A/N: Part two of the Kiss of Death! Just kidding, but this is where you find out what happens when Li kisses Kurama. We also find out about the antagonist in this story, but he won't make a personal appearance for another couple of chapters.

"I don't think that's the best idea…" I started, but he cut me off.

"Nonsense. You have to do what I tell you, and I'm telling you to kiss Kurama. No arguments." He smiled one last time, then I had to close my eyes as he disappeared in a bright light, leaving a rather confused Kurama looking down at me. I sighed.

"I'm sorry about this, Kurama. I'll explain everything later." I told him. Then I brought my face up and gently met his lips with mine. For a moment, nothing happened; Kurama was too shocked to do anything. Then he realized what was happening, and he started to draw back, but seemed to change his mind and pressed forward. Inside, I was screaming against it, but I had to do it; my pride wouldn't let me do otherwise.

Suddenly, my body started to convulse and I drew back sharply. Kurama frowned down at me, even more confused. I turned my face away and closed my eyes as spasms wracked through my body more and more often. I heard Youko's voice and figured he'd been paying attention to Kurama's thoughts to make sure I'd done what he'd told me to and so had known when I'd started to convulse.

"Li-Sanya! Li!" His voice was telling me to respond; to tell him what was going on, but it faded into a loud ringing sound that covered every other noise. I felt the bands on my wrists start to crumble away and as they did, I felt my power surging back into me. It was raw and uncontrolled and it rushed through my veins like molten fire. This went on for an undeterminable amount of time; it seemed like just seconds at one point and long centuries at another. Finally, though, the newly released power settled back into the space it had occupied over five hundred years ago, making me whole again.

I opened my eyes slowly, unsure of what I'd find. To my surprise, I was still on the arena floor, sawdust gently tickling my cheek. From where I was lying, I could see the feet of about four or five different people. Groaning, I rolled over to look up at their faces. Yusuke, Yukina, Keiko, Botan and Youko were looking down at me worriedly. Kuwabara was further off, while Hiei was leaning against the wall. I focused on Youko, though.

"I told you it wasn't the best idea." I said, my voice raspy and hoarse, as if I'd been shouting too much. With help from Keiko and Yukina, I sat up against the wall. Closing my eyes, I asked, "Did anything change?" Yusuke answered.

"Yeah, your hair is…blondish-gold, and your eyes are gold, too." He said matter-of-factly. I cracked an eye open to look up at him.

"That's all?"

"Yup, unless you've changed in ways we can't see." He grinned and Keiko hit him on the back of his head. I smiled weakly.

"That's all that should have changed. This is my natural coloring, anyway." Youko finally couldn't contain his curiosity and leaned forward.

"What exactly happened there?" he asked. "All you did was kiss Kurama." Everyone looked at him, startled. Hiei in particular looked shocked and I remembered that he'd been the one who had cast the curse, so he probably knew what the final key had been, meaning he knew what had happened. I sighed.

"Smooth, Youko. Announce it to the whole world, why don't you?" I said sarcastically. "In answer to your question, do you remember when you asked me about what would release the rest of my power?" He nodded, so I continued. "Well, that thing was a kiss." He scowled.

"But if that's all, you could have done that at any time you wanted to!" He exclaimed. I shook my head.

"But it's not all there is." I said. "The kiss had to be willing on my part, and desired on the part of the other. Just going up to someone and kissing him wouldn't have worked. Besides, it had to be a demon and, knowing my kind like I do, that was nearly impossible. The only way it would have been possible was if that demon let himself open to human emotions, namely love." What I was saying suddenly dawned on Youko.

"Then…Kurama…" I nodded.

"Yes and that's exactly why I didn't want to do it." I said tiredly. "I didn't want to do it until I was positive of his feelings toward me. Though," I added wryly, "It seems at least that is crystal clear now." Next to Youko, Yusuke scratched his head.

"I still don't get it." He complained. Keiko sighed and hit him again.

"Forget it." She told him. "It's not something you would be interested in anyway.

"Oh, okay."

Youko stood up. "Well, if that's all, you should probably rest, Li." I glanced up at him, not missing the fact that he used Kurama's shortening of my name for me. He didn't seem to notice the glance, though, and started to herd the others out of the training room. Once they were all out, he returned and knelt down next to me. Looking up at him, I was surprised to see a concerned expression on his face. My heart softened and I smiled slightly.

"I'll be fine, Youko." I said softly, reaching up to brush his cheek with my fingers. "It was just unexpected, that's all." He caught my hand in his own, and brought it to his lips.

"I know." He said just as softly. "It's just that when…when you started to shake, I couldn't do anything for you. I-" I cut him off by placing a finger on his lips.

"How about carrying me up to my room?" I asked, shifting the topic of conversation. "I'm not sure I can walk just yet." He smiled and nodded.

"I can do that." Picking me up bridal style, he carried me out the door and up a flight of stairs, taking a different route from the one I'd taken earlier. When he saw my confused look, he smiled. "If I took the other way, the others would pounce on us and never let you rest." I laughed softly, resting my head on his shoulder and closing my eyes.

I must have fallen asleep before we'd gotten to my room, because when I woke up, it was to the same scene as yesterday. Rolling over, I blinked blearily at the alarm clock. When I saw the time it read I had to do a double take. Then I jumped out of bed and ran into the closet. I emerged a few minutes later wearing a pair of jean capris and a light blue tank top. Casting one last glance at myself in the mirror, I darted into the bathroom to brush my hair out. Opening my bedroom door, I shot down the hall and pounded down the stairs.

When I got to the kitchen, I found it empty. The living room was the same, though the TV still had a scene from one of the video games on it. Half and hour later, I had searched the entire house, with no success. Finally collapsing on one of the chairs in the kitchen, I glanced around tiredly. Suddenly, my gaze lit on a piece of paper taped to the fridge. Getting up, I went over to see what was on it. It read:

Li, we've gone out for a bit. Sorry we didn't wake you, but you were in a deep sleep and I figured you'd rather have your sleep instead of getting dragged to Koenma's. We should be back before 1:00, but if we aren't, there's a pre-made lunch I prepared for you, so you can eat that if you get hungry. Feel free to explore the house and the grounds around the house, but don't go too far and make sure you always know where the house is. See you soon,

-Kurama

I set the note down on the table and sat back in the chair. Glancing at the clock, I sighed; it was only 11:40. I still had about an hour and twenty minutes to go before they came home. Opening the fridge, I found the lunch Kurama's note had mentioned. I decided to explore a bit and to take the lunch with me, as a picnic sort of thing. Turning the paper over and locating a pencil, I quickly scribbled out a note to the others if they came home while I was gone telling them what I was doing.

Finished, I went out through the front door and looked out over the large lawn to the woods down the hill. They looked inviting and I decided to explore there first. Twenty minutes later, I had found a nice meadow with a couple of large rocks in the middle. Climbing up on the rocks, I pulled out the lunch and started eating, enjoying the peaceful forest.

A sudden noise from behind me interrupted my quiet lunch. Turning, I watched in surprise as a small creature sped out of the bushes towards the rocks I was sitting on. Right behind it came a larger creature that looked something like a wolf, except that it had a much shorter snout and the color of the fur was all wrong; it was a reddish orange that brought to mind the color of fire. I didn't have much time to dwell on this, however, because the smaller creature jumped up on the rocks and into my lap, trembling in fear. Closer up, I found it was a small imp, of the type generally found inhabiting trees or log piles, that had dark hair and dark blue eyes, currently wide with fear. The wolf-like creature stopped short of the rocks and looked up at the imp and I with its large yellow eyes. Its snout opened and, to my surprise, words came out.

"Give me the imp." It said. I frowned, immediately taking a dislike to the creature. In my lap, the imp squeaked.

"No. If you want it, you'll have to go through me." I said bravely, bolstered by the knowledge of my regained powers. It growled.

"No one defies the alpha of the Dark Lord's Hunters!" It howled in rage. I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that seems like that's what I've just done." I observed. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

It pulled its thin lips to show long curved fangs as long as my pinky finger. "All those who defy the will of the Dark Lord must die, by order of the Dark Lord himself." It sounded as if it was reciting a rule or law of some sort. I frowned again.

"And if I don't know who the Dark Lord is?" I asked, suddenly curious as to whom the creature kept referring to. The creature looked shocked that I would ask what it obviously thought was a stupid or redundant question.

"The Dark Lord is he who wields the Stone Eye in the Tower of Hyre." It explained slowly, as if to a particularly dense pup. My frown deepened.

"The Tower of Hyre? But that's where Chikara lives." I said, confused. The creature looked even more shocked than before.

"You dare to name the Dark Lord?" It asked in an awed voice. Then it looked at the sky for a few moments. I glanced up, too, but all I saw was a few clouds scuttling across an azure blanket. Then it looked back down at me. "You were not struck down by the Dark Lord?" It said, if anything, more awed than before. "You must be the one he has been looking for." Suddenly, it looked ashamed. "I am sorry, Lady. If you wish to save the imp, it is no business of mine to question your motives. Should you ever need help or assistance of any kind, just call the name Junei and I shall come." Junei bowed as best a creature like it could, then turned and trotted off into the woods. I stared after it, momentarily confused. Then the imp in my lap pulled on my sleeve.

"Lady!" He squeaked. "Lady!" I looked down at him.

"Yes?" I asked, still a little dazed.

"Is Junei right, are you the one the Dark Lord has been looking for?" He asked excitedly in his high voice. I frowned slightly.

"I had no idea what Junei was talking about." I said firmly. "Now, shouldn't you be getting back to where ever it is that you came from?" He looked at me in horror.

"Go back to the awful tower? No, no, no. Hakana has no wish to return to the tower." He said. I glanced down at him.

"Hakana? That's your name?" He nodded vigorously.

"Yes, Lady, that is Hakana's name." I frowned slightly as what Hakana had said hit me.

"Wait, you say you came from the Tower of Hyre? Where the Dark Lord is?" I asked quickly. Hakana nodded.

"Yes, that is where Hakana came from. Junei was sent to take Hakana back. The Lady saved Hakana from a terrible death!" He squeaked. "Hakana thanks you from the bottom of his small heart!" I frowned, thinking.

"Do you know much about the Dark Lord?" I asked.

"Yes, more than any other slave there." Hakana said, suddenly lowering his voice to a whisper so that I had to strain to hear him. "Hakana was the Dark Lord's personal server for most of Hakana's life. Hakana knows more about the Dark Lord then he knows." Hakana nodded conspiratorially.

"Hmm. Perhaps you could be of some use to me after all, Hakana." I said, picking up the remainder of my lunch. "Here, are you hungry?" I offered the imp some of the cheese from the sandwich Kurama had made. Hakana took it gratefully.

"Thank you, Lady. Hakana hasn't eaten for two days."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that where I'm taking you." I said, standing up. Looking down at Hakana, I added, "Do you want to ride on my shoulder? I can go faster if I'm not waiting for you." He looked up at me in shock.

"The Lady will permit Hakana to ride on her shoulder?" He asked incredulously. "Hakana would be honored to ride on the Lady's shoulder."

"I take it that's a yes, then." I said, bending down to pick Hakana up and put him on my shoulder. Jumping down off the rocks, I started back to the house, my mind reeling with what I had learned in the past ten minutes.

A/N: I love Hakana. He's just so much fun to write. Anyway, now the action's really gonna start and the story should progress a little faster from here on out. Feel free to send me reviews about how I'm doing so far, but like I said before, this whole story's already written, so it doesn't affect my update schedule one way or another. Still, I like to hear from people, so feel free to drop me a line.

Haliaetus