Kurama groaned quietly, opening his heavy eyelids with difficulty. He felt a warm, comfortable body pressed against his and he looked down. He bit his lip to keep from screaming. No... This couldn't have happened. Not this. He closed his eyes, wishing Sosaku would disappear. Worst case scenario- right here.
He opened his eyes again and gazed at the girl in his arms. He felt himself soften a little bit. She looked happy. He sighed and held her a little closer, unable to resist a smile. Kairai's child was just so beautiful. He stroked her hair gently. He might as well give her a chance... Since Yoko had already taken her... He made his decision and kissed her lips deeply, running his fingers through her dark hair.
Sosaku's eyes slowly opened and she tightened her arms around the fox, kissing back. Her heart skipped a beat and she rolled over on top of him, straddling his hips.
Kurama moaned and rubbed her back.
She pulled away, her lips just barely brushing against his. "Kurama, I love you." she whispered huskily. "I really do. So please... Please give me a chance..."
The fox chuckled. "I will... But maybe we should get dressed. I don't need any more temptations." He stroked her arm and shoulder sensually.
She sighed blissfully. "What about Yoko?"
"It doesn't matter..."
"You..." She looked away. "You won't tell Hiei, will you?"
Kurama sighed. "He'll find out sooner or later. It might be better if you told him. If he found out by reading one of our minds, it would be much worse. He'd be furious if we tried to hide it from him."
Sosaku looked back at the fox, her eyes brimming with tears. "I-I'll tell him..."
The fox wrapped his arms around her gently. "He won't be THAT mad, Sosaku... Don't cry..."
She lay on top of him, her head resting comfortably on his chest. She felt very tired all of a sudden... "What... What if I get pregnant?"
Kurama blinked. He hadn't thought of that. "I don't know..."
"Would you stay with me?" she asked quietly, not looking up at him. "Of course I would. I couldn't let you handle something like that alone..." He kissed the top of her head. "Get dressed... I'll come with you to tell Hiei about us."
Sosaku got up, pushing the covers aside and then pushing them back after she got out of the bed. She was still a little embarassed about seeing Kurama in all his naked glory. She didn't really mind him seeing her, though. She wondered why as she stood there with her back to him, gathering up her clothes that had been hastily strewn about the room the night before.
Kurama smiled as he watched her dress. He thought about asking her if he could dress her himself, but decided against it. She probably would have let him, too. He got out of bed and dressed himself quickly. It felt strange to put his clothes back on after that.
Sosaku smiled at him, dressed and heading for the door. Kurama followed her, slipping his hand around hers. "Everything will be fine." he said quietly.
She smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
Kurama stopped for a moment. "Sosaku?"
She turned and looked back at him. "Yeah?"
He looked down at the floor. "Ai shiteru..."
Sosaku blinked. "O-Oh... I thought-"
"I'm sorry about the way I acted before, when I said we couldn't be together. I didn't want you to get hurt. And now... I-I'm so sorry." He couldn't bring himself to look at her.
She watched him for a moment, trying to process the fact that he he just told her he loved her. "A-Ah... Um, please don't be... sorry." she said quietly.
He looked up. "But-"
She took his other hand and moved closer. "Kurama, I love you. Nothing will ever change that, okay?" She began to whisper. "And I enjoyed every second of last night... I know that maybe it wasn't something I should have done, but that's just it. I did just as much as you. It wasn't what you did, it was what WE did. I wanted it just as much as you- or Yoko did..."
He released her hands and embraced her. "Sosaku, when we can, I... I want us to get married, if it's alright with you." he murmured.
She pulled away to look at his face. "What?"
He kneeled, holding her hands in his. "Will you marry me?"
Sosaku felt a tear run down her cheek. "Of c-course I will...!" she choked out, dropping to her knees as she hugged him tightly, a sob breaking forth.
Hiei was sitting in a tree in the park when he felt Kurama's and Sosaku's presence approaching him. He jumped down and leaned back against the tree trunk, waiting. Something was definitely up. Their energies seemed so... entwined.
Kurama and Sosaku walked towards him hand in hand, the raven-haired girl leaning on the fox's shoulder. They stopped a few feet away and Kurama gave a little smile. Sosaku tried to smile, but Hiei could tell she was upset about something.
"What?" the Imiko asked bluntly.
Kurama looked down at the girl leaning on him and gave her a little nudge. "Um, Hiei... Kurama and I slept together." she said quietly.
"And... we're going to get married." Kurama added.
Hiei blinked. "What? You mean... You can't be serious."
The fox bit his lip and nodded. "We are very serious..."
The Imiko glared at them, unable to voice his anger. He snarled and then was simply gone.
Sosaku turned and flung herself at Kurama, beginning to sob.
"Shhh... Please don't cry, Sosaku. It's alright. Just give him a little time." the fox whispered soothingly. "Do you want to come back to my house?"
Sosaku looked up at Kurama and kissed his cheek lightly. "I'll be there in a minute. I just need some time to myself..."
"Is a half hour okay? Then can I come looking for you?" he asked, voice anxious. He brushed the tears from her face with one hand softly.
She laughed quietly. "Yeah. I'll be at your place in a half hour."
Edan opened the door to Eri's room, clearing his throat. And, of course, Eri wasn't there. Edan blinked, looking around the room. He searched everywhere for the small vampiress, but she was simply gone. He was beginning to panic. The neko boy ran for the stairs and took them three at a time to Deirdre's room.
Which was also empty.
"RHYS! JACOB!" Edan yelled, running down the stairs, four at a time this time. He jumped six at the bottom and ran into the kitchen to find Rhys and Jacob sitting at the table eating. "Guys, Eri and Deirdre are gone!"
The two men jumped up. "What!" Rhys exclaimed. "How?"
"I don't know, they're just gone!"
Jacob's eyes darted around. "We have to get out of here. Vered is near. We'll never get the girls back if we get killed!"
Rhys snarled and looked down.
Edan nodded and led the other two to the door quickly.
Sosaku walked over to a nearby ice cream stand and bought a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. She began to lick at it as she walked about the park, careful not to let it drip. She went over to a small playground and sat in a swing, pushing off the ground gently. She pumped her legs back and forth, going higher and higher, licking her ice cream and holding it so that it wouldn't fall out of the cone. She felt her body temperature rising. All she could think of was Kurama. He was all she wanted. She prayed that they would stay together... And if she had the fox's child! THAT was a controversial thought. She knew inside her that she was not ready to be a mother, but if she could be with Kurama, she might be able to handle it. Yeah... But what would happen to him? Of course his mother would find out sooner or later, and that would have drastic consequences. There was no telling how she would react. She could be furious, or depressed, or dissappointed... It could be a total disaster. Sosaku couldn't let Kurama do that for her... But she knew he would no matter what. A true gentleman to the end.
Sosaku held her legs still and she began to slow herself, dragging her white and blue Vans sneakers across the dirt. She bit into her ice cream cone, trying to finish it up. She wanted to go back to Kurama's house. She felt... insecure, when she wasn't near him. She knew that was the first thing a girl felt after she lost her virginity. She knew this would change her mind a lot... The psychology of it would be a trial. But at least she wasn't with a man who would just leave her. She could count on Kurama to protect her.
She finally finished her mint chocolate chip ice cream cone and stopped swinging completely, heading for Kurama's house.
Sire laughed at the man in its trap. What a funny man, to answer a friend's call without question. Now it had two men in a cage, and was partial to the redhead. The creature had captured the short one named Hiei while he was running through the Makai. Hiei had then contacted his friend by use of a Jagan and Sire had easily caught the redhead, Kurama. They were now glaring at it from behind bars. It was useless for them to struggle, as they had found out moments before when they were shocked by the wards guarding them.
The creature was now wearing the form of Kurama, laughing at them. "Well I better go check on Sosaku. She'll be waiting at the house, won't she, fox?" Sire winked with Kurama's green eyes and turned, walking out of the Makai cave.
Kurama yelled and rammed the bars of their prison, only to get himself zapped. "No! Damn it!" he screamed at no one in particular, collapsing to the floor with his head in his hands. "Sosaku..."
Hiei snarled and sat down next to his friend. "So she's going to be at your house? Planning to rape her again, fox?"
Kurama glared at the Imiko. "I didn't rape her. It was Yoko. Besides, she wanted it. She was begging for it, Hiei. I will accept whatever the consequences may be. I'll marry her..."
Hiei closed his eyes. "She'll have your child. You know that. I can sense it already. She... She's so young..." He turned away. "I failed... Kairai..."
The fox winced.
An agonizing silence ensued.
End Chapter Eight
