Hikaru grew tense. Yomi felt the youko's body tauten under his sensitive fingers.

"That villain... How could he leave his lover and partner behind like that?" It was the fox's gritted comment.

The youko pulled away from Yomi, twisting his body and reaching out for the bottle on the table. He left it on the floor, closer to them, and and he got the two china cups, offering one to the King.

They had given up the game, but both of them, mainly Hikaru, still needed the sake to follow on with their confessions.

"Want me to pour it for you?" he asked. He did not even give the youkai opportunity to answer, readily filling sake into both cups. Only then, he left the bottle aside and leaned back on Yomi, resting his head on his chest. He started sipping the drink, very clamly. "If it were Hayashi there, I... I would never leave him behind, not even if it costed my life to save him."

"Not even if Hayashi urged you to leave?"

"No. Never. I would stay and die to save him if necessary."

"Which would be the use if you both had died? He sacrificed himself for you, just like Kuronue did for Kurama. Do you feel it might have been better if you died with  Hayashi?"

Yomi sensed the emotion change into that youko's heart. His whole aura swifted from a tense pulse of indignation to the slow, weak, but deep surge of sadness. Deppression cloaked the anger like a gust of malignant wind.

"Yes."

It was not the answer Gandara's King expected. He was surprised and affected by the depth of that demon's feelings. Such intense love rarely happen between youkai. Nevertheless, when it occurred, it became an overwhelming feeling that surpassed everything else.

Poor Hikaru... Yomi could sense in that fox the same feelings of undeniable love he had once shared for Kurama.

"But Hayashi wanted you to live and go on. This is what true love is. And I am sure if you had swapped places, you would do the same, trying to save him."

The horned demon lowered his head so his chin rested on the youko's head, softly and perfectly. Thus, when he spoke again, his voice was uttered right into Hikaru's furry ear.

"Kurama made a choice and payed the price for it. That episode changed him completely. In the present he still regrets having left Kuronue. Like you, Kurama feels the burden of guilt somehow."

Hikaru grew tense again. Bitterness caused a shift of tone in his mien.

"Are you defending him?"

"No. I am just clarifying things. Kurama felt true friendship and affection for Kuronue. Having lost his partner turned the youko into a more cruel and bitter demon. If Kuronue were alive, he would never have let Kurama pillage your Crystal City. Maybe it was Kuronue's death that trigged it all - My blinding, the death of your people... Because when he left Kuronue, the youko also left any goodness there was in his heart behind."
 

 Yomi remained in the shadows, very still, trying to control his nervousness by breathing in a calm and long rhythm. He was aware the light of the day was starting, and it startled him even more. He had been counting hours till his two friends had entered that demonic portal. It was only the fear he might somehow ruin Kurama's plans that forced him to keep his careful, lurking position.

He had noticed the weird energy which emanated from the soil of that forest, and he had been mindful to avid one or two traps. He knew it ws a very dangerous action and his eyes were open wide to everything happening around him since he had entered that territory.

It was a hunch, a sensation, that called his attention towards the gateway, much before he could actually see them running out of that lair. His eyes followed them running in a swift pace down the paved way in between the bamboo growths.

Silence and calm gave way to a sudden confusion. Yomi's sight was hindered by the dusk, and by the alternating light and shadow as the incoming daylight filtered in through the long stems. Hidden by the bamboos and a shaft of shadow hanging over him, Yomi heard the tearing sounds and the cry of pain, freezing in panic. He clutched around the katana hold so strongly that his fingers ached. But the worse, graver pain was to behold his friend impalled, caught in a trap like an insect.

It was then he heard the scream which chilled his blood - Kuronue, urging Kurama to leave him behind.

Yomi moved forward in a powerful advance, cutting his way through. He cried out a loud "No!", and he called out for Kurama, insisting that he was there, he could help and there was no need to leave anyone behind. Nevertheless it was at this very moment that the wrathful turbe moved on in a quick and ireful pursue, and his roars and cries muffled his voice.

They were too many; it was a whole army, and yet the horned youkai thrusted forward, knowing it was a stupid decision to try to fight them on his own, but he must do something to free his friend, struggling to push aside the long stems and find a way to reach the pathway.

Stupid, dumb-ass, idiot, he knew he was everything the youko used to call him, tossing himself into such a dangerous and careless action - it was certain death, he knew it, but...

They passed like a wave; a roaring, noisy wave which moved along the pathway in a furious persecution. They carried torches and brandished their wepons high, and the group was so compact that it was like a tide of hatred taking over the quietness of that forest. They cursed, and uttered loud and furious profanities and battle cries, demanding the infidels to stop and five their loot back.

The mob moved fast and furious like a tempest turning the world into hell for a short, but dreadful moment, but then passed...

The enemies ran after Kurama, and left the still, impalled, bleeding Kuronue behind, stuck by those pointed staffs like some type of insane actual-size voodoo doll of the Makai...

Yomi stepped forward on their back, and his eyes grew wide and alarmed as he met the woeful scene.

Kuronue... He was still alive... He moaned, in a very low tone, and his whole body trembled with the pain... In spasms, his limbs quivered in involuntary attempts to try to set free, but he had no means to move, no means to escape that bloody trap.

The only reason Yomi did not cry is because he had to keep a rational mind if he intended to free his friend from that trap as fast and painlessly as he could.

He hurried closer, and Kuronue tilted his head a little, enough to see who had come by. The sudden anger, and the gritting teeth he showed in his decision to fight till his last breath, swifted then into a heart-rendering blend of despair, pain and affection when his eyes fell on Yomi.

"What... are you..."

Yomi did not let him continue. Even nervous and frightenened, Yomi tried his best to show a firm voice and assuage Kuronue.

"I followed you. Now, just shut up and be cool, I'm gonna save you."

Kuronue seemed startled. His arms quivered, and one of his hands showed a clasping  gesture of despair, as if he wanted to reach out for Yomi. But he couldn't. His impalled body shuddered and jerked with the agony. He groaned from the pain. Then, too weak, he dropped his head.

Yomi sheathed his katana, and hurried to pull out all those bamboo spears stuck into the ground all around Kuronue, forming a cage. He pulled them out, using all his might, feeling that area of the forest was somehow draining his energies - it must be hexed.  But he did not give up. He yanked them out, one by one, and hurled them aside, in a furious rhythm. His hands were injured with the effort, but he did not care. How could he mind such things when he was standing in a pool of his best friend's blood? Dammit!

"Go away... It's the end for me... "

His wings fluttered. One stake had stabbed through one of them, but the other still flapped and fluttered in an convulsive struggle for freeedom, increasing the horror of the picture.

Yomi tried to show bravery and confidence, but he knew his friend might be right - It was the end... They were demons, but it did not mean they were immortal beings.

There were many of those bamboo spears circling him. Yomi worked hard to dismantle that makeshift picket fence. He did not stop for a single instant, not even to check if there were more enemies on the way. But he could still hear their cries in the distance, while they still chased Kurama with all their wrath.

"It's dangerous... Save yourself... I'm already dead..."

Yomi's arms worked in a tough and vigorous rhythm, and he finally managed to look right into Kuronue's eyes, having dismantled the cage built around him. Now it came the hardest part...

"Im gonna help you, Kuro. Keep firm!"

Yomi stepped closer, and he cupped Kuroneu's face with his hands, very affectionately. The winged demon was very cold, quivering much from pain and blood loss, but there was still a chance, there must still be a chance...

"Just cut my throat... please... Kill me now!"

Their eyes met when Yomi heard his hopeless whisper. His pink eyes rolled and glanced at the confusing scene, while he counted the bamboo spears stuck in through his friend's body.

Kuronue was nothing but a bleeding wreckage of torment.  He had been pierced through one calf and one thigh. One long stake trespassed his right shoulder, and his left wing was hit also. But the gravest wound was the long spear which pierced through his back and pointed out at his abdomen.

But Yomi still had hope - an insane but feverish hope Kuronue could survive those wounds...

He caressed his friend's face.

"I'm sorry. I can't do it... You're my friend, I can't kill you."

Yomi just moved around Kuronue. Then he closed his hands around the stake in through the demon's calf. He needed to be as swift and precise as possible not to make Kuronue suffer more yet.

In one quick, steady pull, he drew the stack off. A gurgling, gushy, stick sound was heard, and he Kuronue growled with the pain. His whole body trembled, and his free wing fluttered with a distressing spasm.

Yomi took the chance to walk caress his wounded wing with a very calm and sweet gesture.

"Get outta here..."

Yomi's reply to that feeble murmur was to close his fingers firmly around the stake piercing Kuronue's wing. He had to stretch up to find a good grasping position, clutch  steadily around the stack, and then started to pull it out slowly, not to tear further the tissue of his wing.

Kuronue squirmed and moaned. Both of his wings were tight in a twitch of pain for a moment, while Yomi pulled the impalling stack off. It was then Yomi heard sounds coming from the temple's entrance. There were more of them coming! He needed to be fast!

He forced out the trespassing stem which bored through his freinds's shoulder then. The stack resisted in place, and Yomi had to use more strenght. Kuronue moaned, and his breathing became a tortured series of gasps. He sobbed and wailed, while Yomi pulled that long stem out, very slowly... The sounds of tearing flesh and Kuronue's groans grew higher, and Yomi had to hold back his breath to resist his nausea and nervousness. Poor Kuronue... He must be going through such a a torture, such pain...

"Stop... please... Just finish me off..."

Yomi stopped for a moment. Now that the other impalling staffs had been removed, Kuronue's body slipped, and the long cane plunged deeper in through his abdomen.He growled agaisn, and his wings and arms grew taut. His suffering was growing higher every instant... Yomi noticed his boots were soaked with his friend's blood...

So much suffering, so much pain... If he could he would put an end to it...

"Please, Yomi..." Kuronue begged, in between his gritted teeth.

Yomi just shook his head, moving his fingers around that piece of bamboo again, using more strenght, getting ready to pull it out his friend's body at any cost.

"I can't I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I can't do it.."

Yomi sighed. He could not give up... Kuronue's suffering was inprinted in his body and in his wide, scared eyes. His muscles were tense, rigid with the suffering and fear blended into despair.

He pullled that stack a little more out, mindful of the angle, or he would end up injuring Kuronue further. He needed to be very precise and steady. He was trembling, his arms trembled, and the position did not help much...

He pulled it out in three sucessive pulls, the steadier he could, in successive draws, removing it as straight and firmly as he could, up and out, up and out...

Kuronue squirmed, but he must be so weak by then, that he did not give out any sound. Not even when his shoulder was freed from that impalling invader, and Yomi threw the long stem away, with energy and revolt.

Blood flowed out of the open circular would like a slow, dark cascade.  The tortured demon twitched. He tried to reach out for the deep, bleeding wound in his shoulder, to press his hand onto it, but he could just squirm and shudder, in broken, disconnected attempts of movement.

"I'm not going to make it... I know... Tell Kurama..." The sentence was broken by a huffed groan of pain. Kuronue resisted yet not to cry aloud, but when Yomi held tight around the spear which bored thorugh his thigh and forced it out in one long, fast pull, Kuronue gave out a loud but short cry because of the maddening pain.

Yomi tossed that makeshift spear away. Kuronue faced Yomi and groaned, almost passing out, but still struggling to keep his eyes open. "The mirror works... I have no future.. I know it..."

He started to shiver convulsively... More blood gushed out of the open wounds in his body. Yomi did not imagine there could be so much blood inside a demon's body. It was a horrible never-ending flow...

Kuronue drooped heavily on the remaining stake, stuck by a sudden quietness. For a moment Yomi imagined he had left him... But no.. Not yet... He had just fainted.

Fate at least had offered some mercy to the winged demon. To yank him out of that last impalling shaft would be the hardest part, for both of them. Yomi had to shut his own eyes while his hands closed vigorously around the stake which pierced Kuronue's middle.

He breathed in deeply, and pulled...

He had carried Kuronue in his arms for a long distance. All the while his friend remained unconscious, becoming colder and colder.

Yomi knew he must leave that cursed soil of the Dark Guild behind, as fast as he could. He thought of taking Kuronue to someone who could heal him, but he did not know who. It was difficult to think, it was even difficult to find his way back to the camp. His shock and confusion did not help his sense of orientation, and the weight of Kuronue's flaccid body across his holding arms increased his commotion.

Here and there Kuronue's wings got caught in the vegetation, and sometimes Yomi  slipped, stepping over the puddles of  his friend's dripping blood, and yet he continued. He held the other demon so tight, with such despair, that his own arms ached with the tension. Yomi's only impulse was to run away, the faster he could while doing his best to conceal his tracks.

He found a small creek, and followed up the slow stream, using the water to cover his tracks and also lowering his you-ki to mislead any persecutors. He concealed himself under the long shadows the forest cast upon him, dashing up to the hills and the highlands where they had come from.

Once in a while he stopped to position Kuronue better in his arms, and everytime he did it, he looked around. His main concern of course is that he might be followed or observed, but in fact, the reason for his worry was the silvery demon; Kurama. Where was he? Was he safe? Was he able to fool his pursuers, or was he trapped in some dark part of that forest?

He felt so lost, so hurt, so shocked, that it was even hard to breathe. He had to use all his might to keep on the way back to the camp, with his half-dead friend in his arms...

How could such tragedy strike them overnight? All the hapinness they had shared the previous evening had turned into that bloody, messy, carnaged nightmare? Why?

He could find no answers, and he moved on not even sure about what he was doing. Yomi was driven by a kind of automatic mode which took over his will. His pain was  so intense it made it difficult to think properly.

It felt as if those stacks had been pierced through his body too. He felt such a mixture of feelings... He felt betrayed, abandoned, cast away, just like Kuronue might have felt. How could Kurama dump his lover like that? But on the other hand, what could the youko try to save Kuronue? Nothing.

Their lives had reached a stalemate of destinies. It was a draw in which pain was all they were given

Yomi stopped only when he found himself at a safe distance from the Dark Guild's Temple. He made stop near the spring of that same creek he had followed up, a little off the route back to the camp. it was a very cosy and hidden rocky ravine at the base of a high cliff, merged in a dense forest. He found a clean, good spot on the ground and laid Kuronue down carefully. He had to dress those those excruciating wounds.

He loosened Kuronue's clothes and freed his arms from the straps tied around them. He hurled aside all the blades and weapons he carried. His belts were untied and his boots undressed.

All the while, Yomi tried to avoid staring at those dark holes cut into his body, still oozing a slow, now thinner trail of blood.

Yomi wished he could show some optimism, saying to himself the blood flow was decreasing because the wounds were healing, but he knew the truth. He knew the flow was diminishing just because that poor demon was running out of blood...

He tore his own clothes in rags to use them to dress his friend's wounds, improvising compression bandages he applied firmly on the openings. When he pressed the cloth against large hole in Kuronue's abdomen, Yomi had to use all his nerve... He needed to press back into place his friend's guts; they were slipping out through that opening...

It was horrible! The only way Yomi found of resisting the nausea and misery which struck him was to close his eyes and breathe deeper, trying to overlook that bloody reality...

He used the black straps and a pair of sticks as torniquet, closed tightly around Kuronue's thigh and and left leg, to try to stoop the blood loss. Done with it, Yomi sat back, and placed his spread hands over Kuronue's body, trasferring him some of his you-ki.

The energy glow appeared in between them, like a small haze of energy, flowing around Yomi and along his extended arms and hands, and then sprawling over Kuronue's limp, tortured body, like a slow blanket of sparkling mist.

Yomi knew nothing he could do was enough to save Kuronue, but he needed to try something; anything. His friend was so weak, so depleted by the wounds, that he would not outlive bring taken anywhere else.

He kept his hands over his Kuronue's body for a long while, and he shut his eyes tightly. He could not believe that had happened... He could never imagine Kurone, that clever, nimble guy, would be trapped so crudely. And, above all, he could never suppose Kurama would merely run away...

Somehow, it was what shocked him the most. If Kurama had done that to Kuronue, whom he was so attached to, what would he do to him, whom he cared not in the slightest?

Yomi felt a chill up his spine at the thought. A chill of terror, not arousal.

At this point he noticed a shiver ran along Kuronue's body. His shut eyelids fluttered, and a deeper inspiration, almost like a gasp, shook his body.

Yomi smiled. Yes, at least he energy served to make his friend feel a little better. It could help relieve the pain and the chill he suffered.

The chill of death...

Yomi grimaced as he faced the cruelty of his own thoughts, trying to skip his eyes from the dread sight of those wounds all over and throught his friend's body. A body he had cuddled to, a body he had made love to, a body he had pressed closer against his own...

Kuronue opened his deep blue eyes for a moment, then shuddered and quickly closed them, as if unable to stand the light. He groaned very feebly, and jerked, letting out a moaning sound of pain. Then he tried to open his eyes again, slowly, in hesitating, blinking attempts.

It was then Yomi noticed. The other demon's dead-pale appearance made those narrow, sharp blue eyes stand out much more. Kuronue was indeed very beautiful.

Yomi withdrew his hands, and just sat back, watching the winged youkai wake to consciousness.

He wished he had noticed that demon's beauty before he had been bewitched by the youko's lure. If so, things would have been very different for both of them. But now, it was too late. Much too late for anything.

Kuronue's voice was so faint... Yomi could barely listen to it. It was a mere blow of air, filled with pain and suffering...

"Hornie..." He called. He tried to reach out for Yomi, but his weary state did not even allow him to raise his hand from the soil. The attempt was a mere tappering of his fingers, and a quiver which ran up along his arm. "You saved me..."

Yomi felt the impulse to beg his friend to forgive him. Only now, thinking better, he came to his senses about the stupid thing he had done. He had tortured Kuronue more with that awkward rescue mission, and caused him nothing but pain. Now he laid there, pierced, bleeding, dying, with no chance of survival. The bandages and torniquets only made his agony last longer.

Despite the misery he felt, Yomi still tried to smile. As their eyes met, they knew, without spoken words, that it was the end. Yomi beheld in Kuronue's eyes he was well aware his wounds were too serious for him to overcome them. They knew it he was a lost case already.

It was what increased the suffering, in both demons.

"Try to rest. Try to gain a little more strenght, and we'll keep on the trip back. I am sure someone must know a youkai who will heal your wounds."

Yomi could not say anything more. A heavy lump seemed to be block his throat completely, and a burning feel started in his eyes, blurring his sight. He shut his eyes for a moment, and sniffled his cry, taking a long, deep breath in. Then, a little more composed, he faced Kuronue again, still giving him a sweet smile.

He reached out and stroke Kuronue's hair. He had loosened his friend's ponytail, and his black hair spread around his face and body, long and smooth, like a black satin sheet.

"You're gonna be fine... Just relax..."

The winged demon nodded, and he tilted his head a little, enough to take a look at himself. He was lying on his spread wings. However he did not find it unconfortable as he would normally, because in fact, he could not feel his wings... They were paralyzed, limp, dead... He was so weak he could only move his fingers, roll his eyes, and try to speak with that faint wisp of air which was not at all simliar to his real voice...

The winged youkai looked down at himself and swallowed hard, when he beheld the makeshift bandages Yomi had applied all over him. He could see red spots of blood staining the bandages. It was proof that even being dressed, the wounds were so deep that the blood did not stop running.

"I'm dying..." He murmured.

His eyes remained fixed on Yomi's as if demanding a confirmation, but the horned demon merely lowered his face. His only response was to caress with all tenderness, the pale face of his friend.

"No. You're gonna get better! I'm gonna take you to Kurama. I'm sure he knows a way to heal you!"

Kuronue tried to speak, but he seemed to choke on something. His own blood, perhaps, Yomi could not help thinking...

Poor thing...

"Be strong, batty... I'm taking you home..."

The youkai's lips moved, but only after a true effort he managed give out any sound.

"K-Kura...ma... Where is he?"

Yomi cut the other demon very sweetly, stroking his face and his lips with his bloodstained fingers.

"He's safe. He managed to escape. It's alright..."

The smile seemed to ligthen up Kuronue's dead-pale façade. Yomi even met a glint of joy in the corner of his eyes as he heard the news.

"Good..."

It was such a feeble sound that Yomi only guessed the meaning because he read it on his thin lips.

"Tell Kurama it's alright... Tell him to take care..."

Again, Yomi needed to read it in the slow, hesitant movements of Kuronue's lips. For a moment, he felt a strong need to bend over, and kiss his mouth...

"I love you...So much..." Kuronue murmured, showing a small, faint smile. For a moment his eyes twinkled with love and contentment, so much that it was like a star of hope veiling the pain and agony.

Yomi wanted to smile back, but he felt so wretched, so touched, he could hardly sustain to look back at Kuronue. The sensation os wasted time tortured him more than anything else... He could have been so happy with that deliciously crazy winged demon...

Now there was no hope, no chance to ever try to fix the time he had wasted. He could have surrendered himself to that demon who had so much affectuion for him, He could have given himself to Kuronue, deeply, completely, instead of chasing the impossible dream of making Youko Kurama love him...

He had been such a jerk! Damn!

"Friend... save your energy, please..." He said, extending his right hand over Kuronue's trespassed chest, to offer him more of his own you-ki.

Kuronue smiled, and that smile was so beautiful, Yomi felt he could not resist anymore. He bent over, and delicately placed a very kind kiss on those lips, stroking his black hair.

"I'll try..."

He shuddered. The pain the poor youkai was in seemed unbearable. Yomi gulped. He wished he had had the guts to cut Kuronue's throat when he had been asked. Only now he realized it was the best thing he could have done.

"I'm gonna take you with me; we can't wait any longer.  We're gonna find help. Try to resist, Kuro."

Kuronue moaned when Yomi moved his arms under his back, to lift him from the ground into his lap.

"Stand firm, batty..."

Yomi smiled and soflty rubbed his mouth Kuronue's hair, kissing his head. That bat-like demon smelled of dried blood all over... In fact, he smelled of death already...

Kuronue huffed painfuly, when Yomi wormed his right arm under his thighs, and very slowly, got on his feet, bringing up the other demon across his arms. His wings hanged, limp like dead.

Kuronue's lips curved in a slight, but extremely affectionate smile. He rested his head against Yomi's shoulder, and sighed in.

"Thanks..."

It was then Yomi sensed his friend leave. He actually felt his spirit depart that wreckage of impalled and torn flesh. It seemed a draft of wind being blown against him, touching his face with a warm, invisible kiss. Yomi felt as if a warm breeze had enveloped his whole body, in one last embrace before departing, passing by him, blown away forever...
 

"It was then I lost my friend; my best friend..."

Yomi's face became so pale that it impressed Hikaru. The shot eyelids twitched, fluttering for a moment, as if he were about to open his eyes. But it never happened. Yomi just sniffled slightly.

"I am sorry." The grey youko sighed in, and reached out for Yomi. His fingers follpwed a kind caressing way along the contour of the King's face.

Yomi smiled, when he felt that touch draw a line along his lips and then stroke a soft circle around his chin before being withdrew. The fox had taken the initiative? Oh, that was clearly a very good sign!

"Thank you, Hikaru. I mourned Kuronue very much; I missed him immensely."

"At least he died by your side, aided and comforted by a friend. The Gods only know what kinds of dread tortures those savage enemies would force upon Kuronue had he remained impalled and caged."

The King acquiesced. A soft smile was still on his lips while his hand moved forward, finding the way in his particular darkness to meet Hikaru's hand. Their fingers intertwined in an affectionate hold.

Yomi shuddered painfully. An emotional, not a physical pain.

"All the while he held that cheap trinket in his hand. He died holding that pendant tightly, as if it were his greatest treasure." Yomi sighed. "He loved Kurama deeply also; he loved us both. I felt tempted to take that bauble as a memento of our friendship, but in the end I buried him with it around his neck. After all, he died because of what that small fake-jewel meant for him."

"Fate. His time had come."

Yomi stopped then, musing on the torture of dying slowly, of blood loss, alone on enemy soil, left behind by a lover. He had rescued Kuronue from much of that intense suffering, though he could not save himself from such fate. Such penalty was precisely what Kurama planned to inflict upon him, a little later on.

"It was then I found I cherished Kuronue in my heart deeper yet than I might have suspected. But then, it was late for anything else than regret." He showed a slight, bittersweet smile, as his closed eyes met Hikaru's supportive stare. "I took Kuronue back to the camp. I carried him all the way in my arms, determined to give him a proper burial. Kurama never forgave me for that. He interpreted it as an act of open subversion on my part."
 
 

To be Continued...