History Lessons

History Lessons

- by Julie (whirleeQ) and Rose (BuffyBot76)

- Part 4 of 4

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Shuichi Minamino, known to his friends as Kurama, used to have nightmares he
could not explain. For a while, he thought the nightmares came from the memories
of the spirit kitsune that he shared his body with. Except that in his nightmares,
he was not a thief, but an assassin.

The nightmares had plagued most of his childhood. Often, Youko had had to
comfort him upon waking. There were many nights when the spirit kitsune had
had to soothe his fears by assuring him that his hands were not drenched
in the blood and gore of others, and that no one was trying to kill him.
After a while, Youko helped him repress the nightmares entirely, and Kurama
had not had one in many, many years.

But this afternoon, while Kurama was taking a small after-school nap, the spirit
kitsune had been lax in his guard – and considering the content of his dream,
it was no wonder. Never before had his dreams been of THAT nature.
His body was still highly aroused from the images. Bodies, straining together
on an old futon, while the storm outside pounded against the walls of the little
hut. Cinnamon brown eyes locked on his, and ruby lips parted in an expression
of passion.

What was most alarming was that he had recognized those eyes and those lips,
and could put a name to their owner.

‘Keiko.’

Panting, Shuichi's accusing thoughts turned inward. 'Youko! What the hell
was that?’

The spirit kitsune was snickering inside of his head. ~Don’t blame me,
red… that was all you. I have to say that your past self was a very interesting
ningen though. It was one of the reasons I chose you, after all.~

Kurama blinked. 'That has nothing to do with the fact that I just dreamt
of Keiko and my past self, together, in.... that way.'

Youko responded by putting forth a particularly vivid image of a naked Keiko
with her head thrown back and her face flushed. ~Well, it was a rather
good dream this time at least. That is why I didn’t shield you from it. As
to why Keiko was in it – well, you are enamored of her.~

At Kurama’s blush and mental negation, the spirit kitsune chuckled.
‘~Don’t try to deny it to me, Red. I share your head, after all. Personally,
I think you should go to her, tell her how you feel. You’re not the only one
in here that finds her… interesting… especially after THAT dream.~’

'Ha, after a dream like THAT you would find any female interesting.'
Shuichi replied sardonically, ‘But your suggestion has merit. I should really
confess to Keiko how I feel. It has been kept secret long enough, after all.’
he thought.

He reached for the phone beside his bed and dialed the Yukimura residence’s
phone number before he lost his nerve. However, he was disappointed when Keiko’s
mother told him that she had not yet made it home from school yet.

How odd…

He rose from the bed and approached his closet with the intent of getting dressed
in order to go out in search of Keiko.

~*~

“Keiko, wake up.”



Something or someone was incessantly prodding her, and Keiko batted the offending
hand out of the way. The prodding wouldn’t stop, so Keiko opened two blurry
cinnamon eyes to see a curtain of red hair looming closer.

“Kenshin?” She asked with a yawn, before reality kicked in and her vision cleared.

“Kur-kurama? Oh god…”

"Nani?" Kurama blinked in confusion. 'Did she just call me...
what I think she did?'

Keiko blinked several times and took in her surroundings. It was night time
now, and she was… she was against the tree that she had been studying under
before she had fallen asleep. Had it all been a dream? She suddenly felt a
painful ache in her chest.

She groaned and reached for Kurama who was holding his hand out to help her
up. What was he doing here?

“Sorry… I must have dozed off. What are you doing here?” She asked, as she
bent over to grab her textbook. Still a bit groggy, her hands didn’t quite
close around the book correctly and it slipped from her grasp – only to fall
to the ground, opened on the page that had the rendering of Kenshin.

She swallowed the thick lump that suddenly appeared in her throat, as her eyes
started to tear.

Kurama was taken by surprise when his sensitive nose picked up on the scent
of tears. Glancing at Keiko, he noticed she was glancing down at something and
in turn his eyes followed suite. He saw the open textbook lying on the ground
and swooped down to pick it up for her. He immediately noticed the familiar
image depicted in the book and his eyes once more returned to Keiko, studying
her curiously. “So, your class is studying about the Meiji Restoration, ne,
Keiko-chan?”

“Uh... yeah…” Keiko answered, as she started walking in the general direction
of home, Kurama keeping pace by her side. God, she really didn’t want to do
this right now. If it had been a dream, it had been so very vivid – so very
real. She couldn’t help but feel slightly aroused at just the memory of his
touch – dream or not.

Kurama cleared his throat next to her, and she looked up to see him staring
at her intensely. His eyes were filled with an expression of extreme curiosity…
and something else she couldn’t put a name to.

“Sorry. I’m still a bit groggy, I think. History is not normally my thing,
but there had been a story about a particular man that caught my interest and
I had been reading about him when I fell asleep under the tree. When the textbook
got into the different attributes and merits of the weaponry used during the
Meiji restoration, I guess I kinda nodded off,” she answered with a forced smile.

Kurama’s brilliant green eyes widened only slightly, and he kept his voice
as level as possible as he phrased his next question.

“Oh? And who was it that you were studying, Keiko-san?”

“His name was Himura Kenshin. He was an assassin during the Meiji Era who put
down his sword and supposedly took to wandering in search of redemption for
all the murders he had committed.” Keiko averted her gaze as she spoke and thus
missed Kurama’s reaction to her words.

Kurama actually choked, and had to struggle to keep himself from stumbling.
’Youko? Please tell me that Himura was not the surname of my prior incarnation,’
he moaned internally. ~Okay, Red. I won’t tell you. Why does it matter,
anyway? You’re here with her now. We’re here with her now. Tell her how you…
how *we* feel!~

Kurama suddenly stopped walking, and hesitantly reached to grab Keiko’s hand.

As expected, Keiko gasped at the gesture, her wide, brown eyes flying back
to stare at Kurama questioningly. His touch… it had such a familiar feel to
it as his long, elegant fingers began to caress the back of her hand. Keiko
shivered. “Wh-what…” She began, but her voice sounded so very weak to her ears,
as if the simple act of touching her had rendered her speechless. She cleared
her throat and tried again. “What are you doing?”

“Keiko… I…” Kurama cleared his throat so that he could continue. Normally he
didn’t have any problem at all with words. In fact, he could wield them almost
as effectively as he could his rose whip. But now…

Youko decided for him that talking was overrated. Kurama fought the kitsune,
as he pushed through to the forefront, but Youko was not to be denied. As he
took control of the body, Kurama’s eyes changed from brilliant green in color
to almost gold.

The kitsune was only in control for a moment, but by the time Kurama was able
to regain control, the damage had been done. He had not been able to wrest
control back from Youko before he pulled Keiko into his arms and captured her
lips in a kiss that was almost predatory. When the kitsune finally receded
into the back of Kurama’s mind with a snicker, he left his human counterpart
with an armful of a confused Keiko. Kurama pulled back, flushed and embarrassed.

“Keiko.. gomen… it’s just that I… have wanted to do that for a… for a lifetime,”
he finally managed to choke out.

Keiko stood gaping, not knowing what to do. Kurama had just kissed her and...
it had been so... His words suddenly caught her attention. "A... a lifetime?"

Kurama swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat as a flash of a dream—
or maybe even a memory, albeit not one of his own— entered his head and supplied
him with his next words.

“Hai, Keiko-dono. That I have,” he said, the words coming out husky and strangled,
as with one shaking hand he pulled her back to him.

~*~

~Owari~