Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, but I do own Lyra, Lark, Holly,
Rogerik, the spring spirit, and a whole bunch of other original characters.
Quote of the week: "My doctor says I have a malformed public duty glad and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving universes"
-Ford Prefect, "The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"
KKC: I'm sorry I didn't update until early Sunday morning, but my computer was refused access to Fanfiction.net's server for some reason.
Yusuke: Maybe if you didn't try to update at eleven thirty at night you could've gotten on from your step-father's computer.
KKC: *pouts* I know, I know. But give me a break, will ya? Oh! And I just figured out I've been spelling your name wrong for the last eleven chapters!
Yusuke: I thought you researched the topics you were writing about.
KKC: But every fan site I went to has your name spelled with one U!
Yusuke: *snickers* Some authoress you are . . .
KKC: Watch it, Yusuke. A friend of mine from school asked me if I could do a Yusuke/ Kuwabara Yaoi fic, and with the way your acting, I just might be obliged to write it.
Yusuke: Y-you wouldn't! You said yourself that you hate yaoi!
KKC: I don't hate it, it's just that you can't find much else besides Kurama/Hiei yaoi fics on this site! But I suppose everyone's entitled to his or her own opinion.
Yusuke: Doesn't mean I have to like it . . .*mumbles* what type of sicko would want to read a Kuwabara/Yusuke yaoi? *shudders*
KKC: While Yusuke plots ways to kill my poor friend (who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons), let's get on with this chapter. But really quickly, I want to thank 'Kuramie and Kaiaramith' for reviewing. Its been such a long time . . . *absent-mindedly stares off into space* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the last chapter . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yuske was about to complain, but Lark shoved him out of the doorway. "It can't be! What could have possibly angered the spirit that much?"
"Spirit?" Yuske shoved the younger girl back, but received two slaps, one each from Kayko and Lark. "The spring spirit, idiot! It's usually dormant, but . . ."
"But?"
"I've just never seen it this upset before, alright Hiei? God, I'd hate to be up at Aria Spring now. That much I can tell you . . ."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra carefully poured a few teaspoons of the freesia scented liquid into her nautilus shell incense burner and lit a match. While the heavy smell of Freesia flowers wafted through the air, she took picked up her flute and opened the heavy leather-bound book, flipping through the yellowed pages until she finally found the one she was looking for. Settling back onto the boulder, she brought the strange instrument to her lips and began to play.
The song was sweet, alluring, and oddly hypnotic. As the flowing melody reached his sensitive ears, Youko found himself become increasingly tired with each passing moment. The demon finally covered his ears in a last effort to drown out the flute and stalked closer to Lyra, who was too drawn into the music to notice the large fox. Youko flexed his claws and rushed in; ready to grab Lyra in a chokehold, when the flute struck a high note. It hung in the air, and the water swirled and bubbled in a ravenous fury as the demon fox grabbed Lyra by the neck and shoulder in an iron grip.
The shell flute fell from her hands and fell down into the spring with a splash, as Lyra struggled against her captor. She could hear the deep- throated growl and strained to twist her head around to get a better view of the demon, but immediately stopped struggling as she stared at what was happening to the spring before her.
Youko took her limp posture as defeat and went to go in for the kill, totally ignoring Kurama's plea to stop. His hand tightened around her slender neck and his claws pricked her pale skin. It had been a long time since he had hunted for prey such as this, and he was so intent on finishing the job that he barely noticed the rising flow of spiritual energy emerging from the pure waters of the spring.
Lyra could only stare as the sinewy figure emerged from the chaotic spring, stretching its insanely long neck and shimmering tail. The creature was serpentine in appearance, with pairs of tapered flippers running along the length of it's lithe body; it's head was elegant, resembling that of a seahorse, and the fish tail fanned out into a sparkling half-circle shape. The spring spirit reared back and sang its battle cry to the heavens before turning its azure eyes to Youko and his hostage. The fox was frozen to the spot. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even think, as the spirit charged straight for him. Finally gaining his senses, Youko turned and fled, dropping Lyra onto the sand.
Trees snapped like twigs behind him as the spirit of Aria spring crashed through the forest after him in its watery fury. Youko knew that running was futile, even now as the swirling waters enveloped him in a deadly embrace. As the bright blue water closed above his head, the only thing he could think was, 'Whoever said drowning was a peaceful way to die, obviously never tried it.' He forgot who had originally came up with the quote, but it didn't matter now; not with the sheer pressure crushing the air out of his ribs and the mineral-laden liquid obscuring his vision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lark clumsily fell from her perch on the windowsill. The surge of energy had been unbelievable, the unleashed fury of the spring spirit was matched with only that of natural disasters. As she painfully stood back up, she stretched her senses as much as she could to see if she could pick up anyone that had been unlucky enough to get in its way. Nothing. The spirit hadn't traveled far, she knew that much, but her energy radar still wasn't even close to being as accurate to Kuwabara's. Sighing, she settled herself on the cushy armchair that Kurama usually favored and prayed to the goddess that whoever had invoked the spirit's wrath would survive it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra followed the trail of destruction until she came across the still from of the albino kitsune. Youko was hanging from the split pine tree by his tangled limbs, soaking wet and looking quite helpless and pathetic. The spirit was long gone, leaving not a shred of evidence that whatever had wreaked so much havoc wasn't just a freak storm. Suddenly, the weakened trunk of the ancient pine creaked and crashed down, leaving Lyra seconds to erect a shield around the unconscious demon before he was buried in pine needles and the sap-covered branches.
Lyra hastily tore through the debris until she found the demon's body, which she managed to pull out from the fallen tree. "Poor . . . guy . . ." She panted, while dragging the seven-foot tall Youko over to a slightly rotting tree stump. "I almost feel sorry for him, even though he attacked me . . . Ow! Stupid splinter!" Lyra dug out the painful sliver, and collaborated on what to do next. "Let's see . . . a huge carnivorous demon that wanted to kill me, an angry water spirit, and we're too far from any of the school buildings to walk. Why does this stupid crap always happen to me?" The shorter girl flung one of Youko's pale arms over her shoulder and got a good grip around his waist. With a grunt of effort, she proceeded to drag the much taller fox to the lakeside house she knew so well.
The fifteen-year-old student leaned Youko on the sturdy outer doorframe while she fumbled through her jean pockets for the antique looking key. She unlocked the heavy wooden door, shoving her full weight against the weakened demon fox to keep him from falling face first onto the crushed- shell pathway. Letting the moss-covered door swing open on its giant hinges, Lyra grabbed Youko by his elbows and dragged him through the dusty hall and into the living room.
It was just as she had remembered it, the white sheets draped over the leather couch and armchair. The fireplace mantel was covered in seashells and a crystal vase with a bouquet of dead flowers was placed on the brick surface, all it was covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. The curtains were tightly drawn; now faded from years of neglect and constant wear, pulling them back, Lyra revealed the large, grimy windows.
She yanked the sheet off the large couch to reveal the Italian leather underneath, and dutifully dragged Youko onto the soft cushions. After searching around in the living room closet, she finally found the old blanket she had sat around so many campfires snuggled up in its richly colored folds, and it was in a remarkably pristine state too. She took in its familiar scent of burning leaves for a moment before shaking it out and carefully covering the white fox with it. She took some of the other, cleaner, sheets and ripped them into strips for use as bandages, then went back outside to retrieve her messenger bag.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The last thing he could remember was the water. It was freezing cold, filling in his delicate ears and it was so . . . well, to be blunt, it was wet. The fox never really had liked water much; his fur soaked it up like a sponge and weighed him down, not a very good predicament when trying to run away from bloodthirsty demons in Makai. Getting caught meant a slow painful trip straight to hell; and on the subject of death, he wondered if he hadn't died himself. He sure had the 'light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel' part right.
The rest of his mind was a black void, except for that shining speck of light that kept on coming closer. He couldn't do anything as it finally took the shape of a beautiful young woman, slightly short, with long black hair and wizened azure eyes. She couldn't have been more than twenty, but the air she carried about her pulsed with intelligence, experience, and most surprisingly, age. She cocked an eyebrow and said in a sarcastic tone, "You never learn, do you Kurama? Already died once, and you still make the same mistakes over and over."
"What do you mean by I 'still make the same mistakes over and over'? And how would you know, anyways?" Youko was so curious; he didn't even bother to question the fact that he was suddenly standing in the middle of the black nothingness. Hey, it was a dream. And dreams were not worth trying to figure out, or so he thought. Of course, it would be just his goddamn luck for things to go for the worse, whether it was in a dream or not.
"What I mean is that you never seem to learn from your mistakes. I thought that your brush with death would keep you from molesting younger girls at night in the sacred territory of a greater spirit."
"Greater spirit? You call a deformed seahorse a greater spirit? That's a laugh."
"Coming from a demon that serves a toddler?" Ouch . . . that had hurt.
"That 'toddler' happens to rule the spirit world, woman." Youko flexed his claws and growled under his breath. The young woman crossed her arms and glared at the demon, quite comical considering she barely topped five feet. "Well, looks like you still have a lot to learn, kit."
"Kit?!" That was the last straw. Youko might've tried to be polite with the ladies when looking for an easy way to get laid, but taking lip from an annoyingly correct one was too much for his bruised pride. The demon charged headfirst at the spirit/woman, eager to teach her a lesson straight from the Makai school of hard knocks. Her reaction wasn't quite what he had expected; though, as she laughed right in his face. "My, my . . . you do need to learn a lesson, not to mention who really has the advantage in a fight." She raised an impenetrable shield with barely a thought, and Kurama leapt away just in time, saving himself from a handful of broken claws. What he didn't expect was the shield to become totally liquid and swing around after him.
"Wha-?" The liquid energy wrapped around his torso like a straight jacket and brought him crashing down towards a glass floor that had suddenly appeared in the dream/world. Centimeters before impact, the long tendril of energy hovered over the fragile surface and Youko sighed in relief, his breath steaming the floor beneath him.
"So . . . you're quite in a jam now, aren't you?"
"No thanks to you, you crazy bitch! Let me go!" The fox struggled against his bonds, not at all happy with the situation. The spirit shrugged and walked over, kneeling so she could talk to the demon face to face.
"I could . . . on one condition."
"Like?"
"Either you take a test of mine to redeem yourself, or I fling you into the depths of the ocean where you can be killed with three thousand pounds of pressure on every square inch of your body." She insanely grinned at Youko, knowing that the fox wasn't willing to die just yet.
"Test." It came out as a hoarse whisper, as Youko choked it out.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch it." She cupped a delicate hand around her ear and feigned deafness.
"I'll take your god-forsaken test! Alright? Now let me go, wench!" The spirit went to snap her fingers, failed, and after five more failed attempts just sighed and let the annoyed demon go. "Some all-powerful spirit you are. Can't even snap your goddamn fingers." The fox straightened up and narrowed his yellow eyes at the much shorter female. "Not everyone is perfect, you jerk. Now, to get back on track . . . During this test, you're going to be seeing things from a new angle, literally . . ."
Again the insane grin, this time accompanied by a flashflood. Kurama could feel the water tearing at his skin, surrounding him in a painful prison of which there was no escape. It lifted him up in its current, before the water dissipated and dropped the fox into a shivering lump onto the ground. "Now go forward, Kurama. Go complete my test and find a way to restore yourself to your original form."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra squinted and tried to cover her eyes from the rising sun, but eventually she just gave up. Why bother trying? The last thing she remembered from last night was slaving away over the wounded fox, bandaging and healing the many injuries that the angered spirit had caused. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned and leaned back to stretch, almost falling from her awkward position on the leather armchair.
Still yawning, the black-haired girl stumbled over to the bright Indian blanket, and was hardly surprised to see that the demon had already left. Lyra grabbed the thick fabric and whipped it off the couch, revealing the tiny bundle of fur underneath. Even as the sun's rays shone through the dusty windows, the tiny furball changed from a blinding and unnatural shade of white to a reddish-orange color.
The petite creature shivered for a few seconds before finally uncurling and stretching its luxuriously furred limbs. Yawning, it stumbled to its tiny paws and shook its head. "Oh, how cute." Lyra cooed, stretching out a hand towards the tiny fox kit. The miniature fox stared at her, the seemed to look itself over. It yipped and bounded into Lyra's arms, burying its head in her chest. "What's wrong, little guy?" Two green eyes peeked up at her, and it took all of a second for the girl to read what was being said in them. Slowly, she picked up the kit and looked into his startling emerald eyes. "K-kurama?" She finally choked out. Kurama nodded and sheepishly looked away. "So then that fox demon last night . . .was you!" Again he nodded, but this time it was accompanied by a pathetic 'yip'. "Oh . . . my . . . god . . . What in the seven hells happened?! It was the Aria Spring spirit, wasn't it?" Kurama looked up and bowed his delicate muzzle, another yes. Lyra gently dropped him on the couch and started pacing around the living room, wracking her already stressed out brain for an idea as to what to do. "We have to get you back to normal! And we can't let the others find out because they'll blame me, but you'll get in trouble for attacking me, and the tournament finals start this afternoon, and they know you wouldn't just blow it off and . . ." Sighing, she flopped back down on the couch. "Man, I'm confused." Kurama hopped onto her lap and encouragingly nudged her hand with a tiny paw.
"Alright, here's the plan. You act like a normal fox and I'll pretend I found you, then . . . we just kind of let the fact that you're missing and stuff blow over . . . No, that's a crappy alibi. But I guess we don't really have a choice, do we?" Kurama just stared at her as if she had temporarily lost her mind. "What? Do you have a better idea? If so, then please tell me." The fox's silence wasn't helping much with her little brainstorm, but then again, what did she expect? A sudden moment of enlightenment from King Enma himself? Not very likely to happen. "Well . . .I can start checking the academy library once the tournament is over, and Holly and Lyra probably wouldn't mind helping me; I know they can keep this under wraps. What time is it?" She checked her watch and groaned. "Seven AM . . . We better get going, I'm sure everyone else is worried about us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KKC: That was longer than I expected but . . . *cracks knuckles* Now I can start editing the earlier chapters and re-post them! ^-^
Yusuke: Uh-huh . . . Why wasn't I in this chapter?
KKC: Um . . . Geez . . .I dunno.
Yusuke: But you're the writer!
KKC: Doesn't mean I know what's going on.
Yusuke: . . .*____* Riiiight . . . *idly looks around at KKC's stuffed heavy-duty shelves* Hey . . . What's this?
KKC: NO! Yusuke, Don't touch tha-
Yusuke: *Pulls out a box from the bottom shelf, and the entire shelf system collapses in a heap* . . . I didn't do it.
KKC: *vein pop* Yusuke . . . GET OUT NOW!
Yusuke: *scurries out the door* Have fun cleaning!
KKC: When I get my hands on that boy . . . Ooh, he's gonna pay! *sighs* Crap . . . I hate cleaning. *starts to pick up all the junk that fell off her shelves* Please review. It would be a bright little spark of hope in the sulfurous pit of hell that I call life. *mumbles* 'Tupid Yusuke . . .
Quote of the week: "My doctor says I have a malformed public duty glad and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving universes"
-Ford Prefect, "The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"
KKC: I'm sorry I didn't update until early Sunday morning, but my computer was refused access to Fanfiction.net's server for some reason.
Yusuke: Maybe if you didn't try to update at eleven thirty at night you could've gotten on from your step-father's computer.
KKC: *pouts* I know, I know. But give me a break, will ya? Oh! And I just figured out I've been spelling your name wrong for the last eleven chapters!
Yusuke: I thought you researched the topics you were writing about.
KKC: But every fan site I went to has your name spelled with one U!
Yusuke: *snickers* Some authoress you are . . .
KKC: Watch it, Yusuke. A friend of mine from school asked me if I could do a Yusuke/ Kuwabara Yaoi fic, and with the way your acting, I just might be obliged to write it.
Yusuke: Y-you wouldn't! You said yourself that you hate yaoi!
KKC: I don't hate it, it's just that you can't find much else besides Kurama/Hiei yaoi fics on this site! But I suppose everyone's entitled to his or her own opinion.
Yusuke: Doesn't mean I have to like it . . .*mumbles* what type of sicko would want to read a Kuwabara/Yusuke yaoi? *shudders*
KKC: While Yusuke plots ways to kill my poor friend (who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons), let's get on with this chapter. But really quickly, I want to thank 'Kuramie and Kaiaramith' for reviewing. Its been such a long time . . . *absent-mindedly stares off into space* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the last chapter . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yuske was about to complain, but Lark shoved him out of the doorway. "It can't be! What could have possibly angered the spirit that much?"
"Spirit?" Yuske shoved the younger girl back, but received two slaps, one each from Kayko and Lark. "The spring spirit, idiot! It's usually dormant, but . . ."
"But?"
"I've just never seen it this upset before, alright Hiei? God, I'd hate to be up at Aria Spring now. That much I can tell you . . ."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra carefully poured a few teaspoons of the freesia scented liquid into her nautilus shell incense burner and lit a match. While the heavy smell of Freesia flowers wafted through the air, she took picked up her flute and opened the heavy leather-bound book, flipping through the yellowed pages until she finally found the one she was looking for. Settling back onto the boulder, she brought the strange instrument to her lips and began to play.
The song was sweet, alluring, and oddly hypnotic. As the flowing melody reached his sensitive ears, Youko found himself become increasingly tired with each passing moment. The demon finally covered his ears in a last effort to drown out the flute and stalked closer to Lyra, who was too drawn into the music to notice the large fox. Youko flexed his claws and rushed in; ready to grab Lyra in a chokehold, when the flute struck a high note. It hung in the air, and the water swirled and bubbled in a ravenous fury as the demon fox grabbed Lyra by the neck and shoulder in an iron grip.
The shell flute fell from her hands and fell down into the spring with a splash, as Lyra struggled against her captor. She could hear the deep- throated growl and strained to twist her head around to get a better view of the demon, but immediately stopped struggling as she stared at what was happening to the spring before her.
Youko took her limp posture as defeat and went to go in for the kill, totally ignoring Kurama's plea to stop. His hand tightened around her slender neck and his claws pricked her pale skin. It had been a long time since he had hunted for prey such as this, and he was so intent on finishing the job that he barely noticed the rising flow of spiritual energy emerging from the pure waters of the spring.
Lyra could only stare as the sinewy figure emerged from the chaotic spring, stretching its insanely long neck and shimmering tail. The creature was serpentine in appearance, with pairs of tapered flippers running along the length of it's lithe body; it's head was elegant, resembling that of a seahorse, and the fish tail fanned out into a sparkling half-circle shape. The spring spirit reared back and sang its battle cry to the heavens before turning its azure eyes to Youko and his hostage. The fox was frozen to the spot. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even think, as the spirit charged straight for him. Finally gaining his senses, Youko turned and fled, dropping Lyra onto the sand.
Trees snapped like twigs behind him as the spirit of Aria spring crashed through the forest after him in its watery fury. Youko knew that running was futile, even now as the swirling waters enveloped him in a deadly embrace. As the bright blue water closed above his head, the only thing he could think was, 'Whoever said drowning was a peaceful way to die, obviously never tried it.' He forgot who had originally came up with the quote, but it didn't matter now; not with the sheer pressure crushing the air out of his ribs and the mineral-laden liquid obscuring his vision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lark clumsily fell from her perch on the windowsill. The surge of energy had been unbelievable, the unleashed fury of the spring spirit was matched with only that of natural disasters. As she painfully stood back up, she stretched her senses as much as she could to see if she could pick up anyone that had been unlucky enough to get in its way. Nothing. The spirit hadn't traveled far, she knew that much, but her energy radar still wasn't even close to being as accurate to Kuwabara's. Sighing, she settled herself on the cushy armchair that Kurama usually favored and prayed to the goddess that whoever had invoked the spirit's wrath would survive it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra followed the trail of destruction until she came across the still from of the albino kitsune. Youko was hanging from the split pine tree by his tangled limbs, soaking wet and looking quite helpless and pathetic. The spirit was long gone, leaving not a shred of evidence that whatever had wreaked so much havoc wasn't just a freak storm. Suddenly, the weakened trunk of the ancient pine creaked and crashed down, leaving Lyra seconds to erect a shield around the unconscious demon before he was buried in pine needles and the sap-covered branches.
Lyra hastily tore through the debris until she found the demon's body, which she managed to pull out from the fallen tree. "Poor . . . guy . . ." She panted, while dragging the seven-foot tall Youko over to a slightly rotting tree stump. "I almost feel sorry for him, even though he attacked me . . . Ow! Stupid splinter!" Lyra dug out the painful sliver, and collaborated on what to do next. "Let's see . . . a huge carnivorous demon that wanted to kill me, an angry water spirit, and we're too far from any of the school buildings to walk. Why does this stupid crap always happen to me?" The shorter girl flung one of Youko's pale arms over her shoulder and got a good grip around his waist. With a grunt of effort, she proceeded to drag the much taller fox to the lakeside house she knew so well.
The fifteen-year-old student leaned Youko on the sturdy outer doorframe while she fumbled through her jean pockets for the antique looking key. She unlocked the heavy wooden door, shoving her full weight against the weakened demon fox to keep him from falling face first onto the crushed- shell pathway. Letting the moss-covered door swing open on its giant hinges, Lyra grabbed Youko by his elbows and dragged him through the dusty hall and into the living room.
It was just as she had remembered it, the white sheets draped over the leather couch and armchair. The fireplace mantel was covered in seashells and a crystal vase with a bouquet of dead flowers was placed on the brick surface, all it was covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. The curtains were tightly drawn; now faded from years of neglect and constant wear, pulling them back, Lyra revealed the large, grimy windows.
She yanked the sheet off the large couch to reveal the Italian leather underneath, and dutifully dragged Youko onto the soft cushions. After searching around in the living room closet, she finally found the old blanket she had sat around so many campfires snuggled up in its richly colored folds, and it was in a remarkably pristine state too. She took in its familiar scent of burning leaves for a moment before shaking it out and carefully covering the white fox with it. She took some of the other, cleaner, sheets and ripped them into strips for use as bandages, then went back outside to retrieve her messenger bag.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The last thing he could remember was the water. It was freezing cold, filling in his delicate ears and it was so . . . well, to be blunt, it was wet. The fox never really had liked water much; his fur soaked it up like a sponge and weighed him down, not a very good predicament when trying to run away from bloodthirsty demons in Makai. Getting caught meant a slow painful trip straight to hell; and on the subject of death, he wondered if he hadn't died himself. He sure had the 'light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel' part right.
The rest of his mind was a black void, except for that shining speck of light that kept on coming closer. He couldn't do anything as it finally took the shape of a beautiful young woman, slightly short, with long black hair and wizened azure eyes. She couldn't have been more than twenty, but the air she carried about her pulsed with intelligence, experience, and most surprisingly, age. She cocked an eyebrow and said in a sarcastic tone, "You never learn, do you Kurama? Already died once, and you still make the same mistakes over and over."
"What do you mean by I 'still make the same mistakes over and over'? And how would you know, anyways?" Youko was so curious; he didn't even bother to question the fact that he was suddenly standing in the middle of the black nothingness. Hey, it was a dream. And dreams were not worth trying to figure out, or so he thought. Of course, it would be just his goddamn luck for things to go for the worse, whether it was in a dream or not.
"What I mean is that you never seem to learn from your mistakes. I thought that your brush with death would keep you from molesting younger girls at night in the sacred territory of a greater spirit."
"Greater spirit? You call a deformed seahorse a greater spirit? That's a laugh."
"Coming from a demon that serves a toddler?" Ouch . . . that had hurt.
"That 'toddler' happens to rule the spirit world, woman." Youko flexed his claws and growled under his breath. The young woman crossed her arms and glared at the demon, quite comical considering she barely topped five feet. "Well, looks like you still have a lot to learn, kit."
"Kit?!" That was the last straw. Youko might've tried to be polite with the ladies when looking for an easy way to get laid, but taking lip from an annoyingly correct one was too much for his bruised pride. The demon charged headfirst at the spirit/woman, eager to teach her a lesson straight from the Makai school of hard knocks. Her reaction wasn't quite what he had expected; though, as she laughed right in his face. "My, my . . . you do need to learn a lesson, not to mention who really has the advantage in a fight." She raised an impenetrable shield with barely a thought, and Kurama leapt away just in time, saving himself from a handful of broken claws. What he didn't expect was the shield to become totally liquid and swing around after him.
"Wha-?" The liquid energy wrapped around his torso like a straight jacket and brought him crashing down towards a glass floor that had suddenly appeared in the dream/world. Centimeters before impact, the long tendril of energy hovered over the fragile surface and Youko sighed in relief, his breath steaming the floor beneath him.
"So . . . you're quite in a jam now, aren't you?"
"No thanks to you, you crazy bitch! Let me go!" The fox struggled against his bonds, not at all happy with the situation. The spirit shrugged and walked over, kneeling so she could talk to the demon face to face.
"I could . . . on one condition."
"Like?"
"Either you take a test of mine to redeem yourself, or I fling you into the depths of the ocean where you can be killed with three thousand pounds of pressure on every square inch of your body." She insanely grinned at Youko, knowing that the fox wasn't willing to die just yet.
"Test." It came out as a hoarse whisper, as Youko choked it out.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch it." She cupped a delicate hand around her ear and feigned deafness.
"I'll take your god-forsaken test! Alright? Now let me go, wench!" The spirit went to snap her fingers, failed, and after five more failed attempts just sighed and let the annoyed demon go. "Some all-powerful spirit you are. Can't even snap your goddamn fingers." The fox straightened up and narrowed his yellow eyes at the much shorter female. "Not everyone is perfect, you jerk. Now, to get back on track . . . During this test, you're going to be seeing things from a new angle, literally . . ."
Again the insane grin, this time accompanied by a flashflood. Kurama could feel the water tearing at his skin, surrounding him in a painful prison of which there was no escape. It lifted him up in its current, before the water dissipated and dropped the fox into a shivering lump onto the ground. "Now go forward, Kurama. Go complete my test and find a way to restore yourself to your original form."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra squinted and tried to cover her eyes from the rising sun, but eventually she just gave up. Why bother trying? The last thing she remembered from last night was slaving away over the wounded fox, bandaging and healing the many injuries that the angered spirit had caused. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned and leaned back to stretch, almost falling from her awkward position on the leather armchair.
Still yawning, the black-haired girl stumbled over to the bright Indian blanket, and was hardly surprised to see that the demon had already left. Lyra grabbed the thick fabric and whipped it off the couch, revealing the tiny bundle of fur underneath. Even as the sun's rays shone through the dusty windows, the tiny furball changed from a blinding and unnatural shade of white to a reddish-orange color.
The petite creature shivered for a few seconds before finally uncurling and stretching its luxuriously furred limbs. Yawning, it stumbled to its tiny paws and shook its head. "Oh, how cute." Lyra cooed, stretching out a hand towards the tiny fox kit. The miniature fox stared at her, the seemed to look itself over. It yipped and bounded into Lyra's arms, burying its head in her chest. "What's wrong, little guy?" Two green eyes peeked up at her, and it took all of a second for the girl to read what was being said in them. Slowly, she picked up the kit and looked into his startling emerald eyes. "K-kurama?" She finally choked out. Kurama nodded and sheepishly looked away. "So then that fox demon last night . . .was you!" Again he nodded, but this time it was accompanied by a pathetic 'yip'. "Oh . . . my . . . god . . . What in the seven hells happened?! It was the Aria Spring spirit, wasn't it?" Kurama looked up and bowed his delicate muzzle, another yes. Lyra gently dropped him on the couch and started pacing around the living room, wracking her already stressed out brain for an idea as to what to do. "We have to get you back to normal! And we can't let the others find out because they'll blame me, but you'll get in trouble for attacking me, and the tournament finals start this afternoon, and they know you wouldn't just blow it off and . . ." Sighing, she flopped back down on the couch. "Man, I'm confused." Kurama hopped onto her lap and encouragingly nudged her hand with a tiny paw.
"Alright, here's the plan. You act like a normal fox and I'll pretend I found you, then . . . we just kind of let the fact that you're missing and stuff blow over . . . No, that's a crappy alibi. But I guess we don't really have a choice, do we?" Kurama just stared at her as if she had temporarily lost her mind. "What? Do you have a better idea? If so, then please tell me." The fox's silence wasn't helping much with her little brainstorm, but then again, what did she expect? A sudden moment of enlightenment from King Enma himself? Not very likely to happen. "Well . . .I can start checking the academy library once the tournament is over, and Holly and Lyra probably wouldn't mind helping me; I know they can keep this under wraps. What time is it?" She checked her watch and groaned. "Seven AM . . . We better get going, I'm sure everyone else is worried about us."
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KKC: That was longer than I expected but . . . *cracks knuckles* Now I can start editing the earlier chapters and re-post them! ^-^
Yusuke: Uh-huh . . . Why wasn't I in this chapter?
KKC: Um . . . Geez . . .I dunno.
Yusuke: But you're the writer!
KKC: Doesn't mean I know what's going on.
Yusuke: . . .*____* Riiiight . . . *idly looks around at KKC's stuffed heavy-duty shelves* Hey . . . What's this?
KKC: NO! Yusuke, Don't touch tha-
Yusuke: *Pulls out a box from the bottom shelf, and the entire shelf system collapses in a heap* . . . I didn't do it.
KKC: *vein pop* Yusuke . . . GET OUT NOW!
Yusuke: *scurries out the door* Have fun cleaning!
KKC: When I get my hands on that boy . . . Ooh, he's gonna pay! *sighs* Crap . . . I hate cleaning. *starts to pick up all the junk that fell off her shelves* Please review. It would be a bright little spark of hope in the sulfurous pit of hell that I call life. *mumbles* 'Tupid Yusuke . . .