InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ With Meaning ❯ Of Finding ( Chapter 3 )

 

 

 

Kurama ran a hand through his hair as he wove through the crowd, trying to ignore the way that some women had stopped to blatantly ogle him even as he tried to rush through the press of the masses.

 

He craned his neck in search of his tall friend, and he couldn't help but smile as he thought it was just like the man to help a kid in need. Kuwabara was a big softie, and Kurama was hard pressed to understand exactly how it had come to be. He knew, as well as everyone else did, that Kuwabara and his sister had been practically abandoned by their parents, that they had grown up in the harsh reality of bosozoku and yakuza living- Kurama didn't understand how such a gentle giant could come from such a bad neighborhood.

 

Not that it made Kurama like his friend any less; it just made him that much more of an abnormality and therefore intriguing to his baser kitsune senses.

 

So as he scanned over the crowd for his usually conspicuous friend his eyebrows rose and his form settled down onto his heels in befuddlement. He grew faintly worried before a break in the crowd caught his attention for a brief second, and his entire demeanor softened with gentle surprise as he spotted his large friend seated below the level of the crowd beside a small child, engaged in watching the boy play with his hand.

Kurama smiled and made his way over.

 

“Kuwabara.” He spoke softly when he was near enough, and worried when the redhead startled, if his senses were that worked up then it was best that the tea was the more potent variety- Kurama had obeyed the instinctive urging that the large man would need it as so.

 

His friend grinned and stood, the boy looking up with wide surprised green eyes, startling Kurama, before his hand was wrapped around one of Kuwabara's fingers and the boy was hiding behind the man's pant leg.

 

Kurama hid his smile and watched Kuwabara chuckle, “Kurama, this is Shippou. Shippou, this is the guy I was telling you about- he's going to help us find your mother.” The boy nodded, and Kurama let his eyes flash with knowledge when he realized the boy was a kokitsune and he'd been reacting to his own youki aura.

 

But he smiled and crouched before the child, looking into green eyes rivaling his own in this form before the boy pursed his lips and glared. Kurama laughed lightly when the boy clutched onto Kuwabara possessively, and he winked at the child before standing and handing his friend the bag of tea leaves.

 

The boy recognized a strong soul when he met one…that was good.

It was purely kitsune to adore the large souls of beings they met, to enjoy the way it flared in their senses and soothed their own souls. For Shippou to be so enamored with Kuwabara meant that he was well practiced with his senses (something unlikely to happen in the ningen world, or at least away from the cultivation of a loving kitsune family) and that he sensed the same greatness Kurama did.

 

Kuwabara was only going to grow more powerful the longer he accessed his own powers, and it was this strength that was his only weakness. Kurama had always believed that Kuwabara sometimes cared too much, but that was just his past as the bandit Youko speaking- and he tried not to judge the man for it.

 

He came through every time; there was no reason to condemn him for his empathy.

 

So Kurama smiled and set out walking an innocent distance away from the child, his hands behind his back, watching his large friend and the cute boy as they set out away from the general store. “So what does your mother look like?”

 

The boy gave him a sharp look with narrowed eyes before huffing. “She's the prettiest mommy in the world.” He mumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest and pouted, Kuwabara blinked at them both in confusion.

 

Kurama just smiled and shook his head.

 

The tall redhead grinned sheepishly and nodded his head. “Shippou was telling me how great she was, and that she had long hair.”

 

Kurama nodded his head- getting more from that than what Kuwabara had gleaned. Certainly there were many females with shorter hair, and Kuwabara could distinguish a woman with hair below her shoulders…but to a kitsune it was different. They were very precise about their appearance- especially their fur and hair.

 

For Shippou to say his mother had long hair meant an entirely different thing than what his giant friend believed- Kurama himself would have `short hair', according to other kitsune.

 

This woman had a mane of hair at least to her waist.

 

Kurama smiled as the boy uncrossed his arms to tug at Kuwabara's hand, his feet skipping along as his bright emeralds looked eyelevel - at the knees of the adults - to every woman passing by.

 

Kurama sighed and listened to the patter of his feet, wondering if Shippou had hidden paws in the sneakers as a more base form or if he had perfected his illusion to the point of immaculate humanity.

 

“So what else can we look for?” Kuwabara asked the child as he attentively looked down at him, and Kurama smiled at how sincere and gentle he was before turning to the child and watching him light up at the question…coming from Kuwabara.

 

Kurama smirked and hid it behind his hand- another case of kitsune possessiveness perhaps? Afraid Kurama would steal his mother away and interrupt his family?

 

Females were very rare, after all. And even harder to find as they hid themselves with all the skills inbred to their species.

 

“She's awesome! She gives great hugs and smiles a lot and makes me super yummy okonomiyaki!” Shippou grinned and Kurama laughed goodheartedly, his eyes twinkling as the adorable kitsune skipped a high step and nodded his head enthusiastically.

 

He would brag about his mother too, if he were a younger kitsune.

 

….

 

Kuwabara smiled as the boy happily jabbered on about his mother, explaining how nice she smiled and how gentle her hands were- these things did nothing to help them find the woman, but Kuwabara found that he didn't mind so much. The child painted a beautiful picture of a kind woman who loved him dearly.

 

Kuwabara couldn't fault the child in it, and he could find no fault in the woman.

For the boy to be so enamored with her, despite children's tendency to disregard details about things that were constantly in their life (like parents), she had to be something special. And the boy was special and obviously loved; the woman had to be part of that.

 

So as the boy kept on going on about how unique and important and super his mother was Kuwabara grew more worried- it had been good few hours walking, and there had been no sign of the woman the boy was lovingly exalting. And the child's stories got more frantic, detailed and convoluted as his eyes started to tear and his cheeks started to flush with panic.

 

“And then he was mean and told her she wouldn't ever amount to anything and she got really angry and she was awesome! She made him eat dirt and then she kissed my bruise and hugged me and sprayed some stingy stuff on my scrape and…” he gave a low keening whine.

 

Kuwabara startled as the boy's aura snapped out; lashing against his own before softening and drawing back in.

 

Kuwabara sighed and kneeled down to him, slowly drawing the boy to his chest and standing so the child could cling to his shirt as Kurama looked on worriedly. The kitsune was more subdued from his earlier amusement at the child's antics, and Kuwabara was at once grateful and curious that both their aura's held the same note- the brightly overwhelming power that drowned his senses and protected his aura from the other pedestrians around him.

 

He pushed it aside as he shushed the child and stroked a hand through his thick hair, noting how well cared for it was and softening even more to the image of the mother it presented (his sister had rubbed off on him, and she had done a very good job of it). The child quickly got himself under control, and Kuwabara frowned as he looked at his puckered up face and took in his rapid choppy breaths- the boy was trying not to cry.

 

Kuwabara stood, and he mildly relieved to note that the child was allowing himself to cling to him- letting Kuwabara carry him even as he tried not to succumb to his other emotions. The tall man worried slightly, but then pushed it aside. Maybe he didn't want to cry in front of two men he just met- certainly a woman so loved by the child wouldn't tell him to ignore his emotions.

 

He sighed and resumed walking; keeping an eye out for a woman with long dark hair and the gentlest hands, a mother who had bright eyes and a soft voice. Kuwabara sighed and shook his head, for even from his height advantage he couldn't spot anyone of that description, and they'd been walking for most of the day.

 

He tilted his head to listen to the boy murmur still about his mother's virtues, his voice muffled against his shoulder as he nuzzled his cold nose into his neck. Kurama looked worriedly at the child, and Kuwabara felt a brief relief that his friend had given up his indulgent amusement from before- despite the fact that their combined auras settled him, it was unsettling to feel them challenging each other and snapping. It had made Kuwabara dizzy.

 

So he swallowed and put a hand to the boys head, briefly threading his fingers through the boys locks as he made sure his head didn't roll while he dodged a rushing teen late for some appointment.

 

Kurama glanced about worriedly- “It's getting close to supper time.”

Kuwabara grimaced, now glad that the cold nose was against the warm skin of his neck so that large dewy eyes weren't able to see it. It wouldn't do for the boy to think he was giving up. So his eyes lit up with a determined fire and his mouth firmed- because he wouldn't give up.

 

He was looking for a wonderful woman to bring her the delightful child she had raised. And Kuwabara would do anything to make sure the child didn't feel abandoned.

 

He straightened his back and plowed through a particularly tight knit group of obnoxious street kids, ignoring their jeers and calls except to hug the boy more firmly to him and continue in a brisk pace towards the smaller commercial district- where the family vendors sold their wares and the more traditional goods and maintained the old feel of community and family.

 

He sighed and craned his neck to see across the way, half bowing to some elderly couple that walked around him and greeted him instead of ignoring him. He briefly smiled, awkwardly, as they cooed at his little charge before he helped Shippou shift until he was sitting on his shoulder and rubbing his eyes while Kuwabara steadied him with a hand.

 

The boy practically bounced from his perch as he lit up. “I know this place! Mommy likes buying from Kotetsu-san!”

 

Kuwabara relaxed more fully, his breath coming easier as he realized the boy wouldn't have to feel lonely for much longer- if they failed to find the mother soon they could just ask the familiar vendor.

 

He smiled at the little green eyed boy as he grinned at him, and they both continued looking through the crowds- “She says the old couple is a little nosy, but that's what makes them lovable. Mommy doesn't like saying no to them though, so she plays along with them when they talk about her getting a boyfriend.”

 

Kuwabara startled, but shook his head and turned his head back to searching- the boy hadn't realized his shock, and he was almost leaning over his shoulder in his excitement at being so close to possibly finding his mother.

 

He finally let out an amused breath and turned his head the other way.

Just as he did so his eyes caught a disturbance in the crowd, and he fully turned to examine the cause.

 

As he did so Shippou rapidly twisted to look in the same direction; the little boy tried his best to see through the crowds (almost falling off his broad shoulder) before finally tugging at his attention and asking to go down. Kuwabara complied worriedly, making sure he had a firm hold on the little hand as he pushed his way through the milling crowds and dodged around carts and stalls.

 

When he finally spotted the cause of the disturbance he stopped, his eyes widening at the frazzled woman who seemed to radiate the strongest aura Kuwabara had ever come into contact with.

 

He watched the woman frantically approach a random passerby, her loud hysterical voice asking them if they'd seen her little boy- her blue eyes were bright and teary and her lips trembling, but people only gave her pitying looks or, worse, affronted glares before they tried their best to ignore her and walk around her.

 

Kuwabara moved to lift Shippou onto his shoulder, and the boy lit up and squealed happily when he spotted the woman from the new height advantage. The woman spun at the sound, and her hand rose to cover her mouth as her teary eyes wavered and she was suddenly pushing her way through the crowd.

 

Kuwabara smiled as he lifted the boy down, and he ended up in the opened arms of the lady.

 

He felt briefly and euphorically dizzy at their combined souls in such a jubilant state, like he was on some high he had never achieved even with the alcohol stolen from the neighbors' parties.