Charms
It's Halloween. Eiri-san has an evil grin on her face. "I don't think I like the looks of this." Yusuke watches the evil aura dance in clouds of black and red flame all around the author. "Eeee!" Kuwabara's hair is standing stright up and he's shaking from all the funky vibes. "We shouldn't be here." the carrot top teen managed before his teeth begin to clatter.
Chapter 38
//Hiei...// Green eyes shut tight as he enfolded the glass prison between his arms and chest. //Where are you?// Not that he was invited to come, he insisted on coming so he should be here, right?
Time crawled by in seconds that lasted like minutes and minutes like hours. There were so many things that had happened so many mysteries and so few answers. Kurama's most immediate concern was that riddle the hunter gave him. //How did it go again? The one in the now must go to the then to return what was lost or something...//
The fox scratched his red head with frustration. His brain was getting over loaded with all of these things he has to memorize just to be sure he's getting all the facts straight. The only thing worse than drawing a wrong conclusion is acting on that wrong conclusion as if it were right. //The one from now, to the then...what does it mean? I can't go back into the past. Is there someone capable of that?//
"Kurama." That familiar deep voice came to him in the darkness.
"Hiei?" Green eyes opened as he sat up quickly. "Where are you?" He couldn't see or even sense the fire demon. "I'm sure I heard his voice." the teen mumbled to himself, pulling his Yukata tigher to him. There was a chill in the room that even the blankets over his legs couldn't shake. //Wait a minute, where's Daiki's soul?// The demon frantically searched his robes and blankets. //Nothing! It can't be. It was in my hands!//
A child's laughter echoed in the hall. Green eyes narrowed with confusion. There were no children here, Kurama was sure of that. The fox demon threw off his blankets, padded to the door and opened it. The sharp ring of a bell could be heard as the sound of running foot steps rushed through the hall way in front of him. Shuichi's breath caught in his throat. The red head couldn't have been imagining it, he prided himself on his perception.
Then the echo of that laughter came again, this time further down the hall. //What was that?// The fox demon's feet moved with the speed of his four legged past. //Something invisible or could it just be moving too fast for me to see it?// Down the hall, round the corner and to...The red head stopped on a dime when he saw the faded image of child.
The boy had short hair and wore a small kimono. The boy was probably only about eleven or twelve. To these green eyes, there was something very familiar about this boy. The child turned to Kurama. Transparent eyes as cold and dark as pitch, looked up at him. In those intense eyes was the slightest hint of forest green. A smile split his other wise blank expression before the little boy took off running.
"Wait!" Kurama called when the boy darted away from him. Right before his eyes the image of the child changed into a gray-white wolf and raced with greater speed. "What the..." The red head tried to follow, but the animal passed through a wall. The teen touched the panel, but couldn't find any indication of a secret passage of any kind.
"Yuma..." A gentle sobbing could be heard from a room nearby. Although it wasn't Miku's room, the fox was sure it was her voice.
"Miku?" the red head could investigate the strange occurance later, right now, this little girl needed a friend. He opened the door to see a bare room, the only thing in it was someone lying in a bed. There was a white cloth draped over the person's face. "Yu," it was a man and by the body type...the old servant, "Yuma?"
That's the second time he'd heard a voice and couldn't find the person it belonged to. Was something trying to trick him? That thought wasn't promanent, only for the fact that this man lying on the floor now lifeless, made the fox demon sad. //Mrs. Momo said he lead a full life.// The teenager came into the room and knelt by the body. //I hope she was right.//
His heart ached, thinking if it had been Miku that had been the object of such terrible news. No disrespect was meant for this old man, but he was just that. Poor Miku was still young and probably hadn't experienced so many things that life had to offer, because of her medical condition. Medical condition...
Thinking about it now, what kind of condition could do so much damage without claiming her life before now? Of course, the fox wanted to see Miku healthy and happy, but was it even a possiblility that her affliction was not truely physical. A curse...for example. And if that was true then, curses could be lifted.
Kurama remembered Yuma's dedication and hope for the future and now...Did all of that mean nothing? //He had so much left to do. Miku-chan will grow up and you won't be there to see her mature. Daiki will be the master of the Hazama family and...but those old eyes are forever closed. Time to move on, like Genkai.//
Shuichi touched his chest with delicate fingers and let his bangs hide his expression. //I have to make that happen. For the sake of these precious lives that are so short...I have to help them.// Just then a low growl hummed from the corner of the room. //Huh?// The wolf that green eyes had watched the boy turn into, appeared from the shadows.
"What do you want?" The red head watched the creature carefully. The animal ignored the teen's presence and mulled over to the body. "Get away from him." The fox rose slightly, ready to defend. The wolves jaw opened, revealing a wet tongue and sharp teeth. "I said stop it!"
Kurama's hand reached out as the creature lunged. Some how the trasparent animal passed through the solid. And yet, the wolf's teeth wrapped around something. The red head jerked back, noticing the creature chewing on something in the center of the chest of...In the movement, the cloth had fallen off of the body's face. Green eyes opened wide in the realization that this man was not Yuma. //Who...who is this person?//
The wolf jerked it's head back and gobbled down something that seemed to glow and writhe. The fox's face twisted with disgust. //Did he get that from the body?// Kurama suddenly recognized the most crude form of the energy from a soul. //You're not eating his soul, but the energy that keeps the soul intact.// With a sickening swallow the animal had finished it's meal.
Kurama wasn't sure how to react. This non-corporial creature just stole the soul energy of a man he'd never seen before. The animal turned away and ran from the fox. //Where is it going?// The red head stood quickly. //Could it have...? NO!// Could it have taken eaten Daiki's soul energy, making it undetectable to Kurama? The creature passed through the wall again, but the fox knew that just beyond this wall was the garden behind the mannor.
"You won't get away." The red head raced out of the room, down the hall and on to the engawa. Shuichi practically skidded to a halt when he found the garden's devoid of even a trace of that wolf.
The creature was no where to be seen, but in the middle of the night darkened garden, frozen by ice and snow, was a tall and elegant woman in a striking kimono. Her posture was perfect even though her arms wrapped around a child. The woman with raven black hair hummed a gentle melody as those small familiar hands clutched the woman's flowing clothes.
"Who, who are you?" Green eyes watched her turn around slowly. The red head stepped down, almost stumbled, from the engawa upon seeing the woman's hideous face. Terrible scars burned and ripped her flesh from her head and down half of her body. One of her eyes seemed to bulge, due to the missing eye lids that had covered it.
The teen felt sick just looking at her. But in spite of his wrenching stomach, Kurama came closer to her. The frozen ground gladdly sucked warmth from Kurama's feet as he neared closer still. Because in her arms, she held Miku. The woman stepped back when he extened his arms, inviting her to give up the girl.
"Please," Green eyes told those mutilated brown pools of suffering, "Give her to me." He stole a glance at the girl who seemed completely enchanted by this woman. It's like she was hypnotized, a spell perhaps? "You need help too, don't you?" the red head offered. The woman only opened her mouth and hissed. //Won't give her up, eh?//
That child's echo of laughter stopped Kurama's heart cold in his chest. Green eyes looked over his shoulder as the sharp sound of a tin bell split the air. There was a trail of little human foot steps in the snow that appeared as he watched. The fox saw the faded boy with those cold dark eyes appear to make the next print in the clean snow.
"Stop." Kurama's voice was barely a whisper. The red head saw that the boy's course would run him head long into the pair. The gleaful boy extened a hand and snatched Miku's arm as he raced right through the hideous woman. The scared lady seemed to burst into a cloud of red mist that marked the skin of the two children with spots of crimson. I kind of shock set in holding his feet still but then, Miku's blue eyes met green.
"Wait." The fox demon ran after them with renewed vigor. The boy laughed that haunted echo again, as they ran over the tiny bridge that spanned the stream. The excited child spun on his heal taking them both around a large and old tree, the one where he first saw the hunter, really saw him. "Stop it, you'll hurt her!" Kurama shouted at the careless boy who kept dragging her along even though she stumbled twice already in their sprint.
"Yuzuru." A deep and hollow voice whispered from the tree, as the teen chased the pair.
//That voice. What was...?// Kurama didn't have time to think about it, something snagged his arm. He cried out bruising his arm from the momentum alone. //Did I hit something?// Green eyes noticed the raven haired boy spinning Miku around by both arms, laughing. Pale hands gripped at the course thing that held his arm fast.
"Nani?" The fox had no time to react before another fold of bark secured his other arm to the surface of the tree. "Ah!" His green eyes closed and he grit his teeth against three more folds of that sturdy bark and wood of that old tree that grabbed around his waist and both legs. The folds pulled and pressed, drawing him further into the plant. Kurama forced an eye open, straining against the pain.
With a bright smile the boy dropped Miku's hands and she sat down hard in the snow, puffing wildly and holding her robes tightly before her chest. The boy's breath didn't heave, didn't change at all. Was he a ghost? The short haired child moved closer to the girl. The boy's dark eyes seemed deeply possesive. The spirit or whatever it was took a hold of the girl's face, smearing the crimson color across her jawline.
"Get away from her!" Kurama forced his muscles to fight harder to get out of this wooden trap. A smooth wooden hand slid over her neck, pinching his head against the course bark. A tiny tear came from his eye as he felt his muscles tremble.
"What are you going to do to her?" The fox managed, he'd already tried to force his spirit into this plant but a deep feeling inside of him told him that not even a rose seed would be effected by him in this moment.
Those eyes like coal never even looked his way. The boy pulled the girl's chin up to his face and opened her mouth with a brusing pinch. The child opened his mouth and on his pink tongue, was the fading glow of the soul energy, the wolf had consumed. Green eyes watched as the boy forced his tongue in her mouth.
"Leave her alone!" The red head flet like he was going mad, losing ever bit of self control and it would be worth it if he could help Miku. The teen pushed and pulled hard and felt a stinging numbness over the two arms that managed to get through. A painful creak followed by a sharp crack finally freed the teen from the arborial prison.
Miku coughed when the boy let her go. She fell back into the snow bank, holding her arms and trembling. She swallowed hard as the boy stepped back with a satisfied grin. He whiped his chin and took a last look at his handy work before once again taking a wolf shape.
The red head fell to his knees from the amount of force he had used just trying to get out. White clouds puffed from his aching lungs. Kurama touched his side. //A few bruised ribs, one might be broken.// Green eyes glanced over some of his numerous scratches before looking to Miku. There would be time later to worry about himself. The gray-white animal looked at the fox as he rose to his feet, then raced away and dissapeared into the darkness.
"Miku-chan." The teen slowly walked to her side. "Are you alright? What did he..." Green eyes watched with horror when his hand passed through the girl as if she wasn't there at all. "...do?" Miku looked up at him with fear in her eyes, as she started to sink into the ground. "Miku-chan?!" Was this really happening? It can't be. "MIKU-CHAN!" The ground seemed to drink her like water and within seconds she was gone.
"No," the fox breathed frantically, brushing away the snow and clawing at the frozen grass. "no." Green eyes looked at his cold and dirty hands that couldn't touch her, couldn't help her. Kurama's jaw tightened before his fist pounded the ground. The fox demon shook with fury. //Why couldn't I...why couldn't I do anything?// He lowered his head and let his crimson mane cover his face. "What is it...What's going on here?"
A foot step made green eyes look up. Before him, stood Daiki in that yukata he'd lately dressed in. His blue eyes looked at his friend with that empty look from when he had not even the smallest peice of his own soul inside the strawberry blond shell.
"Daiki," Kurama's red locks licked his cheek when the wind rustled through the trees above them. "I'm sorry." Green eyes apologized wanting to cry but that would be an insult to Daiki's pain. "There was nothing I could do." He searched blue eyes for understanding, forgiveness, anything!
"I tried to..." The red headed teen froze when he saw the ketana in his friend's hand. "What are you doing with that?" The slightly taller teen moved his hand, rasing the blade in the air. Silence passed between them before the red head dared to speak. "Do you intend to kill me?" Green eyes watched him intently. //He must be controled by something. Could it be that boy?//
"If you must," The red head knelt, rasing his upper body and exposing his neck for a clean cut, "then do it." Kurama didn't have a death wish, it's just that...He was confident that no matter what, Daiki would never hurt him. The blade in the blond's hands started to shake and his eyes seemed to show pain. "Daiki?" The teen's jaw tightened.
A shaking hand kept the blade at the ready, then the other pulled at the shoulder of his Yukata. There was a red stain appearing from just under the cloth. Pale skin was exposed and the moon shaped scar that Genkai had inspected spilled out a thick line of crimson fluid.
"Daiki," Kurama moved to help, but that blade stopped him. The boy shook, gritting his teeth and trying to hold in the pool of blood that threatened to drain from him completely.
"Shuichi..." Blue eyes were clear for just a second and in that moment he flicked his wrist and turned the ketana to his own neck.
"DAIKI, NO!" The fox screamed as the young man pressed the blade to the skin over his juggular and pulled downward, hard. A splash of red blood splattered across Kurama's face. The warm liquid dripped down his chin, as his friend's body fell. The snow crushed under the weight of the teen's and in the silence that followed there was an emptiness that could be felt to the core of any feeling being.
Shock took any voice the red head had. //This isn't...This isn't happening.// Then the white and gray wolf trotted up past the old tree and stepped in the blood that stained the snow. The little boy came from the animal's form and those deep coal eyes looked at him with indifference. Even after all of this...there was something that pulled at the fox's subconscious. This boy...something about this boy.
//Do I know you?// The boy smiled and ran at him, with both arms out to touch the teen. The fox jerked back, unconsciously. Green eyes grew wide when the child's hand passed through his chest. A chill crawled up the red head's spine from that passing 'touch.'
"Tag, you're the demon now!" The boy said, before he ran away. Kurama's mouth gaped and his eyes let tears fall down his cheeks. //This isn't happening.//
"Shuichi." A familiar voice whispered in his ear.
"Huh?!" The red headed teen opened green eyes in the darkness. "What?" Kurama looked around frantically. He was in the guest room and laying next to him was an exhausted looking Daiki.
"Shuichi..." despirate blue eyes looked into green. The strawberry blond heaved labored breaths. "Are you, *breath* alright?"
"Daiki?"
"I heard you," he had to take a breath. The teen swallowed as he gripped the front of his yukata, "call me."
"Daiki..." The fox demon wanted to tell him he was fine and don't worry. To tell him that he should be worrying about himself and get some rest. But the truth was...Kurama was greatful for him. For waking him from his nightmare and just being near.
"Shuichi," Blue eyes closed then opened as a smile came to his gentle face, "you're such a..." Daiki's strong hand touched the red head's warm cheek wiping away a tear, "crybaby."
Green eyes blinked...//That's right, his last memory was from that night when he held me. I don't think I ever cried so much. I guess,// Kurama smiled back, controling his tears. //to Daiki, I do seem like a crybaby.// The red head wanted to laugh. It was funny, everything that's happened and his classmate will never know.
It's Halloween. Eiri-san has an evil grin on her face. "I don't think I like the looks of this." Yusuke watches the evil aura dance in clouds of black and red flame all around the author. "Eeee!" Kuwabara's hair is standing stright up and he's shaking from all the funky vibes. "We shouldn't be here." the carrot top teen managed before his teeth begin to clatter.
Chapter 38
//Hiei...// Green eyes shut tight as he enfolded the glass prison between his arms and chest. //Where are you?// Not that he was invited to come, he insisted on coming so he should be here, right?
Time crawled by in seconds that lasted like minutes and minutes like hours. There were so many things that had happened so many mysteries and so few answers. Kurama's most immediate concern was that riddle the hunter gave him. //How did it go again? The one in the now must go to the then to return what was lost or something...//
The fox scratched his red head with frustration. His brain was getting over loaded with all of these things he has to memorize just to be sure he's getting all the facts straight. The only thing worse than drawing a wrong conclusion is acting on that wrong conclusion as if it were right. //The one from now, to the then...what does it mean? I can't go back into the past. Is there someone capable of that?//
"Kurama." That familiar deep voice came to him in the darkness.
"Hiei?" Green eyes opened as he sat up quickly. "Where are you?" He couldn't see or even sense the fire demon. "I'm sure I heard his voice." the teen mumbled to himself, pulling his Yukata tigher to him. There was a chill in the room that even the blankets over his legs couldn't shake. //Wait a minute, where's Daiki's soul?// The demon frantically searched his robes and blankets. //Nothing! It can't be. It was in my hands!//
A child's laughter echoed in the hall. Green eyes narrowed with confusion. There were no children here, Kurama was sure of that. The fox demon threw off his blankets, padded to the door and opened it. The sharp ring of a bell could be heard as the sound of running foot steps rushed through the hall way in front of him. Shuichi's breath caught in his throat. The red head couldn't have been imagining it, he prided himself on his perception.
Then the echo of that laughter came again, this time further down the hall. //What was that?// The fox demon's feet moved with the speed of his four legged past. //Something invisible or could it just be moving too fast for me to see it?// Down the hall, round the corner and to...The red head stopped on a dime when he saw the faded image of child.
The boy had short hair and wore a small kimono. The boy was probably only about eleven or twelve. To these green eyes, there was something very familiar about this boy. The child turned to Kurama. Transparent eyes as cold and dark as pitch, looked up at him. In those intense eyes was the slightest hint of forest green. A smile split his other wise blank expression before the little boy took off running.
"Wait!" Kurama called when the boy darted away from him. Right before his eyes the image of the child changed into a gray-white wolf and raced with greater speed. "What the..." The red head tried to follow, but the animal passed through a wall. The teen touched the panel, but couldn't find any indication of a secret passage of any kind.
"Yuma..." A gentle sobbing could be heard from a room nearby. Although it wasn't Miku's room, the fox was sure it was her voice.
"Miku?" the red head could investigate the strange occurance later, right now, this little girl needed a friend. He opened the door to see a bare room, the only thing in it was someone lying in a bed. There was a white cloth draped over the person's face. "Yu," it was a man and by the body type...the old servant, "Yuma?"
That's the second time he'd heard a voice and couldn't find the person it belonged to. Was something trying to trick him? That thought wasn't promanent, only for the fact that this man lying on the floor now lifeless, made the fox demon sad. //Mrs. Momo said he lead a full life.// The teenager came into the room and knelt by the body. //I hope she was right.//
His heart ached, thinking if it had been Miku that had been the object of such terrible news. No disrespect was meant for this old man, but he was just that. Poor Miku was still young and probably hadn't experienced so many things that life had to offer, because of her medical condition. Medical condition...
Thinking about it now, what kind of condition could do so much damage without claiming her life before now? Of course, the fox wanted to see Miku healthy and happy, but was it even a possiblility that her affliction was not truely physical. A curse...for example. And if that was true then, curses could be lifted.
Kurama remembered Yuma's dedication and hope for the future and now...Did all of that mean nothing? //He had so much left to do. Miku-chan will grow up and you won't be there to see her mature. Daiki will be the master of the Hazama family and...but those old eyes are forever closed. Time to move on, like Genkai.//
Shuichi touched his chest with delicate fingers and let his bangs hide his expression. //I have to make that happen. For the sake of these precious lives that are so short...I have to help them.// Just then a low growl hummed from the corner of the room. //Huh?// The wolf that green eyes had watched the boy turn into, appeared from the shadows.
"What do you want?" The red head watched the creature carefully. The animal ignored the teen's presence and mulled over to the body. "Get away from him." The fox rose slightly, ready to defend. The wolves jaw opened, revealing a wet tongue and sharp teeth. "I said stop it!"
Kurama's hand reached out as the creature lunged. Some how the trasparent animal passed through the solid. And yet, the wolf's teeth wrapped around something. The red head jerked back, noticing the creature chewing on something in the center of the chest of...In the movement, the cloth had fallen off of the body's face. Green eyes opened wide in the realization that this man was not Yuma. //Who...who is this person?//
The wolf jerked it's head back and gobbled down something that seemed to glow and writhe. The fox's face twisted with disgust. //Did he get that from the body?// Kurama suddenly recognized the most crude form of the energy from a soul. //You're not eating his soul, but the energy that keeps the soul intact.// With a sickening swallow the animal had finished it's meal.
Kurama wasn't sure how to react. This non-corporial creature just stole the soul energy of a man he'd never seen before. The animal turned away and ran from the fox. //Where is it going?// The red head stood quickly. //Could it have...? NO!// Could it have taken eaten Daiki's soul energy, making it undetectable to Kurama? The creature passed through the wall again, but the fox knew that just beyond this wall was the garden behind the mannor.
"You won't get away." The red head raced out of the room, down the hall and on to the engawa. Shuichi practically skidded to a halt when he found the garden's devoid of even a trace of that wolf.
The creature was no where to be seen, but in the middle of the night darkened garden, frozen by ice and snow, was a tall and elegant woman in a striking kimono. Her posture was perfect even though her arms wrapped around a child. The woman with raven black hair hummed a gentle melody as those small familiar hands clutched the woman's flowing clothes.
"Who, who are you?" Green eyes watched her turn around slowly. The red head stepped down, almost stumbled, from the engawa upon seeing the woman's hideous face. Terrible scars burned and ripped her flesh from her head and down half of her body. One of her eyes seemed to bulge, due to the missing eye lids that had covered it.
The teen felt sick just looking at her. But in spite of his wrenching stomach, Kurama came closer to her. The frozen ground gladdly sucked warmth from Kurama's feet as he neared closer still. Because in her arms, she held Miku. The woman stepped back when he extened his arms, inviting her to give up the girl.
"Please," Green eyes told those mutilated brown pools of suffering, "Give her to me." He stole a glance at the girl who seemed completely enchanted by this woman. It's like she was hypnotized, a spell perhaps? "You need help too, don't you?" the red head offered. The woman only opened her mouth and hissed. //Won't give her up, eh?//
That child's echo of laughter stopped Kurama's heart cold in his chest. Green eyes looked over his shoulder as the sharp sound of a tin bell split the air. There was a trail of little human foot steps in the snow that appeared as he watched. The fox saw the faded boy with those cold dark eyes appear to make the next print in the clean snow.
"Stop." Kurama's voice was barely a whisper. The red head saw that the boy's course would run him head long into the pair. The gleaful boy extened a hand and snatched Miku's arm as he raced right through the hideous woman. The scared lady seemed to burst into a cloud of red mist that marked the skin of the two children with spots of crimson. I kind of shock set in holding his feet still but then, Miku's blue eyes met green.
"Wait." The fox demon ran after them with renewed vigor. The boy laughed that haunted echo again, as they ran over the tiny bridge that spanned the stream. The excited child spun on his heal taking them both around a large and old tree, the one where he first saw the hunter, really saw him. "Stop it, you'll hurt her!" Kurama shouted at the careless boy who kept dragging her along even though she stumbled twice already in their sprint.
"Yuzuru." A deep and hollow voice whispered from the tree, as the teen chased the pair.
//That voice. What was...?// Kurama didn't have time to think about it, something snagged his arm. He cried out bruising his arm from the momentum alone. //Did I hit something?// Green eyes noticed the raven haired boy spinning Miku around by both arms, laughing. Pale hands gripped at the course thing that held his arm fast.
"Nani?" The fox had no time to react before another fold of bark secured his other arm to the surface of the tree. "Ah!" His green eyes closed and he grit his teeth against three more folds of that sturdy bark and wood of that old tree that grabbed around his waist and both legs. The folds pulled and pressed, drawing him further into the plant. Kurama forced an eye open, straining against the pain.
With a bright smile the boy dropped Miku's hands and she sat down hard in the snow, puffing wildly and holding her robes tightly before her chest. The boy's breath didn't heave, didn't change at all. Was he a ghost? The short haired child moved closer to the girl. The boy's dark eyes seemed deeply possesive. The spirit or whatever it was took a hold of the girl's face, smearing the crimson color across her jawline.
"Get away from her!" Kurama forced his muscles to fight harder to get out of this wooden trap. A smooth wooden hand slid over her neck, pinching his head against the course bark. A tiny tear came from his eye as he felt his muscles tremble.
"What are you going to do to her?" The fox managed, he'd already tried to force his spirit into this plant but a deep feeling inside of him told him that not even a rose seed would be effected by him in this moment.
Those eyes like coal never even looked his way. The boy pulled the girl's chin up to his face and opened her mouth with a brusing pinch. The child opened his mouth and on his pink tongue, was the fading glow of the soul energy, the wolf had consumed. Green eyes watched as the boy forced his tongue in her mouth.
"Leave her alone!" The red head flet like he was going mad, losing ever bit of self control and it would be worth it if he could help Miku. The teen pushed and pulled hard and felt a stinging numbness over the two arms that managed to get through. A painful creak followed by a sharp crack finally freed the teen from the arborial prison.
Miku coughed when the boy let her go. She fell back into the snow bank, holding her arms and trembling. She swallowed hard as the boy stepped back with a satisfied grin. He whiped his chin and took a last look at his handy work before once again taking a wolf shape.
The red head fell to his knees from the amount of force he had used just trying to get out. White clouds puffed from his aching lungs. Kurama touched his side. //A few bruised ribs, one might be broken.// Green eyes glanced over some of his numerous scratches before looking to Miku. There would be time later to worry about himself. The gray-white animal looked at the fox as he rose to his feet, then raced away and dissapeared into the darkness.
"Miku-chan." The teen slowly walked to her side. "Are you alright? What did he..." Green eyes watched with horror when his hand passed through the girl as if she wasn't there at all. "...do?" Miku looked up at him with fear in her eyes, as she started to sink into the ground. "Miku-chan?!" Was this really happening? It can't be. "MIKU-CHAN!" The ground seemed to drink her like water and within seconds she was gone.
"No," the fox breathed frantically, brushing away the snow and clawing at the frozen grass. "no." Green eyes looked at his cold and dirty hands that couldn't touch her, couldn't help her. Kurama's jaw tightened before his fist pounded the ground. The fox demon shook with fury. //Why couldn't I...why couldn't I do anything?// He lowered his head and let his crimson mane cover his face. "What is it...What's going on here?"
A foot step made green eyes look up. Before him, stood Daiki in that yukata he'd lately dressed in. His blue eyes looked at his friend with that empty look from when he had not even the smallest peice of his own soul inside the strawberry blond shell.
"Daiki," Kurama's red locks licked his cheek when the wind rustled through the trees above them. "I'm sorry." Green eyes apologized wanting to cry but that would be an insult to Daiki's pain. "There was nothing I could do." He searched blue eyes for understanding, forgiveness, anything!
"I tried to..." The red headed teen froze when he saw the ketana in his friend's hand. "What are you doing with that?" The slightly taller teen moved his hand, rasing the blade in the air. Silence passed between them before the red head dared to speak. "Do you intend to kill me?" Green eyes watched him intently. //He must be controled by something. Could it be that boy?//
"If you must," The red head knelt, rasing his upper body and exposing his neck for a clean cut, "then do it." Kurama didn't have a death wish, it's just that...He was confident that no matter what, Daiki would never hurt him. The blade in the blond's hands started to shake and his eyes seemed to show pain. "Daiki?" The teen's jaw tightened.
A shaking hand kept the blade at the ready, then the other pulled at the shoulder of his Yukata. There was a red stain appearing from just under the cloth. Pale skin was exposed and the moon shaped scar that Genkai had inspected spilled out a thick line of crimson fluid.
"Daiki," Kurama moved to help, but that blade stopped him. The boy shook, gritting his teeth and trying to hold in the pool of blood that threatened to drain from him completely.
"Shuichi..." Blue eyes were clear for just a second and in that moment he flicked his wrist and turned the ketana to his own neck.
"DAIKI, NO!" The fox screamed as the young man pressed the blade to the skin over his juggular and pulled downward, hard. A splash of red blood splattered across Kurama's face. The warm liquid dripped down his chin, as his friend's body fell. The snow crushed under the weight of the teen's and in the silence that followed there was an emptiness that could be felt to the core of any feeling being.
Shock took any voice the red head had. //This isn't...This isn't happening.// Then the white and gray wolf trotted up past the old tree and stepped in the blood that stained the snow. The little boy came from the animal's form and those deep coal eyes looked at him with indifference. Even after all of this...there was something that pulled at the fox's subconscious. This boy...something about this boy.
//Do I know you?// The boy smiled and ran at him, with both arms out to touch the teen. The fox jerked back, unconsciously. Green eyes grew wide when the child's hand passed through his chest. A chill crawled up the red head's spine from that passing 'touch.'
"Tag, you're the demon now!" The boy said, before he ran away. Kurama's mouth gaped and his eyes let tears fall down his cheeks. //This isn't happening.//
"Shuichi." A familiar voice whispered in his ear.
"Huh?!" The red headed teen opened green eyes in the darkness. "What?" Kurama looked around frantically. He was in the guest room and laying next to him was an exhausted looking Daiki.
"Shuichi..." despirate blue eyes looked into green. The strawberry blond heaved labored breaths. "Are you, *breath* alright?"
"Daiki?"
"I heard you," he had to take a breath. The teen swallowed as he gripped the front of his yukata, "call me."
"Daiki..." The fox demon wanted to tell him he was fine and don't worry. To tell him that he should be worrying about himself and get some rest. But the truth was...Kurama was greatful for him. For waking him from his nightmare and just being near.
"Shuichi," Blue eyes closed then opened as a smile came to his gentle face, "you're such a..." Daiki's strong hand touched the red head's warm cheek wiping away a tear, "crybaby."
Green eyes blinked...//That's right, his last memory was from that night when he held me. I don't think I ever cried so much. I guess,// Kurama smiled back, controling his tears. //to Daiki, I do seem like a crybaby.// The red head wanted to laugh. It was funny, everything that's happened and his classmate will never know.