I'm scared. 
I'm scared. 
I'm scared. 

Okay, on with the story. C&Cs are welcome, flames NOT. 

Siew Lee 
wsiewlee@tm.net.my 
http://members.xoom.com/hiei 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

		~~~The Past, The Present And The Future~~~

			~~~The Present - Vengeance~~~

			 Chapter 5 - A Mistake Done 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

	Makai was a place of deceit, yet love was able to find its way 
through the grounds. Like after a violent tempest, the once barren 
ground was filled with various living things... 

	In semidarkness, two billowy figures stood quietly on the 
plains, occasionally stroking something in their hands. The 
surroundings were so peaceful, yet looks were deceiving in a way. 
Little did the rest of the lands know that unutterable calamity was 
to befall them... 

	After almost an eternity, the taller figure spoke, raising a 
delicate object in his hands. 

	"Feels good to have our own weapons back in our own hands," 
commented Yamaro as he stroked the jade flute that he held in his 
hands. The pleasantly cool texture of the jade pleased him, in fact. 
This flute had been his companion and weapon for many years now.

	"Surprised me that our weapons are still intact after such a 
long time," said Murashi as he unfolded a fan and fanned himself. 
It was about ten inches in length, and yellowish paper covered the 
iron frame. 

	"Of course they will stay intact. This flute is made out of ice 
jade. The stone's rarity makes it priceless as it was mined out of 
ancient mines in the koorime country. No matter what the 
circumstance is, it will kill in a cold way. The music it produces is 
also icy; as to its name, ice jade. The master who carved this flute 
had used half of his life span to carve such a flute to it's finest 
quality," explained Yamaro, trying a few random notes on the musical 
instrument. "Besides, I used up nearly all my strength to send these 
weapons here so the guards at Reikai wouldn't be able to find them." 

	"How did you get it?" asked Murashi, his eyes locked on the 
slender object in Yamaro's hands. It was nearly unbelievable, for 
Yamaro would be one of the strongest around in Makai with that flute. 

	"Oh, I came across it accidentally, when I stumbled onto the 
legendary treasure of Makai," answered Yamaro. Then, he looked at the 
fan which Murashi was holding. Yamaro then looked up at Murashi. "You 
really want to know how I got it?" 

	Murashi merely smiled. 

	"It was a lonely night, long before I met you... I had long 
heard about the sacred weapon in the core of Makai. Ice jade. The 
master who carved and formed this weapon was a legendary figure in 
Makai. He was a hermit, a strange person; never mingling with the 
community outside." Yamaro paused for a while, a sly grin lit up on 
his face. "It was rumored that he made a weapon out of ice jade. Yes, 
the rumor spread far and wide, yet no one knew how true it was. I 
came to hear of it and I was curious, very curious. Special 
powers... That time, I had just learned my basic ki elements and I 
was looking for a suitable weapon. True, most of us don't need 
weapons at all, but I wanted a musical instrument very much." 

	"Why?" asked Murashi, interrupting Yamaro, his eyes showing 
interest in the past of Yamaro. Yamaro had never said much about 
himself anyway... 

	"I felt that my mind manipulating powers could work better with 
music. Icy and distant music. I went to the core of Makai where the 
flute was kept... I was scared myself as the master was somehow a 
very powerful individual himself, but I won. I won because I managed 
to trick him into falling into that groundless hole in the dark 
cave. After that, I practiced and found my youki rising very quickly 
indeed. Isn't it beautiful?" asked Yamaro as he stretched out the 
flute for his friend to see. 

	"I never quite enjoyed music myself... I prefer something to 
fan the flames I create," answered Murashi as he touched the jade 
flute softly and looked at Yamaro. 

	"That fan you are holding is also very special. It is made out 
of black iron and it can withstand anything. It fears no fire nor 
water. The black iron is very durable and unlike other ferrum based 
weapons, it will never go rusty. To produce such a weapon, the frame 
was crafted from the iron itself and heated in fiery flames and 
cooled in icy cool water several times before it was completed. Plus, 
the scenery painting on paper held to the frame was painted by me," 
smiled Yamaro as he explained the origins of the fan Murashi was 
holding.

	"Well, that's the only thing or gift you have ever given to me 
so far," complained Murashi sulkily as he folded the fan up and 
tapped it rhythmically on his palm.

	"It's the heart that counts," replied Yamaro. Suddenly, he 
leaped forward and touched a granite cliff before him with one tip of 
the flute. Within a split second, a hollow tap was heard from Yamaro. 

	*KABOOM!* A cloud of dust rose up and filled the air. Minutes 
later, Murashi looked up when the dust settled and saw Yamaro 
standing on the spot where the stone cliff was supposed to be.

	"Still very powerful, your skills haven't deteriorated after 
all," commented Murashi as Yamaro began playing a cold tune to the 
winds of Makai. Icy and heartless, the tune flowed far and wide 
through the lands. 

	Yamaro stopped playing suddenly. 

	"Let's get ready and plan what are we going to do when we 
reach Ningenkai. With preparation, we'll take the fools at Reikai by 
surprise," suggested Yamaro. Murashi nodded mutely and stuck the 
folded fan into his cloth belt. 

	Both of them walked out into the vast plains of Makai, away 
from their old hideout. Perhaps one might hear a shrill note of a 
lone flute or a gust of fierce wind created by the iron fan through 
the furiously vast lands. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Hi Kurama!" yelled Yusuke as he was about to shoot his Rei-gun 
at the treetop blow which Kurama was sitting. Kurama had a tendency 
to sit below trees; maybe it acted as a place of peace for him.

	Kurama sighed as he got up from his hiding place. He didn't 
actually hope that he would be discovered so soon. He put down the 
rose that he had been holding for the past couple of hours.

	"Why are you sitting there all alone, practically hidden?" 
yelled Yusuke from the far end of the ring as he saw Kurama getting 
up and walking towards them.

	Kurama heard him but didn't want to yell back. Yelling made 
his voice crack. Instead, he hurried over to the duo.

	"I'm feeling quite bored and I had nothing to do, so I just sat 
under that tree and thought how I could upgrade my youki in order to 
defeat that pair of monsters," explained Kurama, a wry smile lighting 
up his handsome face. 

"Yeah, I guess I've got to find some way to get through the barrier 
Yamaro and Murashi created... I'm not even sure what they used 
against us," said Yusuke as he reached up with the back of his hand 
to wipe away sweat forming at his forehead. They stood there, under 
the gentle evening sun rays, chatting away with Kurama. When Arisa 
was not looking, Kurama quietly gave Yusuke a hand signal motioning 
him not to tell her about his youko origins. Yeah, the same old 
Rose Whip sign... Yusuke sighed and nodded slightly. 

	"Have you figured out any effective way to defeat Yamaro and 
Murashi?" asked Arisa, speculating how powerful might the pair be.

	"Not yet, for the moment, but I'm experimenting on one. It is 
on duo attacks and two people teaming up to defeat an invincible 
team. Sad to say that I don't have anybody to try it out with me," 
answered Kurama, hoping that Yusuke and Arisa might give him any 
chance that he could get to train up with them. Although he didn't 
actually like the idea of training with others but loneliness had 
already begun to catch up with him. *Just because of Hiei...* thought 
Kurama bitterly. 

	Sure enough, Yusuke invited him to join along.

	"I'm also looking for someone other than two of us to train 
with. Why don't you join us? Three heads are better than one, right?" 
smiled Yusuke as he said that; genuinely wanting Kurama to go with 
them. At least he could ask that youko to help him figure out how to 
turn into his youkai form. Yes, Yusuke's youkai form. 

	Both Arisa and Kurama nodded readily.

	"Okay, let's start now," announced Yusuke with a clap.

	For the next hour or so, Yusuke taught Arisa how to use her 
Reiki properly, instead of firing it without control like the 
situation in Koenma's office. Arisa was a smart girl and she could 
learn very quickly. By the end of the day, she could even control 
small Reiki attacks and blasts. Even Kurama willingly showed her how 
to make garden flowers bloom even more beautifully by mixing Reiki or 
Youki with the plants, seeds and whatever part. Alright, she couldn't 
actually think twice before saying anything and that was why Kuwabara 
refused to get near to her. Sharp tongued, she was. 

	Arisa was so delighted that she gave Kurama a bear hug, saying 
that she would most probably win the next school gardening 
competition. Of course, Kurama's face turned pink for a few seconds, 
but soon it dispelled.

	Soon, the trio became the best of friends. Every evening or so, 
the sports ring in the quiet Imperial garden would be full of 
laughter and the sounds ki attacks. It was indeed a very happy period 
for all of them. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

	Time passed very quickly, flowing past without looking back. 
Two weeks had passed and tomorrow would be the last day of the grand 
holidays. It was night time now in Reikai. Inside the Reikai spirits 
division office a boy in his late teens and a girl was sitting in 
front of a computer terminal, busily typing away.

	"Still no progress," sighed Koenma, sucking away on his 
pacifier. He still couldn't kick that bad habit. Now, he was in the 
process on shifting all his leftover Reiki since that Sensui saga to 
a gold chain around his neck. It wasn't very thick, it was just the 
right size. 

	"At least you managed to get Enma-Daiou to buy you a computer 
terminal after all these years," said Misuko with a smile.

	"Okay, it does make life a lot less miserable for me as I work 
in the office. Especially where I could get into the Internet of 
Ningenkai. You won't believe what new and weird things I have seen 
over the net," agreed Koenma as he typed the word 'Titanic' on the 
keyboard.

	"Even with the Internet, it's still difficult to find the 
whereabouts of Yamaro and Murashi's weak points. You and I have been 
trying to track them down for the past week, but it's still 
fruitless," commented Misuko dejectedly.

	"I've been facing the computer screen for nearly the whole day. 
Sorry for not finding enough time to be with you," apologized Koenma, 
momentarily prying his eyes from the computer screen to give Misuko a 
peck on the cheek.

	"I guess it's better not to come over to my room at this 
moment," sighed Misuko as she rubbed her eyes a little.

	"Why?" asked Koenma, curious to know.

	"Arisa's staying in my room and it won't be very sweet for her 
to see you in my room like that," explained Misuko.

	"Speaking of Arisa, I haven't seen her for quite a long time. 
How is her Reiki training going?" asked Koenma, changing the subject 
a little.

	"Ever since she and the rest managed to defeat that youkai you 
wanted to capture, she has became obsessively engrossed with creating 
new types of Reiki attacks. Now, it had even become dangerous for 
to sleep soundly in my room. In the middle of the night, you could 
hear her yelling something like 'Rei-gun' at the top of her lungs and 
the ceiling board will drop right in the middle of the bed," said 
Misuko.

	"How often?" asked Koenma.

	"I think she has practically blasted the ceiling ten times over 
the past week," sighed Misuko again.

	"She practices in the bedroom?"

	"No, she doesn't. According to her always hundred percent 
correct philosophy, the Reiki attacks get out of control whenever 
she sleeps," answered Misuko as she rolled her eyes and gave a 
exasperated sigh.

	"Her Reiki attacks get out of control? More like her dreaming
of herself attacking someone as she blasted the ceiling out of 
existence," laughed Koenma as he heard Misuko's repetition of 
Arisa's lame explanation. 

	"Yeah, sometimes she can be very opinionated," said Misuko. "I 
guess that's how she acts all the time."

	"I'll get a handyman sometime soon..." said Koenma. 

	Koenma suddenly switched off the computer terminal and went to 
the door. From there, he peered into the complete darkness outside. 
It was long past normal office hours and all the onis and ferrygirls 
had gone back to their quarters. Even George, after three rounds of 
persuasion from Koenma. Satisfied, he closed the door again and 
locked it behind him.

	"Coast's clear, at least we can have some privacy," said Koenma 
as he walked back to lean back in his 
armchair, next to his desk.
	
	"Koenma-sama, I'll be going back to Ningenkai tomorrow. I will 
still have to attend school," said Misuko as she looked at the 
exhausted Koenma in the armchair.

	"Hm... remember to come and drop by always," reminded Koenma as 
he sat up and looked into Misuko's deep brown eyes.

	Koenma then pulled open a drawer and rummaged through it. "I 
have something for you to see... Ah ha!" Koenma produced a small red 
velvet box. He took both of Misuko's hands and pressed the small box 
into them. 

	"What's that?" asked Misuko as she studied the small box that 
Koenma handed over to her.

	"Open it," said Koenma as he smiled at the girl lovingly. He 
had practically missed his lunch to get it done yesterday... 

	Misuko smiled at him back and opened the lid of the box slowly. 
In the middle of the box lay the bloodstone gem... set in a beautiful 
gold ring, edged with tiny rubies at the sides. 

	"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Misuko, grinning widely. 

	"Isn't it nice?" 

	"Well, yeah. Where did you get a gem so alike to the bloodstone 
pendant you gave me?" asked Misuko curiously. 

	"Um.. I reset the gem to a ring. I thought it might look better 
on you this way..." explained Koenma slowly as he gazed deeply into 
her soft eyes. "I want you to wear this ring." 

	"Wear it?" 

	"Yes. Wear it. Besides, I have cut the pendant into half. The 
other half is on my left hand now," said Koenma, showing Misuko his 
left hand. "Will you wear it?" 

	"I... I don't know. I don't know whether I'm ready to accept 
such a heavy commitment or not..." replied Misuko slowly. Her took 
the ring out from the small box and touched it lovingly. *What?! He 
cut my present into half? Yeah, he could be so immature at times... 
Yes, he didn't ask me...* thought Misuko as she stared at the small 
piece of jewelry. 

	Koenma nodded. "I understand. I'll wait for you. I'll wait 
until the day when you come here with the ring on your hand." 

	Misuko merely smiled. "I'll come with the ring. One day... One 
day... Take care, Koenma-sama." 

	Koenma gave Misuko a hug, feeling her slim body frame under her 
bulky kimono. "Goodbye..." he whispered into Misuko's ear. After 
that, he gave her a tiny peck on her cheek. 

	Suddenly, a voice yelled 'Rei-gun!' and the door splintered 
into pieces. Koenma released Misuko quickly in shock and turned to 
glare at the intruder. It was Yusuke Urameshi standing in place of 
the door, his hands poised as a gun.

	"Yeah... just right for a romantic moment..." muttered Koenma 
under his breath. *I hate him,* added Koenma mentally. 

	"Um... sorry for barging in at the wrong time. I burst in 
because I thought both of you were trapped in here as I can't find 
you guys anywhere else in this building. So I tried the doorknob, but 
it was locked so... er... I though George locked both of you in here. 
I decided to break the door open. Sorry again," stammered Yusuke as 
he tried to excuse himself quickly. He rubbed his eyes and looked 
again. Sure enough, Koenma was looking down at the floor while Misuko 
blushed fierily. 

	Both Koenma and Misuko forced a smile at Yusuke. Koenma got up 
and smiled at Yusuke. "What's the commotion all about? Is there 
something?" 

	"Actually, we are having a party in my room as some of you are 
going back to Ningenkai tomorrow. Are you guys joining us?" invited 
Yusuke as Koenma stood before him.

	"Er... sorry, I guess both of us are not going. Say goodbye to 
the rest for me," answered Koenma, giving Yusuke a pat on his 
shoulder. 

	"Alright, have fun!" said Yusuke as he gave both of them a wink 
before sprinting off towards the elevator. Koenma and Misuko's eyes 
trailed the lithe figure as it retreated to the elevator at the far 
end of the long hallway. 

	"I guess I'll have to try to employ a handyman around here," 
sighed Koenma as he studied the remains of the door hanging weakly on 
one hinge... 

--------------------------------------------------------------------
	"They are not coming," announced Yusuke as he burst into the 
noisy and brightly lit room.

	Keiko and Yukina were watching some kind of television program 
over in the middle of the room. Soccer, probably, as Keiko was 
cheering for her favorite team and screaming out loud when someone 
scored a goal. Hiei was sitting by the windowsill, holding a can of 
beer and drinking away recklessly, many thanks to Yusuke whom handed 
Hiei half a dozen of cans. Botan, Kuwabara, Arisa and Kurama were 
playing poker around the living table. All of them were also drinking 
heavily, except Botan, who was allergic to beer.

	"Urameshi! Come and join us! I won't let you win this time!" 
shouted Kuwabara as he saw Yusuke in the room.

	Yusuke nodded and walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a 
dozen cans of beer. He walked to the little group playing poker and 
set the cans down on the table.

	"C'mon, let's start a new game! Whoever loses, will have to 
drink half a can of beer at a time as penalty," announced Yusuke as 
he sat down on the carpeted floor with them. 

	"Yes! I can't drink legally in Ningenkai, so I'll drink 
here..." cheered Arisa. 

	Everybody cheered and Yusuke began shuffling the cards. 
Obviously, everybody was celebrating and having fun to the fullest. 

	"Where's Koenma and Misuko?" asked Kuwabara.

	"Oh, they are having a time of their lives right now in 
Koenma's office," answered Yusuke as he dealt each with a card.

	"Misuko and Koenma? How do you know that? Yusuke-kun, don't 
tell me that they were doing that in front of you!" scolded Arisa, 
sticking out her tongue at Yusuke.

	"Not that I purposely wanted to see, but since you guys 
insisted on wanting Koenma and Misuko here, I went to call them 
down just now. When I looked in Koenma's and Misuko's room 
respectively, there was no one in. I thought they might be still in 
the office. I took the elevator and went down. When I reached 
Koenma's office, the lights were still on, but when I tried the door, 
it's locked. Suddenly, I heard some scraping sounds and I thought 
they might be trapped inside. I didn't bother to find the keys so I 
used my Rei-gun to blast the door apart," explained Yusuke in detail, 
repeating what he had actually done just now.

	At this point, Arisa's eyes widen in mock horror. "So what 
happened?" asked Arisa. The rest also gathered even more closely to 
listen to Yusuke.

	"Guess what? I saw them hugging each other... Misuko was 
holding some type of jewelry..." Yusuke burst out laughing as he 
described the awkward scene.

	"What a couple..." commented Kurama as he played around with 
a deck of playing cards he had taken from Yusuke. 

	"Speaking of Misuko, she isn't as soft as we thought she was, 
you know," said Kuwabara suddenly. 

	"How do you know?" challenged back Arisa. "I know I'm the 
rougher one, but not my cousin. She is the wishy-washy type of girl." 

	"Well, I'm just giving my own opinion. You guys should have 
seen how she captured Koenma-sama's heart..." explained Kuwabara 
cheekily. 

	Everybody oohed and aahed until Arisa announced that she 
wanted to start playing poker now.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

	Three hours passed...  

	"I can't believe I lost again... I don't usually lose a lot... 
What bad luck!" grumbled Arisa as she set her cards down and 
finished off her twelfth can of beer since the game began. Most 
probably her twentieth since the party started. Her eyesight was also 
going slightly hazy. 

	"My situation is about the same as yours. I have lost about 20 
times out of 50 games so far," interrupted Kurama as he set down his 
cards to be shuffled by Kuwabara after being shoved a can of beer by 
Yusuke. 

	"Give me a five!" yelled Arisa, raising a opened palm to 
Kurama. Kurama returned the high five.

	"Arisa, the day after tomorrow would be the orientation day... 
So to which class would you be going?" asked Kurama.

	"Class 6A. Which class are you going to?" asked Arisa in 
return.

	"Your turn, Kurama," reminded Kuwabara and gave Kurama a slight 
punch on his right arm.

	"Yeah," said Kurama as he put out a few cards. Then, he turned 
back to Arisa.

	"6A too. Why don't we sit next to each other? At least we could 
exchange ideas about class work," invited Kurama... At least when it 
came to missions they would have nothing to hide from each other. 

	"Yeah, sure. If I don't sit with you, I would have to sit with 
some other geeky guy... I can't believe I'm in the first year of 
Sixth form..." replied Arisa, secretly pleased with his suggestion. 
Well, he was cute in a way... 

	"Hey! Why, I lost again!" yelled Kurama, slamming his cards 
down on the table.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

	Another hour passed by. Both Kurama and Arisa were taking 
turns to gulp down huge amounts of liquor. The clock sounded twelve 
times, marking it was midnight now. Both Arisa and Kurama's faces 
had turned into a slight shade of red. What unluckiness... It was 
said that if you could win 20 games straight then you could lose 20 
game straight too... 

	*Owww... I feel very happy now... All my troubles and worries 
are gone! Hiei's gone! All the pain is gone!* thought Kurama dizzily 
and he looked at his cards. The spades were starting to look like 
clubs while the hearts were slowly contorted into rounded shapes of 
red. 

	"Enough, I think that's all for now," said Yusuke as he saw 
Kurama and Arisa weren't in very good shape now. He put down his 
cards slowly on the table. 

	"No! I want to play some more," answered Arisa as she picked 
up her cards and began shuffling. She dealt each a few cards and took 
a peek at her cards.

	"Great! I lost again!" said Kurama as he put down his cards, 
also half drunk now. *Yes! I feel so light and airy... I wanna get 
drunk... I could forget about Hiei this way! Drink more!* commanded 
Kurama mentally. 

	"Okay, I'm not playing anymore," announced Arisa as she tried 
to get up. She reached a hand to balance herself but fell back on the 
sofa, obviously also drunk. Keiko immediately rushed over.

	"Arisa-san, you're drunk! Let me help you to your room," said 
Keiko as she tried to help Arisa stand up properly.

	"No, I'm not drunk!" protested Arisa, giving a few small 
hiccups, even though she was really drunk. She tried to stand up 
again, but with no avail. 

	Arisa giggled a little and looking right up at the ceiling. "I 
see there are a lot of fireflies flying around! I love fireflies!" 
said Arisa happily as Keiko tried to pull her up. 

	Kurama, meanwhile, was also trying to stand up. He put a hand 
up to clear his dizziness. At last, he managed to balance himself. 
He stumbled over to Arisa.

	"Let me take her back to her room, besides I'm also going back 
to my room... She shares the same room with Misuko-san too, right?" 
offered Kurama to Keiko.

	"Can you handle her?" asked Keiko in a worried tone.

	"Yeah, no problem..." answered Kurama simply as he lifted up 
Arisa. He put Arisa's arm around his own shoulder and put a hand 
around her waist. Both of them began their way back to their rooms.

	The rest looked on as the pair teeered from left to right and 
from right to left dangerously but always seemed to regain their 
balance at the last second. In fact, they even did a few pirouettes 
and turns along the dimly lit corridor. The rest locked their eyes on  
them and stifled outbursts of laughter. All of them looked stunned, 
actually.

	"Are you sure they will be alright?" asked Keiko worriedly. 
"They might get hurt, you know." 

	"Guess so. Drunk people can take care of themselves properly," 
answered Yusuke simply. 

	"They are a cute couple like that," said Botan as she began 
dealing the cards for a new game. Okay, this time without liquor. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Watch it!" yelled Kurama as the door burst open, but it was 
too late. Both of them fell face first into Arisa's room. Arisa 
answered slowly, "Huh?"

	"Ouch! That hurts. Get up, Arisa..." said Kurama slowly as he 
rubbed the bridge of his nose. Arisa was all sprawled out and 
practically sleeping on the floor. Kurama sighed and drooped his 
head, lying on the floor too. "Hee..." hiccuped Kurama and placed a 
hand languidly on Arisa's shoulder. "Get up!" commanded Kurama to 
Arisa and he got up. Almost sleepily, he dragged Arisa by her arms to 
the bed.

	*She's heavy. A lot heavier than Hiei...* Kurama grumbled to 
himself.

	At last, he managed to get Arisa up the bed. He took off her 
sandals and threw them on the floor below. Arisa lay in the bed, 
giving off little giggles now and then. 

	Suddenly, a wave of dizziness struck him and he blindly rested 
his head on Arisa's bare legs. He heaved up his head and buried his 
face in his hands. He had never been this drunk before. He took a 
look at Arisa's face and admired it. In fact, Arisa was very 
beautiful indeed, about as pretty as Misuko, although in a very 
different manner. Now, her eyes were closed shut and her face was 
slightly shaded by the dim moonlight that flooded the room. Her head 
of shoulder length jet black hair was tousled and it framed her face 
perfectly. A blush colored her face, turning her cheeks a slight 
shade of pink. Kurama had heard from his friends in another class 
that although Arisa was beautiful as a rose, she could be fierce as a 
tigress. 

	"Hehe... What can be fiercer than a fire dragon?" yelled out 
Kurama aloud. *Hiei... Hiei... Why? Don't you how much I want you?* 
Kurama laughed. He laughed a very bitter laugh and rested his head on 
the bed. 

	She was mumbling something. Kurama unconsciously put a ear near 
Arisa's mouth. *What is she trying to say?* 

	"Kurama... do... love..." was all he could hear. "Huh? Why is 
my name there?" asked Kurama emptily. 

	Kurama instantly put up his head. He pressed closer to Arisa's 
mouth. This time, he heard it clearly.

	"Kurama, do you know how much I love you?" said Arisa in her 
mindless talk. Kurama gasped slightly, his head still dizzy from the 
alcohol just now.

	Kurama got onto the bed and fell on top of Arisa. He could 
catch her eyes opening a little... 

	"Arisa, do you really love me?" asked Kurama, his eyesight was 
slowly focusing better. Arisa took a sigh and smiled. Obviously, she 
was still drunk. 

	Arisa mumbled something which sounded like 'yes', then her head 
rolled to another side. Kurama, hearing a definite yes, leaned down and 
gave her a soft kiss. Arisa responded a little by kissing back 
softly. He leaned down again, this time he started unbuttoning 
Arisa's polo shirt and pulling it over her head. He began working on 
his own shirt too. For a start, he gave Arisa a deep kiss on her lips 
and Arisa responded, more than the first time. Kurama managed to grab 
a piece of cloth somewhere and tied it around Arisa's eyes. 

	"I think you would like being blindfolded..." laughed Kurama 
languidly and resumed kissing her. 

	Kurama pulled off and whispered into Arisa's ear. "You will be 
the only woman in my life, I promise. As Shuiichi Minamino and 
Kurama, my heart belongs to you now. I shall love you always and 
forever." After he make his declaration, he laughed even louder. 

	*See, Hiei? I don't need you anymore. I have Arisa. She loves 
me and I love her. She wants me, not like you who shoves me away,* 
thought Kurama aimlessly as he closed his eyes for a while. He opened 
his eyes and began stroking her bare arms. 

	*Gosh... Why am I getting dizzy again?* mumbled Kurama as he 
rubbed his eyes. 

	Arisa, who was half unconscious, barely felt a cool draft on 
her bare skin. "Kurama, Kurama..." she mumbled continuously, in her 
dreams. 

	Kurama finished undoing all the buttons on his own shirt and 
tore it off. He began undressing himself and Arisa together. He threw 
all of his and Arisa's clothes on the floor. Kurama was about to kiss 
her again when he looked up suddenly. He reached out a hand to knock 
out his dizziness and stared at the window. He drew the curtains 
across the windowsill clumsily, thus throwing the whole room into 
pitch black. Kurama found the comforter and threw it over both of 
them. Slowly, he bent down to kiss her passionately...

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	It was five in the morning and it was still pitch black 
outside. Kurama got up silently, careful not to wake up Arisa who was 
still sleeping soundly there. With a flick of his wrist, he tore off 
the blindfold. He stood on the floor and knelt down. He began picking 
out his clothes from the mixed-up bundle. He glanced at Arisa 
briefly, his heart already sorrowful and sore from the guilt he 
suffered now... No, it couldn't be... Kurama bit his lower lip sadly 
and closed his eyes for a moment. He really didn't mean to do this to 
Arisa. 

	Almost after an eternity, Kurama began dressing, and dressed 
Arisa too. *Still sleeping so sweetly... Please... please don't let 
her know what terrible thing I've done to her tonight...* prayed 
Kurama silently. 

	Kurama gave Arisa a soft peck on the cheek and produced a red 
rose. He stuck it into a vase on the bedside table. Kurama took one 
last glance at the sleeping figure.

	"Sorry..." was all he could say before he walked out quickly 
and closed the door silently behind him. Guilt and remorse trailed 
him endlessly into the softly lit corridor. It was a mistake. 

	A serious mistake. 

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Copyright reserved 1998 W. Siew Lee

All standard Yu Yu Hakusho disclaimers apply to this fanfic. 

E-mail: Siew Lee <wsiewlee@tm.net.my>
URL: http://members.xoom.com/hiei 
UIN: #14025577  

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