Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Chance Meeting ❯ Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Hey all! I don't own YuYu Hakasho, Slayers, or Dance Dance Revolution, so please don't sue. Not that you'd get much. I'm a poor, hungry *hides bag of cookies*, college student. Oh and the word "kuso" is used in this fic, it means shit. Seriously. Also things in {{these odd thingies means that it's in English or some other speech.}}

"Let me GO !" A young woman screamed, thrashing her arms around trying to break the chains that held her.

Her captor ran his hand through her curly, brown hair. "You might as well stop struggling. You won't break those chains, my pet. Not in the condition you're in."

"My friends will come for me. And if they don't my family will!" She declared.

The man grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "Right now you're only hope is that your father cares enough to exchange his powers for your life."

She snapped her head away from his hand. "When I get free, it'll be your life!"

"Please, we know it's your yearly cycle. It'll be at least a week for your powers to come back, and by that point we'll have found your weakness." He walked off slamming and locking the cell door behind him.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

"Did Pacifier breath say why he wanted to see us?" Yusuke asked Hiei as they walked through the halls of Spirit World.

"No, he just said that he wanted to see us," Hiei replied.

"Wonderful so we have absolutely NO idea on what we're going to be doing. That's just great!" Yusuke exclaimed throwing his arms up. "And I had a date with Keiko tonight."

"Shut up about it, Urameshi. I can't stand you normally let alone when you whine," Kuwabara snapped, starting a verbal sparing match between the two.

Kurama sighed at the two's antics. "I too had other things planned for this evening," Kurama said as he put his hand on the door to Koenma's office.

"Let's get this over with," Yusuke muttered, and then nodded to Kurama to push the door open for the small group walked in.

Koenma was seated behind his desk stamping papers with a rubber stamp. He looked up and set the stamp down. "Good, you're all here. I've got your next assignment for you."

"What is it this time, demons causing trouble in some city?" Yusuke asked.

"No, nothing like that. A Mazoku Lady was abducted from her home in Ningenkai."

"What's a Mazoku?" Kuwabara asked.

"Think of it as a type of demon. They are human looking with great powers. The most known are the Dark Lords and the one they call the L-sama. Full Mazoku are almost unheard of now," Kurama replied.

"Exactly, and that's why this young lady is so important. She may only be half Mazoku, but her father is one of the most powerful Mazoku left," Koenma stated to them.

"Who is her father?" Hiei asked, causing the group to look at him.

"Xellos Matillium," Koenma replied.

"Xellos Matillium as in the Trickster Priest?" Kurama asked.

"The same. His daughter's name is LeaMarie. Her energy levels have been ranked at about an A."

"So not only are we rescuing a demon, but a high level one?" Yusuke asked looking at the group. "Why?"

"She's become good friends with some allies of my father, and he told me to send you guys to go get her. Apparently, she's not like most demons and doesn't want the world destroyed," Koenma explained.

"Fine, we'll do it. Let's just get this over with," Yusuke sighed and looked around.

"Good, now here are the coordinates that's she was last seen. You'll need…"

0_o 0_o 0_o

The group later found themselves in a clearing setting up camp for the night. They'd been traveling since they'd left Koenma's office, which was three days ago, and not one of them was happy about it.

"I still don't see why we have to do this," Yusuke muttered to himself. "Couldn't her family have rescued her instead?"

"Stop complaining. Our luck she'll act like some five year old spoiled brat," Kuwabara complained.

"She can't be any worse than you," Hiei snipped.

Kurama was about to cut the impending fight between Yusuke and Kuwabara short when something jumped out of a tree and knocked him to the ground.

Yusuke's mouth dropped in surprise as Hiei and Kuwabara both drew their.

"Who are you?" A girl with long, brown, curly hair and deep blue eyes asked glaring into Kurama's eyes.

Yusuke assuming that the girl was LeaMarie stepped a little closer to Kurama and her. "I'm Yusuke Urameshi. The one you have pinned down is Kurama. The two over there are Hiei and Kuwabara. King Yenma asked us to rescue you from that castle."

"King Yenma?" She asked letting Kurama up. "He really asked you to come get me?" She asked skepticism lacing her voice.

"Yes, he wants us to bring you to Reikai so that some one can come pick you up," Kurama said softly.

"Oh. I'm sorry about pouncing you; you were the first target I saw…" LeaMarie said softly.

"It's alright, Lady LeaMarie," Kurama said softly. "Please have a seat; we're just about finished setting up camp for the night."

LeaMarie nodded her head and sat on a log. She watched in amazement as the boys efficiently set the camp up. It only took them a couple of seconds to finish setting everything up.

"I can go get some water. There's a stream not far from here," LeaMarie offered.

"That'd be great," Yusuke said throwing a couple of canteens to LeaMarie. She walked off thankful to be away from Kuwabara and Yusuke's constant bickering.

After a few minutes of walking she found the stream. LeaMarie found herself gazing out across it, wishing she could take a quick bath in the cool water. Bringing herself back into reality she knelt down to fill the canteens. LeaMarie gasped in pain and covered her side with her hands. She could feel the wound she'd received from a guard reopening itself. "Forgot about that," She muttered glancing down at her side.

"Are you alright, Lady LeaMarie?" Kurama's soft voice asked, causing LeaMarie to jump and barely muffle a cry of pain.

"Yeah, fine…I've been hurt worse," She told Kurama, avoiding his eyes.

LeaMarie started filling up the canteens, not taking her hand off of her injured side, as Kurama knelt next to her and filled up a cooking pot with water. LeaMarie reached over to pick up another canteen and gasped in pain as the wound reminded her that it was still there.

Kurama sighed softly and set the pot down. He reached over and gently pried LeaMarie's hand away from her side. He imminently saw the blood on her hand. "You may have been hurt worse, but this still needs to be taken care of. Let's go back to camp and get you fixed up."

"I can pull my own weight!" LeaMarie snapped causing Kurama to meet her angry, now violet eyes.

"You already have. And tomorrow, we can have you take a turn at the cooking," He explained.

LeaMarie's eyes faded back to blue. "Fine," she said attempting to stand up. Kurama quickly realized that she wasn't going to be able to get up without hurting herself; stood and offered her his hand. LeaMarie looked at it for several seconds before accepting it.

Kurama pulled LeaMarie to her feet and after seeing that she wasn't going to fall, picked up the canteens and cooking pot and started walking to camp. LeaMarie growled softly as Kurama handed Yusuke the water that they'd collected.

"He's just trying to help. He doesn't mean any harm," LeaMarie thought to herself. "He doesn't know that you feel totally useless without you powers."

"Lady LeaMarie, we should tend to your wounds," Kurama said softly, moving towards her.

"Fine." LeaMarie allowed Kurama to help her to the ground. She mentally grinned at his obvious problem of trying to figure out how to ask her to remove her shirt without sounding like a pervert.

"Um…Lady LeaMarie? Could you…please…um…remove, your, um…"

"He's trying to tell you to take off your shirt," Hiei snapped from behind Kurama, causing Kurama to jump.

LeaMarie rolled her eyes. "You could've just said that." She reached forward and started unbuttoning her shirt. She noticed that all the boys had starting looking in different directions. Even Kurama was glancing over his shoulder. "Kurama, you're gonna need to look at me if you want to treat this thing."

Kurama started blushing. "I was trying to give you as much privacy as I could. I mean…"

LeaMarie sighed softly as she rolled her eyes. "It's fine. Let's just get this taken care of."

Kurama started examining the wound and found that for the most part it'd started to heal correctly, but do to the wound being reopened several times it had the start of a slight infection in it. "Lady LeaMarie, you've got the start of an infection. I think I can prevent it from getting any worse, but it'll have to be cleaned and properly bandaged."

"Ok. But, could you do me a favorer, and stop calling me Lady LeaMarie, and call me LeaMarie or Lea?"

Kurama's eyes met hers for a moment. "As you wish, LeaMarie."

A smile lit her face and eyes. "Thank you, Kurama."

Kurama smiled at her and glanced back down at the wound. "Hiei, could you bring me some warm water, some bandages, and a clean cloth?"

Hiei nodded and brought the materials over. He glanced down at the wound. "It could have been worse." And walked away.

LeaMarie tilted her head in confusion. "That's Hiei's way of telling you that you'll be fine," Kurama explained to her. "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt."

LeaMarie braced her hands on either side of her and closed her eyes. "Go for it."

Kurama worked as gently as he could, he knew that he was hurting her by her occasional gasp of pain. Wrapping the last of the bandages around her he looked up at her. "Done."

LeaMarie let out a breath and opened her eyes. "Thank the gods! How it is that helping an injury heal can hurt worse than the initial blow, I'll never know." Seeing the guilt in Kurama's eyes LeaMarie mentally kicked herself for sounding ungrateful. "But thank you, for being as gentle as you could."

"You're welcome. We'll have to change the bandages again before you sleep tonight."

"Is there any chance of me taking a quick bath in that stream? I really hate for you guys to see me like this." LeaMarie emphasized her point by pulling on a knot in her hair.

"I will speak to Yusuke about it after dinner."

"Thank you."

"Kuwabara, it's done! Seriously, get it off the fire before it burns!" Yusuke's voice echoed through the clearing.

"Do I tell you how to do your job?"

" YES ! Now get it OFF the fire!"

"And they're off," LeaMarie muttered glancing over at the two fighting humans. Hiei apparently tired of waiting for the two to fight walked over and pulled the cooking pot off of the fire.

"Are they always like that?" LeaMarie whispered to Kurama.

"For the most part. Here, let me help you to where the rest of the group will be eating."

"Fine."

Kurama was slightly surprised at the coolness of her voice. "La-er…LeaMarie?"

"I'm sorry. I'm being moody, aren't I? I dislike feeling helpless, and when my powers are like this, most people start to try to baby sit me."

"I see. I won't baby sit you, but I will treat you like a friend and offer my assistance, and protection until it's no longer needed, even if you don't want it." Emphasizing his point he stuck his hand out to her.

"That I can live with," She said accepting his hand.

>_< >_< >_<

LeaMarie sighed as she watched Kurama and Yusuke argue back and forth. They'd moved far enough away that LeaMarie could see them, but not hear them. It was aggravating to say the least. After another five minutes of fighting the two seemed to come to an agreement. Kurama walked back and sat next to you. "Yusuke says it'd be fine that you take a bath, but one of us has to accompany you," He explained softly.

LeaMarie raised an eyebrow. "As long as you don't look," LeaMarie replied.

"I take that you want me to watch after you?"

"Well, you are the only one that's seen my bra," LeaMarie snapped back playfully, while still just wanting to get clean.

Kurama nodded his head and stood up. "Then we should head to the lake before it gets too late," Kurama said extending his arm to help LeaMarie up. The two walked to the lake in a comfortable silence. LeaMarie glanced at Kurama to make sure he wasn't looking before she stripped down and stepped into the lake.

"Glack! It's cold!" LeaMarie exclaimed.

Kurama laughed softly. "Well, it is nighttime."

LeaMarie splashed around cleaning herself up as much as she could with no soap, shampoo, or conditioner.

"The last that she ever saw him," LeaMarie started softly singing to herself. "Carried away by a moonlit shadow…"

Kurama smiled softly as he listened to her soft singing. "She's got a nice voice," Kurama noted silently. "She's kind of a mystery. She can be cold and childish at times but other times, she seems so…different." Kurama glanced over his shoulder to make sure LeaMarie was alright before he sat down and listened to her.

"Sing a song of sorrow and--" LeaMarie stopped suddenly. Glancing around she started back towards the shore.

"Something wrong, LeaMarie?"

"I sense something."

"What?" Kurama was on his feet and moving closer to LeaMarie. "Gentlemanly-ness be damned, if anything happens to her…" Kurama thought to himself.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's in the water with-OUCH! DAMN IT! SOMETHING BIT ME!"

Kurama jumped into the water and started to pull LeaMarie out when he noticed the hate fish starting to swarm them. "Hate fish," Kurama spate out.

"Kuso," LeaMarie muttered glancing down at her feet. "And I bet they love the smell of fresh blood. Stupid excuse for demon sharkie-things…" LeaMarie continued to mutter as Kurama tried to figure a way out for the two of them.

"They've got us surrounded and my rose whip is useless unless they jump out of the water. They seem more content to just stay IN the water and try to eat us that way."

"Kurama?" LeaMarie asked softly.

"Yes?" He replied watching as many of the fish as he could.

"You wouldn't happen to know a levitation spell or a freezing spell or anything like that would you?"

"No, but I may have an idea." Suddenly the fish start to jump and attempt to get away as the algae and a type of seaweed start to grow up around them. When the plant life was thick enough Kurama steps up onto of it and walks across, caring LeaMarie.

Kurama set LeaMarie down. He pulled off his shirt and handed it to her before he started to examine the fresh wounds on her legs. "They don't look to bad. I'll have to clean them up when we get back to camp. You also probably shouldn't walk too much tomorrow. We don't want the wounds to become infected," Kurama said looking up. He glanced up and saw that she'd finished buttoning up his shirt around her.

"Thanks, for lending me the shirt," LeaMarie said softly.

Kurama nodded his head before hearing footsteps rushing towards them. He scooped LeaMarie up and prepared to fight. "I don't want to set her down in case we have to run for it. I'll just have to try to stay out of reach as best as I can and hope we can make it back to camp," Kurama thought to himself.

"He's totally forgotten that I'm almost totally naked, hasn't he?" LeaMarie thought to herself. She looked up and saw the intense look on Kurama's face. LeaMarie felt him pull her closer to his body. "This wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't naked and in potential danger with no way to defend myself."

Three figures burst through the nearby foliage. Both Kurama and LeaMarie noticed that they'd stopped short. From the sizes of the figures LeaMarie guessed it was Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara. Barring her face into Kurama's shirt, she fought the urge to either start laughing or crying; she wasn't sure which it was so she just fought it.

There was dead silence in the clearing, until Yusuke started yelling. "What the HELL Kurama! We hear Lea screaming that she's being bitten and here we find you cuddling her naked body!"

"She was being attacked by Hate fish! I pulled her from the water. It's not like I planned this." Kurama replied.

LeaMarie pushed herself closer to Kurama in a vain attempt to cover her lower parts and turned her head to look at the group. "I have an idea! Let's continue yelling after LeaMarie gets some cloths on!" She yelled at the group.

Kuwabara and Hiei walked off leaving Yusuke to glare at the two. "Kitsune, you've got three minutes to get back to camp," He told them and walked back to the camp.

"Wonder what's got in knickers in a twist?" LeaMarie muttered to Kurama.

"Lady LeaMarie, I am SO sorry. I jumped into defense mode and didn't realize your state of undress!" Kurama exclaimed setting her down and turning away so that she could change.

"It's alright, Kurama. You were only trying to protect me." LeaMarie finished dressing quickly and walked over to the embarrassed kitsune. She placed her hand on Kurama's arm and smiled at him. "No one has ever tried to protect me like you did tonight. And I thank you."

Kurama nodded his head and helped LeaMarie walk back to the camp. He really wasn't looking forward to meeting up with Yusuke again.

Part of the reason that Yusuke had been against LeaMarie taking a bath was the orders given from Koenma. The orders were simple. Nothing was to happen to LeaMarie while they traveled together. They were merely there to see that she got back to Spirit World unharmed. Nothing had also included relationships. According to Koenma LeaMarie's father was attempting to set up an arranged marriage for her so that she would stay out of trouble. It was something that LeaMarie had no clue was going to happen and the group wasn't supposed to let her know about it.

The pair walked into the camp and noticed a very upset Yusuke. "Kurama,--" Yusuke started.

"It wasn't what it looked like, Yusuke," LeaMarie stepped in. "I was bathing in the stream when I sensed something. It turned out to be those Hate fish thingies. They started to bite me and Kurama jumped in to pull me out. They surrounded us and then he did that cool thing with the plants and got us out. Then we heard footsteps and he picked me up. So in other words, HE ONLY PROTECTED ME ," LeaMarie told them hurriedly.

"Fine. But until we get back, LeaMarie you're going to be accompanied by either me or Hiei," Yusuke stated leaving no room for argument. LeaMarie curtsied as best as she could.

"Of course, M'Lord," She said with a false sweetness before she turned and limped to the other side of camp.

Hiei rolled his eyes but followed her to her spot and started tending to her injuries, while Kurama sat across the fire from Yusuke and glared. Kuwabara watched the group for a bit before deciding that it was best if he went to bed.

"Wake me up for my turn at watch!" He said before curling up in a sleeping bag.

O_o O_o O_o

"Alright. It's official. I can't sleep," LeaMarie thought to herself as she rolled over. Sitting up she could see Kurama sitting alone keeping watch. LeaMarie stood up and walked over to his side and dropped down next to him.

"What are you doing up? You should be resting," Kurama stated staring straight ahead. LeaMarie thought she noticed some sadness in his voice.

"Can't sleep. My stupid bandages keep falling off and getting tangled around my other leg, and then when I try to fix it, I just end up hurting myself more. So yeah, I should have just kept watch so the rest of you could sleep, since I haven't."

Kurama smiled slightly. "I can help you with the bandages," He said kneeling in front of LeaMarie and rearranging them. "There that should hold them. You can return to bed now."

LeaMarie laughed softly. "Yeah right. Not with wondering why the heck Yusuke won't let you escort me any more."

"It's because of what happened at the stream."

"The neky thing?"

"Yes."

"What about it. I thought I explained it to him."

"He's afraid that there still may have been more to it."

"Wha-OH!" LeaMarie exclaimed loudly, startling herself. Kurama laughed as she covered her mouth. "So what does it matter if either of us fell for the other? It's not like I'm-he didn't. My father is setting up an arranged marriage, isn't he?" LeaMarie asked looking at Kurama. He merely nodded his head as he noticed that LeaMarie's eyes had again changed to violet. "Well he can forget about it. I won't do it, and he can't make me."

"Lady LeaMarie-" Kurama starts.

"LeaMarie," LeaMarie corrected him.

"LeaMarie, what if your father orders you to marry?"

LeaMarie rolled her eyes. "Big whoop. He's ordered me to do lots of things that I've never done."

"I thought Mazoku obeyed their masters?"

"Masters yes. Father isn't my master. The closest thing to a master I have is L-sama and since I'm L-sama's head priestess, and I've kind of been allowed to have full run of my life."

"I see. LeaMarie, perhaps you should go to sleep. We have a long journey yet."

*_* *_* *_*

The group was travailing in silence. No one had talked since being woken up, and it was starting to seriously get on LeaMarie's nerves. "It's not like anything happened. Kurama's way too much of a gentleman for that. Besides, it's not my father's place to pick a mate for me," LeaMarie thought to herself. "Can we talk yet?" LeaMarie turned to say something to Yusuke, but he was glaring ahead and keeping himself between LeaMarie and Kurama. Hiei was ahead of the group keeping an eye (or three) out for trouble, and Kuwabara still wasn't awake enough to talk.

"I've been searching for a man, all across Japan , just to find to find my Samurai," LeaMarie started singing, catching the boys off guard. "Some one who is strong but still a little shy, yes I need I need my Samurai." LeaMarie smiled at Kurama as she sang the last part. Kurama smiled back softly, catching on to LeaMarie's hint.

"What song is that?" Yusuke asked cutting LeaMarie off, unfortunately also catching on.

"Butterfly, it's off of Dance Dance Revolution."

"If you're going to sing, sing something else," Yusuke told her.

LeaMarie rolled her eyes and thought for a moment. Smiled and starting to sing, "Tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me you love me!"

"Not funny, LeaMarie," Yusuke told her glaring at her.

Sighing LeaMarie thought again.

"I'm going to sing something to him even if I have to do it in…English!" She glanced up at Yusuke and smiled. "How about this one? {{You know everything that I'm afraid of. You do everything I wish I did. Everybody wants you, everybody loves you. I know I should tell you how I feel.}}

LeaMarie was looking directly at Kurama, hoping he knew English and by the color of his face he did.

{{I wish everyone would disappear. Every time you call me, I'm too scared to be me. And I'm too shy to say, ooh, I got a crush on you-}}

"That's ENOUGH! " Yusuke ordered. Blinking, it took her a second to realize that Hiei had been reading Kurama's thoughts and repeating them back to Yusuke, telepathically. LeaMarie turned to Hiei and stuck her tongue out. "Spoil sport."

"Hn."

The group continued on in silence until Kurama paused. "Blood?" He asked softly.

LeaMarie blinked for a moment and glanced down at her leg. "KUSO!"

"What?" Yusuke asked, looking worried.

"Your wounds reopened," Kurama stated glancing at LeaMarie.

"Yes."

"Let's rest for a while then," Kurama suggested. "Besides, you really shouldn't be walking."

"I can walk." LeaMarie stated.

"I know you can, but it seems best if you didn't," Kurama told her gently.

"And I'm sure you want to be the one that's going to carry her?" Yusuke asked sarcastically.

LeaMarie rolled her eyes as she carefully sat down. "Jeez, Yusuke, you act like I'm engaged or something."

The group went deathly silent.

"Who told you that?" Yusuke asked angrily.

"No one told me, I figured it out myself. It becomes sort of obvious when it's the third time."

"You've been engaged three times?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yes, my father tends to forget that I've been granted full rights to pick my mate."

"So how do you get out of your engagements?" Kurama asked.

"Tell my father to forget it and that I refuse to marry the male he's chosen."

Yusuke raised an eye. "And that works?"

"Then I yell and scream and throw a bunch of spells around. The last time a fourth of the castle had to be rebuilt."

"And that works?"

"Yeah, it usually scares off would-be mates."

Kurama smiled as he started re-bandaging LeaMarie's wounds. The group watched in silence.

"How's your side feel?" Kurama tenderly asked her.

"Fine, thank you." LeaMarie replied smiling up at him. "I love his eyes! I could stare at them all day!!!"

"Her eyes are so interesting. When she's angry they turn a shocking violet color and when she's relaxed, like now, they're a brilliant blue."

"Are you two done gazing at each other?" Yusuke demanded.

"I was merely lost in thought," Kurama protested.

"Sure you weren't. Are you feeling up to walking?" Yusuke asked LeaMarie.

"Sure, why not?

"I don't like taking orders from Pacifier breath, but his orders came from King Yenma and he's just-" Yusuke explained. "So my orders from last night are still in effect."

"Understood," Kurama sighed, standing up.

"Hang on a second," LeaMarie said grabbing a hold of Kurama's sleeve. Kurama turned around and helped her to her feet. "Kurama," LeaMarie started placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Yes?"

LeaMarie pushed herself closer and pressed her lips against Kurama's. She was surprised to feel his lips kissing her back. She deepened the kiss and pulled back quickly. "Every lady needs to properly think her rescuer."

o_0 o_0 o_0

LeaMarie awoke and saw Kurama keeping watch. She wrapped her blankets around her she got up and sat next to Kurama. "You should be sleeping," Kurama whispered softly to her.

"I know. I woke up and saw you keeping watch."

"So you thought you'd keep me company?" Kurama asked.

"Yup. You're a smart fox, you know that?"

Kurama laughed. "You said the kiss was for me rescuing you, but what about the tongue?"

LeaMarie giggled. "'Cuz I like you."

Kurama smiled. "Do you do that for every one that you like?"

"No, but it was the perfect opportunity."

Kurama shook his head and smiled down at LeaMarie. LeaMarie smiled up at him and leaned against Kurama, her head firmly on her shoulder.

"Yusuke is going to be extremely upset if he wakes up and sees us together," Kurama reminded her.

"I know," LeaMarie said letting herself relax more into Kurama's side. He shifted slightly to allow his arm to wrap around LeaMarie.

A comfortable silence enveloped the two. LeaMarie was starting to doze off when Kurama spoke. "Have you ever been in a relationship before?"

"Hm? Yes, one serious one. It's been over for a long time though."

"I see. I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I'm over it now. How about you?"

"Youko had a few lovers in the past, but in this body, no."

LeaMarie giggled. "So was that your first kiss?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"May I ask or should I not?"

"Yusuke."

"WHAT?!" LeaMarie yelled in surprise.

"Shush," Kurama said glancing at the still sleeping group.

"What?" LeaMarie asked this time whispering.

"We were at Yusuke's house playing truth or dare, and that was my dare."

Silence once again enveloped the clearing. Kurama was just beginning to think that LeaMarie was asleep when he felt her shaking with silent laughter.

"It's really not that funny," Kurama said glancing down at her.

"Yes it is!" She exclaimed giggling.

After a couple of minutes she finally calmed down.

"Are you done now?"

LeaMarie giggled again before nodding her head. "Yeah, I'm done. But please tell me that you got whoever dared you to do it, back."

"Yes, I did get Kuwabara back."

LeaMarie smiled up at Kurama. "You're going to have to tell me about that night."

"I will, but some other time. I need to wake Yusuke for his watch."

LeaMarie sighed and looked up at him. "Alright, I'll go back to sleep," LeaMarie said standing up.

Kurama followed her lead and stood. Kurama leaned over and kissed LeaMarie firmly on the lips. "Good night, LeaMarie."

"Good night."

Kurama waited until LeaMarie was situated before moving to wake Yusuke up.

#_# #_# #_#

LeaMarie yawned for almost the hundredth time that day, and it wasn't even past 8 AM !

"Did you have trouble sleeping last night?" Yusuke asked.

"Yeah, you know that song, The Wheels on the Bus? I had that running trough my head all night," LeaMarie replied.

"The wheels on the bus?" Hiei asked.

"Yeah, you know, the wheels on the bus go round and round-" LeaMarie started to sing but was cut off by Yusuke.

"Ok, ok, stop it before I get it stuck in my head!" He exclaimed. He lead the group for a few more minutes until they came to a large ravine that used to have a rope bridge going across it. The bridge lay on either side of ravine. "Well that's just great!" Yusuke yelled, throwing his arms up in exasperation.

"How are we going to get across?" Kuwabara asked.

"Stupid human," Hiei muttered, while silently agreeing with him.

LeaMarie walked up to the edge of the ravine and looked down it. "Levatation!" She yelled, causing the group to lift into the air.

Kuwabara started screaming the minute his feet left the ground. "Kuwabara, stop screaming unless you WANT me to drop us!" LeaMarie snapped. Kuwabara stopped scream and contented himself with mild whimpering.

After a few minutes the group landed safely on the other side of the ravine. LeaMarie stood on her own for a moment before collapsing. Kurama caught her just before she hit the ground.

"Are you alright?" Kurama asked, concern showing in his emerald eyes.

"Yeah, fine. Just tired; that wouldn't have been a problem if I were even half charged. I need to rest for a while."

"Of course, rest as much as you need to," Kurama told her as he helped her sit down.

"Thanks," LeaMarie said, leaning against him.

"We don't have time for this," Yusuke muttered.

"Ok, Yusuke, let me rephrase this for you. Unless one of you wants to carry me the rest of the way, we're staying here," LeaMarie explained.

Kurama smiled as he felt LeaMarie relax against him. Yusuke glared at Kurama. Kurama shrugged and relaxed into the grass as much as he could, while Yusuke threw his arms up in the air and walked away.

"Kurama?" LeaMarie asked softly.

"Yes?"

"You smell good," She whispered snuggling tighter against him.

"As do you."

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

LeaMarie sighed softly. The group had finally reached the portal back to Reikai.

"Alright!" Yusuke and Kuwabara exclaimed together before Kuwabara jumped in.

"Come on, LeaMarie, you next." Yusuke said.

"You go ahead. Just…can I have a second?" She asked.

"Yeah sure, you have two have five minutes," Yusuke said before jumping into the portal, with Hiei jumping in after him.

"Something wrong, LeaMarie?" Kurama asked placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Just savoring my last moments of freedom," She sighed again, looking around.

"What do you mean?" Kurama asked.

LeaMarie leaned against him. "My life is an open book. In Ningenkai I'm monitored constantly and at the castle I'm always in the company of at least one person."

"I see," Kurama muttered wrapping his arms around her.

"Kurama," LeaMarie kissed him softly. "Thank you for giving me the chance to find romance, without outside interference."

"You're welcome, my LeaMarie." Kurama bent down and kissed her again.

"Let's go before Yusuke comes through to get us," LeaMarie suggested quickly, stepping into the portal.

Kurama sighed and followed threw the portal. When he reached the other side, in Koenma's office he saw a young man standing next to LeaMarie with two young women dressed in full skirts.

"Thank you all for rescuing my younger sister," he said.

"You're welcome, Lord Haruhiko," Koenma responded.

"Come, LeaMarie, it's time we headed home," Haruhiko commanded.

"Of course, Brother, but please allow me to thank my rescuers?"

Haruhiko nodded his head in consent.

LeaMarie stepped forward and bowed to the boys. "Thank you all for rescuing me and for treating me kindly. I am indebted to you."

"It was an honor, Lady LeaMarie," Kurama replied for the group.

LeaMarie smiled as their eyes met for the final time. Haruhiko offered LeaMarie his arm to lead her and the maids out of the room.

"Good bye, LeaMarie," Kurama thought sadly to himself.

"I want to thank you boys for a job well done," Koenma stated. "I was worried one of you may have ended up evolved with her and-"

Kurama sighed and walked out of the room not caring to hear the rest of Koenma's speech.