Chapter 9: The End of Kurama
Yasuo smirked and charged Kurama again. He began throwing punches like a wildman, getting blocked every time. He leapt away from his father and landed a few feet away. He raised one fist and pointed it at Kurama.
"Hey, that kinda looks like Urameshi's shotgun," Kuwabara noticed.
"It is the shotgun!" Yusuke yelled, stunned. "SCATTER!"
"Shotgun!" Yasuo shouted, firing the attack.
Kurama jumped into the air to avoid it, his friends following.
Yasuo suddenly appeared above him and punched him hard in the jaw, hurling him into the ground. He smirked at his handiwork and landed on one knee in a nearby tree.
Kurama struggled to his knees and then stood, shaking his head to clear his vision.
"Kurama!" Yusuke and Kuwabara called, running toward him.
"No!" Kurama countered, glaring at them over his shoulder. "This is my fight, and I will not have you interfering."
"But-" Yusuke started.
"I'm fine, spirit detective!" Kurama argued, turning back to Yasuo. "I don't need your help."
"But..." Yusuke backed off when his friend glared at him one last time. Spirit detective? he wondered, landing beside Hiei in the tree. He's never called me that before.
"I warned you, Yusuke," Hiei said, sitting down on the branch. "The bandit, Youko Kurama, never needed help for anything and never allowed anyone to help him. His bandit instincts are overriding his pathetic human ones. You're lucky he didn't kill both of you." He rested one arm on his knee and looked back at the battlefield.
"You're crazy, shrimp," Kuwabara said, glaring at Hiei. "Kurama's too nice to hurt his friends."
"Am I?" Hiei wondered, never looking at Kuwabara. "The Kurama you know wouldn't, I'll admit, but the Kurama you see before you has no friends to hurt."
Kuwabara was about to counter when he heard Kurama cry out in pain. He turned fearful eyes back to the battle only to see his friend hunched over, clutching his stomach.
"There. You see, Youko?" Sagara spoke up. "No one, not even you, can defeat him. He is indeed the Ultimate Weapon."
"You may be right," Kurama replied, straightening. "But I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve. I haven't lost yet." He abruptly turned into his fox form and glared at them.
"Well now, this should be interesting," Sagara commented. "Not to mention bloody." He snapped his fingers, and Yasuo transformed as well.
Kurama dodged the smaller fox as he leapt at him and took off to the right, Yasuo following. He stopped before a tree and turned to his son. He dodged the fox as he jumped at him again and smirked inwardly as Yasuo crashed head-first into the tree. It's just as I thought, he deduced. He may be strong and fast but his brain hasn't sharpened at all. He still has the mind of a child. That's his weakness.
"All right Kurama!" Yusuke and Kuwabara cheered, happily.
Yasuo stood up and shook his silver head to focus his china-blue eyes before glaring at his father. He ran at him again, faster this time, and aimed a bite at his neck.
Kurama ducked under his teeth and screamed as they instead sank into his shoulders. He thrashed about wildly, trying to loosen his son's grip. Amidst his thrashing, something silver caught his eye. Without thinking, he clamped down on it and jerked it as hard as he could. When Yasuo's teeth came loose, he whipped the smaller fox into a tree.
Yasuo's back hit the tree hard, and he fell to the ground. He slowly got to his feet and wobbled slightly before looking over at Kurama. He charged him again, teeth bared, and clamped down on his paw as it came up to protect his throat.
Kurama shrieked again and bit into the thick fur on his son's back. He threw him away again and quickly examined the open wound on his front paw. Hearing Yasuo get up, he turned away from his injury and glared at him.
Man, Kurama's getting masacred out there, Yusuke thought, his anger growing by leaps and bounds. And I can't even help him. This is so unfair. He's gonna die if we don't do something soon.
"Urameshi, we gotta do somethin'," Kuwabara said, angrily.
"We can't, Kuwabara," Yusuke replied, sadly. "He'd never forgive us if we did."
"But... he'll die if we don't," Kuwabara argued. "And I'd never forgive myself if I let that happen. He's in trouble, and I couldn't call myself his friend if I just sat here and watched him get killed by his own son." He moved to jump down from the tree.
"Stop, you idiot," Hiei ordered, firmly. "If you try to help him now, he will kill you."
"I don't believe you guys," Kuwabara breathed, angrily. "One of your friends is about to die, and all you can do is sit there and watch without even lifting a finger!"
"Now, wait just a second!" Yusuke countered. "Me and Hiei wanna help Kurama just as much as you, but we can't. He's doing this of his own free will. If we stepped in to help, he'd kill us all without hesitation. Now, sit down and shut up!"
Kuwabara grumpily did as he was told and turned to watch the fight again.
Yasuo charged Kurama and headbutted him, knocking him to the grass.
Before Kurama could react, the smaller fox crashed into him again, hurling him into a tree trunk. He hit hard and fell heavily to the ground. He didn't even make the effort to get up. He closed his golden eyes, and his head fell limp onto the grass.
Yasuo trotted up to the still form on the ground and sniffed it, curiously. Satisfied, he turned and trotted back to Sagara. He turned back into his demon form and smirked as the tall fire demon patted him on the head.
"Well done, Yasuo. The great Youko Kurama is dead!" Sagara announced, smirking at the boys in the tree.
The three fighters gasped and looked over at the limp body of their friend.
"Kurama, no," Yusuke breathed, flatly. Tears began to well up in his eyes as the realization hit him. It's too late, he thought, letting the tears flow. I could've saved him, but now... it's... it's too late. He's... he's gone. He jumped down from the branch beside Hiei and Kuwabara and glared at Sagara, blinking his tears away.
