Author's Note: Many thanks to Aori for beta-ing and for your patience while I worked on getting this chapter out!
"Ranking Planet, Ranking Planet, please rank Ureameshi Yusuke's secrets".
Yusuke put in an extra burst of speed like he could outrun those words, but they haunted him everywhere he went. The low-powered Spirit Gun he shot in Gokudera's kitchen couldn't drown out those words or the accompanying hurt, confusion, and betrayal , and now neither could running. They followed him like a shadow he couldn't shake, dragging him firmly back into Gokudera's nice shiny kitchen and Reborn pointing a gun at Yusuke demanding his secrets, even if it meant tearing Yusuke apart to get it.
Yusuke's heart ached, deep and heavy in a way it hadn't in centuries, in a way Yusuke didn't even realize it still could , and his mind was an absolute mess. He didn't know what to do, he just wanted everything to stop.
Suddenly, a buzzing static pierced through his mind like a scream, temporarily drowning out all his turmoil and uncertainty. It was somehow familiar in its sporadic obnoxiousness - ever since the Kokuyo Incident, Yusuke would realize if he stopped to think - but it was such a welcomed relief amidst his mental and emotional anguish that he couldn't care less about its source. It drowned out everything else, gave him blessed peace when his mind and emotional state were such a mess, so when the static shaped into a single word, he surrendered into it without a second thought.
Come , it beckoned.
Yusuke remembered heading to the nearest airport. He remembered going through security empty-handed without even a passport, and his right eye twitching like a switch flipping on, right before the security's eyes glazed over and they waved him through. He remembered boarding a plane headed to Europe, and in the moments that he paused to wonder why, he would remember "Ranking Planet, Ranking Planet, please rank Ureameshi Yusuke's secrets" and he'd stop thinking at all. He didn't care what he was doing, as long as he didn't have to think about that.
Betrayal hurt most when blindsided by someone he trusted.
Yusuke remembered getting off the plane. He remembered walking confidentally through the streets of Italy, a country he hadn't stepped foot in since decades prior, and making an unerring beeline to the seaport. He remembered hitching a ride on a ship and when it was close enough (to where?), he took a lifeboat and paddled the rest of the way.
There was an illusion around the island, designed to make anyone who came close to turn around and to sound the alarm if anyone unexpectedly did make it past. It was well-made, but still a child's play for Yusuke to bypass. He made a small tear in the illusion, and it was just enough for him to slip through and mend again once he was on the other side with no one wiser.
This much closer, Mukuro had better access to his power through his host.
Something niggled in the back of Yusuke's mind, the part that wasn't so busy trying to not think of anything. It was immediately pushed aside by an image of Reborn smirking, just like usual except it was all wrong. Instead of mischievousness or amusement, his smirk held maliciousness, the kind that said he knew all of Yusuke's weaknesses and intended to use them against him, and when Reborn opened his mouth, the blasted words came tumbling out.
"Ranking Planet, Ranking Planet," Reborn said, his heavy dark gaze pinning Yusuke in place when all he wanted to do was flee, "please rank Ureameshi Yusuke's secrets."
Under Reborn's gaze, Yusuke's mouth opened and all his secrets spilled out, like ripping open his chest and blood gushing out of a smashed-open dam.
Yusuke slammed down on those thoughts, even as his heart ached in his chest.
That wasn't what happened, Yusuke knew. What was happening to him ?
"Why react at all when Juri mentioned me then?" someone asked.
The fog in Yusuke's mind wavered. He blinked.
That wasn't his memory.
That was Lancia, mentally speaking to Mukuro from somewhere indoors. He was standing one story above Mukuro, looking at him through glass walls.
Mukuro's chest ached, echoing Yusuke's, and for a moment, they were one and the same. Yusuke was floating in a tube of medicated water, arms and legs bound by chains, a mask over his face, and his right eye sewn shut. After a long time, he said directly to Lancia's mind, "You weren't going to come back."
It was equal part accusing and resigned. He already knew the answer. This was the price Mukuro agreed to pay, back when he didn't know what he was giving up.
Lancia would never forgive him, because Mukuro sold their relationship before they even met.
Lancia confirmed it anyway. "No, I wasn't."
It wasn't a memory, Yusuke realized. It was happening now.
Yusuke came back to himself and he was in a building of some sort, heading underground. It had the same sterile blue, glass walls he caught from Mukuro through Lancia's eyes. Yusuke had swiped a security pass from someone and used it to access the elevator Muroko remembered Lancia using to reach the underground prison. The badge he took didn't have high enough clearance to reach the lowest level, however. The elevator stopped three floors above the lowest and refused to move. Pressing the open button or any other button in the elevator did nothing.
He was trapped.
Mukuro was distracted by his conversation with Lancia, and Yusuke seized the moment to clear the rest of the fog in his mind, and think.
Mukuro controlled Yusuke and brought him here, he realized. Something like this happened last time during the Kokuyo Incident, after Mukuro shot himself with a Possession Bullet and turned his red eye to the Human Realm. Only this time, it took Yusuke far longer to realize what was happening. Mukuro caught Yusuke at an incredibly bad time with his guard down and his emotional and mental state flayed, and he took advantage of it like a shark smelling blood. Mukuro distracted Yusuke with thoughts of Reborn's betrayal and then strengthened their residual connection from the Kokuyo Incident so Mukuro could easily manipulate him.
Yusuke couldn't even get too mad at Mukuro. He saw his chance and took it, simple as that, and Mukuro clearly had the power and ability to back it up.
Only… Yusuke can't let that blatant manipulation go unanswered, and mental connections do go both ways.
Yusuke followed the mental connection back to the source, like walking through a dark cave blindly with only a rope weaving through the path as his guide. He could feel the moment when he stepped through and into Mukuro's surface mental defense.
The only reason Yusuke got through was because Mukuro funneled their mental connection through his defenses, since Mukuro needed it to control Yusuke. Mukuro was also currently distracted by Lancia, just like how Yusuke was previously distracted by thoughts of Reborn.
Yusuke could sense other Mists mentally probing at Mukuro futilely, thinking they were making progress in breaking through Mukuro's defense when in reality they were being led round and round a mental maze of Mukuro's own creation. Mukuro was doing all this, in addition to mentally speaking with Lancia and controlling Yusuke. Geeze, he really was a talented Mist.
The core of Mukuro's mind wasn't accessible to Yusuke from where he was; it was surrounded by a smaller and stronger bubble of defense, but Yusuke had no intention of digging deeper into Mukuro's mind, especially not after Reborn tried earlier with Yusuke. Besides, Mukuro would definitely notice his intrusion if Yusuke tried. Here, he had access to Mukuro's surface active thoughts, which should be enough to give Mukuro a taste of his own medicine and tell him what Mukuro was up to.
"If you could have really controlled me, you would have last time," Lancia said to Mukuro, and a wave of bitter amusement suffused Mukuro's mindscape. Mukuro may have used Lancia, pulled knowledge from his mind, and even manipulated him to kill his Family, but he never wanted to control him outside of that. Mukuro could make a mindless puppet out of anyone, but Lancia…
An image of Lancia swinging Mukuro high in the air, the unfettered joyful laughter spilling from Mukuro not all feigned. Lancia cackling at Mukuro's absolute horror and disgust the first time he tried spicy food, and Lancia bribing Mukuro with chocolate afterwards. Lancia bringing Mukuro little trinkets every time he goes out on a mission, and the warmth of Lancia's hand on Mukuro's head as he russelled his hair for doing well on his school work.
Lancia, pointing a gun at himself when he came to and realized he had killed his Family with his own hands. Mukuro, barely seizing Lancia's mind in time to stop him.
Mukuro won't let anything happen to Lancia, and if it meant controlling him for one year, two years, or even five years, then so be it.
Even if Mukuro didn't have a right to their relationship anymore.
Yusuke wondered what that meant, and then another image appeared in Mukuro's mindscape. Yusuke's eyes widened and subconsciously, he took a step forward.
It was Yuuko Ichihara, the Wish Witch.
"Yuuko, stop Urameshi Yusuke's presence from being erased!" Koemna shouted, looking desperately at the mirror communicator that connected him to Yuuko.
9%
The holographic Yuuko floating above the mirror blinked, before glancing towards Yusuke, who really only had tiny pieces of himself left. 7%. "Oh, Koenma, he is almost gone," she said. 6%. "The price for that-"
"I don't care!" Koenma exclaimed. 5%. "Take anything you need." Koenma glanced at Yusuke, who only had a single eyeball left before he was completely erased. 3%. "Please Yuuko," Koenma begged.
Yuuko nodded and symbols appeared in the air. 1%. "Don't regret it, Koenma."
"I won't," Koenma said.
0%.
Yusuke no longer existed…
And then he woke up in this world.
Yusuke wasn't even aware of reaching out and tugging on Mukuro's thread of memory linked to the image. All he knew was he needed to know more. The thread of memory unraveled from where it was coiled like a ball of yarn within Mukuro's inner core of mind, and Mukuro's memory washed over him.
Yusuke caught a glimpse of thirteen years old Mukuro bounded and screaming in pain on a bloodied experimentation table, scientists - who were supposed to be his Family, his family - coolly discussing his failing compatibility to the Six Paths of Reincarnation eye and already making plans on who to test it on next, the pain pain pain , and finally, the intense hatred that consumed him like an inferno.
He'll take the Six Paths of Reincarnation eye, Mukuro vowed, and make the Estraneo Family and the entire Mafia pay.
A woman appeared in front of him —
The memory was snatched away from Yusuke, so fast he didn't have any time to react. The last thing he caught was "The cost of your wish is your relationship with someone you will love" and Mukuro's resolute "Take it", and then he was faced with a furious Mukuro with a burning red eye.
"Oh shit," Yusuke said, right before he was hurled back into his own mind. "Fuck!"
Yusuke got up from where he fell, only to immediately smack his head against an invisible ceiling. He awkwardly crouched to not hit his head and immediately hit another invisible wall when he tried to take a step forward.
"You don't have to trap me in a fucking box!" Yusuke exclaimed, punching the invisible wall in front of him. The impact reverberated in the box and then spread throughout his mind, and Yusuke winced as his mindscape shook like in the middle of an mini-earthquake.
"Keep punching it," Mukuro's disembodied voice echoed throughout his mindscape. "I created it with your mind. You're only hurting yourself."
Yusuke gathered energy within him to push Mukuro out, just as Hiei had taught him a long time ago, only for the gathered energy to vanish before anything could happen. It happened twice before Yusuke realized the energy vanished in the same exact way a Spirit Gun would use up energy - "Took you long enough," Mukuro sneered - , and then Yusuke immediately flooded his mind and body with energy to counteract Mukuro.
Yusuke came back to his body with a pounding headache from forcibly crushing Mukuro's hold on him with energy, which damaged his own mind in the process as well, and took stock of the situation.
He was in the underground he saw from Mukuro's eyes. The water prison in front of him was shattered, from most likely a mini-Spirit Gun that Mukuro used him to fire just now, and water puddled at its base. There were unconscious scientists in white coats and people in very familiar signature black cloaks all around him, knocked down from the resulting blast of the Spirit Gun.
Mukuro was hanging like a sack of potatoes on Yusuke's shoulder, very much out of his water prison and chains.
Shit. Mukuro was using Yusuke to prison break him out of the fucking Vendicare.
"Mukuro!" someone shouted from above, and Yusuke looked up as a familiar person - Lancia , Yusuke realized with a shock - punched the glass wall one story above and it shattered.
But Yusuke wasn't paying attention to Lancia, but rather to the two demons behind him.
"Yusuke!" Touya hissed, as Jin gasped behind him.
They knew his name.
Touya and Jin recognized Yusuke.
Hope soared and leapt in his chest. They were Jin and Touya, his Jin and Touya . Yusuke laughed, delighted and excited, and made a move to shout out to them.
Then, he registered the harsh severe looks on their faces. That wasn't the delight of unexpectedly reunited friends, but more like recognizing a notorious criminal.
They were the Vendices that took Mukuro in Namimori, Yusuke realized, the last kindle of his hope snuffing out. That was why the Vendices felt so familiar back then. Their energy signature was similar but not exactly the same as the counterparts that Yusuke knew.
Mukuro seized upon Yusuke's shock and grappled for control of his mind again, and Yusuke almost let him before he realized what was happening. It took Yusuke a moment, but he managed to toss Mukuro out after some struggle and pulled up his mental guard again, blocking him.
"Keep moving if you don't want to get caught," Mukuro hissed at him mentally. No doubt the alarms in Vendicare had sounded, not to mention any moment now, Jin, Touya, and Lancia would come out of their shock and come after them.
Mukuro had no intention of facing off against Lancia, which Yusuke keenly related to. Yusuke had no intention of fighting Jin and Touya either, not when they looked at him like an enemy to eliminate.
For a second, Yusuke had really let himself think that it was his Jin and Touya.
His heart ached.
"Fuck," Yusuke said, as he summonded a portal to Demon World. "Fucking hell, I should just leave you here, you fucking asshole."
He could feel Mukuro go very still at the threat, and Yusuke remembered thirteen years old Mukuro screaming in pain on the bloodied experimentation table and hating the world so strongly he summoned Yuuko with his will. Yusuke held onto his anger for another moment, and then sighed, exhaling his anger out with it.
"Still can't believe you made me an enemy of the fucking Vendicare," Yusuke grumbled. He carefully didn't look back as he stepped through the portal, Mukuro still on his shoulder.
He could feel Jin and Touya's gazes on his back long after the portal closed.
xxx
Yusuke stood within Demon World's forest long after the portal closed behind him, human form automatically sliding away for his demon form of long untamed hair and tribal marks. His mind and heart raced through the events that transpired within the past day in the Human World. So much happened so quickly that he was still catching up.
There was Reborn with his dark cold eyes, coercing information out of him using Fuuta, even after Yusuke offered him an olive branch.
There was Mukuro, mind-controlling Yusuke in his moment of weakness to infiltrate Vendicare and to break him out of prison.
There were Jin and Touya, recognizing Yusuke, but not as friends. They saw him as an enemy, because they were Vendicare's and not his Jin and Touya.
There was Yusuke, opening a portal to Demon World right in front of them in Vindicare and stealing away with their prisoner on his shoulder.
There was Mukuro, still on Yusuke's shoulder in Demon World and knocked out cold. He was already physically weakened from prison and controlling Yusuke, and crossing over to Demon World most likely was the final straw.
And now, there was another familiar-yet-not-quite energy watching him from afar.
Yusuke almost didn't want to handle this, he was so tired of everything, but nevertheless, he took stock of the area he landed in, careful to not make any unexpected move. It didn't long before he spotted a vine of roses growing around a tree a few feet away. Each of the roses was a beautiful eye-catching red, the thorns of the vine lethally sharp, a work of art and a warning wrapped in one.
That was the marking of Youko Kurama and his crew.
Hiei, his aching heart thud, finally placing the energy watching him. He had gotten stronger yet again. Normally Yusuke would have been excited for a fight, but today he was just… exhausted, emotionally and mentally. At the moment, he could not bear to go through their usual song and dance of a fight, and then look into Hiei's eyes and see the same lack of regard and recognition that were echoed in Jin's and Touya's eyes earlier.
The memory of theirs and Reborn's dark cold eyes drilled into him, leaving Yusuke cold and hollow. He had no one, from the past or now.
Hiei jumped down from the tree he was observing Yusuke on, landing a couple feet away from him, and Yusuke braced himself for a fight. Instead, Hiei watched him for a moment ( fox-like , a part of his brain whispered, recognizing Kurama's usual careful consideration in Hiei's mannerism. He wondered if that was what bringing them earlier together in this world did, a part of Kurama forever living in Hiei and Hiei in Kurama, and for a second, felt jealous of their connection).
Hiei probbed at the edge of his mind like a curious cat knocking on a door, and Yusuke was mentally off-balanced enough that he flinched back as though burned, even though this was not the first time Hiei did so as a precursor to their usual fight. Over Yusuke's shoulder, Mukuro twitched in his unconsciousness and Yusuke felt Mukuro's Mist flame instinctively make an attempt at something against Hiei, but it was so weak that Yusuke couldn't even sense what it was since it wasn't directed at him.
Whatever it was made Hiei scoff, and finally, he said, "Tell him to try again when he's actually conscious." He smirked, his usual confident challenge in his eyes. "Not that he'll have a chance either way."
Yusuke's spirit energy, which he hadn't even noticed was bunched up defensively near the surface of his skin, ready to be used at the first sight of trouble, cautiously settled itself back to his center. "Tell him yourself," he shot back, then added, eyeing Mukuro dead to the world over his shoulder, "though he's pretty gone now."
Hiei looked at Mukuro and nodded at his assessment. "Come with me," he said, and when Yusuke hesitates, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion at him, Hiei rolled his eyes. "Let's go," he repeated and turned towards Kurama's signature rose vine marking with his back to Yusuke.
Yusuke didn't have enough mental control to stop his energy from swirling in confusion around him, which he was sure didn't escape Hiei's attention. Demons don't turn their back on others, unless it was a sign of trust or an intended slight towards a demon they know cannot pose a threat to them.
And despite Hiei's blase attitude, Yusuke understood Hiei turned his back towards him as a way of giving Yusuke leverage so Yusuke would trust him in turn. Only… Yusuke didn't understand why . This was not Hiei's usual style.
Yusuke would have checked whether Mukuro was secretly possessing Hiei, if only this was Hiei 's mind they were talking about and Mukuro would have an easier time trying to possess Yusuke again instead.
Hiei looked over his shoulder at Yusuke while he was thinking, slight annoyance and tension in his shoulders but his back still deliberating facing Yusuke. "Any day now, Mazoku," he said dryly.
Scared? the quick lift of his eyebrow said, and at that, Yusuke found the corner of his lips twitching upward for the first time these past days.
Hiei was goading him on purpose, they both knew, but Yusuke was never good at letting challenges go unaccepted. "Alright, Shorty," Yusuke said, his grin widening at the brief scowl that crossed Hiei's face. The smothering hurt in his chest eased, just a little. "Lead the way."
Besides, his Hiei or not, Yusuke still trusted him.
xxx
The run back to the center of Kurama's territory wasn't too long, only about an hour or two. They might have made it there faster if Hiei didn't have to match Yusuke's speed – if there was any universe where Yusuke could have outrun Hiei, this was not it; the thought created a strange mixture of annoyance and fondness within him – and then they had to further slow down in consideration of Mukuro.
The scathing look Hiei directed towards them both when he was forced to slow down and match Yusuke's pace after Mukuro let out a grunt of pain in his unconsciousness could have burned Mukuro and Yusuke to death. By himself at his own pace, Hiei would have probably arrived back at Kurama's hideout by then.
"You're the one who told me to follow," Yusuke pointed out, unable to help but be amused after the third time Hiei casted an exasperated look back at them.
If Hiei didn't look like he regretted his decision before, he sure did now. His hand flexed like he wanted to express his displeasure the usual way through a fight, only to refrain by the sight of the sickly Mukuro still bouncing slightly on Yusuke's shoulder with every step they took.
"You owe me a fight, Mazoku," Hiei grouched at him instead, and then sped up just enough so Yusuke was annoyingly two steps behind him, just enough to be within sight for Yusuke to follow but ahead enough that it was an undoubtedly a silent diss and taunt wrapped in one that conveyed exactly what Hiei thought of Yusuke's current running speed.
"You -" Yusuke said, only for Hiei to dart even farther ahead in the breath he took to speak. Yusuke spared another precious second to glare at Mukuro, who was somehow causing him trouble even while dead to the world, and then sighed and darted after Hiei.
Running with Hiei like this hurts a little, like pressing against an overworked muscle. It reminded Yusuke of running side by side with his own Hiei, and he was both happy and sad at that. Happy to see hints of his Hiei in this world full of strangers, and sad for the same reminder that this Hiei – for all the similarities - was still a stranger as well.
Or maybe his pain was just his actual overworked leg muscles. It had been a while since anyone pushed him like this, even if it was just running. Yusuke was so out of shape.
Yusuke would never admit it, but he was very grateful when they finally stopped, landing in front of a lush forest that towered over them with abundant fauna. More vines of thorny roses curled around the trunks of the trees around the forest's perimeter, their floral scent sweet and inviting, almost intoxicating. There's no mistaking who's territory they were entering.
"Follow my steps exactly, " Hiei warned. He picked up a rock from the ground and tossed it into the undergrowth in demonstration. Before the rock could even land, what Yusuke initially thought as a regular plant immediately whipped up and opened its mouth, revealing half a dozen sharp teeths and bits of meat leftover from its previous meal, and snatched it out of the air. Yusuke swore the plant almost seemed to grumble when it closed around the rock and realized it wasn't edible, and then the plant settled back down and blended into the forest again.
Right, this was Kurama's forest.
Suddenly, an image of all the plants in the forest descending upon Yusuke like ravenous animals the second he stepped foot into it appeared in his mind. It was not a nice image, and knowing Kurama's personality, none of the plants would offer a quick death.
The forest suddenly seemed much darker and foreboding.
"What if I just," Yusuke said, suggesting a Spirit Gun with a gesture of his index finger and thumb. He was only half joking. Blasting the forest away would actually save him from navigating the death trap that was Kurama's forest.
The withering look Hiei sent Yusuke made the back of his neck prickle self-consciously. "I'll leave it up to you to explain to Kurama how you murdered all his precious, carefully cultivated plants to save ten minutes of trouble," he said blandly.
"The forest looks great, actually," Yusuke said, immediately backtracking. "Very appealing and inviting," he rambled on. "Compliments to Kurama."
Hiei nodded like he expected that. "Follow my steps exactly, " he warned again, slower this time to emphasize on each word, as though speaking with someone particularly slow, "and do not touch Kurama's plants. I want no part of it if Kurama decides to kill you."
"Alright, alright," Yusuke said, holding up both hands in surrender. He shifted Mukuro on his shoulder to a more secure position when he threatened to slide off, and then gestured to Hiei to lead the way.
Hiei gave Yusuke one last warning look before they set off again, this time considerably slower into the forest. Speed was not the goal now, but rather precision. One wrong move could mean setting off the whole forest of some of Demon World's most deadly plants to go after them.
Yusuke was doing a pretty good job of following after Hiei, who was actually pretty patient in explaining what to avoid and leading slowly enough so Yusuke could see the exact steps he took, though some of the maneuvers they took were really precise and nerve wrecking. Yusuke felt like he entered one of those heist movies where he was dodging moving lasers and jumping over trap-triggering tiles on the floor, and honestly, that wasn't too far off from what he was actually doing.
Yusuke could see the light at the end of the forest now and in his excitement, landed on the next safe spot of the forest a little too heavily. Nothing too alarming in that, Yusuke could tell from Hiei's careless glance back before he kept going, except when Yusuke moved to follow, Mukuro - who was still hanging off Yusuke's shoulder and was subtly displaced when Yusuke landed too roughly - slid off Yusuke's shoulder when he pushed off to the next landing.
Yusuke's eyes widened the moment he felt Mukuro's unconscious body fall off his shoulder, but momentum was already pushing him forward. He couldn't reach Mukuro in time. He twisted back mid-air and noticed the patch of plants Mukuro was falling towards already had their mouths opened and stretched towards their next meal.
Sorry, buddy, Yusuke thought, and raised his finger at the plants.
A wave of demon energy blasted outward from somewhere behind him, powerful and strong. It commanded obedience, and it commanded they stop . Yusuke was so surprised he missed the opportunity to fire his Spirit Gun, instead landing on his feet a second later.
Mukuro's body plopped into the patch of plants.
Yusuke rushed forward to where Mukuro fell, half expecting to see only bones left because Demon World's plants can be vicious , only to stop at the sight of Mukuro laying on the patch of plants, looking no worse for wear. The plants beneath him, all previously mouthing towards him with sharp poisonous teeth, laid bunch together, forming an impromptu cushion.
Yusuke tugged Mukuro back onto his shoulder, feeling vaguely guilty for carrying him around like a rag doll and then almost letting him get eaten by a bunch of carnivorous plants. Then, he registered the demon energy he felt before and looked up.
"Hey, Kurama," Yusuke said, to Kurama's silhouette against the light outside of the forest behind him. It was impossible not to recognize Kurama with his seven tails swaying elegantly behind him, a casual testament to his strength. How many fox demons live to hold seven tails? "What a welcome committee."
Kurama stepped forward into view. "Hello Yusuke," he said. There was a smile on his face. Yusuke couldn't tell if it actually reached his eyes or if Yusuke was getting sentimental in his old age. Hiei went and stood beside Kurama. "Welcome."
Yusuke had a strange feeling like he was meeting Hiei and Kurama for the first time, even though he regularly broke into their camps for a visit whenever he came back to Demon World.
… Though come to think of it, Yusuke didn't ever recall his breaking in being as difficult as this forest.
Yusuke narrowed his eyes at Kurama at the thought, and Kurama's smile softened, even as a smirk rose to Hiei's face. Their smiles and smirks… they definitely were genuine. Seeing them on these Kurama and Hiei was like seeing old friends. It was impossible for him to not see his Kurama and Hiei in them.
"Let's go," Kurama said, and deliberately turned his back to Yusuke as well, just as Hiei did previously. As he did, he casually tossed a struggling rabbit in his hand to the plants Mukuro fell on before, and the plants eagerly snatched it out of mid air. Yusuke stared in morbid fascination as within seconds, only bones remained.
Patting Mukuro reassuringly on the back, Yusuke followed.
xxx
Kurama led them deep into a part of his territory that Yusuke didn't recognize, until they finally stopped at a wooden cabin wreathed with vines, plants, and flowers on the outside. It was hard to say whether it was more cabin or plant at that point, but either way, it was elegant and beautiful. Yusuke could tell Kurama spent a lot of time and effort on it.
There was no one else in the vicinity, not even one of Kurama's many subordinates, even though they were usually all celebrating yet another heist at random various clearings whenever Yusuke visited. The only other energy he sensed was Yomi's stale one lingering in the air, though he was no longer in the vicinity, along with Hiei's and Kurama's energy.
"Let me secure the perimeter," Kurama said, already moving away after leading them here. He looked back at Yusuke. "Then we can talk."
It didn't exactly sound ominous, yet it did have a certain weight to it, like there was more to it than just talking. Talk about what? Yusuke didn't even know what he was doing here.
He watched Hiei move towards the house and lean against its plant-covered outer wall, the plants on the wall almost seeming to reach out to him in embrace. The place suited Hiei, like he belonged there, like the place accepted him. Hiei looked more relaxed here than Yusuke had ever seen him in this world and Yusuke thought back to Kurama and realized it was the same for him.
Suddenly, it clicked that Kurama didn't just bring Yusuke into his territory, but to his home .
It spoke of entirely too much trust from Kurama and Hiei to Yusuke, especially considering their distant acquaintance in this world.
"What is this?" Yusuke asked, staring at Hiei. He breathed slowly, careful to not jump to any conclusion or let his heart leap with hope again, yet it seemed like he succeeded too well when Hiei snorted at what was probably a twisted pained expression on Yusuke's face.
"Sit, Mazoku," Hiei said, gesturing to one of the chairs around the table outside of the cabin. When Yusuke just stared at him instead, waiting for an answer, Hiei glared at him for a moment before looking away. "We know you purposely led me to Kurama, a century ago."
Yusuke startled. He did not expect that. "I wanted your Ice Maiden's tear gem," Yusuke started after a second of delay, using the same well-worn excuse, but Hiei pushed off the wall with the shake of his head.
"Bullshit. You were familiar with us - our personalities, motives, and backgrounds. You knew us," Hiei said, and Yusuke could scarcely breathe. "Only we didn't know you." Those words, at that point, only hurt a little, like pressing at a healing bruise. Yet, it still hurted. Hiei watched Yusuke, taking in all those minute details, and finally added, "Until now."
"Only we didn't know you. Until now," Hiei said. Was he - ?
Yusuke searched Hiei's face for his own Hiei reflecting back through it, but though there is familiarity, it wasn't from his own world. Yusuke felt like he was desperately grasping in the dark, unaware of which side was even up or down.
"You told him?" Yusuke heard Kurama return and ask, through his own muffled mixture of hope and denial circling round and round. And then, Kurama said, "Breathe, Yusuke, " and Yusuke was about to snap at him to fuck off until a sweet, relaxing scent entered his nose.
Yusuke's mind, for the lack of better words, silenced and his body became boneless, like he was floating. It was really pleasant for a few seconds, like submerging himself in a relaxing quiet bath, up until someone abruptly interrupted like a slap to the face, "Wake up!"
Yusuke came back to himself a few seconds later, just in time to note the last touch of Mist flames slipping away from his mind. He was still standing outside Kurama and Hiei's home with Mukuro slumped on his shoulder. Only he was much calmer now, like his mind and body went through a reboot.
"Mukuro?" Yusuke prompted in his mind, as his eyes came into focus. Kurama and Hiei were speaking in front of him, Kurama with a yellow plant he wasn't holding before. There was the same sweet relaxing scent Yusuke noticed before emitting from it.
"How you survive this long is beyond me, " Mukuro sneered, despite sounding quite weak. A two hour power nap probably wasn't enough to eliminate the debilitating effects of months of imprisonment yet, which Yusuke suspected was the only reason Mukuro didn't try to take over his mind again. "You're going to be the death of us both."
"... waited until I came back," Kurama was in the middle of saying to Hiei. The way they were deep into talk clearly suggested they didn't expect Yusuke to be conscious yet, which was kind of insulting.
"Did you drug me with that?" Yusuke demanded, pointing at the yellow plant that Kurama held to Yusuke's face.
Kurama startled, most likely not expecting Yusuke to recover so fast – but a certain Mist's life literally hung on Yusuke's shoulder, and Mukuro didn't seem to like the odds of Yusuke protecting them both while drugged. It only took a second for Kurama to recover and then he pulled the yellow plant back from Yusuke with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Yes," Kurama admitted, tucking the plant away. Yusuke eyed him warily, sure that he had more seeds of that flower that he could grow if needed. "Its scent acts as a sedative, usually for a couple of minutes depending on the demon's strength class. Even with your strength, I was expecting you to be out for at least a minute." There was a question there, though Yusuke pretended not to notice. When Yusuke remained unimpressed and silent, especially with Mukuro sneering in his head telling him to walk away, Kurama continued reasonably, "You were at the verge of a panic that threatened our humble abode, Yusuke. This was the least destructive way at my disposal."
Yusuke pondered on that statement, before mentally admitting Kurama was right, as always. Yusuke would have probably knocked himself out if he was in Kurama's place, so it wasn't like he could hold a grudge. Ignoring Mukuro's mental hiss of "Are you an idiot? ", Yusuke plopped down on the ground and carefully laid Mukuro down on his back as well, an apology for dropping him in the forest and a thanks for clearing his mind wrapped in one. Then, he gestured to Hiei and Kurama to join him.
Once Hiei and Kurama were seated, Yusuke took a breath and then said, "Okay, what the hell? Why are you guys doing this?" Yusuke gestured to him at their home, which was a huge sign of trust disproportionate to their current relationship, and then to them sitting side by side with him.
Hiei gave Kurama a look that pretty much said the stage is yours and then Kurama said simply, "Reciprocation and a sign of trust."
"You'll be an idiot to believe that. I don't care if you know a version of him in another timeline," Mukuro said, referring to a glimpse of memory he caught from Yusuke before. "He's clearly a chronological liar."
"Trickster, " Yusuke mentally corrected, because there was a difference. Kurama would lie for his own gain, as easy as breathing, but Yusuke knew Kurama only lied as a means to an end. That, or for fun, but a game was only as fun as the challenge in it. "And I don't think he's lying to me."
"Based on what? How well you know him in this world?" Mukuro asked derisively.
"Instincts," Yusuke replied, and then said aloud, taking the bait Kurama offered him, "Why?"
"We wish to befriend you," Kurama said with a smile, uncharacteristically straightforward. Then he added, offering additional information this time without waiting for Yusuke to prompt as a sign of friendliness, "Hiei and I have been getting dreams of a very different world and a different life." He paused, and then added, "You were in it."
Yusuke stared at him, unbreathing.
"He's not lying," Yusuke stated to Mukuro. He felt like he was dreaming, and that prompted him to look towards Mukuro, of all people, for a sanity check.
"Trickster ," Mukuro reminded him. "He's just trying to prompt you for information."
"True, but he's not lying either," Yusuke said. He had a feeling Mukuro was rolling his eyes. " Instincts, man."
To Kurama and Hiei, Yusuke said, unable to stop himself from leaning in intently, "What, specifically?" because Mukuro was right, Kurama's vague statement could just be a shot in the dark.
"Detective," Hiei said, and Yusuke jolted. It had been a long time since he was called that. "You were a Spirit Detective for the Spirit World. Unlike this world, the barrier between the Human World and Demon World was weak, so you took care of demons that slipped through the barrier that could threaten humanity." Hiei looked at Yusuke, eyes boring into him. "You gave that world's Kurama and Hiei a second chance after you were sent by Koemna to capture us, and we later became…" Yusuke watched with a growing smile as Hiei finally settled on, "Allies." He concluded, "You went out of your way to interact with Kurama and me in this world, despite our lack of relations, because you knew us in another world."
Yusuke found himself fond and nostalgic despite himself, all because Hiei - regardless of worlds - still couldn't admit aloud to anyone that they were friends. Also because, they're not his world's Kurama and Hiei, but they have their memories.
"You're too easy, " Mukuro said, and Yusuke replied without heat, "Shut up."
"Show me," Yusuke said to Hiei and Kurama, his final hurdle, and their eyes widened. Sharing memories with someone was deeply personal on the sharer's side, but also very vulnerable for the person receiving the memories, since they would have to open their mind to the sharer. It was not something done lightly without incredible trust on both sides. "'Reciprocation and a sign of trust,' that's what you said."
"You really do leap headfirst, don't you, Yusuke?" Kurama asked after a moment, amused and amazed, but also fond . Mukuro echoed Kurama's sentiment in Yusuke's mind but in an incredibly less friendly and impressed manner, but Yusuke didn't care. Kurama sounded like… he stumbled upon an extinct species he read in a book that actually turned out to exist in real life.
Which would make Yusuke the extinct species, which he wasn't sure was a flattering comparison, but Yusuke was looking at Kurama and Hiei much in the same way. Yusuke felt alive for the first time in days, exhilarated and delighted. The last time he felt this way was…
When he was with Reborn.
"Ready, Mazoku?" Hiei said, walking over to him. He unwrapped his bandage around his forehead, revealing his third eye. Much like Yusuke, Hiei didn't bat an eye at many things, but whereas Yusuke did it with reckless abandon and little concern, Hiei did it because he was confident. In his own ability to handle himself and in Kurama, who was there watching to step in as needed.
"Fools die sooner, Yusuke," Mukuro snapped, his last attempt at persuasion.
"Then tell me," Yusuke replied back, as he looked Hiei in the eyes, both with matching confident grins despite the high-stakes. Yusuke could feel himself getting drawn into Hiei's memories and he let it happen. "Am I being a fool right now?"