'Kurama'... His name slipped off her tongue like water. He was an enigma, a mystery, and she hadn't seen his face in five days. It was odd that he had lied about his reasons for seeing her, unlike him to ignore her calls, strange that no one else had heard from him either, but downright perplexing that he hadn't spoken to his mother since a week ago. She hadn't thought that Kurama went more than a day without speaking to Shiori. It seemed as if she was the last one to have had any contact with the redhead at all. An odd fact considering that she probably had the least amount of contact with him overall. If Kurama was hiding something he was doing an excellent job of it. The guy had practically fallen of the face of the Earth. Not entirely implausible if it was remembered that he was truly a demon. 'Demon'.The memory of their last encounter entered Shizuru's mind for the third time that day. The way his demonic energy chilled her to the bone and his glowing yellow eyes felt as if they were burned into her subconscious. There was no way she could forget the way it felt to see him like that. However, more than scared, she felt worried. All of the signs were saying that something was wrong with Kurama and as soon as she realized it he had disappeared. Shizuru growled inwardly. The next time she saw Kurama she was really going to let him have it. 'Kurama'... There was that feeling again. Like his name was water on the tip of her tongue. It almost felt as if she could close her eyes and feel him next to her again. Shizuru slowly leaned her head back and closed her eyes. 'Kurama'. There he was. Right next to her. His red hair spilling onto her shoulder, his earthy smell warping her senses, his breath hot and heavy on the nape of her neck. So close she could feel his heart beating. Suddenly her eyes snapped open. It wasn't 'like' She could feel him. She 'could' feel him. There were no thoughts or questions as Shizuru snatched up her purse and slung it over her shoulder. The door to her apartment was even left slightly ajar in her haste. Without a doubt she knew Kurama needed her.

Being a poor freelance psychic Shizuru couldn't help but feel out of place in the swanky condominium building. Where on Earth did Kurama get the money to afford this place, and how could he stand the attitudes of the people there? The elevator ride up to Kurama's floor had to be the most uncomfortable one she had ever been on. It wasn't the first time she had been in an upscale environment and she didn't need to be psychic to understand the 'you dont belong here' stares. It was making her feel irritable to say the least. Something about the golden glow of the the lights and the way she could see her reflection in the tile of the lobby had put her on edge. Luckily for everyone in the elevator, especially the old lady giving her the stink eye, the glossy mahogany doors slid open right before she was about to speak her mind. With a final backwards glare Shizuru stalked out of the elevator and down the hall, brown hair swaying back and forth with the force of her frustration. After walking a few doors down the young woman stopped finally in from of a door marked 12B. She had never visited Kurama's home before but she knew he lived there by the chill she felt when she passed his door, which was unlocked. It made sense though. Why would Kurama need to lock his door? Anyone stupid enough to break into the home of one of the most powerful demons alive would probably be less than pleased with their results. As she stepped cautiously inside a brief look around the space confirmed that Kurama was not home. She expected that though. Nothing she did could ever be that easy. The condo was exactly as she had imagined. Clean, spartan and gave absolutely nothing away about the man who lived there. All in all about the only furniture he seemed to own was a brown leather couch and a coffee table. Probably a bed too, but she couldn't see his room. Though she doubted he used this place as much more than a place of rest. To find Kurama she would need to follow his trail of spiritual residue from a place where it was fairly concentrated and almost immediately she knew that she had come to the right place. As soon as she closed her eyes she was bombarded with him. It was like she was pressed against him and she could feel everything, even thoughts. Fragmented wisps of his thoughts slipped in and out of her brain. Not enough to read his mind, but enough to feel the emotion behind them. It was slowly becoming a struggle not to be overcome by his essence. Suddenly her attention became caught on a particularly strong strand of his subconscious. It pulled and tugged at her, fading into a faint sensation before surging to the forefront of her mind again. Shizuru focused her efforts on it and pushed those other thoughts into the background for the time being. This feeling that was slowly engulfing her was angry and doubtful. Kurama's brown knit together in frustration popped into her mind's eye. Directly following the image was a sense of sorrow. She had had enough. With a shake of her head Shizuru pulled herself from Kurama's subconscious and once again left the door ajar in her haste away.

She should have known he'd be here, she berated herself. The forest was just outside of the city. He was always somehow drawn to areas with few people. A cold fog slowly began to roll in and Shizuru could only hope that it was a sign she was getting closer. She could definitely feel him more strongly. His spiritual energy was so strong now that she had to let it go to prevent the headache that normally accompanied holding onto the spiritual energy of one so close. The fog grew thicker and what light or warmth there was was nearly nonexistent. The only thing she could see was the shimmer of what appeared to be spun silver. Silver? Shizuru rushed forward with all the energy that hadn't been zapped by the unusual atmosphere and found on the ground before her a heavily sleeping Yoko Kurama. Silver hair fanned around him, prone form strewn innocuously over the barren ground. His breath escaped in short puffs and it seemed as if he was having one of his nightmares again. The visible clenching of his jaw beging the first thing to alert her to his less than pleasant dreams. As her eyes roamed over the sleeping fox's demon form Shizuru was unable to keep from noticing the differences. Yoko Kurama's form was lean, but obviously powerful. His arms tensed and flexed involuntarily, displaying the thick rope of muscle tightly coiled beneath the surface. While she knew Kurama's other form was not scrawny, this form appeared to have the body of an olympic swimmer. Not only that, but he was taller as well she noticed not too enthusiastically. By at least seven inches. How the heck was she supposed to pick him up? It was that or call someone for help. She was sure that Kurama would rather lay there helpless than let one person know that he was struggling so much. He would probably be less than thrilled that she knew, though it was more his fault than hers. Who told him to act all weird around a psychic? She glanced down once more and this time she noticed his face. It was much more angular than the Kurama's she was accustomed to. Looking at this face she could see the cold calculating Kurama that the others knew. How much of himself had he been hiding from her? As she peered into his sleeping face Shizuru felt her body lowering itself onto her knees, but was less than aware of it. She brought a hand up to his face, and more delicately than even she knew she could, brushed a strand of hair away from his cheek leaving her palm resting there in its stead. She chuckled softly to herself before whispering.

"What would Kazuma say if he could see me now?"

She had always been more of the type to think out loud.

"I doubt he would know what to say."

The chuckle evaporated in the air as amber suddenly clashed with vibrant yellow. The voice that had come from Yoko Kurama was indeed the voice of Yoko Kurama, yet the hardness of the tone surprised her. She had half been expecting it to still be Kurama's gentleness beneath his transformed exterior. Left speechless for one of the few times in her life, Shizuru sat dumbly trying to figure out what happened as her hand instinctively cradled Yoko Kurama's head and helped him into a sitting position. He gave her a sharp look once he was up and she pulled her hand away as if burned, making a mental note of how he winced trying to sit up. For a moment she waited. He was obviously in terrible condition and he was breathing fairly heavily. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. He spoke instead.

"You shouldn't be here."

"You're hurt."

"How did you find me?"

"I could feel your spiritual energy."

Pause. He was winded again. Shizuru sat patiently as she watched him, watch her. As his yellow eyes appraised her she could almost see how quickly he was calculating this new development. Silently he forced himself from the ground into a standing position and Shizuru followed suit, albeit, with much greater ease.

"You need to leave."

He turned away from her then and Shizuru did something that she immediately regretted. She reached out and grabbed his hand. As soon as she did that the air gained a foreboding chill that made her spine tingle. His back still facing her though, Shizuru felt herself emboldened.

"You need to leave too. Only an idiot would keep pushing himself like this when its all he can do to pass out all over the place!"

Faster than she expected he whipped around to face her, face glowing with rage, yellow eyes alight. His hand had now caught hers in an iron grip and she mused at the irony of the act. Even at his weakest he was still strong enough to hurt her.

"You know nothing of what I must do!"

Shizuru fruitlessly tried pulling her hand from his grasp but eventually gave up. If it meant he would stop doing whatever it was that was causing him so much pain then she thought it was worth it. He still needed her help.

"I'm not going to let you destroy yourself! You're lucky I found you. What if some monster had found you instead?"

"I can take care of myself. You would do well to stay out my way."

Yoko Kurama released her hands and began to walk away. Shizuru slowly rubbed the painful place where he had held her. It was probably going to bruise.

"I'll tell the others."

Just barely above a whisper. Kurama froze in his tracks and Shizuru repeated herself louder this time.

"I'm going to tell the others that something is wrong with you if you don't agree to talk to me yourself."

He hadn't spoken a word, but Shizuru could tell he understood.