Kurama
"This Saturday we have a trip scheduled to the Ushiyama temple up north."
"Oh really? Why for?"
"They have wonderful moss gardens there."
"Ah, that sounds like it'll be fun!"
Currently, Kurama sat at the kitchen table, his mother Shiori across from him. He had returned home from school only moments ago and, as per usual, had gone about informing her of what he had done earlier that day. The temple visit he was speaking of was a field trip organized by the botany club at his school.
Truth be told he had never really wanted to participate in any school clubs—he found the entire experience rather trifling. However, his mother often worried about him not being social enough and he felt it might help to put her mind at ease. He couldn't very well tell her why he didn't have many friends—being 1,000 years old and in high school meant he had very little to relate to his classmates about—but ever since he had joined the club last semester she had seemed to relax a bit.
He was currently enrolled in his second semester of his first year of high school, and the relative freedom he had gained there compared to his time in middle school was certainly welcome. More and more Shiori had begun to treat him like a true adult and more and more he was able to be more honest with her, which he liked. He didn't enjoy having to act so much younger than his age.
Unfortunately, growing older in her presence also carried other problems—soon enough she'd begin questioning him about dating and girls, and he hadn't even bothered to consider such things for the past 16 years of his human life. Even during his days as a youko he hadn't been too inclined towards matters of romance, preferring to focus on grander ambitions. And especially now, as far as he was concerned dating was not remotely an option, particularly not with a human acquaintance. The thought of doing something like that with a human who was barely 1/100th his age was to him quite perverse.
Nevertheless, he figured there was no need to worry about such things now. As it stood, Shiori was happy, and if she was happy then so was he.
Shiori reached out then, retrieving a tangerine from a bowl in the center of the table, and began to worry at its peel. "How have you been enjoying your most recent semester?"
"It's relatively the same," he conceded, silently refusing as she offered up a slice of the tangerine to him. "My classes this time around are a bit more complex, but I'm not too worried."
"Well, you did get into Meiou for a reason, didn't you?" Shiori laughed back with a soft smile.
Kurama forced himself to return the smile, hiding the feeling of guilt that welled up inside him. She was always so proud of his performance in school and regarded him as some sort of prodigy. Of course, while he wouldn't consider himself of an average intelligence, he certainly knew that his stellar test scores were due to his rather pronounced advantage—Japanese history was quite easy to recount on paper if one had lived through many of the events themselves, and he had already had well over three hundred years to master calculus.
Silently, he wished he could actually tell her why she should be proud—she had changed him, profoundly and completely. Only a few years ago he was a ruthless killer and a thief, and now he was sitting in a comforting kitchen, accompanied by the smell of miso, the light of the setting sun, and the sound of sweet conversation.
"I wouldn't have gotten in if not for you," he replied—the best response he could come up with in order to express his true feelings.
Of course, Shiori was far too proud of her son to accept even an ounce of credit. "You certainly didn't get your studious nature from me! I was never a very good student at your age."
"I find that very hard to believe, mother."
"Oh it's true," she laughed back, plucking off another piece of tangerine and popping it into her mouth. "Your father was always the academic of the house. You probably got it from him, just like your hair."
Kurama smiled at that—Shiori always loved to talk about how much he reminded her of the deceased Mr. Minamino. He had passed when Kurama's body was only that of a small boy, and so Kurama often pretended not to remember much about the man, and, in some ways, that was true. He never really bothered to get to know him. At the time of the man's passing, Kurama had still been insistent upon returning to his old lifestyle, so he hadn't grieved much—now, however, he wished he had gotten to know him better. Shiori was so fond of him, after all.
Sometimes he wondered just what the real Shuuichi Minamino would have grown up to be—if he would have gotten into Meiou, and if he also would have lacked any interest in his classmates. Naturally there was no real way to determine—his soul had been forced from Shiori's womb upon Kurama's arrival—but at the very least Kurama knew that the boy would have been happy.
Suddenly, something began to sizzle on the stove, and Shiori dropped the tangerine to the table top and stood. "I almost forgot about the stew! Silly m… me…"
As soon as she stood her voice began to trail off, and only a moment later she began to swoon. Kurama practically kicked the chair across the room in his urgency to get to her, and in a moment of weakness she fell back against the table.
"Mother, are you alright?" he asked worriedly, placing two hands on her shoulders to steady her.
"I'm fine," she answered, though her breathing suddenly seemed ragged. "Just a bit dizzy..."
"You should sit back down, I'll take care of dinner."
"Really, Shuuichi, I'm fine," Shiori replied, resisting as he tried to urge her back to her seat. "I'm sure I just stood too quickly is all."
She pulled out of his grasp and began to walk back towards the stove as Kurama hovered about her. She had been in good health lately—not even a cough—so perhaps she really had just stood too quickly. Nevertheless, her balance seemed to be off, and he noticed her hands had begun to shake.
"Mother, please—"
"—I'm alright, Shuuichi," she said again, offering a soft smile to help comfort her son. "It's only…"
Her voice faded again, and her sentence was left unfinished as she faltered once more, and this time more severely. Her knees gave out beneath her and Kurama rushed forward to catch her in his arms before she could hit the floor.
"Mother?" he asked softly, examining the frail figure in his arms. She was still breathing, but just barely, and she didn't respond. "Mother?!" he asked again with more urgency.
Weakly, and with a distant voice that Kurama had never heard from her before, she let him hold her weight and whispered up to him.
"Don't panic, Shuuichi… but I think I may need an ambulance…"
Hiei
"Hn…. Why would I want to help you?" Hiei sneered, keeping his voice low.
The sun had well set by now, but the lights of Sarayashiki City still illuminated the figure before him. Normally Hiei didn't venture into the human cities—since his arrival in Ningenkai two years ago he had yet to find an escape from this wretched dimension and the comfort of the woods was the only thing that seemed to keep him sane. Yet on this night he had chosen to venture into the realm of the city to meet a certain fellow—Gouki, a demon residing illegally in Ningenkai who had asked for his assistance on a certain project.
From what Hiei could tell, Gouki wasn't particularly powerful nor was he particularly smart. He appeared more or less useless, and under normal circumstances Hiei never would have even bothered to meet with him in the first place. However, when Gouki had first come to him the day before, speaking of his new project, Hiei had found himself slightly interested and felt there was no harm in exploring it further.
According to what the demon had told him, he planned to rob a vault in Reikai. This, naturally, was no easy task, so the man required some assistance and Hiei had been somewhat inclined to participate. That was, of course, until he learned what they were after.
Gouki sought the Gakidama—a somewhat infamous item that allowed one to steal the souls of humans. Apparently, this man found human souls to be quite appetizing and was eager to get his hands on something that would allow him to eat them more efficiently. To Hiei, however, such an item was utterly worthless.
"I'm not in the business of charity, and I have no interest in human souls," Hiei scoffed, leaning up against the alley wall and giving the man across him a disdainful look. "So unless you have something to offer to me, then this meeting is over."
Gouki, being significantly taller, looked down at Hiei with a wide grin. "Oh, but the Gakidama isn't all that's held within that vault. There are two other items as well."
"Oh?"
"Have you ever heard of the Kouma Sword?"
"Can't say I have."
The large demon chuckled and Hiei cringed at the sound of it. "It's a very powerful sword with a very particular ability—it can turn any human it cuts into a low-level demonic slave of the owner."
Hiei laughed at that. "I highly doubt such a feat is possible."
"It definitely is."
"You can't just turn a human into a demon," Hiei scoffed back. "If you could then I'm sure there'd be hundreds of humans chomping at the bit for a chance to join our side."
"Well there have been some who—"
"—It's impossible," Hiei replied with finality. "And, even if it were true, I have no interest in such things. So, if that's all…"
With that, Hiei turned to leave, eager to return back to the woods and wash the horrid human stench from his clothes. However, before he could get far, Gouki spoke again.
"I know you're trapped in this world just like I am."
Hiei turned back on the man instantly, a threatening glint in his eye. "I am not trapped here," he lied viciously.
Gouki, however, didn't seem to buy that. "It's so easy to get in, you'd think it would be as easy to get out, but I guess those guys at Reikai have done a thorough job of hiding any holes."
"I could find one if I wished to."
Gouki gave Hiei a long look, and though he didn't say outright that he didn't believe the claim, Hiei knew he wasn't fooling anyone with his act.
"My point is," Gouki began. "If both you and I are stuck here, we might as well try and enjoy ourselves. For me, that means eating as many souls as I want, but for you that could mean…"
"Turning humans into demons?"
"Turning humans into a demon army."
"Ha! If I did that, Reikai would be after me in no time, and that isn't worth the trouble."
"Oh?" Gouki sneered with fake nonchalance. "I never imagined you would be afraid of Reikai."
"I'm not afraid of them," Hiei shot back. "I just don't see any reason to bother."
Finally, Gouki relented, offering up a shrug and making to leave. "Well then, I guess that's your choice. I'm sure I can find someone else—someone with a bit more of a sense of adventure."
"Or someone with suicidal tendencies."
"Or that," Gouki laughed, turning and beginning to walk deeper into the alleyway. "I'm sure you'll find your own way to entertain yourself around here… eventually."
At that, Hiei gritted his teeth—on the one hand, he wanted to cut this insolent demon down for speaking to him in such a way. On the other hand, he knew he had a point.
For two years he had been in this horrible realm and for two years he had yet to find any real source of entertainment. Occasionally he had gone to bother Kurama, but the fox was so hell-bent on keeping his true identity as Youko Kurama a secret that he wasn't even willing to spar. And aside from him Hiei lacked any real companions—by choice, of course—and even worse than having no companions was the fact that there was absolutely nothing to do here.
He had come to Ningenkai searching for Yukina, but all he had found was perpetual boredom and a rotten stench. And now, this man Gouki was offering him a relief from that boredom.
So, feeling somewhat foolish, Hiei swallowed his pride and pursued the man. With his superior speed, he appeared before the large oaf within a matter of seconds, staring daggers up at him in an effort to appear at least a little frightening and save face.
"When would we be going?" he asked in a low voice, hating himself even more as a grin spread across Gouki's large, ugly face.
"We'll need one more member first."
"Why?"
"Haven't you ever committed a robbery before? You always do it in threes," Gouki replied.
Hiei wasn't entirely sure if that was true, but to be honest he actually hadn't ever committed a robbery—or at least not one like this. Anytime he had wanted something he couldn't have he had just killed whoever held it. He never bothered with sneaking around like some rat in a drain pipe.
"I've been looking around a bit, but so far you're the only suitable candidate I've found," Gouki explained. "We'll need someone with experience and none of the low-class trash around here has any."
"Experience, huh?" Hiei repeated, a wonderful idea crossing his mind at that moment.
Gouki, not being quite as stupid as he appeared, seemed to catch on a bit. "You know someone?"
Youko - 妖狐 – a youko is a type of animal spirit—- not technically a type of demon, though often referred to as such because they possess similar powers. Within canon, the term 'youko'is used as both a noun and a proper noun—it can be both a term to describe someone, or it can be used as a title. Within this story it's used as both—Kurama is a youko, but is also called Youko Kurama.
Ningenkai, Reikai, Makai – 人間界、霊界、魔界 – the human world, spirit world, and demon world respectively. Within this story there are also two other realms that are introduced later, Shinkai and Joukai (神界、浄界, translating to the god world, and the pure world respectively), but I'll explain those when the time comes.
Gakidama, kouma sword, and ankokukyou – these are translated in the English version as the Orb of Baast, the Shadow Sword, and the Dark Mirror. I use the Japanese because I'm a weeb. Deal with it.
