Warning: this chapter contains content that may be triggering. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 8 The Only One

Touya didn't remember much after Team Urameshi was declared the winner. He sagged in Jin's arms, his energy spent. He heard Jin and Kurama speaking in low voices, Jin's tinged with panic, Kurama's ever calm, though his brain was too foggy to process what they were saying. He vaguely remembered something about Kuwabara still being alive and the stadium collapsing, though later he would wonder if his delirious brain had imagined these events to cope with the chaos it was experiencing.

He remembered Jin speaking to him reassuringly, though he couldn't remember exactly what he said and he remembered being carried somewhere. The last thing he remembered was a cool hand on his forehead and then nothing.

.o.O.o.

It was dark when he woke next and he didn't recognize his surroundings.

"Jin…?" he called out weakly.

"He went out on an errand."

The cold voice made Touya's skin prickle. A light snapped on and Touya was momentarily blinded. When his eyes adjusted, his heart raced; Risho stood at the end of his bed.

"You!" he gasped.

"Yes, me," Risho said calmly.

"What do you want?" Touya demanded.

"You," Risho said, walking around to the side of the bed.

The simple, straightforward answer caught Touya off guard. "M…me?"

Yes," Risho said. "You dare to defy me. Usually, that would anger me greatly, but for some reason, I'm intrigued by it." Risho reached out and gently touched Touya's cheek. Touya pulled away in disgust. "You see? That is exactly what I'm talking about. Every time I try and touch you, you pull away. I try and open your heart and you cover it with another layer of ice. Why is that?"

Touya didn't answer. Risho took hold of Touya's chin and tilted it so their eyes were equal.

"Open your heart to me, I implore you," he said. "Let me see who you really are." Touya twisted his head around to break free of Risho's grasp. "Hm, is that a no?" Touya glared at him. "You have such a wild spirit, Touya. I wish to break you. I wish to make you mine."

"I belong to no one!" Touya hissed.

He desperately wished he was able to use his ice powers right now, but he knew there was no way. He was just too exhausted from everything that had happened, too overspent.

"You let Jin touch you," Risho said and Touya flinched. "Why not let me touch you? I can make you so good."

I seriously doubt that, Touya thought.

Risho leaned in closer and Touya's heart raced.

"Get away from me!" he yelled.

Risho struck him across the face. His head slammed into the wall and he saw stars. Risho took advantage of that and pinned Touya down.

"Let me go. Please," Touya said.

Risho ignored him. "It seems that this may have been a bad idea."

"What do you mean?" Touya asked, momentarily distracted.

"I know you were speaking to that…that demon traitor," Risho said with contempt.

Touya felt a surge of anger. "So what?"

"He has corrupted you," Risho said.

"I am not being corrupted," Touya hissed.

Risho struck him again. "Silence! When we return, you are going to train even harder than before and live in seclusion until you learn."

"No." Touya was amazed at how calm he felt as he stared up at Risho.

Risho's face darkened. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," Touya said. "I am done with you and your lies. The light you promised us is a lie. Isn't it?"

"How dare you!" Risho snarled. His grip on Touya's wrists tightened until he whimpered. "I suppose I must teach you a lesson."

He slammed their lips together. Touya reacted purely out of instinct and bit down on Risho's lip as hard as he could. Risho recoiled, holding his lip. Touya felt a savage satisfaction to see him bleeding. He cried out when Risho struck him again.

"You little viper!" Risho hissed. He bound Touya's wrists with a strip of cloth he found and then leaned down. "I will make you mine."

"No, please!" Touya managed to whisper. "Don't."

Risho ignored him, kissing and biting his neck. Touya gasped as Risho's hand slid up the front of his shirt.

"I'm begging you, don't do this!" Touya cried as Risho's hand went down his pants.

"Be quiet!" Risho snapped.

Instead, Touya screamed, praying someone, anyone heard him. Risho pulled away from him and found some cloth to gag him. Touya's closed his eyes as Risho began removing his clothes.

Jin, please, he thought, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

He screamed when Risho penetrated him. His eyes watered in pain, but he refused to let the tears out. He refused to cry.

Suddenly, he heard an angry bellow and someone unseen lifted Risho off Touya and slammed him into the wall. Touya jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"No, please," he whimpered, his words muffled by his gag.

"Shh, Touya," a gentle voice said in his ear. "I am not going to hurt you."

Touya dimly recognized the voice. "K…Kurama?"

"Hold on," Kurama said.

Touya felt his bonds loosen and the gag taken out of his mouth, but he didn't dare open his eyes. He rolled onto his side and vomited.

"Easy there," Kurama murmured, gently rubbing his back.

Touya curled in on himself, shame and horror welling up inside him. He had…Risho had…

He vomited again as the gravity of the situation came to him. His breathing came in short gasps as he tried to reel in his emotions. He would not cry, especially not in front of Kurama.

He tried to focus on what Kurama was telling him, "…going…room…examine…think you can walk?"

"Y…yeah," Touya managed to get out.

He finally opened his eyes. The room swam in and out of view for a few moments before finally remaining in focus. Kurama stood by the bed, grave concern reflecting in his green eyes.

"Here," he said, draping something over Touya's shoulders.

Touya recognized the item to be a blanket. He took a deep breath and pushed himself up slowly, wrapping the blanket around his body as he went. When he got into a kneeling position, he stopped and looked around the room. He was alone with Kurama in the bedroom he shared with Jin; Risho was nowhere in sight. He took another deep breath, slowly swung his legs around the side of the bed, and stood. His legs trembled and he collapsed to the floor.

Kurama was at his side at once. "Are you all right?"

Touya shook his head. "I don't…think I can walk."

He hated admitted his weakness, but Kurama offered no judgement. He looped his arms around Touya's body and lifted him into his arms. Touya buried his face in Kurama's shirt and closed his eyes as they started walking.

"Where we going?" he mumbled.

"I'm taking you to my room. I need to examine you," Kurama said.

"Risho…?" Touya asked.

"He won't hurt you again," Kurama said, a hard edge to his voice.

"What…?" Touya wondered.

"I don't know what happened to him. I left it to Jin to come up with suitable retribution," Kurama said.

"Mmm," Touya buried his face deeper in Kurama's shirt, the demon's scent soothing.

He was vaguely aware of a door opening. He was laid on a soft surface. He reluctantly opened his eyes as Kurama switched on an overhead light.

"Touya…" Kurama's voice was extremely gentle as he regarded Touya. "I'm afraid there are some uncomfortable questions I must ask you in order to properly treat you. I promise that whatever passes between us will be kept in confidence."

"Okay," Touya whispered.

"When Risho assaulted you, how far did he get?" Kurama asked.

"He…" Touya lowered his eyes.

"Touya, please," Kurama said. "I need to know. Did he penetrate you."

Touya couldn't bear to look Kurama in the eye as he nodded. "He p…penetrated me, but he d…didn't finish what he was d…doing."

"All right," Kurama said. "I would like to do a quick internal exam to make sure Risho didn't injure you when he penetrated you. I will try and be as gentle and quick as I can, but it will still be unpleasant."

Touya nodded.

Kurama arranged the pillows on the couch. "Here, lay against these. You may close your eyes or leave them open; I leave that choice to you."

Touya leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes, focusing on Kurama's soothing voice. "Bring your knees up to your chest. Yes, like that. Hold on, let me shift the blanket a bit. There we go. All right, now ease your knees apart. That's right. Now, I want you to take a deep breath for me, Touya." Touya inhaled deeply. "Good. Now exhale slowly." Touya obeyed. "I'm going to put my fingers inside you. I'll be as brief as possible. Just keep breathing, all right?" Touya couldn't help whimpering softly when he felt Kurama's fingers gently probing inside him. "It's okay, Touya. Focus on your breathing. Inhale, exhale. You're doing great. I'm almost done."

Touya nearly cried with relief when Kurama removed his fingers. He waited a few moments and then opened his eyes.

"Everything looks fine," Kurama said, wiping his fingers off on a towel. "It appears that Risho did not injure you."

"Thank goodness," Touya murmured.

"I'm going to make you something to drink," Kurama said. "It will help ease any discomfort you may be feeling and it will help you calm down."

"You're leaving me alone?" Touya couldn't help the anxious spike his voice took.

"Of course not," Kurama said soothingly. "Chu and Rinku are standing guard outside. If you need anything, just call them and they will come."

"Do they know?" Touya asked.

"All they know is that Risho attacked you," Kurama said.

"What about Jin?"

Kurama's silence told him everything he needed to know. Touya resisted the urge to weep and instead after Kurama had left him, forced himself to sit up and look around. He wrapped his blanket tighter and willed himself to stop shaking, but his body betrayed him. He looked up as Kurama cautiously approached him carrying a teacup.

"Here, this should help," Kurama said, holding out the cup. He gave Touya a wry smile. "There are no sedatives this time, I promise, although if you would like a sedative, I'd be happy to give you one."

Touya shook his head. "That's not necessary. I'm fine."

"All right," Kurama said. "At least drink the tea."

Touya accepted the cup from Kurama and sniffed it. It seemed harmless enough, but he was still cautious as he took the first sip. It was sweet, though not overpowering, and it made him feel better.

He looked up at Kurama. "It's very nice. Thank you."

Kurama smiled at him. "You're welcome."

Touya flinched when someone knocked on the door, spilling tea all over the place.

"Sorry," he muttered, trying to mop up the mess.

"Here," Kurama said quietly, handing him towel.

While Touya cleaned up the tea, Kurama went to answer the door. Touya heard him speaking to someone in a low voice.

After a few moments, Kurama came back. "Touya, Koenma would like to speak with you, if you feel comfortable."

Touya frowned. Koenma? What does the ruler of Spirit World want to speak to me for? I thought Spirit World didn't get involved in internal disputes like this.

"Yes, that's fine, but uh…could I put on some pants first?" he said.

Kurama looked at him in surprise and then seemed to realize that Touya had been sitting without pants.

"Yes, of course," he said, flushing a bit. "Why don't you wait in the bedroom while I have Jin fetch you a clean pair of pants?"

Touya nodded and slowly rose from the couch, making sure the blanket was secure around his body. He waited in the bedroom until there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Here you are," Kurama said softly when he opened the door, holding out a pair of Touya's pants. "Come out when you feel comfortable."

"Thank you," Touya said.

He closed the door and put the pants on. Then, he sat on the edge of bed, took a deep breath, counted to ten, and went out.

Kurama and another man sat in the sitting area, talking in low voices. When Kurama saw Touya approach, he halted the conversation abruptly and smiled though Touya could see it was strained.

"Ah, Touya. Come join us," he said.

Touya hesitated for a moment before sitting on the couch. He was careful to sit away from Kurama and then raised his eyes to study the ruler of Spirit World.

Koenma was youthful in appearance, but Touya recognized the look in his eyes as one who had lived a very long time. He was a surprisingly good-looking man; there were rumors that his father King Yama was an ogre of a man, though none could substantiate this claim. King Yama locked himself in his fortress and let his son run things. If Koenma's father was hideous, Koenma had not inherited his father's looks. He was slim and pale, with brown hair and brown eyes. It was clear from his stature and body type that he was a ruler, not a fighter, but Touya didn't find anything wrong with that; not everyone was fit to fight and not everyone was fit to rule.

Koenma cleared his throat. "As you know, Spirit World is not in the business of intervening in every little squabble between demons."

Touya thought this was more than just "a little squabble between demons", but held his tongue.

"That being said," Koenma continued, "I'm not about to turn a blind eye to an atrocity committed right under my nose. The question is, what can we do?"

"I…" Touya wrung his hands together as Kurama and Koenma turned to look at him. "I cannot return to the Shinobi."

"Leaving the Shinobi is not a decision to be made lightly," Koenma said.

"I know," Touya sad, staring calmly at the leader of the Spirit World. "It's something I have been contemplating for a while now, ever since my team lost to yours. But after everything that Risho has done, I…I cannot justify staying with them any longer."

"Very well," Koenma said.

Touya could see in his eyes that he knew it was a certain death sentence, just as Touya did.

Risho didn't give me much of an option, Touya thought darkly. Given the choice, though, I'd rather be dead than suffer frequent sexual assault from Risho.

"Koenma," Kurama said softly and Touya and Koenma both looked at the red-haired demon. "All three of us know that allowing Touya to return to Demon world is an immediate death sentence. Risho will have him assassinated the moment he steps foot there. However, there is one place he would be safe."

Koenma's eyes widened. "Are you suggesting…?"

"Yes," Kurama said. "He must hide himself in Living World."

Touya felt his breath leave him. Hide in Living World? Was that even possible? He didn't really like the idea of running and hiding, but when the other choice was death, he would take running and hiding any day. He looked up at Koenma, who frowned.

"Hmm. It's rare to allow a demon to immigrate to Living World, but I suppose I could arrange something," Koenma said slowly. He regarded Touya with a serious expression. "Are you absolutely sure about this? Once you leave, it's likely you will never see it again."

Touya gazed calmly at him. "I am."

He knew that his life with the Shinobi was over. The thought of having to leave Jin behind and possibly never see him again broke his heart, but what other choice did he have? Where this path would lead him he did not know, but he would find his way again, that he was sure of.