In one fell swoop, I am updating everything I have today. Bwahahaha. For those of you who have me on your alerts, sorry for all the e-mails ff will send you.

Hm. I think I actually like this chapter.

Yusuke felt cold. Frightened and angry and sad and…cold. He was shaking and he didn't know why – or didn't want to think about why. He stared at the bag that Mila had given him, but could summon up not the slightest hint of curiosity about its contents.

Kurama had been there. Even with Hiei using the jagan, they had missed him. He had come and gone…he had been so very close.

"Kurama…"

He had killed the snake people. Yusuke couldn't seem to make himself care about that, either. He knew that Kurama had killed people in his past. Hell, Yusuke had seen Kurama kill people. True, he thought the reformed fox only killed those who deserved it, but he couldn't bring himself to feel even the slightest sympathy for the creatures who had tried to feed off his soul.

But Kurama had been there.

And they had missed him.

Somehow, the fact bothered him more than his brush with death, the fact their hosts had been dead, or even the strange and still unexplained transformation his body had undergone.

Kurama had been there.

And they hadn't even known.

The tears began to come, and there was no way to stop them. The abandonment was complete, now. He had thought the fox cared for him, even if it was nothing more than friendship and lust. He had dismissed Kurama's warnings and threats not to follow him – rejected them as Hiei had rejected them, as Kurama being mysterious and overprotective and not knowing what he was talking about.

But Kurama had been so close and they hadn't even seen him.

Hiei finished his exploration of the castle with no small amount of annoyance. He had been able to find absolutely nothing. He wondered, somewhere inside his annoyed haze, what had happened to all of the things they had been using while the "guests" of the snake people. He had found nothing that could be of use whatsoever.

But they would reach Sha'kinn soon, and then their journey would be over – he was sure of it. And if things were as they seemed, and Yusuke truly was no longer human, then he no longer had to worry about how to keep the detective fed.

Still, it was annoying not to have found anything.

"All right, let's go." Hiei said as he opened the door to the room in which he had left Yusuke.

The boy sat on the bed, his head bowed, his shoulders shaking. Hiei couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying.

Until he caught the scent of tears.

"Detective?"

A moment of stillness, then…

Yusuke looked up and his eyes were dry. Puffy and bloodshot, but dry. There were, however, the stains of dried tears on his cheeks.

Hiei chose to ignore the evidence. If the detective didn't want him to know he had been crying, then he would pretend not to have noticed.

"What?" Yusuke demanded, voice only wavering a little.

"Are you ready to leave?"

A shuddering breath.

"Yeah; I sure as hell am."

Yusuke rose, swiping as inconspicuously at his eyes as he could. Hiei caught sight of something small and black clutched in his hand.

"What - ?"

"What would you do if Kurama really didn't want anything more to do with us?" Yusuke interrupted, staring at whatever it was he held in his hand.

Hiei was stunned a moment.

"I told you," he began at last.

"That's just macho bullshit. You acting tough because you always act tough because you don't trust me enough to let me know how you really feel, even about the small things. That's fine. But what would you do?"

"I would kill him."

"No you wouldn't. You wouldn't be able to. What would you really do?"

Hiei stared at him until he could bear it no longer. Yusuke had always had a beautiful face, but it had been a difficult thing to notice behind the blustering, confident thing known as his personality. The hair, the clothes, the attitude – Yusuke's pretty face had been the last thing anyone would notice.

But now with the strange change having come over him, it was so much more obvious. Now the fire in his eyes, the scowl on his lips – they enhanced his beauty, rather than hide it.

And the intensity in his eyes…the brutal honesty…was difficult to face.

"I don't know." Hiei answered at last, suddenly unable to lie to him. "I don't believe the fox will reject me again." He scowled and stared at the wall, knowing that looking at Yusuke again would be a mistake. "He's up to something and he's convinced himself that he's the only one who can handle it. It's not the first time he's attempted something like this. I will be able to convince him how foolish he's being once I speak to him."

"And if you can't? If he has nothing planned and just…doesn't love you anymore?"

Despite himself, he flinched.

"Don't be foolish, detective." He answered at last. "Kurama has never loved me."

"If you're sure of that, then how can you also be so sure he doesn't really want to reject you?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?"

"I don't think you can have it both ways, Hiei. If he loves you, then he won't reject you. If he doesn't love you, then why shouldn't he reject you?"

Snarling, Hiei rounded on the former human, only to find that the other boy had risen from his seat and approached him, now standing close enough that a step forward would put him inside the boy's personal space.

There was something feral in Yusuke's eyes; something desperate and dangerous and impossible to name.

"Get. Away. Detective."

Yusuke stepped forward and his hands came down to grasp Hiei's shoulders and keep him from backing up. Whatever it was he had held in his hand was digging into his skin painfully, the boy's grip was so strong. It hurt.

Hiei liked that.

"Which is it, Hiei?" He whispered fiercely. "You know what your instincts tell you whenever you're near him, but you're afraid to admit it. You're afraid that even thinking it will make it disappear. Just like me."

"Detective…"

"But unlike me, you have a guarantee. How long have you been with him, Hiei? You know that what you have with him is more than a fling. I'm a fling, but you're something else, aren't you? And if you are something else, then he wouldn't reject you. Why would he be with you for so long if he didn't feel something more?"

"You want him to love me. Why?"

"I…" Yusuke shook his head. "It's not your turn to ask questions, Hiei; it's mine. Tell me. Does he love you, or is he going to reject you again?" His eyes blazed obsessively, his hands tightening on Hiei's arms. The small demon found himself leaning closer.

"I don't know." Hiei answered at last. "There's no way to know until we have him before us for questioning."

"Us?" Something within Yusuke's eyes had calmed.

Hiei wished he knew what the hell was going on.

"You think I would leave you out of it? The fox belongs to both of us now."

"Would you reject me, Hiei?"

"How many times have I tried to get you into bed since this mission started?" He demanded crossly.

Yusuke shook his head.

"That's not what I meant."

Hiei stared at him, and slowly he realized just what the young detective was asking. He stared hard at him, but the boy met his gaze unflinchingly. No, there was no mistake. Yusuke knew perfectly well what he had asked.

"No." Hiei answered at last.

Hiei was fast asleep, curled tightly in a small ball on the bed, hogging the sheets. There was something about his face…something soft and relaxed and at peace – as if something that had bothered him had gone away.

It was good to see how innocent he appeared…good to see that he still had innocence left within him – buried deeply and guarded ferociously, but still there.

It was good to see those frown lines smoothed from his face.

A stray strand of moonlight drifted from the window to caress one smooth, bare shoulder, bathing it in silver. His skin had been softer than Yusuke had ever suspected, with far less battle scars. He was a hard man, had lived a hard life, but behind that there was still something…

The pain in Yusuke's heart had faded to a dull ache – pushed away by hungry kisses and even hungrier hands. Hiei had needed it just as much as he had – he was certain of it.

Yusuke wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed beside him, curl up against that tightly-muscled back, and fall asleep warm and comforted with the scent of Hiei's skin blanketing his body.

In a minute, Yusuke promised himself.

He had to force himself to look away from Hiei, and the effort it took was more than he would like to admit.

He looked down at the bag from Mila and he emptied its contents into his hand.

He knew exactly what it was he was seeing. He had seen them before, after all. Had sold many like them.

These he would never sell.

The tear gems gleamed up at him in the moonlight, and some trick made their light bounce back and forth, even going so far as to shine lightly against the still sleeping Hiei. Their light was a dark, dark bluish color, maybe purple, almost black. He had never seen anything so radiant.

Yusuke took a deep breath, and it shook terribly so he tried again. His second breath was more steady. The third was better yet.

"What in hell am I getting myself into?" He asked Hiei's sleeping form. The small demon's nose wrinkled, and he rolled over, reaching for a sleeping partner who wasn't there. Finding himself alone, he curled back into his tiny ball and slept on.

Yusuke shook his head and attempted a small laugh. That turned out fairly well, so he allowed himself a smile. He raked his hand through his hair, grimacing when he found it longer than it should be, feeling slightly sick as his fingers brushed an ear that was not the shape it should have been, nor was it in the right location.

What was he getting himself into? First one lover – a male lover, when he had never once even considered dating other males. Now two lovers, and he wasn't even human anymore.

But…

The moonlight reflected off the gems in his hand, and Yusuke found he couldn't worry about it. Mila's…parting gift…prevented that. Whatever she had intended by giving it to him, it kept him now from feeling any regret…any doubt.

And mistrust.

There was no way to question Hiei's feelings. It was pointless to even try.

And, in a way, it was pointless for Yusuke to even attempt to question his own feelings. After all, the very fact that he had made the decision to trust Hiei meant…something.

It was too much. Too much to think about, too much to torture himself with.

The tear gems twinkled up at him, and he didn't want to think about it.

Carefully he poured them back into their bag, hid the bag among his belongings. Hiei had cried for him when he thought him lost, just as he had cried for Kurama. What other proof could anyone possibly need? Only a fool would question that.

Feeling a sudden, wonderful peace, Yusuke crawled back into the bed. Hiei shifted, turned toward the sudden weight beside him, and Yusuke suddenly found himself held tightly in a pair of arms that seemed unwilling to ever release him.

"Yusuke,"

The young demon on the beg groaned and rolled over, throwing an arm across his eyes to protect them from the bright morning sun.

Hiei pursed his lips in a hard, thin line, annoyed.

"Detective."

"Ung."

"We need to leave."

"Ungh!"

"We were supposed to leave yesterday."

"Fi' mo' minnits."

With a low growl, Hiei reached down and grabbed away the blankets. Unconcerned, Yusuke curled up even more tightly and continued to sleep.

Hiei fought the urge to sit and enjoy the view or – even better – pounce on the nude form.

"We've been delayed long enough. We need to find our fox."

Yusuke's tail began to lash in irritation, and his ears pinned themselves back against his head. Other than that, he didn't move.

"Sleepy."

"Too bad."

"You kept me up all night."

"And whose idea was that?"

"Bastard."

"Nevertheless. Get up."

No movement. Hiei stalked back over to the bed and, grasping Yusuke's hip, shook him.

"Get up."

"Later."

He slid his hand upward against his side, watching the boy shiver in pleasure. Reluctantly Yusuke opened one eye.

Hiei fought for patience.

"Detective; we've lost many days of travel. Kurama's party will be nearly to Sha'kinn by now, and if they get there first, we've have to rethink all of our plans." He narrowed his eyes, sliding his hand into Yusuke's hair and giving it a pull. "I want my fox. Get up, kitten."

Yusuke groaned again and sat up, glaring sleepily. "Don't call me that."

Hiei rose and got Yusuke's clothes, tossing them to him.

"Get dressed."

Still glaring, Yusuke began to pull on his pants.

"You're awfully cheery today." He stated sarcastically.

"I'm anxious to get gone."

"Aren't we supposed to linger in bed or something?"

A sharp look.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No."

"Then stop mewling, kitten, and get going."

Another glare, this one more fierce than before.

"Don't call me that."

To Be Continued.

Pretty short chapter this time. Blame the pacing monkeys, not me.

Response to Unsigned Reviews:

BballAnimeLover89 - Here you go.

Abi - (grins)

Curry - Her name is Dark Avalon and she is a very talented wrtier who never updates. We have decided together that the way this part of the story played out in the original was too cheesy, thus we decided on something a bit more subdoed.I trust her judgement on everything except movies.

Cryptic.Kitsune - I'm so glad you enjoyed. Here's hoping you've found some caffeine by now!

kit-kit - Yup yup.

Allright, thanks everyone! See you next time!