InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Said the Joker to the Thief ❯ Strange and Beautiful ( Chapter 2 )

AN: I'm turning this into a series of one-shots. I don't want to call it an continuous story, because I want to reserve the right to jump around the timeline or try out different styles/strategies, if I please. So, I'll just call this a series of one-shots with a plot.

Strange and Beautiful

Kurama stood at the edge of the forest, straining his eyes to catch any movement in the darkness beneath the trees. The moon was a mere sliver in the purple, star studded sky, affording only a little illumination which his nocturnal eyes made full use of. He wiped the sweat off his brow on his sleeve, using the manilla folder in his hand to fan himself, and wondered not for the first time who these friends were of the miko's who apparently had the influence to get Koenma to sign an agreement never to interfere with her again. He absently wished he'd brought a hair tie, but he had not anticipated the heat. Youko had never spent time this far into the Makai, out past the borderlands and deep into the wild lands where fewer higher youkai lived, most intelligent beings preferring the relative civility of the inner level. Botan had dropped him off at the borderlands at the base of a mountain which separated him from the agreed to meeting place. It was, unfortunately, as far into Makai as Botan was able to summon a portal. Further in, the signals became garbled in the youki-drenched atmosphere.

He looked around, putting his nose to the air to try to catch the scent of rain-soaked hydrangeas he remembered from the roof of the nightclub. The wind didn't stir, the air muggy and stagnate like a sauna. The landscape here was like a rainforest, lush green covering every inch of available space on the ground and up the trunks of the trees. The forest he was seeing was a dense maze of ancient trees crawling with Makai wildlife. Youko was positively purring inside.

'And why wouldn't I be? She asked specifically for us!' Youko was preening under the perceived attention.

Koenma said she requested "that damned kitsune," not exactly a flattering description. Kurama cut in before he got carried away with himself.

'Since when is kitsune an unflattering description? I'm a little impressed she recognized us for what we were so quickly.' Youko said thoughtfully. 'Probably from previous experience.'

What, she raised a kitsune so she can automatically spot one hiding in a human avatar? Kurama asked, mostly to be contrary. He was a little nervous about this meeting.

'I am not hiding! I am resting. And when will you learn, little one, that we are a very particular race with certain universal proclivities which you should open yourself up to? Life is so much better as a fox.' 

How can you know if you've never been anything else?

'I've been a human for almost twenty years now, haven't I?' Youko sniffed indignantly. 'Therefore, I think I would be in a better position than most to make that judgement.' Kurama rolled his eyes but didn't respond. Youko, after a few moments of soaking pleasantly in the youki rolling off the flora that surrounded them, sighed with half-hooded gold eyes as though intoxicated. 'And this place. I don't know why I never explored the outer reaches of Makai.'

Because there's no one to steal from out here? Kurama couldn't help but tease his counterpart.

'Reductionist.'

But that was a big part of it.

'There's nothing out here. A lot of trees and dead legends is all. And low-level youkai with a death wish,' he said in irritation, remembering the half dozen beasts they'd been forced to dispatch over the course of the day.

Just then they heard light footsteps and the faint rustling of leaves straight ahead of them in the dense cover of the trees. First one long, slender leg melted out of the shadows, followed by another and a small dark-haired woman materialized in the weak moonlight. Youko sat at attention, large silver ears perked forward to study the woman he'd last seen three months ago and who had plagued his thoughts ever since. 'Then again, perhaps this forest does have some treasures to offer,' he almost growled.

Kagome wore a midnight blue cheongsam that fell to just above her knees but with long slits on either side that went all the way up to her full, round hips and afforded her full mobility of her legs. Surprisingly, she carried an enormous boomerang that was taller than her strapped to her back. She had the same open expression and warm gaze he remembered, and stepped forward with an easy grace that belied her youthful features.

"I hope you didn't get lost trying to find this place," she smiled in greeting.

He returned the smile, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear that had curled up around his face in the humidity. To be honest he wasn't feeling his usual confident self in this smothering heat. 'Don't be ridiculous, we are animals and we sweat. This beautiful, sensual creature of the jungle understands sweat.' Youko licked his lips, admiring how her well-muscled thighs glistened with a thin sheen of perspiration, imagining tasting the salt on her skin as he kissed up her thighs.

Youko! Do not make us embarrass ourselves during possibly our only plausible chance of making a connection with this woman when she was the one who requested us as a messenger! Kurama ground out, irritated inwardly but letting nothing of the mental conversation show on his face. If he was being honest with himself he shared Youko's attraction to the woman, and although he was fairly certain his counterpart's motivations were equal parts sexual attraction and insatiable curiosity for secrets, he was also intrigued by her.

'I'm not embarrassed,' Youko shrugged.

You're not embarrassABLE, Youko. 

'Same thing.'

Aloud he said, "As long as there are plants, I cannot be lost." He grinned.

She suddenly reached into a pocket on her dress and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She looked up coyly at him through her lashes as she lit one and took a long drag, blowing little smoke rings over her head and winking at him.

Youko leaned back in disgust and growled. 'That's not the miko. That's the fucking son!' 

Kurama opened his mouth to confirm that suspicion when they heard the swish of something slicing through the air at high speeds coming from their left. They jumped back reflexively just as an arrow whizzed by in front of the miko's face. She swore and with an audible "pop!" a shock-faced male kitsune with short, tussled auburn hair and glowing blue-green eyes stood in her place. "Damnit, Mother! I had him going!" he swore viciously, growling in irritation. They watched, a little shocked themselves, as the real Kagome emerged from the trees to their left to walk swiftly over to stand between the two foxes. She was wearing the same blue modified cheongsam but instead of the giant boomerang, which was undoubtedly her son's favored weapon, she wore a quiver of arrows and a longbow.

She glanced apologetically at their visitor and then pulled the cigarettes out of the pocket of her son's cargo shorts. She snarled her face up in a thundering expression only mothers seemed to have perfected. "Shippo, did I not tell you the next time I saw you with a cigarette I would literally shoot it out of your mouth?!" For the first time Kurama noticed the kid's lit cigarette was gone. 'Holy shit, she really shot it right out of his mouth!' Youko cackled gleefully, considering it divine karma for the way the kid had whisked Kagome away before he'd had a chance to really talk to her (or continue making out, or knock her out and steal her secrets) the first time they'd met.

"Yea, I know. But I didn't expect you to catch up so quickly," the boy grinned cheekily.

Her eye twitched. "And that's always your downfall. Maybe you'll learn to stop underestimating my will to kick your ass when you shove me into a bush and take off running."

The boy, who stood a good head or so taller than his human mother and looked to be only a couple of years younger than her, hunched his shoulders and gave the impression of flattening his ears, even though his ears were humanoid and pointed and one of them was pierced, Youko noted with amusement. He was lean and graceful with mischievous elfin features, wearing a loose-fitting tee shirt with the Superman emblem on it. Although still having the narrower shoulders of youth, he was well muscled from wielding that hulking boomerang, the cumbersome and overt nature of which Youko insisted made it a ridiculous choice of weapon for a kitsune. He had four red tails swishing behind him and was barefoot, along with the miko.

With a sheepish grin, he reached out and picked a thorny twig from her long hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail. Youko much preferred it unbound and Kurama had to agree. She rolled her eyes and swatted him on the arm. She then looked to Kurama. "I'm very sorry, um-"

"Youko Kurama. Please call me Kurama," he said, bowing shallowly to her, which she returned.

They didn't miss the meaningful look mother and son shared before she turned her startling blue-gray eyes back on him. "I'm very sorry, Kurama-san. My son was supposed to stay at the house-" here, she threw a glare back at the young fox standing slightly behind her, "but he is a kitsune and, as I'm sure you know, is therefore curious to a fault and has a healthy resentment of authority. Oh, sorry again, I'm Kagome. But I'm sure you already knew that," she said, her eyes sliding to the folder he was holding under one arm.

"I did, Higurashi Kagome, but it is a… particular pleasure to receive the gift of a name from the woman herself," he purred, letting Youko feed him ideas about what to say. Charming was default for a kitsune.

Kagome's cheeks reddened slightly. "Yes, well, this is my son Shippo, whom you have unfortunately already met. Again, so sorry." The boy bowed politely when he was introduced, but his eyes remained calculating and suspicious on the other kitsune.

Kurama chuckled and waved away her apology. "Please, think no more on it. I'm not offended. I'm actually quite impressed with your son's illusions. They're very convincing."

The miko grinned and when she looked over at Shippo they could see the admiration and pride in her eyes. "He is very talented." Her son mumbled a "thank you."

'Well shit.' Youko said in faint surprise.

What is it? Kurama asked.

'I just… didn't expect that.' After a moment of silence, he went on to explain, 'She really does see him as her son. You can see it in her face when she looks at him. I just had figured this was like a child's case of Stockholm syndrome on his captor and she used it to her advantage. I didn't expect her to really love the kid.'

Geez, Youko, that's terrible! Nothing about what we've found out about her from Koenma would even suggest she'd be capable of something like that.

'Back off, Red, you never met a real miko. They HATED youkai.'

She doesn't seem to.

'I'm seeing that.'

"Shippo, now that you got your look can you please go home while I speak with Kurama-san?" Kagome pleaded.

The boy gave the spirit detective one last look over and a surreptitious sniff. Seemingly satisfied, he touched his mother's arm gently and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Yes, Mother," he said deferentially. She reached up and squeezed the hand holding her arm, holding on until his fingers slipped out of hers as he walked away.

Before he had gotten more than a few feet away, however, she barked, "Shippo!" causing the young kitsune to freeze and hunch his shoulders. "The cigarettes," she said, holding out her hand. He reluctantly handed them back to her and then disappeared into the tree line the way Kagome had come. She then turned her attention back to Kurama and smiled warmly. "Well, now that is settled, thank you very much for coming all the way out here. I know it's a trek over that mountain."

"The hike was enjoyable. I feel very in my element here," Kurama assured her as he handed her the manilla folder he had been sent to deliver.

After glancing in the envelope to insure the promised document was there, she looked around them fondly at the lush trees and the floating points of green light the nocturnal insects made. "We found this place just after the barrier was formed and fell in love. It's perfect. The settlements have moved closer over the last few decades. When we first settled it was a week's walk to the nearest village." The corners of her lips tugged down slightly at the thought.

"You like being isolated so far out here?" he asked curiously. For some reason she struck him as a very social creature and not the type to want to live hermit herself away in the wilderness.

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm not isolated. Most of my friends live out here in the wild lands," she gestured vaguely to the forest behind her.

"Forgive me, Higurashi-san. I had always assumed the wild lands was only home to beasts. I did not realize this place hid such a beautiful gem," he said smoothly, giving her a smoldering look that had never failed to get him in the good graces of a human woman.

She laughed, delighted, even as her cheeks reddened at the obvious flattery. "Kurama-san, I hate to break it to you, but that kitsune manipulation doesn't work on me. I've built up an immunity."

"Ah, I'll just have to try harder then. And please just call me Kurama, I find suffixes to be unpleasantly impersonal," he grinned charmingly.

"Fair enough, as long as you call me just Kagome. I haven't heard Higurashi in centuries."

Kurama raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I apologize, I did not know you were married. Our information is outdated." In his mind, Youko was cursing the kami and already making plans to steal her away from her husband.

The miko rushed to wave her hands dismissively. "Oh, no, nothing like that! It's just that I dropped my family name a long time ago to protect my human relatives." She shrugged, her eyes looking old and a little melancholy.

'It's easy to forget she's not as young as she looks. But then her eyes go and look like that,' Youko said thoughtfully, who had been observing and analyzing for the last few minutes.

What do you mean? Kurama asked.

'Her eyes, they look old sometimes. Old like our kind of old. Curious. I wonder how well a human heart has held up under an onslaught of centuries of violence and strife.' Youko tilted his head as he considered it, as though the potential for suffering were just another interesting mystery.

Kurama had been watching Kagome fiddle with the hem of her dress anxiously. He wondered, for the hundredth time, what she had wanted with him when she had requested them as messenger from the Spirit World. Youko's verbal pondering broke him out of his own. She looks to be in pretty good shape to me, Kurama said, adding quickly, And I don't mean physically. Although, that too, obviously.

Youko grinned in agreement, but shook his head. 'Humans are very good at covering their scars. They must pack an entire lifetime of experiences into a span of time at least twenty times shorter than a youkai's. They throw their heart into everything they do, greedily lapping up the bitter nectar of life like it was the only water in a vast dessert. Their flame burns brighter than ours, but lasts a fraction of the time. A human heart just wasn't made to live this long.'

Kagome shifted her weight anxiously, wondering how to go about asking him what she needed to ask him. "So, you're probably wondering why I asked Koenma for you specifically."

Caught off guard by her sudden directness, it took Kurama a moment to adjust. "Actually, I assumed you had fallen madly in love at first sight of me and couldn't bare to stay away any longer," he covered his surprise smoothly, winking at her playfully.

'Oh, that's good, Red. I knew my skills would rub off on you eventually. Look at her, she's so cute when she tries to act unaffected with that blush on her lovely face,' Youko said.

The miko belly laughed, the sight causing Kurama to smile in appreciation. "Kami, I don't know how I'd handle two of you! No, I'm afraid not, Kurama. Actually, I have a somewhat… personal request to make of you." She said hesitantly, chewing her bottom lip and fidgeting again with her dress.

'Personal? Now I'm really curious,' Youko purred. 'Perhaps the little jungle princess has grown lonely up there in her tower and needs a lover's touch to quell the hunger in her soul.'

Where the hell do you come up with this stuff? And maybe she knows you by reputation and requires some service related to our particular skill set. Kurama rolled his eyes at the old fox spirit.

'Is that not what I just said?' Youko asked.

You know I meant thievery, Youko!

'Did I?' the fox returned, feigning innocence.

"Please, continue," Kurama indicated, keeping his expression open and encouraging.

She opened her mouth, then shut it again, perhaps thinking of a better approach. Kurama could see her cheeks redden and wondered what she was thinking about. Kagome took a step closer to him, squinting in the darkness to get a better look at his face. She lamented the fact that she couldn't tell what color his eyes were as they glowed in the scant moonlight like an animal's would, but she remembered they had strangely flashed between deep, pine green and honey gold. She'd never seen anyone's eyes change color like that; she'd thought at first it was a trick of the light before she'd discussed it with Shippo. When she stood just arms reach away she tilted her head to the side curiously. "You're a silver fox, aren't you?"

'So she does know of me,' Youko purred. Kurama said, "Yes."

"And that means you're pretty old, right?" Her face reddened, worried she had offended him. "I didn't mean it like that! I mean, old as in over a thousand, obviously not old by youkai standards!" she rushed to explain, her face reddening. She inwardly cursed her awkwardness.

Kurama chuckled and smiled to show her he wasn't offended. "Yes, I was over a thousand years old when I died."

He thought she would be shocked to hear that he had died, but she only nodded as if he was confirming what she already suspected. "You've been solicitous of my curiosity so far, I very much appreciate that. I just have one more question and it's weird and you don't have to answer it if it offends you but I don't know exactly how the whole kitsune avatar thing works and what I want to know is… Can you take the form you had before, of a silver fox I mean?" Her face had reddened as she spoke, her eyes looking anywhere but his face as she felt her cheeks become hot with embarrassment. Geez, the things she did for her son!

Kurama and Youko were both quite speechless, having expected anything but that, really. Youko was the first to formulate a response and used Kurama's momentary lapse to seize control. "I can, at will, revert back to my original form, yes. Are you interested in seeing it, Kagome?"

The miko shivered, somehow getting the impression she was speaking to a different person. His voice had changed somewhat, become more chilled but honeyed at the same time, his very words seeming almost magnetically charged. She remembered what Shippo had told her about split avatars. Maybe she was talking to a different person, the fox spirit. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as her knees seemed to become weak under his intense, electric gaze. She still couldn't tell what color his eyes were, but she would bet they were gold. "No, you don't have to show me right now, thank you, Kitsune-sama. But you'll need to later, if you accept my request. You see," she breathed deeply, embarrassed to the bone at what she was about to ask him but gathering her courage and steeling her nerves for the sake of her son. "It's kind of a long story but basically Shippo has met a vixen whose father is very old-fashioned and who has refused to allow Shippo to petition for the right to court his daughter on the grounds that Shippo's mother is unmated and human and therefore will not be heard, and that he has no other kitsune relative to stand in as a sponsor for him. So, I think you can see my dilemma here."

Youko noticed the title she'd addressed him with, which was strange because she had been previously calling him Kurama, and filed it away for later analysis. He grinned practically ear to ear, the canines that had lengthened slightly when he took control of the body glinting in the moonlight. "You want to know if I would sponsor Shippo in his petition," Youko offered.

Kagome nodded and hurried to explain, "You can ask me for something in return, even the secrets I've kept from Reikai! I know it's a lot to ask of a stranger, but I wouldn't if I weren't desperate. I just," here, she gritted her teeth and her eyes glowed with emotion, "I hate to see Shippo being punished for something he can't help."

Inwardly, Kurama ushered Youko to accept. We can ask her about why Reikai wanted her and how she's survived all this time!

'No, I have a better idea,' Youko answered him. Outwardly, the fox spirit softened his expression, taking the opportunity of her distraction to reach out and brush his fingers lightly over Kagome's arm to pull her attention back to him. "I admire your sincerity in your role as a mother. I will help you get Shippo that petition." It was flattering, of course, but it wasn't entirely untrue. She was challenging everything he thought he knew about mikos. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and then readied herself to spill her story to him (a heavily modified version, of course; enough to satisfy his curiosity anyway), sure that would be what he asked for in return. She was shocked when he didn't, and instead said, "But I'm not interested in your secrets, at least not as much as I am interested to…" he looked her up and down with a heated gaze, "come to know you better. In return, I only ask that you allow me the pleasure of taking you to dinner."

Kagome's knew her eyes must be big around as saucers, but she was truly shocked. This kitsune just kept surprising her. "A- a date?" she stuttered, suddenly feeling like she was in high school again. Sure, she wasn't a virgin anymore and she actually had an almost five hundred year old son, but she hadn't been on a date since she was sixteen at the movies with Houjo, sharing an awkward goodnight kiss under the yellow street lamp at the bottom of the shrine steps and wishing it were Inuyasha instead. She blushed even more at the memory. "Why would you want a date?!"

Youko gave her a look like she might be out of her mind. "You are a woman of rare grace and beauty, Kagome, and I have never been one to pass up an opportunity to acquaint myself with the finer things in life. I would consider it a privilege to become acquainted with you, my fine dear." He moved the fingers that still lingered on her arm down her wrist to grasp her fingers gently, lifting her hand to place a feather light kiss to her fingertips. Kagome inhaled shakily as a flame lit in her belly and her flesh pebbled with chills despite the hot night air. She suddenly thought maybe this wasn't a good idea after all and Sesshoumaru had been right when he warned her against allowing herself to become indebted to this kitsune. But she really didn't see what other choice she had.

"You're too kind, Kurama. But I wouldn't be adverse to that, I guess. That's really all you want?" she asked, almost suspicious. It seemed too easy, too little to give in return for such a big favor.

Little did she know what the kitsune was planning. A date? Are you crazy? She offers us something Reikai has been after for hundreds of years and you turn it down for one measly date?!

'Trust me, Red, I know what I'm doing. We'll have our cake and eat it too,' Youko assured his temporarily backseat counterpart. 'She would have lied, or at least given us only a half-truth. She's worked this hard to keep her secret from Reikai; she's not going to give it up to a Reikai agent so easily. We do this petition for courtship thing for her, we take her on a date and really lay on the charm, she's so grateful for our generosity and intrigued by our charm she agrees to a second date and so forth until we're getting to see a lot more of her, if you know what I mean, and she eventually tells us her secrets anyway; or at worst we sniff them out ourselves while we enjoy her companionship. We kill two birds with one stone, as humans would say.

And in this scenario the two birds are bedding a miko and stealing her secrets? Kurama asked, deadpan.

'Well, if you're going to be crass about it,' Youko huffed.

Youko, I don't think I'm comfortable playing with a woman's feelings to get information from her.

'Who said anything about playing with her feelings?' Youko asked, seemingly offended. 'It's been a long time since we had a serious lover and we've never had a worthwhile one, certainly not one half as interesting and sexy as Kagome. I don't plan on throwing her away after a romp.'

Well obviously you're not planning on being in the kind of serious monogamous relationship humans are looking for.

'Perhaps not, but as humans would say, who says you have to get married? I don't plan on leading her on or being dishonest about what we're wanting out of any relationship we may happen to fall into. But you can't assume that just because she's human she wouldn't be open to a more casual relationship. She may be five hundred years old, but don't forget that she is also a product of your generation and modern women are much more open to casual sex than they were hundreds of years ago.'

Kurama couldn't really argue with that. Youko turned his attention back to the miko who was blushing and giving him an almost suspicious look, unconvinced despite appearances that she was really getting off that easily. "I assure you, darling, getting to know you is enough reward for me," he purred, trying to soothe her misgivings. His hand still held hers and he lifted it to his mouth this time to lay a gentle, chaste kiss to the back of her knuckles. He knew when to dial it back when he needed to, and could see that too aggressive an approach was going to make her wary.

"Ok, then. It's a deal," Kagome said with an air of finality, hoping she had her blushing under control by the time he eventually saw her in the daylight. "Um, will you be free a week from today?"

"I will," Youko answered.

"Then I'll arrange for the appeal on that day. It might be beneficial for you to come the evening before, though, to give us time to prepare. To be honest, neither Shippo nor I know all the details of how the petition is supposed to go. Shippo says he remembers being at one with his father but he was very young and can only recall bits and pieces." Her face reddened again as she thought about what Shippo had told her of what he remembered. Oh, kami, this was going to be probably the most embarrassing experience of her life.

"There are some things I should go over with you beforehand," he agreed. In their mind, Youko chuckled wickedly.

What has you so amused? Kurama asked him suspiciously.

'Oh, nothing. Just thinking about how delicious this is going to be. It will make our first date so much more exciting that we have already seen her naked.'

Youko, what are you talking about?

'I'm talking about the petition. There's a little bit of ceremony to it, and everyone must attend in the nude.'

What?! We're going to be naked?!

'Yes. Naked, sky-clad, if you will. It is done to pay homage to our natural state of being and also as a symbolic show that all parties come with nothing to hide.'

I think kitsunes just enjoy sexual tension, Kurama grumbled.

'Don't you?' 

Not with potential in-laws!

'You're so human sometimes it hurts,' Youko sounded genuinely disgusted.

"Right," Kagome's voice brought their attention back to her. "Thank you again, Kurama."

"It is my pleasure," he replied smoothly. He felt a drop of sweat roll down the side of his face and lifted his arm to wipe it away.

Kagome looked a little unsure, and then reached behind her to pull the hair tie out of her hair and hand it to Kurama. He took it with a questioning look. "It gets pretty hot here in the dry season," she said by way of explanation.

He smiled gratefully, thanked her and pulled his hair up, immediately relieved when the air hit the back of his neck. Kagome took in the sight of him, her lips parting slightly as she watched a drop of sweat roll down the side of his neck and disappear under the collar of his white button up, the top three buttons of which he'd left open. His long, dark red hair pulled up like that should have made him look more girlish, but Kagome thought it accentuated the broadness of his shoulders in a way that made her want to put her lips on them. Before she knew what she was doing she had taken the last step in between them and was leaning in to kiss the top of his exposed collarbone that looked just so tantalizing, but at the last moment came to her senses and raised up on her toes to place one shy, warm kiss on his cheek instead. His skin was hot against her lips and when she pulled away and took a step back she could taste salt.

"Um, when you come back just head that way," she said, pointing back the way she had come. "The plants will lead you, right?"

"Yes, I'll be able to find it," he assured her. Turning away to head back home, he called back to her softly, "I'll see you again soon, Kagome."

I'm surprised at your restraint, Youko, Kurama said as they started the long hike home.

'One must know when to fan the fire and when to let it smolder,' Youko said, running a finger down his chest and conjuring up images of the miko entering their favorite date restaurant in that dress they'd first seen her in at the nightclub. Now he imagined taking her to a secluded corner of the restaurant, manipulating one of the potted plants to give them a little privacy and pushing her up against the wall, sliding his hand up her leg to hook her knee over his hip…

Youko, please, I don't want to walk over this mountain with an erection, Kurama said in annoyance.

'You never let me have any fun, you prude,' the old fox pouted. After a moment of silence he went back to his very graphic musings.

Kurama sighed. Are you going to be like this all week? 

Youko shrugged. 'Probably.'