Chapter 10 – Enthralled
"Something's not right with Hiei," Kuwabara said, pointing over at Hiei.
"He's probably just pissed off because Kurama's girlfr–"
Yusuke stopped short as he caught Kurama glaring at him.
"Huh?" Kuwabara grunted, frowning at Yusuke expectantly.
"I said Hiei's probably just pissed off because Kurama and the girls had to rescue him," Yusuke quickly covered.
Hiei, as though he had heard what was being said about him despite him being well outwith earshot, started to walk over to join them and the cat demons began jumping down to the ground.
"Thank you so much for all your help," Yasashi said to Keiko and Shizuru.
"I don't know what came over me," Keiko replied, smiling through a slight blush. "I got really angry when I saw they had Yusuke tied up."
"I didn't mind beating down a few demons who were asking for it, but I hope you meant what you just said about returning to demon world with the rest of your team," Shizuru said.
Yasashi nodded and then turned to Yusuke, her face brightening.
"Yusuke!" she said.
He frowned at her.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
"And Kuwabara!" she said, turning to Kuwabara.
Kuwabara looked as confused as Yusuke.
"If everyone is done with the pleasantries, I have a very pressing question that demands an answer," Hiei said as he joined the group.
Yusuke started to jokingly ask him what he wanted to know, but his voice trailed off as Hiei slowly and purposefully walked through the others and stopped directly in front of Yasashi, glaring up at her through slightly narrowed eyes and drawn eyebrows.
"Hello Hiei," she said quietly.
"Why is it that when Koenma needed fighters to recover the makai whistle from the four saint beasts and he needed to assemble a team for the dark tournament that he did not release you to join the efforts?" Hiei asked.
Yasashi looked as surprised by his question as Yusuke and Kuwabara felt.
"Well, I, um," she began. "I didn't know who or what I really was back then and I suppose Koenma was trying to keep my identity hidden."
"Koenma had an A class demon at his disposal, so then why did he not send you to assist us?" Hiei pressed. "Why, instead of sending you, did he lumber us with Kuwabara?"
"Hey!" Kuwabara protested. "Shut-up, half-pint! I helped out plenty at Maze Castle and during the dark tournament!"
Hiei turned to give Kuwabara a slightly bored and slightly irritated look.
"And such a fine job you did at both tasks," he said sarcastically. "As I recall, one of the other four saint beasts had to dispose of Byakko after you failed to do so, and you let the elder Toguro live and he consequently teamed up with Sensui and caused us all a lot of unnecessary bother."
"Oh yeah?" Kuwabara argued. "Well I can remember that you only agreed to help out at Maze Castle to get out of spirit world prison and you behaved like a sulky little jerk the whole way through the dark tournament and Botan had to bribe you to help us with Genkai's ordeal and then you abandoned us right after because your ego couldn't handle hearing that you weren't as strong as you thought you were, B class!"
Hiei stiffened, his eyes flashing with rage.
"Come on you guys, this is getting old," Yusuke interjected.
"I'm so weary of the lunacy of spirit world," Hiei moaned.
"If you're mad at Koenma and spirit world, stop taking it out on me!" Kuwabara protested.
"Come on, seriously!" Yusuke said sternly. "Why can't we get along like they do?"
He pointed at Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina, who were all happily smiling at each other.
"New Yusuke, New Hiei and New Kurama are getting along just fine," he said.
"Probably because they don't have the burden of New Kuwabara holding them back…" Hiei muttered.
"Hey that's a good point!" Yusuke said over the top of Kuwabara throwing another insult at Hiei. "Where is New Kuwabara?"
"You mean Botan?" Keiko asked.
"Yeah, where did Botan get to?" Yusuke asked. "And, come to think of it, where's my favourite pre-schooler?"
"Koenma is in prison."
Yusuke paused, unsure that he had heard correctly.
"…Does New Hiei share Original Hiei's dark sense of humour or is that true?" he asked slowly.
"No, it's true," Yukina replied. "I think."
She turned towards the cat demons, who were all still falling over their reborn leader.
"So… Koenma got arrested for hiding the rebel leader?" Yusuke asked.
"I think so," Yukina said. "The SDF were leading him away. I think they took him because he was refusing to release Yasashi."
Yusuke screwed up his face.
"So this whole time that we've been running around taking orders from the little runt to get the cat demons out of the living world, he was sitting on the solution?" he asked.
"In a nutshell," Hiei said.
Yusuke turned his harsh glare to Hiei.
"If you knew that, you should have told us instead of running out here and getting yourself caught!" he pointed out.
"I didn't know Koenma was hiding that woman when I came here!" Hiei snapped back defensively. "All I knew was that the rebels were after Yukina!"
"It was still pretty dumb to come out here on your own like that," Yusuke replied.
"If it was so dumb Yusuke, why did you do the exact same thing?" Keiko cut in.
"Well because I…"
Yusuke started to trail off as Keiko, Shizuru and even Yukina all folded their arms and gave him an accusatory glare.
"Hey!" he protested. "Don't look at me like that, you did it too!"
He pointed at Yukina.
"We always intended to let Yukina come here and meet with the rebels," Shizuru pointed out. "Yeah, she shouldn't have gone on her own, but she had a solid reason to think they would back off if she spoke to them. What's your excuse?"
Yusuke looked around the others slowly.
"I didn't really have much choice in the matter," he argued. "The rest of my team had all got themselves kidnapped, I was the only one left to save them!"
Keiko and Shizuru gave him dark looks and he faltered, his anger fading.
"I guess I should have teamed up with the new spirit detective team," he admitted quietly.
He looked around the others again: Kuwabara looked exhausted, Yukina looked anxious, Shizuru and Keiko looked tired but pleased with themselves, Hiei still looked angry, the cat demons looked quite beaten and worn out, their leader looked contented and Kurama was watching her unblinkingly.
"So," he said. "What now? Are you catgirls all going back to fight Iruka?"
Yasashi looked over at Yusuke in a way that made him suspect the answer was no, despite everything that had just occurred.
"Iruka is not the leader of the loyalists," she said slowly.
"Jagasame is the leader of the loyalists," Tora added. "And he's way more powerful than Iruka."
"And he's supported by several others as strong as Iruka," Yasashi added.
"And several more of lower classes," Tora said.
"Tough battle then?" Yusuke asked.
Yasashi nodded, looking around the cat demons still clinging to her.
"We're few in number and we need time to recover and plan our next move," she concluded. "I gave Jagasame three days because we'll need at least that long to prepare."
Yusuke's face dropped.
"You want to stay here, in the living world, on this island, until the three days are up?" he asked flatly.
Yasashi flashed him a nervous grin.
"As a former employee of spirit world, I think it's only fair I warn you that if the SDF are involved in this – which they are – and they've already arrested Koenma, they'll come looking for you next," Yusuke told her.
She nodded.
"I'm prepared for that likelihood," she said.
"You'll just stay here on this island though, right?" Kuwabara asked.
"Of course," Yasashi replied.
"You won't come over and kidnap anybody else or cause us any more trouble, right?" he asked apprehensively.
"Oh sure," Tora said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Because you were such a model prisoner, we just can't wait to have you back…"
Kuwabara turned to look at Yukina worriedly.
"We came here looking for information," Tora added. "And got all the information we sought and we were reunited with our leader – which was a nice surprise."
"And…?" Yasashi said quietly, poking a finger in the side of Tora's head.
"And…" Tora began, looking up at her leader curiously.
"And I'm very…?" Yasashi whispered to her.
Tora frowned at her and she sighed before reaching an arm around Tora's neck and squeezing her cheeks between her thumb and fingers.
"And I'm very sorry for all the trouble I've caused you all," Yasashi said in her best impersonation of Tora, whilst squeezing at her friend's face to make it look as though her mouth was moving.
"I guess it's okay," Yusuke said.
"What?" Kuwabara echoed. "They terrorised Yukina and took me prisoner and you're saying it's okay?"
"If you'd spent any amount of time with that asshat Iruka, you'd understand why it's a good thing that a group of girls wanna kill him," Yusuke told him.
"Still, I don't like that they get to stay here for three more days," Kuwabara grumbled.
Yusuke made to tell Kuwabara to stop complaining, but as he did so, he noticed that Hiei was walking away from the group.
"Hey, Hiei!" he called after the fire demon. "Where are you going?"
"Anywhere but here," Hiei called back over his shoulder. "I've had my fill of this nonsense, so either someone dies or I leave."
"Fair enough," Yusuke said with a shrug. "He's probably got the right idea."
He looked around the others and found them all staring back at him with varying degrees of concern.
"I meant he was right about the going home part, not the killing someone part," he explained.
"Going home sounds good," Keiko said with a small smile. "I think that adrenaline rush you were talking about Shizuru has just passed, and I think I might be in a lot of pain…"
"I hear ya, kid," Shizuru said. "Yusuke, can Puu carry us all back?"
"Puu is not a damned taxi," Yusuke growled. "I'm so sick of you people thinking my spirit beast is a flying taxi!"
"I'm not swimming back," Kuwabara muttered.
"You don't have to," Kurama said. "I came here on a rowboat. It would easily carry four people back."
"Right," Yusuke said, looking over at Puu and finding Hiei standing beside the spirit beast expectantly. "Well I guess Hiei's coming with me and Puu. I can take one more person – Keiko, you wanna come with me?"
"Okay," she agreed, starting towards Yusuke. "Will it be alright…?"
She glanced nervously over at Hiei, who still looked as angry as before.
"I'll make him sit in the back," Yusuke said as they started towards Puu.
"The back?" Keiko echoed.
"He can sit on Puu's tail. It's okay, he's only small anyway…"
Kuwabara turned to Kurama expectantly.
"I secured a small wooden rowboat by the beach on the other side of the old hotel gardens," Kurama told him.
"Where?" Kuwabara asked.
Kurama looked mildly irritated, but the expression was fleeting.
"I'll show you," he said, his tone a little tighter than before.
He nodded at Shizuru and Yukina to follow and he led the way. Kuwabara and Shizuru followed after him, but Yukina hesitated, turning to the cat demons.
"We'll be fine," Yasashi assured her. "And thank you again for all your help."
"I just wish I could have done more," Yukina said sadly.
"It's alright," Yasashi insisted. "We couldn't run forever, now is just our time to stand and fight."
Yukina nodded.
"I'll come and see you before you go," she said.
"I'd like that," Yasashi replied.
Yukina waved to the cat demons and then hurried after the others. Once she was out of earshot, Tora turned to Yasashi.
"Really?" she asked.
Yasashi shook her head.
"We'll be gone before she comes back," she said, her eyes still on Yukina's back as she left. "I don't want her forming any ideas about joining us in this fight."
Kurama watched the side of Kuwabara's face expectantly, but Kuwabara kept his eyes forward, his face still twisted as though he had an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
"Why did you leave it all the way out there?" he eventually asked.
"That rock was a convenient point to secure the boat and apparently the tide has come in slightly since I left it there," Kurama replied.
Kuwabara turned to look at Kurama's feet, running his eyes up to the point on Kurama's trousers that indicated how deep the water had been when he had vacated the boat.
"Of course, being the gentleman that you are, dear brother, I trust you'll be carrying us out there," Shizuru said.
Kuwabara turned to her, scowling as she smiled at him.
"I'll carry Yukina, but you can make your own way out there," he said to her. "I saw you beating up those demon bandits back there, you don't need my help."
"But Kazuma, I was fighting the bandits too," Yukina innocently pointed out.
"But you're a lady, Yukina," Kuwabara said, gently scooping her up in his arms. "And you're not as tall as Shizuru, the water would be too deep for a little lady like you."
He started to walk into the ocean, grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh hey, by the way, um, why are you wearing that weird pink thing around your head?" he asked as he waded in past his knees.
"I have to wear a bandana now that I have a jagan eye."
Kuwabara almost dropped Yukina.
"So I guess you're not coming back with us," Shizuru said.
Kurama turned to her, surprised to see how sure she was of her words.
"No," he confirmed, turning his attention back to Kuwabara and Yukina. "I'm going to stay here and help the rebels prepare for the task that lies ahead of them."
"Right," Shizuru said.
"Their primary mode of battle is the employ of demon plants and as I have a long and varied experience of such tactics, there is much I can teach them," he added.
"Oh, you're staying here to teach them how to use their demon plants, right," Shizuru said, nodding her head. "That's a great idea, because obviously they need to be shown how to use those plants. I mean, it's not like they were able to use those plants to capture, hypnotise and hold my brother, Hiei and even Yusuke…"
Kurama moved his eyes to give Shizuru a questioning, sideward glare, and found her smiling at him in a way that made him feel far more nervous than he would ever admit to or openly show.
"You're staying here because the rebels need help with their battle plans," she said. "And not because you're enthralled by their leader…"
Kurama tensed.
"I see Botan has been keeping herself busy meddling in other people's affairs again," he said stiffly.
"Botan?" Shizuru echoed. "Not sure what you mean there. I was referring to the fact that you never took your eyes off of Yasashi the whole time we were all talking back there. I figured something was going on."
Kurama turned his head to look directly at her.
"Yasashi and I have a history," he said.
"Oh, I see," she said, her eyes widening slightly.
"Not like that," he quickly corrected her. "We often… Sparred together. I know her weaknesses and I know how I can help her."
To his alarm, Shizuru smiled at his words.
"Are you guys coming or not?" Kuwabara called over to them.
"Good luck, Kurama," Shizuru said before walking into the water.
He wanted to tell her that she was as bad as Botan for gossiping and interfering and that he only intended to stay on Ping Island during daylight hours for the next three days: but instead he silently watched her join Kuwabara and Yukina. As Kuwabara started to row them away, Yukina turned around and looked back at Kurama in an almost fearful way. He waved a hand at them and then turned around, hurrying back through the overgrown plantlife towards the remains of the hotel.
The rebels had moved to the hotel entrance, where they appeared to have quite efficiently split themselves into groups and set about tending to each other's wounds. Tora was the first to notice his approach, giving him a hard glare that told him her feelings for him were unchanged from the days when she had known him as Yoko Kurama.
"I thought you might come back," Yasashi said without looking up as he approached. "You know you didn't have to. I have this in hand."
She continued winding a leaf around a puncture wound on Tora's shin and Tora continued glaring up at Kurama from her position sitting against a pillar in the hotel doorway.
"Ordinarily I would agree with you, of course," he said to the back of Yasashi's head. "But you donated a significant amount of your energy to me. I don't understand why you did so: surely you must have known you would need your strength to help the rest of your allies?"
"Yes, that's true," she said, turning to look back over her shoulder at him. "But I also knew you'd come back and lend a hand with this part."
Kurama frowned.
"You just implied that you didn't need my help, so then why did you take the gamble of donating your energy to me?" he asked.
Yasashi smiled.
"I don't want you to feel obliged to help us," she explained. "You never were and just because we are in a more dire situation now and you feel a connection to me through spirit world, I don't want you to think that I expect you to help me. I never expected you to help me but that never stopped you before and, you know, you said the passage of time and a life in spirit world hasn't changed me, but the passage of time and a life in the human world hasn't changed you, Kurama."
Kurama smiled at the sound of his own name, drawing a snort of disgust from Tora. He and Yasashi turned to her and she rolled her eyes.
"I disagree, Yasashi," she said to her leader. "He's clearly been influenced by his human life. He's not what he used to be. He looks human, he sounds human and…"
She sniffed at the air, her scowl never faltering.
"He even smells human," she finished.
Yasashi secured the wrap around Tora's leg and stood up, turning to face Kurama fully.
"You do look, sound and smell human," she said quietly.
"My soul is in a human body, it's only to be expected," Kurama quietly replied. "But I can hardly be called human in the traditional sense."
Yasashi reached out a hand to Kurama's shoulder and he tensed slightly as she ran her fingers through the ends of his hair.
"You also feel human," she concluded.
"I don't taste human," he immediately replied.
"Ugh, I can't believe you just said that!" Tora groaned.
Yasashi turned to her as she started to stand up.
"There is still residual venom from the sinning tree in your leg, you should be resting!" Yasashi said sternly.
"I'll take my chances," Tora grumbled as she reached her feet.
"You could kill yourself," Yasashi admonished her.
"If I have to listen to another minute of this crap, I'll curl over and die anyway," Tora hissed back. "At least this way I die with dignity…"
She began hobbling off and Yasashi turned back to Kurama.
"She's a little darker than I remember her to be," she said quietly. "I think running the rebellion in my absence has taken its toll on her sense of humour."
"I'm sure that is true," Kurama replied. "But I think she also still hates me. She was never especially fond of me."
"I think she's just unsure because you're very…"
Yasashi slowly raked her eyes over Kurama, her eyebrows drawing together as she met his eyes again.
"It's probably mostly a visual thing," she concluded. "You're just not quite so… Visually intimidating in that form…"
"I consider that an advantage," he replied. "Plenty before Tora have made the mistake of assuming I am weak in this body."
"It's not that you look weak, it's just that you look kinda pathetic."
Kurama and Yasashi turned to the short cat demon with spotted legs who had issued the last remark, her expression suggesting that she thought her words had been somehow helpful.
"Like if I arrived at the scene of a battle, and everyone was down, and I saw you there, in that body, I would probably think you were the princess that needed rescuing," she added.
"Thank you Chita," Yasashi said to her dismissively.
"At least he was handsome when he was still Yoko…" Chita muttered as she moved on again.
Yasashi met Kurama's eyes again with a strained smile.
"It must be difficult for you to readjust to your demon life after so long in spirit world," he said.
"Yes, some things are quite daunting," she admitted. "But I think Chita did just sum up the visual problem with you quite nicely."
Kurama's face dropped and Yasashi grinned.
"You think I look like a princess in distress?" he asked.
"I didn't say that," she replied, before turning her back on him and starting towards one of her injured comrades.
Kurama adjusted his glasses and smoothed his shirt before following after her. As he caught up to her she was helping to secure a sling onto another cat demon.
"You only have nine allies left, and two of them are children," Kurama said as he joined her. "Given the number of allies you have lost since your departure, I would assume that those left have spent the majority of their time running and hiding, and spent very little time on battling or even training. You don't have long, but I believe I can teach those left a few things that may be helpful."
"You're not obliged to help us," Yasashi replied as she stood up again. "But if you choose to help us, I certainly won't refuse the offer."
"Then it's settled," Kurama said. "I need to go home before nightfall, but I can return here in the morning and we can begin training tomorrow: today is probably best spent tending to the wounded–"
Kurama stopped short as he noticed the suppressed smirk on Yasashi's face.
"Wow, you have a curfew?" another cat demon asked, sidling over to stand alongside the rebel leader. "That's so human…"
Kurama glowered at her and, unlike Tora, she seemed to have more respect for him in his human form as her eyes widened fearfully and she quickly left again.
"I have to get home before nightfall or my mother will worry," he said as he turned his attention back to Yasashi.
"You… Still live with your mother?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Is that… Normal for a human your age?"
Kurama felt that strange feeling he had often felt in Yasashi's presence when he had known her before her death: the sensation of being ridiculed and feeling defenceless against the attack and yet strangely unwilling to yield or retreat.
"My mother is the only reason I maintain my existence in the living world," he explained. "I could have returned to demon world and to my life as Yoko, but I made an unspoken promise that I would stay here and live as her son for the duration of her life."
"That's very sweet," Yasashi replied.
"She proved to me long ago that she was willing to die for me, I see this is as no small sacrifice to offer her in return," Kurama added.
"Oh, no, please, Kurama, I wasn't being facetious," Yasashi said. "I do understand how you feel."
"…You do?"
"Yes. I regret that Koenma did not fulfil his promise to give my girls a place to live, but I do appreciate the lengths to which he went to make a life for me in spirit world and I know he's only in prison now because of me: just before I was returned to my body I discovered that the spirit world file on my life was missing and Yukina said she had seen it, so I can only assume that Koenma removed it from the file room and tried to hide it. He was trying to protect me and he has sacrificed for me."
"Well he certainly did a fantastic job of concealing your true identity."
"…I'm not so sure I agree with you there, because when I think about it, I can see too many obvious indicators that would have allowed anyone looking for me to be able to find me, but I do know that Koenma has given a lot for me and I am aware that."
Kurama nodded before smiling wistfully.
"It's odd existing in another body," he said.
"Yes," she agreed with a nod of her head. "Although I had no idea I was not in my own body, so it wasn't so odd for me as it must be for you…"
She ran her eyes over him again and again he felt that strange desire to leave and yet need to stay.
"It's like I'm Superman."
Yasashi's face twisted.
"Right…" she said slowly. "Because you're a man and a demon, so you've dubbed yourself "Superman"?"
"No, not quite," he quickly corrected her. "I was trying to relate something to you that I thought you might appreciate: Superman is a comic book hero."
Yasashi's smirk returned.
"You read comic books?" she asked.
"No, they belong to my step-brother–"
"You're twenty-five years old, you live with your mother, you work with computers, you wear glasses and a tie, your name is Shuichi and you read comic books?"
"…You're missing the point."
"So are you. When I first met you, you had just taken out the leader of the wolf demon tribe, robbed him of his riches, Yomi was picking up the remainder of his treasures and you were standing in the middle of a scene of absolute chaos with not a hair out of place, watching your blood-sucking plant turn the wolf demon tribe leader into a raisin. You were an awesome and fearsome force and you were the most beautiful creature I had ever seen."
"I'm still that same demon."
"Not really. Now you're Shuichi, the bespeckled mummy's boy who goes to bed early and reads comic books."
"That's not accurate–"
"Shuichi is like the bucket of cold water somebody threw over me when I was thinking about Yoko."
Kurama flinched as he heard Tora snorting in amusement somewhere nearby.
"This is exactly my point," he recovered, moving a step closer to Yasashi. "In the story of Superman–"
"In the comic book story of Superman," Yasashi corrected him.
"Right, yes, well anyway, Superman's identity is a secret. He lives as a normal man called Clark Kent, but when he is needed, he transforms into Superman. And that is sometimes how I feel in this body."
"Does Clark Kent wear glasses and hand-stitched silk ties too?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, he does."
"I see."
"And there is a woman, her name is Lois Lane, who Clark Kent desires, but Lois only desires Superman."
Yasashi nodded slowly.
"I see," she said. "You're implying that Shuichi is Clark Kent, Yoko is Superman and I am Lois Lane?"
Kurama opened his mouth to respond, but found he was unable to be as direct about the situation as Yasashi was, and so he said no more.
"What sort of powers does Lois Lane have?" Yasashi asked.
"What?" Kurama echoed, completely bemused by her response.
"What sort of powers does Lois Lane have?" she asked again. "I'm trying to determine how accurate this comparison is…"
"Well, as a matter of fact, Lois Lane doesn't have any powers," Kurama replied. "She is just a normal human."
"Well that's not really an accurate likeness then, is it?"
Yasashi waved a hand at her body and stretched to her fullest height, leaving Kurama again painfully aware of how much taller than him she was.
"I didn't mean the likeness was exact," he said. "It was more the similarity of the situation–"
"What do you call the woman who is as powerful as Superman?"
"…What?"
"There must be a powerful woman in there too. What's her name?"
"Um… I suppose that would be Wonder Woman."
"Then I would be Wonder Woman in this analogy. And I suppose in my spirit form I would be Lois Lane."
"No… Lois Lane and Wonder Woman are not the same person like Clark Kent and Superman are–"
"I really don't think this comparison is accurate. It's also very complicated and not a lot of fun."
Kurama sighed lightly.
"I suppose not," he conceded.
"So then it's settled: you're Clark Kent and I'm Wonder Woman," Yasashi said. "Does Wonder Woman desire Clark Kent?"
"No, but she doesn't desire Superman, either."
"Then it's definitely settled."
Yasashi turned away and moved on again, leaving Kurama no more certain about what she was really thinking. He could feel Tora watching him and turned, expecting to find her laughing at him: but she looked pale and listless, a sign that the venom from the sinning tree was probably still too strong in her system. He started towards her and although she bared her teeth at him at first, she quickly gave in and let him tend to her wound.
Kurama took one last look over his shoulder before sighing and accepting that he would need to leave Ping Island. He had not been able to find Yasashi to tell her he was leaving, but he had assumed that she was busy helping her fellow rebels and so he had started towards the beach. With the rowboat he had used to reach the island gone, he reached into his hair with the intention of using a demon plant that could help him cross the water; but he stopped short, his fingers still in his hair, at the sound of movement behind him.
"You know I've never really understood why you keep seeds and a thorny rose in your hair."
Kurama smiled, his hand falling to his side again.
"Doesn't it give you knots?"
He turned his head to his side as Yasashi joined him.
"It's simply a useful, concealed, location," he said.
"That's what sleeves are for," she replied, reaching a hand up one sleeve.
She produced a ball of string, looking almost as surprised to see it as Kurama was.
"Oopsie," she said. "I guess I held onto this… Although I do like the way it feels against my claws…"
"Joking aside Yasashi, you will need something more substantial up your sleeve than a ball of string if you hope to make a stand against Jagasame," Kurama told her.
"I know that."
"I know Tora tells everyone you are stronger than the loyalist leader, but he is considerably older and more experienced in battle than you."
"I hear what you're saying, but I have no other choice. If we run, we will be picked off, one by one. At least if we fight we have a chance of gaining something. Do you know how difficult it's been for me these last thirty years in spirit world?"
"I can imagine you must have felt frustrated."
"Then you can imagine more than I can because I felt – and knew – nothing. I led all of those girls away from the tribe with the promise of a better life and I let them down. I have to do this."
"I understand."
"I know you do. Which is why it's so odd that you keep trying to make me second-guess myself."
"I just want you to be prepared for what you will face in demon world. I'm concerned that you've let the rush of power go to your head."
Yasashi glared at Kurama indignantly and he returned her look with a soft smile.
"I remember how I felt the first time I was returned to my demon body," he said. "I felt invincible, untouchable. That arrogance almost cost me my life when I let it carry me into battle in the final round of the dark tournament."
"Yes, that's true, you were arrogant during the dark tournament."
Kurama raised his eyebrows.
"What do you know of my experiences during the dark tournament?" he asked.
"I saw a recording of your battle against Ura Urashima, when he used that idunn box against you and his little plan back-fired," she replied.
"A recording?"
"Yes, I wasn't there in person that day, but Koenma had recordings of the entire tournament, so I was able to watch your efforts from that day. It's funny to think of it now… I never came into contact with the fruit of previous life in my time in spirit world, but now I wish I had."
"We might have crossed paths sooner if you had."
"There might not be so few of my girls left if I had."
Yasashi looked down at her feet, looking oddly serious.
"Listen, Kurama, I just want you to know that I appreciate what you have done here for me," she said carefully as she lifted her head again. "I appreciate what everyone did for me."
Kurama nodded and reached into his hair again, producing a seed. He threw it into the water and Yasashi smiled ruefully as it sprouted into a curved leaf.
"Yours looks so much better than mine did…" she muttered, as though talking to herself.
She caught Kurama watching her and quickly put on a cheerful face that he suspected was forced.
"Well, good night, Shuichi," she said.
He shook his head and leapt onto the leaf. He waited until he had drifted several feet away from the shore before calling out to Yasashi.
"I know you don't want my help," he said. "But I will return tomorrow morning and we will do this together."
"It's my fight!" she called back. "I've already lost so many people that I love, I don't want to lose any more! I appreciate what you've done, but you have no obligation to help me any further!"
"I will see you tomorrow morning," Kurama insisted.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm taking the girls back to demon world tonight. I know places where we can… Hide until… Wait, what?"
Kurama smiled as the rebel leader's voice trailed off as she watched him slide a pink and cream peony out from his sleeve. She watched it for a long moment before clawing her hands up her sleeves and then yelping in a very feline fashion.
"How and when did you take that from me?" she yelled after him. "It's not polite to take a lady's weapon like that!"
"You'll get it back tomorrow morning," he shouted, before waving his last goodbye and turning away from the island.
Behind him he heard Yasashi continue to shout out after him, alternating between demanding he bring her raspberry sundae back and threatening to follow after him to retrieve it; and the last thing he clearly heard her say brought a smile to his face.
"You're only getting away with this because cats hate water!"
A/N: Don't think I mentioned this yet, but I did most of my pre-planning for this fic whilst rewatching "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", which will explain some of the below information:
Ping Island was a location in "The Life Aquatic", and there was an abandoned/ruined hotel called the Citron Hotel there, used as a hideout by the pirates
Koneko means kitten
Yasashi means friendly/benevolent
Tora means tiger
Chita means cheetah (seriously, it does)
Iruka means dolphin (the dolphins were the ineffective scouts in "The Life Aquatic")
Jaga means jaguar and Same means shark (the jaguar-shark was the hard-to-find bad guy in "The Life Aquatic")
Although this fic isn't based on the film "The Life Aquatic", there are some similar themes in there (if you've seen the movie, you might notice some of them, though they are not as obvious as the resemblances between "Politics and Polonecks" and "Twelfth Night").