Disclaimer: Even if I did own YYH I probably wouldn't know what to do with it.

Pen Name: sarahh86

CHAPTER NINE

The next morning was unbearable for both of them.

Relli got up and walked into the kitchen without making eye contact with Kurama and he did likewise. They were both confused of what had happened the night before.

Relli was embarrassed (as predicted) and feeling sharp anger. She hadn't meant for things to carry themselves that far. She hadn't meant for them to kiss like that. She didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know what she felt at all. He'd finally kissed her and he had transformed into his other self just as she was about to confess herself.

She suppressed a groan of frustration. And what about her gift? The whole reason she had given him that demon aura gift was to measure how much of himself was in Youko's control and he had transformed the same day she'd given it to him. If he couldn't use his gift properly then what good was it?

Kurama was thinking similar things from his place on the opposite side of the table. He didn't think his instincts would overwhelm him but they had and now they both sat in silence, brooding about the uncomfortable even that had happened the night before.

He stared at Runo. She was probably the only reason that Relli hadn't left, or was willing to leave. He loved her as well and was immensely thankful to his little daughter that she would allow Relli to stay, even for only a little while longer.

"Hello!" Botan's usual perky voice shocked them both from their mental battles and they both turned around to look at her.

Neither responded and they both looked like the walking dead. They made Botan wince with the expressions they wore.

I wonder what happened she pondered but then she pushed that thought aside quickly. "I've got your next mission ready for you." she announced.

"Spit it out." Relli said coldly, as she gave Runo her bottle.

Botan was slightly taken aback by her attitude this morning but chose to ignore her. "Koenma sent me here to tell you two that you're going to the Demon World to bring down Tekkan and destroy his ring of bandits."

Relli gasped and quickly turned down to her daughter, trying not to let her emotion overwhelm her. Not that…Anything but that…

Kurama glanced at her sharply and almost asked her if she was felt well, but his regret for what had happened the night before stopped him.

Botan twisted her hands nervously. Sunia had hinted that Relli would respond like that. "He's been killing a lot of people and he has to be stopped."

"Botan, you do know that Tekkan holds a grudge against me right?"

Botan frowned. "Actually I didn't."

"Huh," Relli smiled wistfully. "I guess Sunia is better at keeping secrets than I thought." She shook her head. "Well he does and he'd like nothing better than to se me either dead, or suffering for the rest of eternity and there's no power in hell that will get me down into his hands."

"I'm positive that you and Kurama will-

"I'm not going," Relli said seriously. "Tekkan was obsessed with my mother and now he's obsessed with me. He ordered the Siluvian brothers to kill them because he hated my father for taking my mother away from him."

Of course she didn't say how her father even knew Tekkan or why it meant so much to him that Relli should die. Those were things that only Genkai knew. Well…maybe Lord Koenma knew but it was doubtful.

"And besides that Botan, Suichi and I have a daughter now-

"That by Koenma's orders will stay with her foster grandmother, Shiori."

"And what excuse are we going to throw at her? I don't want to leave her!"

"You wouldn't want her along would you? What if she got hurt? Kurama can't handle this on his own and you know that Relli."

She had no choice but it wasn't fair.

"Are you sending us alone?" Kurama asked.

"Actually I'm seeing if I can get Hiei to meet you there and sort of help you out. He's back in Demon World. Sunia, well she's still serving her sentence and she'll be along.

Thank you so much. Relli was grateful to Botan for saying that. She wouldn't last a second there if people knew who she was; a former runaway, a half-breed, the daughter of one of the heroes of his world. Her father had been an influential person and Tekkan knew that well. Why oh why did she have to be related to him?

Maybe, just maybe she could try and take him out before it was too late.

They crossed the gates into the demon world quickly and saw the vast place that was Sunia's and Kurama's homeland.

Sunia paused slightly. She hadn't been back in the Demon World since…well probably since she was a baby. It felt strange to come back to a place that you were told was the place where you were born.

Not that she particularly cared though.

"Which territory?" she asked.

"Koenma said that it was in a middle spot between the three territories before Enki took over. Right now we're in Yusuke's territory. We've got maybe five days before we get to the center point." Kurama answered, looking around.

"Well then we should get going." Sunia answered, casting a sideways glance at Relli who shuffled her feet. I wonder if she's thinking about her uncle, she mused and then quickly dismissed the thought.

By nightfall the three of them were tired and were ready to call it a day. The dark sky glittered overhead and Relli shivered, pulling her sweater tighter over her body.

The small fire in front of them quivered violently while Sunia slept.

Kurama was staring at the fire as well. It kept him from looking at Relli.

Relli shivered again and grabbed her backpack to see if another sweater was in there. There wasn't. She'd never been to the demon world personally. The Siluvian Brothers had taken another route and landed in the Spirit World and she was saved there. She hadn't known it was going to be so cold.

Sunia had packed a freaking huge sweater and was sleeping comfortably although in the morning she would probably be complaining about how hot it was.

Kurama himself wore a thick coat and didn't seem to be uncomfortable in the slightest.

The woods they were in were unusually solitary but just in case Kurama had agreed to take on an all-night watch.

Relli watched as the fire grew weaker and she threw another stick in to keep it going. She tried to do so without glancing upwards at Kurama.

If I had known it was going to be this cold I would've packed more than a light sweater she chided herself and tried not to shiver for the hundredth time that night.

Kurama finally looked up and saw Relli hugging herself with cold.

Without speaking he reached into his own backpack and pulled out a thick coat and stood up quietly so that he wouldn't wake Sunia who was resting peacefully. He reached Relli and gently pulled the coat over her.

She didn't say a word until she had buttoned up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." he answered simply, but he didn't get up from his spot next to her. Instead, he settled for staring at the fire once more, hypnotizing himself with the dance-like movements that the flames made.

"I didn't mean to do what I did last night." he murmured quietly.

Relli's face heated up, remembering how he had touched her and she ducked her head down slightly. "It was sort of my fault too. I shouldn't have dared you to dare me."

He didn't answer right away. "I didn't kiss you because of lust; I just wanted you to know that."

"Then why?" The curiosity in her voice wasn't hidden and she looked up at him with faint traces of hope in her eyes.

Kurama looked at her and her blue eyes looked at him back after a moment.

He couldn't tell her the truth. Not only was he not sure of her exact feelings for him, but now was not the time to be doing any love confessions. They were on a mission and they had to have a clear head. They had to think things through and anything concerning romance would cloud their minds.

So instead of telling her the truth he didn't answer at all.

Relli stared back at the fire as soon as he saw that she wasn't going to answer. "Well I didn't do it because of lust either." she answered a little shyly.

His heart missed a beat although his face betrayed nothing. "Then why?" he echoed.

"You didn't answer me so why should I answer you?" she responded.

"Good point," he agreed and slowly took her hand in his. "We're acknowledging that we feel something more than lust and desire for each other and we both want to keep it a secret for now. That's the way we should keep it for now but in the future we need to talk about everything that we hide."

Relli nodded and tightly pressed her fingers around his hand. "Someday." she promised.

She always says that, Kurama mused as he smiled slightly at her. But she isn't one to break her promises. It's just a very long time before she trusts anybody with her heart.

"It would be best if you went to sleep now. Tomorrow we'll have to keep going all day and it's still a while off."

She nodded and laid on the rough ground as best as she could. She buried herself in Kurama's coat and inhaled his scent and fell asleep with the warm aroma of flowers around her.

But maybe that was because Kurama made a soft rose petal bed for her to sleep in.

The next night while Kurama was sleeping and Relli was beginning to nod off, Sunia shook her making her almost topple backwards.

"What?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. Sunia was the one who was supposed to be having the night watch tonight, not her.

"I want to know what's up with you two." she answered, jerking her head towards Kurama.

Relli sighed and was about to tell her to let her sleep when Sunia said something she didn't expect. "If you're stupid enough not to trust in him then I'll tell him everything about you."

"Sunia if you tell him so much as a word-

"You'll do what? I'm your best friend so you can't kill me," Sunia said slyly. But then she quickly turned serious again. "All this time he's been thinking you're a little defenseless, worthless, and sane twenty-three year old that has the craziest life he's ever seen. He doesn't know that you were locked up inside an institute for crazy people, or that your uncle is the most brutal bastard I've ever met. He doesn't even know what you are!"

"Except for the worthless part I agree with you but I'm not ready to tell him yet."

"That's your problem Relli. You're never ready. You never tell anybody anything about yourself. It's a freaking miracle you even told me and I wasn't even in my right mind!"

"You know why I don't trust people Sunia. You went through the same thing."

Sunia paused, considering. "I did but it's something you have to get over. You can't live with torment always in your damn head; you have to let it go. Besides in my case they did go through with it, but you miraculously got saved every time they tried. It's a sign from above."

"Koenma?"

"Don't try to be funny."

Relli sighed. "I know that I have to get over it but-

"Just let me talk alright? One man, that hot guy sleeping right there," she jerked her head towards Kurama. "Makes you feel different. I can tell because I've known you for a long time and I'll be damned if you don't get your fairy tale ending. You're like a sister to me and Kurama seems like a pretty darn good guy. Why can't you just go for it and tell him how you feel?"

"Are you on crack? What if he doesn't like me back?"

"Take the risk, if you don't take it you won't find out. What if he feels the same and you're too chicken to find out?"

"What if he turns me down and I end up like a loser?"

"Hey," Sunia held her palms up. "It's a risk. I already said that but I'm willing to bet that this feeling between you two is mutual."

Relli hugged her knees as she thought about Sunia's words. Sunia was completely fearless. She knew nothing that would stand in her way and she took amazing risks to get what she wanted.

Relli wasn't like that. Relli was cold and withdrawn with no intention of speaking to anybody unless they inspired trust in her.

Trust…now that was something that wasn't easily gained.

"Everything is a beginning Relli even if you think it's an end. When you got locked up inside that asylum it was the beginning of a sisterhood for you and me. When you got shot by those four guys it was the beginning of something between you and Kurama. When we came here to the Demon World-

"It was the beginning of the end." Relli finished and buried herself in the grass unwilling to listen to anymore of Sunia's chatter. Sunia's ideas were horribly contagious and if she listened to her best friend go on she was going to wake up Kurama and that wasn't exactly the best thing to do at the moment.

Sunia sighed irritably. That girl is stubborn as hell! I don't know why I'm even bothering to play cupid. She leaned against the tree bark and watched the faint dark clouds in the sky move slightly.

The beginning of the end…well put Realeza.

Well this is my ninth chapter and I had no idea of how to keep it going so I stopped it here. It kind of dragged a little for me since I didn't know whether to spend a lot of time on the actual walking to Tekkan's secret empire but I didn't feel like doing it in the end and only did the night scenes. This chapter sort of got messed up I think since I had one slice there and another bit here and it really got messed up. By the way on a side note, more insight is going to be shown about Relli's mysterious past (I know I drag that part out too. I put too much mystery in it but soon you will know it all!) in the next couple of chapters and I've got it al planned out. I hope you liked this chapter and remember to review!