The Gift of Oneself
Written by xDarkxMagicianxGirlx and Ookami no Kokoro.
Disclaimers: Neither I nor Ookami no Kokoro own Yu Yu Hakusho, though we can wish, right?
Chapter Ten
"I don't know where to look though.."
"Don't LOOK for him. FEEL for him."
Yusuke nodded, stepping back slightly and closing his eyes.
Karasu laughed. "He won't be able to find Kurama. I've made sure of that already. His spirit energy is concealed well, I think."
"I never said he should seek Kurama's spirit energy," Kuronue shot back.
The younger teen blocked the other voices out, concentrating hard on the other. Suddenly snapping his eyes open, he turned and started running away from the demons.
Karasu growled, about to sink into the ground, but stopped as Kuronue held his hand out, a light aura surrounding him.
"You'll have to get by me, first," the bat said.
Running as fast as he could, he found that, even though he had never been to this side of town, he was able to find the right streets and alleys. Don't worry Kurama, I'm coming..
The teen turned down an alley, reaching a warehouse set on the harbor. Entering the warehouse he was sure Kurama was in, he found many doors, opening them and looking in quickly.
In the very last door that the younger teen looked in, Kurama lay on the ground in the corner, lying on his stomach. His head buried in his arms, his tears were absorbed into the sleeves of the black body suit he wore.
"Kurama!" he yelled, running into the room and to the older teen.
He looked up, tears streaming down his cheeks, looking at the younger teen with tired, frightened eyes. "Yusuke.....?"
He dropped to his knees before the other teen, a few tears making their way from his own eyes. "Are you all right?"
He looked down at the ground, nodding slightly.
Yusuke embraced the older teen tightly.
He embraced the other back, though he could barely move because of the tight body suit that trapped his body.
Pulling away, Yusuke finally noticed the suit. "What's that..?"
The redhead looked away. "Karasu......made me wear it......"
"How do we get it off?"
"It's just a regular body suit, really. But....I don't know where Karasu put my other clothes."
"Want me to go find them?" he asked gently.
"I......I don't know....."
Thinking, he looked at the older teen. "I've got a t-shirt and my boxers on under this.. Take my sweatshirt and jeans until we find your clothes." he replied gently.
Looking up at the other sadly, he nodded.
Stripping down to his boxers and white t-shirt, Yusuke handed his sweatshirt and jeans to the other.
Taking the clothes, he slipped them on over the body suit.
"Your not going to take it off..?" he asked, looking at the other curiously.
He looked down at the ground. "Not yet......Besides, wearing this suit is almost like wearing nothing anyway......"
He nodded. "Then let's go find your clothes.."
"I wouldn't be surprised if Karasu burned them already......." the fox replied angrily.
"Let's at least get out of here.." he replied, looking at the other.
He nodded, wrapping his arms around himself as if he were cold.
Seeing this action, he looked at the other, concerned. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"As much as one can be....."
He sighed, walking to the other's side and gently urging him forward. "C'mon.. let's get out of here.."
He walked as the other drove him forward, shivering slightly.
Feeling the other start walking, and the shiver, he stopped forcing the other and instead walked next to him.
With his arms folded across his chest, he walked alongside the younger teen, keeping his eyes on the ground.
Stealing a glance at the older teen, he knew something was wrong. He didn't prod though, knowing the other would tell him sooner or later.
"He was there......" the fox said softly.
"What?" he asked, looking at the other.
His emerald eyes glanced up at the younger teen. "Karasu was there, in the room.......while I was putting the suit on....."
Yusuke's eyes glittered with sadness as he looked at the other. He was aware of how much the teen hated other people watching him undress, but couldn't think of anything to say that might comfort him.
The fox growled slightly. "He was just standing there, watching me taking my clothes off.........I hate him....."
"I hate him too... for putting you through all this.." he replied, a hint of anger in his voice.
He looked at the other, before looking down again sadly. "He saw.....everything....."
"Don't worry.. I won't break my promise again.." he replied, looking back at the other.
He looked at Yusuke again.
He looked away from the other as they exited the warehouse.
"I don't feel right," the fox said quietly, looking away as he noticed the other had done.
"What's wrong?" he asked, turning back to look at the fox.
"I don't know.....I just don't feel right.......I'm sort of....uncomfortable...."
Not knowing what to do, Yusuke stood there, thinking of what could make the other uncomfortable.
The fox sighed, leaning against the younger teen.
Looking down at the other, he smiled slightly. "Should we go back to my place?"
He looked up at the other. "Can we?"
He nodded. "If that's what you want.."
He nodded.
Yusuke placed his arm around the older boy's waist. "All right, let's go then.."
He smiled slightly, then frowned again. "I can barely walk in this thing....."
"I'll carry you then.." he replied, looking back at the other.
He looked at the other, nodding slightly.
Gently lifting the other into his arms, Yusuke started walking, hoping to find an alternate route around Kuronue and Karasu.
The fox leaned into the other teen, resting his head on Yusuke's chest. He was emotionally tired, and just wanted to sleep, and possibly never wake up.
The younger teen retraced his steps, but as he started to draw closer to the spot where he had left Kuronue and Karasu, he started looking for a longer way around.
When he felt they had stopped, he opened his eyes, looking up at the other. "What's wrong?"
"I.. I don't know where to go.." he replied honestly.
"Why not that way?" he asked, pointing to where Karasu and Kuronue were.
He shook his head, "I don't want to go that way.. Isn't there any other way?"
Though unsure of why he didn't want to go that way, the fox teen didn't question. "You could go this way." He pointed to a nearby alley. "It should lead around there towards my school.....From there, we could get back to your apartment...."
He nodded, turning and taking the alley the fox teen was pointing down.
Closing his eyes, he once again rested against Yusuke.
Feeling the other rest against him, he continued to walk down the alley, nearing the end.
The other breathed deeply, trying to forget what had happened earlier in the warehouse, but failing miserably.
Yusuke came out of the alley and close to Kurama's school. He looked around, finding where he wanted to go and heading in that direction.
He shuddered slightly.
The teen looked down. "Something wrong?"
He looked up. "It's just that....I can't forget the way Karasu was looking at me while he was watching me....."
"What do you mean?" he asked, continuing to walk as they talked.
"I can't explain it........" He shuddered. "I don't even want to think about it. But......it wasn't a very good way.......I felt very unsafe there......"
Continuing to walk down the sidewalk, Yusuke glanced up every once in a while, making sure not to walk into anything. "Don't worry, Karasu won't be around long.. not with both Kuronue and me here.."
"I hope not....." He shuddered again, leaning closer into the younger teen.
Yusuke looked back up, seeing his apartment up ahead.
Kurama sighed slightly. "But Karasu had a good point......"
"What do you mean?"
"Karasu mentioned that you were the stronger one in our relationship, and I think he's right."
"Why's that?" he asked gently, walking to the apartment door and carefully opening it.
"You seem to be so calm, even while everything is happening. I, on the other hand, always break down. When something happens....I don't know....I'm just useless...."
"You're not useless, Kurama. Our positions in this are different, and if we switched, I don't think I could handle any of what you are going through," he replied, gently placing the other on his bed.
He looked up at the other. "Yusuke, I CAN'T handle what I'm going through......"
The teen sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the other. "That still doesn't make you weak.." he whispered.
The redhead sighed, looking away. "I just wish I could handle this better. I've never been so scared in my life....."
The detective looked away as well. "Neither have I.." Looking back at the other quickly, he stood. "Do you want me to leave, so you can change?"
He shook his head. "I don't want you to leave.....I just don't want you to look."
"I won't look," he replied walking away from the bed slightly and turning to look at the wall.
Sitting up, he grabbed his bag and pulled out his clothes, quickly undressing. Placing Yusuke's clothes on the bed, he looked at the body suit, left on the floor, wondering what to do with it.
Yusuke stood there, waiting for the older teen to tell him when he had finished.
"You can look now," the fox said softly, sitting on the bed, still looking at the body suit.
The teen turned, smiling slightly when he saw Kurama in his normal clothes. He walked over, picking up his clothes Kurama had been wearing and pulling them on.
"What should we do with that?" he asked quietly.
Looking at the body suit, he shrugged. "I'm not sure.."
"Can we get rid of it?" He looked at the younger teen.
He nodded. "Of course we can, but how?"
"We could burn it."
Yusuke nodded again. "Okay."
Kurama looked at the other. "I don't care how we do it, but I would just like to get rid of it."
"Well, if we burn it, we shouldn't do it in here.." He carefully walked over to the suit and picked it up.
The fox nodded, not wanting to burn the building down. He stood, following the younger teen.
The younger teen walked to the door opening it and waiting for the other. "Where should we go?"
The older teen shrugged.
Yusuke thought, closing the door and locking it as the other walked through. "Maybe we should go to one of the more deserted areas in the park.."
Kurama thought about it. "The cave....You remember that cave that I showed you? No one ever goes there."
He nodded. "Alright, let's go there." With that he started walking.
He nodded also, following the other.
Walking at the same pace as the older teen, he made his way to the park, entering the denser part.
"Do you remember the way?" the fox asked, looking at the other teen.
He looked at the other, smiling slightly. "Yeah, I remember.."
He smiled as well, nodding once.
Yusuke nodded back slightly, continuing on. Looking down at the black suit reminded him of Karasu, and he hated holding it.
Looking at the other again, he noticed the small look of anger in his eyes. Looking down at the suit, he shivered slightly.
Noticing the fox teen's shiver out of the corner of his eye, Yusuke stopped looking at the suit, instead looking ahead at the cave and small pond they were approaching.
As they reached the pond, Kurama inhaled deeply, trying to relax as a soft breeze blew by. He looked at the cave on the other side of the pond.
"Should we do it right here?" he asked, looking around.
"I don't know," he replied. "I don't want to risk setting the park on fire......."
He looked at the cave, the only way to get to it was by crossing the pond.
He looked at the other, wondering what to do.
"Let's just get closer to the water, so that we will be close enough to put it out, instead of going across."
The fox nodded.
Walking closer, he dropped the suit on the dirt near the water. "Here should be fine."
The fox nodded again.
He looked at Kurama, who hadn't come any closer. Looking back down, he realized he didn't have anything to set the suit on fire with.
Holding his hand out, the fox shot a small energy beam. As it hit the body suit, the black material sparked, as a small fire engulfed it, growing steadily larger.
Yusuke stepped back a bit, watching the black cloth burn.
The red-haired teen sank to his knees, letting out a small sigh.
The younger looked over at the other as he sank to his knees.
He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply again. He was tired, and he hadn't told Yusuke the whole truth of what happened, but had decided not to talk about it.
After a while, all that was left of the suit was a few ashes. Walking over to Kurama, he looked down at him. "C'mon, let's go.."
The fox teen looked up at the other with tired eyes, before looking at the still burning fire. "Maybe we should put that out first....."
Nodding, Yusuke walked back over and splashed water over it. Since the fire wasn't very big it went out quickly.
Kurama got to his feet slowly, supporting himself against a tree.
Walking over, the younger teen looked at the other. "Can you walk back?"
He nodded. "I think so....."
Looking at the teen, Yusuke knew the other was hiding something from him. Nodding once, he started walking slowly.
He slowly followed after the younger teen.
They started walking back through the dense brush, the younger teen glanced over his shoulder at the other every once in a while.
The fox continued to walk after the other, stopping only when they reached the main part of the park.
Not hearing the soft footsteps behind him, Yusuke turned to look at the fox.
Kurama had his eyes closed, breathing deeply.
"Kurama, are you okay?" he asked, walking back over.
He opened his eyes, his emerald orbs gazing at the younger teen tiredly.
"C'mon, let's get you back to the apartment.." he replied, not wanting to ask the already tired teen any other questions. He walked over, putting one arm around the other's waist, letting Kurama lean on him while they walked.
Kurama leaned against the other teen, resting his head on the other's shoulder as they walked.
Walking out of the park and onto the sidewalk, the detective wondered how Kuronue was fairing against Karasu. His attention quickly turned back to Kurama though, as they neared the apartment.
He sighed, closing his eyes, trying to not to lean all his weight on the other.
Walking to the door, he moved slightly, getting the key out of his pocket and unlocking it.
Kurama sighed slightly.
Walking into the bedroom, Yusuke helped Kurama sit down on the bed. "Now you should get some rest, you look exhausted.."
The fox pushed back some strands of his crimson hair, looking up at the other.
The younger teen looked back at him, standing silently in front of the bed.
He gently took hold of the other's wrist, urging him to sit down.
Sitting down next to Kurama, he looked at him.
He looked at the other, before looking down at the ground. "I suppose you want to know what's wrong, huh?"
"Kind of.. But I don't want you to tell me if you don't want to," he replied, looking at the floor as well.
"Well, you have a right to know."
He shook his head. "No, I don't want you to tell me if you don't want to."
He looked at the other, before leaning against him, cuddling up to him.
Yusuke wrapped his arm around the other, gently pulling him closer.
"Karasu took a lot of my energy....." he whispered.
The younger teen looked at the other. "How? Through that suit?"
"Possibly.....I don't know how he did it, but I could feel a lot of my energy leaving my body........"
He nodded and pulled away slightly. "Maybe you should rest then.."
He held onto the other, leaning closer into him. "I am resting," he said, a small smile on his lips.
The younger teen smiled back gently, letting the other lean into him.
He closed his eyes, curling up and moving slightly so his head was resting on the other's lap.
Yusuke moved his hand, which had been around Kurama, and ran his fingers through the other's crimson hair.
He shivered slightly, smiling as he curled up on his side slightly, nestling deeper into the other.
The younger smiled softly, turning his head slightly to look out the window, before looking back down at the red head.
"Yusuke...?" the fox whispered tiredly.
"Yeah?"
"Even if....I fall asleep.....are you going to stay here?"
"Yes.. I'll stay right here.."
He looked up at the other, smiling softly.
He smiled back, leaning over and giving the other a gentle kiss on the forehead.
He closed his eyes as the other's lips brushed over his forehead. His smile deepened.
Sitting back up straight, he smiled again.
He sighed, enjoying the feeling of the other's fingers through his hair. Soon, he drifted off to sleep.