Prologue
"Ugh," said a demon, carrying a rag into the stadium, "I hate the clean up for each year. Why don't they just burn the stadium and the bodies and simply build a new stadium for the next Dark Tournament?"
"Because Kuro," said the second demon, also carrying some rags and a bucket of water, "it's easier to dump it all on some demons. Now stop your whining, you're acting like a ningen."
"Am not, Buné" Kuro said as they walked into the arena, which was littered with bodies. "Now why on Makai did they put the bodies in here and not burn them all in the other stadium? It was half-destroyed anyway from the first half of the finals."
"Yes well."Buné stopped suddenly, staring at something.
"What are you."Kuro stopped as he saw a figure wearing black standing over one of the bodies. "Don't we need to clean up quickly so we can go back to our homes?" he whispered to Buné.
"Yes," Buné said snapping out of his stupor and set the rags and bucket down. "Well come on," he said as he walked over to the figure.
"Wait!" Kuro hurried to catch up with Buné.
"Excuse us, but you need to leave," Buné said as he tapped the figure on the shoulder, "the tournament's been over for a day."
"Why did you not heed my advice?" said a soft alto voice from within the black robes.
'What?' asked Kuro wondering what the figure was talking about.
"You could have saved the nuisance of reviving you," said the cryptic figure, seemingly ignoring the two demons.
"You have to leave now," repeated Buné, losing his temper. "Now I have to retrieve the essential ingredients for your revival," the figure continued as it knelt down next to the corpse.
"You must leave now!" said Buné, unable to control his temper as he grabbed the figure and lifted it up, causing the hood to fall backwards, revealing the face of a young female youkai. Her pitch-black hair flowed behind her as she narrowed her crimson eyes. "Now that wasn't very polite, you shall have to be punished you insolent demon." She then pushed him away and reached into her robes to pull out a deliciously wicked looking sword. "Any final requests?" "Yeah," he said as reached out for her neck, "you can...." He never finished his sentence, for the youko had sliced him into two flawless halves. "Hardly worth the effort," she said as she sheathed her sword. "Tell me, did he have cat ancestry flowing through his veins?" "Yes, his parents were cat youkos," Kuro frozen in his tracks, disbelieving what he had just been a witness to. She didn't reply, but knelt down to the fresh corpse and pulled out the still warm heart with her hand. Kuro was about to retch when she asked, "Did you witness anything?" "No," Kuro said quickly as she put the heart inside a container she had retrieved from her robes. Without a second reply she picked up the corpse she had been talking to and held it in her arms as she walked out of the stadium. Kuro shook with relief when she left amazed that his life had been spared. "What did she want with that corpse and why did she take Buné's heart?" he wondered aloud as he looked around. "Oh no, I have to clean all of this up by myself!" was his scream as he looked around at the bloody carnage around him.
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"I would have thought you would have weighed more," she said to the cadaver as she placed it onto a straw mattress. "Now to locate the text that is needed for your revival.where could I have placed it?" She glanced around her abode, scanning the walls before finally setting her gaze on a blood stained spot. With cat-like grace, she moved over to the wall, gently pressed against it and watched as it crumbled under her touch. Carefully walking in the decomposing room, she squinted into the darkness. "Well now, that just won't do, will it?" she said to the lifeless body as she pulled out a candle from her robes. "It's necessary to have light to look isn't it?" She then flicked her finger and lit the candle on fire, illuminating the ancient room. "Let's see, could it be located in the old musty bookcase?" Gently pulling out book after book of text, she finally came upon the book she had been looking for. "Well, let's take a little glance at this text," she walked back out of the once concealed chamber. Setting the book down on a table next to the corpse she flipped through it until she came to the page she had been looking for. "To revive a cadaver, you need these ingredients: a heart freshly cut from a youkai, no older than twenty-four hours old. I shall have to sacrifice my meal for you, as you know full well," she said to the corpse before turning her attention back to the book. "Pelt of a ningen, locks from a snake youko, a talon from a Minotaur," she ticked off the items on her fingers, "simple enough to obtain, but this last ingredient confounds me." She laying the book on it's broken spine she walked over to the motionless body on the mattress and kneeled down next to it. "The final element needed is the blood of the one you desired. I just trust that there is enough of a memory left in your cerebrum to retrieve the vital information that is a necessity for your rebirth." She then gently pressed her first two fingers onto the cold white forehead and closed her eyes. Instantly hundreds of different images flashed in the blackness of her closed eyes, flickering so fast that it was starting to give her a headache until a single solitary image stopped. It was of a seemingly ningen beauty, with blood red hair and jungle green eyes, with fear and anger burning in the beautiful orbs. Her eyes suddenly snapped open as she said, "Of course, the kitsune that slain you, Kurama." Rising up off the ground, she turned her back to the corpse and repositioned her hood upon her head. "Wouldn't want an individual to recognize me and delay your resurrection further now, Karasu," she spoke to the lifeless crow as she picked up a small vial from the table and hid it inside of her robes. "I shall return soon, and then you shall live once again," she said before disappearing into the darkness of the night.
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"Hey Kurama, are you all right?" asked Keiko, sitting across from him in Atsuko's living room, "you don't seem to be your normal self." "Oh," Kurama said coming back from his daydreaming, "I'm fine, honest. There is absolutely no reason that you should worry about me, rather you should be worrying about Yusuke, he took a bigger beating than I did." "Okay, if you say so," Keiko said before turning her attention back to the sleeping Yusuke. "If Kurama says he's okay, he's okay," said Kuwabara, a 'borrowed' bottle of sake in his hand, "just leave him alone and get back to more important things, like celebrating." "Shouldn't we wait until Yusuke awakens to celebrate?" Keiko asked hesitantly. "We should not celebrate at all," Hiei spoke from the open window he was looking out of, "how do we know that we are out of danger? It would be foolish to just let down our guard and leave ourselves open for attack." "Can't you just lighten up for just once Hiei?" Botan said as she walked through the door with Yukina close behind her. "You're always so serious." "Well maybe I just don't feel like dying if some youko catches us unaware," Hiei said, looking deadly serious at Botan. "You can afford to lighten up for a few minutes in the human world," Botan said, trying to get Hiei to do the improbable, have a good time. "Botan, you won't get Hiei to party," Kuwabara stated, his words slurred, "he just is a shrimp who doesn't know how to have a fun time." "I should go," Kurama said, standing up from where he had been sitting. "Oh," Botan said as she opened a can of soda, "do you have to leave so soon? Kuwabara and Atsuko is drunk, Hiei is no fun, Keiko is watching over Yusuke and Poo, which only leaves Yukina, Shizuru and myself to play cards." "And what, might I ask, is wrong with that?" Shizuru raised an eyebrow as she lit up another cigarette. "I'm afraid I must," he said as he gathered up his belongings and walked over to the door, "I told my. mother I would be back tonight and I don't want her to have concern for me. Good night," Kurama walked out the door and started down the stairs of the apartment complex. He started to walk home slowly, before deciding to take a shortcut through the park and visit his 'friends'. 'It will only be for a minute,' he thought as he changed direction in mid-step, 'then I'll walk right back to my home.' He stopped in front of closed gates and looked around for others. When he saw no one, he gracefully leapt over the gates and landed gently onto the dirt ground. The plants immediately perked up, just from his presence, as he walked around looking at each flower from under the dirty lampposts. "Tsk tsk," he muttered under his breath as he knelt down to a particularly wilted plant, "does no one care for you guys? Now that just won't do." He closed his eyes and sent a small amount of his spirit energy into every single plant, causing them to sigh with relief. "Thank you!" came the chorus of small voices, which only Kurama could hear, coming from the plants. "Your welcome," he said as he stood and dusted off the dirt he had gotten on his clothes. He started to walk back to the gates when a plant suddenly said; "There's someone here." He stopped and immediately went into an attack position, grabbing a rose from his hair just in case he was forced to change it into his infamous Rose Whip. A figure suddenly flitted in front of him and he was about to change the rose he held in his hand, when he realized who it was. "Hiei, what are you doing here?" Kurama inquired as he placed the rose back in his hair. "I could ask the same of you fox," Hiei said as he looked around at the plants under the dim light coming from the lights. "You know why I'm here and I think I know why you're here, Hiei," Kurama said as sensed that something was making Hiei uneasy. "What would you know about my thoughts, fox?" Hiei suddenly went on the offensive and turned from Kurama, his body language saying that he was about to leave. "You want to talk about it later tonight?" Kurama asked, stopping Hiei in his tracks. "I will leave the window open for you." Hiei did not answer, but flitted away instead, leaving Kurama alone in the park. 'Why do you act this way?' Kurama pondered, as he walked back over to the entrance. He again jumped over the gate and landed like a cat on his feet. He started to walk back when he heard a noise from behind him, and quickly turned around to see no one there. "Might I inquire for your name?" came a soft, feminine voice from behind Kurama and he turned around to see a petite figure wearing black robes. "What do you want?" Kurama asked, standing his ground from the cryptic girl. "I merely wish to learn your name," she said, walking towards him. "Why?" he said watching her intently. "I thought you would have had better manners than that, Kurama," she said stopping in front of him. "Why did you ask me my name if you already knew it?" he said pulling out a red rose from his hair, sensing that something was horribly wrong. "I was just curious to see if the rumors about you were truth or if they were just fictitious lies," she said before disappearing. 'Where did she go?' he thought as he willed the rose to transform into a whip. Suddenly a pair of hands came from behind him and wrapped around his waist, pinning his arms against himself. He felt his whole body go numb, though he could not figure out why. "Don't fret," she whispered into his ear, "I just need some of your blood, then you'll be free to proceed to your destination." He tensed as she rolled up his left sleeve and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll be gentle." He then felt sharp fingernails pierce his skin and felt his blood runs freely down his arm. "Perfect," came the soft word as the girl took out a vial and filled the vial to the maximum. Without a second word, she vanished, leaving Kurama by himself. 'Wh.who was that?' he wondered as he gripped his arm, trying to stop the bleeding, but failing miserably at it. 'She must have struck a. a vein,' Kurama thought as the world started to become fuzzy and darker as he passed out onto the cold concrete.
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"I have returned," the youkai said as she walked back into her abode and looked at the corpse, only to be surprised that a small rodent was nibbling on one of his fingers. "Now that just won't suit Karasu if one of his appendages is missing when he is revived, now would it?" she said as she strode over and snatched the rat by his tail and brought it up to her eye level. "Now, if you would be so kind as to apologize to Karasu," she said to the terrified rodent. When the rat didn't answer she said, "You will not apologize? Then you shall have to be punished." She then bit into the rat and ripped it in half, causing the rat to squeal and writhe around with it's remaining limbs. She chewed the meat slowly, crunching into the bones and swallowed the entire piece raw. The rat abruptly stopped moving and went limp in her hand. "What a pity," she said aloud as she stared at the half-eaten corpse, "I prefer my meals to still be animate when I devour them." Casually tossing the body aside on the ground, she walked over to the table where she had laid the book and picked it up. "The first step is to lay the corpse on the ningen pelt, sounds simple enough," she said as she laid the book back down and retrieved from her robes, a ningen pelt that looked like it was still on the ningen she had ripped it off of. She then put it over her left arm and picked Karasu up with her other arm, carefully balancing him as she laid the skin down on the straw mattress, careful to not tear the fragile thing. She then laid Karasu down on the skin, giving an eerie presence surrounding his lifeless body. Barely glancing at the text, she said aloud, "Is that the possible reason why more youkos and ningens are not resurrected more often?" The instructions said to forge a hole into the talon and place the ground heart into it, and cork the hole with the snake hair. "That is a highly improbable request to accomplish," she said to no one, "but not impossible." Carefully she pulled the necessary ingredients from her robes and laid them out on the table. She first put the talon onto the table and studied it. "I suppose the finest way to put a flawless hole into the talon would be to carve a hole with my fingernails," she said before she started to chisel the claw with her fingers.
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'Where is that damned fox?' Hiei thought as he sat in the tree outside Kurama's window, 'he said he was going straight home, with no distractions.' Absentmindedly, he peered into his room, his gaze going from the neatly arranged bookshelf to his spotless desk, causing him to think of the fox. The blood-red hair, the shining green eyes, the pale delicate face smiling at him. Hiei would have liked to think it was just for him, but he knew better. "Where could he be?" came a voice from below him and Hiei decided to listen in on the conversation. "Well mom, he could just be a little late," was the reply from another voice. "But he was supposed to be home three hours ago," panic slipped into the other voice. 'Three hours?' Hiei thought puzzled. 'He probably just stayed with his precious plants longer.' "He probably was held up with something and thought it was too late to travel home," the younger voice stated, trying to get the other person to calm down. "Suiichi would never do something like that," said the voice, panic creeping into it, "he would contact us somehow and tell us that he would not be able to make it." "Let's give him another half-hour and then if he's not here, we'll call the police, okay?" said the opposite voice as they went back inside. 'He must still be at the park,' Hiei thought anxiously as he flitted out of the tree and ran towards the park. 'Better be prepared for the worst.' Upon arriving at the park, he immediately saw Kurama lying face down into the concrete. "Kurama!" Hiei shouted as he raced to Kurama's said and knelt down to him, "Wake up!" When Kurama didn't move, Hiei shook him violently before noticing several wounds on his left arm, all still bleeding, slowly but steadily. 'Who did this to you?' Hiei just had enough time to think before he lifted Kurama's right arm and draped it over his shoulders. 'Will he be okay?' Hiei thought as he raced back to Kurama's house. Hiei hesitantly pressed the doorbell and waited for it to open. "Suiichi, thank goodness you're." a woman started to say as she opened the door, but stopped when she saw Kurama's limp body. "Suiichi!" she screamed as she ushered in Hiei and led him straight upstairs to Kurama's room. "Put him on the bed while I go get the bandages," the woman rushed out of the room. Laying him down on the bed, Hiei unconsciously took Kurama's hand in his own and stared at Kurama with his concern building. "Kurama." he said softly, "I swear that I will hunt down and kill whoever did this to you." Sensing that the woman was coming back, he reluctantly released Kurama's hand and backed out of the way. Rushing back in, she went over to the bed and started to flip Kurama onto his stomach, but with little success. "Will you please help me?" she asked, giving a slight glance at him before turning her full attention back to Kurama. "Just get on the other side of Suiichi and flip onto his stomach," she said as he walked over and carefully lifted him over. "Can you tell me how this happened?" she asked as she rolled up the unconscious Kurama's sleeve and started to bandage it. "I just found him like this," Hiei thought up quickly, "why don't you put your full attention on Suiichi. You do want him to become better don't you?"
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'Where am I?' Kurama thought as he felt himself floating in the air. Curious to know, he tentatively opened his eyes to see himself floating in a black abyss. 'Like that explained where I am,' he thought sarcastically. 'I'm probably not dead or Botan would have come and taken me to my final destination or something like that. Besides, I wasn't hurt that bad.'
'I beg to differ,' came the familiar voice that sent shivers up Kurama's spine.
'Karasu?' Kurama suddenly went rigid. 'I killed you, you should be burning in hell.'
'Afraid?' he said, his voice echoing, making it hard for Kurama to locate him.
'Why would I be afraid of a decomposing corpse?' Kurama said confidently, trying to not show his fear.
Suddenly, two cold arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him back into a hard chest. 'Because I can harm you while you're in this dimension,' Karasu said directly into Kurama's ear, that made Kurama shiver from Karasu's hot breath.
'How can you do that? You're dead,' Kurama tried in vain to gain control of the situation.
Karasu chuckled darkly and hugged Kurama closer, 'Have you forgotten that spirits can communicate with the living when they are asleep or unconscious?'
He had forgotten. 'Get away from me,' Kurama said, as he tried to escape from Karasu's powerful grip.
'Now why would I do that if I have you exactly where I want you?' Karasu said before turning Kurama around in his arms.
'You are not really here,' Kurama said closing his eyes and turning his head from Karasu, 'it's only a figment of my unconscious mind.'
'Oh no, I'm real all right,' Karasu said, loosing his grip on Kurama slightly, 'but what I'm wondering is if you realize what's going to happen.'
'What are you talking about?' Kurama said, snapping his head up and looked into Karasu's cruel purple eyes. 'You are dead, your body is currently rotting in some pit somewhere and' 'Shh.' Karasu put his finger up to Kurama's mouth to silence him. 'Do you know what your pretty face does to so many beings?' Karasu softly traced his pale hand across Kurama's face, along every curve of it, staring intensely into Kurama's bright eyes. Unable to tear his gaze away from Karasu's purple eyes, which were holding lust for him, and nothing else. Kurama felt as helpless as a newly born infant did as Karasu pulled him closer until only mere centimeters separated them. 'Are you afraid?' Karasu whispered as he raised his free hand to remove his mask. As it fell into the black nothingness, Karasu leaned in to Kurama, what little space that had been between them lost to Karasu's desires.
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"Perfect," said the youkai as she held up the finished talon, admiring her flawless work. "Now what is the next step for the spell?" she asked aloud as she gingerly placed the claw on the table. "After plugging the hole with the hair," she read aloud, "take the talon and place it over the cadaver's heart. Then take the blood of the desired one and pour it over the talon as the incantation 'Ichet malus yhiuz tolmi gretchsa khigen heizti scohnui' is uttered a dozen times." Closing the text, she picked the talon up from the table and walked over to the inanimate body that lay on her futon. Carefully putting it directly over Karasu's still heart, she leaned into his ear and whispered, "The divertissement is about to start, I just hope you're not doing anything of great importance." She then reached for the vial in her robes and began the final stage of the revival. "Ichet malus yhiuz tolmi gretchsa khigen heizti scohnui," she began to mutter as she poured the blood onto the main ingredient.
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When Karasu's cold lips touched Kurama's, Kurama panicked and tried to push his way out of the embrace, but Karasu had a firm grip around Kurama's waist, securing his position. Kurama's struggling just excited Karasu further and he pressed harder against Kurama's mouth. Keeping his firm grasp on Kurama with one of his hands, Karasu moved his hand to Kurama's shirt and roughly ripped it down the middle. He then moved his hand freely over Kurama's warm chest, feeling every inch of his soft skin.
Kurama gasped when Karasu's cold hand groped his chest, giving Karasu an opportunity to place his tongue in Kurama's warm and oh so inviting mouth. Kurama found that he was virtually helpless against the demented youko, for he could not gain access to his spirit energy.
Finally, when he could take no more of the torture, Kurama bit down on the foreign tongue and caused the owner to retreat the appendage.
'That was fun.' Karasu said, smiling darkly, licking up the blood Kurama had drawn, 'but the real fun is about to start.'
'What do you mean you sick bastard?' Kurama spat at Karasu, not bothering to hide the disgust that he clearly felt towards Karasu.
'You shall learn soon.' Karasu said before giving him a short, rough kiss. 'I'll be seeing you around, my fox.' and then he was gone, leaving Kurama in the dark abyss, with only his thoughts to occupy him.
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"Ichet malus yhiuz tolmi gretchsa khigen heizti scohnui!" the demon yelled as she poured the last drop of blood onto Karasu. As it touched the talon, dark energy began to immediately flow through the room, touching everything and infecting it with an evil aura.
The female demon felt a searing hot pain run through her as the tainted aura passed through her lithe body, causing her to whimper in pain. She lifted her hand up ever so slowly, and uttered a foreign phrase, causing a red barrier to come up around her, protecting her.
Suddenly, an ear-piercing shriek came from the void, and caused the pitch-black aura to be drawn into the corpse lying on the futon. The cadaver writhed as the black energy pierced through it, looking as though it was a puppet on strings having massive seizures. Just as soon as it started it had ceased, leaving a very curious demon, as she cautiously let down the protective barrier to go look at Karasu's body.
She tentatively walked over to the body, uncertain if the right soul had been transferred back into the flesh. "Just one option to select isn't there?" she asked rhetorically as she lifted a pale arm to check for a pulse.
Before she found one, the hand jerked away and she turned to look into Karasu's purple eyes, laced with an emotion she had never seen him wear before.
"Welcome back to the realm of the living," she said as she stared at him intently. "It has been quite a long time since we have had a decent conversation, you shall have to reveal absolutely everything to me."
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As Karasu was brought back from the dead, Kurama woke in a light sweat that covered his entire body, breathing heavily.
"Suiichi!" came a cry to his right and then a tight hug enveloped him as he stayed in his stupor. "Are you okay? Would you like something to eat or drink?" his mother said, hugging him tighter, as though she was afraid she would lose him if she let go.
"Yes," he said, wanting to think alone for a while and knowing that this was the only way to go about it. "Would you please fix some Chai tea mother?" he asked, leaning back and trying to break the embrace,
She reluctantly let go and answered, "Yes, I'll go fix some for you and your friend."
'Friend?' Kurama thought, confused as she walked to the door. "What friend mother?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"The small one with black spiked hair and red eyes," she said as she walked through the door and down the stairs outside of his room.
'Hiei?' Kurama thought as he remembered the blood-curling nightmare that he had just experienced, causing a fresh wave of red-hot pain from his wound. Clutching his arm, he fell unconscious as the pain over took his body and psyche.
"Ugh," said a demon, carrying a rag into the stadium, "I hate the clean up for each year. Why don't they just burn the stadium and the bodies and simply build a new stadium for the next Dark Tournament?"
"Because Kuro," said the second demon, also carrying some rags and a bucket of water, "it's easier to dump it all on some demons. Now stop your whining, you're acting like a ningen."
"Am not, Buné" Kuro said as they walked into the arena, which was littered with bodies. "Now why on Makai did they put the bodies in here and not burn them all in the other stadium? It was half-destroyed anyway from the first half of the finals."
"Yes well."Buné stopped suddenly, staring at something.
"What are you."Kuro stopped as he saw a figure wearing black standing over one of the bodies. "Don't we need to clean up quickly so we can go back to our homes?" he whispered to Buné.
"Yes," Buné said snapping out of his stupor and set the rags and bucket down. "Well come on," he said as he walked over to the figure.
"Wait!" Kuro hurried to catch up with Buné.
"Excuse us, but you need to leave," Buné said as he tapped the figure on the shoulder, "the tournament's been over for a day."
"Why did you not heed my advice?" said a soft alto voice from within the black robes.
'What?' asked Kuro wondering what the figure was talking about.
"You could have saved the nuisance of reviving you," said the cryptic figure, seemingly ignoring the two demons.
"You have to leave now," repeated Buné, losing his temper. "Now I have to retrieve the essential ingredients for your revival," the figure continued as it knelt down next to the corpse.
"You must leave now!" said Buné, unable to control his temper as he grabbed the figure and lifted it up, causing the hood to fall backwards, revealing the face of a young female youkai. Her pitch-black hair flowed behind her as she narrowed her crimson eyes. "Now that wasn't very polite, you shall have to be punished you insolent demon." She then pushed him away and reached into her robes to pull out a deliciously wicked looking sword. "Any final requests?" "Yeah," he said as reached out for her neck, "you can...." He never finished his sentence, for the youko had sliced him into two flawless halves. "Hardly worth the effort," she said as she sheathed her sword. "Tell me, did he have cat ancestry flowing through his veins?" "Yes, his parents were cat youkos," Kuro frozen in his tracks, disbelieving what he had just been a witness to. She didn't reply, but knelt down to the fresh corpse and pulled out the still warm heart with her hand. Kuro was about to retch when she asked, "Did you witness anything?" "No," Kuro said quickly as she put the heart inside a container she had retrieved from her robes. Without a second reply she picked up the corpse she had been talking to and held it in her arms as she walked out of the stadium. Kuro shook with relief when she left amazed that his life had been spared. "What did she want with that corpse and why did she take Buné's heart?" he wondered aloud as he looked around. "Oh no, I have to clean all of this up by myself!" was his scream as he looked around at the bloody carnage around him.
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"I would have thought you would have weighed more," she said to the cadaver as she placed it onto a straw mattress. "Now to locate the text that is needed for your revival.where could I have placed it?" She glanced around her abode, scanning the walls before finally setting her gaze on a blood stained spot. With cat-like grace, she moved over to the wall, gently pressed against it and watched as it crumbled under her touch. Carefully walking in the decomposing room, she squinted into the darkness. "Well now, that just won't do, will it?" she said to the lifeless body as she pulled out a candle from her robes. "It's necessary to have light to look isn't it?" She then flicked her finger and lit the candle on fire, illuminating the ancient room. "Let's see, could it be located in the old musty bookcase?" Gently pulling out book after book of text, she finally came upon the book she had been looking for. "Well, let's take a little glance at this text," she walked back out of the once concealed chamber. Setting the book down on a table next to the corpse she flipped through it until she came to the page she had been looking for. "To revive a cadaver, you need these ingredients: a heart freshly cut from a youkai, no older than twenty-four hours old. I shall have to sacrifice my meal for you, as you know full well," she said to the corpse before turning her attention back to the book. "Pelt of a ningen, locks from a snake youko, a talon from a Minotaur," she ticked off the items on her fingers, "simple enough to obtain, but this last ingredient confounds me." She laying the book on it's broken spine she walked over to the motionless body on the mattress and kneeled down next to it. "The final element needed is the blood of the one you desired. I just trust that there is enough of a memory left in your cerebrum to retrieve the vital information that is a necessity for your rebirth." She then gently pressed her first two fingers onto the cold white forehead and closed her eyes. Instantly hundreds of different images flashed in the blackness of her closed eyes, flickering so fast that it was starting to give her a headache until a single solitary image stopped. It was of a seemingly ningen beauty, with blood red hair and jungle green eyes, with fear and anger burning in the beautiful orbs. Her eyes suddenly snapped open as she said, "Of course, the kitsune that slain you, Kurama." Rising up off the ground, she turned her back to the corpse and repositioned her hood upon her head. "Wouldn't want an individual to recognize me and delay your resurrection further now, Karasu," she spoke to the lifeless crow as she picked up a small vial from the table and hid it inside of her robes. "I shall return soon, and then you shall live once again," she said before disappearing into the darkness of the night.
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"Hey Kurama, are you all right?" asked Keiko, sitting across from him in Atsuko's living room, "you don't seem to be your normal self." "Oh," Kurama said coming back from his daydreaming, "I'm fine, honest. There is absolutely no reason that you should worry about me, rather you should be worrying about Yusuke, he took a bigger beating than I did." "Okay, if you say so," Keiko said before turning her attention back to the sleeping Yusuke. "If Kurama says he's okay, he's okay," said Kuwabara, a 'borrowed' bottle of sake in his hand, "just leave him alone and get back to more important things, like celebrating." "Shouldn't we wait until Yusuke awakens to celebrate?" Keiko asked hesitantly. "We should not celebrate at all," Hiei spoke from the open window he was looking out of, "how do we know that we are out of danger? It would be foolish to just let down our guard and leave ourselves open for attack." "Can't you just lighten up for just once Hiei?" Botan said as she walked through the door with Yukina close behind her. "You're always so serious." "Well maybe I just don't feel like dying if some youko catches us unaware," Hiei said, looking deadly serious at Botan. "You can afford to lighten up for a few minutes in the human world," Botan said, trying to get Hiei to do the improbable, have a good time. "Botan, you won't get Hiei to party," Kuwabara stated, his words slurred, "he just is a shrimp who doesn't know how to have a fun time." "I should go," Kurama said, standing up from where he had been sitting. "Oh," Botan said as she opened a can of soda, "do you have to leave so soon? Kuwabara and Atsuko is drunk, Hiei is no fun, Keiko is watching over Yusuke and Poo, which only leaves Yukina, Shizuru and myself to play cards." "And what, might I ask, is wrong with that?" Shizuru raised an eyebrow as she lit up another cigarette. "I'm afraid I must," he said as he gathered up his belongings and walked over to the door, "I told my. mother I would be back tonight and I don't want her to have concern for me. Good night," Kurama walked out the door and started down the stairs of the apartment complex. He started to walk home slowly, before deciding to take a shortcut through the park and visit his 'friends'. 'It will only be for a minute,' he thought as he changed direction in mid-step, 'then I'll walk right back to my home.' He stopped in front of closed gates and looked around for others. When he saw no one, he gracefully leapt over the gates and landed gently onto the dirt ground. The plants immediately perked up, just from his presence, as he walked around looking at each flower from under the dirty lampposts. "Tsk tsk," he muttered under his breath as he knelt down to a particularly wilted plant, "does no one care for you guys? Now that just won't do." He closed his eyes and sent a small amount of his spirit energy into every single plant, causing them to sigh with relief. "Thank you!" came the chorus of small voices, which only Kurama could hear, coming from the plants. "Your welcome," he said as he stood and dusted off the dirt he had gotten on his clothes. He started to walk back to the gates when a plant suddenly said; "There's someone here." He stopped and immediately went into an attack position, grabbing a rose from his hair just in case he was forced to change it into his infamous Rose Whip. A figure suddenly flitted in front of him and he was about to change the rose he held in his hand, when he realized who it was. "Hiei, what are you doing here?" Kurama inquired as he placed the rose back in his hair. "I could ask the same of you fox," Hiei said as he looked around at the plants under the dim light coming from the lights. "You know why I'm here and I think I know why you're here, Hiei," Kurama said as sensed that something was making Hiei uneasy. "What would you know about my thoughts, fox?" Hiei suddenly went on the offensive and turned from Kurama, his body language saying that he was about to leave. "You want to talk about it later tonight?" Kurama asked, stopping Hiei in his tracks. "I will leave the window open for you." Hiei did not answer, but flitted away instead, leaving Kurama alone in the park. 'Why do you act this way?' Kurama pondered, as he walked back over to the entrance. He again jumped over the gate and landed like a cat on his feet. He started to walk back when he heard a noise from behind him, and quickly turned around to see no one there. "Might I inquire for your name?" came a soft, feminine voice from behind Kurama and he turned around to see a petite figure wearing black robes. "What do you want?" Kurama asked, standing his ground from the cryptic girl. "I merely wish to learn your name," she said, walking towards him. "Why?" he said watching her intently. "I thought you would have had better manners than that, Kurama," she said stopping in front of him. "Why did you ask me my name if you already knew it?" he said pulling out a red rose from his hair, sensing that something was horribly wrong. "I was just curious to see if the rumors about you were truth or if they were just fictitious lies," she said before disappearing. 'Where did she go?' he thought as he willed the rose to transform into a whip. Suddenly a pair of hands came from behind him and wrapped around his waist, pinning his arms against himself. He felt his whole body go numb, though he could not figure out why. "Don't fret," she whispered into his ear, "I just need some of your blood, then you'll be free to proceed to your destination." He tensed as she rolled up his left sleeve and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll be gentle." He then felt sharp fingernails pierce his skin and felt his blood runs freely down his arm. "Perfect," came the soft word as the girl took out a vial and filled the vial to the maximum. Without a second word, she vanished, leaving Kurama by himself. 'Wh.who was that?' he wondered as he gripped his arm, trying to stop the bleeding, but failing miserably at it. 'She must have struck a. a vein,' Kurama thought as the world started to become fuzzy and darker as he passed out onto the cold concrete.
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"I have returned," the youkai said as she walked back into her abode and looked at the corpse, only to be surprised that a small rodent was nibbling on one of his fingers. "Now that just won't suit Karasu if one of his appendages is missing when he is revived, now would it?" she said as she strode over and snatched the rat by his tail and brought it up to her eye level. "Now, if you would be so kind as to apologize to Karasu," she said to the terrified rodent. When the rat didn't answer she said, "You will not apologize? Then you shall have to be punished." She then bit into the rat and ripped it in half, causing the rat to squeal and writhe around with it's remaining limbs. She chewed the meat slowly, crunching into the bones and swallowed the entire piece raw. The rat abruptly stopped moving and went limp in her hand. "What a pity," she said aloud as she stared at the half-eaten corpse, "I prefer my meals to still be animate when I devour them." Casually tossing the body aside on the ground, she walked over to the table where she had laid the book and picked it up. "The first step is to lay the corpse on the ningen pelt, sounds simple enough," she said as she laid the book back down and retrieved from her robes, a ningen pelt that looked like it was still on the ningen she had ripped it off of. She then put it over her left arm and picked Karasu up with her other arm, carefully balancing him as she laid the skin down on the straw mattress, careful to not tear the fragile thing. She then laid Karasu down on the skin, giving an eerie presence surrounding his lifeless body. Barely glancing at the text, she said aloud, "Is that the possible reason why more youkos and ningens are not resurrected more often?" The instructions said to forge a hole into the talon and place the ground heart into it, and cork the hole with the snake hair. "That is a highly improbable request to accomplish," she said to no one, "but not impossible." Carefully she pulled the necessary ingredients from her robes and laid them out on the table. She first put the talon onto the table and studied it. "I suppose the finest way to put a flawless hole into the talon would be to carve a hole with my fingernails," she said before she started to chisel the claw with her fingers.
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'Where is that damned fox?' Hiei thought as he sat in the tree outside Kurama's window, 'he said he was going straight home, with no distractions.' Absentmindedly, he peered into his room, his gaze going from the neatly arranged bookshelf to his spotless desk, causing him to think of the fox. The blood-red hair, the shining green eyes, the pale delicate face smiling at him. Hiei would have liked to think it was just for him, but he knew better. "Where could he be?" came a voice from below him and Hiei decided to listen in on the conversation. "Well mom, he could just be a little late," was the reply from another voice. "But he was supposed to be home three hours ago," panic slipped into the other voice. 'Three hours?' Hiei thought puzzled. 'He probably just stayed with his precious plants longer.' "He probably was held up with something and thought it was too late to travel home," the younger voice stated, trying to get the other person to calm down. "Suiichi would never do something like that," said the voice, panic creeping into it, "he would contact us somehow and tell us that he would not be able to make it." "Let's give him another half-hour and then if he's not here, we'll call the police, okay?" said the opposite voice as they went back inside. 'He must still be at the park,' Hiei thought anxiously as he flitted out of the tree and ran towards the park. 'Better be prepared for the worst.' Upon arriving at the park, he immediately saw Kurama lying face down into the concrete. "Kurama!" Hiei shouted as he raced to Kurama's said and knelt down to him, "Wake up!" When Kurama didn't move, Hiei shook him violently before noticing several wounds on his left arm, all still bleeding, slowly but steadily. 'Who did this to you?' Hiei just had enough time to think before he lifted Kurama's right arm and draped it over his shoulders. 'Will he be okay?' Hiei thought as he raced back to Kurama's house. Hiei hesitantly pressed the doorbell and waited for it to open. "Suiichi, thank goodness you're." a woman started to say as she opened the door, but stopped when she saw Kurama's limp body. "Suiichi!" she screamed as she ushered in Hiei and led him straight upstairs to Kurama's room. "Put him on the bed while I go get the bandages," the woman rushed out of the room. Laying him down on the bed, Hiei unconsciously took Kurama's hand in his own and stared at Kurama with his concern building. "Kurama." he said softly, "I swear that I will hunt down and kill whoever did this to you." Sensing that the woman was coming back, he reluctantly released Kurama's hand and backed out of the way. Rushing back in, she went over to the bed and started to flip Kurama onto his stomach, but with little success. "Will you please help me?" she asked, giving a slight glance at him before turning her full attention back to Kurama. "Just get on the other side of Suiichi and flip onto his stomach," she said as he walked over and carefully lifted him over. "Can you tell me how this happened?" she asked as she rolled up the unconscious Kurama's sleeve and started to bandage it. "I just found him like this," Hiei thought up quickly, "why don't you put your full attention on Suiichi. You do want him to become better don't you?"
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'Where am I?' Kurama thought as he felt himself floating in the air. Curious to know, he tentatively opened his eyes to see himself floating in a black abyss. 'Like that explained where I am,' he thought sarcastically. 'I'm probably not dead or Botan would have come and taken me to my final destination or something like that. Besides, I wasn't hurt that bad.'
'I beg to differ,' came the familiar voice that sent shivers up Kurama's spine.
'Karasu?' Kurama suddenly went rigid. 'I killed you, you should be burning in hell.'
'Afraid?' he said, his voice echoing, making it hard for Kurama to locate him.
'Why would I be afraid of a decomposing corpse?' Kurama said confidently, trying to not show his fear.
Suddenly, two cold arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him back into a hard chest. 'Because I can harm you while you're in this dimension,' Karasu said directly into Kurama's ear, that made Kurama shiver from Karasu's hot breath.
'How can you do that? You're dead,' Kurama tried in vain to gain control of the situation.
Karasu chuckled darkly and hugged Kurama closer, 'Have you forgotten that spirits can communicate with the living when they are asleep or unconscious?'
He had forgotten. 'Get away from me,' Kurama said, as he tried to escape from Karasu's powerful grip.
'Now why would I do that if I have you exactly where I want you?' Karasu said before turning Kurama around in his arms.
'You are not really here,' Kurama said closing his eyes and turning his head from Karasu, 'it's only a figment of my unconscious mind.'
'Oh no, I'm real all right,' Karasu said, loosing his grip on Kurama slightly, 'but what I'm wondering is if you realize what's going to happen.'
'What are you talking about?' Kurama said, snapping his head up and looked into Karasu's cruel purple eyes. 'You are dead, your body is currently rotting in some pit somewhere and' 'Shh.' Karasu put his finger up to Kurama's mouth to silence him. 'Do you know what your pretty face does to so many beings?' Karasu softly traced his pale hand across Kurama's face, along every curve of it, staring intensely into Kurama's bright eyes. Unable to tear his gaze away from Karasu's purple eyes, which were holding lust for him, and nothing else. Kurama felt as helpless as a newly born infant did as Karasu pulled him closer until only mere centimeters separated them. 'Are you afraid?' Karasu whispered as he raised his free hand to remove his mask. As it fell into the black nothingness, Karasu leaned in to Kurama, what little space that had been between them lost to Karasu's desires.
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"Perfect," said the youkai as she held up the finished talon, admiring her flawless work. "Now what is the next step for the spell?" she asked aloud as she gingerly placed the claw on the table. "After plugging the hole with the hair," she read aloud, "take the talon and place it over the cadaver's heart. Then take the blood of the desired one and pour it over the talon as the incantation 'Ichet malus yhiuz tolmi gretchsa khigen heizti scohnui' is uttered a dozen times." Closing the text, she picked the talon up from the table and walked over to the inanimate body that lay on her futon. Carefully putting it directly over Karasu's still heart, she leaned into his ear and whispered, "The divertissement is about to start, I just hope you're not doing anything of great importance." She then reached for the vial in her robes and began the final stage of the revival. "Ichet malus yhiuz tolmi gretchsa khigen heizti scohnui," she began to mutter as she poured the blood onto the main ingredient.
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When Karasu's cold lips touched Kurama's, Kurama panicked and tried to push his way out of the embrace, but Karasu had a firm grip around Kurama's waist, securing his position. Kurama's struggling just excited Karasu further and he pressed harder against Kurama's mouth. Keeping his firm grasp on Kurama with one of his hands, Karasu moved his hand to Kurama's shirt and roughly ripped it down the middle. He then moved his hand freely over Kurama's warm chest, feeling every inch of his soft skin.
Kurama gasped when Karasu's cold hand groped his chest, giving Karasu an opportunity to place his tongue in Kurama's warm and oh so inviting mouth. Kurama found that he was virtually helpless against the demented youko, for he could not gain access to his spirit energy.
Finally, when he could take no more of the torture, Kurama bit down on the foreign tongue and caused the owner to retreat the appendage.
'That was fun.' Karasu said, smiling darkly, licking up the blood Kurama had drawn, 'but the real fun is about to start.'
'What do you mean you sick bastard?' Kurama spat at Karasu, not bothering to hide the disgust that he clearly felt towards Karasu.
'You shall learn soon.' Karasu said before giving him a short, rough kiss. 'I'll be seeing you around, my fox.' and then he was gone, leaving Kurama in the dark abyss, with only his thoughts to occupy him.
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"Ichet malus yhiuz tolmi gretchsa khigen heizti scohnui!" the demon yelled as she poured the last drop of blood onto Karasu. As it touched the talon, dark energy began to immediately flow through the room, touching everything and infecting it with an evil aura.
The female demon felt a searing hot pain run through her as the tainted aura passed through her lithe body, causing her to whimper in pain. She lifted her hand up ever so slowly, and uttered a foreign phrase, causing a red barrier to come up around her, protecting her.
Suddenly, an ear-piercing shriek came from the void, and caused the pitch-black aura to be drawn into the corpse lying on the futon. The cadaver writhed as the black energy pierced through it, looking as though it was a puppet on strings having massive seizures. Just as soon as it started it had ceased, leaving a very curious demon, as she cautiously let down the protective barrier to go look at Karasu's body.
She tentatively walked over to the body, uncertain if the right soul had been transferred back into the flesh. "Just one option to select isn't there?" she asked rhetorically as she lifted a pale arm to check for a pulse.
Before she found one, the hand jerked away and she turned to look into Karasu's purple eyes, laced with an emotion she had never seen him wear before.
"Welcome back to the realm of the living," she said as she stared at him intently. "It has been quite a long time since we have had a decent conversation, you shall have to reveal absolutely everything to me."
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As Karasu was brought back from the dead, Kurama woke in a light sweat that covered his entire body, breathing heavily.
"Suiichi!" came a cry to his right and then a tight hug enveloped him as he stayed in his stupor. "Are you okay? Would you like something to eat or drink?" his mother said, hugging him tighter, as though she was afraid she would lose him if she let go.
"Yes," he said, wanting to think alone for a while and knowing that this was the only way to go about it. "Would you please fix some Chai tea mother?" he asked, leaning back and trying to break the embrace,
She reluctantly let go and answered, "Yes, I'll go fix some for you and your friend."
'Friend?' Kurama thought, confused as she walked to the door. "What friend mother?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"The small one with black spiked hair and red eyes," she said as she walked through the door and down the stairs outside of his room.
'Hiei?' Kurama thought as he remembered the blood-curling nightmare that he had just experienced, causing a fresh wave of red-hot pain from his wound. Clutching his arm, he fell unconscious as the pain over took his body and psyche.
