Kurama was walking down the hallway that evening, back from the records room, where he had been doing research for Yomi, when he heard something he hadn't heard for centuries: Yomi losing his temper. Like, really losing it.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I EVER HAD SUCH AN INCOMPETENT FOOL WORKING FOR ME!" Yomi was bellowing. Kurama looked in through the doorway and saw that he was addressing one of his servants, whose name Kurama did not recall at the moment.

"But sir," the terrified demon began, backing up against the wall.

"THAT'S LORD YOMI TO YOU!" Yomi shouted back, and slapped him out of the way. Kurama's eyebrows raised. "YOU'RE FIRED!"

"You've already fired half the help this evening, sir," said the demon, rubbing his face from the force of the slap. "Who's going to—"

"Oh, servants are a dime a dozen!" Yomi interrupted him. "And I did NOT give you permission to talk!"

Yomi's hand was up to strike the servant again when Kurama ran in. He stepped in front of the servant to guard him. Whatever strange mood swing Yomi might be having, Kurama knew he wasn't going to be on the receiving end of that smack.

"Just go," Kurama said softly to the servant, and he sped out of there. When he was gone, Kurama turned around to face the furious King. "Yomi, what on Earth was that all about?"

"You just can't find good help these days!" Yomi complained, swinging his foot into his heavy throne. "OW! FUCK!"

Kurama could already see a bloodstain forming on Yomi's thin indoor slipper.

"That looks like it hurts," he said, taking hold of Yomi's arm. "Come on. The medical room isn't too far away."

The medical room was very impressive. As it turned out, Yomi hadn't been doing a lot of actual fighting for a long time, so serious injuries at Yomi's stronghold were rarer than one might think. It looked like there hadn't been an actual healer there for centuries. But since Kurama was a healer before he became a bandit, he was free to use the bandages, towels, and fancy equipment that was in there if he really needed it. Of course, most of Kurama's cures he had with him all the time, but it was still convenient, especially because he was also allowed to use the room to make poultices and herbal remedies.

Yomi got up on the exam table, and Kurama pulled off the slipper, glad Yomi couldn't see him wrinkle his nose at the smell of feet. The gash was big and deep, but luckily, it didn't look like it would need stitches. Kurama grabbed a disinfecting wipe and started to clean the wound. Yomi cursed again.

"We need to make sure the wound is clean, that's all," said Kurama patiently. "The pain will go away in a minute. Put pressure on it with this."

Kurama handed Yomi a wad of cotton, and he pressed it onto the wound, while Kurama pulled some soft Makaian leaves out of his hair. He placed them in a bowl and ran the hot water from the sink over them, mashing them with his hands as he did so.

"What happened, Yomi?" he asked gently.

"What do you mean, what happened?" Yomi barked, still pressing the cotton onto his wound. "I kicked my throne!"

"No," said Kurama. "I mean, what made you so angry?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Yomi. Kurama gathered up the wet mush and placed it directly onto the bleeding wound, then covered it with a new strip of cotton. Yomi tipped his head back and sighed in relief.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you lose your temper like that, Yomi." Kurama continued to press onto Yomi's foot as he waited for the bleeding to stop. "Whatever that servant did, I know it wasn't enough to make you this upset."

"I'm not upset," said Yomi, but there was something about the way he said it. Just a little more prodding, and it would come right out.

"Was it something about the war?" Kurama continued, his voice as casual as anything. But when he looked up, the expression on Yomi's face instantly told him that it wasn't. Yomi had been personally wronged—or at least, he felt that someone had wronged him.

"This stupid war," Yomi mumbled. Kurama watched him carefully. Not even he had ever seen Yomi like this. He was trying so hard to hold it in, but he looked…he looked hurt. And there were no wounds on him besides his foot, so someone must have hurt him emotionally. But how? And who?

"Yomi, I don't need all the details." Kurama took the mushy leaves off Yomi's wound and started to clean the blood off with a clean, wet tissue. The wound looked a lot less serious now that it wasn't bleeding. Once he was done wiping it off, Kurama grabbed some of his special ointment off the counter and squirted it into his palms. "But I think you need to tell someone about this. And you can trust me, can't you?"

"Fine, you want the truth?" Yomi untensed a little as Kurama spread the ointment over his foot. "For the past few years, I…I've been seeing a woman in secret."

Kurama felt his mouth drop open. "Yomi…I had no idea. Is it serious?"

"I wouldn't know." Yomi's voice wavered a little. "We broke up earlier this evening."

Kurama's first thought was that she'd dodged a massive bullet, but of course he didn't say that. What he said was, "Are you all right?"

"Of—of course I am," said Yomi, but by now he couldn't keep his voice steady at all. "It—it was…it was completely m-mutual."

Obviously, the breakup had been anything but mutual. Yomi had been dumped. But once again, Kurama knew to keep his thoughts to himself.

"Wounds like that can only be healed by time, Yomi," he said softly. "Did she say why?"

Yomi just shook his head. "It's complicated."

"Isn't love always?" Kurama replied, as he grabbed some bandages and carefully began to wrap them around Yomi's foot. "There, now. Just don't overdo it, and your foot should heal fine."

"She made me feel things I didn't know I could feel," said Yomi, tipping his head back so that if he could see, he would have only seen the ceiling. "And now…I've had my heart ripped from my chest. I said some things I didn't really mean—"

"Like what?"

"Like that I regretted sleeping with her."

"Yomi!"

"I know, I know, it was dumb!" Yomi snapped. "But she's the one who accused me of hurting her. Physically, I mean."

"Did it get physical?" Kurama asked. "I mean, in an injury sort of way?"

"It looked like she might, but she said I did something to her, when I didn't," said Yomi. "She was doubled over—like she was in a lot of pain—but I was too angry to care at the time."

"Perhaps something unrelated was hurting her, and she mistakenly attributed it to you," Kurama suggested. "Surely you'd have no reason to fight her for real."

"Uh, yeah…right." Now that his foot was bandaged, Yomi seemed in a hurry to get away. Kurama had the feeling there was something Yomi wasn't telling him, but he decided he didn't really need to know much more. "Why would I fight her? I-I have absolutely no…no reason to…Just leave me alone!"

Yomi stuck his foot in his slipper again and limped away, leaving Kurama staring openmouthed in his wake. Whoever this mystery woman was, she had obviously been very close to Yomi's heart.