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One Body, Two Minds	By : Ametank Category: Yuyu Hakusho > General Views: 6524 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuYu Hakusho, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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.A/N: I just want to say WOW. I�ve never gotten 15 reviews in the first week of having ANY story posted. I�m truly honored, and excited to find so much interest in this piece. I hope all of you stick around (if I haven�t jinxed it) and enjoy chapter two!!

.Chapter 2: The Discovery!

Somehow, even without a corporeal body, you managed to slip into unconsciousness, so it is quite a surprise when you wake. The first thing you become aware of is movement, you are being carried somewhere, though how, or by whom is still a mystery to you. Your whole world is darkness, like you�ve been thrown into a cellar with no windows and the doors sealed tight. Sensation is light, almost muted, but somewhere you can feel the shifting of cloth over your body, and the humidity in the air.

The last moments of your life come back to you with startling clarity, the vacant look in your mother�s eyes, the feel of her skin beneath your fingertips, the way that monster�s claws felt, digging into your flesh, the cold solid weight of death sinking into you. It�s all so real that you unleash a mental wail, for that�s all you are, an apparition, the remains of a corpse. Whatever object you managed to latch onto in your ethereal form, is being carried, and you haven�t even got eyes to see where.

The despair is staggering.

This crypt that encases you now, for what else can you call a house to the dead, is strange. You haven�t got limbs now, but something about this metaphysical substance that makes you up now seems capable of movement. Tentatively you reach out and touch something. It shivers under your touch, but aside from that remains unchanged. You try again, pressing harder, only this time the thing responds, slapping you away with terrifying force. For the moment defeated, you sink back into the sadness, unable to cry, unable to do anything but let the horror of it wash over you.

And time immeasurable passes�

*~*~*~*

"Shuichi, are you feeling well?" Kurama smiled obligingly at his mother�s concerned face.

"Of course, Mother. I�m fine." She looked skeptical, but Kurama was quick to kiss her on the cheek and add, "I�m going to begin my homework now."

"Okay," she said, drawing out the word in that suspicious way mothers and girlfriends have. "I�ll call you when dinner�s ready."

Kurama nodded and then trotted up the stairs to his room. Once inside he locked the door, leaned against it, and took several deep, calming breaths. All day long something had been amiss, as if inside of him there were feelings and thoughts not his own. It was like a tiny spark of misery that wouldn�t go out, and just now, while he was downstairs with his mother, it felt as if something had nearly shoved him right out of his own skin. The feeling was eerily similar to the time he�d left his own former demon body in exchange for this half-human one.

And he was pretty sure he knew why.

*~*~*~*

.Four days ago�

The latest mission came in around four o�clock in the afternoon. Koenma stated very plainly the situation:

"Okay Yusuke, everyone, this mission is going to be one of the most difficult ones you�ve yet to face. It�s no Toguro case or anything like that, in fact the demons aren�t altogether even that powerful. (Yusuke: "Well then what the hell do you need me for?") Because, Yusuke, they may not be powerful now, but there are ways to obtain power that we in Spirit World try to hide, sometimes without success. (Yusuke: "Figures.") One of these is called the Atropes(Aye-trope-s) a talisman that can bestow powers upon a demon that would make Toguro look like an amateur.

"A family of four lives in the house that sits above it, and the demons need souls to open the chamber and get to it. I want you all to go and stop the demons before they can take the souls of that family. (Kurama: "If they escape can�t they just take other souls?) Good question, Kurama, and that�s the important part. When we decided to hide the Atropes it became apparent that the talisman gave off a strong enough presence that even below ground demons could find it. To cover that, we have been binding the souls of the humans who live within that house to the seal for the past hundred years. Those demons need that family. All of the family."

Yusuke fumed violently for the better part of half an hour before finally calming down. "How could the toddler do that? I mean, can�t they think of a better way to protect that kind of stuff without dragging humans along for the ride? What a bunch of�" And on and on it went.

By six o�clock they had all split up, Kurama to the west of the city, Yusuke to the north, Hiei south, and Kuwabara east. Each using their own methods, they searched for any sign of the demons without success. They met back up around midnight at the local IHOP, sitting around discussing possible strategies. It had been decided that going directly to the family was a bad idea�most humans have a tendency not to believe in things like demons�but they were running out of options.

"All I can find are petty minor demons," Hiei snorted, making a disgusted face at the giant platter of food the waitress had plopped down in front of Kuwabara.

"Yes," Kurama agreed, "The same here. Perhaps we should stake out the actual house, and go from there?"

Yusuke was slouched down in the booth looking more surly than ever, if that was possible. It seemed that traipsing all over the northern part of the city was not doing anything to help his attitude. When no one spoke for a few moments he scanned each of their faces with a hardened glare. "What? Doesn�t anybody but Kurama have an idea?" Slamming his fist down on the table he hopped up and stormed out of the restaurant.

"I�ll handle this," Kurama asserted gently, and quietly followed.

Outside Yusuke leaned against the cool brick wall seething silently. He didn�t even look up as Kurama approached. "It�s not right, Kurama," he said, sounding dejected. "Those people didn�t have to be in danger."

Kurama nodded solemnly. "But they are in danger, and it is our duty to do our best for them."

"Well I�m sick of doing my best for them! Why can�t Spirit World take care of it�s own for once!" Yusuke spun around, punching the wall so hard the brick cracked and flaked away.

Kurama turned his face away, giving Yusuke a moment to collect himself. "You bear the weight of an incredible responsibility. We all do. That�s why we are all here, even Hiei. Will you give up here? It would be so easy to simply walk away and let the world meet her fate." He raised an eyebrow at the dark haired boy.

"No," Yusuke sighed. "You know I won�t."

"Change is slow and arduous, but it does happen."

Silence settled around them. "Let�s go stake out the house," Yusuke said at last.

At two thirty in the morning, the ki of three youkai inside the house revealed themselves, somehow completely hidden before then, and the whole team, startled and anxious, charged in. Too late�Kurama remembered distinctly the sight of the girl, her whole body trembling, standing there pretending to be brave, even making a final attempt at escape. The attack happened so fast that not even Hiei had a chance of rescuing her. Yusuke had been forced to fire his Spirit Gun mere inches away from the girl just to fend off her attacker. Unfortunately the shot was sloppy, and only took the demon in the arm.

The girl died. There was nothing any of them could do. But something odd happened just as she passed. Kurama felt some metaphysical thing latch onto him and eventually force itself past his barriers and inside of him, bringing him to his knees. The force had almost succeeded in pushing his own spirit free of this body he�d become so accustomed to. For the past four days, however, there was nothing; not a single sign that anything was wrong, until today around lunch, when the sadness struck him.

*~*~*~*

Kurama sighed miserably, wondering what had possessed this spirit to cling to him, or even hover in this world at all. If those demons ever found out that her soul remained in this world, they�d come for her, and not only her but her younger brother as well. It was a horrible situation. He�d seen the corpses of the parents. Their deaths hadn�t been pretty, but at least they�d been quick. Kurama doubted he would be so fortunate if they decided to extract this soul from his body. And her younger brother�

Not sure exactly how to deal with this situation, Kurama decided to try and communicate. He focused completely on forming his thoughts as clearly as possible and "sending" them out to the girl. He tried imagining the words as pictures, enclosing them in a bubble, and pushing them away.

�Are you there?� he asked her. For several heartbeats nothing answered.

But just when he was about to try again a weak thought came through. �I�m here.�

Despite the awkward feeling of having someone else�s thought in his brain, he got a little jolt of excitement out of his success. Cleverness had always been his forte. He tried again. �Why didn�t you cross over?�

This time the reply came faster, though still brief and weak. �Scared.� Now that was interesting.

*~*~*~*

The darkness that is all you have come to know, is beginning to give you claustrophobia. And the loneliness, that is the worst part of all. Your only company is some metaphysical lump that you have no mouth to speak to with, no eyes to see, and no corporeal body to interact with. Perhaps you should have simply allowed yourself the release of dying�

That thought alone is enough to conjure images of your family, which has you mentally sobbing all over again. Your only possible sanctuary has been stolen from you. You no longer have a body to busy while you grieve, and no friends left to give your aching soul comfort. The only things you see are images conjured up from your past, the most immediate of which is crushingly painful.

What is this prison that holds you now? You dare not try and force yourself against that thing from before. Something about the way it cast you off had given you an impression�there was no other word for it�of power that makes this puny soul of yours seem infantile. Desperate to squelch the growing misery encompassing you, you try to remember your parents� faces when they were alive, but all that comes is your mother�s face, pale and flaccid, void of vigor or pulse.

It�s useless.

�Are you there?�

The thought slides though you like a bolt of lightening, shivering through every sense that is left to you, and for a long while you�re frozen by the force of it. Did someone just ask you a question? The excitement of it, the prospect of not being alone anymore, prompts you to try and form a response, which is harder than it seems. Each word takes a lot of focus to send, so you don�t say much, just a simple, "I�m here."

For a few horrible moments you wait in that dreadful silence, waiting for a reply. The fear begins to grow within you that maybe this was all just some feeble figment of your imagination. After all, who would know you were here? Where is here? People confined by themselves for long periods of time did have a tendency to go crazy. And on that note, you have no idea how many days have passed with you inside this new prison. Death couldn�t possibly be worse than this. Unless of course you are dead, really dead, and all that metaphysical crap you thought happened, was merely part of the nightmare.

�Why didn�t you cross over?�

Your whole being thrills at this new thought. You�re not hallucinating, and if the thought is asking what you think it�s asking, then you�re not dead. Not properly anyhow.

Hastily you form your reply. �Scared.�

You hope that this being understands. You�ve never needed companionship more than this very moment, and now that you have it, you�d hate for it to leave you.

After a period of silence you try forming your own question, �Where are we?� Gradually, this thinking to one another is getting easier, more comfortable.

�Inside my body.� The voice replies. �My name is Kurama.�

Inside�his body? If you�d had a body your breath might have hitched, your heart might have raced, and perhaps you would have shivered. As it is, you are left merely with the empty sensation of feeling shocked without any of the usual physiological signs that accompany it. So you really had managed to cling to something, and not just any something but a body. Unfortunately the only beings you remember at all from that night were the demons that attacked you and your family. Were any of them named Kurama? You have to ask.

�Are you a demon?� You wonder if fear can stretch across whatever barrier separates the two of you. If it is in fact one of your attackers, what will he do? And who is this person you�re seemingly stuck with now? Doesn�t he mind at all, your being confined within his skin?

�Not completely,� is his vague reply. �What�s your name?�

Not completely? What could that possibly mean? The unanswerable question spikes your fear enough that you almost don�t answer. But soon, logic rears its ugly head, and you conclude that if the two of you are to be stuck together, you might as well tell him your name. After all, he told you his.

�___(your name)__ ,�you reply.

*~*~*~*

.A/N: Yay! Chapter 2! Here�s the drill�if you want to know when I update; I�m beginning a mailing list. Drop your e-mail in a review, stating that you want to get the notice�I won�t e-mail you otherwise�and I�ll add you to the list. I send the e-mails personally, and the closest thing to spam you�ll get from me is a notice if I post a new story. No chain mails, no porn, none of that jazz. If you don�t feel comfortable leaving your e-mail here, you can contact me at olympianoct@yahoo.com and I�ll add you that way. ~_^ Ta.
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One Body, Two Minds