Suprise!

AN: okay so I kinda decided that it's just too much work to try and condense all that I wanted into one chapter, and you know what, I don't know anymore how many more chaps there are going to be. I am soooooo sorry for making you guys wait, I really am. I hope you guys like, and as always read and review.


“Hey guys,” Shizuru asked as she walked back into the house, “where’s Yus-chan?”

“I think he might’n be taken’ a shower,” Jin answered.

“Good, I need to have a meeting with your guys. Get Touya, Hiei, Shishi, Suzuka, grandma, and my bro.”

“Yes ma’am,” Jin said without another word, and went quickly around the palace, getting the people called for.

Within five minutes all of them were sitting in the living room, looking at Shizuru expectantly. “I had a vision,” Shizuru started, as always, bluntly, “and I think Hokoushin’s got the kits.”

“What, that’s awesome!” Kuwabara yelled.

“Not so fast, stupid. This wasn’t a good vision, though. It looks like Hokoushin is struggling to get through
the desert. I think he’s already hit one sandstorm, and I think he’s going to just miss the other one. Someone needs to be stationed at the edge of the desert to meet them.”

“I’ll do it.” Hiei said quickly, “I’m tired of being around these fools. I also have the advantage of the Jagan. If the kits are not with Yoko, I have a better chance at spotting them with it and pinpointing their location.”

“Great. I’m going to tell Urameshi.”

“Stop right there, bro. Don’t go tell Yusuke anything. I don’t want him to know yet. I know that something about this vision is wrong, I just don’t know what.”

“…fine.”

“I be think’n everyt’ing will be alright. Hokoushin’s as dependable as t’ey get, and he won’t be letten’ ant’ing bad happen ta those kits.”

“I agree, but just incase, we should all be ready for the worst,” Touya said.

“Good,” Shizuru said with a smile, before heading back outside to smoke another cigarette.


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“Lord Yoko,” Hokoushin whispered to from a safe distance. “Lord Yoko, the sandstorm has passed.”

Yoko opened his eyes and looked groggily at the scene around him. All four kits were sound asleep and To’o was carefully placing them into the basket. He looked up at Hokoushin who looked at him expectantly and it pained Yoko to know that he could not do what Hokoushin wanted him to.

“I can’t move,” He said bluntly.

“What?”

“I can’t move, which means there’s a good chance I won’t be able to walk either. Yusuke’s feelings of rage and despair have left me so weak that even as Yoko, I don’t have the strength to continue with you. Take the kits and go to Yusuke. You can come back for me afterwards, I’ll only slow you down if I go now.”

“But Lord Yoko, there’s no way of knowing whether or not you would be alive that long.”

“… Yes, that is a possibility, one that I wouldn’t prefer, but could happen. You are not going to be able to talk me out of this Hokoushin, I’ve been around much longer then you, so don’t even try and convince me to go
with you.”

“Yes, Lord Yoko. To’o, bring the kits over here.” To’o slowly brought the kits to Yoko, who, even though he wanted to, couldn’t muster the strength to hold his kits one last time. Hokoushin and the other monks couldn’t bring themselves to look at the scene that was unraveling before them. While Yoko would never burst into tears or anything of the sort, for those that knew him, they could see the wave of emotion that passed over his face. He muttered some words of good bye to his kits before looking back up at Hokoushin and saying, “take good care of the Hokoushin.”

“I will Lord Yoko.”

“One more thing, when you arrive at Yusuke’s, do not tell Yusuke about me, or my current condition.”

“But that makes your risk of fatality-“

“Sky-rocket, I know. If I were to die, however, I do not want Yusuke to know that he was the one responsible, especially after he just received his kits.”

“… Yes Lord Yoko.”

As Hokoushin and the others left the relative safety of the hut, and journeyed out into the desert, Hokoushin hoped with all his might that Yoko would survive, and that Yusuke could one day see and appreciate just how loving and loyal of a mate he had.


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Atsuko stood in the kitchen where she saw her son busily making ramen. She’d known from the few times that she’d visited him that he was actually a very good chef, when he wanted to be that is. It looked like now, however, was not one of those times. Cooking in general is a good stress-reducer, but if he was too busy trying to preoccupy his mind, his cooking was going to turn out horribly.

She sighed quietly to herself. She was truly worried for her son. She understood why he was so upset, but his current emotional state seemed off somehow. She understood why he would be mad at Kurama, but it seemed as though he thoroughly loathed his mate’s very existence with every fiber of his being. She guessed she could understand, after all her entire life shattered when Yusuke died, but that was when there was proof of his death. Yusuke had no proof of his kits’ deaths or even that Kurama was indeed the kidnapper. She had to admit that it didn’t look good for the fox, but there was no definitive proof linking it to him. Since when had her son become so pessimistic?

“Hey Yusuke. It looks like you’ve been getting in a lot better shape,” She said as she sat with her son, forcing a smile.

“Yeah, well I’ve been working out a lot, so that would make sense. I just want to get back in shape and go back to the Ningenkai. This place holds too many memories,” he said as he slammed down a pan harder then was necessary.

“Of Kurama?”

“Not just him.”

“Well, I mean I knew of the kits too.”

“It isn’t just those. This place held some good and bad memories anyway, Kurama just made it easier.”

“Like what?” She asked. She wasn’t meaning to be insensitive but apparently Yusuke saw it that way. He slammed down the pot, turned off the stove, and stormed out of the kitchen, muttering that he was going to go get some fresh air, and leaving the palace.

Atsuko sighed, she hoped that something would make this easier for him.


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Hokoushin hated the desert just as much as he hated the mountains, and both he hated for the same reason, the weather was too unpredictable. It had looked like the sandstorm had safely passed, but another one, a stronger one, was on the way. He wasn’t too terribly far from the palace now, they had set out over 12 hours ago, and if they continued running at top speed, might be able to reach the palace in as little as 3 hours. The only problem was whether or not they could make it there before the sandstorm found them.


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Yusuke stormed out of the palace, and stepped foot outside it’s walls for the first time in over two months. He couldn’t believe that it had been so long ago since he had been outside. He was almost mad at himself, Kurama, and the kits when that revelation hit him. He felt horrible for it, and his stomach dropped as he realized his anger toward his kits, but he soon pushed the thought out of his mind as he continued to walk.

He didn’t know where he was walking, and when it came down to it, he really couldn’t give a damn, as long as he was out of that hell-hole and the sympathy-ridden people it held.

Within fifteen minutes, he found himself standing in front of Raizen’s grave.

“Well old man, been a while since I’ve seen you.” He said as he sat down on the hard ground. “Last time I was here, I was complaining to you about Kurama, and that I wasn’t sure if I could ever be a father, and here I am now, no longer a father, and without a mate to bother me. I’m actually glad I ended up walking up here, I wanted to tell you something anyway. I don’t think I’m going to come back to makai, ever, if I can help it, and that includes to visit you on your death day. This place just holds too many bad memories. Killing Sensui, your death, the kit’s kidnapping and… well…

“The day of Keiko’s death, she and I had gotten into a fight. She had just found out she was pregnant and wasn’t sure if she wanted to keep it. She thought that it was a bad time for us to have a kid, since we were fighting all the time and everything, so I got pissed and walked out. This was the first place I could think of to go at a time like this. Although, now that I think about it, I already told you all of that when I stormed down here that day. I guess that’s why it’s been so easy for me to accept that I lost my kits and my mate, because in one fell swoop, I’ve once already lost a wife and a child. True, it hadn’t been born yet, but that’s hardly a consolation. I never even told Kurama about it. I came close that one time Yoko told us about his mate and kit, but I couldn’t get myself to say it out loud. I’ve always felt so unbelievably guilty for it.

“This time though, with Kurama, everything is different. Before I had him to support me, but now I have no one. Well, I guess that isn’t true, I have my friends and my mom, but it just isn’t the same. With Kurama I felt like… I don’t know… I loved him more then I thought I ever could, I mean I had to have loved him to go gay. Now though, all I feel is rage towards him. I just… I wish he weren’t my mate anymore.”


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Even though Kurama was over 500 miles away, he heard Yusuke say those heart-wrenching words. An unbelievable fire went through and shook his entire body as he lay on the bed. Both burning up, and incredibly cold from his sweat-covered body he shook as his body tried to absorb the shock the mating mark caused.

For the first time Kurama knew what his victims must have felt like as a plant grew within their body, for it felt like from the mating mark some plant was taking root and spread through his body. He knew that it was impossible for that to happen, but that revelation did not help to quell the pain. He finally gave in and groaned against the pain as his breathing became more and more erratic. He could feel his mating mark swell as it fed off Kurama’s demonic energy, making him become even weaker.

“Y-yusuke..” He moaned into the pillow as he panted for breath. He knew his body couldn’t take much more of this abuse, and finally having to tap into his reserve powers, he reverted into his beast form. He curled into a ball as he continued to shake. “Yusuke please… I love you.” He thought, as he finally left the world of consciousness.


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Hiei finally managed to lock-on to the kits’ position and saw as the monks tried desperately to cross the desert in time. As he looked at the sandstorm that was brewing, his stomach dropped as he came to the chilling conclusion that they weren’t going to make it out of the desert in time.

“Fuck!” He cursed as he ran back to the palace and tell the others.


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“… Anyway, old man,” Yusuke continued as he spoke to his “father’s” grave. “I thought you might want to know why I can’t visit you anymore. I hope you understand. It’s gonna suck to not be around some of my friends and stuff, and I’ll have to adapt to the always fucking changing human world, but I think I should be okay. Oh, thanks for the amulet and the knife. I know technically you didn’t give them to me, but you know what I mean. I guess I should have put the protection amulet around the kits some how though, shouldn’t I? After all, I escaped the attack unscathed.” He laughed without a fraction of humor in his voice, before standing and brushing the dirt off his pants. “I’ll miss ya, ya old bastard.” He said with a smile as he touched the tombstone, and slowly walked away.


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“I don’t know what we can do at this point to get both the monks and the kits out of the desert in time.” Genkai said as she and the others sat in the living room. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Juichi walk in the room.

She took in the scene around her and said, “Did I miss an important memo?” Genkai sighed. It’s not that she didn’t trust the fish-eared doctor, it’s just that she didn’t want too many people to know. But as she looked up at the doctor, she knew there was no way she could fool her.

“… We found Yusuke’s kits. The only problem is they, and Hokoushin and the others are in the desert. Hiei found them with his Jagan, after Shizuru had a vision about it. They are only about two hours away, but a sandstorm is going to beat them here. It doesn’t look like there’s anyway we can get all seven of them here safely.”

“Ya know we’d do anyt’ing to be getten’ back Yus-chan’s kits, but’n we ‘ave no idea how ta get about gettin’ ‘t’em back. We don’ wanna jus’ be leavin’ Hokoushin and the others behind, do we?” Jin said.

“Please don’t tell Yusuke about this,” Touya said, looking up at Juichi. For those that looked hard enough, they could see a level of desperation in his request, and in his eyes, it seemed he held a pleading that normally he would not possess.

“I won’t. In fact, I think I have a way to help you guys.”

“What?” They all said.

“Yeah. I have a creature very similar to Puu, only bigger. I use him in emergencies to carry me, my patients, and supplies. I’m not sure if he can carry more then… two on his back, and one on each foot. So it looks like if I went to get them, I couldn’t take anyone with me.”

“I’ll take him,” Hiei said.

“I would let you, but I’m afraid that’s impossible. You see I’ve trained him very well over the years to listen only to me.”

“I’m the only one who knows how to get there…” he paused for minute before saying, “let me go with you, and I’ll run the rest of the way back. In fact, I won’t even bother coming back for the return, I need to get back to Mukuro and I’m tired of hanging around complete morons,” he said as he looked directly as Shishi.

“… I guess that would work. Come with me and I’ll start the preparations.”

Juichi and Hiei walked outside and past the outskirts of the village around the castle. They walked in complete silence. Juichi finally stopped, and reached into her doctors coat and produced a piccolo.

“What is that for?”

“To bring Akuzu.”

“Akuzu?”

“My beast I told you about.” She blew into the piccolo and played four sharp, pure notes, before putting it back in her coat. She pulled out a vile of a green liquid and poured it on the ground. “Alright, Akuzu will land here in about five minutes. Go back to the palace and make sure you have all your belongings. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to have to come back here in order to get them.”

“Hn, you’re right about that,” he said, and disappeared.

Juichi turned to see Jin and Touya standing next to the nearest building. Touya nodded to her, but seemed completely content with keeping to himself.

“What are you doing here?” She asked with a grin.

“Just be want’n to say good luck out there. Not that you’ll be needen’ it. I know how… close you and Hokoushin have gotten over there last few months.” He said with his classic impish grin.

“I’m not surprised you figured it out, after all, I figured out that you and Atsuko have been at it for a while.” She winked at Jin as she saw his cheeks turn the same color as his hair.

“I… it… don’ be goin’ and changing da topic, missy,” he said shaking his finger.

“Fine, what ever,” she looked over at the short fire demon as he returned and said, “alright Hiei, are you ready to go? Akuzu is… here.” She said as the shadow of a flying beast caste darkness over them.

Akuzu was easily the largest demonic bird any of the demons had ever seen. Standing over 15 feet tall with a 30 foot wings span, he was huge, and beautiful too. He had a graceful long neck like Puu, deep purple feathers, with a dark gold at the tips of his wings and tail. But his large, expressive eyes were mesmerizing as they went from a vibrant orange on the outside and melted into the same bold colors of his feathers around the pupil.

Juichi stood in front of Akuzu and stroked the feathers on his neck. “Alright, baby. We need to go pick up some kits, okay? You see that short-ass demon wearing black and a scowl, he will be riding with us, so don’t put up a fight.” The beast looked over at Hiei and squinted in disapproval before finally squawking in understanding. “Good, that’s my baby.” She stepped to his side, and tapped. Akuzu complied with the nonverbal command and sat on the ground, putting one of his wings down to help her get up. She gracefully climbed on, and Hiei jumped on his back. “Alright Akuzu, let’s head to the desert.”

“Don’ be smoochin’ on Hokoushin for to long, there missy. We be needen’ to have you back soon dat way Yus-chan will be cheery again.”

A shattering squawk escaped, and before Hiei could brace himself, they were off to find the kits.


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Yusuke looked up as he saw a large, loud, purple blob fly above him. “Is that Juichi and Hiei?” He asked himself. “Oh well, if those two are gone it means there are less people that will tip-toe around me.” He continued on his way to the palace and met up with Jin and Touya.

“Yo! What’s up? Where are Juichi and Hiei headed?’

“Juichi had to pick something up,” Touya said.

“Ah… but why is Hiei with her?”

“She’s going to drop him off at Mukuro’s.”

“Oh, so the midget’s gone for good, huh?”

“Lookin’ like it Yus-chan. –oops.” Jin said, slapping his hand over his mouth. Yusuke hated the nickname “Yus-chan” beforehand, but now it did nothing more then bring back memories of his pregnancy.

“It’s… fine. You know what, I’m gonna go for a run. See you guys later.” He said before taking off. Touya turned and glared at Jin.

“Sometimes Jin, I wonder how you were ever a successful shinobi.”

“You know, I be wonderin’ the same t’ing at times.”


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A half hour after they left, Akuzu gracefully landed on a sand dune next to Hokoushin and the others.

“Lord Hiei, Juichi-san, what are you doing here?” He asked, completely surprised, but relieved to see them.

Hiei looked at the monk in response, grunted and walked off.

“Where is Lord Hiei going?”

“He’s going back to the cyber-bitch’s place. It looks as though he is going there to stay.”

“How did you know where to find us?”

“Well, Shizuru had a vision, and Hiei used his Jagan to find you guys.” The wind suddenly blew a little harder, and it reminded them of the impending storm. Juichi introduced the monks to Akuzu and instructed To’o and Seitei to stand on his large feat, as she climbed on the birds back. Hokoushin handed the kits up to her, before gracefully climbing up as well.

“Thanks for managing to keep yourself alive,” Juichi said quickly before kissing Hokoushin chastely, and taking off for the palace.


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Yusuke sat on the ground and looked up at the blank, blue sky. He had hoped to take a long walk, however he failed to actually do it. Instead, he was still too weak to even reach the edge of town.

“Dammit.” He said as he punched the ground. “I used to be one of the most feared demons in all three worlds, and now I can’t even reach the edge of town by myself. God, I am so fucking pathetic!” He stood up quickly, and winced as a pain rippled through his abdomen. With a scowl on his face, he walked back towards the palace.

With in ten minutes he made it back and walked into the building. He had every intent to walk past everyone and go strait to his room, but it seemed as though his friends had a different idea entirely.

“Hey Yusuke, you wanna watch “Die Hard” with us? It’s really good!” Rinku said happily as he jumped up and down on the couch.

“Hey twerp, stop jumping on the couch,” Shizuru said, throwing a bottle at him. He dodged and stuck out his tongue at her, while the bottle hit Shishi in the face.

“No, I think I’m good guys. I’m just gonna head to bed, I wanna go ahead and take a nap.”

The others looked at each other, sharing their unspoken thought. Should Yusuke go to sleep? There was a good chance Juichi could come back with the kits, right?

Yusuke was not blind to the look that crossed across his friends’ faces, but he found that try as he might, he couldn’t muster up the strength to give a damn. He looked at them for a moment longer before turning around and walking to his room, slamming the door behind him.


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Akuzu squawked loudly as he flew quickly through the sand that pelted down on them.
“I thought you said we would miss the sandstorm,” Hokoushin yelled against the loud wind of the storm.

“Yeah, well, the weather is fickle. We should be out of it soon, though.” Juichi was hunched over the basket that held the kits. Her skin was irritated and she had sand in her eyes, ears, nose, everything, but there was no way she would let the same thing happen to the kits.

Akuzu’s flying became bumpier and bumpier as he tried like hell to get out of the storm. Juichi felt her grip get weaker and weaker, but before she fell of, Hokoushin leaned forward, pressing his body against hers as his strong arms wrapped around her. Seitei and To’o below had sat down on the bird’s feat and had wrapped both their arms and legs around his large legs. They all grunted against the sand and high winds as they used almost all of their strength to stay on the bird. Finally, right before all of them used all of their strength Akuzu managed to break through the storm and within five minutes they were flying in the clear air.

“Oh thank God, I was worried we were done for back there. It’s only a 20 minute flight back to the palace from here,” Juichi said with a tired smile as she held the basket in her arms and leaned against her lover’s strong torso.

True to her word, Juichi and the others flew into Raizen’s territory within 15 minutes, and within another five they were landing carefully outside the palace. Hokoushin and Juichi slowly staggered off of the beast’s back, as To’o and Seitei stiffly walked got off his feet. Atsuko was the first one out of the palace and ran up to Juichi, who handed the basket over to her.

Atsuko unwrapped the kits, and gasped at the shape they were in. They were so malnourished their eyes sunk into their small skulls, and it looked as if all of their energy had left their bodies.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe that they’re in such bad shape,” she said as tears came to her eyes.

“They were in worse shape before, we managed to stop at one of the safe houses where we left some milk and we were able to feed them,” Hokoushin said as he leaned against Kuwabara. “Quickly, go give them to Yusuke.” He said with a smile. Atsuko nodded and walked inside the palace.

She walked up to Yusuke’s door and knocked a few times. She heard a mumbled grunt on the other side. It didn’t seem like the groaning was getting any closer, so she finally decided to open the door.

“Ma, get out I don’t feel li-“ Yusuke interrupted himself as he looked at the basket his mother held. “Are those…”

“Your kits? Yes. Hokoushin found them.”

Yusuke started to cry as he walked slowly to the basket. He was shocked and angered to see his kits in such a miserable state, but his joy at seeing them outweighed all other feelings he had. Atsuko was going to say something but her son was wrapped up in his own world with his kits. Atsuko walked out of the room leaving Yusuke and the kits alone. As Yusuke began to feed his kits, all thoughts of Kurama’s betrayal left his mind. In fact, he wasn’t sure if he any longer gave a damn.


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Kuwabara helped Hokoushin climb up the stairs with the others following until they were all sitting in Juichi’s room with the exception of To’o and Seitei who had gone with the other monks. All of the others wanted to hear everything about the discovery of the kits, but Hokoushin seemed unwilling to talk about it.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter how it happened, I’m just glad that the kits are back,” Kuwabara said. “I just hope that we don’t have to deal with Kurama anymore. I never did like Yoko, and after this stunt, you can bet that the next time I see that sorry-ass fox I’ll beat the shit out of him. All though I’m sure you took care of that Hokoushin, if you killed him he only got what he deserved-“

Kuwabara was too busy ranting to see Hokoushin get up, let alone block the punch that came flying towards his face, forcing him backwards into the wall. Jin and Shishi held Hokoushin back as Boton bent down to tend to the furious Kuwabara. He slowly stood, his black eyes smoldering as we wiped the blood off his chin.

“’Old on there, mates. I don’ see any reason ta come ta blows.” Jin said as he frantically held onto Hokoushin’s strong arm that itched to punch the human again.

“Shut up!” Hokoushin surprised everyone by yelling. He directed his furious stare towards Kuwabara and with his voice trembling with rage said, “What right do you have to judge Lord Kurama?”

“What right? That no good bastard betrayed his mate! He doesn’t even deserve the lowest pit of hell!”

Hokoushin managed to somehow get loose of Jin and Shishi and punched Kuwabara hard in the stomach, pushing him up against the wall again. “Look here asshole, Lord Kurama is out there dying in that desert.”

“Good!” Kuwabara said as he launched at Hokoushin, who stretched out his head, making Kuwabara stagger forewords, taking the opportunity to elbow him in the back, effectively taking the human down. He put him in a strangle hold as he sat on his back.

“Now that you’re just lying here, maybe you’ll take this opportunity to listen. All of you. Lord Kurama was on his way to visit Yomi when the kits were kidnapped, which was when he took after them. I found him as he struggled to take down the people who had kidnapped the kits. He was so weak he good barely stand, and yet he managed to take down 20 A-class demons for his kits. He was weakened by Yusuke. Now all the demons and the spirit reaper understand what I mean by that, but I’ll elaborate for the humans in the room. A demon is never supposed to betray their mate, and because of the bond they share through the mating, Yusuke feelings of betrayal and rage are transformed into physical pain and do harm to Lord Kurama. If Yusuke pushes it enough, Lord Kurama will die. He opted to be left behind to give us a better chance to get out of the desert safely. Not only that, he loves Yusuke so much that he would rather die in the desert alone then let Yusuke know that he was the one responsible for his death. With no one to tell Yusuke to stop hating Lord Kurama, there is a high percentage he will die, and all because we were stupid enough to fall prey to an obvious ploy.”

Everyone in the room stopped and looked at each other. It was rare to see Hokoushin display anything but absolute obedience to Yusuke, and even rarer yet to see him so enraged. In fact, not even Yusuke had seen Hokoushin ever that pissed. On the other hand, once they had they had decided the culprit was Kurama, it was extremely difficult for them to change their mindset.

“Oh yeah, well if your story is true, why they hell is your traitor-ass still sitting here?” Kuwabara asked.

“Because the storm is too strong, and it will last for a good day or so. I can’t rescue Kurama until that storm has completely passed!” Hokoushin said angrily.

His temper changed as the anger seemed to seep out of his body and in it’s place, tired resignation. He slowly sat on the bed and sighed. His sudden flash of adrenaline was gone and his exhaustion hit him like a brick.

Kuwabara looked down at the monk and looked at him with a look of complete disgust. His face warped into a mean scowl as he turned suddenly to leave. Before leaving the room, he called to Hokoushin and said, “I’m not sure how protective I am of Urameshi, but I get the feeling you have an idea. Well know this, I don’t care if you are Urameshi’s most trusted adviser, you’re on my shit list now, and if you do one more thing wrong, I’ll decorate the Christmas tree with your intestines.”

Slowly all the other demons and humans seemed to leave the room, most of them wearing confused expressions laced with disgust. The looked down on Hokoushin, saw less of him, and the monk would be truly shocked if any of them ever trusted him again. He felt the bed move and he looked over and saw Juichi sitting there. He smiled lightly and wrapped an arm around her waste. As he looked out the window he prayed to God that Kurama would make it. All he could do was hope for the best and hope that none of the demons were stupid enough to blab to Yusuke about Hokoushin’s “betrayal”. He laid back, grabbed Juichi and held her there until they were both soundly asleep.


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Yusuke lay on his bed with his kits, his back propped against pillows as he fed Miyako. He hadn’t used the breast pump in the last two days, so he figured it was worth it breast-feed the kits instead of bottle feed them. His daughter felt small and frail in his arms, something that didn’t seem to fit from a person that held such an uncanny resemblance to himself. She looked happy and calm while she greedily sucked up the milk, taking in as much as her little body would allow.

The other kits lay next to him, the one of them unhappy as he had yet to be fed. Sachio had been whimpering his discontent, until saw fit to scream out. Yusuke looked down worriedly as Sachio woke up Kei and Rei who followed in their younger brother’s footsteps and started screaming. Yusuke was at a loss at what he should do. Miyako wasn’t done eating yet, and both his hands were full. He couldn’t just let the kits scream like that though, every time one of the kits screamed, Yusuke felt like his heart was being slowly ripped out of his chest. Never before had he felt so relieved then when he heard a knock on his door.

“Come in!” He shouted over the kits. He looked up as Atsuko walked towards him, bottle in hand.

“It sounded like you could use a hand,” she said with a kind smile as she sat next to her son on the bed. She slowly picked Sachio up and began to feed him; rocking back and forth on the bed as she soothed her cranky grandson. Kei and Rei had been fed before, so their screams were caused only by their hungry brother. Slowly they fell back asleep, and the room returned to the comfortable silence of before. Yusuke looked worriedly at his mother as thoughts rushed through his mind so quickly he felt like he was going to burst.

“Ma, how am I gonna do this on my own?” He said quietly as he looked pointedly at his daughter.

“… I can’t answer that Yusuke. I…” she paused. “After your father, Bishoman* left, I had difficulty being able to work and take care of you on my own, and you were over five years old. I don’t know what you’re going to do, Yusuke, but one thing I do know, is that you’re going to make it.”

“…I guess, it’s just going to be really difficult for a while. I mean, when… Kurama,” he managed to choke out the name, “and I found out we were having four kits, I mean we knew it was going to be difficult, but as long as we were together…” Yusuke had to stop talking before he ended up crying. Atsuko saw how upset her son was, and figured that this was the best possible moment to spring a question on him.

“Yusuke, I was wondering how you would feel about me living with you at Genkai’s. I mean, it’s not like there’s not plenty of room there, and I could help out with the kits.”

“You’ve already talked to Genkai about this haven’t you?”

“Yeah, before you gave birth actually. I wanted to clear it with her before talking to you about it.”

“How did you know that’s where we would live?”

“Let’s just call it a mother’s intuition.”

“I think it would be a good idea, just as long as you know that I’m an adult now and you don’t have much say in what I do.”

“Like I had a say when you were a teen,” she retorted with a smile.

“I guess you have a point there. Hey Ma, now that I have kids of my own, I finally understand the fierce protectiveness that mothers feel, so how could you let me do all the stuff I did when I was a teen? How could you watch me fight in the tournament and get so many injuries it isn’t funny?”

“Well, when I was that age, I had just gotten pregnant with you, and most people told me I ruined my life. I was encouraged by people to abort or put you up for adoption or I would ruin my life even more. I had already been disowned by my parents, and Bishoman wasn’t much help, so I could see what they meant, but I couldn’t help but follow my heart. So, when you were a teen, I let you run your own life, knowing that it would be hypocritical of me to stop you. However, to date the hardest thing I have ever had to do, and that includes having your wake, was watching you fight after I had already lost you once. I hope you never have to feel that.”

Yusuke finished burping Miyako and carefully lay her down on the bed next to her siblings.
“Ma, I can honestly say that I hope I don’t have to either.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Shizuru stood outside the palace on the unusually hot day smoking a cigarette lost in a world of her own thoughts. She was thrown back into reality when she felt her brother’s angered presence walk through the door. As he walked by her she reflexively offered him a cigarette, knowing that he wouldn’t take one. He surprised her, however when he took one and quickly lit it, taking in a deep drag as he sat down next to his sister.

“Wow bro. You’re really that stressed out?”

“I just can’t believe Hokoushin would go that far!” He said as he took another drag.

“You know, I don’t think your wife would approve of you smoking.” She said with a smile. She knew that Kuwabara and Yukina were going through some tough times, so she wanted to make sure that nothing was added to that.

“Yeah well, I don’t approve of you fucking Koenma either,” Kuwabara snapped.

“That was uncalled for Kazuma, I understand that you’re upset-“

“I’m not upset, I’m pissed off.”

“Okay, then you being pissed, but that doesn’t excuse you from-“

“I don’t care, okay Sis? I don’t care.”

For the 3rd time that day, Kuwabara was hit by someone he knew. He looked into his sister’s chocolate eyes and saw how enraged they were. He’d crossed a line and he knew it.

“Look Kazuma, I know you got punched in the face by someone you considered a friend. Yeah, it sucks, but really, aren’t you used to it by now? And if you aren’t, shouldn’t you be? Now I know most of this anger is you actually being protective of Yusuke, and while I find that sweet in a ‘bromance’ kind of way, I won’t let you be an asshole to me because of it. My sex life is none of your concern, so frankly, I don’t give a damn what you think of Koenma, but I won’t let you talk about it like it like it makes me some kind of cheep slut. And while I’m already ranting, I think that Hokoushin is right about Kurama, I mean, think about it. In all the time we’ve known Kurama, has he ever let us down? Even when he was the enemy he was upfront about his intentions. He’s been nothing but loyal to Koenma, the team, and especially to Yusuke, so I don’t think he really is responsible for the kidnappings, it just doesn’t make sense!”

“Fine, if that’s how you feel, maybe I’ll just leave!” Kuwabara said as he stomped out his cigarette. “Hey Sis, I know that everyone praises your psychic awareness, but remember that mine is just as good. Something’s not right in the demon world, and I’m at a loss to what it is. So before you judge me so harshly on my opinions, just know that I’m ‘blinded’ in the demon world, and I’m acting on instinct alone.”

“Well, I guess you have the intelligence of an ape. Good for you,” Shizuru said as she walked off.

She hated that Kuwabara was right about one thing, something was off and she didn’t know what it was either. She was still pissed at him though. It took a lot for Shizuru to get that pissed off at her baby brother, but he had attacked her relationship with Koenma, and she was getting enough shit about that from Enma himself to put up with it from her brother.

She took a drag on her cigarette and looked around the town. As she exhaled, she asked out loud, “What’s wrong here?”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Over the next 24 hours, the entire palace was cloaked in a thick tenseness that had even spread its tentacles to invade the city. It seemed as though all the palace occupants had taken sides, and the atmosphere felt like the last few minutes before a war.

It seemed as though the monks, Shizuru, and Juichi were all on Hokoushin’s side. The believed his story unwaveringly and awaited the end of the sandstorm to recover Kurama. Jin, Rinku, Shishi, and Suzuka all sided with Kuwabara, but not because they unwaveringly believed in his story, in fact, many of them believed Hokoushin. They did, however, agree that Hokoushin shouldn’t have acted so rashly without first giving an explanation. This added to the fact that no one except Yusuke and Juichi really knew Hokoushin, even after all those months of them living there, made the demons nervous around him and suspicious. Atsuko, Genkai, and Touya refused to pick sides until they received more information.

There had been a silent agreement between both sides that no one would tell Yusuke about their “information.” Even if they didn’t want to admit it, most of the demons’ motives for keeping silent were to honor a possible last request from Kurama. Most of them had, at some point, fought side-by-side with Kurama, or their lives had been effected by him in some way. Bonds that strong didn’t fade away suddenly, so even if they were unsure of his innocence, they wouldn’t risk denying Kurama a last request.

So with the silent, albeit tenuous, truce between the two groups remained until, 30 hours after Hokoushin’s arrival, Shizuru had a vision signifying the end of the sandstorm. Akuzu had already been prepared for flight along with emergency medical supplies and a small, sturdy hammock that could be tied between Akuzu’s feet to transport Kurama if needed. Almost immediately after Shizuru’s vision, Akuzu’s squawk could be heard as Hokoushin, Juichi and Akuzu took flight.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Yusuke hadn’t slept in over 3 days.

Ever since the kidnapping of his kits, sleep was rare for the mazoku, but now that he had them back, they wouldn’t shut up long enough for him to get any sleep, and if they did, the weird tension that filled the palace would get to him making it impossible for him to sleep.

Needless to say he was exhausted. God knew he loved his kits, but he was so tired he wanted to cry every time they did. Once again Atsuko came to rescue, along with Genkai when they offered to babysit the kits for a few hours. Yusuke gladly and immediately took them up on the offer and handed the kits over.

He collapsed onto his bed and, tension or not, within minutes he was asleep. His mind, ever restless, pumped out a vivid dream.

Yusuke was sitting in front of Kurama at one of their favorite restaurants back in Ningenkai. Kurama looked up from his plate suddenly and grabbed Yusuke’s hand. Chocolate eyes locked onto emerald ones as Kurama began his speech.

“Yusuke, when I met you, I’ll admit that I hoped it would be the last I time I would see you. I was stupid at the time, and for the first time in either of my lives, I was reckless. When I saw you again, you selflessly sacrificed yourself in order to save me, and enemy. In the dark tournament, you were always by my side, silently pushing me foreword, and saving me again. Then, when we went up against Sensui, you selflessly sacrificed yourself again, and once again the fates smiled on you and let you live.

“But those moments when you fell after Sensui’s final blow were the longest of my life, and as I stood over you lifeless course, a sorrow filled my entire body, the likes of which I had never experienced. I felt so helpless.

“I never want to feel the useless again. I want you by my side forever, that way maybe I could protect you for once. Yusuke, will you stay by my side as my husband?”

Yusuke recognized these words, they had played over and over again in his mind for the last two years. It was the Kurama’s proposal. Yusuke was filled with a wave of deep affection for Kurama, but it faded suddenly as Kurama’s eyes went from nervous and loving, to hard and cold. His flawless face morphed into an ugly sneer as the scenery changed. Yusuke found himself tied to a cold slimy wall. Kurama stood in the middle of a room in front of a crudely made stone alter. Yusuke watched in horror as his Kurama brandished a whip. A scream ripped from Yusuke’s throat as Kurama brought the whip down on the kits. Over and over again the whip cracked downwards as the kits mewed and whimpered pathetically.

As Yusuke watched the scene in front of him, he realized that he wasn’t tied to a wall at all. He was standing in the center of the room, and it wasn’t Kurama with the whip, it was him. He brought it down, and realized that it wasn’t the kits whimpering on the table, it was Kurama. The emerald eyes looked up at Yusuke and a weak voice said, “Yusuke… I love you.” Yusuke smirked cruelly and Kurama’s back started bleed as the crack echoed in the basement room.

Yusuke shot awake suddenly, screaming and covered in sweat, his eyes already moist from tears and his throat raw from screams. Atsuko stood worriedly by his bed, calling out his name, trying desperately trying to bring her son back to reality.

“I’m fine, Ma,” he said shakily, trying to convince himself more then his mother, “it was just a dream. Just a dream.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hokoushin and Juichi climbed off Akuzu’s back and clumsily scattered towards the entrance of the hut. Hokoushin opened the door and ran to the bed. He was shocked to see Kurama’s beast-form lying in front of him. Kurama was in horribly shaped.

His fur was covered in sweat and had matted. He was panting for breath violently as if he had just run a mile. As Hokoushin bent down and slowly picked up the unconscious demon, he was shocked that he weighed so little. The body felt fragile in his strong arms, and he was afraid he might “break” the kitsune. Kurama must not have eaten anything in the last week, that added to his energy being zapped from Yusuke meant the fox had lost a scary amount of weight.

Hokoushin carried him outside as Juichi quickly set up the hammock. Slowly and carefully Hokoushin lowered the fox into the deep hammock before climbing with Juichi on Akuzu’s back.

“He looks horrible,” Juichi said softly.

“Let’s just be grateful that he’s alive.”

“I’ll agree with you on that.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Yusuke had finally fallen back asleep when he was jarred awake by sudden noises outside his door. He grumpily walked to his door, and was about to cuss his friends out when he saw Hokoushin carrying Kurama in his arms.

Yusuke’s first reaction was anger. How could they bring this traitorous bastard back into his house? Where they out of their fucking minds? If he had been paying the slightest bit of attention to the fox, he would have noticed that every time he thought uncharitable things about the fox, his body shook in response, making the kitsune moan in pain.

“Hokoushin…” Yusuke started.

“Lord Yusuke, please understand, there is a reason I brought Lord Kurama back. Master Genkai, would you mind relaying the entire story to Lord Yusuke?”

Genkai nodded in response, and tried to calm her successor as she started the story.

Hokoushin continued to carry Kurama down the hall until he reached the nursery. Since the kits’ arrival, Yusuke hadn’t put the kits in the nursery, so it was the most logical place to put Kurama while he healed. Kurama continued to shudder and whimper as Hokoushin tried his best to sooth the beast.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“So… you’re saying that I did that to him?” Yusuke asked shakily. “You’re saying that not only did I accuse my mate of doing something he didn’t do, I almost killed him in the process?” It was obvious how shaken up Yusuke was about the subject. He continued to rock back and forth as he realized just how potent the mating marks could be and why Kurama was hesitant to mate.

“I have to go to him,” Yusuke shot up before someone could stop him. He walked to the far end of the seemingly endless hallway. He stopped at the doorway, and took a moment to catch his breath. He summoned his courage and slowly turned the handle. He felt a chill go down his spine as he saw the scene before him.

Kurama was in beast-form, laying on the bed, his fur matted against his skin as he breathed deeply. It looked as though he had just run for five days straight. Yusuke walked closer to his mate and heard a whimper, breaking the mazoku’s heart.

“Why aren’t you healing him?” Yusuke snapped at Genkai who had sat beside the bed.
“I can’t Yusuke. Kurama is the only one that can fix this now. Internally he has to face his conflicting emotions and in essence choose whether or not he wants to live and face his mate.”

Yusuke looked down at the weak creature that lay on the bed before him, before storming out of the room. He stomped down his hallway and out of the palace, no one daring to stop him as his chocolate eyes flared in anger. He walked towards the training course, before running towards one of the dummy targets and screaming. He fired up the energy around his fist as he yelled and hit the target with all his might, smashing it to pieces. Still screaming out sorrowfully he punched the wall next to the target over and over again.

“Dammit. Dammit! Dammit!! Dammit!!! DAMMIT!!” He screamed rhythmically with his punches. He collapsed to the ground and broke into a sob as he leaned against the wall. His energy swirled around him as his ram emotion came out.

“Goddammit,” he mumbled before continuing his sorrowful wails.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Kurama awoke to the next morning. His mind was thick and slow, his eyes lids felt like sandbags as it took all his might not to fall back asleep.

“Where am I?” He asked no one in particular.

“You are back at Raizen’s palace,” Genkai said next to him.

“Master… Genkai?”

“Yes. You frightened us Kurama, for a while there, we didn’t think you were going to get through it.”

“Through what?” Kurama asked before everything slowly clicked together in his mind. “…Oh.” Suddenly Kurama realized that the one thing he had really wanted to happen hadn’t. He had hoped with all his might that it would be Yusuke, not Genkai that he woke up next to.

“Yusuke spent the night outside,” Genkai said as if reading the kitsune’s mind. “After he saw you yesterday, he was so upset that he stormed out of the castle in order to destroy inanimate objects.”

“…Oh.”

Kurama sensed Yusuke’s presence as the demon made his way tentatively down the hall. Kurama felt himself rising off the bed, albeit carefully as to not injure himself any further, and slowly walked towards the presence. His emerald eyes widened as Yusuke stood at the door way. The fox slowly stepped towards his mate until he was no more then a foot away before he raised his fist and punched the mazoku in the jaw.

“K-Kurama?!” Yusuke said from the floor. “What the hell was that for?”

“Shut up!” the fox said, unusually cold to his mate. “I cannot believe that you thought Yoko could be behind all of this! How could you think that after he had mated with you that he could do that! He’s already lost one son, how could you torture him anymore and almost take away his kits, his mate, and his life? How could you risk all of that?” Kurama yelled at the mazoku.

“Kurama, it wasn’t like that-“

“Bull shit! I’m pissed off about that, don’t get me wrong, but I’m more upset that you couldn’t trust me! Do you honestly think that I would just sit by and let Yoko kidnap our kits? Do you think that I’m that weak that I couldn’t defend my own body?”

Kurama was winded after this speech, and with his eyes still full with rage he slowly made his way back to the bed. A few minutes went by before Yusuke said, “Kurama, can I give you my side of the story now?”

“It’s a free Makai, isn’t it?”

“… You said that Yoko knew what it was like to lose a son, well… so do I.”

“What?”

“… The day that Keiko died, she told me that she was pregnant. We ended up getting into a huge fight, which is why she took the subway and I didn’t drive her. Well, I thought it over during the day, and I became so excited to have a child. I couldn’t wait to be a father, but as soon as I got excited, I got the phone call. Keiko died, taking with her our unborn child.

“…I know it’s not to the same extent as Yoko, but I know a little about what it’s like to lose a mate and a child in one fell swoop which is why when you went missing after the kits, I was so willing to accept the possibility of your betrayal.”

“Alright, I guess I understand, but that doesn’t mean I forgive you quite yet.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to,” Yusuke said from where he sat on the ground.

“Yusuke, I’m getting tired, I’m not going to talk anymore tonight, so you can leave now,” he said. He didn’t want to sound too cold, but he wasn’t sure if he could trust Yusuke in the bed with him, or Yoko in the same bed
as Yusuke.

“I’m not going anywhere Kurama, I could use some sleep too.” Yusuke said, curling up in a ball on the floor. Kurama smiled lightly to himself, appreciating Yusuke’s gesture as the both slid into a comfortable sleep.

* As far as I know, Yusuke’s father’s name is never given. For those of you that have read my WIP fic “Highway to Hell”, you get this reference. For those of you that haven’t, you might want to check it out. It’s a prequel (sorta) to this fic, and there have been references made to it at different times in this fic, and there will be more in the next one.

AN: Well I hope you guys like it. Tell me what you think of the pairings, I would love to hear from you guys.