11. Ending With a Whimper

A/N: Sorry for the incredibly late update! My life has been hectic, and I'm happy to be able to write again.

The results for the informal poll that I conducted last chapter were unsurprising: 14 reviewers said they support HxK, while 5 reviewers preferred KxK. Well, you'll find out the true outcome in this chapter.

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As soon as Shigure had finished speaking and moved into a corner, Kurama poured a cascade of ki into the germinating Todakidare seed that he had dropped outside. Almost immediately, a mature tree erupted out of the earth and sprang up like a sword. They all heard the explosion of the upsurging tree and the pitter-patter of dirt clods hitting the ground. Karasu quickly formed all the right conclusions and immediately turned his hand palm up to form a bomb.

"No," Hiei grunted. Instead of unwrapping the bindings on his right arm, he leapt at Karasu with his katana. He was unwilling to use the Kokuryuuha in such close quarters.

Kurama silently blessed Hiei as Bui lumbered over to assist Karasu, leaving Kurama completely unguarded. A tree branch shot through the window nearest to him. Glass sprayed everywhere, and one shard grazed Kurama's face. A drop of blood trickled down his cheek like a tear, but he didn't care. His attention was focused on a round, purple-red fruit swelling rapidly from a pale flower at the end of the branch.

Once it ripened into a dark color, Kurama seized it and stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed as quickly as possible, making sure to suck every last drop of juice down his throat. A rivulet of juice streamed from the corner of his mouth. It was the same color as the blood flowing down his cheek, and the two liquids mixed so that one could no longer tell which was which.

As the fruit began to take effect, Kurama felt a swell of ki growing within him that healed the cut on his face effortlessly. The thrill of his building power hummed through his body and dizzied him like a wave of arousal. Fog engulfed the room, and the other three fighters paused to get their bearings and look for Kurama, who was enshrouded in mist.

Karasu watched, horrified, as a hand with cruelly pointed nails reached forth from a wall of vapor. Next, a gleaming silver tail emerged. To Karasu, Kurama's transformation was one more step in a rapidly escalating series of events which were chipping away at the dream he had sought so desperately to turn into reality.

"At last," Youko breathed, flexing his powerful hands as the mist dissipated. He exercised his fully restored ki by pointing at the Todakidare branch extended into the room, which almost literally burst into bloom. Buds popped out of the bark and blossomed with such explosive vigor that the petals were blown off with the force, showering the room in fragrant pink clouds.

He turned to Karasu, wearing a smile that showed his teeth. "You said once that you would have liked to fight me again. You have the opportunity to prove yourself to me today… or will you lose again?"

Youko Kurama was stunningly beautiful, especially when he smiled like that, but Karasu had always preferred Shuiichi. Youko posed a serious threat in battle, and Karasu was more at ease with the delicate beauty of Shuiichi, which was his to destroy or cherish as he wished.

Karasu looked Youko full in the eyes, raised his index finger to his temple, and whispered, "Bang!" As he did, he thought he felt his heart breaking. Kurama's smile widened.

"Bastard," Hiei hissed, enraged after watching this interaction.

In a flash, he was upon Karasu, who skillfully fended off the blows of his katana with bombs whose ringing explosions made the blade vibrate painfully in Hiei's hands. Hiei held on, grunting every now and then when an explosion grazed his hands. The ferocity of his onslaught pressed Karasu backwards, but Karasu wasn't worried—yet.

Their heated exchange took place with such speed that Hiei had practically forced Karasu out the door before Kurama and Bui had time to react.

"Damn it, Hiei," Kurama muttered as he leapt outside, faintly annoyed with Hiei for engaging Karasu, whom he personally wanted to fight. Bui followed close behind, grimly stripping off his armor as he went. He wasn't going to hold back at all, with Karasu's life at stake.

Shigure tailed the fighters at a leisurely pace, watching the unfolding drama with amusement that bordered on obscene.

"Mukuro-sama will be angry she wasn't here to see this. It's going to be better than any of the matches at the Dark Tournament…" A grin curled the corners of his mouth.

On the shore of the lake, Karasu had surrounded Hiei with an opaque barrier of bombs. It was a ploy to buy some time, for while Hiei was occupied with slashing his way through the bombs, Karasu ripped his mask off and began summoning his powers for a deadly explosion.

"Oh no, you don't," Kurama muttered, starting forward. He was still sensitive to what the removal of Karasu's mask presaged.

"Oh no, you don't," Bui repeated desperately, forming an axe in his hand. He had never wanted to hurt Kurama, but when push came to shove, Karasu was Bui's first priority. Bui knew he needed to attack Kurama before the youko managed to inflict irreversible damage on Karasu. Bui raised the axe and swung at him.

Hearing the air whistle as the axe arced towards him, Kurama nimbly dodged aside. The blade only managed to shave a few silver strands off his tail.

"Does Bui want to play, too?" Kurama asked delightedly as he turned to face him. "Ah, you've even taken off your armor… I might as well oblige."

Losing his head, Bui lunged at him with his outstretched axe. While dodging as effortlessly as before, Kurama muttered a string of seemingly nonsensical words under his breath.

"Allow me to introduce you," he said brightly, as the ground began to rumble beneath them, "to the deadly nightshade of Makai."

An enormous plant with dark leaves and fragrant, purple blossoms shaped like bells burst out of the earth directly in front of them. Bui froze, calculating how best to destroy, or at least, evade the plant. When it failed to sprout writhing, thorny vines or acid-spitting flowers, however, he stared at the shrub with incomprehension. In fact, he was so confused that his axe dropped limply to his side, and he ceased to think of fighting Kurama.

"In Ningenkai," Kurama explained, his voice coming from far away, "belladonna, also known as deadly nightshade, is a plant so poisonous that ingestion of a single leaf can kill an adult. Symptoms of belladonna poisoning include hallucinations, suffocation, and confusion…. European women used extract of belladonna to dilate their pupils to make them more attractive." Kurama's voice had taken on a loving lilt as he talked, lulling Bui into a dreamlike stupefaction.

Kurama stepped close to Bui and peered into his unfocused eyes. "Yes, like that. The Makai belladonna differs from its Ningenkai counterpart in that its poison wafts from the perfume of its flowers. It does not need to be ingested to take effect. I, of course, am immune."

He smiled gently at Bui's blank expression, and turned back to the fight between Hiei and Karasu.

Even Makai belladonna wouldn't be fatal to a youkai like Bui, but Kurama didn't want to kill him. He only wanted to get Bui out of the way so that Karasu could be disposed of.

He was just in time, for Hiei was slashing at the last of the bombs surrounding him with a rather charred katana, and Karasu was giving off the green glow that signified imminent explosion. He leapt up, obviously planning to dive on Hiei.

Kurama drew his lip back in a snarl and pointed at Karasu, ki coursing through his arm. A vine with the girth of an elephant's trunk shot out of the ground towards Karasu, and hit him in the abdomen. The force of the vine knocked Karasu backwards, and he flew towards the lake, blowing up in mid-air. Kurama flinched from the deafening and blinding explosion; when the dancing spots cleared from his vision, he saw that although the vine had pushed Karasu away from him, Hiei had still taken the brunt of the blast.

Kurama ran to him even as he staggered and toppled backward. Meanwhile, Karasu landed in the lake with a splash and began floundering. With a feeling of victory, Kurama remembered Karasu's fear of water.

But as soon as he turned to Hiei, his feelings of triumph turned into worry. Hiei was covered in numerous abrasions and bruises, and his head was bleeding profusely. Seeing the gory mess of his hands, Kurama thought Hiei would never be able to hold a katana again.

"Hiei?"

For a second, it looked as if Hiei wasn't going to respond.

Finally, he gasped, "Hn. Help me up."

He was still fully conscious. Kurama sighed, dizzied with relief. "I thought it would take more than that."

"It took more than that to finish you off, although it was enough to knock you back into your human form at the Dark Tournament," Hiei grunted haltingly. "Now, let me finish him off for you."

"You've made a good start." Kurama grinned. "Let me have the honors."

Hiei frowned as he looked at the lake; Kurama turned to follow his gaze.

Bui had sufficiently recovered from the belladonna to crawl to the lakeside, and he was dragging a spluttering Karasu out of the water. He had a good grip on Karasu's coattails, but his own weakness from the poison made it difficult to pull Karasu.

Kurama scoffed at the touching image. He flicked his wrist, and the vine which had knocked Karasu into the water flew up again and knocked Bui down. With another flick of his wrist, a second vine sprouted from the first, and this one curled around Karasu's heaving chest and hauled him out of the lake, to Hiei's feet. Karasu's pathetic scrabbles in his efforts to resist only worsened his coughing fit.

"Having trouble?" Hiei mocked Karasu, who was on all fours. He thumped Karasu on the back a few times, with enough force to knock Karasu to the ground, and make him cough up an alarming quantity of lake water.

When the coughing passed, Karasu looked up at Hiei with loathing in his eyes. Suddenly, Kurama remembered that even after such a massive explosion, Karasu did not need to recharge in order to create more bombs, and fear rose up his spine like mercury in a thermometer.

"Move!" he yelled, tackling Hiei. Hiei, whose reflexes were usually so fast, saw only a silver and white blur before an explosion filled his field of vision again. This time, it was Kurama who absorbed most of the shock. It was enough to force him back into his human form.

"That's better," Karasu panted. He had regained his feet, and he drew himself up proudly with an effort. But his knees trembled as he spoke, betraying his weakness. "I always hated seeing you in that form."

"That's lucky, because you won't ever see it again," Hiei sneered, tearing off the band covering his Jagan and charging at Karasu.

Hiei could sense weakness in an enemy the way sharks could detect blood spilled miles away. Homing in on Karasu's feebleness, he decided that it was high time he summoned the distinctive black fire which comprised his most powerful attacks.

It was still too risky to unleash Jao Ensatsu Kokuryuha, with Kurama in such close proximity, but Jaō Ensatsu Rengoku Shou would do nicely. His fists blazed with black fire, and Karasu, caught totally off guard, was helpless to fight back.

Kurama was surprised to realize that he pitied Karasu, as he watched the bedraggled crow wilt under Hiei's almost certainly fatal assault. Now that he was no longer in Youko form, he was suddenly very tired. There was no more fun to the fighting now that Karasu was effectively beaten. At this point, he just wanted to leave Karasu and Bui behind forever and go home.

Speaking of Bui… Kurama glanced around and saw him approaching Hiei desperately. He had risen from the lake, and he ran to push Hiei aside—ready, as always, to defend Karasu.

Hiei's bloodlust demanded satisfaction, and he turned his fiery attack upon Bui, prostrating him. Inflamed by the heat of battle, he had an edge over Bui, who was still somewhat dazed by the nightshade. Kurama could see that Hiei would finish Bui easily. Like he had done once before, he rose to the occasion and interceded to save Bui's life.

"No!" he cried. "Hiei!"

The pleading note in his voice was enough to cut through Hiei's frenzy, and he turned to Kurama incredulously, even angrily. Kurama shook his head emphatically, imploring him to spare Bui.

Hiei shot Kurama a dark look. Though he did not open his mouth, Kurama heard him very clearly in his mind: "We'll discuss this later." He moved to finish Karasu off.

"No!" Bui cried.

Kurama also held up his hand in protest. Thick vines sprouted from the ground and swiftly bound Karasu and Bui to each other.

"What's wrong, Kurama?" Hiei seethed. "Stockholm Syndrome?"

He knew Hiei had suffered endless trials coming after him, and it pained him that Hiei might think him ungrateful. He chose his words carefully.

"I can't let you hurt Bui. He's been good to me. And killing Karasu would hurt him more than anything."

"Look how that bastard hurt you."

"Most of the damage that he has inflicted isn't visible," Kurama revealed, watching Hiei's rage increase visibly. "But though I may have learned to hate him in an instant… over the course of weeks I learned to pity him. Besides," his voice softened, "my leaving him is by itself a punishment worse than any you can devise."

"He's right," Bui said unexpectedly. "Don't hurt Karasu anymore."

"And why not?" asked Hiei mockingly. "Because you love him?"

Funny that Hiei didn't see the irony in that question, as that had been his motivation in chasing Kurama across Makai.

Bui wasn't flustered. "I'll show you why, if you untie me."

Hiei laughed. "I didn't know you thought I was that stupid. I'd be offended if I took you seriously."

Bui turned to Kurama. "Please, Kurama... convince Yukina's brother to take me seriously."

Hiei choked mid-laugh, and whirled upon Kurama. "How does he know—?"

Kurama shook his head in wordless amazement, staring at Bui. He snapped his fingers, and the vines loosened around Bui, while tightening around Karasu, who was also gazing at Bui in surprise.

Bui picked himself up and began coughing hard. Kurama and Hiei regarded him suspiciously until he spat a round object into his hand. Apparently, it was attached to a cord, for he pulled until the whole length came out of his mouth.

It was a hiruiseki necklace.

"Yes," he said, catching Hiei's shocked expression. "This is the tear gem your mother shed for you, which you lost years ago." He held the gem between his thumb and forefinger, so that its brilliance caught the light. "Promise me that you won't hurt Karasu, and you can have this back without my crushing it to powder."

"How did you get that?" Hiei demanded. "How do you know all of this?"

Bui paused, collecting his thoughts. Before he responded, Kurama thought he knew what part of the answer would be. He remembered that one day, ages ago, Takeo of the Shikaku had asked what Bui's prize from the Dark Tournament was, and Karasu had given a puzzling answer: a necklace.

The pieces of this mystery were falling into place.

"When the committee asked what I desired as my prize, I told them I simply wanted something that would protect Karasu from the consequences of his prize," said Bui, steadily ignoring Karasu's look of shock. "They gave me this necklace and told me your life story. I didn't understand everything then, of course. But I knew you would do almost anything to regain this, what you had lost."

Bui's revelation astonished everyone.

"What made you think there would be consequences to Karasu's pr—his actions?" Kurama asked, refusing to call himself Karasu's prize. Bui's behavior (especially his consent to keep the secret of his returning powers once the seals on his ki had been broken) had always baffled Kurama.

Bui gestured with his arms expressively, as if the answer were so obvious that he could not put it into words.

"What could ever come out of your imposed relationship? Karasu's love for you could only end in his madness or your death—probably both."

Bui pretended he didn't see Karasu recoil at his betrayal as he pronounced those painfully truthful words.

"How—how did the committee know all of that?" Hiei asked in alarm.

Bui furrowed his brow. "I don't know," he admitted.

"I can answer that." Shigure had drawn near once it had become clear that the fighting was over. Everyone stared at him; he had been forgotten in the heat of battle.

"Yes. You have a lot to answer for." Hiei's glare would have cowed lesser youkai.

Shigure smiled pleasantly. "It's a long story, but I think it begins when one of Mukuro-sama's generals found Hiei's hiruiseki by chance on a riverbank. Hiruiseki are rare, even among rulers of Makai. He brought it back with him and presented it to Mukuro-sama as a gift. I thought I recognized it, and I told her the story of its previous owner." Shigure nodded at Hiei, whose face was stony.

"She was greatly interested, and often said that she would like to meet the youkai who would undergo the pain of a Jagan transplant to recover this gem. And as time passed, she suspected it of having healing properties, for wearing it, or even looking at it, produced a curiously soothing effect upon her. She would forget, for a while, her childhood."

Kurama was intrigued. He'd heard nothing about Mukuro's childhood, unhappy or otherwise. The years he'd spent rubbing shoulders with the great crime bosses of Makai, who knew everything, had shed nothing about her past; her origins were obscure to everyone.

"She learned that Hiei would fight at the Dark Tournament around the time that she dismissed one of her high commanders. And so she deployed me to watch Hiei, and offer him a position in her army if I found his performance satisfactory. So I attached myself to the tournament under the guise of a healer."

"What does that have to do with… all of this?" snarled Hiei, waving his arm at Bui and Karasu.

"I'm getting there," Shigure said imperturbably. "I was the one who prepared the poisonous vapors used to knock your team unconscious when you left the hospital after visiting Kurama, and I also prepared the poison gas used to kill your team member—Kuwabara, was it?—after Yusuke lost to Toguro. Hiei, you didn't survive the gas chamber because you held your breath—while making the poison, I was careful to manufacture it to such specifications that it would be deadly only to humans. A youkai of your level would survive it quite easily."

"Fuck you," Hiei whispered. All his former guilt about Kuwabara's death had transformed into a concentrated desire to kill both Shigure and his shadowy employer.

"I already knew that Karasu would request Kurama, and though your performance at the Dark Tournament had been slightly disappointing, I still saw potential. I wanted to give you another chance by letting you pursue Kurama. And when Bui made his request for something that would protect Karasu from the consequences of his choice in prizes… well, the committee was initially at a loss. I was able to help them, with Mukuro-sama's permission. I gave them the hiruiseki and told them its back story, which they passed on to Bui."

"So Bui knew all along that Hiei would come after us!" Kurama exclaimed.

"Very noble of you not to say 'I told you so,'" Karasu murmured, looking intently at Bui. He remembered, with a hot feeling of shame, how he had refused to believe Hiei was still alive, despite Bui's conviction.

"Karasu contacted me through an intermediary, offering me a sizable amount of money to make a potion that would erase your memory and render you malleable to Karasu's will. Essentially, you would have become his mindless slave. Karasu didn't know that I was at the Dark Tournament. I agreed to his offer, and in return for my help with Bui's request, the committee agreed to transport me here before either of you arrived. Once I was here, I began making the potion, and I waited.

"Hiei, you've done well. However you may have disappointed me at the Dark Tournament, your success at tracking Karasu and Bui, and at defeating them now has more than made up for your previous, ah, failure."

"If this was all just to test me," Hiei began dangerously, "would you really have poisoned Kurama if I hadn't caught up in time?"

"Of course." Shigure laughed quietly as Hiei's fists clenched. "My mission on Mukuro-sama's behalf would have been a failure then. At least I would have been paid by Karasu."

He looked around at them all.

"So here I am. And here you are. Do you have any more questions?" His condescension, like a teacher's to his students, maddened Kurama.

"Yes, actually," he said slowly. "But I think I'll have to turn to Bui for an answer."

"What is it?" Bui asked.

"Why…" Kurama swallowed hard; this was no time for delicacy. "Why did Karasu try so hard to keep himself from raping me?"

Hiei's eyebrows shot up. From what Kurama had said about most of the damage that Karasu had inflicted upon him being invisible, Hiei had assumed that Karasu did indeed rape Kurama.

"So he didn't, after all?" he couldn't resist blurting out.

Kurama winced at the mixed hope and relief in Hiei's voice. Bui spared him the distress of replying by answering for him.

"He did. Eventually."

Kurama held up a hand and gave Hiei a pained look that said "Not now." It was lucky that Hiei respected him so much, or he would have been unable to control his anger.

Bui went on, answering Kurama's question. "As Nek—I mean, Shigure has explained, Karasu relied on a potion that would produce an amnesiac effect. But Shigure warned us that if you suffered trauma before the potion was administered, your memory of those events would be harder to efface, and you would be more difficult to manage afterwards. After the death of your teammates, the last thing Karasu wanted to do was rape you. Such a traumatic event would have threatened to undermine the potion's effect too much for his comfort."

"So," Kurama said, eyes blazing, "his self-restraint was nothing more than a means to his own selfish ends. And when it caved in, his regret had nothing to do with what you said—all of that about how I had become more than a whore to be used, and how my happiness was integral to his. He was only worried that I would be more difficult to break as a result."

"No!" Bui's forceful reaction seemed to surprise even himself. He took a deep breath, and said more calmly, "I think his feelings had begun to change. I honestly believed what I told you."

Bui wanted to apologize to Karasu for exposing him so thoroughly and talking about him as if he weren't there, but he didn't dare look Karasu in the eye after saying that.

He held out the hiruiseki to Hiei. "It's yours, if you can promise that you will leave without harming Karasu further."

"What's to stop him from coming after us?" Hiei demanded.

"I won't," Karasu said through gritted teeth, speaking up for the first time.

"And why should I believe him?" Hiei looked towards Kurama and Bui, refusing to address Karasu.

"I swear for him," said Bui.

"To me, your word is worth as much as his."

"We can trust Bui," Kurama said slowly. "Trust me on that."

Hiei looked at Kurama long and hard before nodding once. He took the hiruiseki from Bui's outstretched hand and slipped it around his neck.

"Don't ever forget me," Karasu said, staring at Kurama. Kurama looked down at him involuntarily. Karasu was straining to smirk, but the immeasurable pain in his eyes gave him away.

"I'll try to," Kurama said quietly.

But would he ever be able to? He was certain that Karasu's shadow would dog his footsteps, that the crow's malevolent presence would lurk in the darkest corners of his mind, that no matter where he looked, those horrible violet eyes would always be staring back at him with irrepressible desire.

"Let's go." Hiei glared at Karasu, who managed a weak leer that was only a shadow of his former self. "You can untie him after we're over the river and out of sight," he said to Bui.

Hiei beckoned to Kurama, who leaned in so Hiei could whisper in his ear.

"Use your sleep-inducing pollen on Karasu. I don't want his eyes following us as we cross the lake."

Kurama nodded briefly and reached into his hair, pulling out a single nightshade flower. He bent down and held it in front of Karasu's face. Karasu realized what he was doing and laughed weakly.

"Goodbye, Kurama," he whispered. "Your beauty was my undoing."

He held Kurama's eyes for a minute with a deeply arresting stare, as if he were memorizing the contours of Kurama's face. Try as he might, Kurama couldn't look away. He understood why Hiei didn't want Karasu's hypnotic gaze fixed upon their backs as they left.

As Karasu's eyes bored into him, sensory images of the past few weeks flashed through Kurama's mind. He remembered the glitter of Karasu's manor, the perfume of the oils Karasu had used on his hair… the press of Karasu's hot, pale skin against his own.

He shuddered, and snapped back to the present.

Karasu's eyes shone with such intensity that Kurama wasn't sure whether it was simply emotion or if there were tears. He hoped for the former.

Apparently satisfied that Kurama's image was permanently engraved in his memory, Karasu inhaled the nightshade's perfume deeply, and his eyes closed. He was looking into Kurama's eyes till the last.

Karasu began to fall backward, bound as he was in his awkward sitting position. Bui stooped to break his fall and eased him into a lying position. As he lay there, his face was whiter than ever, and Kurama fleetingly thought, I've killed him.

It was truer than he knew.

Hiei caught Kurama's eye and nodded in the direction of the lake.

"Wait. Don't go yet," said Shigure.

They turned to look at him. Both of them kept forgetting him, though he was the figure who had orchestrated a great deal of their suffering.

"What is it?" Hiei said brusquely.

"After what I've seen, Hiei, I can guarantee you a top position in Mukuro-sama's army." He paused. When Hiei did not react, he continued. "Your skills will be put to good use, and you will gain valuable experience. I venture to say that Mukuro-sama will want to train you personally.

"This is an unheard of opportunity. For someone she's never met, you wield tremendous influence over Mukuro-sama. Think of what lengths she's gone to simply to have me here making this offer to you. I can't remember the last time she's wanted to meet someone this badly."

Hiei stared at him.

"You would like her. In fact, I personally think you two would get along very well." Shigure seemed perfectly serious.

Finally, Hiei gave a visible reaction. From the look on his face, he seemed ready to ready to throttle Shigure. He opened his mouth several times before snarling, "Do you really think I would accept your offer after you've manipulated me to no end, forced Kurama to put up with this," he gestured eloquently at Karasu, "and fucking killed Yusuke and Kuwabara?" His voice rose almost hysterically at the end. His guilt over their deaths pained Kurama.

"My," said Shigure. "I didn't know you cared so much."

"You and your precious Mukuro-sama can go to hell," Hiei hissed. "And be certain that I won't forget this."

Kurama watched Shigure's face fearfully for any sign of anger or violence, but Shigure only smiled mysteriously.

"I understand; I should have known that this would be a bad time to present the offer to you. Forgive me." Kurama was relieved that Shigure did not seem inclined to press his offer, but he continued. "Know, though, that Mukuro-sama will not give up so easily on you, and that the offer still stands. When you decide to accept it… well, you will be able to find me with your Jagan."

"Don't raise your hopes," Hiei retorted. He turned his back on Shigure. Kurama admired his resolution, but he knew that after investing such time and effort, Shigure and Mukuro would not be discouraged so easily. They would be seeing Shigure again.

But for now, he gave Shigure a cold nod of dismissal, which was received with an ironic smile and a small bow.

"Let's go," Hiei repeated to Kurama, walking briskly past Bui and Karasu towards the raft moored at the bank.

Kurama paused, only briefly, to look back at the damned pair before following Hiei. He still wanted very much to know the true nature of their relationship and the start of their association, but now was not the time to ask. He would never know.

To find an answer, he would have had to cross space and time to reach a dismal house in the far corners of Makai…

Bui stood in a corner of the cellar, very white and still. The screams upstairs had finally stopped, but he could hear the intruders arguing amongst themselves.

"Get out of the way, brat!"

There were scuffling noises, as if the furious youkai were being restrained from beating the object of his ire.

Another voice panted, "You don't want to hurt Karasu . . . Hiroshi-sama favors him. He sees a lot of potential."

"Potential?" The other spat on the ground loudly. "Ever since he came, he's been nothing but a burden to the Shikaku!"

"That's not true," the other said evenly. "Perhaps you're simply jealous of his growing ability. Quest Class youkai are rare."

Over the angry youkai's spluttering, a third, younger voice said coolly, "I'm going downstairs to look around."

Bui guessed this might be the Karasu in question. He slid his hatchet out of his belt and gripped it tightly.

A masked youkai preceded only by the lightest of footsteps descended into the cellar. Bui raised his axe, preparing to embed it in the stranger's skull.

Instantly, the axe was blown out of his hand with a small explosion that left burns and deep scratches on his palm. Small explosions were the only ones Karasu was capable of at that point in his training.

Bui hissed, looking around frantically for another weapon.

The youkai in black approached him, his long hair swinging as he walked.

"Why, you're just a child." He sounded amused and surprised.

Bui scowled up at him. From what he'd overheard, this Karasu wasn't much more, despite his superior height.

Karasu continued to look down in amusement at him. Panicking, but determined not to submit passively to whatever Karasu had in mind for him, Bui launched himself at the taller youkai.

Karasu toppled over, Bui straddling him and punching him hard in the gut. Karasu blew a hole into Bui's side with the mysterious power that he possessed, causing Bui to fall over, his left hip bleeding profusely. Still, Bui didn't give up, now alternating violent blows and vicious bites in his attack on Karasu.

Bui's tremendous muscular strength was taking its toll on Karasu. Blood flecked the crow youkai's lips as he coughed in agony. He was certain that Bui would leave black bruises that wouldn't fade for weeks. He grinned, however, and sent a pair of small bombs to Bui's fists. They blew up, shattering Bui's fingernails and ripping the skin off his knuckles.

Bui grunted with the pain, tears coming involuntarily to his eyes. Karasu laughed with sadistic delight, moving to straddle him. He leaned down close to Bui's face and asked, "Is your father one of those dead bodies upstairs?"

"My father's been dead for years," Bui panted. "They're the gang who took me in afterwards. Go ahead… kill me!"

Even then, he was already uttering the fateful line he would later use on Toguro and Hiei. Like them, however, Karasu was not going to be taken in.

"What's your name?"

A glare. Karasu waited patiently until he muttered, "Bui."

"Bui," Karasu repeated pensively. "You know, our circumstances are very similar. Bui."

Bui continued to glower at him. Karasu got off of him and stood up. Bui also righted himself slowly, grimacing at the blood spattered over the floor and walls. Karasu was impressed by his hardiness.

"I am an apprentice to the Shikaku, guild of assassins. They took me in years ago, when I had nowhere else to go." He paused. "My name is Karasu."

He turned to leave, but looked back over his shoulder when Bui did not follow.

"Aren't you coming?" His lips quirked under his mask, unseen. "Bui."

This was the meeting that cemented a lifelong companionship.

Farther up on the bank, Karasu groaned as he stirred. Drying tear tracks glistened on his face.

"Coming," Bui said, walking away from the lake. He stopped at Karasu's side, gazing down with genuine concern that was far more valuable to Karasu than any kitsune's beauty. If only the crow knew that. Well. He might learn in time.

"I'm here. Karasu."

--

Kurama and Hiei mounted the raft, which drifted towards the other shore almost dreamily. The mists over the lake sealed Shigure's cottage from view.

Kurama wanted to collapse into Hiei's arms but felt it would be unseemly, so he sat up cross-legged, keeping his back proudly straight.

Hiei seemed to see past this, for he asked seriously, "How do you feel?"

A faint smile came to Kurama's lips. He felt like he ought to say something like "exhilarated" or "relieved," as the truth would sound ungrateful.

In the end, however, he said honestly, "Tired."

"Sleep," Hiei told him gruffly. "I can carry you back to your home in Ningenkai if necessary."

Kurama's smile widened at the image of his mother opening the door to find Hiei cradling him in his arms. It provided a wonderful contrast to his previous experiences of being slung over Bui's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

He boldly leaned against Hiei and closed his eyes, resting his head on the Jaganshi's shoulder. Hiei looked down in wonder at the serene expression on his pinched face, and shifted so that Kurama might doze in a more comfortable position.

As he continued to gaze at Kurama, he thrilled with the knowledge that no matter how he had failed his other teammates, he had at last succeeded in saving one of them, the one dearest to him. He brushed Kurama's bangs out of his eyes, his fingers sweeping gently across Kurama's forehead as if in benediction.

The raft carried them across the lake, and afterwards Hiei picked Kurama up and carried him clear of Karasu and his bottomless lust masquerading as love, away from Shigure and his schemes, and beyond the face of fear.

--

A/N: This is not quite the end, as this chapter will be followed by an epilogue. Then the story will be finished.

Also, Jazi drew not one, but three amazing pieces of fan art for this fic! Here's one: deviation/31987307/ and here's another: deviation/32004664/

Shower her with praise. :D