So, Kiyoshi and I are back. I will try to keep this brief. In reality you can skip most of it, the exception being the paragraph starting "Next, perhaps the author's note of the greatest importance." That one, I beg you (on my hands and knees) to read. It's the third paragraph after this one if you intend to skip everything else.
The idea for 'Bloodstained Knots and Threadbare Hearts' came from me reading the story 'Last, But Not Least' by 1010'Jin at around two o'clock in the morning and then being unbelievably bored the next day. This story is far different from 1010'Jin's (although you should read that one too); I was simply inspired by the pairing. I was also reading some other stories in which the idea of mating was presented, and that stuck with me, becoming a more central theme in this story than I thought it would be. Other than those fics, I was also listening to music as I wrote this, the primary songs being 'All I Ever Wanted' (Amick Byram), 'Can't Stop the Rain' (Cascada), 'Broken Candy' (Sawyer Brown), 'I'll Be True to You' (Oakridge Boys), 'Ships That Don't Come In' (Joe Diffie), and 'The Soft Goodbye' (Celtic Woman). Yeah, I know that's a lot, but this story took a while to write and while there were others on the playlist, those were the only ones I ever really heard, perhaps because they fit the mood of the story. Odd. At any rate, if you recognize more than one of the songs (or even the artists) you can color me impressed. And if you do recognize the songs, you'll probably realize that this is not precisely a happy fic.
Which leads me to the disclaimers. It isn't really all that happy. Sort of, but not really for the most part (hence the reason it's in the 'hurt/comfort' category. It has been placed there more for the hurt than the comfort). Also, I obviously don't own YuYu Hakusho. Also, if you don't like guy/guy pairings, just click the little back button at the top of the screen, because I don't appreciate flames (excluding the flickering ones that can burn you if you try to touch them). Also, something about the mood of this fic seems to have made my style a bit different than normal, so it might sound a little awkward at times. Please try and forgive me for that. Finally, I would say this fic is probably not for Kurama fangirls.
Next, perhaps the author's note of the greatest importance: Do not get me wrong. I do not think Kurama is a fool, nor am I trying to portray him as such. The point I am trying to make is more that the heart sometimes has more control than the mind, and not even cool, logical Kurama is immune to that. Any other seemingly OOC moments I feel confident I can explain away if you have a question in a review (just don't quote me on that, because I'm not going to promise everyone is perfectly in character). But if any of you say I'm portraying Kurama as being stupid, I am going to simply ignore your message entirely, regardless of whether or not that is the only thing you are commenting on. So don't do it.
Lastly, this story is posted in multiple chapters to break up the huge amount of text. It is, in reality, meant to be a oneshot. I briefly considered posting the chapters at different times, but then decided that the waiting would add an element of suspense to the story that was not appropriate. Breaking it up into chapters posted separately would disrupt the flow of the story, taking something away from it. This story was written as a oneshot, and I would suggest reading it as such.
Now that I've finished with all my chatter, I apologize for wasting your precious time. You won't hear from me again until the very end of the fic.
Kiyoshi: that was brief?
Me: shut up. There was a lot that needed to be said. Well, on with the story then. Please review!
KG64 and Kiyoshi himself