A painful mistake from his past begins to haunt Kurama. As a new enemy rises to challenge Team Urameshi Kurama falls even deeper into shame and guilt. Even though there's no possible way to change what he did Kurama is determined to redeem himself.
Memory
Prologue_ Haunted
Team Urameshi sat quietly in Genkai's mountain compound after a long day of training. Everyone else was asleep.
Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei looked up from the fire in the hearth when they heard Kurama talking lowly as he slept in the armchair. They flinched when Kurama jolted awake suddenly.
"K-Kurama? You ok?" Kuwabara wondered.
Kurama looked at them panting lightly. "I'm fine," He looked away.
"Hey, who's..." Yusuke asked the red head. Kurama had to block out the name to keep himself together.
"Nobody," Kurama answered shortly. He stood up and walked outside and slid the door closed behind him.
Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other confused then at Hiei expecting clarification. Hiei just shrugged and closed his eyes again, "I have no idea either."
Yusuke felt a yearning to go after the kitsune, but he also knew if Kurama was angry he would regret it in a heartbeat.
Yusuke went after Kurama anyway. Yusuke found him in the garden sitting on a stone bench by the pond that was fed by a waterfall.
Yusuke took a deep breath and exhaled, "Well, here goes nothing." He cautiously went up to Kurama, "Hey, Kurama, is everything ok?"
"No, Yusuke," Kurama didn't look at him, "It's not."
"The girl you were talking about in your sleep," Yusuke sat down next to the older male, "Is she a friend of yours?"
Kurama nodded solemnly, "In a way."
"In a way, as in, she was your girl?" Yusuke observed the red head's expression. Kurama didn't answer. Yusuke took his silence as a yes. "You broke her heart, didn't you?" Yusuke wondered.
"Yes," Kurama finally spoke, "But it was the only way I could keep her safe from my adversaries."
"Why are you beating yourself up over it then?" Yusuke saw Kurama clinch his jaw. At first Yusuke thought it was anger he saw in the Kitsune's eyes, but he was wrong. Yusuke looked at him in shock.
There were tears building up in Kurama's eyes.
Kurama sighed, "Let's just say my choice of words weren't exactly civil, Yusuke."
The night wind blew a magnolia bloom onto Kurama's lap from the tree above them. Yusuke saw how intensely Kurama looked at the flower; as if it were something precious to him.
Kurama held the bloom delicately in his hand.
"What..." Yusuke was a little hesitant, "Whatever happened to her, Kurama?"
Kurama's tears finally spilled over and down his face. He bit his bottom lip to keep it from trembling. He forced himself to speak, "She died a long time ago."
For as long as he knew him Yusuke had never seen the kitsune so broken. Never so completely devastated over someone from his past. Yusuke was at a loss about what to say.
Yusuke deemed it wise not to say anything else.
Yusuke could tell whoever this woman was she meant the world to Kurama and he could never take back what he did.
To Be Continued...