Samurai X Fan Fiction / Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ History Lessons ❯ Part IV ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

History Lessons

- by Julie (whirleeQ) and Rose (BuffyBot76)

- Part 4 of 4

Shuichi Minamino, known to his friends as Kurama, used to have nightmares he could not explain. For a while, he thought the nightmares came from the memories of the spirit kitsune that he shared his body with. Except that in his nightmares, he was not a thief, but an assassin.

The nightmares had plagued most of his childhood. Often, Youko had had to comfort him upon waking. There were many nights when the spirit kitsune had had to soothe his fears by assuring him that his hands were not drenched in the blood and gore of others, and that no one was trying to kill him. After a while, Youko helped him repress the nightmares entirely, and Kurama had not had one in many, many years.

But this afternoon, while Kurama was taking a small after-school nap, the spirit kitsune had been lax in his guard – and considering the content of his dream, it was no wonder. Never before had his dreams been of THAT nature. His body was still highly aroused from the images. Bodies, straining together on an old futon, while the storm outside pounded against the walls of the little hut. Cinnamon brown eyes locked on his, and ruby lips parted in an expression of passion.

What was most alarming was that he had recognized those eyes and those lips, and could put a name to their owner.

‘Keiko.’

Panting, Shuichi's accusing thoughts turned inward. 'Youko! What the hell was that?’

The spirit kitsune was snickering inside of his head. ~Don’t blame me, red… that was all you. I have to say that your past self was a very interesting ningen though. It was one of the reasons I chose you, after all.~

Kurama blinked. 'That has nothing to do with the fact that I just dreamt of Keiko and my past self, together, in.... that way.'

Youko responded by putting forth a particularly vivid image of a naked Keiko with her head thrown back and her face flushed. ~Well, it was a rather good dream this time at least. That is why I didn’t shield you from it. As to why Keiko was in it – well, you are enamored of her.~

At Kurama’s blush and mental negation, the spirit kitsune chuckled. ‘~Don’t try to deny it to me, Red. I share your head, after all. Personally, I think you should go to her, tell her how you feel. You’re not the only one in here that finds her… interesting… especially after THAT dream.~’

'Ha, after a dream like THAT you would find any female interesting.' Shuichi replied sardonically, ‘But your suggestion has merit. I should really confess to Keiko how I feel. It has been kept secret long enough, after all.’ he thought.

He reached for the phone beside his bed and dialed the Yukimura residence’s phone number before he lost his nerve. However, he was disappointed when Keiko’s mother told him that she had not yet made it home from school yet.

How odd…

He rose from the bed and approached his closet with the intent of getting dressed in order to go out in search of Keiko.

“Keiko, wake up.”

Something or someone was incessantly prodding her, and Keiko batted the offending hand out of the way. The prodding wouldn’t stop, so Keiko opened two blurry cinnamon eyes to see a curtain of red hair looming closer.

“Kenshin?” She asked with a yawn, before reality kicked in and her vision cleared.

“Kur-kurama? Oh god…”

"Nani?" Kurama blinked in confusion. 'Did she just call me... what I think she did?'

Keiko blinked several times and took in her surroundings. It was night time now, and she was… she was against the tree that she had been studying under before she had fallen asleep. Had it all been a dream? She suddenly felt a painful ache in her chest.

She groaned and reached for Kurama who was holding his hand out to help her up. What was he doing here?

“Sorry… I must have dozed off. What are you doing here?” She asked, as she bent over to grab her textbook. Still a bit groggy, her hands didn’t quite close around the book correctly and it slipped from her grasp – only to fall to the ground, opened on the page that had the rendering of Kenshin.

She swallowed the thick lump that suddenly appeared in her throat, as her eyes started to tear.

Kurama was taken by surprise when his sensitive nose picked up on the scent of tears. Glancing at Keiko, he noticed she was glancing down at something and in turn his eyes followed suite. He saw the open textbook lying on the ground and swooped down to pick it up for her. He immediately noticed the familiar image depicted in the book and his eyes once more returned to Keiko, studying her curiously. “So, your class is studying about the Meiji Restoration, ne, Keiko-chan?”

“Uh... yeah…” Keiko answered, as she started walking in the general direction of home, Kurama keeping pace by her side. God, she really didn’t want to do this right now. If it had been a dream, it had been so very vivid – so very real. She couldn’t help but feel slightly aroused at just the memory of his touch – dream or not.

Kurama cleared his throat next to her, and she looked up to see him staring at her intensely. His eyes were filled with an expression of extreme curiosity… and something else she couldn’t put a name to.

“Sorry. I’m still a bit groggy, I think. History is not normally my thing, but there had been a story about a particular man that caught my interest and I had been reading about him when I fell asleep under the tree. When the textbook got into the different attributes and merits of the weaponry used during the Meiji restoration, I guess I kinda nodded off,” she answered with a forced smile.

Kurama’s brilliant green eyes widened only slightly, and he kept his voice as level as possible as he phrased his next question.

“Oh? And who was it that you were studying, Keiko-san?”

“His name was Himura Kenshin. He was an assassin during the Meiji Era who put down his sword and supposedly took to wandering in search of redemption for all the murders he had committed.” Keiko averted her gaze as she spoke and thus missed Kurama’s reaction to her words.

Kurama actually choked, and had to struggle to keep himself from stumbling. ’Youko? Please tell me that Himura was not the surname of my prior incarnation,’ he moaned internally. ~Okay, Red. I won’t tell you. Why does it matter, anyway? You’re here with her now. We’re here with her now. Tell her how you… how *we* feel!~

Kurama suddenly stopped walking, and hesitantly reached to grab Keiko’s hand.

As expected, Keiko gasped at the gesture, her wide, brown eyes flying back to stare at Kurama questioningly. His touch… it had such a familiar feel to it as his long, elegant fingers began to caress the back of her hand. Keiko shivered. “Wh-what…” She began, but her voice sounded so very weak to her ears, as if the simple act of touching her had rendered her speechless. She cleared her throat and tried again. “What are you doing?”

“Keiko… I…” Kurama cleared his throat so that he could continue. Normally he didn’t have any problem at all with words. In fact, he could wield them almost as effectively as he could his rose whip. But now…

Youko decided for him that talking was overrated. Kurama fought the kitsune, as he pushed through to the forefront, but Youko was not to be denied. As he took control of the body, Kurama’s eyes changed from brilliant green in color to almost gold.

The kitsune was only in control for a moment, but by the time Kurama was able to regain control, the damage had been done. He had not been able to wrest control back from Youko before he pulled Keiko into his arms and capture her lips in a kiss that was almost predatory. When the kitsune finally receded into the back of Kurama’s mind with a snicker, he left his human counterpart with an armful of a confused Keiko. Kurama pulled back, flushed and embarrassed.

“Keiko.. gomen… it’s just that I… have wanted to do that for a… for a lifetime,” he finally managed to choke out.

Keiko stood gaping, not knowing what to do. Kurama had just kissed her and... it had been so... His words suddenly caught her attention. "A... a lifetime?"

Kurama swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat as a flash of a dream— or maybe even a memory, albeit not one of his own— entered his head and supplied him with his next words.

“Hai, Keiko-dono. That I have,” he said, the words coming out husky and strangled, as with one shaking hand he pulled her back to him.

~Owari~