Uh-oh.

"Please explain yourself, Miss Minamino," the principal ordered, his tone a bit harsher.

"It wasn't her fault!"

Much to Kurama's surprise, Aratani darted in front of him. Her square glasses were stained with tears, and there were dents in Kurama's arm from where her fingernails had dug into him earlier, but she seemed determined all the same.

"Excuse me?"

"It was Tadayo," Aratani explained. "I saw him sneak up behind Sakura and put his hands around her neck."

"So she threw him into a wall?"

"I'm very sorry about this, sir," Kurama said in his calmest voice, thanking Aratani with his eyes. "I know I overreacted."

"No, she didn't," Aratani insisted, her voice rising in pitch. "Principal, Sakura was in a dangerous situation. She was just defending herself."

"Be that as it may, fighting is still not tolerated on school property, Miss Minamino," said the principal. "You've been a model student in the past, and as a result, I will let you off with a warning. But I must impress upon you the fact that our school prides itself on its image, and if I catch you fighting again, I will have no choice but to suspend you."

"Yes, sir," said Kurama, relieved. Aratani smiled at him, and the two of them walked inside. Once they were through the doors, Aratani looked up at Kurama with a curious expression.

"Can I ask you something, Sakura?" she said. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"It's all right."

"Who's Karasu?" Aratani asked. "You screamed that name when Tadayo grabbed you."

Kurama thought once again of his encounter with Karasu, and how similar it was to his encounter with Tadayo. Ever since he'd killed Karasu, he thought he was over it. But maybe that creepy feeling wasn't all gone. Maybe the experience had been affecting him more than he thought, and he was just denying it all this time.

It had been clear to Kurama since the first time they'd spoken that if Team Toguro won the tournament, Karasu's wish would be to have Kurama as his own. That was why it didn't really matter that Kurama lost the match; the important part was that Karasu was dead and could never hurt anyone ever again. But even if Karasu himself was gone, Kurama still felt like part of him was taken away.

Part of it, of course, was the constant, unwanted attention that his female form received, both outside and inside school. It was a lot more difficult to hide any lingering trauma he had about Karasu if the same thing was constantly happening to him all over again.

"Karasu is someone I once knew." Kurama sighed. "And he…he liked me."

"Does he go to this school?"

"No, thank goodness," Kurama answered, resigned to telling the story. Parts of it, anyway. "He was sexually harassing me, I suppose you could say. Making these horrible comments…touching me…" An involuntary shudder ran through his body. "I was honestly worried he was going to take advantage of me. There was one time when he snuck up behind me and put his hands around my neck, just like Tadayo did. He…he touched my hair. He told me he knew I was afraid of his touch, but that at the same time, I probably wanted it."

"That's disgusting," said Aratani.

"Indeed," said Kurama. "It sounds even worse when I say it out loud. If his friend Bui hadn't been there at the time, I don't know what would have happened. But the worst part is that he treated me like an object…like I belonged to him. It was absolutely humiliating."

"Oh, Sakura, I'm so sorry that happened to you." Aratani linked arms with Kurama. "Do all boys just think girls are prizes to be won?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that," said Kurama, "but Karasu definitely gave me that feeling."

"Just remember, Sakura," Aratani told him, suddenly businesslike. "If it makes you uncomfortable, it's not cute or romantic, it's creepy."

"If that's true," Kurama replied with a sigh, "Karasu was as creepy as they come."

"Not that I blame you, but you seem like you're still traumatized by this experience," Aratani observed. "Why don't you talk to the school counselor?"

"Well, maybe," said Kurama, even though he had no intention of talking to the school counselor about Karasu. "Thank you so much for your concern, Aratani."

"Like I said," she replied, "we girls have to stick together."

Kurama's friends knew how horribly Karasu had treated him in their battle, of course, but they didn't know what he had done to him before the fight, and neither did they know of Kurama's lingering feelings. For some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to talk about it to them. Maybe they wouldn't understand. But it was surprisingly easy to talk to Aratani about Karasu. Before, they had discussed all kinds of things, not just classwork, and their conversations were always interesting. Kurama had to admit that sometimes he thought his feelings for her extended beyond friendship. But they never talked about things like this. Did girls just keep improper advances from boys a secret amongst themselves?

"You have to show these people who's boss, I suppose," said Kurama, remembering the look on Karasu's face when Youko Kurama had appeared—and, of course, when Karasu realized he was about to die. "But I know that's not always easy. I hope Tadayo will leave the girls alone after this."

"Speaking of that, I'm really grateful you saved me." Aratani smiled. "I didn't know you could fight like that, though."

"Well, I usually don't need to."

"But if you hadn't been there, they would have gotten me," said Aratani. "I could never have fought those guys off. I'm only strong in my mind."

"Your mind is your greatest weapon, Aratani," Kurama told her. "Listen. I'm busy right after school, but you could come over later, and my friends and I could show you some basic self-defense. I have some friends who are known for their fighting skills, and as you can see, I'm quite well-versed in martial arts myself."

Aratani beamed. "Sounds great!"

…

Yusuke was still surprised at himself. Yesterday, he never would have even considered going to school as a girl. But nobody seemed to be able to tell besides Shizuru, and Kurama said that was because her spirit awareness was so strong. In fact, when Yusuke saw Keiko that morning, she didn't seem to think anything was out of the ordinary at all.

"Hey! Yuki!" she called.

"Who?" said Yusuke, looking around.

"You, silly." Keiko gave him a smile. "You're actually on time for once."

"Oh…yeah," said Yusuke, remembering how Kurama had told Koenma that his mom called him by a different name as a girl. Maybe he had a girl's name now, too. "Yeah, Kurama wanted me to go to school today."

Yusuke realized too late that he'd used the name Kurama. Keiko knew about Kurama, of course, now that the Dark Tournament was over, but had that name changed, too? Luckily, it seemed to be only Kurama's human name that had changed, because Keiko didn't look confused at all. In fact, her whole face brightened.

"I'll have to remember to thank her," she said. "Come on, Yuki, let's get to class."

Keiko made small talk as they headed to class, and Yusuke couldn't help but notice that she was acting pretty different. She usually spoke to him with much more intensity than this, whether it was because she was pleased with him or (more likely) angry for some reason. But now, she was just treating him like…well, like a good friend. He thought maybe that was what they were, but not if his suddenly turning into a girl seemed to change the way she acted towards him. She wasn't being rude or cold; it just wasn't the Keiko he knew.

When she dropped him off at his classroom and went to her own, he realized that nothing could ever happen between them as long as they were in this alternate reality, because she wasn't interested in girls like that. It made him more determined than ever to exact revenge on the demons that did this to him. It didn't matter what Koenma said. Yusuke was convinced that someone had done this to him and his friends—that it was no accident—and whoever it was, he was going to make them pay.

Besides the thing with Keiko, Yusuke decided that the most annoying thing about being a girl was having to wear a bra. His boobs hurt at the slightest movement, and the bra only made it worse. Not only that, but he was feeling unusually tired, and he could feel a headache coming on. He wanted to snap at anyone who bothered him even the slightest bit. Whenever he sat down anywhere, his skirt rode up and his legs stuck to the surface. He felt bloated for some reason, like he couldn't fit into his uniform. His skin wasn't looking so good, either. And to top it off, they were right in the middle of a really boring geography lesson.

"Urameshi, your life energy isn't looking good," Kuwabara whispered from a few seats away.

"Shut up," said Yusuke irritably.

"Over here, Miss Urameshi," the teacher said sternly, tapping her pointer at a map of the world. "You can't see China out the window."

Yusuke pretended to look at the board, but he was really looking at Keiko, who was dutifully taking notes. Just a few days ago, she had been cheering him on in the Dark Tournament. He couldn't help but wonder if, in this reality, she had still kissed him to bring him back to life. It was possible, he supposed, since Kuwabara could have done it too, and he certainly didn't have romantic feelings for Kuwabara. Even with friendly feelings, Keiko could have brought him back to life. But maybe Yusuke preferred it the other way.