disclaimer: Because Kurama's pretty.

real disclaimer: Not mine.

author's notes: Well. The first chapter was fairly well received. Although...you know...only five reviews. coughhintcough Ahem. Moving along. I'm not as happy with this chapter...but, then again, I'm a terrible critic of my own work. . Excuse me if anything's incorrect—I've been denied a complete Yu Yu Hakusho education, after all.

-two: finishing up-

"This is insane," muttered Kurama as he wiped a bead of sweat from his face.

"You can say that again," grunted Kuwabara from his side, hurling an anonymous demon to his left. "Whoever this bigwig demon is, he's got plenty of power."

"Shut up and get back to work," ordered Hiei, calmly killing three or four demons in one stroke. "This is the last damn demon left—I don't want to fail our mission at the last minute because you two were talking."

"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Kuwabara, refraining from too much comment. Hiei had been even more tense than normal in the past months, and Kuwabara really wasn't feeling up to a fight with the fire demon.

The whole group still felt the loss of Yusuke keenly—he had been the antagonist and the peacemaker, the joker and the serious one, the idiotic and the intelligent one. Yusuke had been everyone—without him it felt harder to relate to the others in the group. Yusuke, Kuwabara liked to think, was like glue. Very versatile glue.

"Rose Whip!" Kuwabara cast a glance in Kurama's direction.

"Pay attention, damn it!" came Hiei's reprimand as his rarely used fire sword easily sliced through a burly looking demon.

"Whatever," grumbled Kuwabara, thrusting his sword through his own opponent.

Fifteen minutes later they barged their way into a large room that housed the seventh and last of the demons intent on dominating Earth. Blasting down the large wooden doors the three men entered the room, only to draw up short at the sight before them.

The last demon was weak. Incredibly weak.

But that's usually the case with females, frowned Hiei. What the hell is going on here?

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," she said, her voice thick and heavy, rolling over them like syrup. "I've been expecting you. Allow me to greet you in this humble abode I like to call home."

"We would get a verbose female," sighed Hiei.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Hiei," the demon smiled. "You shouldn't speak so rudely about the demon who will soon kill you." Hiei didn't bother to hide his snort of disbelief.

"If you're going to kill us, I'd like to at least know the name of our killer," snarled Kuwabara.

"Oiran," replied the demon easily.

"Courtesan," sneered Hiei. "I remember you now—you truly were a courtesan. Just a lowly nobody that the demon Gouriki used to screw whenever he wasn't trying to take over Ningenkai."

"I'm glad to see you have a good memory, Hiei," Oiran laughed easily. "Yes—I was that nobody. But then Gouriki died, and suddenly I was free. You see, I had been sold into his ownership. My father was a horrible gambler and when he was short of funds...well, he'd do just about anything for money. So he sold me. And I'm not someone who likes to be owned."

"So why have you adopted his cause? Are you getting back at Gouriki's dead body by trying to achieve at what he failed?" Kurama asked, his eyes piercing the other demon's own violet ones. She paled considerably under his scrutiny and Hiei internally mocked her weakness—she had yet to learn to mask her feelings. But then again, she was female, and they were notorious for wearing their hearts on their sleeves.

Briefly a stray thought ran through his mind, telling him he'd spent much too much time in human company. He was beginning to pick up on their sayings.

"Bastard," Oiran hissed, pointing his index finger at him. "Ennetsujigoku," she muttered. Immediately orange-red flames shot out of her finger, headed quite predictably at Kurama. The fox demon easily ducked—he was not stupid. Nor was he slow.

"Idiot. You're not worth our time," smirked Hiei. "Just a lowly, incompetent female. That's all that you are."

"Bastard!" growled Oiran for a second time.

"Intelligent observation. Kuwabara? Would you mind? I'd rather not waste my time," Hiei sighed. Kuwabara eyed the smaller man with a frown, not sure if his comment had been an insult or not. Deciding just not to worry about it, Kuwabara went after the female with ease. Within five minutes he'd sliced her head off and watched it roll five feet away.

"That was for Yusuke," Kuwabara hissed.

And Keiko, thought Hiei. It was just as much for Keiko.

"Good job with Oiran and her groupies, men," Koenma gurgled past his pacifier. "But I see from your report that you think something bigger is going on."

"Yes, sir," Kurama replied. "It seems that Oiran was fairly weak—"

"Fairly weak is an understatement," snorted Hiei.

"—but she still managed to become the leader of a group of demons much stronger than her," continued Kurama. "From our understanding, these other demons were hardly important to Makai—not even a speck in the lords' consideration. Blackmail would hardly work on them. If you ask me, there was something much larger going on."

"That's an easy enough case to crack," Koenma said happily. "From what I hear, Oiran was much more intelligent than the average demon—and much richer. Gouriki, in an odd fit of sentimentality, left her his fortune. And those other demons that fought so willingly for her were very, very deep in debt."

"How simple," frowned Kurama. "It's amazing what money can do."

"Admit it, Kurama. We come from mercenary stock," said Hiei. "There are few that are truly upstanding citizens of Makai—and even they have their worse moments. Including us. Come. We've wasted enough time here. We still have to report to Keiko."

"Ah."

"It's done, Keiko," murmured Kurama, gripping the girl's hand lightly in his own, watching her stare at him blankly. "The last of the demons is gone."

"I see," she whispered, blinking. Hiei stood not far away, leaning against the doorframe, silent. "Thank you."

"It was nothing, Keiko," Kuwabara growled, his voice thick. "Yusuke would have done the same damn thing."

"Yes, he would have," she agreed easily. "What's next for the three of you?"

"Nothing," shrugged Kuwabara. "Well, classes at the university and all, but no more assignments for us."

"Kuwabara has been made spirit detective," Kurama said quietly.

"Congratulations, Kuwabara," Keiko said politely, her face showing no hint of emotion.

"Thanks, Keiko."

"We should go," said Hiei, speaking up for the first time.

"Right," sighed Kurama, letting go of Keiko's hand and rising. "We will talk to you soon, Keiko."

"Alright."

Later that night Keiko sat near the window and stared outside. The stars were twinkling merrily, and she was briefly happy that she could see them through the obviously polluted skies.

"Yusuke, do you think there will be a day where we'll never be able to see the stars?"

"Bah. Why wouldn't we be able to?"

"I don't know. Smog, pollution...stuff like that."

"You're too pessimistic, Keiko."

"Yusuke."

"Don't worry, Keiko. Just because we might not be able to see the stars, doesn't mean that they're not there."

"Yusuke."

-end-

"oiran" courtesan

"ennetsujigoku" flames of hell

Ridiculous fighting sequence because I'm terrible at them. And yes. There is a plot. Wait for it.