Originally the idea was just for a one shot. I was just curious to explore the tension between Yomi and Kurama…to experiment with their shared past and see what the characters would "tell" me. Then it got such a favorable response that one chapter became two became three and so on…

So many thanks to everyone who's read this far, even after the hiatus. I apologize for keeping you all waiting for so long. This is the final chapter of the Leashed storyline – as I've told a few of you, I really feel that the cannon wraps up their relationship nicely (one of the few things I actually liked about the Three Kings arc) and so I don't plan to go into the tournament. I just don't see a point in it. As I've mentioned before, you can read Dirge as following in the same timeline as this story, so if you have any remaining questions after this chapter, or anything that feels unresolved, please let me know and I'll try to work it into that fic.

Again, thank you so much for your time and patience. I hope you enjoyed yourselves.

"I had hoped to make you love me."

He stopped, surprised by the sudden voice. He found himself unable to summon even the smallest of smiles.

"Oh, Yomi…"

The horned demon cocked his head to the side, expression concerned. "You've repacked your things," he stated, looking, for all the world, as if he could actually see the pack on Kurama's shoulder. "Don't tell me you're leaving so soon."

"I thought it would be best."

"Ah…" a smile played at Yomi's mouth as he approached, his fingertips lightly playing along the wall of the corridor as he walked. "Yes, most men would be furious after the events which occurred today. How many betrayals does that make now?"

"Too many," Kurama acknowledged guardedly.

Yomi laughed.

"At least you acknowledge it!" the other demon said warmly. His progress stopped him just short of Kurama, leaving him just out of arm's reach. He had made no motion of a threat yet, and so Kurama was forced to endure continuing their polite façade. He would not, he swore to himself, be the first to attack. He owed Yomi that, at least. "Did you ever intend on remaining true?"

"It depended."

"On which side proved the strongest, I suppose?" he asked amiably.

"On Yusuke," Kurama corrected.

This surprised his old friend. For just a moment he lost his kingly patience; for just a moment he was the man Kurama had once kept so closely to his side – a foolish and honest young warrior incapable of even the slightest believable deceit. The old Yomi would not have been able to hide his thoughts from Kurama for even a second, however he might have tried. His emotions had always been as clear as the morning sun to the fox.

"He is one whose trust I will never betray," Kurama admitted, sure he was sealing his fate.

Yomi didn't answer for a long while. Kurama shifted his eyes to stare past him, unable to bear the naked pain in his once-friend's face.

"Never once…never once did I mean anything to you, did I?" Yomi asked, still seeming so young, so vulnerable, so open.

Kurama fought the urge to flinch. "Who's to say?" he asked.

The foolishly honest companion of so long ago began to vanish. The open pain in his expression closed off, folding in on itself like a puppet that had lost its strings. The blink of an eye was all it took for him to become once again the cool visage of the king of Gandara.

"You should make haste in leaving this land, Kurama," he advised pleasantly.

"The changes you made to your palace…" the fox could not resist asking, even though his every instinct was screaming for him to make his exit. "The plants, the new rooms, the servants…"

"A great expense I went to under the foolish hope of making amends. Of winning the heart of the one I had always dreamed of."

"Yet you were furious when you found I had arrived in your kingdom."

Yomi's smile was full of self mockery. "That's what makes you such a cruel opponent, Kurama," he said softly. "No matter how much I hate you, no matter how I long for the feel of my hands around your slender neck…my affection, my love…"

"Yomi - !"

He stopped, a grim smile on his lips. "As I said," he offered at last. "You should leave. Before I do something I will never be able to forgive myself for."

Still Kurama hesitated. "I have never loved you romantically," he admitted.

"You are pushing your luck, Kurama. I warn you, my patience will not stretch much longer."

"I have never loved you," he repeated, "However…that does not mean that I never cared for you."

"You have a very strange way of showing that, then. Now – unless you would prefer my men drag your carcass out of here in pieces…"

Kurama stepped forward. He felt as if this were his only opportunity; the only time he and his one-time friend would ever be able to bear being so brutally honest with each other again. This was the last time they would be able to face each other on such terms, and Kurama couldn't bring himself to remain silent. He owed Yomi something, didn't he? He reached out and took his once-friend's face in his hands.

"I should never have sent that assassin after you," he admitted as he kissed him softly.

"A little belated, don't you think?" even now, with the pain and the fury of yet another betrayal so fresh, Yomi's expression and voice softened.

"I should have killed you myself."

"Lovely, Kurama."

He laughed, gently, and kissed him again. "I thought it would be far less cruel if you were to die ignorant of my decision regarding your suitability as my second."

"Such a strange way to express your kindness."

"Perhaps," Kurama kissed him a third time, and eased his hands back through that thick, dark mass of hair. "Yet it is the truth. I did not want your dying thoughts to be the knowledge that I had been the cause of your end."

Yomi mirrored his actions, pulling his own hands through Kurama's hair, fingers tugging on the red strands. "You are truly a bastard, Kurama."

The fox drew back, and when he offered a smile to his old friend, he found that he actually meant it.

"I hope our paths cross during Yusuke's tournament," he said honestly.

"If we fight, I will kill you."

Kurama laughed. "You would never."

Yomi's smile spread across his face as if pulled there against his will. "The tournament, then, Kurama?"

"It's a date."

End