Okay, I'm really excited about writing this chapter. I've been thinking about it and dying to write it all week. Now I'm sitting in my room, in the dark, at 11:00 at night. It's fun though. To answer Darksaphire's question, there are no types of stories that I disapprove of. So now we find Youko on the road to recovery after his near suicide. What will happen now? Read to find out.

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It's a Secret: Chapter 17

It had taken several weeks, but Youko was finally able to get out of bed. Even though it was only for a few hours each day. Now that his energy was partially recovered, the healing process would be much faster. Now he labored to walk and run without collapsing. This was the first step in returning to his former glory.

Sho had vines on either side of Youko. After he had tripped and reopened the wounds in his stomach, they needed to be careful. Youko knew this too, but it was still annoying. He hated being reliant on anybody but Kuro. So now as he labored to run at even half of the speed he once could, he felt more determined than ever to succeed.

It was early in the morning, and after a light rainfall, the forest glistened with dewdrops. Days like this had always been Youko's favorite. The light of the sun brightening the sky after a storm always made him feel stronger. There were the usual noises, birds and other animals, as well as the far away voices of the bandits as they sat around for breakfast.

Youko hated looking weak in front of his men, so he always went into the forest when he did this. Running along the protective wall of vines, he tried not to think about the unpleasant experience of changing his bandages that would come after. He hated having his wounds treated. With labored breathing he came to a stop at the end of the tree line. Above him was another cliff with a level of trees. He knew he wasn't strong enough to climb up there, but he really wanted to try.

But sadly, he knew it was not an option. So he turned around and headed back, walking this time. Branches stirred as a light breeze began to blow. A while later he arrived back at the camp, he was in no hurry. When Sho spotted him, he waved the fox over. Youko sighed and went over to join the other Kitsune. Sho had him sit down by a small pool of water left by the rainfall.

The sting of air against his wounds as his bandages were unwound caused Youko to wince. He had airtight bandages around his whole torso, his arms, and his legs. He slipped the pants off of his legs to enable Sho to reach the bandages underneath. Soon after he felt a cold cloth being run over his wounds, an experience he did not like in the least. Then came the salve that was supposed to help to heal and prevent scarring. After all, Kitsune are a very vain race.

After fresh bandages were rewound he was ordered to return to his tent. Sullenly, Youko returned to his boredom and the isolation of his recovery. Instead of just lying in bed, he decided to get a book to read. When he went over to his collection of rare books he searched to find something useful to read. What he did find though, was something he had completely forgotten about. There among his collection of books was the book he and Kuro had stolen together recently.

The Devil's Amulet! He realized, thinking back to the other target at the snake lord's castle. Combining that with the statues and the mirror can revive souls, maybe that can work for Kuro! The fox knew that it was risky, he probably shouldn't have tried to fight against death, but his mind was still fragile. He would seize any hope he could and cling to it. Grabbing the book, he rushed to tell Nori and Sho what he had remembered.

The next few days passed swiftly for the Youko. He labored much harder to get his body back to full health, and when he went to the tent in the afternoon he slept. All of his energy was focused on recovering. So soon, his bandit leader mask was on again. While he was injured his expressions displayed his feelings like an open book. Now his face was cold and unreadable once again.

It's not true that he only thought about recovery though. During those days of labor, he also looked back over the past days. When he did, there was one thing he realized, Yomi had gotten off too easy. There was no way Youko would let Yomi get away with what he had done. But for now, there was nothing he could do about it.

Right now he was having his bandages changed, again. He kept grimacing at the sting. It was quite a sight, the cold faced Youko Kurama having his wounds tended to by an elderly Kitsune. Youko was aware that his recovery was still not fast enough, so he came to a decision. He knew that he should really do what Sho instructed, but he was too impatient.

Instead of returning to his tent, he snuck off into the forest. It was time to start plant manipulation once again. Running through the trees, looking at home among the plants, he set a destination. Youko headed to a clearing he knew of that was surrounded by many of his favorite plants. Since he was trying this for the first time in a while, he decided to keep it simple today.

He took a dark blue flower and sent his energy cautiously through it. The flower was a demon lily. It reacted to his presence inside it instantly. It always amazes me how intimate the connection between the plant and the manipulator is. Almost as intense and personal a connection as Kuro and I in the night together. A smile lit his face as he thought of his bat. A small one, but there nonetheless. Though thoughts of Kuro had made him happy, his eyes still glistened with unshed tears.

He turned his attention back to the lily. It had shaped itself into a curved dagger, like the kind Kuro had used. Tears threatened to fall once again, and Youko felt suddenly tired. He changed the flower back and held it close to his heart. He would keep this for a while. Now he had to go back and rest.

Thoughts of Kuro kept Youko training harder every day. He worked every time he could, and his efforts paid off. It was five weeks later, and Sho had deemed him recovered enough to go places on his own. He wouldn't be back to full power for a while, but at least he the only bandages he had to wear were on his wrists. And he could disguise those as part of his outfit.

Now he was going to go and talk to some allies of his. He had to inform them of his new position as leader of the band. But that wasn't the only reason he was going to see them. No, now that he was recovered he would see to it that Yomi paid. He would pay with his life. So the fox left his camp, and went to hire an assassin for a former apprentice of his. There was no time to waste in doing it himself.

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Whew, I finally got that in there. I've been trying to include the assassin part for a few chapters now, but I didn't foresee the events in those chapters. Anyway, hope you liked it.

So did you like it? I do, more description than usual I think. I wrote this faster than I expected for you guys. So tell me what you think now please. I would really like to know. I'd say we are down to the last chapters, 2 or 3 after this.