She was always a free spirit. Kurama respected that. He respected and
accepted that she never could just stay in one place. She had to
constantly move otherwise the fear would consume her. The fear she
developed when she was a child and her father would punish her for
misbehaving by locking her in a cement room for days at a time; the
fear that if she didn't move… she'd never be able to.
------
So Kurama understood why she left. Why she left this little town in
Japan to conquer America where there was so many different cultures
and customs and mixed histories, a place that she would only have to make a small move and she'd be in a completely different world.
So what else could he do but drive her to the airport and be the last
one to wish her good luck with the path she had chosen. Hopefully
they would keep in touch but he knew how Natalya could be, she
would set out to do something but on the way forget what it was. He
knew she wouldn't forget him but he would exactly be at the top of her
mind all the time.
-
But he wished he would be
-
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
-----
Natalya was emotional (as usual)… but it was something more then
her usual craziness. This place, this home felt… empty. Like there was
no life, which no apartment full of crazy college-going kids should be.
She sat down in the corner and brought her knees to her chest. "What
doesn't feel right here?" She rested her elbows on her knees and bit
her thumb "This is everything I ever wanted, a nice open apartment in
a place safe enough that I can actually walk around during the day
without carrying a glock." Natalya banged her head against the wall
and closed her eyes, sighing "Dammit! Why am I feeling like this?
Kurama could help…" Her eyes flew open and she exclaimed
-----
"KURAMA!" She reached over and grabbed her cell phone. She dialed
his number, not caring if she rang up a high cell phone bill doing so
(she has an international card in her phone incase some of you are like
she can't call Japan from America… she can!). She put the phone on
speaker phone and rested it on her knees "You better pick up fox boy!"
-----
Kurama was reading on his bed when his cell phone began to ring. He
looked over at the annoyingly loud piece of machinery and sighed. It
was a gift from Natalya because she claimed that she could never get
a hold of him. He slung his legs over the bed with unnatural grace and
picked up the phone, not bothering to check the caller i.d. "Hello?" He
said slowly, just to hear a happy voice that made his heart swell…
-----
"Fox boy! You answered." Natalya squealed, perking up instantly. She
heard his chuckle and her face brightened "Fox boy, I need your help
with something." Slight pause… "What is it now?" He asked
humorously yet a little warily. Natalya wriggled impatiently and whined
"Kurama… this place feels weird." Another pause "As in a low or high
count of spirit energy… a larger number of demons…" "Foxy get your
mind out of Reikai! It's just so empty… I miss you! Everyone's so
normal here." She shuddered and Kurama laughed "Normal, yes
imagine! Someone being normal." Natalya giggled, and said "You
always know how to make me laugh… but really what should I do? This
place doesn't sit well with me."
-----
"…This place doesn't sit well with me." Kurama was puzzled, she had
moved before, what was different about this place. "Move then, I
suppose. What don't you like about it, it's a good neighborhood from
what you've shown and told me. Is it the people, are they not
welcoming, accepting?" "It's none of that, the people are really nice.
But…" She sighed and banged her head against the wall "It doesn't
feel right, it feels hollow." Kurama's chest heaved with the chance to
convince her to move back. "Move back then, Natalya you've never
had that feeling here. We miss you all… I miss you." As soon as he
said that, he knew there was no going back.
-----
Natalya drew in a deep breath after the words "I miss you" escaped
his lips. What… why… was Kurama trying to convey something to her?
"Kurama…" "Please, everyone misses you, I know how you feel about
staying in the same place but you… you" … wow Kurama was pleading
with her. Was her moving back so important to the apathetic kitsune
that he would resort to mindless pleading? Still… it was working "Why
does it matter where I am?" She said, tears filling her eyes. No one
had ever cared about her at all… not even her father and all 5 of his
mates. Mates he killed when he grew bored with them and a new
demoness had caught his eye. She knew that Kurama and the gang
cared about her but… to hear it voiced so obviously…
-----
She heard
Kurama take a deep breath "You're kind, sweet, crazy, cute, and
clueless. We want you back here, because we all care about you so
much. Especially me, I-I l-love you Natalya."
-----
Kurama heard a gasp and the phone line end. He knew he shouldn't
have said that, he had tried so hard to shelter his feelings from her
crazy yet insightful midnight blue eyes… but he just ruined that in a
single dimwitted moment… he felt the phone slip from his hands.
-----
Natalya couldn't do it. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that
Kurama loved her. They had been friends for the 5 years that she had
spent in Japan, though she had only spent one year in the tiny town
where Kurama confined to. They had been friends before that though
when Kurama and the gang tracked her down for being in Ningenkai
without special permission from Koenma. Koenma hadn't minded
though when she told him her story and he gave her permission to
stay for as long as she wanted and to make trips back to Makai in
exchange for only one thing- she help the team whenever she was
needed. Which of course she had no difficulty cooperating in… Kurama
had caught her eye.
-----
She straightened up at the thought… was the love she had for Kurama
simply not platonic? Yusuke was her friend, Kuwabara was her friend,
hell- Hiei was her friend and she didn't feel the same way towards
them. Kurama was always there… always. Even at 1 in the morning
when the nightmares overcame her mental walls and she needed
someone to comfort her. All she needed was one call and he was there
in minutes. Natalya bit her thumb again and sighed… it was so
obvious. So, because she had no idea what else to do, she began to
pack.
-
She had to get out of there.
-
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
-----
It had been weeks, maybe even months since the phone call took
place. Kurama wasn't taking it so well. He had lost weight, weight that
his already slender frame couldn't afford to lose. He had deep dark
circles under his eyes from the insomnia, and his hair lay limp and
dark next to his pale face. His grades had gone down in school and his
fan club at school dispersed and reassembled into a club for another
student. His friends and family were worried sick but Kurama didn't
care. When Natalya had hung up, he gave her time to deal with what
had been said. But when he called back, he found out that the phone
had been disconnected and when he went to Spirit World to see if she
was still at her old place, Koenma had informed him that she had gone
off the grid and only King Yama knew where she was. Kurama was
crushed, she had run from him, run from the promise of love he had
offered. As soon as he had heard that, everyone could tell…
-
He had lost the life in his eyes.
-
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
-----
Natalya paced around at the airport; should she do it? Was this right?
Was this just a trick? She bit her thumb and glared at the admiring
boys. They backed off at her menacing gaze… good her eyes still
blazed with her demon within. She paced back and forth… what should
she do, what should she do, what should she DO? She tasted blood
from her thumb and sighed, wiping the blood on her jacket "Guess I've
made up my mind. Took me a helluva long time to do so." She felt
more stares and blushed "I guess I should stop talking to myself." She
muttered and she raised a hand to stop a taxi.
-
"I hope it's not too late."
-
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
-----
It was around midnight in Kurama's lonely apartment. He had moved
out about a month ago so that he could escape his mother's gentle yet
watching eye. She was worried about him and he moved out and got a
job to prove everything was all right. But his efforts proved fruitless
and his mother showed up at random times to see how he was doing,
though Kurama saw the hidden meaning. She was scared for him.
Kurama was laying on his bed, trying to sleep when he heard a knock
on the door. Thinking it was his mother, he got up and tidied his
appearance before heading to the door. He opened it and expected to
see his mother but all he saw was blonde… before he was tackled to
the ground.
-----
He looked so sick! Natalya couldn't help but feel so guilty inside, but
nonetheless tackled him to the ground with a bone crushing hug. She
didn't give him time to recognize her but she hoped she could tell him
how she felt before he did. She hugged him tighter and shut her eyes,
whispering "I love you, Kurama."
-----
She squeezed her eyes tighter as in expected him to reject her. So her
eyes fluttered in shock when he gently grabbed her chin and
whispered gently "You love me?" She opened her eyes and lowered
her gaze to the floor. She nodded briefly and he asked "Then why'd
you run?" "I needed to think… I knew I loved you as soon as the call
ended but I had to fight my inner demons. I had to give up the fear…
the fear that-" She gulped "The fear that if I stay still, I'll never be
able to move again." She buried her head into Kurama's chest.
"Gomenasai, Kurama. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I love you… I
really do… please love me back." She felt his soft hand lift her head up
and gentle lush lips press on her own.
----- It was bliss.
-----
He pulled away and smiled "I'll always love you no matter what you
do, heavens know what that may be. I promise I'll always love you.