Fox Games:
Chapter 5- Change
When he came to his was lying on the couch in his own home, being watched by a very concerned Hiei and his sobbing mother. " Shuuichi!" she exclaimed the moment his eyes opened. She flew to his side, kneeling down on the floor and grabbing one of his hands in hers with a death grip.
"Ow, mother please!" he winced. She let go and caressed his cheek gently, her own cheeks shining and wet. "I was so worried…" she whispered. "You collapsed sweetie, do you remember? Shuuichi?"
But Kurama did not hear her, he was already lost in his mind once again and staring off at nothing. Hiei approached and roughly smacked his cheek. A resounding crack reverberated in the room and a nasty red blotch appeared on Kurama's pale cheek. He looked dully up at his friend and put one slender hand to his cheek and massaged it gingerly. His mother gasped slightly and put a hand over her mouth, glancing fearfully up at the little fire demon standing next to her.
"Stop this!" Hiei said harshly. "For the past few months all you have done is mope around and feel sorry for yourself. Well now the pity party's over! Stop wallowing in your grief and shame and try to make things right! Everyone's sick of your brooding! It's time to wake up and try to FIX your mistake instead of pining away! So stop acting like a little child and get up! We're leaving tomorrow and Haven is going to be there! I want to see you tomorrow morning, dressed properly, your hair combed and washed with a smile on your face! You had better start eating again too! I'm sick of this, SHUUICHI! You will come with us tomorrow and you will stop this childish sulking!" He finished his tirade and stood there glaring at his friend.
A ghost of a smile stole over Kurama's face at the slight emphasis Hiei had placed on his human name. Hiei caught that smile and his glare softened tone a little. Kurama sat up and put his head in his hands for a moment. When he raised his head once again, his eyes were lit from within as they had not been in a long time. He grinned at Hiei and stood up, moving not like an old man, but like the cunning, graceful fox he was. "Thank you Hiei," he said quietly, rubbing his cheek ruefully. "That was just what I needed." And he walked into his room to pack for their trip to the Makai, his step light, his hands swinging, and a soft, cheerful hum issuing forth from his lips.
His mother stared after him in bewilderment, her hand still covering her open mouth. She looked up to Hiei in awe and he looked back down at her, the look on his face almost sheepish. "Thank you…" she said, disoriented. "For…whatever it was you did. He's changed again…You've brought my boy back…Thank you, thank you very much." And the tears coursed anew down her cheeks, only this time they were tears of joy.
Smirking to himself as he left the room, Hiei quickly cleared his mind and reached out with the Jagan Eye, probing for Haven's Spirit Energy. A very faint signal came from the west. She was farther away then he had thought. "Well, no matter," he thought, shrugging to himself. And he ran off at top speed in her direction, the smirk on his face widening with each stride. Now to convince Haven…
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Kurama sang quietly to himself as he bustled around the house the next morning, preparing to leave for the Makai. The extra spring in his step and his gloriously shining hair gave an almost god-like quality to his simple human body. For the first time in months, his life was looking up. He slung the backpack filled with his things over his shoulder and finished the glass of water he was drinking. Putting the glass in the sink, he left a note for his mother on the table and left the house, still singing under his breath.
The sun rose hazy and warm in the east, causing the world to appear as if cast in pure gold. The heavens above were awash in pink, purple, orange, and red, while the clouds glowed gold and dusky blue. Kurama breathed deeply, feeling alive for the first time in weeks. He practically beamed as he walked down the street in the early morning quiet, gazing at the sunrise and taking in the smells of the early morning. The sun had already warmed the summer earth to almost unbearable, but a cooler breeze played down the street, making Kurama's now fiery locks swirl around his porcelain cheeks.
He strolled slowly to their meeting place and, being slightly early, pausing now and then to trace the rough bark of a tree or stooping low to caress the silky petals of a flower. He had arrived earlier at the park and now took a seat on the banks of the pond, scooping up a rock and skipping it across the smooth, glassy surface. Ripples and a small splash disturbed the placid surface, creating spreading waves that reached back to the shore and threatened to wet Kurama's feet. Pulling them back slightly, he smiled for the pure joy of smiling and tilted his head back to let the breeze further tease his hair.
Little did he know that less then ten feet away, from behind the coverage of a tree, a certain kitsune girl was watching him, and finding her breath catching in her throat in awe. The rising sun had set his hair on fire, and stained his skin a shining gold. The breeze played with his hair as she had once done and the play of early morning shadows on his muscled arms had only added to his ethereal beauty. Seeing him again had awakened a myriad of memories in her closed mind. And while many of them were pleasant ones, it was the painful ones that replayed themselves most predominantly in her mind. Her shattered heart ached and burned to think of these things, yet the one thing she could not get out of her head, no matter how hard she tried, was his beauty. And now, standing here, watching him once again, feelings stirred in her shut off soul, fluttered their wings unsteadily and tried to take flight. She let them rule her heart and head for a fraction of a second, before quickly stamping them out once again.
She would not allow herself to become attached to someone again…ever. She had learned the hard way twice, and now she would not let her walls down again. So her heart hardened and she turned away, settling herself on a bench behind the fox-boy, some distance back, and staring at the brightening sky.
Hiei had talked to her yesterday. He had come to her out of the blue and demanded to talk with her. He had tried to get her to at least listen to the fox demon again, to at least give him one more chance, but Haven had stoutly refused, telling him that she was not going to make the same foolish mistake ever again. The two fiery tempered demons had argued for at least an hour, before the shorter of the two finally stormed away in disgust, muttering about the damn stubborn fools in this world and how pride was going to get them nowhere.
These scenes from the day before played through her mind now as she glanced at the back of her former lover. Letting her heart soften for a moment's time, what Hiei had said played through her thoughts and she found herself almost, but not quite, wanting to let him be hers again. But the memories of pain-filled days and nights, laced with tears and anguish, drowned out Hiei's lecture and strengthened her resolve. Her eyes grew hard and glittered like diamonds once more and her body tensed, She would not let herself be led astray anymore by wishful thoughts of forgiveness and love. She had renounced love and all the things it entailed the day she had been betrayed again and swore vehemently to herself that she would keep herself distanced from these boys if it was the last thing she did.
Chapter 6- Kitsune
