Chapter 41 - K

"—need to look for a place to rest, Sasha. We can't continue like this. Ben has a concussion and moving around won't do him no—"

"And what do you want me to do, huh? We're in a hotspot. Haven't you seen what we just encountered? We need to run, Adam. Better be injured to continue fighting than dead and be one of them."

"Sasha!"

"No, Donna. Someone has to say it like it is. I don't like the weather more than you do, but we can go around trying in every town we find. Look at what just happened."

There's ragged breathing mixed with quiet dread from whom he's sure is Sophia that makes a headache form. He's experienced something similar from the other humans he's been sealed into. Triggers, he thinks it's called. Kurama doesn't know much about the girl's past before the walkers but he's seen enough to know she comes from an abusive family. And as he's spending more time with her, Kurama's more attuned to her emotions. This not quite anxiety drills into his head painfully. It makes him want to destroy something.

Luckily he's not the only one noticing it as he senses Tyreese's aggravation mixing with worry. Kurama hears him taking a deep breath and senses Sasha's own annoyance receding with the sound.

"Maybe we should stop and discuss later. The kids are tired, and frankly, I am, too. But Adam is right, Sasha. We can't continue like this. I hate going into towns and trying our luck but we can't always stay in the car and hope no one dies of hypothermia. Here doesn't snow as other states but it still snows and we're lucky it hasn't so far."

"What do you want me to do then, Tyreese?"

There's a tense silence in which the emotions twirling under him become worse, making his headache turn into an ugly migraine. He doesn't know what the context is but he can shoot a guess and make a deduction from what he's heard. And it rattles him.

In the back of his mind, there's a voice that sounds suspiciously like Naruto's, telling him to show himself and scare the crap out of them just for kicks. But he ignores it as he has ignored most of Naruto's stupid plans to prank. Besides, it's gotten silent so there's hope for the emotions to withdraw into a quiet hum in the back of his thoughts, easy to ignore.

No such luck.

As soon as Kurama tries to use the peace to rest and do a checkup of his current state, something (and he doesn't know what) happens because the tension rises. Kurama curses and sits, enjoying the feeling of the wind brushing his fur for a moment before he glances at his tail and increases the number to two, which he uses to get a better handle on the car's roof. Then, moving to the window he senses Sophia is close to, he taps the roof box twice with his paw, moving his head next to the glass to glare at the humans.

"Would you knock it off? I am trying to sleep here."

"Nine!"

The car jerks from the road and Kurama is glad he decided to use his second tail because something tells him he'd have ended on the ground otherwise. The car stops with a loud screeching sound and Sasha's head turns to look at him, following the actions the others have taken.

Kurama frowns at their shock because he's sure they've heard him talk before. There's a mad cackle in the back of his mind that, again, sounds suspiciously like Naruto's after a well-done prank. He decides to ignore it to look at Sophia, who's giving him a big teary smile that doesn't seem to be losing its size anytime soon.

"So how long has it been since I slept?"

She blinks faster, obviously trying to erase the wetness from her eyes, before she clears her throat. "I think it's been close to a month, Nine." She looks over her shoulder as if to help her confirm her words but the others seem to not let the shock go.

Kurama doesn't like it but it's better than the previous tension.

"Are you better, Nine?"

"I'm smaller, kid. I'm not going to be better any time soon."

Sophia's smile turns into a faint smirk. "You were smaller; the size of a baby. Actually, you started growing around a week ago. Two days ago we had to move you to the roof again as you were too big for the car."

Kurama's ears press to the sides of his head, scandalized. He shudders. "Glad I didn't get to see that," he mumbles before directing his gaze to look at Sasha, who slightly jerks back under his stare. "Where are we going?"

That seems to be enough to wake her from whatever state she's in as he senses some annoyance and incredulity spiking within them.

Sasha raises an eyebrow and mouths a disbelieving, "We?"

Kurama answers her eyebrow game with a tilt of his head.

"Well, seeing I'm on top of the car your group is in and you've been moving me around for about a month, I think I'm entitled to say 'we' and not 'you'. So?"

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