Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Abducted ❯ By Any Other Name ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: By Any Other Name

“If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.” – Douglas Adams

~*~

Keiko walked out onto the roof top of the high school, her now long, brunette hair immediately whipping about her face as she searched the area for the person she was looking for. She knew he would be there, despite the fact that he did not attend the school.

“Yusuke?” She called as she walked further out onto the hot asphalt roof.

“Yo! Keiko!” The voice of Yusuke Urameshi came from above her, much as it normally had when a similar scenario had played itself out on the rooftop of Sarayashiki Junior High. “What’s up? Isn’t school about to start? You’re gonna miss finals if you don’t hurry up.”

Keiko looked upward, smiling at the young man, er, toushin perched upon the higher structure above the door leading to the roof.  It had been a few months now since he had returned the final time from the Makai. They had spent the time together in the pretense of planning their wedding after her graduation. But alas, it was not meant to be as they gradually came to the realization that things had changed between them during Yusuke’s absence. They had grown apart and Keiko, though she hadn’t proclaimed it verbally, had begun to feel drawn toward another. 

The tall, dark-haired toushin looked at his best friend and former girlfriend through a pair of amused dark brown eyes, as he snickered to himself.  Having to nag Keiko about being late for class was, for him, the ultimate irony.   It hadn’t been that long since the roles had been reversed, after all.  Still, he wondered what had his studious little friend so distracted.  His grin widened with mischief when he thought about it. 

After all, far be it from him to pass up a great opportunity to tease her. 

“So, Keiko… Who’s the lucky guy?”

Taken off guard, Keiko hesitated a telling second before replying with an unconvincing, “N-n-nobody. There’s nobody.”

Yusuke’s smile widened even further when he realized he had hit the nail right on the head.

”Uh-huh.  And I’m in love with Kuwabara.  C’mon, Keiko.  I know you too well.  Fess up.”

Keiko flushed brightly, not able to believe Yusuke of all people had read her so easily. “Oh… well… you see,” She shifted nervously, looking down at her feet, unable to look him in the eye. “It’s nothing. Really. I just like someone, but I’m sure he doesn’t like me, so… can we just drop this already, Yusuke?”

“Riiight.  C’mon Keiko, you’ve known me for what? Ever?  Do you really think I’m going to let it go at that?  There isn’t a single straight red-blooded male that wouldn’t be into you.  So tell me who it is.  Besides, I have to make sure that whoever you have your eyes on is good ‘nuff for you, after all.  You may not be my girl anymore, but there ain’t no way I’m going to let you hook up with a loser,” he said, as Keiko started to blush. 

Figuring it was useless to keep it secret, and besides, it was a hopeless cause anyway, Keiko gave another nervous twitch before revealing her crush. “I-it’s… It’s Kurama, alright. Are you happy now?” Thoroughly embarrassed, Keiko turned away, crossing her arms protectively across her chest.

Yusuke almost fell off the roof in shock.  But, after thinking about it a moment, he realized it made sense.  The two of them did have a lot of stuff in common, after all.  They were both big on school and solving problems with their minds, and all that.  Yusuke himself preferred to solve them with his fists. 

Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he realized they’d make a good pair.  And he wasn’t so sure that the red haired kitsune didn’t have similar feelings for Keiko.  He’d seen him look her way more than once, but until recently Keiko had always been his girl, and Kurama was just not the type to put the moves on someone who was already in a relationship.  But now that they were no longer a pair, perhaps it could work out for his two good friends. 

He thought about telling her to go for it, but not without first teasing her a bit more.  Keiko was just so damned fun when she was huffing and indignant. 

“Kurama?!?  Oh, geez, Keiko… please don’t tell me you’ve up and joined his fan club, or something like that,” he eventually said with a cocky grin and a roll of his eyes.

Keiko’s gaze shot back to Yusuke with such a defiant heat present that Yusuke could have gone up in flames. “No, I have not! For your information, I happen to like Kurama for more than just his looks. He’s kind and a gentleman and I don’t see how this is funny in the least, Yusuke Urameshi!”  Keiko’s rant gained momentum when she noticed Yusuke attempting, unsuccessfully, to stifle a snicker.

“Alright, alright already!  Geez, don’t get your panties all twisted, Keiko – I was just having a little fun!  But, seriously, you should go for it.  I don’t think he’s as out of your reach as you think, Keiko.  In fact, I’ve been tempted a couple of times in the past to deck him for some of the looks he’s given you,” Yusuke said with a completely straight face.

Keiko’s face visibly showed the switch from anger to surprise. “R-r-really?” She asked dubiously. “He’s looked at me? How?”

‘What is it with chicks?’ Yusuke thought to himself, exasperated.  ‘Didn’t I already spell it out for her?  Damn, of all the things I never thought I’d be doing, playing cupid for Keiko and Kurama was just about at the top of the list.  Kurama, you owe me one, buddy.  The things I do for my friends.’

“He digs you, okay?  Look, Keiko.  Go to his house after school, and do that ear thing that you do.  He’ll be putty in your lap in no time.  Just leave me out of it.  And don’t you have finals to take?”

"Yusuke!" Keiko shrieked in mortified shock, unable to believe Yusuke had suggested she do that to Kurama. The next instant she was glancing down at her watch, her eyes growing wide in horror. "Oh, no! I'm going to be late! I've gotta go, bye Yusuke!" And without waiting for a reply, Keiko dashed for the exit.

“Later, Keiko,” Yusuke said, eyes alight with amusement.  As he watched the panicked girl nearly fall over herself in her haste to get back inside the building, he snickered to himself.

“Poor Kurama.  He won’t know what hit him.”

~*~

Kurama’s day had not been going well, and was only getting worse.

The normally punctual red head had been two hours late to school.  That alone would not have been so bad, if it had not earned him the attentions of his so called fan-club members who had haunted him through out most of his school career.

“Oh, Shuichi!  Is everything okay?  We were so very worried about you when you didn’t show up on time!”

“If you’re having trouble making it to class, I can pick you up Shuichi!”

“NO! You don’t want to go with her, she’s a tramp! I’ll pick you up Shuichi!”

So Kurama had spent a good part of his study period hiding from his stalkerish admirers in the boy’s rest room.  To make matters worse, Kurama found that he couldn’t exactly concentrate very well, and the last period of the day happened to be his calculus final.

The honor student wasn’t even confident that he’d done well enough to earn a ‘B’, let alone ace it like he should have.

So when the bell rang indicating the end of the school day, Kurama was highly relieved.

His kitsune counterpart, who would normally take delight in harassing him about the sheer bad luck he had been having, was strangely silent.  It was not reassuring, and Kurama found that he missed his other half’s teasing banter.  He tried to probe for Youko mentally, but the spirit fox did not respond.

Kurama was so lost in his thoughts, that he did not pay attention to where he was walking.  Instead of making his way home, he found himself in the park often frequented by his half-koorime friend.   He blinked his eyes, once again startled at his uncharacteristic absentmindedness.  After a moment of disorientation, an all too familiar voice resonated in his mind.

~Something amiss, fox?~

The diminutive fire apparition suddenly appeared by his side, and shot him a look that most would misinterpret as disaffected, but Kurama knew him well enough to know that it was one of concern. 

'I am fine, Hiei. Nothing you should trouble yourself with at any rate.' He responded mentally. 

~Hn.  If you say so fox.~ Hiei answered somewhat disbelievingly.  He walked along side the red head in silence for a while, and while he did not say anything more, Hiei was studying his friend intensely.

Kurama couldn't help but feel oddly irritated by the feel of the fire demon's eyes on him, 'Was there something that you wanted?' Kurama finally asked.

Hiei, for his part, was taken aback by Kurama’s sudden hostility.  Something was definitely off about the fox.  His friend was not one to be so easily provoked.  In fact, Hiei could not think of a single thing that he may have done to provoke him anyway.  Could he be going into heat?  He could not detect any additional pheromones coming from the fox, but it would definitely explain Kurama’s wildly fluctuating emotional state. 

The fox was glaring at him.

~Hn.  You are the one who came here, Kurama.~ he finally answered, as he watched his friend to gauge his response.

His reaction was not one that Hiei would have expected. Kurama's eyes widened marginally as he actually stopped dead in his tracks and looked around at his surroundings, as if realizing for the first time exactly where he was. 'I...' He began, only to trail off and begin walking again, this time in the direction of his house.

Hiei blinked.  Not only was Kurama irritable, he was also very distracted.  Hiei was beginning to get concerned.  Kurama was one of the very few he considered a friend, and he had never before seen the normally self-assured red head act in this manner. 

Was he ill?  The thought unnerved Hiei, and he abruptly spun on his heel and caught up with him. 

Kurama shot him a look, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge him.

Something was definitely amiss.  Hiei’s hand hovered over the bandana covering his jagan eye.  If the fox was not going to be upfront with him, well, then he would just have to find out what was wrong with him on his own.

The sudden movement of the red head's arm would have been undetected by the normal human eye, but Hiei caught it easily as it shot up from Kurama's side, his long slender fingers wrapping tightly around Hiei's own raised arm, stilling his hand only inches from his bandana. "Don't." Kurama spoke his warning aloud, giving only the barest glance in Hiei's direction. "I would prefer it very much if you did not do that, Hiei."

Kurama abruptly picked up his pace, and continued to walk in the direction of his home, without even a backwards glance or good bye to his long time companion.

Hiei watched his friend walk away with narrowed eyes.  “Baka fox,” he muttered under his breath.  He shook his head minutely, before turning back towards the park.  He’d give Kurama the benefit of the doubt for now, but if he doesn’t pull it together soon, Hiei would use the eye regardless.

~*~

Keiko sighed and glanced at her watch. It was already an hour and a half since school had let out and here she was, sitting on the doorstep of Kurama’s house. She had pondered what Yusuke had told her that morning all day long and by that evening she had convinced herself that she would go and confess how she felt to Kurama and bear the consequences of his reaction, whatever they may be. 

She was fully prepared for him to turn her down flat, which she mostly expected would happen despite what Yusuke had told her. She just couldn’t see what someone like the great ‘Shuichi Minamino’ not to mention the infamous youkai bandit Youko Kurama would see in a nobody such as herself. She had no spirit awareness, or special abilities to speak of and Keiko saw that as a handicap, seeing as she was unable to protect herself from getting kidnapped every time she turned around by demons wanting to get back at Yusuke. They just kept coming for her, never mind the fact that she and Yusuke were not together like that anymore, or that he wasn’t the spirit detective for Reikai (even though Koenma did call upon him and the rest of the team from time to time for specific reasons).

The main point was, she just couldn’t see herself as someone that Kurama would be interested in, especially since the red head barely showed interest in the opposite sex at all. Was he even straight? After all, he and Hiei had spent an awful lot of time together during the fire demon’s confinement to the Ningenkai. Shaking her head, Keiko glanced at her watch again. Another 10 minutes had passed and no sign of Kurama. 

‘Guess this whole idea was a bust.' She thought, standing up and brushing off the backside of her uniform skirt. She grimaced as the indecently short material swayed with the action. 

She reached down to gather her satchel so that she could leave and glanced up as a flash of red caught her eye. A smile spread across her lips when she spotted Kurama approaching the house looking somewhat distracted. Straightening back up, she greeted Kurama with as much cheer as she could muster, despite the sudden nervousness that was beginning to overtake her.

“Good evening, Kurama-san!”

Kurama was both surprised and relieved to find Keiko standing on his door step.  After the day that he had had, he was grateful that the one person who both he and Youko had secretly desired was there to see him.  He didn’t even question why she was there as he quickened his pace and pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

“Keiko,” he whispered breathlessly against her ear.  “You have no idea how glad I am to see you.”

A small part of his brain whispered that he was acting very out of character, but he firmly ignored it as he placed a soft kiss on Keiko’s cheek.

Keiko’s gasp of surprise when Kurama swept her into his arms was muffled by the cloth of his shirt as her face was inadvertently pressed into his shoulder. Her eyes widened and she froze in shock when she heard his whispered words and felt the soft press of his lips to her cheek. Kurama had just kissed her? And… he was glad to see her? Why? What had come over Kurama, someone who, though a friend, had always seemed so distant and untouchable, to make him act so… familiar with her. There were so many questions rolling around in her head that she was beginning to get a headache.

“K-Kurama?”  Keiko asked in an unsure voice.

Kurama was lost in the feel of Keiko’s soft body pressed against his, and it didn’t immediately register that she had spoken.  But after a moment, he drew back and looked at the pretty brunette before him.  She looked very confused, and for the first time he realized just how he had acted.

“Er… gomen Keiko.  If I made you uncomfortable, that was not my intent.  Today has not been a good day for me, and I was just very happy to see a friendly face,” he said sheepishly, as he tried desperately to repress the blush that he was starting to feel. 

Despite his embarrassment, a part of him really wanted to sweep her back into his arms.  It had felt so very good to hold her like that.

“So, what brings you here, Keiko?” he eventually asked, in a desperate attempt to regain some level of normalcy.

Keiko blinked in confusion at the sudden turnabout. Kurama definitely wasn't acting himself today and she began to doubt her choice of coming clean with him about her feelings. Instead, she said, "Oh, I just came to say hi since I didn't have anything else to do." 'Way to go, Keiko, good cover!' An inner voice mocked her. Remembering he mentioned that his day hadn't gone well, she pounced on the chance to chance topics. "So, your day didn't go well? Do you want to talk about it? Maybe it'd help."

The red head who firmly believed he was who he claimed to be had no intention of sharing his concerns with Keiko, of all people.  He had planned to approach Yusuke and ask him if it would be alright to court her, after all.  He did not need for her to think he had lost it, as he was beginning to think so himself. 

He came to the conclusion that the only way to handle this was to avoid the question.

“It was nothing, really.  Don’t worry about it.  Would you like to come inside?  I can make us some tea, and I know that my mother has a nice blueberry pie in the refrigerator.”

‘Well, that was lame Kurama.  Really, really lame,’ he added mentally, as he offered Keiko his best disarming smile.

Keiko briefly wondered why Kurama didn't want to tell her about his day. It sort of hurt that he didn't trust her enough to confide in her, but she really couldn't blame him seeing as it wasn't her place to comfort him to begin with. 'Then why did he hug me when he first walked up?' She wondered. "O-okay..." Keiko finally replied a bit hesitantly.

Instantly, his smile brightened as he fumbled with his keys.  It took him two tries to find the right key for the door, and although Keiko was looking at him with some concern, she didn’t comment on it.  Kurama for his part just put it down as nerves.

Within a short time, he had Keiko sitting at the kitchen table behind a large slice of pie, while he rifled through the cabinets looking for the tea cups.

”I know that they are here somewhere,” he muttered offhandedly as he opened the fourth set of cabinet doors looking for them.  “Aha!  There they are.  Mother must have moved them,” he exclaimed in triumph when he finally managed to locate the elusive tea cups.  As he handed Keiko hers, his hand brushed against hers briefly in a soft caress.  He stared deeply into her large cinnamon eyes for a moment until he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

He cleared his throat and shook his head minutely, in a desperate attempt to clear it.  With a wide and almost entirely false smile, he served Keiko, and then himself, being especially careful not to spill anything on either of them since his nerves were completely frayed.

“Would you like any… sugar?” he asked, and then immediately blushed at his tone.  It sounded throaty and lustful even to his discerning ears.  Keiko was probably going to run screaming out the door any minute now.

The longer Keiko stayed in Kurama’s presence the more she began to grow worried for her friend. He most definitely was not acting normally and she wondered if he were ill. Then their hands brushed and Keiko’s mind went blank as a shiver passed through her. She tried to shake it off, but then he spoke and the tone he used ignited a flare of liquid heat in her veins, and her heart began to race.

"Umm... yes, please." Keiko managed to say through the tightening of her throat and blushed when it made her words come out in a squeaky voice.

Kurama’s eyes lidded and he gave her a smile that was pure Youko as he slowly and very seductively leaned over her with the sugar bowl in his right hand and a tea spoon in his left.

“One scoop… or two?” he asked her with a wink.

Keiko’s eyes widened slightly at the possible underlying meaning behind his words and actions. Suddenly feeling the need to put distance between herself and the temptation that was growing more and more, well, tempting by the minute, Keiko shot up from her chair. “Um… ah, may I use your bathroom, Kurama-san?” She asked, flustered.

'Kurama-san?!?' 

The red head was puzzled by Keiko's sudden and formal use of his name, and he realized with a start that he had been coming on to her rather… strongly.  He wanted to blame it on Youko, but once again the kitsune was strangely silent inside his head.

'By Inari, what is wrong with me today?' he questioned himself, as his brilliant green eyes blinked several times in confusion.

Realizing he had yet to answer Keiko, who was getting more and more flustered by the second, he cleared his throat, and with his hand, indicated the direction of the bathroom.

"Of course," he mumbled, his voice thankfully taking on its normal hint of arrogance as he backed away a few steps.

"Thank you," Keiko mumbled and rather hastily made a retreat to the bathroom.

She shut the door behind her and leaned against it as she fought to keep her heart from pounding in her chest. After a moment, she pushed away from the door and turned toward the sink, turning on the water and adjusting it to a lukewarm temperature. Placing her hands beneath the running water, Keiko proceeded to splash her face lightly, hoping to gather her thoughts that were at the moment reeling in her mind.

~*~

At an altitude of approximately 400 kilometers above the Earth, an Asgard ship was in a stationary orbit over the western pacific.  On board, a rogue Asgard geneticist was studying with exceptionally large ocular organs a puzzling and not theoretically possible Tau’ri-Furling hybrid.

Loki was highly intrigued by his find, but he had yet to make significant headway in his research.  Had he obtained the specimen under more legal circumstances, he would not have hesitated to contact the Asgard High Council once the Furling DNA became apparent.

It was the first solid example the Asgard had seen in many thousands of years that the former member race of the Council of Worlds still existed.  The Furlings were a volatile and highly varied race of intelligent beings that once were in an alliance with the Asgard, but had all but disappeared soon after the Goa’uld became the predominant military force in the galaxy.  History described them as a technologically advanced race of beings with some unique skills inherent to their species, including that of matter manipulation and self-transmogrification. 

There were also none superior to the Furlings when it came to trans-dimensional travel.  In fact, it was often theorized by Asgard scientists that the Furlings had quarantined themselves in another dimension, in order to maintain control over an experiment gone awry.

For the higher-level Furlings had attempted to create a ‘warrior race’ based off of their own DNA.  Unfortunately, the soulless creatures turned on their creators, and the once highly advanced race of galactic travelers had regressed to the point where they were now a feudal society, constantly at war with themselves.

That was the going theory at any rate, and Loki dearly wished to question the young Tau’ri who had already shown some Furling skills with his manifestation of flora, but he doubted the Tau’ri would be receptive to him at this point.

Therefore, he had turned to the holoview to observe the clone’s interactions with other Tau’ri’s over the day.  Perhaps if he could find and clone a Tau’ri that was special to the hybrid, he could program the new clone with the directive to obtain the information that Loki needed.

Unfortunately, the clone did not appear to have many positive social interactions over the course of the day.  There was one puzzling incident with another, smaller Tau’ri, where there appeared to be some social interaction, but as the cochlear implants did not transmit any conversation for Loki to analyze, he decided against using the diminutive Tau’ri as his genetic blueprint.

He had all but given up hope on finding a suitable subject, until he analyzed the clone’s reaction to a young, female Tau’ri that was even now in the company of the clone.  In her presence, the clone’s heart rate had significantly increased as well as the level of chemical psychostimulants in the clone’s circulatory system.  Another quick analysis of the clone’s central nervous system showed that the arousal systems in the clone’s cerebral cortex were engaged at dangerously high levels.

So Loki had waited until a time when the female Tau'ri was no longer in the path of the clone's ocular implants, and targeted her in the crosshairs of his transportation device.

400 kilometers below in a small house in Tokyo, the young Tau’ri was splashing water on her face when she was instantly surrounded by a bright white light.  In mere moments she was transported directly into an empty stasis chamber on Loki’s ship. 

Keiko, who barely had time to comprehend what was happening, found herself in the bathroom of Kurama's house one minute and in some sort of strange room the next. Taking a look around, the first thing she spied was a gray, odd looking creature that she instantly mistook for a demon, staring at her.

'Oh, no, not again!'  She moaned to herself, instinctively thinking that she had once again been kidnapped due to her association with Yusuke. If she only knew how wrong she was. Before she had a chance to say a word, another bright light engulfed her and she knew no more.

Loki needed to act quickly, for he did not intend to keep this particular Tau’ri for study.  He just needed a blood and tissue sample, as well as an imprint of her neurological pathways. 

It took approximately 10 minutes for him to gain what he needed, and he directed his computer to erase the last 12.23 minutes of the Tau’ri’s memory.  Once satisfied, he transported the Tau’ri back to her original location on Earth.

A burst of white light illuminated the bathroom of the Hatenaka residence before quickly fading away, leaving a slightly disoriented and totally unnerved Keiko Yukimura behind. Glancing up at the sound of a knock on the door, Keiko found herself facing it and blinked in surprise. Quickly shaking it off, she tried to keep her voice even as she called out. “Yes?”

“Keiko?  Is everything alright?”  Kurama’s concerned voice came from the other side of the door.

“I’m fine,  Kurama. Fine. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Outside the door, the red head turned away in confusion.  Had he really spooked Keiko that much?  She’d been holed up in the bathroom nearly fifteen minutes after all. He knew she was avoiding him – holing up in a bathroom was his standard avoidance tactic with his own fan girls.  He shook his head in sad regret as he made his way back towards the kitchen.

~*~

In the laboratory of the Asgard ship, the newly created Keiko clone blinked her eyes several times, as her creator left her alone with the Tau’ri-Furling hybrid currently in stasis.

She was programmed with the basic personality of the true Keiko Yukimura, and unlike the Kurama clone, she knew exactly what she was and her purpose for existing.  She also had been programmed with a rudimentary understanding of the ship’s primary systems and technology.

Unfortunately, there was no room for Keiko Yukimura’s memories, and had Loki known the knowledge that the girl already had regarding the hybrid’s origins, he could have saved himself a lot of trouble.

The Keiko-clone approached the stasis chamber containing the hybrid with a smile, and a few simple manipulations of the stones on the chambers control panel had the hybrid awake and blinking.

She stared at him curiously for a moment before offering him a great big smile.

“Hello.  My name is Keiko.  Would you like something to drink?  Being in stasis can sometimes cause severe dehydration.”

Kurama blinked a few times, attempting to overcome the grogginess that clouded his mind. He grimaced as he realized that his mouth was as dry as an oasis and licked his lips, attempting to compensate for the lack of saliva. 

~Ugh, what the hell happened, Shuichi?~

‘I do not know, Youko. I am just as confused as you are.’

A voice speaking to him suddenly had him snapping to attention and he looked up, his eyes widening as his gaze fell upon a familiar form.

“Keiko?”

“Yes, that is my name.  Let me get you some water,” she said, as she walked over to the replication device in the room.  She spoke a few words in the Asgard native tongue, and offered the small glass that had suddenly appeared in the replication chamber to the hybrid, who was slowly but surely awakening.

Though still not at one hundred percent, Kurama knew for certain that things were amiss. For one, Keiko had just spoken some strange language that he had never even heard before, at least, not in all his years as a human. He watched as Keiko, or someone who looked like her, approach with a glass of clear liquid.

Hesitantly taking the glass, he murmured a quiet "Thank you." before taking a tentative sip to ensure that it was, in fact, drinkable.

"You're very welcome.  I have to say that it is an honor to meet you.  I've been programmed with some historical facts about the Furlings, and you really are a fascinating species.  What is your name, by the way?"  The Keiko clone asked, her large cinnamon eyes sparkling in anticipation.

Kurama's brows creased in confusion at the strange word, but was taken by surprise when Youko actually perked up at the title. ~Furling? Now where have I heard that before?~

'I wouldn't know, Youko, you seem to know more than I at this point.' Shuichi replied, sounding a bit miffed.

~Heh, well, that's a change for the good, if you ask me.~ Youko replied smugly before asking, ~But what about this... thing? It is obviously not Keiko. She would know our name.~

'Indeed,' Shuichi replied, 'The fact that she does not recognize me leads me to believe that she is either, a) the real Keiko and this Loki has done something to alter her memory, or b) a copy of the original.' Taking a tentative sniff, he added, 'A well crafted copy at that. She even smells like Keiko.'

“Hey!  I asked you a question, you know.  It’s kind of rude to just ignore me.  The least you can do is introduce yourself,” the Keiko clone said rather indignantly, as she pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips.

"I am sorry, Keiko. My name is Kurama." He replied, giving his real name in hopes of jogging her memory in case it really was the real Keiko he was speaking to.

Instantly, the pretty brunette’s attitude morphed from agitated to pleased in about the same amount of time that the real Keiko’s personality would have shifted, further confusing the spirit kitsune.

“See?  That wasn’t so hard, was it?” She said with a smile.  As the hybrid in front of her warmed to her personality, one of her programmed directives kicked in.  She approached Kurama slowly and sensually and batted her eyes.

“Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?” The Keiko clone asked in a throaty voice.

Kurama's eyes widened at her words, unsure if there was a hidden meaning behind them or not. "Ah, no. I'm fine, although I would appreciate it if I could speak to Loki."

The Keiko clone walked up to him and put a soft hand on his arm.  She rubbed her thumb back and forth in a seductive motion, as she answered his question.

“I’m afraid that Loki is currently in a regeneration chamber.  Asgard’s really don’t have a very high constitution, you see.  But I’ve been instructed to assist you… with anything that you need assistance with.”

Kurama felt his body beginning to react to Keiko's words, as innocently spoken as they were, he couldn't help but get a secret thrill from it, even with the knowledge that this might not even be the real Keiko. His attraction to her made all of it a moot point. He heard Youko in the back of his mind, egging him on. ~Tell her to come closer, Shuichi. I have something that she can assist me with.~

'Youko!' Shuichi's sharp retort reined the kitsune in and he turned his attention back to the clone. "I don't believe I need anything at the moment, thank you. However, seeing as you appear knowledgeable of our surroundings, perhaps you could supply me with a few explanations?"

It was as if he pressed a virtual ‘seduction mode: off’ switch on the Keiko clone with his words.  Her hand was quickly removed from his arm, and she backed up a few steps.  Even the tone of her voice had changed from sultry to formal, as she answered him.

“I am not allowed to provide you with information that could possibly cause myself or Loki any harm.  I can, however, tell you that you are on an Asgard vessel, some 400 kilometers above Earth.  We are cloaked, so hopefully we won’t be detected by any of the Tau’ri satellites or space ships, but I do know how to engage the hyperdrive if the sensors go off, so you don’t have to worry about that!”  Keiko answered, and Kurama reeled at the inadvertent information she let slip.

‘We have space ships?!?’  Shuichi marveled to himself.

As if a lightbulb went off in his head, Youko suddenly perked up as memories began to make themselves known. Memories of tales heard long ago when he was still a kit and the fox reached out to his host mentally. ~Uh... Shuichi? I think I may have an idea of what's going on here...~

‘Fill me in as we go, Youko.  Right now, I think I have an idea on how to get us some help.’  Shuichi responded, as he began to formulate a plan in his mind.  If we have space ships that could detect us if the cloaking system is offline, then…

“I really would be interested in seeing how this cloaking system works, Keiko.”  Kurama asked with a smile as he grabbed the Keiko clone’s hand with his own.

The Keiko clone knew that she probably should deny that request, but as she was crafted and modeled after the original Keiko Yukimura, she was not immune to Kurama’s charms.  When the hybrid grabbed her hand, her breathing quickened and her heart started to race. 

So the clone justified her response to Kurama as being part of her prime objective.  After all, wasn’t she supposed to get him to trust her enough to speak of the fate of the Furlings?  And besides, what harm could it do to show him the cloaking system?

She offered Kurama a small smile.

“Hai.  Follow me.”

~*~

End Chapter 2