Kokoro No Kaitou : Search For The Past



Chapter 7 : Youko's POV



~*~



I walked through the halls, carefully watching my surroundings. I wasn't going to get sneak attacked while I was here…



This whole place, this whole castle, it reeked of blood. I could faintly smell Amaya's mixed amongst that of the others. At least, it was similar to Amaya's.



I hoped that she was okay.



Kami-sama, why was I acting like this? I had had girlfriends before, but I had never stayed with the same girl for too long. Slept with them, and when I got bored, I'd leave them for another. But Amaya was different…I hadn't slept with her at all, despite the fact that we've been together for about three months so far. Hell, it wasn't because I didn't want to - no, I did. I wanted it more than anything, but she didn't want to. Why had I not just left her? Why? Why was I acting so differently, all because of that little tennyo?



She was always getting into trouble, and thus getting me into the same trouble. I had died because of her…



But while I would get angry about that sometimes, just one smile from her would chase that anger away, leaving me to wonder why I had ever thought badly of her in the first place.



This whole situation, her, they were all very confusing. She had changed me…



Kuronue had even mentioned it to me before. That I acted…different now. I wasn't necessarily kinder, just…just…



I heard a noise like shoes clacking down the stone hall, and quickly hid away in the shadows. I was wearing all white, and I needed a way to not be seen as easily…



I closed my eyes, and slipped back into my original kitsune form. I peeked out, and saw that it was only a lower level guard. Easy to kill, but if I did, an alarm might be raised…



I decided to just slip past him, and to look for Auron. That was my goal - find Amaya, and find Auron. Whichever I found first didn't matter to me.



I started running down the hall, trying to sniff out one of them. I could faintly smell someone with a scent similar to Amaya's…



I ran towards the door that the scent was coming from, and tried to push it open with my paw. Nothing.



I looked up, and realized that it was locked.



Baka kitsune. I thought. I reached up, and knocked off the lock quite easily. What's the point of locking a door, when it can be broken off so easily?



I pushed open the door with my paw, and entered. It was dark and dank, and the smell of blood was strongest here. I took a step forward, then looked down. I had just stepped in blood…



Nonetheless, I continued forward into the darkness. I could see a woman, chained to the wall, her hands held above her head. She had long, midnight-black hair, and a pale complexion. Was this the woman from Amaya's dream…?



She smelled almost exactly like Amaya. Why would that be?



She looked up at me weakly, and her sea-green eyes widened.



"A kitsune!" She breathed.



I padded over to her, and noticed that she was covered in cuts and gashes. I looked back up at her face, and was surprised to see a cut on her cheek, right where it had appeared on Amaya.



She smiled. "Are you here for her?"



Was she talking about…Amaya?



She kept smiling, and I wondered how she could when she seemed to be in so much pain.



"She should be in the room down the hall. The one with the crescent on the door." She said.



I gave her an odd look.



"Amaya."



Amaya? Damn! I'll be right back, whoever you are. I said as I ran back out the door. She seemed to be able to understand me to a degree in my kitsune form, which made me wonder who she was.



I ran down the hall until I came to the door with the crescent moon engraved on it. Just like the woman had said…



This door didn't have a lock on it however, so I pushed it open. This room was completely dark, with the exception of the little bit of light that came from the hall. Even with my night vision, I could barely make out the shape of a woman chained to the wall in the same position that the other woman had been in.



I slowly padded over to her, watching her face as I did. She seemed to be unconscious.



Amaya…? I called softly, despite the fact that she wouldn't be able to understand me. Nothing. No reply.



I walked up to her, and nudged her face. She stirred slightly.



Wake up! I said.



She lifted her head slightly, a dazed look on her face. I growled when I saw the bruise forming on her cheek. That bastard had hit her! I would rip him to shreds when I found him!



"Wha…what happened?" She mumbled. She looked at me, and it seemed to take her a minute to register what I was.



"Who…what…?" She mumbled again.



It's me, baka! Kurama! I growled. Kami-sama, what was her problem today?



"A gingitsune [silver fox]…" She said quietly. She smiled. "Like Kurama…"



I AM Kurama! I exclaimed. She must think that this is a dream or something!



"Come here, kawaii." She called.



I rolled my eyes. We were going to have a 'chat' later. As soon as I got her out of here.



"Ow!" She exclaimed. I gave her an odd look, and saw that she was looking up at her hands, which were suspended above her head. I saw that they were bleeding slightly, and the blood was running down her arms.



"Oh, Kami!" Amaya whimpered. "Oh, Kami-sama, please let this be just a dream. Please…"



I made a small noise, which brought her attention back to me.



Her eyes widened. "This isn't a dream! Kurama-kun…?"



I nodded, and closed my eyes. There wasn't anyone near here, so it would be okay to go back into my human form. I stepped away from her, and transformed.



"Kurama! It is you!" She exclaimed happily.



I looked back at her, and smirked. "Do you know any other gingitsunes?"



She smiled at me, and shook her head. "Only one."



I stood and walked back over to her, examining her wrists. They were bleeding and raw…damn Auron! I was going to kill him in the most brutal way possible!



"I need to break these somehow…" I said to myself.



"Would your plants work?" She asked.



"It's worth a try." I replied.



I summoned a plant, and it came up through the floor. It crawled up Amaya's side, and I noted that she seemed to be ticklish. That wasn't something that I would have expected…



Damn it, Kurama! Focus!



My plant wrapped around the metal, and I heard her sharply intake a breath when it touched her wrist. The plant tightened, and I smirked when the metal snapped with a satisfying crunch.



Amaya's arms fell, and she stood. I gently took her arms and looked at her wrists. They weren't as bad as they had seemed…



"Did…did Midori make it to you?" She asked.



I remembered what the phoenix had said about Amaya.



"Did you really make her leave you behind?" I questioned. I had to know…



She nodded. "Better one of us then both of us."



I sighed. "Baka!"



She looked taken aback, but I didn't care. "Come on, we need to get that girl from down the hall."



"Girl?" Amaya asked as we walked out the door.



"The one that told me that you were down here." I replied.



I froze, and Amaya bumped into me.



"Oof!" She stepped back. "Why did you stop?"



She peeked out past me, and saw what I had seen.



Auron, standing at the end of the hall. He growled.



"Kitsune, you're trying to take my tennyo, aren't you?" He asked.



I growled back. "I'm not here to take 'your tennyo', I'm here to take my mate."



"Your mate? I don't believe that you've marked her, kitsune." Auron retorted.



Damn. How would he know that though?



Amaya seemed very confused. "What?"



"Just stay back. I'm going to take this bastard down." I said, cracking my knuckles.



She took a step back, and I smirked.



"So, Auron. Why are you taking tennyos?" I asked. I needed to know before I ripped out his throat.



"Tennyos? I'm sorry, but that's confidential." He said. "If you really want to know, ask Sakyo, my employer."



I growled. Damn it!



"Kitsune, are you actually going to try to attack me, or are you just talk?" He said. He smirked.



Damn arrogant bastard!



I smirked back. "Right. I didn't know that you were so eager to die."



This was it. We were going to fight.



"You ready?" He asked, getting into fighting stance.



I got into fighting stance as well. "I was born ready."



~*~



Author's Notes: Stupid macho pride!! Well, Youko's going to fight, and the outcome will be pretty interesting. Oh, and we're going to be taking another vote - who wants amaya to get a few punches in on Auron?

Thanks to those who reviewed!

Story Weaver1 : Kurama as in the Kurama in the series. Red hair, green eyes, and sexy. Shuichi.

Shessha's Crazy : Thanks for the review!!

Seiyo-san : Hey! A new reviewer! What brings you to this humble little fic? Did you read the other two also?

miyako14 : You'll find out soon! Thanks for the review!!

Abby : Yeah, I wasn't sure if he was coming across as OOC, or just protective. I don't want him to be too OOC. And so far, I don't think that anyone has told me that they don't like them together! LOL. Midori really is one of my most favorite characters that I've ever made up.

Nyoko Fujiwara : Another new reviewer! Cool! Have you actually read the other two fics before this one? And she might see a little action - I don't know yet.



Review!!