The Book of Kurama

Chapter 1 What is Carried from Broken Memories

"...Yomi, take your men and take down their defenses on the west gate, there will be many guards there, so you must advance with extreme caution. Can you handle it?" a sliver-haired demon asked of a nymph-demon in similar attire to his and everyone else's around the round table displaying an open map to a heavily fortified castle.

"It shall be done Lord Kurama..." the demon bowed his head respectfully as he exited the tent occupying the entirety of Yoko Kurama's legendary band of demons to prepare his men.

"Kiritogu, I need you to lead the rest of the men in a full-forward assault on the front draw-bridge here..." the fox-demon stated calmly, pointing out the sizable front entrance to their victim's castle. "While they are busy focusing on you and Yomi, I will slip in underneath the catacombs of the estate, then plant the singing tree to deal with any guards still holed up inside the castle... Any questions?"

One of the newer officers to Kurama's bandit troop slowly and nervously raised his hand, afraid of his senior's judging him based on his question. "Yes Kito?"

"Lord Kurama... Once we do get inside the palace and make off with the King's riches... What is to become of Princess Niba?" the in experienced officer asked in a very rehearsed and quivering voice.

"Excellent question, I'm glad someone asked it..." Yoko Kurama stated with a small smile, trying to calm Kito's anxious nerves. "I shall kidnap the princess and keep her beside me for the entirety of the mission following my break in. Remember that absolutely no harm is to come to Princess Niba! Her father may pay a hefty random for her return... Is that perfectly clear?"

"Yes sir!" the white-robed demons all said in unison, Kito with his chest puffed out, a bit too proud of his question meeting the approval of the legendary fox demon he had idolized since his youth.

"Very well then. We begin our attack at midnight. Until then, you are all dismissed to prep your men..."

    ***

Approximately 1000 years later, Shuichi Minamino still remembers that council meeting from his days as the bandit Yoko Kurama. The boy smiles as he recalls the riches that heist had brought him, and the fame it subsequently brought to his name.

That all seems like it happened not too long ago... I suppose my memory isn't getting stale with age at least...

Shuichi Minamino glanced down at his desk to the open book he had been reading for the entirety of his study hall, finding the text quite lack-luster to the memories he had kept from so long ago.

Even still, so much has changed since then. I gave up on my thieving ways to assist a former Spirit Detective and to serve as a son to my human mother... All the while I was gone, Yomi far surpassed me in power by a massive margin. So much so that he, of all people, became a primary candidate for the throne of Demon Realm... I have to wonder where he is now... He said he would be taking his son with him to go out and prepare for the next Demon World Tournament, but there haven't been any sightings of him since... Curious...

Kurama turned his head to get a panoramic view of the quiet Study Hall. Each and everyone of the other students seemed to be more involved with some sort of material other than their text books. If they weren't looking a dirty magazines or playing some form of hand-held video game, they were either sleeping, or in the case of a majority of the female students, ogling over Kurama.

All these girls... They're obsessive. Why must I have been disgraced with a handsome human body...? I don't desire their attention, there has been only one woman throughout history who has charmed me to an extent such as that... Kurama slowly closes his eyes, and recalls back to his days as a demonic thief. More specifically, that one fateful mission...