Title: The Bodysnatcher
Author: Yoko-cw
Summary: I Used To Think My Son Was Insane. After All, What Else Could I Think When My Son Told Me He Was A Demon?
PART I: Shiori POV
I used to think my son was insane. I know, not the most admirable confession to spring from a mother but what other explaination was there? What other lable could I possibly have attatched when my seventeen year old son sat me down and deliberately, slowly spoke the words: "I am not who you think I am." I stared, smiled and held his hand, ("What do you mean, dear?") trying to be the supportive mother.
"Mother, ...Shiori, I am a demon. ..A Yoko." (1)
Yes, I knew of the Yoko, the Kitsune. Suichi had always had a strange obsession with them. From the time he was seven I had seen multiple paintings, charcoal sketches, pencil drawings in great detail, all of a 6-tailed fox with haunted eyes. He never offered me explaination as to why he was obsessed with this particular myth.
"A...A demon?" My mouth jumped upward as Ilaughed airily, taking my hands back and shaking my head at my poor insane son. "Darling, the imagination you have is frighteningly vivid at times. Please stop with all this demon nonsense." I stood, reaching for a wok and debating on what to put in that night stir-fry. Eggplant, perhaps? His eyes, unnaturally green, focused on me, a helplessness showing in his posture and the way he bit into his lower lip.
"I can prove it, Shiori."
My hands froze an inch away from the jar of pickled ginger, my eyes fixated on the thin, red strands floating in the liquid. "I beg your pardon?" I regained myself then; I turned to stare at him, hands on my hips and head angled downward in a terribly unpracticed pose; after all, I had never had to scold him before. "You will not address me by name, young man. I have never heard such direspect! What has gotten into you?"
"...Will you listen?"
His voice was even and quiet, unfazed by my first motherly outburst. My mouth opened and no sound came out. I tried again; I must have looked like a codfish. At last, I breathed out a heavy sigh and leaned on the counter, arms crossed over my chest and dinner forgotten for the moment. "Fine. But I don't want to hear anymore of this nonsense when this is done. Understood?"
"Of course." His tone was serious but his expression gave him away. His head was tilted slightly to the side, mouth distorted into a smirk and lashes shadowing his eyes. My breath hitched; his eyes had...changed, somehow. I had no logical explaination to offer but my god they had changed from green to a foreign shade of Gold. The stranger's eyes in my sons' face were cold and calculating. My palms dampened.
"Suichi...what is going on?"
"Don't be frightened."
Easily he spoke this advice but when your son is staring at you like you're caught his his trap, fear of one of the first and most logical emotions. I felt my hand crawling backward to grip the first thing I could use as a weapon; to my dismay, it was only a julianne knife. 'Don't be frightened' he says. My heart hurt at the speed it was going and I couldn't look away.
Suichi's bright red hair literally drained of color before my eyes. His skin lost its healthy pigment and for a moment all he looked to me was ill.
Had I not seen it, felt the solid plastic handle of my pathetic weapon, I would have thought I was having a very odd dream. In the spot where my baby had just stood, I saw White. Someone with white hair and those cold, mocking eyes.
"Wh...what are you?"
"Kurama. My name is Kurama." A small whimper tore from my tightened throat because my god that voice was Suichi's but not his at all and it was raspy and disconnected...
"What are you?"
It was all I could think to say. This thing standing there was NOT my son. Gods it wasn't even a human, with its white hair and 2 stiff (...were they cat ears? No, he was a kitsune, wasn't he?) ears perched atop his head. The Thing standing in front of me was a ridiculous six feet in height but It had replaced my Suichi. My head spun.
"Do you need to sit down?" Its hands came at me and I flinched as they made contact, cupping around my elbows and easing me to sit in the chair that I hadn't noticed was so close. "I'm sorry," It whispered, noticing my fear and disgust at It's touch. It put a respectable distance between us and I held my head on my palm.
"This is not happening. This cannot be happening." It was all I could think to say and all that would come out. "This...impossible...!"
"Would you like some water?" The creature was leaning slightly, palms resting on his thighs to see my face the way I had done when Suichi was small.
...Was there always a Suichi? Suddenly, 17 years of my life came into question.
"Uhm...please, thank you." I finally spoke, remembering It had asked me a question. I was afraid to let It out of my sight. But calmly and, as though the situation were perfectly normal, It filled a tall glass from the faucet and held it out to me, holding it by the top with long, white fingers. 'They look like bones...' I took it and sipped slowly, looking at It up and down, still trying to understand, still wondering if I was insane.
"Would you like explaination?" It was sitting on my counter, legs crossed and fingers intwined over one knee in a casual gesture. The raspy-Suichi-voice again. Goosebumps raised along my arms. "No," I shook my head, "No, I just need a moment to..." What? Absorb? Wake up from this ridiculous dream?
"Very well." It closed its eyes and tilted Its head in an empathic gesuture, moving slowly and deliberately when at all. I took another sip of the cold water, never moving my eyes. I took in every detail available to me and, with each still moment, let myself relax a little further. It could have killed me, could have thrown the glass and slit my throat with the shards but instead there it sat in my palm, full of cold water so I wouldn't faint. It had been considerate and was still being so now, still as a slab of marble in my kitchen. I watched as-
"Oh!"
-The noise burst from my throat uninvited and dignified but they moved!
"What?" It looked up at me with concerned yellow eyes, looking around me for a source of pain, something to explain my outburst.
They moved! ...Its' ears twitched!
Despite my uncertainty and tension and fear, though that was dissolving little by little, I inched closer to It, the linolium cold beneath my bare feet. It looked at me still with those startled eyes which were beginning to absorb fear, like a dreamcatcher. "What?" It asked me again in a more urgent tone.
"Your ears!" I mumbled, unable to get the words out, "I could have sworn I saw..." And, in half a second, all Its tension morphed into amusement. Its eyes shimmered and the corner of Its mouth moved upward into genuine smile. Purposefully, I think, It swiveled Its ears in my direction, the tip of one tilting downward. It was strange but funny and it made me smile too and I could feel myself warming again.
"Can...could I...? I felt foolish trying to ask; this demon could kill em and here I was hypnotized by its ears, for Gods sake. Slim shoulders moved upward in a calm shrug and It (...He?) slid from the counter to sit on the floor, legs pulled casually upward with his hands resting atop his knees.
"Go ahead," he said with a light laugh, "Everone asks to, once they have seen and absorbed that I'm real." It dawned on me then how unusually kind he was being. He moved with my temper in mind, always careful not to move in a threatening manner. Not that I had heard his voice before but he spoke very quietly aswell. Hesitantly, I moved my hand, letting my index finger slide along the edge of the large, white fox ear. It was soft, reminded me very much like a cat. With a smile he flicked the ear at my finger and that moment, we shared an uncomfortable laugh together; we were no longer so tense.
"You aren't going to hurt me," I muttered, still petting the ear but looking at his sharp features.
"No, Shiori," he whispered, looking at me softly but somehow with intensity. He looked confident, but also afraid. A walking contradiction, the kistune was, "I never would." I bit my lip for a second, deciding. Lightly I took his hand in mine, noting his fingers were longer than my own. "Let's go into the living room...Kurama? That was your name?" "Yes." We stood and once again I was startled at our height difference. I swallowed and forced a smile, despite the blood I could still feel missing from my face, and despite the dampness at my hairline. "I think we'll both be more comfortable there," I invited him to lead. I wasn't quite comfortable with my back exposed yet.
...My God! He...he had a tail too! I let out a confused laugh and offered no explaination when he stared over his shoulder.
His puzzled gaze...he looked like Suichi then.
Part 2 will be the POV of Kurama. I do love when inspiration randomly whacks me in the face! I hope you liked it : )
1:Yoko, I think, is the name of his species, as they call him "Yoko Kurama".