Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Written In the Stars ❯ Discoveries ( Chapter 3 )

Written In the Stars

Chapter 3

Kurama walked out into the street, his mind suffering from a faint buzz. He couldn't stop thinking about that girl and her scarf, not that it was terribly important, but he couldn't get the image of the look in her eyes out of his mind. So he kept on walking. Where to, he didn't know, but the street suddenly stopped and he was surrounded by a quiet shade and the wide expanse of green grass. He didn't remember there being a park on this street.

"Hey, you look like you got a lot on your mind," Yusuke said as he stepped up behind his friend. "Did you find out anything about that girl you told us about?"

Kurama watched the sun hovering gently above him, the streams of light slipping through the leaves. "She has a lot to hide. I'm not sure what it was...because she got away before I could find out anything more."

"You mean she ran away from you?" Yusuke asked, shocked. That was something he would never have expected, considering Kurama was suppose to be one of the most popular guys in his school.

Kurama chuckled; he didn't need to look at Yusuke to see his surprised look. "Yeah, funny isn't it? I guess I asked too much, but now, there's definitely something she's not telling me. Although I don't know what it is," The redhead looked around. "Who are you here with?"

"So far, it's just me." Yusuke was about to say something else, but something caught his attention. A girl was racing down the street on a bike, peddling as fast as she could. She had on jeans, sneakers, a blue tee shirt, a denim jacket, a hat, and a pair of sunglasses. Running behind the girl were six other people, three boys and three girls. The girls chasing her looked like they could be sisters. They all had dark brown hair and blue eyes and were all very beautiful, yet somehow, they all looked cruel and unkind, as if they had no hearts, no concern for anyone except themselves.

The girl on the bike steered towards the park and got off the bike quickly, leaving it by a tree, about to run towards the woods, when her jacket got caught on a low branch. She tried to pull it off as quickly as she could with no success. Finally, she just took it off and left it there while she ran towards the woods. With the jacket out of the way, there was a clear view of another article of clothing that she was wearing. Around her neck was a very familiar looking lavender scarf.

"Oh come on," the younger sister, Aulii, called out, her voice cruel and sarcastic, "We just want to have some fun." The boy standing next to her was carrying a baseball bat with barbwire wrapped around it.

"Don't worry about it, Aulii," The middle sister, Tamma, said, "she couldn't have gone far, she's not that fast. Nobody is that fast. We'll get her," The boy that was standing next to her was carrying a crowbar.

"Yeah, Tamma's right. Lets split up. Aulii, you and Keiji head her off to the right; Tamma, you and Jiro head her off to the left. As for me and Takeo, we'll get her from behind," Said the oldest and cruelest sister, Adara.

The two girls nodded and headed off in different directions with their boyfriends right by their sides. The older girl, meanwhile, pulled out a knife, grinned at her boyfriend, and the two ran into the woods, following the girl.

***********

Kurama's laughter faded, his eyes suddenly grasping that faint trace of color. He yelled something over to Yusuke, telling him to follow then sprinted towards the denser part of the woods. Maybe this was the clue that he was waiting for. A predatorial grin slid onto his face. He could catch up with them easily.

Yusuke followed Kurama in hot pursuit, "I take it that's the girl you were talking about," he said, referring to the girl they had seen run into the woods just moments before.

"Yeah. That's her," Kurama heard a faint rustling then some voices and he put a finger to his lips, throwing Yusuke a hushing glance. He slid easily into the tall grass, his movements true to his fox nature.

Arella ran further and further into the woods, running as fast as her feet could carry her. I have to get away. I have to get away, was the thought that was going though her mind over and over again. Her three older cousins were playing their usual game with their boyfriends, Capture Arella. Apparently, if they did, from what she had heard, they would go and kill her. Finally, she stopped at one of the trees and looked around quickly, checking to see if anyone was looking. The nearest branch on the tree was too high up for a normal human to reach. Arella crouched down and with all her strength, leaped into the air and grabbed the branch with her hands, climbing up onto the tree and sitting down on the branch, quiet and still.

Something flickered in the sky, a flash of white that a human wouldn't be able to see, but Kurama caught it as easily as he would any other thing. He crouched down and narrowed his eyes. Was that Arella? Kurama wasn't sure, but whoever it was, they were not your average human that much he was sure.

"Where the hell did she go?!" Tamma said as she and her other sisters met back up. All of them seemed to be slightly confused by her sudden disappearance. Arella watched from where she was hiding, waiting for them to leave and go on some other adventure.

"You stay here," Kurama said quickly to Yusuke and jumped into the sky without a second thought, landing with light feet on a lonely branch on a tall tree. He hid himself behind the thick trunk, his eyes darkened by the shadow and coolness, watching the girl from an unseen vantage point.

"I don't believe it, she did it again!" Aulii screamed, stomping her foot on the ground like a little child. "You can't hide forever you little brat! Your going to have to come home sooner or later and when you do, our mother will be there ready to give you the beating of your life! You think this morning was bad, wait until you come home!"

Arella watched as the girls looked around the woods one more time before they finally left. She smiled and let out a sigh of relieve. At last, I'm free; I just can't go back to Aunt Maura's tonight. She thought. She stood up on the branch and looked around some more to make sure her cousins were gone for good before she jumped off the rather high branch she had been sitting on, landing on her feet with grace and ease.

Kurama's eyes sharpened on the figures scampering around on the ground, memorizing their faces and voices. He'd look for them later. He jumped down from the tree, his shirt flapping lightly in the wind and landed in front of Arella.

"Hello, long time no see."

What the hell?! Arella thought, surprised to see Shuuichi standing there, even more so by the fact that he had simply jumped in front of her. Oh God, please don't let him be an Angel Hunter. She prayed silently. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, watching him closely to see if he would attack her.

Kurama licked his lips slowly, watching her with a languid expression. "I've been watching you for a while now…" He turned to face her completely. "Just what are you?"

"What kind of question is that?! I'm just a regular average human, there's nothing special about me. If this is suppose to be some kind of sick prank because I'm the new girl at school, just save it, I've seen it all," Arella now stood there, her arms crossed over her chest, studying the expression on his face.

Kurama's observing look faded to a soft gentle look. "Sorry, but normal people don't jump into trees with one jump."

Arella stepped back, her heart now racing in her chest a mile a minute, a look of complete shock now written across her face. "You.... You saw that?" she asked, fear evident in her voice.

"Some things like that aren't hard to miss," Kurama stated simply. "Now, tell me. What are you?"

"Ummm, I think I should go now.... I don't want to upset my aunt and be late for dinner. Bye!" Arella ran past him, but didn't make it very far. Yusuke quickly grabbed her from behind, holding her in a bear hug so that she wouldn't escape.

"Your aunt? Was that the reason for your scarf?" Kurama walked over to Arella and touched Yusuke on the shoulder, urging him to release the girl. Yusuke nodded and very cautiously released her, keeping a close eye on her if she tried to escape again.

"We're not going to hurt you," Kurama looked softly into Arella's eyes, a gentle persuasion.

Arella looked back into his eyes for a moment, trying to decide if she could trust them. Her hand then went over to the scarf, where she untied it and removed it from her throat, revealing the bruises to Yusuke and Kurama.

"Holy crap…" Yusuke whispered, a bit surprised to see such a vicious bruise on a girl who seemed so fragile.

Kurama reached out and rested his warm fingers on the dark spots of skin on Arella's neck, almost in a comforting kind of way. "Please, tell us your story."

"Like I said before, there's nothing to tell. I got this because I was clumsy. It's nothing, really."

Yusuke and Kurama both looked at each other for a moment. That moment was all that Arella needed. Quickly taking advantage of the situation, Arella turned around and ran as quickly as she could to get away from them. They both seemed surprised by the action and didn't seemed to pleased with the fact that they had not been paying attention more carefully.

As she ran, Arella swore that she heard Shuuichi calling out to her, but she didn't listen. She just continued to run until she finally reached the spot where her bike was. She grabbed the bike and jacket that had been stuck on the branch, got on, and peddled off, not bothering to look back. She just knew that she had to get away. She was just glad that after they had seen her bruised neck, they had forgotten about questioning her on what she really was.

***********

About three o`clock in the morning, Arella walked up to a very elegant house. It was made of red brick and had a white staircase that led up to the beautifully decorated Spanish wood door. The house was also aligned with elegant windows, some of them having beautiful stain glass designs on them. The white roof on top completed the scene, making the beautiful house almost look like something from a fairy tale.

This was Aunt Maura's home. Where she, Adara, Tamma, and Aulii lived in comfort and luxury. With Arella though, it was another story all together.

She made her way to the side of the house and climbed up the fire escape ladder that was coming out of the window that led to her room, which was all the way up in the attic. As she stepped inside and turned on the lights, she laid down a small bag on the floor.

The room itself was rather small and cramped. On the right side was her bed, if you could call it a bed. It really was nothing more then a few old pillows and an opened up sleeping bag with a rather thin gray blanket.

On the other side was a small room that served as her bathroom. There was a shower, bathtub, toilet, sink, and a stained mirror.

Next to the door of the bathroom was a suitcase that held all of Arella's clothing.

Despite the closed and cramped room, there was one thing about the room that she actually looked forward to seeing.

Resting on her bed was a small fox cub, who, at the sight of her arrival, ran to her side and stood up on it's hind legs, it's front paws leaning on her leg for support, wanting to be picked up and held.

"I missed you too, Kin," she whispered as she sat down and took the small fox into her arms. The fox affectionately licked her face, happy to see that his guardian was finally home.

"Sorry I took so long to get back," she told the fox apologetically, "I ran into some trouble. First with the Triple Terrors and then with a boy that I met from school, Shuuichi. He knows I'm not like other people, Kin. He saw me jump when I was running away from my cousins."

Arella then reached into the bag she had brought with her and pulled out a container. She opened up the lid and put it down besides the bed.

"I got you your favorite this time, chicken and sausage," Arella told the fox. Kin just looked up at her and licked her face again before he walked over to the container and started to eat the food that Arella brought home for him.

Arella then took the rest of the stuff that was in the bag, which was mostly potato chips, cookies, snack cakes, candy, and a box of cereal and put them under a lose floor board where some of the other food she had gotten before resided.

Her aunt did feed her...occasionally, it was just that when she did, it was only once a day and was usually something like an apple or a rice cake. So, in order to keep herself from starving to death, which Arella had a feeling her Aunt Maura was trying to do, she took some of the money she had saved up over the years and would buy her self some food.

The last thing that Arella took out of the bag was another small container. Inside was some kuri-gohan, something that she use to eat a lot of when she was a kid, when her mother was still alive. Now, instead of eating it on special occasions or what not, it now served as part of her survival so that she wouldn't die.

As she ate, she picked up a leather bound book that was resting on her bed. It was her mother's diary. Inside of the precious book was the story of how her mother, Amata, was able to rescue the Angels that were being held prisoner by Morfran, the most lethal of all the Angel Hunters in Makai.

Author's Note: Kuri-gohan is chestnut rice.