Kaku Ren Bo

Shiori smiled as they laid Kurama out on his bed. She gave Hiei a brief hug. "I'll be right back with some clean clothes and something to eat. I can hear your stomach growling from here."

Hiei gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you. Would you point me in the direction of the bathroom. Kurama's going to need some aspirin when he wakes up. He over did it."

"Of course. He keeps his pain meds in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom." Shiori kissed Kurama on the forehead before slipping out of the room.

Hiei sighed and stretched out next to Kurama. He let his hand fall into Kurama's hair, petting it as he slowly relaxed.

Kurama woke slowly with a groan. "Hiei?"

"We're safe. We're home." Hiei assured him quietly. He kept petting the red-head's hair. "Go back to sleep."

"Kay."

Shiori smiled from the doorway. "I doubt he'll wake again."

"When he does, it's going to be with a hell of a headache." Hiei murmured with a small smile. A sudden thought occured to him. "Shiori - I need you to tell your new son something."

"Okay."

"Tell him to stay away from Kaku Ren Bo."

Shiori blinked. "That's an urban legend."

"Not really."

Shiori's eyes widened with understanding. "That was your mission, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Please warn him away from the city." Hiei shook his head, fighting to stay awake. Shiori smiled and gently pulled the covers over Hiei and Kurama.

"Sleep, Hiei. Nothing is going to get you here." she said, brushing his hair back from his forehead and kissing it lightly.

Hiei wrinkled his nose at the gesture, but smiled nonetheless. "I know. I don't want him to wake up with a nightmare, and not be able to reach me right away."

Shiori nodded, and kissed Kurama's cheek. "All right. But you're the one explaining why you're exhausted when he wakes up."

Hiei laughed. "Deal."

As Shiori left, Kurama rolled over and snuggled into Hiei. Shiori closed the door just in time to hear Hiei mutter "I am not a stuffed animal, fox!" and almost choked on her laughter.

Hiei glared at the door but couldn't say anything. Kurama was warm and safe, and so was he, and it didn't take long for Hiei to doze off as well.

Shiori decided to leave Kurama's door open just a crack, enough to tell if he became restless during his nap. It made her feel better.

Shiori wandered down stairs and was not at all surprised to find Yusuke and Kuwabara camped out in the living room. She gave them a grin. "They're upstairs. Be quiet - they're asleep."

Yusuke gave her a small smile. "We're just making sure that they made it here okay. Neither of them were particularly steady when we left the case."

Shiori nodded. "There's the guest room if you two want to stay here tonight."

Kuwabara gave her a grateful smile. "We'd sure appreciate that, Miss Shiori."

Shiori laughed. "Kuwabara, with as much time as you spend here, you can stop with the 'Miss.'" she said with a grin.

"I can't help it." Kuwabara said with a grin. "Though that bed is starting to sound awesome."

"You know where it is."

Kuwabara nodded and walked up the stairs. Yusuke stayed with Shiori. He grinned. "So - Hiei tells me Kurama finally spilled the beans."

Shiori smiled. "He did."

"Does that mean you know everything about him?"

"Even his past, yes." Shiori sat on the couch. "I must admit, I was rather surprised when he told me. But still, who am I to judge? We've all done things we're not proud of."

Yusuke almost laughed. "I'm pretty sure Kurama's proud of his theiving skills." he sniggered.

Shiori laughed. "I'm sure he is - if some of the things he brings home are anything to go by."

Yusuke blinked. "Huh?"

Shiori grinned. "He's brought home things that I know he can't afford, such as diamond necklaces, and rings and such."

Yusuke cracked up. "He steals jewelry for you?"

"Yep. But don't go getting any ideas." Shiori warned playfully. "I don't want to have to bail you out of jail."

"Aw."

Yusuke grinned. "I'll bet I'm half as good as Kurama is."

"Which means you'll get caught twice as often." Shiori shot back.

"Oh - right in the heart! Man, you know how to kill a boy's pride, don't you?" he laughed.

"Yes I do." Shiori abruptly turned serious. "Was Kurama hurt?"

Yusuke sighed. "Not physically."

"Mentally?"

"I don't know how much I should tell you."

"Kurama tells me everything."

Yusuke snorted. "No offence, Shiori, but I doubt that. Kurama's private, and he loves you. He's going to protect you the only way he can now."

Hiei wandered downstairs, yawning and stretching as he went. He gave Yusuke a small smile as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Yusuke blinked. "Did Hiei just smile at me?"

"Yes, he did." Shiori grinned. "He's much nicer when he's just waking up."

"I heard that." Hiei muttered as he leaned against the doorframe, a glass of water in his hand. "I resent that."

"Well, you smiled at me! That's weird!"

Shiori ignored them. "How's Kurama doing?"

"Still sleeping. It won't surprise me for him to be out for quite some time." Hiei admitted. "He took a bit of a beating."

Yusuke snorted. "A bit?"

"Well, it wasn't like the thing physically hurt him." Hiei pointed out. "He's suffered through worse."

"And turned them into plant food." Yusuke grinned.

Hiei chuckled. "Yes, he did, and scared the hell out of us in the process."

Yusuke nodded. "Are you planning to go back upstairs?"

"Yes. I'm planning to doze back off. You should do the same, Detective. I have a feeling this isn't over." Hiei muttered.

Yusuke blinked. "What makes you say that?"

"It's just a feeling I have. I tend not to ignore my instincts, they've kept me alive this long."

"Yeah, I'm not ignoring your instincts." Yusuke muttered darkly. Hiei just ignored him and went back to Kurama's room. The fox watched him enter through slitted eyes, then calmly went back to sleep. Hiei grinned.

"What? Upset that your warm left?"

"I want my space heater." Kurama growled without ever opening his eyes. Hiei just laughed and climbed back into the bed.

Hiei cracked an eye and studied the room. He'd woken up to the sensation of being watched. His eyes narrowed when they landed on Koenma, who was sitting quietly in the corner. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting on all of you to wake up. I have something the four of you need to hear." Koenma said quietly.

Hiei eyed him before gently nudging Kurama. "Hey, Fox. I need you to wake up."

Kurama groaned and buried his head in the pillow. "I don't want to."

"You kind of have to." Hiei said, shaking Kurama's shoulder. "Apparently the toddler has something tell us."

Kurama only opened his eyes enough to glare at Koenma. "Whatever it is can wait until - "

"Suiichi is gone."

Suddenly Kurama was very much awake and suddenly not completely human. Gold eyes bored into Koenma. "What?"

Koenma suddenly looked like he would rather be anywhere but Kurama's room with nowhere to run. "Suiichi disappeared early this morning. Another group of seven went in, before you disconnected the other kids. He was one of them."

Kurama's eyes were wide. "No."

Hiei's eyes widened. "What?"

"I came here as soon as I found out." Koenma said, pressing himself into the corner of the room. Hiei glanced at Kurama before vanishing downstairs. Koenma could hear him yelling for Yusuke and Kuwabara.

The three of them reappeared in the room, Hiei dragging Kuwabara in by his shirt. Yusuke took one look at Kurama and rose his eyebrows.

"Who're we killing?"

"We have to go back to Kaku Ren Bo." Kurama bit out. "Now."

"Okay - why?" Kuwabara asked. "I thought we were done."

Kurama didn't even look in Kuwabara's direction. "My younger brother is one of the next seven. He went in as we were leaving."

Yusuke's eyes widned. "Oh, shit."

To everyone's surprise, Yusuke actually decided to be the voice of reason. "Kurama, you can't go."

"Why not?"

Yusuke shook his head and reached out to lightly push his shoulder. Kurama reacted, but not fast enough to stop the boy from shoving him back on the bed. "That's why. Sleep. We know the kids won't be in serious trouble for at least a week. They were just taken last night. Sleep. Get your strength back. We'll go after him in the morning."

"I can't! We have to find him!"

Hiei stood in front of Kurama so they were eye level. "If you won't listen to the Detective, listen to me. You are in no shape to go running through that city again. You almost burnt yourself out last night, and you need time to recover. We all do. If we were to go in there tonight, we would not be walking out. We must rest and gather our strength."

Kurama tried to stand, but Hiei's hand fell to his shoulder, pressing down. "Please, fox. Rest. I won't see you hurt because you're being reckless."

"That's my brother in there, Hiei."

"I know. But if the positions were reversed, and it was Yukina in there, you wouldn't let me go after her until my strength came back."

"Hiei - "

"Rest. For four hours. Then we'll go and get your brother."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Rest, for now."

Kurama trembled. "Hiei, I can't."

"I'll help you then." Hiei activated his Jagan and helped calm Kurama's mind enough for him to slip back asleep. He sighed and turned to the others. "He'll stay asleep for a while."

Kuwabara winced. "Whaddya do to him?"

"Nothing he didn't allow." Hiei bit out. "I don't make it a habit to piss Kurama off."

"Yeah, I know. Still kinda creepy."

Koenma gave Hiei a doubtful look. "Are you sure he should rest?"

"I'm positive. He'll rest for a few more hours, then we'll get his brother. Detective, could you do me a favor?" Hiei asked, flicking a glance in his direction.

Yusuke nodded. "Sure."

"Find out who convinced his brother to go into Kaku Ren Bo. We need to find out whether he did this on a dare or not." Hiei jerked his head at Kuwabara. "Take him with you. Between the two of you, you should be able to find out who it was faster."

Yusuke grinned and nodded. "Aye, aye, mon capitan!"

"Don't call me that. I'll gut you."

Yusuke lauged. "And that's the fire apparition we know and love."

Hiei gave him an exasperated look. "Get going!"

"I'm going, I'm going. C'mon, Kuwabara." Yusuke waved as they headed out the door. Hiei could hear Yusuke and Kuwabara saying bye to Shiori before the front door opened and closed behind them. He turned to Koenma.

"Was there something else you wanted?"

Koenma just shrugged. "I've never seen you so concerned about a human before."

"He's Kurama's brother. It's what he would want them to do."

"And that's another thing. Since when do you know Kurama well enough to know what he wants?" Koenma demanded. "Last time I checked, you care about no one. When did Kurama become so important?"

And that was when Shiori's mother instincts kicked in and she barged into the room. "Get out. These boys need their rest."

Koenma flinched. "Mrs. Minamino, I - "

"No. I said out." She pointed out the door. "Go. Before you wake my son up, and make me very angry."

Koenma left. Hiei's shoulders were shaking with the effort to not laugh.

Shiori shot Hiei a grin. "Hope you didn't mind me jumping in like that."

Hiei allowed the laugh he'd been stifling to cut loose. It took him a minute or two to get himself under control. He kept snickering as he spoke, though. "Of course not. It's not everyday that the prince of the underworld is scolded by a regular human woman."

Shiori laughed. "I assume that you're not going to let him live it down?"

"Oh, heck no. I'm going to be laughing at him about that until the day I die, and probably long afterward, too." Hiei said with a grin. "Kurama's gonna be pissed he missed it, though." he remarked, looking over his shoulder at the still sleeping fox.

Shiori pinned him with a look. "Is Suiichi really at that city?"

"If Koenma says he is, then yes." Hiei admitted. "As much as I hate the toddler, he wouldn't lie about something like this."

Shiori nodded. "I know what Kurama will do to protect Suiichi. Please, make sure he doesn't."

Hiei blinked. "Come again?"

"As much as I love Suiichi, I love Kurama more. He's my son, and so are you." She smiled faintly. "Make sure you both come back alive - whatever the cost." With that said, she turned and left the room.

Hiei watched her go. "I got to say it, fox - that woman would make a fine demon."

Hiei wandered over to the window, and settled, waiting on Kurama to wake up. In the mean time, he drew his sword, and began to clean it.

That's how Kurama found him a couple hours later, leaning against the window, sharpening the blade of his sword. Hiei's gaze flicked over to him. "You're awake."

Kurama yawned and sat up, nodding. "Yes." he rose an eyebrow at Hiei. "Preparing?"

"Something like that. It helps me think." Hiei said with a wry grin. "It's a bit like you when you tend your plants." he shrugged, sliding the sword back into its sheath. He rolled his shoulders and stood. "Are you ready to go?"

Kurama's eyes shifted, gold bleeding into the green. "Yes."

"Good. Come on - we don't have a lot of time before the game starts up again."

"Are Yusuke and Kuwabara coming with us?"

"Highly unlikely." Hiei said with a dry grin. "I gave them some busy work."

"Busy work?"

"I assumed you wouldn't want to have to babysit those two as well as save your brother."

Kurama nodded. "Thank you."

"Oh, and I feel I should mention something." Hiei turned his gaze fully on Kurama. "Shiori expressed an intense dislike of the idea of you getting yourself killed to save your stepbrother. She's rather us return in one piece without him than return in several pieces with him."

Kurama blinked. "That actually surprises me."

"It doesn't me. She's pack - he's not. It's as simple as that."

"Yes, but as a general rule, humans don't understand the concept of pack." Kurama went into his closet to change. When he returned, he was dressed in his more simple fighting gi. In his own words, peeling off three layers sucked even more when they were soaked in blood and sticking to the wound. Hiei had just laughed at him. He turned his attention to Hiei. "Let's go."

"Yep." With that they both left out the window.

Downstairs, Shiori listened to them leave. She looked up at the ceiling. "Koenma, if my children get hurt because of this, I'm coming after you."

Hiei tossed Kurama the fox mask they'd used last time they'd been in the city. Admittedly, they were bloodstained, but they were still usable. Hiei could feel the hackles on the back of his neck rising as they made into the square. A quick headcount came up with eight - the same number as last time. His gaze flicked to Kurama.

"Fox? Are you all right?"

"Yes. I don't see Suiichi anywhere. I suspect that he's already gone in and is already caught." Kurama mused.

Hiei looked around. "Do you think we can bypass the square altogether and just head for the center of the city?"

"I don't think so. Even you wouldn't be able to jump that high." Kurama said, jerking his head at the buildings. "And the game begins, let's get this over with."

Hiei nodded and fell into step with Kurama. They broke into a light run, passing the same statue they had last time. Hiei spared it a glance, and sped up. "I don't want to be around when it wakes up."

"Good idea. Let's get to the rooftops." Kurama said, jumping into the air, Hiei right behind him.

Hiei ran next to him, and gave him a look. "So, what do we do once we reach the city?"

"Depending on how many kids there are, we grab the kids and run, the hell with everything else. Once we're clear of the city, you burn it down. All of it."

"Consider it done yesterday." Hiei said, a slight grin twitching his mouth. "Though I have to say, the city isn't so scary the second go-round."