Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, or any of these characters (though wouldn't it be funny if I did? Although, I don't think Hiei would appreciate being chained to the wall of my room…. I'd come home one day, only to find my house no longer existed and all that was left was a pile of ash).

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"So, you're Kurama," a soft voice purred from behind the fox, making him wheel around in startlement. 'Who's that?!?! And how do they know my true name?!?!'

He found himself face to face with an odd looking woman. She was tall, a little bit more so then Kurama's eight year old self, but not nearly so as his Youko body would be. Her long, wavy lavender hair fell softly around her face in soft curls, coming down to her knees. Her body was slim but strong, much resembling that of a dancer. But it was her eyes that were the most amazing. They were both bright yellow, like a cat's, and seemed to burn like two golden orbs of light. She was smiling slightly at him, studying him up and down.

"Who are you?" Kurama demanded. She was pretty, but that didn't mean much. Some of the most deadly animals were the most beautiful, drawing you closer, ever so seductively, until you were close enough to bite, in which they poisoned you and ate you alive. A gruesome death to be sure, and one Kurama would rather avoid. He doubted this young lady would try and poison him by biting his flesh, but one could never be too cautious. There are other ways to poison, then the poison of the body.

"Yes, I was told you were cautious, if not a little sly. My name, as you probably already know, is Koranu, or Wistful Willow." She smiled down at Kurama, watching the youth closely.

'THIS is Koranu?!?! I expected an old hag, not a pretty woman! She looks just like a youthful girl, not a three hundred year old demon half breed!' the fox thought in bewilderment.

Koranu raised a delicate eyebrow at him. "Surprised? Well, that's no shock, most people are surprised by my appearance. I expected better from you though. I was told that you were wise, so you should know better then to judge one by their looks, no matter what they be."

'Just what is going on?!?! How has she heard of me? I didn't talk to her before now, and nor did Ferret. By all accounts she should have never even heard of me. And how much does she know? Does she know of my past?"

"Come on," the woman told the bewildered fox, turning around and walking toward the door of the temple. "We must talk."

'Well, this is an interesting development,' the fox thought as he followed the woman inside. 'She trusts me enough to turn her back toward me. That's saying something right there. She knows she can trust me, but how does she know that?'

The room was small, with a simple wooden plank floor and walls, decorated with red paint. It was pretty but simple. They didn't stay long though, and instead went through to the other side, pushing open the sliding door and entered a small room, that had the look of a kitchen.

"Sit here," Koranu told the fox, motioning to a chair beside a small table with a light blue table cloth. He sat and waited patiently, looking up at her expectantly. Koranu, however, went behind the counter and picked up a bowling teapot of hot water. "Tea?" she asked him.

"Yes please," he said. "Green tea, if you have it." She nodded and turned back to one of the shelves, pulled out two packets of green tea. Then she turned to a new cabinet, took out two mugs, put the packets in, and poured boiling water in each one. The steam the arose as she poured seemed to dance above her head, playing games with the foxes mind and showing random pictures.

Koranu brought the two cups over and set one in front of Kurama. "There's milk and sugar if you like it English style," she told him, but he just shook his head. 'No point in wasting perfectly good tea with milk and sugar,' he thought.

Koranu poured a little drop of milk into her tea, stirred it three times, and set the spoon down. She sighed once and took a small sip of tea, as Kurama waited expectantly. She looked up at the demon gone human, and Kurama was surprised to find something in her eyes he had not seen before. It was age, pure and simple. As young as her body looked, Koranu was an old woman. She had seen many things in life: death, blood, lovers, and had a fair share of all. But there was only so much time one could take, and the time was beginning to catch up with her. Her eyes held so much wisdom, but so much pain and sadness. 'They're like my eyes,' Kurama thought surprised. 'Is that what people see when they look into my eyes?'

"I'm old, Kurama," she told the fox, sighing a little. "I'm old and tired, and it's becoming my time to move on. I have just enough time left to train a new student, but that's it. Before you know what you're getting into, know that after you are done with this training, I WILL die, and I do NOT want to be stopped. Is that clear?"

Kurama hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head quickly. He understood.

"Good. You probably have many questions to ask me. First, let me explain to you exactly what is going on.

"I am not a fighter. Before you agree to get any training from me, you must know this. I can fight, but it is not my best ability. My abilities focus on discipline. My style is based on the idea that discipline can over come everything. It is not the stronger one who wins the fight, it is the one with the most endurence.

"Also, many of my attributes are based around the earth, focusing on life, thus most of my weapons and things I can manipulate are plant related. I know you are the same as me in this fact, so we have nothing to worry about there.

"But let me explain something to you," she sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I have seen so much blood in the world, taken so many lives. I have killed thousands of people and felt so little remorse or regret. It is a terrible thing to kill and not weep over the life you have taken. I want, more then anything else in the world, to pass on my knowledge of this to someone else. It is not someone just anyone can understand. So, I had to look for the perfect pupil.

"This is where you come in. One of my abilities is my odd aura. I carry a kind of smoke about it, that apparently allows people to get premonitions when they are around me, including myself. In one of these just such premonitions, I saw you. I learned who you were, and a little bit about you. And I knew you were the perfect pupil for the style I want to pass on. So I waited for you to come. I waited for forty-six years for you to come, and finally, now, here you are."

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Hey again everyone!

I know this is a pretty short chapter, but I wanted to have something to put up before the weekend. I do, on the other hand, really like this chapter! Koranu is one of my favorite characters in this story, even though she's my own original one. She's pretty different then Genkai though, to all those who thought she was like her. You'll learn more about Koranu in the next chapter when they continue with their talk. New chapters should be up on Tuesday the 3rd, and will probably be a double sized one.

My new chapter for Ashes, Ashes is also up, for all those who want to read it, and like Yaoi. This is still my main story though, and I won't work on Ashes, Ashes quite as much. In fact, I'm not really all that fond of where that story is going. Oh well…

Sorry this is up so late in the day, but I went to the library after school, and then my brother had to get on the only computer with internet for homework. I finally convinced my mom to let me use her office computer, which is the one I'm typing on right now.

And you know what? Now only does it seem like most fanfic writers are girls, but most seem to be about 17-21 or so. I've seen a few more in their twenties, but only a couple above or below that. Not that many people go around saying how old they are, but still.

Anyhow, talk to you all next Tuesday!

'ream