True Dedication

Chapter 4

They both stood at the entrance. Yusuke glanced over at Kurama who was smiling ear to ear. Yusuke knew this was the right choice to bring them there. He would make amends with Kurama even if it took all night.

The sounds of laughter and percussion of the rides filled the air. Yusuke ran up to the booth and got two tickets. Giving one to Kurama, they strolled through the carnival. The smell of popcorn, cotton candy and other assortment of foods overwhelmed their senses. They stood in the middle of the carnival, deciding what to do next.

“Let’s go on that.” They both said together, only problem was they pointed in the other direction.

So to settle this little problem they thought a rousing game of jaken (rock, paper, and scissors) would help. Two out of the three rounds they played Yusuke as the winner, thanks to years of practice with Kuwabara, they rode the bumper cars. They rode them for a measly thirty minutes because Yusuke and Kurama thought it would be fun to play tag. Yusuke tried to bump Kurama, but he veered right causing Yusuke to collide with a poor boy sending him flying into the tire barriers.

The next ride they decided to get on was the carousel but the line was too long so they went to find another ride. So Kurama suggested they ride the teacups, seeing as the line was not that long.

“No way in hell Kurama.” Yusuke blurted out, causing some of the crowd to stare at them. “Ain’t no way I’m going on a ride like that!”

Kurama sported a hurt face, his head downcast as he treaded thru the crowds. Yusuke knew he hurt his friend’s feelings again.

‘Twice in one day. Damn Yusuke are you going for three this time?’ His mind asked.

“Hey Kurama, I know you’re tired of hearing me say this but I’m sorry. This is your day to relax and I’m ruining it as usual. So, we’ll do whatever you want from now on. I won’t object.”

Kurama stared at Yusuke, evaluating if his friend was being sincere. He sensed no lie, so he grabbed Yusuke by the wrist and led him towards the teacups, a genuine smile plastered on his face. Yusuke smiled back as he was dragged towards the ride.

“I knew you would see it my way.” Kurama said over his shoulder.

“Hey!” Yusuke yelled half-heartedly. It was too late to argue. They were standing next in line. Yusuke placed his hands in his pockets muttering stuff like, “Tricky fox” and “You wait ‘til we get home.” The ride’s operator opened the gates to allow new passengers to board. When he saw the two young men, he began to laugh but he stifled his laughter when Yusuke gave him a death glare.

“Enjoy your ride.” The operator said, quickly closing the gate and checking to see if everyone were buckled in. Then he went back over to his station and turned the ride on.

The ride began at a slow pace, then picked up as it tossed the boys back and forth and around in circles. Kurama threw up his arms, his hair flowing in the rush of the wind with every turn Yusuke made with the wheel.

“Weee!” Kurama yelled as the teacup tossed its riders back and forth. “Now tell me you are not enjoying this!”

“All right, I admit it. This is fun. Now stop yelling, you’re hurting my ears.” Yusuke screamed back.

‘I’ll hurt more than your ears, if I get the chance that is.’ Kurama thought that as he stared at his friend, many dirty images flooded his mind. He could feel the presence of his inner demon liking that idea very much so. ‘Calm yourself Kurama. He has a lover and you will not interfere.’ He scolded.

When the ride finally came to a stop, energized and wanting to go on more rides the two of them stumbled off trying to gain their balance. Something caught Yusuke’s eyes. Can you guess what it was? That’s right, game booths. Kurama just sighed, knowing they were going to be there a while.

“Are you serious Yusuke? You lost most of your money to these games. You can’t be serious as to play more.” Kurama coaxed. He didn’t want to see Yusuke lose any more money, since it was his money Yusuke was spending. They needed that for dinner.

“Just one more game and I promise we can ride more rides.” He said, reasonably. ‘Besides, I have to win you something to show you how much your friendship means.’ He said to himself.

As they walked, one of the booths’s caught Yusuke’s interest.

“Now that’s my kind of game. And look what they have for prizes!” Yusuke said merrily. He pointed to the different colored foxes hanging on a fence behind the booth. ‘That one, I’ll win that one for Kurama.’ He noted looking at the grayish-silver fox in the far left corner.

“Step right up and win ya self a prize. Ain’t nuthin to it but to shoot water at the bull’s eye. Come one and all before all is gone.” A skinny man with a straw hat cried out to crowds.

Yusuke walked over to the stand and sat down on a stool. Taking out the last bit of money Kurama gave him, he placed his hands on the controller and waited for the bell. When it rang, he pressed down hard on the buttons, aiming directly at the target. The puppet rose slowly to the top until a red light came on indicating he had won.

“Yeah! I guess fighting demons does come in handy.” He exclaimed proudly. Kurama clapped his hands as Yusuke took a bow.

“So kid, what prize do you want?” asked the Carney.

“That one in the corner.” Yusuke pointed to the grayish-silver fox. The guy took it down and handed it over to him.

“Here you go.” He said handing over the stuffed fox to Kurama. “I won this for you. You know, a way to say thanks for putting up with me.” He smiled when he saw the slight blush fill Kurama’s cheeks.

‘Calm yourself now Kurama. You two are just friends. This was a friendly gesture that is all.’ He said to himself. ‘Well why does it feel like he meant more by it?’

“Yusuke, thank you. I will treasure this forever. Hey it even has my tail.” Kurama commented, wagging the tail emphatically.

Yusuke only laughed as they walked away, heading nowhere in particular. Yusuke walked with his hands behind his head, as Kurama clutched his present to his chest.

“So what do we do now?” Yusuke asked, glancing at his watch. It was now 2:45. Still plenty of time to have more fun.

Kurama looked around the area to see a big building located at the far end. It looked to be a haunted house, so he chose that.

“That looks like fun. It seems to be a haunted house. I always wanted to go in one.” Kurama said more to himself but Yusuke heard him.

“I dunno Kurama, think you can handle it.” Yusuke said playfully. “ I mean demons and sneaking into their strongholds is one thing…a haunted house is another…”

“I most certainly can handle this. I am Youko Kurama after all. If I can survive a match with Karasu, then this is a walk in the park.” He replied sarcastically.

“All right, all right. Then let’s go, I mean if you’re up to it.” Yusuke side glanced at the fox with a smirk.

Kurama walked past the annoying boy, his nose held high in the air. Yusuke laughed to himself since he knew that would rile up the demon. They came to a stop at the entrance. Both of them shared similar glances before walking up the stairs and into the first room. When they walked thru the curtained door, they were met with a crazed looking tall man with bright red eyes.

‘Looks like contact lenses.’ Kurama mused as he held his stuffed fox closer.

“Welcome my friends. Enter at your own risk. Though we hope you enjoy the experience.” And with that, he disappeared into the shadows.

“What’s with Lurch?” Yusuke asked, looking around for the freaky looking man.

Kurama shrugged his shoulders and followed Yusuke into the next room. Of course, it had to be an upside down room, with the occasional eerie moans and screams bouncing off the walls.

“Um….Yusuke…..” Kurama whispered.

“Yeah?” Yusuke replied looking around the room for anything suspicious.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah…”

Just then, a ghost swept by them and disappeared through the left wall. Then on the same spot where the entity vanished, a face pushed out from the wall. It wasn’t just a face, but the wall itself forming a face. And to our boys it looked liked it was, smiling? Bright crimson eyes gleamed in the dim light. Kurama gave a gasped yelp as they quickly left the room.

The next room had horizontal black and white lines in a zigzag pattern. Yusuke started to get dizzy and rushed out the room, feeling a little queasy. Entering the next room was a bit overwhelming. Well if you think a shrieking banshee with green flaming hair and eyes like molasses flies towards you, then yes it was overwhelming.

Yusuke jumped into Kurama’s arms, which caught the kitsune by surprise. Without so much as a warning Kurama allowed Yusuke to slip from his grasp onto the hard ground, his stuff animal following suit. An embarrassed shade of red graced the kitsune’s cheeks as he helped his friend up.

“I’m sorry Yusuke. You startled me. I didn’t expect you to do that.”

“It’s all right. I didn’t expect to see that either.” He replied.

Helping Yusuke back on his feet, they noticed how quiet it got all of a sudden. They heard a chuckle that broke the eerie silence. Yusuke looked at Kurama who in turn looked at Yusuke.

“That wasn’t you, right?” Yusuke asked.

“No, that was not me. Perhaps it is part of the sound effects?” Kurama presumed.

“That sounds reasonable. But I don’t want to stick around here and find out. Let’s get moving.”

Exiting that room, Kurama paused. ‘I know I have heard that sound before. But where? Kurama mused.

“Hey Kurama come on before you get left behind.” Yusuke shouted.

Kurama followed his friend out of the room, never noticing a pair of deep crimson eyes trailing after him and fading into the dark.

They appeared in another room that was cemetery themed. As they walked by the tombstones and corpses lying on the ground, a putrid odor hit their noses, causing Yusuke to dry heave a bit and Kurama to hold his breath.

“Hey Kurama…was that you?” Yusuke said with a light chuckle.

When he turned to look at Kurama, he saw that the human vessel had his nose turned up in a frown, his brows knitted together in the middle and his eyes began to water.

“I….I guess not…” Yusuke replied turning face forward.

“Yusuke.” Kurama called to him, his tone very serious. “We have to leave…now.”

“C’mon, don’t you wanna see where it’s coming from?” Yusuke asked, sniffing the air.

“No…we really have to go Yusuke. I do not like this energy I’m sensing.”

In the corner of the room, a pair of dark yellow eyes fixated on the two youths. It smiled a fanged grin and vanished into the shadows.

“Hey, fox the smell is gone…fox…?”

“Yusuke, I will not say it again. We must leave now.”

“Oh c’mon Kurama. Stop being a baby. This place isn’t even scary.”

“I have a feeling we are being watched.” Kurama said shifting his gaze from one end of the room to the other. Then his eyes landed on the place where the air shifted and the energy was gone.

“We are not leaving until we find out where that smell came from. It could probably do more harm to humans than us.” Yusuke demanded.

“If you are that worked up over it, I suppose we can have a look. I don’t smell it anymore either but I feel it came from this direction.” Kurama pointed towards the back of the room.

They walked around the small room until they came to a fake screen hanging by the far wall. Yusuke pulled the screen towards them to reveal a man lying unconscious on the floor. Kurama lowered himself to place his ear on the man’s chest.

“He’s still alive. Just unconscious.”

They both looked the man over curiously. Seeming to remember him, but from where they couldn’t place him. Then Yusuke’s eyes brightened.

“Hey…wasn’t he the guy who greeted us just before we walked into this place.” Yusuke asked as he scratched his head.

Something crawled out of the man’s nose. Kurama and Yusuke jumped back in surprise.

“Wha….What the hell is that thing?” Yusuke asked, pointing to it.

It was a worm, covered in the man’s blood. It squirmed its way to the floor where it met its demise from Yusuke’s sneaker. The man’s breathing became normal after a few minutes, his eyes fluttered open until he stared wide-eyed at the boys standing above him. Yusuke was about to say something when Kurama shook his head.

“No…we have to get him out of here and get some help. We will deal with what that thing is later.”

Kurama stood up, handed his plush over to the toushin, and helped the man to his feet. Holding the man steady, he wrapped his arm around the man’s waist and guided him out the door, followed by Yusuke. Once they made it to the exit, a crowd began to swarm around them. A short man, who appeared to be the owner of the carnival, came rushing forward. He called for one of his workers to call an ambulance.

“Kurama…I think we should leave. I don’t feel like answering no questions.” Yusuke suggested.

“Yes, I would like to finish our day without any interruptions.” He said with a wink.

The two of them quickly vanished in the crowd of onlookers to continue to enjoy the rest of their day.

Unbeknownst to them, those same crimson eyes followed their every move and disappeared in a black blur.