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Chapter 13

The metal against her neck pressed deeper into her skin. Kat choked on what to say. 'It can't be....It can't be!'

"Answer me!" the voice demanded.

Kat was turned around roughly to meet the gaze of someone she thought she would never see again. Golden eyes glared at her.

"Kurama?" Kat asked somewhat disappointed.

The fox demon stared at the girl in front of him.

"You don't remember me?" Kat asked.

The demon removed his blade, "Should I?"

"I saved you from the hunter's trap. You don't remember?" Kat asked.

"A yoko never forgets. You're Katsura? You look so different," Kurama said.

Kat smiled, "Well, it's been about six years since we've seen each other. Uh, could I ask what you're doing here?"

The yoko smiled, "I couldn't resist all the excitement."

"I never thought you'd be the one for fairs. How are you disguising yourself? Hasn't anyone else seen your ears?" Kat tweaked his ears for emphasis.

"There's a spell on me. Only people who have been pricked by a black rose or are part demon are able to see through it. You don't really smell demon. Mind telling me how you came across a black rose?" he asked.

"Saku brought it to me. She's the daughter of an ancient guardian spirit. I've heard tales of a patch of black roses growing in the heart of the forest," Kat said.

'How did she acquire a guardian of such power? Why would she need something as powerful as a wolf guardian?' "I've been there before. You should see it for yourself. That still doesn't explain how you were pricked by a black rose though. I'm sure you already know that it's bad luck," Kurama said.

Kat rubbed the finger that had been pricked, "I guess I just wasn't paying attention. The rose must have slipped and pricked me."

'But there is only one thorn on a black rose.' "Well hopefully, you won't get too much bad luck. There isn't a cure for it so you'll just have to wait it out," Kurama told Kat.

"Being the smartest and slyest being that roams the forest I would have thought you'd have a cure," Kat said.

Kurama pulled a white rose from behind his silver hair and handed it to Kat. She put it in her hair, "Beautiful. You still have the gift of manipulating plants?"

"I always will," he said as a flower blossomed from a near by pot to prove his point.

Kat caught the familiar ki of Vash's spirit. "You can come out now," Kat and Kurama said in unison. Vash, gun drawn, stepped from the shadows. "How much have you heard?" Kat asked.

Vash glared at Kurama, "I've heard enough to know he's lying."

"About what?" Kat asked.

"For one, he's not huma-"

"So you didn't hear it all did you?" Kat said cutting him off, "Kurama is a yoko that I saved from a trap years ago. He is disguised as a human to blend in more."

Kurama whispered to Kat, "Do you know that this man isn't human either?"

Kat nodded, "Vash put the gun away, Kurama may be a fox but he wouldn't lie to me."

"Do you know that he's over 100 years old?" Kurama asked her again.

"You are too," Vash muttered to himself.

Kat sighed, "Enough with the hostility! Come on! Let's go have some fun!" 'The red. What happened to the red I saw?'

(A/N: Did you like the small twist? The red was a ripple/ flaw in Kurama's spell that allowed her to see the red from his human form. PLEASE REVIEW!!!)