The Celestial Tiger's Notes: I want to offer a massive thank you to everyone who reviewed and who gave me information. You guys are awesome! Because I'm obsessive/compulsive by nature, I went ahead and ordered the mangas. Those together with what you've provided should tell me everything there is to know that's out there. I know I'm nuts. But I don't suffer from insanity…I enjoy it. Heh heh heh.
One note about points of view. You will notice that I'm currently referring to Kurama as Youko. That's because that is almost solely his dominant personality right now, so he still thinks of himself as being Youko. I will begin referring to him as Kurama as his human side begins to manifest itself more. I know that the name Kurama is nothing more than his non-human personal name…Youko Kurama. It technically has no ties with his humanity, but I see the change in name from Youko to Kurama as signifying something. Since Youko is not only his name but also his demon classification, moving away from this as a name signifies a waning of his demon self. The name Kurama would then represent the memory and presence, but not the heart of who he once was. Lastly, if a paragraph is from the point of view of anyone else, he will be referred to as Shuuichi, since that's how they would know him.
I hope like crazy that all of that made some semblance of sense. You'd laugh if you knew how long it took me to get that paragraph to my explanatory satisfaction.
Chapter 3: Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be! (Shakespeare, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (III, ii, 115))
Of all of the degrading things that he had experienced so far, he quickly came to the conclusion that the human need to produce waste was by far the most horrific humiliation yet! It wasn't like he could avoid it. He was limited to the natural processes of this body he was in. And worse than soiling himself was the necessity to be cleaned up. He hated being handled as it was, but especially when it involved his most sensitive parts. It only served to further strengthen his hatred of humanity.
---
At last he was leaving the cursed medical establishment! The human man and woman were taking him to what he supposed was their home…the place that he would have to accept as his dwelling for the time being. He sat in a baby-seat in the middle of the back seat of the car, staring between the humans in the front to see out of the anterior glass. His vision was still very obscure and he lacked the ability to see much color, but it was at least wonderful to see the light of day again.
Shiori glanced backward at Shuuichi and sighed, turning her attention to Ryuuichi. "Do you think…" she started but hesitated.
Ryuuichi cast his glance over to her. "Think what, sweetheart?"
"Well…do you think he's really alright?"
Ryuuichi smiled warmly. "He's fine, dear. The doctor gave him a squeaky-clean bill of health."
Shiori still looked troubled. "I know…it's just that…well…he's just behaving so differently. He doesn't cry…and I know this is going to sound silly, but…I just get this feeling that he doesn't like being touched or held."
Ryuuichi chuckled softly. "Honey, I think you're being a little too paranoid…or at least expecting a bit too much so soon. He's an infant. He doesn't know what he wants. He doesn't know what to make of anything right now."
Youko scoffed inwardly. 'I know what I want but I have to wait ten years to get it. In the meantime, I have to suffer through this miserable existence.'
Shiori sighed and looked forward again. "You're probably right. I know it's silly, but it's just a little nagging feeling. Maybe it's just post-partum or something."
Ryuuichi took one hand from the steering wheel and gently grasped Shiori's closest hand. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."
Shiori smiled softly and tucked her worries into a corner of her mind for a while.
---
He didn't remember falling asleep in the transportation device, but apparently he had, for he awoke to find himself in completely different surroundings. 'Damn weak human body!' he thought as he tried his best to look around. He was in some sort of bed, surrounded on all sides by a wall lined with fabric, as far as he could make out anyway. There was something hanging directly above him, but he couldn't really focus his eyes on it. It was close enough that he could make out the rough shapes, but nothing more.
Oh, how he hated these human senses…or what felt like a having a lack of senses to him. It was like someone had scratched at his eyes, stuffed his ears, pinched off his nose, and cut out his tongue. He longed for even one of his demon senses to return to him. Mostly, he wanted his keen sense of sight back. Then, at least he wouldn't feel so much in the dark about the things around him.
---
Three days found Youko adjusting a bit better. He still loathed his situation but at least this place was relatively quiet. He weathered the more debase aspects of humanity with silent irritation and occupied his mind with trying to learn everything he could about this peculiar world that he would have to fit into for a while. He memorized the names of any unfamiliar human objects that he happened to hear and tried to learn of their function.
He also found out that the dangling contraption over his bed was called a mobile and could be made to spin while playing music. Apparently, this was supposed to keep him occupied. All it actually served to do was annoy the hell out of him. The music it played was high-pitched and puerile and the slow motion over his head distracted him from his own thoughts.
Still, he preferred lying there under that thing rather than being carted around or being forced to put up with the affections of the humans. He couldn't wait until he was strong enough to push away…to communicate his revulsion in more discernable ways. He may have to live as a human, but that didn't mean that he had to adopt some affectionate persona. He wanted to retain at least some shred of his dignity.
---
One morning, Youko awoke to hear several unfamiliar female voices emanating from elsewhere in the house. It wasn't long before Shiori came and retrieved him, carrying him into the living room where he was proudly presented to this chorus of cackling hens.
"This is Shuuichi," Shiori announced with delight. The women instantly ooed and aahed and cooed and giggled.
'Oh, Inari,' thought Youko. 'Anything but this!'
No sooner had that thought echoed through his mind than the five women clustered around, pawing at him and making all sorts of ridiculous faces and unintelligible noises. Unfortunately, they were right in his face so he could see them better than he cared to. They were making absolute fools of themselves…did they not realize how brainless they looked and sounded?
"Can I hold him?" one of the women suddenly asked. Youko stiffened. He couldn't stand the thought of being passed around. To his horror, Shiori handed him to the woman almost immediately.
"Oh, he's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen!" the woman cooed. "Hello, little one…you're so pwecious…yes you are."
'And you are a damned idiot,' Youko replied inwardly. Oh, how he wished he could speak!
"My turn!" another one of the women proclaimed and he was passed along. "Just look at that! He's already got hair…and it's red!"
Youko was surprised by this. Red hair…that was certainly different! He couldn't imagine himself with red hair. Of course, at this point, he hadn't a clue about what he looked like as a human. He wasn't so certain that he even wanted to know.
He was then passed to the next woman. "Aww…he's so sweet!"
Shiori smiled and nodded. "He never cries and we couldn't have asked for him to have a better sleeping pattern. In fact, he's so quiet that we have to set a timer to keep track of feeding him and checking on him. He doesn't even cry to let us know if he wants something."
The first woman who had held him chuckled. "I wish my Kenji would have been like that. He cried all the time and always seemed to want to be awake when we wanted to sleep."
All of the women shared a giggle and then went along chattering inanely. They truly did remind Youko of hens clucking away at one another. Oh, how he wanted to get away from them.
Contrary to his wishes, however, he was passed to the next woman. "You know…I think he's going to be a smart one," she said. "You can see it in his eyes. There's a look of intelligence there."
'A great deal more intelligence and wisdom than all of you possess together,' he corrected her internally.
Finally, he was handed to the last woman. She grinned and sighed contentedly. "I just love babies," she bubbled. "So tiny and precious!" She then looked up at Shiori. "You know…if you ever need anybody to baby-sit for you, I'd be happy to do it." The rest of the women instantly chimed in their agreements.
Shiori nodded and smiled. "Thank you! We'll definitely keep that in mind." She then accepted Shuuichi back and held him against her body rather than just cradling him in her arms. He had given no indication that he was anxious of new people, but one of those unexplainable feelings told her that he didn't like being around them. She decided to put him back in his bassinette. He often seemed to be the most content there.
She stood and smiled politely. "I know you all came here to see the baby, but I don't want to overload him. If you don't mind, I'm going to put him back in the nursery for now." Upon receiving nods of understanding, she began to walk him back to his room.
Youko relaxed. Finally! He was going to be alone again! After that fiasco, all he wanted was some silence. Shiori placed him in his bassinette but much to his chagrin, she turned on the mobile before she left. 'Damn!' No silence.
Additional Notes: Don't worry, it will start to move a bit faster from here. I'm not going to keep going day by day. That would get pretty exhaustive and boring. Someone did ask me how much I was going to cover. I actually haven't decided yet but if I retain the patience for writing this, I'll probably take it all the way to the Mirror of Forlorn Hope incident. Once again…yes, I am crazy.
Oh, and I know it's kind of humorous right now. That's purposeful because it will get pretty dark later.