Chapter 3: Confrontations

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Cursing low in his throat again, the kitsune raced through the forest of Makai following the scent of a specific former ferry girl.

"You do know that she's brought you trouble more than any other youkai would have brought you..."

"I don't care... she's worth it, Hiei..."

"Hnnn..." Stopping for a while, he watched as the kitsune take in the air around them, trying to capture the ferry girl's scent. Kurama had come to him almost two months ago and told him of their current dilemma. He had merely rolled his eyes at the fox and said that the youkai would not even dare do anything if he only knew that the kitsune still retains his youkai side... only to almost knock his head on the walls when the kitsune said that Kentaro had no idea of his youkai blood.

"Baka kitsune." rolling his eyes, he removed the cloth on his head he revealed his jagan so that they would be able to locate the ferry girl faster. Eyes snapping in surprise, he looked worriedly at the kitsune and coughed low in his throat. "I found them." he said in a low voice

The red-haired turned his amber tinged eyes towards him. "Where is she?"

"She's being held on the northern border... with your ningen family."

At his words, Kurama's eyes widened even further and hurried towards the said territory.

After Kentaro's stunt in their school, Kurama had raced off into Makai and asked the help of Hiei in trying to locate Botan, stopping before the border, he looked down on the koorime who stopped by his side, both looked at one another before the kitsune jumped down into the lair of Kurusake.

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Blinking against the soft afternoon light, Botan groaned and sat up from the hard ground. Amethyst orbs blinked in confusion when she saw the vast cavern that she was in and gasped in surprise when she saw Minamino Shiori slumped unconsciously beside her husband. Hurrying towards them, Botan slowly took Suuichi-chan's shoulders and shook him lightly. "Suuichi-chan... mezamere..." she whispered lightly. Her blood running cold at the thought of Kurama's family being included in this fiasco. When Shuichi stirred, Shiori and Hatanaka also moved and opened their eyes.

When Shiori opened her eyes, she was met with amethyst orbs misty with unshed tears. She moaned slightly and held her head while the blue haired girl assisted her.

"Daijobou ka... Shiori-san?"

"Where are we?" came the slightly gruff answer from her husband.

"Anou..." looking around her, she merely bit her lower lip, Botan knew exactly where they were. The question is... where exactly in Makai were they?

"Where's onii-chan?"

Botan's eyes quickly scanned her surroundings and sighed briefly in relief, but part of her knew that the kitsune would come after them no matter what and she also knew that things were going to be much more difficult since his family was with her.

"You needn't look so worried, koi..."

All heads snapped up at the sound of the low voice behind them. Moving before Kurama's family protectively, Botan glared at the youkai standing before them. Wearing a traditional gi and hakama, Kentaro stood before them, casually leaning on the cavern wall.

"What do you want, Kentaro-kun?"

He smiled lazily. "One word. Revenge."

Amethyst orbs widened. "What do you intend to do with Shuuichi's family?"

He sauntered lazily up to the ferry girl kneeled protectively before Shiori while the other two men glared at him. "I will let them know exactly what kind of demon their son was." he whispered to her face as he cradled her chin with the tip of his finger.

"Kisama!" wrenching her head away, Botan released her hold on Shiori's shoulder and tried to slap Kentaro only to have it captured in his firm grip.

Smirking, his grip tightened. "Watch it, koi... I don't want to hurt you..."

Before Botan could respond, Hatanaka grabbed the ferry girl and pushed her towards Shiori.

"Leave her alone!" Hatanaka barked.

"She's already taken!"

Kentaro straightened and looked uninterestedly at the ningens and smirked dangerously. "I am going to make your so-called brother suffer before I kill him." he answered coldly.

"You can try..." Botan whispered as she watched his retreating back.

"Botan-chan... what's going on?"

Amethyst orbs looked back worriedly at Kurama's mother and bit her lip in contemplation. Would she tell his parents now… or later? She sighed. "Gomen ne… Shiori-san… demo, things are very much complicated…"

"Why don't you try?" came Hatanaka's gruff voice

The former ferry girl looked at Hatanaka, down to Suuichi's worried eyes and to Shiori's own worried filled ones.

She sighed again. "Kentaro-kun was my… ex… ummm… ex-fiancee. I didn't want to marry him because what I felt for his was the same with what I have felt with my own little brother."

"If he was your fiancée, then how the heck did he become one if you didn't feel anything for him at all?" came Suuichi's slightly curious voice.

At her soft voice, Shiori's eyes widened in realization. "It was an arranged marriage… was it not?"

Botan merely nodded her head and continued. "I didn't know what love was until I met Shuuichi… he was the only person that I've fell in love with… now and forever."

Shiori smiled and took the young girl's hand in hers, "Daijobou… everything's going to be alright… Shuuichi won't let anything happen to you… to any of us…"

The ferry girl merely nodded her head and looked up to the cavern walls. When Kurama comes… then the truth will come out… all of it… I hope you can understand and still accept him for who he really is… Shiori-san…

Blood-red eyes observed the small discussion down on the small cavern and moved back into the shadows. Moving swiftly to avoid being noticed, the slight figure reappeared after a while in a thick forest where another youkai was waiting for him.

"I've found her…"

"Mmmm… so the rumors were true?"

He young youkai nodded and looked at his friend for nearly two centuries. Her wavy chocolate tresses blew gently with the wind as her own deep amber eyes narrowed at the huge cavern before them. "I'm sure Setsuna-san and Tasuki-san would be glad if they only knew that she was reborn."

"Hnnn… 'kaa-san and 'tou-san would have loved to see her…"

"So, what are we going to do right now? Kentaro has been fully driven by his need for revenge… there's no telling what he'll do…"

"We need to get nee-san out of there… including those ningens that she's with right now…" came the low response.

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Kurama dropped down on the cavern opening and looked around. Even with his ningen form, his senses were still sharp as ever. Entering his rival's lair, he gritted his teeth as her heard Kentaro's dark chuckle echo throughout the cave, coming around different twists and turns and soon found himself in the main cavern with Kentaro standing before him.

"Hnnn… the great Kurama Youko… welcome to my humble abode… this has been my lair ever since I became a youkai…" came the loud greeting, its sarcasm evident.

"Where is she?"

At a wave of his arm, a part of the wall vanished and soon he found himself staring at wide amethyst orbs.

"Shuuichi!!"

"Onii-san!!"

Shiori watched her son worriedly and gasped when she saw the look that he has at the moment. She had never seen her son look this way before. His face was an expressionless mask and his eyes hinted of nothing at all… and cold… this was the first time that she has seen her son look this cold and distant,

As Kurama turned his attention back to the youkai before him, his sharp senses noticed two more youki entering the vicinity. Who could that be? Definitely not Hiei… his eyes never left Kentaro even as he stood up, smirking dangerously. "Now… I wonder if your parents knew exactly who and what you are… or should I say were before…?"

"Leave them out of this."

Kentaro chuckled dangerously. "Why should I?"

Looking at the ningens on the side he smirked at them. "Do you know… that your son here, was a full blooded youkai before he turned into a ningen?"

"What are you talking about?!" yelled Hatanaka.

"This... is what I'm talking about…" at his words, he then turned into a youkai in front of all of them. Dark brown eyes turned into blood-red, hands turned into claws and his lean body became slightly taller and on his face were ancient markings and his ears turned pointed.

At his transformation, Shiori stifled a gasp while Suuichi grabbed his mother's hand in shock. "W-what… are you?" came her shaky question.

"I… am a youkai…" he grinned dangerously at them. "So, koi, what do you think of my demon form? Like it? After all, you do have a penchant for full blooded demons… what do you think of my real form, koi?"

The blue haired girl merely glared at him. "I hate you…" she whispered

Kentaro strived to look injured before he chuckled malevolently. "Daijobou… after I kill this ningen.. we'll have a long time to be together… and by that I would have reclaimed your affections…"

Tears formed in her eyes. "Never!"

"Never? Let's see about that." At his words he moved his clawed hand forward and sharp spikes shot from his outstretched arms towards the red haired teen standing in the middle of the room.

"Shuuichi!!" came the chorus of shouts.

Kurama merely jumped gracefully and avoided the sharp spikes. Landing a few feet from Kentaro, he watched the youkai as he launched a series of attacks at the youkai incarnate. Botan watched as her beloved easily avoided the spikes that Kentaro was throwing at him, clearly irritating the other youkai. Her pride for her lover turned into horror when a spike managed to catch him on his right arm.

Gasping out loud, Botan wanted to bolt to him, but the look in his eyes stopped her. It was the eyes of her beloved youko, cold and deadly.

Kurama gritted his teeth as Kentaro's last spike nicked his shoulders. Gracefully avoiding the next string of attacks, he winced when two spike managed to catch him. One spike lodged in his left thigh, the other went through his shoulder blades. Breathing deeply, he watched as Kentaro chuckled maliciously, the youkai enjoying the sight of blood dripping from his wounds. At the corner off his eyes, he could see his mother crying, begging for Kentaro to stop, Suuichi glaring at Kentaro as well as his step-father. Botan, on the other hand looked at him with tears streaming down her beautiful face. Please… fight him… the soundless words moving from her lips. He looked back at Kentaro. If there was something that he hated the most… it was the sight of his beloved in tears.

As he stood up, Kentaro surprised him by appearing right before him and launching a swipe at his chest, throwing him backwards, blood spurting from the wounds created by his claws.

"Kurama!!!" Botan screamed as the kitsune flew down on the floor. She sensed the surprised looks of Shuuichi's family on her. Clenching her fists, she sobbed uncontrollably now. She didn't want any of this to continue… "Please stop!! Stop!!! You'll kill him!" She sobbed out loud.

Kentaro merely looked at the beautiful maiden, his blood-red eyes showing his lust for blood. "That's the point." Was his only response before he took another swipe at Kurama who was struggling to stand up. He chuckled and enjoyed the sight and scent of blood around him as well as Botan's screams echoing throughout the cavern.

Clenching his fist, standing before the groaning and coughing ningen, he smirked dangerously and brought his claw down on the young man's head. Howling in pain, we watched as a thorny pink rose was imbedded on his clawed hand, stopping the swipe in mid-motion. Turning blood red eyes to the woman on the other side, he disappeared from Kurama's side to appear before the maiden glaring at him. Ripping the rose from his palm, ignoring as the thorns ripped his flesh. He crushed the rose in his hands before growling and taking a backhanded swipe at the woman's delicate face, sending her sprawling on the cold ground.

Botan watched as Kurama continued to accept the battering from Kentaro, her hands clenching into fists. She shook her head wildly, desperate to do anything to stop the youkai from hurting her beloved. Eyes snapping open and immediately took a pink rose from her azure tresses and hurled it at the youkai before he brought down his clawed hand into the kitsune's bowed head. She glared back at Kentaro as he looked at her when the rose hit its mark, only to be surprised when he vanished before the kitsune only to appear before her. Unable to utter any sound at the swiftness of his hand as he backhanded her, Botan groaned. She could hear Shiori's scream, as well as Hatanaka and Suiichi's, wincing in pain as Kentaro hauled her up, her feet dangling inches from the floor. She looked up defiantly up at the youkai's face.

Kentaro watched the young woman before him. Anger and hatred mingling in her beautiful amethyst eyes. He growled. Before he could take another swipe at her, he gasped and dropped the ferry girl down on the floor and looked down on his arm. A thorny vine was wrapped around the arm that held ferry girl by the hair. Following the direction of the vine, his eyes widened when he saw exactly where the vine came from.

Blood-red eyes met emerald tinged amber.

"Get your hands off her." Came the soft response before Kurama moved his hand slightly, carrying the demon with the whip and throwing him to a wall.

Kentaro blinked and looked at the young man before him. Impossible… The youkai incarnate stood up straight, completely oblivious of his wounds, a thorny whip on his right hand. The glimmer in his eyes made a trickle of unease crawl down on his back. "Masaka… you're a ningen… you couldn't… you can't…"

At his words, Kurama merely raised a brow in response. It was time to reveal the truth, his emerald eyes twinkled dangerously. "Yes. I did turn into a ningen… but I still have full faculties of my memories… and my powers…" at his words, he lifted his arms again. "Rose whip!"

Kentaro hurried to move out of the thorny vine's path only to have his leg snagged by the edge of the vine. He howled in pain when the kitsune yanked the whip mercilessly, gripping his leg in pain, he glared at the kitsune and raised his arms and threw spikes at him only to have them deflected by his whip. Realizing his predicament, he saw a flurry of movement from the corner of his eye. Eyeing the blue haired maiden, he vanished from his position only to reappear before the young woman. Yanking her by his side, he grinned maliciously at the kitsune before him.

"Now I have the upper hand." But instead of the kitsune backing down, it seems that his actions have angered the fox demon thoroughly. From emerald green, Kurama's eyes melted into golden amber, and before they knew it, a huge mist surrounded the young ningen. When the mist abated, a myriad of reactions could be seen throughout the cavern. Shiori's eyes widened along with her husband and son when they saw exactly who was now standing in place of their son, Botan grinned when she saw her beloved standing all in his youkai form while Kentaro's own demon eyes widened.

Kurama Youko glared at the youkai holding his mate by the throat. Snapping his whip ready, the youko narrowed his eyes at the former youkairenji. Before any of them could move, Botan shook her head letting some plant seeds fall to the ground. Surprising Kentaro when the seeds shot up to grab his limbs, the young ferry girl managed to duck his flailing arm but still managed to get scratched at her side. Moaning in pain as she collapsed on the hard ground, Botan's eyes widened when Kentaro let out a piercing whistle, bringing out a myriad youkai hiding in the shadows surrounding the kitsune. She winced as she tried to move away from Kentaro's range, all the while conscious of the fact that the kitsune was now thoroughly annihilating all the demons that was surrounding him.

As she got up the strength to run, she screamed for the second time when a spike lodged into her left thigh, throwing her down on the cold hard ground. Groaning in pain, she clutched her leg as she bit her lip, lifting her head, she glared at Kentaro through her tears, smiling maliciously down at her, his eyes glittering with hatred focused solely on her, Kentaro flexed his claws and brought it down on her.

Amber eyes widened when he heard Botan's high pitched scream, as he circled his whip around him to kill the last of the youkai, he knew for a fact that he would not have the time to reach her… but he that doesn't mean that he wouldn't try. Running full speed towards the two, the kitsune stopped abruptly when a sword protruded from the youkai's chest and a spear passed through his body coming from the opposite way. As Kentaro dropped down on his knees, his clawed hand clutching the spear, his eyes lifted to be met by angry blood red orbs.

Hiei watched as the youkai dropped down on his knees before the ferry girl, his sword jutting out from his chest. He watched as a young youkai stood before the ferry girl protectively. His blood red eyes glittering dangerously while his short dark hair ruffled by the wind.

Botan gaped at the youkai standing before her, when he turned his, his ruby red eyes fixed on her own amethyst orbs that brought tears to her eyes with recognition. Before she could speak, she gasped when she saw Kurama looming behind the young demon, his back to them. Getting a seed from his silver toned tresses, all eyes widened when they saw the kitsune feed the seed with his youki, revealing a very dangerous and very deadly youkai plant.

As the plant imbedded itself on the ground, Hiei moved back quickly and stood beside the ferry where she was being held up by the new comer. His arms holding her waist, then another youkai, a female demon, appeared to help her up to her feet.

"Let's move it!" yelled the new female demon. Kurama's family hurried to follow the fire demon outside the cavern while the two other youkai supported the young maiden, leaving the thoroughly pissed off youko inside with his prey. All of them successfully walked out of the cavern, but not without hearing the screams of pain that echoed throughout the cave and out into the soft evening light.

When Shiori looked at the two new demons, they were surprised at the contented and satisfied looks on their faces as the continuous screams pain echoes from the cave. Gasping in pain, Botan's blue hair fell down on her back in disarray as she watched the two demons beside her, blinking back happy tears, she snapped her head up when she sensed her beloved coming out from the cavern, his normally pristine white robes drenched with blood.

Kurama watched his parent's surprised glances and towards the two new demons supporting his mate. Stopping before them, he lifted the deity in his arms and nodded at them.

The two demons looked at each other before they looked at the others around them. "Follow us." At the young male demon's words, the rest looked at one another in suspicion but when the blue haired maided tugged at the silver haired youko that was holding her and nodded in assent, the youko nodded to the others as well and followed the two demons as they entered the forest deep into the night.

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