Against All Odds
by Rose Argent

Then suddenly something cracked forcefully into the back of his head. His vision doubled and he slid to the ground, feeling dizzy and sick. He wondered that no one used this opportunity to finish him off as he struggled to get back to his feet. He saw the youkai surrounding him start to back off, and a tall, slim figure came towards him. Hiei was still having trouble seeing clearly, so he couldn't identify the figure coming towards him, but he instinctively knew that this was the person behind this attack.

Hiei tried to lift his sword to defend himself, and found that he could not make his limbs obey him. He knelt on the blood-soaked ground, the world tilting and spinning crazily around him. Then, for a moment his enemy's face came into focus. Hiei looked into a pair of deep blue eyes that seemed to radiate madness. He saw a handsome face framed by wavy blond hair and a mouth that was twisted in a triumphant smile. Then, the ground was rushing up to meet him and he saw nothing more.

******

Koenma sat at his desk in the Reikai, up to his eyes in paperwork, as usual. A bored expression on his child-like face, Koenma skimmed through each document before stamping it with his seal of approval. Then one paper caught his attention. Rather than being neatly typed as were all the other documents, this one was scrawled in a hasty script. As he read the paper, Koenma's expression became troubled and angry. He clenched his little fist and turned to an assistant. "Get me Botan, NOW!" snapped Koenma, grinding his teeth into his ever-present pacifier. The assistant rushed off to find the Reikai messenger, a startled look on his face.

******

Kurama, Yuusuke and Kuwabara sat in Genkai's temple, waiting impatiently for Hiei to make his usual sudden appearance. A gust of wind filled the room and Kuwabara snarled "It's about time! The little brat has made us wait forever!" But it was Botan, rather than Hiei, who appeared in the centre of the room.

"Hurry, Koenma needs to see you all right away!!" she gasped breathlessly, obviously very disturbed about something. The three boys looked at one another, curious expressions on their faces, as they rose to follow Botan, knowing that anything that caused this much of a rush was probably very serious.

******

Koenma paced back and forth in front of his desk, muttering "Where are they? What's taking so long?" Then Botan rushed in with the three confused boys hot on her heels.

"It's about time! We have big trouble!" Koenma snapped as soon as the group had closed the door.

"What's happened, Koenma?" asked Kurama, a worried look on his face

"Someone has kidnapped one of our agents and is threatening to kill him if we don't comply with these demands" Koenma snapped, brandishing the document that he had discovered only a few minutes ago. "This arrived three days ago, but it got lost in the clutter. The deadline for responding is today! We have to decide what to do!!"

"Oh God! Hiei! It's Hiei, isn't it???" Kurama gasped, grabbing Koenma by the front of his shirt and shaking the little godling violently. Koenma suddenly grew into his adolescent form, and pulled Kurama's hands from his shirt.

"Calm down. Yes, it's Hiei. He was the most likely target because he spends so much time alone, away from any source of aid." Koenma sighed, stepping back away from the wide-eyed humans before him. Yuusuke was the first to recover. He stepped forward and asked:

"So, what are this person's demands?" Koenma sat behind his desk and started massaging his temples.

"Nothing really big, which is the worst part. Kidnapping a Reikai agent is a serious crime, and it was committed for such a small thing. The kidnapper only wants to have an hour to speak with one of the spirits who have recently passed on. I'm quite willing to do this, but we still must decide what to do about the kidnapper after we get Hiei back." Koenma sat back and looked intently at Kurama, Yuusuke and Kuwabara.

Kuwabara muttered "All this trouble for one little brat. Che."

Kurama glared at him balefully and said "Hell is too good for this asshole! I say find the worst punishment you can, and double it!" Kurama's normally gentle voice was reduced to nearly incoherent growl, and he clenched his fist in anger.

Yuusuke found himself in the unusual position of being the voice of reason as he said "Well, what's the usual punishment for things like this?"

Koenma sighed again and said "There isn't one! No one has had the gall to do this before! But I would recommend that we kill this guy and sentence him to fifty years in Hell for this."

Kurama and Kuwabara both looked unhappy at this, but wisely kept their mouths shut when both Yuusuke and Koenma glared at them. Yuusuke nodded and said "Sounds fair to me. So how do we go about delivering the, uh, ransom and getting Hiei back?"

"Well, this guy may be crazy, but he appears to be smart as well. He knows that Hiei has some pretty powerful friends, so he's arranged it so that you'll all get split up. He wants two of you to come and deliver the ransom to him, and I'm sure he'll be well guarded enough to prevent you from attacking him. Hiei is at a separate location, which will only become unguarded once the ransom has been delivered. Kurama, you'll go with Yuusuke to deliver the ransom. Yuusuke, I'm counting on you to keep Kurama out of trouble! That leaves Kuwabara to go get Hiei. We'll deal with retaliation *after* Hiei is safe." he glared at Kuwa-chan to keep him from protesting about his role, and then at Kurama to keep him from strangling Kuwabara. Then Koenma gave each person his final instructions, making sure that Kurama knew as little as possible about Hiei's location, to keep him from interfering.

******

Lune looked down at the little youkai he had kidnapped three days before. He wondered if maybe he had not been careful enough in his treatment of his captive, because the kid didn't look so good. Lune's breath misted faintly in the cold air of the cell as he felt for a pulse at Hiei's wrist. There was a pulse, but it was sluggish and weak. The koorime's lips and extremities were tinged faintly blue and his skin was frigid. Worse yet, the little kid had stopped shivering a few minutes ago, indicating that severe hypothermia had set in.

Lune couldn't quite understand why this had happened. The cell wasn't *that* cold, and the captive had been well fed and cared for for the most part. Then he noticed the tattoo that curled around the slender arm of the youkai, and cursed silently. The kid was a fire demon! Of course the cold would affect him more! Damn. Lune hoped that he would still get to see Miranda one last time. After all, he had promised that the Reikai agent would be returned alive, and that would still happen. At least it would if the other agents got here in time. Lune shrugged and walked back out of the cell, not once looking back at the limp form lying on the floor as he prepared to go to the designated meeting place.

******

Yuusuke and Kurama looked around at the desolate plain where they waited for the kidnapper to appear. The spirit of a young woman hovered nervously just behind them. A cloud of dust had been approaching slowly for some time now, and both Yuusuke and Kurama had estimated that it would take upwards of a hundred people to kick up that much dust. They exchanged looks, wondering how the kidnapper had managed to get together so many followers. Then the crowd of youkai reached the meeting place, and their leader stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the immaterial form of the girl behind the two boys. The girl drifted forward to look into the mad eyes of Hiei's kidnapper. "Lune, what have you done? You've hurt an innocent person, for me? Why couldn't you just let me go?" she asked in a tear-strained whisper.

Lune's voice was a near-inaudible rasp as he responded "But, Miranda, you were my whole life and then you were gone so suddenly. I thought I would die with you, but I just couldn't do it. Without you, my life is empty of all meaning, all light. You were the beacon that lit my way in the darkness. You were the hand that guided me. You were my love, my life and my soul. I needed to have you back, if only for an hour...." Lune blinked, and suddenly the light of madness in his eyes flickered and went out, leaving only a grief deeper than any ocean shining out of his tear-filled eyes. His shoulders started shaking convulsively, and he tried to grab onto the spirit of his lost love for support. His arms closed on only air and he feel to his knees, sobbing hysterically. Then he looked up at Kurama and Yuusuke, tears streaming down his face and asked:

"Haven't you ever loved someone so much that you would do anything for them?" Kurama stifled a sob and turned his face away, while Yuusuke held back tears and whispered:

"Keiko...."

Then Lune smiled, tears still streaming down his face, and closed his eyes. His body slowly slumped to the ground, lifeless and chill. His spirit materialized next to Miranda and he said quietly:

"I know I'll pay for what I've done, but, after I've done my penance, do you think I'll be allowed to be with Miranda again? In the next life?"

Kurama looked up again and Yuusuke was startled to see that tears were tracing wet paths down Kurama's cheeks. He smiled sadly and said "It's a terrible thing to be apart from the one you love. I hope that, against all odds, you will find each other again in the next life. Any hatred I felt for you has been washed away by these tears." Kurama wiped at the river of tears streaming down his face, and Yuusuke found that he was also losing his battle to hold back his tears. He also smiled sadly and said:

"Good luck, man. I hope you get to be happy after all." then Lune and Miranda faded from sight, and the youkai who had gathered all turned to walk away. Kurama and Yuusuke stood there a moment, staring down at where Lune's body lay, a peaceful smile on his face. Then, without even speaking, the two friends moved together to bury the body of a madman they couldn't bring themselves to hate.

A few hours later there was nothing left in that clearing, save for a mound of fresh earth, with a single blood red rose lying atop it. As the dawn came, a drop of dew rolled off of one perfect petal, striking the grave mound like a tear drop falling from the eyes of a grieving lover.

******

Kuwabara looked around at the building that loomed before him in the darkness. He muttered to himself "Came all the way out here for that stupid Hiei. Dammit! He had better not give me one of his damn *looks* when I go in there. I can just picture it. Idiot! I didn't need to be rescued. Baka!' Little brat."

Kazuma wandered inside the building, noting that there seemed only to be one direction in which he could go. He shrugged and started down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs was a thick iron door, and Kuwabara could feel the faint residue of strong wards on it.

He pushed the door gently, and it swung open on well oiled hinges. He looked inside and saw that the cell was clean and that there was a pallet pushed against the far wall. He cautiously walked inside and leaned down to shake Hiei's shoulder. His hand stopped just short of Hiei's flesh and hovered there as a shocked expression spread across Kuwabara's face. His eyes widened as he got a closer look at Hiei. He looked dead! He was so pale, and Kazuma couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.

As he reached down to check for a pulse, Kuwabara thought about what Koenma would do to him if he let Hiei die, and shuddered. After what seemed like forever, he finally found Hiei's pulse, but it was definitely too weak to be normal. And Hiei was freezing! Kuwabara had no idea what to do, but he somehow knew that Hiei wouldn't survive the trip back to the Reikai. He had to do something *now* or the koorime would die, and Koenma and Kurama would skin Kazuma alive.

Suddenly Kuwabara remembered his one first aid class. He recalled the teacher telling them what to do if they ever had to deal with Hypothermia, which was obviously what this was. Kuwabara shuddered and thought "No way! I am *not* doing that! He can just die for all I care!!!" Then he had a vision of Youko Kurama siccing one of those bloodsucking plants on him, and he shuddered again.

Resignedly, Kuwabara unbuttoned the jacket of his school uniform and pulled off his shirt. After he had stripped to his underclothes, he began to pull off Hiei's shirt and trousers. He was seriously dismayed to discover that Hiei didn't *wear* underclothes, and was tempted to just leave, but once again he thought about the consequences and he lay down next to Hiei and wrapped them both in the blanket that Hiei had been lying on.

He felt the chill from Hiei's limp body seep into him and started shivering. He was shocked at how small and fragile Hiei seemed. When Hiei was awake he was always sneering and acting so tough that Kuwabara had forgotten just how small the little demon really was. But now, Hiei seemed as tiny as a child, and as fragile as a doll.

After a while Hiei began to shiver violently. At first, Kuwabara was afraid that Hiei was getting worse, not better, but then he saw that the blue in Hiei's lips had nearly faded. Once Hiei's colour had returned to a semblance of normality, Kuwabara happily squirmed out of the blanket and redressed. For some reason he couldn't stop thinking about how it had felt to hold Hiei's tiny form in his arms. He blushed furiously and redressed Hiei, trying not to look at the youkai as he did so. He checked Hiei's pulse again, and when he discovered that it was steady and strong, he checked Hiei for other injuries.

When he found the blood matted into Hiei's hair, and saw the white of bone showing through Hiei's scalp, a sort of rage suffused him. He pushed it away, reminding himself that as soon as Hiei woke up, he would be an insufferable little brat again.

Deciding that Hiei wouldn't be in any condition to walk even when he woke up, Kuwabara picked him up and carried him out of the building as easily as he would a child. Hiei hung limply in Kazuma's arms, as lifeless as a rag doll. Kuwabara marvelled again at how light Hiei was, and how the boy looked so small and delicate. His body really didn't fit his personality, Kuwabara decided.

As they approached the place where Kuwabara was supposed to meet Botan, Hiei began to stir faintly. He moaned quietly and his eyes fluttered open. He floated in semi-consciousness for a while, but gradually seemed to come back to his senses. When his eyes finally cleared, he looked up into Kazuma's face and mumbled "K'wabara? Wha....?", then his eyes slid closed again and he fell into an exhausted sleep.

Kuwabara swallowed, and forced himself to think of what a jerk Hiei really was. Yet somehow, the vision of Hiei looking into his face and weakly mumbling his name was all that would come to mind.

Finally they reached the meeting place, where Botan was anxiously awaiting them. She took one look at Hiei's too-pale face and rushed them all back to Reikai, where Hiei was immediately taken by healers, and carted off to a private room. Kuwabara rejoined Yuusuke and Kurama, noticing that they seemed preoccupied, but not as angry as he expected.

The three friends sat brooding; Yuusuke thinking about Keiko, and what he would do if he lost her, Kuwabara trying to banish the odd feelings that were running through his mind every time he thought about Hiei, lying so limp and cold on the floor of the cell and Kurama thinking about the kind of love that would drive a man to risk everything to get it.

After a time, Koenma walked into the room and said "Hiei's awake. You can visit for a while, but he's still kind of out of it, he had a pretty nasty head wound and a bad case of hypothermia."

Kurama was the first one in through the door, and he rushed to Hiei's side and sat on the edge of the bed. Hiei smiled sleepily and said "K'rama. Don' look at me like tha'. I'm fine, jus' a little tired is all." Kurama smiled back and said:

"I know, I just did a lot of thinking lately, and I guess I'm just overly tired, so I worry." then he squeezed Hiei's hand and got up to let Yuusuke take a turn at Hiei's side. Yuusuke stood to the side of the bed and looked very uncomfortable. Finally he mumbled:

"I should be dead. I know that. I assume you're the one who, *ahem* saved my life, since you were the one who carried me out of there. So, um, thanks." Hiei was obviously not comfortable saying thank you', especially to Kuwabara.

Kuwabara didn't seem particularly comfortable either, as he turned to look over his shoulder at Hiei. He noticed that Hiei didn't seem particularly out of it', in fact, he was staring at Kuwabara with a perfectly cognizant look. His deep red eyes held Kuwabara's for an instant, and something passed between the two guys that caused them both to look away a second later. Kuwabara struggled to keep the quiver out of his voice as he muttered "Yeah, well, just did what I'd do for anyone. Look, I gotta go." then Kuwabara fled from the room as if the hordes of Hell were on his tail.

******

Several weeks later, Hiei had more or less recovered and was sitting on the windowsill in Kurama's room, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms behind his head, resting against the edge of the window. Kurama sat at his desk, a shocked look on his face. He stuttered a bit for a while, then finally managed to gasp "You what?!?"

"I told ya, for some reason I can't stop thinking about that idiot Kuwabara. Ever since he saved my life he's been a lot nicer to me, and I just keep remembering how he carried me out of that place, and how he looked at me afterwards. What do you think it means?" Hiei asked, his eyes wide, an expression of simple curiosity on his face. Kurama tried to figure out how this had happened.

"How could Hiei have fallen for, for *Kuwabara*?! Him, of all people? I never thought that *he* could come between Hiei and I! Damn! If I had said something to Hiei sooner, if he had known how I felt maybe, maybe, oh damn..." thought Kurama frantically, as he set his face in his usual smile and tried to hide the cold pit of despair that was settling in his stomach.

Hiei only looked at his friend impassively, wondering why Kurama was so disturbed by this. Sure, it was weird, but it didn't feel like something bad, not really. At first Hiei had been unsettled by the thoughts and dreams that plagued him, but as the weeks wore on and Kuwabara kept being so, so, *nice* to him, the fear had faded and now it hardly bothered him at all. But for a minute there, Kurama had looked like the world was caving in on him. He looked fine now, but he could be hiding something.

Kurama looked back to Hiei and said "I think I know what's going on, but you aren't going to like it. I think that you may, well, I think you, um, have a crush on Kuwabara..." Kurama trailed off as Hiei's eyes widened.

"What?" Hiei whispered. He knew what having a crush' on someone meant. Kurama had explained that to him a while ago when he had first heard the expression. Could that really be it? Hiei couldn't believe that he could really have those kinds of feelings for Kuwabara, but somehow it all fit. Maybe he did have a crush' on Kuwabara. He just had no idea what to do about it. This wasn't something he had expected at all. But if Kurama thought that that was it, it must be. Kurama would never make a joke about that. About just about anything else, sure, but when things like this were concerned, Kurama was always deadly serious.

"So, what should I do about it?" Hiei asked Kurama, an unusually serious look on his face.

"Well, I honestly don't know. Maybe you should talk to *him* about it." suggested Kurama in a tired voice.

Hiei tilted his head to the side, deep in thought. He wondered if he really should talk to Kuwabara. What would he do if Kuwabara didn't feel the same? For that matter, what would he do if he *did*? Hiei had no experience at all in these matters. He also still felt very reluctant to admit to something like this. He *never* talked about his feelings to anyone but Kurama. Could he even do it? Then he remembered the little shock he had felt when he first met Kuwabara's eyes after he had woken up, all those weeks ago. He remembered the things that had happened in the intervening weeks; the exchanged looks, the nervous silences, Kuwabara's sudden tendency to be nice to him when no one else was around to see. He decided.

Kurama looked at the window where Hiei had sat a mere moment ago, and thought about what Hiei had surely gone to do. Years of memories flooded through his mind and he cursed his reluctance to confess his feelings for Hiei. He whispered "ai shiteru" to the empty air, then lay his head down on his desk and wept bitterly.

******

Kuwabara was sitting on a little hill, looking up at the full moon. He didn't usually spend much time thinking, but this business with Hiei had really turned him into the contemplative type. He kept thinking back to that day and wondering how this could've happened. After a talk with Keiko, he had pretty much realised *what* had happened, but he still no idea how to deal with it. Guys weren't supposed to have feelings like this for other guys. But he couldn't help it.

He had expected it to go away once Hiei started acting like himself again, but somehow it never did. Hiei's insults had been directed more at other people lately, and Kuwabara was starting to find the koorime's sarcasm kinda, well, cute. Not to mention the fact that Hiei acted so *nice* when no one else was around.

Kuwabara heaved a great sigh, and was about to get up and leave when he noticed that he was no longer alone. Hiei was standing in front of him, the moonlight making his face seem more angular than usual. His hair stirred in the light breeze, and his crimson eyes were focused steadily on Kuwabara. "Mind if I sit here?" Hiei asked gruffly, pointing to the empty space next to Kuwabara. Kuwabara just shook his head wordlessly.

"You've been acting different too." was all he managed to say in reply. Both Hiei and Kuwabara looked away uncomfortably, then both suddenly started speaking at the same time. They stopped and the embarrassed silence stretched on, making both men glad that the shadow of the tree served to partially hide their blushes. Eventually Kuwabara started to speak again, hesitantly.

"I used to think that you were a real jerk who didn't care about anyone but himself, but that's all an act isn't it? You do care about people, don't you?" Kuwabara asked, nervously.

"Like Kurama, you care about him right, and Yuusuke too, right?"

"Yeah, they're my friends"

"And you, do you care about.... do you care about.... me?" Kuwabara asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, I care about you. I care.... a lot. I used to think you were an idiot, and, well, I still think that. But now, now I think that you're an idiot that, that I'd really like to spend a lot of time with." Hiei mumbled quietly, his deep bass voice a near-silent rumble.

"Oh." Kuwabara frowned, that reply was so... typical of Hiei. He spent a few moments trying to sort out just what Hiei had meant by that, and finally gave up and turned to ask him to say straight out what he meant. The question died on his lips when he saw the expression of mingled fear and hope on Hiei's face. He decided that it was a very beautiful face, for all that it was a decidedly masculine face. On a sudden impulse, Kuwabara leaned closer and, before he could really think about it, pressed his lips gently against Hiei's.

When Kuwabara pulled away, his face flaming red, he saw that Hiei's eyes had widened to an impossible size, and his mouth was hanging half-open in shock. Then Hiei smiled the little half-smile that Kuwabara had grown to love, and leaned in to kiss Kuwabara, hesitantly but firmly, on the lips.

Kuwabara wrapped his arms around Hiei and pulled him close. Hiei's arms came up and he ran his hands through Kuwabara's carrot-coloured hair, wincing slightly as his fingers snagged in the mass of gel that Kuwabara slathered in there. Hiei wiped his hands on the back of Kuwabara's jacket, and wrapped his small arms around Kazuma's neck as the kiss deepened.

Hiei broke off the kiss and stared into Kuwabara's eyes. He snuggled against Kuwabara's chest and sighed happily. Kuwabara hugged Hiei tightly to him, still shocked at how small Hiei was, but now free to revel in the glorious feeling of having the handsome little koorime nestled in the circle of his arms. They stayed like that until the sun came up, and fell asleep together in the pre-dawn light.

******

A few metres away from the hill where the human and the koorime slept, a figure stood by a tree, watching the sun rise. He looked up at the hill and whispered "Omedetou, Kuwabara. Against all odds, you've caught that little fire demon. Treat him well." The figure turned to leave, and the light of the rising sun made the tears running down his face seem like rivers of molten silver. For a brief moment the figure's deep green eyes glittered gold, and he thought to himself. "I wish you all the happiness in the world, Hiei. And someday, someday we will be together. After all, Kuwabara is only human, and we've got all the time in the world."

As the sun rose above the distant mountains, it's light shone on a single red rose lying on the ground, drops of dew dripping off it's perfect petals and onto the ground like tears of pure silver.

The End.

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