Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Demon Within ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

"And if it weren't for that pint-sized nuisance with a sword, we could have feasted on her tender, young flesh."

"No! Keiko is my friend!"

"Friends are a liability. A weakness. You used to understand this. You were good at keeping these pathetic humans from getting too close."

"They were scared of me!" Kurama cried out. "No child wants to play with a boy who knew as much as I did and had freakish spirit powers!"

Yoko Kurama threw his head back and laughed. Even though the hut was still completely dark and Kurama couldn't even see his own hands in front of his face, he could see his demon counterpart as clearly as if he were standing in the bright sunlight.

"You did make a sorry sight," Yoko laughed. "A little red-haired boy, all alone and playing with flowers. No wonder they laughed at you and threw rocks!"

Kurama wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his face in the crook of his arm, but he couldn't block out the vivid image of the childhood memory.

"And what did you do? Did you seek revenge? Did you teach them a lesson? Did you even stand up for yourself? No! You ran home crying!" Yoko sneered. "Home to the human woman I used!"

"Stop it," Kurama whispered into his sleeve. Tears soaked into the cloth of his shirt as they used to do to his mother's before he learned to hide his powers.

"When I escaped from Spirit World, I knew the only way to regain my strength was to lay dormant inside a human. That woman should be grateful to me for giving her unborn child a soul! Without one, it never would have lived and she wouldn't have had a sweet little boy to coddle."

"Stop it."

"And how does my host show his gratitude for giving him life?" Yoko continued, now circling around Kurama, taunting him on all sides. "Does he make me proud by getting strong enough to return me to my own life as soon as possible? No! He sacrifices my needs - my desires - my LIFE - because he feels sorry for the human woman I sacrificed my freedom for to give her the gift of a child!"

"Stop it!"

Kurama's tears had stopped. He lifted his head, but refused to look at the demon. His hands clenched to fists and he gritted his teeth against the onslaught of verbal abuse.

"If only I had been strong enough to take over all those years ago. If only you hadn't let your feelings for her come before my goal. If only you had kept building your spirit power instead of suppressing it for so long." Yoko paused and knelt before Kurama. Although the demon didn't touch him, he felt himself being forced to look at him. "Do you know what I would have done?" His intense golden eyes didn't quite reflect the smile on his face. "I would have tortured the woman just to hear her scream. I would have danced to the music of her cries of pain and sung to the sounds of her pleading. Then, when her weak human body finally gave out, I would have bathed in her blood and feasted on her flesh, tormenting her soul for eternity."

Something in Kurama snapped. In an instant, he was on his feet, swinging one leg with all his strength at the demon kneeling in front of him. Yoko jumped back as nimble as a cat, easily avoiding the attack.

"Too slow," Yoko laughed. "But at least you're not blubbering anymore."

"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!" Kurama yelled, throwing a punch with each word straight at Yoko's face. Although he couldn't see his fists, Yoko must have. He was able to dodge each attack with just a simple tip of his head.

"Finally! A show of anger!" Yoko said with a satisfied smile. "Doesn't that feel much better than that false restraint you show to those humans?"

"What are you talking about?" Kurama asked, his chest heaving with exertion and frustration. He had no idea how much time had passed since he first entered the hut, but could tell his body was weakening from lack of food, fresh air, and sunlight.

"I'm talking about the way you pretend you are holding back some kind of great power when you struggle to dredge up the spirit energy you use for that little trick I taught you before you betrayed me by locking me up deep inside that disgusting human body!"

By the time Yoko reached the end of his speech, it had become a tirade. He floated up a few feet, his golden eyes flashing red and his ears flattened back against hair that blew back from his face by some kind of unfelt wind.

Kurama took an involuntary step backward, feeling a deep fear he had never experienced before. The panic in his eyes amused Yoko and seemed to calm him down. Once again, he stood before Kurama with a satisfied grin.

"I believe you are finally beginning to understand your proper place," he purred. "I am the demon here. And you . . . you are just a little weak human. Isn't that right . . . Shuichi?"

The sneer Yoko put in Kurama's human name seemed to give him just enough courage to break the hypnotic hold the gold eyes had on him. He straightened up to show he was done being bullied around.

"Yes. My name is Shuichi. And I am proud of the name my mother gave me. I decided to stay a human because of her, so I denied your return to Spirit World. But I can't see how you could call me weak since I have been able to keep you restrained for this long."

"Restrained?!" Yoko bellowed. "You kept me a prisoner! Locked so far down inside that you couldn't even find me when you wanted to! Can you even fathom how humiliating it has been for me? Trapped in the body I chose as my salvation! But don't think you accomplished this feat by any kind of strength on your part. It was the love you had for your mother that weakened my attempts to escape. It was like thick bands of steel wrapping around me, locking me up tight. Then, when you used the mirror to save her life, I had a small glimmer of hope. Shuichi's life would be taken, but I, Yoko Kurama, would finally be freed! But that didn't happen, did it? Your love for that woman was reinforced by the love that grew for your friends. So there I was; condemned to spend your human lifetime shackled inside you while you brazenly used my powers to fight for everything I despise -- love, peace, happiness, friendship, and worst of all, humans!"

"I don't know how you got free," Kurama said. "I don't know how you were able to take over my body. I'm not even sure yet how I'm going to lock you back up, but somehow I have to do it. I can't allow you to hurt anyone else the way you almost did Keiko."

"Ah, Keiko," Yoko sighed. "She tasted good, didn't she? The first thing I'm going to do when I'm finished with you is continue to sample that delicacy."

"Stay away from her!" Kurama yelled and launched himself at the demon. Yoko laughed and jumped over Kurama's head, landing silently behind him. Kurama spun around for another attack, but couldn't see his adversary anywhere in the darkness.

"Do you want to know how I was able to finally break those chains that bound me?" Yoko asked, his voice seeming to come from all directions at once. "Ironic, that it was another human emotion that ate away at my prison. An emotion that I'm sure you tried to hide from everyone, especially yourself. An emotion that has been known to break the strongest of human psyches. Guilt!"

Kurama gasped. A river of ice coursed down his back the same time drops of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"That's right," Yoko said in his ear. "A guilt that has been brewing for quite some time now. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

"N-No," he answered, feeling himself shaking all over.

"Oh, I think you do," Yoko chuckled in his other ear. "A guilt that sprung from that little secret you've kept hidden almost as well as me? A secret about a certain person? A certain person who is in your thoughts day and night? Thoughts you should not be entertaining because that person belongs to another? Another who is supposedly your friend? A friend that has risked his life for yours more than once? Thus the deep guilt that eats away at you like acid."

Kurama opened his mouth to deny the accusation, but realized Yoko was merely stating the truth. He wondered how could he have let the guilt build up to such an amount that it overshadowed everything else and released the demon he believed to be under control?

"I can see you are ready to admit your guilt. Too bad it's too late. I am already free. And I plan on taking my life back . . .now!"

Kurama saw the clawed hand closing in on his neck, but could not muster up enough energy to react. How could he fight this demon? Maybe he did deserve whatever he was going to do to him. It would certainly be easier than having to live with the guilt any longer.

"That's it," Yoko said, tightening his grip around Kurama's neck until his green eyes bulged. "Give me your life. Then I should have enough strength to take care of a few more humans. Then, finally, I will be ready to return to Spirit World. Do you have a preference to which one I devour first? I can't decide between the woman you love and the girl you covet."

With the last of his remaining energy, Kurama reached up to pry the fingers from his throat, only to find there was nothing there to grab. Although Yoko could touch him, his hands passed right through the demon's arm.

"What's the matter, Shuichi? Having second thoughts? You may as well give up and let me take you. Without me, you can't even engage your spirit energy. But by all means put up your meager attempt to save your life. It whets my appetite for those upcoming morsels."

The last thing Kurama saw before losing consciousness was a blinding light. The last thing he thought was how sorry he was for failing the people he cared about.