Chapter 14 – Three Halves
"Is there anything else you're hiding from me? Because if there is, it would be in your best interests to come clean now, before we go to demon world and this whole matter becomes infinitely more complex."
Yasashi chewed on her lip in a way that Kurama had seen her do before – and yet he felt that it reminded him of something else. He felt as though he had seen the exact same gesture on someone else in the past few days when he had been attempting to pressure someone into confessing the truth. Had it been Yukina perhaps?
"Yes."
Kurama focused his attention back onto Yasashi, narrowing his eyes at her expectantly.
"Yes there is something else?" he pressed when she said no more.
"Yes, there is something else I haven't been completely honest with you about," she replied.
"Then now is the time to do so," Kurama told her. "Because until you do, I will not only hold onto your raspberry sundae, I will also hold onto the rest of these seeds I have taken from you."
Yasashi smiled, though her eyes looked suddenly very saddened.
"It's strange, I've heard you talk that way so many times before and I've always thought you sounded so cool and in control and clever," she said. "But it's an entirely different feeling to be on the receiving end of your threats."
"I can't help you unless you are honest with me," Kurama answered her. "And I do want to help you but I will need you to be honest with me."
"Okay… I can do that…"
Yasashi took a step forward, but only when she met Kurama's eyes did he become acutely aware of how close she was to him.
"It's about…" she began, her voice barely above a whisper. "Well I suppose it's about… If Superman is called Clark Kent when he changes into his human form, what is Wonder Woman called when she changes out of her… Less powerful form?"
"Diana," Kurama replied.
Yasashi smiled briefly.
"You didn't even hesitate," she said when she saw the curious look in Kurama's eyes. "Are you sure those comic books don't belong to you, Shuichi?"
"Please, no more games Yasashi," Kurama replied, keeping his voice as soft as hers was. "We have precious little time for frivolity now."
Yasashi chewed at her lip again and nodded.
"If Clark Kent and Superman had feelings for Wonder Woman, why didn't either Superman or Clark Kent ever have feelings for Diana?" she asked.
Kurama frowned.
"Are you asking me if I was attracted to you in your spirit form?" he asked.
"I maybe wasn't aware that I was a demon in disguise, but I don't think I was so different when I lived in spirit world," she replied. "But I don't remember you ever flirting with me when I was in my spirit body. Well – apart from that one time – which seems so awkward now when I think about it – had I known then what I do now – well…"
"My life as Shuichi is not eternal and your life in spirit world would never have been so either," Kurama reminded her. "One day I am destined to return to my life as Yoko just as you have returned to your life as Yasashi. I believe that, had it not happened now, you would surely one day have returned to your original form and we would have been reunited."
"I see. Then I only have one more question."
"Yes?"
"Did Wonder Woman ever kiss Clark Kent?"
"I don't see how that's relevant to the–"
Kurama's voice turned into a muffled noise of surprise as Yasashi's lips crashed into his in an awkward, urgent gesture that ended almost as quickly as it began. As she leaned back from him he stared at her unblinkingly, unsure if she had even meant to do what she just had.
"Wow," she whispered.
"I can do better…" Kurama faintly replied.
She frowned and he briefly wondered if he had overstepped the mark with his last words; but his concern shortly gave way to bewilderment when Yasashi swiped her thumb over his top lip, her head tilting as she did so.
"You have facial hair in that body," she commented as she retracted her hand.
"Yes I didn't shave this morning," Kurama replied. "It's one of the quirks of humanity."
"Demons can have facial hair too," Yasashi said.
"Most don't though," Kurama said. "Including me. But I digress: we no more have time to discuss facial hair than we do–"
Kurama was cut off once again when Yasashi silenced him with another kiss. When she held her lips against his and lightly touched her hands to his shoulders he allowed himself to relax outwardly, but inwardly he felt conflicted: back when he and Yasashi had both lived in demon world, between her reigning over a rampant rebellion and his leadership of a group of highly successful thieves, there was little time for the two of them to ever really get to know each other and, thanks to the enormous bounty on Yasashi's head and most of Kurama's fellow bandits wishing to cash it in, there was little opportunity for either of them to get any closer than the occasional sparring sessions they shared when they did cross paths. And, he thought, feeling both bitter and darkly amused by the irony, now was no different: in less than a day Yasashi would return to her old life in demon world and he would remain in the living world and even when he was able to visit his home world, it was unlikely that they would cross paths.
"Why are we doing this?" he asked through a sigh as she broke the contact again.
She had moved away, but she was still close enough that just the slightest movement from either of them would bring their lips together again.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Why are we torturing ourselves like this?" he asked. "We both know this can't be."
"Unlike you Kurama, I don't like to plan out the future in such detail," she replied. "I didn't think I would ever see you again after Iruka struck me down. Maybe we should both just be thankful that we were given one more moment together."
"I suppose it's unfortunate that neither of us realised who you were all this time you've been in spirit world."
Yasashi hesitated, giving Kurama a slightly strange look. He thought she wanted to say something more on the matter, but she forcibly changed her expression into a smile.
"Maybe this moment is the only one we were ever meant to have," she said instead.
"Maybe so, and as you are facing a tremendous challenge, we should spend the time we do have preparing," Kurama replied. "It's not just confronting the loyalists that you will have to contend with, you need to be fit to maintain your own and your followers' existence in demon world and that will require–"
Kurama stopped as Yasashi pressed her fingers against his mouth.
"I've waited thirty years to see you again," she said. "I don't think fate or anyone in demon world or spirit world or this world would begrudge us thirty seconds and just one more kiss."
Kurama tried to answer her but as soon as she had lifted her fingers from his mouth she moved in to kiss him again, moving her arms around his shoulders to enclose him into an embrace. Logically he knew that what was happening was neither productive nor prudent; but it was oddly satisfying to finally have Yasashi close and taking him a little more seriously, especially as he was still in the body of Shuichi Minamino, and so he closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around her waist and relaxed into the moment.
"Ooh, bow chicka wow wow!"
Kurama broke contact, trying to ignore the most delightful way Yasashi looked at him when she opened her eyes, turning his attention instead to the source of the noise, finding Yusuke and Tora standing a short distance away.
"Don't let us interrupt," Yusuke said, wiggling his eyebrows.
"We were just sparring," Kurama replied.
"Oh I can see that," Yusuke replied. "Because when you two spar, it's never about training, it's always about dancing, and making out, and flirting, and–"
"Yusuke, please…" Kurama cut him off.
"Hey, I actually was being helpful," Yusuke replied defensively. "I was trying to spar with the edgy side-kick here, but she's dragging her leg around like Quasimodo, so I was gonna take her back to the hotel and fix her up one of my specials: because Yukina's healing magic is great, but there's nothing my fish stew can't heal."
Kurama turned to Yasashi who gave him a sad smile before stepping back and sliding her arms from his shoulders.
"I'll help you back to the hotel, Tora," she said, looking over at her friend. "Food sounds good, and Yukina is probably tired of cooking for us all, so it would be great if you took a turn, Yusuke. You and Kurama go ahead, we'll catch up to you shortly."
Kurama wanted to argue Yasashi's words, but before he could think of a solid reason to dispute her decision, Yusuke was at his side and already bragging about his culinary talents. He reluctantly followed Yusuke back through the trees, leaving the two cat demons behind.
"Looks like he dropped something in his hurry to get his hands on your ass," Tora said once they were out of earshot.
She hobbled over to Yasashi's side and crouched down, retrieving a ball of string and a handful of seeds.
"Then our plan is one third complete," Yasashi said sadly.
Tora stood up again, holding out the items she had recovered. Yasashi removed her hands from behind her back, letting one drop to her side and holding the other up in the air between them. Tora grinned as her eyes landed on the pink and cream peony her leader had always prized.
"Alright!" Tora said. "We got the raspberry sundae back!"
"He was hiding it in his hair," Yasashi said before slipping the flower up one sleeve and then taking back her seeds and ball of string from Tora.
"Lucky for us he lacks originality, huh?" Tora replied. "Too bad you had to get your hands so dirty to get it back. Was it really awful getting that close to "Shuichi"?"
Yasashi took a step forward and grabbed a handful of Tora's vest. Tora's grin slowly faded as she saw the intense look in her leader's eyes.
"I need you to do two things for me, Tora," Yasashi said in a low voice that bordered on a threatening growl. "I need you to keep focused while we finish this and I need you to never miscall Shuichi or Kurama ever again."
"What about Yoko?" Tora asked, attempting a smile.
Yasashi's eyes darkened and Tora's smile vanished.
"Okay, I can do that," she said in a small voice.
Yasashi nodded and released her.
"Then let's make a start on part two of our plan," she said.
She started to walk on in the direction Yusuke and Kurama had left in, but stopped after a few steps when she realised that Tora was not following her. She turned her head to look back over her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Tora limped over to join her at her side, avoiding looking her directly in the eye.
"Hey, I'm… I'm really sorry about what happened when I first encountered you in your spirit form."
Yasashi made a small noise of acknowledgement, but Tora kept her eyes down.
"If I'd known it was you, I never would have… You know…" she said.
"You mean if you had known it was me, you never would have dragged me out of the air and called me a servant, not even worthy of being a hostage?" Yasashi asked.
Tora slowly lifted her eyes to Yasashi, grinning nervously.
"It's alright," Yasashi said with a smile. "I didn't want to be your hostage anyway. And you were right that I would have been of no use to you, back then I had no idea I was actually your superior; though if you'd come any closer to me, I would have used my baseball bat on you."
"Did I mention how great it is to have you back?" Tora asked.
Yasashi smiled and pulled Tora's arm around her shoulder, putting her own arm around Tora's waist and helping her to support her weight at the side of her injured leg.
"I missed you too," Yasashi told her as they started to walk on.
As Puu soared through the portal to the living world, Keiko shook her head.
"Really?" she asked. "You really think Koenma cares so much about Yasashi that he would go to demon world to fight?"
"He did it for Yusuke," Shizuru replied. "And I think he's burdened by guilt because he didn't uphold his end of the bargain spirit world made with the rebels."
"That's crazy," Keiko said, shaking her head again. "I can't believe Koenma is being held in a guarded room because nobody trusts him not to go to demon world to get involved in a demon problem. Yusuke was right: spirit world really is so messed up! And I can't believe they've locked up poor Botan too!"
When Shizuru did not reply after several seconds, Keiko turned to her, finding her looking straight ahead, her eyes thinned slightly and her jaw tense.
"We should have visited Botan while we were waiting to see Koenma," Keiko added. "She's probably really upset. It seems like they're blaming her for nothing: she didn't know what Koenma was up to, right?"
When Shizuru still did not answer her, Keiko began to grow concerned.
"Wait, did Botan know what Koenma was up to?" she asked. "It sort of seemed like they were at loggerheads after Yukina had her operation, like they were disagreeing about something bigger than whether or not Botan should be allowed to use her healing magic… Did Botan know all along? Did she want to tell us the truth but he wouldn't let her? Oh poor Botan, she must have felt so guilty! It must have been so hard for her, torn between her sense of duty and her sense of loyalty to her friends…"
"Keiko, this whole cat demon situation is very complex," Shizuru said quietly. "It's not over yet and Botan definitely had an important role in everything that's happened lately. I'm not entirely sure of how it all happened, but as soon as I figure it out, I'll fill you in on the details. Until then, I need you to trust me."
Keiko pulled a face at Shizuru, but Shizuru kept her eyes forward.
"You sound like Yasashi now!" she said, trying to lighten the mood. "Why wouldn't I trust you, Shizuru?"
"Because I'm going to ask you to do something and when I do, you're gonna think I'm crazy," Shizuru replied.
"Okay…" Keiko said slowly.
"I'm taking us back to your house."
"I thought we were going back to the island? It's only six o'clock, we still have time to spend a couple of hours with the cat demons to find out what things will be like in demon world."
"Now that I understand things a little better, our plans have changed."
"…They have?"
"Yes. I'm taking you home and I want you to pack everything you need and tell your parents you're leaving tonight."
"We're going to demon world tonight?"
"No, we're going to stay in a hotel on the other side of town."
"We are?"
"Yes. But first we both need to pack and then we need to stop off at the hardware store."
Keiko's face dropped.
"Okay, now I really am confused!" she said. "You really are sounding like New Kurama, and I really feel like New Yusuke over here: everything is going way over my head and I just want some straight answers!"
Keiko waited for an answer – any response at all – from Shizuru, but none came, and Puu shortly landed in the fortuitously empty baseball field near Keiko's house.
"Go pack," Shizuru said to her. "I'm going to my place to pack, I'll pick you up in my car when I'm done and we'll get the masks and then go to the hotel."
"Masks?" Keiko yelped as Shizuru leapt from Puu's back. "What do we need masks for?"
"I'll explain later," Shizuru called back up to her. "Can you remember all those talismans Kuroko taught us?"
"Yeah, I wrote them all down in my notebook," Keiko replied.
"Good, I'm terrible at remembering hard facts. This is why you and me make such a good team, kid."
Keiko watched Shizuru walk off, feeling even more confused than ever.
"Send Puu to the woods on the west side of the city," Shizuru called back over her shoulder. "We'll need him there for the morning."
"The woods on the west side?" Keiko called after her. "But that's the opposite side of the city that the harbour is on! Why are you sending him so far away?"
"We're staying in the Westhill Inn tonight, so he'll be close."
Keiko made a noise of confusion, but Shizuru was moving quickly and probably had not even heard her. She turned to look at Puu, who was watching her out of the corner of one eye.
"Do you know where to go, Puu?" she asked.
Puu cheerfully called out his own name and looked confident and so Keiko trusted that he did. She jumped off his back and stepped back as he stood up to leave. She pressed her hands to her hair at the sides of her neck, holding it down as Puu took off. She waited until he was out of sight before looking about herself, seeing that Shizuru had vanished too. And, standing alone in the middle of the diamond of the baseball field, Keiko found herself experiencing a very strange feeling: for the first time since becoming spirit detective she was filled with doubts that had absolutely nothing to do with her own ability to do the job asked of her.
Kurama tensed as Yusuke shouted out again.
"What are you doing?" he asked when Yusuke caught the strained look he was giving him.
"What does it sound like I'm doing?" Yusuke asked sarcastically, before yelling out the same strangled cry yet again.
"It sounds like you're attempting to mimic a turkey," Kurama told him.
"Puu is not a turkey, he's a noble eagle!"
Yusuke made the noise again and Kurama was relieved to hear Kuwabara snort an instant ahead of the involuntary smile that appeared on his own face.
"Something funny, Kuwabara?" Yusuke snapped.
"Puu's not an eagle, Urameshi," Kuwabara replied.
"Yeah he is!" Yusuke argued back. "Tell him, Kurama!"
Kurama held up his hands.
"Please, leave me out of this," he said.
"Yukina said Puu is a swan."
Yusuke glared at Kuwabara in a way that made Kurama slide along the wall he was sitting on to distance himself from what he sensed was an impending brawl.
"Puu is not a damned swan!" Yusuke insisted.
"But he has that long neck, and his head is kinda the same shape as a swan's," Kuwabara replied, seemingly unaware of the increasing danger he was in with every word he uttered.
"He's blue and he has ears!" Yusuke said. "How many blue swans have you seen that have ears?"
"None," Kuwabara replied.
"Exactly!"
"I haven't seen any blue eagles with ears either."
"Puu is my spirit beast, you idiot! He's a reflection of me! If he's a swan then that means I'm swanlike! Do you think I'm swanlike? Who the hell do you think I am over here, Princess Odette?"
"Who the heck is Princess Odette?"
"The swan princess!"
"…The swan princess?"
"From Swan Lake!"
"…What the heck is "Swan Lake"?"
"It's a ballet, you idiot!"
"…I didn't know you were into ballet, Urameshi…"
There was a short silence, during which Kuwabara looked unsure whether he was amused or concerned by Yusuke's confession and Kurama slid further away from the duo.
"I'm not into ballet!" Yusuke eventually recovered. "Keiko wanted to go so I took her to the dumb show for her birthday!"
"And you read the programme to find out what the lead character was called?" Kuwabara asked.
"Yeah, well, I wanted to know what the hell all the skipping about was supposed to mean!" Yusuke shot back.
"I just can't believe you paid money to watch men in tights, Urameshi."
"There weren't any men in the show!"
"Yeah there were! What about Prince Siegfried and Rothbart?"
Kurama snorted involuntarily as both boys fell silent and stared at each other in horrified disbelief.
"You went to the ballet too!" Yusuke said, pointing an accusing finger at Kuwabara.
"Yeah but I enjoy the poetic majesty of the dance!" Kuwabara replied.
"Oh yeah?" Yusuke yelled. "Well I only went because there were lots of hot women in frilly miniskirts doing the splits!"
"That's disgusting, Urameshi!"
"It's better than going because of the "poetic majesty"!"
"I have a very artistic soul!"
"Then why the hell were you laughing at me for going to the ballet?"
"Because it's not the sort of thing you would usually do!"
"I did it for Keiko!"
"But obviously you liked it too because you bought and read the programme and you remembered the characters' names!"
"So did you!"
"I never said I didn't like the ballet!"
Kurama stood up and put a hand on Yusuke's arm.
"As much fun as this newfound artistic rapport is to listen to, it's starting to distract from problem at hand," he said.
"I'm not some kinda metrosexual asshole who likes girly things!" Yusuke snapped at him.
"I never said that you were," Kurama assured him. "But the fact still remains that we have been here for the best part of half an hour and your spirit beast hasn't responded to you calling his name, your attempts to use telepathy or your wild turkey calls."
"Puu's not a turkey!" Yusuke responded.
"Regardless, he is still missing," Kurama replied.
Yusuke looked up at the sky and appeared to think about what Kurama had said.
"Keiko thinks Puu's an egret," the mazoku said after some consideration.
"Oh yeah, that makes sense," Kuwabara agreed. "I could see that."
"Egrets kick ass," Yusuke added.
Kurama contained a sigh of frustration.
"Can you think of a reason why Puu might not be responding to your calls?" he asked, hoping to keep Yusuke focused on the problem at hand.
"I dunno, but I'm pretty sure I'd know if something bad had happened to him," Yusuke replied.
"Maybe he's with Yukina," Kuwabara said.
"He would've come by now if he was still on the island somewhere," Yusuke said. "He must have left."
"Why would he leave?" Kurama asked.
"Maybe Keiko and my sister took him with them when they left."
Kurama and Yusuke both turned to Kuwabara, who was still sitting on the wall, his legs dangling down and his shoulders hunched over so that he could rest his elbows on his knees. With his head down and with both Yusuke and Kurama standing at his side, Kuwabara appeared not to notice the way they were both glaring at him.
"Keiko and Shizuru left the island?" Kurama asked. "When did they leave?"
"Pretty much right after they got here," Kuwabara casually replied. "Probably just as well though, right? Before they went, Keiko was talking about coming with us to demon world to fight the bad cat demons."
Yusuke turned to Kurama, who gave a small shake of his head to show that he was just as perplexed by what Kuwabara was talking about.
"Any reason why you didn't tell us they left?" Yusuke asked, turning back to Kuwabara.
"I thought they just went to find a toilet or something," Kuwabara replied. "Then when they didn't come back after an hour, I started to get suspicious."
"Well where the hell did they go?" Yusuke demanded.
"They can't have gone far: there was no boat for them to return to the mainland on," Kurama pointed out.
"Unless they took Puu," Kuwabara casually suggested. "Oh hey, maybe that's where Puu went."
Yusuke raised a fist above Kuwabara's head but Kurama quickly grabbed his arm to stop him from enacting his threat.
"Why would they leave?" he said when Yusuke turned to him questioningly. "When they came to the island with me this morning they seemed quite determined to stay. Something drastic must have occurred for them to change their minds so quickly."
"I can't believe they just took Puu!" Yusuke complained. "And they didn't even send him back!"
"Hey Urameshi, maybe you should start charging people for heron Puu."
Yusuke's face dropped.
"Was that meant to sound like "hiring Puu"?" Kurama asked.
"…It sounded way better in my head…" Kuwabara muttered.
"A valiant effort, but let's leave aside the avian and taxi themed puns for now," Kurama replied. "Do either of you have a method for communicating with Keiko or Shizuru?"
Kurama waited for a few seconds, watching Yusuke and Kuwabara exchange confused looks.
"Neither of you carry a mobile phone?" he pressed.
"What the hell would I need a mobile phone for?" Yusuke asked.
"Calling people when they take your spirit beast?" Kurama curtly replied.
"Hey, I'm a demon," Yusuke said. "And any time I need to find someone I already have two ways of finding them: communication mirror or Hiei's extra eyeball."
"And in Hiei's absence, do you have a communication mirror to hand?" Kurama asked.
Yusuke turned to Kuwabara, who shrugged.
"Don't look at me," he said. "I don't carry any of that stuff around any more."
"Okay, I have a mobile phone in my briefcase back inside the hotel," Kurama said.
"If you had a phone this whole time, why are giving us a hard time for not having one?" Yusuke asked.
"Do either of you know Keiko's or Shizuru's mobile phone number?"
Yusuke turned to Kuwabara again and Kurama sighed.
"This is getting us nowhere," he said tightly. "I suggest we all return to the mainland and find out where the girls are."
"They probably just went home," Yusuke said. "If we go looking for them they might start thinking they can come to demon world with us."
"Yeah, it's bad enough Yukina wants to go, but Keiko and Shizuru won't last five minutes in demon world," Kuwabara agreed.
"That is of course assuming that the girls haven't already gone to demon world in their inexplicable and unfounded zeal to be a part of this."
Kuwabara leapt to his feet on the wall and Yusuke rounded on Kurama.
"You don't think they actually went to demon world, do you Kurama?" Kuwabara asked.
"No way!" Yusuke added.
"The only way we can know for sure is to track them down," Kurama replied. "Which I suggest we do so immediately. Meet me at the beach, I will let the others know we are leaving for the day."
Kurama jumped off the wall but paused when he noticed the fixed shadow on the ground at his feet. He looked back over his shoulder to find out why Kuwabara had not left as Yusuke had.
"Well, if you get to go back and say goodnight to your girlfriend, it's only fair that I get to go back and say goodnight to Yukina," Kuwabara grumbled as their eyes met.
"Yasashi is not my girlfriend," Kurama said before starting back towards the hotel entrance.
He did not wait to find out if Kuwabara would follow, instead quickly searching out Yasashi, who he eventually located polishing off the remains of the fish stew Yusuke had made. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground and as she noticed his approach she froze, her mouth stuffed full of food and her hands clutching the pot by her chest protectively.
"This isn't about food," Kurama assured her.
She nodded and continued chewing.
"It appears the girls – Keiko and Shizuru – have gone missing," he explained.
Yasashi looked vaguely concerned, but not as much as Kurama had expected her to in light of how eager the new spirit detectives had been to join her cause.
"We're going back to the mainland to search for them," he added.
Yasashi swallowed the contents of her mouth and placed the pot down at her side.
"We?" she asked.
"Me, Yusuke and Kuwabara," Kurama replied.
She nodded and then got to her feet, wiping her hands on her clothes and then walking past Kurama. He turned to watch her go, silently wondering why she had ended their exchange so suddenly, particularly so as he was about to leave for the day, and the last two days they had shared small conversations before parting ways that he had been looking forward to continuing that one last day.
"Make sure you take this with you."
Kuwabara accepted his cat from Yasashi, nodding his understanding. Yasashi then walked back over to Kurama, stopping closely at his side.
"Before you go, could you spare me a minute?" she asked quietly.
"Of course," he replied.
He followed her into the hotel, feeling a little unsure when she led him far further into the building than seemed necessary before finally stopping.
"These last few days have been very strange," she said when she did stop. "I'm so grateful that you and all your friends have helped us and… I'm glad I got to see you one more time."
Kurama frowned.
"Everyone who came here chose to do so," he said. "And you will see me again tomorrow morning."
She smiled whimsically and Kurama felt slightly irritated.
"I will be coming back here tomorrow," he insisted. "I'm coming back with you. Nothing can stop me. And you know I won't be the only new member of your group."
"Kurama, sometimes even you don't know everything."
Kurama was unsure how to respond, as he had been sure that Yasashi was acting oddly because she thought his promises of help were false and empty, but she appeared to be implying something else was going to hinder his ability to live up to his words.
"I wonder what sort of fate Koenma will assign to me when I return to spirit world."
Kurama narrowed his eyes.
"Like you said, I won't survive this. I just wonder if he will consider all the work I did for him and be lenient."
Yasashi turned her back on Kurama and, as he saw her head tilt downwards, he thought he finally understood what she was implying.
"It won't come to that," he said firmly. "I won't let it come to that."
"Do you know how the rebellion started?" she asked, keeping her back turned and her head down.
"I know it started with you," he replied. "You were the first powerful female to be born into the cat demon tribe in centuries. You were always destined to change the structure of the tribe, one way or the other."
"It was me that started the rebellion."
"I know that. You didn't want to be Jagasame's slave wife."
"Tora was the only one who understood. She was the only one I could confide in. We planned it together: we would finish our training and then leave the tribe. We didn't care about any of the others. It was just the two of us. None of the others understood. They were all weak. They were allowed to live normal lives. Tora and I were ear-marked for Iruka and Jagasame from birth, and we were always treated differently by everyone else. It was only when we fled that things changed. Others followed us. Some came because they thought we were leading a rebellion, some came to attempt to capture us but then decided to join us once they realised how much better life could be away from the tyranny of the loyalists. Before we knew it, there was a whole clan of us running and hiding."
Yasashi turned to face Kurama again, smiling sadly.
"It's not quite the heroic story that gets told around campfires in demon world, is it?" she said.
"I thought you purposefully stood against Jagasame and called on those who agreed with you to follow you in a rebellion against him?" Kurama replied.
"I wish it had been gallant," she said. "But sadly it wasn't. The stories circulated regardless and soon my reputation became bigger than me. Intentionally or not, I started this Kurama. I have to finish it."
"I know what you're thinking and you're wrong."
"I awoke back in this body and I've found hardly any of the rebels left. For those who have fallen – by death or because they fell afoul of the loyalists' torture techniques – I have to do this. And that is why it's pointless for you to follow me."
Kurama moved closer to Yasashi, only stopping when she met his eyes.
"If you hand yourself over to the loyalists, they will not stop," he warned her. "Tora is almost as big a target as you are and once they have you, she will become their biggest priority. And once they have dealt with Tora – one way or the other – they will go after Chita. The little girls will be next."
"It'll never stop regardless of what I do," she replied. "At least this way I can control it from the inside."
"You're making a very big mistake."
"My only regret is that I…"
A strange look passed over Yasashi's features and when she caught Kurama watching her expectantly she suddenly forced a smile.
"It's not like they can ever really control me," she said. "Jagasame's old. He won't be around forever. And when he goes, I'll be the new tribe leader."
"You're fooling yourself if you think it will be that simple," Kurama warned her.
She kept smiling regardless.
"Clark Kent's not so bad," she said. "I could have… It's not so bad."
Kurama made to answer her but stopped short at the sound of Kuwabara yelling for him.
"You should go," Yasashi told him. "We all know how Kuwabara can get once he gets an idea in his head."
Kurama nodded.
"I will see you in the morning," he said.
He turned and made his way back out of the hotel, finding Kuwabara and Yukina waiting outside for him. Kuwabara began asking him about how they were going to cross the water but Kurama ignored him, continuing on towards the beach. He could hear Kuwabara and Yukina following him and that was good enough. He quickly reached his destination, finding Yusuke kicking a stone along the beach, his hands in his pockets.
"About damn time," Yusuke muttered as the others all joined him by the shore.
Kurama threw out a seed which again turned into a large upturned leaf. He leapt onto it and Yusuke followed; but Kuwabara hesitated.
"Come on, jump on already!" Yusuke shouted back at him.
Kuwabara turned to Yukina expectantly.
"I'm not coming with you," she said quietly.
"But you can't stay here by yourself with those crazy cat ladies!" Kuwabara replied. "Look what they did to me when they took me here!"
Yukina touched a hand to Kuwabara's arm.
"I'm sorry Kazuma," she said gently. "But I know that once Yasashi goes back to her home in demon world, I won't see her so often any more. This is my last chance to spend some time with my friend."
Kurama found Yukina's words oddly ironic, but blocked them out as Kuwabara accepted her excuse and threw himself a little awkwardly onto the leaf – which had drifted a little way out, making him have to jump quite far to reach his goal.
"Goodnight my love!" Kuwabara called out to Yukina as they waved at each other. "We'll be back in the morning, I promise!"
Kurama caught Yusuke staring at him and turned to the mazoku expectantly.
"He's pathetic," Yusuke muttered.
"Shut-up, Urameshi," Kuwabara muttered, keeping his eyes on Yukina and his hands waving in the air.
"Are you gonna tell me what's in the bags?"
Shizuru slid open the door to the balcony of their twin hotel room, stepping outside to light a cigarette.
"Have a look for yourself, kid," she said after her first drag.
Keiko moved over to the three bags Shizuru had thrown down onto the vanity table in the room: one from each of the three stores they had visited on their way to the hotel. She opened and peered into each one in turn, feeling increasingly confused as she went: the first contained a four pack of black marker pens, the second contained two dust masks and the third contained a feedbag for horses.
Keiko took a step back from the backs, catching a glimpse of her own reflection in the mirror at the vanity table, seeing that she looked quite pale, which, she felt, was appropriate, as she was feeling quite queasy and incredibly uneasy. She then turned to the glass doors overlooking the balcony, finding Shizuru standing at the edge of the balcony, the wind lightly lifting her hazel hair to one side, the smoke she was exhaling drifting in the same direction.
"Any particular reason why we need permanent markers, face masks and a feedbag?" Keiko called out to her.
"Did you pack your notebook with all the talismans Koroko taught us?" Shizuru called back in to her.
"Yeah, of course," Keiko replied.
"Bring it out here."
Keiko moved to her own bag, recovering her notebook and doing as Shizuru had asked. Shizuru took the book from her and quickly flicked through it, only hesitating two or three times before settling on one specific page.
"See this?" she said, turning the open page towards Keiko.
"The talisman for warding off fumes or smoke created with demon energy?" Keiko asked as she saw the symbol.
"Get the marker pens and draw this symbol on both the face masks and the feedbag."
Keiko slowly lifted her eyes to Shizuru.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I have a hunch that you, me and Puu are gonna need protection from inhaling something tomorrow morning."
"Oh, for when we go to demon world? But Puu's accustomed to the air in demon world, why does he need protection?"
Shizuru pushed the notebook into Keiko's hand.
"I could be wrong, but in case I'm not, we need to take this precaution."
Keiko nodded, though she wished Shizuru would start making sense sometime soon.