Training
(Okay. Guess what happened to me as I was writing up the responses at the bottom on Wednesday night. The POWER WENT OUT. O. My. Kami. I have decided to worship my word program, however, because it has the neat 'backup' feature that keeps a record of what I had written, so I didn't have to write the entire thing all over again. This is why I am posting on Thursday rather than Saturday. Say "Arigato to Sao's computer" and you get cyber brownies and a youko plushie.)
Sao: All right! The chapter we've all been waiting for! That's right! The one where Karuri actually figures out how to use her powers!
Saor: Actually, Sao's just covering for the fact that while this is an important point in the story, we're really just stalling around and are too lazy to get the plot plotted out properly and kick it into gear.
Sao: (kicks Saor) SAOR! Nani the bloody hell did you tell them THAT for? I was trying to DISTRACT them from this fact!
Saor: Yes, but me being the evil yami, I must be evil and inform them of bad things like this. Mwahaha–(chokes)
Neko: Technically, wouldn't being honest with the readers rather than deceiving them be the good thing to do?
Saor: What are you talking about! Of course not! It's the evil!
Sao: Yeah! I was being all nice and protecting them from the facts and then that stupid yami comes along and screws it all up!
Neko: (sighs) It never ends.
Karuri: Oh yes. Thought I'd drop in long enough to say this: Sao/Saor/Neko do not own Kurama. I do.
Neko: Oh Kami save us.
Saor: We don't own any of Yu Yu Hakusho, now that you mention it...
Sao: DOOFUS! How are we supposed to go about owning it if you go around saying stuff like that? Baka yami!
Sao: o.O my bad... (meeps)
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
(Day after the 'thing' incident)
"All right, koi, first I want you to draw all your powers out at once."
"Ano... not sure that's completely safe, but, kaysies..."
The sound of crackling fire, whipping winds, the swoosh of water, and other unidentifiable sounds filled a small clearing for about two seconds before a (crack!) And the sounds vanished with a flash of light, leaving an acrid smell.
"D'accooooord... That worked well... I think..."
A female kitsune youkai with long, straight hair fading from blond at the top, through various reds and auburns into black at the ends, dark auburn-to-black tipped ears that were currently twitching nervously, and seven thick, fluffy tails of the same color progression as her hair was seated in the clearing.
She was gazing up at another kitsune youkai, a gorgeous male with intense golden eyes, brilliant silver hair cascading down his back, soft silver ears pinned back ever-so-slightly with affectionate annoyance, and seven luxurious silver tails waving at his back.
She wore what resembled stockings and gloves. On the right arm and leg the cloth was black and white, on the left, white and black. Each was kept up on her limbs by lacing of strips of cloth of the opposite color of whichever the main cloth was, creating a perfect harlequin effect. The stockings ended just above the knee, the gloves were attached to the back of her hand at the middle finger and ended just before the shoulder joint, flowing into the lines of a bra, one side black, the other white. Black underwear and a nervous covering of tails completed her outfit.
The other wore a white, sleeveless fighting outfit, tied at the middle by a sash. ((Come on... we all know, what he usually's wearing?))
"Kitto, you have to keep them manifested for longer than that, if you want to be able to work with one of them at a time. Keep them in control."
"Not cool." she moaned. He gave the barest hint of a grin.
"Here, kitto." he rumbled, sitting down in the lush grass and pulling her into his lap. "We'll do it together."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Karuri came to the conclusion that everything hurt. It was sore when she was still and it hurt sharply when she moved.
'It's been far too long since I worked at something, obviously...'
"Yo! Where you two been?" Yusuke called as they came out of the forest, looking as beat as she felt.
"Where does it look like we've been? Out in the forest." Karuri replied crossly.
"Somebody's in a bad mood..." Yusuke grumbled.
"Kitto's unhappy someone made her work." Youko teased gently in her ear.
"What if I am?" she asked, just as quietly.
"Oh Kami, not this again." Yusuke said, making a gagging noise, before practically turning tail and running, shouting a warning to Kuwabara as he ran past the dojo.
"We might have to make kitto happy again."
"Or maybe just annoyed with you."
He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Fine. So I couldn't STAY annoyed at you. This doesn't mean I can't BE annoyed at you."
"Are you sure...?" Youko purred into her ear. It twitched against his lips as the warm air washed over it, making Karuri shiver with suppressed delight, cinnamon scent swirling around both of them.
"Youko..." she warned. He took no notice of this, drawing her slowly to him to where he could run his mouth over the silky fur of her ear. The familiar pulsing feel as her blood sped up flashed through her body. Unable to resist, she purred slightly, melting against him to rub the base of her ear against his chin. Slow heat began to spread through her body as the spicy cinnamon scent intensified.
His fingers trailed along her back sensually, coming dangerously close to her tails, causing her to spike excitedly, sliding arms around him to run down the length of one of his tails, bringing it up between them. Through their close contact she felt the shiver run through his body. She tilted her head back to look up at him, to find her lips covered in a devouring kiss.
"Dude... Get a room!" Yusuke and Kuwabara yelled in unison from the door of the dojo. Karuri twisted around against Youko, still holding onto the tip of one of his tails, to mimic the exact glare he was giving the two other Reikai Tentai.
"Nobody's forcing you to watch." Youko stated simply. "Or perhaps... you secretly want to?"
"ICK!" they chorused, slamming the door. Sounds of rei energy being blasted around were soon emanating.
"The immaturity." Karuri remarked.
"I think they have a problem with us." Youko agreed.
"Well, I consider that their problem. I hurt. Let us go 'find a room' as they put it."
"I believe that was, 'get a room.'"
She mock glared at him.
"Whatever."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
(Approximately a week later- nearly full moon again)
Sounds as if from a battle emanated from a clearing. The patter of feet, the soft draw of breath, the occasional cracks as if from a weapon.
A closer look revealed two kitsune, a male and a female, he with white fighting pants and she with a dark grey sports bra and baggy capris, engaged in an elegant dance of attack-parry-counterattack. They were both armed with what seemed to be whips, though if one were to peer into the very aura swirling around the clearing, they would find pure plant youki intensifying around the male, and shimmering patches hovering around the female, merely hanging in the balance.
The two whips met, cracking against each other only to be pulled back instantly, as both kitsune found their feet on the ground once again. The whips shrunk back into two roses, both as red as blood.
Youko gazed fondly at his mate, silently admiring the flush of her cheeks, the rise and fall of her chest with her breaths, the still slightly pinned-back ears, the tails darting wildly to and fro in excitement.
"Good." he said simply. Her eyes, an excited bright orange, sparkled with a chocolate hint of happiness.
It had been fairly easy to teach her how to control one thing at a time, what had been harder for them was to figure out how best to keep her powers in balance while trying to manipulate one of them to a more refined level.
Due to the fact that any one power being used exclusively for the period of time it took to properly manipulate the youki tended to lead to a takeover by said element, and then 'war,' which was extremely destructive to even a youkai body, it was imperative that a way be developed to avoid this.
The simple solution was to manifest all the elements in simplified youki form, as when meditating, thus keeping them all in balance as one was used.
Youko put the rose safely back into his hair and gathered Karuri into his arms, rubbing his nose against her ear and wrapping his tails around her firmly, breathing in her scent of lavender smoke.
"Youko?"
"Hai?"
"You know what tomorrow is?"
"The full moon again, kitto."
"Hai."
They were quiet, content for the moment to just stand there.
Full moon. A full month. They had passed the courting ritual.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sao: Aaaaand... Drumroll please.
Karuri: Nobody here plays drums.
Saor: Keahi used to, but remember, she stopped taking lessons and got rid of the drumset.
Sao: AAAGH! That's not the point here! I'm surrounded by incompetents...
Neko: You were saying?
Sao: Oh, right! Anyhow! Full month of courting. This equals! Very happy me. I finally got them through this.
Saor: We need to go type up that timeline.
Karuri: A.K.A. that's never gonna happen because you three are the laziest authors on the planet.
Sao/Saor/Neko: OI!
Karuri: THANKS TO REVIEWERS:
Ugly Kitten: No! Don't tie me to the chair! I can guarantee you that I will get just as little done... Actually, the computer is my biggest distraction. I will get on the internet and chat on gaia when I'm supposed to be typing this... (sweatdrops) heh heh...
sillylittlenothing: if you didn't notice, I kinda took your idea. I was originally just going to make it so that she can use her powers simply but not upset the balance in her inner self, but then I kinda tweaked it into this. I'm glad you like my kitsune! I'm a kitsune freak... Lol, keahi had this one rp where she and shippo went to a t-shirt decorating place and made themselves t-shirts with a five-tailed fox and "I'm a kitsune freak!" written on it...
Princess Kandra: I'm happy that you were saved from the heart attack. (Grins) heh. My friends used to tell me I was gonna have a heart attack one day... totally forget why though...
animagrl: – . – glad you think it's going well
bookworm0492: yay! I gots a song! (Dances) oi! Lol, I looooove that commercial. C'est tres amusant!
Kurama's number1 girl: updated! See? I'm a good person! Lol...
Crazy Fan S.S.: yay! You found it this time. This is excellent news.
EverlastingDarkness: Yay! I hope you get to read more of it soon! I reviewed you!
Rachel: Really? You've been corrupting her in theatre? She's in theatre? I did not know this... I would visit your fictionpress thingamajig, if I remembered what your pen name was. Unfortunately, you can always count on Sao to forget this type of thing. AGH! Not Fool! Lol