006 // video
[When the feed comes on, it's not Kurama on the screen - instead, it's a servant, and she fiddles with the device for a bit until stepping away and revealing Kurama, seated at a low table in his room. She bends to murmur something in his ear, and he nods
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Who the hell hit you? I'll give 'em a matching one!
[But that aside, it's finally enough to go and check on Kurama. So even though Kurama can't see it, he might be able to hear geta clacking as Kanji heads out the door.]
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[He does hear those geta - his hearing's always been a little better than normal - and it makes him smile. It's nice to know he has friends - although, he wonders if Kanji will still want to be friends once the rumors reach him.]
Thank you, but that won't be necessary. It was part of my punishment, from Sir Koga.
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He... he shouldn't have hit you! No matter what you did!
[Except he's gotten his ass beat by Ino...but that was a fight every time and the video doesn't give that impression.]
What else did the bastard do? [Then, much quieter] Do we need to get you guys out of there?
[Because dammit, if they need to get into a different house he damn well will make sure it happens!]
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[He...carefully won't mention the time he got whipped bloody. Probably wouldn't go over too well.]
He only hit me the once, and I promise it probably looks much worse than it is. I've always bruised easily. But...he took away my sight.
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[He's not going to leave his friend alone to deal with blindness without some kind of help.]
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I'd heard of the house owners having the ability to curse their employees with a few different punishments - loss of sight, voice, or hearing, loss of control over one's body - but this is the first time Sir Koga has employed it, I think.
[He's likely not as bad off as some others might be - he's long since learned not to be reliant on only one sense, and his others are sharper than usual - but he's still touched by Kanji's concern.]
Thank you.
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...Kurama-san?
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[He doesn't particularly feel up to stumbling his way across the room to open the door - he hopes Kanji will forgive the slight.]
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You...okay? What's going on? You said something 'bout rumors...what kinda lies are they spreadin'?
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A number of things. I'm surprised you haven't heard yet.
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[Very slowly he shuffles across the room and sits--properly, not in a sprawl as someone might expect from his speech and behavior--next to Kurama.]
I figure you can tell me the truth, if there is any truth to 'em at all.
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They're saying I'm a demon - a monster. That's true; I am a fox-demon, though I've been living as a human for the past 19 years.
They're saying I killed a child, murdered him in cold blood - that, unfortunately, is also true. He was part of a larger plot to exterminate the human race, and I felt I had no choice.
And they are also saying that I have been responsible for deaths here, among them Shoshanna Dreyfus and John Constantine. Those, thankfully, are not true - I have not harmed nor killed anyone here, and I do not mean to.
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[But then he realizes what Kurama just said and stops cold with a sharp indrawn breath. He remembers Namatame and how they nearly killed him. He badly he wanted to for what he'd done to Nanako. So he bites back the impulse to yell, but his voice comes out rough and tight anyway.]
A...a little kid? Destroy the world. What? Why? Why was there no choice?
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Did-- [Another ragged, gasping breath] Did you get him? That bastard. That murderer.
[He hiccups, covering a choked sob. He has no reason not to believe Kurama who's been his friend all this time; who's helped him so much. Kurama wouldn't lie like Adachi had all those times. He has to believe.]
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Kanji, are you - ?
[He reaches out - low, so as to avoid accidentally poking Kanji in the eye or some such thing - and finds an arm, which he traces up until he can feel the wetness on Kanji's face.]
Oh, don't. I didn't mean to...
[He tries to smile, pulling his sleeve over his palm and wiping gently at Kanji's tears.]
Yes, we did. He died at the hands of one of my best friends, and his soul was taken into the void between dimensions.
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