Karasu's Pleasure, Kurama's Ruin

“. . .Think he’s still alive?”

“Ch. That wouldn’t kill him.”

“Hell, did that feel good, though.”

“Mmm.”

The voices pierced the welcoming darkness an hour or so later, the words wavering in and out of distinction. With a groan, Yoko opened his eyes, whimpering at the throbbing pain in his rear end. He looked around. He was in a bedroom, but he was on the floor. The soft cotton soothed his aching body as he slowly came to, aware of a dull throb paralyzing his lower back. Yoko whimpered and tried to move, only to find himself bound, not by chains or rope, but by the searing pain that shot up his spine.

His cries were smothered by the mouth that pressed gently against his, and the fox opened his eyes again and stared warily at Karasu, who smiled and stroked the fox's hair tenderly, drawing a reluctant purr from his abused fox.

"Don't try and move, my pet. We wouldn't want you to injure yourself even more, would we? I'm pleased with you, Yoko. Rest, my fox, and heal. I must leave for a couple of days but Kuronue will still be here to look after you," Karasu's tone was gentle as he continued petting Yoko's shimmering mane. It didn't take long for the aching fox to fall back into a fitful doze. The raven stood and threw a blanket over the pallet on which the fox lay. In a low tone he gave one final instruction to Kuronue, "I don't think he will, but if he tries to run, chain his ankle to the wall," he gestured to the iron ring a few feet from Yoko's head. Kuronue nodded.

The bat made sure Karasu was really gone before daring to approach Yoko. He did so with trepidation, knowing his lack of self-control had shattered the fox's already unsteady trust in him. He knelt on the carpet near Yoko's little futon and knew the fox was awake enough to notice his presence.

"Yoko, I-" he whispered

"Go away..." the fox cut him off.

"-I'm sorry," Kuronue continued, acting like he didn't hear. "I lost control of myself; I-I couldn't--I'm so sorry!" He looked away. "I'm just as bad as Karasu...God Yoko I'm so sorry!"

Yoko sniffed. "You're not as bad as he is," he growled. "You're worse. You betrayed me; you joined with him in his sick little...games! You caused the pain I'm in right now. It was your twisted idea!" Yoko heaved a shaky sigh. "There's no room for apologies, Kuronue. Please just leave me alone. How can I know you won't 'lose control' again?"

The bat stared at the back of Yoko's silver head. "I know I'm worse than Karasu," he finally whispered. "I know I don't deserve to even be in the same room with you; that this is past what apologies can undo. But what else can I do? You don't know how terrible I feel...how much I despise myself right now!" his voice cracked. "I will get you away from here, Yoko. And I will get you home."

The fox barked in laughter. It was a dry, humorless sound that dug the knife deeper into Kuronue's heart. "Even if you are not lying, and you do intend to get me away, how can I trust that you won't just keep me for yourself? Now that Karasu's done you the favor of breaking me-" the bitterness in his voice would have curled stone- "Why should I trust you to keep your word when you have already proven you have no qualms in breaking it!?"

"You shouldn't," Kuronue's simple two-word answer stunned Yoko into momentary silence. Kuronue continued. “But whether you trust me or not, you need a bath, and you can’t move.”

Yoko scowled and shook his head a tiny drop, indicating that he was hesitant to try it. Kuronue ignored him, and carefully picked the fox up, feeling Yoko’s entire body tense.


Yoko couldn’t deny that the hot bathwater felt good. Some of his pain eased, and he could feel the layers of blood and semen falling from him. But Kuronue’s presence somehow buffered the relieved feeling, until the doorbell rang and Kuronue left him alone in the steaming water.

Yoko's emotions clashed with his reason. He desperately needed a friend, or at least someone to cry on, but he was loathe to put his trust back in Kuronue so easily. I don't want to trust him... I shouldn't trust him...He's worse than Karasu! But he's my only hope of escaping this Godforsaken house. It would be far easier to escape from him on the way to his own house than it would be to escape from here...


A nervous looking imp stood on the doorstep, barely reaching Kuronue's knee. "Um, is there a demon under the name of Kuronue currently staying at this house...?"

Kuronue nodded sharply. "That is I. What is it?"

The imp looked even more nervous as he looked up at the bat. "Uh, I hate to be the one to inform you of this, but... your house, kinda, burned...down."

Quick as lightning Karasu had the imp dangling from his hand. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, IT KINDA BURNED DOWN!?" he snarled.

It squeaked and tried to pry the bat's fingers away from it's airpipe as he hung three feet from the ground. Kuronue loosened his grip slightly. "We...managed to salvage...most of your belongings," it wheezed. "But the house was too far gone."

Kuronue dropped him. "I don't care about the house. It was my stuff I was worried about."

The imp looked relieved for a moment, and then looked even more nervous. "Also, I was, um, asked to um, inquire about the, er, melted gold that covered the floor in one room..."

The bat groaned in despair. "You've gotta be kidding!" he glared at the imp. "That's none of your business. Tell whoever it was that wanted you to find out to haul their own lazy ass here and ask me themselves," he booted the little demon out of his way as a cart pulled up, piled with what could be salvaged of his belongings.

Kuronue rummaged through and pulled out a few essentials. "I don't care about the rest. Do what you will with it," he went back inside.


Yoko cowered as Kuronue stalked back into the bathroom, still miffed about the loss of his house. He pulled out the plug in the bathtub with a little more force than necessary before scooping the fox out of the water and wrapping him in a clean towel.

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feed you; you can't move and it's near impossible to eat lying on your side," he said as he carried the fox back into Karasu’s currently empty bedroom. He had managed to find Yoko’s clothing, and dressed him before laying him down on the bed and pulled the blanket up over him.

So the fox did not eat that night, nor the next morning. By midday the pain had subsided enough for him to roll onto his other side; by nightfall he could lie on his back, and by the next morning he felt well enough to sit up a bit. He was starving by now, and acted as if Kuronue did not exist when the bat came in with a tray heaped with food. The bat left him alone to eat, but, under all the plates, the fox found a note stuck to the bottom of the tray. It simply read, "I'm sorry."



That afternoon, Kuronue reentered and woke him. “We’re going to leave. I told you my house burned down, and I have everything I could possibly need.”

“B-But I can’t walk…”

Kuronue nodded. “I know, but I can carry you.”

Yoko hesitated, not sure how comfortable with the idea he was. Eventually, he acquiesced, and let the bat scoop him up after he had gathered up his small bag of necessities. They left through the open window.