Brotherhood of the Fox
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.
Part Two: The New Case
Kurama laid down on his bed with a desperate look on his face. After school had ended, Kurama had followed the girl, Kagome. The girl had gone straight home, where she disappeared into her house for an hour. When she finally emerged, she had a large back pack slung over her shoulder. After checking to see if the coast was clear, the girl disappeared into an old looking shack. When she didn't come out, Kurama made his way into the shack after her, but she was gone. Kurama could only get a faint scent of the girl inside of the well, but when he went down the well, he only met with the cool ground. The girl had completely disappeared.
Now Kurama lay in his bed starring up at the shadows on his ceiling with a withdrawn and defeated look on his face. Hiei and Yusuke had been over earlier, but Kurama didn't want to talk, and they soon became frustrated and left. Even Kurama's human mother had a hard time getting him to talk at dinner. All Kurama could think about was being with his brother's once again. It was overwhelming, all he could do was think about was how safe he used to feel when he was in his brother's arms. How happy he felt when they would smile at him, and how nothing was better then falling asleep with both of their watchful eyes protecting him. But as the night deepened, Kurama couldn't help but feel cold and alone. Far more alone then he had ever felt before. "And I thought I was happy," Kurama thought sarcastically turning around till his face was covered by the soft covers of his bed.
"Kurama, Koenma wants to see the whole team," Botan said suddenly appearing in the middle of the room.
"Yusuke can handle the assignment on his own," Kurama growled refusing to turn around.
"Kurama, this is important, please get up," Botan begged backing up a little incase Kurama decided to throw something at her.
Kurama released another frustrated growl before he kicked off the blankets exposing his muscular body. Botan turned away blushing furiously as Kurama pulled on some blue jeans over his boxers. "This had better be good, I'm not in the mood today to play super hero," Kurama announced when he was finished dressing.
"It seems pretty important," Botan said turning around.
Kurama allowed another frustrated growl to escape his lips before he grabbed onto Botan's oar. In a flash, Botan took off flying toward spirit world.
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Koenma stared at the team in front of him nervously. Like always, the teenagers had a look of annoyance on their faces as they silently waited for him to give them the next case. "This next case is rather simple…" Koenma began getting an angered growl from the normally quiet one, which caused the other members of the team to stare at the red haired boy rather strangely. "Well, as I was saying, this case is rather simple. There has been a rather powerful dog demon that has been traveling into the human world without permission," Koenma said watching as Yusuke gave off a disappointed sigh, apparently the teenager was looking forward to another big fight.
"Okay, so what portal is the demon using to get into the human world?" Kurama asked sounding a little more like he normally does.
"I don't know," Koenma said getting several groans from the people in front of him.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Yusuke demanded getting a little angry, which wasn't really all that unusual for the kid who expected someone to give him all of the answers.
"The problem is this demon hasn't been using any of the portals. He is somehow getting into the human world from some other unknown way," Koenma said.
"Well, who is this demon. Do you have any information on him?" Kurama asked looking more bored and irritable then usual.
"Fortunately, we have some information on the dog demon, and some of the other demons that have come into the human world in what I believe is the same way," Koenma said pausing a second before continuing. "Well, the dog demon is only part demon. His demon side is that of a rare silver dog demon that has been extinct for years now. His weapon is that of a sword, but he is also able to fight using his demonic claws and other powers. Here is a picture of him," Koenma said as the large screen in the room turned on.
A silver haired boy with yellow eyes appeared on the screen. He was wearing a red outfit, and two sliver dog ears sat on top of the boy's head. "Hey, he looks like Youko Kurama," Kuwabara pointed out looking at the canine demon closely. "In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say this guy was like Kurama's brother or something," Kuwabara continued laughing at his own observation. "What do you think Kurama?" Kuwabara asked turning around to where the red haired boy was starring at the picture with a look of shock on his normally calm and flawless face.
"Kurama?" Keonma asked noticing just how oddly Kurama was acting toward the picture.
Kurama continued to stare at the picture, completely oblivious to the fact that everybody was staring at him. "It's true then. My brother is still alive, they both may be," Kurama thought taking a step toward the picture. Reaching a hand toward the picture, Kurama softly began to stroke the face of the dog demon boy. A sad smile crept across his face as he tried to blink back his tears. His brother was alive.
"Kurama?" Yusuke asked putting a hesitant hand on the boy's shoulder. Kurama nearly jumped out of his skin at the contact. Turning around dazed and confused, Kurama looked at the concerned faces of the people in front of him.
Yusuke was starring at him strangely, almost like the boy was unsure if Kurama was sick, or if Kurama was just distracted. Knowing how Kurama was hardly ever distracted, Yusuke was probably thinking that the fox demon was sick, and was hallucinating or something. It was the only thing the boy could think of that would explain Kurama's odd behavior.
Kuwabara had a look of confusion that was far more noticeable then his normally oblivious look. But behind that, there was a small hint of an idea that Kurama feared may be the reason why Kuwabara kept starring at the dog demon picture and then Kurama with a thoughtful look. Kurama knew that if he wasn't careful, Kuwabara might get another one of those weird visions that showed the boy things about people that others could not see. The thought made Kurama uneasy, and he pulled his gaze away from the orange haired boy.
Koenma had a stern and thoughtful look on his face as the toddler looking ruler looked at Kurama oddly. Koenma's hand was clutching a folder that had all the information he needed on the silver dog demon, and from the look on his face, Kurama knew there was more to the case then what Koenma had told them. It was just like Koenma to give only a fraction of the story, but Kurama was pleased to know that this time the young ruler was left in the dark.
Trying to prevent Koenma from seeing the small victorious smile on his face, Kurama turned toward Botan. Botan was looking at him worried, and maybe even a little frightened, but before Kurama could figure out what the girl was thinking, a small prodding feeling in his mind drew his attention to the only person left.
Hiei had a dazed look on his face, causing Kurama to pay close attention to the small demon, and was soon able to catch a soft glow behind the white bandana.
"Hiei, don't you dare try and find out about my past!" Kurama growled in warning causing Hiei to pull out of his trance like state.
"What the hell is going on?" Yusuke demanded before his hand was roughly shoved away from Kurama.
Kurama had had enough. The emotional strain he had endured in school, when he was reliving his painful past, to the small hope that his brothers may still be alive, to the fact that Koenma wanted him to bring in his brother as though his brother was some sort of criminal. But the thing that really caused Kurama to lose his temper was the fact that Hiei would try to force his way into his mind, and try to see Kurama's past. A past that was still so painful and blood stained, that even Kurama had to force his mind to forget in order to remain sane. With the small simple prod, Kurama's mind had released all of the pains that he was sure where buried deep inside of him. He could remember Kuronue's death, his brother's death, and the memory of all the demons he was forced to slay. Anger flared up in the fox demon, but it soon settled down, and Kurama was able to stare back up at the shocked looks of his companions.
"Stay out of my business! All of you! I'll handle this case on my own," Kurama announced suddenly with a calmness that caused the others to fiddle uneasily. None of them knew how to react to Kurama, and where unable to do anything as the red head turned and left before any objections could be made.
"Well that was odd," Kuwabara said getting an agreeing nod from Yusuke when the shock had finally died down.
"Did you see the way he looked at the picture. Something isn't right." Koenma announced getting an agreeing nod from not only Botan, but from Yusuke and Kuwabara.
"We should leave the fox alone. This is personal," Hiei said glaring at the toddler.
"What do you mean?" Botan asked getting the same cold glare.
"Trust me, there is more to this whole situation then any of us could understand," Hiei warned before he took off.
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Hiei couldn't understand what he had seen in the short second that he had been in Kurama's mind, but what he did see caused a shudder of pity. Kurama wasn't an only child like everybody had thought. But that was the only fact that Hiei was sure of, and it really bothered the fire demon. Never before had the Jagan failed to show him what he wished to see. Of course he had never tried to look into somebody's mind as complex as Kurama's, but it was uncanny on how Kurama was able to force him out of his mind so violently. Hiei had actually felt like he was being pushed out before a heavy wall was put up to ensure that he wouldn't be able to enter again. "Damn it fox, what are you hiding from us?" Hiei wondered leaping from tree to tree in the human world. The best way to find out about Kurama's past is to learn what had happened back then. And the only person he knew that could help him, besides that fool Koenma, was the old hag Genkai.
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Kurama was relieved to see that the girl Kagome was back at school the next day. It meant that he hadn't lost his chance yet, and he was going to be sure that this time he would do what he should have done a long time ago. He was going to face his past, and ask the girl to take him to his brother.
As soon as school was over, Kurama raced to meet up with the black haired girl. "Excuse me, I don't believe I have properly introduced myself," Kurama said causing the girl to stop and turn around. A friendly smile crossed the girls face, and there was even what looked like a small blush of nervousness.
"Names Kagome," the girl announced sounding far more sure of herself then her body language was hinting. Kurama smiled back at her feeling a relief that he hadn't felt in a long time. Before him stood the girl that should have been his sister-in-law, but he remembered how she had acted more like a mother then a sister. She had handled the more important parts of child bearing, that Kurama's two older brother's were incapable of doing, and it was because of Kagome's caring nature, that Kurama knew he was going to be alright at last.
"Hello Kagome, my name is Shuuichi, but you can call me Kurama since it is the name I prefer," Kurama said bowing slightly which caused Kagome to blush even darker.
"Shuuichi? You mean the Shuuichi?" Kagome asked shifting a little in awe and embarrassment.
"Excuse me?" Kurama asked feeling a little baffled at the question. It was true that in his human form, Kurama was a bit of a child prodigy, but he had never gotten this sort of a response from anybody before. Most of the people he knew thought he was odd and were more occupied with his appearance then his human reputation.
"You're that kid that got perfect scores for you high school entrance exams when you where just a kid. My friends at my other school can't stop talking about you. You're kind of their idol, and I just never expected that I would meet someone like you. They will be so jealous when they find out…" Kagome continued talking, unaware of the amusement that reflected in Kurama's green eyes. She sounded like any other teenage girl, but her lack of showing intimidation was astounding. Must girls would have run away blushing, but Kagome was talking normally. Kurama couldn't help but feel a little proud that his brother could find such a strong spirited women.
"Yes, I'm that Shuuichi," Kurama said cutting her off with a gentle smile. Kagome stopped talking suddenly turning very red when she realized what she had been doing.
"Sorry," Kagome said softly, but Kurama brushed it away with an understanding nod.
"Well… I have a favor I would like to ask you," Kurama said trying to break the awkward silence, and also get on to the reason why he was here.
"Sure, what do you need?" Kagome asked beaming with importance, but what Kurama had to say next, wiped away all confidence and left the girl confused and more nervous then she had been before.
"Kagome, I need you to take me with you when you go to see Inuyasha," Kurama stated firmly and so seriously there was no place for Kagome to brush it off as a joke.
TBC.