L: Man, I'm just taking forever to update everything aren't I?
V: Yes. And you never properly introduced Sain in the last chapter.
L: -raises eyebrow- I didn't see you go out of your way to introduce him…
V: -turns bright red- That jerk doesn't DESERVE to be introduced!
S: Really now, is that any way to speak of me? –Smirk-
V: Eeep! –Hides behind Leikaru- Where did you pop up from?!
S: …apparently nowhere.
V: -twitch- … This is Sain. An egotistical basACK! –gets cut off as Sain kisses him-
S: Of you know you love it when I do that. –smirk-
V: ARGH! JUST READ THE STORY THAT LEIKARU DOES NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS SAVE FOR THE REALLY OBVIOUSLY NOT YOSHIHIRO'S!!!
L: -eating popcorn- Well this is interesting. Read the story and we'll see what happens with these two later.
Yusuke, Kuwabara and Sniper all looked almost stupidly at the shredded corpses before them and then proceeded to turn their gaze around the clearing warily, looking for any hidden enemies. None were there in current view, but they could all feel a presence.
"As far as I am aware… plants do not just suddenly reach up and dismember demons or people for no reason at all, unless there is someone nearby controlling them." Sniper was looking pointedly towards a rather shadowy area of vegetation, and a quiet chuckle met their ears.
"That would be correct, though I'm not sure if I'm inclined to let you know who I am before you inform me as to who you are." The voice was definitely male, and sounded rather amused. "The only thing I know is that you are friends of Kurama-san's, which means that you are supposedly of no threat to me." They could practically see the smirk upon the unknown persons face. Sniper spoke up after a moment of silence.
"I am Sniper, this is Yusuke and the really tall one is Kuwabara." He took a small unobtrusive step towards the unknown's hiding place. "Now that we have introduced ourselves, would you introduce who it is we owe our thanks?" Yusuke rolled his eyes at Sniper, just slightly amused by with how the other male spoke.
"Very well then." Out from the shadows stepped a rather tall figure that was clothed entirely in deep crimson, long raven hair tumbling down to seemingly merge with the fluffy black tail. From the top of the strangers head there were jet-black fox ears, and his eyes were of the deepest purple. His bangs framed his face stopping at chin length, and were swept to the sides. "My name is Toshiya, and as you can obviously tell, I am a kitsune."
Three sets of eyes stayed firmly glued to the beautiful creature before them, and he only seemed to grow more amused by the second.
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Yukina quietly finished putting the tray of food together for Hiei and possibly Kurama, should he awake any time soon. It wasn't until she was halfway down the hall that a thought hit her. How exactly were they going to break it to the fox that his entire human family had been killed in a drive by shooting, or the fact that he was now considered dead in the Ningenkai? She shook her head sadly, now plagued with the thought of Kurama's distress.
She looked up when she finally reached the door to the room that Kurama was currently residing in, and dropped the tray when she opened the door. The clatter of the tray and bowls hitting the floor, immediately brought Genkai running to the short Ice Maiden's side.
"Yukina! What's wrong?" the old woman had yet to look inside the room, but could do nothing else when the demon girl did nothing more than gape and point into the room. Even Genkai was surprised.
Inside the room was the largest blossom that any had ever laid eyes upon, and it currently took up almost all the space of the room, the ruby petals seemed to encompass the exact position that Kurama and Hiei had been occupying. The two females just stared.
"Genkai, have you ever…?"
"… No. I've never seen anything like this before."
The two were completely silent, and then Yukina proceeded to pick up the tray and bowls that had fallen to the floor. Unfortunately the food that had been in the bowls was now haphazardly spewed at their feet, so Yukina as best as she could, picked it up while leaving only a minimal mess. Standing, she turned ruby eyes towards the old martial arts master.
"Hopefully this was all Kurama-san's doing… and not someone else's." Genkai nodded, still staring at the monstrous plant, and then turned to follow Yukina down the hall to retrieve something to clean up the mess.
The plant just seemed to get bigger, and no one was around to notice.
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The two demons and two humans walked placidly back to Genkai's temple, keeping a curious conversation between the four of them. A conversation mostly about how Toshiya knew Kurama and why exactly he was there. While Toshiya had seemed amused after ridding them of the frustrating demons that were after red headed fox, he was now a grave and solemn figure doing his best to explain the situation that they were all currently in.
"I first met Kurama when he was still living in the Makai, just after I had pulled off a rather bothersome job for a demon who had something I wanted." The raven manned fox demon did not elaborate on what it was that he had been after, or the job. "I had been injured while escaping and probably would have died had he not found me. I actually still have no clue as to why he really helped me. At the time he just said that as a fellow fox demon he just felt he had to help out." He turned purple eyes to Yusuke. "But then again, he's always been rather eccentric… as you probably agree." There was a unanimous nodding of heads, save for Sniper who had never really gotten to know the currently wounded fox. The slight tilting of the man's head though, did not go unnoticed by Toshiya. He let his eyes linger for a few moments more on Sniper before continuing. "After I was fully healed, he told me that if I ever needed… assistance that I should seek him out, and depending on what I needed, he'd lend a hand.
I took him up on the offer a couple of times, and even helped him out a bit too. When I heard that a hunter had killed him, I just couldn't believe it. I knew him well enough by then to know he must have done something rather ingenious to escape, as the Hunter never brought back a head. So I started looking around. I eventually discovered what he had done and approached him in spirit fox form one day. He was probably only six or seven at the time in human years… anyway… he smiled and said he was glad that I had survived thus far, but asked me not to let anyone know that the Great Youko Kurama had in fact survived."
"And obviously you agreed." Yusuke spoke up after it seemed like the newcomer was finished speaking. Toshiya nodded.
"I trusted him, and the fact that he actually acknowledged me in the human realm obviously meant that he at least somewhat trusted me." He looked seriously at the Rekai Tentei and Sniper. "I wasn't about to let that trust be wasted."
By now they were within sight of the temple and were fairly surprised when they saw a gigantic crimson blossom tumbled out from the room that three of them knew to be where Kurama was being kept safe. They stopped and looked at Toshiya.
"… Don't look at me. I have nothing to do with healing plants, my forte is in attack plants." He looked sheepish "And what control I have over those is thanks to Kurama." At the three surprised looks he received, he raised an eyebrow. "What, don't tell me you all actually though that every single kitsune has plant control." He sighed as he received nods.
But before they could continue, Yukina and Genkai came out of the temple.
"Boys, over here." The old woman's voice beckoned them towards the two women, and soon the six of them were standing in a circle. Genkai looked questioningly at Toshiya, who merely looked back at her. But it was Yukina who voiced the question.
"Umm… who exactly are you, sir?" Toshiya blinked and turned purple eyes to look at the ice maiden. He smiled before bowing.
"Toshiya is my name, Maiden, and I am an old acquaintance of Kurama's." Yukina blinked once before nodding in acceptance.
"So, do you know what that is?" Genkai pointed directly at the large blossom. The fox merely shrugged.
"I can't tell you specifically, but I can tell you that it's a healing plant."
"Ah…"
The six finally made their way into the temple hall, and were surprised when Koenma and Botan stood there waiting for them.
"We need to see Kurama now." Was all the tiny lord said, worry etched upon his teen features.
L: Sorry it's kinda short... But I think you should all know that I'm not dead!
S: No. You think they'd never have known, considering that you just updated.
L: ...Oh go molest Vulpus or something. Inspire me. In other words, DO YOUR JOB!
S: -looks positively gleeful- Can do, boss Lady. -starts stalking Vulpus-
V: Leikaru! You TRAITOR! -is trying to get away- ARGH!!! -gets pounced on-
S: Come on Vul, it's for the author.
V: No! NoAHh!! -is currently being pinned and kissed- haaaa...!
L: -nosebleed-
