Chapter 8

Fox in the Chicken Coop

Kurama was pleased with the work he had done in Bobby's yard. The men to who came to pick up the pallet of cars were impressed with how much the yard had improved, saying they hadn't known Singer had a nephew.

An assumption Kurama didn't correct.

Bobby had informed him about the happenings of the apocalypse and that was the last he talked to the older man. Not that he minded, the occasional glance from the curtains as he dug in the garden was the only attention he received and it suited him just fine.

That was, until Rufus turned up with a cursed object.

It was a simple little thing, shiny and silver. Kurama wasn't sure what it had been used for, however, it looked as if it were charm bracelets friends would wear. The chains were currently clasped together and the two face like charms jingled together.

Of coarse, at the time Kurama didn't know it was a cursed object. Bobby and Rufus had left the office, Rufus wheeling Bobby up the stairs, just minutes before Kurama had entered to ask if there was anything else he needed help with.

It was just lying there, tempting him to reach out and touch it. The metal sparkling in the sun peaking through the curtains.

The fact it looked so out of place in the dusty old office is what prompted Kurama to actually touch it, even though he knew better than to try to steal it.

The thumping of Bobby and Rufus was a dull sound the second his fingers brushed the cool surface of the chain, shouts for him not to, fell on deaf ears as the only thing he could hear was a high-pitched ringing.

Everything turned into burning light and Kurama knew no more.

Dean wasn't really sure what Crowley's end game was. They now found themselves relying on the demon for information on Pestilence for the third horseman's ring.

Though neither brother was complaining about having to work with him at the moment, as said demon stood, patting the back on his hell-hound, which ironically, was there to save them.

As they were fleeing the house, Brady, the demon Crowley bound to its meat suit, Dean had a sudden feeling everything was going to work out.

Sam had not only resisted giving into his urge to kill the demon who personally murdered his girlfriend for the yellow eyed demon, but he also resisted the temptation of demon blood sitting right in front of him.

There was hope for his little brother yet and Dean was more than willing to allow his brother his revenge, now that the youngest Winchester was thinking clearly.

So, instead of letting the demon go, he texted Crowley and told him to meet them at a secluded alley not far from where they had hidden out.

He almost couldn't keep the smile from his face as he poured the salt line, pausing only long enough to let Crowley out before trapping the lesser demon in with his brother.

Needless to say, the hell spawn was no match in a fair fight against Sam and it didn't last long before sparks flashed beneath the flesh of the victim host.

"Come on Sam, let's get us a horseman." Dean smirked, dragging his ragged looking brother down the alley with an arm thrown over his sore shoulders for support.

It was almost like old times, ganking a monster and then moving onto the next hunt, however, Dean knew it wouldn't last.

They hadn't even got the Impala's doors shut before his phone started ringing. Flipping it open, Dean put the phone to his ear.

"Hello." Was his simple answer, it was usually the best way to start a conversation, just in case it turned out to be police or something looking for them.

"Dean, it's Bobby, we got a bit of a situation, is there anyway the two of you can get here?" Bobby asked, shushing a familiar voice in the background that wasn't Kurama.

"Actually we were just on our way toward you. We got a lead on Pestilence." Dean informed the older hunter and was slightly disappointed when he didn't get even a relieved sound at that bit of information.

"Damn, balls." Bobby cursed, grunting in a way he did when he was wheeling himself and trying to do something else at the same time. "Look, I just need you two to pick up a curse box from you're daddy's storage room and drop it off, but if you can't, just leave a message, I'm gonna be- Not that way you old goat, loop it the other way and tie it with-" Bobby's voice shouted before it trailed off, getting muffled for a moment as he moved away from the phone.

Sam raised a questioning eyebrow and Dean shrugged.

"Needs us to pick up a curse box from dad's locker, sounds like something's up." Dean informed his brother.

"Curse box? You think he's having trouble with a cursed object?" Sam asked and Dean frowned, unsure.

"He didn't say and I think I heard Rufus in the background."

"Hey Dean, I gotta go, just worry about getting that ring, I think I can figure out what to do without the box. But after you get the ring, get back here, your demon friend here just did something stupid and I gotta figure out how to fix him." Bobby bit out and Dean was slightly confused.

"What do you-" Dean began to say but the line went dead, having been hung up. "-mean?" Dean finished lamely into the phone.

"What's going on, is Bobby okay?" Sam asked, worried for the man they looked to as a second father.

"I don't know, but Bobby said not to worry about the curse box and then he just hung up. Let's just focus on getting Pestilence's ring." Dean shrugged, setting his phone on the seat next to him before starting the car.

The only thing they could think of as the Impala turned onto the road, was what trouble the old hunter could possibly be in.

Kurama's head hurt.

Correction, his whole body hurt and he couldn't move.

A deep inhale told him the reason was because he was restrained in someway, as the pressure preventing his chest from expanding too wide proved it.

His rei felt drained and he wondered if someone was using a rei surpression rope to tie him with. Which left him wondering who would have tied him up.

The last thing he remembered, was reaching out to touch a shiny object on Bobby's desk and then nothing.

Either he had been attacked from behind, or there was something wrong with the bracelet.

Cracking an eye open, Kurama was greeted with darkness.

It wasn't a darkness like night fall, or a darkened room, but the darkness of a sack over his head. It was weighing down on his ears and Kurama mildly wondered what had caused him to transform into his Yoko form.

A groan from across the room had him shifting to hear better. At first he had thought he let it slip, as it had sounded as if he had made the noise, however, the distinct sound of clothes moving told him otherwise.

Someone else had been knocked out in the room as well and Kurama had a bad feeling something wasn't quite right.

"Glad to see you two awake." Bobby's gruff voice spoke up. He wasn't the one Kurama had heard and he wondered if by some chance it was Rufus who had made the sound.

He seriously doubted it.

"What's going on, why am I tied up?" He asked, though his voice sounded wierd, like he was speaking, but also listening to himself speak.

"Look at that, they even speak at the same time." Rufus commented, only confusing him more.

"What do you mean-" Kurama began to say, but cut himself off at the strangeness of hearing himself. Deciding to start again, getting frustrated, he blurted the first thing to pop into his head, seeing if he could trip up the other voice.

"Yusuke likes wearing Keiko's underwear." He chuckled and the other voice scoffed.

"What the hell is going on! Who's mimicking my voice?" The other voice demanded, it was wierd hearing himself, but not the strangest thing he had witness in his long life. It was probably a shape shifter sitting across from him and he attributed that to the exactness of their speaking earlier.

"I am Kurama, what are you, a shifter? Rather poor imitation if you ask me." Kurama huffed, it would have blown the piece of hair tickling his nose out of the way, if not for the sack on his head.

"Will you two shut up, Kurama, which ever one, when's your birthday?" Bobby demanded and Kurama thought for a moment, pondering which one the hunter meant, deciding to go with his most recent one.

"June 22, 1977." They both answered, irritating Kurama just slightly, enough for his ear to twitch under the sack.

"Shit Bobby, stupid bracelet's pretty much harmless unless the one who touches it is a Gemini." Ruffus barked, and began pacing between the two of them.

"But isn't the twenty-second a Cancer sign?" Bobby inquired and Rufus snorted.

"Only by modern calendars, it's technically both, Cancer and Gemini, the cusp between the transfer of each sign. Because he's technically a Gemini, the dual personalities split, however, there's a catch." Rufus informed them and Kurama wondered what that catch could be.

"Well, spit it out, we ain't getting any younger here." Bobby snapped impatiently.

"Well, though they are two halves of a whole, one of them has all the evil parts in him and the other has all the nicer traits. In this case, as you have informed me of his predicament, I think the demon half got separated from the human half." Rufus explained as he removed the sacks, reviling a redheaded Kurama sitting across from him.

Though their facial features were similar, there was a distinct difference between them. Namely size and coloring.

"Well, then the answer is obvious, the evil one is the demon." The human form of Shuichi spoke and Kurama's ears laid down angrily.

"Even as a demon I was never evil. Mischievous, sure, cunning and charming defiantly, but not evil." Kurama argued, pissed that he would even call himself that.

Not that it mattered, he could tell Rufus at least seemed to be thinking along the same lines as his human half.

"I say we kill e'm both, just to be sure." Rufus volunteered, proving Kurama wrong about wanting to kill just him.

"Or how about we don't. What happened to the people who had gotten cursed by the bracelets before?" Bobby asked and Rufus sighed.

"I only know of two cases. Someone ended up killing the evil one and they both died." Rufus said, which had both Kurama's flinching.

"And the other case?" Bobby persisted, wanting to know if they had managed to save the victim.

"Died after a couple of days because of the curse. A person isn't meant to be split in half like that." The darker skinned hunter explained, rubbing his chin in thought. "So, one way or another, this whole mess will work it's self out."

"Well I don't feel particularly evil, so how about you let us go. I can contact my boss, he might be able to help or know someone who can." Shuichi asked and Kurama snorted, thinking what a suck up his other self was.

"And how do you plan to do that? Slit our throats and speak into the bloody bits left behind?" Rufus accused and Kurama rolled his eyes.

"One of us has a compact mirror, it's actually like a cellphone, only magically connected to Reikai." Kurama explained lazily, not wanting to die again.

"Where is it? I'll hold it up for you, but the two of you are staying put until we know which one is the nut job." Bobby barked and Kurama shifted, not feeling the compact in his pocket.

"I do." Shuichi said silkily and Kurama narrowed his eyes, laying his ears down with a glare.

The human part of him was up to something and he didn't like the look it was giving the aged hunter. Without proof, however, Kurama kept his mouth shut and watched as Bobby wheeled up to Shuichi.

Big mistake.

In a flash, Shuichi's hands were free and a thorny whip coiled it's self around Bobby's chest, pinning him to his chair and preventing him from moving.

"Well, guess we know which is the evil one." Rufus huffed, giving Bobby a 'I told you so' expression.

"Balls." Bobby cursed.

AN: Okay, so I sort of lied before, I got more done on the next chapter then I thought I would. lol

However, I'm leaving in a couple of days, so I know I won't have time to work on the next chapter. So, like my previous message, it will be a while before the next chapter is out!

Let me know what you think of it so far! Review please!