Thursday, March 25, 2004

   Past Collides with Present: Chapter 3
Chapter 3: On the Way Home

There was no way that Kurama could somehow not hear the screaming. After almost an hour of traveling through a near silent forest, the screams sounded so suddenly and loudly that he actually jumped. The noise was coming from maybe a couple hundred yards away, proof that Kurama was gaining on his mother and her captor, if that was indeed where the screams were coming from. Kurama laid his ears flat against his skull and bared his teeth as he hurried forward with a little less caution. If that was his mother-

But before he traveled much farther, something else caught his attention. Someone was running in his general direction, and whoever it was wasn't bothering with being quiet. Then there was a thud and a sharp cry of pain, and Kurama realized it was Shiori. /She must have somehow hurt her captor while escaping,/ he thought as he jumped over a log and ran to his mother. He could see her now; she was trying to crawl through the forest. Her leg must have been injured. As he moved toward her, she looked up. Kurama saw the shock and fear on her face as clearly as if it had been daylight, and then she fainted.

Kurama picked her up gently, cursing himself for forgetting that he was in demon form. His nose caught the odor of cooked flesh, and he turned over her hand, examining the burns and guessing exactly how she had hurt her kidnapper. He growled and turned back toward the source of the screams (which by now had died down to moans and curses), then looked down at his mother's face and decided that getting her back home was his first priority. After one last glare over his shoulder, he turned and started to run back toward the portal, hoping to get home before Shiori woke up.

That wish proved to be in vain after a few minutes. Shiori stirred, the pain in her ankle being increased by Kurama's running. Her soft moan caught his attention, and he slowed to a walk as he worriedly looked down at her.

Shiori was very slowly coming back to reality. She was aware of a constant jerking that amplified her ankle's throbbing, but it had now become gentle enough to ease the pain. /I'm being carried,/ her tired brain finally comprehended. She carefully opened her eyes. It was still dark, but she could see clearly enough to make the passing trees and bushes. /I must have been out for only a few minutes,/ she thought. /But wait, that means-/

She looked up and saw that she was being carried by the same strange animal-eared being that she had seen before she passed out. She was frightened, but she dimly realized that this time she had no way of escaping. Even if she did, where would she go? She was beginning to realize exactly how big this forest was. At least this guy wasn't tying her up. And were his ears actually real?

Finally, she was able to find her voice. "Who-what are you?" she whispered. "What do you want with me?"

Kurama paused and looked down at her, his throat closing at the look of fear on his face. He was never more tempted to spill the beans to her about his past and his deception, but caution ruled over emotion, and since when did he let emotion get in his way, anyway? "I am a demon," he finally answered, beginning his trek through the forest again. "My only objective to take you back where you belong."

"Why?"

"My reasons are my own."

"Where am I?"

"Makai. The world of demons."

"How did I get here?"

"I imagine your kidnapper brought you here. Do you know why?"

Shiori paused and tried to think about anything she may have to attract the attention of a demon. Heck, she didn't know. She hadn't even known that demons even existed before tonight. "I don't know," she finally said. "He never told me. He never said anything to me."

Kurama nodded and picked his way carefully around a boulder. He didn't want to jump over it and risk hurting Shiori even more. Meanwhile, Shiori, watching his face, was being forcefully reminded of her son. She couldn't explain why; this strange demon looked nothing like Shuichi. Maybe it was the little mannerisms, things people notice without realizing it. Or the inflections in his speech.

"Who are you?" she demanded again. "You seem so familiar."

Kurama, bothered by this and tired of the game of Twenty Questions anyway, answered with a quiet growl. "Don't talk anymore. Our noise has attracted enough predators as it is." Which was true enough. Kurama could see several pairs of eyes peering at them from the deeper shadows. Of course, he wasn't worried. No creature in its right mind would attack him, even if he did have an armful of human. However, Shiori didn't need to know that.

They spent the rest of the journey in silence, and Kurama breathed a little easier as he stepped through the portal to the Ningenkai, glad that the portal was still open. He hoped no other humans had accidentally stumbled into the Makai, though he seriously doubted it. Almost no one came to the park at night except a local gang, and even they didn't come in this far.

It had started raining in their absence. The soft pattering sounded good to them after the endless silence of the Makai forest. Kurama closed the portal, then started toward home, staying under the trees until they reached the edge of the park. Then he flitted through the shadows at the edges of the circles of light cast by the streetlamps, hoping no one was outside at that time. Being noticed now was the last thing he wanted.

Finally, he reached their home and set Shiori down carefully on the front porch. She leaned against the door and looked up at him. /Good grief, he's tall,/ she thought. "Arigatou gozaimasu*," she said. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

Kurama gave her a small nod of acknowledgement, then turns and runs back toward the park, where he knew he could change back to his human form without being seen.

Shiori watched him go, wondering about him. He seemed so cold, yet he had helped her willingly. Shiori was quite sure that not every demon would have helped a human. She opened the door and hobbled inside, still puzzling over it.

*Arigatou gozaimasu: Thank you.

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