First off, a BIG HUGE thank you to LeeEunMi for being the very first to review this new story. Thank you, love, I hope you'll enjoy it until the very end :3

Weeeeelllll here's the fourth chapter my lovely readers. Hope you all like the story so far, even if you're too shy to leave a review. I don't bite, I love your reviews, they feed the muse~ :D

But enjoy this new chapter and look forward to the next one ;)

P.S. All YuYu Hakusho characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi~ :)

4. Relentless trust

[...] he found that lack of thought to be quite relaxing... perhaps sometimes he did need a break from analyzing things.

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Starting that night Nozomi refused to sleep in Kurama's tent anymore. She seemed to have made it her life's goal to avoid him in any way she could. While Nari had found out that she was afraid to touch Kurama anymore, because of what had happened, nothing the elder youkai had said to her had convinced the girl to reconsider. Over the next two months, however, he noticed that Nozomi had started sneaking out of his tent at night, returning just before dawn almost always covered in bruises. One morning, during his usual conversations with Kurama, he finally decided to let the fox-youkai know of that.

"I can't imagine what she does every night, but I think it's been going on long enough." he said.

"I think I know where she goes..." Kurama replied, his gaze fixed on the fire before him in contemplation. "Don't worry, Nari. I'll follow her tonight and see if I can convince her to reconsider."

"How? She refuses to come within ten feet of you."

"Then I'll just have to persuade her to talk to me."

Unable to hold back a slight smile, Nari reached over to lightly pat Kurama on the shoulder. He rather doubted Kurama would use his seduction skills on her, given that they were useless due to her lack of knowledge on the matter.

"I think you'll find that quite a challenge..."

"Then it's a good thing I never cower from challenges." the fox-youkai replied, the right corner of his lips twitching upwards.

As promised, that night he remained awake in his tent, his ears strained to catch the slightest sound. A couple of hours after his men had retired for the night, the distinct sound of someone leaving Nari's tent reached his sensitive ears. Allowing her to reach the edge of the camp, he then left his abode and followed her like a shadow. Within minutes they were back in the clearing, where he instantly focused his gaze on a lone tree near the lake. The missing pieces of bark and several broken branches convinced him of what he was already suspecting... she had taken it upon herself to train her natural abilities, without any help. It was something that instilled great respect in him, thus he decided not to intervene for the moment.

It was nearly dawn when Nozomi finally decided to end that night's training session. She was beginning to have better control, but something in the back of her mind prevented her from fully focusing. Rising from where she had fallen to her knees from exhaustion, she offered one more gaze to the mutilated tree before her. Approaching it, she placed a hand upon the trunk, her hand twitching when she felt the pain of the plant beneath her palm.

"Forgive me." she muttered. "Better you than him..."

Watching her depart from where he had been hiding, Kurama finally stepped out from amidst the greenery. Gazing over the tree for a moment he then approached it. Perhaps she had retained some of his ability, given that feeling what plants felt was his unique gift. Focusing some youki in his hand, he placed the palm upon the tree, fully regenerating it.

"Try to endure a bit longer."

With those words he now vanished in his speed, arriving back at camp just minutes before the girl. He had just seated himself before a small fire to settle his thoughts in order, when Nozomi arrived and stopped in her tracks upon seeing him. Why? Did he know she'd been out? Thinking he had not seen her, given that his eyes were closed, she tried to sneak around his tent. With his left ear twitching at the sounds of her feet, Kurama smiled lightly.

"You should know better than trying to sneak past a fox." he stated on a rather amused tone.

For a few moments all he could hear was her trembling breath and her pounding heart. Did she believe he was upset... angry? Finally he picked up the sounds of her hesitant steps as she approached him. Parting his eyelids he then turned his golden gaze to her.

"Sit... you look cold."

His words made Nozomi turn her silvery eyes to him and he could instantly detect fear in them. Throughout the following seconds he confronted her gaze, his own relentless in conveying his wish, until finally the girl felt compelled to yield and obey. She couldn't deny she had so missed his company over those weeks. Once she had taken up the spot next to him, careful not to touch him in any way, Kurama kept silent for a while merely watching her. Seeing how she kept rubbing her hands, he reached out to place his palm over them, only to have the girl withdraw them as if his touch burned her.

"Why do you recoil?" he asked calmly, returning his hand to its initial place upon his thigh.

Failing to get an answer, he now reached into his hair and withdrew a seed which he morphed into a small plant. Tearing off one of the leaves he took advantage of the fact that she was too busy staring at the ground, thus he smeared the plant's juice on his fingers before trailing them over the bruise on her cheek. Startled at his touch, Nozomi tried to lean away, only to have him grasp her chin with his other hand, forcing her to look at him.

"Don't make me tie you down, because I will."

"Why?"

Somewhat arching a brow when he finally heard her voice, he moved his eyes from her cheek to hers.

"I don't like it when those I try to heal squirm around."

He knew that wasn't what she had asked, but if she didn't trust him enough to give him a straight answer, neither would he. Understanding that from his tone, Nozomi again lowered her gaze but didn't avoid his touch anymore.

"You should have told Nari what you do each night. He cares a lot about you and he was quite worried."

"I didn't want to keep it from him... but I thought he would..."

"That he would try to stop you? Try to force you to train with me?"

"Yes..."

"And why would that be such an unpleasant prospect?"

Widening her eyes, the girl watched him for a moment as if he had lost his mind.

"I almost killed you..." she whispered.

Again looking into her eyes, Kurama found it too easy to tell she was on the verge of crying. Had she really been so afraid of hurting him? Abandoning her cheek, he released her chin as well and reached down, grasping both of her ice cold hands. Speechless, Nozomi watched throughout the following minutes as he seemingly took his sweet time in examining every single aspect of her hands... every inch of pale, smooth skin... every joint of her slender fingers... every tiny line of her nails. Soon she realized there was another feeling, aside from warmth, spreading through her body from his touches. She had no idea what it was, but she could tell that all she wanted was to feel more of it. For a reason she couldn't even understand, she wished nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and never let go.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt stop when he raised one of her now warm hands, briefly pressing his lips to the back of her fingers. The shiver that rolled down her spine was as new to her as it was odd. For a few moments Kurama was simply lost in the enticing aroma of her body. Burying his eyes into hers once more as his lips relished in the smoothness of her skin, he suddenly realized that he had been attempting to seduce her without even knowing he was doing it. Lowering her hand, he found that his body had seemingly taken on a mind of its own, his palm coming to rest upon her already healed cheek. Perhaps Nari was right and he had labeled her a child before even taking the time to look at her. It was then that Nozomi finally understood his gaze and the meaning of his actions. When tears flooded her eyes, she lowered her head and offered as much of a bow as her position allowed. How could she have not noticed it before? He had entrusted his life to her, and she had trampled on that trust by refusing to even go near him.

"Forgive me..."

Twitching his left ear, Kurama offered her a puzzled gaze for a moment before realizing what she had meant. It was better this way and things seemed to have worked in his favor all the same. Reaching down he placed a finger beneath her chin, raising her head to make her look him in the eye again. When she fixed her teary gaze on his, he moved his hand to the back of her neck, gently pulling her into his embrace. Before she could think of recoiling, his arms locked around her in a relentless grasp. For a moment all Nozomi could do was stare at the silky white material before her eyes, while her mind recovered from the shock of his actions. She had been embraced by her parents many times before... why did this one feel different? Before she even fully realized what she was doing, her arms tightly wrapped around his slender waist, grasping the fabric which covered his back, her face pressed against his chest as she cried without a sound.

Slightly startled by her reaction, Kurama somewhat loosened his hold on her, one hand moving into her strands, his fingers gingerly rubbing the back of her head to calm her down. Yes, it seemed she had indeed feared so much for his life that she had chosen to sacrifice their bond to protect him. It was that thought which drove him to lean down and kiss the side of her head, while her small body shuddered in his arms due to her silent sobs. For the first time in many centuries he found that the pain of the woman before him didn't leave him unimpressed anymore. Since Amaya's death no female had awakened his protective instincts... until now. It didn't take too long for the natural fragrance of roses that Kurama's body gave off to soothe Nozomi and lull her to sleep, though her exhaustion had played an important part in that as well. Still, she couldn't deny that she had never before felt more protected and wanted.

When her body relaxed in his arms, Kurama understood she had fallen asleep. Unwilling to disturb her, he placed a hand onto the ground, channeling some of his youki into a nearby vine which he used to retrieve a blanket from his tent. Wrapping the thick material around the girl, he resumed holding her and fixed his gaze upon the flames dancing before him. It was like that that Nari found them at dawn when he left his tent. Blinking at the sight, the elder youkai felt his lips twitch into a warm smile. Upon his approach, Kurama finally snapped out of his contemplative state, looking up only to meet Nari's silent smile.

"I assumed it would be a hard to conquer challenge... but you have proved me wrong, as always, Kurama." he stated on a low tone, to not wake the girl.

"I assure you it wasn't easy, by any means..." the fox-youkai retorted with a faint smile.

"You look tired... perhaps you need some sleep as well."

Nodding, Kurama now carefully moved to his feet cradling the sleeping girl.

"I'll take her to your tent."

"You can sleep there, if you wish..." Nari smiled.

Though Kurama didn't look back at him, by the time he had reached the abode he'd decided to take Nari's advice. Setting the girl onto the various youkai skins and furs which made up the flooring of all their tents, he covered her with a second blanket, prior to lying at her side. In spite of his undeniable emotional exhaustion which had resulted from the previous night's battle to subdue Nozomi's fears, he found sleep to be a hard to achieve state. Exhaling a soft sigh, he instead took to watching the sleeping girl all cuddled up against his chest. And suddenly a thought dawned on him... rather, a realization... she was driving away his lust; how had he not noticed it earlier? Ever since he'd brought her to their camp, he had only bedded women three times. Three times in eight months... that, even to him, was quite an achievement. It nearly made him laugh out loud, considering how harshly he had battled to subdue his own urges until then, and how miserably he had failed. Biting into his tongue to keep silent so as to not wake Nozomi, he once more fixed his golden gaze upon the innocent, untainted girl, a warm – almost loving – shade in his eyes. One she would likely never get to see, as it was something he hadn't shown to any female since Amaya's death.

Since his mind refused to settle down and allow him to fall into slumber, he decided instead to put it to work. He did have to wonder what the future would bring. Whereas he had once considered selling her to a slave trader, or asking her parents for a fat ransom to return her to them, now he was forced to admit that she had grown on him to some extent. It was rare that he would have mixed feelings about something or someone; the normal state of things – at least, normal to him – was that he either wanted or needed something or someone to further his goals, or he didn't, in which case he disposed of them, usually forever. But with her it was different... he wanted to keep her away from the life of a thief and at the same time he couldn't bring himself to send her away. Had she really gained his sympathy to that extent in just little over half a year? He was stumped... for the first time in many centuries he actually had no answer to his own questions. It irked him, as he wasn't one to enjoy not having full control on the situation at hand. It was a good while later that sleep finally claimed him, the girl's face lingering a bit longer in his mind as he drifted off into that restful darkness.