Author's Note: This is my first KuramaXKarasu fanfic, and though I'm not sure it counts as yaoi or shounen-ai, it's definitely a coupling between the fox and the crow. Please review and if you have any comments as to how to improve it please do.

Karasu's favorite deity is Aphrodite

I looked upwards, gazing upon the stone idol's face. I had been kneeling here for hours, praying to the love goddess in hopes of having my one true desire fulfilled. I was not what one would call religious; the thought wouldn't even occur to most people by my actions. However, like so many others, desperation had led me to religion, though, not exactly a very popular one. After my soul had escaped from the confines of Hell, I was certain that there was some sort of higher power looking out for me. It hadn't even taken me very long to acquire my old body again.

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, lust, fertility and sex; she was an enigma in herself. We shared a likeness, her and I, both of us having an eye for aesthetics and passionate desires that would not die.

A movement from the idol's face snapped me from my musings, as I stood up quickly and braced myself for movement. The stone idol, as though weary from age and the elements, slowly descended from the marble pedestal and craned its neck upwards toward the sky, letting its arms extend outwards, the pose of a bird in flight. The first beginnings of life started in the face, with the eyes blinking experimentally, dark blue irises that could be visibly seen amidst the long lashes. The life spread downwards, turning cold hard stone into soft rosy skin, with a light blush across the cheeks. The nose became softer and more rounded; the lips becoming a soft, cherry blossom pink, coming together in a pout, that one would usually see only in a child.

The neck smoothed and rippled like waves in a pond, the life spreading across delicate shoulders and sinewy arms, ending at pianist like fingers. Life trickled downwards into large breasts, an oddity on such a lithe frame, making them pliant and rounded, while streaking downwards across a curvaceous stomach, all the while turning immobile stone into pure white silk. Though I could not see, I knew life worked its way down into long, creamy legs and small feet. I gazed upwards once more at the idol's face, now woman, to see her hair turn auburn, like the setting of the sun, dark crimson red laced with gold, like gold dust sprinkled across blood. Her hair tumbled down her back in thick curls and framed her perfectly symmetrical face, with short bangs just brushing, but not concealing, ocean-blue eyes.

The deity's face looked directly at me, rosy lips widening into a smile and large eyes turned upwards in pleasure.

"Karasu, you've been praying at my temple every day for three years now, oftentimes bringing valuable items as offerings and not leaving until the first rays of dawn. I know what you desire Karasu, and I am pleased enough by your tribute to me that I shall answer your prayer. However, I must inquire and satisfy my curiosity of your devoutness."

"Inquire all you like my dearest deity, and I swear to you that only the truth will leave my lips." I answered, I would not take any chances with her; I would have torn out my own tongue and set it on fire if that's what would've taken to make her fulfill my wish.

"You desire the human Shuichi Minamino, otherwise know as the former fox spirit Kurama; you love his beauty so dearly that you would kill him to preserve his beauty before time could ravage him and his youth would slowly be lost. Kurama is one of my most precious creations; it is I who sculpted him with my own hands, both his demon and human form. Once, you desired to kill him, to steal his life away and deprive the world of his beauty. Your determination to kill him angered me, to think that someone would be so arrogant and selfish as to destroy one of my greatest creations! So instead of you stealing his life away, he stole yours; such was my wrath, that I transferred some of my energy into Kurama's body as to let him survive the damage of your attack as well as the costly taxation of his own attack to kill you. Do you deny this?"

"I do admit, yes, that I once desired to kill him, but only out of love for him, though I no longer wish to kill him."

"Yet you have changed, have you not? I can sense that you no longer wish to destroy him, but to keep him with you forever; eternally young and beautiful." I nodded, I had prayed out loud numerous times so it was no wonder she knew my prayer so well.

"Karasu, I shall not only grant your wish, but give you a greater gift as well; I shall give you a potion that will not only preserve Kurama's youth eternally, but also change his gender as to make him female and capable of bearing children. I shall give you this potion Karasu, on the condition that you must promise to produce children with Kurama and do your best to ensure his happiness, for I love Kurama and it is only with his happiness may his true beauty be seen."

"Aphrodite, I do so swear as to uphold our agreement, and if I do anything otherwise, may Zeus strike me where I stand. I love Kurama, and I do so promise as to love him, cherish him, and do my best to ensure his happiness for all eternity."

"Then listen closely Karasu, for what I am about to say to you is of vital importance. If the potion is to have an effect three things are to take place: first, Kurama must be nude, the potion can only work with direct skin contact; second, the potion is only effective as a vapor, so you must pour it over hot water, preferably his bathwater, and have Kurama breathe it in deeply; and thirdly, when Kurama experiences his first period, you must keep a cloth stained with at least three drops of his menstrual blood for seven years, burn it, mix the ashes with holy water, and baptize your first-born child with the solution.

"If Kurama finds the cloth before the seven years are over and destroys it, he will instantly turn back into a man. If you do not mix the ashes of the menstrual blood and the holy water together, Kurama will regain the full use of his demon powers. If you do not baptize your first-born child with the mixture of the holy water and the ashes, they will die within the hour. My orders are not frugal Karasu; the menstrual blood is the symbol of womanhood, and like wine, it grows stronger with time, strong enough so that when mixed with holy water it does not dissolve, but instead permanently ensures that Kurama will be female and unable to access his demon power forever. The baptism of your first-born child with the solution is important, for without the eternal menstrual blood, it'll be as though their birth had never been. Now go Karasu, and heed my warnings, lest you should suffer my displeasure." And with that, the love goddess handed the vial to Karasu, stepped back onto the pedestal, and resumed her existence as a statute.

I held the glass vial gingerly in my palm, cradling it to my chest as one might hold a baby. I quickly exited the love goddess's chapel and headed towards my apartment, only a few blocks away for conveniences sake. Finally, my prayer had been answered! After three long steadfast years of intense prayer, my dearest hope had been answered! I had only wished that Kurama and I could live together forever as lovers, his beauty preserved for eternity and his affection reserved only for me. However, Aphrodite was truly magnificent as to give me a gift so precious that I could never even conceive possible: the gift of a family, a stable home life with a wife and children.

I had never had any family; my father died by an assassin before I was born, and my mother lost her life while giving birth to me. However, I did remember my elder sister, senior to me by four years, she had taken care of me until I was fourteen years old, dying by a cancerous disease. She worked as a seamstress to support us, rising out of bed before the sun had come up and finishing late into the evening. I remembered her fondly; Suzume, which meant sparrow, was her name and it had fit her well: she was a delicate creature, with a thin figure, and a pale, waif-like face, giving the appearance that she was underfed, which was true. She was beautiful nonetheless; her hair was as black as night which was let loose in rippling waves down her back, and her eyes were the same shade as mine, a deep, sparkling violet, framed by long eyelashes.

When our parents had died, there had been no one left to represent us, so our greedy relatives had seized the mansion, the property, and all the money, afterwards kicking us out into the streets. Unlike most girls when faced with poverty, my sister had refused to resort to prostitution to feed us, and chose to become a seamstress, though if a less comfortable but more honorable source of income. She had home-schooled me, teaching me everything from literature and fine arts, to science and martial arts. We lived in a cottage on the outskirts of a large city, though it was shabby, it was always meticulously clean with personal touches that made it home. She had always treated me very gentle and lovingly, and always put my needs before herself; even while sick, she refused to stop working, and when she could no longer do that, she had asked me to end her life.

Never in my entire life, had anything been so utterly painful to me as to see my beautiful sister wasting away every day, growing ever closer to death; she had asked me to kill her because she knew she could no longer support me and would only be a burden. So I complied with her wishes, and had injected a tiny explosive into her body, which killed her instantly, exploding upon contact in her heart. It was the turning point in my life, when I felt her die in my arms, her fragile body ice-cold against me; it had felt as though a dagger had been stabbed into my heart, seeing her once beautiful body so wasted and broken, and it was the main reason I had so desperately wanted to kill Kurama. I couldn't live, knowing that one day he too would waste away as time ate at him, and become weak, ugly and frail, doomed to die.

Suzume, I thought, I would name my first child after her, and let her live on as my child's namesake; of course, Kurama would like some say in the naming of our child but I was sure that he, no, she, would agree that Suzume would be a lovely name for our baby. I walked quickly across the gray cobblestones and entered into my apartment complex, the doorman offered a cheerful hello as he held the door open and I muttered one back, too occupied with my new found treasure for idle pleasantries. I took the stairs this time instead of the elevator, nimbly running up and gracefully ascending upon the top of the stairs. I strode briskly down the carpeted corridor and came to a stop at my door, No. 7; shuffling about in my pockets, I produced the keys and unlocked the door with a small click, making sure the door closed behind me. I strode across my expansive living room and let myself fall upon the black leather armchair, lounging with my legs spread and my arms resting on the armrests.

I pulled the glass vial out of one of my many pockets and studied it intensely. The vial was made out of a rose-colored glass and sculpted into a teardrop shape; a silver, heart-shaped stopper adorned the pinnacle of the vial, keeping the enclosed liquid escaping. The liquid inside swirled chaotically, an imprisoned ocean of passion and desire, trapped within the beautiful and delicate container it existed in. It was symbolic, I thought amusedly; like a woman, the vial itself was beautiful and exerted a sense of fragility, but its contents were passionate, vindictive and deceiving. It would never truly yield its most precious gifts and affection under violence, but only under a lover's caress.

Unlike a man's spirit, a female spirit would never truly be broken, it would always harbor the passionate spirit within; it was only fitting for the gateway of life, to be eternally spirited. Though, I would have to leave my musings for later; I had to deal with when Kurama would be living with me. I would have to make arrangements for Kurama's living essentials; feminine things such as dresses, tampons, female undergarments, a larger apartment, and all the other feminine products Kurama would need once he became a she.

However, I reflected to myself, the first necessity would be to find a suitable living arrangement; I would prefer to buy a house, but a spacious condo would be acceptable as well, all that mattered was the location. I had no desire to reside in the Makai, and I was sure that Kurama wouldn't either; the only question was whether Kurama should live within Rome with me, or if we should move elsewhere. We certainly couldn't stay in Japan and be in such close proximity to the Tantei, especially the Jaganashi. Oh well, none of the tasks would come to pass unless Kurama made the transition to a female body, and that would prove more difficult said than done.

However, there was nothing stopping me from indulging myself in pleasant fantasies about Kurama in feminine attire that had questionable modesty. I fingered the glass vial promising me my future wife and children gingerly, letting the contents swirl haphazardly.

Seven days, it will only take seven days for Kurama to become my wife.

Author's Note: Well that's it for chapter one, please review and tell me how it was!