Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Brotherly Love ❯ Letters from a Killer ( Chapter 5 )

Author's note: This chapter is longer than the others. I haven't been able to update for a while because I was visiting my brother and new nephew in Connecticut. He doesn't have a computer. And then our computer broke and we just got our new one today.

I realize that the first couple chapters weren't written very well. I always have trouble starting a story but once I get going it gets better. I won't be able to take any writing classes until I start college so any advice or tips would be appreciated. Thanks, Phillepa.

That night Kurama did dream again. He dreamed every night that day through. But that night he also received the first note. The first of those terrifying letters that always told him that, despite his great strength and abilities, he might not be able to protect his sister from Kokoshka. He was too unpredictable. He could come at any time when Kurama wasn't around and hurt her and Shiori. Hell, he could even come while Kurama was there! But at least then he would be able to protect them. Both times Kurama met him, he was unable to sense his energy.

Kurama had no idea what Kokoshka could do were he to attack. Kurama had tried hunting him down, he even asked Hiei if he could find him with his Jagan eye but he couldn't. Nor could Koenma.

These notes were a constant reminder of this. Soon they were plaguing his dreams as well. Everything was always the same in them, the bodies, the creature in the shadows revealing himself as Kokoshka. But after he started receiving the letter, they started showing up in his dreams as well.

Before he would enter his sisters' room to discover the bodies he would find one of the notes tacked to the door. Though by the time he woke up he could never remember what it said.

He of the perfect memory.

This lasted for nearly two weeks and Kurama had become even more protective of his sister than ever before. He would always make sure to have her in his sight when they went out together and even when they were at home. After waking in the middle of the night from one of his dreams, Kurama began to creep into his sisters' room to check on her. Sometimes he would spend the rest of the night with her; sometimes he would just watch her sleep for a while before returning to his own room.

The notes were not helping to relieve any of his concerns. He showed them to the other spirit detectives, who instantly became enraged at the idea of Kaori being threatened.

"This bastards sick!" Yusuke exclaimed disgustedly. " You mean that this guy's out to get a little six year old girl just to see how you'll react?"

Kurama nodded. " Yes, it certainly seems that way, going by his actions toward her and what Botan told me about him."

Hiei looked up from his spot in the window. "Kokoshka does not see Kaori as Kurama's sister and it puzzles him that a demon like the Yoko could care for such a fragile human child as a sister. He finds it very intriguing and is therefore very curious a s to how he will react, should any harm come to her. I imagine he will try to milk this for all it is worth in an effort to see the extent of Kurama's…brotherly affections."

Kurama nodded again. Wasn't that what Kokoshka was doing right now with these notes and their taunting messages? Seeing how far Kurama would go to protect her? Already he was becoming paranoid over every sound he heard when he and Kaori were alone together. Bristling leaves or a snapping twig were enough to put him on guard for an ambush. His dreams were becoming more frequent and more vivid. He was now spending practically every night in his sisters' room, or moving her into his.

Of course this had never bothered Kaori. She loved sleeping with her brother. His chest was her favorite pillow and she could always fall asleep easily listening to the rhythmic melody of his heart beating in her ear.

Another thing he had noticed about how this whole thing was affecting him was the fact that he had just requested the detectives to come to his home and telling them about his `little problem'.

It was generally in a Kitsune's nature to handle their own disputes in private and by themselves. Asking for help was usually a last resort. But Kurama was finding it to be more and more difficult to find ways to keep a constant eye on his sister without raising Kaori or Shiori's suspicions. Kurama's behavior had not gone unnoticed by his ever-observant mother. One of the reasons why Kurama loved her so much. The woman missed practically nothing.

Hiei's comment about Kaori being `fragile' did not go unnoticed or misunderstood. He was, of course, referring to Kaori's medical conditions. Out of all four of them, Hiei seemed to be the most uneasy about Kaori's condition. He didn't know much about human growth rates but he did know it was at a faster pace than a demon. And Kaori was growing even slower than a demon.

Also, her blood was very thin and she bled very heavily. Twice she had to be taken to the emergency room for seemingly small cuts that refused to stop bleeding.

This made Hiei the second most protective over Kaori. Kurama was the first.

Kurama was brought out of his thoughts by Kuwabara's deep and gruff voice.

"Damn. So what are we going to do about this you guys?"

"Right now we cant do anything you idiot." Said Hiei. "We don't know shit about Kokoshka's attack power or when he'll strike. All we can do is watch over Kaori and be ready when he finally decides to act."

"Which is precisely why I'm asking for your help now. I'm finding it rather difficult to keep Kaori in my sights. She's very energetic and tends to just take off all of a sudden. She's also developed a liking to walking in the woods across from her school while waiting for me, lately."

"Hey, I can pick her up after school on the nights Kurama has tutoring." Yusuke offered.

"Uh, are you sure you can handle her? Like I said she's very energetic and a bit of a handful. She scared off all of her other baby-sitters."

Hiei stiffled a laugh. He couldn't really blame them. He had been there the one time when Kaori had taken a bunch of firecrackers and set them off right by the babysitter ear when she had fallen asleep on the couch. The sitter had put her to bed an hour before and had thought the four-year-old to be sleeping. Hiei had thought for sure that the sitter would be deaf in her left ear after that. The firecrackers also somehow managed to set her long wiry hair on fire.

Hiei had fallen out of the tree in laughter at seeing the girl running around the living, screaming like a banshee, flames on her head and little Kaori sitting in the middle of the room as if this were a normal occurrence. Or at least as if she had achieved exactly what she had intended.

What made it even funnier to the fire demon was that he knew she had done it as revenge on the sitter for making her heat spinach and then not letting her watch her favorite show when she tried to sneak the disgusting `sea-weed' as she called it, into the trash can.

Kurama shot Hiei a glare for is sense of humor. "You never did tell me what you were doing there on the nights when the sitters ran off, Hiei." He said accusingly. He had a slight suspicion that it was Hiei who had supplied Kaori with the firecrackers. And all of the other various items she had used.

"Fox, you may be comfortable with leaving strangers alone in your home all night with your sister but I am not."

"Hmm."

"Come on you guys, " said Yusuke, completely unaware as to what he was getting himself into. "Kaori and I get along great. How much trouble could she be?"

Three nights later, he wished he had never asked.