Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ My "Biography" of Youko Kurama ❯ A New friend ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A New Friend

Okay, just so you know, the name “Kurobue” was not a typo. That was Kuronue's original name, and that's why it's in here. Don't tell me it's not spelled right, because it is.

It had been three days since Kurama had killed everyone, and he was dazed and slightly confused at his location. He was tired, and he knew he was being followed, but, as he was in a half-state of shock, he did not feel the need to care. Finding himself in a pasture, he sat down to rest for a while. He looked down at the long hair spilling over his shoulder. After he'd killed his village in a completely adult rage, he had made the Transformation into such an adult and had gained new abilities, such as shape-shifting and the poker face that came along with a quicker wit. He knew instinctively how to keep his form and noticed many more things more quickly, but did not really realize these small changes. He gazed at the pasture around him with freshly-turned golden eyes, and listened to the will of the shimaneki grass around him.

"Don't leave us," it begged. "Please. We need a big, strong earth youkai like you to keep us alive." Kurama knew that these pathetic plants were lying in order to keep him with them so that they could become powerful, but still, he felt taken in by their words. He hated the feeling of being as alone as he felt at that moment, and decided to stay in the pasture for a while. He sent them a willing reply, and laid down in the grass, allowing it to curl around his arms as he stared blankly at the sky above him. After a while, he felt his limbs grow heavy and his eyelids fluttered closed.

He woke later on, and found his head spinning as if he were sick. He couldn't lift his arms or legs, and he felt as if he were buried under stones. He couldn't move, and didn't want to. There was only that annoying hat covering his face and preventing his breath.... Damn it, who put this thing over my face? the fox wondered, forcing himself to lift his arm and take the blasted thing off. Stupid... hat-thingey. he thought, unable to come up with a better insult. He sat up, looking for the fool who would dare to cover his face. No one was in the field. Damn it. Now I'll have to go find him. he grumbled, forcing his exhausted limbs to lift him up and carry him to the nearest town.

Once at the outskirts, he felt rejuvenated and energized, and he realized that that stupid hat had probably saved his life. He kept the hat in hand, and strolled through the town, searching for the scent that covered the black material in his hand. He examined it as he sat down on a bench, looking for clues as to what the person had looked like. It was a tattered old magician's hat that folded and flopped every which way, and had a hole in the top. Maybe someone's apprentice dropped it in hopes that I'd wake? he wondered, noting that it did not have the jewel on it that would signify the owner's status as a true magician. He looked up as his ears detected a commotion, and spied a group of slaves being led out onto a platform in the square. Kurama grimaced in disdain: he despised the whole concept of slavery, and that was not even including his feelings towards the slaves themselves. He could not understand why anyone would tolerate being owned by anyone else for any reason. After all, his parents, as harsh as they had been, had drilled the necessity for independence into his brain. "Foxes are strong, solitary creatures. Do not disappoint your ancestors by becoming weak and depending." And he had not and would not. He scowled at the beings on the platform and their pitiful expressions of weakness, hoping that they died soon. Then, one of them caught his eye.

This one, Kurama noticed, held his head high. He had long black hair that was in a high ponytail on top of his head, and piercing indigo eyes that stared straight ahead and occasionally flicked down to look condescendingly at the youkai below him. He was wearing a top that could barely be called such, as it was simply a vest that laced up in the front and frayed at the edges. Kurama felt a flicker of recognition as he continued to examine him. Kurama could tell that the boy was several decades older that himself, and noticed long black cords around the blue-eyed boy's forearms and wrists. He also saw black pants that were shielded by two separate strips of flowing white material, which was held up by a black belt. The shiney buckle of the boy's second belt caught Kurama's eye as the boy placed a slender hand on his right hip, readying himself for the auction. I want him. was Kurama's first and only thought. He looked down at the hat, noticing for the first time that there was a buckle on the front of it that looked almost exactly like the buckle on the other boy's second belt. Kurama watched as the auction began.

An hour later, the blue-eyed boy was sold to a very good-looking male youkai. Cats are such perverts. Kurama thought as a collar was snapped around the other boy's neck. He was led away, and, still driven by his desire, Kurama followed.

The moment they were out of the village and alone, the cat pushed the bat into a tree and began forcing himself onto the boy. Kurama immediately hid his presence and hid in another tree, ready to spring. The cat youkai pulled the boy's pants down, forcing his legs upwards, and Kurama heard a muffled cry of pain from the boy. Immediately, knowing that the cat would be distracted by the noise, Kurama pulled out one of his favorite seeds and dropped it just beside the cat. With a single thought, the bamboo branch grew explosively, sticking straight through the offending youkai. He dropped the hat onto the surprised boy's head.

"I think that's yours. If not, then keep it." the fox said from the tree, jumping away.

Five minutes later, Kurama was sitting in what was now a barren field. Now what? he wondered to himself.

"Bored?" someone asked from the shadows. Kurama recognized it in a moment, and turned to greet the boy from before.

"You're horrid at tracking people." he said. The boy laughed, appearing leaning against a tree near the edge. Kurama saw that the hat he'd given the boy covered his right eye, giving the boy a devious look that Kurama liked. As he continued the typical once-over, something sparkled around his hand, and Kurama noted the red pendant warily. Just because I saved him doesn't mean anything. he reminded himself. He narrowed his eyes, analyzing all and preparing for battle.

"Relax," the boy said, "I'm not here to fight." He brushed off his clothes as he spoke, putting on an air of indifference without stopping the swinging pendant.

"Then what do you want?" Kurama asked coldly. The boy shrugged, taking no notice of his tone.

"Well, I'm an illegal individual, and I saved your life, so don't you think you owe me?" Kurama was on his feet, coolly examining the ingrate before him.

"And your freedom wasn't enough?" he asked, enraged. The boy looked up at him with a piercing indigo eye.

"It's no good to be free if you can't stay free." he stated, and Kurama understood.

"Well, I suppose you could call me an illegal individual, as well. We could stay together and work out a deal; however, I will not come for you if you are caught." Kurama said. The boy smirked in triumph.

"Nor I for you. We have a deal, then?" Kurama stood.

"Nearly." He reached into his pocket, finding something he'd planned to give to Akane. Akane.... He silenced his bleeding heart, and pulled out a yin-yang. "Tell me your name." he ordered. The boy hesitated a moment before answering.

"Kurobue, but friends call me Kuronue.”

"Come here, then." At the boy's hesitation and raised eyebrow, he returned the introduction. "I'm Kurama." The boy jumped, and Kurama saw two black leathery wings attached to his back as he landed.

"So then, a fox and a bat, huh?" Kurobue asked, amused. Kurama showed him the yin-tang, and broke it.

"I'll wear the darkness one, and you wear the light. We'll find a good hideout, and make a name for ourselves. How's that?" Kurama proposed. Kurobue narrowed his eyes in thought before taking the white pendant and slipping it over his neck. "Very well. I suppose we'll have to be famous in order to survive, won't we?"

"Probably." Kurama slipped the yang piece over his head, and the pieces began to glow. Kurama kneeled, singalling for Kurobue to do so as well.

"On this promise, I plant this seed and finish a part of the deal." Kurama said, placing his hand over the buried seed and concentrating hard. Kurobue placed his hand over Kurama's, and gave him some of his energy.

"And I give my energy to him to grow the seed, as we are in this together." And, with that, the two grew an oak tree to be the largest in the forest. Kurobue flew to a high branch, and Kurama jumped to the one just below it, creating his own door that was just large enough for him. He walked inside the room, and made sure that it fit the shape of the tree perfectly. He added a ladder on the far side of the room, and climbed up. The second room he made more spacious, and he hollowed the door and made it larger for Kurobue's wings. The bat was laying on his belly on top of branch he'd chosen, and was still swinging the pendant back and forth.

"I can hide the doors from view." he said. Kurama nodded, and sat down on the branch as well, leaning against the doorway.

"So then, what shall I call you?" he mused. "I could call you Kuronue, but that's what everybody already knows you as, right?"

"Call me yin." he said. "You can call me Raven or Kuronue when we're here, but when we begin our pofession, I want to be known as Yin or Hikaru. Don't ever call me Kurobue. I hate that name."

"Very well, then, I'll follow suit. While we're here, call me Youko, or Kurama, or, hell, even both if it suits you. Out there, I'll be known as Yang or Yami." Just then, Kuronue laughed.

"'If it suits you!' You sound like a slave!" he teased, laughing. Kurama laughed as well, sensing that this was the beginning of a great new friendship.

"You know," Kuronue started, "We kind of need some things to sleep on. Well, at least you do. A rail across the ceiling would be fine for me."

"You're right. We do need some things." Kurama said as the golden sun finally sank below the horizon.

"I do believe our profession has just been chosen."