MEMORIES
A Fanfic by Yomi no Miko

Chapter 10: Kaizo
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I had been feeling awful for a couple of days. I woke up with headaches that took a long time to pass. Sometimes they lasted the whole day, making me lose all energy. I tried not to complain as I didn't want Kurama to worry about it, but eventually it came to the point in which I couldn't hide it anymore. One day I felt so much pain that I had no other way but to confess it to him.

"C'mon, Yomi. Why don't you tell me what's wrong with you? Don't you trust me?"

"No... Of course I trust you... It's that... I've been feeling this annoying headache and it's driving me crazy... I don't know why..."

"Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere, mostly here," I said, pointing at the edges of my brow.

Kurama took a careful look and then smiled at me in relief.

"Well, my friend... I think you should be preparing yourself 'cause it's not going to pass soon. At least not before they grow."

"They what?"

"Your horns!"

I stayed still, paralyzed in amazement. I was deeply surprised. I had never imagined I would have horns. I had always been told that horns were signs of power. A sudden excitement took control over me. I hugged Kurama who didn't seem to understand the reason for my joy.

"Wow! I never thought anyone could be happy about having horns."

"You don't understand. That means I'm powerful!"

"Really? As for me, it only means you've going to have holes on your pillow!"

I guess I could have killed anyone who dared to tell a joke in such a moment of my life but as it was said by Kurama, I didn't mind it. I decided to strike back.

"And this tail of yours. What a set back! You can hardly sit... Deny that it bothers you sometimes.."

"... hn, just sometimes and just a bit, but I guess I couldn't live without it."

"One day I won't live without my horns... Will they be large?"

"I hope not. Father's can hurt from time to time."

Kurama stared at me, as if he had just said something he didn't intend to.

"They hurt?" I asked.

"I don't know... It's not on purpose... Can we talk about something else now?"

"Sure. What about the master? You never told me anything about him."

"Yomi, I..."

"Kurama!!" someone shouted.

It was Kaizo who walked towards us in his usual conceited manner.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you the whole morning. The master spent all day asking about you. I guess he's pissed off. I would talk to him now if I were you."

Kurama got up immediately.

"I'm going," he said with a trembling voice, "Don't worry if I don't come back today, ok?"

He left in a hurry as Kaizo sat beside me. There was a cynical smile stamped on his face. He looked pretty satisfied with all that.

"You're a sadistic asshole, do you know that?" I said, making a great effort in order to prevent myself from breaking his face.

"That's not even half of what he deserves," he answered.

I couldn't hold myself any longer, so I punched his face. Kaizo stared at me angrily. I prepared myself for his reaction, but instead of fighting back, he just managed to regain his calm.

"I feel sorry for you. Has your beloved ever told you about Kuronue?"

The name sounded familiar to me. I thought a bit and finally remembered where it came from. Kuronue was the name of the youkai who seemed to be Kurama's partner at the first time I met him, three years ago.

"No," I answered in a harsh tone as I tried to disguise my curiosity.

"Sure he wouldn't. The damned fox would never tell you about the partner that he left to die. Kuronue was my younger brother. He loved that son of a bitch... and I hate him. I wish he were dead. I pray for a hunter to get him one day."

"Liar. You're jealous of him. Kurama would never abandon a friend. He could kill you if he wanted to, or have you banished. I don't think anyone would miss you, nor would the master mind it."

Kaizo approached me with fury in his light blue eyes.

"You think he's beautiful, don't you? That he's the sweetest youkai Makai has ever produced. You do believe that he's a nice boy full of good intentions. Have you never seen him fight? Never seen him kill? Never perceived how much pleasure he takes in slashing his opponents with that whip?"

"I never said he was naive. He's a youkai like us. Of course he must destroy his enemies. But that doesn't make him a killer of his own friends, I'm sure of that!"

"Kurama killed my brother who was his only friend and I'm sure of that too!" he shouted.

After some more minutes of annoying and useless quarrel, Kaizo agreed to tell me his story. He and his brother Kuronue had come from the South of Makai, from a small village, which happened to be not far from mine. They lost their parents in a violent assault when Kuronue was only five years old. Kaizo was older, so he began taking care of him. He even managed to work for food but most of the time his efforts weren't enough. One day, Kuronue brought him a dead chicken. Kaizo knew his brother had stolen it from a neighbor but they ate it anyway. Soon they started to steal for living and ended up being expelled from the village. Then they wandered the Makai and got lost as they reached the great forest of the east. Najah found them and took them to live in the subterranean tunnels. There were already other kids living there at that time. It was a peaceful life and it didn't take long for them to decide to stay there forever.

One day Kuronue found a wounded fox pup captured in a trap. As he believed it was just an animal, he took him home. It was a very scared kit but as time passed it got used to the people around him. Kuronue was very pleased to have his own pet but Kaizo didn't share the same opinion. He was worried because he knew that Najah didn't allow the kids to raise animals at home. If the master found out about the little kitsune, they'd be in trouble for sure. Kuronue learned how to hide 'Kuni' (the name he gave to the fox) inside a bag every time he had to meet Najah. This strategy worked for quite some time...

Najah got really mad. Everybody knew that he hated to be disobeyed. On the day he discovered Kuni his furious voice could be heard all over. He grabbed the animal by his tail as if he would kill it with his own hands. Kuronue cried like a small child. Kaizo had to hold him hard in order to prevent him from attacking the master in a desperate attempt to save his pet. But Najah didn't care for Kuronue's heartache. He concentrated his youki on one of his hands and shot it against Kuni, who was beginning an escape. The attack threw the kit against the wall. As the poor creature laid still on the floor, it began to change its shape before a whole bunch of astonished eyes. The mysterious transformation caused Najah's anger to stop. Afterwards, he even helped him to recover from the strike.

Kurama was ten years old when all that happened. He was totally wild and could barely express himself. He was scared of everything, even of his own shadow. Kuronue did a great job teaching him all he needed to know to live in the group they belonged. Kurama was indeed a fast learner, no one could deny that. As seasons passed, Najah's interest in the newcomer started to increase too. It didn't take so long for him to be completely fond of the kid. He adopted him and started to treat him like a baby, providing him with all he desired.

Although Kuronue wasn't as important as his partner, he remained as Kurama's best friend. They were almost the same age and were always together. It was Kuronue, who had become a skilled thief, that taught all his 'art' to the youko. They committed several robberies at that time. Some years later, Kurama became the leader of the duet, planning most of their actions. Kaizo used to be very worried about his brother. He feared Kuronue trusted his partner much more than he should.

As time passed, the relationship between Kurama and Najah was getting more and more sordid. Kuronue used to confess some of his worries to his older brother. Kaizo begged him to get away from Kurama as he had bad feelings about the youko's insane love affair with his stepfather but Kuronue never accepted his advice.

Some months after the partners returned from a frustrated tour around Makai, things got even weirder. But instead of trying to clean his own mess, Kurama decided to attack one of the most well guarded places of the entire east of the Makai. Kaizo tried to stop him or at least to persuade him to leave Kuronue at home. He knew that the risk was too high. Besides, Kurama's plan was completely lunatic... But even though he tried all he could, he couldn't prevent his brother from following the youko as he always had done. One morning, they left. Kuronue never came back home.

I tried to argue with him, alleging that risk was part of all thieves' lives but nothing I said seemed to influence him.

Then Kaizo talked about a certain pendant, which belonged to his brother. It was very beautiful and rare. Everybody knew Kurama had some lust for it, maybe 'cause it was the one thing that belonged to Kuronue that he couldn't use as well. So, a couple of days after Kuronue's death, Kaizo found it among Kurama's clothes. For him it was crystal clear that Kurama had been the responsible for Kuronue's disgrace. This feeling of his only grew stronger as he watched Kurama's behavior get stranger every day.

After the so called 'accident' (Kurama had related that Kuronue had fallen in a trap during the escape as he tried to get his pendant back) Kurama did everything to rescue Kuronue's body and bury it in the forest. In the beginning, he spent hours beside the grave, doing no more than staring at it in apathy. Kaizo was fast in assuming his attitudes as the most clear evidence of the remorse that was torturing his soul. As Kurama didn't let him go near the grave, he complained to Najah who destroyed the whole place in one of his fits of anger. Then Kurama stopped eating and sleeping. In few weeks he stared to look like a living zombie. Kaizo's only comfort for the loss of his beloved brother was the assumption that the one responsiblefor it would not last long.

The master did all he could to cure Kurama but all kinds of medicine proved to be useless. When all seemed lost, Najah disappeared, taking Kurama with him. Weeks passed. When he returned, Kurama walked beside him, as if nothing had happened. From that day on, he never pronounced the name Kuronue again.

Kaizo thought about killing him several times but he knew it'd be impossible. So, while his revenge couldn't be performed, he decided to punish his foe in different ways. They became non-declared enemies since then. They just tolerated each other. And life went on.

When Kaizo finished with his theories, he asked me:

"So, you still think I may be mistaken? That Kurama didn't have anything to do with the death of my brother?"

I couldn't deny the evidence that was presented to me.

"Do you really want to know what I think? I think maybe Najah has something to do with it."

Kaizo laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Ah! I don't know... It's just that you reminded me... Well, I think that Kuronue would have said the same if he were in your place..."

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Shrine to Yomi-Sama -