Hey everyone! SJ here... I'm only the co-author of this story. hColleen and me worked together on this one... Just to see if we could, pretty much... So, it's not got anything to do with any of my stories, or hers. It's all on it's lonesome. And it IS shounen-ai sort of, like it says in the summary... So if you don't like that, shoo! But otherwise, well... Just read.

CHAPTER ONE

Kurama couldn't see and it was becoming extremely disconcerting. His body felt different, as well, his coordination off, his balance wrong, as he tried to walk out of the all encompassing darkness. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a bright light and sounds that had to be laughter flooded his ears. Blindly, he reached for the rose hidden in his hair, yelling "Rose whip!" as he snapped his wrist. Instead of the comforting weight of the whip in his hand, his chest seemed to grow heavier, pulling him forward….

The redhead sat up gasping in his bed. It was the third time that week he'd had that strange dream. He ran his hands down his chest, ensuring there was nothing amiss. A tapping on his window pulled him from his musings. He reached over to open the window for his guest.

"Will you stop that?" the fire demon groused as he sat on the windowsill.

"Stop what, Hiei?" the kitsune returned, keeping his voice even.

"You've been calling me in your sleep, Fox," Hiei returned, irritably.

Kurama looked thoughtfully at his friend. "I've been having strange dreams…"

"Well, make them stop."

"I'd like to," the redhead sighed, "but I don't know how. In my dream, my body is different. My balance is wrong. Then there is laughing and I try to bring out my rose whip, but, instead, there is a weight on my chest that makes me fall forward. What do you make of it, Hiei?"

"Hn, you give too much credence to your dreams, Kurama. It is just that, a dream."

"You're right, I suppose," the kitsune conceded, his voice unconvinced. "But, the last time I had a recurrent nightmare…"

"It is just a dream, Fox," the koorime cut him off.

"…I ended up having to seek refuge in the Ningenkai," Kurama continued, ignoring his friend's outburst. "And before that, I lost Kuronue." He sighed, his eyes downcast.

Hiei moved from the windowsill, placing a hand on the kitsune's shoulder. Green eyes met his in surprise at the touch, "It's just a dream, Kurama. It can only harm you if you let it."

Kurama smiled, the expression almost reaching his eyes, "Thank you for coming, Hiei."

"Hn," was the petite demon's only response as he moved to the window. Pausing just as he was about to leave, he looked over his shoulder, his red eyes touched with compassion that was rarely seen, "Sleep well, Fox. I will be right here."

The smile reached Kurama's eyes at last. "Thank you, Hiei," he said to the departing shadow.

Koenma called the four tantei to his office early the next morning. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked rumpled, Botan having pulled them both out of bed. Kurama was pulled together, as always, and Hiei looked sullen. "We have reports of a breach in the barrier between the Makai and Ningenkai," Koenma began without preamble. "It appears to be the work of Seimigaku, the leader of the Yakubutsuranyou gang."

Yusuke yawned, scratching the back of his head, "So, who're they?"

"They are the biggest drug producers in the Makai," Kurama answered, nervousness beginning to prick at the edges of his mind.

"Whoa, so now we're going after pushers, too," Yusuke complained.

"Um, well, the point is," Koenma stammered, trying to regain control of the meeting, "the barrier has been breached and we need to close it again."

"We?" Yusuke asked.

"You!" Koenma countered, "You need to close it again! Go, do it, now! I have work to do." He picked up his stamp, and drew a stack of papers toward himself. After a moment, he looked up to see the four had not moved, "Why are you still here?"

"You didn't tell us where to go, pacifier breath," Yusuke answered.

Scowling, the god yelled, "George!"

The beleaguered blue oni came running into the room, "Yes, Koenma-sama?"

"Where is the information on Seimigaku?"

"You just stamped it, sir."

"Agh! Why did you put it on my desk?"

"You told me to, Koenma-sama."

Unable to come up with a retort that didn't make him sound like a complete idiot, Koenma shook off the offending pages before trying to read through his stamp. "They are in the Seiyaku region of the Makai and the connection seems to come out….How did that happen?" He looked extremely startled.

"How did what happen?" Kurama asked, a feeling of unease settling more completely in his stomach.

"It seems they connected to Mieou High School," Koenma muttered, his voice barely loud enough to be heard, eyes focused on the paper he was reading.

Kurama's eyes darted to the koorime, a sense of foreboding taking up residence in his chest. "Well," he said, his voice calm despite how he felt, "I suppose that's where we go, then, since the Seiyaku region is extremely difficult to reach." He turned to leave, Hiei falling into step beside him as the humans struggled to catch up mentally with the conversation before tripping over each other to catch up with the kitsune and the fire demon.

Softly, Hiei asked, "Why are you bothered, Kurama?"

With a quick glance over his shoulder, the redhead sighed, "I've dealt with Seimigaku before. His drugs do strange things to demons, and, to my knowledge, aren't that safe for humans, either, though I don't know what they'd do."

Hiei glanced out of the corner of his eye at the kitsune, "What kind of strange things and what kind of dealings?"

"Some of the effects I've seen include causing a demon to draw wards on its body, walk upside down lest their head implodes from lack of blood supply, revert to infancy. He thought those were hysterical. He wanted me to grow plants for him." The fox looked uncomfortable, but further conversation was cut off by the arrival of the human tantei.

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Kuwabara demanded.

"Nothing important, Kuwabara-kun," Kurama answered quietly, forcing his expression to be pleasantly neutral.

"Alright, then, let's go kick some bad guy ass so I can get more sleep," Yusuke piped in as he surged ahead, Kuwabara on his heels.

Hiei looked at the kitsune, a silent promise to talk later in his eyes. Kurama nodded once, accepting the promise, and focused on catching up with their teammates.

The yard of Meiou High was deserted when the tantei arrived since it was the summer holiday. Well, mostly deserted. Standing at the far end from the gate was a tall willowy looking creature. Long legs led from the ground up to a short skirt type binding of blue fabric around narrow hips, barely covering enough to be considered clothing. The expanse of skin from the low slung covering to shoulders was covered in a sheer gauze that left little, if anything, to the imagination. From the shoulders, down the back, hung a deep red cape that ended just below the skirt. Blonde hair flowed from the creature's head, ending even lower than the cape, almost reaching the creature's knees. The face, however, was the most striking feature. Bright blue eyes were framed with long thick lashes over a pert nose and full pouty lips. Were it not for the lack of any excess flesh on its chest, the creature could have easily passed for female. Even with that lack, it was difficult to believe.

"Ah, Kurama," a velvet voice purred, "it's so good to see you again."

The red head flinched, his hand ready to reach into his hair, his body tense, "Seimigaku."

The demon smiled, a look that had Yusuke wanting to find a dark private room, and began to slink across the yard, "It's been so long, Kurama, and that's all you have to say, just my name. Did I mean nothing to you?"

"No, you never meant anything to me, Seimigaku." The red head's fingers traveled to his hair, withdrawing his rose.

"That's not what you said last time we were together," the smile took on a dangerous glint and Kurama could feel Hiei move to unsheathe his katana.

"If we were ever together, it was because you drugged me," the kitsune spat back, his eyes narrowing.

"You haven't changed much, have you, Kurama?" The voice was silky smooth and still managed to convey the quality of fingernails on a chalkboard and the danger of a rattlesnake's warning. "Really, I don't understand why there are rumors of your change. But, then," he withdrew a vial from behind his back, "we can always fix that." He threw the vial toward the kitsune.

Kurama reacted quickly, instinctively, shouting "Rose whip!" as he flung his wrist forward, the rose transforming, to catch the vial, to throw it away. It exploded on contact with his whip, a green cloud swelling to cover the weapon, snaking along the flexible vine until it encompassed the handle and the kitsune's hand. Kurama was too stunned to move, failing to drop his whip, his eyes wide as the cloud over took him. Belatedly, he held his breath and closed his eyes.

As the cloud encompassed Kurama entirely, he began to feel lightheaded. His mind was spinning. Distantly, he thought he heard Yusuke's voice shout his name. His lungs burned, and he didn't seem to have the strength to stand. He gasped for air and only choked, falling to the ground as all awareness vanished from his mind and everything became black.

"Kurama?" Yusuke called. He ran to his friend's side, covering his own mouth and nose as the cloud dissipated. "What did you do to him, you bastard!" he cried furiously, standing and clenching his fists.

"To be honest," Seimigaku said with a slight smirk, "I'm not entirely sure."

"What?" Yusuke ran to him and grabbed his throat, squeezing slightly. "What do you mean!"

"It's untested," the demon began, just as Kuwabara, sounding a bit scared, called Yusuke's name.

"Uh, you'd better come here," the human boy said nervously. Yusuke glanced over and his eyes widened at least twice their normal size. Seimigaku chuckled, a sound that was quickly changed into a strangled choke when the tantei tightened his grip on the demon's throat.

On the ground lay a very...changed...Kurama. To be blunt: He was a she.

The...girl...let out a little groan, eyes squeezing tightly shut, then blinking open slowly. Kuwabara stood up and stepped back as his transformed friend sat up woozily. Brilliant green eyes opened widely.

"What--!" the now-female kitsune squeaked. Pale hands went to her face, tracing her lips and nose. Her eyes widened as she looked down at herself. She felt like she could cry.

On his once flat, toned chest were breasts--nice ones, too, he heard his subconscious murmur. His body, though once thin and perhaps feminine for a male, was now quite thoroughly female. Hesitantly, he ran his hands over the curves of his chest and hips, then nervously, as though almost afraid, touched his crotch. There was absolutely no trace of his manhood left. He was a woman.

"K-Kurama?" Hiei managed quietly. His friend looked at him with a fear-stricken face--a fear-stricken female face--and he felt his throat tighten. Words failed him. This was awful.

Seimigaku clawed wildly at Yusuke's arm, finally getting the boy to release him and he fell to the ground, crumbling down to sit in a panting heap on the ground. When he had regained enough breath, he laughed. He laughed and laughed, like it was the funniest thing in the world.

That laughter... Kurama's eyes narrowed in rage and she grabbed her rose, which had reverted back to its natural form when he'd dropped it. Standing, she walked shakily towards the demon, unused to being female and still recovering from the dizzying effects of the drug. She stood over the laughing demon, fists clenched.

"You make a lovely woman, Kurama," Seimigaku managed to tease. The fox bristled hatefully and flicked her wrist, intending to form a thornless whip and choke the bastard, but the second she attempted to send her ki into the flower in her hand, she felt a weight on her chest.

'Just like in my dreams...' she thought with horror as her breasts increased several times in size. He fell forward onto Seimigaku.

"Oh, Kurama! I'm flattered! I thought I meant nothing to you!" the demon taunted. Kurama spluttered with rage and withdrew his ki, pushing himself to his feet as his body returned to its previous female state. He hastily backed up away from the bastard who'd inflicted this on him, slightly embarrassed and still frightened.

"Bastard," Yusuke snarled, stalking towards Seimigaku. The demon was laughing again as he pushed himself to his feet. Furious, the tantei began punching his laughing face over and over.

"Stop, Yusuke!" Kurama cried. "Stop!"

Despite bleeding out his mouth and nose and having a black eye already forming, Seimigaku was still smirking. He spat out a mouthful of blood and grinned at the girl before him. "So you do care?"

"No," Kurama snarled, with the intimidating look only a female can properly manage. "I just want the cure."

The demon shrugged. "No dice. What do I get?"

Kurama silenced. Then, "What do you want?"

"You."

"Fuck you."

"That's what I had in mind. I'll give you the cure if you promise to be mine."

Yusuke punched the demon again, hard enough to leave him on the ground unconscious.

"Nice work, detective," Hiei said sarcastically.

"Sorry," though his voice held no remorse.

Kurama sighed and crossed her arms, then uncrossed them, not liking the feeling of his chest. She locked her eyes on the ground and generally fidgeted while everyone else looked at anything but her female body. Finally, Hiei stepped forward and gently took Kurama's chin in his hand, tilting her head to make her look in his eyes.

"Kurama, look at me," he said quietly. The fox obeyed, then looked away again instantly, unable to handle the pity in Hiei's eyes. Or was it pity? She forced herself to glance back at her friend's ruby orbs.

Concern. It wasn't pity, it was concern.

"We'll fix this," he promised. Kurama managed a small smile for the unusual display of affection from the fire demon. Her friend dropped his hand, but kept eye contact.

"Thank you, Hiei."

"Besides," Yusuke said, walking over and putting an arm around his friend's shoulders, "you make a really good lookin' girl, Kurama."

"Yusuke!" Kurama whined, shoving his arm off her shoulders and stalking away. Yusuke went after her.

"Oh, come on! You're still the same guy inside, aren't you?"

"No! I'm not!" Kurama cried, spinning around angrily. "I have OVARIES inside, Yusuke!"

The boy snickered.

"I'm a GIRL! Nothing about me is 'the same guy'! How can you be so stupid!"

"God, you're acting like Keiko!"

Kurama let out something of an exasperated sob and threw her hands up in the air, turning and walking away. Hiei hesitated, then went after her, casting an evil glare over his shoulder at Yusuke.

"What's with Shorty?" Kuwabara asked. "He's being awfully nice to Kurama all of a sudden."

"Maybe he has a crush on him...her...him? This is really weird."

Kurama turned, temper frayed, "Let's go!"

"Go?" Yusuke asked, eyes drifting away from his friend's face, downwards.

"Yusuke!" Kurama snapped. When Yusuke's eyes returned to his face, he continued, "We need to take him to Reikai."

"Oh, yeah," came the distracted reply, eyes wandering again.

In a huff, Kurama turned, loosing her balance, and stumbled. Hiei wrapped an arm around the kitsune's waist, his eyes surprised at his friend's awkwardness. Embarrassed, Kurama muttered, "The center of gravity is lower in this body, the hips are wider, the legs are angled differently…"

"It's your body, Kurama," Hiei pointed out, noticing how his friend seemed to disown it.

"No, it's not, Hiei. My body is male, not this…this…" Frustration welled up, choking him to the point where he could not continue. To his shame, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. He turned away from Hiei, only to have the koorime grab his chin and force him to look at him again.

"Kurama, we will get through this. I promised you. Now, let's get that to Koenma before it wakes up again. I will ask the questions, you do not need to be in the room." There was a dangerous glint in the red eyes.

"Thank you, Hiei, and I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I can't seem to control my emotions right now."

Kuwabara walked up with Seimigaku over his shoulder. "You're acting like Shizuru when she's 'hormonal,'" he offered.

"Great!" Kurama griped, "Not only am I female now, I'm 'hormonal,' too!" He stalked off in the direction of the nearest portal, anger doing much to propel the unfamiliar body forward, muttered curses reaching the ears of the remaining three, leaving them staring after him…her…in amazement.

"Let's go," Hiei ordered before either human could make another brilliant remark.

Yay, I'm adored. Well, hope you liked it. Review one way or another, if you'd please...