Disclaimer: I own no part of Yu Yu Hakusho.

Genkai watched the three young men exit her home, particularly worried about one of them. She reflected on the discussion she and Kurama had before the dimwits showed up.

Genkai quite literally dragged a pale, gasping fox demon by the sleeve into her sitting room, stripping him out of his own jacket with her own brand of harsh courtesy. After hanging up the orange jacket by the door, she proceeded to direct him onto a cushion next to her normal sitting place by the window. The young man was a little more compliant than Genkai thought should be healthy. Giving her guest a stern 'stay here' look, she opened the sliding door on the other side of the room and poked her head out, asking Yukina to bring tea, but to take her time. Taking her seat next to Kurama, she allowed him a brief respite to catch his breath before beginning her interrogation. Something was clearly wrong with Kurama, and Genkai only had a small piece to this puzzle. Her guest was physically distressed and clearly something was on his mind judging by the distant look in his eyes.

He was leaking his demonic energy all over the place. It's possible he wasn't even aware of it at this point. All of that youki floating around was sure to be a beacon for some less than savory individuals. On top of that, she hadn't seen him look this debilitated since the Dark Tournament. He was a mess. As much of a mess as Kurama could be, anyway. Aside from his ashen color and sucking air the way he was, he really was exceptional at concealing visual cues. Never one to want others to be concerned about him. Genkai found it to be a very endearing quality about Kurama, how hard he worked to maintain the appearance of effortless composure, even now.

Satisfied he had recovered enough to talk, Genkai gave him the opportunity to explain himself first.

"I assume you are here to discuss," She paused to consider the right verbiage, gesturing toward him with a gentle waving hand. "To discuss this."

"You would be correct," Kurama replied, looking slightly abashed. Obviously he knew what she meant. "I confess this has been an inconvenience in the last several months, however recently has become more concerning."

"You and I both know this is more serious than that. Don't try to downplay." Genkai called him out. He flashed her a winning half-smile, definitely knowing he was caught. She sighed. "Start from the beginning."

Genkai listened with rapt attention as Kurama methodically recounted events since the Dark Tournament.

"As you know, the Idun Box had an interesting effect on me. Ura Urashima foolishly thought it would cause me to regress to a point in time before my existence, of course without realizing my history extends much farther back than this human life."

Genkai nodded. This wasn't exactly what she expected. How typical of Kurama. "Indeed. Go on."

Kurama continued. "Following the defeat of Team Uraotogi, I received the Fruit of the Previous Life potion from Suzuki which aided me immensely in harnessing otherwise unavailable strength. I was fortunate in that it further connected me with that power. Since then, that connection had continued to grow stronger until I had gained the ability to realize my full ability as Youko at will.

"The transformations felt natural, I was able to change forms at my own discretion with minimal effort. You can imagine I found it to be incredibly convenient. During the Makai Tournament, however, I found myself.. at a disadvantage during my round against Shigure."

'Now we're getting somewhere. I remember the boys telling me about this. Disadvantage doesn't quite cover it,' Genkai thought. These events were well known, though perhaps she had never considered these particular occurrences to be related. "You transformed."

"That is correct. It seems as though I subconsciously initiated the transformation because I was in danger. At the time I did not want to rely on my power as Youko and was able to revert back to this form and emerge victorious. I did not think much of it at the time. Instinct, I suppose."

Twirling her thumbs thoughtfully in her lap, Genkai could start to see where Kurama was going with this. Interesting.

"Some months afterward I started to feel a buildup of my youki, it feels something like pressure in my chest and my muscles are often sore. It has been manageable as long as I release the overflow. The pressure dissipates when I transform, " Kurama continued.

It had been going on longer than he originally indicated, then. Go figure. It has been almost two years since the Makai tournament. That Kurama had kept it to himself until now meant he could no longer contain it.

"Were you venting excess youki at the train station?" Genkai inquired.

"Unfortunately, yes. The intensity of the pressure increased unexpectedly on my way here. It is.. uncomfortable." He responded reluctantly. The way he described feeling 'uncomfortable' made Genkai uncomfortable. That was how he described the feeling of his death plant growing within his vascular system.

"Well you're leaking energy all over my home."

"Regrettably, I am aware."

"I presume it's getting worse. You're in pain now?" Genkai surmised. Kurama sighed. Eyes flashed gold and he turned to look out the window, confirming her statement. The old master's expression softened.

"The pressure expanded abruptly toward the end of my last class yesterday, I nearly transformed in front of everyone. Fortunately I was able to excuse myself before revealing anything." He admitted.

"Did you change?" Genkai asked gently, doing her best not to clench her teeth. Sometimes it was like pulling teeth trying to get complete information from him.

"In a way. My hair was bleeding through. This morning, though.." Kurama trailed off, still looking out the window.

Ah. The real problem. Genkai gave him a quick nod, encouraging him to continue.

"I was fully transformed when I woke up this morning," He closed his eyes. "I am.. losing control."

"Are you?" Genkai asked, not convinced Kurama really thinks it's that simple.

"Perhaps. What is your opinion?" Kurama turned back to the old Master, narrow eyes colored like molten gold.

Genkai took a moment to consider his account. "It seems like your human body and demonic nature are at odds with each other. One is obviously winning."

"That was also my conclusion." He agreed.

"Your case is unique, Kurama. I highly doubt many demons have attempted to seek refuge within a human embryo, even fewer successful ones. It seems to me that your demonic heritage is going to win out. A human body is not durable enough to withstand S-Class energy levels, even one such as yours that has been drawing upon that strength. You could call it an evolution."

"Then it would seem I am being overtaken by Youko, after all. I have always suspected this may happen eventually, although the timing is not ideal. I confess I had hoped it would be much later." He admitted, looking somewhat forlorn. Genkai did not think at this point Kurama was really here for advice. He was hoping he was wrong and that she could disprove his theory. Unfortunately for him, she had further solidified what he had already known.

"You've been ignoring this. That's not like you, Kurama." Genkai scolded with no real heat.

Kurama did not respond right away, taking a moment to consider his words before speaking. Something else Genkai liked about him. "A predicament such as this is associated with specific ramifications." Eyes turned downcast.

'I take it back. Now he's just being evasive.' "Your mother."

Kurama turned his gaze upward to Genkai, eyes once again a bright forest green, and shrugged, smiling sadly. "She is my greatest weakness."

His affection for his mother was understandable, even admirable. But it was going to get him into serious trouble.

"You're supposed to be the intelligent one."

That boy had looked absolutely forlorn by the time Genkai had offered her opinion. Boy? Man? Grandpa? He was incomprehensibly older than her, what on earth do you call that? Regardless, he still looked like a hopeless teenager.

His description of his symptoms were worrisome at best. Pressure in his chest, constant body aches, getting winded from physical exertion, unintentional transformations. He did not indicate whether partial transformations had occurred prior to the incident yesterday, but that seemed insignificant at this point.

Kurama was famous for understating matters concerning himself. She wondered how much pain he was really in. Surely uncomfortable was not an accurate descriptor. There was high probability he was trying to convince himself it wasn't that bad just as much as he tried to downplay it to Genkai.

Kurama's demonic energy was overtaking his human form. The pain he was experiencing was because his human form was not durable enough to accommodate the youki levels of an S-Class demon any longer. Uncomfortable definitely did not cover it.

The reasoning why seemed straightforward, and Kurama knew this would have happened eventually. The original purpose of inhabiting a human embryo was to allow his soul to heal and regain his strength. Due to the frail nature of the human body, his youki inevitably would have overwhelmed the human body, the demon emerging in full. He had expected his development to be slower, but his exposure to the Fruit of the Previous Life had accelerated the process.

There would be no avoiding reality for Kurama. He would have to face this sooner or later. Genkai hoped he would be ready.

Genkai's concern was whether or not he would accept it before he was either forced by his demonic nature to transform permanently, or torn apart by it.

The three boys collected their jackets and exited Genkai's home, pausing in the courtyard.

"You guys go on ahead. I'm gonna take Yukina someplace nice!" Kuwabara practically shouted. He was trotting over to the subject of his infatuation before Kurama or Yusuke could respond.

"I guess we lost him. Oh well," Yusuke grinned after Kuwabara. "Lets go."

The pair began descending the stairs, Kurama overly grateful to be going down rather than up at this point. He still began to fall behind, distracted. Yusuke stopped to wait for him.

"You alright, Kurama?" He asked, turning back to watch Kurama catch up.

"Sorry, I was thinking." Kurama replied, a little more out of breath than he would have liked. This really was embarrassing.

"You're always doing that," Yusuke countered genially, continuing down the steps once Kurama passed him.

"All that stuff you and Genkai talked about.." Yusuke trailed off. "Why didn't you bring it up sooner?"

Kurama considered this.

"I did not want anyone to worry over my own personal affairs." He said with a certain amount of finality.

They continued the rest of the way down the stairs in silence.

"Okay, you listen up," Yusuke raised his voice when they reached the bottom step. He was going to let Kurama's last statement go but he changed his mind. He continued, waving his arms and pointing at Kurama. "We're teammates. Hell, we're friends! Maybe you don't think anyone should worry about you but we're going to and that's that. "

"I appreciate your concern, Yusuke, but there isn't anything you or I can do at this point." Kurama responded, shrugging indifferently. Yusuke thought he looked pale. Was he breathing hard?

"I think that's the problem. Genkai said you have a decision to make, that you need a plan, but you don't have one. You've got your family to think about. What are you gonna do?"

Ever the perceptive leader of their team, it bugged Yusuke that Kurama(who was supposed to be the responsible one in their group, dammit!) seemed to be avoiding handling his issue. Kurama, who had a plan for everything, from planting demon trees somewhere he might have to fight in the future to packing extra toothbrushes because he knew his idiot teammates would forget. How could he not have a plan? The former Spirit Detective didn't necessarily follow everything Kurama and Genkai were saying about evolution this, Fruit of the Past Life that, transforming into a demon in his sleep, whatever, but if Kurama was going to transform permanently..

Kurama's family meant a lot to him. He went out of his way to spend time with his mother and had encouraged her relationship with her new husband. Her happiness was a priority to Kurama. In truth, Yusuke had been a little envious at first. He loved his own mother, of course, but Atsuko was usually more focused on parties and drinking than her own son. Yusuke's envy was short lived, however, and now he was just glad that Kurama had the fortune of a wonderful mother and family. Yusuke had left his own mother once before when he died the first time. He could certainly understand his friend's anxiety.

That seemed to strike a cord with Kurama, his brow furrowed. "I don't know, Yusuke. I had hoped I would have more time."

A/N: Genkai has always been one of my favorites. I was originally going to include this in the previous chapter but in the end I kept it separate. The second chapter was getting long(though this got away from me top) and I sort of liked it better separate. I wrote both together to keep everything consistent.

Also, I am most definitely not a writer and have never attempted anything like this before and I am proof-reading myself. If there are inconsistencies or the story tracks weird, please send me a message to let me know so I can fix it.

Thanks again to all viewer and reviewers! Hoping everyone is staying safe with this COVID-19 thing. Happy reading!