Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ In Omnia Paratus ❯ Yoko Kurama ( Chapter 7 )

Anonymous / Mediaminer Reviewer(s):

 

Kerri: Thanks lots for the review! I'm glad the chapter wasn't awkward—it seemed like it to me, but I think I've reached the point where I just can't tell anymore. So I have to rely on other people to tell me the truth about it. Oh, and also, thanks for letting me know about AFF—it was driving me nuts to think that I may not ever be able to read Koibito Yami again…^___^ Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

 

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Sam was relieved when Kurama was the one who began what promised to be a lengthy conversation. He couldn't for the life of him understand why the red-haired young man had thought it necessary that he and Dean were here today, but right now he was more concerned with what would eventually be asked of them. It had been bad enough to find out that Yukina, Genkai, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei knew the family secret, that Dean had broken the most important “we-do-what-we-do-and-shut-up-about-it” family rule. And then they'd had to break it again with Kurama, because they needed his help and there was no point in being less than truthful.

 

But Sam was reaching his limit in sharing, and he could tell Dean was too. Their father would kill them if he ever found out that they'd already let six people find out just in the last day or two, and if they told all of these other people sitting at this table—it wasn't a nice prospect.

 

They were going to ask, though. That much was obvious. He and Dean had stumbled upon something here, and whoever Willow, Tara, Buffy, Xander and Giles were, they were a part of it. And, from Kurama's last comment before beginning his tale, they also knew about demons and spirits and the like.

 

Now, Sam hadn't been laboring under the delusion that he and Dean and their father, John, were the only ones out there who knew these things. Too many lives were touched every day for everyone to be clueless. But most people tended to rationalize things they couldn't explain, even if it was the death of a loved one, and so never saw the truth, and Sam had always sort of thought that they were very much in the minority.

 

Apparently, these people were an exception to the widespread game of “there-has-to-be-a-logical-explanation.”

 

How? Why? What had happened?

 

And what had this Buffy chick meant when she'd called them civilians? Wasn't she one? And all of these others? Wasn't everyone else here, except, perhaps, Kurama and Hiei, a civilian?

 

Apparently not.

 

Well, at least when they start grilling me I'll have some questions of my own, Sam thought grimly, sitting back to listen intently to Kurama's story.

 

XXX

 

“I was born over a thousand years ago, in Makai. That's what you may refer to as a `hell dimension', although truly, it isn't anything like what you humans would think of as Hell. There are no eternal flames, no inescapable torments. But it's a cold world, with many cruel people, most of whom kill anyone who crosses their path just for the sake of it, and you must adapt to survive.

 

“I adapted. I learned quickly not to rely on anyone, because the truth was, they simply didn't care—not even my parents, who I forgot long ago. From the time I was very small, I did everything on my own. I fed myself, clothed myself, trained myself in battle…everything that human parents do for their children—and some things they don't—I taught myself.

 

“And I loved it. There were no consequences, no clash between what was `right' and `wrong.' In my mind, nothing mattered except strength—not the lives I took or the valuable treasures that I loved to steal. Makai had no laws to hold me back—there, it was kill or be killed, and that was that. Whoever had the power made the rules.

 

“I wanted the power. I wanted to be the one making the rules.

 

“I lived in Makai for one thousand years, and in all that time I never stopped working to gain strength. But in that time I became cocky. By the time I reached my tenth century I was certain that next to no one could rival me. I was very stupid. And I was also bored.

 

“I was cocky, stupid, and bored. A very dangerous combination…

 

“So, one night, nineteen years ago, I decided to commit a robbery in a very dangerous place. The fact that it was the most dangerous thing I'd ever done—or even attempted—excited me more. Ah, such a mistake…”

 

—Flashback—

 

“He's getting away!”

 

Yoko smiled wolfishly as the voice echoed to his pointed, furry ears from behind. Each of his five tails twitched playfully as he bounded across the ground, in full kitsune [1] form. Later, when he got back to the cave that had been his home lately, he would transform into his other body, that of an extremely tall man, who would look human except for having two pointed ears poking out of the top of his head and a long, gray fox tail. His eyes would change to a sharp golden color then, and his hair would be very long and silvery, the color that his coat was now.

 

Yoko liked that form. He found it rather…dashing.

 

“Get him!”

 

…But this form was infinitely better for running.

 

He couldn't believe he'd gotten caught. How in the name of the gods had that happened? He was Yoko Kurama! He didn't get caught! Especially not on a simple thieving job…the Reikai bastards must have been tipped off or something…

 

“We've got `im now!”

 

Well, he'd figure that out later.

 

Not that he was afraid, of course. Fear was not an emotion that he was accustomed to, nor one that came easily or often. In fact, he couldn't remember ever feeling it…he doubted he would recognize it if it did decide to show up.

 

He did wonder what this odd feeling was, though—that weird speeding up of his heart, the constricted sensation in his chest, the quickness of his breath. He hadn't been running long enough to strain himself, so it couldn't be that…

 

He'd barely completed the thought when the pain came. It was sudden, crippling, like nothing he had ever felt before. It was killing.

 

“…Damn.”

 

—End Flashback—

 

“So I died. To this day, I can't figure out what happened. All I know is that one moment I was running, and the next my soul and body were two separate things.

 

“I should have gone to the Reikai then. I knew that just was well then as I do now. But back then, I didn't care about little things like natural order. The only thing I thought then was that I would live, whatever the cost to me or others. So, I found a woman in Tokyo, Japan and quickly imprisoned my own soul inside the body of her unborn child.”

 

XXX

 

Sam recoiled involuntarily, trying to keep a sudden wave of disgust from crossing his features. Looking at Dean, he saw that his brother wasn't even trying—he was now staring at Kurama with frank and open horror.

 

They weren't the only ones, either. Every single person at the table besides Hiei were looking at Kurama with expressions ranging from furious to frightened, and all of them looked ready to bolt from the café.

 

Kurama looked around at them, and his face took on a sad, almost pained expression. “Yes,” he said softly. “It is a terrible thing that I did. The knowledge that I did it is always hovering at the back of my mind, and whenever I don't have anything to think about, whenever I let my guard down, it creeps up and hits me. I doubt I'll ever forget it entirely, or forgive myself for it. But you don't need to be as frightened as you are. It's smart to be cautious, but I swear I'm not that person anymore.”

 

He was undoubtedly sincere, and Sam felt the emotions rolling through him abate slightly.

 

“Why not?” Buffy asked suspiciously.

 

“You'll see,” Kurama said simply, and continued with his tale.

 

XXX

 

“I was as weak as an average human baby when I was reborn. I had known I would be, and so I was able to accept it. I knew that my power and strength would return as the years went by, and estimated that by the age of ten I would be strong enough to return to Makai, and maybe someday, I would be able to get my kitsune form back. Until then, I would just lie low. It was an excellent plan, for all its simplicity.

 

“Things progressed almost exactly as I'd wanted them to, with the small exception that I was forced to allow a woman—a human woman—to care for me, because I was too physically weak in a human body to do it myself. Suddenly, there were rules, consequences, things to hold me back, and I had to put up with it because I couldn't survive on my own. And the human—she never left me alone. She was always there, hovering, never taking her eyes off me. When she went somewhere without me, she called another human to hover, and referred to this human as `the babysitter.' She cared so greatly for me, with a love that knew no bounds.

 

“I hated her. In my eyes, her love was worthless, accomplishing nothing but to stifle and humiliate me in the name of affection. She was beneath me, and she should have been following my rules rather than the other way around.

 

“Still, I hid my disdain as well as I could, because I feared that if I showed it, if I became disrespectful, she would send me away, and if that happened, it was possible that I would be found by my kind—or, a thousand times worse, a Reikai law patrol—before I was ready. Then I would surely die, for good this time. I didn't understand that a mother's love is too great and pure for Shiori to ever not love me, no matter how I treated her.”

 

XXX

 

Kurama paused again and looked from Sam, to Dean, to Buffy, to Willow, to Tara, to Xander, to Giles. The last four looked uncomfortable, Buffy looked as if she were trying not to throw up, and Sam and Dean just looked even more expressionless than before, though they seemed rather reluctant to look at Kurama or each other—or anyone else, for that matter.

 

Kurama immediately looked worried. “I can't have offended all of you at once—is that possible?

 

“…No,” Sam replied quietly, speaking for all of them without realizing it. “No, go on.”

 

Kurama looked momentarily uncertain, but then he nodded. “Very well.”

 

XXX

 

“Well, even when a thousand-year-old demon thinks he is oppressed and restrained beyond all forgiveness, time still tends to pass quickly for him. The ten years required for me to return to passable strength went by at at least a moderate pace. As the time for my departure drew near, I became more and more excited, though of course I concealed it as I did every other emotion. I couldn't wait to go home, to where I understood things…to where I was free.

 

And yet, it seems that this was not what was meant to be, because shortly after my tenth `birthday' my mother fell ill.

 

“Now, you're thinking that it shouldn't have mattered. It should be apparent by now that I didn't care about her. And it's true that when I first found out, it didn't matter to me. I went on making my preparations without a second thought.

 

“It wasn't until I was about to open a portal that it hit me, hard. Shiori was dying. It may not have been that night, or the next, or even the one after that, but someday, maybe someday soon, the woman who had spent the last ten years caring for me was going to leave this world, robbed of her life by a killer living inside her own body.

 

“At the time, I couldn't understand the horrible feeling that came over me at the thought. It caught at my breath and weakened my body and made me altogether furious. I wanted it gone, and was sure that if I could just get away from this house, this world, where the woman had entered my life, if I could just get back to Makai where such things mattered not—I could forget.

 

“I started to open to portal.

 

“The feeling worsened.

 

“Stubbornly, I tried to ignore it, though it grew as the portal did.

 

“I didn't notice my tears until the third slid down, and for a few moments I couldn't for the life of me figure out what they were. Then I remembered what Shiori did sometimes for reasons unknown to me—I was crying.

 

“I grew angry then. I shouted, screamed, thinking that maybe if I could just yell loud enough, I could get that poisonous, debilitating feeling out of me by sheer volume. When that didn't work, I closed the portal and went inside—I was in the backyard at the time—and began to systematically wreck the house. I upended chairs, threw end tables across the living room, tore cushions off the couch, smashed lamps, turned over the kitchen table—by the time I was done the house was barely recognizable, and I was exhausted.

 

“I guess I fell asleep or passed out or something, because the next thing I knew it was morning and I was lying on the floor of the destroyed living room, my muscles aching from all the work they'd done in my rage, my eyes gritty from tears.

 

“I was tired, in pain, but at last I felt calm enough to think. And more importantly, I knew what I was going to do now. I had never wanted to do it, but now I had no doubt that it was the right thing for her and for me.

 

“I went to the hospital first. They tried to keep me out—to them I was only a ten-year-old-boy, after all—but I'm a very persuasive person and in a few minutes I was on my way to Shiori's room.

 

“She was overjoyed to see me—she said that she had told them, over and over, that she needed to call her son and get a babysitter, but they had been too busy running those all-important `tests'—and she seemed quite calm, and quite unsurprised that I was so calm. We didn't once touch upon the subject of her disease or where we were, but rather spoke of pleasant things like my schooling and what I was reading at the moment—I'd always been a shameless bibliophile—and in turn I asked her about work and her friends. Once we'd covered all this—which took a surprising amount of time—she made a phone call to `the babysitter' and then we kept on with our conversation.

 

“I stayed there all day, and by the time I left, I was a new man. I had never enjoyed anything as much as those hours with my mother—and I no longer had any qualms about thinking of her as `mother'—and I was looking forward to doing it again the next day. The fact that I was going to be around the next day suddenly seemed perfectly obvious.

 

“I went home with the babysitter, and when we got there and she saw the wreckage of the house, she was at first sure that we had been robbed. When I told her I had done it—well, she nearly fainted. I could almost see her thoughts stamped across her face—what ten-year-old could do such a thing? But luckily she chose not to say anything, and I cleaned up the mess with her help.

 

“Once that was done, I went and called my school, to inform them that I wouldn't be coming in for a while. The secretary who answered got rather flustered when I explained, likely because my tone was so normal and tranquil. I had always disconcerted people at my school—I knew far too much for my age and I was way more down-to-earth than many adults. But this proved to my advantage now—the secretary's discomfort made her easy to talk down, and soon I convinced her to excuse me for as long as I needed, and we worked out a plan for me to get my work done so that I could keep up with everyone else.

 

“And so I stayed. I gave up all thought of going home, and I began a whole new life. A life that consisted of school, humans—and a search for my mother's cure.

 

“Five years passed. I went through elementary and middle school, and I went on to my first year of high school. My mother went on with life, too, and only the occasional collapse and hospitalization marked her out as one diseased. We became…close…and it began to seem to me that this was the world I…belonged in.

 

“Then I met Hiei.”

 

—Flashback—

 

Kurama studied the small, lethal demon in front of him with a mocking sort of amusement, allowing just enough of his emotions to show on his face to make the other aware of them. “And what makes you think I care about any of this?”

 

To Kurama's surprise—which he did conceal, as surprise may betray a weak point—the stranger met his gaze—and his biting sarcasm—without so much as a blink. “Because I know who you are. And I know why you remain in this…place.”

 

Kurama stiffened involuntarily, forgetting entirely to hide his shock. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't that.

 

The stranger gave a smirk to rival Kurama's trademark one, though he looked anything but amused. “Yes…I know that you stay here—though you could leave at any time—for a dying human woman.”

 

“H-how…?”

 

“Oh, there's no need to worry. It's far from common knowledge. My source is very discreet, but his identity is secret. Suffice to say, I find him very reliable. I'm disappointed, really,” he went on, his voice thick with that very feeling. “All my life I've been hearing about the great Yoko Kurama. How cunning, how fearless, how ruthless…why, the way people tell it, you could teach me a thing or two. I have been searching for you since I was old enough to be on my own—in other words, since my fifth year—and now, I've found you, only to come to the realization that you've gone soft.”

 

“There's more to it than you understand,” said Kurama quietly. “You don't know the whole story.”

 

“I don't need to. I don't care about the why. I only care about the benefits.”

 

“What benefits?” Kurama asked suspiciously.

 

“Power, fame, riches, the works,” Hiei said dismissively. “For me, at least. With your help, I could have it all…with your help…” These words, which should have been colored with ambition, greed, some kind of passion, were disturbingly flat, and somehow Kurama knew that this stranger's true reasons for seeking his help went far beyond such petty things as wealth and fame.

 

“And why would I help you? What's in it for me?” Kurama asked, because no matter how long he stayed in the human world, he was still Yoko Kurama, and Yoko Kurama always weighed cost versus benefit with much caution before making any decisions.

 

Hiei seemed rather pleased. “Good to see you haven't entirely forgotten our ways.” When Kurama didn't reply, he said, “All right, I'll cut to the chase. I can give you your mother's cure.”

 

It was a good thing that he didn't seem to expect an answer to that, because from the moment the words left him Kurama was robbed of all speech. He could only stare, and shake, and try to form a coherent thought, and fail, badly.

 

The stranger smiled coldly, and turned away. “I'll meet you tomorrow, and we can talk plans.” He didn't have to ask if they had a deal—even though Kurama had know idea what he was agreeing to, that he would agree was no longer an issue.

 

“Wait!” Kurama said quickly, finding his voice as the stranger nodded in satisfaction and began to walk away. “Who are you?”

 

The silence went on so long that at first Kurama thought the stranger wasn't going to answer. Then the deep voice floated back to him, bitter and filled with a loathing that was directed not at Kurama, but at himself.

 

“…Forbidden.”

—End Flashback—

 

“Hiei's goal turned out to be a rather simple one. He wanted to steal three magical Artifacts from a well-guarded Spirit World vault—the Mirror of Forlorn Hope, capable of granting any one wish to its holder, the Orb of Baast, made to steal souls, and the Shadow Sword, which turned anyone it was used on into a mindless zombie. It was the last that Hiei wanted most, though he wouldn't say why.

 

“Now, these three Artifacts had been in the Spirit World all along, but even I had never tried stealing them before. Still, that was what Hiei was proposing. And as for the deal—well, it was simple: if I helped Hiei steal the Artifacts, he would give me the Mirror, to use however I wanted.

 

“I agreed instantly, of course. That had been a given from the moment Hiei told me he could make my mother well again. And with my cunning and his skill at improvisation, we soon had a plan worked out.

 

“We didn't wait even a day. We set off for the Spirit World that very night. There was a third with us, but his name doesn't even bear remembering, nor does anything else about him. He was in it because he wanted the Orb of Baast, and, as he was very strong, stupid, and easy to manipulate, and so would be useful, and as Hiei and I didn't really care what happened to that particular Artifact, we let him come along.

 

“The whole thing went off without a hitch. I was amazed at how easy it was—and suspicious. But not so much so that I left the Mirror with Hiei—oh, most definitely not.

 

“I wasn't aware, of course, that there was a new Spirit Detective in town. I know that you, Sam and Dean, have met him. For those who haven't, a Spirit Detective is someone, usually a human, who has been given special abilities to help protect the human world from harm at the hands of demonic and spiritual forces. Sort of like you, Buffy, except that the Spirit Detective has more physical and mental power than even you.

 

“But I digress. The point is, the moment it was discovered that the Artifacts were missing, the new Spirit Detective, Yusuke Urameshi, was sent to get them back. By the time I caught wind of him, he had already disposed of the third in our small group, and he was after me. So, in an attempt at damage control, I asked him to meet me, just to talk, and to my surprise, he agreed.

 

“We met at the hospital. I chose there because my mother had collapsed again the day before and so was back in ICU for a few days, and there was a point I needed to make. When Yusuke got there, I took him straight up to her room—not so much because I wanted him to meet her, but because I wanted him to see her.

 

“I spent a few minutes with her, Yusuke standing at the doorway and looking uncomfortable, and then we went up to the hospital roof, where I explained everything. Then, once I was sure that he understood the situation, I asked him to let me keep the Mirror, just for the night. Then, for all I cared, he could trade it for one of those videogames he loves so much.

 

“He questioned me, of course, questioned my motives and why he should believe me. I had a very simple reason, however: it didn't matter in the least whether I wanted to keep the mirror or not, because once I'd made my wish—that my mother be cured of her disease—the Mirror would require a price, and I would give my life in payment.

 

“And then, while he was staring at me, I crouched down, and called on the power of the Mirror. It asked my wish, and named the price. I accepted and prepared to die.

 

“Even I couldn't have foreseen what happened next. Yusuke, who, by the way, is very much one for interfering, got in there and demanded that the Mirror take his life instead. He said that he had seen enough broken parents and he didn't want to see it happen to my mother when I died.

 

“The only thing I had time to thing was, `What a strange person…' and then the Mirror lit up bright as day and Yusuke and I were thrown across the roof of the hospital. I heard it say that it would grant my wish, and spare both our lives, because of Yusuke's selflessness.

 

“The doctors pronounced it a miracle, but…I knew better. It was all Yusuke…just as it would be many more times in the following years. That one act was only the beginning…

 

“But I'm getting ahead of myself. There was still Hiei to consider. He knew about Yusuke already, and unlike me, he wanted a fight. And Yusuke was going to go after him the next night. I didn't have to ask him about it—I knew, and I made up my mind to be there.

 

“Details would take a great deal of time, and this story is already far longer than I'd planned, but the basic gist of it is, by sunset the next day, Yusuke and I had defeated Hiei—who was, admittedly, extremely angry with me, but even then he never could stay that way with me for long—and in the morning he was in the custody of the Spirit World guards. And so was I—I had turned myself in, finally having accomplished what I had been trying to do for so long.

 

“I was allowed to go on living with my mother, however, and things went back to something resembling normalcy.

 

“Almost seven months after that, Yusuke received a job to go after a demon at a place called Maze Castle. And as Hiei and I were still technically in Spirit World custody, and had to follow their rules if we could ever hope to be free again, we were sent to help him and his best friend Kazuma Kuwabara. Now, Kuwabara was again different—he is one of the unique individuals to whom the ability to use the energy that all creatures have comes naturally, and so he helped Yusuke on his jobs.

 

“And suddenly, we—Yusuke, Kuwabara, me, and—however much he denies it—Hiei—were team mates…and friends.”

 

XXX

 

There was a long silence after Kurama finally finished his story. The plates had been emptied without anyone noticing, and the lunch crowd was starting to drift in. The waitress who had served them kept looking over at the table, as if wondering what they could possibly be saying that could take so long.

 

“So…how did you come to be here?” Giles asked, sounding as if he was trying very hard not to seem too shaken or excited.

 

“The Spirit World prince, Koenma, sent me here.

 

“Good Lord…”

 

“He says that a lot,” Buffy said. “Why'd he send you—or anyone, for that matter?”

 

Kurama reached for his glass, jostling Hiei a little as he did. When Hiei didn't say anything, Kurama looked down and found him asleep, his head on Kurama's shoulder, still worn out from the night before. Kurama chuckled softly and pressed an affectionate kiss to the top of Hiei's head before replying to Buffy's question. “Koenma is receiving signs of…something. He says something big is about to happen—something that's already starting. Starting here.”

 

No one at the table said anything to that—Sam and Dean just looked at each other, while Buffy, Xander, Willow and Tara looked at Giles, who asked, “Could you be more…I don't know…specific?”

 

Kurama shrugged. “No, not really. He just said that there was some dark power rising here, and it seems to be coming from the Hellmouth—oh, that's what Sunnydale is technically on top of,” he added, for the benefit of the Winchester brothers. “The land that this town is built on opens directly into Hell. A barrier separates the worlds—at home we call it Kekkai—but demon / human hybrids can get through it. Anyway, Buffy, Koenma feels that this—thing—may be beyond even your power—and mine, and Yusuke's, and even Hiei's. So, he sent me here, with the idea that I could warn you of the danger.”

 

“But you said when we met that you've already been here over a month,” Willow said, puzzled. “If it was so urgent, why wait?”

 

“Now, did I say it was urgent?” Kurama asked rhetorically. “I said a dark power was rising—it's isn't ready yet. The situation wasn't urgent a month ago, or even a week ago. It only became urgent when these two—” He nodded at Sam and Dean. “—Appeared on the scene.”

 

Buffy groaned and leaned forward, her head in her hands. “You should really just stop talking. Every time you open your mouth, you just end up making things more confusing.”

 

“I second that,” Sam said, earning himself a smile.

 

“Giles, does any of this ring some sort of bell for you?” Xander asked.

 

Giles, who had been staring at the table in silence since he'd last spoken, looked up. “No…there isn't anything apocalyptic scheduled this month…”

 

“Now, that is a nice sentence to hear from someone outside our family,” Dean said lightly.

 

“Yes…” Giles smiled slightly, but then he leaned forward with an earnest expression. “Now tell me, who exactly are you?”

 

“Oh…uh…well…” Sam looked uncomfortable, and Dean just plain refused to acknowledge the question.

 

“They hunt demons,” Kurama said quickly. “With their father. They came to me for help and it seems that their problem may have something to do with yours. That's why I brought them along.”

 

The Winchesters looked both surprised and grateful that Kurama had temporarily erased the need to explain so easily, but luckily no one noticed their expressions.

 

“But we don't have a problem,” Buffy said, sounding just a little angry. “All we've got is a warning and two random guys who need your help, not ours. What does any of this have to do with me and my friends?”

 

“Maybe everything.” Kurama sighed and shook his head. “Look, Buffy, you don't like me. Anyone can see that. And that doesn't really matter to me, if you want the truth. I have too much on my mind to be scrambling for the approval of someone who in all likelihood will hate me no matter what I do. But believe it or not, this isn't only about you. It involves your friends, and mine, and me, and Hiei, and Sam, and Dean, and maybe others. You don't believe that it could get bad, but you will. Within a few nights you'll begin having the dreams. And then, if nothing else, you'll believe that something is coming.”

 

“The dreams…” Buffy said slowly. “What dreams?”

 

“You know about the Slayer's prophecy dreams?” Giles asked in shock.

 

“The what?” Dean asked, looking just sick and tired of new information.

 

“The Slayer. Into each generation a Slayer is born…”

 

“Ooh, he really likes this part.”

 

“One girl in all the world,” Giles continued, ignoring Willow. “She alone will stand against the demons, vampires, and forces of darkness—”

 

“Oh, alone, huh? Interesting how many people think they're the only ones…well, it's a good thing I'm here to tell you what a bang-up job you're doing alone!” Dean snapped.

 

“Dean!” Sam said warningly.

 

“Okay, well, let's get back to the subject, shall we?” Giles said placatingly “Anyway, that's what a Slayer is. Now, how do you know about the dreams?”

 

“Spirit World Records Department,” Kurama said simply. “Anyway, you'll start having the dreams soon, Buffy, if recent events are any indication.”

 

“Yeah, but what do we do now?” Xander asked impatiently.

 

“Ah, well, as to that…I'm at a loss,” Kurama said, somewhat lamely. “This was as far as I got last night.”

 

“Convenient,” Xander huffed, and then fell into thoughtful silence.

 

Everyone else followed suit, each absorbed in different thoughts, all preoccupied, and for a long time the only sounds in the diner came from other customers.

 

“Okay, how's this for a plan?” Buffy said suddenly, causing everyone to start. “The four of you come to my house, and stay with me, my little sister, Willow, Tara, and Giles. And sometimes Xander and Anya. And Spike when he feels like it. Uh…it's a big house. Anyway, you four stay with us, and Giles can get his books and look stuff up. And meanwhile, Kurama, can you contact this Koenma guy who sent you here?”

 

“I can try.”

 

“Okay, then, try. And I guess once someone finds something, we can…go from there.”

 

XXX

 

Dean threw the last of his clothes into his bag and slammed it shut, glancing at his brother as he did. Sam had been quiet, even for him, hardly saying a word on the drive to the motel, and now he was packing up the weapons in their biggest bag in silence, a worried frown on his face.

 

Well, Dean knew what that look was about, anyway. He had his concerns about this arrangement, too. In fact, he had seriously considered refusing. But in the end, there was really no choice—he had to keep an eye on the two demons and this chick claiming to be a demon hunter like him and Sam, small as she was…and also undeniably female…

 

Don't go there…

 

Well, anyway, the point was, the situation obviously called for more reconnaissance, and the easiest way to accomplish that was to take Buffy up on her offer.

 

Plus, ya know, staying in the same house as four or five chicks…not such a bad way to spend one's time, in Dean's opinion.

 

Still, there were possible drawbacks.

 

But maybe nothing will happen…

 

Dean scoffed at his own thoughts. Yeah, right.

 

Winchester luck just didn't run like that.

 

XXX

 

“Well, it's better than the motel,” Dean said as he climbed out of the rental car and went to open the trunk.

 

“Anything's better than the motels we stay in,” Sam said distractedly, pulling his bag out and throwing it over his shoulder. “Should we bring the weapons in?”

 

Dean thought about it, then shrugged. “I don't think it'll matter if we do. If they do hunt demons then they won't be surprised.”

 

Sam nodded and picked up the heavy bag in addition to his own, grimacing slightly. Dean saw his brother's hand start to rise, as if he was going to make the too-familiar motion of rubbing his forehead, but then he seemed to force the temptation back.

 

Pretending he hadn't noticed anything, Dean slammed the trunk closed and he and Sam headed for the door. “Hey, you ever remember what you dreamed about when we were still in Japan?” he asked off-handedly, reaching the porch steps.

 

Sam rang the bell and said simply, “Nope.” Glancing at him, Dean could easily see that he was telling the truth—Sam was great at lying to anyone but him. “Why?”

 

Dean lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug, trying to look untroubled—he didn't know himself why that bugged him when Sam didn't seem to be all that concerned about it. “…No reason.”

 

XXX

 

An hour later, Sam and Dean had been introduced to Dawn Summers and Anya Jenkins, one of whom seemed relatively normal and the other who clearly—wasn't—and been given a thorough tour of the Summers home, including the guest room where they'd be sleeping—they flipped a coin over the bed, and of course Sam won, but Dean insisted that he would have let him have the bed anyway. Kurama and Hiei were offered Willow and Tara's bed, which Hiei flatly refused without even an attempt at politeness. Kurama had taken him firmly in hand, however, and within a couple of minutes he had Hiei apologizing stiffly and telling Buffy quite nicely that he just couldn't sleep in beds.

 

When asked where he did plan to sleep, however, Hiei merely shrugged and said, “The roof, or maybe the porch. Trees have always been good, too.”

 

They thought he was joking.

 

Kurama assured them he wasn't, and that was the end of the matter.

 

XXX

 

“Aren't you going to have any dinner, love?”

 

Hiei looked up at Kurama, who was standing next to the porch swing, looking at him with mild concern, and out of reflex he tried to keep from smiling before realizing that he simply didn't need to do that anymore—not with Kurama.

 

He had come outside hours ago, tiring quickly of the crowd in the house, and now the sun was setting. Hiei himself was curled up on the porch swing, arms wrapped around his knees in a very un-Hiei-like manner that would have made those inside—who had, after all, only just met him—do a double take. He was looking at the multi-colored sky, and in his eyes was something that made Kurama's heart ache, though not necessarily in a bad way.

 

“Not right now,” he said. “I'm not really hungry.”

 

Kurama nodded acceptance and sat down, and Hiei moved to sit close to him. “Some day, huh?”

 

“Mm-hmm…weird day,” Hiei murmured, sighing in contentment as he leaned against his lover, feeling absolutely certain that this was the exact spot he belonged in. That feeling only intensified as Kurama slid an arm around him and pulled him in closer, only now it was mixed with the feeling that he would be forced to kill anyone who came outside at this moment. “Hey, fox?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Do you think…is there any reason for me to tell them about myself?”

 

“I've already made up my mind about that. There's absolutely no reason they need to know. It bears no weight in this matter, and I know you don't like to talk about it, so don't tell them unless you want to.”

 

Hiei tried not to let the relief he felt show, but he must not have done as well as he'd thought, because Kurama laughed and said gently, “You don't ever have to worry about me saying anything, love. It's your choice.”

 

Hiei lifted his head and pulled Kurama's face closer. It seemed natural now, although even now the words felt a little strange to say. “I love you, fox.”

 

XXX

 

Dark, dark, dark…nothing could be made out in the endless black. There was nothing to hear, either. In fact, the only sense left was that of touch. Feet planted on unseen ground. Hands groping the air, trying, desperately, to find something. Throat vibrating with words that came out but went unheard. Wind sighing and lifting too-long hair, raising tiny hairs on skin.

 

And there was the feeling of nothing being there.

 

And then suddenly the darkness lifted, and there was the wish that it hadn't.

 

Blood. Red blood, black blood, green blood, every color of blood, all mixing together in such great puddles that the ground couldn't soak it all up.

 

Corpses. Corpses of millions and millions of people, stretching as far as the eye could see, corpses piled on top of each other and covered in bruises and slashes and marks of overwhelming pain.

 

Cries. Cries of the wounded and the dying and sobs of those left alive.

 

Anger. Anger at those who would dare do such a thing.

 

Sadness. Tears.

 

Fear.

 

XXX

 

Buffy Summers woke from the dream to screams.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

AN: Okay, I have a couple apologies to make now.

 

First, to all of my readers who have seen Yu Yu Hakusho: this chapter must have been so boring for you. Mostly it was just seventeen pages of stuff you already knew. I'm really sorry for that. But hey, for the Supernatural fans, the next chapter will likely be the boring one, so I'll just apologize for that in advance.

 

And also, as much as it may seem so, I am not trying to drag this out. Really! I know the length this is growing to is probably just plain annoying, but I keep finding new things to put in! And the chapters just get longer and longer so I have to divide them up, thus making it seem that I'm dragging things out just for the heck of it. But really, I'm not, I promise!

 

Okay, that's all I wanted to say. Review, please!

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“To hide the key to your heart is to risk forgetting where you placed it.” -Timothy Childers

 

“All things great are wound up with all things little.” -Anne of Green Gables