"Ashika Miyuki?"
Kurama looked up from his textbook at the sound of his classmate's name. His peers looked up as well, curious about the interruption. Their first class of the day had just begun.
Kurama felt a shiver pass up his spine as he saw who had summoned Ashika. It was one of the government agents. He stood in the doorway, a clipboard held in his hand.
So it was their class's turn today.
Ashika stood and walked towards the door, leaving her bag and books behind. She glanced briefly at Kurama as she passed him. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line. She looked nervous, Kurama thought. That was perfectly natural. Most people would be a little nervous in this situation.
Would Phantom make another appearance or would he remain dormant, hiding beneath the camouflage of Ashika's ignorance?
Class resumed after Ashika's departure. She returned about a half an hour later. A long time, Kurama thought with worry. But she seemed fine. As she sat down at her desk, the man who had escorted her in read out the next name on the list.
This student was gone for about the same length of time as Ashika. Perhaps they were taking more time with these interviews because the murdered student had been in this class.
It was tempting to try to predict the questions that he would be asked when his turn came, but Kurama tried to put it out of his mind. His answers would need to sound honest and open, not rehearsed. He knew more about this murder than any of his classmates, including Ashika, and he couldn't allow the government agents to know that.
It had been stupid of him, to not clean up the remains, but he'd had his own very serious injury to tend to. Now whatever department these men belonged to was investigating the murder, no doubt because of Kinoto's monstrous transformation.
What did they make of it? Were they in the know about demons? Did they think that Kinoto had been a demon? Had they connected the disappearances of the two older boys with Kinoto's murder?
Far too many questions. Far too many unknowns.
The fact that the government was involved at all was disturbing to Kurama. He'd skated underneath the radar so far. Not even his doctor suspected him of being anything other than a normal human boy. What would these men do if they discovered that Kurama was a demon? Would they apprehend him and experiment on him, like a monkey in a lab?
Kurama suppressed a shudder. He wished that this had all happened in some other school. Thanks to Kinoto Sakura, Kurama's own life as a human was threatened.
Ashika approached Kurama at lunch, surprising him. He greeted her with a warm smile.
"Hello, Ashika-san," he said, setting his novel down.
"Hello, Minamino-san," she said. Her voice was completely different from Phantom's and not only because it was more feminine. She lacked Phantom's confidence and it showed in the tone of her voice. "I spoke to my mother last night. She said I can come over for dinner as long as I'm home before eight."
"Will tomorrow night work for you?" Kurama asked. He had already spoken to his mother last night about inviting Ashika over, and as he'd expected, she was thrilled. She wouldn't mind the short notice.
The downside was that Kurama would have to endure his stepbrother's teasing. The younger Shuichi had overheard Kurama's conversation with his mother and immediately assumed that Ashika was Kurama's girlfriend. Kurama's insistence that it wasn't the case fell on deaf ears. Ashika might be faced with some awkward and embarrassing questions.
"That should be fine," she said with a smile of her own. "I have dance class after school but I can come after that."
Dance class. That explained Phantom's gracefulness. He was making use of Ashika's training in a way that Kurama was certain Ashika had never considered.
"I look forward to it."
Ashika returned to her desk. Kurama watched with amusement as two girls pounced on her. They were friends, Kurama was sure, but he didn't know if they were close friends. Kurama heard his name pop up in the conversation and guessed that they were asking Ashika about what the two of them had been talking about.
Ashika, for her part, had turned bright red and begun stammering, much to her friends' amusement. Her friends were left to draw their own conclusions, and, of course, they did so enthusiastically. Ashika's denials were wilfully and cheerfully ignored.
-0-
"Minamino Shuichi."
Kurama closed his textbook with a sigh. This was the last class of the day and he'd been hoping that he wouldn't have to face the agents until tomorrow. But, no, it seemed as if he would be the last student on their list today.
Kurama followed the man down the hall and into another classroom. The desks had been pushed aside to make room for a table. There were two chairs on one side and one on the other. One chair was already occupied by the second government agent. Papers littered the surface of the desk.
"Please take a seat, Minamino-san." The man who'd led Kurama in gestured towards one of the chairs. Kurama sat, his hands resting in his lap. The man sat down in the last chair.
"Now, we just have a few questions for you," the man said.
"Regarding what?" Kurama asked. He already knew, of course. It was impossible not to, with all the rumours flying around. And the students who had already been interviewed had recounted their own experiences. But Kurama wanted to hear the agents' answer. He was hoping that they would give something away. Something that could indicate how much they really knew.
"One of your classmates was recently murdered. Surely you've heard?"
Well, that was blunt.
"I've heard," Kurama said quietly. "But I do not understand why you are questioning everyone in the school regarding it. Do you believe that another student is responsible?"
Both men wore identical frowns on their faces beneath their sunglasses. "That sounds quite ludicrous, doesn't it?" the second man said. Kurama decided to dub him Red because that was the colour of his tie. The other would be Blue for the same reason. That was the only part of their outfits that differed, from what Kurama could see. "Unless, you have some reason to suspect another student, Minamino-san?" Red continued.
"I have no reason to suspect anybody," Kurama told him. "I did not know Kinoto-san." Nor did he know the boys who had disappeared, but the agents had not mentioned them yet so Kurama held his tongue.
"But you were in the same class," Blue said. "Did you see anything out of the ordinary before her murder?"
"No," Kurama answered. Not that he had really been paying attention.
"Did Kinoto-san display any odd habits?" Red asked. He'd pulled a pen out of his pocket and it hovered over a notepad. The page was already half-full of neat text.
"Habits?" Kurama echoed. He hadn't been expecting that question. He'd been expecting to be asked if Kinoto had met with anyone unusual, or said anything unusual. But, habits? What could that have to do with her murder?
"Yes. Did she play with her hair a lot? Did she hum a lot? Things like that," Red clarified.
What? Kurama was thoroughly confused. He thought back over what little he'd noticed of Kinoto. "Well… she used to chew gum, even in class," Kurama told him. "I remember because some of the teachers did not approve. And she used to bite her nails."
"Ah." Red scribbled down some notes on his notepad. Blue watched Kurama from behind his sunglasses, frown still firmly in place. His hands were clasped together on the desk before him.
"And have you noticed any of your other classmates behaving strangely?" Red asked.
"No," Kurama said, though an image of Ashika floated into his mind. "To be honest, I don't take much notice of my classmates. My focus is on my work."
Red chuckled. "Your records reflect that," he said. "Your marks are very impressive."
"Thank you," Kurama said. "I work hard for them. It isn't easy." Actually, it was easy for him. Human high school wasn't much of a challenge for a thousand-year-old spirit fox.
Kurama glanced down at the papers on the desk and realised that his own records were, in fact, among them, along with some of his other classmates, he noticed. They even had a copy of his school photo. The most recent one, he guessed. His long red hair was tied back so it was hard to tell how long it had been at the time.
These men were really doing their homework. This was no cursory interview. They must certainly suspect another student. Had someone seen Kurama or Ashika in the vicinity of the murder and remembered their uniforms?
Two photos were slid in front of Kurama. He blinked down at them in surprise.
"Do you recognise either of these two boys?" Red asked.
"They went missing more than a month ago, I think," Kurama said. "Everyone knows what they look like. Though I have never personally met them, myself. What do they have to do with this?"
"Maybe nothing."
Everything. They had everything to do with it. Kurama had gleaned from Phantom's brief conversation with Kinoto that Kinoto had killed them. And, according to Phantom, eaten them. Apparently, that was the fate that Kinoto had in mind for him. Kurama hadn't been sure how to handle the situation. He'd tried restraining Kinoto but she'd broken free. He hadn't wanted to kill her because, technically she was still human and Spirit World law applied. If he killed a human, Kurama would be arrested and probably sentenced to death by Spirit World.
But then Phantom had shown up. Phantom, who had no problem with killing Kinoto. He'd acted like it was a mercy. Like he'd done Kinoto a favour. He'd shown no remorse at all.
And he'd saved Kurama's life. Kinoto had managed to severely damage his hand. Even Kurama hadn't been fully aware of how much danger he'd been in until he'd been healed by Yukina.
-0-
Flashback
Kurama sat at the Kuwabara's kitchen table. His bloody hand rested on a towel provided by Shizuru, who was now standing by the sink and smoking a cigarette. Yukina sat beside Kurama, her cherry-red eyes full of worry and sympathy.
Kuwabara Kazuma sat across from them, looking just as concerned as Yukina. He wore his blue school uniform and his dyed hair was in it's usual distinctive style of a pompadour. Kurama was certain that if Kuwabara ever stopped dying it orange, he would not recognise him if he passed him on the street.
"Seriously?" he asked Kurama. "One of your classmates did this to you?" He was carefully avoiding looking directly at Kurama's hand. Kurama couldn't blame him. The sight made him feel queasy, himself. Two of his fingers were most certainly broken. Deep cuts oozed crimson blood onto the folded white towel beneath his hand.
"It seems so," Kurama said. Yukina's pale fingers brushed over Kurama's wrist, leaving a cool numbness behind.
"She just… turned into a demon?" Kuwabara asked.
"No, not a demon," Kurama said.
"But… what else is there?" Kuwabara shrugged his broad shoulders in helpless confusion.
Kurama felt something brush his ankle and glanced down to see Kuwabara's cat Eikichi rubbing herself against it. Kurama had an urge to kick the cat away but remained still. Kuwabara would be very upset with him, he was sure. Kuwabara loved that cat.
"You said another student stepped in?" Shizuru asked. She stared at Kurama from beneath her brown fringe. Her cigarette was held between two fingers of her left hand. The end glowed orange as the setting sun out the window behind her.
"Yes. Another classmate of mine. Though she certainly did not act anything like her normal self. It was as if she were someone else entirely," Kurama told her. He suppressed a wince as Yukina attempted to straighten his fingers.
"Oh, dear," she said. "Kazuma, can you get me a bowl of water, please?"
Kuwabara leapt up to do her bidding, almost knocking over his chair in his haste. Shizuru rolled her eyes as she stepped aside to allow him access to the sink.
"Is something wrong?" Kurama asked, an uneasy fluttering starting in his stomach.
"I need to clean it," Yukina said. She was frowning down at his hand. "Quickly."
"Poison," Shizuru said, her voice blunt and matter-of-fact. Kurama wasn't surprised that she'd grasped Yukina's unspoken concern so quickly. She was very perceptive.
"Has it spread far?" Kurama asked. If he had to lose his hand to preserve his life, he'd make that sacrifice. But he would really prefer to keep it.
"No. Not yet," Yukina told him.
Had Kinoto's saliva contained some kind of debilitating poison? Had Phantom been aware of that when he'd told Kurama to seek aid?
"You can fix it, right?" Kuwabara asked Yukina as he set the bowl of water down on the table. Yukina gently lifted Kurama's hand and placed it in the water. Kurama shivered as the water grew cold around it. Not cold enough to freeze into ice but cold enough to cause goosebumps.
"Yes, of course," Yukina said, giving Kurama a reassuring smile.
About twenty minutes later, Kurama's hand was wrapped up in white bandages. It rested gingerly on his lap. Yukina had been able to heal most of the damage but it needed to be kept covered for a time. Yukina had expressed concern that it would scar but Kurama assured her that he could take care of that. He had a salve which would minimise the scarring.
"Should we tell Koenma about this?" Kuwabara asked anxiously. He set down a steaming cup of tea in front of a grateful Kurama.
Kurama didn't answer immediately. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to involve the ruler of Spirit World in this. Spirit World had proven, time and time again, that it wasn't the most competent of organisations. Appointing a teenage boy as Spirit Detective and pitting him against demons far stronger than himself had been incredibly stupid, in Kurama's view.
But Koenma did need to know about it. And there was always the chance that Spirit World had information on this phenomenon. Information that Koenma might be inclined to share with a curious fox.
"I think we should," Kurama said, finally.
Kuwabara gave a nod. "I'll talk to Urameshi," he said. "I think he's still got one of those communicator things."
Kurama could have contacted Spirit World through his own methods, but he held his tongue. It would be better if the story came from Yusuke.
Yukina returned from washing her hands, with some last-minute instructions for Kurama regarding his injury. They made plans for Kurama to return in two days time so that Yukina could check it over once more.
Kurama returned home to an anxious Shiori. His bandaged hand was the first thing she noticed when he walked into the kitchen. He told her that he'd burned it during a chemistry experiment. He knew that she would assume the school had seen to it's treatment and leave it there.
She believed him, as she always did, and fussed over him, as she always did. A small lump of guilt lodged itself in Kurama's stomach, but he was used to it by now. This was not the first lie he'd ever told her, and by far, not the largest.
-0-
Present
The agents continued to ask Kurama about the other students in his class. He answered all of their questions in the same way. No, he hadn't noticed them behaving strangely. No, he hadn't noticed if they exhibited any odd habits.
"Well," Red said, finally setting his pen down on the table. "I think we're done here."
He glanced over at Blue, who gave a curt nod.
Kurama suppressed a sigh of relief. This interview had been far more stressful than any of his classes.
"You're free to go, Minamino-san. Thank you for your cooperation."
Kurama stood. He was about to turn towards the door when Blue's voice stopped him.
"Here."
Blue held out a small business card between two fingers. Kurama took it. On it, printed in neat type was the name 'Department of Special Investigation'. Below that was a phone number.
"If you remember anything, contact us," Blue told him.
Kurama dutifully slid the card into his pocket, since he had nowhere else to put it. But, truthfully, all he wanted to do was throw it into the nearest trash can.
He left the room. It seemed that, since he was the last student of the day, he didn't warrant an escort back to his classroom.
Class was over by the time he returned. Only a handful of students remained, cleaning the classroom. Kurama retrieved his belongings and left for his botany club meeting.