Disclaimer: Narako, Hiruki, and other bandits are mine. Kougaiji is not, but Kuronue is so I guess I'll live!
Yoru: Hello! Now on with this fic that I have not updated in God knows how long. Yay!
Kougaiji: I love this chappie.
Kuronue: It's good, I promise.
Kougaiji heard the shouting before a man crashed through the door to the room he was cleaning. The slave promptly skittered out of the way as another man landed on top of the first. Kougaiji slid over to the door and peeked out.
It was an all out battle in the meeting hall. In the center of it all, Narako and Hiruki were yelling at each other over the din. Kougaiji could hear them from the doorway.
"LEAVE KOU ALONE!"
"HE'S MY SLAVE AND I'LL DO WITH HIM AS I WANT!"
"FUCK OFF, HIRUKI!" That did it. Hiruki's fist slammed into Narako's face and sent him flying. Kougaiji's hand went to his mouth as the bandit leader pounced on his second-in-command. The two men kicked and bit, trying to force each other into submission. Kougaiji desperately wanted to help Narako, and began running across the room. But before he got to his friend, someone grabbed him around the waist and neck and held him fast.
"Stop, boy. They're fighting over you. No interference." The bandit who held him let go, and Kougaiji noticed that the other fights had stopped. Only Hiruki and Narako continued.
"They're fighting over leadership now."
"Narako's had enough of Hiruki."
"Can't say I blame him."
Kougaiji barely listened to these conversations. All of his thoughts were centered on Narako. Though the thought that Narako could get hurt in the fight entered his mind, the vision before him stole his heart once and for all. That silken hair flying in glossy beauty, those violet eyes glinting in passion for the fight; Kougaiji found himself inescapably in love.
He didn't notice Hiruki until it was too late. The bandit chieftain got behind the slave and grabbed him. Pressing a knife to Kougaiji's throat, Hiruki grinned at Narako.
"Now, back off or I'll kill him. I have no qualms about doing it, Narako." Hiruki pressed the knife closer as Narako took a step forward.
"You bloody coward. Let him go and get over here!" Narako's eyes shone with rage. Hiruki ran his tongue over his hostage's ear. Kougaiji jerked, trying to pull away. The other bandits stepped forward, but Hiruki made a cut down Kougaiji's neck. The blood trickled out slowly, warning them to stop moving. Kougaiji winced, but made no sound. How could he have lost himself so completely?
"Then threat goes for all of you. Back off!" Turning back to Narako, Hiruki smirked again, "What will you do, lover boy? Don't think I don't know how you feel about Kou here."
There was silence. Kougaiji stared at Narako, watched those lovely violet eyes widen. The slave tried to pull away from Hiruki again, only to have his head levered back by the steel at his throat. Hiruki's green eyes met Kougaiji's ice blue ones.
"Such a pretty slave. Blood goes with the color of your skin so well." He pressed the knife to Kougaiji's cheek, letting the blade delve in enough to barely draw blood. Kougaiji's eyes widened in horror as Hiruki leaned down and licked the blood away. Then the sadistic bandit chieftain grabbed Kougaiji's hair, yanked his head back, and kissed him savagely, finally bringing a cry from the slave's throat as he tried to shove his tormentor off.
Narako's snarl of utter fury was Hiruki's only warning that he had gone too far. Hiruki had no time to react as the enraged man leaped on him and started pounding away. Kougaiji landed hard on the ground, where a bandit helped him to his feet. Kougaiji shook him off, not roughly but firmly. His eyes blazed as they once had.
"That bastard's not going to touch me again." As the former prince said this, Hiruki threw Narako off and got up. He sent his knife thudding into Narako's shoulder. The raven-haired man fell to the floor, holding back a cry of agony. Kougaiji's eyes turned crimson as rage surged through his body. He pounced on Hiruki and slammed him to the floor. His power was audible physically in the room as Hiruki screamed one final time.
Kougaiji stood, breathing hard. He threw Hiruki's detached throat to the ground with a sickening splat. The silence was so thick a knife could have sliced it. Narako stared at Kougaiji, knowing his wounding had brought off that bout of rage. If Kougaiji was capable of that with a limiter…
Kougaiji turned and saw Narako watching him. The crimson faded from his eyes, and they became their normal, beautiful hue. He ran to Narako's side.
"Are you all right?" Kougaiji smiled as Narako gave him a weak smirk.
"Aside from the knife lodged in my shoulder, yeah. Care to get it out?" Narako held in a scream as Kougaiji pulled the knife out. Another bandit came to bandage the wound.
"Narako, you're the leader now." The bandit's words caught him off guard.
"What? Kou defeated Hiruki." Narako looked from the bandit tending him to Kougaiji and back. With an apologetic glance at Kougaiji, the bandit replied.
"Kou is a slave. He can't be the leader. You started the fight, so you're the leader. And God, we're glad to be rid of Hiruki. That bastard had it coming." The other bandits heartily agreed. Kougaiji just smiled. Narako watched him as the bandits carried him to his room. He knew what he had to do.
The next day, Narako accepted leadership. The first thing he did as leader was no surprise to anyone except possibly Kougaiji. Narako approached him in the castle garden where the slave was tending the flowers. Kougaiji saw him coming and stood, bringing a lily with him.
"Look, Narako. My first foray into gardening." He held out the lily to the new bandit leader.
Narako took it and smelled it. "It's wonderful, Kou."
"Thanks. Did you need something?" Kougaiji let himself be brought close to Narako. Narako smiled as he lifted Kougaiji's hand…and slipped the limiter off. Kougaiji gasped as his power ran through his body, filling him as though he had been empty. Narako smiled as Kougaiji allowed his hand to burst into flame, laughing at the feeling he'd missed so much. Suddenly Kougaiji threw himself into Narako's arms, hugging him fiercely.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Kougaiji was so happy, he didn't notice Narako's instant blush.
"Narako, you got paperwork!" A voice hailed them from the window. Narako sighed, and Kougaiji let go quickly, immediately going back to work.
Narako stared. "You want to work in the garden?"
Kougaiji looked up. "I don't have a choice, do I?" He blushed as Narako took his hand.
"You're free, Kougaiji. You can go if you want. I…I love you, and I don't want you to stay with me because you have to. If you're going to stay with me, I need it to be because you want to." Narako let go of Kougaiji's hand and turned to go. Kougaiji's whisper, barely audible behind him, made him stop.
"Of course I want to. Are you crazy? You couldn't tell all this time how much I wanted you to love me?" Kougaiji stepped up to Narako and put a hand on his shoulder.
"If you love me, if you want me to stay, show me." No sooner had Kougaiji said this, Narako turned around, scooped him off the ground, and kissed him.
Kougaiji lay awake late that night, Narako's gentle breathing the only sound in the room. His strong arm was wrapped around Kougaiji's waist, holding him to a warm, toned body. Kougaiji sighed. He had never loved before, and now that he did, he was truly content. But the thought of Lirin, Doku, Yaone, even Homura and the Sanzo party preyed on his mind. What were they all doing now? Besides Homura, who was dead. But was the War God watching him now?
Did the Sanzo party feel any remorse for what they had done to him? Once, Kougaiji would have been plotting his revenge. But now, as he turned and looked at his lover's sleeping face, he couldn't help but wonder if he would have ever met Narako without being through all he had. Should he thank the Sanzo party or want to kill them? Was being hit, raped, and tortured worth meeting the man he wanted to share his life with?
Yes. Oh yes. But he still had other things he needed to finish before he relaxed here with the man he loved.
Yoru: Yay! Cliffy! Like with 'Never', there will be an Epilogue. So stick around, kay?