It was just like a family!

On seeing that scene around him, Kinno almost cried with happiness.

When he arrived in Gandara that morning, his first thought was to meet his friend Hikaru, and tell him how much better his daddy Kurama was treating him.

He reserved his merchandise and stormed in through the market street and the crowded avenues, looking everywhere he knew Hikaru could be. The Tea-house, the Public Gardens... Kinno even dared to enter the City's Library,  though he could not read anything, looking for his friend.

He had been to the place Hikaru was lodged in, and had been informed his friend didn't sleep there.

Well... Good... Could it mean his friend had found a boyfriend and spent the night with him? That was not really Hikaru's style, but it seemed the only remaining alternative.

After a while he returned to his business. By midday he had already sold all of his cucumbers, and yet he had not seen Hikaru - Not a trace...

He was starting to get worried; They had turned their meeting in Gandara into a habit. Maybe his grey friend was somewhere in the city applying for a job. He wished him to be lucky, so he'd stay living in the city.

However, Kinno had found someone else to keep him company.

The golden youko looked around the beautiful gardens he had been taken to. It was a public place, but there was no one around. He had noticed lots of guards surrounding the area, and guarding the park's entrances, to forbid anyone else to walk by and interrupt them.

Kinno could not conceal his smile as he walked with Shura with their arms locked together, very tenderly. Kinno was all smiles; from the beginning it seemed he was living one of the happiest days of his life. What was it? Was it a date? He was not really sure, but it looked like it.

They stopped in a cosy spot amidst flower beds. Shura undressed his long, dark grey coat and extended it on the lawn. He smiled, and bowed before Kinno, inviting him to sit down.

The youko waved and waggled his tail in a quick, happy succession. He allowed Shura to hold him by his hand and guide him, and his happiness was so intense he felt a little dizzy. Wow! That youkai was so charmingly polite... He looked as if he could be a Fairy Tale Prince.

His golden eyes followed Shura as he sat down beside him. He could not avoid examining the youkai's build better on seeing him without that long, loose coat he used to present himself in.

Underneath his military attire he wore a light blue silk tunic which revealed much more of his body's outlines. Kinno even licked his lips as he delighted in observing the shape of  his muscles under those lighter garments.

Shura was pretty and well-built... He was really a dream...

"Wanna share my lunch, sugar?"

Shura just nodded, shifting closer to Kinno, so close in fact their shoulders, arms and thighs brushed in a soft and yet warm contact. The golden youko brought up a small silk bag hanging from his shoulder and reached inside.

He showed Shura two round, shiny red apples, giving the youkai the bigger one, and keeping the other for himself.

The young youkai gave one inquisitive, sideways glance at the round, red fruit Kinno had placed in his hand. He was not used to that kind of food at all, but...

"You're gonna enjoy it..."

He didn't hesitate on seeing the brilliant, sweet smile on Kinno's face. He just observed the blonde fox and did the same, taking a large bite.

"Tasty, isn't it? I picked it up it from my daddy's orchard."

Shura nodded, chewing it, and biting some more. In fact, it was sweet and very succulent.

They had the fruit in silence, although they spoke the mute language of  those in love. Their loving glances and sweet smiles, and the holding hands said all they needed to know.

"Is your father a farmer?"

Kinno hesitated a bit to answer it. He remembered very well his daddy's recommendations - He didn't want people in Gandara to know about his territory, and above all, he didn't want Kinno to go on spreading the word they were related.

Kinno could understand it - His daddy must be ashamed of his former profession...

To say the truth, he was very ashamed as well - How could he tell that pretty, polite youkai of all the things he had been through?

"Yeah, kind of..." Kinno imagined it would be better to change the subject then. "And your daddy? What does he do?"

Shura almost choked on the apple.

No... He could not tell the truth. He was fed up with gold diggers who imagined him to be the most promising young bachelor in the whole Makai...

"My father is one of Gandara's High Officials."

"Oh! He must be very important! And your mommy?"

Shura reached for a tissue from one of his pockets, brushing his lips and hands elegantly. He cleared his throat then; it was another matter he had no means of clarifying without giving away his identity.

"I have none."

"Oh, sugar... Sorry..."

"It is not a problem."

"I don't have a mommy either. She died when I was a cub."

Their eyes met again, twinkling under the light of the love they felt. Then, the smile reappeared on their young, hopeful faces.

However, Shura looked down, avoiding Kinno for a moment.

"My father told me not to meet you again..." He remarked , in a casual way.

Kinno's eyes were curtained by a sudden sadness. He placed one finger under his chin and made him raise his pretty face again.

"Why?" The youko asked, very gently.

Shura looked around. There was no one but his loyal guards around. However, with a father such as Yomi, who could feel, and listen to what was going on all over his domains, he had no means to hide anything. Even then, at that rightful moment he could not be sure whether or not his father was aware of his meeting with Kinno. He had tried to leave the Tower while Yomi was too busy in a Ministerial Meeting to notice it, and he had been careful enough to surround himself with selected members of his Personal Guard - The only ones he trusted. But he knew he could not fool his father for long.

He had been told a lot about the infamous and vicious youko, but when he looked at those golden eyes, and observed that pure smile on Kinno's face, he just could not believe any of it.

"Papa says youko are pernicious company."

Kinno seemed puzzled.

"Huh? Per-what?"

"Wicked..." Shura explained it. Then, he gently held Kinno's hands in his cupped palms. He stroked them, delighted with their soft, velvet smoothness, while he stared at Kinno very amorously.

The golden youko blushed at once. Somehow that innocent, adoring stare vexed him. He had had very few youkai look at him in the eye, with such a loving feeling like that. All the youkai he had met always preferred to ogle at his body rather than facing him.

And those pink eyes... They were to die for...

"You are a good youko, are you not?"

Kinno nodded.

"I am a good youko..." Then, he sprang forwards, placing his hand right on the curve of Shura's neck, sliding his touch around to cup his nape. Then he brought the youkai towards a quick kiss.

Shura blinked, and brushed his fingertips to his own lips, grazing the warm moisture the touch had left.

"But I didn't buy any..."

"Bonus, Sugar... I'll give you kisses for free anytime you want because you're just too cute to resist..."

Then it was Shura's turn to turn red.

"I don't care what Papa says about you.  He can't control me this way. In fact, he can't even control himself..." Shura retorted, in a hostile manner, recalling that insidious garden of dream Flowers his father treasured.

"Then are we gonna meet again?"

Shura held the youko's hands tighter, assenting before Kinno's question, with a firm certainty.

"Yes, we are."
 
Kinno stared deeply at those beautiful pink eyes.

"Are we dating?"

Both of them blushed more intensely yet, and their cheeks seemed on fire...

"I... Well... If you want to..."

Kinno just gave Shura another kiss in reply.
 

The Golden Youko was sure that three-horned youkai was important. All the time he spent in Gandara he had a bunch of guards escorting him, to make sure no abusive customers would try to harass him.

Kinno giggled when he thought about it; Shura must be a very jealous youkai to do so.

Many waved, or talked to him while he passed through Gandara's streets. Kinno was already too popular in Gandara. But when he was with Shura, no one dared to even look at him directly.

He wondered why it happened...

He could have the Guards escorting him all the way, but he knew his daddy would never appreciate guards entering his territory - And his relationship with his father was already too complicated for him to risk it. It was not a long way from Gandara's bounds to his Daddy's area. It was a matter of  three to four miles. And he was already close to safe area. He just needed to cross the field ahead, and then, beneath the next hill, he'd be able to find the secret passage in between the ferocious guardian plants his daddy grew.

He walked on, his pouch stuffed with money, happily spinning one of his beaded braids in the air as he walked. He was in seventh heaven, and he could not stop smiling about it all...

He had found a boyfriend!!

He would have to keep it a secret though... Shura had asked that of  him it. He would not be telling it not even to his best friend Hikaru.

Well, a secret date was even more romantic!

It was terrible to know he couldn't share his contentment with his best friend. Hikaru would be so happy for him! And more than that, maybe Shura had a friend who could be introduced to Hikaru. His striped friend was so lonesome... Kinno had never seen him accompanied by  any other youko or youkai, either male or female, since they had met.

It would be wonderful if  both of them could find boyfriends in Gandara...

Kinno just knew he had never experienced so much joy. He and Shura had spent the afternoon holding hands, kissing, and it had felt so pleasant... They didn't talk much, but Kinno didn't care. Most of the time they just snuggled one to the other,  while Kinno leaned his head on Shura's broad shoulder, the two of them deeply enjoying being together.

Shura had such smooth, warm hands... They were wery different from the claws, cold scaled palms, and rough hands of many of the youkai he had paid his services to. Shura was also so polite... His voice was just too sweet, deep but still young, and the words he spoke revealed him to be too kind and educated...

And those eyes of his...

Those eyes were something! Kinno didn't recall ever meeting a youkai with pink eyes. It was a pity Shura didn't smile much. He seemed sad, but Kinno could not suppose why.

Well, maybe it was something with his family...

It was then Kinno stopped in the middle of the road. He felt a sudden chill, which made his whole body tremble. And it was not because of the cold.

He looked to one side and then the other, expecting to find someone lurking from beneath the vegetation.

There was no one.

Then he cautiously looked back over his left shoulder, and in an involuntary response, his youko heart started to thump violently, in a fast, nervous pace.

He wanted to scream, but even his voice failed him. He felt sickness take him. It was as if all his strength had been drained from him. A cold sweatdrop trickled down his temple when he stared at the broad Monster, with very wide eyes, horrorstricken. His knees let go of his weight, and Kinno fell on the floor with his hands and arms trembling, totally arrested by a paralyzing panic.

It was his Master!

Kinno wanted to cry out for help, He wanted to cry out for his Ji-chan, for his friend Hikaru, but he had no voice. His throat was dry and so tight he could barely breathe. His lips moved, forming the words, mouthing the names of the ones who could save him, but no sound was given out.

Hikaru... Hikaru had always watched him leave, sometimes accompanying him till he had reached his daddy's territory, to make sure he was alright. But Hikaru was not around... Shura? No, he was just a very young youkai, he was probably no match for his Master... His Ji-chan Hiei had a Jagan! Yes! Maybe he was watching it all! If he could just scream for help...

In terror, he watched the pointed-ear, long-tusked, black-haired, tall youkai step towards him, with those heavy, menacing eyes and an ironical smile in his rough, tanned face.

He was fucked... He was really fucked.... If he just could...

Kinno was in such a panic he could not even move. He started to cry, and tears slid down his face in a torrent, as he watched the youkai advance towards him.

He was alone.

And he knew, he knew his master would be very mean to him.

The golden youko sobbed, trembled, his body was pierced by the deep pain of fear, and he just could think of the torture, the beatings, the pain, the prison and the chains, the shame, the brute hands of his owner, and all the punishment he'd be put through.

Everything was over, his dream, his new life, his daddy, his family...

Why did it happen now? Right now that he had found a boyfriend?

No... NO!.

He knew he would be punished very badly.

Anticipating the pain, he just looked down. His vision was blurred by the abounding tears and his face quivered so much it was difficult for him to articulate.

"I've been after you for a long time. I followed you the whole day, and now I've got my chance!"

"Ma-master, ple-please, pretty please, don't hit me..." Kinno moaned, with a weary, very pained voice.

Kinno watched his master get something from his pocket. It was the collar!

He didn't want to be taken away, locked up, and beaten up like before. No!

He tried to stand up and run, but his Master, showing a wicked smile, just called his name with a deep, commanding voice. The call became a loud roar, and the air around the huge youkai grew dense as Kinno's Master summoned his you-ki.

The roar grew in intensity, and dislocated the air like a bash of a violent stormy wind. The blow was aimed at Kinno, hitting him fully like an invisible punch, throwing the youko against the rocky, dusty pathway.

Kinno whimpered. His back ached because of  the heavy pressure, and his skin burned, scraped when he hit the ground. The pain and the shock made it difficult for him to move. He could just moan deeply, looking over his shoulder to the huge, menacing youkai who glared at him with ferocious eyes.

His master roared again, but this time just a low, warning growl, enough to make his point clearer.

"Stay!" Was his loud, wrathful command.

Kinno's head was filled with a sudden throbbing pain just by hearing that loud, hideous roaring noise. He just hid his face behind his hands, sobbing again.

"This is what happens if you don't obey!" He cried out again. The last word of his angry menace grew louder and became an infuriated yell, and as a consequence a crater was blown open meters away. Trees collapsed around it, taken down by the strike of  Kinno's master's stormy scream.

Kinno shut his tearful eyes. He sighed and sobbed, in a spasm. There was no way he could resist his Master...

The youkai crouched next to Kinno, grabbing him easily, as if he were a fragile little rag-doll, and forced the collar around his neck, fastening it very firmly.

"Where do you think you were going? You belong to me!" He spoke gravely, attaching a very thick chain leash to the collar. "You have to work the triple to compensate me for the loss I had all this time! You know you're my best pet!"

Kinno shook his head, and his fingers tried to fight the tight metal ring closed around his neck. It was too tight... It hurt...

"Master, it hurts!"

"You put on weight. It's the same collar I used before. Stop complaining!" He gave a hard pull on the leash then. "Turn Fox! It's easier to carry it!"

Kinno shook his head again.

A heavy slap threw him rudely against the floor once more. The youkai had struck Kinno in the head, so as not to leave marks on his face. His master  pulled the leash then to make the youko sit up and dragged him up by a lock of  hair, forcing him to face him.

"You better behave, Kinno!"

Kinno shook his head again, refusing the command to turn into his Fox aspect.

"Turn Fox!"

Another slap on his head, and Kinno hit the floor again.

"I've been following you around the city. I saw you made new friends. Who's Three Horns? Is he your new protector?"

Kinno trembled when he heard that... His wicked Master had seen him with Shura? Oh, No...

"No, he's no one, Master! Please..."

Kinno wept in a prolonged, child-like cry. But nothing he did could move his harsh master's mood. The giant youkai just pulled him by the leash, hauling him off the way, bringing him crudely along so that they'd be hidden beneath the edge of the forest.

Kinno was dragged for a long while, and his soft skin got hurt and scraped all over as he was yanked along the rocky, irregular soil.

Yet the golden young youko resisted, refusing to assume his fox aspect.

They reached an area with a heavy vegetation, on the end of a steep slope. Kinno wanted to scream and call his Ji-chan, but as he breathed in and prepared to scream as loud as he could another heavy slap shut him silent.

"Who's the Three Horns?"

Kinno sobbed. His head hurt with the violent blows. He was dizzy... A little more and he would black out...

He looked up at his Master's angry face and trembled even more. He was scared.

"He's my friend..."

The youkai laughed aloud, a sound so intimidating and violent, Kinno huddled, truly panicked.

"Friend? I bet you're fucking him! He's your lay, isn't him?"

Kinno just shook his head again, this time more vehemently, crying so intensely he could not even babble an excuse.

"Does the pretty horned boy know who you are and what you do? Does he know you are my property?"

"No... No..."

A firm pull of the leash made Kinno choke again. He coughed noisily, and dug his fingers beneath the metal ring, trying to get more room to breathe, but the grip was too tight.

"Kinno, I'm taking you back, and you better shut down and behave or I'll do to your lover the same I did to your striped youko friend!"

Kinno looked up, pale, so scared he felt sick.

"Hikaru? What? Master, you..."

"I killed him! And I'm gonna do the same to your three-horned friend if you don't behave!"

"H-how? Hikaru is.. Hikaru is powerful, he..."

A conceited smile appeared on the youkai's dark, thin lips, and his tusks glinted with the saliva coated on them.

"It was very easy... I just lifted him from the floor!" Kinno's master chortled wickedly then.

Kinno cried louder, his eyes burning and his head throbbing in a sharp pain after the heavy blows. And not to mention the pain in his heart... His friend, the first one who had helped him, his best, his only friend... Dead?

"Master, no, please... It can't be true!"

The youkai roared again, his bad breath and the intense blow of air making Kinno tremble in fright before his scream.

"He's Dead! And you come with me now!"

Kinno brushed away his tears and his sniffling nose with the back of his hand. The youkai pulled him, to force him to stand up, but Kinno refused it.

"My Daddy Kurama and my Uncle Hiei are gonna come up and save me! You're gonna pay! You monster!"
 
The youkai growled, wildly showing his sharp teeth to Kinno. He bent over to be face to face with the youko, aiming his yellowish stare right at Kinno. The golden youko shook with weeping, pale with terror, and yet he faced his master boldly.

"What did you say?" The youkai roared, visibly angered by Kinno's attempt to altercate with him.

He grabbed a handful of the youko's fair tresses, pulling them violently.

Kinno cried with the pain, but soon defied his master again.

"I don't wanna go back! You can't force me! I'm living with my daddy Kurama, and he and Hiei Ji-chan are gonna come after me and rescue me! They're gonna squish you!"

Another heavy blow shut Kinno up. It was a heavier one, which slammed the weak youko to the floor with an intense, abrupt fury.

He cried louder, and in amidst his convulsive sobbing, he managed to scream for help, calling for his Ji-chan, begging for anyone to come and help him.

The youkai clasped Kinno's chin with his large, harsh hand, his fingers clutched tight around the youko's lips, fixing his mouth shut. With such violent grasp, Kinno could not even breathe.

Out of air, he raised his hands, pleading for mercy...

"Shut up! One more scream and I'll tear your tongue out!"

The youko whimpered. He looked up at his master with the most helpless, lost stare.

"Are you living with Youko Kurama? Did he believe your lie?" The giant youkai asked Kinno, shaking his head back and forth violently, to demand an answer.

"Yes! It is not a lie! He's my daddy, I'm living with him!"

The youkai burst into the loudest laugh he could, frankly amused by Kinno's comment.

"Oh... Great joke! What a pair! Youko Kurama The Thief and Youko Kinno the Ass Pro!"

"Don't you dare say my daddy's a thief!"

This time, it was enough for The Youkai to raise his hand and threaten to beat Kinno again, for him to retreat and shut up.

"Im sure he doesn't believe that he's your father! I heard lots of things about Kurama, but he was never accounted as such a fool!"

Kinno faced the youkai's broad, contemptuous snigger, unable to answer back as he wished, because his master was right - Kurama didn't believe himself to be his father. The harsh way Kurama always stared at him flooded his memory, and Kinno just sighed, swallowing his cry.

His daddy would not help; he didn't care for him...

"But my Ji-chan is very strong and..."

"Your what?"

His master's sudden derision subdued Kinno. No... He could not count on his Ji-chan Hiei either.  After struggling to defeat that wicked Black Youko who had harassed him at the Convention his Ji-chan got so weak... Kinno had felt too guilty then; he had imagined his Ji-chan was dead... He was always listening to his daddy commenting on how weak Ji-chan Hiei was, that he should take care because  he was not as powerful as before.

No... He could not risk his Ji-chan's life. His Master was big, very strong, and he had very weird powers. No... He could never expect his Ji-chan to risk his life trying to save him again.
 
Shura? He had lots of guards at his command, but Kinno didn't want his boyfriend to know about his past and his Master. No way, not now... And how could he ask his sweetie, his sugar, his candy-youkai, to stand up to that vicious enemy? And if he lost the match?

No. Kinno could not live with that pretty youkai's death in his conscience...

Hikaru?

A tear trailed down his cheek as he thought about his friend.  Now he knew why he had not met him in Gandara... If  Hikaru was dead, then Kinno had no one else who could  try to help him.

Perhaps there could be another opportunity to escape in the future. All Kinno knew was that he could not risk the lives of the ones he loved. It was pain enough to know Hikaru might be...

"Master... I'm ready to go back with you."

The youkai tapped Kinno's head with his enormous, callous hand, and offered him a slant smile.

"That's the pet I love! Gorgeous and obedient! I'll remember that when it comes the time to punish you for your getaway!"

 "Master, I..."

"You played with your luck! Disobey me again and I turn your life into Hell!"

Kinno sobbed loudly. A hell worse yet than it had been till then? Oh, no, please... He didn't deserve such pain, such suffering... He had always been a good youko...

He started to cry again in a plaintive, continuing sound. He drew himself together tighter yet, hiding his pale, stricken face beneath his cascading tresses.

"I will obey..." Kinno nodded, unable to protest.

He looked down, gloomy and downcast, and he just cuddled to himself tighter. A very audible sigh was heard, and then a twinkling energy covered his crouching body, like an intermittent golden mantle of light.

When the you-ki faded away, there stayed a beautiful, single tailed golden fox, with big, sad eyes. He lay down, forming a tight ball of soft fur, and raised one paw to cover his own cold, wet snout. He yelped then, very painfully.

The youkai bent over to get his prey. He brought Kinno up, holding him tight under one arm, and disappeared into the woods.