If the Worst
The lone letter fell into the letter slot with a hollow sound. The envelope was addressed to Minamino Shiori-san with no return address. She picked it up and read the contents at the kitchen table.
The letter fell out of Shiori's numb hands at the contents. Her son had been a demon fox? That would explain some of his behavior in the early stages of his life, and the straight-A marks in school, but...it didn't work.
Shuichi was at a friend's house, Shiori recalled. So, she hurried to the phone and looked up one of Shuichi's friends in the phone book. She dialed the number for Urameshi Yusuke. The boy's mother picked up. When Shiori asked, she got the "Oh, no, Yusuke came home alone yesterday."
Shiori flipped through the phone book, stopping at every phone number she could find. Nothing came up and she got the same responses.
Shiori sat at the table and cried, running her hands up and down the spidery scars along her arms. The only possibilities were that he was at school, or the letter was true.
The day went by, and Shiori busied herself by cleaning house and making food. She was on edge by the time Shuichi would normally come home from school. The hour came and went.
He must have a cram session, she assured herself. The sun set, and still her son did not return. Shiori called the school, asking if Shuichi had been there that day. He hadn't.
Sealing the devastating emotions away, Shiori set about making stir fry for two.
Behind her, the window slid open. Shiori turned slowly and froze as a silver haired man climbed into the house.
He stopped as soon as both feet were planted firmly on the ground. To Shiori, he looked like an angel with the pure white clothes, the silver hair, and the golden eyes. An uneartheal feel came when she spotted fuzzy animal ears.
"Shuichi?" Shiori asked breathlessly.
Suddenly, her son was standing in front of her, red hair, green eyes. Her Shuichi.
Shiori stepped forward and embraced her son, muttering about how worried she had been. Shuichi hugged her back, then pulled away.
"I can't stay long, Mother," he whispered.
"Why not Shuichi?"
"Did you get my letter?"
"Shuichi, was anything in that true?"
"All of it was, Mother."
"So I wasn't seeing things."
"No Mother. I really have to be going soon."
"Why would you leave me, Shuichi?"
"I don't really want to, but...it' for our own safety."
"Oh...you...you broke out of jail, didn't you?"
"Yoko broke out Mother. I can't die yet. In a few years, I can come back safely, but right now, the Reikai just needs to calm down. Until then, I can't stay. You understand, right, Mother?"
"Yes. You'll take care, wont you. Don't talk to strangers...and look both ways before crossing the streets."
Smiling sadly, Kurama whispered, "Yes, Mother."
With one last hug goodbye, Kurama turned. Changing back into the silver fox form, he leapt back out the window.
Tears trailed down Shiori's face, but she found herself laughing a little. The fox even had a tail. Even though she was worried about him, she decided it would be acceptable for him to come back after a few years had passed.
...End...
A.N. Ok, well, that was a One-shot turned two-shot. Kinda sad, but not so bad at the end.
It started because Kurama never told his mother about Yoko, which was odd. Also...Reikai (spirit realm) should have known about Yoko, made the connection due to the Mirror event, and the whole Dark Tournament thing... But...the series was better for it.
Syn: Oh yeah, and the scars on Shiori's arms...that's from the manga. She saved little Shuichi from a fall on shards...
H.D: Yeah, that was so cute -. Well, Not much else to say. I love reviewers and it sucks when people read my stories and don't review (like the ones that have 200 hits and 2 reviews!). All I ask is a simple answer to "is it good or bad?", so please people, please R&R.
