Sooo I'm a bit sick, probably coming down with a cold... which means I won't make any fuss today with my rants. Enjoy this chapter and don't forget to leave me a review :)

P.S. All YuYu Hakusho characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi~ :)

9. Interlude

He couldn't and wouldn't run from his own feelings anymore... not when he'd finally found the woman worthy of having his heart as well, not just his body.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The following morning he awoke to the slight weight of the girl's body onto his. At some point he had settled onto his stomach to rest and she had settled on his back. He didn't even realize she was already awake until her voice reached his ears.

"Did you sleep well, Kurama-sama?"

Looking to her expression overflowing with happiness, he couldn't hold back a smile.

"You can drop the honorific already. It's not like you used it more than five times until now." he chuckled.

"I did..." she pouted, nearly making him laugh out loud. "I used it six times."

"Oh? Seriously? I assume you're expecting a reward then."

Jolting the right half of his body, he rolled the girl onto the furs next to him. Turning to her, he wrapped his arms around her slender form, bringing her against his chest. Setting her head onto his arm, Nozomi offered him that bright, pure smile he had grown so fond of. The silence that now fell between them was actually more relaxing than Kurama had thought, even if his mind was as active as ever whilst he trailed his fingers through her dark strands.

"So?" he finally asked, gaining her attention again. "What would you like as your reward?"

Yes, his tone still held a shade of amusement, as did his sly smile, but he was quite serious in his inquiry. However, the girl shook her head and leaned up to place a soft kiss onto his lips.

"You said last night that I'm yours... that's the best reward I could ever get."

His humor now faded away leaving a warm expression on his face, and his hand soon abandoned her silky locks to settle onto her cheek.

"If you keep saying things like that, it might go to my head." he replied somewhat in jest.

His ear twitched in pleasure at the sound of her giggle; it was beyond him how she could sometimes be so mature and so childish at the same time. Not that he complained... it was an odd, but intriguing combination. For once, in a very long time, he felt that everything was perfect. Little did he know that fate had decided to put their love to the test soon enough.

Over the course of the following month, Nozomi had finally started becoming more and more like a regular female. Apparently that most intimate sexual knowledge had been what her personality lacked in order to start developing harmoniously. Kurama himself didn't find her curiosity to be bothersome in any way; if anything, he was quite relieved that she had taken so fast and so well to his body, just as he had taken to hers. With most of his attention focused on her, he had even given up on thievery for now. On that particular night he was seated near a fire with Nari, staring silently into the flames.

"You know... the men are wondering when we're going to go plundering again."

With his ear twitching at the elder youkai's words, Kurama briefly clenched his jaw as though he was trying to brace himself for his own words.

"Nari... I'm thinking of quitting this."

Utterly taken aback by that, the dark haired youkai stared at him, unable to even speak for a while.

"I didn't think I'd live to see the day when you would want to stop being a thief."

His amused tone convinced the fox-youkai to avert his amber gaze toward him.

"I'm as serious as I have ever been, Nari."

"I know..." he nodded with a fatherly smile. "And I'm glad you decided as such. To tell you the truth, I was hoping Nozomi would influence you this way."

Exhaling an amused huff, Kurama returned his focus to the dancing flames.

"I'll be taking her back to her parents tomorrow."

"Yes, I think that would be for the best at the moment. There are still numerous hunters after your head; if you're going to try and make peace with the Reikai, she'd be placed in too much danger."

Falling silent, Kurama then took to thinking of how he was going to explain it all to the girl. He expected quite a resistance to his decision, but he was determined to not back down. The last thing he wanted was to see her injured or dead. Finally standing, he stepped into his tent only to be utterly stunned when his mind grasped the fact that Nozomi had slapped him. He definitely hadn't expected it, given that even with barely any force behind it she'd managed to turn his head. When he averted his gaze to her with the intention of asking her just what it was that she was trying to do, her frown, the sorrow in her eyes and the tears flooding her face told him everything.

"...You were listening?"

"Was even one of the words you said to me true?" she snapped back.

Exhaling a soft sigh he silently approached her; when she tried to recoil he reached out and grasped her arm, pulling her into a relentless embrace. He barely held back a sigh of relief when she didn't try to move away a second time, instead wrapping her arms around his torso as if her life depended on that.

"Every single one."

His cheek burned not so much from the slap itself, as it seemed she couldn't bring herself to put any serious force behind it despite her anger, but from the fact that he had indeed had a fleeting thought of keeping it all a secret from her, and now felt guilty for it.

"Then why...? Why would you send me back?"

"You don't miss your family in the least?" he asked, with a measure of astonishment in his tone.

"Of course I do... but... but I don't want to leave you."

Sighing again, Kurama placed a loving kiss to the side of her head.

"This is no easier for me, by any means... however..."

Pausing for a moment, he gingerly clasped her face in his hands, thumbing away her tears.

"I want you at my side forever... and I can't do that with all those hunters on my tail. You'll be safer with them than with me."

His heart sank when he saw the frail mask of calm she had put on crumble before his very eyes. Once more thumbing away her tears he leaned down to claim her lips, prior to lightly pressing his forehead to hers.

"I will come for you... if it's the last thing I do, I will come for you again."