by Akuma
 
 
 

          I race through the Makai forest, leaping awkwardly over logs and underbrush. It's a wonder I haven't stumbled and broken my stupid neck--or been poisoned, eaten, or otherwise mangled by the vegetation. I won't slow down, though! This is way too important. I can't risk him getting away!
          I've had spies looking for him for almost twenty-three years now, and of course I've been looking, myself. And it's finally paid off. I've found him! At least, if he's still at his last reported location...
          A dark figure flits through the trees ahead of me. Probably cleaning up his camp. "Hiei!" I shout. "Don't you move!" The figure freezes dead, and I know I've got him. I run the last few yards and half-collapse against a tree.
          "What the hell do you want!?" he snarls at me.
          "Nice greeting, you half-pint bastard!" I reply. He scowls furiously and reaches for his sword. "Especially to somebody who's been lookin' for you for over two decades!"
          "Fuck off!"
          "Not until we've had a chance to talk," I tell him firmly.
          "I don't feel like talking," he replies flatly.
          "Tough shit." Silence reigns for a long moment. Hiei scowls darkly at me and turns away, folding his arms. He knows he doesn't stand a chance of running right now, but that damned stubborn streak of his is making him keep quiet. Fine by me. I've learned to play the patience game.
          "How...is Yukina?" he asks abruptly.
          "She's fine," I tell him. "She and Kuwabara have six kids, and the oldest pair are starting college in Ningenkai." I pause. "They're celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary next week. Wanna come to the party?"
          His fists are tightly clenched. I smirk, knowing he just wants to go rip Kuwabara in half--and also knowing the reasons he can't. My smile fades, and I say seriously, "Yukina knows you're her brother now."
          "You told her!?" Hiei demands of me, whirling. His eyes flash dangerously, and he advances on me. I lean nonchalantly against the tree and shake my head.
          "Mukuro did," I inform him. "When you'd been missing for a couple months, she came to find you." I watch his fists clench even tighter as he practically trembles with rage. I'm half-surprised he hasn't drawn his own blood yet. "She was usin' words I never heard before, and she let it slip to Yukina."
          Hiei demolishes a large tree with his fists. It looks like he's gotten more powerful in the past twenty-three years. I'd say he verges right on the edge of S-class, maybe a little over. I just hope he's got it under control--and it seems he does, because he stops after he finishes off that poor tree and calms himself down.
          "And...Kurama? How...is he?" he asks after several minutes of silence.
          My fists clench, as they always do when someone mentions...that name. "Dead," I say roughly. "Kurama's dead."
          "N-Nani!?" Hiei half-whispers, shocked. "Dead!? But..."
          "For twenty-three years," I tell him harshly. The memory is seared into my mind--I wish I could forget, but at the same time, I'm terrified I will. I close my eyes as the memory comes rushing back.

          I could hear the sounds of battle ahead of me, and I felt Kurama's youki involved in it. I picked up my pace, even though I was already winded. I came around the corner just in time to see Kurama cut his opponent in half. I breathed a sigh of relief.
          Too soon, it turned out. Kurama fell. His youki flickered like a dying candle. My breath caught in my throat, and I raced to his side. "Kurama!" I yelled. "Kurama, hold on! I'll...I'll get Yukina!"
          "Iie..." he gasped. I fell to my knees and gathered him up. "There's not enough--time." I tried to get him to stop talking, and he clutched at my shirt. "Yuusuke...please, listen..." The intensity in his eyes grabbed at me, stilled my objections. "Please...find Hiei...tell him I said--he's done nothing--to be ashamed of...and to come home. Please..."
          "H...Hai," I choked out. "I will. I swear."
          He laughed then. It was a breathless, weak imitation of his usual joyful laugh. "At least...I got him as--good as...he got me..."
          "Yeah," I agreed, biting my lower lip. His youki was fading away. The light in his eyes was dimming. And there wasn't one damned thing I could do about it.
          He smiled at me. "Yuusuke...thank you...for everything." He raised his blood-coated hand weakly and touched my face gently. "You're...a better friend...than you know..." His voice faded away on his last word, leaving an empty shell of a body behind.
          If you've never held a friend while they die, don't. It fucking shits. Every time you try and remember them happy and alive, all you can do is remember that last moment...blood everywhere, more blood than I ever thought one body could hold, staining his clothes, streaking his skin, pooling on the ground so that I couldn't tell where his hair ended and the blood began...
          I gently scooped up his body; no way was I gonna leave it behind for the gutter trash to pick over! I dunno what I looked like, carrying a dead man in my arms, with blood on my cheek and staining my clothes, but nobody got in my way. I carried him all the way to Genkai-obaasan's temple.
          Everyone was there. Everyone except Koenma and Hiei, I mean. Even Botan was there. I remember the shocked and horrified looks on their faces, and I caught a glimpse of my own face reflected on--something. I can't remember what. My eyes were so wild and--and empty, I didn't realize it was actually me until much later.
          I vaguely remember falling to my knees, and somebody taking Kurama's body from me, and then it's all blank. Keiko has told me I broke the news to Kurama's family and told them he'd been in an accident, but that I wouldn't attend the memorial service.

          "I was there," I tell Hiei, my voice choked. "He took out the bastard who killed him, at least." I let out something that might pass for a laugh. "He was smiling when he died." My fists clenches tighter. That last brilliant, gentle smile he gave me has haunted me for years. I force my hands to relax. "He asked me to find you."
          "N...nani?" Hiei says. His voice is soft and full of pain, bewildered. I've never heard him speak like that before. Then again, I've never had to tell him his sister's married to his worst enemy and his best friend is dead before. I look over my shoulder and see him standing there, just staring at me.
          He looks like a little kid. A hurt, bewildered little kid. All those years ago, I used to wonder what Kurama saw that made him keep on carin' about the foul-tempered little runt. I guess now I know. All I ever saw was a brilliant fighter with a foul mouth, but Kurama's eyes were better.
          I take a deep breath. "He said . . . he said 'Tell him I said he's done nothing to be ashamed of, and to come home'," I blurt out. Hiei's face goes blank, and he turns away. I know what's up with that. "Kurama explained about that curse thing. He said you told him to leave, and he wouldn't go." Hiei's expression doesn't change. "Look, it ain't a big deal, okay? Yukina's kids--well, the girls--have all been like that up through puberty." Still no response. "Would you say something, already!?"
          "I've got things to do," he mutters sullenly and starts to walk away. I stare at him, clenching my fists angrily. But I've learned to control my temper; I'm no longer the same rash young kid who used his fists for everything. I learned a few tools that work even better sometimes.
          "Are you gonna make Yukina cry every day for the rest of her life?" I ask accusingly.
          "Nanda!?" he demands fiercely, spinning.
          "Every day since she found out you're her brother, Yukina's cried a tear for you. She's filled two jewel pouches already," I tell him seriously. "Kuwabara won't touch 'em--not even when he was unemployed for a year and they almost lost everything." Ha. Got him there. He looks absolutely shocked. "He says they belong to you, and he'll give 'em to you whenever you come home," I continue.
          The mask falls over Hiei's face again, and he starts walking away. "Iie," he says quietly.
          "Hiei!" I call. He freezes, then reaches for his sword as a ring of my men appear around us. "That's not an answer I'm going to accept." When he turns to glower at me, I lock my gaze with his. I'm not going to lose this fight. Hiei is coming back to Ningenkai with me. I can hear his fists clenching, see the fury in his eyes. I refuse to flinch.
          Finally, he gives in. An inch at a time. He's not happy about it, but I still outClass him, and he knows it. Not to mention he's outnumbered by about two hundred to one. I'd take him back in chains, if it was necessary, and I know he knows it. "C'mon," I say, turning to walk back the way I came.
          My guards fall into step as an honor guard around us. Hiei scowls--probably hoping he could make a break for it. I know better than that. This honor guard's escorting us all the way to the portal to Genkai-obaasan's temple.

          It's a cold, snowy day in Ningenkai. Yukina's outside, having a snowball fight with her youngest set of twins, her husband, and several others. In fact, as Hiei and I come through the portal, we're hit by about a dozen snowballs. I think it's worth it, though, to see the look on Hiei's face--stunned, shocked, indignant, and bewildered all at once. I snicker in my hand.
          "Oniisan!" Yukina shrieks, breaking the moment of silence. She darts over to Hiei and throws her arms around him. Hiei stumbles back a step, his arms instinctively rising and almost going around Yukina. Yukina buries her head in his shoulder. "You came back!"
          Hiei doesn't seem to know what to say or do. My snicker doesn't quite turn into outright laughter, but it definitely becomes audible. Hiei shoots me a deadly glare. I ignore it, as I suddenly find my arms full of daughter.
          "'Touchan!" I keep a surreptitious eye on Hiei as I greet my family. He looks pretty overwhelmed as his nieces and nephews swarm around him. Maybe I should've warned him about all the stories they've been fed...nah. That look was well worth it! I grin slightly.
          After greeting my family, I sober and straighten. There's something else I have to do. Keiko looks at me solemnly, then kisses my cheek gently. She takes the kids off and lets me go. She knows what I have to do.
          I walk down the hall and stop in front of a small room. I take a deep breath and square my shoulders, then open the door. I've never been in this room, not in twenty-tree years. It's...Kurama's shrine. Shiori-san gave it to Genkai-obaasan, so we could all visit it...
          I take another deep breath and step inside, sliding the door shut behind me. My memories threaten to overwhelm me for a moment. I feel tears pricking at my eyes. I swallow thickly. After a moment, I say softly, "Kurama...I don't know if you can hear me wherever you are, but..." I pause.
          "I kept my promise, Kurama," I continue. "Hiei's here...he's with Yukina and the others right now...you...you'd love to see it." I give a poor excuse for a laugh. "He looked pretty funny, y'know? When Yukina hugged him, I mean. He didn't have a clue what to do..." I have to stop again and swallow. "I finally see what you saw in him. I never knew...I guess I never looked. He's so lonely, isn't he? I..." I stop, not sure what to say. I sigh, running my fingers through my hair. "I swear, Kurama...I'll never let him be that way again. I--the whole family'll make sure of it. All of us. I promise...in your memory..."
          I fall silent, a couple tears rolling down my cheeks. I wipe them away impatiently with the back of my hand. I straighten and turn to go.
          Suddenly I feel like there's someone standing behind me, in front of the shrine. I'd swear that's Kurama's voice I hear, whispering, "Thank you..." to me--! I spin sharply. No one's there, but my eye falls on the picture of Kurama. He's smiling...the same smile he gave me before he died. I almost feel like smiling back.
          I leave the shrine to go back to the courtyard. As I close the door behind me, I do smile. No, Hiei's never gonna be alone again. He's got somebody lookin' out for him, always.
          And so do the rest of us.