The Blood Red Rose

Chapter Ten: Follow the Bread Crumbs Pt.1

Kurama walked into his house late that evening, dead tired. The lights were off, meaning his family was asleep. He quietly tip toed up the stairs, hands grasping the banister. His door opened and closed without a sound. He fell onto his mattress face first, groaning, and kicked off his shoes. He hadn't slept well the previous night, skipped school, and here he was now, tired and sleep wouldn't come. Turning over angrily, he mulled over the day.

Suzuka and Rando had been found. Yusuke and Kuwabara had no problem with them. Being in jail gave them no chance to train in the hopes of defeating the two. The Dark Tournament allowed them to gain power far more than those two demons even dreamed of. Hiei was in hot pursuit of the mastermind. Luckily, the fire demon managed to get a good lead by threatening a few demons here and there. But Kurama found no trace of Karasu anywhere. That frustrated and worried him terribly.

It was past one. It was Friday. He shot up. The project was due today. He looked around nervously. Maybe Maya had already done it? It was funny how one school project completely distracted him from a huge problem.

A rapping on the window caught the fox demon's attention. It was a bright, bubbly girl with blue hair and pink eyes wearing a pink kimono. He opened the window and she flew in on an oar. It disappeared underneath her as she gracefully landed.

"Hello, Botan, any news about Karasu?" asked Kurama.

"No, but the analysis of the potion just came in," replied Botan, holding a folder.

"That's great," said Kurama, brightening up. "So, what does it say?"

"Hold on. I haven't even seen it yet." She tore the seal, opening it. Taking deep breath, she read aloud: "'The potion contains unstable elements that reverse the aging process. These elements, when mixed with a demon, cause a few side affects raging from mild to severe. Some gain power so great that it can rip them apart from the inside out. Others, if lucky, will only develop a slight rash.'"

Kurama winced. Botan chuckled and said, "Don't worry, that doesn't apply to you. They were kind enough to note that. Here, let me skip everything that's not important." She looked down and continued reading. "'If a half demon or another type of hybrid comes in contact with these elements, it will cause full blown transformations and a spike in power during and near the full moon. It's called the werewolf effect.'"

Kurama blinked, soaking it all in. "Does that mean that I will be forced to transform into Yoko at the night of the full moon?" It dawned on him then. His fever was his body's way of responding to the changes taking place.

Botan nodded. "There's more. 'In the case of a soul merger,' like yours Kurama, 'the person in question will develop a separation of conscience from their other self.'"

Do you understand now?

Kurama's eyes widened. "That voice in my head is Yoko? But I'm Yoko."

For someone so smart, you caught on pretty late.

"Before you were. By drinking that potion, you created a separation from your demon self and your human self. We think you might actually be able to have conversations with a voice in your head."

I like this girl. She's much prettier than that Maya. Kiss her.

"No!" yelled Kurama. He panicked and placed his hand on his mouth and strained to hear if his family had woken up. Botan looked at him oddly, wondering what on earth Yoko had said.

Kurama sat down on his bed. His head was in hands. "Great, so I'll be the only person in the world who won't be insane by talking to myself."

You should sound happier. Not many people have a devilishy handsome fox living inside them.

"Is there any way to cure it?" asked Kurama, clinging to any shred of hope.

Botan shook her head. "Once it's done, it can't be reversed."

"I'll kill that Suzuki." (1)

"Look on the bright side. If you can find Karasu tomorrow night, you'll have no trouble defeating him," said Botan tentatively.

Kurama looked at her, eyes shining gold. "Never mention his name in my presence."

Botan gulped. Kurama was showing more and more of his fox side every time they met. She stood frozen in her spot, wondering how far this would go. The sudden knocking on the front door snapped them both out of their thoughts.

"Well, I've got to go now. Souls can't ferry themselves," said the grim reaper quickly as the red head left the room. She jumped out the window and disappeared into the night sky.

Kurama met his step father half way across the hall. He was dressed in a navy blue robe and his appearance was disheveled and confused. He didn't even question why Kurama was still in his day clothes. Kurama told him to go back to bed. He complied and the red head jogged down stairs and opened the door. A distressed Mrs. Kitajima was there, eyes red and puffy from crying. There were dark circles under her eyes where the tears had washed away the make up.

"What's wrong?" asked Kurama, trying to keep relatively calm.

"It's Maya. She's gone missing. I was hoping she was here."

"Missing? What do you mean?"

"She came home early today from this massive headache. She was asleep in her room for the entire day. When I went to check up on her, she was gone. We've been in this panic. We don't know where she is anymore." She rubbed her neck. Tears streamed down her face.

Fear took over Kurama's body. His worst nightmare was coming true. "You go home and get some rest. I'll look for her."

"Oh, I couldn't ask that of you."

"No, no, it's no trouble at all. She's my friend. Go home. We'll find her."

She hestitated. "Thank you."

Kurama went back upstairs to grab a few necessary seeds. Karasu had her. He was sure. He met up with his father once again and quickly explained the situation to him. He volunteered to help, but Kurama declined. He said he would look first thing in the morning.

While in his room, he had another guest drop by his window. It was round with a huge eyeball in the center. With its bat wings, it struggled to stay afloat. He recognized this immediately as one of Karasu's bombs.

The center split open and it began talking with a raspy voice. "Message from master," it said. It changed to Karasu's voice. "Hello, Kurama, I'm sure you've heard of my spectacular comeback."

Kurama scowled. He shut the door and cast a barrier around them so no one else would hear. It, er, Karasu continued. "I have something that you hold dear, and I know you want her back. You see, that's the trouble with humans. The only thing they're useful for is getting kidnapped. Alas, I digress; I want to play a game with you, Kurama. Have you heard of Hansel and Gretal and their bread crumbs? I'm sure you have. It's a common child's story. Well, I'll be putting a little twist to it. I left you a so called trail of bread crumbs that will lead you to the girl."

Kurama was just itching to wrap his hands around Karasu's neck and kill him. Every word that came out of his mouth, well, the bomb's mouth made him angrier and angrier. He was so tempted to repeat the word choices of Yoko, but he controlled himself. He bit his lip. Things just became complicated.

"This trail of bread crumbs is more like a trail of bombs. There are five locations in total. The first four locations contain a bomb and hold a place of value in your heart. The last one is where the girl and I will be. After deactivating a bomb, you will receive a clue to the next location. There will be a time limit on each bomb, which will be told to you right after the clue. Now, are you ready to begin the game?"

The red head did not answer. It was pointless since the little demon bomb continued. "The first clue is this: What is always coming but never arrives?" It laughed. "My death!" This made Kurama even angrier. Pulling out a rose from the back of his neck, he transformed it to his famous Rose Whip. It circled around his feet. Blood stained the whip from where the thorns of the rose had pierced his palm.

"Can't take a joke I see. Hmph, the real clue is this: Large places such as these have always been targets for bombings. You have until three a.m. to deactivate the bomb and receive the next clue. Good-"

Kurama sliced it in half. Its remains turned to ash on his carpet floor. It was 1:30. He had only an hour and a half until he found the bomb.

Large places such as these have always been targets for bombings, thought Kurama.

/Remember, the first four locations involve something personal./

"Personal," murmured Kurama. It was like a puzzle piece coming together. My step father! He has a company, and it's gotten pretty large lately. Companies are targets for bombings, well, large buildings are.

/Good work, red. I knew you were smart. Deactivating the bomb should be no problem. It's getting there on time that might put a kink in the plans./

Kurama stood in front of his father's company. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. His breathing slowly returned to normal. He ran a forty minute driving commute in a 50 minute run. This was one of the few times he thanked Yoko and his demon energy. Now, the building had 30 floors. Where would Karasu have hid a bomb in there? He had a little more than 30 minutes to find out.

/Red, give me control of your body for awhile. I'll be able to find it./

Kurama hesitated. The last time Yoko took control of his body, things didn't go as planned. But if they were going to succeed, he needed to trust his other half. He slowly let go of his consciousness as Yoko gained control. He stayed in their human body, but there were slight changes. His green eyes narrowed, containing specks of gold. His movements became more agile and graceful, if that was even possible. Also, his usual long red hair had streaks of silver.

Yoko used the alleyway to get to the back of the building. Hidden behind a dumpster was a door that led to the basement. Using a special plant, the locked door opened and they were inside. The air was stale and musty. He pulled a seed from behind his hair and let it grow on his left hand. Its roots wrapped around his hand and clung firmly to his forearm. The stem grew about five inches and the bulb drooped. The bulb began glowing. Yoko used it to illuminate the way.

He spent a few extra seconds looking around the basement carefully. It was the perfect location for a bomb. It would be able to topple the building with ease. His ears strained to hear any sort of ticking. Yoko frowned. There was nothing. Karasu planned ahead.

/What about the elevator shaft?/ asked Kurama.

Nice thinking, Red. But what about your father's office?

/That's on the top floor./

Right, elevator shaft first, then office.

The basement door was locked from the inside, making Yoko's job a bit quicker. The plant on his head retracted into its seed. He flattened his body against the wall as he avoided security cameras.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness pretty quickly. Footsteps clicked against the marble floor of the lobby. He was trapped. On his left were the fast approaching footsteps. On his right was the lobby entrance with a security guard seated at the front desk. It was time for the quick thinking that Yoko Kurama was known for.

He pulled a seed from his hair and it grew into a dazzling red flower the size of his palm. The flower bloomed and Yoko held his breath. A huge cloud of pollen emerged. He used his other hand to fan the pollen. He gave the flower more energy for another batch of pollen. He heard the thud of a body falling to the ground. The guard on his left had fallen asleep. He guard behind the front desk also entered the land of dreams. His head rested against the chair.

Yoko pushed him aside carefully. He silently thanked whoever was out there that this particular overweight guard was on a rolling chair. His eyes scanned the various points of the building with cameras on the special television.

He grabbed the man's wrist. It was 2:39. He slipped the man's gold watch and placed it in his pocket. A little something for the trouble, Yoko told his human counterpart.

The elevator was easily found. Taking another seed, he placed it in between the two doors. Vines grew at an unbelievably fast rate and pulled open the elevator door. Yoko looked up and down the shaft. The actual elevator was high above his head, around floor 10. He grabbed a few of the thick wires and ropes that helped the elevator move and began climbing. He turned every few times to get a full view of the shaft. There was no sign of tampering whatsoever.

He reached the elevator rather soon. He opened up the doors below it and entered floor 9. He took the stairs and emerged two floors above. Once again, he reentered the shaft. There was nothing on the top of the elevator so he kept on climbing. He reached the 12th floor. This floor was dedicated entirely to Hatanaka's office along with a secretary's desk outside it.

He ducked his head behind the desk and rooted through the drawers. Nothing interesting, except a bracelet with an engraving which showed that this secretary had wasted twenty years of her life here. Yoko scowled. The engraving made the bracelet practically worthless.

The office was heavily guarded with a complex lock. There was also a security camera right inside facing the door. Once Yoko had unlocked the door, he opened it a crack and flicked a seed inside. He held his breath as he opened the door. He sighed in relief. The seed had hit the lens of the camera and its vines engulfed it.

Yoko narrowed his eyes. His demon energy allowed him to see the special lasers that aligned the floor. He waltzed in with relative ease, and there was the bomb on the desk. He rolled his eyes. Of course Karasu would pick the top floor. It would create very nice fireworks for him to enjoy if Yoko failed.

It was 2:54. Yoko quickly got to work. There was a potted cactus on the desk. His hand waved over it, making the quills on it much longer and sturdier. He plucked one out. He slipped it in the crack of the bomb's lid. The lid popped open. Inside was a network of wires. The wires weren't colorful either like on the television. Karasu had made them all black, which made it harder to see in the darkness of the room. He regrew the glowing bulb. Its roots clung to the outer surface of the bomb.

Yoko shifted through the wires with the quill. Sweat collected at his brow. Time was running out. He used the vines of another plant to tie the wires that were just there to confuse him. With those out of the way, there were about ten remaining wires that could cause the explosion. The ticking on the bomb only added to the stress Yoko was feeling.

Two minutes remained. Kurama was getting anxious. He had stayed silent long enough. /Which is it?/

Yoko bit his lip. Pick a number between 1 and 10, Red.

/What?/

Just do it!

/Fine, 8./

Yoko lifted the 8th wire. He closed his eyes, praying he made the correct choice. He sliced it in half with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

(1)Suzuki is the name of the person that gave him the potion. (Just in case there are any more name confusions.)

CrazyDreamerGirl:To all my readers in America, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all liked this chapter. It was completely Kurama centric to balance out the last one that was almost entirely about Maya. I'm also hoping that my idea was original. -sweatdrop- Thank you superkawaiifoxy, LoveAnime18, Dark ring of hope, Sora Sotara, Arthuria, Pure Shikon, Dragoon-Yue, and hawkman714 for reviewing.