Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Requited Fluff ❯ Torture ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter 6

Something hurt.

Wait. Scratch that.

Everything hurt.

W-where am I? Kurama wondered as he started to wake. What happened?

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

He was lying on his side, on the cold flagged stone floor of what seemed to be a cell. The walls were also stone. The room was lit by flaming torches in brackets along the walls. When Kurama shifted his eyes to the door, he saw that there were bars in it.

Slowly, Kurama sat up. What was going on? He remembered waking up in his room and seeing the figure outside the window…and then he'd felt pain beyond anything he'd ever imagined. And then, while he lay dazed, the figure had slipped in through the window, beaten on him for a bit, and then dragged him outside. Every time Kurama became aware of things enough to struggle, he felt that horrible pain again. I passed out eventually, I guess, he thought.

And Hiei…what about Hiei? And Shiori? Why didn't they wake up when Kurama was captured, or when he had begun screaming from the pain he felt? Had they been hurt?

Please, no…

Moving gingerly, Kurama stood and walked slowly to the door, and looked out into the corridor. It was empty; no guards whatsoever. Maybe he could make a break for it…could this door be broken down, maybe? He reached up and touched one of the bars, to see.

The pain came again, but this time it whipped out and gripped him both physically and spiritually. He felt a pressure in his chest, stopping him from breathing or crying out.

Just when he was sure he was going to die right here and now, all alone, as a result of his own stupidity, it all stopped. Kurama fell back against the wall, gasping. Slowly, he slid to the floor.

Wards on the door, he thought. So no leaving that way. Or any other way, for that matter, since there's no window…

It was amazing, he thought, how calm and clear headed he was. He should be angry, or frightened, or something. He had no idea where he was, or who had captured him, or why, or whether his loved ones had been hurt. And yet, he felt nothing beyond that dull ache.

Why?

He didn't have time for reasoning, because right then a door slammed nearby, and two voices echoed down the hall. They spoke human English, Kurama noted in some surprise. Maybe they were American? Careful not to touch the bars again, he looked out into the hall.

“Ah, you are awake,” a very quiet, chilling voice said, just as a tall, thin figure appeared. “Hello, Forbidden Child.”

Kurama blinked. “Forbidden Child?”

“Now, now, do not play innocent with me, Hiei Jaganshi,” the voice said. Kurama couldn't distinguish any of his features, because the figure seemed to always be surrounded by shadows, no matter where he stood, but he could tell that the man was tall and unnaturally thin. “I have already captured you, so there is no need for false bravado.”

They think I'mHiei? Kurama thought, startled.

What the…

“What do you want with H—with me?” he asked.

“Isn't it obvious?” the voice asked silkily. “I want your allegiance. And your gems, of course, which will make me rich enough to get allies all over the Ningenkai and Makai. And I will stop at nothing to get what I want.”

So Hiei was in danger. They already knew that. But somehow, Kurama had been mistaken for Hiei.

He had been given an unexpected chance to protect Hiei, and he planned to take full advantage of that.

“There's something wrong with your plan,” he said, trying to adopt Hiei's trademark smirk.

“Enlighten me.”

“In order to get my tear gems, you would have to make me cry,” Kurama explained. “And I don't cry.”

The figure gave a chuckle. “Not an impossible feat, but yes, that part will be difficult. And so much fun.” Kurama heard the snap of fingers, and the figure said, “Prepare him, and then take him to the chamber.”

Another figure with his face masked appeared next to the door, and Kurama stepped back as the door swung inward. He raised his hand to get his rose, out of reflex, but when he tried to manipulate it with his ki, he found that he couldn't focus on the sparks of power inside him. Whenever he tried, he got dizzy.

The figure outside chuckled at his attempts. “I did not know the Forbidden Child fought with a rose. I thought it was fire. Oh, well, everyone makes mistakes. And do not bother trying to fight. It is hopeless. There are wards all over this room.”

“Figures,” Kurama muttered, putting his rose away in his hair and raising his fists. “Fine. Do your worst.”

There was another low chuckle, this one coming from the figure approaching Kurama. He raised one arm and muttered something, and then Kurama was in a world of pain again. The world went black, gray, white, and black again.

When it stopped, and he could make sense of what was happening around him again, he heard the man's voice say, “Not a sound from him, milord. He could be difficult to break.”

“Yes,” the voice said. “Yes, he most certainly will be. I could force him to do what I wish right now, of course, but it is much more fun to break them…”

“I agree, milord,” the person now next to Kurama said softly. “So much more fun…” He took advantage of the daze Kurama was in, and flipped him over, held him down with one knee, and put two wards on his back, and then chuckled and put something around Kurama's neck.

Instantly, the pain Kurama felt magnified tenfold, and he was well aware of every bruise, scratch, ache, and pain. He gasped, but refused to cry out, or shed a tear, because the second he cried was the second he failed Hiei.

And he refused to fail.

“Do you need more pain, Forbidden One, or will you come along nicely?” the man next to him asked pleasantly.

“Shut up, you bastard, I'm not going anywhere,” Kurama snarled.

“Oh, I believe you will, without a fight,” the tall figure outside in the corridor said.

“And why the hell would I do that?” Kurama asked.

“Why? Because if you decide to fight me, I can have that man you love so dearly…Yoko, is it not?…killed in one hour at the most.”

Kurama felt a flicker of fear. Hiei…

“I won't cry for you,” he managed to growl.

“Oh, you will. Yes, indeed. But I do not need to threaten Yoko Kurama's life to get you to do that. What fun would that be, after all? Now, come.”

Kurama glared at him and pushed himself to his feet, wincing as pain tore through him again. He fought down a cry of pain with every step as he followed the tall figure out.

He was taken some way down the corridor, and shoved into a small room. The man who had warded him joined the man who had been outside the cell. “What first, milord?”

“First, you beat him. See how well that pain amplifier works. And then you decide. Torture is your specialty.”

“You flatter me, milord. I am hardly up to your level.”

“I am not amused by your attempts to get into my good graces again. If you want to make up for past failures, make him cry.”

“Yes, milord…”

And then the dark figure left, and the torture began.

XXX

Two hours later, Kurama lay limp on the ground, pain taking up every thought in his head, while his torturer stood over him, glaring at him, chest heaving. “Why will you not cry, you little bastard?!”

Kurama moaned. He felt like he was an inch from death. His torturer had beaten him until he couldn't breathe, whipped him, slammed him against the wall repeatedly, and then, when he still didn't let tears fall, thrown him to the ground and beaten him again, until he was sure he would die there.

“No matter,” the man said, smirking. “We will try again tomorrow.”

XXX

Kurama lost track of time quickly. There was no window down here, so there was no telling day and night apart. He slept most of the time, when he was in his cell. He liked that time most, because he could escape from this time and place when he slept. He could dream that he was in Hiei's arms again…

His waking world quickly became a nightmare, full of torture, violence, and endless pain. As each day passed, death became more appealing. But if he died, the hope of seeing Hiei and Shiori again was well and truly lost.

And so he forced himself to exist, every day. To eat the bread and water they gave him in the mornings. To put up with whatever was thrown at him.

And most of all, he forced himself not to cry.

After a seemingly endless time of this life, his captors began to grow impatient.

And finally, fed up.

XXX

“Today is the day, Forbidden One. Today is the day you will cry.”

The voice was not that of his torturer. No, this time it was “milord” speaking.

He was not in shadow this time, but he wore a mask, too. All Kurama could see of him was a pair of the most chilling, bright red eyes Kurama had ever seen. They were nothing like Hiei's.

Kurama felt a spark of fear.

“Tell me, Hiei,” the man said casually, touching Kurama's cheek lightly. “Have you ever been…shall we say…defiled?”

Kurama's eyes widened as the words sank in, and his fear intensified.

“I hope not, because if you have not, then this will be much fun…”

Oh, gods…NO!

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Author's Note: Merry Christmas to all my readers! Not looking good for Kurama, though…and sorry this chapter is so short and rotten. I suck at writing torture scenes, in case you couldn't tell.

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Reviewers' comments:

IceDragonKatana: I didn't know if anyone would see that one coming. Thanks for the review and for reading, and merry Christmahanakwanzakah!

chibibunny: Yeah, I know it's OOC. But I can't keep them in character, so I gave up on that. The characters are portrayed however the muses want them to be portrayed, and woe betide anyone who ignores the muses! Thanks for the review!

MikaSamu: Thanks for the review! I feel so loved! I really tried hard to portray them all the way I thought the readers would want them to be. It was hard work, convincing the muses to let me do what I want!(I didn't ignore their orders—as I said to chibibunny, that could be fatal—but I used a lot of persuasivepower…)