19.

"Come on Zoie why can't you just tell me; why are you acting this way?" Siera tweaked and tickled his ears but he stared ahead as Kuwabara…once again, was thrown from the ring into oblivion. She saw she would have to break out the arsenal and she wrapped her arms around the dog and nuzzled his neck just as she would when she was little.

"Pwease, Zoie I jus wanna to know the stowy."

"You're despicable." A set of puppy dog eyes and batted eyelashes more and he was sold and he sighed heavily.

"Long ago there was this bandit named Yoko Kurama; he was a legend, some generations called him the king of thieves. Some say there was no treasure he couldn't sniff out, no vault he couldn't break into, no trap he couldn't escape from and no foe he couldn't annihilate."

"Oh wow…"

"A while back…the story was that he was killed, the odds of him being among us all these years are astronomical. Yet here he is."

"That is amazing, I have so many questions!"

"NO! Look, I know Kurama isn't at all a threat to you in your eyes but you stay away from Yoko do you hear me? He is dangerous and you are still inexperienced, if he wanted to he could kill you in mere moments."

"But why would he want to?"

"Shuichi Minamino and Yoko Kurama may share the same spirit but they are not the same. I have reason to believe that he would very much like to get you out of the way."

"And how would you know that?" A peck on the shoulder caused a frustrated Siera to turn sharply.

"What do you want?" the group of apparitions they were sitting next to jumped back in fear before one timidly stepped up to speak.

"We have some information…it isn't much but we could give it to you."

"Right, I know your like, what is the price?"

"Our buddy, you…removed his vocal chords, do you think you could put them back?" she took a moment to think about it; they didn't want money just their friend to be restored she may have misjudged them after all. Could she even complete such a request? Of course if she could destroy on a cellular level there was no reason she couldn't make them regenerate.

"I can try; come here." The green demon hesitated before sitting next to Siera; she looked down his throat and observed the damage she had done. Damn I thought I was going to stop hurting others, why am I so damn mean? She took a deep and steady breath as she placed her hands on his throat and envisioned the regrowth of cells. The group waited in anticipation and they sat motionless.

"Tell me, what is your name?" the demon coughed a little before a gravely tone came from his throat.

"My name is Siote." He smiled at the sound of his voice.

"Hey it's better than before!" his friends patted him and laughed and she turned back around.

"Hey we have to repay you."

"Save your story, I was the one that caused the affliction in the first place I was only making things right." They looked to each other and turned back to the tournament.

"Aww look at you acting so grown up."

"I don't know what it is about this place Zoie, but I feel so violent and so angry."

"It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that you are watching literal violence and everyone here is pissing you off?"

"That's not what I mean; I want to hurt people…it feels good to hurt people, especially other demons."

"Well you did bear your mothers markings yesterday, it may be all the demon energy floating around your other half got awakened."

"I thought it always had been."

"Not fully, what you were emitting yesterday was called Hell's Scorn; your violent rage was materialized into an aura using your demon energy which is different from spirit energy. If you had known how you could have used it in attacks, much like everyone uses spirit energy here; and with the nature of this attack you would have caused a lot of damage to those undeserving of it. What you did to that guy's voice box, the way you branded Bakken over and over again was a pinpointed version of those attacks. It would have been one thing to telekinetically rip a piece of flesh from someone like an arm; you cut them like a surgeon and the remaining tissue disintegrated. To have that much precision with that much power…is frightening."

"In other words…I am capable of defending myself."

"You've always had had a one track mind; it's the most constant thing about you." Siera smiled and played with Zoie's ear again.

"I saw the way he looked at you; you tried to stick your nose where it didn't belong didn't you?" she was silent and he looked at her sideways.

"If I was a gambler, I would say that Kurama I going to find a way to change again; probably so that he can win his battles more easily but Yoko wants out; he is tired of being confined and wants to regain control."

"It sounds like you're grasping at straws."

"You know nothing of him, he will take out whomever he needs to; if you are holding him back from gaining control he will kill you." The severity sank in and Siera sat back crestfallen

"Zoie…"

"Just…be careful; I know you love him, I just want you to be aware." She looked down toward her best friend and so many questions came to mind as well as conflicting emotions.

"What do you think made him so mean?"

"I don't know that, that is way before my time; I just know that if he were to try to attack you, I may not be able to protect you and I would never forgive myself." They both looked back onto the matches in silent apprehension.

Zoie braced himself for the conversation to come as he tracked Kurama's scent into the woods later that day; he had never known that someone so dangerous had lived so close to his ward let alone be someone she is so fond of, it was unheard of…even devious.

"I knew you would come soon enough."

"Let's just cut to the chase alright, why didn't you tell me who you really were?"

"Would it have mattered? If I were any other fox would you be so wary of me?"

"No, I wouldn't; I've heard the stories and there is one in particular that doesn't sit well with me." Kurama kept his back to the dog, not making a sudden move as it was apparent Zoie was antsy.

"I would never do anything to hurt her, you know that."

"That was before I knew who you really are! You're going to find a way to change back aren't you?" He was silent again.

"You have to trust me Zoie; I have never asked that much of you before."

"You are going have to do better than that; I knew you were hiding something and here it is plain as day. I told her-"

"You told her what, to not be bothered with me? I tried to push her away, I tried to make her despise me, I tried to keep it all from her and she will not bend! And what's worse is that you urged this along as well! You have just as much to do with this than I do. I didn't want her to ever find out; and now that she does, there is no telling what would happen and I would never be able to forgive myself." Zoie's tail lowered as he sighed.

"I like the idea of her with you because I like her when she is with you. She is a gentler, happier person; you bring out her best and I want what is best for her. You know as well as I do that she has never been the same since that night; and when you are with her it is like she is that bubbly seven year old without a care in the world again. I watched you both grow together and every day I want to trust you because she can so effortlessly…" Kurama turned and knelt to Zoie's level offering a hand. The dog stood his ground, the moment they had two nights ago set well into the past.

"Can you at least assure me that Yoko won't hurt her?"

"Why would you think he would do that?"

"Don't be coy, we both know why; he wants out and she would be the only reason you wouldn't allow it. Twisted thing is I think she's attracted to the danger…teenage girls for you!" Kurama stood brushing himself off as the demon hound sat never taking his eyes off him.

"Well then, to ease your anxiety, perhaps I should I just stay away from her."

"Obviously you're joking; when she thought you were manipulating her she wouldn't stay away; she's too bullheaded to leave for her own good."

"Then it appears we have a conundrum; I won't let him hurt her, I promise. She isn't fragile either you know, we both know she is quite dangerous in her own right."

"Very true, tell you what, if she puts him on his ass I'll give you guys my blessing!" they both laughed at that.

"Please Kurama; I am going to trust you with her life, don't make me regret it." Zoie walked away without another word.

Siera paced in her room that evening not knowing what to think or to say; she was afraid and yet she was curious, she wanted to go talk to him and yet she had no idea where to start. A knock on her door startled her and she tiptoed to peek into the peephole. She opened it to find her best friend who looked at her with mixed emotion. She opened the door wider and he walked inside and sat on the couch looking down as she sat beside him.

"I know you have questions; the truth is that I don't know how to answer them because I never wanted you to know about this. I wanted you to believe that I was just Shuichi Minamino, a normal human boy that you felt the need to look after, someone you trusted. Now I feel I have single handedly plunged you into a world you aren't ready for, made you feel torment no person should. Yesterday you spoke of darkness, of anguish from guilt; I have had many centuries of such darkness to eat away at my own soul. I feel as though it is me that is destroying you instead of the other way around as you feel. I have not lived an honorable life, not at all and it is because of my choices that I allowed you to experience what you had and that is unfair to you." He turned to her with sadness in his eyes and her heart broke. He took her hands in his for a moment before getting up to look out the window to the setting sun.

"Please forgive me; forgive me for approaching you all of those years ago to play, for ruining the goodness is in your heart."

"Oh shut the hell up!" He turned to her surprised; she stood and got up in his face like she was going to hit him.

"I am here because I wanted to be; hell I'm here because you told me not to be here! I chose everything I had done to this point, and you may have been a factor but you were not the cause. I have told you time and again that you don't have the right to dictate what I do or where I go because I am my own person. I want more than the normal and this… I feel it fulfills that need. Don't blame yourself for what I had done to myself, that isn't fair to you. And to be honest to say you were the cause of my corruption is pretty arrogant; I like to think I had a hand it in it too, you can't take all the glory." He stared at her for several seconds before he smiled.

"Now, you agree that being arrogant and a pessimist is ill fitting of you and I will let go of yesterday."

"Agreed." He put his arms around her and held her there as she burrowed her face I the nook of his neck.

"I hurt someone today; but then I made them better."

"Oh?"

"I removed a guy's vocal chords, then I regenerated them back to apologize."

"You…didn't just heal a wound, you regenerated a body part?"

"They were just vocal chords."

"Even still, to use your skills to that extent; it would be one thing if you had natural healing abilities but you manipulated cells to multiply in a specific fashion. And I'm to understand that they were fully functional as well; that is quite impressive indeed." She smiled.

"Maybe I can be of use after all, I know I'm slow now, but you guys get hurt I can help out."

"There was never a point that you weren't useful; but I think focusing on a constructive task would be good for you." Her eyes lit up as he stroked her face.

"I know you have a past…and I won't ask about it if it makes you uncomfortable; but I don't judge you or condemn you for it, we have all done things we aren't proud of." She ran her fingers into his hair, playing in it as her lips grazed upward of his neck to his face to sneak a kiss. He grasped her hands gently yet firmly and brought them down, an amused smirk on his face.

"I said to behave, you aren't playing fair." Her heart stopped as he leaned in stopping just a breath away from her lips as he ran his fingers through her hair that she then felt begin to tighten. She glanced to a nearby mirror to see a pink Azalea bloomed in the side of her hair, the roots tying the rest into a pretty side lace braid. She admired the pretty flower and the attractive hairstyle before turning to him only to find him gone entirely. Now who isn't playing fair? She sat back down, not knowing where to go from this point why would she continue to push her boundaries when the future was so unknown? But then she only wanted a kiss; it was something she had been pining for since she would write his name in her notebook. He loved her and her him, but what would they do if they didn't make it to the end of the week, maybe that is what has her so urgent; she would rather have been official for a day then for it to have never been. No, that was only teenage girl logic; the practical thing to do would be to do what she could to help the team, try to keep them alive…hope that they all make it through.

"Now, I do have one question; when can I see him again?" he looked serious again but simply put his arms around her.