Sorry for the lateness in updating again. As much as I'd love to give you some overblown excuse, the truth is simply that I have a special someone in my life now, that's eating up most of my free time.

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Chapter Twenty-Four: Tsarakino's Fruition

"NO!" The doors to the throne room of Tomorrow's Sanctuary blew open, slamming hard against the thick, stone walls and echoing throughout the castle. The demon Fjerin stormed in, anger raging against his features as he stomped towards the throne. "This isn't possible...my demon..."

A few minutes before, he had gone to check on his Black Mist Demon, a creature of immense size and power capable of generating his vaunted Black Mist. The entire creature had vanished overnight, and Fjerin couldn't understand how that could happen. His plans were falling into ruin before they could even begin, and he didn't understand. Who could have stolen something of such size and magnitude out from under his and Yoshi's noses?

In his rage, he didn't even see the figure lurking in the dark, watching his movements. Only two days had passed since Spirit Detective Yusuke Urameshi and his group had entered into Makai, and he knew they couldn't be here yet. He believed, perhaps foolishly, that this whole compound was still under his command.

As he stormed to the throne, his eyes fell on the space beside it. He was eager to check, to make sure his other important items had not been taken, and to his horror, he could see that they were. The jar containing the stolen Jagan was missing, and now he was horrified. Without his demon, without his Jagan, what was he to do? "ATSUKO!" He called to the woman he kept in shackles beside his throne. Maybe she had seen something.

"ATSUKO!" His eyes turned, and fear began to grip his heart. For she, too, was missing from his throne room. "...what the...how..." This didn't make sense. What was happening? In his shock, he failed to notice the figure looming behind him starting to come closer, and before he knew what hit him, two blades ripped forward through his chest.

A voice whispered in the dark behind him. A voice he had become so familiar with, that of his favorite 'child', as he called them. The voice of Kitrone, as she held him stuck here on her retractable wristblades. "Lord Tsarakino expresses his deepest regrets. He wanted to be here for this, so he could see the look on your face, idiot."

Fjerin coughed, blood spewing from his mouth as he struggled on her blades. "...Kit...rone...why..." His mind wracked with confusion, fear gnawing at his insides, and agony tearing at the parts she had ripped through, he searched for an answer, some explanation that would explain why she had betrayed him.

"You have served your purpose," Kitrone spoke with a confidence he had never heard in her voice. Rather than the meek pawn she had always been for him, he now heard a strength that he had never heard from her. The voice of the Priestess of Nightmare. "You've done your job well, but you are simply of no further use to Her. You are a loose end, Fjerin. Consider yourself fortunate that She allowed you to live for as long as she did."

"...s...she..." Fjerin felt himself fading, as his blood dripped down Kitrone's arms. He knew he was going, but he wanted answers. He wanted one last answer, before the inevitable took him. "...who..."

As the blades pulled back, allowing Fjerin to fall to the floor, there was silence. The demon lay on the ground, bleeding and dying, his eyes staring up at Kitrone, asking, pleading for one last answer. And when he heard it, he knew. He knew, without question, that everything he had worked for these past years had been nothing but a joke, a simple ruse by Her to keep Her enemies distracted. Those words, he knew so well and as he died, he felt anger at himself for not seeing it before. The last words ever to grace his ears sent him into a death of betrayal, not slain by the sword of the enemy as he long believed he would be, but taken from within. He would not die a warrior's death. He died that of a pawn.

"Long live the Queen."

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Two days had passed since Yusuke had left the human world, and Keiko had found herself in the company of Shizuru each day. Late afternoon had now fallen, and she was on her way home from Shizuru's place for another night of horrible nightmares and terror.

Kurama followed from the rooftops, his eyes keeping a careful watch on Keiko. He wasn't exactly sure what he was watching for; he couldn't see the demon snake, and no one could see Tsarakino. He didn't know what to watch for, but he wouldn't let up his watch. If something happened, if ANYTHING happened, he would–

There! He saw it looming in the shadows as Keiko passed by. A figure stood in the darkness of the alleyway, monitoring Keiko's movements. Kurama moved with the swiftness of a fox, leaping silently down to the rooftop above, then crawling breathlessly to the side. Looking down into the alley, he saw the figure, though he could not yet see its face.

The figure kept its own watch on Keiko until she had passed, before it hustled off down the alley. Kurama knew something was up, and now he wanted to know what. Casting one last glance at Keiko, he went off in pursuit of her stalker, whisking across another rooftop to keep track of the running figure.

The figure ran out the other end of the alleyway, racing out onto the sidewalk. She passed into the crowd of people, moving in and out of the shops that could be found on this end. They were in the marketplace part of town, where numerous small shops and businesses could be found. A fun place to go for people who didn't want to go to the larger supermarkets and malls.

As the figure passed into the crowd, Kurama lost sight of her. He had seen the dark, black hair that she had, but there were several people in the crowd with black hair. Tossing his head back and forth, for a moment he thought he'd lost her. "Where did she go?" He had lost track of her now, and knew he would have to pursue on the ground of he was going to catch her. Dropping from the rooftop to the alley, he walked calmly out into the street, casting a nonchalant gaze around the street.

Watching the people pass by in ignorance, not one of them aware of the danger that lurked on the other side of the dimensional wall, the danger in Makai, Kurama felt a familiar sense of protective pity for them. They had no idea, as they went about their daily lives, of the–

There she is!

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"Keiko!" Keiko stopped, hearing her name called down the street behind her. Turning to look back, she saw Shizuru racing forward, running as fast as her legs would carry her. Dressed in a large, brown overcoat with two large pockets near the bottom, she ran down the sidewalk to catch up to her friend.

Keiko watched Shizuru run towards her, and inside, she felt the strangest chill beginning to wash over her. "Shizuru?" There was something in her eyes, something...alarming, but Keiko couldn't quite place what. She trusted Shizuru with her life; they had formed a sort of bond during the Dark Tournament, watching their boys fighting for their lives. But something inside her told her to run. Her intuition was screaming at her to go, that something was not right, that she needed to go.

"Hey, kid," Shizuru smiled, slowing her pace as she approached. "You forgot something back at my place. I thought you probably wouldn't want to lose it." Reaching into her coat pocket, she pulled a small, silver chain necklace out of her pocket, with an onyx snake medallion on it. Keiko's eyes fell on the black, carved snake, and another chill washed through her body.

"That's..." her eyes wouldn't leave that snake; for some reason she couldn't quite place, the sight terrified her. Every part of her being was frightened by the image of the black snake, and she couldn't place why. "That's not mine," she whispered, but as hard as she tried to hide her fear, her quivering voice betrayed her real emotions.

"Really?" Shizuru asked. "Huh. Not mine, either. Maybe it's Kurama's," she joked, but Keiko wasn't in the mood to laugh. She was very unsettled by all of this now, and her intuition was still screeching at her that she needed to get out of here. Where was Kurama? He was watching her, right? She was safe...nothing would happen to her so long as Kurama was watching her...right? "Well, as long as we're here, come over here for a second. I want to show you something."

Shizuru gripped Keiko's wrist, walking her towards the alleyway to her right. She had no way of knowing, but it was the same alley that her stalker had been monitoring her from. Keiko was terrified now, trying to wrench her hand free, but the grip that held it was too strong. It hurt, she realized to her own surprise. Shizuru was gripping her wrist hard enough to hurt it, and she knew now that something was terribly wrong; Shizuru was never this rough with her.

"Let go," Keiko tried to free her wrist, but to no avail. Shizuru had her now, and she knew she should have followed her intuition. She should have run away. "Who are you? Let me go!"

"Kid, what are you talking about?" Shizuru dragged Keiko into the alley. "You know who I am. Stop freaking out." Keiko looked into Shizuru's eyes, those familiar, brown eyes, and for a moment she almost believed it was really her in there. But she could feel a sense of malice coming from her friend, and as she felt herself surrounded by the close walls, in the dark where no one else would see, she suddenly realized that she was at Shizuru's mercy. Where was Kurama?

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There she is! The stalker had just run into a small diner, probably looking to get away from her pursuer. Kurama walked carefully across the street, his movements timed and his steps light, with the calm look of an ordinary teenage boy on his face. There was, of course, no sense looking like a freak. If there was one thing Kurama was truly a master of, it was pretending to be an ordinary human being.

Pushing open the door to the diner, Kurama cast his eyes back and forth through the place. The dark-haired woman would not be difficult to find in this small enclosure. She would probably be low in one of the booths, planning to hide. If he walked down the aisle and scanned carefully, he could– "Kurama, over here!" ...or perhaps she was sitting calmly two booths down, staring straight at him and calling his name.

Turning to walk down the aisle, his eyes recognized the woman instantly. Hers was a face he was all too familiar with, one he, like the rest of the team, had hoped to never see again. "Megumi," he addressed her as he approached, before taking a seat opposite her in the booth. "Is there a reason you've come here? I can't imagine Koenma would send you to spy on Keiko."

A glass of tea rested in front of Megumi, and she stirred it slowly with a small, plastic stick as she spoke. "I've got my own mission for coming here, Kurama. What I'm curious about, though, is you. Why are you here, instead of in Makai with the others? Yusuke didn't seriously leave you behind just to stalk his girlfriend, did he? Seems like a waste of manpower."

"Since when do you have any faith in my abilities?" Kurama asked carefully. "After all, as you have so thoroughly stated, I am not very capable of holding my own in combat, since I have chosen to live in a human form." He was well aware of Megumi's prejudices against each of them, and especially his own. He was lying, misleading her through her own prejudices. He didn't know why she was here, but any edge he could get was a good one.

Megumi sighed, rubbing her forehead. "This isn't about you, Kurama. This is about the team. Something's coming, something very bad, and one person alone can't handle it."

Megumi's words stroked Kurama's curiosity. "What do you know?" He asked her carefully, gauging her reaction for clues or hints as to why she was here.

Megumi sighed. "I know that nothing is going the way it should, Kurama. There are idiots in power handing the security of Reikai to fools and brutes. There are demons fighting amongst themselves for control of Makai, and there are billions of people here in the human world who have no idea what's coming."

Kurama's voice lowered to a cautious pitch, as he listened to Megumi's words. She didn't sound the dutiful lieutenant of Koenma. She sounded like she knew something beyond what she was letting on, and that made him more than a little suspicious. "And just what is coming?"

Sitting back in her booth, Megumi turned her head up towards the ceiling. "Things are going to change, Kurama. A big change is coming soon, and none of our three worlds are going to be the same when it's passed. It's funny, really. I always believed it was just a legend, a story for parents to tell their kids to make sure they behave. But it's real. All of it...the whole thing is real. It's...really, it's an honor to be able to take part in something this big. It's what I've always dreamed of."

Megumi was running on now, and Kurama was beginning to tire of the cryptic half-answers. "Megumi, please, what are you talking about? What's real?"

Megumi smiled, turning her head back down and looking at Kurama. The smile that crossed her face unsettled him, for he could see the malice in it. "I've already put my own talents to great use. Did you know that Reikai inspectors for the dimensional tunnels are willing to overlook large packages if they are properly threatened by a pissed off Grim Reaper? I didn't until just last night. Things are already moving, just as they need to. And truly, the best part of it all is the crux of the plan. So concerned about trying to head it off before it could come into completion, you boys handed him his victory by removing yourselves from the REAL prize. I knew you were too weak to stop it."

"Megumi..." Kurama's voice carried with it a more threatening tone now. Something was horribly wrong here. "Megumi, listen to me. I don't know what–" Kurama was interrupted by a sound that chilled his heart. A scream, coming from the alleyway he had followed Megumi out of, could be heard all the way to the diner. Leaping from his seat, he turned his head back in Keiko's direction, suddenly, horribly aware of what was happening here.

Megumi just smiled, stirring her tea once more. "And while you waste time here interrogating me, you have completely lost track of what you were supposed to be doing. Curiosity and suspicion can be quite the effective weapons, human. And so can THIS." Kurama turned to look back at Megumi just before the attack struck him. Raising her right hand, he saw a horrible mouth with sharp, gnashing teeth on her right palm. But before he could react, a terrible shriek howled out from the mouth, echoing through the diner and bringing the patrons to their knees from the agonizing sound. Kurama's hands wrapped over his ears, already starting to bleed due to his close proximity to the terrible shriek, as his mind struggled to find a way to shut it down.

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"What are you doing, Sakyo! Keiko hasn't done anything to you!" Shizuru raged inside her own mind, straining to take back control of her body. She had given it to Sakyo, believing his lies when he told her he wanted to spend more time with her. She had given it freely, and now she was struggling to get it back.

"Shut up," the voice responded, but the tone wasn't half as deep as Sakyo's alluring voice had been. "You've done your part well enough, Shizuru, but I would appreciate if I didn't have to listen to your boyish, smoke-charred voice any longer. Now just shut up and watch." Shizuru felt cold inside, hearing that youthful voice attacking her. That wasn't her Sakyo...that wasn't him at all.

The horrible wraith shoved Keiko hard against the wall, cracking her shoulder from the force of the impact. Gripping the injured shoulder and squeezing it hard enough to envoke a scream of pain from her, he looked into her tearful, hurt eyes. He saw the terror there, the confusion, and it made him smile internally. There were few things he enjoyed such as that beautiful sight of agony.

"You should consider this an honor," Shizuru heard her voice speaking, beyond her control. "Out of all the girls in the world She could have chosen, She chose you. You're going to become something great, Keiko." Shoving Keiko down, letting her fall hard to the cement ground, the creature pulled a small knife out from the pocket of Shizuru's coat. Keiko cracked her knee on the cement, feeling the pain filling her leg, but her eyes were too fixated on the knife to care. She had never in her life been as terrified as she was now.

"...I...I know you..." she whispered silently to herself. She remembered what Yusuke had told her before, of the body jumping wraith that he was dealing with. She remembered when her own body had been invaded by this horrible man, and she knew now, as she stared up at Shizuru, that it wasn't Shizuru she was looking at. It was him. It was Yoshi Tsarakino.

Yoshi pressed Shizuru's hand slowly against the small wooden crate on his left, which Megumi had done him the courtesy of leaving for him to use. Lifting it gently and setting it on the ground, he grabbed Keiko's left leg as she tried to scramble away, and drove the knife into it. She screamed in pain from the invading blade, and Yoshi smiled. As he took a seat on Keiko's chest, pressing her to the ground with Shizuru's weight, he ripped the dagger back up out of her leg. There had been no reason for him to do this, other than his own sick, perverse pleasure at watching her cry.

"The Flesh, formed of a vessel of innocence, shall be Her hand and guide Her back," he recited as Shizuru's left hand pressed Keiko's tear-stained head softly to the ground, holding it there. She sobbed aloud, trying desperately to get away from him, while Shizuru screeched and struggled inside to try and wrench control of her body back from Yoshi.

"The Eye, echoing its shadows of demonic power, shall open the way and carve the passage for Her." Yoshi slit the knife carefully across Keiko's forehead, a shallow cut, as she screamed and cried to get free. Then, reaching into the crate, he removed the stolen Jagan he had taken, first from Reikai and again from Makai, and pressed the eye against the cut he had slit. The tendrils and tendons of the Jagan came to life, grappling at the bloody opening and forcing it open as she screamed in agony. It was rumored in Makai that recieving a Jagan was the most painful experience any person could endure. Keiko now found herself forced through the procedure, as it ripped and tore its way deeper, digging through her skull to reach its tendrils at her brain.

"The Blood, the pure, sanctified blood of a human psychic, shall lubricate Her entrance and sanctify the Flesh for Her return." As Keiko screamed, as the Jagan continued to dig its way into her skull, Yoshi took the knife and stabbed it into Shizuru's left hand. This psychic would do just as he needed, and as Keiko screamed, he took advantage of her open mouth to drip Shizuru's blood down her throat. Forcing her palm over Keiko's mouth, he let the blood seep into her mouth, forcing her to swallow it and lubricating the entrance he needed for the final step.

"And the Heart, torn from the Queen herself, shall join with the Body, the Eye, and the Blood, and make them Hers." Finally, when he felt she had consumed enough blood, he removed Shizuru's hand from her mouth and returned it to the box. Taking a small object from the box and coating it in the blood, she held it up for Keiko's terrified eyes to see. It was scarcely larger than a quarter, a small, black heart that somehow still continued to beat. Her eyes barely registered it, for the agony of the Jagan was continuing to grow, as it had ripped its way through her skull and was now wrapping its tendrils around her brain. This was by far the most excruciating part of the procedure, as it wrapped and entwined and forced the brain to prepare a space for it. And as she screamed from the horrible pain, Yoshi forced the small heart into her mouth, forcing it shut and massaging her throat in order to force her to swallow the horrible, throbbing organ.

As the Jagan worked at its installation, Keiko could feel herself passing out. The pain was horrible, too much for her to take, and she knew she was fading fast. "Yus...uke..." she whispered through broken sobs, before consciousness finally abandoned her, with blood drying in her throat and the horrible demon heart beating in her stomach. She was left, motionless and struggling to live, in the arms of the human devil Yoshi Tsarakino.

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CRASH

Kurama burst through the window, half to get away from Megumi's horrible shrieking palm, and half to get back towards the alley where Keiko had screamed from. Balance was not on his side, however, as the shriek had left him disoriented and dazed. Stumbling, his left foot ran out before his right, and he fell hard to the paved sidewalk in the center of five people.

"Dude, are you–" The window blew outwards, and the horrible shriek assaulted the passersby in the street. Megumi rolled out the window Kurama had blown through, with the hand on her mouth pointed straight in Kurama's direction. It was a direct and very painful attack she had mastered. She had seen the kinds of abstract maneuvers many apparitions and demons employed, and she always preferred something more offensive.

"Rose Whip!" With the strength he could muster while fighting off the horrible noise, Kurama grasped the rose from behind his ear and lashed it at Megumi. Transforming as it flicked into a long, thorny plant whip and lashing it against Megumi's leg. The attack caught her offguard, yanking her off her feet and onto the ground. This also served the purpose of shutting off her shrieking palm.

As much as Kurama wanted to spend more time trying to figure her out, Keiko needed him now. Gaining back his equilibrium, Kurama raced ahead of Megumi as she struggled with the thorny entanglement on her ankle. Bounding over a car that was in his path, he skidded into the alley, where he found Shizuru holding the limp form of Keiko.

"Shizuru?" Kurama asked carefully, not certain what was happening. "What are you doing here?"

"You know," Shizuru smirked, "I could just go with pretense and try to bluff my way through this. But honestly, I've got what I want and you're not going to stop me."

"Yoshi," Kurama's voice grew colder. "Why are you here, and not in Makai? I am certain you're aware that Yusuke and the others–"

"Are on their way to an empty castle belonging to a dead cult," Yoshi finished. "Sorry, fox boy, but I've got what I came for, and your little pals can go ahead and storm the place for all I care. Those fools have served their purpose."

Taking a step forward, Kurama spoke once more. He wanted to get as much information out of this as he could, but he knew he couldn't press it. Men like Yoshi loved to hear themselves talk, but he couldn't make Yoshi too suspicious of his intentions. "Getting Yusuke out of the way? They were a distraction to weaken our defenses around Keiko."

Yoshi laughed, a chilling sound coming through Shizuru's voice. "You don't miss a beat, do you, foxy? Everything I need is right here in these trembling arms of your idiot friend's sister."

"Why Keiko?" That was a question that was aching at the back of Kurama's mind. "I know better than to chalk this up to simple coincidence. What do you need Keiko for, and why her, specifically? Surely there are other girls that would be easier to acquire for...whatever you have in mind for her...than the Spirit Detective's girlfriend."

Yoshi smirked, and Kurama knew that his attempt had worked. Yoshi was going to speak. "I needed an innocent with ties to a psychic. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find an innocent person in this world? ESPECIALLY one with that kind of a requirement? I spent well over a year searching for the right person, and every damned time, I failed. Then you boys came along. It was at the Dark Tournament, watching from the sky, that I saw her. A sweet, innocent young thing, perfect for...my purposes...and with exactly the kind of ties I needed. You guys made it too easy."

"Why, Yoshi? What do you need with a psychic?" Kurama was pressing for more answers, but Yoshi looked away. Kurama felt the movement above, felt eyes beading down on him, and before he knew it, Megumi dropped from the rooftop. She had used the height to bypass him, dropping behind Yoshi.

"You know," Yoshi handed Keiko's limp form to Megumi as he spoke, "I really think that's enough for today. Share time is over, Kurama. It's time to take our leave."

Kurama tensed, his fists clenching and his legs readying to pounce. He wasn't going to let them take her. "And you believe I will let you walk away with Keiko? That I will not make any effort to stop you?"

"Actually," Yoshi slipped the knife back out of Shizuru's coat pocket, tilting it carefully in Kurama's direction. "Yes, I do. I know for a fact that you will let us walk away with Keiko. That you're not going to chase after us. I've been keeping tabs on you. All of you. Let's say I know you...inside and out." These words chilled Kurama. He knew better than to question whether that was simple metaphor or not. "This has been in motion for over ten thousand years, Kurama. What hope do you have of stopping it?"

Megumi took off, leaping up to the rooftop and racing away. Kurama moved to chase after her, but Yoshi put Shizuru between him and his pursuit. "You do not intend to fight me, I hope. Shizuru may be many things, but a skilled and talented demon fighter is not among them."

Yoshi smirked. "You misunderstand. Let me tell you why you're not going to chase Keiko." Shizuru snarled and barked at him within, but he had her completely within his power. He could feel her defiance, feel her strength, but it was no use. Holding the knife up in Shizuru's hand, his eyes bored holes in Kurama's soul. "There is only one of you, Kurama. And you can't be everywhere at once." With those words, he plunged the knife straight into Shizuru's left breast, driving it into the undersection at an upwards slant.

Yoshi gritted Shizuru's teeth, feeling her pain as the blade rested within her body, but still pressing until the hilt touched her shirt. Shizuru grunted within from the pain, trying not to let Yoshi know how bad it hurt her. But he could see beyond her images. He could reach out and touch her soul if he was so inclined; he was not deceived. "If I know my anatomy as well as I think I do, I've just pierced Shizuru's lung. You have a bit of a healer's touch to you, Kurama. You could save her life, if you are so inclined. A knife dug in this deep, you're probably all that could at this point."

"You..." Kurama was lost for words, probably the first time in a long time, staring at Yoshi gripping the knife in the body he wore.

Yoshi grunted, and coughed up Shizuru's blood. "What's it going to be, fox boy? Two options. Either let Megumi and I get away with Keiko, or let Shizuru die here and now. Make your choice, friend." With those words, Yoshi twisted the blade, ripping and tearing at the muscular structures within, before releasing Shizuru from his grip.

Kurama raced forward as Sizuru fell to her knees, putting his arms around her and laying her down on her back. The young woman coughed up blood from the horrible wound Yoshi had left in her body. With her lung pierced, she needed his full attention now, as she was already having difficulty breathing. Blood was soaking into her lung and drowning her, and Kurama knew he would have to work fast if he wanted to save her life.

"...Ku...ra...ma..." was all she could get out, as she struggled against the horrible wound. She was trying so hard to be strong, trying not to need help, but she knew inside that what Yoshi had just done to her was worse than anything she'd lived through before. She felt cold and dead inside, for the way he had used her. He had played on her emotions, manipulated her into mutilating her best friend, and then attempted to kill her. Now...she felt darkness coming, felt herself beginning to fade. All she could do now was trust her life to Kurama's healing knowledge, as she passed from consciousness.

Kurama had already made his choice. Yoshi had been right, he would not pursue Megumi and Keiko. Yoshi had played the whole team like an instrument, deceiving them into sending the brunt of their forces away, then playing on Kurama's refusal to do nothing as his friend dies. He had set this whole thing up around them while giving them inconvenient threats to focus on, to keep them from seeing the true danger behind it all. And now, Keiko was in his hands for...Kurama had no idea what. For something that he needed Keiko for.

He had been willing to sacrifice a human life for this. And he had carried it out with nearly expert precision, positioning his pieces and keeping Kurama distracted so as to get to Keiko. The days of the bumbling, self-delusional idiot were over, Kurama knew. Another mask, another manipulation to make them not understand the true measure of their enemy. They had believed him weak, believed him to be little more than an idiot and a fool, a powerful fool but a fool nonetheless. And he had allowed them to–no, helped them to believe that, so that they would not expect his attack to be as devious as he had planned it.

Kurama would never underestimate that wraith again. He knew, as his hands worked furiously at his herbs, as his energy flowed into Shizuru's body to try and keep her alive, that the days of preparation and cautious watch were over. The attack had begun, and Yoshi had done it in the most cowardly and sadistic way he could.

He had been willing to sacrifice a human life, willing to kill Shizuru for the sake of his purpose. He had given up all right to claim the name of 'human', Kurama felt. He had known many demons in his life, known all manners of vile creatures and merciless beasts. Yoshi was truly a devil to be held with the rest of the worse, a monster for which there was no name. Kurama had worked long and hard to live up to the title of human. Yoshi no longer had any right to wear it. Kurama could feel it welling up inside him as he worked at Shizuru, could feel a sense of something he had not felt before.

He had many enemies in the past. He'd fought and killed time and time again, but never against anything he felt so strongly towards. Even in the Tournament, even fighting Karasu in the final round, he ran on fear and fought on survival instincts. But this...this was something more. More than fear, more than survival, more than a goal. This was something that threatened to consume him, something that he had always been above before.

For what may have been the first time in his life, Kurama felt true, unbridled hatred.