Kurama and Yumiko met up with the others at the station. Yusuke had gone ahead last night with the intention to speak with Master Genkai alone before the others got there. Maru, Hiei, and Kuwabara were already waiting by the gates.
"Hey, miss Yumi. Feeling any better this morning?" Kazuma asked, trying to keep the cheery attitude he usually held, though it was still quite subdued.
Yumiko glanced at him with dull, drained eyes, and he winced.
"Guess not."
"Do we have a plan?" Kurama asked, breaking the silence as they stepped onto the train. Hiei nodded in response, taking a seat in an empty booth next to the one the others chose. Yumi and Kazuma both slid into the booth on opposing sides, Kurama sitting next to Yumi, and Maru sitting next to the ginger boy.
"I'll take the boy to Genkai's to train first. You two should train with Maru. Being plant wielders, you need a way to deal with a fire-demon other than throwing an exploding plant at them." Hiei spoke with his usual arrogance.
Maru nodded, leaning forward slightly as he spoke.
"Genkai has requested we keep to the beach for our training session. In her words, she-"
"Doesn't want you setting the whole damn forest ablaze again?" Yumiko cut in, the beginnings of a mischief laced smile on her lips, and all four males glanced her way. Kurama's shoulders relaxed slightly. He placed a hand on her leg just about the knee, and gave it a gentle, approving squeeze. It was the first non-forced words to leave the girl since the invitation had been delivered.
Maru noted the significance as well, and allowed himself a somewhat exaggerated huff.
"It was only the garden, and half at that... If you recall, it wasn't entirely my fault." There was a gleam to his eye, and across the aisle, a nosy telepath snorted, covering his mouth to try and hide the choked laugh threatening to burst free. Kurama gave them both a quizzical look, then froze as a heartwarming sound tickled his ears.
Yumiko released a quiet giggle, looking the portrait of innocent.
"How was I supposed to know you were allergic to strawberries? I just wanted to give my friend a present!"
Noting the looks from Kurama and Kazuma, she sighed, shoulders loosening a bit, and held up her hands. "I gave him a strawberry when he first came to the temple, and turns out they raise his temperature to a point where the ground he's walking on catches fire. He burned away half of Genkai's garden before we figured out that it was the strawberries I kept feeding him that was causing it! Genkai threw him into the lake, and made me spend the entire week regrowing each plant by hand."
Maru shuddered as she finished, and added. "Not a pleasant way to learn to swim."
Kazuma snorted at that, and even Kurama cracked a smile at the image of the goat-demon flailing in the water.
Bit by bit the tension eased as the train made its way to the mountain station. The five teens made a silent promise as they neared the temple, though no one spoke it. These next two months could be their last. They would give everything they had to training, but they would not forget how to smile in the process.
_______
Yumiko leapt to the side as a fireball crashed into the sand beside her. She screeched as her tail-tip singed, then healed immediately within the grid of echinacea plants that Kurama kept supplied with energy during her training with Maru. The goat-demon was relentless as he attacked her again and again, getting her body used to the heat of the flames, and how to avoid the more serious of injuries.
It was brutal. She didn't think there was a bit of her that hadn't been burned at this point. Halfway into the session she had been forced to either shift fully, or run around nude as her clothing lay in ashes. Now, she did her best to avoid his attacks in her small fox fox. All she had to do was manage to touch him, and the session would be over!
She let out a howl of pain as a fireball caught her in the ribs, and sent her barreling towards one of the plants.
"FOCUS, YUMIKO!" Kurama shouted across the sand, fury in his emerald eyes. "That blast would have killed you in the tournament!"
She snarled, and rose to her feet. He was right, half of her side was knitting itself back together as blood seeped into the sand. All across the beach, red stained the pristine white sands. Kurama had gone first, and having nothing to change into, had been left in a tattered shirt that hardly clung to him by what was left of the right sleeve, and the remainder of his pants, that were singed just above one knee, and barely hiding the top of the other thigh.
Yumiko shook her head to clear away the pain, and shot forward. She zigzagged across the ground, leaping and rolling out of the way of different blasts with more speed than ever, and was only a few feet away from Maru when he snapped his wrist up. A terrible yelp escaped the girl as she was slammed away by the fire whip he had lashed across her face. She howled as the whip came down across her back before she could get to her feet, and howled again as it wrapped around her back leg as she tried to scurry away.
All at once, her ears shot down, and her tail bushed out as she sent a desperate plea to Kurama.He tensed. Not a single word came through the bond, just a sheer sense of terror as she lost herself to the pain. He shot forward, his own rose whip intercepting the fire whip before it could lash her again, and snarled at the fire demon, who's eyes had gone wholly amber.
"ENOUGH!!!" He shouted, but it turned into a gasp as the demon lashed out at him again.
A massive fireball careened for the red-haired boy, and Kurama had to launch to the side to avoid it burning him to bits as Maru snarled back.
"YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO INTERFERE SHOULD SHE HAVE TO FIGHT!!" He snarled, eyes still blazing with emotion. "She MUST learn to defend herself!!"
He turned, ready to launch another barrage of attacks on the fox, who still crouched nearby, when a voice cut through the rage.
"M-Maru?"
***
At once, the fire in the goat demon's eyes subsided. His arms dropped to their side as the blue-haired reaper spoke from the edge of the sands. She had brought sandwiches from the temple, and had arrived just in time to see the fire whip crack a deep, cauterizing wound into the small fox's back. She had also witnessed the exchange between him and Kurama, who now crouched nearby, ready to run if need be.
Maru's eyes returned to normal as soon as she spoke. The little reaper let out a relieved breath as she saw his muscles relax, then grinned. A wide and beaming thing. Her job well done!
***
Yumiko had scented Botan approaching from the temple. She was tired, hungry, and over this stupid training session!! She lay still on the ground, waiting for the moment when the goat demon would be most distracted by the shinigami, then struck!
With blinding speed, she shot forward. She made it half-way to her mark before he noticed the movement, and quickly closed that distance as his eyes widened. She didn't hesitate, nor did she hold back as she launched herself at his neck.
He caught her, both clawed hands around the fox's middle, a fraction of a second before her teeth would have sank into his throat. Claws lashed out from afront paw, leaving shallow marks gashed through his left cheek before he howled, and threw her away from him. He snarled, summoning another fireball, then paused.
Yumiko snarled back, sending her thought straight to him. 'ITS OVER! I cut you! I win! Now enough!!'
She had sent the thought to both of the males. Her fur smelled of ash and death, and every muscle on her body hurt despite the healing ward of the plants. Kurama rose to his feet, hand in his hair as he stared down the snarling fire-goat.
"That's enough Maru. Distractions aside, she had succeeded the challenge. We will call it here for today." He said with a commanding voice.
That hand remained in his hair, ready to draw a new seed should the demon not back down. After a moment, Maru sighed, and allowed his posture to relax. Yumiko followed suite, then collapsed to the ground, panting from the exertion of the training session. Once it was clear the session had truly come to an end, Kurama allowed himself to relax as well, and quickly moved to Yumiko's side.
"Eventually, we will need to be able to beat him without Botan's assistance, but that was a good start." He praised the little fox. In truth, the fight had worried him to no end. She had been hit by over half of the demon's attacks. They would have a long, painful two months ahead of them, but she had not given up, and only towards the end had she looked to him for help.
Their fight had lasted nearly two hours, his own sparring match with the demon having gone on for an hour before that. He had barely managed to catch Maru with his own petals and thorns technique, leaving an identical slice across his right cheek. If they wished to make it to their destination while the sun was still above the tree-line, they would need to leave soon.
Noticing the drop in tension, Botan raised her basket high, thoroughly earning the attention of the three fighters.
"I brought sandwiches!!"
***
Lunch had been delicious! Botan had brought them two sandwiches each, three for Maru, who had spent far more energy than the others given his constant barrage of attacks. Botan had just handed him the third one when a little boy burst onto the beach, running with a small dog following after him.
"He's growing up fast, isn't he? The parents want him to spend some time here each month so we can help him come to terms with everything that happened, and the fact that he can apparently see spirits now quite clearly. We may have a future detective on our hands!" She giggled as the boy ran off towards the far side of the beach, that golden dog chasing after it.
Kurama placed a gentle hand on Yumiko's upper leg and gave a reassuring squeeze. She had frozen the moment she had seen that dog break through the grasses. She still hated dogs. It didn't matter that this one was just the living world variety. It could still stay far away from her. She took another bite of her sandwich as the dog disappeared, leaning further into Kurama's side at his touch, grateful for the comfort.
Maru watched after the boy with a fond smile, his eyes lightening a bit. "He seems healthy. No complications?"
"Not a one! You should stay at the temple tonight. Genkai isn't there. She and Yusuke left this morning. He asks about you, you know?" She asked, a pale, delicate hand moving to rest on the demon's dark grey-blue knee. Maru froze at the contact, flushing slightly, but to Yumiko's surprise, and delight, he didn't pull away. In fact, he actually smiled.
"I think, I would like that. Thank you, Botan." His voice was gentle, softer than Yumiko had ever heard from the demon male as he spoke to the shinigami.
She nodded, then gave them all a scrutinizing look. "You should probably all change. You've got a long hike ahead right? I'm sure Kurama loves the view, but it probably wouldn't help much for bugs or briars. And you're covered in ash, Maru! You absolutely cannot drag all of that into the temple. Genkai would have a fit!"
All three froze, and took a good look at each other. Maru had relinquished his long jacket for Yumiko to wear, which was now fully zipped up and luckily covered everything down to nearly the girl's knees. She kept her tail folded neatly across her lap, guarding anything the jacket might not hide view while she ate.
Kurama, was much worse off, the remainder of his sleeve, had been singed away in that last attack, so now the once-white fabric that remained of his tee-shirt hung uselessly around his waist. He tried with some embarrassment, to hide the rest with the picnic basket, as his boxers now showed in several places under the charred remains of his pants. The scraps did little to guard him from the eyes of the two females, both of which had quickly looked away when he had turned to face them after training.
Maru had faired much better, grinning cruelly in his comfortable black pants that didn't hold a scratch on them. He had tried to warn them to bring a change of clothes, but both foxes had been confident in their abilities when they denied the offer. He aimed that smile at Kurama as he spoke to the male's mind.
'How does it feel to know she hides in my jacket, fox?'
Kurama didn't hide the snarl that rippled through his chest as he glared at the demon. In truth, the scent of Maru mixing with her own had nearly sent him into a fury. She was his, and if all went well, he would make sure no other demon could challenge that fact, very soon. There was just one more thing he had to do first, a seed he had to test, a strategy he couldn't risk a bond with the girl before knowing whether it would kill him or not.
With that strategy in mind, he took another look to the sun high above them.
"We need to be on our way soon, Yumi."
***
The moment they were within sight of her old room, Yumiko had dashed ahead, leaving Kurama to duck into a guest room to change alone. She sighed, and took one last look through the camping pack, and the clothes she had chosen for the next few days. The plan was simple, with school out for the summer, they would spend the weeks camping, and the weekends visiting family and taking care of needs in the city.
She carefully opened the front compartment on the pack, and pulled out the simple bit of cloth that Shizuru had helped her pick out. It was a soft gown, rose-gold in colour, and silky to the touch. She had tried it on last night, and had been shocked to see how little it truly covered for a gown, but Shizuru had been adamant about that being the whole point! So, she had packed it for tonight.
She knew Kurama. She knew that he would be hesitant to complete their bond knowing they could only have weeks left to enjoy it, but she would be damned if she was going to step onto that island otherwise! She planned to give him a choice tonight. Either they completed the bond, or she would sever the partial one. Her core ached at even the thought. She had been forced to enter not as a contestant, but as a prize. She would not be forced to bond with whichever demon managed to defeat their team, and refused to be used as a trophy, or worse... So she had made up her mind. Maru, to her eternal shock, having seen the thoughts she had hidden from her bonded, had been in support of the decision, even going so far as to say 'if he will not have you, and you will not have me, the Kuwabara boy could make a decent choice. He is only a human, so your lives would be short... but he would undoubtedly be kind to you.'
The thought had made her retch! Like she would ever! For one, he was two years younger than her! For two, he was in love with Yukina. Three, he was like a brother to her, and four... just no??? No, she would rather it be Maru if it came to that, and she had seen what that revelation had done to the male. He had appeared so sad... almost heartbroken, but he had silently nodded his agreement on the train. He would do what he must to keep her safe.
With any luck, it wouldn't come to that. She quickly folded the little gown back into the bag, and pulled out her new training gear. A similar shirt to the one she had first worn, but leggings instead of shorts this time. With her pack settled, the straps done up, she headed out into the hallway where Kurama was already waiting. He wore simple pants that wouldn't lessen his movement, and a very skin tight dark wine tee-shirt.
She blinked. She had never seen that shirt, and she felt her face heat as she traced down every sensuous curve of muscle hidden beneath the tight-fitting fabric. He of course, noticed, and shot her a wry smile. 'You're drooling, fox. Like what you see?'
She flinched as he spoke through their bond, realizing her tail had been curling up behind her at the sight. Yumi bristled with indignation of being caught looking at him like a pup with a juicy steak. Her ears flicked in irritation as she strutted past him, and lashed her tail hard into that sculpted torso as she passed. He released a dramatic "oomph" at the 'attack' and made a playful swipe for her tail, but she yanked it away just as his fingers brushed it.
She hadn't missed the promise of mischief in his eyes, nor the weightlessness of that swipe, and she allowed a fragile smile to play at her lips as they left the temple compound, and made their way up the mountain.
***
The trek had been a breeze this time. Halfway there, Kurama had suggested they run the rest of the way, which she had agreed to. It had been a grueling run, especially with the weight of their packs, but she had managed to beat him to the campsite by nearly five whole seconds!
He trotted up to her as he reached the sight, but didn't remove his pack.
"I'm afraid we're not done yet. We've another two miles north." He began, pointing up the mountain to where he knew a secluded cabin lay waiting.
He had spoken to Genkai the evening prior over the phone, wanting to know if there were anywhere better than a tent he might use for this particular camping trip. Genkai had chuckled, and told him about a cabin just north of the clearing.
"I've been keeping that cabin clean since your first trip to my mountains, boy. You'll find everything you need. Keep my girl safe, you understand?"
Yumiko tilted her head in confusion, looking at the worn spot in the grass where they normally placed their tent.
He chuckled slightly, then gave her a playful grin.
"Well, if you'd truly rather sleep in a tent than a cabin..."
He watched those ears perk up at that, and pointed to a trail not far off.
"If you take that trail, it should lead you right there. Go on ahead, I'll meet you up there in a couple hours. There's a place I want to check on for our training tomorrow." He called over his shoulder, pleased when he got a rushed "okay!" As her response, before she took off into the trees.
He ran for two miles through the mountain trails, wanting to put a good distance between them should things go wrong, then sat down near a small stream. In truth, testing this plant was the last thing he had ever wanted to do in this human form, but he didn't have a choice. When he had mentioned the technique to Yoko, both had agreed that it could be a saving grace should things go poorly during a fight.
So, with a deep breath, he drew the small knife he had brought for this test from his pocket, made a slit in the flesh of his right wrist, and pushed the bumpy seed inside, then waited.
***
The cabin was absolutely perfect! It wasn't small, but not too large either. A decently sized living area, separated from an open kitchen by an island bar, a study, and a very large washroom with one of those triangular tubs on the first floor, two bedrooms, a second, smaller washroom, and a loft over the kitchen on the second floor with a small reading nook by the window. The door had been unlocked, and she was certain she could thank Genkai for that, as well as the fully stocked kitchen, inside of which she found a note addressed to herself.
"Have fun, girly!"
She had just gotten settled into the king sized bed upstairs, content to read her latest book, the third in the series Kurama had suggested, when she felt something odd. A sense of fear spiked through her bond, then silence, and then a terrible pain in her right arm caused her to shriek as curled her knees to her chest.
She grabbed at her wrist, desperate to find where the pain was coming from, but she couldn't see anything. She cried out again as pain began snaking its way up her arm, and her eyes went wide. Something was wrong, something was happening to Kurama!!!
She hissed at the pain lancing up her arm, and felt for their connection as she launched herself in the direction he had gone. It felt like she had ran for hours as that pain crept further and further up her arm, and into her chest. She was excruciatingly aware of how close it drew to where the human heart would be. She could smell him now, and swiveled her ears as she tried to track him down.
"KURAMA!! KURAMA, WHERE ARE YOU???"
She gasped as the pain deepened in her chest, and she felt the bond flicker. 'No... oh Kami, please... No, no, no!!!!'
The scent of blood caught her attention and she turned towards a small stream, just able to see red hair sticking up over a rise in the earth.
"KURAMA!!!"
She squeaked, running over to his side. He was bleeding, but not badly. She fell to her knees beside him and turned him over. Where was the wound? There had to be a... and then she saw it. A shoot of green snaking from his wrists. 'A DEATH PLANT???'
She snarled, even as she felt the plant grow closer to where his heart would be, nearly able to touch it now, and channeled her energy straight into that wound as the bond flickered again. She felt the plant stop moving inside of him, felt it try to fight against her will, so close to its target within the unconscious male's chest, and felt it finally concede.
Slowly, so painfully slowly, she began to work the plant out of his body, hissing and whimpering from the pain as she felt every thorn snag inside her own arm. She growled as it tried to fight again, and seethed as the pain intensified.
If this damned plant didn't kill the fool then she certainly would! She nearly collapsed as the tendrils finally came loose, and the seed popped out of the redhead's skin. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to Kami, then sighed. If she had taken even a minute longer to get here...
The exhausted fox watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, and wondered how long he had fought the seed before exhaustion had won out. For a long while, she just sat there in silence. Once she was certain she could control her rage, she sent out a single thought, touching the place on her chest where the bloodstone marker shown as a birthmark on her skin, knowing he would hear her.
'I need your help.'
***
It hadn't taken long for Maru's reply, nor for the demon to appear through one of Botan's portals. At first, he just stared at the blood-soaked male, and far too pale kitsune.
"What happened?" He asked, voice low and gentle.
"HE'S A KAMI BE DAMNED FOOL IS WHAT HAPPENED!!"
She seethed, controlling the urge to sink her claws into the idiot's neck for the trauma his little stunt had caused.
"JUST!!" She paused, reigning in her temper a bit as she let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Just help me get him to the cabin, please..."
Maru wanted to press, but the look of exhaustion, fury and devastation on the girl's face curbed his curiosity.
"Alright..."
He considered for a moment as he lifted Kurama's body onto his back, and took a hesitant breath as he went on.
"Yumiko, there's something you should know..." He began, the male's thoughts still burned into his mind. He knew the kitsune was at a crossroads, and perhaps it was petty of him. Perhaps it was selfish to tell her the truth now... but if she was truly intent on making a decision tonight, she should know what she was up against in the boy's mind.
So he told her what his telepathy had gleaned.
***
Kurama groaned as he tried to sit up. He had expected hard earth beneath him, but instead found a soft bed. The last thing he could remember was sitting down to start his test, and... Blinking open his eyes, he froze as they focused on the furious kitsune sitting in a chair next to the bed.
"How bad?" Was all he managed to ask before she lashed out, raking her claws across his face.
"YOU BASTARD!!!" She screeched. Slamming an open palm against his chest as he recoiled from the slash. His eyes were wide with alarm at the ferocity in the little kitsune and he threw his hands up to catch her wrist!
"Yumi, what on earth has gotten into you?"
He asked incredulous, but instead of an answer, she opened the clenched fist of her other hand, and threw the small seed at him.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to feel the male that you love dying?? To feel something moving towards his heart and have no idea where he is, or if you'll even make it in time?" She paused, trembling from ear to tail.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE SECONDS AWAY FROM FINDING HIM TOO LATE???" She shrieked at him, then hissed as she desperately tried to free her wrists so she could hit him again.
Kurama released her, and braced himself as she lunged forward again to pound on his chest. He had not looked away as she had screamed. He had seen every ounce of pain, anger, terror, and betrayal in her eyes, and it made him feel utterly foolish. He was quiet as she hit him, and only spoke once the blows had softened.
"I had to know, Yumiko.... I had to test it before we were bound, just in case-" He began, voice soft and placating, as though he were trying to coax out a frightened kitten, but she snarled at him, cutting him off.
"IN CASE WHAT??? In case your stupid idea got us both killed? What was I supposed to do if you had died, Kurama? What were any of us supposed to do? I'd still have to compete, and Maru would have to..." she bit her lip, unwilling to say it just yet. So, instead she snarled anew.
"We're on a mountain crawling with lesser demons. I would have been completely unable to stop any of them had your brilliant fucking idea actually got you killed! Is that what you wanted Kurama? For your stupid fucking plan to get me fucked by some bat-demon like Baldok? Yusuke would have had to force whatever demon got ahold of me to join the team, and I would have been passed off to the first demon strong enough to beat whatever monster in these woods found me first! Or did you expect Maru to swoop in just in time, and do the deed himself?"
She knew the words were unfair, and unkind, but she didn't care. She couldn't care. Kurama had been willing to leave her defenseless without even warning her of what he planned to try. Not only that, but he had gone so far from the cabin first, that she had barely managed to reach him when it failed!
She had waited months for them to complete the bond. She knew there had been moments when he had wanted to, but had pulled back. She was tired of his games!
Kurama watched in silent shame as she scolded him, cringing at the logic in her words. He hadn't meant to go that far from the cabin, and in truth... he had assumed that Maru would save her if it came to that. A final recompense to the demon. In his mind, the worst case scenario had been Yoko being freed, and joining the detective's team in order to find his wolf. Not once had he considered the weakened state that severing even a partial bond would leave his dear fox in, nor the hundreds of lesser demons that had never bothered them on these trips. He'd been a fool.
"I'm sorry..." His voice was small, quiet in the pause of her fury. She blinked, waiting for whatever he had to say. He could feel the bond between them wavering, and knew he had royally screwed up. It wouldn't take much more for that bond to break.
"I thought I would be protecting you, if I did this on my own. I didn't want to risk your life as well as mine for the test, and feared you might follow me if you knew the truth. I would not have been able to focus if I were worrying about your safety, but I failed regardless. I was not strong enough to contain the plant once it was in my blood system. Had it not been for you, I would not have survived. I am sorry I hid the test from you... and..." He paused again, noting that her eyes had softened only a fraction, but those claws still remained out.
"I apologize that I did not consider the danger you would be in, had I failed completely. I will carry that oversight with me always, Yumiko." He stopped again as she held up a hand, fire still blazing in those seafoam eyes.
"The completed bond makes it where no other can claim me. No other demon, or mortal man, could trap me should you die, because I would die with you. You're the only one who's ever been afraid of that, Kurama. I never was." She sighed, a terrible, sorrowful sound, and rose to her feet.
"There will always be another crisis, or another risk. Another reason to wait... I'm tired, Kurama." The words were dull, hollow, and lifeless as she turned away from him, and something in his chest cracked. She stood up, and turned towards the door.
"I'm done waiting. If you're unwilling to complete the bond, then take me back to the temple and sever it, Maru said we could complete the bond if you refuse, so you don't have to worry about my safet-"
She flinched, a startled yelp escaping her, and nearly crumbled to her knees at his snarl as Kurama rose to his feet to pursue her. She turned to glance at his face, and nearly crumbled again as those gold flecks danced in furious emerald eyes. Back-stepping, she tried to make her way to the hall doorway as he rose to full height. She had never seen him like this, and it frightened some ancient part of her down to her very core. Fear-scent filled the cabin, and she had taken another step back, ready to run for the stairs, when he surged forward, gripping her wrist hard enough to bruise.
"No..."
He snarled the word low, visions of the goat demon trying to take what was his drowning out rational thought. The damned immortal was always nearby. Watching, just waiting for the day he made a mistake so he could swoop in. The fact that she had even considered Maru, that she had spoken to him about the possibility... He snarled again.
Yumiko tried to yank her wrist free, ready to sever the bond, and do what she needed to in order to protect herself, but the command in that word made her go utterly still. He yanked back, forcing her towards him as he looked into her seafoam eyes, his own hard, and commanding. She slammed into his chest, a whimper escaping as he held that wrist above her head.
Kurama racked his brain for the words to say. He wanted to scream apologies from the mountaintop. He wanted to plead with her, to beg for forgiveness for his own foolish hesitation. More than that however, he wanted to shout, to snarl at her for even considering the goat demon should he hesitate further, but the words faltered on his lips. So he held tight to that wrist, and lifted his free hand to cup her chin. He forced her eyes to focus on his, and released the iron grip he had always kept on his own body so that she could sense how much he meant the words as he pressed against her. His scent filled the cabin, mixing with her own as he spoke.
"No more waiting." He half-growled as he moved, forcing her to walk backwards for the three steps to the hallway's oak walls. She trembled in his grip, but didn't fight back, allowing him to guide her as she did her best not to trip over her own feet. She let out a gasp as her back slammed into the wall, memories of that first training session flooding her mind. Her tail did little to protect her as he pressed his body fully against her own, his leg forcing in between hers to protect from that nervous habit of hers.
He lowered his lips to her ear, unbound red hair falling like a curtain around them as he growled low.
"This is your last chance, Yumiko."
His breath sent shivers down her spine as he pinned her wrist to the wall above her head, and slipped a finger of his free hand under that grey silk collar, forcing her gaze upwards. She whimpered, but said nothing as he went on, that growl reverberating all the way to her core.
"Should you say no, should you tell me to stop, right now, then I will. I will break the bond, and you can go fuck that goat demon all you want." The words came out more snarl than growl, and he let every ounce of raw, territorial fury fill them, gripping her wrist more tightly as he did so. She whimpered again, cringing from the pain, and trying very hard to sink into the wood at her back.
"But if you don't. If you let me carry you back to that bed without complaint..." His grip on her wrist suddenly loosened, and he let his fingers trace slowly down her arm, her side, all the way to her thigh, pausing just below the dip of her backside. She let out a small, startled yelp as he squeezed through the thin leggings, pulling her even closer with that touch.
"Then there will be no more waiting, and no more hesitation. You, will, be, mine..." He growled the words slow, his lips grazing the skin of her neck at the last of them. He allowed his breath to linger there in the crook of her neck, then spoke much more softly, his voice a husky whisper.
"The choice is yours, Yumiko." He breathed onto the sensitive skin there. He let the hand cupping her rear wander just a little bit further then moved to step back, but she wrapped her arms around his midriff before he could.
"Don't go!" She squeaked, her arms wrapping as tightly around his waste as she could manage, afraid that if he pulled away, she would lose her nerve altogether.
The corners of his lip quirked upwards as he leaned back in, "Your choice, fox. Will it be the temple, or the bed?"
"T-the bed..." She breathed, hardly able to form the words. She was a nervous wreck inside, but as he smiled down at her, that hard expression shifted to one so warm, she thought she would melt under his gaze.
Kurama leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, allowing the simmering rage that had brought them to the wall to abate, then stepped back a bit, just enough to create a space between them. She whimpered from the loss of contact, and he chuckled, leaning back over her until his lips just grazed the tip of her ear.
"If that tail of yours causes trouble, I'll tie it down." He warned, sidestepping as the tail in question shot up between her legs from the gravel in his voice. He would have to break her of that nervous habit before it broke him.
She blushed wildly, ears going flat as she realized what she had done in reflex, and opened her mouth to speak, but only a small whimper escaped as he trailed gentle kisses on the back of that ear. Her voice failed as she took a step forward, tail relaxing a bit as she did, so she sent her words through thought instead. 'Th-that... might be best...' She admitted, not wanting the silly reflex to get in their way again.
She pulled away suddenly, her back hitting the wall as she looked up at him. A curious expression on her features.
"Kurama?" She began as he followed her movement, his fingers tracing slow circles along her upper thighs through those skintight leggings.
"Yes?" He answered as he bent to place his chin on her shoulder, and nuzzled the nape of her neck while drinking in her scent. It smelled of juniper, cedar, and a hint of ash, as always, and it added fuel to the fire burning under his skin.
"That night... back at Shizuru's... If I hadn't, I mean... if not for my tail, would we have...?" She tried so hard to ask it, but the words caught in her throat, and she bit her lip hard as he breathed a chuckle onto her neck. She closed her eyes at the sensation, knees going weak, and startled a bit as he pulled her back against him for support. At the contact, the feel of him through their clothing, the twitch she felt pressing against her waist, that tail tried to shoot up, but he was prepared this time, and had positioned his legs between hers, so it brushed harmlessly past instead.
"Perhaps." He breathed onto her neck, then pulled his head back, stray red locks tickling the exposed skin as he did. "It was certainly a possibility, the way you broke my resolve that night... much like now."
He removed one hand from its grip on her backside, and lifted it to cup her chin.
"I'll ask once more, Yumi..." His voice was soft, filled with a gravel-laced purr as he spoke. His eyes held nothing but adoration as he forced that chin up.
"Are you sure?"
Yumiko nodded, sucking in her lip, then let out a yelp as he pinched her backside.
"Verbal, answers..." He scolded lightly, his fingers releasing their grip, and returning to those lazy circles along her skin.
Yumiko pressed harder against him, willing her tail to lower out of the way, and curling it up along her spine as she nodded again, this time adding her hoarse reply.
"I'm sure."
_______
"It's almost time, my love."
A red and cream vixen purred into the ear of a gold and cream sylph. He had taken a fox form as well, content to bask in the ever gentle sunlight of the Sylvan Glade.
"It certainly took them long enough!" He chuckled as he shifted, the enchanted garbs worn in the glade shifting with him. The kitsune, still in her fox form crawled into his lap, then shifted as well, a delicately small hand rising to grasp his shoulder as she wrapped her gold-cream-tipped tail around them both. He chuckled again at his mate's antics, and wrapped his arms around her waist, his tail intertwining with her own.
"She's more skittish than you were, my precious Suna..." He added, leaning down to kiss her forehead as that tail tip curled with delight.
The kitsune giggled in response, before moving his hand away from her waist. "Indeed, I thought he would have to tie her tail down just to make it back to the bed!"
Ecovehn chuckled again, and slid her carefully off of his lap.
"Come, my love. We should be ready when they appear. You remember what we have to do?"
She snarled slightly at that, her own firebranded tail lashing in annoyance.
"Of course I do!! I may not be a sylph myself, but I remember every word of what your father told me! You just make sure she knows how to make that stone, and how to make sure he doesn't find out until it's time to use it!"
EcoVehn flinched at the snarl, and threw his hands up in defense as she rounded on him, a nervous smile on his face, but whatever he was about to say faltered as they both felt that familiar tug on their chests, and knew.
"It's time."
[A/N: Don't hate me!! *Hides behind Maru* I actually have a reason for not writing out their first time together. One, Sylphs do not actually remember what happens while forming the completed bond, so if Yumi doesn't get to remember what happens, then neither do you, sorry! Two, I wanted to leave that first time up to the imagination.
I tried several different versions of this first night. I considered many different routes, but found that nothing would be likely to force his resolve than a furious jealousy, or a sensation of lost control. I have personally always loved the idea of a more possessive, aggressive Kurama when it comes to those he considers his, and it's been fun to play around with that here.
So!! The bond is finally completed!! Yumiko's parents wait to welcome their daughter and her bond into the sylphan glade, and explain the abilities the bond provides.
Next chapter: The Glade.
see you then!]