Mizume snorted. He had learned that youko had a pride bigger than the three worlds and was as stubborn as hell... But he also knew that right now the over confident youko had a weakness, the same he was trying to protect. That other youkai, the jaganshi.
He had to admit that jaganshi was a very powerful youkai, he was surprised he was still alive. But as Mizume had been surprised by his resistance, Hiei had been surprised by the he had weaken so fast. Mizume had almost laugh at the jaganshi's expression and that had animated to give him some answers that he wasn't thinking about giving him...

"Impossible..." The jaganshi whispered after some words from Mizume, expressionless, as he tried a glance to Kurama.
"Don't misunderstand things, jaganshi." Mizume answered. "It's true you have a powerful youki, the only reason you are here is because we set an intelligent trap and you fall on it easily. To say true we didn't know it'd be so easy... but at least I know why now..."
"Kisama..." But Mizume just laughed to Hiei's murderous eyes.

"Returning where we were leading, the reason why you are so weak is because your energy is being drained, as the youko's, but with the difference that he is youko. See," Mizume crossed he legs in a sitting position as he floated in the air, his chin resting in his intertwined hands. "When someone has sex what happens is that you focus your energy in that and usually it doesn't affect you ki level because you recover it. It's like a closed system because, after you have shared your energy with whoever you were sleeping with, in the end it returns to you. You can't avoid it, every living being use this when sex comes, that's one of the reasons it's so pleasant." Mizume smiled brightly. "But your friend here is a Youko, a not very common kind of youkai, youko are sort of hard to find but no impossible." His like liquid blue eyes turned to the silver youko in an appreciative way, "Oh, but who we have here is Youko Kurama no less, the only silver youko in Makai and the most powerful one, too." The same glare that made Hiei give Mizume a very nasty one. But the youko just kept a cold and indifferent expression. "Youko are creatures that like to feel intensely, the pleasures of the body. And they are masters in the Art of Pleasure. In youko the energy they use is different, they don't make use of their own youki in it. Youko are not very powerful creatures, with Kurama's exception of course, but then how do they do to have such an strong effect in others when it comes to pleasure? You see, everything in a youko is alive, from the top of the fur of his pointed ears to the nails of their feet, and in Kurama's case even his white outfit is made by his own youki. So when a youko has sex he or she use a different kind of energy that just they know how to produce, that is not their youki, and when they use it consumes completely, it doesn't return to them, that's why a sexual experience with a youko is the most orgasmic in the three words. Their sensuality and their beauty also contributes I can say. That's why they are well known for their skills in bed, besides they have a very fruitful imagination. So, in summary, youko have... How can I say it...? A different source of this kind of energy that doesn't exactly regenerates, it keeps on flowing out as an eternal fountain."

"Mizume, how do you came to know that much about youko all of a sudden?" Interrupted Kurama's deep voice with a very cynical smile in his lips.
"I've done a research. It happens that all of a sudden I'm interested in a particular youko."

Mizume didn't know how Hiei had taken all the information he had shared with him, but he, Mizume, was impressed with all he had learned about youko in those days... And what confused hiim the most was that silver youko, Kurama... that thief was not 'just' a youko, he was a very complex mixture of contingencies, a complete contradiction.
Since the statue had been removed from the prisoners chambers he had paid a visit every night to that silver youko and let him has his way with him, even if it was the result of the lust spell... maybe that was why that Hiei was still alive, he had spared some of his 'work' anyway... Yeah, he was interested, very interested in that youko and in what was hidden behind the golden irises.
Suddenly a sharp pain in his head made him fall to his knees. It was as if his head were parting in two halves. The entire world vanished in front of his eyes for a while so sharp and deep was his pain.
Mizume began hearing voices again and the pain began fading away slowly...
"Mizume-sama! Mizume-sama! Is the Sir all right?"
"Sir, the prisoner... the ceremony will be soon..."
"I know." Mizume snarled, his head still beating madly. "I'll take care of it, now leave me alone."

_______________________________

"You alright?"
"Yeah."
Silence.
"Liar."
"If you know then why you ask?"
Hiei snorted to Kurama's answer. The stubborn youko was still in his human body after all the spells that had been thrown to him. Kurama was nothing near well, but he had to admit that he was right, Hiei didn't feel as weak as before as he told him. Kurama had been right, it was fastly replaced...

"Yes Hiei, all Mizume said was true." Silence. "And I have a temporal solution. Your energy will return to you quickly if they had nothing to absorb, so the only thing I have to do is not to touch you. Energy wasted in sex is easely replased, you'll see."

And Kurama had forced himself to remain in his human body and haven't change since then. Before doing that Kurama had said he had a plan to get them out of there, but he didn't tell it to him saying the walls had ears and didn't mention it again.
Kurama eyes turned to the door in from of them. Yeah, Hiei could feel it too, someone was approaching and he could recognize the energy.
The doors opened up and in front of them appeared the slim and ethereal figure of the blue eyed creature.

"I've heard you are giving troubles, Kurama."
The redhead didn't answer, he just kept on looking at Mizume with cold green eyes.
"I'm not in the mood to put up with your stubbornness today." But the redhead didn't even show a reaction to his words. "Kuso!" Mizume swore, the throbbing in his head didn't cease yet. Just a thought and the energy chains trapped their bodies, making impossible to move much.
Hiei made an useless intent to avoid it, but Kurama didn't even flinched at it, his piercing and cold eyes locked in Mizume's ones.

The creature's fist began glowing. "I told you I'm not in the mood today."
The blow was direct in the redhead's chest, making Kurama's body shine, his hair began to loose it's bloody color to a most shiny silver one... But then the hair began recovering the previous color as the energy faded in the human body.
Mizume's eyes widened. How was it possible? Their energies were blocked by a very powerful kekkai, they were defenseless" Then how could Kurama reverse his attack!? Unless... His eyes stretched dangerously.

"All right, if you want it that way, you'll have it that way." Said Mizume with a hand in his head, trying to slow down the throbbing in it that had increased since he had put a foot in that chamber... it was turning almost unbearable. He walked with steady and long steps and stopped in front of the indifferent youko with human body.
Mizume grabbed Kurama's arm and pulled him, forcing him to stand up and he seized the redhead's chin. The calm and cold expression haven't changed a bit, nor a single second since he had entered and that was infuriating Mizume.
"All right, youko, you wanted it this way." Mizume grunted as his hand began glowing again, but this time his nails changed it's shape, they grown longer in a second, turning like sharp long and pointed knives.

"KURAMA!" Hiei's voice echoed in the room, reflecting the terrific look in his eyes.
It had been to fast, too fast he could see it... specially since his energy was locked inside his body. One second Mizume had been growling to an apathetic Kurama and the next the creature's glowing hand was inside the frail human body, exactly where the human heart was. Hiei couldn't avoid yelling his friend's name when he saw all the amount of blood that flowed from Kurama's chest and mouth.
The human body began shinning with Mizume's energy and it fall over the creature.
"Well Kurama, will you turn back or will you choose death." Mizume received no answer but he could feel his power transforming Kurama's body to the original one. A side smile was formed in his lips.

"Ah?" Mizume almost jumped back when he felt that Kurama clutched to his body strongly. The blood that painted his hand began glowing with an energy that wasn't his... it was Kurama's and it was spreading all over his body with an amazing speed, mixturing with his own energy.
Mizume tried to retreat but couldn't, Kurama was so tightly clutched to his body that even the idea of it was impossible. The same sharp pain that had taken his head a while ago returned when he felt Kurama digging his now sharpen nails into his back, rigth in the spine. The pain was so intense it became unbearable, felt like passing out... the last thing he saw was a couple of golden eyes shinning with an unholy glow.

End of part nine.