"Kaito…" she murmured to herself. The giant Western style house loomed before the trio of girls, casting forbidding shadows from every crevice.
"Hm? Did you say something, Sis?" Torishii's beautiful coffee eyes scanned her sister's face.
"Nah," Nikaru waved her youngest sister's questions away. The three demons looked inquiringly at the tacked up note on the door.
"What a stupid word to be a taboo! 'Hot'!" scowled Amana. Her arms were filled with a metal briefcase filled with a spirit detective's equipment: very expensive. Likewise, Nikaru held a large folder heaving with paperwork. Torishii somehow escaped what Nikaru referred to as, "pack mule duty."
"He probably doesn't want to be disturbed," Nikaru remarked. Torishii made a face.
"He's probably studying,"
"EW!" spluttered Amana. There were few things the trio could stand less than studying. The very thought of wasting time to memorize something you would forget four minutes later was absolutely repulsive.
There was a gentle silence, which was broken by Torishii:
"Why do we have to do this? We aren't being paid for it!" the youngest pouted. She was only annoyed with their boss for this one occasion because she actually had a better place to be. Her favorite stalk-victim Kurama had a school function he was busy winning. Naturally, she had to be there. She always went to cheer him on, complete with the proper attire: a cute little school girl uniform.
Just then, an idea struck Nikaru.
"Y'know, I could do this myself," she observed. Amana's cerulean eyes shot a surprised look to her older sister.
"Say what now?"
"Y'all have other places to be, other things to do," she looked pointedly at her youngest sister. Torishii smiled, exposing a fang sheepishly. "I don't," she finished. Amana quirked an eyebrow.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, it's only three dumb human teens…I can take care of them," she insisted.
"Well-"and they were off like a shot. They would be less than blurs to human eyes. Who could resist the opportunity to get out of such an annoying job, which they weren't even being paid for?
The bulky metal briefcase leaned against her calf, its weight somehow reassuring. Knowing it would be futile to knock first, she just walked in without ceremony. None of the boys would believe her unless she proved she was from Spirit World on a business call. She refused to put on a silly parlor trick show to impress them.
The house was abstract, in a controlled sense. Kurama's plants were long gone, but a few pieces of furniture were still in use, as the teens actually lived in the strange house.
"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" the voice came from a low chair at the back of the room, near the fridge. As the dirty blonde stepped through the threshold, she felt the sudden change in atmosphere. She went from the freedom of the outside air to a sort of charged tone. Kaito must be practicing his ability…and yet Genkai told him and his friends not to if they wanted to live properly in the Human world. Odd…
She also noticed how quiet it was. Only the soft ticking of the clock and the whisper of pages turning could be heard. Despite the limitations of her form at the moment, she was able to tell no one else was in the house besides herself…and Kaito.
Perfect.
The little kitty in the corner of her mind smiled secretly.
"I do, but I felt like raining on your parade," she finally answered his question. He looked at her from over the tip of his book.
"Do I know you?"
"No, but I know you. I'm here on Spirit World business," she slid the envelope onto the little table halfway into the room. He did not seem alarmed when she first walked in, but he now seemed both intrigued and wary. Perhaps he thought she was a regular human, and he could thus protect himself from her by using his taboo ability. Well, she wasn't going to remark on the heat of the room.
"Oh?" he actually put the book down onto his lap. Hm, she must have his attention now.
"Yes. Koenma-sama would like to scan for future potentials. Therefore, he sent me and my sisters to check you three out. I've volunteered to do it all," she explained while she opened the case carefully. She could feel him watching her. "You may look through that paperwork if you like. If you feel you are up to becoming a spirit detective or some other position, you must fill out forms and other boring things like that," she sighed in disgust. She heard paper being messed with, so she assumed he was flipping through that monster of a folder. Where was it? Botan didn't put it so far down into the case…there it was. She picked up three button sized items. They resembled the Miguru Seals Botan had used a while ago, but they each had inscribed on them the names of the three boys: Kido Asato, Kaito Yuu, and Mistunari Yanagisawa. She tipped them toward the lamp and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I'm going to put one of these gauge tags in each of your rooms, or wherever you spend the most time. Since Yana and Kido aren't here right now, I'll have to put them in their rooms," she explained aloud, not entirely sure why she should have to justify her existence to this human.
"Gauge tag? I assume it measures spirit energy then?" He gazed at the tags curiously, his book now forgotten.
"Correct. Each tag will pull particles that contain psychic energy and measure it. If any of you have a psychic range of more than thirty two percent, then you'll be sure the Spirit World will be keeping an eye out on you,"
"We have been trained by Genkai-sama, so naturally-"
"Naturally, she did not have terribly long to train you. Under the circumstances, she only had until Yusuke could come back before she set you three loose," Nikaru interrupted, smiling at him. Not only that, Genkai suggested that the boys cease their practice of their abilities, in order for them to lead normal human lives. Bearing that she probably had this intention all along, she probably didn't put forth a considerable effort.
Clearly, Kaito did not enjoy being put down in this manner. He seemed to prefer his version. She busied herself with placing the two gauge tags near the other two's beds. She had to go through quite a maze to find each bedroom, but tracking was a specialty of her breed. Both rooms were obviously inhabited by boys. Kido, she figured to have been a slob. But Yana had always seemed at least conscious of order. Naturally, Kaito's room was as neat as a box of eggs.
She sauntered back into the front room, only to find him back at his book. The file was gathering dust near her equipment. Mayhap he did not find it at all interesting to be told he was less interesting than he thought.
She only had one tag left, and that was for him. She grinned, she most certainly hoped he'd let her attach the tag to him personally….
"You don't mind if I slip into something more comfortable, do you? These tags take awhile to work," her voice was low.
Perhaps too low.
His eyes slid over to her and regarded her coolly. However, there was a sense of curiosity….she could smell it. She smiled at him. Little did he know what she had planned for him! She had watched the security tapes, watching him mentally battle Kurama-kun. Of course he lost, but that was due to his ego. All men had ego, it was a natural fault. Still, his power and poise through out the entire battle had captured her interest. He was everything that was not her type. She tended to look at the warrior types, the ones with scars on their bodies and gruff voices.
Not that there was anything wrong with that type, but right now her body was pulling her towards this human…human. That was a taboo if there ever was one. It was one thing for a male youkai to have a lust for a pretty human woman, but the other way around was unheard of.
He shattered her thoughts when he answered her question, "Do whatever you like, so long as you don't undress in front of me,"
'Pity…'
His eyes returned to the pages of his book. Whatever that book was about, it must have been incredibly interesting. Not as interesting as watching a seemingly normal looking human girl acquire fox ears on top of her head and a thick, luxurious fox tail sprout from just above the seat of her pants.
He stared at her. She flipped the collar of her black sweater self consciously. She was not used to being stared at like that. Now that her ears and tail were free, her power was upgraded a few levels. She could feel his body heat from across the room, and hear his heart beat. It was surprisingly slow.
Nikaru somehow made her way over to him without tripping over her own sneakers.
Fingers curled over the top of his book, and lifted it from his grasp. "Hey, I need to put this on you, Kaito-kun," she could not keep the corners of her mouth from curling. She rubbed the seal between her fingers and held it up to his face.
"I'll do it," he reached for it, but she put it behind her back. Blood rushed to her face. She was teasing him! God, she hoped he teased back.
"Don't toy with me, girl!" he snapped.
Damn.
"I'll have you know, Kaito-kun, that I am quite a few centuries older than you," and with that, she plopped down in his lap. She settled a leg on each side of the chair and began to fiddle with his collar. His hands were stretched up, as if she was holding him up for his wallet. His heartbeat rose a little, and then began a roller coaster of ups and downs.
His collar now unbuttoned, she slid the seal under his shirt (she squealed inwardly) and stuck it just above his heart.
"Now, we wait awhile," she murmured. Her fingers had not yet left the heat of inside his uniform, a fact he seemed to find uncomfortable.
"Remove your fingers…"
"I have a name," her eyes dipped down to watch her fingernails slide around his smooth skin, "And I will continue to do as I please until you address me properly." She was a little ashamed at how her tail swayed as it brushed his ankles. Oh, well. It was a wonton action, and she was in that particular mood at the moment, so might as well go with the flow.
His glasses glinted.
He knew he was up against a demon, and he knew absolutely nothing about demons except what he had seen of Kurama in his yoko form, and perhaps what he could glean from Hiei. He ran over his encounter with Kurama in his mind once more. Kurama had an affinity for plants, but he was not sure if all fox demons-if that was what she was- could control flora.
Plus, her fangs looked sharp.
"What do you want with me?" he finally inquired.
She opened her mouth, and absolutely nothing came out. 'Well, I know what I want with him. But somehow it doesn't seem to sound right with me saying it,' she mused to herself. 'I must look like a fish….' so she closed her mouth. After a moment, she compiled up something to replace her original answer of, "Molest you."
"I would simply love to just molest you," she answered.
The horror that spread across his face would have been adorable, had Nikaru not remembered her blunder.
Dammnit.
While she cursed herself for her callousness, he ran through what else he knew. She could not use violence against him, or say the taboo word. Did she know that? The sign was still outside, but perhaps she thought herself above such limitations. He decided to test her.
"It is rather warm in here," he remarked. She was not paying attention to his words, merely marking how his lips moved as he spoke. Her tail swished as she sighed into his collar bone. Truly, she did not understand this affliction he caused within her. Why was he complaining so much? Didn't boys normally crave the attentions (certainly this type of attention) of women?
"Yes, it is rather sweltering in here," she replied after some moments. He glared at her, and that glare only intensified when she smiled back at him.
The clock ticked the seconds by, and then a slight golden flash shone through the fibers of Katio's shirt. Kaito felt a hotness beneath where the gauge tag stuck to his skin, and then it sort of popped off and into the demoness's waiting fingers. She didn't bother examining the readings, they were in a script that only translators working for King Enma could decipher.
She looked towards the briefcase expectantly, and sure enough, the remaining gauges zoomed from upstairs and landed quite neatly in their appropriate slot. Kaito decided to say nothing was the safest thing.
Nikaru's fingers drew over his skin on his neck. He eyed her warily. 'Perhaps I should just end this waiting game," she thought, a dash excitedly. She went for broke and touched her lips to his. He went stiff. '…SHE'S KISSING ME,' the voice inside his head shrieked.
'Well, that's not the reaction I'd…' she pulled back and frowned at him.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Get. Off. Of. Me." he bit each word off, and shoved her off of his lap. She was on her feet in a shot, and an accusing finger was pointed at his face.
"Mark my words, Yuu Kaito! I will get you, and I'll get you good!" And quick as a whip, before he could open his mouth to tell her off, she was out the door, suitcase and all.
The room was quiet, the clock even making as little sound as possible.
"Well, I'll be damned," he muttered to himself quietly. "If she thinks she can outsmart me, and molest me again, then I'm Hiei's hairdresser,"
--
Narro: Zomgosh, I've been working on this forevah. I just couldn't seem to write it when I needed it to be written! I have a few ideas where it's going to go from there, but I have a feeling the second chapter is going to be the hardest out of them all to begin. Well, Read and Review, please! And, please forgive me, I've never written a YYH fic before, much less one about Kaito.