The Necklace: Part Five
Kurama watched her as she walks towards the tree he was standing on. She wasn't aware that he was already there. She was too absorbed trying to find her way.
He wasn't even expecting her today. Or was he? He thought she'd recover for about a week. But something tells him she was stronger than that. That is why he had been waiting for her here ever since their last fight.
He took his time to observe her. She was wearing an all-white attire, making her look like goddess in the middle of the forest. Her hair was neatly tied in a ponytail. And her skin looked even smoother under the darkening sky. And her eyes… her eyes looked as if she was lost.
Maybe that is what he likes most about her. Her eyes. They seem to cry out what she was feeling inside. It makes her seem so transparent. So vulnerable. So delicate. Yet, those were the same eyes that stared at him coldly. That made her looked so strong. That made him actually think that she doesn't have a single femininity in her body.
He jumped off the tree and landed a few meters away from her. The girl took a quick glance at his neck.
"Where's my necklace?" She asked when she didn't find it hanging in his neck.
Kurama studied her eyes. The expression on them quickly turned from lost to cold.
"Where is it?" She repeated.
Kurama held out his hand to reveal her necklace, he let it dangled as he holds it with his fingers. The necklace shone as the rays of the setting sun hit its surface.
"Good. Now, we fight." The girl said. Her eyes turned from cold to determined, ready to take on the youko.
"You must be Elena." Kurama said after he pretended to read the engraved letters on the pendant for the first time.
The girl didn't say anything. She continued looking at the youko.
"Elena, right?" Kurama repeated.
"Yes. Elena. Now let's stop the chitchat." She answered.
"I won't fight you." Kurama said simply as he began to walk towards her.
"What?" Elena asked as she took two steps backwards.
"I don't want to fight with you."
"Then how do I get my necklace?"
"I'm giving it to you." Kurama said as he stopped walking when he was about three steps away from her.
"That can't be possible." She said.
"Why can't that be possible?" Kurama asked as let out a little laugh.
"You're not the type to just give something you can sell for a good price to someone who claims to be its real owner."
"So you think you know me?"
"No. Just a part of you." Elena answered coolly.
"I think I know a part of you too…" Kurama said. He silently commanded the seeds he had earlier planted to grow on where she was standing. The thick stems enveloped her feet up to her waist and reached out for his hands to tie them both at her back. The plant had grown too quickly that she wasn't able to escape from it.
"…you tend to repeat mistakes you made. You should have thought that I could do that trick again. You could have avoided my plant this time."
"You're a cheat." Elena said coldly.
Kurama raised an eyebrow at her.
"You told me your just going to give me my necklace and you're not going to fight me."
"And you told me that that wasn't possible." Kurama said. He was right about her being vulnerable. She was too innocent to suspect even the cruelest of the thieves. But he wasn't cruel. He was just branded cruel. He never killed anyone just for the fun of it. He inflicts pain with purpose; he wasn't the kind to kill because someone happens to stand in his way. And he finds it hard to even hurt Elena - after he had seen what the littlest of pain could do to her.
Elena didn't say anything.
"I'm not fighting you. The plant doesn't have any thorns as you may have noticed. I just don't want you to run away."
"I don't 'run away'." She said giving emphasis to 'run away'.
"I know that. I just want to make sure."
Kurama walked closer to Elena. He placed the necklace where it should be, right there on her neck.
He knew Elena was holding her breath. The eyes he had been studying all night now showed signs of fear.
"Thank you." She managed to say.
"Now, stand back please." She continued.
"Why?" Kurama asked on a softer tone. He knew she was afraid of him now. He was certain that she was thinking about him kissing her again. And he knew she was afraid of that.
"Just stand back, please." She said a little panicky. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes.
She was so afraid of him. Kurama could see it now. He felt cruel about kissing her hard the other day. A girl so fragile deserves something a lot better than that.
"You're disgusting." Elena said, her voice shaking with revulsion. Tears were now continuously falling from her eyes.
"Am I?" Kurama asked quietly. His eyes never leaving the girl's.
Elena turned her head away. She closed her eyes and wished hard for this to be just a nightmare. She was already crying too hard that she had begun to sob.
"Elena, look at me." She heard him whisper in her ear as he moved an inch closer to her.
Elena didn't look at him. She was afraid to look at him. How can he be so strong? She felt so powerless. She wasn't even completely healed. She came because she feared he had sold the necklace some place and she won't be able to locate it again.
She felt the youko's hand gently pressed her cheek to make her look at him. It was so gentle that she had forgotten to resist it.
"Damn it, youko. Let me go." Elena said, her voice trembling as she looked at him.
"It's Kurama. Not just youko." Kurama said as she dried her left cheek with his fingers.
"I won't hurt you. Not anymore." He comforted her. What is he doing here? His plan was just to give the necklace to the girl. Now, why the hell is he comforting her right now?
He doesn't know. All he knows is that he was stupid to have her made this scared of him. No, it was not him she was afraid of. She was scared of his kiss. Goodness, his kiss! What can a kiss do to a girl?
"Shhhh… " He quieted her as he bent down to touch her lips with his. He felt her freeze. She tightly closed her mouth. But Kurama didn't force his tongue in. He continued to kiss her close-mouth, his tongue licking her lips.
Elena stood there with eyes closed. She can't move. What is he doing? His lips weren't as harsh as they were before. In fact, they were screaming with gentleness, shooting current down her spine. Elena didn't know what he was doing. All she knew was that she was slowly drowning in a good kind of dizziness.
He felt Elena's body loosen. He lifted his hand to touch her chin and gently coaxed her mouth open. He entered his tongue on her mouth, exploring it with all the gentleness he could muster.
"Kiss me back." Kurama commanded between his kisses. Elena hesitated.
"Please?" Kurama pleaded. His voice so soft that it alone could have melted her.
Elena's defenses broke as she finally did what she was told; her tongue began to move with his. The sensation left her knees weak.
Kurama willed his plant to release her. And just as he was hoping for, Elena didn't turn to run away. Instead, her arms went up to encircle his neck. Kurama pulled her body closer to his as their kiss deepened.
Elena was drowning with something she never felt before. Is this what a kiss really feels like? She thought it was nightmare, that it was hell when he had first kissed her. Now it was more like a dream, like heaven. She felt weak, but the good kind of weak. Not like the pain and torture she had felt on their first kiss.
She felt his hand worked its way inside her clothes. His touch was so gentle and so warm that she dare not resist. Then he began to undress her. The breeze of the early night felt cold but Kurama was warm enough to make her not feel it.
Kurama stopped when he realized that she was still crying. He looked deep in her eyes. He didn't find fear, all he saw was passion.
"You're crying." Kurama asked her quietly.
"Never mind that." Elena smiled at him.
Kurama smiled back at her as their lips met once again in a deep kiss. Elena felt like floating. This was all new to her. And it felt so good. She thought it was torture, but all she felt was pleasure. She thought it would be pain, but pain is far from what she was feeling now.
Their passion continued until Kurama had completely taken her. He had been so gentle, keeping his promise of not hurting her.
Actually, this is the part where the camera focuses on the fireplace or the campfire. But since the setting doesn't have any of those, just focus on the early night sky dotted with stars.
The two of them lay there naked at a bed of rose petals Kurama had summoned for them.
The sun was already rising when Kurama woke up. He found the other side of his make-up bed empty. He quickly looked around to find any sign of Elena. But there was none.
He touched his neck. He felt a necklace hanging on it. He quickly took it off to look at it.
It was Elena's necklace. She left the necklace with him. For what reason? He doesn't know. And perhaps only Elena could tell.