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Title: Balance of Thought, part one
Notes: Based on the anime eps 1-25. Alternate timeline from there. Part One
Genkai watched as the small group walked up the steps to her shrine. She’d felt them coming.
Her heir, his friend, Koenma’s main assistant, and one other rei that
felt… familiar. As they walked
up, she identified most of them. Yusuke,
Kazuma, Botan, and a stranger. Pale
hair surrounding a dark face. Short.
And old. Her looks said
twenty. Her bearing said something
else entirely. What
sort of a rei is that? The
woman walked through the ward-laden path with the others… and paused a moment
to go inspect one of the wards, giving a satisfied nod before returning to the
group. Who
is she? Why do I feel like I should
know her? Genkai was not used
to the feeling of uncertainty. She
had trained her memory well when she was young and adventurous.
Remembering every scrap of knowledge about things and people had gotten
her and her companions out of many a tough spot. And, even as old as she was, there still wasn’t much she
forgot. But the group was at the
top now, and heading towards her, Yusuke grinning as insolent as ever and
addressing her informally. Genkai
smiled briefly, she liked having him as a student. The outward form, and formality, did not matter when she had
such a one as he to teach.. He
grumbled, sometimes, against the training but still he stayed to learn from her.
Even now, he was back here at Genkai’s shrine, of his own accord.
She stepped forward to greet them.
“Yo, Old Lady, how’s it going?” Yusuke gave his customary greeting.
Shinka’s eyebrows about climbed off her head, “Is he always this
rude?” she asked Botan, who had rejoined them on the walk back.
“Oh, he’s getting much better!” Botan chirped happily,
“You should have seen what he was thinking when he first met
Koenma-sama!”
“Never mind, I don’t want to know…”
But this is somebody he should
honor… Why do I think I know her?
“Say, Botan…”
Botan leaned over to catch the slight whisper.
“She is human, isn’t she?”
Botan broke up laughing.
Shinka scowled, “I was serious!”
Genkai smiled, “Yes, little one, I am human.
Have been for the last sixty years, in fact.”
I didn’t mean for her to hear
that! Shinka blinked her light
hazel eyes. Little
one? Suddenly, instinct seemed
to take over and she trilled. Six
notes that went up the scale in leaps then came down.
Genkai blinked in startlement and she pursed her lips and whistled, a
single sharp note.
Awkwardly, Shinka walked to Genkai and reached for the arm that was being
held out… As her hands clasped
around Genkai’s forearm, she trilled again, a different pattern.
“How very interesting… Darkwing.”
Genkai breathed out in astonishment, “My little Darkwing…
But how?”
As ungracefully as was physically possible, Shinka let Genkai go and sat
down, hard, on the pavement next to her.
“Shin-chan?” Kuwabara approached worriedly.
Shinka held up a hand, “No, it’s okay.
Flashbacks are always a bit weird. My
human body seems so… clumsy compared to some of my animal forms.” She craned her head to look up at Genkai, “I was your pet
bird, not that many lives ago.”
“Lives?” Genkai shook
her head, “Everybody, come into the Shrine.
Yukina-san will make tea and then we can talk.”
Briefly, she touched her hand to Shinka’s head.
When she lifted it, her hand was noticeably shaking.
Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged glances, wondering what the heck was going
to happen now. Just when things
were… settled… things were all different from expectations.
“Circumstances change,” Yusuke murmured. Kuwabara rolled his eyes.
“Yukina-san!” Kuwabara started gibbering.
The small turquoise-haired girl smiled gently at him, “Hello,
Kazuma-san – it's good to see you again.”
The two smiled happily at each other, not caring about the rest of the
world.
Yusuke rolled his eyes and poured himself some tea.
Shinka quietly laughed, “What, you like watching Hiei and Kurama but
not Kuwabara and Yukina?”
Yusuke blushed furiously, “It's just that they're so...” he gestured
at Kuwabara and Yukina who hadn't even noticed them talking.
“Cute?”
Yusuke glared at Shinka.
Shinka grinned again, and this time threw out a serious suggestion,
“Absorbed?”
“Yeah…” Yusuke glanced at the pair and then away, “To watch them
seems almost like…”
“Voyeurism?”
“Huh?”
Shinka grinned, “Never mind – I know what you mean.
Hiei and Kurama are… more open to everybody else in their regard, even
if they don’t show it as obviously or often.”
The grin changed to a smile, “If these two were ever caught kissing in
public, they’d die of shame – well, Kaz-chan would. Hiei and Kurama don’t show their affection often, but
aren’t always embarrassed of it when they do.”
Yusuke stared at her in surprise, “That’s it…”
With a sad smile, Shinka informed him, “I was raised in a temple,
Yusuke. I watch and I learn for
there’s not much else I can do. Even
before I was assigned to help you, I’ve had a lot more time this life just to
contemplate all the ones before. My
other lives, I lived. This one… I
think about all the others. And
sometimes,” she waved a hand at the couple who were still quietly talking,
“it overlaps others.”
As Yusuke was about to ask another question, Botan and Genkai walked in
and sat down, which alerted Kuwabara and Yukina to the rest of the world. Yukina blushed prettily and poured the tea for everybody,
pausing and blushing again when she noted Yusuke’s cup already had some.
Yusuke shrugged in his own embarrassment – he tended to forget that
politely you weren’t supposed to pour for yourself but had to let the tea
bearer do it. He’d just put a
slur on Yukina’s duties by implying she hadn’t done it fast enough.
Actually, he wouldn’t even have known that until three months previous
when Genkai had stopped rei training for few days and instead drilled both him
and Yukina on polite etiquette. The
stated purpose for the training was so that Yukina, who had grown up in her Ice
Kingdom, would learn about the human world if she was to stay here… but Yusuke
knew it was also a pointed comment about his manners.
So I never learned either? It
certainly wasn’t my fault! Nobody
taught me! Yet even as Yusuke
thought it, he shifted uncomfortably, knowing he had never bothered to even try
to learn. As polite company
rejected him, so he rejected it.
“So,” Genkai slurped her tea, showing her appreciation for the
quality of the tea by the amount of noise, “you, Darkwing, are a reincarnated
soul. Well,” she sipped again,
“I can’t say I’m totally surprised – you always were an odd bird.”
Shinka giggled. Then
sobered, “I remember more of that life now.
It wasn’t too long after I’d hatched that I found you.
You had such a bright light around you, and such a strength of soul.
It was automatic that I stayed near you.”
“And you had such an unusual rei.
And were such an unusual bird,” Genkai held her cup with both hands and
studied the brown liquid, “My powers were increased when you were with me.
And my sense of life. I
always wondered why you stayed. For
a long time, I thought you’d been sent to me by one of the Powers,” she shot
a quick glance at Botan, “and I had a hard time trying to keep my humility.”
With a sigh, she raised her cup again, “That changed when I found out
that Darkwing was merely mortal like me.”
Shinka shrugged slightly, “Well, mostly.”
Genkai sputtered into her tea and choked.
When she regained her breath, she was laughing.
“Oh yes! Little one…
I’d gotten so wrapped up in the memories, I almost forgot that you were
sitting here in front of me.”
Yusuke broke in, having figured out what ‘mortal’ meant in this case,
“So how’d you die?”
Shinka shot him a grin, “Flew too close to the sun.”
It was Botan’s turn to giggle. The
two boys and Yukina merely looked confused.
Genkai rolled her eyes to the ceiling, “She diverted a rei blast that
was meant for me, saving my life and losing hers… well, that one at least.”
She eyed Shinka, “I hope you advanced from it – you were an immense
help to me.” Very softly, she
added, “And a good friend.”
“Oh, yes!” Shinka went on eagerly to describe her next life as a cow
in a Buddhist Temple.
“So how’d you die?”
“A raid from some starving peasants.
They started cooking me before I was even dead.”
Yukina raised her hand to her mouth in dismay.
Kuwabara frowned, “Shin-chan, you seem to die by fire an awful lot.”
“Gee,” Shinka remarked sarcastically, “I wonder why that would
be!”
“Oh.” “Yeah…”
Kuwabara and Yusuke exchanged looks as they remembered that Hiei was a
fire demon. And then they both
looked at Genkai, and at each other… “Oh
shit…” “Like we needed any
more complications…”
Genkai raised an eyebrow. “If
I might inquire,” she prodded in droll tones.
Shinka shrugged, “I’m here because Hiei will kill me.
The guys are worried you might try and stop it.”
Yukina gave a choked cry, “Hiei-san!
No!!”
“Oops…” Shinka was
dismayed at her slip. “Uhh…
it’s okay, Yukina-chan, really…”
“He can’t! Not
Hiei-san…” Yukina started to cry, “He’s really a nice person.
I know he is. He’s gentle and sweet and caring, and he can be so
thoughtful… He won’t kill you
if you’re my friend!” Gems fell
to the floor, plinking on the wood and bouncing around.
“Ahhh…” Shinka’s face was a study in consternation.
Kuwabara and Yusuke looked at each other again.
“Gentle?” “Sweet?”
“Thoughtful?!” They turned to Yukina, and Kuwabara said firmly, “You’re
talking about yourself, Yukina-san – and you’d never hurt anybody.
It’s okay, stop crying, please.”
He reached out a finger as if to touch her cheek then drew back, glancing
at Shinka.
Shinka shrugged and tried again, “Yukina-chan, it’s okay.
I deserve it. I did
something bad to your—”
Yusuke jerked, throwing up his hands as he rapidly tried to figure out
how to stop… He relaxed as he saw
Shinka sputtering through the tea dripping down her face and blouse. He put his empty tea cup down carefully, pressing his lips
firmly together so not to laugh. I
didn’t mean to… well, luck is a function of rei power.
“Hot!” Shinka jumped up and started wafting her shirt from her skin.
“Even for you, Yusuke,” Genkai remarked serenely, lifting her cup
again, “That was remarkably clumsy.”
“Yukina-san,” Botan smoothly got up, “Let’s go outside while they
talk.”
With a sniffle, Yukina stood and followed Botan out.
Shinka sat back down and curiously picked up one of the tear gems,
turning it over in her hand. “It’s
clear,” she said, obviously surprised.
Genkai also picked one up, “I guess I can afford the repairs to the
dojo now.” She glanced at Yusuke,
“After this training session, boy, it’s going to need it.”
Yusuke smothered a groan.
Shinka picked up a couple more, “They’re all clear.”
“I thought all Ice Maiden’s tears were clear gems…” Kuwabara
asked, puzzled.
“Well, Hiei’s were usually blue.
Sometimes green. A lot of
black… Every now and then there
was one the most beautiful shade of violet-blue, deep and dark until you looked
at it in the light and then it sparkled so…
Those were prized most, but I rarely gave those out.” Through amber-gold eyes, she smiled, “I liked those the
best, you see.” She brought one
of the gems to her lips, “Hiei…”
Kuwabara hadn’t noticed the color change, he was too busy sputtering,
“Hiei???? But he’s…
He’s…” He blinked,
“Why the hell was Hiei thrown out of the Ice Kingdom anyway?”
Ah, shit! Yusuke dropped his head in his hands. Given the right clues,
even a dummy can figure it out!!
Hazel-amber eyed, Shinka dropped the gems in her hand, “You’re right. He’s not an Ice Maiden.
I don’t know why that surprised me.
Of course a pure koorime would shed clear gems.”
She shook her head and sighed, turning to Genkai, “You see – that’s
one of the problems. The reason
I’m in this mess is because I broke Hiei long ago.
Now, the only way for me to atone is for him to kill me.
When he kills me, the cycle ends.”
Genkai nodded slowly, “I understand.
I will not interfere with you and Hiei.”
Thoughtfully, she added, “Though I don’t think he will kill you with
Yukina here.”
Shinka wrinkled her nose, “I shouldn’t have mentioned that in front
of her. I’m sorry.”
She grinned ruefully, “If Hiei finds out I upset her, he will
kill me!” Picking up her own tea
cup, Shinka blew across the surface and watched the ripples, “She should never
have experienced pain. She is made
for happiness and joy everlasting. A
gentle and pure heart. But
something has created a support of steel inside of her.
She will not use it unless she has to, but it is there now.
Somebody hurt her so badly… that
she responded as an Ice Maiden will. She
closed her soul and her heart and learned to hate.”
Shinka took a sip of her tea, then said calmly, “I will kill that
person. For touching what he had no
right to, he should die a miserable death.”
Yusuke cleared his throat, “Already taken care of.”
With a blink, Shinka put down her cup, her pale eyebrows raising.
Yusuke nodded towards Kuwabara, “He and I rescued her a year ago. She was being held by a fat merchant making her cry for her
tear gems.”
Shinka’s eyes didn’t change color, but they were very hard and cold,
“And you killed him.”
“Uhh… well, not exactly. He
was financially ruined and then took his own life.”[1]
With a shrug, Shinka accepted this, “Would have been better if he’d
lived in utter despair longer, but I guess it was good enough.”
Kuwabara and Yusuke both looked at each other in startlement. Kuwabara lowered his voice, “Weren’t those about
Kurama’s exact words?” “Uhh,”
Yusuke glanced at Shinka and back, “Damn close!”
“Shit…” “What
if…” “Did…”
Shinka laughed, “Calm down, guys – Kurama and I just think alike on
some issues.” Her eyes narrowed
and changed to a pale hazel, “We both like vengeance to be appropriate and
it’s best served cold.”
Yusuke and Kuwabara thought about it a moment.
That did… describe Kurama rather well.
They tended to think of him as the friendliest and easiest of them –
but even Hiei said that he didn’t like to get Kurama angry.
And Kurama’s fights… were very cold.
And for some reason, that reminded Yusuke of something he’d been
wondering about, “Say, Shin-chan: You
say you’re not human, but not spirit or demon either…
What are you?”
“The People.” After she
said it, Shinka blinked, then laughed, “Sorry – that automatically
translated. Most races tend to call
themselves something of the sort, and it’s only other races that take it as a
name. Actually, in their tongue,
‘The Quala’ simply means ‘Of the One.’”
She propped her head on her chin thoughtfully, “Let’s see…
Twilight was their name – accurate for my particular group, but not a
species. ‘Elder Race?’
No… We do have many
dealings with the human world – much fewer with the demon, none with spirit.
Humans have named us many things over the years, some based on ours, some
not. And sometimes it depends—”
As she talked, Shinka’s eyes changed lighter colors and settled on the
rich gold metal that said ‘inhuman’.
“SHIT, URAMESHI!!!!! DAMNIT!
WILL YOU THINK BEFORE OPENING YOUR STUPID MOUTH?!!” Kuwabara
yelled, fright in his voice. “DON’T
ASK LEADING QUESTIONS WHILE KURAMA ISN’T HERE!
BAKA!!! IDIOT!”
Red-faced and just as scared, Yusuke yelled back, “YOU STARTED IT! WHO ASKED THE FIRST STUPID QUESTION, HUH?
MORON!”
Genkai glanced between them and then raised an eyebrow at Shinka, who was
sitting with her mouth open, eyes completely hazel as she watched them.
She snapped her mouth shut at Genkai’s glance then shook her head.
“I’m going for a walk,” she said faintly, and left the room.
As she walked out, the boys broke off their squabble and squeaked at each
other, “Did you see what color her eyes were?”
“No, damnit – how are we going to stop her?”
“I don’t know!” “You’re
the one who—”
Genkai broke in, “Her eyes were hazel when she left.
Now will one of you please explain why?”
After giving huge sighs of relief, the boys broke into rapid burbles of
confused overlapping sentences. Patiently,
Genkai let them run down, then started them again and eventually got the whole
of what they knew out of them. Then
she sent them off to train.
She felt Genkai’s approach long before she heard her.
It was hard, feeling the familiar rei, not to spread her wings and spiral
out into the air, circling and lending her rei to help…
With a shake of her head, Shinka stopped her thoughts, addressing the
silent figure standing just behind her, “I’m sorry.”
Genkai grunted, “Nothing to apologize for.”
There was more silence, then Genkai abruptly asked, “Why did you stay
with me?”
A smile flitted across Shinka’s face, “I liked your rei.”
“But if you are a reincarnated spirit, you must have had more of a
reason than that.”
“Not really,” Shinka sat down and plucked a piece of grass from the
hill. She could feel the emanations
of hundreds of years of powers used here. Her
rei spun out of her and followed the patterns, feeding the maelstrom.
“When I was placed into my first worm, I remembered nothing.
By the time I had advanced to a beetle, I could remember the worm,
vaguely. As Darkwing, I knew I
wasn’t quite natural, but couldn’t think or reason the way a human does. I found you… and you used my rei as if it were your own and
that seemed right and proper to me. So
I stayed.”
Genkai looked down at the young woman with the pale-blonde hair and the
dark skin, and the changeable eyes. The
oddness she’d always felt from the bird was understandable in the very unusual
bird. The same oddness felt in a
human was harder to accept. The
aura around the woman was not that of a human being, and her speech, though
friendly, had also an air of indifference that seemed to carry to the rest of
her actions. “How long have you
been human?”
Shinka glanced up to check out the meaning behind the question, then
looked back over the conglomeration of trees.
“This is my third life. The
first one didn’t last long. The
second… I didn’t learn the right things from.
I’ve lived for twenty-two years in this body and haven’t done too
badly yet, but I’ve been under very tight control.”
“You grew up in a shrine,” Genkai stated the obvious – Shinka was
very familiar with the layout and conventions around Genkai’s temple.
“Derosha
Higanshi is my mother. Of the—”
“Tatsuyo Shrine,” Genkai finished, nodding.
She knew of it. And it
explained a lot. “You are the
Scented Power.”
Shinka blinked, “Huh???”
A smile crossed Genkai’s face, “They probably don’t call you that
to your face.” She studied the
young woman, “Shinka – Shin for new or fresh, ka for a scent, smell or
fragrance.” She nodded, “A new
life, for an old spirit, and your rei smells fresh and different here.
Well named.”
Shinka wasn’t going to let it go that easily, “Scented Power?!”
The smile stayed, “That’s your nickname among those who have used
your rei.”
After a brief pause, Shinka wrinkled her nose, “Dauni.
It had to have been Dauni. Baka. He just had to go and…” she trailed off, grumbling under
her breath.
Genkai chuckled, “He was most appreciative of the assistance Derosha-san
gave him.”
“I’m sure!”
After another chuckle, Genkai turned to leave, “Are you coming?”
Shinka stretched out her legs and looked out over the small valley,
“No… I think I’ll stay here
for a bit. The atmosphere here
is… refreshing.”
Genkai snorted at the description and left.
When she got back to the shrine, she called both the boys in, breaking
off the training that they were doing. “I
want you two to go into the woods and make your way to the hill.
No time conditions. Try to
limit yourself to three fights apiece. Yusuke,
I want you to specifically find the bat-tamer.”
Yusuke shrugged, “Hell, I beat him back before I had any training at
all – he’ll be no challenge at all now!”
Genkai smiled slightly and didn’t answer.
After the boys were out of earshot and on the way to the woods, they
discussed it briefly. “What the
hell was that?” “Don’t know
– she’s up to something.” “You’re
the idiot who wanted to ‘train’ here!”
“So? We’ve done this before.
No problem.” Then they
fell silent as they got to the woods and felt it.
“Oh Shit.” They looked
at each other in dismay. “Shinka’s
out there.” “And her rei is
augmenting the woods…” They
both groaned, knowing this trip wouldn’t be as easy as they had thought.
Shinka looked out in surprise, “Well, hi guys – what are you doing
here?” She glanced up at the sky,
“Did I miss dinner?”
Both panting heavily, their shirts in shreds, exhaustion plain on their
faces, the two boys glared at her.
Shinka blinked, noticing their condition for the first time, “What
happened to you?”
They looked at each other, nonplused.
Then Kuwabara laughed, “I said things always happened around her –
Shin-chan, how’d you get out here?”
Thoroughly confused now, Shinka replied, “I walked…”
Yusuke blurted, “By yourself? You
didn’t have any trouble?”
Shinka glanced out to the woods, finally understanding, “Oh, this is
Genkai’s training ground, is it? I
liked the feel of the place. No –
no trouble.” She put down the
animal she’d been petting and stood up, “I guess it’s about time to get
back now.”
Yusuke looked at the small furry rabbit with the extremely long fangs and
backpedaled a step. “No
trouble,” he said faintly, “Wild things…”
He shook his head and sank to the ground, “I’m resting here before we
go back.”
Kuwabara joined him, collapsing on the hill, “Shin-chan… how about if
you go back first. Please.”
Raising an eyebrow, Shinka grinned at them and then left.
The boys looked at each other and didn’t say a word.
Yusuke yelped as a rei ball winged him.
Stifling the yell, he ducked low to avoid another, twisting to his right
to avoid a third… Across the hall
from him, Kuwabara’s language was going from bad to worse as his rei-sword was
a constant wall of light cutting the rei balls apart.
“Kuwabara!” Yusuke yelled, “Get over here!”
“I’m trying, damn it! Ouch!!!!!!”
Kuwabara blew on his hand before leaping over one rei ball, rolling on the
ground under another, and then up to stand back to back with Yusuke to meet the
next one. Only to be hit from
behind as Yusuke ducked one aimed at him. “URAMESHI
– STOP DODGING!”
Tightening his mouth, Yusuke concentrated and his fists started to glow
with rei power. Then he lashed out
at the balls in his vicinity, the rei powers canceling.
After several minutes, they started feeling better about the exercise.
Until they heard a soft snort of disdain in the distance.
“Pathetic. I’ll show
them a challenge.”
Rough green orbs of makai fire joined the bombardment of smooth yellow
rei balls.
“OW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Both
Kuwabara and Yusuke yelped loudly as they were pressed beyond capacity, each
getting hit by several orbs.
“Damnit Hiei! That’s not
funny!”
“That stings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ow!
Ow!” Kuwabara stopped his
war-dance and glanced up, “Whassa –
Hiei’s here?”
A soft chuckle was their only answer at first, then a voice, “Rose
Whip!” and Kurama jumped in to stand next to them, his long whip snapping out
to destroy twenty of the orbs and balls in a single crack.
With new confidence, the boys stood with their friend and were shortly
decimating the room.
“Hn…” Hiei juggled a
few orbs before tossing them out.
Genkai smiled, “I think you and I can take the three of them…”
She spread her hands and the rei balls changed into threads of energy
that swooped and dodged through the room, more flexible and agile than the
balls.
Hiei’s orbs sparked, emitting heat as well as light.
“Ow!!!!!!!”
“Damnit!”
Kurama just grinned and kept his whip active.
Eventually, Genkai called a halt and went in for her tea, leaving the
four of them together. There were
only a few seconds of silence before Kuwabara and Hiei started snipping at each
other and Yusuke and Kurama looked on. Everything
was perfectly normal.
“Wow. You actually wear something besides that black dress?”
Hiei chuckled, the low menacing sound that was so familiar to the group,
“Black doesn’t show blood.”
Kurama intervened on that one, “You and I are not wearing the school
uniforms either.”
The boys looked at their jeans and shirts and then at Kurama and Hiei’s
rather formal looking outfits, long flowing Chinese tunics and slacks,
Kurama’s outfit in shades of green, Hiei’s in yellow.
Seeing their looks, Kurama shrugged, “We came straight from the Spirit
World.”
Kuwabara left that one alone and went back to an earlier barb to Hiei,
“Your dress is a uniform? Oooo…
I’d love to know where that comes from!”
Hiei snorted, “At least I can move freely in it – your ‘uniform’
is too tight around the neck and shoulders for good action.
A monkey in a suit.”
“Monkey?”
Kurama and Yusuke moved away as the snipping started up again.
Yusuke looked at Kurama and said softly, “I’m glad you two are back
with us.” His tone implied a slight question about Kurama’s remark about the
Spirit World.
Kurama winked, “It wasn’t that hard once you know what strings to
pull.”
With that sort of an evasive answer… Yusuke shook his head and then
basked in the warmth of his friends all around him.
When the group had rejoined as a whole, they stayed up until long past
midnight as they talked and laughed together.
Shinka stayed mostly on the outskirts of the group or quietly talked
temple business with Genkai. Botan
settled down between Yusuke and Kuwabara and was a constant cheerful presence. Yukina and Kuwabara sat next to each other, but for once
weren’t absorbed in each other. After
Yukina had given Hiei a glad welcome, she’d set herself to, in her own gentle
way, draw Yusuke out to talk about himself.
Yusuke could see what she was doing, but she was so sweet and honest
about his feelings while she asked that he found himself answering instead of
clamming up like he usually did when things got personal.
And his reaction also was partly due to Kurama who sat across from Yusuke
and smiled with delight at every happy memory Yusuke dragged up, and his green
eyes pooled with sadness at the difficult memories…
With such support and affection, Yusuke couldn’t feel embarrassed or
upset, and for Yukina’s and Kurama’s sake, instead of only reflecting on the
bad things in his life, he found himself remembering more happy memories than
he’d thought he had. Hiei was
sitting in the windowsill, looking out at the night sky, but his periodic
caustic remarks or insertion of good sense into a degenerating conversation
proved that he was listening and part of the group.
As the evening went on, Kurama’s gaze rested more and more frequently
upon the black-cloaked figure and his contributions to the conversations were
proportionally lessened. Botan and
Kuwabara took over the bulk of the interaction, getting into an odd theological
debate – odd in that one of the myths herself was there arguing on the
opposite side! Genkai watched in amusement and Shinka and Yukina were
fascinated to learn about human and spirit ways.
Eventually, all the conversations slowed down and the late hour started
to show. Finally, when even Botan
started to yawn, they decided it was time for bed.
Genkai eyed the group before showing them where all her spare rooms were
and left them with an obviously sarcastic remark that she was sure they could
divide up the rooms appropriately. Yukina
blushed delicately and stated firmly that the girls’ rooms were over on this
side and she led Botan and Shinka down a corridor away from the guys.
Kuwabara stared after them wistfully while Yusuke scratched his head and
wondered what Genkai had meant.
After the girls had gotten out of earshot, Kurama chuckled and remarked,
“Was I really being that obvious?”
Hiei snorted, “Randy fox. You’ve
been quivering since we left the Makai, and even your youki looks red! I don’t think you took your gaze off me at any point in the
last half-hour – and you were licking your chops.
Genkai would have to be blind to have missed it.”
“Oh? The temperature in
the room went up by at least five degrees in the last half-hour – I wonder
what could have caused that?” Kurama speculated and licked his chops
deliberately. At Hiei’s glare, he inquired, “What color is your youki
right now, anyhow?” as he quirked an eyebrow at his short friend and leaned
over…
Comprehension hit the two onlookers at the same moment.
Kuwabara yelped and pelted into a nearby room, slamming the door shut
behind him. Yusuke’s eyes went
round and he stared…
Kurama straightened up and grinned, “Which room were you going to take,
Yusuke?”
Yusuke’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, “You’re not
going to… I mean… You’re really…? Ah…”
“Yes, we’re going to share the same room,” Hiei said as he stomped
on Kurama’s foot preventing him from saying anything, “So if you’ll pick
yours, we can choose ours.”
“Uhh…” Yusuke was absolutely burning with curiosity.
Kurama took a careful step away from Hiei and answered, “Because the
noise when Hiei— oooffff…”
All the air in his lungs was driven out by an elbow in his diaphragm.
Hiei removed his elbow and pointed to a room next to Kuwabara’s,
“That’s yours, Yusuke. We’ll
be down this way.” Grabbing
Kurama by the hand, he dragged him away in the opposite direction that the girls
had taken.
“Down? But I thought we
were up…”
Yusuke listened to Kurama giggling as the pair went into a room on the
furthest outskirts. He glanced at
the room that Hiei had pointed to, but took a couple of steps past the room
towards Kurama and Hiei before he stopped.
Ears burning red, Yusuke gulped before he went into a room just a bit
closer… He pulled the futon out from the closet and set up the mats,
wondering how Hiei and Kurama were going to set theirs up…
If they just laid the mats next to each other, Yusuke thought that
rolling around would just slide them apart…
As Yusuke thought of just what sort of rolling around the two would be
doing, his ears burned deeper until the embarrassing fire seemed to also burn
within him. It felt almost like when he got ready for a rei gun shot,
pulling the energy into one single spot and then waiting… But the spot wasn’t at his finger.
Shivering violently, Yusuke sat down on his bed and tried to stop himself
from thinking about his friends. He’d
always known they were a couple… but he’d never before thought so explicitly
about what that meant. At school,
the ones who divided into couples sat together at lunch, exchanged diaries, held
hands once in a while if they thought nobody was watching.
But Hiei and Kurama were closer than that… Yusuke remembered the kiss that Kurama and Hiei had shared.
He raised his hand to his mouth and traced his lips, wondering…
The way Hiei looked at Kurama after
he’d changed from fox form, and that kiss…
The kiss they’d shared was more than just lips on lips.
Yusuke ran his fingers over his lips and parted his mouth slightly at the
movement, remembering. They had
leaned into each other, their bodies pressing together as their mouths were.
Kurama’s bare skin glistened in the air and there had been small glints
almost like sparks where Hiei touched him.
Beautiful smooth skin, on such a marvelous supple body.
They had shared their moment together regardless of the company.
But then Kuwabara had yelled at them, and the girls had giggled –
Public Display of Affection. They
had stopped, then. But later…
The love between them had been so evident and clear as they held each
other, and Hiei had reassured Kurama with such tender care, and Kurama had
needed Hiei so very much. They had
held each other close, in hearts as well as bodies.
Yusuke shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, drawing his knees up
to his chest. To
hold Hiei like that… He
remembered his impulse earlier, when Hiei had looked at him with determination
overlaying the pain at rejecting a friend.
Yusuke had wanted to go to Hiei then, but had held back for the
situation. Yet knowing more now…
if Hiei had been raised by air demons, then Agathil must have been a cousin of
sorts. In the end, though, Hiei had
stayed with Yusuke, and had looked at him with affection and respect…
An invisible touch, ruffling his hair.
With a moan, Yusuke put his head on his knees and fought against all the
memories of his friends. Kurama’s
body. Hiei’s touch. Kurama’s voice. Hiei’s
eyes. The affection they had for
each other and him. Drawing him
in… Yusuke tried not to imagine
what they were doing at this very moment. And
failed.
Over in another room, dark hands clutched white cloth tightly as Shinka
buried her head in the pillow to muffle her moans.
Damnit Kurama! Now would be a good time for you to block the bond!!!!
She tried to block it on her own, but the bond didn’t go in that
direction and tears fell down her cheeks as she tried to deal with second-hand
impressions of fiery skin and exploding stars.
Hiei chuckled and licked the sweat off Kurama’s forehead, murmuring
softly, “So what happened to your Dance tonight?
Fox…”
Kurama didn’t answer outloud, wrapping his arms around Hiei and pulling
Hiei’s mouth back to his. After a
very long time, he murmured against the soft lips, “I’ll give you a dance,
my love. A dance that’s for you
alone. One that will last the whole
night long.”
“Oh, prolong my torture that long, huh?” Hiei retorted, “You get
your release and deny me mine…” His
words dissolved into a long moan as Kurama expertly danced his hands through
Hiei’s hair, ruffling it in the way Hiei loved best.
As they lay there, completely exhausted and immensely satisfied, Hiei
listened to the birds outside their room and groaned.
Carefully, he got to his knees and shook Kurama awake.
“Huh, whassit…?” Kurama tried to pull Hiei back to him even as he
closed his eyes again, “Hiei – go to sleep.”
Hiei shook his head and kissed his partner lightly before standing up,
“Kurama, you crazy delightful fox – it’s morning!
We have to get up and join the others now.”
“Huh?” Kurama blinked, “Already?
But we just got to sleep!”
Hiei glanced down in amused frustration, “Exactly.
You and your dance…”
“Ah,” Kurama stretched with satisfaction, “Oh, that was good.” He curled up again, “They won’t mind if we’re late.”
Through the jagan, Hiei found a bucket and some towels in the washroom
and carefully filled the bucket with water before bringing them to the room.
He ignored Kurama’s remark as he took a quick sponge bath and got
dressed. Just as he finished, there
was a scratch on the door.
When Hiei opened the door, Yukina was glad that the pair were already
up... and then she saw Kurama on the mat, sleeping, the sheets only partially
over him – and not where they needed to be.
Her eyes flew back to Hiei and she tried to stop the blush she was sure
was on her cheeks. “Ah,
Hiei-san…”
Hiei glanced behind him and shook his head, “I’ll get him up. Genkai wants us?”
Yukina nodded with relief, reflecting that she could always count on
Hiei. “She says that if anybody
misses breakfast, there won’t be any more.
And…” she hated to say the rest of the message.
With one of his half-grins, Hiei guessed at the rest of it, “She
can’t teach Yusuke to be responsible if the trainers aren’t?”
“Oh! You phrased that much
better!” Yukina nodded, delighted at Hiei’s understanding.
Then she felt Hiei’s youki gather to telekinetically ruffle her hair.
She hadn’t felt the like since she was a child.
As she smiled at Hiei, she wondered if he realized that, or even knew
what he’d done. She reflected
sadly that he probably didn’t know, otherwise he wouldn’t have done it.
He’s so relaxed right now.
I think it’s been a long time since Hiei has been happy.
“Hiei, come back to bed…” Kurama’s sleepy voice showed a complete
lack of awareness of what was going on.
Rolling his eyes, Hiei motioned Yukina away and he shut the door. Then he advanced on the slumbering fox purposefully…
As she was walking away, Yukina heard the splash and a yelp. Giggling, she reported to Genkai that the two ghosts would be
there directly.
The rest of the group stumbled in one by one, except for Shinka. They ate breakfast together and she still hadn’t joined
them. Genkai glanced at Yukina, who
shrugged – she’d knocked at Shinka’s door like all the others.
Hiei raised an eyebrow at Kurama.
“She’s sleeping,” Kurama answered the indirect question.
All the others looked to him, then Yusuke and Kuwabara remembered the
bond and how in the quala’s realm, Kurama could sense her and find her. The women all looked moderately puzzled but none of them
commented. Instead, Genkai looked
in the direction of the rooms and narrowed her eyes.
Suddenly Kurama yelped, his eyes going wide.
Then he shook his head, “Well, that woke her up!”
“Good,” Genkai said, “Yukina – go fetch her.”
“Is she in training too?” Yusuke asked curiously.
“Anybody who stays under my roof, follows my schedules,” Genkai
replied definitively.
In the meanwhile, Hiei had been frowning at Kurama, who answered, “It
was only because I was concentrating – otherwise I would have only known that
it happened, rather than feeling it directly.”
“Don’t concentrate often,” Hiei said briefly.
Kurama studied his friend for a moment, then shrugged.
What was between Hiei and Shinka was between them and didn’t involve
him.
When Yukina and Shinka came back, most of the group reacted with
sympathetic startlement. “Geeze,
Shin-chan – you look horrible!”
Standing up from his spot, Kurama went over to her and put a hand on her
shoulder, “Shin-chan – are you okay?”
Her dark skin almost pale, her eyes bloodshot and swollen, her hair messy
and unbrushed, swaying where she stood, Shinka glared at Kurama angrily,
“It’s your fault, you idiot.”
Kurama blinked, “Ahh… Bad
dreams?”
“No dreams at all, ‘cause I didn’t get any sleep!”
Shinka took ahold of herself with an effort, “Kurama-sama, you might be
my lord and master… but when we’re not on a mission, please block the
damn bond!!!”
Everybody in the room blinked and several frowned.
Kurama took his hand off her shoulder and glanced to Hiei before
replying, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Shin-chan – you said your
connection was stronger now, and I don’t want you to slip.”
“Slip.” Shinka rubbed a
hand over her face. “You don’t
want me to slip. Fine.
No problem.” Her teeth
ground together, as she gritted them, “Okay, then let’s put it this way:
Kurama-sama – don’t project through the bond when you have sex with
Hiei for the whole damn night!!!!!!!!”
Everybody recoiled in shock, then several grins started popping up while
gazes flitted between Hiei and Kurama and Shinka.
Kuwabara blushed and started studying the wall, pretending he didn’t
hear that. Yusuke was one of the
grinners, but he glanced quickly over to see how Hiei was reacting.
To his surprise, Hiei was silently laughing, amusement plain in his
features.
Kurama’s mouth dropped open, “You felt that?”
Then he grinned, eyes sparkling mischievously, “But why should that
bother you?”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Shinka closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, she drew herself up to her full short height
and poked a finger in Kurama’s sternum, “Because, my idiot lord, I’m a
virgin! And a girl!
You were projecting every damn thing you were feeling and doing
and seeing…” Shinka trembled
and drew a breath, “You try dealing with a complete arousal when you
have no partner and the feelings just keep going on and on…”
Actually, Yusuke felt rather sympathetic on that one…
“And I’m certainly not built anything like you are.
Ah, fire and flames and the softest fur… but I’m not the one running
long fingers over the smooth skin, it’s not me that receives the nectar
kisses… And I can’t
respond that way!” Shinka closed
her eyes, her voice weak and pleading, “If you won’t block the bond… Did you have to do it for the whole damn night???”
“Oh, Shin-chan,” Kurama put his hands on her shoulders and drew her
close to him, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”
He studied her for a moment, then used one hand to tip her face up and he
leaned down, bending over until his lips met hers.
Shinka pushed him back, “What the hell do y—
umph…” Her words broke
off as Kurama kissed her again, this time with more determination.
After a moment, her body shuddered as she leaned into Kurama.
Her clenched fists on his chest opened and her hands spread out, feeling
through the shirt. Her body swayed closer to his.
The hand that Kurama had on her chin slipped around the back of her head,
winding his fingers through her hair. His
other hand he placed on her waist, pulling her into him.
He slid one leg closer to her. Shinka
responded, her slight form pushing into his larger one.
The kiss went on…
Yusuke gulped and glanced around again to Hiei.
To his surprise and embarrassment, Hiei was watching him thoughtfully.
When their eyes met, Hiei shrugged slightly and then slid off his perch
on the window and walked to Yusuke. He
moved so silently that most of the group didn’t notice.
Yusuke’s gaze shifted between Hiei and Kurama as he wondered what to
make of this latest tangle…
When Hiei stood next to Yusuke, he said quietly, “It’s okay, he’s a
kitsune. This is as natural to him
as breathing. And it means a lot
less than what we have together.” Hiei’s
mouth quirked upwards, “I just wonder if he knows what he’s doing.”
Yusuke felt rather faint, his senses dividing between the… show Kurama
was putting on and Hiei standing next to him.
Yusuke watched Kurama avidly, trying to place in his memory just where
Kurama had his hands and how he was doing this…
I wonder if Keiko would respond
that avidly. I think she’d be
more likely to hit me if I tried that. But if she responded… Next to him, Hiei stood calmly, his attention less on
his partner than on Yusuke. And
Yusuke could feel that attention and wanted to respond to it in ways that
weren’t appropriate, his mind whirling with the fantasies he’d had last
night. They
were doing it for the whole night??? How
could you make it last that long? Yusuke
didn’t look again at Hiei.
Shinka drew back from Kurama slightly, her mouth open and her breath
panting. Carefully, she cleared her
throat, her hands straightening out Kurama’s shirt, “Kurama-sama… that
didn’t help things.” Her hazel
eyes hungrily looked up into his green ones, “In fact, it made it rather
worse…”
Kurama traced her chin and then the outlines of her cheekbones.
His eyes glinted merrily, “Ah, but now you’re feeling yourself rather
than anybody else.”
“True,” Shinka closed her eyes, “Very true.”
There was a pause as she struggled with herself and then gave up.
The feelings after a whole night of denial, were just too much.
Shinka moaned and pressed herself forward on him, “Kurama…” her
hands found the bottom of his shirt and tugged it upwards.
“Whoa…” Kurama put his hands on her shoulders but didn’t stop
her, “Ah, Shin-chan, I didn’t mean…”
She paid no attention to him except to speak his name pleadingly, her
hands and lips roving over his chest. As
she continued, her hands drifted more downward and her lips upward. Kurama shifted uncomfortably but obviously didn’t quite
know how or really want to stop her.
Hiei chuckled and Kurama’s head lifted to focus on him.
“And now that you have her, what do you plan on doing with her?” Hiei
asked in amused mockery. “Kurama,
you silly fox. You have this habit
of not thinking your conquests through. People
are not possessions, to be thrown or given away when you tire of them.”
A green spark of annoyance and shame showed in Kurama’s eyes but he
made no reply.
Walking forward, Hiei stopped in front of his partner, looking up. Softly, he added, “And you’re not Yoko anymore.
Yoko would not have cared.”
Kurama’s gaze softened as he looked at Hiei.
Shinka squirmed in his arms and he glanced down, “Shin-chan…”
Hiei shook his head, and spoke sharply to Shinka, “You’re in public. Get ahold of yourself.”
Irked by the brusque manner and heartless words, Kurama snapped his
attention back to Hiei, ready to form a protest.
But on the instant, Shinka was pulling away from him, her hands reaching
up to straighten her hair as she turned to face Hiei.
Kurama blinked at the sudden control, “Shin-chan?”
Shinka looked back and smiled, “Thanks Kurama, that did help.” Her eyes twinkled merrily, “Even if it did create other
problems…”
“Hiei,” Yusuke had to ask, “You didn’t mind earlier – and you
and Kurama were doing even more than that…
What’s the big deal about public display of affection?”
Amused red eyes rested fondly on Yusuke, “Affection is fine.
Loss of control is not. Besides,”
Hiei glanced up again, “Kurama needed a way out of the situation he’d
created.”
Kurama thought about being indignant and decided to be fondly amused
instead.
Shinka also grinned at Yusuke, “Never show weakness in public. It’s a fundamental cornerstone of survival.
When you’re weak, others will drag you down.
Maybe not on the instant, but eventually.
The only way to live is to never be weak.”
Her face looked bleak for a moment, “I’d forgotten that for a bit
there. Animals tend to live in the moment, yet it is a Truth for
them as well.”
Yusuke blinked, “Love is weakness?
I always thought it was strength. If
you love, you can be strong.”
Everybody in the room regarded him with speculation and curiosity at his
statement, each with their separate reasons.
Shinka blinked, “Well, yes, love is obviously a weakness – you can be
hurt through love and others can hurt you…
But what does that have to do with sex?”
Kurama drew his breath in sharply and took a quick step towards Hiei,
“Is that where you got that from?
From her? I thought it was
of the demon world…”
Hiei blinked, “Kurama, what the hell are you talking about?”
Gently, Kurama reached out and touched Hiei’s face delicately, “The
same words, the same inflection, the same reasoning, the same puzzlement…”
His grin was more rebuke to himself than humor, “As you just reminded me, I
didn’t know what I stole, and I hadn’t expected love.
You said it, the same thing – ‘what does that have to do with sex.’
I thought it was your demon upbringing.
But just now…”
“Oh,” the puzzlement was gone from Hiei’s voice and a rather sour
note replaced it, “that.” He
sighed and flitted out of Kurama’s touch, “Kurama – in the demon world,
sex is for domination. In the
spirit world, it’s for pleasure. In
the human world it can be either or both. Reproduction
is also a factor in all three worlds. Love
is elements of all parts, yet is most closely associated with sex in the human
world.” He stopped speaking,
seemingly finished.
“And what does that have to do with answering my question?” Kurama
asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“Why do you want it answered?” Hiei parried.
Kurama blinked. And then
looked over at Shinka, who was watching the two of them in fascination, her
attention mostly on Hiei. He also
gave a quick glance at the rest of their audience, silently watching.
Yusuke was obviously intent on figuring out Hiei’s words and waiting
for Kurama’s reply. With a shrug,
Kurama gave it, “To know you. If
things were not as I reasoned, then I need to rearrange some ideas.”
Hiei shook his head, “Curious fox…”
“Curiosity killed the cat, not the fox,” Kurama pointed out with a
grin.
Hiei glared, “Oh, tell me another one, Yoko…”
Kurama spread his hands in defeat.
“Wow,” Kuwabara remarked in awe, “I always thought it was just me
he snipped at.”
Hiei snorted as Kurama grinned. The
red-head responded to the oblique question, “I usually wait to pester Hiei
until we’re alone. A mission is
not a good place for a debate. But
we’re not on a mission at the moment, so I’m not holding back as much.”
With another shake of his head, Hiei got back to the subject, in his own
way, “Botan could answer the question about the worlds easier than I.”
Everybody looked at the blue-haired spirit, who raised her hands to fend
off their gazes, “I don’t know anything about Shinka’s world, Hiei!”
“No, but you know how the demon and spirit worlds are formed, which is
an indirect answer to Kurama’s question.”
Genkai thoughtfully lowered her teacup, “How they are populated, you
mean.”
Hiei turned to her, tilting his head to one side to regard her,
“Yes.”
“Huh?” Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama asked as one.
The Ice Maiden and the non-human also looked curious but they stayed
silent. Botan nodded, realizing what Hiei was getting at, “That’s true. |