I wrote a good portion of this during my Human Growth and Development class. If you like it, then make sure and thank the crazy old lady who teaches it for rambling so much.

Lip curling in disdain as he came upon the three forms huddled together in two joined sleeping bags, the Captain motioned for his men to circle around.

Before the forms on the ground were even half surrounded, the Captain knew that all three of the demons were awake, though none made any move to prove it. In a way it was commendable, how honed their instincts were for them to have sensed his presence, and that of his men, so soon. How much more admirable was it that they had nearly succeeded in hiding their awareness from him.

He wouldn't have realized it at all, in fact, if not for a small movement made by the taller black haired one – some change in his breathing patterns. He was obviously the youngest, obviously the least experienced in protecting himself from would-be attackers.

The Captain knelt slowly in the dirt, reaching for the packs on the ground that contained the supplies of the three, and pretended he had no idea they were awake as he began to quickly rifle through the belongings.

Not much of merit there, he reflected with a little disappointment. He had thought for certain that, after eluding authorities in Ely'afreba, the little one, or at least the fox, would have stopped at one of their manors or some other place of hoarded wealth to pick up some means of currency. He had, in fact, been hoping for it – after all, it was so easy for personal treasures of criminals to be "lost" before they were brought in, and it had been a long time since the Captain or his men had come across significant pocket-lining.

Folded within a black cloak, however, was a strange stone that pulsated with warmth and a captivating display of color. Lips parting slightly in want, the Captain reached for it –

- Only to feel the sudden and cold bite of steel against his neck.

"You'll leave it alone, or I'll make you suffer." A cold, hard voice full of contempt spoke from above him.

Careful not to send the sword's point further into his own jugular, the Captain looked up.

The smallest of those he had been seeking stood above him, small and wiry form completely nude, a sneer of fury and derision twisting his oddly pretty face. He had managed to rise from the bedroll, grab his weapon, and cross the small camp to threaten the Captain without anyone noticing.

That kind of power was impressive.

"Hiei of the jagan." He greeted, remaining carefully still as he eyed the blade warily. "We've been hunting you for a long time. Don't take your eyes off the others!" he snapped to his men, noting out of his peripherals that they were moving close to him and ignoring the two demons that remained in the bedroll faking sleep.

"You've been looking for me?" The small demon asked scornfully, "Or for all of us?"

"Wanted criminals of spirit world cannot just go traipsing around on their own." He answered, raising an eyebrow. "Your punishment for your crimes has not yet been served."

"We made an agreement with the toddler. We were going to come back as soon as we reclaimed what was ours."

"And how are we to know that?" he countered. "How are we to know that you were not planning on simple hiding yourselves away somewhere – now that you've received the chance for escape?"

"We only wanted the fox." He snarled.

"We were taking care of it."

"I'm certain," he sneered. "And what would be left of him after you found him? We would have never seen him again."

From the ground burst a multitude of vines, sharp ends swaying like the heads of serpents and centered on his men. The other two demons had risen – the silvery fox somehow magnificent and regal despite the fact he wore nothing but his skin, the small cat strangely compelling despite his glare. As the Captain dared to glance at the two from the corner of his eye, the fox was draping a thin sheet from their bedroll around the cat with care.

"Are you going to attack us?" the Captain asked. "Kill us? With each move you make, you only dig your graves deeper. Spirit World will not stop looking for you, and will catch you eventually – the only question is how much trouble you'll be in by then."

The small one's lip lifted in a sneer. His muscles tensed as he prepared himself to strike.

"Hiei."

One word from the youko, and the small one grew still. He glanced back at his two companions before, with an annoyed sound, dropping his weapon.

"It's pitifully obvious where all the brains of this group are." The Captain sneered as he regained his feet, pocketing the stone.

The small demon's glare was nearly strong enough to pierce.

"I will have that back." He spat.

"Manners, Hiei." The fox chided. He turned his lovely face to the Captain, eyes calm. "You are here, I gather, to arrest us?" he asked, the epitome of politeness.

"Your assessment is correct."

"Allow my companions and I to dress, and we will go with you without quarrel. This I promise you."

He was so very calm and sincere; it was nice to see some trace of rationality in the creatures.

"Very well." He agreed, bending to their packs once more. A little more rifling and he found clothes for all three, as well as a bag full of tear gems, which he pocketed along with the stone. As he rose, his greedy eyes caught the glint of yet another tear gem hanging on a hair-thin chain around the fox's neck, and he made mental note of it for retrieval later.

The smallest demon had gone back to join the other two, and the Captain threw their clothes to them without ceremony. The cat bared his teeth at him, and actually made a hissing noise, before a gentle prod from the fox encouraged him to begin dressing.

Once they were all appropriately clothed, the fox met the Captain's eyes and gave a solemn nod. The vines threatening his men sank harmlessly back into the earth.

"Ward them." The Captain ordered, trying not to think about how that simple nod had filled his entire being with terror.

They were unceremoniously thrown into a large, empty room and left there, their arms bound behind their backs by warded chains. Yusuke struggled despite the pain of the wards, throwing himself against the tightly locked door, until he felt amused eyes on his back and realized his companions were not struggling.

"Finished?" Youko Kurama asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

The cat demon felt the heat of embarrassment burn his face, but refused to acknowledge it.

"Why aren't you guys fighting?" he demanded.

Hiei rolled his eyes and sat down with a grunt. Kurama smiled.

"Surely is occurred to you that we must allow spirit world to catch us while the evidence of my innocence is fresh?" he asked, a slight note of teasing in his voice.

"I was just following you guys' lead." Yusuke mumbled, trying not to allow himself to become distracted by the absurd thought of Kurama as 'innocent'.

"It was either allow the capture or allow them to chase us for the rest of our lives." Kurama gave a graceful shrug. "As we are not at fault for any crime, there was little point in fleeing. I was not attempting to break my parole, as the remnants of my captor's spells will prove. You and Hiei were not interfering with a Spirit World investigation, but merely trying to prevent a grave mistake. We will not be held long without sufficient evidence, then Hiei and I will be free to continue…training you."

"You're really familiar with the Spirit World jail system, aren't you?" Yusuke asked, ignoring the 'training' comment.

"Indeed."

Silence reigned for a moment, but Yusuke couldn't let the subject drop.

"What's going to happen?"

Kurama sighed. Conversation bored the youko, Yusuke had quickly learned, and with his hands bound, it was difficult to molest either of his lovers. He would no doubt try anyway, if he got bored enough.

"We're being processed right now." Hiei answered instead, glaring at nothing. "When it's finished, we'll be taken to cells. Kurama's facing much heavier charges than we are, so he'll be placed somewhere else. However, you and I, Kitten, will most likely be celled together."

"Well, that's…hey! I asked you not to call me that, man!"

"Hiei enjoys having titles for his lovers." Kurama murmured, leaning against a wall and closing his eyes. "Feel fortunate that he likes you. We were once with someone he really disliked for an entire two months…Hiei referred to him as 'shit-bag' and killed him as soon as I grew tired of him."

"I never touched shit-bag." Hiei growled defensively. "We were never lovers."

"Strictly speaking, no, but you were with me while I was with him, so…come to think of it, I can't recall you ever being with any of my other lovers until now…"

"How many others have you brought in?" Yusuke asked, morbidly interested.

"Does it matter? They never lasted very long. Hiei didn't like any of…" Kurama's eyes slid open as he reached the end of his mental calculations. "Hiei, you never touched any of them. Not one."

"So what?" he grumbled.

"And you never chose anyone – any additions to our group were my decision."

"I chose the kitten. I had dibs before he ever moved in with us."

"Indeed; however, your methods of seduction were so unclear to him…" Kurama's gaze was sharp. "Hiei, tell me you have been with someone other than the kitten or me."

The small demon refused to answer.

Yusuke wasn't surprised; he had known beforehand that this was true. It was good that Kurama was hearing it now – good that he be reminded again of Hiei's love and devotion. The tear gems were physical evidence – this would be emotional.

Slowly the fox slid down to the floor, staring at Hiei across the room. If Yusuke hadn't known any better, he would have said the small demon was blushing.

"I still don't want you callin' me 'kitten'!" he announced at last, deciding that he had given them enough time.

Hiei smirked at him, gratitude in his eyes.

Then the evil little imp decided to ruin their special moment.

"I'll call you whatever the hell I want, kitten."

Kurama had fallen into silence hours ago, not even rousing to interject himself in Hiei and Yusuke's argument – even when said argument resulted in a heated, angry make-out session made all the more erotic by the fact that both were bound and unable to touch each other with their hands.

They had only stopped themselves because Yusuke was still shy enough that he didn't want any Spirit World guards to walk in and see them going at it.

Hiei, on the other hand, was interested in trying again sometime. It would be interesting to see how far they could go without using their hands.

Kurama had only watched them, more thoughtful than interested.

Yusuke had fallen asleep a little while ago – their activities of the night before, as well as being woken up so early, having finally taken their toll. He lay snuggled against Hiei's side, helpless and trusting.

Hiei met Kurama's eyes across the room.

His devotion to the fox originated from the first moment he had seen him in Dai'shaal. Love at first sight was a laughable concept, but devotion at first sight was certainly possible. Hiei knew that there was literally nothing Kurama could ask of him that he would not do.

It had never hurt to see Kurama with other lovers – Hiei had always known that they were nothing more than temporary amusements, while he himself was a permanent fixture of the fox's life. Seeing him with others had been annoying, of course, and certainly inconvenient, but Hiei had always understood Kurama.

For Kurama, sex was rarely about enjoyment or affection – it was purely need. His powers required it – and his power sometimes chose his partners for him. There were certainly a few who Kurama had enjoyed, and come to care for, but none ever came close to being as important to him as Hiei.

Perhaps that was partially Hiei's fault. Kurama would never consider keeping anyone who annoyed Hiei.

As Youko, Kurama had literally needed sex. Multiple partners had been a necessity to keep him from accidentally killing a lover. Two was the lowest number of partners he could safely have, and that was stretching it.

As a human, sex had not been quite as important to Kurama, except in the cases where he had used, or planned to use, a large amount of power.

Now they had Yusuke.

Now, even in fox form, Kurama was free from being forced to fuck strangers and risk Hiei's ire.

Hiei smiled at Kurama, watched surprise flicker into the fox's eyes.

"How long is it going to take?"

"What?" his fox asked, startled.

"For you to accept how we feel about you."

Kurama gave a small jerk of surprise, and Hiei snickered, resting his head against Yusuke's. Hesitantly, Kurama rose and crossed the room to join them.

All three managed to fall asleep, and were much better rested by the time the door opened.

"You – cat." The guard at the door pointed to Yusuke and made an impatient motion for him to come to the door. "You're free to go."

"I…what?"

Kurama's chest was suddenly pressing against Yusuke's bacl, and his lips were suddenly near his ears.

"They must not recognize you," he whispered, giving his neck a slight nizzle. Yusuke knew the fox's eyes were on the guard, mocking and playful."You have no record as our kitty, so they cannot keep you any longer."

"They don't know I'm…?"

"Apparently not."

The guard at the door was getting impatient. Kurama pressed even closer, nibbling on Yusuke's ear.

"Go home. We will join you there as soon as we can."

And then he stepped away, movement so abrupt that Yusuke stumbled. Heregained his balance almost instantly due to instinctive use of his tail,and glancedback. Hiei made no move to tell him goodbye, and his face was utterly unreadable.

Somehow, though, Yusuke knew that the smaller demon didn't like this new development. Yusuke realized with a bit of surprise that he and Hiei hadn't been separated for more than a few hours since the mission began…they had spent a lot of time together before then, just by living together, too. It was strange to think that they were being separated now.

Stranger still to think that he would be returning to Kurama and Hiei's house alone.

Yusuke knew immediately that he couldn't. He couldn't – didn't want to – go home alone.

But he would do as Kurama told him, assuming he was even allowed in the human world now.

Yusuke gave himself a few more moments to look at his lovers before turning and leaving.

"This coffee is cold, George!" Koenma yelled petulantly, slamming the overlarge blue mug down on his desk and taking some small, petty satisfaction as a drop of it spilt over onto his paperwork. George took the mug to get more coffee, but did not try to argue with him – even when the child insisted he go to the seventh floor to get the coffee. Koenma was in a Bad Mood, and had been in one for quite some time.

When news had come from Demon World that Kurama had gone missing, he had tried his best to hide it from his father – and failed. Men were sent out to find and capture the fox for attempting to violate parole.

Things had only grown worse for the toddler when news had come that Yusuke and Hiei had gone missing as well.

And when Spirit World operatives were killed looking for them, the young prince had come under review. It was his special team, after all.

Hiei and Kurama had been found outside Sha'kinn, and with them had been a young cat demon without a criminal record.

There had been no sign of Yusuke Urameshi.

Koenma feared the worst.

Had he really misjudged his team so badly?

Koenma had been tormenting himself ever since they had been brought in. First Yusuke had gone missing in the human world, now in the Demon Realm. His reapers told him that the detective had died, but none had yet been able to find his soul.

Worse was the knowledge that Yusuke had died weeks before Kurama and Hiei had been found and arrested.

The toddler looked down at the piles of useless paperwork he had tried to busy himself with, and felt a great, nearly overwhelming sorrow.

Then the door slammed open, sending the papers flying, and Koenma found himself pinned by a furious golden glare as a strange demon came storming into his office.

About average height, the demon had long black hair that moved and gleamed like silk. The planes of his face were sharp and fine, his eyes large and almond shaped. Though his clothes were in tatters, his body was the long, lean form of a fighter, his luminously furred black tail lashing behind him and his matching ears pinned back sharply against his head.

In his hand, he clutched the latest issue of the Spirit World newspaper.

"What the hell is this!" He raged, slamming the paper down on the toddler's desk.

Koenma was very, very sorry he had sent George away. Then again, he seriously doubted that the Oni would stand much of a chance against the powerful aura the demon was emitting.

"Who let you in here?" the little prince demanded, nervously fingering his pacifier.

The demon spread out the paper, pointing to the front page article.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded again, nearly screeching with his fury. "You're fucking charging them with murder?"

Koenma swallowed nervously.

"My spirit detective has been murdered and they were the only ones who – "

"Are you a fucking idiot?" he screamed. "Do I look fucking dead to you?"

He slammed his hands down on the desk, meeting Koenma's eyes furiously.

"Well?" Yusuke demanded. "Do I, brat?"

To Be Continued

That's it for now….

I've been neglecting my other fics. Unless I am just swamped with reviews for this chapter, it will probably be a little longer until the next update comes - O, EO, and B need attention, too. I appreciate your patience.

Response to Unsigned Reviews:

BballAnimeLover89 - Thankies!

kit-kit - LOL; don't we all?

Um...looks like that's it for this chapter. See ya'll erm...in a week or two. Thanks for reading!