| Disclaimers:
Yu Yu Hakusho is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shonen Jump
Weekly, Fuji TV and Studio Pierrot
Keshiki, Kurai, Fuyu & Minora are mine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He could see them from atop a tree mourning for that dead shell. The figure shifted and bowed his head, the crimson strands of his hair hid those doleful green eyes. "Forgive me...."
Kurama whispered and jumped down quickly. The kitsune opened a portal to the ningenkai with one last
longing look at the makai landscape.
He had to severe his ties with the demon world permanently.
His only regret, that of not saying a proper thank you and
goodbye to Keshiki. He
couldn't love Keshiki, at least not yet.
The pain inside his heart had not ebbed. He needed to think clearly about what had happened to him
since the time of Mukuro's death. Yomi...
he wished the truth would set him free at last.
Yusuke... the kitsune sighed.
He had not foreseen Yusuke as a complication, if he could only
get to him and wipe out those memories from his mind.
And Hiei... Kurama bit his lip.
The kitsune turned his back and entered the ningenkai, waiting
for the portal to disappear. He
wished the very best for the fire demon.
Kurama felt his chest tighten again.
For himself he could only hope for survival. *************** Keshiki moved closer to Kurama's fallen body, brushing at his tears impatiently. He couldn't believe that the redhead was dead. He ignored the three makai lords and smoothed Kurama's tangled, bloody silver hair. He gasped in surprise when he felt it tingle. The blue-eyed youkai jolted into attention. "It couldn't be, unless...." Keshiki closed his eyes and concentrated deeply, placing the palm of his left hand on top of the dead kitsune's head and rejoiced silently when it shimmered. "Kuso!" Keshiki exclaimed and grabbed Kurama's empty shell closer to him. The youkai's unusual behavior attracted the attention of the three. Hiei moved swiftly next to Keshiki and grabbed Keshiki's wandering hands off the redhead's body, but Keshiki was too happy with his discovery to take offense. The youkai looked up into Hiei's grim ruby eyes and said curtly. "This is not Kurama." Hiei gazed in stunned silence at Keshiki, then swiftly took off his bandanna. "Shimatta!" Hiei cursed. Yomi and Yusuke had crowded next to the two youkais. "This is not a body! This is an illusion!" Hiei snapped, using a slight burst of ki on the corpse. It shimmered briefly then disappeared like thin air. The four youkais sighed audibly and laughed nervously. Thank the gods that wasn't Kurama. Yomi stared at Fuyu's form and paled. Keshiki stood up and went near Fuyu's dead body. "This is the shape shifter, Fuyu." Keshiki announced to the three youkais and placed a palm on Fuyu's cold forehead. The redhead's form was replaced by Fuyu's original one. "This is YOUR lover who pretended to be Kurama." Keshiki added bitingly, still grudging the three youkais for hurting Kurama's feelings. The makai lords looked at their feet in shame. Yomi frowned and extended his senses to the vast makai landscape. For just a brief moment he sensed something hauntingly familiar. "It's him!" Yomi cried and bolted, the three youkais following him, though unsure what the youkai had just sensed. Yomi stopped at the exact spot where Kurama had stood on a tree. "His ki here is fresh." Yomi sighed in relief. "But what was he doing here?" Yusuke asked no one in particular, though he could very well answer the question himself. He had an inkling as to what the youko was doing. "He was watching us." Keshiki offered reluctantly, unsure of how the makai lords would react to the news. At least he could understand the redhead. Kurama needed time and space to think his life over. He only wished the redhead would come back to him if he had a change of heart Hiei suddenly spoke out. "He planned this all the time. He made an illusion of himself. He must have used a lot of ki to infuse it on the youko body we saw...." "And he was conducting the fight from atop the same tree and watched us mourn for the dead body and... left." Yusuke finished lamely. "He went back to the ningenkai." Yomi whispered softly. ******************************* ******************************* |