"So he's been feelin all sorts of crappy huh? Sounds like he's got a bug or somethin'." He shook his head, sipping at his soft drink while walking along the sides of the streets he had come to call home. His brown eyes left his drink to stare at the blue girl who walked beside him, giving him the latest news. It had been a while since they had seen each other, and to see Botan here meant that it involved Demon World.

"Yes well, that is what I wanted to talk to you about!" Yusuke stopped in his tracks, hearing the urgency in Botan's voice. He wasn't sure whether or not he would like what would eventually come out of her mouth.

"What's up?"

"Well you see…" Botan began, holding up a finger. "There an uncanny amount of demon energy coming from the area where Kurama lives…"

The boy's eyes lit up, a smile overcoming his face. "Aha! So we find the little bugger and we squash him right?"

"Wrong." The girl sighed, scratching her head. "Honestly you haven't changed a bit since we last spoke!"

"Would you get on with it already? I'm aging here!"

Botan smiled at him and continued on with her story, the sun slowly setting behind them in the twilight. "The demon energy is stable, but it doesn't seem to be coming from your normal demon."

"The hell does that mean? Is it demon or not?"

"Well…" a pause followed Botan's words as Yusuke pursed his lips, wanting an answer. "Well c'mon! Don't keep me hangin' here!"

"Koenma believes that… the energy is coming from Kurama himself."

Yusuke flinched, swallowing. He remembered all too well the silvery haired fox demon whose power was unrivaled in the tournaments they had fought through. He hardly had any scratches on him when he fought, completely opposite to his weaker human side. As far as ranking would go, Yoko was an upper class A rank demon. That meant that he was closer to being an S rank than Yusuke could ever hope to be, which meant that if Yusuke had to fight him….

"So… is this bad? Is this good? Maybe Kurama decided to keep his demon form after all!" Yusuke replied, in hopes his thoughts would go to waste and he was wrong.

"Oh the contrary, we have discovered a substantial amount of activity going on in Demon World. It seems they have captured a human and are holding him hostage!"

"WHAT!"

"Hiei had mentioned to Koenma that there were some slippery things going on around Yomi's castle, and it seems as though they want something!"

"Well who'd they capture?"

"That's the tough part…" Botan paused, unsure of how to put her words. Yusuke growled, coming closer to her. "Who is it?"

"It's… Shuuichi Minamino…"

There was something strange about the sounds in the air. They were much clearer than they were the previous night. It was almost as if he could hear everything that was going on within a mile.

He set a hand on his stomach, feeling for the classic pains that had tortured him for nearly a month. To his surprise, he found none whatsoever. He had gone to bed with a bit of a migraine, and that seemed to have vanished as well.

His fingers traced up to his pillow, squeezing it and opening his eyes slowly. He yawned twice, arching his back to get up. He blinked, wiping the tiredness from his eyes and stared out into the sunlight.

The world around him was bright and shining, the birds tweeting merrily and the sky crystal blue. His ears twitched back and forth almost consciously as he realized something was strange about this morning.

Gazing down at his legs he realized that the sheets he had on only barely covered him fully, and his pillow did seem a little smaller than before. He blinked twice, trying to reason with this new information when he caught a glimpse of something silver in his rear view. Twisting his head to the side again he realized that silver locks of hair fell softly upon his back, glistening beautifully in the sunlight.

His eyes widened in fear as his hands came up to feel the top of his head. Two long ears greeted him with soft twitches as his largest fear came to life in front of him. He swallowed hard, throwing the bed sheets off of him and gazing down at what seemed to be two long legs covered in silver pants. This was a nightmare.

"Shuuichi? Shuuichi are you up yet? How are you feeling?"

His ears perked again as he heard his mother calling him. How could he possibly explain to her that it was her son, except in his demon form? He gazed down at his hands and attempted to transform back into his human form. He grit his teeth and concentrated hard, but to no avail. It seemed as if he was stuck this way.

I'm stuck in my Yoko form… but what caused this? Why am I stuck like this? And mother! What will… what will she think? I can't let her see me… she would…

"Shuuichi? Are you alright?"

She was calling from behind his door, and Yoko trembled hard, knowing very well what would happen if she were to see him in his current state.

I seem to have maintained my original human personality… Yoko the demon isn't present in me now… but why am I physically altered?

Swallowing again, Yoko proceeded to attempt to answer his mother.

"I-I-"

My voice doesn't even sound the same… what was I thinking? I can't let her hear me either!

"Are you still feeling ill? You sound terrible!"

Setting his feet down upon the ground and turning towards the door, Yoko froze before it, his mind racing.

"Mother…" he whispered now, knowing very well that she could have barged in if she wanted, but respecting him too much to do so.

"Shuuichi? What's going on? Are you alright?"

"Mother I…" his heart nearly broke at her words, as she was beginning to worry now. She sounded desperate to get in, but he knew he couldn't let her. His hand touched the door's wooden frame softly, a vision of his mother going through his mind before he bit his lip and turned away hastily.

"I'm sorry Mother… but I have to go now. I'll be back soon, don't worry. I'll call you. I promise."

"Shuuichi! Shuuichi I'm coming in! What's going on?"

The woman barged through the door, only to be greeted with an empty room. She looked about quickly, seeing nothing but a pile of bed sheets on the floor and some strands of silver hair. The woman rushed to the open window, looking outside for her son.

"Shuuichi! Shuuichi!" she called out to him, her words being carried by the wind to his fox ears. He could hear her, but he knew he could not respond. In the shadows of a tree he hid, watching her very closely. This was his mother, the woman he came to love and adore more than anyone else on Earth. It pained him to see her like this, but it was for her better.

Her words turned to sorrow after a while, and Yoko did all he could to hold back tears as his mother wept for his return, calling out his name and hoping it was just a bad dream. Yoko turned away, hiding his face from the sight as he could bear it no longer.

The woman sunk to her knees as Yoko's father came in, wondering what was wrong. The woman continued to weep, the father caressing her and standing her up to exit the room. As they passed through the room, Yoko's mother gazed to her left, catching a glimpse of a red rose on the pillow that Kurama had slept on. Going over to the rose and picking it up, the woman held it close to her, kissing the petals and praying her son would return.

From the midst of the leaves and plants outside there lay a demon who sat in the grass, his arms around his knees and his face hidden from the world. Sadness filled his heart and his body shook with an internal rage aimed only at himself. He was lost in a world of beings that he could not merge into.

Yoko the demon had re-emerged.