The morning of the tenth day Kurama showed up at the house with a bag of his own. His bag was considerably lighter, some cleaning things, bandages, and bags of seeds as well as a pillow, some cups and pots.
"Good morning Kurama!" Kagome smiled and waved to him as she took a deep breath of fresh-ish morning air. "Is everything set up?"
"Yes. I'm going to assume that you will be bringing something to start fires and other camping necessities?"
"Along with a lot of food and clothes."
"You bring food?" Kurama frowned and watched her.
"Duh! What would you eat out there if you didn't have food?"
"Snakes, birds, small mammals, fruits, barriers, roots, and flowers. It's actually quite good. I'll have to teach Inuyasha how to hunt," he pondered licking his lips.
"Oh, are you Kurama?" A woman called from the door behind Kagome.
Kagome looked over her shoulder at her mom and smiled. "Yup! This is Kurama! Sometimes he looks like a really tall Inuyasha though, with a tail in white, so don't freak out if you see him like that."
"You mean he has ears too?" Her mother asked.
Kurama tensed up and stared at the woman in confusion.
"You simply must come inside and eat breakfast with us!" the woman offered gently sending Kagome into the yard and slipping past her to take Kurama's hand. Kurama allowed her to lead him inside.
"Miss Higurashi, I had breakfast before I came," he offered quietly.
Kagome's mom turned around and gave him a quizzical stare, "Well then you'll just have to eat twice. We're not quite ready to give up Kagome yet."
"Mom," Kagome whined as she followed after Kurama.
"No buts Kagome, we won't see you for a month so you're eating with us this morning since Inuyasha hasn't come yet."
"You seem to know quite a bit about what's going on," Kurama cautiously offered as he was placed at the table with a young boy and an old man. Kagome took her seat across from him as the mother began to place food on the table.
"Of course I know what's going on with my daughter!" She replied with a frown. "Doesn't your mother know?"
Kurama gave her a nervous look and shook his head. "But I have it a little different than your daughter." Kurama accepted tea from Kagome but shook his head at food and muttered a polite denial.
"What's so different from you and Kagome, lad? Is it because you're a demon yourself?"
Kurama took a deep breath as he stared at the table. "Somewhat." He took a sip of his tea as the room fell silent, waiting. Kurama glanced up and frowned looking around at them. "Is something wrong?" His senses quickly scanned the room and the land.
"Will you elaborate on how it is different?" The elder asked.
"Oh." Kurama frowned slightly but just nodded. "I suppose it couldn't hurt considering you know so much already." Kurama frowned trying to think of how to start. "I have a demonic soul because my demonic body was killed and I escaped the ferry girl who came for me. Instead of dying, I took refuge in my mother's fetus. When I was young I didn't tell her because I didn't think she deserved to know. She was just someone I was using to get to an ends." Kurama's brow furrowed at his own harsh words.
"That's changed, hasn't it darling?" Kagome's mother remarked, sure of her words.
"Yes. My mother saved me from death's clutches again, although I had been nothing but cruel to her. It shocked me. I didn't know what to think about it." Kurama sipped his tea as the others ate and allowed himself a moment to reminisce. "In the end, I decided that I owed it to her to be a perfect son and I grew to love her. Now I won't tell her because I do not want her to know that I've been dishonest with her." Kurama glanced up at the others. "She's a wonderful woman. I do not wish to hurt her."
"What of your father, boy? Where is he in this story?"
"He's away. He died when I was young."
"Did you have parents as a demon?" Kagome asked curiously.
"I did." Kurama nodded. "As possible as it is to just suddenly exist, it is much easier to have parents conceive you."
Kagome's younger brother choked on his rice. "I'm too young for that!"
Kurama frowned and eyed the child. "Surely you're not that naïve."
Kagome sighed. "Souta, you'll be fine. So what happened with your demon parents Kurama?"
"I moved out and grew up? Well, kind of." Kurama frowned. "I only stayed around them long enough to be able to hunt on my own. That's not really grown up. That's how it is. You don't stay with your parents. It's too hard to live fighting over the same food." Kurama explained as he finished off his tea.
"Well, I think you should tell your mother. I am sure she realizes that you're hiding something from her, sweetie," Kagome's mother reached out and took his hand as he set down the cup making his eyes snap to hers. "She's your mother no matter who you are or what you do. For me I would be driven crazy if my daughter had kept her past life from me. These lives you two live are so hard, and I would feel like I contributed to that hardship if she had to hide it from me at home."
Kurama slipped his hand away from her. "I don't want to hurt her, and if I come clean, she will be hurt." He refused to meet the woman's eyes.
"How? Surely she is hurt now by your lies." The woman consoled.
"She has a new family now, a new life. I am not the center of her world. She is happy." Kurama stated.
"Oh honey," the mother cooed. "You will always be the center of your mother's world. I know, while you're gone I'll go and meet her." Kurama's eyes widened as they snapped to the woman, He looked petrified. "I can tell her about my Kagome so that she understands demons better. That will make it easier to learn about you."
"No!" Kurama denied staring at the woman in shock.
"I won't tell her if you don't want me to Kurama. I just want to talk to her. She deserves to know you're not going to get yourself killed or involved in the mob or anything." Kagome's mother watched him with thinned eyes. "She does love you Kurama."
"I know she loves me and I know how best to keep her safe. She doesn't need to know, and if she does know, you'd be bringing her more harm than good."
"What could you possibly mean? This world is safe, isn't it? We're not in any more danger knowing that demons are in it, why would she be in more danger?"
"You're not in more danger because you cannot be used to leverage me."
"Oh don't be ridiculous. Your mother is perfectly safe."
"No! You don't understand." Kurama stood up nearly bolting out of the kitchen, but he stopped himself and turned back to her. "You know only my demon name for a reason!" He shook his head, "Don't contact her. Don't put her in that type of danger." Kurama headed for the door. "I'll wait for you outside." He left the room swinging his bag onto his shoulder.
"Mom," Kagome admonished. "Kurama can deal with his own life. I am asking him a large favor to help me in the past, and he's only doing it to stay around his lost friend for a while. He doesn't need his world thrown upside down."
The older woman watched the door with a calm resolve, "He does. Kagome, I will find her and I will speak with her before you two return." She nodded to herself as she went back to breakfast. "What he is doing to that poor woman is wrong, and I will not have it on my conscious that she is suffering."
Kagome sighed. "I didn't leave you the name of his friend or his number in my desk, that's for sure!" she told the woman turning up her nose.
Kagome's mother smiled lovingly at her child. "Kagome dear, it's going to be rather easy to find the woman who has a bright red haired son, was remarried, and harmed herself to rescue the child."
The family finished eating breakfast without mishap.
"Bye Kagome! I'll see you when you get home," The mother hugged her daughter and waved from the door.
Kurama stood beneath the tree leaning against it with his head down and his hands in his pockets, and his bag over his shoulder. When Kagome appeared from the house he pushed off and joined her as they walked to the well, Kagome waving to her family until the door. Once inside the well-room Kurama surged his power and changed into his tall youko form. He then proceeded to the edge of the well where Kagome waited.
Kagome held out a hard to him and Kurama gave her a nod before jumping down the well. This time, the well's power didn't build up angrily at his entrance, but gently allowed him through. Kagome jumped down a minute later and watched around her for residual energy while she transferred to the other world. When she landed in the well, it was on top of the fox.
She yelped and stumbled off of him before rolling him over and checking him for injuries. "Kurama," she called gently. "Kurama wake up." She pulled him up and gently tapped his cheek.
A clawed hand snapped around her wrist as his eyes opened in a glare. "What?" he asked with an angry growl.
"Kurama?" Kagome asked somewhat shocked to see the glare he gave her. "Kurama it's me, Kagome."
Kurama looked down at his other hand where he held the shard she had lent him. "Midoriko." His sad eyes turned up to look at Kagome as he studied her for several long minutes. Eventually he sighed and held out the shard to her. "You would be better off keeping these in a leather pouch." He let go of her wrist and stood up grabbing his bag. He unzipped the front pouch and pulled out a little leather bag holding it out to her.
The bag was small enough to hide the entire bottle easily, but still be concealed around her neck. Kagome accepted the bag and slipped it around her neck taking off her other necklace and putting the bottled necklace inside. Kagome gasped when the shards dropped in the bag. "That's how you did it!"
"Hurry up you two!" Inuyasha called impatiently.
Kurama glanced up and smirked before scooping up Kagome and hopping right to the top of the well. He set her down on her feet. "Why Inuyasha, I didn't expect you to be waiting so loyally."
"Har har, the guys are waiting for us back in town." Inuyasha told them. "We're burning daylight."
Kurama nodded and helped Kagome up with her backpack before following after Inuyasha. "We really need to teach you how to pack light."
"We'll be here for a month or more," Kagome defended. "This is good for a month or more."
"This is good for a year." Kurama told her holding up his own bag.
"But you can grow plants. I can't."
"I won't grow our food for the entire month and show you exactly what I mean."
"Guys!" Inuyasha complained.
When they reached the town Kurama stayed close to Inuyasha, his larger ears pinning back against his head as his tail flicked around nervously. The first set of people walking around, just glanced up and turned away, and that was the trend. "This village trusts you so readily Inuyasha."
"It wasn't like that for a long time. They trust Kagome and Kagome can stop me, so they trust me." He explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if they start demanding you get one of your own."
"One of what?" Kurama asked examining the boy, his eyes landed on the necklace. "That's charmed?" he asked as he stared at the beads.
Inuyasha nodded.
"Inuyasha! Is that him?" a voice called out.
A tall woman with a large boomerang stood next to a man dressed in purple robes. On the girl's shoulder sat a small cat with twin tails which flicked around. The cat let out a roar and jumped forward changing into her larger form.
Kurama yelped and jumped out of the way. The cat landed where he had been.
"Kilala!" the boomerang woman cried. A small demon hopped into Kagome's arms.
"Kilala! He's going to be helping us!" Sango ran to get between Kurama and Kilala. Villagers ducked inside buildings, clearing the streets.
"Ah!" Kilala managed to pin Kurama to the ground and dug a large clawed paw into his chest. "Kilala stop it!" He coughed at the pressure and tried to grab at her paw but only one hand made it. "Kilala!" Kurama shut up and looked at Kilala with his ears pinned back. "I can't take it Kilala, back here I just can't take it. You know what she was to me!" Kurama yelled angrily at the cat.
Kilala's claws dug in as Sango tried to grab at Kilala's neck and remove her. It didn't work and the two went back to staring at each other.
Kurama pushed at her leg futilely. "No! I'm sorry Kilala it's not like that! I just want to help put it together. I just want to leave her at peace. Kilala please let me up." Kurama swallowed nervously and nodded a few times.
"Can you communicate with her?" Sango asked somewhat shocked as Kilala got off of Kurama.
"Sometimes." Kurama rubbed his chest where clear scratch marks were showing up from Kilala's paw. He pushed himself up and swung his bag back over his shoulder while Kilala circled him. "Damn it, stop it!" Kurama demanded and jumped at Kilala to attack her. Kilala jumped away and the two bolted around the small town attacking one another, Kurama with his clawed hand, and Kilala with her powerful paws.
Inuyasha snagged the fox as he bolted past. Sango blocked Kilala. Kurama growled furiously, his long white hair whipping falling over his shoulder, and his tail flicking wildly. Kilala tried to run by Sango, but she grabbed a hold of her neck again and this time, Kilala stayed back from the force.
"I thought you said you and Kilala were friends?" Kagome asked.
Kilala roared in anger and almost got away from Sango.
"She's mad at me for leaving." Kurama calmed down and glared at Kilala. "She doesn't understand how much Midoriko meant to me!" Kurama yelled. Kurama glared at the cat but shook his head. "Damn it Kilala calm down! I'm on your side. I'm here now!"
"We're burning way too much daylight for this shit!" Inuyasha yelled angrily. "If you're going to make more issues for us, than you can leave."
"I am not the one making the issues." Kurama growled glaring at Kilala.
Kilala quieted down a bit and changed back to her smaller form.
"Is it over?" a little voice peeped up
"For now." Kurama replied to the quiet voice. He looked over at Kagome curiously. "Who is that you hold?"
"Oh, this is Shippo, that's Sango, you already know Inuyasha, and that's Miroku. Guys, this is Youko Kurama. He'll be helping us when he can."
"So if everyone is done fighting we can get going." Inuyasha pressed.
Kurama nodded. "Lead the way," he suggested.
"Sorry, that's my job," Kagome replied and shut her eyes taking a few deep breaths. "I can't feel any near here, but there seems to be one off to the north east."
Inuyasha nodded and headed north east towards the woods.
"So if you know Kilala, then you must be alive now, aren't you?" Sango asked as she walked to one side of the new member. Miroku flanked him on the other side mainly watching Sango, but occasionally his eyes would flick over the new figure.
"I am. I'm in Demon World. I can't say I'm very social at the moment."
"You also said that Kilala and you traveled with Midoriko?" Miroku asked tucking his hands in his sleeves.
"We did." Kurama adjusted the strap and carefully felt his shoulder where Kilala's claws had dug in. "Kilala and I fought by her side many times."
"How did you meet Midoriko?"
Kurama dropped his head and shook it. "I'd rather not talk about that. Instead, how did you meet Kagome?"
"Oh! Well…" Sango began to explain everything that had happened with her and Kagome from the deception, to Kohaku. By the time she was done Shippo and Miroku had thrown in their own stories about meeting Kagome and the only ones left were Inuyasha, and Kurama.
"It's almost lunch time. We should stop so we can find something to eat." Kurama suggested.
Inuyasha looked over his shoulder at the fox. "There aren't any streams around here though, what are you thinking of finding?"
"Deer. There are some trails we've come across since we've been walking that we could search down. It wouldn't take too long and we'd come back with something."
"Oh hah, you plan to catch a deer? Do you know how fast those things go?" Inuyasha shook his head. He crossed his arms.
"That's why there are two of us." Kurama came up behind him and clapped his shoulders. "Come on Inuyasha, trust me on this. It'll be fun."
Inuyasha gave off a heavy sigh. "Fine. We'll stop for now but we're walking after lunch until dusk."
"Agreed." Kurama nodded and turned towards the woods taking a deep breath. "There aren't any signs of them that way," he pointed towards where he stared, "But I have seen more signs of them that way then the reverse so our best bet is to take to the trees that way and see if we can find them stopping for lunch in a field." Kurama held out his pack to Kagome, who accepted the parcel.
"Suit yourself fox. How do you want to do this?" he asked bluntly.
"I'll go that way," he pointed somewhat back towards where they had been coming from and out into the forest. "You go that way." He pointed about ninety degrees from where he was pointing. "If you find them, power up, but not for long. You don't want to startle them off. I'll come and we'll circle on either side and trap one then bring it back. If I find one, I'll power up and you're to come to me, same procedure."
"What if neither of us finds one?"
"If you don't find a heard of them, head towards me and we'll circle back in the middle."
Kagome sighed and flopped down. "I brought a lighter, Miroku, Sango and I will get a fire started and cook something just in case you fail."
"Have faith!" Kurama complained. "We'll find something." He turned and looked towards Kilala, "If you'd like to join us, you can go that way." He pointed behind the group towards the other side of the clearing where he figured they would have less luck.
Kilala roared and bounced off into the sky.
Kurama smiled and bolted off into the trees while Inuyasha growled in frustration and headed off on his own.
After about ten minutes of setting up the fire, Kilala's energy flared and the group felt both Inuyasha and Kurama react, bolting for her location. Kagome shook her head in wonder and sighed. "You know what he told me? He said that I brought too much along and that he wasn't going to grow a single thing to eat this month just to prove he didn't need to bring anything and he could still eat."