Thanks so much for being patient with me and my inconsistent updates throughout all of this, everyone. I’m sorry that it’s been so long, but just recently my brother suffered a massive stroke, and is in the hospital...a whole freakin’ five hours away.
Needless to say, I can’t visit him.
But fear not! Here it is people, THE LAST PART, and I mean it this time. I hope you’ve had fun, and many thanks to all the people who’ve stuck with this from the start, and helped out along the way. Without you, this would have been stuck somewhere around chapter four, and never would have been finished.
I enjoyed my time with you all, and if you want to make it last longer, you know what to do!
Merry meet and merry part, until we merry meet again.
May the God and Goddess bless you.
As I will, so mote it be.
-Tsu
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The Fox’s Rose
By MistressTsunami AKA shinchansgirl
Chapter Ten/Epilogue for version 2
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You thought I was just a spark.
Something that you could control,
To light the dark.
I am the flame,
That lights the inferno.
-T-shirt from NeonDragonArt “Fire”
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Kurama knew that he wasn’t feeling well. Hell, the way things had been going, he considered himself lucky to be able to feel at all.
But that wasn’t what was on his mind when he first woke up. No, he was more concerned with the fact that his demon powers had been awakened, and, instead of living out his human life as he had planned, he could feel his human body slowly disintegrating as his demon body formed.
There had been some ruckus earlier, but that had been some time ago, and he could now feel the protective ward that surrounded his body.
At least someone in his pack was thinking clearly.
...Pack?
Of course, with the body of a demon came the mind of a demon, and it didn’t take long for Kurama to realize that, not only was his human body melting away, but, in fact, it already had.
He lifted his fox nose into the air, his ears perked forward as he listened to all the sounds that surrounded him, and took in the scents in the room. He could smell the dead body of his human self, now no where to be found, and the spicy scent of Hiei, combined with the smell of gunpowder, tea, and flowers. The tea and flowers he immediately placed as Yukina, as she was the only one he knew of that carried that particular mixture of scents, and the last he assumed to be Karasu.
Karasu would soon no longer be an issue.
Youko shook his fur, dislodging the ward as he did, and not caring. Once the heat passed from Karasu’s body, he would likely be unconcerned with what had transpired, ending the charade of seeking Kurama as a mate.
Of course, in this form, the idiot was likely to want him as a pet.
Hopping down from the bed, Kurama nudged the door open and followed Hiei’s scent, knowing that it led to the rest of his pack. He could hear Kuwabara’s snores, and Yuusuke’s muttering.
Actually, the detective’s words made some sort of twisted sense.
“Not a damn pet...offa case...want as mate...three...”
Okay, most of the words made sense, the three was a bit random, and Kurama didn’t want to know what the detective was dreaming about. It was most likely a nightmare. It could have been about his first case, having to fight three demons to retrieve three treasures, or it could have been about that three headed dog that guarded his den, or...it could have truly been totally random.
Not that it mattered to the fox.
Yukina was humming softly, in the same room, that he could hear, but other than that the room was empty.
Where had that little fire demon gone? He wanted to thank him for the placement of the ward, and to inform him of the pack’s immediate departure once the others awoke.
Following the scent as it once again left the room the pack was in, Kurama followed it to a grand hall he had, obviously, never seen before. The smell of gunpowder increased a hundred times over, and was mixed with the spicy scent of fire. He caught the last part of the conversation as it was spoken, understanding both the obvious and hidden implications.
”Perhaps you can find me tonight with that eye of yours, and then you could come and join me. Come and feel the real thing.”
Kurama watched as both started to leave the room as he shifted into his more human-looking, and it wasn’t until Karasu was almost gone that he felt calm enough to speak, though the anger filtered through as well. “Karasu.”
Both demons turned to face the kitsune. “Kurama?” Karasu asked, his voice slightly muffled by the mask. “I didn’t know that you were awake, love. Are you feeling all right?”
“I am not your love, Karasu, nor am I your mate. I told you before that there were things that we needed to discuss; best to get that out of the way now, before we leave.”
“Leave?” Karasu asked, perplexed, yet sitting in his chair once more, and motioning for the other two demons to join him on the raised dais.
“Yes, leave. I hope that you can assume from my actions that I prefer not to go through with the more traditional method of mating for the kitsune. While that may have been my choice in the past, more recent circumstances have shown me a better, more secure method of choosing the proper mate for myself.” Kurama did not sit, but stood propped against the wall, all hints of his earlier bedridden state completely gone. Hiei sat where he was on the floor, listening, and ready to move if need be.
“As it is so, you can see why I was disappointed with the method you chose, especially considering the situation we were in.”
Karasu opened his mouth to defend himself, but Kurama cut him off. “Let me finish.
“I am, however, prepared to give you another chance. You didn’t help your situation any by doing this, however, and have, more likely, hindered it. As a human, I admit that you frightened me at first. Assuming you were dead, however, was my own fault, and only I am to blame.
“But coming and insisting on mating, and insisting on the ritual of mate was not the way to gain a willing partner and pack.
“As it is, you must gain the trust of each and every one of my pack members before you may even consider once more attempting to mate, and very few will trust what you say while you are in heat.”
Karasu looked startled, and questioning, but knew better than to open his mouth after being cut off once.
“After that, I will tell you what needs to be done, but you must have complete trust of the entire pack before that. All nine of them, Karasu, including Hiei and myself. As for my mother...” Kurama’s eyes hooded, and the temperature dropped drastically in the room. “Come near her again and rip out that bleeding heart of yours and feed it to you.”
Karasu gulped, and Hiei smirked, obviously enjoying the pain of the one he considered to be a pest.
“You had a question?”
Karasu nodded. “You said that few would trust what I said while I was in heat. I want to know what you meant.”
“Heat. The time when the body prepares to mate, and is willing to mate with any that the body finds acceptable. For some creatures, this is only one other. For some, more. Many more, in a few cases. Your body accepts only three. I am one. From your actions towards him, Hiei is another. I know not who the third is, but know this: mate with either of us, and you will mate with no one else.” Kurama looked up, a twisted smile on his face. “Of course, considering the fact that you are in heat now made the situation rather more complicated than it needed to be, did it not?”
Karasu didn’t get a chance to reply, as both demons were soon gone, and it wasn’t much later that he felt the members of the pack leave his palace as well. That left him alone with Night, awaiting the progress of a castle that he was no longer certain would have a king.
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Same applies for this version: ten replies asking for sequel = sequel,
less = no sequel,
more = sequel FASTER.
Make me a happy girl: review.
Make me a REALLY happy girl: tell me you liked this.
Make me a happy girl, and you a happy reader: tell me what needs improvement.
Make me cookies, too, I like those.
-Tsunami-
//Proud member of SDDI//
//Proud member of Winner Products//
//Yes, I’ve fallen off the edge of the universe again. You got a problem with that?//
//Of course I’m evil, you expected something less?//
//Because everyone should believe that Fei-Fei, Rama-babe, Fluffy-san and Du-chan are cute.//
//Evil shouldn’t look this good.//
THE END
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