Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Inheritance ❯ Death ( Chapter 10 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 10
Death

It was the next day that they got word. Yomi's anger echoed into even the deepest reaches of Makai. Kurama's cold resignation belied the turmoil the news brought him. Kuwabara and Yusuke were left in stunned disbelief. Everyone wanted the answer to that one burning question. How is it possible that Shura, son of one of the strongest beings in all three worlds, trained to fight since before he was 'born'...

... could have been so brutally murdered?

The corpse had been nigh unrecognizable, the battle strewn over several miles. Yomi had rushed as fast as he could when word of the fight reached his ears. By the time he got there, his son was dead, and the attacker no where in sight. Makai mourns the loss of a very promising young leader.

Those in the Ningenkai file away their grief as fuel for the upcoming battle. None more so than Kurama, who no longer rests indoors. The rest of his training is spent out in the elements, comforted only by his loyal plants. Shiroi refuses to leave the temple ground so long as her son is there. So Kazuya brings supplies and clothing from their home. The drive to work is a bit longer but Shiori's peace of mind is well worth it.

But Shiori is not at peace in the slightest. She frets all day and worries all night. She runs every meal out to her son, only to have him politely refuse. It sometimes takes her hours to find him. Little does she know that the others have been protecting her through the wiles and beasts of Genkai's forest. Kurama is determined to become stronger, striving for the fierce and unfaltering survival that used to run through his veins as a young kitsune in the lower parts of Makai.

His efforts are not in vain, and it is beginning to show.

His demonic and human energy no longer battle with one another but seem to work in unison to fly higher. His hair has never been a more vibrant red, and if you look closely his eyes are now permanently rimmed in gold. He is fully demon, free to take either form as he pleases. The others no longer dare to encroach on his training for fear of being hit by errant attacks. The sheer force of them sometimes shakes the forest for miles around. Kurama has somehow made a mere week feel like a month. The only one showing as much exhaustion as Kurama himself is sweet little Yukina, who refuses to give up on healing him.

Of course she hasn't been the only one offering the kitsune aid. Not that the one responsible for healing him as he is passed out on the forest floor will ever admit to any such thing. Hiei my not be as skilled as his sister, but she needed help. That's it, he's doing it so his sister won't worry as she is so prone to doing. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Fox is wearing himself out to the point of not being able to sense another demon's approach. He's fulfilling his responsibility as the Fox's partner by watching over him.

Nothing more to it at all.

***
The night before the promised fight, Shiori sits on the temple steps. She had emerged after dinner and for some reason cannot make herself leave the frigid cold to return to the glowing warmth inside. Kuwabara and Keiko have decided to come early just in case this is the last night the entire team gets to be together... not that any of them would ever admit to that.

What is she waiting for? Really until the question came, she hadn't realized that she had been waiting for anything, now she is sure that she is waiting for something very important. Maybe not something, but rather someone. Just as that thought occurs, she smiles. The person she is waiting for appears out of the brush next to the entrance looking exhausted and beaten... but happy.

"Mother." His red hair is tangled and his face and clothes are smudged with heavens only knows what. But his gentle smile is enough to tug at her heart and she leaps into his arms.

"Suuichi! Oh baby come inside and get warmed up! I'll get you some fresh clothing... Suu-chan can heat up what's left of dinner. You have to be hungry..."

The others grin as she tugs his into the room and pushes him toward the bath. She fusses over him for most of the night, at ease for the first time this entire week. The fact that her son is right there in the room with her, well within reach and reasonably healthy is the greatest comfort she's had in what seems like forever. She checks him for injuries and fusses over his hair, she ply's him with food and smothers him with all the love she can.

He happily allows her to do so. Taking in the care and affection that not just his Mother, but brother father and friends shower down on him. There are the usual, 'we're gonna kick ass', and 'bastard doesn't stand a chance'. The energy and confidence in the room heals wounds he hadn't known were buried inside of him.

But still...

After he'd eaten all he could and laughed hard enough to make his sides hurt; his mind bugs him. A worry lingering in the back of his mind that refuses to let him alone. He slowly becomes quiet and pensive. Suu-chan is the first to notice his withdrawal.

"Brother? What's up?" The others quieten down to stare at the pensive red head.

"Nothing... at least... I hope its nothing." He flashes a smile. "I just thought that Kuro..." He trails off and his eyes drop to the floor. I just thought that Kuro...

"Would be back by now Foxy?" Kurama's head snaps up and his eyes flicker to the door. A rather filthy chimera is standing in the entrance with his usual goofy grin in place. Kurama half rises from his feet in pure astonishment. "To tell the truth I would have been if I hadn't run into a bit of trouble. But I did say I'd be back with it now didn't I? Come now, you should know that I'd never let you down."

Kuram smiles and nods. "Yes I suppose you are correct, so tell me, did you forget what you left for?"

Kuro laughs. "A fine welcome. Had to transverse half of Makai for this and all you can ask is if I got your precious chest?" as he speaks he pulls said chest from behind him and sets it on the table in front of his lover. "Yes I got it, and let me tell you, your babies weren't to happy about handing it over to me!" Kurama downright laughs at this running his hands slowly over the wooden chest. It's intricate engravings were of a field of rose bushes, covering the entire surface and even onto the metal bindings.

"Now, now, Kuro no blaming my darlings for this. You should have asked more politely..." His voice is sleek, the purr of Yoko rather than the soft tone of Suuichi. Yoko's head cocks softly to the side starring, gold eyes, transfixed on the chest before him, as if it were the most valuable treasure in all three worlds.

"Open it Foxy..." Kuro is nearly breathless as he wraps his arms loosely around Yoko's waist. His nose buries itself in the soft red mane but his eyes down right sparkle in excitement. "You never look quite as sexy as you do when playing with your favorite toys." The room waits with baited breath as his hands glide from the corners, in - toward the center lock.

"Suuichi?" Shiori chokes just as his fingertips brush the cool metallic clasp.

Gold eyes flash back to green as his hands jerk back in shock, and the faint sizzle of flesh can be heard. Kurama stands there for a moment cradling his injury to his torso, eyes not leaving the chest. Kuro eventually, gently pries his hands apart to assess the damage. Angry red skin has flowered over the pale flesh of his hands, but the damage is minor. Nothing serious.

"Foxy why...?"

Kurama's voice is anything but steady as the crack in his mask left by the event with Hiei widens considerably. "S-She still hates me..." He wrenches away from Kuro and walks toward the door. Kuro grabs him by the arm.

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"She hates me and she has every right to. I was foolish to think... I bathed her memory in blood, not to mention Reikai to boot."

"I still don't think..."

Kurama's voice is downright depressing. "She burned me then and she burns me now. She hates me and she has every right to. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a walk." With that he pulls away from Kuro and heads out the door quickly so that no one else can stop him.

No one sees Hiei slip out of the window.

Kurama walks along for a few miles; over to a small pond surrounded by trees that gives a beautiful view of the crescent moon on its surface. Kurama sits on a large root and removes his shoes dipping his feet in the cool water, watching the ripples distort the image ever so slightly for a few moments.

The night air is cool, and the trees sway peacefully in the night breeze. Whispers of the happy flowers merge with those of the night insects. A gentle hum all around him, the music that never fails to sooth his aching soul.

Ever so slowly he dips his hands into the the crisp water. The burn slowly fades.

"You can come out now Hiei."

***
"What did he mean by 'bathed Reikai in blood'? Come on Botan I know you know what's going on!" Yusuke's glare bores into his blue-haired friend.

"I do. It's a case that was handled a few years ago."

"Well!?"

She looks serious, but sad... almost ready to cry. "It's the incident that pushed King Enma to finally send the Special Defense Force after Yoko Kurama. He massacred countless innocent people in one night. They say that the rivers ran red that night... It showed that his power was a very serious threat, and that his ruthless behavior could no longer be ignored." The revelation sends a shock wave through the group. Kuro snarls and is about to say something nasty when someone cuts him off.

"THAT...!"

"... is not quite the correct story Botan. That is the story we told the citizens of Reikai to cover up the truth of what happened. The real fault, lies with our own failure. The tragedy could have been prevented by very simple means if I had acted."

Everyone in the room turns to see a very familiar teenager emerge from no where.

"Koenma..." Yusuke looks shocked.

"The least I can do, is clear his name amongst this group."

Kuro glares at him. "The very least."

Koenma starts out slow, "The real story is much more complex. You see, kitsune have long been hunted down for their pelts. Kitsune fur is considered one of the very highest quality fabrics one can obtain. As you can imagine, they come with a very hefty price tag. The more powerful the kitsune the more beautiful the fur.

At this point in time my Father had two major problem concerning kitsune. One, the more obvious, was a mischievous thief that didn't cause so much in the way of damage as he did trouble and humiliation. Yoko never took anything too valuable or dangerous, he was, for the most part, just embarrassing Reikai security. His antics were a perpetual annoyance, one that caused the citizens of Reikai to question Father's ability to rule. This angered my Father beyond what his actual actions had, and made him a target.

The other, was a band of kitsune hunters that had slipped through the barrier between worlds. They had set up a village of their own, unfortunately we could not gather enough evidence to convict them directly. Some sort of spell or ward was blocking our intelligence gathering. They were terrorizing the kitsune of Reikai, many had to suffer their second 'death' at the hands of these hunters. Kistune do not often choose to spend their afterlife in Reikai, but their presence is sorely needed for there to be natural order to things. Kitsune have the choice of going to Reikai and being judged by us, or following Inari to her glen. The word spread quickly and it wasn't long before Kitsune began refusing any offer to rest in Reikai.

My Father decided it was time for him to intervene. So he sent a message to Yoko, inside a chest it had been rumored the Fox was planning to steal. A few days later word was sent to the castle that he had accepted the offer.

The deal was that my Father would gift Yoko the seventh ruby rose in exchange for him to destroy the village of kitsune hunters. He gave their location, numbers, and general useful information about the encampment.

What he didn't say was that he also contacted the village, promising to deliver into their midst, the great Yoko Kurama if only they promised to leave Reikai afterward. Both parties accepted, both were deceived. My Father figured that either way, both of his problems would be solved. The night arrived and the attack ensued, the battle moved the the main bridge over the River Styx and... well our information is sketchy after that."

Kuronue snorts. "Figures. You damn fools didn't even have the decency to follow up on the fight that you caused. They were fucking waiting for us when we came into the village, didn't take a genius to figure out that we'd been set up. We took out the flanks behind us and back tracked as quick as we could, but they had expected that and sent out scouts before hand. Their trap sprung flawlessly and they cornered us on the bridge.

It was just me and Foxy, back to back, elbow to elbow. Hundreds of those bastards on either side of us. Both of us knew... just knew... there was know way the we were going to make it out of that one alive. But it was weird, just a sort of resignation. It was calm; he was calm.

'We've had a good run eh Kuro?' He sounded like he was ready to laugh about it.

So I told him. 'It ain't over yet.'

He actually did laugh then. 'What say you we take all these fools with us?'

That was it... just that and it all became a frey. I lost count of how many of them I cut down. The blood was everywhere, dripping in between the planks down to the river. Never saw Foxy move quite the way he did that night... it was... enthralling. His daggers hit target after target, man and woman alike, felling all that stepped close to him with ease.

But gods there were so many, and my muscles started aching. Soon it felt like my whole body was on fire and I just couldn't get enough air, but still they kept coming! Foxy was on his third set and I knew that we were nearing the end. This guy came out of nowhere on his blind side. I saw him first, but there wasn't much I could do. So I did what I could and stepped in the way. That blow did me in; it sent me into the railing. I couldn't move and one swipe would finish me for sure. Foxy dropped the third set as he stood in front of me. I wanted to tell him not to bother protecting me but I couldn't find enough air in my lungs to do it.

That's when he pulled the last dagger. Never seen him do it before, and I've never seen him do it since. It was the most beautiful thing that I'd ever seen... and I'm still not quite sure what it was.

This weird energy kinda stopped everything. He moved... but not really. It's like he just stood still and the world moved for him. He defied the laws of nature... or maybe he just was nature for that split second. That was all it took. They all fell, and their combined blood poured into the river... it really did run red that night. He was covered in blood, hell everything was covered in blood. He picked up all his daggers and didn't even bother wiping them off. When he went to help me up, I noticed just how badly he was shaking.

We heard the whistles. Freaking Enma had called the patrol out on us. We had no choice but to run. We got away, but just barely. Foxy was in a hell of a condition, and I can't say I was much better. He got hit by one of their traps that I sprung on accident. When we got to the den he could hardly breathe.

He was missing a hell of a lot of blood, so he took some pain herbs or whatever to help him. It was so painful to breathe that it was actually preventing him from doing so. After he took the herbs I pulled out some sake and forced a few jugs down his throat for good measure. He was so out of it by then that I doubt he knew his own name.

That was the night I got him to tell me about his family.

That technique he used has been handed down in his family through the generations. Not one of them has ever fully mastered it... except his Mother. She nearly managed to kill Makatashi with it... before they captured Yoko.

He said that he believed he used it improperly and that she'd never forgive him. I didn't believe it until the next morning, when the chest burned him. I'd cleaned them up and put them back in the chest like he did every night... but it burned him. He hasn't touched it since, until now. I still don't believe she hates him... but I don't know why he can't open it either." Kuro goes silent, the memory obviously very hurtful to him. Koenma finds his voice first.

"Word came to me the previous day about the double sided deal. I didn't think it was right, so I confronted Father about it. He told me that it wasn't my place, and if I were smart, I wouldn't question his judgment. I could have gotten word to Kurama if I'd only tried... I'm sure. But I was too afraid. I stayed quiet as the attack went out, as Father sent out the patrols, and later on, when he dispatched the Special Defense Force. as reward for my cowardice Father handed over a great deal more responsibility to me. It was with this in mind that I accepted Kurama's offer when he and Hiei were taken into custody. I've never really apologized to him for it."

Kuro growls low. "You're lucky as hell that Foxy didn't find it worth it to hold a grudge against scum like you!"

"I realize that I was wrong to do so and have taken steps to apologize! What else do you want from me!? I can't change the past!"

Yusuke cuts in. "He's right he can't. Besides the Toddler here has grown a backbone more recently and kicked Daddy's ass. So... what's in the chest?"
_______________________________________________________________ _______________________

A/N: Sorry, no interwebs yet.

Ok, so I know I threw a lot at you in this chapter.

So the report from Makai is that Shura was murdered. I'm really sorry to all those that love his character as much as I do. Makatashi is a very powerful being.

Yes Kurama is a nice guy, and yes he was a reformed individual, but for cripes sake Hiei was trying to take over the human world and broke into the Reikai vault. Kurama had to have had more on the table to convince Koenma that he really didn't want to execute the two of them than the fact that he's a nice guy willing to risk his life to save his partner.

Kuro really hates Enma for betraying Kurama. More so for tarnishing Kurama's reputation afterward, not that Kurama was a saint, but he thought that 'killing innocents' sounded more like Kurama was being a bully, than the true strength and prowess he showed in that fight. Politics, go figure.

I'll follow up with the Hiei/Kurama scene in the next chapter.

Please review!!!

-san: Mr. or Mrs.
-sama: Lord
-kun: Young man that is a friend
-chan: Female, young boy, or lover
Baka: idiot
Chimera: Half animal, half human in appearance.
Haha: Mother
Hai: Yes
Hiruseki: tear gem
Inari: Fox goddess
Jagan: Hiei's 3rd eye
Ki: Energy signal, spirit energy
Kitsune: Fox spirit
Makai: Demon world
Mazaku: Type of demon that Yusuke is
Ne: Right?
Ningen: Human
Ningenkai: Human world
Oona: Woman
Reikai: Spirit world
Sakura Tree: cherry tree

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho nor any of its characters. They belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. The plot and original characters of this fic, are however, mine.