging at Hiei's shoulders, trying to see if he was all right. Kurama rubbed his own eyes, stinging and out of focus from the flash, and was nearly knocked out of the bed by the thrashing beside him.
"Get away from me you stupid girl!" Hiei growled, batting his hands blindly in Ai's direction.
"I didn't mean it! I should have warned you!" she cried, near tears. "But, it shouldn't hurt this much! The blindness is only supposed to last for a few seconds!"
"As soon as I can see again, I'm going to tear out your entrails!" Hiei roared, still flailing his arm trying to shove the shocked youkai away from him.
"Hiei! That's not necessary!" Kurama scolded, his own vision slowly returning.
"And then, I'm going to strangle Kurama with them for ever making that deal with you!" Hiei added angrily, the burning in his Jagan sending tremors of pain through his body.
"Please forgive me, I beg you!" Ai wailed. "I would do anything to make it up to you!" She grabbed at Hiei's arms, trying to pull him to her in the hopes that she could offer some kind of aid.
"Get off!" he shouted, thrusting his fist at her and inadvertently knocking himself to the floor. Hiei tumbled down and landed with a loud bump, leaving the bed coverings behind.
"Oh my gosh!" Ai gasped, throwing herself backwards and bringing her hand to her mouth in disbelief. "You're naked!"
"Of course I'm naked, we were trying to go to sleep before you barged in here!" Hiei snarled. Though the agony felt in his Jagan was beginning to dull, his anger still blinded him too much to feel any modesty.
"Sleeping naked in the same bed!?" she cried, her eyes now flying to Kurama and noting that, indeed, Kurama was naked as well, though the fox had managed to remain mostly covered. Ai's head was spinning, she began to feel faint, "That means... That means..!? The Untouchable Bandits... are...!"
"Getting down and dirty in Demon World," Kurama stated, a short time later, when Hiei was dressed and in a less homicidal state. "At least, that's how a human friend of ours once put it."
"Hn, yes... Only Yusuke could have the nerve to try and pass off the Demon Tournament as a honeymoon." Hiei added.
Once the chaos over the flash bomb had been resolved and everyone was once again clothed, Kurama had been kind enough to serve some food to their bewildered guest to help calm her down. The three were now sitting around the small dining table in their room, though Ai was still in a state of surprise too intense to touch her food.
"I heard rumors that the only reason he lost that year was because he was too exhausted from the night before," Kurama said, smirking and taking a sip of tea from the cup before him.
"So... the two of you..." Ai muttered, her mind still reeling.
"Are lovers." Kurama finished. "Hiei has been my mate for over 50 years, and hopefully," the fox delayed, giving his hot-headed companion a thoughtful look, "he intends to stay as such."
Hiei glared at the fox sourly before turning away and shoving a biscuit into his mouth.
"I had no idea..." Ai said. "I mean, I knew the Untouchable Bandits were inseparable, but, I never knew you were THAT kind of inseparable. Going as far as- and doing things like- And being NAKED!" She shuddered, "Waaiii! I wasn't ready to see that!" the girl wailed, throwing her hands up to her head as though she had gained knowledge too powerful for it to hold.
"Ai," Kurama stammered, wondering if it was possible to pull the girl back from the edge of delirium. "Why don't you try eating something, and I'll go buy you a room here in the inn."
Her mouth hung open, eyes still wide and staring up at the ceiling.
"And tomorrow," Kurama continued, rising from his chair and crossing two long arms across his middle, "we head home."
At this moment, Hiei noisily swallowed his food, and shot Kurama the deepest, darkest glare he could muster from the very depths of his soul.
"WE go home," he growled, then turned to the stunned demon girl beside him. "And YOU will stay here. Preferably forever."
"Now Hiei, that wasn't our agreement."
"Wait, did you say go home?" Ai said, springing back to life. "You mean your home?"
"Yes, our home," Hiei said, lips curling with disgust, "so don't bothering thinking too much about it or even wondering where it is."
"She did retrieve the treasure," Kurama commented, as Hiei's fingernails began digging into the surface of the table. "It would seem we have no choice but to uphold our end of the bargain."
"You mean your end of the bargain," Hiei said. "I never agreed to anything."
"Hiei, you wouldn't want me to lie, would you?" Kurama's ears twitched expectantly.
"You've never had any problem lying before!" he barked.
"It seems wrong to betray someone who was able to bring me back such a prized treasure." From within the pocket of his cloak, Kurama pulled out the Tears of Inari and turned them lovingly over in his palm.
"So that's it..." Hiei thought, darkly. "All you care about is that stupid treasure and now you want to get home and ogle it..."
"Oh my gosh, THE TABLE'S ON FIRE!" shouted Ai, jumping back and flinging the piece of furniture away from her in a panic.
Hiei looked down and realized, in his fury, the tips of his fingers had somehow ignited the wood of the table and now it, as well as the floor, were going up in flames. Kurama stood for a moment and stared at the growing inferno with wide yellow eyes.
"Well, it looks as though we won't be sleeping in a bed tonight after all," he said, and quickly started gathering up their belongings.
"W-wait," Ai sputtered, shielding her face from the growing heat. "You're not going to leave just like that are you!? There are other demons staying at this inn, we have to warn them to get out!"
"They'll figure out it's time to leave when they start catching on fire," Hiei said, making sure he had his sword safely at his side before throwing on his cloak and hood.
"If you really want to be one of the Untouchable Bandits, your first lesson is to know when to make a quick getaway," Kurama advised, packing up his seeds, and tossing in the rest of the food and dishes for good measure.
Her mouth hung open again in a fashion reminiscent of a suffocating fish, but she quickly pulled up her hood and obeyed. Out the window they went, hopping safely into the adjacent alley and taking off into the cover of night, just as the thatched roof of the inn burst into flames.
"Wow, so you wielded the Rose Whip with your hair? Ha ha, my uncle must have forgotten that part," Ai said.
The band of three had been making its way along a quiet path that lead through the forest bordering the Valley of Thorns. Kurama had shamelessly been passing the time by entertaining Ai with stories of his most glorious victories and tales of his and Hiei's time working with the famous Spirit Detective, Yusuke Urameshi.
"So, your uncle was in attendance at the last Dark Tournament," Kurama said.
"Oh no, didn't I tell you? My uncle was a competitor in the tournament! He's the one who told me the story of the Untouchable Bandits reminded him of his old friend, Youko Kurama," she explained.
"Then, that must mean,"
"Your uncle is Jin the master of wind?" Hiei interrupted. "No wonder you're such an idiot," he scoffed.
"What!" Ai cried. "My uncle is a powerful demon! He even fought in the very first demon tournament!"
"Hn, and lost," Hiei said.
"I'm curious, will Jin be competing in the new tournament that is being held this year?" Kurama asked.
"Oh, I'm not sure..." she said, her voice suddenly softening. "I haven't actually seen him since I was a child. When the demon hunters first started attacking our village, he and his friend Touya, the ice apparition, left to try and head them off before they could return and take any more of us. That was the last time I ever saw him."
"It would seem Touya and I will never have a chance to spar again after all," Kurama said glumly.
"They might still be alive!" Ai said hopefully. "I haven't seen any other Fujin since I left in pursuit of you two. Maybe they came back," she added, shrugging.
Suddenly, Hiei and stiffened and drew his sword, stopping them short.
"Hiei, what are you doing?" Kurama questioned, cocking his head.
"I thought I sensed something from within the forest," he said lowly, tearing the ward from his forehead and opening his Jagan eye.
"That's ludicrous, I would have felt it too," Kurama said.
"You're too busy making small talk about events that happened over a hundred years ago," Hiei said. He kept his weapon raised and walked to the edge of the path, scanning the trees carefully for any sign of movement.
By now, Kurama was on guard as well. He had brought a hand to Ai's shoulder, signaling her to stay silent and motionless.
"Anything?" Kurama whispered.
"Something is there... but I cant pin it down," Hiei said, still peering through the dense foliage. Kurama turned his ears forward and stared ahead, drawing energy from the trees and plants surrounding them in search of a clue, but the forest was thick with smells and sounds, and whoever or whatever Hiei had sensed was under heavy cover.
"Hold on," Ai said. She knelt down and took a small, soft packet from her pouch and withdrew an arrow from the quiver on her back. She tied the pack to the tip of the arrow, and stood, taking aim into the trees.
"What are you aiming at?" Hiei said with disapproval. He turned back towards the forest in an attempt to determine her target, when the arrow went whizzing by his face and disappeared into the sea of green. The thunk of the arrow striking something met them, and with the sound came an explosion of smoke, filling up the area and sending birds and beasts scattering in every direction. There was a quick commotion from somewhere in the overgrowth, and the sharp hiss of someone gasping for air.
"There!" Ai shouted, when the gasp was heard, but Hiei was already off.
Kurama and Ai followed behind, leaping through the brush with their cloaks held across their mouths. The smoke soon cleared, and they discovered Hiei close by, examining something on the ground.
"What did you find?" Kurama asked. They approached, passing by the arrow Ai had fired, lodged in the trunk of a tree.
"An explanation," he replied, holding up a small cloth, painted with intricate writing.
"A ward?" Kurama said.
"And a good one, maybe even the best I've seen. It was almost powerful enough to hide its owner's energy from the Jagan."
"Then what happened to whoever was carrying it?" said Ai, stepping up to take a look.
"Already out of range," Hiei said, crumpling up the ward and stuffing it into his pocket.
"That doesn't bode well," Kurama said. "If he is fast enough to escape that quickly, who knows how long he's been following us."
"I think I know the problem," Ai piped in, shyly.
"Oh? You think some other fool just like you is stalking us now, wanting to join our fan club?" Hiei spat.
Ai cringed and shook her head. "You two are just too powerful," she explained. "It took me a long time to track you down, but once I did, it was easy to follow you. That eye protects you, Hiei, but even that's not enough to dampen Kurama's power as well."
Kurama's gold eyes narrowed. "Hiei and I are both withholding our youki, you shouldn't be able to sense anything from us," he countered.
"It's not your youki itself, it's what it leaves behind," she said, "look."
She knelt down and rummaged through the leaves littering the forest floor, and rose holding a tiny seed. From within its dry, brown shell, a small hint of green had begun to emerge.
"See, it's sprouting with you just standing here. When I learned of your power over plants, I started carrying seeds with me everywhere I went. One day, just outside Scythe City, I checked on them and found they had all started to grow. After that, I knew what to look for. I could tell everywhere you had been, up until I reached that frozen wasteland."
Kurama examined the seed carefully, and found inside small hints of his own energy.
"Something this small would be easy to overlook," he said. "Though I never had this problem when I was Suuichi."
"You're stronger now than you ever were as a human, even more so than before you were reborn," Hiei said.
"It would seem our growing power is both a blessing and a curse," Kurama said. "Once we return home, I will have to find some way to hamper this unwanted side effect."
"We still don't know who was following us," Hiei stated.
"And we won't know as long as we keep inadvertently leaving behind a trail for him to follow. I think it's time we took to the trees."
"Fine with me," Hiei said, and disappeared.
"Now is the time to prove you can keep up," Kurama said to Ai, and leaped into the canopy, following his partner.
Many hours later, when night had fallen, Kurama and Hiei stood waiting by the wall of living thorns that surrounded their burrow. Kurama had convinced his mate to give Ai a chance to catch up to them before closing the barrier and sealing her outside.
"It looks like your little test was an outstanding failure," Hiei said, smirking with satisfaction.
"It's too bad, I was starting to grow fond of her," Kurama sighed.
"I wasn't."
"Wait, look there!" Kurama said, pointing to movement in the tree tops.
"It's probably a bird," Hiei snorted.
"That's quite a bird," Kurama said, grinning deviously when he spotted an exhausted looking demon girl drop from a high branch and start making her way up the hill towards the wall of thorns.
"I finally made it," she said, panting.
"How did you find us?" Hiei growled, arms crossed with displeasure beneath his outer robe.
She took a moment to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her neck, still winded when she gasped out, "The... Inari's Tears..."
Kurama's ears perked, and he checked to find the gems were still safely in his tunic pocket.
"When I was inside the fortress, I hid the gems between my..." her face turned red and she brought a nervous hand to her bosom. "W-well, they were right up against me, anyway. I was able to follow the small trace of my own youki that was left behind."
Kurama smiled. "Well done."
"Moronic," Hiei said.
"It looks as though the Untouchable Bandits have a third member," Kurama announced, causing Ai to stiffen up with uncontrolled glee.
Hiei grimaced and rolled his eyes.
"Just don't expect us to mourn you when you inevitably get yourself killed."