Author's Note: Here's the second part of "Bravery through Trauma," I hope you like. Please read my note at the end for an (almost) important announcement.
Kurama stared at Botan in shock, finding it difficult to comprehend Botan's words. "You're sister? That woman that you fear so much is your sister." Kurama suddenly didn't want to know. All he wanted was to finish this mission and get Botan as far away from the mansion as possible. That was all that mattered to him right now. "Where's the other soul fragment," Kurama asked, scanning the room nervously.
"With Yuri-Hime, inside her chest," Botan answered, curling against Kurama's chest.
"Let's get you out of here," Kurama said suddenly, rising to his feet and pulling Botan up along with him.
"What, no," Botan argued. She refused to be left behind as if she were useless baggage, even if she was faced with reuniting with her sister. Hiei was her friend too and she wasn't going to leave him in the clutches of that monster she shared a blood tie to.
"I'm not letting you near her," Kurama retorted, unable to understand why Botan would place herself in a situation that filled her with such raw terror.
"But without me you won't be able to catch her," Botan pressed, her body shaking even as her words were sure. She wasn't going to lie to herself or anyone else by saying that she'd be able to get over her fear. What Yuri did to her still haunts her to this day. It filled her nights with nightmares, and the memory still made her scream out in pain. Even now her scars seared with the memory in a pale echo of what was done.
"I'm willing to take the risk," Kurama told her, his voice suddenly becoming gentle. "I promised to keep you safe, and that vow I don't want to break."
"Please, Kurama, Hiei is my friend too," Botan admitted. "I refuse to just sit back helplessly while you go out alone to save him, especially when I have the power to help."
"It's not a matter of whether or not you have the power, Botan; it's whether or not I'm willing to let you continue on, knowing now the trauma it will put you through." Kurama explained, wanting her to understand his own reasoning. He did not mean to belittle or make Botan feel weak and useless. He held to much respect for her to even think of such a thing, but that didn't change the fact that he didn't know how she'd react when she and Yuri were face to face. He wanted to believe that Botan could overcome her fears, even with the attacks slashing marks against her, but he didn't want to run the risk if she didn't.
"But you need me in order to get the soul fragment from her," Botan disputed, losing the force behind her words.
"I need you to be safe more," Kurama countered gently, caressing her cheek in hopes that she would understand why he wanted her to leave.
"Don't you have faith in me?" Botan didn't know why she said it. She knew that she hadn't shown him that he could trust her to face off against her sister, so the answer should have been obvious to her now. Yet still she asked, almost as if some masochistic part of her wanted to hear the words that Botan knew would hurt her more than any physical blow.
Kurama didn't know how to answer her question. All the facts screamed within his head, the word 'no' streaming within his mind in a marquee of fear and worry. His heart, however, told him that even with everything that was going on and was happening now, he had complete faith in her. Kurama didn't know how to handle that; the separation between his mind and his heart. It's never happened before. What should he do? What could he do? Should he trust his heart and take the risk? Or should he stick with what he knew and send her away?
"I do have faith in you," Kurama confessed finally, wrapping his arms around Botan's shoulders and caressing the back of Botan's neck and skull. "But I won't risk it."
The strike was quick and sharp against her skull, but before Botan could feel any pain or form any thought, her world went dark.
Kurama held her limp body to his chest a moment longer, regret flooding his system. He could only hope that when she awoke she would forgive him, but he would understand if she didn't. He cared about her too much to place her life in the hands of indecision. Lifting her up into the cradle of his arms, Kurama carried her over to the security device that gave rise to his and Botan's current emotional trauma. He lowered himself, and thus Botan, closer to the panel's face and allowed her hair to graze over the glass' surface.
With a flash of green from the locking mechanism, the glass fell from the fragment and slid downwards until it vanished into the podium the fragment rested on. Kurama repositioned Botan until she rested onto his back, grasping her thighs and hitching her up higher. Kurama then made sure her arms draped over his shoulders before he finally reached out to grab the dark purple, almost black crystal that pulsed on occasion with a comforting pink glow.
"Be careful fox," Hiei's voice echoed within Kurama's cranium.
"Good to hear your voice, Hiei," Kurama thought, feeling a rush of relief.
"I've only been gone for about a week," Hiei snorted within Kurama's mind, filling the redhead with an image of Hiei's smirk. With the smile vanishing from his voice, Hiei continued. "Beware of this Yuri; she's not a shikigami like Botan. She has no contract* and she's beyond mad. I can't even try to read her thoughts without running the risk of getting lost and giving her full control of the dragon."
"Is there anything you can do or tell me, anything at all?"
"Don't let her get a hold of Botan." Hiei said simply, an odd lilt making his voice sound small and almost childish in comparison to his usual tone. "You're on your own for everything else, sorry."
Kurama said nothing to this, not knowing how to handle the fact that even Hiei was scared of Botan's sister. With the crystal still in his hand, Kurama secured his arm around Botan's lax thigh before he turned and quickly made his way out, not even bothering to hide all evidence of his being there. His main priority was getting Botan safely to the car and confronting the madwoman Yuri for the other fragment of Hiei's soul she possessed. Outside he went, picking up Botan's skirt and purse along the way before he checked both ways along the hall. His way was clear and that's all Kurama needed to know.
Kurama kept his footsteps quick and light, passing through the re-erected traps and walls with a ruthlessness that came with the knowledge that he was running on a time limit. In no time at all, he was on the second floor amongst the other partygoers. He slowed to a more leisurely gait and morphed his expression to one of a satisfied smile. To his left was a mirror used for decoration, the reflection in it showing that Kurama's eyes had turned gold and his ears had started to point.
The stress must be affecting me more than I thought, Kurama concluded, feeling his demon self surging to the surface. But try as he might, Kurama could not calm himself enough to push his darker self back in check. He cursed his luck in silence before his gaze traveled to Botan's slumbering form. It doesn't matter, as long as she's fine. Kurama didn't look at his reflection again, for if he did, he would have seen how gentle his expression became and the small smile that tugged at the corner of Botan's lips. Pausing to scan the thinning crowd within the manor, Kurama finally began the last leg of his exit.
"Aw," a voice cooed, halting Kurama's trek to the door. "The little angel fell asleep." It was one of the Subs that had given Botan her number. The woman was tall and her olive complexion hinted at her outdoor hobbies. Her clothes were mostly gone and all she wore was a black leather thong and a garter belt that held up her thigh highs. This brought attention to her small, but gravity defying breasts and the numerous hickies that covered them. Her long black hair was tousled about in a fetching manner that in most cases Kurama would have appreciated, but now all he felt was urgency even as he wore a mask of pleasantness.
"It has been a long night and she'd reached her limit," Kurama lied, hitching her up his back suddenly when he felt her slip slightly due to the sweat that had gathered along his palms.
"Such a sweet little thing," the woman's Dom purred, he nuzzled his lover affectionately as he said this. He wore nothing and was completely unashamed of his nakedness. His hair was long and black, slicked back to keep his vision unobscured and sweeping low against his thighs. Around his neck was the only piece of jewelry that he wore, a simple but ancient rosary that pulsed with power and a powerful glamour. The man was obviously an old demon, but not as far aged as Kurama. "You take good care of her, you hear? We wouldn't want for her to lose that innocence considering the world she's in."
"I highly doubt that's even possible," Kurama smiled.
"That's good," there was an edge of warning in the man's tone, as if the middle aged man would take her away if Kurama even thought of hurting her. Kurama knew the only reason the male dog demon only made the threat because he had no knowledge of who and how powerful Kurama was. In the eyes of the inu youkai, Kurama was just a rambunctious kitsune with a strange human lover.
"I should be going now," Kurama said, holding Botan tighter as he slowly inched towards the door. He had wasted enough time speaking to the couple and he knew he was pressing his luck.
"As should we, you have reports to grade." The last part of the statement was directed at her Dom, the woman tugging at his arm as if to pull him towards the exit as well.
"But why," the inu whined in a fashion that seemed so strange, considering what he was and the power he exuded. "They're all 'F's anyway."
"Even mine," the woman pouted, slapping his shoulder.
"That all depends on the extra credit you turn in," he smirked.
"Professor Sesshoumaru, I can't believe you said that," she huffed before storming off towards the door.
"Rin," he called, jogging away from Kurama to catch up with his mate. When he caught her, he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her out the door and out of sight.*
It must be nice… Kurama thought forlornly. I wonder if I'll ever have someone… For some reason, Kurama peaked over his shoulder to glance at Botan. He refused to think more on the matter however, hitching Botan up before continuing towards the door. He made it to the car without anymore interruptions and he was almost happy to see that no one else was around them in that poorly lit portion of the lawn.
Unlocking the car, Kurama laid Botan onto the backseat before placing Botan's skirt over her body like a blanket. Still unsatisfied, Kurama removed the jerkin he wore and the shirt beneath it before balling them up. He crawled over Botan's form and placed the bundle of clothing under her head, making sure that she would be as comfortable as possible. He looked down on her suddenly, finding the urge to do so too much to ignore any longer.
Botan looked so peaceful, laying there beneath him. She looked as if she didn't have a care in the world. Slowly her glamour began to slip, not completely, but enough for him to see through it. With the distance between them so short, Kurama could see her scars so clearly. Contrary to his original beliefs, the thin white lines of scars long since healed were haloed by imperceptibly darker skin. The burn that scorched its way from her heart and down her body was far more severe than his first glance had shown. There were deeper recesses along its center, as if something sharp had carved into her chest and trailed downwards.
Of their own accord, Kurama's fingers began to trace along the burn until they found their way to Botan's inner thigh. His thumb stroked the skin there affectionately before his fingers ghosted over her nether regions without him even realizing.
Botan squirmed away from the accidental caress, shifting her legs subconsciously to prevent the source of her discomfort from continuing.
Kurama's face paled and his blood ran cold. He reached out again, caressing her in hopes that his instincts were wrong. As he dreaded she would, Botan shifted away and kicked out at whatever it was that was hurting her.
"Oh Botan," Kurama breathed in shock. What monster would do such a thing to her…? Dark suspicions formed within his mind and a cry for vengeance could be felt throughout his entire being. The fear, the panic attacks, the wish to avoid even being seen by accident, it was all for one person; Yuri. Kurama didn't know their history, and at that point he didn't care, but he was wise enough to know that with that woman's death Botan would be at peace again.
Kurama made a move to get out of the car, but stopped. He turned back to Botan and drank his fill of her image. He bowed over her again, but this time he ignored the scars that would mar her in the eyes of others and filled his view with her sweet face. Slowly, his eyes made their way to her supple pink lips that beckoned him. Leaning forward a bit more, until their lips were only mere millimeters apart, Kurama breathed in her scent of rapture. In that moment, he wanted her; completely and truly wanted her.
He bit his lip in contemplation, his mind racing to form any coherent thought. How sweet would her lips taste against his? How soft would they be? Did he deserve to know? Did it really matter? One kiss wouldn't hurt…
But it would feel too much like taking advantage, Kurama sighed. Instead, Kurama pressed his lips to her smooth cheek and took his last deep breath of her scent before removing himself from the car completely. There would be other days. Other chances, but not now. Not like this. He made sure her legs were comfortably tucked in before closing the door to the back seat. He then let his youki flow from his body and down into the ground, letting the earth and the plants soak up his energy so they could do his bidding. An energy barrier was erected around the car before plants rose high until eerily beautiful shrubbery hid the car from view.
"I'll be back soon," Kurama promised, before running back towards the mansion.
Kurama made his way through the mansion with predatory ease, making all that remained turn and stare. No longer was he the mischievous imp that caught the eyes of many in attendance. Now that his sweet pixie was no longer at his side, the being that stood before them shattered the image and could now only be described as a demon.
From what those left could tell, the crimson haired young man was looking for someone. His once emerald eyes scanned over the scant faces present before he stalked towards the stairs. People were quick to jump out of his way, not wishing to invoke the ire of the entity and the smarter few chose that to be the best time to leave the manor all together. Instinct overrode curiosity as an even darker aura sent a chill down their spines, prompting the rest to leave until none remained within the silent home.
So she knows I'm here, Kurama realized.
"Be careful fox," Hiei echoed his warning.
"Where's your other fragment?" Kurama questioned, bypassing the grand staircase and making his way towards a nondescript door and the black aura wafting towards him from behind it.
"Down in the basement, there's a– ah?" Kurama no longer felt Hiei within his mind, as if the younger demon had been sucked away into the bit of his soul's fragment that Kurama held. Something had pulled him away, but what Kurama couldn't tell, but he could only guess that Yuri had something to do with it.
Kurama didn't even bother picking the lock, bringing his foot up and kicking down the door to reveal a steep and narrow staircase. Kurama took several deep breaths, hoping to scent for whoever was down bellow and what obstacles would bar his path. All that met his nose was an old musty smell and the familiar scent of bodies in various states of decay. Why haven't I noticed this before, Kurama pondered as he made his descent. Checking back, Kurama noted the seal painted onto the wood of the door in black. Old kitchen magic*, how quaint.
Down Kurama went; his nerves coiled tight and ready to spring at the slightest provocation. Before long, Kurama found himself within what should have been used as a wine cellar. Instead, all the racks used for wine were pushed flush against one wall, creating a wide hallway of sorts. Hanging from the bared wall were the corpses Kurama had smelled from above. Most were old, their skin mostly peeled off due to the wounds inflicted and time, but some were fresh. One looked to have died only moments ago.
An odd feeling filled Kurama when he realized that the recently deceased was the man that had tried to take Botan away from him. He had been the one bold enough to blatantly command Botan to leave with him, compelling Kurama to act on his fury. The man's short and stylish brunette hair was now caked with the blood that dripped from the long horizontal slash along his forehead. His honey hazel eyes were pinned open, needles holding his lids in place. The man's tongue lolled to the side of his torn jaw, split in two and still bleeding from the tongue ring that had been ripped out. Around his neck, a studded collar was secured impossibly tight, the spikes piercing into his flesh enough to draw blood, but not enough to kill.
The rest of his body was nude, revealing increasingly familiar burns that still smoldered along his chest and down his abdomen. Further down, the man's brutal castration could be seen. The rest of the skin along his carcass was shredded, as if someone took a whip to him repeatedly and without mercy.
Kurama allowed a small amount of guilt to be felt within his heart, but beyond that he felt nothing but slight sorrow for his death. Reaching up, Kurama removed the pins from the man's eyes and manually closed them before he continued onwards. Eventually he came to another door that was left slightly ajar, and beyond it was Yuri. She had stripped herself of her gown and now danced around the room merrily, drenched in the man's blood and clutching a tuft of blue to her nose. Suddenly, she stopped, her expression morphing from euphoria to pure rage. The hold Yuri had on the tuft of hair tightened and she started to pant as if she were hyperventilating.
"Who was he," she hissed, her voice so dangerously low that Kurama could barely hear her.
Kurama suddenly knew that he and Botan had not evaded her attentions. She knew Botan was there. She just hadn't allowed for herself to be known yet. This is not good, Kurama concluded, taking a step back in hopes of finding another way in. If he wanted an assured victory, he's going to need to catch her off guard completely.
Yuri's head snapped to the side, facing the door that kept Kurama from view. "Oporaviti se mene pa predložiti*!"
Against his will, Kurama's body surged through the door before he dropped into a kneeling position in front of the blood soaked Yuri. It had happened so quickly that Kurama didn't even have time to fight it. All he could do was glare up at the woman that Botan feared so with barely concealed hate.
"You," Yuri shrieked, swiping her hand out and slicing Kurama's cheek with her sharpened nails.
"Were you expecting someone else," Kurama inquired mockingly, even though he knew that he was trapped. Again he received another sharp slap to his face.
"Where's my Botan? What have you done with my beloved Botan?" Yuri's voice escalated into a shrill pitch as questioned him, her hands circling Kurama's throat and lifting him off of his knees. She then forced him against the wall, holding him there with her brute strength alone.
Beloved…? "After the night we had, I'm letting her sleep it off," Kurama lied smoothly, a lecherous smirk finding its way onto his lips.
"LIES!" Yuri released Kurama's neck before backhanding him again.
"Weren't you watching? We put on a show especially for you." Sharp and searing pain was the next thing Kurama felt, forcing a cry of pain from his throat as hooks of various sizes pierced through his flesh. The chains then yanked him backwards, digging the points farther into his skin and holding him against the wall. His feet dangled roughly a foot over the ground, spread apart at shoulder width.
"My Botan would never betray me, she loves me."
Botan
Kurama,
"Kurama," Botan called silently, slowly slipping into the realm of consciousness. She rolled to her side and sat up, checking her surroundings to find nothing but foliage. "Kurama," she called again. The wind was all that answered, slipping past the leaves in order to embrace her in cold. Botan shivered violently, wrapping her arms and skirt around herself in hopes of getting warm. She waited for the wind to die down before she stood on the back seat so she could see over the tall bushes. There wasn't a soul in sight.
With dread in her heart, Botan dropped back onto the seat and began to search the car's floor in hopes of finding her purse or her mask. Instead, Botan found the shirt and vest Kurama had been wearing that night. Inside, Botan wanted to feel anger for what Kurama had done, but looking at the clothes now, all she wanted was for him to be back with her, where he was safe and unharmed. She felt it so strongly that the thought of going back and confronting her sister wasn't all that terrifying.
She reached out and grabbed the simple white shirt and pressed it to her face. She filled her lungs with Kurama's delicious and unique scent of roses, earth, musk and rain. The scent warmed her and filled her with need; the need to have Kurama back again.
I'll be angry with you when we get home, Botan thought, slipping the shirt over her own cloths and lacing it up part of the way. She then continued her search until she found her mask. She gave the base of one of the ribbons a squeeze before she lifted the disguise to her face. The mansion glowed with power, the windows of the upper levels covered with seals to prevent the robbery of the upper floors. Another squeeze and Botan was searching for the activity of living organisms. Nothing from the first floor and up moved. There wasn't a single person within the home to speak of and Botan didn't know how she felt about that fact.
Once she removed the mask, Botan lifted her wrist to check her watch, fidgeting with the dials until the clock face flipped and revealed a compass. She gave the largest of the knobs along the side a tap and the arrow came to life in a whir. The arrow eventually settled and the face of the compass itself tilted so that the arrow would point at a downward angle.
"Please be okay," Botan prayed, exiting the car and working her way through the bushes. One of the branches reached out to her, as if to bar her path, but Botan pushed through. More branches barricaded her, but none made a move to harm her in any way due to the command that Kurama instilled within them. But before Botan could do anything to remove her blockade, the plants quivered and some of the branches dropped.
"Oh no," Botan gasped, knowing that the only way such a thing would happen is if Kurama were in danger. He must be pulling back some of the energy to stay alive, Botan concluded, charging through the remaining branches and making a mad dash towards the imposing house.
The seal that barred the door from invaders wilted at her approach and began to open, alerting Botan to Yuri's knowledge of her existence. In most cases, this would have sent Botan into another attack, but with the adrenaline pumping through her veins Botan used this fact to her advantage. With her eyes glued to the face of the compass, Botan ignored the sickening smell of gore and made her way through the broken in door and down the stairs. She didn't even bother to be quiet, the loud clacking of her heels reverberating from the walls and filling the eerie silence.
Kurama bit back another scream, biting his lip when the barbed whip tore through his chest, splitting the skin in two. He hung naked from Yuri's basement wall, his pants laying on the ground in tatters. All along his body were cuts, gashes and other long and deep lacerations that spilt his blood onto the dirt and stone of the floor beneath his feet. Each lash of Yuri's whip was delivered one on top of the other, criss crossing along his skin to maximize the pain.
"I see why Botan doesn't want to be near you," Kurama taunted, struggling valiantly to ignore the pain.
"LIAR! How dare you even speak her name?" Yuri punctuated each statement with a lash of her whip, letting the metal spike in its tip lick over Kurama's previous wounds while inflicting newer ones. She then struck out with her nails, digging into the wound and twisting under the skin before ripping her nails out.
Kurama couldn't fight the cry that ripped its way from his throat, the sound leaving his voice raw. Kurama panted as he fought to catch his breath and school his expression. "Botan," Kurama continued, "is afraid of you, that's why she didn't come. She thinks you're a monster."
"Stop LYING!" Yuri bellowed, lashing out at Kurama with her nails again, adding to the cuts along his face.
"I can't lie," Kurama spat viciously, "As per your commandment."
"Botan loves me! She said so herself," Yuri argued, balling her fists and slamming them against Kurama's stomach, effectively winding him.
"Oh," Kurama coughed. "Then where is she? Last I checked she's waiting for me to take her home."
"No! You must have done something to keep her from me," Yuri growled, turning from Kurama and stalking towards the other side of the room where a table with her favorite toys lay.
"Yes, I did," Kurama admitted huskily. "I knocked her unconscious, I laid her out on the back seat of my car, I touched her…" Kurama licked his lips. "She is so tempting, isn't she?"
Grabbing the nearest thing to her hand, Yuri shrieked her rage and stabbed Kurama with a small and rusty knife between his ribs. "How dare you touch what is mine; you filthy, disgusting demon!" She twisted the blade as she said this.
"I merely gave her what she wanted," Kurama hissed, forcing his words through the pain and misconstruing facts to push Yuri closer to the edge.
"She would NEVER sully herself with YOU," Yuri cried, forcing the blade deeper into his body until the hilt was flush against him.
"That's not the impression I got," Kurama grunted. "She wanted me to touch her in her most sacred of places. She wanted me to satisfy her in a way only a man could." His words struck a nerve. That much was plain to see when tears began streaming down her face, mixing with the blood that splashed there and making it drip down her cheeks and chin.
"No," she hissed darkly, clenching her fists at her sides. "I can't fulfill her like a man can, but I made sure that no man would even be allowed to try."
"And what makes you think I won't heal her," Kurama inquired trying to force her back into her jealous rage.
"You'll be dead long before I let you try." Suddenly, she smiled. Yuri backed away from Kurama until she returned to her table, where she turned and lifted a wakizashi* with a bloodied hilt into her hands. Within moments, the blade began to glow a bright and angry orange and unfamiliar seals began to shine from beneath the drying blood. With the blade radiating its searing heat, Yuri reproached Kurama with dark intentions leering up at him from her thick lashes.
She placed the tip of the blade against his bare inner thigh and let it rest there, watching rapt fascination as the skin began darken and bubble and peel. But still she held the blade's tip there, her eyes trailing up Kurama's beautifully sculpted body until they settled on his face. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were sealed shut. His lips slowly peeled back, exposing his sharpened canines before he cried out.
Yuri laughed happily, slowly trailing the tip of the blade upwards until she reached his hip bone and narrowly avoiding the patch of red laced with silver. She then held the blade there for a moment longer to take in her handiwork; the expression of fear and pain that will be forever etched onto Kurama's beautiful face. She removed the blade as lust entered her eyes before she pressed her body against his. She bent over at her waist, her face dangerously close to Kurama's flaccid length. She pressed her lips against his hip, directly over the burn she had created moments ago. A smirk formed on Yuri's lips when Kurama took a sharp intake of breath through his teeth and tried to squirm away from her even as the hooks embedded in his limbs held him in place.
"Did you know that most shikigami are vampiric by nature," she cooed, blowing a puff of air against Kurama's burn.
"No, I did not," Kurama groaned, trying to enter a mental state conducive to helping him escape the pain.
"When in a human body, we feed off of the life energy in blood to sustain ourselves and our growing powers." Yuri nipped along the burnt skin in a slow and painfully torturous fashion.
"Thanks for the info," Kurama jeered, "I'll be sure to keep Botan well fed." Kurama grinned when Yuri slapped him, pleased with himself for bringing the jealousy back to the forefront of Yuri's mind.
"You'll do no such thing," Yuri retaliated.
"Watch me," Kurama barked, daring Yuri to say otherwise.
"Fine! If you want to feed her, I'll bleed you dry and I'll give it to her as your parting gift!" Yuri grasped the hilt of the wakizashi and raised it high over her head, readying herself to deliver the finishing blow into Kurama's heart.
"NO!" a familiar voice cried before a familiar flash of blue could be seen.
Botan slammed herself against Yuri, knocking the woman off balance and tossing her onto the ground. Botan didn't even look at her before she started to heal Kurama's burn, praying that it wasn't permanent like hers.
"Botan," Yuri gasped, her voice deceptively sweet. "You came back to me. I knew you would."
"Yuri-Hime, let him go," Botan requested, her voice gentle and patient.
"No! He deserves to be punished," Yuri argued, rising to her hands and knees and crawling a few inches towards Botan.
Without thinking Botan braced her back against Kurama, using herself as a wall between Kurama and Yuri. She would not allow Yuri to hurt him anymore, no matter what.
"Botan, run," Kurama gasped in terror.
"No," Botan responded simply, her voice unsteady.
"You're choosing…him, over me," Yuri murmured, rising to her feet.
Botan braced herself in time for the slap that stuck her cheek, catching herself before she could be thrown to the floor.
"Why? Why? WHY?" Yuri grabbed a fist full of Botan's hair and pulled her away from Kurama's form, tossing her to the side as if she weighed nothing. "How could you do this to me, after all I've done for you? I protected you! I gave you immortality! I loved you! I've always loved you! And yet you chose him," Yuri kicked Botan, rolling her farther away from Kurama, whom struggled against his bonds.
"Leave her alone! It's my fault she denies you. You're quarrel is with me!" Kurama's words fell on deaf ears and he watched in horror as Yuri lifted Botan up by her neck.
"Why do you hurt me so," Yuri continued, shaking Botan before slamming her back against the table that held all her torture devices. Yuri's toys scattered onto the ground around her feet, throwing Yuri off balance and pitching both her and Botan onto the ground.
"Please sister, he's my friend," Botan cried imploringly, dragging herself up onto her feet.
"We're not SISTERS! They were all lying! You can't be part of my family," Yuri fought, her voice cracking as she struggled to stand.
"Please," Botan pleaded, backing herself towards Kurama.
"No, you're mine. I won't share you. Not with HIM, not with ANYBODY!" Yuri was on her feet within seconds, her body glowing with her rage. Suddenly, more hooks and chains appeared, hooking through and around Botan before suspending her in the air. Yuri then grabbed the nearest implament to her, a rusty dagger and aproached Botan's form, slicing the dull edge completely through the back of Botan's ankles.
"Botan," Kurama cried, his voice drowned out entirely by her screams. Grasping the nearest chain, he pulled as hard as he could in hopes of loosening one of the hooks from his arms. He only managed to remove one, but that was enough to free his arm. With the blood that dripped from his limb, Kurama called to the plants that lay beneath the ground. They shot up in order to do his bidding, charging at Yuri in hopes of impaling her. An energy barrier flashed around her in time to destroy the plants, but Yuri did not turn to face him.
"Why do you make me hurt you," she demanded, tossing the blade aside and catching Botan's face between her hands and forcing her to look down. "Do you like to see me suffer?" Tears fell from Yuri's eyes unbidden as she searched Botan's amethyst orbs for an answer. "I wouldn't have to do this to you if you'd just do what your supposed to do."
"Please let him go," Botan whimpered.
"No, he will never touch you again," Yuri vowed, reaching up and tearing Kurama's shirt from her body and tossing it away. She didn't stop tearing away until Botan was completely bare before her. "The last thing he'll ever see is you being branded as mine. Then I'll make sure he never sullies you again. He'll be gone from your life and then everything will be as it should."
"I'll never forgive you if you do," Botan barked.
"Of course you will," Yuri smiled. "You're so sweet and loving and forgiving. You may not understand now, but soon you will. Then you'll know that our happiness depends on his death, just like with our village, and the temple, and the fox. I destroyed them all for you. I'll destroy him too, for you," Yuri promised.
Something inside Botan snapped as the few memories that remained with her danced within her mind, so many faces without names and names without faces darted back and forth within her; so many gone, including herself, due to the insanity of their princess. It was all for what; Yuri's lust and inability to come to grips with the fact that Botan was her sister and a freak. Yuri sacrificed them all just so she could live forever before turning Botan into the slave that she was now.
"No, you won't." Botan's voice was calm and steady. She no longer felt the pain of the hooks, nor heard Kurama's hoarse cries for her safety. Reiki laced with youki began to seep from her body, cucooning her body in a dark mist.
What right did Yuri have to lay claim to her? Botan was her own woman, she always had been, and she gave Yuri no consent to have her. What right did Yuri have to turn her into a shikigami? Did it ever occur to Yuri that maybe she wanted to die? Did it ever occur to Yuri that she looked forward to her next life, to a life without pain or harsh words? No. Yuri claimed to love her, but Botan knew otherwise. She was just an obsession Yuri formed because of the ugliness and realities within her own life she did not want to accept.
"Botan…? No, wait. Don't do it, Botan*!" Kurama's voice brought her back to reality long enough for her to look over at him. Even now, even after the attentions he'd been subjected to by Yuri, he still cared more for her sake than his. Even in the form of friendship, that was real love, and Botan would gladly face damnation to protect it. Botan flashed Kurama a smile before turning her attention back onto Yuri.
Her eyes instantly began to glow, the light spider webbing from her eyes, down her cheeks and along the contours of her body. "εγώ ανοίγω the πύλη στο σύνορα του Τάταρος και περίληψη the gatekeeper σε προβάλλω αξίωση this ψυχή εγώ προσφορά*" As she said this, a particularly wicked grin tugged at the corners of Botan's lips, morphing her face into an alien expression.
"What…What are you?" Yuri slowly backed away from her beloved, fearing the being that hung in her place. Slowly Botan began to float before her eyes and the hooks vanished in a flash of brilliant white.
"I'm what you made," Botan answered before punching through Yuri's chest. In her hand was Hiei's soul fragment, painted red with Yuri's blood. She tossed it to the side, narrowly missing the pile her destroyed clothing made.
A ring of red drew itself around the two, trapping them within a field of electricity. From within, symbols began to carve themselves into the ground before another, smaller ring formed. The ring emptied out into a hole from which screams of anguish could be heard over the howl of wind that was sucking both Botan and Yuri down towards its center. Wounds long since healed burst open, as if re-inflicted by the electricity that circled the two young women.
Yuri dropped to the ground, digging her nails into the stone flooring in hopes of anchoring herself so she wouldn't be sucked into the dark abyss. "Botan, why?"
"Because I hate you." Botan did nothing to stop herself from lifting off the ground, the glow in her eyes shifting red. She felt no pain, no sorrow, only joy born from watching her sister struggle to stay amongst the living.
"No, you don't. You love me!" Yuri lost her grip against the stone and was sucked into the hole part way, her arms catching the edge.
"No, I don't, and I never will." A giant hand shot up from within the hole, catching Yuri in a powerful grip.
"Help me," Yuri screeched, every cell within her searing with raw agony.
"Sorry, but I can't even help myself now." The light within Botan's eyes dwindled and died, leaving pained amethysts in its wake. She curled into a ball, whimpering as blood burst from reopened wounds. She hovered within the vortex as another hand squeezed passed the first. A defensive sphere of reiki wrapped around Botan's body it time to stop the creature from catching her, but just having the creature in such close proximity to her caused her great pain.
"At least you and I will always be together now," Yuri sighed. Contentment filled her as the shield that guarded Botan shattered, knowing that the two of them would be together forever. That was all she ever wanted in the first place.
"Botan!" Red and silver flashed before Yuri's eyes, destroying the hand that had captured Botan and carrying her out of the barrier. Kurama carried Botan within the cradle of his arms, holding her close and nuzzling her face. Botan wrapped her arms around his neck and cried her gratitude, returning Kurama's affectionate gesture to the best of her abilities.
"Kurama," Botan rasped, her voice raw from her screaming. "How did you…?" Botan looked up to see silver fox ears twitching atop his head, the tips laced with the red of his hair and the occasional streak of gold. Behind him his tails jerked in place, the electricity charging through his fur and making it stand on end.
"I did what I had to in order to save you. I'm not losing you to her, I refuse," Kurama panted, struggling to ignore the pain that coursed through his system. He had literally torn himself from the hooks and his demon persona and his desire to protect Botan was the only thing that kept him alive, let alone standing.
"No! Give her back! She's mine!" Yuri's words were met with silence. Kurama and Botan just watched her as Yuri was pulled into the darkness, her last image of Botan in Kurama's arms. The ground closed up above her and all that remained was the cold hard ground and the fading gate to Yuri's new prison.
"She's not dead, is she?" Kurama inquired stepping away from the center of the basement and making his way towards the newly aquired fragment of Hiei's soul, refusing to relinquish his hold on Botan even as his body protested violently to her weight against his limbs. He went back to grab the other fragment and placed both onto Botan's stomach, careful of the reborn burn.
"No, she's not." Botan rested a hand over her heart, her fingers caressing the edges of the burn that marred the skin there. "She'll be back for me. She'll always come back for me."
"Then when she does, I'll kill her," Kurama swore, forcing his legs onwards.
"Like she said, she's immortal." Botan rested her cheek against Kurama's shoulder, filling her lungs with his comforting scent and allowing her mind to drift from her pain. If she didn't think about it, maybe it would go away.
"She wouldn't be the first immortal I've killed.*"
Neither of them had the strength to make the drive home and they were both losing blood fast. Botan was already turning pale from the loss and she was losing the battle to stay awake. She could feel her body dying around her and try as she might to escape it, Botan was trapped within it. She didn't understand; if she could just leave her physical body then she could use her magic unhindered to heal both it and Kurama.
"Kurama," Botan whispered, her voice calling out to the almost vacant Kurama.
Kurama's step faltered a fraction, his mind returning to reality at a sluggish pace. He had lost a lot of blood and it was only a matter of time before he succumbed to the siren's song of slumber. "Yes Botan?"
"You need to put me down," Botan informed him, leaning forward slightly to enter Kurama's field of vision. "My weight is putting to much stress on your wounds."
"Not until I get you some place where you can rest," Kurama argued, climbing the stairs to the third level. If his assumptions were correct, the master bedroom, or one close to it, wasn't that far away from where the first fragment they found was kept.
"Put me down," Botan commanded. She knew she couldn't walk the way she was now, but she refused to be the cause of Kurama's death, even if it meant dragging herself over the threshold.
"No." Kurama tightened his hold around her instead, needing the contact for his own sanity even as he saw the validation in her words. He knew the stress was making him bleed out faster, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He found the room then, the double doors that lead to it left ajar. Inside was a surprisingly normal, considering who owned it. But Kurama didn't allow for further thought on the matter.
He approached the larger than king sized canopy bed and laid Botan's nude form onto the thin white coverlet. He dropped to his knees mere moments later since his body could no longer support his own weight. He tried to get up so he could at least climb onto the bed beside her, but he lacked the power to do so.
"Let me help you," Botan murmured, wrapping her arms around Kurama's torso, careful of the knife still imbedded between his ribs before rolling over, pulling Kurama up on top of her during the process.
Kurama braced his hands and knees on either side of her so he wouldn't crush her with his weight. His limbs trembled from the strain, but Kurama locked his joints in place. He looked down at Botan, taking in her beauty. A feeling of serenity washed over him when their eyes met and all he could think was that he was happy that it was her that was with him. "Thank you."
"What are friends for," Botan smiled. Ignoring her own pain she used the last of her own strength to maneuver Kurama onto his back so she could heal him. She rolled onto her knees before curling her fingers around the hilt of the blade, waiting for Kurama to nod his consent before yanking the knife free. She tossed to the side and quickly began mend the wound shut. She did not have the time or energy to completely heal it, since there were more wounds that called for her immediate attention, but she could at least knit the wound together so he wouldn't bleed to death. She tried to continue down his body, but as she went her vision began to blur and more cuts began to slice through her hands.
"Enough," Kurama ordered, grasping her wrists and pushing them away, "It's my turn to care for you."
"You haven't the strength," Botan breathed before she dipped forward out of dizziness.
"I don't need my spirit energy to heal," Kurama explained, grabbing Botan and rolling them over until he had her pinned beneath him again. He lowered his body onto hers, tucking his head against her neck. His tongue darted out from between his lips to lap against the cut along her jugular.
Botan jolted at the contact, her face flushing when she realized what it was that Kurama was doing. She tried to relax, knowing that Kurama, like most mammalian demons, had strong healing agents within his tongue. But even with that knowledge, it felt so strange and hardly proper. Her entire body heated as Kurama's tongue deftly made its way along her neck and downwards to her arm.
He avoided her burn, knowing that his saliva would cause the reawakened injury to bring Botan untold agony. Even if he could heal it that way, he refused to do so at the prospect of causing Botan more pain than necessary. Down he went until he found her wrists and the thin lines that slashed across them. Kurama said nothing even as questions formed within his mind, lavishing the wounds with his attentions in hopes to wipe them clean until not even a trace remained. He payed extra attention to Botan's ankles, praying that the damage wasn't permanent and that she would still be able to walk.
Once the most threatening of her wounds were healed, Kurama reached into his hair and pulled out a seed that he turned into a small aloe plant.
"Remind me to thank Hiei," Botan chuckled weakly, trying to alleviate her embarrassment at having Kurama lick her wounds. The plant was a decidedly recent addition to Kurama's arsenal, since Hiei and Kurama would often train together.
"Duly noted," Kurama grinned, snapping the leaves and squeezing the pulp out onto Botan's chest and stomach.
Botan squeaked in shock at the glorious coldness that pierced through her system. Well practiced hands coated in the same substance worked over her broken and bleeding skin, soothing the scorching pain down to a more tolerable sting. Slowly, almost painfully so, Kurama's hands worked their way along Botan's chest, skirting around her breasts and down the valley until he reached her stomach. He stalled his decent, unsure about how to continue from there. He knew how far her burns went, but not how deep. Would Botan allow for him to continue? Kurama wasn't so sure considering. But he had to.
Images of an angry and volatile Botan flashed within his mind. Kurama had seen what Botan was capable of when she was angry and did not wish to fall victim to her ire. Another image flashed within his mind's eye of Botan cowering on the floor, her eyes filled with tears yet to be shed. Would she react that way to him as she did with Yuri? Would she fear his touch? Kurama didn't know which reaction he would prefer; an angry Botan, or a scared one? He didn't know how to handle either and he almost didn't want to risk it.
Kurama's hands worked on autopilot, coating Botan's burns liberally with the aloe until they reached her thighs. As expected, Botan clamped her legs shut, locking her ankles together to prevent Kurama from continuing.
"You know I have to, right?" Kurama waited with baited breath as Botan turned away from him in thought, her face red and her arms wrapped around her breasts and blocking them from view.
She rolled onto her side and brought her knees up, keeping her back to Kurama. She nodded though, understanding that it needed to be done even though he was the last person she wanted to see the extent of her deformation. She flinched when Kurama pulled at her, rolling her back onto her back and exposing her burns again. It was okay when it was just her breasts, because the burn wasn't exactly on them so Kurama didn't have to focus his attentions there. It was okay with her stomach because the burns weren't as severe. But there, along her thighs and nether region, it wasn't okay. She was gross and disgusting and she didn't want for Kurama, who had lived his life around untold beauties, to see her ugliness.
Kurama kept his eyes on hers, easing Botan's legs apart so he could work the aloe along her inner thighs. Without looking, he traced his fingers beside the borders of the raised and broken flesh, spiraling his touch around her legs and lower abdomen, each revolution decreasing in size until he paused. His fingers rested against the skin immediately above the outer lips of her sex, but he made no move to continue. Instead, Kurama focused on Botan's expression of shame and dread.
"Your scar doesn't change anything," Kurama whispered, lowering his head to nuzzle Botan's cheek.
"I'm deformed and disgusting," Botan wept, reaching downwards to remove Kurama's hand with tears beading up at the corners of her eyes.
"You're beautiful," Kurama countered, stilling Botan from her actions and making her stare at Kurama incredulously. She wanted to argue against Kurama's statement, but the words died in her throat and all Botan could do was stare. Suddenly, his fingers delved between her legs, touching her in the most intimate of places.
The burns weren't as sever as Kurama originally feared, only tracing around her entrance and with minimal damage to the hood of her clitoris. But there was enough to discourage the simplest of intimacy. Even if she felt no shame for the burns, the promise of pain ensured Botan's purity. Even now Botan flinched in pain, fighting back the feeling of arousal born from his touch in hopes of alleviating it.
"I'm sorry," Kurama murmured, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders in hopes of comforting her. He tapped into the last of his reiki, letting it flow through his fingers in hopes of removing at least that part of her scar. He rested his palm against her pelvic bone, dispersing his energy through the larger area created by the contact.
Botan whimpered, curling against him as she tried not to slam her legs shut. This prompted Kurama to stop, removing his hand completely. He had managed to remove the burn completely from the hood of her sex and from the outer lips, but further in, the burn felt like it grew. It was then that Kurama knew that the scar Botan bore was cursed; linked to the creature that made it. Only some of it could be healed, and Kurama assumed that was only because of Yuri's location and her weakened state.
Kurama would growl if he could,* cursing Yuri's very existence. Even from the depths of one of the underworlds* she still maintained her hold over Botan and there wasn't a thing Kurama could do about it. Not yet at least, Kurama thought. When we next meet, her life is mine. Kurama worked the sheet from under their bodies and removed it completely from the bed before ripping it into shreds. He then carefully wrapped the long strips around the wounds he didn't heal before doing the same for Botan's burns. Kurama then did the same for himself with what remained of the ruined sheet, not caring to cover his nakedness before he reached towards the silver comforter that lay folded at the foot of the bed.
Spooning himself against Botan's back, Kurama lifted the blanket over their forms and waited patiently for sleep to claim them.
Author's Note: So, what did you think? Please let me know through a review. Anyway, just so you know, I'm going to be out of town next weekend, so don't expect an update. I plan on spending next week going back and editing all the chapters already posted, especially the previous one since I'm not satisfied with it now that this one's out. Anywho, don't expect an update next week, but no worries. There will be two chapters the following week. So, let me know what you thought of this chapter and tell me if there are some errors that really grind your gears in my other ones. Also, I'm open to any ideas for the Fanfic, even though I already have most of it planned out, you may have thought of something good that I haven't. Well, tata!
*1 - A shikigami's contract is how they are controlled. Think of the shikigami as djinn or genies, just without the wish granting abilities (usually). More on Yuri as the fic progresses.
*2 - Expect more cameos from completely random people. A shout out to anyone who can guess the anime and the pairing name (if I don't get anything for this freebee I'll be so totally beyond shocked).
*3 - Kitchen magic is what I like to call the kind used around the house; like spells to keep things clean, to prolong the shelf life of perishables, to mend objects, and in this case, to keep embarrassing odors at bay. It's also called domestic magic.
*4 - Oporaviti se mene pa predložiti translates to come to me and submit.
*5 - A wakizashi is a Japanese sword that is shorter than a katana.
*6 - Kurama actually knows what it is Botan was doing, but there was another reason he wanted her to stop. Stay tuned to find out why.
*7 - "εγώ ανοίγω the πύλη στο σύνορα του Τάταρος και περίληψη the gatekeeper σε προβάλλω αξίωση this ψυχή εγώ προσφορά*" is Greek for "I open the gates to the borders of Tartarus and summon the gatekeeper to lay claim to this soul I offer." I could be wrong though since I just went to a translator site to get this so bear with me.
*fun tidbit – Botan sent Yuri to the edge of Tartarus where the torture is ridiculously worse than the Christian hell and while they're being tortured they get to see the Elysian Plains, and the souls that get to enjoy a wonderful afterlife (it's like heaven).
*7 - The immortal I'm referring to is not elder Togoro. Maybe more on this later.
*8 - Contrary to what animation has shown, foxes lack the facial structure and muscles to growl. Because of this, the expression is completely alien to Kurama so he can't consciously do it even when he's in his humanoid or human form.
*9 - If I hadn't said it before, in my fic, all religions are right, so all the afterlives are real. Some are even neighbors and share real estate.