"I can easily terrorize Lolon village to the point where they will come to you, begging for help. Then you're not gonna be left alone, they're gonna bother you until you lose your mind. Then what're you gonna do?"
If Naru had thought threatening Kurama would be a good way to get through to him, she realized her mistake when the swordsman let out a bark of laughter and shook his head at her words. "I wouldn't mind that," he said, his voice dripping of spite. "Havin' the prey come ta me fer a change. Spare me the pain of sniffin' 'em out first."
"Right, okay, and we keep doing that until there's no one left but you and me," Naru shot back, internally cursing as her initial plan was wiped off the table with the speed of light. "Then what do you do?"
When Kurama didn't immediately respond, Naru's lips curled up into the slightest of smiles, and she quickly continued her speech. "As a pirate, you could roam freely on the biggest sea in this world, slaying both marines and pirates," she said. "Get a bounty and they'll come after you, begging for a chance to fight you!"
Silence followed her words, leaving her last statement to hang in the air, and Naru swallowed thickly, her muscles tensing and relaxing in anticipation. She had a hard time keeping her expression in check as she watched Kurama contemplate her reasoning. He stood still, tilting his head from one side to the other as if to hear how the words sounded from different positions.
Just when Naru was about to part her lips to demand a response, Kurama pulled his katana out of the snow and casually strode up to her, his smirk now turning arrogant. Without a word, he lifted the blade and rested the cold steel against Naru's shoulder, and she refused to show the cold shiver that ran down her spine. "Say I agree ta yer li'l request," the swordsman said. "What makes ya think I ain't gonna run my katana through yer back? Ya think I wouldn't kill ya?"
Not even one second passed before Naru equipped an equally cocky grin. "What, you think I can't handle you?" she said tantalizingly and reached up to grab hold of the katana. The blade stung against her skin, but she barely even flinched as it cut open a shallow slit in her palm. To give her words a slight boost, she pushed the blade away from her front and put a safe distance between them before assuming a defensive stance. "Wanna try taking me down?"
Kurama gave a dry chuckle, his katana now hanging loosely by his side. "Ya sure ya wanna take that risk, sweetheart?" he jingled, and despite his casual appearance, Naru could clearly hear the bloodlust in his voice, she could sense how much he wanted to take her on.
"If I win, will you join my crew?" she asked.
"Depends," Kurama chimed. "If ya lose, what do I get?"
Naru fell silent, worrying her bottom lip as she realized she had absolutely nothing to offer the swordsman. "I'll let you go back to what you were doing without ever bothering you again," she deadpanned.
"That ain't good enough, sweetheart."
"Alright, give me a minute." She cursed internally, her eyes racing from Kurama to their surroundings, as if she expected the trees to give her an answer. Come on, there's got to be something, she thought, frowning. Something that'll convince the fox to leave his forest. Suddenly, an idea dawned upon her, one so obvious she was surprised she hadn't thought of it straight away.
If this guy loves killing so much, why not appeal to that side?
"Okay, how about this," she said slowly, pausing momentarily to carefully arrange her words. "Once my days as Pirate King are numbered, I'll allow you to take my head. Think about it," she added quickly when Kurama parted his lips, most likely to protest. "If you turn in the head of the Pirate King, you'll become the most wanted man in history! People will be lining up to fight you, and that way you can kill to your heart's content without having to even think about searching for your prey!"
Behind Kurama's constant smiling, Naru could tell his brain was working on full speed to figure out whether or not to take her offer. His grip on his sword's hilt had tightened slightly, and he was rocking back and forth on his feet. "Win or lose, you'll still get to do as much killing as you want," Naru added, her fingers twitching in anticipation. The seconds seemed slower than hours, and for every second that passed, she grew more and more frustrated.
"Arite," Kurama finally said, the small chuckle evident he was fully aware of Naru's state of mind. He raised his katana and pointed it straight between her eyes, a playful tone creeping into his voice. "Let's see what ya can do, sweetheart."
Naru's lips curled into a feral grin and she chuckled, but it sounded more like a growl. She sucked in a deep breath, ignoring her thundering heartbeat as she urged her canines to grow down past her lower lip and chin, urging her nails to be replaced by razor-sharp claws. Orange fur sprouted from her neck and arms, the sleek tail sneaked out from over the hem of her pants, and she let the breath she'd been holding gust out her lips in a soft exhale when she reached her hybrid form.
Kurama whistled, having followed her transformation with eyebrows arched in mild interest. "Ya look more intimidatin' up close, sweetheart," he said, though his tone indicated no fright or cautiousness. "Think ya can beat me with only claws an' teeth?"
A snarl rolled through Naru's teeth, and that was the only response she gave. Now that they were about to begin, she suddenly found Kurama's laid-back attitude, his wide smirk and arrogance to be dangerously aggravating. It bewildered her to no end how he could read her expressions through closed eyes, and that confusion only served to add fuel to her already lit fire.
For what seemed like an eternity, they stood perfectly still, measuring each other. Kurama didn't move one muscle, clearly waiting for Naru to be the first one to move, and though she knew very well it would serve him more than her, she inhaled sharply, braced her arms for attack and burst forward.
The sound of claws meeting metal echoed like a gunshot through the forest, and the force of the contact pushed Kurama's feet further into the snow, but his smile only widened as he lined up his free hand along the blunt side of his blade and forced Naru half a step backwards. "You..!" She quickly pushed the blade away and whirled around, her right leg shooting up to smash the heel against Kurama's ribs.
The kick tore through thin air as the swordsman had already vanished from her line of sight. Naru growled and twisted her head to catch him again, but before she had a chance to even get a good look around her, her sensitive ears caught the sound of featherlight footsteps from directly behind her, and she instinctively threw herself down onto the ground.
Barely a second later, she felt the blade pass a hairsbreadth above her head, cutting off several stray strands from her hair. Without wasting seconds, she planted her hands in the snow and raised her lower body off the ground to aim another kick at Kurama, this time going for his head.
He simply lifted his right hand to parry the attack, but the tremendous blow to his wrist made his grin falter a little, and he widened his stance for a steadier footing. With an exhilarated chuckle, Naru quickly withdrew her leg and let her body fall back to the ground, quickly rolling to the side to dodge Kurama's katana and avoid getting impaled.
Well on her feet again, she wasted no time before throwing herself at the swordsman once more. Her nerves tensed when she saw him raise the katana to strike, and she was just about to break her lunge and dodge when another idea popped into her head. She suppressed the will to grin widely and charged straight forward, and just as Kurama swung his katana towards her neck, she angled her head, and the blade hit her directly in the chin.
Had the situation been different, Naru would've laughed at Kurama's surprised expression. Her enlarged canines had withstood the sharp edge of the katana, and while the swordsman's hands were occupied holding onto his sword, Naru was free to use both. Her left hand shot up and grabbed hold of Kurama's wrist to direct the sword away from her, and with a soft snarl, Naru slammed her free hand into his chest and dug her claws into the pale skin.
Drops of blood trickled out from the puncture wounds, and a wave of confidence washed over Naru, causing her to momentarily let up on her concentration. Kurama's free hand clenched into a fist and he rammed it straight into her temple, and Naru exclaimed when her vision flashed dark.
The short disorientation made her subconsciously loosen the grip on both Kurama's chest and his arm, and the swordsman was quick to untangle himself from her. Her claws left his skin with a slight popping sound, and Kurama let escape a strangled grunt before securing a good distance between them.
Naru stepped back as well, blinking fervently in an attempt to clear her vision. She leaned forward and buried one hand in the snow to help carry the weight of her body as she gently rubbed at her sore temple. There was no blood, and as soon as she could see perfectly fine again, she exhaled sharply and stood up straight.
"Never would've expected those thin arms to have so much strength," she huffed and cracked her knuckles. "You're full of surprises."
"Ya don't wanna underestimate yer enemy, sweetheart," Kurama said, miraculously managing to sound gleeful despite being out of breath. "Even if there's nothin' ta estimate in the first place."
Before Naru could even begin to process a retort, the swordsman raised his sword and inhaled deeply, and the action caused an impressive amount of blood to gush out of the wounds in his chest, but he barely even seemed to notice. He breathed calmly, and Naru felt several waves of chills run down her back as an ominous feeling stirred in her gut. Her eyes raked over Kurama's body, determined to catch even the slightest of movements, but not until the swordsman parted his lips to speak did she notice anything out of the ordinary.
"Fox Dance."
For a split second, Kurama vanished from her sight, and if she hadn't been staring at him so intently, Naru would've missed it completely. On pure instinct, her body jerked to the side, out of the direct line of fire, and when she turned her attention back to where Kurama had been standing in the first place, she found the swordsman looking back at her, his smile stretching further than the human body should allow. Slowly, Naru regained her posture, and her eyes widened when she saw the katana in Kurama's hand was slathered in blood.
"What did you—"
She didn't even get to finish her sentence before a searing pain shot up her left leg, and she ground her teeth together to not let escape any of the pained sounds she wanted to let out. She tore her attention away from Kurama and looked down, exclaiming soundlessly as she found the source of the pain.
Her pants had been torn open, exposing a deep cut on her inner left thigh, blood welling out and quickly coloring her white pants red.