Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Demon Within ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

"Kurama! What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Keiko. I was looking for Yusuke. Have you seen him?"

Keiko frowned, her forehead creasing suspiciously. "I thought he was with you. He didn't show up at school today and wasn't at home when I called either."

Kurama looked around at the milling students on their way home from school as if Yusuke would somehow appear in their midst.

"Well, if he isn't with you and he wasn't in school . . . I wonder where he could be," Keiko thought aloud.

"Perhaps he had . . . other business . . . to take care of," he said, careful not to give out any information as a group of boys passed them.

"Oh darn!" she said, coming as close to a curse as she allowed herself. "I wanted Yusuke to come with me to collect plants for a science project. I hate going into the woods by myself."

At the mention of plants, Kurama's interest switched from searching for Yusuke to helping Keiko with her project. The question he wanted to ask could wait.

They spent the next hour gathering various vegetation throughout the nearby woods. Kurama explained the interesting properties of each while Keiko took notes and carefully pressed each one between the pages of a book.

"Thank you so much for helping me, Kurama," Keiko said as they began to make their way back out of the woods. "This is going to be my best project ever!"

"You're welcome," Kurama said with a smile. "But I'm sure you would have done an admirable job even without my help. You had an impressive knowledge of plants already."

"But without Yusuke, I wouldn't have dared to venture this deep to find all these specimens." She stopped long enough to stamp one foot on the ground. "Oh! That still makes me mad! He knew I was counting on him, but one word from Koenma and he's all too happy to rush off!"

"Well, it is his responsibility as a Spirit Detective," he pointed out in defense of his friend.

"I know. A demon shows up and he runs off to fight it. I don't see why he doesn't just go to Spirit World and blast every last demon away once and for all. Life would be so much better without them. They're mean, they're ugly . . . they're just plain horrible! I wish every last demon would just disappear!"

"I am a demon."

"You're more human than demon," Keiko said, then realized Kurama was no longer walking next to her. She turned around and was shocked at the sight before her.

"And I wouldn't exactly call this ugly," the silver-haired man said with a sly grin.

Keiko's mouth hung open as Yoko Kurama slowly walked toward her. His hair floated on the gentle breeze beneath his smooth fox ears. The loose fitting pants rippled with each step, but she found her eyes undeniably locked with his golden ones.

Yoko Kurama stopped mere inches from her and brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek and down to her chin. With the gentlest of pressure, he closed her mouth and tipped her head back to look up into his gaze.

"And we are not always the horrible ones," he said, his hushed voice sending a shiver through her. "Humans can be just as horrible and mean. But do you know what?"

Keiko shook her head slightly. At the angle her head was tipped, talking would have been difficult, but it was the sheer force of his awesome presence that struck her silent.

"We demons can be meaner!"

There wasn't even time for Keiko to scream between the time the demon's eyes changed red and the sharp fox teeth closed around her neck. She wasn't even sure her eyes caught the transformation from the silver-haired man to the terrifying fox demon. The last look on her face before losing consciousness was that of utter fear and complete betrayal.