DISCLAIMER: All of the characters in this story are mine! No, not really…
A/N: Just a warning, this chapter is where the pg-13 rating comes in. Nothing graphic, just implications. You can't deny there was a sexual aspect of Karasu's attraction to Kurama. If you've read my profile, you know I don't write citrus, except for the rare mild – very mild – lime, which this is.
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To Look Upon a Rose: Chapter 8
-Kurama's pov-
Fingers grazed my arms, trailing downward in slow, seductive spirals. They paused at the edge of my shirt, then slipped under and tugged it off. The wind danced along my skin, warm and musky and full of energy, bringing with it the smell of night flowers and earth. Moonlight filtering through the trees traced patterns on my arms, patterns the fingers followed languidly. My body shivered.
A laugh broke through the silence, harsh and carnal – and all the more troubling because it was mine.
"Your skin is so soft," Karasu whispered, his words framed in my voice. "I'd never imagined a ningen could be so… tantalizing." With that his hands – my hands – slid lower, gliding sinuously like snakes. Trapped within my own mind, I could not stop him as he caressed my stomach, my chest, my hips. My fingers paused, hovering over my right side, then grazed my skin inquiringly. "A scar?" I felt a smile tug at my lips as Karasu rubbed the jagged flesh. "Why did you keep it? I know your plants can heal anything. Why did you choose to allow this mark to remain?"
Don't feel privileged, Karasu, I snarled, anger and the beginnings of fear tightening my voice. I wouldn't have kept it had it come from you.
Clouds covered the moon, casting the world in shadow. Karasu inhaled sharply, pressing my hand against the scar, covering it. "He gave this to you," he murmured. "The half-breed."
Yes, I replied, anger smoldering within me now. Anger at Karasu for humiliating me so, anger at myself for being unable to resist him, for forcing away the only one who could. And I'll carry it with me forever.
"Hmm, not if I cut it out," Karasu laughed, dragging my fingernail over it. "But no. This ningen body's so frail, I'd be afraid you would bleed to death. I can't have you dying. Not yet." The corners of my mouth tugged up in a smirk. "I'd like to toy with you a little before you die."
I scowled; the irony of his words was not lost on me. I'd said the same to him during the Dark Tournament after my onjigi had consumed him; indeed, I had gotten my wish, for he had come back to nearly kill me. Yet the thought gave me hope, for if those words had proved bad luck for me, perhaps they would for him, also.
Karasu brought my hand up to cover my heart, and my eyes fluttered closed. "I can feel your heartbeat," he murmured. The wind blew, raking its fingers through my hair, and Karasu smiled. "Your body is exquisite, Kurama." My other hand moved lower, brushing the top of my pants. Heat ran through me, quickening my heart and drawing another sultry laugh from Karasu. "You're enjoying this," he breathed.
No, I growled. You are. I was repulsed by his touch, and ashamed. But my body responded, coming alive under his hands – my hands. Karasu was immune to the humiliation within me; on the contrary, he delighted in it. Pain was as exciting to him as pleasure – more, perhaps, knowing Karasu's sadomasochistic nature. He enjoyed knowing that I was helpless against him, that I could do nothing as he used my own body to break the promise of fidelity that I'd made to Hiei. He enjoyed knowing I was hopeless.
My hand shifted so that it lay over my throat, where Hiei's hiruseki had rested. "You're thinking of him," Karasu breathed. "I can feel it." A grin broke over my face, giddy and triumphant. "The half-breed won't come for you this time. I've made sure of that."
"Is that how you solve your problems, Forbidden Child? By running away?"
Damn you, Karasu, I cried. That was you speaking through me, forcing Hiei away. You said those things to him!
Karasu's only reply was a smile. "No, he won't return now." His voice rose in pitch, mania and excitement giving it a shrill edge. "You're mine, Kurama! Your half-breed cannot help you now!"
Despair crested in me, spilling over in waves I was helpless to control. Karasu laughed, breaking the quiet of the park as invisible tears rolled down my cheeks. I raged against the walls imprisoning me, pouring all my youki into my mental barrage. I did not want to die here, alone, never to see Hiei again. But my world was bleak; whatever hope I had left was gone. My attack was that of a desperate prisoner, fated to die but unable to give up while he still had the strength to resist. Yet in my heart, I knew. Karasu had had years to gather his strength. His hold on me was unbreakable. I would never again leave this park.
All my emotions spent, I collapsed in my prison, Karasu's laughter still echoing around me. The world was deathly still around us, holding its breath. A crow cawed overhead, eager for blood to be shed, and Karasu raised my hands to circle my neck.
"Are you afraid, Kurama?"
I shivered, feeling my fingers tighten around my neck. My breathing grew short and painful, my heart racing.
"Are you afraid?"
I shook my head as the world began to dance around me, blocking out all the desperation that had threatened to drown me. Darkness ate at my vision, and I slumped against the walls of my prison, feeling my strength bleeding away with every breath.
"Kurama?"
I froze, feeling hope trickle back through the despair surrounding me. Part of me couldn't believe it – wouldn't believe it, lest it was another delusion meant only to shatter my spirit yet again. The voice repeated my name.
Slowly, Karasu lowered my hands from my throat and turned. He moved achingly slow, seeming to take an eternity to bring my eyes up to rest on the shadowy figure standing before us.
Hiei, I breathed.
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-Yusuke's pov-
"Tell me again what the hell's going on here?" I panted, ducking into another dark alley.
Beside me on her oar, Botan sighed exaggeratedly. "Karasu's escaped, and he's probably going to go after Kurama. So you have to run faster!"
"I got that part," I said dryly as I stumbled over a discarded box. "But how could he have escaped? I thought the Reikai had the best prison in all three worlds."
"We do. But even the most impregnable prison is no match for a vengeful youkai who's had years to consolidate his power." Botan frowned and bit her nail. "What I don't understand is how Karasu was able to gather so much youki despite the thousands of wards placed around the prison. And then create a bomb of such power without anyone noticing it."
"Yeah. It's a mystery, ne?" I put on another burst of speed, following Hiei's oddly unconcealed youki. For Hiei to flaunt his energy like that, he either didn't care who sensed him or was too preoccupied to conceal it. And with Kurama in danger, I'd bet my life on the latter. I turned down a side street and headed toward the park entrance.
"Why are we going to the park?" Botan asked from beside me. "If you can't sense Kurama's energy–"
"Hiei's there," I replied. "Kurama should be somewhere near him."
"How do you know?"
I shot her a glare. "If you haven't figured that out yet, you're even stupider than I thought."
"Hey!"
"Shut up and keep moving," I muttered.
Growling in frustration, she swept her oar under my legs, and I landed hard on it behind her. "You're too slow!" she said before soaring up into the sky and toward the smoldering heat of Hiei's youki.
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A/N: Hmm… I didn't get many reviews on the last chapter. I hope I get more on this one. (hint hint) Is the story too long? Is that it? There are only three more chapters left, I promise!