Disclaimer: YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.

For Blossomwitch, who convinced the plunnies that I wanted to write Mukuro shipping Hiei/Kurama (even if the HK is only implied and I still like Hiei/Mukuro and Yomi/Kurama).

To Adi: So very sorry, I got to Z before you did. (There's still G, Q, and U, though I have a G and Q planned…)

Zenith

His breathing gave him away.

No one save Hiei possessed the gall to simply stand in her throne room without announcing their business. But the quiet breathing sounded different, deeper inhales and larger lungs. An intruder, then, or a particularly naïve and foolish visitor; she wondered how long he had been standing there, suppressing his aura.

Mukuro looked up curiously. He remained silent and impassive, as pale as a wraith, and most likely had snuck in with equally ghostly ease. She smiled pleasantly, a hint of danger gracing it like the flash of her teeth.

"'The youko has returned, they cry,'" she mused. "Well, well. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Kurama, Yomi's military chief of staff?"

"I am not." He stood stiffly by the door, his voice hollow, as if he did not approve of the topic being brought up. "I haven't gone to see him yet. I came here first."

"Then I feel very honored indeed." The satisfied amusement perpetually coloring Mukuro's voice served for as much of a mask as the fox's own lack of emotion.

She waved a hand. "It's rude to stand there, you know. Are you going to come sit and join me? Or perhaps," she continued, "the one you really came to see is my own second-in-command."

Kurama nodded minutely.

"Ah, I see. Well, Hiei has not changed much since you last came to me. I'm sure he will be delighted to see you… in his own way. But of course," she challenged, "you remember him well enough to understand what he doesn't say."

He didn't rise to the bait, standing calmly at the door. The silver tail twitched—impatience, maybe, he didn't appear angry or upset.

Mukuro continued reasonably, "If you've come to visit Hiei, you ought to simply go see him. I don't keep such a tight leash on him that permission must be asked for my second-in-command to associate with acquaintances. But first, before you go, satisfy my curiosity. Why come now after all this time?"

"Minamino Shiori is dead," he replied simply. She had understood enough about the fox from Hiei and other sources to instantly realize the cause of his empty look. Not the youko's normal calculating coldness, then; grief, though he seemed nearly recovered now. "There was nothing left for me there."

"Which implies that something is lingering for you here."

He affirmed it with silence.

She laughed softly, for a moment losing the scornful tone, her smile unguarded. "Hiei hasn't forgotten. You tend to leave a lasting impression, Kurama. But then, it hasn't really been all that long, has it."

Silently hesitating as though he longed to speak but had nothing to say, the fox shifted his weight for a moment before he walked to the chair opposite her. He sat gracefully, laughing more loudly than Mukuro had.

Breaking down into chuckles, he shook his head. "No, it hasn't been, not for you and Hiei. And once, not for myself… but I am different now than I used to be. For me, it has been a very long time. Maybe," he murmured, "too long."

Mukuro raised an eyebrow. Sensing the shift in conversation, she straightened attentively in her chair.

Kurama glanced around the room, his face relaxed into a more natural expression. She remembered it from the end of the tournament, although it had looked slightly different on his human body. He shifted restlessly, and she wondered if he hadn't actually planned this when he arrived.

"I'll show you something," he offered after a few minutes. "I'm sure you can understand… you know quite well that a body is transient." Mukuro followed his glance to her armored limbs and nodded. "The soul is the constant, the truest form of a person."

He gestured to himself, his youko body. "Everyone believes that this is truest form, being the original one I wore. But really, this body is just an illusion. It's simply a side effect of my power; my soul remembers, and I can wear this body because I became strong enough to manifest it. The real body has been dead for a very long time.

"But the real form of my body is this."

Kurama shifted in the chair and stood up, inhaling sharply as the change took place and he switched forms.

A human male stood before Mukuro, old enough for his hair to whiten but not yet aged to the point of frailty. The expression in his eyes had not dulled, but the rest of him… she could not suppress a small frown of disgust. Demons tended not to survive very long after passing their prime and beginning to lose strength. Death came young and glorious, not withering. Those who did live were often looked down upon, pathetic beings as tired and worn as the one before her.

He smiled slightly, not offended, and gazed wistfully at his hands. "My soul is no longer solely that of the youko. It is melded with Shuuichi's now. I wonder," he mused, "when Shuuichi's body dies, if we will die with it." He met Mukuro's eyes, resigned but unbroken. "I do not believe there will be any escape this time."

Kurama transformed back into the fox demon under her shrewd gaze. His energy had not changed even as he grew older and weaker, but now she could identify that sickly undertone that had puzzled and intrigued her.

"Is it near?" she murmured.

"Staying in this form may slow the progress," Kurama continued as if he hadn't heard, "or that may simply be my false hope that drawing on the youko's energy will preserve my human form. But whichever it is, I am well aware that it will not halt anything."

He smiled sadly, focusing his gaze someplace distant. "How ironic, that even as I stand here at my zenith, I am dying."

Mukuro studied him with new eyes, a sudden frailty lent to his form where she had only seen the ethereal beauty before. "And what does Hiei think of… that?"

"Well, I suppose he accepted it a long time ago, didn't he," Kurama mused thoughtfully. "He told me once that my humanity would be the death of me. I suppose it's true."

"It's not very far off, is it." She rested her chin against her hand, fingers tapping against her cheek as she watched him.

The fox smiled helplessly. "No… but it isn't that close, either. Don't look at me like that, I don't need pity."

"I'm not pitying you," she objected. "I'm thinking of how repressed Hiei will be when you die. Ugh. Do you have any idea how impossible he'll be to deal with? And you won't even be around for me to yell at for it. I really ought to be pitying myself." But she smiled, a teasing glint in her eye.

He returned the smile, agreeing, "I am shameless. But it's still a while off yet. You ought to be more worried about Hiei's reaction."

"Oh, is that why you've been masking your energy since you came?"

Kurama smiled innocently. "Well, I did think I might surprise him…"

Mukuro waved her hand carelessly. "Go torment your lover, then. I can't imagine why you're still wasting time speaking to me."

He got up and strolled to the door, calling lightly over his shoulder as he left, "Because I still have time for pleasantries."

…
Owari
…

-Windswift