The Demon Within
"What have I done?"
Kurama looked down at the lifeless body at his feet. The thick, black hair only partly hid the pretty face above the blood-covered neck. He stared in shock at the bright red spots on the front of his maroon school uniform; could still taste the metallic tang on his tongue. With one shaky hand, he touched his forehead where a tender lump had suddenly appeared.
"What have I done?" he asked again, then was shocked when an answer came from behind him.
"It wasn't you."
He spun around just as Hiei jumped down from the tree limb he'd been crouching on, sword held at the ready. He walked around Kurama at a safe distance, keeping his red eyes locked with Kurama's green ones. When he reached the head of the girl, he knelt down and tipped her face toward him with one finger on her chin.
"What happened?" Kurama's voice cracked with a mixture of confusion, fear, and anxiety. "How did I...? Why did I...?"
"She's not dead...yet," Hiei said and hoisted the limp body over one shoulder. He pointed the tip of his sword at Kurama's chest. "You'd better find a way to get your demon side under control. If you can't, they'll make me do it."
Kurama's jaw dropped, his eyes wide in shock. His demon side? Out of control? Hiei took a step back before sheathing his sword.
"Of course, if Yusuke ever found out what happened to the girl, he wouldn't care which version of you was responsible." Then Hiei turned and disappeared into the trees, Keiko's arms flopping against the back of his legs as he took her to safety.
Kurama was left alone in the silent forest with blood drying on his clothes and skin, fearing for his sanity and, more importantly, the safety of those he cared for.
"So you really don't remember what happened?"
"No."
Kurama followed Genki down the well-tended garden path, letting his fingertips trail over the soft flower petals. The uneasy feeling he had before coming to her mountain was soothed by the beautiful, lush vegetation surrounding them. He knew she'd planned this walk with that thought in mind. For that he was grateful to her.
"My question is," Genki continued, "how was it that Hiei just happened to be in the right place at the right time?"
Kurama froze in his tracks. That thought had never occurred to him. He counted it as just a fortunate coincidence that Hiei had been there to prevent Kurama from harming Keiko any further. But what were the odds? If Hiei hadn't struck him on the forehead to bring him back to his senses, Keiko's fate would've been sealed, as well as Kurama's in the face of Yusuke's fury.
"So Hiei knew it was going to happen? Why didn't he tell me?"
Genki sighed and turned back to face Kurama. "Does Hiei ever offer information? My guess is he received a tip that something about you was changing, so he went to see for himself."
"Koenma!" Kurama exclaimed with sudden understanding.
"He didn't tell you about it because he either didn't know exactly what would happen, or he wanted to witness it."
Kurama hoped it was the former, but feared it to be the latter. It would be just like Hiei to be curious enough about a new threat to want to see it in action before stepping in to stop it.
"So I should go ask Koenma," he thought aloud. He pulled a flower blossom closer to study it so he wouldn't have to face Genki. He couldn't believe how he'd overlooked the obvious when he was supposed to be the clever one. Of course he really hadn't been himself lately, had he?
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," Genki snapped. "There's no use going all the way to Spirit World to ask a question you could answer yourself. Follow me."
They turned off the garden path onto an overgrown footpath. The domestic vegetation gave way to unrestrained weeds as they wove their way to a small building in the middle of a grassy clearing. Genki unfastened a large lock on the sturdy door and pushed it open.
"This is a meditation hut," she explained. "The perfect place to find answers, if you ask yourself the right questions."
Kurama looked into the dark, empty hut and a shiver of dread ran down his back like he'd been doused in icy water. The paper talismans attached to the outside walls gave him an ominous feeling. Even though he knew his human fingers could touch them safely, he still remembered the burning sting from his demon days. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave this place, but knew that was no longer an option. The image of Keiko's bloody body gave him the courage to stay.
"I'm so confused," he admitted. "I no longer know what to ask."
"You're not confused, you're scared," Genki pointed out. "You've been the picture of calm perfection for so long; you can't even admit to yourself you're not in complete control. The only way to solve your problem is to face it head on. Now get inside and stay there until you're satisfied you're back to normal."
Kurama sighed and stepped inside the hut. The door slammed shut behind him and he heard Genki snap the lock shut. His heart pounded in his ears as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. When he realized there was absolutely no light penetrating the hut's sturdy walls and roof, he sat down where he was and prepared to relive that day; and to meet his greatest fear.
"Kurama! What are you doing here?"
"Hello, Keiko. I was looking for Yusuke. Have you seen him?"
Keiko frowned, her forehead creasing suspiciously. "I thought he was with you. He didn't show up at school today and wasn't at home when I called either."
Kurama looked around at the milling students on their way home from school as if Yusuke would somehow appear in their midst. It seems his leaving school early to come looking for the Spirit Detective was a waste of time, after all.
"Well, if he isn't with you and he wasn't in school...I wonder where he could be," Keiko thought aloud.
"Perhaps he had...other business...to take care of," he said, careful not to give out any confidential information as a group of boys passed them.
"Oh darn!" she said, coming as close to a curse as she allowed herself. "I wanted Yusuke to come with me to collect plants for a science project. I hate going into the woods by myself."
At the mention of plants, Kurama's interest switched from searching for Yusuke to helping Keiko with her project. The question he wanted to ask could wait.
They spent the next hour gathering various flora throughout the nearby woods. Kurama explained the interesting properties of each while Keiko took notes and carefully pressed each one between the pages of a book.
"Thank you so much for helping me, Kurama," Keiko said as they began to make their way back out of the woods. "This is going to be my best project ever!"
"You're welcome," Kurama said with a smile. "But I'm sure you would have done an admirable job even without my help. You had an impressive knowledge of plants already."
"But without Yusuke, I wouldn't have dared to venture this deep to find all these specimens." She stopped long enough to stamp one foot on the ground. "Oh! That still makes me mad! He knew I was counting on him, but one word from Koenma and he's all too happy to rush off!"
"Well, it is his responsibility as a Spirit Detective," he pointed out in defense of his friend.
"I know. A demon shows up and he runs off to fight it. I don't see why he doesn't just go to Spirit World and blast every last demon away once and for all. Life would be so much better without them. They're mean, they're ugly...they're just plain horrible! I wish every last demon would just disappear!"
Keiko's rant stopped Kurama in his tracks. He tried to swallow back the pain in his heart from her innocent words, but a ringing had started in his ears.
"I am a demon."
"You're more human than demon," Keiko said with a dismissive wave of her hand, then realized Kurama was no longer walking next to her. She turned around and was shocked at the sight before her.
"And I wouldn't exactly call this ugly," the silver-haired man said with a sly grin.
Keiko's mouth hung open as Yoko Kurama slowly strolled toward her. His hair floated on the gentle breeze beneath his smooth fox ears. The loose fitting pants rippled with each step, but she found her eyes undeniably locked with his golden ones.
Yoko Kurama stopped mere inches from her and brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek and down to her chin. With the gentlest of pressure, he closed her mouth and tipped her head back to look up into his gaze.
"And we are not always the horrible ones," he said, his hushed voice sending a shiver through her. "Humans can be horrible and mean. But do you know what?"
Keiko shook her head slightly. At the angle her head was tipped, talking would've been difficult, but it was the sheer force of his awesome presence that struck her silent.
"We demons can be meaner!"
There wasn't even time for Keiko to scream between the time the demon's eyes changed red and the sharp fox teeth closed around her neck. She wasn't even sure her eyes caught the transformation from the silver-haired man to the terrifying fox demon. The last look on her face before losing consciousness was that of utter fear and complete betrayal.
"And if it weren't for that pint-sized nuisance with a sword, we could have feasted on all that tender, young flesh."
"No! Keiko is my friend!"
"Friends are a liability. A weakness. You used to understand this. You were good at keeping these pathetic humans from getting too close."
"They were afraid of me!" Kurama cried out. "No child wants to play with a boy who knew as much as I did and had freakish spirit powers!"
Yoko Kurama threw his head back and laughed. Even though the hut was still completely dark and Kurama couldn't even see his own hands in front of his face, he could see his demon counterpart as clearly as if he were standing in the bright sunlight.
"You did make a sorry sight," Yoko laughed. "A little red-haired boy, all alone and playing with flowers. No wonder they laughed at you and threw rocks!"
Kurama wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his face in the crook of his arm, but he couldn't block out the vivid image of the painful childhood memory.
"And what did you do? Did you seek revenge? Did you teach them a lesson? Did you even stand up for yourself? No! You ran home crying!" Yoko sneered. "Home to the human woman I used!"
"Stop it," Kurama whispered into his sleeve. Tears soaked into the cloth of his shirt as they used to do to his mother's before he learned to hide his powers.
"When I escaped from Spirit World, I knew the only way to regain my strength was to lay dormant inside a human. That woman should be grateful to me for giving her unborn child a soul! Without one, it never would have lived and she wouldn't have had such a sweet little boy to coddle."
"Stop it."
"And how does my host show his gratitude for giving him life?" Yoko continued, now circling around Kurama, taunting him on all sides. "Does he make me proud by getting strong enough to return me to my own life as soon as possible? No! He sacrifices my needs - my desires - my LIFE - because he feels sorry for the human woman I sacrificed my freedom for to give her the gift of a child!"
"Stop it!"
Kurama's tears stopped. He lifted his head, but refused to look at the demon. His hands clenched to fists and he gritted his teeth against the onslaught of verbal abuse.
"If only I had been strong enough to take over all those years ago. If only you hadn't let your feelings for her come before my goal. If only you had kept building your spirit power instead of suppressing it for so long." Yoko paused and knelt before Kurama. Although the demon didn't touch him, he felt himself being forced to look at him. "Do you know what I would have done?" His intense golden eyes didn't quite reflect the smile on his face. "I would have tortured the woman just to hear her scream. I would have danced to the music of her cries of pain and sung to the sounds of her pleading. Then, when her weak human body finally gave out, I would have bathed in her blood and feasted on her flesh, tormenting her soul for eternity."
Something in Kurama snapped. In an instant, he was on his feet, swinging one leg with all his strength at the demon kneeling in front of him. Yoko jumped back as nimble as a cat, easily avoiding the attack.
"Too slow," Yoko laughed. "But at least you're not blubbering anymore."
"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!" Kurama yelled, throwing a punch with each word straight at Yoko's face. Although he couldn't see his fists, Yoko must have. He was able to dodge each attack with just a simple tip of his head.
"Finally! A show of anger!" Yoko said with a satisfied smile. "Doesn't that feel much better than that false restraint you show to those humans?"
"What are you talking about?" Kurama asked, his chest heaving with exertion and frustration. He had no idea how much time passed since he first entered the hut, but could tell his body was weakening from lack of food, fresh air, and sunlight.
"I'm talking about the way you pretend you're holding back some kind of great power when you struggle to dredge up the spirit energy you use for that little trick I taught you before you betrayed me by locking me up deep inside that disgusting human body!"
By the time Yoko reached the end of his speech, it had become a tirade. He floated up a few feet, his golden eyes flashing red and his ears flattened back against hair that blew back from his face by some kind of unfelt wind.
Kurama took an involuntary step backward, feeling a deep fear he'd never experienced before. The panic in his eyes amused Yoko and seemed to calm him down. Once again, he stood before Kurama with a satisfied grin.
"I believe you are finally beginning to understand your proper place," he purred. "I am the demon here. And you...you are just a little weak human. Isn't that right...Shuichi?"
The sneer Yoko put in Kurama's human name seemed to give him just enough courage to break the hypnotic hold the gold eyes had on him. He straightened up to show he was done being bullied around.
"Yes. My name is Shuichi. And I'm proud of the name my mother gave me. I decided to stay a human because of her, so I denied your return to Spirit World. But I can't see how you could call me weak since I've been able to keep you restrained for this long."
"Restrained?" Yoko bellowed. "You kept me a prisoner! Locked so far down inside you couldn't even find me when you wanted to! Can you even fathom how humiliating it's been for me? Trapped in the body I chose as my salvation! But don't think you accomplished this feat by any kind of strength on your part. It was the love you had for your mother that weakened my attempts to escape. It was like thick bands of steel wrapping around me, locking me up tight. Then, when you used the mirror to save her life, I had a small glimmer of hope. Shuichi's life would be taken, but I, Yoko Kurama, would finally be freed! But that didn't happen, did it? Your love for that woman was reinforced by the love that grew for your friends. So there I was; condemned to spend your human lifetime shackled inside you while you brazenly used my powers to fight for everything I despise - love, peace, happiness, friendship, and worst of all, humans!"
"I don't know how you got free," Kurama said. "I don't know how you were able to take over my body. I'm not even sure yet how I'm going to lock you back up, but somehow I will do it. I can't allow you to hurt anyone else the way you almost did Keiko."
"Ah, Keiko," Yoko sighed. "She tasted good, didn't she? The first thing I'm going to do when I'm finished with you is continue to sample that delicacy."
"Stay away from her!" Kurama yelled and launched himself at the demon. Yoko laughed and jumped over Kurama's head, landing silently behind him. Kurama spun around for another attack, but couldn't see his adversary anywhere in the darkness.
"Do you want to know how I was able to finally break those chains that bound me?" Yoko asked, his voice seeming to come from all directions at once. "Ironic, that it was another human emotion that ate away at my prison. An emotion that I'm sure you tried to hide from everyone, especially yourself. An emotion that's been known to break the strongest of human psyches. Guilt!"
Kurama gasped. A river of ice coursed down his back the same time drops of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"That's right," Yoko said in his ear. "A guilt that's been brewing for quite some time now. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
"N-No," he answered, feeling himself shaking all over.
"Oh, I think you do," Yoko chuckled in his other ear. "A guilt that sprung from that little secret you've kept hidden almost as well as me? A secret about a certain person? A certain person who is in your thoughts day and night? Thoughts you shouldn't be entertaining because that person belongs to another? Another who is supposedly your friend? A friend that's risked his life for yours more than once? Thus the deep guilt that eats away at you like acid."
Kurama opened his mouth to deny the accusation, but realized Yoko was merely stating the truth. He wondered how he could have let the guilt build up to such an amount that it overshadowed everything else and released the demon he believed to be under control?
"I can see you're ready to admit your guilt. Too bad it's too late. I'm already free. And I plan on taking my life back...now!"
Kurama saw the clawed hand closing in on his neck, but couldn't muster up enough energy to react. How could he fight this demon? Maybe he did deserve whatever he was going to do to him. It would certainly be easier than having to live with the guilt any longer.
"That's it," Yoko said, tightening his grip around Kurama's neck until his green eyes bulged. "Give me your life. Then I should have enough strength to take care of a few more humans. Then, finally, I'll be ready to return to Spirit World. Do you have a preference to which one I devour first? I can't decide between the woman you love and the girl you covet."
With the last of his remaining energy, Kurama reached up to pry the fingers from his throat, only to find there was nothing there to grab. Although Yoko could touch him, his hands passed right through the demon's arm.
"What's the matter, Shuichi? Having second thoughts? You may as well give up and let me take you. Without me, you can't even engage your spirit energy. But by all means put up your meager attempt to save your life. It whets my appetite for those upcoming morsels."
The last thing Kurama saw before losing consciousness was a blinding light. The last thing he thought was how sorry he was for failing the people he cared about.
"Kurama? Can you hear me?"
"Where is that old hag with the water? I could've 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 struggling to breathe, and I could've 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 who 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've 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 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'll 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's 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's 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.
"I knew you'd be back, Shuichi."
"Of course you did. I can't survive without a soul. Since yours is the only one available, I guess I'll just have to settle for it."
"My, my!" Yoko said, appearing before Kurama. "The little flower has grown some thorns. Plucking it will be more of a challenge, but will only make it smell that much sweeter."
"I am not a flower," Kurama said with a quiet, but firm, voice.
"Hmm," the demon said, circling Kurama. "What, I wonder, could have possibly happened in that short amount of time to lead you to believe you had even the slightest chance fighting against me?"
"I was just thinking," Kurama said as if talking to an old friend. "I remember back at the Dark Tournament when I tried to bring forth my dormant power. I wonder now why I had such trouble when you obviously wanted out so badly."
Yoko stopped and glared at Kurama, who just looked curiously back at him. "What are you trying to say?" he demanded.
"I'm saying I don't think you're as strong as you want me to believe," Kurama said with a small grin.
"How could you say that," Yoko asked, bringing his face close to Kurama's, "after what I was able to do?"
"I'll admit you caught me in a weakened state, but I assure you that won't happen again." From beneath his hair, he pulled out a red rose. Although Kurama couldn't see it in the darkness, Yoko laughed.
"Do you actually think that little trick could hurt me? It's the weakest weapon I ever invented! Not to mention the fact you don't have any spirit energy without me. You can't hurt me."
"Oh, can't I?" Kurama asked with a sly grin. With a flick of his wrist, the simple rose transformed into a long, thorn-covered whip that could be seen in the dark as clearly as Yoko himself. "It seems I have a little bit of energy left, doesn't it?"
Yoko's smile slid off his face and he took a few steps backwards. "How can this be? Without me, you are nothing more than a mere human!"
Kurama absently flicked the whip back and forth, its tail coming closer and closer to Yoko's feet. The demon kept backing steadily away as Kurama followed him slowly around the hut.
"You can't hurt me!" Yoko cried out, jumping back as the whip struck the ground right where his feet had been moments before.
"Yet you seem afraid," Kurama noticed and flicked his whip faster and faster. It spun, snake-like, mere inches from Yoko's legs. "Shall I tell you why?"
Yoko said nothing as he continued to stay just out of reach of the thorny weapon. His eyes burned with hatred at the teenage human he nearly defeated just a short time ago. This boy, who had been so weak, now seemed in complete control of the situation.
Suddenly, Kurama jerked the whip back to lay just behind his feet, leaving nothing between them. "You're afraid because...you are not real."
There was a slight flicker in Yoko's aura. "If I'm not real, then how am I standing here before you? How was I able to bring you to the brink of death before we were rudely interrupted by that sorry excuse of a Spirit Detective?"
"You are not the real Yoko Kurama," the red-head accused. "The true fox demon would not have spent so much time talking. He would've attacked ruthlessly, yet efficiently, to achieve his goal. You have done nothing but threaten. We aren't really standing here, my conscious is clear, and I've been reunited with my soul." He drew his arm back. "You are just a figment of a tormented mind."
The crack could be heard through the thick door of the hut. Yusuke ignored Genki's warnings and threw back the heavy bolt, nearly ripping the door of the hinges in his urgency to open it. The strip of sunlight stretched across the bare floor and showed Kurama just getting to his feet.
"Kurama?" Yusuke asked as he cautiously stepped inside the hut, straining his eyes to search the shadows. "Is everything all right?"
"I'm myself again, if that's what you're asking," Kurama answered without turning. With a flick of his wrist, the whip quickly reverted back into a harmless rose.
"What happened?"
Kurama slowly turned his profile to his friend, still unable to look him in the eye. "This meditation hut is a place for enlightenment," he said, almost as if to himself. "It serves its purpose well."
"What, you've been enlightened?" Yusuke leaned against the doorway and sighed in a mixture of relief for Kurama's safety and frustration for the way he seemed so distant.
"Guilt is a dangerous thing, Yusuke," he said, returning the rose to its hiding place beneath his hair. "Although it's mainly a human emotion, it's even capable of corrupting a demon's soul. I realized what I thought I saw in here was not real. I wasn't fighting against Yoko Kurama, I was fighting my own mind. This hut seems to separate the psychological from physical and intensifies its extremes."
"I have no idea what you just said," Yusuke admitted, "but as long as you're you...that's all that counts. Come on, let's get out of here."
"Yusuke," Kurama called. "Wait. About what I said before."
"Hey, no problem." Yusuke gave a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head. "You were probably only saying what you thought you had to. Right?"
"I really do love Keiko." Kurama walked over to stand before Yusuke. "And if you think you have to hit me for saying it, then let's get it over with. I don't want any bad feelings to linger between us."
Yusuke balled his hands into tight fists.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked. Kurama nodded.
One fist drew back and flew forward with incredible speed...stopping just millimeters away from Kurama's nose. The red-haired boy's eyes were questioning, but he didn't flinch.
"That's all you get for just words," Yusuke warned. "And I understand that attack wasn't really anything you could've stopped. But if I ever find out you hurt her on purpose..." he jabbed Kurama in the chest, "...you're going to find a hole the size of my spirit gun right through here!"
Kurama smiled. "I'd rather we all just forget about my confession. Keiko doesn't know, and I'd like to keep it that way. I care about her too much to expose her to my...past life."
"Hunh!" Yusuke snorted with complete confidence. "As if you'd have a chance with her anyway when she's got me."
"Well, I suggest you work a little harder to keep it that way." Kurama gave Yusuke a friendly pat on the shoulder. "If you keep disappearing and breaking promises to her..." He gave a wry smile and a knowing wink.
A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Yusuke's face and he gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah...right. I think maybe I'll go and check to see how she's doing."
"Give her my best," Kurama called after him, thoroughly enjoying the new game of torturing Yusuke. As he walked toward the bright sunlight of the doorway, something made him pause.
Walking into the shadows near where he woke up, he found a plant growing. Although he usually found any kind of plant life beautiful, this was the ugliest he'd ever seen. The head, which had been cleanly sliced off from the stem, was already withering on the ground.
Kurama meticulously dug the weed up, careful to get all of the root system intact. He could tell it was his rose whip that cut through the stem, but wasn't sure why he'd done that while fighting against his vision. He usually wouldn't harm any life unless he had to.
Cradling the dying plant in his cupped hands, he turned...and came face to face with Yoko Kurama once more. His heart began beating frantically in his chest until he realized the image was not the clear one he'd battled with.
"You don't want to keep that," Yoko said, drawing nearer even though his feet didn't move. "That is the embodiment of your guilt. It bloomed in the darkness of this hut just as it did in your heart."
Kurama looked down as Yoko's hands covered his. Although he didn't feel anything, a bright glow flowed from the demon's hands into his own. When the hands were removed, there was nothing left of the plant.
"Thank you," Yoko said.
"For what?" Kurama asked. "It was my human emotions that created the problem in the first place."
"But you didn't give up. Your vision lied to you. I can't survive without you. We're bound not only to the same body, but also the same soul. I cannot take your life. Remember that."
The image faded away until Kurama was alone once more. With a sigh, he stood in the doorway, feeling the warm sunlight bathe his weary body. His friends were waiting for him at the edge of the forest and the knowledge that they would always be with him no matter what, gave him the energy he needed to make his tired muscles respond.
But before he completely stepped out of the hut, he gave one last look inside. What his soul told him made him smile.
"Thank you," he said into the darkness.
~~The End~~