A-hem. Chapter four if you will…
Disclaimer: If I did, you'd know. TRUST ME.
oooOOOooo
Chapter 4: And You Are…?
What the…?
Where was he? What had happened? And why did it feel as if all of his aches and pains had suddenly subsided? The silver-haired kitsune slowly lifted his heavy lids to reveal glazed, golden eyes, shifting them in either direction in a futile attempt to figure out what was going on, when…
The image of a frightened woman with long blue hair, purple eyes, and crumpled white garbs suddenly flashed before his eyes, causing them to go wide. That blasted woman—where had she gone? And what had she done to him? She was the last thing he recalled before succumbing to that mind-numbing slumber…
"Finally awake, I see."
That voice…
Was it hers?
He blinked a couple of times in order to clear his blurred vision, hoping to catch sight of the girl—wherever she was. Instead he noticed that his surroundings had drastically altered: as opposed to being sprawled out in the midst of a scorched field, he was now situated somewhere next to a stream, surrounded by sparkling, magenta-hued trees.
He breathed deeply, just to ensure he wouldn't cough the next time he tried to speak, and released the captured air in the form of a sigh. Feeling rather confident that his condition had improved, the fox rolled onto his side, pushed his upper body off the ground with a grunt, and propped his back against one of the lush, berry-scented trees. He then slowly reached down to feel how his gaping wound was progressing, only to find that it was no longer there.
He had completely healed.
"I was starting to wonder if I had given you too much nemurigusuri.1 You've been asleep for almost three days."
The kitsune snapped his penetrating, golden gaze in the direction of the soft voice. "You."
She sighed. "I have a name, you know."
He sneered. "I don't care who you are—I care what you did." Lowering his voice to a menacing whisper, he added: "So tell me: what the hell was it?"
There was a short pause on her end before: "I healed you."
Well that explained the sudden alleviation of his pain, but…"I thought I had made it clear that I did not wish for you to interfere."
Her soft gaze hardened. "You were going to die."
"You don't know me."
"So?"
He grunted. "So, for all you know, you could've revived a ruthless and vindictive murder that had been deliberately left for dead."
She shrugged, her expression indifferent. "What's done is done. And I have no regrets."
Well…that was good to know. "You seem to misunderstand: I was quite capable of caring for myself. You had no business drugging me."
She shook her head. "Still in denial, I see."
A low growl emitted from his throat, but he didn't persist. For some reason, the mere thought of remaining angry with this irritating creature seemed far too tiring, not to mention absolutely pointless. He shot the girl a quick glance, only to find that her gaze had been redirected towards the sky, a small smile playing on her sun-kissed lips. He suddenly found himself wondering: were humans supposed to be beautiful? He'd always figured, from the ones he'd encountered in the past, that they were all grotesque, brainless creatures whose emotions were highly sensitive and vastly unpredictable. This woman didn't appear to possess any of those qualities (except, perhaps, a bit of a mental issue), but perchance it was because she was only part primate as opposed to full-fledged.
Averting his gaze, he asked: "Where did your wings go?" He had seen them…right?
"Away," she said, her voice far away.
"Of course." He paused. "Just what are you exactly?"
He felt her attention return to him. "What is that supposed to mean?"
The kitsune met her irritated gaze with an intrigued one of his own. "You're part human, are you not? What sort of demon was foolish enough to mate with one?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly, but other then that the blue-haired woman showed no indication that his question had angered her. Her tone even remained indifferent: "My mother was anything but foolish."
Was. Did that mean she was alone? "That doesn't answer my question."
She remained silent for a moment, her brow wrinkling as if deep in thought. She began cautiously, like a mouse in the presence of an oblivious cat: "Do you know what Veela are?"
He quirked a thin, silver brow. "What do you take me for? A hermit?" He paused, eying her curiously. "Part Veela, you say?"
She snarled. "What? Is that too hard for you to believe?"
"No." He struggled to suppress a smirk. " It's just…you don't look very much like a bird."
She scrunched up her nose in what appeared to be confusion. "Pardon? Veela aren't—well they are, but…" She trailed off, her mouth falling agape. "Why you little…that's not funny."
"Sorry," he said, smirk in full bloom. "You had it coming."
She took in a deep breath and sighed. "Well, I'm assuming, since you've decided to get smart with me, that you're no longer angry with me...are you?"
He stared at her oddly. "I was never angry with you."
"But…" she began, fumbling for words. "You tried to kill m—"
"I was furious with you," he interjected, his expression hardening. "It just so happens that I have better things to do than stay angry with mentally unstable women like yourself. I have things to do; people to rob." A long sigh escaped him. "You understand though, right? You seem like a reasonable enough half-breed."
The young deity didn't respond right away. Instead, she lowered her lids and hugged her body, as if racked by a sudden chill. Then, in a low whisper, she said: "Of course." It almost sounded as if she was disheartened by his hasty declaration of dislike…funny. He was convinced she would have kicked him for that one.
"You don't know who I am, do you?" He stared at her until she met his eyes.
"No. I don't. Care to enlighten me?"
Ah. No wonder she wasn't frightened—or swooning. The word thief must not have meant much to her. Then again, most females wouldn't need to know who he was. They'd still swoon.
He idly lolled his head off towards the right, keeping his eyes on her as he said: "Not particularly."
She frowned. "Then you're very misleading." Her voice seemed to trail off, as did her attention.
His lips twitched. "More like deceptive, wouldn't you say?"—Wait. Why was he bothering to toy with her? He was a mighty fox demon. She was a lowly half-breed. Clearly, something was off.
"Well, my name is Botan," she said after a short pause, still staring off into space, "Of course anyone who's willing to brutally interrogate their own savior must not really care enough to know her name." She shot him a quick, irritated glare.
The fox inwardly smirked. "Well, if you must know…"
"If I must know?" she snapped, arms stiffening at her sides. "You men are all the same, aren't you? Sarcastic, thoughtless— obtrusive."
Ignoring her exclamation, the silver fox slowly rose from the ground, towering over the deity with his tall, muscular frame. "My name is Kurama. Youko Kurama." He searched her face for any sign of shock, fear, or worry, but, strangely, found none. "You've really never heard of me, have you?"
She crossed her arms and sighed, arching her neck in order to keep her expression level with his. "My, aren't we full of ourselves."
"You know, you're quite brave for a pretty fool."
"And you're quite dense for such an experienced apparition."
He raised a brow. "Just how old do you think I am?"
Counting apathetically on her fingers, she replied, "Oh…I'd say almost 3 centuries."
He nodded slowly. Impressive "And what are you? Like 10?"
"I'm much closer to 20, thank you."
He snorted. "Of course. How could I have been so blind?"
She brushed his sarcasm aside with a wave of her hand and asked: "Kurama...can I call you that?"
"I suppose."
She smiled a playful, toothy smile. "Good."
Well. This was a drastic change from before. Perhaps her mental stability was less grounded than he'd originally thought. Than again, she was a woman, so…"I don't think I like your tone."
She merely laughed in response.
Like she knew something he didn't…
oooOOOooo
"Please, Urameshi. I highly doubt that. I mean, we're just two, insignificant nobodies. Sure, you may be a spirit detective and I may be the Great Kazuma Kuwabara, but we still have yet to obtain much of a major rep in the whole 'demonic' community; not that those blood-suckin' bastards have anything even remotely similar to civilized societies, but, well, you get my drift."
"Er…no. Not really."
Kuwabara rolled his dark, coal-black eyes. "In other words, what would a tough guy like him possibly want with a couple of measly guys like us?"
"What the—did you just refer to me as being 'measly', thus putting me in the same category as you?—No wait…forget it. Don't answer that. We'd just be going off on a totally irrelevant tangent."
"Okay. Wuzn't gunna 'eneewayz."
Yusuke shook his head and sighed. "Getting back to the matter at hand…dude. We fought him. We've faced Toguro. Sure, we may not have fazed him much, but—knowing sadistic, evil fiends like him—he's bound to want to finish off what we started."
"And your point is…what exactly?"
"My point?"
"Yes, Urameshi, your POINT. Do you need me to spell it out for you?"
Yusuke swallowed the intense urge to scream, allowing a small, frustrated growl to escape his pursed lips instead. "Look, Kuwabara. Even if the Toguro brothers aren't after us, we should still be prepared."
"For?"
"Anything. Besides, that's my job as Spirit Detective of the Ningenkai: to be ready for anything out of the ordinary."
Kuwabara raised a thick, orange brow. "Uh-huh. And I say that you're either overly skeptical or have a massive bug shoved up your ass…or both."
"For the love of—I cannot believe that I'm even having this conversation with you! That, and I can't believe I haven't yet resorted to beating you senseless with stupid stick!"
"Heh. Admit it, Urameshi. You're intimidated by my powerful physique. Can't blame you, though. I do look rather strapping, don't I?"
The spirit detective snorted, wincing slightly as a loud scream—no doubt Koenma's—erupted from behind the closed, double doors that stood before them. "Don't make me laugh."
"Dude…are you mocking me?"
Yusuke rolled his eyes and turned towards their passive, red haired friend, ignoring the dirty looks that were being directed his way. "Hey Kurama, what do you think? About Toguro, I mean."
The kitsune's eyes widened for a brief moment as he was abruptly torn from a captivating reverie, mentally cursing himself for allowing his mind to wander for the umpteenth time. "I…" He quickly shook his head and scanned his surroundings. He appeared to be standing outside of Koenma's closed office doors along with the two teen fighters, waiting for the tiny Prince to finish interrogating the poor blue-haired woman he had locked inside. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid that I missed your question."
Yusuke sighed, unsure as to whether or not he should be worried about his lucid-dreaming friend. "Eh, never mind. Wasn't all that important anyway." Rubbing his tired, brown eyes, he continued: "Well, I think Kuwabara and I should head on back to the Ningenkai now, seeing as how Koenma supposedly has everything under control." He paused for a moment as another muffled scream reached their sensitive ears. "Then again…"
"What the hell's he blaring at the poor broad for, anyway? It's not like she went off and murdered someone," the orange-haired street fighter tediously inquired, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his first finger and thumb.
Yusuke shrugged. "I dunno. What I do know is that we had better find Hiei before he rips that finicky feline of hers to shreds."
"Or vice versa," Kurama wistfully added. Noticing his two companions raise their brows in disbelief, he added, "You shouldn't belittle Callie. She's probably a lot stronger then the two of you combined."
"Hey, I won't deny the fact that she could probably kick my ass six ways to Sunday if she so desired," the spirit detective began, "but we can't forget the small, seemingly insignificant fact that Hiei, when pushed far enough, can become rather…well, vicious, if ya know what I mean."
Kuwabara nodded in concurrence. "So technically, what Urameshi meant when he said 'find Hiei before he rips the girl to shreds,' was that—" Another loud screech erupted from within the toddler's office, cutting the spirit swordsman off in mid-sentence. He sighed and shook his head in defeat. "Eh, forget it."
Yusuke grinned, slowly shaking his own head. "Heh. You know, I still wonder if the little bastard's ever gotten pissed enough to make his head explode."
Kuwabara snickered while Kurama merely closed his eyes and said: "Regardless…"
Yusuke held up a hand and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Look, to be honest, I just wanted an excuse that would get me the frick outta here. I mean, I can only take so much of Koenma's incessant bantering."
Kuwabara nodded as well. "Yup. I'm with him on this one."
Kurama sighed. "Well, I suppose I could always remain behind in the event things start to get out of hand." He ignored the sly grin that viciously tugged at the corners of the spirit detective's mouth and continued: "Besides, it's not like I have anything better to do at the moment."
"Oh yeah," came his sarcastic reply. "I'm sure."
"I'm sorry, was I supposed to find that funny?" the red-haired kitsune tediously inquired, shooting the black-haired teen a hard glare. "Because I didn't."
Yusuke laughed softly, shoving one hand in his pocket and waving the other across his face. "I'm sorry, man. Couldn't help myself there."
"I noticed," came his sour response.
"Uh…am I missing something? Because I totally feel like I am…again," Kuwabara muttered, scratching the back of his head.
Yusuke quickly shook his head, shooting the inwardly annoyed redhead a cocky grin as he dragged the confused street fighter away. "Nope. Not a thing. Catch ya later, Kurama."
Kuwabara eyed him intently, snatching his arm away. "Why do I get the feeling that you're lying to me?"
"Cause you're paranoid. That's why," came his amused reply.
Kurama watched as the arguing pair walked out of sight, rolling his eyes as the "wiser" of the two shot him yet another amused glance and an exceedingly immature mental message. He shook his head in disbelief and turned back towards the door.
No, he was not remaining behind to, as his friend had so eloquently put it, "woo" the girl. He was merely there to ensure that the Prince didn't need any further assistance. See if he could catch a few words with Hinegeshi about the current "Toguro" situation—perhaps act as a base for Hiei and Callie in the off chance that either of them decided to return to the spiritual realm upon escaping or completing their duel (which wasn't a very comforting thought, come to think of it).
That made sense, didn't it?
Kurama laughed softly, slowly shaking his head as he shoved his hands into his warm, uniform pockets and leaned casually against the wall adjacent from the left-most door. Yes. Yes, of course it did.
Perfect sense.
oooOOOooo
Blood.
She was covered in the warm, sticky substance from head to toe, but fortunately, most of it belonged to him. That evil, black-haired monster. No, not the one that had insidiously murdered her companion's mother…
The other one.
The one that had just recently decided to enter her life. The one that found the large, gaping gashes in either of her hind legs to be somewhat of a triumph on his part. The one that she almost despised as much as her shape-shifting opposite…
As Katsuro.
A violent shiver swept across the feline's beaten and bloodied frame as she recalled the black haired, golden-eyed canine. The feud that either of their powerful clans had commenced…
The bloodshed that had eradicated almost everyone and everything.
The entire ordeal had been so thoughtless, so pointless—not to mention pathetic—that it made her feel sick every time she thought about it. It started out with a petty argument that ensued between their fathers during an arranged peace-agreement; one of those "you stay off of my land, I'll stay off of yours" type thing. But everyone knows that those never work, so, in the end, well…
Let's just say that there weren't many people left to occupy the land.
And, seeing as how she and Katsuro were the only two remaining royals left on either side, they became each others' worst enemies…as stupid and inane as that may seem.
But they were.
They still were.
And as long as they both still breathed the same air, they always would be.
The wildcat would've continued to dwell on the disconcerting memory of her past and the image of the handsome yet wicked wolf-demon, much to her inner conscious' dismay, if it weren't for the fact that a sharp, metal object had come in contact with her furry back, engulfing her weakened body in a harsh, wave of critical pain.
"SHIT!" she roared, leaping forwards in order to evade another blow she had sensed coming. She quickly spun around to face the culprit, arching her back and baring her long, shark-like teeth at his darkened silhouette.
"Never let your guard down in the middle of a battle, you ignoramus," her opponent hissed, smirking as he examined the dark, red stain that had enveloped most of his sword. "Not unless you want me to rip that pretty little coat of yours straight off your back."
Callie snarled, a low growl emitting from her parched throat. It appeared that, regardless of his many scrapes, scratches, and wounds, the swordsman still had a lot of fight left within him. Which meant that her simple "lion" attire wasn't going to do her much good anymore.
Time to bring out the BIG guns then, eh?
Oh yes.
While there were many forms that the mighty, shape-shifting feline could take, there was only one specific figure that she thought to be truly profound. One who's appearance and power rivaled that of any other animalistic-type demon she had ever come into contact with. She had seen in a book she had stolen from Botan's apartment—something about "prehistoric life." It turned out that this particular breed of cat had been (alas, it was long extinct) the fiercest feline to ever step foot on the face of Ningenkai, and, combined with her own vicious, demonic aura, had the potential to become an unyielding power that possessed immeasurable speed, strength, and agility…
The power of the Saber-toothed Tiger.
However, she couldn't transform into such a monstrosity in the midst of a sleeping city. It was risky enough to be in the form of a large, mountain lion. She would have to lead the fire demon away to a more dark and secluded area; which might prove to be somewhat difficult, considering he was pretty fast for a short, tight-lipped jackass.
She gave the black-haired brute one last nasty glare before pivoting on her paws and bolting off in the opposite direction. 'This had BETTER work.'
Hiei sighed and rolled his eyes, sheathing his sword as he watched the pesky feline make a mad dash for a dark and desolate forested area. "Hn. Foolish bitch."
He was in front of her within seconds, sword once again unsheathed and pointed directly towards her incoming head. Much to his dismay, however, his opponent had sensed his arrival and stopped mere millimeters from the tip of his blade, transforming into her tiny, human-like form in the process. He frowned. "I was going watch you split your own skull in two. Why'd you have to go and ruin that for me?"
Callie stared at the spiky-haired demon incredulously. What the hell was up with his sudden informal attitude? Five minutes ago, he was fuming at her for knocking him clear off a building; there was no way that fury could've dissipated unless he'd come down with an unexpected—not to mention unfeasible—case of amnesia…
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she spat, scrunching up her nose in disgust. She was too pissed to even notice that the honey-eyed demon had his weapon pressed hard against her heaving chest; the precise spot her cold, wet nose had once been.
"Wrong?"
"Yes."
"With me?"
"Yes!"
He smirked, raising the tip of his sword so that it came to rest against the base of the snarling girl's neck. Her heart must have been pounding rather hard because the air around his slick, metal blade would quiver every few milliseconds, almost as if it were in sync with a rapidly accelerating beat. "Absolutely nothing. Why do you ask?"
She screamed, though it wasn't out of fear: it would out of frustration and lots of it: "YOU STUPID ASSHOLE! WHAT KINDA OF GODDAMN QUESTION IS THAT?"
Hiei slowly raised a thin, black brown. "A literal one?" But Callie wasn't listening to him. She was too busy fuming to listen. So she did what any sane woman would have done in such a situation: she continued to scream.
"I MEAN, FIRST YOU TRY TO KILL ME, THEN YOU TRY TO KILL BOTAN. THEN YOU TRY TO KILL ME AGAIN! AND WHY? I DON'T EVEN FREAKING KNOW! IT'S LIKE YOU'RE POSSESSED WITH SOME SICK AND TWISTED URGE TO HARASS, MUTILATE, AND MURDER INNOCENT, YOUNG WOMEN, LIKE ME, WHO HAVE AS MUCH INTEREST IN YOU AS SATAN DOES ECSTASY!"
The fire demon's expression went from confused to amused. "Interest? Who said anything about interest?" She appeared to be too busy panting to respond, so he continued: "I mean, your friend has already been persuaded to return to the spiritual realm and is being escorted there as we speak; the only reason that I decided to continue to fight you was because you were continuing to fight me."
Callie, who had been in some sort of shocked, angry and bewildered revere suddenly came to, snarling like the angry lion she once was: "Oh, for the love of—this is bullshit. Pure bullshit! I mean, I cannot believe we are even having this conversation right now!"
"Maybe it's because you started it."
"No, it's because you're a fucking moron!"
"I resent that."
The brown-haired girl let out another angry roar, a frighteningly realistic one at that, before slamming the fire demon's sword away with her palm—slicing it open in the process—charging straight into his chest, and knocking him flat onto his back. "SON-OF-A-BITCH! YOU ARE SO GONNA DIE!"
Hiei snorted at the enraged girl's feeble attempt to wind him, apparently unfazed by the fact that she was currently pummeling his chest with her fists as she straddled his waist. 'Hn. That's what she thinks…' And in one, quick, swift motion, the black-haired apparition turned the tables.
Callie grunted as her back slammed hard against the cold, stony pavement, wincing slightly as she felt jutting rocks slice through her skin. She blinked a couple of times in order to make the world stop spinning, gasping aloud as her current situation came to a sickeningly abrupt halt.
Realization could be so cruel.
Hiei sat smirking above her, sword raised high above his head with one hand while the other was pressed firmly between her breasts in an effort to hold her down. "It's over, I'm afraid. Though I must say, you turned out to be a better opponent then I'd expected." His smirk then vanished and was replaced with a cold, hard stare. Apparently, the "indifferent" Hiei had returned. "Now, prepare to die."
Callie's brown eyes widened. No way. She was going to die? This couldn't be happening. There were so many more things that she had left to do! Like, help Botan find that evil fox-boy so she could kick his ass! And hunt down Katsuro so she that could kick his ass too! And…and…
In one last desperate attempt to flee, the brunette made a futile effort to transform into something small so that she could slip out from underneath her executioner's arm and scramble towards the nearest exit, wherever that happened to be. But for some reason, she couldn't. So she tried the next best thing: to transform into something big in the hopes that she could, perhaps, overpower him and escape his plummeting sword.
But once again, she found that she couldn't. She couldn't even move. She was trapped in her human form—and why? Because she was a petty, defenseless slave of her own mind numbing fear. Once it consumed her, she became powerless. Immobile.
"Oh God…" were the only two words that escaped her quivering lips as she searched her captor's honey-hued eyes for any sign of mercy. But unfortunately, he wasn't kidding. He was really going to slice her skull in two…
He was really going to kill her.
Hiei let out a soft "hn" before allowing his sword to descend upon the panic-stricken feline beneath him. Yet something made him stop in mid-swoop. Something that he shouldn't have done. But it was too late for regret, because he had already done it.
He had already seen it.
Yes, he had caught a faint glimpse of what the girl kept secluded behind her wide, coffee-hued eyes: the silent foreboding, the growing despondence, the painful despair, the immeasurable sadness…
He had seen her soul.
See, this was one of the reasons why he utterly despised his Jagan eye. It often forced him see things that he didn't want to see.
And this was definitely one of those things.
His eyes widened as tears began to fall silently down her terror-stricken visage, her shimmering, brown orbs wordlessly pleading with him to release her…
To spare her life.
A situation such as this one should not have been enough to faze him. To force himself to stop and think about what he was doing and what sort of consequences were associated with his actions. So why the hell was he hesitating? Why wasn't he able to impassively and callously murder this woman for being the stupid wench that she was? He had been able to do it to countless women before her. What made her any different? Why was she different? Why did he care so much about the quick, indiscernible flashes he had just seen, locked away behind her petrified eyes?
"Why the hell should I care?" he whispered hoarsely, more to himself then to her. He wasn't even looking at her anymore. His mind was far too baffled, implicated, and shaken to be able to focus on anything physical at the moment.
"HIEI!" a voice suddenly screamed, reverberating loudly across the silent, darkened street. "STOP! DON'T DO IT! SHE WAS ONLY TRYING TO PROTECT BOTAN!"
Hiei's eyes shot in the direction of the noise, narrowing as two, darkened silhouette's came stumbling into view. He quickly glanced back down at the shivering brunette beneath him. "You got lucky," he hissed as he sheathed his sword. "Don't think that this is over, though. Because it's anything but."
Callie blinked a couple of times in perplexity as she stared up at the swordsman like he had grown a twelfth head. "Are you insane?"
But he didn't answer her. The two approaching figures had already gotten too close. It was time for him to go.
So he did, furtively slipping away with wind.
oooOOOooo
Kurama didn't know how long he had been standing in front of Koenma's locked, office doors, but what he did know was that hadn't been waiting there, patiently, silently, and obediently, for further orders from the Prince, a glimpse of Hinegeshi, or a sign from Hiei and Callie. Not when there was a priceless piece of his past standing just behind those closed, office doors…
The screaming had ceased—what felt like—hours ago, and all that remained were soft, muffled exclamations, both male and female. He could only hope that this meant their argument was coming to a long-awaited close because he was starting to grow impatient; which was wasn't exactly normal for someone like him.
Definitely not normal.
He had seen the red-haired ferry girl come stumbling out of the room a short while ago—why she didn't just teleport was beyond him—but she hadn't much to say: just something about desperately needing to find a pair of extra thick earplugs and an icepack.
George had also walked by, but he was too busy mumbling incoherently to himself to stop to chat. But that was just fine with him. He hadn't much interest in hearing a dramatically enhanced story about his unsuccessful attempts to please his irate mother.
Suddenly, the door began to slowly creak open, allowing the stifled voices that were trivially snapping back and fourth at each other from within to become semi-clear.
"Look. It's not like I wanted to invade your privacy. You know how much I fear your inescapable wrath—both verbal and physical. I was only trying to—"
"Protect me. Yes, I know. You only said it fifty-trillion times."
A set of fingers peeked its way out from behind the thick, cracked door, clamping the edge with strong, lithe joints.
"I know. But I cannot emphasize something this dangerous enough—"
"I can take care of myself. You of all spirits should know that."
"I don't doubt that you can. It's just that if our suspicions are correct and Karasu is in league with the Toguro brothers, then—"
"I'll be in some major shit. Yes, I'm aware of that too. You've overstressed that little fact as well."
"Right. Well, I suppose that'll be all for now. Just…just don't go running off like that again, you hear? The last thing I need is for your death to be placed atop my conscience along with everything else."
"Didn't know you cared."
"I do."
"Of course. That's why you'd 'feel bad' if I croaked, right?"
"Botan…"
"No, don't worry, Koenma. I get it."
The door was then pushed farther open to reveal an arm, part of a body, and then, eventually, the owner of the hand: a thin, blue-haired woman that looked like she had been run over by Hell and left for dead. She was still beautiful though. It was a part of her that would never fade, regardless of how damaged, stressed, and aggrieved she may have been.
She didn't see him right away, but when she did, her crestfallen expression fell even more. "Oh. It's you."
He nodded as he pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against. "Were you expecting someone else?"
She eyed him curiously, ignoring his previous question. "What are you doing here?"
Kurama smiled slightly. "Funny you should ask…"
The Veela raised an irritated brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Kurama sighed. So what was it going to be? A lie, or an excuse? "Yusuke and Kuwabara—you know, the other two that accompanied us here—decided to return to Ningenkai in the hopes of discontinuing the fight that had ensued between your friend and ours. So, seeing as how I had the option of either accompanying them or remaining here, I choose to linger while Koenma finished, shall we say, 'debriefing' you. That way, you weren't left to wonder what had happened whilst you were locked away."
She slowly nodded her head, brows raised and mouth slightly agape. "Right." She glared at him intently with cold, amethyst eyes. "And you are…?"
The emerald-eyed fox raised a thin, red brow. "You mean, you don't remember me? We only met a short while ago, did we not?"
Botan rolled her eyes. All the fucking same… "Not…what I meant."
"Oh, excuse me. Where are my manners?" He started to extend his hand, but, after further thought, decided against it and instead moved both into his pockets. "My name is Kurama. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Her eyes widened slightly, but she forced herself to remain impassive. For some reason, this boy transpired as being exceedingly perceptive—and the last thing she needed was another person psychoanalyzing her like some distraught mental case. "Uh-huh…"
Little did she know, the kitsune had seen it. The sudden look of fear, sadness, and distress that had abruptly obscured her beautiful features for the most imperceptible of moments. And, in his mind, that could've only meant two things: that she hadn't forgotten, but she also hadn't forgiven.
He gave her a small smile in response, deciding that it would probably be best if he changed the subject. "Well, what do you say we head off after the others? Perhaps they have already intercepted your friend."
The blue-haired deity shrugged, mumbling a quick, "fine" as she slowly began to walk off, slipping her hood back over her head in the process. Kurama silently followed.
So it was official. Not only did she not know it was him…
She couldn't know.
Not now…
Maybe not ever.
oooOOOooo
1. Nemurigusuri is Japanese for "sleeping powder", a narcotic, or anesthetic.
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I know that most of you are probably confused about that whole "Katsuro" thing, but dun worry. I'll be explaining Callie's dark and dreary past later on in the story.
Anyhoo, feel free ta review:) S'always appreciated.