Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters, much to my disappointment and what I'm sure is everyone else's relief

Karasu stood frowning in front of the bathroom mirror. He decided to try one more time. Karasu composed himself and began to hold his breath, waiting. Almost immediately, his hair turned to its usual jet black. He checked to make sure he couldn't see any blond before slowly releasing the breath he was holding. So far so good, his hair was still black. Now came the final test. Karasu tensed and quickly took a small breath in before releasing it just as fast. Not that it mattered, because as soon as he breathed in, his hair turned blond and wavy again.

He growled as he ran a hand through his blond locks in frustration. His hand got caught in the curls, which only added to his growing anger. Why hadn't it worked? It always worked before! Karasu glared at his reflection in the mirror as if it had been responsible for the state of his hair.

It wasn't just the hair, though, as much as he hated it. Karasu knew that the only reason his hair turned this color was because his explosive power was now inside him, effectively turning him into a walking, talking bomb. While he had been working on controlling this power, Karasu knew that it was still unstable and anything could set it off. Which is why he needed to purge the power from his body. Before now, all he had to do was stop breathing for a few seconds. But for whatever reason, that wasn't enough anymore.

A knock on the door jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Karasu, are you almost done in there?" Bui. What was he doing back from training so soon? Whatever, it wasn't really important.

"No," he called back. He heard Bui sigh.

"Look, I know you like to stare at your reflection, but I need to get something."

Karasu contemplated staying where he was just to spite Bui, but decided not to. After all, staring at the mirror wasn't going to help him anymore. He unlocked the door and stepped out, allowing Bui access while he went to go sit on the couch.

A couple minutes later, Karasu heard the toilet flush and Bui stepped out.

"I thought you had to get something?" Karasu asked. Bui just shrugged.

"If I had said I had to go, you wouldn't have let me in." Karasu smiled a little. It was a game they liked to play…or at least Karasu liked to play. Bui never seemed to enjoy it very much. Still, Karasu had more pressing issues, like-

"Why is your hair still blond?"

That.

Karasu sighed. "I wish I could tell you Bui, but I have no idea. It won't turn back."

"Why not?"

Karasu turned and glared at him from the couch. "Are you even listening? I don't know!"

Bui held up his hands. "Ok, calm down. We'll figure it out."

"How?"

"I said 'we'll figure it out,' not 'I have an answer,'" Bui said. Karasu glared at him, but then silence fell between them as they both started thinking. Bui suddenly snapped his fingers.

"I have an idea!" Karasu turned to face him again.

"Well?"

"It's so simple," Bui said. "Stop breathing."

"…What?"

"It will solve all of our problems! You don't have to deal with your blond hair, and I won't have to share a bathroom anymore!"

If looks could kill, Bui would be dead a thousand times over. Bui shrugged sheepishly.

"It was worth a try," he said. "Unfortunately, that was the only thing I could think of."

"Wow, you're so helpful," Karasu deadpanned.

"Well, maybe you should ask Toguro," Bui said. Karasu glared at him again, but Bui held his ground this time. "Look, I hate them too, but unless you can think of something better before you explode, that's all I have for you." With that, he left. Bui decided to go find some cover, just in case Karasu did blow up.

Karasu sat there, debating with himself for a minute. There really wasn't a choice, but Karasu liked to think that there was. Eventually, he got up and went to go find younger Toguro.

He finally found him where they trained every day. Toguro punched the sandbag almost lazily, and yet it still looked like it was taking quite a beating. Karasu thought about interrupting him, until he remembered what happened last time, so he just watched impatiently until Toguro finished.

"What are you doing here, Karasu?"

"I have a problem." Toguro looked over at Karasu, and he smirked a little at the demon's predicament.

"I take it your hair has something to do with it." Karasu glared, but didn't say anything. Toguro's smirk grew a little before he beckoned Karasu to follow him. Toguro knew this day was coming and had prepared accordingly for it.

They made their way to Toguro's room, where he rummaged through a drawer before pulling out something and tossing it to Karasu, who caught it and looked at it with interest.

"What is this?"

"A surgeon mask," Toguro replied. "It should hold you over for now until we can find a better mask for you." Karasu stared at the white object a little longer before putting it on.

"I feel ridiculous."

Toguro shrugged. "Well, it worked, anyway." Karasu's hair had gone back to its original black after the mask had been secured on his face. "But if you don't want it, hand it over, and you can go back to being an explosion waiting to happen."

Karasu sighed and shook his head before walking away.

Toguro stared after him. Karasu had become a whole lot stronger than when they first fought. Unfortunately, he still had a long way to go before he was ready to fight for his freedom.

Suddenly, a loud, booming laughter sounded, followed by a series of explosions, shouting, and pounding feet.

Toguro sighed heavily, and went off to stop Karasu from killing Bui.