The Raven

Karasu spent the night thinking evilly about the preparation for the next day, and also recalling their battle during the Dark Tournament with an incoming arousal. Finally he would grab Kurama in his arms, drag him to death and watch him perish in beauty...

The disguised Youko would not resist the urge to save his lover. Karasu's plans were too well settled. Now he had the opportunity to think and plan in advance, forseeing and studying Kurama's reactions and intentions. Open fights, as the ones during the Dark Tournament had the disadvantage of not letting much room for pre-planned cunning and treachery. And Karasu was very fond of ambushes, death-traps and blackmailing.

He entered in stealth the abandoned house he had found himself in Tokyo surroundings. It was an inhabited area on a green mountainside facing a small bay. There no one would hear Kurama scream, no one would come to try to save him. Mainly because the area was all warded, with spells powerful enough to veil the sight to Reikai's officers.

Urameshi Team was back. They were going to join forces and try to ambush him... It was all so obvious; Karasu could even preview Yusuke would play the role of the Sniper...

But Karasu was one step forward. This time he would not give Kurama the opportunity to fight back and make use of any last-minute weapon or suicide attacks. He knew too well the way Kurama thought and planned. The youko would be the head of their offensive; And whithout the head, the body was useless...

He entered the somber abandoned house he had chosen as hide-out. It was a large, deserted cabin, with crumbling walls and broken windowpanes, dirty and filled with dust and spiderwebs in every little corner. However the cellar and the basement had come really handy...

All around was quiet. Kurama's Fire Youkai was not the kind of prisoner who yelled all the time. In fact he was kinda cute; Karasu was even thinking rather seriously about offering both the youko and his lover the same destiny - Death... He just had to kill everything he liked; he could not really help it...

The Demon would pay Hiei a visit soon and add some new scars to his ivory skin. And of course he would not forget to thrust more of himself into the shortie's cute butt. But for now he should forget the play and get into work. There was much to do...

Karasu reached the small and dark chamber he had arranged for himself in the house's cellar. The floor creaked under his steps, as he walked towards a small inprovised altar he had settled himself.

His spells were very simple ones, but rather effective...

He placed five candles, one to each of the elements lined in a pentagram's design. Into the figure Karasu carefully laid a small photograph of Kurama, ripped from one of his albuns in his pretty appartment.

"Youko Kurama; you, also known as Shuuichi Minamino, are under my power of will. Whenever I summon you to my command, you shall not raise a hand or voice or thought against me."

Karasu approached one of his fingertips to one of the candles. The red one, symbolizing fire, the will, vigour and strenght, and lit it up with a small explosion.

The black-haired youkai reached out for a small, really tiny bottle, where a minuscular, crystal-like drop could be seen. One of Kurama's tears, he had been lucky enough to collect while they were kissing. He placed the bottle within the pentagram. It was the element of Water, related to the past, to the ancestral spirit, and to Life in itself.

"For I have the right to set claim for your life in order to avenge the death you have tried to push into my soul. I block your energy, and you shall fear me and submit yourself to my orders. From now on, not even your ancestral Youko energy will bear powers against me."

He lit the black candle; Water.

He placed a bit of dust at the altar. The Earth element. Dust he had carefully collected from Kurama's apartment. The dust from the place of dwelling had energy enough to do much in any Power Locking spell.

"There will be no place for you to hide or shelter, for I have the right to know your whereabouts. I shall sense your presence and be able to locate you, or follow you with my eyes from the furthest distance. There will be no place on Earth for your to hide from my Vengeance."

Karasu did the same with the third of the candles; a yellow one, at this time, symbolizing Earth.. The small room now seemed ghostly illuminated as the small dancing flames threw long and unquiet shadows upon the walls and ceiiling.

He placed the the pink shirt he had got from Kurama's laundry, and before depositating it within the pentagram, he brought it to his face, scenting the fabric deeply... So delightful...

"Your body shall accept me. You shall not summon your energy to block me or any of your lifeforce to do me any harm. I shall be able to break all the links connecting your body to your soul. Your soul will freely follow my spell and my commands, and no plants, summoned by you or not, shall interfere in our affairs."

He ignated the fourth of the candles; the green one, meaning Wood, lighting it up.

He smiled, picking carefully the lustrous hairs he had kept so carefully with him, placing some on the pile, and a small part of the red strands he kept to himself. Metal; the metal to bind, block, lock and imprison. The metal that cut, wounded and punctured. Metal which forged killing weapons and slavery chains...

He reached a metal pendant he had around his neck; one of those smart medallions which could be opened like a small shell, probably used in the past for carrying ppoison without bringing up suspicions... It bore a fox and a raven cut in raw engravings on the front shell.

Karasu placed the hair strands within, locking the tiny box with a low twink.

"I cut you energy, I cut your strenght, I cut your power, I cut your resistence to me. You are my slave, for as long as I got this Charm hanging from my neck, and my Youkai heart, you must follow my every word, command, gesture, and thought. I invoke total control upon Youko Kurama also known as Shuuichi Minamino. I invoke Power under the ties of the Five Elements which are binded one to the other in a perennial clasp of clinged forces."

He lit the white candle then, symbolizing Metal. It was the fifth one; the spell had been summoned...

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Kurama stared the walls in a careless manner, too deep within his own thoughts to mind whatever was going around. In short hours from night to dawn so much had changed... Now not only was he hopeless, but also vexed about his own impotence. There was nothing to be done but to bend to his enemy's wills.

They had received Botans visit.

The exuberant, sociable death-goddess had come to them in her oar as fast as she could, already screaming in her high-pitched voice, calling his name, warning him to take care.

She soon explained how seriou the situation had turned out to be...

Kurama's and Hiei's files were piled up, placed together on Koenma's desk, both their Fates facing danger serious and iminent enought as to put theis files on hold, to be either dispatched or re-stored for remote processing. His existence and Hiei's had been put at stake exactly at the same instance, under the same cirscunstances.

They had found Hiei to be locked within a powerful Magic Circle. His exactly location was still concealed by wards, but for sure it was somewhere in Tokyo surroundings, near the seaside. Koenma's officers could try to locate him, but it would take a little longer.

Good, but he had no time to waste waiting for help from heavens. Kurama thought to himself, smiling sardonically; Reikai officer's were so dense and inept sometimes...

The only way-out was to group Kuwabara and Yusuke, and try to establish a plan.

It was a simple plan, but it had to work out; it would be their first and last opportunity.

They had to destroy Karasu. With death, his spells, hexes and wards broke. The invoker's death made all the power sustaining the magic circle cease.

Karasu was much more powerful than before; he had noticed it... The Youkai didn't even need to use a mask to control his own explosive energy anymore. Therefore it would have to be a mass attack, because if Karasu escaped... He'd kill Hiei, and then come back, dragging after him any other hostage...Shiori, or Kurama's step-brother Shuuichi, who could know? Karasu's mind was too twisted, his evil without any limitations... Kurama didn't want any other innocent people to suffer because of that stupid retaliation between him and Karasu. Hiei's suffering was already too much to tolerate.

He had to be careful not to be trapped again. He should not let sorrow block his eyes and wits. A small distraction, a sudden hesitation was enough to put it all to waste...

However, if everything else failed, he had ordered Yusuke and Kuwabara to give up any resistence and let him follow Karasu.

There was another plan, a despaired one, the last hope he could possibly cherish...

Genkai Had advised him privately about many things. She had advised him mainly about the kind of Elemental Magic Karasu was making use of, and one possible way to turn it against him.

The Wise woman had visited the woods to check on the circling marks where Kurama had been inprisioned.

She inspected it all in a careful silence, not minding Yusuke's and Kuwabara's boastering voices around her, as they bragged about how soon and violently they would make Karasu pay for all that damage.

Genkai Sensei rose her eyes to Kurama then, and she smiled in a very concerned way, as she'd do to a son.

"He has complete power over you, Kurama. You should not even take part on the fight. He could even command you and turn you against your friends."

"How?"

"He's put you into some kind of Energy Lock up. He can really control you from distance."

Yusuke moved closer, curiously.

"OBasaan? And if he fought as Youko Kurama?"

The old woman turned her eyes down for an instance, thoughtfully.

"When you're hurt is your youko aspect hurt as well?"

Kurama thought. He did not need to do it for long... During his match against Karasu... He had been badly wounded, and while reappearing in the youko form, though he was less weak and felt less pain, the wounds were there, his white attire equally torn to drags, his brow stained with blood and blood flowing all down his left arm, dripping to the arena floor...

"Yes..."

"Then he controls your Ningen and Youko aspect. Your shape is not the same, but your soul and body are intermingled in a way which makes it posible for him to affect your both forms."

"If I could just try to sense where he hid the shrimp..."

It was Kuwabara, who walked to their side, extremelly sad. Hiei was his friend, even if the grudging youkai didn't enjoy so...

"You must not hesitate. You have to hit to kill, all at once." Genkai stated, gravely.

By the time they came back, the woman gently held Kurama him behind, letting Yusuke and Kuwabara lead the way. It was when the Wise woman told Kurama of her plan. A desperate plan to be used in case everything else failed, for it would require too much self control, too much suffering, and was too risky. 

It could not work, but it was their last chance. The very last chance.

And just to add to Kurama's despair, it was so...

So...

Repugnant...

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Karasu had Hiei locked, exactly as an animal.

He opened the door, and posed boastfully before the youkai, ostentating a filthy smile across his thin lips...

"I have talked to your lover..."

Hiei had managed to recline on his good arm, and stared his foe with the deadliest expression. He trembled in rage, his body hurting with the sore bruises and bumps, his arm burning in pain, his intimate parts all sore and injured, but still he faced Karasu, his eyes showing no fear.

"How can you be still alive, then?"

"I kissed Kurama."

Hiei's face frowned, and his red eyes turned suddenly somber, as if a dark shadow had covered them.

"Liar!"

"It was a real tongue-kiss. His mouth is warm and fresh as the roses he loves so much. I can't wait to taste the rest of his slender body, grab him in my arms and kill him sweetly."

"Shut up, you dirty bastard!"

"And I'm sure he enjoyed my kiss... He retributed it, and I felt his body shudder with pleasure against mine."

Hiei could not stand the crowing voice anymore. If he just could... He looked around. Within the circle there were only three objects, Karasu had placed there more to vex him than out of favor... It all just stressed his miserable situation. - A pot with water, another with a bit of food he didn't even dare to touch; he was almost sure it was dog-food, and...

Hiei breathed deeply to be able to put up with the pain.

"It must be really exciting to fuck a youko..."

Hiei was fast, but pain spread all over his limbs so intensely he huffed out loud. He stretched enough, and with his left arm he grabbed the chamber pot Karasu had placed there; and it was not empty... In fact Hiei had been saving it for the proper occasion...

He let a loud moan out with the effort, but he picked the pot up, and with a wide circular move threw it all against Karasu.

A wide splash interrupted Karasu's bragging speech, and the disgusting Youkai stood paralyzed, in shock, his clothes wet, the urine dripping from his body, damping his hair...

His violet eyes blazed in fury, and his hands trembled in a spasm of pure outrage.

Hiei smiled with derision, watching his own dirt damp his enemy. A Youkai would have to use all weapons at his disposal. In fact, Karasu deserved some more consistent waste; a pity he didn't have the opportunity.

"You disgusting little piece of shit! I'm gonna make you pay! I'm gonna make you scream your guts out! I'm gonna be real mean to your ass, you stupid fag!"

Hiei didn't wince at the loud screams; he didn't pull back, noot even when he saw Karasu approaching the edge of the circle. He clenched his left fist, ready to punch, and showed of his twinkling fangs, roaring form the bottom of his throat, feeling his whole body tense to fight... The surge of emotion grew, and he felt no pain anymore, driven only by rage.

"Kurama is mine! You won't ever have him! You can torture me, jail me, rape me, but it will never change things, you filthy scum!"

Karasu undressed his long and wet black cloak, and entered the circle. He eyed Hiei with a long, hideous gaze of evil, and smiled in contempt when the Fire Youkai tried to stand up.

One small attempt, and Hiei fell back to the floor, hitting the back of his head violently against the floor. He was still too feeble to stand on his own. Karasu took the opportunity to grab Hiei's left wrist. He crooked it in an odd move, pulling the arm off the shoulder's socket, and twisting it to the back, till the articulations snapped loudly.

Hiei didn't scream, even though an ugly scowl of pain altered his expression. Instead of screaming, he skipped forwards, trying to bite.

Karasu punched his face, smashing his mouth and throwing his small body backwards.

"I wanted to be nice... Now you're gonna lie and choke on your own waste, you despicable little shit!"

Hiei tried to shout and curse, but his mouth was flooded by his own blood, and hurted like Hell... His arms were both crippled, and Karasu's hands seized his body again, dragging him, pulling him against rape again.

When he felt the hardness pronging his sore behind, he shut his eyes firmly. He tried to escape into the land of memories, dreams and vacuity. He bit his lips, muffling his moaning sounds of pain as his small body was thrusted from behind, repeatedly, in a fierce, cruel assault.

If he could just let himself go and die...

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The sun was blazing right in the middle of the sky.

The time had come.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were around, carefully watching over him, concealing their auras so as not to alert Karasu of their presence.

Kurama breathed deeper as he sensed the area around him, trying to perceive his enemy's presence. He stood in the very middle of the small clearing in the woods, his chin up, his body tensed as his every muscle was ready to put forth an immediate fight. He had his hands firmly clenched along his sides, and his heart throbbed with fast beats, antecipating the nervous encounter which would take place.

However, even taking the part of a brave warrior, his soul was anguished, and he could not help but to shed a lonely tear.

Karasu was closing by.

Kurama's whole body was seized by a convulsive tremor; hatred, at its highest level, when he felt the dark, menacing figure approaching from behind.

Karasu stood right behind him... And Kurama held still, despite his gruesome, rising nausea, quite aware at that exact moment, Yusuke was aiming and charging his Rei-gun to shoot the evil Youkai through the distance.

The redhead felt the hands approach his shoulder, touching his neck, but he kept tight, and within his shut fingers he held a small blade of grass.

"We have to hurry; your lover is going to die soon. He's very weak."

Kurama was so startled that did not have any reaction when Karasu held his both arms, caressing the firm flesh under his long, bony fingers.

"He wants to die, you know... If you don't come over you won't have a chance to say farewell."

Hiei? Dying? No... If he were there he could try to save his lover... Kurama could use his knowledge and his plants, he could even offer Hiei his own life energy. He had means to try to save him from such evil-minded Youkai! He had to get to Hiei, whether rescuing him or submitting to Karasu; he just had to reach his partner before it was too late...

The redhead suddenly pulled back from the touch, and in one single move he attacked, his right hand advancing in a semi-circular blow, the blade of grass totally unfold, almost cutting past Karasu's throat.

The demon jumped back and laughed.

"What a deja-vu sensation, Kurama..." He commented, frankly entertained.

The tall youkai had no time to reach out to Kurama again. Instead his attention was called for by the huge energetic blast coming fast, really fast, in through the trees, exploding its way through the woods into his direction. He jumped back, his cloak spreading all after him like ghostly black wings...

The Rei-gun blasted far, exploding trees and rocks further down the woods, the aim failing to hit Karasu by mere inches.

The long-haired demon just in time to see a long golden energetic blade struck against him in a wide angle, wide and curved like a scimitar... Kuwabara running after him and striking him with a smart move, aiming straight for the neck. The tall redhead screamed out loud, gaining power, and waved the energetic blade fiercely.

Karasu dodged, almost loosing balance and falling to the ground.

But the ground seemed alive when dozens of plants's stalks grew around him, encircling him , moving around and wrapping him up like a multitude of wooden serpentes, intertwining in beteween his limbs, blocking his moves.

He tried to fight for release, but more of those animate plants grew forth, thightening the embrace, squeezing his slim body.

Karasu just smiled comteptuously...

"Yusuke! Shoot the bastard!" Kuwabara shouted out, approaching Kurama and protectively placing himself in between his friend and Karasu, putting the energetic sword in guard. "Shoot now or he's gonna blow us all!"

Yusuke showed up in position, the arms reaching out, the left hand supporting the right where the index finger glew with forming a growing, vibrating ball of pure energy.

"Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! What are you waiting for?"

"Shut up Baka!!!!"

Karasu calmly looked at Kurama, his eyes wearing a odd purple luster which danced in his evil look...

Kuwabara stood ostensibly on the way beteween him and Kurama, ready to attack in a death blow just in case the Demon came his way. But then he halted, looking at all around him, sensing something wrong, very wrong...

There was something going in between Kurama and Karasu...

Kuwabara had the opportunity to see Karasu's lips moving as he faced Kurama with a very imperative expression flickering in his eyes, as if he had Kurama under his dominion... "Set me free..." was what the Youkai mouthed to Kurama...

"Shimatta!!!" Kuwabara screamed. He turned to look at Kurama, who just stood there with a blank, vanquished expression, and then back to Karasu... He was...

Kuwabara moved forth at the same time the Rei-Gun was released, his sword ready to chop the youkai's head off. But the stalks and vines wrapping Karasu suddenly fell to the floor, retreating back, being absorbed by the ground and setting the demon free. Karasu gave them a maniacal laughter, jumping up high, escaping both the Rei Gun and Kuwabara's sword again...

Yusuke cursed out loud, Kuwabara looked up searching Karasu, and Kurama just stood still, his eyes wide, his face pale...

"K'so! Kurama, we had him! Why did you set him free?"

The redhead tried, but could not face Yusuke's accusating eyes. His chest hurted with a sharp pain, so intense he had to fight hard to breathe. He had failed Hiei; it was their only chance...

"I-I don't know..."

Kurama gently let his eyes look down, too frustrated at his own flop. He could not understand... He didn't want to let Karasu escape, but he could not avoid obbeying that small voice commanding in the back of his mind... He knew he was doing wrong, he knew it was maybe the last chance to kill the bastard, but he simplly could not prevent the plants to release his foe...

"I'm sorry, my friends... I..."

"Ok, Kurama... We know how hard it is to you." Yusuke commneted, his voice sounding protective and tender. "We're gonna try again; Karasu's still around..."

"We gotta go after him! Now!" Kuwabara's exclaimed.

"Let's split..." Kurama proposed, his voice low, almost a murmur; he was too embarassed, too dejected with his own failure, unwilling to risk his friends any further. After all, his help was not free from doubts anymore....

"No! Obaasan is right; you follow Karasu's orders, he can turn you against us. You stay here with Kuwabara and I'll fry that Youkai scum myself!"

It was when they all sensed a vibrating energy coming from the underground. They were bombs, spurting from the soil... Dozens of them, all over the area, all around them...

"Damned Bastard!" Yusuke yelled, still, kwnowing any move would cause the smart subterranean bombs to attack them.

Kuwabara looked for Kurama. He was the only one not put into risk. There were no bombs springing up from the ground around him, no explosive energy surrounding his body. Then both of the boys watched the dark slender sillhouette land again, right behind Kurama, grabbing him by the waist and dragging him as shield.

"I know you won't risk another of your friends..." The disgusting youkai hissed, a wicked grin moulding his lips. "Shoot me and you shoot Kurama."

Yusuke froze; If at least Kurama could react...

Karasu had whispered something right on the redhead's ear, bringing an empty exprssion to the beautiful green eyes. Kurama's arms rested limp, lacking strength and will along his sides. Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged a worried frown on watching Kurama stand still, apparently mesmerized under his foe's disgusting embrace.

"Kurama! Gambatte! Don't obbey him! You gotta save Hiei!" Yusuke screamed in a loud, very upset manner.

"The shrimp is counting on you Kurama! Wake up!" Kuwabara added, his voice as high and alarmed as Yusuke's.

Both boys didn't see anything more than a fast dark shadow drawing their friend away, pulling him into the woods, vanishing amidst and beneath the tree trunks and bushes.

Then they felt the blast, a fraction of second before all bombs bursted around them, simultaneously...

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Yusuke shook his head, trying to pull himself back to reality. His head hurted, and he was almost deaf with the loud explosion around them...

He looked around; the area had been destroyed in a very wide range, trees torn into shreds, smoke rising up massively and all the ground burned to ashes.

He had managed to call forth his own energy in a protective field around him and Kuwabara, but even so, the explosion had affected them a bit.

He was still dizzy, but there was no time to loose!

Kuwabara's was lying on his stomach, the face buried in a pile of ashes, still out. Yusuke stood up quickly and then kicked his friend's butt to wake him up.

"Temee!!!!" You Baka! What are you doing this for?!!!"

Yusuke crossed his arms on his chest, angrily watching the destruction around. Obaasan would hate to know part of the beautiful area had crumbled to ashes...

"Baka! Let's go after Karasu! He's got Kurama now!"

"How? Where did he go?"

"Let's follow from above!"

Kuwabara made a face, probably doubting Yusuke's sanity; the blast might have affected his brains...

"Let's get Puu and follow them! We can reach them if we hurry up!"

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Characters are proprierty of Yoshihiro Togashi, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Jump Comics, and Studio Pierrot. The events portrayed are not necessarily present in the original series Yu Yu Hakusho