Covet

Summary: Look only at me. Want only me. Be mine only. Otherwise, I'll break you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Chapter 4

Kurama was perched on his swirveling chair, one arm on the desk with his hand under his chin and the other arm flicking to draw on the piece of paper attached to the book he was reading. Or at the very least, trying to read for the past hour. For the first time in a long time, his mind would go inexplicably static, before taking a drastic turn to focus on bloody and horrific imagery of any type of torture he could possibly know. His blood thirst was sending involutary orders to the plants around his room and he hoped Yusuke wouldn't notice. He tried to keep at least a small part of his brain sane, just in case he would unintentionally harm his friend and would have to stop his plants from doing anything stupid under his orders. Although, he wouldn't deny that he did want to hurt something. Or someone, for that matter. He tried not to let his mind dwell too much on that but knew he was putting his own efforts to vain. Amazingly enough, he also didn't care.

Yusuke had came over to visit around that time, though the fox had barely acknowledged his existence. The detective seemed to notice his odd behavior and lack of response to any of his attempts at striking a conversation, but didn't dare to prod into the matter. He knew better than to probe into things better left unknown. Whatever had Kurama acting all weird, it was probably something Yusuke didn't need to know - if the intense hatred and raw anger restlessly intervening Kurama's usually calm aura was anything to go by at least. And it wasn't as if he hadn't caught a glimpse of dangerous shimmering gold menacingly peeking through Kurama's normally angelic peridots either. It felt as if he was staring at Youko Kurama, and not the usually mild-mannered Shuichi Minamino-Kurama that he was used to. Besides, the stoic expression he was too used to seeing was gone now, replaced with a tight, deathly one that seemed to send shivers of fear down his spine. It was a look Yusuke had never seen but it was a look he dared not mess with. To be honest, it freaked him out so much he wondered why he wasn't running out of the house yet. Maybe he was brave, maybe he was stupid. Most likely he was both.

"Yusuke." Kurama's voice sliced through the tension in the air like a knife digging through skin and Yusuke could have sworn his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Probably did a flip of horror too. "Botan's date… Do you know who it is?"

Yusuke tried to collect his composure before his brown eyes averted to unmistakably fix a confused stare on the fox. Kurama's posture was still the same; he still had his back facing him and his back was still as straight as the time Yusuke had gotten there. Then, slowly, almost too slowly, Yusuke blinked.

Those were the first words Kurama had said to him since he came, and those few first words were not what he expected at all. For a short moment, he let out a dumb-sounding, "Bwah?"

Kurama turned around for the first time that evening and permitted the slightest touch of a patient smile to graze his lips. If only the smile reached his eyes, then Yusuke would have been assured that Kurama wasn't threatening to lash out at him. Not that he would… would he?

"Uh," Yusuke took a short pause and scratched the back of his head with his right hand. He pondered for a moment what the hell was going on but decided, yet again, that he was not courageous enough to try and find out. Instead, he went on, "yeah, I know him. He's, er, an SDF member. One of the strongest fighters on the team, I guess. That's what I've heard about him from Koenma anyway. Met the guy a few times, talked to the guy a few times and he seemed pretty decent." A brief silence engulfed the two of them for a while. Kurama seemed to be waiting for him to say more but really, he didn't know anything else. His stupid mouth, however, couldn't keep itself from trying to grab at any piece of information the jumbled mess in his head he called his mind was trying to figure out. "Why do you ask?"

Another silence lingered and this time it seemed to drag on longer than the previous one. Yusuke couldn't help but wonder if he had made a huge blunder. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to ask that.

Then, Kurama's eyes were blank. There were no hints of malicious intents, no gold trying to scratch the surface. Just blank. Almost empty, lifeless green.

But it was only for a few seconds and remnants of the usual Kurama he was comfortable with suddenly slipped through. The corners of Kurama's lips, ones that had been thinned into the angriest damn line Yusuke had ever seen, curled upwards to form that polite smile he was accustomed to seeing. His emerald irises, Yusuke noted, had also regained their life again and was becoming a lighter shade in colour.

"I see. Well, that's good, I suppose." Kurama nodded to himself. His smile didn't falter but for a fraction of a second, Yusuke could have sworn he saw a slight fracture in Kurama's collected expression. "I was worried it was a guy who wouldn't quite be suitable for her, but I suppose my concerns were unneeded." The fox shut his book close with a quiet yet thundering thud. "Perhaps I should try again next time."

The last sentence that erupted from the fox's throat caused another question to appear in Yusuke's head. The gears in his mind worked their own magic before they seemed to fall into place and finally, everything clicked. Kurama asking Botan's phone number. The menacing aura Kurama was emitting. That goddamn last sentence.

"You…" Yusuke didn't finish at once, still trying to process the thought running circles in his small brain, "asked her to be your date." It wasn't an inquiry, it was a statement. "She told you no."

Kurama didn't seem surprised he caught on to that slightest bit of information. Yusuke wasn't that dumb, after all. "I'm afraid so."

"Oh." Yusuke honestly didn't know how to respond to that. He was still thinking how the hell Kurama was attracted to Botan in the first place and why the hell he didn't notice it either. "I, er," He gave another scratch to the back of his head, this time out of sheer embarrasment, "sorry to hear that, man. I have no idea what to say. Just-" He paused as his mind abruptly recalled something, "-you still have a chance. It's not like she likes him."

One red eyebrow quirked up to disappear into equally crimson bangs. "Is that so?" Kurama tried to hide the startled glee that swelled his heart, but it was there.

"Yeah. Apparently, she's going with him because that brat, Koenma thought it was a smart idea. Koenma's basically the reason she said yes in the first place. Botan told me she didn't have a partner to the wedding and Koenma just conveniently suggested the guy. I don't think she's ever noticed him before, but if it gives you any consolation, she's just going along because she didn't have anyone else." Yusuke didn't know why he was rambling, but he was. His hands were making dumb, absent-minded gestures, flailing around like he was some kind of idiot but Yusuke couldn't afford to care. He remembered Kurama's behavior that nearly scared him to death and thought it was somewhat wise to explain things to the redhead. It was probably just because he rarely saw Kurama so riled up- but Yusuke really couldn't just ignore the fact he almost pissed his pants. Something about the way the fox looked that just didn't seem to sit well with him. Not even Toguro or Sensui could have awakened that sense of trepidation inside of him.

Yet again, it was astounding how he hadn't ran when his instincts had literally screamed at his entire body to instantly flee. Kurama was his friend after all, and he knew his friends. He was supposed to know his friends- he'd liked to think he knew his friends. Whatever he had felt from Kurama; that was probably a mistake. It probably just freaked him out to see Kurama worked up for the first time, Yusuke tried to convince himself. Still, it wouldn't hurt to offer his pal some kind of support. He hoped it was enough to cool the redhead down. He didn't know if Kurama noticed what he was trying to do, but whether he did or didn't, Yusuke just wanted to show that he got his back no matter what.

Kurama did notice. I'd really like to say that's enough, Yusuke. I really do, he thought but his twisted mind really just wanted some blood in his hands. Even if he couldn't kill or hurt anyone, he was about to make sure Botan was his through any means possible. He had no qualms going to extreme measures if he had to. If only Yusuke knew, but that would only frighten him away. "What's his name?"

"Huh? Oh, Shouji. Brown hair, red eyes. Kinda tall, nearly as tall as you, I guess." Yusuke blinked. He didn't really understand why he was giving such a detailed description, but his mouth seemed to be moving way faster than his brain. "He's got those slitted eyes, you know? Sort of reminds me of a cat. He's got slightly dark skin, but not too dark. Got a tattoo that goes all the way from- I don't really know where, but you can see it peek through his collar. Anyway, it goes to his chin, reaching just below his right eye. I thought it was pretty cool the first time I saw it."

Kurama had a picture in his head and realized he had seen the man a few times. He hadn't actually initiated any contact with him but he had walked past by the man on some occasions when he dropped by at Reikai. He had never seen him interact with Botan so he had merely brushed him off as an unimportant reigen that didn't really warrant his attention. Not that it was important. Kurama had plans to deal with him some way or another.

"Is there some way I can meet him, without going to Reikai?" Kurama asked. It was too much trouble to find a means of transportation to go all the way to Reikai. If he could deal with the pest in the human world, that was best. Yusuke probably didn't know. But he supposed Botan knew and Botan had told Yusuke at least some of the plans her partner had.

"Botan…" Yusuke's voice drifted off into a dream-like state. "He told Botan that he's planning to- um, look for a suitable attire for the wedding. I guess he's going out shopping. In Ningenkai. Told Botan that he knows she likes human clothing so he's gonna buy his tux from a human's store. That's tomorrow, I think. It's kinda cheesy."

"Tomorrow," Kurama repeated, then nodded in affirmation. He was certain Yusuke felt dizzy at this point but the detective still didn't notice the tiny thing hovering behind his back so Kurama assumed it was safe to go on. "Anything else?"

"… I don't think so," Yusuke muttered, almost sleepily.

Kurama nodded once again and with a flick of his hand, decided it was best to let Yusuke rest.

The fox ordered the plant that lingered over Yusuke's shoulder to halt its effects on the poor boy. The purple petals that had peeled open to reveal yellow, slimy insides fluttered close as the light that resonated with its powers dimmed into nothing. It slithered slowly and quietly from the bed before moving up the walls and disappearing into the tiny cracks at the corners of his room. As immediately as it was out of sight, Yusuke shook his head, eyes blinking and brows furrowing, as if he had just snapped out of a trance.

Kurama inwardly apologized for using his powers on Yusuke, though he didn't really feel the tiniest bit guilty for what he did. That plant served to manipulate its victims into giving out information they, in other circumstances, would be too hard-pressed to tell. He knew Yusuke would be too suspicious of what he was planning to tell him anything so it was literally the only thing Kurama could manage. He didn't feel bad- he'd done much worse.

"Go to sleep, Yusuke," Kurama simply said and whirled around so that he was once again facing the other way, his back to Yusuke as the sound of body collapsing on the bed reached his ears. He opened his book once again and craned his neck to the side as he tucked his chin into the safety of his palm. Almost instantly, the medium-pitched snorings of Yusuke filled the air, accompanied with the sound of Kurama's pencil moving against the paper again.

No doubt Yusuke wouldn't remember anything by the time he was awake. By the time he would have gotten out of his slumber, he would be sleeping on his own bed and not Kurama's. The fox was going to make sure he wouldn't remember- he'd erased a person's memories before, it wasn't too difficult to pull that stunt on his own friend. He was, after all, partial to having things go his way. And Yusuke remembering any of this was a bad idea. He had caught a glimpse of the monster lying dormant underneath Kurama's calm, friendly exterior anyway and that was too dangerous. He was pretty sure Yusuke would find out sooner or later that he forced those bits of information out of him so really, memory-erasing was the only thing he could possibly think of. He couldn't have Yusuke get in the way of his plans after all. He didn't want to have to hurt him.

He had a few hours at the very least to get the necessary plant ready to rid Yusuke of the memories he was in no need of, and to get the detective back to his home without his mother or Atsuko noticing. That was more than enough time, he noted, so he continued to draw mindlessly on his book.

When he was done, his pencil snapped into half as he leaned back in his chair, eyes holding an appreciative gleam as he studied the art he had produced with so many strokes. He had gotten better, he thought.

On the book, excluding the printed words on the piece of paper, was an image of Shouji, skin ripped to shreds by man-eating plants. The muscle underneath was exposed, blood dripping out as Shouji's mouth was wide open in silent horror. It was too beautiful of a sight to erase so Kurama decided to leave it at that. Perhaps it was best to hide the book as well in hopes that his mother wouldn't find it.

A/N: Soooo… this wasn't a really good chapter. Oh, I don't even know anymore. Have I gotten worse at writing? Maybe. Ugh, This is what you get after not touching your fics for a long time I guess. Still, I hope my readers had enjoyed reading this. Maybe I can update with a better chapter next time.