Chapter 3:

There's a Reason Why People Don't Like Going to Doctors

L.A.: Ha, sorry for the long delay. School tried to kill me.

Amu: Tis true for once. She really wasn't procrastinating.

L.A.: Anywho, here's chapter 3.

Amu: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I only own my crazy characters.

"How have you not found them yet?" Koenma said as he slammed his hands down on his desk for emphasis. The little toddler was getting annoyed with how things were going.

"Well gee," Yusuke, the current spirit detective, said as he leaned back in his chair. "It's kind of hard to find someone when you don't even know what they look like."

"Hey," Kuwabara said, "What about Hiei's creepy eye thing?"

"It's called a Jagan eye, you idiot," Hiei said, his crimson eyes narrowing into a glare. "If they are there, then they are masking their spirit energy."

"It shouldn't matter," Koenma said as he sat back in his chair. "The items they have with them should be easy to trace."

"Lord Koenma! Lord Koenma!" A blue ogre burst into the room. "We were able to clear up the video feed from earlier." He placed a picture on the desk. "We were able to get one of the perpetrators on camera." He pointed to the picture as everyone curiously crowded around. "It seems one of them is a dog demon."

"Kurama," Yusuke said as he turned back to the red-haired teen. "You've been quiet."

Kurama scratched his chin as he stepped forward. "Is it possible for a dog demon to take on the form of a dog?"

Koenma frowned. "I suppose. The problem with dog demons is that although they are obnoxious, quick to anger, and extraverted, they are very secretive of their powers." Koenma paused. "Why do you ask?"

"You got an idea, Kurama?" Yusuke asked.

"No," Kurama said as his gaze drifted to the ground. "Just a thought."

"Why are you here?" Cora said through clinched teeth. After school, Cora decided to go the eye doctor. She couldn't get an appointment; but Dr. Onslo had always let her walk in. The doctor had practically become family because she had been going to him since she was five.

She had questions to ask him, namely if there were any side effects to her eye treatment that she didn't know about. She trusted him to tell her the truth. Of course, it would be a lot easier if Atolla hadn't decided to tag along.

"You are currently an asset to me," Atolla said as he scratched his ear with his hind leg. "I protect my assets."

"You're a creeper," Cora muttered as her fingers scratched against the clothed seat she was sitting on.

"Moi?" Atolla cocked his head. "I wouldn't be tossing names at me. Since I am currently invisible, everyone thinks you're talking to your imaginary friend."

Glancing around, Cora noticed that a couple of people were giving her cautious glances.

"I hate you," Cora muttered as she turned her gaze to the ground.

The door to the waiting room opened and all heads turned to see Dr. Onslo strolling in. He had graying brown hair and brown eyes. Laugh lines were permanently etched in his face. He raised an eyebrow. "Cora, I wasn't expecting you today."

Cora grinned sheepishly. "Sorry Dr. Onslo. I was actually wondering if you could squeeze me in for a quick check of my eyes?"

Dr. Onslo glanced down at his clipboard. "Well, my next appointment isn't for another 20 minutes and since it's you…" Dr. Onslo winked at her. "I'll make an exception."

"Your ophthalmologist is a creeper," Atolla muttered.

"Shut up," Cora mumbled before she followed Dr. Onslo to the patient room. As he closed the door behind them, Atolla barely squeezed in. Dr. Onslo frowned for a second as if he were thinking before shrugging it off and turning his attention to Cora.

"So, what seems to be the matter?" Dr. Onslo asked as he pulled on his gloves.

"Well, I was curious if I could have had any side effects from the surgery," Cora said as she sat down in a nearby chair.

Dr. Onslo frowned. "You mean the one I performed on you when you were younger?"

Cora nodded. She glanced over at Atolla who was sniffing the air and smirking. She raised an eyebrow. What's he got to be amused about?

"That surgery was a long time ago," Dr. Onslo said as he turned away. Cora noted the stiffening in his body language. "You should have already experienced them already."

"But couldn't side effects go unnoticed for a while?" Cora asked as her finger traced a circle on the armrest. "Especially if I didn't take my glasses off?"

Dr. Onslo pivoted towards her, his eyes wide. "I told you to never take your glasses off outside of your home!"

Cora stared at him in shock. She hadn't expected him to have such a violent reaction to her remark. She had hoped he would brush it off as nothing; but, from his demeanor, she could tell that she had hit a nerve.

Dr. Onslo quickly cleared his throat and straightened his scrubs. "I apologize for my outburst but I really do insist you don't take off your glasses anymore. It could seriously damage your eyes and…"

"Cut the crap, doc," Atolla said as Cora felt an arm draped over her shoulder. "How bout you tell the truth."

Dr. Onslo stood in place his mouth opening and closing as if he were trying to gulp air.

Cora glared at Atolla. It was bad enough that he decided to become visible but did he seriously have to turn back to his demon form? "What are you doing?" She hissed. "Are you trying to traumatize my eye doctor?"

Atolla laughed. "I'm not traumatizing him. Take your glasses off and you'll see. He isn't a human. He's a demon like me."

"Cora, wait," Dr. Onslo began but she ignored him as she took off her glasses.

She gasped as her hand went to her mouth. Dr. Onslo now resembled an ogre with two large horns on his head and fangs protruding from his mouth. "You're a…"

Dr. Onslo sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I should have known this day would come." He collapsed in a nearby chair. "I'd hoped not, but sort of knew."

"What's going on?" Cora asked as she tried to grasp on the situation.

Dr. Onslo studied his clasped hands in his lap. "I am a demon. When I first escaped to earth, I went under the occupation of ophthalmologist. I figured I would stay under the disguise until I was sure that the spirit world gave up their search of me. As long as I pretended to care for the humans and made sure to check their eyes then I'd be fine." He paused as he looked at her. "Then you came along."

"You were an interesting case. The disease you had was degenerative. No matter what I did, I couldn't stop you from going blind." He sighed. "In the demon world, there exists such demons known as Cheshires. They are cat demons with the ability to see through any magic or any guise. I was desperate to save your sight so I did something stupid. I found such a creature and stole its eyes and gave them to you."

"So, you're saying that…" She gingerly touched her temple.

Dr. Onslo nodded. "Yes, the eyes you have right now aren't yours. They belong to a Cheshire."

Cora suddenly felt cold. Colder than she had felt in her entire life. She suddenly became aware of how many times she blinked or when her eyes shifted to look at something. Because, suddenly, her eyes…the eyes she had relied on for so many years, weren't hers. She felt like she had been invaded by an unknown parasite. She wanted to claw them out but knew better.

It took her a moment to realize that Dr. Onslo was talking.

"There is one more thing I should tell you."

"Oh?" Cora said. The word sounding as hollow as she felt.

"Since it seems you have some of the same abilities as a Cheshire, that means that some of its demon blood is inside you." He licked his lips nervously. "Cheshire Cats' one flaw is that they have the mad gene. If triggered, they will go beserk and kill anything in sight. The only way to stop them…" He gulped. "…is to cut off their heads."

Cora stood up abruptly.

"Cora…"

"I really need to get some air," Cora said, her voice shaking slightly. "Please, excuse me." She sprinted out the door.

"Great," Atolla said with a sigh. "Now you've scared my asset."

"Your asset?" Dr. Onslo laughed. "Ah, now I see."

"What are you saying?" Atolla growled.

"I used to be like you," Dr. Onslo said as he examined one of his tools. "I didn't care about humans."

Atolla snorted.

"You don't believe me but you'll see." Dr. Onslo looked at him. "The day she truly smiles at you is the day that you realize that you never want to see her sad again."

Atolla casted him an uneasy look before turning away. "Whatever." He said as he left.

Cora had never experienced a panic attack before but she was pretty sure she was having one at the moment. Black spots were appearing in her eyesight and she felt light-headed. Her breath came out in short spurts as she leaned against her wall.

Her mind was whirling with thoughts yet she couldn't seem to concentrate on any of them. "This can't be real," she muttered. She couldn't believe what she heard was true. If so, how could she trust her eyes ever again?

"What are you doing?" Atolla hissed as he pulled her back. Cora noted he was back in his dog form. "You're going to get me caught."

"Huh?" She looked ahead of her and noticed a familiar boy standing in front of the eye doctor's building. "Shuichi?"

"Heh," Atolla smirked. "So that's what he's calling himself now? Don't let his pretty boy looks fool you. That's Youko Kurama, the legendary fox demon thief."

"A fox demon thief?" Cora took off her glasses and looked at Shuichi. "But, he doesn't look different."

"Guess the rumors were true." Seeing Cora's confused look, Atolla added. "The fox demon was near death and hid within the unborn child of a human. He's been stuck in a human body ever since. If you look closely, you'll see he's got an aura around him."

Narrowing her eyes, Cora did notice that he had a faint silver glow around him. She slipped her glasses back on and suppressed an involuntary shiver. It seemed like everything she thought was normal was following apart right before her eyes.

She started as she felt Atolla paw at her leg. "Are you even listening to me?"

"What?" She said.

Atolla's eyes narrowed. " Kurama is friends with the Spirit Detective who's trying to catch me. You better not tell Kurama who I am. If you tell, I will slaughter your unborn children."

Cora rolled her eyes. "Your threats get less scary the more you say them."

"Then think of this," Atolla said. "If you tell, I'll take you down with me. How do you think they'll react when they find out you've got Cheshire blood?" He grinned evilly. "I'll tell you how. They'll lock you up, never to see the light of day again. Or, just to be on the safe side, they'll chop off your head."

The color drained from her face as her hand reached for her neck.

Atolla stepped around her and glanced around. "Looks like the fox is gone. Shall we get going?"

Cora sat on her bed, her knees drawn up to her chest. It was after dinner and while Atolla was feeling the effects of tryptophan, Cora was lost in her thoughts.

Atolla was right. If this so called Spirit Detective ever found out about her, then they would probably lock her up for sure. Which was unfair. She wasn't like those Cheshire Cats. She'd never been violent in her life. Hell, she was the one who saved bugs from death when they intruded in her house.

Why did this have to happen to her? Stupid Dr. Onslo. Did he really think that saving her eyesight was worth the side effects? What if she did go crazy? She didn't want to kill anyone.

Her eyes were beginning to water.

Atolla groaned. "Don't tell me you're still stressing over what that Onslo guy said."

Cora wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and looked away.

"God, Cora. Don't worry about it. You aren't going to go crazy." He looked her in the eye. "I can tell from your personality. You're not the type of person who would go on a crazy killing spree. You wouldn't allow yourself."

Cora gave a watery smile. "Atolla…"

"You're too much of a weakling to do much of anything. A one legged blind man would probably be more useful than you." He hopped up on her bed and curled up next to her. "Now, how about we get some sleep?"

Her hands formed fists. "Atolla…" she said through clinched teeth. She grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, dragged him out of her room, and shut the door on him. "…you are not sleeping with me, you insensitive jerk!"

She was pretty sure that he threatened her; but she didn't care. He could kill her in the morning; but, after the day she had had, the only thing she was concerned about at the moment was a normal night of sleep.

L.A.: Aw, poor Cora. She's just not having good luck now is she?

Amu: Why are you pretending to feel sorry for her? You're the one causing her bad luck.

L.A.: Whatever, good news. We're going to slowly see more and more of the Yu Yu Gang. Yay!

Amu: And hopefully we'll update sooner.

L.A.: Anyway, you know what to do. READ and REVIEW!