Yumiko hadn't spoken a word since they had left the Minamino residence the next morning. The text she had received still echoed in the back of her mind.
She had done her absolute best to remain polite, and seem calm in front of miss Shiori, and Kurama had assisted in that by using control to take a bit of the edge off from the blazing inferno within the girl's chest. The moment they had stepped off the train however, he had relinquished his grip, and she had fumed.
She dropped her things just inside the doorway of Genkai's temple without so much as a glance to what might as well have been her grandmother, nor to her student, who looked up from the plate of eggs he had been half-way through devouring long enough to glare her way.
Kurama tried to shake his head at the detective in warning, but it was too late.
"YOU COULD AT LEAST NOT LEAVE THEM IN THE DOORWAY YOU KNOW!!!" He shouted around the eggs.
Yumiko, who had been halfway back through the door, turned on her heels and hissed at him with pure rage. In that moment, Kurama thought the little fox had looked more like a demon than he had ever seen. She nearly slammed into Maru as she stomped out of the main room, and blinked at him once before grabbing the front of his shirt, and dragging the goat demon with her towards the beach.
Maru blinked at the sudden contact, and paled, shooting a bemused glance at the redhaired male before allowing the fox to drag him. Kurama released an exasperated sigh, and ran a hand through his hair as he spoke, drawing out a few echinacea seeds in the process.
"If Mako arrives, perhaps advise him to tread cautiously." He prompted, before following the two to the sands. It was going to be a very long day. Over his shoulder, he could hear muttering as the two returned to their breakfasts.
"Damned brat nearly bit my head off..." Yusuke muttered, returning to his eggs.
"She's certainly in a mood today... those boys would do well not to underestimate her." Genkai mused, then added. "I suggest you eat well, it will be your last meal for three days."
"THREE DAYS?!? HOW THE HELL IS STARVING ME SUPPOSED TO HELP ME BEAT TOGORO, YOU OLD HAG?!?
***
Kurama stared, mouth agape as Yumiko chased Maru around the sandy beach, a look of genuine panic on the male's face as he tried to dodge her claws in his goat demon form. Clearly she had no interest in waiting for the safety net of the echinacea plants before starting. Cautiously, he felt for their bond, and flinched, taking a step back at the roiling fury inside the little fox.
Maru shot him a desperate look, and he nodded, throwing his seeds in a wide arc into the breeze. The moment the seeds landed, the life-field rose. Maru stopped suddenly and hissed in pain as her claws sank into his chest.
"Shall we take the training wheels off then?"
He asked in a voice that did not belong to the goat demon's body. Kurama shuddered, and braced himself, feeding a steady stream of energy into those flowers. 'Caution, Yumi... are you sure you're ready for-' His thought was cut off by a vicious snarl both in mind, and in person as Yumiko yanked her claws free. Her eyes had gone bright blue, not a hint of green, and her ears and tail tip now bore the faintest black tips. 'She's shifting fully... how will you proceed, fox?'
Hiei's voice in his mind caught Kurama wholly off guard, as did the sudden presence beside him, and he realized he had been sweating.
"This isn't good... I don't think I could stop her if I tried, outside of command at least...." He thought for a moment as Yumiko snarled for Maru not to hold back. "If it comes to it, I'll use the bond to force sleep. Hopefully it won't... AH!!"
He gasped, as Yumiko went flying across the sands, her body bouncing thrice before coming to a stop as Veinahvehn took his form, and struck her hard with black tipped claws!
"YUMIKO!!"
He had only taken a step when Vehn appeared in front of him and shoved him to the ground with minimal effort.
"Do not interfere, not this time. Let her fight in earnest."
His words were as steady as the waves that lapped the lakeshore, those eyes holding no emotion as the dragon-in-demon-form reached forward. Kurama braced himself as black-tipped claws ran through his hair, eyes wide and fear-scent evident as he knew full well he was on the wrong side of that life-field.
"I'm not going to hurt you, boy... I just need to borrow this..."
With a flick of his wrist, Vehn summoned a plant from the seed he had obtained from the redhead's locks. At once thorny vines wrapped themselves around the boy's body, arms, and legs. Kurama writhed and thrashed, but it was useless. This would be a good lesson to the fox should another beast ever get close enough to touch those seeds, and would stop him from ordering the fox to heel. As the boy went still, the plant's poisons starting to work their paralysis into his system, Vehn turned his attention back to the fox who had risen to her feet.
'There you are, kitsune of the eastern forest. Child of fire and moonlight.' He mused, allowing the thoughts to reach the girl as his claws elongated. He would hold back. Of course he would, but he would test the girl in earnest now, while that fire raged within her. He issued his own command: 'Show me, child of fire...'
***
Yumiko rose to her feet. There was a quickly healing slash across her cheek from where the demon had struck her, but she didn't feel it. She was angry. She was hurt, and she needed to burn it all away. That message still raged in her mind as though it hung in the air before her...
4:58am
Kona: Hey kiddo, Sorry for the scare, but Mako's fine. Dumbass had too much of a good time and forgot his phone. Don't worry about him, we'll keep him safe.
He hadn't been there this morning. Hadn't texted, hadn't called, hadn't seen her off. He had been too busy getting drunk!
She snarled again, a guttural sound that made her entire body quiver. Slowly her body changed, no longer bound by a partial bond. Her limbs grew slightly longer, her ears as well, and her claws ended in golden tips. Her cream-to-crimson hair now fell to her waist, even tied back in the ponytail she had tied that morning, and the lowest tips had turned black as night, along with her ears and tail-tip. Where a firebrand had just stood, now a full sylphan-fox glared down her opponent, eyes burning a heart-of-fire blue.
For the moment, she was a tempest contained, even as Veinahvehn tied down her bonded, even as she felt his flicker of fear, even as his eyes met hers. She stared into those wide emerald orbs, and watched as his gaze went from horrified, to accepting, to challenging. She watched as his eyes hardened, and he gave her the tiniest nod of his head, the most the bound human could muster. She had calmed slightly as his command issued in her head. 'Channel those emotions Yumi... Show me...'
She had nearly mastered them when a second voice spoke, aloud and in her mind. A snarl more vicious than any other ripped from her throat. 'Show me, child of fire...'
How dare he...
HOW DARE HE!!
How dare any, any demon use the command meant only for them, for her, and her bond? Her eyes snapped to the demon responsible as he vanished in a puff of red smoke. She didn't even flinch as she turned on her heels, raking her claws through the air behind her. They connected on something hard, and just as Veinahvehn puffed back into existence, Yumiko raked those golden claws across his face, nearly taking his eye with her.
Vehn staggered back, shock clear on his face as he gripped at his quickly healing eye. She had followed his path flawlessly, something few demons had ever managed before. He growled in delight.
"That's it, fox! Show them all what Ecovehn's child can do when the collar is removed!!"
He snarled, launching towards her again with his own claws outstretched. Yumiko didn't balk, nor did she step back. The little fox met him head on, blocking each attack as she aimed deadly claws of her own. He slashed her cheek as she pierced his throat. He raked claws across her arm as she slashed them across his stomach. He aimed a blow for her head, missed, and managed to grab a handful of hair.
That had been a mistake. Yumiko made a guttural sound and lunged upward as he tried to get a grip on her. She felt her hair ripping at her scalp, a split second before her skull impacted with his chin. Vehn stumbled backwards, and she leapt, flipping off of his shoulders the instant the pressure on her head was released. She grabbed a handful of hair on her way down the other side, and pulled hard.
Vehn's entire body was yanked off his footing, and he slammed onto the ground an instant before sharp claws pierced into his shoulders. A glint of white caused a momentary panic as the enraged fox went for the throat, and he released his own fire, igniting the air between them with a thought.
Yumiko screeched as she was thrown back from the male, the blast searing her face, chest and arms. Kurama groaned around the vines that kept him gagged, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he felt the heat of that blow. His body went limp with relief as the life-field rapidly healed the wounds, but it was short lived. A blur whipped past him, followed by a gout of flame as Yumiko fired on the fleeing male with her own foxfire. She screamed as she channeled orb after orb towards Vehn, who dodged each one with ease.
"YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN-"
The demon's taunts were cut off as he dodged a massive fireball, only to find the fox had used it as a distraction, and flame tipped claws raked hard across his stomach.
Kurama leaned forward as the dragon/demon staggered back, hands working to hold in his intestines after that attack as the life-field healed the wounds. That had been a killing blow. Beside him, Hiei flinched. The fire demon had spent a week training with Veinahvehn, he and Kuwabara teaming up to try and land a killing blow and had failed each time, yet the enraged fox...
Yumiko seethed only a few feet from the demon, her arms hanging limply in front of her, breathing ragged as she watched for any signs of aggression. Her ear flicked as the healing sealed the wound, and her claws twitched as Vehn's right foot inched backwards.
He smirked. Finally he could fight in earnest. A snap filled the air as two seals broke simultaneously, and fire began to dance at the male's fingertips. Hiei took a step back, dragging Kurama's still bound body with him.
"Perhaps you should put another life-barrier around us now, fox!" He said a bit nervously, and Kurama tried his hardest to will the seeds in his hair to life. The small flowers obeyed, sprouting through the male's hair.
'You'll have to spread them.' He sent the thought to Hiei, flinching as a ball of fire as tall as that fire demon himself whizzed past, having been deflected by the girl's own flame.
"I am not combing through your hair!!" Hiei shouted suddenly, and to Kurama's surprise, the male's face had gone red at the suggestion. 'That's... curious...' He thought to himself, noting how the demon stiffened at that thought as well, then sent: 'Fine, enjoy being burned to death. I'll let Yukina know where to visit her brother's grave.'
The taunt worked, perhaps a little too well. Hiei growled as he ripped the plants from Kurama's hair rather aggressively, and threw them to form a protective ring around them. It couldn't have been a moment too soon as a fireball slammed through, only inches from the standing demon's head. Hiei gulped, and dropped to a sitting position to create a smaller target.
"At which point do you intervene?" He asked with genuine concern. Kurama glanced toward the smaller demon again. His concern for the fox had been apparent since their journey to Maze Castle. If he were being honest, it had turned his stomach to scent the demon in Yumiko's room the night prior. He was not too proud to admit that he had searched the girl's memories to see how far the interaction had gone. A rather possessive feeling surged in his chest, but before he could even form a response, Hiei scoffed.
"I'm not going to try and steal your fox, idiot. Though I'd rather not watch her die at an immortal's claws." Hiei scolded, angling his head back to the fight.
Yumiko had mastered herself enough to summon her Petals and Thorns technique, though the usually gold and red petals were now ablaze, their integrity somehow remaining intact. Yumiko shot wave after wave of the petals towards the demon, who did his best to destroy them with his fire only to find they cut through the inferno like a knife through butter. A single thought rang out for the telepaths to hear, and both males paled as it reached their minds.
'Shit!'
An incredibly loud, yet near-silent 'bwip' filled the air right about the time the males realized she had completely surrounded the dragon/demon with those flaming petals, her hands forming the sigil in front of her. Veinahvehn's face went pale, black and ember eyes growing wide as she spoke the fatal word.
"PULSATION!!!"
The voice that screeched the word was so, so unlike his gentle Yumiko, that it left claw marks of its own down Kurama's heart. Hiei threw up a shield in front of them as the sea of petals surged towards Veinahvehn, the closest ones beginning their chain reaction as the rest of the world fell still.
***
The sound of the explosion could be heard back at the train station, followed by a shudder that stretched across the land. The tomcat who had just exited the train felt a chill run down his spine at the familiar sensation. 'I know that sound...'
***
Even at the cliffs where Yusuke and Genkai trained, the world shuddered. Yusuke lost his grip on the cliff face, nearly plummeting to the ground in the process.
"SHIIIIIT!!" He gripped an outcropping as tight as he could as he managed to stop his descent.
"What the hell was that??"
Without warning, Genkai dropped from the sky, hovering in front of him, and began to pummel his stomach.
"FOCUS!!!"
***
In a forest clearing, a mile from the temple, Kuwabara lost his balance as the world shuddered beneath him, and turned in the direction of the explosion as well.
"What was, that?" He asked out loud.
He was tempted to go check it out, when Hiei's warning sounded in his mind. 'Stay here and practice your footing. Should I return and find you goofing around, I won't hold back.'
A second shudder ran down the boy's spine and he turned away from the sound, refocusing on his own training.
"Alright, now how did it go again?"
***
Veinahvehn was no where to be seen. Kurama's entire body ached as he felt the echinacea flowers draining his energy to heal the massive wounds caused by the attack. The trees closest to the beach had all been blown to splinters as Yumiko finally managed to combine her gift of the forest with her foxfire abilities. The girl stood right where she had been, protected by an orb of fire that she whisked away with a thought. Her eyes still blazed, and she panted heavily as she searched the sands for any remains of the ancient being.
He knew the male was still alive, otherwise his flowers wouldn't be draining so much energy to try and heal him. Allowing his mind to go still as he followed the energy spooling from his body.
***
About 20 feet from shore, the surface of the lake rippled, and the plants holding Kurama down loosened their grip as Veinahvehn's battered body floated to the surface. The immortal spat out a mix of water and blood as he examined the damage. Water flowed freely through a hole in his torso as the flowers worked desperately to heal the wound.
That attack had taken him wholly by surprise. Sure, Vehn had watched her use something similar in his Goat demon form, but never to such an extent. He watched a cloud floating aimlessly as he felt muscle reform, and skin begin to tighten over the wound. It moved so slowly, as though not caring in the slightest for the fast moving world below. Bit by bit, it crossed above him, the edges shifting slightly with the wind.
It was serene here, in the middle of this lake, and for some reason, the gentle cloud above took his mind back to the little shinigami. Vehn huffed a single laugh at the thought, and turned his gaze back toward the shore. The boy was trying to creep closer to the still blazing fox. He had underestimated the Yumiko. That was for certain, but even as his stomach knit itself back together, he knew such a skill would not serve her in the tournament.
He had nearly regained his strength enough to rejoin the fight, when a familiar scent tickled his nose, followed by the sound of slow clapping. Vehn groaned, wondering what on earth the fool could be thinking.
"The prodigal fool returns..." He mumbled to himself, then took a deep breath, and allowed his body to sink under the surface. This was one fight he wanted nothing to do with.
***
"Damn! If you had used that move on me during your assessment, I would have been a goner!" Mako's voice sent a shiver down Kurama's spine.
The tomcat sounded impressed, jovial even! A far cry from the mournful apology Yumiko was owed after his vulgar behavior the night before. The air around the training grounds seemed to tense, the temperature raising significantly. Kurama had enough time to gulp before Hiei was by his side, a barrier raised in front of them. A single second longer, and they may have both been incinerated as the fire-fox blazed in fury anew.
"IDIOT!!" Hiei hissed as his hands burned behind the energy shield he had barely raised in time. "He'll get us all killed!"
Kurama knew he was right, and moved a hand down to the wristlet, which now flowed a faint, iridescent blue thanks to the completed bond he shared with the blazing sylph.
A snarl ripped from the girl's throat as she whipped around to face the cat-bat demon, for that's the form he had taken. At least he had thought far enough ahead to use his strongest form, though it hardly mattered as her orb of fire shifted in front of her, then condensed as she launched it straight for him. Mako let out a startled cry and flung himself out of the way a mere second before the orb would have careened into his chest.
Hiei and Kurama watched in horror as the fireball missed the demon, and whirled ever closer to the compound itself. Yumiko screeched, her hands splayed out in front of her as she worked to alter the orb's path with a thought. It shifted, barreling upwards mere seconds before it would have connected with the front door, then shifted again, this time aiming directly for the cause of her fury all over again.
Mako let out a startled, garbled sound, and shifted, something he very seldom did, into his full animal form. Though he often wore the form of a solid black tom, that was not his full animal form, as he swiftly revealed. A lithe, white cat with midnight wings and piercing iced eyes leapt into the sky, barely dodging the second attack. It was roughly the size of a fox in this form, though it moved with a grace that could only belong to the feline kind. He shot across the sands as the massive orb broke apart into three smaller orbs, each circling the others as they raced after the hybrid demon.
Mako yowled in panic as he scaled a tree on the edge of the sands, only for the first orb to barrel straight through the trunk, shattering the wood on impact to send the tree groaning to the earth below. He hissed, then snarled as he launched from the branches just before they hit the ground. A screech rang across the training area as one of those orbs caught the top of his tail, and with furious wing beats he launched himself into the air.
It was truly a sight to behold. Hiei watched in awe as the young kitsune writhed and flung her arms through the air to control the orbs. Although untrained, and unrefined, the technique was still quite impressive. If Kurama allowed her to train with the fire demon, he could help mold the wild flame into a formidable weapon.
Beside him, Kurama shifted slightly to hold his gaze, then allowed a single nod of agreement to the plan. It was truly a powerful, and quite dangerous technique. He kept his hand inches above that wristlet, ready to intervene the moment things got out of hand. In truth, he was ill-prepared to teach Yumiko how to control her fire, and he doubted she would be training with Maru again any time soon after today. Hiei's assistance would be much appreciated.
Both males were distracted from their musings as the winged-cat demon blitzed past them, shooting straight for the water's edge. They watched as Mako folded in his wings and dove, clearly hoping to escape the flames beneath the waves. His plan was foiled however as a blast of near-scalding water propelled him back into the early morning sky.
"This is your problem, boy... You chose your path of self-loathing. Now deal with the consequences of that choice."
Veinahvehn's voice filled the air, and Kurama's gaze snapped to where only the demon's head shown above the waves, his hair near-black from the water. His message delivered, he took another breath, and disappeared under the water's surface just before one of the remaining two orbs grazed across the air where he had just been.
Mako let out a startled yowl as the gout of water shot him skyward again, and writhed in the air as he wrestled for control of his wings. He just barely managed to alter his course as the second orb shot past, close enough to singe fur, and took off again at full speed. As soon as paws touched sand, he shifted into his true form again, and ran towards the two males with a look of sheer panic on his face.
"THIS IS GETTING REALLY OLD NOW!!!"
Hiei tensed, taking a step back as he shouted at the demon.
"DON'T LEAD THEM OVER HERE YOU IDIOT!!"
"HEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP!!!" Mako screeched, barreling for the two males.
Hiei cursed, grabbed Kurama by the arm, and teleported them both out of the tomcat's path. At least, that's how it looked to the human who had just managed to reach the edge of the forest, though he knew Hiei was just too fast to keep up with.
***
"Woah..."
Kuwabara breathed as he watched the scene before him. Hiei had taken Kurama to the water's edge, ready to dive into the safety of the lake should miss Yumiko erupt again. Yumiko stood in the center of the small beach, a pained expression on her face as she chased her brother around with those fiery orbs.
The brother in question, hissed as the two males disappeared from in front of him, and turned to face the closest orb. He dropped, slamming himself to the ground as the first orb whizzed overhead, then gathered himself, and leapt over the second.
'Fine then!!!' He thought, eyes locking on the girl controlling the orbs. If that was his only option, then he would take it. Foot sinking into the sand, Mako launched himself towards the girl, running full tilt as those orbs chased him again, and Kuwabara let out a gasp!
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!"
He knew exactly what the tomcat was up to, as he had seen Uremeshi use a similar move in Genkai's tournament months ago, but to turn miss Yumi's own attack against her? Something didn't settle quite right in the boy's stomach at the thought, and he was already running towards them before the little voice of reason could catch up with his feet.
"H-HEYY!! WAIT A MINUTE!!" He yelled out, but it was too late.
The boy had only taken three steps before Yumiko's snarl rippled across the beach like distant thunder. All at once, she moved. One second, she had been standing about 10 meters in front of Mako, arms stretched in front of her. The next, she was in his face.
"Wha-GACK!!" Mako's cry was cut off as golden tipped claws tightened around his windpipe, cutting into the flesh with ease. Yumiko held him there, eye-level in her true form as the final fire orb slammed into his back. Her screech of fury, mixed with his screech of pain a banshee's cry across the compound, before she slammed him down into the sand and held him there.
"YOU IDIOT!!!" She screeched again, face now inches from his.
"YOU ABSOLUTE DISGUSTING EXCUSE OF A CAT!!! YOU'RE AS BAD AS A FUCKING DOG!!!" She screeched as she lifted the male, and slammed his now heavily burnt back into the sand again and again and again, even as Kurama's remaining flowers worked to heal the wounds.
***
"Should you stop her?" Hiei asked aloud, too shocked by the sight to consider telepathy the safer option, though when the girl's bonded replied, it was in thought alone.
'No...' Kurama began, then paused as he tried to work through the cacophony of emotions roiling through his mate, his sylph. She was furious, hurt, embarrassed, but more than any other emotion, the disgust and disappointment echoing through her mind and core was enough to still his hand. At least so long as his flowers healed the tom who had caused such emotions. 'This time Mako will have to clean up his own mess...'
***
Mako couldn't even screech as the pain in his back kept him hovering just within the realms of consciousness. He tried to move his arms, to push the girl away, but it was no use . As bad as a dog??? What was she saying? Sure, he had gotten far more drunk than he had intended, and sure he had let himself have a little fun with the dancers in that club, and okay, maybe he had found comfort in that weasel demon's arms... but that didn't make him a dog!
His focus snapped back to her words as she slammed him against the sand once more.
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO STUPID!!!" She screeched, then lifted him again, and with every bit of fire and strength she had left, slammed him down one final time. He gasped as his back hit the sand, a bit of blood flying from his mouth on impact.
Yumiko finally released him after that final slam, but didn't move away as she breathed in and out deeply. Her eyes still blazed, and her clawed hands fisted and relaxed several times, as though she were in a battle with herself. After a few breaths she sighed, and ran claws through her own hair. When she opened her eyes, those seafoam orbs were back, though she still looked at the Tom with disgust as she leaned over him.
"You're a fucking idiot Mako..." She said quietly, so that only those close enough, which was really just the cat and Kazuma, could hear.
"Didn't you ever pay attention to anything Shizuru said? How many guys has she tried to trust, and how many of them threw her trust back in their faces?"
Mako had been desperately trying to lean forward, to twist and get off of his searing back, but he froze at the young kitsune's words, a look of pure shock and disbelief on his face. That shock soon turned to a rage of his own as he seethed.
"AND WHAT THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT, YOU DAMN BRAT??? ACK!!!"
His furious rebuke was cut off as Yumiko slammed a fist hard into his stomach, and he fell back again.
"DUMBASS!!! She trusted you! She let you in, let us all in, and was brave enough to get close! She thought for a heartbeat, a freaking heartbeat that she could trust you, that she could try again! And then she did what humans do Mako! She got scared! She looked at you, and me, and saw how we're always there for each other, and then she thought about all the shitheads who either hurt her or used her, and She. Got. Scared!"
She snarled, her eyes fading into blue flame once more before she wrested control back from that fire, then went into on in a tone that spoke of pure disgust.
"She got scared, because she saw how much she would stand to lose if you decided to fuck her over later on, so she ran. She tried to back out, and get out before you had the chance to hurt her. Then, instead of fighting for her, or giving her the space and time to work through it all... You did the one thing she was afraid you would do, dumbass... You fucked some random demon, drunk in a bar... so drunk you didn't even come home, and basically proved to her that that's all she was good for...."
As she had spoke, Yumiko's form shifted again, that fire drenched by disappointment and disgrace. Her voice was flat as she finished, eyes now dulled from both the emotional morning, and utter exhaustion at throwing herself fully into their training.
"She trusted you, and when given the first opportunity to hurt her, you proved why she shouldn't... Way to go... Mako..." With the final charge leveled in his face, she turned to face Kazuma. There was an even deeper pain than before as she walked towards him, flat out ignoring the demon males who still held defensive stances by the water's edge, as well as the demon still hiding in the lake itself.
"So... now you know." She offered with a sad smile to the brother of the human who had trusted her idiot guardian. "What will you do?"
Kazuma watched her with a wary expression as she walked towards, and then past him. As she drew up next to the ginger boy, he asked in a quiet, disbelieving way.
"All that stuff you said about my sis... Was it true?"
Yumiko knew what exactly he was asking, and gave a single exhausted nod in response, before shuffling past him, and making her way back to the temple.
***
Kurama watched, dumbstruck as Yumiko, having seemingly forgotten them all, disappeared into the trees. He was slowly coming to terms with his sylph's inner flame, and had removed his hand from the wristlet the moment her eyes had faded back to seafoam. A part of him, fueled mostly by Yoko's own memories of the male, felt quite sad for the once proud tomcat, but the larger part of him felt nothing but distaste for the male's actions over the weekend.
Yumiko's face had been tear-stained when she had emerged from their spare bedroom this morning, having cried herself to sleep with worry for her guardian. He had finally used one of his dream seeds to induce a sleep, when the male had not sent word by midnight. The moment she had checked her phone this morning, her walls had went up around that bond like a shield of thorns.
It had taken him a considerable about of time to work his way through them, aided solely by the abilities granted to the one a sylph chose to give control. What he had found inside, was that roiling fire. A tumble of emotions that had thrown him back out of her mind with such force he had the intense urge to check himself over for burns of his own afterwards.
He knew she had wanted to work through those emotions on the training sands, and had not said a word to her during the trip here, giving her the ability to work through those emotions in the solitude of her own thoughts. He had been worried when she blasted a hole through not only Veinahvehn's chest, but the sands as well. His eyes shifted to the massive crater only about 20 meters from where he and Hiei now stood, where a trickle of water was slowly filling a new pool by the lake's edge.
'You should go after her, fox.' Hiei's voice broke him free of the thoughts in his own mind, and he turned to see the fire demon staring after the girl as well. He was only slightly shocked to find Yoko echoing the demon's thoughts. 'She has burned out her fire, now she will need comfort. She will need to know you still support her, even after showing her teeth.' Yoko coaxed, offering some of his own memories of the ways in which sylphs react to challenging times for the boy's perusal.
Shuichi nodded his thanks to both the demon by his side, and within his own mind as he willed his feet to move from the safety of the water's edge. He knew following Yumiko to the temple would undoubtedly be unpleasant. He could still feel her emotions wreaking havoc on her mind, but knew Yoko was correct. He would be there when the fire abated.
***
Mako lay motionless on the sands, the last dregs of energy in those flowers bringing the blood flow to an end before they returned to nothing more than seeds. Either they had run out of power, or Kurama had stopped feeding them. Either way, he gritted his teeth against the pain he knew was well deserved. Every word Yumiko had spoke had been completely true.
Here he lay, a Tom who had been cast aside for something younger, better, prettier, time and time again. Yoko had done it, Kona had done it, hell... even King Enma had replaced him with Maru, or Veinahvehn if he was honest with himself. He knew full well what it felt like to be shown just how worthless one truly was, how little one mattered in the eyes of those whom they believed could be trusted.
Hell, that's why he had done it! When he had left that bar, after being told he was just a one-night stand, it had torn something inside of him apart. After Kona, he had sworn off the idea of partners, of mates... but that human woman had stirred something inside him, warmed his frozen core enough to consider... He had been so torn up in his own self-loathing and misery that he hadn't spared a second to consider the reasoning behind Shizuru's words.
Yumiko's words struck home as he lifted into a sitting position, and locked his fingers in his hair, the portrait of shame. She had tried to stop him, when he stormed out of the bar, had called his name, but he had run... like a wounded dog...
"Tch..." He hissed at himself, and struck out at the sand.
He flinched, and nearly let out a startled hiss as a thud sounded beside him. A glance over his shoulder revealed the Kuwabara boy had come to sit by his side. Every muscle in Mako's body tensed as the boy stared out across the lake, a look of mixed disgust, disappointment, and a seething anger seared into his dark brown eyes. He wasn't sure what to say to the boy. He wasn't sure there was even anything to say. He had just decided on a simple apology, when Kazuma spoke.
"So... you and my sister... huh?"
Kazuma's voice was low, and rather calm despite the dangerous undertones to the words. Mako sighed, then nodded his head. He ran a hand through his now shoulder length black hair, and had just opened his mouth when Kazuma cut him off again.
"Look..." He began, eyes still locked on the lake in front of them. "Shizuru gave up a lot to keep me from going into the system... A lot of guys ain't so nice when they find out you gotta take care of a kid half your age... And the ones who do come around usually ain't so nice either..."
There was something about the look in the boy's dark eyes that pulled at Mako's core. A darkness there, brought about by lingering memories, and the scars they left behind.
"I learned how to fight so the next time some asshole decided he didn't want to leave, I could throw him out myself. I guess that just made Shizuru feel even guiltier, cuz she decided to learn how to fight too... She always said 'I can't have my kid brother fighting my battles for me.'" He paused again, closed his eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath.
"What I'm saying is, She's tough because she had to be. Our towns so full of pricks and bastards, it's hard to know who to trust. Hell, even some of the guys I used to think were cool wound up showing their true faces... but..."
He didn't exactly turn towards Mako, but glanced at him from the side as he went on. A cold determination in those dark orbs. "She liked you. She trusted you enough to let you stay the night with your sis. She hasn't let a guy stay over since I was ten..."
"Then why did she push me away?"
He hadn't meant to say it. Mako hadn't meant to say anything, but it slipped out regardless. If he expected sympathy from the boy, he was sadly mistaken.
"Tch, I thought I was supposed to be the dumb one.. look, if five guys all kick the shit out of a dog, and the sixth guy corners the dog, what's it gonna do?"
Make blinked at the strange analogy, though it did make him stop to consider.
Kazuma let out an exasperated sigh, and shrugged. "It's like talking to a wall... You and Yumi are cool, okay? A lot cooler than any of the other guys she's met. She likes you guys, we like you guys. So there's a lot more to lose if you guys give stuff a go and it goes south, get it? Sometimes it's better to just accept what you got, instead of being greedy and trying to get more, just for it to kick you in the face... Does that make sense?"
In truth, Mako's head hurt as he tried to make sense of what the human boy was saying, but he thought he could understand most of it.
"Yeah... yeah it does..." He said after a moment's hesitation. He threw himself backwards to lie down in the sand again, cursing at the far too clear sky above. How dare it be so bright when he wanted to brood.
"AUGH, damn it! I really fucked up huh..."
Kazuma didn't answer right away. Instead, he rose to his feet, and extended a hand to the male. Mako eyed him warily for a moment, then accepted the hand, and allowed the boy to pull him to his feet. The smile was just beginning to form on his face, when Kazuma's other fist connected with the demon's nose.
"HHHHHHYYYYYAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The punch had come out of absolutely no where! Mako didn't have a chance to react until he was flying backwards across the sands to slam into yet another tree. Kazuma stood next to the still reddened sand from where the Tom had been healing, and gripped at his now throbbing wrist as he shouted across to him.
"YEAH! YOU DID!! NOW GET YOUR ASS BACK ON THE TRAIN, AND MAKE IT UP TO HER!!!" He paused, taking in another deep breath. Then, as he walked over to the demon, and spoke more quietly.
"She likes irises and prefers hazelnut chocolates, and she loves action movies. Oh! Her favorite food is unagi, she likes to get thai food as a treat, and she used to talk about wanting a guy to take her to one of those hot pot places..." He paused again, offering his hand for the demon to take a final time.
"Don't tell her I told you any of this... just say she told you when she was drunk or something... and don't make me regret this..."
Mako took a long, hard look at the hand offered to him, his cheek still stinging from the earlier punch, then looked up into the boy's eyes. He remembered Genkai's words from the tournament.
"He's a good lad. A bit dim, but his heart's bigger than his skull... I suppose it would be too much to ask for her to choose him..."
Mako smiled. Not a cocky, or arrogant smile, nor one of mischief. A genuine smile reserved for family and friends, and took his hand.
[A/N: This chapter went so far off the rails! It was originally going to be a bit of training, with Mako showing up and taking a fox punch to the face, but as I wrote out Yumiko's simmering rage up to the temple, she kind of took over. The entire time writing as Vehn I wasn't entirely sure where it would end up.
Kawabara wasn't originally going to be in this chapter, but I absolutely love the idea of him kind of, backing Mako when it comes to his sister. She's raised him, and he's had a front row seat to all the guys who did her wrong. I can see him being super protective. To be honest, I wasn't sure if he would wind up trying to beat the crap out of Mako or not when he sat down next to him, but I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!!
Next chapter, we're nearly there: Preparations.
See you then!!!]