Yuu Yuu Hakusho
Shadows and Lies
by Sionna Klassen and Kristin Huntsman
Chapter 15
A time to be born
A time to die...
A time to kill
A time to heal...
--The Byrds, "Turn! Turn! Turn!"
Kurama watched, horrified, as Yusuke fell to the ground. Bright
yellow
lines of energy crackled around his inert form, opening cuts that bled
freely.
"Stop it, Kuroi!" he yelled, standing and turning to him. "They have
nothing to
do with this!"
Kuroi turned to him, an amused expression on his face. "But they
do,
Kurama," he patiently explained, as though to a dense child. "They very
much
have something to do with this. You see, they're your friends. _Your_
allies.
Hurting them allows me to hurt you, in a way that will give me even more
pleasure. I'm enjoying your pain, every bit of it."
"But--" Kurama started, then stopped. Nothing he could say would
make
any difference to Kuroi. The only way to win, to let his friends go
free, was
to fight him. Except - Kurama didn't know if he had the strength left.
He looked at the fallen forms of his friends on the floor, and a
thousand memories flashed before his eyes. "So be it," he said quietly,
testing
the thread of energy that was his life force. <So thin...> But it would
be
enough.
Kurama closed his eyes for a second, in a silent prayer that
this
would work, and that his actions would allow his friends' lives to be
spared.
Then he began to draw power from the green-gold thread. He felt the
shadow
within him waken and watch, interested. He smiled to himself; if this
worked,
then they would be fighting together. After that...he hadn't planned
that far,
because he expected to be dead by then.
The wind that suddenly appeared in the chamber was centered in
one
spot, tightly focused into a whirlwind around one form. Kurama closed
his eyes,
and set the power free, ignoring the lightning and fire that suddenly
appeared
around him, directing his attention inward. <I know you're in there,> he
thought. <And I know you can hear me, so listen up. I'm in control of
this body
right now, but you're the one who's trapped in it with me. I'm going to
fight
him, and you know as well as I do what will happen to both of us if he
kills
me. Your choice. Do you live, or do we both die?>
He waited a second for the shadow's response, but didn't hear
one. He
mentally shrugged; it would decide soon enough. He opened his eyes
again, and
stood ready to fight.
Yusuke watched from where he was lying, wracked with pain, as
Kurama
transformed into his youko body. Even as unappreciative of beauty as
Yusuke
usually was - leave that to Keiko, or Kurama - he was impressed. The
power that
Kurama had found from somewhere swirled around him, caressing his form
with its
tendrils. The whirlwind that it created around him caught his hair,
carrying it
up in an twisting surge of raw energy currents. <His life energy...it
has to
be,> Yusuke thought, both miserable that Kurama was killing himself to
do this,
and admiring of the fact that he had the strength of character to do it.
<Kurama...you can't do this...>
Yusuke watched, unable to move, as the wind died down, and
Kurama's
silver hair settled back down around the form that now had fox ears and
a tail,
someone that Yusuke would have known, even without being told, had the
power of
four hundred years' experience behind his fighting style. <But will it
be
enough?> he asked silently, and wasn't surprised when the youko turned
and
nodded to him, not as an answer to his question, but as a farewell.
Kurama...
Yusuke thought, determined to find some strength left in his body. He
was going
to kill that bastard for killing Kurama, and then... <Dammit!> Yusuke
thought,
when his mind failed to come up with a further plan. But he was going to
kill
him. With that thought in mind, he concentrated inwards, on getting
enough
power to stand and move.
Kurama looked at his friends one last time, then turned his
attention
completely to Kuroi. He casually reached back, and took a seed from his
hair.
At his asking, it stretched and writhed into a shape that was
half-plant,
half-animal. It growled at Kuroi as Kurama directed it at its target.
Kuroi
moved out of the way as the plant-beast sprang towards him. Its razor
claws
missed him by only inches, and the poison that dripped from its fangs
made acid
holes in the floor.
There was a light in Kuroi's eyes that revealed to Kurama how
much he
planned to enjoy this fight. But he also thought that he was going to
win, and
Kurama wasn't about to let that happen. He concentrated and the
plant-beast
grew, lunging for Kuroi again. Kuroi avoided its lunge again, which only
angered it further. Determined to catch him in its fangs, it snarled and
leaped
straight for him.
Kuroi hit it with a blast of lightning that blew a hole straight
through the beast's chest. It writhed in midair and crumpled, falling
apart
into a charred mess of vegetable matter. Kuroi grinned at him. Kurama
simply
called more plants into being.
This time he went with something familiar; tight buds opened
into
flowers with huge petals surrounding a mouth filled with razor-sharp
teeth. The
flowers streaked forward, slithering over each other as they reached
hungrily
for Kuroi. Kuroi ducked and weaved, avoiding the snapping mouths, but
there
were too many of them for him to hit with lightning - at least, Kurama
hoped
there were. He seemed to be right, as Kuroi devoted all his strength to
dodging
rather than fighting back. He didn't have time to gather any of his
power.
Then suddenly Kuroi vanished into a growing sphere of blinding
light.
Kurama shielded his eyes from the glare, stepping back to try and get
out of
range. As the light faded, Kurama lowered his arm and stared in shock.
His plants had all been turned to glass.
As they fell, unable to support their own weight, most of them
shattered completely on the stone floor, hurling bits of glass shrapnel
everywhere. Kurama backed up further and dodged whatever pieces of glass
came
his way, his mind racing. What else could he do?
He stood still as Kuroi laughed at him. "Nice try!"
Kurama gestured and filled the room with fog.
"Huh?" Kuroi looked around, but he was effectively blind. He
heard
sounds in the fog around him and swung, but connected with nothing but
empty
air. "Kurama!" he yelled. "Where are you?"
A hail of rose petals sliced through the fog at him and nicked
open
cuts in the skin of his exposed face and hands. Kuroi yelped at the
stinging
pain and blasted the petals to ashes with a sudden burst of power.
"That was pathetic!" he yelled angrily.
Needles stabbed into him. Kuroi looked closer, and saw that they
weren't needles at all, but literal blades of grass. Mixed in liberally
were
perfect red roses, their stems sunk into his skin all the way up to the
flower.
He pulled out the grass blades without any difficulty, but the roses -
he
cursed through his teeth as he pulled them out, the thorns tearing free
reluctantly.
Kurama watched, safely hidden in the fog. He wasn't doing Kuroi
any
real damage. His stronger plants had all been countered, and he was so
drained
that he had to resort to attacks that he could use even in his human
body.
There had to be another way to attack Kuroi, but he couldn't think of
what it
was...
"Come out of hiding!" Kuroi yelled.
<Okay,> Kurama thought, taking another rose from his hair. <You
asked
for it, Kuroi...>
The rose stretched in his hand, reforming into the familiar
weight of
the Rose Whip. Kurama plunged from the fog, slashing the whip at Kuroi.
Kuroi
hastily dodged, but on Kurama's return swing he wasn't quite fast enough
to
avoid the whip. It tore a long gash in his arm, and then Kurama ducked
back
into the fog to circle behind Kuroi. He wasn't above hit-and-run
tactics; he
knew he was at a serious disadvantage, and he was going to use every
trick he
could think of to beat Kuroi.
He managed to cut Kuroi again on his next pass, but as Kurama
disappeared into the fog again, Kuroi decided he'd had enough. With a
yell of
rage, his form exploded with power. The wave of energy caught Kurama and
flung
him against the wall, fog streaming and dissolving around him. The Rose
Whip
fell from his hand and shrank back into a rose, shredding apart in the
flood of
power
The last of the fog evaporated as the energy died away, and
Kuroi
stood in the center of the room, breathing hard. He stared at Kurama,
eyes
narrowed. Kurama stood up as Kuroi clenched his fist and blasted another
ball
of energy at Kurama. Kurama dodged out of the way, but didn't move away
from
the wall. He'd seen how they could change course to follow their
targets. The
ball of light punched another crater in the wall next to Kurama,
showering him
with rock and dust. He coughed and tried to wave the dust away, and as
it
cleared Kuroi moved.
Kurama ducked, startled, as Kuroi threw needle-sharp slivers of
the
crystallized plants at him. Most of them he managed to dodge, but one of
the
shards caught him on the upper arm, slicing a narrow but deep cut across
his
arm. <Poisoned,> he thought, pressing his right hand against it even as
it
began to numb. <I don't have the power left to undo it, either...> He
smiled to
himself, and taunted the shadow within. <We both die, here and now,
don't we?>
When it failed to respond, he looked closer at it, and saw it deep in
thought.
It looked up at him. <I'll fight this with you,> it said.
<Because
you're so weak that you'll get both of us killed. When this battle is
over,
though, this body is mine.> Then, with a cry of rage, it grabbed
control.
Kurama had never known before that this kind of pure fury
existed. Raw
anger, white-hot hatred, boiled out of the shadow, releasing the power
within
it/them. All Kurama could do was watch as it took control again, and
sent
his/their plants against Kuroi.
Content that he'd done his best, Kurama sat down exhausted in a
corner
of his mind, pressing a hand to his wound. He felt his blood flowing out
between his fingers, in pulses that matched his heartbeat. He was fading
at the
same rate, and he looked down at his body with a weary interest,
watching as it
faded between beats, coming back almost as solid as it had been before
when
each pulse sounded in his chest. He leaned his head back against an
imaginary
wall, his hands dropping into his lap as he almost ceased to care. He
didn't
have any reason to hang on anymore; he had no energy left, and the
shadow
already had his body. He felt a brief moment's concern over what would
happen
to his friends, but reassured himself. He trusted Yusuke to be able to
kill the
thing; he'd seen, earlier, that Yusuke was quickly recovering, and would
be
able to hold his own by the time it finished with Kuroi.
For just now, though, he sat and watched from behind his own
eyes as
the shadow attacked Kuroi. Somewhat distantly, he admired its "kill"
technique:
send it all against its enemy, as fast and as viciously as it could
manage. It
upgraded the plants he had created into something that even _he_ had
never
managed before. Or imagined, for that matter. It laughed.
And then it turned to him. <Join me,> the shadow thought,
extending a
mental hand towards Kurama. It was Karasu again, he saw, but a Karasu
that he
had never met in life. It was gentle, it was pleading - it needed him.
It was still poisoned...
<No...> Kurama thought, from his vantage point behind his eyes.
<...no...> he whispered, trying to shake his head, to back away from it.
But he
was too weak, and all he could do was watch helplessly as the shadow
changed
back to the shapeless mass that it truly was, and reached out for him.
<...no...> he tried to whisper again, even as it caught him and
enveloped him
in its folds, laughing softly.
Then, in the moment while the soft darkness surrounded him, it
became
all right. He understood.
Kurama opened his eyes, and found himself back in control of his
own
body again. He/it watched passively as their plants chased after Kuroi,
mass
destruction ensuing in their path. <It's not enough,> he/it decided.
<Not for
what he's caused us.> At that thought, their plants began to change. The
slimy
poison that coated them took on a life of its own, reaching out for
Kuroi,
burning the air and stone and rubble in their path to nothingness.
Surrounded by the slow-moving tentacles, Kuroi had no place left
to
go. He looked up, and saw Kurama watching him, and knew that he had
lost, and
that he was going to die.
Yusuke watched as the plants inched closer to Kuroi. <Man, I
knew
Kurama had some nasty plants before, but I think this tops them all-->
he
thought, turning to look at Kurama. <His eyes...> he thought. They were
dead...
"Kurama!" he gasped, stumbling to his feet. "Kurama, stop!"
"Why should I, Yusuke?" Kurama asked, not turning to look at
him. His
voice was deadly calm and even. "He deserves to die."
"This isn't you," Yusuke argued. "This is what the shadow would
do.
Don't let it win."
He saw a spark of recognition go through Kurama's eyes at that,
and
stepped closer, watching Kurama start fighting himself. "You can't let
the
shadow have you, Kurama. If you do, do you think that it will ever let
you go?
Do you think that you'll be able to stop it, if there's anything of you
left
afterwards? Do you think that it won't kill us, too?"
"I--" Kurama said, with effort. He looked like he was fighting
an
inner battle that he wasn't sure he could win. Yusuke laid a hand on his
arm,
offering all the support he could give. He didn't even notice that some
of the
blood running over his fingers was from Kurama's cut, not from one of
his own.
It mingled and dripped to the floor, as he waited for a long, tense
moment to
see who would win this battle: Kurama, or the shadow-creature within
him.
Yusuke tensed in preparation, in case his bet was wrong.
Kurama knew now what the shadow had done. It had tricked him
into
joining its cause. Yusuke was right; it would have found a way to make
him
attack his friends, too. It would have made it seem completely logical.
But it
had also given him a key - he was the one back in control. All he had to
do was
shut it away.
Kurama closed his eyes for a long second. When he opened them
again,
he was in control. The shadow was locked away within him again, howling
in
fury. Kurama let out a long sigh, and looked at his friend by his side.
"Thank
you," he said quietly.
"Hey, no problem," Yusuke replied, suddenly grinning. He dropped
his
guards, relaxing as he acknowledged that it was indeed Kurama who had
won
control of his body. He looked over at where the plants still had Kuroi
cornered. "What're you gonna do about him?"
"Get information. But first..." Kurama replied, his glance
wandering
over to where Kuwabara and Hiei were lying on the ground. He walked over
to
them, followed by Yusuke.
Kuwabara woke up as he felt a touch on his arm. He opened his
eyes to
see a pair of golden ones looking at him concernedly. "What the-- oh,"
he said,
as he realized that Kurama had shifted into his youko form. "Did we
win?" he
asked, sitting up, rubbing at his head, which seemed to be aching a lot
recently.
"Yeah, we did," Kurama answered. "You okay?"
"My head hurts again," Kuwabara replied with a sigh. His eyes
widened
as he looked past Kurama at where Yusuke was kneeling next to Hiei's
inert
form. "He's not--"
"No, Hiei's still alive," Kurama said. "Not doing too good, but
alive." He helped Kuwabara to stand, and they walked over to where
Yusuke and
Hiei were.
Yusuke looked up at them, his brown eyes concerned. "His heart's
still
beating," he said "But I can't tell much else."
"Kuwabara?" Kurama asked, looking at him.
"Huh?" he asked, puzzled for a second, before he got it. "Oh,
sure."
He knelt next to Hiei, touching his hand as he reached into his mind. It
was a
lot easier, he'd discovered, if he was in physical contact with the
person he
was trying to talk to. <Hey, you okay in there?> he asked.
<What else would I be?> Hiei demanded. <Are you in here for any
particular reason, or just to make my life more difficult?>
<Jeez, don't thank me for making sure you're still alive, or
anything,> Kuwabara retorted. He turned his head back to Kurama and
Urameshi.
"He's still alive," he reported. "And still a jerk."
Kurama smiled, shaking his head, and knelt to pick up Hiei. He
then
walked over to where Kuroi was imprisoned, followed by Yusuke and
Kuwabara. His
eyes narrowed as he looked at his enemy, the one who had done this to
all of
them. "Give up, Kuroi," he said, his voice calm. "You've lost."
"What do you want, Kurama?" Kuroi asked. "And what makes you
think
I'll give it to you?"
"It's very simple," Kurama said, as his plants inched closer to
Kuroi
again, making him back away nervously. "I want three things, and you'll
give
them to me for this reason: I am going to kill you, but I can either
make your
death quick and painless, or as long and as agonizing as I wish. It's
your
choice."
Kuroi's eyes widened, then narrowed again at that pronouncement.
"What
do you want?" he growled.
"First, the antidote to that spider's poison," Kurama said. "And
I
want it _now_."
Kuroi glared at him and dug in the folds of his robe. "Here," he
said,
tossing a small bottle towards Yusuke. Yusuke caught it with ease, and
looked
at it.
"How do we know this is the right stuff?" he asked Kurama.
"It's the right formula," Kurama answered, after a cursory look
at the
brown glass bottle and its contents. "He wouldn't give us the wrong one,
because he knows I can think of some very nasty ways for him to die."
"So what do we do with it?" Kuwabara asked, snatching it from
Yusuke
and holding it up to the light as Kurama set Hiei down on the ground.
"Pour it directly on the wound," Kurama answered. "Makai poison,
Makai
antidote, Makai-style healing." He carefully moved back the shredded
edges of
Hiei's clothing, exposing the yellow and purple wound to the light.
Yusuke bent
over to look at it.
"Nasty," he commented.
"Very," Kurama replied as he accepted the bottle from Kuwabara.
He
uncorked it and sniffed. His nose wrinkled. "This is definitely poison
antidote." He carefully poured it over the wound, holding Hiei as his
body
suddenly jerked and trembled.
Hiei's breathing quickly returned to normal, and he blinked his
eyes,
as if trying to clear them. Slowly, he sat up, almost unbelieving that
he
actually could. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Kuroi, but he shrugged
carelessly and turned to Kurama. "Yours," he said, jerking his thumb
over his
shoulder at the imprisoned youkai.
"That's it?!" Kuwabara demanded. "No thanks, or anything?"
"It doesn't matter, Kuwabara," Kurama said quickly, before Hiei
could
reply, and let Kuwabara turn this into another argument. "It really
doesn't.
Besides, we still need to find out how to get rid of the shadows."
"Yeah," Kuwabara said, turning to Kuroi. "So how do we get rid
of
them?" he demanded.
Hiei looked at Kurama. "...Thank you," he reluctantly said, so
quietly
that no one else could hear him. Kurama looked at him, surprised.
"What for?" he asked softly.
"My life," Hiei muttered, looking away.
"Thank you for mine, then," Kurama replied, after a slight
pause. When
Hiei looked back at him, he shrugged and elaborated. "You don't have to
thank
me for saving your life. I'd do it anyway, and unlike Kuwabara, I
already know.
Just let it go unspoken if you want."
Hiei looked at him for a second further. "Hn," was his only
comment as
he turned away. Kurama smiled and stood up.
"So, Kuroi, how do Kuwabara and I get rid of these shadows you
set on
us?" he asked.
"The human can do it easily enough," Kuroi replied, smiling.
"You
can't, however."
"What do you mean by that?" Yusuke demanded.
Kuroi turned his head to look at him. "Your Rei power is an
anathema
to the 'shadows,' as you call them," he explained to Yusuke. "All you
have to
do is infuse your friend with it, and the shadow within him will die.
But
because Kurama is a youkai, the shadows will bond to him far more easily
- and
permanently. There's no way it will let him go."
"That's a lie," Hiei said from where he was standing, watching
them.
"There's a way, but you're not telling us."
Kuroi laughed derisively. "Why would I lie, sanjiyan?" he asked
Hiei.
"My death is already set, and I have no wish to make it more painful
than it
needs to be."
"Whether or not you're telling the truth is a moot point,"
Kurama said
softly. "Because it's been established that Yusuke's Rei power is the
only
thing that can hurt the shadows, and infusing the two of us with it is
the only
way to get rid of them. Either I'll die from it, or I won't, but I have
no
intention of skipping it, and taking this thing back to the Ningenkai."
Yusuke paused for a second as he went through the implications
of
that. "Kurama..." he said slowly.
Kurama turned to look at him. "We knew it would come down to
this,
Yusuke," he said. "And if I do die from it...you won't have killed me.
The
worst that you can say is that you'll have set me free."
"But--" Yusuke said doubtfully.
"Look," Kurama said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Who knows
what
will happen? I may be able to survive this. If not, maybe Koenma'll find
a
place for me to work in the Reikai - they're always short-handed there.
And if
that doesn't happen, then I'll go on to my next life, and we'll all meet
up
again someday in the future."
Yusuke looked into Kurama's eyes for a second, and reluctantly
agreed
with his logic. "All right."
From somewhere in his robes, Kurama produced a flat envelope,
and
handed it to Yusuke. "If I _don't_ make it, will you deliver this to my
mother?" he asked. "I don't think there's anything I need to add to it."
"Sure." Yusuke nodded, taking it and carefully putting it into
his
back pocket. "I promise."
"Thank you," Kurama said.
Yusuke sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He looked back
and
forth between Kuwabara and Kurama. "I don't think I can do both at
once," he
said.
"I'll go first," Kuwabara said, stepping forward towards him. He
looked at Kurama. "Kurama..."
"I know, Kuwabara," Kurama said.
"No, you don't," Kuwabara replied, shaking his head. He reached
out
with his mind, and touched Kurama's, putting everything he didn't know
how to
say in words into it. Kurama's gaze went slightly distant for a second,
as he
absorbed it all, then cleared, and met Kuwabara's evenly. He gave a
slight nod,
and Kuwabara turned his attention back to Yusuke. "Do it, Urameshi," he
said,
extending his hands, palms upwards, towards him.
Kurama stepped backwards, instinctively, as Yusuke began to glow
with
the light of his Rei power. For a brief second, Yusuke regretted that
his power
was doing this to Kurama, but he forced himself to ignore that, and
concentrate
on Kuwabara. He met Kuwabara's eyes with his own, and placed his palms
on top
of his, sending his Rei power coursing through Kuwabara's body.
He closed his eyes, and followed its path with his mind. It felt
weird, tracing through Kuwabara's body, but finally, he reached his
heart and
saw the darkness there. <This has to be it,> he thought. <It looks just
like
what he and Hiei showed me. It's still freaky, too. I wonder how I'm
supposed
to get rid of it?>
He hesitantly touched it, and felt it squirm in pain, trying to
move
away from him. <Nothing that's Kuwabara, and supposed to be here would
do
that,> he thought firmly. With that in mind, he pulled his power into
the one
spot, surrounding the thing with it, blasting it from all sides, until
it
shrieked, and disappeared altogether. <Heh. Gotcha...> Then he pulled
himself
back, flowing out of Kuwabara until he and his power were all in his own
body.
He opened his eyes as he lifted his hands away from Kuwabara's.
He was surprised to find himself breathing hard. "You okay?" he
asked
Kuwabara.
Kuwabara nodded, touching his head. "My headache's gone," he
reported.
He sighed. "I suppose that means that the powers are, too. Oh, well."
Yusuke turned to look at Kurama. He was on his knees, being
supported
by Hiei, his hand over the right side of his chest instead of the left.
Yusuke
guessed that that was where a youko's heart was. "Are you all right?" he
asked,
going over and kneeling beside him.
"Yeah..." Kurama said, looking up. He laughed weakly. "It didn't
like
that."
"Are you still sure that you want to do this?" Yusuke asked
him."
"Yes," Kurama answered firmly.
Yusuke looked up as Kuroi laughed. "It appears I'll get to see
you
die, after all, Kurama," he said.
"Look, you bastard--" Yusuke started angrily, before he was cut
off by
a motion from Kurama.
Kurama stood somewhat hesitantly, his hand still over his heart.
He
concentrated his mind, ignoring the pain and the shadow. He wanted what
he was
about to say to be right. "Kuroi," he said, as his plants inched closer
to the
trapped youkai again. "What you never understood about thievery, the
reason
that Eitaru ended your contract with him, is that a thief must have
honor,
above all else. Though I may die now, you will not have defeated me. My
death
is my choice, and I make it for the simple fact that I will not risk
bringing
harm to the world I have adopted as my home, the people, good and bad,
who
reside there, and those few beings who I am proud to call my friends. I
wish
you could have understood that four hundred years ago, because then none
of
this would have been necessary." Speech done, he turned away, and
promptly
crumpled to his knees.
"Kurama!" he heard Yusuke say.
He opened his eyes again, and looked at the three concerned
faces
before him. He wouldn't risk hurting them. Even as he thought that, he
felt the
shadow begin to move within him again, actively seeking control before
he could
have Yusuke destroy it. He took his hand off his heart and extended it
towards
Yusuke. He looked at the three of them once more.
"Thank you for being my friends," he said simply. He didn't need
to
say anything more. He closed his eyes and waited. A thousand sudden
memories
crowded into his mind, followed a split second later by Yusuke's burning
power.
Kurama resisted the overwhelming urge to scream in pain. Yusuke
would
have a hard enough time dealing with it, without him making it worse. He
knew
that this would kill him; everything else was just a brave front for
Kuwabara
and Yusuke. Hiei knew him too well to be fooled.
<Where do you think _you're_ going?> he asked the shadow, as he
felt
it scrambling around inside him, desperately seeking a way out, any way,
anything to avoid the pain surrounding it. <There's no way out of here,
and you
know it. We're going to die together, and you'll never use me to hurt
anyone
ever again.>
<Dammit!> Yusuke thought. He could feel both the shadow and
Kurama,
through the tendrils of his power flooding through Kurama's body, and
Kuroi had
been right. They were joined together, and there was no way to kill the
one
without killing the other. <He'll die!> Yusuke thought desperately. <I'm
sorry,
Kurama, I can't do this-->
<Yes, you can,> he heard Kurama answer him. <If you _don't_ kill
me,
I'll kill _you_. Please - just do this one thing for me,
Yusuke...please. Let
me die with a little dignity, and perhaps for a good cause.>
Yusuke's mind paused for a second on that thought, even as he
sent
more power into Kurama's body, electrocuting the shadow - and Kurama. He
thought of everything that he could say, everything that he could do,
and
decided that, in the end, there was only one thing he couldn't. He
couldn't
deny this one request. <All right,> he thought, aware in some distant
corner of
his mind that he'd started crying. <But I'm going to blame you for my
mental
problems afterwards - see if I don't!>
Kurama didn't reply. <Kurama--?!> Yusuke cried out, looking
around for
him.
<May your path be filled with rainbows, sunsets, and
happiness--> he
heard a dying whisper say from somewhere. He looked around again,
desperately,
but there was nothing left in Kurama's body except him and his power.
The
shadow was gone, and Kurama with it.
<...thank you, Yusuke...>
<KURAMA!!!>