Hello again! I promised two new fics in one day and now I've delivered! This one is a Yusuke x Kurama x Hiei epic (of sorts), and boy do I have a roller coaster planned (at least, that's how I hope it'll read!). We're going the hurt/comfort route this time, but hopefully ending in the land of fluff-ish. You all should know by now it's never that simple. And, of course, lots of YusuKuraHi time, because the fandom needs more!

Warnings: This one's got a few. Mention of character death (in so far as the first chapter), lots o' sexual situations, light sexual trauma, mentions of suicide, and some general angst. I'll add warnings throughout as they become apparent, and try to give some heads ups piece by piece.

On to Chapter 1 of 20!

"The fuck."

Yusuke threw off his blankets with a frustrated kick, the offending articles landing in an untidy heap on the floor as he rose. Even though he'd only retired hours ago it felt like days since he'd moved, the uninhibited starlight that fell through scattered quartz circlets along the ceiling signaling that daybreak was still far off. He'd had enough of this place, enough of the quiet that came with it. He'd had enough of sitting idly, sleep be damned. Quietly, so not to rouse the others, the former detective pulled on his only pair of sweatpants and snuck through the open entryway, keen on getting out.

He didn't bother with the candles tucked in the hefty crate that was serving as his bedside table; the night was clear enough that he didn't need them. Also, the redhead had made it a point to hide the matches after one particular incident involving a fire and his long, Mazoku hair (he refused to believe that it was his fault - being a fire demon and all, Hiei should have known not to light one so close to him). Where he'd gotten matches in the first place was a mystery to him, as he was fairly certain none of them had the foresight to pack them before they'd begun their trek, but he knew better than to question it. There was a lot he didn't question when it came to their current situation, and as far as he was concerned that was definitely for the better.

His room wasn't at the end of the narrow hall, but it was further down than the other two's- meaning that he'd have to pass them if he wanted to go anywhere. It hadn't bothered him for the first few days, in fact he wouldn't have even noticed if not for the kitsune's little pep talk earlier and Hiei's silent agreement. He'd hated that, the way the two of them had just decided it was their job to gang up on him, whether they knew what was going on or not. Yusuke may not have been sure about much, be he was pretty damn certain that he didn't need a babysitter in all this. If he had, well, that was tough shit. The one person he probably would've listened to was getting comfortable under six feet of dirt about two hundred miles north of there, and he wasn't expecting any messages from the great beyond anytime soon.

That was a lie too. He'd already gotten his message and sure as Botan's hair was blue, he wasn't too set on following through with the request that had come with it.

He didn't hear any movement as he passed by the open entryway that denoted his former teammates' room but he held his breath anyway, knowing how deceptive the silence could be. Hiei had a bad habit of sneaking up on him when he thought he was alone. Scratch that, he thought indignantly, sliding his body against the cold stone wall so as to minimize his presence. Kurama was much worse than Hiei. In a lot more ways than just that.

When he'd gone a few paces without seeming to be noticed he finally let out his breath and sprinted quietly with bare feet the rest of the way, past the unused rooms and nooks and kitchen. The final archway opened up into what they'd affectionately dubbed "the main hall," which was really more of an atrium despite the vast amount of rock, and Yusuke paused.

He'd planned on going further, on escaping out into the woods, but the dark tunnel that led to the surface was somehow more foreboding than usual. Or maybe it wasn't. Stopping might have been the only thing keeping him from walking out and not turning back. He'd definitely considered it, and more than once at that; the place had a surprising potential for being suffocating even without his jailers. With them... well, he had been tempted to do a lot more than just leave. Plus, he wasn't sure if he could find his way back on his own if he wanted to, and didn't want them coming after him in the morning.

Still, the prospect of sitting idle wasn't one he was particularly pleased about. Stepping into the oval room, he began pulling off the few layers he had on, throwing them around haphazardly. Since an evening run (or hike, or whatever he'd end up saying he was doing after being caught) was out of the question, he'd decided to settle on the next best thing. Not much thought had gone into it if he was being honest, as it hadn't the last time he'd decided an impromptu swim was called for, but that was the furthest thing from his mind as his boxers hit the ground and he stepped from soft dirt into the circle of angel fine sand. Within seconds he was submerged in the hall's center pool, the water rippling where he'd made an impact, and his head momentarily numb.

Momentarily being the operative word.

He surfaced with a flourish, throwing his head back so that the water flew off of him in a graceful arc before shaking like a hosed down dog. The pool had been cold, shocking his overly warm skin upon first contact and cooling the immediate need for escape. Yusuke tread water for a bit before turning over onto his back to float, letting liquid fill his ears and the sound of his own breathing take over.

Stupid old hag had to fucking die.

The thoughts were creeping up on him, the ones he was trying to avoid by lying in bed, but it was somehow calming covered in icy blue and listening to the hollow sound of his breathing in his head. The change of scenery, however small, had done him some good at least. He knew that it wasn't her fault that he felt the way he did - no, he'd been feeling that way for a long time before she'd decided to kick it - but he could at least blame her for his entrapment.

She'd had all of the arrangements made before she died, all of the plans already set, taking all of the choice out of it. Kurama had been the only one informed, Yusuke found out later. It made sense; he was the only one of the three likely to have a real excuse not to go, and he'd been sworn to silence at that. The rest had been made aware at the funeral, as last wishes were read and a lawyer from Reikai presented them with her official will and testament.

Kuwabara had benefited the most from it as far as Yusuke was concerned (and he insisted on thinking of it like that, seeing as his cut was essentially punishment in his eyes) by getting the deed to the temple and all the land that went with it. Of course, as they were informed by the ogre in a suit who claimed to represent the old woman, it was no more than a formality; she'd made it very clear that the grounds were for all of them to share after her first encounter with being dead. Still, someone's name needed to be on it for the paperwork so that the human authorities wouldn't poke their noses in, and Kuwabara had been the most reliable. He didn't argue with the assessment, the most solemn member of Team Urameshi, instead asking his sister if she could run him a bag of necessities for the next few days while he holed up with his inheritance. In truth, they all expected he wanted to stay for Yukina, who was inconsolable.

Yusuke, on the other hand, had been invariably pissed.

The former detective let his body sink below the surface, closing his eyes as water pooled in the creases of his face. Bubbles fled from his nostrils in a steady stream, the whole thing a part of his not-so-serious contemplation of drowning. If anything, it was something he'd not fully experienced - not for a number of years anyway, since Rando had decided it was a good idea. It was an almost appealing sort of death, at least in that it was one he could arrange quietly without his watchdogs noticing until after the fact.

A curt cough was enough to notify him of the flaw in his thinking.

Biting back the urge to groan, Yusuke raised his head just so that it breached the surface of the water; he didn't however shift from his position of floating on his back. Somehow, changing his stature for the other's sake would have seemed like a concession, and Yusuke was far from the mood to concede anything. He could see his intruder just as well from where he was, so he lay there, cold and exposed in the water, wondering if ignoring him would be enough to rid him of his presence. It wasn't.

""Are you alright, Yusuke?" The former detective almost blanched at the other's voice, somehow managing to sound concerned and condescending in the same stroke. "You seem a bit off."

The temptation to sink was almost too much but Yusuke kept still, his eyes straining to make out the figure standing at the edge of the pool. Kurama was in his nightclothes, arms crossed over his chest, looking down patiently at his friend. Yusuke rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness that dictated the former thief be covered from ankle to neck on a night as warm as it was, but knew better than to comment on it. Yeah, buddy, I'm good. Just swimmin' with the fishes, or at least I think there are fish in here. Oh, and thanks for not staring at my junk - you're a trooper.

Kurama seemed to be waiting for a response that wasn't coming, clearing his throat upon the realization and continuing as if Yusuke had provided a smart comment instead.

"Can I be of assistance?"

Well, that was debatable, in Yusuke's opinion. He'd have considered it just peachy if the stuck-up redhead was willing to show him the way out of this place, maybe give him a few bucks for food on the way and wish him well, but he had a feeling that they were a few valleys and a mountain spring away from that one. On the other hand, it wasn't as if things would be all that different back in the outside world, and Yusuke was much happier to stay put so he could blame someone else for his situation - mainly, the one in front of him.

A few minutes passed in which Yusuke did not answer, his eyes open but not really focused on anything. Kurama watched him carefully, looking for something signaling that the other was not brain dead, before taking a step back.

"Alright. Goodnight, Yusuke."

The former detective closed his eyes, signaling that he'd heard but not actually acknowledging him, and the redhead departed.

Stupid old hag, stupid Kurama, stupid goddamn place, Yusuke thought to himself, but even the voice inside his head was too tired for malice.

Kurama slipped through the narrow arched entryway to his room as silently as he'd exited, taking care to slip off his sandals before continuing too far. Trailing dirt and sand was far too simple a task in a fortress made of stone, each and every gravelly speck threatening to stick to his feet or be scattered in his bed if he weren't careful. The change in setting had only added to his usual neurotic cleanliness; there wasn't much else to do but clean and organize while they waited for Yusuke to get accustomed to their situation. Hiei had already expressed a level of distress at his "nesting", as he called it; apparently watching the redhead perform mundane tasks in rhythmic succession was driving him to madness. He couldn't blame him really; none of them had been prepared for a hiatus from their usual lives, and none of them had been happy about it.

Still, they'd all come.

It wasn't that Kurama was surprised at Hiei's attendance; he'd just anticipated more of a conflict surrounding it. Getting Yusuke to accompany them had been understandably difficult - he'd really not been pleased about the somewhat underhanded methods he'd used to coerce him, playing on his guilt like he had. Hiei, though, hadn't taken such convincing. He'd been given the same information as Kurama (albeit later) and while the redhead knew he wasn't in complete agreement on at least matters of their methodology, he'd not made a fuss. With almost no conversation at all, he'd agreed, and here they were.

There was still a conversation that they'd need to revisit, and soon, but the redhead knew better than to throw himself at landmines.

He was aware of the fact that his tidying and constant business was a means of avoidance; he knew equally that Hiei was aware of this as well. Yusuke hadn't seemed to noticed but he was understandably preoccupied, which Kurama placed among his blessings - the preoccupation, not the reason for it. In truth, Genkai's death had caught him just as off guard as it had the others; though he'd been planning something along the same lines as what had been asked of him (perhaps not - just along the same pretense he supposed), the lack of an opportunity to plan it had left him somewhat blindsided. Worse yet, he had been forced to blindside Hiei with his intentions due to the nature of the request that had been left for them, and much of the tension within the stone fortress was coming from him, rather than Yusuke.

He was guilty of it as well, but decided he was hiding it the best. Then again, perhaps that wasn't right either.

Things with Yusuke did not seem to be improving; if anything, the half human had taken down the walls of pretense he'd still had up when they'd approached him for their little "journey." At that time he'd at least feigned feeling, a smile here, a jab at Kuwabara there, but for days there had been nothing but relative silence.

The first day he'd done nothing but sleep. Neither of them had questioned that; there was no doubt that the detective needed time to recover from his mentor's death and they were plenty willing to give it to him. Hiei still hadn't acclimated to the den by then - the constant presence of stone and lack of open air from being underground was suffocating to the fire demon- so he'd spent the day in the surrounding forest doing... whatever it was he did. Kurama had been perfectly content to spend the time tidying their new abode, cleaning all of the dust away and going through the rooms to collect whatever he could find and try to put it to good use. The less trips he had to make to the outside world the better, he knew, since any absence of his would be the perfect opportunity for an escape and he wasn't entirely convinced yet that Hiei would stop him.

On the second day Yusuke had been out of bed before even Kurama had risen, waking the others with a loud bang. The demon pair had invaded his room in a flash (for Hiei, that flash was literal) only to find the Toushin lugging crates out of the pile against the far wall one by one and digging through their contents like a child with a stack of birthday gifts. By the time they'd arrived, Yusuke had pulled out a rather large set of hedge cutters, some hundred year old sake, a mace, and what looked to be a rather large cooking pot that he was wearing on his head. The two had only stared at the other's apparent excitement at his discoveries, wondering silently exactly what Genkai had gotten up to when she'd inhabited the place, but deciding it was better not to know. Hiei had gone back to bed, and Kurama confiscated the pot, stating that he could use it to make breakfast. Neither of them bothered with the detective for the rest of the day, assuming that he was better left alone with his hoard until he decided what to do with his findings.

By the third day, Kurama was beginning to catch on to what the old warrior had warned him about. The morning was uneventful, the afternoon pleasant enough, and the evening came before he'd had a chance to notice. Yusuke had made himself visible enough times during the day that, had he not been him, Kurama wouldn't have noticed his absences. The detective busied himself with cleaning up the mess he'd made the day before, sweeping away the hay that had served as padding in the crates and helping Kurama find homes for whatever he'd decided wasn't worth stashing away for himself. He'd gotten into a miniature battle with Hiei over the last chicken leg at dinner, resulting in his bruised pride and immediate banishment from the table (Hiei was banished too, but disappeared with the leg before Kurama could scold him any further). Everything seemed, for all intents and purposes, fine. Yusuke seemed happy even. Kurama couldn't help but to worry.

The fourth day, Yusuke made his first escape attempt.

Had he known the other was so willing to get himself hurt just to avoid being stuck with the two of them, Kurama might have reconsidered his security measures. He'd known well enough to expect something from the Toushin, and at least anticipated something sort of resembling a plan on the other's part, but hadn't counted on just how affected Yusuke must have been. At first, the redhead didn't even recognize the burst in energy at the den's entryway for what it was - the signal crying out that one of his traps had been set off. In the immediate commotion and rush to the source, Kurama had almost failed to hide his surprise at finding not an intruder, but the detective strung up in heavy vines. One very angry detective.

He'd been half tempted to sedate him, with the way he was shouting and fighting back - despite knowing better when it came to one of Kurama's traps. His other half had been debating over how long to leave him like that, theorizing that he'd grow tired of his tantrum eventually, when Hiei had intervened. The redhead only glared at him as Yusuke had pushed past him roughly, making his way back inside and shouting about ripping his own door out of the rock, but at least not attempting to venture outside.

That had been a talk for later in the evening, one in which Kurama mostly seethed and threatened to change all the locks - as Hiei knew how to disarm the current flora - and the fire demon pretended not to listen.

No, neither Yusuke nor Hiei were remotely ready for what the old fighter had in store for them; Yusuke's part riding heavily on Hiei's involvement, so far as Kurama was concerned. He hadn't managed to find an answer that failed to include his fiery counterpart - though,there was debate between the two whether or not that was necessary or just pure stubbornness. Either way, Hiei's loss would no doubt be devastating to their cause, whether or not Yusuke was yet to be exposed to it. The former detective had a long way to go before he'd be in a position to give away what information Kurama needed to make his plan work, and though the kitsune was not keen on watching him suffer, he was more than prepared to do it.

Over this, among other things, Hiei did not agree.

"Prison break?"

Kurama didn't let any sign that he'd been startled show on his face, but the fire demon could tell he'd been caught up in his thoughts when he'd spoken. The kitsune was looking at him peculiarly - though Hiei figured it was warranted, what with the way he was sulking on the sad looking excuse for a mattress on the far end of their room - but shook whatever had gone through his head off.

"No," the redhead said, the word sounding strained. He'd turned, making for his own bed with tired shoulders and neatly folding back the ragged excuse for a blanket that he'd found tucked away in one of the room's many aging crates. "He's just floating in the reflection pool. I believe he plans to sleep there." Hiei stared, the kitsune doing his best to ignore him while he ran his fingers through would-be tangles in his hair before finally caving and meeting the other's eyes. "What?"

"You don't find that disturbing?"

"Of course I do." Kurama didn't mask his frustration, though neither of them knew exactly at whom it was directed. "But if learning to swim is how he chooses to cope, who am I to argue?"

From the look on Hiei's face he'd been ready to challenge him, and passionately at that. Kurama had meant to glare at him to silence him, but the lines on his face only managed to communicate exasperation. The fire demon bit the inside of his cheek, watching as the other lay back on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. There was plenty of time and subjects to argue over; Hiei wasn't about to add to the list with unimportant drivel. Instead, he settled on condescending.

"You're straining yourself Kurama. If you really expect to follow through with this," he paused, consciously working to take away the heat in his voice in favor of something softer, "shouldn't it be easier?"

The kitsune didn't answer right away, quiet falling around them as seconds ticked by without so much as a breath. It was a slow movement when Kurama rolled onto his side, putting his back to the fire demon and pulling the blanket over shoulders they both knew were not chilled. The imiko felt suddenly empty; Kurama was rarely unsettled enough to give the other his back, and he'd not realized he'd hit a chord with his accusation until then.

"This is not the first time I've done this, Hiei." Then, more quietly, "Or do you not remember?"

Hiei's mouth was dry but he swallowed, a reflex while he considered words better spoken or left unsaid. After a moment's debate, the heat in the room had grown too stale for him to sit idle any longer, and he was left to live with his decision.

"I'm not the one who forgot." And just like that Kurama was alone in the too-large room, doomed to spend the night in exile.

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