Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Kit Love ❯ My Past, Your Past ( Chapter 6 )

Kit Love:

Chapter 6- My Past, Your Past

One clawed hand dug into his pocket, then produced the blood-red germ that looked exactly like Enrai's own. With a strangled gasp, the silver fox clutched the gem that hung from his ear-pendant and took a half step back. "Where th' hell did y get that?!"

"Supposedly it belonged to my parents," Shuurai said absentmindedly, turned the object over and over in his fingers. Something Enrai had said only moments before tickled at the back of his mind. Something about the owner and life…

Peering closer, Enrai caught the glimmer of sparks from the depths of the Chishio-houshu. "Hey!" he exclaimed, straightening and giving Shuurai a gleeful look. "If this really does belong to one of your parents, it means you were right! They, or leastaways one of them, is still alive!"

"…Because of the life fire…" Shuurai replied slowly, catching on. He gave the other boy a smug glance. "Told you they were still alive."

The other kitsune merely rolled emerald eyes that glittered like the ocean and fingered his blood-gem. "Still.." he muttered, almost as if talking to himself. "It's weird that we both have one of these…s'pposedly they're rare…" Shaking a head of silver locks, he let go of the Chishio-houshu and continued down the dusty path. "Come on!" he called over his shoulder to the ecstatic Shuurai. "Lake's not to far up 'head!"

With a grin and a whoop, Shuurai jogged to catch up to his look-alike. "I can't wait to find my parents!"

With a lopsided grin that was identical to the one on Shuurai's face, Enrai just shook his head again. "Crazy fox." His steps quickened as the first glimmers of water caught his eye from ahead and his body automatically honed in on it.

When he was close enough to make out the actual lake itself, Enrai shot Shuurai a glance, which was promptly returned. Almost as if on instinct, both kitsune boys sped up, their running legs quickly closing the rest of the distance between them and the glittering waters.

Immediately upon reaching the banks, Enrai shed his shirt, boots, and ear pendant, and dove into the slightly muddy waters. Shuurai could tell that the water level was down way below what it should be-for dried mud covered the grass almost 100 feet out from where the water's edge was now-but nevertheless, it was water, and water was welcome.

Following the other boy's example, he shed shoes and shirt, also slipping the photograph and Chishio-houshu out of his pocket. The last thing to go was his sword, and then he too dove into the water, sighing in relief as the cool liquid washed over his head.

"Feels good, don't it?" Enrai asked, once he had surfaced. "'S not much, but it'll hafta do for now." The silver-tailed fox was floating on his back, staring up at the piercing blue sky overhead.

"Enrai…do you ever…miss your parents?" Shuurai asked a few more moments of silence.

"No," the other kitsune answered shortly. "I figger, if they didn't care enough to stay with me an' to be my fam'ly, then they're not worth missin'. I really don't care 'f they're live or dead; I depend on no one but myself and I certainly don't need older people tryin' to tell me what to do." His cynical voice paused for a moment, then shot the question back at its asker.

"That's the way I've always looked at things…" Shuurai answered slowly. "I rely on myself, and I don't need others; none of them know me and all I get from them is pity. But…I've seen other kitsune…happy ones with their clans and their packs and their herds. It just makes me wonder sometimes what it would be like to have a real family. And I've always thought that my parents left for a reason, not just because they didn't want me anymore"

"Mmm…" was the only reply he got and the two young foxes slowly let themselves drift upon the water, the warm sun baking their bare stomachs and the slightly cooler water tickling their equally bare backs.

They stayed that way until the sun was barely a finger-width above the horizon, then Enrai splashed to shore and began rooting around in his small pack for something. "Dinner," he answered, when Shuurai also left the water to stand by his side.

Nodding, the golden kitsune moved to his own pack, wringing the water from his silver-tipped tails. But as he bent down to search for the bread and dried meat he had stashed in his pack earlier, the torn picture he had had since he was little fell out of his pocket and drifted slowly to the ground.

Sighing, Shuurai reached out to pick up the photo fragment, but was surprised when Enrai got there first. Straightening, he held out one hand with a murmured, "Thank you", but didn't get his precious item back.

Frowning in annoyance, he raised his eyes to look at Enrai, and upon seeing his face, frowned even deeper, but this time in puzzlement.

The silver fox was staring at the picture as if he had just seen a spirit. His emerald eyes were wide and his golden-tipped tails were trembling ever so slightly. The clawed hand that clutched the small photo was white-knuckled and shaking too.

"E-Enari? Can I have that back, now?" Shuurai nervously switched his weight from one foot to the other, still holding his hand out for the photo of himself as a baby.

But the other boy made no move to return it, only delved deep into his own pocket and pulled out a small chunk of paper.

Wonderingly, Shuurai watched as his look-alike fitted the two pieces together, then turned them around so he could see them. Eyes also widening, the golden fox saw that the edges matched perfectly…and so did the pictures. The other hand that Shuurai's was grasping belonged to another baby kitsune that looked exactly like Enrai.

Glancing up, he managed to stutter, "Y-you're my…brother."