Houki No Majo!
Chapter 9 : Kurama Chapter
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Kitty gasped and backed up against the wall, nearly falling off of her bed in the process. "H-How?"
The man smirked, and put his hands on his hips. "Baka Kitty. You should have known you couldn't get rid of me that easily."
Kitty took in his appearance. He was tall, at least six feet, with jet-black hair, somewhat shaggy and hanging in his face in an attractive way. His golden eyes were locked on her, unblinking, just as she had remembered. A black button up shirt covered his obviously muscular chest...
She stopped herself, and looked back up at his face. "But...but..."
He kneeled down beside the bed. "Kitty...does it really matter? I'm alive."
"Ro!" she exclaimed, launching at him, throwing her arms around his neck. They both fell back onto the floor, and she once more started sobbing, this time into her familiar's warm, comforting chest.
"Wh-when I saw that portal...I thought...I thought..."
He sighed, and wrapped his arms around her, not bothering to get up off the floor. "It's okay, Kitty, I found a way out. Even if I had to sacrifice my feline form to do it."
She sniffled and grabbed handfuls of his shirt. "How could you scare me like that?"
"I'm sorry, Kitty..."
She sat up, on his stomach, and looked down at him. She didn't care about her unladylike position at the moment – her best friend had just come back from the "dead".
"Ro, I thought you were forbidden by Coven law to revert to a human form?"
"Well, when your mother said you weren't a member of the Coven, it was fair game to do anything I wanted to, like take on the other forms I can access," he said. "And I rather like my human form, don't you?"
She frowned. "That's not the point, Ro! You scared the shit out of me!"
Suddenly, the door flung open, and Kurama opened his mouth, starting to exclaim, "Kitty, there's someone-"
He stopped in mid-sentence, however, upon seeing Kitty sitting on the stomach of a partially shirtless man. She looked up at him.
"Kurama?"
"I...what...who?" he said, trying to form a coherent sentence.
She gave him a confused look, then realized he must have been refereeing to the way she was sitting on Ro...
She blushed, and got off of her familiar. "Oh, um, Kurama, re-meet Ro."
"Ro?" he asked.
The ex-cat stood, and nodded. "Yeah. Kitty got a little too excited and pounced on me."
"I see...I suppose you'll just have to explain why you've gone from a tiny little cat to being a six-foot tall human when we get back to the temple. I came up to warn Kitty that someone is in the hou-"
Kurama was cut off when a sword ran through his stomach, and he cried out.
"Kurama!" Kitty exclaimed, running forward.
The person who had stabbed the kitsune withdrew their sword from his flesh, and he fell forward, to be caught by Kitty.
"Kurama!" She looked up from the unconscious boy, to see his attacker. Her eyes narrowed considerably when she saw the culprit.
Her cousin, Lilith, stood there. She lowered her sword. "Good riddance, enemy of the Coven of Athena."
Kitty gently set Kurama down. "Ro, take care of him," she said, never taking her eyes off of her blonde cousin.
She stood, and narrowed her eyes further, utter disgust quite evident. "Lilith, why are you working for her? Don't you realize she's under the control of a demon?"
Lilith snorted. "That so-called demon is replacing a weak leader. She's going to help us, help us to get revenge upon the humans who persecuted us."
"Persecuted us?! That was over a hundred years ago, and we shouldn't hold grudges over something that happened so long ago, by people who persecuted each other as well!"
"That isn't the point, Kitty. Why can't you see they would only hurt us again?"
Kitty balled her fists. "Lilith, listen to me! My mother is-"
"Don't call her your mother, when you two aren't even related." Lilith growled, tightening her grip on her sword.
Kitty felt tears pricking hotly at the back of her eyes once more. "Lilith...why are you helping someone who is only going to bring destruction...?"
"I refuse to speak with you any longer, Kitty. I must be going. We have plans to fulfill, and speaking with someone like you is a waste of time. Keep your silly ideas of peace, and your stupid Reikai friends."
With that, the girl shimmered away. Kitty cursed in English, then turned back to where Ro was bandaging up Kurama with a few sheets.
She knelt down beside him, and said, "Kurama, Kurama, please wake up. We have to get out of here."
He opened his eyes slightly, gritting his teeth in pain. "Kitty, you have to stop them."
She bit her lip. "But I-"
"Just go! If you don't get there quickly, they'll succeed!"
"But Kurama, you're-"
"I'll be fine." He said, trying to offer her a smile. "I've gone through worse before, Kitty. This is nothing new. As soon as I unfreeze the others, then we'll join you, all right?"
Her eyes watered up, and she nodded. "I'll see you later, then. You'd better not be lying about being fine, Kurama."
She leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips, and his eyes widened.
Kitty...?She pulled back and smiled, then looked up at Ro. "Ro, I'm heading out. Take care of Kurama, and you can bring them to me later, okay?"
Ro nodded, and Kitty gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You guys better be careful when you come."
She stood and ran over to the door, looking back at the two men who stared at her in shock. "Bye, guys!"
She summoned her broom, and raced down the hall, to the door. She knew exactly where her "mother" and the coven would go. And she had no intention of letting them get away with their plans, even if it would mean sacrificing her life.
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Ro was the first to snap out of his daze. He quickly helped up Kurama, and they both went downstairs, to where the others had been frozen by some "congelo" spell. Ro set to work on undoing the spell, not saying a word.
Kurama didn't bring up Kitty's kiss, either, but he did lightly touch his own lips, wondering if it had been some delusion caused by loss of blood. Maybe he'd really had just imagined it...
Why would she have kissed him, anyways? She really had no reason to...right?
He sighed, and shook his head. Now was not the time to try to decipher the mind of a teenaged witch who was off by herself trying to save the world from certain doom.
He looked over at the others, and when Ro finished his work, he finally spoke. "Kitty went off to try to stop her mother on her own. We have to get going, now."
"What happened to your stomach, Kurama?" Yusuke asked.
"It's not important right now." The kitsune looked over at Ro. "Do you know how to get us there, Roan?"
"It's as simple as creating an inter-dimensional portal," the familiar said, turning and starting to hum a sort of tune to himself.
"That's Ro?" Kuwabara asked, staring at the dark-haired man.
"Long story, don't ask." Kurama replied.
Ro started to glow with a faint golden light. His thoughts stayed locked on his mistress, as he hummed his song. It had no real pre-determined tune; it was just whatever came to mind. He let his heart pour into his song as he weaved strands of pure magic together to form the portal.
Song was his form of magick. He could sing, and use his voice to heal, to soothe, to weave magick. All familiars had a similar power, but his was probably more refined and powerful than most.
Kitty...are you prepared to take on your destiny head-on? Can you fight against the one whom you believed for so long to be your mother? Or...will you fall, as your real mother once did?
Sadness poured into his voice as his humming became deeper.
I can still remember that day, when you were just a babe, and I had been reborn once more as a kitten, to watch over you. So small and young, and yet already on your own in the world. Your mother killed by the demon who would come to take over the woman whom you would learn to call "mother".
Golden lights, visible to those behind him, started to form together, and his humming became deeper still, until it was almost inaudible to the human ear.
I watched you grow up, become a beautiful woman, and live happily with Alyssa. You knew nothing of your own past, only the lies fabricated by a woman more evil than the demon controlling her. But you were so happy, that I could not bear to enlighten you to the truth. Would you have hated me for it, if I had told you? Told you your real name, who you really were, and where you had really come from?
The room darkened visibly, and Ro continued to sing his song.
Kitty...the woman I love, so dearly...will you be able to find out the truth for yourself? Can you fight "mother", and fight for your future, and the future of millions of people? Will you stand up and take charge of your destiny, as your real mother would wish for it to be?
Kitty...no, Katherine...can you protect the ones you love?
Ro opened his eyes, bringing his song to a close as the portal solidified and stabilized. He looked back at the others.
"Come, we have to hurry before it's too late."
I know you can...because you are strong.
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Author's Notes: Aw, well, Ro's back, and I really like how I got to portray his softer side in this chapter. I love Ro, so much! He's as kawaii as Huo-chan!
We also saw some Kurama/Kitty fluff, which I enjoyed, even if it was very short. There'll be more later, don't worry!
Kuranga108 : Now you know! And I love making cliffies.
Kaze Tsukai : I killed him, then brought him back! Yay!
Story Weaver1 : Wheee! He's not dead anymore! Woohoo! Thanks, I've never really wrote about someone who's been that upset, I was trying to capture the feeling and...uh...yeah...I think I did okay, but I REALLY like Ro's thoughts at the end of this chapter. How they came out...pretty good, I think.
Abby : Well, here's your update!
KrazySilverKitsune : Yes, but now he's back again! I can never REALLY kill my favorite character in a story, because if I did, I'd start to cry.
KittySand Katie : I'm glad it came out all right. I thought it sounded a little TOO whiny. Kitty wasn't supposed to come across as whiny, but it's just how it came out...oh well.
TPM-girl : Wheee, but now he's back!