Disclaimer – "Yu Yu Hakusho" and all known related characters do not belong to me. I get no monetary benefit from this. My benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.

"What Goes Around . . . "
|by DragonDancer5150

Chapter 23 - Trial by Combat

I been knocked down so many times; Counted out - 6, 7, 8, 9
Written off like some bad deal; If you're breathing, you know how it feels

This ain't no game, I play it hard; Kicked around, cut, stitched and scarred
I'll take the hit but not the fall; I know no fear, still standing tall
You can call it karma, call it luck; Me, I just don't give a - b-b-b-b-

Bounce, Bounce - Nothing's gonna keep me down
Bounce, Bounce - Stand up, shout it out
Bounce, Bounce - I play hard, I play to win
Count me out, count me in
I'll be bouncing back again
Bounce!

"Bounce" - Bon Jovi

"Hiei!" Yusuke saw the cloud of blood that blossomed up in the murky water. He prepared to dive in after Hiei, even though he had finally stopped shivering, but the youkai re-emerged. Hiei pulled himself back out, crouched wearily on his knees, propped up on his sword. Blood pooled under him from terrible gashes in both legs. Ignoring the humans, Hiei scowled at Bokuma but Yusuke could read the angry despair in the swordsman's eyes. Bokuma really is gonna kill them! He looked out at the beast as Kurama pulled himself to his feet after the initial Rose Whip attack. If he'd really wanted to, Bokuma could have already. He's . . . he's just toying with them! DAMMIT! Yusuke raged silently, then growled, "That's it. I'm going in."

He had expected Hiei's snarl of "Stay out of this, Yusuke!" but what he had not expected was the grip of powerful hands on his arms from behind, holding him back. "Kuwabara! What the freakin' hell do you think - ?"

There was anguish in Kuwabara's gaze as he ignored Yusuke to meet Hiei's startled eyes before turning to watch Kurama. In spite of the mental confusion of the chill, there was also understanding in those deep black-brown eyes. "I told you, Urameshi - we can't interfere. It's not even just a matter of honor. You heard what Kurama said. 'Trial by combat.' If they don't win this on their own, even if they do survive, they'll still be considered guilty! Even if Bokuma dies, Kurama'll still hafta go back to that Pit place a-and Hiei . . . " His voice failed him.

"I'd sooner die here than . . . that," Hiei swore softly, nodding at Kuwabara.

Yusuke could not accept it. "NO! Dammit, it's not like I have so many friends that I can just sit here on my stupid ass and watch two of them get killed! He's going to kill you, Hiei!"

Hiei hesitated a moment, stunned by part of Yusuke's comment. Then, he gave the human a reassuring grin with another nod of confidence. "Then so be it."

8 8 8 8 8

Kuwabara, too, saw the effect of Yusuke's words. He had called Hiei "friend." Openly. Kuwabara wondered if anyone had ever done that for the lone-wolf swordsman before. In spite of his own aggravation with the "shrimp" as often as not, he could not deny that he too considered Hiei a friend. Yeah, maybe he wanted to pound the little punk into the pavement himself on occasion but he knew in his heart that he would go to Hiei's defense in an instant if anyone else ever threatened him. Only circumstance held him at bay now - and that barely. Hiei fully expected to die here and he was at peace with that, even though he would go down fighting all the way.

8 8 8 8 8

Yusuke slumped back into Kuwabara, defeated. He could not accept this but he did not have to. He had no choice but to watch things play out as they would. Fortune had turned her back on his friends and all he could do was watch. "Damn it!" he swore, half sobbing, as he closed his eyes in denial.

8 8 8 8 8

Kurama had not taken his eyes off of his adversary but he heard all that was said. Yusuke, Kuwabara, thank you so much for everything. He could not spare the breath to say it aloud but he could think it in prayer. He had finally come up with a plan, one that would win them this fight - if he could muster enough Yoki to pull it off. If not -

Kurama cracked the whip again. He had succeeded in deeply injuring Bokuma across the shoulder while Bokuma was distracted with Hiei. A second strike would sever the limb. A shock of panic shot through him when Bokuma parried the whip, letting it wrap around one paw a few times. Bokuma gripped the plant weapon and gave a powerful yank, hauling Kurama off his feet and straight at his enemy. Kurama was jerked suddenly upright as Bokuma reared up on his hind legs and the sudden change in momentum popped his weakened shoulder out of joint again. Kurama cried out in pain even as something wrapped itself around his body, trapping his other arm against him. It was Bokuma's tail. Kurama shuddered, gasping and bucking in wretched protest as the tip slid seductively up his inner thigh. "Anxious, are we? Ah, the intimacy." Bokuma lowered Kurama's upraised, dislocated arm, bending it back behind him, forcing his chest out and head back. A long, serpentine tongue came out to lick up Kurama's face in a caress of total possession and control.

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Miserable revulsion whipped at Hiei from his partner's rebelling mind. He realized that his friend was radiating emotions where he would not have normally, the loss of emotion control allowing Hiei to know the full extent of Kurama's. It told him far more than he ever would have wanted. He did not know if he could bring himself to do it but he feared that Kurama had only one escape from the horrific nightmare that awaited him when they inevitably lost this fight.

Before he was killed by Bokuma, Hiei would have to kill Kurama.

No! He shook his head. There has to be another answer. I won't! I . . . can't! Another wave of nausea washed over Hiei and he could no longer tell if it was from the concussion or his friend, his brother. Ignore that! he snarled at himself. His brother needed him now. Trading thought for pure reaction, Hiei charged for what he knew in his heart would be the last time.

Instinctively, his first strike was at Bokuma's tail, seeking to free Kurama of its hold. Again, wordless, abhorrent objection slammed Hiei as Bokuma snuggled his toy close, even going so far as to support him with one leg between his prisoner's, shifting Kurama out of the way for a clear shot at Hiei with the other claw. This time, the swordsman lacked the strength even to attempt to block or dodge.

Bokuma refrained from employing his talons again, merely swept up the brutally-injured youkai and flung him into the rock wall to his left. A sickening thud echoed through the chamber as Hiei smashed into the unforgiving stone and dropped limply to the ground, leaving blood smears in his wake.

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Kurama felt the impact reverberate through his mind, a red-black haze of stars bursting across his sight. Then . . . nothing. "HIEI!" The heartsick cry was wrenched from Kurama's throat as he twisted in Bokuma's embrace to watch his brother's fall. Upon landing, Hiei did not move. "Hiei! No, Hiei!" He did not even try to stop the tears that sprang to his eyes.

"Awww, was that your friend, little fox? All right, go say your goodbye." Bokuma lightly traced one talon down Kurama's jaw, drawing blood, before lightly slinging him after Hiei.

There was little real strength behind the toss. Nevertheless, Kurama slammed the wall hard enough to steal his breath, the impact jarring his disjointed shoulder as sharp stone edges dug mercilessly into the whip wounds, and he fell heavily, collapsing to hand and knees. The body, especially a human's – even if only half so – could only take so much abuse before it mutinied - Kurama wretched and coughed violently several times before he could recover himself. He rocked back onto his heels, left palm still braced in front of his knees as the right hung useless at his side, head bowed as he fought back tears of exhaustion, agony, and grief. Even if he converted everything he could muster, all of his life energy, he feared he did not have enough left in him to do what he had planned. And Hiei . . .

A small pebble dug into his ankle and the back of his thigh from his pant hem, even as Yoki bit at him suddenly, incessantly. Kurama sat bolt upright in shock. Of course! Furthermore, it drew his attention back to his brother. He felt his heart leap in hope as he realized that he could still sense Hiei's Yoki. It was faint but present. Hiei was not dead!

Hold on just a little longer, my friend. I will end this for you. I swear it!

Kurama turned, locating his roses as Bokuma approached ever so slowly. He snatched them up, then shifted on his knees over to Hiei. Setting both by his brother's head, he stretched out his good hand over them, pumping them full of Yoki. "Rose Shield!" Kurama called. The roses responded, exploding up and over Hiei's body in a tightly-woven mesh shell. There. That will protect you for now - and hold you should you regain consciousness before I have finished.

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"H-hiei . . . " Kuwabara murmured, voice broken by the beginnings of grief.

Yusuke shook his head. "No, Kuwabara. Hiei must be just unconscious or Kurama wouldn't have done something like that. And get a look at Kurama's eyes. He's got something up his sleeve."

"You sure, Urameshi?" Kuwabara paused. "Uh, like what?"

"I dunno," Yusuke muttered, "but whatever it is . . . it had better work."

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Bokuma chuckled cruelly as he continued his advance. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Is this your way of burying your dead, my little fox? Concede. You have lost, Kurama. You are mine . . . or do I get to punish you a little more here and now?"

Kurama had been shifting sideways on his knees, positioning himself in front of Hiei. "This fight is not over yet, Bokuma!"

Bokuma cocked his large, bestial head to one side briefly, a motion of both amusement and annoyance at his pet's continuing insolence. "Feisty, feisty, little rabbit-fox - one of the many reasons I like you so much. Still, I grow weary of this game. Hm . . . this should take the last bit of fight out of you - for now." He ducked his head and chest down without warning, hindquarters raising as his tail shot forward in a scorpion-style strike.

Kurama dove the last foot to his goal - Hiei's sword. He snatched it up in his remaining usable hand, parrying the stinger in the last instant. However, the force of the strike knocked the sword from Kurama's grip, sending it skittering noisily across the ground far out of Kurama's reach.

Yusuke and Kuwabara could only stare in shock as Kurama sank back, dropping his good hand into his lap on the ankle folded under him, defeated. "That - that was it?" Kurama heard Yusuke sputter incredulously. "That was your last plan - Hiei's stupid sword? Damn it, Kurama! GET YOUR STUPID ASS BACK UP, FOX-BOY!"

Head bowed low so that his bangs hid his face, Kurama suppressed a small smile. He was eternally grateful to have known people such as they. It was enough for him to know that they would live. It would be up to them, his friends, to get his brother out of this gods-forsaken place and make sure he got proper healing attention. Heh, too bad that I was right. I am indeed going to die down here.

There! Finally, he had worked it free and into his palm - and without Bokuma's noticing. He could only pray it was enough to make the difference.

Pickpocketing, palming, concealment, sleight-of-hand, bait-and-switch, deceptions of many kinds - these and more were the staples of his former profession, skills he had mastered centuries ago. Even the dive for the sword had been little more than a ruse, knowing that Bokuma would expect him to make a move like that. He allowed another small grin at himself in rueful humor. Once a thief, always a thief? Well, then, let my last act be my greatest theft . . . to rob vile Bokuma of his toys, his position, his freedom - everything he has tried to do to Hiei and to me and gods-only-know how many others.

Gods above and below, may it be . . . justice be done.

Bokuma hovered over his defeated prey, chuckling. "Now you see, my little fox. You were never meant to win. Come, admit defeat and I'll even reward you by sparing the humans' lives."

Kurama did not need to see the sly expression in Bokuma's orange orbs to realize the lie. He looked up then and saw Bokuma startle back from the fierce light in his glittering green eyes. "No, Bokuma. It ends here, NOW!" He straightened suddenly, sitting up on his knees, his left fist held up before him. He heard Yusuke and Kuwabara gasp as Yoki flared throughout his entire body, stirring his long hair, his eyes flashing with golden light.

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Hiei felt an incredible gathering of Yoki as his consciousness rose painfully up from the blackness. He felt the hard pressure of rough stone under his cheek and chest. Forcing his eyes open, he thought for a moment that his sight had failed him entirely as a haze of green filled his vision. He blinked several times but his sight did not improve. From the fierce pounding in the back of his skull, he knew that it would not. He thought for a moment - as his weary, pain-riddled mind recalled where he was - that the gathering energy was a final attack by Bokuma. Then he realized whose Yoki he was sensing. That knowledge jolted through him as he recognized the energy patterns of a major summoning. He intends to summon a Demon Realm plant against Bokuma. No! What is he thinking? He doesn't have enough Yoki left for something like that! It will kill him! Hiei forced himself up on his elbow, pulling his knees under him on the strength of will alone. He realized that the green haze was more than just his failed sight. He reached out, his hand stopped by a stiff mesh of some kind with a vague rose scent to it - no doubt Kurama's handiwork. Gripping it, he pulled himself further upright, forcing his eyes to focus beyond the green to a figure just outside enveloped in a powerful golden glow. Hiei could not tell where the red of hair ended and the red of bloody whiplashes began but he could not mistake that it was his brother. "Kurama, no! You don't have enough Yoki for that! You'll die!" He did not even try to keep the anguish from his voice.

He did not hear Kurama's soft verbal reply through the rushing in his ears but he could not ignore the calm, reassuring voice in his mind. -Freedom, Hiei. Live well . . . my friend . . . my . . . brother.-

Heedless of the pain and damage to his own body, Hiei threw himself desperately against the Rose Shield. "No! Kurama, NOOO!"

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Yusuke and Kuwabara watched with equal grief as Kurama collapsed forward, faceplanting into the stone. The Yoki halo coalesced above the back of Kurama's shoulders and huge vines exploded forth. Bokuma stumbled back in shock, parrying the first few away from himself but there were too many. Vines wrapped his limbs, his torso, his throat, even his tail. He slashed, he stung, he bit and tore with his teeth but to no avail. He howled and shrieked in protest as his great body was lifted easily high off the ground, wrapped and wrapped until he was completely engulfed in vines. At length, the last of the plant emerged from the dimensional portal Kurama had formed - a huge, fleshy bulb from which all the vines grew, roots acting like a centipede's legs to push the bulb off of the summoner's body and under the meal the summoner had promised and so satisfactorily delivered. Yusuke did not have the ability but Kuwabara could sense it. The vines were not doing Bokuma any real harm but rather draining him of his Yoki. Both humans watched in shock as, after a few moments, Bokuma shifted back into his natural form, unable to hold the shapechange once enough of his energies had been drained away. Now a much smaller form, his body disappeared from view in a ball of vines, still screaming in fury and denial as the vines pulled its meal down to rest on the bulb, finishing their job.

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Without Kurama's concentration, the Rose Shield collapsed, unraveling as the components reverted to their original forms. Hiei lost no time dragging himself to Kurama's side, pulling himself forward on his knees by one hand, ignoring the blood trail he left in his wake. Tears further blurring his vision, he gripped his brother's shoulder, unwilling and unable to accept the truth before him. Then he gasped and his hand shifted to Kurama's throat, fingers feeling gingerly for the carotid artery. No, his senses had not fooled him.

Kurama stirred just then, a soft moan escaping his lips. "Kurama!" Hiei gasped, the name wrenched from his throat by a combination of relief, disbelief, and protective anger. Kurama shifted slightly to look up at him, giving his brother a weary, reassuring smile. "How . . . how did you - ? You didn't have enough Yoki. You had to have converted all of your life energy to do that. How - ?" Wordlessly, Kurama pulled his arm in and turned his fist over, uncurling his fingers. To Hiei's utter shock, a tiny stone rolled from Kurama's palm, perfectly smooth, a magnificent red-black in color. Hiei did not read any Yoki from it and realized then what Kurama had done. He sat back on his heels, relieved beyond expression. All he could do was shake his head, a big grin softening his face even though part of him wanted to kill Kurama for scaring him so. "Stupid fox," he muttered at length.

Just then, Yusuke and Kuwabara reached them, sliding in the slime carpet and giving wide berth to the energy-draining vine plant. Hiei saw Kurama shift his hand back over the Hirui stone, palming it. Yusuke dropped to his knees next to Hiei, about to comment before he saw that Kurama's eyes were open. "You - you're alive! Damn it, Kurama, if you weren't already so hurt, I'd pound you myself for scaring us like that!" In spite of his words, he was laughing in relief.

Kuwabara knelt on Kurama's other side, carefully working his big hands under the slender shoulders. "All right. Easy does it." Kurama suppressed a moan as Kuwabara gingerly lifted him to a sitting position. All four looked to the vine ball from which muffled cries of fury still emitted. "So . . . uh, Kurama - ?"

"Bokuma is defeated. Without his Yoki, there is not an ability he possesses that he can use against the Yoki-Vampire Vine nor against us and even he is not strong enough to physically break free of its embrace. There are few who can once bound as he is." Kurama turned, catching first the humans' eyes, then meeting Hiei's gaze. "We have won."

"You did it! Kurama, you did it!" Yusuke crowed, even as he helped Hiei to his feet, heavily supporting the smaller youkai.

"No." Kurama shook his head with a grin as Kuwabara gently pulled him to his feet. "We did it. Hiei certainly played his part and very well fought in this battle and, as I said before, we would never have even made it here if not for you and Kuwabara."

"Aw, c'mon," Kuwabara murmured almost sheepishly. "It was nothin'."

All four stiffened and turned as they sensed a gathering of energies somewhere on the other side of the Bokuma-vine-ball. A periphery portal opened and a handful of youkai guards emerged. Hiei recognized the captain right away, leading four subordinates. Three of them went to the plant, though they kept a mindful distance, while the captain and the remaining guard slowly approached the foursome. Kuwabara took on the support of Hiei while Yusuke stepped protectively in front of the two injured youkai. "If you want Kurama and Hiei, you're gonna hafta go through me."

The captain stopped a respectful distance from them, his weapon still sheathed and his hands where they could be seen. When he spoke, his voice was surprisingly calm, almost apologetic even. "You are correct that we are here for your companions, human, but not as you think. Youko Kurama, Jaganshi Hiei - Lord Batsukuno requests your presence back in the courtroom. We were sent to assist you if needed and to . . . take custody of the prisoner." He glanced over his shoulder with a decidedly disgusted expression on his face. Then he looked back at Kurama and added almost sheepishly as his guards murmured softly back and forth over who had to try to get into the vine-plant. "There is one small matter, though. How do we get to him?"

Kurama chuckled softly. "Tell your men not to touch it. The Yoki-Vampire Vine will follow me through the portal. Once back in the courtroom, I will have it release Bokuma to you."

The captain nodded, relieved. "Fair enough. Guards!" He snapped his fingers and the men readily backed off, breathing sighs of remission.

Yusuke took back Hiei and he and Kuwabara helped the two youkai limp over to the portal, their glaring looks warning off the guards from offering help. Hiei saw Yusuke grin maliciously at the murmurs of dismay behind them when the vine plant shifted into motion, centipede roots pulling the bulb along behind its summoner, the entangled Bokuma still writhing within the ball of vines.

Author's Notes: Please be sure to check my bio page for any updates, etc. Thanks!