Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Demon Within ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

"Kurama? Can you hear me?"

"Where is that old hag with the water? I could have gone to the well and back a dozen times by now!"

"Then you can go next time, slacker."

Kurama felt the shock of something cold and wet on his forehead. Although his senses seemed to be working fine, he was having trouble getting his body to respond to his wishes. He could see and hear the ones around him, but had no energy to answer their questions or even move his head.

"This is worse than I thought," Genki said from somewhere above him. "Stand back. I'm going to try something."

A shock went through his body and he arched his back off the ground. Every muscle in his body suddenly felt like it was on fire. The jolt lasted only a couple of seconds, but the lasting pain was enough to loosen his frozen body.

"What . . .?" he croaked from his raw throat. "How . . .?"

"All right!" Yusuke cheered. "He's back!"

"Shut up!" Genki ordered, removing the wet cloth from his forehead. "Save your celebrating. He's not out of the woods yet."

Kurama struggled to sit and was surprised when Hiei lent him a hand. He also gave Kurama a cup of water before walking a few paces away from the others crowding around.

"Boy, Kurama, you had us worried," Yusuke said, smiling down at him. "When I opened the door, you were just lying there, and I could have sworn I saw your eyes glowing red. What happened in there anyway?

Kurama hung his head, unable to look his friend in the eye. He looked down at his watery reflection in the cup and was almost surprised to see the familiar face. Although he appeared the same on the outside, he certainly didn't feel like himself on the inside.

"Something really freaky is going on," Yusuke continued, unaware of Kurama's awkward silence. "I mean, first Keiko gets attacked by a fox in the woods, then you scare the living daylights out of us by having some sort of heart attack or something. Are the planets out of alignment this week? Maybe I should take a few more days off of school just to be on the safe side," he added with a hearty laugh.

"I attacked Keiko."

Yusuke's laughter died away slowly until it resembled a nervous chuckle. "Wh . . . What?"

"I was the one that attacked Keiko," he repeated, forcing himself to face Yusuke so he would be able to read the truth in his eyes.

The smile slid from Yusuke's face, leaving a mixture of confusion and anger. He knew he had to believe his friend, but didn't want to.

"Don't just leave it at that!" Genki snapped. "He deserves to know what happened."

Kurama winced at the betrayed look Yusuke gave him as his legs gave way and he dropped to the ground. He took a deep breath for support and retold as much as he could remember about his time in the woods with Keiko.

"If Hiei hadn't been there," he concluded, "there would have been nothing I could have done to stop myself."

"So now let's hear what Hiei was doing lurking around the same woods Kurama just happened to be in," Genki said, crossing her arms to show she demanded a satisfactory answer.

Everyone looked up at Hiei, waiting for him to speak. He glanced over at them out of the corner of his eye. Seeing there was no way to ignore them, he sighed. "It's not difficult to recognize the growing strength of a demon in the human world. I felt it even before Koenma told me to check it out. It started out slowly, but began an impressive increase in spirit energy lately. I only realized it was Kurama a month ago."

"And you didn't think we needed to know any of this information?" Yusuke yelled. "Good God, Hiei! Keiko could have been killed!"

"She wasn't, though, was she?" Hiei asked.

"What are you doing here, Yusuke?" Kurama asked. "Why are you here instead of with Keiko?"

He shot Hiei a dirty look before answering. "Botan gave me an urgent message that I was 'desperately needed' at Genki's. Obviously, I'm the only one who didn't know what was going on!"

"Kurama didn't," the old woman pointed out.

Yusuke felt angry and betrayed, but most of all, confused. His brain was tired of trying to comprehend everything at once. "Kurama didn't what?" he sighed.

"I didn't know what was going on," Kurama admitted. “Until, that is, my demon side explained it to me in the meditation hut.”

"Wait a minute! You were locked up in there just so you could talk to yourself?"

"In a manner of speaking. We actually seem to be two separate people in there -- the human, Shuichi, and the fox demon, Yoko Kurama."

"But it seems that only Shuichi has managed to exit," Genki said.

Hiei nodded solemnly. "And the true fox demon remains sealed inside the hut."

"Well, that's great!" Yusuke said, jumping to his feet. "I'll just blast that hut to smithereens with my spirit gun. Game, set, match." He aimed his finger at the door and began gathering a large amount of spirit energy into its tip. Suddenly, he found himself face down in the dirt.

"You idiot!" Genki yelled, standing over him. "When are you going to learn to use that big lump that sits on top of your neck? If you kill one, the other dies, too!"

"What are you talking about?" Yusuke asked, spitting a pebble from his mouth.

"Yoko Kurama's soul inhabited a human body," Hiei explained. "Right now, body and soul are split. A human cannot survive without a soul."

Yusuke looked suspiciously at Kurama. "He looks like he's surviving to me."

"Existing is more like it," Genki said. "I gave him a kind of spirit energy jump start, but it won't last for long. He will have to reunite with the demon or his body will die."

"But what if the one that comes out of that hut is the demon?" Yusuke asked. "I mean, just look at him! Kurama doesn't even look strong enough to fight off flies, let alone a demon!"

"You're right, Yusuke," Kurama said, his weak voice barely heard over the rustling leaves overhead. "Yoko Kurama could easily overtake Shuichi right now. He has learned my weakness and I can no longer restrain him as I am. But since there is no other choice . . ."

Kurama struggled to his feet and stood, swaying back and forth. Yusuke made a move to steady him, but he waved the offered hand away.

"Kurama! You can't do this!" Yusuke pleaded.

"I have to," he said. "But first I must get rid of the key that let him take control in the first place."

Everyone stared at Kurama as he closed his eyes and took a couple shaky breaths. When he opened them again, his green eyes showed a calm courage that they hadn't seen in months.

"Yusuke, I love Keiko."

The admission was so completely unexpected, they all stood frozen in shock. Hiei was the first to move. He gave a small nod of understanding before turning his back to hide his grin. Genki merely raised a curious eyebrow and looked to her pupil for a reaction.

Yusuke was struck dumb. His eyes blinked. His mouth gaped. His hands twitched. He took a breath to say something, then let it out in a sigh. Finally, he said the only thing he could think of.

"Hunh?"

"Now there's an intelligent response," Genki laughed.

"Well what do you expect me to say?!" he shouted at her. "I've been sitting here worrying about his ass, and he comes back and drops a bomb like that on me! How am I supposed to answer that?"

"I didn't expect an answer," Kurama said with a sad smile. "And I'm sorry to shock you like that, but it couldn't be helped. Yoko Kurama has been using the guilt that has been continually growing inside me to free himself. If I'm to face him again, I needed to clear my conscious first."

"So you're just going to blurt it out and walk away?" Yusuke asked when Kurama turned back toward the hut.

Kurama paused, but didn't look back at his friend. "My guilt was not for the feelings I have toward Keiko. It was keeping the truth from the people I cared about because I was afraid it would hurt them. It turns out that living the lie could have much more serious repercussions than just hurt feelings. The negative energy I tried to suppress almost killed the girl I care about which would, in turn, kill my best friend. For that, I am deeply sorry. Now, I have to try my best to put things right."

"And if you fail?" Hiei asked, suddenly right behind him.

Kurama paused, his hand hovering over the hut's door latch. "Then make sure Yusuke is ready to kill me."

"I can't kill you, Kurama," Yusuke said in a low voice. "No matter what you said."

"You know how strong this demon is," Kurama continued to Hiei, ignoring Yusuke. "I know what he means to do. Don't let him get his memories and feelings in the way of what he has to do."

Hiei nodded and stepped back, leaving Kurama to face the demon alone.