pure-thornless-rose: Hi there! Did you notice I added something to the title? Oh and I apologize for the VERY long wait. But school had begun for me and I wasn't able to get on very often.
Blizzard:Yep... she's very sorry. And I'm glad to be back.(stretches)
pure-thornless-rose: Yeah... Anyway, here's the new chapter! Enjoy!
Blizzard: Oh and don't forget: Pure-thornless-rose doesn't own YYH and any of it's characters. Just her Orginal Characters and her story.
Hope in Destiny, Merged Souls
Chapter 5: In the End of the Day
By: me, MKR! Pure-thornless-rose
Kurama became flooded with memories upon seeing her again. She looked the same as she did long ago.
Then he remembered that he was still in the midst of a training match with Destiny.
He could only wish that she remembered so quickly, but she already began attacking. Destiny was speeding towards him with tremendous speed. But he used his plant manipulating ability and shortly, the cut pieces of his whip rooted into the ground and grew into thorny vines that whipped wildly. These became an obstacle for her to get around. Unfortunately for Destiny, the vines were just about everywhere. She figured that cutting them would only make more vines, so she had no choice but to try to get past them without cutting. She eventually got through and the two were fighting again. She was somewhat more of a challenge to fight with in her demon form. But as they continued fighting, Destiny suddenly stepped onto a vine and it wrapped itself around her ankle, keeping her in one place. But she was too busy trying to fight off Kurama to cut the vine. She was also too busy to even mind the constricting of the vines' thorns and their pricking on her ankle. But fortunately, she was able to kick Kurama off, pull out her wakizashi, and then cut herself loose. This fight was a very long one and will probably be longer; so Destiny had an idea.
"Kurama," Destiny called out. "Maybe we can make this end a little sooner. This match will surely last the whole day you know." She sheathed her wakizashi.
"What do you have in mind?" He stopped and stood ground.
"The first one whose back is to the ground loses. How does that sound?"
"I can agree with that proposition. But are you wiling to take that risk with all my vines here, every single one of them, out to get you?"
"I'm willing enough. I think I've taken bigger risks before."
"Then let's go...!" he said with a grin.
Instantly, they take off. Kurama made several attempts to trip Destiny by using his rose whip. But Destiny dodged most of the time, only getting nicked a few times from every dodge attempt. As for the ground vines, she ran and jumped around all of them, making her way to a large clear area in the north of the yard. But before she went any closer, he lashed with the whip and caught her ankle then dragged her closer when she was felled to her stomach. The whip picked her up and hurled her down to the ground. But she turned over before her back hit it and she absorbed the impact with her arms. Quickly, she jumped up, pulled onto the whip wrapped around her ankles and tried pulling him closer; but he pulled back. A short game of bloody tug-of-war played until she gave in from the thorns digging into her skin and Kurama pulled on the whip. She fell backwards and onto her bottom (phew!). Then, as much as it stung her hands to do so, she pulled out her wakizashi and sliced the whip off her ankle, again. She quickly continued for the clear space. She reached it, knowing that he would also follow since he did. Continuing to run with him on her tail, she then made a sudden stop. Being so close behind, he ran into her and stumbled. She in turn, stood firmly into the ground and shoved backwards so that he would fall backwards and she didn't. Quickly and before he was even able to stand firmly himself, she crouched and swept him off the ground with a sweeping kick. He fell off his feet and fell to his back with a thud.
She won the match.
"I should have seen that coming..." He said as he lay there on his back.
"You shouldn't have been running so close behind."
She smiled and offered an outreached hand. He took it and stood up and dusted himself off. Botan came in and announced the winner of the training match. This training day was like a mini tournament; it gave Destiny a taste of what the real thing would be like. So Destiny/Youko Destiny advanced to a match with her mother, in her youkai form. Their round had a good fight, not too long and it was not short. But her mother won and advanced to the next round. Mrs. Akiyama then fought her next round with her husband, Mr. Akiyama. She won again. Her next opponent was Hiei. This round was a little long and by the end of it, there was no exact winner. In other words, there was a draw. They both wielded a katana and were both excellent in using them; and though Hiei was extremely fast, she had endurance and lightning reflexes. This was a draw mainly because they both nearly cut each other's heads off and at the same exact time. Both blades were against both necks. Hiei frowned upon this and put a scowl on, Mrs. Akiyama had a pleased smirk on. They just had this incredible and quickly paced, long fight and it ended with a mere draw. It's no wonder why Hiei seemed displeased. He could have cut her head clean off her neck... But then again, his would be gone too; and if it wasn't and he was left as the victor and sole survivor of the fight, he would be in trouble... by a lot of people.
Anyhow, it was a draw and there were no re-matches. Hiei wasn't going to waste any more time on a re-match that just might end the same way; he stormed off the field before anyone could decide on it too.
For the remaining of the day, the guys stayed a while longer. Destiny, on one hand, was still in her youkai form and she became curious as to how the rest of her looked. So after everyone entered the house, she ran into her room and stood before the tall mirror on her wall.
Downstairs, Kurama watched the kitsune exit the room. He had the need to go and talk to her and tell her about Youko Kurama. So he slipped out of the room and followed her secretively, leaving the other three and Botan with Destiny's parents.
Meanwhile, Destiny was standing before the mirror. She couldn't believe what she saw before her in the mirror. The girl in her dream the night before was right there, looking back at her as HER reflection. Then the dream entered her mind as a flashback. She gazed into the mirror and touched her cheek. The honey-gold eyes and mahogany brown hair were like what the girl had, what she had. She dropped to her knees and stared at her lap. Then it hit her-- along with a small flood of memories-- it hit her.
"I'm not Destiny Ayami Akiyama; I'm Destiny, the kitsune once famous for so many things. But I threw all that away for love. I've been at the back of her mind for the last sixteen years, regenerating from that damned battle with THEM! But I seem fine now. I must have merged into the unborn child with another soul. Being the weaker soul from that fight, I must have been cast aside. That's the reason why I forgot about everything."
"You know I find it quite interesting that we both have the same names... What a coincidence, no? "
"Destiny... You're... at the back of my mind?"
"This seems to be what's happening. Quite a cramped place, the back of your head."
"And what's THAT supposed to mean? I have a small brain?"
"No, it's just that you know so much knowledge."
"I've lived for 255 years. What do you expect, young soul?"
"So you are 239 years older than me... and we share the same body. Freaky, you're practically my other half, my counterpart. Err, something like that."
"Yes. Hm? Now how did I get here and know exactly where to go?"
"We've shared the same mind of ONE body. Everything I know, you know and vice versa."
"I see... Now, I smell something."
"It's Kurama's scent. I can smell it too."
"He smell's like, like... roses?"
"Heheh... I like that smell. I like roses."
"Yes, as do I. But, the smell was from a boy? How odd..."
"What's so odd about him smelling like roses? I find it quite alluring."
"Well, rose boy's scent is getting stronger."
"I think he's right before our door."
"OUR?"
"Just answer it... And yes. It's our door, our room. We share the same lives now."
"How generous of you... well... I can see why. We're stuck together."
"Yes and I do like you being here... now, the door. Answer it..."
"He's about to knock...."
Kurama quietly stepped up to her door. He raised an arm and was about to knock, until he heard a voice call from the other side.
"You can come in, Kurama," she said before he could even knock.
It caught him off guard, but he opened the door and entered, shutting it behind him silently. The room was dim. It was nighttime already and the full moon was the only source of light in the room. She was still kneeling before the mirror on the floor. She looked at him from the mirror.
"What is it?" she asked to his shadow.
"I need to talk to you," he said as he stepped closer to her, "There's someone who also wants to see you..."
Suddenly a glowing aura (the same as Destiny's) came to him. It lit up the room until it faded, then only the moon light shown. Kurama wasn't there. But there was still a figure in the shadows of the room and a different scent was in the air. Destiny looked into the mirror and breathed in through her nose. The scent she picked up was so familiar. But the sight she saw in the mirror clarified everything. The figure stepped out and a man with silver hair, gold eyes, fox ears and a fox's tail stood there.
"Did Kurama just change into that guy? Who is he?"
"Youko Kurama..."
"YOUKO KURAMA... KURAMA."
"That explains the roses and the rose whip..."
"KURAMA... YOUKO KURAMA. Are—were—are they the same person? Are you listening?"
"Youko... Kurama."
Youko Destiny was speechless. Even to Destiny, the voice in her head. She stood up and continued to look into the mirror. Her eyes had widened. A bigger flood of memories rushed in until she was able to remember just about everything. She was silent. Youko Kurama stepped closer.
"Destiny. Do you remember me? Who I am?" he asked her and stepped closer. But she said nothing. She just stared at his reflection. Then he lowered his head and stepped back and turned around, slowly making his way to the balcony door. "Then you don't remember me... you've forgotten..."
"...Silly fox Youko Kurama," she suddenly said, smiling. She turned to face him and he did too. She ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. "I remember. Of course I do. So don't worry about that." She lifted her face and gazed into his golden eyes. "I'm so happy to see you..."
"And I to you." He had his arms around her waist and a smile across his face. Then he pulled her in to a soft kiss. She deepened it but someone began knocking on the door. It was Hiei and the foxes could smell him.
"Come in, Hiei." Youko Destiny answered to the knock, not leaving Youko Kurama's arms. Hiei walked in and found them holding each other.
"I knew there was a reason to knock..."
"Yes... so how did you find this room?" The question struck Youko Destiny's mind.
"The same way he did—he followed somebody."
"Well you're open today, Hiei." Youko Kurama frowned a bit, tail waving about irritably.
"I just wanted to see what your sneaky human side was up to." He too became irritated. "But now that I see—I'm leaving... Hn." With that, he turned to the door and walked out, saying something before he shut the door. "This never happened..."
"Now where were we?" Youko Kurama pulled Destiny back into his arms. She giggled and looked back into his eyes. She cupped his cheek with her hand as he leaned in.
"Kisses later you love ham." She giggled when he lifted his head and blinked in confusion.
"Later?" His heart sank.
"Just later." Then she rested her head on his chest. Things went silent.
"Should we tell him?" Destiny said from the back of Youko Destiny's mind.
"Tell him what?"
"That we're double-souled."
"You have a name for our condition already?"
"Yeah, I had to keep myself busy while you two were making mushyness. Anyhow, should we?"
"No..."
"Why not? He has two sides also."
"But does he have two souls?"
"No..."
"There's bliss in ignorance and I don't want him to have to choose between us. It would break his heart. I don't want him to be sad. His human side is quite taken by you too."
"Suichi?"
"Yes, the boy. You're quite taken by him as well."
"I am?"
"Like how I've fallen in love with the man—you're falling for the boy. It's all over your face when you're with him."
"I'll feel very guilty when he finds out."
"I will too. It's like lying to him and I've never done that. Even when we were enemies."
"You two were enemies once?"
"Yes, you can search through my memories if you want to know more... just do your best to avoid the personal ones, the VERY personal ones."
"I'll take that as a warning as well..."
"Destiny, what are you thinking of?"
"Decisions... important ones."
"Like?"
"Don't worry about it..." The she took a deep sigh and she left his arms. A thought struck her mind. "There's something that happened 17 years ago that I want to remember, but can't remember. It's something that happened months before I was killed. What was it?" Then she walked to the mirror and ran her fingers down her image. "I have to know..."
"You were killed a year after I was? What happened?"
"The leader of that little society that always wanted to kill you. That's what happened. He found two very strong demons and sent them after me. He should have come after me himself... I couldn't fight off both of them at the same time. So I sent Marina off somewhere to safety, on her own I think, or was it with someone? That thing I can't remember, it's there too. Anyway, I sent her off so she couldn't get hurt while I stayed back and fought. But they outnumbered me by one extra demon and... here I am. I hope Marina's still well."
"She's strong, very strong even. She's the only one who didn't die out of you, her, Kuronue, and me. I'm sure she's doing great on her own."
"Yeah... but something tells me she's not on her own."
"What do you mean?"
"That thing I can't remember. I feel that something has been erased from my memories." She began searching her mind but nothing came up. "Can't I get a clue?"
"I think you should put that aside for now... whatever that is."
"Sorry... I can't help but think that that thing is important, very important. Oh well... Whatever it is, it's with Marina." Then she walked to the bed and sat down, she was followed by Youko Kurama.
Then silence, just pure silence.
"—Hey Destiny, I suddenly have the urge to go steal something..." Youko Kurama suddenly said out of the blue. Then both Destiny and Youko Destiny sweat dropped. "Do you?"
"Youko Kurama...!"
"What?"
p-t-rose: Well there ya go! Did ya like it?
Blizz: ... I kinda fell asleep somewhere in the middle...
p-t-rose: well you're a lot of help...
Listen... the next chapter might take a long time to be posted up as well. If you have any questions or anything to say or suggest, ask or say it in a review to me. Or you can email me! My mail box probably has a couple spiderwebs in it now and some mail would be nice.
Send email only for the purpose of this story... and maybe a different subject... And my email can be found in my bio.
REVIEW okay?
BYE!
