chapter 12: in which kurama is offered a job

Toshi hopped up and down on the steps in anger, swearing blindly with each bounce. "Fuck this gig!" he finally howled, slamming his hand into the side of the house. With a shattering noise, his hand went straight through to the other side. "Ow," Toshi said wonderingly, pulling his hand from the broken window and shaking the pieces of glass from his hand. "Safety glass. Lucky me," he muttered, then jumped back as the bomb which had been hovering to one side zoomed in through the gap in the window. "Fine, fine," he agreed, starting to carefully pull away the remaining window. Ten seconds of glass breaking later saw him tumbling into the front hall of an empty house and tracking the bomb up the stairs and through the upper portion of the house

"You know, it occurs to me," Kurama said softly, "that with the trap door closed, it will be very difficult to figure out that we're up here. Not to mention that we have no lights on and night has fallen."

"He has the option to turn lights on, however. Now would be the cue for one of us to fall over or make some kind of tell-tale noise," Hiei announced.

There was an expectant silence.

Kurama finally shifted. "He's making enough noise down there that I don't think he'd hear us up here if he tried. And if he does, we can both jump him anyway."

Hiei perked up at the mention of violence. "Not a bad idea."

A floor below them, the tracking bomb was getting impatient again. It made another irritated beep, darted in front of Toshi's eyes to get his attention, then went and hovered directly under the trap door in the ceiling.

"Oh," said Toshi weakly. "There."

The bomb beeped again self-importantly before detonating in a mild clump of smoke and sparks. Pursing his lips, Toshi hunted up a chair and pushed the trap door open.

"Hello there," said a voice brightly as his wrist was seized. "Why don't you come up here?"

"Ow!" Toshi wailed as he was dragged through the trap door and thumped onto the attic floor. "Do I have 'Injure me!' tattooed on me or something? Maybe I'm wearing a sign?"

"Maybe you just have a low pain tolerance. Did you want to talk to me?"

Toshi surveyed the two people standing in front of him. The speaker was taller, with tangled red hair and green eyes. "You, yes," he agreed, carefully getting up. "I didn't bargain for a second party in this. Someone want to turn the lights on?"

The second person looked unimpressed, but fire flared up in one palm to illuminate the room. "He thinks I'm that easily scared off? You're in better condition than when I saw you last."

"You!" Toshi realized. "The message was for you! You bastard, you got my fucking neck broken! What did I ever do to you?"

"You haven't done anything...yet. I, however, annoyed the one who sent you."

The one Toshi had pegged as Kurama smiled slightly. "So here you are, animate and well. What are you doing here?"

"Where did this come from?" the other person asked, putting a finger on Toshi's collar. Toshi tried to smack the offending hand away, but said offending hand gripped Toshi's smacking one in a vise-like grip instead. "I don't like being touched. Don't do that."

Toshi blinked as his hand was released. "Hey, which of you are asking the questions? And who are you, anyway? No one told me about another person! Or demon...firemaker...whatever you are."

"Fire demon, after a fashion," said Kurama, pointing at the second person. "Fox demon," he added, now pointing to himself. "I'm Kurama, which you probably know, and he's Hiei. And I was planning on asking all the really telling questions, but he raises a good point. You didn't have that on when you were dead in the traditional sense. Where did it come from?"

"The guy who put me back together has an inhumanly competent secretary," Toshi said, slowly unbuckling his collar and displaying the marks. "I wanted to cover it up."

Kurama looked at him expressionlessly. "Remember my question? Why are you here?"

"Karasu has a serious hard-on for you," Toshi explained. "I'm just the messenger. You know, if my hair still grows after I'm dead, he's going to be shit out of luck soon. Or if I wash my hair. Your hair isn't dyed, is it?"

Kurama ignored this question. "And what makes you think that I'd tamely go with you?"

"I'll kick your fucking ass if you don't?" Toshi suggested hopefully.

"I," said Kurama, "really, really doubt that. Tell him I said no."

Toshi flung his hands in the air. "I would, but I value my fucking life, despite the dead part. Tell him your own damn self. Look, I don't think you have a choice about this. He's going to blow you apart if you don't do what he says."

"I know him," Kurama said distantly, "and I know what happens when he is displeased. What were you going to do with me once you had me?"

"Bring you to this place," Toshi explained, brandishing the business card. "I'll take a winger that it was supposed to be unaccompanied."

"You say this like you're in control of the situation," Hiei noted.

Kurama had taken the card from Toshi and was studying it intently. "This is El Zorromancer's office. He has two, it seems. A demon world one and a human world one."

"You mean there was one here?" Toshi wailed. "I didn't have to go through World War fucking Five on that border place to get to his place and back again? Um. I said something important, didn't I?" he realized as Hiei and Kurama stared at each other.

"What did you do with my phone?" Hiei asked slowly, flicking the fire back into his hand lazily.

Kurama retrieved the offending object from a corner, turning it on as he did so. "You have sixteen voice mail messages and three text messages. All three of the latter are from Yusuke, and they say many abusive things about your parentage, elaborate on your taste in kinky sex, and that your hair sticks up funny."

"Give me that," Hiei ordered, snatching it from Kurama.

"I found the part about liquid latex particularly interesting," Kurama confided. "What's your name, anyway?" he added to Toshi.

Toshi's relief was palpable. "Toshi. You're coming with me?"

"Yes," said Kurama. He frowned slightly, then continued, "Looking at you is making me feel weird. You look like an incredibly slutty, unwashed, emaciated, fully-human me. I'm not really sure how to take this. Are you wearing contacts?"

Toshi glared. "It's a job. I'm not wearing contacts. It would be impossible anyway, since I've had my face blown off too many times. And I don't really like looking at you, either. You're a cuter, inhuman me with better cheekbones and more skin covered."

Hiei was starting to develop a slightly pained look that had nothing to do with listening to his voice mail. "And I thought your vanity was unrivalled."

"It is," Kurama said peaceably. "Apologise for Yusuke to me, would you? I don't think I'll be back any time soon," he continued to Hiei.

Even Toshi caught the unspoken "or maybe ever" in the careless words. "It's not like you'll stay dead," he volunteered. "Look at me."

Kurama fixed him with a truly stunning smile. "Oh, I never die. I'm very bad at it."

"If you say so," Toshi said doubtfully, stepping back towards the trap door. Unfortunately for him, he misjudged the location of the trap door and fell through the opening without preamble.

"Oh dear," said Kurama with no real concern in his voice. "Well, I suppose that I'm going now."

"Kill him if you see him," Hiei said absently.

Kurama's eyes glittered. "Now, what makes you think that I'd deliberately confront him after Koenma told me not to do any such thing?"

"Hey," Toshi said groggily from the floor below. "Didja see the elephant? There was an elephant an'it stepped on me."

"Bye then," Kurama said cheerily before dropping through the trap door after his guide.

"Weasels! Weasels are eating my brains! Zombie weasels!" Toshi bawled, then shrieked wordlessly. "Who just kicked me?" he added in a slightly saner tone.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there," Kurama told him earnestly.

Hiei, meanwhile, was staring at his now-ringing phone in trepidation. "What?" he finally asked suspiciously.

"You answered. You actually answered," Yusuke said in relief. "You definitely missed the show, though. Koenma finally put his foot down and told Mukuro to let the bloody zombies go wherever they wanted, since they were technically spirit world inhabitants and he had other uses for us, which were namely to go find the necromancer and kill him. Yukina and Kuwabara went back to look for some zombie or other in order to do some James Bond-esque deal and maybe catch some (ahem) sleep. I'm sitting on the human world side, more or less out of ideas. I'm also wondering just how you survive in this job."

"Because I like messing with people's heads and I'm good at being violent for no real reason," Hiei said. "It was this or politics."

"Most politicians aren't violent, you know," Yusuke said.

"Not the ones you know about," Hiei agreed. "Was there something you wanted specifically, or was this just to swear at me?"

"Well, I have nothing better to do," Yusuke said slowly, "so I'd like to know where you are in the hopes that I could join you. And there was something else, but I didn't think it was a good idea to include it in the middle of cursing your name blindly while I was under frantic attack by angry and/or possessed zombies."

"What was this something else?" Hiei asked.

Yusuke blew air out of his mouth in a rush. "I mentioned that Yukina and Kuwabara had been with me. Firstly, this crazy zombie swap was all because El Zorromancer was pissed off at Mukuro. The honours of this battle rest with him as well, which makes his point even better. The message he was sending, they say, was 'This is what happens if you fuck with me, mortals'."

"Ah," Hiei said. "One of those messages."

"The other thing was that Yukina was pretty damn desperate to get in touch with you," Yusuke finished. "Our necromancer is aware that you're her brother, and it sounds like he tried throwing that fact at her to see how she'd react. She wants to know how the hell he found out. I'm also guessing she wanted to see if you were going to keep pretending that you're not related, but she's too polite to say something like that to me. Or, probably, to you."

"I don't know how he could know such a thing," Hiei answered, startled. "But he is raising the dead, and perhaps they talk to him."

"Oh, perfect," said Yusuke disgustedly. "Listen, tell me where you are, or at least where to find you. And hey, while you're at it, do you still have Kurama with you?"

"Up until a few minutes ago, yes," Hiei told him. "It's something of a complicated story."

"Where did he go?" Yusuke demanded.

"He took off with Karasu's messenger. He wanted to talk to the one behind this," Hiei explained.

There was a long moment of silence from Yusuke. "Where is he? The necromancer, I mean?"

"The zombies have business cards," Hiei told Yusuke, climbing out through the attic window and dropping to the ground. "It gives phone numbers and addresses. Kurama took it with him; I don't remember what it said. If you have corpses around you, however, you might be able to find one on them."

"Hang on a second and I'll look," Yusuke informed him brusquely. The subsequent noises indicated that Yusuke's phone had probably been put into a pocket. Hiei smiled slightly and turned his own phone off as he increased his speed.

Yusuke could just call him back.

Unaware of Hiei's move, Yusuke was picking through the zombie remnants scattered around him. So far he had found three business cards, but none of them looked at all right.

"Excuse me." Yusuke whirled around to behold a schoolgirl still in uniform, though her clothes were shredded and her face badly bruised. "Are you looking for the same place I am? Only I've already been attacked once and I don't want to go wandering into those woods by myself."

"What place are you looking for?" Yusuke asked, and was rewarded with yet another business card.

"I know where it is here," the girl said, touching her forehead. "Do you?"

Yusuke shifted his weight. "Can I keep this?" he asked, holding the business card aloft. The silvered words were pleasantly textured against his fingertips. "I'm sorry that I can't go with you. I've got to go meet a friend."

The girl snorted. "Men," she said with deep contempt, then stalked away into the woods with an irritated arse-wiggle that had Yusuke goggling after her even when she was gone.

"How many girls do you want?"

Yusuke swallowed the girly scream that rose in his throat and instead complained, "Stalking is not an acceptable substitute for being social, dammit."

"I'm not stalking you," Hiei said from the tree over Yusuke's head. "I couldn't have directed you to where I was, so I came to you instead. This isn't a social call. I don't make those."

Deciding not to argue the point, Yusuke instead proffered the business card when Hiei jumped down. "Here. This address is in the major business district, but I don't know about the other one."

Hiei studied the card as well. "It's not in your world. It's in mine. That makes absolutely no sense, though. If he has two offices, why is there all this border activity?"

Yusuke's eyes slid to one side as he recalled something. "The direction shifted depending on the time of day," he remembered. "During the day, humans would go to the demon world. Once it got dark, it started going the other way."

"So perhaps he's just making them come to him, wherever he is," Hiei speculated. "Does he ever close?"

"Well, the zombies never stopped coming," Yusuke said. "They slow down at night, but I'll guess that it's because people sleep, even if he doesn't." A thought occurred to him. "Wait a second. That girl that just went through here was looking for his office. In the wrong world."

"That girl was a succubus," Hiei said. "And very much alive. If you're in the business of devouring souls in the manner they use, the incredible number of sex-deprived undead men would be well-nigh irresistible. She'll probably come back later."

"Gah," said Yusuke. "Necrophilia. Soul-stealing. Argh. Ew. Yaugh."

Hiei watched Yusuke's reaction with deep fascination. "I think we should be going. You seem to know where the human world office is, and I'd like to go there."

"I would, too," Yusuke recovered enough to say. "Can we go before the creepy zombie-loving girl comes back?"

"Don't knock the zombie-loving girl," the succubus said indignantly, emerging from the woods. "I'm better than any exorcist, and more fun, too. And it's not like our paychecks aren't signed by the same person."

"Zombie sex," Yusuke spluttered.

Hiei glared at the succubus. "Now you broke him again. Go away."

"Hmph," said the succubus, shifting her weight to have one hip jutting out. "I suppose courtesy demands I acquiesce. But you would have been a nice change. You're so very alive. You would be tasty, little boy."

Yusuke made a funny werbling noise. "Thank...you...?"

The succubus turned on her heel with another arse-wiggle, this one more inviting. "Well, give me a shout if you don't make it out alive. I can promise to make your last hour on earth a hell of a ride...in all senses of the word."

Hiei bore the expression of someone who was about two hairs away from breaking into a suspicious coughing fit. "I can't say the same about your last hour on earth if you don't leave," he said anyway.

The succubus hmphed again. "Spoilsport."

Yusuke stared after the succubus as she disappeared into the woods again, then looked at Hiei pleadingly. "Tell me that a sex demon didn't just offer to shag me to death."

Hiei said expressionlessly, "I'm leaving. Were you going to come with me?"

"Keiko is going to kill me," Yusuke said miserably, then chased after Hiei. "Hey! I'm the one who knows where we're going!"

Two minutes of warp speed racing later, Yusuke slowed to a halt. "All right. Here's the city limit. We're going to pause here for a moment, because it occurs to me that you're not telling me something. What aren't you telling me?"

Hiei looked at the sky like it was the most fascinating thing he could find. "Karasu is the one who sent the message. Hence 'Karasu's messenger'. I wasn't sure you'd absorbed that, since Kurama went in order to speak with a different person."

"Oh," groaned Yusuke. "Fun. Did you get a cheerful message from Botan saying that if we went after Karasu, Koenma would have six kitten fits?" Yusuke absorbed Hiei's affirmative noise, then leaned back against the nearest building. "This...is probably a really bad time to ask you this," Yusuke continued in a different tone. "But I really don't want to walk into the middle of a fight between Kurama and Karasu, and this might be important."

"What are you asking?" Hiei inquired.

Shuffling in place while he sought words, Yusuke finally said softly, "We talk, you know. He can be a perfect student and a perfect son, but he's not very good with people. I've had some of the weirdest conversations of my life with that boy. But you know him better than any of us. You've known him longer, you seem to spend a lot of time in his company, and you're pretty much the same kind when you come down to it. And I think..."

"You don't just think, you make bets on it," Hiei realized.

Yusuke scoffed. "I made that bet with Kuwabara in a quiet moment when we were storming Suzaku's castle. I was positive that you two had something going on, despite the angry stabbity bit. And I'm still positive. I'm just not sure it's occurred to either of you. And I'm not telling you the exact terms of that bet, either."

Hiei ignored the last part. "It's occurred to me."

"I'd guessed," Yusuke said, his voice going back to its original solemnity. "And I'm not surprised. The pair of you have gotten to a point where someone had to do something before one of you got stir crazy and disappeared. Being on the run from zombies and throwing Kurama's fanatic stalker into the mix just made it all the more cataclysmic. I want details."

Hiei looked slightly thrown by the change of subject. "No."

"It was worth a shot," Yusuke said on a sigh. "But I'm guessing that when or if Karasu twigs, he's going to be really, really annoyed."

"I already annoyed him," Hiei said. "He went and found a cheap whore who looked vaguely like Kurama, broke his neck, and showed me his corpse. He's now having said cheap whore run errands for him."

Yusuke grimaced. "All right. It's official, he's a sick fuck. Actually, a sick fuck with an exquisite hold on symbolic communication. But I'm guessing that he's Kurama's sick fuck and that Kurama will do all the taunting necessary."

"That was the impression I got," Hiei agreed, then muttered. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation."

"Kurama is rubbing off on me," Yusuke announced. "Apparently the personality exchange is mutual. Anyway, I said that exact phrase when he managed to pry my entire sex life out of me in about ten minutes. Or lack thereof. Woe." Yusuke judged it best not to explain the rest of the conversation, which had namely been Yusuke's demand that he had to get laid before he was eighteen and Kurama was really cute so would he be amenable to a call in three or four years if it came to that?

He really didn't want to go into the fact that Kurama had laughed and said yes, if it came to that.

It would hopefully be a moot point anyway.

Hiei looked at him for a long moment with an expression that stated that he was trying really, really hard not to smile. "I think I might have heard about that."

"Oh God," said Yusuke miserably.

"Nothing specific," Hiei continued thoughtfully, "but it does sound familiar."

Yusuke decided to regain control of the conversation. "Anyway! Is this going to mess anything up? Please don't be having issues."

"None to my knowledge," Hiei said, startled. "Should there be?"

Yusuke could remember vividly the first time he had dared articulate anything for Keiko beyond being a brotherly nuisance, and how so very careful he had been to not screw it up. He had screwed up anyway, but the hurt of screwing up had been a relieved hurt, like cutting open an infection.

He knew that he couldn't afford to think of her always, but he did and drew strength from it rather than worry about her. When he was miles away from reality and in a struggle to the death, she was there and she gave him strength.

Yusuke remembered this, and looked at Hiei, and wondered.

Some blocks away, Kuwabara and Yukina chased Weed down the street. He'd woken them up from where they were staying in the dorm, saying it was time for him to go, and had charged away.

"This is it," Weed said, pulling up short in front of a building.

"Yes, I remember," Yukina said distractedly, noticing that Kuwabara's attention was elsewhere. "Kazuma, what is it?"

Kuwabara gestured. "Kurama? What are you doing here? And why do you feel...not alive?"

"Because I'm not him, fucktard," said a skinny boy with handfuls of red hair spilling over his shoulders and down his back. "And I'm very much dead."

"Kuwabara," said Kurama, emerging from the shadows behind him. Kuwabara rubbed his eyes and tried to make sure that he was really awake. "And Yukina. Hello. Be nice, Toshi," he added to the other redhead.

Surreptitiously pinching himself, Kuwabara asked, "Kurama, is there a reason that there is a zombie who's a dead ringer for you running around?"

"Yes," Kurama said, apparently not feeling the need to elaborate. "He's not here," he said accusingly to Toshi. "Where is he?"

The zombie glowered. "I didn't even know that he wasn't here. Wait here for him to bomb you, why don't you?"

"I want to talk to the man who runs this," Kurama said to Kuwabara and Yukina. "In person, rather than through the undead."

"I'm aware of that," said Toshi in the necromancer's voice.

Kuwabara jumped. "Don't do that!" he ordered.

Toshi smiled at him indulgently. "Please, come inside. I will see Weed and speak to you all at once. Business is slower at night."

"Where is he?" Kurama asked intently. "You must know."

El Zorromancer smiled with Toshi's face. "I do know. I gave him the idea of having him meet you here without letting him know such a thing, and I planned to bring him to where you were when I was done speaking to you myself. It would be so convenient, you see, if you were to die here. And there are more of you! Tonight I am lucky, no?"

Yukina realized that the group would be given to general indecision until someone made a move. "I thank you for agreeing to see us promptly," she said, heading for the door.

"You are quite welcome," El Zorromancer answered, then released his hold on Toshi. "Goddamn it all to hell!" Toshi screamed at Kurama. "When did I give my okay on being everyone's fucking puppet? Why can't you just hand yourself over, dammit? You can take care of yourself!" He swiped at his eyes angrily, then stormed into the building after Yukina. "You all can just go fuck yourselves upside down, sideways, and blind!"

Kurama studied the pavement as the rest of the group entered the building. "Karasu got to him. He's trying to talk me into handing myself over to a fate worse than sex toy. As you can see, he's failing."

"Does he always swear like that?" Weed asked, looking interested.

Kurama gave this some thought. "Yes, actually. He really doesn't get very creative until he's been going for about ten minutes, though."

The pack was ceremoniously handed over from the front desk to a familiar, impeccably sleek blonde man waiting outside of El Zorromancer's office. "Good evening," he said politely as he opened the door.

"Ah," said El Zorromancer cheerfully as they trooped in. "Please have seats, if you wish. We have coffee as well, if you like. I am aware that not everyone keeps our hours."

"Coffee," said Weed pleadingly. Julian managed to present him with a mug in seconds. "How did you get it to be perfect like that out of nowhere?" Weed wondered after the first sip.

El Zorromancer bent a slow, feline smile on Julian and Weed alike. "Julian has a marvellous knack for fulfilling people's wishes. Would anyone else like coffee?"

As Julian doled out coffee to Kuwabara, Yukina, Toshi, and Kurama, El Zorromancer went over Weed's body from head to toe, restoring and healing the entire way. "There you are," he finally said. "Your body will sustain itself as it is. That same sustaining will allow you to heal minor injuries. I will have to fix the major things myself, however."

Weed nodded, then pursed his lips absently. "Did you cure me of nicotine addiction?"

"I could, if you wished it," El Zorromancer offered. "I do not make it a policy to interfere with the vices of others, however."

"No shit," Toshi complained into his coffee.

"What have you done to your hand, my dear?" El Zorromancer asked, his eyes lighting on Toshi's gashed palm. "Glass cuts?"

"I hit a window," Toshi explained. "It was an accident."

El Zorromancer's mouth twitched. "I was expecting something a bit more devastating the next time I had to patch you up."

"So was I," Toshi retorted as the cuts shrank. "Surprise, surprise."

El Zorromancer ran his fingers over Toshi's now-unbroken skin, then released the boy's hand. "I do not pass judgement on what my clients choose to do, I'm afraid."

"So I just let him at me?" Toshi shrilled, unaware of all eyes but Julian's being fixed on him. "Can't you not pass judgement on getting me out of this country?"

"Why, isn't your ticket out of your commitment right there?" El Zorromancer asked, indicating Kurama.

"You think so?" Kurama asked gently, looking at the others around him. "I should like to have a word with you alone."

"What are you going for, here?" Kuwabara hissed. "He's completely batty. Are you sure you want to talk to him alone?"

Kurama didn't even look at Kuwabara. "Incredibly sure. I want you to talk to Toshi anyway. You should know what's going on. I've not seen either of you since that bomb went off. Did I mention that I was glad that you were safe?"

Yukina knew a losing battle when she saw one. "Kazuma, his idea is a good one. We will talk to this Toshi. Will your waiting room be suitable for our conversation?"

"It will suit you very well, I think," El Zorromancer replied amicably.

Julian rose deferentially from his desk and slipped to the door. "Please feel free to request what you like from our attendant at the front desk," he murmured.

Kurama caught Kuwabara's arm as he was about to pass out the door. "That young man you have with you."

"Weed?" Kuwabara asked. When Kurama nodded, he inquired, "What about him?"

"Tell him to watch out for himself. This place might be the safest area for him, and things might be getting very bad very quickly," Kurama said, releasing Kuwabara's sleeve. "I will see you shortly."

Kuwabara nodded suspiciously and allowed himself to be ushered from the room.

Watching the door close, Kurama surmised, "Your secretary is confidential and I may speak freely before him. Am I correct?"

El Zorromancer extended a hand to Julian and drew the blonde onto his lap. "I feel we can abandon formality, as I have been inadvertently helping to plan your death for some time. I also wish to employ you upon your demise. You are among the best of fighters, and you transcend the best of thieves. And, of course, you are lovely to look upon."

Kurama looked at the two twined together in the chair across from him. "You would have to reckon with Karasu."

"I am working my way to employing him as well," El Zorromancer said carelessly. "I should give my orders to you quite delicately through him."

"Manipulation upon manipulation," Kurama replied softly. "Why not simply kill him once you have me?"

"Whyever should I do such a thing?" El Zorromancer asked. "I do like him. He appeals to me. And you have seen how I work. I wished to speak with you, and here you are. If I wish a thing to be mine, you would do it for me. You do miss the thrill, do you not?"

Kurama's eyes glimmered as dizzying images whirled through his mind. "I miss it terribly," he said, and his voice was rough with truth. "But I am not accustomed to being someone's toy."

"Even when I am such a pleasure to work for?" El Zorromancer asked, his smile now including his eyes. Very delicately, he licked Julian's ear, causing the blonde to shudder in his arms. "Julian is most dear to me," he continued. "I would treat no other like him. But I am not a harsh master. Merely...focused."

"I see," Kurama said, twisting a piece of hair between his fingers. "You are offering me to Karasu, and at the same time you are offering me my old life back. And somehow, I think you will accomplish this. You are to be respected."

"You don't much like being asked to kill on command, do you?" El Zorromancer asked. "Assassination has never been your style, though you've turned a pretty fee for it in the past with poisons and traps and your unique weapons. If I were ruler," he said dreamily, "I would have done things differently. So many times have you or your friends been asked to kill where your thief-skills would have done the job alone. It is a disgusting waste, a parody, an insult."

Kurama looked at him emptily. "If you speak of Suzaku, it was all of those things and deliberate to boot. To put me on parole and then have me assist in an assassination instead of asking me to take what was needed was a slap in the face. I...did resent it at the time."

"I shall try not to insult you thus," said El Zorromancer softly. "Even if you choose not to join me, or if you survive...if I need something obtained, I will call on you, because one such as you deserves such an honour."

"Tell me," Kurama pressed, looking rather flattered, "why is it that the zombies only seem to be in this area? I know they're around the border of the demon world and I know they're in this city, but I do not know why this is. You did open the hells, didn't you?"

El Zorromancer nodded. "I will have to travel. I need only go somewhere once and the undead follow in my wake. I have not gone far as of yet. I want to secure my position here on the border before I move on. The human world will be an afterthought."

"I do have one more question," Kurama pursued, looking at Julian. "What is he?"

El Zorromancer lowered his eyelids. "Julian West defines invaluable to me. What he wishes, you see," he explained, "comes true."

Kurama got to his feet carefully. "Will you be calling Karasu now?"

"I will allow myself a small break," El Zorromancer said. "The night is still young. And you were correct about Weed. He will be safest here. You I cannot control, but Karasu will be hard pressed to damage this place or any bystanders in it."

Kurama paused by the door, his eyes alight with strange fire. "Thank you. I would not disturb you and will thus show myself out. I apologise to your instincts," he added to Julian, and withdrew.

El Zorromancer lazily drew his fingers through Julian's ponytail. "There goes," he whispered, "an even more remarkable demon than Karasu. He has...character."

"I comprehend entirely, sir," said Julian, closing his eyes as El Zorromancer investigated his collar.

"Tonight could be the end of things," El Zorromancer said, his fingers hesitating against Julian's tie.

"I have scheduled nothing else until we change offices tomorrow morning, sir," Julian murmured.

El Zorromancer said, "I am grateful for your insight on the matter of my dear Weed's appointment. You were, as always, correct; people are predictable."

"Thank you, sir," said Julian, colour rising to his cheekbones as El Zorromancer undid his tie.

"I will allow myself a small break," El Zorromancer repeated, "but a break long enough for you. The war will start tonight, my dear Julian, and I would have us go into it sated."

Oo-er.

I am so, so, so sorry! Last week was finals week. It was bad. I'm better now. Well, actually, I'm heavily doped up on Percocet now after impromptu minor surgery, but I am feeling so very good.

KyoHana: Hurrah for the moments of discreet segues and ellipses!

Oya: I derive their attraction from the rampant subtext they have.

Kooriya Yui: No, that's his name. With many apologies to K. Sandra Fuhr, that is.

Aithril the Elf-Maiden: Yay! Feedings!

A lilmatchgirl: Toshi is everyone's punching bag. Feel free to hug him.

Kurama'sGirl88: Kurama is fun!

Capella Alpha Aurigae: I think it's the most citrusy thing I've ever written. But, well, y'know what they say...vitamin C is good for you...

Nyte Kit: Kurama is always portrayed as being nice and happy...and I suppose he is, but he's a very...special kind of nice.

Evene: Karasu's possessive like that.

yanagi megumi: Yay! I'm glad it's original!

I missed a week. I'm a horrible person! (bows head to be cut off)

I'M ON PERCOCET. I AM IN NO PAIN. I DEFY YOU, MINOR SURGERY.