~Kimi's POV~
"KIMI-HIME!" A childish voice squealed from near the carnival entrance. I couldn't help but smile as I spotted Dee standing near the entrance trying to keep a hold on her younger sister, Alexa. The ball of energy was hopping frantically from foot to foot waving in my direction waiting for Dee to release her so she could run to me.
I waved over to the two and ran to join them, though the pale blue yukata Nana insisted I wore, made it a little difficult to run. "Sorry I'm late" I bowed apologetically as I reached them.
Alexa dove into my arms and squeezed me tight. "Kimi-hime looks so pretty! Dee, why can't we wear pretty things?" She turned to her big sister with a pout.
I looked down at the young girl clinging to me with a smile. Though she and Dee were biological sisters, they didn't share many traits. Dee had short spiky dark hair and even darker eyes and was of a somewhat stockier build. Alexa was like a pure delicate fairy, her features were softer, her hair was a long dusty strawberry blonde and her eyes were a pale blue.
"We don't own any yukata." Dee said with a shrug, "Come on kiddo, stop clinging to Kimi."
"No! I don't wanna!" Alexa stuck her tongue out at her big sister, "Kimi-hime is my favorite." She beamed.
Dee threw me an apologetic look, "Sorry. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all." I beamed. "If you want, they have Yukata rentals for tourists, I'm sure we could find something."
Alexa squealed happily and pulled me off in the direction I had pointed toward the rental shop. Dee sighed and followed after us. The three of us made our way to the Yukata rental shop. After a few minutes of browsing in the kids' section I found a pale lavender yukata with a periwinkle obi. The robe was adorned with various pale blue blossoms. It suited the pure child perfectly.
After Alexa was changed into her Yukata she declared we had to find one for Dee, much to Dee's displeasure. Alexa found a bright pink one and I looked to Dee curiously expecting her to protest. However, her love for her younger sister trumped her disgust for pink and in a matter of minutes Dee had changed out of her dark heavy clothing and changed into the bright pink Yukata with the pale turquois obi. They stored their street clothes in one of the lockers available for renters attending the carnival. Dee opted out of the traditional sandals and kept her black converse. The look, while strange, seemed to suit her.
We headed to the carnival with Alexa between us, clinging to each of our hands as the sun began to set and the carnival came to life as all the paper lanterns began to glow illuminating each stall, stand and attraction.
"It's like magic!" Alexa squealed in awe as she looked to all the paper lanterns as they flickered to life and began to glow.
"Is that Yusuke?" Dee pointed at a food stall ahead of us.
I followed her index finger and sure enough, Yusuke was standing outside of a food stall arguing with a pretty girl with short brown hair wearing a yellow and pink yukata. Yusuke said something that the girl obviously didn't like and she pulled back and smacked him with enough force he toppled over causing my eyes to widen.
"I like her." Dee laughed, "Let's get popcorn and enjoy the free entertainment."
"Dee, that's not very nice." I attempted to scold her.
"Kimi?" A familiar voice sounded from behind us causing me and Dee to turn.
I felt a faint blush spread across my cheeks as I turned and found Kurama, Kuwabara and a somewhat disgruntled looking Hiei. Alexa released Dee's hand and turned to the new arrivals with a scrutinizing look.
"That's Kimi-hime to you." She grumbled as she clung to me and threw the trio a scowl.
My cheeks flushed with color once more at this, "Alexa, you're the only one that calls me that." I smiled down at her.
"But you ARE a princess. Everyone should call you princess." She huffed with an adorable pout.
Dee sighed, "This again. Kid, I told you it was a dream."
Alexa squeezed me tighter and shot her sister a glare, "It wasn't a dream! It was real! The fox king was sad, he thought Kimi-hime was dead, she has to go back and make all the fox people happy! She's their princess!"
Fox king? I looked to Dee curiously. Kurama and Hiei both stiffened at this and exchanged wary looks. Was there really a fox king in the demon realm? Alexa looked as if she were going to get upset at any moment. She didn't like that her sister didn't believe her dreams and tried to brush them off as nothing.
"Come on, I'll fix your hair for you." I pointed to a small shopping stall with various costume jewelry and an array of beautiful hair pins.
Alexa grinned and let me steer her away from the others. We didn't make it more than a few steps before she turned serious, "You believe me right, Kimi-hime?"
I nodded. "Would you be able to tell me more about it sometime?"
Alexa beamed, "Anything for you."
I lightly pat her on the head as we reached the shopping stall. Alexa ogled the pretty shining pieces of costume jewelry. She found a pretty hair pin with a jeweled fox with bright blue eyes and held it up for my approval.
"Looks like a winner to me." I paid the shopkeeper and we stepped to the side so I could pin up her hair with the fox pin. "And now, you look like a princess. How about I make you an honorary fox princess?" I giggled.
Alexa squealed in joy, "Yay! I want to be a fox princess like Kimi-hime!" Her smile fell after a moment and she turned serious, "The fox king is really sad..."
"How come?"
"He thinks you're dead. He felt really bad because he said mean things to the fox prince and his bride and they took you away for your safety." Alexa said distantly.
"I'm sure we'll be reunited one day, let's not worry too much over it now and try to enjoy the carnival." I smiled down at her.
"Why doesn't Dee believe me?"
"I don't think it's that she doesn't believe you, I think perhaps she thinks it would be safer for you to believe they were just dreams." I attempted to reassure her, "She's had a rough couple of months, so try to go easy on her, okay?"
"Because she died?"
My heart fell. "Yes."
"But Kimi-hime brought her back." She frowned. "Why is she still grumpy?"
"She's not grumpy, a lot of things in her life changed very drastically very quickly. It's a lot to process." I smiled down at the frustrated child.
"Okay. I'll be nicer to her." She huffed, "Only because Kimi-hime asked me to."
"I appreciate it."
We rejoined the others and Alexa clung to the back of my yukata and hid from the boys. Kuwabara attempted to talk to her and cheer her up but ended up getting punched in the face by her tiny fist. The only thing she shared with her big sister, was her temper and proneness to violence. Dee laughed hysterically as Kuwabara got taken out by the six-year-old in a single hit.
"Sorry." I bowed to the boys apologetically, "What are you all doing here?"
"My mother suggested I should go to the festival and try to have fun." Kurama noted with a soft smile before his emerald eyes filled with mischief, "I ran into Hiei on my way. What were you doing here Hiei?"
Hiei's dark crimson eyes narrowed into a glare as he looked to Kurama but tactfully decided not to respond. Kuwabara rolled to his feet and shook his head to orient himself to his present surroundings.
"What happened?" He asked in a daze.
"You were defeated by a child." Hiei scoffed seeming somewhat relived that the focus wasn't on him anymore. What had he been doing here? I'd tried to invite him earlier but I couldn't find him anywhere. Though he'd been staying with Nana and I, he was hardly around. He occasionally dined with us but he spent most of his time training and I assumed watching over us.
"Huh?" Kuwabara turned to Alexa, "Hey! That wasn't very nice!"
Alexa stuck her tongue out at him, "Your face is icky and your hair is weird." She shot causing Dee to laugh hysterically.
"Alexa!" I paled, "That's not very nice. Kuwabara is our friend, we should be nicer to him."
"I'm with the child in this matter." Hiei smirked trying to get a rise out of Kuwabara and causing Alexa to giggle.
"Hey! Shrimp! What's the big idea?" Kuwabara swiveled around to face Hiei drawing attention to our group.
"Ah! Please don't fight!" I pleaded with the bickering pair as people began to stop and stare.
Yusuke showed up with a bright red hand print on his cheek and the bickering pair turned their teasing to him. Dee's phone began to ring as Alexa tugged on the sleeve of my yukata and pointed in the direction of a fun house.
"Kimi-hime, can we go in there?" She asked me with big pouty eyes.
I looked to Dee as she answered her phone she nodded and waved me off. The boys were too engrossed in whatever Yusuke had to say to them. Shrugging I allowed Alexa to drag me along to the fun house. There wasn't a line and we were able to get inside right away. We made our way through a rolling tunnel to enter the fun house. Alexa squealed and clung to me to keep her balance in the rolling tunnel.
Once inside we found ourselves in a maze of glass and mirrors. It wasn't very bright, the only source of light being a few lights on the floor and some glowing stars on the ceiling. I could hear the screams and laughter of children and teenagers deeper within the maze. Alexa giggled and made faces at all the mirrors as we weaved through the maze to get to the next section of the house.
Beyond the maze of mirrors was a dark room with a narrow walkway. It was an optical illusion of sorts making the room look like a deep void of space, a dark abyss that seemed to want to pull you in. Alexa clung to the rails of the small walkway somewhat disoriented as the optical illusion worked its magic. It made most people feel like they'd fall into the abyss if they didn't cling to the railing.
I caught her hand in mine and offered her a smile in the darkness, "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe." I assured her and smiled as I felt her begin to relax.
We made it through the void and into a room filled with splattered neon paint and blacklights. There were all kinds of false doors that led to nowhere. I spotted a group of teenagers opening doors at random and felt my stomach churn as I recognized one irritable girl. Yuki, from school. The girl who liked to make my life hell.
She turned as we stepped into the room and folded her arms across her chest with a wicked smirk. "What are you doing here?"
Before, I'd always acted somewhat spinelessly and took her abuse without fighting back but so much had changed. I wasn't the girl I used to be. Alexa clung to the back of my Yukata as Yuki and her friends approached us.
"Leave us alone, Yuki."
"I heard you were with Suichi not too long ago." She glared at me. Did she have people stalking him and texting her updates? That was too crazy even for her.
"Kimi-hime, I want to leave. They're scaring me." Alexa whined as she buried her face in my yukata. This sparked something within me.
"I won't tell you again." My voice came out strong steady and full of warning, "Leave us alone." I shot Yuki a cold glare that stopped her dead in her tracks. I wasn't sure what kind of look was revealed within my gaze but from the look of horror on her face it couldn't have been inviting.
Yuki took a shaky step back, "You're such a freak." She hissed before she and her friends disappeared through one of the doors.
Alexa pulled me through a different door wanting to keep distance between us and the teenagers. We didn't make it too far into the new dark tunnel before I heard screams from within the maze. Smoke drifted into our tunnel and I hurriedly pulled Alexa's arms up and showed her how to secure the cloth of her sleeve over her mouth and nose to protect her from smoke inhalation.
Crackling flames sounded from all around us, the fun house was ablaze. Alexa clung to me as tears welled in her eyes. I looked down to the scared child and knelt beside her. There were people trapped in the fun house, I could hear them panicking, screaming and coughing.
"Alexa, I need you to take this off for me." I pointed to my necklace. "Take it to Dee."
Alexa removed the collar and a pale orange glow of light encased my body as I shifted into my fox form. Her eyes grew wide as she stared up at me in awe, "I knew it was real." She said in awe.
Dee and I had been practicing in the late-night hours, I'd sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and she'd remove my collar so we could train together so I could learn to control my powers. I had a firm grasp on my abilities now.
"Run to Dee. Fast. I'll clear you a path." I used my ice abilities to make a path for her to follow and wielded my fire abilities to keep the flames at bay. "Run. Take anyone with you that you see along the way and don't breathe in the smoke."
Alexa nodded and took off at a run as I turned and ran deeper into the maze. Why were the sprinkler and fire alarms not going off? I couldn't get the flames to go away completely, they had to be supernatural, a demon was responsible. Keeping myself hidden from the scared patrons I used my powers to fight back the fire clearing a path toward the emergency exits.
"This way!" I called and felt relief flood through me as a family of five and a group of teenagers raced toward me following the path I had cleared and were able to make it to safety.
Screams came from a room to my left. Flames were seeping out from beneath the door, the people inside were trapped. I ripped a slit in my yukata and ran at the door before delivering a powerful kick that knocked it off it's hinges. I hid myself in the flames in the room and held up my hands willing the fire to stay back, creating a path. My gaze fell on Yuki and her friends huddled in the center of the room trying to keep away from the fire.
"Yuki! Run!" I snapped as I heard the ceiling above begin to groan in protest.
"Kimi?" Her tear-filled eyes scanned the fire wildly, "Kimi? Where are you?" She was in shock.
"Get on your feet and run! The ceiling is going to come down!" I shouted.
Yuki jumped into gear and she and her friends managed to get out of the room and follow the path I'd created to safety. The ceiling collapsed a moment later and I winced as a beam hit me across the shoulder toppling me in an instant. My skull bounced off the debris strewn floor and stars exploded behind my eyelids. I couldn't sense any other humans in the fun house nor could I risk going outside and risking any humans seeing me in my demon form.
What was I supposed to do? Blood trickled from the wound on my shoulder as I struggled to shift the heavy burning beam away from me.
"KIMI!" A familiar voice called to me in the inferno.
"Hiei?!"
The beam was hurled away from me in the next instant and I felt myself being swept into a strong tender embrace. I threw my arms around his neck and clung to him as the building began to crumble around us. Why was he always coming to my rescue and putting himself in harm's way?
"I'm sorry." I choked, "Just leave me here, I can't be seen like this." I begged him, I didn't want to see him get hurt.
His dark crimson eyes ensnared me, "No one will see you. Hold on tight." He smirked.
I adjusted my grip on him and clung to him. A gasp escaped me as he bolted out of the burning building and through the packed carnival dodging between carnival goers at a speed that made my head hurt. Hurriedly I clamped my eyes tightly shut as we made our way through the carnival. He was so fast not even the trained human eye could have kept up with his movements even with me weighing him down.
We came to a stop at a nearby cemetery that had long since been forgotten. All the graves and mausoleums were overgrown with flora and fauna. The gates were all padlocked and rusted shut at the entrances. Hiei set me down in an overgrown gazebo and looked to the wound on my shoulder in concern.
"Are you alright?" He asked me softly as he knelt beside me to examine the wound.
I nodded. "The pain is already starting to go away."
"Demon's heal faster."
"The fire...it wasn't natural, I couldn't extinguish the flames."
"The detectives are looking into it." Hiei noted calmly.
"Alexa? Is she-?"
"She's fine, Kurama is with her." Hiei held up the necklace with the amulet that sealed away my powers. He dropped it into my lap without a word. He really seemed to hate it. "You helped that human who is always cruel to you..."
How did he know about Yuki? How long had he been watching over me? "Yuki?"
He nodded.
"I might not like her very much but I wouldn't wish for anything horrible to happen to her. She hasn't done anything too bad." I shrugged but winced at the effort as my healing shoulder protested.
"Kimi-hime!" Alexa's voice rang from nearby and I looked up to see her sitting atop Kurama's shoulder as he navigated his way through the dark cemetery to get to us.
Once he was sure there wasn't any danger Kurama set her on her feet and she ran to my side and threw her arms around me with a cry. I struggled to catch her in my arms and keep her upright. She looked terrified.
"Sorry for scaring you Alexa. Thank you for being so brave." I smiled as I pat her on the head.
Alexa looked down at the amulet sitting in my lap, "Do you have to wear that? I don't want this Kimi to go away."
"I'm not going away, it's still me, I just look a little different."
"But how will the fox king find you?"
"Don't worry about that, Alexa." Kurama joined us and offered the child a smile, "Even in disguises foxes can sense other foxes. If he's close enough to find her, he'll be able to sense her."
"Really?"
Kurama nodded.
"Alexa, do you think you could put this back on for me?" I asked her as I extended the amulet to her.
Alexa reluctantly accepted, "It hurts you, doesn't it?"
Hiei clenched his fists and Kurama lowered his gaze.
"Not very much." I assured her, "It's okay."
"You're injured Kimi. It may render you unconscious." Kurama noted with a frown.
Alexa paled at this.
"It okay, it might make me fall asleep, but I'll be okay. I promise." I reassured her, "If other people see me like this, it might scare them."
"Why? Kimi-hime is so pretty, who could be scared of you?"
Hiei smirked at this, "Whoever put you in danger should be scared of her."
Kurama chuckled at this and nodded, "That's right, Kimi can be very scary if someone she loves is in danger."
Alexa beamed before reaching up to secure the amulet around my neck. Her smile fell as a gasp of pain escaped me and my appearance shifted. The pain in my shoulder became almost blinding and I felt myself begin to slip from consciousness. Hiei stepped forward and caught me in his arms as I felt myself fall into the welcoming darkness.
Video- "Runaway" By AURORA