Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Assassin's Story ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Blue eyes followed the red-head as he wandered thought the wooded section of the park. Akira had been watching over Kurama at Inari's request for over a month now. For the past week, he had been trying to find her. She had an idea of what was on his mind because she'd heard him talking to his Jaganshii friend, Hiei, about her. He felt he still owed her a debt. She understood this, but didn't see the need to collect from him at this point in time, so she remained hidden from him. She watched as he stopped in a small clearing and looked around, sending out his ki to feel for anyone. What he did next, however, was new to her. From one of his pockets, he drew out a small vial of fluid. As Akira watched, he unstopped the bottle and swallowed the contents. Before her eyes, he began to change. The red of his hair faded to a grayish silver. His body stretched and filled out. Ears appeared from the crown of his head. This was the form she had hunted all those years ago in the Maikai. This was the form of Youko Kurama. She frowned. Using a bit of her ki to throw her voice away from her, she asked, "Stupid fox, what are you doing? Why have you changed?"

A smile touched the lips of the silver fox. He had surprised her, he thought triumphantly. "I wanted to speak with you, Akira," he answered, not looking to where her voice had come from. In this form, he could feel the ki she'd used to throw her voice, even if he could not tell where she herself was.

Not ready to reveal her position, she continued to use a tree to speak for her, "What did you want to speak about, Youko?"

"I will tell you when you show yourself," he answered, still not looking toward her voice.

She pulled a wry face, irritated at the fox for trying to force her hand. "I already know what it's about," a rock at his feet proclaimed.

"Oh," was the only reply the kitsune offered.

"You think you owe me a debt, Kurama," the air near his left ear stated flatly.

"Spying?" he asked, amused.

"All part of the service," another tree quipped.

"Are we going to discuss this like reasonable creatures or are you going to continue to hide and play games," he asked, his voice touched with annoyance.

"Fine," her voice emerged from her own throat as she moved to stand in front of him. "What is it you think you owe me, kitsune?" She stood before him with her arms crossed over her chest, not liking that she'd been called out.

Sitting on the ground to reduce the height difference between the two of them, Kurama stretched his legs out on the ground in front of himself and leaned back onto his hands. "Well, I do recall sending you on a commission," he answered almost lazily. He was enjoying making the girl uncomfortable. She looked about to speak when he continued on, "And there's the whole thing of you sparing my life when you were hired to kill me." He tipped his head to the side and smiled at her, enjoying watching her stiffen slightly at this mildly seductive gesture.

"Kitsune," she hissed at him, "I did not complete your commission. You do not owe me for that. As for your life, I was already paid for that."

His smile deepened slightly, "No, Akira, you were paid to take my life, not to spare it."

"But…" she began to protest, but he cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"It doesn't matter that you found out after the fact that you did what you were paid to do. What matters is that you believed you were to kill me and you didn't. At great risk to yourself, you acted against your commission, assassin. It is for this that I owe you."

She shook her head, "No, you do not owe me. I was paid."

Kurama's eyes softened as he smiled at her, "We just went over that, Akira. I do not believe that you really need me to repeat myself, do you?"

A blush that had been trying to color her cheeks now won the battle. "I do not feel that you owe me a debt, Kurama," she answered.

He looked at her seriously now, "You said that Inari liked the changes she's seen in me since being in this body. One of the things I've learned is that it's important to pay debts, even if the other person doesn't truly feel the need to be repaid. I owe you my life, Akira, whether you've been paid for it or not, because you did not have to spare me. You did so at great risk to yourself or you would not have had to hide in the Guardian's village. You have been a prisoner for seventeen years because of me. You cannot tell me that I do not owe you for this."

Akira was at a loss. She could not argue with his logic. Sighing, she knelt in front of him, "What is it you wish to pay me with, Kurama?"

Smiling, he folded his legs tailor-style and rested his elbows on his knees. "It seems to me that the price for a life is a life, or whatever you deem equivalent."

She saw a way out. "Well, as you said, you cost me seventeen years of work, plus your life. At about twenty assassinations a year, that's three hundred twenty commissions. At five hundred ryo a commission, that would be one hundred sixty thousand ryo, plus five hundred for your life. Not figuring in for inflation, multiple commissions, or interest." She grinned broadly as he blanched at the figure.

"It seems I was in the wrong line of work," he stammered out. She smiled at his discomfort. "Five hundred ryo a commission? That's quite a bit, isn't it?"

"Not when you're the best," she stated as a matter of fact, with neither pride nor humility.

"The Phantom of Death?" he remembered her mentioning that when they first met. She merely nodded. He could remember vague rumors, whispers, of someone called that in the Maikai, but he hadn't paid attention because he was more interested in treasures than in murders. "I don't remember hearing that you were wanted."

"I wasn't. No one knew who I was so they didn't know who to put the bounty out on. Besides, some of those I killed were worth a lot more than the five hundred I charged for them. I suppose I was useful, in a way, so they just ignored me."

"You didn't care about the bounties?" he was allowing himself to be sidetracked with the talk of money.

She shrugged, "No, should I have?"

He sat staring at her for a moment longer and then realized that the conversation had strayed from his original intentions. "It seems I owe you quite a bit, then."

"No, you don't, or at least I don't think you do."

"Why do you say that?" The girl's stubborn refusal puzzled him.

"Because you spared my life. We're even, Youko." He continued to look at her without comment, she explained, "I failed the commission you sent me on. My life was forfeit because I admitted that to you, but you did not kill me. We are even."

"That only clears one of the debts I owe you." He leaned forward, smiling slightly, "I owe you still for my life and for seventeen years of hiding." His golden eyes on hers were intense, "You wouldn't want me to disappoint Inari by not repaying your kindness and inconvenience, would you?" He tipped his head slightly to the side and moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue.

Akira felt a tightening in her chest. The damned kitsune was trying to seduce her! He wanted to…. Her mind balked at the idea. "Stop that, Kitsune."

His face became a mask of wounded innocence, "Stop what?"

Gods above, she thought to herself, first Inari and now this? She brought her hands to the ground and leaned forward onto them. "Why this?" she wondered out loud. She raised her head to look at him, his face showing concern now. "I am not interested in collecting a debt from you, Kitsune. In all honesty, the less I have to do with you and Inari, the happier I will be. I am an assassin. I have been all my life. I know nothing else. I do not have friends like you do. I do not get close to anyone. You cannot understand that, Fox. I have been watching you. I understand you more than you think. I am not able to accept what payment you would offer."

He regarded her calmly, absorbing this speech, listening behind the spoken words. Finally, he spoke, "I do understand, Akira, and I know what repayment I can offer that you can accept." As she watched, he shifted back into his human form. Green eyes now peered at her from under ruddy bangs, "I can offer you friendship, Akira. You don't need to hide from us. We would welcome you to our company. You don't need to be alone."

Akira sat back on her heels, staring in disbelief at this offer. Finally a word escaped her lips, "Why?"

He shrugged, "I owe you a great debt. I would like to get to know you better. I think you would be a valuable ally. I have found friends to be a great asset in life."

She continued to goggle him in disbelief. "You want to get to know me better? I don't understand. Even the guardians didn't care whether they knew me or not." She shook her head, "I guess I don't understand you as well as I thought I did. Maybe I'm too far out of practice to play assassin anymore."

"You understand a little better than you think, Akira. You just don't have the experience to fully understand. You're right, I have always had people in my life, both before and now. But I do understand how you live. Hiei was the same before we met. And as for playing assassin, why not work with us? I think you would make a wonderful detective."

Akira bowed her head, staring at her hands as they lay in her lap. She looked up at him, "You have given me much to think about, Kurama. I will let you know my answer." With that, she stood and left the clearing.

Kurama sighed and closed his eyes. She had given him much to think about, too. He had seriously misread her to approach as Youko, he realized. He would have to be much more careful in approaching her in the future, provided she would permit it. She would be a valuable asset, there was no doubt about it, but they would need to be careful with her until she began to trust them.

"You're thinking too hard, Fox," a voice from behind him announced.

Kurama turned to see Hiei standing at the edge of the trees. He also noticed the sky was darker than he last remembered it being. "Hello, Hiei. I was talking with Akira a while ago."

Hiei crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for Kurama to elaborate. They had discussed the assassin several times and he knew already what Kurama had planned to do, but from the expression on his face, things did not go as planned.

Kurama sighed, "I asked her to accept friendship." Hiei's eyebrows went up. "She made it clear she wanted nothing at all. I don't know if she will accept even that much. She is much like you, always alone. I asked her to be our ally."

Hiei regarded the red headed boy seated before him, "We should have done that in the first place, Kurama." The ruddy head nodded and Hiei continued, "If she is as intelligent as she seems, she will accept."

"She spies on us, you know?" Kurama smiled at Hiei.

"I'm saying nothing I wouldn't say to her," he replied.

Kurama`s smile deepened at his friend's bluntness. He stood and walked toward Hiei. "Let's go to dinner, my ally."

A/N Okay, this was a difficult chapter to write…which is why it took so long to write. It's been bothering me for three weeks now, I believe. Yep, about three weeks. In my mind, it got lemony, but that didn't fit with the characters I was writing, so I fought my sadistic muse and this is the result. I think it works better…but now I have to write another chapter….at least…but my head hurts now and I can't write any more…and I've got to work on a rewrite of another story that I put off to write this…

Sakurasango, you are wonderful to actually review even when you had to wait to do so…Thank you so much :D And another change to poor Akira's life is offered here…and I'm not really sure how it will go from here…this story continues to bother me, I think I yelled about a dozen times that I hated it while working on this chapter, but I have to write it, so…I hope you enjoy it…For the rest reading this…reviews are nice :D