Lost Little Youkai

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By: Ryoko

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He was too quiet today- more quiet than usual.

He refused to leave his room as well, which made everyone even more suspicious and worried about him.

"Kurama?" A soft knock sounded against the wooden door. "Kurama? It's Botan. Can I come in?"

No answer.

"I'm coming in!" she announced, testing the knob and pushing it open a little before slipping inside and shutting it once again. Not finding the Youkai in the bedroom, she poked her head through the curtains to find him outside, on the balcony.

He stood completely motionless under the overhang, almost like a statue.

"Kurama?" she asked softly. The noise startled him, making him jump and glance in the direction of the blue haired girl.

"Botan!" he yelped, looking away quickly.

"Kurama? Kurama, are you . . . you're crying? What's wrong? Kurama?"

"It's . . . it's nothing . . . really . . . "

"Come on. I've heard that one, way too many times to continue to buy it. Something's making you upset. Tell me what? Please? Maybe . . . I can help you?"

"It's alright. Really. I'm fine." He covered up his feeling with the usual smile, but the mask was too hard to hold up for long . . .

"Kurama . . . "

"I'm sorry to worry you. I'm all right."

"Well I'm not leaving until you tell me what's bothering you." She pouted, leaning against the doorway.

"Heh. You're not as easy, to get rid of, as I gave you credit for. Fine. I'll tell you. Promise to keep it quiet though?"

"I'll write it in blood if you want!"

"Hehe . . . that won't be necessary . . . but I guess that inspires a little confidence. Okay. Here goes . . . " he sighed, turning around and facing Botan.

"Back when I was really young . . . when I didn't have a human form just yet . . . I had this friend, Ezekiel. We were best friends from the minute we met . . . and always stayed that way . . . "

He mindlessly looked up at the ceiling, pushing back a few stray strands of hair.

"We never once fought. And we did everything together . . . ate, played, worked, slept . . . everything . . . we did it together . . . and always enjoyed the company of the other. Both of us were orphaned, so we really didn't have anyone, but the village elders, to tell us what to do. So, naturally, we got in trouble together too. We took the good with the bad and always stuck it out. That's how close we were . . . "

He lowered his gaze and unintentionally made his voice softer.

"Then . . . one day . . . someone from enemy territory decided to burn down our village . . . naturally, we raced into the clouds of smoke to see if we could help anybody . . . but all we found were the dead bodies of the people that were dear to us. Before I knew what happened, something pushed me and then I heard a loud crash, followed by the crushing of bones . . . when I looked back . . . there he was . . . his legs were crushed under the weight of the fallen pillar, and he couldn't move. I tried and tried to pull him out, but he just told me to run away . . . "

Botan felt tears burning at hear eyes, easily able to imagine just what was going on.

"After so many tries, he said he'd catch up to me . . . and I believed him . . . so I ran . . . without thinking . . . only to find . . . that . . . he tricked me . . . but I didn't learn this until I'd made it to the top of the hill far away from the burning village . . . I waited on that hill for three days, screaming his name and getting no answer . . . and for three days I could only cry and hope to see him again . . . and now . . . last night . . . those memories are flooding back to me after it took me so long to forget them . . . they won't go away and they hurt . . . they hurt so badly . . . "

"I'm sorry. I . . . I didn't know . . . "

"Zeke was the only dear friend I ever had . . . and . . . if he's still alive somehow . . . I . . . I want to find him . . . Something deep inside me is telling me that he still is alive . . . somewhere . . . "

"Kurama . . . "

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