Extra 19: Change the World (46)

A week had passed since Kurama had returned to the past, time that the Kitsune had used to improve the city, not to mention that the wolves had decided to join under his banner.

The old sage had wanted to enter the golden city, but since Kurama had been gone for quite some time, he had not been able to talk to him about it.

"Are you here, Kurama-sama?" - Ayame asked as she entered the great Kitsune Daiyokai's room.

"Huh? What's wrong, young lady?" - Kurama asked as he watched the girl enter his room.

"I'm not a girl!" - Ayame exclaimed as she frowned, only to blush as she noticed how the Kitsune was wearing only pants - "Kya!"

"Seriously, you should knock before entering" - sighed Kurama as he shook his head. He quickly walked behind a screen to change his clothes.

After a few seconds, Kurama came out in his typical attire.

"Ok, now you can tell me what's going on" - Kurama said as he folded his arms.

"We heard rumors from Koga and the others" - replied Ayame with a frown.

"Oh?" - Kurama raised an eyebrow, though his expression changed when he saw how the girl looked like she was about to tear up - ". . ."

"Kurama-san... they died..." - Ayame murmured tearfully.

"What?" - Kurama opened his eyes, shocked at this news because it didn't make sense - "Impossible, those birds are not strong and Koga had shards of the pearl in his limbs..."

"So it seems that the leader of the birds of paradise also had shards of the pearl" - Ayame replied as she began to sob.

Kurama's expression froze because he honestly didn't think things would end up like this - "Are you sure that's true?"

"They were our most trusted spies" - Ayame replied as she shook her head - "I sent them, so I could know about Koga's movements, what I didn't have thought to hear was that they saw his limbless corpse fall from the top."

". . ." - Kurama was silent as he sighed regretfully - "I guess I underestimated the power of the leader of the flock, as well as the number of those things Koga had to face."

Ayame was speechless as she could feel a lump in her throat.

"I guess you want me to avenge him" - Kurama said as he looked at the wolf girl.

"He may have forgotten the promise I made to him in my youth, but that doesn't mean that my feelings for him disappeared just like that" - Ayame replied as she sighed regretfully. Yes, she wasn't as affected as she had been during her return, but she could still hear her heart crying out in pain over the death of the person she had loved for years.

"I understand" - nodded Kurama as he looked at the girl - "I'm going to do it."

"Thank you very much" - Ayame replied with a smile before letting out a sigh - "The truth is that if you had said no, I wouldn't have known what to do."

"Possibly, you would have taken a part of the clan to go to fight those things and I would have had to save your butts at your grandfather's request" - Kurama replied with a teasing smile.

Ayame blushed because she knew that would have been what she would have done - "Ahem! But that won't be necessary now that you'll help me, right?"

"Of course" - Kurama nodded as he folded his arms.

"It's good to see that you two were getting along so well" - said the old sage of the wolf clan as he saw how his granddaughter seemed to have cheered up a bit after receiving the cruel news of Koga's death.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, grandfather!" - Ayame exclaimed with a red face.

"Well, she's a lively child," nodded Kurama as he shook his head.

"I'm not a child, I'm over 100 years old!" - Ayame exclaimed with a frown.

"That's a girl in our clan's age, Ayame" - replied the old sage as he smiled slightly.

"I'm old enough to give birth to strong offspring, don't treat me like I'm a cub, grandfather" - Ayame replied as she averted her gaze out of embarrassment for having said something like that.

"Putting that aside, I guess you heard what we were talking about" - Kurama said while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm sorry, it's just that I was a little worried about my granddaughter's well-being" - replied the old sage while shaking his head.

"Oh, I understand, you don't have to make excuses" - replied Kurama as he shook his head - "Anyway, give me a second, and I'll finish with the job, besides, I need to safeguard those fragments."

"Okay?" - Ayame and the sage looked at each other, though when they looked back in the direction of the Kitsune Daiyokai, he had already disappeared.

"I wonder how he does that" - the old sage said as he shook his head.

"Do you think I can learn from him?" - Ayame asked as she looked at her grandfather.

"I'm not sure" - replied the old sage as he pondered, though this stopped abruptly because Kurama had returned - "Done?"

"Yes, I finished the job, though I couldn't find Koga's body" - Kurama replied as he frowned - "As for Koga's friends, I managed to give them a dignified burial."

Ayame's animated expression darkened as she let out a sigh.

"Thank you for doing me this favor, Kurama-san" - Ayame said as she gave a small bow before leaving wordlessly.

"We'd better give her some time, so she can calm down" - said the old sage.

"Of course" - he nodded as he kept the shards of the Shikon pearl in his storage seal - "Do you want a drink?"

"Of course" - said the old sage as he watched the Kitsune Daiyokai pull a small bottle out of thin air - "What was that?"

"One of my many skills..." - Kurama replied as he shrugged his shoulders.

* * * * *

"It really hurts..." - Ayame muttered as she looked up at the sky that slowly seemed to be darkening - "You may not have loved me like I love you, but that doesn't mean I wanted you to die when you rejected me..."

The wolf girl was sad, and anyone could see it even from a distance.

"Is it fate that doesn't want to see us together?" - Ayame muttered, unaware that the presence of the person who had been by her side until recently had been responsible for changing the natural predestined flow of her world.

Ayame again fell silent as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Should we try to cheer her up?" - Squirrel asked as she looked at her companions.

"No, she needs time alone so she can organize her emotions" - replied a rabbit as he let out a sigh - "She must have lost someone important."

"Really?" - repeated another squirrel while frowning.

"You may not understand because you are so young, but losing the wrong person, causes this kind of pain" - replied the first squirrel as she stroked her little friend's head.

"Koga..." - Ayame murmured before falling silent.

* * * * *

"The rumors pointed in this direction" - Miroku said with a frown - "I wonder if that idiot got more information..."

"Miroku-sama!" - A male voice exclaimed.

"And speaking of the devil..." - Miroku said as he watched as a Tanuki about his size was running in his direction - "Hachi, it's good to see that you're in good health."

"It's because I wasn't traveling with you, Miroku-sama" - Hachi replied unconsciously.

"What did you say?" - Miroku asked as he frowned.

"That this is because I am finally in your wonderful presence, Miroku-sama!" - Hachi exclaimed as he smiled awkwardly.

"That's what I thought I heard" - nodded Miroku as he shook his head - "Tell me, did you manage to discover anything else during our parting a week ago?"

"It is as the farmer had said, a dark demonic presence passed through this place" - Hachi replied with a frown - "Though I don't think it is your enemy, Miroku-sama."

"Maybe it's not, but I'm sure it has something to do with him" - Miroku replied as he grabbed his arm - "I can feel his faint presence in this place."

"Are you sure, Miroku-sama?" - Hachi asked as he looked at his master.

"Yes, the pain in my arm is unmistakable" - Miroku replied as he frowned.

Rumors of the presence of a Yokai named Naraku, had popped up in different parts of Japan, to the point that he had had to change his direction multiple times.

"The irony is that we are walking back to our first destination" - Miroku said with annoyance - "Is Naraku treating us like fools, or does it simply fate that is toying with us?"

Miroku was confused, not knowing that destiny was starting to return to its predestined path, albeit with a few changes that were uncertain whether they were good or bad for the "protagonists" of this story.

"What shall we do, Miroku-sama?" - Hachi asked as he looked at his master.

"Isn't it obvious? We will follow this lead, it's the only thing we have in order to end this curse" - said Miroku as he looked at his hand which was covered by a japa mala, or better known as a Buddhist rosary.