Kurama walked.
It was late. He should return home.
He was so tired. His bones felt hallow. His eyes were lead.
He was glad that Tohru was alright.
He was glad...
Kurama shook his head. He had so many things to be "glad" for lately, and yet here he was...He sighed.
Hiei was alright and Tohru was alive.
That was enough, wasn't it?
Kurama glanced up the empty corridor of the night and the empty sidewalk stretched in front of him, punctuated by streetlights.
He needed to sleep. He wanted nothing more than to return to his home.
Home.
For the first time in so long, the picture that came into his mind at the word 'home', wasn't the one he shared with his 'ka-san. It wasn't the one Shuiichi adored and held so dear.
It was the one far away. The one that he hadn't seen for so long.
The demon world.
THAT home.
Kurama didn't realize that he was smiling until he stopped in his step and touched his own mouth.
Home.
The boundless sky, the horizon flowing through mountains and castles where the earth itself was alive and the plants and wind called to him, "Kurama....Kurama..."
Kurama had come to a stop at a playground.
Around him, a swing moved in the wind, a merry-go-round creaked. The moon cast a watery shadow on a melted puddle of snow.
Of course, in the Demon World, they wouldn't call "Kurama", they would call "Youko...Youko...."
He remembered his days there, far less simple and yet not so complex.
A boundless freedom there.
No human heart.
No Hiei.
No Tohru.
No 'ka-san.
Just for a moment, could it be, he prefered it that way?
Kurama shook his head. That was the youko.He hadn't heard that voice in his head for a long time. Cold and cruel, cunning and clever, the Youko Kurama had left behind 15 years ago.
That treasure is worth more than all my wealth combined, but more so, there is a second purpose."
"A second?"
"Yes." Kurama paused, "Love."
Kurama walked to a swing and sat down.
Such a line, Kurama had to laugh. Youko would never had said that. There would NOT be a prize worth more than wealth, no matter how great. Certainly not love.
Perhaps that is why Kurama was so lonely now.
Centuries of lonliness. Centuries of love so brief a candle flame lasted longer.
Kurama kicked his feet against the dirt of the playground and shook his head. Why was he thinking about this?
He was not Youko.He was not Shuiichi.
He was Kurama.
He knew that, everything else, however, was so uncertain....
...to be continued...