Chapter 5

Fox in the Chicken Coop

Disclaimer: Like in the first chapters, I own nothing, not even this idea, I'm sure.

Enjoy~


The little apartment they landed in was classy, Dean wasn't certain he had seen anything so nice. Not since that incident where Zacharia turned him into a corporate douche bag and Sam into a internet help desk man.

The tone in the room, unlike bizzaro Dean's, was more earthy, there were plants sophisticatedly placed about the apartment and it was bathed in crisp whites and brilliant greens to accent. The balcony, however, had been all but converted into greenery. Dean could almost picture getting lost amongst the plants, thriving wildly in pots and hanging planters that could barely contain them. It gave the whole place the feeling of a tropical retreat, as many of the plants looked exotic and some so weird, you would expect them to only be found deep in the heart of a jungle.

"Nice digs." Dean mused appreciatively, Sam on the other hand was in a cantankerous mood, glaring disapprovingly at his brother's nonchalant attitude.

"Yeah, it's not ideal, I would have preferred something with more of a garden area, but this was the best I could find within my budget and a reasonable commute to work." Kurama lamented, sitting on a stool at the bar between the kitchen and living room.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are we here?" Sam prodded, attempting to acquire a straight answer from the allusive Kitsune. The decision to follow the fox through the portal might not have been one of their best ideas and they were regretting it now they were alone with him.

"Well, back at the hotel, I sensed something off about the two of you. Sam in particular, your smell is almost demonic in nature. However, your heart still beats, so I can only assume something happened to make you that way.

Then there is the Rei, huh, spirit energy, coming off Dean and something else I can't quit place, it's too faint to tell just yet." Kurama explained and Dean shifted nervously, not understanding what the monster before him was talking about and it only served to make him more irritated with the situation.

"So what? I'm a freak too?" Dean demanded to know and Kurama's attention perked up at that, the missing denial about not knowing what was wrong with them.

"Ah, so you know of Sam being different. Interesting... however, you having spirit energy is only strange because you are a westerners and they tend to be... less inclined to the supernatural around them. If I had to garner a guess as to what ability you have, I would say you're a psychic, of some kind." Kurama supplied as an answer and Sam's brows shot up in surprise.

"Oh hell no Samantha, don't you even start." Dean warned his brother and Sam didn't look even close to backing down. To his astonishment, though, Sam's mouth snapped shut with a glance to Kurama and than he exhaled, letting go of whatever had just popped into his head. Deeming present company not trust worthy enough to talk in front of.

"We're going to talk about it eventually, but first I think we should get some rest, if Kurama wanted to kill us, he would have done it already and if I have to stay up any longer, I'm going to shoot both of you just to get some peace and quite." Sam huffed, stifling a yawn with his hand, the adrenaline from earlier was long gone and even Dean was fighting to keep from releasing one of his own.

Kurama agreed with that, as he too was wavering in his ability to stay awake. Leading them to a guest room that was sparsely furnished, save for a futon bed and one neatly folded in the closet that could be laid out if there were extra guests, so they could rest for as long as they were going to stay.

The room was rarely used, only when Hiei would pop in for a visit, would it see any use. However, the beds always remained unused, as the fire apparition preferred to rest in the large arm chair by the window.

Kurama calmly laid out the bed and sheets for his unexpected guests and bade them goodnight, leaving the brothers to rest, his hand ghosting over the eadge of the door frame as he exited the room.

Looking to each other, too exhausted to fight over who got which bed, Sam collapsed on the floor futon, thinking it would be more comfortable than his feet hanging off the side of the bed. As it turned out, his assumption had been spot on and he soon found himself drifting off into slumber.

That was, until that thing he called a brother kicked him in the foot, jarring him awake once more.

"Sam." Dean whispered, drawing him from sleep. Groaning in answer instead of sitting up, Sam snuggled into the bed in an attempt to block the annoyance out.

"Come on, we have to get out of here." Dean urged and Sam knew that, but he wanted to linger in the illusion that they could actually sleep in a bed for the night.

"Come on Dean, five minutes, please?" Sam begged half heartedly and Dean sighed.

"We can't. I'm not staying in an apartment with a demon, I don't care if he's fucking Casper the friendly demon-ghost."

"By definition he's not actually a demon and an apparition isn't a ghost. They don't possess people, normally, and I think we should stay, besides, we're in Japan, where else would we go?" Sam challenged, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself then convince his brother.

"I don't know, but we can't stay here..." Dean argued, or tried to, as he collapsed on the bed in a heap, suddenly unable to resist sleep any longer. Neither brother noticed the light perfume scent in the air, nor the near invisible flowers that bloomed around the door frame.

They wouldn't, because they weren't meant to.

Sitting in his room, Kurama smiled to himself, think of how humans were so fragile and stubborn.

It was why he liked them so much these days.


Dean didn't recall lying down the previous night, nor falling asleep for that matter. However, he couldn't dispute it was some of the best sleep he had, for the first time, in a long time. The sun was now blazing brightly through the curtains of the room and Sam, the early riser, was already up, wearing some kind of robe, shuffling around, examining the closet.

"Hey, do you know what time it is?" Dean asked and Sam pointed to the clock beside the bed he hadn't noticed when waking; it read 13:00.

"Kurama- err, Shuichi said he was ordering something for lunch. He's getting something that would be more to our American taste." Sam replied and sat down in the chair lazily, he looked well rested and it made Dean wonder if something else hadn't been at work in their sudden desire to just sleep the night before.

"Doesn't matter to me, I like Japanese food, I don't want to eat it for the rest of my life, mind you, but I think I can survive a week." Dean shrugged, not understanding what the big deal was.

"No Dean, you like Americanized Chinese food, there is a difference." Sam assured his brother. Dean's face twitched in a surveying frown, but didn't argue, not sure if he hadn't had authentic Japanese food before or not.

"Whatever, I've eaten some pretty weird crap, but I guess it's good they have some things that we are familiar with." Dean remarked, standing and stretching. He felt like he could go for a run to burn off the extra energy that came with a good nights rest, but he doubted they would be permitted to leave the house.

The urge to pee had him looking at the door leading into the hall, pondering where Sam had taken a shower.

"Bathroom is through that door, Shuichi didn't have anything in my size so he's washing my clothes. He left a friend's old school uniforms in the bathroom for you, he said the friend is about your size and had him drop some off earlier this morning."

Dean raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing as he opened what he thought was the closet. True enough it was the bathroom, there was a little hall before the bathroom, that on either side, was sliding doors where the closet was. It must have been what Sam was going through when he woke up and upon peeking inside, he could see where Sam had returned the folded futon.

Determining it was safe to shower, Dean stripped down and climbed in, looking at the weird set up for the shower. There was a button hanging from the side of the shower head, but he paid it no mind as he turned on the water.

He regretted it immediately.

With a yelp, he scrambled to turned the water back off and with a glare in Sam's direction, as his brother's deep laughter drifted from the other room, he fiddled with the hot water knob.

"Oh, yeah. If you want hot water, you have to turn that switch on and wait a few minutes." Sam explained as if he had forgotten to mention it, that little devil, he would get his revenge.

Once clean, the hot water button turned off and dressed, Dean stepped out of the bathroom in a light blue uniform. Though he felt stupid in the uniform, it wasn't as uncomfortable as it looked and even the mandarin collar was bearable. However, it didn't stop him from hating the color and wiggling the collar around his neck, more because he wasn't used to it then the fact that it should have irritated his neck. When he returned to the room, Sam looked up, he was redressed in his normal clothes and smirking at his brother in amusement.

"Nice suit." He teased and Dean rolled his eyes, flipping him the bird as he headed for the kitchen.

Kurama was sitting at the table with a news paper when the two of them walked in, however, he stood and bowed in greeting.

"My apologies for letting you sleep in so late, Mr. Winchester." Kurama apologized, confusing Dean, who looked to Sam for an answer.

"It's alright, we appreciate it." Sam replied, brushing the apology aside and Dean chalked it up to being some Japanese custom, as there wasn't going to be an explanation.

"So, I heard something about food?" Dean asked and Shuichi face softened into a delicate smile, running a hand through his long, red locks.

"Indeed, the food should be here any minute now. I take it the translation charms are working well?" Kurama inquired and Dean nodded, nothing had changed since last night other then the bruise on his back was gone.

"Yeah, it's weird hearing Japanese coming from my mouth, but it's getting easier to ignore. Does it sound like normal Japanese to you? You sound like you're speaking perfect English to me." Dean had wondered that the night before, but with everything that had happened, it hadn't seemed impotant to ask at the time.

"It's flawless, if I didn't know any better I would say you were born and raised in Japan." Kurama assured them, walking over to the counter where a pot of tea was sitting on a tray with delicate looking cups.

Dean wondered if the guy was gay, he knew countries like Britain and Japan enjoy tea a lot, but he knew they had to have more manly looking cups then the floral ones the kitsune preferred.

"Would you like some tea or juice before lunch arrives, I'm afraid I don't have anything carbonated." Kurama offered politely and both of them took the offered tea, taking a seat at the table.

"If it's alright with you, we had a couple of questions?" Sam inquired, taking a sip of his tea, only to scrunch up his face as it was unsweetened and bitter.

Learning from his baby brother's mistake, he adding sugar to his own tea before drinking. Though he still longed for coffee instead of the steeped leaves, he decided not to say anything about it and added an extra lump of sugar.

"Not at all, I would like to know more about the both of you as well. You're welcome not to answer anything if I'm being too inquisitive on a personal subject." Kurama reasoned and the two of them agreed, they could deal with that.

It might be a good chance to learn something about the enigma.

"You said you're a Kitsune, do you feed on humans?" Sam questioned, getting down to business.

Dean was suddenly wary of the Kitsune was seeking revenge for a fallen of his kind. Perhaps he was related to the one Sam had killed when they were younger.

"I was curious about that, Kitsune are rare these days, what few remain have adapted to modern times, either choosing to eat other kinds of meat or finding ulterior ways to harvest pituitary glands. I never saw fit to eat humans, once we start, our metabolism changes and like taking a supplement pill our bodies become reliant on the specific chemicals the pituitary gland produces." Kurama explained and Sam could understand the logic behind that.

"The, huh... she didn't like humans and hunted them for her food. It's how we stumbled across the case in the first place. Most of our cases start out that way, we search obituaries and news articles." Sam informed him, hoping Kurama could understand what they did was to help people.

"I too would have been considered a hunter of sorts, during my employment with Spirit World. I hunted down demons that escaped from Makai and eliminated them, as more often then not they were here for an easy meal."

"That's what we do, but it's more than just demons. Anything that's attacking people we try and stop it." Sam told Kurama with a relieved sigh, wiping sweaty palms on his jeans. Kurama nodded in understanding and some of the hositlity toward him vanished from the brothers.

"However, your hunts are not what really interests me about you, nor the fact you are Michael and Lucifer's vessels. What I want to know is why you both have such strong levels of Reikai and smell less than wholly human?" Kurama desired to know bluntly, Sam's relief was short lived, however, as his bloody demonic addiction was a hard topic to talk about and neither brother trusted the demon in font of them enough to divulge that information.

"Well, you see... were not sure what you're asking, exactly?" Sam stalled, shifting nervously, looking to Dean wondering if they should tell him about the demon blood thing.

"I think you know exactly what I mean, or at least a possible reason." Calling their bluff, Kurama allowed his more intimidating side to come out, gone was the soft spoken, polite host, leaving only the hardened thief and business monger behind.

"I was fed demon blood when I was a child to link my psychic abilities to a demon trying to start the apocalypse. There were other children and we all had to fight each other to the death to determin who the strongest of us was." Sam caved, shooting Dean an apologetic glance at the look of betrayal on his brothers face.

"Ah, so you won, but what reason did you have to fight? Why could there be only one?" Kurama asked and Dean snorted, the comment sounded an awful lot like a Highlander reference.

Deciding this was way too personal and the fact the past couldn't be changed, Dean opted to try to change the subject.

"Look-" Dean began to say, but he was saved by the bell, literally, as the front door bell dinged. Kurama stood and answered the door, a tall carrot top man stood there, holding the food he had ordered.

"Hey Shuichi, I got you order here, I hope those clothes I dropped off fit your company well enough." The man chattered and Kurama smiled pleasantly, taking some of the load from the man.

"They fit perfectly, Kazuma-san, please, come in, you can join us if you like, I ordered extra just in case." Kurama offered and the man smiled widely, slipping his shoes off as he stepped into the apartment with the rest of the boxes.

"Thanks, I can take my break now that the lunch rush is over, but I can only stay for a little bit, traffic was looking a little iffy on the way over." The man rambled, he was defiantly Dean's height and build, but he wasn't as pretty as him, more of a tough biker or gang thug.

"That's quite alright, make your self at home, your welcome here anytime. How are things going with school, do you think you're going to get your masters degree this year?" Kurama inquired politely and Kazuma beamed.

"Actually, I'm going to be finishing a week earlier then everyone else, even with my job at the restaurant, I've put double the time into studying then everyone else. Shizuru is a good motivator." Kazuma boasted and Kurama praised his achievements.

"Oh, this is Sam and Dean, they're part of that case in the United States Koenma asked Hiei and I to go on." Kurama said, motioning to each of them as he spoke their name.

"Nice to meet ya, Sammu, Deeen, I'm Kuwabara, Kazuma (Last name first); but everyone besides, Shuichi here calls me Kuwabara." Kuwabara greeted, butchering their names horrendously, but the brothers didn't really care.

"Same here, are you... huh, how do you know Shuichi?" Sam questioned, hesitating in asking if he was a demon as well.

"Oh, I'm the only fully human member of the spirit detectives, I'm a psychic and I tell you, I could feel the waves coming off of you from a mile away. I bet you'd have every demon in the area flocking to you before night fall if it weren't for the fact they're all afraid of Kurama." Kuwabara mused, worrying the brothers as he laid out the food. There was bowls of noodle soups of some kind, stir fry, and several dishes that resembled the Chinese food they were used to back home.

"What are you talking about? My abilities vanished after... after the devil was let loose." Sam stammered, feeling light headed and scared. Dean on the other hand looked angry, thinking maybe Sam had been lying to him until he saw the look on his brother's face.

"Oh, I had that happen once, I had to go see a specialist to try and help jump start it again, but it didn't work. Then when one of my friends was in danger, it came back stronger then ever. I think they have a dormant period, where they recover from being used too much, so soon after developing them. We also speculated it had something to do with the fact I had an outside source that helped kick start them in the first place.

I've been working with a friend on theories of how psychic abilities manifest and why they sometimes go dormant, but it's still in it's infancy stages. There aren't really a lot of psychics documented to cross reference with and even less that are alive." Kuwabara rambled, sipping some tea Kurama had poured him.

Kurama set out plates and bowls, motioning for them to start eating.

"That would be interesting to learn about, surely if you ever write a book on it, you will send me a copy, or at the very least allow me to attend one of you lectures?" Kurama asked and Kuwabara nodded enthusiastically, excited someone might be willing to listen to him give a lecture.

"Of course, the school Yusuke set up in Makai is doing well, but he's short teachers, me taking your order at the restaurant wasn't a coincidence, even though I wanted to visit anyway, but he could use a couple more hands to help out." Kuwabara amended, not wanting to sound like he was only there because someone asked him to be.

"I'm sorry, Kazuma-san, but I'm retired, however, I might consider it once my human life has run it's course and I no longer have connections to the Ningenkai (human world)." Kurama declined to a sullen Kuwabara.

"It's alright, I told him you would say no, but I promised I would try anyway.

How's Hiei doing anyway, you think I have a chance at convincing him to teach a class or two?" Kuwabara asked hopefully.

"About as much chance of him approving your marriage to his sister next month. He still tries to convince her it's a bad idea and that she should move back to Makai." Kurama chuckled and Kuwabara deflated completely onto the table.

"Awe man, don't remind me. If I get cold feet for any reason, it's in fear of dying at a young age. I swear, I don't see why he hates me so much, I'm smart, strong and I treat Yukina like a goddess, what's not to approve of?" Kuwabara demanded to know, getting angry at the thought he wasn't a strong suitor for Hiei's beloved sister.

"It's simple, your human and he's possessive. You and I both know, despite how much you have proven yourself in the Makai, demons will look down on Yukina for marrying out of species. Hiei fears it will start a war once the Ice Maidens find out."

Both shivered at the thought of war braking out, it wouldn't end well for either side.

"I know Kurama, but I love her and I don't think a bunch of cold hearted women up on an icy mountain should decide who should marry who. Biologically, humans and demons are compatible, why shouldn't we get married?" Kuwabara challenged, staring off at imaginary enemies, probably picturing himself fighting them off to save his princess.

Dean had about a thousand reasons why it would be wrong, but he doubted his opinions would matter.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't, I just wanted to reminding you of why Hiei, your soon to be brother-in-law, disapproves of your marriage to Yukina." Kurama said, playing the fear card, bringing up that tid bit of information was an under handed move, but it did exactly what it was meant to. He knew it disturbed Kuwabara to think about being related to Hiei, even by marriage and it would consume any indignation he had toward Hiei's opinion.

Kuwabara might be a blundering oaf at times, but he knew better then to get on Hiei's bad side.

"Yeah, I see your point, his point, but I can't picture my life without Yukina. Since the first time I saw her crying on that tape Koenma sent us, I wanted nothing more then to make her happy for the rest of my life." Kuwabara sighed, stuffing food into his mouth as fast as Dean had been. Sam on the other hand had been listening more then eating and took a tentative bite when Kurama glanced at him, trying to hide that fact.

However, instead of being angry at their forgotten presence, Kuwabara took on an apologetic look.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to exclude you guys from the conversation and go off on a tangent! If you like, I can try to help you get your powers back?" Kuwabara offered Sam, who nearly choked on the noodles he was eating.

"N-no, I'm good. They, huh... cause more trouble then they're worth." Sam was almost offended by the offer, but he didn't want to be rude, Kuwabara didn't know about his abuse of the powers and was just trying to be nice.

"Are you sure? Cause all it takes is a good work out and a near death experience. In fact, I could help jump start your friends too, he's has the potential to be strong, maybe even more so then you kid... actually it almost feels like yoki..." Kuwabara contemplated to the brothers, shocking Kurama at the revelation.

"Are you certain, Kazuma-san? I thought I felt it for a split second, but I was in a room full of gods with the devil on the way. I couldn't be sure and it hasn't made it's self prominent enough for me to be able to tell." Kurama questioned and Kuwabara nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure, but it's muddled like yours was when we first met. Whether he's actually part demon or something's attached to him, I don't know, but it's defiantly something." Kuwabara confirmed and Dean slammed his hand down on the table.

"No way, I'm not a demon, I'm not possessed, I have an anti possession tattoo for crying out loud!" Dean was livid, how could this have happened? Was it when he was in hell, or before that? It was pissing him off not having the answers and it only made it worse he was finding out about this from demons no less.

Not that he would have taken the news any better from someone else, but the point was, demons shouldn't know something angels didn't.

Which was reason to worry, did angels actually know, or was the kitsune's carrot-topped friend lying?

Either way, the situation was starting to become more complicated then it already was.

"I think the mark on your chest is doing it's thing, I can feel it working, but I'm pretty sure it isn't for demons, or at least not any kind I've heard of." Kuwabara assured him and Dean blinked in confusion.

They guy could sense the tattoo? How much weirder was this little 'vacation' going to get?

"That's because these two are used to dealing with western demons, Judeo Christian to be exact." Kurama informed his friend.

"That makes sense, I didn't know they were real though. Does that mean that when they said the devil, they meant the one the bible talks about in Christian temples and not Yusuke?" Kuwabara asked, all of them had joke to the young king on more then one occasion about him being the devil now, ruler of hell.

The estranged demon found it hilarious, taking the title and running with it.

The result, a month long prank war, except Yusuke was the only one doing the pranking.

In the end, however, Hiei and Kuwabara managed to get it through the demonic king's head that everyone was starting to get irritated with him. Even the normally docile Yukina had scolded him, threatening to freeze his nether regions off.

Not his balls, literally his neither regions, where the young king liked to vacation for it's warm climate, lush greenery and clear waters.

"I believe they call them churches, not temples, but yes, that would be the one." Kurama confirmed and Kuwabara shuddered.

"Well that explains why I felt a strong power surge several months ago. The energy must have been from that demon guy." Kuwabara mumbled aloud and Dean stepped in, not wanting them to be miss led in information.

"He's actually an angel, a fallen one and he was released around the time you felt that power surge." Dean sighed, feeling responsible, if he hadn't broke the first seal or if he had been able to stop Sam sooner, then it wouldn't have happened to begin with. The eldest Winchester thought, unaware Sam was thinking along the same lines, except that it was his fault instead of his brothers.

"Yeesh, I wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley, if I can feel him all the way over here, then I'd hate to see what he's like up close." Kuwabara quivered and sipped some tea to try to ward off the feeling of unease.

"That's probably a good idea, angels are almost impossible to kill." Dean assured him, not sure how much he liked the other guy, but if he was human, there wasn't really a reason not to.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not going to the United States anytime soon then." Kuwabara vowed mentally to keep far away from that kind of trouble.

"Ah! I gotta go, my break time's over!" Kuwabara panicked in a rush at noticing the time and darted to the door for his shoes, taking the wooden boxes with him, the containers the food had come in.

"Be careful Kazuma-san, I wouldn't want another friend to die via car accident." Kurama chuckled at their own private joke as Kuwabara rushed out the door and down the hall, promising a mere car couldn't even scratch him.


Once Shuichi returned to the table, having shut and locked the door behind his friend, Dean decided he wanted more answers, opting to let the secret he had kept from Sam out in the open. He wanted to know how it was that this particular demon kept popping in and out of his life.

"Shuichi, I was wondering, why it is you were in America during '79 when there was that attack at the house we were hiding in, what were you doing there?" Dean demanded to know, the mystery was bugging him and Sam openly glared at him, wondering why Dean never said anything.

"I was with my father, my human father. We had broken down not too far from the house you were at, I took our muffler as a weapon so I could search for some help, when I heard the commotion from down the road, I decided to investigate what was going on." Shuichi informed him truthfully.

"That's it? You had no other reason?" Dean pressed, not happy with the answer, but he couldn't help thinking he should remember something.

"Well... yes, the first time I was curious. However, the second time, when I came back, I felt a surge of power as a couple of lives started to dwindle and then I felt a familiar presence. So I returned to investigate what was going on. When I got there, that red haired woman was about the stab one of the life forces I felt fading. Except it wasn't the woman who was about to be stabbed that had been about to die, but the child she carried. The tiny life in her was fine once I got there, however, I couldn't in good conscience just walk away from someone about to murder an innocent child's chance at life, so I attacked as best I could. It was enough to buy some time for that other man to step in." Kurama explained and sipped his tea, savoring the flavors.

He had been to young to access Rei at the time and was only as strong as five year old human. He was lucky the redheaded woman had been as focused on killing the blond woman, or she could have easily killed him first.

"Okay, I get that, I guess, but what about the Zombie attack in South Dakota?" Dean asked and Kurama nearly spit out his drink.

The kitsune had been certain that the horde of undead had been playing tricks on him, as it was impossible for the man he had met as a child to be there without ageing.

"That was you there? I thought I had imagined it, considering you hadn't aged a day since I first saw you. I suppose I hadn't made the connection since confirming you to be a time traveler.

We were on an assignment to try and stop the zombies, as you call them. There was, in fact, a demon controlling them, it's why they started to turn rabid after a couple of days upon their awakening. It was then we were sent the invitation to the meeting of the gods, Baulder was impressed with how much progress Koenma has made while dabbling into the affairs of Ningenkai (Human World)." Kurama explained, tilting his head in thought, then dismissing his train of thought.

"You know that woman, the redhead, Anna, was trying to stab was our mom and it was Dean she was pregnant with. She was an angel and had gone back in time to try and prevent us from being born. I kind of remember a flash of light around our mom when she got knocked down, but I thought it was because I hit my head pretty good, however..." Sam trailed off, a sudden idea popping into his head.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Dean demanded to know, wondering where his brother was going with this topic change.

"How exactly did you become like you are? You said you melded with an unborn child, but what does that mean?" Sam pressed for more information and Kurama chuckled.

"I know what your thinking, but what I did was near impossible. First of all I am a powerful yokai, secondly, the only reason it worked was because the fetus was about to die. Moreover, Dean would display symptoms of having a split personality, even if he didn't actually have one, and last, but not least, he would remember his past life as a demon. It's more likely; if they are capable, one of the angels healed her." Kurama shot down that idea, or that's what he planned to do, until he noticed Dean twitching.

"Don't look at me like that! There's no way I'm a demon." Dean defended, he wasn't going to tell them about the dreams he used to have before the demon killed their mom, before their father was forced to seek out Missouri Mosley.

It wasn't until after the fire the almost vivid memories turned into something achen to dreams, or nightmares most nights. After that incident he thought it was his over active imagination and some twisted for of an imaginary friend.

That and whenever he was on a hunt, he seemed to become another person entirely. Right up until his return from hell. After that he just didn't have it in him to pull off a good game. Sure, sometimes he got lucky and after a lot of stumbling he'd get the information he wanted, but it didn't come to him as naturally. Before, when wooing women, it was as if went into a trance, dragging them with him and thus getting his way.

Sam looked to him accusingly, even Kurama could tell he was hiding something, but both knew they wouldn't get it out of the oldest Winchester today.

So cutting his losses, Kurama decided a topic change was needed before things became uncomfortable.

"Alright, I think that's enough for today, I doubt arguing will change anything or give you the answers you seek. So, instead, how about we go out and get you some new clothes, you couldn't possibly wear the same outfits until you leave." Kurama offered, standing to clear dishes from the table.

That's how they spent the rest of the afternoon, shopping for clothes the demon graciously paid for. They even went about getting ingredients for spells and wards that were hard to come across in the U.S., mainly because hoodoo and Wicca were the main practices in shops as opposed to eastern religions.

Once back at the apartment, they ate dinner and settled in for the night, too tired to do much else.


By morning on their second day in Japan, Kurama had learned almost every dark secret the boys had. The demon blood Sam drank, Ruby and the apocalypse, Dean's lengthy trip to hell, but not from the brothers. Koenma contacted him late in the evening to inform him what the ogres had dug up and things weren't looking so well.

There had been a demonic soul in the area when Dean's pregnant mother had been hurt that night Kurama had stumbled upon them. However, the mystery remained on who that demon might have been or how it merged with Dean's soul. The only clue they had to go on was that it was someone Kurama had come across in his three thousand years of life.

Which didn't narrow it down much, considering his life as a thief, he had come in contact with many a demon and human alike.

Nor could he remember loosing an acquaintance, ally or even enemy during that time frame.

Releasing a rare sigh, Kurama stood from his computer, and looked out his window in thought.

This was turning out to be more complicated then he thought and he was beginning to regret having taken the mission in the first place.

A gentle rapping on the door to his room drew his attention and he opened it to find the towering frame of Sam.

"Huh, my brother and I were wondering if there is anything to do around here or possibly somewhere we can go? Dean's getting restless just sitting around." Sam asked sheepishly, unsure if they were prisoners or truly were guests.

"Of course, there's a park a couple of blocks from here, and just a block after that is an arcade. Between here and the arcade, are several shops, but there's isn't much else around to do. I can lend you some money if you would like?" Kurama offered, not really expecting to be paid back, but he didn't want to be rude, the two of them weren't the type to take hand outs, if he had judged their personalities the three days he had known them.

"Thank you, but no thanks, we were also wondering if you could get what money we do have on us exchanged, it's not a lot, but it should cover what you spent on us yesterday day and a little to help with food costs." Sam offered and Kurama declined, he too didn't need hands outs, it wasn't as though he were strapped for cash.

"No need to pay me back for that, I am the one who drug you here unprepared. But if you like, I can follow you to the bank and deposited the money and then give you the amount it would be from my own account, it usually takes time to process foreign money when converting it." Kurama offered and Sam smiled.

"I would appreciate that, but what about your... being out of a job?" Sam treaded carefully, trying not to insult him and Kurama couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Oh, no need to worry about that. I wasn't mad at Koenma for loosing my job because I need the money." Kurama breathed between chuckles.

"Then why were you mad, if you don't mind me asking?" Sam inquired and Kurama calmed himself, sobering some.

"Well, my step-father and I don't have the closest relationship, he saw my leaving as an act of defiance and our already shaky relationship has taken a turn for the worse I'm afraid. He didn't like me much before the job offer and he dislikes me even more after my resigning." Kurama explained.

Ever since he left for that stint in the Makai,

"Couldn't you have just taken some time off? Don't you have leave time or emergency sick time, I'm not sure what the work laws are here, but I'm pretty sure they have work laws in Japan." Sam rambled some and Shuichi chuckled at how much the Goliath of a man sounded like Kuwabara at the moment.

"Yes, they do, but your boss still has to approve the leave time and my step-father considers taking random 'vacation time' as a sign of slacking off. However, he makes my mother happy, so he gets to live... for now." Kurama smirked, making Sam uneasy.

"I'm just kidding, Sam, I would never kill a human unless there was no other choice. One of my friends or family would have to be in grave danger before that would happened."

"Sorry, it's just we've seen things, huh, people, that when they say something like that, they usually aren't joking." He apologized with a wince at having called Kurama a thing.

"It's alright, I understand. We once came across a human that I sorely wished I could have killed myself. He had been holding a person who is now a dear friend of mine captive, forcing them to cry tear gems by torture. To see someone so sweet and innocent so cruelly treated infuriates me." Kurama's grip on the door handle tightened, but released after a moment, his anger under control once more.

"I under stand, we came across a group of cannibals once, they tortured Dean and I wanted nothing more then to stop them, for good, but in the end we let the law take care of them." Sam admitted and Kurama blinked in surprise.

"Wow, it's not often you hear of cannibalism these days, demons tend to be more into that kind of thing then humans. However, enough about such depressing things, we should get going before Dean decides to do something drastic to entertain himself." Kurama chuckled, thinking of the little traps Dean had set up the night before around their room. Kurama couldn't so much as touch the door without burning his hand and Sam had scolded his brother, but he wouldn't hear anything of it.

In all honesty, Kurama couldn't blame the eldest Winchester for being paranoid. What, with heaven and hell out to get them and a world full of people counting on them. Who wouldn't be a little twitchy?

Several days passed, the boys would go out, putter around town for the day and then return, having calmed down some now that they knew they could move freely to and from the house.

Dean wasn't sure anymore if Kurama was a threat or not and he mildly wondered if he had Stockholm syndrome.

It wouldn't be the first time it had happened.

Hell had a way with playing mind games.

Dean was startled from his thoughts when an all too cheery voice announce it's owners arrival.

"Good morning everyone!" A blue haired lady greeted, flying straight through the wall on an oar.

However, before Dean could even think about going for a weapon, a frowning Kurama greeted the woman- thing.

"Botan, how many times have I told you to please use the door?" Kurama demanded, scolding the woman who shrank back sheepishly. It reminded the brothers how Castiel would often pop in out of nowhere right into Dean's personal space.

Speaking of said angel, Bobby and Cas were probably going crazy trying to find them.

Not that they would, considering they were on the other side of the world.

"More times then I can remember. I'm sorry Kurama, but I have good news! Well... mostly good news anyway." Botan amended for her forgetfulness at using a door. More often then not she got over excited and such human things would slip her mind.

"Oh, and what might that be?" Kurama asked, deciding she was a lost cause and she would never learn.

"Well, I have the papers for Mr. and Mr. Winchester, their names for security reasons are now Mr. and Mr. Smith, as they are wanted fugitives in the United States.

However, Koenma requests that you come the Reikai once more for a few test before you return home. He hopes to find out about who the demon might be that might have melded with Dean's soul." Botan informed them and the brothers glared at her.

"What do you mean, 'who the demon is that melded with Dean's soul'?" Sam demanded to know angrily and the blue haired girl shrank back once more.

"Yeah and who are you anyway?" Dean added, glowering at the woman trying vainly to hide behind the folder she was holding.

"I'm Botan, ferry girl of the river Styx, I believe you would call me a grim reaper!" Botan exclaimed happily, growing a bit of a back bone from her pride at being a ferry girl.

"Great, another reaper, I've seen enough of those for a life time." Dean grumbled and Botan blinked at his lack of curiosity.

"What, nothing to ask? Usually people have loads of questions about the 'here after'. How could you have possibly met a reaper before, surely you would have passed on if a reaper were to appear before you." Botan wondered, finger resting on a pouty lip trying to figure out how it was possible.

"It doesn't matter how, just tell us what kind of tests we'll have to take." Dean snapped, drawing the woman back from her musings.

"Oh, yes, just some blood samples, and a few non-invasive scans from Reikai medical equipment! Nothing too complicated, I assure you!" Botan smiled charmingly, tucked a strand of powder blue hair behind her ear and then folding her hands behind her back.

"Okay, I guess we could do that, right Sammy?" Dean asked, finding it hard to say no to such a happy, pretty face, even if her hair was a strange color.

"Huh, your kidding, right?" Sam asked pleadingly, he didn't care much for needles and Dean wasn't to thrilled either, but found himself wanting to know what the hell was going on. If that meant a few tests, then he was all for it.

"I gotta know if what they're saying is true, what if I'm not human Sam, what if you aren't? Does that make us hypocrites?" Dean asked, feeling vulnerable, he hated monsters with a passion and to suddenly find out he might be something he would hunt?

It could very well shatter what little self esteem he had left. It would mean everything, everything Alistair had taunted him with, teased him about and tried to force him to believe, might have actually been true.

Standing in front of the portal the girl had just opened with her oar, Dean followed her in, Sam trailing sullenly behind him, disappointed at the lack of his opinion being taken into consideration.

They were shown to separate, clean, hospital like rooms and Dean sat, swinging his legs like a child, waiting for the doctor to arrive.

What he didn't expect, though, was a seven foot, manly looking ogre in a pink nurse outfit that was a size too small and thick, red lipstick smeared half hazardly across it's mouth. It's blond hair, half balding on top, had been piled into a scrunchy to once side, only adding to the oddness of the scene.

"Hi, my name is George and I'll be your nurse for today." The ogre all but cried, obviously not happy at the position he was put into.

"Are you the assistant of that baby dude?" Dean wondered, as the names were the same and the ogre actually burst into tears.

"Yeees, but I'm also the resident nurse and Koenma-sama says if I'm going to be a part time nurse, I should look like one while I'm at it." The ogre sobbed for a minute before a loud speaker above the door chimed in.

"Ogre, that better not be your insolent whining I hear all the way from my desk!" The voice of Koenma snapped over the intercom.

"N-no Koenma-sama, I wouldn't dream of being disrespectful of the position you g-graciously offered me." George stammered, there wasn't a reply for his effort however and the ogre turned back to Dean.

Sobering up, the ogre took a blood sample, doing his job without further complaint. After putting the drawn blood in a warded box to prevent thievery, he snapped on a part of white gloves.

"Alright, now I need you to remove you cloths and turn around." George ordered to Dean's horror.

Non-invasive his soon to be soar ass!

Or so he thought...


An: Please review, they give me happy feelings! Happy feelings inspire me to write!