Warnings: Some language

Daughters of Destiny

Chapter 07:

"Golden Eyes"

Kurama—the silver-haired fox variety, with eyes like stolen coins and the sculpted face of an Abercrombie model—lounged atop a golden chair, cheek braced against one gigantic, lazy hand. The demon looked at least seven feet tall, though Kagome is short at age ten so maybe I was overestimating him. His white robes splayed open nearly to the navel, carved muscles of his chest and abdomen on tantalizing, intimidating display (hubba hubba, except not, because scary). The tsuchinoko pack covered the ground at the fox's feet, some creeping up the sides and back of the chair to halo the demon with glimmering gold scales. More festooned the sled bearing the stolen paper. Kurama looked every inch a king surrounded by both his hoard and his horde, smile touching the corners of his mouth with the humor of a razor blade.

He probably would've been a lot more intimidating if we hadn't been in, y'know…a dank, dark cave in the middle of the fucking woods, where his throne looked totally and gaudily out of place (where the fuck had he even found that thing?), but hey. There's no accounting for taste, I guess. And let me just say that those fuzzy fox ears of his are, well, less than intimidating because they're so goddamn cute I could just scream.

…but why the heck was he even here? This was Inuyasha, not Yu Yu Hakusho! I mean, yeah, the series were rife with crossover potential, and I guess they had already crossed over given Keiko and Kagome were besties and whatnot—but this was just fucking ridiculous. And of all the people to discover a Yu Yu Hakusho character in this world, why me? This should be Keiko's gig, not mine!

Oblivious to the horrified internal fangirling in which I was most definitely embroiled, Kurama stared down at me and smiled. The tsuchinokos stared up at him in tense silence, waiting for cues from the demon bandit they were now so very, very obviously working for.

"So you want this paper, do you?" Kurama said in that voice of velvet danger. His smile curled up at the edges, revealing pointed eyeteeth. Fox though he might be, that was the ivory smile of a wolf. "I'm afraid you can't have it, little girl."

"Uh," I said, eloquent as heck.

The tsuchinokos didn't give me time to find my (very very absent) wits. One of them slithered over the arm of the chair and peered up at the fox demon with wide, glimmering eyes.

"My lord!" it said, tail jutting toward me in a point. "This human wench tried to steal the paper from us! The paper you tasked us with procuring!" He rounded on me with a flicker of forked tongue, large eyes narrowed with a glare. "She must be punished for her insolence!"

Um. No? No, please? I wanted to say that, but before I could muster the words, Kurama's golden eyes flashed. His smile disappeared in the stolen time between moments, replaced by a look of cruel, hard malice. But he didn't move, or shift on his seat, or even blink—and yet the air felt a lot colder all of a sudden, didn't it?

"Interesting," Kurama said, eyes on the tsuchinoko at his side. "A worm like you, telling me what to do?"

He spoke with delicate precision, not accusatory at all—just pleasant small talk, deceptive in its delivery but deadly nonetheless. The tsuchinokos, silly as they were, certainly weren't stupid. The one on Kurama's chair shuddered and fell into a chubby, desperate bow.

"N-no, my lord!" the little thing warbled, chin flat on the armrest. "N-never! We would never do that! We meant no disrespect!

There followed a moment of silence. Then the tsuchinokos stirred.

"What do you mean, we?" one of them piped up.

The question was like the crack of a breaking dam. At once the others picked up the cry as well, a hundred small voices echoing: "What do you mean, we? You said it, you said it, not us!"

The tsuchinoko in question—who had clearly just lost the hive-minded support of its clan—shrank in on itself, every last scale quivering with obvious fear. Kurama's eyes all but glowed in the dim cavern as he stared at the creature, clearly deciding if it was worth the effort of murdering outright.

Seemed not, in the end. Kurama's sneer darkened as he hissed, "Get out of my sight, snake."

Even I wanted to run and hide just then, so I don't blame the tsuchinoko for diving into his pack of brothers and wriggling out of sight. He'd gotten lucky, not getting turned into tsuchinoko jelly on the spot. He knew it, I knew it, and I'd only been here for two minutes but I still knew Kurama was a dangerous son of a bitch.

A son of a bitch whose eyes had travelled back to me again.

Goddammit and fuck, this was really, really bad.

"Tell me, girl," he said, smile drifting back across his handsome features. "Why have you come here all alone, weak as you so clearly are?"

I took a deep breath. Kurama's head tilted to one side just a little bit. Like he was curious, maybe? No way to tell and I was too freaked out to really think on it and he was staring at me so no time, no time, just talk! Squaring my feet under my hips, I thrust out my chest and smacked a hand to my sternum.

"I'm here to take back the paper the tsuchinokos stole from the village," I said with all the earnest logic of a ten-year-old. "It's not theirs, the villagers worked hard for it, and I'll be having it back, please."

The tsuchinokos gasped like a breeze blowing through a hundred tiny straws. Kurama's cheek lifted off his hand, golden eyes widening, smile dropping into a look of utter shock.

And then he began to laugh.

It started as a low little chuckle in his massive chest before building into an outright laugh, and then into a hearty guffaw. He threw back his head and laughed at the ceiling of the cave as if to send it crashing down around us, his voice a crescendo of pleasure and amusement so palpable I almost tasted it. When the laughter died and his face dropped down to me again, it bore a wider smile than before, dripping with affection (affection?!) I wasn't sure I liked very much—nor affection that I understood at all.

"A human with a sense of humor," he mused. At that Kurama leaned forward, eyes glittering and intent on me—and oh look, his ears twitched a bit, swiveling toward me with rapt attention. "Oh, I rather like you."

"Uh," I said, because excuse me mister sir, what the heck did you just say?!

Kurama sat back in his throne. Powerful hands alit on the armrests, tsuchinokos scattering, and his fingers—tipped in long, sharp nails—tapped a slow, rhythmic tattoo on the lacquered wood.

"Though I wonder," he said. "Are humans, perhaps, unaware that it is unwise to tangle with a fox?" That devious smile returned, toothy and full of nightmare fuel. "Tell me. Is your bravery born of courage, ignorance, or sheer stupidity?"

"Um. Well. I hope it's courage?" I said, voice ticking up at the end in spite of myself. I thought of Keiko glowering at me from the bottom of the ravine and winced. "There's probably an argument to be made for me being stupid, so I guess you can think what you like. But that doesn't matter!" I thrust out a hand, calling on my past life as a kindergarten teacher as I slapped on my firmest do-what-I-say stare. "I'd like the villagers' paper back now, please!"

I'd expected him to laugh again, maybe, or pat me on the head since I was a charmingly brave little kid who clearly wasn't worth murdering (thanks, Kagome's baby-face!). Instead he did something different. Something I hadn't expected.

He revealed just then that he was a giant fucking troll, that's what he fucking did.

Kurama blinked at me. He looked genuinely confused, hand alighting on the rippling muscles of his chest, gasping just the smallest gasp—affronted like I'd just revealed some scandalous secret, a petty crime that besmirched his honor but did no other damage. Oozing shock, prim as a housewife, he said, "You want me to give back the villagers' paper?"

"Um. Yeah?" I said.

"You think that paper belonged to the villagers?" he continued, aghast.

"Well, yeah." What the shit was he playing at? "Because…because it did?"

He blinked those steely eyes at me, full lips still parted in precious, oh-my-goodness shock—and then the fake confusion dropped into an absolutely chilling smirk, followed by a dark chuckle.

"Oh, my child," Kurama mused. "You don't get it, do you?" One clawed hand gestured at the paper-bearing sled beside his throne. "This is my paper. Your villagers have no claim on it."

Ah. Right. He was making fun of me. Typical adult picking on a little kid; typical demon picking on a weak human; typical kitsune playing a trick on the unwary. I rolled my eyes so hard, it was a wonder they didn't tumble right out of my head.

"I mean, you say that," I said, "but legally, morally, and ethically, you're definitely not in the right." I leveled an accusatory finger at him. "You stole that paper. That doesn't make it yours, mister sir."

Kurama's patronizing smile didn't falter. "Oh. How adorable. She preaches morals to a thief. Stupidity wins the day, indeed." He leaned his cheek on his clawed hand again. "Oh, you are too funny, little human girl. What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't say," I said.

He frowned. "And I suppose I didn't, either." But he apparently didn't find our lack of introductions particularly noteworthy, because he dropped the issue and sat back in his chair. "So tell me, girl. How do you plan on taking this paper back, exactly? You're far too small to drag the sled. You're far too weak to best me to get to it. And you're far too outnumbered to pass the tsuchinokos." More of that patronizing smirk, which made me want to punch him (even if he was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen). "What, exactly, is your plan?"

"Uh." Now that was a great question. Too bad I hadn't thought that far ahead. Toe kicking at the ground, I muttered, "To…to ask very, very nicely for you to help me, please-and-also-thank-you?"

That time his laughter came as wild as a wind off a typhoon, possessed with wicked thrill and dashing humor—but in his eye something sharp glittered, predatory and piercing. He eyed me up and down like meat at the market as the tsuchinokos watched in anticipatory silence.

My skin crawled.

This was not the warm, cuddly Kurama Keiko had gotten lunch with the day we left for this strange world. This was not her friend, the boy I'd been hearing about over frozen yogurt and aikido lessons.

Maybe Keiko had been right.

Maybe we shouldn't have come here, after all.

…OK. Not 'maybe.'

We definitely shouldn't have come here.

"Are all humans this brazen?" Kurama-who-was-not-Keiko's-Kurama said. Another smile ghosted across his mouth. "Tell me the truth, girl. This is my first time in Human World, and I intend to carve out a territory of my own. Will all humans be as entertaining as you, or are you a singular entity amid their teeming ranks?"

I shrugged. "My mommy says I'm pretty special."

That pulled another laugh out of him. "Yes. I imagine she does." Silver hair bushed across his pale chest when his head listed to the right. "Hmm. What to do with you?"

I perked up and helpfully told him, "May I suggest letting me go and giving me the paper?"

"You can try." His clawed hand swept the humid air. "But these snakes might advise against it."

A hundred sets of beady eyes swung in my direction. A shivered coursed down my back as a low hiss filled the air, rising up and up and louder and louder like bees slow to express their mounting anger.

"They're here to pay fealty to me, you see," Kurama said, voice once more dripping with amusement, "and you intend to make off with their offering." He looked at his followers. "How does that make you feel, worms?"

The chorus rose to answer him, a hundred voices crying "Awful! Terrible! Kill the loathsome beastie!"

Kurama tutted. "Well, then. It seems they don't enjoy your terms." And then his smile vanished into a pointed glare. "And neither do I, in fact. I do not give away my tributes lightly."

"Well, you can think of it as a charitable donation, if it helps," I said. Tapping the bottom of my fist against my other palm, I said, "Tell you what. You bring back the paper, I'll tell the villagers you defeated all these little snakes, and then they'll love you." I spread my hands and wagged my eyebrows at him. "Huh? Eh? Eh? How's that sound? Humans looking to thank you instead of trying to put your head on a pike?" My hands rested on my hips as I tossed my triumphant hair. "Nice plan, right?"

Kurama didn't move. His frown faded into nothing, into bland neutrality impossible to read. The tsuchinokos fell quiet at the sight, hunkering down together in a thicket of hushed scales.

Then, muscles gliding beneath skin with nigh mechanical precision, Kurama rose to his feet.

Turns out I hadn't imagined his height. The demon towered over me, taller than any human I'd met in Kagome's brief life—but his height isn't what dried my mouth and made my heart beat like a fucking jackhammer in my chest. That task fell to the sight of his molten eyes, flashing at me with all the reflective aggression of an animal stalking prey.

Of a predator stalking me, more to the terrifyingly terrible point.

"Interesting. You think a demon such as myself needs to prostrate to mere humans," he said, whisper as loud and crashing as train derailing. "You think I need to fear humans, and secure their loyalties to ensure my safety."

I didn't really have the ability to talk just then, of-fucking-course. Kurama stepped toward me, but even that silent footfall sent me shrinking back in fright.

"And worse yet," he said, golden eyes ablaze, "you think me the brand of demon who would abandon his own kind and kowtow to human filth." One taloned hand rose, fingers hooked into wicked curves. "The audacity."

"I," I said. "I. Uh. Um. No? N-no?" Words poured forth in a shrieking babble. "Um, no. Nope! That's not what I think because now that you mention it, that sounds farfetched. You, ever abandon your demon friendos? You? Never!" I crossed my arms and turned up my nose, hoping I could make him laugh again. "Consider my offer rescinded. Never mind! We are closed for business; have a nice day!"

My ploy worked, but only sorta, because his smile still had a lot of teeth packed into it. "You're lucky I find you amusing, girl," he said—and then that sharp fire in his eyes snapped. A cold smile, all the colder for the contrast of those heated eyes, crossed his mouth and closed shutters behind his eyes. "I will give you one last chance."

My breathing went wonky. "Uh. One last chance to what?"

His smile stretched into a grin, and my blood ran icy cold.

"To survive, of course," he said.

Everything tunneled. My feet refused to move, even though inside I was screaming at them to get the fucking hell outta Dodge right fucking now, hasta la vista, baby, let's make like a tree and leave. Only I didn't do that because Kurama had put a hand to his chin and was looking me up and down, gauging the lengths of my legs and probably the cut of my slim muscles.

Sizing me up.

Planning the kill.

I nearly pissed myself when his head tossed in a riot of gleaming silver, face as cold as his moonlit hair. "Now, little girl. I'll give you a head start. How very magnanimous of me." A self-satisfied smile. "Fitting, since I will soon rule this land…no matter what that dog has to say about it."

My mouth moved of its own accord. "Th-that dog?"

He waved, dismissive. "It matters not." And then he pointed out of the cave, back the way I'd come, smile growing with every passing second. "Make it to the river before me, and I will spare your amusing little life. And maybe I will tell you what I mean."

"You—what?" I said. This was all happening so fast, so out of the fucking blue, one second he was laughing and the next he wanted me dead and oh my god Keiko I was going to die here, wasn't I?

I think Kurama sensed the fear, and enjoyed the taste of t, because his eyes gleamed brighter—and he laughed again. In his voice rang the bells of eager, bloodthirsty anticipation.

"Well, girl?" Kurama all but sang. "What are you waiting for?"

I didn't move.

Kurama smirked.

Kurama vanished.

I felt like screaming, but I couldn't, because a wind streaked by and then a warm presence appeared at my back. I couldn't move, not even when a single claw traced its way down the line of my trembling jaw, cold and sharp and stinging on my skin. A shadow fell across my face as Kurama, in all his demonic resplendence, loomed over Kagome's tiny frame.

"Start running," Kurama breathed against my ear.

And, well—you won't blame me for obeying, and lickety-fucking-split at that. Stumbling from fear, legs wooden, breathing labored, I bolted around Kurama's enormous height and headed for the light of the cave mouth, feet tangling with the steam of tsuchinokos trying to trip my running feet. I barely heard them, though, or heeded their wheedling little insults and calls for Kurama to strike me down.

Kurama's laugh—cold and sharp like a knife made of bone—drowned them out, dogging my steps as I ran for the goddamn hills.

NOTES

Had fun writing the fox version of Kurama, whom I imagine as much more arrogant and ambitious at this stage of his life. He's still sort of young for a kitsune, not yet a legendary bandit, but his star is on the rise and that arrogance is fun to portray. Smarmy bastard! Plus, we don't see much of canon Yoko Kurama in the anime; his character is pretty malleable for my purposes.

I updated last week with a confusing update. This story has a brand new first chapter from Kagome's POV (now placed before the original chapter 1, which is now chapter 2). If you haven't read it, you probably should. It'll set the scene for later events. I didn't think I needed to show that chapter at first, but I decided belatedly that it was a good idea to write it out. Thanks!

Many thanks to those who managed to FIND that new chapter, in that case, because reordering the chapters and adding one at the start was super weird, haha. The review shout-outs for the recent Keiko chapter are in the author's note of the chapter 01. Anyway: ALL of you rock, whether you're mentioned here or in chapter 01! Saj te Gyuhyall, Bergholt Stuttley Johnson, Kaiya Azure, and Lady Ellesmere!