Disclaimer: YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi
Drabble-ish. The scene where Kurama sacrifices himself against Karasu is very similar to an earlier sacrifice of his in the series.
Alive
Everything is fading, like water trickling from cupped hands.
He cannot remember where he is anymore. His vision is narrowing, growing dim. Perhaps from the pain, he thinks hazily. Except that he is not certain he will simply pass out and wake up again.
It hurts like fire coursing a blazing path through his veins, but it is slowing now. Why? Something important, he is sure, is fading away.
The concrete is rough against his cheek, warmed from the sun. It grazes his wrists where his sleeves have pulled up, the heel of his palms, the tips of his fingers as his hands have splayed across the surface. Even through his clothes, he can feel it pressing uncomfortably against his skin.
When did he fall? He hates lying there with his feet turned awkwardly in, but it is too much effort to move, and he worries the concrete will scrape his ankles raw.
That noise… the roar of a crowd. Or is it the wind blowing, flapping the sheets on the laundry lines? No, everything is quiet now, the sound is merely his heartbeat rushing in his ears, slowing now. It seems familiar.
He thinks the burning behind his eyes may be tears rather than pain. He will not see Mother again now. But he phrased his wish just so, deliberated and perfected, that it must be alright to sleep now. Except someone interfered. But he can feel their life leaving, too—is that what the draining sensation is?—so things should be fine.
It is dark. He wonders if there should not be any light at all; he remembers the moon. The pain is not going away, but he has gone numb now. The concrete is rough and cool.
Why had he thought it was silent? The roaring is louder, his heart frantic. The wind howling across the rooftop, Mother—
No, the Dark Tournament, not the hospital. The crowds are yelling in the stands. Karasu is dead.
He twitches painfully—it is so familiar—and he knows.
"I'm alive…"
…
Owari
…
-Windswift