Fox in Human Clothing (Open RP, Grounds)

[serrulata]

Technically, he was looking for Kusuriyuri. Though on a scale of one to distracted, Kurama was enjoying his reclaimed humanity just a bit more than he'd planned on doing. As birthday gifts went, that (aside from the dubious box from Kuronue he hadn't the courage to open yet) had been the best

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[prettypendulum]

Something nagged at him to go down to that little spot of red he could see from the towers window by V's room. Usually his instincts were pretty good, but ever since he started to hang around the humans more, to care for them, he noticed that that gut feeling was less and less instinct and more guilt.

He swooped down, gliding until he landed behind Kurama smoothly. He jogged up to his side. "Did you like it?" he asked, referring to said dubious box he'd given him for his birthday.

[serrulata]

Kurama grinned up (and wow, wasn't THAT the weirdest feeling in the world) at Kuronue. "Haven't had much chance to use any yet, what with one thing and another," he kept his tone light to indicate that work, and not the incident with Karasu, was the reason he'd been distracted. He could see enough guilt in poor Kuronue's eyes already.

"You do know how to make a guy feel appreciated, though," he laughed.

[prettypendulum]

He shrugged. "I give you the same thing every year. No big." Sex toys were all he ever gave anyone other than Kayo and sometimes Yukimura.

He shoved his hands into his pockets. That thing was still nagging him. He sighed. "So uh... we need to talk."

[serrulata]

He was not particularly dreading a conversation with Kuronue, but something in the way he stood, like a kid about to tell his mom he'd accidentally broken that priceless heirloom in the foyer, made him pause.

Kuro wasn't likely acting guilty over the way he'd growled at and accused Kusuriyuri; he may be many things, but Kuronue didn't have that much room for guilt in his head. So, what was it? Something with Jing, maybe? Or something else?

He said nothing, waiting for Kuronue to continue.

[prettypendulum]

"Maybe some things here would have been possible to prevent if I had've known some things beforehand... If I had've been more aware, put two and two together sooner... Asked his name..." He winced. He'd gotten sloppy in his time here.

He raised a hand and scratched at the back of his neck. This really wasn't something he was looking forward to saying considering he knew just how Kurama felt about the man in question. "Well...anyway..."

He took a deep breath. "I knew Karasu in Meikai."

[serrulata]

There was a moment of pure blankness.

He'd had nightmares about it before, Karasu hunting down the souls of the very few people that had ever mattered to him. Demons were excellent at being cruel even in death, and his darkest dreams had provided many sleepless nights on that regard. Because of this, his brain frantically reinterpreted 'knew' the wrong way, trying to force his very logical mind to believe the opposite of what he knew was heartbreakingly true.

And it hurt. Karasu had corrupted so many things Kurama held sacred, but those things had been here, and from long before. He never imagined that he'd really have the opportunity or pure obsessive willpower to continue that trend in Demon Hell.

Kurama shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down, away, chewing on his lip while he tried not to let it affect him as much as it was.

"Ignorance is bliss," he mumbled, wishing he could believe it. "How long?"

[prettypendulum]

"Ahh..." Well, at least he wasn't attacking him outright. Still the tone of Kurama's voice had him petrified and squirming, fidgeting. He picked at his nails. "A few years. He hadn't been dead all that long before I came here."

He rubbed at his face. "I didn't realise it was him until I saw him go all blond and...well he was just so much like you--like you used to be--and I couldn't pass that up. Kitsune live for..." He stopped himself. Kurama had died and hadn't wanted to come to him. He'd body hoped and lived on. What else could he have done but scramble for the crumbs he could get of Kurama through those he killed.

[serrulata]

That's not true! Part of him screamed. And, it wasn't true now, but...

But that was why he hated and feared Karasu so much. Karasu reminded him of what being the villain was like, what having such power and no conscience did. He'd been cruel to Kuronue, and now it was breaking everything he'd built. Now he knew what it was like to be the "hero," and the taste was bitter as the knowledge that the only one that could be blamed for this was him.

He fought with himself over this, and then reminded himself that he couldn't wallow in pity. Though it was preferable to asking the next important question. "Does Yukimura know?"

[prettypendulum]

That...that he didn't want to deal with.

"No," he said quietly. "I just want to crawl into a hole and pretend it all doesn't exist for a while." Which was what he'd been doing up in the sky. Forgetting. "I will tell him...I just don't know if its too soon after he--well."

He couldn't make himself say it.

[serrulata]

Kurama nodded, sympathy covering the hurt and the anger. He couldn't be angry at Kuronue for something he had caused; it was far too unfair.

"It'll hurt him more the longer you wait," he said, his voice soft. He may not want to accept that he hurt, but his voice was a dead giveaway. He closed his eyes in a grimace and cleared his throat, trying not to emote this time. "He won't blame you; it isn't as if you set Karasu on him willingly. Or knew the situation would have escalated."

[prettypendulum]

"I could have taken what he did to Yukimura. Enjoyed it. He's done worse to me in the past..." He made an annoyed sound. "I keep thinking that I could have prevented it..." And then there was that traitorous little thought in the back of his head that still craved Karasu for his cruelty, stolen from him by Kurama's humanity and Yukimura's kind heartedness. "Taken his place somehow..."

And maybe there was a really idiotic plan in there that he was baking in his need to fuck Karasu up for what he'd done to Yukimura.

[serrulata]

Kurama looked up sharply, ready to say that under no circumstances would that happen, and then remembered who he was talking to. He knew Kuronue's past, not just the part he'd played on it but the real past, and knew that Yukimura's pain now was nothing compared to what Kuro had endured. That thought hurt even more.

But then, he knew Kuronue was clever enough to use that to his advantage. Kurama would have done the same under those circumstances.

"You're planning something." The look in his eyes was hungry. He wanted to know, to help, to do whatever was necessary to destroy Karasu the way he'd destroyed the careful balance of peace in this place.

[prettypendulum]

He smiled at Kurama. "Maybe." He turned his eyes forward. "If we know what buttons to push, people are easy to break down. He won't kill me. He doesn't love me. He loves you. It's why he didn't kill Yukimura."

He fell silent for a long moment. "Give me time with him, Kurama. That's all I want. Time alone with him. No one in, no one out. Can you do that?" He turned to look at him, that same sharp edged rage that had lessened in him a little after being in Yukimura's presence for so long.

[serrulata]

No, were Kurama's first, second, and third thoughts. He didn't want to allow that, to let Kuronue anywhere near that walking, burning cancer of a demon. Not because the very thought of Karasu made his skin crawl, but because a very small and evil thought at the back of his mind said: If you let him, there is a chance he'll decide he wants to be hurt more than he wants to be loved.

But, ultimately, it wasn't his decision to make. He bowed his head, his hands clenching into fists in his pockets. "I trust you to know what to do," he said, only half believing the words he spoke. He was terrified that the little thought might be right, but refused to show it. "Just... be careful. I will take care of the rest." Because, after all, he still loved Kuronue, and there was so, so much to make up for.

[prettypendulum]

Kuronue wasn't entirely sure what he'd do to him yet, but he was sure that he was one of the few who could withstand Karasu long enough to get to him. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "Just let me know when you are ready."

He looked down at the grass, at Kurama's bare feet. "It would mean a lot to me, to be able to get him back for what he did. For all that he's done. Not only to the others, but to you as well."

[serrulata]

"Whenever," he mumbled, looking away and trying not to acknowledge the little voice that said 'this is your fault, you should be the one baiting Karasu.' He squared his shoulders, kicking himself mentally for the self-pity.

"I'll do everything I can."