Fox Games:
Chapter 3- Return



Unfortunately Kurama's mother never did the entire story out of him. For as soon as he awoke, Boton appeared, floating on her oar outside his window. He stared back in dull recognition.

"Kurama!" her chipper voice called. "Koenma is summoning the entire Urameshi Team. He needs you to go on another mission for him, this one of extreme importance!"

Kurama nodded and stiffly got up from the window seat. Boton watched him worriedly; he seemed to be getting worse and worse as time went on. But soon she sighed and disappeared once more into the sky, she couldn't afford to stay any longer, Koenma needed her and if this mission was as dire as he made it out to be, then she had better go as fast as she could.

Ten minutes later Kurama left the house and walked slowly down to their usual meeting place. The air smelled fresh and slightly damp as blew gently past his sunken face. Everything was wet and shining as if it had all been reborn and this was the first day of new life. Kurama's hair wrapped gently around his head and shoulders as he approached the tree where the team usually met. He could already see Kuwabara, his bright orange hair making him stick out from a mile away, and the shorter, more slender form of Yusuke standing next to him. The two were now inseparable, their rivalry having progressed into a friendship so strong it seemed nothing in the world could break it. Hiei's small black form was reclining on a branch over their heads and Boton's blue head was visible close to the ground where she was sitting and leaning against the tree trunk. He also saw a less familiar form standing there, and as he got closer her recognized it as Koenma's teenage form. And mostly hidden behind the trunk of the tree stood one last form, wrapped in shadows and hidden by darkness.

Dull curiosity registered in Kurama's mind, but he was past the point where he cared about anything anymore and just ignored it. Ambling up he stopped at the edge of the group and looked distractedly at the Spirit World Ruler. Koenma cleared his throat.

"It's like this," he said. "One of Spirit World's most important officials has been taken prisoner. I need you to track down the kidnapper, find out what he wants, and get back the person, whose name is Rosensa Utamari. The culprit is a demon named Butari and his strength is like nothing I have seen. You must be careful and tread cautiously, for he is full of tricks and treachery. Be wary of his power and above all, guard each other's lives with everything you've got."

Flicking his long brown bangs out of his eyes, the Spirit World ruler ended his speech and stood waiting as the people around him took in this new information.

"Power like nothing you've seen, eh?" Yusuke said, seeming unconcerned.

"Well, nothing like I've seen since...well...never mind who, it doesn't matter," Koenma went on. Yusuke raised his eyebrow but before he could ask anything Koenma continued, "Put it this way, Butari' makes Togoro look like an untrained novice." He stared out from under the fringe of hair covering his eyes with a piercing look.

Kuwabara gulped and Yusuke's eyes widened. Hiei, however, answered only with his trademark "Hn."

"Which is why," Koenma added, seeing the reactions. "I've asked a special someone to help you on this mission." He gestured to the figure still hidden in the shadows. The whole time he had been speaking, the person had remained hidden and said nothing. He turned now to the shadowy form.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, the slender form slid forward, the shadows running off them like water. Golden hair glinted and a sword swung by the slender waist. Haven stepped into the half-sunlight and stopped, her face expressionless and empty. Kuwabara made a strangled noise in his throat and Yusuke started. Hiei's eyes widened and he jumped down off the branch he had been sitting on. Kurama, gazing off at the distance, looked back uninterestedly when he heard Kuwabara.

It was as if the world has stopped. Time froze and all life ceased to be except for him and the golden girl standing a few paces from him. His mouth fell open slightly and his eyes sparked. Haven. There was no sound as he took one small, slow step towards her and the very earth upon which he stood seemed to tremble. There was so much to say and so little time to say it; apologies, explanations swirled in his mind. He had run over thousands, no millions, of times what he would say and do when and if he ever saw her again. Rehearsed and re-rehearsed they had finally molded themselves into one final speech, one last and final plea for forgiveness.

But as he took that one, small step forward, she sprang back, alarm lighting her eyes and painting her face. The world came alive again and everyone was talking at once. "Haven..." Kurama whispered, unheard over everyone else's clamor. But she would not meet his eyes, would not even look at him. And Kurama's heart sank. She wasn't going to listen; wasn't going to forgive him. Not this time.

He could see it in her eyes, or rather, see what was not in her eyes. She nodded to the others and returned their embraces mechanically. Her eyes remained lifeless, the trademark spark that Kurama knew so well wasn't there. And her face, her beautiful face that would make a goddess cry had once more reverted to a mask of nothingness. All the pain, sorrow, and anguish she had known in her life was now buried deep inside, deeper then before even and the worst part was, her walls were back up. It had taken so much effort on his part, and the others' to so much as get her to talk when they had first met her. And there had been many tears on her part and much pain for the others, hearing what she had gone through.

And he had promised her that he would never do what the others had done, he would never hurt her or leave her, and she had believed him. He had promised her happiness, the ultimate happiness and she had put her trust in him, opened her scarred heart to him in hopes of being healed. But he had done nothing to help her, all he had done was torn open those scars, causing her to bleed once more. The shame and horror that had haunted him for so many months now came flooding back once more. He had done this to her! It was his fault she wasn't happy with her life! It was his fault that she was now distanced from the group! They had been so close when she was there, even Hiei had been drawn out of his shell by her friendly, caring personality. But only those she let past her walls could she that she was just one of those people who seem to make everyone in the room with them feel awesome; her personality could draw out anyone and befriend them. She had even calmed most of the fighting between Kuwabara and Hiei, who never really hated each other in the first place, just liked to rile the other.

And so, with his burden displayed openly on his face, Kurama wandered off from the still noisy group and disappeared into the city. Hiei watched him go, his face impassive, eyes smoldering. He was going to get the two of them back together (where they belonged!!!) if it was the last thing he ever did. He hated seeing both of his friends like this, and he knew one would never be happy without the other. Healing Haven though was going to be a massive problem...Sighing, he turned back to the blank-faced kitsune girl before him and let the other kitsune walk off by himself.

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Kurama downed another bottle of sake and stumbled on drunken feet out the door into the dark, dirty streets of downtown. He walked for a few blocks, taking lurching steps, then slumped up against the wall of an apartment building. He fell to the ground with a thud and leaned his head back against the cool, grimy, bricks. His head swimming and his eyes blurred with drunkenness, he giggled to himself, then buried his head in his hands. Disjointed thoughts floated through his fogged mind, bits and pieces of realities and dreams moved sluggishly through the murky recesses of his brain.

Two hours passed before he finally stumbled to his feet and began to drag himself home. He wasn't worried about his mother, she was probably in bed by now, thinking him still out with his friends. His stomach gave a heave and he fell to knees on the sidewalk and threw up everything he had eaten that day. His entire body was shaking and his and mouth tasted horrible. Wiping his mouth on his shirt he fell over sideways and landed on his side, staring across the street at the empty windows of another decrepit building. His eyes fluttered and when he sensed a familiar ki he was too far gone into sleep to even rouse himself to a state of consciousness.

Haven looked down at the drunk, sleeping fox below her and said nothing. No emotion breaking through her much-used mask, she lifted the emancipated boy easily into her arms and in a swirl of breeze she was gone, bounding along the rooftops, carrying her former love home.