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Triggers: Emesis/vomit

Published: 22/11/2023

Chapter 4:
Fuck Around And Find Out

That day, Kurama, the priest, wasn't a man of many words. Not moving out of his bed unless necessary. There was the town doctor who came to visit him twice a day but other than that he kept his door closed.

Yusuke returned to his home, the priest was practically useless now as he only slept, ate, and slept again. Yusuke couldn't blame him, everything was because he couldn't control himself.

But the priest was delicious, he had never tasted something like that.

He slept it off, trying to ignore it for a couple of days until he couldn't take it anymore. Eying the mark on his midriff, he felt like shouting, screaming in frustration. The mark was odd, he didn't want to believe the priest on the claims of its power. He huffed as he tucked his blouse in his pants, he'll just continue his life and think of a quick way to leave Previäir. He had to go, this wasn't good at all and suspicion slowly clung to him as the townspeople became wary.

Now that their priest was taken out temporarily, they had nothing besides the few guards.

He tried ignoring the supposed curse, the mark which could also be an illusion. He had heard of those before, priests using illusion to scare unwanted visitors away. He believed that to be a haunting. If one were to be haunted, many pointed at some form of curse placed upon them.

However, the power of the mark was demonstrated when he tried to feed himself, not because he was hungry, but because he wanted to call bluff on the priest's claims. He wanted to prove it was just an illusion.

"Like hell, I'll only be able to drink or eat from him, I'm not something he owns." Yusuke scoffed as he took some from his stash. Taking a shot, he downed it completely.

Almost immediately; his throat started burning and it somehow refused to stay down. With one powerful motion, the liquid was thrown up, splattering the ground and part of the wall and furniture.

"Fuck." Yusuke grimaced at the unpleasant sensation of burning. He took out another and another. All of them burning their way back out and onto the floor.

Where he first wanted to scream, now he actually did it, not holding back on his frustration.

A knock on his door made his spine tense up, did they hear him? When he opened the door, careful to swipe any remaining blood off of his face and hands, a young woman stood in front of his door.

"I'm sorry to bother you but I carry a message." The young woman muttered. "You're requested at the chapel."

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me…" Yusuke mumbled under his breath.

"Do you mind me asking what sir Minamino needs you for?" The woman asked shyly. "I've never seen you attend service…"

"I run errands for him." Yusuke lied. "He probably needs me to fetch him something." Lying had gotten very easy after decades of hiding his identity.

"Oh, alright then." The woman smiled before she turned to leave.

Shutting the door behind her, Yusuke flailed his arms around as he mouthed slur after slur, he really was stuck to the damn man and now he was being requested to come at any time he needed him. The only solace Yusuke had was the fact that the curse went both ways. It was his curse that he was now stuck with Yusuke and he vowed to make every moment miserable.

…

The church doors were closed but he knew he could enter through the window of his house.

"I see you're doing a lot better." He grumbled as he met him in his kitchen.

"Like I said, I can't stay down forever." Kurama didn't look at him, he was expecting him of course. "And..?" He asked, his eyes set on his stew.

"What and? I can't fucking eat or drink anything!" Yusuke huffed. "Anytime I try to consume anything, it goes out faster than a demon during an exorcism!"

"I like your terminology." Kurama snickered softly.

Yusuke wasn't as pleased, he had almost completely destroyed his throat lining while trying to eat and not projectile vomit it across the room.

"You know what's underneath the seal… Don't you?"

"Skin." Yusuke's irritation was growing by the minute.

"No," Kurama replied, pressing his lips into a thin line, not believing Yusuke to be so unaware of his own vessel. "Your stomach."

"Then why did you put it on my stomach knowing I won't be able to eat anything?!"

"Because that is where your core is."

"What do you mean?" Yusuke couldn't wrap his head around it, wasn't his core something like his heart or his brain? Wasn't his core the center of his power, that which he didn't have yet…?

"Your core is the center of your strength. Everyone's core is somewhere else, some do have their heart or head to be their core but your energy is strongest near or in your stomach." Kurama explained, he had turned away from his cooking and leaned against the table, probably from exhaustion.

"So why is my core there?" Yusuke lowered his voice a bit, seeing the priest's discomfort.

"I don't know, but it's there. I had quite a hard time figuring it out. You would've killed me if I found it a fraction of a second later."

That made Yusuke think. The priest wasn't flailing around when Yusuke lost control, he was searching for his core. "You drove out my instincts to lure me?"

"I already told you that," Kurama said flatly.

Yusuke eyed him for a bit, the priest looked tired but a lot better than the days before. He was slowly recovering and Yusuke knew it might take one to two weeks to fully recover. The priest was doing better than expected from someone who nearly lost a fatal amount of blood.

Even with the priest getting tired, one question still lingered in the back of his mind. "You're not human, are you?" It was a bold thing to ask, it was quite dangerous to question a priest's race.

"I am, but not quite." He responded, leaving Yusuke with more questions than answers.

"That doesn't make any fucking sense." Yusuke was about ready to rip his hair out.

"Good, it's not supposed to make sense." Kurama grinned. "Don't get me wrong but I have been following you for the last couple of decades." Kurama pushed himself away from the table and proceeded to divide the finished stew over two bowls. "Eat."

Yusuke stared at it was restraint, he knew eating was unsuccessful. "So it was you who I saw in that alleyway back then."

"Yes."

"That was decades ago… Then you are definitely not fully human." Yusuke scowled. "And I'm not eating, you know what you did to me."

"You can eat this, trust me." Ignoring the question altogether.

No matter how badly he wanted to refuse, the delicious smell coming from it made him want to try. Kurama was kind enough to cook for him, maybe this priest wasn't as bad as he thought.

He swallowed the food with hesitation but as soon as he realized nothing was happening, he shoveled it down without any time to breathe.

As he finished, he saw that the priest was deteriorating further.

"You haven't answered my question yet." Yusuke tried to sound serious but his happiness of finally eating a meal was shining through.

"Which one?" Kurama hazily looked at him, he blinked slower than normal and Yusuke knew he was exhausted.

"What you actually are…"

The priest's face fell a bit as he eyed his hands, carefully picking at the skin around his nails. "I'm sorry, I'll have to get back to that later."

Yusuke felt like he could somehow relate to him, maybe he had experienced something traumatic like he had. "Well, I guess you don't have to tell me."

"I'll tell you someday, just not now." Kurama sighed, standing from the spot he headed towards the stairs. "I'm going to sleep, there's a guest room you can use."

"Wait, you're asking me to stay?"

"It's your own choice after all," Kurama said before going upstairs. "You may eat what's left in the pot if you're still craving something."

Yusuke was left sitting alone with his thoughts, he contemplated finishing the food but decided against it. The priest was asleep within minutes and Yusuke found him with one leg out of the bed. He knew he was still tired. Moving his leg onto the bed, Yusuke covered him with the blanket before going into one of the spare rooms. The priest's quarters were bigger than a regular town's townhouse, he wasn't surprised as his status was higher than anyone living within the walls.

At first, he was confused as to why they'd locate one of their most important people outside of the city walls, but he now understood that the priest's power was greater than anyone might've ever known.

The lineage of priests, holy mediators, and bringers of peace and prosperity, Previäir's priests were in a whole other league. Yusuke turned on his side, it felt weird to be at his house but he hadn't felt this peaceful in days, being close to him gave him comfort and he hated it with every fiber of his being.

Gritting his teeth against the thoughts, Yusuke had to find a way to break away from whatever curse he had been given. The moonlight softly illuminated the room, its rays falling upon an outfit hung next to the door. He got up to examine it.

It was black, soft embroidery covering the long coat with detailed buttons on the sleeves and the torso.

Yusuke took a closer look, allowing his fingers to caress the fabric. He was fascinated by it, next to the priest, he'd never seen clothing or details like it. Was it for someone of status? Was it Kurama's? He hadn't gotten the time or opportunity to take a look at the priest's actual robe, but he knew that his robe was far more detailed. That didn't take away from the fact that the cloth between his fingers was of high quality.

The table next to the robe contained more items probably meant to complete the outfit. A white neck cuff, a jar or gel, and a silver cross on a chain.

He'd gotten too curious, picking up every item to inspect it further. The cross reflected the light onto the table, a wonderful display of craftsmanship hidden within the details of the carvings. He moved to pick it up, and as his fingertips touched the cross, they burned. Yusuke yelped, shaking his hand as if he'd just touched an active stove, the burning subsided too slowly for his taste and he cursed under his breath.

"He's trying to kill me." Yusuke held his injured hand, looking around for other things that might kill him. It never dawned on him that the moonlight's color was different than usual. "I gotta go, I really gotta go." He started to panic as memories of that day returned.

The day the veil was lowered onto his family, the day only he managed to escape the barrier that would bring certain death.

He opened the window, the wind brushed past his face but when he reached out his hand, he found to be touching a solid wall, one of glass, unseen and invisible.

Running downstair, he attempted to open the door only to find himself running into the glass-like barrier, falling back onto the wood floor. He was trapped.

"God fucking damnit." He panted, he was trapped. He wanted to bash his head in for the fact that he actually went to the damned priest when he was being called like a dog to his owner. This went too far.

"Lower your tone, there are people who do need their sleep." A cold voice came from behind, it made Yusuke's skin crawl. He looked behind him to find Kurama, a candle lighting his face as he looked down at Yusuke with a mixture of disdain and pity. "This isn't specifically for you and I'm not trying to kill you."

Yusuke's mouth moved but the words were silent, he looked like a fish out of water, gasping for air.

Kurama walked towards the barrier and knocked on it twice. It rippled softly at his touch but it sounded solid. "I live outside the protection of the walls, this is to protect me and my possessions."

"And I'm a possession?" Yusuke whispered, firmly believing he was kidnapped and kept here as some kind of price.

A chuckle left the priest. "Absolutely not, you're free to go wherever you want in the daylight."

"This thing wasn't there when I visited your house for the first time."

"I think that's true, I didn't have the strength to create a barrier after you attacked me." There was bitterness within his voice. "But it's okay, I'm alive. I'll let you out tomorrow after church service."

"Why not before service?" Yusuke stammered as he stood up from the floor. "And why are you hosting a service while you've not yet fully recovered?!"

Kurama eyed him with worry. "You must join me during this service, the robe you've probably seen hanging in the spare room is yours, you must wear it and join me."

"Like hell! I'll never be a choir boy, I've heard enough stories about that dynamic to want no part in it!"

"You'll be no choir boy."

"I will not join a church, never, you hear me?!"

"Do you want to die, Yusuke?" Kurama's tone had taken a cold turn. "Do you really want to roam the town while the townspeople have requested the presence of a monster hunter?"

"Monster… What?" Yusuke quirked his eyebrow.

"You attacked me…"

"You lured me." Yusuke attempted to correct him.

"You attacked me," Kurama repeated. "It was on you to lose control, and now they've requested a monster hunter. This is not a joke, you're bringing us both into danger here."

Laughing nervously, Yusuke couldn't believe it. "Us? How does my attending your service save 'us' from a monster hunter?"

"Attending 'my' service will save only you, the hunter being in town is bad for both of us," Kurama said matter of factly. "You will wear the robe and carry the cross, that's your only ticket to stay alive and out of the hunter's suspicions."

"That cross?! I can't even touch it, it burned my fucking fingers!" He yelled as he showed him his fingers.

Kurama took his hand, examining the burns. "Right, first of all; you're an idiot with absolutely no awareness of things that could harm you. Secondly; it burned you because I haven't treated the silver yet." Letting go of his hand, Kurama stalked upstairs and disappeared into the guest room.

Yusuke was hesitant to follow but he had to as the priest called for him to come upstairs.

He entered the room to find Kurama holding the cross, stretching his arm out to offer it to Yusuke. "Ah, no thank you." He gave a nervous scoff.

It was visible in his eyes, that the priest wasn't happy. With his free hand, he forced Yusuke away from the door to stand in front of him with his back towards the wall. His grip was tight and for a moment Yusuke was taken by surprise by the priest's brute strength.

"Take it, it won't burn you," Kurama said.

"It did!" Yusuke shook his head at the request. "I'm not coming near that thing!"

With one tug, the priest tore some buttons from Yusuke's blouse, exposing the skin of his sternum as the buttons clattered to the floor. Yusuke screamed as he tried to step back but was blocked when he hit the wall. He sounded as if he was being slaughtered, this was his dead, the priest was going to kill him, burn a hole in his chest, it was over for him…

But the cross didn't burn, it was cold against his skin and Yusuke felt shame creep up his physique. He had been screaming for nothing. "Oh… Well, I thought…"

"You have to be glad I'm not living within earshot of anyone, they would've thought me a murderer." Kurama loosened his grasp on the cross, forcing Yusuke to hold it. "Now you will either sit here in your shame or sleep for a couple more hours, whatever you do, do it in silence. If you manage to wake me again I'll give you an actual reason to scream like a damsel." He spat as he walked towards the door. "Be dressed by dawn." He said before closing the door. Leaving Yusuke alone with his dignity.

Yusuke heard the priest leave, the house falling back into its silent state. He held the cross in both hands as he looked at it. His plan of making the priest's every minute miserable had surely turned on him.