Tale of the Demon Fox

Prologue

This is all from Kurama's perspective. In accordance with novel format, I put character thoughts in italics. I also used the Japanese linguistic tendency of putting the surname before the given one. Oh, and I realize how controversial many of the philosophical subjects which I breach upon are. Please do not post arguments having to do with such, and appreciate the difference in perspective. Note that this story ties into that of another author: "What if..." by Dragon YoukaiKanaChan (this author also created one of the characters within this tale, Mitsuko). This other piece explains the events which take place between the first and second chapter. Anything within asterisks is information for the reader, rather than something a character is actually saying. I use the tilde, this symbol: "~", to elongate. (Ex: NO~! = NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) On another note, I use a great deal of archaics when depicting the events of the past. I thought it perhaps fitting to do so when describing things which took place thousands of years ago. I did not go so far as to use old English, however, and I hope you can tolerate what amount of archaics I actually did use.

Chapter 1

Life. A word composed of very few characters yet with such a controversial meaning. Albeit in the purest of scientific technicality, one would have to fit the biological criteria for organisms in order to be considered alive. This is hardly satisfactory on a philosophical level, however, for it would mean that bacteria live. Depending on your perspective, this cannot be so, with certain profound interpretations of what it is to live. I myself have long thought that the word should be completely redefined, and that another word should take the place of its current technical definition. Perhaps "biotic" is already capable of doing so. There exists one moment above all others which has shaped my interpretation of the aforementioned word. Or more accurately, one being. I had thought that such matters were buried deep within my past, and that I could only was harbor them eternally.

Kuwabara and I were sitting in the chairs of his bedroom, as he had asked me to come over to help him with a problem. He hadn't been very specific as to what that problem was, but I had conceived of multiple possibilities, one of which was correct.

"I just can't tell her, you know. Every time I try to, it's like somebody's chokin' me," said Kuwabara in frustration.

"I would advise you not to stall, Kuwabara. And believe me, I realize the difficulties involved, but you must not go without expressing how you feel to her," I replied with conviction.

"Ugh... the heck would you know, Kurama. You don't understand how I feel about Yukina. You've never felt this way about about anyone before."

There was a brief silence, as I let what was just said melt in, and the memories spill into focus. As the silence continued a puzzled expression gradually came upon Kuwabara.

"Actually, Kuwabara... That's not entirely correct."

Yet another instant of silence ensued, as Kuwabara's initially shocked expression became apologetically serious.

"You... had someone?" he managed to ask.

"If by that you mean, have I ever loved someone, indeed I have... or rather still do."

"I'm sorry. I never knew... I have to know. Who was, I-mean, is it?"

"Well, I suppose I know you well enough to impart such a tale to you, albeit I have yet to tell anyone else. There was never a circumstance in which to bring it up, nor was I familiar enough with anybody, excluding my mother. You might actually be able to learn from it, and so be wise enough not to make the same mistakes. It is most certainly not a short story. Would you be willing to sit here long enough for me to recount such things to you."

He gave a nod, and I continued.

I imagine it would be best to start from the beginning. It was thousands of years ago. The sheer length of time which has passed since then is perhaps incomprehensible to humans. I was but a child, born into the race of fox demons that lived in a very forested area of Makai. My mother had died almost immediately after my birth. In part due to my father's teachings, I had a very strict sense of morality. As one might expect, the many harsh cruelties and absurdities which humanity finds itself entangled within do not apply obscurely to human beings. Such things are present in demon society as well. When I had come of the required age to leave the education of my father and join the mass educational unit (I suppose you could call it a school which existed before schools ever came to be. It might then be considered the very first school), I was immediately exposed to various repulsive aspects of my fellow fox demons. As if that alone was not enough to alienate me, I also seemed to possess some sort of innate talent. Throughout the duration of my education, I excelled above all others in my sector in terms of both physical prowess, and intellect. Such things isolated me. I felt almost as if I did not belong. As if I was trapped in a world which was completely alien to me. I was a native foreigner. I believed not in being prideful of such things, as they were not of my choosing. It wasn't my choice to have such gifts. I saw it as much more reasonable to take pride in things I actually accomplished through the employment of those talents.

I was only eleven years of age when I met her (note that the stages of development virtually parallel that of a humans until full maturity is reached which is usually at the age of twenty. After which, of course, immortality kicks in). She had recently been transferred to the sector I was in. For the first time ever, something seemed familiar to me. For a reason I was not yet aware of, the other students had refrained from sitting anywhere near her, so I chose to be the one to do so.

"Hello," I said, to her.

Her periwinkle hair waved as she turned to look at me. It was then that I first gazed into her cyan eyes. All in a moment, it was as if I could perceive but a mere glimpse of her soul through those eyes. Note that I do not mean "spirit" when I say soul. I define a soul as who someone is, down to the very deepest of levels. This is not to be confused with one's spirit.

"Hello," she responded, almost in astonishment, "Who are you?"

"Kurama. And what is your name?"

"Mitsuko."

And that is how it had all begun. We had many conversations after that, concerning numerous things. I found it strange that I seemed to know many things about her, such as her opinions on certain matters, before she had even discussed them in any way. Time and time again I would find my predictions of her character to be correct. It was as if I knew who she was, before even knowing her. To say that she was an amazing person would not do her justice.

Now that she had moved to my sector, I was no longer the only one with my scores. Often times we would tie as far as grades on any given subject, yet never once did she brag about her capabilities. It seems she too, had a disliking toward such pointless behavior. I will admit that she wasn't afraid to call some people stupid, however. She had always been more assertive than I, which I admired about her. She was far more outspoken, and so was never afraid to say what was on her mind (something I found to be quite inspiring). With each new time my eyes rested upon her own, it was as if a newfound clarity was unveiled that did not exist in the previous times. Gradually, greater portions of her soul seemed visible to me, yet it always appeared to be but the minutest fraction of her brilliance that was revealed. But when staring into that unimaginably small fraction, I witnessed something that defies all limits, surpasses infinity, and transcends perfection. If that mere insignificant part of her soul shines so vibrantly, surely the whole of it would cause reality itself to crumble through merely existing. Yet everything remains as it is. Untouched by such immeasurable greatness. Such is the true nature of her soul, so exceedingly kind and gentle that it could never bring about destruction, no matter how inconceivably vast the power of it is, tranquility so prevalently present within, that association with chaos is an impossibility.

All the while I was also becoming increasingly aware of the hatred for her that the other students possessed.

Often people would pick on her, and she would scare them off in anger but I could see that everything was under her control, and that their was no need for me to interfere. In some ways, I took pleasure in seeing her scare them off. It serves them right. Her temper was certainly quite easily excitable.

"Did you hear about that one girl that got transferred here?" asked one student to another.

"You mean the one with weird colors?" the other student answered. Mitsuko's colors were quite unusual, as all other fox demons always had various shades of silver as far as hair color, and some form of yellow or golden for eye color. "Such horrible colors. So ugly."

I felt my teeth clench and my fists close, as a boiling anger seethed from within me. I knew not how much more of it I could take.

"It not just that," said the first student. "Hell, that appearance probably suits her, monster that she is... Didn't you hear?"

I battled with myself, but could feel the control slipping. At least in some way, I actually wanted it to slip. I wanted to lose control, so that I could crush those in front of me.

"No. Hear what?"

The first student then began to whisper.

"They say she killed her parents... And she was transferred due to terrorizing all of those within her previous sector."

I could not handle it any longer and in a rage I closed the distance between them so quickly that even I barely noticed the travel involved. An instant passed before they realized my presence.

"Where the hell did you come fr-?"

My fist had connected with his jaw before he managed to complete his sentence. The impact had sent him flying backward, but I did not allow him to fall or hit the wall. I quickly overtook him, and spun delivering a swift upward roundhouse kick to his chest, sending him toward the ceiling. His friend, who had until then been too taken aback to move, started to run away. You wish you could get away so easily. I ran over to him, easily grabbed his leg, uprooted him, and swung him around with a throw that sent him toward his, still falling, friend. The two collided and hit the floor. Their movements had ceased. I would have scorned them, but they had been knocked out. A while later, when calm had returned to me, I was surprised at what I had done. It seemed so out of character for me to fall victim to my fury as I tended to be imperturbable in my manner. It was so strange of me to have such an outburst.

Each day, I lazed through the work, which held not much of my interest. The only one thing that I anticipated was to see her again. My father was strict, and had forbade me to leave the premises of my home for anything outside of school. It actually took me a while to realize the full scope of my feelings for her. When I did, I was gripped with an irrational fear, that prevented me from telling her, much like that which currently has hold of you. I feared loss of her friendship. I look back upon such thoughts in disbelief at how illogical I was.

I had to know what had spread such horrible rumors, and so I asked her about what had really happened to her parents. When I did so, I instantly regretted it, for a look of wretched sorrow came upon her frame that I could bear to see no longer. I could not hide the concern from my voice.

"Please do not grapple with such horrid sadness. Think not of whatever it is that I have brought to mind, and forget that I have ever asked so horrible a thing as this. Answer it not, if through doing so you must delve into a world of horrors. Spare yourself, and purge your mind of my callous enquiry," I managed to say.

She shook her head as she wiped the tears that had begun to trickle down her face.

"No. You should know what happened."

"But-"

"Please. I want to do this. And it is difficult enough as it is without you trying to stop me."

After a brief hesitation, she continued.

"My parents loved me very much, and I returned those feelings. Often, they allowed me to sleep in their bed. They figured it would help to comfort me. But something had always existed within me that they never expected, and so knew not of. I had always had horrible nightmares, for as long as I can remember at least. Sadly, I can never seem to quite recall what it is that I dream of. Whatever it is, often throws me into antic fits of screaming until I wake up. This was one of the reasons my parents had offered to let me sleep in their room. At first, it only deprived them of their sleep, but they quickly found a solution to that, involving something which blocked their ears. When I was four years old, and my fifth birthday was nearing, something changed. I noticed my parents looking pale, as if some ailment had befallen them during the previous night."

"'What's wrong? You look ill,' I would ask them."

"'Oh, nothing is wrong, dear,' replied my mother."

"'We're perfectly fine,' added my father. Both of them had dawned the best smiles they could manage and hoped that I couldn't detect the weakness in their faces."

"I kept fairly silent about it, as it seemed to worry them, whenever I brought it up, but their condition began to worsen. They would wake up shivering, as if the night had been far too cold for them to take. Their figures looked less full of life with each new day, and their very mannerisms had become but shadows of what once was there."

"'What is it you are keeping from me? Something is hurting you in your sleep. Is having me in your room at night the cause? If so, don't ever let me in again,' I cried to them. I could not hold my silence any longer."

"Their expression was that of utmost concern."

"'I don't ever want to hear you accuse yourself of such a thing again,' said my father. 'We are just fine, and even if we weren't, the cause of it would never have anything to do with you.'"

"'Then what is it that is going on?'"

"'Shh~... Don't worry. These are supposed to be happy days. Your birthday is almost here. Don't you remember?' my mother replied."

"'Oh,' was all I managed to say."

"'So cry no longer.' She wiped my tears."

"I had actually forgotten all about it. I was too mixed up by the recent events to have remembered things such as my approaching date of birth. At any rate, I could see that interrogating them would not help at all. So I went about trying to help them in ways which were hidden from their knowledge from that point on. Despite all of my efforts, I failed to find the cause of their increasingly feeble condition. I always remembered to act as if there was no problem while around them though, as not to feed their unrest any further. I grew very fearful for what might happen to them, and finally decided that I had to stop sleeping in their room. I was the only cause that I had not been able to eliminate, but I knew asking them would do no good. I had to sneak out while they were sleeping..."

"The next night, I kept myself awake until, my parents drifted into sleep. Now is the time. I dedicated every ounce of my focus toward moving slowly, quietly, and discreetly. My father stirred."

"'What are you doing?' he inquired."

"'Nothing, Father. I only wish to take a breath of night air in order to help put me to sleep, for I am quite restless tonight.'"

"'I see. I knew something was off, when I noticed the peacefulness with which you were laying there. I don't blame you, for it is a very big day for you tomorrow.'"

"Tomorrow? I have forgotten about it again, and now it is but mere hours away."

"'Yes. My anticipation has become the source of my weariness it seems.' I smiled, in hope that he would not be able to catch such pretence."

"'Return after you have satisfied your lungs then.'"

"'I will, Father.' Yes! Now all I have to do is stay here the entire night."

"An hour had passed."

"'Mitsuko?' my father called out. 'Come. You need your sleep.'"

"'But, Father, my wakefulness has yet to leave me. I must remain here longer until it has.'"

"'You say that, yet if you postpone your return any longer, the time for rest will have expired, and sleep will not approach you anyway.'"

"'But-'"

"'There are no statements against such logic. Come. You must not sacrifice your sleep, especially on that oh so bright occasion which tomorrow holds. Meander not among the premises throughout the night for I will not have it.'"

"I knew an order when I heard one, even one issued in so polite a manner. He had somehow managed to summon up enough conviction in his voice to make it clear to me, that it was indeed a command."

"'Yes, Father,' was all I could say, and return with him, was all I could do. And so with limitless reluctance, I was overtaken by sleep."

A shiver reverberated throughout the whole of her form.

"When I... awoke the next... day..." her words were broken up by deeply taken breaths. She slid down into a sitting position, as she had lost the strength to maintain her stance. "I... saw my... parents... A look of... complete and utter... lifelessness... had overtaken their frame."

I found it astonishing that even at this point, she had managed to suppress her tears, but could see that holding back much longer was impossible.

"The room was... full of ice... And my parents... They had fallen victim... to something of... the same nature... For they were..."

She paused for almost the duration of a minute, as if her voice had been seized by some vile creature. She finally continued.

"They were... FROZEN... INSIDE AND OUT!" The last part had come out as a scream of such horror that no depiction could portray it with accuracy. I instantly felt the pressure of her arms around me, and the moisture of her tears upon my right shoulder. I consolingly returned the embrace. It pained me to see her saddened to such an extent. After recovering, she lifted her head off of my shoulder and uttered yet more.

"Fragments of ice had been scattered about their bodies. That was the horror which I faced upon my fifth birthday. A horror that I myself had involuntarily been the cause of..." said she in a mournful tone. She then drew back away from me. "Oh cursed (*break up into two syllables: curs-ed as opposed to cursed*) be that most foul of days, that ever I was loosed upon this world, for I can do naught but bring devastation and tragedy to myself and those around me. If ever I could correct the mistake that is my own existence, and erase my very birth, I would do so without an instant of hesitation... Undeserving wretch that I am... I-"

"Please... Continue your self incrimination no longer," I interrupted. I couldn't handle it. That had been, and still is, the second most painful thing I have ever experienced. When she said that she had wished to erase her own existence, a pain so sharp that the fabric of the universe might be cut by it easily, leapt into my soul. As indicated by your expression, you are probably thinking that surely I have suffered far more painful things, since you have witnessed many of my beatings. But you have to realize one simple thing. Emotional pain dwarfs by far the pain that any physical abuse could ever cause. It is as comparing an ant to an ocean. "Denounce yourself no longer. You say that you are an undeserving wretch. You seem to know not that in reality it is the universe that is undeserving of you, and you that deserves more than it could ever provide. It is the world that is full of many wretched things, such as the fact that you were ever cursed (*this one is just the usual monosyllable form*) with such a power beyond your control. And you, are the very antithesis of such wretchedness, yet you blame yourself for the cruelties that it brought about without your consent. You say that all you cause is tragedy and devastation, yet do you see me not? It was in tragedy and devastation that I had originally existed. It was from whence that you succeeded in dragging me out, that you, and you alone were able to save me from. Surely this is in complete and utter contradiction with such claims of yours. You must never think of erasing your existence. Do you not realize what such a thing would do? Without you, the world would hold nothing within it which would help to weaken my weariness of existence. There would be no belonging for me in the universe, and I would be driven mad by the emptiness. I sometimes believe myself to have been on the verge of such already, before meeting you. I realize how unimaginably horrific these events of your past are, but you must never take it out on yourself when it is the world that is to blame, when factors far beyond your control are to blame. It has never been and never will be your fault. Though that acknowledgment offers little solace, it, at least, does not concede to feeding such a raving guilt as this. Do not do yourself such injustice, for it is unbearable."

There was a moment of complete silence before she responded.

"Thank you."

"Oh, but it warrants no thanking, for I only spoke the truth."

"Well, warranted or not, I thank you."

She threw her arms around me once more, and I embraced her. Oh how deeply then I burned to tell her of my true feelings.

A year passed as our bond strengthened, and I found it impossible to imagine being without her. The outside world was of no importance, as we enjoyed the happiness of one another's company. Yet the despicable and ill conceived hate for Mitsuko continued in the minds of many.

We were conversing during a walk home from school when she suddenly stopped.

"Is something the matter?" I asked.

"I just remembered that I forgot something."

"Shall we go back for it then?"

"No, you needn't worry about it. You stay here and I'll go back for it."

"Alright."

While I waited, something didn't feel right, and it seemed like more than enough time had passed for her to have returned. Because of this I began heading back toward the school. When I arrived, I heard Mitsuko's scream, and a jolt shot down my spine. I rushed to the spot which I had pinpointed to be the origin of the sound.

There, she was being assaulted by a group of five students. These were the same five boys that had become notorious for being the strongest in the school, after beating many of their fellow students in battle. Before I intervened, I noticed that ice had collected beneath her feet, and the temperature of the room was decreasing. Each time one of the students attempted to attack her, shards of ice would scatter from her, giving the members of the group cuts. All the while she held her head within her hands. I curled my hands tightly into a fist and advanced toward their position.

"Do you not realise that she is afraid of her own power, you unobservant fools?" I snarled. "Look at her. That expression of fright is not under pretence."

"Well, well. Look who it is. Kurama. I never understood you. Do you realise that all of the girls here admire your looks? You could easily win the hearts of any one of them. But instead, you choose to stay with this ugly one here and distance yourself from all of us. That's a very stupid choice, if you ask me," said the leader of the group.

"And you are all quite blinded by your materialism. For you seem not to be aware of the fact that beauty springs not from any physical attributes, but from the very soul behind them. Because of your inability to perceive her magnificent soul, you fail to see her unparallelled beauty."

"Listen to the ramblings of this sentimental fool... You really are quite the strange one, Kurama."

"Whether I am strange or not has no relevance here. The important thing, is that you will seize your harassment of Mitsuko."

"Oh, will I? Come now, Kurama. Surely you don't expect to beat all of us at once. We would easily overpower you. You have no chance of winning here."

"Be there a chance or not, I don't care. You will lay no hand on her. If you must relieve your anger and hatred, do so on me rather than her. It is I that you should be pummeling."

"Hmph. Well that does seem like an entertaining alternative... Okay, guys, lets kick his ass!"

I stood there as I felt punch after punch, kick after kick. All five of them were unleashing as much of their energy as they could upon me, and all I did was stand there, accepting each blow as if it were a favor. In a way it was, for one very important thought entered my mind. Better me than her.

"STOP!" cried Mitsuko as a burst of energy exploded outward from her in an omnidirectional fashion. The entire room had frozen and ice was clinging to the walls, ceiling, and floor. Tears were glistening in her eyes.

"Well it looks like she still has some fight in her. And Kurama's unresponsiveness is beginning to bore me."

"Just... stop it. Don't beat him any longer."

"Fine by me. Come on guys. She's the real target."

They stopped wailing on me and turned toward her, but stopped in their tracks when my growling filled the room.

"How dare you. Did you not hear me when I told you that you would not lay a hand on her? You stupid bastards... So stubbornly ensnared within your own microcosms, that you are all left completely blind. You will regret having ever wronged Mitsuko..."

A look of horror flashed upon their faces.

"He's still able to stand?" said one.

"The amazing part is that he is still able to talk. If that can be called talking," said another.

"Yes... You can certainly hear the killing intent within that voice. Something I haven't ever heard in his before. I'm glad I get to witness such a rare thing," finished the leader whose face had re-assumed its previous grin of contempt. "He may be standing, but that is miraculous in itself. He won't be able to stop us in his condition."

With that he turned and threw a hard punch at Mitsuko. His smile deepened when he felt it hit, before he realized that it wasn't with Mitsuko's face that it had connected. His blow had been absorbed by the palm of my left hand. He was incapable of processing the speed of my movements. The reason his comrades hadn't attacked Mitsuko along with him, was that they had noticed something which he did not. He had been too distracted by his overconfidence to notice that during the time I had been growling earlier, my demon energy had spiked sharply.

"What the? But how? This is impossible!" he moaned in denial. "There's just no way."

"Exactly what is it that you think impossible? Me intercepting you so quickly, or me blocking your punch so effortlessly? Do you believe this to be a dream? Do you wish to wake from this nightmare? How pitiful... You don't deserve to be set free of this so easily."

I closed my fingers around his fist and started to squeeze. He let out a scream as his bones began to shatter. I yanked his arm to send him speeding toward me before delivering an uppercut to the point of his chin with my right hand, but he did not fly upward, because I still had hold of him with my left. I let go and side kicked him in the solar plexus, knocking him across the room, and into the wall. His friends, with renewed courage, attacked me from four sides at one. I jumped upward and they ended up hitting one another with the blows that were intended for me, and fell over. I had turned upside-down by the time I reached the ceiling and jumped off of it while extending my left arm. My fist slammed into the pile of four, and I flipped landing on my feet.

"And now... I think it would be best if all of you left... But seeing as you can't move right now, I suppose I should assist you..." I spat angrily.

One by one I picked each of them up and threw them out the window, the leader being the last one out. I then quickly turned and ran to Mitsuko, who had fallen from exhaustion. I helped her up and held her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," she managed to say feebly. "I am the one who should be asking you that."

"I'm quite alright. Don't worry about me... Dammit. This was my fault. I should have gone with you."

"It isn't your fault. I was the one who told you to wait. I am to blame."

"No. We're both wrong. If there is anyone to blame it is those horrible five."

"Why... Why did you take all of those blows for me? I don't deserve it. You should not take so much pain for my sake. Not ever. This power within me is so terrible, so beyond my command. They were right. You never should have gotten close to me. I am too dangerous to have as a friend."

"Never say such things. I am able to determine myself, who I should or shouldn't befriend, and I will tell you that those five, and the many others out there like them are the latter. You are the greatest friend anyone could ever ask for, and if there is danger involved, I care not. I will endure whatever troubles your power throws at me, and I promise you that it shall never succeed in taking my life. I will continue on for you, and we will together discover ways in which you can gain better control over your ability. Eventually we will reach a point at which you are in full control of it, and will never have to worry about causing any unintended harm again. I promise you that this will come to pass. For as long as life still inhabits this body, I shall be here for you. Do not ever ask me to leave you, for such a thing is impossible."

She tightened her grip on me and smiled, the tears and the sorrow fading from her eyes.

"Thank you for always being here for me, Kurama."

"It was, and always will be, my pleasure, Mitsuko."

After having defeated them, my reputation dissuaded people from troubling us.

"I find it somewhat amusing," Mitsuko said.

"What is it you find amusing?" I replied somewhat puzzled.

"You are usually such a calm and collected individual. Yet back then, you definitely lost your temper," she laughed. I smiled back.

"I suppose I did. If anything it taught them not to anger me."

Through the years we worked on many things, and by the time we were both eighteen years old, she had learned to use her ice powers to an incredible extent without having to be placed under emotional stress. And for the most part, she no longer had episodes of uncontrolled power. Her newfound mastery enabled her to form objects from ice with astonishing accuracy and detail. It was so splendid to see her glee at the progress she had made.

I myself had learned to use my energy to not only control plants, but also create their seeds. I practised using plants of all sorts, and of many uses. Often at night I would grow lamp weeds in a field of grass, to produce a marvelous lighting effect. She would then employ her ice abilities to form ice roses and other structures with which to decorate the field. Roses do indeed exist in the demon world, and they were her favourite flower. Of course, in the Makai, there were roses of a far more exotic variety of color. The field made for the perfect place to spend time talking and contemplating the many intriguing wonders of reality together. I lived for her, and her alone. For how could I live for anything else when she was the very source of my life. While with her, time had no meaning, and no other moment but the present existed. The only reason I ever feared death was the sadness that I was afraid it would cause Mitsuko. For that reason, I set within my head, that I would always try my best to survive for her sake.

On the same day I had met her years before, I finally decided to confess my feelings to her, but to first prepare a gift.

"I'll be back. Don't worry," I told her.

"But whatever are you getting?"

"It's a surprise. I cannot tell."

"Oh, alright. I'll await your return then."

It was that cliff. I knew it to be so, for I had seen it the day before. At the top rested a truly rare selection of Makai roses. These roses were black, red, and blue, our three favourite colors. It was difficult to climb the mountain, and often I had to create vines with which to pull myself up, but I eventually made it to the peake. There the roses stood before me. How great a gift these will make. I had to give such a special gift to her. She was the undulation of peace upon the miserable sea of chaos, the pleasantly cool breeze that blew away the scorching sun, the rising moon which would always take it's place (in the Makai, the moon and sun are always on opposite one another), and the aboundingly sublime light that guided me through the darkness of this world. Mitsuko. "Child of the Light." indeed a very fitting name for her. Her brightness outshined the entirety of existence, yet it was not blinding. It was, instead, illuminating, enlightening even. Because I loved her, her beauty knew no bounds. It was unlimited. But this is not to say that love had blinded me into seeing her as such. Quite the contrary. Instead, love had enhanced my clarity of sight, and granted me a level of perception otherwise unattainable. My love had allowed me to more clearly see who she was, more accurately perceive her soul, and thus more fully witness her beauty. And these flowers would be the expressed sentiment of that most glorious of feelings. Oh, to explain such feelings to anyone who has not felt them would be of the same level of difficulty as describing melodies to someone who has always been deaf. Feelings of such power, that even the passage of eternity fails to weaken them. If anything, it only strengthens them. I picked three of each color, and made my way back down the cliff. With an empowering excitement, I ran to that field where I had told her to wait for me. A sensation of such boundless joy had entered my being. I'll finally tell her how I've felt all of these years.

When I got there, I saw her lying on her stomach. Is she asleep? I went over to her, and, upon closer observation noticed some bruises and lacerations. I then noticed that a pool of blood had been forming. The nail of fear struck through my heart as I imagined what might have happened. I rolled her over onto her back...

Blood was pouring from grievous wounds to her abdomen. This is a dream. It has to be a dream. I couldn't accept what laid before me as real. She was still alive. Her elegant face looked up at me, and regained that vibrant life that it had always had. Her eyes glistened and a smile formed.

"Kurama..." she managed to say, with what strength she had left. "Please... don't be saddened... Live on... You must live on."

No sooner had she uttered those compelling words with her gentle voice, than she left this world, her eyes still open, and her face still smiling. It seemed as if time itself had slackened its pace in sorrow, and seconds moved by as sluggishly as hours. My eyes swelled with tears. The droplets fell onto her face.

"No... This can't be. It just can't. No, no, no. No! NO! NO~!"

I had run out of breath in my screaming.

"No... no..." The last word came out as a murmur so quiet that it was barely audible.

Memories of her had all spilled into my mind simultaneously, and flitted through it in a chaotic fashion, yet I somehow processed each of them, making sense of the cloud. All of that can't be gone... It can't be.

And then, for the first time ever in all of my existence, my mind was bereft of all thought. I was frozen, as if my very consciousness had left my body. The world went blank. There was nothingness.

"You!" called a familiar voice.

I slowly returned to reality and my surroundings faded in. I could see that I was surrounded by my own kind from all sides, with the closest of them being about thirty meters away.

"Yes, it was us. If that's what you're wondering. We killed her. We couldn't allow that horrible fiend to exist any longer. Nothing, not even you, was going to stop that. Oh, and any of those who did not quite agree with these drastic measures, well, let's just say they aren't around anymore. This was certainly of use," the voice continued, which I now found to belong to the leader of those five I had faced in the past. He lifted a device up for me to see, which served the same purpose as human lie detectors, but with far greater accuracy. "So not a single one of the people you see in this crowd is here to support you. We took her down. What was her name? Mituki, Mitoku? Whatever. It doesn't matter. Now we're here to take you down. You should have joined us when you could have."

I gave Mitsuko's face one last caress, closed her eyes, and laid the roses on top of her.

When I had stood up, my fellow demons had already begun to charge toward me. It seemed as if my vision kept fading in and out of blackness. Each time this happened, the enemies were closer and closer. When they were nearly upon me, I snarled in rage.

"Her name... was MITSUKO!"

A strange power within the depths of myself found its way to the surface. In that moment a nova of demon energy blasted outward from me, pushing on the demons that had come close enough. I did not know it at the time, but my power had just jumped from lower B-class to middle A-class. The resonance of my energy filled the air, and made it a bit more difficult for those near me to move. This was the first time I ever used my power over plants for violence. Though I had never done it before, I remembered how to create Ojigi and Death Tree seeds. When I made those seeds grow, their fully developed forms ran rampant, devouring and destroying all before their path.

"You! All of you shall be torn asunder by the wrath of these plants! For their wrath is but a manifestation of my own and even nature stands by my cause! Do you murderous fiends realize what you have robbed from existence? What kind of light you have extinguished? Perhaps upon your own execution you will understand! Had you listened to the words of those who wished not to commence your horrid deeds, you may have lived! Instead you deafened yourselves to their wisdom and felled their tongues with your iniquitous swords! This is why death greets you most eagerly now, using me as the very instrument through which it may embrace you!"

I proceeded to wipe out each and every single one of them. And so their wrongdoing will be limited thus to what they have already done. Shall no one else be their victim. This was the very first act that gave me notoriety. It is the reason I was called the Yoko, the "Demon Fox," because there was no other left of my kind. I returned to Mitsuko. I hadn't noticed before, but it seemed that after her death, the temperature had gradually declined, and clouds had slowly formed above. Snow had begun to fall, accompanied by a pleasant breeze. I reached over and picked up a rose of each color. I shall keep these three in memory of her. They shall never wither, for I shall feed them any energy they require. After one last gaze upon her frame, I entombed her within flowering vines that were virtually impregnable.

"Live on, you say? If such a thing is even possible."

This is when my era of thievery began. I was extremely cautious and feared the loss of my comrades. These qualities were much to the disliking of Yomi, which, as you know, led to some complications. I was never quite the same, however. I was far more empty than ever before. The amount of mercy I possessed had dwindled, and my emotions were far less prominent. She had told me not to be saddened, but the only way I could possibly comply with such a request was to suppress the entirety of my emotions. Surviving would have been difficult without doing so in the first place. It was as if I wasn't really a being at all anymore. Just a shadow, a mere echo of my former self. After failing to come up with another reason to continue my existence, I stumbled upon a new purpose. To become stronger. This reached deep within the pit of my soul and brought to mind the conclusion that becoming stronger would make me more capable of protecting those I cared for. But that was a desire so well hidden that even I did not realize it to be there, for it too, had been suppressed along with my emotions. Because of this, I believed my desire for power to be purely selfish. And so I became the merciless demon fox, who had caused the extinction of his own race. A bandit of such notoriety, that nightmarish rumors of my cruelty reached every little crevice of Makai. I strived mainly for one thing, and I pursued it by almost any means necessary. I suppose some vestige of myself remained, however, as I cared for my comrades, especially Kuronue. It is nigh impossible to completely eliminate who you are.

Hiei once said to me that a person who does not carry scars on their heart is a shallow soul. If that is true, the dark abyss of my own soul must be of infinite depth. A chasm so monstrous that all who come upon it might be overwhelmed by its unfathomable expanse.

I would often gaze up at the moon, and feel almost as if I was once again in Mitsuko's presence. Even here, I watch this moon, night after night, as it traverses the sky. Even my use of the rose whip is in homage to her memory. As you can see, I did indeed continue on, in honor of her final request, but I believe I have failed to meet her desire. For truly, I have been dead ever since that horrific moment. From the day I was born I had merely existed. Only after meeting Mitsuko did I experience life. A life that I was deprived of upon her departure. And so now I have returned to that state of mere existence which I had previously occupied. I continue to exist, rather than continue to live. All around me, there are many things which remind me of her, or rather, things that bring the perpetual remembrance, which already inhabits my consciousness throughout every waking instant of my existence, more into focus. Such things are innumerable.

I still have great friends like you, and an excellent mother. I still laugh, and experience happiness, but the extent of such happiness is still severely limited. For, regardless of how strong and powerful my new bonds are, nothing can fill that emptiness within my soul. Every fibre of my being yearns so ardently to once again bask within her presence, ever desirous of something impossible.

For the most part, you know the rest of my tale, Kuwabara.

"I'm... so... sorry," Kuwabara said between breaths. Tears had welled in his eyes, that he was in the middle of wiping.

"It's alright, Kuwabara. You are not to blame for any of this. I do hope however that you have learned something from this. I realize of course that it is very unlikely for the same unfortunate circumstances to befall you. Nonetheless there is much importance in what must be done."

"I know what I have to do, Kurama. Thank you."

"You have nothing to thank me for. I thank you for listening to me."

He nodded with understanding in his eyes, and then set out buy some flowers for Yukina.