Watch me burn
Follows "The Art of Losing a Fox" and "The Art of Making Choices". When did life ever guarantee satisfaction? Keiko's gone missing; forcing Kurama, Yusuke and Hiei to reunite. Every second is volatile, and what's holding them together could be the very thing that will finally take retribution with the fox's meddling with fate.
Episode 1: Intuition
The giant impact hypothesis is the favored scientific hypothesis for the formation of the Moon. The theory postulates that the moon is formed as a result of a collision between the young Earth and an ancient Mars-sized body called Theia, the mother of Selene, the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology. After the impact, Theia's iron core sank into the young Earth's core, as most of Theia's mantle and a significant portion of the Earth's mantle and crust were ejected into orbit around the Earth. This material quickly coalesced into the Moon.
The greatest evidence to this theory is the anatomical similarities between the earth and the moon's fundamental building blocks.
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
But that's alright because I love the way you lie
Yusuke was watching television languidly when he suddenly felt it. It, akin to falling from a tree, but never landing. Or like an arrow shot to his chest, and passing all the way through. Or, a part of him had suddenly been carved out with nothing but a silent scream, like his heart.
He looked around and curiously everything else remained as he knew and expected them to be; the cavernous living room lit softly by crystal chandeliers, the fireplace gently flickering with embers, the absent chatter of the sports newscaster on screen, and the soft stretch of Kurama laid down on the rug before him, the man's head cradled on his lap. Yusuke looked down and rediscovered the pleasure and softness of the red mane; a treasure he'd been running his fingers through for the last ten minutes.
Kurama's shifting forced him to let the strands slide fully through his hand, and soon he found himself face to face with his newly-awoken lover. Green eyes greeted him, still sparkling with mischief even after all these years. The lips moved and Kurama might have started saying something, but Yusuke heard nothing but the beat of his chest as he had, once again, lost himself in the glowing face of his lover. Once more, no crumbs to lead him back to reality, for the big bad wolf had eaten them all.
A pressure on his lips, and the spell was broken.
"Welcome back," Kurama whispered, so close to him he could feel the redhead's breath on his skin. Cold.
Yusuke shook his head and grinned, then threw his body forward, effectively pinning the former fox down on the soft rug. The redhead made no attempt to resist, although at the back of his mind Yusuke knew Kurama would never be able to; brute strength had never been the fox's advantage, more so now that he, though fit and athletic as can be, had essentially lost all his demonic powers.
They kissed across the fireplace for a while, their years of becoming experts in each other's bodies being evident in the way they slid their tongues across each other. After a while Kurama pulled off, ran his hands on Yusuke's hair and smiled.
"Close the curtains, will you," he said huskily.
"Let them see," Yusuke dismissed, nuzzling Kurama's neck and eliciting a soft giggle. It's always been the redhead's most ticklish spot, and Yusuke took advantage of it every chance he got.
"Yusuke… remember what happened the last time?" Kurama said in between giggles.
"How're we supposed to know there was a field trip?" Yusuke whined, referring to weeks ago when, as they made leisurely love on the couch, they've become a show as a bunch of red-faced teenagers took notes in pretense of observing the botany garden Kurama had opened up for public viewing just beside the hall.
"Nevertheless, it never hurts to be prudent," the fox whispered with a wink.
Yusuke sighed, then started to stand up with a grunt.
As he did, it came back. That feeling. Falling, and falling, and falling.
Kurama caught on quickly. Lust and mischief suddenly replaced by wariness. And then, as marked by a sharpening of the eyes, suspicion.
The former fox quickly stood up, strode towards the drawer and pulled out a revolver. Pointing it towards the corner of their room, he held the gun steady with both hands and cocked it. "The bullets of this gun are laced with poison from Makai leaves. Even if it doesn't pierce, the poison is enough to slowly eat through your skin. Show yourself," he commanded.
Yusuke eyed the corner and his eyes widened as slowly, an elongated, tube-like creature took form. It was very much like a, what was that, ah, a sea cucumber, without eyes and with veins pulsating with demonic blood. Funny, it had been years since a demon dared to show itself to Yusuke. Looking at it now, he couldn't help but wonder at a sight ten years ago he would've just dismissed as spooks.
He was about to shoot the ugly creature himself when he felt a hand grab his wrist.
"It's just an envoy," Kurama said, putting his gun down.
"Envoy?"
"A messenger."
"For whom?"
"We'll see." Yusuke watched as Kurama stepped closer towards the creature and put his hand on the fat gluttony muscle. The creature made no movement.
Red hair swishing as his lover turned his head and motioned for Yusuke to do the same. His face contorting into a wince that clearly said "yuck", Yusuke put his hand on the creature and found it…
Nonexistent.
Curiously, his hand pushed through the creature's body like it didn't exist. He eyed Kurama, who nodded reassuringly.
Reaching inside the creature's core, he grabbed hold of some paper which he eventually pulled out.
As soon as he took out the piece of parchment, however, the creature begun to emit a screeching sound.
"Is it supposed to do that?" Yusuke looked at his lover for answers, as was practice. He watched as Kurama's brows furrowed, and then shook his head. The screeching grew louder and louder.
"Strange, it's supposed to die upon delivering the message to the right person…" the redhead's voice trailed off as he lost himself in thought.
Suddenly, Yusuke found himself being dragged away from the screeching in a frantic run.
"It's going to explode!" Kurama shouted as they both ran towards the long hallway, then the kitchen, then heading towards the door towards the garden-
The shockwave hit Yusuke first, before the sound of explosion told him that Kurama had been right. He felt his body fly - no time to think, no time to act, and Yusuke did the only thing his body was willing to do in the speed of a thought: he aimed his body at Kurama, who in his human state would have no chance of surviving the weight of the debris their own home angrily brought raining down on them.
That was his last thought, before the world suddenly turned black.
She ran, ran, ran, it was endless running and she just ignored the signals of pain her numb legs sent frantically to her brain. As she did, the words of her master echoed in her head, and it was the critical urgency that drove her foot to march in front of another, again and again as the place of happiness she knew from long ago became nearer and nearer.
The moonlight guided her, and she wondered if it was still he who made it possible. It was too much of a coincidence that the light illuminated her path and seemed to follow her wherever she turned, and she smiled as she convinced herself that it must be him, there could be nobody else.
Stumbling, but undoubtedly moving forward, she could only hope she would reach them in time.
In the dark, his voice seemed almost caring. And at times, just to keep her sanity, she would pretend that he was, ironically, her father. Chastising her. Lulling her to sleep. Loving her. It wasn't hard – the words he said weren't as nearly threatening as she would imagine, but perhaps that was because she wasn't, and has never been, the object of this whole affair anyway.
When light shone on him, however, the malice in his eyes drove away whatever sympathy she had for the voice in the shadows. With a frenzied look that can only be a sign of unrequited obsession, he would confide in her. Tell her the weaknesses of plans of long ago, of the beauty of destruction, and of the pleasantries of death. And, sometimes, sadly, of the failure of death to end the insanity and the pain.
In the darkness and in the light, he would talk to her, and though she would never respond to the soft voice, she had begun to slowly doubt the optimism she has always carried all these years. It was never innocent, it never has been, and the things she's seen and experienced have hardened her with a lesson: goodness is a choice, and so is happiness.
Today, in the corner of her filthy prison, she would still choose to be good, and hopefully the memories of her husband, her child, and her lover of long ago would enough to keep her, if not happy, then at least, sane.
It took Yusuke no significant amount of strength nor youki to disintegrate the concrete blocks covering them. Coughing as the smoke cleared, he immediately turned his attention to Kurama, who was on his hands and knees underneath him.
"Are you okay?" he voiced.
"I'm fine," the former thief snapped back.
Yusuke drew his arm back at the sudden aggression, confused. He just watched as Kurama stood up and slapped the dust off his clothing. In the distance, Yusuke heard the nearing sounds of police sirens nearing their estate. It was good that there was nobody else in their property; Kurama had always shunned the employment of servants and butlers ("Just because you're rich doesn't mean we have to be lazy").
"Well, it was bound to happen," Kurama sighed, as he looked around and saw their living room and hallway in shambles. Unfortunately, the garden where the last of Kurama's demonic plants thrived was ruined by the explosion as well, and Yusuke immediately understood his lover's cattiness.
The police came and made a fuss of both of them, but were clearly disappointed when Kurama had, with not as much as a batting of the eye, told them that the explosion had not been any terrorist or any covert operation attack, but was in fact because Yusuke had accidentally lighted a firecracker just as Kurama turned on the gas to cook. Good thing they were to run away, but now they were safe and it was nothing a few days of renovation couldn't fix, so please leave now, thank you very much.
The sirens faded away much more slowly than when it had rushed to the scene, but they patiently waited until it was fully gone before they caught each other's eye and nodded in mutual understanding. Yusuke brought out the crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and together, they made out the scrawling of words on it.
I hope you haven't forgotten I haven't had my revenge yet. And it begins, dearest, with the correction of meddling with fate. The fox must do as he must, and you will all thank me for her safety.
Yusuke brought his eyes up, and was met with the shadow of Kurama's. For the first time in his life, Yusuke hated his simple-mindedness. Hated the dependency on his lover for answers.
Still, he waited. He would wait, no matter how long it took.
To be continued