Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Evolution ❯ Blood ( Chapter 9 )

With the intro of new characters, I want to say that Koroku, who's name means memoirs, Ryuuza, who's name means the star constellation of Draco, and Ryuujin, who's name means dragon god, are all mine.

 

Evolution

 

OooooO

 

`It's him!'

 

Kagome swallowed as she looked into the face that had been haunting her dreams. A light blush spread over her face.

 

“ Koroku. She is merely a human girl. She is of no harm to us, even when we have wounded,” he said. Kagome bit her lip and looked at the youkai who had grabbed her, Koroku. He had purple hair and green eyes, and a sharp horn stuck out from the middle of his forehead. Kagome faintly wondered what kind of youkai he was. Koroku nodded and scowled down at Kagome. She swallowed again. Kagome heard a pained groan, and turned to look at the youkai on the bed of leaves. A sheen of sweat covered his face, and Kagome felt her heart go out to him. Even from a distance, Kagome could tell the way this group had went about patching the man up was poor.

 

“ You did it wrong,” she said timidly.

 

“ Hmmm?” Youko, as Kagome recalled from the conversation she had with Sango, drawled.

 

“ He…he's going to die, from blood loss,” Kagome replied.

 

“ And I assume you think you can fix it,” Youko said. Kagome glanced at the dying youkai. It may be her only chance out of this situation she had gotten herself in.

 

“ Yes. Yes, I think I can,” Kagome said boldly. The fox youkai smirked.

 

“ Are you a healer?” a deep voice rumbled. It came from the youkai sitting next to the dying one. This one was blue haired and had red eyes. There was a scar on the left side of his face that went through his eye and traveled the expanse of his cheek. It had a curve, and ended on his chin. The scar left a white streak in the middle of his eye. Oddly enough, the gruesome scar made him seem more appealing. Kagome licked her lips.

 

“ Yes,” she said. Biggest lie of the century, that was. The only healing she had ever done was on her friends when they injured, though those could get really bad. He narrowed his eyes.

 

“ Then get over here, healer, and fix my brother,” he demanded. Kagome scrambled over to the youkai brothers. When Kagome reached the bleeding youkai, she saw that his hair was red, and judging from the color showing through the tiny slits his eyelids made when she approached, his eyes were the same blue as his brother's hair. Their faces were identical, though this one didn't have a scar. His shirt had been removed, leaving him bare from the waist up except for the bandages. They were so soaked with blood that Kagome did not need to cut them; she merely tore them apart where the bandages had grown soft and weak. Kagome's nose wrinkled as a disgusting smell assaulted her nose. He was not only bleeding to death, he was poisoned. The blood was coming from the wound in sluggish movements, and Kagome saw veins blackened by poison spreading from the wound. An infection had settled in, and due to the poison, was spreading quite quickly. The flesh underneath the skin was not a healthy pink red color, instead a disgusting dark red, nearly black color. The wound itself started underneath the bottom right rib and crossed over until it touched his left pelvic bone. Kagome flipped open her medical kit after taking it from her shoulders and steeled herself. This was going to be a long night.

 

First she pulled out a cloth and wiped away the excess blood spreading across his stomach, revealing the original wound. Kagome swallowed, then took out a sterile knife.

 

“ Your wound is infected. I suppose you already know that, but I'm going to have to cut away the infected flesh,” Kagome told the injured youkai. He just growled at her. Kagome steeled herself as she pressed the blade against his skin, before cutting into it and pulling away the flesh. Kagome gasped as she heard a deafening roar come from the youkai and struggled to hold the knife steady as he reached forward and grabbed her arm, his claws sinking deeply into the underside of her forearm. When she regained her voice, Kagome began to speak in a tight voice.

 

“ I need you to let go of my arm if I'm going to help you,” Kagome spoke gently. It was difficult to concentrate with all eyes on her, watching intently, but Kagome was determined to ignore them. This job was difficult enough as it was. She had never actually had to cut off infected flesh before. Kaede had attempted to show her how when one of them men had come back from a hunting accident, but as his screams had filled the hut, Kagome had ran outside to deposit her lunch in the bushes. It was bad enough now she had to cut off the skin. It was like some sick, primitive version of surgery. The other brother slowly, gently, began to remove the youkai's claws from Kagome's arm. Kagome struggled to withhold her sigh of relief. As soon as her arm was free, Kagome proceeded to cut away the flesh, trying to imagine it was a nice big steak and she was removing the fat. It didn't help. To keep his brother from attacking her, the blue haired youkai kept his brother's arms pinned down as Kagome worked. Kagome swallowed and tried to ignore his screams, growls, and threats of her death. They were rather descriptive. This time, when Kagome finished, she could not keep her sigh of relief in.

 

“ Throw that in the fire,” she told a youkai. He nodded and threw the pieces of flesh that had been cut away in the crackling fire.

 

“ I'm done getting rid of the infected areas. I'm going to have to suck the poison out, because I don't have any cures for youkai poison,” she told the youkai. He nodded faintly. Kagome thought he may have been in shock. She shifted in position, before leaning over his stomach. She swallowed before placing her lips over a part of the wound. She dilligently sucked on it, and the taste of blood and a nasty tasting substance that reminded her of cough medicine filled her mouth. Pulling back, she spit the poison out into the fire before going back to the wound. She repeated the process many times, each time she checked the black veins filled with poison and was pleased to see that it was coming back to the original source. Good. She didn't want to have to introduce her miko powers into the equation. When she finished, nearly all traces of black were gone, and what was left was slowly disappearing as the youkai's immune system began to fight back. Kagome sat back and wiped her forehead. She then took a cloth and wiped around her mouth where there was blood. Now she was left with a gaping wound on a stomach that would NOT stop BLEEDING. Kagome took a length of ropy cloth and wound it around his ribcage above the wound, and taking a stick, began to tie a tourniquet. `It's a really good thing Kaede and Sango showed me all these healing techniques…' Kagome thought. She removed the stick and tied a tight knot. When Kagome checked the wound once more, she saw that the bleeding was slowing down. An angered roar interuppted Kagome's thoughts. Whirling around, she saw that Kirara had entered the clearing in all her glory, and she was definitely angry.

 

“ Kirara-chan! Calm down, everything's okay,” Kagome said. Kirara turned to look at Kagome, her head cocked. Kagome patted the ground. The firecat huffed, but sat down next to Kagome. She nudged Kagome's arm. Kagome looked down at her wounded arm, where blood was trickling from five punctures. Kagome laughed it off, waving her hand.

 

“ This is nothing, Kirara-chan, you have nothing to worry about,” said Kagome. Kirara nodded.

 

“ That's some pet you've got there,” Koroku said. Kagome glared.

 

“ Kirara-chan is not a pet. She is a being of her own mind and she is free to come and go as she pleases. There is nothing keeping her by my side. It is her decision,” Kagome said forcefully.

 

“ Heh, whatever you say, girlie,” he replied. Kagome glared before turning back to her task.

 

“ I'm going to stitch up your wound now. After that, I'll put some bandages over it, and then it'll be all over,” Kagome told the youkai. He just moaned. Kagome grimly pulled out a thread and needle. She hated stitching up wounds. She started at the bottom of the wound and worked up, methodically stitching the wound close. When she was done, she ended the line of thread with practiced ease. She then covered up the stitched wound with bandages and gauze. Kagome sat back when she was done and wiped her forehead again.

 

“ There. All done,” Kagome said. The youkai sighed. His brother was looking at the bandaged wound, almost with a dazed expression.

 

“ He's not bleeding…” Kagome stood and dusted herself off and cleaned up her supplies.

 

“ Well of course not. I told you, I'm a healer,” Kagome said. `Gosh, aren't they supposed to be able to smell when I'm lying? Guess I've gotten pretty good…' Kagome slung the medical kit over her shoulder, along with her forgotten bow and quiver. Kirara stood, understanding that Kagome wanted to make a swift exit before she could be stopped again. The youkai kneeling next to the injured one stood. Kagome paused. He gritted his teeth for a moment.

 

“ I…I owe you a debt…for saving the life of my brother,” He bowed his head, “ I am obligated to protect you until yours or my own death.” Kagome frowned.

 

“ That's stupid. You shouldn't have to do that. Besides, someone else already has filled that position. So, I am formally releasing you from your debt. You shouldn't have to worry about a human girl like me. I get into trouble a lot, and there's no reason to involve you in my mess. So, I'll be on my way now, you won't have to worry about me,” Kagome said. The youkai looked stunned. Kagome moved a lock of hair out of her face and walked away. It was very difficult, exposing her back to several youkai at once, but Kagome was determined to leave. She had done them a service, and the least they could do was let her leave unscathed. As soon as Kagome left their camp, she felt a weight being lifted off her chest. `Whew! Home free, away from all those youkai. That was kind of scary…' Kagome let out an inaudible sigh. `I can't believe I managed to heal that poor guy. Well, at least I know I can do some serious healing and doctoring, instead of just applying the bandages and stuff like that…' Kagome smiled to herself. Healing that youkai gave her a serious boost of confidence in her own skills.

 

“ That was some impressive healing back there,” a deep voice said. Kagome gasped and looked up. Youko leaned against a tree, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Kagome composed herself and scowled.

 

“ Yes, well, I said I could heal him, and I did,” Kagome snapped. He raised a brow.

 

“ Awfully touchy, aren't you?” he said. She pursed her lips in response.

 

“ I don't normally play nice with people who take my memories away,” Kagome clapped a hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that. The fox youkai chuckled.

 

“ How interesting. I didn't think you would've been able to figure out that it was I who took your memories away. Of course, you would have had some questionable gaps in your memory, but it should have been near impossible for you to find out who had taken your memories,” Youko smirked at her. Kagome swallowed and tried to give her deadliest glare.

 

“ My, you should care more for yourself before others. You're bleeding all over the place,” he said, reminding Kagome of the punctures on her arm. Youko glided closer until she was nose to chest with him. He towered over her, him being seven foot and she a pathetic five feet and six inches. Youko grabbed her injured arm by the wrist and lifted it up.

 

“ What are you-“ The words died in her throat as he rolled back her sleeve and began to sensuously lick her arm. Both wet and dry blood disappeared in the wake of his warm tongue, and Kagome shivered as a tingle went up her spine and heat went down to her lower abdomen. While Youko cleansed her blood away, he kept his molten amber eyes on her own blue ones, watching her reactions intently. Kagome struggled to withhold a gasp as his tongue laved over a puncture, and Kagome watched with wide eyes as the puncture wound closed before her eyes, becoming nothing more than a silvery scar. It continued that way until nothing was left, and Youko reluctantly removed his mouth from her skin. Kagome could see her blood staining the pink appendage red, and shivered again. Kagome could faintly hear Kirara growling in the background in warning, but Kagome was too dazed to care. All she could do was stare into Youko's eyes. Then his free hand came around and wrapped itself in her hair and he roughly pulled her closer. Kagome gasped in shock, but it was quickly swallowed by Youko's mouth. He was clearly very skilled, Kagome found, as he easily manipulated her mouth open and his tongue moved in. Kagome could taste her blood in his mouth. It was strangely exotic and very arousing. Kagome grabbed his silk tunic with one hand and began to massage one of his furry ears with the other. A rumbling purr sent vibrations along Kagome's lips and across her face. A shudder shook her back. Youko's now free hand that previously held her wrist wrapped itself around her waist. The fox youkai pulled back for a moment to allow her air, before dipping back down again. This kiss was even more demanding than the one before, and Kagome found herself opening up to him. Her tongue came up to shyly meet his, and an electric shock passed through them. `This….is incredible…' Youko pulled back and touched his forehead to hers. Kagome was panting slightly, but noticed that the youkai wasn't.

 

“ I never leave anyone who helps me or my men with an unpaid debt. And yours has most definitely not been paid for, Kagome,” Youko breathed, the seductive lilt in his voice giving Kagome shivers. `So I must've told him my name some time in the past…' Kagome flushed as his words registered in her mind. `Is he offering to give me sex for healing one of his men?!' Kagome thought wildly.

 

“ N-no need. I've been sufficiently p-paid,” Kagome cursed the stutter in her voice. She blushed even brighter. Youko chuckled darkly in her ear.

 

“ You're very shy, aren't you? Yes, I can tell you're untouched. You reek with innocence,” he whispered to her. Kagome pursed her lips and gathered her courage.

 

“ I'm not going to have sex with you just because you're horny and think I have some debt that you need to pay me,” Kagome hissed fiercely. Youko pulled back and laughed softly. It wasn't a menacing sound, but Kagome felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck rise to the sound.

 

“ How amusing. You are timid one moment, and the next, you become a loud little vixen,” he said. Kagome flushed, but was determined to stand her ground. Youko smirked.

 

“ Very well. I'll leave you alone, for now. But with the way things have gone in the past, I have no doubt I will meet you again. Maybe then I can get you to change your mind,” said Youko.

 

“ You won't,” Kagome ground out. He smirked again. He turned and began to walk away, but looked over his shoulder and connected his golden eyes with her blue ones.

 

“ Until we meet again, Kagome,” said Youko. He disappeared into the forest in the direction of his camp. Kagome stared at the spot for a few moments, before climbing on to Kirara and urging her to the sky. As soon as they were out of earshot, Kagome sighed and slumped on Kirara. While they rode through the night sky, Kagome inspected her arm. All that was left were five silver scars. Kagome's lips began to tingle again as she thought of the encounter. `How can I kiss two different guys in one night? That isn't right…' Kagome sniffled a little bit. Her stomach was doing crazy little flip flops that often occurred around Inuyasha. Kagome hugged Kirara around her neck.

 

“ Oh Kirara, what's wrong with me? What am I going to do?” Kagome whispered. Kirara gave a gentle growl in response. Kagome sighed and looked to the night sky. `What am I going to do now…?'

 

“ Let's go home, Kirara-chan,” said Kagome.

 

OooooO

 

When Youko arrived back at the camp, the residents of said camp were eager to find out what he said to the healer.

 

“ I merely made sure she left safely,” Youko said. Koroku raised a brow.

 

“ Heh. That girlie was strange,” he said. Youko nodded. `Strange is an understatement. She is a contradiction to even herself.' Youko glanced over to Ryuuza, the half fire half water dragon youkai Kagome had healed. Already Youko could sense that his health was returning and Youko could hear slow, steady breaths coming from his body. `Huh. Despite her lies, that girl is actually a decent healer.' Looking at Ryuujin, Ryuuza's brother, Youko could tell that he was stunned and relieved at the same time.

 

“ What kind of human turns down a debt from a youkai?” he asked faintly.

 

“ The kind that either is incredibly stupid or incredibly kind or both,” Youko answered.

 

“ I feel insulted. A human did what we could not. And now we have a debt to pay her, whether or not she wants us to. She released Ryuujin from his debt, not the rest of us,” Koroku grumbled. Youko smirked.

 

“ She is an amusing girl. I think I will enjoy repaying my debt,” Youko said.

 

“ But Boss, you're not in debt to anybody. Now you're tied with a human girl. It's a weakness!” Ryuujin said.

 

“ That's where you are wrong. I owe someone a debt from a long time ago,” Youko closed his eyes briefly in remembrance.

 

“When the time comes for you to call upon my debt to you, whisper to the trees, “Youko Kurama” and I shall answer.”

 

“ But it matters not. Until the girl calls upon us for help, we shall owe her a debt,” Youko finished. Ryuujin looked at Youko strangely, but nodded.

 

“ Prepare yourselves. We move out in two days.”

 

XevolutionX

 

Youko wasn't surprised when Kuronue appeared from some dark corner in the labyrinth of caves that belonged to Youko's thief clan. He had a habbit of doing that.

 

“ So. Was the heist successful?”

 

“ Of course. Some of the men were injured. Ryuuza nearly died,”

 

“ Really? How is he?”

 

“ Fine. That girl found us and healed him,” Kuronue appeared startled at Youko's statement.

 

“ Her again? But you erased her memories!” Kuronue said. Youko nodded.

 

“ I did. And she somehow found out. She wasn't very pleased,” the fox youkai said. Kuronue settled.

 

“ So, she's a healer then?”

 

“ I am not sure. She was lying when she told us she was a healer, but Ryuuza will most definitely survive because of her care,” replied Youko. Kuronue pursed his lips. Youko let him think while he tallied up which men were missing.

 

“ Seiryoku and Yomi took the other third of the clan,” he stated. Kuronue nodded silently. Because there were three leaders of the clan, it was often divided up in thirds when each leader went on a heist. On a large job, the whole clan would go. Other times, on a difficult, the thieving party would merely consist of Youko, Kuronue, and Seiryoku, the only female in the entire clan. Youko was rather fond of the dog youkai, and appreciated her strength greatly.

 

“ So this girl claimed she was a healer. And before, she used holy powers. Do you think she was lying when she told us she was an untrained priestess?” Kuronue suggested. Youko glanced at his partner, startled. He hadn't even thought of that. However, if she had fooled his men into thinking she was a healer with her lies, it was possible she was lying when she had told them that piece of information.

 

“ So you think she may be a priestess,” Youko said. Kuronue shrugged.

 

“ I think she is a girl who knows she has holy powers, but never bothered to train them, making them unstable,” Kuronue answered.

 

“ It is quite possible,” Youko admitted. Youko's mind flashed back to that moment, when her blood filled his mouth and their eyes met. He licked his lips in remembrance.

 

“ What are you thinking about?” Kuronue asked. Youko smirked.

 

“ I owe the girl a debt for healing Ryuuza. She was injured while healing him, and I, in turn, healed her wounds,” Youko's smirk grew wider, “ Her blood tastes exquisite.” Kuronue felt the beginnings of a smirk curling his lips.

 

“ Really?” said Kuronue. Youko nodded in response. Both youkai knew the old tradition among the youkai clans. The norm was that if a male were to taste a female's blood, courtship immediately began, with or without the patriarch's blessing. This was the point of males biting the female's neck and leaving a scar, to show his claim, until he either released the female or died. However, the claim didn't necessarily have to shown through a bite mark, it could be shown through any wound where the male had tasted the female's blood. Kuronue knew that if Youko had decided to even think about tasting the girl's, Kagome's, blood, then she must be something special or incredibly intriguing. Kuronue tilted his head to the side.

 

“ I think I will see how she tastes for myself, then,” Kuronue said. Youko could almost read his partner's mind. Youko preferred to be dominant, but he always avoided making his females bleed for this reason. However, this girl was human, and probably didn't understand youkai traditions. Youko had a claim on her now. That meant he was free to learn all her secrets as he pleased. She wouldn't attempt a more solid relationship, not knowing of the bond Youko had created between them. Youko smirked. And when he was done with her, he could release her from his claim, and be free to do as he pleased. `Yes, that sounds like an ideal plan.'

 

OooOooOooOooOooOoo

 

Now, let me explain before I get people saying “OMG! He kissed her and it's only the 9th chapter! What happened to slow development?!?!” As previously stated, Youko is stating his claim on her so he doesn't have to be confused by her anymore. She's amusing to him, and she hides a lot of stuff. At present, he doesn't know much about her, even though they keep bumping into each other, so he wants to learn more. You know, foxes and their puzzles and stuff. He doesn't plan on keeping her for a mate. Kuronue is thinking along the same lines, though he knows that Youko's interest runs deep for him to invoke the claim. So now he's interested too. They are not going to have hot animal sex in the next two chapters. Anyway, on to other things. I am once again setting my estimated update time January to February. I may update earlier than that. Also, someone asked me what a prequel was. It is when there is story preceeding another that may or may not have been writing before the original. In this case, Evolution's prequel will be finished after Evolution, possibly even after Evolution's sequel. Yes, everyone, Evolution will become a trilogy, which I will call the Evolution Trilogy.

 

You probably noticed I updated before my deadline. Shrugs. You guys got lucky again. There was an evacuation at my school because of a gas leak, so I got home early and was able to finish this chapter. On to happier things. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED!!!!! If you have not noticed, Evolution now has over 100 reviews. Squeals. The thought makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside. I also want to thank people who reviewed multiple times. Most times, a person only reviews once (guilty), but you guys who reviewed more than once, who include shadow miko, Bloodcherry, Captain Danger, Blackest Grim, ladynaruto13, Seduced By Vampires, ancient-relic, Kagome Lady Of Darkness, Dark Inu Fan, blackwolf15, -insert evil laugh here-, DemonKingRaizen, CrOsSoVerz, KimFlake, Lady Aru, IchikoKitsuneKoumori, and purp1ebabe. If I didn't mention your name and you reviewed more than once, I'm sorry for missing your name, but I think I got everyone. I don't give out personal responses to those who review here on ff.net often unless I really, really liked the review (which means a nice long one), because so many people remain annonymous. But I don't want to leave you one time reviewers out, so I'm saying thank you to all you guys too. So I'll say it once again, to everyone: THANK YOU!!!!

 

H