Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and the plot.

Recap: The gang tried to escape the lair when the raccoons break in, and Kuronue gets brain controlled and attacks Tsukino and Kurama. After Tsukino gets herself into a hostage situation and tries to escape it, she gets eaten by a wall. Now Kurama is really mad, and we all know what that is like. Will the brain controllers and Kuronue survive? Read to find out.

I'll Show You What I Can Be
Chapter Twenty-Three
Separation Issues

Day Hundred-Fifteen

Five minutes. Tsukino disappeared five minutes ago, and Kuronue has finally snapped out of his idiocy. Yasu must have used one of his various gaseous poisons to control him because slowly Kuronue has returned to his senses. However, I think I would have preferred it if he was still under Yasu's influence. He was far quieter. As I turn my attention away from him and towards the wall, he insists on pestering me with feckless questions. His favourite seems to be, "Why I am tied up?"

Eventually, I allow the plants to release him and turned my attention back to the wall, searching for any signs of a hole or trapdoor. I spot nothing. Meanwhile, Kuronue continues to annoy me with questions.

"Where's Tsukino-chan? Hey, Kurama, what's going on?"

I turn away from the wall and make my way back towards the lair. It is only now that I speak. Even I notice the sharp change in tone from a slightly chilled tone to one promising murder.

"We're going to find Amaterasu and Yasu."

Returning Home?

I was sure that I must have hit my head on a rock or dreamed meeting the detectives because when I awoke I saw the familiar walls of my room rather than the rock of the tunnels. Slowly, I rose made my way towards my closet.

'Was it really all a dream?' I wondered as I reached for the handle. My hands were shaking, and I hoped that there would be some sign that I had just hit my head on a rock and I was seeing things. If I didn't already know that the deities were busy, I would have muttered a plea that Inumura would be absent from my closet.

Dread making my movements slow, I opened the door. The beaded eyes of my stuff dog started into my tearful ones. I sank to my knees and stared at the floor. 'It was just a dream,' I realized. The whole thing. It was all just a dream.

"But it felt so real," I found myself muttering as I lifted my hands. The skin was whole, and my body gave no hints that my energy would soon end my life. Instead, my stomach growled reminding me to eat.

I stood and walked towards the kitchen. Already my memories of the dream were fading. The more I tried to remember the less I did. I couldn't quite recall how to play the card game Kuronue had shown me or how my room appeared back in Kurama's apartment. Keiko's, Botan's, and Yukina's voices were all interchangeable to me now, and if I died and met Koenma in Spirit World, I probably wouldn't even recognize him. One thing I remembered though was Kurama's green eyes but that wasn't a happy reminder. I had enough problems with green eyes thanks to my mother. I didn't need his eyes haunting me too.

The insanity of what I was thinking caused me to shake my head and groan.

'It was just a dream,' I thought to myself. 'The spirit detectives aren't anything like I dreamed they were. They are killers. Not friends. Not caring. Not safe… But I wish they were.'

The last sentence popped into my head before I could stop it. Shaking my head, I searched through the shelves for any form of food. I found a small piece of bread and ate it quickly. Slowly, I eased myself down from the counter and felt my clothing catch on a nail. Once I had freed myself, I realized I was still wearing my uniform. I almost gagged at the smell it gave off as I looked at the fabric for an unwanted tear. I was lucky, there was none. Not that it mattered since the maid outfit revealed more skin than it covered.

A loud crash from outside on the street reminded me that I didn't have time for dreaming and wishing. My shelves were now empty, and if I didn't get that pay check soon, my home would be too.

I wandered into the washroom where I attempted to remove some of the stains collected yesterday from a patron pouring his beer down my front. When the clothing smelled slightly better and looked slightly cleaner, I turned towards the door. At best, I was only an hour late for work. At worst, I was half a day late and then the boss would have me clean the backroom again. It didn't matter though. After the comfort of dreaming I had friends and actually meant something to someone, I felt empty. The friends I thought I had made weren't real. On the other hand, neither was the pain the dream Kurama had caused me. This was the only happy thought I had as I walked down the streets towards the bar.

It turned out that I was only two hours late and since we were so busy the boss couldn't afford to have me clean the backroom. Instead, I was carrying drinks for the drunks in the far corners. About three hours into my working day, I spotted a dark figure in the other corner who had yet to be served. I wasn't the only one who noticed. My boss had spotted the demon as well and sent me over to get its order.

Despite every warning bell in my head going off, I obeyed and went over to the corner. I put on the best smile I could muster (which wasn't much) and said, "Hello, what will you have today?"

Brown eyes studied my face and fangs poked out of his mouth as he replied in a soft old English accent, "I believe a tall glass of Moonshine would be very pleasurable, wouldn't you agree?"

Pricks of fear ran down my spine and I barely was able to nod before going to get his drink. When I returned with it, the man motioned for me to join him. As politely as I could, I refused and walked over to the other side of the bar where two new demons sat waiting.

One was a fox wearing a long coat and a hat, which shielded his face from view. The other was a bat. For a second, I had the strongest sense of déjà vu before I recognized the bat from my dream. The other demon I was at a loss until he removed his hat and glared around the room looking for service. His golden eyes focused on me as I walked over to them. The bat also looked over but quickly went back to drawing something on the napkin on the table. As I neared the table, both their attention turned to the napkin, and I heard the bat mutter something about steel doors.

They both ordered Human World beer and continued their planning. When I returned to refill their drinks, the bat called the fox Kurama. For a moment, I stood frozen. Thankfully, my sanity quickly reminded me that even though my dream said the spirit detectives' names were Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama; their real names could be something completely different. Also if it was Kurama the spirit detective, it didn't mean he knew who I was or was even in Demon World on a mission.

Since my brain was working again, I walked away and continued to refill drinks. At least I did that until the bat drank too much and started a fight. My boss quickly kicked them out so of course they didn't have time to pay for their drinks. That meant that the money came out of my small pay check. To top it off, I was stuck cleaning the mess off the floor that the bat made so I wasn't able to earn any tips either. (Not that most demons are tippers to start with.) For the next, two hours I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor.

Finally, I finished cleaning. Although my back and wings were in pain from crawling around, I was glad to stop giving drunken demons a good look at my rear and return to serving tables. Collecting my cleaning supplies, I walked to the back hallway and turned right, away from the bed chambers where noises could be heard coming from. I opened an old wooden door and stumbled over the many buckets that lay in the doorway. With my shoe, I kicked a few out of the way to make a path to the shelves.

After nearly breaking a leg from tripping over brooms, mops, and empty bottles I reached the rotting set of shelves. Unlike everyone else who left the buckets in the doorway, I placed mine on the bottom shelf and the scrubbers on the middle shelf about the same height as my stomach. Finally, I picked up the bottle of acid rain, which we used for cleaning floors and the back bed chambers. I looked around for the stepladder since I wasn't tall enough to reach the top shelf and climbing the shelves was a death sentence even without my boss spotting me. The rotting wood was ready to collapse even as I moved around looking for the stepladder.

Unfortunately, it was out of sight so I reached up to the top shelf with the bottle in my hand. I could just barely reach the shelf. Stretching for all it was worth, I stood on the tips of my toes and tried to place the bottle on the shelf.

Too short.

I looked around again for the stepladder but it still wasn't visible. For a second, I considered flying up to the shelf, but there wasn't enough room. Jumping was also a bad idea. If I jumped, the whole shelf could— would come down on me. One last time, I looked around for the stepladder that it still hadn't jumped into my view. Biting back a growl, I stretched once again and reached for that top shelf.

I heard and felt the glass of the bottle hit the shelf, but I couldn't stretch anymore to bump it onto the shelf. Instead, I moved my hand farther down on the bottle so that I was holding onto it by the bottom. The bottle hit the shelf again, and with a small jump that wouldn't cause the shelves to collapse, the bottle was on the shelf.

At the same time, something fell from the top shelf onto my neck. Thinking it was some sort of demonic spider, I shook myself off and swatted at my hair and clothing.

My hands felt nothing unusual, except for the feeling of expensive silk around my neck. Slowly, the silk started to tighten around my neck and a wave of fear and déjà vu crashed over me.

Kuronue and I burst through the door and into the main room of the lair to see Amaterasu and Yasu rush out of my bedroom. Without waiting for them to catch their breath, I grab Yasu and throw him into the kitchen. He hits his head on the counter and is quiet. Amaterasu attempts to run but I grab her by the throat. Holding her close to my face, I murmur, "Where is she?"

Amaterasu's eyes are wide as if afraid but inside the black depths I can amusement. "What are you talking about?" she gasps as my grip on her throat tightens.

"I am not as patient as you seem to think. Where is Tsukino-chan?"

"Probably behind the wall suffocating."

I throw Amaterasu onto the ground and summon my Death Tree. The branches quickly wrap around her and true fear appears in her eyes. Acid drips onto her arms and legs, and she twists trying to avoid the mouths.

"I will ask you again. Where is she?"

A thud turned my attention from the cloth around my neck to the floor behind me. On the ground lay a demon, who obviously was drunk and looking for some 'female company' if his lacking of a shirt and loosened pants were any clue. However, drunken demons did not randomly pass out, no matter how drunk they were.

Ignoring the cloth that was starting to tighten on my throat, I looked around for the cause of the demon's loss of consciousness. Beside his head was one of the many buckets that covered the floor in front of the door. As I picked it up, I noticed there was a spot of blood on the base.

"Lower levels always make a mess."

I almost jumped at the sudden voice and looked towards the doorway. Standing there was the friend of the bat demon who started a fight earlier. A white tunic had replaced his coat and his golden eyes weren't as cold, but there was no doubt in my mind that it was him. I also was sure that I had seen him before and not in the bar. Eventually, I realized that I should thank him for saving me from a… less than pleasurable situation.

"Thank you," I said since I couldn't think of anything else.

The man, Kurama if I recalled correctly, nodded and started to walk towards me. Too late, I wondered if I had just been saved from a drunk only to fall prey to a sober fox. Aware that backing up into the shelf was not wise, buckets were surrounding the door, and that Kurama was stronger than I was, I held onto the bucket in my hand. It probably wouldn't help me, but it was worth a shot.

Kurama smiled and paused in his movements. Ears twitching slightly, he said, "It's alright little flower. No one is going to hurt you tonight. Least of all me."

My eyes widened as I suddenly could place a time to the feeling I had met him before. In my dream about going on a mission with the Spirit Detective supposedly named Kurama, I had dreamt that I had been saved many times by the man in front of me. In the first dream I had ever had in my real dream involving him, he had said those exact words. A blush came to my face as I remembered referring to the man in front of me as "a knight in a shining white tunic."

Kurama seemed to misread my blush and smiled again. "May I escort you home?"

My neck felt slightly warm as I nodded. "Thank you."

He smiled again, this time revealing a fang. "It's my pleasure."

"KURAMA!"

Kuronue's shout causes me to turn just in time to avoid being beheaded by Yasu's axe. Jumping to the side, I manage to keep my head but gain a cut to my shoulder. I pause to assess my injury as the pain stabs through my rage. It is deep but nothing to worry about. No one moves as I turn my attention back to Yasu. His eyes hold a rage that rivals my own. For a second, we watch each other. Then I move.

Before Yasu can defend himself, I kick him in the stomach. He flies across the room where I meet him. Before he can hit the wall, I punch him downwards. His body hits the ground with a pleasing crash, and I place my foot on his chest, holding him down. As I turn my attention back to Amaterasu, I create a sword from vines and hold it threateningly over Yasu's throat. Her eyes are wide as I glare in her direction. My sword pricks the skin on Yasu's throat as I murmur, "This is the last time I will ask. Where is Tsukino-chan?"

Amaterasu opens her mouth but nothing comes out. My sword digs deeper into Yasu's throat. I turn the blade, and a yelp of fear and pain escape his lips, fuelling my bloodlust.

Amaterasu is still silent.

Yasu's claws struggle to clutch my foot resting on his chest but another small turn halts his attempts.

"It appears that your taste in women has gotten you into trouble again, Yasu," I mutter as I look over his sweaty face. "All she has to do is tell me where Tsukino is and I will let you live. Instead, you'll have to die."

His eyes widen as if in fear but they hold the same amusement as Amaterasu's did before I summoned by Death Plant.

"Unless," I continue, "I gain the information I want."

He struggles to draw breath as a sentence slivers out of his mouth. "Do your worst."

A smirk appears on my mouth as my sword transforms into a whip. It is not as sharp or as strong as my Rose Whip but it will do. The whip made from vines tightens around Yasu's throat. I take three steps away from him before I pull on the vines. His head comes off easily and a headless, wooden puppet lies on the floor. Within seconds of its beheading, the puppet begins to emit strong demonic energy. Before it can transform into the weapon Yasu and Amaterasu intend it to be, I pick it up and throw it onto Kuronue's room before locking the door from the outside.

I wait a moment to be sure that the door will hold before looking over my shoulder. With a grin, Kuronue destroys the Amaterasu illusion and throw the puppet into my room. When he has completed his task, he dusts off his hands and says, "You'd think they would learn that if the originals can't beat us, illusions don't have a chance."

I nod as I reach down to the ground to pick up near invisible threads. "Perhaps they cannot face the truth."

Kuronue nods as a loud bang comes from my room. "Well Amaterasu obviously has a problem with you and little sis. So are we going to wait around for these weapons to break out of our rooms and then destroy them?"

I shake my head as I open our front door. "No. These threads are coming from in the maze, and Tsukino-san's energy is coming from the middle."

"Isn't that where our version of the bamboo trap that nearly killed me is?"

"Yes."

He paused for a second before walking out the door. "Brilliant but I go first this time."

"Do you remember where all the traps are?"

Kuronue paused again. "I guess you'll go first then."

I nod as I take the lead, and we start walking into our maze, with our choice weapons at the ready.

At one in the morning, we were walking down the street talking. Kurama had left after offering to escort me home but reappeared at the door to the bar when I finished my shift. After I told him where I lived, we started walking and he questioned me about many things. Why I worked at the Nishi Bar, what I liked, if I had any family, how old was I, what my name was. All those perfectly normal questions. The only one I had trouble answering was the last one.

In my dream, I was called Tsukino and Tama. In harsh reality, I didn't have a name. My mother abandoned me as soon as I was born. She never wanted me so she didn't name me. My father called me Nine because I was going to be his ninth daughter. Nine wasn't a name though; it was merely a way of keeping track of me. My boss called me bitch, wretch, idiot, etc. and no one else cared. I never gave myself a name because no one would ever use it or remember it.

When Kurama asked me what my name was I considered telling him Tsukino or Tama, but the names wouldn't leave my mouth. Those names belonged in my dreams, and I needed to distance myself from that world. However, I couldn't think of a name to tell him either. So I told him the truth.

He frowned and said, "It doesn't seem right for a flower not to have a name."

I shake my head. "It's okay. No one would ever use it if I even had one."

"I would."

My face turned red, and I looked at the ground. We walked in silence for five minutes until his friend showed up. He and Kurama talked for a few minutes before he noticed me.

"Hi, I'm Kuronue." In the same breath he asked Kurama, "So this is the girl you've been abandoning me to go see?"

I glanced from Kuronue to Kurama and was startled to see a pink tint on Kurama's face.

Without looking towards me or replying to Kuronue's question, Kurama replied, "Kuronue meet Miyako-chan. Miyako-chan meet Kuronue."

I shook my head. "But my name isn't—" My voice died in my throat when I noticed Kuronue wasn't listening. He was hassling Kurama about finally working up the courage to talk to the 'chick' he apparently had been watching for the past four months. Eventually, Kurama told him to check something for him, and Kuronue disappeared into the night sky. By that time, his face was completely red.

We walked at least a block before I said, "Why did you say my name was Miyako?"

He studied me as he asked, "Do you not like it?"

I blushed and avoided eye contact as I said, "Yes, but why?"

He continued to stare at me. "Because I wanted you to have a name."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Mixed breeds aren't supposed to have names. No one is supposed to care for them. Especially demons they just met." My mind paused as I remembered Kuronue speaking to Kurama. Before he could reply to my outburst I asked, "What did Kuronue-san mean when he said you have been watching me?"

Kurama suddenly developed an interest at the road ahead of us as he replied, "Usually Kuronue and I go to bars once we have finished our work for the day. However, for the past while I decided to visit the bars alone to see if I could find any useful information without the inconvenience of Kuronue getting drunk."

I nodded and waited to see if he would continue. When he didn't I asked, "But what does that have to do with me?"

Kurama paused to look at an empty store before replying, "He seems to think that the reason I want to go alone is to observe you."

"But this is the first time you've been to the Nishi Bar while I've been working."

"Actually this was my tenth time. You just never saw me."

I nodded again. "So why didn't you just tell Kuronue that it was a coincidence since you weren't coming to see me."

He didn't reply, and I looked towards him. "Were you?"

His shoulders tensed, and I frowned, mentally preparing myself for a trick or a trap as words came from his mouth.

"At first I wasn't," he admitted.

"Then why—?"

Shadows hid his face from my view as he said, "I don't know. I guess I just fell for you."

My face turned bright red but I slipped my hand into his. "I think I fell for you too," I muttered.

Kurama didn't look towards me but I felt his hand tighten around mine. I never thought that such a small action would make me feel so happy.

The rest of the walk was quiet until Kurama stopped walking and said, "Here we are," as he motioned to the door of my home. I hadn't even realized when we entered the neighbourhood. He released my hand, and the sadness I felt was horrible. The happiness quickly returned though when he kissed me making me wish for more. I wondered if my mind had been transported to cloud nine because I muttered, "I love you."

When he muttered the same words back before kissing me again, I was sure I was on cloud nine. However, before anything could happen he pulled away saying that he would see me again later. Away from anyone who could see us. Then he started to walk away.

The sadness returned but my neck also started to feel warm. Before I even realized what I was saying, I had invited him in. He was silent as he paused in his walk. Quickly, I tried to undo what my mouth had done. I told him that the house was actually really run down, and I didn't have anything to offer him if he did come in but I did want to see him again.

Eventually he smiled and said he didn't mind spending more time with me right then even if I lived in such poor conditions. Apparently, he had come from a similar background and knew how things were.

Taking my key, I opened the door. As he stepped through the doorway, a wave of joy washed over me, which dulled my worries about his motives. He followed me into the kitchen and sat down. Instead of joining him, I told him I was going to get changed out of my work clothes and that he could make himself comfortable.

Without waiting for an answer, I rushed into my washroom. After locking the door, I removed my work outfit, which now had holes in it because of the acid rain I used to clean. Unfortunately, just as I got the outfit off, I realized that all my other clothes were dirty except for one pair of clothes. They had appeared on my doorstep two weeks ago with a tag saying, "Think of me. Love, Tokage." The only Tokage I could think of who would have had the twisted idea and went through with it was the rat faced lizard stalker who had been following me for months.

The thought of wearing the dark blue pyjamas made me want to retch, but I didn't have any other clothes. With little choice and a lot of washing the clothes before I even put them on, I changed. Of course, the clothes had been modified so that the shirt plunged deeper than it should and the pants were far shorter than they should have been. I pulled on the pants, trying to make them cover more but they were form-fitting too. The shirt was also impossible to fix. No matter what I tried, it still plunged too deep. The fact that it was hanging off my shoulders and was three sizes too big didn't help.

For a minute I stared into the mirror thinking that when Kurama saw me, he'd probably think I was asking for it. He was probably used to girls throwing themselves at him so I doubted he'd be surprised. But I wasn't that sort of girl. I didn't want the relationship to move that fast yet. I just met him! However, I was sure he wouldn't believe me if I told him that wearing my only clean pair of clothing. Or he might. He did say he had been watching me. So he probably had a good idea of what sort of girl I was. Of course he could have been lying.

I shook my head. When he made his confession, his voice was too truthful to be lying. My mind was blurred by happiness again but was quickly brought back to Earth when I noticed my clothing. It felt wrong to be wearing clothes given to me by a stalker in front of the man I loved.

My eyes fell on my towel rack, and I debated if wearing only a towel was better or worse. Worse, definitely, worse. At least with the pyjamas he'd just think I was getting ready to go to bed, which he could take either as a innocent act or something else. Also, he didn't have to know that a stalker had given them to me. However I didn't really want to show off my sub-standard body. He probably had thousand of girls throw themselves at him daily, and I didn't want him to leave because I looked so pathetic. I also didn't want him to jump me if for some unknown reason he liked what he saw.

I heard movement from behind the door and shook myself. I didn't have time to be worrying like that. Right then, he was probably wondering what was taking me so long. If I didn't hurry and pick something, he might walk in on me.

Again, my eyes glanced at the towel. Could I fit it under my top to cover my chest? I shook my head. Even if I could, he probably would think it was odd. Of course that was better than easy, right?

A little voice in my head disagreed. At least I could set him straight if he thought I was being easy, it rationalized.

However, if he still jumped me, I wouldn't be able to fight him off. I doubted I could use any of the techniques I learned in my dream and no one would care if I screamed.

"Is that so bad?" the little voice asked.

My mind flashed to what could happen and instead of feeling fear, I felt some sort of… excitement, I guess. If I was to be completely honest, I felt excitement every time I thought of him jumping me.

However, again I didn't have time to be worrying. I shook my head again to clear my thoughts and looked at the towel. Maybe if I folded it slightly I could make it look like it was part of my clothing.

As I tried to make up my mind, three words shattered all my thoughts.

"She believed you?"

A/N: Sorry that this chapter took so long to get up. My cats have been keeping me busy and I rarely am on my computer right now. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter regardless of the long wait. The bits with Tsukino's POV had many references back to SIWSM as well as information from earlier in the story. So don't worry too much if something seems familiar but you can't remember why.

Another note about things being unfamiliar. I changed Mikiku's job from owning a bar to working at a bar. Eventually I realized that if a mixed breed was even able to get a bar, no one would buy any drinks. So any information saying that she was a bar owner has been changed. I think. Did I mentioned Mikiku at all in SIWSM? … Anyways, if I missed anything please let me know.

Also for anyone who has no idea what the significance of "this time revealing a fang" is. Whenever a guy smiles and shows sharp fangs, it always is bad news! … Unless you are Yusuke and playing a prank. Obviously that Kurama was not playing a prank though so it was a warning of bad news. Tsukino did not get the memo.

Finally, I have a question that has been bugging me for a while. What are the different kinds of Japanese clothes called and what do they look like? I mean I think I know what a kimono is but then I hear about something called a hatori or something. What is that? Is it the same thing? Are there more kinds of clothing I don't know about? I'm just really lost on that.

Anyways, thanks for putting up with my lack of updating and long absences. I'd like to be able to say that I'll update on a schedule but I don't see that happening. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. I'll TRY to update sooner this time.

-D101