Well, here's Chapter 2 of my little fic. Some things will be revealed about Kurama's past. (I would like people to keep in mind that this does differ from his backstory in the actual animé slightly.) Some people may like what they read; others may not. It's all up to you. Read on, if you wish. For those that do, I thank you. ^^ Now then.... On with the story!
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As Kurama looked on in utter shock, he began to remember the last time that he'd seen her, all those years ago...
"Keita...Just look at you...You've grown so much..."
Keita cut a lovely figure. Slender and pale-skinned, her ebony hair contrasted sharply to her appearance. Her dark blue apparel added to her seemingly uncharacteristic look. But what struck Kurama so deeply were her eyes. Those crimson orbs had stayed the same for the past 30 years...
Kurama's thoughts were once again cut short as while she glared at her pursuer, she lifted her head to the forest canopy and let out a moaning howl. It reverberated all around the three of them, filling every corner of the clearing and going out beyond. The wind seemed to carry it away as the seconds ticked by. Then the hunter fired. Keita barely had time to let the bolt stray from piercing her skull, receiving a gazed left cheek in its place. She growled audibly at the hunter as he cursed and began reloading.
"I wouldn't try that again if I were you, Hunter."
The sound of Keita's hard voice made him freeze.
"Oh? And why is that? You've got nowhere to run, vixen. If you were going to try escaping again, you would have done it by now. By the looks of the way you're layin' there, though, you must've hurt that pretty little ankle of yours. You're as good as dead."
"I believe you have our situations switched about, as you're clearly surrounded with more than two dozen loaded longbows pointed directly at your head. You're the one who's as good as dead if you fire upon me again. The only harm your bolt could really do is give me a slightly deep wound."
Both Kurama and the hunter looked about at Keita's revelation and found the observation to be true.
All around them, kitsune[1] warriors stood at the ready, longbows drawn tight and ready to let their shafts fly should the hunter try to make a move. The hunter winced visibly as he knew he was caught between a rock and a hard place, and lowered his weapon. The kitsunes kept theirs up, however.
After a bit of struggling, Keita got to her feet and stood in the same spot, looking on at the hunter.
"I'll let you live provided you heed this warning. Leave this forest and never return. We wish to live in peace for the moment. We don't bother you humans, so don't bother us. We've done nothing to you. Just let us be."
"Heh. You stupid woman... We know you haven't done anything to us. That's not why we hunt you."
"Oh? Then why?! Why do you kill us?!"
"For the thrill!"
At that, an arrow flew from the hunter's left, which he had no time to block. The shaft pierced his head, killing him instantly. Keita looked sharply to the source of the shot and caught a furious glare in her eyes as she saw the archer.
"Obari! Why did you do that?!"
A tall, strong-looking kitsune stepped into the sunlight and began walking toward Keita. His large frame and the scars over both his eyes gave him quite the foreboding appearance. Despite this, Keita stood her ground.
"He deserved it."
"We both know that, but that only gives them more reason to come after us!"
"Open your eyes, Keita! Those bastards would come after us regardless! Now that they know we're here, we have to get them before they get us."
Keita sighed heavily at Obari's words, knowing he was right. The hunters had slowly but surely coming after them ever since that first day when one of them had stumbled across their old village by accident. Unfortunately, he escaped before anyone could catch hold of him and shut him up about it. As well as kitsune pelts sell on the Black Market, it wasn't long before Keita and her whole brood became marked demons.
As Keita looked up to speak to Obari again, she caught sight of Kurama. She immediately tensed and Obari drew his longbow, notching another arrow in preparation in case the stranger proved to be another threat.
Kurama, knowing he'd been spotted, came from out of his hiding place with his arms raised.
"I don't mean you any harm. I was just watching."
Keita sniffed the air briefly, then resumed her staring at Kurama.
"You don't smell entirely human. It's kind of familiar, now that I think about it."
"You may indeed remember me, Keita. I certainly remember you."
Obari drew his bow tighter and took more careful aim.
"Who are you to be able to speak to Keita that way? I never remember seeing you around here before."
Kurama smirked slightly at his comment.
"You wouldn't, I'm sure. But Keita wouldn't know me because she's never seen me in this form. She might remember me in my old one, however."
At that, Kurama's body began glowing with an eerie white light. All the kitsunes had to lower their bows and shield their eyes at its brightness. After a few moments, the glow faded and disappeared, and where the red-haired boy once stood, a white-haired kitsune took his place. Keita's eyes widened as she began walking slowly toward the figure, the slight twist in her ankle having healed by then.
"By Enma...It's you. Yoko...It's really you!"
Yoko smiled as Keita ran and threw her arms around him, embracing him tightly. He returned the gesture and kissed her head lightly.
"Yes, Keita. I'm back. I told you I would be."
"But that was all those years ago... And I heard you'd died in that heist you tried to pull... I really thought--"
"Don't worry about it, Keita. I'm here now. Live and in the fur. So to speak."
They both let go of each other and Yoko looked down at the shorter kitsune, surprised to see she had tears in her eyes.
"I see the past 30 years haven't affected your sense of humor."
"Actually, they have. For the better, you could say."
"You'll have to tell me everything! Everything you've done over the years! We have so much to catch up o--"
"Hold on!"
Keita turned at Obari's objection with a look of utter annoyance.
"You're telling me that's the legendary Yoko Kurama? The Kitsune King of Thieves? Don't make me laugh..."
Yoko moved Keita aside slightly as he moved toward Obari. He smirked slyly as he approached him, pulling a seed from his hair and immediately advancing it into its adult form, a beautiful red rose.
"Sounds as if you may have a problem with me, friend." Yoko said in an even tone. "I wouldn't want that to be the case. We only just met. Obari, right?"
"Don't talk to me like that, outsider! I'm Captain Obari to you! Only the Brood Mother can call me by my first name alone!"
Brood Mother? Keita? Well, that's something I never expected." Yoko thought. "Well, if that's the case, kindly forgive me, Captain. I did not mean to offend."
"Well, you did. And you have some nerve trying to pass yourself off as Yoko Kurama! Everyone knows he died 15 years ago trying to pull off some robbery."
"I assure you that rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated. It's a very long story that I don't choose to go into at the moment. Perhaps another time."
"You can say anything you want! I'll never believe that you're him."
"That's up to you. It only proves that you can never see what's right under your nose..."
This got a few chuckles from the gallery of kitsunes still looking on around the clearing. When Keita saw Obari start to seethe under his breath, she decided to step in.
"All right, that's enough. This is no time for arguing. We need to get back to the village. The old ones and the kits will be worried. Everyone, let's go! Balsar! Tetaru! Act as scouts!"
Immediately, two of the younger archers smartly saluted and ran off as fast as the Northern Wind [2] itself. The others soon followed, Obari going with them, but not without a final glare at Yoko, which was only met by a condescending smile.
"Well, it looks like I made a new friend."
"And what a friend to make." Keita replied. "But that doesn't matter now. All that matters is that we're together again..."
"I know, Keita. I know."
Yoko took Keita by the shoulders and kissed her deeply while the light slowly began creeping from the sky....
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Author's Notes: [1]Kitsune (kit-soon, or kit-sue-neigh)- Japanese for fox. Often in fanfics such as these, people use the term to refer to fox demons, as is the case here. ^^
[2]Northern Wind- This is actually a Pokémon reference, lol. Suicune is also known as the Northern Wind, and is famous not only for its beauty and purification ability, but for it's incredible speed. The Thunder Cat, or Raikou, is the fastest, however.
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It appears as if Yoko and Keita were more than just acquaintances back in the day. Just what will happen now that they're back together after 30 long years? And who spit in Obari's rice? * Find out in the next chapter! ^^
*Just another way of asking, "Why does Obari have such an attitude? lol
