A/N: Welcome to the shiny new sequel of "A Thief in One Life, A Thief in the Next." This one mainly focuses on Kuwabara and Yukina, though of course involving all of our favorites from the last fic. I hope you enjoy, and keep an eye out for the series of side fics that are coming up in this fiction universe.

Ice Maiden's Mulberry Tree

Chapter One

Awakening

Kuwabara Kazuma slowly came into consciousness after what felt like a long sleep, perhaps one a bit too long. His first thoughts were those of confusion. The bed didn't feel like the one from their hotel room on Hanging Neck Island. Where was he?

The first step, of course, was to open his yes. The room was as unfamiliar as the bed, and was the sky outside the window… red?

"Hey, you're awake."

Don't panic, he told himself. There was a tall youkai sitting in a chair only three feet away. The man, for it was clearly male, wore his long, black hair up in a ponytail with two locks falling on either side of his head. His eyes were violet and amused. If he hasn't killed you yet, there's a chance to escape. "Where am I?"

"Konchuu," the youkai chirped happily. He grinned at the human's continued confusion. "It's in the Makai."

With a yelp, he shot out of the bed and away from what he assumed was his guard. What had happened to the tournament? Had they won? He was still alive, so they must have, but why then was he in the demon world?

The youkai laughed, and Kuwabara couldn't help but to think that it sounded friendly, despite its source. Maybe he was a friendly(ish) demon, like Kurama. Then again, it could all be an act to make him let his guard down long enough to eat him. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. ""Where are the others?"

The youkai shrugged. "Dunno. Here and there. Last I saw Yusuke, he was raiding the kitchens. Kurama was in the library, but that was this morning. No idea on Hiei."

He was about to ask 'What about Genkai?' when the door opened and a human (at least he looked human. You couldn't always tell) man entered, silently shutting it behind him. "Kuronue, your brother's looking for you."

"Maa, maa, I'm going," the newly labeled Kuronue said, standing up and stretching. "Oh, by the way, Kazuma, meet Heero. Heero, meet Kuwabara Kazuma. Okay, I'll go find big brother. Keep an eye on him for me?" He didn't wait for the other's nod before skipping out of the room.

Kuwabara blinked. "Is he always that energetic?"

"No," Heero said shortly, moving to take the chimera's vacated seat. "He's often worse."

Scary thought. "So, how'd you end up here?"

The blue-eyed man looked him over as though checking for injuries. "Originally? I got shot. This time I'm on vacation. Kuronue wanted to visit family. His brother-in-law owns this castle."

"The same brother who he went to talk to?" Kuwabara asked, trying to fit things together in his mind. No one had mentioned the tournament so far. Could it have gotten over already? How long had he been asleep?

"His mate," Heero corrected.

And he'd thought that the looks Kurama and Hiei sometimes exchanged when they didn't know he was watching had been weird. But two men married? Well, they were demons, so it might not be all that uncommon. He hadn't really seen too many female youkai after all.

His mind was immediately derailed. Yukina! She'd been at the tournament! Where was she? Kuwabara lunged forward to grab Heero's shirt, searching his face for answers as the other human remained passive. "Where's Yukina? Is she safe? What happened with-?"

"Yukina is perfectly safe," Heero interrupted, waiting to be let go. He could quite easily remove the red-head's grip, but didn't want to hurt him so soon after his wakening. "You'll see her enough enough, but not until Koenma and our brothers decide the time is right."

"Our brothers?" he sputtered, startled into letting go and sitting down hard onto the bed.

"In-law," Heero said to clarify. He was just watching the man until Kuronue returned. But already, he suspected that something had gone wrong in the process.

Kuwabara gulped. He had been out for a long time if Shizuru had gotten married. Was it to someone he know, or a guy he'd never even met?

Despite the fact that he was fair bursting with questions, they didn't talk for the rest of the time until Kuronue returned, still bouncing with energy. Kuwabara tried not to stare when the youkai greeted Heero with a kiss, or when Heero kissed back, but it was hard.

"Operation 'Distract Little Sister' is complete," Kuronue informed his mate cheerfully, draping over Heero's shoulders. "So big brother says I'm to take him" He gestured toward Kuwabara, "to little brother's office."

Sure likes his nicknames, Kuwabara thought, nervously watching the chimera approach him. He knew for a fact that younger brothers were often worse than their older counterparts, and he was pretty sure they didn't have to actually be related for that to hold true.

"Come on, we're going for a bit of a walk now," Kuronue said. "You know, we're not planning on killing you, not after all the work that went into bringing you here. You'll like at least part of what we've got planned, promise. And I never break my word."

With a couple of misgivings still remaining, Kuwabara followed the youkai out into a castle hallway, surprisingly well-lit by large windows on the opposite wall. Well dressed youkai of different races greeted Kuronue as they passed, some talking amongst themselves while others carried papers and the like.

"Right through here," he said, pulling open a large door to let Kuwabara into a new, much busier room. He raised his voice to call to someone in the center of the bustling crowd. "Hey, little brother, I've brought him!"

The room fell silent just in time for a very familiar voice to cut through. "Baka chimera, I've told you to not call that that. Leave us."

The youkai crowd filed out, their voices raising again before they were gone, leaving Kuwabara and Kurama alone with the one at the desk. The sight of him nearly sent the poor human's brain into short circuit.

Hiei sat behind a large desk with a pen in one hand and an official looking document in the other, held up for closer examination. He set down both before removing a pair of wire framed reading glasses from the bridge of his nose with a sigh. There was something else strange, but Kuwabara just couldn't put his finger on it.

Red eyes looked up to fix on his face. Then, as though just to further break Kuwabara's brain, Hiei actually smiled. "Welcome back, Kazuma."