Part 29: The Pot and the Kettle
A/N: YAOI ALERT. –Waits while the pertinent parties flee in terror- okay, all, it's the long-awaited Kurama chapter. All I'm gonna tell you is no, the pairing isn't Ani-Kurama, although I've toyed with the idea. Moving on..
Late afternoon was, admittedly, Aniki Toguro's favorite time of day. The shadows were long, giving him places to hide; the light was low, perfect for his demon eyes. Those who went about their business went slowly, drunk on the setting sun. It was the perfect hunting time.
Apparently, he wasn't he only one who thought so.
He felt the Fox's aura long before he reached the vacant lot four buildings down from his apartment complex; Kurama was making no effort to hide himself. Ani paused at the opening in the lot's fence, casting a glance to the side. Kurama was standing, apparently contemplating the grass beneath his feet, or perhaps his brand of shampoo. It was difficult to tell.
"Fancy meeting you here." Ani said smoothly. A breeze slid about them both, ruffling their hair, its edges still warm from the sun. Kurama glanced up, and his emerald eyes were hard and cold.
"Got your message." Ani continued, turning fully and meandering into the lot. "Don't you ever use anything besides roses?"
Kurama thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "No."
Ani sighed. This conversation wasn't looking as though it was going to budge unless…
"Look," he informed the fox demon, "If you want to go all passive-aggressive and attempt to plan my imminent demise by standing there looking pretty you go right ahead, but I have things to do and unless you want to come home and watch me water plants and sort through shipping paperwork WHILE planning my imminent demise, you'd better start talking."
Kurama blinked, then chuckled. "You've been spending too much time with Kuwabara, Toguro." He said. "That's just the sort of thing I'd expect him to say."
"Yes, well, Kuwabara's got a natural talent at slitting throats, it turns out. Talk."
Kurama's brow rose. "Demanding little twit, aren't you?" he asked. "Very well. I'll talk. Stay away from Kuwabara."
This time it was Ani's turn to raise a brow. "Now that's a little sudden. Why on earth would you ask me to do that?"
"Because you're a dangerous homicidal psychopath."
Aniki couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Kurama took a step forward.
"I fail to see what's so amusing about this." He said evenly.
Aniki continued to chuckle. "Irony is lost on the great Yoko?" he said. "The great…homicidal..generally considered insane..Yoko Kurama?"
Kurama bit his lip. "That life is far behind me now." He said curtly. "I have left it."
Aniki straightened up. "And what makes you think I'm the same as I was?" he asked curiously. "You've seen Kuwabara. You've talked to him. He isn't lacking in vital organs nor is he in pieces, so I ask you, what makes you think I'm the same?"
Aniki walked further into the lot. "What can you feel from here, Kurama?" he asked suddenly.
The fox demon blinked. "Yusuke and Kuwabara are at Keiko's house." He said. "Hiei is prowling the Makai's edges. Mitarai is four streets over. Why?"
Aniki cracked his neck. "In the house behind us there is a man having a nightmare." The demon said. "Two streets back there is a child plagued by minor spirits. There is a woman in my apartment building who worries constantly that her husband is cheating on her." He smiled. "All fodder. All perfect prey. I could hunt them all and still be in time for work. And yet here I am, sitting and talking with you. I wish the child no harm; the woman has never done me ill. I have never met the man. Tell me.." Here Aniki took several more steps forward, until there was little more than a foot between he and Kurama, "What would you have done, had you met Kazuma Kuwabara as Yoko?"
Kurama didn't answer.
"It's arrogance on your part and forgetfulness on mine that you would think I hadn't changed, Kurama." Toguro said. "Three years is a long time in Ningenkai. What is it you want to hear? That I will not harm him? He's not been harmed. That I will not betray him? It's never come up. That I renounce my friendship with him so you feel better about pinning me for something you once were and neither of us are?" The demon's eyes hardened. "Certainly not."
Kurama contemplated the other demon for a while, then said, "How long were you thinking about this?"
Aniki shrugged. "Long enough."
"I suppose Yusuke has already spoken with you."
"You're getting slow, Fox. Came to work yesterday."
"I thought it best to wait."
"Disappointed he didn't kill me?"
"A little."
"You failed first."
"Don't remind me." This was said with such vehemence that Aniki almost put a comforting hand on the fox's shoulder- almost, because this wasn't Kuwabara, and the thousands of seeds stored in that red hair would likely wrap him in something as equally unpleasant as a sinning tree.
"If it makes you feel any better," Ani pointed out, "I still count it as a win in your favor. Eventually we'll have to have a rematch. Of course we should probably be in Makai when that happens…" he trailed off, having noticed something very strange.
Kurama's hands were clenched, in a way that was definitively NOT normal, not for his august majesty of cooled jets. The fox demon seemed to be sweating. His lip was still a bit red from where he had bitten it, and he was looking everywhere but AT Ani. And Aniki suddenly remembered where he had seen these reactions before.
"So it's true? You really don't..?"
"No. Dear Lord, Brother, the woman has the temperament of a rabid badger. I wish you all the luck in the world. You're going to need it."
"She's not that bad!"
"Oh you just wait. Me, in love with Genkai. And pigs will fly."
"Oh you have GOT to be joking me." Aniki said. "HONESTLY."
Kurama looked up, startled. "What-?" he asked. Aniki sighed. "You know I've always wanted to shatter your precious composure, but I don't think this is what I had in mind." Ani cocked his head to the side. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"
There were precious few people in the world who could attest to ever seeing Kurama, in human or kitsune form, blush like a girl and begin stuttering, and it was a moment Aniki knew he would hold dear until the day he finally died.
"You ARE." Ani said. "How fascinating."
Kurama choked. Ani shook his head. "You've got to work on that 'cool and collected' thing you had going, Fox." He said. "It seems you've lost the knack." He stepped back. "No, I'm not in love with Kuwabara. Good lord, we'd kill one another." He turned, headed for the road. "Of course," he called over his shoulder, "if he's willing to go bar-hopping with a freaky-fingered psycho, who's to say he won't sleep with a homicidal kitsune?"
And before Kurama could reply he was gone, heading back down the road, whistling.
A/N: Right. So. Kurama. I like Kurama, even though he sometimes drives me up a wall. I deemed it necessary to embarrass him because 1) he's Kurama and deserves to be embarrassed, and 2) as much as I like Kurama I like Ani more, and I needed to get back at the Fox for sticking my Ani in a nasty tree. The pairing of Kuwabara-Kurama appeals to me (then again, I pair Kuwabara with almost anyone) and I think it's cute. That being said, any "OMG lyke they totally wouldn't DO that!" reviews should be emailed, not posted, so I can deal with your stupidity personally. Up next on Rest In Pieces: The indescribable Hiei!
