I think this might be the speediest update I've ever made here I wager it's too cruel to leave off in the middle of this Butcher ordeal, and as I'll be gone for California in a week's itme, and if the reviews are good, then I shall keep up with these speedy updates so as not to leave you hanging for too long.
He awoke in a warm, contented fog. It'd been… amazing. As the sleep ceased to blur his vision he could see Keiko's form curled up in the middle of the bed. Smiling, he grabbed the blankets and draped them over her. It dawned on him that it was the middle of the night. Why was he awake?
Soon he heard his answer: a rude rapping at the window. Yusuke looked over and his eyes bulged. Botan and Kuwabara were hovering outside the window on the former's oar. Perhaps the situation wouldn't have been so bad, save the fact he was completely naked.
"Uh, what are you guys doing here!" he asked angrily, pulling a sheet over himself and making sure Keiko was covered.
"Hey Urameshi," Kuwabara snickered. "So, I guess it's a good thing Kurama pried, huh? Looks like it came in handy, huh?"
"Shut up!" Yusuke growled, discreetly donning a pair of boxers. "Why are you here, perverts!"
"Yusuke, get dressed and hop on!" Botan demanded.
"What? Why? Do you even know what time it is?"
"Yusuke, it's important!" the ferry girl snapped. "Kurama's in danger!"
That got his attention. "What! What's wrong? Are the twins-?"
"There was another Butcher," she said hastily. "He wasn't there when you fought the others, but now he's come to avenge them by killing everyone who left that garage alive. He's after Kurama right now!"
As she said this Yusuke quickly dressed and mounted the oar. Given Kurama's current state, he highly doubted the Fox could put up a struggle for long.
The Butcher lit up a cigarette and watched the creature on the bed writhe, smirking. "Tell me, does it hurt?" he sneered. Kurama didn't answer, he hadn't even heard him. It was as though he'd lost all senses to feel save pain. Pain. He'd felt a lot of it tonight. By now, his body was covered in shallow and not-so-shallow cuts, and several parts of his body, such as his thighs and genitals, were badly bruised from rough fondling. Thankfully, the Butcher hadn't gone so far as to full-out rape him, at least, not yet.
Not receiving any sort of reply, the Butcher selected a dagger form the selection of blades he'd arranged in a line on the floor. He turned to Kurama and, one hand roughly gripping the back of the Kitsune's neck, he cut a thin line across his cheek, licking up the blood that dripped out. "You're shaking," he observed. "Why? Is it because you know you're about to die?" Kurama was afraid, but not of dying. He didn't bother to acknowledge the question. His silence, however, only succeeded in angering the Butcher. "Too dense to talk?" he growled. "Fine. I'd much rather hear you scream anyhow." He took the cigarette from his mouth and pressed it into the Fox's thigh, delighting in the pained shrieks that resulted. So he did it again, and again, and again….
Kurama squirmed and clutched the sheets. "Stop it!" he hissed, tears trickling out of clenched eyes. His pleas were ignored. The Butcher decided instead to press the cigarette into a rather sensitive area. "AHH!" he cried out.
His tormenter chuckled and twisted a silken strand of red hair around one finger. "So beautiful," he murmured, leaning in and licking away the Fox's tears. Then he continued his work with the cigarette.
"Stop!" he whimpered, curling up and hugging his arms around his belly, assuring himself that the twins were alive.
The action did not go unnoticed by the Butcher. He laughed. "Even after all the pain I've inflicted on you, you're more concerned about those unborn lives? You do realize that once I kill you, their deaths are inevitable?"
He did know that, and that was why he was afraid. The twins couldn't sustain in a dead womb, but it was debatable as to whether they would survive in the outside world two months premature. But he wouldn't grant the Butcher the pleasure of hearing that.
The other demon laughed. "Are you giving me the silent treatment? Plan to die with dignity? I can change that." He discarded his dagger and fetched another blade, small but very sharp and precise. "You obviously care a great deal for the little ones inside of you. Because of that, you'll die weeping." Pinning the Fox down, he held the little knife at Kurama's belly and made two long cuts, one vertical, the other horizontal. Blood seeped from the wounds. Kurama uttered a choked sob and began trembling terribly.
This earned a cackle. "I must say that in all my years in this field I've never butchered a fetus until now- AH! BITCH!" He stumbled backward, massaging his throat, which Kurama had just rammed his foot into. The Butcher glared at him, eyes blazing a fiery red. "You'll pay for that you little whore!" he spat.
Next thing Kurama knew, he'd been hurled to the floor and was now suffering numerous blows form the Butcher's fist and feet. He curled into a ball, trying to take the blows anywhere but the belly. One kick got him right in the head and blood shot out his mouth and nose. His body tensed and he shut his eyes. A war was waging in his head.
'Don't just lie here and take this!' one side of him scolded. 'Fight back!'
'But I can't!' another side argued. 'I'm too drained. I have nothing to fight with.' He cried out as a foot imbedded itself in his back.
'THIS part of you may be, but there's still a part left untouched. Let it out, and this madman will pay dearly.'
'But I don't know what will happen if I do! The twins-'
'The fact that you're willing to die for them means nothing right now. If some form of action is not taken soon, EVERYONE dies regardless. It's better to take the risk than lie here in wait of a certain death.'
Kurama weighed the pros against the cons. It was a tough decision. Then he made his choice.
Another kick, this one near his side, and Kurama opened his eyes. Eyes, normally the most vivid emerald, that were rapidly paling to a cold amber.