Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Down to Earth ❯ Installment the Second -- Pulsations ( Chapter 2 )

Yohko's Note to the General Public:

Studies of this YuYuHakusho fan fiction report that it is, indeed, a hazard to your physical and mental well being and can result in the following symptoms: terror, horror, depression, and strange addictions to alternative rock groups such as Linkin Park and System of a Down. Physicians of the Fan Fiction Board of Health advise that anyone who continues to read this story review as soon as possible, because it is the only noticeable cure. Thankyou.

PS: No I don't own YuYuHakusho. Whatcha wanna make of it, punk?

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Installment the Second : Pulsations

Yusuke let his mind slip into to total and complete recession, zoning out on Mr. Futotteimaru's Algebra lecture. Kuwabara snored loudly from the desk beside him and even Kurama was having trouble focusing from the back of the class. `Ugh...' Yusuke groaned to himself. `How is it I can already think of twenty-two good reasons I shoulda ditched class, and I've only been here for an HOUR?' He stared at his fingernails, which were short and rather grimy. `So booored.'

A sudden movement from behind him got Yusuke's attention. Kurama had just sat up straight and stiff as a board, his face pale in a look of shock and mild horror. He turned to stare, mouth half-agape, through the window. Surprised, and constantly looking for ways to avoid the lecture, Yusuke turned in the same direction. And that's when they felt it: the pulsation.

It was odd because it was nothing big. Only a slight shiver of air. But the impact it had was enormous; Kurama jumped two feet and gasped; Yusuke fell backwards out of his chair; Kuwabara woke with a yelp. Then the beeping sounded. The whole class stopped whatever they were doing and turned to stare at Yusuke Urameshi's "Demon Detector" wrist-watch as it screamed its alarm to them all.

The Spirit Detective, recovering from his initial surprise pressed a button on the side and the compass in the middle swung violently to the left indicating a demon 350 kilometers away. "Woah," Yusuke stared at the watch. "That's weird..." Suddenly he found Kurama at his side, staring at the watch as well. "Yes," the fox nodded, rouge bangs bobbing. "Quite odd. It shouldn't go off unless there's one LESS than 50 kilometers away, am I correct?"

"Yeah," Yusuke said, still shocked from the pulsing of the air only a few seconds before. "Something must be wrong with-"

"No way Urameshi." It was the first Kuwabara had spoken in quite a while. Both Yusuke and Kurama looked up at their friend, who looked utterly terrified and was still staring straight out the window from his seat. "That demon's way powerful. Whatever it is."

"Wait, you can feel it? From this distance?" Yusuke cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah. And it's scarin me out of my mind," Kuwabara shivered.

"Um, Suiichi, Yusuke? I'm so sorry to interrupt but could you two please take your seats?" Mr. Futotteimaru's nasaly little voice cut in.

Yusuke lifted himself off the ground and Kurama and Kuwabara stood up behind him. "Sorry, but we've gotta be somewhere Flubber," Yusuke growled, grabbing his bag. The other two grabbed theirs, and they trotted out of the room as a trio, Mr. Futotteimaru trail "but-but-but-but-but"s after them. As they left the building, Yusuke's watch still sounding like mad, they all had one thing on their minds: find Hiei and make sure they hadn't been hallucinating.

They didn't have to search very far. They had barely left the grounds when the demon landed a few feet in front of them, his Jagan glowing beneath his bandana.

"My, what a coincidence meeting you here," Kurama sighed.

"Hn. So I assume you all felt that pulsation?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Kurama nodded, his face darkening. "Indeed. And I truly hope it's not what I think it is." The two exchanged quite meaningful looks just then, Kurama's eyes turning golden and shimmering with guilt and worry, and Hiei's practically glowing with arrogance and contempt. "If you hold her in any higher a place than the rest of us," Hiei said finally, "you'll do us all a good favor to keep that to yourself, Kurama." Kurama's eye widened and he gave Hiei a look, one that Yusuke had never seen him give before; it was a glare full of such terrible anger and momentary hatred that it was nearly palpable. Both humans over looked the scene, unsure of what to do. But soon enough it was over, and Hiei turned to them with a blank stare, probably covering whatever he was feeling at the moment, but it was too hard to read anyhow. "Koenma says he-"

"Wants you all in his office right now!" cried a familiar voice. It was Botan now who came jogging up an alley to the front of the school. She was still dressed in her fortune-telling outfit, and it looked as is she'd been running for quite a while. "Well, right on schedule," Yusuke said with a small smile. "Whasamatter Botan? You look like you're about to keel over."

"And I just might!" she screamed, bending over and resting her palms on her knees in an attempt to catch her breath.

"So Koenma wants us, huh?" Kuwabara said. "But how we gunna get there? I thought his castle was, like, up in the sky or somethin."

"It is, fool." Hiei glowered.

"Am not!" Kuwabara yelled.

"Well," Botan panted, through a curtain of light blue hair that had come loose while she was running, "I was going to open a portal for you with my oar...just give me a minute. Oh...and once you get there, please just try to let him talk. King Enma is really upset right now...and it's kind of stressing everyone out."

"Yes. In fact, SOME OF US should try to stay as quiet as possible," Hiei said, glaring at Kurama who returned it with vigor.

"Uh, yeah, Botan? You might wanna think about getting on that portal making ASAP," Yusuke mumbled into the ear of his blue-haired partner.

"Yes, point taken," Botan said, summoning her oar out of the air with a gesture. She took it by the wooden end and used it to slice through the air, revealing a gash in the dimension. "It's a dimensional rivet. It SHOULD open up right outside of Koenma's office."

"And if it doesn't?" Yusuke asked in a skeptical voice.

Botan shifted uneasily. "Can we...not go over that?"

"Then you'll be sent plummeting into a black hole of misery and woe, learning all the secrets of the universe and having your atomic structure obliterated as your soul is perpetually ripped and torn until it no longer exists," Hiei said calmly, stepping towards the portal.

"Great, now I know everything will be all right," Kuwabara said uncomfortably.

"Hey, never know until you try," Yusuke said, "but just in case, why don't YOU go first Kuwabara?"

-----

The cherry blossom petals where scattering in the wind beneath the troubled sky. The park was completely deserted and thoroughly pink, the petals carpeting the grass. The drizzle dampened them and made those in flight sink back to their earthly home.

A pulsation, the detectives had felt just minutes before, echoed through the sky and in an eruption of thunder Kura burst through the clouds, the multi-dimensional wormhole transport closing with an unheard shloop behind her. She wavered, in a daze from lack of energy, eyes only half open, and then fell. The grasped with her quickly fading conscious onto the last shred of energy she had left and it ballooned out into a parachute of force, weakening the effects of the 300-foot drop to a deafening thud.

Kura lay on her back, blinking in the steadily hardening rain, the bloodstains on her face and hand softening and washing away, her wounds being naturally rinsed clean. She realized what she was wearing and winced as the white, lacy nightgown dampened in the downpour. Finally, with effort, she lifted herself and shook the petals out of her waist-length dark gray hair. As she stood she looked herself over for the first time, and scoffed, knowing that as a mortal she was violently attractive. And she was. Short as she was, she was perfectly balanced: Her long luxurious hair complimented naturally tan skin; she was grotesquely shapely with a bust large for her size, a small waist, and sizeable hips that gave her a perfect hour-glass shape; she had dark lips, a small mouth, and dark eyes that matched her slender eyebrows; her thighs were tight, her abs smooth, and there was no visible body fat on her whatsoever. (A.N. There, a visual for those who didn't read it before. Ain't she perty?)

She sighed. She HAD to get something better to wear. But, looking down at the shimmer-less pendant she still held her hand, she knew that she could never make them herself. Her power was far too low. "Dammit," she swore. She could just barely move with this power level, and she knew that if she didn't get some fuel in her system, she succumb to the physical and spiritual exhaustion the breakout had caused her.

She stumbled to a tree, and leaned against it for support. She closed her eyes and tried to focus, but couldn't. The Pain, a completely new experience, had drained her of strength and suddenly weighed upon her like never before. Her head throbbed, her cuts stung, and her unused legs shook with convulsions. Today was going to be very, VERY long.

-----

Lucky for our favorite detectives the portal did open up in the hall just outside Koenma's office. Not so luckily the portal opened up in the CEILING of the hall just outside Koenma's office and Kuwabara, believing what Hiei had said about misdirected portals, shrieked, thinking he had started to fall through space and time. Yusuke jumped in after him (thinking something had gone wrong), Kurama twitched, Botan screamed bloody murder, and Hiei raised an eyebrow.

After a two equally loud "oof!"s it was determined that everything was alright, and the two demons followed, Kurama much more reluctantly than Hiei. Botan clambered down, quite shaken, whacking Kuwabara very hard on the head with her oar and scolding him fiercely for giving her such an unnecessary scare. After few minutes of various "ow"s and "yowch"es and "you fool"s Botan decided that was enough punishment for one incident and turned to Yusuke, who had been watching with all-too-visible glee on his face. "Now listen," she began. "As I told you before Koenma is in an extremely bad mood. I'm telling you: DON'T GET SMART WITH HIM. No names, no immature gags, and no zoning out. What he's about to tell you is extremely important, but he is in no condition to deal with the likes of you right at the moment." She was talking to all of them now. "You got that? No funny business. I'm telling you. If you want to retain your sanity, I suggest you all be very, VERY quiet during this little briefing. Got it?" She didn't have time to get answer because at that very moments the doors to office flew open, revealing a very panicking blue ogre.

"Botan! Detectives! Thank goodness! I didn't know how much longer I could keep Koenma-sir busy-"

Koenma's voice thundered through the building as the prince raged. "FINALLY! IT'S ABOUT TIME! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING?! I THOUGHT YOU BUMBLING IDIOTS WOULD NEVER GET HERE!"

"Why that little-"Yusuke was about to object to their warm welcome when a wise hand clapped itself over his mouth. "Of course Koenma-sir! We know we took our sweet time getting here and we're oh so sorry!" Botan laughed with an amazingly fake smile on her face. "They're here, they're happy to see you, and they're jumping to know what your Graciousness has to tell them!"

"THEY BETTER BE!"

Botan leaned in close to Yusuke. "Please don't be an idiot," she whispered in his ear. Then she gave him a hard shove into the room and bowed herself out. "I'll be going now, Koenma-sir!" she said cheerfully as the remaining Spirit Detectives hurried in. Yusuke looked back at her as she closed the door. His eyes met her forlorn ones as she mouthed the words again. `Please don't be an idiot.'

They all walked over to their respective chairs and sat down silently as Koenma glared at them and tapped his foot on his desk.

"Now then," he began, eerily quiet, as if he was straining to keep himself under control. "As you know...As I'm certain Botan's told you...we, here in the Under World are in the midst of a universal crisis. We're running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Do any of you happen to know why?"

It was clearly a rhetorical question because he did not give them time to answer. "It's because recently we had a breakout at one of our largest and most secure penal facilities. Thousands were killed. Thousands. And the big thing is: there was only one escapee. Only one tried to escape. And she succeeded.

That wouldn't be such an issue if she wasn't so powerful. A few of us know from experience how dangerous she can be, but for others who haven't she is very easily underestimated. There is no way to beat her. No way to surpass that power. And no way to track it with mechanics."

`Oh come on,' Yusuke thought to himself. `Gimme a break. If she's really THAT powerful there has to be some way to track it.' Suddenly he noticed Kurama, who was sitting to his right. The kitsune's head was down, his face contorted in a furious mixture of guilt, shame, and worry. Slowly the human pieced it together. `Wait...did Koenma say a FEW of us? With the way Kurama's acting...and now that I think about it Hiei's never shown such animosity towards him before...He...knows something.'

"There is, however, a way to track it manually," Koenma continued, oblivious to the small but miraculous intellectual breakthrough Yusuke was having two feet from him. "If you know the right people." At this a small young woman floated through the door, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Long, waist-length, angelic white hair floated around her petite but sensually curved form (she couldn't have been more than 5'3") and her skin was powdered pale tone of light pink. She wore a strapless, moon-colored silk dress beneath a large, six-layer kimono. The first layer of it was completely white, and beneath it faded layers of red, yellow, green, and blue showed through. It was untied about the middle revealing a tiny waist, and was far to big for her, covering her hands where she held them in front of her. Additionally, Yusuke saw, her feet were bear, and hovered above the floor. Her face was calm and beautiful, her ice blue eyes lined by white lashes, but her worry was evident as she spoke in her soft, but relatively deep voice. "You needed me, Koenma-sir?" It was flawless and smooth and washed over the five like a refreshing wave of caressing warmth and sensitive confidence.

"Yes, I did Kugami. These are the four Detectives." Koenma nodded in their direction from his deck. The young woman's face lit up in a lovely smile of relief. "Ah, wonderful," she said cheerily and looked straight at them for the first time. Yusuke found himself blushing, although he didn't know why, and nearly smacked himself for it. Hiei leaned back in his chair, and Kurama looked up for the first time, the same kind of smile gracing his face. Kuwabara shuffled uneasily. It was weird to feel this safe and secure in the presence of somebody he didn't even know. He scratched behind his neck and had the feeling that this girl's smile had just rid him of any displeasure he had been feeling. "Weird..." he mumbled to himself.

Koenma turned to them as well and they all noticed that eve he looked to be in a better mood. "This, gentleman, is Kugami, Goddess of All Light, Purity, Mercy, Happiness, Love and Harmony in the Universe, and Guardian to the Gates of Heaven." She bowed and smiled even more as he introduced her. "`Kuga' for short," she said. "Woah...talk about connections..." Yusuke mumbled under his breath with a small smile.

Koenma went on. "It's her twin sister we're after. Kurami, Goddess of All Darkness, Hatred, Death, Disease, Destruction and Sin, and Gaurdian of Limbo. Again, `Kura' for short. You see, three weeks ago, by some mysterious force both Kuga and her sister were transformed into humans. This `regression' of sorts has left both of them extremely weak because, as Goddesses, they previously had no physical limitations to their power. It had the most effect on Kura, however, because she is the more powerful of the two. It left her in a sort of comatose state. Because she is equally more destructive than Kuga my father felt it best for public safety to keep her locked away. But she woke up much sooner than expected. Although she is newly limited by her physical bonds she continues to astound us all with her spiritual prowess. She's escaped and-"

"Used a wormhole to get into the human world," Kuga broke in. "You might've felt a shudder or something when she broke through about a half an hour ago-"

Now it was Yusuke's turn to interrupt. "THAT'S what that was?! Are you kidding me?! And we just LEFT?! She could terrorizing the entire nation right now!"

"She could. But I seriously doubt it," Said Kurama, speaking softly but for the first time since they had left school. "If what Koenma just told us is completely true, she'll be too busy coping with the lasting effects of the comatose, and almost completely spent from the whole `escaping' business. Kura's quite good at those kinds of things, I'll admit, but she's too rash and violent for her own good. I'm certain she completely disregarded the fact that she's now mortal and spared no expense terrorizing that prison until she was nearly used up. It's not her fault either, I suppose, but she's not used to running out of energy. She's probably struggling just to survive her current state, so we're fine and are all of our friends."

"I'm afraid I don't see what the point was, then, dragging us up here," Hiei snarled, making himself heard as well. "If she's so weak and yet so potentially destructive, why don't we attack her now? There's nothing she'll be able to do."

"Hiei!" Kurama said, coming to the end of his nerves. But, instead, it was Kuwabara who got in Hiei's face.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" he yelled in his partner's face. Hiei, mildly and momentarily surprised at this outburst from Kuwabara instead of Kurama, lost his cool for a minute. "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YOUR HONOR?! YOU'D NEVER ATTACK AN OPPONENT WHEN HE WAS DOWN! HOW THE HELL IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT?!"

But before Hiei could respond, or Kuwabara could continue, they found Kuga in the middle of them, pushing them back into their chairs, away from one another.

"Because he's frightened, Kuwabara. And he has all the right to be." She turned back to Kurama and Yusuke. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid the way everyone is acting is the fault of my sister and I." Kuga looked around at the blank looks she was getting. "Oh dear," she sighed. "Allow me to explain:

As Goddesses, my sister and I have no physical forms. Neither do feelings, as you all know. Well, our physical presence enlivens feelings, so that things that might be petty thoughts turn to words and actions more easily than they regularly would. With time you get used to it, I suppose, but that is not something we have at the moment. Simply being within a hundred mile radius of either of us is enough to make any living thing more emotional than usual. It affects women less than men because of the whole anatomy thing; women's monthly menstrual cycles actively expose them to our presence, so the older a woman is the less affected she'll be. Men are affected more strongly because they never experience such things. Based on global positioning and age, different people are affected by us in different ways. Think of it as Kura and I being two different television stations, and each person as an antenna. Depending on where the antenna is and how old it is it receives us different ways. Teenagers are typically attuned better to Kura's emotions, while small children are better attuned to mine. With adults it all depends.

But returning to the situation at hand, we must all try as hard as possible to keep to ourselves what we think. It will help avoid conflicts such as these."

"Er...yes, indeed," Koenma said awkwardly. "And, Kugami, I'm sure you'll see to it they do."

"Whoa whoa whoa...what? 'See to it'?" Yusuke asked, incredulously.

"Of course," Koenma sighed, exasperated. "Did you not listen to ANYTHING I just said? Kuga is our way of finding Kura. The two are connected: light and shadow; life and death; good and evil. There is no way to possibly have one without having the other. Therefore they are the only things on earth or otherwise that can trace one another. Kuga's also not too bad on the defensive, either. So, yes Yusuke, she'll see to it that you don't do anything really, really stupid."

"But that too has its catches. Although I can trace Kura, we are part of one another. Anything that happens to her affects me as well, however mildly. We are part of one another. Over time, were it allowed, we would eventually become more and more individual as humans, but as we don't have that we are simply two-sides of the same coin. I am her, she is me. So no matter if we find her or not, we can't kill her or I will die as well."

"But aren't you both immortal?" Kurama asked, concerned.

"Well, yes, in a way. And no in another. We are immortal in the sense that we will never age. We will never become ill or die by natural means. It is possible, however, to fatally wound both of us, either by cutting off our heads or ripping out our hearts."

"Well what the hell are we going to do with her then?" Yusuke asked, frustrated. "If we can't kill her then what are our options?"

Koenma sighed, obviously tired. "I have no idea, whatsoever. Just knock her out or something. I'll think on it."

"So Kuga's coming with us?" Kuwabara said.

Koenma smacked his forehead, and spent the next few minutes massaging his temples, his eyes shut. Finally he pressed a button on his desk. An ogre immediately rushed through the doors. "Get them out of my office. PLEASE."

-----

Keiko might not have noticed the girl if it hadn't been for the cat. She had been lost in thought about Yusuke, as usual. Apparently Yusuke, along with Kurama and Kuwabara, had disappeared during second period and not returned. Something was up in Spirit World, she was pretty sure, and she was worried. "I hope nothing's wrong," she sighed to herself, moving her umbrella about uneasily in the rain. "Exams are almost here...I can't afford to go on some mission with Yusuke and them right now..."

It was then the cat decided to dash in front of her. She yelled, startled, and toppled backwards, losing her umbrella. The cat paid her no mind, and darted into the grassy park. "Oh!" Keiko grabbed her umbrella and tried to shake the water off of it before using it to shield herself from the rain. She was already quite wet, and shook herself before looking where the cat had gone. It had been black...wasn't that supposed to be bad luck in Western countries or something? Nevertheless she followed it, curious as to where it was off to in such a hurry.

The sight that met her was hardly less startling than the cat itself had been. There had to be at least twenty black cats in the park, all swarming about something sprawled on the ground near the base of one of the park's many cherry trees. Keiko slowly made her way over but was stopped by the cats, all hissing quite defensively. "Shoo!" she said dismissively. "Shoo! All of you! Out now!" One swiped at her with a clawed paw but as a group they began to disperse and back off with her approach.

Finally, they had all gone and she could see their focus of interest. In front of her lay the body of a young woman, with long dark gray hair and tan skin in a thoroughly wet, white nightgown. Her eyes were closed as if she had fainted. "Oh..." Keiko said, eyes wide. She knelt and laid her hand gently on the girl's neck, checking for pulse. It was there, but just barely. She got the girl in her arms gently and picked her up, fixing her umbrella and book bag in the crook of her elbow. She had to get her medical help and quickly. "Yukina..." she said quietly. Yes, that was right. Genkai's shrine was only a few blocks away. She could take her there and have Yukina fix this girl up.

One of the cats let out a mewl of protest and began following Keiko down the road as she walked. "Shoo," she said gently. "Don't follow me." But it continued to pad behind her, its little feet making ripples in the puddles as it followed her. Keiko looked at. The poor thing was thoroughly soaked and it did not look half ready to 'shoo'.

Keiko sighed and came to a stop. "At least get under the umbrella then." The little thing hesitated. "Come on," Keiko said again. Slowly the cat walked through the puddles until it was right at Keiko's ankles, and it looked up at her as if to ask permission. She smiled, and it gave a pleasant little 'meow' and they walked on until they reached Genkai's shrine.

----

Kura moved her fingers to make sure they were there. Everything in her body felt numb and it sent uncomfortable pangs ringing through her arms to move her hands. Her head throbbed with an unpleasant ache and her eyes were so heavy. Light...she could feel it. She slowly, painfully lifted a hand and placed it over her eyes, and opened them with difficulty. Uncovering her eyes she found herself staring at a low ceiling. Someone...Something had brought her here. "Uhn..." she groaned softly, clenching her teeth behind pursed lips and closing her eyes tight against the pain of sitting up. She pressed her hand into the mat on which she was laying, and grabbed instinctively for the obsidian cross about her neck. She felt it, its cool shape and relaxed slightly as the Pain ebbed away. Her power must be coming back. Right on schedule.

She looked down at herself: whoever had brought her here had taken off her nightgown (and dried it; it was sitting, a lonely lump, in the corner) and dressed her in a large khaki t-shirt and a pair of white leggings, and put bandages on her head and her hand. Her hair was still down to her relief, but no longer wet, and apparently combed. The mewling from the doorway diverted her attention, however. She slowly turned her head to face her visitor: a small black cat with large ears and golden eyes watched her carefully, its tail swishing back and forth, back and forth. Kura slowly extended her bandaged hand with a small smirk. The cat padded up and purred as it rubbed its whiskers against her outstretched palm. "Ah, Circe. I thought you might find me."

"Oh good. You're awake," came a small, soft voice from the corridor. A young woman with a small smile and light blue hair stood outside the doorway, a well-folded pile of clothes balanced in her hands. "My friend Keiko found you in the park. I changed you're clothes and bandaged you up. I hope that's alright."

Kura turned on her fake charm. "Oh yes. Yes of course. Thankyou very much." The blue-haired girl smiled a little wider. It was far too sweet for Kura's liking.

"My name's Yukina by the way." "Deon," Kura said, thinking as quickly as she could. "What a pretty name," Yukina said kindly. "The kitty has been here since Keiko got here with you about twenty minutes ago. I'm quite surprised that you're up so soon." Kura smiled lightly. "Anyway," Yukina said, realizing she still had a pile of clothes in her hands, "you can stay the night if you'd like." She walked away leaving Kura and a silent cat alone.

The black cat clambered on to Kura's lap and curled up. She stroked it softly, thinking. "My Circe, it's quite a predicament you've gotten me into." The cat purred. "You do realize we can't stay here? They'll find us both if we do." Silence.

Finally the cat's tail twitched and it spoke in quite smooth human dialect. "Well one night isn't that long, Mistress, should it not be too bold of this one to say," she purred in a pretty French accent.

Kura scratched gently behind the small cat's large ears, staring off into space, and Circe closed her eyes with the pleasure of it. "It's long enough for Koenma's Idiot Brigade to find us. And I don't like being caught off guard like that. I'm tired of running for today, but have no information on the brat's cronies. Enma is no worry; he's far too stupid to meddle in the human world. It's those 'Spirit Detectives' that cause me mild distress." She looked down at the cat in her lap as she spoke. "But taking hostages is always easy and effective. I want information on them, my Circe. Bring it to me. Bring me information on them all...what they fear losing...what they desire to protect most. I want a full report in less than an hour."

The cat left her lap with a purr. "This one will retrieve it Mistress," she said, bowing herself out of the room.

"Make haste, my Circe. Make great haste."

-----

Yusuke walked through the streets in the direction of his mother's house. He had recently gotten his own apartment, but he wasn't yet accustomed to calling it home, and it was an absent-minded sort of walk, anyways. He was so engrossed in his own thoughts he was on auto-pilot, going to the place he had called home since he was old enough to talk. Kurama, Kugami, and Kuwabara walked with him, also too lost in themselves to really know or care where they were or where they were headed. Even Kuga was completely silent. Eventually Kuwabara split off from them with a half-hearted "see yuh tonight" and a wave, and Yusuke only half noticed that he automatically returned it. Hiei had left them earlier to go wait for nightfall in his tree. (Kugami had told them while on the way back from Koenma's that it Kura would be easiest to find at night when her strength had started to return, and they all planned to meet up in the park at around 9 PM to see if they could find her. Meanwhile they were to go home and catch what sleep they could, as there was no guarantee they would get any that night.)

Yusuke, as was traditional, finally broke the silence. "So where're you gunna stay, Kuga?"

"What's that?" she said gently, suddenly finding herself.

"Where're you going to stay? You know, just in case we don't find her. You gotta have somewhere to go. It's not safe, very less normal for some pretty girl who floats to just wander around the city all day."

"I suppose you're right, Yusuke. But I must say, if we don't find her tonight that might be the end of it."

"The end of what?"

"Everything," Kurama said quietly. "Everything and everyone. This is our one chance. If we're going to find her, it will be tonight. Otherwise she'll find us...and trust me, you do not want that to happen."

They were hushed for a moment. It was then that Yusuke snapped, at last.

"Okay Kurama, I'm gunna ask you nicely: How the hell do you know so much about this girl?"

"What?" Kurama looked up, surprised.

"Look I may be human, but I'm not the world's biggest idiot, okay? So don't treat me like I am. I know when people are holding out on me and I really hate it. It makes me feel like I'm a little kid. And I'm not. So just tell me: what do you know that I haven't been told? What does HIEI of all people know, that I don't?!"

Somehow in the midst of this, Yusuke had gotten hold of Kurama's collar, and his friend looked at him with composed amusement. "It's not like you to be jealous of Hiei," he said gently. "It's usually the other way around. Just settle down, and I'll tell you, if you want to know so very badly." Kuga who'd looked very distressed since the beginning of this little out burst, relaxed as Yusuke gently let go of his friend's collar, and then looked down, as if to kick himself for shame. "Look, I'm sorry...that just...came out. I just..."

"I know Yusuke. None of us are truly up for games right now." Kurama said, his eyes pleasantly forgiving. "It's alright." He turned his head to look up the street once. "However, this is not the place to discuss what it is you'd like to know," he said, nearly whispering, his eyes narrowed. "There are reasons I haven't spoken the truth to anyone...and those reasons could easily get us all in big trouble if we're careless." He turned back to Yusuke and took him by the wrist. "My house is the most secure place I can think of at the moment...we can discuss the matter there." The red head looked down at Kuga. "You ought to come with me as well. Yusuke's right on you needing a place to stay, whether we find her or not, and my home is yours as long as that's all right." Kuga nodded quickly. "Of course."

"And I'm afraid you may need a new set of clothing," he said, eying the silk dress and kimono. "Something a little " Kugami looked down it, blinking, obviously confused. "Oh!" she exclaimed as it finally clicked. "I suppose you're right. Mortals don't wear things like this very often, do they? Um...okay...I think I know what you mean...just a second..." She lifted her right hand to a chain around her neck and brought out a pearl cross-shaped pendant on a silver chain. She closed her eyes and after a few seconds a brilliant white glow enveloped her body. Three seconds passed before the light vanished completely without a trace, and Kuga stood in front of them, clothed in a girl's high school uniform, her long white hair in a loose bun. "Like this?" she asked, checking herself. "Yes," Kurama nodded with a small smile. "Quite good for a first try." Yusuke just stared for a moment before saying anything.

"Whoa."

-----

They got there quickly. Kuga finally set her feet on the ground and walked in to the house placing a small, nearly invisible piece of paper below the door handle before closing it securely behind the three of them. Kurama thought up a quick lie to tell his mother and stepfather ("Friends from school...you remember Yusuke right? And this is Kugami, she's new. We were assigned a group science project today, is it alright if we work on it in my room?") as Kuga and Yusuke took their shoes off in the entrance way, and then hurried them upstairs. He checked behind them carefully, his sharp eyes searching the empty hallway fervently before closing the door behind them.

"Now then," he said, leaning his back against the door, "What is it you wanted to ask me?" Yusuke sat himself backwards on a computer chair, and looked the demon straight in the face. "I want to know what you know about Kurami."

Kurama folded his arms across his chest and stared off into space. "Ah yes...I remember. Well...where to begin is the question...alright. I think I know where to start our frightful tale. Feel free to interrupt when you feel it necessary.

Now then...what do I have to do with Kura, you ask? Far too much. Let us go back. Far back. Before you. Before Suiichi, the human me. Let us go back to the time when I was Yoko. And just Yoko. Not Yoko, the Demon Thief. Just Yoko. And not all too much older than I am as a human, either. Kura and Kuga were around then. And far before then. But to know what I have to do with them both, we might as well just stick to my story. And here it is.

At the time we speak of, I had nothing but potential. I was a parentless demon child without any sort of power. It was at that time that a plague enveloped the land. So few of us survived, there may have been as many as three survivors out of every 20,000 who became infected. I was so lucky to be one of them. I lived, against astronomical odds, and in doing so I passed Kura's first test. And that's just what it was...a test. The Goddess of Death had tested us all, and in doing so, she had singled out those of us who she wished to reward.

One day the plague just stopped. Those who had been infected miraculously came back as if nothing had happened. The Makai boomed once more with life. And everything appeared to be alright. However, it was far too late for those of us who had actually survived the plague while it was active. We had been singled out just long enough for Kura to figure out who we were. And we were never alone. Her spies are everywhere and always have been. She knew all of our names and our locations at any time, and she called us all out eventually. She explained to us that we had potential to be the most powerful of warriors and invited us all to train with her. Those of us who refused were killed. Immediately. No questions asked.

I agreed to it however. Training by one of the Eight Goddesses was an unheard of privilege, and I had no reason to resist. I was the first of three to agree to it. And train we did. I became stronger with each day, consumed by the desire to become the most powerful demon ever. It was difficult and at first I thought my spirit might break along with my bones, but that feeling faded with time. Five years passed and eventually I was the only one who continued to practice. Kura told me I was the only one with the capacity to get any stronger, and indeed I was. I was twice as powerful as my other teammates, a young female cat demon named Circe, and a male demon named Toketsu with a talent for summoning dragons. She told the two of them to try to become stronger by testing their powers on others, and sent them off to who knows where. In the end only Circe returned. Truly we have no idea what became of Toketsu, but a rumor reached us that he had attempted to create an empire in the East by overtaking villages and had been killed in a mutiny by his own subjects.

In that time when Circe and Toketsu had been absent, Kura's training became all the more rigorous. We worked specifically on my talent with plants and ended up learning one another's techniques. She was my master, and I was her pupil. In that time we gradually began to trust one another...a huge thing to consider seeing as to what we both were. She relied on me and I relied on her. We made the perfect team in all types of combat just because we knew each other so well. But after Circe's return...well, Kura allowed me to go search for Toketsu. After searching for months and finding nothing, I began to lose focus. I ran low on supplies and started stealing because I had to. With no one to give me a significant challenge I began stealing just for the confrontation of it and gradually forgot my original mission all together. But with that I also forgot that Kura's spies always kept there eyes on me. It was a while until I figured out that Circe had been told to follow me everywhere I went. (As a cat demon, she inhibits the ability to change into a cat at will.) For the first time, Kura's ease at controlling me angered me...frustrated me. She had such power...power I knew I could never compete with. That scared me. And so I began to consciously ignore it. I pretended that I did not recognize Circe as anything but a black cat. I refused to respond to any of Kura attempts to contact me. I blocked her existence out of my mind out altogether.

This angered Kura beyond all imagining. I had betrayed her in a way she had not predicted and it did more than aggravate her...it ENRAGED her. The depths of her anger were unfathomable. And eventually she came after me. Her plan was obviously to kill me for my ignorance, but she stopped before the fatal blow was struck. I have no idea what stopped her...by all accounts I should've died that day. But something held her back. She let me live, but she cut me off just as I had her. During my last year alive in the Makai, I became famous for my burglary expertise, but had no contact with her whatsoever. Circe continued to follow me, but I believe it was only companionship she sought. She would change back every once and a while in my presence so I know Kura hadn't ordered her to follow me. It was a pained existence, in a way. My stealing had turned into one of the only ways I could rebel against her, and now that she would have nothing to do with me I was just...stealing. Ultimately it got the better of me, and, as you know, I was struck down in the midst of a burglary. I escaped here...and I nearly forgot about Kura. Nearly.

Since her reappearance as a human her spies have been everywhere. They come in all shapes and size: crows, cats, butterflies, stray animals of all kinds, even demons. But I can recognize them. They're keeping an eye on me because their Mistress is so weak and they don't know what else to do. They want to make sure I don't sing. I know too much about Kurami to be safe. What they don't know is that Kura treated us all for such things. The food that we ate while under her 'care' (if you can call it that) would've been poisonous to any human that could've eaten it. It was cursed, designed to nourish us while still affecting us. It made us unable to talk about her to or in the presence of anyone who was not one of her pupils. Over time the power of it has worn off and I can talk about my past with her freely. I can't reveal anything about her powers, however. That part of the curse will work until who knows when. So that's all I can tell you. Hiei probably learned by word of mouth if you must know. He doesn't like to think he cares about gossip but he listens. Word gets around against impossible odds, you know."

Yusuke, who had just been sitting in his chair for this lengthy speech finally said something. "So you didn't tell Hiei?" Kurama shook his head slowly. "No. I didn't. Although I did just tell you."

Yusuke blinked for a while. Kuga watched them both from her place on Kurama's bed, a calm but sad look on her face. Yusuke finally looked up at Kurama, who stared back at him from beneath bushy red bangs. Yusuke turned to stare out the window, gripping the chair with uneasy gratitude.

"Okay," he said softly. "Thankyou. Thankyou Kurama."

And so thankful was he that he did not really look out the window. And as such he did not really see the small black cat with large ears and yellow eyes watching from beneath the leaves of the tree outside as the sun sank into the horizon.

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Uh...well that whole "Kurama's explanation" thing took a whole lot longer than I suspected so I guess I'll end it here. HA HA! Suckers. You'll just have to wait until I have more time. Poor you. Review or die. Love you all. Kind of.