Kurama: mukuro5, please don’t talk in binary code. I’m sure not many people know what you are saying.

mukuro5: But it’s so much fun.

Kurama: Just please don’t do it.

010101111001001000010010000001001001011101000010
01110111001100100000011011010110010100100000011000010
11001110110000101101001011011100010111000100000010010
00011011110111011100100000011000010111001001100101001
00000011000010110110001101100001000000110111101100110
00100000011110010110111101110101001011100010000001001
00100100111011011010010000001100111011011000110000101
10010000100000011101000110100001100001011101000010000
00111001101101111011011010110010100100000011011110110
01100010000001111001011011110111010100100000011100110
11001010110111001110100001000000111001001100101011101
10011010010110010101110111011100110010111000100000010
01000011001010111001001100101001000000110100101110011
00100000011101000110100001100101001000000110111001100
10101111000011101000010000001100011011010000110000101
11000001110100011001010111001000101110

Hiei: What did she say?

Kurama: She said “Fine. I don’t own Yu Yu Hakusho just Kelly Smort, Tony, and Sarah”.

011011010111010101101001011001010011010100111010
00100000010101000110100001100001011101000010011101110
01100100000011100100110100101100111011010000111010000
101110

Hiei: What?

Kurama: mukuro5, you’re confusing Hiei. Please stop.

mukuro5: Okay. Here is goes.

Chapter 7: A Chance to Relax and Eat

“Okay. So she was last seen in this part of Makai? This place looks kind of dead. Do the other parts of Makai look like this?” Yusuke asked, getting distracted before anything was actually discussed.

“No, Yusuke. The environment here is like in Human World. It changes as you travel through different parts of Makai,” Kurama answered Yusuke.

“Let’s get going,” Botan suggested.

“So who rules over this part?” Yusuke asked, remembering that Koenma said something about three demons ruling the three parts of Makai.

“A demon named Mukuro,” Hiei finally spoke up.

“Can we go? This place is starting to freak me out,” Kelly stated, looking around the wasteland.

“Agreed,” Botan said so that everyone would start their mission.

-----------

It had been two hours since the group started walking. Kelly and Botan started out in front of the group, but by this time Kelly had fallen to the back of them with Kuronue. No one really talked the entire time. Kelly didn’t mind the silence if only it didn’t feel so heavy.

Another two hours passed before Kelly decided to say something. She looked around at everyone to make sure what she was going to say everyone would agree with.

“Is there anything to eat? I’m starving. Then again I haven’t eaten anything since lunch yesterday,” Kelly explained.

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t eaten since lunch time yesterday either,” Yusuke stated.

“I’m not sure if there really is anything to eat around here,” Botan answered.

“There should be an abandoned palace up ahead,” Kuronue said.

“How far ahead?” Kelly asked, looking at Kuronue.

“About another mile or so.”

“Really?! Then why are we still walking?” Kelly asked, running ahead of everyone.

“Kelly! There are demons around!” Kuronue yelled, running after her.

“I don’t care! I’m hungry!” Kelly called back. “I just want you all to lighten up. Maybe this will help,” Kelly thought with a smile.

Kurama immediately took after the two. Kuwabara looked at the three running. Yusuke and Botan did the same.

“Can I just go home?” Kuwabara asked.

“No way!” Botan answered, grabbing Kuwabara’s ear and taking off after the three.

Yusuke dug his hands deep in his jean pockets and started walking after them. With in a few minutes the gang reached a stone palace.

Moss and vines took over the ancient building. Some of the stones were cracked or on the ground in piece.

“This wouldn’t happen to be the palace you were talking about, would it, Kuronue?” Kelly asked, looking over the palace.

“It doesn’t surprise me that this place looks like it does. This palace hasn’t been occupied for over one hundred years,” Kurama replied.

“Can we tone it down on the long life thing? I’m still trying to get use to the idea that you’re a demon.”

Kurama nodded as a response to Kelly’s request. Kelly stared at the broken down palace some more. Yusuke and Kuwabara apparently were thinking the same thing as Kelly was from the looks on their faces.

“So how on earth do you think there is anything even close to edible in there?” Kelly asked, looking back at the group.

“There is a hidden room,” Kurama and Kuronue answered simultaneously and in a nonchalant tone of voice.

“How do you both…You know what? I don’t think I want to know. Can you just show us to the food?”

Kurama and Kuronue walked in front of the gang. They walked through the door way and onto the double wooden doors that appeared to have been knocked off their hinges.

“What happened to this place?” Kelly asked, looking around the dark palace.

“The inhabitants left because of a raid,” Kurama answered, lighting a torch that was hanging on the wall.

The light fell upon a beautifully decorated room. There were royal purple drapes on the four doors in the entrance hall. A red carpet was draped over the stairs in the far left corner of the room. All the doors had a golden tiger symbol on them.

“This place is gorgeous. Why would the people that raided this place not take all this stuff?” Kelly asked as they started walking down a hallway that was straight across the room from the front doors.

“This stuff was not as priceless as the item they held in their possession,” Kuronue answered.

“Is it me or does it appear that they know too much about this place?” Kuwabara asked.

“So where is this ‘secret room’?” Yusuke asked, looking around at all the carvings of tigers on the walls.

“It should be around the next corner,” Kurama answered.

Soon after that the group found a hidden door and was walking down a staircase. Kelly made sure she was next to Kuronue. Even though she trusted everyone else there, except Hiei and Botan, she felt the safest around Kuronue. Everyone else just stayed in a single file.

“It’s starting to get cold,” Kelly stated, walking closer to Kuronue.

“It’s to keep the food a bit below room temperature,” Kurama answered.

When the group reached the bottom of the staircase the light fell upon a room of all kinds of food. Kuwabara and Yusuke immediately started eating. Kelly stayed by Kuronue’s side while Botan looked around.

“Is this food really edible?” Kelly asked, looking around.

“Yes. Go ahead, Kelly,” Kuronue said, giving Kelly a reassuring smile.

Kelly and Botan walked over to where Yusuke and Kuwabara were. They slowly started eating different types of food. Hiei stood next to the stairs, leaning against the wall. Kuronue walked over to the far left corner of the room.

A few minutes later Kurama made his way over to where Kuronue was sitting. He stood next to his old partner’s side. Kuronue didn’t look up at Kurama and Kurama didn’t look down at Kuronue.

“I know you want to ask. It’s all right. You can go ahead and ask. It is no longer a touchy subject with me, Youko,” Kuronue said, looking at everyone, except Hiei, eating.

“It’s been a long time since we last saw each other. Many things have changed,” Kurama stated, watching his friends get into an argument.

“Why do you insist on staying in that human form, Youko?”

Kurama smiled at his old partner. He looked down at Kuronue before letting his arms hang at his sides. Kuronue looked up at him to show he was listening.

“Over thirty years, after you died at our last heist together, I was caught by a bounty hunter and was forced to flee to the Human World. I took refuge in an unborn baby. That is why I’m in this form.”

Kuronue gave a soft laugh. Kurama turned to his old friend with a questioning glance. Kuronue stopped laughing as Kurama sat down beside him. Kurama gave a sigh and looked at him.

“Go ahead. Tell me what’s so funny.”

“So you were the brat kid who was my first charge. It makes sense since you’re about the right age.”

“Are you being cryptic or something? What are you talking about? I was one of your charges? Were you not in prison for only twenty years? How is…”

“Youko, one question at a time. You know I can’t keep a thousand questions in my head and answer them all. Okay. First, no, I am not being cryptic. When you were four years old. I didn’t know it was you at the time, but I can see the resemblance. What was the other question?”

“Before I complete lose it. Explain to me how you were able to watch over me when you have been dead for over forty years and was in prison for only twenty.”

“Well. I didn’t die when you left me at our last heist.”

“What?!”

Kuronue gave another soft laugh. Kurama just looked at him, waiting for Kuronue to explain himself. Kelly, by this time, was done eating and looking over at the two friends. She smiled at them.

“I’m glad they are actually talking to each other,” Kelly thought.

“Youko, you couldn’t have done anything more. If that is what you are thinking. The lady of that palace was a child of a village I raided before I met up with you. She wanted revenge on me for killing her killing her parents. So I didn’t die when you left.” Kuronue started out.

“Kurama,” Hiei said, standing next to the stairs.

Kurama looked over at Hiei with a nodded. He stood up and looked down at his friend. Kuronue stood up as well.

“You will have to tell me the rest when this is all over,” Kurama said before walking over to everyone else.

Kelly got to her feet and walked over to Kuronue. She smiled at him as he gave her a questioning glance.

“What are you smiling about? You’re in a run down palace in a demon infested world,” Kuronue stated.

“Because two best friends are reconnecting,” Kelly answered.

“Let’s go. Something is coming.”

--------

It had been a few hours since the group stated walking again. Kelly talked to Botan and tried to talk to Hiei, who wouldn’t talk back, so she would leave Kuronue and Kurama alone to talk. Every once in a while she would look back at the two to find each and every time that Kuronue and Kurama were not even walking by each other let alone talking.

“Jeeze! Those guys are so stubborn! Why don’t they just talk to each other? They need to get all their feelings out!” Kelly thought bitterly.

“How much longer until we get to wherever we are going?” Kuwabara asked to anyone who would answer.

“it will be awhile, Kuwabara. Like I told you before we left it will take at least two days to get there,” Botan answered, looking back at Kuwabara.

“Are you kidding me? Two days of walking? Wait! Does that mean we will be camping?” Kelly started to complain.

“Kelly, unless you can find a hotel or a village in this waste land what else are we going to do?” Kuronue asked sarcastically.

“I know, but…Hey! Don’t get an attitude with me! Whatever happened to the quite Kuronue that didn’t mock me constantly?”

“Don’t worry about him, Kelly. He’s just acting like this because he wants to act cool in front of Kurama,” Botan said, laughing.

Kuronue crossed his arms so he wouldn’t kill the annoying blue haired ferry girl. Kelly snickered at Botan’s comment.

----

“It’s pretty at night,” Kelly stated, looking up at the night sky from where she was laying on the ground.

“Sure is,” Botan agreed, doing the same thing as Kelly.

“I have been wondering about this for a bit, but I couldn’t as Shuichi or Kuronue. Is this Youko a murderous demon? Or was he just a thief?”

“Youko did what he had to.”

“So he did kill other people? I know Kuronue did once, but I was just wondering if Youko did too.”

“Kelly, not all demons are like our three. They are murderous and without an honor code. They do anything they want most the time.”

“Three? Who else is a demon? I know Kuronue and Shuichi are, but…”

“Hiei is one also.”

“Oh. He’s not very friendly, is he?”

“It will take a while to get use to his personality.”

“That also reminds me of my other question. Why haven’t we seen any demons?”

“I’m not sure. Just consider it lucky. It will be much better for us if we don’t run into any demons.”

Kelly turned her attention from Botan to the stars once more. She couldn’t help the thousand questions that flooded her consciousness. Why she was here and what help could she be to everyone? Botan was fast asleep when Kelly looked back over at her.

“I guess it is pretty late,” Kelly said to herself.

She sat up and looked around the campsite, if you could call it that. Everyone was lying down on the ground. It was obvious that Kuwabara was asleep from his snoring. Yusuke appeared to be asleep as well. The fire that was made when they first started to settle down was going out.

“I just can’t get to sleep,” Kelly thought as she scanned over the area that they were in.

The night was a beautiful night. It was a comfortable temperature when the wind wasn’t blowing. Kelly just sat there, looking up at the sky. After a bit she heard something move behind her. She turned around to see Kuronue standing behind her.

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” Kelly asked, looking up at him.

“Not really. Why aren’t you asleep? You won’t be up to walking in the morning if you don’t get some sleep,” Kuronue stated, looking down at her.

“I know. I just can’t get to sleep. This place is just a bit…different, I guess would be the word.”

Kuronue sighed softly. He sat down beside Kelly. She looked at him before looking up at the stars again. Kuronue laughed softly, which confused Kelly.