Disclaimer: I've out of creative disclaimers so I'll just say, "I only own my OCs and the plot."

Recap: Kurama recaps.

This Is How You Remind Me
Chapter Eight
The Cause of Division

Day Forty-One

Due to the frequency of the tests and the mind-numbing discomfort that followed them, I have fallen behind in my report. For that reason, I will give a quick summary of what happened from Day Ten (July 13) until today, Day Forty-One (August 13).

After my first day of tests, I felt light-headed and dizzy, similar to when one sits up too fast only this was more prolonged. Thankfully, Tsukino and Keiko were not far from the infirmary, and once I had answered their questions about my condition to the best of my ability, we walked towards Koenma's office. Once we were at the door, Keiko said goodbye to Tsukino and ran off in the direction of the library while we entered the office.

Koenma was sitting at his desk stamping the magnitudes of paper that seemed to get larger instead of smaller as he worked. He stopped once we entered the room and ordered us to sit down.

Grateful for a chance to rest, I almost collapsed in the chair.

"How do you feel, Kurama?" Koenma asked as if he didn't already know.

"No better than one would expect," I replied, as I pushed my slowly turning red hair out of my face.

Koenma nodded and turned to Tsukino. "What about you, Tsukino-san?"

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise before she looked down at her shoes. The last time she had been in this room had not been pleasant. I wouldn't be surprised if she was expecting the worst. "I'm fine, Koenma-sama," she replied.

Koenma nodded once more. "Well, I expect you are both tired. Ogre will show you to your rooms. We will talk about the mission later when you are both rested, and when Kurama isn't suffering from the after-effects of the pills." He paused as if thinking of something before turning to Tsukino. "I need to talk to Kurama for a moment so Ogre will show you to your room. Kurama will be just across the hall."

She nodded and then left the room. At the same time, so did Koenma's calm and polite façade. He collapsed into his chair and let out a sigh. "At least the hard part is over," he muttered.

"Care to explain, Koenma?" I asked, looking away from the door.

"You can sense it can't you? Her energy is starting to increase more than is healthy. It's best if we try to keep her as calm or happy as possible."

In all honesty, I had not noticed a change, but that was probably because I was around her so much that I missed the subtle changes. "So that was why you were trying to be so calm," I muttered.

Koenma nodded. "Yes, however that is not what I wanted to talk to you about. Did she use her energy at all while you were in Demon World?"

I frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"Before you and Tsukino-san left, Spirit World did a scan on her genetics. If she did not use her powers she should have been fine for at least another year."

"She used them briefly this morning while I was having a coughing fit."

"What?!"

"I had already taken one pill which caused the coughing fit. My coughing woke Tsukino up, and she brought me another pill, which I did not take. The coughs got worse, and I suppose Tsukino accidently gave me some of her demon energy because when I looked in the mirror, I didn't see any signs of the transfer, but I could sense it."

"How long was she doing that for?!"

"A minute or two. I didn't notice until I looked in the mirror."

Koenma nodded sombrely. "That explains why her energy is that way." He sighed. "Perhaps it would be best if I take you both off the case until we can find a cure for Tsukino-san's problem."

I shook my head. "She would have to return to the prison then."

Koenma frowned. "I forgot about that, but it's too dangerous for you and her to be travelling with the war between cats and dogs going on."

"However, there is no telling how long the war will last. It would be better to leave now and get the mission done as soon as possible to avoid the major conflict."

He slowly nodded. "I agree, but it is too risky to send you two back in right now. Perhaps I'd better send in another team to apprehend The Fox's Rose."

I shook my head. "You had a hard enough time trying to find a mission for Tsukino-san before, and if you take her off the mission she will have to return to the prison. Surely we can both agree that is the last place we want her right now considering how Enma already decided her punishment, and we can't change it."

"However, sending you both back to Demon World could be just as bad if we cannot find a substitute drug and if you cannot keep her safe."

I was silent for a few seconds. Koenma had a point. Up to that point, I had not done anything to prove that I was actually a decent protector considering how whenever I returned to the inn room, The Fox's Rose scent would be lingering inside. However, if she returned to the prison, there would be no telling when she would be able to escape. She could reach the fourth stage before we even found a new mission and by then it would be too late. If we returned to Demon World, I would at least be able to keep an eye on her.

I voiced this argument, and Koenma grudgingly agreed. Soon afterwards, George led me to my room where I collapsed onto my bed for the time behind and instantly fell asleep.

Between the different tests to purge my system of the drug and Koenma's overflowing paperwork, we did not speak any more of the matter until the new pills were ready. In the meantime, when I was feeling well, I showed Tsukino around Spirit World, carefully avoiding the vault and the library. When she asked to see the library I would say that it was off-limits to anyone but Spirit World staff. It was half-way true, but if she asked for permission she could have gone inside and discovered Yusuke and Kazuma.

Within six days, she tried of exploring Spirit World, and I found that I was starting to have problems moving around because of the tests. When Yusuke saw me sitting in a wheelchair that Botan had kindly gotten me, he joked that soon my hair would fall out too. I only shook my head and replied that other than a constant pain in my legs and arms when I moved them, I was perfectly fine. Tsukino had been talking with Keiko at the time in the mixed-demon's room so I felt it was safe to ask Yusuke about any information he may have found. The results were not comforting.

"THE BASTARDS RIPPED UP EVERY FILE! EVEN THE ONES WITH NO NAMES! DO YOU KNOW HOW ANNOYING IT IS TRYING TO FIND HER FILE AND INFORMATION IN THAT MESS!? IT'S LIKE LOOKING FOR TWO THOUSAND SCREWS IN A PILE OF A MILLION NAILS!" Yusuke all but shouted in a sudden burst of frustration that he must have been hiding under his joking demeanour.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I tried to calm him down and speak quieter lest Tsukino learn what we were doing.

Yusuke was panting in anger as he said, "Enma the Bastard strikes again. Not only did he order everyone close to us to be brutally tortured if they got thrown in jail but he also had all the files on mixed-demons ripped up and burned."

"Were any files saveable?"

Yusuke nodded. "Barely and we are working on fixing the personal files with information on actually mixed-demons to see if we can find one who survived the stages, but for the most part we'll have to rely on the Spirit World Research staff. They were doing a study on mixed-demons recently and didn't destroy their files even when ordered by Enma."

"It is to our favour that the researchers care for their work so much then."

Yusuke nodded, and with that bit of heartening news, the women joined us again before Yusuke and Keiko left to return to Human World. Since I was feeling too physically drained to go anywhere, Tsukino and I started to work on helping her regain her ability to write Japanese in case she lost her knowledge of spoken Japanese again. We continued these lessons and even went beyond what Kazuma had taught her after we managed to break the barrier in her mind that blocked the knowledge.

Soon I was able to move without any pain once more, so Tsukino and I took to wandering the halls of Spirit World once more. This time, however, we came up with games to amuse ourselves. 'I Spy' seemed to be her favourite game so we played it often and in many different places.

A few times though, Tsukino would run off without a word with a deep blush on her face. Before leaving Spirit World to start the mission, Botan had warned me about what Tsukino believed to be messed up genetics. Tsukino wasn't old enough to know how mating worked so she wasn't aware that if her mate died after marking her but before mating her she would find herself subconsciously looking for a suitable mate during certain seasons. I'm currently under the impression that she is a Hraru (Demon World Spring), but it is almost mid-summer now so perhaps she was similar to my problem, which is year round.

I doubt that her curse was active all year round because she seems to have problems controlling it. Urges felt by demons who are seasonal are stronger than urges felt by demons who are daily due to the fact that the daily demons always feel the urges and are used to them. However, there are incidents when even daily urges can be as strong as seasonal ones. The incident with the slime ogre attacking her when we first re-met is a good example. I'm still not sure what would have happened if there wasn't that noise in the alley that distracted us.

However, if Botan's information about Tsukino's season being Hraru is correct, why she is acting that way towards me now in mid-summer? Unless-

Even with the games that we created, we both started to feel confined and restless. The news that the new pills were ready was a godsend. However, Koenma was still unwilling to allow us to leave. When we realized that either one of us was going to change our minds, we left the matter to Tsukino's judgement. Without hesitating, she said that she wished to returned to Demon World and complete the mission.

Preparations were completed, and we readied to go. Now we are merely waiting for the portal, and George is briefing us.

"The war has gotten a bit worse, and more cities are either pro-cat or pro-dog. So be careful to avoid the pro-cat cities unless you think you can avoid getting into a fight." He hands me a file, and a small black hole opens in front of us.

Tsukino jumps in first and I'm about to follow when Koenma, who was seeing us off, says, "Kurama. Keep her safe, she's probably the only pure soul mixed-demon left."

I nod and dive into the portal. Just as I leave Spirit World, I overhear George say to Koenma that this break was just what we needed. I can only hope that he is right.

The Welcome Committee

I never thought I would be so happy to be back in Demon World. Even if the wind caused queasiness, it felt almost like paradise compared to the restless I felt back in Spirit World. Everything was just too organized. That was probably why I liked Human World so much. It was a healthy medium between Demon World chaos and Spirit World peace.

As I was stretching my wings and arms, enjoying the feel to be on the move again, Kurama jumped out of the portal and stood beside me.

"Glad to be back?" He asked. His voice was no longer the light human tone it was while in Spirit World, but I didn't even notice a difference. The warmth of humanity was still present in it.

That was another thing that changed. Originally, I would have been worried about returning to Demon World because of all the chaos, but it was a nice change. Similarly, I would have preferred to avoid Kurama completely, but our time in Spirit World reminded me that he wasn't a pure demon anymore. He was slightly human and greatly changed by his time in Human World. While in Spirit World, I got to see a bit more of that side that I had missed the first time I was in Human World.

Unfortunately, I also managed to fall farther for him, but to be honest, I didn't care. I felt like I didn't have much time left and wanted to enjoy it. Also I was sure that if he once was a womanizer he had changed. Sadly, for once the logical part of my brain was silent and allowed me to ignore the fact that if he was planning on using me, that would be what he wanted me to think. So I smiled in reply to his question and said, "Yeah. I hope we get back to Human World before I'm sick of this place too."

Kurama nodded. "Then we'd better get moving."

I nodded in reply and quickly followed him down the road to Keisatsusho. We were about an hour from the town when Kurama handed me the cloak to hide my scent but before we even entered the city, I had to hand it to him. Just before entering Keisatsusho we spotted the welcoming committee who just happened to be a group of cat demons. Kurama suggested entering another way so that I wouldn't have to enter first, but I turned him down. It would take too much time to walk around and there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be cats patrolling around the city. So Kurama quickly slipped on the cloak to hide his canine features while I slipped on a bracelet to cover the slave mark Kurama had given me.

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I led the way into the town. As we were entering, Kurama's hand wrapped around my wrist to comfort me. He let go after a second but kept close to me in case we were attacked. I had never truly been thankful that Kurama had come with me until then when my fear was most potent.

Though demon hearts didn't beat, I could have sworn that I felt something in my chest start to ache as if it was beating too fast as we entered the town. I knew that I was afraid, but I wasn't sure how to hide it so I kept walking right to the gates of the town. That is where the cats spotted us.

As we walked through the gates, one of them catcalled at me while another purred. Kurama moved closer to me and gently pushed me forward without having his arms move from under the cloak. I was about to move faster when our path was suddenly blocked by four cats. Two of which were female, one of which was the purrer.

"Hey kittens," said the cat that had purred at me. His black with brown stripes tail moved side to side as his yellow eyes looked me over. "Run into any foxes on the way over?"

Too late, I remembered that though the cloak covered Kurama's scent on him, it didn't cover the scent that was on me from him holding my hand. I nodded.

"One," Kurama said quietly, hoping to disguise the canine sound to his voice.

"I hope you aren't headed far, the dogs are running all over the place," said a twenty-year old queen. Her gold eyes looked us over as her black ears listened for sounds of approaching demons.

"I thought this was a cat only place," I replied.

A smaller male version of the queen who had just spoken glared at me and rolled his eyes. "Typical. Just like a bat to be misinformed." His tail was quickly pulled by the queen.

"Don't mind my brother. Neyash's just a brat." She held out her hand to me. "My name is Neyuki."

Hesitantly, I shook her hand. "Hi, I'm Tama, and this is my friend is Kyou-kun." With my free hand, I motioned to him.

"Does he ever say more than one word?" asked the other queen, as her green eyes 'undressed', as Yusuke would say, Kurama while her brown long-haired tail moved side to side in a seducing matter.

Not really paying attention, I replied, "Not usually," before returning my attention to Neyuki. "So what was that about the dogs here?"

"Those mutts and flying rats think they can go wherever they want now," a Neyash spat before Neyuki hit him on the head. She reminded me strangely of Shizuru when she did that.

"Ignore him. He never learned any manners."

"Not all of us are like that," said the male cat who had talked to me first. "I'm Neichi, Neyuki's cousin four times removed, by the way." He took hold of my hands and licked them.

I half-expected my curse to act up but to my surprise, all I felt was a slight trace of confusion. It must have shown on my face because Neyuki muttered, "It's just a customary greeting. No one uses it anymore though except for him."

I nodded and gave him a fake smile. "Nice to meet you," I replied before turning to Neyuki again. "So is the city overrun or something?"

She shook her head. "Not completely, just everything pass the Nishi. You know where that is right?"

I nodded. "I had a twin who worked there before…" I putted on a sad face and hoped I was a good actress.

"Before…?" Neyuki asked.

"She fell into Human World," I almost whimpered as I bit my lip a bit to make it look like I was going to cry.

Neyash was not impressed. "She's probably dead by now then," he said bluntly causing Neyuki to hit over the head.

"Gosh darn it Neyash! Can't you be nice for one second?!"

"Well it's true!" he argued back.

While they fought, Neichi rubbed my head between my ears. "Don't worry Tama-chan. I'm sure that she is alright, and you will one day meet up with her."

I heard a growling noise come from behind me, and I suddenly remembered about Kurama. I was about to turned around to look when Neichi gently grabbed my chin and tilted my face towards his.

"You know… if Kyou isn't giving you any comfort, you should really move on to a better cat," he murmured.

I forced back a wave of fear as I tried to give him a naïve smile with my eyes closed so that he couldn't see my emotions. "Thanks for the advice, Neichi-san." My eyes were jerked open as I was suddenly pulled closer to him.

He was grinning as he said, "Call me Neichi-kun."

I swallowed and tried to form a sentence. "T-Thank you Neichi-kun," I finally managed to say. In the background, I was vaguely aware of Neyash telling someone called Ayuri to leave someone alone because they obviously didn't want to sleep with her. However, most of my attention was on Neichi as he slowly moved his face closer to mine. Suddenly an arm appeared on my shoulder and pulled me away from Neichi.

"Leave her alone," Kurama quietly but firmly said as he held me close.

Neichi grinned. "So the kit has claws."

Kurama did not reply but released me as if he just realized that he was still holding me.

Worried that a fight might break out between the two and Kurama's cover be blown, I turned to Neyash, Ayuri, and Neyuki. "I'll see you guys around," I said as I grabbed Kurama's arm and pulled him away from them.

Neyuki just nodded as if she expected a fight to start and was relieved that it didn't. "See ya Tama-chan, Kyou-kun. Try to keep out of trouble at least until you have kittens."

I was about to turn around and reply to her comment about kittens when Neichi suddenly appeared in front of me again. He grabbed my hand and pulled me close. Before Kurama could do anything, he gently licked my cheek in what I assumed was another customary greeting. He took a step back and then winked at me.

"My offer is still open," he said before walking back to the other cats.

Again, I thought my curse was going to act up but thankfully I didn't feel anything other than the need to wipe off my cheek, which I did once we were out of their side.

"Did you find out anything between Neichi's flirting?" Kurama asked as we walked.

I shook my head. "Nothing about The Fox's Rose, but apparently everything from the Nishi over is dog territory."

Kurama nodded and started to lead the way to the dog side. After a few moments of silence, I quietly said, "Thanks for getting me away from Neichi-san."

For a moment, I thought that he hadn't heard until he said, "Consider it a returned favour for the help you gave me."

Unsure of what else to say, I nodded and followed him to the inn where he left me while he went to go find Kioshi. Again, what I expected and what actually happened were opposites. Rose did not show up to talk to me once Kurama was gone, but I was thankful for the time to think. I had never met another pure blood cat demon who was willing to talk to me as if I was not trash. Even Neyash, was kind compared to how demons usually treated me. What was even odder was that Neyuki was willing to explain some of the cat demons' customs to me. Any other demon would have just let me confused. I started to fall asleep as I waited for Kurama to come back and tried to continue to think. However, I soon mentally tired myself and found myself slipping into consciousness. Just before I fell asleep I found myself wondering, was Rose right?

Night of Day Forty-One and Forty-Two

I return to the inn where I left Tsukino not in the best of spirits. Though I had not found any signs of Kioshi anywhere, the chief cause of my displeasure was Neichi. I had been busy avoiding the cat demon named Ayuri's advances on me and was unable to help Tsukino until the last second. What gave him the right to do that? Granted that I'm not her mate but to openly flirt like that. We could have been dating for all he knew.

Biting back a growl at the thought of the infuriating cat demon, I open the door to a calming sight. Tsukino had fallen asleep on top of her covers, and the room was free of the scent of The Fox's Rose. A small smile crosses onto my face but since I'm too angry too sleep I go and took a bath. When I return, Tsukino is just as I left her only now she is shivering. My anger completely forgotten, I pick her up into my arms before moving the covers and placing her under them. She does not wake as I do this but once mutters something about apricots.

Silently, I wonder if this was what Yusuke felt when he looked at Keiko or Kazuma, Yukina. For reasons unknown to me, I felt nothing but anger when Neichi was close to Tsukino. I wanted nothing more than to rip out his throat when he touched her but was blocked by Ayuri when I went to get her away from him. Now, I just feel a calm quite different from the usual feeling induced by my demon form as I watch her sleep. It's nice.

However, not knowing the reason for my actions worries me. These unknown reasons could cause quite a bit of harm if I don't learn to control them. The only reason I can think of to explain my reaction was that my mating curse and the order that Koenma had given me had affected my subconscious causing me to act out of sorts.

Actually that is not completely true. There is another reason it could be, but until I know who The Fox's Rose actually is, I can't allow myself to think about it. Even though I did not intent for Mikiku and me to be mates, I have a duty to her now, and I cannot allow an imposter to ruin her good name. If only I could remember where I smelt that copper-like scent from before, then I might have an idea.

Tsukino turns over in her sleep, and some of her hair falls into her face. Smiling slightly, I brush the hair from her face and towards the back of her neck. At that moment, I catch sight of the teeth marks on her neck and quickly remove my hand.

What was I thinking?

Breaking away from my human thoughts, I turn my back on her for fear that the feelings would return. What had come over me to act like that, and when did I forget that she was mated? Better yet, when did I sink so low to feel that way towards mated females? The mating curse will not allow demons to go after already mated demons so what is happening?

I shake my head as I try to clear my thoughts, but I'm painfully aware of her scent in the room and the fact that she is laying behind me completely vulnerable.

Closing my eyes and shaking my head once more, I try to force my instincts back. The best way is to feel anger so I think of the only thing that has managed to anger greatly me in this form. Neichi.

My thoughts come to a stand-still instead of turning to rage like I had hoped. Neichi had also seen Tsukino's mark, but he still courted her. It wasn't possible that he missed it. I feel as if my stomach suddenly dropped from four stories when I fully realize why he was acting like that. He had marked her. She is his mate. But he wasn't dead so maybe…

Focusing, I sense for her energy. To my growing dread, I feel that her signature had a wavelength could be- probably is his. He isn't around for me to check, but I'm almost sure that his energy also has a similar signature to hers meaning that their energy is merged. They are mates.

But that doesn't explain why she acted that way around me when she is marked and her mate is alive and well.

A thought suddenly hits me when I remember something I had heard while I was still a full demon. Demons who are marked before they are fully mature are said to suffer the same symptoms as those who's mates have died before the mating has been cemented. Tsukino never mentioned getting the mark, and she doesn't even know what it is so Neichi must have marked her before she was fully mature.

They are mates.

A weight ties itself to my soul as I slowly piece this together. The facts keep taunting me, and I realize, like an idiot, I have fallen into the dangerous trap I had been avoiding for years.

There is no point trying to further any sort of relationship with her. As friends or lovers. There is no point. I'll only be hurting her and myself. If she does gain feelings for me and if Neichi does find out, she would most likely be killed. I don't have any choice about what my next move is. I have to do what is best for us.

For your own sake, please hate me, Tsukino.

A/n: 1. Names starting with 'Ne' are completely fictional and should have no meaning, if they do, and it is offensive I apologize. I did not know.

2. Second update in two days! And I like this version better. Kurama sounds more like Kurama than some poetic teenager in this version. Logical but pained, that's Kurama. Anyways, thanks for reading and the reviews. I hope you are still enjoying the story! See ya next time!

-D101