Embrace the Darkness

*Disclaimer* Yeah, I still don't own anything...Except a lovely poster of our favorite fox-boy...And a yaoi wallpaper on my computer of Kurama and Hiei...Although, technically, I guess that's not mine, either...Damn.

When the Goddess returned to the cell the next morning, one look at the youko's face was enough to give her an answer. She smiled, more kindly than Kurama had ever seen before, and leaned down to unlock his leash, offering her hand to help him rise. As he did so, a small demon servant appeared beside the Goddess with a piece of parchment and a quill pen. Kurama gave him a funny look.

"He's here to record your desires for your private suite," the Goddess explained. "If you are to live with me, you are to live in comfort. Anything I can obtain for you, I will. That is a promise."

"The room must be red," Youko demanded immediately.

"And black," Shuuichi added softly, thinking of their former lover. As the two continued making requests, the cell filled with the sound of quill scratching against paper.

"Vases of water around the room."

"Pots of soil."

"Filmy curtains. And candles. Lots of candles."

"Pictures of my mother, and of my friends."

Silence fell heavily on the small room, and even Youko turned to look incredulously at his human counterpart.

"Are you sure, Shuuichi?" the Goddess asked. He only nodded, and the Goddess gave the affirmative to her servant.

"Anything else?" The two thought, but nothing came to mind at the moment. The Goddess smiled again.

"Very well. Have some breakfast while the servants prepare your room. I have to go and arrange your death in the Ningenkai." She turned to leave, but her servant cleared hisoat oat and held out another quill pen, cruelly sharp, tipped in a blood-red feather. The Goddess laughed sheepishly.

"Ah, yes," she said, coming back and taking it. "It wouldn't do to forget that, would it?" She took the quill from her slave and drew it swiftly across her wrist, drawing a line of blood. That done, she handed the quill to Youko.

'Wh-what's going on, Youko?' Shuuichi asked nervously. Youko ignored him for a moment, cutting his own wrist before answering.

'It's part of an ancient bonding ritual,' he explained. 'Just trust me.'

Blood flowed freely from their wrists and, defying gravity, trickled upwards to mingle in the air between them. The mixed blood then re-entered their bodies through the wounds on their arms, which the Goddess quickly healed by passing a hand over them. Both paused for a moment, a bit light-headed from the bonding, before shaking their heads and returning to a more normal state of mind.

'I don't understand, Youko,' Shuuichi said, voice trembling. 'I feel...strange. Different, somehow.'

Youko looked up at the Goddess, surprised that her will for the bond was so strong that Shuuichi was already feeling the effects. 'It's a part of the bonding, Shuuichi. We are a part of her now, and she is a part of us. We will never again be apart.'

The Goddess beamed at him. "Well, now that that's done, I really must be going." She snapped her fingers and was gone. Youko stared at the space she had occupied for a moment, before coming back to reality at the sensation of someone tugging at one of his arms. He looked down to see another one of the Goddess' demonic servants.

"Will the masters follow us, please?" he asked, keeping his eyes carefully on the floor. "We have special orders to make sure the masters recieve breakfast."

Youko shrugged and followed the servant as he made his way up and down the narrow hallways. For a moment, he had a fleeting thought that he was sure to get lost in his first few weeks living here, but then the Goddess' knowledge of the passageways flooded his mind, and the thought vanished.

They emerged in a, surprisingly, white room, sunlight streaming in through the high windows, illuminating a thick grarpetrpet and a wooden table. The servant directed Youko to a chair and disappeared through a pair of swinging doors into what Youko suspected was the kitchen, emerging a few moments later with a plate, knife, and fork.

"What would our masters like for breakfast?" he inquired.

The smells drifting from the kitchen set off a loud growl in Youko's stomach, and he grinned.

"Bacon. And sausages," he said, salivating. "And two eggs, sunny-side-up."

'Anything else, Shuuichi?'

'An order of buttermilk pancakes. With strawberries.'

Youko smiled at the little human's sweet tooth. "And buttermilk pancakes with strawberries," he told the servant, who bowed and rushed through the doors again. Not ten seconds later, he and two others reappeared with the food, hot fresfreshly cooked, something Youko didn't quite understand. But he wasn't complaining.

'At least the service is good,' he joked, relaxing when he heard the laugh float through their link. He had been worried about Shuuichi's reaction to the sudden bonding, but hearing him laugh was a good sign.

All thought of communication ceased as Youko wolfed down the food in front of him. As quick as he had been, no sooner had he taken his last bite of pancake and leaned back in his chair, pleasantly full, than the Goddess materialized in the room with a snapping noise.

"It is done," she said, somewhat cryptically.

Senses dulled by food, Youko didn't even bother to contemplate the meaning behind this. "What?"

The Goddess laughed. "My apologies. I mean to say that Shuuichi's death has been carried out in the Ningenkai, and also that your room is done."

Shuuichi appeared behind Youko. "How did you do it?"

It was the Goddess' turn now. "What?"

"My death. How did I die?"

She gave him a sort of sad, admiring look. "You found a girl at your school who was going to commit suicide. The girl was a complete illusion, of course, but the illusion runs so far that if anyone decides to check that the girl was actually a student, they will find that all her records are in order. In any case, you tried to stop her, but, in her grief, she ended up killing you and then herself."

Shuuichi nodded, and the Goddess gazed at him with a sorrowful smile.

"Your friends and family were all very proud, you know," she told him gently. "They kept telling each other how like you it was, to lose your life trying to protect someone you barely knew. Your wake was quite a sight."

Shuuichi, for the first time in days, gave a pure and honest smile. "Thank you," he said, before fading out of sight again.

The Goddess' smile widened. "You're welcome." She turned back to Youko. "Well, would you like to see your room?" He hauled himself to his feet with some difficulty, not really wanting to move, but figuring that he probably should.

In a few minutes, he was incredibly glad he had. He was standing in the center of a room about eight times the size of Shuuichi's at home, done entirely in black and varying shades of red. A four poster bed was tucked in the corner, draped in blood red-silk, covered in a black down comforter that was turned down at one corner, revealing sheets of the same red silk as the draping.

The carpet was plush and thick, so thick that Youko sank in to the ankles with every step. Thin red film hung across the windows, giving the sunlight that filtered in a slight red hue. Pots of soil and vases of water were scattered everywhere, just waiting for a gentle hand to fill them with plants of every shape and size.

Candles served as the only source of light. Only a few were burning now, but there were so many strewn about the room that, once they were all lit, the room would be as bright as if it were broad daylight.

Youko turned to look at the Goddess, who was lounging against the doorframe, watching him with delight. "It's perfect," he told her. "Right, Shuuichi?"

The human didn't answer, and Youko turned, finding him, not in his usual position behind him, but standing over the bedside table, looking down at the framed photographs.

One was of his family, his father and mother standing together, entwined in one another's arms in the background, ste stepbrother smiling toothily at the camera in the foreground.

Another was of the Reikai Tantei, including the camera-shy Hiei, who had probably stood still for three pictures in his entire life, this being one of them.

The last was his class picture from high school, taken as his class had gone scurrying up and down the playstructure at the local playground. Every face was beaming with laughter.

A single tear slipprom rom Shuuichi's eyes to fall shimmering onto the table. His gaze lingered on the portrait of his family for a moment longer before he turned to the Goddess.

"I wish to make my first request," he said firmly. The Goddess straightened and nodded.

His gaze flickered back to the pictures again. "I want to be able to visit my mother three times every year. Once on my birthday, once on hers, and once on this day: the anniversary of my death."

"Of course, Shuuichi," the Goddess ied ied immediately. "I must put forth one condition, though. I must ask that you take an invisibility potion before you go, so that only your mother can see you. I don't want the entire city seeing dead people."

Shuuichi smiled. "I agree."

"Good."

Youko spoke now. "I also have a request." He turned to look at Shuuichi again, their eyes locking, and his gaze did not falter as he spoke his next words.

"I wish for Shuuichi and I to be able to touch one another," he said. "I don't mean that I want us both to be real at the same time, or for us both to be unreal at the same time. I only wish that we be tangible to one another."

Shuuichi blushed lightly, but, inside, he knew that this was also something he desired.

The Goddess worried her bottom lip for a moment. "That one will not be so easy to grant," she said slowly. "I don't know that anything like that has ever been attempted." She held up her hands as Youko turned to her in disbelief, the words 'But you promised!' ready on his lips.

"I will promise," she continued, "that I will do all that is in my power to try and find a way to grant your request."

Youko looked at her, Shuuichi coming to take up his normal place behind him. They locked eyes and shared a long moment like that. Then, as one, they turned back to the Goddess and spoke in unison.

"Then that will be enough."

Sorry I took so freaking long with this chapter, guys... I've been so caught up in schoolwork that I just haven't had time to write. I solemnly promise that I will try to update more regularly and at a quicker pace. Read and review, please!!

ko-krama: You may be right, but G-bane has a somewhat biased perspective...See, he's my twin brother, so he has to like the stuff I write... Plus, if he didn't leave me reviews like that, I'd hurt him. He may be older, but I'm definitely scarier... MUHAHAHA!!! I'm glad I've got you liking my story... Keep reading, pretty please!!

Bro: Here's that chapter you wanted... Sorry it took me so long... How's this for pleasing my millions of adoring fans?

Mz.Bitz.: You're back!! YAY!! I was afraid that I'd lost you back at the chapter where Hiei died... Thank you for your reviews and your words of encouragement... *sniff sniff* They mean so much to me...

Tak: Hey, a new reviewer!! Awesome... I'm glad you like it... It is a little sad that this is a character death fic, I agree, but...that's the idea that came into my head, and I guess I've learned not to ingnore ideas, 'cause that makes them mad...lol...Unfortunately, I think Yusuke will die sometime in the next few chapters, just to get you ready for that...My apologies.