InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Father's Love ❯ Knowing Father and Unknowing Son ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

want to apologize for the long wait between updates. I had a family emergency hit, and then I had Thanksgiving, and I just did not have the time to post. So, without further ado…

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha or YuYu Hakusho. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi. I make no money off of this, nor do I intend to.Chapter Nine:
Knowing Father and Unknowing Son

The sun was high in the heavens before Kurama woke the next day. Suddenly remembering all that had transpired the day before, he felt a near-overwhelming despair wash over him in waves.

How dare his brother treat him like that?! He had no reason. He did not utterly despise him as he did Inu Yasha. There was no meaning behind Sesshoumaru’s forcing him to reveal himself as Yoko Kurama.

No. There was. Sesshoumaru was known for the mind games he played on Inu Yasha. He was just unfortunate enough to be caught up in one. It was a joy, Kurama well knew, to upend someone’s knowledge of their world. He himself had been guilty of doing the same. Looking down at Honokitsu, who lay curled up in his lap, he knew that he may be guilty of it again, if he chose to be selfish.

Kurama sighed. He had dreamed of the day he could hold Honokitsu in his arms again. Fifty-two years of Honokitsu’s life had been denied him. There were moments he couldn’t believe this was his miracle child. Honokitsu was barely walking when they had to give him to the family they did. Was only babbling nonsense words that sounded vaguely like “da-da”.

He knew he should go in search of the morning meal, but it would mean leaving Honokitsu alone, unprotected. It would also require removing him from his lap, and Kurama was not going to give up this chance to just sit with his son and not have anyone question them. So he remained there, with Honokitsu cuddled up against him, until the kit awoke.

The first sign of his waking was a restlessness that caused him to toss and turn, as though attempting to recapture the elusive beast that was sleep. Kurama stroked Honokitsu’s hair and murmured encouraging words to him. Then Honokitsu opened his eyes slowly and for a brief moment Kurama was afraid that he would realize where he was and bolt. Return to Kagome and Inu Yasha and he would never see him again.

“Good morning, Shuichi,” he muttered in a voice still thick from sleep.

“Good morning, Little One. Did you sleep well?”

Honokitsu stretched and for a split second it was like looking into the past. For that most fleeting of moments, Honokitsu was an infant waking from a nap.

“Yes.” Honokitsu looked up at Kurama. “Shuichi, can I ask you something?”

Letting his silver tails curl around them, Kurama smiled. “Only if you promise to call me Kurama from now on.”

Honokitsu snuggled in closer to Kurama. “Okay.”

“What did you want to ask?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“That I was a demon and Inu Yasha’s brother?” When Honokitsu nodded, Kurama sighed heavily. “It would be easier to answer why I never told you about being a demon.”

“Inu Yasha said you were Yoko Kurama, the Great Kitsune thief. He said you were feared in three worlds and would kill us all if you wanted and not care. Is that true?”

“It was true of me once, and in this time it still is.” Kurama held Honokitsu closer to him and rested a cheek on his head. “Ii was once known by many names. The Great Yoko Kurama, the Great Kitsune Thief of Makai, Kurama the Heartless, Kurama the Beautiful, Kurama the Death Bringer, and several more that are not fit for your ears. I stole anything that caught my interest, and I killed all that opposed me. I was to be feared and loved at once. I was very much like Sesshoumaru-niisama, still am at times. Those who begged me for life I drew out their deaths, so they could feel every bit of pain. Those who stood with a straight back and refused to beg were simply beheaded and felt little, if any, pain. Father was proud of his bastard kitsune son. I hope he remained so after his death.

“I was not to be trifled with, Little One. And to protect those I care for, I will easily revert to those old habits. I spared few and slaughtered many, demon and human alike.”

“What changed?”

Kurama could not understand why the young kit he held in his arms did not just jump away from him and run far away. He was telling some of the darkest truths of Yoko Kurama to a fifty-four year-old kitsune pup. In human meanings, that was barely seven years of age, both mentally and physically. He should, by all rights, be terrified out of his mind and wish to be far away from Kurama and never see him again.

Sighing, he continued. “About eighteen years ago for me, a bounty hunter managed to track me down and seriously injure me. I did not have enough energy to heal myself, so I escaped Makai to Ningenkai with the last of it.”

“Where is Ningenkai? And Makai?”

“We are in Ningenkai. Makai is the world of demons, where the majority of our kind dwell. There is also a third world, Reikai, the land of spirits. There the dead gather and are judged.”

“Ah. So that is what Inu Yasha meant by three worlds.”

“That’s right.” It seemed apparent to Kurama that not only was the lack of a kitsune tribe to raise Honokitsu hindering the growth of his abilities, it also was preventing him from learning all that he needed to know. “When I escaped to Ningenkai, I intended to find a host, something that would sustain me for the ten years I would need to recover my energy fully. I found a young woman. She was walking among the cherry blossoms and smiling. It soothed something in me, and I felt that she was my best choice. So...” Here he paused, unsure if Honokitsu would understand. “So, I became her child. I told some that she already had an unborn child and I inhabited it before it acquired a proper soul, but that was a fabrication I concocted to aid in understanding. The form you know as Shuichi Minamino was the form I constructed so I could survive in Ningenkai.”

“Is this world more dangerous?” Honokitsu asked, not fully understanding.

“I could not be born looking as I am now, Little One. Had I been born with ears and a tail in the world Kagome and I come from, I would never have been accepted, possibly even killed.” Since Honokitsu seemed to understand, Kurama continued. “And so, six years passed. Then one day, it changed. I needed something for a class project, but it was out of my reach. My mother was in the kitchen, washing the dishes. I slipped off of the wobbly stool I was standing on. Had it not been for my mother, I probably would have been seriously injured or even killed. She saved me, but as she did, she dropped the plate she was drying. Her arms were cut up badly by the shards of the plate. Even though she had to be in so much pain, she still asked me if I was okay and *smiled* at me. She smiled, Little One, even though she was bleeding so much. Asked after me, even though she should have been thinking of herself.”

“She’s your mother, Kurama. Why wouldn’t she act like that?” Kurama sighed.

“The kitsune tribe I’m from... they didn’t look well on me. For a long time, I never knew why. They just... hated me, for some reason. My demon mother did what she could, but even though she was very high up in the kitsune tribe, there were some things she couldn’t fix. And if she was ever badly injured, she would tend to herself first, and me second. I was unharmed, she would say, and therefore I could wait a while. It’s not that atypical of demon parents, but kitsune are a usually affectionate lot. I had cousins that their parents tended to before themselves, but my demon mother still concerned herself with herself. It was what I grew up knowing. So it struck me as strange that my human mother would care so much for me. That was twelve years ago. She still has the scars.” Kurama knew now why the kitsune tribe didn’t treat him as they treated the other members, but he didn’t think that Honokitsu needed to know.

“Then what?” asked Honokitsu, looking at Kurama with interest.

“Then, about three years ago, my mother became gravely ill. The doctors told me they didn’t think she would make it. I tried what little I could with the Ningenkai, Reikai, and Makai plants I had, but it wasn’t enough. At that time, a fire demon I had been aquatinted with for a year at that point approached me.” Kurama removed a small, wallet sized photo from the cuff of his left pants leg. “His name is Hiei. He’s the short one dressed in black with the spiky hair standing next to me.” He handed it to Honokitsu.

“He looks really mad.”

Kurama chuckled. “That’s Hiei. He never really liked having to do ‘human things’ like taking pictures. He had a business proposition for me, he said, and had need of my thievery skills. He and another demon by the name of Gouki were going to steal the three treasures of the Reikai: The Conjuring Blade, that could transform any human it cut into demon zombies, the Rapacious Orb, which could remove human souls, and the Mirror of Darkness, which on the night of the full moon would grant one wish to its user. We stole them right under the Prince of Reikai’s nose. He’s the one with the pacifier. Gouki and Hiei were apparently planing to raise a demon zombie army with the Conjuring Blade and feed them with souls that the Rapacious Orb would take from humans. My only desire was to take the Mirror and use the wish to heal my mother. That was when I met Yusuke. He’s the one in the middle in the yellow shirt. He was what they call a ‘Spirit Detective’. You see, in my and Kagome’s time, mikos no longer exist. Sure, there are still priestesses, but few, if any of them, have any real spiritual power. Yusuke was assigned by the Prince of Reikai, Koenma, to track the three of us down and get the treasures back. He easily defeated Gouki with an energy blast through the mouth. Shortly after that, I met him. I asked him to meet me in three days’ time, then I would explain everything.”

“Did you?”

“Yes I did, Little One. I told him my story, and told him that after I made my wish, I would gladly hand over the Mirror. However, the Mirror, like all things, doesn’t grant wishes for free. There was a price.”

“What was it?”

“My life. When the Mirror of Darkness grants a wish, it takes the life of the wisher. When I told Yusuke that, and I started to make the wish, he jumped in and offered up part of his life so the Mirror wouldn’t kill me. I still do not know what made him do it, because it’s not like him. It is like him to just make impulsive decisions, but he’s not the self-sacrificing type. But I lived, my mother was healed, and Yusuke got the Mirror back. Hiei, though... Hiei wasn’t as easy to take down. Somehow, Hiei found out that Yusuke’s weakness was his girlfriend, Keiko. She’s the one with short brown hair standing next to Yusuke. So he kidnapped her and tried to turn her into a demon. He used her to lure Yusuke into an abandoned building, where he told Yusuke that he would hand her over in return for the two other treasures. Yusuke did so, then attempted to knock Hiei flat. Hiei happens to be a very quick demon, so the blow missed. That was when he revealed to Yusuke that she had been struck by the Conjuring Blade and told him that the only way to save her was to use the antidote that was in the hilt of the Conjuring Blade. And the only way Yusuke was going to get that, Hiei said, was by defeating him. The specific details of the battle before I arrived I do not know, for Hiei did not volunteer that information. When I arrived, I saw that Hiei had transformed and had Yusuke in a binding spell. You see, Hiei possesses what is called the Jagan Eye. It is a third eye that gives the bearer control over lesser demons, zombies, and humans. It also gives them telepathy.

“At any rate, Yusuke was doomed if I didn’t do something. Just as Hiei was about to run him through, I jumped in between them, taking the blade in my stomach.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I did. Then I threw my blood into the Jagan Eye, blinding him and releasing Yusuke from the spell. Hiei was furious. He called me a traitor and said he’d massacre me for betraying him. They fought some more while I saw to Keiko. There was already a girl there, trying to keep the eye closed so she wouldn’t become a demon. Her name was Botan, she’s the one in the pink kimono. Finally Yusuke fired an energy blast, but it missed. A few moments later, the blast caught Hiei in the back. Yusuke had seen the Mirror of Darkness behind Hiei and used it to reflect the blast back at him. Hiei was soundly defeated by the sneak attack and the two of us were taken to Reikai for judgment. We were free on one condition: that we help Yusuke in his cases as Spirit Detective.”

“Who’s this?” Honokitsu asked, pointing to a tall boy with orange hair.

“That’s Kuwabara. He was Yusuke’s rival and has a powerful Sixth Sense. Starting with the case after that, he also helped Yusuke. The girl in the blue kimono beside him is Yukina. She’s a Koorime and also Hiei’s twin sister, but Kuwabara doesn’t know that. You see, Hiei and Kuwabara are a lot like Inu Yasha and Sesshoumaru-niisama. Always fighting over something. Now, let me ask you something, Little One,” Kurama said, changing the subject before Honokitsu could ask about why he never said he was related to Inu Yasha. “Why did you follow me here last night?”

“You were upset and no one seemed to care. It wasn’t your fault that Sesshoumaru forced you to tell us things you weren’t ready to tell us.”

“Did you follow me alone?” Despite the evenness of his voice, Kurama was incensed. Yet again, the kit was not being properly watched by his protectors!

“No, Kirara came with me. I sent her back to let the others know I’m with you and I’m safe.” At least the kit was responsible, Kurama thought. Most would just do what impulse told them and damn the consequences. “Also... it’s been a long time since I’ve been around other fox demons. I missed it. Papa, Mama, and I were separated from our tribe and we didn’t spend much time with other kitsune.” Kurama hugged the kit.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Little One.”

“Kurama, aren’t you worried that you’ll run into your past self here?”

Once he recovered from the sudden change in topic, Kurama shook his head. “No. At this point in time, I was in the Makai. I did not return to Ningenkai for several years. Little One, I told you so many terrible things. Why don’t you run away from me? Most demons, when they even hear a whisper about me, they run as far as they can and never look back.”

Honokitsu was quiet for a long while. “I saw my father killed by the Thunder Brothers. Naraku chases after us every day. Sango’s little brother Kohaku killed his entire village while under Naraku’s control and is only still alive by the jewel shard that Naraku put in his back. Kikyo was brought back by an evil witch and is now trying to kill Inu Yasha. I’ve seen a lot of things, Kurama. Some much worse than what you told me.”

“I’m so sorry you had to see them, Little One. You were never meant to see such things, and never so young.” Kurama rested his cheek on Honokitsu’s head again, resisting the urge to cry.

*Had I known, my Honokitsu, I never would have given you up. You were never meant to know the darkest parts of demonic existence so young. Sesshoumaru-niisama was right. My world-hopping from Ningenkai to Makai and Reikai is to blame for all of this. I’ll never leave you alone again, Honokitsu. The next I world-hop, you will come with me.*

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“Your mongrel brother never shows you the respect you deserve, Lord Sesshoumaru. And Lord Kurama has begun to follow his example! Four days is far too long for him to spend around Inu Yasha.” Jaken’s ranting went unnoticed by Sesshoumaru, having heard it many times before and would hear it many times again.

He twirled one of the flowers Rin gave him in his fingers as he gazed down to the ground. *Those damned kitsune! Where are they hiding? They dare think they can challenge my might? They will soon discover that the sons of the Inu no Taisho are not to be trifled with!*

~~TBC...~~

Ningenkai: Human world
Makai: Demon world
Reikai: Spirit World
Inu no Taisho: Dog general

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