Kurama helped Jack make breakfast in the morning, still worried about his injuries. They ate together, except for Hiei. Jack seemed curious about that, but didn't ask.
"So..." Jack said, poking a bit at his food, "You aren't going to ask me more about what happened?"
"No." Kurama replied, carefully setting down his fork and folding his hands, "Actually Jack, we haven't been completely honest with you. We're not exactly normal ourselves."
Jack stared at him in confusion, waiting for him to continue.
Kurama folded his hands and looked at his younger cousin seriously. "We're investigators of supernatural phenomena."
"What?" Jack looked to Yusuke and Kuwabara for confirmation.
"It's the truth," said Yusuke.
"So, you do what exactly? Look into hauntings or something?"
"Well, that's not all, but yes, we have done that."
"You can't be serious."
"Jack. You told me just the other day that a spirit told you about the shen gong wu in the first place," said Kurama, "Why is it that you can't believe that we've encountered them?"
"Surely-" Jack cut himself off.
"Surely what, Jack?"
"Surely, Aunt Shiori wouldn't let you do all that." Jack was frowning nervously, not looking at Kurama.
"She doesn't know."
Jack looked at him as if he simply didn't understand. Like the thought of lying to Shiori was beyond him. Kurama frowned unhappily.
"How about we go speak in private?"
"Alright."
Jack got up, still looking unsure. Kurama led him out behind the house, leaving Kuwabara and Yusuke to their own devices. He didn't really want them to overhear this conversation.
"How can you just not tell her?" Jack blurted out as soon as Kurama stopped and turned to him.
"Jack, you know she'd only worry."
"But-"
"I can't tell my mother everything. I don't ever want her to be worried about me or to feel badly."
"I get that, but…" Jack shuffled his feet. He looked uncomfortable.
Kurama knew what this was really about, but didn't want to have to point it out to Jack. It was obvious that his cousin was so focused on his lack of a relationship with his own parents that he couldn't understand how it was for other people.
"Jack. That wasn't really what I wanted to talk to you about."
"What did you want to talk about then?"
Kurama was grateful Jack had gone along with his change in topic. He didn't like to think about how much he lied to his mother.
"I want to train you."
"... train me?"
Kurama smiled. "I want to teach you how to fight."
Jack looked surprised, maybe a little flattered, "You'd do that?"
"Of course," Kurama ruffled Jack's hair, ignoring his small flinch at the sudden movement, "You're my little cousin after all. Someone has to look after you."
Jack's smile lifted his spirits considerably.
-=-1-=-
"How much longer are you going to lecture me for?"
Kurama barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Half of every battle is the strategy you use, cousin." he said for the third time.
"Well, yeah, but-"
"Jack, do you want to learn from me or not?"
Jack shut his mouth, but he didn't look happy. Kurama sighed and sat down across from his new student.
"For someone like Yusuke, or even Kuwabara, charging in blindly works. They have the force to back up rash decisions so they don't have to think about their actions. For you and me though, that won't work."
Jack sulked.
"Against enemies who are more powerful, or who can apply more force very quickly, if we charge in without thinking, we will lose. And Jack-"
His cousin finally looked up to meet his eyes.
"Most enemies will not be as merciful as the Xiaolin Dragons. They will kill you without a thought."
He hated to be harsh with Jack- he was only a child, after all, but he would hate more to see him die in a battle when it could've been prevented easily. Kurama took strategy very seriously.
"That is why it is important to take every possibility into account- and to act and plan accordingly."
He waited patiently for his cousin to offer an agreement. He needed his cousin to understand how serious this was. Finally, Jack nodded his assent. Kurama smiled.
"However, if you really do want to move onto the combat portion, we can go and test your skill."
Jack practically jumped out of his seat.
-=-2-=-
Jack struggled back to his feet. Shuuichi regarded him seriously. He wasn't going to lie to himself, that was what kept him getting back up. It'd been years since anyone had looked at him like he wasn't a big joke.
He didn't want to let his cousin down. He didn't want him to lose interest and leave like all the others had.
Even so, it was pretty hard to keep getting back up. His muscles would be hating him tomorrow.
He charged at Shuuichi and made what he knew was a clumsy swing with his staff. Kurama dodged easily. He chased after him, trying to strike a blow.
Shuuichi didn't take a single hit.
His feet were swept out from under him again and his back slammed into the hard ground. His chest heaved as he tried to get enough air.
Shuuichi started talking, not even out of breath, "When you're up against an enemy considerably stronger than you, it's better to let them come to you, that way you have the advantage."
Jack struggled to sit up, a stitch in his side stinging him the whole way.
"How is-" he stopped to draw in a breath, "How is that an advantage?"
Shuuichi smiled. "If they come to you, then they won't know any of your abilities. If you go running at them, they will know your speed and when you strike, they will know your power level."
Jack nodded. He planted his staff in the ground and pulled himself to his feet.
"Try again."
Jack planted his feet into the ground and raised his staff. He was going to try staying on the defensive this time.
-=-3-=-
Jack got up early. It was a struggle to get out of bed with how many strained muscles he had. He took a shower and went down to prepare breakfast. Eventually, Shuuichi and his friends came downstairs. Well, the two that were left. He'd asked about where their other friend had gone after a couple days of him being missing. None of them seemed to know or even think that his sudden disappearance was an issue. Jack didn't know the guy, so maybe it wasn't.
He ate with them, shoveling the food into his face as quickly as he could. All this exercise was doing a number on his appetite. Not that that was a bad thing. He was kind of a twig.
He washed the dishes with Kuwabara, then followed Shuuichi outside. Yusuke was already out back. Jack frowned at the change. Usually, he only saw Yusuke and Kuwabara at the kitchen table when they ate.
"What are we doing today?" he asked. He did his best not to sound too apprehensive.
"Today," said Shuuichi, "you'll be learning how to dodge."
Yusuke grinned. A shiver went down Jack's spine.
"Yusuke, if you would?"
"It'd be my pleasure."
Jack squealed and tried to dodge his fist. 'Tried' being the key word.
Jack spent that morning running around like a mouse trying to flee from a cat- with about the same success rate. Which was none. It didn't help that Yusuke seemed like he was playing.
Yeah. Jack had a lot of bruises.
-=-4-=-
Kurama smiled. Jack was a fast learner. He was kind of surprised he hadn't been picked up by a master before. Sure, he was clumsy and had some trouble listening at first, but he was a good student and eager to learn.
He'd only been teaching Jack for a week, but he'd already greatly improved.
Kuwabara was helping train him today. He had a wooden sword to go against Jack's staff.
He took a swing and Jack passed under his arms, landing a hit to the larger teen's side. Jack had realized on his own that up against a bigger enemy, it was better not to try and block their blows if you could instead get away from them.
Kuwabara turned, blocking a strike to his back. Jack jumped back, waiting for Kuwabara to make the next move.
Eventually, Kuwabara did manage to knock Jack off his feet, but it took considerably longer than it would've before Kurama had offered his help.
After spending so much time with his little cousin, it was hard to resist the urge to just protect him and hide him from the world. He knew that Jack wouldn't appreciate that, but he was so young and small, and Kurama's instincts screamed that he should just bundle him away until he was well trained enough to kill any enemy that might cross him with ease. Sadly, that wasn't an option. He just had to do his best with what he had.
He shook himself out of his thoughts. He needed to teach more to Jack than just how to dodge and hit (even if those were essential to any fight). He clapped his hands to get their attention.
"That's enough for today." he said.
"Really?" Jack seemed surprised.
Kuwabara smiled, smacking Jack on the back. "You did good kid!"
Jack grinned broadly. He seemed to glow with praise. Kurama fought a smile at the expression.
"I've got more to teach you today. Not just combat."
Jack's face fell. "Are you lecturing me again?"
"Not this time," said Kurama with a smirk, "Come with me."
Jack waved goodbye to Kuwabara and followed Kurama into the forest.
When he'd judged their distance to be far enough from the house, Kurama motioned for his cousin to take a seat.
Without preamble, he pulled a seed from his hair. He placed it in his palm and let Jack see it. He seemed confused, but kept silent, waiting for the lesson to start.
Without moving his hand, Kurama pushed his reiki into it. Jack jerked back in surprise when a flower began to bloom.
"What- how did you-?"
"This is my true ability," Kurama said. "I think with time and practice, you can learn it as well."
Jack gaped up at him like a fish. "There's no way I can do that!"
"I think you could."
"But I'm not- I can't!'
"Why not?"
"I'm not like those Xiaolin guys." Jack scratched at the back of his head, his eyes wandering down to the ground. "I don't have any special abilities or anything. I can't learn things like that."
"Jack, I have the fullest confidence that you can."
Jack shook his head, his face marred with an ugly frown, "I can't, okay!" He got to his feet and was turning away before Kurama could properly scold him.
One of Kurama's hands snapped out and caught Jack's wrist, the other still occupied by the plant. He tugged his cousin back around.
"Shuuichi! Hey, quit it!" Jack jerked his arm, trying to get loose.
Kurama pressed the plant into his palm and fed more reiki into it, prompting it to grow. Jack stilled. He stared down at their connected hands.
"Do you feel that?" The reiki pushed against his cousin's hand.
"What is it?" Jack said, his eyes unmoving. His own reiki pushed back. It was weak, but the fact that he could manifest it at all, even accidentally, was significant. Kurama felt a small burst of pride for his relative. He'd only been teaching him for a short time, but Jack's ability to learn and grow still sometimes surprised him.
"That's reiki. That is what is making this flower grow." Kurama shrunk the blossom back down until it was once again a tiny seed. He put it in Jack's outstretched hand, closing his fingers around it. Jack stared down at his hand in awe.
"Every human being has reiki. To be able to feel it means that you have more than the average human. Believe me Jack, you can learn how to do this."
Jack met his eyes, looking terribly small and confused.
"Then how come…?" he paused, looked down, "How come I haven't been able to learn it on my own, like they did?"
Kurama knew without asking that Jack was talking about the Xiaolin Dragons. He fought a scowl, not wanting Jack to think it was aimed at him.
"They didn't." Kurama said, "They had a teacher, a master you said. It's not that they are unique, just that they had someone to show them how, when you did not."
Jack was skilled, he knew. It was a shame that no one had recognized his ability and shown him how to use it. Then again… Kurama was glad some of the characters that Jack had told him about hadn't taken an interest in him. Things might have turned out very badly indeed for his cousin with people like that being his teacher.
He was glad that he was here and guiding him instead.
"You can show me how to do this?"
"Yes."
"Then… I'll try."
Kurama smiled. Jack smiled back.
-=-5-=-
Jack wasn't a prodigy like Kuwabara or Yusuke when it came to spirit techniques. Kurama struggled not to be harsh with him. While it appeared that Jack had encountered spirits and rei attacks before, and he was skilled at sensing them, these hadn't increased his aptitude for learning them.
His slow learning also probably had to do with Kurama's own speciality. It was true that each person had their own nature when it came to these things. While plants came easily to Kurama, making weapons out of his reiki did not. He imagined that plants were not Jack's forte. Kurama had hoped to pass on his techniques to him, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen, especially with his time frame being what it was. He didn't think Yusuke or Kuwabara's techniques would suit him any better though.
Kurama had only just managed to teach him how to access his reiki and manifest it a little by the time Hiei returned. None of Jack's attempts with the plants had ended in success.
After a full day of both physical and spiritual training, Jack was exhausted. He stumbled off to bed immediately after eating dinner. Kurama had quietly followed him up and carefully tucked him in before he went outside. It was dark, the setting sun only providing some small amount of light in the sky. Wind ruffled Kurama's long hair. He didn't bother taking the time to enjoy it.
"Hiei, I can sense you. Come out."
He'd taken five days longer than Kurama had asked, which wasn't entirely unexpected- Hiei took his own time with things. That didn't stop Kurama from being impatient for information.
Hiei was in front of him in the next moment.
"That impatient, fox? Did you miss me that much?"
"Hiei…"
"Oh hush. I'll tell you what I found.
"They're definitely the group we were sent after. They have a large number of dangerous artifacts. Most of these objects simply appear to be power amplifiers specific to elemental reiki abilities."
Kurama felt a wave of relief- maybe they could take the relics and hand them off to Koenma. There was no doubt in his mind that if he did, Jack would be safe from harm from at least that group.
"However, there appears to be many of these objects sprawled across the earth and only they and a select few others know how to identify their locations and usage."
Kurama frowned. That was much more difficult to deal with. There was no quick and easy solution to an ongoing problem like that.
"Even if we managed to obtain all of the objects, they would still potentially become dangerous to us. The children are very powerful and have a competent master."
Hiei appeared to be done talking. Kurama massaged his temples in irritation. He'd mostly known all of this information, but having confirmation of his suspicions left him in a tight spot.
"I suppose," Kurama said, "I will have to call Koenma for further orders."
He walked a little further from the mansion, Hiei at his side- a silent, reassuring presence. He pulled out his communicator.
"Koenma."
"Kurama. Do you have something further to report?"
Kurama relayed the information that Hiei had gathered. Koenma glowered when he was finished. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"There really aren't any good options," Koenma said finally, "the best that I can think of is to send one of you to see if they can be trusted to keep their shen gong wu. If they are unworthy, then we will have to go the long route and try to gather all of the wu."
"And if they are worthy?" Kurama prompted.
"Then someone will have to train them. They must learn not to treat their power so frivolously."
"I see." Kurama couldn't help but feel resigned about it. He knew that, in reality, he was the best and only option for a task like this.
Yusuke wasn't a… bad judge of character, but he seemed to assume the best out of people. He also had very loose morals. He was not the kind of person Kurama would want teaching the new and incredibly strong generation. There was also a high chance that he would accidentally hurt someone. He was just too powerful to try and teach those so far below his ability. If he just made one small slip up, someone could end up seriously injured.
Kuwabara wouldn't be a bad choice. He was kind, strong, and a good teacher. If the kids couldn't be trusted enough to keep the objects, he would be willing to make the call. However, he was the weakest out of them, and only human. There was no way that Yusuke would let his friend go in alone, even if they were just children. Which put them right where they were before.
Hiei was not even remotely an option.
Kurama would have to go. He sighed.
"I'll go." he said.
"I'll leave it to you then." Koenma said. He hung up promptly, much to Kurama's irritation.
"Fox." Kurama raised his head to meet his friend's eyes, "You know that where you go, I go."
It wasn't a question.
"Yes Hiei, I know." Kurama smiled weakly. Trust Hiei to be the one to lift his spirits.
He didn't want to leave Jack here. He didn't want to be separated from his small cousin, but he didn't have much choice. He had a mission to complete and while Jack was important to him, so was the safety of everyone else. He could not reason to himself that Jack was any more significant than all of the people who would be hurt if the wrong people came to possess the shen gong wu.
They returned to the house.
Kurama had never fully unpacked, so it didn't take long for him to gather his things. He packed with quick efficiency, not wanting to draw things out. When he picked up his suitcase and turned to the door, Yusuke was just outside.
He looked casual, bored even. Kurama frowned. Yusuke always tried not to show how much he cared. If he was being this nonchalant, he must really be invested. Kurama wasn't sure how to feel about that.
"You're leaving, then?" Yusuke asked.
"Yes. Koenma wants me to investigate the Xiaolin Dragons."
"What about Jack? You're not saying goodbye?"
"No." Kurama's heart ached. He already had to leave, he didn't want to have to break the news to his cousin as well. "Hopefully, I'll be back soon."
He pushed past his friend and walked down the hall. Yusuke followed.
"And if you're not?"
Kurama paused outside of Jack's door to remove the seed he'd planted there not so long ago. He met Yusuke's eyes as he stowed away the seed safely in his hair. "You'll look after him for me, won't you?"
Yusuke smiled wryly. "Of course."
Kurama smiled back. "Then I'll trust you to keep him safe."
Yusuke didn't seem happy, but at least he was willing to accept Kurama's choice. That would have to be enough.
When he made his way downstairs, Hiei was already there, arguing with Kuwabara about something ridiculous, as usual.
"- you really think you can beat me at chess? I have good strategy and you know it!"
"Hn. I could defeat you at that stupid ningen game with my eyes closed."
"You shut your mouth, shrimp!"
Kurama took this opportunity to interrupt.
"Hiei, Kuwabara." They turned to look at him.
"Kuwabara, I'm trusting you to look after Jack while I'm gone."
Kuwabara's eyes found the suitcase trailing after Kurama.
"No way!" he said, "You can't just run off like that!"
"I won't be long." said Kurama. He wasn't sure himself if he was lying or not.
"That kid needs you Kurama. You can't just leave." Kuwabara looked heartbroken. Kurama did his best to ignore it.
"He's been fine on his own before. I'm sure he'll manage."
Kuwabara was lost for words. Kurama left as quickly as possible. He didn't want to deal with this. He had a job to do and he couldn't afford to let his emotions sway him.
Jack would be fine.
