Love's Denial

Hello kittens, I told you it would be here soon. I so hope that you enjoy this. It has truely been a labor of love after all the shit I've had to go through to get it done. Enjoy and Review.


Chapter Sixteen


Hiei was starting to grow tired of Yusuke’s endless drabble. Since the moment Aki set foot on Genkai’s property, the detective had been throwing random and useless information at the girl. Just as Yusuke was about to start talking about different punches in great detail, or as much detail as a fool could give, Hiei kicked a rock at his head.


“What the hell, Hiei,” Yusuke yelled out, turning form Aki to look at the shorter demon.


Hiei smirked and shifted to his other leg. “While your endless lecture is simply fascinating, you are putting the human to sleep, detective,” he replied, pointing to Aki just as she covered her mouth to stifle a yawn.


Yusuke turned to her just as she covered her mouth to cover her yawn. Aki couldn’t stop the sudden blush of embarrassment that crawled onto her face. “Sorry, Yusuke,” she told him softly, lowering her head.


The young half-demon sighed and hung his head as well. “I suppose that this teaching thing is a lot harder than it looks, huh,” he mumbled.


Hiei snorted. “If that is what you human’s go through at school, I can not see how you haven’t destroyed yourselves yet. With all that useless information, it seems unlikely that a race would be able to survive without everyone killing each other.”


“Don’t start on me, Hiei.”


Hiei just ‘hn’ed in response, making Yusuke even more upset.
Yusuke clinched his fist, all thoughts on his true purpose for being at the clearing forgotten. “You’re a damn fucking prick. You should really get that stick removed from your ass. I am gonna-“ he ranted, stopping when he heard a loud coughing noise behind him.


Kurama shook his head. Of course the detective was doing what he did best, being destructive and unproductive while he and Kuwabarra silently made their appearance. “Yusuke, aren’t you supposed to be helping Aki warm up?”


The detective stared at his friend, his mouth hanging open with a mouthful of profanities just resting on the tip of his tongue. Yusuke knew that he had forgotten something. He also knew he could say noting to keep Kurama off his back about his lack of responsibility. So, Yusuke did the only thing he could do and shut his mouth walking over to a tree and sitting down to pout and lick his wounded pride.


Kurama calmly turned to Aki. “Have you done anything worthwhile yet?” he asked the girl.


Aki smiled at Kurama, her face lighting up. “Yes, Kurama-san. Yusuke has just been telling me some tips for the upcoming battles.”


Before Kurama got a chance to reply, Hiei interjected with another of his infamous snorts. “Yes, and I am sure that you can quote each one of them can’t you, human,” he taunted.


“Shut-the-fuck-up, Hiei,” said the quiet very Kuwabarra. “If you wish to be an asshole, you can do it somewhere else. No one is in the mood to deal with you and your bull shit.”


Hiei’s eyes began to burn in rage. If looks could kill, Kuwabarra would have been nothing more than a pile of ashes at that moment. Before he could retaliate, Kurama stepped in between the two. “Enough, this is no time for us to get personal feelings involved. We are all liable to die during this tournament if we do not focus on the objective at hand. Now, everyone get your panties out of your asses and lets get started.


“Yusuke, take Hiei and spar. It will be an excellent start to your training. Please try not to kill each other. Kuwabarra go and see Genkai. I do believe you and she discussed the best course of action for you for this tournament is to work on strengthening your sprit awareness and your control. Now as for Aki and myself, I am going to assess your strengths and weaknesses today so that Yusuke and I can plan some sort of training for you later,” the sprit fox finished, shocked at how readily everyone obeyed his orders including Hiei. Today was turning out to be an odd day indeed.


As everyone left, Aki couldn’t help but feel nervous at her upcoming ‘lesson’ with her master. She knew he could be utterly brutal from the stories she heard from Shizuru and the others when they were reminiscing about the past. Surely he wouldn’t expect too much from her human body. “Yuh. . .” she started dumbly, “what do you want me to do, Kurama-san?”


Kurama gave her a kind smile. “Don’t look so nervous. Just come at me with everything you have.”


*******************************************


Koenma was so tired. He was spending yet another sleepless night at his desk. The past months had been nothing but one emotional roller coaster after another for the young prince. His life with his wife had been put at a stand still and his insane, child assassin had been running his office since the moment the son-of-a-bitch had first stepped into his office. Koenma had lost control of everything.


He rubbed his head with his palm, thinking of the mess that he was in. The demi god had little over two months to go before all three worlds would be forced into a war with the most brutal and cruelest blood-dragons that had ever been in born. Koenma’s future was in the hands of an ally that he doesn’t trust even with his eyes on him and whom he hadn’t heard from in months.


Koenma sat up suddenly, his expression changing from one of depression and worry to one of determination. He stood up and rushed to the room holding all the records kept by his father. “It is time I do this my way. No longer will I be forced to depend on this assassin,” he muttered as he opened the doors and walked down the rows of documents. Our beloved prince had finally reached his breaking point.


*******************************************


Aki bit back a groan as she rubbed the base of her spine, trying to stop her muscles from screaming. She had been training with Kurama and Yusuke for about a month, attempting to perfect her martial arts abilities as well as trying to force some type of sprit awareness to awaken. The first half of her training was going along beautifully and with the exception of sore muscles and a few bruises, the blonde haired girl had no complaints. As for the spiritual awareness aspect of Aki’s training, it was becoming exhausting.


Aki has no real expectations about becoming spiritually aware, even with training, for she knows that her human body is very weak in that aspect. It is the others that feel that they can force something out of her. For all their attempts, trails, training, and experiments, all Aki got was a headache that would not go away.


Bringing her hands behind her head and stretching her back and neck causing a loud pop to echo into the quiet night. Aki couldn’t stop her small grunt of pain that escaped her lips as she fell back into a relaxed position.


“That sounded somewhat painful,” Genkai said, walking behind her and sitting to her right, setting down her cup of tea.
Aki turned to her and gave her a small smile. “Well, I must admit that the three of you are most certainly putting me through my paces. It would be unrealistic to think that I would come out of this training unscathed,” she told the older woman as she turned back to look at the woods and the night sky.


Genkai smirked. “I never considered you to be a realist. You seem awfully innocent and full of smiles for that, wouldn’t you say.”


“I suppose one could believe that,” Aki started, her smile leaving her face, “but to assume such things about me would be very wrong. I don’t believe in fairy tales or prince charmings. The experiences that I have had have shown me the truths of life and I hold to those truths with everything that I am. I am not willing to risk anything for a few moments of a perfect fantasy or dream when the reality of it is not even close. So please before you make such judgments or quick witted opinions of me, ask.” Aki finished smoothly and as she turned back to Genkai, her smile yet again on her face.


Genkai couldn’t stop the chuckle that formed in her throat. “You are one of a kind, aren’t you kid?” she asked lightly.


“I am just an ordinary girl,” she said lightly, her tone soft. “Now let us discuss something more pleasant. I am not very fond of such depressing topics.”


“I guess you wouldn’t be would you, even if you don’t believe in fairy tales and happy endings.”


Aki laughed lightly. “You are being awfully invasive tonight aren’t you?”


Genkai returned her laugh. “What does an old woman have if not her mystery?”


“What indeed?”


Genkai turned back to forest and looked up at the sky. “It is a clear night, isn’t it,” she muttered softly.


Aki followed her gaze. “Every night that I have been here has been lovely.”


“In your eyes it would seem that way,” Genkai replied lightly as she pulled out a cigarette.


Before she could respond, Aki covered her mouth in the hope of stifling her sudden urge to yawn. “Oh, dear. I hadn’t realized that I am so exhausted,” she muttered lightly. “I am sorry to cut our conversation short but it seems that I need to get to bed.”


Genkai looked up at the girl as she stood up, frowning as she watched her wince as she stood up. “Before you do, why don’t you go to one of the hot springs and take the edge off your soreness. It is not wise to keep your body wound so tightly,” she advised wisely, while puffing away at her cigarette.


Aki stopped by the screen door, turning to look at Genkai. “Are you talking about the spring down below the clearing on the east side of the property?” she asked cautiously. It wasn’t like Genkai to be so kind, especially to her.


Genkai smirked, standing up as well. “I’m only going to make the offer once, kid. Whether you heed my advice or just stand there like a fool is up to you. Now, I’m heading off to bed. It is the only time that I ever get any peace with you idiots around,” and with that she left.


Aki grinned while running to her room and grabbing her pj’s and a towel. Maybe this whole ordeal wasn’t so bad after all.


******************************************


Kurama had to do a double take as he glanced outside. Aki was running down on of the paths to one of the many self-proclaimed training fields that the team used. He turned to Yusuke who was lying on his back doing absolutely nothing
productive. “Yusuke, does the eastern path lead anywhere other than a to few clearings?”


The detective lifted his head, yawning loudly. “Yeah, I think there is a hot spring down that way and a lake towards the mountains but hell, I could be wrong. Why, is something up?” he asked.


Kurama shook his head. “No, I was just curious. Genkai has so much property that it is sometimes difficult to remember what is where,” the youko answered, standing up and going to walking out of the room.


Yusuke sat up. “Where in the hell are you going?” he yelled after Kurama.


“Just to gather some seeds, Yusuke,” Kurama told him, stopping momentarily to look back at the other boy. “It is said that some of the best seeds can be gathered late at night,” and with that he walked away.


******************************************


Mukuro looked up from her desk as Hiei landed on her windowsill. She resisted the urge to throw a chair at him for his rudeness. “Hiei, you have noticed that my palace has no limited amount of doors, haven’t you?” she asked him nonchalantly.


Hiei snorted. “Why would I waste the effort,” he replied in his usual flat tone.


“Why indeed,” she muttered putting away her work and sitting back in her chair. “So, tell me, did you run into any trouble?”


Hiei leaned against the windowsill. “It was simple enough. The information you gave me before hand was correct. The group of demons trying to breech the portal were of a low ‘B’ class level and were simple enough to get rid of. The issue was taken care of.”


“Good,” the demon lord told him, “now, on to a more pressing issue. How is your training in the human world going?”


Hiei gave her his trademark ‘hn’. “No differently than if I were continuing it here. I still don’t understand why you insisted that I do my training at Genkai’s,” he answered, turning to look out the window.


Mukuro arched her one elegant eyebrow. “I thought that it would be like old times for you, Hiei. Besides, it was you who was complaining that you didn’t get to spend enough time with your sister. Are you having difficulties working with your old teammates?” she asked in a sugary sweet voice.


Hiei turned to the older demon, his eyes slightly narrowed. “Hardly, Yusuke and Kurama are busy trying to teach a little human how to survive the first match. I am just there for the daily spars and to be amused,” the fire demon told her, his eyes returning to their usual state.


Mukuro laughed softly. “I thought that Kuwabarra was strong enough to survive this tournament. Don’t tell me that your little lover has lost his touch since you began fucking him, Hiei. My, my, what kind of an heir have I picked,” she told him, her expression one of mischief.


Hiei turned form the demon lord. Why is it that everyone wanted to shove Kuwabarra down his throat and how is it that the she found out about his relationship with him anyway? Well, he was tired of it, he did nothing wrong. “That fling was over before it had began and he is not the human I am talking about.”


“What the hell,” she demanded, her expression going from one of amusement to one of shock. “Fling! You have only taken partners that have reminded you of Kuwabarra for years and when you finally get him, you end it. And what human are you talking about if not the orange haired one?” she all but yelled at him.


Hiei snorted, taking her rant in stride. “I never realized that who I took to my bed was of any real concern to you but since you seem so interested I guess I’ll indulge you. Kuwabarra was noting more than a fantasy . . . an untouched dream. When I got him into bed, I lost interest. The human that has taken his place as the weak one happens to be a little human girl who just appeared one day.”


Mukuro rubbed her temples, ignoring the last part of Hiei’s speech. “How can you be so fucking stupid, Hiei?” she asked, her voice lined with exhaustion.


“I am not in the mood, Mukuro,” Hiei sighed, getting up and starting to walk away.


“Stop where you are, Hiei,” Mukuro yelled, standing up and blocking the smaller demon. “You might run away from everything else in your life but you will not run away from this, not without an explanation,” she told him, her voice harsh and demanding.


Hiei glared at his soon to be predecessor. “It was not meant to be, Mukuro. Leave it be.”


“But don’t you care for him?” she asked him, her voice losing the harshness and gaining a motherly tone that she only used on rare occasions.


“What do you think?” he asked, his voice barely there.


Mukuro just shock her head and stepped out of his away. “Go, I’ll see you at the tournament unless another situation arises where you will be needed,” the female demon lord told him.
Before he got to the door, Hiei was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I want you to use this time to decide what you really want, Hiei. Find out what you truly want,” Mukuro told him, watching as he left and not knowing if her words hit the mark.


******************************************


Moaning at the feel of the hot water licking at her sore muscles, Aki sunk even deeper into the hot spring. This was exactly what she needed. She was so distracted by her enjoyment that she failed to hear the footsteps walking behind her. She almost jumped out of the pool when a hand reached in and wrapped around her. “Are you having a nice swim, hummingbird?” he muttered.


She twisted away from the arm holding her and turned around, bringing her arms up to wrap around her chest. Her pale blue eyes grew wide as she looked up into the face of her master. “You frightened me,” she mumbled, lowering her head.


Kurama smirked. His hummingbird was nervous, extremely nervous by the look of her. “Is there a reason why you moved away from me without permission, hummingbird?” he asked in an emotionless voice.


Aki lifted her head up and moved back to her master’s side. “Sorry, master, I was just startled that is all,” she whispered, leaning slightly towards him.


“That is understandable, I suppose, since you are outside, in the middle of the woods alone, in the middle of the night, and you are very naked. I remember a time when I found you under these circumstances before only there was a demon involved that time,” he told her while sitting down in front of her and folding his legs in front of him. “You really should be more careful, hummingbird. What would you have done if I had been another big, bad demon ready to rape you?”


Aki grinned at her master’s playful tone. This was a first. She had seen his many of his sides; his need for control, his harshness, his passion, his coldness, as well as his gentleness but she had never seen him . . . flirty. It was most certainly one of his most endearing but rare traits that he showed. “I guess that means that you are here for something other than what I had originally thought you wanted, my master,” she told him softly, her voice taking on the same playful tone as his.


Kurama grinned at his hummingbird, his eyes questioning. He leaned down and gently cupped her face, bringing her eyes to his. “What did you think I wanted, huh?” he asked, whispering the question into her hair.


Aki blushed bright red at what she was about to say but kept her calm. “I was hoping that you would come out here and be a big, bad demon and rape me,” the blonde told her master in a hushed tone, her eyelashes lowering making her look even more sensual even with her cheeks bright red.


Kurama’s eyes darkened with lust at her words. He hadn’t realized that she had become so bold. “I hope you mean that, hummingbird,” he told her as he stood up and removed his shirt in a single fluid movement. “For that little comment, I think I’ll use my time wisely.”


Aki couldn’t stop her face from flushing even more. Before she had a chance to reply, her master had reached down and grabbed her by her arms causing her to instinctively wrap her arms around his neck. She didn’t even catch her footing before she feel to her knees in front of him, like a good little slave was supposed to.


The legendary fox couldn’t help but smile at the instinctive submissive pose that his hummingbird had taken for him. He knew that this relationship was changing yet again. It had gone from one of unwanted attraction and convenience, to one of unwanted possession, and now it was turning into a wanted attraction, at least on his part. Never had Kurama meet such a perfect personality that fit into his needs so easily and effortlessly. Aki could be whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted yet her personality changed so much when around others. It was high time that he admitted to himself that he was becoming more at ease with the relationship between the two of them.


Kurama fell to his knees in front of her, and took her head in his hand and pressed a demanding kiss to her lips. He pushed his tongue deep into her mouth, wrapping and dancing with her own. He pulled away from her, watching as his hummingbird’s chest rose and fell harshly as her labored breathing reached his ears causing Kurama’s already rigid body hardened even more.


Aki felt like her heart was pounding out of her chest, for it was beating so hard and fast. Before she even had a chance to get her breathing under control or at the very least even, her lips were taken again and Aki was effortless to protest. She arched her smaller and softer body into her beautiful master’s hard and strong one as he took one of her breasts into his hand. His fingers were rough as they pulled and tugged at her body for his pleasure. When he finally let her mouth go, Aki would have fallen backwards if her master hadn’t wrapped his arm around her back and pulling her body flush with his. “If you are this taken with only the opening, hummingbird, how are you going to take all this ‘big, bad demon’ has to give you?” he asked her softly, as she struggled to get much needed air to her lungs.


Kurama couldn’t stop from thrusting his still clothed cock against his very nude hummingbird. He had really been neglecting his needs and hers since they had begun training but that couldn’t be helped with Hiei so close on the premises. It would not do either of them any good if they were to get caught. They would never hear the end of it. Everyone would expect them to start a ‘real relationship’.


He shook his head clearing it of all other thoughts but of
those of him and this girl in his arms. He leaned back, falling on his back against the grass with Aki landing on top of him in the middle of his chest. With her dirty blonde hair around her shoulders and her breath coming in soft pants, Aki made a breathtaking picture. “Pleasure me, hummingbird,” he told her, leaning back and putting his hands by his sides.


Aki felt her face flush even more as she looked down at her master. She leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on his lips but he lay beneath her, unresponsive with his eyes closed. “You are going to have to work harder than that if you want to cum tonight, hummingbird,” he muttered lazily.


Aki shifted so her body that her face was above his and her breasts were against his chest. She pressed her lips hard against his, using her tongue to coax his out to play. After thrusting her tongue against his and still getting no response, the blonde haired girl pulled her mouth away from his and moved to his neck, her face set with determination.


Kurama grinned as his hummingbird moved to his neck. He bit back a groan as she nipped and sucked on his pulse and adam’s apple. The girl was working overtime at getting the silver youko off.


Aki moved her down her master’s body, kissing down his broad shoulders to his chest. She licked and bit, lightly of course, for all that she was worth. She was about to give up hope that he was feeling anything until she felt the proof against her stomach. Aki couldn’t help but grin as her master’s length throbbed against her abdomen. She moved from his chest and kissed down his abs to the top of his pants.


Kurama couldn’t stop the soft gasp that escaped his lips when Aki sucked on a piece of skin right above the button on his pants. He lifted himself up on one of his elbows and took her head into his other hand. The fox looked into eyes dazed, lust filled that mirrored his own he was sure. Kurama pushed her head down and pushed his hips up at the same time. “You should always finish what you start, hummingbird,” he told her, his voice low and husky with pleasure.


“Another lesson to be learned from my master, right,” she replied in nothing more than a soft whisper. She took his button between his teeth and forced the top part of his pants open.


Kurama grinned. “Yes and this is probably the most important lesson that I’ll ever teach you, hummingbird,” he moaned out as he watched her pull her zipper down with his teeth. As she wrapped her mouth around the tip of his cock, Kurama jerked her head down forcing the whole girth of his length into her mouth and down her throat.


Aki tried to pull away from the sudden intrusion but couldn’t gain back what little control she had been given. She recovered easily and quickly enough that she started sucking and running her tongue along the length of him as her master pulled her head back and forth, thrusting at his leisure and pace. She moaned around his length as her jaw began to throb and ache as Kurama became brutal in his attack. When her master finally came, almost choking her, Aki fell forward in his lap with her head resting against his semi-hard cock the instant he let go of her.


Kurama gently massaged his hummingbird’s neck as she rested in his lap while he attempted to get his breathing under control. He couldn’t help but groan as her own labored breathing brought his erection back to full life. “Are you trying to kill me, hummingbird?” he asked her, his voice barely controlled.


Aki sat up, licking her tender lips softly as she gently rubbed her jaw. “I don’t think I did that much, master,” she mumbled, moving up his body to rest her head against his chest.


He chuckled softly. “One day you are going to have to tell me how you learned to give such good blowjobs, hummingbird,” he told her, his eyes narrowing at the thought of her in someone else’s arms.


Aki buried her face into his chest, her eyes closed as her expression turned from one of lust to one of almost pure hatred. “It was a long time ago,” she told him.


Kurama sat up, bringing her to straddle his lap, bringing her sex and his cock together forcing him to bite back a groan. He ran his hand up her back and massaged the base of her neck, forcing her to look him in the face. He kissed the frown off her face as he pushed his tongue into her mouth to intertwine with hers.


Aki batted her eyelashes as she attempted to keep her eyes opened. She lost that battle almost immediately and trembled softly as her master kissed her roughly. She moaned into his mouth as he took one of her breasts into his free hand.


Kurama grinned around her mouth as her moans and gasps made their way to his ears. He pulled away from her mouth and his grin grew even more as she let out a small sound of protest. He nuzzled her neck gently and placed a small kiss on her ear. “Get on your hands and knees, hummingbird,” he told her while gently pushing her off of his lap.


Aki turned a deep red at her master’s demand. She turned away from him and got on all fours without any hesitation. The blue-eyed human took a deep breath and braced herself.


Kurama moved to his knees and placed a kiss at the base of her spine causing a sweetly soft gasp to come from her open lips. The fox gently licked and nipped up her spine to the back of her neck, pulling the front of his body flush with her back. He placed on of his hands on top of one of hers and the other on her hip while he pushed his way into her body. He groaned at the tightness that hugged at his cock as though it were made for only him and no other. He took her at a slow but hard pace as she mewled and groaned in pleasure. “Oh, hell, how can you always be so . . . fucking . . . tight . . .” he groaned into her ear, as her body contracted making her hug him even more. If Kurama didn’t know better, the fox would have thought that she got tighter every time.


Aki laid her head down on the ground; the pleasure was just becoming too intense for her. Her body was trembling so hard that she wasn’t sure if she would be able to hold herself up if he let go of her. Her mouth was open but no sounds were coming out for she was beyond that point. She could do nothing but lay there with her head on the ground and her hips in the air while her master continued to pound into her at such a maddening pace unable to cum or do anything while he had still not found his release.


Kurama thrust into her again, his pace losing all of its finesse as he struggled to keep from losing his load. He opened his eyes and couldn’t help but stop and stare at the sight in front of him. His hummingbird’s face was on the ground, her back arched, and her hair lying around her face and temple beautifully. All of this made her breathlessly exquisite, but what made her perfect was her face. Her mouth was open but nothing was coming out except her labored panting, her eyes were half shut and glazed over. All in all, his hummingbird was turning out to one of the most exotic flowers that Kurama had ever had the pleasure of tasting.


Kurama started thrusting again, even harder into her than he had ever been before while his eyes never left the picture that she made. The demon fox was so close to cumming, it would only take a few more pushes and then he could end it for the both of them. He kept up his pace and gave one last powerful thrust, his cum coating her trembling walls. He fell onto her back, his chest fall and rising as fast and as hard as her own.


Her body was still trembling as her master pulled out of her and fell to his back after resting for a few minutes. Aki couldn’t help but be grateful to him when he reached up and pulled her on top of him because if he had expected her to do it on her own, she would have been stuck for the entire night. Aki smiled as he kissed her forehead gently and nuzzled her face into his neck, falling into a deep and peaceful sleep.


******************************************


Koenma glared at the stacks of files sitting on his desk. After a month-n-a-half of constant research, the young prince had finally narrowed down his search from every creature his father had hired/or forced into service to eighty-nine candidates.


Koenma leaned back in his chair, continuing his staring contest with the files. He could not help the somewhat hesitant feeling he had about opening the first folder; for when he started, there would be no turning back. His mind was telling him to leave it to the boy assassin but the young lord’s gut was telling him not to place all of his eggs in one basket, especially if the basket is an unpredictable and unruly one. Not only was Koenma’s mind at odds with his instincts, but he also had an underlying fear creeping up his spine that he was about to start digging in some shit that could easily get him killed. With all these factors coming to play, it was no true wonder that Koenma would delay the inevitable. After another long moment, the king-to-be swallowed his fear and doubts and picked up one of the top files, opening it up and absorbing whatever useful information he found as quickly as possible because no matter what Koenma’s feelings are, time was most certainly not something he had a lot of.


******************************************


Aki swiftly dropped to the ground behind Yusuke, knocking his legs out from under him, and then quickly wrapped her body around his, firmly immobilizing the sprit detective as well as forcing him to eat a face full of dirt. The small girl smiled softly as Yusuke struggled to release his legs, only causing a sharp pain to shot up through his body. “One would think that you would have grown used to this position, Yusuke,” she muttered as he lifted his upper half off the ground and held himself up by his forearms.


Yusuke couldn’t stop the growl of fustration that escaped his throat. “As many times as you have done this to me,” he started while trying to gain his berings, “I think that I should be able to counter it by now.” He flipped over on to his back, gaining control of Aki’s hold for a mere second before she untangled her legs.


Bracing herself against a tree, Aki prepared for the detective’s next attack. “At least none of your demon opponents would dare to try such an attack on you, Yusuke,” she mumbled softly, as she watched his body language.


Yusuke grinned at her and rubbed the back of his head. “Hell, I’d be screwed. Good thing my very appearance strikes fear in the hearts of all of Makai,” he told her dramatically, with maniacal laughter.


Kuwabarra walked behind him and pushed him over, causing the feared detective to fall on his face yet again. “Fear in the hearts of all of Makai my ass,” he muttered.


“Kuwabarra, you asshole,” he yelled sitting up, “ what the fuck was that for?”


The tall, burnt red haired man just shook his head. “And Shizuru called me a pompous ass hole,” he told Aki while Yusuke continued his screaming rampage.


Aki turned and smiled at him. “So, you finished your training with Genkai, today, ne?” she asked him softly.


Kuwabarra turned and grinned at her. “Yeah, I am finally done so I thought that as a reward that I would come and watch you kick Urameshi’s ass for the last time.”


Yusuke glared at the taller male. “Damn Kuwabarra, over the last three months, you have become more pissy than a damn woman. When did you get your damn balls cut off?” the detective asked him coldly.


Kuwabarra’s laughter died as he returned Yusuke’s glare and just before he retorted with his own statement Aki stepped between the two of them. “Now, now gentlemen, this is no way for friends to act. Let us just put aside our differences and go have some tea,” she told them turning them toward the path and pushing them forward, hoping to avoid a death match before the tournament.


“You aren’t a very confrontational person are you, human?” Hiei asked as he jumped from the trees above them and landed in the path ahead of them.


Aki turned a light pink and gave him a sweet smile. “I believe that everything can be settled with a little tea and a long talk. Violence leads to nothing but more violence of course,” she answered him, pushing the entire group gently up the path.


Hiei couldn’t help but glare even harder at the girl. “You are a fucking fool and will die during the first fight of the tournament,” and with that the fire demon left.


Aki stared at the place where Hiei was standing a look of shock etched into her face. “Well that wasn’t very gentlemanly at all,” she told the two of them, her voice full of calm outrage.


****************************************


Keiko smiled at Kurama as he sat down next to her where she waited. “I hope your training went well, Kurama,” she told him after they had exchanged greetings.


Kurama gave her a polite smile. “I suppose that we will be as ready as we can be for the tournament,” he replied. “I heard that you were attending this one.”


The young brunet smiled at him softly. “Yes, Shizuru, Tai, Yukina, and I are all going to be at the tournament.”
Kurama turned to her, his eyes lined with concern. “Is that really safe? It is going to be a horribly dangerous environment. Probably even more dangerous than the Makai tournament when you consider that it is extended to every creature.”


Keiko just kept smiling at him. “I know but that isn’t going to change the fact that I have to be there this time. Yusuke doesn’t understand what waiting for him while he was in Makai did to me. I will not go through that again, especially not now. How can anyone ask that of me?” she asked. Gone was her smile and the beginnings of tears stung her eyes as she turned to him.


Kurama looked at the girl, watching her eyes closely for a few moments before nodding. “I understand. You must do what feels right for you.”


She smiled through her tears, dabbing them lightly with her fingertips. “I am so happy that you have resolved whatever it was that was bothering you,” she told him after gaining her composure.


Kurama looked at her, slightly confused. “Excuse me? I hadn’t realized that I had something that needed to be resolved,” he told her politely through his confusion.


“It is just that for the last few months you have been acting . . . tense and upset quite often. You have also been arguing with the others and you were just all around not very pleasant, I mean you even started a fight with Kuwabarra, but that is okay because you are back to normal now,” she told him innocently.


As Kurama looked at her, listening to her words, his shock was barely contained. He had known that he had not been acting like himself but he hadn’t realized that he had been that out of character. The damn girl not only screwed his head but also with his personality. He would have to rectify the situation immediately and be far more careful from now on. “Forgive me, Keiko, I hadn’t realized that I was not acting like myself. I was . . . unnerved to the point of distraction. I will take extra care to be sure that it doesn’t happen again,” he told her, his voice light and sincere.


Keiko gave him a huge grin. “No problem. I mean, come on it is no real big deal. Everyone is entitled to be bitchy sometimes right?”


Kurama returned her smile. “From your mouth to my ears.”


*******************************************


As Yomi started to make the long walk down hall to his temporary quarters for Yama’s tournament, he heard a set of footsteps behind him. He smirked as he realized who it was. “Why Mukuro, it seems that you and I had the same idea by coming early, no?” he asked turning towards the female lord.


Mukuro smirked behind her head covering. “There is a rumor that great minds do think alike. Now whether that applies to the two of use has yet to be seen,” she replied nonchalantly.


Yomi’s brow narrowed as he took in the meaning of her words. “Is this a conversation that should be had behind closed doors, my lord?”


“Yes,” she started as she began walking down the hall to one of the end doors. As she reached her door, she turned to see Yomi hesitating a few feet away from her. “Are you coming or not? I promise that this is only for business.”


Yomi smirked. “I would never suspect anything less from you, Mukuro.” He walked down the hall and bypassed her, going into the luxurious sweet.


Mukuro shook her head lightly as she shut and warded the door. She shrugged her shoulders when Yomi gave her a questioning look. “This is not a conversation I want anyone to overhear.”


Yomi nodded his agreement as he took a seat at a nearby table. After Mukuro was seated as well, all former pretenses were forgotten. “Tell me what you have heard,” he demanded, his brow lined with concentration.


Mukuro leaned back in her seat with her hands folded in front of her. “The blood-dragons are on a warpath. It seems as though someone has been killing off Lady Kayu’s kin, families at a time. Yama was given a deadline. If the murderer has not been found by the end of the tournament, Kayu will use the opportunity to declare war upon not only the Sprit world but also the human world and Makai,” she finished calmly.


Yomi processed the information slowly, looking for any flaw. He found none. “It seems that we have the same general information. I do have a few more details though. Kayu has put Konomaru in charge of the attacks on all three worlds. My information tells me that even if the demon causing all the problems is found that she still plans to attack. It seems that she has gotten power hungry all of a sudden.”


“This does not bode well, Yomi,” Mukuro stated as she tried to think of some sort of strategy to get out of this mess. “Why are we just hearing of this now? What does Yama have planned?” she asked herself out loud.


Yomi cleared his throat, pulling her out of her own thoughts. “We can not wait for him to make his move, Mukuro. We must tell Yusuke and prepare for war. We have to be together on this,” he told her.


“This is becoming a fucking nightmare.”


“Agreed but it is not to late to make the much needed preparations. Now on another note, have you heard that Raizen’s bastard is supposed to be attending the tournament?”


Mukuro snorted. “Please tell me that a demon of your intelligence doesn’t actually believe that half-baked rumor,” she retorted, her voice full of sarcasm.


Yomi shrugged his shoulders. “Is it truly impossible to believe, Mukuro?”


Mukuro chuckled. “What would he have done with the boy? No one has ever seen this so-called ‘bastard heir’ of his so what truth is there to this rumor. Any true heir that Raizen would have had would have been impossible to hide for his power would have been unbelievable,” she told him in a matter-of-fact voice.


“You make a valid point,” Yomi started, “but tell me, Mukuro, wouldn’t you love to see Yusuke’s face if the rumor turned out to be true?”


********************************************


Kurama leaned against the window as he watched the sun set. In less than twenty-four hours he would be in yet another battle for his life except this time he would have more to worry about than his own neck. He turned from the window to look at Aki who was sleeping in his bed. How was he going to talk her out of fighting?


*********************************************


Hiei looked in the window of the sleeping man. He had really fucked things up this time. The fire demon could only hope that the man survived the fights for him to apologize.


*********************************************
Yusuke pulled Keiko closer to his body, wrapping his other arm around her back. He loved her, he truly did. He couldn’t wait to make her his wife as soon as this tournament was over. He had to live for her.


*********************************************


Tai stroked Kaname’s hair as he lay against her chest. Tomorrow would be the true test of his love for her. How would he be able to handle knowing everything, seeing everything that she was and still is. Would her love still be enough for him after tomorrow?”


******************************************


He was watching her again. Always destined to be in the shadows and never in the light, never with her. Sometimes he felt that it wasn’t fair. But he knew that eventually she would come to him, she would always need him.


*******************************************


Koenma sat at his desk with his final list of suspects ready for interrogation or at the very least a light investigation. He got up and walked to his bedroom. He gently kissed Botan’s temple. He had so much to lose. He just hoped that he didn’t make a mistake.


********************************************


Kayu rode her blonde haired lover hard and fast. Even if he wasn’t anything more than a simple ice dragon, he was breathtaking, all long blonde hair and dark blue eyes. His body was also small but strong. Yes, he was beautiful, almost as beautiful as her. Just as she began to reach her completion, Kayu reached up and wrapped her hands around his neck. She was literally going to fuck the life out of him. To watch as his last breath left his body would be almost as good as the sex itself. “Such a beautiful little doll,” she muttered, “what a perfect way for you to die, my pretty, little niece.”


******************************************


Aki looked up at the portal, her bag clutched tightly in her hands. After taking a deep breath, she turned to the others. “I guess that there is no turning back after this, ne?”


REVIEW ME, KITTENS!!! I hoped you enjoyed it!

Kitty's Korner

anit- Thank you so much for reviewing my story. You truly inspired me to get this chapter out. I am also glad that you like my story as well. About your comments, Kurama's attitude is intentional on my part. Aki was a shock to him and as I said earlier, it unnerved the fox. I don't think that he would have taken it in stride. He wasn't meant to seem bitter or anything else. I will tell you that from now on our fox will be normal with everyone but Aki (he will have another . . . personality in a little while, but that is a little ways off). Thank you for correcting my repeative language. I can be pretty bad about that. I enjoyed your reviews and if you have anymore comments, my snowy-white kitten, then please feel free to share. I so enjoy my reviews no matter how few I get.