Author's Notes:
Despite wishing that I did, unfortunately I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho and am simply a fan of both the Manga and the show.
As the chapter will explain, this Karasu is not the same person that Kurama fought in the Dark Tournament. Instead, he is one of three original characters of mine that will be showing up in the story and for the sake of convenience I will, at least for this chapter, refer to him as The Soul Defiler Karasu.
Please note that this fanfiction is based on one that was originally posted all the way back in 2010 and was last updated in 2013, after reviewing my original work I decided to completely revamp the story and delete the original. If you enjoyed the original then I apologize, but hopefully those who read it will enjoy this version just as much.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. It's about time that we get to the main story.
Chapter Two
While Kuwabara had only just made his way out into the forest, Yukina had been out there for a while. Initially, she had tried to just go to her room but had stopped short of doing so because she knew that Genki would end up making Hiei and Kazuma apologize to her.
Yukina knew that eventually she would have to speak to both men again, but right now she was upset; not only because of what had happened to Kazuma but also because the two of them were keeping a secret that involved her. This had ultimately led her to make her way outside into the forest, having wanted to avoid the inevitable meeting with the two men, if only for a little bit.
"I know I shouldn't be so childish about this, but it's so frustrating to know that multiple people are keeping a secret from me." Yukina thought to herself, sighing out loud as she thought this slowly making her way over to her favorite spot to think.
This spot was a small but peaceful clearing in the forest that surrounded Genki's manor, it was Yukina's favorite spot to go think when she had something on her mind and thus was the perfect spot for her at the moment.
"Hello old friend, It's been a while. I hope you don't mind me sitting with you for a while." Yukina said to the lone tree that stood in the center of the clearing, knowing that it couldn't actually speak to her, but not caring as she carefully sat down in front of it.
"I find myself in a position I never thought I'd be in, I'm angry at the man who's been very sweet to me and also mad at another who hasn't really spoken to me much but who hasn't been rude either." Yukina continued speaking out loud, not referring to Kazuma or Hiei by name but unable to get them off her mind.
"I suppose I should be mad at Yusuke as well, seeing as he knows this secret about me as well. Still, for some reason it hurts more knowing that both Kazuma and Hiei know and won't tell me." Yukina said out loud with a sniffle, trying desperately not to start crying but feeling tears form.
"I can't really explain it for Hiei, but when it comes to Kazuma… I think it upsets me because I know he cares about me; that, and Shizuru always used to say that Kazuma could never keep secrets from me." Yukina said in a frustrated way, though choking up slightly as she said this last part.
"I know I'm not being completely fair, Kazuma looked so pained when I tried to get him to reveal what he knew and he told me it wasn't his place to tell me. Regardless, it makes me feel so frustrated with him!" Yukina said with a slightly choked gasp, actually yelling this last part as the tears she had been holding back finally came.
Yukina knew that hiruiseki stones were gathering around her as she cried but didn't care, it felt wonderful to let her frustration out. Suddenly, however, Yukina could sense she was no longer alone in the clearing and stopped crying long enough to look around at what otherwise appeared to be a still empty clearing.
If her heart could beat, it would have started doing so much more quickly as she finally spotted him. Though she had never met him until now, Yukina knew full well who the pale man dressed in a long black trench coat, long black hair, and red slitted eyes was.
This man was called Karasu, he had started life as a normal Crow Demon and had been forcibly had his soul corrupted at a very young age so that he would become a creature called a Soul Defiler. These purely male corrupted souls were practically immortal unless one could use Light magic, they also fed off of either the emotions or the souls of those they chose as victims.
Karasu in particular had become infamous for how many people he had brutally taken souls from, only for him to then willingly give these stolen souls to the so-called Soul Defiler Prince, Arctic. With this all in mind, Yukina could only stare at the man standing at the edge of the clearing and try to act like she hadn't just been crying or that she was now feeling terrified.
"Poor thing, it looks like you've had a rough afternoon. Let me help you with that" The Soul Defiler Karasu said in a very cold tone as his eyes locked onto Yukina's, slowly taking a step forward.
"I'm just fine thank you, I don't need any assistance." Yukina said as politely and as calmly as she could, trying not to look around in a panic for ways to escape this situation.
"Well aren't you a polite little thing, but you see I'm in… well for the sake of convenience let's say that I'm in a bad mood and that I need to be cheered up, not that I actually feel anything anymore of course." Karasu said in the same cold tone, once again taking a step forward.
"I'm sorry to hear that, I truly am. Unfortunately, I cannot do anything to…" Yukina started to say in what she hoped was a calm way, but stopped mid sentence and gasped as Karasu teleported directly in front of her and without a word pinned her to the tree.
"Oh sweet girl, I think we both know that's not true. There's plenty you can do to help me." Karasu said in the same cold tone, causing shivers to go down Yukina's spine as he tipped her chin up to meet his.
"Please… You don't need to do this." Yukina said pleadingly, knowing she was letting her emotion show but feeling too scared to stop it.
"Unfortunately for you, I'm afraid that I do." Karasu said, actually giving Yukina a smirk, without realizing it, before he pressed his lips to her own.
Meanwhile, a panicked Kuwabara had just rushed into the forest; only to quickly realize that he had no idea where exactly Yukina had gone. Knowing it would do her no good if he wandered around lost, Kuwabara took a breath to calm himself and focused on trying to connect his thoughts to Yukina's.
"Yukina? Can you hear me?" Kuwabara thought to himself, hoping that he'd get a response.
"Yukina please. I know you want to be alone, but if you can hear me then please respond." Kuwabara continued to think to himself, this time focusing all the more when he didn't get a response.
"Kazuma?! Is that you?!" Yukina's voice said suddenly in his head, causing Kuwabara's head to almost skip a beat because he was so excited.
"That's right, it's me. Yukina, where are you? Is there anyone with you right now?" Kuwabara asked in his thoughts, hoping that the answer to this last question would be no.
"Unfortunately yes there is actually, I'm having my emotions drained by The Soul Defiler Karasu." Yukina explained sadly in Kuwabara's thoughts.
"Soul Defiler? What is… No never mind, that's not important. Just tell me where you are." Kuwabara thought to himself, feeling confused at first but quickly focusing on trying to find the woman he loved before it was too late.
"I'm in a clearing not far from where you are, though admittedly it is difficult to find if you don't know where to look." Yukina thought back to him, sounding scared even without actually speaking.
"You let me worry about that, just try to hold on and I'll be there as soon as I can." Kuwabara thought, wanting to reassure Yukina if he could.
"While I appreciate you offering to help me, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do that won't get you hurt. You don't have the right powers or magic for it." Yukina thought, sounding both appreciative and also very sad.
"It doesn't matter if I get hurt, I love you and I'm not about to let this creep hurt you. I'm on my way, Yukina, so try to stay strong." Kuwabara thought to Yukina in a determined way, briefly cutting the thought connection to Yukina so he could instead focus on where her energy was coming from.
Having done this multiple times in the past by accident it took no time at all to find Yukina's energy trail, though Kuwbara immediately started running in the direction that it was headed when he noticed that the trail was flickering slowly. Though it didn't take long to reach the clearing where Yukina was, Kuwbara found himself feeling furious as he saw her pinned against the tree he had seen in vision earlier; feeling all the more angry when the man draining her didn't even react as he arrived.
Despite knowing that he was about to get himself in a lot of trouble, Kuwabara didn't hesitate to pick up a stick; which he then filled with a bit of his energy before chucking it at the head of the man who was pinning Yukina.
"Hey asshole, you want to get your discussing lips off the woman I love?!" Kuwabara yelled angrily as the stick he had thrown connected directly with the man's head but he still didn't react to Kuwabara being there.
To Kuwabara's slight confusion, it was at these last words that the man with long black hair finally removed his lips from Yukina's and glanced over in a very bored looking way at Kuwabara.
"The woman you love huh? Well I suppose killing you first will make this girl's emotions and soul all the more delicious." The man said with the faintest flicker of a smile on his face as he slowly let go of Yukina and turned to face Yukina.
"You're not going to do anything else to Yukina, I'll do whatever I have to make sure of it." Kuwabara said in an even more determined way as he summoned his spirit sword.
"Is that right? I'd say that I admire your spirit, but that would be lying." Karasu said in a very bored sounding way, though as he spoke his nails started to lengthen.
"Come on then, let's get this over with so I can get back to my meal." Karasu added in a bored way, gesturing for Kuwabara to come closer.
"Like I said before, you won't be doing anything else to Yukina if I have anything to say about it!" Kuwabara yelled angrily before charging full force at the pale man in front of him.