In case people don't get this: this is a KURAMA is SAM story. As in YYH. With elements of Bleach, though I may not delve too much into that except in passing.
Everything would later be blamed on the fact that Mary won a vacation to Japan shortly after finding out she was pregnant with her second child. She planned to name it after her father, Samuel.
It wasn't like John cared overly much, so long as the name wasn't too embarrassing.
The couple had high hopes that this overdue vacation would be just the thing to restore the love they had when they first met. Dean was just glad they were bringing him along for the trip.
Okay, so there was the minor issue of the language barrier. But sticking to the tourist sections of Kyoto seemed to help, and Dean loved hearing about the old samurai stories.
So much so that he convinced his parents to let him get a practice sword to play with. Not a metal one, but one made of wood easily replaced.
Between his former Hunter mother and his soldier father, neither parent thought anything other than encouraging their son to learn how to use a sword. At the very least it would teach him how to use a long knife in a fight without making a fool of himself. So they bought several replacements.
However on the last night of their vacation, Mary went out on a walk in a nearby park to clear her head while her husband watched over Dean. It wasn't like anything could harm her, they were in one of the most guarded areas in Kyoto and not even the Yakuza would bother harassing a foreign woman. Especially since she stuck to the well-lit areas of the park.
So imagine her surprise when she found a bleeding, almost dead kitsune in the bushes. It was clear it would soon be dead...there was too much blood around it for anything else to happen. But the pitiful look coupled with the scant knowledge of Japanese monsters had Mary bending down. She wouldn't bother trying to save it, she was a hunter after all, but even the most feral of creatures deserves some company when it's about to die.
The fox didn't try to bite her, only whined as she gently stroked it's silky fur. It was almost a shame for such a magnificent creature was about to die.
When the light finally vanished from it's eyes, Mary debated on what to do.
So she went and broke into a gardener's shed and borrowed a shovel. It took her twenty minutes to bury the kitsune and hide it with the bush she had temporarily uprooted. Youkai or not, it at least deserved a proper burial.
What she didn't know was that the fox had bonded it's soul with the still developing one inside her womb. Because of the nature of the soul, and the bloodline, the two would eventually merge and become one...just with a few extra perks.
Dean's interest in swords didn't diminish like it might have for children his age.
For one this, his mom knew a lot about swords. Or at least knives. She promised he might even get a real knife for his birthday if he could prove he could be responsible with it! After all, he was going to be a big brother soon!
Dean took the fact he was going to be the oldest very seriously. His mom, who had to raise him for quite a bit because his dad was avoiding her for some stupid reason for a full year, had talked a lot about honor and responsibility. His mom was waaay cooler than his friends moms. They always took the sharp pointy things (like the adult scissors) away before he could use them and insisted he use the dumb kiddy ones. And his mom knew how to fight meaner than his dad did!
He knew his job was to protect Sammy (even if it was a girl he'd still call them Sammy) when his parents weren't available. That's what big brothers were for!
So when his baby brother was born, Dean didn't feel an iota of jealousy towards him. All he felt in his heart was love and the knowledge that he would protect his baby brother even if it meant his life. Because that's what a big brother does, why they were born first.
To protect the little brothers and sisters that came after them.
Six months later...
Dean ran out of the house, clutching his baby brother and shielding Sam with his body, like the way their mom showed him how to shield himself when he was doing a tumble off the swing set or blocking from a hit. He kept Sam in the curve of his body, not letting the fire reach him, and running carefully so as not to trip.
It was only when he reached outside where the rapidly approaching fire men were arriving to put out the blaze that he realized Sam had vomited or burped something on his shirt. Dean wasn't angry.
Sam was safe, and that was all that mattered, even if his shirt was starting to smell funny.
Unnoticed by Dean, in that mess was a few droplets of black blood. The same blood which, if given to a human, would awaken any dormant psychic abilities.
Blood which would have marked Sam, had his body not rejected it and removed it before it reached his heart.
That yellow-eyed demon should have known that a youkai wouldn't allow something as impure and tainted as DEMON'S blood to taint their body, even if they had forcibly reincarnated in order to survive.
He could live with being a hanyou, a half-demon, if it meant thwarting any plans the Christian demons had in mind for him. Makai demons and Pit demons didn't get along, and never would. They were simply too similar, yet at the same time too different. Especially since the Makai residents viewed 'pit demons' as weak because they had to possess weak ningen in order to get anything done in the human world. Youkai didn't have that restriction, outside of the barrier which kept the stronger ones in the Makai.
So while the hanyou gurgled and allowed Dean to fuss over him while their father had to answer painful questions regarding what happened and why his wife was now dead, inside the baby's mind something began to think.
That demon had been far too powerful and too cunning to have been there at random. Which meant it had either been sent or was part of something bigger and far more irritating. Something involving fake psychics with demon's blood. Either way, there were only a few options for someone like John Winchester, who had an up-close and personal brush with a demon that killed his wife.
Inside the body of Sam, Yoko Kurama sighed with annoyance. It was a Japanese hunter who had gotten a lucky shot and killed him the first time. John was a paranoid bastard, meaning he'd probably be worse and more attentive if anything unusual happened. And the last thing a hanyou needed was to explain to a paranoid hunter of the supernatural that his youngest son had been 'possessed' before he was even born, especially if John became one of those hunters who thought all in-human beings were evil, and therefor had to be killed on sight.
This was almost guaranteed to become annoying in the long run.
Dean, age twelve, Sam age seven...
Dean had been dreading this moment. Ever since their mom had died and their dad became a hunter, he knew this would happen. He just wished he didn't have to watch as Sammy's innocence about the truth of the world was destroyed...on Christmas no less.
"Dean? Are monsters real?" asked Sammy, his big brown eyes watering with tears. It was the ultimate puppy dog look, one that made even Uncle Bobby cave and let them have an extra cookie.
Dean winced.
"Yeah Sammy. Monsters are real. And dad hunts them."
"...So it's not because of those social service people that we have to move all the time?"
Dean could have face-planted.
About a year or so ago, in between cases, their dad had gotten a nasty visit from the social services. Apparently one of the teachers or the parents called about the fact that Sam and Dean didn't have a proper 'home' and moved around a lot, even if they did attend school and their dad always kept their most recent transcripts on hand so he could enroll them for a few months or so.
Needless to say they left town pretty damn quick after that woman came by, and spent a few weeks with Uncle Bobby under his name.
After that their dad made sure Sam and Dean knew to keep their traps shut about where they were staying while their dad hunted and to never, ever answer the door unless it was Uncle Bobby or their dad.
And if the people looked official, to go to a prearranged spot until their dad came to get them or to call Uncle Bobby.
Dean didn't know what would happen if they were taken by Social Services, but he had a sneaking suspicion they'd try to separate him from his brother. And he'd sooner fight a demon with his wooden sword (a remnant of the training their mom gave him before she died) than let that happen.
"No, but they didn't help things."
Sam seemed to take the fact monsters were real better than Dean could hope.
Then he threw Dean for a loop.
"What about the man with the yellow eyes?"
Dean stared at him.
"What man?"
Sam looked uncomfortable, but said it anyway.
"I keep having this weird dream. I'm laying down and there's this creepy man with yellow eyes standing over me. Then a woman comes in, and checks on me, but she leaves. When she comes back the man does something to her and she ends up on the ceiling. Then I remember fire, and being carried and not feeling too good... then I usually wake up and almost forget it."
Dean knew his dad kept a picture of their mother in his wallet. It was from their family vacation in Japan. Fortunately he had left it behind by accident.
"Is this the woman?"
"That's her!" said Sam. He was always smarter and brighter than Dean, but this was unreal.
"Sam...this is our mom. You remember the night the demon killed mom?"
Sam paused, and Dean knew he was either trying to lie or come up with an answer.
"I remember flashes of it. I remember the man dropped something in my mouth but I didn't like it at all so I threw up to get it out. I also remember seeing him watching us while the fire men made sure we weren't hurt," said Sam.
"Dropped something in your mouth?"
Sam made a face.
"It was slimy and taste bad. I think that's why I got it out so fast," said Sam.
Dean, deciding in the spirit of all big brothers everywhere determined to mess with their younger siblings because they could, hid a smirk.
"You know, I still owe you for the mess you made of my shirt..."
Sam had three-point-five seconds before Dean tackled him and immediately started to tickle the hell out of his baby brother. There was no escape and absolutely no mercy, even as Sam cried tears from laughing so hard.
All in all, it was a great way to kill the tension in the room, which until then had been so thick you could cut it with a knife.
While Sam pretended to sleep, and Dean snuck out to get presents (even if he had to steal them), he thought back on how much his life had changed since he bonded with the tiny soul of Sam Winchester to the point they were one and the same.
Pros: he now had an older brother, one who loved and cared for him as if he was the only important thing in his life. He had an 'Uncle' who definitely suspected something but had no proof (other than the fact "Sam" was not a traditional demon, shapeshifter or Trickster spirit...well, outside of his pranks). He was being taught to hunt and allowed to read any obscure book his heart desired, and his 'family' didn't discourage his thieving ways outside of chastising him if he was caught. To date, that had yet to happen though he had learned to despise social workers.
Cons: his "Father" was a hunter, of the same sort that had killed him in the first place. Thankfully to this point he had no reason to suspect Sam was anything other than human, and he had high hopes to at least desensitize Dean so that he wouldn't automatically think all monsters were 'evil' like their father. His power level was barely 'D' rank, and he knew without a doubt he would have to deal with demons eventually if that yellow-eyed idiot was any indication.
If Sam/Kurama had any idea of the well-laid plans he had screwed up simply by bonding with the human's soul, he would have laughed. Long, hard and evilly enough to be mistaken for a pit demon. Or a Trickster, but it really depended on what hunter you asked.
Needless to say when he ran into a certain arch angel in hiding he would get along famously with the cowardly Gabriel. Right after he stopped laughing at the fact that the plans for the Apocalypse were derailed by a kitsune known for harassing rich snobs and robbing them blind for the hell of it.
Sam waited until Dean fell asleep, having robbed a house for presents and a cheap tree to try and make it up to his brother for the fact their dad wasn't there. Sam didn't care for John. He did care about Dean and Bobby though.
Which was why, as soon as Dean was actually asleep, Sam promptly slipped off the creaky bed, under the covers and cuddled with Dean. The twelve year old probably wouldn't even realize it until morning that he had used his brother as a teddy bear. It was likely the first time either of them had slept without any nightmares.
Sam opened the presents...and felt openly amused. Dean flushed, his ears turning a bright red in embarrassment and mortification.
The presents he had stolen were for a girl. A six-year-old obsessed with Barbie from the looks of it.
It didn't take long for Sam's snickers to turn into outright laughter at his brother's embarrassment. If this was what having family that actually gave a damn about you was like, then it was great!
"Shut up!" said Dean, half-shoving his brother. Sam barely budged.
"It never occurred to you to check the pictures that were almost certainly placed or hanging on the wall?" snickered Sam.
"Didn't want to get caught," said Dean, still annoyed. At least Sam wasn't upset anymore about the nasty revelation from last night.
Dean not only wore the necklace Sam gave him, he refused to ever take it off. Sam was the better thief of the three, but he also rarely gave away things without meaning.
He was also not oblivious to the fact that if it came down to their dad or Dean, Sam wouldn't hesitate to protect his brother first.
He just wished he knew what the odd obsession with plants was about. Medicinal plants were one thing, but Sam had an odd fascination with roses and flowers.
John came back, noticed the 'presents', or at least some of the wrapping Dean hadn't been quick enough to get rid of, and said nothing. Though if the boys woke up to find a single present on their beds in the next town as an apology for forgetting about Christmas, they said nothing.
Dean got a new weapon to play with (an authentic tanto, if his studies were right) and Sam...well, John might not be the best father but he wasn't entirely oblivious to Sam's love for foxes. The youngest Winchester never let the stuffed fox out of his grasp since he got it, using it to keep the nightmares at bay even if he snuck into Dean's bed at night when they got too bad.
It might seem strange to some...whether it was Dean's fascination with Japanese swords and learning how to use them in memory of his mom, or Sam's love of gardening and foxes...but it was how the brothers worked.
