A Forest on Fire (KuramaxOc)

Ch 8: Weekend at Genkai's

"No one is allowed outside the temple after 10pm. That one's REALLY important. There's a wolf pack that's hunted on parts of the compound for decades, and Genkai won't have anyone trying to hurt her wolves 'just because some dumbass kid thought to do something stupid'" She mimicked the old psychic's voice and favorite scowl as she said the last part.

"That's exactly how she said it! Oh! And one more thing Kenji. She hasn't decided whether or not you'll be allowed to participate tomorrow or not, but if you are allowed, you need to understand that Genkai's a psychic. Some of the people coming to the tournament will be too! You'll see some really weird stuff, and we're putting a WHOOOOOOLE lot of trust in you to stay quiet about whatever you see! It could be trouble for master Genkai if too many adults found out some of the rumors were true... understand?"

Kenji nodded along with every rule, and his eyes got wide at the talk of weird stuff. "Do you think we'll see anything super freaky, like demons or anything like that?"

Yumi gave a nervous laugh and stammered a response.

"W-well... I guess anything is possible at Genkai's!"

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It took a couple of hours to reach the compound by train, and another hour to scale the temple steps, to Yumiko's utter annoyance. She could have ran to the top in under five minutes if she wanted to, but the human boy was incredibly slow! Finally, they could see the top of the stairs ahead.

"H-how... are you.. not... e-exhausted!!" Kenji wheezed as he collapsed near the top of the steps. The boy was red-faced, sweaty, and thoroughly out of breath from the climb.

Yumiko looked at him and shrugged, placing her bag on the ground and kneeling to rest beside him. "I grew up here remember? I use to run up and down these stairs twice a day." She lied. In truth she ran them five times before she was allowed to eat breakfast during her training, but she didn't think the boy needed to know that.

"Come on, Kenji, on your feet!" She exclaimed, pulling at his arms to get him standing again.
"Genkai hates weakness. If she thinks this wore you out, there's no way she'll let you participate! You've gotta act strong... okay?" She made a face, and flexed her arms like she had seen body builders on tv do as she finished speaking.

Kenji had to bite his knuckle to keep from laughing at the cute girl in front of him. She was so adorable, and supportive too! He couldn't believe his luck when he found out Shuichi wouldn't be here! He had tried to get a chance to spend time with her alone since her first day but the guy guarded her like a hawk!

He nodded, and stood up straight, taking both his duffel, and her bag before exclaiming "ALRIGHT!! LEAD THE WAY MISS YUMI!!!"

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Genkai watched from a crack in the door as the little fox-demon convinced her companion to rise. The boy had looked ready to pass out only a moment ago, but now charged full steam ahead after her encouraging words.

"Hmph" she said, thinking out loud. "Well, at least he's not ugly..."

"Not ugly???" A young boy growled beside her, his spotted brown ears flicking irritably. "Are you kidding master? He's hideous! He doesn't even have a tail! I bet he couldn't even run to the beach and back without collapsing!! What does she see in him anyway?"

The psychic chuckled slightly at the dog-demon boy's annoyance. Ben had had a crush on the girl since his first day at the temple, but she had turned down each of his advances.

He was thirteen now, fourteen in a few weeks, and the third strongest of her little brood. His bad temper and lack of control however, had caused him to fail every assessment in regards to being allowed into the human world. Suni on the other hand... The young fish-demon who had only arrived about five years prior, had grown in leaps and bounds.