Kuronue continued to hear the words the kitsune had spoken, over and over
again in his mind, even though the conversation had happened over two days ago.

His amethyst eyes seemed to be permanently focused on the grass below his
feet. Individual blades moving from side to side as the midafternoon breeze
courted them to dance.

***

"I'm sorry," Kurama said in an almost eerie calm manner, looking Kuronue
straight in the eyes. "This just won't work."

Kuronue's hands clenched into fists. "What do you mean it won't work?
You've known me for years, Kurama! Are you willing to just throw all of it away now?"

The redhead shut his eyes for a brief moment, the perfect oppurtunity to
calm down his breathing - had it been erratic. But this pause was taken
so the fox could figure out the best way to put this without beating around the bush.

"Kuronue, please try to understand," Kurama began, fighting against the urge
to keep his mouth shut and not continue this conversation. "I'm not the same
Kurama that you knew... I've changed. You should be able to see this."

"What does that matter?" Kuronue asked, eyes narrowing. "This change isn't
that great! If it were, you wouldn't have so easily accepted my return those
few years ago!"

This definitely wasn't an easy conversation for the fox to have with his
former right hand man, his former partner, his confidant, his closest friend...

But this needed to be said.

"I'm no longer living in the past," Kurama added. "I'm moving on. No longer
am I Youko Kurama, the King of Thieves - the infamous fox of the Makai. I...
I am accepting my new life in the human world and the identity that goes along
with it... I'm Shuuichi Minamino now."

"You can change your name a thousand times," Kuronue shouted, anger
mixing and mingling with the let down feeling he had. "You could also
change your appearance just as many times, if not more, but you'd
still be the same Kurama I knew back then! You'll still be you, no
matter what you do! It's impossible to just throw away your past, Kurama, because
it will always be with you! It's a part of who you are!"

Feeling a prick of irritation getting to him, Kurama turned on his
heels so that his back now faced Kuronue. "I'm sorry, Kuro.. what you
want, I can't give you. I'll forever value our friendship, but, there
is no way that I can return your sentiment."

Those words were almost too difficult to say, but they would have
been even more so had he been looking at Kuronue. He knew this, which
is exactly why he turned away. When his friend said nothing, Kurama
had to assume that there was nothing left to be said. Without uttering
a farewell, the fox walked away; and that was that.

***

Kneeling down, balling his right hand into a fist, the former thief
punched the ground with enough force that if he was human, he would have
broken several bones in his hand.

"That bastard," Kuronue muttered, gritting his teeth. "He's a fool to think
that he can just leave the past behind like that. Especially because he
hasn't changed much... can't return the sentiment, what a load of crap."

The fox couldn't return it back then, before or after the winged
demon's death, and he still couldn't return it now that he was alive once again.

Leaning back a bit so that he now sat on the grass, Kuronue started to
laugh. "Or maybe I'm the fool."

If he didn't have the self control that he did, Kuronue would have
started to cry right then and there. But he wasn't going to do
that; crying showed weakness, and there wasn't any way in hell he
was going to be percieved as weak. He had worked too hard for blemish
like that to pour through the cracks now and ruin everything.

"Maybe it's time to move on," He whispered, taking this moment to
look up at the sky; the brilliant blues and whites greeting his eyes.
"Time to stop letting misery pick away at me day after day..."

He waited there, in that spot, until the blue sky shifted hues and
he could barely see his boots atop the ground. Making his way to the
streets so that he now had the bright neon lights of signs to guide
him, Kuronue started the long journey of moving on. But unlike his
former kitsune partner, the past wasn't so easily shoved aside.

That imperfection of his heart, that hole that was made all of those
years ago, wasn't ever going to go away. It would only continue to
slowly expand until the damage was too great and his heart would
refuse to beat or until the numbness that started to wash over now
him made him stop caring about anything.

And Kuronue had a feeling that a third option would arrive just a
smidge too late.