Solitary Mask – Part II

Chibi Tsuki

A/N: This continues on from Part One. Mikazuki's conquered the Fury Whirlpool and Kurama's confirmed the wolf-youkai's identity. Mikazuki's on to find out about her past and possibly out for revenge… but on whom?

Chapter 16

More than Just an Orphan

It was already midday, with the sun shining high and brilliantly while the clouds lay hidden from sight. There was a slight calming breeze, blowing gently through the tree leaves. A weary figure sat up, dull eyes staring at the tatami mats on the floor while the brain slowly registered the alien area surrounding the body. "Aah, where am I?" She lifted up a cold hand and placed it next to her comparatively warm forehead. It was thumping with pain. Glancing around again, Mikazuki pushed off her covers, inspecting the strange robe she was wearing. A pile of clothes lay beside her pillow. They were her garments she'd worn before. Her keen smelling senses could smell the soapy powder used to wash them. Quickly she changed into them, noticing the neat stitch work on the torn parts. Everything except the cloak was there. Her cloak had probably been thrown out – it had been torn considerably anyway. Now to find her weapon. It was highly unlikely that they would leave it lying around beside her. What if she attacked them with it or some random guy came in a stole it, and perhaps attacked her with it instead. Gently sliding the door open she poked her head out and scanned the corridors before ducking out and closing the door again. She followed the wooden floorboards, inspecting every room she passed once she deemed it safe. Where have they hidden my blades? She felt the empty space where her double-bladed sword usually hung and sighed. Upon hearing footsteps she crept into a room and lay hidden in the darkness.

Mikazuki could establish that there were two people walking down the corridor by the sounds of their footsteps and of course voices. "Genkai, when will that girl wake up?" a soft, feminine voice asked her companion.

The other voice which Mikazuki recognised as the old woman replied, "Anytime soon now. Although she knows Kurama and is on good terms with him, I'm not particularly certain whether we're safe around her."

"But she looks like she's suffered a lot in the past. She sweats a lot in her sleep and her face and body are tense most of the time and she's been asleep for 10 days already. I wish I could help her." Their voices faded as they continued walking away from the room in which Mikazuki hid. 10 days already? But I can't trust anyone! No matter how much that girl wants to help me, I can't trust her. Trust will lead you to your own doom Mikazuki! Another voice in her mind spoke to her in a peaceful tone, 'But you've already trusted that man; Shuichi, why not trust others?' I can't trust others – that's what Master say. You can't trust anyone!

The doors suddenly opened and a figure stepped in, waking Mikazuki out of her trance. "What are you doing here?" It was the girl's soothing voice. Two hands reached in and lifted Mikazuki up. "You're not even full grown yet." Realising that she had subconsciously changed into her wolf form, Mikazuki stayed silent until the girl placed her on the ground in the garden. She watched the girl walk back onto the wooden Japanese-styled corridor, sending her a sweet, delicate smile before leaving. That face, where had she seen that face? Remembering back to those 10 days she'd been asleep, Mikazuki remembered briefly opening her eyes and seeing that girl changing the towel on her forehead before falling back asleep again. Thank you! Mikazuki sent mentally before leaping into bushes and changing back into her youkai form. Damn it, where is my sword? She went back to inspecting the rest of the rooms with distress.

After searching without success for another half an hour, Mikazuki sighed, resorting to her other plan. The plan being to find Kurama and somehow retrieve her sword back. Part of her wanted to see him again and the other part of her was against the idea of further hindering him. There was also a thought of getting it back through the girl but then it seemed as if she wouldn't know where they would've hidden it and furthermore, Mikazuki didn't want to cause any harm to her. With her mind made up, Mikazuki moved in the direction of her previous school.

~*~*~*~

As she walked into the school in plain casual clothes in her human form with her hair tied up and a cap on her head, Mikazuki glanced around nervously. She hadn't really gotten used to the fact that people could see her face. She just wanted to hide behind that little safety screen of hers. Stepping forward she felt the wind blow at her back, flattening the slightly large T-shirt against her back. Several first years ran by, passing her in a hurry. Her eyes wandered from the students to a particular classroom window. Lunch would be starting in five minutes and everyone would be rearranging desks. Mikazuki made her way up the stairs in the direction of her former homeroom, walking up the six flights of stairs and into the second years' corridor. The door to one of the rooms slid open abruptly like usual and out stepped a teacher who glanced at her in surprise. With a shrug the teacher walked off leaving the loud noises of desks being pushed against each other and chairs being moved. The other doors opened and several students came dashing out after the teachers. They gave her a glance as they passed her. She walked into Kurama's homeroom, encountering several guys as she stepped in, all of whom she recognised but couldn't name.

"How can we help you?" a dark-haired teenager with glasses asked. "Are you looking for someone?"

Noticing her light hair, another boy was about to ask again in English except Mikazuki nodded, scanning with her blue eyes around the room for her friend whose red hair was supposed to stand out. "Minamino Shuichi," Mikazuki murmured in a low voice.

The first boy laughed in a friendly way and replied, "Alright." He turned his body around and looked towards the corner in which a bunch of girls were crowding. "Hey Minamino! Someone's here to see you!"

"Thanks," the wolf-youkai muttered, pulling the tip of her cap further down before walking past them. They departed the room casually while Mikazuki watched Kurama politely excuse himself from the girls. From his expression, she could tell that he was dying for the opportunity to leave them. Behind him the girls glared at her, their blood boiling with jealousy, which Mikazuki either purposely didn't pay attention to or didn't understand. Kurama smiled as he saw Mikazuki, walking over to her in a hurry. He led her out of the room and building, detecting a mob of his female classmates spying at them.

"I'm glad you're alright," he beamed, his green eyes lighting up like candle lights.

Mikazuki felt herself blush upon the sight of his radiant smile and her heat was beating ten times faster than normal although she didn't have the faintest clue why. Was it just because she saw Kurama smile? But he had smiled at her many times before so why did she feel something different? "I…" Remember, don't hinder Kurama anymore. Best to finish the battle and then return.

He watched as Mikazuki fall silent and hesitantly smile at him. "I came to ask you whether you have any knowledge of where my sword may be."

"Come to my place tonight, I'll meet you at the gates after school," he simply uttered before changing the subject. "So, are you feeling better now?"

"Un…"

"Thank you for saving me last time." Kurama looked at Mikazuki, her face was obscured by the cap. He smiled and lifted it up higher with his right hand so that he could see her face saying, "Hey, why are you suddenly so shy?" He noticed the red blush across her cheek and chuckled nonchalantly as if he didn't notice. "Um… did you by any chance leave a neckla-" Mikazuki gasped and placed a finger across his lips to silence him..

"Don't mention this here. It's not safe," the shorter youkai informed. "I should let you finish your lunch," reverting back to her normal self, forcing herself to believe that nothing was different. "I'll see you later." As she prepared to leave, a hand immediately grabbed hers.

"Wait," Kurama uttered, summing up his courage. "I-"

A girl purposely interrupted their conversation by yelling out Kurama's human name. "Shuichi! Can I talk to you for a second?" She asked him and then turned to face Mikazuki with a cocky grin, "I'm sorry but we may take sometime." Mikazuki, having already pulled her cap back down merely shrugged just as the girl grabbed onto Kurama's arm and dragged him away from her. That lonely emotion ran through her veins again.

With an inward sigh, Kurama let the girl drag him along. He was quite disappointed because he was about to admit something. Perhaps it was just an act of impulse that dared him to say it. Abruptly his senses yelled out to him and as he jerked his head backwards he clearly watched Mikazuki sprayed in the face with a hose from the bushes. "Come on, let's go into the building," the girl insisted, pulling him onwards. But he held back, watching as the cap flew off her head. Why didn't you dodge it? He made an inaudible gasp as he saw the markings beginning to appear on her skin. Something felt strange. She seemed to be making no move to absorb the water.

"Hey, are you ok?" Kurama yelled, slipping out of the girl's grip and running towards his friend. She looked up at him, her blue eyes staring at his green ones. The dragon head had emerged on her cheek, its neck on her neck. People had started to look out the windows and see what the commotion was outside. The majority didn't recognise Mikazuki since no one had really seen her face. "Mikazuki?" the red-haired bishounen enquired, placing a hand on her wet shoulder. In the background was a great amount of racket as those who 'knew' Mikazuki yelled in disbelief. Smiling at him, Mikazuki shook her head and laughed softly.

"Sorry, I just spaced out. I think I used too much energy…" she murmured.

"Huh? You left Genkai's without properly recovering first?"

"Un… Heh, why am I all wet?" Immediately absorbing the water through her skin, Mikazuki collected her cap, and also dried it.

"They played some prank on you."

"Oh… Well, I better not waste the water." Kurama watched as she gathered the water through her hand. Although the motion wasn't visible, he could sense the motion of the energy transferring into Mikazuki's body. When she was done in a few seconds he patted her head just as she was about to put on her cap again. "Hey! You're messing up my hair." Childishly she stuck her tongue out and darted out of the school gates.

Mika… Calling to his attention, Jobi yelled Kurama's name whilst running up to his friend. "Hey Shuichi, that girl was Tsukishiro right? Why's she back here?"

Casually he replied, "She hasn't moved to her new home yet so she dropped by."

"It's a pity that she's moving away, or else I'd want to get to know her myself," Raku muttered, placing a friendly arm around Jobi's shoulders. "She's so mysterious and pretty. Tsukishiro's quite cold towards everyone except you Shuichi. I envy you!"

"She's had a difficult past and her life's complicated. She once told me that she hated people who are prejudice against those who are different. Mikazuki wanted to hide from the world and that's why she wore that mask."

"I never knew…" Jobi murmured in a soft sympathetic voice. "She had problems in her family – that's why she moved right?"

In a melancholic tone, Kurama responded, "She's an orphan when she was still a child and she doesn't have any extended family." Only now did Jobi and Raku realise how tragic a life that rejected individual led. Regret flowed through their minds. They glanced at each other and then looked guiltily at the ground. Kurama merely gazed at the school gate. Don't injure yourself any further Mika.

~*~*~*~

As Mikazuki dashed away from the school she scanned the garden walls for something. Her senses focussed around her as if she were suspicious. She then turned into a secluded area away from the public which happened to be an old abandoned garbage dump. By now she was already several kilometres away from the school and the housing areas. No one ever went to the dump anymore because it had been filled long ago. Slowly she pushed open the gates and walked in, smelling the rotting stench of trash and rust of the corroded car parts. There were piles of rubbish stacking over seven metres high and smashed cars dumped on top of each other. She walked into what seemed to be a maze of rubbish, easily finding her way to the centre. Glancing upwards she yelled out in a clear voice, "Come out and face me! I know you're here!"

After a minute wait, a figure appeared with ropes coiled around his arms, braids of yellow dangling separately from his black hair, tied up messily. His narrow grey eyes stared at the wolf-youkai with interest. His outfit was indescribable as it was oddly designed with many layers, all in dark deadly colours. He sniggered and leapt off the pile of trash he had been standing on and landed on the same level as Mikazuki. In a coarse low voice he remarked, "I can now confirm that you're Tsukishiro."

Mikazuki acted casually and raised her eyebrows at him white smiling. She simply responded, "Next time choose some other method other than spraying someone with the hose. Not that fun you know. Anyway I'll cut to the chase, what exactly do you want?"

The stranger chuckled and uttered, "You sure are straightforward. Well then I'll stop drifting off. My Master invites you to unite with us. Break away from your gang and join with us to defeat your greatest enemy!"

"And what do you know about my greatest enemy? Who may your master be, to present me such a… delightful offer?"

Once again he sneered. "Your greatest enemy is the one who ordered the annihilation of your entire clan which happened seventeen years ago. Currently you're only a youkai, a youkai with no clan, no history, and no identity." Before he had finished the last sentence, Mikazuki's eyes flashed with surprise.

"How do you know?"
"My Master knows you and your past; the one you never knew." He smirked, knowing that he had caught her attention. "Well then, I'll leave you time to decide. I'll return in two days." Leaving Mikazuki still pondering, he left. Her identity was something she had never thought about; she had always thought that she was just an orphan.

~*~*~*~

In every corridor, Kurama and his friends constantly heard Mikazuki's name mentioned in their conversations. Unexpectedly a girl stopped Kurama by grabbing onto his arm and curiously looked at him, along with her bunch of friends. There was a tinge of jealously in her voice as she said, "Hey Shuichi, since when have you been close to that girl?"

Looking closely at the girl, a thought then struck Raku and he exclaimed in a loud voice, pointing a finger at her, "That's the vice president of some 'Minamino Shuichi' fan club!" Everyone who weren't already listening on to their conversation immediately tuned in.

Kurama was clueless. He never knew anything about a fan club that concerned him. "Yeah so?" the girl glared at Raku and then turned back to Kurama and questioned him in a limited tone of demand. "Shuichi, we want desperately need to know whether you like that girl or not." Right at that moment, the redhead had become the centre of attention. Even the male students were curious as to what Kurama thought about Tsukishiro. Unsure of what to say, Kurama lingered on his words. The students around him focussed on him intently, frantically urging him to continue.

"I-" he started when the bell cut him short. Using this distraction, he vanished before they started demanding answers again. He let out a sigh as he entered his science room, staring out of the window. "Perhaps I should've followed Mikazuki. But she should be able to handle it." Something then occurred to him as he stood deep in thought. Mika's youki is connected to her strength and that must be the reason why she needs to replenish her youki after a battle. This also means that if she didn't have youki then she would lack physical strength. If only there was a way to separate youki and physical energy; that way she would be able to continue fighting even if she uses up her youki.

Walking up to the school gate the redheaded youkai was politely stopped by a freshman in the lower year. The girl, having dark, long, curling hair and eyes which were supplemented with a pretty face said in a confident voice, "Minamino Shuichi? May I please speak with you for a moment?" Being chivalrous like always, Kurama nodded and let the girl lead him aside. "Shuichi, I love you!" she declared with passion, staring into his enchanting green eyes. "Please consider being with me." The girl was neither the first nor the second person to announce her feelings towards him. Many girls had already told him that before and all of them had faced rejection and this girl wasn't an exception.

Serenely he smiled at her and apologetically said, "I'm sorry, but I can't accept your offer. Please save it for another man who deserves your love much more than I do."

"But why?" she nearly screamed. "Why can't I be with you?" Tears were already sliding down her cheeks. "Why is it that you can't like me too?" Using this opportunity the girl pressed her head and body against his chest, holding tightly onto his uniform.

"Simply because I can't," he murmured as he gently pushed her away, "when there is someone else who needs my support. You'll do much better with a guy who loves you rather than me liking you half-heartedly." With an understanding smile the girl excused herself. Kurama then continued his way out of the school and stopped just outside the gate. He's attention directed to the figure sitting on the ground who was without a doubt, his youkai friend. Her cap was once again concealing her facial features in that mysterious way. Slowly he crouched beside her and nudged her gently on the shoulder. Seeing no reaction, he lifted the cap to reveal his friend sound asleep. Not noticing the few pairs of eyes glancing at them Kurama nudged her again, this time with more strength. "Hey, wake up sleepy head." Mikazuki yawned and stretched her arms as she woke up, her hand shooting in front of Kurama's face although not intentionally. "Oi, be careful."

Her eyes turned to him and abruptly she leapt up away from him. "Ahh! Where'd you come from?" she demanded.

Chuckling Kurama replied, "It's already afternoon. Are you ready to go?" His friend nodded and together they left for Kurama's home.

~*~*~*~

"I'm home," Kurama announced as he opened the door and stepped through into the house.

A voice responded, "You're home. How was your day Shuichi?" The sweet, gentle voice came from Kurama's 'mother', Shiori. Shiori, being a woman in her early forties had long sweeping hair and eyes that danced like stars. Overall Shiori was a beautiful woman for her age even though the scars on her lower arms stood out. One could easily see where Minamino Shuichi acquired his handsome features from.

Kurama replied and began to introduce his friend, "Mother, this is my friend from school, Tsukishiro Mikazuki."

"Pleased to meet you, Minamino-san," Mikazuki greeted with a bow.

Shiori smiled sweetly and bowed in the same fashion, repeating Mikazuki's words, then adding, "Please feel welcome and do call me Shiori." She then led them into the lounge room where the furniture were arranged neatly and a kotatsu (a low table covered with a quilt and is equipped with a heater underneath) just in front of the television set. The kitchen was separated from the lounge room by a wide bench and the dining area which was fairly spacious.

As Shiori proceeded to make some tea Kurama uttered, "Will it be alright if Mikazuki stays with us tonight?" He then lowered his tone and continued, "Her family's been having some problems and she's still recovering from an injury." It wasn't a lie, she had family problems and she was still depleted of her youki. Without a second thought his mother agreed and set about preparing some afternoon tea. Kurama sat down beside Mikazuki next to the kotatsu. "Huh? Am I staying at your house tonight?" she asked him.

"Unless you have somewhere to go," he muttered casually as if he didn't have a reason to offer her a place to stay. "You can sleep in my room tonight and I'll just share a room with my brother." Turning around to his mother, he told her that they would be in his room and then set off to guiding his youkai friend upstairs. "So where do you plan on going afterwards?" Kurama asked as he closed the door.

At that moment Mikazuki was rather occupied with absorbing the appearance of Kurama's room to hear him ask. His room could open to a small balcony just outside and his bed looked very impressive in terms of size and cleanliness. An organised desk sat in a corner of his room with several small pot plants sitting comfortably on a small ledge above the desk. "Mikazuki?" Instantly she stopped looking around and turned to Kurama with a delighted smile.

"Your room feels so comfortable and your human mother – she seems so caring towards you… Is this why you live on as a human and not a youkai?" she asked, her voice growing softer and quieter as she spoke.

"I've grown to love my mother. She's now part of me as much as I am part of her."

"So this is love?" They both sat in silence for a while until Kurama brought back his original question.

"So um… are you planning on going back to Makai afterwards?"

"I have an appointment with someone in two days. So I guess I'll be staying in Ningenkai until then."

"You can stay here for another night if you need a place to stay." Mikazuki thanked him immediately. It was then she remembered her main purpose for visiting Kurama but before she could bring it up he had mentioned it already. "By the way, your double bladed sword has been taken by Hiei. Although he usually doesn't have any interest in taking other people's weapons he said that he'd return it tonight. I guess he wanted to know how you used it."

"If I were to fight him one on one, he would easily kill me," she muttered, knowing the infamous Forbidden Child's agility and abilities. "Compared to him, I'm only a B-class youkai so why would he want to know how I use the double-bladed sword."

"He has his reasons." Realising that the conversation wasn't going anywhere, Kurama offered to bring some afternoon tea upstairs.

Mikazuki's mind drifted from the original subject back to the youkai she had met that day. If she allied with that youkai's master then it would mean that she could learn about her past, but then it could also mean betraying the people around her. It would be wiser to explain the situation to Iryoku first but there wouldn't be enough time to find him. She would have to think thoroughly about this or else she could cost herself a life if she made the wrong decision.

~*~*~*~

A/N: I used 'san' for Shiori just because Mrs Minamino didn't sound right. I thought that there should be a little more interaction between the characters. It seems like their attraction between each other has once again deepened! Hm… ff.n doesn't like me uploading my documents for some reason. Does that happen to anyone else? Well I'm off to write the next chapter *sighs*

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH.