Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Coming Clean ❯ Pain ( Chapter 21 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: This story was written by me, mhmartini, for enjoyment purposes only. All characters taken from a show/series/book/etc. are property of their respective creators; I am only borrowing them. Original characters are mine. The storyline is mine. I am making no money from this endeavor. The only �profit� involved is the joy of writing and the reviews of my readers. No copyright infringement is intended.

Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.17.2005 | Updated On: 06.03.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.5K | Visits: 866 | Status: Completed

The doctor snipped the end of the last suture, and placed the used needle in a small, red container. He began packing up the used instruments and wrapping them in the small, disposable area drape he had used, and placing the whole bundle in a bag labeled "used." As he took off his gloves, he turned to Shiori, who was hovering worriedly at the foot of the bed.

"I place four stitches. They'll need to come out in a week to ten days. He should stay in bed tomorrow, and take it easy for the next few days. He has a concussion. The disorientation and nausea you described are quite common. I gave him a shot for the nausea; it will last overnight. He needs to be observed when he is asleep for the first twenty-four hours, and awakened every two hours. If his breathing becomes labored, or if you cannot wake him, go to the hospital immediately." Turning, the doctor looked down at his patient, lying on the bed. "You take care of yourself, Shuuichi. And take it easy this week!" Kurama just lay on his side, bundled under the covers.

"Okay," he replied softly.

Nodding, the doctor left. Shiori walked him to the door. "Thank you for coming out here, Doctor," she said as he departed. She closed the door and turned to the two teens waiting in the living room. "He'll be okay," she told them. Yusuke and Kuwabara both let out their breaths at the news. "He needs to rest now. I know you want to see him, but please, make it short," she asked, as the two nodded their thanks and barreled up the stairs.

Shiori turned to he husband. Hatanaka had come home just before the doctor had arrived. Shiori had pulled him aside and quickly explained what was going on, leaving out the 'crazy demon trying to kill Kurama' part. Although he had evicted the red head from the house, he didn't quite have the heart to try to force him to leave right away; at least, not after he saw the boy curled up under the covers, shivering and bleeding and barely cognizant of his surroundings. The man had stayed downstairs while the doctor tended to Kurama.

Hatanaka took Shiori into his arms. "I'll talk to my friend. He said that the neighborhood was very safe. He said there had never been a break-in in that building. That's why I chose that apartment for Shuuichi."

"No, I think this person was targeting Shuuichi," Shiori said quietly, leaning on her husband's shoulder. "I want him to stay here. I want it to be like it used to be," she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "But he won't come back. I'm sure he'll want to go back to his apartment right away. How can I make him stay?"

Hatanaka sighed as he rubbed her back soothingly. "You can't, Honey. He's growing up. And I think he knows it's better this way. I'll call a repairman first thing in the morning and have the door repaired."

Upstairs, the two teenagers stood by the bedside. "Kurama, you awake?" Yusuke said softly.

"Yes," came the mumbled reply.

"Look, we know you want to go out and find Hiei. So do we. But, maybe it would be better if we do the looking while you recover, and then, if you're up to it, we'll all go get Hiei back together. Okay?" Yusuke said, kneeling down, trying to look the fox in the eye.

"I guess," Kurama mumbled back. The kitsune's eyes were still unable to focus properly, and he was still dizzy and disoriented. The shot the doctor had given him had suppressed the nausea, but the fox still slurred his words a bit.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about this Intaro guy?" Kuwabara asked.

"Too strong," Kurama said. "He's too strong. He should be much weaker, but he has some power source. He took both Hiei and myself down in seconds. Now Hiei..." he never finished the thought.

"It's okay, Kurama. We'll get him back," Yusuke said, patting his friend on the shoulder, and turning to leave.

A few minutes after the boys had left the house, Shiori entered Kurama's room. "Shuuichi? Are you still awake?" she asked softly.

"Mmhmm," was the reply.

Shiori sat on the side of the bed, and rubbed her son's arm through the covers. "Sweetheart, what happened?" she asked.

"Intaro came in. He hit me on the head. They...he...took Hiei..." Shiori felt her son shudder under the blankets, and heard his voice break.

"It's alright, Sweetheart. It will be all right. Your friends are looking for him. They'll find him. You need to get well now," she said. She stayed there, rubbing his arm, until Kurama finally fell asleep.

In a dark dungeon, Hiei came to slowly. He found himself shackled to a wall, his arms extended above his head. A few attempts to break the chains and to summon flames proved that the dungeon was warded, similar to the one he had shared with Yukina. Of course, this was the same demon. Naturally, he would use the same technique. This time, however, he did not send a lackey to do his bidding. He had come himself. Patiently, Hiei waited for his captor to make an appearance.

Shiori stayed up all night, watching over her son. As the doctor had instructed, she had awakened him every two hours. Finally, as the sunlight began brightening the room, Kurama awoke on his own. He sat up slowly, looking around his surroundings. He recognized his own room, but the details of how he had gotten there were fuzzy. He raised a hand to his head, and felt the dried blood there. Shiori awoke from her light dozing to find him like this.

"Shuuichi, you're awake," she said, coming to once again sit on the edge of the bed. "How do you feel?"

Kurama turned to look at his mother, and she noted with relief that his eyes were focusing again. "Mother? I...I...I don't know." He thought back to the night before. "Hiei!" he said, trying to get out of bed.

"Oh, no you don't!" Shiori chided, holding him where he sat. "You are staying right here, young man. Your two friends are out looking for Hiei, and will call you when they find something. Until then, you are going to rest and recover."

"But, Mother, Hiei was taken because of me! If anything happens, it's my fault. He may already be...be..."

Shiori gathered her son into her arms. "Don't think like that, Shuuichi. He'll be fine. You'll see. Everything will work out fine. Just relax, and get well. That's the only way you can help Hiei." Realizing the truth of her last statement (even if the rest was wishful thinking) Kurama relaxed and laid back. He would do as his mother insisted, for now, at least.

That evening, Botan visited Kurama. "We have not found anything," she said dejectedly. "We tried to trace ki signatures from the site of the attack, but whatever the demons were using to become so strong has scrambled their energy patterns. It's unrecognizable because it's always shifting. We also tried to trace any portals that may have been opened in area that would take them back to Makai. Unfortunately, there are some atmospheric conditions present that prevent accurate tracing. They timed this well. We're at a dead end. Yusuke went to Makai to question some known sources, or as he so nicely put it, 'crack skulls until someone spills.' Kuwabara is trying to sense any demon energy in the area, and even Shizuru is helping him. Koenma has detailed a veritable squadron of oni to circulate around Spirit World and try to dig up clues. Nothing. I'm so sorry, Kurama. We know Hiei is your best friend, and we are doing everything we can. Intaro has been one step ahead of us this entire time. He is different than your previous opponents. He is calculating, and bides his time. I doubt we will know anything until he wants us to," she said sadly.

"Thank you, Botan," Kurama replied.

A full day passed before anyone entered the dungeon. Finally the door opened, and three smallish, mean looking demons came in. They crowded around Hiei, leering and jeering at him. "So, this is the great Forbidden Child?" one taunted. After some more teasing and verbal abuse, one of the creatures finally gathered enough courage to strike their captive. After a few minutes, all three were punching and kicking. Hiei just smirked. He had been beaten before, and these three were not even very good at it. He bore the abuse without a sound.

Finally a deep voice halted their pitiful attempts at torture. "Stop." That one word had all three demons cowering and groveling. A tall and imposing figure approached the half-koorime.

"Let me guess, you're the much debated Intaro," Hiei said, in voice dripping with contempt.

"I am," the figure replied.

"Why don't you release me, and show me how tough you really are?" the hiyoukai challenged.

"All in good time, Little One," Intaro crooned, reaching out to gently stroke Hiei's cheek. "You are as fiery as your ancestry suggests. I will enjoy breaking you." Hiei turned to bite the hand on his face.

"I don't break," he spat.

"Everyone has a breaking point. One only has to find it. That's the fun part. Some demons choose to break their victims by slaking their physical lust," Intaro said, again reaching out to stroke Hiei's cheek. "Rest assured, I am not among them. My lust is not for pleasures of the flesh, and cannot be sated by sex. My lust is for true intimacy. The type that can only be experienced in the moment of death."

"You sound like that sick crow, Karasu," Hiei said.

"Heh, do I? I suppose I would. He taught me this beautiful concept. He opened my eyes to a world of pleasure unlike anything I had ever experienced. And, in gratitude, I vowed to share this bliss with him. But some mangy, reincarnated, half human fox stole my intimacy! For that, I will never forgive him. I was supposed to kill Karasu, I was supposed to share this ecstasy with him, I was supposed to be the last sight, the last sound, the last scent he knew. Now, he is gone. The only one I can share this with is the kitsune who stole it from me."

"You're sick, you know that?" Hiei commented dryly.

"Yes. But you do not know how truly you speak. You may be asking why I took you, when the fox I so desire was right beside you? I have found that, while the bliss shared in murder is indescribable in its pleasure, it can be surpassed. By tormenting my intended, that pleasure is multiplied. Why do you think I only sent henchmen after him thus far? I could have struck, and killed him at any point! I sent others to increase the fear. Fear has a taste all its own. It is sweeter than the finest nectar, and stronger than the hottest ale. I have hurt him, and in doing so...tenderized the meat, so to speak. It is not quite at full flavor yet.

"That is where you come in, Little One. He loves you. You will increase his fear, and he will marinate in that wonderful angst, until finally, he is ready for me. I am not an impulsive killer. I do not strike quickly, like a snake. I am a slow predator. I give my victim time to stew, time to ripen. I kill on my terms, and my terms alone, and THAT, half-breed, is the ecstasy of which I speak!" Intaro ended his monologue in a passionate voice. His eyes were focused on something distant, something only he could see. Slowly his eyes refocused on the present, and came to rest on the demon hanging from the wall before him.

"Of course, if you happen to die in the process, it won't really affect anything. So, let's begin."

"DAMMIT!" Yusuke shouted angrily. He had just returned from Makai. He had spent four days there hunting down every source and snitch Reikai had, trying to get some lead. No one knew anything. When he returned to human world, he learned that they had no more luck there. Reikai had no luck either. It seemed they would simply have to wait until this Intaro decided to throw them a bone. The only positive was that Kurama had recovered almost completely due to his abnormally fast healing abilities.

To all appearances Kurama was holding up well. He had moved back into his apartment two days after the attack. The door was repaired, and the apartment cleaned up again. He was up at dawn every morning trying to track down some scrap of information, and returned after midnight each night. What no one saw was the food in his kitchen, spoiling because no one ate it, or the two hours of tossing and turning he did on the sofa each night because he could not sleep and refused to lie in the bed, which made him think more of his missing lover. The others never knew how much this was eating him up, because they never knew that he and the hiyoukai were a couple. They just thought he was taking the loss of his best friend rather well.

On day five of his captivity, Hiei was getting bored. His captors had done the normal: no food, no water, hanging on the wall until his arms went numb, beating, whipping. He'd been through that all before, and was not fazed by it. Finally, Intaro entered again. The demon had not returned since the first day, when he delivered his disturbing speech. This time, he swept into the dungeon with a sadistic twinkle in his eye.

"It seems my pretty Little Foxy is holding up better than I thought he would. I guess you're not as important as he let on. Oh well, we'll just kick it up a notch. I can't wait to see how he takes this. Either it will tear him to pieces, or he'll dump you for dead. Either way, it'll be a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Now, let's go. Feel free to scream, and if you absolutely must die, I really don't care," he said in an excited, almost sing song voice.

At a gesture from his master, one henchman bent and released Hiei's left leg from its shackle. Once it was free, Hiei kicked the demon in the head, killing him instantly. Shifting slightly, he aimed an equally lethal kick at Intaro.

"My, my, so very predictable," Intaro mused, as he easily caught Hiei's foot. With a quick jerking motion, he ripped the pant leg off Hiei's pants, tearing it just above the knee, and exposing the limb. "You may recall having seen something like this before." he said, holding up his free hand, revealing a rectangular strip of paper with arcane writing on it. Although he did not react outwardly, Hiei's eyes did dilate a bit in fear.

"Yes, I see you do remember it. This ward has been prepared especially for you, Hiei," Intaro explained, as he gently brushed one edge of the paper across the exposed skin of Hiei's calf. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as a searing sensation burned the hiyoukai's leg, traveling up to his spine and filling his whole body. Hiei bit his lip to prevent himself from crying out.

"Yes, isn't it wonderful?" Intaro asked, and brushed the paper against Hiei shin.

"Nnnh!" Hiei grunted.

Intaro smiled. "Come now, we can do better than that." He continued to touch just the edge of the paper to Hiei's skin, always leaving enough time between applications for the pain to recede. After several hours, Hiei finally lost his resolve, and cried out in pain.

"Beautiful, just beautiful," Intaro crooned. In anger, Hiei yanked his foot back as hard as he could, ripping it from Intaro's grasp, and launched a kick directly at the fiend's head. This kick landed, knocking the tormentor back a few feet.

"My, my," Intaro said, shaking his head to clear it. "You are stronger than I thought. This may be even more fun than I had planned." In one, fluid movement, he snatched up Hiei's leg, and placed the ward flat against the skin. The hiyoukai screamed in agony as the flesh of his ankle bubbled and blistered, fusing the paper to it more securely than any adhesive could. After Hiei's rather long scream died down, Intaro dropped the leg. Hiei tried to curl it in towards his body, but it fell, lifeless to the floor. Hiei was incapable of moving it at all.

"Did I forget to mention? These wards not only burn you, they also drain your energy completely. As long as that stays on your leg, you will not be able to move it. And it looks pretty well attached, don't you think? Oh well. All things in moderation; I believe that's enough for today. We'll play some more tomorrow," Intaro practically sang. With that he turned and left, along with all the henchmen that had come to watch. Hiei hung alone, in the dark. Pain still coursed up his now useless leg, and for the first time since he was captured, he was scared. The pain didn't frighten him; neither did the possibility of his own death. The thought that terrified him beyond recognition was Intaro's words earlier: "It seems my pretty Little Foxy is holding up better than I thought he would. I guess you're not as important as he let on..."