Subject: [FFML] [fic] [yyh] [Shonen] Chapter 15: Death (Part 1)
From: "Abdiel" <gab_ab@edsamail.com.ph>
Date: 7/10/2004, 8:56 AM
To: "FFML" <ffml@anifics.com>


     "Good morning," said the fox.

     "Good morning," the little prince responded politely, although when
he turned around, he saw nothing.

     "I am right here," the voice said, "under the apple tree."

     "Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "You are very 
pretty to look at."

     "I am a fox," the fox said.

     "Come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "I am so 
unhappy."

     "I cannot play with you," the fox said. "I am not tamed."

     "Ah! Please excuse me," said the little prince. But, after some 
thought, he added, "What does that mean, 'tame'?"


(An excerpt from "Le Peti't Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery)




_________________________________________________



Shonen
A Yuyu Hakusho fic
By Chester Casta�eda
gab_ab@edsamail.com.ph
http://www.geocities.com/gabriel_abdiel/fanfiction.htm
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=814171
http://rakhal.com/florestica/abdiel 
http://www.geocities.com/ex_fuk/shonen 

The Death card in tarot could either be interpreted as 
finality or change. Or both.

A few more notes before proceeding:

< > indicates character thoughts
" " indicates character speech


_________________________________________________

Chapter 15: Death (Part 1)
_________________________________________________




     Youko Kurama heedlessly tore through the jaganshi's stomach as his 
Plant Claw fully manifested itself. "I've already used this technique
against Sensui Shinobu. It misfired then, but I doubt it would now.
After all, the difference between a Class-S and a Class-A is far from
negligible."

     Hiei harrumphed as he used his incredible speed to avoid Youko
Kurama's formidable Plant Claw, batting its deadly talons away from him
from time to time with his sealed weapon.

     There was a great difference between Hiei's furious speed and Youko 
Kurama's graceful swiftness... The youko was deadly accurate when he
attacked.

     There was a kick to the head here... a muscle-tearing slash to the
gut there... then a clawed stab to the chest in between the two attacks.
Youko Kurama exploited all of Hiei's openings. The reckless fire demon
was caught completely off-guard, unable to defend himself from any of
the demon fox's counterattacks.

     The koorime's blood was mercilessly spilled across the frost-
covered ground, staining the pristine snow. <If this keeps up, then...
Kurama will truly be my death.>

     Hiei actually contemplated this last thought for a while.

     "What are you doing?" Youko Kurama sneered as he backhanded the
dumbstruck Hiei on the cheek, the koorime recoiling several feet away in
pain.

     "Mada mada."

     "Hmmm? What was that?" the kitsune queried.

     Hiei's features were unreadable. "Not yet. Not quite yet."

     "We'll see." With that said, Youko Kurama pounced upon Hiei. The
jaganshi didn't even have the chance to exhale. 

     Hiei swung his wrapped blade towards the kitsune with all his
strength. Youko Kurama easily anticipated and caught the weapon with his
large, claw-like appendage. With his grip tight, the youko broke the
sword in one swift movement.

     The fire demon half-breed sneered. <My attack begins here.>

     With nothing left of the blade for the plasma-feeding plant to
cling to, Hiei's Jaou-En-Satsu Sword burst into new life. The koorime
quickly attacked with his weapon of black flame, intending to dismember
Youko Kurama's Plant Claw.

     The scarlet-haired fox chortled. "Don't be so sure of yourself," he
said as he effortlessly batted away the flaming sword. "The fire-eating
plant isn't my only weapon against your Jaou-En-Satsu--Ken."

     "Humph," was Hiei's response as he jettisoned himself towards
Kurama with renewed fervor.




***




     Yusuke quickly backed away from Chuuku as he examined the damage he
did to the undead one. As expected, the ghostly apparition didn't even
seem fazed by the sudden attack.

     Unexpectedly, a trail of blood began to flow underneath Chuuku's
lower lip, his left cheek bruised. 

     Yusuke smirked. "Feh. You're not so tough after all. You're
bleeding, dumb ass. Wipe your mouth."

     "Is that so?" Chuuku monotonously asked as he dabbed his finger on
the trail of blood, smearing it on his chin. Afterwards, he absently
licked the crimson fluid. "After all this time, I've forgotten how blood
tastes. Intriguing."

     A moment later, the sleek-haired boy realized that he was merely
looking at an afterimage of his nemesis. <...Shit!>

     Yusuke was barely able to evade Chuuku's strikes from the Mugen
Tou. Concern filled the young man's nonexistent heart... There was a
chance that the non-entity could get him in the long run if he didn't do 
something soon. <Fuck this,> the Reikai Tantei leader thought as he bit
the bullet.

     The teenager grit his teeth as he acrobatically somersaulted away
from Chuuku's direction. He reversed his momentum as he soon as he
landed, charging with his arms outstretched towards the ebony blade. As
he neared the deadly weapon, he skillfully grabbed it with the intention
of breaking it.

     To his surprise, the blade passed right through his hands.

     "The Infinity Sword is a weapon that can cut through anything that
is intangible... like flame, oxygen, and rei. Naturally, the weapon
itself is also intangible," Chuuku mechanically explicated.

     "...Which also means that it can't cut through anything that's not
like air! Like me, my flesh and bones for example!" Yusuke declared as
he swung his clenched fists wildly at his armor-clad foe.

     At that very moment, Yusuke noticed something strange... His
fingers, for some weird reason, felt rather cold, numb and clammy.

     "It was foolish of you to try and grab my sword."

     Yusuke's fists flayed pathetically at Chuuku. Even though the
undead one didn't bother to dodge, the half-demon's attacks were much
too weak to do any real damage.

     "What the--?!" Yusuke detailed, alarmed.

     "The blade had cut the flow of ki in your fingers. Because of this,
fighting with your fists is now useless," Chuuku explained evenly as he
calmly shifted and punched Yusuke in the gut. Several bones shattered
from the impact, causing the adolescent to lurch forward and cough
blood. Afterwards, the non-entity followed up his counter with a slash
at the errant detective's legs, effectively hindering his quarry's
escape.

     Even though the Mugen Tou merely passed through Yusuke's legs like
they were made of thin air... leaving neither a cut nor a slash... the
strike was enough to paralyze the limbs of the young Urameshi.

     Taking advantage of Yusuke's helpless state, the shadow man smacked
his open palm over the overzealous detective's face, drawing a burble of
blood from his opponent's broken nose. Chuuku lifted the hanyou up in
midair. "This is just like our fight in the old woman's dojo... isn't
it, Urameshi? But this time the old woman isn't here to save you."

     <Shit. He got me again,> Yusuke thought in despair.




***




     There was a glint of sadistic glee in the scarlet-haired boy's
curiously golden eyes. "Still with the parlor tricks, Jaganshi Hiei?"
The kitsune laughed blissfully as he countered Hiei's charge. 

     Hiei fell down in a boneless heap as Kurama's Plant Claw nearly
shredded him into ribbons, his burning sword of death not at all helping
him. <Dammit... _this_ Kurama doesn't hesitate at all. I can't use his
usual second-guessing to my advantage.>

     The jaganshi subsequently gnashed his teeth as he charged, razing
through the frigid ground with his flamethrower-like Jaou-En-Satsu--Ken.

     Consecutively, the demon fox Kurama also hurtled himself towards
his opponent, reacting to the assault in kind. 

     A resounding, gunshot-like blaze followed. The two combatants
parted ways in opposite directions as a crimson spray erupted between
them.

     Hiei struggled to breathe as he clutched the deep claw marks on his
side, his ribs exposed.

     "Wonderful," Youko Kurama whispered ecstatically as two of the
Plant Claw's fingers fell off, burning into ashes. "Still not enough,
though. Just a little more."

     "You talk too much," Hiei affirmed as he went into stance.

     "Is that so? You're right. I guess I do... Fancy that. I suppose
you'll just have to deal with it."

     Hiei snarled. "Shut your mouth. I don't give a damn."

     "Of course you don't." The golden-eyed Kurama let out a chuckle of
amusement. "You're so delightfully easy to read, jaganshi."

     Hiei lowered his eyes and lifted his fiery sword perpendicular to
his shoulders. Not a word passed through his lips as he waited for his
opponent's next move.

     "Do you know what happens to a fox that is tamed? What does a tamed
fox remind you of?" Kurama asked conversationally as he sauntered
towards the koorime's direction.

     Hiei growled once more. "I thought you'd be different from the 
dithering Kurama, but it seems that I was wrong. You're also spewing out 
nonsense." He estimated the distance between him and the kitsune and
promptly attacked with his blazing ethereal sword.

     Ignoring the fact that Hiei's fiery sword nearly disintegrated the
Plant Claw the last time they clashed, Kurama snatched and clutched the
burning weapon with what was left of his claw-like appendage.

     "A dog. That's what a tamed fox is. And such a noble creature... A
dog is loving, loyal, caring, obedient..." Kurama ranted as he clenched
the sword. Blisters quickly formed on his Plant Claw like leprosy. His
lips curved into a smirk as he eyed Hiei maniacally. "...Weak and
pathetic."

     "A dog is an animal that has no pride. He is a slave to his
master's whims. Just like the shadow man, he is a mere puppet," Kurama
vehemently spat as white, root-like tentacles began to surround his free
hand.

     "I will not allow myself to die like a dog!" Kurama ferociously
snarled as he fully manifested his second Plant Claw. He used it to
brutally impale the hapless koorime. "This is the only way I can get my
pride back."

     The black flames of the Jaou-En-Satsu--Ken died out as Hiei was
thrown to the ground like a rag doll.

     Kurama leisurely strolled towards the jaganshi's prone form. "Do
you understand? That's the reason why I fight. Now I will show you the
reason why your present efforts are mere parlor tricks to me and
therefore useless."

     "I've had about enough of you," Hiei grimly stated as he charged
with his broken katana. The kitsune reflexively caught the shattered
weapon with his left Plant Claw, only to realize moments later that it
was probably a mistake for him to do that.

     The Jaou-En-Satsu--Ken was once again manifested, its hungry black
flames blasting through the palm of the Plant Claw and, thusly, Kurama's
left hand like magma from a volcanic eruption. Yet instead of howling in
pain, the youko clutched the torch-like blade further. "Quit your little
parlor tricks. They insult me."

     The Plant Claw, along with what was left of Hiei's sword, exploded
in a conflagration of fire, metal, flesh and ash, tossing the koorime
and the kitsune away from each other. 

     Kurama dispassionately watched the remains of Hiei's broken sword
crumble into dust in his bloodied, punctured and badly burnt left hand.
He addressed the koorime, saying, "You should stop your own nonsense,
jaganshi. Give me my star's death. Kill this tamed fox and give him his
pride back."




***




     As Chuuku slowly tightened his grip on Yusuke's face, the Spirit
Detective chortled.

     "Are you going into shock? Panic? Hysteria? Why do you laugh?"
Chuuku questioned sullenly.

     "Botan said that if I don't get out of this alive, she'll ferry my
soul straight to hell," the raven-haired boy managed to mumble, despite
his shattered nose that made it difficult for him to breathe. He filled
his anesthetized fists with rei, the numbness in his hands subsiding.

     "Y'know what? I don't want to go to hell."

     Yusuke grabbed Chuuku's right hand, twisting it and shoving the
ethereal blade it was holding into the shadow man's head.

     The Mugen Tou went from under Chuuku's jaw to all the way through
his left temple, protruding like a lobotomizing instrument. The attack
effectively disabled the soulless one and his grip on the errant Reikai
Tantei.

     "How'd you like that, faerie? What applies to me applies to you
too. I've used your own weapon against you. So how'd you like having
_that_ jammed in your head?"

     "It's a very interesting feeling, for sure," Chuuku petulantly
admitted as he gingerly pulled the long weapon out of his head. At that
moment, a web of cracks started to form around the undead one's dismal
face, startling his opponent. Chuuku almost smirked.

     "What the fuck happened to your face?" Yusuke whispered as he
stared at the non-entity's features in unsure revulsion.

     "Of course the Mugen Tou can affect me the same way it affects you.
This sword... this void that I can manipulate in a variety of ways...
was what I used to shatter my soul, the same way that Asuka's--" Chuuku
paused momentarily before he continued. "This emptiness broke my soul,
my freedom... and my will. Now I will use it to break yours."

     After noticing the hint of hesitance in Chuuku's voice, a small
part of Yusuke felt pity for the former prodigy. <Even though I don't
approve of his methods, Chuuku just wants to get his girl back. Who can
blame a guy for that? Even though he's got this gothic shtick going on,
he'd still do anything for that Asuka chick. If our positions were
reversed and I had to bring Kei--Hell, I'd do the exact same thing!
Well, not exactly, but still...>

     "Sorry, okama-san... Nothing personal. I've got to do this," Yusuke
said determinedly.

     A wave of a cloak later, the undead being was gone.

     Yusuke remembered something very, very important seconds later.
<Shit! My legs are still numb! I can't dodge!>

     Chuuku was upon the Spirit World Detective in an instant, his Mugen
Tou mere inches from the young man's neck.

     "Here's a little something I used against Sensui, but with a
twist!" the rambunctious teen announced before shouting, "REI-KOU-DAN!"

     Instead of aiming his clenched fist at the approaching specter,
Yusuke smashed his ki-powered knuckles on the ground, resulting in an
explosion that flung him nearly ten feet high in the air and kept his
eternally damned nemesis at bay.

     Looking down at Chuuku from his position in midair, Yusuke shouted,
"Double Barrel SHOT GUN!" as he swiftly descended towards the non-
entity's cracked and fractured face.

     "Mugen Tou... Nobiro," Chuuku stated. His Infinity Sword rapidly
extended itself in the same way its parent weapon, Kuwabara's Rei-Ken,
would, going straight for the Spirit Detective's chest.

     Yusuke winced as he plunged into the spear-like sword of emptiness.
Consequently, his left lung stopped functioning. "Chuuku...!" the spirit 
detective managed to shout in spite of his respiratory problems,
wheezing as he further descended towards the soulless one.

     Chuuku returned the Mugen Tou to its normal size as he prepared it
for a second strike. As Yusuke came upon him, he swung his sword in two
crisscrossing arcs, figuratively slicing through the hanyou's wrists and
cutting off the flow of ki from both his opponent's fists. Thusly, the
intended explosion from the Double Barrel Shot Gun merely became two
resonant thuds from a half-demon's impassioned offensive.

     But the resonant thuds were enough to further break Chuuku's
shattered visage.

     Yusuke painfully rolled away from his last attack as he desperately
tried to catch up with his breath. He concentrated hard to put the
feeling back in his legs and hands, but the current state of his lung
made things a bit difficult. 

     The reckless young lad stared at Chuuku, who was now covering his
battered, bleeding and shattered face with one hand. 

     "Well, well, well... it looks like it's my turn now."

     Yusuke wasn't completely sure, but he felt that something was
rather... amiss. "What was that, faerie?"

     "Faerie? Oh, please. Don't give me that," Chuuku derisively and
uncharacteristically said as he clawed and tore at his cracked and split
face. "I'm no faerie... I'm a man's man. And this man's man will show
you how a real man fights... Urameshi."

     From there, Yusuke Urameshi witnessed the unexpected.




***




     As Hiei watched Chuuku in the corner of his eye, he could almost
swear that the non-entity, who was presently the designated witness to
the current events, wasn't really 'there' during most of the battle.
<Humph. Is he going to just stand there?>

     "Are _you_ going to just stand there?" Youko Kurama derided after
reading the forbidden child's thoughts, adroitly swinging his remaining
Plant Claw at Hiei's seemingly motionless form. The sharp claws, for a
split-second, ripped through skin and flesh... Later on, it merely
grated at the snow-encrusted ground as the koorime became a mere
phantom.

     "More tricks? So you're a trickster now?" Kurama queried half-
jokingly, a mischievous yet deadly glint in his eyes. He let out a feral
smile.

     "Silly rabbit. Tricks are made only for children."

     The demon fox blocked the fire demon's oncoming fist with his
elongated artificial appendage, its distorted fingers enveloping most of
the diminutive youkai's arm. "Now let me pay you back for my left hand."
A sickening, wet crunch was heard afterwards.

     Ignoring pain, anguish, exhaustion and reason, Hiei let the Plant 
Claw mutilate his left arm as he moved in to strike the bastard Kurama's
self-assured face with his right fist repeatedly. He released his flurry
of blows like rounds from a gatling gun... Never ceasing, never ending,
without mercy. 

     The crimson-haired demon fox's head snapped back from the strength
of the jaganshi's unrelenting punches. He felt a molar loosen in his
mouth as each blow sent currents of mind-numbing pain to his head.

     <This is just like my fight with the half-demon...> Youko Kurama
noted amidst his agony. <But, like before, this isn't the star's death
that I demand. In real combat, if there is one technique that can bring
an enemy down, all others become useless.>

     "You're getting there... Try harder," Kurama managed to say as he
dexterously swung his head from side to side, avoiding several of the
koorime's strikes. Seeing an opportunity to counterattack, the former
Makai thief spat his blood-soaked tooth directly into the fire demon's
left eye, temporarily blinding and distracting the half-breed youkai.
Hiei yelped in surprise and anguish.

     Kurama grappled Hiei effortlessly, the demonic fox's eyes sadistic
and ruthless. "'Bleed for me,' Urameshi told me once... Do the same for
me, please?"

     Tightly gripping the slightly stunned Hiei by the arm, Youko
Kurama lifted the koorime up in midair. Pinpoints of red gently
splotched the cold, silken canvas of white that covered the ground as
the luckless jaganshi was brutally manhandled.

     Hiei was flung to the ground, crashing helplessly as bits of frost-
encrusted gravel and stone pelted him on the face. 

     No words were exchanged between the two opponents as Kurama pinned
Hiei down with his body. Time seemed to stand still for the inauspicious
pair as the youko aimed his Plant Claw's deadly talons at the koorime's 
surgically-made third eye.

     <Go ahead and gouge that damned jagan,> Hiei mentally dared,
perfectly aware of Youko Kurama's ability to read minds. <I've already
found what I'm looking for. I don't need a third eye anymore, and I
don't need the power of the Black Dragon either. I have no regrets...
I've got nothing to lose. Do it.> 

     "Oh really now?" Kurama's golden eyes seemed to sparkle impishly,
as if he was expecting something... interesting to happen right then and
there. "Are you really being honest with yourself, Jaganshi Hiei? Is
this how you want to die?" 

     "You've got it all wrong, as usual."

     Youko Kurama could only watch in amusement as black embers of flame
began to eat away his remaining Plant Claw.

     An earth-shattering explosion soon followed.




***




     Yusuke watched... _stared_... at Chuuku's broken visage in morbid
fascination.

     Before long, Chuuku's face fell to the ground like a brittle
earthen mask. Soon afterwards, the remains of the shadow man's head
followed, crumbling in the same vein of a ceramic mannequin's hollowed
head.

     <So I did it? I finally beat the faerie?>  

     Unfortunately, Chuuku's collapsing head showed something that
Yusuke didn't expect to see in a million years...

     "K-Kuwabara?!"

     ...Kuwabara's face in place of Chuuku's.

     It was horror beyond horrors indeed... or weirdness beyond weird.
In a surreal twist, it was actually Kuwabara, not Chuuku, whom Yusuke
was fighting all this time.

     Yusuke didn't know whether to point and laugh or stare dumbfounded
in confusion... He picked the second option, since the situation was a
bit too strange for him to find humorous.

     How could this be? What was going on? Those were the questions that
filled the half-demon boy's puzzled mind.

     The taller, fiery-haired boy merely stared back at Yusuke while
smiling a baleful yet distinctive grin. "Long time, no see... Urameshi.
How've you been?"

     "Kuwabara, you idiot! You let Chuuku possess you again!" Yusuke
concluded irritably. It made perfect sense, after all... It wasn't as if
Kuwabara intended to let Chuuku possess his body this time. "Now I have
to beat the shit out of you so that I can rid you of that damn faerie,"
the hanyou resolutely said, despite his heavy panting.

     Yusuke cursed under his breath. The early stages of his fight with
Chuuku had already taken their toll on his body, so he had to finish the
battle soon before he suffocated due to his difficulty in breathing.

     "Yeah, that's right. I'm Chuuku the bogeyman, evil incarnate
itself. Fear me," Kuwabara said before disappearing altogether in the
blink of an eye. He was upon Yusuke in an instant, immediately
anticipating the half-demon's almost automatic punching reflex by
crouching down on one knee.

     Taken by surprise by the sudden attack in the middle of a
conversation, Yusuke didn't react fast enough as he punched at thin air,
leaving himself wide open while Kuwabara sunk his stance low. In the
moment that the half-demon needed to steady himself, Kuwabara attacked
by punching the mighty Yusuke's groin with all his strength.

     A loose bunch of expletives soon followed as Yusuke heroically
gripped his crotch. Seeing his fellow detective's compromised position,
Kuwabara, in turn, grabbed Yusuke's head and repeatedly slammed it on
his knee.

     "You ASSHOLE! This isn't pro-wrestling!" Yusuke shouted as he
grasped Kuwabara by the hair and brusquely flung him towards the crypts.
The orange-haired boy crashed hard onto the concrete slabs.

     Recovering from the initial shock, Kuwabara dusted off the armored
garb and cloak that Chuuku 'left' him as he got up on his feet. He
straightened the goofy grin on his face, saying in a mockingly grave
voice, "You better 'exorcise' Chuuku out of me while you still can."

     Yusuke bewilderedly looked at his supposed adversary. "Kuwabara? Is
that really you?" he queried in deliberate slowness. Kuwabara's last
attack was definitely not something that Chuuku would attempt, Yusuke
surmised in his head.

     Kuwabara raised an eyebrow at Yusuke's statement. "Figured it out
already, eh? You're too fast for me, Urameshi."

     "You're talking shit!" Yusuke growled as he glowered. 

     "You noticed? Well, here's some more shit... Remember when I said
that I'll make you experience how it feels to be a loser? Well, today's
that day!" Kuwabara stated proudly. 

     "Fuck you. You always say that. Why the hell are you doing this?"
Yusuke demanded.

     Kuwabara shrugged. "Because I can? Because I want to? Because this
is an opportunity of a lifetime? Take your pick." 

     "Damn it, you're in my way! I don't have time for this! Kurama and
Hiei...!"

     "Screw them. They're now the least of your worries." 

     Yusuke had had enough of the inane conversation. Attacking with the
same 'faster than thought' speed that Kuwabara used on him earlier, the
half-demon swiftly moved in to strike down the curly-haired boy. 

     Kuwabara instinctively dashed forward while crouching in one smooth 
movement and delivered a massive right punch towards his rival's strike. 
Yusuke's fist simultaneously connected with Kuwabara's, resulting in a
shockwave that reverberated all over the cemetery. Finally, under the
recurring assault, the ground exploded, sending dozens of rocks and
hundreds of rock-strewn shards toward the Spirit World Detectives.

     When the dust cleared, the combatants found themselves flung
several feet away from each other. Yusuke struggled hard to get up
amidst his anguish, breathlessness and disbelief. 

     "Didn't expect that, did you? I'm hard to read, aren't I?" Kuwabara
smugly stated, cackling maniacally. "Do you understand now, Urameshi?
Chuuku's given me the power to kick ass."

     "Full of yourself, aren't you? Well, put your money where your
mouth is, Kuwabara," was Yusuke's straightforward response. 

     Chuckling to himself, Kuwabara poignantly added, "Tell me,
Urameshi... did you hold back on all the one hundred fifty-six times I
lost to you? 'Coz, y'know, holding back now won't be such a good idea."

     Yusuke smirked as he mumbled something to himself.

     "You still can't take me seriously, Urameshi? Well, let me wipe off
that smirk on your face. NITOURYU! Rei-Ken and Mugen Tou combination!"
As Kuwabara shouted the words, two swords appeared in each of his
hands... one as golden as the sun, the other as dark as night.

     "So you're really serious about this? Then come on," Yusuke
beckoned.




***




     The smell of blood and burnt flesh was in the air. Youko Kurama
took note of the cocktail of death as hungry black embers slowly began
to consume his flesh. Such was the power of the Rengoku Shou.

     <You offer yourself up, claiming to have nothing to lose yet you
still fight as if you have everything to lose. I won't even pretend to
understand the logic behind your actions. I only care for what you can
do for me. This nonsense isn't worthy of my attention. Give me my
glorious star's death!> Kurama telepathically avowed in a grandiose
manner, even though he himself appeared to be at Hiei's mercy and not
the other way around.

     Hiei passively looked at Kurama's crumpled form before he spoke. "I
have no regrets, and I have nothing to lose. Even without the jagan or
the Kokuryuha, I will choose to fight until I fall."
 
     "How sentimental... and melodramatic," Kurama rasped as he smirked.
The small fires on the kitsune's body had started to spread, threatening
to engulf him.

     "You're the sentimental fool. You want a glorious death? There's
nothing glorious about dying. Once you're dead, you're dead. It's that
simple."

     "Then stop complicating things already. Fight me with your full
power... the power that can destroy thousands with one fell swoop.
You'll find hitting me with anything less more difficult than you
think."

     "Go ahead and whine. A whipped dog can do little else." Flames of
darkness burst forth Hiei's good hand as he shouted, "Jaou-En-Satsu--
Rengoku Shou!"

     Kurama chortled as the off-white, bandage-like plant hybrid from
before instantaneously wrapped itself around his burnt and bleeding
body.

     Punch after fiery punch left little more than a faded burn mark on
the plant's fibrous surface. Hiei grunted in disgust and frustration.

     "You still remember this hybrid plant of mine, right? Well, your
Rengoku Shou has woken up more of its sleeping brothers. Like I said,
I've planted its seeds _everywhere_." The youko laughed as he eyed the
koorime playfully. "You do know what that means... ne, Jaganshi Hiei?" 

     Before Hiei could react, the sentient plasma-feeding plant rapidly 
fastened itself onto his flaming fist. The black flames quickly died out
as the half-breed plant ravenously absorbed the dark embers. 

     Kurama further smirked as he got up to his feet. He rubbed his
'bandaged' hands gleefully. "What are you going to do now, forbidden
child?" He afterwards unfurled a meter-long strip of the half-demon
plant.

     Hiei roared in desperate anger as he attempted to strike Kurama
down with his wrapped-up fist, plasma-feeding plants be damned.

     All traces of mischievousness in Kurama's golden eyes vanished as
soon as he wielded the crossbreed plant like his familiar weapon, the
Rose Whip.

     Pain quickly followed for the koorime.

     Hiei howled in agony as the kitsune repeatedly lashed him with the
fibrous plant hybrid, intentionally hitting and aggravating his various 
injuries. 

     "You have nothing to lose, eh? Then you have a meaningless life.
You do not desire a glorious death? Then I suppose a meaningless death
is enough for you. Here's your death match!" Youko Kurama avowed as he
wrapped and twisted the ribbon-like plant over Hiei's neck.

     The fire demon didn't even bother to struggle. 

     Silence followed... but it was merely the calm before the storm.

     A veritable inferno of black flames emerged from every pore of
Hiei's skin, scorching through everything in its path, including the
plasma-feeding plant wrapped around his neck and hand. Even Kurama's
makeshift 'mummification' of sorts was not enough to protect him from
the sheer intensity of the fire demon's burning youki.

     "And now for the critical moment..." Kurama sneeringly said just as
he was knocked away by the rupture of Hiei's demonic energy. 

     Shortly afterwards, hundreds of Kurama's Makai-Ningenkai Plant
half-breeds bloomed to life. These gauze-like creatures hungrily lapped
up the barrage of plasma just as they converged towards their
nourishment's source... Hiei. 

     "Will you sink or swim, jaganshi?"




***




     It was merely a memory, but it was a memory etched deep within the
recesses of his mind... It was a memory of the retreating form of a
sleek-haired youth.

     "Don't ever do that again, man! If you keep on threatening Urameshi
like that, he might kill you the next time!" his friend told him
earnestly, wincing at his appearance. He was given quite the sound
beating.

     "SHUT UP! I'm gonna fight him until I beat the living daylights out
of him! Do you hear me?!" he shouted back fervently and single-mindedly.
He didn't know it at the time, but he'd soon find his fights with Yusuke
Urameshi to be the best fights he ever had... bar none.

     "I never lost a fight until I met him... I will not give up to him
EVER!"




***




     "With these sort of circumstances you only have one more avenue for
attack," Youko Kurama said in an almost singsong voice, his golden eyes
glinting. "Enough with the parlor tricks. It's time for the climax."
 
     The sea of ribbon-like plants surrounded the black pyre that was
Hiei. Several of them were incinerated by the intensity of the flames,
but their sheer number soon put the odds of smothering the flaming
koorime into their favor.

     "The more intense the flames, the tighter the plant's grip on the
source of the flames," Kurama explained evenly as Hiei struggled against
the half-breed creatures. "With the amount and intensity of the flames
you're producing, you'll be veritably crushed by my half-demon plants."

     Hiei was far too preoccupied wrestling against the upsurge of taupe
to respond to the youko's articulations. All three of the jaganshi's
eyes widened as he was literally drowned by the pulsating mass of
fibrous plants.

     Moments later, there was only silence as each and every last ember
of Hiei's demonic fires were put out by the plasma-feeding flora.

     Kurama counted the seconds before hearing the phrase he so longed
to hear. <...Two. Three.>

     It was a phrase of certain death to many.

     "Jaou-En-Satsu--KOKURYUHA!"




***




     Yusuke idly waited for Kuwabara's next move as he carefully
controlled his breathing rate. His rei hadn't normalized yet, so his
left lung was still not functioning properly. <So you want to beat me,
huh? I'm not gonna go easy on you, of course.> 

     "COME HERE AND GET SOME, URAMESHI!" Kuwabara boisterously hollered
as he charged at Yusuke, his Rei-Ken extended like a long, glowing 
medieval lance.
 
     Yusuke easily anticipated the charge by leaping straight up into
the air as Kuwabara crashed hard into one of the crypts. "Jeez,
Kuwabara... you now got the power to 'kick ass' and this is the best
that you can come up with?" the Spirit Detective Leader derided just as
he landed. Snorting indignantly, he nimbly kicked the top half of a
nearby tombstone towards Kuwabara's direction. 

     "MMMPH! Ptooiee! You shut up or I'll make you shut up!" Kuwabara
screamed after extricating the concrete slab off his face. Afterwards,
he awkwardly sprinted towards Yusuke, swinging his Rei-Ken around wildly
in the hopes of getting close enough for a strike.

     <Feh. Just as long as he can't get close, he can't--> Yusuke halted
in mid-thought as he saw Kuwabara's myriad of cloaked and armored
afterimages materialize.

     Every split second that followed, Kuwabara attacked... and Yusuke
couldn't even catch sight of his strikes. It started off as little nicks
and scratches... After a short time, these grew into deeper cuts and
lesions.

     The raven-haired tantei was not amused by the turn of events. "Cut
the..." he paused for breath, "crap! Rei-Kou-Dan! Rei-Kou-Dan! REI-KOU-
DAN!" he roared amidst his panting.

     The multiple arcs of energy effortlessly blasted through many of
the phantasms, halting Kuwabara's momentum. That done, Yusuke bent his
knees, lowering his body by about half a foot, and charged forward.
"SHOT GUN!"

     A dozen or so fist-sized blasts of blue energy erupted from
Yusuke's punch, all aimed towards his reckless opponent.

     Kuwabara made a rather obscene gesture with his other hand as he
sliced and swatted each and every one of the energy balls with the Mugen
Tou, their rei dissipating into harmless heat and light.

     <Damn. Almost forgot about that black sword. So it can go through
anything solid and slice through anything that's not solid. Okay then... 
That means I better stay the hell away from it!> Yusuke assessed as he
weaved through the smashed sepulchers and tombstones while eyeing his
rambunctious nemesis warily. 

     "So you're using Chuuku's tricks now, eh? You must be real proud
of yourself, having to use his special faerie powers just so you can get
a chance to beat me," Yusuke taunted despite his growing fatigue and
breathing problems.

     "You're fighting _me_ now, not Chuuku... so I'm the one that's
gonna beat you. That's all that matters to me," Kuwabara stated as he
disappeared and reappeared in various directions. In a matter of
moments, Yusuke Urameshi was lacerated countless times enough for him to
look like he was scourged by a whip.

     Several thoughts came to Yusuke's mind as he defended himself the
best he could from Kuwabara's assault. Narrowing his eyes, he nodded 
affirmatively to himself. <Sounds like a plan.>




***




     A firestorm of black flames in the guise of demonic dragon spirits
emerged from the field of fibrous material. Since the gauze-like flora
could only feed upon plasma by means of smothering said plasma's fuel
source, they were helpless against the creatures of pure flame. They had
no solid fuel source to cling onto when it came to these Black Dragon
Spirits.
 
     Kurama chuckled gaily. "A youkai deserves to be killed by a youkai.
You have passed the test; you are worthy enough to give me my star's
death."

     Hiei gasped as he struggled against several hundred pounds of plant
fiber, unleashing all of his flame dragons towards one particular
target. 

     "KURAMA!!!" 

     "That's right... scream my name in an overly dramatic manner. We
have finally reached the climax, after all. I'm the horribly evil
villain to your heroic angst-ridden character... Now end my villainy and
make use of your ultimate magic trick that will directly be responsible
for my demise."

     Each dragon spirit crashed into Kurama one after the other,
engulfing the fox spirit trapped within a human body with flames from
the very depths of Makai.

     Several hundred strips of the voracious Makai-Ningenkai plant
hybrid strapped themselves all over Kurama's burning body in a futile
attempt to lap up the delicious black flames that surrounded him.
Binding the kitsune tightly, they threatened to unwittingly squash their
current supplier of plasma. In any case, they temporarily protected him
from the draconic blaze. 

     <Fascinating... I now have two alternatives for my star's death...
Death by the tightly compressing plant hybrid, or death by the
Kokuryuha.> The demon fox struggled for breath as he let out a small
chuckle. <Either way, it'll still be certain death.>

     The supposed safety that the crossbreed plant afforded Kurama was
ultimately for naught, seeing how its bandage-like strips eventually
burned up under the immense pressure of the Makai flames. The snowy
ground and leafless trees of the park were immediately disintegrated and
vaporized by the destructive power of the Kokuryuha. None could be
spared from the fiery onslaught... It was just the way Youko Kurama
wanted it.

     <Burn. Let me crash and burn. Let me die in a beautiful supernova
for that brief moment of glory. This is the best, most gorgeous 'death
scene' for me,> Kurama thought as he let himself get carried away by the
powerful flow of the Kokuryuha.

     Hiei could only look at the seemingly docile and submissive kitsune
in confusion, his mouth slightly agape. "What the hell are you doing,
fox?! This isn't over! Get up! Fight back! FIGHT BACK!" But the
koorime's demands fell on deaf ears.

     From there, Youko Kurama awaited oblivion. Unfortunately, oblivion
wasn't waiting for him then and there.

     Before Youko Kurama realized what was happening, Chuuku was already
behind him. The undead one's spectral void immediately reacted to the
oncoming barrage of flame, dilating as it redirected the black dragons
away from the youko and into its shadowy maw.

     "Checkmate."

     Youko Kurama was completely caught off-guard by the whispered
avowal... because he himself stated it.

     Or rather, Kurama himself stated it. 

     <Minamino Shuichi,> Youko Kurama mentally sneered in annoyance as
the supposed shadow man somehow kept the Kokuryuha, his "star's death",
at bay. <Remove this puppet of yours from my midst. He's delaying my-->

     Images began to flood the kitsune's mind... familiar, yet also
beyond his comprehension. Images became swirls of unintelligible color
and movement... It was not unlike an infant's first wake in the world as
it looked around in an altogether alien environment, trying to make
sense of it all.

     <Minamino Shuichi! What is happening to me... to us?!>

     <Because you've spent all our power fighting Hiei, neither of us
will be able to resist Chuuku's spirit vortex. In this half-dead state,
the process of absorbing our soul will be much quicker than before,>
Kurama elucidated equably.

     "It seems that the tamed fox has duped the wild fox this time,"
Chuuku droned robotically as he began to absorb into himself the soul of
a demon fox. 

     Youko Kurama narrowed his eyes in understanding. <I see.> He
smirked in acknowledgment. <Well played, my doppelganger. Fine. Do as
you wish... Let's see this 'death scene' you so desire.>
         
     A silken darkness draped over Kurama's subconscious.
     
     "It's finally done, Asuka."




***




     "Reikai NITOURYU HA!" Yusuke screamed with barely contained fervor
as he blasted Kuwabara with a magnified version of his Shot Gun
maneuver, sending a flurry of energy waves towards the armor-clad boy's 
direction.

     Kuwabara disdainfully snorted as he again cut and sliced through
the barrage of azure. "It doesn't matter how strong you pump those damn
ki-shots... As long as I can swat them away from me--"

     "Who the hell are you talking to?" Yusuke said, quickly appearing
beside Kuwabara while the armored adolescent continued to talk to thin
air while swatting spirit balls.

     "Ura--!" Kuwabara managed to squeak out as his mouth went agape in
surprise.

     <The Rei-Ken is a weaker weapon compared to Chuuku's black sword.
If I can keep Kuwabara from using the black sword on me, then all I have
to deal with is his Rei-Ken. Easy.>

     An explosion of volatile rei and debris rocked the whole graveyard.
A shower of pure spiritual energy hit Kuwabara's face in full force. 
Giving him no chance to recover, Yusuke followed through the ki-shower 
with another devastating Rei-Kou-Dan. 

     That was when Yusuke noticed the Rei-Ken headed straight for him.
Sidestepping in the nick of time, he managed to only get grazed by the
Spirit Sword instead of getting outright disemboweled.

     Unfortunately, the Spirit Detective failed to anticipate and dodge
Kuwabara's follow-up strike with the Mugen Tou at the same spot where
the Rei-Ken missed him. The plasma in Yusuke's half-demonic blood
dispersed upon contact with the dark sword, making the half-demon bleed
like a hemophiliac. Scarlet falls soon gushed from the shallow yet 
deadly wound of the compromised Urameshi.

     Subsequently, Kuwabara flung his erstwhile opponent away from him
by means of an extended Rei-Ken... his finishing touch to a detailed
offensive.

     Kuwabara smirked. "What do you think, Urameshi? We're now in the
same goddamned level. I ain't below the Warrior Food Chain no more.
Whatcha gonna do 'bout it?"

     Yusuke winced at the blur that was Kuwabara before he succumbed to 
momentary slumber. 




***




     "Kurama! KURAMA!" Hiei raged as he ripped through the remnants of
the half-demonic plant in a desperate attempt to stop his fellow youkai
from committing suicide. <He tricked me! He set up the whole fight just
so he could die by my Kokuryuha!>

     After finally getting through the field of organic bandages and
gauzes, Hiei was greeted by a scene he dreaded the most... Chuuku
sucking the life out of Kurama.

     "Puppet! Release Kurama! Jaou-En-Satsu--Kokuryuha!" Hiei hollered,
aiming all his remaining dragons of dark flame at the shadow man.

     If Chuuku had the capacity to snort derisively, he would have. The
black dragons were effortlessly absorbed by his spirit vortex as if they
were water to a kitchen drain.

     All except one.

     "Let go of Kurama's soul right this instant!" Hiei demanded once
more as he drew his sole remaining black dragon unto himself, letting it
possess his body.

     "Too slow, too late," Chuuku mechanically evaluated. "The kitsune's
soul has already been absorbed. His spirit is not in this plane of
existence anymore."

     Hiei practically bathed in the dark flames of the Demon World as
his anger rose to epic proportions. "If you don't let go of Kurama's
soul, then there won't even be a 'shattered sense of yourself' left when
I'm through with you."

     "Why?" Chuuku wondered out loud, as if Hiei's threats baffled him.
"Why should I do that? And why do this, koorime? Why save the kitsune
when he himself _wants_ to bring Minamino Shuichi back? Have you fallen
in love with him? Did you like the kiss he gave you a while back?"

     Hiei snarled, took a deep breath, and said, "Half of me died when
he kissed me that fateful day... so I'm already half-dead. I was
convinced then and there that he was truly going to be my death."

     Chuuku tilted his head curiously. "Did you just jest? It is
surreal to see you jest."

     "Humph. I don't take seriously anything that's insignificant. Now
bring me back Kurama. He and only he could be my death."




***




     Yusuke heard a voice... a voice that echoed in his mind.

     "You're not really that unpredictable when one figures out that the
reason no one can read your mind is because you usually don't use it in
the first place."  

     It was a stupid, insulting voice, apparently.

     "Shut up, you old hag!" Yusuke said irksomely to the familiar
voice. "I don't think about things. I know all about it on a gut level.
No need for thinkin'."

     The image of Genkai in Yusuke's mind smirked at the youth,
chuckling. "So what is your gut telling you now?"

     "Nobody beats up Urameshi Yusuke like a human punching bag using, 
of all things, Chuuku's powers! I won't stand for it!"

     Genkai snorted derisively at Yusuke's declaration. "Then you've 
already lost, fool."

     "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

     Genkai shook her head. "You couldn't take it... being beaten. You
just couldn't stand it. From your limited experience, you always _have_
to win every battle you fight... or, if and when you lose, you just
_have_ to stand up again to fight once more... to the very last drop of
your blood, even. There was just too much at stake at the time for you
to lose... You couldn't afford losing."  

     Yusuke thought for all of three seconds. "Your point being?"

     Genkai looked straight into Yusuke's eyes, the latter suddenly 
standing upright in attention.

     "Tell me... do you fight to win? Is winning your main reason for
fighting?"

     Those were simple questions, but they were also somewhat
complicated, in a sense. Yusuke was uncharacteristically silent for a
few moments before he replied, "I fight because I--"

     "Then fight because of that reason. Nothing more, nothing less.
That's the answer you're looking for."




***




     As Yusuke awoke, he suddenly laughed out loud... much to Kuwabara's 
chagrin. Soon, the half-demon was in stitches, rolling on the earthy
ground of the cemetery while he laughed his heart out, even with the
coughing fit he had afterwards. 

     "What the fuck's so funny?" Kuwabara ominously asked, enraged.

     "You are," Yusuke replied, chuckling while slightly coughing. "I
can't believe you've counted how many times you've lost to me, Kuwabara.

     "Humph. You're bringing that up _now_? While I'm kicking your ass?
Really now, Urameshi... You sound like a sore loser." 

     "One hundred and fifty-seven," Yusuke said.

     "WHAT?!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

     "You heard me. We haven't had a serious fight in ages... I think
it's about time you tallied another loss in your imaginary scorecard."

     "Feh. Tell that to me _after_ you've beaten me," Kuwabara scoffed.

     Yusuke guffawed. "It's practically done, I tell you."




***




     Hiei quickly whisked through the incinerated remains of the plant
hybrids as he went straight for Chuuku.

     "It's not as if you can do anything now. The kitsune's soul had
already left Minamino Shuichi's body. It's that simple," Chuuku
deadpanned as phantoms of himself literally appeared everywhere.

     Hiei blindly swung a flaming fist at the nearest apparition;
typically, his punch hit nothing but air, and the flames of his fist
were put out as soon as his strike was in the specter's vicinity.

     Chuuku grabbed Hiei by the koorime's torn and bleeding arm,
twisting it in a compromising position. "You're fighting with just one
good arm now? With various cuts, bruises and broken bones? How
illogical. You're in no condition to fight, and you know it. Give up."

     Hiei turned and punched the undead specter repeatedly in the same
manner he attacked Kurama earlier. Even without the Rengoku Shou's dark
fires, the attack should still be powerful enough to subdue Chuuku.

     It wasn't.

     Hiei's three eyes widened in understanding. <All this time, I
thought that he countered everything I used on him with his void and his
speed. But it's not that he's faster, he's actually...!>

     "I am nowhere and everywhere at the same time. I don't exist, yet I
still do," Chuuku said as he inadvertently relinquished his hold of Hiei
once he turned incorporeal. "I possess both the abilities of the living
and the dead. I live between two planes of existence and I can cross
over either one of them at my master's will." 

     <So that's how he was able to escape my physical attacks and
possess the bodies of people... He's half-ghost! He's invulnerable like
a ghost, but he can affect reality like a living being!> Hiei concluded
as he grit his teeth. <So how the hell do I beat him?>

     "This isn't the time to hesitate," Chuuku expressionlessly said as
a multitude of his apparitions savagely mauled Hiei. "This is what I
meant when I said, 'Heaven and hell for Asuka.' This is my heaven and
hell. Feel its fury." 

     "Bastard," Hiei spat out as phantom after phantom pummeled him into 
submission. The koorime seemed helpless against the broken spirit's
offensive. From the front, from behind, from the side... Chuuku's
specters attacked everywhere.

     But in reality, Hiei was completely unfazed by the elaborate
onslaught. The blows that rained on him were nothing more than a light
drizzle on his toughened skin. He clenched his bloodied fist. His arm,
which was broken by the Plant Claw a short time ago, was now completely
healed. This was the true power of the Kokuryuha possession technique.

     "Humph. Jaou-En-Satsu--Rengoku Shou!" Hiei grunted and howled as he
finally counterattacked. The powered-up Purgatory Wound exploded like
many-megaton bombs, destroying everything in its path... everything
except Chuuku.

     "It seems that this fight will end in a draw... I can't seem to
hurt you and you can't seem to hurt me," Chuuku droned as he absorbed
more of Hiei's blazing youki.

     "I don't like fights that end in a draw. It's one way or the other
for me... Win or die."

     "So you're going to kill me then? You're going to attempt to kill
someone who's already dead?" Chuuku questioned morosely.

     "If killing you twice is what I need to get the death match I want,
then so be it," Hiei resolutely stated as his eyes of darkness started
to open up all over his transmogrified green body. "I will go through
your heaven and hell for Kurama."




***




     "So what technique are you planning to use now? The Rei-Kou-Dan?
The Shot Gun? The Jyu-something-or-the-other? The Rei-Gan? Go ahead and
try. Try them all... and I'll stop them cold," Kuwabara glibly stated as
he posed dramatically. "This is my moment, Urameshi."

     Yusuke harrumphed as he gingerly rose to his feet. "Your 'moment',
eh? Then I'll give you the fight your 'moment' deserves!" The sleek-
haired boy became a blur as he renewed his assault.

     Kuwabara reacted in kind as dozens of his phantoms again appeared
and disappeared all over the cemetery. Strikes were met up with punches
as the two teenagers heatedly attacked each other like tigers out for
blood.

     Yusuke managed to stop Kuwabara's lightning fast Rei-Ken strikes
and impossible to block Mugen Tou slashes by parrying his opponent by
the forearms. That done, the half-demon proceeded to viciously head-butt
the fiery-haired boy repeatedly.

     Fighting against his sudden grogginess, Kuwabara dazedly swung his
Rei-Ken in desperate retaliation. 

     Yusuke deftly caught and broke the weapon in half. Gripping the
broken piece of spirit energy tightly, the half-demon unceremoniously
stabbed and ripped through Kuwabara's left calf.

     Kuwabara yowled in utter torment, tears streaming beneath his eyes. 

     Taking advantage of his chain mail armored rival's distraction,
Yusuke fired a point blank Rei-Gan at Kuwabara's right kneecap, busting
through the metal knee guard. 

     Yusuke quickly retreated a good distance away from Kuwabara,
avoiding the taller boy's expected counterattack with the outstretched
Mugen Tou.

     "Go ahead and try using your afterimage thingy now that both your
legs are out of commission. I dare you," Yusuke said in a smug, self-
congratulatory manner.

     It was now Kuwabara's turn to burst into inexplicable laughter. "I
don't need to." He laughed some more, even though it sounded a bit
forced with his present condition. 

     Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "Oh, let me guess. You've been holding
back all this time, and you're now going to pull something out of your
ass that'll miraculously put the battle in your favor... right?"

     Kuwabara grinned sinisterly as a golden rod with a unique energy 
signature formed in his right hand. "You have no idea... Jigen Tou."




***




     <Once the koorime fully manifests his true demonic form, he'll be 
able to summon even more of his black dragons,> Chuuku dispassionately
deduced as he neutrally walked towards his fearsome nemesis.

     Jaganshi Hiei exuded sweltering youki as he increased the dark
energy of the remaining black dragon within his body.

     Chuuku stared blankly at the Hiei's vaporous aura. <Urameshi Yusuke
proved to me that an excess of spirit energy is more than enough to
damage my constitution. The same can be said for excess demon energy. It
may prove fatal for me to absorb more of the koorime's Kokuryuha.
Drastic measures must be taken to ensure Minamino Shuichi's rebirth.>

     Just as Hiei was about to release a dozen more of his flame
dragons, Chuuku pointed his finger at the koorime while uttering two
simple yet distinct words. 

     "Mugen-Gan."

     A concentrated beam of darkness passed through Hiei's full jaganshi
form, debilitating him. He afterwards reverted to his normal form as he
collapsed. Two-thirds of his power dissipated as his remaining black
dragon died then and there. "...A copycat Rei-Gan!" he somehow blurted
out in disbelief.

     "That is more or less correct, except my Mugen-Gan makes use of the
negative force of my vortex. One concentrated shot is enough to destroy
every last wisp of youki in a demon's soul. The black dragon that
possessed you shielded you from my first shot. You won't be so lucky
with my second shot."

     Hiei struggled to get up to his feet. Unfortunately, his knees
buckled, the pressure of his own weight too much for his weakened state.
The half-breed cursed his apparent moment of weakness as his arm served
as his crutch to keep him from collapsing again... collapsing like a
helpless old man.

     Chuuku charged his forefinger with the negative force of his
spectral void once more. "This is your final warning. Stand down or
suffer the fate of Matsui Asuka."

     The fire demon's crimson eyes suddenly widened, his third, 
resplendent one giving acknowledgement to a chilling foreboding... a 
foreboding caused by his reminiscence of a stray memory. Hiei closed his
eyes while keeping his jagan open.

     "You trusted me with your life while you were in that filthy
human's clutches, right? Unconditionally?" Hiei heard himself ask.

     "Yes, I did," he heard her say.

     "Then give me that same trust now... I will be all right. I just
have something to resolve."

     "Y-you will be back, right?" 

     "Please... trust me."

     Hiei opened his crimson eyes again as the last statement echoed in
his mind. He pulled something from the side of his strap-on boots,
gingerly unwrapping the unknown object. His third eye shone a luminous
green as he narrowed his two other eyes. <It's all clear to me now,
Yukina.>

     From there, Hiei charged.

     "Mugen-Gan."




***




     No matter where or how Yusuke dodged, the Jigen Tou was sure to
slash him with the speed Kuwabara was swinging the ki-blade. Space and 
dimension were of no consequence to the Dimension Sword, and neither
was distance.

     Yusuke coarsely cursed under his breath. The Jigen Tou cut him
deeply and accurately. The distance of the strike was wholly up to
Kuwabara, and there was little the half-demon could do about it.

     "So you really _were_ holding back, huh?" Yusuke surmised as he
smiled wanly. "And now you're using your full power. That's good."  

     Kuwabara half-snorted and half-sneered. "So I suppose you're going
to tell me that you were also holding back and you're now going to use
your full power... Ain't that right, Urameshi?"

     "You're a dumb ass," Yusuke said in all bluntness. "Didn't you know
that I've never held back on you in any of our fights? That's the reason
you lost." 

     Kuwabara didn't quite know what to say to that.

     Yusuke grinned with reckless abandon. "One hundred percent of my
power all the way, Kuwabara. It's all or nothing."

     "Fine then. All or nothing."

     "Then we finally understand each other."

     Summoning up all his remaining strength from the very depths of his
soul, Yusuke began charging up not one, but two of his pointer fingers
with concentrated spiritual power. "Eat this, Kuwabara... RENSHYAA!"




***




To be Continued...


Next: Kurama's death, Shuichi's birth.

Note that I put in the title _Shonen_ not _Shonen-Ai_. Shonen-Ai 
(male-male relationship) and yaoi are just not my cup of tea. This 
is dedicated to Chimamire Kitsune for giving me the inspiration to 
write this fic... Wherever you are, this is for you.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) 
are the rightful property of Yoshishiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV 
and St. Pierrot. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

Ja ne!
Abdiel

_______________________________________
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