Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, except the two I'm about to make up; they all belong to whoever's in charge of Yuu Yuu Hakusho.

Author's Note: This is not a self-insert! Spoiler warning for Yuu Yuu Hakusho Vol. 3, as well as the second Yuu Yuu Hakusho movie. All thoughts will be in Italics and will mainly be Kurama's, unless otherwise stated. This is also a sequel to The Day She Found Out, so it's a good idea that you read that one first. Enjoy, minna-san!

Kurama no Kanojo By Kurama no Miko2003

"Kurama, wait! Where are you going this time?" a female voice called. Youko Kurama turns around and to see another youko behind him. He walks up to her and holds her close.

"Sakura, I . . . if I don't return to you by tomorrow, go to the Ningenkai to find me. I promised you I wouldn't die, remember?"

"Of course I remember, but will I know where you are in the Ningenkai?" She pauses as she looks away to hide her tears. Youko Kurama sees them anyway and wipes them away with his hand.

"You'll know, Sakura, you'll know." With that, Youko Kurama hugs her and walks off into the trees. Youko Sakura does not reply and watches him as he walks off.

Later . . .

Youko Kurama, in his 'four-tailed fox' form, is running from a hunter. A huge explosion lifts him off his feet and into the air, injuring him in the process. He comes to rest on the ground not long after, immobilized and helpless. Realizing that he had little time before the hunter would kill him, he pushes his soul out of the body of Youko Kurama and travels to the Ningenkai. Sakura, I'm sorry. I wish I could see you again, but I guess I can't . . .

Kurama suddenly woke up and sat up in his bed to find himself back at the present as Minamino Shuuichi. Why am I having this dream? Did something happen to Sakura?

The next morning at Kurama's school . . .

"Minamino-san, have you heard? We have a new transfer student coming in today and she's been assigned to our class. Fukuyama-sensei wants you to go greet her at the school's main office as our class representative," a classmate reported as Kurama walked into the classroom.

"Okay; tell him I'll be going there right now." As Kurama walked towards the main office, he started to wonder if there was any correlation between his dream and the new student. He stops short when he saw the new student from the large floor to ceiling windows that separated the office from the rest of the school. She had dark indigo hair pulled back into a ponytail and two small braids going down each side of her head, sea green eyes, and a warm, friendly smile and was wearing the school's girl's uniform. His eyes went wide with surprise. This, of course, goes by unnoticed by the girl, since she was busily talking to the assistant principal. Masking his surprise, he opens the door and walks in.

"Good morning. You must be the class representative that Fukuyama-sensei said he was going to send to show me the way to his classroom. I'm Umino Sakura. I'll be joining your class today."

"Um, yes, hello, and welcome. I'm Minamino Shuuichi, and I'll show you the way to the classroom." He walks her out of the main office and down the hallway.

"When did you get here?" he asks.

"I transferred here just yesterday. I like this area, it's much better than some of the other places I've been."

"Oh, here we are. (He slides the classroom door open.) Fukuyama-sensei, here is Umino-san. I showed her the way here as you've asked."

"Ah, thank you, Minamino-kun. We will begin class shortly, so you may go take a seat. I'd like a word with Umino-san to see how well she has adjusted."

"Thank you for showing me the way here. Please, do join me for lunch. You're the only person I know here and I'd like to see how you've been these past fifteen years, Kurama. I'll be waiting for you on the roof," she said in a low voice as she walked up to speak to Fukuyama-sensei. Kurama's eyes widen with surprise as her words registered in his brain.

How . . . How does she know who I am? Is she after me?

During lunch that same day . . .

"Please, do join me for lunch. You're the only person I know here and I'd like to see how you've been these past fifteen years, Kurama." How does she know who I really am and who is she, really? I guess there's no other way to find out other than to go and meet her. He arrived on the rooftop to find it shrouded by a mist. Mist?! No way . . . but whom else could it be?

"Nice to see you could make it, Kurama."

"Who's there?" He turns to look, but sees nobody.

"You mean you don't recognize me after fifteen years? I'm shocked."

"Sakura . . . is that really you?" he incredulously asks.

"In the flesh!" She jumped out of the mist in her youko form with tears in her eyes and hugged Kurama. Kurama does nothing, since he's too surprised. "I've been looking for you for fifteen years. You told me to find you if you didn't return that day, right?"

"But how did you know to look for me here?"

"I've been traveling for many years, but this was the first place where I've sensed any strong youki, strong enough for it to be the youki of the reincarnated Youko Kurama. I've missed you." Just then, another voice cut through the fog.

"Kurama, are you alright?"

"Hiei?! What are you doing here?"

"I had seen the mist and thought that someone was attacking your school and decided to investigate."

"I'm fine." The mist suddenly dissipated as Sakura fainted and reverted back into her 'human' form. Kurama lays her down on the ground and holds up her head. "Sakura? Are you all right? Answer me!"

"I've been poisoned by some plant . . . there have been many youkai coming after me . . . please help me . . ." Sakura could not finish what she was saying. Kurama knew that the poison must be a slow one, for it seemed as though it she was exposed to it before she arrived that morning.

"Hiei, go and round up everyone and have them meet us at Genkai's temple."

"Okay." Hiei jumped off towards town as Kurama lifted Sakura's head again.

"Sakura, wake up!" Seeing that she wasn't going to, Kurama pulled a flower from his hair and waved it under her nose. She awoke with a start.

"What the-"

"Calm down, Sakura. I sent Hiei to round up all my friends. Whatever the problem is, they'll help."

"Who's Hiei?" she asks, unsure of Hiei's trustworthiness.

"He's a friend of mine. Don't worry, he may be antisocial, but he's trustworthy. I know he won't betray me." He pauses a moment. "Do you think you can make through one more hour of school? If you need anything, just ask to go to the Nurse's Office. You can lie down there and wait for me. I'll take you to Genkai's temple."

"Genkai . . . as in Master Genkai, master of Reikohadouken?"

"Yes, that's right. She trained one of the Reikai Tantei, Urameshi Yuusuke. I work with him now so that I could be pardoned by the Reikai."

"I see . . . so the rumors were true after all," she replies with a note of disappointment. She had been hoping that they weren't true.

"Rumors . . . what rumors?" Kurama had no idea what she was talking about, since most of the youkai that he met for the past fifteen years wanted to kill him.

"There have been rumors going around the youkai that you've betrayed them, that you now work for the Reikai. You and Hiei." She notices the worried look on his face. "Don't worry about me. The poison only works if I'm using my powers. It really doesn't do much when I'm not." With that, Kurama gives her a relieved smile and checks his watch.

"Can you get up?" he asks as he extends a hand to help her up. She takes it and gets up from the cement.

"Thanks, Kurama."

"You do know you have to call me Minamino Shuuichi whenever there are humans around, right?"

"Of course! How dumb do you think I am?" The pair walked down the stairs and back to the classroom and sat down as the chime sounded for the beginning of the last class of the day.

Elsewhere . . .

"Yes, Sakura, run to your boyfriend. I thank you for helping me find him. I shall make him and Hiei suffer for betraying all youkai! Are the preparations ready?" a voice said from the shadows.

"Yes, they are."

"Good. Then you may go and have your revenge . . . Yakumo. Just don't forget to leave Kurama and Sakura to me. You have my permission to kill the rest." (AN: Obviously, those of us who have seen the second movie would know what Yakumo looks like. For those of you who haven't, Yakumo has white hair and tends to wear a black cape/mantle. He's powerful and is also the king of the Mekai, or the Netherworld according to the dub.)

"I understand. I will go right away."

After school; at Genkai's temple . . .

"Hi, everyone. This is Sakura," Kurama said as he entered. He steps aside to let everyone see her.

"You must be the friends that Kurama was telling me about on the way here. I appreciate you going through all this trouble just to help me. As you already know, my name is Sakura, but my alias, well, it's not really one, in the Ningenkai is Umino Sakura."

"My name is Urameshi Yuusuke."

"I'm Kuwabara Kazuma."

"I'm Botan."

"I'm Keiko."

"I'm Yukina."

"I'm Kuwabara Shizuru."

"I'm Genkai."

"We've met earlier. But let me reintroduce myself. I'm Hiei."

"Sakura, could you explain to us what is going on?"

"Yes . . . I arrived in Japan several months ago, in hopes of finding Kurama. When I arrived, some mysterious person attacked me in a forest on Mt. Hiei. I defeated the guy, but just before he died, he hit me with a poisoned dart. I realized that I couldn't use any of my powers without the poison effecting me in some way. So, I've been laying low ever since. I haven't been attacked again, but I'm glad I finally found Kurama. I know he can cure the poison. That and I there's something I want to warn you about. There's been a second rumor going around that someone is after you, Kurama. This guy wants to kill both you and Hiei for supposedly betraying all youkai by teaming up with Urameshi-san. I'd like to help, but I can't in my current state. This guy also supposedly has a cloning device that could clone any youkai, even if they're from the Netherworld, or so I've heard. That was all I have been able to gather; I hope this information will be useful."

"But what about the poison? Is there any way we can cure it?" asked Yuusuke.

"There is. I've heard of this type of poison before, but this is the first time I've actually seen a case of it. I've never actually used it in battle, since it does take a long time for it to work, but I've heard that it's extremely useful. Of course, I do specialize in plant magic, so I do have a seed for this particular plant. It's just that the extract for this plant takes a long time to make and requires a large amount of youki or reiki to refine it. That's why it's basically death if this poison hits you. The poison will kill you before you can make the antidote," Kurama said as he takes out a seed from his hair. "Genkai, do you have a pot I could use?"

"Yes, it's right over here." She walks off and returns five minutes later with a large pot.

"Thank you. Kuwabara-kun, go outside and get me some soil. I'll need it to fill up the pot." Kuwabara returns half an hour later with an armload of soil. "That's good. It should be enough." Kurama then sprouts the seed in his hand and then buries it in the pot once the roots have developed. Within two seconds, the plant had fully grown and had many beautiful pink flowers on it. "The flowers make up the bulk of the antidote, but to get the antidote, it must be refined by using either youki or reiki. This'll take a couple of hours, so I don't think it'll hurt if someone goes outside to post a guard."

Several hours later . . .

"Okay, I'm done. Here, Sakura, drink this. It should counteract the poison with in short while." She does as she is told. When Kurama gets up to go outside to tell the others he was done, he collapses.

"Kurama! Are you okay?" Sakura ran to him and put his head on her lap as she kneeled down next to him.

"Sakura, what happened? Kurama, what-" Yuusuke asks as he pulls the screen door open.

"It's alright, he just used up too much of his youki, that's all. He should be fine after a nap," Genkai interjected before any suspicion could be cast on Sakura.

"Whew . . . that's good. I feel so guilty . . ." Sakura said, relieved.

"Well, stop feeling guilty and drink the medicine that Kurama made for you! It's not going to make him feel any better if you don't!" Botan exclaimed. She'd guessed from the way Sakura treated him that she likes him and vice versa. Sakura only blushed in response and drank the antidote.

Several hours later . . .

Kurama wakes up and looks around to see Hiei standing off in a corner of his room. "Hiei? What happened?" Kurama asks as he sat up on the floor.

"You used up too much youki, and collapsed."

"Did Sakura drink the antidote?"

"I'll go get her. She's been worried about you for the past several hours, despite what Genkai said."

"Really?" Kurama replied, surprised.

"Yeah. Is she really that important to you?" Hiei bluntly asks, disgusted. Kurama looks at Hiei with a surprised look on his face; Hiei would never ask such a question.

"She was a partner of mine, and we were very close friends. Why? Is it that obvious?"

"I'll go get her." With that, Hiei walks out of the room. A few moments later, Sakura came in.

"Kurama! I've been so worried about you, I'm glad you're feeling better," Sakura said as she gave him a big, teary, hug.

"I take it you drank the antidote?"

"Yeah, I feel much better. Thank you!"

"It's no big deal. You really ought to be more careful."

"I know. I raised a defensive mist around the temple earlier with no problems."

"Good. Now, tell me something about the new enemy. Are they capable of cloning the youkai's powers as well?"

"Yes. The guy I fought called himself Gama. He was using a brush of some sort, but was unable to defeat me."

"I see . . . I fought Gama during the Ankoku Bujutsukai. He was good, but I still ended up finishing him in the end. But the bit with the brush seemed to be accurate. It's a good thing you were careful, he could have trapped your powers within you." He paused for a second, thinking that he heard a noise. "In any case, do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Not really."

"You could either stay here or at my place. My mom's off on vacation, so I don't think it'd hurt if you stayed with me for a while, but once she returns, you'll have to stay here or with one of the others."

"I'll stay with you for now, I hope it's not an inconvenience."

"No, not at all. In that case, let's leave now. Do you have any luggage?"

"No."

"It's alright, I guess you could borrow some of-" Just then, the door collapsed to reveal a six-person pile up. Yuusuke and Kuwabara were on the bottom with Keiko, Botan, Shizuru, and Yukina on top of them. Hiei was standing off a ways, but still within hearing distance. Kurama and Sakura both blushed and sweatdropped. "What are you guys doing?"

"Um . . . we're trying to see if we can make a pyramid, you know one of the ones with people!" Botan said, sweatdropping.

"Right outside my room?" Kurama asks in a voice that was heavily laced with suspicion.

"Um . . . yeah! It's easier to balance ourselves that way!" Yuusuke added, hoping to convince Kurama.

"Right . . . am I supposed to believe that?" Kurama and Sakura replied in unison.

"Forget it, just admit it. You were eavesdropping!" Hiei blatantly stated.

"Alright . . . we're sorry. But it's not like you weren't either, Hiei!" the six of them shouted. Hiei simply looked away as though he was embarrassed. Kurama and Sakura simply sweatdropped . . . again.

"In any case, she'll be staying with me for the time being. Now, if you'll excuse me, both of us have some homework that needs to be done." Kurama said as he got up and walked around the pile up with Sakura following close behind.

That night . . .

"Sakura, you could either sleep on the couch or in my room, it really doesn't make any difference to me," Kurama said as he got out of the shower. Sakura was reading some shojo manga on the couch. She put it down when Kurama came out.

"Kurama . . . why are you being so distant? Are you even glad to see me?"

"Am I?" he paused for a second, half expecting her to respond. Sakura looked away dejectedly and remained silent. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be; I've missed you all these years. It may be a short while in the lifetime of a youkai, but it's seemed like eternity." He sits down on the couch next to her and puts his arm around her shoulder, holding her close. "Of course I'm glad to see you. But I'm also very worried, for both of our sakes. I'm worried about this new enemy."

"Well, don't be . . . for now." They both fell silent. She looked deeply into his eyes and him in hers. Just as the two were about to kiss, Kurama gets up and walks over to the window and pulls up the blinds to find Hiei's and Botan's faces basically plastered to it. He opens the window with an annoyed look on his face and asks, "What are the two of you doing here? Hiei, don't you have anything else better to do? And Botan, shouldn't you be helping Koenma?"

"I'm here to deliver a message to you from Koenma. He said that the enemy's base has been pinpointed to Mt. Hiei. He really can't tell where it is on the mountain."

"Sakura, did you get that?" She nods in reply "Good. Hiei, you have yet to answer my question. Why was your face plastered onto my window?"

"I, uh, was just accompanying Botan to make sure she was safe. After all, we don't know where and when our enemy will attack."

"Uh-huh. I don't believe either of you, except for Koenma's message. You two were spying on me again, aren't you?" Hiei and Botan shake their heads to answer no, but then changed it into a nod under Kurama's glare. "Now, I don't want to see either of you here again tonight unless I get attacked. Until then, good night!" He slams the window shut and pulls down the blinds, closing them at the same time. "I'm sorry, they're usually not like this at all."

"It's alright . . . I take it that you are your usual self when you were around them?" Sakura asked as Kurama walked back over towards the couch.

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, they're not used to seeing this side of you, that's all."

"You're probably right. You still haven't answered my question yet, either. Where do you prefer to sleep tonight? I don't mind if you sleep in my bed, I can sleep on the couch, no problem."

"I . . . I was wondering if we could stay in your room. To be honest, I haven't been feeling all that safe ever since I've arrived. I feel safer that I've found you, but . . ." Sakura replied, face bright red. (AN: This is not to be taken the wrong way! She simply wishes for him to be there as a sense of security, not for you-know-what! Besides, they're not even married!)

"I understand, but don't worry about it. Let me do all the worrying. Come on, let's sleep for now. We'll still have to go to school tomorrow."

"Alright. There's something I want to tell you, something I haven't told you for a while. I love you, Kurama, and I always will."

"I know that and I love you too, forever and ever. I promise." With that, he gives her a kiss on the lips.

The next morning; at Kurama's school . . .

"Is Minamino-kun here yet?" Fukuyama asked as Kurama entered the classroom with Sakura by his side.

"Yes, Fukuyama-sensei, what is it that you'd like for me to do for you?"

"Oh, never mind. I was going to ask you to make sure that Umino-san has settled in, but I guess I shouldn't have worried."

"It's no problem, Umino-san is an old friend of mine. I almost didn't recognize her when I saw her yesterday."

"Oh, well that's nice. Umino-san, I hope you enjoy living here. (The bell rings.) Everyone, take your seats! It's time to begin the first lesson for today!"

After school that same day . . .

"Umino-san, let's go. I'll show you the way to a temple not far from here," Kurama said as the school dismissal bell rang.

"Yes, I'm coming, Minamino-kun," Sakura replies as she picks up her books.

Later, not far from Genkai's temple . . .

Kurama stops short in front of Genkai's temple and puts his hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura, do you sense someone powerful ahead of us?"

"Yes, I do. Should we make a run for it and hope the others are there already?"

"Yes, but raise a mist to act as a barrier."

"Alright." A cold mist barrier appears a few moments.

"Good, now, let's make a run for the trees. It'll be harder for whoever we're following to see us if we're in the forest. It's going to be all uphill from here, but if we stick near the steps we may be able to see who it is."

"Alright. I'll be extra alert." The two of them ran for the trees and ran along the steep slope of the stairs. As they arrived at the doors of the temple, they found it blasted open and Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei trying to fight Yakumo.

"What the? Isn't that Yakumo?" Kurama shouted as Hiei appeared next to him while dodging another attack. Yakumo follows Hiei and reappears in front of Kurama to attack Hiei.

"Yes, it is I, Yakumo, King of the Netherworld. I live again thanks to the technology of the Makai!" Yakumo shouted as he went to attack Kurama instead.

"Get ready, Sakura! Rose Whip!" Kurama whipped it at Yakumo, who promptly disappeared before the whip hit him.

"You won't escape so easily! Double Ice Tobikunai!" Sakura threw a double handful of tobikunai at Yakumo, who also dodged them as well. "Damn it! Ice Spear!" A spear made of ice appeared in her hands. She charged at him, using various spear martial arts attacks at him at a high speed. Yakumo either dodged them or blocked them. Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei simply stood and stared as Sakura dueled with Yakumo. She was far more powerful than they thought.

"Guys, don't just stand there! Help her out!" Kurama yelled as he jumped in with his whip. Even under their joint attack, Yakumo did not sustain any damage. Hiei jumps in with his sword a few moments later to help.

"Hey, Hiei wait! I'm coming!" Kuwabara shouted as he followed. However, Yuusuke stops him.

"Wait, Kuwabara, stay here. I'll need you around to serve as a defense. If those three can keep Yakumo distracted long enough, maybe I can hit him with a reigun at maximum power," Yuusuke said as he started to gather power.

"Oh no you don't! You will not be defeating me with that again!" Yakumo shouted as he suddenly disappeared and reappeared about two feet away from Kuwabara.

"Kuwabara-kun, Yuusuke! Watch out!" Kurama shouted when he realized where Yakumo was going. "Sakura-"

"Already on it!" A huge pillar of water suddenly enveloped Yakumo and froze him in place before he could attack Yuusuke or Kuwabara.

"Thanks, Sakura! REIGUN!" Yuusuke shouted as he took aim and fired at Yakumo before he could break free from the ice. The reigun hit the icy column, exploding and sending up a huge cloud of dust, smoke, and steam.

"Yuusuke? Are you alright?" Kurama asked once the shock wave passed.

"Yeah, but Yakumo isn't. He's gone," replied Yuusuke.

"Good . . . I guess he isn't all that powerful without that Power Sphere, is he?" asked Kurama.

"I guess. Thanks, Sakura. If it hadn't been for you, I'd be toast right now."

"No worries, Yuusuke. Any friend of Kurama is a friend of mine."

"Anyway, Yuusuke, how are we going to search Mt. Hiei?" asked Kurama as he walks towards Yuusuke.

"Actually, I managed to find out where it is," Sakura said. Everyone turned to look at her, including Kurama.

"Sakura, why didn't you tell us sooner?" asked Kurama. He was shocked that Sakura hadn't told them already. He remembered that Sakura would tell him everything she knew about the security of a mansion before he went and stole whatever it was he was after. This was not like her at all, and he was starting to get suspicious. "You should know that we would need that piece of information!"

"I knew you'd be mad at me, but I . . . I couldn't bear the thought of losing you . . . again!" she said as she started to cry. Kurama realized that he was probably a little too rough on her. Besides, he understands how she feels.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I understand how you feel; I shouldn't have been so rough on you," Kurama said as he hugged her and let her cry on his shoulder. Everyone else just stood and stared. It was not like Kurama to show his emotions that plainly. "What?"

"Kurama . . . when did she become your girlfriend?" asked Yuusuke, shocked. Yuusuke had thought that the two of them were just really good friends, as had Kuwabara and Hiei.

"Uh . . . I don't know . . . Sakura?"

"Hm . . . let me see . . . I'd say about a hundred and twenty years ago . . . give or take a year or two," she replied. She'd just stopped crying and looked up into Kurama's emerald green eyes. She looked around to see everyone else with his jaw dropped. "What's wrong with that? It's not really that long in terms of a youko's lifetime."

"Here, if you don't believe me, I'll revert." A mist rose around Sakura as she reverted back into her youko form. The mist cleared to reveal that Youko Sakura was around Youko Kurama's height. She had a long light metallic blue tail, long light metallic blue hair that went all the way down her back, and watery blue eyes. She had a short, tight, watery blue v- neck sleeveless dress on with a split that went all the way up her legs and a matching blue choker with black slippers. She also appeared to be very elegant and graceful, like a fox. "See? Kurama, quit gawking at me!" she shouted as she smacked him in the back of his head and transforms back into her 'human' form. Kurama was staring at her, since it had been a long time since he'd seen her as a youko, and blushed when she yelled at her. "In any case, this guy's base is on the peak of Mt. Hiei. We should probably leave now and get there by tonight. Then we can just camp there tonight and start climbing it at dawn tomorrow morning."

"That's fine by me, my mom's still on vacation. She shouldn't be back for another two weeks, so if I'm not home tonight, it shouldn't be a big deal," Kurama replied, still blushing. He blinks for a moment and realizes that someone was missing. "Where's Genkai?"

"Oh . . . she's in the temple. She came running out when she felt Yakumo's presence and got thrown back," replied Yuusuke.

"Yuusuke, why didn't you tell me earlier? Show me where she is so I could see if she needs any medical treatment," Kurama replied, annoyed at Yuusuke.

Inside the temple . . .

"Genkai, are you okay?" asked Kurama. They'd found her just as she was coming to.

"I think so . . . ah!" she said as she winces and grabs her shoulder.

"Here, let me have a look at that shoulder. Hm . . . I think it's just bruised when you hit the floor, but let me make you an ointment that'll help it heal faster," Kurama said, making a diagnosis.

"It's fine, I can take care of it myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Yuusuke, you did take care of him, right?"

"Yes, Baasan. I took care of him."

"In that case, you guys can go and investigate on your own. I'll stay here."

"We'll be leaving right now for Mt. Hiei. My apologies about the damage done to your temple and its grounds," Sakura apologizes, bowing at the same time. "It's my fault that you got injured. I'm really sorry."

"It's alright, Sakura," Genkai gently replied. "There's no harm done. All the damage is reparable."

"Why don't we go to our homes first, to get blankets, tents . . . that kind of stuff and meet at the foot of Mt. Hiei at nine tonight?" suggested Kurama.

"Alright! See you then!" Yuusuke shouted as he started to run down the steps.

That night at the foot of Mt. Hiei . . .

"Okay, let's camp here for tonight. We should have someone act as a guard, just in case if we get attacked," Sakura suggested. Just then, a twig snapped behind them. "Who's there?"

"Gomen, gomen. I didn't mean to alarm you," Botan said as she walked out of the forest. Yukina walked out of the other side of the tree.

"Botan asked me to come along in case you needed someone to heal you," she explained as she walked over to Kuwabara.

"Whew, good thing it was just you . . ." Yuusuke replied, relieved.

"Koenma sent me to come with you just in case something goes wrong. I can use my rei powers to heal one of you," Botan stated.

"Okay, well, we're going to be camping here tonight. We'll be proceeding to the peak of Mt. Hiei tomorrow morning at first light," explained Sakura.

"You mean that you'll just go up there head first without knowing what the enemy's got in store for you?" asked Botan.

"Yeah, we've no idea except for the fact that we could be facing a lot of old enemies. The guy we're up against has a cloning machine that'll duplicate both the body and the powers that any youkai has. So, we're expecting a lot of old enemies from the Ankoku Bujutsukai," Yuusuke said.

"You guys are setting up a watch, right?" asked Botan.

"Of course. It'll be quite stupid of us not to. Let's alternate in three- hour periods. We'll guard in pairs. Sakura and I will go first," Kurama suggested.

"Okay, that's fine by me. I'll go to sleep, then," Yuusuke and Kuwabara simultaneously said. Everyone else just sweatdropped in reply.

"Are you sure you two will be fine?" Botan asked.

"Oh, yeah. It's not like we already have a defense set up, right, Sakura?"

"Yep. I've already spread one of my mists. Your average youkai will not be able to go in and get out alive. You see, if you don't have strong enough youki, the mist will freeze your lungs when you inhale it. The youkai wouldn't even realize it until it's too late. Now, all of us here have a pretty high level of youki. This mist doesn't effect anyone who uses reiki or humans, for that matter. I made it that way so that anyone working for the Reikai, like you, can come and go as they please. Besides, I don't really want to get in trouble with the Reikai, so obviously I wouldn't use something that would kill that indiscriminately. So, we're pretty safe here, that is, unless someone powerful like Yakumo or some of your stronger opponents from the Ankoku Bujutsukai attacks."

"I see. I'll be sleeping now, too. I'll take the next shift after you, so wake me up when it's time," Hiei said, satisfied with her explanation.

"I agree with Hiei. I'll help you," Botan agreed, finding a spot to set up her tent.

"Good night. Sakura and I will wake you up when it's time."

Several minutes later . . .

"I guess it's just you and me now. I think everyone's asleep," Kurama said as he looked up at the stars from underneath a cherry tree. Sakura was sitting next to him, looking at the stars as well.

"You know, I've missed this, just the two of us and the stars and the full moon."

"I know . . . so have I." Kurama puts his arm around her as she puts her head on his shoulder. A cool breeze blows by, causing Sakura to shiver. "Are you cold?" Sakura shakes her head. "Here." Kurama takes off his school jacket and puts it around her shoulders anyway.

"Thanks. It's been fifteen years . . . you really haven't changed that much."

"Well, neither have you, you're still your cheery self." He pauses for a second. "You know, I wasn't sure if it was you that was in the main office yesterday."

"Really? I was sure you'd recognize me. But then again, my human form is a bit different from my youko form, I guess." A cool breeze blows by again, and Sakura snuggles a little closer to Kurama for warmth.

"And you were saying you weren't cold?" Kurama replied with a smirk.

"Well, the girl's uniforms aren't as warm as the guy's. We're in plaid skirts; it really doesn't do much to help you keep your legs warm, even if you wear knee high socks."

"Sit here for a moment. I have a blanket in my bag." Kurama gets up and returns a few moments later with a thick blanket and wraps it around both Sakura and himself. "Better?"

"Definitely." She grew silent as she watches the cherry blossom petals fall. "I recognized you the minute you stepped into that office. You kept the same hairstyle, so it was easy for me to tell."

"Well, it lets my enemies know who I am a lot easier. There was this guy I fought against in the Ankoku Bujutsukai who used a time item on me. He must've thought I was human, because it never occurred to him that I was Youko Kurama. He wouldn't tell me when I tried to ask him the secret of the item, but it's not like I would've gotten it out of him anyway. His own teammate killed him."

"But did you find out? Can you transform into Youko Kurama if you wanted to?" she eagerly asked.

"Well, yeah, I can now. Apparently it was made from a new plant called Past Life Seeds. If I drank it in a liquid form, I could transform into Youko Kurama and stay that way for about fifteen minutes."

"Did you terrorize the guy when you tried to get the information out of him?" she asked, sure of the answer.

"Of course I did. What else did you expect me to do, politely ask him?" he said with a snicker.

"You know, your methods of interrogation will never change." They fell silent for a moment and simply looked at the stars and the falling cherry blossom petals.

"There were many times on nights like these when I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about you and what I'd say if I ever saw you again, but now, I can't seem to find anything to tell you," Kurama said with a note of hesitation.

"Well, you don't really need to say anything." She looked away from the starry sky and turned to look at his face. He turns around to look at her. In the moonlight, she seemed even more beautiful to him. He leaned to kiss her, but stopped as he felt someone's eyes on him.

"Yuusuke, how may I help you?" Kurama asked without even turning around.

"Damn, how'd you know it was me?" Yuusuke asked, frustrated, and surprised.

"Let's see, you usually sleep like you're training in your sleep, that's how. Ah, Kuwabara-kun is there also anything I can help you with?"

"What? How'd you know?" Kuwabara replied, surprised.

"Let's see, I trained you before. Of course I'd know what my own student's reiki feels like. Oh, and Hiei, Botan? Are you two up as well? Hiding up in a tree won't help to disguise your ki as well. In that case, the two of us are going to sleep. You four can decide who's next. C'mon, Sakura. I'll go set up a tent for the two of us." Kurama got up and wrapped his part of the blanket around Sakura and then walked over to his bag and got up a tent and started to set it up.

"You know, Kurama's just too good at this!" Yuusuke whined.

"Rats! And all the atmosphere they were building!" Botan complained. Sakura didn't say anything but simply sat where she was and blushed.

Fifteen minutes later, inside Kurama's tent . . .

"You know, you really didn't need to do that. You could have just ignored them," Sakura said as she snuggled closer to him in the sleeping bag.

"I know I could've, but I really didn't feel like letting them watch us; it was a private moment between the two of us."

"You'll never change, you know that? That's why-"

"Hang on to that thought, Sakura. Is there anything I can help anyone of you with? Or is there some other reason why you're all just hovering around our tent? Namely eavesdropping," Kurama interrupted. He stopped for a moment and then said, "If it'll get all of you to stop eavesdropping on our private conversation, just ask whatever it is that's on your minds!"

"Kurama, how old are you?" asked Kuwabara.

"Um . . . good question," Kurama replied. Botan, Yuusuke, Yukina, and Kuwabara face fell as they heard Kurama's answer. Hiei was up in a tree and crashed face first to the ground when he heard. "I'd say I'm around 2100 years old, I think. When you're as old as I am, you kind of lose track of the years."

Some time in the middle of the night . . .

"Kurama, Kurama, wake up!" Sakura hissed as she shook Kurama awake. When Kurama wouldn't respond, she lost her temper and slapped him back and forth on both cheeks, hard. "Wake up, baka!"

"Ow . . . what is it, Sakura?" Kurama asked, sleepy, confused, and holding both cheeks in pain.

"There's someone around here. And they're not human," Sakura replied. Kurama sat up with a start and got serious.

"Where and how powerful?"

"Not far from here. They're pretty strong. The mist is not even phasing them."

"I see . . ." He thought for a moment. "Let's go. No doubt it's Yuusuke and Kuwabara-kun's turn to stand guard. Only the two of them would fall asleep like this." He got out of the tent with Sakura following shortly after. Yuusuke and Kuwabara were fast asleep at the foot of a tree. Hiei and Botan were sleeping not far from them, Botan in her tent, Hiei at the foot of a different tree. "Just as I thought. It's this way. Let's go. Sakura, be ready for anything."

"Kurama, wait. There's no point in going over there blind. Let me send a shadow of myself over there." She summoned a ball of water in her hand and threw it. It landed several feet away from them in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, another Sakura was there, looking exactly like the original.

"I forgot you could do that," Kurama replied, amused.

"I figured you did. Let's follow after my shadow, but at a safe distance." Sakura's shadow took off towards the power source.

Several minutes later . . .

"Sakura, let's wait here and see who it is. Can you get your shadow to lure the person towards us?"

"Yes. Okay, now, let's see, got it! They're chasing my shadow! We'll trap him in that clearing over there!"

"Got it. Rose Whip!" Sakura's shadow turned back into water and disappeared as the person who was chasing it entered the clearing. It was Karasu. "Guess you were right. Leave this to me. I fought him once before and I lost because of the ten count. This time, things will be different." Kurama calmly walked into the clearing, ready for anything.

"Ah . . . Kurama, how nice to see you again. This time, you'll die, for sure!" Karasu took off his mask breathed in a bunch of air as his hair color turned from black to blonde.

"Don't be so sure, Karasu!" Mist suddenly swirled around Kurama, hiding him from view. Black lightning bounced off the trees as a gust of wind suddenly blew the mist away to reveal Youko Kurama. "It is you who will die this time!"

Back behind the trees . . .

"Who's there?" Sakura asked as a twig snapped behind her. She looked all around her, but neither saw nor sensed anything. A handkerchief suddenly went around her mouth and nose, and she blacked out. Kurama . . . help me!

Meanwhile . . .

"Last time we fought, I took it way to easily on you," Kurama said. "I won't be so careless this time."

"Enough talk!" Karasu threw several hand grenades towards Kurama, who used his whip to destroy them before they even touched him. Karasu was about to attack again, he suddenly realized he couldn't move. He looks down at his legs to find them both being held in place by two thick vines. "What's this?! No matter, I'll just get you from here!" Just as Karasu pulled his arm back to throw the bomb, two thorny vines wrap around his arms, cutting through straight to the bone. "Ahhhh . . .!"

"As I said before, you'll be the one to die this time. It's time for me to finish you."

"I wouldn't be so sure!" Kurama looks around to find large number of Trace- Eyes above him.

"I guess you don't remember our previous fight. Let me refresh your memory." Kurama mutters something in another language. A Makai Mimosa sprouts from the ground and destroys all of the Trace-Eyes before they even touched him. "See? Now, to finish you." The mimosa moved its carnivorous branches around Karasu, each branch throwing itself on top of another until Karasu could not be seen and all that was visible was a huge ball. "Now, then, to make sure that you can't blast your way out . . ." Kurama pulled a blade of grass from his hand and let it grow until it was a huge sword. He then cut the ball in half. Pieces of the mimosa fell all around him and on the ground right underneath the center of the ball was Karasu in a huge pool of blood and organs. He'd been sliced in half from head to toe.

"Kurama!" Yuusuke yelled as he and the others arrived at the scene. He stopped short when he saw Karasu's halved corpse. "What happened?"

"Sakura woke me up telling me she sensed something nearby a little while earlier. We decided to come out and investigate. I ended up finding Karasu here and decided to take care of a little bit of unfinished business. Where's Sakura?"

"We didn't see her when we ran over here. We came over here because we thought Yukina might be here. She's missing. We noticed that when Hiei woke us up a little while after you two took off."

"What?!" Kurama suddenly frowned. The tree where Sakura should have been behind suddenly moved all on its own towards him. A rolled up note with an arrow through it was stuck to its trunk. Kurama pulled out the arrow and read the note. The others huddled around him to see what was written on it.

It read:
Kurama,
If you want Sakura back in one piece, come to the peak of Mt.
Hiei. You may bring only one person with you. Don't even think about
pulling a fast one on me. I have eyes all over this mountain. I'll
be watching you.

P. S. I also have Yukina.

"Kurama, do you have any idea who it could be?" Botan asked, concerned. Kurama did not reply and simply set off for the peak of the mountain. Hiei started to clench his right fist in anger.

"Hiei, you're coming with me. The rest of you stay here." No one protested what Kurama said. They could all sense the anger that was emanating from him in huge waves. It was even worse than the time Kurama killed the one of Yakumo's 'demon gods', who had taken on Kuronue's form to put Kurama at a disadvantage. Hiei, who was now very angry and pissed off, silently followed Kurama (he'd reverted a little while ago).

Up on the peak of Mt. Hiei . . .

"Ugh . . . where am I?" Sakura asked as she looked around. She was in a large cage with a steel floor and bars. Lying next to her was Yukina, who was still unconscious. Powerful demon wards were wrapped all around the bars and the top of the cage. She knew it'd be futile to try to escape. The wards prevented her from touching the bars. "What a headache. It must've been the stuff they used to knock me out."

"Ah . . . so, our little water using youko has awakened. You're just in time to see the end of your traitorous boyfriend, Kurama, and his friend."

"You b****** . . . what have you done to Kurama?!"

"My, my, my, how rude of you . . . for just for that, Toguro Otouto?"

"Yes?"

"Teach our foul mouthed friend a lesson."

"Yes, master." Toguro Otouto stuck one finger between the bars and had it grow. Sakura dodged out of the way of the finger only to run into the bars. She screamed as the wards repelled her, sending her back onto the cold steel floor of the cage.

"No . . . I must not give in!" She tried to summon her Ice Spear only to get 'electrocuted' by the wards. (AN: You know what I mean, don't you?)

"My, my, my, aren't we just a little stubborn? Trying something like that won't work! You will sit there in that cage as you watch your boyfriend die! And you will be unable to do anything about it!"

"Kurama isn't as weak as you think he is! He'll come for me, and when he does, you're going to wish you hadn't pissed him off!" Sakura had given up on trying to escape. The only thing she could do is to have faith in Kurama.

Back on the slope of Mt. Hiei . . .

"Hiei, use your jagan and see if you can choose the fastest and easiest path up the mountain."

"Alright. If we continue on this path, it should get us there in no time."

"Good." Wait for me, Sakura. I'm coming. And whoever kidnapped you will pay . . . with his life!

Back to the foot of Mt. Hiei . . .

"Keiko, what're you doing here?" Yuusuke asked, surprised.

"I came to see if you're okay. Ara? Where are Kurama, Hiei, Yukina, and Sakura-san?"

"Sakura and Yukina were kidnapped. Kurama's really pissed off and is on his way up to the peak with Hiei."

"Oh. I hope Yukina and Sakura-san will be okay."

"Keiko, why don't you go home for now? It's really dangerous here. We could be attack at any time."

"He's right!" a voice shouted from the trees.

"Who's there?" Yuusuke shouted.

"Genbu of the Saint Beasts!"

"And Byakko of the Saint Beasts!"

"Damn! Looks like Sakura was right about the guy having a cloning machine."

"Kuwabara . . . I'll kill you this time! You will not get away with what happened last time!" Byakko roared and charged towards Kuwabara.

"Reiken!"

"Baka! Did you forget what happened last time, Kuwabara?" Yuusuke shouted.

"I still beat him anyway! Take this!" Kuwabara sliced at Byakko only to miss.

"Horizontal Boulder Explosion!"

"Botan, get Keiko out of here!" Yuusuke looked for the glowing red stone that Kurama destroyed when he fought the original.

"Right! Keiko-chan! Let's move!"

"I think not!" a third voice said.

"There's three of them?" Botan asked. "Hmm . . . I know!" She summoned her oar. "Keiko-chan, hop on!" Keiko got on behind Botan.

"You won't be getting away! Demonic Door Freeze Punch!" Botan and Keiko were frozen by the attack. "I am Seiryuu of the Saint Beasts. I will be taking these two girls with me. Genbu, Byakko! We're going back to our master! Go to the peak of Mt. Hiei if you want these two girls back. We'll be waiting for you."

"Tiger Fireball Attack!" Kuwabara and Yuusuke dodge the attack. The ball crashes into the ground and explodes, sending up a huge cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, Byakko, Seiryuu, and Genbu were nowhere to be seen.

"Urameshi, let's go! I will get those guys for messing with Yukina-san!" He looks around to see that Yuusuke was already ahead of him. "Wait up, Urameshi!"

Back to Kurama and Hiei . . .

"Kurama, wait a second. A think I see something off over there . . . no! It's Keiko and Botan. They've been frozen! And it's Byakko, Genbu, and Seiryuu who are carrying them."

"What?! What's Keiko doing anywhere near here? In any case, I guess we should be expecting Yuusuke and Kuwabara not too far behind."

"So you're saying we could clear the way for those two?"

"That's precisely what I'm saying. We don't know how many flunkies this guy has, but we can expect to see some old enemies. The more the better."

"True, but say that after you've won!" a voice said from the trees.

"Who's there?" shouted Kurama.

"You don't recognize me? It's Uraurashima, I've come to finish you like I was supposed to in the Ankoku Bujutsukai!"

"This'll be easy. Hiei, step aside. This one's mine."

"Oh? You seem to have overlooked someone!"

"Kuromomotarou? Hmph . . . have you come to get killed again?" asked Hiei.

"No, you're the one who's going to die this time!" Kuromomotarou crushes a Kibidango and inhales the stuff inside it, transforming him into the Monkey form.

"That again? Bah . . . give me a break! This should be more than sufficient. Jaoh Ensatsu Ken Rengokushyo!" Kuromomotarou goes flying back towards a tree, enveloped in flames. He comes to rest on the ground as a smoldering heap. Meanwhile, Uraurashima has trapped Kurama in his fishing- line net and opened the Anti-Tamatebako.

"You know, you really shouldn't have tried that again. I think your memory needs to be refreshed as well," Youko Kurama said.

"Don't be so confident. This is an even more concentrated form of the Past Life Seeds mist. The clock reversal is permanent this time!"

"Oh really? Then I better get rid of you, fast. Rose Whip!" Kurama charges towards Uraurashima and decapitates him in one stroke, cutting through the net as well. The mist disseminated, but Kurama did not transform back into Minamino Shuuichi. "Looks like he was right . . ."

"Kurama! You didn't transform back!" Hiei exclaimed as he walked over.

"I know. He said that the clock reversal is permanent. The concentration was quite high. Oh well, it's really no big deal. I'll find the antidote to this later. Right now, let's continue to climb the mountain."

Back to Yuusuke and Kuwabara . . .

"Kuwabara, are you sure this is the right way? There's way too much of this sharp thorny brush here!"

"Trust me, Urameshi! Walking through mazes is one of my specialties. Remember that I made it to the tree first in Genkai's disciple tournament! This way may be covered by thorny brush, but it is the way with the fewest enemies! We'll get there much faster this way."

"Kuwabara, quiet! I think I hear something up ahead!" The two peek around a tree. There, they see a group of youkai sitting around a fire. As Kuwabara shifted his position to see how many there were, he stepped on a twig and snapped it.

"Who's there?" one of the youkai shouted.

"My, my, my, and how many of you are there?" Yuusuke asked as he and Kuwabara stepped out from behind their respective trees.

"More than enough to take care of you two!"

"I think not! Reiken!" Kuwabara jumped into the fray, slicing and dicing youkai into pieces.

"I'll take you all out without breaking a sweat!" Yuusuke shouted as he jumped in as well, punching and knocking out youkai.

Several minutes later . . .

"Well, that takes care of those losers!" Kuwabara said as he continued onward. Yuusuke followed shortly after.

Back to Kurama and Hiei . . .

"How nice of him to give us a welcoming crew," Hiei said as he saw the massive hoard of youkai surrounding the entire base with his jagan.

"In that case, why don't we go right on ahead and meet them? It'd be rude of us not to," Kurama stated. He reached into his hair and pulled an innocuous looking blood red rose and walked out of the shadows. "Hi, we were wondering if you'd just let us through without a hassle. Perhaps you could lead us to your leader as well? We have a little business we'd like to settle with him."

"Oh my god, it's Youko Kurama! Run for your life!" one of the youkai shouted.

"It doesn't matter who it is, we can't let them through to the boss! Attack!" the leader shouted. All of the youkai rushed forward at his command.

"Oh, well, I guess we'll just have to fight our way though. Hiei, you with me?"

"Of course. Since when have I backed down from a fight?"

"Never, but I guess I already knew that. Let's take them all out! Rose Whip!" Kurama and Hiei rushed through the massive hoard of youkai and killed them all without even breaking a sweat. "Well, that was easy enough. I wonder where Yuusuke and Kuwabara-kun are. They should be here any minute now, especially since Kuwabara-kun should be able to lead Yuusuke away from most of the traps and youkai. Let's wait here for them."

Meanwhile, back in the enemy base . . .

"Curse that Uraurashima! I thought I told him not to use the Anti- Tamatebako unless he was absolutely sure he'd win! But, then again, what was I to expect from a bumbling idiot like him? All of you go and get into position. Our first group of guests have arrived."

"Yes, master," all the youkai in the shadows said.

"Hahahahaha! At this rate, Kurama and Hiei will be dead and my vengeance on behalf of all youkai will be complete!"

"You wish! Kurama won't die that easily! He'll kill every single one of your losers!" Sakura shouted.

"Yeah, and don't expect Hiei to go down easy either!" Botan agreed. Botan, Keiko, and Yukina had been put in the same cage as Sakura and were now closely watching the security televisions, hoping that they'd be rescued.

"And when Yuusuke gets here, you're gonna wish that you hadn't kidnapped us and put us in this cage!" Keiko added.

"Yes, and Kazuma-san will do the same!" Yukina agreed.

"Oh, really? When they see how I've improved their old opponents from the Ankoku Bujutsukai, they'll see that it's futile to fight against me! Absolutely futile!"

Back to Yuusuke and Kuwabara . . .

"Urameshi, what's this? It looks as though someone slaughtered a massive hoard of youkai here."

"Of course. It took you two long enough to get here."

"Kurama? What happened? And why are you transformed into Youko Kurama?"

"A little run-in with Uraurashima caused this. He used an extremely concentrated mist of Past Life Seeds on me, so now my clock is permanently set back. I can do something about this later. Right now, let's go in. I want to make the loser who kidnapped Sakura pay."

"But what about Keiko, Botan, and Yukina? Were they brought here as well? We were told to come here as well, but we're not sure if this is the right place," Yuusuke said.

"Don't worry, Yuusuke. This is the right place all right. I saw Seiryuu, Byakko, and Genbu head up this mountain way ahead of us a little while back with my jagan," Hiei replied.

"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Kuwabara said.

"Anyone see a doorbell anywhere?" Yuusuke asked as he looked around for a way to open the door. Just then, the door opened all by itself to reveal a huge foyer with four separate staircases, each leading towards a different corridor.

"Welcome to my base! Ah, Kurama, nice to see that you're well. It's time we settled this, little brother, no? (General look of shock on all of the kidnapped girls and Hiei, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara's faces.) You've been an ignominy to our family as well as to all youkai. Since mother and father aren't alive to execute you, I will, that is, if you can get through to me. Each of you is to head down a hallway. All four lead straight to me. I will not ensure the safety within these hallways, since this is such a big base and I don't have enough money to hire enough security! I'll be waiting for you at the control room! If you don't make it . . . (four female voices scream in unison)"

"Damn that b******! I should've known it'd be him all along!" Youko Kurama cursed as he looked at each of the staircases. "Kuwabara-kun, choose the staircase that has the weakest youkai in it. Hiei, Yuusuke, and I can take care of whatever's in the other three."

"Okay. The one with the weakest youkai is the fourth one if you counted them from left to right. The toughest one is the first and second ones. Both have strong youki pouring of them. The third one seems to have medium strength youkai in it."

"I see . . . I'll take the first one; Hiei, you take the second; Yuusuke, you take the third; and Kuwabara-kun, you take the fourth. Whoever gets there first will keep my brother busy. Kuwabara-kun, no arguing about it. If you go down any of the others, you may get killed. That wouldn't help any of us, including Yukina. Everyone got that? Good luck and let's go!" All four of them went up their assigned staircases.

Back to the control room . . .

"I thought you looked familiar. I thought you'd died a long time ago," Sakura said as she glared at him.

"Oh, but I haven't kicked the bucket yet. Once my little brother's dead, I'll make you mine, and there's nothing you can do about it. As for the rest of you, I think I'll just make you all my slaves."

"Koenma-sama wouldn't stand for that!" Botan shouted.

"Oh, so you're one of the Guides to the Reikai. I think I'll just hold you for ransom. Oh, what shall I ask Koenma for? The Ningenkai, the freedom of all of the imprisoned youkai?"

"Keep on dreaming, loser! Kurama, Hiei, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara will make it here! They won't lose to the scum you've put in those hallways!" Botan replied.

Chiriko smirks. "Oh yes they will. You just watch these TVs and see . . ."

Back to Kurama . . .

Hm . . . so far it's been nothing but a really long walk. I felt some really strong youki pouring out of this corridor, but so far, nothing. Wait a minute, what's that up ahead? Kurama cautiously walked through a doorway and into a darkened room. The door instantly shut behind him to enshroud him in complete darkness. Better be careful, Kurama. It wouldn't hurt if you brought out the Rose Whip . . .

"Welcome to my room, Minamino Shuuichi-kun. Or better yet, Youko Kurama. This time, I won't just kill you; I'll kill your mother as well. Yes, your mother's being followed again. And this time, you can watch her die while you breathe your last breath."

Meanwhile, back to Hiei . . .

Where is this tunnel leading? I must make that b****** pay for kidnapping Yukina! No one, absolutely no one gets away with kidnapping my younger half-sister. Wait a minute, better be careful, Hiei. There's someone ahead of you. Better get ready to fight him . . .

"Hello, Hiei. Nice to see that you're alive and well. You won't be after I'm through with you! I've been wanting a rematch ever since you killed me in the Ankoku Bujutsukai!" a voice said as Hiei entered a room.

Meanwhile, back to Yuusuke . . .

So far, all this has been is one long walk! What does Kurama's brother intend to do? Walk us to death? At this rate, I'll be a hundred years old before I reach the end! A doorway with dragons sculpted into it? Could it be . . . Seiryuu?

"Welcome to my room, Urameshi Yuusuke. I, Seiryuu, master of ice, shall be the one to kill you!"

Meanwhile, back to Kuwabara . . .

I must rescue Yukina-san! I must rescue Yukina-san! I will never forgive myself if I don't! Now, then, who's that up ahead? Kuwabara runs into a room and finds someone standing in front of him.

"Kuwabara Kazuma. Your life will be mine! I, Miyuki, the first of the Sankishu, will kill you!"

"You wish, you cross-dressing b****! Reiken!"

"I thought you didn't fight girls!"

"Yeah, but as I recall, Urameshi figured out you're a guy! So, it still doesn't matter! I, Kuwabara Kazuma, shall defeat you in the name of Yukina- san!"

Meanwhile, back in the control room . . .

"Well, they're quite persistent, but I don't think they'll be defeating these guys. I made sure to upgrade them when I cloned them."

"Don't be so sure! Kurama won't lose! You'll be begging him to spare you when he gets here! You can bet your life on that!" Sakura shouted from the cage.

"Oh really? Why don't we keep watching then?"

Back to Kurama . . .

"Rose Whip! You never fight fair, do you, Roto?"

"Of course not! What's the point in fighting fair when you can cause more trouble by fighting unfairly?" Roto replies as he makes his Kamaitachi appear on his right hand. He takes a huge swipe at Youko Kurama, who hops back and received a shallow cut to the abdomen. Youko Kurama then whipped the Rose Whip towards Roto, who blocks with the Kamaitachi. "Oh, and by the way, I think you already know this, all I have to do is to press the button before your mother dies."

"Oh, I already knew that. That's why I planted a shimaneki seed on you the minute I heard your voice."

"That can't be! There is no way you could have done that! You're bluffing!"

"There is one way you can confirm that, but if I did, you wouldn't live."

"What the . . . why can't I move?"

"Do you need me to explain this to you again?"

"Please, don't kill me!" Kurama walks up to Roto and snatches the controller from his hands, destroying it as he squeezed it.

"I don't think so. Actually, that was just some paralysis pollen that I dispersed when I walked in. So, now I find myself at a crossroad. Should I let you go? Or should I decapitate you and give you a quick, clean death? Or do I just let the pollen paralyze all of your muscles until you suffocate because your diaphragm will be paralyzed in another five minutes?"

"Or you could just give me the antidote!" By now, the paralysis had spread to his legs, and Roto was lying on his back.

"I think not. I think I'll just let you die by the pollen. There's no point in trying to fight it; it'll only make it worse. But, if you insist, I guess I could be generous and let you die in your sleep . . ."

"Yes, please, I'll do anything, just make it painless!"

"Forget it. I think a painful death is fitting for you; after all, this is the second time and if you can't figure it out that you're no match for me, then that's your problem. Besides, I can't let anyone live after threatening my mother." With that, Kurama walks out of the room to leave Roto lying on the ground to suffocate to death. As Kurama reached the door, Roto's mouth started to gasp for air like a fish out of the water. A few moments later, he was dead.

Back to Hiei . . .

"Oh, well, now who are you?"

"Nani?! Am I that insignificant to you, you short little pipsqueak?"

"Of course. Now, remind me again, who are you?"

"I am the mighty Makintarou! You killed me before I could even show you what I'm capable of! You shall die now for that offense against me!"

"Oh, so you were that baka from team Urashima? Well, I guess I'll just kill you again!" Hiei suddenly disappeared and cuts Makintarou in half before he could even react. He reappears at the exact same point.

"Oh, and what was that supposed to do?" Makintarou asked.

"You'll see." Just at that moment, blood spews from all around the cut as the top half of Makintarou falls to the ground. "Hmph . . . that takes care of him. I wonder who's next . . ."

Back to Yuusuke . . .

"Ahh . . . Seiryuu . . . I remember you. You were the one Hiei killed in a series of about sixteen cuts, no?"

"Grrr . . . Yes. I was hoping to fight Hiei, but I guess you'll have to do! Demonic Door Freeze Punch!" Yuusuke easily dodged the attack and returned several punches of his own before leaping back.

"Feh . . . what a pathetic attack. Take this instead! Reigun!" The reigun hit Seiryuu, who was still recovering from Yuusuke's punches.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Seiryuu shouted as he was blasted to pieces.

"That was easy enough. Now, to save Keiko and Botan!"

Back to Kuwabara . . .

"In the name of Yukina-san? Where do you get your lines, Z-Grade movies? In any case, I'm gonna kill you for what your friend did to me!" Miyuki charges forward and pulls his fist back to punch Kuwabara. Kuwabara easily dodges under the attack and makes an attempt to gut Miyuki. However, Miyuki had guessed that Kuwabara would try something like that and kicked Kuwabara hard in the guts to spring backwards to land in front of him. "Give up, and I'll give you a quick, clean death."

"Forget it! Yukina-san is counting on me to go rescue her! I'd never give up as long as you're holding her prisoner! Besides, all of my friends would never forgive me if I just gave up! Take this!" Kuwabara charges with his Reiken held back. Miyuki dodged the first few attacks, but was not prepared when Kuwabara suddenly punched with his free hand. Miyuki goes flying back to hit the wall, where he slides to the ground, unconscious.

Back to Kurama . . .

Now then, let's see who is in Room No. 2 . . . Kurama calmly walks in, prepared for anything. The room was filled with a thick fog.

"Kurama . . . how nice to see you again. You know, I've always thought that you cared more about Sakura than me. I guess I was right."

"Kuronue, no, it can't be you. There is no way you could be wearing your pendant when the chain broke while we were escaping from the Makai Palace. Besides, you have always known how I've felt about Sakura. I told you that there is no competition between you and Sakura. Sakura was my girlfriend, but when it comes to being just friends, you were just as important to me as Sakura was. So, I have no qualms against fighting you. You're not the real Kuronue at all. You're just a nameless chameleon who takes on the shape of others to take advantage of your opponents. Besides, the real Kuronue would have been glad to see that I was alive and well. Only a fake would try to kill me."

"Oh, really? In that case, let's just forget the formalities!" The fake Kuronue disappears into the mist to attack Kurama by surprise. Kurama, on the other hand, only stands still and kept his senses extra sensitive to pinpoint the fake's position.

"So, there you are," Kurama said as he turned around and flicked his whip in that direction. He pulls on the whip to find that it was wrapped around the fake's waist. The fake Kuronue had returned to his 'true' form and was now wincing in pain as the thorns of the whip dug into his skin. Kurama suddenly jerked the whip towards himself, cutting the fake in half. Blood dripped off of the thorns of the whip as it went through the fake's waist.

"How . . . did you . . . know where . . . I was?"

"It was simple. You attacked me from behind the last time we fought. It was only natural that you chose to attack from the same angle. Kuronue died a long time ago, but he sacrificed his life so that I could live. I guess some people and youkai just can't understand that." With a flick of his silvery hair, Kurama turned around and walked out of the room.

Back to Hiei . . .

Hmm? A smokescreen? Who is in here anyway? Hiei walked into the room to find himself unable to see more than two feet in front of him.

"Hahahaha . . . It took me long enough to recover from the Ankoku Bujutsukai. I was hoping I'd get to finish what I started there when I was fighting Kurama. I guess I won't get the chance to. But you'll be good enough."

"Bakuken. I remember you. You were the b****** who insisted on beating up Kurama even though he was unable to fight back. I'm sorry, but as Kurama's friend, I cannot let you live for what you did," Hiei said as he pulled the bandanna off of his forehead to reveal his jagan. He opens it and sees that there are ten Bakukens surrounding him. "Creative, making more than one clone of a person to fight me. But that won't help you at all. I'll just have to kill all ten of you."

"There is no way you could have seen through my smokescreen! No matter . . . I'll just kill you anyway!" All ten Bakukens rushed forward to attack Hiei. Hiei simply took out his sword and sliced through all ten Bakukens as they approached him. "How did you . . .?" all ten asked as they died.

"That is for me to know and you to never find out, unless you get cloned again."

Back to Yuusuke . . .

What the-? Yo-yos? But how? Yuusuke entered the room to find eight yo- yos zooming towards him. He dodged all eight with ease. "Who's there?"

"Oh, just me," Rinku said.

"Rinku? What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Chuu?"

"No, not at all. The real Rinku is off somewhere. I'm just his greatly improved duplicate. My goal is to exceed the real Rinku and then kill him. I will then continue to live his life. However, in order to do so, I must kill you first!" Rinku sent his yo-yos towards Yuusuke. Yuusuke simply rushes forward and jumps around the yo-yos to land behind Rinku. Yuusuke punches Rinku, who goes flying back towards the wall. Rinku manages to right himself and bounces off the wall to attack Yuusuke with his yo-yos again.

"Oh no, you don't! Those yo-yos aren't going to touch me! Reigun!" Yuusuke's reigun crashes into the yo-yos, sending up a huge cloud of dust as the floor gets destroyed in the process. Three yo-yos appear from the cloud of dust to wrap around Yuusuke's neck.

"And now, you die, Urameshi Yuusuke."

"Forget it!" Yuusuke pulls on the strings of the yo-yos, surprising Rinku. Rinku goes flying towards Yuusuke. "Reikodan!" The strings break as Rinku gets flung into the wall and slides down to the floor, unconscious. A bloody dent and trail indicated where Rinku had hit the wall and slid.

Back to Kuwabara . . .

How much longer is this hallway going to be? I want to get to the end of this tunnel right now! I must rescue Yukina-san! Ara? Another room? Uh- oh, more youkai. Better get ready, Kuwabara. Kuwabara enters the room to find it filled with youkai. "Get out of my way!"

"Never! Die!" All of the youkai charge towards Kuwabara in a group attack.

"You wish! Reiken!" Kuwabara rushes into the youkai's group attack, slicing and dicing youkai into pieces as he went. Some of the youkai dodged his sword, but most ended up getting slashed into pieces. After a while, they started to retreat and run out of the other side of the room. "Get back here, you losers!" Kuwabara shouted as he chased after them. He had to carefully skirt the pools of blood as he chased them, since he'd killed most of them.

Back to the control room . . .

"Damn it! This is what I get for not making them powerful enough! But, then again, they did do their job. Now, little brother, let's see you pass the final test. If you do, you'll get to fight me . . . again."

"What's he talking about, Sakura?" asked Botan.

"A thousand years ago, Kurama got into a fight with his brother about what to do with their parent's dead bodies. His parents had been killed by a rival group of youkai. Kurama wanted to bury their bodies, but his older brother didn't want to. The two of them ended up fighting each other over it. Kurama won, and he went to bury his parents in a bamboo forest. I remember all of it like yesterday. I went with him to bury his parents. It wasn't like Kurama was really upset over it, he was just doing it out of respect for them."

"I see . . . so is that another reason why he's after Kurama?" asked Keiko.

"Probably. Knowing him, he won't give up until Kurama's dead. Of course, that isn't the only reason. As he said earlier, he views Kurama as a disgrace for cooperating with Urameshi-san and Kuwabara-san. That's the other reason."

"How acute of you to figure out all of this, Sakura. However, you may as well say sayonara to my little brother. He won't win this next one. I made sure of it."

Back to Kurama . . .

Hm . . . there's a very strong person in the next room. I can't even see the door to it and I'm already feeling the person's ki. This isn't good. Better get out the Rose Whip, Kurama. You don't know who's in there . . . Kurama thought as the door to the next room appeared. Nani?! There's more than one person in there? This can't be good. Whoever it is, he's powerful . . .

"Ah . . . how nice to see you again, Youko Kurama. You've killed my original self and my clone. But how are you going to deal with all ten of us attacking you at once?" Karasu said Kurama entered the room.

"Don't you ever die? So, what do you have up your sleeve this time that I haven't already seen?"

"You should be more worried about yourself!" all ten Karasus shouted as they all sent Trace-Eyes towards Kurama.

"Hmph! That attack again?" Kurama calmly said as he took out a blade of grass from his hand. He turned it into a sword and swiftly cut all of the Trace-Eyes in half, surrounding himself in the smoke of the explosion. Suddenly, hand grenades came hurtling through the smoke, causing more explosions. Youko Kurama dodged most of them, but some managed exploded close enough to him to give him a few minor burns. "S***!"

"Oh, nice to see those hand grenades are giving you trouble," the Karasus said as they waited for the smoke to clear.

"Don't be so sure," Kurama replied. "Now, let see how well you can handle this!" The ground shook as something burst though the floor; more smoke and dust clouded the air, disguising both Kurama and the thing that burst through the floor in a cloud of dust. The dust and smoke slowly settled to reveal a gigantic plant that looked a little like a willow tree, except the branches were all thorny and ended in toothy mouths, towering above Kurama.

"Nani?!"

"Nice to see you like my little pet. This is the Makai Willow Tree. It's quite temperamental and oh, I guess it doesn't really like you," Kurama commented as the plant's branches started to whip around. All but one Karasu managed to get out of range. The Karasu that got caught was pinned to the ground by several branches and writhed as the plant sucked out all of his blood and youki.

"So that's what it does," one of the Karasus said. "That's not much. We can get rid of this and kill you!"

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," Youko Kurama said as the plant suddenly grew a small stalk at the top of its trunk. A bud formed and it bloomed into a breathtakingly beautiful flower. Just as sudden as the flower appeared, it wilted and turned into a green fruit. What happened next surprised all nine Karasus. The fruit swelled and burst, disseminating round black seeds everywhere like a nail bomb. Each Karasu got hit by at least one seed and the seeds burrowed into him as they impacted his skin.

"What was that supposed to do?" they all asked. "No matter, we'll still kill you!"

"I guess you really haven't seen this tree in action. You see, this tree is also known as the Tree of Death. Any youkai or person who approaches this plant gets his blood and youki/reiki sucked out of him. Then the tree disperses its seeds, which require a host in order to sprout. It really doesn't matter if the host is human or youkai. It usually takes a day for it to sprout, but since I'm the one in control of the plant, I can also control the rate at which it sprouts. And for your information, the seeds have sprouted. And there's nothing you can do about it," Youko Kurama explained as the Karasus charged. However, they were unable to get past the plant's branches and were still trying to fight back when they all found themselves unable to make bombs. "Ah, the first symptoms of the plant sprouting. It usually happens about twelve hours after it enters its host, but for the sake of winning this battle, I increased its rate a hundred fold. You will soon be immobilized by the plant's roots and, five minutes after that, you will die of asphyxiation, since the roots will have paralyzed your diaphragm by then."

"You . . . we will not give up so easily!" all nine Karasus shouted as they all leapt up to attack Youko Kurama.

"Do you intend to beat me up without your youki? That's fine, but you're incredibly slow!" he shouted as the tree's branches swiped them away with ease. "I guess I'll speed up the plant's growth another hundred fold!" Seconds after he said that, all nine collapsed onto the ground, all gagging and gasping for air like a fish out of the water. Less than a minute after that, small shoots started coming out of the now-dead Karasus' bodies.

Back to Hiei . . .

Is this the end of the hallway? Hiei looks ahead to see the archway of the third room. It better be, I'll have to show that b****** what happens when you mess with my younger half-sister! Besides, it's not like that baka can beat up Kurama's older brother; he's just not strong enough. Hmm . . . it looks like I'm already here. There's more than one person in here. I better get ready for anything. Hiei takes out his sword and enters his room with his jagan wide open and powered up.

"Welcome, Hiei. You wouldn't kill me before, so this time, I'm going to kill you!" Bui said as he saw Hiei enter. He'd taken off his armor and was hovering above the floor.

"Ah, Bui. I didn't kill you because I hate being told what to do. If I beat you again this time, and you survive, that's good for you. I personally don't care what happens to you, but no matter what you're not going to order me around. But, enough of this mindless chatter, let's get down to business."

"You're right. Let's get down to business!" Bui shouted as he flew down to attack Hiei. Hiei easily dodged the attack.

"Is that all you've got? Then this match is already over! Jaoh Ensatsu Ken Rengokushyo!" Hiei punched Bui in the guts multiple times. Bui attempted to move away, but was not fast enough. "Is that as fast as you can go? You've gotten weaker since the last time we fought!"

"You dare to call me weak?! I'll show you!" Bui suddenly pulled up and went headfirst in an attempt to crash into Hiei. Hiei moved out of the way, but Bui followed and punches Hiei in the head. Hiei goes sent flying back into the wall, making a dent in it. Hiei picks himself out of the hole and wipes away the blood that was dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"So, you were holding back. But then again, so was I," Hiei said as he picks up his sword. "Let's just finish this, shall we?" Bui charges at Hiei again in an attempt to punch his head, but this time, Hiei was ready and dodges under the attack to run his sword through Bui's stomach. It suddenly burst into flame as Bui realized what happened.

Back to Yuusuke . . .

Another room? How many of these are there? So far, I've had to fight Seiryuu and Rinku. I wonder who's in here. Yuusuke enters the room to find no one inside. He stopped short when he noticed the entire room was made of rock. This entire room is covered with rock. There's no doubt about! This must be Genbu's room! "Alright, Genbu, come out, come out wherever you are!"

"Oh, how did you know it was me?"

"It's obvious. I remember how Kurama killed you."

"You may remember that, but how will you locate me?" Genbu asked as his tail attacked Yuusuke from behind. Yuusuke sees this out of the corner of his eye before the tail hit him and successfully dodged the attack. However, Genbu's tail merged with the rock again, leaving Yuusuke unable to find him.

"Damn! Where did he go now?"

"Oh, are you having trouble finding me? How nice . . . I know. Let's play hide and go seek! I hide and you seek! Only you can't because you won't be able to find me! Hahahahahahahaha! Horizontal Boulder Explosion!"

"Don't be so sure, Genbu. You seem to have forgotten that I know your weakness!" Yuusuke said as he saw the glowing red stone. "Reigun!" The stone shattered into dust as the reigun hit it.

"Damn you!" Genbu's head said as it landed on the ground among the many other pieces of himself.

"It's pointless to finish you. You can't even put yourself back together! Hahahaha!" Yuusuke laughed as he exited the room.

Back to Kuwabara . . .

"Welcome, Kuwabara Kazuma. You were the human who caused Seiryuu to kill me! I will not forgive you for this," Byakko said as Kuwabara entered the room.

"Byakko . . . I should have known you were the one in this room. Reiken!"

"That again? Here, have some fun with my pets!" Byakko pulled out a huge handful of his fur and turned them all into monsters. Kuwabara easily sliced them all into pieces. "Damn you! Tiger Fireball Attack!"

"Not this time!" Kuwabara shouted as he ducked under the attack and ran forward to punch Byakko in the stomach. Byakko did not expect Kuwabara to do that and was sent flying out of the room and into the hallway. Kuwabara then ran up and gave Byakko a hard upward kick, breaking his neck and sending flying out of the hallway and into the door at the end of the hallway. Kuwabara walks out of the hallway to see Yukina, Youko Sakura, Keiko, and Botan in a cage in a corner. "Yukina-san!"

"Kazuma-san! Are you injured?" she replied, concerned.

"Kuwabara! Nice to see you made it," Yuusuke said as he walked out of his doorway. Yuusuke looks around and also sees the cage where all four girls were being held prisoner. "Let's take care of this b******, shall we?"

"Yuusuke, aren't you forgetting about us?" Kurama asked as both he and Hiei emerged from their respective hallways.

"Kurama, you just had to survive, didn't you?" a youko said from his seat near the girls' cage.

"Ah, Chiriko-kun, how nice to see that you still haven't changed after all these years. You just had to go and kidnap Sakura, didn't you? You could have lived a long life, but no, you just have to spite me. Now, you'll pay. Of course, you just had to have Seiryuu, Byakko, and Genbu kidnap Keiko and Botan. To say that you've just sealed your own fate is an understatement."

"Use 'kun' again and I'll kill all four of them! You should be begging me to spare your life right now!" Chiriko replied, starting to get pissed off.

"Oh, so you'd rather be called Chiriko-chan?"

"Damn you!" Chiriko said as he pulled out his sword. "Die!" Chiriko charges at Kurama with it.

"So, have you actually learned how to use that thing at all or are you just trying to scare me with it?" Youko Kurama asks as he pulls out a blade of grass and transforms it into a sword. He blocks Chiriko's sword with his own and kicks Chiriko into the wall. Chiriko looks over towards the cage and sees that Kuwabara was removing the anti-demon wards while Yuusuke and Hiei were making sure all four girls were fine.

"Oh no you don't! Nadeshiko! Get them!" A female youko drops from the ceiling in an attempt to attack Hiei and Yuusuke. She had big emerald green eyes and shiny silver hair that was pulled up into a ponytail with the hair in front of her ears braided and then pulled up into a loop. She had a tail with the same colored fur and was wearing a short yellow and green kimono with a pink sash around her waist with pink slippers and a matching green choker around her neck. Hiei pulls out his sword to attack, but Nadeshiko pulls out a blade of grass and transforms it into a grass- sword.

"Nani?! What did you do to Sakura?" Youko Kurama demanded as he noticed that Nadeshiko looked a lot like Sakura.

"Not much, other than combine your DNA with Sakura's and then gave her your powers. She knows all of your techniques, attacks, everything. You could say that she's your daughter."

"Damn you! You'll pay for that!" Kurama said as he attacked Chiriko.

"My, my, my, aren't we just getting a little angry? Whatever happened to the calm and cold little brother that I knew?" Chiriko blocked Kurama's attack and hits his right hand, causing Kurama to drop his sword. The grass- sword transformed back into an ordinary piece of grass. Chiriko attacks again before Kurama could do anything else. Kurama jumps back to dodge the attack, but not far enough to completely evade the attack and ends up with a deep cut to the same spot where Roto had cut him earlier. Blood sprayed from the wound as Kurama managed to land on his feet but ended up dropping to his knees as he tried to control the bleeding. He winced in pain as he pressed down on the wound to stop the blood from flowing out.

"Kurama! Damn you, Chiriko! Double Ice Tobikunai!" Sakura shouted as Kuwabara finished removing the last anti-demon ward. Chiriko dodged some and blocked the ones he couldn't dodge.

"Nadeshiko, what are you doing? You should've been making sure that those four don't get freed! You're a failure! You were supposed to have taken care of Hiei already! If you can't even kill Hiei, how are you supposed to kill Yuusuke? I guess I'll just have to press the button on you," Chiriko said as he sheathed his sword and took out a small remote control.

"No, please, master! Not that! Please, don't press the button!"

"It's no use trying to beg, Nadeshiko!" Chiriko said as he pressed the button before anyone could do anything else. Suddenly, Nadeshiko started to age backwards, one year at a time. "Let me explain. When I made Nadeshiko, I implanted a small vial of liquid Past Life Seeds in her. I told her that if she ever failed me, all I had to do was to press the button and the vial would break, spreading the potion all over her body. She did well to succeed, but now that she's failed, I no longer have any use for her."

"How dare you do that to one of your own?" Hiei shouted as he got really pissed off. "Take this! Jaoh Ensatsu Ken Rengokushyo!" Chiriko ducked under Hiei's attack and punched Hiei's gut upwards, sending Hiei up towards the ceiling. Chiriko then jumped up above Hiei and hit the small of Hiei's back with both fists together, sending Hiei crashing into the ground.

"Hiei! You b******! Reiken!" Kuwabara shouted as he attempted to attack Chiriko just as he landed. Kuwabara overestimated the speed at which Chiriko was falling and ended up missing him. Chiriko kicked Kuwabara in the head just as he was about to land.

"Kuwabara-kun! Chiriko, this is between you and me! Why did you have to involve my friends?"

"Kurama, your mind's dulling. The answer is simple. Because they're your friends, there's no better reason for me to attack them!"

"You b******! You shouldn't have attack Kuwabara and Hiei like that! Reigun!" Yuusuke shouted after he checked to make sure Kuwabara's neck was not broken. Chiriko sidestepped the attack.

"You know, you really shouldn't get mad. It's really bad for your health," Chiriko calmly replied.

"Shut up! I could care less for your concern!" Yuusuke shouted as he jumped up to attack Chiriko. Chiriko dodges Yuusuke's first attack and punches him, sending him into the wall, where he made a huge dent. Yuusuke groaned once and then fell silent as he lost consciousness.

"Yuusuke! Chiriko . . . " Kurama shouted, seething in anger. "Chiriko, I don't care that you're my brother. This time, you're going to die! Rose Whip!"

"Kurama, I'm helping. There's no way I'm going to let you take on this b****** of a brother without me! Ice Spear!" Youko Sakura said as she walked over to him.

"Please let me help. I know I was just fighting against your friends, but to have him turn on me like that was just wrong. I guess it was a good thing he was stupid enough to give me your powers. There's another plant out there that is used to create an aging potion. I stumbled across it one day and decided to make the potion just in case you ever pressed the button on me. Now, you'll pay! Rose Whip!" Nadeshiko says as she readjusts her kimono by retying the sash around her waist. By then, she had un-aged by a lot and was now shorter than Hiei. She looked very much like a little youko.

"Nadeshiko! How dare you attack me! Once I take care of these two, I'll make sure to torture you to death for betraying me!"

"Forget it! I'd rather commit suicide!" she shouted in reply.

"Chiriko, it's time we ended this!" Kurama shouted as he ran forward to attack. Youko Sakura and Nadeshiko followed shortly after him. Chiriko dodges most of the attacks sent at him. Meanwhile . . .

"Yukina, is there anything you can do about Yuusuke, Hiei, or Kuwabara?" Botan nervously asked.

"I'll go check to make sure Kazuma-san is alright."

"I'll go check on Yuusuke; he took a pretty harsh blow when Chiriko punched him," said Keiko as she ran off to treat Yuusuke. This goes by unnoticed by Chiriko, who was busily trying to dodge or block the attacks that were being sent his way by Kurama, Sakura, and Nadeshiko.

Meanwhile, back to the fight . . .

"So, all you three have managed to do is attack. But can you handle this?" Chiriko asked as he threw a fireball at Kurama.

"Is that the best you can do?" Sakura asked as she summoned a small sphere of water and threw it at the fireball. The attacks crashed into each other, spreading steam everywhere. The steam dissipated to reveal that Chiriko had disappeared.

"Where is he?" Kurama furiously asked.

"I don't know. I don't see him anywhere," replied Nadeshiko.

"Kurama, watch out! He's above you!" Keiko shouted as Kurama looked up. Chiriko was holding his sword high above his head with both hands and was aiming straight for Kurama. Sakura and Nadeshiko jumped off to either side as Kurama leapt back and summoned a huge mass of thorny vines out of the ground. Chiriko managed to free up his right hand to throw a massive fireball at the thorns only to realize that the vines had been coated with ice. The vines then wrapped themselves around his arms, legs, and waist.

"So, Chiriko, do you have any last wishes? You know that I'm not going to spare you this time."

"P-please, Kurama, don't kill me! I don't want to die!"

"I was too lenient on you last time. I'm beginning to think it's time your life ended. Guys, what do you say?" Kurama asks as he looks around to see that everyone was conscious.

"I say we kill him," Hiei replied without giving a reason.

"I say we give him a good beating!" Kuwabara replied.

"I agree with Kuwabara!" agreed Yuusuke.

"I agree with Hiei," both Sakura and Nadeshiko simultaneously said.

"Well, it's four to two, four in favor of your death. I guess I'll just get rid of you now. So, what shall I use? The shimaneki seed? Or the Makai Willow Tree? Or better yet, the Makai Mimosa? Or should I just make it quick and painless with the Rose Whip? Nah, forget the Rose Whip. It'd kill you way too quickly. Let's go the painful path this time," Youko Kurama said as he pulled out a seed. He drops it on the ground and allows it to grow until a bud formed right in front of Chiriko's nose. Before the flower could bloom, a column of flame destroys both the plant and the vines that were holding him prisoner. "Nani?!"

Chiriko lands behind Sakura and draws his sword, placing the blade at her throat. Sakura made a move to hit him with her spear, but he kicks her in the small of her back, causing her to lunge forward and run her throat on the sword. Blood sprays from the cut as Sakura faints and falls to the ground. "Sakura!" Kurama shouts as he lunges forward to catch her. He inspects the cut. "Damn it! Both of the blood vessels in her neck were cut!"

"Hahahaha! So, in the end, you still lose!" Chiriko evilly laughed as he watched the scene.

"You b******! I will never forgive you for what you've done!" Kurama angrily shouted as he got up and lunged forward with his whip. He swings it at Chiriko, who leaps back. Kurama summons a massive wall of thorny vines right behind Chiriko, who ends up running into the vines. Blood sprays from Chiriko's back as the thorns pierce his clothes and back. He attempts to free himself only to find that the vines had held back both his arms and legs.

"Didn't you remember what happened a little while earlier?" he asks as he prepares to burn the vines.

"Forget it!" Kurama shouts as he flings his whip around Chiriko's waist. The whip wraps itself around Chiriko's waist, spraying more blood as its thorns pierced his skin. Kurama quickly pulls on the whip, splicing Chiriko in half at the waist. Blood and organs gush out as the vines let go and return to the ground. As Chiriko falls, Kurama holds out his hand and as cherry blossom petals appear in it, he says, "This is for what you did earlier to Sakura! Fuka Enmujin no Sakura!" (AN: Don't forget that Sakura means cherry blossoms!) The cherry blossom petals swarmed around Chiriko's halved body and shredded it into a bloody pulp. Kurama turns his back to the bloody dismemberment to tend to Sakura, who was now unconscious in a pool of her own blood.

(Intro to Koori no Naifu o Daite starts)

Kurama kneels down next to her and lifts up her head and chest into his arms. His clothes are soaked in blood as she continues to bleed in his arms. Sakura's ears and eyes twitched for a moment before she came to.

Kokoro no izumi no soko ni koori o haritsumenagara (The bottom of my heart's lake is rimmed with ice)

"Ku . . . rama?" Sakura asks as she came to in Kurama's arms. Her voice was weak, and both she and Kurama knew that she was not going to make it.

"Sakura, I'm here," he replies in response, tears forming in his eyes.

Ikite yuku no ga ore no shukumei (I go on, my fate is to continue living)

"Don't cry, it's okay, really," she whispers, struggling to bring up her hand to wipe away Kurama's tears. He takes her hand in his and holds it to his chest.

"No, it isn't! What's left for me to live for if you're not here with me?" he replies, shaking his head and scattering drops of tears in the process.

Tatakai nuku sono tame ni (Fighting to the end because of that)

"Please, don't cry, for my sake," she quietly begs. She winces in pain. "I . . .love you, Ku . . . rama. I'm . . . sorry," she says as she falls limp in Kurama's arms. Her hand no longer struggled to stay in Kurama's and slipped across her body. Everyone, including Hiei, looks away from the scene to hide his or her tears.

Kokoro no hotori de anata ga yasashiku ore o yondemo (You call gently from near my heart)

"Sakura!" Kurama shouted with even more tears streaming down his face. He holds her limp body close to his, sobs rocking his body. "Please . . . don't leave me . . . please . . ."

Mimi o fusaide hashiru hi mo aru (I close my ears . . . there is also a day I run to)

As he hears her heart beat for the last time, he sees an image of her smiling. The image slowly fades away as she exhales her last breath.

Koori no Naifu o Daite (Embracing the Ice Knife)

Kurama's eyes grow large as he realizes what happened. "SAKURA!" He bows his head and thinks, Why did she have to die? It's not fair; if anyone should die, it should be me! First Kuronue, now Sakura . . . who's next? Maybe . . . maybe I should just commit suicide . . . there's no reason for me to be alive anymore . . .

(Musical interlude)

Even as he was thinking about committing suicide, he remembers the promise he made to her a hundred years ago . . .

Dakedo itsu no hi ka heiwa ga kono you o atatameta nara (When the day comes, this peace will warm the world)

(Start flashback) "The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?" Sakura asked as she looked up from the top of a cherry tree. "I wish this moment could last forever."

"I do too," he quietly replied.

Itetsuku SOURU mo tokedasu hazu sa (My frozen soul will melt too, probably)

"Kurama, how much longer must you continue stealing?" Sakura asked after a moment of silence. She sighed before she continued. "I . . . I just get so worried every time you leave. I want to be certain that you'll always be here with me."

Kurama suddenly turns to look at her, surprised, and replied, "Don't worry, Sakura. I'll always come back alive. I promise."

Purizumu o hanachinagara... (Setting a prism free)

"Really?" she replied as she turned to look at him. Watery blue met golden yellow for a moment before the two leaned forward to kiss each other.

Sono hi ga kuru made (Until that day comes...)

After a moment, Kurama breaks the kiss and gives her a confident smile. "I promised you, didn't I?" (End flashback)

KEEP ON GOING, WE ARE FIGHTING, DON'T STOP...

His mind wanders for a moment before stopping at that fateful day sixteen years ago . . . (start flashback)

Mirai o shinjite kirikome (Fight to believe in the future)

Kurama, in his four tailed fox form, had successfully evaded the hunter for the past hour in the forest with no injury. However, the hunter knew his way around the forest and was able to follow him.

Ikiru koto wa kake dakara ([That's why we stay alive)

Suddenly, the forest ended into an open field. Kurama knew he had to continue on. He had run less than a mile when an explosion sends him flying into the air. He lands on his side, immobilized and unable to use his powers.

Jibun o shinjite tobikome (Jump into believing in yourself)

As the hunter approached, Kurama remembers the day he promised Sakura he'd return to her alive. And in that one moment, he made up his mind to leave his youko body, and left for the Ningenkai as a spirit. Sakura, I'm sorry. I wish I could see you again, but I guess I can't . . . (End flashback)

Jidai o tsukuru tame ni WOH HO HO (In order to build an era)

His mind wandered again as the memory faded away, stopping at the night before Yuusuke saved his life while he was trying to save his mother's life. (Start flashback)

Kitto itsu no hi ka chijou ga rakuen ni kawaru you ni (Surely, when the day comes that the Earth changes into a paradise)

Kurama was standing on the roof of the hospital, thinking. Sakura, wherever you are, I hope you're safe. I'm sorry I can't keep my promise to you. Tomorrow night, I'm going to die. I just wish there were some other way around this, but there isn't. Minamino Shiori means a lot to me, and I hope you'll understand.

Ore no buki sae tokaseru hodo no (Even my weapons will melt)

The next evening . . . "What do you think you're doing?" Kurama exclaimed as Yuusuke put his hand over the mirror and requested that it take a part of his life instead of taking all of Kurama's.

"Have you ever seen your own mother crying for you? That is the most unpardonable deed!" he replied as the mirror complied.

Hizashi ni afureru you ni (Overflown in sunlight)

After the mirror granted his wish, someone came up to the roof to tell Kurama that his mother was suddenly well. He rushes down the stairs to see her, glad the entire time that he unexpectedly survived and would live to protect his mother and to be reunited with Sakura some day. (End flashback)

Sono hi o motomete (We ask for that day...)

His mind wanders and then stops as he remembers what happened the day before. (Start flashback)

KEEP ON RUNNING, WE ARE FIGHTING, GO ON...

Kurama had just arrived at school when one of his classmates told him to go to the front office to greet the new student. He enters to see that it was Sakura in her human form. He, of course, was not aware of that and assumed that girl simply resembled her.

Mirai e no hashi o watarou (Cross the bridge to the future)

Once they had entered the classroom, Sakura had gone to talk to Fukuyama- sensei, but not before telling Kurama to see her on the roof of the school during lunch that day.

Ikiru koto ga kake naraba (And if it's life that's risked)

Later, during lunch, Kurama meets her on the roof only to discover that she was in trouble. Despite the fact that her situation worried him, he knew that he would have to help her. (End flashback)

Kooritsuku tsuribashi datte (Even if it's a frozen bridge)

Sakura's voice suddenly surrounds his ears. "I'll be waiting for you," it said. It stopped for a moment. "Don't even think about it, Kurama; I can be patient."

Hashitte watatte yaru WOH HO HO (I'll run across it)

"But . . . but how?" he quietly replies. "My life means nothing to me without you."

(Musical interlude)

"No, silly; of course means something. Think about your friends and foster mother. What would they do without you?" her voice replies with a laugh.

Mirai o shinjite kirikome (Fight to believe in the future)

"My friends and my mom . . ." he starts.

... Ikiru koto wa kake dakara (That's why we stay alive)

"I have to continue to be there for them, don't I?" he finishes.

Jibun o shinjite tobikome (Jump into believing in yourself)

"That's right. Besides, you wouldn't want them to cry over you. That's not like the Kurama that I know and fell in love with six hundred and twenty years ago," her voice starts.

Jidai o tsukuru tame ni WOH HO HO (In order to build an era)

"Don't worry. I'll always be with you as long as you remember me and our time together," her voice finishes.

GOING TO MY DREAM

Her spirit suddenly appears in front of Kurama, who does not notice it until she lifts up his chin. "Sakura . . ." he starts as she puts a finger to his lips and shakes her head to silence him.

FIGHTING FOR MY FRIENDS

"I'll be waiting for you," she says as a teary-eyed Botan shows up on her oar.

RUNNING TO MY DREAM

As Sakura leans forward to give Kurama a kiss, tears start flowing from both hers and Kurama's eyes. They kiss as their tears mingle.

FIGHTING FOR MY FRIENDS

"Sayonara, Kurama. I'll be waiting for you . . ." she says as she gets on the oar behind Botan.

Kokoro no izumi ni kakaru niji no hashi o miru hi made... (Until I see a rainbow-bridge built across my heart's lake)

"Sayonara, Sakura. My heart will always be yours. You were the one whom I cared most about, the one whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I will never forget you." Kurama says as he watches her disappear through the ceiling. He silently walks towards one of the corridors as the others sat in shock and silence.

(Song ends)

Nadeshiko suddenly gets up from where she was seated and heads towards the same corridor that Kurama had a few moments before. A voice suddenly stops her from behind. It was Hiei. "If you want to, you can stay with me in my tree for the time being, Nadeshiko. Don't take it the wrong way; I'm only doing this as a favor for Kurama."

She turns around and her eyes start to tear up as she replies. "Do you mean it?" Hiei simply gives her a cold stare in return. "I . . . I don't know what to say . . . thank you for your generous offer. I appreciate this very much. If there's any way I can repay you, please, do tell me."

"You can start by shutting up and coming with me," he replies as he starts to walk towards the corridors.

Back to Kurama . . .

Kurama walked outside to find that it was raining outside. Strange . . . it seems that the sky sympathizes with me. He reverts back to Minamino Shuuichi and starts walking down the mountain. It's not fair . . . He starts running as tears once again blur his vision. He hastily wipes them away, but to no avail. Suddenly, he hears Nadeshiko and Hiei behind him and looks around for a place to hide. He silently climbs onto a branch of a nearby tree as Hiei and Nadeshiko pass below.

"I wonder where father went," Nadeshiko says as she passes underneath. Hiei turns around with a questioning look on his face. "My real father, Kurama. I just want to see if he's okay . . . and to apologize. I feel that it's my fault all this happened." Hiei simply stops and pulls the bandanna off his forehead and starts to scan the area with his jagan.

"If you want to talk to him, climb this tree. He's in there somewhere," Hiei says directly underneath Kurama. Nadeshiko replies with a surprised look and does as Hiei suggested.

Meanwhile, Kurama, who had been eavesdropping on Nadeshiko and Hiei, decides to stay put and let her find him. Nadeshiko looks surprised as she sees that Kurama had reverted back to Minamino Shuuichi.

"Father?" she asks.

"Do you mind not calling me that?" Kurama sadly replies, looking away from her. Even though she realizes that Kurama probably wants to be alone, she does not leave and sits down on a nearby branch.

"What do you want me to call you?" she replies, looking up at him.

"It really doesn't matter, just not father."

"Okay, then, is Kurama-san fine?"

"Sure, whatever suits you."

"I . . . I just want to say I'm sorry about what happened. I should take part of the blame for it," she hesitantly says. Kurama suddenly turns around, angry.

"What good is it to feel sorry now?! She's gone and she'll never come back!" He starts to cry again. "Leave, get out of the tree before I make you!" She silently drops from the branch and lands on the ground next to Hiei. Hiei senses the anger emanating from the tree and starts walking again.

Back to Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Yukina, and Keiko . . .

"I'm back," Botan sadly says as she flies in on her oar. She gets off and looks around and starts to cry again.

"Botan, I know it's hard . . . we never had the chance to get to know her better," Keiko replies, hugging Botan to comfort her.

"Come on, let's go home for now. We can figure out what to do to help Kurama tomorrow," Yuusuke says as he starts to walk out.

"Wait, Urameshi! What should we do with Sakura's body?" Kuwabara asks, surprised that Yuusuke would just leave.

"Leave it here for now. It's up to Kurama what to do with it. She was his girlfriend," he replies, despondent. He walks towards one of the corridors as Kuwabara, Keiko, Botan, and Yukina follow him.

The next day . . . (Ten o'clock a.m., Minamino residence)

Kurama wakes up to find himself at home and in his bedroom. He shakes his head and remembers what happened the day before, but does not remember how he got home. Just then, the doorbell rang, followed by several more, and then followed by pounds on the door.

"Kurama, open up! It's Yuusuke!" Yuusuke shouts as he continues to pound on the door.

"What could he possibly want? Can't he take a clue that I just want to be alone for a while?" Kurama angrily mutters as he walks over to his desk to get a sheet of paper and pen. He writes something on it and walks to the door. He does not open it, but simply folds the sheet of paper into a knot and pushes it out the mail slot. Yuusuke catches it and unfolds it. It read:

Yuusuke and whoever else is out there:

Leave before I decide to do something that all of us will
regret. I'm dead serious about this.

Kurama

"Kurama, if you won't open this door right now, I'm gonna make it!" Yuusuke shouts as he prepared to punch the door open.

"Hold it," a female voice suddenly says. It was Kurama's mother, Shiori. "Why don't you let me open the door for you?" She unlocks the door and walks in to see that Kurama was nowhere in sight. She walks into his room, where she sees Kurama just standing on the balcony and looking out at the city and the harbor. "Shuuichi! How could you-" she stops as she sees the despondent look on Kurama's face. "What's wrong, son?"

"It's . . . it's nothing, mom," he replies, not bothering to turn around and barely managing to keep himself from breaking down.

"It can't be nothing. There's something wrong and I can tell, even if you're not really my son in spirit," she replies. She had discovered a month ago what Kurama really was and what he had been doing. Just then, Yuusuke, Keiko, and Botan walked in.

"Minamino-san, we have a message for Kurama from Koenma," Botan says as she entered behind Yuusuke.

"Go away," Kurama quietly says, still not turning around. Botan looked a little hesitant before Shiori walked over to Kurama and slapped him, hard. Kurama does not reply, but simply holds his cheek and looks down at his slippers.

"Shuuichi! Is this any way to treat your friends? They came here because they were concerned about you. Now, I have no idea what's going on, but I know that this isn't how friends should be treated!"

"Minamino-san, I can explain what happened," Yuusuke says as he realizes that it was pointless to try and talk to Kurama right now. "Botan, why don't you just write down Koenma's message and just leave it on his desk?" Yuusuke suggests as he walks out of the room with Shiori. Botan finds a pen and a sheet of paper on Kurama's desk, sits down, and starts to write.

Several hours later . . .

"I see, so that's what happened," Shiori replies, worried.

"That's what I think, anyway. Did I miss any part at all, Botan?" Yuusuke asks. Botan had come out of Kurama's room fifteen minutes after Yuusuke started to relate the events of the previous day to Shiori.

"Yeah, pretty much, except for the time you were unconscious," Botan replies. Just then, the doorbell rang again. Shiori gets up and opens the door to see that it was Kuwabara, Yukina, and a five-year-old human Nadeshiko.

"Hi, Kuwabara, and you are . . .?" Shiori asks as she looks at Yukina and Nadeshiko.

"I'm Yukina, I just wanted to see if Kurama-san is here. He left on his own and we couldn't find him at all last night."

"I'm Nadeshiko-chan, Kurama-san's and Sakura's daughter. Nadeshiko-chan decided to drop by here to see if Kurama-san is feeling any better," she says, ignoring the surprised look on Shiori's face. It was then that Shiori notices the slight resemblance to Kurama. Nadeshiko had big emerald green eyes, long dark blue hair with indigo highlights that was up in her usual hairstyle, and was wearing the same yellow and green kimono with a pink sash and slippers and matching green choker.

"Oh, about that, it was Chiriko who did that. He created her with Kurama's and Sakura's DNA," Botan says, answering Shiori's question. Shiori gives a relieved look and lets the three of them enter.

"Can we see Kurama?" Kuwabara asks as he sees that Yuusuke and Botan were there. "Urameshi, Botan, Keiko! What are you two doing here?"

"Accompanying Botan-san so that she could give Kurama a message from Koenma. There's no point in trying to see him. He's off in his own little world right now," Keiko says a she remember what happened just a few hours earlier.

"I see . . ." Nadeshiko says as she looks down at her feet. "Well, tell him Nadeshiko-chan stopped by and that Nadeshiko-chan is staying with Hiei- san for now. He'll know where to find Nadeshiko-chan if he wants to see her," she says as she turns around and leaves without saying another word.

Meanwhile, back in the Reikai . . .

"Sakura, are you sure you want to do this?" Koenma asks as Sakura silently watches what was happening in Kurama's apartment. "You do realize that if he doesn't get the message today, you'll be stuck in the Reikai without a body for five hundred years."

"I'm positive. I just wish I could go down there and tell him this myself. It just pains me to see him like this, even after what I said to him," she replies with tears in her eyes. "Is there any way I could directly talk to him?"

"Actually, that was the next part. You need to find three people tonight and give them the message in their dream," Koenma replies.

Back in Kurama's apartment . . .

"Well, I think we've overstayed our welcome," Keiko says as she gets up to leave. Yuusuke, Botan, Kuwabara, and Yukina follow suit.

"No, not at all. You're all welcome here anytime," Shiori replies. "I appreciate all of you for coming to see Shuuichi." The five of them leave and waves goodbye as they walk towards the elevator. Shiori waves back and closes the door. She walks down the hallway to her Kurama's room and opens the door. He was still standing on the balcony, looking out at the city and harbor, in his pajamas. She walks up next to him. "Shuuichi, why don't you change or put on a jacket? You'll catch a cold standing there."

"I don't care," he monotonously replies, once again barely in control. "Did they leave already?"

"Yes, they did and they all told me what happened. You should be grateful for such good and understanding friends. They all came because they were worried about you."

"I know . . ." he replies. He suddenly turns around and hugs Shiori as he starts to cry again. "She shouldn't have died! I should have been there to protect her!" he shouts between his sobs. Shiori hugs him and pats his back to comfort him.

"I know that it's hard for you. It was hard for me when your father died. I understand how you feel, Shuuichi. It never gets any easier, even as time goes by." She pauses for a moment. "Why don't you tell me all about her?"

"Okay." He walks over to his bed, sits, and starts from the beginning, about how they met and all the time he spent with her in the Makai. Shiori simply sits down next to him and listens as Kurama describes the various events. Just as Kurama finishes telling Shiori about Sakura, a tap came from the balcony's glass door. Shiori gets up to see that it was Hiei and opens the door for him.

"Shuuichi, you have another visitor. It's Hiei," Shiori says as Hiei walks in. "I'll be in the kitchen making lunch," she says as she leaves.

"Yuusuke told me happened. I came to make sure you haven't done anything stupid, namely killing yourself." He turns around to leave. "Nadeshiko's staying with me for now," he says as he walks towards the balcony.

"Hiei, wait. Don't leave yet. Tell Nadeshiko that I'm sorry for yelling at her last night. I shouldn't have lost it like that," Kurama says, looking down at his slippers once more.

"Anything else?"

"No, that's all," Kurama replies, not bothering to wave goodbye or anything as Hiei flits off. He walks over to his desk to see what Botan had written.

That night . . .

"Sakura? What are you doing here?" Kurama asks, his voice echoing in the darkness that surrounded him as he sees Sakura appear in front of him.

"I'm here to make sure you got Botan's message," she replies.

"You mean that-" Kurama asks, his eyes tearing up with joy.

"That's right. Just make sure to get to my body in time," she replies, smiling. "Don't forget . . ." her voice echoes as she disappears.

Kurama suddenly sits up in bed and remembers the dream. He looks over to his alarm clock to see that it was five in the morning. "If I leave now, I can get there by noon on foot," he whispers. After thinking for a moment, he takes out his backpack and walks to the kitchen to grab some food. He then walks back to his desk to get his cell phone and hastily scribbles a note to his mother and leaves it on his desk with a rose so she knew that he wrote it.

Several hours later . . .

"Shuuichi! It's time to get up!" Shiori says as she walks out of her room. She stops as she sees that Kurama wasn't in his room. "Ara? Where did he go?" She looks over to his desk and sees the rose and the note. It read:

Mom,

I'm leaving for Mt. Hiei. I should be back tonight by
dinnertime, if all goes well. I'll be coming home with a friend, so
please be sure to make dinner for three instead of two tonight. If
there's anything that you need, call me on my cell phone. I have it
with me.

Shuuichi

"I see . . . I guess I better go get some groceries."

Meanwhile, in Koenma's office . . .

"I see that it was a success and that Kurama got your message," Botan replies as she walks in to see that Sakura was much happier.

"I owe you a lot for this. Please, do tell me if there's any way for me to repay you," Sakura says, her voice full of gratitude.

"Well, there is one," Koenma says. "You can help Yuusuke in return."

"Sure, no problem! I'd be glad to help," she replies.

Meanwhile, back to Kurama . . .

"I hope mom got my message," Kurama says as he gets off the bus and starts to walk up Mt. Hiei. After walking a couple hundred meters, he looks around. "There doesn't appear to be anyone here, so I guess I'll just take a quick short cut," he says as one of the trees lowers its branches. He climbs up onto it and the tree starts to climb up the mountain at a very high speed. "At the rate I'm going, I should be there in no time."

Three in the afternoon, that same day . . .

"Let's see how Kurama is doing," Yuusuke says as he dials Kurama's apartment. The phone rings for fifteen seconds with no answer.

"Hi, you have reached the Minamino residence. Sorry we are not available to take your call. If you have a message for Minamino Shiori, please press 1. If you have a message for Minamino Shuuichi, please press 2," the message recording said.

"Okay," Yuusuke says as he presses 2. "Kurama, it's me, Yuusuke! I'm just calling to make sure you're okay. Give me a call tonight. Bye!" He hangs up. "Hm . . . maybe I should try his cell phone." He picks up the phone and dials in Kurama's cell phone number.

"Hello?" Kurama cheerfully greeted.

"Hey, Kurama? It's Yuusuke!"

"Oh, hi, Yuusuke."

"You sound a lot happier, not all gloomy and depressed like yesterday. Where are you? I called your apartment, but no one answered."

"Oh, my mom must have gone grocery shopping. Sorry about that."

"So, uh, where are you?"

"Oh, I'm about two hours away from the peak of Mt. Hiei."

"What?! What are you going there for?"

"Nothing, just trusting my dreams, that's all." Kurama suddenly swears. "Great. Snow. Just what I need."

"You weren't walking?" Yuusuke asks skeptically.

"Of course not! I was riding on a tree."

"Trees do not walk!" Yuusuke exclaims, surprised.

"They do if I tell them to," Kurama calmly replies.

"So, you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing on Mt. Hiei?"

"Uh, let's just say Koenma decided to do me a favor."

"And what would this favor happen to be?"

"The same one that he did for you about two years ago."

"I see . . . no wonder you're so cheerful."

"Well, I'm stuck on foot, so I'll see you tomorrow. Bye," Kurama says as he hangs up. Yuusuke does the same on his end of the line.

"Well, that explains a lot. I guess I may as well tell everyone else."

Several hours later, on Mt. Hiei . . .

"Nice to see the doors aren't locked," Kurama says as he opens one of the double doors and walks in. The place was overgrown with several Makai Willow Trees. "Oops, guess I better take care of that." He touches one of the branches, which shrinks back into the hallway and disappears. Kurama follows the hallway into what used to be the control room. There, lying in a pool of dried blood, was Sakura. Kurama walks over to her body and lifts her up into his lap. He looks at her face, now pale and lifeless, and kisses her on the lips. He pulls back to see that nothing happened. Then, to his surprise, the cut on her neck was healed as the color of life returned to her face and warmth began to warm Kurama's arms.

Her eyelids and ears twitched as she came to in his arms. She opens her eyes and then blinks a couple times as she reverts back to her human form. "Kurama!" she shouts as she hugs him. She pulls herself away from him and then kisses him. Just as she was about to suggest that they leave, Kurama drops down to one knee in front of her. Her eyes widen with surprise.

"Sakura . . . will . . . will you marry me?" he asks as he reaches into his hair for something.

"Yes. I would be happy to," she says as she drags Kurama to his feet and kisses him yet again. She breaks the kiss as she feels something slide onto her left ring finger. It was a ring made of a braided vine with a small red flower on it. "It's beautiful . . . Kurama, did you make this?"

"Yes, I did, on my way here. I knew you'd like it. You always liked the bouquets of flowers I give you more than anything else, so I figure you'd like this ring better than any one I buy," he replies, holding her close. "Let's go home, shall we? My mom's waiting with dinner." Sakura gives him a surprised look in response. "Don't worry, my mom won't mind. She already knows about my past and you."

"And she was totally cool with it?"

"Oh yeah. Come on, let's go." The two of them walk out of the room and down the corridor. They look back one last time before starting to walk down the mountain.

"Kurama, wait a minute. I have a faster way to get to your apartment," Sakura says as she starts to create a cloud. "We can ride it there."

"Are you sure we won't be seen?"

"Good point." Suddenly, a bunch of clouds cover Tokyo and start to rain gently. "Now we won't."

"Why didn't you tell me you could do that?" Kurama asks, surprised.

"Actually, I just figured it out a couple of years ago, when I was running short of money for the train," Sakura replies, a little embarrassed. Kurama gets on the cloud and helps Sakura get on. The cloud then starts to fly towards Tokyo.

"I'm glad you're back. I-"

"You don't have to say anything. I know how hard it was for you without me yesterday. I was watching you from Koenma's office," Sakura interrupted as she snuggled closer to Kurama.

"Are you cold?" he asks as he puts his arm around her shoulder.

"Not really, I just want to be close to you for a while. I hope nothing like this happens again. I just want to live out the rest of my life with you," she says as she tightly holds on to him.

"Sakura . . ." Kurama starts as his face begins to turn blue.

"What is it?" she says looking up. She realizes that she was hanging onto him too tight and he was suffocating. "Oops! Sorry! Kurama, are you okay?" she exclaims as he keels over on his back.

"I . . . will be . . . once I catch my breath," he replies in between gasps. Just then, his cell phone rang. Kurama sits up, takes out his phone from his coat pocket, and hits the 'talk' button. "Hello?"

"Shuuichi! Where are you?! You are already two hours late for dinner!" Shiori shouted over the phone. Kurama pulls the phone a good three inches away from his ear in response as Sakura sweatdrops. "It's raining out and you didn't even bother taking an umbrella! Do not come running to me for an appointment with the herbalist when you catch pneumonia! And why didn't you call me? I thought something bad happened to you!"

"Mom, I'm sorry, but it took me longer than I thought to get to the peak of Mt. Hiei. I'm sorry I didn't call, I know I should. Don't worry, mom, there's no way I can't get myself out of a bad situation," he replies as he cautiously puts the phone back to his ear.

"Shuuichi, answer my first question. Where are you, really?" Shiori asks in a skeptical voice.

"Ano . . . how about 1.60934 kilometers above the suburbs of Tokyo on a cloud?" he honestly replies. Sakura sweatdrops again and mutters something about Kurama spending too much time studying. (AN: 1.60934 kilometers is the same as a mile.)

"Okay, who's the mystery other person with you?" Shiori asks in a bored tone.

"Oh, about that. She's-" Kurama managed to say before Shiori interrupted him.

"She?! Shuuichi! Are you really that heartless? How could you just forget about your girlfriend already?!" Shiori shouts through the phone. Kurama was now holding his cell phone an arm's length away and was still hearing Shiori just fine.

"Well, about that. The 'she' I was referring to was Sakura. That's why I left this morning. I had to go and revive her," Kurama calmly replies as though reviving a dead person was perfectly normal.

"I see . . . well, get home soon. Your dinner is waiting in the oven and I wouldn't be surprised if it's completely dry by now," Shiori calmly said through the phone.

"Okay, mom. Um, actually, we're about two blocks away from the balcony in my room, so could you please just open the door for us?" Kurama asks, hoping his mother would not yell anymore.

"Oh, alright. See you in a bit. Bye," Shiori says as she hangs up.

"Bye, mom," Kurama replies as he hangs up. He puts his cell phone back in his coat pocket.

"Having parental problems?" Sakura asks with a laugh.

"Uh, well, sort of," he replies.

"Sort of?! For Reikai's sake, your mother was yelling at you! Even I could hear her!" Sakura pauses to look around. "Isn't this your subdivision?"

"Um, yeah. Make a right, then left, and then count up twenty four floors to the left and that should be my balcony," Kurama calmly recites as the cloud complies.

"I see, and how many times have you sneaked out of your room at night?" Sakura asks, snickering.

"Um . . . well . . . let's see . . . I'm not sure," Kurama honestly replies. Sakura simply rolls her eyes in response as she gets off. Kurama follows and the cloud disappears. The rain suddenly stopped and the sky cleared to reveal a beautiful sunset. The two of them stand there and admire the sunset.

"Shuuichi! Are you home yet?" Shiori shouts from the kitchen. Kurama turns around to reply.

"Yes, and Sakura's with me!"

"Good, then come in and eat!"

"Okay, mom! We're coming!" Kurama turns around to escort Sakura. "Well, let's go. We really shouldn't keep my mother waiting any longer."

"You're right. Besides, I'm hungry," she replies. The two of them enter Kurama's room and walk hand in hand to the kitchen, where Shiori was just finished plating some sashimi. "Here, let me help you, Minamino-san," Sakura offers as Shiori starts to take the sashimi to the table.

"Why, thank you. Shuuichi, don't just stand there! Help me carry the rest of dinner from the oven!" Shiori says as she hands the sashimi to Sakura. Kurama does as he was told. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"I'll go get it, mom!" Kurama replies as he walks towards the door after putting the tempura on the table. He opens the door to see that it was Nadeshiko. "Hi, Nadeshiko-chan. What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Kurama-san. Nadeshiko-chan was just wondering if- Mommy!" Nadeshiko suddenly exclaims as Sakura walked over to the door to see whom it was.

"M-Mommy?!" Sakura exclaims as she sees Nadeshiko. "Please, Nadeshiko- chan, don't call me Mommy! I'm not old enough to be your mother!"

"Great, first, Kurama-san tells Nadeshiko-chan not to call him daddy, now Sakura-san too?" she asks, sounding a little confused.

"Grandma!" Nadeshiko shouts as Shiori walked over to the door. She runs towards Shiori and hugs her as Shiori picks her up.

"Nadeshiko-chan!" Shiori exclaims. She had run into Nadeshiko while she was grocery shopping a little earlier in the day.

"Um, what did I miss?" both Kurama and Sakura ask at the same time.

"Oh, I ran into her earlier today when I was out grocery shopping. She's just the sweetest little girl!" Shiori exclaims. "I invited her to come over for dinner tonight, if Hiei would let her come."

"Uh-huh, and knowing Hiei, I'm pretty sure he'd let her. But, then again, maybe we shouldn't be too worried. It's not like she can't defend herself," Kurama replies, remembering how good she was with the Rose Whip.

"Nadeshiko-chan's hungry, can we eat now, Grandma?" Nadeshiko innocently asks, smiling sweetly the entire time.

"Sure, of course!" Shiori replies as she leads the way to the dining table. They all sit down and start eating. It was then that Shiori noticed Sakura's ring. "Shuuichi, is there something you and Sakura want to tell me?" she asks.

"Um, like what?" Kurama and Sakura simultaneously reply, totally clueless.

"Nadeshiko-chan thinks that Grandma's talking about mom's ring," Nadeshiko innocently replies, knowing all too well what a ring on the left ring finger means. She really is not as young as she looks, after all.

"Oh, that," Kurama replies, blushing. He glances in Sakura's direction and sees that she, too, was blushing.

"Yes, that. What else did you think I was referring to, Shuuichi?" Shiori asks. "Well, come on, out with it!"

"Um, well-"

"Oh, just shut up, Kurama! How hard can it possibly be?! Minamino-san, Kurama proposed to me about four or five hours ago," Sakura interrupted, smiling and blushing the entire time.

"Oh, really? And why didn't you tell me on the phone?" Shiori asks. By now, Kurama's face was as red as his hair.

"Uh, well, between your questions and my explanations, you could say I sort of forgot," Kurama replies, laughing an embarrassed laugh and sweatdropping as everyone else face falls.

"Y-You forgot?! Baka!" Sakura shouts in response as she gets back up and punches Kurama's head. "How could you just forget?!"

"Ow . . . you really didn't have to hit me so hard, did you, Sakura?" Kurama replies as he rubs the huge bump on his head.

"Oops! I guess I underestimated my own strength. I'm sorry," Sakura apologized as she playfully took a piece of Kurama's tempura and eats it.

"Sakura!" Kurama shouts as she eats the tempura.

"Aww . . . isn't that just cute?" Nadeshiko says as Kurama turns bright red again.

Later that night . . .

"Nadeshiko-chan, don't you have to go home?" Shiori asks, checking the time. "It's already nine-thirty."

"No, not really. Hiei-san said he didn't really care when Nadeshiko-chan went home or even if Nadeshiko-chan did at all," Nadeshiko casually replies. "Actually, Nadeshiko-chan was wondering if she could stay here, with Sakura-san, Kurama-san and Grandma!"

"I have no objections at all," Shiori replies. "And while we're at it, we may as well register you for school!"

"Really? You mean just like Sakura-san and Kurama-san?" Nadeshiko replies, genuinely happy.

"Yep. It'll be a lot of work, but I think it'll help," Shiori replies. "Now, Shuuichi, you and Sakura are going to have to look after her and makes sure she gets adjusted to her new life." She paused and adds, as an afterthought, "You two are her parents after all." Sakura and Kurama look at each other in silent consent.

"That's nice, mom, but where will Nadeshiko-chan and Sakura stay?" Kurama asks, concerned.

"Right here. I'm pretty sure you won't mind sharing your room with Sakura. Nadeshiko-chan can have the spare bedroom," Shiori confidently replies. "However, I don't want any inappropriate night activity in your room, Shuuichi. Do you understand me?"

Kurama and Sakura's faces suddenly turn the same shade of crimson as they both reply, "Yes. We understand."

"Good, now that it's settled, let's go to sleep. We will discuss this topic further tomorrow after I come home from work," Shiori declares as she gets up to show Nadeshiko the way to her room. "Good night." Kurama and Sakura look at each other for a moment in silence before going to bed.

~End~

Kurama no Miko2003: Wow! Another one finished! It took me long enough!

Kurama (slightly pissed off): Great, so first you force me to cross dress, now you're saying that I have a daughter that I know nothing about and a girlfriend?!

Kurama no Miko2003: Yeah, and?

Kurama: It's not fair! I should have a say in whether or not I want a kid!

Kurama no Miko2003: So? You should be glad that I decided to come up with Sakura; or else I'd end up pairing you with Botan.

Botan: What's wrong with me?

Kurama no Miko2003: Nothing, it's just that I find that it'd be kind of hard to have a relationship with someone who you rarely talk to, that's all.

Botan (nodding in agreement): She's got a point.

Kurama (protesting): But was it absolutely necessary to kill off Sakura? It's mean, even by my standards.

Kurama no Miko2003: Okay, I'll admit, even I had problems with killing off Sakura. I did become attached to her.

Sakura (surprised): Really? I just thought I was one of those characters that you made up and then killed off.

Kurama no Miko2003 (shocked): Do you think I'd really be that mean to my favorite character in all of animé? Please, give me a break! Of course I wouldn't just kill off their most important person in the world! It's more like me to send them off together, just for the simple fact that they should stay together forever.

All of the girls and Kuwabara (tears streaming down their faces): Wow that's so beautiful and romantic!

Hiei (doing the animé eye twitch): Stop it, baka, or I'll turn you into a charred mass on the ground, slightly smoking.

Kuwabara (defiant): Make me! Quatre-chan, tell Hiei to stop this right now!

Kurama no Miko2003 (amused and feeling mean): No. Go on, Hiei.

Kurama (sweatdropping): I think it'd be a good idea if we put on our sunglasses at this point. We may as well enjoy the show.

Hiei (grinning evilly): Jaoh Ensatsu Ken, Ensatsu Kokuryuha!

Kuwabara (charred mass on the ground, slightly smoking): You still hate me, don't you? But that's okay, since I've got armies of rabid fangirls!

Everyone, including Kurama no Miko2003 (sweatdropping): . . .

Kuwabara (as wind whistles by): You mean . . .

Kurama no Miko2003: Perhaps you should check your statistics. Last time I checked, you're the one with a couple of fangirls. Kurama and Hiei are the ones with the armies of rabid fangirls!

Yuusuke (annoyed at being ignored): What about me? I should have armies of rabid fangirls too! I'm the main character of the show!

Kurama no Miko2003 (with an I-don't-want-to-disappoint-you look on her face): Actually, you don't. You probably have enough for a guerilla group.

Yuusuke (shocked): That's not fair! Kurama, Hiei, quick, tell me how I can get more rabid fangirls!

Keiko (popping veins and punching Yuusuke's head): That's enough! Yuusuke, you should be glad that I never even gave up on you in the first place!

Yuusuke (weakly): Mercy . . .

Kurama no Miko2003 (sweatdropping): You were asking for it.

Everyone else (sweatdropping and nodding in agreement): . . .

Kurama no Miko2003: Well, I guess that's sums it up for this fic! I hope you all enjoyed it and I'll be back next time with a fic that deals with Hiei's relation to Yukina! See you next time! Ja ne! ^_~