Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and I make no money from my stories.

AN: I'm sorry this took so long to post. I had to rework the plotline for the rest of the arc, cut out an entire story and try to re-think the whole thing. That and RL and other stories weighed me down a bit. I'll try not to be so slow next time. Please read and review!

If Must Fight

by Evandar

Chapter 2

After Hiei began to retaliate and sent his troops into battle to defend his lands, Yomi soon lost the advantage he had gained by attacking first. In fact, he began to lose both his army and his lands, because while the demons he ruled over might fear him; Hiei's were loyal. They could remember what a good General he had been, and had realised that he was still commanding them in the same way: by fighting alongside them.

Kurama was proud of his Mate and how far he had come since he had inherited his position as Demon Lord. Hiei had grown far more confident about his own abilities, and he was much more used to dealing with his generals than he had been at the start of his reign. However, that did not mean that he disregarded Kurama's aid, something that Kurama was endlessly grateful for. He loved his Mate dearly, but he knew that if Hiei did not keep him occupied then he would grow bored with his life in the Makai. It had started to happen recently, but Hiei's decision to involve him completely in the war had prevented that discontent from growing. Hiei's excuse for this had been that the war was because of Kurama, so it was natural that he should be involved, but Kurama realised that Hiei had noticed that Kurama had been somewhat restless of late. He also suspected that it was because of how formidable a team they made on the battlefield.

Centuries - or in Kurama's case, millennia - of experience in fighting had turned them both into dangerous, vicious and experienced warriors, but it was their day as Reikai Tantei that had forged them into two of the most deadly demons in the Makai as well as earned them fairly accurate reputations that proceeded them wherever they went. There were no demons who came up against them on the battlefield who lived to tell the tale.

Yomi, on the other hand, guided his troops from the safety of his castle. He was unwilling to fight Kurama again, especially now that the beautiful fox demon had a mate to protect, but he was growing desperate. Together, Kurama and Hiei, with help from Yusuke Urameshi the Mazoku half-breed, had conquered a little over half of his lands in just a couple of weeks and were getting closer to his castle every day. He knew that his only option was to act and fight in person.

It shocked everyone when Yomi appeared on the battlefield. When he saw him, Hiei immediately moved to stand in front of Kurama to defend his Mate. He would not let Yomi get his hands on his Fox; he would die first, and his death would drag Kurama down to hell with him.

"You think you can defend him, Forbidden Child?" Yomi asked coldly.

"He is mine, Yomi," Hiei snarled. "I'll never let you win this fight."

"Does it make you feel superior to have Youko Kurama as your Mate?" Yomi sneered. "Does it make you feel as if you are worth something? I am twice the demon that you are, Hiei, and I will win. Kurama has been mine for a lot longer than…"

He trailed off when Kurama stepped forward. He instantly recognised the Youko's energy even though he couldn't actually see him. He also noticed that it had changed dramatically since their last encounter.

"Yet you still never won me," Kurama said coolly. "And Hiei did. I was never yours, Yomi, yet my heart has belonged to Hiei for a very long time. I am his Mate, not yours."

"Kurama…" Hiei said softly. Kurama laid a hand gently on his shoulder.

"This is my fight, Hiei," Kurama told him. "He needs to know before he dies that the only way I have ever wanted him is dead."

Hiei nodded, keeping his reservations to himself. He knew that Kurama needed to do this, and he knew that Kurama would never forgive him if he interfered. He would have to stay on the sidelines and keep anyone else from interfering as well. Yomi, though, scoffed at Kurama's proclamation.

"You really think that you can defeat me in your condition, Kurama?" he asked sweetly. "You might as well just forgo our fight and come with me to my palace. It would have the exact same outcome."

"I will beat you," Kurama swore.

Hiei frowned in confusion. What condition? He knew that Kurama was not injured. In fact, his senses told him that Kurama was in the best of health, so what could Yomi have meant?

That's when he remembered stories he had heard of male Youko who had conceived and bore live young. They had to be powerful due to the danger and health risks involved, but as female Youko were rare, it had been a necessary evolutional development. Kurama was… He looked closely at Kurama, using his Jagan to see the taller demon's energy like Yomi could, and saw that a large amount of it was focussed around Kurama's stomach, no doubt protecting and feeding the kits that grew there. Kits…Youko always had multiple children in one pregnancy. With so much of Kurama's energy being used up by their kits Kurama would be weaker than usual. He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed this before.

But before he could stop Kurama and tell him to take it easy, Kurama attacked Yomi. Yomi saw him coming and threw a ball of his youki towards him, but Kurama dodged it easily. With a flick of his wrist, his rose whip was sent flying through the air to wrap around Yomi's arm. He didn't tear the limb off when he pulled the whip so that the thorns of the rose dug viciously into Yomi's flesh, but instead he crouched down and planted the whip, sending a charge of his energy into the ground and growing a strong rose bush in a matter of seconds. It was lucky for him that it did only take a couple of seconds as he was forced to dodge another blast of Yomi's energy.

Yomi struggled against the thorny vines that were holding him in place. The plant was still growing, but Kurama had directed it using his energy so that it was growing around Yomi's arm and sending creepers towards the foot nearest to it. He kicked at a vine, which flinched back, before reaching back out and snagging him. Yomi realised then that the plant which held him was sentient and not a true rose; Kurama had apparently bred a rose with a plant from the Makai. He should have expected something like that from the Youko.

He sent another blast of energy towards Kurama, and this time, Kurama could not dodge it fast enough. The ball of green youki struck him in the arm, sending him flying backwards to land in a heap a short distance away. Hiei screamed his name, but he was fighting off several of Yomi's soldiers and so he could not dash to his Mate's side as he desired to. When Kurama got up again he was clutching at his arm, which hung limply by his side. There was blood flowing between his fingers, and his face was contorted in pain. Yomi felt triumph surge through him as he readied another blast of energy. Kurama might have stopped him from moving, but a direct hit could win him this fight.

Kurama was in pain. He knew that the force of Yomi's energy blast had dislocated his shoulder as well as torn it to shreds. But he couldn't lose. It wasn't just his life that was at stake in this fight, but Hiei and his kits depended on him too, and he refused to let them down. He dodged another ball of energy, but he wavered on his feet. Blood loss and pain combined with the energy his kits were draining from him had made him very weak, very quickly. He couldn't summon enough energy to grow another plant.

His options now were limited. He could tap into his life energy, but that would kill him and through that, it would kill Hiei and his unborn kits as well. His other option would be to tap into Hiei's energy through their Mating Bond, which would be made awkward by the fact that Hiei was not a plant wielder like he was. But Kurama had by no means forgotten his Youko heritage and the ability his kind were most famed for in the Ningenkai, even though it seemed that everyone else had.

He was more than aware that people thought that plant wielding was the extent of his abilities, but in truth that was only a favoured secondary ability he had mastered. He hadn't reached the age to become a nine-tailed fox with only one ability.

He reached up with his one good hand and dug his claws into the soft flesh of his left shoulder where his Mating Mark was. Some distance away, Hiei felt pain lance through his own shoulder, emanating from the Mark as it opened up and began to bleed. He knew in an instant what Kurama had resorted to, and feared for his Mate's safety. His energy was wild and unpredictable, and although he knew that Kurama's self control was incredibly strong, he didn't know whether Kurama would be able to come under the strain of having summoned Hiei's energy while wounded and pregnant. What's more, Kurama's powers related to plants, while Hiei was a fire demon. Could Kurama really control a power so different from his own?

What happened next not only amazed Hiei and increased his respect for his precious Mate tenfold, but also secured Kurama's place in demon history as by far one of the most powerful and dangerous demons in existence. He knew that he could not hold Hiei's youki within him for long, so instead he combined it with what little of his own energy he had left and released it in a wave of brilliant white, scorching hot flame. A scream of agony ripped from his throat as the fox fire surged towards Yomi, forming the shape of a white dragon. The surrounding battle stopped as demons from both sides fled from the sight of it, the unlucky ones that were caught on the edges of its path were obliterated in seconds. The same fate was in store for Yomi, who was trapped in front of it by the Makai Rose Kurama had planted.

The dragon didn't even stop when it hit him, wiping him out with ease. Instead it carried on going, until Hiei realised that his lover was not - could not reign it in. Kurama had collapsed shortly after it had left his body, losing control over the attack he had created in a moment of desperation. Hiei reached out with his own energy and caught it. He struggled under the pressure of controlling the combined power of two S-Superior classed demons, but he managed, through years of practise with Kokuryuuha, to reign the attack in. The effort of doing so sent Hiei to his knees, breathing heavily.

When he recovered somewhat he crawled over to where Kurama lay face down on the blood-soaked, scorched earth of the battlefield. His long silver hair was fanned out around him and his ears were limp. His arm and Mating Mark were bleeding heavily, and his breathing was shallow. But he was alive. A gentle hand rested on Hiei's shoulder, and Hiei looked up to see Yusuke smiling down at him.

"Come on," Yusuke said. "Let's go and get him patched up."

"The battle…" Hiei whispered.

"It ended when Yomi died," Yusuke said. "His army are fleeing as we speak, the cowards. You and Kurama won. You're safe."

"Kurama…"

"He'll be fine as soon as we get him to a healer," Yusuke assured him. "Now come on. My castle's the closest, we can take him there. Can you walk?"

Hiei nodded. He felt numb. Seeing his Mate lying so still and knowing that he could die or lose the kits Hiei had only just found out about was a humbling experience. Years of suppressed feelings for the beautiful Youko welled up within him. He kept seeing flashes of Kurama, smiling brightly in his mind's eye. He remembered all those times when he could have lost Kurama before: his previous fights with Yomi, Mukuro's threats to have him killed, Karasu and that fateful moment when his own blade sank into Kurama's stomach. But all of those paled in comparison to the state his Fox was in now. Kurama needed a healer, and fast.

"I can't carry him," he admitted softly, hating himself for how weak the fight had left him.

"I can," Yusuke said. "Do you give me permission to carry Kurama to my castle?"

"Yes."

The two Demon Lords fled from the battlefield, pausing just long enough to tell their troops to return to their homes. They had to move quickly to save Kurama.