A/N: I'm really, really sorry that I can't update more often. School's such a drag.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho. Who would want to own Kuwabaka anyway?

Kurama stopped abruptly and Yurika skidded to a quick halt behind him. Together they stood in front of a house, which was very neither big nor very small. It was obvious that some parts of the building was not used, and crawling vines of weeds worked their way into the building through windows and the chimney. The woodwork wasn't fine in any sense and there were no architectural wonders about the place. In fact, it would be absolutely and completely commonplace and forgettable if it weren't for its obvious plainness, the lack of windows, and some curious black marks in some of the places in the walls.

"This the place?" Yurika asked.

Kurama nodded. "Yes, I saw a picture of young Kato in here a few months ago. I was arresting one of the sons for illegal practicing of alchemy. As far as I know, he's still in Spirit Prison and his father and sister still live here."

Yurika nodded. "You wait out here."

"No." Kurama stated firmly. "Your powers are basically nil and I'm ordered to help and protect you."

Yurika sighed. "Kurama, what I'm about to do isn't exactly legal, hell me being here isn't exactly legal since we're supposed to stay in the human world." She looked at him fiercely. "If you try to arrest me…"

"I know. You're going to kill me." Kurama raised his hands up in surrender and as a show of good faith. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

Yurika gave him a thin-lipped smile. "I'm glad we have an understanding. But…" She wavered for a moment. "I think it's obvious I'm not the same person I once was…"

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Kurama said, his tone light and casual.

"I suppose I deserved that." Yurika growled, but she didn't look fierce at all. In fact, Kurama could have sworn he saw a hint of remorse behind her guarded red eyes. "Anyway, my fighting and interrogating style isn't the same, so I suggest you stay out of it."

Kurama sighed heavily. "If that is what you wish, I will only intervene if necessary."

"I am grateful." Yurika said mechanically. She was preoccupied with fixating her swords to a better position on her hip. "Let's go.

She stepped up to the door. She knocked on it. She waited for a moment and knocked again, louder and longer. When there was no answer she sighed and rolled her red eyes toward Kurama.

"And this is where the fun begins." Yurika said with a gleam in her eye.

A moment later, the door was splinters on the brown grass. Yurika kicked at the bronze hinges that were hanging halfway off the doorframe. She eyes Kurama warily, as if expecting him to grab her and drag her back to the Rekki at any second. When he just stood there, with his hands behind his back and smiling, she shrugged and entered the house, Kurama tailing after her.

Kurama, being quite tall, had to duck a bit to get into the house. It was dimly lit, but he could tell that this was not a normal house. It smelled spiky, sour and smoky at the same time. It made Kurama's eyes water and rubbed his throat raw. There was no furniture, and only a single shelf stood out lonely from the wall, with bottles and books perched precariously on top of it. There was a starched goat hide pulled across one of the wall. It probably once was white and taunt, but now it had been yellowed and black mottled and hung loosely across the small opening.

He looked to the back wall, and saw what he was looking for. It was an oil painting of a very large family, though it was more aged and there were quite a few more stab marks though the youngest boy's, Kato's, forehead.

The room had never been painted, but the walls were black with smoke damage and mildewed from water spoiling . In the center of the floor, there was a fire pit, where the floorboards had been roughly scratched away to reveal dirt below. Blackened cinders lay in the pit, with silver utensils sitting next to it. Kurama frowned and approached the pit, while Yurika went to the shelf and picked up a book.

The silver utensils were the only things that had not tarnished. There was something that looked like a corkscrew for a champagne bottle, a spoon, a fire poker, and an assembly of knives. Kurama tentatively touched them. They were cool to the to his fingers, despite the heat of the room. He picked them up. The corkscrew was light and most likely made of tin or aluminum. The spoon and fire poker were heavier, but not quite what he would describe as heavy. The knives were definitely heavy and made of a different material than that of the others.

Why would they need these? He thought. They weren't here before, when I came last time… but they had known I was coming.

The smell… Youko was cringing.

Yes, that has been bothering me as well. Kurama agreed with his other half.

"Kurama!" Yurika hissed. "Move your fox ass before it gets seen!"

Kurama lifted his head from his work and jumped to where she was hiding behind the goat's hide. Yurika was tense, and looked prepared to spring. Two men came from the downstairs and exclaimed over the broken down door. One looked like a teenage Kato, no cheekbones, bright green eyes and brown curls. The other man was wizened, but obviously strong. He was probably Yurika and Kurama's ages mixed. Kurama could detect no great amount of ki, but both looked physically well built. If they weren't careful, the younger one might do something stupid and hasty.

As soon as both their backs were turned, Yurika swiftly and silently cam out form the room, and Kurama followed behind her. With a half yell, Yurika leaped upon the younger one, pinning him to the floor. The older man raised a knotted cane that Kurama had not seen before to Yurika's unsuspecting back.

"Rosewhip!"

The can snapped in two, and the man fell to the ground, unconscious. Yurika turned from where she was struggling to restrain the younger man, who was screaming, and nodded gratefully to him. Her right arm jerked a bit before she went back to her work.

She lifted the man with some difficulty and pinned him to the wall. She unhanded him, and before he could run away, she unsheathed her double katanas and crossed them in an X formation across his throat, the sharp points of the familiar blades easily sliding into the moldy wall, like a steak knife through butter.

A young woman with straight dirty hair came running down the staircase. When she saw the intruders, she screamed. Kurama calmly went up the steps and slapped her. When she looked at him with terrified eyes, he tried to make his face soften.

"If you do not fight back, you won't get hurt. We just need some information on a little boy that lived here a couple of decades ago." He turned his attention back to Yurika.

She growled at the petrified and immobile man. "What the hell did you to Kato?"

A/N: I know I'm an awful person for holding this poor chapter hostage for so long. Review!