CHAPTER FOUR

Let's go back to when Rose walked off into the forest, leaving Sue and Hiei to themselves. Okay, so Rose is morosely weeping about, having recently discovered her friend of barely one chapter in this story, Sue, is "involved" with her anime crush of a long time, Hiei.

"This is just too weird," Rose mumbled to herself. It is unknown what she meant by "this". It could mean the fact that Sue and Hiei were "involved" was weird. It could also mean the fact that Hiei was real was weird. And of course, it could also mean the fact that Hiei wasn't with Rose that was so darn weird.

But whatever she meant by it, something was definitely weird. And that was that Kurama just happened to be walking around the same woods Rose had meandered off into.

Kurama spotted the sad entity that was Rose wondering about the trees, and he stopped to stare. His human mother had taught him that staring is not polite, but for a moment Kurama forgot his politeness and openly stared. But this was not because Rose was awesomely, stunningly, oh-my-god beautiful. In fact, she was quite plain looking - grungy, if you will. He just felt the urge to stare, okay?

So, as he was staring for no good reason, he could see that she wasn't looking where she was going. And he could also see that she was going to bump right into him - unbeknownst to her, of course. And that is, of course, what happened.

"Are you okay?" Kurama asked after the crash.

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Rose answered distractedly, trying to move around him and get on with her mourning.

But Kurama wasn't keen on being ignored. For someone who is worshipped daily, you think he'd jump for joy when he came across one girl who didn't pay the utmost attention to his smallest detail. But no! Kurama's a little spoiled, it seems.

He caught her wrist as she floated past him, turning her to look at him. "Are you sure?" he asked, ever the persistent fellow.

"It's just...odd pairing, at its best," she said vaguely.

"Who?"

"Hiei and - wait!" Rose suddenly snapped to attention. "Hiei's been looking for you!"

Kurama's cheeks tinged the slightest pink, but it could have been anything. Yeah, anything. "Oh yes. I lost him after he was pulled into a black hole," he explained.

Rose gave him a sympathetic look. "It's been happening a lot. In fact, it happened to me. It was when was spit out here that I saw...them," she trailed off, wincing as she recalled the memory of Sue and Hiei so close together.

Now this was the second time Rose had mentioned an odd, unlikely pair. Kurama was getting impatient. "Who?"

"Hiei and my friend Sue. They said - they said they were seeing each other..." Rose drifted off again, sinking back into her despair.

Kurama tried to hold in a chuckle at something so absurd taking place, but he failed. Miserably. When Rose gave him a curious look, the kitsune explained with, "That's impossible!"

"What? Why!" Oh, the possibilities that were running like headless chickens through Rose's mind...

Kurama was saved the trouble of answering, and therefore putting himself in a considerably uncomfortable situation, when Botan suddenly appeared on her oar.

"Kurama!" she cried. "Don't tell her anything!"

"I-she-Hiei...shrub?" Kurama stuttered, obviously unsure of what to say.

Both females looked oddly at Kurama.

He gave them an annoyed stare back. "I wasn't going to tell her, anyway."

"Oh," said Botan. "All right then." And with that, Botan lifted herself into the air and flew away.

Kurama and Rose turned and stared at the forgotten piece of wood that lay on the ground. They exchanged a baffled glance, then stared at the piece of wood again.

A moment later Botan appeared again, bright red. She quickly grabbed her oar from the floor, sat on it, flashed them a sheepish grin, and flew off.

Dismissing what had just happened as a side effect of the strange mushrooms she knew she shouldn't have eaten, Rose turned to Kurama and asked, "So, what am I not supposed to know?"

"I can't tell you!" Kurama said, stating the obvious.

She sighed. "Can you at least turn into your demon form?"

Kurama shook his head. "No."

"Please?" Rose persisted, giving him a pleading look not unlike the one Yukina uses on Hiei.

Unfortunately, Rose was not the long lost twin sister of Kurama. She wasn't his polar opposite long lost sister, either. In fact, she wasn't related to him in any way, shape, or form. And that is why her puppy-dog look did nothing to Kurama.

But an echoing, whispery voice floating from the heavens could have a different effect.

"Kurama..." said an echoing, whispery voice floating from the heavens. "Do it for me..."

On the aforementioned demon's face was a look of surprise. "Mother? Where are you? How did you discover my real name?"

"...Do it...for me..."

"I don't understand!" Kurama cried out dramatically to the sky.

"Just do it already!" the voice said, losing its ethereal quality at once and snapping at Kurama. He winced.

"You heard the woman!" Rose said triumphantly.

Kurama scowled and walked into a convenient cluster of trees and assorted shrubs that shut him off from Rose and most easily scared woodland animals. She was about to follow, thinking he had just walked away from her, when a great amount of grey/silver/sparkly smoke billowed out from the trees Kurama had just disappeared into. So instead of following, she backed away until her rear end met a tree.

Moments later, the trees parted to make way for the great Youko Kurama. A bored look was on his face. "You know," he said thoughtfully, cupping his chin with his long fingers, "I thought being out in this form again would feel...I don't know, free-er. But, it doesn't."

His amber eyes locked onto Rose. "Hm. Oh, well," he said nonchalantly, taking slow, sensual steps toward Rose. A smirk played about his lips, the mixture of wonder and fright in her eyes reminding him of his old thieving days. The only problem here was that Rose had nothing of value to steal.

Well, nothing except for...something he was almost certain the teenage girl still had. The question was, was it really of value to him?

To be blunt, no. He could find any unsuspecting teenage girl and take their virginity. But he was bored, and she was the only one around for miles (or so he hoped) (don't tell him Hiei and Sue are only about a five minute's walk that-a-way). And so he decided to play it as it went.

By this time he was already very much in front of Rose. "Little girl," he purred, twisting a piece of her tawny hair around his fingers. "Did you not ask for me to come out?"

Rose nodded slightly, acknowledging the truth.

"Then why do you act so frightened of me? What did you expect?" he asked, noting how Rose was pressing further into the tree, trying to distance herself from the voluptuous fox spirit. He smirked and followed her, bringing his own body close against hers. "What did you want?" he breathed.

Rose blushed deeper. "Actually, I just wanted to see your ears and tails in real life," she admitted.

The demon sighed deeply, whether it was in frustration or sadness or something else unknown. It was probably all of those. Nevertheless, he stepped away from the poor girl, who finally starting breathing regularly again.

"If I didn't have the ears or the tails, would you still like me?" Youko asked meekly, after a moment of silence.

"Probably not," Rose answered matter-of-factly. Then she challenged, "But if you didn't have the ears or tails, would you still be a kitsune?"

"Good question. Let me put it this way: Do you find my human form attractive?"

Rose thought for a moment. Or she could have just blanked out and it just looked like she was thinking, but she still answered with an honest, "I can't say I do."

Seeing Kurama's disappointed look she suggested, "It may be the hair. It gives you a feminine look. You should cut it, you know."

"Damn that little fire demon," Youko muttered to no one in particular. He glanced up to look and Rose, wanting to freak her out with his sensual flirting more, only to find she had disappeared.

Before he had the time to turn around or look for the missing girl, a pleasant shiver ran up his back. His tails began to swish around each other gently and he closed his eyes, sighing when another shiver tickled his spine.

His eyes snapped open a second later when a girlish giggle met his ears. "Haha, look! They're dancing!"

He spun around to meet the delighted face of Rose, who was watching with disdain as Youko's tails went out of her grasp. Tsk, tsk, no one ever told Rose what petting a kitsune's tails did to the animal attached to them. Well, she was about to find out!

Youko Kurama emitted a low, guttural sound. Rose cocked an eyebrow. "What was tha- mmmpphhhf!" She managed to cry out, before being interrupted by Youko Kurama's lips (which is actually a very nice way to be interrupted).

She might have had the strength to push him away, and maybe even slap him for being so forward, had her body not suddenly gotten comfortable and refused to pry itself from Youko's arms. You see, stuff like this happened all the time, and that's probably why Youko's known as such a sex fiend. But now you know, it's all because of his tails! See, you shouldn't go jumping to conclusions.

The kiss ended an hour too short, in Rose's eyes. It was actually Youko who broke it off, pushing her away from him - forcefully, if I might add. He spluttered around for a full five seconds before choking out, "Never make me do that again!"

"Excuse me? Make you? I didn't do anything! I was just playing with your tails when you turn around and kiss me!" Rose cried indignantly.

"Exactly! Don't you know what playing with a kitsune's tails does! It makes him...well..." Youko searched his brain for the right word, "...excited."

A moment of silence passed, Youko fuming and Rose pondering.

"So...if I touched your tails again you'd kiss me again?" Rose asked slyly.

Unfortunately for her, Youko Kurama was a kitsune, a race of demons known for being sly and sneaky. So Kurama knew exactly what she was getting at. "No," he lied with a straight face.

Unfortunately for the fox spirit, in the middle of his answer a fly had landed on one of Youko's tails. It had twitched, shooing the fly away. But it was that twitch that made Rose doubt Youko's answer. In her eyes, his tails were just twitching to be touched again (A/N Haha, get it? Yeah, yeah, bad attempt of a pun. You can move on now.). But she knew she couldn't just openly pounce on them. She needed...a distraction!

"Do you know Inu-Yasha?" she questioned innocently.

Youko Kurama rolled his eyes, annoyed at such an absurd question (that actually Rose's distraction). "Yes, we jog in the park on Sundays," he answered sarcastically. "What, you think just because he's a less better looking form of me we're friends?"

Now while he busy was retorting and rolling his eyes and not watching Rose, she was edging veeerrry carefully around to his tails. So when he finished talking and looked around, he found that Rose had once again disappeared from view. Except this time, he knew exactly where she had gone.

But before he had time to react, another pleasant shiver edged up his spine, giving him goose bumps. His molten eyes glowed gold as the feeling persisted and he actually began purring. Rose giggled from behind him.

"Damn you!" he cried before whipping around and grabbing the impudent girl's shoulders, pulling her in for another kiss. He could have stopped himself there, but he was a prideful fox, and kissing someone against his will damaged his pride very much so. Rose was in for some punishment...or at least a great deal of teasing.

Rose, herself, was now distracted by the kiss, wrapped up in its superficial loveliness. Because even though his actions were forced, Youko Kurama was really a very good kisser. Indeed, would he not be the GREAT Youko Kurama if he were not?

Youko was very experience in the way of women, as we all know, and he knew she was distracted from the way her body leaned eagerly into his. He used this to his advantage, easing her back against another tree's trunk. I don't know what it is with guys and control, but Youko liked to be in it. And now he had Rose just where he wanted her. He didn't give her back control of her arms, but moved his own long-fingered hands down to just below her elbows, using his thumbs to trace little circles over her ribs.

The sudden movement on her stomach somewhat surprised Rose, bringing her halfway back to Earth (or wherever they were at the moment). She suddenly realized she was back up against a tree and Youko Kurama was very much in front of her. Actually, they were attached at the lip again. Not that she minded that part, but she feared he might have gotten the idea that she would be willing to ahem go farther with him. All she had wanted was another kiss!

She brought her head away from his, attempting to speak. "Youko, I - " Ah, the key word there was attempting. Youko recaptured her lips before she could get a sentence out, using her open mouth as a venue for tongue travel.

Perhaps I should mention something here: Rose is claustrophobic. Very much so. She was beginning to freak out, what with being pinned between a tree and a sexually eager kitsune demon who's thumbs seemed to be moving higher and higher to a certain no-no zone on Rose's body. She began to feel a little light-headed, even as her eyes were closed, but knew that if she opened them the feeling would just be worse.

Youko, on the other hand, was trying to work his magic - trying rather hard, too. His thumbs were gradually moving higher and higher...but Rose wasn't doing anything about it. He would have thought she would have been struggling to get away by now.

Oh well, it wasn't his fault he was so desirable. He hadn't been let out since Shuuichi's last battle, after all, and all that alone time can give a kitsune seriously repressed tension. And if the girl was willing, so was he!

Well, he would have been, if something hadn't felt wrong. He finally set her free from his lips and for a moment she was silent as he peered down at her, trying to see if anything was physically wrong with her. Then she shoved quickly past him and sat on the floor, gazing straight ahead, taking in deep breaths and massaging her temples.

Youko cocked an eyebrow in pure bewilderment. What had gone wrong?

Before he had a chance to ask, the girl was up, pointing an accusing finger at Youko Kurama. "What is the matter with you! I'm claustrophobic! You could have killed me!" She ranted on, saying basically the same thing. Don't you notice that happens a lot when people need to yell? They go on and on about the same redundant thing that really isn't really worth yelling about in the first place. Yuck.

In the middle of her ranting, Youko lowered her finger with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. "Shh," he told her. "How was I supposed to know you were claustrophobic?" he questioned, making a good point.

Rose just shrugged and pulled away from him, now wary of being in close contact with the fox spirit. She plopped herself down near the base of a tree and yawned, resting her hands behind her head and lying down. "Whatever. I promise never to touch your tails again if you promise to remember I'm claustrophobic and not to make me freak out like that again."

Youko smiled innocently, crossing his fingers behind his back. "I promise."

Rose yawned again, closing her eyes. "I'm sleepy." All that excitement and claustrophobic-ness had taken its toll on her. "I'm going to take a little nap, so don't try anything while I'm asleep," she warned.

Youko smirked. "I have to go find Hiei, if he's been looking for me as you said. See you around."

But Rose didn't hear him. She was already fast asleep.

Youko was on his third step of walking away when he suddenly wrenched himself around. "Shuuichi, what are you talking about?" he asked the air. "We can't leave her here alone? This is a regular forest, not Makai. Okay, okay, if I make a sign, will you leave me alone? Fine. I said okay!"

Someone has issues.

Nevertheless, Youko reached around a tree, pulled out some nifty white posterboard and a nice silver Sharpy and wrote:

DO NOT DISTURB

- Youko Kurama

He placed it next to the sleeping Rose and walked off, whistling an annoyingly high-pitched tune, to find Hiei.