First off, if you haven't read "A chance Reunion" then I highly suggest it,
otherwise this won't make any sense whatsoever.
And here's the sequel!!
Disclaimer: Me no own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Er, okay, it's a little different for this story, so here goes: "talking" (thoughts) ::mind-to-mind speech:: *accented words. Ya know, like words in italic.* /dreams/ 'talking in the dreams'
"AAAAAAHHHH!! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING???"
Red eyes watched with an amused gleam as a mass of red hair worked its way out from underneath red sheets. Hiei sighed as another scream rose from Kurama's kitchen, and Kurama himself groaned, and then, spotted Hiei.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" Kurama asked, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Just then, another yell sounded, followed by, "Relax!! It's not gonna hurt you, just let me-OUCH!" Kurama groaned and clapped a hand to his face.
"Hn. Kuronue sent me up here to tell you to get your fox-butt down there to help him," Hiei said. Kurama appeared to loose all will to move and flopped down onto the bed.
"What did they get into this time?" Kurama asked, managing to haul himself into a sitting position. At that moment, as if on cue, Jeroun burst into the room, tackling Kurama, who fell back down onto the bed, and then proceeded to hide under Kurama's desk.
"Baka," Hiei murmured as he pulled Kurama to his feet.
"Thanks," Kurama gasped before walking over to his desk. "Jeroun, you can come out now." The desk rattled a little bit, and Hiei came over. He kicked at it. There was a protesting grunt, and Jeroun crawled his way out from under the desk. His eyes landed on Hiei, and then moved to Kurama. Both youkai noticed Jeroun had what looked like pancake batter in his hair and an eye that was rapidly going black. Jeroun moved away from Kurama.
"It's not my fault, I swear it isn't!!" he yelled before bolting out of the room, and back into the room that he had occupied since his first night in Kurama's house.
"So . . . Kuronue found the . . . "
"Egg-beaters," Hiei finished. Kurama giggled, before hastily turning his laughter into a cough, remembering Hiei's first encounter with the ningen cooking-tool. Unfortunately, Hiei noticed and sent him a death glare that Kurama slowly backed away from. Hiei continued; "So, naturally the baka tried to use them, and then I came in to see Jeroun trying to take them away, while the batter flew around the kitchen. Kuronue told me to come and get you."
"And you actually listened to him?" Kurama asked as Hiei turned his back to Kurama to let the fox change. Once he had finished, Hiei turned back around.
"I figured there was no use staying and getting a black eye, so I left," Hiei said shortly. Kurama laughed in obvious agreement with Hiei.
"Well, I gotta go make sure he doesn't kill himself," Kurama said. Hiei grinned.
"This might just be worth watching," he said.
Hiei sat on Kurama's living room couch, listening to the kitsune scold Kuronue for using modern appliances that he didn't know how to operate. Hiei had heard the lecture many times before, but it was still fun to hear Kurama scolding someone else.
"Go get cleaned up, Kuronue, and we'll see if we can clean the kitchen before 'kassan gets home," Kurama said, his voice slightly muffled by the wall in between him and Hiei. For once in his life, Hiei felt himself holding back laughter as he watched the miserable, batter-covered chimera trudge up the stairs to the bathroom. A moment later, a batter- covered Kurama appeared as well, looking worn-out by the morning's events. "Well, there was no one seriously injured, but it's gonna take hours to clean that mess in there." He went to sit down on the couch, but thought better of it.
"Then why'd you tell him that you thought you could get it cleaned up before your mother got home?" Hiei looked at the kitsune with interest.
"I didn't want him to feel worse than he already does," Kurama said. Hiei, although he didn't agree with Kurama, nodded.
"I guess you're right," he said, standing up. Kurama turned to see Jeroun coming down the stairs, and when he turned back, Hiei had vanished.
Leaves brushed by his face as he skimmed the treetops, occasionally glancing down, looking for Kuwabara and his sister. (Damn him,) Hiei thought. (Making a move on my sister like that.) A few days before, Kuwabara asked Yukina if she had wanted to go out for ice cream. So, naturally, when Hiei had "overheard" Kuwabara telling Kurama, Hiei had decided to "tag along" (translation: SPY) to make sure that Kuwabara didn't try anything funny.
"Hiei!!" Hiei grabbed a branch and pulled himself to a stop before dropping onto the sidewalk to face none other than Yukina. She grinned at him.
"Y-Yukina," Hiei stuttered. Her red eyes, so much like his own, swept over him once before the girl embraced him.
"I haven't seen you in a while!" she said as she let go of him. Hiei stood frozen to the spot. He had been *hugged*. No one ever had hugged him before. "Did I do something I shouldn't have?" Hiei unfroze and looked at his sister, who was watching him nervously.
"No, it's just that . . . " Hiei broke off, slightly embarrassed for having to admit this to his sister. After a moment he continued. "No one's ever . . . done that to me before."
"Really!" Yukina sounded surprised. Hiei nodded, not meeting her eyes. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hiei . . . is there something wrong?"
"No, there's nothing," he said. "Nothing that you can help with anyway." She cocked her head. He cleared his throat. (There's something that he's keeping from me,) Yukina thought. (I know it. The way he doesn't meet my eyes, the way he's always so . . . well, he's silent around everyone, but still. . . . )
"Well, I'll see you later then," Yukina offered. Hiei nodded slightly before disappearing into the trees again. Hiei scowled as he heard Kuwabara yell a greeting to Yukina a few moments later. (One of these days, you baka, one of these days. . . . )
Erm, no, this isn't the end of the chapter, but I just realized something. I'm not too good at keeping Hiei and Yukina in-character, especially in a fic like this for some reason, so forgive me if they (or anyone) seems a bit OOC
(Sweet snow. . . . ) Hiei drooled as he watched the ice cream store. He wanted sweet snow. He *really* wanted sweet snow. He suddenly slapped himself across the face. (Must watch Yukina. Must protect.) Yep, the lack of ice-cream was starting to get to him. He was so preoccupied with the ice cream that he didn't even notice when someone snuck up behind him.
"You know Hiei, I'm sure that someone would buy some for you if you asked," a voice behind him said. In spite of himself, Hiei jumped.
"You!!" Hiei declared, expecting an enemy, whirling around to face. . . . "Kuronue?"
"Yo," the chimera said, pleased with himself for facing Hiei.
"I thought you were helping Kurama clean up," Hiei said with a scowl. He crossed his arms and leaned against the trunk of the tree he had been hiding in.
"I was," Kuronue said. "But then Shiori got home. She was pretty pissed, so I left and Kurama retreated to his room." Kuronue grinned. "He still hasn't got all the batter of himself."
"It must be starting to dry," Hiei offered, unsure of why he was making conversation with the chimera. Kuronue's grin grew wider, and Hiei began to get annoyed with it.
"It is," Kuronue said. "He was muttering something about it being bad for his hair." Hiei choked back a laugh at the thought of the kitsune trying to wash out his hair.
"Hey, who's up there?" Through the thick branches of the tree Hiei and Kuronue could see Kuwabara looking up at them, Yukina at his side. Hiei growled. "Is that you, Shrimp?"
"Kazuma, that's not very nice," Yukina scolded. "I'm short, and you don't call me shrimp." Kuronue tried to hold back laughter, while Hiei went and fell out of the tree.
"Something wrong, *Hiei*?" Kuwabara asked. It was obvious that he was only calling Hiei by his proper name as not to upset Yukina again. Hiei scowled at him before picking himself up and brushing off his black clothes. Ignoring Kuwabara, Hiei turned to Yukina.
"Why did you . . . defend me?" Hiei asked. Yukina blinked, caught off- guard by the question. Kuwabara hit Hiei on the head, trying to get the fire-youkai's attention, and succeeded only in getting flipped onto his back.
"I-I'm sorry," Yukina stuttered. "Did I offend you?" She looked down, not meeting his eyes. Hiei felt a stab of guilt for making his sister feel bad, but shook it off after a few moments.
"No," Hiei said. "I just wanted to know why you care for me." Yukina's head shot up as Hiei got ready to leave.
"You've helped me," she said. "You helped Kazuma and Yusuke save me." Even though Yukina did not like to bring up the painful memories, for some odd reason she felt a need to make Hiei feel as though he was not all bad. Hiei paused his jump, but did not look back at her.
"I-I . . . " Hiei started, at a complete loss for words. There were a few moments of silence, and then Hiei took off, jumping into the trees. Yukina turned away, and noticed Kuwabara on the ground.
"Kazuma!" Yukina cried. "Are you all right?" At that moment, Kuronue leapt from the trees and poked at Kuwabara. The human twitched, but did not move.
"I think Hiei knocked him out," Kuronue murmured. Yukina smiled to herself. (There's something about Hiei that I like, even though he doesn't talk,) she thought.
*~*~*~*~*~
"Shuichi will be down in a moment."
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Jeroun, Kuronue, and Botan sat in Kurama's living room, waiting for the fox. Hiei sat scowling at Kuwabara, remembering the earlier encounter, while Kuwabara glared at him. The others knew better than to try and stop them.
"So . . . tell me why Koenma wanted us to meet here again?" Yusuke asked, folding his arms. "The toddler's late." Botan fidgeted nervously.
"He said there was someone that he was going to bring," Botan said. The thing was, she knew perfectly well who Koenma was bringing, and didn't like to think about the others' reactions.
"Who?"
"Er-" Botan began, but Kurama entered at that moment, and everyone had to laugh. The poor kitsune still hadn't managed to get all of the pancake batter out of his hair, so it stuck out in odd clumps, having been dry for a long time. Botan, even though she was nervous, laughed along with the others.
"Please don't laugh," Kurama said. His eyes suddenly landed on Kuronue. "Hey, Kuro, you have this stuff in your hair, too!" Everyone quieted and looked over at the chimera, who pulled his hat down firmly onto his head. At that moment, the doorbell rang.
"Get that for me, will you, Shuichi?" Kurama had thought she would call him by his true name, but old habits die hard.
"'Kassan, I have batter in my hair still," Kurama said.
"It's probably just Koenma," Yusuke said. "And he won't mind."
"Yeah, he'll just laugh like the rest of you," Kurama said, sulking as he went to open the door. Botan swallowed hard.
"I don't know if that's a good-" she began, but was cut off by a loud yell. Seconds later, Kurama burst into the room, seemingly running for his life.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Kuronue asked as Jeroun threw himself out of Kurama's way. Kurama ignored the both of them and dove under the coffee table. Kuronue peered under it. "Kurama?" Everyone stared at the obviously terrified kitsune.
"You can relax, Kurama, he's not going to hurt you," Botan said. Everyone whirled to stare at her.
"Who?" Yusuke demanded. "You know after all?"
"Hai," Botan said, and a moment later Koenma appeared in the room. To everyone's surprise, Kurama got out from under the coffee table and rounded on him.
"What, might I ask," Kurama said, trying to keep his voice even. "Is *he* doing here?" Kurama jabbed a finger at the newest occupant of the room, who was standing in a corner. Everyone stared, for in the corner stood none other than Karasu.
"Well," Koenma said. "When he told you that his first guide to the Spirit World was not as watchful as she should have been, he wasn't entirely truthful. Turns out that he threatened her, so none of the other ferry girls wanted to take him, not even Botan." At this point, Kurama threw his version of Hiei's death-glare in Botan's direction. "As a result, I had to let him come back to life." Koenma shrank away from Kurama, fearing for his life.
"Don't tell me you're not happy to see me fox," Karasu said, moving toward Kurama. Kurama dove under the coffee table again.
"What's wrong with you?" Kuronue asked. "You weren't this scared when you faced him before, in the Makai, remember?"
"He had my mother!" Kurama shouted from under the coffee table. "That's the only reason I even thought of fighting him again!!" Kuronue and Jeroun, who had been absent at the time of Karasu's first appearance, stared at the crow. Karasu shrugged, not wanting to explain, and walked over to the coffee table. Reaching one hand under, he pulled Kurama out as the kitsune gave a protesting squeak.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. At that moment, there was a loud, female yell from the other side of the room, and within seconds, Karasu had been beamed in the head by a broom. The stunned crow dropped Kurama, who ran to hide behind Shiori, who was brandishing the said broom.
"He really must be terrified of this guy if he's hiding behind Shiori," Kuronue muttered to Jeroun, who nodded. As Karasu moved toward Shiori, trying to explain, he got whacked in the head again.
"WILL EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN AND LISTEN TO ME!!" That got everyone's attention. Koenma stood in the center of the room, breathing hard. "He's not gonna hurt anyone. That was part of the deal we made."
"What if he decides to break your agreement?" Kurama squeaked from behind Shiori.
"He won't," Koenma said. "Number one; if he does, he'll be locked away in a Reikai prison, number two; he has hardly any of his power anymore, thanks to his second death. Third, *he's* the one who came up with the deal in the first place."
"Really?" Kurama asked.
"Watch," Karasu said. He walked over and placed a hand on the couch. A moment later, he pulled his hand away. The couch didn't blow up. Kurama took his chances, came out from behind Shiori, and prodded the couch. It still didn't blow up. Kurama looked at Koenma and nodded.
"But where will he stay?" Kurama asked. "As far as I know, Karasu doesn't have a place in the Ningenkai."
"You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here," Karasu mumbled. Koenma went red and suddenly became very interested in the living room carpet. After a moment, he spoke.
"Ano . . . I thought he could stay here, with you and Jeroun and Kuronue," Koenma said. "If he does try anything, not that he will, three demons would be more likely able to handle him rather than one or a human." He gestured to Hiei, Yusuke and Kuwabara as he spoke.
"He's welcome to stay," Shiori said suddenly. Kurama gave his mother a look that asked her "Are you crazy?" Shiori nodded. "He's not all bad, Shuichi."
"I wish she'd call me Kurama," Kurama muttered.
"But if he does one thing, he's out," Shiori said. "And that's final." She ignored Kurama's pleading look. "Lucky for us we got another guest room, since Jeroun and Kuronue are occupying the first two." Koenma thanked Shiori while Kurama left the room and began banging his head on the wall, hoping this was a bad dream.
"You are more generous than Kurama said you were," Koenma cried, wringing Shiori's hands. Shiori paused, listening to a gentle *thump-thump- thump*
"Shuichi! Stop hitting your head on the wall!"
"Gomen, 'kassan," Kurama's voice yelled.
"Well, then, that takes care of everything," Koenma said. "I'll be back in a few months to see how everybody's doing." With that, he called to Botan, and they left. Shiori showed Karasu to his new room while the rest of the gang filtered out of the living room, except for Kurama, who had his head on the wall and was muttering, "What have I gotten myself into?"
Tee hee. Looks like we're in for a crazy ride!! And I'm sorry, I know I said this would mostly be about Hiei, but I couldn't help myself. I had to bring Karasu into the picture. He was just there, yelling in my face, "PUT ME IN!!!"
Karasu: And it worked, didn't it?
Nagem: Shut up! You're gonna ruin the whole story.
Karasu: No I won't. I'll just stay in the background like a good little crow.
Kurama: Yeah, right.
Karasu: FOX!!
Kurama: Get away from me!!
Nagem: Karasu, leave him alone! Please review!! PLEASE!!
And here's the sequel!!
Disclaimer: Me no own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Er, okay, it's a little different for this story, so here goes: "talking" (thoughts) ::mind-to-mind speech:: *accented words. Ya know, like words in italic.* /dreams/ 'talking in the dreams'
"AAAAAAHHHH!! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING???"
Red eyes watched with an amused gleam as a mass of red hair worked its way out from underneath red sheets. Hiei sighed as another scream rose from Kurama's kitchen, and Kurama himself groaned, and then, spotted Hiei.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" Kurama asked, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Just then, another yell sounded, followed by, "Relax!! It's not gonna hurt you, just let me-OUCH!" Kurama groaned and clapped a hand to his face.
"Hn. Kuronue sent me up here to tell you to get your fox-butt down there to help him," Hiei said. Kurama appeared to loose all will to move and flopped down onto the bed.
"What did they get into this time?" Kurama asked, managing to haul himself into a sitting position. At that moment, as if on cue, Jeroun burst into the room, tackling Kurama, who fell back down onto the bed, and then proceeded to hide under Kurama's desk.
"Baka," Hiei murmured as he pulled Kurama to his feet.
"Thanks," Kurama gasped before walking over to his desk. "Jeroun, you can come out now." The desk rattled a little bit, and Hiei came over. He kicked at it. There was a protesting grunt, and Jeroun crawled his way out from under the desk. His eyes landed on Hiei, and then moved to Kurama. Both youkai noticed Jeroun had what looked like pancake batter in his hair and an eye that was rapidly going black. Jeroun moved away from Kurama.
"It's not my fault, I swear it isn't!!" he yelled before bolting out of the room, and back into the room that he had occupied since his first night in Kurama's house.
"So . . . Kuronue found the . . . "
"Egg-beaters," Hiei finished. Kurama giggled, before hastily turning his laughter into a cough, remembering Hiei's first encounter with the ningen cooking-tool. Unfortunately, Hiei noticed and sent him a death glare that Kurama slowly backed away from. Hiei continued; "So, naturally the baka tried to use them, and then I came in to see Jeroun trying to take them away, while the batter flew around the kitchen. Kuronue told me to come and get you."
"And you actually listened to him?" Kurama asked as Hiei turned his back to Kurama to let the fox change. Once he had finished, Hiei turned back around.
"I figured there was no use staying and getting a black eye, so I left," Hiei said shortly. Kurama laughed in obvious agreement with Hiei.
"Well, I gotta go make sure he doesn't kill himself," Kurama said. Hiei grinned.
"This might just be worth watching," he said.
Hiei sat on Kurama's living room couch, listening to the kitsune scold Kuronue for using modern appliances that he didn't know how to operate. Hiei had heard the lecture many times before, but it was still fun to hear Kurama scolding someone else.
"Go get cleaned up, Kuronue, and we'll see if we can clean the kitchen before 'kassan gets home," Kurama said, his voice slightly muffled by the wall in between him and Hiei. For once in his life, Hiei felt himself holding back laughter as he watched the miserable, batter-covered chimera trudge up the stairs to the bathroom. A moment later, a batter- covered Kurama appeared as well, looking worn-out by the morning's events. "Well, there was no one seriously injured, but it's gonna take hours to clean that mess in there." He went to sit down on the couch, but thought better of it.
"Then why'd you tell him that you thought you could get it cleaned up before your mother got home?" Hiei looked at the kitsune with interest.
"I didn't want him to feel worse than he already does," Kurama said. Hiei, although he didn't agree with Kurama, nodded.
"I guess you're right," he said, standing up. Kurama turned to see Jeroun coming down the stairs, and when he turned back, Hiei had vanished.
Leaves brushed by his face as he skimmed the treetops, occasionally glancing down, looking for Kuwabara and his sister. (Damn him,) Hiei thought. (Making a move on my sister like that.) A few days before, Kuwabara asked Yukina if she had wanted to go out for ice cream. So, naturally, when Hiei had "overheard" Kuwabara telling Kurama, Hiei had decided to "tag along" (translation: SPY) to make sure that Kuwabara didn't try anything funny.
"Hiei!!" Hiei grabbed a branch and pulled himself to a stop before dropping onto the sidewalk to face none other than Yukina. She grinned at him.
"Y-Yukina," Hiei stuttered. Her red eyes, so much like his own, swept over him once before the girl embraced him.
"I haven't seen you in a while!" she said as she let go of him. Hiei stood frozen to the spot. He had been *hugged*. No one ever had hugged him before. "Did I do something I shouldn't have?" Hiei unfroze and looked at his sister, who was watching him nervously.
"No, it's just that . . . " Hiei broke off, slightly embarrassed for having to admit this to his sister. After a moment he continued. "No one's ever . . . done that to me before."
"Really!" Yukina sounded surprised. Hiei nodded, not meeting her eyes. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hiei . . . is there something wrong?"
"No, there's nothing," he said. "Nothing that you can help with anyway." She cocked her head. He cleared his throat. (There's something that he's keeping from me,) Yukina thought. (I know it. The way he doesn't meet my eyes, the way he's always so . . . well, he's silent around everyone, but still. . . . )
"Well, I'll see you later then," Yukina offered. Hiei nodded slightly before disappearing into the trees again. Hiei scowled as he heard Kuwabara yell a greeting to Yukina a few moments later. (One of these days, you baka, one of these days. . . . )
Erm, no, this isn't the end of the chapter, but I just realized something. I'm not too good at keeping Hiei and Yukina in-character, especially in a fic like this for some reason, so forgive me if they (or anyone) seems a bit OOC
(Sweet snow. . . . ) Hiei drooled as he watched the ice cream store. He wanted sweet snow. He *really* wanted sweet snow. He suddenly slapped himself across the face. (Must watch Yukina. Must protect.) Yep, the lack of ice-cream was starting to get to him. He was so preoccupied with the ice cream that he didn't even notice when someone snuck up behind him.
"You know Hiei, I'm sure that someone would buy some for you if you asked," a voice behind him said. In spite of himself, Hiei jumped.
"You!!" Hiei declared, expecting an enemy, whirling around to face. . . . "Kuronue?"
"Yo," the chimera said, pleased with himself for facing Hiei.
"I thought you were helping Kurama clean up," Hiei said with a scowl. He crossed his arms and leaned against the trunk of the tree he had been hiding in.
"I was," Kuronue said. "But then Shiori got home. She was pretty pissed, so I left and Kurama retreated to his room." Kuronue grinned. "He still hasn't got all the batter of himself."
"It must be starting to dry," Hiei offered, unsure of why he was making conversation with the chimera. Kuronue's grin grew wider, and Hiei began to get annoyed with it.
"It is," Kuronue said. "He was muttering something about it being bad for his hair." Hiei choked back a laugh at the thought of the kitsune trying to wash out his hair.
"Hey, who's up there?" Through the thick branches of the tree Hiei and Kuronue could see Kuwabara looking up at them, Yukina at his side. Hiei growled. "Is that you, Shrimp?"
"Kazuma, that's not very nice," Yukina scolded. "I'm short, and you don't call me shrimp." Kuronue tried to hold back laughter, while Hiei went and fell out of the tree.
"Something wrong, *Hiei*?" Kuwabara asked. It was obvious that he was only calling Hiei by his proper name as not to upset Yukina again. Hiei scowled at him before picking himself up and brushing off his black clothes. Ignoring Kuwabara, Hiei turned to Yukina.
"Why did you . . . defend me?" Hiei asked. Yukina blinked, caught off- guard by the question. Kuwabara hit Hiei on the head, trying to get the fire-youkai's attention, and succeeded only in getting flipped onto his back.
"I-I'm sorry," Yukina stuttered. "Did I offend you?" She looked down, not meeting his eyes. Hiei felt a stab of guilt for making his sister feel bad, but shook it off after a few moments.
"No," Hiei said. "I just wanted to know why you care for me." Yukina's head shot up as Hiei got ready to leave.
"You've helped me," she said. "You helped Kazuma and Yusuke save me." Even though Yukina did not like to bring up the painful memories, for some odd reason she felt a need to make Hiei feel as though he was not all bad. Hiei paused his jump, but did not look back at her.
"I-I . . . " Hiei started, at a complete loss for words. There were a few moments of silence, and then Hiei took off, jumping into the trees. Yukina turned away, and noticed Kuwabara on the ground.
"Kazuma!" Yukina cried. "Are you all right?" At that moment, Kuronue leapt from the trees and poked at Kuwabara. The human twitched, but did not move.
"I think Hiei knocked him out," Kuronue murmured. Yukina smiled to herself. (There's something about Hiei that I like, even though he doesn't talk,) she thought.
*~*~*~*~*~
"Shuichi will be down in a moment."
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Jeroun, Kuronue, and Botan sat in Kurama's living room, waiting for the fox. Hiei sat scowling at Kuwabara, remembering the earlier encounter, while Kuwabara glared at him. The others knew better than to try and stop them.
"So . . . tell me why Koenma wanted us to meet here again?" Yusuke asked, folding his arms. "The toddler's late." Botan fidgeted nervously.
"He said there was someone that he was going to bring," Botan said. The thing was, she knew perfectly well who Koenma was bringing, and didn't like to think about the others' reactions.
"Who?"
"Er-" Botan began, but Kurama entered at that moment, and everyone had to laugh. The poor kitsune still hadn't managed to get all of the pancake batter out of his hair, so it stuck out in odd clumps, having been dry for a long time. Botan, even though she was nervous, laughed along with the others.
"Please don't laugh," Kurama said. His eyes suddenly landed on Kuronue. "Hey, Kuro, you have this stuff in your hair, too!" Everyone quieted and looked over at the chimera, who pulled his hat down firmly onto his head. At that moment, the doorbell rang.
"Get that for me, will you, Shuichi?" Kurama had thought she would call him by his true name, but old habits die hard.
"'Kassan, I have batter in my hair still," Kurama said.
"It's probably just Koenma," Yusuke said. "And he won't mind."
"Yeah, he'll just laugh like the rest of you," Kurama said, sulking as he went to open the door. Botan swallowed hard.
"I don't know if that's a good-" she began, but was cut off by a loud yell. Seconds later, Kurama burst into the room, seemingly running for his life.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Kuronue asked as Jeroun threw himself out of Kurama's way. Kurama ignored the both of them and dove under the coffee table. Kuronue peered under it. "Kurama?" Everyone stared at the obviously terrified kitsune.
"You can relax, Kurama, he's not going to hurt you," Botan said. Everyone whirled to stare at her.
"Who?" Yusuke demanded. "You know after all?"
"Hai," Botan said, and a moment later Koenma appeared in the room. To everyone's surprise, Kurama got out from under the coffee table and rounded on him.
"What, might I ask," Kurama said, trying to keep his voice even. "Is *he* doing here?" Kurama jabbed a finger at the newest occupant of the room, who was standing in a corner. Everyone stared, for in the corner stood none other than Karasu.
"Well," Koenma said. "When he told you that his first guide to the Spirit World was not as watchful as she should have been, he wasn't entirely truthful. Turns out that he threatened her, so none of the other ferry girls wanted to take him, not even Botan." At this point, Kurama threw his version of Hiei's death-glare in Botan's direction. "As a result, I had to let him come back to life." Koenma shrank away from Kurama, fearing for his life.
"Don't tell me you're not happy to see me fox," Karasu said, moving toward Kurama. Kurama dove under the coffee table again.
"What's wrong with you?" Kuronue asked. "You weren't this scared when you faced him before, in the Makai, remember?"
"He had my mother!" Kurama shouted from under the coffee table. "That's the only reason I even thought of fighting him again!!" Kuronue and Jeroun, who had been absent at the time of Karasu's first appearance, stared at the crow. Karasu shrugged, not wanting to explain, and walked over to the coffee table. Reaching one hand under, he pulled Kurama out as the kitsune gave a protesting squeak.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. At that moment, there was a loud, female yell from the other side of the room, and within seconds, Karasu had been beamed in the head by a broom. The stunned crow dropped Kurama, who ran to hide behind Shiori, who was brandishing the said broom.
"He really must be terrified of this guy if he's hiding behind Shiori," Kuronue muttered to Jeroun, who nodded. As Karasu moved toward Shiori, trying to explain, he got whacked in the head again.
"WILL EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN AND LISTEN TO ME!!" That got everyone's attention. Koenma stood in the center of the room, breathing hard. "He's not gonna hurt anyone. That was part of the deal we made."
"What if he decides to break your agreement?" Kurama squeaked from behind Shiori.
"He won't," Koenma said. "Number one; if he does, he'll be locked away in a Reikai prison, number two; he has hardly any of his power anymore, thanks to his second death. Third, *he's* the one who came up with the deal in the first place."
"Really?" Kurama asked.
"Watch," Karasu said. He walked over and placed a hand on the couch. A moment later, he pulled his hand away. The couch didn't blow up. Kurama took his chances, came out from behind Shiori, and prodded the couch. It still didn't blow up. Kurama looked at Koenma and nodded.
"But where will he stay?" Kurama asked. "As far as I know, Karasu doesn't have a place in the Ningenkai."
"You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here," Karasu mumbled. Koenma went red and suddenly became very interested in the living room carpet. After a moment, he spoke.
"Ano . . . I thought he could stay here, with you and Jeroun and Kuronue," Koenma said. "If he does try anything, not that he will, three demons would be more likely able to handle him rather than one or a human." He gestured to Hiei, Yusuke and Kuwabara as he spoke.
"He's welcome to stay," Shiori said suddenly. Kurama gave his mother a look that asked her "Are you crazy?" Shiori nodded. "He's not all bad, Shuichi."
"I wish she'd call me Kurama," Kurama muttered.
"But if he does one thing, he's out," Shiori said. "And that's final." She ignored Kurama's pleading look. "Lucky for us we got another guest room, since Jeroun and Kuronue are occupying the first two." Koenma thanked Shiori while Kurama left the room and began banging his head on the wall, hoping this was a bad dream.
"You are more generous than Kurama said you were," Koenma cried, wringing Shiori's hands. Shiori paused, listening to a gentle *thump-thump- thump*
"Shuichi! Stop hitting your head on the wall!"
"Gomen, 'kassan," Kurama's voice yelled.
"Well, then, that takes care of everything," Koenma said. "I'll be back in a few months to see how everybody's doing." With that, he called to Botan, and they left. Shiori showed Karasu to his new room while the rest of the gang filtered out of the living room, except for Kurama, who had his head on the wall and was muttering, "What have I gotten myself into?"
Tee hee. Looks like we're in for a crazy ride!! And I'm sorry, I know I said this would mostly be about Hiei, but I couldn't help myself. I had to bring Karasu into the picture. He was just there, yelling in my face, "PUT ME IN!!!"
Karasu: And it worked, didn't it?
Nagem: Shut up! You're gonna ruin the whole story.
Karasu: No I won't. I'll just stay in the background like a good little crow.
Kurama: Yeah, right.
Karasu: FOX!!
Kurama: Get away from me!!
Nagem: Karasu, leave him alone! Please review!! PLEASE!!