Pain…shooting through my body…I'm trapped in a dark room, trapped because I have no where to go. No where to run, if I leave he will hunt me down. I will never be free, until he's dead but I know he will not die. Is this my punishment for my past sins, Enma? Why have you giving this demon free reign over my life, what sin was enough to warrant this punishment? Inari, I have not killed the humans that you so greatly cherish, you know I have never attacked first.

I hear footsteps, he is coming back. He will torture me again. I cannot think to beg for mercy from this thing, I cannot call him a man for he has no soul. I hope to Inari that his brother or Bui will return. He seems to be afraid of them, he will at least listen to them. I could laugh at their ignorance, though, they have no clue how he really is. Only I really know…and I cannot stop him from doing what-ever he wants to me. My only hope is to die in the tournament, then and only then can I escape. Please let escape come…

Chapter one

"Let the Dark Tournament begin!" called the announcer, Koto, into her mike as the first two teams stepped up to face each other. The first round was to be Team Rukuyukai vs. Team Urameshi, at least that was what he had been told.

Karasu stood away from the crowd in one of the darkened hallways, he could see the area well enough. He was glad to have a chance to be on his own for once, he was always under watch by people working under the Toguro's like some kid or jewel. It wasn't if he was going to run away, no, he would not try that little venture again.

Karasu leaned against a tree taking deep breaths, he had no clue how far he had run, but he new he couldn't stop, he wasn't nearly far away. He would only be far enough away when he reached the sea or human world. Karasu glanced behind him he didn't see anyone, he had long since lost the demons that were sent after him, by the elder Toguro. The younger of the brother's didn't particularly care if Karasu left or not, but the elder did for reasons unknown to his brother. But Karasu knew why.

Karasu took off running again sensing the his demon pursuers close, he had stopped for too long. As he ran he summoned a bomb and threw it behind him, not letting it detonate on contact with the ground, but remain as a mine. 'That should slow them down,' he thought.

Karasu skidded to a stop as he reached the edge of a cliff, this he had not calculated he had no clue that they were positioned on a cliff. He turned ready to kill the demons that were sent after him and find another way to escape. His eyes widened as only one demon stepped out of the forest, the elder Toguro.

"So, the little birdie thought he could escape, did he?" stated the elder Toguro making a pun on Karasu's name.

Karasu glared at the elder brother summoning a bomb, he didn't care if he couldn't kill the worm or if he died in the attempt, just as long as he could blow off something. But just before he could finish creating a bomb he felt his power blocked, causing a nasty ricochet of the power that he had already released. Karasu felt to his knees, as he did he felt something sharp stab into his shoulder. He winced as Toguro withdrew his finger from the younger demon's shoulder.

"What do you want from me?" hissed Karasu with his eyes closed.

"You know what I want, Karasu," replied the elder Toguro as Karasu's world went dark.

Karasu shuddered slightly as he remembered what happened when he awoke. Try as hard as he could he could not block any of the nights that the Elder Toguro had "claimed" him from his memory. Karasu turned his attention back to the fights, trying to block the scenes of his past from his vision. He surveyed the entire Urameshi Team, he knew in the back of his mind that if his team won the tournament that all three humans would be killed, he already knew that "the masked fighter" would die before the finals, the younger Toguro had something to settle with her.

Karasu stepped out of the darkness to get a better look at the two demons standing ring side, they were harder to figure out. It was likely that they would just be killed in battle, but both Toguro's knew what Karasu's wish was to be, he was going to wish for his life back. Which meant the elder Toguro would need a new toy to play with, so it was just as likely that he might choose one of the two demons from Urameshi's team. But which one was the question, neither one of them were bad looking they would both be difficult to break, but Karasu knew from experience that the elder Toguro excelled at breaking a person's spirit, demon and human alike.

Karasu moved further out of the darkness as one of the demons stepped up to fight, the human, Kuwabara, had lost to the childlike demon, Rinku.

"Alright the next competitors are up! So it's Roto," announced Koto pointing to the grey demon from the Rukuyukai team, " and Kurama!" she pointed to the red headed fox demon from team Urameshi.

Karasu starred down at the red head, he looked somewhat familiar, but Karasu couldn't place it. He watched as the match unfurled, shortly after the match started Roto pulled a dirty move to put Kurama out of the advantage for a moment. The lower class demons in the stands seemed to think that Roto had the red head pinned, but Karasu had seen him sow the 'deadly vetch seed' into Roto's body. Kurama obviously out classed this weakling, for the scythe wielding demon didn't even notice the seed. Karasu would have known, even with Kurama's so called distraction.

The match was soon over as Kurama quickly turned the tables and showed his opponent just who had the control over the fight. He ended the wretch's life quickly with one word, giving his team a point to put them back into the game. The fans seemed disappointed with the Rukuyukai team for their loss, but they boos and hisses were quickly silenced when Zeru stepped up to the plate.

Karasu had heard of Zeru from some of the under ground demons, he was in a whole other class then the rest of his team, though Rinku was said to have some potential if he had the right instructor.

"Third match, Zeru vs. Hiei! BEGIN!" announced Koto backing away from the fighters.

'Fire Demon vs. Fire Apparition, this will be interesting to say the least,' thought Karasu leaning against the wall to watch the fight.

Zeru immediately started to flaunt his fire powers, pushing them out around the arena as a form of intimidation, though it didn't seem to faze Hiei in the slightest. The three eyed demon even went so far to claim boredom with the fight. This only served to tick Zeru off, the fire demon unleashed a powerful attack that would have burned any normal demon to cinders, but not Hiei. He survived and replied with a powerful attack of his own, "The Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

Karasu was surprised that anyone on Yusuke's team could be strong enough to unleash the black dragon from the pits of spirit world. It was a move that was actually forbidden on the human plan, but of course anything goes in the Dark Tournament.

As Hiei left the ring Karasu noticed that he did not come out of the fight unscathed, the raven haired demon's right arm had been severely damaged by that attack.

"It seems that he doesn't actually have control over the black dragon after all," stated a quiet yet high-pitched voice.

Karasu glared at the owner of the voice, without saying a word, he walked away. He would not remain in the presence of the elder Toguro if he could help it. The elder Toguro watched him leave with a smirk on his face, he loved the control he had over "his little birdie."

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Karasu observed most of Yusuke's fight with the real leader of the Rukuyukai team, Chuu, from another location. For the last half he thought he would get a different view, he headed up to the VIP boxes. When he was only a few feet away from his destination three demon guards stopped him, demanding to see some ID. But instead of giving it to them, Karasu just blew up the first guard he needed to relieve some stress.

The other guards attacked him, but they were weak and stood no chance against Karasu's powers. He took a deep breath of the sulfur in the air and felt the tension go away. He put on a hardened expression, he refused to show any emotion in front of either of the Toguros. He entered the VIP suite.

"There's still a long way to go before it's your turn to fight, Karasu," stated the younger Toguro as Karasu closed the door behind him.

Karasu walked away from the door, "I heard that there was a fighter that might be worth my time." 'As if you didn't already know that I was here, your brother would never let me trail to far away from his side.'

"That's Urameshi down there," replied Toguro looking back down at the fight.

"So I've been watching," Karasu moved to stand next to Toguro and started to watch the fight again.

Yusuke and Chuu were locked in a 'knife edge death-match,' and for once the entire stadium was completely quiet. The lower class apparitions had never seen to fighters like this before, they were captivated by the amount of passion they were both fighting with. It left the entire stadium in awe, even the VIPS, who had seen the tournament many times over, were not making an snide remarks or comments of any kind. It was defiantly ending up being a fight that would be chronicled, but most of all it seemed that it was important to Yusuke and Chuu to find out who was the stronger fighter. Both were focused so much on their fighting that it seemed they were in their own world.

The fight had lasted for a while, and it had captivated so many people in the stadium that it came as a sudden shock when the fight ended with a skull cracking head-butt, giving Yusuke the win over Chuu. This also gave the Urameshi team the victory and allowed them to advance further into the tournament. Many of the VIPS were not surprised, but the underlings in the stands seemed disappointed that Yusuke and his friends where not killed.

'What are they complaining about, this just gives them more a chance to see the guest team suffer,' thought Karasu crossly, he disliked the lower classes, but only because they were not very smart and not because he out classed them so greatly. He only disliked those who were stronger then him and those who did not match his intellect.

"What do you think, Karasu, is he worth your time?" asked Toguro looking at the masked fighter next to him.

"Only if he keeps winning," stated Karasu watching Team Urameshi walk off the field, his eyes focused on Kurama.

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Alone in this darkness again…I should have died, he purposely keeps me alive. My wounds will heal soon and he will be back, it's the same every day. I cannot express what he has done and will do to me, it is to grotesque even for me to remember. How I survive the night is still a mystery to me, I suppose it is my demonic powers that are keeping me alive, since I have survived attacks that have brought me closer to death then I am right now.

Inari, I ask you the same question every night, even though I know you will not answer me. Please, let me die…how have I not already drowned in my own blood? What have I done to deserve this?

"Get up! Karasu, you are stronger then this. You're a fool to let him control you like this!"

I could almost laugh, how long has he known? "Why have you done nothing?" my voice must have been harsh, for I've have never seen him flinch away from anyone.

"You know as well as I do, I can do nothing against the elder. If I could find a way for the younger to see what his brother has done to you, I'm --"

I cut him off, "You have to much faith in a man who is so evil, have you already forgotten what he did to both to us?"

"Karasu, we challenged him, he was merciful enough to let us live," stated Bui as calmly as he could.

My eyes flashed red, "You call this living!"

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Karasu stood just outside of the forest of Hanging Neck Island, starring at the sea. He took deep breaths, closing his eyes, trying to remain calm, remain in control. It was hard sometimes, to control his powers, sometimes when he snapped he would loose total control. Even the elder Toguro knew that, which was why he was warded every time.

Karasu opened his eyes when he heard movement in the forest behind him, he felt a strong demon energy, stronger then most of the spectators. He hoped to hell that it wasn't a member of another team, thinking they could get rid of one of the members of team Toguro outside of the ring. He didn't want to deal with that at the present moment.

Karasu turned and saw someone that he never would have guessed he would see outside of the tournament, Kurama.

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A/N: Hey, so I'm back! You might be able to tell, but I have a thing for writing about Karasu. It might be a slight obsession, I don't know. So this is a rather dark Fic if you couldn't already tell from the title and this chapter. Sooooo, yeah...Read and Review!!