Three weeks earlier:

"How much farther?"

Kurama glanced at him, the corner of his mouth lifting in familiar amusement, "Five minutes less then the last time you asked Yusuke."

Yusuke rolled his eyes, shoving aside the newest round of bushes they were traveling through with more stealth then he would have managed when they first met. Which still meant by comparison with Kurama's easy grace he was crashing through them like a bull elephant, just a quieter one.

Okay so like a gorilla instead of elephant. Bastard makes it look way to easy. Going through bushes isn't fucking quiet. They hit back.

To prove his thought correct a branch he had just pushed out of the way slipped out of his hand and smacked him squarely on the nose. He rubbed at the slight sting, throwing a glare at Kurama for the soft sound of mirth that had escaped him.

Hiei was supposedly scouting ahead of them somewhere. Though privately Yusuke suspected the fire demon was taking a nap in one of the many trees of the densely forested area they were moving through. Kuwabara traveled on the other side of him annoyingly quieter than he was being. It was a cosmic joke that the so much larger man could move almost as silently as Kurama. Yusuke could take him in a fight but when it came to sneaking Kuwabara had somehow managed to be better at it then him.

"Don't people believe in paths anymore?" Yusuke muttered annoyed.

"This is not a well traveled area." Kurama supplied ducking gracefully under some of the foliage, "We should reach thinner areas soon."

"Aww is Urameshi getting his wittle face scratched up by the big, bad bushes?" Kuwabara taunted.

I knew he saw that!

"Kiss my ass." he returned shoving more branches aside, "It's a damn fine face. I have to protect my assets. You wouldn't understand that kind of thing."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kuwabara snapped.

"Now Kurama has to worry about it but not you." He went on blithely ignoring Kuwabara trying to warm up to the subject mostly out of boredom, "See guys as pretty as us have to careful. We can't just let things happen to the goods."

"Ha you called Kurama pretty!" Kuwabara pointed out grinning.

"Please leave me out of this conversation." Kurama requested with a sigh.

"I have to get my entertainment somewhere." Yusuke responded, "This sucks. I could have had a great weekend watching TV or going to anywhere else. Instead I'm here probably saving the fucking world again without even knowing it. I'm awesome like that."

Kuwabara snorted indelicately, "You're so full of it. You're doing nothing but grunt work like the rest of us."

They weren't being overly stealthy about their progress. It was supposed to be an easy scouting mission for the spirit world. Go in, check on some demon who was supposedly trying to get a portal open to let a small army into the human world, and get out with or without destroying said demon. Considering who they were Yusuke knew the ending of this little romp through the wilderness was a given. If Koenma had really wanted the demon to have a chance like life past their arrival he wouldn't have sent them.

Yeah maybe if he sent just Kurama and Kuwabara but come on! With me and Hiei involved that just cinches the deal. He could have just had the balls to say "Go. Kill. Now.".

The information Koenma had given them put their target still a good day away from where they were at the moment. The ambiguous nature of just where this supposed soon to be portal was located had prevented them from using more convenient means of transportation. To be on the safe side they had stopped using campfires at night a few days prior.

He had been bored so of course he had jumped at the chance to do something, anything other then the nothing special of regular day to day stuff.

Really got to stop doing that!

He sighed inwardly, between the hiking and lack of sleep he wasn't exactly up for real back and forth with Kuwabara. He only seemed to sleep well after fighting, then he was dead to the world. Prolonged acts of hiking should have made it easy for him to sleep but unfortunately that did not occur to his body as he lay on the ground every night.

Which explains last night. Total lack of sleep, suck ass food, and nothing else to look at.

It was not that he had never noticed before. Kurama was hard not to notice from the instant you saw him. Kurama was one of those people, male or female, that you just looked at when they were around. There was something captivating in the features of the red head that Yusuke just did not have the vocabulary to do justice to in describing him.

All the words he might have used fell short of being able to give another person even an idea of the young man. In fact he would have told them to go have a look and tell him because he was constantly trying to figure it out. It had turned into a type of free time game for him, something to do when there was nothing else that came immediately to mind. Occasionally he would wonder what prompted him to be so centered on the odd activity but he would push the thought aside in favor of entertaining himself. He had been doing that for the entire time he had known the guy.

Last night he had been laying on his side, zoning really when he found himself staring at Kurama who was talking quietly with Hiei. It took nothing for his mind to start in on the game. Yusuke had found himself trying on the words that might describe him but as usual discarded each and every one of them.

At some point Kurama must have felt his eyes on him. Abruptly he had not just been studying Kurama but was instead locking eyes with his friend. Kurama did not break in his conversation with Hiei. Other than the eye contact his only reaction had been a delicately raised eyebrow, a question Yusuke knew he had no idea how to answer.

Yusuke had rolled onto his back to stare up at the stars, his heart thrumming from embarrassment at being caught in the act. He knew Kurama had continued to consider him for some time after. He definitely had confused the both of them with his attention.

You'd think I'd get over the "find the right word" game by now...

A bush slapping him across the cheek brought him out of his thoughts. He cussed under his breath, snapping the branch off the bush with a fair amount of sadistic glee. He resented nature as only a city boy could. Dirt he could handle, roughing it was okay for a short time but he much preferred his creature comforts.

"Hey guys hold up." Kuwabara called out.

Surprised Yusuke turned to see that Kuwabara had halted a good twenty feet back from his position. The large man was staring at the ground scowling. Kurama stepped up beside Yusuke trading confused looks with him.

That was when the sharp, agonizing pain had shot through his head. He thought he might have screamed. He thought there may have been some abrupt sense of vertigo that caused his legs to give out. He did not recall whether or not he actually hit the ground after that.

"Yusuke..."

His head was throbbing in time with some psycho dance beat that was backed up by twin ice picks twisting in his temples. Waking all the way up did not feel like a good plan. He was perfectly satisfied laying on the cool ground, moving as very little as was possible.

"Yusuke wake up."

"L' me lone." he gripped at the quiet voice though he did manage to move his arms, there was a strange weight to them.

"This is not the best time to be stubborn."

The warning note in Kurama's voice made him open his eyes which he promptly shut. Slowly, painfully he groaned his way onto his hands and knees.

"Where the hell are we?" he asked trying to get his bearings without encouraging the insane disco in his head to up the tempo.

He had gotten a brief glimpse of stone walls and dirt floor before having to shut his eyes against the lancing pain that had attacked from the meager light of torches. The weight on his wrists turned out to be shackles which he could imagine were fastened to a wall somewhere nearby. Where ever they were it was a bad situation to wake up to.

"A cell of some kind." Kurama answered.

He sat back on his legs and risked opening his eyes again, this time with more success and less shafts of laser pain. He was located against a side wall. Kurama was situated more towards the center, his hands shackled in front of him attached to a chain that was secured to the ground. It made his insides twist immediately, it would have been hard not to notice the way Kurama was positioned.

It was one of those things that had come along with long acquaintance with the fox demon. There never seemed to be an enemy of his that just wanted him dead. There was always something extra, something cruel and destructive in the way those people hated Kurama. He had admitted to himself a long time ago it made him worry about his friend knowing those people existed.

"Can't you make normal enemies Kurama?" he half growled before knowing he would say anything.

Kurama laughed softly, "I must admit I was wondering the same."

He shook his head carefully as he got his feet under him to rise. Four walls, one door, and a dirt floor. A cell was a perfect description of where they were. There was even a small barred window up in the far corner to complete the unnerving surroundings. There was no sunlight streaming in through the small opening which he assumed meant night had fallen while he had been unconcious. They had been in this place for hours then.

He tugged on one of the the chains he was attached to the nearest wall with. His shackles were different then Kurama's. One for each of his wrists allowing him some ease of movement where as Kurama's were much more restrictive. The chain was firmly anchored into the stone, there would be no breaking it loose without monumental effort if at all. He shifted, his body settling into the stance that would release his energy through his finger.

"Yusuke wait!"

Molten needles lanced through his entire body, dropping him to his knees with a strangled yelp. He remained there, staring at his hands. He had not actually felt the build up of his spirit energy. He was so use to it that he had assumed it was there. The pain had come at the same instant he would have released it.

"What...the...hell?" he breathed horrified by the lack of sensation.

"I should have warned you," Kurama ventured sounding apologetic, "I had much the same reaction when I tried to use my energies. Something here is interfering with it. This will not be an easy escape I'm afraid."

"I should hope not. I took special care in setting up for you Kurama."

He was on his feet in an instant.

A male demon leaned against the door frame of the now opened cell door. It's full attention centered on Kurama.

Yusuke's fighter trained eyes immediately noted all the particulars. A lean frame, built more for speed than strength. Though he knew with demons that did not necessarily mean there was a lack in the strength department. Shoulder length dark brown hair. He wore a basic vest and pants, brown like his hair. Clothing that was in no way showy. Dark eyes that held that almost dead quality to them he had seen in the eyes of those that were bored due to lack of real challenge. That in itself made his insides twist harder, that look put the demon into the upper echelons of dangerous as far as he was concerned.

A clawed hand went up to resettle a few stray strands of hair from the demon's face as he studied Kurama completely ignoring Yusuke.

Was it just his imagination or had Kurama paled?