They camped in the same wild area they had settled down years before; it had taken them one whole day just to arrive there. It was an area with high barren plateaus and suspended islands which served as natural arenas. From the momentthey arrived Shura and his father had spent the whole time in  tough training sessions, fighting each other harder and harder as time passed, their bodies growing stronger, and their energy levels higher.

They felt free and unbound by any obligations and ceremony. They sweated, were wounded as their battles became more intense, hunted and prepared their own meals. Surprised by his son's progress, Yomi started teaching Shura many new techniques for both attack and defense.

The date for the second Tournament had been set. It would take place 638 days from then. Shura had contently started the countdown.

They had sat down to rest around a fire by a small waterfall, protected by the rocky cliffs and the dense vegetation around the whole place. The area was silent, and very cosy now that the deep moonless night had fallen.

Shura could barely recognize his usually solemn and stern father. Yomi had told him a long series of stories about his childhood as a thief, and about his youth while he earned his living as a mercenary. He told him of the distant lands he had visited, caravans he had joined, the small group of warriors he had led. Events which had happened very early in his life, long before he joined Kurama's feared group of thieves and warriors.

The prince had never seen Yomi so easygoing and informal.

Yomi had even told his son a series of silly, and sometimes very naughty jokes. Most of them about youko and a weird race of nocturnal youkai with wings. A lot of them were truly stupid, like the one about the youko that chased his own tail because he had been told to go fuck himself. But Shura could not help laughing freely, too happy seeing his father so relaxed and affectionate.

A lot of other silly jokes followed, one after the other. Shura was truly shocked by that unknown aspect of his father's personality, but all he did was to laugh, so loud, so vigorously that it made his cheeks and his belly ache.

Soon the prince noticed he had not been feeling so much anguish and discomfort as before. His heart now pounded with a little less pain, after his father had made him laugh so much. Yomi's repertoire lasted for hours.

Besides, being with Yomi,  like real father and son was a very soothing thing. They were actually like a true family as they camped together, trained together, ate, talked and laughed together. It was something which could never happen in Gandara.

Later that evening, as the fire had almost burned down completely, Yomi called Shura closer, with his sweetest voice. The young youkai sat next to his father, and as he did it Yomi closed a very tender arm around his shoulders, bringing him closer yet.

Shura took a brief glance at his father's eyes. He always wondered about his unique blindness. Yomi had learned to see much more after he had lost the light of his eyes, moved by his inner strength and determination.

It was such strength and determination Shura should try to find inside him in order to fight that insidious passion for Kinno.

Yomi rested the palm of one hand on Shura's head, making him lean his face on his chest.

"I am very fond of you, Shura. You are a real son to me," Yomi started , with a very calm tone softening the intense depth of his voice. "I worry much about you."

Shura squirmed a little, still embarrassed. In the beginning, Shura would have to confess his relationship with Yomi had been delicate.  He had the impression then he was no more than a disposable ally. But time proved him to be wrong.

There was no doubt inside him now. Yomi truly loved him. And on his part, Shura fiercely adored his King and father.

"Thanks my father," Shura retorted, with his young voice trembling a little under the emotion. Yomi had never been so close to him like that before.

"It is a shame we have such scarce opportunities to relate ourselves. You are a young male now. I know you must have many doubts and strange, intense new feelings inside of you."

Shura nodded but he did not say a word. Yomi patted his shoulder acknowledging his silent acquiescence.

"It is the Kingdom's affairs. It gives us short time to be family," Yomi continued.

The young youkai pulled himself away a little, refusing to share the embrace any longer. He huddled, circling his knees with his arms as he turned his eyes to the opposite side, unwilling to stare at his father. To bring the topic up hurt him inside. It was a pain very different from the one he felt whenever he thought about Kinno, but it was equally torturing.

He kept looking to the other side, even when he spoke to Yomi, with a dejected low voice, and yet with calm, very clear words.

"It is not the Kingdom that is a barrier between us." Shura inhaled air deeply then. "It is the flowers."

The prince noticed very manifestly the sudden change in Yomi. His father's whole aura seemed to collapse into a dark, dense shadow of sadness. It was as if Yomi had been enveloped in a shroud, which did not let any of his vigour and energy show. His bravery, his valour, his nobility - That dense shroud nullified all these high feelings, leaving nothing but despair.

Yomi tried to deny it. A nervous, tense sound which resembled more a painful moan  than a "No" left his lips. Yet Shura held his father firmly, demanding him to face his own shameful reality.

"Papa! Admit it! You will never be cured if you don't admit your ill addiction to whatever dreams these flowers bring you."

Yomi shook his horned head with insistence. His face was tense, displaying very tense contours as the fire flickered unstable flames against the darkness.

"No! I am still in control! I am not addicted to anything!"

"You are. Yes you are, my father... You don't show it, but I fear you suffer a severe pain inside." Shura regretted having touched the matter, but now he could not leave it unresolved. He had to go to the end, and act out all that pain and pity he felt for his father's humiliating condition. "What is it that you dream about? What are these wishes that you cherish so intensely and yet can't make them come true? Confess it to me... Let me help you..."

The majestic youkai carefully pushed Shura aside to stand up. He walked some steps away, always giving his back to his son, visibly avoiding letting their eyes meet.

"There's only one way you can help me, son," Yomi stated as he maintained himself  under the forest's shadows, standing very erect, impressive and yet intensely sad. His whole body was tense and very alert, and his voice echoed pain. "I have suffered a terrible ordeal in my past. Do not ever let the same happen to you."

Shura kneeled up. He was deeply concerned as he saw his father so much altered by emotion.

"Is it this ordeal that makes you want to forget reality? What is there in the dreamland that entices you so much? Are they dreams of power?"

Yomi shuddered. It was as if a sharp pain had cut through him. Shura could see very well how hard it was for his father to talk about it.

The King cast his head down, desolate, dejected. His proud back arched under the weight of shame. His voice became a hesitant whisper.

"They are dreams of love..."

Shura jumped with the surprise, hastily standing up. He walked to Yomi, circling him to force them to be face to face.

"Love?" Shura asked, uncertain he had really heard such words.

Yomi's energy diminished. Shura knew very well why. It was the way the king closed his inner eyes, so he could not perceive anyone around. It seemed the King was too ashamed of himself to stand facing his own son.

But Shura would not give up without knowing the whole story. Even if it made his father suffer. Even if it caused them both suffering.

"I have loved someone very greatly. It is this demon that I dream about"

"I would never have imagined it... Who is she?"

Yomi sighed in. It was a very long and deep sigh, filled with pain and need.

"No, son... It was a male. One of the most gorgeous males I have ever met."

"Oh... I see..."

"It was a youko..."

Shura's pink eyes widened at once as he heard his father's confession. The sudden understanding of the causes of his father's intense feelings towards the whole youko race had finally been revealed!

The prince ran to offer his father an embrace, trying to appease his blatant nervousness. But he was not prepared to hear further...

Shura grew very tense when he heard Yomi continue his admission.

"I have been in love with Youko Kurama."
 
Shura halted midway, stupefied with the revelation. In a flashy process, lots of words, images, stories he had been told started to make sense inside him, as he finally resolved the puzzle behind his father's silent pain. Youko Kurama... The one who had betrayed him, and yet the one he had helped so much...

Shura could not avoid recalling the image of that redheaded human carrying a half dead lover in his arms and begging for Yomi's help. So the reason his father did not hesitate a minute to give aid was because he still loved him!

Yomi turned around to give his back to his son again. He walked some steps away, kneeling down, and sitting on his heels on the ground, opposite to the fire, so he would be fully merged into the darkness. His shoulders were tense as he brought his powerfully horned head down, avoiding looking at anything, anyone but his own hands, firmly clenched on his lap.

"I was young. It was a passion I had no means to avoid. Kurama had been my commander and lover back then." Yomi made a short pause then, maybe reflecting on his own memories. "It lasted for years. But in the end I realized it meant nothing to him but a distraction. I have been Kurama's game; he played with me at his own will."

The boy felt like hurrying to his father to envelop him in the tightest, the most caring embrace he could, but the resentment about his father having hid such an important secret from him, and the outrage which started to rise inside him against the youko still kept him paralyzed, tense, taut, like a statue.

Dumbfounded, he could barely speak.

"Papa; why did you hide it from me?"

"I feel ashamed of  such a stupid passion because I cannot let go of it." The King breathed lengthily then. His broad and well built figure was bent and broken with the anguish he could not hold back. "I will spare you the details. It is enough for you to know all I told you about those vulpine demons is true. I know because it happened to me."
 
"My father and Youko Kurama? I would have never suspected it," Shura commented, mentally checking the few occasions in which he had seen the former lovers together. Both demons had had much discretion then. "How did it happen?"

Yomi placed one hand on his mouth, concealing a bitter smile. How could he imagine he would be questioned so harshly by his son? And just one day after he had threatened Shura with the same inquiry.

"Kurama led me away from my accepted principles from the very beginning. I became his lover, but he soon betrayed me. He felt my awkward leadership was a menace to the lives of all the members of the gang." Yomi sighed in and then out, dolefully, before continuing. "In the end, he hired a mercenary to kill me, but I escaped. Not unharmed, but still alive."

The boy grew very tense. His hands trembled with anger, and he could feel a hot flushing cover his face.

"The killer slashed my eyes. It was then I lost my sight"

Shura felt a deep pain strike at his core, as he heard that. He could not yet believe that just a short while ago they had welcomed, helped and sheltered that youko and his moribund lover. He could not accept that vile youko to have escaped Gandara, to have escaped their rule unharmed, without suffering any type of retaliation at all.

"How dared that unspeakable thief  threaten your life?"

Yomi could not reply. He had never found an answer for himself on that matter.

"He deceived me very cunningly, son. But I must avow I fell into his lure because before being blinded for real, I had been blinded by passion. Kurama made me lose all my reason, all my shame."

Gandara's prince kept a thoughtful, hurt silence. And Yomi did the same, keeping a grave expression. The king suspected perhaps he should not be telling so much to his son, but maybe the anger Shura felt could make him overcome his improper passion for the youko he had found. It was the lesser of two evils...

"I had to learn the ruin youko represent by my own mistakes. But you will not be cheated and victimized. I am here, opening my tortured heart to you to advise you of all the perils involved. All you have to do is to listen to you father's words."

Yomi closed his arms around his own chest then. Maybe the demon expected the subject to be finished then, but Shura walked decisively towards his father, standing right before him. He placed his hands on his hips and faced Yomi with a stern expression, demanding further explanations.

"Couldn't you have resisted the youko? Have you tried it at least?"

Yomi lifted his face towards his son, directing his shut and yet very exxpressive eyes to Shura.

"I have been too weak to resist. I need you to be strong, Shura."

"You should have avenged your honor! You should have given Kurama as good as you were given then, father! During the tournament, and even afterwards, you continued treating him like a dear friend! Why?"

The deep voice was marked by an extreme sadness.

"I have tried. It was my plan to lure him during the Makai Tournament, humiliate him, torture and kill him, but I... I could not do it..."

"How could you stand such insult to your honor? How could you be an ally to the demon who ordered your assassination? Father, how could you live in peace with yourself till now?"

The King uttered a very low whisper, stating of his profound hopelessness.

"I am not at peace with myself. I have never been."

Shura felt too agitated, too weary with his father's confession. It felt as if everything he had ever trusted, everything he had ever believed had been turned into ashes, burnt into nothing by the fires of that unhealthy passion. No... That was not passion, it was not love... Better to say it was a disease which affected the King which must be stopped immediately.

"You must free yourself from Kurama at any price, papa! And I am going to help you," Shura declared, as he supportively stroked his father's shoulder. "You will never let go of this plague if you don't quit those evil flowers..."

The monarch said nothing. He just placed his own hand onto Shura's smaller one, patting him for comfort.

"Who brought those monstrous flowers of evil to you? Please, tell me that, my father!" Shura requested, in an earnest, firm command. The young prince knew he should be the one to effectively act in order to save his father's sanity, and Gandara, from all that chaos. "I will hunt the criminal, and force him to offer you an antidote, a cure, a remedy to wipe these pernicious dreams from your mind and soul. I promise I will make the villain free you!"

Yomi's voice was feeble, softer than a whisper.

"No, Shura... Forget it; let it be..."

"Papa... Please..." Shura continued, this time sweeter, bending one knee before his King to beg for the truth which could release him from those cruel dreams. "Tell it to me, and I promise I will never even think about Kinno again! Give me a good example to follow! Free yourself, so I can free myself from this demonic love as well!"

Yomi remained very quiet. His broad figure stayed perfectly still. The darkness enveloped them now. The fire was almost extinct. King and prince were almost totally engulfed by the dark of the night now.

"You are a King. You're the most powerful demon of this land. You cannot be a slave of your own dreams and desires! Fight it!"

Yomi gave out a very subtle, bery slight sigh. He turned his face to the other side, and cloaked his energy further, refusing to see, sense, or witness in any way his son's hurt feelings.

"Kurama gave the flowers to me."

Shura felt himself so deeply shocked, so ill, so stunned with the revelation that he sat on the floor, affected by a sudden weakness.

"W-What?"

"It was a present. In return for the favor of saving Hiei's life."

Shura trembled silently. The wrath grew too intense inside him, raising his energy levels, filling him with a furious, demanding hunger for justice. The anger, and the shame for all his father had been suffering made his body burn, suffocating him in a way he would not even be able to talk, to try to talk his father out of that desolation. A King, a father so noble and generous  like Yomi would never deserve such misery.

He ought to rescue his father out of that torment.

Shura felt the claim grow inside him, he felt it pound in his chest, and reverberate all along his taut muscles. The young prince wanted to kill. He wanted to revenge his father. He wanted to slaughter that damned youko.

The boy bowed his head, resting it on his arms as he huddled, embracing his knees. Shura stayed in that position for a long while, protectively embracing himself, like a baby in a womb, meditating, thinking on what he should do.

"I understand it now. I can see how wicked and scheming youko can be; I have learned my lesson by listening to your words," Shura started, as he slowly raised his eyes, to stare at his father.

Yomi was still motionless. His face seemed carved from a pale block of shame.

"Kurama made you his slave. He addicted you to the flowers because then you would always be dreaming of this miserable passion that united you. As long as you keep these dreams, the youko knows you will never attack him and seek revenge."

Yomi shook his head very slowly, not believing the explanation Shura had found. No... Kurama could not have planned it that way; or could he?

The king tried to protest, but Shura would not let him speak further. The boy stood up with an energetic impulse, with very tense shoulders, clenched fists, and a furious glint in his eyes.

The prince asserted his decision with very steady, brave words. And for the first time, his voice sounded deep, as manly and majestically as his father's.

"You will not be a slave of your own torturer any longer, my father. You will be free! I will avenge your honor!"

Yomi tried to stop Shura, but the boy disappeared into the dark woods, fast and determined.

Alone, the King felt the heat of the fire disappearing quickly. He knew by then he was immersed in the most absolute darkness. Like he had ever been, since Kurama had ordered his light and his life to be stolen...

Yomi could hurry and run after his son, try to detain him with more concrete measures, but instead, Yomi breathed deeply, still and silent.

Yomi knew Shura would not spare Kurama's life in case they clashed. His son was very strong; by then he was not only capable of finishing Kurama's but also his partner's life. In addition, Shura was deeply altered, which would increase his fighting spirit and his you-ki.

It was a difficult moment for Yomi. He actually considered intercepting his son and persuading him to give up his revenge. However, Yomi remained quiet. The king was perfectly aware he needed to be set free.

Every dream must eventually come to an end...

At least, his confession had been useful to extract that maddening feeling out of his son's young youkai heart. Thus Shura would be saved from the insane passion Yomi had once experienced.

The King let out a painful yet relieved murmur as he stayed there, alone, within the darkness.

"Fight at your best, son..."