Hiei knew that Kurama wasn't going to drop him and he wasn't going
to almost drown...again. But still, he didn't like being in the water. He
never had. The one time he had gone into the hot springs with his friends
had not been fun. The water had pressed against him, making him acutely
aware of his body, had sucked at him, tried to pull him under, hungry to
put out the fire that was his essence. It was doing so again. But Kurama
wouldn't let it hurt him. Kurama wanted him to relax. Hn. How? Kurama's
fingers were in his hair again, rubbing gently, soothing and not at the
same time. He let himself enjoy that sensation and committed it to memory
since he was sure it would never happen again and didn't realize when his
limbs drifted up.

	Kurama smiled as he glanced down and saw that Hiei's body had
started to react to the attention of his hands. He knew he was in no shape
to play, but still...

	Kurama's hand drifted down the back of his neck and he...shivered?
He didn't really have time to figure it out. Kurama's hand moved to push
water onto his stomach, then brushed it off with a light stroke and every
inch of his skin tightened. He swallowed hard, awash in these new
sensations as Kurama's hand followed his hip and went down his thigh to his
knee firmly, then came back up with his fingers just brushing the hairs
there. It sent wonderful tingles to join the feeling that was focusing
between his hips.

	"Hiei," Kurama's voice whispered in his ear, "guess what?"

	"Hn."

	"You've got an erection."

	Hiei's eyes flew open to lock on Kurama's amused green ones.

	*I do?* He lifted his head and looked down the length of his body.
It was huge! And it didn't hurt!  All three eyes blinked as the back of
Kurama's fingers brushed along his length and a jolt of pleasure sang
through him.

	He gulped in shock, so startled that he didn't resist as Kurama's
hands, hot against his ribs, turned him so his back was against his chest
and his head supported by his shoulder. Something as soft as the rose
petals Kurama so loved brushed the side of his neck, then trailed down and
along the edge of his shoulder, hot, soft...he shivered again...yes, that
was what it had to be, a shiver...as his focus wavered chaotically between
the sensations of Kurama's lips and the fingers that were leaving trails of
ice as they traced the definition of the muscles on his stomach.

	Hiei's teeth came together with an audible click as Kurama's
fingertips floated down to his hips and then continued on over the tops of
his thighs for as far as he could reach. His fingers turned inward and
stroked back up, feather light on the sensitive skin of his inner thighs.
Hiei was trembling now, his breath taken in shallow gasps. Hiei's hands
closed gently on his wrists as he traced the shape of the balls under their
protection of wiry, corkscrewed hair and drawn tight flesh.

	*What are you doing to me?* He couldn't get his voice to work!

	His hands closed on Kurama's wrists, but they had no strength.  He
was spinning dizzily, unable to find his mental balance in the pleasure
that rippled in wracking and unceasing waves to center in a throbbing ache
in his hardened flesh. An ache that made him want to scream and yet felt so
good at the same time.

	*Wait! I don't understand...what...?* then he lost the ability to
form coherent thought as those fingers closed on that ache.

	Hiei took a deep shuddering breath as Kurama finally brought his
hands together on the thick shaft. It came back out as something that was
half hiss, half mew. Kurama was so entranced with beginning to explore
Hiei's member that he didn't hear the panicked edge on that sound. He
encircled Hiei with all of his fingertips, then ran them delicately down
his shaft, then started back up with a little more pressure.

	He was surprised as Hiei thrust his hips up to push against his
hands, his length pulsing violently as his seed spurted in a milky swirl
into the water. That shouldn't have happened yet! He turned his head so he
could see his friends face. There was confusion in those red amber eyes.
And something he had never expected to see. Panic...and terror.

	"Hi..." Hiei erupted out of his arms.

	"Wait!" Kurama surged, leaning over the side of the pool in a
frantic attempt to reach him as he became visible for a moment, having
stumbled and gone to his hands and knees just past the edge of the bath.

	His hands closed on nothing as Hiei fled like a shadow before the sun.

	"Wait! Hiei!" But he was long gone.

	Kurama stared after him, half of him in the pool, half of him lying
on the warm tiles, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. His plan had
been to introduce Hiei to the pleasure his own body could feel slowly. He
had been being careful. He had done nothing that should have brought about
that climax yet. He drew a circle in the film of water on the tiles before
him.

	*Water. I had him in the water! How could I be so stupid!* He
rested his head on his crossed forearms.

	*Shit.*


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

	Hiei huddled in on himself, an incongruous shadow in the golds and
reds of the turning leaves that now surrounded his favorite perch. They had
almost lost Kurama this time. HE had almost lost him...memory came back,
hard and fast.

	He was trapped and tangled in a web of wards, hanging helpless,
Yuusuke screaming an unending flow of curses as he struggled, trapped in
the same way. Kuwabara was a bleeding wreck beneath them, Botan hanging
upside down and pounding at the shins of the Youkai who held her by her
ankles while Kurama was contained between two of Yomi's more powerful
minions. Yomi and his Guard had taken them by surprise as they were heading
back to the spot where the pick up gate would be, battle weary but with
that damned scroll Konema had sent them after. He had known there was bad
blood between Kurama and Yomi, just not how bad.

	He had spit at Yomi, since he couldn't find words nasty enough to
express what he wanted to say, as that Youkai had come to stand in front of
him, Kurama dragged along behind him by his guard. Yomi had laughed, amused.

	"How nice of you to bring me your new toy, Kurama. Saves me the
effort of having to hunt it down."

	Kurama's laugh was pure venom. "My toy? That foul tempered little
runt? I thought you knew me better than that, Yomi. My tastes run to
refinement and beauty. You used to have those things. What happened?"

	Those words had stung that secret place in his soul, a place that
he had been managing so far to suppress. It wasn't until later that he
understood that Kurama had been trying to save his life. Yomi whirled and
slapped Kurama, an almost casual gesture that flung Kurama's head back,
blood following the path of his hand, then Kurama slumped between his
guard. Yomi glanced at Yuusuke and Yuusuke's curses were cut off, even
though his mouth kept on forming them. He continued on as if that last
little bit of by-play had never happened.

	"This one I think I'll keep. He'll bring a nice price on the
auction block. This one though," he toed Kuwabara and addressed the Captain
who held Kurama, "eh...just let it bleed dry, then you can treat the troops
to a feast. And they can have the female."

	An appreciative murmur ran through the group that surrounded them
as Yomi turned and walked a bit away. The Youkai turned back and fixed his
eyes on him once more, a small, dark sphere of power forming in his hand.
He nodded at the two who held Kurama and they released him and stepped back.

	"I'll give you as long as it takes to kill this one to run Kurama,
and I'm going to make it slow just for you, then the hunt is on."

	He glared at Kurama as the Youko who was trapped in a human body
gathered himself, ready to run and leave them. He had been so sure of it!
He steeled himself as the sphere left Yomi's hand and gaped in disbelief
when Kurama leapt, his shape shifting and stretching as the silver Youko
put himself in it's path. Kurama fought back for a while, Yomi snarling at
his Guard to keep out of it, but it came down to him just putting himself
in the path of Yomi's attacks, struggling up to take blow after blow. He
remembered hearing himself scream as the wards reflected his attempts to
summon power back into his body, remembered trying to will Kurama to stay
the fuck DOWN! as that stubborn Youko somehow managed to get back up again
and again.

	 Then Kurama went down and stayed down, still. Fury beyond anything
he had ever known had taken hold of him, a fury fueled by fear. Fear that
Kurama was dead. The thought of Kurama gone forever, never to hear his soft
voice again, or to have to hide his smile at the Youko's attempts to break
through his wall of disdain or loose himself in those emerald eyes...he had
gone a little insane, he thought now. He had called the Kokuryuuha, knowing
that the backlash from the wards would kill him, but hadn't cared. The
wards couldn't hold the Kokuryuuha and he'd take Yomi with him.

	He blushed in shame. Kuwabara had saved their asses, as stubborn in
his own way as the Youko. He had managed to get to his knees, forgotten as
all focus was on Kurama, and pulled enough power out of somewhere to cut
through a few of the wards that held Yuusuke. Yuusuke, seeing the
Kokuryuuha start to manifest, had turned his rei gun on the wards that held
Hiei and cut him free just in the nick of time. Yuusuke had told him later
that he'd seen Yomi teleport out but that the others had been toasted.

	He had come to on the ground, lifted his head and looked at the
path of devastation the Kokuryuuha had carved into the landscape. He pushed
himself up, glancing around for the others. Yuusuke was tending Kuwabara,
his face tense with worry. Botan was next to Kurama, glowing in the vision
of his Jagon as she poured her healing power into the youko. Hiei wavered
to his feet and stumbled to them. One glance at that battered form, the red
of his own blood staining his silver fur to the color that his human shape
wore, and the frantic look on Botan's face told him. He had to get Yukina!

	Yuusuke's, "Hiei! Where the fuck are you going?" stretched and
faded behind him as he went as fast as he could, using the Jagon to scan
for a spot weak enough in the barrier between the worlds for him to push
through. He found one, tumbled across and cursed at each precious second
lost as he climbed the tallest tree he could find so he could take his
bearings. But now he knew where he was.

	Yukina let out a little squeak of startlement as he had appeared
beside her, panting.

	"Kurama needs you," he managed to get out.

	She nodded wide eyed.

	"Here, get on," he went to his knees so she could scramble up on
his back.

	"Hold tight," he bid her as she wrapped her arms around his neck
and got a good hold of her legs around his waist.

	Once he was sure she was secure, he went as if it was his life, and
not Kurama's, that was on the line.

	Yuusuke was wrapping Botan up in a blanket when they got back.
Yukina saw Kuwabara as they halted, pale and trembling beneath another
blanket and took a few step toward him, then at Hiei's breathless glare,
turned back to Kurama. Yuusuke stepped in and turned her shoulder back
toward Kuwabara.

	"Go take care of Kuwabara first."

	Hiei glanced at Kurama, hidden under another blanket, and could
hear the Youko's labored breathing over his own. He stalked toward Yuusuke,
fury driving him. How dare he send Yukina to Kuwabara first! Yuusuke gazed
back steadily into his furious face.

	"Hiei, if she's worried about Kuwabara, she's going to hold back so
she can tend to him. This way she'll be able to focus totally on Kurama."

	The logic of that had broken through his anger, bringing him to a
halt. He just nodded, crossed his arms and made himself stand still. He saw
the truth to Yuusuke's statement as Yukina rose from Kuwabara's side, a
happy smile on her face. He was her shadow as she hurried to Kurama.
Anxiety ate at his gut as that happy expression faded as she knelt and put
her hands on Kurama's forehead. He had to close his Jagon against her flair
of power. It seemed to take forever though he knew it had only been thirty
beats of his heart. He had counted every one. Then she had sagged and
looked up at him, exhaustion warring with uncertainty in her eyes.

	"That's everything I can do. I don't know if it is enough."

	He had given her a nod as Yuusuke helped her to her feet. He had
collected the remaining blanket as Yuusuke had guided her over to where
Botan was sleeping. He had draped it around her shoulders and leaned close
to whisper, "Thank you," softly so Yuusuke wouldn't hear. The smile she had
responded with was dazzling, too much for him to deal with so he left her
and went back to Kurama, collecting the Youko's bag of medicines and
bandages along the way.

	The human shape of the Youko was waiting for him. Yuusuke came over
and took a roll of bandages and they looked at each other, then had lifted
the blanket off Kurama together. Kurama's insides must have been jelly if
so much external damage was still unhealed. They had worked on him
together, each taking a side. He was mostly bandage when they were done.
Yuusuke tried to muffle a yawn.

	Hiei volunteered for first watch and Yuusuke nodded and went to
lean against the tree by the sleeping females. Hiei just sat, arms wrapped
around his knees and sword naked on the ground beside him, not looking at
the damaged Youko beside him but hanging on every breath Kurama took. He
wasn't sure how many hours had passed, but it was sometime in the deepest
night of the Makai when Kurama's breathing had grown more labored, more
shallow. He had risked a glance at his friend and the fragile, translucent
quality about him unnerved him. He had just decided to go and wake up both
of the girls to see if either of them had recovered enough of their
strength to ease that bubbling sound in Kurama's breathing when Botan leapt
to her feet. He was a fraction of a second behind her, sword in hand. Botan
took a few steps toward them, then had given him a stricken look and turned
her back and walked away to lean against a tree, back still toward him. He
could tell she was clutching her oar against her chest, could see the
handle rising over her shoulder.

	A flicker of gold at the corner of his eye brought him around. That
Golden Lady Youko was gliding towards him on silent feet. Hiei set himself,
ready and risked a fast glance at Botan. Why wasn't she helping him?

	The Lady Youko smiled softly. "Botan can't interfere. Or I should
say, she won't interfere."

	"I'll kill you," he warned, every instinct screaming turn and run.

	But he wouldn't. Kurama hadn't.

	"You might," there was compassion in her amber eyes as she halted,
just out of range of his sword.

	Eyes that were lit by some internal glow. "But it wouldn't make any
difference. You'd just have to take my place."

	"Who are you?" he had bit out.

	"Don't you know, Hiei?" It had bothered him that she knew his name.
It still did.

	"To Yuusuke, I would look like this," she shimmered and a man with
Yuusuke's strong features and a kind face stood before him, Yuusuke's
father?

	"For Kuwabara," the man shimmered and Yukina stood there.

	"For Yukina," he had swallowed hard. It had been himself standing
there.

	For you," Kurama had stood there, holding out his hands, that
teasing smile on his face. "Have you figured it out, Hiei?" that Kurama had
asked with a teasing tone.

	"No," he had refused to believe it.

	The Golden Youko stood before him again. "I've been chasing him a
long time, Hiei. It's been a fun game for both of us, but he's tired now,
and so hurt, it's time for the game to end."

	He had realized that something was missing. It was the sound of
Kurama's breathing.

	"No."

	He changed his grip on his sword and threw it at her like a spear
as he dropped onto Kurama, pressed his forehead, his Jagon against Kurama's
forehead and reached in. There was a stillness, a calmness, resigned.

	::No.::

	He grabbed that essence with mental fingers, had moaned as it
flowed through, reaching for the Golden Youko.

	::Kurama! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!!!:: that secret place screamed,
begged in a way he never thought he could.

	That essence paused, hung between them, then flowed back. It
wrapped around him, a formless silver mist with gem bright eyes. It needed
help and he opened his being to it with a wrench, letting it take what it
needed. The chest beneath him rose, the heart fluttering back into life. He
could barely lift his head to break that contact as Kurama slipped back
into unconsciousness, but there and strong. Botan had taken his place,
standing between them and the Golden Youko.

	"He did it to you again!" There was a giggle in Botan's voice.

	"Yes, he has!" he heard the surprised laughter in the Golden
Youko's voice. "Stubborn. Both of you. Guard him well, Hiei."

	Then he had followed Kurama into sleep.

to be continued....