Chapter 8

Hiei woke to the feeling of soft furs, the warmth of them making him feel safe, secure and he actually snuggled deeper in the warmth, his mind welcoming the rare comfort. However, his comfort quickly turned to un-comfort as he realized someone else was near him and he had no choice but to open his eyes as a voice said.

"You awake?"

"Hn." He replied as he pulled the sheet over his face to cover the blinding light coming through the open window. "Close that damn curtain." He muttered with a growl.

When the curtain was pulled, the fire demon sat up and noticed he was in his room in Mukuro's palace. The previous events started flashing in his mind like a slide show.

"Kurama!" He yelled, getting up and going for the door even though he was naked. A wave of nausea and dizziness washed over him, causing him to trip.

"Whoa…easy there." He heard as he was caught and dragged back to the bed, thrown non to graceful back on the pile of furs.

"Get away from me." Hiei growled again, flaring his arms and trying to get up. He didn't even sit up before feeling a weight on his hips and his arms were pinned to either side of his head. The action stunned him and he went limp. After a moment, he opened his eyes to see Yusuke staring at him, concern in his features.

"You better?" The raven haired asked, trying to read the smaller demon's face.

"You better be thankful Kurama's not here." Hiei said, Kurama's demon instincts would have kicked in and Yusuke would have found himself clobbered for this display.

Yusuke got up and moved away from the smaller demon, the remark ignored.

"What?" Hiei said, seeing the boy's face go blank, he remembered to grab the sheet as he stood, moving more slowly to control the dizziness.

"He's not dead." Yusuke said softly, though needing to tell the demon that his friend and lover was in the tank and that he was not doing so well, but how to say it.

Hiei raised an eyebrow, 'that was a good thing…right.' Wait, did he mean Youko or Kurama.

"Talk detective, or I'll walk out of here and find him myself." He said, trying to control his anger.

When Yusuke didn't turn around or say anything, he went to the door. It opened before he could grab the knob.

Mukuro came walking in. Behind her a guard was carrying a limp, wet, red head wrapped in a towel. Yusuke was shocked to see him, for she had told him earlier that Kurama was going to have to stay in for another night.

"Good, you're finally awake." She said, noticing her heir standing. "Place him on the bed and have food brought." She added, turning to address the guard.

The guard placed the red head on the furs and backed out of the room, closing the doors behind him.

"He was not in the tank as long as I thought he would be." The Lord started to explain. "He was in bad shape this time. I have some clue as to what that bastard did to him and the rest…I don't think I want to hear." She was staring at Hiei. "I was going to put you in the tank, but it looks like you don't need it, maybe because you are awake, he woke." She said, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm fine." Hiei said, he'd be damned if he was going back in that tank. Looking over at Kurama he asked. "How is he?"

"He'll be fine." She said. "I shall leave you. Let the guard know if there is anything you need Lord Urameshi." Before she left, she told Hiei that before he left for the Ningenkai, they were going to have a serious talk about obeying orders.

After she left, Hiei ran over to Kurama and held him, noting the fox was still pale and seemed so thin.

"I'll leave." Yusuke said, turning to the door.

"No." He barely heard.

Turning, he saw Hiei running a hand through the wet red hair, moving closer, because he could see a confused look on the fire demon's face, he noticed what Hiei was seeing, or rather 'not' seeing, the silver streaks were gone from Kurama's hair.

"The silver's gone." Yusuke said, trying to remember when exactly they had disappeared and realizing he had no clue.

Hiei looked up as if surprised to see the raven haired still there.

"Do you think that means Youko's gone for good?" Yusuke asked.

"I….I don't know." Hiei whispered, remembering Youko's remark about leaving a piece of himself with Kurama, were the silver streaks in the hair and gold trim in his eyes that piece.

He went to remove the ward over his jagan.

"You think that's a good idea?" Yusuke asked, remembering what happened the last time the fire demon went to read the red head's mind without permission.

Hiei was stopped as Kurama started coughing, the clear liquid of the tank spilling out of his mouth. Large, bright, solid green eyes opened and blinked followed by confusion setting in.

Hiei had placed the sheet around both of them, so he reached for the towel, holding it to the pale lips.

"Easy, this is just like last time. Cough it out. Calm." Hiei was rambling, running his other hand through red hair.

"Hiei." Kurama managed to say before coughing again, his own hand coming up to hold the towel.

"I'm here." The fire demon reassured.

"But…but Yomi said you were…dead." The red head said, his wide eyes finally saw Yusuke and he went to sit up.

"No fox, I'm not." Hiei said, pulling the lean figure back against his chest and holding tight.

"Yusuke." Kurama said his eyes not leaving the boy's as he was held.

"Yep, Hiei's right behind you. You think he'd let that goat kill him?" Yusuke told him, letting a smile come to his face.

"How did I get here? The last thing I remembered was…" Kurama stopped and started shaking as the image of Yomi and Taiga having their way with him came to mind.

"Easy…the bastard's dead." Hiei said, trying to keep the shaking under control.

Yusuke only nodded when Kurama looked at him. He didn't have the heart to tell them that Yomi was probably alive. He had talked to Koenma after making it back here and the demi god told him that no paperwork had come across his desk about the former Lord's death. He hoped his decision not to tell them otherwise wouldn't come and bite him in the rear later.

"There's nothing to worry about." Hiei said, kissing the top of the red head's head.

There was a knock and when permission was granted, a guard came in with food.

Hiei went to get up to make a plate, but Yusuke motioned for him to stay and made the plate. Bringing it over, Hiei took it and held it to the fox. "Eat." He said.

"I…." Kurama coughed and spit up a small amount of liquid. Memories of last time reminded him he would feel better if he could get something down, though it was hard to tell that to the nausea he was feeling.

Picking at the fruit and cheese on the plate, he managed to get most of it down and even ate a piece of bread. Yusuke held out a mug of dark tea and he managed to drink all of it down as well.

"How you feel?" Yusuke asked as he took the empty mug back and placed it on the table.

"Better." Kurama muttered, sleep claiming him now that his stomach was full.

"Well, I'll leave you two to sleep. I need to contact Koenma and let him know we're all okay. You feel up to heading back tomorrow?" Yusuke asked.

The red head only nodded, but then whispered. "Home, I want to go home." His eyes closed and he turned into Hiei's chest, snuggling down and making himself comfortable.

Yusuke smiled and looked to the fire demon. They shared an understanding that it was going to take awhile for Kurama to heal and that he may or may not talk about what had happened to him. They both knew that no matter what, his friends would be there.

"I'll let him see himself tomorrow." Hiei whispered, moving down to lay beside the red head.

Yusuke nodded and went to leave. 'Now that was going to be a mess.' He thought as he shut the door. It took awhile for Kurama to get use to the spirit yoko not being there and now he was back, well maybe. What is the red head's state of mind going to be like after he realizes…the raven haired shrugged, nothing was going to be done till morning. The best thing he could do was get some sleep. He was going to contact Keiko in the morning and tell her they were heading home.

a)a)a)a

Hiei woke to an empty bed. The sun was streaming through the open window, making him squint. 'Who opened that blasted window this time?' He thought. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw Kurama sitting in the window, a light breeze blowing his red locks across his face.

Taking the sheet with him, the small demon went over to his lover.

Kurama turned to him and smiled. "Good morning sleepy head."

"Hn." He replied, noticing the false smile and pain behind the green eyes.

Kurama saw Hiei looking at him and he looked down at his clothes. "I was wondering where these had gone to." He said, brushing an imaginary wrinkle out of his sleeve.

Hiei had taken some of Kurama's clothes and brought them here incase he ever needed them, so he wouldn't have to wear those bland clothes like last time. He thought he had taken things the fox wouldn't miss. Never underestimate the memory of a thousand plus year old fox.

Realizing if the fox was dressed, he must have seen himself in the mirror, though before he could question, Kurama spoke up again.

"I want to go back." He said, looking out the window.

"We are going back, let me get dressed and find Yusuke and we'll head home." He said, turning to go into the dressing area.

"No…I want to go back to Gandhara." Kurama said, not turning from the window.

The fire demon stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" He said, turning.

"I need to go back. I want to see for myself…I." Kurama paused and stood from the seat. "If you do not wish to go, I will go by myself. I can be back by dusk." He said.

"Are you sure about this?" Hiei asked.

"Yes." The red head said with a firm nod. "I know my appearance is back to normal and I think I know Youko is…was back. I want to go and see for myself." He said and just stood there, waiting.

"I can tell you everything that happened, if that's what's bothering you." Hiei said.

"I may have you do that, but for now, I want to learn it on my own." Kurama stated.

"Can you sense him?" Hiei asked softly.

"No." The red head shook his head. "Though I have not checked my subconscious to see if he is there." He answered.

Hiei nodded and placed his hand on the still pale face of the red head. "Okay." He said. "We'll go back." He then leaned up to place a kiss on the lips and Kurama let him, returning one of his own.

"Thank you." Kurama breathed before they pulled apart. Ever since he had woke that morning his mind had been telling him to return, it was a feeling he just could not ignore.

a)a)a)a

Finding Yusuke, they headed back to what remained of Yomi's palace. They had taken a transport vehicle to cut their time in half.

Standing in the middle of the carnage, Kurama asked. "Did you find Taiga or…?" He stopped and seemed to think, then said. "Or the doctor?"

"No." Yusuke answered. Mukuro's men had gone over the area with a fine tooth comb, only finding dead guards.

"And Yomi." Kurama added.

Yusuke just shook his head. Kurama would probably realize that, without a body, the Lord was most likely still alive. Though he didn't say anything to Yusuke's answer.

Going over to what remained of the prison Youko had made for Yusuke and Hiei, Kurama squatted down and picked up a piece of green plant. "Youko do this?" He asked.

"Yeah." Yusuke scratched the back of his head. "Though me and Hiei kind of blew it up." He admitted.

"Okay we can go." Kurama said standing and heading out.

"What…that's it?" Yusuke asked, surprised, but shut up when he received a death glare from Hiei, if the fox wanted to leave then let him.

The red head started to head back to the vehicle when he paused and turned back. Yusuke and Hiei walked up to either side of him.

"You okay?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama's fingers started to twitch and he heard a voice whisper. "Let it go."

"Kurama?" Hiei asked, worry on his face.

"What?" Kurama said, but realized he said it in his head.

"Let it go." The voice said again.

"Let what go?"

"The energy that has built up…let it go."

Wondering if this was the real reason his mind had told him to return here, he knelt down and the other two watched as he built spirit energy around him. Like the time he fought Karasu, the fox called on all his energy and released it.

The ground shook and the stone crumbled, by the time the dust settled, the place was covered with vines and plants. It reminded Yusuke of the story Sleeping Beauty and how the castle had been covered with a thousand years worth of foliage. Keiko had been making him read fairy tales so he could tell his child bed time stories.

Hiei caught the red head as he fell unconsciousness. "The caffeine wore off." Was all he said as he headed back to the vehicle. Yusuke smiled and followed, it was time to head home.

End Chapter 8