I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!

Seriously though, I apologize for the extreme absence. I'm currently enrolled in college and am one semester away from graduating. So I am looking back into my fanfics and am going to try and continue them. I thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. And as a thanks, here's a little snippet (sorry it can't be more, but I'm doing this instead of my homework. XP)

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***Kuronue***

Kuronue woke just before dawn, quickly looking around to get his bearings. He felt the bedding shift next to
him and immediately went on alert. He knew the woman would be out of it for a while still. He poured enough
liquor down her throat to make sure of that. Granted he may have bought the drinks, but the cat drank like a
fish! Just one look at her and he knew she was nobility and nobility always had valuables on them.
His plan worked perfectly.

Women, especially those that are supposed to be getting engaged, are less likely to report getting robbed after
laying with "lesser demons" as he's been called. It wouldn't be the first or last time he'd sleep with someone to
rob them. It just made it easier not to get caught. He's seriously going to have to make it up to Kurama. Poor
kid was crushing on him so hard he felt guilty ditching him for a female. Not even a pure female either.
He allowed a smile as he conjured an image of her father bawling over his shameless slut of a daughter.

He'd use whatever money he got off the woman to buy the fox something nice. Kurama knew if he bought
something, he really means whatever he's saying,. Maybe a new tunic. With practiced ease, he went through
the woman's robes. The obi itself would fetch a pretty penny but he knew better than to take any part of her
clothes. He hand weighed the sleeves, feeling that one was substantially heavier than the other. Bingo! He
pulled out her money purse , finding it heavy with coin. He'll definitely forgive me after he sees this.

Taking his bounty, he slipped out of the room, careful not to wake the woman. Hm, never did catch her name.
Oh well, not like I'm gonna meet her again. He strolled out the tavern after tipping the owner to forget where
and when he left. Man, she had some seriously nice silks on her! Too bad I couldn't take any of it. If she hailed
from the Demon Realm, it would have been different. Nobles of Makai were arrogant, short sighted and stupid,
traits he loved exploiting. But these nobles of the Nigenkai, they were something else. All of them took pride in
personal and familial honor, that made them difficult to handle. Not to mention they are vindictive, persistent
and relentless. He stole from a Nigenkai noble when he was younger, the bastard chased him for almost three
months before catching up. As a young demon who was obviously outclassed and out powered, he did the only
thing he could think; he threw the jade bracelet at the Nobel and ran like hell. First and last time he ever
did that. He may be a thief but he wasn't suicidal.

He followed Kurama's youki out of the city towards a densely wooded area, Of course that's where he'd end up.
Damn Quest Class are always drawn to their element. Took him a few hours before he noticed Kurama's scent
fade, though his youki didn't. Hot spring, huh? Hope he's still there, that woman's perfume's giving me a
headache. He'd have to wash his clothes to get rid of that god-awful smell that clung to him. When he found
the spring he circled once to see if there was any sign the young fox had come to this particular spring, or if
there might be another one. He came to a secluded area and noticed something on the rocks at the water's
edge, something familiar, something he recognized. Kurama's cinch pouch. He always carried it in case he
wanted to remove his seeds so he wouldn't t lose them. It was odd that Kurama would leave something he valued
unattended like this. He opened the pouch, the contents making him realize the young fox was in trouble: the
seeds of his Death Tree, Blood Bloom, and Ojigi. The Death Tree wasn't unusual for him to leave when he knew he
was safe, the seeds, although sometimes tricky, were relatively easy to obtain. The Ojigi he bartered with a
foreigner for and was working on breeding the plant so he would have a small store of them, but the Blood Bloom,
he would never leave that one. It was a last line of defense, killing it's victim, but draining Kurama of nearly all his
youki leaving him weak for days before he recovered. To others it would sound like a plant to avoid but Kurama
guarded it like a Oni does it's sake. The bloom only goes to seed once every one hundred fifty years and is only
found in some of the most unforgiving and dangerous places in the Makai. Finding was hard, getting to it was a
venture, timing it for it's seeding period was difficult to say the least, collecting it was life threatening. Kurama had
nearly died twice and only got away with one seed. After everything he went through to get that one seed, the only
way he would leave it was if he was forced or killed. Either option didn't ease his worry.

He had to find him! Foxes suffered an ill-got reputation for being sluts and whores, females… and males. Kurama was
young, very young. He had his first heat a few years ago, and had done an excellent job of holing himself up until it
had passed. Kuronue knew Kurama wanted him as his first, not that he wasn't sorely tempted. Now, however, he was
regretting not giving into that desire. If Kurama was raped as a virgin, he'd seen a fox die of hire-ad before. He didn't
have the strength to watch Kurama die like that.

Kurama may not believe he was attracted to him, but he cared enough…. he'd kill him before letting him wither into
nothing for months, years even, before his body gave out.

He searched the entire area for clues to what had happened to his friend but turned up nothing of substantial
evidence: some flattened out grass, a few pieces of cloth. But then he found it, his hopes for Kurama plummeting when
he saw the gauges in the ground from two pairs of claws. Just the right positions for a coupling pair. He felt cold dread
seep into his chest, the thought of Kurama at the mercy of some unknown demon was enough his hands clenched so
tight it was dripping blood. Kurama. He leaped and glided the area, looking for some sign of where they had left.

Forgive me. I will find you, Kurama, just hang in there!