Disclaimer: I do not own any of the main characters used in this story. The characters I do happen to own are Zane and Cian. This story is rated M for violence, lots of drama, and graphic boy on boy action. Did I mention bad language? You've been warned!

CHAPTER SEVEN: TORN APART

Kurama fled the bookstore without purchasing anything, a fact he regretted when he arrived home to an empty house, a place where there were no distractions, no escape from the thoughts that plagued him. A headache pounded beneath the surface, threatening a major migraine if ignored. Kurama decided quickly that a hot bath after a good hour of meditation was just what he needed.

He went to the basement, a room he'd made as bare but comfortable as possible. It was the meditation room he'd made for the sake of his sanity and Hiei's, a place of peace. The rule was that no one was to be disturbed when the door was closed, one mate would not interrupt the private time of another while they were in this room. The floors were carpeted thickly, a comfortable marshmallow feeling. The walls were black to create contrast. That and Hiei had threatened to stain them with blood if the fox didn't do something about the obscene amount of white contained in the basement. He'd gotten back at him by painting the walls black instead. However, the contrast was comforting. There was a table at the far end of the room that held a potted tiger lily plant as well as an electric but flowing water fountain. The air was filled with the sound of the running water. Kurama went to the fireplace and started a fire to chase away the cold of the winter air.

Soon enough, he sat in the middle of the floor and simply focused, letting his eyes slip shut and forcing all thoughts and worries from his mind. It was relaxing and although his posture remained stiff and formal, anyone who knew the fox would be able to tell its effect. His face smoothed from a worried frown to a calm blankness.

He opened his eyes to find the day had faded away and the air was turning chilly once again. The fire had died out long ago, as had the incense that Kurama had lit while waiting for the fire to warm the room. The lavender and sandalwood candles, too, had burned themselves out. Kurama gazed out small window to see that twilight had fallen.

His body felt exhausted, but his mind replenished. He made his way from the basement up to the second floor where the master bedroom and bathroom were. He grabbed his phone as he made his way to the large tub and began to fill it. He dialed the number by heart.

"Are you okay love?" Zane questioned upon picking up the phone. "We haven't heard from you for the past day and Cian said that Hiei took off."

"I asked him to go to Alaric and wait out my heat," Kurama replied. "However, there is something very wrong here. I can't go to Alaric myself due to some unwanted company that seems to be unwilling to leave me alone in peace. I need you or Cian to go and fetch Hiei for me."

Zane hesitated. "We can't just take off anymore Kurama. We have kids, and work. It's hard just managing a human life."

Kurama closed his eyes against the wave of frustration. "I understand. If I confide in you, perhaps you'll change my mind. My problem is a bit more urgent than kids and a husband." He ran his fingers through the hot water as the bath filled up. "Yoko Kurama had a mate in his past life, before he was injured and decided to escape to the human world and cause himself to be reborn. Well, I am Yoko Kurama and it seems like my mate who was supposed to be dead isn't actually deceased. He popped up in the bookstore today and kissed me. And he left his pendant with me last night. I think my current mate would be rather interested to know my dead mate is bothering me. And hitting on me without shame. Damn bat."

Zane stayed silent for a few moments. "I think you should talk to Cian." He handed the phone over to his lover.

"Hello?" Cian questioned.

"You're going on a mini-vacation to Alaric," Kurama stated. "To fetch Hiei. Some bat is trying to pull the same trick you did with me. Except he doesn't need to poison my family and friends in order to upset me or force me to be agreeable. You see, he's the mate Yoko Kurama had before displacing his soul and being reborn in to a human, before he became me. Except the damn bat is supposed to be dead." Kurama turned off the faucet with a sigh. "I can't explain it very well. Just tell Hiei that his fox needs him because a bat has reappeared. He'll get it."

Cian sighed. "Zane is going to kill me for taking off and leaving him with the kids."

"Tell him I'll make it up to him later. Thank you Cian. You don't realize how important this is to me." He hung up the phone and set it on the sink before undressing and sinking in to the warmth of the tub."

Kurama soaked in the hot water until it lost its warmth and his toes were wrinkly from staying in the water for so long. He dried himself off, brushed his hair and teeth, then headed for bed. He slept naked, as he usually did with his fire demon to keep him warm. He expected Hiei's return in three hours or less when he heard the news. Still, exhaustion made his muscles feel heavy, so he decided his love could wake him up when he got home. He crawled underneath the covers with a yawn.

An hour later, he woke up and cuddled when he felt someone enter in to his bed. The body was warm and the air inside the house was colder than Kurama would have liked. Usually he didn't mind, for he had a certain fire demon to warm him. He rested his head on the chest without opening his eyes. When hair brushed against his cheek, he frowned and opened his eyes, lifting his head up to see the intruder.

Kuronue smiled down at him and whipped his hair out of the way. Kurama moved away, opening his mouth to tell the bat to get the hell out of his bed. Kuronue moved with such a speed that Kurama didn't even know what hit him, until the bat was over him, pinning his arms above his head.

"What are you doing?" Kurama gasped as he squirmed and struggled under the weight of the demon above him. "Kuronue, I'm not your fox anymore. I'm not even the same fox you fell in love with. I'm not the cold, cruel, and heartless demon who claimed you." His eyes softened when he looked up at his former mate. "Staying here, demanding so much of me, it won't lead to anything other than your own death. I would hate to see you die again just because you can't accept the truth."

Kuronue's eyes hardened as he gazed down at the fox. "Truth is your defense? All that comes from those pretty lips are lies."

"Kuro-"

Kuronue shook his head, his long ponytail swaying with his head. "Don't make excuses for yourself. If you want the truth so badly then I'll tell it to you. Deep down, a small piece of your soul is exactly the fox you used to be. Somewhere, there's a shard of cruelty, of malice. That is my mate. That is the fox that I want before me now. The fox with silver hair and eyes of hardened gold. The fox who refused to let himself belong to anyone else but me. Give me my fox." Kuronue's hands moved down Kurama's arms until they were around his throat.

Kurama clawed at the strong hands that were crushing his windpipe, making breathing nearly impossible. He thrashed his body underneath the bat demon above him, hoping for some form of excuse. The fox felt something snap, something deep inside him break in two. He felt all the training and work he'd done over the years to keep careful control of his demon side come undone. He felt the divide again, the difference between the demon and the human parts of him. The two different states of mind. All the training he'd done had forced the two very different parts of himself to blend in together, creating Kurama, a perfect mix between demon and human. Now, there was only Shuichi and Yoko. No longer was there a middle ground. The demon above him had just ended all he'd worked for as the hands around his neck attempted to end his life.

His hair began to streak silver and his eyes bled in to gold. The grip on his neck loosened. Yoko Kurama gazed up at his mate with a look of confusion, love, and anger. He grabbed a fistful of midnight black hair. "Kuro… Don't ever leave me."

He used the hair to pull his bat down in to a passionate kiss that left them both breathless. Their tongues battled for dominance. Kuronue bit the fox's lip, drawing a bead of blood. The kiss itself decided the outcome of the battle between them. Yoko spread his legs, allowing his mate to slip between them and claim the dominance of their union. No more words were exchanged between them. Kuronue pinned his lover's wrists down to the bed and he impaled him. Yoko's back arched as a cry broke from his lips. He was claimed in a way that Hiei would not dare try, bruised and broken as his lover pounding in to him. Kuronue's hands traveled from his arms down to his hips, gripping them fiercely. He ignored the deep purples marks he left there and his hands traveled down further, spreading the legs farther apart and using what leverage he could to lift his fox's hips further, to be granted further access. Yoko's breaths came in sharp gasps as broken sentences flitted from his mouth, urging his love to claim him harder.

The creak of the door drove golden eyes to gaze at the intruder. Crimson eyes stared back at him before Hiei simply turned and left the room. Yoko turned his eyes back on his lover, crying out as his spilled his warm seed on his lover's taunt stomach. He felt the bat fill him to the brim before leaving him empty and bruised. Soft lips claimed his in an equally bruising kiss.

"I won't ever leave you," came the whispered promise. He smoothed several silver strands from the fox's face with an expression of soft affection. "I'll be waiting for you. You know where."

Yoko nodded before curling up in the tattered ruins of the sheets. Green eyes slipped open and regarded the darkened room an hour later. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his head of the fog that seemed to have blocked the memories he so desperately wanted. He hoisted himself from the bed, noticing the shredded sheets, his favorite set. He noticed every bruise, especially the large purple ones that decorated his hips. He covered his mouth to stifle the scream of horror that rose. He closed his eyes, forced himself to think logically. He showered first, then dressed before heading down to the kitchen.

There, he found Hiei. A deep frown decorated his face when he realized he hadn't even felt Hiei's presence in the house. He moved from the stove to the kitchen table with a look of concern.

Crimson eyes regarded him coldly. Hiei slipped the ring off his finger and set it down on the table. "I don't think I'll be needing this any longer."

"Hiei… please allow me a chance to explain. I-"

Hiei's hand struck out in his burst of anger. He hit the fox across the face, knocking him to the floor. He didn't fail to notice that the fox didn't catch himself, that he landed on the ground with his hands the only thing that prevented his face from hitting the tiles. Kurama gazed up at him with a large gash now decorating his face. Tears rolled down his face as he curled up on the kitchen floor. Hiei's confusion, his concern, drove him to kneel down next to the fox and reach towards him.

Kurama was up in a flash and backed away from the fire demon. Hiei stood and took a step forward. For every step he took towards the fox, Kurama took one back until the fox's back was pressed against the kitchen wall. Hiei reached for him to touch the cut on his cheek. Kurama flinched away from the contact as tears rolled down his face still, stinging the open wound.

"Don't," Kurama gasped. "Hiei please…"

Hiei touched his cheek and wiped away the tears. "I'm sorry Kurama. I can't take anymore. I can't share you."

The tears came faster. "Please, just listen to me."

"Listen to you lie?" Hiei shook his head. "Your theories won't keep me from leaving you. You were unfaithful fox."

Kurama shook his head. "Listen!" Before the fire demon could protest, Kurama plunged on. "Do you remember what happened when I was thirteen?"

"You were able to take your demon form."

"Do you remember what it was like then?" Kurama's eyes desperately locked on to crimson.

"It was like your soul was split. The demon and the human were completely separated. Neither knew what the other did when they had control. It was a war within you."

Kurama smiled sadly. "It took me three years for me to find balance and meld the two pieces together, to make Kurama instead of Yoko Kurama and Shuichi Minamono. It took three years for the demon and the human parts of me to blend together and for me to able to transform at will. I still had difficulties, but it was better." Kurama pressed his back as far as it'd go against the wall. "Kuronue shattered it, made it all unravel." He tore his gaze from the crimson eyes to the ring that was on the table.

"Kurama-"

Green eyes met crimson. "No, I'm Shuichi."

"I-"

"You're leaving."

"Damn it Kurama! The human, the demon, it doesn't matter. They're both just parts of you, two pieces of one soul."

Kurama gazed at him with a small smile on his face. "You're wrong. They're two different souls." He ran his fingers over his hand to the ring that rested on the left one. His heart ached as his mind raced. He knew one thing. He needed to get away. Away from Kuronue, away from the feeling that his heart was going to explode. "I love you," he whispered before he took off out of the house. There was nothing left for him, nothing that this life could offer. He didn't want Kuronue, he wanted Hiei. But he knew a deeper, more violent, part of him wished for nothing more than the caress of a certain bat.

AUTHOR'S CORNER:

Well, another chapter is up and running. I'm really loving this story and the twist and turns it takes. As well as the citrus flavoring of this particular chapter. Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review and thank you again for reading!