Present for you this chapter. Have fun with it.
And don't forget to thank me if you like it.
I'm still not sure if I'm happy with this chapter or not. Oh well. Be sure to let me know what ya'll think
"There's nothing I can do, Yusuke." The little prince pleaded to the formerly human youth pacing furiously around his office. He had been on the phone for – literally – hours talking to everyone involved in the case – to no avail. "My dad's angry at me right now because of you three, and he's given specific orders that I'm not to be allowed to interfere in the trial."
He held his head in his hands, fighting the urge to give in to despair. He hadn't even been able to reach anyone with any kind of authority – no one who was of high enough authority to have any impact on the approaching proceedings would listen to him.
Koenma allowed himself a moment to pout.
"You know, if you had just told Botan what you two were planning, this whole thing could have been avoided." He pointed out petulantly.
"Yeah." Yusuke's answering tone was so acidic that it was obvious he had been spending a lot of time around Hiei lately. "You all were so willing to believe that Kurama hadn't gone away of his free will. You weren't eager to go after and arrest him at all. We had absolutely no reason to believe that someone would try to stop us if we told them that we were gonna go find Kurama by ourselves."
"I didn't give those orders, Yusuke."
"You could have stopped them! Or – fuck! – delayed them!"
Koenma narrowed his eyes. "Watch your tone, Yusuke," he warned, carefully folding his hands before him on the desk.
Just because he was in his toddler form there was no excuse for the disrespect his detective was showing him. This was more than the boy's usual penchant for being difficult – this was not to be borne.
"Now, I have been tracking this case since the beginning, and before Botan came in here screaming that you had died, I stood a reasonable chance of keeping Kurama from facing any serious charges. Kurama and Hiei are, at the heart, criminals, and my decision to break a deal with them in the first place was seen by most factions of Spirit World as a big mistake."
"Why the fuck would they kill me?" the youth demanded, eyed flashing gold. They kept changing the angrier he became, becoming more and more cat-like. The few moments when Yusuke had calmed – when he'd still thought there was a good chance of Koenma fixing everything – they had been a honey brown similar to his former color.
"I know they're your teammates and you trust them - "
"Damn right I do!"
" – But demons are devious and vicious and can never be…fully…" he trailed off under the heat of Yusuke's glare, suddenly made uncomfortably aware of the fact his detective was no longer human.
"No, no; don't stop on my account." The dark haired boy sniped.
"Yusuke…"
"Let's make one thing perfectly clear, kid. I-want-them-out."
"Yes, I believe you've mentioned that."
"Have I? Because you don't seem to get it yet. I want them out, and I will do anything to get them out. Anything, Koenma. I've been through enough shit. I wanna go home."
Koenma's reply caught in his throat.
"Home?"
Here, he couldn't help but to think, hid the answer to where Yusuke had been after he had gone missing. True, when they had finally managed to track him down to give him the mission he had been in the home the demons he was now defending shared. Koenma hadn't thought about it, but…
"You've been living with them all this time?" he demanded, suddenly furious. All the manpower he'd put into searching for the detective, and he'd right under his nose the entire time.
"That's right, and I'm ready to go home!" Yusuke shook his head and crossed his arms, nearly pouting.
"I'm sure I can get you a pass to live in the human world – you do still work for Spirit World after all. Just go home and wait – I'm sure we'll be able to get this whole thing cleared up in no – "
"You don't understand!" Yusuke protested.
"Yusuke…"
"We just got Kurama back. I lived, and Hiei and I have worked everything out, and now we've got Kurama back – so we gotta go home together."
"Yusuke, you're starting to creep me out here."
Making a frustrated noise, the youth stormed from the room.
An animalistic growl sounding in the back of his throat, Hiei moved forward in a surge of surprising speed and grasped Yusuke by the shoulders. His furious ruby-eyed glare burned up into Yusuke's startled face, stopping his breath with its fierce intensity.
Slowly a smirk twisted the small demon's perfectly-formed lips, pretty face overcome with a breathtaking, wicked confidence. His grip on Yusuke tightened for a fraction of a moment before he pushed, and the former human found himself falling backwards.
The backs of his knees hit something before he lost his balance completely and fell onto cool silk sheets covering a soft mattress. Yusuke barely had time to register his surprise before Hiei pounced.
"Hiei! What the hell are you - ?"
He tried to sit up, and long, cool fingers closed around his wrists, pinning them up above his head. Yusuke craned his head back, staring as he met a pair of wonderfully familiar, mischief-filled green eyes.
Kurama gave him an impish grin, leaning over him until his soft red hair fell over his bare shoulders in a shimmering curtain.
"Kurama?"
"Attention over here, detective."
Yusuke gave a loud gasp as Hiei shoved his shirt up, baring his stomach in a long, clean line.
The small demon's powerfully intense gaze was hungry as he gazed down at the former human's flesh, and Yusuke couldn't help but to shiver as he felt the man's gaze move to the silver bar that pierced his navel, a predatory glint filling his expression as he slowly licked his lips.
Yusuke squirmed, struggling under Kurama's hold as Hiei leaned over him, tongue momentarily dipping into his navel before he delicately drew the bar into his mouth.
Kurama leaned closer, eyes gone dark with lust. He shifted his hold on Yusuke, holding both his wrists in one hand and using the other to tilt the younger demon's chin up and forcefully claim his lips as Hiei's mouth began to shift lower.
"Yusuke! What the hell are you doing in here?"
The former human woke with a start, pleasant dream ripped painfully away from him. His sleep-fogged mind took a disoriented moment to realize that his lovers had only been a dream.
"Did you break into my office?" Koenma demanded.
Yusuke yawned, uncurling himself from the position he had fallen asleep in on top of the little prince's desk.
There had been something strangely irresistible about all the paperwork that covered the desk. Yusuke hadn't been able to resist falling asleep on top of it.
"Yusuke! Answer me!"
"Course I broke in," he said at last, yawning again ad he stretched his arms out above his head. He watched with extreme amusement as Koenma's face turned bright red with anger.
"Didn't I offer you a pass to the human world?" he demanded.
"Didn't I tell you I wasn't going there alone?" he countered.
"Then go back to demon world!"
Yusuke scowled at him. "Don't be stupid."
"You need somewhere to stay other than my desk!"
"Your desk is comfortable."
"Yusuke!"
Holding Koenma's eyes, Yusuke purposefully swiped the pile of papers that had served as his pillow off the desk.
"Yusuke!"
"I'm your problem now, Koenma. I ain't goin nowhere 'till you give them back to me."
"Yusuke," Koenma's voice came out in a rasp, "You can't just - !"
"The hell I can't!" The cat responded smugly.
After suffering two days of having Yusuke claw his desk, pee in his potted plants, and lay on the paperwork Koenma most needed, the little prince at last realized that Yusuke was far less annoying when he thought Koenma was busy doing something for his partners' trial.
Koenma hadn't been sitting on his hands the entire time, but Yusuke wasn't satisfied unless he could see the evidence of Koenma's efforts.
The little prince had painstakingly recorded everything Yusuke wanted to tell him about his time in the Demon Plane. He'd made copies of everything and passed them around to the people who were still willing to talk to him. As long as Yusuke could see how hard he was working, there was some semblance of peace.
George had set up a little bed for Yusuke in the corner and kept bringing him little toy mice and bowls of milk. For some reason, this did not seem to annoy the young demon, though he still refused to let the oni touch his ears.
Yusuke's story about his transformation caused the most concern for Koenma. He sent Botan to gather the souls of the snake people, hoping they would have some clue as to what had caused the detective's cat-like appearance.
Yusuke did not yet know Koenma was looking into the transformation, and that was fine. It seemed to be a touchy subject for him, anyway.
It was a relatively peaceful morning. Yusuke was laying by the window in the sun, dozing, as George brought Koenma his morning newspaper and coffee.
Koenma felt as if, by sending Botan, he was at last making some progress. He'd felt so helpless, unable even to speak to his father about the trial – but the snake people could possibly provide irrefutable proof that Kurama and Hiei were not responsible for Yusuke's "death." (If anything, Hiei may well have saved him. It would bear investigation, certainly.)
Koenma was busy fixing his coffee the way he liked it (three creams, seven sugars) and didn't look up when the door opened.
Yusuke made a strange sound and leapt to his feet.
The next thing Koenma knew, Yusuke was attacking the person who had entered the room, sending him crashing backwards into a wall.
Youko Kurama gave a low, masculine laugh, arms going around Yusuke in return as he met Koenma's surprised eyes over the boy's shoulder.
The youko had always been a somewhat intimidating figure to the little prince, but that seemed no longer to be the case.
Kurama had lost weight, and his usually beautiful silver hair hung limply in a hasty, low tail and looked like it needed a wash. Dark circles lined his tired golden eyes, his clothes were nothing more than grayed tatters.
The elegant fox appeared tired and nearly broken, and Koenma would be hesitant to move any closer when he looked so filthy. He probably even smelled bad.
But Yusuke was clinging to him like he would never let go, suddenly seeming more vulnerable and fragile than Koenma would ever have guessed possible.
Kurama was the first to break eye contact, tightening his hold on Yusuke and burying his head in the former human's shoulder.
"Kurama, what are you doing here?" Koenma demanded. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you'll be in for escaping?"
"Had I actually escaped, there is no doubt that I would, indeed, be in immense trouble." Kurama answered without lifting his head. How long were they going to hold each other?
"I don't believe it; I can't…I…" Yusuke pulled away, joy on his face. "What are you doing here, man?"
Kurama gave a low laugh, brushing stray strands of hair from the former human's eyes.
"Koenma, if you would check the paper, please?"
As the little prince did as asked, Kurama continued his explanation.
"Apparently, the investigating team finally got around to testing the spell remains on the camp of my captor and discovered that I was under deep compulsion at the time of Yusuke's…erm…death."
There was a note in his voice that said very clearly how amusing he found this idea that the detective was dead, much less that it could have been his fault. Kurama owed too much to Yusuke; the two had always trusted each other. Rolling his eyes, Koenma read the article in the paper as the fox continued to talk.
"Whether I was involved in what happened or not, I clearly cannot be held accountable. The same as with my disappearance – I was not in my right mind, thus I could not have been trying to escape my obligations to Spirit World." A soft, warm smile. When had Kurama's youko side become so affectionate toward Yusuke? "I told you things would work out."
All the happiness bled from Yusuke's face.
"But Hiei isn't free yet, is he?" he asked bleakly. "He would be here, otherwise…right?" There was a certain note of fear to Yusuke now – something which Koenma had certainly never seen before. The youth's hand reached into his pockets as if searching for something, and when he didn't find it his face grew pale.
Kurama embraced him again.
"He is not so fickle." Kurama whispered ear as he held Yusuke as tightly as he could, hands moving in gentle, soothing motions against his arm. "Hiei would not change his mind so easily – he continues to put up with me, doesn't he?"
Not for the first time Kurama felt a surge of anger at Yusuke's mother. The woman had offered her son her love and promises of a home so often in his life, only to take those things away on the slightest whim. It was so difficult for the former human to accept that his situation now was something permanent. The youko himself was incapable of love, but he didn't need it to know that Yusuke and Hiei both were his, and he kept what belonged to him.
As for Hiei, the small demon's loyalty was painfully obvious. Kurama didn't know how he himself had earned such devotion, though it was clear to him how Yusuke had.
In his human form, Kurama had been blinded to the full extent of Yusuke's issues. He had known of them, of course, but he had managed to convince himself that because he cared for the former human, those wounds would eventually heal themselves. His more practical youko side could now only begin to fathom how much work would go into helping Yusuke to realize he was safe.
"The gems were nice, and we will try to get them back for you – but you don't need proof, do you?"
"I just wanna go home."
"Is this a new trend I'm not aware of?" Koenma asked archly from somewhere behind them, obviously growing uncomfortable with the length of time their hug had lasted.
Kurama pulled reluctantly away from his lover (how he had missed him!) to glare coolly at Koenma.
"Perhaps a moment of privacy?"
"It's my office."
Kurama frowned at him a moment longer before turning back to Yusuke, tightening his hold on him before bending to claim his mouth possessively. He smirked against the detective's mouth as Koenma made some kind of strangled, troubled sound.
"Privacy?" he asked again, turning cool eyes back to the little prince.
Koenma, it seemed, couldn't get out of the office fast enough. Yusuke too seemed to notice this.
"First he won't leave us alone, then he runs outta here like we've got the plague," he mumbled uncomfortably, scratching his head. "I wish he'd make up his mind."
Ignoring his feeble attempt at a joke, Kurama pulled him close once more, although this time it was more to restrain the younger demon than anything else. They had things to talk about – things which Yusuke would not like.
"It has been a long and difficult journey for you, my dear," he said against the former human's hair, "But I'm afraid you will have to endure for a little longer."
"What do you mean?"
"Just…" Kurama drew back at last, allowing himself a moment to drink in the sight of his newest lover once more. Kurama was keenly aware of how horrible he himself must look, and wondered if even with his humanity he would have been able to convince himself that Yusuke didn't care about that. "I just thought it prudent to warn you that it may take a while longer for our Hiei to be released."
Yusuke took a step back, and a look came over his face that was very similar to the look Kurama had seen the night the youth had admitted to him all of his doubts and fears about their relationship and about what he was becoming. It was a look that said clearly that Yusuke did not know his youko form – didn't know how to read or understand it. Hell, he'd had a hard enough time with the human form.
It was a painfully clear reminder of how much the fox had yet to endure – of the struggles that lay ahead by very nature of the fact that Yusuke may never know him as well as he expected his lovers to.
It was also painfully clear that Yusuke still held some seed within him that did not entirely trust his fox form, whether the former human was aware of it or not.
"Why?" he asked, crossing his arms.
Kurama was not one to have ever been refused something he wanted. If he lusted after a person, he need merely smile and that person would be falling all over him.
But Yusuke was currently closer to Hiei than to him, and it would take a while for him to fix that. Even when Kurama had been in his human form his relationship with the detective had been based only on the physical, and the need to protect Yusuke from the pain brought about by his negligent mother.
The fox licked his lips, nervous for the first time in centuries.
"When Hiei heard the charges against him, and realized that we were to be separated once more, he…overreacted."
"Overreacted?"
"I fear his trial has been pushed back, as much of the paperwork on it seems to have been...lost. We can wait for him at home, or…"
"We go home together. All three of us."
"Or in demon world…"
"No way in hell we're going there again."
"Or we can request some temporary Spirit World accommodations."
"Koenma's office is cozy."
"Yusuke, I'm serious."
Abruptly Yusuke moved forward, arms going around Kurama tightly in a surprising display of affection.
"Thanks."
"Pardon?"
"You almost made me forget that you aren't really…yourself." Yusuke kissed him, smile suddenly brightening his entire face. "We can find somewhere here and wait for Hiei – they can't do anything too bad to him when I'm not really dead, right? He probably deserves some jail time, anyway, knowing him. And…"
"And?" Kurama breathed, startled by his lover's sudden, bright mood. Yusuke wasn't usually one for optimism.
"Well, way I see it is you and Hiei had several hundred years to get to know each other, right?"
"Yes."
"And then me and Hiei got some alone time while you were gone."
Yusuke's expression darkened somewhat on the word "gone," Kurama noted, but he managed to hide it well.
"Indeed." The fox answered.
"Well, now it's your and mine turn for some quality time. We did say I needed to get to know this form, right?"
"Yes," Kurama answered, feeling himself smile. "Yes, I suppose you are right."
"Suppose nothing. Shit; this is gonna be great!" Yusuke was beaming with optimism as he headed for the door. Kurama was trying to decide if his lover was acting normal, or if his mood shifts were due to his new form when the cat opened the door and froze.
In the lobby sharing an argument with the suddenly-teenaged Koenma stood the captain of the guards who had arrested Yusuke and his lovers. The ass-wipe who had stolen Hiei's tear gems and, worse, Kurama's humanity.
The shit-head responsible for the fact that Yusuke still wasn't at home curled up safe with his lovers, even though he had gone through hell and deserved some rest.
From somewhere behind him Youko Kurama said something, but Yusuke didn't hear him. His vision had narrowed itself down to that one man, the strange thud of his demon heart had sped up to match the more rapid pulse of the creature who had pissed him off so badly. His ears could hear nothing but the man's words as he complained, loudly, that Koenma had no right to interfere in the investigation and that the prisoners were his responsibility – that hiring convicted criminals was a stupid thing, anyway.
Yusuke didn't even realize it, but he was moving forward. The Captain took notice of him when he was only steps away, eyes narrowing as he opened his mouth for some insult.
Yusuke covered the man's face with his hand and pushed, sending him flying back into a wall. Koenma's secretary began to scream but Yusuke didn't hear it.
He moved forward in even, purposeful steps, reaching through the hole in the wall to grab the man's shirt and pull him back to his feet.
He made the Captain meet his eyes, made sure he could see the fury and the lack of mercy in his expression, and then he buried his fist in the man's gut, knowing his prey now knew that the cat would play with him for a long time before bringing about the end he so justly deserved.
He was imagining the taste of warm blood in his mouth, a wildly beating heart stilling in his hands as he pulled it from his chest cavity, when, from far away, he heard a strange sound.
Small, musical, like glass breaking. Something liquid spilled over his hand, but he knew that he had not yet struck the Captain hard enough to draw that much blood.
He looked down at his hand and didn't feel the pain of broken shards of glass embedded in his skin until he saw them. A strange, thick golden liquid covered his hand, warm and shifting from one color to another like some living thing. Whatever he had broken had been small and round, almost like a…
Reality snapped back into place in Yusuke's head. Koenma was yelling at him, George was screeching like a little girl.
And Kurama was standing, horror struck, in the doorway to the office, hands clutching at his throat as he struggled for breath.
Yusuke looked at him, met his eyes, moments before the fox crumpled bonelessly to the ground.
To Be Continued
Kurama may have been released too quickly, but I wanted to surprise Yusuke. Plus, there really isn't any good evidence for holding him when nothing was his fault. He shouldn't have been in jail for as long as he was in the first place.
Yusuke's personality is shifting slightly to accomidate his new form. He has new instincts in his head, and even his thought processes are changing. He'll still be Yusuke, only not. Just as Youko is Kurama but isn't. Hope that makes some kind of sense.
Response to Unsigned Reviews:
BballAnimeLover89 - Aw; give the kid a break. It's past his naptime.
kit-kit - here you go.
Abi - hey, I understand completley!
Curry - thanks!
blank - no name at all showed up for this one...anyway, thanks for the great review; I really enjoyed reading it. (tapes "A" grade to the refrigerator)
Ami - Awwww. And thank you for such a sweet review!