Chapter Five
Past
For the next three days they stayed at the inn, stuck inside because of the weather. Though it was the middle of winter and snow was piled up several inches, clouds had hovered right above the town, giving them a very cold downpour of rain that never seemed to completely stop. After the second night all of them were restless, wanting to get out. Kuwabara and Yusuke passed the time by sparring with one another in another area of the dojo, where Naomi's grandfather had once taught swordsmanship. Hiei paced around the building, joining in the fights if he felt like it, staying in the windowsill whenever he was resting. He hadn't said two words to Kurama since Botan had returned with the news of Koenma. The fox-boy was to join their team, to help them hunt down Nibori. Then he was free to go.
Usually Kurama was left in the room with Fox, not that he minded it. In fact, whenever the boy woke up, he'd encourage him to talk, trying to get him to come from the seemingly-unbreakable shell that he was hiding in. When Fox wasn't eating or doing anything personal, he was in bed, regaining his strength. Kurama kept an eye on him whenever he was in sight, trying to pick up any sort of body language or anything that might help him understand the quiet youkai more. In less than an hour, he had figured out two things: one, Fox refused to meet anyone's gaze; two, his ears were always flat or low, like a beaten down dog.
On the morning of the fourth day the rain had finally quit but had left muddy puddles all around the town. As soon as the precipitation had stopped, Hiei was the first to get outside, flanked closely by Kuwabara and Yusuke. His body aching from sleeping upright and his mind spinning with thoughts, Kurama stole a glance at Fox, who he found to be sleeping, then padded into the bathroom for a shower.
When he had finished, he paused at the doorway to button his shirt, but the fox caught his attention. He was sitting up in bed, ears pricked, eyes sparkling with some sort of shadowed emotion as he glanced out the window. As Kurama stepped forward slowly, the boy jerked his head in his direction and immediately his ears were lowered, his gaze down at the bedsheets.
"Why do you do that?" Kurama asked out of curiosity, sitting on the bed opposite him, watching him with a smile. "I had ears once; it's not a big deal," he laughed.
Without moving, the fox replied slowly, "It's called ranking...in our clans...the lower classes and the half-breeds showed respect towards the alphas, or anyone higher than them. All of us were taught to rank as cubs, and seeing as I've always been a minor..." His voice trailed off and he sighed. "Kurama...you and your friends...well...discluding Hiei...have been so...open to me. And here I sit, closed up, revealing nothing and hiding everything. You know nothing of my race, nothing of my past. Hell...you don't even know my name."
"I would accept it," Kurama said, raising his chin. "I would, and will, accept anything you tell me. And I know more than you think..."
Fox looked up at him, meeting his gaze, though falteringly. "I suppose you want answers then?"
"Only if you want to give them to me."
He was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Are you guys the real deal? The Spirit Detectives that Nibori thought so lowly of?"
"That would be us. Koenma assigned Yusuke the job in exchange for his life when he met a rather untimely death. Hiei and I were already teammates, but in the opposite business. We, accompanied by another, lower-class demon called Gouki, broke into King Yama's secret chambers and stole the three artifacts. Yusuke was pitted against us, his orders to reclaim the artifacts and either destroy us or take us back to the Reikai for punishment. Hiei and I got the latter and Gouki was killed. Our sentence from the Reikai prince was to join sides with Yusuke and to help him and Kuwabara as the Spirit Detectives, to put it simply."
"But wouldn't helping ningen go against your code, not to mention your race?"
"We never had a code, but yes, we're now considered traitors to our own, looked down upon by most youkai. But it didn't really matter. Both our lives were rather...rocky...before we joined up with Yusuke."
"Howso?"
Kurama laughed. The boy was full of questions, but at least he was talking! "Well Hiei is a forbidden child, son of a Koorime and a fire demon. He was outcast as a baby, raised by thieves, later on putting himself through the pain and turmoil of the Jagan eye. He hated everyone and the only thing keeping him alive was the strength to find his sister, Yukina."
"And you?"
"Surely you've heard of me, being raised in a clan ruled by Nibori and all."
The fox cocked his head, shaking it slightly. "Your name is familiar but...your face isn't."
"Youko Kurama?" Kurama tried, slightly surprised when the boy flattened his ears and recoiled with a whimper. "What's wrong?" he asked, trying to keep his tone light but he felt his stomach turn at Fox's reaction.
—
Kazuki pulled away from Kurama's touch as the man reached out. Youko Kurama... he thought, repeating the name over and over, each time instilling more fear into himself. That's where he had heard the name before. His whole clan knew the name, knew the legend. It was one of the only things Nibori truly feared...Youko was a killer, a thief, a true specimen of the Kitsune race. But he was dead...the legends said that he had died at the hands of human hunters.
"Y-You're supposed to be dead," he uttered out, barely able to suppress his fear.
"I am. Well...he is. Sort of. You see...my former self was shot down by ningen and in a frantic attempt to escape, I forced myself into the womb of an unknowing human woman, born again as a helpless newborn, yet retaining the knowledge of Youko. I was reborn 9 months later as Shuichi Minamino, a ningen. Looking back, I realize I wasn't a pleasant child. I wrecked things, forced my parents into tears, making them wonder how they had gone wrong. I took pleasure in this for awhile, but after 15 years with them, my feelings of hatred had faded, leaving me a human with only slight remembrance of who I had been and what I had done. When my mother fell ill to an uncurable disease I joined Hiei to steal the artifacts, to use the Forlorn Hope to heal her. That's when I began to feel the emotions that had been missing my whole life. Love. Loyalty. Friendship. I dropped the name Youko, going by Kurama or Shuichi, depending on the occasion. I'm nothing to fear now...Youko is still alive, in a way, but I've never allowed him to take control...he can't. And I'm still the Kurama you knew from 10 minutes ago," Kurama smiled, seeing Kazuki's expression.
"I just...Nibori..." All these thoughts, memories, were stirring in Kaz's head, making him feel uneasy. But maybe Kurama was right. It was just a name now, a demon trapped in a ningen's body. And Kazuki himself posed minor threat to them. He gathered his strength again and looked up at Kurama. "Well...you've practically told me your life story. I suppose it's only fair for me to tell you mine..." But as he said this a tremor of fear went through him.
"I don't need to know your life. Merely your name would suit me fine," Kurama said with a chuckle. "I've been calling you Fox this whole time... So tell me?"
Kazuki sighed, thanking the gods above and nodding. "I'm called Kazuki Himora, Kaz for short," he said with a slight smile tugging at his lips. Maybe this Spirit Detective thing would work out after all.
As he revealed his name to Kurama, the ex-bandit smiled, closing his eyes. Kaz lowered his ears hesitantly, unsure of what the man was going to do. "Kazuki," Kurama murmured. "Well at least I have a name to go with your face. It's better than Fox, eh?" Kazuki couldn't help but smile as well, but it quickly turned into a frown.
"The blue-haired woman, Botan? She said that I am part of your group now, correct?" he asked, speaking the first question on his mind.
"Yes. Why?"
"What do I have to do...?"
"As a Spirit Detective?" Kurama laughed.
"Y-Yeah..."
"We'll be given a week or so to train you up; sadly we don't have much time, due to the fact that we need to get back on track at finding Nibori before the month is over and the blood moon rises again. But I think, after seeing your performance against Naomi's grandfather, that I won't need to work you too hard. You already seem to know a lot about swordsmanship, but do you know anything about using ki in battles?"
"Well...I know what it is and I've seen it used...but I've never been allowed to practice anything like that," Kazuki explained, trying to remember exactly what he had been taught in the past, but the only thing he really remembered were the forlorn memories that he had shoved to the back of his mind. "Takashi taught me to wield a sword for self-defense, since my...background as well was rather...rocky, as you said."
"Rocky?" It was Kurama's turn to ask questions now.
Kazuki sighed. He knew it had been coming... With a sharp intake of breath, he began slowly. "You see...my mum was a Vulpess, like Katsu or Kasumi. She fell in love with my father, who was a lower-class youkai, and I was conceived. An accident... A few years after I was born she fell ill and not even the most talented of healers could help her. When she died, my dad lost it. He was never fond of me, dealing with me only for mum's sake. He...dumped me on the streets when I was 4, I think, and I was basically a outcast..." Kazuki shivered slightly, wrapping his arms around his knees protectively, ears flat. "A man called Takashi found me and talked his leader, a Kitsune knight who ended up inheriting the clan when his godfather died, into letting me join the group."
"And I'm supposing this Kitsune is Nibori?"
Damn, Kazuki thought, his gaze flickering to Kurama's emerald one. This man is on top of everything. I wonder if he's a mind-reader... The idea frightened him and he nodded in answer to Kurama's question. "Yeah. Nibori agreed, but only because Takashi was his best friend. Nibori hated me. Obviously enough to trick me to follow them here, only to be used as a slave sacrifice," he spat.
"And Takashi?"
"He...left. The night of the blood moon...he told me he would be right back, that he had to speak with Nibori... When he came back, he passed me by, ignoring my calls to him as he walked away..."
"Abandoning you...like your father had done..."
"Worse. At least my dad abandoned me to the open world, giving me a chance of life. Tak–he left me to die. He knew. He knew the whole time." Kazuki shook his head, refusing to let the tears that were burning his eyes fall. "He was the father I never had. He taught me everything I know. Yet he would leave me for death? Kurama...why?"
Kurama shook his head, a sign that he had no idea himself. "Perhaps he had a reason?"
"I doubt it..."
There was silence between the two before Kazuki raised his head to look in Kurama's direction. "Enough of this. My past is gone. The present is what we're dealing with–"
"And your future," Kurama murmured. "Your future, my future and the future of the entire universe. It is all balanced on a fragile limb, ready to break when the blood moon reappears. It is extremely crucial, as you know, to destroy Nibori before he can make a second and final sacrifice. We don't know where he's located, however. We figured...maybe you would help?" The youkai's emerald eyes sparkled with curiosity as he reached out a hand, palm up, towards Kaz.
My future... Kazuki thought, clenching his hand into a fist. My past was in the hands of a murderer. My future is in the hands of myself. Only I can change it... With a determined smile, he nodded, gingerly placing his own hand in Kurama's outstretched palm. "I'll help you find that bastard. And I'll do whatever's needed of me to kill him, even if it means death."
He jumped slightly, out of instinct, as Kurama's hand closed around his own, his other coming to rest on Kazuki's shoulder. "Good. Thank you, Kazuki."
Kaz shrugged, feeling a flush come to his cheeks. "Now...what was that training you spoke of earlier?" And with a slight smile, he lay back into his bed and listened intently as Kurama explained his ideas.Okies. Another chapter up...and I've got the next ones planned out, more/less... However, I probably will be slow to write and update due to the following: school(blek), up-coming 4-H(I have to work with my dog and do my ceramic/art thingy), the Sim Games I play(Furry-Paws and Pure Felinity) plus the final edits on my novel before I start looking for an agent. Therefore, if I've not updated in awhile, I'm doing one of those things -pokes the list above- which sucks, but I WILL update. Don't worry. -CoyoteKitsune
