Chapter Ten- Explanation

Yusuke flew high above the city with equal parts of joy and anxiety. He loved the feel of the open air and yet the reason for it prevented his usual normal activities. His anxiety was the fact that he was about to tell his mother everything about his secret life as well as show her what his latest case had done. Would she still love him, accept that he was a demon now? Naturally, I will say that I'm still me despite my body.

Yusuke touched down outside his apartment and opened the bag he had brought. He tied his hair up and put the hat on. He tucked his tail in his pants and slipped on a jacket to cover the hole. He slipped on a pair of gloves and sunglasses before getting out his key and opening the door. "Mom?" he called. He closed the door and slipped off his shoes before Atsuko came staggering slightly into the hall. She stared at him as if hardly believing what she was seeing. "Yusuke," she said in a whisper. She was not drunk, for which Yusuke was grateful.

"Mom," he began.

She then grabbed his arms. "Where have you been? The school called, saying you've been absent. Yusuke, an education is important and you will be going, starting tomorrow."

"I can't go to school, Mom and I can explain."

"All right. Why can't you?"

"When I came back after I seemed to have died, I found that I had a special power to see supernatural things like demons disguised as people. Yes, demons are real. My power earned me the job of Spirit Detective by the Spirit World's prince, Koenma. My job is to protect our world from demons who would cause chaos or terrorize people.

"I also arrest demons who commit crimes against other demons. I have three others who work with me. One is Kuwabara and the others are two good demons. Recently, we were told to arrest a female fox demon and needed to disguise ourselves to get close to her at a club where only members of the canine family can get in. Kuwabara drank a fox formula and I and Hiei, one of the good demons, drank wolf formulas. The other demon, Kurama, was already a fox demon.

"We did arrest her but not before she kissed all three of us with a special lip balm to trap us in our changed forms. I'm stuck as a wolf demon and can't go to school." With that, Yusuke removed his sunglasses, gloves, jacket, and hat. He undid his hair and allowed his tail to come out of the hole.

Atsuko stared at Yusuke's appearance before reaching out to feel an ear and then the hair. "Real," she said. "This is not a joke or fake."

"No joke. I am a wolf demon now. I have the senses of a wolf and the faster speed of a demon. I can change into a wolf and I have control over wind. I can actually fly with my power."

Atsuko couldn't help smiling at her son's enthusiasm over flying. "I understand how that can be exciting. Yusuke, you can't disguise yourself to look human?"

Yusuke shook his head. "That's not one of my powers, but it is one of the powers of fox demons. Kuwabara can cast an illusion to look human until his energy for that power runs out. The good thing is that the more he uses it, the longer it will last."

"So, where have you been?"

"In the nearby mountains. One of my first cases as Spirit Detective was to stop a demon from learning a powerful move from a human psychic named Genkai who lives in a home in those mountains. I posed as a candidate for her technique in order to arrest the demon as Genkai was holding a tournament to find her apprentice. I caught the demon and ended up as Genkai's apprentice which I hadn't really wanted. But I did learn some moves to improve my spirit energy."

"Spirit energy?"

"Yeah. I could channel it to fire it like a gun or wrap it around my fist and fire a spray of energy bullets like a shotgun or simply punch my attacker. My spirit energy has changed to demon energy but I can still use my attacks as before in addition to wind powers and being a wolf." He then covered a yawn and his eyes felt heavy. He gave Atsuko a tired smile at her concerned look.

"I'm all right. I just learned to fly yesterday and it wasn't a long flight as I had used my energy earlier that day. I'll get my energy back with some food and sleep."

Atsuko gave him a small hug. "Get some sleep then and I'll order some food a little later."

"Maybe something from Keiko's?" Yusuke asked hopefully. "She knows I'm a demon too."

"Sure."

"Thanks. Mom…are you all right with me being a demon? Do you still…love me?"

"Yusuke…of course. I still love you. I admit it is a shock to see you like this and knowing about this life you've kept secret, but you're still my son. I will want to hear more about your job, though."

Yusuke nodded as he padded off to his bed and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He already planned to fly back to Genkai's once night fell so he wouldn't be so noticeable.

The smell of food tickled his nose and stirred him from his sleep. He opened his eyes and blinked as they focused on Keiko who stood in the doorway with a paper sack. He smiled as he sat up. "Hey, Keiko."

The girl shook her head slightly as she came closer. "It's still so weird to see you with gray hair."

Yusuke smothered a yawn as he said, "I understand that. It's still a little weird to me too."

"Did you ride all the way here with everything covered up?"

"Oh, right! You don't know. Keiko, I got wind powers yesterday."

"Wind? You mean like that guy you fought?"

"Yeah. I learned to fly and came here that way. I plan to fly back after dark."

Keiko nodded as she handed over the sack and then asked, "Did Kuwabara get his power too?"

"Yeah. He's got ice powers and can already fire ice shards. He shot them at me because his aggressive fox nature flared up."

"Did you do something to him to make him attack?" she asked suspiciously.

"I had to! Fox instincts make one aggressive when in the heat of battle or feeling…sexual. He…was wanting to mate with Yukina and I fired an energy bullet that grazed his shoulder. I unconsciously used my wind powers as a shield when he shot ice shards from overhead. Kuwabara came back to his senses when Hiei melted the ice."

"Oh. Yukina wasn't hurt, was she?"

"No. She did accept Kuwabara's declaration of love and became his mate."

"So, they're a couple now?"

"Yeah, they are."

"Do you have to go back to Genkai's? Your mom knows everything and so do I."

"I know, but others would see me as a monster and try to attack me or kill me. It's better if I live up at the compound."

Keiko nodded reluctantly as Yusuke tore into his dinner. She knew he was right about needing to hide from the city as he would be feared, hated, and possibly killed. But, hopefully, one day demons and humans can live together and then Yusuke and the others won't have to hide.

The End