Hi there! Wow Chapter Fifteen! Kyaa~! So far, this is the first story I've ever written with chapters as many as fifteen. This is so amazing. Super thanks to all those who've helped and supported me along the way, through your reviews and putting this story on your favorites and story alerts lists. Thanks so much guys!

Okay, so this one's a day late from the usual update day, but I remember that I said before that I'd update every Tuesday or Wednesday (in my timezone). So since it's a Wednesday here, I still updated on time, didn't I? xD

Anyway, here you go! Enjoy!

"Yana-sama!" the twin bunnies called out again as I ran away.

I was heading towards the infirmary at full speed, letting my adrenaline take over. I was still angry at Kuronue for keeping me in the dark, at the same time getting all the more worried and scared as my feet led me through the long hallway.

Kuronue always sends someone to follow his comrades in a raid he isn't included in to keep him updated. And to know if ever he needs to come to the rescue. The first time he explained it to me, I thought he did it just to show off, but then I saw the familiar concern in his eyes - the same thing I saw in Kurama's whenever he'd tell me stories of the dangers his men had to face in heists.

It was in the middle of our physical training when Kuronue's messenger barged into the room and told us the news. Well, told Kuronue, rather. I didn't get the chance to ask him or the messenger, for the next thing I knew Kuronue called off the training before he and the other guy took off.

I only knew about the incident when the twin bunnies burst into my bedroom to tell me that the men had just come back from the raid. And that Kurama, of all people, went straight to the infirmary.

"You're crazy by thinking of stopping me!" I replied to the bunnies as I quickened my pace. Kurama was badly injured, and all they could think of was to protect me from everyone getting to see how I really look like once the potion wears off.

"There's only three hours left!" Shirosagi panted. Both of them had been running after me for quite some time. The distance from my room to the infirmary wasn't much of a short one, unfortunately. "You can't possibly—"

"That's still plenty of time!" Alas, I finally reached the wooden door leading down the infirmary. I slid it open quite forcefully.

But Kurosagi caught my arm before I could take another step further. "Master Youko's not the only one down there, you know."

I froze as I looked at the black bunny. "What do you mean?"

"Yomi-san also got shot by a poisonous arrow."

"And Kuronue-san's there too," Shirosagi piped in. I think I saw a faint blush on her cheeks when her sister quirked an eyebrow. "A-as well as some other thieves."

"Then I'll just have to heal Yomi first, right?" I replied, prying away from Kurosagi's grip.

"But it's too dangerous—"

"Of course it is, Shirosagi! But if I didn't go down there to heal them, who will?" I said, almost sounding hysterical. Before they could say another word, I ran downstairs to the dimly lit infirmary.

It annoyed me that the thieves were crowding around the two stretchers in the middle of the room. But as I stormed towards the men, any confidence I had started fading away when I realized these guys towered over me.

"Um, excuse me," I started when I got closer. It got more unnerving when they instantly turned to me. Trying my best to sound as calm as possible, I continued, "May I ask everyone to clear the area near the patients? They might find it difficult to breathe, you see."

As the men dispersed, I found myself trying to hard to hold back the tears slowly building up inside me when I saw the patient lying on the first stretcher. His torso was bared, the area near his stomach covered up by a long bandage, yet it was still obvious that the wound hasn't completely stopped bleeding.

"Kurama," I rushed to his side and held his hand. I looked up at Kuronue, who had remained standing beside the stretcher. "What happened?"

"It was said that one of the guards in that castle slashed him with a poison-tipped sword," Kuronue frowned, also bothered by his friend's condition. He continued in a not-so-comforting tone, "But don't worry; I've washed his wound already, as well as Yomi's."

As he said the other demon's name, I heard Yomi's moan from the stretcher behind me. I turned around to see him breathing heavily, his arm wrapped up with a bandage as well. Yet he still managed to smile at me, "I'm also a patient here, Yana-chan."

I gulped when I saw him wince in pain. "I'll try my best to heal you both, so please hold on, alright?" my voice quivered at the end.

I felt my hand being squeezed. I turned back to see Kurama smiling as well. "Breathe, Yana."

I closed my eyes as I did so, hoping my heart won't burst out from the complicating emotions of fear, worry, and panic.

"Everyone, let's leave the healer with our patients for now as she keeps our comrades alive," Kuronue suddenly said in his authoritative tone. As the men immediately started for the stairs, Kuronue stopped to ruffle my hair. "You can do this, kid. I believe in you."

At the sight of Shirosagi and Kurosagi, who had followed me all the way downstairs, Kuronue briefly stopped and whispered something to the white bunny. Shirosagi's face was illuminated by one of the nearby torches, making it easy to see how she blushed a deep red when Kuronue finally left.

Once I heard the door upstairs slide closed, I turned to the two patients again. Both of them are still conscious, but if I don't do anything soon…

I shook my head. I never thought reality could be this harsh. Kuronue's words rang through my mind: as she keeps our comrades alive.

Their lives are in my hands now. The thought alone got me frozen in fear. My mind started going blank at a really bad timing. It suddenly felt like I was being pulled in different directions all at once. Worry had started to choke me already.

"Hey," Kurama's soft voice broke through my thoughts. "Nothing would happen if you just keep standing there and doing nothing but fret over the worst."

"But—"

"Look, I'm sorry if I won't get to help you out at your first try at healing casualties for real, but I'll try to stay conscious for as long as I could to tell you what to do."

My eyes widened. "Kurama…"

"It's part of my duty as your trainer to teach you even in times like these, when my own life itself is in danger."

I opened my mouth to say something, but Kurama interrupted me.

"Cut the drama for now," Kurama nodded towards Yomi's direction. "Treat him first. He's been enduring that poison in his body for longer than I am."

I looked over at Yomi. True enough, he's in a much worse case. He wasn't moving anymore, and his eyes were half-closed as he looked at me. His tan skin started to turn pale. Rushing over to his side, I placed the back of my hand against his forehead.

"He's as cold as ice," I told Kurama.

"Not good," the fox muttered. "Take off that bandage and check on his wound."

Following Kurama's order, I saw that the wound had started to swell. I moved away a bit to let Kurama take a look.

"Now remember your training in the forest. Removing poison isn't new to you now, is it?" he said.

Kurama had been taking me out to the woods to heal animals. I don't know how they get injured, but I have a feeling the fox did it himself, considering the way the poor animal victims were almost killed. The little seeds in the area were enough evidence.

Taking a deep breath, I put my hand a few inches over Yomi's wound, the position I always resorted to when trying to take out poison from a body. A small ball of water started to form beneath my palm. I closed my eyes and pictured what I want to happen.

It's funny how this thing was so similar to the shows I used to watch. The poison, which are like black or purple gases, would get sucked into the blue ball of water. But actually, taking out poison drains a lot of energy. You have to apply a certain amount of pressure on the water ball to keep it strong enough to suck out the poison. Doing it doesn't really strike my fancy, but as far as I've been training, nothing bad had occurred to me when I remove poison.

So it was kind of surprising when I suddenly felt a searing pain creeping up my arm.

I opened my eyes to take a look at the water ball, but I caught sight of a fully conscious Yomi instead. He didn't look pained anymore, and his skin has started to regain its color. It made me smile, knowing that somehow I made him feel better. And that I really am removing the poison.

"Don't worry Yomi-san, this will be done soon," I said, trying not to wince when the pain in my arm started again.

"I still feel cold," he muttered in a hoarse voice.

"You do? Well… body heat is the best source of heat, and not to mention the quickest way," I said as my eyes flitted to a certain black bunny.

Kurosagi noticed my stare. "Y-Yana-sama… why are you looking at me like that?"

I smirked as I gestured for her to come closer. "Could you do me a favor and warm Yomi-san up once I get done with this?"

Kurosagi's eyes widened. "But…"

"Please? It won't take long," I smiled kindly.

She looked weirdly from me to Yomi, and then finally sighed, "Orders are orders anyway." She turned her head away when she continued, "W-what do you want me to do?"

"A simple hug will do," I replied. I was about to tease her even more, but then I gasped when the pain in my arm intensified.

"Yana-sama?" Shirosagi's voice sounded as she hopped to my side. "Are you alright?"

"Stop it already, Yana," Kurama suddenly spoke. I turned to him. "You're already straining yourself. Your body won't take it any longer if you continue."

"He's right, Yana," Yomi said. "I feel fine now."

I looked at the ball of water, which had already turned black because of the poison it had sucked. I finally put my hand down to my side, making the ball disappear. I staggered backwards, but Shirosagi, despite her small frame, managed to guide me towards a chair and get me to sit down. I took this time to even out my breathing and massage my arm as I waited for the pain to subside.

Kurama reached over for my hand after a while. "Could you still continue?"

I nodded, standing up abruptly. "Don't be silly, of course I can! I still have to heal you!"

He smiled. "Alright, at least you won't have much of a problem. As I said before, kitsune could heal by themselves. That's why I was able to endure the poison this long."

"You're too talkative," I started peeling off the bandage around his waist, revealing the still-fresh wound. "So much for being able to heal himself," I teased, shaking my head. Resuming my earlier position, I looked over at Yomi as the ball of water started to form. "Still feeling cold, Yomi?"

He smirked, "Very."

"You heard that, Kurosagi," I giggled as I heard her grunt.

Kurama chuckled. "Don't get too excited though," he told his comrade.

"Wait," Shirosagi tugged at my sleeve to show me the small round clock she always keeps with her. It was half past ten in the evening. Only one hour left.

I nodded and closed my eyes. Focus, I told myself as I took a deep breath.

"I'll finish this in time," I muttered.

I thought everything would go well, that everything would go smoothly. I underestimated the poison that has been creeping up his blood vessels. I thought I was strong enough to take it out.

Kurama started coughing up blood. "Yana…" he looked over at me with worry as he wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth.

I glanced at the ball of water under my palm. It had started to turn black again, so why does it seem like Kurama just felt worse by the moment? "Don't worry, this wouldn't take any longer," I tried to reassure him, but my quivering voice wasn't very convincing.

"What time is it?" he suddenly asked. I met his intense stare, and I shivered at the realization of what he's going to say next.

"No Kurama, not now," I looked away.

"I said what time is it?" he asked again, in a firmer tone this time. It's amazing how he could still sound like the same authoritative person he's always been around others.

I didn't answer, keeping my eyes on his wound. Yet from my peripheral vision I saw him turn to one of the bunnies. "Shirosagi," he called.

The white bunny girl immediately rushed to his side and showed him the round clock. "Fifteen minutes, Master Youko," she informed.

Kurama then grabbed my other hand. "Stop this, Yana. You've done enough."

"No," I frowned, pulling my hand away. "I'm not going to leave this undone."

"Don't be so stubborn."

"I'm not going to let you die."

"I told you to leave now."

"No."

"Now, Yana," Kurama was starting to get impatient.

"NO!" I accidentally applied a harder force than intended on the water ball, causing Kurama to cough up more blood.

I heard him curse under his breath. "I told you to stop already!" he started to scold me.

"Hey, quiet down, you two," Yomi suddenly spoke from behind us. He sounded fully awake. Not good at all.

"Look Kurama," I started, "it's better for me to turn—"

"Stop it, damn it!" Kurama cut me off as he pushed me away, too hard that I lost my balance and almost fell on the ground if Kurosagi and Shirosagi didn't catch me in time.

It also made me lose focus, and consequently, lose the ball of water. As I had focused all my remaining energy on it, the impact of suddenly losing it put more strain on me. My muscles got too weak, and my vision started to fail me. I saw Kurama reach out his arm to me, his mouth uttering words I couldn't hear anymore.

And that was the last thing I could remember before I surrendered to unconsciousness.

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself on an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room.

The questions in my head started popping out of nowhere: Where am I? How and when did I get here? What am I doing here anyway? And…what happened to Kurama?

The last question got me on my feet.

"And where do you think you're going?" I heard his voice behind me, just when I was about to reach for the doorknob.

I turned around to see him leaning against a wall. Since when did he get there? "Kurama?"

He sighed as he walked over to me. "You don't plan on revealing our little secret to Yomi, do you?"

"Huh?" And then I saw myself from a mirror hanging on the wall across from me. I was a silver kitsune again. "Oops, that was close."

We were silent for a moment as I looked down at the floor. Kurama just waited calmly, his hands shoved into his pockets.

Sighing, I finally looked up to see him smiling apologetically down at me, his eyes holding a hint of sadness in them. "H-how come you were able to stand up?" I tried asking. "Are you feeling well already?"

"I couldn't feel any better," he cupped my face in his hands. "My healer did a very good job."

That was it. The tears I've been holding back since last night just flowed freely down my cheeks. "I'm sorry," I clutched at his shirt. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to heal you. Instead I almost killed you... I'm so ashamed of myself."

"What are you…?" Kurama sighed as he wrapped his arms around me. "What could I do to make you believe me? I told you last night: you've done enough. You might not have noticed, but you managed to remove much of the poison."

"You were coughing up blood!" I retorted. "You don't have to reassure me; I know I made things worse."

"You didn't realize that was necessary to get the contaminated blood out of my system?"

"What?"

"The blood I was coughing out was tainted with poison. You see, some of the poison got sucked by the water ball, while some have mixed up with the blood I've vomited."

"So that means... I did remove the poison?"

"Yes," he smirked. "You finally got it, slowpoke."

I ignored the insult. "But what happened next? After I passed out?"

"I just took care of the rest with my own healing seeds," he smiled. "Believe me, it got a whole lot easier with your help."

I smiled back. "You're a masochist, Kurama."

He laughed lightly as he wiped my tear with his thumb. His expression suddenly turned serious. "I should be the one apologizing. I hurt you, didn't I?"

"That's alright," I replied. "You needed to knock some sense into my hard head anyway. But I seriously thought you were going to die," I buried my face against his chest again. "I was afraid of the possibility that I might lose you. I was so scared that you might die in my own hands. What would I do then? I couldn't imagine how your comrades would react."

"Come on, Yana," he chuckled. "You'll never lose me. You just worry too much."

I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Well I suppose you'd react the same way if ours situations were altered."

His smiling face scrunched up into a scowl. "Don't talk that way."

I punched his chest lightly. "Don't laugh at a girl when she's just telling you how she feels."

"How you feel?" he repeated.

"I'll just get back to work then," I pulled away from his arms. "Do you have the potion with—"

I wasn't able to finish when I was suddenly pushed hard against a wall. "What work?" Kurama's hot breath on my ear sent a warm rush over my whole body.

"Y-Yomi's still in the infirmary, right?" I stuttered. "I've still got to treat him."

"He'll be alright on his own," he pressed his forehead against mine, "I won't."

I scoffed. "How ironic. Here you were telling me just a while ago that you were able to heal yourself without me."

Kurama ignored my remark and instead grabbed my tail. He then wrapped his own tail around it. My eyes widened as he looked back at me and smiled. "You know what this means, right?"

I gulped. As far as I've read on books about kitsune, a male kitsune would wrap his tail around a female's when he wants to mate. I think I'm starting to break cold sweat as I nodded. "I… I do know what it means."

He pressed on my shoulders. "And your answer?"

I exhaled sharply and closed my eyes. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I know that agreeing to what he wants before I was even ready for it would be something I'd regret. I sighed, shaking my head. "I have to refuse. I'm sor—"

"It's alright," Kurama said almost too immediately, like he was expecting that answer all along. His tail untangled itself from mine. "It was just a test for both of us."

"Test?"

"I'd like to see if you're ready. And also how much I could still control myself," he gave me the bottle of the crimson-colored potion from his pocket.

"So you weren't going to really… well, do it?" this topic really makes me feel uneasy and self-conscious.

"Depends," he smirked briefly. Then he eyed the potion, "Drink that already so we could get some breakfast. Training's cancelled for today. I've got to give the treasure to the client. But not before I confront him with my concerns," he clenched his fists at the last sentence.

I hesitated, "Do you mean the ambush?"

"Yes. It might be that the castle's ruler is a genius strategist who so brilliantly focused on strengthening his defenses, but the poison at that guard's blade is telling me something else."

"Like what?" I pressed on.

"That he was expecting us."

"So do you think this is some kind of betrayal?"

Kurama's eyes hardened. "I hope not. Because you know all too well how I never liked traitors."

There you go! Please review!

Oh, and btw, this would be my last chapter update for my summer break. Yes, summer has just ended here, unlike other countries where I know summer was just starting. Anyway, I'm finally starting school next week. I'll be starting college! Yay! Some say it won't be easy, but somehow I'm still so excited. I hope I won't get culture-shocked though. Wish me luck!

So yeah, I guess I'll update during Wednesdays since then, because I don't have school on Wednesdays. (I have an awesome schedule. xD) Still aligned with the update schedule, ne?

Anyway, every single one of your reviews are appreciated, no matter how short or long it is. So I'll say this again: Please review! :D

See you next week!