"Urameshi! Wait up!" Yusuke turned to see Kuwabara running up the street toward him. When the carrot-top had caught up, and had finished catching his breath, he asked Yusuke "Did Botan talk to you too?"
"What, about Kurama? Yeah. What do you think they found?" Earlier that day Botan had paid him a visit, telling him that Koenma wanted him to keep tabs on Kurama.
"I don't know what's wrong with him, it's a violation of privacy if Koenma told me that" the ferry-girl had said. "He just said to keep an eye on him. He sounded rather upset when he told me too, rather frustrated or something."
Yusuke hadn't liked the sound of that. Apparently Koenma believed Kurama needed supervision or something, and after learning that the Fox was cutting himself--were they being put on a suicide watch?
"I don't know" Kuwabara said. "I hope it isn't too serious. He really scared me yesterday, what with his arms and everything. And that he already knew it wasn't good for him. You don't think he'll do anything worse, do you? I mean, doesn't he frown on suicide?"
"That's what I thought, but now I don't know. Maybe losing Hiei made him snap or something."
By now they'd completed the trip to the Hatanaka/Minamino residence. Kuwabara knocked on the door, and a rather tired-looking Shiori answered. "Hello Mrs. Hatanaka, could we speak with Kur--Suichi, please?"
She pursed her lips. "I'm not sure. He's not feeling very well--"
"Please" Yusuke pressed. "It's very important that we see him."
"Uhm, okay I suppose." Then she sighed. "He has me very worried lately. Do either of you have any idea if there's something troubling him?"
"I don't know" Yusuke lied. He didn't know what to tell her. "We could try to find out though." Shiori let them in and the two went upstairs to Kurama's room, only to find it empty. Their question as to the Fox's whereabouts were answered, however, when they heard vomiting across the hall. They didn't have to wait long before Kurama emerged from the bathroom, in the same depleted state he was in the preceding day, though now he was noticeably shaking and looked as though he'd recently taken up insomnia. He saw them and gave them a puzzled look.
"What are you two doing here?"
"What?" Yusuke said, trying to make light of the situation. "We can't drop in and see an old buddy from time to time?" When all he received was a blank stare, he cut to the chase. "Actually, we came out of concern. You know, we were kind of worried after the doctor's yesterday, what with, uhm, your new…habit…so we--"
"My cuts you mean? Come to make sure I wasn't lying dead in a pool of my own blood? You needn't worry, I'm fine." He brushed past them to sit down on the bed.
"Are you sure?" he pressed, perplexed by the Fox's dark sarcasm. "No offense, but you kind of look like a crack head."
"I told you I'm fine!" Kurama snarled.
Yusuke recoiled, startled by the sudden anger. "I'm sorry Kurama, I didn't mean anything--" But he broke off when Kurama suddenly dissolved into tears.
"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, holding his head in his hands. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you, you didn't do anything."
Yusuke exchanged a nervous look with Kuwabara. What was that all about? "Uhm, that's all right." He took a seat next to Kurama. "What's wrong Kurama? You're kind of scaring me."
"Nothing's wrong" he insisted hastily. "I'm fine. Everything's great. Just perf--" he lost it again. "Oh Yusuke!" he sobbed, burying his head in the detective's shoulder. "Koenma told me the test results."
Yusuke swallowed. If Kurama was this upset it had to be something bad. "Oh yeah" he said, feigning optimism. Badly. "What's the news?"
Kurama choked back a sob and looked at his friends with terrified eyes. "I'm pregnant" he said in a low whisper.
"Huh?" That wasn't an answer he'd been anticipating. He turned around and looked at Kuwabara. From the look on the other's face he hadn't heard wrong.
"What do you mean you're pregnant?" Kuwabara asked. "You're a guy."
"True, but I'm also a yoko" Kurama replied, trying to compose himself. "It's not unheard of for a male of our species to be born capable of bearing kits, though actual conception is rare. As it turns out though, I am one of these fertile males. Regaining my youki must have triggered a physical alteration in this body." He heaved a sigh. "I'm carrying Hiei's child" he said softly, mostly to himself. Then he began to tear up again.
Yusuke nervously patted the Kitsune's hair. "Uhm, please don't cry. Everything's going to be fine, okay?" He patted Kurama's back, frowning when he realized felt bones tenting through flesh. He hadn't realized just how thin his friend had grown. "Kurama, have you been eating?"
Kurama wiped his eyes and got up. "That would depend" he answered cautiously. "Yes, I've been attempting to eat. No, I haven't succeeded in keeping anything down. Everything makes me ill." He suddenly looked very distressed. "This child's robbed a great deal of energy from me. I'm exhausted, I'm hungry, I'm always cold…" he sighed. "It's like I'm carrying a parasite; it's taking everything I have, draining me. I'll die bearing it!"
"Whoa! Calm down Fox-boy, nobody's going to die. Don't worry, we'll sort this out. Uhm…when are you going to tell your family?"
He received a horrified look. "Tell them? I-I can't do that Yusuke. I'd have to tell them everything, and I just can't do that."
"Well, what are you going to do then?" Kuwabara asked. "Won't they notice that you're pregnant? I mean, it'll be like if you were a girl, right?"
"If you mean the symptoms, then yes, the pregnancy will progress the same as if I were female." Kurama looked miserable.
"So what are you going to do when you start swelling up?" Yusuke demanded.
"I don't know!" the redhead practically screamed, hysterical. "I don't know, okay? I have no clue what I'm going to do, so just leave me alone."
Yusuke couldn't believe his ears. What was Kurama's problem? He wasn't one to act so irrational. "So that's it. Game over. You're not going to do anything? Just go about with your daily stuff and pretend you're not pregnant? Are you going to keep cutting yourself too?"
He received a reproachful glare. "Of course not!" Kurama spat in a venomous tone. "I won't do anything to endanger the child."
At this Yusuke laughed sarcastically. "Oh, that makes a lot of sense. You'll give up cutting yourself, but you're going to hide your condition from your family. Gee, which one of those sounds more of a threat to the kid? Or yourself for that matter? Hello! How can you be so stupid Kurama! You have to tell them!"
"Then you tell them!" he retorted. "You seem so concerned about my welfare, you do it. I refuse to break their hearts by telling them what I really am."
"What would that be? That you're not human? Or that you're so much of a coward that you'd rather risk harm to yourself and your kid than bring up something unpleasant?"
The instant those words were out of his mouth he regretted them. Kuwabara widened his eyes and took a step back. Kurama bristled and gave him a look of pure loathe. For a moment Yusuke thought he may have seen the Fox's eyes flash gold, but dismissed it as a manifestation of his fear. He couldn't believe it, but he was scared to death of his friend. He'd stirred up something in the Fox that was best left dormant. Kurama looked like he was about to attack him.
That feeling passed, though, as the next instant Kurama groaned and rushed for the door, back to the bathroom. Kuwabara went after him, and Yusuke could hear the carrot-top reassuring Kurama while the Fox threw up. He sighed and headed down the hall toward the stairs. He didn't want to do this, but what choice did he have?
"Hey what are you doing!" Kuwabara yelled. Yusuke turned around and saw Kuwabara coming out of the bathroom accompanied by a greenish-tinged Kurama.
"What does it look like? I'm going to tell his parents." He met the Fox's eyes, though Kurama looked strangely emotionless all of a sudden. "He gave me permission, remember?" Kuwabara stared after him for a moment, then rushed down the hall after him.
Kurama leaned against the doorframe and watched them go downstairs. He was concerned but tried not to think much of it. He doubted that Yusuke would have the heart to look Shiori in the eye and tell her that what she thought was her son was nothing but almost two decades worth of lies.
His stomach churned again. He sighed unhappily and returned to the kneeling position by the toilet, expelling pre-digested tribute to the porcelain deity.