Disclaimer: As much as I would love to be the creator Yu Yu Hakusho, I could never be. The best I can draw is stick people (now that would be a funny looking manga) so I regretfully say, "I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the copyrighted characters. But I do own Tsukino, Oshiro, Stato, the plot and the poem in the page breaks."


Recap: Everyone returns to Yusuke's hometown, and Tsukino stays with Yusuke and Keiko. While she is with them, it is discovered that she can't read. She also realizes that she has to get out of there ASAP before she became attached. While she is making her escape through the window in her room, Yusuke informs the other detectives of his plan to ask Suzuka for a disguise for Tsukino. As Kurama listens to the plan he can't help but feel that the mission is getting more and more hopeless.


Say If It's Worth Saving Me
Chapter Eight
Another Problem

My Attempt At Escape

I had barely gone half a block when I realized I heard something following me. At first I thought it was just a bird due to the flapping noise, but I started to change my mind when I heard a small voice saying, "Puu." Finally, I turned and instantly took a step back. Hovering in midair was a small blue birdlike creature that seemed to hover by flapping its ears.

"Puu?" it asked me much like an owl said 'who'.

Unsure of what do to do, I shook my head. "Uh… no…?"

"Puu?" it asked me again.

The thing seemed harmless but very odd. In the end, I decided to ignore it and continued looking for a portal back to Demon World. Since the birdlike creature wasn't going to attack me, there was no harm in letting it follow me. Or so I thought.


Day Fourteen

After talking for many minutes, we are still discussing asking Suzuka to help disguise Tsukino.

"And what will we do in the meantime?" Kazuma asks. "There are people after her, remember?"

"I'm afraid we will have to rely on the older methods," I reply.

"Do you think that will be enough to keep her hidden from the people after her?" Yusuke asks.

"What do you think detective?" Hiei, who had been quiet most of the conversation, suddenly speaks. He appears annoyed, probably due to the fact that he was going to tail Koenma for the next few days.

"The move from Genkai's to here will have bought us some time. Hopefully enough to disguise Tsukino-san before they find her here. I don't think I have to tell you want could happen if they find her. The fire at Genkai's temple is enough proof that these people aren't playing around," I say.

"Yeah, but usually people don't do that unless you have used up your last chance," Kazuma points out.

I nod and Yusuke speaks, "So just how long have these guys been chasing her?"

"If they are human, probably since she entered Human World. But if they are demons, who knows," I reply. "But that's not important, what we need to do now is keep an eye out. Yusuke, perhaps it would be better that Tsukino-san stays with me so that no harm comes to Keiko."

"What about Botan?" Kazuma and Yusuke ask at the same time.

"She's a Grim Reaper. She's used to being in life and death situations," Hiei says.

"Hey boys," Keiko says as she enters the restaurant. "What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you all be at work?"

"Oh hey Keiko," Kazuma says as the woman walks into the kitchen to stand beside her husband.

She looks at all of us carefully. "Why do you all look so worried? Did you get some orders from Koenma?"

We all shake our heads.

"Nothing," Yusuke informs her.

"So what's the problem then?" Keiko asks.

We all trade a look, and Yusuke nods. "We are thinking of having Tsukino-san room with Kurama," Kazuma tells her.

Keiko gives him a tired look. "You still haven't given up on Plan A, have you?"

I shake my head. "Keiko, we have reason to believe that someone is after Tsukino-san and will do anything to get her."

"What reason?" she slowly asks.

I explain about what happened at the lake with the creatures again, and then Yusuke explains about the fire at Genkai's.

"We think that they may try something worse now so it would be safer for Tsukino-san and everyone around her for her to room at Kurama's. Kurama can work from home and keep an eye on her, right?" Yusuke asks me.

I nod. "Also it would be much more difficult to break into my apartment than your house. No offence meant."

Yusuke nods. "Yeah. I'm still trying to figure out how to work that alarm so that it doesn't randomly go off."

"What about Botan?" Keiko asks. "Will she be safe?"

"She would have been dead years ago if she couldn't fight for herself," Hiei mumbles.

Keiko still seems to not like the idea but nods. "I suppose she would be safer with Botan and Kurama. But how are we going to tell her without explaining that we know?"

We all shrug.

"Yusuke was just suggesting that we ask Suzuka to disguise her. If he agrees and we get the disguise before these people find her, there will be no need for her to move," I explain.

"Suzuka… Wasn't that the clown that Genkai beat up at the Dark Tournament?" Keiko asks.

We nod.

"Since when did you guys become friends?"

"It's a long story," Kazuma tells her.

"Anyways, where is Tsukino-san?" Yusuke asks.

Keiko shrugs. "Last I saw, she was headed to her room."

We all nod again as Kazuma, Hiei, and I stand. "Thank you for the meal, Yusuke," I say as I turn to the door.

"Yeah, I didn't choke on anything this time," Kazuma jokes.

Yusuke just laughs. "Yeah whatever. See you guys at lunch."

With that we each return to the other side of our lives. Unfortunately for me, that means paperwork. Within an hour into the work day I'm willing to use my demonic speed and make a break for the closest door. Instead, I use that frustration so that I can get paperwork done faster. If I'm lucky I might be able to get it all done before lunch so I wouldn't have to deal with it again until tomorrow. Sometimes I wonder why I chose to work here instead of going to college. Listening to a professor had to be more exciting than this.

With a sigh, I sign another sheet of paper. I reach for the next and realize there was no other sheet. I was done.

"All done, Shuichi?" my step-father asks as he walks by my desk.

I nod. "For today at least," I reply as he starts to look through the papers.

"That's odd."

I look at him in confusion. "Pardon?"

"For some reason my secretary didn't give you the plans for the new policy. I'll go get you my copy so you can make a photocopy and make the changes as you see fit."

I force a smile on my face. "I'll come with you to your office so we don't waste anytime."

My step-father makes a comment about how eager I am, but the only thing I can think of is, I escaped death twenty-three years ago for this?


Twenty minutes of looking and I still hadn't found an entrance to Demon World. The little bird thing was still following me, and I realized it was somewhat familiar. As I walked down another alley, I looked over my shoulder. The bird, Puu I decided to call it, was right behind me giving me a determined/protective look. For a second, it looked almost exactly like the look Yusuke had in his eyes when he was battling it out with Keiko, only there wasn't any anger or love in the creature's eyes.

I shook my head to clear the image and ignored the feelings of familiarity. I had more important things to think about rather than why the creature seemed so familiar. Even after twenty minutes of looking, I still hadn't found a portal. Since there was no longer a barrier between Demon World and Human World I should have been able to find another portal no problem, but that wasn't the case. For some reason, there wasn't a portal to be found. Maybe I was looking in all the wrong places, but I should have at least come across a clue.

As usual, I was running low on time. Sooner or later, Oshiro was going to find me again, but more importantly, Keiko was going to see that I wasn't at the house. When she did, she would probably send the detectives after me. Then they would ask me what I was doing and why I didn't tell anyone where I was going.

I let out a sigh, and I looked around the alley. Still no sign of anything demonic like. I was about to turn into another alley when Puu flew into my face. It grabbed some of my hair in its mouth and started to fly backwards in the direction of the alley I was going to leave. For reasons unknown to me, I decided to humour the creature and turned back into the alley.

"So I'm going this way, huh?" I asked it.

"Puu," it replied as it landed on my shoulder.

I smiled at it and was just about to start walking again when a boy ran up to me. He appeared about eight or nine years old with messy brown hair and bluish green eyes. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem except that all my demonic features were in plain view, and this little boy had three red stars on his left cheek. At once I recognized this boy as Rinku, one of the living members of the Jolly Devil Six.

"Hey, who are you? I don't think I've seen you around Yusuke's team," Rinku asked.

I didn't stop to think about why he thought I would be around Yusuke. I just started talking. "My name is Tsukino," I explained. "I'm staying with Keiko-san and Yusuke-san."

"Tsukino-san, huh? That's cool," he replied. "We were just on our way to go see them." Rinku gestured to a group of four other fighters who I recognized from the Dark Tournament. "Why don't you lead the way?"

That was not what I was hoping for. I had gotten so turned around while looking for the portal that I doubted I could find the Urameshis' restaurant even if I wanted to. "Actually, I'm sorta lost," I said with a nervous laugh.

"That's alright, shella," Chu, the one with the blue Mohawk, said. "Puu knows the way."

"Puu!" Puu said as it started flying off.

"Follow that spirit beast!" the one with the red hair and joyful eyes, Jin, said playfully.

We did so. As we ran after the spirit beast, I silently wondered who's soul Puu was the reflection of. Finally I managed to ask. "You said that Puu was a spirit beast, who owns him?"

"Puu is Yusuke's spirit beast," the one with icy blue eyes and blue hair, Touya, replied.

"N'ver would have guessed by looking, would ya?" Jin said quickly.

I didn't bother to reply because we had arrived at the restaurant. Keiko was outside looking around for something. She seemed worried for some reason. When she saw me, she shouted into the house for Yusuke before running up to meet us.

"Tell me the next time you go for a walk, okay?" she told me when we met up. "You have no idea how worried Yusuke and I were."

I was surprised by hers, and apparently Yusuke's, concern. Before I came to Human World, no one ever bother to keep track of me. Because of that, I felt slightly guilty. "Sorry for scaring you, and I promise I'll let you know where I'm going next time."

Keiko nodded, and Chu spoke up.

"Don't blame the shella. She saw Puu flying out a window and followed. It's just in her blood to be curious."

I was about to say that I hadn't really seen Puu fly out the window when I felt someone pull my hair. I yelped at the pain and turned around to yell at said person. To my discomfort, it was the blonde with greyish-green eyes, also known as Suzuka. On his shoulder was perched a little creature with purple hair, yellow skin, with two horns on its forehead that I hadn't seen before.

Suzuka turned to Yusuke and said, "It will take a bit of work, but nothing I can't handle. I'm surprised that she can't transform into her human form though."

Both Keiko and I looked confused. "Human form?"

"'f course. You don't think this's what we really look like, now do ya?" Jin replied.

Before I could say anything, Suzuka grabbed my arm. "Come on. We have work to do. First we have to make you transform, and then we'll do the disguise." He turned to Yusuke. "Which room?"

"The upstairs kitchen and try not to break anything. We just got it kid proof," Yusuke replied.

The little thing on Suzuka's shoulder scoffed. "I doubt anything will be safe from their kid."

I stared at the creature, trying to remember where I had heard the voice from. I knew it was from a fight at the Dark Tournament but who…? Suddenly I had it. "You're Shishiwakamaru!" I blurted out.

The creature glared at me.

"You sound surprised," Rinku said from behind me as we walked up the stairs to the kitchen of the house.

"I am. I always thought he was taller," I said before I could stop myself.

Rinku looked at me in confusion. "You didn't see him on TV?"

I shook my head. "I only saw pieces of the tournaments on TV. I listened to the radio more."

We entered the kitchen. Suzuka was already over in the corner pulling pots and bowls out of the cupboards so Rinku and I sat down at the table. Rinku was about to ask more questions when Touya calmly cut in.

"Enough Rinku. She's going to need to concentrate."

"Right, about that, what am I doing again?" I wasn't sure why, but I felt that it was alright to be myself around these guys, just like how I was starting to act like myself around the girls.

"You're going to be transforming into your 'uman form," Chu told me as he sat down on his chair backwards.

I nodded. "Yeah but how?"

They all looked at each other as Suzuka told Shishiwakamaru to find a flask.

"You just think about it and then transform," Rinku finally said.

"A babe could do it," Jin added.

"So I just picture a human me?"

Rinku, Chu, Jin, and Touya nodded.

"What is that supposed to look like?"

"Like you, only no cat ears or wings," Rinku said.

"Don't forget 'er tail," Jin added.

"Give it a go," Chu encouraged me.

I nodded and then closed my eyes. Concentrating, I pictured a girl like me, long black hair, fearful brown eyes, and human ears. After a few moments, I opened my eyes.

"Nothing," Rinku informed me.

"Maybe a demonstration would help," Touya said thoughtfully. "Shishi, could you transform for her?"

Shishiwakamaru nodded and flew over. There was a small poof of smoke, and a samurai appeared. Shishiwakamaru didn't look very different, only he didn't have horns, and his skin no longer yellow. "Is this tall enough for you?" he asked.

I looked down to hide a blush. I could now see why demon girls were swooning over him at the tournament. But as cute as Shishiwakamaru appears, he has nothing on Kurama, I thought. At once I started blushing more furiously and was thinking of asking Suzuka if he had any poisons on him. First the mall! Now this! Why the heck am I acting like this?! Usually I wouldn't look twice at a guy no matter how cute he was, but now I'm blushing just beside a cute guy is in front of me! What is wrong with me!? … Wait a second… I thought to myself.

"What day is it in Demon World?" I asked. It must have appeared to be a random question to the other demons, but they answered quickly enough.

"It's the fifth day of Hraru," Touya informed me. "Demon World's universal calendar and Human World's American calendar function on the same time."

Problem solved, I thought.

Rinku pulled the calendar off the wall of the kitchen and brought it over to me. He pointed to a day with a '1' on it. "The first day of Fiyu is on January first, and the first day of Hraru is on April first."

"Nastu starts on July first," Chu added.

"And good old Aaki starts on October first," Jin finished.

Rinku flipped some pages over and pointed to another day with a '6' on it. "This is today."

I nodded. Glad that my question was answered, I turned my attention to transforming again. "Shishiwakamaru, what does it feel like to transform?" I asked him.

He just shrugged. "It's different for every demon," he told me.

I nodded and decided to try picturing my human version again. I closed my eyes and kept them close until I felt something happen. I opened my eyes.

"Nothing," Rinku said. "Maybe she can't transform."

Chu hit him on the head. "'Ho-ever heard of a demon without a human form. Try again, shella."

I nodded and closed my eyes. It took a good twenty tries before my ears flickered out and then back into existence. Even though I hadn't transformed completely it was a good omen since it meant I was getting close to transforming. After another hour of trying, I had succeeded in transforming into my human form. Just as Rinku had said, I looked the same only without a tail, wings, or cat ears.

I was a bit worried when I realized I couldn't hear as well as before, but Shishiwakamaru assured me that I would get used to it. Jin also commented saying that when I transformed back into my true form my hearing would be good as new. Rinku made the best point though, even if my hearing had weakened it still was more powerful than most humans due to my animal blood.

"So you can't hear for miles anymore," he had said. "That's no big deal. And besides, there's nothing to hear here."

I thanked the guys for helping me transform, and then Suzuka finally joined the group.

"Now the real work begins," he announced.

"What do ya call what we just did?" Jin asked.

"The tip of the iceberg," Suzuka replied before he started staring at me. "A little clip there, a bit of paint there," he started muttering to himself as he got a chair and sat down in front of me.

I looked over at Touya out of the corner of my eye. "What is he going to do?"

Touya sighed. "Probably dye your hair, do your make-up-"

"Make you look like a clown," Rinku muttered.

"Rinku, go ask Yusuke where the closest shop is, I want you and the others to go find me these." Suzuka handed them some papers. "And be fast about it. I want to start dying as soon as I finish cutting her hair."

I made a face at the other guys, clearing saying, 'save me'. They just shrugged in that way that suggested, 'we would if we could.' Then they disappeared down the stairs to the restaurant leaving me alone with the crazy clown.


I have never been so happy to see Yusuke's restaurant before. The new policy my step-father had shown me took all morning to look over, and I still have to look forward to a meeting that afternoon. If it wasn't for my human mother, I'm sure I would have retreated back to my old ways of thieving to make a living. In any case, it's a blessing to be able to walk to a nice place to eat lunch.

"Hey Kurama, rough day?" Yusuke asks as I enter.

"Boring more than anything. How was yours?" I reply.

He shrugs. "Pretty good."

"Hey guys," Kazuma says as he reaches the counter.

Yusuke and I reply to his greetings. Then Kazuma and I place our orders. As Yusuke prepares our meals, he informs us of what happened that morning.

"So Tsukino-san went missing, but Rinku and his team found her and brought her back, and then Suzuka went to work. He should be finishing up right about now," Yusuke explains.

"It's good that they found her. I doubt we would have found her by the time we could all ditch work," Kazuma says.

I nod in agreement. "So you said that Suzuka is finishing up disguising her? What did he do exactly?"

Yusuke pauses to think. "Well, they got her to transform into her human form-"

"Her what form?" Kazuma asks.

"Human form," I repeat. "Demons can take three forms if they are animal based. One form they can take is an animal form, I doubt Tsukino-san can do that though, due to her mixed blood."

"So you can turn into a fox," Kazuma asks.

I shake my head. "I could before. But it would take too much energy to do it now."

He nods. "So they can turn into animals, you said there were three forms."

I nod. "Another form demons can take is their true form. For Tsukino-san, it is her form with the wings, ears, and tail. And finally, demons can take the forms of humans. That is the form you see Chu and the others walking around in. It hides their demonic features from the world."

Kazuma nods. "So they got her to transform into her human form, then what?"

"I think they cut her hair. They definitely dyed it though because Suzuka sent the others to buy the dye," Yusuke tells us.

Suddenly Rinku appeared at the foot of the stairs. "Yusuke, she's done. Oh hey, Kazuma, Kurama."

"Hello Rinku," I reply.

"Hey kid," Kazuma says.

"Suzuka thought you might be here, he told me to warn you, Kurama."

I give the demonic child a confused look. "Warn me of what?"

Rinku grins. "You might want to be ready to pick up your jaw from the floor." With that, Rinku disappears upstairs leaving the three of us to follow.

"Well, let's go see what the clown did," Yusuke says as he starts for the stairs.

Kazuma and I follow him. When we get to the kitchen we are reintroduced to Tsukino. She grins nervously as Suzuka goes on about how she is probably his best work yet. Kazuma and Yusuke are in denial for a brief few minutes, and even I doubt it is her because even her scent has changed.

When I had first met Tsukino her eyes were brown, her long hair black, and her scent was of the dark side of Demon World.

Now her eyes are still brown, but her hair is short and brown, and her scent is of chrysanthemums. (I realize that what I smell now is just her true scent that had been covered by the reek of Demon World.) Again I'm strongly reminded of Maya, only this time, it is more understandable why. The hair styles are virtually the same, and both girls have brown eyes and now brown hair.

"There is no way that is Tsukino-san," Yusuke tells the demons.

"And yet it is," Suzuka tells him.

"She doesn't look anything like her."

"The fun of human forms," Tsukino says. I'm happy to say that while everything else seemed to have changed about her, her voice was still the same.

"At least we know that no one will recognize you," I tell her.

She nods. "I wonder how Botan-san will react."

"She will probably just accept it and treat you the same. If you want, I can call her and have her come over right now."

Tsukino nods. "If it isn't too much trouble."

I have just pulled out my phone to call when Botan rushes into the room. "Keiko just called me saying I had to come over. She said Tsukino-san is missing!"

We all try to hold back laughter at Botan's display.

Tsukino turns to Keiko who is standing over in a corner. "That's mean Keiko-san. If you wanted me to leave, all you had to do was ask."

Botan stares. "Tsukino-san?"

The female demon nods and waves. "Hiya."

Botan keeps staring for a few more seconds and then says, "Tsukino-san! You look so cute!" She turns to me. "Kurama! Don't you think she looks cute?"

All the other males in the room snicker as Botan awaits my answer. I'm starting to wonder if they are trying to play matchmaker.

Not wanting to be caught in a hard place later, I give her a safe answer. "I've already said my opinion on the disguise," I tell her. It didn't matter what I had said because Botan was busy talking with Keiko and Tsukino about going to the movies.

Leaving the women to talk, the men and I return to the restaurant. We talk for a bit about other matters before the demons turn to leave. They all leave until Chu is left.

"Nice girl, she is," Chu tells us. "Shame she's taken."

Yusuke, Kazuma, and I all stare at Chu in confusion and then look at each other. Koenma hadn't mentioned that Tsukino was in a relationship. If her boyfriend crossed over into Human World, we could be looking at a huge problem. Maybe that was why Koenma wanted information from her. But if that was the case, why didn't he tell us that?

"So do you know who her mate is?" Chu continues.

"Mate?" I ask. This could be a lot worse than I had originally thought.

Chu stares at us in confusion. "You didn't know?"

"She never mentioned being mated," Yusuke says.

"And her scent doesn't suggest that she has one," I add.

"Then why does she have a mark on her?" Chu asks.

"Mark?" Yusuke, Kazuma, and I repeat.

"Yeah, right on 'er neck." Chu pointed at his own neck to emphasize his point. "And can't tell about 'er aura."

Yusuke, Kazuma, and I trade another look.

"Thank you for telling us, Chu. You'd better get going before the others leave you behind," I tell him.

He nods. "No problem. And Urameshi, that party still happening on Friday?"

Yusuke tries to grin and nods. "You know it."

Chu nods before disappearing out the door. Once he is gone, we all trade a look. This bit of news while useful, greatly complicates things.


A/N: I feel sorta bad about this chapter for three reasons. One, it's unbetaed for the most part. (I'm lazy and wanted to get this chapter out. So sue me!) Two, Kurama is turning into Seto Kaiba from 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' only Kurama is still nice. And three, the accents. I'm sorta about how pathetic they are, if you have any tips for writing them, please tell me.

Other than that, I think I liked this chapter. It's nice and long. The plot is moving. People are getting more in character (except for Kurama). Ah yes. All the fun.

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing for the last chapter. Please continue to read and review. Until next chapter, see ya.

-D101