I'm not dead. Between work and all the other junk, I haven't had time to do ANYTHING. Only got to write this lil bit cause I have the worst flu of my life. It's still not the entire thing I wanted to get out, but if I wait till I'm in the mood to do it how I wanted, I'd never get it posted. For the record, the last chapter is written. Has been for months. It's just a matter of getting there from here.
PS- If anyone plays Maple Story go to my forum! I'm hooked on that game now and I'm trying to find other FF people that play. I'm Jajauma22 in Khaini. Also got HieisFlame and KuramasVixen in Khaini. And Jajauma is Japanese for "untameable".
I own nothing. Enjoy!
"Kurama!"
The kit giggled as a fresh wave hit Botan.
"How did I get talked into this?" Botan whined as the little kit gave her a sly grin. 'He's up to something,' she thought, now reflexively wincing every time she saw that grin.
She kept her eyes on the fox, trying to prevent yet another "shower", but it was no use. The smart little fur-ball eased his now-free tail over to the corner of the tub where Shishi's huge bottle of shampoo was sitting and knocked it in the water.
"GRRRRRR!" Botan growled when she was splashed.
The kit laughed. He'd out-foxed her again.
"WHERE ARE THOSE TWO?" Botan cried in desperation.
In The Car...
"I'm tired of arguing with you! Will you shut up already?" Kairi huffed.
"YOU wanted to come! I tried to tell you to stay in your cave!" Kane retorted.
"I didn't want to stay and clean up the mess YOU made!"
"How the hell did I make it? I didn't give him gum!"
"No, but if you'd been watching him in Spirit World he wouldn't have got turned into a runt and it wouldn't have been an issue!"
"Watching him? Last I checked he was a grown-assed fox! Since when am I supposed to baby-sit Yoko?"
"Since a few hours ago, but I got stuck doing it."
"Well, if you'd been doing it right he wouldn't be a gum ball!"
"If we hadn't gone to Spirit World to help YOU out he wouldn't have been near that tree!"
"How long are we gonna go back to that?"
"As long as it's working!"
"Would you just tell me what the hell got the burr under your saddle about me to start with?"
"What?"
"You women are always naggin about one thing when it's something entirely different you're actually pissed about! Would you just spit it out already?"
"Well, let's see, there's that conceited attitude, for starters!"
"I'm not conceited; I'm convinced."
"THERE IT IS AGAIN!"
"Tough. It's always gonna be there." Kane grinned. Now he had the upper hand back. He could play her any way he wanted now... and he knew it.
"And there was what you did to Kurama."
"NOT THAT AGAIN! I said I wasn't his keeper! I can't help that he got turned into a-"
"Not that!" she interrupted. "I was talking about skipping out on him."
"What? I've never skipped out on Kurama!"
"Not yet, but you're planning on it."
"What are you talking about? I said I was going home. How is that skipping out on Kurama?"
"You don't get it."
"No, I don't! So explain it since you know everything!"
"Didn't you see his face when you were talking about leaving?"
"Kurama's a big boy. I don't see how my leaving would bother him." Kane's voice changed a tad when he said those words. "Besides, he'd say something if he wanted to."
"Like hell he would. Kurama's not the kind to admit when something's bothering him, and he sure as hell wouldn't burden anyone else with his problems. He just reasons it away."
She was right about that. Kane knew it. "You're wrong. He'd say something."
But he wasn't about to admit it...
"Tell me, do you believe half the BS that comes outta your mouth, or do you just expect me to?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"There's some more now."
"Whatever. Not only can you read Kurama's mind now, but you have a built-in lie detector, too? Why didn't Spirit World scoop you up as a detective? Seems like a popular pastime these days."
"If you're ready to quit dancing around the subject..."
"Psh."
"He wants you here."
"He doesn't need me."
"I didn't say need."
"See? Even you know he doesn't." Once again there were signs in Kane's voice that not all was as it seemed.
"He doesn't need anyone. But that doesn't mean he doesn't want his best friend around."
"Kurama's life was just fine before I came back in it, I'm pretty sure he'll manage without me." Kane put a strong dose of sarcasm in that sentence. "Now, can we get back to some music?"
"So you can dodge out of this conversation?"
"What the hell business is it of yours anyway?"
"I consider Kurama a friend, too. He's the only one here who knows me for who I am. I don't like seeing him hurt."
"If you think anything can hurt Kurama then you still got a lot to learn about him."
"I think you do."
"I know him better than anyone!"
"You knew Yoko better than anyone. In case you haven't noticed, that's not him. And for your information, you're probably one of the few people in all the worlds who is close enough to hurt him. He's cold and logical, I'll grant you that, but he's not entirely devoid of feelings."
Again, Kane knew she was speaking truth. He just didn't want to hear it.
"I'm sick of fighting with you! No one around here needs me. Kurama can handle himself just fine. You made it more than clear that you could live without me. My dad would be glad to see me gone. I have no other friends. So can we drop this?"
"No comment on your dad. I don't know anything about him. I think we've established that Kurama wants you here. And how did I get brought into that equation?"
Kane's eyes widened for a second when he realized that she had caught that, but he recovered quickly. "Just in case that was coming up your next argument," he huffed, but the attitude in his voice wasn't a good enough cover.
"You know, if you tried a little honesty once in a while you'd be a lot better off."
"You. Don't. Know. Me."
"I know you a lot better than you think."
"Here we go again. And just how well do you think you know me? You just met me today- well, yesterday now," he taunted, glancing at the clock in the dash.
"I saw through those walls within 5 minutes."
"Oh, I have walls now. And you can see right though 'em. Funny, I never even noticed 'em," he laughed. But it wasn't a convincing laugh.
"You keep your defenses up. Never let anyone in. As long as no one can get in, no one can hurt you, and you distance yourself from the people you do care about, so you can't hurt them."
"So just how are you supposed to know all this?" he taunted again.
"I used to be the exact same way."
Kane rolled his eyes, pretending not to be the slightest bit interested in what she had to say.
"What you said about no one needing you, I know that song and dance too well. You like your freedom because there's a lack of responsibility tied to it. If no one depends on you then you can't let them down. What it boils down to is you're afraid that you might fail them."
"Whatever," Kane sighed with an amused tone.
"And the smartassed routine is one more way to dodge being honest about it. How do you think I learned?"
Kane kept his amused expression concreted in place, but said nothing.
"Never let 'em see ya sweat, right?"
Silence.
Kairi continued on with how that cocky attitude was just a shield, but she wasn't going to get a reaction from him. She knew that before she had started speaking, though. She turned the conversation in a new direction.
"You don't need anyone. That's plain to see. But does that mean you can't care about anyone else?"
"Just because you and Kurama got touchy-feely, don't bring me to that level. I'll be dead, again, before I'll make myself that weak. I don't need other people as crutches to help me deal."
She knew what he meant. Kurama had Shiori. She had the boys.
"Who said we needed them? Kurama and I don't need anyone to survive, but there are people we want in our lives. I could walk away from the boys tomorrow and never have a problem taking care of myself. But I'd be lonely again. I walked the world alone most of my life. There's no pain when you're frozen off, but there's no happiness either. Maybe I did have to give up some things to be with them, but I gained a lot more than I lost. I'd wager Kurama would say the same about Shiori. He's not free to run wild and do as he pleases anymore, but he doesn't have to restrict himself, either. He felt with his head, not his heart, the same as I did. It tends to get you into less trouble. We both knew how to turn our emotions on and off, but if you leave them off for too long, you forget how to turn them back on. You'd be glad to get hurt, just to know you're still capable of feeling anything at all."
Kane said nothing, and maintained his poker face.
There was nothing she was saying that he didn't know all too well...
Reviews? PLEASE? And don't bother flaming. I know I could have done better.