Author's Note:
Hi everyone, I hope you're enjoying the story. I've waited until chapter five to include an author's note cause I figured by then some questions might be answer by the story. Its going by the anime, I've watched the full anime once and up until the ending of the dark tournament a bunch of times, so you can guess my favorite part :) Anyways, Kainna's fighting skills have not shown up yet, mostly because I found it hard to include her in the fights in the castle, and because I wanted more dialogue between her and the team rather than fighting. Especially between her and Hiei since I want to start writing their relationship development.
I plan to include her fighting more in the dark tournament, I have already thought of some ways to include her in the fights. I liked the idea of a healer to be added to the team but not as much as having her as a fighter, which she will switch to right after the castle chapters. Personally, I think Hiei would want a strong fighter by his side since he himself is so powerful and because I'm writing the story...that's kind of where its going lol
Thanks for the reviews and follows!
Chapter Five: Kurama?
"Hey Kurama, do you know anything about these saint beast? Botan didn't have much intel." Yusuke asked. Kainna thought it was curious that Yusuke would be asking another human this, she did sense a weird sort of energy from Kurama but couldn't place what was so weird about it. Was that what was special about him?
"She wouldn't know much. Ever since the barrier was created spirit world forgot about this place."
"What do you know?" Kuwabara voiced Kainna thoughts, her eyes carefully watching Kurama.
"They have been kept far away from humans, so we might be surprised by there appearance."
"Terrified, isn't that more like it?" A voice bellowed around them. Kainna felt energy shifting all around her but couldn't pin point where the voice was coming from. "There are a set of doors behind you, take them." The group turned around, a set of doubles doors appeared before them. Yusuke and Kuwabara opened them to see a dark room, low lit touches hung off pillars every few yards. It was too dark to see if anyone was waiting in the shadows.
"Ladies first!" Yusuke joked but Kainna took that as her cue. She flipped over the group, her energy lacing her feet.
"Don't mind if I do." She bounced into the room, jumping high and throwing what looked like small embers of her aura into the dark space above them, lighting the room more than the flames around them. She landed softly a few feet ahead of the group who were quick to enter behind her.
"Welcome trespassers." A gravelly voice spoke from the shadows. But what Kainna at first confused with the castle walls was actually a stone beast.
"Ok! I'm surprised." Kuwabara yelled and took a step back.
"I am Genbu of the four saint beasts. Behind me is a stairway that leads up to the tower, you only have two choices: defeat me or die." Genbu growled at the group, his tail whipped around quickly before smashing a hole in the ground next to him.
"How are we going to defeat a rock?" Kuwabara questioned, his hands on his face in exasperation.
"I can take him, if you're so worried." Kainna teased Kuwabara, whose face turned red.
"I don't even think girls should fight, so there is no way I'm going to let one take my place in one." Kainna's eyes narrowed at Kuwabara's statement.
"And what do you mean by that?" Before Kuwabara could answered, Kurama stepped forward.
"No need to argue, I'll take him." Kurama stated easily, as if he weren't talking about a fight to the death. He smiled as he passed Kainna. "Besides, I kind of agree with Kuwabara." Kainna raised her eyebrows at him. "Not to his capacity, but I do agree a woman, our healer at that, shouldn't have to fight while there are four other healthy males around." Kainna blinked, her shoulders relaxing. She could understand it when they put it like that, it wasn't very strategic to put her in the first match.
"I understand, good luck." Kainna smiled.
"You can fight for me, Kainna. I wasn't feeling up for it anyways." Yusuke said with a mischievous smile. Kainna grinned, her energetic disposition returning.
"I can see chivalry is dead with you." Hiei couldn't help interjecting. While he had admitted the demoness seemed competent, he had to agree with Kurama. Letting the woman fight for them while they were fine made their team seem weak.
Kainna turned to look as Hiei spoke, her eyes tracing over his bored expression as he ridiculed Yusuke. She thought it was hilarious how monotone he was while completely annihilating someone (usually Kuwabara) with his comments.
"Don't you get it, Yusuke's really a girl." Kainna snickered, leaning closer to Hiei as if she were telling a secret. Hiei tensed as she came within inches of him, her scent invaded him, but he found that he didn't mind it. She smelled like a fresh breeze from the ocean, along with a floral scent. He couldn't place it at first, his eyes wondered over her form, trying to find a clue to the scent. The flowers on her kimono caught his attention, the shape of the petals...lotus flowers. She smelled like lotus flowers and the ocean. His eyes traced the gem on her choker, the white color of it reminded him of the moon. His eyes met her teal ones with curiosity, he was getting somewhere.
"I'm not a girl, I'm just saying... I was supposed to be on vacation." Yusuke grumbled, unaware of the staring match between the two demons. Hiei's eyes shifted quickly back to Yusuke, Kainna also shifted her gaze and stepped further away from him, her face tinged slightly red. What was that about? Why was he staring at me? Kainna was a little embarrassed, maybe she overstepped her boundaries with him and that's why he was staring at her. Probably wanting her to move away... and there she was stupidly staring back. She stared at the floor for a moment, trying to shake off the feeling before she lifted her head to focus on Kurama, his match was starting after all.
"It's best I go first since we don't know what we're up against. Besides, I can't let Hiei get all the credit for the mission." Kurama joked. He noticed Hiei was generally pompous and made other teammates annoyed with his jabs so Kurama always made sure to make Hiei uncomfortable by teasing him whenever he could. Hiei dished it out easily enough that he should be able to take it. Kurama also had noticed Hiei staring at Kainna, he seemed too curious of her. Although, Kurama was curious as well, Kainna reminded him of a demon he once knew long ago in the demon realm. When those types of demons weren't as rare as they are now.
"You want to die one by one? That's ok too." Genbu taunted the team. Yusuke started to doubt Kurama.
"Hey, shouldn't we try to lure him back to the drop down ceiling or something?" Yusuke shouted. Kainna rolled her eyes, like that would work.
"You're underestimating Kurama." Hiei spoke up for his teammate. "You want to know why I teamed up with him? So I wouldn't have to fight him myself. He's more cut-throat than I in battle, and even more precise." Kainna avoided looking at Hiei, still feeling awkward from the moment before. She focused her gaze on Kurama, wondering where in that kind face was this cut-throat demon. With Hiei's words she finally understood what the weird feeling was. It was his yoki... she felt demon energy in his human body.
"You can have the first move." Kurama instructed Genbu. Genbu chuckled darkly but didn't move. Everyone watched, anticipating an attack but only Yusuke noticed Genbu's tail going into the floor.
"Hey! He's doing something weird with his tail." Yusuke shouted, directing all their attention to the tail disappearing into the floor. Yusuke's warning was too late, Kurama tried to dodge but got clipped in the abdomen by Genbu's tail, which came out of the floor behind him.
"My body's structure allows me to morph with any type of rock. With a little rearranging, I can make any stone my tail. I have you surrounded." While Yusuke and Kuwabara worried over Kurama, Kainna used her senses to judge how wounded Kurama was.
"Kurama, try dodging better." Kainna called sarcastically, sensing the scratch on his stomach wasn't depleting his energy so it must have been superficial, so she could afford to joke. Hiei scoffed to avoid the chuckle that threatened to escape his throat. Kainna fought a smile, she was glad she could amuse Hiei.
"Kainna, I'm guessing by your sarcasm you have sensed that it's just a scratch, nothing to worry about. He won't take me by surprise again."
"The scratch is small but too much strain before I heal it and it'll become worse." Kainna warned Kurama.
"Heh, wait until you see the full extent of my power, then you won't be so confident." Genbu stated with an evil chuckle before merging with the floor.
"Now he could be anywhere." Yusuke said. Both he and Kuwabara were standing with their arms raised in case of an attack. Hiei and Kainna were not as concerned. While Genbu was a beast, he did say he would take them on one-by-one.
Kurama stayed still, his eyes searching the room in front of him. Suddenly, Genbu attacked from behind. Kurama was prepared this time and managed to dodge. Genbu would not be such an easy opponent as it would seem. He attacked from multiple angles, his tail coming from one direction while his arm came from another. Kurama managed to dodge all attacks, gracefully flipping and jumping through the air. Kainna noticed he kept his abdomen covered and flipped at the waist to dodge to avoided straining it. As suddenly as the attacks came, they stopped. Kurama had a moment to rest before Genbu came at him from the floor directly in front of him. Kurama back flipped and gracefully dodged yet again.
"You won't defeat me just by running away." Genbu disappeared into the floor, his voice echoing around the room.
"Yes, you're right." Kurama answered easily, his hand moving through his hair before grasping a rose from it. Kainna watched curiously, Hiei couldn't help but to look at her from his peripherals. He was curious to see when she would catch on, if she ever would.
"A flower, I don't think he'll win the beast over with that." Kuwabara spoke. Kainna heard Hiei chuckle to himself at Kuwabara's stupidity. Kainna figured the rose was some sort of weapon, she just didn't know what.
"Not just any ordinary flower, Rose Whip!" The never-ending petals danced around the room as his rose extended into a thorny whip. Hiei smirked as he saw Kainna's eyes widen, she was finally getting-
"Achoo!" Kainna sneezed suddenly, the shift of smells causing her nose to become irritated. Hiei was a mix between disappointment and amusement. Kainna cutely rubbed her nose, her eyes squinting as she fought off another sneeze.
"Don't animal spirits use this type of weaponry?" Kainna asked absentmindedly, unaware of Hiei watching her. He was caught off guard as she spoke, not knowing she was going to speak at all after her sneeze. "He must be some sort of animal demon." She continued to mutter to herself. She felt like she was so close to the answer; a rose whip, a human with demon energy.
"Yes, he is. Would you like me to tell you which one?" Hiei's voice made Kainna jump, unaware he had been watching her. She blushed slightly, her eyes connecting again with his. She noticed he moved closer to her to speak, now within arm's length.
Kuwabara and Yusuke were oblivious to the conversation the two demons were having, they were too busy bickering on whether Kurama was considered girly or cool.
"No, I want to guess it." Kainna spoke as if it were a game. "Besides, if I can't guess it, it's only right that Kurama tells me himself." Hiei respected her answer, although he was again disappointed. He was going to offer to tell her if she were to tell him what type of demon she was. His plan didn't work the way he thought it would. He would just have to find out a different way.
Kurama was not distracted by the chatter, Genbu attacked again however Kurama was able to predict it this time.
"It's over, the thorns on Kurama's whip can cut through anything... even solid stone." While Hiei spoke Kainna was busy studying Kurama's moves. He was swift, but not as speedy as Hiei. He had agility to him and was smart, waiting for Genbu to attack first so he could analyze his moves. Kainna chewed her bottom lip in thought. She felt like it was similar to a cat, but his personality was not that of a cat demon.
"How did you find me?" Genbu's head asked as his body parts laid around him.
"Your smell, after I filled up the room with the scent of roses it was easy to find your putrid odor." Kurama stood in front of their group in victory.
"You're not a cat demon." Kainna spoke to Kurama, ignoring the way Yusuke looked at her as if she were speaking tongues. He had missed their conversation and had no idea why she would suddenly say that to Kurama.
"Correct Kainna, I am not a cat demon." Kurama smiled at the girl; she was getting close.
"I wish my fights ended that quickly." Yusuke commented, ignoring Kainna who pouted and continued to look Kurama up and down for any more clues.
"You beat him in one blow, now that's what I call a wimp." Kuwabara included. Hiei rolled his eyes.
"You idiots, its only easy because Kurama was the one fighting. If you had fought, you would have died under a minute."
"You really know how to irritate someone." Kuwabara growled. "Listen, I placed third in Genkai's fighting tournament."
"What's your point." Hiei was quick to dismiss Kuwabara yet again. Kainna snickered at Hiei's diss towards Kuwabara. Kuwabara grabbed Hiei's collar.
"Children, can we save this for the bad guys?" Yusuke put a finish to the fighting and started to lead the group to the stairs. But Kurama stopped them.
"It seems my fight isn't over." The group looked back over at Genbu, his body parts were trembling before being pulled back together. He aimed his arms at Kurama before disassembling his body again and shooting himself like bullets at Kurama. Kurama sliced them easily with his whip. But it was no good, Genbu reassembled again without a problem. He launched himself again at Kurama, who seemed to stand in the midst of the attack on purpose. The group stared in surprise as Genbu regenerated, but completely wrong. His head was where his-
"I heard of brass balls before but come on!" Yusuke laughed at the saint beast as he and Kuwabara ridiculed him. Kainna grinned at his joke and glanced over at Hiei.
"If you can somehow do that to Kuwabara, I would forever be indebted to you." Kainna's joke brought a smirk to Hiei's lips.
"Believe me, if I could, it would have been done already." Kainna laughed, her smile stunning Hiei for a brief moment before he shifted his gaze back to Kurama. An unusual feeling settled in him stomach.
"I took this, I believe this is the equivalent of the hypothalamus of your brain. It regulates all the functions of your body including the process of putting you back together. It was very easy to find. Farewell." Kurama threw the stone into the air and used his whip to destroy it. Kainna was impressed by Kurama's intelligence and suddenly... it all clicked. His intelligence, how graceful he was, his mischievous comments towards Hiei, even his red hair. A fox demon. But before Kainna could say what she was thinking, Kurama kneeled to the ground in pain. Kainna moved before the others could and was by Kurama's side in an instance. She placed a glowing hand on his shoulder to assess his body's injuries.
"If Kurama is wounded, we are going to have some problems." Hiei voiced his concerns.
"I'll handle the next one." Kuwabara offered. Kainna decided now was the best time to interrupt before anyone else thought the worse.
"Kurama, I can heal the wound on your abdomen. It might be a little tight with the new skin, so I would avoid moving too much until your own spirit energy completes the healing." Kainna offered. She never liked to heal someone without their permission, the feeling of someone else's spiritual energy in your body might not be enjoyable, especially if you didn't ask for it.
"If you are willing to spend some spirit energy on me, I would be grateful." Kurama answered politely. Kainna grinned and, before Kurama could tense, she placed her hand directly on his wound. He flinched from the sudden pain before a cool energy dampened the fiery pain from the cut. It was soothing and refreshing all at once and within moments new skin mended over the rugged edges of the wound. Kainna removed her hand quickly, not wanting to touch him longer than needed.
"Sorry for the pain, I find putting my energy into the wound directly requires less energy output overall and a better healing experience…besides the pain." Kainna rambled slightly, feeling a need to explain her harsh handling of him. Kurama waved her off.
"You're healing is quite refreshing, it's the best experience I've had so far with a healer." Kurama complimented her. Hiei was curious if it was similar to the cool aura she had emitted before and, although he had no wounds himself or expected to get any, he wondered if he would get to feel it again.
"Perks of being a demon of the moon, our spirit energy is similar to the feeling of the ocean. I've been told it's like waves washing over you, removing any impurities." Kainna stood up from kneeling and brushed off any dirt. "As a fox demon, I should think you'd have many experiences with healers, huh Kurama?" Kainna grinned slyly, hoping her guess was correct or she would seem like a simpleton. Kurama stood up straight, feeling a tightness in his abdomen but no pain and hardly as restrictive as before.
"You are correct Kainna, I have to say I was thinking you were a moon demon however, the low amount of spirit energy I sensed threw me off." Kainna fought the urge to touch her necklace, a far away look in her eyes.
"I have to hide it, or I would be a beacon for any demon looking for power." Kainna explained with a short answer. Yusuke knew this topic was hard for her, having grown close with her over the 6 months at Genkai's.
"Alright let's get going." Yusuke ushered them up the stairs, hoping that would be the end of the questions. But of course, there was Kuwabara.
"What is a 'demon of the moon', do you like live on the moon or something?" Yusuke slapped his head at the stupid question Kuwabara asked but was surprised by who answered.
"Demons of the moon harness their energy from the moon, which is why they have such high levels of spiritual energy…especially during the full moon. Their own energy is so great they hardly receive wounds from battle," Hiei's eyes stayed trained on the demoness in front of him, watching her expression as he spoke. "Which is why their genocide was unexpected and could only be accomplished by their own." Kainna's eyes finally met his, a sadness dulled them. Hiei felt guilty for causing that sadness, but now he knew the truth. They had killed their own. No one knew why they had become so low in numbers, rumors and myths of their genocide being of their own was just that, a rumor. But the sadness in her eyes couldn't deny the claim. Hiei wondered what other secrets she knew.
"So that's how you were able to heal me so well during Genkai's tournament, I even had extra energy to knock some sense into Yusuke." Kuwabara grinned over at Yusuke who had a pout on his face. Hiei scrunched up his nose in annoyance, this ugly human got to experience her healing?
"You healed this pathetic human?" Hiei asked Kainna with more venom than usual in his words. Kainna was surprised by his anger.
"174 broken bones, of that 6 ribs were broken. 2 were splintered into his lungs. As a healer I couldn't allow someone, even a human, go through that pain." Hiei's eyes widen, he didn't realize the human was that broken when she healed him. Kainna's face switched from serious to a joking smile. "Besides, Yusuke asked me to heal him. And I can't say no to that baby face." Kainna cooed jokingly at Yusuke, trying to grab his cheek to pinch. Yusuke swatted her hand away, glad that she was switching the mood back to jokes.
"Can you imagine how much uglier he would have been healing on his own?" Yusuke taunted Kuwabara who was quick to grab his collar. Hiei walked closer to Kainna, grabbing her attention again.
"I guess it was good you healed him, I don't think I could bare looking at him if he got uglier." Hiei's comment brought a smile to her lips, it was like he was apologizing in his own way for being so rash before.
"What did you say, shrimp?!"