"Nothing can be compared to the terror I faced then. I suffered from the silence and the darkness more than from the pain. The stillness gave me the impression there was no salvation I could aspire to."

Yomi acquiesced. He had faced a very similar experience after being blinded and abandoned. Under psychological and physical distress, he remembered he had even prayed for death to rescue him from such torment.

The king slid his hand down along Hikaru's arm. The youko was slender, but his fingers could sense the shape of his muscles under the kimono's soft silk.

He noticed the youko shudder under his touch, and held back a pleased smile. It showed how sensitive and needed of love that fox was.

"Your people were too cruel to you."

"I agree. But I could understand their reaction. I was a traitor. There was no way I could deny it. I betrayed my people's traditions and beliefs."

"It is not enough to be given that type of unmerciful treatment."

Hikaru heaved a painful sigh.

"Soon those two loyal servants abandoned me to my own luck. My death was expected at any moment. My state grew much worse, and even they became scared of being infected."

"Those monsters... How could they..."

Hikaru stroked Yomi's shoulder, and offered him a bittersweet smile.

"Yomi... I was still alive, but my body was in state of putrefaction. I do not blame them for running away."

The King felt sick as he pictured he scene in the screen of his imagination. Poor youko...

"At least they had left the oil-lamps burning. I asked them to keep the room lit because  I was afraid of dying alone in the darkness."
 

Hiroshi found his way in the darkness with no hesitation. He knew where to go. His way was any way where he could find a youko to kill - All roads led to his particular slayer's paradise.

He had followed the passage in between the embattlemented parapets calmly. Under the silent cover of the night, there was not much to fear. He had already killed the watchers he passed by. Cleverly, Hiroshi left their bodies still standing up, supported by their own spears not to raise suspicions. But he wanted to get as soon as possible in the ballroom - He was tired of being kept outside the maain party.

He found the stairs and the passage downwards to the guards's quarters. He was fed up of killing mere privates. He wanted to slay the main officers and spread his plagues and pestilences all over those narrow and tortuous corridors within those walls.

"Who goes there?" He heard.

Hiroshi showed a wicked smile as he headed on, extending his hand and throwing his you-ki forward in a glowering shower of energy, enveloping the trusting young guard.

The youko was paralyzed by Hiroshi's energy. A seizure started to shake his body, and he tried to scream when he saw the alien youko walk forth to him, but he could not give out a single sound.

Hiroshi grabbed his enemy violently, and forced him down, making him get on his knees before him.

"Oh, damn, I'm so excited... I love killing..." Hiroshi murmured, pulling the paralyzed guard to a corner. He sheltered in the shadows then. "Wanna have some fun, kid? Oh, I'm gonna stuff you with loads of fun!"

He gave out a muffled laughter, and pulled down the front of his trousers, enough to let his erection slip out. He took the boy's head by the hair and growled:

"Don't fuckin bite or I'll kill you!" Then Hiroshi made the guard take his prick in his mouth, which he quickly pushed down his throat, making the poor blue eyed youko gag and struggle for air.

"Take it, you slut! That will teach you!"

The look in the poor youko's eyes was terrible to see. He could not breathe. But Hiroshi still throat-fucked him mercilessly, stuffing his prick down deep into his throat, smirking down at him all the time. The torture continued lengthily- In, out, in, out...

The poor guard started to turn blue. He twitched, locked into imobility but still trying to set himself free.

"I'm fucking you to death, you asshole!' Hiroshi hissed in between his gritted teeth, as he pumped his semen down his throat.

Soon the guard's body went limp. Hiroshi could feel his life ebb from his body, as he withdrew his prick from his mouth. He smiled, glad he had caused another death...

"Great fucking... Great killing..." He moaned, tossing the corpse at a corner and sticking his limp, wet penis back into his pants.
 
He crouched and crawled along the shadows cast by the embattlements, reaching for the oubliette. Pulled open, It showed the long downwards staircase. Hiroshi changed aspects, disguising himself with his nimble and small three-tailed fox identity, and trotted down the steps, always under the shadows's concealment.

Assuming his fox aspect made it harder for any other demon to detect his presence; even youko. His demon and natural vulpine stealth combined, and together with  the darkness it caused him to become almost invisible.
 
Hiroshi still smiled, in a foxy way, and his pointed snout twitched as he sniffed his way in. He could already hear voices, as he descended the narrow pathway. His soft paws made no sounds as he continued his unsuspect gait and his vulpine golden eyes twinkled with antecipation in the dim light.

In no time he reached a long, narrow corridor that vented way to several other quarters and chambers. It was a whole garrison settled all along the city's main walls. He had been told not only the sentinels and officers dwelt there, but also whole families.

It would be a delightful kill! He exulted whenever he had the chance to slaughter little youko kits! He felt he was getting aroused again. He could hardly wait till he could rape all the blue-eyed infants he could find, and wacth their small bodies be torn apart as he stuffed their every orifice with his prick... He drooled at the antecipation of their inert, dying bodies paving the way within those crystal-walled headquarters.

He breathed deeper, relaxing, and took an attentive gaze all around him, observing the austere and closed architecture of those quarters and corridors. The crystal walls were cold and hard, and even though they were milky white, even translucid in some places, the night covered it all with a massive darkness. It felt as if he were surrended by lead, not crystal.

There were series of doors and passageways. There were no windows, not even embrasures or loopholes on the walls. There should be ventilation holes, but they were so few Hayashi could not detect them. Those bastards must really be fond of such oppressive places... And in fact, those stuffy quarters were just perfect for his plans.

Whatever plague he summoned would be sucked into those long corridors, and taken far, tainting everything, infecting everyone deadly before they could even find what was going on.

Hiroshi's back was tense, and his fur bristled up as he imagined how good it would be to feast on so many fresh corpses.

He continued further down a little more, and found a perfect spot, in a corner, where he could not be detected at all. Around him he could feel the enemies's you-ki. Some of them were sleeping, others having their meals or bragging about their idiotic lives.

But Hiroshi was to redempt them from their mediocre existences.

He merged back in the shadows, and observed two sentinels cross the corridor a little way away, passing from one room to another. He could even hear faint excerpts of their conversation...

Further down, a group of young armored warriors talked and compared their insignia, animatedly. He heard a cry come from the lower levels; it was a kit's whining, echoing down the distance. Then he heard a feminine voice reproaching the baby. Her exact words were muffled by the distance, but it did not matter much.

Soon they would be freed from their worries. Doctor Death was ready to operate...

He lowered his head not to allow his twinkling golden eyes to give away his position. Perfectly still, his aura became imperceptible, and he blended the darkness, as if he were just another casual shadow.

Then Hiroshi just breathed, exhaling air forcefully, letting his deadly you-ki spread forth. Slowly he filled the packed atmosphere of those quarters with the disease give out by his respiration...

Kurama - that mean bastard, that heartless coward, that greedy villain, was in change of watching him. He was to be handed back to Hiroshi on his return.

Hayashi's eyes were sore from crying, and his voice was hoarse from so much shouting, protesting and begging. He had cried bitter tears since he had realized the gravity of what he had done.

He had betrayed the one he loved the most...

The tattooed youko felt a wretch. He was confused, and at a loss of words and hopes. It was as if his soul had been stripped off his body, torn to shreds, cindered and then stuffed back in. His mouth was bitter, and he still felt heartburned, due to the effect of the strong beverage they had forced him to take. Worst of all had been to stand the mockery and the caustic irony of the other youko. He cried, he protested, and they laughed at him, mocking the love he had felt for hie blue-eyed lay, making cruel fun of his despair and regret.

Hayashi found himself so shocked he remained still like a rock, too astonished to react or answer the insults back. The after-effects of that high dosage of drugs did not allow him to react. And even if he had reacted, there was nothing he could do against those 5 youko - 6 including his dark twin.

Hayashi was bound to cry and scream in protest and misery, solely.

He faced the walls and rock and quartz constructions which cast shadows upon that quiet corner where they hid themselves.

For the first time, his soul was replete with anger and ressentment, and he felt no will whatsoever to help, heal, or comfort anyone. He had lived both sides of that stupid war between golden and blue-eyed youko, and was fed up with it.

He lowered his eyes, and felt them blurred by tears again. He wanted to save no one; he wanted to rescue and heal no one but Hikaru. And to his dismay, he still did not know where he was...

His eyes focused angrily on the still sillhouette who was crouched in the shadows, right before him. Kurama was a mean, a sick bastard. He and Hiroshi were birds of a feather! He could not believe he had confessed all about his love, his hopes and his fears to that wicked silver youko, fooled by his words and drugs.

The sensation of being so miserably fooled make the pain and the guilt hurt even deeper inside him.
 
"Have you ever loved?"

His husky voice barely called Kurama's attention. The silver youko did not seem to care. He still kept his eyes locked on the narrow street before him. He seemed too absorbed on his plans, studying and analyzing every corner, every building...

Hayashi leaned his back on wall. They were on a very tight and dark corner. It was a shabby backyard surrounded by the other constructions. It might serve as deposit or dump. Bur it was on a small elevation, and from there Kurama could get a privileged view from the main gates, which stood a little way away, to the right.

Hayashi suspected he was to witness a massacre which would become legendary in the Makai.

He tried not to think on it. Inside those walls he had been treated with prejudice, imprisoned, and almost beheaded and let to public display - Yet he wished none of those blue-eyed youko any harm. To be aware so many of them would be victimized made him feel terrible.

And what about Hikaru?

"Have you ever had someone you thought was the most important thing in your whole life?" Hayashi insisted. His voice was weak, broken, but somehow he kept a straightforward determination to face Kurama's evil.

"Hey! Why don't you shut up! Do you want that muzzle back?"

Kurama looked over his shoulder at the other youko. Their eyes met, and Hayashi challenged Kurama with fury sparkling from his burned-out, but extremely expressive stare. The cuts, bruises and scratches on his face and forehead from the beatings he had suffered only turned his expression graver.

"Is he alive? Is it true he was taken back to the city? Did Hiroshi tell you anything?"

Kurama shrugged. He tossed his hair and sniffed the air, scanning the area for the presence of any other youko. It seemed Hiroshi had completed his task already. The high walls, the turrets and the bastions built of crystal were quiet, silent, like they were nothing but graves.

"What do you think?" Kurama asked back, displaying a twisted smirk.

The open defiance made Hayashi lower his eyes for a moment. He dared not to think the worst, but it is what it seemed. Many days have passed... Hikaru would never have survived in the desert, stricken by a disease, with no one around to offer any aid...

"I don't know..."

"Your "Blue Eyes" must be prey of the scavengers by now. I lied about it all. It was just a means to convince you to give away what you knew."

Hayashi's chin quivered, and he chewed his lips. His rage was so intense it suffocated him.

"How could you?"

Kurama could not let go of his smile. He was finding it all very amusing.

"It was easy. You're such an idiot... You're too much sentimental..."

Hayashi let out a growl. The guttural sound got stronger as the intensity of his eyes focused harder and harder on Kurama, who still laughed, obviously making fun of Hayashi.

"You used my lover to fool me! Bastard!"

The annoyance became irony. Kurama showed a sideways smile, and snorted, openly challenging the brown youko's stand.

"Ha! It is the way of the Makai. Survival of the fittest. You are nothing but a pity excuse for a youko. Your fate is to serve the ones who are stronger than you!"

Hayashi felt his body tremble with the deepest rage. There hardly was someone who could infuriate him so much as like his brother, but Kurama Youko was certainly a runner-up.

"What do you know about my fate?"

Kurama turned, and crawled the short distance to get closer to Hayashi. He faced the other youko and roared.

"You'll soon have no fate if you go on whining like that!"

They faced each other in silence for a while. Kurama growled again, very softly, but his eyes were flooded with fury.

Hayashi shuddered. He twitched and squirmed, trying to find a better position, leaning closer against the wall which covered their rear. He could not let Kurama suspect he was earnestly trying to break the ties around his wrists and arms. The vines were too tight, forced around his arms in a sucession of strong turns. Hayashi felt his arms hurt, and the knots biting at his skin as he tried. But he insisted, even aware he was wounded and cut from his desperate attempts.

The plant locked his energy. He could not even change aspects while that stupid parasite was intertwined around his wrists, arms and neck.

"I cannot kill you. I am not strong enough to do it, but I can curse you..."

Kurama laughed. He burst in a loud guffaw, and had to muffle his mouth with one hand. He did not want to alert half the city of their presence there... But it was damn too funny!

"When you have someone you love by your side, when you feel you are content and your life is perfect, then the deadliest disgrace will strike you and you shall suffer a miserable death! I lay a curse on you, Kurama Youko!"

The youko made a gesture, telling Hayashi to cut it off....

"Way too much funny! Oh, man, you do gotta a sense of humour... Who do you think you are to curse me? Inari's representative?"

Hayashi shut up. He had nothing more to tell that obscene bastard. His brother must be coming... He had to set himself free from those ties quickly.

He felt blood dripping from the cuts around his wrists, and even with the burning wounds he insisted harder. The blood lubricated the vines, making his attempt smoother. He had already freed half his hand... Now he only had to make the knuckles pass, and he'd have one hand free... It was all he needed...

He slipped out of the discussion, lowering his head. He could not let Kurama notice anything... He felt hopeless, now that his illusions about Hikaru still being alive have collapsed... But at least he could try something to frustrate those killers's plans and escape his brother, definitively.

Just a little... He insisted, moving his wrists in tight circles one around the other to stretch the ties... His had was almost slipping off...

Kurama spat a series of insults at Hayashi, glaring at him, but the brown youko did not react. He acted submissively like it was expected of him, therefore the proud silver youko quietened. He returned to watching the street bellow, very attentive to any noises or signs of incoming strangers...

"He's back..."The youko murmured after a while.

Kurama got on his feet then, standing in a very tense pose, at the entrance of that narrow alleyway. Hayashi hurried with his urgent movements, struggling to slip his hand loose. It was his brother... Perhaps he could take the chance while Kurama and Hiroshi were distracted one with the other to escape...

His wrists burned so intensely from the cutting and friction that he needed to bite his own lips harder not to moan. His skin was lacerated, but he still struggled, harder yet now, that his chance was so close.

Repulse was added to the pain when he sensed the energy and the foul smell of his brother. Again, his expression became a scowl as he followed the approach of Hiroshi's dark silhouette in the night, stepping closer to Kurama.

He had no way to escape. It was a dead end alley. In order to have a chance he needed to stand closer to the alleyways' entrance.

Hayashi stood up. He walked forth, in his brother's direction. But he held the untied  vines, which hanged loosely from around his bleeding wrists. He had managed to escape the turns and knots, but still pretended to be tied. The turn around his neck was still in place, but it had loosened a little. With one hand free, he could get rid of all those ties in a fraction of a second...

Hayashi bowed his head, and bent his shoulders, in a very submissive posture, but his eyes were searching avidly, a sewer, a passage, someway he could sneak away out of there.

Kurama and Hiroshi faced one another savagely. Pride and wrath turned their expressions in rigid, frightening masks. They glared one at the other for a moment. Kurama grimaced, and Hiroshi gave the other fox a cynical half-smile.

"I cleaned the area. You can proceed." Hiroshi spoke, drily. "Gimme back my baby bro."

Kurama merely acquiesced, and tilted his head towards the entrance of thar narrow passage, indicating Hayashi.

"He's all yours."

"We'll meet at the rendevouz site by sunset, right?"

"Yeah. We'll share the loot then..."

"It's a deal."

Both youko were extremely uneasy. Kurama was on guard, so was Hiroshi. But nothing happened even though the impression was that tension and destruction would break in at any minute.

Hayashi merely observed their slightest gestures, and every subtle change of their expressions. It was clear they were ready to jump one on the other's throat and attack at any instant. But they were too careful, knowing it was life and death at stake then...

Hiroshi wanted to kill Kurama, and that silver youko most certainly had weaved plansd to free the Makai from he and his twin brother.

From the angle he stayed, Hayashi managed to see Kurama get a very small seed from the folds of his belt. But he did not attack yet.

Probably he wanted to aim his killer plant when he and Hiroshi were close. It would then take him a single blow to defeat both of the so-called Psycho Twins.

Hayashi insisted on feigning a perfect, very still resignation.

Hiroshi walked the distance towards him, with a smile, confident enough on his deadly might to give his back to Kurama.

Youko Kurama gave one step backwards, standing on the extreme of that alley. The line of his shoulders was very tense, and even though he commanded his facial expression to a total indiference, Hayashi could tell from the energy that rose from his body he was ready to attack.

But his ears pricked forward, very erect and alert, and his muscles were tight, on the verge of action... Although he kept his head down, his eyes looked up, following everything that happened around him. He watched it all underneath the spiky, greasy bangs that fell down his brow. His smart and sharp intentions were clear in the acute and focused expression that altered his face. However, his long, messy hair concealed it all. He breathed deeply and held air in, getting ready for a quick, intense sprint. It would be the getaway of his life... His mind seemed to be in a trance, and the whole scene started to unfurl gradually before his eyes, as in a kind of insane slow motion.

Kurama had the seed in between his thumb and index fingers, holding it firmly against the side of his thigh. The small seed emitted a faint luster of energy, and the silver youko's brow showed a furrow. His eyebrows almost touched in between his eyes as his face revealed a very vulpine, wild stare. He was on the middle of the corridor, right on the way. Meanwhile, Hiroshi stepped closer. He smiled to Hayashi and extended his hand, in a very appeasing and conciliatory approach.

"It's so beautiful in there, Hayashi - I've piled corpses upon corpses... Come, let me take you on a tour; you're gonna love sightseeing..."

Hayashi dodged, evading his brother's touch. He took a glimpse at Kurama's raising his arm, pulling his hand backwards on a throwing movement, and the seed, twinkled in between his fingers...

He took the chance then, in between two seconds, in a fraction of time, so fast, so vigorously, he barely knew what he was doing. He felt as if he was guided by instinct, or by a divitity.

He threw himself in motion, jumping forward. When his foot touched the ground for a second impulse, he had already become the copper color apparition of a three-tailed fox. It was like a brownish flash, so fast it seemed to flicker with a light-fast golden glow. The vines slipped off from his arms, now turned in nimble and elegant front paws, and dropped to the ground, as he ran forth.

Hiroshi cried his brother's name in a bossy and annoyed command. He tried to reach out and grasp the fugitive, but Hayashi managed to escape, fooling Kurama, pretending he was swerving him, when in fact he slipped away in between his legs...

Hiroshi shouted out a loud curse, when he saw his brother disappear down along the street, merging in the shadows. He faced Kurama with a blunt expression.

"It's your fault! Why didn't you check the bindings?"

Kurama re-absorbed the energy he had used on the small seed, and returned it to his tunic's folds, with a stealthily move. He glared at Hiroshi, and kept his guard up.

He could not attack him now... In fact, Kurama skipped off Hiroshi's way, just in time to avoid a blow of his you-ki.

He covered his nose and mouth with one hand, holding his breath and stepping backwards, as he formed a corruscating barrier of is own you-ki around him. His plans about killing both twins with one single strike were ruined. With his brother's  escape Hiroshi had become very suspicious of Kurama's attitude. His demonic energy was equally aroused, generating an invisible force field around him.

The silver youko wanted to kill that pest, but he did not want to run any risk. Not now that the Crystal City was to be defeated... He needed to attack counting with the surprise. It was the best, the safest way to garantee Hiroshi would not be able to react.

"I have to get him now! That spoiled kid! He is always trying to run away just to tease me, but I know he loves me! He can't live without me!"

Kurama let that insane demon pass and reach the street. Hiroshi looked at either side, sniffing the air, and then he chose the east direction, heading along, forgetting Kurama, the attack, and everything else.

"You wanna play hide and seek? Oh, baby, I'm gonna find you, and then I'm gonna teach you to obbey your older brother! I love you, baby! I just wanna do you good!" Hiroshi shouted out into he darkness, heading east to chase down the fugitive.

Kurama snorted. He needed to start the attack before the city's inhabitants found most part of their guard was dead. The rest of the band was staying down, in wait for his sign. He only hoped that neither of those stupid siblings caused trouble to the raid. Those two morons would end up alerting the few watchers and warriors who were still alive...

Kurama hated when things did not go as planned. He had to start the raid at that very moment, before Hiroshi's screams and his insane incursion into the city alerted the inhabitants.

He left the alley, and grabbed a handful of twinkling dust from a pouch which hanged from his belt. He played with that multitude of cold, thin grains, squeezing them in his fingers for a moment, adding his own you-ki to them.

The die was cast.

He threw the fluorescent pollen high in the air. It formed a large, luminous cloud, that spread high and wide in the dark night sky, forming a sign which was easliy divised from the distance.

It was the sign to start the attack.

Kurama grabbed a bunch of seeds in his hand and headed to the main avenue, ready to  break way into the palace.
 
 

"I have not witnessed how the massacre started. I was in quarters, and my state was so serious I was hardly aware of anything. By then I was weak enough not to mind the pain any longer. I felt only an all-encompassing numbness. All my senses were veiled by that strange disease."

Yomi reached out for the sake. He grabbed the bottle and at the same time pushed the table away, to find more room for themselves. He pulled Hikaru to him, nestling him between his knees, while the fox leaned his head on Yomi's shoulders.

Yomi filled their cups with sake, cuddling closer to Hikaru.

"I heard loud roars, as if monsters had taken the city. I could feel the earth rumbling and trembling under the palace's foundations. I also noticed distant screams of fright and battle-cries. I heard running steps, and a commotion growing around me. Whatever was happening I was just left there. Why would anyone care about a dying traitor?" Hikaru sipped a bit of his sake, and slipped his tongue over his lips, enjoying the warm taste. "Most of the people hurried to hide. We had been attacked before, and our people knew the drill. Volunteers hurried to organize a resistence and open passage to the bunkers we kept deep in the underground. Warriors from all social classes were summoned to fight the invasion back, while the King and some selected warriors kept guard at the entrance of Inari's main Shrine."

The grey fox sighed then. Yomi smiled with sympathy at him, and drank his sake calmly.

"I was not aware of what was happening around me any longer. I knew not what was reality or delirium..."

"Till Hayashi found you, yes?"

Hikaru paused his sorrowful confession and smiled softly. Even depressed by recalling his past story, he was slightly touched by happiness as he thought about his  re-encounter with Hayashi.

"Yes... We stayed together for a short time then, but those last moments were very important to me."

Yomi acquiesced. His fingers trailed a slow caress along Hikaru's pale face. He yearned badly to kiss that youko... Nevertheless he knew the longer he delayed that moment, the sweeter it would taste.

"I can imagine how you felt then." Yomi sighed out. "The last moments I spent in Kurama's company before I had lost the light of my eyes meant everything to me. They were perfect... I still dream about that night of love we shared..."
 

To be Continued...