Kurama ran through the forest, running as though he would never stop. Tears streamed down his face, as he ran on without looking back.
His arm was wounded, but he ignored the stinging pain, for the pain in his heart was greater. 'Why?' he thought bitterly. 'Why did I leave him behind?'
Suddenly, his knees gave way beneath him and he sank to the ground, sobbing. Blood ran down his arm, but he didn't even bother to wipe it off.
The forest was silent, as if listening, just listening, to the cries of a wounded fox. Not a soul stirred, except for a silver-haired kitsune mourning over the loss of something precious.
'I'm sorry, Kuronue… I'm sorry… How could I? I'm such a fool… Kuronue… No…'All that happened in the past few hours seemed so blur… Yet it seemed like only a few hours ago, that Kuronue was laughing and telling him that it was so easy…
'Kuronue… I'm sorry…'But deep in his heart, Kurama knew, even if he didn't want to admit it, that there was no changing the fact. Kuronue was dead, and no amount of sobbing or begging was ever going to bring him back to life again.
Chapter 7 – A Wounded SoulDisclaimer: I think we've been through this already, right? Ah, never mind, I'll say it again… Yu Yu Hakusho is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and not me, ok? Now let's continue…
Kurama's hand closed around their prize. "It's so simple, isn't it?"
"Well, yes, it is. We should do this more often, Kurama."
Kurama smiled. But they had no time to stay and chat, the guards quickly detected their presence and soon furious shouts were ringing out behind them.
"Time to go, Kuronue."
Kuronue nodded and spread his wings. Kurama ran towards the main gate. Above him, he could hear the bat demon's strong wings beating the air. The guards attempted an attack on Kurama which was all in vain.
Kuronue joined him in a few minutes. Then they both fled out the gate, into the forest. The shouts grew fainter, and they were way ahead of any annoying demon guard.
"Oh no!"
Kurama spun around at his friend's cry.
"Don't! Kuronue!"
Kurama cried out as his friend sprang back for the pendant that snapped. Somehow, his heartbeat grew faster as he watched Kuronue run back to retrieve it.
'Darn you, Kuronue! I know that pendant is precious to you, but we're in a life and death situation here!'It happened so fast, yet it seemed to play in slow motion in front of Kurama. His eyes widened in shock, as all he could do was just watch as the horror scene unfolded in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was all so shocking, all so…unreal…
A sharp bamboo shot up, piercing through Kuronue's leg, the trap having functioned perfectly.
Kuronue cried out in pain. Kurama quickly started back to help the trapped demon, but even as he watched, more bamboo sprang up, ripping through the dark silhouette that was trying to escape.
"Kuronue!"
"Forget about me, Kurama! Go, run!"
Kurama stopped. He was barely even aware of the tears rolling down the side of his face. 'Why am I crying?'
"I said, leave me! Run!"
Kurama didn't even seem to hear it. His legs however, obeyed the order, and he ran as fast as he could, away from there.
Away from his dying friend.
"Yomi-san."
Yomi looked up. "What?"
"Where's Sensei and Kuronue-san?"
"How in the world do you expect me to know?"
"I thought you of all people should at least know…"
"Well, I don't. Why? What's the matter?"
"Nothing. I'm just wondering where they could be."
As Ariya turned to walk away, her fear still did not manage to subside.
'Why am I feeling so worried?'
'This can't be happening…'
'It's happening, Kurama…Believe it…'
'No…No…Kuronue…'
Kurama felt so guilty…So bad…So overwhelmed with grief as he thought about what he had said just the other day.
"It's not as if any of us is gonna die, right?"A thought hit Kurama. Maybe…this was a nightmare…he just had to wake up from it…
But as the cold of the night sank in, Kurama realized, that this was no dream… As he closed his eyes… All he could see was that darn bat laughing in front of him…
Ariya ran towards all the commotion. Sneaking up quietly behind the guards, she held her breath as she listened to what they were saying.
"I can't believe they managed to escape."
"The lord is going to get us for losing that artifact…"
"Those bandits are getting bold, aren't they?"
Ariya didn't need to hear more. She ran from the castle, searching the forest for tracks.
All she found were the footprints of two people, running to escape guards. Then she saw something up ahead. As moonlight hit the ground, she saw red.
"No…"
'Why…Why did it have to end this way?'
The cold wind brushed his shoulder, sending shivers up his spine.
'Kuronue… This is all my fault…'"Sensei!"
Ariya ran up to the fox, who was kneeling on the ground. He didn't even look up when she ran to him.
"Sensei… You're alive…"
She felt so relieved at the very sight of him, but also sad to see him in such pain. And she knew why too…
Tears fell silently to the ground. Two souls, weeping over the loss of a treasured friend… The stars twinkled innocently in the night sky, not seeming to know of the blood shed below them.
Aware of her presence, Kurama stood up shakily. "It's my fault… I killed my best friend…"
"Sensei, you didn't… Stop blaming yourself…"
"He's dead…And it's all because of my stupid mistake…"
"Sensei, please listen…"
"I couldn't save him…"
"Sensei!"
Kurama turned around at the tone of her voice. Her eyes were red from crying and Kurama could see that she was struggling to keep her sobs in.
"I too, am upset over Kuronue-san's death, Sensei. But I don't think he would want to see the both of us in such pain because of him. Kuronue-san won't like it…"
"You don't get it… If I had stayed…"
"You would have died. Kuronue-san knew it, so he told you to run. If it was you out there, Sensei, wouldn't you have told him to leave you as well?"
Kurama fell silent. He knew somehow, that he had to move on, he had to live strong, not just for himself, but for those who truly cared for him.
Ariya touched his shoulder. "We'll get through this together, right, sensei?"
Kurama nodded. He pulled her into a close hug. 'I'll make sure… I'll protect you… I can't bear to lose another again…'
The death of Kuronue shook the entire gang. For quite a while, no one dared to say a word about this to Kurama. The atmosphere within the gang was tense, and all that was heard were whispered rumors about this and that.
Kurama kept very much to himself lately. He hardly said a word to anyone, and his eyes became cold and emotionless. Everyone said he could do with Kuronue's bright attitude now, but they all knew the only reason their leader became like this was because he lost his best friend.
At this very moment, Yomi and a few others were having a whispered discussion under a tree.
"So, do you think we should act on our own then, Yomi?"
"I don't know why I'm saying this, but, no. Let's wait till his mood clears up a bit. Then only we act. I have a bad feeling, that if we act now, and Kurama finds out that we've been having all these little discussions… Well, I don't think he'll be happy…"
"Sigh… I do hope he's all right… I kinda miss Kuronue…" muttered one of them.
The other three turned around and stared at the guy. He too stared back with a dumb expression on his face.
"What?"
"Shut up!" They hissed.
"What the…" He yelped as they covered his mouth.
All four glanced behind them. Kurama was still sitting in the original position since the last hour. He seemed to be asleep.
Yomi let go of the guy. "Don't you know we never mention his name nowadays? Not when he is around…"
"He? Who's he?"
"Kuro… Never mind!"
"But why can't we say Kurama's name in front of Kurama?"
"No, you idiot! Don't mention his name in front of Kurama!"
"Who? Kuronue?"
"No. I mean, yes! I mean… Just shut up…"
At that point, Kurama stood up and walked away. As he vanished into the trees, the four bandits started squabbling on whether or not Kuronue's name was still a legal word or not.
"There's no point for me to spar with you, Sensei, if you don't pay attention to what I'm doing."
"Huh?" Kurama looked up.
Ariya frowned at him. "At this rate, I could have killed you twenty times and you wouldn't have noticed."
Kurama sighed. "I'm sorry. Let's start over again, shall we?"
"Maybe we should stop practice, Sensei. You're not in the mood."
Having said that, she sat down. Kurama sat down beside her.
"Sensei…life has to go on…If you don't move on with your life, you'll only end up washed away with time. And face it, no matter how much we want, how much we wished, Kuronue-san will never come back…"
Kurama paused awhile before answering. "I know he can't come back, but…it's just not the same without him…"
There was an awkward silence. Then something resurfaced in his mind; something he had meant to ask her since last night.
"May I know, did you have another nightmare last night?"
Ariya was slightly taken aback. "It wasn't the same as last time, Sensei…It wasn't really a nightmare either…It was just…It was weird, really…"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I normally dream of this demon…and I'm fighting him…but last night…we weren't fighting… It was more of a discussion…"
"And what did he say?"
"I forgot…"
"Ah…"
All his sorrow…seemed to vanish as he talked to her. In his head, he could hear Kuronue's constant nagging about his feelings.
'Ah…shut up, Kuronue…I know what to do…''No, you don't, you stupid fox…you can't play around with emotions, neither can you make it wait…What makes you think she'll wait for you?'
'I don't need that…I just want to stay by her side…that's enough…'
'Ya, but things like this can't wait, or you might regret. I mean, what if she ain't here tomorrow, like me? Come to think of it, I think you still owe me ten bucks, you know…'
Kurama shook himself. 'What the…? I must be imagining things…'
"Hey, Sensei?"
Kurama looked at her. "Yes?"
"I was thinking…since we both have shadows to flee from now…Why don't we get through this together? If I put my past behind me, you have to promise not to cry over Kuronue anymore, ok?"
Kurama was stunned. He didn't quite know what to say.
"Well…" He nodded slowly.
"Ok then! So it's no more nightmares for me and no more talking in your sleep for you then!"
"Hey, what do you mean, I talk in my sleep?"
"Well…not exactly talking…more like moaning…"
The evening sun was setting above their heads. Kurama and Ariya headed back to camp, slowly walking through the woods. Yet even as they neared the camp, Kurama could sense that something was wrong.
"Ariya, be on your guard. Something isn't quite right here…"
Both of them drew out their weapons and crept cautiously into the clearing.
"Oh dear…"
Blood was smeared all over the ground. Bodies were lying everywhere. The entire place was utterly destroyed and whiffs of smoke were still curling slowly up from the charred remains.
"Ku…kurama!"
"Yomi? Is that you?"
Yomi grinned sheepishly as he tried to get up. But the effort proved too much for him, and he collapsed again. Kurama ran over to him and made him sit up.
"What happened here? Who did this?"
Another bandit stumbled over. "Some nut job just waltzed over and started slashing everyone and everything in sight. We were totally caught off guard!"
"Who in the world would want to do that? I assume they didn't take anything, right?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"Just guessing…"
Ariya cast a wary glance towards the distance. "Whoever it was, he's long gone by now…"
No one was killed during the attack, a situation that got Kurama pondering the real reason and motive behind the sudden ambush.
'If they weren't here to kill or steal… What were they here for?'The only person he could think of that bore a grudge against him was Itsutoki. Ok… There were plenty of people that wanted nothing better than his head displayed on their wall but the only one so far who ever took any serious action was still Itsutoki. Thinking about that demon made him remember something Itsutoki once told him.
'They know, Kurama…'Cold sweat broke out from under his brow. 'It can't be… What do they want with her?'
He glanced at his student. She was now trying to put a bandage on a very infuriated Yomi. Yomi was wincing and complaining all the way long.
'She's so nice… So beautiful… So perfect… Who would want to hurt her?'Kurama stood up. He had made up his mind. He was going to go look for some answers.
'I want answers. I want to know who we're dealing with, and what do they want. No one… I repeat… No one attacks my men without a reason and gets away with it!'
Ahh… Finally I finished this chapter. I know it has been such a long wait, but I just couldn't bear to kill off Kuronue… Oh sob… Anyway, I apologize for making all of you wait so long. The truth is, I've been very busy lately, and I barely have time to even touch the computer. So, please wait patiently for the next chapter, ok?
And in the meantime, you all can R&R, and if you get too impatient with me, just drop me a line and I'll try to speed up the process. XD Thanks!
