. . . I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or the charictors, but I do own this story. Also, it was eather publish this with the spelling errors, or kill my computer, so please bare with me for this chapter. Thanks, L.
The sound of muffled footsteps ahead of him quickly stole Kurama's attention from the seal that he had been examining. Night had fallen early in the forest, and the shadows made by the overbearing greenery seemed impenetrable in this late hour: he couldn't see anyone. He sat perfectly still as the footsteps became louder -closer-, and hoped that the shadows would mask him as well. He had just come from a fight, and didn't particular want another one. He held his breath as he felt, more then saw, the creature pass by in the dim starlight that peeped down through the thin branches of an old withered tree about three meters from ware he was. As soon as they were back in the shadows, all trace of the intruder vanished.
'Damn,' Kurama thought as he placed the seal back into the pouch at his waist as quietly as he could, 'I should have let Yomi talk me into going to that pub.'
Clearing his mind of everything but his surroundings, the silver fox focused his ears to search for the footsteps. There weren't any, and that was what he had been afraid of. Any other creature would at least still have had footsteps to give themselves away, but the Shadow Hunter could conceal every sound, movement, scent, and even thought in this kind of darkness. Thus the title "Shadow Hunter".
Kurama knew that the Hunter was circling him, he didn't need perception to realize that. Cats like to stalk, and he was being toyed with, just like all of the other innumerable times that he had had this fight. Feeling annoyed that he would be forced into a confrontation if he tried to run, he pulled a small glowing seed out of his pocket, and flicked it into the ground in front of him. The plant sprang to life at once, the bud blossoming into a little gold lantern that emitted enough light to keep the shadows around him at bay.
"What is that thing?" Came a low growling voice from the darkness. It seemed to come from just outside the reach of the light.
"Do you like it, Leopard," Kurama asked sardonically into the darkness, "I made it specifically for you. You know, just in case I had to even the playing field." He referred to the lantern plant with a smug grin.
"No, Fox," the disembodied voice deepened in amusement, "I meant that thing in your pocket, the thing that looks like it came from Spirit World. I bet they'd pay a lot to get it back." Kurama stood up in a flash, and backed into the tree he was sitting under, ready to call it into action. "and yes," the Hunter added, stepping into the circle of light, "that plant is damn irritating."
The two fighters glared at each other for a moment, drinking in the anticipation of the duel. Kuramas mind raced with stragadies for a first move while watching his foe intently. The be hooded Leopard didn't seem to move, but he could feel those unseen eyes searching him, mocking him. This fight would depend on who could draw faster, he realized. He had the advantage, and was feeding energy into the tree that he still had one hand on, but his plan would only work if he could draw his whip faster then the Hunter could pounce. And the damn cat was FAST.
A sound suddenly came from the Hunter, halfway between a purr and a growl, and Kuramas hand was at his hair. At his motion, the Hunter sprang forward, producing small daggers between gloved fingers. Kurama acted quickly, deflecting the first wave of thrown daggers in the same motion of defurling the whip. The roots of the tree began to rise out of the ground at the same moment that the cat left it. Kurama inwardly swore to himself for being too slow as he watched helplessly as the Hunter pounced down on him, 'claws' sharp, and ready for flesh. He only had one more desperate move that could save his life. . .
And then there was a loud thump, and a scream. Kurama was only half aware that he had hit the ground. He resisted the urge to be sick as strong hands gripped him tightly and started shaking him. A voice some ware was saying something, but he was to disoriented to make out any of the words. He could feel his consciousness slipping away. He knew he was dying. For a brief second he felt content with the thought of dying, it didn't seem so bad, just like falling asleep.
And then something cold and wet hit him in the face. His eyes popped open in surprise, and almost immediately closed again in recoil from the harsh sunlight leaking into the room. He opened them again, slower this time to let his eyes adjust to the light, and was surprised to see Yeuske leaning over him, brows knitted with concern.
"Bad dream?" The former detective asked when he was sure that Kurama was finally awake.
"What are you talking about?" Kurama inquired as he sat up, surprised to find himself in his own living room, and not out in the middle of the woods.
"Well," Yeuske started, "You had a really bad twitch, then you fell out of the chair, then you started screaming. I couldn't shake you awake, so I got some water." He was still eyeing the damp and disheveled red-head with a look of concern. "For someone as defended as you, you sure are hard to wake up," he added when his friend seemed to accept his play-by-play of the past two minutes.
"What time is it?" He finally asked, pulling himself back up into the chair that he had spent the night in.
"It's about 11:30, your mom left for work about an hour ago. She left us a shopping list." Yueske smiled and held up a rather crumpled piece of paper, "I figured we could go after the meeting."
Kurama growened at the thought of the lunch meeting they had planed with Koenma. In the three weeks that Yueske had been back from the Demon Realm the deity had become an all to present figure in both of there lives.
"Couldn't you have told him I have therapy today, or something?" Kurama whined as he watched Yueske return to the 'help wanted' ads he had been scouring.
"I did, but he knew you didn't. I sware that creepy little basterd is spying on us. Oooo. . .how much do you think bouncers make?"
"You know he's just going to try to stop me from going."
Yueske sighed and looked at his friend with as serious of a look as he could muster. "None of us want you to go, Kurama. Your life hear isn't over just because you didn't finish school. I didn't finish school and I'll probably be fine!"
"Nobody ever expected you to finish school even before you were a demon, Yueske." Kurama pointed out with a faint hint of a smile.
"Whatever, jack-ass. If this is about what happened with your principal. . ."
"I could have killed him."
"So that's it? One mistake and you run away?"
Kurama let out a long, low sigh and fixed Yueske with an intense gaze, "I am not running away, I am simply quarantining myself for the safety of those around me. This subject is closed, I am going to Spirit World."
