Is it Love or Lust (pt. 3)

Eventually, Kurama and Kiyoni did put their heads together to reverse this holiday curse that plagued their hometown. An analysis of the solution produced a potent antidote after a series of trials and error. It was time to take care of friends. Kurama headed to the Kuwabara home to handle Yukina but, it was too late. The same was said for Yusuke when Kiyoni arrived at Keiko's place. Yusuke, Yukina and the denizens of Mushiyori City were summoned downtown by the puppet master. "What do you mean he's gone," Kiyoni exclaimed, "Where did he go?"

"I don't know," Keiko sighed, "He did all this screaming then he just walked off like a zombie. There were others going in the same direction."

"Which direction?"

"That way. Towards downtown."

"Shit. Call Shizuru and see what she knows. I'll reach out to Suu'chi." Both phone calls provided the same information with Kurama heading downtown with the Kuwabara siblings.

Thousands have gathered around the tallest building in Mushiyori City all under the spell of Sinful Desires. Deep, personal, and individual fantasies, ranging from common to classic to mundane to perverted to downright dark, ran through their minds fueling their passions. Although, neither Yusuke nor Yukina knew of the other's presence, it wouldn't have mattered if they did; for all they wanted was their respectively significant others. "This is bad," Kuwabara noticed with a mask over his face. Shizuru wore one, too.

"Worse than anticipated," Kurama followed suit.

"Great…" Shizuru sarcastically gloated, "I suppose the idea is to take those bottles of perfume you and Kiyoni made and spray the entire city down with them?"

"That would be the thing to do but…it might take a while," Kurama assumed, "Our main objective is to find the source of this curse and take it down."

"Uh…" Kuwabara figured, "finding it won't be a problem. Just look at the crowd."

"A business center," Shizuru asked visually following the crowd.

"It is the tallest building in the city," Kurama pointed out, "A perfectly clichéd place to watch the world go down."

"Suu'chi," Kiyoni approached from behind with Keiko.

"Keiko," Kuwabara glanced, "You too?"

"You mean for Yusuke," Keiko stated, "Yes."

Kiyoni looked around, "So, what are we looking at?"

Kurama reiterated, "East. That building, over there, is the zenith of our predicament."

"Nothing my wings can't handle."

"No way," Kuwabara boasted, "You're not going up there alone. Not without us."

Kurama concurred, "He's right. With Yusuke and Yukina involved, we're in this as well."

"I never said I was going up there, alone," Kiyoni clarified, "Ra's grace, calm down."

"Uh, where does that leave us," Shizuru interjected.

"Here," Kiyoni handed off her supply of the antidote, "Take these and spray as much as you can. Suu'chi, give yours to Keiko."

"What is it?"

"The antidote," Kurama replied, "Made with tomato juice, seeds of a corpse plant that bloomed last year, and apple cider vinegar."

"Total mood killers," Kiyoni added.

"Ew," Kuwabara commented.

"Okay, you guys. Let's get to it," Kiyoni took off with Kuwabara and Kurama in tow.

"Good luck, ladies," Kuwabara cheered.

Shizuru waved with a middle finger, "Up yours, asshole."


Before the trio dove into the crowd, head first, Kurama made sure everyone was covered with the homemade solution as to avoid unnecessary confrontations. Nearing the top floor, both Kuwabara and Kurama notice a familiar feeling. "I've felt this before," Kuwabara stated, "This energy."

"Yes," Kurama agreed, "It does seem familiar."

"Mind filling me in," Kiyoni requested, "I want to know what level of kick ass I need to be on."

"You'll know when we get there." An elevator ride led to a secret staircase that led to the roof of the building where it's surrounded by violet light. A closer inspection brought to light a giant ball of energy that seemed to be fed by the same energy coming from the ground floor.

"What…" Kiyoni interrogated in disbelief, "what is this?"

"It's huge," Kuwabara marveled.

"Agreed," Kurama coincided.

"Lovely, isn't it," said a voice from the background, "Who knew that a simple holiday created by humans would produce this much energy? Passion, desire, lust, love unrequited or not, something humans were told to give out freely and daily but for one, maybe two days a year, those same feelings reach their maximum. All for the sake of what? Acceptance? The will not to be alone? To set aside judgment from their peers? Personal satisfaction or gratification? Does anyone know?"

"Okay, who said that," Kuwabara demanded.

"It can't be," Kurama realized.

"It can," the puppet master revealed himself from his hiding spot.

"Itsuki?!"

"Hey, you're the guy that sold us that perfume," Kiyoni remembered.

"You've met this guy," Kuwabara proclaimed, "So you're the one my sister was getting bad vibes from. Shouldn't you be in a black hole or something with Sensui's carcass?"

"We were," Itsuki stated, his demeanor braggadocious and a bit dismissive, "However, after a while, even lovers get bored…and restless. I needed a release and since my Sensui is dead in bed, I figured I'd harvest some energy from the creatures he tried to destroy. I've heard of the seven deadly sins and thought the sin of lust would be perfect for us. He can return to life and to his original cause while I revel in his power both outside and behind closed doors."

Kuwabara was disgusted by what he just heard, "Okay, I think I've had enough of that for one night."

"Ooh," Kiyoni fantasized, "That's kinda kinky."

Kurama asserted, "Kiyoni, essentially, that's necrophilia."

"Oh, yeah. You're right. Ew."

"So…" Itsuki hinted, "is this the part where you say some heroic statement then attempt to defeat me? Kurama, Kuwabara, I believe you've already met my Ura Otoko. He's been repaired and would love to reacquaint himself with you."

"No, thank you," Kuwabara drew out his jigentou, "Unless he wants to get reacquainted with this."

"Look," Kiyoni suggested, "It's been a long night and everyone, down there, is pretty messed up. Why do you give back all the energy you've stolen? Make this easy for all of us. How about that?"

"You obviously don't know what you're dealing with," Itsuki hurled a piece of the lustful energy towards Kiyoni, "See for yourself."

"No," Kurama stopped the ball with his rose whip, "Not tonight! You're going down, Sensui!"

"You can try."

"Eat this," Kuwabara shouted with his sword ready to strike. He's blocked with one of Itsuki's shadow hands and slammed to the floor with another. Kurama comes in with multiple vines to counter Itsuki's hands with Kiyoni sending a couple of energy blasts for extra kick. The attacks were successful.

"Kiyoni, do you think you can handle that orb of energy," Kurama affirmed.

"Yeah," Kiyoni summoned her weapon, Ausubis. Using the trident end, Kiyoni invoked an incantation over the orb, "By Auset and Hathor's will, may the energies contained in this vessel be returned to their owners. By Auset and Hathor's will, may the energies contained in this vessel be returned to their owners…"

"No," Itsuki shouted, "What are you doing?! If you break that, this place will blow!"

"Tough shit," Kiyoni clapped back, "By Auset and Hathor's will, may the energies contained in this vessel be returned to their owners." The orb reacted to the incantation. Rumbles and electric sparks surrounded the object as it attempted to break.

"Uh, Kiyoni," Kuwabara assumed, "I think Itsuki may have a point."

"Shut it, Kuwabara! It's working! By Auset and Hathor's will, may the energies contained in this vessel be returned to their owners. By Auset and Hathor's will, may the energies contained in this vessel be returned to their owners. By Auset and Hathor's will, may the energies contained in this vessel be returned to their owners." The rumbling grew stronger, worrying all who were nearby. "Everyone, get behind me," Kiyoni built a protective shield just before the giant sphere of lust exploded sending waves of energy all over the city.

"Wow," Kuwabara marveled, "That was awesome!"

"No," Itsuki cried, "My plans…ruined."

"Hey, uh…" Kiyoni offered, "why don't you let me handle him?"

"Are you sure," Kurama confirmed.

"Yeah. I got this. Go check on everybody."

"Fine. Come along, Kuwabara."

Kuwabara teased, "Hehe. You're in trouble."

Itsuki rises to his feet still confident, "You're making a mistake. If it took all three of you to take me down, what makes you think you, alone, stand a chance in Hell?"

"Look," Kiyoni reiterated, "You ruined a perfectly good holiday by selling some cheap perfume that drove everyone crazy (including my friends), turned those same people into zombies, made me question my relationship with my boyfriend, and collected energy the size of a star just so you can resurrect your dead boyfriend for a quickie? Seriously?"

"Do not judge me. You were just stating how exciting my idea was."

"Yeah, but, after what it would take for you to get your rocks off, I realized. From a personal standpoint, that was a big no-no," Kiyoni positioned her weapon with sadistic intent, "So, I'm going to have to cut you."

"Ha. If it'll help you sleep at night, be my guest."

Sometime later and free from Itsuki's curse, Yusuke joined Kurama and Kuwabara back up to the roof of the building, "Man, this has been one weird night. I swear all I saw in my head was Keiko wearing bridal lingerie," he recalled.

"Are we still thinking about that proposal," Kurama joked.

"Can it, fox boy."

At the stairwell entrance, Kiyoni awaited the boys, "Hey."

"Kiyoni," Kurama peered, "What happened? Why do you have blood all over you? Did you feed?"

"From Itsuki? You're joking, right? I have my preferences, Suu'chi."

"Then, what happened," Yusuke inquired.

"You're all welcome to see for yourself," Kiyoni departed, "I'm going home. I had enough of this damn day."

Curious, the boys took Kiyoni's offer only to be shocked by what they saw. On the floor, lied a deceased Itsuki with a slit throat and a phallus in his mouth, his own, with the words "scum" and "pervert" written in his blood near his feet. The spell broken by his demise. Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara shrieked and screamed as they ran away in horror. "What was seen…" Kuwabara declared, "can never be unseen."

"Worst. Death. Ever," Yusuke followed.

"I may have a reputation for inciting fear in others but…" Kurama admitted, "in this case, even I'm afraid." All three young men grabbed their family jewels and sighed in gratitude to be having them while saying a silent prayer for Itsuki. He may have been a bad guy but, it's just plain unfortunate to die with one's penis cut off.


The next day, Kurama demanded answers from Kiyoni. "I felt like it," she said.

"You felt like it? What do you…what do you mean you felt like it?"

"Exactly, what I said. Technically, I gave him what he wanted. Sure, it wasn't his boyfriend's but, it was close enough, right?"

Kurama strongly maintained his composure, "Kiyoni, you severed a man's…" What she did was flat-out barbaric from a male's perspective.

"I know. Look, can we get over that, please?"

Kurama sighed. It will be a while before he gets that image out of his head, "About last night, before the confrontation. I want to apologize, again, for being so forward with you in that way. I was under the influence of that fragrance and—"

"We both know how spells like that work, Suu'chi, how they could take one's most hidden feelings and multiply them tenfold. So, whether you wanted to admit it, then, or not, you meant what you said."

"I know," Kurama huffed in acknowledgement, "I saw what it did to you."

"My question is…how? How did you manage to break through the spell whereas Yusuke and Yukina couldn't?"

"I assume it was because of my mental resolve. Believe me, that isn't the first spell I've encountered. Prohibition spells, truth spells, mind control spells, other love spells. I've dealt with them all in my past life."

"What made this one different?"

"I had true feelings for someone. I had to convince my mind that I wanted to respect you as much, if not, more than I wanted you."

"Oh, Suu'chi…"

Kurama smiled warmly. If Kiyoni gave him brownie points, he wouldn't have cared. His mother raised him to show as much respect to others as they deserved, especially women, and Kiyoni was no exception. Things were patched up between Yusuke and Keiko as well and Kuwabara finally took Yukina to that movie. Couples throughout the city renewed their relationships with some taking the next step into marriage and family. As far as Sinful Desires was concerned,any and all remnants of that enchanted perfume have been disposed of and/or destroyed, never to be sold again. Valentine's Day was one for the ages with hopes that White Day will pass by better than ever.