CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kurama flinched at the sudden cry, clutching his torso as he felt the bruises slowly begin to form upon his soft flesh. "What the hell are you doing?!" He looked up at the cry; eyes shadowed by his long bangs, and nearly felt his heart stop as he saw Kuronue holding Yoko's arms roughly around the biceps in what could only be described as the Nelson Hold.
His eyes were blazing, red bleeding into the honey-gold as his mind comprehended what was going on. His lover, and partner, was holding him back in a rather painful position, all for the sake of that worthless human boy. Part of him was hurt, and the other part was infuriated. Snarling, he twisted his foot around Kuronue's ankle and, in a breath, had him down on the floor. "What in the seven hells has gotten into you, Kuronue?" The bat demon stared, wide-eyed and incredulous, "Me? What the hell has gotten into you? You're the one completely going psycho on Suichi!" His usually calm blue eyes were currently burning with anger, bordering on rage, as he looked the fox in the eye. Yoko slowly felt his clenched jaw relaxed as he looked at the expression on his lover's face. 'He's never been this angry with me before...' he thought to himself. Somewhere in what most thought was a frozen heart, he felt a small ache; what did Kuronue care?
"What happened to you?" Kuro's voice was lower now, brows furrowed and an expression on his face somewhere between sorrow and pity. "Why did you change so much...? After sixteen years...human years, mind you, you've become a different person..." The kitsune closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the beautiful face right now; it hurt him too much. Hurt him to know that he'd hurt Kuronue... 'Again' he reminded himself, 'You've hurt him again.' The black-haired of the two took a deep breath, nostrils flaring as he exhaled and regarding the face of his lover. A sort of sadness was there, but his aura revealed stress and anxiety...and many more muddled emotions he couldn't make out. Yoko shook his head slightly, opening his eyes and turning away, "I think I should leave for a while...for reflection." Then, in a flash of white, he was gone.
Kuronue looked sadly at the place where Yoko had stood; the smell of salt lingered. 'Tears? But...Yoko doesn't cry. Not about this sort of thing...' He turned to Suichi and knelt in front of him, "You alright?" he said quietly. The human nodded eyes wide as they reflected pain and confusion. "Kuronue, you should-" "I should stay here and make sure nothing's broken. He'll be okay. He's tough." 'At least, I hope so.' Kuronue slowly removed the human's shirt to survey the damage.
Yoko perched quietly at the top of a tree branch, face stubbornly devoid of emotion despite the thoughts racing through his mind and the ache in his heart. 'Why do I hurt the one I love?' he wondered silently 'And why is he so defensive of Suichi?' His ears went back slightly in annoyance and, perhaps a bit of jealousy. Kitsune were naturally possessive of their mates; seeing Kuronue react that way to Suichi must have set off a subconscious fuse inside of him. Caring for someone was a strange thing to feel indeed. Sighing, he ran his fingers through untangled white hair, and prepared himself to do something he hadn't done for many, many years; apologize. 'But, it would probably be better to wait until after he's calmed down a bit.' Leaning against the trunk of the strong tree, he closed his eyes and flicked his tail up to cover his lap. He might be here for a while, after all...
Kuronue smoothed his ponytail as he leaned back to check the bandages. Suichi had more wounds than he'd first thought, so the process took a bit longer than usual. The redhead kept his eyes down as he buttoned his shirt, whispering a small thank you. His eyes wandered from Kuronue, to the door, the floor and back. Yoko could walk in at any moment. "Don't be so scared," Kuronue whispered, "He went somewhere to cool off...he probably won't be back for quite a while." He leaned back on his heels, elbows on his knees, and looked the human up and down. Bruises on his face and neck, more than likely even more on his chest. "Take your shirt off," he said softly. The human hesitated, but did as told after quick consideration. 'He's been kind...but he could easily lose his temper and hurt me.'
Blue eyes narrowed when he saw the scars and bruises. "How long," his voice was low and held an edge of anger, "Has he been doing this to you? And why hasn't anyone helped?" Suichi swallowed, trying to clear the lump in his throat, before answering. He explained how some of his friends had been over, but had lied to them. "I don't want him to hurt them," he mumbled, "Or he might start treating me even worse than he does now." Kuronue furrowed his brow and, with a sigh, undid the ribbon holding his hair; it tumbled over his shoulder like a black waterfall. He always thought more clearly when the ponytail wasn't tugging at his scalp, strange as it was. Emerald eyes focused on it, and slowly, Suichi reached out his hand... 'What the hell are you doing?' He inwardly winced at the voice and pulled his arm back to his body. What was he thinking? Kuro smiled and raised his eyebrow, a glint in his eye, "Something wrong?" He shook his head, not able to think straight. Sighing, the demon ran his fingers through his hair.
Why did Kurama suddenly have the urge to do the same? 'I wonder...if it's as soft as it looks...' Kuronue wouldn't hurt him; he hadn't raised a hand to him or yelled at him yet. Slowly, biting his lower lip slightly, he combed the black hair with his slender hand; it ran through his fingers like water. Kuro made a sound that could only be compared to a purr, and Suichi did something he hadn't done without fear for so long; he smiled.
Scene
Yoko sighed as he stretched out his sore muscles, back arching in a cat-like manner, bones popping pleasantly with the movement. He opened honey eyes and surveyed the location of the sun; it was late evening. 'I've been gone longer than I thought. Damn; Kuro's probably pissed at me.' Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair, ears going back and popping back up, much to his annoyance. 'I'm going to have to apologize to him...' Something he had never been very good at. Even when he meant it...it came out as sarcastic and somehow crude. So, he would have to practice. 'Apologizing to no one...that wouldn't make me look insane at all' came the sarcastic thoughts. But, he shook his head anyways in decision that it would be for the best. In a blur of white, he was gone.
Scene
Golden eyes widened to an impossible size when they beheld what was going on through the window. Kuronue was sitting on the couch...with Suichi in his lap while he embraced him. It made him angry and depressed at the same time. Slowly, sadness drowned the cold, calculating look in his eyes as his large, white fox ears dropped to lay forward on his head. He turned away, unable to look anymore...
Kuronue's nose twitched. 'That scent...Yoko?' He opened his deep blue eyes, brushing his bangs out of the way as he did so, just in time to see an unbearably depressed look come to the fox's face before he leapt from the tree and off to only Inari-knew where. 'Damn' he cursed himself, looking down at Suichi. "Hey kid," he mumbled, "Wake up." Emerald eyes opened slowly, blinking sleep away before finally coming into focus. "You got anyone I can leave you with?" Kuronue said bluntly, "I...suddenly remembered something I need to get done in Demon World." Suichi nodded, "I'm...sure I could go to Genkai's," he smiled softly, "You go to Makai though. It's not as though I'm completely invalid and can't get there on my own." The demon smiled and pulled his very-broken hat on, ruffling the red hair before racing out the door, leaving Suichi to sit and wonder where all that had come from. 'He seemed worried about...something...damn it. Yoko's going to be angry.' He decided not to think about that for the time being. Pulling his cloak on and hoping the weather wouldn't bring his fever up too terribly, he calmly walked out the back door, mapping the route to Genkai's in his head.
He tried not to think about the blood seeping through the bandages...
And...end chapter! What did you think? Was it worth the wait? Sorry! My back has been killing me for three or four days now and I was pretty much stuck in bed with a heating pad all that time. I hope no one's too pissed! --Yokocw
