AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been loving a lot of the feedback I've been getting for this story. I especially want to thank LordOftheWest for reviewing every chapter! XD I do have to say though, I won't be able to update probably until January 15 or 20. I'm out of school for the next two weeks pretty much since it's Christmas break and I don't have internet access at home yet. So that's why I'm updating so early. However, when I get back I would have typed several chapters ahead anyway so I guess it's sorta a good thing, neh?
Years passed and Youko began to finally fill out his thin, lanky frame. His arms became sinewy and muscled, his eyes becoming colder. His face became an unreadable mask except to those who knew him. As I watched him grow, I had a feeling in my gut about him. At first I couldn't pinpoint it, thinking I was being a fool for suspecting my kit. Then one day as I was trailing after him to a raid, it hit me.
Fear.
I feared the very kitsune I had saved as a kit. Youko was no longer a child nor a teenager, but a fully fledged silver kitsune. At first I had hoped maybe he would change his mind about thieving and take up being a priest of Inari like his parents had been. There were very few silver kitsune by then, and I suspected they had become an endangered species. Whenever I brought up him giving up the thieving life and settling down, Youko would sneer at me and call me a fool. Saying I had grown old and soft, that he had better things to do then to raise a litter.
At the time I thought it was just him being a young male. Of course he would feel restless, want to explore his boundaries in the world. I had been the same way at his age, so I stopped bringing it up. Somewhere along the way he had taken over planning for our small raids. I hadn't even realized he had taken charge until he had drawn a map in a dirt and told me to memorize a secret passage he had found into a mansion. I was impressed, and I told him how proud of him I was. Youko just smirked, saying nothing. Somehow, I think he looked down on me now. Didn't see me nearly as smart and amazing as he had when he was younger.
I dealt with it, telling myself not to crowd him. It was unusual for demons to stay close to their parents after adulthood. Hell, most were abandoned in their early teenage years. I had protected and looked after Youko until he told me to stop doing it and look after my own back. On the other hand, I wasn't really his parent. Still, since I had cared for him all this time I think Youko tolerated my presence. By then to him I think I was nothing more than a troublesome friend he happened to be fond off despite my uselessness.
"Kuronue, I'm going after them." Youko said to me one day. We had settled down near the edge of a forest far from any villages. I looked up at Youko, having just gotten a fire started and dinner roasting on a spit. I narrowed my eyes, drawing my wings close around me. Nights were colder now fall had come, soon to follow after that winter.
"Who? We have enough money to last us for a while. We really don't need to steal anything else, to do that would be drawing attention to ourselves. Let's take a break, you've been working me like a dog ever since we got here." I complained, referring to having crossed over King's territory. We were currently in Raizen's territory at the time, and his men were known to patrol the surrounding area for troublemakers like us. We had a successful theft in Mukuro's territory, but now I wanted to keep my head low until things settled down.
Youko shot me a glare, reaching up and drawing a seed from his hair. I watched as the seed grew into a rose for him to twirl through his fingers as he thought. By then I'd gotten used to seeing him use his Rose Whip as a signature move. The way he handled it wasn't unlike my Scythe Whips, except I couldn't summon mine on a moment's notice. I also found it a bit disconcerting to see Youko make seemingly harmless plants into deadly weapons and creatures.
"You're being lazy if you think we should settle for what we have. And I'm not talking about going on a raid, I'm seeking revenge." Youko said, his voice so hard I had to rethink what he said. I tilted my hat up to get a better look at him from under the rim.
"Revenge for what? You're a pretty easy going guy, I don't think you've made very many enemies yet. Unless you count the squirrel you tried to kill then yeah, you're pretty much screwed." I told him, and Youko just shot me an annoyed glare. By the way, squirrels are nasty little bitches.
"Strange you should say such a thing to me." Youko said, inspecting his rose as he talked. I blinked up at him, confused at his tone of voice. He sounded…displeased with me but I couldn't think of why. Yes, he did on occasion get a sneer on his face and turn his back to me. Storming off to another location until he calmed down enough to talk to me sanely.
"Youko, if I did something to piss you off then just spit out. I'm not one of those types who picks up on subtle hints." I snapped at him. I wasn't in a very mood at the moment, being tired from staying up during the day. I'm a bat demon, for Enma's sake! Yes, while I do have to mix up my schedule to suit my needs even I need to catch proper shut eye after a while.
Youko didn't even give me a cold smirk. His golden eyes just zeroed in on me at what I said. I happened to be gazing back at him with my purple ones, and I was glad I did. The next moment I'd thrown myself back just as the ground where I'd been sitting at exploded. Dirt and rocks went flying in every direction as I tucked my wings in and let myself roll with my momentum.
When I finally stopped and turned back to look, I saw Youko coming at me with his Rose Whip drawn. I wondered if the kitsune had temporarily lost his mind as I instinctively spread my wings, bending my knees before jumping straight into a star filled sky.
My wings dragged in the still night air as I forced them to bear me aloft. Under me Youko sent his up, and I felt a sharp pain in my ankle as the whip wrapped around it. Thorns immediately dug into my skin, anchoring me to Youko. I screeched, desperately spreading my wings and forcing them down as hard as I could to rise out of the situation.
Youko held fast to his rose whip as I flailed in the air, screeching as he dragged me down. By now my mind was reeling as I tried to make sense of what was going on. Why had Youko suddenly turned his weapon on me? Was he going to kill me? Had I been right all along and he no longer saw me as a necessary partner?
Eventually, I fell silent and allowed myself to be pulled to the ground. My earlier flight and panic was mostly due to the shock of him attacking me. Youko had never turned his weapon on me, and in all honesty I am no fighter. If I can escape with little to no injuries, I will take my chance and fly away. Better to live to fight another day rather than risk one's life trying to act noble.
Once I was on the ground, Youko gave me a warning look that promised worse punishment if I tried to escape. I stayed put, watching as he bent down and began tending to the wound he had just caused. The thorns had dug in deep, and I'd be limping for a few days. The Youko tended to the wound, you would have thought someone else had injured me for all the tender care he gave it. I watched him, suspicious now as he finally bandaged the wound and sat back to inspect his work.
"Youko…why did you attack me?" I asked him quietly, barely raising my voice. By this time Youko was a fully fledged A Class demon. Much more powerful, cunning, and intelligent then I could ever hope to be. Youko ran a clawed hand through his hair, one of his golden eyes focusing on me from the corner of his eye. I ground my teeth to keep from bolting again, half of me wishing to smack him like he was a kid again. Old habits die hard, I must say.
"You lied to me. I have always trusted you the most out of anyone else in my life, and you fucking lied to me, Kuro! When were you planning on telling me my parents had been murdered?" Youko said, a chilling fire building behind his eyes. I visibly shivered, staring up at him as he gazed down at me. Youko still had his Rose Whip drawn and at the ready. It hung at his side, part of it wrapped around his arm so it could double as a sword if he wished. I was sitting down, slumped in the grass only a yard away from him. I flicked the brim of my hat up, raising my head to meet him in the eye.
"Like I'm gonna tell a kid the truth." I told him, and waited to see what he would do. Youko remained silent, those uncanny eyes still staring down at me. After a moment Youko turned his head away and seemed to be gazing at a horizon I couldn't see. He even crossed his arms as he mulled over my reply. Unlike my darling kitsune, I'm nothing more than a simpleton. Really, I'm not a complex guy.
"You still should have told me the truth when I came of age, Kuronue. You had no right to keep such important information from me. It's my right to know such things." Youko said quietly, and I felt relieved he sounded calmer.
"Youko…information like that…who the hell told you?" I asked him. We were thieves, we didn't really have time to settle down in an area long enough to make friends. Minus the time at the cave, Youko and I were always on the move. On the lookout for competing thieves, and a few times I'd even forced him to skip areas where bandits had made their home base. Each time we'd screamed and argued until he'd thrown up his hands in frustration and agreed, if only to shut me up.
"Who told me doesn't matter. The fact is you betrayed me, and I can't let such a thing go unpunished." Youko said, and the way he said it had me surging to my feet. He talked down to me as if I was a dog who had misbehaved. When it came to Youko, I put up with a lot of disrespect because I loved him. This, though, acting as if he owned me I would not tolerate.
"Betrayed you? You're the one who attacked me first, shit face! And another thing, you were eight freakin years old! No one in their right mind is going to tell an eight year old their parents were sacrificed at the shrine of the goddess they served! The only reason I lied to you was to protect you. I didn't want you feeling guilty because both of them died." I snarled at him, but Youko only listened to me with a detached disinterest. As if I was nothing more than a brightly colored butterfly he found pretty. Frustrated, I said something else I hoped nipped him in the rear before I began kicking dirt forcibly on the fire.
I was getting dirt all over the meat that had been meant to be our dinner, but I didn't care. We could both starve for all I cared. Deep down, I was hurt by what he had said. I never knew such a simple word, "betray", could make me wish I could admit to the act. Even though what he said wasn't true, I still felt guilt over the whole affair. Even to mention such a thing set me on edge and stressed me out. From the corner of my eye I watched Youko, secretly daring him to pick a fight with me.
Instead, the damn fox just watched me kicking dirt onto the campfire until there was nothing left but embers. I was breathing hard, my good ankle aching from kicking clods of dirt with rocks in them. The other one beginning to burn from the thorns digging in. It never occurred to me to turn on Youko and attack him myself. We were so close, or I thought we were, that we had to be above such petty problems. I knew, wished, hoped we were better as partners than the rest of the demon teams in Makai. Yeah, okay, two isn't really a team, but we sure as hell managed to rock people's world once we were working together.
"You're such a child." Youko said an hour later after we'd both settled down among the trees, me hanging upside down with my wings wrapped around me in a makeshift cocoon. I slid one wing to the side to look at him through a slit, not even bothering to glare I felt so tired.
"It's my natural charm, Youko. You should know that by now." I replied, sliding my wing back. I heard him let out a heavy sigh, shifting in his tree to make himself more comfortable. After a few minutes of silence he spoke up again.
"Don't act as if we're friends, brat. I passed your level of expertise a long time ago. We shouldn't even still be in each other's presence, it's that shameful." Youko said, and this time I actually drew one whole wing away to stare at him.
I imagined how I looked to him. Hanging upside, my hair nearly touching the ground. I had magicked my clothes to stay on me when I slept upside down. My hat was the only thing I hadn't spelled to stay on me when I slept, that I shoved into my belt for safekeeping until morning. Now I fingered it, as if it were a shield that could protect from the self-destructive thoughts forming in my mind.
Questioning my choices of having stuck with the fox this long. If I really was nothing more than a foolish, idiotic bat demon who blindly followed a clearly more powerful being. Who would I be, without Youko by my side? Who had I been before I'd saved Youko?
Quite honestly, I had all but forgotten my past self before Youko. I truly didn't like him anymore. Having a huge responsibility dumped into your lap forces you to realign your priorities. Things that you once thought you couldn't live without become trivial. Suddenly, all your personal appointments can wait till the next day for you complete them.
I had, through all my heart and soul, absolutely loved and adored Youko. I cherished him and held him close to me so I wouldn't lose him. Made sure he never starved, always sneaking half of my meal onto his plate when he wasn't looking. Wrapping my wings around him to keep him warm, playing with him, and consoling him if he ever felt lonely. I had, without meaning too, completely dedicated myself to his happiness.
Me, the selfish thief, who enjoyed spending a night's worth of raids at the brothel. Always broke, never thinking about the future. Just waiting until I could steal enough money to go out and have some fun.
I had never betrayed Youko.
Youko betrayed me.