By the time Kurama arrived at play practice, they had already started.
It had taken time to remove the last of the nectar.
He didn't see Tohru...perhaps the girl had been wrong?
"Minamino!" a girl cried.
Kurama started and then, he was surrounded by five fan-girls, ambush style.
"Kawaii!!!" They cried in unison, clasping their hands to their chests. "Those ears and that tail! They look so real!"
Kurama said, "Thank you."He looked across the room then and saw the classmate who had taken him to the hospital. He was frowning at him. And next to him, staring at him from across the room, his head bandaged, his eyes brown, his lips soft, was Tohru.
Kurama raised his hand to him, but before Tohru could respond, Kurama was pulled away.
"Let's start on page 42." Yuki, the director said.
"Alright." Kurama said and flipped opened the book he had been carrying.
Everyone took their place.
Everyone went still.
Kurama stood, a true youko playing a youko in a play and read his lines while everyone looked on.
"A disguise." Kurama said. "That is the trick. I'll cover your eyes with the cloth on my body. I'll be a king one moment, a begger the next, a ronin with a sword at your throat, or a woman with your heart in my hand. You'll never recognize me. Until it is too late." Kurama paused.
"Minamino..." Yuki the director hissed. "Go on, that sounds great, don't break the moment."
"I'll sneak in at night, the times when no one sees, and the moon is out and ringed. Then, the treasures are not watched, their owners are dreaming of their own treasures, the only treasures I cannot steal. I'll be in and out and no one will see me. No one will notice I was there.....how crafty is this youko!" Kurama's voice softened as he spoke. It hadn't been that long since the last practice. How was it now, that these words, delivered already many times before, sounded now so different?
"But, Youko! There are demons who guard that treasure!""Who fears demons?" Kurama said, his voice still strangely soft. The director was beginning to interupt, "Who fears demons?" Kurama repeated, louder this time and the director paused, suprised at the sudden change in his tone. "Who fears demons? Not I. What have I to fear, for I myself am a demon."
Kurama broke off.
No one noticed the troubled tremor to his voice. No one noticed the sudden tightening of his lips or the way his eyes narrowed.
No one, save a boy sitting across the room, a boy with brown eyes that were so large, and a bandage wrapped around his head.
The same is true when Kurama left the practice.
Quietly, so no one saw, Tohru slipped from his seat and followed after Kurama.
...to be continued...