"Yoko… then your name is Kurama? I didn't know."

He took a sip of his tea, still lying down upon her lap. He wasn't about to move, he was too comfortable. Hana had stroked his ears until he woke up, which was about half an hour after he had fallen asleep upon her. She was the only person who could ever stroke his ears like that. Nobody else was allowed to do so.

Yoko sighed, lapping at his tea and nodding his head. "Yes… my human name is Shuuichi, my friends call me Kurama… but my true name is Yoko."

"You told me your true name from the start… why would you do that?"

"Because I felt as if I could trust in you. My instincts were correct." Hana gazed down upon the demon that sipped at his tea and at last sat up, shaking his head and shivering a bit.
"I know it was hard for me to leave my mother… but to be quite frank, I do not know what would have happened if I had stayed and showed her my true form…"

His hand came up slightly, his eyes peering at it as if the limb were the most hated thing on the planet. Hana swallowed, turning her head.

"You really love your mother."

"I do… even though she is not my biological mother, I love her dearly." Yoko sighed, shaking his head and gazing outside through the window. Hana remained still for a moment, thinking about what to do. Her fingers ran through the cushions of the couch, her mind wandering. Slowly, she stood up and put a hand to her chest, speaking.

"We should go see your mother."


"If I have to walk up one more flight of stairs someone's head is gonna fly!"

"Your brain is still screwy. You hardly make any sense!"

"He never does."

The top had been reached, Kuwabara taking a moment to rest up his energy. If any one of them had looked down towards the bottom of the castle, they were to be greeted by a good two hundred foot straight drop into the ground. That would mean death.

Yusuke breathed out, letting his body relax for the first time in a long time. He had no idea where he got all the energy to walk up the stairs from, but he was glad that he had made it that far. Just a little further and they would have Kurama's body back.

To their front was a stone wall door, half of it already open as if waiting to greet them all. Hiei took no time to open the rest of the door, as a harsh wind blew through their hair when the room was revealed. A harsh and cold voice greeted them as the boys stepped through.

"Come in. I've been expecting you."

The boys filed in one by one, their teeth bared and growls escaping their throats. "Alright bastard! Where are you?" Yusuke howled, clenching his fists. The room was damp and rather warm, and off to the left there came a peculiar smell. A certain fog was drifting towards them at some rate, making the group wonder what the smell was.

Kuwabara tapped Yusuke on the shoulder, making him turn his head. "What now I'm busy!" Yusuke snapped, nearly biting Kuwabara's hand off. The larger boy pointed off into the distance, the finger leading Yusuke's eyes to a human who was hanging by his wrists over a cauldron of boiling water.

"Kurama!"

The boy was stark naked, his hair already half gone and his skin beginning to melt away. There were welts on his back and legs, the disgusting puss oozing from each one of them and dripping onto the floor below. Kuwabara held his throat.

"I think I'm gonna be sick."

Hiei growled at him, biting his tongue and restraining his words. "Be still. We have to keep our composure. No matter who this threat is, we have to eliminate him. He's the one keeping Kurama's body captive!"

"And right you are Hiei. Very good." Slow and almost malevolent clapping came from the other side of the room, the shadow appearing before them. "Well done. You have successfully come as I asked. Yoko isn't even with you."

"What did you do to Kurama?" Yusuke yelled, stepping forwards. "What the hell did you do you sick bastard!"

"I didn't do anything. I merely hung him over some hot liquid acid and watched in silence as his body began to wither away."

"How did you manage to separate his human form from his demon form?" Hiei asked, now brandishing his blade. Kuwabara looked at Hiei and then at Yusuke, almost lost in a sense. He was too afraid to ask questions, but also too afraid to say something.

The ceiling was dripping with water, the plop noises making the trio more angst than they needed to be. They were here for Kurama's body, and nothing was going to stop them from getting what they wanted.

"It was simple really," the shadow explained, coming into the light that shone in from the dim world outside. "All I had to do was plant a little virus into his body while we were competing in the tournament."

"You mean to say he was infected all this time?" Hiei asked, his eyes wide. "Kurama gave no signal to his sickness… he never said anything."

"The virus takes a while to ferment itself in the body, but once it does it remains there for all of the demon or human's life." The large beast now showed his eyes, his brown red skin almost blending in with the backdrop.

"Who the hell are you?" Yusuke cried, gritting his teeth. The fins were shown now, his green cape hanging over his shoulders and his wicked smile coming into view.

"You probably don't know me, but my name is Shachi. I was once the great commander of Yomi's army… before Yoko came and took over my position!" the demon clenched his fist, grinding his teeth. "That bastard took everything I had! He shouldn't have taken my position… it was Yomi who betrayed me!" pointing a finger at Yusuke his words turned to him as well.

"And because he lost to YOU, you pathetic little human it is my duty to regain what is rightfully his!"

"And what would that be?" Yusuke retorted, taking another step forward. "Not like we're gonna go anywhere so might as well fess up!"

"You see human, the Yomi I know would never allow such a vile being to beat him down like that… which is why I have had my assistant resurrect me from my ashes."

"Now you're talkin' crazy!" Kuwabara felt a need to be useful now. "You're sayin' you were dead before?"

"Yoko killed me… before my time! But thanks to a little demon I paid off in full I am here once more!"

"Didn't do much for that complexion of yours. Ever think of using face cream?" the joke made by Yusuke only angered Shachi more, making him scream.

"You little brat! You'll pay for what you did to Yomi!" with that, Shachi bore an axe that happened to be sitting next to the throne he sat upon. The demon roared at Yusuke, wielding the axe over his head.

"You'll pay!"

The axe came down hard, splitting the ground in two as Yusuke leapt away, his feet barely touching the ground. Jumping up once again, Kuwabara came up behind him, striking Shachi in the chest hard with his spirit sword.

Taking a direct hit caused him less pain, enabling Shachi to flip Kuwabara onto his back and swinging an oncoming Yusuke away from him. A little demon came up behind him as well, his sword at the ready.

Turning to see Hiei coming at him, Shachi gave a round house punch, sending Hiei flying into the wall. A kick to the face planted Shachi's head in the ground while another sword was impaled into his back. He cried out, blood seeping from his body heavily.

The blows were exchanged; blood flying everywhere and covering the stone cavern walls. As the fighting continued however, Kurama's body became closer and closer to fully burning up for good.

Luckily, Hiei knew what was happening to the body, and after swatting off Shachi's attacks managed to slide over to Kurama's body and began to unfasten the latches of the chains he was hooked onto.

The more time we waste… the harder it will be for us to save him… hang on Kurama… just hold on.