Untold History: The Good Ole Days

Disclaimer: I don't own Kurama or Kuronue or the Makai or anything recognizable. I do own Avaria however, she's MY creation.

*** Please note this is the PREQUEL to Untold History, it takes place long before Yusuke or Hiei existed, you won't really be seeing them here. Maybe a hint of Hiei but that's about it. I wont say you need to read the original Untold History first but THAT story is complete while this one is just starting. I highly suggest giving it a look. Thank you! ****

Chapter 1: On…Wait…Is That a BABY?

Yoko Kurama, legendary bandit that he was would always remember the very first time he met Kuronue. Not because of an act of heroism, for fucks sake they're all demons here. Not because Kuronue acted in any shape or form like Yoko was the almighty legendary bandit that he was. No one went fan-crazy, no one cowered, no one gave a damn about the fox's sadistic reputation which had been solidified by what he'd done to Yomi. In fact, it was two basic things Kurama noticed the second Kuronue approached him in that gods forsaken hole of a bar.

One: Kuronue didn't give two shits what anybody else thought about him.

"Yoko...Kurama. So... you literally named yourself Demon Fox...Kurama..." And then the bat demon burst out laughing so hard that he fell off the bar stool. And no, he wasn't even drunk, yet.

Two: Kuronue had some serious balls.

"No...ha ha! No points for originality man!" The dark-haired male wiped a few stray tears away from his eyes. The dark indigo color shone with unhidden mirth as he pulled himself back up onto the stool, settling once again on the scarred wood. What few patrons there actually were wisely kept to themselves after glancing at the commotion.

Yoko sighed inwardly and cast his golden glance sideways at the other man. He eyed the black wings, the black hair, the black... well, everything. His clothes were black, his odd hat that his ponytail was springing from was black, his ponytail was black, his wings were black. It contrasted with his pale skin and hidden just so under the arm wraps were the pearlescent hints of scars. Before the bat demon could say anything else at his expense he growled out. " It's a TITLE. Now...who are you?"

"Ah damn..." Kuronue blanched and scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, sorry... I forget I'm not nearly as legendary as you are. My name is Kuronue. " He held out a hand to the fox demon who eyed it disdainfully for several moments before reluctantly shaking it.

"Humble aren't you. " He grumbled under his breath before continuing in a far more conversational tone. "So... you're a thief then?" At the very least Kurama's curiosity was piqued by the bat.

"Well...you tell me." Kuronue winked, holding up a pouch of coins in what was meant to be an innocent looking gesture. Truth was Kuronue didn't have an innocent bone in his body and he never would. This being the case he only succeeded in looking awkwardly cheerful and perhaps a little like he had to use the bathroom. It was off putting enough that it took Kurama an extra few seconds to realize what had happened.

Score one for Kuronue.

" The hell?" Kurama blinked his gold eyes, hand pawing the area where that pouch should have been. Kuronue had swiped it right off his body and the demon fox hadn't noticed? This time it was the fox who burst out laughing. No, he wasn't drunk yet either.

This was the beginning of a beautiful partnership!

Kuronue, by some miracle nobody was going to question, was invited on Kurama's next job. Between his awkward yet charming personality and the fact that he said whatever the hell popped into his head, Kurama almost instantly took a shine to him. He was also almost instantly and consistently annoyed by him but the benefits of having a trustworthy partner overwrote the annoyance, mostly. Kuronues skills helped as well as it soon became apparent the bat had downplayed his power. Kuronue had first approached the fix simply hoping for a few pointers, and he himself found that he rather liked the silver haired demon. Even if he occasionally got smacked upside the head by him for a stupid comment or deliberate stubbornness. Kurama was stubborn but Kuronue could give him a run for his money. By yet another miracle one job became two became three became four and after a year the pair were inseparable as brothers and twice the causing twice the trouble for anyone with treasures.

They could go after bigger scores.

They could expand their own territory.

And Kuronue wasn't damn near as rash and reckless as Yomi had proved to be.

They had been slinking around the Makai for several years at this point. They were so well in sync with each other that they always managed to stay a step (Or five) ahead of whoever had it in for them this week. Right now a B-Class idiot who thought he was something special was after them. They had stolen a rather powerful little gem he'd been hiding away from his tiny little village. Well...he'd been using it to make them all think he was a lot more powerful then he actually was, the thieves were a bit sad they'd miss that eventual bloody coup.

"That was far FAR too easy." Kuronue snorted as they sped away into the distance. He could still hear the enraged roar of the ugly, blue skinned, sort of cyclops looking "Village Leader".

"What do I keep saying about jinxing us?" Kurama growled out, rolling his eyes in his partners direction.

"Mmmm..." Kuronue perched himself on a boulder as they cleared the tree line, lips pursed tightly. " Not to. You know, I make one little mistake and you never let me forget it!" He dashed off again, gliding past his speeding counterpart on the ground, leathery wings outstretched.

"Well then lets dislocated the entire right side of your ribcage and see how easily you "forget it"." Kurama grumbled, knowing full well Kuronue could hear him especially after the bark of laughter that followed. Those big pointed ears of his had to be god for something right?

"I said I was sorry!" Kuronue replied as they split apart at the bank of a fast-moving river. Kuronue tossed the tennis ball sized reddish-purple gem to Kurama as he launched himself over the wide, fast moving water. " See you at the usual!" And he was off, a black dot in the bright sky.

Kurama caught the gem without missing a beat and tucked it into his shirt. By now they both knew that they had long outrun whatever grunts their involuntary gem donor had sent after them. Be that as it may, it was always wiser in these situations to split up once they got near to their closest "usual" spot. No sense in tempting fate TOO much right? Kurama wasn't legendary for making stupid decisions after all. He and his winged brother had been going good and strong for over a hundred years now, life was good!

Fate was about fix that little..."problem".

Upon approaching the clearing, well hidden by a few extra thick plants that had been allowed to grow uncontrolled Kurama heard something odd. He heard the tones of his brother's voice, soft and quiet, almost cooing as he talked to...something? Someone? Kurama's nose twitched as the barest hint of a smell that wasn't Kuronue, or the natural world around him. It was light and mostly floral, rose water, a tiny hint of something spicy, cinnamon perhaps. He'd never smelled anything quite like it...there was something almost innocent about it. The closer he got, the stronger the scent became and then he heard encountered the strangest thing yet.

An innocent, quiet, infantile...giggle.

As he cleared the edge of the plants hiding the clearing he stopped dead in his tracks. Perched on a fallen tree as if nothing was amiss was Kuronue, but he was not alone. The bat demon was cradling a bundle in his arms, it wasn't exactly small but it wasn't large either and it was wrapped in what looked like a fairly new but muddy blanket. It looked as though Kuronue had pulled it out of a ditch, or a mud puddle. The strange scent and the giggles were coming from the bundle as Kuronue cooed and made faces at whatever was in it. Of course, Kurama KNEW what was in that bundle, but he couldn't for the life himself figure out why Kuronue suddenly HAD the bundle.

Slowly, so slowly, Kurama approached the demon that was his partner. As he got closer to the muddy, blanket wrapped infant he could smell the definite edge of feline, and saw a tiny ear, black and velvety, poke out from the blanket, it twitched in his direction. Despite his quiet and aura suppressing approach the little thing still heard him and suddenly let out an ear-splitting wail. Kuronue winced, doing his best to calm it down as he looked around and finally spotted Kurama a few feet away, looking entirely all too shocked.

Kid had lungs, he would certainly give it that much.

"Kurama! Hey! " he grinned, rocking the babe in his arms to try and get it to hush, slowly the tactic worked. "Look what I found!" Kurama sighed, deeply, perhaps even a bit exasperated. Kuronue was a great partner, he would trust the other demon with his very life but sometimes... sometimes he was absolutely confounding.

"Kuronue...Why do you have a baby?"

" Because I found her..."

"Her...?" Kurama pinched the bridge of his nose, he could feel a sudden headache coming on. Kuronue to his credit did look a bit sheepish, still rocking the infant.

"Yeah...someone dumped her that ravine east of here, the one that floods every time it rains. Who abandons a newborn in a ditch?" Kuronue huffed, yeah, he's a demon and yeah he knows some species or tribes do that but still...

"Plenty of them do around here." Yoko muttered mostly to himself. "Right, and what exactly are you planning to do with...her?"

"Keep her..." Kuronue gave his partner in crime a look that clearly stated how obvious that should have been to him. Remember, Kuronue never had and never would care about what other people thought about him...and he had the stones of steel to back up that attitude. As soon as the bat had seen those big, bright, orange eyes and that little lip wobble and those tiny, fuzzy little ears something had come over him. Her little whimper when she first saw him had been like a sucker punch to the gut. He hadn't even given it a second thought as he'd grabbed her up and gone right back on his way.

"...What?" Kurama choked on his next breath. " We can't keep a BABY!"

"Why not?"

"Because we don't know how the hell to take care of a child! We're thieves! "

"So, we'll teach her how to be a thief too!"

" But -!" Kurama opened his mouth to argue that point then stopped. To be fair, that wasn't actually a bad idea. They could use her during heists to distract people, or to get into places only tiny beings could. (Only until she grew up some of course but given the way demons age that gave them SEVERAL years to take advantage of it.) Kurama eyed the bundle again as he sat down next to his partner.

There were a sparse few places in the Makai that one could just drop off an orphan. And no way in the nine hells he could drop a demon baby in the human world, which right now wouldn't be much better than the Makai. Kuronue wouldn't likely give her up now either, once he got it in his head that something was his responsibility there was no deterring him. Beyond all this Kurama himself didn't feel right about abandoning an infact either, he was ruthless, he was cunning, he was highly intelligent... but he wasn't heartless.

"C'mon Kurama...you know I'm right." Kuronue nudged his shoulder then held the little one out to him. " Just look at all that potential!"

Reluctantly and with extreme care he took hold of the baby and stared down at her. Just like Kuronue had been affected, he found himself drawn in by the big orange eyes staring up at him curiously. She was obviously not a newborn, she was all that tiny, six months or so he'd guess. She also had reaching and grabbing down as she immediately latched ont some strands of silver hair and tugged, giggling at his pained expression.

Then he growled.

Then she cried.

And Kuronue laughed so hard he fell right off the log.

****Chapter Fin*****

Hey folks, you're faithful Author here! I hope I've hooked you enough to keep yourselves posted! I know I said it above but I would just like to reiterate: This is a prequel to my other completed story: Untold History. I highly suggest you go read the other one, while the one has just begun and they are connected, the other one is complete. I guess I'm sort of Maze Runner-ing it? You know how the two prequels for that series ended up being books four and five instead of one and two? Yeah, it's that. Please review if you'd like too, constructive criticism is always welcome.

Know what's really great about this story? You guys get to see Kurama and Kuronue try to raise a child, and since it's not really all that established on what exactly the two demon's daily lives were like, we can have some real fun with this! Rating may change later for some violent scenes, this is the Demon Plane after all... Just because a child is involved doesn't mean it's going to stay all rainbows and butterflies. THANKS FOR READING!