Due to the M-rating I cut out the NC-17 scene. You can catch it our website the moment I put up the complete story there.
° ° °
Genbu was watching the party from a corner of the room, smiling to himself. They were all here, except for the demon, but Rikugo seemed happy anyway. When the Protector of the North saw him and Sohryu, saw the expressions, read them correctly, and witnessed the kiss, he nodded to himself. They truly had come a long way and they would still walk an even longer one, but now together. Not as enemies or opponents, not as bed mates or lovers. They would be respected equals and friends.
"Well done," he murmured.
He knew they would all do fine. Tsuzuki was a strong connection between them all, even those not serving him as shikigami. He held their respect, their trust, their friendship. He could rely on them and they could rely on him.
"Well done," he repeated, stroking over his beard.
It was time to go now.
Quietly.
Unseen.
And he just walked past some potted plants and disappeared out a side door. The noise of the party was fading as he stepped out into the darkness. Everywhere in GensouKai lights glowed as shikigami honored him in their way. He smiled, then continued on his way, undisturbed by anyone.
"Leaving?" a dark voice whispered and he looked up.
Like a huge, living gargoyle, Touda crouched on the roof directly ahead. His black outfit blended him in with the night around him. Only the golden snake eyes reflected some light from the stars that were out tonight.
"It is time," Genbu only replied.
Touda tilted his head. "I never thanked you, did I?"
"Whatever for?"
"Everything."
Genbu chuckled. "You did fine on your own, Touda. Keep Tsuzuki safe for me."
"You know I will, old man. I serve him faithfully."
"I know you do. And I know he means more to you than a master. As he always meant more to all of us. You are the one closest to him and you always were. You love him more deeply than any of us can fathom. From the moment he broke your seal, when he so unerringly found his way into the depths of Tenkuu and walked straight into your cell, your fates were one."
Touda was silent, his eyes reflecting the truth and old memories; memories of that moment Tsuzuki had changed him forever.
Genbu smiled to himself. Nothing and no one could break what was between those two. Even without the link, Touda would have followed Tsuzuki. They, the Council, had made it his punishment to have Tsuzuki as his master, but none of them could ever have dreamed of the result.
"Keep him safe," he only murmured, then continued into the darkness.
Touda remained where he was, a dark presence in a dark night.
"I promise," he whispered. "I swear it on my life."
°
It was only an hour after Genbu had left that the others discovered his leaving. Tsuzuki was valiantly fighting back his tears, Suzaku trying to cheer him up. The party started to dissolve slowly and Byakko decided that Tsuzuki would stay at his palace for the night, together with Hisoka, and the shinigami didn't object.
° ° °
Hisoka watched his partner undress, took in the slender form that never gained any weight, whatever Tsuzuki ate. Considering that he was totally in love with sweets that was a good thing.
The mood was solemn, Tsuzuki's face reflecting the loss he felt over Genbu's departure. Hisoka couldn't even fathom what it must be like to have a shikigami for so long and finally have to free him to ascend to become the new Emperor. It wasn't like a sudden death because of a fight; it was a willing act, planned and prepared for, but nothing, no plans and preparation, could make it easier.
"Asato," he murmured as he took his lover into his arms.
Tsuzuki slid close under the covers, eyes shut, breathing uneven as if he was fighting with his tears. Hisoka stroked over the tousled strands, the smooth back, the shoulders and arms. There was nothing he could do to make this any easier, aside from being there.
When he felt the wetness of tears on his skin, he closed his eyes in shared pain.
Tsuzuki never made a sound as his emotions overwhelmed him.
° ° °
Rikugo hadn't gone back to his own palace after the party. He had made his way into Meifu and to the lonely building at the edge of the realm. Watson greeted him as he entered, bowing his welcome.
"His lordship is in the study," the gnome told him in his gravelly voice. "Shall I call him?"
"No. Let him work. I'm sure he knows I arrived." Rikugo smiled. "I'll be in the library."
"Very well." And with another bow, he was gone.
Rikugo knew his way around the gigantic place and he easily found his way into the library, where he browsed through the titles, smiling to himself. The smile grew wistful as he let the party's events pass before his inner eye.
"Rikugo?"
The gentle tenor startled him. "You were fast," he chuckled.
"I felt your arrival. I thought there was a party?"
He looked into the red eyes that meant the world to him and leaned down, kissing the demon, giving Rikugo a perfect comparison between two very different men, between two very different affairs. Sohryu had been a wild encounter each time, filled with dominance battles, anger, sometimes fury, and only just before it had broken off a little sensuality. Ryu was the opposite. He could be strong and demanding, but he was also gentle and loving, and each touch relayed what he felt.
Rikugo rested his face against his lover's. "I love you," he whispered.
There was a mystified expression. "I know. And I feel the same. So... the party is over?"
"Yes, Genbu left."
"Oh. How was the get-together?"
"As parties go... it was okay. I wish you could have been there, Ryu."
Ryu kissed him, nibbling at his jaw. "You know it wasn't possible and I'm not the party type."
The astrologer chuckled. "Oh really? I heard different."
Ryu snickered, burying his head against his lover's neck. "Good-bye parties. I don't like good-byes."
He was held close and kissed lovingly, with a deep but gentle passion. "I hated that part, too," Rikugo murmured. "May I stay here for the night?"
Ryu wrapped his arms around his lover's neck. "The night and as long as you want."
Rikugo pushed a hand into the midnight black strands. He knew he was lucky. He had survived a lot and he had found this man to be with him, at his side, to love him. Ryu was unlike anyone he had ever met, an odd mixture of two thousand years of experience and knowledge, the same length of pain and loneliness, and a strength that couldn't be described. He looked perfect on the outside and was a fragmented, jaded soul on the inside, but deep down inside there was a core of steel that had made him survive for so long. He was a demon, yes, but he was also very much human.
And he loved him.
It was all that counted, and it was what made him happy.
°
Gentle fingers ran over soft skin, drawing little shivers as they traveled up and down, following the contours of the body, tracing invisible lines. Ryu listened to each breath of his lover, watched the handsome face as he teased each nipple into a hard little nub, rubbing his thumb over the darkened pebble. He bent down and let the tip of his tongue flick against it, felt the body under his touch tense, and a soft whisper escaped Rikugo's lips.
Pushing his knee between the long legs, he felt the hard evidence of Rikugo's need bump against it. One hand traveled down and he wrapped his fingers around the hardness, stroking it lightly.
Beautiful, he thought.
Beautiful to look at, to touch, to taste, to listen to. He could just sit here and gaze at his lover, take in the white blond hair that tumbled wildly over the pillow, the flushed skin, the heaving chest. He wanted to simply feel that skin, the heat, the energy, the very life, and to listen to Rikugo's moan of his name.
Ryu knew he would never get enough of this man. Rikugo had shown him so much, had guided him from that deep, dark place that was his jaded soul, to somewhere he could finally live. He might never be as whole as he had been before he had made the deal with the devil that he had later absorbed, that he had become. He would forever suffer from two millennia of near-madness, of being a prisoner of Enma-Daiou, but Ryu had also come a long way.
He leaned toward Rikugo's face and sealed their lips together. The shikigami's mouth opened, invited him inside, and Ryu lazily probed deeper, drawing an appreciative rumble. Their tongues stroked against each other and when they separate, the black eyes shone with emotions that, not long ago, had left Ryu reeling.
"I've never slept with a God before," the demon whispered.
Rikugo's legs spread a little wider. "Then it's time that you do," he murmured invitingly.
Ryu felt his breath catch for a moment, then he captured his lover's mouth in a bruising kiss.
°
"So, was it different?" Rikugo whispered playfully.
He chuckled. "It was as amazing as each and every time," was the honest reply. "Love you."
Rikugo kissed him, softly, deeply, with as much love as Ryu felt for the other man.
tbc...