DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the original Yu Yu Hakusho characters, or Evelyn Hunter. The latter is the sole property of Gina Leone, and the former belonging to Yoshihiro Togashi. Also, Kumiko Yenma belongs to Nicole Summers Thanks for reading!

A/N: I just wanted to take this moment to personally thank everybody who has been reading my story, adding it to their alert list, and adding me to their favorite author list. I was so unsure that people would like this story, and your support has been so awesome. You guys rock my socks like a fox in a box! Here's Chapter Six.

Chapter Six:

"Decide - which voice in your head you can keep alive?"

When Fuko awoke Kurama was no longer in the chair next to her bed. He had stayed there by her side the night before, making sure she got to sleep. Fuko gave a groan. Not only did she feel utterly pathetic, but now her fist was throbbing, AND she'd owe some explanations. As she walked down the hallway, Kurama opened the door to the Fox Room and joined her. Neither said a word, though Fuko got the vibe she'd be in for it. She and he walked into the den…no one else was up. Fuko twitched and held in another groan. It was going to be a long morning. Kurama walked into the kitchen.

"Coffee? Tea?" He offered.

"Sure. Tea. Thanks." Fuko yawned. Not being a morning person, any word more than one syllable was simply impossible say, at least, articulately. He made the tea and poured it into a cup, setting it on the kitchen counter. Fuko walked over and took it.

"….Thanks." She mumbled. Kurama walked over to the table and sat, kicking out the other chair.

"Sit." He commanded. Fuko sighed and plopped herself into the chair, still gazing into her tea, but not drinking.. She looked at her hand, still tightly bandaged and bloody. She sighed.

"So, care to tell me what last night was about?" He asked, sipping his cup of coffee.

"Ugh…….eehh." Fuko gave out a few garbled moans.

"I know it's the morning, but you'll just have to make due." Kurama said, casting a sharp look at her.

"Meeehhh!! Shemreh." Fuko exclaimed in more intangible grunts. Kurama thought. He got up, walked over to a clock radio, and turned it on. There was a familiar beginning, and then the first stanza Fuko was delighted to discover she knew. She sang along;

"Hello, let me introduce you to
The characters in the show.
One says yes, one says no…
Decide - which voice in your head you can keep alive?"

She smiled. The song was perfect for her current mood and situation. "I Dare You" by Shinedown.

"I thought that'd wake you up." Kurama said, sitting back down. Fuko folded her hands primly in her lap and gave her best challenging look. Kurama may have helped her, and be a bit more intimidating, what with his new clothes, and no bed-head, but Fuko couldn't let him deter her from her mission. Kurama gazed back at her with an equally challenging, though somewhat smug, look.

"Now allow me to ask again. What happened last night?" He inquired again. Fuko shrugged.

"Who knows. Maybe it's PMS." She said with a wink.

"It's not."

"How are you sure…?"

"I would be able to tell." Kurama tapped his nose. Fuko scowled.

"So would you like to tell me?" He asked again.

"Nah not really."

"Too bad. Tell me; I can tell the others whatever I want about that little injury and they'll believe me." Kurama said coolly. Fuko's scowl deepened. So that's how he wanted to play. Blackmail.

"Oh, he's good. He's definitely not new at this." She thought to herself.

"Like?" She asked.

"Anything; I gave it to you in a scuffle after you tried to escape again; you did it to yourself, which, by the way, isn't that far from the truth. All I ask is the reason why." Kurama retorted calmly.

"…You wouldn't understand." Fuko snapped coldly, still gazing intently into her tea. She kicked herself mentally for how angsty and teenagerish and emo she sounded, even if she thought it WAS true.

"Try me." Kurama stated, setting down his coffee. Fuko paused, thinking. Should she tell him? She hummed along to the radio.

"Hello, are you still chasing
The memories in shadows…?
Some stay young, some grow old.
Come alive, there are thoughts unclear
You can never hide…"

She closed her eyes, and then opened them, looking back at Kurama. He was still gazing intently at her, emerald eyes boring into her. Fuko sighed, and then, with emotions welling up inside her, just…burst.

"I doubt…you could understand what it's like…to be a slave to something. Something that consumes you, controls you, hates you, but loves you…..it seeks to destroy you. You obey its orders without question…and then look in the mirror and hate yourself. With every passing day, the more it eats away at you, and the more it eats away at you, the more you despise the face looking back at you in the mirror…you weren't always that person in the mirror, you once were as good as anyone else, but no longer. You succumbed to the force that controls you completely, and every time you look at your reflection, it just shows you how utterly lost you are. How you are not the same person you once were, and never will be again! This, I severely doubt, you understand." There was about a minute of silence that passed, both gazing at each other, quiet and poker-faced as the radio continued it's tune at the chorus.

"I dare you to tell me to walk through the fire…!
Wear my soul and call me a liar.
I dare you to tell me to walk through the fire…!
I dare you to tell me…
I dare you to…!"

Kurama broke the silence.

"I do believe that I understand better than you'd give me credit for." He said quietly if not, a bit coldly. Fuko blinked.

"Oh?" She inquired.

"Hn. Apparently you know my real name, but not my past." Kurama stated with an odd half-smile on his face…in Fuko's opinion, a very un-him one.

"Care to enlighten me?" She queried. He gave a shrug.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, I was asking to be enlightened for this entire stretch of morning." He retorted coolly. Fuko scowled. He sighed.

"I was a thief…." He began, a distant look coming into his eyes.

"A thief?" Fuko inquired. He nodded, and continued,

"Yes, a thief; in fact, probably the most renowned of my time. I did the stuff of criminals. Murder, pillaging, and even worse things…my desire controlled me. The pure thrill of thievery was my sole purpose…my reason for being alive. That freedom I felt, the desire for more thrills and adventures…they were my driving factors. But it in my cold obedience to my desires, a few of my companions suffered. My closest friend Kuronue died to save me. I even sent someone after a member of my bandit ring to teach him a lesson. They were quite literally blinded. A bit ironic, since during this time I suppose you could call me blind, if not in anything but metaphor. But after a series of events, you could call it an epiphany I suppose; I was reborn into this human body and now am fighting on the opposite side. So yes, I do believe I'd know a bit of what your issue is like." Fuko was silent. This was…quite unexpected.

"No wonder this one is Karasu's pet." She thought bitterly. She looked up at him. His story was like hers…but he'd despise her even more if she were honest with him. She sang something under her breath; a verse of the song that played on the radio, though Kurama had ought to be singing it to her. He looked up.

"What was that?" He asked. A sad smile danced on Fuko's face as she sang again, what he should be saying to her,

"Even in madness, I know you still believe….
Paint me your canvas so I become…
What you could never be!"

There was movement heard as Hiei walked groggily into the room. Fuko smiled at Kurama, who seemed a bit puzzled by her song verse, and exited the kitchen. The song playing had been most helpful. Probably as helpful as Kurama's talk in itself…for she had to decide, and she knew, on what kind of person she was going to be. She walked back to her room, singing softly the first verse of the song again,

"Hello, let me introduce you to
The characters in the show,
One says yes, one says no…
Decide - which voice in your head you can keep alive?"

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