Hey everybody! I'm back! So yes, I'm sorry I could have had this chapter done for about a week, but its summer and I was just kinda sitting around soaking up summer and enjoying the fact that my AP class was over(goodness was it torture). So here's your chapter, and I would like to thank neko kitkat, BballAnimeLover89, and Lonelyfox for the reviews of chapter 10, and thanks to the rest of you guys! Okay, okay I'm done. Story time!
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"A dragon?"
Kuwabara and Yusuke did not look happy as Hiei told them the antidote to the poison that was currently wreaking havoc on his body.
"Hn. If you two are too scared too take on a dragon I'll go myself. I will most likely be able to finish the job quicker without you there anyhow."
Hiei's weakened body betrayed his strong words as he swayed yet again. Yusuke shot forward and put his hand on the fire apparition's shoulder for support, however the demon did not like this and brushed the teen's hand away.
"Like we'd let you go slay a dragon by yourself, you can barely stand without falling over. Maybe you should stay here, we'll go get the antidote."
Hiei was not impressed.
"Do you know the way to Red-Eye Valley? I didn't think so."
"Then tell us."
"Hn. I'm going."
Yusuke sighed. One day the fire demon's stubbornness would get him into trouble. He just hoped it wasn't today.
Hiei started off in a seemingly random direction. The three detectives walked in silence for few hours before the koorime worked up the courage to ask what had been eating at his heart since the two humans had arrived.
"How's the fox?"
Once again, Yusuke sighed, but before he could answer Kuwabara did for him.
"Oh, he's fine, he's with Yukina and she will make everything better. She's so great."
The spirit detective raised an eyebrow.
"Shut up you moron. Anyhow, it took some work but we got him to take the antidote."
"What does that mean, he didn't want to take the Rasputine? Why would someone as smart as the fox not want to take the only thing that could save him?"
Kuwabara looked puzzled, as he was not there when the Rasputine was administered and waited for his friend to answer.
Yusuke lowered his eyes in shame. He knew that there was no way that he could have convinced the fox's mind that he was not an enemy, but……..he still felt guilty. He felt as guilty as Kurama thought he was. This was his fault, entirely his fault.
"Well?"
"I think he believes that I'm the one attacking him." When the fire demon and Kuwabara still looked at him, not fully understanding, he went on. "When I was trying to give him the antidote he struggled and bit me, and he asked why I betrayed him."
Hiei and the orange-haired teen looked stunned.
"Did he say anything about anyone else hurting him?"
"No."
"Well, that could be a good thing. If he thinks that we're the one's hurting him, he might not trust us ever again, he might even go as far as to attack us."
"Great."
Kuwabara, though upset by this news as well, tried to play the role of mood-lifter.
"Come on guys, there's nothing we can do for Kurama while we're here in demon world so why don't we just focus on the task at hand? You know, kicking this dragon's ass!"
This did cheer Yusuke up a little bit, and if it did or not to Hiei, was unknown as the fire demon wore and expressionless mask.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Kurama was trapped in oblivion; black and lonely, yet comfortable and soothing at the same time.
While he was lying there, ultimately relaxed, something tugged at the back of his mind; not a really pressing matter, but still somewhat annoying. It was the feeling of knowing that something wasn't right, but not knowing what it was.
The redhead furrowed his brows in an attempt to remember what had happened. How did he get here? Where were his friends?
Then reality crashed into him like a thousand tons of bricks.
His friends had betrayed him, and he had killed them.
Well, he killed two of them. Kuwabara and Hiei's deaths arose in the back of his mind making him feel sick to his stomach. And then he remembered Yusuke. The spirit detective with whom he entrusted his life had turned on him and gloated at the fox's pain.
Now the memories were coming back slower, like dust settling in a pond of water.
Yusuke had said something about a poison, yes that was it. Oh yes, a poison that would torment him until he died. That was it. He had died, and this place was his eternal punishment for the lives he had taken during his years in Makai.
Kurama sighed.
"I suppose it could be worse."
And that's how he stayed for a long while. Maybe minutes, hours, days; reminiscing how his friends, the people he cared most for, second only to his mother, betrayed him to the point where he was forced to kill them.
And yet there was something else, something he could not quite grasp. He struggled to remember as he knew that it was important, but his mind was still too fogged.
After what seemed to be an eternity later the kitsune remembered. The Rasputine. His eyes widened. Once again, his memories seemed to come slow but steady.
Shintaro, Yusuke being tortured, the duel, being stabbed, and finally being poisoned. Rasputine…Rasputine, what did it do?
Oh yes, it thinned the blood and made the victim hallucinate. Well, he was 70 sure that it made the victim hallucinate. He remembered vaguely someone telling him of this, like in a dream. He could only hope, he could only pray that it wasn't real; that his teammates, his friends hadn't really betrayed him.
Kurama steeled his resolve.
He needed to go back; he needed to know for sure. It was important to him, no, essential that he found out if he was welcome among the spirit detectives.
The fox fought the darkness, he fought it as though his life depended on it; and to him, it somehow did.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"When do you think he'll wake up Master Genkai?" A still worried Yukina sat next to the unconscious form of Kurama.
"It all depends on the fox now. It could be minutes, up to even days before he regains enough strength to regain consciousness."
Yukina sighed. Despite only knowing the redhead since the Dark Tournament, he had grown on her, not romantically, but through a caring friendship. She would be devastated if he died now.
As she was still musing on their friendship something caught the ice maiden's attention; a slight twitch had just passed through Kurama's right hand. Had she imagined it? As the kitsune remained motionless again, she thought it must have been so. Yukina decided she must have been so worried that now she was the one hallucinating.
Wait a moment.
There it was again. Almost undetectable movement, but definitely there. Genkai, who was now meditating did not see it.
"Master Genkai look! I think he's waking up."
The redhead's slight twitches soon turned into bigger movements as the two healers looked on to his waking.
Kurama groaned as consciousness returned to him and his injuries were strained. His green eyes fluttered open and the first thing that he saw was the smiling faces of Yukina and Genkai.
"You're awake!"
The kitsune attempted a smile and tried to sit up, but found that he could not get up all the way. Two sets of hands gently raised him up and brought a box for him to lean on so that he could remain in the sitting position.
"Thank you."
Kurama smiled again but it faded as he once again remembered why he had fought so hard to return to the land of the waking. It had not escaped his notice that Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were not there. He feared for the worst as he looked up into Yukina's eyes.
"I—I was infected with Rasputine, correct?"
The ice maiden cocked her head in confusion. Did he not remember anything?
"Yes Kurama. Don't you remember?"
"Some things. And a side affect of the Rasputine is hallucinations, correct?"
"Yes."
The redhead felt as if a great weight was just taken off his shoulders.
"And I have been here the whole time?"
"Yes, why all these questions Kurama?"
The kitsune sighed. He did not want to burden Yukina and Genkai with his problems and he viewed that as a great weakness, but at the same time he needed to get it out. He felt as if this hallucination was festering inside of him and would continue to do so until he told someone.
"I was just making sure what I witnessed was not true."
"What did you see Kurama?" This was the first time that Genkai had spoken since the redhead's awakening.
The fox debated with himself for a moment longer and said:
"I thought Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara had betrayed me. We fought in the ring at Hanging Neck Island and I—I."
His voice faltered.
"Go on."
"I killed them."
Yukina gasped but Genkai remained calm.
"It was all in your mind, fox. I'm sure you did not want to kill them and would not have done so if the situation had not called for it. You have nothing to feel guilty about and when those three get back they will tell you the same thing."
Kurama smiled.
"Where are they?"
"They are in Makai helping Hiei find the antidote to his poison. You guys just have a thing for poison don't you?"
After hearing this, Kurama immediately tried to stand up.
"Just where do you think you're going?"
"I've got to go help them, they might need me."
"I don't think so fox."
The kitsune looked imploringly at the physic.
"You don't understand. I need to; need to see them alive, need to know they haven't betrayed me…"
He broke off awkwardly.
Genkai looked sympathetically at the redhead.
"I'm sorry but you are not permitted to stand up until your wounds have healed."
"Excuse me Master Genkai, but now that Kurama's awake perhaps his body will let me heal it."
"Proceed."
Yukina knelt next to the wounded fox and to both the ice and fox demon's delight the wounds closed under her touch.
The ice demoness smiled and handed Kurama a small bundle.
"What's this?"
"Extra clothes; we sent Yusuke to, erm, break into your house while your mother was out and bring you these."
Yukina looked sheepishly up at the fox, but he wasn't offended in the least. He got up and went to the bathroom to change and came out.
"One more thing, what story did you tell my mother this time?"
"Oh, just that you're the perfect boy at some genius camp."
The redhead nodded and called a word of thanks over his shoulder as he sprinted out the door, headed for Makai.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
An almighty roar signaled to the detectives that they had finally reached the dragon's lair.
Hiei, having not taken the past two hours well, collapsed by a rock wall.
"Alright idiots, the antidote is in its teeth, so please don't destroy them!"
"Yeah, yeah shorty we know. Come on Kuwabara its dragon ass-whooping time!"
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It would appear that Kurama trusts his friends again, but will that be true when he actually comes face to face with them? As for Hiei, he seems to be at his limit doesn't he? Well, we'll see how Yusuke and Kuwabara fare against the dragon in the next chapter. I hope you liked this one! Please review!
Hugs,
MM
P.S. Sorry to keep you guys with Kurama almost the whole time this chapter, but I really wanted him to get our of the temple!
