Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and the plot.

Recap: They are FINALLY out of the base! Ra I wasted three chapters on that. Oh and it looks like Tsukino is either in the third stage or dead.

I'll Show You What I Can Be
Chapter Nineteen
Kurama's Karma

Day Hundred-Fourteen

It's been twenty-four hours since we first escaped the cat base and found the underwater cave, which we are now resting in. Tsukino still has not awoken yet and shows no signs of doing so. However, she also has not shown as other signs of gene destruction, which is both a blessing and a curse since we have no way of knowing if it was her genes that caused her temporary coma. For now we are suspecting that her genes are not the reason for her coma, as her wings, tail, and ears have not changed from their current navy blue colour. Nevertheless, I am wary of moving her anymore than we have to so we have not left the cave and wait to see if the cats will follow us into the lake or assume we were eaten by the Hate Fish.

When we first entered the cave and started to dry off, Hiei informed Kuronue and me of why he bothered to appear at the cat demon base in the first place.

"Koenma lost contact with you and felt that you were taking too long so I got dragged into rescuing you," Hiei said as he rigged out his soaked cloak. "He also had some information to deliver to you."

"Lucky us," Kuronue muttered as he did the same to his hat. "So what did the King of Spirit World want to tell us?"

Hiei glared at Kuronue over his sword as he checked to be sure that all the moisture had been removed. "The baby wanted to tell Kurama that-"

Kuronue glared back. "Hey you saying that I don't count!?"

Hiei pointedly ignored him and faced me. "I'll never understand why you bother to work with idiots."

If there is one thing that Kuronue doesn't take well, it's being ignored. The second thing he doesn't take well it's being underestimated. Within half a second, Kuronue was on his feet pointing at Hiei. "I bet you can't fight your way out of a paper bag if you don't have your 'scary' flame to help you."

Slightly interested, Hiei turned to face Kuronue and said, "I don't usually give warnings, but since you used to be Kurama's partner, I give you one. Shut up or I will kill you."

Kuronue smirked and gave Hiei the middle finger. "Up yours."

Within a second, both had their weapons out and were dashing around the cave. I was strongly reminded of Hiei and Kuwabara fighting only Kuronue was fairing far better than Kuwabara ever did.

I watched for a moment before sighing and looking over at Tsukino to be sure that the two weren't endangering her in their play. I say 'play' because Kuronue was merely bored and looking to test his skills against a new opponent, and Hiei was just being predictable. However, before they can cause the cave to collapse I put a stop to their play by willing the smaller roots around me from the giant tree to wrap around their weapons and hold them out of reach.

"You said Koenma had information to give me?" I asked before either could yell at me for interrupting their fight.

Hiei glared at me, obviously annoyed at me for stopping him from completing a surprisingly good fight. Because he was annoyed he refused to answer my question and said, "You might as well check on your mate. We both know that you won't be able to pay attention until you know she is fine."

I frown at him and said, "She isn't my mate and I am paying attention."

"Then why is it that every second you think we aren't looking you look over in her direction, and we both know that your thoughts weren't filled by watching us fight moments ago."

My frown widened. "No more than yours are filled with Yukina's safety while a battle is happening near by."

"Don't make me rip out your voice box."

"That's assuming you are able."

Kuronue naturally was confused. "You're a natural mind-reader?" he asked Hiei.

"Jagan-eye implant," I replied before Hiei could say anything.

Kuronue stared at Hiei for a moment before asking, "Why would you put yourself through that kind of torture?"

Instead of replying, Hiei glared at him and then stalked off, probably to dry off further and to probably think of many ways to kill me.

Once Kuronue felt Hiei is out of hearing distance he turned to me. "So that's the Hiei who can use the Dragon of the Darkness Flame in Human World?"

I nodded.

"Weird, I would have thought he would have been taller since he mastered the Black Dragon."

I sighed. "Kuronue, please try to not annoy Hiei. He is much faster and stronger than you expect."

"In order words, you think would get my butt kicked."

I can't help but smile barely. "Judging from the fight I just witnessed, I'd say so."

Kuronue frowned and glared at me. "But if Shrimp-Boat is to be believed then you weren't really watching the fight."

I said nothing else but walked over to where Tsukino was laying against the wall of the cave. Since I was still damp, I avoided dripping on her by kneeling down in front of her. Carefully, I ran my hands over various wounds and used some of my energy to heal them. Once they were healed, I stood up and sat by Kuronue, my vision swimming slightly.

"So how is she?" Kuronue asked after a moment.

Trying to fight off the darkness at the edge of my vision, I replied, "Exhausted from her energy escaping. It appears that her body is also having trouble making more energy. Soon, her life energy may be unable to adapt as well."

Kuronue nodded and then his eyes widened. "Why the heck are you still bleeding!?"

Weary, I noticed that many of my wounds from the battles I had entered in order to escape the base were still bleeding and heavily at that.

"Damn it Kurama! Are you trying to kill yourself!?" Kuronue asked as he pulled out some of the bandages he always carried around in his pocket. Silently and quickly, he bandaged my wounds. Once he was done he asked, "Jeez, is this all part of being human? Not even being able to heal at natural demon speed in demon form?"

I shook my head. "No. Normally, I'd already been healing by this point but something is wrong."

Hiei suddenly appeared at my shoulder and said, "Koenma told me to warn you that this could happen because of the pills."

Kuronue's eyes widened once again. "Pills? Kurama, you're on drugs now!?"

I was only able to shake my head once more before turning to Hiei. "What else did Koenma want to warn me about?"

"He said that if you stop taking the pills your demon appearance will last for a little while but your demon energy will be mostly used to keep your demon appearance rather than healing or attacking."

I sighed and nodded. "Anything else?"

Hiei shrugged. "Something about how when mixed breeds reach the third level all their memories and stuff they lost from the past two times comes back in pieces."

I nodded again. "That would explain why she was able to learn to speak again and possibly why she called The Fox's Rose Amaterasu. Perhaps she knew her before she lost her memories."

Kuronue frowned. "Which time though and is it even the Amaterasu we know, Kurama?"

I paused. We as a group had never bothered to wonder about Tsukino's life from before she met us unless it had to do with the possibility of her or her mate trying to harm humanity. Now that Kuronue had pointed out the possibility of Tsukino forgetting her original life before meeting us in Human World, I started to wonder just who was Tsukino, and if The Fox's Rose was Amaterasu that Kuronue and I knew, how did Tsukino know of her?

When Hiei answered Kuronue's question it pulled me from my thoughts. "Does it really matter? The mission is just to get The Fox's Rose and take her to Spirit World, isn't it?"

Kuronue frowned. "May it's not all that important to Spirit World but I bet it's important to Kurama's mission."

Before Hiei can reply, I asked, "Did Koenma say anything else?"

Hiei frowned and said, "He thinks found a reason for why The Fox's Rose stole the Forlorn Hope. Apparently, it isn't completely useless if you manage to fix it."

"How?"

"Koenma said that you would need different powerful objects. One that can show a person's desire, another object that can steal life, and many other objects to provide enough power to merge all the objects together."

"That explains why she took the remains of the Mirror of Desire," I muttered to myself.

"But I thought you had to give up your life to make a wish," Kuronue commented. "Why would she go to all that trouble to make a wish and then not live to enjoy it? It doesn't sound like normal demon behaviour."

Hiei shrugged.

"Unless she doesn't plan on making the wish," I thought aloud.

"Then what's the point?" Kuronue demanded to know.

"She'll manipulate someone to make the wish she wants so they take the fall."

His jaw went slack in understanding. "And then she gets her wish and doesn't have to worry."

I nodded.

"What would she wish for?" Hiei asked.

Kuronue and I traded a look. "If she is Amaterasu, probably me," I replied.

Hiei looked at me in completely disbelief. "You?"

"She's a stalker and has been stalking him ever since he ran into her on a heist and stupidly allowed her to help him," Kuronue replied calmly.

"In my defence, I was not in my right mind," I added.

Again Hiei gave me a look of disbelief. "What were you stealing?"

"A drink from a bar."

Kuronue nodded in agreement. "Actually, that is hard. The bartenders watch you like hawks if you don't know them well enough to have a tab."

"Who would she be able to manipulate into making the wish?" Hiei asked bring us back to the topic at hand.

"Probably Tsukino-san."

Kuronue stared at us. "Who?"

"Tsukino-san is Tama-san's name," I quickly explained and he nodded in understanding.

"Do you really think that she would be so easily tricked though?" Hiei asked.

I can't help but look over in the unconscious mixed demon's direction. "It depends on the situation, but The Fox's Rose probably has years of experience tricking people."

"And if you haven't given Tsukino-chan enough reasons to hate you yet, I'll buy Shorty some high heels," Kuronue added.

Hiei glared at him but ignored him as I said, "However, if we are going to do anything we have to get out of this cave, and I'll admit I do not like the idea of moving Tsukino-san while she is unconscious and vulnerable."

"Why don't you just leave her here with a guard?" Hiei suggested with a pointed look in Kuronue's direction.

I sighed. "Because I doubt the cave will still be standing if I leave either of you alone with Tsukino-san without anything to amuse yourselves."

Hiei scowled and then said, "So what is your plan then, Fox?"

"As of this moment, I do not have one."

The silence in the cave was almost a solid object by the time Hiei or Kuronue made any sort of noise. Though how the fact that I didn't have a plan was so shocking was beyond me. Since then, between resting and recharging, the three of us have tried to come up with some form of a plan as we wait for Tsukino to awaken or something to happen.

Now, twenty-four hours after our escape Kuronue has grown tired of planning and is just talking and asking questions. As I pause in my report to check on Tsukino once again, he asks, "Do you think that the Fox's Rose could actually be Amaterasu?"

I do not reply until I am sure that Tsukino's breathing pattern has not changed. "It's possible since the only scent that was remotely cat like in the jail was Tsukino-san's."

"So that means that Neichi wasn't really a cat either."

"Yes and Neichi seems to know who I am as well."

"How did you figure that out?"

"While I was fighting him in the cells he called me by name and mentioned the Dark Tournament I participated in."

"So he must have known you somehow then."

I nod. "Yes."

Kuronue is about to ask another question when a fish looking demon pokes its head out of the lake and leaves a piece of paper on the dry floor of the cave before disappearing under the surface of the water once more. Hiei quickly grabs the paper and wastes no time in reading it before handing it to me. "Looks like we didn't give her enough credit," he mutters as I read.

Grimly, I nod in agreement. "Yes, it appears we didn't."

Out of the corner of my eye I see Kuronue frown as he reads over my shoulder. "How did she?"

I shake my head and say, "I don't know, but regardless, we'll get Tsukino-san's soul back. The only question is how."

The Afterlife?

When I had released my soul's hold on my body, I assumed I would find my way to Spirit World where Koenma would sentence me to jail or to Hell. What I didn't expect to see was darkness and silence. For someone who was used to always hearing something, it was terrifying. The darkness surrounding me allowed my imagination to create many things. More than once, I thought I saw something in the darkness, but each time it was nothing. For a second, I wondered if this was where souls waited until a ferry girl came to get them and take them to Spirit World. This idea did little to comfort me for I was sure that I wouldn't be able to face Botan should she come to get me. I would have rather stayed in this odd blackness than find myself facing a crying Botan again.

However, instead of seeing a ferry girl coming to get me, I just sat waiting in the darkness and silence until I realized that the darkness felt solid. Almost like a fabric. Willing myself to move, I eventually found my way out of the fabric darkness and found myself staring at a wall of glowing yellow glass. The glass seemed to surround the area around me and the fabric completely almost like a sphere container. For a moment, I wondered where I was as I reached out to touch the glass. When nothing moved to touch the glass, I remembered I was a soul and accepted the fact that souls don't have arms or legs quite calmly until the fabric moved on its own accord and tried to wrap itself around me.

I had never known that you would still feel emotions once you were dead. Everyone always made it sound that once you were dead you were numb, uncaring and without a reason to care. Nonetheless, I was quickly learning that a soul could still feel terror as the blackness wrapped itself around the lower half of my soul and felt disgust and shame at the fact that I couldn't stop it even as I tried to hover out of its reach. The fabric felt warm and yet cold on my soul and seemed to be trying to merge itself with me making my soul feel dirty and darkened. I tried once again to move out of the fabric's grip when something else grabbed my soul and pulled me towards the yellow glass walls. The fabric released its grip, and for the first time I saw the silver markings woven into the blackness.

However, it was just a glimpse as I found myself pulled out of the sphere that had been containing my soul. Slowly, I realized that I was being held but by what I couldn't say as the only things I saw close by were the trees and two floating flames, both a dark bloody red.

Dimly, I realized that I could hear voices and watched as the closest flame to me flittered as a voice spoke.

"It looks like her soul is tainting very nicely. I wonder how long until they realize that they only have her body," a voice that sounded strangely like Neichi's said. I say strangely because unlike Neichi's voice, this one was lacking any warmth and was dripping with cruelty.

"They probably already have, knowing Kurama," replied a voice that I had no trouble recognizing as Amaterasu's. From the tone of her voice, I realized she was grinning. "He won't want us to destroy her little soul. Hard to believe that such an ugly creature has such a pretty soul. Almost makes you wonder what his soul is like."

"What is it with you and him?" Neichi asked in confusion.

"I could ask you the same about that little mutt."

Now he was grinning as well. "She looks like she could keep a man happy for at least one night. Probably wouldn't have to worry about kits either and the fact that Kurama likes her makes it even better. Just imaging the look on his face when he learns that his little kitty-pet is tainted is revenge enough for me. Though I wouldn't say no to seeing him in even greater pain."

Amaterasu sounded thoughtful as she asked, "How do you know that he wasn't telling the truth when he said he got to her first?"

"Her scent is all wrong and besides, he doesn't have the guts to do it. Even if they were mates, I doubt that he would have the guts to take any girl no matter how willing. Speaking of that, how do we know that he even wants this mutt? It could just be an act."

"I wouldn't worry about that too much. From what I heard from my spies in Human World, he was more than willing to satisfy her needs and would have if they weren't distracted by something first."

The flame farther away from me darkened. "That's good enough for me but why did you steal her soul rather than just kidnapping her?"

"Unfortunately, it was the only thing I was able to steal without them noticing as well as the idiot entered the third stage. If I hadn't removed her soul from her body she would have died odds are. The stupid batty-cat was too weak to even make it to the fourth stage. Luckily though, if Kurama does care about her as much as he did Mikiku, he'll give into our demands right away. You know how he is about craving purity and rare toys."

I could almost feel Neichi grinning. "That is one thing I can agree with. It's no fun going after the tainted ones. They don't have anything to offer, and the chase is too easy. Pure hearts, though, make a lovely sound when they shatter and become tainted. I can almost hear the Kuro Shi at work corrupting this lovely little kitty-bat's soul."

"To each their own." There was a pause, and I felt my soul being placed back into the yellow sphere and into the hateful clutches of the fabric as it wrapped itself around me while it continued trying to merge with me. As I slowly started to blackout from my attempts to rip myself free I hear once last sentence before I blacked out and the fabric seemed to rip into my soul.

"Let's see if Kurama cares enough to beat the clock."

I was frustrated, tried, wet, and slowly being pushed to the edge of sanity by Hiei's and Kuronue's fighting. They had been fighting for an hour after we received The Fox's Rose's threat in the form of a letter that was delivered by a fish demon. The terms were simple, I was to hand over Tsukino's body to her in two hours, or else she would start to destroy Tsukino's soul. For every minute I was late, the more damage she would cause. If I appeared with Kuronue and/or Hiei to aid me, she would destroy the soul instantly.

"Why would she want Tsukino-san at all?" Kuronue had waited to know. "It's not like she has some sort of destructive power that can destroy the three worlds."

"Idiot, she wants the girl in order to trick her into making the wish," Hiei had replied.

"Then why only steal Tsukino-san's soul? Why allow us to leave with her at all?"

"Because it was the only thing she could steal," I had replied slowly.

"How?"

I shake my head. "I'm not sure. The only treasure I know of with that power is the Orb of Baast, but that is stored in Koenma's vault."

"Was," Hiei added.

Both Kuronue and I turned to face the fire demon.

"What do you mean 'was'?" I asked slowly. Fear slowly creeping into my mind.

"Koenma only just discovered that it was missing. He sent me to warn you."

"And you forgot to warn us!?" Kuronue shouted. "So now she has everything she needs? She has the Mirror of Desire to repair the Forlorn Hope's ability to show desires and the Jewel of Wrath to merge the whole thing!"

Hiei just grumbled and muttered something while Kuronue continued to try to start another fight.

"And now, the Forlorn Hope won't be able to take life anymore, but it will take souls which are of equal if not more value," I added and I looked over at Tsukino wondering in what condition her soul was in at that moment. "If I hand over Tsukino-san's body, then she'll also have the sacrifice."

Hiei scowled. "We don't hand the girl's body over then."

"It's not that simple. The Fox's Rose is smart; somehow she knows how we think so she planned this so that we would have no way to counter her," I said quietly.

Hiei scoffed. "So you're just going to give up?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm showing you where the advantages lie so that you know what to expect. We can't afford to make any mistakes now. This is our last chance to capture The Fox's Rose."

Kuronue made some sort of noise of complete and utter surprise and well as annoyance. "That's why you are all worried! Because this is your last chance to capture The Fox's Rose!? What sort of mate are you?! Your girl is in danger and the only thing you can think about is a stupid mission!?"

"The mission is of the most importance right now and even if we capture The Fox's Rose, Tsukino-san will still be in danger no matter what we do because of her genes."

"You are a heartless prick you know that?"

"It didn't seem to bother you when we were thieving partners."

"Maybe I grew up and got a conscience now unlike someone who is just pretending to have a human heart now." Kuronue turned his back to me and put his hands behind his head. "Bet your mom doesn't even know about your true nature."

I don't think I ever thanked Hiei properly for stopping me from killing Kuronue. However, even now after an hour has passed, I think Kuronue still is angry with me. This is probably a new record for him as before the longest he could remain mad was only half an hour. On the other hand, I've never gotten into a fight with him involving prioritises. Bats tended to put family and mates above everything so me telling him that the mission was more important than my so called relationship with Tsukino probably crossed a line. Nevertheless, that does not mean that picking a fight with Hiei to annoy me is a justified reaction.

Finally, I am unable to take it any longer and collect Tsukino into my arms. Hiei notices me as I walk towards the opening of water.

"Where are you going?"

"We're leaving now," I tell him as I ready to dive.

"What about the plan?"

I sigh and turn to them. "The only thing that it changing is the time that I'm leaving. We continue as planned. Remember; leave The Fox's Rose to me. Find the treasures and then get yourselves out of the base. I'll meet you back at the old treasure hole. Kuronue, do not try to purposely lose Hiei."

In reply Kuronue just shrugs and turns his back to me, still obvious fuming and Hiei watches me carefully.

'Don't do anything stupid, Fox,' he silently tells me.

'Rest assured, Hiei. That is the last thing on my mind,' I reply equally silent.

'But are you really using your head?'

I don't reply as I dive into the water, nor do I think about Hiei's question. I can't afford those types of distractions right now. Everything has to work perfectly or else.

As I surface, I check on Tsukino to make sure that she is still breathing normally. She is. I continue to swim, checking on her every few minutes, until I reach the edge of the lake. Carefully, so that none of the cat demon guards in the tree branches above see me, I raise Tsukino and myself out of the water. Moving quickly, I duck into the shadows and then run into the surrounding forest towards the meeting point.

I still have twenty minutes left until the deadline so I walk towards the meeting place. As I approach, I catch Neichi's odd scent as well as The Fox's Rose. Soon, I hear voices and stop walking. Making sure that I'm downwind, I crouch in the shadows and listen hoping to hear something that will aid me.

"If he doesn't come, what are we going to do after we destroy the kitty-bat's soul?" Neichi asks.

I see The Fox's Rose smile through the bushes. "Believe me, he will come. He cares about the mutt too much to allow her to be completely destroyed."

"How do we even know that he cared about this kitty-bat? You said that he would gladly sleep with her, but I'm sure he would have done that Mikiku if he hadn't been killed first."

The Fox's Rose nods. "However, with Mikiku he never actually loved her. He would have only slept with her so that he wouldn't have to deal with the inconvenience of the thought that if she died he would be stuck on the lookout for a mate until he finally slept with someone."

I grimace at the truth in The Fox's Rose's words but continued to listen.

"So how do we know that isn't the case here?"

"Because if it was, Kurama would have already taken that girl long ago but he didn't. Therefore he has feelings for her that he is too stubborn to face and won't take her until either she makes him or his inner fox forces him to. After all, that's the only reason he hasn't given in to me yet. He just can't admit the fact that he loves me."

"You sure that's not all in your head? Why don't you just move on and get with some other raccoon who is actually worth your time?"

"Why settle for second when you can have the first place winner?"

I almost gag but managed to control myself. At least now I know that The Fox's Rose is actually Amaterasu and consequently Neichi's true identity.

I pause for a moment to create my Rose Whip before standing up in the safety of the shadows. "Thank you for confirming my theory, Amaterasu-san," I say, "And hello Yasu-san."

At the sound of their true names their disguises fade away. Before me are two raccoon demons. Both have rings of alternating black and yellowish white rings around their tails and small animal ears with black eyes. The only difference between the two besides gender is their hair and their reactions to my knowledge. Amaterasu has long white hair while Yasu has short black hair, and while Amaterasu stares at me in pleasure, Yasu glares at me in hatred.

"Did you bring the body?" Yasu demands.

Slowly, I walk out of the shadows and into the clearing, showing them the unconscious mixed-demon in my arms. "Where is her soul?"

Amaterasu grins at me and walks over to the log where she had been sitting before. From behind it, she pulls out the Orb of Baast. Without a second of thought, she reaches into the orb and removes a small ball of blue sapphire coloured energy. "Looking for this?"

Despite myself, I feel fear for what Amaterasu can do to the soul. That fear grows when she throws it to me. To my relief, the soul does not fall; rather it flies over to its body and slowly sinks into it. That relief soon fades when I notice a black scarf surrounding her throat.

Amaterasu's grin widens as she says, "I said destroy, I never promised that I wouldn't taint her. And remember, I told you I would give it to her. Besides, don't you think she looks cute with it on?"

Yasu is also grinning as he explains. "It's connected directly to her soul, corrupting it from the inside out so don't even think about removing it or the mutt dies. We're the only ones who can remove it unless you do something for us. So what are you going to do now, Yoko Kurama?"

Knowing I am trapped, I force myself not to look down at the demon in my arms, knowing that the sight of the atrocious object would trigger a deep rage. I watch the racoon demons with emotionless eyes and ask, "What do you want?"

Sharp fangs appeared over Yasu's lips. "Nothing really. All you have to do is make 'love' to the demon in your arms."

I wasn't aware of when I actually returned to my body because my soul had been asleep when it merged with my body. I was aware of the absence of the sounds of voices and breathing though and the feeling of warmth against my damp skin. Slowly, I began to wonder why I was damp and why everything was silent.

After a few moments, I opened my eyes and found myself back in my body in the arms of Kurama. Something was wrong though besides the fact that I was still alive. Kurama seemed worried and was holding me close as if he wanted to protect me, which made no sense considering how he viewed me. But then again, nothing by that point was making any sense. Eventually, I realized that he was talking, and I couldn't hear him.

I didn't even think about who he was talking to and was about to ask what was going on, when he looked down at me. His eyes were emotionless, but it was clear something was wrong. It was if he was silently telling me to remain quiet. I obeyed, and he turned around and ran, holding me close as most as if we were mates and running from danger.

Soon he stopped and allowed me to remove myself from his arms. He grabbed my hand and led the way through the forest. The leaf covered darkness closed in on us as we walked, and I tripped often. Kurama continued to silently lead, but would always turn to catch me when I tripped. His grip on my wrist never disappeared.

Finally, we came to a stop in the darkest part of the forest. I asked him what we were doing here but received no answer. After a few moments, I asked where Kuronue was and received the same result. Finally, I demanded to know how he and Kuronue had escaped the base. The reply was not what I expected. Suddenly, I felt his arms wrap about me and mutter words into my ear, but I couldn't hear the actual words. Shock and pain filled me as I realized that I couldn't hear anything. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Kurama removed his arms from around me as if waiting to hear my reply to whatever he said.

My panic and fear grew as I realized I couldn't even hear myself speak when I explained to Kurama that I couldn't hear him anymore. I wasn't sure how he felt about that or if he even heard because his presence had suddenly disappeared. I couldn't even feel or sense his energy. Terror filled me as I blindly looked around in the darkness for a sign of Kurama or of an attacker. I wasn't able to hear anything so if Kurama was hurt or dieing I wouldn't have known. That thought caused my fear to triple.

About the same time that I was close to having a panic attack, the pressure from the hallway returned as did the pain. My stomach felt like someone had just ran a spear threw it, while my hands and arms felt like they had been dunked in acid. I was about to release a small growl of pain, when, out of the black, I was aware of the feeling of something brushing against my lips. Terrified, I pulled away from the thing in front of me but was stopped by a hand on my arm and another around my waist. Thinking it was another demon, I slapped it and then ran. I didn't get very far before I tripped.

Before I could even move, I felt a hand on my arm helping me up and the forest was lit by a dull yellow glow coming from a plant. In the dim light, I saw that Kurama was the one holding my arm. I waited for him to release my arm, but instead he pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around me in a hug once more. He held me like that for a moment before he pulled back a bit and kissed me. For once, my curse didn't act up and I was able to appreciate the kiss for what it was without having to worry about complications.

After a moment, I felt a comforting hand slowly pull me closer to him and another hand slowly wrap around my waist and reach downward to play with my tail. Normally, I would have been disgusted and slap him, but for some reason, I didn't care. In fact, I enjoyed the pleasure he was instilling in me and was virtually asking for more.

Kurama seemed to gladly fulfill my desires, and eventually I found myself lying on the forest ground with his tongue in my mouth and him slowly undoing my top. It was about this time that common sense started to kick in. I was kissing Kurama. Kurama was the man who used to be the most dangerous thief in all three worlds. The man, who, I was certain, only wanted me for material gain. The same man who apparently had a mate named Mikiku. The same man who was slowly undoing my shirt. I was kissing Kurama, and it was about to become more than that if I didn't stop him quickly.

The sad part was that for a while, I didn't care. In fact, I almost loved the idea of Kurama using me as he willed! Thank goodness, I came to my senses before that happened! Instantly I pulled my mouth away from his and my hands which were originally messing up his hair went to stop his hands. My mind was working overtime wondering what the hell had possessed me to respond to him. For a moment, I entertained the thought that it was just my curse acting up, but I would be lying to myself if I believed that.

Trying to fight off the desire for the pleasure to continue, I told Kurama to stop it and tried to crawl out from under him. About this time a little voice, which always seemed to appear when I was in the middle of an emotional crisis spoke up.

'Why don't you just give in?' she asked.

'Shut up!' I replied angrily in my mind as I tried to push Kurama off of me, but just as Kurama didn't move, the voice continued to talk. Both of them seemed amused by my efforts though.

'He has a mate for crying out loud!'

'You don't know that for sure. All you know is that he marked a girl called Mikiku. According to Kuronue-kun, they never mated so they weren't completely mates. If he wants to make love with you, it's fine,' the voice in my mind sounded smug or conlike. 'Besides he probably doesn't even care about her now. Why don't you allow him some pleasure by giving you some pleasure? And if his mate ever does show up, he'll be the one to take the fall.'

Before I could think anything, I felt Kurama's hands on my shoulders holding me still. If he was talking, I couldn't hear him. Though I doubt he was saying anything important though because within seconds, his mouth was back on mine. I pushed him away from me and told him I wanted to be left alone and to get the hell off of me even though the bliss was covering my mind in a blanket of fuzz again.

He whispered in my ear something that I couldn't hear. I got the message well enough though as he kissed me and started on my shirt again. This time, I used my energy and used my Shiro (ball of light that blinds everything) to get him to let go and get off of me. Since Shiro had lit up the whole forest, I managed to find the path and ran down it. My heart breaking all over again.

I hoped that he wouldn't follow me, because I didn't think I had the emotional control to deal with him. Thankfully he didn't so I didn't have to explode at him. But the physical pain that filled my body had grown worse making it harder to run. However, it wasn't nearly as bad as the emotional pain. Finally, I couldn't run anymore, and kneeled down by a tree using it as support.

"I can't believe I fell for it. I can't believe I allowed myself to hope that he would be different. Just because he acted so different and human, I allowed myself to hope… Why didn't you stop me!? I thought that's what consciences do!" I muttered at myself while screaming the last bit in my mind.

'It was worth the moment of pleasure, wasn't it?' the little voice replied, ever smug.

I shook my head as tears fell. Now my chest felt like it was being ripped open, both metaphorically and literally. 'Nothing is worth that empty sort of pleasure, and he has a mate. How could I allow myself to sink so low as to take him away?!' I thought as I wished that I were dead and in the odd sphere once more.

'All animals get lonely and it's about time you had some fun. He seemed to think so too.'

Another sob escaped my lips. "Nothing makes what I did right. Nothing."

The voice didn't reply and left me to drown in my own guilt. If there had been a lake close by I would have drowned myself. In fact I almost considered going to find one. However the pain was too much so I sat and wept and hoped some demon would kill me.

A/N: Ok three things. One: Just seems to me that I'm paying Kurama back for all the evil things he did back in the earlier chapters… or maybe it's just me. Two: I could not think of a Kurama way to describe Hiei's hn. And Three: That's the closest thing to a lime/lemon I'm ever going to write.

Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this super long chapter and Kuronue chewing Kurama out as much as I did. Thanks for the all reviews and for sticking with the story this long. The story will be over soon but I'm not sure how soon. And thanks for reading. Hope to see/ hear from you when the next chapter of I'll Show You What I Can Be appears on . See ya!

-D101