Chapter 4: A Shocking Secret Revealed

The snakes slithered to the door on the far side of the room. They moved in unison, as if they could all hear the same voice, beckoning them. Once all the snakes were at the door, it started to open. It stopped when the opening was just big enough for the snakes to slither through. They went in, in single file. Once all were in, the door shut briefly. Then it swung open to reveal another beautiful girl, this time dressed in a green snakeskin dress. She was wearing beautiful green high heels and a green tiara. She had flowing green hair, and beautiful brown eyes. Yusuke noticed that Kuwabara was staring again. Then, without warning, she spoke.

"Welcome said the spider to the fly. You flew right into my trap!" despite her beautiful appearance, her voice had a slight hiss to it. "Now you must all die!"

"Not if I can help it." Hiei walked forward.

"My my, aren't we brave?" Sephina said.

"Hiei, let me fight this one." Yusuke said suddenly. "This whole thing is supposed to be my battle anyway."

"No. you still need to recover from what Kyotaro did to you. No arguments, just back off." Hiei said. Yusuke backed off, and Hiei removed his cape. Then he pulled out his sword, and stood in a fighting pose. "Lets go."

"Fine by me." Sephina said, and she stood in a fighting pose, completely unarmed. Hiei stood, waiting for an attack, and sure enough, Sephina took a run at him. Hiei dodged, and sliced her arm. She let out a slight hiss, and slumped, holding her arm.

"You think that's gonna get me? Wrong." she said. She took another run at Hiei and he dodged again. This time, he sliced her across her torso. She let out a cry, and turned on him once again. "You really want a good fight, don't you?" she said. "Well, try this on for size." she stood in place and placed one arm out in front of her, palm facing down. Her eyes slowly turned green, and the ground started shaking. The dust and dirt came together, and formed a huge sand tornado. Sephina closed her hand, then opened it quickly, releasing the tornado on Hiei. Hiei was hit with incredible force, and went flying backwards. When he got up, he wasn't worried at all. In fact, he was amused.

"well, that was rather unexpected." he laughed. She threw several more tornados at Hiei before he could get an attack in. suddenly he took a run and swung at her, aiming for the neck. She dodged, and Hiei missed, hitting her cheek.

"My face! Oh my face!" she screamed in horror, feeling the long gash on her cheek.

"I take it, none of these demons like it when their face gets hit." Boton said to Yusuke.

"Well, if you had a pretty face, you wouldn't want it hurt either. But you wouldn't understand that concept." Yusuke said, and he got a surprise for opening his mouth. Boton had smacked him square across the face.

"That will teach you never to call a girl ugly." she said.

The fight continued. Sephina was still on the ground cradling her gashed face. Hiei was beginning to get very bored.

"Will you hurry up and fight?" he said.

"You ruined my face! Now you will pay!" Sephina said. she stood up, and put both hands out in front of her. Her eyes turned green, and squinted slightly. Her hair changed to green. Her tiara had sprouted green gems, and her dress had become long and flowing. Her nose disappeared, and two slits filled the space. Her lips disappeared, and her mouth widened. Her tongue grew longer, and a slit went down the middle. Two poisonous fangs grew in place of her teeth. Her face was completely snake shaped, and her skin turned a nasty shade of green. Her fingers had grown into claws.

"Now you will pay dearly!" she said. She turned to face Yusuke, and pointed to him. Out of the tip of her finger shot a fang, about two inches long, and hit yusuke directly in the right shoulder.

"Now, if you really think you can beat me, you have to fight. That poissson will work itsss way to hisss heart. In a few sssecondsss, he will become unconsciousss. That will help the poissson move fassster. Once it hitsss hisss heart, he will die." she looked over at Yusuke, who was now lying face first on the cold stone. "Itsss only a matter of time now." she hissed.

The fight continued. Hiei dodged and attacked, and dodged again. Sephina hit Hiei several times with her claws. Hiei was badly gashed. It looked like Sephina had won. But wait…

"I said I would never do this anymore, but I have no choice." Hiei stood up, and took off the white cloth that he tied over his forehead. His jagan eye began glowing red. A green glow came from his body as his skin turned a green color. Then eyes opened all over his body.

"If you want to fight in your full demon form, then I will too." he attacked and attacked. Nothing seemed to work. Suddenly Kurama came up with an idea.

"Hiei! Come here a minute!" he yelled.

"forfeiting ssso sssoon? But we've only jussst begun." Sephina said. Hiei walked over to Kurama.

"When I say, I want you to attack. I will distract her so you can attack. Remember, wait till I say." Kurama and Hiei, in his full demon form, walked forward.

"Sephina, you are going to regret it if you kill my friends." Kurama said

"Oh? And why isss that?" she hissed.

"Don't you recognize me, young one?" he asked. Kurama stepped even closer to Sephina. He held his hands out to his side, and began to transform. His hair grew longer and turned white. His eyes turned bright silver, and he grew taller. several white fox tails grew from his back. His ears disappeared, and were replaced by fox ears. In place of his usual red school uniform, a long white robe swirled at his ankles. He had transformed into his famous Youko Kurama form. "Do you recognize me now?" Youko Kurama asked Sephina.

"No… it can't be… I mean… we killed you…" Sephina struggled.

"You thought you killed me. In reality, I escaped that fire you set, and have been living in a human form ever since. I have tried to forget that day, but then I hear of you causing more trouble, when a friend knocks on my door and asks for help. I knew then that I had to stop you once and for all. I made a grave mistake. I know better now. I can never correct my errors, if you still live. Therefore, you must die." Youko Kurama finished. Sephina who had been muttering incoherently, now spoke.

"You… You can't be alive. I saw your body burn to ashes. Your dead."

"that wasn't my body. That was the body of my best friend at the time."

*Flashback*

Her name was Kiore. She, too was a demon. But she perished in those flames. You see, she had been there that day. We were talking.

"Oh, Youko, you have always been funny." Kiore said.

"Would you like more tea?" Youko Kurama asked

"Certainly."

You started the fire, thinking I was alone. You didn't know she was there. I was able to get out. I noticed she wasn't behind me. I tried to get back inside…

"Kiore!" Youko yelled. He ran to the door, and tried getting in. "Kiore! If you can hear me, please answer me!" flames shot out of the doorway.

…But the flames were to hot. I couldn't get back inside. The only thing I could do was get far enough away to be safe.

*End Flashback*

"My best friend perished in those flames, and I had to stand by and watch. There was nothing more I could do." Youko Kurama explained. Boton was hanging on to every word that Youko Kurama was saying. She didn't get it. How could Kurama possibly know these people. But when you think about it, Kurama did have a mysterious past. There was so much that they didn't know about him already.

Sephina looked at Youko Kurama , and without warning, she ran.

"I didn't expect her to run, or I would have cued you earlier." Kurama said, changing back to his human form. Hiei ran off to follow her. He came back empty handed.

"She probably went to inform the others." Kurama said, without realizing it.

"Inform them about what?" Yukina asked.

"About me." he decided not to keep it a secret any longer. "If I tell you, then I can forget about it faster."

"What are we supposed to do about him?" Hiei asked looking at Yusuke.

"Hiei, give me your sword." Hiei did so.

Yusuke woke up, very confused. Every thing was blurry in his mind. When he opened his eyes, Kurama was kneeling above him.

"Hey Kurama." he said, trying to sit up. When he managed that, he spoke again. "What happened?"

"You were poisoned by Sephina. But don't worry. We had the antidote." Kurama said.

"What - what was the antidote?" Yusuke asked, a little scared to find out.

"Umm, it was… her blood. We had to get you to swallow some." Kurama said hesitantly.

"Oh gross!!" Yusuke exclaimed, and started to spit and gag. The others just laughed. When Yusuke stood up, he wanted to leave immediately, to find the other demons, and the escaped one.

"Wait a minute. I need to tell you guys something first." Kurama said. "I will ask you not to interrupt. The faster I get this done, the faster I will be free, free of my evil past, when I had no conscience. When I made these monsters. I have to get this out." Kurama said.

"Ok Kurama. We wont interrupt. We just want to know what's going on with you. Your our friend, and were worried. You seemed very depressed when I first told you that they had kidnapped Kayko. I want to know why." Boton finished. And so Kurama began his heartbreaking tale of a past he tried to keep from them.

"I wasn't always like this. I was evil once. I was said to be the best teacher for demons. I could teach them dark powers that had been trusted to me to keep out of the hands of evil. They were very powerful, and if they fell in the wrong hands, then everything would be dead right now.

When I was 3,000 years old, a group of young girls came to the door of my cottage. They couldn't have been older than 7 - in human years. They said they were actually 1,500 years old each. They insisted that I teach them the dark ways. Me being evil at the time, I couldn't resist. I took them in as pupils. I taught them almost everything I knew, and watched them grow everyday. 20 human years passed, and I was about to teach them the ultimate power. The one that could destroy us all.

It was the day of the lesson. Once I taught them this power, it would be all over. I was just about to call the girls, when a man knocked on my door. He told me that I must stop my lessons, and that I must not teach them the ultimate power. I told him that I could do what I pleased, and that he must leave my property. He said that he wouldn't, and used some kind of power on me. I had a strange feeling, and then nothing. I passed out. When I woke, the girls were standing over me and I was lying on my bed. They had placed a wet cloth on my head, as if I had fainted. But I hadn't. It was that man at my door. I tried to explain this to them, but they said there had been no man. The girls decided that they could wait a few days to learn the power, and that I needed some rest. In those few little days, I got a strong feeling of guilt whenever I looked at one of the girls. I knew what I was doing was wrong. That man had removed the evil from me. Of course I still had the powers, but I didn't want to use them, or teach them. Finally the day came when I was strong enough to get up and teach. The girls were all eager to learn the final power. We all met in the room we had been training in for the past 20 years. I walked in and just looked at all the girls. Looked at what I had created. I told the girls that I didn't want to teach them the ultimate power. I told them that it would be a grave error, and that they would all have to leave. They did, but reluctantly. They promised me that they would be back, and that I had better change my mind.I have yet to learn the power that the man used, and I really don't want to know. Another 20 years had passed, and I made fast friend with other demons, now that I wasn't evil. One demon in particular was Kiore. She had been the first to befriend me. We shared everything, and she made frequent visits to my cottage to have tea, and talk. I soon fell in love with her (at this, everyone gasped). We took walks, and talked by the river near my home. Then the girls returned. They showed up at my door and asked if I had changed my mind, if I would teach them more. I said no, and the rode away on the horses they came on. The very next day, Kiore came over. We were having tea, and talking. Suddenly, I heard hoofs outside. I looked out the window, but didn't see anything, so I didn't make anything of it. Until the fire. The girls were outside. They used their spirit energy to set the cottage on fire. I yelled to Kiore to get out, and I ran out myself. I noticed that Kiore wasn't behind me. I looked in the window, and saw her lying on the floor, unconscious from the smoke. I tried to get back in to help her, but the fire was too hot. I couldn't get in the door, because the fire had spread to there. The only thing I could do was back away to safety, and watch her burn. I made a vow to myself that day. I promised myself that I would find the girls, and destroy them. I changed into a fox, and searched relentlessly, until I was fatally shot by a hunter. I jumped into the unborn fetus of a pregnant mother, and was born a human, with the name Shuichi. I decided that my search was over. That was until there recent kidnapping. I don't know why they are doing this. I loved Kiore, and they killed her. I know how much you love Kayko, and I cant let them hurt her. Or anyone else. Not any more." Kurama finished, and wiped the stream of tears that were coming from his eyes. Hiei ran over and hugged Kurama to comfort him.

"Now that were done with that very lovely, and may I say, boring story is over, can we get going?" Kuwabara asked. Yusuke walked over and started talking to him.

"Certainly, Kuwabara. Right after I give you this." he punched Kuwabara in the face, and Kuwabara went flying backwards.

"Hey! What was that for!" Kuwabara yelled.

"Maybe if you can keep your mouth shut long enough, you wont get people angry!" Yusuke yelled.

"Its ok Yusuke. He can say what he likes." Kurama suddenly said. Yusuke backed off. Kuwabara stood up, and walked over to Kurama.

"I've just got one question. If you loved a girl back then, how did you two happen?" Kurama and Hiei just looked at each other. Then Hiei spoke up.

"That is really none of your business." he said.

"Well boys, we better get moving." Boton said. She had been quiet the whole time. The boys walked ahead, and Boton was talking to Yukina.

"Was that the wall you hit earlier?" she asked.

"I think so. His feelings are calmer now. He's feeling better.

"Glad to hear it." Boton said. Yusuke Kurama, and Hiei were in the lead, and they were talking.

"I never knew any of this. You should have told me earlier." Hiei said.

"I didn't tell anyone because I wanted to protect all of you. Now that these girls know I'm still alive, they will kill anyone who is close to me. You are now all in danger." he replied.

"well we could have handled them if they came after us." Yusuke said. "just one question. Why do they keep attacking me?"

"That I don't know." Kurama said. "but I never mentioned who the man at my door was so many years ago. You see, I knew him. He was one of my friends when I became good again."

"Well, who was it?" Hiei asked.

"Yusuke, it was your father."

"What! That can't be!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"at the time, I imagine he was about… oh id say… maybe, 6,500 years old. And that was about 2,000 years ago." Kurama said.

"Oh boy. This just keeps getting weirder by the minute."

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This chapter is pretty cool, I think. If you think otherwise, then send me a review. I will read any reviews sent to me, and use them constructively. Once again I say, Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke are way too nice.