The Runaway

As he looked behind him to see where the bounty hunter was, he slammed into a wall. Lucky for him, he recovered just in time to dart into the nearest alley and through an air vent, where he presently passed out from exhaustion. He’d been running for weeks now, and no matter where he hid they’d always find him again. So, he thought, this wouldn’t be any different.

He didn’t know how long later he woke up, to find cool water being splashed on his face. His first thought was, oh gods, I’m dead. Then his vision came into focus and he saw the inside of a square metal tunnel. And the water was coming from a small low-sided bowl, and the one splashing was a girl fox of about his age, maybe younger, a beautiful shade of red with stunning amber eyes. As soon as she saw he was awake the splashing stopped and she came to sit behind him.

“Where am I?” he managed to ask.

“Can’t you tell? It’s the air pipes.” He could tell she was taunting him. “Now...who are you and why are you here?”

“I’m—” the silver fox began, then, “Wait. Why do you want to know?”

“This is my home and you’re an intruder,” she said seriously. “I have a right to know these things.”

He hesitated before nodding. “My name is Youko. I’m pursued by a bounty hunter and just happened to run in here. How long was I out?”

“Not long. Only an hour or so. What did you do that they sent a hunter after you?”

“I’d rather not know,” Youko answered.

The girl looked a bit shocked for a second then decided she didn’t want to know either, and proceeded to introduce herself. “The name’s Kory. Nice to meetcha.” She held up her paw as a sign of friendship. Youko did the same.

“What now?” he asked.

“You could stay here awhile, or you could leave now. Whichever.”

“I should probably go,” Youko said. “I don’t want you to be in danger.”

“But where will you go? Do you have family? Anyone?” She really sounded worried.

He shook his head. “No. Nothing. I’ll probably head for the boundary and see how I can go from there.”

Kory couldn’t say anything. She’d known someone who’d gone through the boundary and died. So she just hung her head and sat there, helpless. She knew he couldn’t stay in this world, or in the one beyond the boundary. She didn’t know why she was like this; she’d hardly met him five minutes ago.

“Earth to Kory,” Youko said, tapping her head.

“Yea, um, I’ll go out and check for you,” Kory replied and walked out through the vent opening.

She saw no one in the alley. That was not uncommon in this part of Makai, because it was so near the boundary. People and creatures alike were afraid of the boundary, a rip in the structure of the world, a void, though it was invisible. But Kory was braver than most, the only one daring to live within at least five miles of it, due to the rumour that it had a tendency to move around. She liked the isolation. And then an idea came to her. Venturing into the open street, she checked again and saw only a sleeping boy at the far end of the street, a regular here, red hair, fierce eyes, about ten years old.

With a backward glance she headed back into her alley, only to find Youko gone. Now she had two options: follow him or forget him. Then of course there was always the third option, but it’d still involve following, and she had no reason to do it anyway. She knew she’d probably never see him again even if she did follow him, so she didn’t bother.

Several days later she still couldn’t get him out of her mind. Forget him, Kory, she kept telling herself, just forget him already. After all, she didn’t know him at all except for his name. But the thought nagging at her subconscious, and her dreams, was that the silver fox was dead. He went through the boundary and died, just like her brother. And another thought, from years ago, was that her brother was still alive. But it couldn’t be.

There it was, the boundary, she could sense it. Without warning, she was overcome with the feeling that she was floating, and sudden realization said that she had been transported to the mortal realm, and she looked human.

She wrapped a lock of long blonde hair around her finger and observed her attire: a black tank top with a chain around the neck, black pants with a yellow stripe down each side and about six inches of red at the bottom, and red tennis shoes. Knowing what she came here to do, she set out to do the impossible. She had no clue who to look for or much of anything about this world in the first place. So she used what she did know and tried to find a way to get some money.

Four days later Kory was sitting in a dark alleyway some time after midnight when she felt a presence, like she was being watched. She stood up to look around and found herself being held from behind with one clawed hand at her throat and the other around her waist. She tried to kick her captor but found that it caused her to be held tighter.

In her ear a quiet male voice spoke. “Why are you following me?”

Kory, quite confused by this, responded with, “I don’t even know who you are. I can’t possibly be following you.”

“Why else would you have come here?” her captor asked.

As he still hadn’t let her go, Kory found it harder to respond this time. “You’re the know-it-all, you tell me.”

Her captor laughed silently. “Me? A know-it-all? Miss, you’re seriously misinformed.”

“Would you let me go already!” Kory demanded.

Her captor laughed again. “Look, you’re a beautiful girl,” he said, “and I’d really hate to kill you. Besides, I know you wouldn’t die even if I did, so I won’t even bother.”

“Ok, that’s probably one of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard anyone say so I’m not going to ask. Now, what do you want from me?”

“I like you,” he said. “We could make a good team.” And he released his hold on her enough to allow her to turn around.

“Not exactly what I expected to hear.”

“I never stopped thinking about you,” he whispered.

“You just tried to kill me! You’ve never met me before; how could you have? I don’t even belong here.”

Then he said the one word that made it seem like the last five minutes hadn’t even happened: “Kory.”

“Youko?” She stood back to look at him, his grey shirt and pants, long silvery hair, even his bare feet, which was a bit odd. “It’s really you.”

And he stepped forward and hugged her. “So you weren’t following me, ne?” he whispered in her ear.

“So what if I was?”

“Can we continue this discussion elsewhere?”

“Where do you suggest? Would it be better than here?”

“For you, probably not.”

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, this is just so romantic, standing here in this dark alley with no one around to be a bother, holding you in my arms...”

“My dear fox, you’ve said quite enough.” She pulled him down by the collar to kiss him, then quite suddenly burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Youko asked, confused.

“Look at us. What a pair we make!” She shook her head. “If anyone were to see the scene we’ve just made, they’d think us to be crazy.”

“Maybe we are.”

“Yes. Maybe.”

They soon awoke, in that same alley, to the rise of the sun, which was unheard of in Makai. There was always a sort of glow to the place that this world didn’t have.

As Youko was kind of still asleep, Kory went to get breakfast. She had developed a liking for donuts, which also did not exist in Makai. At the little shop down the street she bought two donuts and a bowl of ramen. A short time after she sat down, Youko walked by the window, turned around oddly and came in the door and sat down by her.

“Morning,” she said. “Sleep well?”

“Quite,” he answered. “Donut! For me?”

She passed one on a napkin to him. “I got ramen too if you want some. Otherwise it’s all mine.”

“That’s ok. I’ll leave you to it.”

Kory took a bite of her donut and sighed. “Y’know, by now they’ve probably given up looking for you. I mean, it’s already been, what, two months in Makai? And usually by then you’re either caught or—”

“Dead. Probably, but I can’t risk it.”

“What if we can’t get back? What if the boundary only works one way? Mortals walk by there all the time and they never get pulled into Makai.”

“I know it doesn’t make sense but it’s there. It has to be. Probably on the high branch of that tree near the crossroads.”

“You really think so?”

“Well, it would seem like it since it’s hard to get to.”

Kory hummed and put her head back. “True. Let’s go check it out. Finish your donut.”

They ate in near silence before they left to go find the tree, and sure enough, the boundary was there. Neither of them went through it, but they knew.

“Meet back here in an hour,” Yusuke called.

Across the field Shuiichi answered, “Two.”

No argument necessary, they ran in their opposite directions, Yusuke heading for the station, Shuiichi going into the forest. He’d just barely entered the trees when someone jumped down from one of the branches and grabbed him around the waist as if hugging him. This person was very short and, if not for his tall spiked black hair, would have only been about half as tall as Shuiichi.

“Um...excuse me?” the red head asked.

“Quiet,” said the short one. “Come with me.”

“Why should I?” Shuiichi said. He hadn’t ever seen this person in his life and now he was expected to follow him? Nonsense.

“It is in your best interest,” said the short one.

Shuiichi stood confused for a moment, then worried and frustrated, before he struggled free from the short one. When the short one tried to hold him again, the red head pointed a finger in his face.

“Look you,” he said, “I don’t know who or what you are, but I will go nowhere with you until I know whether I can trust you.”

The short one’s eyes widened before he clapped a hand over the third eye in the middle of his forehead and turned his back. Shuiichi noticed that he was tying a strip of cloth around his head to hide that odd eye. He didn’t turn back around when he said, “You can trust me, don’t worry,” and he started walking away.

“Wait,” Shuiichi said. “Who are you...or what?”

“Yes, forgive me,” the short one said. “Introductions should come first. Yours is not necessary, as I already know much about you, Minamoto, but you know nothing of me.” Shuiichi opened his mouth to ask questions but the short one held up his hand. “My name is Hiei,” he continued, “and you are correct in assuming I am not human. I am on a quest, as you would call it, and I require your assistance. That is all you need to know right now. I will explain only if you agree.”

Shuiichi thought this was ludicrous. To agree to something that one doesn’t know what it is that will help someone who isn’t human. It was pretty farfetched. And he voiced his opinion, saying that he wanted to know what it was he was agreeing to before he did so. The short one...or Hiei...whatever his name was, explained that he was looking for someone and he also needed weapons.

“And you think I can get you these weapons you supposedly need?” Shuiichi asked, quite surprised by the concept.

“Yes,” was the answer.

“But why me?”

“I believe you have a certain connection with the one I am looking for.”

“Who is it? Maybe I do know him.”

“You don’t.” Again, Hiei started to walk away. This time Shuiichi followed.

“So...” he finally ventured to ask after what seemed like at least half an hour, “where are we going?”

Hiei didn’t answer, but held up a blank index card. What this meant, Shuiichi didn’t ask or really care to know, but he did catch the card when Hiei tossed it at him. Not a minute later Hiei stopped and turned to him. He gestured toward a small clearing about twenty feet ahead.

“There lies your answer,” he said.

“My answer?” Shuiichi asked.

“You asked where we were going. This is it.”

Shuiichi was stunned. “You brought me to a clearing in the middle of a forest for...what?”

“You will see.”

As he said this, a small child walked out from the trees on the other side of the clearing. He couldn’t have been older than two. In a load voice he called out, “Hiei-san, where are you?”

Hiei called back to him, “Koenma-sama, I’ve brought Minamoto like you asked.”

“I see,” the child said. Then to Shuiichi, “You know of Makai, yes?”

Shuiichi nodded. He and Yusuke had been taught to use spirit energy by a woman from the spirit world.

“Then do you know of a fox by the name of Youko Kurama?” the child asked.

“Gee, you’re pretty smart for a toddler,” Shuiichi joked, poking at Koenma’s hat.

Koenma slapped his hand away and started talking about how he was older than Shuiichi’s family and other random stuff of that sort.

“Shouldn’t have gotten him started,” Hiei muttered. Then he walked away, waving for Shuiichi to follow him. “So,” he asked, “do you know the fox?”

“How should I know if I do or not?”

“You have his—” he cut himself off.

Shuiichi waited for Hiei to finish, but when he didn’t he asked, “His what?”

Hiei smiled and whispered, “His eyes.”

Shuiichi stepped back. “Are you... in love with him!” he exclaimed.

“Hell no! It’s just kind of funny.”

“How so?”

“Because you don’t know him. Or maybe you do and you just don’t know it. See, back in Makai he went through the boundary. That was five mortal years ago. Some say the fox went back to Makai. Others say he’s still here. But now another fox has gone missing and they think she’s here with him.”

“But what’s it got to do with me?”

“They think you were Youko’s vessel, or maybe you still are.”

“Is this fox a demon?”

Hiei nodded. Shuiichi was taken aback that this three eyed dwarf and his toddler of a master thought he had a demon inside him. The ‘dwarf’ now said he would like Shuiichi’s help to locate this fox, as he obviously didn’t know, or he would be finding him now, or he would have found him a long time ago.

“Alright,” Shuiichi agreed. “I don’t know what you want me to do, but I’ll try to help you.” He shrugged.

“You get that side, you get the front,” Kory heard someone yell.

It was coming from the direction of the bank. She kept walking, then stopped. Youko had gone to the bank! She ran to the corner, turned, down a quarter block, stopped. Robbers. She got there just in time to see Youko stand up and protest.

“You got a death wish or somethin’? Siddown,” the leader said. “I ‘ent got time for this.”

Youko didn’t move.

“I said siddown!” the leader commanded.

Youko still stood and stared at the man. Then the man noticed Kory standing in the door.

“Get goin’,” he ordered.

Kory took a step forward, glaring at the man, then watching the floor as not to step on any of the confused people.

“You got a death wish too?” the man said. “You’re both crazy. Get outta here ‘fore someone gets hurt.” He was quiet for a moment, but when Kory stepped forward again he grabbed Youko by the collar and held the gun to his head. “Your beloved here’ll die if you don’t stop. I warn you.”

He was trembling. Kory kept walking until she was near him, and keeping her face blank she whispered, “It’s not worth your life. Get out.”

The man stood dumb for a second, then waved to his comrades to leave. As Kory and Youko followed them out, Youko laughed. “All talk and no trousers.” But at the end of the street they were met by a short weird looking guy.

“You,” the short one pointed at Kory. “You’re the other one.”

“The other one what?” Kory responded.

“Missing fox.” Now he pointed at Youko. “You’re the first one. About nine weeks ago, Makai time, there was a recorded boundary passage and it was you. And then you.” He pointed at Kory again.

“What’s with you?” Youko asked. “We’ve been here for quite a while.” The short one shook his head. Youko stared at him. Then, “You...I know you. Hiei wasn’t it?”

“Koenma wants to see you,” Hiei said flatly.

“Why?” Kory asked suspiciously.

“You expect me to know?” Hiei said. “My little friend Minamoto helped me find you.”

A boy with red hair stepped out from the shadow of the building where he’d been leaning against the wall. “What d’you mean ‘little’? You’re the shrimp,” he said. Then he turned to Youko. “Look, I don’t know you, but I saw no reason why I shouldn’t help, so I did.” He looked at his watch. “Crap, I was supposed to meet Yusuke twenty minutes ago. Sorry dude, gotta run.” Except he didn’t run. He walked.

“He wants to see me, ne? Well, that’s just too bad, because I’m not going back.”

“You don’t have to.” The short one smiled. “He’s here looking for you too.”

“Lovely.”

Kory looked between them and declared, “I’m going too.”

Hiei looked like he would laugh. “This is nothing for feminine delicacy.”

Kory laughed out loud. “Feminine delicacy! What are you on? I ain’t delicate.”

Hiei flushed. “Well...um...you weren’t invited.”

“He’s right you know,” Youko said. He looked down at Hiei, who looked up. “Let her come, for my sake.”

“Why should I do anything for you?” Hiei retorted. “I was one of your hunters.”

“Then why don’t you kill me?” Youko countered.

“My orders directly from Koenma were to bring you to him. The others’ orders were from the sector officials. And I wouldn’t try to kill you anyway.”

Kory hugged Youko protectively and glared at Hiei, who was taken aback. “Relax, she-demon,” he said. “I’m not going to steal your boyfriend.”

“Better not.” Kory still glared.

Hiei had a reputation for that sort of thing. No one knew why though. Still, they let him take them to Koenma. The toddler-lord was surprised to see Kory, but greeted her as if he’d been expecting her as well.

“I should have known you’d follow him,” he said to her. “Well, maybe not you, but someone. This happens quite often.”

“You’re off the subject,” Kory pointed out. “Why do you need to see Youko?”

The toddler turned around and walked to the far side of the clearing. “I want you to find a know criminal, accused of treason and theft.”

“Why do you want me instead of Hiei?” Youko asked honestly.

“Because I do,” Koenma replied.

“Who is it?” Youko then asked.

Koenma faced sideways now and said flatly, “Doran Kira.”

Youko didn’t believe it. Kory stood confused. “What’d he do?” she asked.

“You know him?” Koenma asked.

“So what if I do? Answer my question.”

“Like I said, he’s a traitor and a thief. He stole my father’s sceptre and the talisman from the Saioshu shrine. And to top it off, he opened the boundary to enemies of Makai. He must be found, and stopped, no matter what the cost.” He looked at Youko.

“I’ll think about it,” the fox said.

Kory tugged on his sleeve. “Don’t,” she whispered. “Please.”

“Gods people,” Hiei burst out. “What’s the point of whispering? We can hear you anyway.”

“Shut up,” Kory snapped. “It makes me feel better. You don’t even know Doran. I see your expression, confused, feeling inferior because you don’t know what’s going on.”

Hiei shrank back. He opened his mouth to speak again, but closed it in bewilderment when no sound came out.

“I don’t know him either,” Youko said softly. “Not personally anyway.”

“Please don’t do this,” Kory pleaded. “At least let me talk to him first.”

Koenma spoke to Kory, “You know the sector officials will have people after him too, so you’d better hurry. So far as I know he’s still in Makai.”

After Hiei pointed out that it would take a while to get to the boundary, Koenma teleported them all to the spirit world, where Kory proceeded to search.

Two days later, and still nothing. Kory was on the verge of giving up when she heard a loud crash in the building she’d just passed. She spun and saw a light flare in the upper window and a shadow move across the curtain. She went back toward the structure and inside, up the stairs, looking for a room with a light. When she found it she opened the door slowly. No one. The window was open and a person was running. He’d seen her, or heard. Kory jumped and ran after him.

“Doran!” she screamed.

He stopped, looking back as she ran toward him. When she reached him and he saw who she was, he hugged her and apologized.

“For what?” Kory asked.

“For leaving,” he replied. “I shouldn’t have but—”

Kory put a finger to his lips and kissed him on the cheek. Just then she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Youko running toward them. About ten feet away he stopped. He looked between them with an odd expression.

“Lay off my girlfriend, Kira,” he said.

Kory went to him. “Youko, it’s alright. I—”

“You what? Kory...” He turned and took a few steps but Kory caught his arm.

“He’s my brother.”

He was speechless. She hadn’t told him she had a brother, which would have been alright, but this guy was wanted for treason and, according to Koenma in the last two minutes, now possibly murder.

Doran coughed. “If I may,” he began, “I plead my innocence.”

“Sure, like I believe that. They have pictures and the sector officials swear they’ve seen you.”

“It’s not true,” Kory said. “Doran’s supposed to be dead and— Koenma’s gonna get it...”

Doran and Youko argued while Kory plotted against the toddler-lord, until she got tired of the argument and slapped them both. First she turned to Youko. “He didn’t do what they say he did, I know it. But you’ve just met him. You know nothing about him.” Then she turned to Doran. “And you. I know you, but if you don’t keep to yourself you’re really going to get killed. And don’t you dare confess or I’ll kill you. So...” She glanced at Youko. “You’re going back to the mortal world with us.”

“I am?” This from Doran.

“He is?” This from Youko and the now approaching Koenma, who began clapping.

“Congratulations, Youko, mission complete, and you had no idea what you were doing did you?” Youko just stared at him. “You helped save him, you little weirdo.”

“Weirdo? You’re the weird one here. And who are you calling little, shrimp?”

Koenma crossed his arms and stood as tall as he could, which was only about two feet. “Well, I’m older than you!”

“Sure you are. You’re not even two hundred years yet.”

Koenma looked as if he would cry, but Doran picked him up and hugged him. “You’re too cute to be older than us,” he said.

“Cute? And you put me down!”

“You’re even cuter when you’re angry,” Doran said as he put the toddler on the floor. “We’re going to the human world, right Kory?”

She nodded and started walking. When she realized no one was following, she turned around and said jokingly, “Come one, ladies, no point in hanging around.”

This got them moving. And then came the boundary. Koenma didn’t go with them but said he had to get back to his office. Kory pushed Doran and Youko through the boundary first, insisting because they were both ‘wanted criminals’ and she was just an ‘innocent bystander.’ Though it was kind of a shock when they both fell out of the tree.

“What if they follow?” Doran pondered. “They’re not afraid to follow.”

“They wouldn’t,” Kory assured him.

Just then, a person fell out of the tree, a woman. “Really, couldn’t they have picked a better place to put it?” she muttered. Then she saw them. “Oh, hello.”

“And you are?” Youko asked.

“Marisa Kira,” the woman replied. “Nice to meet you.”

“Marisa!” Doran greeted her. “What are you doing here?”

“I love you too,” she replied. “That’s what. You thought I was about to let you run off again without me? Who’s your girlfriend?”

“My sister.”

“Kory,” the girl said. “You don’t remember me, do you? Last time we met was a few years ago.”

Marisa looked at her a minute before she started laughing. “Yeah, I remember. You were the kid at our party who got drunk on sake-tea, right?”

Kory raised an eyebrow. “Uh...yeah.”

“What are we doing here?” Marisa asked.

“We, as in you and me, Marisa, are going to live here,” her husband explained. “Koenma says we should, but it was Kory’s idea.” He looked around to see where his sister had gone, but she was nowhere in sight, and neither was Youko.

Meanwhile, Kory was leading Youko through a maze of alleyways he couldn’t have memorized if he tried. He didn’t dare ask where they were going; she’d already told him not to. So he just let her lead him. It had been late afternoon when they had come back through the boundary, and now the sky was getting dark. Finally they emerged onto a street where Kory proceeded to lead him down to a small but beautiful house near the intersection of the next street. She opened the door and led him inside and up the stairs into a dimly lit corridor.

“Welcome home,” she said, finally breaking the deathly silence. But before Youko could ask what this meant, there were footsteps. Kory opened the nearest door, pushed him inside and closed the door behind herself. “Closet,” she said quietly.

“This is...ours?” Youko asked, astonished.

“Yep,” Kory whispered.

“Wow. But how did you—?”

“It’s not important.” She leaned back against the wall and sighed. Suddenly she felt herself pulled down to the floor.

Youko laughed. “I guess that means you’re my wife,” he said.

“Correct,” Kory replied.

"Then it also means I can have my way with you.”

Kory coughed in surprise and sat up sharply. She felt Youko’s had around her neck and the other around her waist, just like in the alley when they had first ‘met.’ Except here she couldn’t turn around.

“When I found myself passed out in your air vent home, I never dreamed it would go this far,” he whispered. “But it has and I love you possibly more.”

“Time...” She turned her head to try to see him and found his lips pressed to hers in a passionate kiss.

He broke it. “Time for what?”

“Just time. We didn’t go through the ceremony.”

Youko nodded. “For any human, they’d say we were crazy. After all, it’s only been a few days. But to us it’s been much longer.”

“You too.”

Youko sighed. “Not yet.”

Kory looked up, amber eyes shining.

“No, for now I just want to hold you.”