MERRY CHRYSLER YALL. Lately I've been feeling unsatisfied with the title of this fic…. Idk. Doesn't seem to fit to me anymore. If you guys have any suggestions for a new name, I might consider changing it. Or if you don't think I should, Let me know that as well. :) These things happen when you work on a fic for so long.

I yawned, looking out the hospital window as the sun rose. Yusuke took this as a sign to leave.

"I can go with you," I offered, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

He laughed. "Nah, you should hit the hay. It's my fault for keeping you up all night." Then he flashed his famous smirk. "I'm not quite ready to go back to sleep."

I didn't have the energy to argue—or to sneak past all the nurses and doctors. Despite that, I didn't want him to stop talking to me. I just got him back, afterall.

But he had other people to see. I had all the time in the day, and it wasn't like Yusuke would be going to school.

"Are you going to see Keiko?" I asked as he shrugged his jacket back on.

"Later. First, I have some territory to reclaim. Some food to enjoy. Some faces to pumble."

I grinned. "Happy to be back, huh?"

He slapped his arm, flesh and bone, and took a deep, wonderful breath. "Ain't nothing like it."

Yusuke visited each day, and I poked him each time. "Just making sure you're still there." Then he filled me in on the all the mischief he was finally able to have again.

"And Keiko keeps nagging me, with all this, 'you got a second chance, Yusuke! It's time to turn your life around!'"

I hummed. "First, that sounds nothing like Keiko. Second, she's got a point. How many people who die get to come back?" Besides me and the other anima. And Yusuke, a second time. But that was neither here nor there.

He scoffed. "Exactly. Why would I waste it doing all the boring crap I don't want to do?"

He definitely knew how to make me laugh. "Now that you're alive, you have to worry about high school entrance exams again."

His face soured at that. Then he rubbed the back of his neck. "Again? Let's be honest, I've never had to worry about those." That made two of us, then.

He told me how Atsuko was doing, and—my favorite—Kuwabara's reaction to seeing him alive and well. I had a blast picturing his shocked, teary face.

"Don't be too hard on the guy. He helped you out quite a bit." I paused, clutching at my gown. "Us. He helped us out quite a bit."

Yusuke's stories made me feel like I was the ghost now, stuck in this bed, away from it all. I'd done this all before, but Yusuke's never been able to visit me and… I both liked it and didn't. At least he didn't talk about my heart.

He was about to leave when my senses pinged—Kurama.

Probably here to visit his mother. I hadn't spoken to him for weeks. I definitely didn't want him passing Yusuke on his way out. With his mother this sick, he was bound to be on hyper-alert for threats. And Yusuke was giving off pretty noticeable psychic vibes since he hadn't been trained to dial it back yet. Thankfully, he wasn't very strong, so the range was compact enough. But If Kurama could sense me, then this wouldn't be good.

If I had taken a second longer to really focus, I would have noticed the heaviness of Kurama's aura. But then Yusuke was about to ruin the timeline.

"Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."

Yusuke stood, so I jumped up. "Wait! Uh—" I was forced to pause when my stupid brain froze. Yusuke waited for me, confused. I glanced around the room.

And here I thought I was such a good liar.

"Can you help me clean my closet?"

"Um." Yusuke furrowed his brow. "Sure thing. But can I ask why?"

"Space?" I hopped onto my bare feet and padded over to the closet, opening it to see it was full of janitorial supplies.

Yusuke leaned beside me to get a look, his face flat. "You sure we're allowed to move this stuff."

I tried not to go red. "If we just, I don't know—" I made a whirling move with my hands. A grand gesture. "Move it around some, make some space for—" I looked down. "Shoes."

"Uh huh." Yusuke scratched the back of his head, then shrugged. "Sure." He rolled up his sleeves.

Sighing, I leaned against the wall to watch, lest my help sped up the process of my stalling. He cleared out the top shelves first, showing some organizational skills I didn't think he had. I focused my senses, zeroing-in on Kurama. He was still in the waiting room. Why? Check-in didn't take that long.

Yusuke pulled out a bottle labeled with lots of skulls and crossbones. "Jeez. I know a couple of guys who would pay a lot of money to get their hands on this stuff."

"For wha—nevermind." I shook my head. After stacking some buckets and pushing some brooms to one corner, he'd actually made some progress.

"There ya go." He slapped the dust from his hands just as I sensed Kurama stand and start in the other direction.

And then I felt another presence arrive at the bus stop on the street corner. Genkai.

Fuck me. Why now? I didn't think Kurama could sense Genkai as anything other than an old lady, with her skill in energy manipulation. But what about her sensing Kurama? Or her sensing Yusuke?

Yusuke, who I stalled in this room. Before I could even worry about that, though, I couldn't hide my nervous gasp when I sensed my mentor near the fox demon.

"Gwen?" Yusuke waved a hand in my face.

...And the pair moved in opposite directions without pause. My shoulders dropped. I looked at Yusuke, and before I could think of anything, I saw the open closet. With a straight face, I grabbed his shoulders and walked.

"You okay?" he asked, his face twisted in confusion, walking back with me.

"Yep," I groaned. "Just—Do me a favor."

"Wha—"

And I shut the closet door in his face. But Genkai didn't need to see him to know he was here.

When I turned around, I heard footsteps through the thin hospital doors, calm and short. I met Genkai down the hall, out of breath from the panic and rushing. She held two large bags in each hand.

She watched me like she regretted coming. I really regretted it.

"Hey, Genkai." I laughed nervously.

"Brat," she greeted, like that was my name. Then we played a battle of silence. I was not on top of my game today.

"Er—"

"I got a call from your teacher today. No one's been picking up you're homework. So I took the liberty." Malicious, she dropped two heavy bags into my open arms. Even for me, it was heavy. Then she swung the rest on top with a nod. "Clothes." Sadist.

"Shoes, I hope?" I asked cheekily.

Genkai rolled her eyes, proceeding past me to my room.

"Uh, wait!" Back to frantic, stupid Gwen. "I was hoping you'd get me some snacks before you settle down?

She paused and turned back with an eagle eye. I shuffled to get between her and my door.

"Question. Do I look like your maid?"

I smiled, willing my sweat not drip down my brow. "Of course not."

She hummed. "There's cup ramen in your clothing bag." She took a step past me, hand on the door.

"Did I say snack?" She probably thought I was having a stroke with all my nervous giggling. "I meant book! You know, like a mind snack!"

"You're homework's not enough reading for you?" She gave me a wolf's grin, probably imagining me drowning in all the work I'd neglected to do.

Sadist.

"It's for a break. You know, so I don't just have to read the boring stuff."

She saw right through me, but she took her hand off the door and that was all I cared about at the moment.

"Hoh? And what kind of books don't you find boring?" An even more wicked grin. "I'm curious."

I almost dropped the bags under the pressure. "Romances." Finally, the sweat departed from my hairline, dripping from my chin. The seconds took hours.

Then she said, with a smirk, "Well, I suppose you are getting to that age." And she walked back to the elevator. It took forever for the door to open, and close again with Genkai inside. And only then did I breathe.

Back in my room, feeling like I had run a marathon, I remembered that this ordeal wasn't quite over yet.

I opened the closet door.

"Yeah, that was fun and all—" Yusuke deadpanned. "But I'd rather be out of the closet, if you don't mind."

I didn't have the energy to laugh.

I dropped the things Genkai had brought me onto the floor, using my feet to shove them farther back into the closet.

Yusuke looked that the supplies. "Oh, I thought you were just pranking me."

I gave him a sheepish grin. "Uh, sorry about that. If my granny saw a boy in my room…" I mimicked a hanging. And Genkai was already in the giftshop, which was a whole hallway away from the main entrance.

I ushered Yusuke out quickly, his eyes wide. "Okay-see-you-tomorrow-then-thanks-for-the-help—"

And that's how I got a copy of Pride and Prejudice.

The next week, he showed up in his uniform.

I raised an eyebrow. "You went to school?"

He kicked his legs up on my bed and leaned back on the chair. "And I'm never going back. Can you believe it? Those bozos acted like I was a ghost back from the dead."

"Most of them did go to your funeral."

"How kind of them."

I smiled. "I bet Mr. Tanaka was happy to see you, though."

He turned away, uncomfortable. "Yeah. The other teachers, not so much."

"Oh. Ayakashi?"

He rubbed his face, like he was debating telling me. "Nah, Iwamoto today. Tried to frame me for snatching some stuff out of people's desks."

I frowned. That was rather disturbing. Usually it was Ayakashi who did the unethical meddling, and Iwamoto kept his grubby hands clean.

But there was something else as well. Iwamoto might ruin his mood, but Yusuke wouldn't worry about him much longer than a few minutes. Something else was on his mind.

Yusuke laughed at my closed expression. "Don't worry, I paid that liar back in full."

"Oh no." I sighed. "What did you do? Did you get expelled on your first day back?"

He shrugged. "Didn't get caught." And that's all he would say about the matter. "Anyway, I have to go."

"Already?" I was too surprised to feel hurt. "You just got here."

I couldn't see his face as he stood. "Yeah, sorry. I've got something I need to do."

I watched him leave.

When Goki used the Orb of Bast, everyone within ten miles knew instantly. That is, anyone with honed spiritual energy. The Orb was a powerful artifact, and that kind of power was difficult to hide.

Gian was one of them. He went toward it immediately, curious, and found himself in the city. He blended in with the crowd.

"Interesting," he muttered, witnessing a child's soul drift away from its owner.

I bolted out of bed. The sensation was unmistakable, a power I've never felt before, but frighteningly identifiable. I felt the souls rip from their bodies, a feeling I knew far too well. I took just enough time to dress into the first thing I could grab, which ended up being my school uniform on top of the homework Genkai had brought me.

I planted my foot on the window to jump, but an idea struck me; if I left, this hospital would be defenseless. Since Kurama wasn't here. I tore through the numerous bags of my things, finally finding the stash of talismen Genkai had made for me. I had already reinforced the whole building, and these were the leftovers. They would have to do.

The pediatric ward was on the second floor, a colorful explosion compared to my room. Jeremiah had requested not to host me there, since he didn't want me tiring myself out with the other children. I don't know my way around it, but the talismen had decent range. I circled the ward evenly, hoping the whole section no longer existed on the radar.

The rest of the hospital needed to be sensible, because if it wasn't, it would probably stick out like a sore thumb as a missing building with lots of people coming and going.

Next I went to the registry list. Minamoto was the sixth floor, two above me, and on the north side. I head over with my last talisman.

When I peeked into the door, Shiori Minamoto was fast asleep, her monitor steady. Her room is opposite mine, her bed against the other wall and everything mirrored. I slipped inside, hoping she didn't have automatic lights like some rooms did. She was beautiful, young, but looked nothing like Kurama. That was to be expected. She also had dark circles under her eyes as she slept. I moved to the window. It was raining.

"What are you doing here?"

I turned in surprise to see Kurama. With all the talismen I had just placed, plus the one I was holding, we could no longer sense each other.

He looked stern, and really tired, but not aggressive like he had been. I raised the paper in my hand.

"I sensed—it," I said plainly. "I've been reinforcing the hospital."

I didn't have to specify. Whether he was involved or not, he should have felt it. But his face was canvas blank, and I knew why.

"I see," he finally said, stepping inside the room. He looked at his mother, probably glad she was asleep so he didn't have to explain me to her.

But there was an issue. Kurama was willing to let all these children die at the hands of Goki. Yes, to help his mother—or rather, this woman who raised a demon—but that didn't seem like a fair trade to me.

I couldn't keep the turmoil—the judgment, the disgust—off my face. Or Kurama was just good at reading people.

"Did I do something to offend you?" he asked, still keeping up his poker face.

"No." I threw up the talisman on the window frame before I had the gall to roll it up and throw it in his face. He had moved to his mother's side, justifying to himself the choices he made.

At least, that's how I read into it.

"Yet you've been avoiding me."

I blinked, wondering why he cared. Because I knew his persona. His human name. Appearances were everything to Shuuichi Minamoto.

I didn't answer and turned around, opening the window and stepping on the sill. It was either this one or mine, and the height didn't make a difference.

"You're looking for the source of the disturbance," Kurama interrupted. "I know you're not too partial to me at the moment, but listen when I say that you don't want to get involved."

I frowned. "How would you know?" I want to yell at him, but I know it wouldn't get me anywhere. That, and he frightened me. He was warning me, but he was arguably the strongest of the bunch.

"Trust me. This is the work of demons, and they make powerful enemies."

I eyed him for a moment, waiting to see any cracks in the mask. But there were none.

"I'll take my chances." I jumped out the window.

There were two things I was after. The first was Yusuke, who if I remembered correctly, was in his first real fight with a demon. The second was the Orb of Bast, because even if Yusuke was supposed to get it, it was a scary, dangerous artifact that could get a lot of kids killed. And if I was an agent of good at all, if I had the right to be angry at Kurama, then I had to do everything in my power to retrieve it. Thankfully, Yusuke was easy to find because he was also following the Orb of Bast.

It was just that, on my way through the woods, I came across something that the series never had.

I wondered what a group of demons was called. A mob? A murder? A gaggle?

There were three circling Yusuke's aura, and I didn't like that, even though they probably weren't after him.

I should have realized sooner that other demons could sense the Orb too. Demons stronger than Goki. And Yusuke.

I landed on a tree branch, knowing they couldn't sense me yet. They must have been D rank, humanoid in shape but definitely on the bulky side. Too bad there wasn't much that my Spirit Arrow couldn't pierce.

I drew back, my bow materializing, it's bluish glow giving away my presence. But it didn't matter. They swiveled toward me, mouths watering, horns pointed. I let my arrow fly, and drew and shot twice more before the first had met its mark.

Three bodies hit the floor. I dropped to the ground, rolling a head to the side with my foot to confirm death. Yeah. Definitely dead. My bow fizzled out.

Then with my hyper senses I heard a twig snap an I was barely able to jump away from the bodies when a tree came barreling through the air, landing where I had been. I flipped into cover, re-summoning my bow and spinning back to the source of the tree.

Way more than three. I honed in on Yusuke. He was still alive and kicking, at least. But Goki's spiritual energy had shot way up. It wasn't going to be a clean fight.

And I had more directions to guard than straight on—Yusuke and Goki were practically surrounded by demons.

It was going to be a long night.

MMM Funfact #12: Gwen's favorite character from YuYu Hakusho, when she watched it growing up, was Baby-form Koenma.

A group of demons is called a legion, by the way. But I don't think Gwen would know that.