Fanfic by Yomi no Miko
Chapter 20: Hunters
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After I left Kurama's chamber, I wandered around for hours. I watched the sunrise far away from that hellish castle, beyond the band territory. I knew what was the right thing to do. I had to go away, to leave all that madness behind. But at the same time, I still felt so attached to him. That made me considerably angry at the time, 'cause I just could not fool myself anymore as I did before. Youkai are evil, or most of them are, but Kurama was worse than that. He had become something like a machine, who didn't care for any living thing around him. He didn't show hate or affection 'cause he didn't fell both. His ways were like his plans: precise, clever, manipulative and above all, practical. I despised him for being like that. I really did. However, not enough for me to leave him yet.
I ended up crossing the river, near the place where Kaizo lived. I met him sitting at the riverbank, fixing a weird hunter weapon. I was so fed up of everything! I didn't mind he was supposed to be my enemy now, I needed to talk to someone, and anyone would do. So I told him everything that happened to me since my first day a member of Youko Kurama's band.
Kaizo listened to all my talk in silence. Only then he spoke.
"You won't believe me but I always knew that Kurama had some sort of relationship with those Kala thing. Even in the past. That blond guy was always sneaking in Master Najah's territory. I even saw him with the youko a couple of times. No wonder he joined them for knowledge and power, which are the only things he really loves."
"I want to leave... to go somewhere else, Kaizo. But one side of me wants to stay and wait for a miracle."
"Leave, Yomi! Don't waste your time. That bastard only brought you pain. You'll never find yourself while you're next to him!"
Silence. Knowing the truth is bearable, but having it thrown at your face isn't so nice after all. So I decided to change the subject.
"And what about you? Are you enjoying being a hunter?"
Kaizo gave me one of his rare smiles. "Yep, sort of. There's much to do here, you know. Why don't you try it? You're strong, I thing you'd do well as a hunter!"
"Me? No, I don't think so. Low youki... Besides, I'm too noisy and overeager for that."
"Low youki? And what goddamn youki do you think I have? Most of hunters are B class youkai at the most. And they do succeed over ki wizards like your beloved pretty thing sometimes."
"B class? Oh, c'mon! I'm not a newcomer anymore. I've seen many things. Youki is everything. It's what make us different from humans."
"I didn't say it's not important. But it's not all. There are many tricks that anyone with a brain can use. Have you never heard about them?"
"No."
"I'll show you!"
Kaizo took me to his hiding place. There, he showed me a kind of gun, very different from the simple one he was holding at the river.
"Here. I'll show you how it works. There's a stone in this place, you see? It's quite rare, but not so difficult to find in the black market. It's called kuroiri. This small thing is capable of collect youki. So, all that you do is to focus your ki and the stone does the rest. When it shines, it's ready. If you fire it right, the shot is fatal most of times. Practical, isn't it?"
"Interesting. I don't understand why Kurama doesn't get us some of these..."
"Ha! He's not dumb. The most valuable treasure of his band is his own head. Anyway, I don't think you need it. You've got a lot of energy for sure. You just don't know what to do with it!""
"Hn, that's just what it seems. I can't even crash a tree. I've already took some lessons, believe me. I just cannot deal with that."
"Your problem, Yomi, is that you never concentrate! You're always thinking about that fox. That's a waste..."
It was night when I went back home. I had decided
to leave no matter what. Maybe I'd try Raizen's kingdom again. In the villages
along the river many travelers said that Raizen's generals were gathering
forces to protect the territory. I didn't have anything to lose anyway.
By the time I arrived at the castle, I had already memorized the lines I'd repeat to Kurama. Of course I thought it was very reasonable to say good bye to him. One last chance for the miracle that I craved for.
Once I stepped in, I felt that something was different than usual. The watchmen weren't in their positions and even the air seemed more dense, uneasy. Inside the main door, I found a group of thieves who looked like clumsy dogs waiting for food. They stared at me as I were their salvation or something like that. Worse, they started to talk at the same time. I had to pick one of them to do the talk.
"Yomi-sama, where have you been?! A sedition happened today, it's all a mess here!"
"What?"
"Kido and Noni, those two who took part of the fortress attack seven days ago, remember? They managed to let a murderer in and set a trap for Kurama-sama."
"A trap? When?"
"Early in the morning, sir! There was a fight, and the traitors are dead now, except one who was caught alive by Hakel-sama. It seems that they're trying to find out if there are more thieves involved, but we don't know for sure. They just don't let anyone in! Please, Yomi-sama, maybe they will let you pass."
An instant later, I had joined the other commander at the dungeon. Noni was naked, hanging upside down. His body was so beaten that the color of his skin had changed from yellow to purple. Hekel asked him the same question over and over, while one of his followers gave the poor thing an ever harder time. Kurama was watching from a distance. There was a lot of blood near his right shoulder. He was holding a black stone on his hand.
"Kuroiri" I said aloud, absent minded. It was when they noticed that I was there.
Hekel turned his attentions to me immediately.
"So... You decided to join us, my dear Yomi. Could you tell us where you spent the entire day?"
"That's not of your business."
"No? How can I know that for sure? I think that we should keep you here till we know exactly what the hell you were doing in such a peculiar day."
"Leave me alone. You're demented if you think that I helped them."
"That's what you're up to prove."
He turned away from me. In my mind he was only teasing me as usual. But he moved again and hit me so hard and so fast that I fell on the ground helplessly. I tried to fight but he caught me on surprise, there wasn't much I could do. And then, by the look in his eyes I knew that all that accusation scene had other intentions. The thought made me struggle more. I had lost practice of being so scared.
"Let him go, Hekel."
It was Kurama.
"But, Kurama.... He may be involved. I need to do something...."
"I know what you need, but you won't get it this way. Let him go now."
He obeyed, with a hateful expression on his face
and left the place. I just couldn't believe what had happened. Kurama displeasing
Hekel for me? Once again, I didn't know what to think. The traitor passed
away and all of us started to leave. Kurama glanced at me when he left.
After I recovered from Hekel's strike, I went upstairs to look for Kurama. Of course, I didn't do that to tell him that I was leaving. This idea had already been forgotten at the moment. I wanted to thank him for what he did. Maybe we could talk as normal youkai at last.
He was in one of the top chambers, the one which belonged to Hekel, full of books and lots of glasses, cup, bottles, small boxes and spider webs. Hiyuga, who seemed worried, told me that he was looking for something.
I entered the room. Kurama was so concentrated that he didn't noticed me.
"Kurama... May I talk to you now?"
"Go ahead" he said, not even looking at me.
"Alone."
"Look, I don't have time for that right now. What do you want?"
Well, I thought that there wasn't any problem if Hiyuga listened to what I'd say. I came near him, expecting that he'd tell me to stop as he did at the other time. But he didn't.
"I'd like to thank you for what you did for me today."
Kurama stopped and looked at me.
"Oh my... I didn't do anything for you. I knew you didn't do it, that's all."
"How did you know then?"
"Their plan was too good for you."
I felt that the same old stupid game was starting all over again.
"Cut it off, Kurama! Why can't you at least admit that you trust me!"
"I don't trust my own shadow. Why don't you find yourself something to do and leave me alone?"
"I haven't finished yet."
He sighed, looking a little more upset about my presence than he used to do.
"I'm thinking about leaving. Maybe going back to the west."
He started working again.
"Bye then."
So, that's it. There was nothing else I could do but to keep my word. He had not even glanced at me when he said that ridiculous "bye then". I turned my back to him and was about to leave the room when I heard the sound of glass smashing into the floor. Kurama had passed out at that very instant. Only then we realized that the wound wasn't so superficial as it seemed. On the contrary, blood flowed like water from the large and sore cut between his chest and his shoulder.
Hiyuga asked me to take him to his bedroom and to stay there while he looked for Hekel. I did as he said, but those were one of the harder fifteen minutes of my life. I really thought he was going to die. All that happened on our last day at Najah's place crossed my mind at that moment. Would I fail him again? I was so worried that Hekel's presence, instead of a burden, became a relief. And as a matter of fact he was know to be a good physician, or at least a very resourceful one. After trying to stop the bleeding with the usual bandages, he ended up burning the wound with the spark tip of his dagger. Pain made the youko come to his senses, but his was too numb to get up, despite effort he applied to do so. And there I was obeying Hekel like a devoted nurse, thanking the Gods that the bastard knew what he was doing.
"Stupid son of a bitch" I heard him complain some time later "he wasted himself so much for nothing that now he's sick as a human."
Then Hekel asked us to leave. I didn't like the
idea of leaving him alone with Kurama at all. However, I had to admit that
he was in charge at the moment and that Kurama would be as good as dead
if he didn't have come. So, I went to my own room early in the morning,
regretting my former plans for that day. Instead of quitting, I was staying.
And worse, once again I felt more attached to that place and its owner
than ever.
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Shrine to Yomi-Sama -