Chapter Nine
Anise and Kurama exited out of a portal that led into a wide, empty field. She spun around, laughing. "I forgot how blue the sky was!"
"It's been a while since you came to human world, hasn't it?" Kurama asked, watching her. He tucked a stray strand of red hair behind his ear.
She collapsed onto the ground, landing on the tail she still wasn't accustomed to having. "Ouch! Yes," she exclaimed, rubbing the poor appendage and stroking out the fur. "How do you get used to this thing? I can barely sit down without squishing it."
"It's different when you're born with it," he explained, sitting down next to her. "Of course, in this form, I hardly have to worry about having a tail. Sometimes I find myself overcompensating. Once you've trained for a while, you'll learn how to retract the physical fox traits."
She smiled at that. "And how do you get used to all the noise?" she asked. "These ears can pick up sounds I've never heard before."
Kurama nodded. "I understand what you mean." He reached up and scratched behind an ear, smiling when he heard her sigh of pleasure. "And being a white fox on top of that makes things a little more difficult for you."
"Uh huh…" she mumbled, not really hearing him, relishing the feeling.
He stopped his movements, reaching down and grasping a few strands of her black hair, watching them slip between his fingers as he pulled away. "This contrast is unheard of in demon world, you know."
Anise looked away, embarrassed that she had so thoroughly enjoyed his attentions. "Um… what do you mean?"
"If you had been born a fox demon, your hair, tail, and ear color would all be the same."
"Kind of how yours are all silver, right?" she asked, turning back to him, but not looking at his face.
"That's right." He stood then, holding out a hand to help her up.
She took it, pulling. "Kurama, why did we come here? You know I can't really be seen by humans…" Looking down at her feet, her long black bangs covered her face.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a couple of seeds. "There are no humans around for miles," he assured her. "Anise, we came here to try out the two plants you showed me from your book. Although you don't need soil, water, or light to grow plants when using your energy, you should still have a good idea of what these plants are like normally before you try manipulating them."
She gasped when Kurama grabbed her hand, tugging her to a sunny area at the top of a hill. "They will take months to grow to maturity, though," she said, sitting on her knees at the top of the hill.
Kurama crouched down next to her. "I can help that along." He pushed a finger into the soft soil, dropping a seed into it then covering it up. "This first seed is for the Orange Jewelweed," he explained.
She watched him close his eyes, a slight gust of wind picking up his red-pink hair. The ground beneath her became warm suddenly, and she realized that Kurama was using his energy to grow the seed. It sprouted from the ground and took shape, growing leaves and buds. It stopped at about 3 feet tall with tiny, spotted orange blossoms and long, oblong seed capsules.
Kurama's eyes opened. "I didn't manipulate this plant to do anything more than grow rapidly. If you found one in the wild, it would look just like this," he explained, standing. "When you brush a mature seed pod, it will burst open, flinging the seeds a reasonable distance."
She stood up as well, admiring the few tiny flowers.
Kurama stroked a seed pod, and she watched as the capsule curled back on itself, shooting the seeds a couple of feet into the air before they landed. "It's not very impressive by itself, but by manipulating the structure, you can turn it into a weapon." Kurama grabbed a seed from the ground and sprouted it from his hand. The green tendrils wrapped around his arm and torso, anchoring it. The seed pod was elongated and as thick as a rifle. He held his arm out, pointing at a tree a few dozen feet away.
The pod shot a seed out so quickly that Anise didn't even know Kurama had moved until she heard the tree split and fall to the ground. "Wow!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands in admiration.
Kurama recalled the plant into the seed again, pocketing it and turning toward the girl. He grabbed her hand gently and placed a different seed into her palm, curling her fingers around it and holding the fist. "You will learn to do the same with this seed, the Mexican Petunia. While the Jewelweed was pretty powerful, the Petunia can naturally shoot with about 3 times the power."
She nodded, holding the tiny seed carefully. When she opened her hand, she saw the black speck was the size of a dulled pencil tip. "It's hard to believe that something so tiny can turn into something so… deadly." She gulped, looking at the remains of the tree. "Why do I have to learn this stuff, anyway? I don't want to harm anyone."
"Of course you don't." Kurama pulled the communicator out of his pocket. "But your powers make you very desirable. You are the most powerful creature that has even been brought into the three worlds. If a demon was able to control you, imagine what might happen. You've already managed to shake the three worlds with your powers." He watched her look down at her feet. "You are extremely vulnerable to manipulation since you have no knowledge of resisting mind control."
"So why don't you teach me about that?" she asked quietly.
He placed a hand on her chin, pulling her face up to meet his gaze. "Anise, you cannot even separate your emotions from your powers at this point. If you can't control your own emotions, how do you expect to be able to control your own mind?"
"I don't know," she admitted.
Kurama smiled at her. "It will come with time and training."
She pulled back from him. "Kurama, how can I possibly learn all of this? I have seven other powers to learn about you're done teaching me!" She turned away from him, holding herself.
"Koenma is going out of his way to find teachers that will suit you," he assured her. "Learning about your powers is not going to be easy, but I promise to do my best to help you."
A portal appeared a few feet in front of her, and she turned back to him, frowning. "Do we have to go back already?"
He nodded, ushering her through. "For now, Hiei has to turn your fox powers back on so that you can start learning."
