Hey, y'all I'm back, much sooner than expected. YAY! I own no one new this chapter.

Thanks to the several people who added this to their favorites/story alerts since the last time I updated. Now, on to the reviews!

Bhel-Elryss: Yes, the coppers. And I would have worried about Kiyoshi, too, except I knew what was going to happen. Well, at least I didn't leave you guys hanging until after New Year's, which is what I thought was going to happen!

animegrlsteph: I use cliffys just to annoy you. Jk. They are fun to write.

Kuramasredrose: You know, I'm not really sure where Kiyoshi went. Where he is/was isn't as important as what he's thinking/what's happening while he's away.

Thank you all for your reviews and Happy Christmas! As for the ending, I decided to indulge the sentiments I was getting from Kasumi. :) Happy readings!

A moment after being surrounded, Yusuke looked at Hiei and Kurama. "Really? Koenma's waaay more desperate to get them back than I thought, if he's resorted to this."

"No doubt," Kurama said. He then addressed the group around them, "Do you really want to fight us? I am giving you this one chance to leave." They hesitated, torn between a sense of duty and wanting to do the smart thing. "I suggest you answer quickly. I'm not in the best mood right now."

"How about we each demonstrate why they should leave?" Yusuke asked. Hiei immediately disappeared from his side. "Can you really tell where he is?"

"There!"

"No, there!"

"By Kurama!"

"No, Yusuke!"

"Watch your backs," Hiei muttered from behind them, having two of the team members at sword-point. He sheathed his swords and returned to his place next to Kurama and Yusuke. To Yusuke he said, "I'd go with the aura field; it doesn't waste the energy."

Yusuke nodded, grinned, and placed his palms together, fingers pointing toward the ground. Gradually at first then more quickly, Yusuke's aura expanded, finally stabilizing at a level far above anything they'd ever felt. They lowered the aura weapons they'd still had raised. At that moment, he released the field.

"Kurama?" Yusuke asked.

"Already done." To Koenma's forces he said, "Look behind you."

They spun around to find nothing. And that's when Kurama tied their hands and feet. Standing in front of them, where they had fallen to the ground, he said, "I gave you the chance to leave. Now… three lessons."

Hiei took over. "Lesson one: never underestimate your enemy. Stealth rarely works against those whose power exceeds your own by such a vast amount. It's doubtful they'd even need to call on their demonic tricks to subdue you." His image flickered once, Kurama winced, and they found the vines on their arms had been cut away.

"Lesson two," Kurama said, "Never turn your back on an adversary. You must remember that not everyone is as attached to his honor as Hiei. Me, for example." They scrambled to their feet, looking for a way out.

"Lesson three," Yusuke chuckled, "As I have said before, intimidation can often win a fight before the first punch is thrown." They froze, realizing that the three demons had just completely torn apart their defenses. Without trying. Yusuke laughed quietly to himself. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"

"Talk…about…?" the captain asked, confused.

"You did want to talk, right? Or are you still intent on fighting us?"

"You mean you're willing to negotiate?!"

"Of course. Why wouldn't we be?" Kurama asked this in mock surprise. In all honesty, he, Yusuke, and Hiei were only blowing off steam right now, messing with their heads.

"But your letters…and just now…what was all that?"

"The letters were threats intended to make you stay away. That having failed, don't you think we would have killed you just now if we wanted you dead? Or at least left you tied up?" Kurama pointed it all out as if they were the most obvious things in the world.

"We were sent to bring the younger team back. Koenma didn't seem to have much hope that we'd succeed. He didn't seem to think it likely we'd survive."

Kurama's expression hardened. "He was right. You would've had no chance if we'd actually wanted to kill you. And he knew that. But he still sent you." The bitterness in Kurama's voice was evident. Suddenly, his plants sprang to life. The nine underworld agents were once again unable to move. "Lesson four: never trust a single word that falls from an adversary's lips."

A sudden beeping made Koenma jump. It was from his captain. Or so he thought. He answered it and his sense of relief left him. It was Kurama.

The silver-haired fox demon skipped greetings entirely and said, "Did you really think sending them after us was a wise idea?" His voice was cold and it was apparent that he deeply disapproved of what Koenma had done.

"No," he muttered in response. Then he saw a very shallow cut on Kurama's left cheek. "What happened?"

"Hm?"

"To your cheek?"

Kurama reached up and felt the scratch. "Oh. That was the final farewell of your captain. Quite pathetic, really, if that's all the better he could do."

Koenma's eyes widened. Kurama had just used the words final farewell. That could mean only one thing. Before he could ask, however, Kurama said, "Perhaps this will teach you not to send people into situations they cannot even hope to survive." And his face disappeared, leaving Koenma stunned.

"Now that that unpleasant business has been dealt with," Kurama said, "What did you really want to talk about?"

The special forces team stared at Kurama dumbfounded. He absentmindedly scratched the mark Hiei's sword had made on his face as he said, "Would you be more comfortable if I untied you and we all sat down? Yes, let's do that."

Despite the fact that they could, none of them moved. Kurama looked up to the sky and sighed. "We are not going to harm you, so long as you don't do anything stupid. That lesson was just that—a lesson. You know, character building, realization of mistakes? And I wanted you out of contact with Koenma."

"As we said, it's the new team," someone ventured, "Where are they?"

"Over there, sleeping." Kurama flicked his wrist, indicating the direction he meant.

"But there are only three auras over there. There should be four."

"Well, I haven't been entirely honest with you, I'll admit. I have no idea where Kiyoshi is." Kurama didn't seem worried, but in reality it bothered him that the boy hadn't returned. "He got mad and walked off several hours ago."

"Didn't you think you should follow him?" someone else asked, nervous to be questioning Kurama's judgment.

"He needed some time to himself. And he can take care of himself. I'm assuming you felt two auras, and that is what led you here?" When they nodded, Kurama added, "One of those was Kiyoshi's."

"What about me?" Kiyoshi's voice asked from behind him.

Kurama's hair whipped around as he turned to look at his pupil. The relief in his eyes showed he had been much more worried than he had let on. "Just that one of the aura's was yours," Kurama replied. "Learn anything while you were gone?"

Kiyoshi sat down next to Kurama and said, "I'm not sure. Mostly I just thought about things. I thought about my power and how I can't control it. I thought about how it seemed to have an equal standing with yours. I thought about my mother." He met Kurama's eyes, and an unspoken apology passed from Kurama to the younger boy. Then Kiyoshi continued, "I'm not sure what conclusions you came to but my thoughts are, if that was your full power, a copycat is just that—the genes mimic those of the creator's. So since I can barely control it to any extent now, how could I have expected myself to control it at all ten years ago?" He sighed. "I realized for the first time that my mother's death wasn't my fault. It will take time, but I've decided to let go of that guilt."

"Not what I was expecting, but I think I can live with that," Kurama said after a few moments.

"Who are these guys?" Kiyoshi asked suddenly, indicating the special forces team.

Kurama laughed. "They have been charged with finding you four and taking you back to Koenma."

"What if I don't want to go?"

"Then I really don't think they are in any position to force you." Kurama chuckled, "If you are truly adamant about staying, you could take all nine of them alone, no problem."

"Kiyoshi!" Suddenly Kiyoshi was hit from the side as a crying Kasumi tackled him.

He sat up and pulled her up next to him. "What's wrong, Kasumi?" he asked, sounding a bit worried.

"I was so worried about you," she said as tears streamed down her face. "You walked off into Makai, alone and angry. You don't think as clearly when you're angry, Kiyoshi." Her eyes were red and she was crying so hard she began coughing.

Once she stopped coughing, Kiyoshi hugged her and said, "Well, I'm here now. And no matter what Koenma's people do, I'm going to stay right here."

Kasumi smiled through her tears, and leaned against Kiyoshi. "I'm glad."

"Well, you all should probably be going," Yusuke said. "We don't want Koenma to go insane. We just want him to learn a lessen that was lost on him one hundred and fifty years ago."

Koenma heard a knock at his office door. Looking up he found himself facing his entire special forces team, completely unharmed. His eyes bulged. "What… how… no… Kurama said…" he spluttered.

From behind him Botan pointed out, "Since when has Kurama had an aversion to lying to you, sir? Especially lately?"

"Good point." And then he listened as they told him all of what had happened.

Kasumi had fallen asleep leaned against Kiyoshi, his right arm still around her shoulders. No one had said a word for the better part of an hour. Yusuke broke that silence asking, "Kiyoshi… what is there between you and Kasumi? I can see you are very close friends, but is there something more there as well?"