Kurama rolled over and sighed. Today was another tournament day, wasn't it? The demon inside him rejoiced at the idea of crushing the weak and watching them squirm; the human recoiled at the violence that would ensue. There was never any balance, it was always… He shut his eyes against the daylight and the thoughts that threatened to pull him into a dark abyss of cycling thoughts. This was not the time, nor the place for such things. He needed to concentrate on the next battle and…

Bedsprings creaked as his bedfellow awoke. A small smile slipped onto Kurama's lips as he turned to greet his newly found lover. He turned to greet the man that made his heart leap, and was dismayed to find the small ice demon already fumbling for his clothing.

"Leaving so soon?" he said.

Touya paused in his rummaging through the piles of quickly abandoned clothes. "Why not?" he said, not daring to look Kurama in the eye.

"It's early," Kurama replied, sitting up and inching closer towards the other demon. "I thought perhaps you might like to stay a bit longer."

Touya turned to stare at him quizzically. "To do what?"

Kurama smiled the sweet smile that had gained him so much affection from humans and demons alike. "Whatever you desire."

Touya turned back to his clothing. "No. I have matters to attend to."

Kurama frowned. "What matters? You're no longer in the tournament."

"Don't remind me," Touya snapped.

"Thus," Kurama continued, "I cannot think of any obligations that you may have."

"Leaving. Like you said, I have no business here." He was about to retrieve his shirt when Kurama's hand gently caressed his shoulder.

"I don't want you to," he whispered.

Touya stood frozen in place, statuesque in his indecision. And when he turned to give Kurama a look of utter rejection, it was with breathtaking grace. Kurama, with mixed feelings of admiration and disappointment, let his hand fall onto the crumpled sheets. Touya walked to the other side of the room and recovered the rest of his clothes.

"This… has something to do with Jin and Yusuke, doesn't it?" Kurama said.

Touya made no reply.

"And last night… when he saw us together… that was your goal all along."

Touya responded by pulling his shirt over his head and tightening his belt.

"And our time. It meant nothing."

Touya paused for a moment at the door. "Yes. Nothing." Then he was gone.

Kurama considered going after him, of challenging him, of taking out his anger and pain on the body that had been his object of pleasure, of tearing off the lips that had spouted such enthralling words and burying them in the mud where the broken promises of the passionate night had fallen.

But he did none of this. Instead, he calmly gathered his clothes and dressed for the day. He reviewed the opponents that they were supposed to be fighting and catalogued their strengths and weaknesses in order of importance. He found his teammates and walked with them into the arena with a blank expression.

There was no time for revenge; he had a fight to win. He would just have to leave his broken heart behind.