Chapter One: Two Years Later…
Kurama glanced behind as he heard the faintest sound of rustling cloth.
"You'll have to be stealthier than that to sneak up on me," He said coldly.
Despite the bright street lights and neon signs of the sleepless city, night still clung with a desperate fist of shadows making it difficult for Kurama to identify exactly who had been following him. A passing train overhead illuminated the side street briefly as a figure revealed himself to be a man of tall slender stature and dressed in a fine black leather jacket. As a matter of fact, he wore only black from his hat to boots. He removed his wide brimmed hat in greeting as a pair of pointed ears poked through his messy dark hair. It was a clear sign that the man wasn't a human, but a youkai.
"Good evening, Kurama- Oh!" The youkai paused to correct himself with a wry smirk. "I'm sorry. I mean- 'Shuuichi Manamino', of course."
'Shuuichi' was the name of Kurama's human form. As a yoko (a spirit fox) who had merged with a human body it was necessary for Kurama to also maintain a human identity. In time, however, it was his human personality that gained supremacy and Kurama was eventually able to bury his dark side as Yoko Kurama, the infamous kitsune thief.
"Ayumu." Kurama spoke the youkai's name in dry recognition. Ayumu's lips formed a sinister toothy grin as he replaced his hat. Kurama watched the youkai warily as he took a seat on a stack of discarded wooden crates. Ayumu was a double agent to Reikai and a good one at that, but he was not someone Kurama wanted to be associated with on a regular basis.
"Reikai's got a new dog on their leash," Ayumu warned as he pulled out a cigarette pack from his coat pocket. "Someone the lesser youkai call the 'Ivory Cross'." He explained that for the past few weeks a demon hunter had been combing the night streets searching for low level youkai. It wasn't common knowledge, but Kurama had heard similar rumors circulating as well.
"It's not your boy is it?" Ayumu asked darkly.
"No," Kurama replied. "Yusuke officially retired two years ago."
His dear friend and former comrade, Yusuke Urameshi, had been the previous agent of the Reikai (the spirit world) in charge of protecting Ningenkai (the human realm) from Makai (the demonic one). Kurama didn't say it, but the former detective was on his honeymoon and wouldn't be back for some time. If Ayumu didn't already know this then he didn't need to know. Yusuke was fairly popular, but that didn't mean he wasn't without enemies who would be willing to take shot at him. His only known weakness was his childhood friend and new bride. Kurama wanted them to enjoy their time with as much peace as their own personalities would allow.
"Just as I thought," Ayumu nodded after taking a most unhealthily long drag on his cigarette. "That means there's a new kid in town." He coughed angrily. "I don't like this. Our departments don't talk much and it's a little too easy for them to let us double agents go… if you catch my drift."
"The tournament to determine the next king of Makai isn't due for another year." Kurama noted. "Perhaps Reikai is preparing for the worst should it happen."
"Unless they plan to use this time to gain more ground in the never ending struggle for power." Ayumu countered. He stood up to leave saying, "I see I won't get any more information out of you today." He flashed Kurama a sly expression. "Word on the street says their new mutt streaks through the night like a shadow and the last thing his victim sees is a single white cross on its back."
"And what do the survivors say?" Kurama asked with growing interest.
Ayumu gave him a look. "There are none. This one always gets his man." He pointed a crooked finger at Kurama as a warning. "Remember this, fox-boy, no matter how you choose to live your life now- Reikai will always see you as the villain you once were."
Kurama understood why the man might see Reikai as a fair-weathered friend, but Ayumu's parting words were probably the most important clue that the youkai could offer.
"And you'll avoid any late night walks if you're smart." Ayumu muttered cryptically. "This dog only likes to take a walk when the world is completely black."
Kurama watched the man slink away and vanish into the night. It was obvious to him what Ayumu was trying to do. By provoking Kurama's curiosity Ayumu was hoping Kurama would find out some hidden information about this new wrinkle and let a few tasteful tidbits slide back his way. There was little chance of that. Officially pardoned from his previous crimes, Kurama's only intention was to live out the rest of his life in peace with his family and friends. With the exception of assisting Yusuke with his gumshoe work, Kurama was forever done with his "community service" to Reikai and it would to take an act of god to change his mind.
"Wait up, Kitajima-sempai!" wailed a youthful female voice in utter protest.
It was only then that Maya Kitajima noticed her companion lagging behind at a significant distance. She stopped walking and waited patiently until the younger girl caught up.
When the younger girl did Maya scolded, "See? I told you to at least try out for a sports club or something, Amaya-chan." She teased, "Those bags can't be that heavy."
"I'm in better shape than you." The girl known as 'Amaya Bard' retorted. She was a few years younger than her sempai, but the girl had a very mature about her that didn't quite match her appearance. As freshman attending a private Catholic high school, Amaya was still wearing her school uniform in the late afternoon. It consisted of a white dress shirt, a red and black plaid skirt, and a pair black tights rather than socks. The only things not part of her school uniform were the bags of food in her hands. She had been drafted into going grocery shopping with her very enthusiastic roommate, Maya Kitajima.
Maya was a very pretty girl with her hair dyed to a slightly lighter shade brown than her natural color. Her soft brown eyes were very warm and bright compared to Amaya's crisp blue ones and she wore a warm friendly smile to everyone and everything (much to Amaya's chagrin). Maya had received a scholarship for the College connected to the high school Amaya attended and thus lived at the college dorms. Amaya was the adopted daughter of the foreign priest who ran the schools so lived in the dorms as well. Coincidentally the same one as Maya who enjoyed treating her like a little sister (not that Amaya would ever call her roommate "onee-chan").
"I really think you should grow your hair out." Maya said after a moment. "Then I could style it for you."
"Isn't playing with your own hair enough sempai?" Amaya asked as she unconsciously ran a hand over her own raven colored hair. Maya's hair ran half way down her back when she left it loose, but normally she tied it up in a tasteful style to keep it out of her way. Amaya's hair on the other hand was cut to less than half an inch in length then gelled into hundreds of tiny spikes. It was a cute style and practical, but it wouldn't win her any beauty contests like Maya's would. Amaya didn't like stand out. She was of mixed blood and a natural outcast. Even though her hair was dark, it still had an almost blue-violet sheen to it in the sunlight like a bird's. It was just another friendly reminder that she did not belong there.
"Let's hurry and get home," Maya suggested suddenly breaking the girl's concentration. "I have a Paranormal Club meeting that I don't want to miss. We're talking about poltergeists today." Maya said it so cheerfully that her companion found it hard not to laugh. Instead the younger girl rolled her eyes.
"You know that's a bunch of nonsense, right?" Amaya told her sternly, "There are no such things as ghosts."
"Not true, not true." Maya shook her head. "I've seen stuff that would freak you out. I have a bit of a sixth sense myself, you know."
"You never let me forget." Amaya replied as a slight smile played on her lips. "I've never seen anything even remotely resembling a ghost so I don't believe in them," She stopped talking because Maya clearly wasn't listening. Instead Amaya saw the strangest expression on her sempai's face, but the look wasn't directed at her.
Maya set her grocery bags down on the sidewalk next to Amaya to guard and gingerly walked across the street to tap a stranger on the shoulder. Amaya couldn't hear what they were saying so she settled for reading their expressions. The look on the stranger's face as he turned around was one of surprised recognition. It was the expression of meeting someone they haven't seen in a while and probably had never expected to see again. Maya looked pleased and then excited at seeing an old friend.
Amaya picked up as many of the bags she could and thoroughly scrutinized the gentleman. He didn't look like anyone Maya would normally associate with. Maya's looks and sense of style made her popular with the in-crowd and her odd interests gave her a few weird friends, but this beauty didn't quite fit the usual mold. Amaya had a 96% accuracy when it came to guessing a person's gender and she knew this guy was probably mistaken for a girl a lot.
Amaya tilted her head. She knew that long hair tied into a ponytail, deep colored eyes, and a pretty (almost feminine) face weren't a guy's usual description. There was, however, something else about him that bugged her and yet Amaya couldn't quite put a finger on it. He appeared to be the same age as her sempai and was dressed like a white collar worker, a perfectly acceptable occupation (if a tad boring in Amaya's opinion), but there was something else that seemed out of place that was nagging at Amaya's instincts. Within a flash the girl decided it was about time that she found out what that "something" was.
"Shuuichi?" A voiced asked uncertainly. "Shuuichi Minamino-kun?" Kurama turned and looked down at a girl with long brown hair and a very familiar shy smile.
"Maya Kitajima?" He asked shocked by the coincidence.
"It is you!" Maya laughed. "Oh my gosh, it's been forever since Jr. High and...your hair." She quickly smothered her giggles. "It looks good, though. You went to Meio Private Academy, right? I always knew you'd end up a doctor or something because you were top of the class."
"Yes, it has been a while." Kurama agreed and then asked, "How have you been?" He wasn't sure what to make of her since it had been so long. They had been classmates way back when, but after realizing his presence had dramatically increased Maya's sixth sense, thus putting her in mortal danger, Kurama avoided the girl completely to ensure her safety. Kurama had also erased Maya's memory of the little crush she had on him at the time.
"Good, I'm good." Maya replied cheerfully. "I got a scholarship to that Catholic college." This also surprised Kurama, but she continued, "They had a degree plan I wanted and the classes are so much easier than a normal Japanese university." Maya smiled at the last part.
"Kitajima-sempai! What am I supposed to do with these bags?" A girl across the street demanded impatiently. Her sharp blue eyes were looking over at Maya and Kurama with a look of clear suspicion. In her hands were a haul of food and goodies that couldn't possibly be handled by one person alone, but somehow she managed to keep everything from tearing and tumbling to the ground.
"Right, sorry!" Maya called back and hurried to pick up the bags she had abandoned. Kurama followed her over.
"Shuuichi-kun, this is my roommate, Amaya Barudo." Maya introduced her little companion. "Isn't she cute? You know, I always wanted a little sister." To Amaya she said, "Amaya-chan, this is an old schoolmate of mine, Shuuichi Minamino."
"Hello, it's nice to meet you, Barudo-chan." Kurama greeted politely.
"Hello, Minamino-san." Amaya returned the greeting. "My name is actually pronounced 'Bard', but most people say it at Barudo." Amaya struged relaxed her scrutiny a little and instead tried to focus on hiding her accent. It was at times like this that she was painfully aware of the westerner markers in her face and peculiarities in her voice. She drew invisible lines in the air so that he could visualize the spelling. She wrote, "Bard" in its natural form and then traced the appropriate katakana. Then she traced "Amaya" meaning "night rain". Both held deep and hidden meanings to their owner.
Kurama signaled that he understood and Maya broke in with a quick apology. "I wish we could catch up a little more," She said. "But Amaya-chan and I are in a little bit of a hurry."
Amaya rolled her eyes rolled her eyes. Yes they were in a hurry, but only because her sempai kept stopping every five minutes and then rushing off again.
"Do you have a cell phone yet, Shuuichi-kun?" Maya asked. "We could exchange numbers and meet up later for tea or coffee sometime."
"Yes, I would like that." Kurama replied although he wasn't completely sure it was a good idea. "I've been working at my stepfather's company for a while now, but I'm sure I could find some time off." Amaya on the other hand was watching the exchange with interest again as if she could sense his uncertainty. Kurama paid her no mind.
"Sure, we'll set the date later." Maya smiled once they had exchanged numbers. "Ready to go Amaya-chan? Bye, Shuuichi-kun."
"Waiting on you, sempai." Amaya said to her and waved politely at Kurama. "Goodbye, Minamino-san, it was nice meeting you." She then quickly turned away so he wouldn't notice the secretive smile blooming on her lips. The girl had figured out what the "it" that had been nagging at her was.
