Author's Note: Unedited. Enjoy as is.
Warnings: Yaoi/shounen-ai/boyxboy, Kurama-x-Yuusuke, language, lime?
Summary: While out on a mission, Urameshi Yuusuke is struck with a curse - that transforms him into a puppy! No one knows how long he'll be stuck in this form, not even KoEnma himself. Who will take care of the Reikai Tantei in his time of need?
Disclaimer: Yuu Yuu Hakusho and all its characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. The plot was derived from a Sasunaru doujinshi. I unfortunately do not know the name and author but all the credit belongs to them.

HENKEI
MINAMINO "KURAMA" SHUUICHI AND URAMESHI YUUSUKE
PART 3


Three weeks. Kurama couldn't help but dwell on the twenty-one days that Yuusuke had been a puppy. He didn't want to believe it. However, the proof was right there in front of him, sleeping at the end of his bed after a hard day of chasing yet another squirrel out of his backyard. It was a wonder that Atsuko and Keiko hadn't called looking for him, and Kurama had to question just what story Kuwabara had told Keiko to keep her so pacified.

If he told her a story at all, Kurama thought. Keiko was involved in Yuusuke's life wholly, but ever since she finished high school and went off to college, that involvement waned. Still, Kurama found it hard to believe that she would be so reluctant to see him (even if she was allergic to dogs as Kuwabara had told him). Kuwabara must have lied to her, told her that he went back off to Makai for urgent business or something.

Of course, Kurama was letting his mind wander to all these insignificant things to distract himself. He was terribly worried, so worried that the ball of emotion in his chest swelled every time he glanced at the chocolate lab. He wanted to pick him up and shake him, anything to change Yuusuke back. Kurama hadn't felt this defeated in a while, this miserable and downtrodden.

A slender hand went out and gently scratched the pup behind his ears. Yuusuke instantly opened an eye and arched into the touch. A wide yawn exposed the perfectly white teeth in Yuusuke's mouth. Ears perking up, Yuusuke sat up completely. He could tell something was wrong. Kurama's smell had changed, but why? Yuusuke wagged his tail and gave a puppy smile as Kurama stared at him. Surely this would help Kurama feel a little better. Who didn't like cute?

But Kurama's smell changed even more. It made Yuusuke's ears droop and tail fall heavily onto the bed. Just what was wrong with Kurama? Yuusuke inched over to the redhead and placed his muzzle onto his knee. The smell was worse up close, but Yuusuke wasn't picky right now. He had to make Kurama better.

"Shuu-nii! Shuu-nii!" Shuuichi called as he rushed into the room. "Let's take Yuusuke to the dog park!"

"Shuuichi, I don't think that's the best idea. He's gotten plenty of exercise today. Maybe some other time."

"Aww, come on! That's what you said last time! He'll have lots of fun! Think of all the friends he'll make!" Shuuichi stomped his foot purposefully. "I heard that within the first eighteen months, you need to socialize a dog well or they'll become mean. I don't want Yuusuke to be mean!"

That's just in his general nature, Kurama thought darkly. "Alright, but only for a little while. We cannot be there all day, Shuuichi."

"Yes!" Shuuichi exclaimed, jumping a little. "I'll go find his leash!"

Kurama watched as Shuuichi excitedly ran down the hall and stairs, and shaking his head, reached out to scratch Yuusuke's ears again. "Are you really up for making doggy-friends, Yuusuke?"

Yuusuke only yawned and moved closer to him, resting his muzzle on Kurama's knee and wagging his tail lazily. The moment Shuuichi returned with his leash, all sleepiness disappeared. Yuusuke hopped off the bed as if he had never been drowsy and bounded, barking and yipping, over to the teen. It took quite a bit of maneuvering, but Shuuichi finally managed to hook Yuusuke.

Holding onto him was another matter entirely. The leash was jerked out of his hands as Yuusuke took off in a dead run to the front door. Kurama cocked and eyebrow at Shuuichi, to which Shuuichi stuck out his tongue.

"It won't happen again," Shuuichi said.

Kurama hummed in disbelief and went after Yuusuke with Shuuichi.

It wasn't long until they came to the park and immediately, they were assaulted by barks, growls, laughing, shouting, and the general mayhem of having people and dogs in one area. Yuusuke had unfortunately added to the chaos. Tail wagging and voice straining, Yuusuke tugged on his leash with all his might to get to the group of dogs not too far away.

"Big ferocious beast, isn't he?" Shuuichi giggled as he struggled to hold onto Yuusuke.

"That's why we keep him around," Kurama chuckled back.

Shuuichi allowed Yuusuke to pull him every which way while Kurama took a seat nearby and watched them with extreme concentration. It was a terrible risk to allow this. With so many people around, the consequences would be many and terrible should Yuusuke transform back.

If he transformed back, Kurama thought grimly.

His mood darkened considerably at the thought. It hurt his heart to think that Yuusuke's human life would be cut so tragically short by something so outrageous and unfortunate. It just wasn't fair. Why did Yuusuke have to suffer the most ridiculous things?

Better yet, why did Yuusuke allow these ridiculous things to happen? Most of the events up until now had been entirely Yuusuke's fault. Jumping in front of the car caused him to die. Being a smartass got him in trouble with Hiei the first time around. Being a bigger, cheekier smartass caught Toguro's attention. And Sensui.

Well, that was unavoidable and a tragedy. Being involved with that was just part of the Spirit Detective gig. The slow build-up of Sensui's insanity had not, in any way, been Yuusuke's fault. Could it have been avoided? Maybe. Fact was, it hadn't been, and Yuusuke lost his life again. That was entirely Yuusuke's fault, and Kurama could still feel the anger he'd kept down start to burn at the mere thought of it.

"Minamino-kun?"

Kurama looked up instantly and met the gaze of two former classmates. Both girls smiled brightly at him and giggled. He tried to return the smile.

"Good afternoon. It's been a while hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has!" One giddily replied.

"Out of all the people we expected to run into, we didn't think we'd see you here, Shuuichi-kun!" said the other.

"Do you have a dog?"

"Where is he?"

"Or she?"

"Who are these two, Shuu-nii?"

Shuuichi had rejoined them, pulling the reluctant Yuusuke along. Instantly, the girls erupted into a fit of gasps and aww's. They fell to their knees to fawn and coo over Yuusuke, to which Yuusuke immediately reacted. He cuddled up to them, wagging his tail, rubbing his body against theirs, and licking their chins and cheeks. Kurama shook his head. Yuusuke was a ham, not a puppy.

"He's so cute!"

"You've got the cutest ears, little baby!"

"You've got the cutest everything!"

Shuuichi cocked an eyebrow and watched the scene unfold. Kurama saw the gears turning in his stepbrother's head and gave him a warning look. Whatever Shuuichi was planning, involving Yuusuke was not going to be tolerated at all. Shuuichi pouted and folded his arms in a huff at Kurama's silent threat.

"Oh, Minamino-kun, he's just darling!" One girl exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Yuusuke tight.

Yuusuke loved the attention. He buried his head under chins and spinning in circles to get to both of them, all the while giving kisses and yipping happily. Shuuichi pouted more. That wasn't fair. Kurama could use Yuusuke to get girls, but he can't? What the hell? Granted, Yuusuke was Kurama's dog, and Shuuichi was being a little unreasonable, but it still wasn't fair! He'd have to talk to his father about getting his own puppy soon.

"Yuusuke, huh? What an adorable name."

"So unique."

"Count on Minamino-kun to think of something so dashing."

Shuuichi mimicked the two girls behind their backs, mouthing their words and moving his hands to mock them. Kurama gave him a dangerous glare, and Shuuichi crossed his arms again in anger. This was turning out to be a lot less fun than he expected. Shuuichi was supposed to be getting girls' attentions. Like Himura Kasumi. She was wondering around the park with her new Papillon somewhere. Shuuichi knew he could hit two birds with one stone if he could just hunt her down; Just think, he and Yuusuke would both get girlfriends!

Ah, Himura Kasumi, Shuuichi thought with joy, she was perfect. Beautiful didn't even begin to describe her. With hair the color of wheat and eyes as green as clover, she stuck out like a rose among weeds. Not only that, but she smelt like a honeydew melon and was the sweetest girl Shuuichi had ever met. She smiled and laughed all the time, and was smart, and helped more than she should and so many other things. Shuuichi KNEW he would have a chance if he just had an excuse to talk to her.

But now, he was regretting walking back over to his brother with Yuusuke. It didn't seem like he would ever be able to walk away and accidently run into her. Shuuichi pouted. Kasumi-chan would most certainly be long gone by the time Shuuichi could pull away. Thankfully, one of the girls stood and brushed the invisible dirt from herself.

"Well, it was certainly nice seeing you, Minamino-kun, but Aimi and I really must be going. We'll miss our movie otherwise."

"Oh, Minamino-kun would you like to go with us?" Aimi exclaimed as she hopped up.

Both waited, slowly leaning forward more and more as they did. Shuuichi watched them and shook his head. Kurama had turned down every single girl that has ever asked him out. What made these two bimbos think he would break his track record now?

Smiling, Kurama shook his head, "I'm terribly sorry, ladies, but I must decline. As exciting as a movie is, I unfortunately cannot leave Yuusuke by himself. He's terribly attached to me, and I wouldn't want to upset him."

"Oh, we understand," the nameless girl said with genuine empathy.

"That's so cute," Aimi giggled. "Well, see you around then. You know where to find us if you want to do something later!"

With that, they finally left, but Shuuichi hardly noticed. The moment Kurama had refused them, Kasumi began to walk down the sidewalk toward the fountain, and Shuuichi hadn't been able to take his eyes off her. He heard Kurama calling for him, but couldn't find it in him to look at his brother. Instead, he began to walk, pulling Yuusuke with him.

"I wanna take Yuusuke to see the fountain!" Was all he said as he abandoned walking and began sprinting after her.

Yuusuke bounded happily alongside Shuuichi, not even noticing other dogs and humans around them and just enjoying the thrill of running. Shuuichi, at the last possible moment, stopped dead in his tracks, causing Yuusuke to collide into the back of his legs and nearly pitching them both forward. Yuusuke yelped in surprise, and Shuuichi scowled.

"Yuusuke, watch where you're going!"

Smoothing down his shirt and ignoring the look Yuusuke seemed to give him, Shuuichi finger-combed his hair back and held up his chin as he walked at a leisurely pace around the fountain. Kasumi sat smiling on the ledge and played with her puppy. The pup was on its back legs and delicately turning to follow Kasumi's finger. She laughed lightly as it completed yet another turn and earned a treat.

"You're such a good girl, Chou," She turned her head at the slight movement out of the corner of her eye and smiled. "Oh! Shuuichi-kun!"

Shuuichi feinted surprise and turned, "Ah! Kasumi-chan! I almost didn't see you there!"

"It's so good to see you," She said, rising to her feet and walking over. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, you know, just taking my dog for a nice, long walk."

Kasumi looked down and saw Yuusuke digging his nose into the cracks between the stones. With another laugh, she knelt down and scratched behind his ears. He instantly looked up. Who the hell was this person? Sniffing her hand, he decided he didn't care and tried to attack her face. Chou rushed forward, yipping, growling, and barking, and startled Yuusuke back.

Yuusuke had seen other dogs up until now, but certainly none as energetic as this little puffball. He backed up and hid behind Shuuichi's legs to keep a safe distance. This dog was friggen nuts! He hadn't even done anything wrong, and it was barking at him! Yuusuke whined lowly in his throat and cocked his head to the side. Just what the fuck was he supposed to do with that rat? Looking at it more closely, Yuusuke decided it couldn't possibly be a dog.

"No, no, Chou!" Kasumi said, picking up the Papillon. "I'm sorry. She has a jealous streak, but she means no real harm, really."

"No problem! Yuusuke's a big wimp anyway!"

Yuusuke snorted and glared up at Shuuichi. Wimp? He's the wimp, that brat! Who the hell uses their dog as an excuse to run into a girl anyway? Be a friggen man and go talk to her, you dickweed!

Yuusuke pulled himself away from Shuuichi as far as his leash would let him and stared off into the distance. Shuuichi and Kasumi continued to chat and soon, they forgot he was there entirely. All it took was the slightest movement and the twitch of a puffy tail for Yuusuke to be alert. There were squirrels here too? Yuusuke tried to bark, but it only came out as a noisy puff of air. He was far too concentrated on watching the squirrel dart about and grab food.

The small rodent suddenly stood and saw Yuusuke staring at it intently. It ran, and Yuusuke followed. His leash was jerked out of Shuuichi's hands, and his feet couldn't propel him fast enough forward.

"Yuusuke!" Shuuichi shouted as he chased after the pup.

Kurama sprang to his feet and saw a brown blur heading toward the line of trees. Rushing forward, it only took him a few seconds to pass Shuuichi and bound after Yuusuke. Unfortunately, Yuusuke had too much of a lead on him and disappeared into the brush.

"Yuusuke!" Kurama called as he followed. "Yuusuke, get back here!"

Kurama was vaguely aware that Shuuichi had followed him. He could hear the faint rustling from behind. All he could concentrate on was finding Yuusuke. He should have been more adamant about not going out! He knew something like this would happen! Yuusuke never stayed out of trouble. What made him think it would be safe to venture out now, especially with Yuusuke being in the state that he was in?

While mentally kicking himself, Kurama was nearly pitched forward by a low-lying root catching him about his ankles. He stopped and looked around. There was nothing but silence. Shuuichi couldn't be heard from behind, and Yuusuke couldn't be heard at all. Kurama's heart dropped into his stomach. Without spirit energy, he couldn't locate his friend, and it would be much too risky to use his plants here. In his current emotional state, Kurama didn't trust himself to summon up anything more than a rose whip, and that certainly wouldn't help here.

"Yuusuke!" Kurama shouted, his voice carrying and bouncing off the trunks of trees.

Shuuichi's nearing footsteps didn't make Kurama turn, "Did you find him?" Shuuichi panted.

Kurama shook his head and began to push forward again. Shuuichi followed and called out Yuusuke's name. How long they actually searched, Kurama couldn't say, but it was long enough to have the prepubescent boy near him stop every few minutes to rest.

"I'm sorry, Shuu-nii," Shuuichi puffed. "I didn't mean to lose him."

Kurama shook his head. He didn't blame Shuuichi. How could he? It wasn't his fault that Yuusuke was so damn ignorant, nor was it his fault that Kurama's will was weak. The only thing Shuuichi could be blamed for was the idea, but that wasn't a crime in Kurama's book.

"Go home, Shuuichi," Kurama finally said. "I'll stay and look for him."

"But," Shuuichi tried.

"No buts. Go home. I'll catch up with you later. Tell Kaa-san and Kazuya-san where I am and what I'm doing. They'll understand."

"I'm not leaving you here to search by yourself!" Shuuichi stomped his foot. "It was my fault Yuusuke got away! I wanted to go to the stupid park!"

"Stupid park?" Kurama asked.

"I only wanted to come here so I could run into Kasumi!"

Kurama sighed and shook his head. He had known his brother's intentions, but again, he couldn't continue to say no. He didn't approve, but Shuuichi deserved an equal chance as anyone to learn how easy it really was to get a girl's attention. He should have never let him go through with his ridiculously convoluted plan; Instead, he should have coached and sent the boy on his way.

But, no. He had to see how it played out. He just had to treat Yuusuke like a dog and not his friend for one day, and now, he's lost him.

"Alright," Kurama said, half-heartedly. "Let's keep looking."

Darkness fell all too soon, and Kurama and Shuuichi had to call off their search, much to Kurama's dismay.


Damn that squirrel! Damn it, damn it, damn it!

It should know better than to run up a tree! Honestly, didn't it know that Yuusuke couldn't climb? What fun was tag if the person who was 'it' couldn't get to the person who was 'not it'?

No fun at all, that's what.

Yuusuke pushed away from the tree and looked around. Well, this certainly was not the park, but it was still pretty neat. Sniffing, Yuusuke's nose was instantly tickled by all the smells perfuming the area. Other animals had been through here! All sorts of them! Wagging his tail and ignoring the cries coming from behind him, Yuusuke bounded off after the scent that was too inviting to stand.

It definitely wasn't a squirrel whatever he was following. It stayed on the ground for too long.

Maybe it was a rabbit, or a cat, or another dog!

He waddled after all the different scents. Once or twice, he found himself stuck in holes and scratched by bushes, but he wasn't to be deterred. There was something wonderful at the end of this scent trail, and he was determined to find it.

He didn't have to go much farther. A black nose bumped into his and made him look up. A tanuki looked him dead in the face. Well, this certainly wasn't a dog, though it kinda looked like one, nor was it a rabbit or a cat. Yuusuke cocked his head to the side. The tanuki mimicked the movement. Yuusuke wagged his tail, and the tanuki swished his. Yuusuke barked, and the tanuki yipped.

Well, wasn't this the coolest thing he's ever run into?

Whining excitedly, Yuusuke bumped his nose into the tanuki's neck and ran. The tanuki stayed behind. Yuusuke doubled back upon realizing he wasn't being chased and looked questioningly at the raccoon-dog. Didn't it know how to play? Yuusuke bumped it again and waited. The tanuki simply cocked its head. Barking in frustration, Yuusuke bumped him again, only to get a thwack on the head.

This wasn't how you played tag, damn it!

Another thwack had Yuusuke yelping and backing away. The tanuki made a sound before standing on its hind legs and wrapping its stubby arms around Yuusuke's neck. Yuusuke pulled away instantly. Who the hell was this thing, and why did it hug him? Yuusuke was growing more and more concerned. Yuusuke turned and ran. This time, the tanuki followed.

Yuusuke didn't stop to look behind him. It was a stupid idea to try to play with it! Now he was going to get it. He darted deeper and deeper into the woods, hoping that soon he would run out into the dog park and to Shuuichi or Kurama. The comforting thought made him run faster. Kurama would be able to save him. Kurama always could save him!

But the park never appeared. With his tail between his legs, Yuusuke continued to run, only to collapse in a fit of exhaustion. The tanuki seemed to have given up on its chase, but that gave Yuusuke no comfort. He had no idea where he was, and it was getting dark. Tired and hungry, Yuusuke couldn't find the strength to get up. He remembered a saying: when you're lost, stay put. It might be a little late, but better late than never right? All he would have to do was stay right here, and Kurama would surely find him. Kurama was amazing like that.

The pup shut his eyes and started to whine lowly. He didn't like being alone. He didn't like being in this place. He was stupid for running off. If Kurama ever found him, he would never leave his side again.

The snapping of a twig made Yuusuke stand up in an instant. He stood alert and ready. Another crack resounded, and Yuusuke barked. If it was that damn tanuki, he would give him a piece of his mind this time, damn it!

But what he saw was too big to be a tanuki and too small to be Kurama. A dark figure loomed in the shadows of the trees, casting a dangerous aura out. Yuusuke's ears flattened against his head. This was much worse than the raccoon-dog from earlier. Yuusuke backed up, not daring to turn away from this silhouette. To do so would be certain death, Yuusuke knew. He showed his teeth as he continued to back away. No one forces Yuusuke into a corner, he thought. You better back down now or I'm going to hurt you!

The figure moved toward him silently, and before Yuusuke could react, he was snatched up.


Author's Note: I really hope you enjoyed. I'm sorry if the Tanuki scene seemed a little farfetched. The only real reason I used a raccoon-dog is because in the YuYu Hakusho manga, Yuusuke helps a tanuki. I simply wanted him to make an appearance. Again, I hope you enjoyed.