-1PAST
"Don't touch her, Mori…" Mae warned as she watched the hideous monster dangle her sister, Ruki by one small foot over a pot of boiling blood.
"What would you risk for your sister's life?" Mori boomed pompously, licking his thick lips at the young, determined shadow demon standing defiantly before him.
"More than you're worth!" Mae seethed.
"Your own life? Another's?" the beast continued, as if she hadn't said anything.
"Whose?" Mae demanded.
"A certain bandit by the name of Youko Kurama. I believe you've heard of him, his name is legend in the underworld. No one's ever been able to keep him still long enough to catch him, but I think you can, little minx. Now, kill the demon-thief, and your dear sister will live. You have two weeks, and keep in mind, I'm hungry, so I won't be giving you any extra time," the looming oaf cackled, throwing back his greasy blond mane and revealing a rusting pair of dangerous teeth.
Mae gasped, causing another burst of laughter from the wretch Mori. She glared and nodded, turning her back to leave before she had to hear more of his insidious babbling.
Mae slunk into the demon market with her most sultry smirk. Her hips swished from side to side tantalizingly, and her clothes hugged her small frame like a second skin.
She spotted her target with a band of his thieves, watching her hungrily. Perfect.
She strode past them with enough temptation in her stride to make them all but drool, and waited for his hand to slip into her purse. She smirked when it did, and he grabbed her "money".
When she was a good fifteen feet away, there was a small gasp, and she whirled around, smirking flirtingly as she held a crisp one hundred piece between two fingers. She heard an approving growl, and turned back to her path.
She was well into the forest, still in character, before an expected hand whirled her roughly around, and she faced the golden eyes of Youko Kurama, deepened with lust.
"Come to try and rob me again?" she asked mockingly, batting her eyelashes subtly.
"We can play your little game if you want, but we both know what I followed you for," he purred.
"Hmmm…tempting. But I really don't go for the bandit-type…sorry," she made a dainty shrug, ensuring that he would persist.
"Tease," he accused, rightly in this circumstance.
She smirked up at him under her eyelashes, meeting his gaze, and led him to her dwelling. It was a short distance, on the other side of a small, bubbling creek.
She slowly pulled the back door open, revealing a large futon mat covered in patterned silk, her sheets rumpled, her red kimono tossed atop the mess in a beautiful, furious slash of scarlet.
Youko took it in with a satisfied nod before pulling her inside and sliding the door shut.
She pressed a palm to his chest and pushed him down on to the disarrayed sheets.
When the dawn came, the legendary bandit awoke to an empty bed. The woman had vanished.
He sat up with a groan and looked around curiously. She hadn't said goodbye, or cared, it seemed, that a respected thief was loosed in her house.
She had, however, left him a cup of tea and a note. He sniffed it cautiously, and nodded, satisfied. Sipping the steaming liquid, he read the note. It read: It was all a dream. She hadn't signed it, and he realized he'd never asked her for her name. He hadn't asked her anything. There was no proper time for discussion.
When he left the house after dressing, he stopped at the creek outside to splash his face with cool water.
All of a sudden, his very veins seemed to ignite. His organs groaned in protest, and his head pounded like a thousand hammers to one nail. Poison. The girl had poisoned his tea, and he hadn't detected it!
"Hmmm…if it isn't Youko Kurama, the famous demon thief. My, my, I didn't expect to find you here. Like this. Tsk, tsk…" a slick voice reprimanded happily.
Youko turned his head up slowly to regard the verbal assaulter. Malaki, the demon-bandit rival he'd acquired over years of thievery, stood before him.
"I would love to stay and watch this forever, but unfortunately, I have a schedule to keep, so I think I'll kill you now," the thief licked his lips eagerly, nearly perspiring with excitement.
"You do, do you?" Youko asked coolly, all but laughing at his attacker's confidence. If he could laugh, that is, because his head was sensitive enough to be bothered by the gentle breeze rustling through the firs of the forest.
"You are weak, fox. I am strong now. You will die today," Malaki assured him.
"I think not, weakling," Youko spat scornfully, no longer amused at his offender's arrogance, but annoyed with it.
"Who are you calling 'Weakling' you pathetic excuse for a demon?!" Malaki screeched, lunging forward with his axe and aiming for the heart.
Youko was growing weaker by the moment. Any minute he could collapse, and he wasn't eager to do that just yet. He leapt to the right, avoiding the blade by inches, and landing on his feet agilely. "You really must try harder," he tutted.
"Shut up!" Malaki screamed, jetting forward once again and feinting to the left, pinning Youko to a nearby tree trunk. "You see who's better?! Me!!" he declared to the nearby sparrow, for Youko was already freed, waiting patiently for the cacophony to quit.
"I disagree, Malaki," he grinned impishly, feeling his own energy and intending to conjure up a poisonous plant from the demonic plane.
Unfortunately, the girl's poison seemed to have sapped his powers. For the first time, he felt truly anxious. What if he didn't prevail today? What if she had signed away his death for good?
Malaki frowned for a moment, expecting a blow but receiving none. "Well, then, why don't you prove it?" he challenged, as if he was explaining fighting techniques to a young apprentice instead of a long-time rival.
In an act of desperation, Youko lunged forward and planted a lethal kick on Malaki's skull.
The demon looked taken-aback. "Why will you not fight me?" he demanded, outraged.
"I'm not in the mood for combat today," Youko lied smoothly.
"Well, that's a pity, because you're being faced by an adversary! Combat is necessary, fox!" Malaki replied incredulously. What on earth was the bandit up to?
"I will fight you another day, but not this one," Youko shook his head calmly.
"Yes, you will!" Malaki bellowed, lurching forward and hitting Youko square in the chest with his axe.
Malaki didn't ever realize how fortunate he was that day, for the poison Mae had given Youko had slowed his reflexes, and stemmed his powers. He was useless in battle.
Youko looked disbelievingly at the gaping wound over his heart, and gulped. "This is not nearly the end, Malaki, you mark my words," he rasped. Then, he fled, not back to his band of thieves, but to another plane, one in which he could possess a body.
PRESENT
Kurama was washing some dishes for his mother when his pocket-communicator beeped, and Botan's voice called up to him.
He pulled it out of his trouser pocket and regarded the small screen."Hello, Botan," he greeted.
"Kurama! Glad I caught you, there's been a disturbance in Demon World, and Koenma needs all of your help! Come as soon as you can!" the River Guide implored, her eyes wide.
"Yes, right away," Kurama nodded, quickly snapping shut the compact and abandoning his dishes. "I've just received a call from work, mother! They need me to come in for a bit!" he called up the stairs where his mother was getting ready for her date.
"Okay, Shuichi! Don't be too long!" she called down, smiling sweetly and waving.
"I hope not," he agreed under his breath as he left.
He met the other detectives in Koenma's office thirty minutes later. They seemed just as uninformed as he was.
"What did she say?" Yusuke asked.
"To get down here on the double!" Kuwabara answered obediently.
"I got that, stupid! I meant what did she say about the case?"
"Oh…I don't know…" Kuwabara said, scratching his head.
The towering front doors opened, and the little monarch approached his desk, a grim expression hardening his boyish features. "Okay, gang. This mission is going to be…well…interesting…" he began.
"How so?" Yusuke asked doubtfully.
"A demon is on a rampage throughout Demon World! He's destroying everything, and everyone, in his path! No one's been able to stop him! His name is Kuri, and he's a top-level sucker! Your job is to bring him down, and quickly! We don't have much time," Koenma announced anxiously.
Everyone turned sharply when the double doors opened yet again, and two ogres dragged in a pretty girl with long, sweeping red hair and amber eyes. Tattoos snaked down her arms in intricate washes of color.
"Unhand me. Now," she ordered icily.
"Master Koenma, sir! We found her at the gates saying some impolite things under her breath!" the ogre, George announced dutifully.
"Let her go, you buffoons! I asked her to come!" Koenma ordered.
They released her immediately, ashamed.
"Gang, this is your fifth member for this expedition. Her name is Mae Court, she's a shadow demon," he explained proudly.
She looked up for the first time, smiling shyly at them all.
Kurama's jaw dropped, and his heart pounded. "You!" he snarled.
"Whoa, Kurama! What's up?" Yusuke asked, shocked.
Mae looked at him, puzzled. "Do I know you?" she asked in a raspy voice.
"You were the one who poisoned me and caused me to lose to my nemesis! It was your trickery that forced me to flee to the human world and take this form!" he bristled.
The others watched in rapt fascination as Mae's face went from blank, to horrified. "Y-Youko?" she whispered.
Kurama nodded furiously. "Koenma, you cannot trust her! She tried to kill me!"
"I was forced!" Mae shouted. "The demon Mori threatened to eat my sister if I didn't! I never would have done what I did if it weren't for that!" she cried, tears bubbling up in her eyes. "Oh, god…" she covered her face.
"So you say!" Kurama retorted bitterly.
"I never lied to you, Youko! You never cared to ask!" she shouted.
"Well, I didn't exactly expect to be poisoned after-" he stopped abruptly. Both of their faces flooded with angry crimson.
"After what?" Kuwabara asked.
Kurama looked scornfully to the carpet and shook his head. "Nothing…"
"This is all a big misunderstanding, gang! Now hurry up and settle this, because we don't have much time!" Koenma whined.
"Why did he ask you to come along in this mission?" Yusuke asked.
"Because…Kuri is my son…" Mae replied quietly.
"What?" he strained to hear.
"He's my son!" she cried.
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
"Is he…?" Kurama asked, deadly calm.
Mae paused, then slowly nodded.
The fox demon looked pale.