Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Same disclaimers apply. Thanks to all reviewers, you make me feel loved! Enjoy.

(And I don't own Dexter's lab)

Kuwabara bent carefully over the microscope Kurama had set up in his apartment. The whole place had a kind of make-shift-Dexter's Lab feel to it. On the slide was a carefully cut cross-section of the piece of the demon Kurama had found in his hair. Knowing nothing whatsoever about botany, Kuwabara could only say, "Yep, that's a stick."

Kurama groaned inwardly and rubbed his temples. "Very astute Kuwabara. Now focus it a little more and tell me what you notice about the internal cellular structure of the sample."

Kuwabara obediently turned the knobby-thingies on the side and the picture changed focus becoming closer so he could see what looked to him like the plant version of legos. He remembered from his last science class that they were called cells but that was about all he could say he knew about them. This was why he wanted to be a history teacher. But even he could notice that there was something out of place here. "Kurama," he asked carefully, "Some of these cells look different than the others. Like they've been mutated or something."

"Exactly," Kurama said, "It looks to me like this demon had a parasite inside of her, feeding off of her energies and invading her cells. The question is what is it? And did it infect Yusuke?"

Just then the phone rang, breaking through Kuwabara's concentration. Kurama turned to answer it and Kuwabara turned back to look at the slide again. The infected cells had a faint color…

"Why don't you just come on over Keiko?" Kurama said trying to sooth the girl on the end of the line, "We've made some important discoveries that you should know about. Yusuke probably didn't tell you the details of the mission….Alright….yes see you soon." And he hung up. Turning to Kuwabara, he said, "That was Keiko. Apparently the mood swings are getting worse and she's worried so she's coming over. We have a little explaining to do."

"Kurama these cells are…blue," Kuwabara said confusedly.

"Hmm, that's interesting. If only I had something else to compare it to. Perhaps if we go back into demon world and find another one of these demons we can find the cause of this…"

"Too late fox," Hiei materialized behind Kuwabara making him jump about half-way across the room.

"Jeez Hiei!" the carrot-top complained, "We've talked about this man!"

"Yes I realize that," the demon sneered, "But it is far too much fun to torment baka ningens like you."

Kurama rolled his eyes and flipped a piece of his hair back, "You said you had something useful for me Hiei?"

"Right to the point aren't we Kurama," Hiei said, "Well yes, I came across a dead earth demon. Exactly the type we killed. It looked as if something had erupted from its chest, breaking the ribs outward. I also found this inside the corpse." He laid the cloth-bound egg on the desk.

Kurama carefully unwrapped and inspected it. Yoko nudged the back of his mind, urging caution. He had encountered these things; they were not to be trusted, even when dead. But when he didn't die and nothing burst from the leathery shell, Kurama's curiosity got the better of him and he took a small scalpel and sliced open the egg.

"Eww gross!" Kuwabara complained. The stench of rotten eggs filled the room. Ok, so it was definitely dead. A dark blue-ish goop seeped out onto the counter.

"What is that?" Kuwabara asked, pointing at a small mass that had oozed out onto the table top. Kurama poked it with his knife and scraped some of the extra goo off. They all recoiled a little when they recognized a tiny hand.

Kurama eased the rest of the tiny body out onto the table. It had a somewhat humanoid appearance but the eyes seemed significantly larger than normal and it had the signature toes of the earth demons. They were skinnier than usual so that they could be used as roots to sap available minerals from the soil.

"It appears to me," Kurama said, still nudging around the small corpse, "That this creature is a type of parasite. It depends on these earth demons."

"Kurama," Kuwabara noticed, "Those blue cells on the sample…"

"Precisely what I was thinking Kuwabara. These eggs I wonder what…"

"What's going on now?" The question came from the doorway. Keiko stood there, her long hair tousled as if she'd run all the way from her apartment.

"Keiko," Kurama said, welcoming her. "Come on inside. Yusuke didn't tell you about our mission did he? Kuwabara, why don't you fill her in while I get us some tea?"

While the water came to a boil, the carrot-top filled in the girl on their fight with the earth demon, Yusuke's strange behavior afterward, and now the strange discovery of the egg.

"It's obviously not an earth demon's egg," Kurama interrupted Kuwabara, "As far as I know they don't even lay eggs. So another species must have implanted its eggs inside the demon."

"And the species that lays the eggs must prefer the earth demons," Keiko put in, "Otherwise this would have appeared earlier in other kinds of demons."

"I hadn't thought of that," Kurama said, a little surprised, "That's a good idea."

"Hey Kurama?" Kuwabara asked, "Don't some seeds of fruits need to be eaten in order to grow? Maybe it's like the same kind of thing?"

Kurama was starting to think he needed to pay more attention in biology class, "That's also a good idea."

"Hn," Hiei spoke up for the first time since Keiko appeared, "The idiot finally had a decent idea."

"YOU WATCH YOUR MOUTH SHRIMP!"

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" Keiko screamed, startling them all to silence. "That isn't helping Yusuke! We need to figure this out to find out what he's got so we can help him!"

Kurama saw the look in the girl's eyes. She was desperately worried about Yusuke and he could see how determined she was to make sure he was going to be ok. And Keiko could be every bit as stubborn as Yusuke. And then, finally, it clicked.

"An egg," Kurama said.

"What are you babbling about now fox?" Hiei asked, with just the barest hint of disdain.

"Yusuke's been implanted with an egg."

"Wait, what?" Keiko asked, "You mean…Yusuke's pregnant?"

"What?!" Kuwabara exclaimed, "No way! I know Urameshi, and he's waaaaaaaaaay too macho for that to happen."

Just then the door burst open and the man of the moment, Yusuke Urameshi, came skipping and twirling into the room. Yes, skipping and twirling. Hooked in the crook of his elbow was a large basket. "Helllllllloooooo everybody!" He sang out joyfully. He plopped the basked down on the table top in front of the stunned faces of all and whipped off the blanket covering the wicker basket. "I made cupcakes!" And behold, there lay about a hundred of the most delicious looking tasty treats ever known to man.

Kuwabara sank to his knees. With despair that shook even Hiei's frozen (charred?) heart, the big man let out a long loud cry of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

For the second time that day, Kurama's head hit the desk.

Yusuke looked shocked and upset. "Well if you didn't want cupcakes you should have told me! I'M NEVER DOING ANYTHING NICE FOR YOU EVER AGAIN!"

"Yusuke!" Keiko exclaimed rushing over to him.

"Hi Keiko!" Yusuke said, happy again, "Here, have a cupcake!" He plopped one down in her hand. "Try it!" he insisted, "It's a new flavor I'm trying out. I thought it up earlier and it just sounded way too delicious not to make."

Keiko took the cupcake from his hand and examined it carefully before letting out a little cry.

"What is it Keiko?" Kurama asked.

"It's chocolate…with relish frosting."

It was all the proof they needed. Yusuke was pregnant.

Muahahahahahaha you see? They do what I want! Muahahahaha the power!!

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