Learning to Live Again

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu Yu Hakusho, its characters, universe, or any of that.

Notes: Possibly some pairings later on. Also, there are additions of characters of my own creation; I do own those. :) Comments, reviews, suggestions, etc. are greatly appreciated and encouraged! :)

Thanks and enjoy...

Chapter Twelve: A Time to Fight

Yusuke nodded, a smile lighting his face, "Alright then." That old, familiar grin of determination lit his face as he said, "Let's do this."

Charging towards the enemy gave them all the warm-up they needed. Now all that was left was readiness. Yusuke had his pointer finger glowing at the ready, Hiei his Katana, Yoko Kurama his whip and Aurora her bow. They matched each other, step for step, creating a formidable line for any of those who ran at them. Excitement crackled in the air.

Hiei flitted off, leaving his afterimage everywhere at once. The unfortunate demons before him were never granted the opportunity to fight back or even glimpse their real killer. Various body parts fell to the ground, their owners dying with puzzled looks on their faces.

Kurama's whip was a green blur as he welded it with practiced ease and efficiency. Heads severed from their bodies were all that was left in his wake as he charged forward beside his companions.

Aurora flipped her bow sideways, the horizontal angle allowing her three arrows to eliminate three different targets at once. As three arrows twanged off their line, three more immediately took their place, before they too snapped forward.

Yusuke fired off his shotgun from both fists, the cocky grin never fleeting from his face. "What a joke this is," he laughed to Kurama without looking his way. In his eyes there danced a fire that would have sent smarter demons running. These before them however, were obviously just brutes; all muscle and no brain. One lowly demon managed to sidestep and duck the last two rains of Yusuke's bullets and now stood before the ex-Spirit Detective. "Spirit Gun!" And that was the end of that. The dark-haired toushin lord front flipped over the demon's falling body to keep time with the three on either side of him.

"Yusuke," Kurama called, "You and Aurora take the left. Hiei and I will go right." Yusuke nodded and missed Hiei's sharp look.

"What are you doing?" the fire demon hissed.

"The only thing that makes sense. Focus, Hiei." I cannot harm Yusuke if I'm not even near him...

"You should have had me go with him."

"You and I are better suited to fighting together. Aurora will watch over him."

They flitted to the right, coming to rest back-to-back with each other. "Let the games begin."

"Indeed."

Black and silver, vine and steel, together the two made a smear of color as they progressed through the onslaught of demons. It was a dance, perfectly choreographed by two fighters who knew the other's next move better than they knew their own. In order to preserve his energy, Kurama allowed his human form to flicker through. Hiei's Jagan flashed open and took on a sinister purple glow. Kurama's whip effortlessly slashed through anything it caught, Hiei's Katana efficiently slicing down any enemy.

:-:-:-:-:

"Come, child." Aurora called without so much as a glance to Yusuke. "Get behind me."

"No, thanks. I don't do that on the first date."

With a smirk, she shot him a look, "Back to back."

Yusuke laughed and dashed to her. Shoulder to shoulder, Yusuke was a bit taller. Both fighters excelled at ranged attacks so there wasn't an enemy close enough to even land a punch. Blue bullets flew to the right, red arrows to the left. "I saw your fight against Yomi in the Dark Tournament, Mazoku."

"Oh, really?"

"Indeed, I was quite impressed. You are certainly Raizen's son. Now, if you show that kind of power in this war, we'll have no difficulty succeeding."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence; you're not so bad yourself."

"I appreciate that, my lord. To your left."

Yusuke crossed his wrists, sending a spirit gun where she said. The yellow beast didn't even have time to blink. "Thanks."

"Certainly." Silence reined once again as the two fighters, new to each other, tried to find their niche. Aurora was more graceful and Yusuke was faster. Each recoil of bullets fired sent Yusuke into Aurora's back, each arrow tipped with ice made the temperature harder and harder to bare. Without words traded, they altered themselves to better meet the needs of the other. Yusuke fired smaller shots with less recoil. Aurora reined in her ice and allowed heat to seep back into the air. Yusuke slowed and concentrated more on his movements to try and better match hers. Aurora fitted herself more closely to him and began mimicking his movements forcing herself to quicken her pace.

Within an hour, they had it done to an art. Aurora had grown tired of her archery and switched to the jagged pillars of ice that erupted from the ground below her prey. Yusuke had taken to hand to hand combat, making sure not to allow any hits through to his partner. If he got at all overwhelmed or had one or two enemies too many, Aurora would eliminate a few them for him. "You know," Yusuke panted. "This is a great work-out and all, but where the hell are all the real fighters?"

Aurora smiled, "You have an incredible spirit, child. That is what I like most about you. I believe this is merely the first few waves. No doubt the stronger apparitions will be coming. There's also-" She cut herself short, and Yusuke noticed.

"Also what?"

"Their leader," she replied, though she paused a moment too long.

"Why the hesitation? He a friend of yours?"

"Hardly," she murmured with forced sarcasm.

"You're a lot like your brother," Yusuke changed tactics between punches.

"Indeed; we're twins."

"I'm pretty sure you know what I mean. I think you might even be a better lair than he is, but since I've learned how to see through him, I can see through you, too." Yusuke chanced a glance over his shoulder at her.

"Is that so, little ruler?" She smiled for his benefit.

"Yes."

"Prove it."

"I just did. You know the guy behind this."

"I don't deny that; he just isn't my friend."

"Back to the word play, are we?" Yusuke sighed, landing several more spirit charged punches.

"Always." Aurora laughed softly, the sound made Yusuke smile in response. "Yes, I know him. And yes, we were once friends. His name is Nikolai."

"Nikolai, huh?"

"Yes. He was... my first love," she gave a small rueful smile. "Now, child, I'll tell you one other thing of he and I, but you must promise not to allow it to distract you from your fighting."

"Alright, I'm listening."

"I bared a child for him," she finished evenly, void of any emotion.

"What? Why!" Yusuke kicked away the demon directly in front of him and fixed Aurora with a stare for as long as his enemies would allow.

"Focus, young ruler," she murmured without looking at him. She was silent for several minutes while she focused on her own fight. Since her elemental attacks could easily find her opponent without much guidance from her, she was truthfully just using this time to think. "I... I am not sure why I told you that."

"It's my charming, good looks, isn't it?" Yusuke tried some humor.

It actually worked. With a poorly concealed laugh, she said, "My, yes. What a gentleman you are."

"Don't you know it." He looked over at her again. "So," he asked, tone now soft, "what happened to the kid?"

"The child... died."

"Oh." What do I say to that...? "I... uh... I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. There is no need." She sighed, delivering another killing strike. "I apologize for that. I am truly not sure why I told you that."

"It's okay. I'm a good listener."

She laughed softly again, "I've heard otherwise."

"Yeah, well..."

"I suppose... I just needed someone to understand. If I die during this, I needed someone to know." She turned to look him in the eyes, he did the same. "I'm not a monster. I'm not evil. I'm not heartless."

"I know." Yusuke stared at her. "You're beautiful."

Her eyes widened slightly, "What did you just say?"

"I- Oh! N-nothing." He scratched the back of his head.

"To your right."

He spun to his right, landing a solid punch to the demon's face. She turned, returning her attention to her own fight. "Thank you," she whispered so quietly he almost didn't hear her.

:-:-:-:-:

"Kurama, why are these demons all so terribly weak? This is a waste of our time," Hiei growled.

"Well, I'm sure it is because they want to try and wear us down before they send out the heavier reinforcements," Kurama replied, slashing another demon to the ground.

"It's pathetic."

"Agreed." Kurama was growing bored, just as Hiei was, but he was quite certain this fighting would heat up eventually. "How are Yusuke and Aurora fairing?"

The Jagan lit more brightly for a moment. "Just fine. Are you proud of yourself?"

Kurama chuckled but didn't otherwise respond. His turned his attention back inwardly. Suddenly, he knew what he had to do. He couldn't continue to dwell on something that might not even be true. "Hiei?"

"Yes?" came the shorter demon's dry reply.

"In the vision... Who killed him?" Hiei faltered. Kurama noticed. "Was it me?" he whispered, suddenly terrified he no longer wanted this answer.

"I... I'm not sure."

Kurama started. "What do you mean?"

"I could only see the killer's back."

"And?"

"It was a silver fox. So either it was you or your sister."

Kurama swallowed. This answer had not made him feel even sightly better. "I see..."

"I have complete faith that it won't be you, Kurama." At the fox's marked silence, he continued, "After all we've been through with that boy, you honestly think you'd kill him?" His tone spoke volumes as to how stupid he thought Kurama was acting right now.

"Well, no. I cannot think of anything off the top of my head that would cause me to kill him, Hiei, but we have all been through stranger situations before." He sighed heavily, "I can only hope the vision is incorrect."

"They seldom are."

"Those odds are better than absolution."

"Indeed."

Kurama flicked his whip again, matching Hiei's sword swings with an ease only time could achieve. Hiei hadn't bothered to call forth flame or the dragon. There might be opponents worthy later, but certainly not know. He had considered having Yusuke disintegrate them with a huge blast of his power, but even that would be a waste. And so, they resigned themselves to effortless fighting. Knowing that eventually, probably sooner rather than later, something much bigger and more dangerous would be arriving to challenge them.

:-:-:-:-:

After hours of fighting, Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama and Aurora fell back to take a break. Mukuro lead her warriors to the front line to take their place. As she passed them, she awarded Yusuke with a bright grin. There was no mistaking the fact that she was thoroughly enjoying herself. "Save your energy for later; we'll take it from here, won't we boys?" The four fighters slipped backwards into the group of warriors, heading towards the fortress.

I struggled on this chapter, and I'm afraid it might be terrible. So please let me have your opinions and/or advice. Thank you!