Time Tells All

The streets were crowded as usual in this part of the town they lived in. People going into and out of stores that lined the streets and amongst the crowd were the red headed Minamino siblings. The two were sitting on one of the benches, the youngest talking about what she needed to buy while the eldest listened and caerfully looked around them.

Gouki had been defeated not too far off from here, that much Kurama was sure of, but where exactly the Spirit Detective was, was uncertain.

"Shuichi is everything okay?" Sayuri asked quietly as to not draw attention to them. Shuichi looked down at her and gave her a reassuring smile. She had improved greatly on focusing her energy in only two days, but she still failed to get the rose to grow and it was unlikely she would be able to sense something like Gouki's and Yusuke's energies yet.

"Everything's fine, there's something I'll let you know about later, but not now. Not here." He replied.

"Okay." She nodded. "I need to run into one more store down here at the end of the street and then I'm done shopping for Mika." She explained. Mika was the closest thing Sayuri had to a friend and as such, she wanted to get the girl a little gift for her birthday.

"You go on ahead and I will be ther shortly. There something I need to do." He replied as his sister stood up.

"Something is wrong." Sayuri stated grimly. Shuichi stood and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Nothing is wrong. I just saw someone I need to talk to is all. So go to the store you spoke of and I'll be there in a few minutes." He reassured and his little sister gave in.

"Okay, but if it has anything to do with 'you know what', please be careful." Shuichi smiled and returned his hands to his pockets. He watched as she walked off and once she was out of sight began to search for the Rekai Tantei.

Yusuke wasn't difficult to find. He was stumbling through town, looking worse for wear, obviously just finished his fight with Gouki. He looked more like he lost the fight, but Kurama knew better. The redhead took notice of how panicked Yusuke looked when he realized there was a demon nearby and couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped. He quickly composed himself as he stopped by the Spirit Detective.

"No need to be so tense. I have no desire to fight you or to run. I simply have a request, I will happily return the mirror to you in two to three days. I will find you then." Kurama didn't wait for an answer and walked off in the direction Sayuri went into, leaving a shocked and unsure Yusuke to stare after him.

It didn't take long for him to reach the store and Sayuri was standing outside of it, shopping bag in hand, and looking off towards the treetops that could be seen from this distance. He approached her silently until he stood just behind her.

"Done with your shopping?" He questioned and smiled as he noticed her jump.

"Shuichi!" she exclaimed, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Scared the crap out of me. Yes I'm done with my shopping and I'm assuming that you are done with your conversation and ready to go now, right?"

"Yes, I am. No where else you need to go?" Sayuri shook her head at his question.

"No, let's go see mother now."

The next couple of days seemed to fly by. With school work and visiting their mom in the hospital, Sayuri found little time to focus on growing the rose her brother had given her. So far she had seen no changes in the tiny flower seed, but Kurama could tell she was getting the hang of focusing her energy. When she first started he could only sense the tiniest bit of spirit energy being released from her, but now he could easily sense it as well as her youki.

Since she had no recollection of her demon side, he never could tell she had any demon energy in her, but with the training she's done mostly on her own, it was starting to become noticeable. Maybe the rose whip would let them know more about what type of demon she was thab he originally assumed.

A scream broke the fox from his thoughts as he got his belongings ready for school. He dropped his bag onto his desk and rushed to the next bedroom, Sayuri's room. He didn't sense any trouble, so he couldn't figure out why she had screamed.

"Sayuri, what's wrong?" He questioned, standing in the doorway. Sayuri was sitting in her desk chair facing away from him. A laugh escaped her as she spin around with a grin pulling at her lips.

"Shuichi! Watch this!" She exclaimed holding out her hands to show him the rose seed. Her eyes closed and he could feel her energy being focused and conducted. Soon the a small green vine began to break through and grow from the tiny seed. It didn't grow much before Sayuri lost control of her energy and it returned to it's normal state. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with the sight of her brother smiling proudly. "Well, what do you think?"

"I think you're making great progress and we can be sure that you are a type of animal demon now. Only an animal demon could make the rose begin to grow. It's even more amazing that you've accomplished that much in such a short time, when you began anew and had no knowledge of focusing and channeling your energy. You've done a great job Sayuri. Now, are you ready for school?" Shuichi said causing his sister's smile to fall slightly at the mention of school.

"Yes, I got ready quickly so I could practice some."

"Good, I have a couple of books to place in my bag and we can go."

It didn't take long for the Minamino siblings to leave the house and not long after get to school.

The day seemed to drag on, both redheads ready to leave the educational building. Finally the last bell rang and the two met up in the courtyard of the school.

"Sayuri, will you be okay walking to the hospital by yourself today?" Shuichi asked when his sister came up to him.

"Yes, but what are you going to be doing. Are you not coming to see mother today? " Sayuri asked with confusion lacing her voice.

"Of course I am. I just need to go get someone first. There's someone that I think should meet her is all. I shouldn't be long."

"Alright, just be careful. Do you want me to take your bag?" She asked holding out her hand.

"Yes, thank you. You be careful as well and please watch your mouth, I won't be there to help you if you get yourself in trouble." He replied handing over his bag.

"I know Shuichi. You have nothing to worry about." She said, her voice rather monotone before starting to walk towards the hospital. "Later big brother."

He watched her for a moment, before heading his own way. Giving her the rose may have given her something to take her mind off their mother and shine light on a happier side of his sister, but truthfully she was still depressed and that would win overall. Hopefully he could change that soon.