Sorry for the long absence! Been a busy time for me. But I've recently picked this fic back up, so we shall be going on with it as planned. Things are about to get interestingly angsty, so mind your heads.
WARNING: Some serious angst ahead. Mentions of mutilation and implied gore. Oh, and did I mention this is rated M for a reason? Yeah. Might want to be mindful of that.
Going on with a song to suit this chapter, this fic, and the Yusuke x Kurama ship. You're welcome.
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CH III
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First, From last time, because it was a while ago:"Come, then; we'll head to Genkai's place. Your choice where you sit." Kurama shrugged as he began to hastily walk back to his car, rain beginning to patter on the ground around them. He realised his actions seemed callous, with the way he was effectively ignoring the bigger picture, but his cool head was what Yusuke would be looking for right now; something stable to cling to and depend on when the rest of his world was changing. Kurama had already become the ex-detectives stable rock, in a sense, due to the occurance of these episodes. No, he corrected himself, he'd been the stable rock for longer than that; the person Yusuke, and even Kuwabara turned to when things became too hard for them to swallow or when they needed a logical answer to a sentimental problem. He couldn't say he minded the role, except where Hiei was concerned, but their relationship was a little...different.
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Familar Taste of Poison
By Halestorm
'''
"Drink the wine,
My darling," you said,
"Take your time,
And consume all of it."
But the roses,
Were only to drain my inspiration;
The promises,
Were scorned before they left your lips and-
'''
I breathe you in again,
Just to feel you -
Underneath my skin,
Holding onto
The sweet escape -
Is always laced with a
Familar taste
Of poison...
...
I tell myself
That you're no good for me,
I wish you well;
But desire never leaves.
I could fight this 'till the end,
But maybe I don't wanna win-
'''
I breathe you in again,
Just to feel you -
Underneath my skin
Holding onto -
The sweet escape
Is always laced with a
Familiar taste
Of poison...
'''
I don't wanna be saved, I don't wanna be so polite,
I want you on my mind,
In my dreams, behind these eyes,
And I wanna wake up,
No, not this time...
'''
I breathe you in again
Just to feel you -
Underneath my skin
Holding onto -
The sweet escape
Is always laced with a
Familiar taste
Of poison...
A familair taste of poison...
A familair taste
Of poison...
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Yusuke et al sat in an uneasy silence around the center table in one of the main areas of Genkai's temple, dripping dry from the trek up there. Genkai sat across from the three, sensing something unsaid hanging in the air like a phantom, and knowing that something had likely gone wrong, for them to be coming here at this time of night. She knew, of course, about Yusuke's episodes. In fact, she was one of the first people he'd turned to for help, which, of course, she couldn't give very much of. She wasn't a youkai, after all.
"So," Genkai uttered, breaking the tense silence like shattering glass, making Yusuke noticably jump. Not a good sign at all. "I presume there's a good reason why you three are at my temple at this hour of the evening?" Her jade eyes scanned over the three, settling on Yusuke at the center. Kurama, too, turned to look at Yusuke.
"I see." Genkai said, sipping her tea, which she'd had Yukina make the moment she'd sensed their incomming arrival. "How bad?" She asked simply, and didn't one bit like the grave look that passed over the old fox's face.
"It's bad." Kurama offered, keeping his voice low but clear. "Keiko is in critical care right now, and the police are probably looking for him."
"Keiko?" Yukina, who was busily tending to polishing a particular tea set behind Genkai, inquired worriedly. Yusuke seemed to withdraw then, as if wanting to curl in on himself. Genkai only looked on, surprised that it had escalated to the point of endangering human life. It had always been a possibility, she knew, but for Keiko to suffer...
"What happened?" She asked - more like demanded, if Yusuke were to judge - and he sighed at length, lifting his head wearily to look forlornly at the fox beside him. Genkai got a good look at his face then, for the first time since he came in, and her stomach sank. He had noticable amounts of dried blood stuck to his chin and jaw, though it was evident that he had tried to wash it off. There was no way defensive wounds had caused that kind of blood to appear on his face. Still, she stayed wisely silent, sensing more than seeing a disturbing amount of distress rolling off her pupil in waves.
"I...we..." Yusuke took a deep breath, and Kurama once more placed a supporting hand on his friend's back. He sighed again, finding his voice, as well as a new sense of calmness.
"We...Me and Keiko were just...just messing around, in our room. She started playing an' stuff, and...I don't know. Something...something went wrong." Yusuke said, sounding unsure of himself.
"Well, clearly, or you wouldn't be here right now." Genkai said, but it had no bite. Yusuke sighed again, hunting for words.
"I...I was kissing her, y'know, and...I don't know what came over me." At this, all eyes fell raptly on Yusuke, making him squirm.
"What happened?" Genkai promted again, leaning down to catch her student's eyes as they fell.
"I don't really know. I...I smelled her. I...I nipped her a little bit, and I smelled the blood...Something in me snapped. I don't really remember it...I just remember coming to and..." Yusuke's voice cracked with emotion he rarely showed. "She was bleedin' everywhere. There was blood on everything." He whispered, still shaken. " I didn't know what happened 'till I tasted her blood in my mouth..." He lifted his fists, pressing them to his temples as he did curl in on himself, letting his face fall into his lap. Kurama felt pity for his friend, who he could tell was struggling to keep it together.
"We're almost done, Yusuke." the fox offered. " We just need a little more information. You say you don't remember anything while it was happening, but what about before? Was there some kind of trigger, you think?" At this, Yusuke went rigid, hiding his face even more.
"Yusuke?"
"Can we talk about this later, Kurama? Please..." The old fox couldn't say no to his friend's uncharacteristic pleading. He sighed.
"Alright. Alright." He rubbed soothing circles over Yusuke's back, trying to calm him.
"You three can stay here tonight, if you like. I won't hold it against you. Just make sure you clean up after yourselves. You know the drill." Genkai said calmly, rising up. Yukina followed suit, taking the hint. They both left the three demons alone, and no sooner had they closed the door than Kurama jumped at the sound of his friend falling to pieces beneath his hand as he let out a single, choked sob.
Hiei watched Yusuke with an alarmed expression, not having ever really seen a human - much less a demon - cry before, and never having really expected Yusuke to be the type to do so to begin with. He glanced at Kurama with alarmed expression in place, to which he was effecively given a metaphorical boot, with Kurama indicating with his eyes that he should leave. Hiei had to huff. He didn't want to stick around to watch this anyway.
After Hiei vanished, Yusuke picked himself up a little, sniffling. Kurama watched on in mild discomfort, not knowing generally how to go about these things, since he rarely - very rarely - had ever cried, as a human or otherwise. But he was the only one here now, and the only one Yusuke had left to turn to.
"Sorry..." Yusuke offered weakly.
"It's alright. I don't think anyone can blame you for not being able to handle this. I'd be pretty upset too, if, for example, I had woken up to find I'd tried to eat Hiei." Yusuke let out a snort at that, and Kurama ignored the tiny droplets he could see falling from Yusuke's hanging face from his periphery.
"I'd be more concerned about Hiei trying to eat you."
"You're honestly probably right, but still..." Kurama conceded, trying to bring up the mood. It served to distract him. A long silence followed, in which Kurama could feel beneath his hand the uneven breaths of his companion as he tried time and again to stifle his sobs.
"Yusuke..." Kurama whispered, feeling genuinely distressed over his friend's pain. Is this what compathy* was supposed to be?
His name being voiced like that was the last straw for Yusuke. He was down to two options - cry on Kurama's shoulder like a wuss, or ask him to leave and cry alone. Well, he'd already done the latter that day, so he could -
Ah, hell. Who was he kidding?
In a most unexpected move, Yusuke suddenly pulled himself up, and turned big, glassy, reddening eyes to the fox, a question buried within his dark irises. For once, the old demon didn't ponder long on an answer, instead opening his arms invitingly for Yusuke to come into, should he wish to. He normally wasn't one to do this - but then, neither of them seemed to be acting in character today.
Kurama sat there with Yusuke somewhat awkwardly crying on his shoulder, and found it in himself to put up with the contact, uncomfortable as he was with the emotions being displayed. Yusuke was his friend, and he was hurting right now. He needed someone, clearly, and Kurama was happy to provide any support he could - even if it made him cringe when Yusuke sniffled against his shirt, which was rapidly becoming soaked in salty-smelling tears. For Yusuke, though, it was worth it.
They sat like that for a time, Kurama wrapping his arms genlty around Yusuke's torso as the ex-detective hugged him, fists balling into the back of Kurama's shirt. Finally, Yusuke quieted down, though he didn't pull away for a time yet. Kurama was okay with this, realising that just because he'd stopped crying didn't mean that he was stable yet. He once more ran soothing circles over the Mazoku's back, a sense of contentment finding him out of nowhere as he supported Yusuke's weight against his shoulder, his discomfort absolving once Yusuke had stopped sobbing onto him. Even after spending so much time in the human world, the sound still seemed...unnatural, to him. Crying was almost purely a human phenomena - some demons felt grief, and surely felt sadness or depression, but few actually cried the way humans did. The sound of a human infant crying sent similar sensations of unease through him. They just weren't sounds that registered to him as familial. They belonged to something else, not his own kind, and that made it hard for him to find a heart with which to handle them sometimes - though he was getting better at it as his human life wore on.
"Sorry Kurama," Yusuke hiccupped against his shoulder. "I know this can't be pleasant for you to watch. Falling apart like some kinda wuss..." He drew a shaky breath, exhaling shortly against his friend's shirt.
"Think nothing of it, Yusuke. You're my friend. Sometimes...sometimes we need to help each other, even like this." He comforted, gently grasping Yusuke's shoulders to push him back. He withdrew willingly, looking up at Kurama's face with a blush on his own, clearly embarrassed by the ordeal. He averted his eyes quickly, tucking his face into his shoulder.
"Seriously, though. Thanks for this. It...means a lot, that you'd let me do this without..."
"Without criticizing you?" He offered, a small smile gracing his lips.
"Yeah, somethin' like that." Yusuke said, a tiny smile beginning to tug at the corners of his mouth. At least he wasn't crying now.
Kurama placed his hand on Yusuke's shoulder again, deliberately turning him to face him. Yusuke obliged by his unspoken request, but still kept his eyes averted. It was always funny to Kurama, that he behaved that way with him. Anyone else, he could challange, anyone else, he could fearlessly look in the eye and never blink- even Hiei. But for reasons the fox presumed not to be hubris about, the ex-detecive rarely met his eyes for longer than a second, and if he did, it was only when they were a part of a group and the atmosphere relaxed. In tense situations though, he could never recall Yusuke deliberately challanging him (though he'd been told off a few times). It made him want to smile, but he knew better. If becoming mortal had taught him anything, it was that he needed to second-guess himself more often, lest he revert back to some kind of pride-fueled power trip like he did in his old days. Dampening that train of thought, he switched gears back to Yusuke's predicament, almost dreading to say the words he knew he needed to say.
After all, they did say a true friend would tell you what you needed to hear, not what you wanted- didn't they?
And if he became the bad guy for it...oh well. It wasn't like he hadn't been the villain before. "Yusuke," He said, calling his friend's attention. Yusuke looked up at him sadly, making the fox dread what he had to say even more.
"I know you don't want to hear this, but hear me out for a second. It's important." Yusuke swallowed thickly, eyes falling again as he nodded slowly.
"I realize this was just an accident, but you're in real danger from this incident, Yusuke." The ex-detective raised his head to look at Kurama inquisitively.
"Koenma has to know. There's no way around it- and if none of us tell him, he'll just find out on his own anyway. In fact, there's a possibility he already knows." Kurama warned gently, speaking softly, as though he were speaking to a frightened bird. A fitting analogy, if he were to be the judge of it.
"And what's pacifier breath gonna do? I mean, it's not like he could execute me- could he?" Yusuke was going to go on a tangent about it, but thought better by the grave expression on the older demon's face.
"I'm afraid I'm not sure what he'll do. You've endangered a human life- for any other demon, that would be cause for banishment back to the Makai. But since this wasn't an intentional attack, he may be more forgiving. Still..."
"Still?"
"...I fear he may still incarcerate you, somehow. In any event, you aren't likely to walk away from this scotch-free." Kurama explained, giving his friend a sympathetic look. Yusuke turned away from him then, elbows falling on his knees as he propped up his head on his hands. He still looked distressed, but wasn't as shaken as before.
"I know." he sighed, taking deep, calming breaths. "I don't know what I'm going to do." He whispered dejectedly, aura taking on a depressing tint again.
"Well, I for one propose some good sleep, to start with." Kurama offerred reassuringly, touching Yusuke's shoulder blade. "We can figure it out in the morning." When he didn't move, Kurama sighed.
"Brooding over it won't solve the problem, Yusuke." He hated being so blunt when his friend was clearly still upset, but when Yusuke got in a broody mood, it could last for days - and that wasn't time they had. "You need some sleep, or at least a long rest. I'll stay with you, if you feel like it would help."
"Nah. You're right - as usual." Yusuke huffed, standing up fluidly from his position. Kurama followed suit, keeping an eye on his companion. "You can leave the door between the rooms open if you want to, but I think I'm okay enough to manage on my own." Realizing too late how rude he sounded, he backtracked. "But I appreciate the offer, man."
"Anytime, Yusuke." Kurama offered Yusuke a soft smile, the effect working it's magic and making Yusuke's whole disposition right then lighten just a little.
Kurama knew, though, that he would have nightmares tonight, and probably for nights hereafter - thus, his offer to stay by him tonight - but he also realized that Yusuke was a proud man, and respected his wishes for at least some privacy. Coaxing a smile onto his face, he followed Yusuke through the house, mentally prepared to lose some sleep tonight as he pulled out his cell to call his mother.
'It's going to be a long night.'
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WHOO! Update!
I should be falling back into the rythm of this fic soon, since I am re-watching the series for the THIRD time. (I never get tired of it, to be honest.) I must apologize if Kurama seems a little...strange, here, but I have an honest belief that some 2,000 + years of bad habits aren't going to magically work themselves out in the span of 23 (Kurama's human age here). Just as reference for future chapters.
Now my favorite thing to bug you with - ASTERISKS!
*Compathy: A fancy word for a feeling most people have experienced, but which intellectual people like Kurama notoriously struggle with; it is a type of empathy known as compassionate empathy (thus, "compathy", a combination of compassion+empathy) in which another's emotions seem to integrate with your own, making you feel their feelings (most commonly pain or distress) as if they were your own.
Alright peoples, I hope you're still out there! And please, for the sake of measurement, Review for the next chapter...Please?