Kokoro No Kaitou : Once Lost, Now Found
Chapter 7
~*~
Kurama sighed. What was he going to tell Naomi? Would he have to be the one to tell her that he was her father?
He knew how he'd feel if he was in her position. He'd hate his father if he had never known him, and he suddenly showed up and said, 'Hey, I'm your dad, by the way'. He didn't want her to hate him…
He looked over at Amaya, who was laying on another futon. She was pale, and her breathing was slightly labored. He reached out and brushed some hair out of her face.
"You idiot…" He said quietly. Truthfully, he was mad at her. Sure, he would've been upset if his mother had died, but the mother of his child? That seemed to be worse at the moment. He hadn't seen her in seventeen years, and now he was going to lose her.
The door behind him opened, and Kano entered.
"Kurama, how is she?" He asked, moving to sit next to his friend.
"She's…just sleeping." He replied.
"You said something about a girl…Naomi, I think." Kano said. "Who is she?"
"My daughter." Kurama said. He didn't take his eyes off of Amaya.
"Your…WHAT?!" Kano exclaimed.
Kurama whirled around and smacked his friend in the back of his head.
"Baka! Don't be so loud! You'll wake her up!" He hissed.
"Damn, you're worse than Dawn!" He said, wincing as he clutched his head.
"Kurama…who's that?" Asked a soft voice.
He turned back and saw that Amaya was awake now. Her eyes had a glazed over look, and she was watching Kano.
Kano smiled, and knelt down beside her. "Hey, Amaya-chan. Long time no see." He said.
She gave him a slightly confused look. "Nani?"
"It's Kuronue. He apparently got reincarnated, as I did." Kurama said.
Her eyes widened. "Kuronue-kun?!"
She started to sit up, but Kano made her lay back down again.
"Relax. Amaya-chan. You don't have to get up." He said.
She smiled. "I'm really happy to see you."
He smiled back. "I'm happy to see you too."
"Have you met up with Midori-chan yet?" She asked.
"Yes. We already met up."
"I'm sure that's she's really happy. She's missed you a lot, you know." Amaya said quietly.
"I missed her too. And I missed you as well, Amaya." Kano said.
"How are you feeling?" Kurama asked.
She smiled at him. "I'm okay, Kurama-kun. I can tell that you're worried. Don't be."
He sighed. "How can I not be worried?" He smiled once more, and brushed some more hair out of her face. "It's hard not to be worried when you're sick like this, koishii."
"Kurama-kun, could you tell Naomi for me?" She asked.
"Tell her what?"
"That you're her father. I never did tell her." Amaya said quietly. She closed her eyes, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I've been such a terrible mother. Not letting my own daughter know her own past…"
"Amaya…"
Kano stood. "We'll tell her, Amaya-chan." He said.
"You just stay here and get some sleep." Kurama said. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Botan-san and Ayame-san will watch over you, okay?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck, and hugged him for a minute.
"Kurama-kun, I want you to know something." She whispered.
"What?"
"Ai shiteru." She whispered. "And just in case…sayonara."
"It's not goodbye." He said firmly. "I'm not going to lose you, okay? Kuronue and I will find a way to save you."
"I'm not scared, Kurama-kun. I'm really not…" She let go of him, and laid back down on the futon.
He stood, and smiled slightly. "Then you're very brave. Because I'd be scared, if I was in your position."
He turned and walked over to the door, and Kano walked out. The kitsune stopped in front of the door, and looked back at her.
"And Amaya?"
"Yes?"
"I love you too."
~*~
Kurama, Midori, Kano and Dawn all went back to Makai, and to the Shinobi village. Kurama didn't say a word the entire way, and Midori and Kano chatted quietly about what had been happening over the past seventeen years.
They climbed up the hill, and made it to the flat where the village was located. Naomi came running up to them, and she looked around.
"Where's my mom?"
Kurama hesitated before replying. "She…she's in Reikai."
"WHAT?!"
"No, she's not dead!" He exclaimed. "But…she got a bug."
Naomi stared at him for a second. "She…she what?"
"My mother had one, and Amaya forced the bug out of my mother's body and into her own." He said.
"Great! Just great!" She said, throwing her hands into the air. She put one hand on her hip. "Then that only leaves a few of us."
She wasn't saying anything, but Kurama could see her eyes watering up.
"I mean, there's you, me, these three, Hiei, Touya, and Shishiwakamaru left. Everyone else got a bug in some way, shape or form while you were away."
"Yusuke got one too?" Kurama asked.
"I just said that, you idiot!" She exclaimed. "Are you really that frickin' stupid?"
He was slightly surprised that his own daughter was talking to him like that, but then he remembered that she didn't know.
Kano finally snapped out of the daze that he had been in. "This is…Amaya-chan's daughter?"
She looked over at him. "And just who the hell are you?"
"Practically your uncle." He grumbled back. "Got the same personality as your father. Too damn arrogant."
"Who are you calling arrogant?!" She exclaimed, obviously missing the part about being like her father.
Kurama glared at him. "I'm not arrogant."
"You were." Kano replied, walking past Naomi, who was glaring at him.
Midori rolled her eyes, and started walking towards Shishiwakamaru's house. Dawn walked after her, taking in the surroundings of the village.
Kurama, Naomi, and Kano went into the house as well.
Dawn was busy taking in the decorations of the house, and didn't see Hiei until after she had bumped into him.
He narrowed his crimson eyes at her. "Watch where you're walking, ningen."
She glared right back. "Sorry. Didn't see you. You were too damn short."
They just glared at each other until Kano walked in. "Hey, it's Hiei!"
Hiei then glared at him. "And who are you?"
"You're the same as always, three-eyes." Kano snickered.
Hiei's eyes widened slightly, for a split second. "Damn. I was hoping to never have to see you again."
"Nice to see you too, Hiei." Kano said, walking past him and into the kitchen. He snatched an apple up off of the counter, and took a bite out of it.
Dawn rolled her eyes, and then walked down into the hall, where Midori had disappeared.
"I assume that you and Midori didn't have quite so much of a rocky meeting as Kurama and Amaya did." Hiei said.
"Nah. We hugged, caught up, and all that stuff." Kano said.
"So, do you have a ningen name, like Kurama?" Hiei asked.
"Kano. Watanabe Kano." He replied. "Dawn's my twin."
"That's great, but I don't give a damn about her." The fire-ice youkai said, rolling his eyes.
Kano grinned. "Betcha you do. Betcha think she's reeeaaaaal cute. Probably the best girl you can get without scaring off with your third eye."
Hiei growled. "Don't make me slit your precious voice box."
"Oooohh! I'm trembling over here in my fake leather boots!" Kano said sarcastically.
"And how would you know what kind of shoes you wear? Are you that conscious about them, or are you just gay?" Hiei retorted.
"Dawn told me. I never would've had a clue otherwise." Kano said. "Boots are boots are boots."
He rolled his eyes. "You're still a baka."
"And you're still a shrimp." The raven-haired boy replied. "Tell me, have you grown more than an inch?"
Hiei growled, and glared at Kano, who just grinned.
"I'm going to go outside. Go entertain yourself with some of the blue idiot's hair products. That's one thing that you two seem to have in common. A love for cheap hair gel."
He left, and Kano gaped after him.
"I don't gel my hair, just so you know!" He called loudly after him. "It's natural!!"
Midori came out of the back room, and glared at him. "Kuronue no baka! You woke everyone up!"
"Oops. Sorry, Midori-chan." He said.
She rolled her eyes. "That's okay. Just come on, and stop messing with Hiei. He's grumpy today."
Kano snickered, and followed her to the back room, where everyone was. Chuu was in the back corner, with Yusuke next to him. Beside the Tantei was Kuwabara, and beside him was Jin. Towards the front of the room was Suzuka.
Naomi was sitting by Jin's bed, and the wind master was guzzling down water by the jug. Each and every one of them with a bug seemed to get thirstier and thirstier by the second.
Chuu called, "Oi, Naomi-kun! Ya got any alcohol over there?"
Naomi stood and glared at him. "Chuu-kun, you shouldn't be drinking alcohol!" She walked over to him, and sat down next to him.
He gave her a lopsided grin. "Why not? I'm gonna die anyways."
She glared. "Don't say that."
He shrugged. "It's true."
She sighed, and hugged him. He seemed surprised, but did nothing to stop her.
"Chuu-kun, I don't want you to say that. The others and I are working on a way to save all of you." She said. She pulled away, and blushed. "Uh, I didn't mean to hug you."
He gave her another lopsided grin. "Tha's alrigh', sheila."
She sighed, and pulled out a bottle of water. "Here. Drink this instead."
"You're goin' to deny a dieing man a swig of his ol' bottle? Tha's jus' wrong, Naomi-kun." Chuu said, shaking his head.
She growled, and stood. Fine. You want your stupid alcohol, then you can have it."
She turned and stormed out of the room. Chuu stared after her, and Yusuke decided to speak up.
"So…that didn't go very well, did it?"
"No…it didn'." Chuu replied.
Naomi came storming back into the room, and thrust the giant jug into Chuu's hands.
"There." She said. "There's your stupid alcohol. It won't be the bugs that'll kill you - it'll be your stupid drinking habits."
He opened his mouth to say something, and she just left again.
Chuu sighed. "Well, here's to being the biggest idiot in the world." He said, raising the bottle slightly.
Yusuke gave him a sympathetic look. He and the warrior had been talking before Naomi had come in, and he knew how his friend felt about her.
Chuu chugged down the drink, and Yusuke chugged down his own drink of water.
Things were starting to get tense, and he could feel it. And he had a feeling that it was only going to get worse.
~*~
Author's Notes: I feel so sorry for Amaya. T____T And Naomi STILL doesn't know that Kurama is her father. But I absolutely loved the Hiei / Kuronue fight! It was priceless, just like the one between him and Youko.
Story Weaver1 : It wouldn't work if he did. Because…well, because I said so! LOL.
FieryKitsune : I'm sorry that it was depressing. Trust me, in the next chapter, things will lighten up. It may even seem a little out of place, but it's still good. But you'll have to wait. ^____^
DarkVixenNisha : She might, she might not. I haven't decided yet.
Suzaku no miko : No, I don't play that RPG. But I got the name firestarter from one of Stephen King's books. It's about a girl with pyrokinesis, which is what Dawn has.
miyako14 : Or I could be really mean and draw out the story, and not update for a loooooong, looooooooooooooong time…MWAHAHAHAHA!! …………By the way, I'm only kidding about that.
crimson7319 : Pain is good sometimes - it brings people closer together. Keep that in mind while you read- it'll probably come into play later. You'll see when it happens. Oooooohhh. I'm so mysterious…LOL.
Sycogerl64 : I should kill everyone just as a joke. LOL. I'm only kidding.
Chapter 7
~*~
Kurama sighed. What was he going to tell Naomi? Would he have to be the one to tell her that he was her father?
He knew how he'd feel if he was in her position. He'd hate his father if he had never known him, and he suddenly showed up and said, 'Hey, I'm your dad, by the way'. He didn't want her to hate him…
He looked over at Amaya, who was laying on another futon. She was pale, and her breathing was slightly labored. He reached out and brushed some hair out of her face.
"You idiot…" He said quietly. Truthfully, he was mad at her. Sure, he would've been upset if his mother had died, but the mother of his child? That seemed to be worse at the moment. He hadn't seen her in seventeen years, and now he was going to lose her.
The door behind him opened, and Kano entered.
"Kurama, how is she?" He asked, moving to sit next to his friend.
"She's…just sleeping." He replied.
"You said something about a girl…Naomi, I think." Kano said. "Who is she?"
"My daughter." Kurama said. He didn't take his eyes off of Amaya.
"Your…WHAT?!" Kano exclaimed.
Kurama whirled around and smacked his friend in the back of his head.
"Baka! Don't be so loud! You'll wake her up!" He hissed.
"Damn, you're worse than Dawn!" He said, wincing as he clutched his head.
"Kurama…who's that?" Asked a soft voice.
He turned back and saw that Amaya was awake now. Her eyes had a glazed over look, and she was watching Kano.
Kano smiled, and knelt down beside her. "Hey, Amaya-chan. Long time no see." He said.
She gave him a slightly confused look. "Nani?"
"It's Kuronue. He apparently got reincarnated, as I did." Kurama said.
Her eyes widened. "Kuronue-kun?!"
She started to sit up, but Kano made her lay back down again.
"Relax. Amaya-chan. You don't have to get up." He said.
She smiled. "I'm really happy to see you."
He smiled back. "I'm happy to see you too."
"Have you met up with Midori-chan yet?" She asked.
"Yes. We already met up."
"I'm sure that's she's really happy. She's missed you a lot, you know." Amaya said quietly.
"I missed her too. And I missed you as well, Amaya." Kano said.
"How are you feeling?" Kurama asked.
She smiled at him. "I'm okay, Kurama-kun. I can tell that you're worried. Don't be."
He sighed. "How can I not be worried?" He smiled once more, and brushed some more hair out of her face. "It's hard not to be worried when you're sick like this, koishii."
"Kurama-kun, could you tell Naomi for me?" She asked.
"Tell her what?"
"That you're her father. I never did tell her." Amaya said quietly. She closed her eyes, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I've been such a terrible mother. Not letting my own daughter know her own past…"
"Amaya…"
Kano stood. "We'll tell her, Amaya-chan." He said.
"You just stay here and get some sleep." Kurama said. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Botan-san and Ayame-san will watch over you, okay?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck, and hugged him for a minute.
"Kurama-kun, I want you to know something." She whispered.
"What?"
"Ai shiteru." She whispered. "And just in case…sayonara."
"It's not goodbye." He said firmly. "I'm not going to lose you, okay? Kuronue and I will find a way to save you."
"I'm not scared, Kurama-kun. I'm really not…" She let go of him, and laid back down on the futon.
He stood, and smiled slightly. "Then you're very brave. Because I'd be scared, if I was in your position."
He turned and walked over to the door, and Kano walked out. The kitsune stopped in front of the door, and looked back at her.
"And Amaya?"
"Yes?"
"I love you too."
~*~
Kurama, Midori, Kano and Dawn all went back to Makai, and to the Shinobi village. Kurama didn't say a word the entire way, and Midori and Kano chatted quietly about what had been happening over the past seventeen years.
They climbed up the hill, and made it to the flat where the village was located. Naomi came running up to them, and she looked around.
"Where's my mom?"
Kurama hesitated before replying. "She…she's in Reikai."
"WHAT?!"
"No, she's not dead!" He exclaimed. "But…she got a bug."
Naomi stared at him for a second. "She…she what?"
"My mother had one, and Amaya forced the bug out of my mother's body and into her own." He said.
"Great! Just great!" She said, throwing her hands into the air. She put one hand on her hip. "Then that only leaves a few of us."
She wasn't saying anything, but Kurama could see her eyes watering up.
"I mean, there's you, me, these three, Hiei, Touya, and Shishiwakamaru left. Everyone else got a bug in some way, shape or form while you were away."
"Yusuke got one too?" Kurama asked.
"I just said that, you idiot!" She exclaimed. "Are you really that frickin' stupid?"
He was slightly surprised that his own daughter was talking to him like that, but then he remembered that she didn't know.
Kano finally snapped out of the daze that he had been in. "This is…Amaya-chan's daughter?"
She looked over at him. "And just who the hell are you?"
"Practically your uncle." He grumbled back. "Got the same personality as your father. Too damn arrogant."
"Who are you calling arrogant?!" She exclaimed, obviously missing the part about being like her father.
Kurama glared at him. "I'm not arrogant."
"You were." Kano replied, walking past Naomi, who was glaring at him.
Midori rolled her eyes, and started walking towards Shishiwakamaru's house. Dawn walked after her, taking in the surroundings of the village.
Kurama, Naomi, and Kano went into the house as well.
Dawn was busy taking in the decorations of the house, and didn't see Hiei until after she had bumped into him.
He narrowed his crimson eyes at her. "Watch where you're walking, ningen."
She glared right back. "Sorry. Didn't see you. You were too damn short."
They just glared at each other until Kano walked in. "Hey, it's Hiei!"
Hiei then glared at him. "And who are you?"
"You're the same as always, three-eyes." Kano snickered.
Hiei's eyes widened slightly, for a split second. "Damn. I was hoping to never have to see you again."
"Nice to see you too, Hiei." Kano said, walking past him and into the kitchen. He snatched an apple up off of the counter, and took a bite out of it.
Dawn rolled her eyes, and then walked down into the hall, where Midori had disappeared.
"I assume that you and Midori didn't have quite so much of a rocky meeting as Kurama and Amaya did." Hiei said.
"Nah. We hugged, caught up, and all that stuff." Kano said.
"So, do you have a ningen name, like Kurama?" Hiei asked.
"Kano. Watanabe Kano." He replied. "Dawn's my twin."
"That's great, but I don't give a damn about her." The fire-ice youkai said, rolling his eyes.
Kano grinned. "Betcha you do. Betcha think she's reeeaaaaal cute. Probably the best girl you can get without scaring off with your third eye."
Hiei growled. "Don't make me slit your precious voice box."
"Oooohh! I'm trembling over here in my fake leather boots!" Kano said sarcastically.
"And how would you know what kind of shoes you wear? Are you that conscious about them, or are you just gay?" Hiei retorted.
"Dawn told me. I never would've had a clue otherwise." Kano said. "Boots are boots are boots."
He rolled his eyes. "You're still a baka."
"And you're still a shrimp." The raven-haired boy replied. "Tell me, have you grown more than an inch?"
Hiei growled, and glared at Kano, who just grinned.
"I'm going to go outside. Go entertain yourself with some of the blue idiot's hair products. That's one thing that you two seem to have in common. A love for cheap hair gel."
He left, and Kano gaped after him.
"I don't gel my hair, just so you know!" He called loudly after him. "It's natural!!"
Midori came out of the back room, and glared at him. "Kuronue no baka! You woke everyone up!"
"Oops. Sorry, Midori-chan." He said.
She rolled her eyes. "That's okay. Just come on, and stop messing with Hiei. He's grumpy today."
Kano snickered, and followed her to the back room, where everyone was. Chuu was in the back corner, with Yusuke next to him. Beside the Tantei was Kuwabara, and beside him was Jin. Towards the front of the room was Suzuka.
Naomi was sitting by Jin's bed, and the wind master was guzzling down water by the jug. Each and every one of them with a bug seemed to get thirstier and thirstier by the second.
Chuu called, "Oi, Naomi-kun! Ya got any alcohol over there?"
Naomi stood and glared at him. "Chuu-kun, you shouldn't be drinking alcohol!" She walked over to him, and sat down next to him.
He gave her a lopsided grin. "Why not? I'm gonna die anyways."
She glared. "Don't say that."
He shrugged. "It's true."
She sighed, and hugged him. He seemed surprised, but did nothing to stop her.
"Chuu-kun, I don't want you to say that. The others and I are working on a way to save all of you." She said. She pulled away, and blushed. "Uh, I didn't mean to hug you."
He gave her another lopsided grin. "Tha's alrigh', sheila."
She sighed, and pulled out a bottle of water. "Here. Drink this instead."
"You're goin' to deny a dieing man a swig of his ol' bottle? Tha's jus' wrong, Naomi-kun." Chuu said, shaking his head.
She growled, and stood. Fine. You want your stupid alcohol, then you can have it."
She turned and stormed out of the room. Chuu stared after her, and Yusuke decided to speak up.
"So…that didn't go very well, did it?"
"No…it didn'." Chuu replied.
Naomi came storming back into the room, and thrust the giant jug into Chuu's hands.
"There." She said. "There's your stupid alcohol. It won't be the bugs that'll kill you - it'll be your stupid drinking habits."
He opened his mouth to say something, and she just left again.
Chuu sighed. "Well, here's to being the biggest idiot in the world." He said, raising the bottle slightly.
Yusuke gave him a sympathetic look. He and the warrior had been talking before Naomi had come in, and he knew how his friend felt about her.
Chuu chugged down the drink, and Yusuke chugged down his own drink of water.
Things were starting to get tense, and he could feel it. And he had a feeling that it was only going to get worse.
~*~
Author's Notes: I feel so sorry for Amaya. T____T And Naomi STILL doesn't know that Kurama is her father. But I absolutely loved the Hiei / Kuronue fight! It was priceless, just like the one between him and Youko.
Story Weaver1 : It wouldn't work if he did. Because…well, because I said so! LOL.
FieryKitsune : I'm sorry that it was depressing. Trust me, in the next chapter, things will lighten up. It may even seem a little out of place, but it's still good. But you'll have to wait. ^____^
DarkVixenNisha : She might, she might not. I haven't decided yet.
Suzaku no miko : No, I don't play that RPG. But I got the name firestarter from one of Stephen King's books. It's about a girl with pyrokinesis, which is what Dawn has.
miyako14 : Or I could be really mean and draw out the story, and not update for a loooooong, looooooooooooooong time…MWAHAHAHAHA!! …………By the way, I'm only kidding about that.
crimson7319 : Pain is good sometimes - it brings people closer together. Keep that in mind while you read- it'll probably come into play later. You'll see when it happens. Oooooohhh. I'm so mysterious…LOL.
Sycogerl64 : I should kill everyone just as a joke. LOL. I'm only kidding.