Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Brotherly Love ❯ Kaori ( Chapter 2 )

Kaori adjusted to her new surroundings surprisingly quickly and with very few problems. She seemed to become comfortable around Kurama first. She would follow him throughout the house and watch him care for his flower and herb gardens outside. When he was sitting in his room after school, doing his homework, she would silently creep into his room, dragging a doll or toy with, and just sit in the middle of the room and play. Or when she was tired, she always preferred to sleep in Kurama's bed for her nap rather than her own. Sometimes Kaori would start out playing in his room, then yawn, curl up onto Kurama's lap and then fall asleep there, clutching his shirt in her tiny fist.

Kurama thought that the Yoko inside of him would be greatly annoyed by this, but actually he rather enjoyed it. It made him happy to know that this small child had come to trust him in such a short amount of time. She felt safer around him than she did around anyone else.

Three months after she had moved in with them, Kaori began having nightmares. They were normal nightmares for a human child and nothing to be concerned about. Every time she would have one, she would come into Kurama's room rather than her mothers and sleep with him. She hadn't been his sister for very long, but every time he would lay in bed with her, holding her close as she buried her face into his chest, he knew he loved her with all his heart.

The other members of the spirit detective team loved her too. Even Hiei seemed to like her. He would always give his little trademark smirk at the way she would jump up and down and squeal excitedly every time he or Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan would come over.

But with love comes the burden of concern. Kaori had been born three months premature due to her mother being an alcoholic and addicted to cocaine. So Kaori was born also an alcoholic and drug addict.

As a result of this and being a premy, her physical growth and development was much slower than a normal human child's. By the time she was three, she still couldn't speak simple words other than `mama' or `Sui', her name for Kurama. When walking she was always off balance and had to be carried up and down the stairs.

Shiori and Kurama were very concerned about the child's growth. Shiori would frequently take her to the doctor for the littlest things, such as colds or she'd gotten sick over night. But the doctor would always send them home, stating hat Kaori was just fine and would grow at her own pace.

Even Kurama's friends would look at her with anxiety when they would come over and see how much she hadn't grown. Kuwabara was always afraid to pick her up, as though he thought she would break if he wasn't gentle enough.

This concern over her also caused the spirit detectives to be very protective over her. Especially Kurama. He felt that, as her big brother, it was his responsibility to protect her.

However, Kaori's lack of growth was not Kurama's only concern. He knew how many enemies he had made in the demon world. In both his Yoko and human form. And how many of them were probably starving for revenge.

In the back of his mind, Kurama had always feared that they would try to accomplish this through his family, especially Kaori. A few times he had even dreamed about a faceless demon sneaking into his sister's room and snatching her away in her sleep.

Then one day, when Kaori was six and Kurama was in his senior year, this fear was realized.