Last semester was brutal, but I'm out of class until late August. Please forgive this extremely late update.

I don't own Supernatural or Yu Yu Hakusho. This is strictly not for profit.

Chapter Ten: Drugged

It was an ordinary morning for the majority of the commuters at the Haneda International Airport, or rather it was until the former Spirit Detective and his team arrived. It was four in the morning and most of the travelers were business professionals who were used to a quiet pre-dawn flight with their ritual cup of coffee. This morning however, the peace was shattered by a rather boisterous verbal fight. Travelers were moving quickly around the group as it appeared that the altercation was escalating to something more physical.

"Are you sure that you can't just open a portal or something," Yusuke demanded. He clutched a beer can like it was a life line. The one great thing about airports is that you can find alcohol virtually any hour of the day.

"Yusuke," Botan hissed, "you're making a scene." The ferry girl's eyes darted back and forth nervously.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that the other commuters passing through the terminal were giving the couple a wide berth. Yusuke let out a frustrated sigh and rocked back on his heels. "Don't care Botan. Now can the BS, why can't you just open a portal!"

Botan's voice was shaky as she answered, "Koenma wouldn't go into detail. He said it would violate some old treaty King Enma set up with the Lord of the West. Physically, I could open a portal, but we don't want to start an inter-dimensional incident."

"Screw the old man in his treaties. Tell the toddler that I ain't gettin' on no stinkin' plane!" Yusuke frowned into his drink. Ever since his yokai heritage came to light, it had become harder and harder to get drunk. He glanced back towards the bar and wondered if he could convince the bartender to pour him something stronger.

Botan rolled her eyes and moved between Yusuke and the bar. "Because why should the 'Great Yusuke Urameshi' care about diplomacy? What is this really about Yusuke?"

Yusuke leaned forward and stared directly at Botan. "Botan it's sixteen hours from here to San Diego, sixteen."

Botan nodded. The reaper was well aware of how long the trip was, but failed to see the significance.

Yusuke realized he was going to have to spell it out for her and sighed. "Sixteen hours of just you, me, and Mr. Sunshine over there," he nodded towards the spot against the wall where Hiei, Genki, and Yukina stood waiting, "and a plane full of clueless humans."

Botan's cheerful expression faded and she struggled to swallow a dry lump in her throat. "Oh dear. The first crying baby or rude passenger…"

"Exactly," Yusuke nodded gravely. "And airport security won't allow him to take his katana on board, which will only serve to improve his mood."

"I think I need to call Koenma," Botan grabbed her communicator and began looking for someplace quiet. "Maybe it's not too late to send Kazuma instead."

Yusuke watched as Botan scurried off. He wasn't sure what outcome to hope for. Certainly Kuwabara's ramblings would be easier to deal with on the long flight to the States. At the same time, Yusuke thought he could understand why Hiei was so insistent on accompanying him on this mission. It would be better for everyone if Botan would just open a damn portal already.

He hoped for Kurama's sake that he was right about Hiei's intentions. Heaven knows, the fox deserved a little bit of happiness. Yusuke smiled as he thought of his own wedding six months ago. Botan had insisted on helping Keiko with the preparations and Koenma had actually footed the bill. The end result was a lot more fanfare than Yusuke would have liked, but ultimately gorgeous. Keiko's dress alone must have cost a small fortune and there were flowers everywhere. Yusuke knew Kurama must have had a hand in the latter. Through it all, Kurama had stood by Yusuke's side as his best man. But despite all of Yusuke's best efforts to get him a "hook up", Kurama politely declined every offer. Even when the band started playing at the reception, he refused to dance with anyone aside from Keiko and Shiori.

"Hey, hey! What's up?" Yusuke was jolted out of his reverie by a drunken slur to his right. Yusuke moved to swat away the drunk only to find…Hiei?

"What the fuck?" The sudden outburst turned even more heads of the morning commuters. Yusuke scanned the airport frantically for Botan and the rest of his friends. He quickly noticed Genki and Yukina moving purposefully towards him.

Genki pulled Hiei aside and left Yusuke alone with Yukina. "What's up, Hag?" Hiei slurred.

Yusuke watched Hiei and Genki depart with a look of complete disbelief. "What did...How did…" Yusuke stuttered at Yukina, truly at a loss for words.

Yukina smiled shyly. "Genki suggested that it might be better for everyone if Hiei mellowed for a little while. Is that alright? I'm sorry if—"

"You drugged him?"

Yukina nodded, "Is it alright?"

"Well, I'm really not looking forward to his reaction when he finally snaps out of it," Yusuke chuckled and sighed with relief. "But you may have just solved a lot of our problems. How long will it last?"

The ice maiden looked very sheepish as she replied. "About twelve hours. I'm sorry but it's the best I could do. He has such a high metabolism and I didn't want to risk overdosing him."

Four hours with a homicidal fire demon was a whole hell of a lot better than sixteen. "You did wonderfully Yukina. Now let's go find Botan. We have a plane to catch."

It didn't take Yusuke long to locate Botan. The ferry girl was already trotting across the concourse. Locking eyes with Yusuke, she soberly shook her head.

"Hic—Hey, pretty lady," Hiei called as she passed.

Botan dropped her compact communicator as she whirled to face Hiei. Her eyes were round like saucers as she incredulously stared at Hiei. "Yusuke, is Hiei…stoned?"

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"I see that angel left you with a souvenir," Hiei smirked and pointed to Kurama's neck.

Kurama reached up and was surprised to find the collar still around his neck. His eyebrows rose significantly and his fingers quickly fumbled for the catch.

"Let me see," Hiei commanded as he moved behind Kurama.

The fox obediently leaned down so Hiei could get a closer look. Hiei gathered up the scarlet mane with one hand and used the other to gently remove the offending collar. Kurama shuddered slightly at Hiei's touch. Intellectually, he knew that this man was not the one he loved, but right now his body had other ideas.

'That's what you get for denying your own desires for so long,' Youko commented smugly.

Kurama frowned and resolved to do better. He'd taken on some of the strongest yokai in the Makai; he would not be ruled by his hormones.

However, it seemed that the shudder had not gone unnoticed by Hiei. The fire demon stared at the fox's neck and took a few minutes longer than necessary to release Kurama's hair. When Hiei moved around to face Kurama again there was a look in his eyes that could only be described as lust.

Hiei subconsciously licked his lips before preparing to speak, but Kurama stopped him with a look. As tempting as this Hiei was, Kurama knew that all Hiei felt (all they both felt) was lust. To take Hiei up on any sort of offer would be a betrayal. It didn't matter if his Hiei ever found out; Kurama would know and he would never forgive himself.

Hiei picked up of Kurama's mood change even though no words had been exchanged. Turning the collar over in his hands, he asked, "Could I keep this?"

Kurama gave a mischievous smile. "I'd prefer that you burn it. But if you want to keep it, I won't stop you. Come on, we should catch up with the others."

Dean met up with Kurama and Hiei about halfway back to the bar where they left the vehicles. His clothing was disheveled and there was an impressive lump on his forehead, but at least he was finally upright. Kurama slowed his gait so that the hunter could keep pace. "Are you feeling any better?" Kurama asked politely.

Dean grimaced, "Nothing that beer and copious amounts of Tylenol won't cure." He rubbed the palm of his hand across his forehead and winced when his hand touched the bump. "What about you? You're really one of those spirit-fox-thingies?"

Kurama smirked, "Hiei, Yukina, and I are yokai. Can I presume that Bobby and Shizuru have told you what yokai are already?" Kurama eyed the Dean curiously, trying to gage his reaction.

Dean nodded slowly. "So after all the tests and headaches I put you through, why'd you save me? You know Sam and I hunt monsters for a living. Wouldn't you be better off letting us rot?"

Hiei bristled at the word "monster." His hand migrated to his sword and Kurama moved his hand to stop him from doing anything rash. Kurama met the hunter's eyes as he answered. "Perhaps, you should reconsider your definition of the word 'monster'."

Hiei made no attempt to draw his sword, but he didn't move his hand either. The fire demon let out another low growl while Kurama and Dean continued to stare each other down. Dean broke first; he chuckled as he lowered his gaze. "I suppose I deserve that. Truce?" he asked, holding out his hand.

The tension in Hiei's shoulders eased and Kurama figured that it was safe to release him. Kurama shook Dean's hand and smiled wryly, "Agreed."

Hiei watched the two for a moment. "I think I'm going to be sick. I'm going to find Yukina."

XxxLine BreakxxX

Kurama stood next to Sam as he watched the twins pile into the rented Corolla. The sun emerged from behind the clouds and the fox moaned quietly and moved his hand to shield his eyes. On Sam's opposite side, Dean mirrored Kurama's actions.

"Serves you two right," Sam chuckled.

Kurama glared at Sam and silently considered the consequences of tearing the younger hunter's throat out. After a night of drinking with Shizuru, he and Dean had the mother of all hangovers.

'I'm not entirely sure this Shizuru is human,' Youko moaned to Kurama. 'How can she drink three yokai under the table?'

After a few more minutes in deep conversation, Shizuru finally bade the Winchesters farewell and Bobby joined Kurama and the brothers on the porch. "Are you certain that you can't stay?" Kurama asked Shizuru.

The spirit detective put out her cigarette and answered, "No rest for the wicked. We've been gone too long already. A new yokai calling himself Windmaster Jinn is tearing apart the Tottori Prefecture."

Kurama frowned. "Be careful. I met Jinn during the Dark Tournament. Even our best fighter, Yusuke, was only able to fight him to a draw. Also, he wasn't known for working alone. Watch out for an ice apparition named Toya; he's not to be taken lightly."

Shizuru studied Kurama carefully, before nodding. "Thanks, we'll keep that in mind."

Later in the evening, Bobby drove Kurama to the airport in Sioux Falls to say goodbye to their friends. The old fox would have preferred to travel alone, but he wasn't licensed to drive in this dimension, much less the US.

While they awaited the arrival of the Spirit Detective Team's flight, Kurama shared everything he knew about Jinn and his team from the Dark Tournament. There was no telling how much this Windmaster and the Jinn Kurama knew had in common, but the fox hoped that his knowledge would give Koenma's team an advantage.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to join you?" Kurama asked and not for the first time.

"I'm positive," Shizuru answered. "If you set foot on Japanese soil, King Enma will have your head served up on a plate."

"I'm not the same person—"

Yukina cut Kurama off. "I somehow doubt that Enma will give you the time to explain. He's not exactly the 'forgive and forget' type. But by all means, you're welcome to come along and try. It should be fun to watch." The ice apparition's grin was positively feral.

The arrival of the team's flight was announced over the PA system cutting off any further arguments. Yukina and Shizuru said their goodbyes, but Hiei hung back.

Hiei urged the girls to go on ahead saying, "Go. I'll join you at the gate."

Bobby excused himself, promising to meet Kurama back at the truck.

"I'm glad I got this chance to meet you," Kurama told Hiei quietly.

"These angels sound like your best chance for a ride home," Hiei said. "Don't you have somebody waiting for you?"

Kurama leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on Hiei's forehead. "I hope so. Now go, before you miss your flight." Kurama turned and left the airport without looking back. He didn't want Hiei's last image of him to be filled with tears.

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I know. This chapter was a bit short. Please don't hurt me!

Chapter 11 (the next chapter) is presently 5,245 words and 14 pages long (and counting). It is also in desperate need of editing. Expect it in the next few days.