Chapter Nine
I shifted in my sleep and yawned, stretching my arms above my head. There was a feeling in my stomach that sent a joyous feeling throughout my whole body. For once in my life, I could use the term giddy to describe what I was feeling. It bubbled up in me and a smile made its way to my lips. With a sensation like that, it was hard not to.
I paused mid-stretch and my eyes opened, the smile dropping off my face as soon as it had come. This wasn't my room. The giddy feeling vanished completely and raw panic took over me. My breaths became shallower as I turned my head to see Hiei sleeping on the other side of the large bed, sheets only covering his lower half and revealing to me his bare chest. It was only then I noticed I had no clothes on.
With a gasp I scrambled out of the bed and backed up into the wall, still staring at the sleeping form on the black bed. I slid down on the wall with my arms drawn in to my chest, eyes wide.
The air was still hot from Hiei's flames from last night. Just like in the training room, flames had been born in midair and such only to wink out a minute later, catching nothing on fire. The room, as of now, must have been eighty degrees easy. I shoved my palms into my eyes, willing this to be a dream. I opened my eyes to find out that this was only too real.
Did he mark me?
I reached up my hand to my collarbone to see if I was officially Hiei's mate, and abruptly stopped before my fingers made contact. The longer I put it off the longer I had to convince myself that we hadn't marked each other. Right now, I didn't want to know. I'd rather lead myself to believe that all we'd done is slept with each other, even though I knew the chances of that only happening were slim to none.
My eyes scanned the room and landed on my discarded dark green kimono. I crawled over to it and slipped my arms through the sleeves, wrapping it around my body as I shivered. Despite the heat, my teeth chattered together. I held it in place as I picked up Hiei's black shirt and threw it to the side, picking up my obi from where it'd be lying beneath it. I tied my kimono and stood.
With calmness I didn't know I possessed, I slipped out the door and walked down the hallway into the personal kitchen, which was on the other side of the castle than the cafeteria. I pushed my hair so it fell forwards over my shoulders in an attempt to hide, if there was one, the mark. A glance out the window told me it was late afternoon. I must've slept no more than a few hours.
I pushed open the kitchen door and stopped in the doorway when my eyes landed on Kurama sitting at the wooden table sipping tea and reading a book. He looked up at the noise and greeted me with a polite smile. I saw his expression falter slightly and his changed slightly to a mixture of shock and confusion. It was barely noticeable, but I caught it. I didn't want to think about what caused that reaction.
I walked over and opened the freezer, eagerly pulling out a plastic plate with strips of raw bacon on it. I looked around for some salt and my eyes landed on the little glass bottle in the middle of the table Kurama was sitting at and I hesitated a moment before walking closer and swiping it quickly off the surface. I tapped it over the bacon strips and then put it back on the table, walking over to the kitchen counter. I hopped up on its surface and sat Indian style, placing the strips of bacon next to me. I picked up a strip and ripped off a bite, chewing it up.
"Good morning, Theda-sama," greeted Kurama, not raising his eyes from his book as he took another sip of tea. "How is your stay in the castle?"
I choked lightly on the piece of bacon I was chewing it and quickly composed myself by swallowing it. Kurama raised an eyebrow at me suspiciously and I met his gaze briefly before bringing it back to my bacon strip, biting off a large piece.
"Nothing particularly interesting. I found the training room," I said after swallowing. He nodded, not looking all too convinced. I hastily shoved the rest of the bacon strip in my mouth with a scowl.
There was a silence in which Kurama went back to sipping tea and reading his book while I acted like a human vacuum and finished off the ten strips of salted bacon. When I was done I opened the door that hid the trash can underneath the counter with my toe and slid the trash can out. I dropped the plate inside and close it back up.
I sighed and jumped off the counter, finding a glass and filling it with water. I chugged the entire thing and then placed it back on the counter, wiping the back of my hand over my mouth. My tongue ran over my fangs and I did a mental calculation of when the next time I would need to feed would be. Within the next few days should be safe enough. There was a sudden clatter and I jumped.
"Get out," commanded a hoarse voice.
I turned on my bare feet and furrowed my eyebrows at Kurama. His teacup was lying sideways on the saucer and was emptying itself of the tea all over the table. His book was lying discarded on the floor. He was holding his head in his hands with his elbows on the table. I'm not sure if he realized it, but he was muttering furiously to someone who wasn't there.
"Kurama?" I questioned. I moved closer to place a hand on his shoulder, but he jerked and moved away, clutching his head tighter and doubling over in his chair.
"Don't! Get out!" he shouted, his voice cracking.
"I am not about to abandon you while you are in this present state. It would be wise if I took you to the infirmary," I soothed, lying a hand lightly on his shoulder. He flinched, but made no move to get away from me. The muttering persisted. "Kurama…"
"Go!" he shouted, whirling around so he was facing me. I drew my hand quickly away and stepped away, surprised by the change in his eye color. They were no longer their calming green, but instead a deep amber.
"Dios mio, Kurama, what is happening to you?" I breathed.
His eyes flashed green for a second, in which they pleaded one last time with me, and then quickly went back to that chilling golden color. Before my eyes his striking red hair grew and turned a startling silver color. Two fox ears appeared on his head, and his facial features shifted slightly. He stood and I noticed he was taller than Kurama as well. Kurama's normal red outfit was replaced by a white outfit that greatly resembled an altered toga. A silver fox tail appeared as it moved to wrap around my waist.
I stumbled backwards to avoid the appendage, knocking into a chair, and my back met the counter. I had no idea what had just happened, but it was definitely not normal. I'd never seen such a change happen except in shape-shifters, and Kurama didn't send out the normal energy a shape-shifter had. There must've been some other explanation.
"Who are you?" I managed to get out.
I blinked and I was staring into the white fabric the kitsune had been wearing. I tried to back up a step, but the sharp edge of the marble counter dug into my back instead. I brought up my hands to shove the stranger away, but he deftly caught my wrists with a vice-like grip. I struggled and then lifted my eyes to glare at him. He grinned slyly back at me, causing my glare to deepen.
"Who are you?" I spat.
"Forgive me," apologized the stranger with a smirk. "Name is Youko Kurama."
"Kurama? But that's-"
"The human's name; I know," he interrupted coolly. "I'm a spirit fox."
My eyes widened. I'd heard of such things before, but I'd never actually encountered a situation like this. It was fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Terrifying in the sense there was more than playful ideas in his actions. I tried bringing my knee up to thrust into his groin, but I was pressed too tightly between his body and the counter to move much of anything.
"Let me go," I growled, trying to twist my wrists out of his grip.
"Why?" he asked with a grin. "I'm having fun."
I glared up at him and moved my glare to his chest, perfectly aware to what he was hinting to me. I stopped struggling and I could basically feel him smirk down at me. A true growl escaped my throat and my eyes snapped up angrily to meet his when I felt his tail brushing my leg on the inside of my kimono.
"Don't," I snarled.
"That could mean many things, kitten," he sighed. "It could mean you don't want me to stop, for instance." I was silent, trying to dissuade him from doing anything. The bad part was that he took my silence as a positive sign. "So I should continue," he announced to me.
He released my wrists and I smirked, thinking he was letting me go. My thoughts were cut off when he grabbed my shoulders and crushed my lips with his. I struggled to get away, my urges already met by last night with Hiei, but he persisted. I weakly tried pushing him away as he trailed kisses down to my collarbone. He paused with his lips to my skin and he chuckled lightly. He sniffed once and stood straight, smirking down on me while keeping a firm grip on my shoulders.
"I told Kurama we should mark you before somebody else did," he said. He brushed the hair off my shoulder and touched his cold fingertips to the skin on my collarbone. "It looks like Hiei beat us to it."
My eyes widened and my hand shot up to my collarbone, where I felt a slight bump about the size of a quarter and two little holes. My body went rigid in shock and my vision blurred. I blinked once to try to clear my vision, but nothing happened. A few seconds later a dark blanket covered my eyes and I slumped into Youko's chest.
"What did Youko do to her, Kurama?" shouted Yusuke in surprise.
"He says he did nothing to cause her to faint," replied Kurama calmly.
A few minutes ago Kurama had opened his eyes to see Emerald leaning limply against him. He immediately grabbed her arm to keep her from falling and then put his arms under her legs and lifted her off the ground, carrying her bridle-style. Anger towards the kitsune residing inside him bubbled up as he walked down the hallway towards the living room.
I did nothing to the female, human, muttered Youko.
Then why is she unconscious? cried Kurama in exasperation.
Alright, I might've fooled around a little bit…
What!
That's not the reason she fainted.
Then what is, Youko?
I commented on her mate, replied the kitsune in a bored tone.
Kurama stopped walking in surprise and nearly dropped Emerald. There were many things that he had expected the spirit inside him to say, but that had definitely not been one of them. It's not that Emerald wasn't desirable physically, but her personality was a little on the lacking side.
WHAT! spluttered Kurama.
I think her and the fire demon make a lovely couple.
Hiei!
Kurama looked down to Emerald and saw that Youko was right. She did have the mark in which a demon claimed her as his. Now, when he thought back on it, he had thought he had smelt Hiei on her when she entered the kitchen, but he had discarded it as nonsense and gone back to reading.
Kurama had pushed open the door to the living room to see Yusuke and Kuwabara furiously pressing away at the two controllers they were holding, trying to outdo each other in the video game. Kurama had cleared his throat and Yusuke had turned to greet him, when the words died in his throat when his eyes landed on Emerald's limp figure.
"What happened?" gaped Yusuke.
"I'm not sure," lied Kurama smoothly, "Youko had taken over."
And that was where they were now, Yusuke just having questioned what Youko had done to Emerald. Kuwabara paused the video game and got off the couch so Kurama could lay Emerald down. They looked at her for a few moments, her hair covering the mark that only Kurama, Youko, and Hiei knew she had, and then they simultaneously sighed.
Yusuke and Kuwabara sat down on a different couch and continued their video game, not bothering to be quiet and once or twice ending up on the floor fighting each other over who the real winner was. Kurama had retrieved his book from the kitchen and sat in an armchair, torn between continuing to read or finding Hiei and talking to him about his mate. Kurama had a very strong suspicion that the union hadn't been intentional, especially after Emerald had fainted from the news.
"Ah no."
Kurama peeked over the top of his book to see Emerald sitting up and holding her head in her hands. She rubbed her eyes then quickly pulled her dark hair into her hands in a ponytail. She was about to put it into place with a ribbon that matched her eyes, when she touched her free hand to the mark and let her hair fall back around her shoulders. She blinked a few times and looked around the room, getting her bearings. Her eyes landed on Yusuke and Kuwabara, and then slowly made their way over to Kurama. An angry look crossed over her face when she saw Kurama.
"Do me a favor and tell Youko that if he ever makes himself present in my company again, I will not hesitate to create massive bodily harm on him," spat Emerald, baring her fangs. Kurama shuddered and the spirit fox himself smirked inside Kurama's mind, thinking that she was too weak to carry out with the threat.
"You're awake," stated Yusuke, not taking his eyes off the video game. He seemed slightly disappointed that she hadn't stayed unconscious longer, and Kurama could tell that Emerald knew that the detective had meant for '…unfortunately' to come after that sentence.
"It would appear that way," replied Emerald coolly.
"So, what happened anyway?"
A hardened look came into the immortal's eyes as she regarded Yusuke. After a second's hesitation she calmly said, "I believe that is none of your concern, usted idiota curioso."
Kurama chuckled lightly at the Spanish insult, and Emerald smirked at the confused Yusuke before turning to face the kitsune. She looked him up and down with curiousness and then stared unblinkingly into his eyes, thoroughly intimidating him.
"You speak Spanish?"
"Not much."
"Oh?"
The immortal raised her eyebrows and then stood from the couch, brushing off her kimono. She straightened her shoulders and walked towards the window. She placed a hand at the bottom and her arm muscles tensed as she grabbed and pulled up, opening the window wide enough for her to crawl through. Emerald placed her hands at either side of the window and one bare foot on the window seat before pausing.
"Tell him that we must talk soon, even if he does not wish to."
With that she pulled herself out of the window and jumped the five stories from the window to the ground. Kurama listened for the thump that would come with her landing, yet never heard it. She had either been very quiet or not landed at all.
Kurama knew she had been referring to Hiei when she had asked the favor of him, and he sighed before closing his book and looking at the ceiling. He either had to go on Emerald's authority and bother the fire demon, who was probably in a very temperamental mood and ready to harm anyone with his well-known katana if they so much as came near him, or ignore the request from Emerald and face her wrath, which might be equally as harmful to Kurama's person. Not to mention she was the Lady of the Northern Makai.
He stood with another sigh and went to face the lesser of the two evils.