Disclaimer:Yuu Yuu Hakusho characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. This is purely for entertainment purposes, no profit is being made out of it. Do not distribute it in any form.

Black Love

By Geraldine Cheong
Part 4
19th May 1999


The little youkai peeped out from behind the foliage to marvel at the divine image present before his eyes. A slender silver youko was making his way through the thick undergrowth of the Makai jungle. He coursed through the greens like graceful silver moonlight, in his eyes an incandescent yellow glow that spelt danger. The little youkai moved closer so as not to lose his angelic vision. The youko stopped and turned around, a slight frown creasing his forehead as he scanned the darkness. "Come out. I know you're there." His voice, clear and crisp, told of the overwhelming confidence and the well of experience he carried with him.

The little youkai shuddered slightly knowing he had been discovered. He only prayed that this youko was not like all the other youkais who had stumbled upon him on the way. They hurt him and he had lashed out at them in fear, unable to fully contain his powers. They did not look very pretty when he had finished with them. However, this youko was too pretty, he did not want to stain the spotless white tunic that the youko wore, did not want to hurt the elegant youko that now stood before him. Just then a black shape darted out from behind the little youkai, slamming into the youko and sending them both careening into the ground. The little youkai was terrified, the youko was being attacked. He had to do something to help. However, he was still too young to master control over his powers and any attempt to use them might put the youko at risk too. He panicked.

"Give it up! You have never been able to tail me successfully." The youko laughed as he shoved the other black youkai way.

"Don't get too conceited. I will succeed one day, Kurama." The youkai in black echoed Kurama's laughter as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. He raked a slim hand through his midnight black hair to dislodge the dead leaves and broken twigs entwined within.

"Here, let me." Kurama said as reached over to help the other. The little youkai heaved a sigh of relief. They were friends. A pang of loneliness hit him as he struggled to fight it down lest the 2 youkais could sense him. Even the silver youko, Kurama had a friend. He had nobody.

Kurama and his friend sat down beneath a large shady tree, "Hey Kuronue! I've thought of a better name for you."

"Spit it out, it can't be any worse than the last one you thought of for me." Kuronue yawned as he stretched himself out on the ground, hands crossed behind his head.

"What's wrong with 'Batty'? It suits you just fine!" Kurama said as he gleefully sat on Kuronue, straddling him and ignoring his yelps of protests.

Kuronue groaned. "It sounds like a female name in Ningenkai. Besides, I definitely am not batty. You, however, are another story altogether. Now get off me, you heavy fox!" Kuronue wheezed as he struggled to push the playful youko off his torso.

"What do you think of 'Karasu'?" Kurama asked twirling a lock of Kuronue's dark hair between his fingers.

Kuronue made a face, having given up on getting Kurama off him, "Yucky."

"I think it's nice. At least it's more specific than 'Kuronue'." Kurama happily swished his tail into Kuronue's face, making him sneeze.

"KU-RA-MA..." Kuronue warned. Kurama stopped swishing his tail around. "Thank you. I think I'd stick to 'Kuronue'."

"As you wish," Kurama pinched Kuronue's nose before darting away into the forest again. Kuronue cursed as he picked himself off the ground and made off after Kurama. Neither of them noticed the little youkai following them. The little youkai who now had a name to call his own... Karasu...
 
 

"The mirror is that building. However, it would take more than a few weeks to discover its exact location and that of all the clever little traps around it. Plus, come up with a way to disable them," Kuronue indicated to the rough plan he sketched out in the sand with a twig. "I think-"

"Sh. Not now. Save the intricacies of the plan for later." Kurama cut Kuronue off abruptly. "The forest has ears."

Kuronue frowned a little, then smiled and nodded. "How long has he been following us?"

"Quite a while. Persistent little fellow." Kurama rubbed a leaf between his fingers. Kuronue took some food out from the folds of his clothes and tossed them into a little thicklet of trees where Karasu caught them and started to chew on them hungrily. When Karasu looked up, the two of them were gone. He was all alone again. He hugged himself, resisting the urge to cry but eventually succumbed to it. With all his energies spent after a bout of tears, he curled himself up into a tight little bundle and fell asleep.

End of Part 4.