Meanwhile, running to a mountainside cave, still holding the Necros orb in his mouth, the fox-cub hid in the darkness of the cave's entrance, panting for breath as soon as he was sure he was alone. At first he'd thought Karai may've actually succeed in denying him the orb—Karasu knew his power over his brother's body was weak as long as he didn't have his original body, but relief swam through his veins when Karai dropped the orb for him to grab. That, he thought, could be considered akin to a miracle, he could've sworn his brother would've struggled much longer and stronger, but he must've been mistaken in that assumption.

Surprising, but now that he had the orb, it didn't matter what anyone did, they couldn't stop him, and as soon as he had his original body back he'd reclaim that wretch fire-demon as his slave—maybe he would even give him a demon mating bite, to make sure he'd have power over Hiei at all times. That idiotic spell his brother taught him was flawed—Hiei had escaped from its power and killed him, something he wouldn't've been able to do if under the control of a demon mating bite.

About the only good spell he learned from his brother was the one that disguised his appearance and aura—he had manipulated the dead fox-demon using that power, making Kurama think Akiko had actually cheated on him by choice. Come to think of it, he'd had a fun time tricking Akiko as well—that first time he met her he'd disguised himself as Kurama's human form, tricking her into having intercourse with him and then transforming back to his original body, shocking Akiko severely. That had been most enjoyable.

Nothing, however, could compare to the delight he felt at succeeding in tricking that fire-demon into believing he was his friend—hah that had been the highlight of the past weeks. Though he did only possess the fox-cub as an afterthought, after the wretched fox-demon reincarnated himself into Akiko's unborn child. That action angered Karasu, that child was his so he could do whatever he wanted with it, like he'd done with Hinansho.

Yes, the real Hinansho had been his son, whom he had tormented until the boy committed suicide—sick and disturbing, yes, but Karasu didn't think much about him, the thought of family never struck the sadist demon in any significant way. All he saw in Hinansho was a plan to get his brother as his slave, and ultimately to get either Hiei or Kurama as his slave, Karasu had nearly everything planned for close to three and a half years.

He had even though of tormenting that wretch fox-demon in his dreams like he did Hinansho, but Kurama's own thoughts did well to torment the fox-demon without help. Karasu had merely watched as Kurama struggled to overcome his suicidal depression, though he had been tempted to enter the fox-demon's dreams after Kurama defeated the depression, but saw fit to wait a while before doing so.

Eventually, his patience rewarded him, for his brother Karai revived him, and Karasu took advantage of Karai's stupidity and trust manipulating the demon in his plan to acquire either Kurama or Hiei. He ended up making Hiei his slave, but was thwarted by the fire-demon's feelings for Kurama as the fox-demon lingered closer to death.

That defeat strengthen Karasu's desire to have Hiei under his control, in his power—Karasu hated being thwarted by the fire-demon, especially since it was Hiei's emotions that empowered the demon enough to overcome him. Karasu detest being defeated by something so human in nature. He wanted revenge, thus the reason why, after Kurama possessed Akiko's unborn child, Karasu possessed the fox cub Hiei kept as a pet, entering the body during the first week Hiei took care of it.

Everything worked out fine for him as Ku-chan, that is until the other soul gained some control—this other soul, whom Karasu assumed was the soul the fox cub was born with, tried at first to take complete control of the cub's body, but failing at that, it then processed to warn the fire-demon of Karasu's presence using Hiei's dreams as a method of communicating the warning. So far Hiei never guessed the significance of those nightmares though a vague sense of truth must've dawned on the fire-demon at some point—Karasu was certain of that.

Of course, at first, he wondered if he'd been fooled by Kurama into thinking that the fox-demon was possessing Akiko's child while the fox-demon really followed him, however, he realized that Kurama hadn't tricked him—the fox-demon was possessing Akiko's child. But he could sense it was only part of Kurama that possessed the child, a more human part, leaving it safe to assume that somehow Kurama's soul split into his more human form and his Youko form—an assumption now seen as fact because the Youko part of the pair had confronted him while Karasu stood watch over a sleeping Hiei. Of course he was surprised at first, shocked that he'd been right about the separation and that the Youko cared enough to try to protect Hiei, seeing as Karasu believed, correctly, that the human Kurama was the one in love with the fire-demon.

Bewildered though he was, Karasu thus figured that the soul within the fox cub he possessed was someone of no importance—it cared more about Hiei, so it couldn't've been the real Hinansho, besides Karasu had sealed the boy's soul so it couldn't've been him anyways. That left no one of significance that it could be, so Karasu no longer worried about it.

However….

It's not so easy, Karasu. A voice, that of the other soul of the fox cub, spoke to the sadist demon, causing him to gasp and drop the Necros orb—that voice was so familiar to Karasu, it sounded like…but it couldn't be him.

Who are you? Grr…. Karasu demanded, growling as he felt the fox cub's body leaving his control—that wretch other soul was trying to take over the body. But there was no way Karasu would let that happen. So he struggled to keep his own control over the body, focusing on the conflict within and not noticing how the Necros orb glowed brightly with pulsating energy.

Elsewhere, just a few miles from the place where Karasu struggled to keep control over the cub's body, Youko still searched for Kurounue, eyes narrowed and senses keen to detect any sign of the demon. However instead of him finding Kurounue, Kurounue found him—or at least Karai carrying the demon in his arms found him, stepping into the small clearing that Youko stood in.

"Kurounue!" Gasping in relief and fear at the sight of his old friend who he recognized even though the demon wasn't in his original body by the pendant hanging from a string around his neck, Youko rushed forward, shocking Karai who hadn't noticed that the Spirit Fox was standing in the clearing. Overwhelmed by relief and yearning though he was, Youko couldn't hold Kurounue in his arms since the Spirit Fox's present form was barely more than that of a ghost or spirit—he had yet to possess a new body. So Youko merely stared wistful and lovingly at the unconscious Kurounue, wishing that somehow he'd be able to touch him, but knowing that that was impossible—unless he had the Necros orb. But even if he had the Necros orb, he wouldn't have his real body back unless he offered enough aura to recreate it—if his more human body hadn't been cremated then he'd have that body but he didn't. (That was the reason why he'd had to use a human female's body to talk to Kurounue when he wanted him to prevent Akiko from causing that accident).

"Ah…you…who are you exactly?" Karai, bewildered by the sight of Youko, whom he never really saw before, asked after staring stunned to silence at the Spirit Fox for ten seconds.

"Youko; the original form of Kurama." Youko replied studying Karai with a sharp look of contempt—this was the demon who had revived Karasu and let him free to do whatever he wished, resulting in the fox-demon's death. "What happened to Kurounue? And how did he come to be in this human body in the first place?"

"I…um…accidentally revived Kurounue's spirit into Hinansho's body when I tried to revive the boy." Karai replied, paused and then spoke again. "Kurounue told me about you, the thief Youko, you and he were lovers in the past."

"Yes, we were, and as soon as I get my physical body back, he and I are going to resume where we left off." Youko replied growling in undertone.

"No."

"…." Youko narrowed his eyes, wanting to choke Karai for his response, but ended up only speaking, snarling his reply. "Regardless of whose body he'd in, Kurounue will prefer me, so he and I will be lovers again."

"Not if he's still in Hinansho's body, as long as he remains in MY lover's body he's mine."

"Grrr…." Youko growled, eyes narrowed as he glared at Karai—a glare that resulted in Karai taking a step away from the Spirit Fox even though without a physical body Youko wasn't much of a threat. "Kurounue's mine."

"Oh yeah? Seeing as I'm the one with the physical body, I don't see how you could stop me if I wished to have fun with him right now."

Anger whelming through him in a matter of seconds, Youko used his energy to control the plants around them, striking Karai with a vine that grazed the demon's abdomen, ripping off his shirt, and causing Karai to release his hold on Kurounue. A second vine zoomed to stop Kurounue from falling, cradling him gently as it lowered the demon to the ground.

"Don't even dare to make threats, I can kill you even without my body—you're not even a threat to me."

"Urr…you're only A class, I'm S class, so you're wrong on that threat part."

"I disagree, you may be an S class demon, but you still reek of the scent of someone innocent of killing—I bet you wouldn't even hurt a fly if you didn't have to." Youko replied, scoffing coolly at Karai's words. "Besides, Hinansho's body is in my possession now; you won't dare attack me now."

"Oh? Why should I fear you hurting Hinansho? Your lover Kurounue's spirit inhabits his body; I bet you wouldn't hurt him because of that."

"Oh yeah? If I killed Hinansho's body, Kurounue would return to spirit form and he and I could be together again." Youko smirked at Karai's gulp and shudder after hearing the Spirit Fox's words, knowing full well that he had the demon at his mercy (though Youko didn't want to kill the human boy just to get Kurounue back—he'd prefer to gain a new body of his own). Waiting for a moment or two for Karai to reply, Youko took in the demon's full appearance, focusing intently on the bite mark on Karai's side as soon as he saw it. "Heh, a demon bite on your side, interesting. You know what that symbolizes, don't you? Especially since it's located on your right side?" He smirked as Karai grimaced and tried to hide the bite a bit too late—while a demon mating bite on either side meant that the demon was a slave, a bite specifically on the right symbolized that it was an 'open slave,' a slave whose master didn't mind sharing—in other words, a slave who was free for any demon to fuck.

"Don't…I…you don't have a body so you can't even if you tried…." Karai stammered finding slight relief over that fact.

"True, but my vines…." Youko had one vine wrap around Karai's torso. "Could remedy that."

"Please…I…what do you want from me? I'll do anything, just don't…."

"The Necros orb."

"Huh?"

"Tell me where the Necros orb is and I'll let you go."

"I…my brother, Karasu, has it."

"WHAT!"

Whatcha think of that chapter? Who do you think the other soul in Ku-chan's body is? I'd like to hear your guesses, anyway please review! Oh, yeah, I forgot whether or not I specified a side that Karai had the bite on so please tell me if I did! Arigato!