A/N: Sooooooobbbbbbooooooooorrrrrrrrrrreeeeeddddd.
Disclaimer: If this will help you from ending up like me (see above) then I'll say it. I do not own Yuyu Hakusho.
Amazingly, Yurika made it through the day without getting a detention or getting into any fights. Jun and her were able to go into the alleyway and she was able to picked herself up within two minutes. The pain was getting easier. Jun was carried yet again by Kuwabara, and Yusuke went off to meet Keiko. Hiei and Yurika walked behind them and didn't have another mind conversation. If Kurama weren't focusing on that morning, he would have actually been content.
But he was concentrating on that morning. A thin line between right and wrong…
Like when I used to steal stuff. It was right, because I got to eat.
Quiet. Her eyes… They seemed like they were trying to tell me something… something important…
"Ow!" He tripped and landed o the steps of Genkai's temple, hitting his chest.
Only Kuwabara and Jun, who by now was walking, turned around. Kurama got up. And continued up to Genkkai's temple. The old woman was on the couch, reading.
"Genkai, may I use your pot and metal spoon?" Yurika asked politely. Kurama wondered why the old woman and the young demon got along so well.
Genaki managed a curt nod. Yurika disappeared into the kitchen, then crossed the living room and down the hallway. A second later there was banging and yelling. Kato came running out of the room, holding a tall staff, Yurika following, now in her normal clothes, looking bored and banging on the pot, and making the demons wince. She followed the boy outside and closed the door behind them.
Genkai grinned at the boys. "That's why I like her so much. She should take over for me when I retire."
Kurama heard sharp words outside. He left the house to make sure Kato was all right. Kato was attempting to hit Yurika with the long pole.
"Arms up!" Yurika said, before knocking the small boy to the ground.
He landed with a groan, before getting up again. Kurama was surprised to see that Yurika let him. He expected her to be more merciless. Kato once again tried to hit Yurika, and she had him on the ground a moment later. Kurama watched them like a hawk for a half hour before Yurika caught Kato's pole and pulled it out of his grasp. He stumbled forward from his thrust, and Yurika let him crash into her bony legs.
"This is taking too long. Run around the yard until you collapse." Yurika said, turning around. When Kato didn't move she turned so that one crimson eye glared at him. "I wasn't kidding."
The boy snapped to attention and began to run around the yard. Yurika moved past Kurama and into the house, poles in hand. She was back a second later, a shovel with Reseph in it in hand. She ignored him and sat down on the grass. She sat still for a few seconds while Reseph smoldered.
Kurama raised an eyebrow, as a grown man's arm seemed to solidify and move out of the moving fire to grab a stick. He reminded himself that Reseph was a lightning demon not a fire demon, therefore able to solidify easily.
"Why are you here, fox?" Yurika asked stonily.
Kurama jumped but kept calm. "To make sure you don't kill your ward." He said, returning her tone. He hadn't been this cold to anyone except demons trying to kill him since… when he lived in the Maki.
"Ohhhh… bad words buddy." Reseph said.
"I would never be that careless." Yurika said in a monotone her eyes were closed and she seemed to be meditating.
Kurama wasn't sure how to respond, so he didn't and continued to stand in silence. A half hour later, Kato seemed to drag himself across the yard, but did not complain. Genaki came out.
"Wow, and Yusuke complained when I taught him." She went back in.
A few minutes later, Yurika's eyes snapped open. "Kato." She said, not bothering to raise her voice, though he was on the other side of the yard.
The boy walked over, going as fast as his tired legs could. He bowed. "Yes, Miss Yurika?"
"Sit." The boy did as she told him. "Do not be afraid."
Yurika's hand reached for the shovel. She picked Reseph up, and slid and hand under the flame. A moment later, Reseph was in the boy's hand and flames engulfed him. Kurama started forward with a cry.
"What the hell?" He rushed forward, but Yurika neatly tripped him.
Both got a glazed look over their eyes. In the same moment, they were both hit by deja vu (A/N: My computer won't let me spell that right). A teasing, a laugh, a stomp, a trip. Yurika moved her head slightly, her version of shaking the memory away.
She turned back to him. "If you cannot handle the lesson, then I suggest that you do not attend the class." She said coldly.
At that moment, Jun came outside. She seemed to disregard the burning boy, and went straight for Kurama. "Are you all right? Come on, let me help you." She helped him to his feet and practically dragged him inside with more tact than the fan girls in school could manage.
She checked him for injuries and demanded he stay inside and wait for soup. He looked outside longingly. One side of him really hoped Kato would be okay, but another side of him basically yelled at him for thinking he would be anything but. He frowned. That was the old Yurika. But still… he's a child.
Yurika glared after the two. She didn't know why she felt angry with them for leaving. I'm not jealous, please. I… want them to know that I'm not hurting… OW! Her hand clapped over her mark.
"How does it feel, Kato?" She asked, wincing slightly with the pain of her mark.
"Tickly. In my head and in my stomach." The boy replied. "Miss Yurika, how come my hand looks like this?"
Yurika lurched forward. Nothing physical should have changed but… his right hand was twice the size of his left! She remembered when he first came to her, running away from his mother. She had taken him in, and ignored the spiky scent of bad alchemy. She had watched him for six months, but obviously not close enough.
"Oh, Kato. What did they do to you?"
A/N: Uh-oh. Problems? Yes. Review.