I don't own YuYu Hakusho, which is the only realm that this story takes place in for a really long time.

The Makai had always been a very dangerous place to live. Demons would try and tell you as much as possible that they love the Makai more than they love life itself, but that's because it's unruly; they can do anything and everything they could ever dream of doing there with no consequences. It may have been because I grew up in that place but call the Reikai my home that I get the right to judge that place the way I do.

Obviously when I was born I was too young to remember anything that may have happened, so what I know about my childhood is what my grandmother had told me after Mama was killed. The rest are just bits and pieces that I put together to explain things about myself that even to this day, over 700 years later, I still don't understand.

Grandma, Lady Yume as the tribe knew her, was a strong and wise kitsune. Although I'm not full kitsune, she always took care of me and raised me to be a leader of the tribe like she was, like my brother was to be, like my mother would have been. She was part of the kitsune council which took care of the oldest and one of the last remaining tribes of the fox demon clans. If it weren't for her, I highly doubt I would have lived past the age of 35.

"You are a kitsune; do not allow anyone to convince you otherwise. You are beautiful, beautiful beyond all measures and you will lead a life that will cause the entire tribe to wish that they were kind to you when you were here. Remember that, my child," she would always tell me. I suppose that she knew about my fate long before I had begun to train; maybe that was why she was always so kind to me.

My mother was a beautiful woman with many suitors, she was much older than she looked but she was more regal than any other kitsune had been. I barely remember her, I was only a child when she was killed, but I do remember that she always smelt of roses, something that I never understood. The Makai, at least the region we lived in, was always so dismal; there was no vegetation, and most definitely no flowers. So the fact that she always smelt of roses was one of the things that made her more beautiful and more mysterious in my eyes.

The day that she was killed is riveted in my mind, it will be forever. It was a bright day, as beautiful as a day can be in the demon realm, and Mama had dressed me with care like she always did. She took me gently by the hand and took me on a walk, after what seemed like an eternity of walking we finally 

reached the nearest river, the River Kaho. She took a handful of day lilies into her hand and placed one in my hair, she always loved playing with my hair.

"Flowers be thine, my sweet,

For the earth is yours to keep

Smiles be thine, my sweet,

For life is yours to reap.

Laughter be thine, my sweet,

For love is yours to greet."

She sung, when a demon loomed behind her. It had a terrifying face, a rugged face, all hard lines and a smile that looked like a grimace. It was tall and bulky, nothing like the graceful kitsune that I had grown up with. Its laugh sounded like boulders being rubbed against one another. It grabbed Mama with one strong hand and held her by the wrist. Swiftly she pulled out her dagger and stabbed it in the heart; it broke her arm in two as easily as one would snap a twig. Her screams of pain rang through the forest.

It laughed even harder as it held her by the neck. She began to gasp for air and her eyes began to fill with tears, "Ceres…" she gasped, "run."

I stared at her with wide eyes, I couldn't leave her… not Mama, not here! Before I could even make a decision of whether I should run or save my mom, someone grabbed tightly onto my arm and pulled me into their warm body. It was the head of the council, Lord Ijuli. He looked at my mama, a look of understanding spread on his face and then everything went bright.

They told me that Mama had killed herself to save me. But really, I think the truth was that she was killed by the other kitsune. I couldn't prove it though, and spent 250 years of my life with them. 250 years before I ran away and found my father, Yomi, King of the Demons.