Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Yu Hakusho.

A/N: This is a little idea I've had in my head since ever. This is a little character story on the "innocent" Minamino Shuichi and the not so innocent Yoko Kurama. He is speaking to his classmates in his human school. So, therefore, I give you:

"The Innocent"

I live a life of lies. The web of deception I weave and spin around all living and non-living aspects of my life, well, let's just say, that if it fell apart as easily as a raindrop hitting a spider's web, there would be total chaos and all of you, every one of you, would be shocked by the outcome.

You see, I am not who you think I am. All of you think you know me, but the truth of it is that only one truly knows who I am, and even you do not know the whole of it.

Even as I stand here telling you this, I can see the shock and the confusion in your eyes. None of you are able to hide behind a façade when I am here. Let me tell you, each and every one of you are like an open book, all of you life playing before me like a movie that runs too long. All of you are so naïve, so innocent, so…vulnerable. As easy to kill as a dying flower.

I am not as innocent and naïve as you seem to think. This person you see before you, he is just a façade. He is nothing but a shell I use to hide. Sure, I am Minamino Shuichi, but the Shuichi I know is nothing like the one that you think you understand. He is known for much, much more than you would believe. His cunning and slithery perceptions of life are none but a few of his attributes. But why am I speaking in third person? After all, he is me, as much as I am him.

But I am also Yoko Kurama. Who is this Yoko Kurama, you ask. He is me. You laugh as I say this, look at me as I am insane, for you do not believe that I, Minamino Shuichi, could harm a fly, or do any wrong. But I can. As a matter of fact, my current job is one of Spirit Detective. I have three partners and to tell you the truth, I trust but one of them. And he is not only the most dishonest of all three, but his personality is almost a mirror to my own…

To tell you the truth, which you should not take for granted, I was not hired by Koenma, yes, King Enma Jr. Do not try to hide it, I can see the disbelief in your eyes. I was put on probation. Would I lie to you? On second thought, perhaps you should not answer that. You sit there gaping like a fish out of water, but it is the truth. You are all so naïve, so innovent, it sickens me. The absolute trust in your eyes. But back to my story… I was put on probation for stealing the supposed thing that was unable to be stolen in the place that is supposed to be impenetrable. But honestly, I was able to get in, and it was a piece of cake for me. I am still on probation, even though I was caught three years ago, thanks to my partners cockiness, and on probation I will stay for a long time. Why? Because I am a thief. Yes, a thief. You look at me disbelievingly, but it is not a lie. I am not crazy. As a matter of fact, I am more sane than I have ever been.

I have done things in my past that I am not proud of. We all have, some more so than others… I was a murderer…Still am…is you wish to know. Killing does not cause me grief, or even guilt. It comes easily to one such as myself. Born in a world with only one rule… Kill or be killed.

I am a demon. I see all of you gasp. But it is who I am. No one can change who they are. I have had a rough life, a rogue life. A life of a thief and a murderer, and as much as I deny it, I am still the same malicious, sadistic demon I always was. I still lust for blood as much as the next demon. And I can still seduce as well as I used to. I am a kitsune, a fox full of trickery and cunning. I am not known as the Demon King of Thieves for nothing.

Loyalty, deception, betrayal. All of which I love. All of which I hate. All of which I live for. And while I love it, it is the poison which slowly kills me. I live in the moment, for the rush of adrenaline of nearly getting caught. The danger, the fear…

My name is Kurama, not Yoko, nor Shuichi. Just Kurama…That is who I am…

Just a lone kitsune, lost, as he watches the world unfold around him…

And as easy to tarnish, as silver…