Why do we lose ourselves in memories instead of living in our present? Because once upon a time, they were the happiest place we knew. – Ranata Suziki

Chapter Nineteen: Down the Memory Lane

Kurama's POV

There was a distinct scent in the air that day. I couldn't say what it was exactly, but it reminded me of camellias and honey and something not quite like anything my nose caught before.

I wasn't particularly heading anywhere. My mind wasn't set on a certain destination, and there was no task or goal in the near future for me. I was a wanderer for the time being, and it didn't suit me one bit.

I would have to confess I was feeling very bored. Lately, it felt like nothing stirred my interest and no new interesting items to steal presented themselves. Perhaps, my departure from Yomi and some of my other associates was a bit too soon, and I would have found more entertainment there. But as quickly as such thoughts came across my mind, I chased them away. It was overdue for me to leave him and the others.

The cry was unexpected. But not for the reason one might think. I heard human cries before. I killed quite a few who cried out in pain or for mercy. It was not a new sound nor particularly pleasing. Killing humans was very easy and rather dull. Yokai were more skilled and interesting opponents when it came to it, so personally, I preferred fighting my own kind if it came to it. There was no entertainment or joy for me in killing humans.

Based on the sound, I could deduce it was a female maybe a child. I wasn't sure why did I stop in track upon hearing it, or why did what I did next, but at one point I found myself standing near the scene of a little human child being tied up by several men who clearly had no good intentions with her.

Killing them was easy. They had fallen down like flies. All humans were incredibly fragile, almost too fragile for this world.

I stepped over their dead and useless bodies and stopped before the little child.

She had been crying before, and there were still some tears left in her dark eyes and rolling down her red cheeks, but she was sound now looking up at me surprised, unafraid a way only a child could.

'Greed and gluttony are such terrible things,' I told the child, as I realized the men were thieves as well. They probably took the girl to sell her but decided to have some fun with her on their own.

I kneeled down toward her. She had long dark hair as they night and very deep dark eyes that would perhaps one-day lure man into them. She was young. Too young for whose savages intended with her, but I could tell one day, she would grow into a very stunning woman. A woman worth of seducing.

'He was right though, you are a pretty child,' I told her as I recalled what else I heard apart from her cry.

I cut her loose easily and noticed the marks on her wrists from the ropes, marks of her captivation. If I pressed my nails harder against her soft and delicate skin she would bleed in an instant. What surprised me was that her skin seemed heated yet I could smell no illness from her. My body always ran a bit colder than the bodies of my human companions for lonely nights. Yet I couldn't recall ever a human to feel this warm without suffering from some disease.

Strange little girl

'People always want to harm such beauty when they should cherish it,' I told her and looked up at her again. Her eyes were as dark as the night sky spreading with the absence of the sun.

I took the liberty of reaching out and taking a few of her loose long hair that carefully bringing to my lips pressing a kiss upon it feeling it was my right since I saved the child.

'Oi!' she surprised me again as she called out, 'You have to ask for such familiarities,' she told me with sudden confidence I didn't expect from her given what almost happened and how desperate were her cries before.

I couldn't help a small smirk to appear over my face, a gift to the strange girl's bravery as I found it amusing.

A chuckle escaped my lips before I asked, 'Is that so? How does one ask for a kiss on such beautiful hair?'

'I don't know…but nicely?' she asked now looking a bit embarrassed and unsure now. Her skin turned a lovely shade of red around her cheeks.

'How old are you, child?' I asked her looking over her soft and pretty face. She wasn't the first pretty child or female I ever encountered not even close, but there was something very haunting about the girl that forced me to almost gravitate toward her.

'Seven,' she said loudly with a cheerfulness only a child had, and I wondered if she truly didn't feel even the slightest of worry about a yokai being with her.

'Hm,' I watched her carefully, 'Tell me, child, do you have a name?'

Her smile started out soft like a flower blooming in the spring after a cruel cold winter, and I felt foolish for thinking it was as pretty as such blooming flower.

'Akane.'

DDDDDDDDDDDDDD

My time with the child was short for the both of us. She was a child that, against all odds and no personal gain for the first time in my long life, I decided to escort her home back to her village. It was a decision, I couldn't explain. There was no logic behind it or anything which would make it simple and understandable. I was never known to be irrational, but I couldn't explain with facts and reason why did I feel this urge to protect the human child and make sure she would find her way back home safely.

The journey wasn't long. The men who kidnapped the girl only had her for a couple of weeks. And even if we were walking mostly on the human territory, much to my relief we never met any yokai from my life who would question our strange companionship.

Akane was a curious child as many are. She often asked me questions about everything trying to understand the world we lived in and what it meant. It never seemed to bother her that I was a yokai as she only saw me as Yoko, her friend who saved her. Even if we spoke about other yokai and creatures she seemed to be in denial about the horrible things they were capable of. She would tell me that she knew that some yokai ate people and that her uncle was eaten many years ago, and then talk about her mother's hair or a bird we heard on our way.

'You need to be careful, little one,' I warned her early on our path as once again she expressed her careless side toward some potential danger, 'Not all yokai wish to be friends to little lost girls.'

Akane offered me a grin before she replied continuing her short steps, 'I know, but you're not like any other yokai.'

I pressed my finger against my lips as a gesture of silence, 'Don't tell anyone. It will be our secret.'

She giggled at that. The girl had the most strangely alluring laugh. Never before had I thought a laugh was something pleasant to hear especially a human's laughter. In many ways, our journey was like a small vacation as we lived in somewhat of blissful denial or dream. A bored yokai and a little girl wandering the land. It was almost like a bedtime story someone would tell their young one to lure them to sleep. It was just a dream and all dreams were always cut short by waking up to the harsh reality.

DDDDDDDDDDD

Ran's POV

Waiting was something I was never good at. Everyone knew that. I remembered hating the long waiting times in the airports for my plane when I used to visit dad or return home. My Master often bitched about me being too reckless during fights always attacking too soon. Kurama shot me countless of annoyed looks whenever I started to hit my pen against the textbook while we were waiting for a test to start. Keiko and Ken used to be from time to time annoyed with how impatient Yusuke and I could be whenever we waited for a line for a movie, or to buy something. Patience and waiting weren't my strong suit.

So you could imagine waiting for a certain flower to bloom, and cure all the yokai in this village was pure torture for me. Add the fact that I was the only one awake in the middle of a night with Kurama ill as well and my anxiety skyrocketed to unbelievable heights.

I didn't like it.

I couldn't explain why, but I had this twisted feeling in my stomach which forced me to stay up and alerted all the time. At first, I thought it was because there were so many yokai around even if defenseless, but the more time passed the least I thought it was true. It was more like I was expecting something bad to happen. Something dark which tortured my nerves and stomach and made it impossible to relax no matter how much I rationally tried to convince myself that I could.

Something wicked this way comes…

Kurama let out a soft mumble near my ear, and I casually glanced at him. His head was still against my shoulder dead to the world around him and my worries. I never saw him like this. Relax and defenseless. However, his presence and the fade red fox glow smoothened my worries for a moment before I looked away.

Maybe it was just that no one was awake, and it was dark and this was the first time I came close to something supernatural since Ken but …

The distant sound of a branch being snapped was all of the sudden louder than thunder in the silence of the village and the sleeping yokai in it.

I shifted my gaze to the direction where I thought the sound came from.

Great, alone in the woods with something…

Carefully, I moved away from Kurama making sure to let him lay down on the wooden floor under us so he wouldn't slide off the wall and hit his head or something. (See, what a good and thoughtful friend I was?)

'What-?' he whispered or something close to it, but I brushed his hair in a quick calming move probably hoping to assure myself more than him, 'Nothing, rest, I will just go check it out quickly.'

He mumbled something which almost sounded like careful but maybe that was just my mind trying to ease the worry inside my stomach.

Quickly, I rose to my feet and went to check the entrance to the village.

I didn't like this. The twisting feeling inside me was growing the more I walked. Something… something was up. I couldn't explain it, but I felt it, and I didn't like it at all. What was going on? Why did I feel this way?

I tried to look around to see if I would spot something out of the ordinary hoping it was just another animal. Really hoping it was just another animal.

It wasn't fear. Well, it was, but not the kind you might think. I was worried and afraid, but not for myself. Even if it had been a while since I practiced and used my abilities, I still had them, and I was a good fighter (good enough if you listened to my Master), so I knew I could take care of myself. But the yokai, Kurama especially, were in no condition to do the same. And the fact that I had so many innocent beings to protect made me extra worried. Probably more than I had been in a very long time. So even if I wasn't a coward who would run away from a fight, I really wished there wasn't one.

I was almost by the first two houses that could be seen when entering the village when I spotted the blue glows with my abilities and the light of the flashlight with my own eyes before I ducked to the side away from its view.

'Quiet down, you asshole,' hissed whispered a male voice.

There was some noise like someone shoved another person before another male voice came, 'Don't tell me what to do. Besides who cares? They're all knocked out.'

I heard a sound of something like a can being thrown against a rock, 'Doesn't mean you should wake them up, dumbass.'

'Maybe we should go back. This…this doesn't seem like a good idea,' came a third voice.

I carefully peeked out from the corner. There were five humans glow most of who didn't have high spiritual awareness.

'Come on, don't you want to see your girlfriend, loverboy?' asked the first one and another one let out a terribly loud laugh.

I had no idea what was going on, but I doubted it was anything good. Kurama said the yokai stayed away from humans which was confirmed by the fact that Karin never even entered it, and she was a relative to one of the inhabitants. So why were there five humans walking toward it as they knew right away where it was?

I didn't like it at all.

'Hey!' I called out stepping into the light from their flashlight away. Again, I was not good at waiting and being patient.

There was a momentary pause in their steps. They probably were startled and shocked by my presence.

'Well, who do we have here?' asked one of the voice, maybe their leader, or someone who didn't want to show how shocked they really were, while I thought I heard another say, 'What the hell? She shouldn't be up. They all should be asleep.'

The flashlight was shining too brightly into my eyes, but I could still make out their glows. One of them started to walk closer, 'You should leave. The villagers don't do unannounced visitors.'

The man approaching laughed. As he came more into the light from the flashlight, I could see he was in his early twenties dressed almost like any normal young man attending university or his first job. Who the hell were these people?

'Oh, and who might you be?' he asked with a grin on his face as he looked me up at down. I knew from the look, he wasn't trying to see if I was a treat with how he took extra time to check out my legs. Stupid shorts.

'One of the locals,' I said and watched him trying to read his reaction the way, I would image Kurama would.

The man chuckled for a moment, and I had a feeling he knew right away I was lying. Since they came to the village, they had to know about the tree and knock to reveal the location. They also said that everyone was asleep so they had to know they were ill. They knew they were dealing with yokai. And clearly, they knew about the poisoned flowers.

'You weren't here the last time we came,' said the man, and my frown deepened.

I shifted my eyes a bit to the side toward the other four men. Even if I couldn't see their faces I noticed that one was very rapidly whispering something to the other before he shoved him and hissed at him to shut up as he did that something fell from his hands, and I realized it was a baseball bat.

I looked at the man in front of me who smirked, 'Alright, we don't need to get in each other's way. Why don't you just walk away and forget about this place.'

'Not happening,' I told the man but didn't move. They didn't look like martial arts fighters or fighters at all. But the bat told me that they came at least partly prepared.

The man who was talking to me started to walk closer, and in my periphery vision, I noticed that one of the men closes to the one who held the flashlight reached into something from his pocket.

My stomach twisted into an even deeper knot. They came with a bat, what else did they bring?

The man in front of me snatched my wrist, I let him while trying to keep an eye on all the men there, 'Look, here, you. Get the hell out.'

When he tried to pull me with him, I held my ground, and I saw the confusion in his eyes as he realized I wasn't as light as he expected me to be. It almost made me smirk proudly.

My resistance threw him off and obviously made him lose his cool collected mask as he frowned at me, 'Come on you wrench!'

I grabbed the hand which held me by the wrist and twisted it a quick move making him cry out in pain and kneel down in front of me, 'I suggest you surrender now and tell me everything you know.'

The man looked up at me again, and I made sure to send him a very serious glare, 'And maybe I won't hurt you too much,'

He tried to swing a fist at me, but I easily dodged it and punched him into the stomach making him cry out some more. A non-fighter for sure.

'Stupid bitch!' yelled another one of the men and the two of them came to help their friend.

I quickly jumped and kicked the closest to me into the head sending him to the ground while moving away from the swing of the bat.

I punched its owner into the chin and made sure to kick the bat out of his hands just as I noticed another fourth guy try to sneak up on me from behind with something.

Only once I tripped him with my leg and punched him hard did I realize he had a knife. Somehow that made me even more upset, and I stepped on his neck, 'Never heard of playing fair, loser?'

All four of them now lied on the ground groaning or hissing from pain. Definitely not fighters.

I looked over at the fifth one the one who was still holding the flashlight looking at me.

He didn't move.

Still frowning, I took a step toward him, 'So, I guess you're next, buddy.'

He then surprised me although maybe he shouldn't have as he started to run into the opposite direction.

Coward.

I didn't waste time and charged after him. No way, I was letting him leave this place and maybe come back next time with more poison or friends.

He had a large backpack that must have been slowing him down or maybe I was just a better runner than I originally thought, but I caught him immediately out of the village jumping at him and kicking him into the back of his head which caused him to cry out and fall down.

I grabbed his flashlight and his leg and started to drag him back toward his pals on the ground who started to slowly raise before I knocked them out again.

'Please,' mumbled the man with the flashlight which was now in my possession.

'Please what?' I asked wondering what should I do now with a bunch of unconscious and injured men? Maybe I could have moved some of the yokai from one of the houses and force them inside.

'Let us leave. I promise not to come back,' said the man, and I rolled my eyes as I went over the pockets of his buddies to see if they had any other knives and weapons, 'Yeah, right.'

'Alright,' he said and rubbed his head, 'how about money? Do you need money? We can pay you double what these yokai have for protection.'

I chuckled at the idea and shook my head, but the man must have thought I didn't believe he had that much money so he continued, 'No really, we get paid a fortune by this guy for this job. Easy money.'

I blinked confused at that just as I pulled out some papers from another men's pocket only to realize they were photos. I went over them and found one of Zuri realizing all of them were yokai from this village.

The realization hit me like a kick into the stomach as I realized what job the man was talking about.

I grabbed the photos so hard I wrinkled them and launched at the man pulling him by the collar toward me almost choking him.

'Are you piece of shit telling me someone hired you to poison and kidnap these yokai?!' I growled more than asked, and the man looked like he was very scared at that moment.

I yanked him, 'SPEAK!'

'YES!'

'Who's this man?'

He swallowed, 'We don't know. We…we're students, you see. We need money for studies and life, so we do odd jobs. Help around the house, and gardens and things like that…well….well this man approached us and said we will get pay fortune.'

I snapped at him, 'What exactly did you do?'

He tried to shield a bit away from me as he continued his voice shaking with fear since he must have been scared I would punch him again which I really wanted to.

'He gave us some seeds and that we needed to find a way to plant them in the village. Uh, this woman and girl come to visit one of the villagers often, so my buddy Renji,' he nodded at one of the unconscious men, 'He, uh, he befriended them and gave them the seeds to give to the villager, their grandma or something-' my blood ran cold at that, Karin and her mom, they unknowingly poisoned their granny and everyone in the village, 'anyway, then he instructed us to wait about two months so everyone would get sick so we could get inside. We were supposed to take pictures of everyone and the man would that pick up which one he wants us to take to him.'

I watched him feeling disgusted in my stomach, 'So you poison a whole village and plan to kidnap some and what sold them?!'

'We needed the money. We're just poor students and-and they're just some monsters. They're not people so it's not like we're doing anything that terrible-'

I didn't let him finish because if I did I would have definitely killed him. Instead, I punched him to shut him up and snapped, 'Don't you ever say that again! You worthless piece of shit. You make me sick!'

'I'm sorry,' he whined, but I shook my head.

I felt more than saw or heard another man approaching me probably trying to sucker punch me before I rolled to the ground and kicked him into the jaw with both legs hearing something crack.

He fell to the ground again, but I didn't let him get off that easy now. I launched at him mercilessly punching him into the face. It wasn't just him. I knew that, but I couldn't help myself as I continued to punch him again and again even though he lost consciousness after about the third hit. I saw red. These fucking scumbags. These bastards! They poisoned these innocent yokai. They wanted nothing to do with humans just live their lives in peace and these assholes came and poisoned them and tried to kidnap them, sell them. Like they were property. Like they were belongings or objects that could be sold. Like – like they weren't beings like they were alive. It made me sick and something inside me burnt.

I continued to punch the man, careless toward everything around me. He deserved this. He deserved everything that was coming to him. They all did. Every single one of them.

All of a sudden I felt something cold against my chest. It was cold and familiar and out of nowhere, Ken's face with Hyyaku inside him flashed in front of my eyes. I knew it was him because even if it was Ken's face the smirk didn't belong to him. My Ken never smirked like that. He never smirked so sinisterly.

Ken…

'Stop! You'll kill him!' I heard somewhere behind me and only now taking in my surroundings. Ever since I attacked the man I sort of spaced out just mercilessly focused on hurting him.

You'll kill him!

I killed him!

I killed Ken…

The man's shirt slipped from between my fingers and his head fell against the grass as I tried to chase those thoughts and memories of what happened that day in that warehouse away. It was a while since I thought about it like that. It shocked me just how raw it still felt.

I felt the cold in my chest melt and my spirit energy spread through my whole body again. I didn't realize I tried to focus it into my chest.

Absently, I pressed my hand against my chest before I turned to the other man who was previously in the possession of the flashlight. Now he was watching me with fear in his eyes.

I stood up again and walked to him as he swallowed hard his nose now bleeding, 'Look, we're sorry. We won't do it again. I promise. We will just leave and you…and you will never see us again.'

'Yeah, you won't ever do anything like this again,' I told him dead serious my hand clenched in a fist ready to hit him again feeling disgusted just looking at him. I wanted to hurt him more. I wanted to hurt all of them a lot more. I couldn't even look at him without wanting to punch him again. How could they do this? How could humans do this? I wasn't naïve. I knew there were bad people and bad yokai and good people and good yokai, but…but to know and to actually witness it made me feel sick and at rage more than ever. I wanted to spit on them and cause them pain for what they did and planned to do. It was horrible and so inhuman all of it. Poison them and try to sell them just because they saw them as yokai, not as humans? I remembered what my Master told me about how she once feared I wouldn't be able to distinguish past all humans being good and all yokai being evil. Right, now I knew more than ever that I always would. Everyone was equal in their morals and their acts. Everyone had the potential to be good and to be bad equally. It was up to the person. Human or yokai it didn't matter.

Ultimately, I turned to the side to look at the man's backpack. Even if I wanted to crack the men's skulls in, I couldn't. They didn't harm me. They hurt the yokai of this village, and they should be the ones to carry out the punishment. They or the Rekai.

I grabbed the backpack and threw out all of its content. Rope and duct tape. Well, this will do.

Kurama's POV

'Oi Yoko!' asked Akane while making a flower crown.

We were taking a break from walking as she soon grew tired and didn't always want me to carry her, 'You will never die?'

I opened my eye lazily and looked over at her. It was a warm day. Still many days of walking, but the girl got tired. She got exhausted so quickly. Humans were so weak and the children the weakest of them all.

'Everyone dies, little one. I will just live a little longer than you,' I told her and closed my eyes again lying down on the grass. It was a nice warm day.

'The priest in our village said yokai are immortal.'

'No one lives forever, child,' I said and rolled to the side to look at her, 'One day many many moons from now I will die as well as will you and your mother and the foolish priest.'

Akane chuckled. It was a lonely sound.

She finished the crown and went to put it on her head when I took it. Her hands were always very delicate with plants as I taught her a few things I could perform with my abilities.

'Yoko!'

I sat up easily and smirked as I said, 'My queen.'

She grinned at me understanding what I was about to do and bowed a bit so I could put the crown on her head, 'Behold the human queen.'

She giggled some more before she looked up at me. Her smile was warmer than the warmest day.

After a moment of blissful silence, she asked suddenly the smile still present on her face as if she was asking something else entirely, 'Oi! Yoko, won't you be sad if I die?'

I glanced at her trying to see if she was expecting anything for me but perhaps she was too young for such games so I spoke honestly, 'Little one, why should I be? Everyone dies sooner or later.'

She grinned at that, 'But not you. You'll live forever…,' but then her smile did fell a bit as she must have realized something, 'but Yoko won't you be lonely without me?'

I blinked at that seeing the sudden realization and distress crossed her face, 'You said you have no one. No mother, no father, no villagers, no friends. Won't you be lonely without me?'

It was an absurd idea.

I didn't know the child. We were together only briefly and even if I decided to help her get back home it was mostly out of boredom and some mild interest the girl presented, but to be lonely because of her absence was a laughable assumption.

And yet for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to laugh or to answer her since I wasn't sure how to explain or defend myself that I wouldn't be lonely. How could I be? How could any yokai?

'Come, little one,' I said and stood up, 'a storm is coming.'

Akane looked at the clear sky as if she was mocking the lie but didn't say anything and hurried after me with her tiny steps.

'Oi! Yoko, if you could be any animal besides fox what would you be?' came the sound of her childlike voice.

I turned around to look at her and answer only to realize that the image of her with a flower crown and a field around her began to slowly blur.

'Oi! Yoko! How come you're so tall! It's not fair that I look so short standing next to you!' I could hear her voice loud and clear but the world was slowly fading around me. It wasn't right though. She didn't say that on the flower field that day. She said it some other day when I picked her some apples from a tree.

'It's not what you think, Yoko,' I heard her voice again only it started as her child's voice but when she said my name it sounded different more mature.

'Yoko…I'm married,' she said in her adult voice the first time we met after our departure when I tried to touch her.

'Yoko…won't you be lonely after I am gone?' she asked suddenly and appeared in front of my eyes as an adult woman. Her hair was a mess and her face was bruised.

I remembered when she looked like that. It was…it was the last time I saw her. Before she ran away. Before she ran away to join the battle and died along with everyone else.

'Yoko,' she breathed out before blood came out of her mouth and stomach. The large wound there letting all of her blood out.

'Akane,' I spoke softly raising my hand to reach her, to take her into my arms, to offer her some relief, or hold her but before I could-

'Yoko…I…goodbye.'

I suddenly felt this incredible rush of grief run through me. It was the first time I allowed myself to feel it in such intensity as if it just happened, and I was once again on that battlefield losing the woman who used to have a smile warmer than the hottest day in the summer. At the moment it happened, when it really happened, I forced myself to feel nothing. She was just a human. A simple and forgettable human whose path crossed mine for a brief moment. That was what I told myself as I picked up her numb body and buried it under one of the trees so it wouldn't rot on the battlefield among the others or became an easy target for some grave robbers It was what I forced myself to think of her and feel about her death before I left before I forgot her. I forced myself to feel nothing. She was human. A human and she chose her fate. It didn't matter. It didn't matter to me. She would die eventually this way she at least died the way I remembered her and not like some old weak and wrinkled woman. I didn't feel anything then. She was just another human who died. Last of the Sinner Killers. A dead woman. A human. Unremarkable. Not important to me. Not important-just some human who died…just a woman who…died. She didn't matter to me. She didn't!

So why did my chest suddenly felt so tight?

The first sense that came back to me was hearing.

'Kurama,' I heard and opened my eyes, but I couldn't see anyone. The world around me was white, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt someone's hand against my head slowly running their fingers into my hair light like feathers barely there at all.

Touch was the second sense that returned to me, and I couldn't help, but feel regret as pain shot through my stomach and head to the rest of my body. One sharp and paralyzing, one dull and aching.

'It's alright, I'm here, breath,' I heard the voice again.

Who was that? Akane-no, Akane was dead, and the voice…it wasn't the same. Not at all actually.

When the ability to smell came back I finally recognized the woman talking to me.

'R-ran.'

'Yeah, I'm here,' she confirmed, her voice slightly deeper than Akane's adult one even though she was younger than her, 'just relax. It will only be a couple of hours for the plant to fully bloom,' she said.

I found it hard to follow what she meant with the aching in my head, but knowing she was near was enough to keep me at ease, and trust her. Strange. I didn't think I really trusted anyone…when I was still Yoko even with my companions even with such yokai as Yomi, I never fully trusted anyone. I supposed I trusted with bits and pieces. I was able to fall asleep next to Akane only to wake up alone in the cave, but it might have been my own forcing to avoid having to watch her leave.

But I couldn't help myself and trusted Ran. She once told me friends were people in front of who you could allow yourself to be weak because they would be strong enough for you. I supposed it was what Ran proved many times both in allowing herself to be weak and strong for people she cared about which included me as well for some time now.

'R-ran.'

'I'm here, Kurama, I'm right here, and you will be fine,' she told me firmly with such determination, I had no doubt I would. Ran was always like that, stubborn even when everything told her otherwise she wanted to believe and protect people. She wanted to keep them safe no matter what.

I felt her fingers more to his forehead. They were pleasantly cold against my feverish skin.

'Thank you, Ran,' I managed to say before I once again felt the bliss of unconscious taking me away from the pain, back to my dreams and memories that became one and hard to tell apart.

'Kurama, Happy Birthday,' I heard her say too far gone to understand what she meant.

Ran's POV

'Kurama,' I said and paused in my assault against his hair, 'Happy Birthday.'

His breathing didn't change so I knew he was gone again.

My yokai friend's state worried me more and more as he was slowly waking up only to slip back into the unconscious. He kept on randomly mumbling when he was close to awake but his words made no sense and were hard to understand at times. He looked…different.

I knew him since I was twelve years old, and I never saw him like this. Even after his fight in the Demon City or when he allowed Hiei to stab him, he always looked well…powerful and in control. Nothing could get to him and even if you thought he was on thin ice he proved you wrong having a plan all along. This was the first time ever I saw him completely defenseless, and it really caused me to think if I didn't give him too much credit or overestimate him at times not really paying attention to his weakness. He said himself he was only somewhat of a yokai, not close how powerful he used to be so maybe I should have done a better job in having his back and keeping him from getting injured.

I frowned and shot his peaceful sleepy face (that even I had to admit was stupidly handsome and cute) a glare, 'For an over three-hundred-year-old yokai you sure end up hurt a lot, Kurama.'

My hand moved away from his face, and I tapped his cheek a bit to underline my comment. It was true, wasn't it? Almost every time we dealt with something Kurama got hurt. Some yokai he was.

'Idiot,' I mumbled to myself and sighed. The morning was chilly, and I was sure I could only thank Kurama's head in my lap that I wasn't completely freezing. Smart move to take shorts to a forest adventure.

My fingers ended up in Kurama's hair again. I couldn't help it. The almost mechanical process of brushing his red hair was calming and gave me some assurance in the dark night.

I glanced at the man I tied to the pillars of the houses. They were now awake again and some tried to move and break free from the ropes, 'Hey!'

They all stopped moving and looked at me with scared eyes. Good. They freaking should be afraid because it was just the fact that I was close to Kurama and worried about him and the other yokai that I was somewhat controlling my anger toward them.

'Knock it off, or I will knock you out,' I told firmly hoping I wouldn't actually have to get up because I would definitely not hold back again.

They seemed to believe me since they stopped and surrender to their fates of waiting with me for the flower to bloom and the yokai to be healed.

I sighed out enough for it to be rude before I glanced around the village. The sun had started to rise, and it made the village look less dreadful and more alive even if somehow ghostly with everyone still in their wooden houses suffering.

I couldn't believe I actually managed to stay awake throughout the whole night, but then again after the men showed up and all that happened there was no way, I would fell asleep and leave us unguarded.

Kurama groaned again, and I brushed his cheek a bit, 'It's okay. I'm here.'

'I'm so sorry, Akane,' mumbled the fox yokai suddenly, and I blinked surprised with how sincere and apologetic he sounded.

'Akane?' I asked quietly trying to remember who that was.

I would like to think, I knew most of Kurama's associates from the time he was born into the human world. Since there was no Akane it had to be someone from his past. From time to time Kurama mentioned he had got involved with people while he was a ruthless yokai. You know, countless lovers and companions, but as far as I knew he always spoke of them as if they were not important and long gone anyway.

I wondered what happened with Akane that caused him to feel this remorseful and looked at the blue sky. Soon the flower would start blooming. I hoped at least.

Suddenly he let out a very pained sound and then stilled.

I blinked and looked down at him frowning a bit. He looked different. His red glow was barely pink now and his face looked very pale almost lifeless with his lips so…blue.

'Uh, Kurama?' I asked a bit started as I realized his lips were very blue.

He didn't reply or move. In fact, it looked like he wasn't moving at all. Something was off. I felt the dread creep into my heart again.

'Hey, Kurama, this isn't funny,' I said loud enough for him to hear before I moved my hand away from his hair toward his neck, and the pulse startled at just how cold Kurama felt before I felt myself completely jump into a panic.

I couldn't feel Kurama's pulse at all.

My mind flashed an image of Ken's coffin, and everything inside me froze for a second before I burst into action.

I quickly put Kurama's head down on the ground and leaned my ear against his chest to hear his heartbeat feeling blood rush through my ears.

Silence

I straightened up again and quickly tried to remember everything from Biology and Healthcare or any movie I ever saw before I started to perform CPR on him remembering when I did it for Yusuke's in the Demon's City.

'Okay, Kurama,' babbled, 'Come on, you have to start breathing. This is not funny,' I told him. It was like my mind split in two. On one hand, I was trying to get his heart to start again while on the other I was talking to him like he was awake.

'Don't worry, Ran. I'm now more of a half yokai not to mention my yoki is a bit stronger than the ones of the yokai in this village.'

'That's what you told me, remember, don't screw around with me,' I continued to talk pushing hard enough to break his ribs if I didn't ease down on the pressure, but I couldn't I just couldn't. I needed him to start breathing again. I needed his heart to start beating again. I needed him to be okay and alive. I needed…him.

Ken's face appeared in my mind as he smiled at me softly right before he twisted into that horrible smirk that didn't belong to him.

I counted to a hundred compressions before I tilted his head back and slightly lifted his chin. I pinched his nose between my fingers. I took a deep breath and then pushed as much air as I could produce with my own lungs into his mouth trying not to panic from how cold his lips were against my own and how it was almost painful to touch them like this. I delivered two breaths before I started the chest compressions again.

'Kurama, don't be an asshole!' I screamed at his unconscious body definitely breaking a rib at how hard I pushed now. I couldn't stop. I couldn't let him die. His glow was almost completely white and fading away.

'Kurama, please, please,' I mumbled while counting in my head losing the numbers a few times.

Ken's face appeared again and then the coffin and then Kurama's face and how he came to my balcony to say goodbye to me when he thought he would sacrifice himself for Shiori.

'Damn it, don't you dare die on me without a goodbye, Kurama!' I snapped almost hysterical now.

Another hundred passed, and I leaned down again trying to breathe life into him praying to every deity out there to just do something and save him before I finally felt movement against my lips.

'Kurama!' I called out loud enough for the whole village to hear me as I leaned away to look at him. His glow started to slowly return to the pinkish color and spread over his body again. He was alive. He was alive.

Thank Kami!

He didn't move or open his eyes but when I rose my palm against his face I felt his fainted breathing against my skin. My palm and my whole body were now shaking like crazy as the adrenaline wore out, and the situation was slowly coming down on me.

He almost died. He almost died on me….just like Ken.

I finally allowed my heart to go wild as I just now realized what happened. Kurama's heart stopped beating. He was…he was dead for a moment. He died for a moment.

I pressed my hands against my face almost violently trying to calm down the shaking not to wake him knowing he was still in pain. Everything inside me was slowly starting to let the panic run fully through me.

Kurama

'Idiot…don't, I lowered my voice a bit as it shook, and I didn't want those asshole tied to the houses to hear me like this, 'don't scare me like that ever again.'

I thought I heard him mumble something, but when I looked at him with tears in my eyes it was hard to tell.

Swallowing a bit the tears running down my cheek for a moment, I just pressed my ear against his chest right above his heart. It took a while since there was still blood rushing through my ears, and my own heart echoing in my chest, but I could hear a very soft and slow heartbeat of my yokai friend.

My hand gripped his shirt right where his stomach was trying to memorize the sound of his heartbeat and convince myself that he was okay now. It was fine. He was fine. I saved him. I did okay. He didn't die in my arms. He wouldn't have a coffin and a crying mother who would hate me. I wouldn't have another person to be guilty about. I wouldn't be looked at as someone who couldn't be trusted. I didn't lose him. I didn't lose Kurama. I didn't lose another friend. I didn't lose another person I cared for this much.

'You smell nice,' I heard over the sound of my panic thoughts that created a chaos tornado in my mind.

Blinking, I rose up a bit to be able to see his face, but once I did his eyes were still closed. He was still pale and the fox glow was pink, but his lips weren't blue anymore, and he was breathing so it was okay. He was okay.

Alive

'Thanks,' I sobbed brushing away my tears and calming down a bit convincing myself over and over again that he was okay, 'Get better and I will lend you my perfume.'

He didn't reply so he must have slipped away into the dreamland, but I didn't care. He was alive. It was the only thing that mattered.

I rose up completely and looked over at the men tied up as I brushed my cheeks before I sent them a glare trying to channel or my hate for them even more, 'You should pray to every god and goddess you can that nothing happens to him or I will kill you the most violent way you can't even image.'

Apparently, they were really scared of me because they all seemed to shiver and look away from me terrified.

Kurama's POV

I looked at her face openly trying to see all the differences and changes it went through over the time that has passed since our last goodbye.

She was a grown woman now. Strong, fierce, independent. The childhood joy and carelessness were replaced with duty and scars I knew nothing about.

I was correct, not that there was any doubt about it, she grew up into a beautiful woman worth seducing.

'Yoko, I'm married,' said Akane in a very odd voice like it was a warning yet her face looked almost apologetic.

I smirked but stopped approaching her. It was surprising although it shouldn't be. If she ever did cross my mind over the years that parted us, I sometimes wondered if she was still in her village, if she got married and started a family. It was uncommon for a Sinner Killer to have that, but I supposed it could have happened before.

'Congratulations,' I spoke without any bite. I wasn't upset about it. Even if Akane was a beautiful woman, I never made a promise to myself to have her one day. If perhaps she would be interested it would have been entertaining and enjoyable, but a woman or not I still held some affection for the girl she used to be, too much to force something on her. It was also never my intention with my partners why bother if they did not want to and would only show you fear and disgust? Who would take pleasure in that?

Her face softened a bit, and she offered me a smile. It was smaller than the ones she used to give me, but it still felt warm like it was a hot summer day.

'Come,' she spoke her voice different yet somehow pleasing all the same, 'I must return to the clan and report, but we can talk until then.'

I watched her for a moment before curiosity and interest got the best of me, and I did follow her. Her scent filling my nose again. I almost forgot how nice she smelled.

She spoke about her clan. Nothing forbidden or what I didn't already know or guessed. I was surprised she ended up as a Sinner Killer as was she. She told me it happened during her ten years that she first heard the calling. They took her when she was fifteen of age and trained her ever since. She liked it. She found her true self there. She often returned back to her village to see her mother and others. There she married the boy she knew since she was a child.

'It's been five years,' she told me her voice with a hint of something secret she maybe wanted me to solve, 'Are you happy?'

She paused in her steps blinking a couple of times before she laughed. It wasn't a happy sound, 'Why would you ask me such a silly thing, Yoko? Of course, I'm happy.'

I allowed myself to reach out and touch her hair. It wasn't loose like it used to be. It was still as soft. I let her have her little lie. Who was I to ruin the moment just after we met again?

I had every intention of leaving her behind. I meet her in a happy accident, but I wouldn't follow her, I wouldn't search for her again. Just as when she was a child, I would simply let her go return to her clan, her village, her life.

But she came back.

She did it once to inform me of something which would be worth my interest. A weapon and a heist. She needed to get inside a palace, and the palace held a treasure worthy of my skills. It felt like the old days and yet nothing like it. At times I caught glimpses of the little girl with the soft childlike voice and bright smile, but for most of the time, I dealt with the woman she become. I found myself once again invested in conversations with her. They were different from the distant memories of the innocent childlike ones which made me believe we were in some sort of fairytale. They were more mature and present.

The heist went well. We both got what we came for, we both parted afterward, but soon enough Akane sought me out again. Another adventure if I was interested.

'Careful, I might start to think you actually enjoy my company,' I told her when she came to me the fourth time.

She paused in her track her mask making it impossible to see her face even if I could picture her slight worried frown, 'Would it be so wrong if I was?'

'You're married,' I reminded her. Even if we walked about countless of things, this topic she tried to avoid even more than the secrets of her clan.

She sighed annoyed with me a bit, 'Not everything is about the pleasure of the flesh.'

I chuckled, 'And what a shame that is that it is not.'

She shook her head but did admit later, 'I missed you. I like your company. It's not a sin. I should know.'

Apart of me wanted to argue with her, but another part knew all too well it would be no use, and that I myself also enjoyed her company.

'Well, I will leave it in the hands of the professional then.'

I wanted her. It was simple and selfish, and if I truly loved her, I wouldn't do it, but I didn't love her because yokai didn't love anyone and anything. We could be possessive and express some affection, but not love, not in the sense humans understood the concept. She could be my companion, but despite what she claimed we were not friends. It was useful to be around her since she told me of new things to steal. The conversation was just a nice addition to what I needed from her.

I didn't love her. I lusted after her.

I wouldn't force myself onto her. She would probably have no problem to cut me with the Soul Eater, but I started to plant seeds. A brush of hair here, a touch there, compliments, and teasing words which left her cheeks just a bit red and her voice just a bit shakier. She was faithful to her husband. I knew so by her scent, but she also didn't spend too much time with him. His scent was only barely on her skin sometimes not at all.

'Do you plan to have young ones one day?' I asked her once we were shielding in an old cave away from the rain.

She shook her head. There was no remorse, 'Sinner Killers don't have children once they join the clan. We can't raise them there. We have a duty. We can't leave the clan.'

'So why did you marry?'

'I thought Jinah understood,' she said barely louder than a whisper. She told me about it then. How she was too greedy. After I left her at her village she missed me and our travels, but once she managed to get to the clan and started to train she missed her village. She married Jinah because she thought it would allow her both to be in the clan and yet have someone to return to in the village, but she didn't think about him. She lied to herself that he understood and loved her anyway with what little she could offer him, but with more and more years she realized she bound him to her and unhappy life.

She allowed me to hold her that day carefully pull her close to me. She wasn't a very tall one her head rested below my chest when I pulled her into an embrace my fingers in her hair. I managed to fight off the urge to kiss and take her that day only barely as surrounded by her delicate scent after days without meeting anyone else but ourselves made her almost irresistible.

I assumed it would require some time to get to her, for her to allow me to show her the pleasure her foolish human husband couldn't. It didn't.

The next time, we met barely a week afterward was when she came injured to my cave looking for shelter after the yokai destroyed their clan's temple and killed almost all of the Sinner Killers.

As I slowly healed her wounds every now and then she hissed or let out a pained sound.

'They're dying…he's looking for every one of them and killing them,' she mumbled, and I understood she meant her fellow Killers.

'What happened?' I asked her since once she entered the cave, she was too injured or in shock, 'Jinah…a yokai possessed him.'

'Yokai cannot possess humans without being allowed to-'

'I know that!' she snapped at me and closed her eyes. Her armor was ruined her hair was falling down her back and should in tangled messes. She looked nothing like the brave and fierce woman I got to know her to be.

'He knows now…he knows about our weakness about how we make Soul Eaters,' she said and looked at her sword that was standing against the nearby wall. She trusted me completely.

I didn't comment on what she said. It seemed too cruel to point out Jinah only knew all of this because she told him. She betrayed her clan and now all of the Killers were dying. She was already blaming herself. The scars from regrets not possible to heal even with my yoki and plants.

'You should rest,' I told her. It started to rain outside. How fitting.

'Tomorrow, it will be easier for you to think,' I told her.

She was silent for a moment before she spoke, 'Tomorrow, I will find him and kill him. I have to. I owe it to my clan, to Jinah, to myself. I can't allow anyone to know our secrets.'

'Then you will die,' I told her feeling the words cause something uncomfortable inside my chest. I didn't understand what it was, so I pushed it away instead taking her face into my hands. Akane was one of the only humans who ever allowed me to touch them completely free of fear.

I never sense any from her.

'If no Sinner Killer is left, how can there be more?' I asked her trying to reason with her.

She seemed to think about it. Her face lost some of the desperate if not the hurt. She was in pain, but the one that wasn't caused by her healing wounds.

If she came to a decision at that moment or later, I didn't know, but when I caught the lust in her scent, I was surprised.

'Akane,' I said with a warning, but it held no meaning to her as she grabbed the front of my clothes.

'Akane,' I took her wrist, but she shook her head her eyes holding all the desperation she must have felt. They were dark like a void into hell tonight, 'Just…make me forget. Make me forget all of it, please. Please, Yoko.'

I let her undress me before I did the same for her.

I pulled away and grabbed the begging of her arm above her kimono and started to pull it down. She was surprised a bit how easy I managed to undress her without a single hesitation or wondering where to untie something. But I just knew. I was a seducer if I wanted to be and being able to undo even the complicated clothing of my lovers was a part of the process.

I laid her down softly with care even though I knew she didn't need it. She wasn't a virgin. She had a husband even if she didn't often I caught his scent on her at times. She had to know a few things and be prepared for them, but I doubted a simple human male could have shown her enough to be prepared for what I had planned for her.

I remembered the time she used to be small, how I could hide both of hers in my single one as now she traced them over my body seeking comfort and warmth. I remembered how she could smile all carefree and bright the way a child could with such joy in her dark eyes it didn't seem natural or fair that someone could be so happy. I thought about it as I kissed away her tears rolling down her cheeks and silence her moans and cries as I let my fingers mark her skin everywhere they wandered. She was a woman now in every sense of the meaning. The skin on her cheeks was salty from all the tears, but she wouldn't let me kiss her lips. It was something, she joked about one time, I did try to kiss her after one of her missions for the clan.

'You need to earn it.'

I was not sure if she meant it, but I decided to for now tasting her elsewhere. I couldn't have loved or cared for her. If I did, I wouldn't have done what I did. If I did, I would have found a way for her to settle down and rest, and come up with a better plan in the morning. A good man, a man in love would have done that, but I was neither of those things. I took from her what she could give me that night and I took everything she was willing. I tasted her and made her scream my name louder than she ever had for her husband memorizing every inch of her body healing all the visible wounds. I took and gave her pleasure knowing this wasn't what she needed or really wanted like the selfish yokai that I was. She let me fill the void inside her left from her own mistake and betray and the death of her fellow sister and brothers. The Sinner Killers.

I wasn't expecting it to move me so much to be completely honest. I expected to enjoy it, of course, I expected to get lost maybe toward the end of it as most do, but I hadn't expected it to completely ruin me the way it did when she guided me inside her and mumbled against my ear, 'Do you ever wish you never return me to the village?'

Her fingers stroke my hair and as her lips bit the side of my neck before she asked again, 'Do you ever wish you just kept me as a prized possession? As a treasure instead?'

We came hard in balance that let me feel anything other than peace afterward. It had been very long since anyone caused me to feel something like that, and a part of me still didn't believe it happened.

Akane was soft, warm, and broken and many other things, but when she moved against me holding me close, I had an urge like never before for her to simply be mine.

Yes, I wish I have kept you as my treasure.

I woke up in the morning. The sun was up, and Akane and her clothes and sword were gone. I knew right away what it meant. She chose to die among the Sinner Killers than live and teach new ones. She chose to die. She chose not to be mine.

I found her on the battlefield. She was bleeding badly. A few humans and yokai bodies left around almost dead, rotting away. I didn't care for them and which was belong to her husband.

She held onto her stomach while looking at the sky above her slowly dying.

'Foolish girl,' I told her, and she smiled for the first time since I last saw her as a child she smiled brightly as the warmest summer day, 'Thank you, Yoko.'

I frowned and leaned closer to her, 'For what, Akane?'

She grabbed the front of my clothes her fingers would leave blood there. She pulled me closer to her and kissed me for the first time in a short bittersweet brush of lips. It was the first time she allowed me to kiss her how poetic she chose to do it now.

'You earned it,' she whispered before she was gone and so was the era of the Sinner Killers.

I remained close to her face even if I knew she was gone already looking at her not sure what I expected to find. It took me a moment to convince myself to pick up her small lifeless body and bury her under the tree nearby before other humans would come. In my arms, she looked as if she only fell asleep. The blood would already stop bleeding completely.

I dug her a hole and then slowly lowered her down before I went to find her sword. It was a bit broken and covered in the blood of those she killed. I carefully moved it to her and place it into her hands.

'Goodbye, little one.'

I once I buried her, I left and never turned back, everything that happened between us didn't matter. She was dead, and I continued to live the way I used to.

It was just a dream and all dreams were always cut short by waking up to the harsh reality.

A.N: Hey, I hope everyone is doing okay. Thank you for reading and your support. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.