Kurama walked into the house quietly. His visit to Koenma had not been very helpful. All he had said was that there was an anomaly in Hatanaka Midori's file, and that her spirit not been taken to the Reikai after her death.

"Shuichi?" Kurama stopped and turned to look at his mother. She seemed to be worried about something

."Hai, kassan," she rung her hands and wouldn't look at him. "What is it?"

"I called your office this afternoon and they said you went home sick," she said quietly. "But you came home when you usually do…" she said. It was obvious to Kurama that she wanted to know what was going on, but didn't want to accuse him of any thing. How to explain this without being too suspicious, he wondered.

"I went to talk to a friend of mine about what happened yesterday. They know a lot about ghosts and I thought they might be able to help."

"Oh," she said, the tension in her shoulders easing. "What did they say?"

"Nothing helpful, just to calm her so that she could move on." Kurama sighed. Both Kurama and Shiori jumped when someone knocked on the door.

"I'll get it," he said. He opened the door and was only mildly surprised to see Botan smiling at him.

"Hello Kurama-san, Koenma found some more information that I thought you should know." She chirped. Kurama stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"Did you find out why Midori's spirit attached my mother?" He asked hopefully, The faster they got rid of the ghost the better.

"Well… no. But we did find out something else. It wasn't Hatanaka Midori who you saw last night." Kurama raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know who it was?" It would be just like Koenma to find answers that only confused thing more than they already were.

"Not who, what. Several years ago a low level spirit gaki escaped into the ningenkai. It was so weak that the Reikai didn't even notice until recently."

"You think that this gaki is the creature I saw last night, not Hatanaka Midori?"

"Yes and no. From what we could find out Midori's soul was the first that it…eight." She shivered slightly "It was really weak at that point, it might have... um." She faltered.

"Because it was so weak, it didn't just eat her soul but combined with it." Kurama sighed. This just meant that the creature that was threatening his family was even more dangerous. He'd just have to track it down somehow and take care of it as soon as possible.

"You should tell your kaasan, make sure she knows what you're up against." Botan's comment brought his attention back from his plan making.

"Iie," he said, a little more forcibly than necessary. "You forget Botan. In this day and age, gaki, and even the Reikai, are just myths. What reason would she have to believe me?" Not that I could ever tell her anyway, he thought bitterly. It would bring too many questions.

"She already believes she was attached by a ghost right? I mean you don't have to tell her everything," She said, giving him a knowing look. "Just tell all of them about the gaki," she explained. But Kurama still frowned at her.

"Tell my brother that his mother has effectively been turn into a demon? He told me yesterday that he can sense others ki. He has enough to worry about without…" Kurama ground to a halt as he saw Shuichi turn the corner to come into the yard. The younger boy froze as he saw them. Kurama smiled and waved at his little brother, pretending that he didn't notice the hesitance with which he approached them.

"Welcome home, Shu-kun," Kurama said brightly. Giving his little brother a warm smile. "You remember my friend Botan, right?"

"Um…yeah, hi…" he said hesitantly.

"Well I'll see you later Ku…Minamino-kun!" Botan said as she left. Kurama waved till she was out of sight before turning to his little brother, a concerned look on his face.

"Daijobu ka?" he asked.

"h..hai, just…" Shuichi stuttered, looked at his shoes. "She gives me the creeps." Kurama put an arm around him and led him toward the house.

"Don't worry about it. Besides," he said, smiling at him. "I'm sure she wouldn't be offended if she knew. She's probably used to it." Shuichi just looked at him confused but didn't say anything more.