Chapter Nine- Future In-Laws

Kurama raced through the trees, picking up Kuwabara's scent with ease. He noted that it smelled subtly different, no doubt because of his powers. The trail led him to the cave-dotted cliff; at first he didn't know which cave he was in until he spotted a mist of ice wafting from the topmost cave. He bounded up to it and looked in to see Kuwabara curled up in the back, his ears folded, and his body shaking as he whined.

"Kuwabara?" he asked.

"Go away Kurama. I can't face anyone right now. Not after what I did."

"I explained why you did all that and they understand. No one will hold it against you."

"Really?" Kuwabara sat up, his ears erect.

"Yes. Let us head back."

"Okay. Kurama?" Kuwabara said as they leaped down and headed for the forest exit. "Could you help me control my instinct?"

"I will; in all honesty I should have started when we learned that all three of you were stuck as you are. My advice would be to flee the scene whenever you feel your instinct flaring up. Once it has subsided, you come back. Eventually, you will have control over it."

Kuwabara nodded. "Yeah. I can do that. I just hope the others really do forgive me."

"I am certain they will." Except Hiei, maybe, he added silently.

They reached the edge and Kuwabara changed back to his demon form while Kurama took his human one. They reached the compound and Kuwabara stopped dead at an astonishing sight. Yusuke was hovering several inches off the ground, a gust of wind under him and around him, making his tail and hair stand up vertically. The wind started to dissipate and Yusuke was lowered safely to the ground. He opened his eyes and looked at the foxes before he flashed a grin. "Hey, Kuwabara. I knew you'd come back."

"You…you were floating!" Kuwabara gasped.

"Yeah. Turns out I have wind powers. That's how I blocked your last attack."

Kuwabara bowed his head and shuffled a foot as Yusuke came closer. "Yeah, about that. I'm sorry. I…"

"Don't need to explain. Kurama took care of that. You're forgiven. Hey, we could practice our powers against each other."

"Yeah…and maybe try to use attacks that Jin and Touya did. I mean, a sword of ice would be neat." He lifted his head as he spoke of trying new attacks.

"I would settle for being able to fly. That would be a good defensive move."

Kuwabara turned to Yukina who sat on the porch. He slowly approached her, not sure how he could ever make up for his actions. He knelt in front of the porch, his head down again. "Yukina, I'm sorry. I should have realized what was happening before it went as far as it did."

Yukina smiled as she tilted up his head and saw the contrition in his eyes. "Kazuma, I really am glad you told me how you feel about me. I wouldn't mind being your mate, I just don't want to actually mate right now."

"I don't want to actually mate anytime soon. I mean, I've got plans to go to high school and then college. I…was thinking of being a doctor."

"A doctor? That's wonderful, Kazuma. You have my support."

"Thanks. I also would like us to be mates."

"Then we will. Will you also help me find my brother?"

"Of course, my love. If I have to look all over Demon World to find him, then I will."

"That's sweet of you. I had hoped to find him at the tournament seeing as he's a skilled martial artist."

"I see. Anything else you know about him?"

"I would think he would have my eye color and about my size."

"Your eyes and size, huh?" Kuwabara gained a faraway look in his eyes as he tried to think of who matched both criteria. He knew some demons who were short but didn't have red eyes and vice versa. He blinked and watched Hiei help Yusuke continue practicing his wind powers. You know…Hiei's short, just a little taller than Yukina. He also had red eyes before the change. The same shade as Yukina's eyes! Kuwabara felt his mouth go dry. Was it possible that Hiei was…?

Kuwabara waited until Yukina had headed inside before he approached the white wolf. "Hiei," he said quietly. "Are you Yukina's brother?"

Hiei's intense blue eyes narrowed. "What?" he said in a low voice.

"You heard me. Are you?"

Hiei gave Kuwabara an intimidating stare and Kuwabara saw Yusuke nodding repeatedly behind Hiei. A grim smile came to the fox's face. "You are. You are the same height and your eyes were red before the mission."

Hiei yanked out his sword and had the tip at Kuwabara's throat in the blink of an eye. "If you tell her, I will kill you," he growled.

"Why don't you tell her? Afraid she'll hate you and want nothing to do with you?"

"It's personal and none of your business."

"Excuse me? Yukina's my mate and her concerns are my concerns now."

"He has a point," Kurama said. "Once a fox has a mate, they keep no secrets from one another."

"Yukina's not a fox," Hiei grated.

"That may be, but Kuwabara is, so if he wishes to tell her, he can."

Kuwabara grinned as he pushed the tip of the sword away. "Then, that's what I'm gonna do. Sorry, Hiei. You'll have some explaining to do real soon." He dashed inside the house.

Hiei growled again. "I can't tell her."

"And you're not," Yusuke said. "Kuwabara is."

Before Hiei could respond, Yukina came out with a pleased Kuwabara behind her. She quickly descended the stairs, raced up to Hiei, and hugged him. She looked up at him with a happy smile. "Kazuma just told me you're my brother, but not why you kept quiet about it."

"I…promised to not tell. That's all I can say."

"Of course. A promise is a promise. This does explain why you seemed familiar to me when you all came to rescue me."

"I did see you once before that moment but I was…afraid to get too close."

"Well, I insist you stay here. We have so much to catch up on."

"As I am restricted to this city, save for missions, I will take you up on your offer."

Kuwabara stepped up to them. "I have to go. I have school tomorrow." He gave Yukina a kiss on the cheek before heading for the exit, Kurama falling into step beside him.

Yusuke watched them leave, feeling frustrated again that he couldn't head into town like he used to. He wanted to walk among the people, play in the arcade, fight anyone who challenged him, and hang out in general. His demon form prevented him from going to school, yes, but it also kept him from doing his favorite pastimes and his mother. He felt a fresh surge of guilt as he had no doubt that his mother was at least a little concerned about his whereabouts.

"Hiei," he said. "I want to learn to fly. If I can do that, I can let my mother know I'm okay and tell her about demons, being a Spirit Detective, and our last mission."

"Will Koenma allow that?"

"He better, considering he's the one who sent us on the mission that trapped us like this."

"In that case, let's practice so you can fly."