Newayz, this chapter is mostly just development, and everyone understanding what exactly is going on…but still, it must be written.
Onto the fic!
Kurama: *sighs* Aren't you forgetting something…again?
DAY: *thinks* … *light bulb* Oh yeah! Thanks for reminding me! I forgot the Disclaimer…again. Well, seeing as this much feature in the beginning of all stories, I guess I should get it over with…
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Yu Yu Hakusho characters (even though I wish I owned Kurama…^_^) but I do own this plotline, plus all my OC's. Let's see if I can name them all… Sayuri, Kairi (no, I just stole the name off of Kingdom Hearts, not the character; to tell you the truth, I want to shoot her…), Asashi, um…I think that's all. But you know the drill. If it looks or sounds familiar, I don't own it, even if I wish I did.
Okay, now that's over with, I really will get on with the fic! ^_^
Chapter 3Kurama caught the stranger as she passed out. It was obvious that she needed help. He couldn't just turn her away. He gently lifted her and carried her into his house. The fire crackled in the hearth, and Kurama could hear the whistle of the kettle on the stove, but that would have to wait. He would do all he could for the mysterious young woman now.
He opened the door to the guest room with his back and gently laid the unconscious young woman on the bed. He stripped off her black trench coat to reveal ripped and dirty jeans and a baggy T-shirt. He pushed back her blonde hair, now matted with blood mixed with rainwater, to examine the gash across her forehead. It was bleeding profusely, as all head wounds do, but it was shallow and would heal quickly with the proper dressing. Next he looked at the wound he could see through a large rip in her T-shirt on her left arm, near the shoulder. He pushed up the sleeve of the shirt so he could see it better. It was long and deep, much more serious than the wound on her head. He also saw a circular hole in her shirt, on her right shoulder. The only way he could examine that wound was to take off her shirt. He did so, though without alacrity. He politely kept his eyes away from area that others might be prone to stare at, gently moving her bra strap so that he could see the wound better. It appeared to be some sort of bullet hole, but not too serious within itself.
Wounds examined, Kurama prepared the herbal poultices he knew would heal her best and quickest. He dressed her wounds, then put her shirt back on. Patient safely cared for, Kurama sat back in a chair by the fire and pondered her situation. The wound on her arm seemed suspiciously like a sword wound, and when he added the bullet hole in her shoulder, it made for a conclusion he didn't like. What would she be doing fighting the other Spirit Detectives? And if she was, why hadn't he been called in on the case?
He rubbed his temples, not wanting to think about the mystery that had just arrived in his house any longer. After checking in on the young woman, he headed to his room, and drifted off to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
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"No! Stop it!" Kurama sat on the bed next to the young woman he had taken in two days ago. She was dreaming, tossing, turning and mumbling in her sleep. But the kitsune could understand every word. "Don't touch me! Get away! I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you!" Kurama bent over her, checking her temperature again. No, she didn't have a fever…
Then, unexpectedly, the woman's eyes snapped open. It took a second for her eyes to focus, but when she did, she found herself gazing directly into the kitsune's emerald green eyes. She gasped softly. She had never seen eyes like that before. The intensity of their gaze took her breath away.
After a couple of seconds, she finally regained the ability to speak. "Who…who are you?"
"My name is Suiichi Minamino." His voice was soft and gentle, yet ran with hidden undertones that she couldn't quite put her finger on. "May I ask yours?"
"Sayuri." She took this opportunity to sit up on the bed, resting her back against the wall.
"Just Sayuri?" Suiichi seemed genuinely interested in who she was. That's a first, Sayuri thought absently. Her outward response was a slight nod of her head. "Don't you want to take your father's name?"
Sayuri snorted slightly. "Even if I could, I wouldn't."
Suiichi looked confused, but didn't ask any more questions about it. Even if he did, Sayuri wouldn't have answered. He wisely changed the subject. Onto not-so-wise a topic.
"May I ask what you were dreaming about, Sayuri?"
Sayuri answered reluctantly, trying to choose her words well. "A guy. You wouldn't know him."
Suiichi flipped his long red hair back over his shoulder. "Well, if I wouldn't know him, then is there harm in mentioning his name?"
Sayuri didn't understand why he was so determined to know about her dream, but she answered anyway. "Karasu." She shuddered as the name came out of her mouth. She was surprised when Suiichi didn't respond. She looked up to see him staring blankly at a wall, paler than usual.
"Suiichi? You know him, don't you?" His response was a slow nod. Sayuri couldn't help but ask, "How?"
"I fought him." His voice was barely audible. "I thought I killed him… That was four years ago. Four years and many nightmares ago…" It seemed like he was talking to himself more than to Sayuri.
There was a long and uncomfortable silence before Suiichi returned to the present from living some memory. He smiled a kind, gentle smile, even if it was a little strained. "Would you like something to eat?" Before Sayuri could respond, her stomach growled so loud both of them heard it. Suiichi chuckled. "The bathroom's right across the hall. I'll have some food ready when you've finished with your bath." And with that, he left the room.
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Sayuri sighed as she slipped into the hot water of the bath. It had been a long time since she had had a bath like this, a real bath. Not some semblance of a shower in the rain, or a quick wash in a lake or river, but a real bath. As she sat in the hot water, carefully keeping her bandages dry, her thoughts turned to other matters.
How did I end up like this? She thought as she surveyed her wounds. It must have something to so with Karasu and whatever happens after our meetings. I'll bet he sent me to get those bracelets. She thought about the bracelets that she had found on her wrist after waking up, the ones that were now sitting nicely atop her pile of clothes. I wonder what they are, what they do, and why he wants them. If he's willing to let me get away with them like this, instead of getting caught, or whatever was happening, then they must be important.
After a couple more minutes of pondering about what Karasu was up to this time, Sayuri couldn't fight the overwhelming urge to lie beneath the surface of the water. She stripped off all the bandages, making sure the wounds were healed well enough to be under water. As she unwrapped the bandage around her chest, she looked absently at the wound. Then a thought hit her like a thunderbolt: How did he dress this? She hoped against hope that he didn't do anything…inappropriate. He seemed like such a nice person. But, then again…so had Karasu…
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Kurama was in the kitchen, fixing a light beef broth, something that he knew Sayuri would be able to handle. After setting the broth on the stove to cook, he headed back to his room and took some clothes out of his closet. He set them outside the bathroom door and called to Sayuri through the door.
"I've put some clothes you can borrow outside the door. They will probably be a little big, but you can wear them until we get your clothes washed up properly."
There was no response. Kurama hoped she had heard him as he walked away back over to the kitchen to check on the meal.
As he wandered absently around the kitchen until the broth cooked, his thoughts turned to Karasu of their own accord.
Karasu… He can't truly be back, can he? I thought I killed him… No one could survive the Death Plant, could they? But even if he did, what is his relationship with Sayuri? Why was she having a dream…no, a nightmare…about him? How can she have known him? Karasu never tended to make himself known in the human realm, so why start now?
Then a little detail that he had half forgotten popped back into his mind. Her wounds… They appear to be sword and bullet. Spirit Sword and Spirit Gun bullet? Possibly. Who else uses a sword these days? If she was apprehended by Yusuke and Kuwabara and assaulted like that… One would assume she was the target of their case… That would mean that she's a demon, and that would explain how she knows Karasu… Kurama shook his head as the pieces fell into place. He didn't want to believe it, but it all made sense…
Suddenly, he heard a fizzing noise from the general area of the stove. He looked over and saw that the broth had started to boil over the pot. He immediately went over and turned down the heat.
"Suiichi?" Kurama looked around the corner to the hall to see Sayuri standing there timidly, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt slightly too big for her. Sunlight coming in through a window glinted off a pair of silver, jeweled bangle bracelets hanging off her right wrist. He smiled kindly and waved her over.
"The broth is ready. You must be very hungry."
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There had been an uncomfortable silence between Kurama and Sayuri ever since they had sat down to eat. Kurama was trying to figure out how to breach the subject of Karasu, and the fact that he suspected she was a demon, without insulting her. Sayuri was thinking of the two bracelets on her wrist, which she had deducted were the things that Karasu sent her after, and why he wanted them. Finally, both decided just to come out with it.
"How do you…?"
"Do you know…?"
They both spoke at the same time. Sayuri fell silent and looked at Kurama to ask him to speak first. He sighed before starting.
"How do you know Karasu?"
Sayuri tensed, and her eyes were filled with an intense hatred. "I…well…he…" She stopped for a moment, trying to figure out how to word it without giving too much away. "He sends me on assignments for him."
Whatever Kurama had been expecting, that wasn't it. His eyes widened slightly in shock. He kept his eyes fixed on Sayuri's as he asked his next question. "Are you aware that Karasu is a demon?"
It was Sayuri's turn to be shocked. "How…how…how do you know about demons?" she stuttered. It would be just her luck to stumble across a Spirit Detective now.
"Are you a demon?"
It seemed to Sayuri that her redheaded rescuer was just as much a good interrogator as he was a kind host. "No!" she denied hotly. But his green eyes were trained upon hers, compelling her to tell the truth. "Maybe…kind of…" She pulled her eyes away from his. "Half," she finally conceded, and Kurama sensed that she was telling the truth.
There was something about her hiding the truth in such a matter that told him that there was a lot more to the story behind her and Karasu than a simple errand running assignment. He wanted to find out more, but to do that, clearly he would need to gain her trust. And to gain that trust he would have to give out just as much as he asked for.
"How do I know about demons, you ask?" That was enough to get Sayuri's eyes to turn back to him once again. "Because I am one…more or less…" Her sapphire orbs widened, once again, in shock. "My soul is a demon's soul, reborn into a human body. Therefore, I am both human and demon, as are you."
"So…who are you?" Sayuri asked tentatively.
"Here, in the Human world, I am Suiichi Minamino, as I have already told you. But I am better known in the Demon world as Youko Kurama, infamous fox demon thief. Please call me Kurama, as my friends do."
"Youko Kurama…" Sayuri slumped forward onto the table as she murmured the name. Even growing up in the human world, she had heard stories about the demon thief by that name.
Who would have thought that Suiichi Minamino could be the legendary thief Youko Kurama? Wait… Youko Kurama… The infamous thief with a wealth of knowledge about all things rare… Maybe he knows something about these bracelets…
Sayuri's head shot up off the table as she sat up straight, fueled by the knowledge that she might know what Karasu wanted with the pair of bracelets she had mysteriously acquired.
"Do you know what these are?" Sayuri held out her right arm across the table for Kurama to see.
His eyebrows came together in confusion. "Bracelets?" he answered, vaguely and uncertainly.
"No, I knew that already. But…there must be something more to these bracelets than what meets the eye…"
"You mean," Kurama started in a questioning tone of voice, "that you have these bracelets, but you don't know what they do? And why are you convinced that they are anything more than simple bracelets?"
Sayuri had become much more enthusiastic. "Because Karasu wouldn't want them if they were ordinary bracelets," Sayuri explained patiently.
"So…Karasu send you to get these bracelets?"
"Exactly!"
"And where did you get them from?"
Sayuri's face fell, and a slight flush rose in her cheeks. "That's the thing…" she started slowly. "I don't remember…"
Kurama had started fitting pieces into place in his mind. Karasu sent her after the bracelets, which were guarded. When she got past the guards and successfully away from the scene of the crime, Koenma sent Yusuke and Kuwabara after her. That must be what happened! Then she got away from Yusuke and managed to find her way here…
"How did you get those wounds?"
Sayuri looked at the table sheepishly. "I don't remember that either…"
"So these bracelets…Karasu wants them, and we don't know why. You can't remember stealing them, or fighting with the Spirit Detectives. Has this…"
"Wait!" Sayuri cried in a slightly strangled tone of voice. "I fought…who?"
"The Spirit Detectives. Yusuke Urameshi and Kazuma Kuwabara."
"How do you know?"
Kurama ran a hand through his red hair. "I am actually on very friendly terms with the Spirit Detectives, and assist them when my abilities are required. The wounds you have sustained match their weapons and fighting style. It was simple to put two and two together."
Sayuri looked horrified. Her eyes were wide, and her face was pale. "You're…you're a Spirit Detective?"
"When need be," the redhead replied. It was then that he noticed the expression on Sayuri's face. He chuckled softly. "Don't worry," he said, reassuringly. "I'm not going to arrest you. I believe you weren't acting of your own free will."
"What evidence do you have?"
"Loss of memory, or gaps in your memory, to be more precise, is a common side effect of brain control."
"Brain control?" Sayuri sounded desperate.
"Indeed," Kurama confirmed, his eyes boring into hers.
A quiet moan of despair escaped Sayuri's lips as she slid forward and started banging her head on the table. Kurama tried not to laugh as the blonde teenager repeatedly hit the table.
"That's not going to help," he said softly.
"Well," Sayuri said while sitting back up, "it was worth a try." She shrugged, and Kurama couldn't hide his laughter any more.
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"You did WHAT?" A very angry, pacifier-sucking ruler of the Spirit World had jumped onto his desk. "I sent you on that mission days ago!" He was currently yelling at two Spirit Detectives who had botched their last case. "The least you could have done was come back and tell me AS SOON AS YOU BOTCHED IT UP! Now that you waited for two days to come and tell me that you let her escape, the trail is cold again, and you'll have to find her all over. That, or wait until she steals something else vital to the survival of all three worlds!"
"Hey! Let's get this straight, pacifier breath! We didn't let her escape! She ran away!" Yusuke protested heatedly.
"But the point is she got away. And now you have to find her all over again. Except, this time, she's had a two day head start." Koenma shook his head. "This time, Hiei and Kurama are coming with you. You won't mess it up with them around. Now go," the toddler ruler concluded wearily. "Go get Hiei and Kurama, then try and hunt Demon X down."
"But…it's the middle of the night!"
"Fine, crybaby. You can wait until morning. You've waited for two days, after all." Koenma sat back in his seat, still fuming. "Oh, and Boton, if I catch you listening through closed doors again…" He trailed off menacingly.
Yusuke and Kuwabara heard a squeak from the other side of the closed office door. "Yes sir, Koenma, sir," came a soft, scared voice that they all identified as the bubbly Grim Reaper's.
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"But, Suii…Kurama? Do you have any idea what these bracelets do?" Sayuri had gotten over the shock of learning that her mind had been controlled by Karasu, and was now intent upon finding out the reason Karasu wanted the bracelets. She held her right arm out to Kurama, so he could see the bracelets clearly. He stared at the bracelets for a moment, concentrating.
"May I see one? Their energy pattern is…different from anything I've ever encountered before…" Hastily, Sayuri removed a bracelet from her wrist and handed it to Kurama. He put it on his wrist and began to examine it. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he jumped up from his seat.
"What's wrong? What is it?" Sayuri called in concern.
"These…" Kurama's voice was trembling with some emotion Sayuri couldn't place. "Are you going to give these to Karasu?"
Sayuri looked confusedly at the kitsune at his suddenly urgent tone of voice. "Why? Are they that important?"
"You don't know what these are, do you?" Kurama's voice was deadly serious. When Sayuri shook her head to affirm the negative, he sighed before explaining. "These bracelets have exceptional ability to harness your Spirit Energy and multiply it, causing any techniques using Spirit Energy to be multiplies in power many times their normal strength."
"Gods…" Sayuri gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
Kurama sat back down, removed the bracelet from his wrist and returned it to the girl. "I take it that means that you are aware of Karasu's special…talent." He locked eyes with Sayuri. "You must make sure that he never gets ahold of those bracelets. If he does, the entire world could be forfeit."
He stood up and started to leave, his intention being to give Sayuri some time to think. But as he was about to exit the room, he turned to look at the girl one last time. Her head was in her hands, and she was staring down at the table. Her back was shaking slightly, almost as if she were crying, but the kitsune could see no tears coming from the half-demon's eyes. He could hear her mumbling to herself.
"What am I supposed to do? What the hell am I supposed to do? Oh, sis…"
Kurama couldn't help but walk back over to Sayuri and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If you're ever overwhelmed and need to talk, or if you require the assistance of the Spirit Detectives, you know where to come."
His tone of voice as much as his words made Sayuri turn her head to look at him. The kind smile that graced his lips begged for some sort of response. "Th…thank you, Su…Kurama."
She caught his gaze, his emerald eyes compelling her sapphire ones. After a moment, she felt as if she were trapped in those green orbs, falling down into the depths of infinity…
Sayuri blinked, then shook her head and stared at the table again. Without another word, Kurama turned around and headed out of the room.
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If he wants these so bad, he'll be coming after me. I can't hide from him forever… But, I put those around me in danger. I'm sorry… I must go. He'll track me down. I don't want you involved. I never thought I would find a friend here, someone else who knows the pain and torment Karasu can invoke with just a single touch… I don't want him to find you… I don't want him to kill you…my friend. Farewell, kitsune…
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Kurama slept late the next morning, and expected to find Sayuri still asleep at the kitchen table, where he had left her the night before. But it was only a minor shock for him to see the table empty. He fried up some eggs and bacon, then went down the hall and knocked on the room that he had let Sayuri use. When there was no response, he chuckled, thinking her still asleep in bed. Yet, when he opened the door, he didn't expect what he saw.
The bed was empty, and still made. It looked as if no one had slept in it that night. Her clothes, freshly washed, had been taken off the chair where he had left them last night, and the clothes that he had lent her took their place. But the thing that caught Kurama's eyes the most was a sheet of paper in the middle of the bed.
He picked it up, his eyes scanning the loopy, somewhat messy writing.
Thank you for all that you have done for me over the last couple of days. You had no reason to help me, yet you did anyway. Dare I say the infamous Youko Kurama is going soft? Or is that Suiichi Minamino shining through? Whatever the answer, your courtesy has given me many answers that I needed to know, and a direction to follow next. But I must walk that path alone. Karasu is after the bracelets, and after me. The less people around me, the fewer I put in danger. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you were killed just because you let me stay at your house. Again, that you for all you've done. It is very much appreciated, my friend. Our paths will cross again. Next time, I hope that our meeting will be happier.
Kurama clenched his fist, crumpling the note still in his hand. "Stupid idiot. He'll find her. Better for us for him to find her with the Spirit Detectives protecting her, rather than her being alone." He let out a deep breath. "But there is no way I can find her…" He looked out the window as if searching for the girl who had left his house in the middle of the night. "Good luck, my friend. I hope that the three worlds don't perish because of your mistake…"
Author's Note: Well, there ya have it! Chapter three! Hope y'all enjoyed that!
*groans* School starts tomorrow. I don't wanna go to school…
Oh and one thing… If y'all read Hatsuri Botosai's Yu Yu fics, well…we often share ideas and talk them through so that they'll conceivably work. One reason why they might seem similar…
And if you haven't read, I suggest you do.
Newayz, must go. I want to get this posted, then change my bio. I'm ripping this idea off of Kaeru, if you don't mind, but I'm gonna put quotes from some of my fics in my bio, the real funny ones.
And please, don't forget to review on your way out! Have a nice back to school time! ^_^