Disclaimer: I don’t own Yu Yu Hakusho in any form or any substance in any way whatsoever. So don’t accuse me of saying I own it, because you and I know that I could not own anything as awesome as this show. Although, I own Tsuki and IrisJean owns Midoriko, as you should know by now.

Just Runaway – The Epilogue

Midoriko’s eyes flickered open, slowly. She felt bandages all over her body – the top of her head, her arm, and her stomach. Within a few moments she realized where she was. She instantly sat up and flung the white sheets of the bed she was laying in to the floor. She was then greeted with a tight hug.

“Midoriko!” a girl shrieked in happiness.

Midoriko looked up. “Oh, Tsuki…” Then she looked to the side and saw Kurama. “Kurama? What are you doing here?”

Kurama smiled. “Tsuki took me here. I just so happened to find you on the verge of death,” he explained. “We took you back here to Spirit World and Koenma made sure you received treatment within an instant of our arrival.”

“Oh…I see…” Midoriko said, looking at Tsuki, who was still hugging her. “Then what happened after…?”

“I’m sorry, Midoriko,” Tsuki apologized. “I don’t know what came over me. I was…it was almost like I was being possessed and without realizing it, my sword was in your stomach…I’m sorry…”

Midoriko shoved Tsuki off of her. “I don’t need your sympathy,” she insisted, in a very foul tone.

Tsuki looked at the ground. “But I really am sorry…”

“Midoriko,” Kurama said, coming in-between the two. “You should show Tsuki some compassion right now. She showed you kindness – and I’m sure she even did when you two were battling – and maybe you should owe her an apology for whatever you two were fighting about.” His voice was strict and harsh – like a father scolding his children (as wrong as that seems at the moment; I do not mean it literally).

Midoriko looked at the ground. “Why the hell should I apologize to her? She started this fight by giving me a scar and pissing me off all of the time. There should be an ‘off’ switch on her somewhere for me to use when she gets annoying.”

Tsuki looked at Midoriko with sad, pitiful eyes. “But…but…”

“That no longer works on me.”

“Would you get over your differences and apologize?” Kurama said, somewhat irritated, but still acting as the mediator.

“Feh.” Midoriko looked at her hands, resting in her lap. “Fine, I’m sorry, Tsuki for being the normal bitch that I always am…but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a dumbass.”

Kurama and Tsuki smiled. It was as close as they were going to get, but they knew what she was trying to say. Tsuki began to giggle and Kurama chuckled to himself.

Midoriko glared at them. “WHAT’S SO DAMN FUNNY!” she screamed.

“Oh, nothing, nothing,” Kurama and Tsuki answered at the same time.

Midoriko glared at them even harder, which only made Kurama and Tsuki laugh more.

Kurama paced the area within the rose garden. He had invited Tsuki to come meet him there, and he had also asked Midoriko to come as well. He wasn’t sure if she was coming or not. She didn’t give him a straight answer. She was in one of those moods. At least he knew Tsuki was coming.

“So are you gonna ask her?” Youko asked.

“Yes, I am,” Kurama replied. “Now stop asking me and try to be patient just for once.”

As if Tsuki was waiting for the best moment, she flew in on her oar with Midoriko and jumped off of it, landing next to Kurama. Midoriko did the same.

“Hello!” Tsuki greeted cheerily.

“Okay, okay. We’re here. What do you want?” Midoriko said.

“You two know about…Youko Kurama, do you not?” Kurama asked.

They both nodded. “Yep, we know,” Tsuki replied.

“Well, you know that he resides within me – inside my head – correct?”

They nodded again. “Koenma explained to us all about that,” Midoriko said, impatient.

“He and I have come to an agreement,” Kurama continued. “We’re going to have a showdown that will decide both our fates.”

Tsuki looked extremely shocked. “But…Kurama--”

“Yes, I know it sounds foolhardy, but I have no other choice.”

Midoriko stifled a laugh. “Heh, so what do you want us to do? This is between you and Youko, right?”

“Obviously, we cannot fight each other appropriately if we’re both in the same body,” Kurama said. “Does that make sense to you, Miss Midoriko?”

Midoriko glared at him. How dare he speak to her like that!

“So why do you need us?” Tsuki asked, unknowingly.

“Tsuki – actually I’m sure you both can do this – possess secret arts that even Spirit World is unaware of,” Kurama said.

Tsuki nodded and Midoriko just sent a look at him that said, “Well, duh.”

“Then you have the power to get Youko out of my mind, at least for a little while so we can fight, right?”

Tsuki smiled and winked. “Sure do!”

Midoriko rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we can do that.” She then looked at him. “But why exactly do you need to fight?”

Kurama looked back at her without showing any expression on his face and in his voice. “It’s personal. It would not behoove you to know.” (A/N: “BEHOOVE!” My language arts teacher would be so proud!)

“Can you do it now?” Kurama asked.

Tsuki nodded again. “Sure!” She looked over at Midoriko. “Midoriko-sama, would you like to draw the symbol on the right?”

“Sure, why not,” Midoriko said, very unenthusiastically.

Within a few moments, both Tsuki and Midoriko had drawn two different symbols with some charcoal on the ground. They were about five meters apart. The one Tsuki drew – on the left – was a bright sun. The one Midoriko drew was the moon and “R.I.P.” was inscribed in the center of it. They both stood up and examined their works.

“Looks good enough to me,” Midoriko said, analyzing both of them.

“Yours is good, Midoriko!” Tsuki commented.

Midoriko acted as if she hadn’t heard Tsuki and they both walked back over to Kurama.

“Um…if you don’t pardon me asking, what’s with the sun and the moon?” he asked, politely.

“Well…” Tsuki said, putting her hands behind her head, “it’s kinda hard to explain. It has a hidden meaning that even we’re not quite sure of.”

“Just go stand on the sun symbol,” Midoriko ordered.

Kurama did as he was told. Midoriko could be very, very scary. “Whenever you’re ready,” he said, indicating that he was not going to back down.

Tsuki and Midoriko glanced at each other and then nodded. “Here we go,” they said at the same time.

They each held out there hands in front of them, palms forward, and crossed their hands in such a way to form an X. Once they had their mutual concentration, they chanted some words in a language Kurama had never heard before. He stood there the whole time, just waiting in his own apprehensiveness. Then suddenly, Tsuki and Midoriko unexpectedly thrust their arms to their sides. As they did so, a powerful surge of power was sent from their bodies to each symbol.

Before Kurama knew what hit him, he suddenly felt his power drain from him. He had not anticipated this. He thought he would still hold all of his spirit powers and spiritual endurance. Apparently, this was not so, but he still had some power left inside of him.

“I’m baaaaaack!” Youko called, standing on the moon symbol.

Tsuki and Midoriko dropped to the ground, exhausted. Tsuki looked over at Youko. “Oh my…he’s really…really tall…” she said through breaths.

Midoriko rolled her eyes and tried to catch her breath.

“You ready, Shuichi?” Youko asked.

Kurama nodded. “Youko, we will abide by our terms. If I win--”

“Yeah, yeah I know,” Youko interrupted. “Let’s just fight already!” And with that the seven-foot tall fox demon rushed at Kurama. Kurama fumbled for his rose whip and had to constantly dodge. Eventually he managed to get it out and struck out at Youko, grabbing his arm with it. Youko braced himself for the pain and pulled on it. Kurama was sent hurtling in Youko’s direction.

Youko used his claws and slashed at Kurama. Kurama ducked, his hair still flying in the air and Youko chopped off some bits off the bottom. Kurama flipped backwards and tugged on his whip. As it went back to his hand it took parts of Youko’s flesh with it. But Kurama knew that would not be enough to stop Youko.

And Youko knew this himself.

He looked at the wound and shrugged. “I guess I’m going to have to get a bit more serious with you.” Using his astounding speed, he already had his fingers around Kurama’s throat and held him above the ground, slowly digging his claws into his throat. Kurama coughed and tried to breath as blood trickled along his neck.

Tsuki gasped and grabbed her mouth to stop herself from screaming. “Ku-Kurama-san!” She turned to Midoriko. “Midoriko! He’s going to die!” she cried.

Midoriko stood there, examining Kurama and Youko. “Tsuki, just wait. Even though Kurama is in a weakened state, he has the stronger heart.”

Tsuki nodded hesitantly. “O…okay…”

Kurama gasped for air and the world around him seemed to become hazy and he couldn’t tell which way was up and which way was down.

“Is the world churning before your eyes?” Youko laughed.

With the last ounce of his strength, Kurama used another rose hidden in his hair to strike out at Youko. “Rose whiplash!”

Youko didn’t expect this, and he dropped Kurama. Kurama fell to the ground, recovering his breath, coughing and wheezing. How can I win? Kurama thought. I need to find a weakness!

Youko laughed again. “Is this really the best you can do? I guess you really are nothing without me.” Youko held out his arm, about to summon a man-eating plant.

Kurama stared at Youko as he watched his life replay before his eyes. I really am going to die…Youko did defeat me…he’s going to do horrible things because I wasn’t strong enough…I’m going to go to Hell now…

Tsuki’s eyes widened and tears began to fall from them. Kurama-san! Kurama-san! Without realizing it, she had taken a step backwards into Midoriko. “Mi-Midor--”

“Say no more,” Midoriko interrupted. She leapt through the air in front of Kurama and magically, a sword appeared in her hands.

Youko was so surprised that he had no idea Midoriko would interfere. Before he saw it coming, Midoriko’s sword was already through his stomach. She smiled cockily and licked some of the blood that had splattered onto her hand. “Heh, so this is how the great fox demon thief ends. A lonely girl from Spirit World gets a sword from nowhere and sticks it in his gut.”

Kurama and Tsuki remained were they were, speechless and shocked.

Youko stood there with a sword in his abdomen. “You…you!” he roared.

Midoriko smiled once more. “Yes. Me.” She swiftly took her sword out from his stomach and managed to jump high enough to slit his throat. Shocked, Youko could only fall to the ground, in his own little pool of crimson-red blood.

Kurama stared at Midoriko as her sword disappeared into thin air and she looked over her shoulder at him. She winked. “We’ll call it even, ‘k?”

Kurama slightly smiled and nodded. “Sure.”

Tsuki glanced around the school hallways. She was looking for the biggest mob of girls because inside there would obviously be Kurama, just trying to get away from the attention.

Once the scary crowd of hyper girls had dispersed, Kurama sighed in relief of getting them all to leave him alone. Then he looked up and saw Tsuki. He hadn’t noticed her. She seemed to blend in. She was wearing the girls’ uniform. He chuckled and thought to himself, What is it with girls in Spirit World and coming to our region of the world wearing the girls uniform for certain schools?

Tsuki smiled and walked over to him. “Hello Shuichi!” she said with a bright smile on her face.

Kurama smiled back. “Hello, Tsuki! How are you today?”

“I’m fine! How’s your day been?”

Kurama sighed, putting his hand on his head. “This is the worst day ever. I’ve missed so much school that the fan girls have missed me so much and will not give me a moment’s peace.”

Tsuki giggled then revealed a box in her hands. “For you,” she said.

“Really?” Kurama asked, surprised. He wasn’t expecting this. He accepted the box and opened it. He took the present out, and smiled. “Thank you, Tsuki. This means a lot to me.”

Tsuki giggled again. “I knew you’d like it!”

Kurama looked at it. It was another picture frame, and it looked just like the one he had earlier, but got wrecked because of the dagger getting lodged into it. It was gold like the last one, but was a little different. Along the edges were extremely smooth and along the frame were roses carved into it. It looked beautiful. “Thanks again, Tsuki. For everything.”

Tsuki looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean?”

“Oh you know. You’ve been there for me when no one else could. For that, I am truly grateful. You seem like…a little sister to me.”

Tsuki had the brightest smile in the world plastered onto her face. “That’s good! Because I think of you like a big brother!”

Kurama rested his arm around Tsuki’s shoulders in a brotherly way. “Come on. Let’s go get some ice cream.”

There, that sounds brotherly. We’ll always have a special connection, even if we’re miles away…

Well there you have it…the end of Just Runaway. (sobs) I loved this story so much! It shows how much I have progressed! (wipes eyes, stops crying) Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this thoroughly, because I know I did.

However, all is not lost! There is a sequel to this fic, written by IrisJean! But…her mother has discovered that she has been using her account, and has changed the password. IrisJean no longer can get onto her mother’s account, and she can’t get onto on hers because of Parental Controls for some reason. But (once again with all the buts! Hehehehehehehe) I shall be the link between her and fanfiction! She will still write her fics, but she shall e-mail them to me and I will update them for her on her account! So you are now saved!

Although, there are some minor changes you might find, and some differences as well in hers that contradicts mine, but that’s okay because I don’t really care. And just so you know, it says on her first chapter that we’re no longer friends and that she owns my character, Tsuki. We were at each other’s throats when she started that (yes, she started the sequel before I was even finished with the first) but it is no longer true! We’re friends and everything is fine and I OWN TSUKI! (She’s too lazy to replace it with an up-to-date chapter.) So, if you enjoyed Just Runaway, you can go read the sequel on IrisJean’s account! (looks at you) What are you waiting for? Review me and then go read hers! (waits) …Go on! You don’t have to read any of this part anymore! …Go! Shoo! Begone!

And lastly, THANK YOU! (People who only read this part are not obeying my wishes to stop reading this and go write a review! I know you’re out there, and Ill find out where you live!)