Makai, on a hot dry day. Kurama pitied the usually bright forest of these lands, now pale and slightly burned by the relentless sun. But there was nothing he could do about it, as Yusuke marched fast, leading him and Kuwabara to a new battle.

"Kuwabara-kun," Kurama called. "Do you mind if we resume that conversation we were having before?"

Kazuma frowned. "Conversation? What conversation?"

"You were about to tell me what is wrong with me."

The taller boy blinked. "Was I?"

Kurama nodded with a grin.

"There is nothing wrong with you," said Kuwabara.

"You're saying that I'm always this cold and insensitive about my teammates' fate?" the redhead growled. His ruthless reputation was useful in Makai. In Ningenkai, it might drive everybody away - and there was a bunch of people he wanted to keep close, badly. He had thought Hiei was on that short list.

"No, I'm saying you're just doing what you always do in situations like this," Kuwabara corrected hastily. "Didn't you notice your youki level since I told you about Hiei?"

It was Kurama's turn to blink in surprise. At Kazuma's question, he suddenly noticed the thick static field spiraling around him; he focused his mind on his hands and arms, and saw the reddish layer of ethereal light enveloping his skin. He was on the verge of turning into his Youko aspect. "No," he whispered. "I didn't notice before."

That alone was a shocking recognition. He had always been so proud of his firm control. Now not only he was unwittingly spreading his demonic energy in a hazy cloud around him, but he was also doing it completely unaware. But the worse part was that he didn't even know what he was burning that energy for. "What am I doing?"

"You know, just doing that thing you do," Kuwabara shrugged.

The Youko was puzzled. "What thing?"

"Manipulating reality."

Kurama halted, dizzy. "My friend, I am not that powerful!"

Kazuma grimaced, pausing as well. "Dang, no, that's not what I meant. You're manipulating your own perception... no, it's more than that. You manipulate your concept of reality. Then some stuff of the real reality are distorted too. Understand?"

The Youko arched an eyebrow in stupefaction. "Unless you're calling me a demented, no, I don't."

Kuwabara breathed in deeply, trying to figure out a way of explaining it. "Listen, I'm not all that sure of this stuff. You are the only Youko I know, so I have no means to decide if the way you act is something only you do or it's a characteristic of the entire race. And since you're not even completely Youko anymore..."

"I see," Kurama assented. "You're just guessing."

"Oi, would you quit that chatter and move?" Yusuke scolded them angrily. He was already far ahead of them, glaring daggers.

"We're moving, we're moving," Kuwabara protested, hurrying behind Urameshi.

Kurama followed him. "Please go on, Kuwabara-kun."

After a short silence, Kazuma cleared his throat. "Tell me something first. Between your three aspects - this one, the Youko and the kitsune form - which would you call your true self?"

The redhead braced himself before answering, fearing the other's reaction. "The kitsune form. That's my essential being." So in truth you are talking to an animal here, he thought sarcastically. I hope you don't mind.

But Kuwabara's only reaction was nod and smile, as if an old suspicion had proved itself right. "Okay," he spoke. "Well, it isn't."

Kurama scowled. "I think I would know something like that."

"I don't know why you don't know this," Kuwabara waved his head. "I mean, I do know. What I don't know is why you don't know why you don't know."

Kurama shoved his hands in his pockets. "Do I need to tell you that you lost me?"

"No," the other huffed. "Okay, let's start again. I was watching when you turned into your Youko form in the Irima Cave. I didn't know at the time that you could do it without the Fruit of Past Lives. So I paid attention when you turned back into Shuuichi Minamino after Sensui's death."

"Okay."

"When you did that second transformation, you turned first into the fox form, only then into human. As if the kitsune was an intermediary aspect."

"It kind of is," the redhead confirmed. "It's my root aspect, the others switch from it."

Kazuma disagreed. "You didn't pass through the fox form that first time in the Irima Cave."

Kurama shrugged. "Well, sometimes the transformation is so quick that..."

"You don't need to summon the fox form, Kurama. Never. You could live your whole life without ever being that kitsune."

"You're mistaken, my friend."

"The youki level of the kitsune form is too unstable to be your natural aspect," explained Kuwabara. "It takes a lot from you to summon it. When you made the transformation in the cave, just after we saw Sensui killing Urameshi, you didn't want to waste any time or energy unnecessarily. So you skipped it."

Kurama didn't reply. That was stupidity, of course. What could Kuwabara know about that? A ningen? And who wasn't even 18 yet... He couldn't possibly understand a mystic being as old and complex as the legendary Youko Kurama. It had been silly to imagine that a human boy would be able to explain what was going on with him...

His hands clenched into fists. A little bit more and I'd be calling Kuwabara-kun a big oaf too...

As Shuuichi Minamino, he had had a wonderful science teacher in high school, Kaganae-sensei. A young open-minded man, who conquered Kurama's respect by the easy way he accepted that humanity would never comprehend all the secrets of the universe, and that nothing that science had discovered till now was safe from being denied sometime in the future. "We trust too much the evidence of our eyes," Kaganae-sensei used to say. "That can't be different. But we should always keep in mind that some day we might learn that our eyes can't be trusted at all, and that all we know about reality is nothing but mistakes and wishful thinking. A true scientist is prepared to learn he is wrong in his assumptions every step of the way." Kurama had been tempted to tell him some of the many little things that humans were so sure about and that every deaf-dumb ignorant demon of Makai knew to be wrong...

Was his impish temptation turning against him now? Live my whole life without ever being a kitsune? That was no simple mistake. He wondered how Kuwabara would feel if he was suddenly told that he wasn't a human boy, but an alien from the Vulcan planet.

But if truth was told, Kurama felt no contempt over Kuwabara's arguments. No contempt, no resentment, no surprise, and not much questioning either. The whole issue felt distant somehow, as if they were talking about someone else. That numbness inside him was both disturbing and comfortable, if such a mix were possible.

"You do that often, don't you?" asked the taller boy, eager to know if his theory had any fundament. "Skipping the kitsune when you're in a hurry?"

Yes. He did it a lot. When he fought Shachi in Yomi's palace... Shigure in the Makai Tournament... He didn't need the kitsune form, not even between aspects. So why do I do it? The shifting process felt more... complete... when he summoned the fox body and energy first. As an essential part of a rite. Only not that essential, it seemed now.

Kurama nodded gravely. "I believe you might have a point here. But Kuwabara-kun, Youko kits will spend most of their childhood in their kitsune bodies."

"Really?" the other arched his eyebrows. "And what do the grownups think of that?"

"What they think?"

"Yeah, do they say something about it when they see a kit in its other aspect?"

Kurama bit the inside of his cheek. "Well, when I was a kit I was told to keep the kitsune form, because... I don't know... because I might get sick if I stayed like a Youko for too long, or something like that."

"Did you get tired in the Youko form?"

The redhead hesitated. "I... don't think so. I really don't remember." For once he envied Hiei's perfect memory. "You realize you're asking me stuff from a time before Kyoto was the capital of Japan?"

Kuwabara glanced at him with the corner of the eye. "Maybe you are the one I should be calling jiisan..." he murmured. And flinched. He halted again and turned to look around.

"What?" the redhead hissed. "Something wrong?"

"I don't know... I had a weird feeling. It's gone now."

"Hey GUYS!!!!" Yusuke complained. "Leave the sightseeing to after we save Hiei, okay?"

Kazuma shrugged. "I guess I just imagined it. Let's go."

For a moment he thought the taller boy had spot him. He wouldn't be so surprised; he still wondered why he had not been noticed until now. It was not like he was doing much to hide. He had been careful while following the kids in Reikai, but with the little stew he cooked with the ferrygirls, it seemed they had all forgotten about him.

But once they had passed that portal-thing, Takamura-san found himself in a bizarre forest topped by the strangest of skies ever imagined. And dead or not, that was not a place he intended to get lost in. He stuck close to his oblivious guides, just taking care to keep a tree or two between him and them all the time. The boy with the girly red hair - Does this generation have a weird taste for fashion or what? - didn't seem to be able to see him, just like the dark-haired human-eater descendant - Urgh! - that ran in the lead. But that tall nice lad could. Couldn't he?

He looked straight at me four or five times already. And had no reaction. Didn't the boy mind having him there? Or seeing disincarnated souls is an ability that comes and goes?

Anyway, the boy in the lead was in a rotten mood now and yelled to the others to hurry up again. The carrot-haired boy shrugged and they proceeded the journey, with the old man firm on their track. The kids were moving fast, but in his present state Takamura-san was sure he could outrun them all. And he was eager to do it, except that he didn't know the way.

No, he would have to be patient and keep on with their pace until they led him to Reikai's big hotshot. Then he would use all his vigor and strength to show that fellow how "dead" he was...

In the darkened room, Mukuro looked out her window, untying the blue kerchief that covered the right side of her face to dry her brow with it. Brow, neck, shoulders, arms... The room was unusually hot that night, and heat was not something she cared much about. Lightning storms were coming from the west and would be reaching her territory as soon as the sun vanished from the sky.

Although impressive to the eye, those storms were seldom pleasant in any other way. The demonic energy that created them would burn the newest foliage, blacken the recently painted walls, rust the machinery and spoil her soldiers' mood. Not a raindrop would fall. Not a surface would be completely safe from the eerie static. But very few places in Makai weren't often castigated by the electric dry tempests.

The valley where she was born wasn't. And for all she knew, the Koorime Glacier floated above the stormy clouds. "You don't like this, Hiei," she murmured. "I know it annoys you just as much as it annoys me."

Behind her, in the dim light, only silence.

"On the other hand..." she tilted her head, "Which color you said it was Ningenkai's skies? Light blue?"

If outside the wind spiraled rabidly around her fortress, inside her private chambers nothing moved. Even the air seemed petrified.

"You might not believe me, but I've never been in Ningenkai," she grinned. "Well... the others might not believe it. You know."

Sliding the black curtains closed, Mukuro turned away from the window and walked to the low table in front of her bed, taking a chubby jug in her hands and pouring a generous dose of water in a glass. "Can you imagine the Makai with a perpetual clear blue sky? Would it still be the Makai then? Would we still be demons?"

She drank thirstily, and filled the glass again. "I wonder if I could put up with a place like that. Through your eyes, Ningenkai seemed rather... comfortable." She gazed at the dark figure lying still on the bed. "And comfort might be an enemy to be feared."

A high-pitched beep interrupted her musings. Mukuro scowled at the small machine beside the mattress, where an orange button blinked insistently. "If I was ever allowed any," she muttered, moving towards the electronic device and brushing a finger on the flashing light. "I told you not to interrupt me, Kiren."

"My apologies," answered a gloomy male voice, somewhat nasalized by the tiny speaker. "But our guest is becoming very impatient."

Mukuro rolled her eyes. Of course he was impatient. That was the whole point in making him wait. And how could she miss the rippling of the ki just outside her door? Kiren had to know that.

No, that was not a simple notice. That was her general's polite way of asking, "Are you sure of what you're doing?"

She turned off the intercom for a moment, and grinned. "You wouldn't have done that, Hiei. You would have come straight to me and spat your opinion. Poor Kiren. He is good, but has no insight." Sitting on the bed, she turned the device on again. "I will deal with him in the proper time. Give him a magazine, offer him a cup of tea. And don't let him bother you more than is strictly necessary."

Kiren's acknowledgement sounded dissatisfied, but resolute enough. "He is good," Mukuro repeated. "My number 2 for two hundred and fifty years. But for an heir, I need someone who will be better than me. That's the whole purpose of choosing an heir. I wonder if Yomi understood that when he made his of a clone of himself..."

She turned to gaze down at the immobile body lying on the mattress, resting her hand on the pale skin of the youkai's brow, feeling the closed lids of the Jagan against her palm.

"Are you mad at me?" she smirked. "You put up a good fight. But you're still no match for me, and you should know that."

To answer her, only silence.

"I don't understand," Kurama frowned. "You think it was a lie? That instead of trying to protect the kits from fatigue, the grownups are actually training them?"

Hurrying after Yusuke, Kuwabara scratched his chin. "Keeping up with the fox form for so long probably works as a training to deal with the unstable energy of the shapeshifting, but I don't think it's really a lie. More like a willing delusion."

"You lost me again."

Kazuma sighed. "I'm not very good at this, am I?"

"No, I think you'd give a wonderful teacher," Kurama soothed him, amazed at how his friend had changed those last three years. Kazuma Kuwabara had gone a long way from the bully fourteen-year-old kid that wanted nothing with learning and everything with a good fight. Kurama wasn't sure how Shizuru did the trick - for it had clearly been her doing - of convincing her reckless flighty younger brother to take his studies seriously, but there was no doubt that Kuwabara embraced them fiercely - and pleasurably.

He grew up, naturally, Kurama mused. He and Yusuke were practically two children when I met them. Now Kuwabara showed his bright eagerness for learning how things - specially the Spiritual things - really worked, and even Yusuke had changed. Still restless and irrational, yes, but their team leader seemed to have acquired a new perception of life after the years he spent in Makai.

And Hiei had also grown up. Even physically, five or six inches. But that had been the smallest of the changes.

Did I change too? he asked himself. A spirit so old... did it have anything new to learn yet? That conversation with Kuwabara seemed about to prove that it had. Score: Kaganae-sensei one, Youko Kurama nothing... "Go on, you said it was a training for shapeshifting. But youkos are not really shapeshifters. I know that some books on Mythology say that, but it's not truth. We can only shift between youko and kitsune."

"Well..."

Kurama stiffened. "Please don't tell me I'm wrong about this too." Come on, it's my people, I should know this! But he belatedly wondered why he had thought in terms of "should know".

"Listen, Kurama, I realize this is really a wild theory," Kuwabara confessed. "I'm not sure of what I'm saying myself."

"I understand."

"But what if, apart your skills with plants, you had the power to... control yourself?"

Kurama blinked. "I suppose I'm usually in control of myself, yes." He gazed at the reddish aura still enveloping his skin. "Except for now." Except when I'm alone with Hiei too. "But this is my personality, not a power."

"What if it IS a power?" Kazuma suggested humbly.

Still glaring at the waste of youki he could now see around him, Kurama grimaced at the ridiculous possibility. "Then I'd say it's really a stupid power that it's not even working right now..." He paused. Wait a second...

Watching the change in the Youko's features, Kuwabara grinned. Maybe I'm not that bad at this after all. Grabbing his friend's arm, he pushed a low tree-branch from their way and urged him forward. "Come on, think while we walk, or Urameshi will freak out again."

Inari... this is not possible... But there was some kind of hidden logic appealing for his attention there. He was spending lots of ki. And he was presently so in control of himself that nothing, not even Hiei's death or the idea that everything he knew about youkos was wrong, was able to move him. Cause and effect?

"Hear me out on this one," Kazuma asked while they pressed their pace. "When you turned into Youko without the Fruit of Past Lives, I thought that something couldn't be right there. I mean, that body is dead, Kurama. When you came to Ningenkai and entered a human embryo, you left your dead body behind. Your bones must still be here, in Makai."

"Well, yes..." Kurama vacillated. "But I brought most of my youki with my spirit when I came to reincarnate in Ningenkai. With that energy, it became possible for this human body to shift... right?" There's something wrong with this concept...

Kuwabara tilted his head, unsure. "It might be it. But what about your clothes?"

"My clothes?"

"Yeah, why do your clothes shift along?"

"They always did. I mean, back when I was a Youko and turned into the fox aspect, the clothes would disappear, and come back when I shifted back." He exchanged a puzzled look with Kuwabara, then scowled. "Don't tell me. This makes no sense, I can see that." Why have I never thought of this before?

"The god of the youkos is Inari, ne?" Kazuma inquired, pensive. "How close is he to your race?"

Kurama waved a hand listlessly. "The usual for a god. Shows up in special occasions, seldom when we expect him to..."

"How is he seen by the youkos?" Kuwabara evidently had something in mind. "His appearance?"

"A large fox with golden fur and eyes, nine tails."

"Ah-hah!"

By his enthusiastic smile, Kurama imagined that his friend could easily have shouted "Eureka!" instead. "Ah-hah?"

"So that fox appearance that youkos turn into is like their god in... in a smaller scale." Kuwabara offered with a broad satisfied smile.

The redhead eyed him puzzled and opened his mouth to question him... which in a second became unnecessary, as insight hit him like a slap on his cheek. Symbolism...

Almost every religion Kurama had ever heard about would claim that its devotees are in some way the offspring of the gods they worship. Some claimed it as a poetic metaphor; others bragged it as the authentic truth and told fancy stories about how the fertilization occurred - and many of those legends impressed Kurama by their ingenuity. Whatever the case, it was customary to hear a prayer containing, "Oh dear 'name of the god(dess)' almighty, protect your children from your enemies," or something along the line.

And if any particular characteristic like a color, a clothing style, an adornment or object of power marked the figure of a god - or its representation, in the case of the deities that would spend so long without showing themselves to their devotees that their real faces were forgotten - the priests would usually wear similar garments. We worship Inari by taking humbler versions of the form by which we know him... No wonder their culture measured power and status by the number of tails of the kitsune form: the closer one resembled the nine-tailed god, the more powerful he was. Probably the most powerful Youko ever, Kurama had only four. He would have to live two millennia more to come close to Inari's status... and he seriously doubted his ability to survive that long.

"So your idea is that if the youkos were devoted to Apis, I would have spent most of my childhood as a bull?" The surreal thought of Hiei pulling his sidelocks and snarling, "Shut up, stupid Bull," crossed his mind, and he noticed his ki aura flaring up for a short moment, before returning to its previous - and still over-inflamed - level.

Kuwabara sensed it too, and shrunk his shoulders guiltily. That was doubtfully the right time to be discussing something as serious as that. And it was not like he really knew what he was talking about anyway. "Ahn, Kurama... forget it. It's a crazy idea."

But the Youko wasn't ready to let the issue go just yet. "I was thinking, Kuwabara-kun... youkos travel to the sacred lands, where the temples to Inari were built, to mate and raise the kits until they're old enough to fend for themselves. But what if a kit got lost, or was kidnapped, and grew up apart from the pack? Would it learn to shift into kitsune, or into something else?" He stared at his friend in bewilderment. "Am I able to shift into something else?"

Kazuma considered it for a while. It was hard to think at the pace they were traveling. "Maybe. But perhaps not. Maybe you need a strong psychic link to the form you shift into."

Growing up inside the pack, in Inari's lands, would clearly offer an anchor to Inari's physical aspect... And now that he was human, he had another anchor. His old body. His old dead body. After ingesting the Fruit of Past Lives and tasting briefly that connection, it might have become easier to summon the link at will.

So I don't need the Youko body either? He felt stronger in the Youko aspect. That ki-meter Yoda cared so much about would measure different levels of ki between Shuuichi and Youko's forms. Everyone with a minimal sensibility for youki knew that the silver Youko's body gathered more energy than the ningen's...

I am not a shapeshifter. He couldn't deny Kazuma's theory, but still something was out of place there. Toguro Ani was a true shapeshifter. His flesh would completely melt and distort and distend and recoil, the change would occur in his tissues' level. Kurama did nothing like that.

The clothes. That was a good key, wasn't it? Why did he keep appearing wearing that white gauzy tunic? It was a cozy suit, one of his favorites for fighting. Youko Kurama was so attached to it as Hiei was... had been... to his black outfit, sewing new ones in precisely the same cut every time the fabric was ripped and ruined in a combat.

But what about that time with Yomi, just before the semifinals of the Makai Tournament? Why did the white tunic appeared then? He could easily remember having owned a dozen better suits in his past that would have been more charming and suitable to seduction. Unless I'm psychically anchored to the tunic as well.

The tunic he wore the day that hunter showed up to blast him dead.

I'm not shifting my flesh. I create some field around me, and I shift what happens inside that field... And with that, some of Kuwabara's loose sentences started to fit in the puzzle. "Manipulating reality." "The power to control yourself." "You manipulate your concept of reality, then some stuff of the real reality are distorted too."

"Some day we might learn that our eyes can't be trusted at all..."

"Inari-sama... how do I do that?" he breathed.

Kuwabara bit his lip. "Beats me."

"The kitsune aspect... and my old body. They're not real?" Kurama's eyes widened.

"They are," the taller boy affirmed. "You make them real."

"How?"

"You manipulate this entire... field around you, the way you touch reality. You believe they're real, so they become real for you, and for everybody else. It's not an illusion. Only it seems you don't do it very consciously."

Very consciously? What an understatement. "That would be too much power, Kuwabara-kun."

Kazuma conceded it. "And you are powerful. But I don't think you can extend that kind of manipulation too far from you."

"Lost again," the redhead frowned.

"I mean, I don't think you can turn Urameshi into a frog. But if you wanted, you might convince yourself that he's a frog."

Away ahead, Yusuke halted and turned. "You talking about me?"

"NO!" Kurama and Kazuma said at the same time.

"Kuwabara-kun, that is really a scary thought..." Kurama hissed. Unfortunately, it also felt right somehow.

"You tell me," Kuwabara shivered. "I was frightened to death when it hit me. But then I remembered something Genkai-shihan told me once."

"What?"

"I asked her if Urameshi was really the right guy to be the successor to the Leiko-Hadou Ken."

"I heard my name!" Yusuke shouted again.

Kazuma waved at him angrily, pressing him to move on. "Oi, get a life! We're not talking about you, you idiot!"

"You expected to be Genkai's successor?" asked Kurama in a lower voice.

"Me? Hell, no! I just entered the competition to show that boastful bragger who he was dealing with," Kazuma sniggered.

Ten meters ahead of them, Yusuke sneezed.

Kurama smirked. "What did Genkai say?"

"That usually one who puts so much effort in mastering a power ends up acquiring the discipline of not using it unwisely. I don't know, you probably went through a lot to achieve the level of power you have now. A time before Kyoto was the capital... That is really long practice, Kurama..."

The Youko sighed aloud. "Except that I had no idea I've been practicing a power like that. Seems an insult to my intelligence."

"I think you knew," Kuwabara suggested. "And for some reason made yourself not know that you knew."

Kurama pulled his hair back in dismay. "Inari..."

Still feeling guilty, Kuwabara put his hands in his pockets. "Don't freak out, I might be wrong."

"I'm not freaking out," Kurama chuckled sarcastically. "And that's the whole point. I should be freaking out. I should be hysterical with the idea of having a power like this all my life and never knowing it," he shrugged. "Or never knowing that I knew it. Or just by imagining that I can control my perception like you said. But look at me. I'm dealing so well with this, aren't I?"

"In perfect control of yourself," Kuwabara muttered. "Like you always do in situations as this one."

The reddish ki aura whirled around Kurama, and the Youko suddenly remembered how that conversation had started. "Is that what I'm doing? I'm using all this power just to...?" He gulped. To get a hold of myself now that Hiei is dead...

Kuwabara patted his shoulder for comfort. "That amount of ki surprised me too. But the shrimp was your best friend, ne?"

"Only you to care about the death of a Forbidden Child, Fox. Most people wouldn't even bother to dig a hole to bury me." When did Hiei say that? Where were they then? What were they talking about? It sounded so distant, as if the words had been uttered in a time before Youko Kurama was born...

We were in bed, he remembered with a painful effort. And he was laughing at me. Hazy memories of a warm embrace, a sad kiss and ruby eyes devouring his soul, and that was all there was. He remembered knowing the young Fire Demon. He remembered his appearance, his voice, his grumpy ways, most of the adventures they had faced together. But he had forgotten what Hiei meant to him.

Kurama huffed. Not that I ever knew...

He wondered if he could stop the ki flood, consciously controlling the power. But what if he succeeded? What kind of reaction he was trying to keep in check? Would he break down in desperate tears, his heart ripped apart by his loss? He tried to picture himself crying his heart out because of Hiei... Ridiculous. I cared about him, but not like that. Nothing like that at all.

But then another idea came to him. What if I don't care at all? What if I'm putting up all this ki field just to convince me that I would be devastated by Hiei's death, while in fact I'm just the ruthless bastard everyone says I am?...

He moaned. No wonder he made his best to hide from himself his abilities. That kind of reasoning could easily drive him insane. What would happen now that he had heard all that from Kuwabara? Would he forget about it and convince himself that that conversation never took place? Oh shut up, Kurama! You survived this long. You probably know what you're doing. Even without knowing it.

"What a headache," he muttered.

Kuwabara breathed in very slowly. "I hope it doesn't get worse."

"What do you mean?"

"That Mukuro. Isn't her the one who tore the Black Dragon in two in the Makai Tournament?"

Kurama nodded. For a moment, he had feared Hiei's body would be torn apart as well, right in front of his eyes, in the big screens of the stadium.

"Well, I sure hope that after all this youki you're spending, there will still be some of it left," Kuwabara murmured. "Because I don't know if Urameshi and I can beat someone that powerful all by ourselves."

The energy level hit Mukuro like a shockwave rattling her ground. What? Who is...? She halted, raised her head to try to grasp that ki signature.

It wasn't one source alone. Three. Urameshi. Another, not a demon, someone she never met before.

And the Youko. The particular ki signature revealed by Kurama when he shifted into his old Youko self during the Makai Tournament. Strong, wild, imperious, definitely not in a playful mood.

Urameshi, Youko Kurama and a powerful stranger entering her territory, clearly not in a social call. Plain business. And ready for a confrontation. Trouble?

Mukuro smiled. At other times, she might have gotten concerned about uninvited beings with that level of ki approaching her fortress. Other times. Now, Yusuke was no threat to her, and neither was his reiki-owner companion, whoever he was. And Kurama...

"It will happen, Hiei," she murmured contently. "Your Youko and I, face to face." She chuckled. "You think I should be scared?"

Again the silence was her only answer, and she toyed with the white hairs on the Jaganshi's head. A precious jewel, that young demon. A priceless pearl that had lived too long among the grossest pigs. Only those with vision had spotted his real value and understood how much he was worth fighting for.

Mukuro suppressed another laugh. And you didn't understand that either. Never. Not until you died.

She wondered if he understood now.

"But as eager as I am to meet this challenge, I'm not done with you just yet, Hiei..."

Reaching for the intercomm again, she touched the orange button. "Kiren?"

"Three trespassers," replied her general through the speaker.

"I know. And I think your soldiers should be given some training exercise."

"What the fuck is that?" Kuwabara cried out. He couldn't find a way to begin to describe it. A giant rock and metal spider? cockroach? scorpion? bug? with the meanest of looks, black, somber, eerie, magnificent in its dimensions, terrifying in the way it glowered dangerously down at any visitors bold enough to approach the dark moistened walls. And I thought the Yojigen Mansion was spooky...

"This is Mukuro's home sweet home," announced Yusuke sarcastically. "I'm sure she projected it herself." But the fortress hadn't looked as intimidating the last time he had been there a few months before. Hiei had shown him most of the place, walking quietly by the large and eccentrically decorated corridors, his face aloof and expressionless, mutely asking that Yusuke would follow him. For someone who knew the Jaganshi for as long as Yusuke did, the declaration of pride for his new impressive home had been unmistakable.

And considering the stuff he had now read in that file, Yusuke guessed that it had been also the very first time in his life that Hiei got to have a home like that.

Mukuro... Urameshi clenched his fists indignantly. Raizen had told him he could trust her, had praised her as an honorable adversary. But what honor could that be, murdering her own heir, seducing a dejected kid with comfort and warmth, only to betray him and destroy him? I can never forgive you for that, Mukuro.

"Do we sneak in?" asked Kurama, probing the immense structure for weaknesses.

"No," Yusuke countered vehemently. "Front door. We strike with all we got."

"Are you sure?" Kurama's tone was lacking in confidence.

Kuwabara gulped in sympathy. The Youko's ki aura was beginning to subdue now; perhaps he was finally calming down. But it was still doubtful that that "all we got" would count much on Kurama's assistance.

"I'm through with sneaking," Yusuke growled. "I'm getting Mukuro for what she did. If we have to blow down the whole building to do it, so much the better."

Kurama pursed his lips, then shrugged. It probably didn't matter anyway. Mukuro wasn't stupid. If she killed Hiei, she should know that his friends would be knocking on her door in no time. Most likely she's expecting us already.

Rolling up his sleeves, Kuwabara gladly assumed his fighting stance. "Then let's get her!" he snarled. Beating up women was not his style. But for the one who killed the shrimp, I'll make an exception...

At last Takamura-san was scared. It felt silly to be scared like that, since dead people had nothing to lose anymore. But that...

Thing!

The entire construction was a huge "Keep out!" sign, and the old man would have felt so pleased in obeying it...

Hiding behind a cedar - or some creepy tree that looked enough like a cedar to Takamura-san's eyes - he tiptoed to as closer to the boys as he dared. They were talking about finding a corpse inside that monstrous thing, and he shivered, starting to regret coming along. Back in Reikai the kids looked so anxious to meet that Koenma man, and then left in such a secretive way that he betted they would be able to lead him to the one guy who could fix that big mistake of killing him so soon. Takamura-san didn't want to have anything to do with corpses.

"Then let's get her!" exclaimed the taller kid, Takamura-san's favorite.

Her? The corpse... Mukuro... That is a woman's name?!

The three boys exchanged a quick glance before racing for the gate under that insect's head.

So now was time to decide. Would he follow the kids to meet the owner of that horror house, stay behind and wait, or maybe just go home...? Now he wasn't even sure if the Reikai hotshot would be in the end of the enterprise.

On the other hand, he didn't knew where he was, didn't know how to go back. Neither did he know if there was still any place for him to go back to anyway. He could just stay right there and wait for the boys to get out. If they ever get out, he thought somberly.

Being dead, he would be equally safe either inside or outside. I think...

He sighed. He had come this far. He had nothing better to do. And he was really growing fond of the carrot-haired boy.

Resigned, he got out from his hiding place and walked towards that awful structure. He wondered if that bit about ghosts being able to pass through walls was true. It might come in handy...

"Kurae Fuuka Enbujin!"

The tornado of rose petals rushed through the dark hallway in its mad harmful wave, and the youkais ran to hide behind the furniture. Those who managed to dodge the cutting projectiles and charge over the beautiful attacker were caught by Yusuke and Kuwabara's mighty punches.

There were fewer soldiers defending the fortress than Yusuke had expected. Far fewer than he had seen the last time he had come to visit Hiei. And he didn't know what to make of it. In a way, it was a good thing; Mukuro would be a dangerous enemy, and wasting time and energy with her men could be disastrous. On the other hand, it was somewhat disappointing, for he had counted on the opportunity of letting some of the steam off by whacking those assholes' brick heads...

And it was suspicious. Maybe Kurama's knack for strategy was finally beginning to rub on him. Why wouldn't Mukuro tell her soldiers to strike with all they had?

And another curious detail. None of the guards obstructing their way had been in Hiei's squad. By the Jaganshi's request, Urameshi had sparred against them all, and he was sure he would be able to recognize them. What did that mean?

"Yusuke," called an apprehensive Kurama. "Did you notice? They only attack us when we charge in. The ones we pass by don't form behind us to attack us from the rear."

The team leader glanced back at the corridor end where they have come from. In fact, all youkai that had previously assaulted them had quit the fight once the three of them had passed. Now they were simply standing there, watching.

"This makes no sense," he murmured.

"Unless these guards are not really trying to keep us out," suggested the redhead. "Unless they're only attempting to slow us down."

"Slow us down?" Kuwabara shrieked. "For what?"

"To give Mukuro time to escape!" cried Yusuke. "Come on! We gotta hurry!"

As soon as the boys left one room, the soldiers would gather to exchange their impressions.

"Why were you guys so worried? They're not that big a deal."

"I'm disappointed. For what I saw of Urameshi's fight against Yomi in the Tournament, I expected a lot more of him."

"Oh, that ridiculous competition. Rigged, for sure."

"You weren't there, Nagao. You didn't see it."

"What was to see? Mukuro-sama lost. A dunce like Enki won. One doesn't need to be there to tell the results were rigged."

"Mukuro-sama wouldn't have made part of a rigged tournament."

"Unless the rake-off was quite something."

"You're so full of shit, Nagao. You know nothing. Next time you apply to the contest, instead of running after that pretty blonde nymphet of yours."

Mocking laughs, and the youkai named Nagao fell silent, vexed.

"Forget Urameshi. The red-haired angel with the flowers. Was that really the infamous Youko Kurama? What a change!"

"Angel?! Look what his angelic flowers did to me! I'll spent ages covered with stinky liniment until all these cuts wear off!"

"Yeah, the cute looks don't fool me. You've seen his eyes? They gleamed with gold and blood. It's that same bastard who looted all the settlements in the Southwest two hundred years ago."

"Make no mistake. They weren't interested in us. If they were, lots of us wouldn't be standing here anymore. I'm glad we weren't ordered to kill them."

"And you should! You let yourself to be knocked out by a mere human!"

More chuckles.

"That was no ordinary human," muttered the offended soldier, caressing his sore chin.

"Yeah, right," came a sarcastic reply.

"Hey guys, give Bikko a break. If Urameshi and Kurama have the ningen as their ally, he must have more in him than meets the eye."

Takamura-san, transiting unnoticed among the mean-looking monsters, was forced to agree. That nice kid and his two friends could be called many things but 'ordinary'. But then, what could be called 'ordinary' about a place like that or its inhabitants? Those guards were even more... exotic... than the ogres in Reikai.

And Takamura-san found himself not being too surprised with it. He was getting sort of used to all that weirdness that had invaded his placid world since the blue-haired pink-eyed oar-flier ferrygirl had mistook him for someone who was ready to die that morning. After watching for ten minutes the boys' invasion and their fulgurant battle with the guards of the fortress - and having guaranteed that no one was really seeing him - he lost most of his fear.

And started to have fun.

Whistling softly an old tune of his youth, Takamura-san followed the weird kids to the next chamber.

"I realize I should have asked you this half-hour ago, Yusuke," commented Kurama as they ran through the longest hallway they had found so far - and as they ran over some demon soldiers as well. "But do you have any idea of where we are going? Maybe Kuwabara-kun should lead the way." Mukuro's fortress was not as big as Yomi's palace in Gandara, but the many rooms, curved corridors and the dim light made it a lot easier to get lost. Even an expert thief like him, who was able to find his way in and out through the worst labyrinths, faced a vague sense of dizziness while trying to mentally register a path.

"I don't know," Kuwabara groaned. "I never met this Mukuro, don't know her ki signature. And this whole place is flooded with an enormous energy, makes hard to focus. I'm not sure if can grasp its location."

"No need to worry," Yusuke grinned. "I know where I'm going. Hiei showed me around."

"He introduced you to Mukuro's private chambers?" Again Kurama's ki aura flared around him, and he winced. He was getting too tired to keep it up.

"Nope," Yusuke told him. "One of the very few places he didn't show me."

"Then how can you know where you're taking us?" Kuwabara yelled, and would have whacked Urameshi's head if he weren't already busy with someone else's head.

Yusuke kicked a bat-like youkai out of his way. "I know I've never been in this hall. So we must be going in the right direction."

Kurama didn't know if he should moan or giggle. Unfortunately, in the moment of hesitation his ki flared again with another hazy memory. "Why do we follow this guy?" Hiei had asked, one of his trademark scowls hardening his features. "He obviously has no idea of what he's doing!" And Kurama had patted the Fire Demon's head - knowing it would only enrage him - and said, "At least we're not getting bored, baby." Then Hiei slapped his hand away. "Speak for yourself, Fox."

As blurred as the image came up, it vanished, leaving him exhausted and out of breath.

"Kurama?" Kuwabara called him in a lower tone.

"I'm fine." Can't I convince myself that I'm fine? he thought bitterly.

"Fine and happy?" mocked a whisper in his mind.

The next passageway led them to a delicately engraved gate made of heavy purplish wood. A group of soldiers stood stiffly between the gate and the Urameshi Team, fists and weapons ready. A scary barricade.

With a ferocious battle cry, Kuwabara jumped over the first line of demons. Against so many, it was unlikely that he could succeed, no matter his bravery, but as Kuwabara's attack blocked the guards' vision to Kurama's acts, the Youko disentangled a bunch of gray seeds from his hair and spread them at the demons' feet. Most seeds fell in between the wood flooring blocks.

The gray stems that began to rise from the floor looked wobbly and flimsy, but quickly grew to tie themselves around the soldiers' ankles and lift them high in the air, heads down. Only four youkais escaped from the impish plant, and they were all now right in the end of Yusuke's shining finger's aim.

"Four and a gate," Yusuke announced. "Piece of cake."

But before Yusuke could fire, the remnant guards exchanged concerned looks and ran to open the gate. Either Mukuro's last men were a batch of chickens, or the slowing-them-down strategy didn't include damaging the place.

The three Tantei emerged in an ample anteroom whose dark walls were majestically ornate with tapestries and ancient weapons, a slight scent of burning incense suggesting a sense of tranquility they had not found in any of the chambers they had passed by. Eight ogres stood glowering at them, scattered in the large room. And under the largest tapestry - one representing the separation of the worlds many centuries ago - a young lad sitting cross-legged on a puffy sofa, wearing a pretentious red cloak, eyed the newcomers quizzically. "You guys sure make a lot of noise," he sneered.

"KOENMA!" cried Yusuke and Kuwabara. Kurama merely arched an eyebrow.

"You don't look too happy to see me," Koenma frowned.

"You bet we're not," Yusuke snapped, running towards him. Two of the bulky onis stepped in his way, blocking his approach. "Get out of my way!"

"Are you threatening the Prince of Reikai?" asked an oni behind him, his tone just a little unfriendly.

"No, I'm threatening you if you don't step away right now!" Yusuke snarled. "Who are those jerks, Koenma?"

"My personal bodyguards," Koenma smiled. "Cool, ne?"

"Well, tell your cool bodyguards to step aside or I'm breaking your toys!"

"Koenma-sama," called the same oni that spoke before. "You wants us to get rid of this element?"

Koenma rested his chin on his hand, pondering with a smile. "Ah... I am not sure... let me think..."

"OIRIYA!!!"

The three onis fell flat on the floor, passed out.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted. "What do you think you're doing? They were mine!"

Kuwabara stuck out his tongue. "You were taking too long."

But Yusuke had his chance, when the other five ogres attacked.

"You want any, Kurama?" asked Kazuma.

The Youko shook his head, leaning back on the wall, catching his breath.

"Than it's four-four, Urameshi. I have the right to one more."

Yusuke snorted. "Only if you get him before me. SHOTGUN!!"

"My bodyguards!!!" Koenma protested.

To no avail. Two seconds and there were no onis standing on the room.

The Prince of Death was indignant. "What did you have to do that for?"

"What did you bring those guys for?" Yusuke countered. "To protect you from Makai mosquitoes? There's little more they could do."

"Why didn't up bring the Tokubetsu Boueitai at least?" Kazuma inquired. Then with a confident grin, "Not that would make any difference against me..."

"Oi, you weren't alone here!" Yusuke nudged him.

Koenma stiffened. "I don't need the Tokubetsu Boueitai. Neither did I need those," he waved to the fallen onis. "I can take care of myself."

"That's good," Kurama's soft voice sounded so abrupt that made Koenma jump. "Because calling Enma-daiou's Defense Army would have broken the BIEFOWS mode for sure."

The color of Koenma's cheeks vanished completely. "Wha-what did you say?"

"Forget Enma," Kuwabara rested a heavy hand on Koenma's shoulder. "You're screwed with us."

The Reikai Prince had never noticed before how taller - and broader - than him the ningen Tantei was. And he felt smaller yet when Yusuke came to stand less than ten inches from him, glaring viciously. "Hiei," Yusuke said simply.

Koenma sweated. "Hiei?"

"We know all about him," Kazuma asserted. Not exactly true, since Urameshi didn't tell him and Kurama that many details of what he had read in Hiei's file, and had also been completely adamant in not showing them its contents. But they all knew the important parts.

But Koenma just kept staring back and forth between the two boys. "You know."

"Yes," Yusuke confirmed dryly.

Koenma's eyes narrowed to slits. "Botan."

Kuwabara cringed. He didn't want to get the ferrygirl in trouble with her boss...

"No, Koenma-sama," Kurama intervened with his characteristic calm. "That's the whole point. No one came to tell us. We only found out by chance because we decided to drop by Reikai to see you. Didn't you think that we would have appreciated to be informed of something like that?"

Yusuke mentally thanked Kurama for the quick thinking, his anger towards the Youko finally starting to fade.

"This problem doesn't concern any of you," Koenma retorted. The last word, however, came out in but a ghostly groan as Kuwabara tightened the grip on his shoulder, delving the nails in his flesh.

"Say that again," Urameshi hissed.

Koenma met Yusuke's glare without flinching. "It. Doesn't. Concern. ANY. Of you."

All three Tantei were taken aback by the categorical reply.

"Will you let go of me now?" In the future sovereign's voice was all the edgy restrained pride of royalty.

Caught by surprise, Kazuma withdrew his arm.

"This matter is between Reikai and Mukuro, and I am here to solve it personally," spat Koenma. "I understand your feelings, but the laws of Reikai are inescapable. You are not ruining my mission."

Yusuke crossed his arms on his chest, feeling the bulk of Hiei's file inside his jacket. "Ruining your mission? We're gonna help you."

"Help me?!"

"To get Hiei back," Yusuke huffed. Do I have to explain everything?

"WHAT???"

"Yeah, if you're going against this Mukuro for the shrimp, you'll need better help than this," he pointed to the unconscious onis at his feet.

Koenma only eyed the boys, openmouthed.

The cold wave of demonic energy called their attention before the sound of steps, and Koenma and the three Tantei turned quickly to see the tall youkai entering the room through the same gate Yusuke almost disintegrated minutes before. Kurama instantly recognized the armored warrior, who had most of his face hidden behind a metal elm and mask, as Kiren, Mukuro's second-in-command before Hiei was called to fit the position. The Youko wondered if Kiren had acted with as much rancor for the Fire Demon as Shachi had felt when Yomi discarded him to have Kurama as his new number 2. Differently from Shachi, Kiren exhaled a tranquil undisturbed aura of someone who could deal confidently with changes and new situations.

"Will Mukuro see me now?" Koenma inquired impatiently.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait just a few moments more, Koenma-sama," Kiren informed him, gesturing to the remaining guards in the other room. They rushed in to form before a double door across the chamber - a smaller copy of the previous gate, as beautiful and delicate in its engraving as the other. "She will be with you as soon as she finishes what she's doing now."

"What could she be doing that is more important than receiving the son of Enma-daiou?" Koenma insisted, not bothering to guise his displeasure.

Kiren didn't move, but Kurama could almost see the lopsided grin behind the mask. "Mukuro-sama won't be interrupted. And it is not wise to interrupt her."

"Well, she will be interrupted this time," Yusuke riposted, raising his right arm to point the index finger to the protected doors. "Ever heard of a ningen game called 'bowling'? 'Cause I'm about to get a strike."

"Yusuke!" Koenma held his arm warningly. "This is my mission!"

"And this is my house," added a disembodied low voice. "Patience and respect are in order."

Kuwabara looked cautiously around him. "Where that came from...?"

Slowly, and rather dramatically, the doors opened, sliding in. There wasn't much too see in the new room, as dimness made hard to discern its proportions and decor. Yusuke spotted the outline of a low table, an armchair and a large bed that leaned forty-five degrees up to face the doors, covered with satiny crumpled sheets and lots of pillows.

And right under the doorway stood Mukuro, managing to look both homey and imposing in a loose dark green robe, her right eye hidden by a blue kerchief and a thick lens. She had her arms crossed on her bosom, her face impassive as she gazed at the newcomers. "An unexpected pleasure," she greeted coldly.

"It won't be a pleasure for long," Yusuke promised.

So... this is Mukuro? Kuwabara frowned. Power. Strength. Confidence. Tainted beauty. Tainted darkness. Her youki spread placidly around her, both peaceful and menacing. He didn't know what to make of her.

Mukuro arched an eyebrow. "Urameshi... You threaten me? After all you did to keep the Makai from engaging in war among our kingdoms?"

"Forget the kingdoms, Mukuro. This is between you and me alone."

Kuwabara nudged him immediately. "Us, Urameshi. Us alone."

She shifted her gaze to Kurama, clearing expecting some comment from him. He showed no reaction though, just stared back as if he had nothing to do with the issue at hand. She was surprised at seeing him in that red-haired human body. His ki level had induced her to expect the golden-eyed silver figure of the legendary thief of Makai.

"Actually," Koenma interfered, "Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama were just leaving. Goodbye, my friends. Stop by Reikai another time. We might go out for an ice-cream or something."

However, the Prince of Death was unanimously ignored.

"You went too far this time, Mukuro," Urameshi hissed.

"Did I?" she grinned. "Would you care to tell me how?"

"Don't play games with me!" Yusuke blurred out of the guards' vision to materialize right in front of her. "You should know who you're dealing with by now."

Almost as fast as Hiei, she noticed. The guards turned to interfere, but she stopped them with a gesture. "This is a fascinating conversation, Urameshi, but are you intending to get to the point any time in the near future? I have better things to do."

"What did you do to Hiei, Mukuro?" Yusuke barked at her face.

She arched an eyebrow. Urameshi yelling in fury, while the Youko stayed behind, quiet and apparently indifferent? Surprise, surprise... "I didn't think that was any of your business, Urameshi."

Yusuke's chestnut eyes blazed in rage. "You thought he was all alone, didn't you? You thought you could do whatever it pleased you and no one would care. DIDN'T YOU???"

"K'so! Cut the shouting, will ya?" demanded a hoarse annoyed voice from Mukuro's chamber. "I'm trying to sleep."

Yusuke froze, his demon heart thundering in his chest. Kuwabara stared flabbergasted at the dark room's interior. And Kurama's ki aura ignited out of reflex at the sound of that voice.

Mukuro just rolled her eyes. "You really didn't come in a good time, Urameshi."

Koenma, on the other hand, felt insulted in his whole name, power, position and ancestry. "You mean you made me wait here for two hours just for... for... this..."

Walking around Mukuro, Yusuke stepped into the bedroom, palming the inner wall beside the door until he found a switch and turned it on, bathing the place with yellow light.

On the bed, one of the pillows squirmed. And cursed. "Kisama! Turn off the damned light!"

And now that the lights were on, Yusuke could see that that particular pillow was a little bigger than the others, and had black and white spiky hair...

"Hiei!!!" As fast as he had passed through the guards to threaten Mukuro before, Yusuke jumped on the bed to hug that ill-tempered pillow as hard as he could.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Hiei spat in shock.

At the adorable familiar snarling, Yusuke laughed and tightened the hug even more. That was Hiei, no doubt. Alive, in one piece, and as grumpy as ever. Thank you, gods! he prayed. Man, I'm so happy, I could kiss him!

That thought, however, made him sweat when he pictured the loose robe Mukuro was dressed in and the determined way her soldiers had tried to slow down his and his friends' entrance.

Experimentally, he moved his left leg a tiny inch. And froze.

Even through the thick fabric of his jeans, Yusuke could easily sense that Hiei was wearing nothing but his arm-bandages under the thin sheets.

The subtle move didn't pass unnoticed by the Jaganshi, and if he was already shocked with the enthusiastic hug, now his eyes looked about to pop out of its sockets.

Yusuke blushed so hard that he feared his ears would be incinerated. Cautiously propping up on his elbows, he tried to get up...

And fell back over Hiei when Kuwabara jumped on the bed as well, enveloping both in a big bear hug. "Shrimp!!!"

Mukuro turned to dismiss Kiren and the guards, then glanced once again at Kurama, watching his reactions. But the Youko simply shoved his hands into his pockets and closed his eyes, looking just a little bit annoyed. His energy level receded briskly, stabilizing at a few degrees higher than his usual for the human aspect. Mukuro found that extension of self-control impressive. And also funny.

"I never thought I'd be happy to see you, dwarf!" Kuwabara exclaimed, crushing both Yusuke and Hiei's ribs.

"Hiei," Mukuro called in a flat tone, managing to suppress her amusement for witnessing her somber laconic heir in such a comical scene. "We have a deal. Not in my bed."

Hiei jostled his teammates back, his cheeks on fire. "What the hell are you thinking, woman?"

"What happened to your ki?" Kazuma demanded. "I can barely sense it!"

"Hn. Used the Kokuryuuha. I'll have my energy back in no time," Hiei growled, glancing menacingly at Mukuro. She just smiled.

"Boy, you have no idea how much you scared us!" Yusuke sighed, discovering that it had become so much easier to breathe now.

"I'll scare you a lot more if you don't get out of this bed right now," the little youkai snapped. "OUT!"

Free of the suffocating hug, Hiei finally spotted the beautiful redhead standing quietly in the doorway, staring straight at the short youkai as if his green eyes could burn a hole in his skull. Hiei greeted him discreetly with an almost unnoticeable bow of his head. Kurama didn't reply in any way.

Yusuke jumped out of the bed and ran to embrace Koenma happily. "You see that? It's Hiei!"

Koenma eyed him suspiciously. "Yes, I can see that." He offered a quick glare to the Fire Demon, who answered in kind while he slipped into his black pants, tying them with a red sash.

"How could you and your people make such a mistake?" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"What?" Koenma gaped. "I made no mistake." He pointed an accusing finger to Mukuro. "She made a mistake. A huge one."

"Hold on to your temper, Koenma-chan," Mukuro chided. "You don't wanna start getting wrinkles so long before puberty, do you?"

"Don't chan me! You committed a big crime against Reikai's laws!"

Yusuke frowned. "But Hiei is right here, safe and sound! She didn't kill him after all." For that statement he was rewarded with quizzical looks from Mukuro and Koenma, and a "Bakayarou!" swearing from Hiei.

"What are you talking about, Yusuke?" Koenma huffed. "You burst in talking nonsense, hitting my bodyguards and threatening me... What did you guys came here for anyway?"

"Because B..." Kuwabara held his tongue in time. "I mean, we were told at Reikai that the shrimp was killed and his soul had gone stray."

"And that she was the one who killed him," Yusuke accused Mukuro, still unsure if it was time to drop charges yet.

"Some information service you must have, Koenma-chan," Mukuro snorted.

"Don't call me that!" Koenma spat back. "Yusuke, this is ridiculous."

"But it's written right here!" Yusuke took Hiei's file out of his jacket. "It says Hiei died in a skirmish here in Mukuro's fortress... where is that damned paper?" In his eagerness to find what had happened to his teammate, he had disarranged the order of the pages.

"What the hell is that?" Hiei scowled at the thick slate-colored folder.

"Yusuke!" Koenma shouted, stupefied. "That is Reikai's property! Where did you get it?"

Hiei blinked. "Reikai's... Is that my file?!" His whole life history in black and white, and Yusuke could read it?

Yusuke flipped the pages furiously. "Where was... Hah! Here it is!"

"Yusuke, gimme that!" Hiei commanded.

But what Yusuke had in his hand was yet another page he hadn't read before. Written in Koenma's handwriting, it seemed to be a draft to the report of the final judgement of Hiei's soul. And there, a bit of information that Yusuke had overlooked so far was underlined several times.

The time of death. Day, month, the exact hour and minutes.

And the year.

Yusuke felt the room spinning around him. "But that was three years ago!" he exclaimed.

Hiei moved in his direction and tried to grab the file away from Yusuke's hands, but the brown-eyed boy held it firmly behind his back, away from the youkai's reach. "Give it to me, Yusuke."

"You died three years ago?!" Yusuke gasped. "That was before the Tournament!"

"Right," Hiei confirmed. "Ancient history. Forget about it, okay?"

"It's not that simple, Hiei," Koenma intervened.

Kuwabara sat back in the bed. "Ite! You guys keep dying and resurrecting as if it was the most natural thing... Koenma, when I die, I want the same first-class treatment."

"I have nothing to do with this!" Koenma protested. "And I won't have my authority run over again. Kurama's case was enough." And Enma-daiou was still somewhat bitter about Urameshi's resurrection as a demon. If another of Koenma's team of spiritual detectives circumvented Reikai's laws like this...

Mukuro expected that the mention of his name would finally drag some reaction of the Youko. But Kurama still stood aside of the imbroglio, silent and immobile, gazing distantly at the Fire Demon. "Don't take it personally, Koenma-chan," she shrugged. "I had my own set of plans, and I needed Hiei alive."

"You brought him back?!" Kuwabara felt dizzy. That was unbelievable power to a demon, far scarier than ripping the Black Dragon in two...

"I didn't bring him back," Mukuro corrected him. "I just didn't allow him to leave."

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Bossy woman..."

"It still wasn't your jurisdiction!" Koenma insisted.

"Are you jealous, Koenma-chan?" she chuckled. "I have no intention of stealing your job, don't worry."

Yusuke glared at Hiei in utter bewilderment. "How could you... how could you not to tell me?"

"It was none of your business," the youkai replied coldly.

"None of my...? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Urameshi yelled as loud as he could.

Hiei didn't flinch. "You spend too much time with Kurama. You're becoming a damned busybody, just like him."

Mukuro smiled. The show was getting more and more interesting by the minute. Especially with the redhead ningen/Youko still frozen as a statue next to the doorway. She walked back to her bed, emphatically ignoring Koenma's angry raised finger, but paused when she found that bulky carrot-haired human sitting on the edge. "Did I invite you to my bed?" she gnarled in a low dangerous tone.

The boy stammered a bit, finding nothing intelligible to say.

"Then buzz off," she hissed. In half a second Kuwabara was in the other side of the room.

"But Hiei..." Yusuke felt as if he had been stabbed in the back. "Who...? How...?"

"It doesn't matter. Now give me that file."

"No, give ME the file," Koenma stepped in between them. "I don't know how you got it from my office, but it's going back there at once."

"I'm not giving anyone any file until you tell me what happened!" Urameshi insisted.

Hiei was adamant. "I'm not telling you a thing."

But Koenma only shrugged. "Three years ago, before he joined Mukuro, Hiei fought against Shigure and the two managed to kill each other. When the ferrygirl Mai came to take them, Mukuro interposed her mission and brought them both back, hindering Enma-daiou's authority regarding disincarnated souls. Now give me the file, Yusuke!"

But the Fire Demon was already with his hand firmly clenched to Koenma's collar. "You are dead, brat."

All of a sudden, Kurama seemed to wake up from his trance. "Shigure?" he repeated with a strange voice.

Kuwabara scratched his head, remembering the stories Kurama and Urameshi had told him about their time in Makai. "Wasn't that the guy with the weird sword that you fought in the Tournament, Kurama?"

The Youko nodded. "The same. And there's no way he could have beaten you, Hiei. Not in a fair fight."

The Jaganshi stiffened. "He was an expert swordsman," he murmured. "Taught me most of what I know."

Yusuke clenched his teeth. "Shigure was your teacher, ne? I read about it on your file."

Hiei's heart skipped a beat. If he knows that... what else did he read about?

"Shigure wouldn't be able to stand your black fire," Kurama pointed out, suspicious. "Unless..."

Hiei looked away.

Turning his back on all of them, Yusuke went to that draft signed by Koenma again. "This stuff says it was Shigure, in a sword duel, and that..." He halted, paling horribly.

"Unless you didn't use your fire powers against him," Kurama concluded.

"You are all crazy," Hiei snarled, turning to get his cloak and leave.

But Kurama caught his wrist in a painful grip. "You didn't, right, Hiei? You didn't. On purpose."

The Jaganshi met the darting green eyes, but kept silent.

Yusuke closed the folder, and let all his wrath fell over Hiei in a ki-infused glare. "You committed suicide," Yusuke hissed.

"What?!" Kuwabara gaped.

Letting his features relax from his deep scowling, Hiei gazed at the faces looking down at him. Mukuro's was just like it always was to her chosen heir: calm, curious, understanding, keeping a safe distance. Koenma's was dark and angry, but most of that contempt was directed to Mukuro, not him.

But the other three faces... They reminded the Fire Demon of the somber looks he got from the thief gang that had raised him, on the day the thieves banned him for good. Cold, disappointed, choleric, judgmental.

Very much what he had expected anyway.

"Yeah," he snorted. "So what?"