'Neechan
Chapter One: Pretty Like Your Sister
by the Rurouni Idoru
Rurouni's Note: It's about time I started this one! So, yeah, fans of Kireihana (all, what, two of you) rejoice! For she is here! So, yeah, another excursion into the horrible writing that is my first-person Kurama! If you enjoyed Flora, Fauna, and Kites, I can only hope you'll enjoy this one. It's much more lighthearted. You know, usually. Until the sad stuff happens. Expect cameos from various random people, and...uh...other stuff. So, yeah, I'd read "Deep Roots" first. It's sorta important. And like, stuff. I'm just gonna shut up and post the disclaimer now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, or Kurama. But you know what? I own Kireihana, and I'm uber-proud of that.
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I remember, within a week of meeting Kireihana, she had already shown me that she wasn't the compassionate angel she made herself out to be. My first partner was more virtuous than I was, of course, but she wasn't a gentle, caring soul. She never helped me actually steal anything, but I doubt there's a number high enough to count the number of times she kept me out of trouble for stealing. The first place we went together was a bar. I decided a celebration was in order, now that I had a partner who could extend my abilities beyond stealth, one-on-one combat, and kitsune-bi. This was where I discovered her unvirtuosity.
"A toast!" I held up my glass of red wine and stood up. "To my new partner, Kireihana!" By this time, I had already had a glass or two of wine with dinner, so I was acting a little silly already. "Ain't she lovely? Yeah, look at all that hair. She's gorgeous, right? So, yeah. To you, Kireihana!" And with that, I took a nice sip of the wine. Kireihana, always a stickler for flattery, as I would discover, gladly indulged in the toast herself. What was strange was that once I had put down the glass, she still had it to her mouth, gulping it down. Finally, she placed the empty glass back onto the bar, smiling and faintly flushed.
"This is really good wine. This might be the best wine I've ever had. Where are we?" I blinked several times.
"Are you just drunk, or...?"
"Oh no, I haven't known where I was since I set up that trap. I'd sorta like to know now." I found it difficult to speak.
"...So you didn't even think of asking me where you were before I took you for food that could have been poisoned." She waved her had dismissively.
"No, no, I was wondering, but I have my priorities straight. Eat first, ask questions later. Then you decided you wanted some booze. And if it's been a week and a half since I've eaten, imagine how long it's been since I've partied." She grinned at me smugly, flashing her shining white teeth. "And as for the subject of having me poisoned, you wouldn't do that. I'm offering to teach you some stuff for just one nights' dinner. That's a bargain. Nobody would be dumb enough to turn that down. Why would you kill me at the expense of dinner, when you could wait until I've taught you everything you need and THEN kill me?" My mouth was hanging open. She had just drained a glass of wine and she could still connect this logic? "I thought about this, you know. Like I said, I'm not a little girl anymore."
"One more question. How are you not wasted yet?"
"Oh, that. I have a high tolerance. Gimme another few glasses." I grinned and told her that I was happy to oblige.
The rest of the night was uneventful, and if it wasn't, then I was lit up like New Year. Either way, the rest of the night didn't stick out in my memory. But she had just revealed the bare minimum to me. I had barely scratched the surface of Kireihana. A day or two later that week, I found myself in training. Now, Mr. Miyagi was an interesting teacher. But Kireihana was downright strange.
"You can't learn to spawn plants without learning the skills they're used for first."
"Is that why you have me climbing trees like a frightened kitty while you sit down there drinking mango juice?" I asked her as I ascended my fifth tree that day.
"Pretty much, yeah." And with that, her lips flew back to the cup.
"How do we know when I get it?"
"When you've climbed for an hour an a half. Then, we'll work on vine swinging."
"Wonderful. I can't be a fox anymore, but I can be a cat and a monkey."
"That's why they call 'em cat burglars, Kurama-kun." I remember she called me Kurama-kun because that was the only time she ever did so. At this, I sighed and continued climbing, leaping from branch to branch.
"So, I'm not allowed to practice with the plants I'll be using?"
"Right now, you're using plants on the most basic of levels. Climbing trees that stand still, using vines that are held by only gravity, and even just using them for defensive purposes."
"Defensive purposes?" I looked down from her from my perch on a limb above. She looked at me and shrugged.
"Well, they're not offensive purposes, so what else are they? Either way, you're using these plants for basic purposes because they're basic plants. When you're ready to move onto plants that you can manipulate yourself, then I'll move you right along. We don't have all the time in the world, kitsune boy. Well, you might, I didn't notice too many tails on you, but I don't. I have things I wanna do before the next century." I jumped into another tree and began to leap upwards.
"Like what?"
"Like...I dunno, fall in love, maybe. Or be swept off my feet. Or maybe find something really important to someone that they've lost, and get a fat reward for it."
"Why the last one?"
"Well, mainly to prove to you that do-gooders get some good stuff too. If someone gave me my weight in gold for a paltry little piece o' crap, then I have done right and still gotten rewarded." I smirked as I jumped into a tree about two yards away.
"But that's swindling, isn't it? That's not fair."
"If the one who paid me thought it was fair, then it's just their crappy judgement, now isn't it? They're the ones who gave me a better award than I deserved. Their problem. Kireihana's going shopping."
"I thought you had virtue or whatever that crap you were preaching the other day was."
"Yeah, I have morals and stuff." I chuckled. "morals and stuff," that only compacted my point. "But I'm not stupid." She flicked a few strands out of her face as she spoke. "And morals and brains are a rare combination."
"This is true. Not only are they rare," I I jumped into a tree roughly three yards away, doing a flip in the middle, and impressing myself, "but they're fairly scary. Of course, that's only assuming you're a good example on the combination." Kireihana grinned.
"Nice jump." I smiled.
Moral, smart, manipulative, and a social drinker. What could I have missed? I'll tell you what I missed, ladies and gentlemen, I missed her looks. For someone as generic-looking as she was, she looked very unique. Her honey-colored hair was very long. How long? When I met her, it touched her knees. Her hair grows fairly fast, too. Her eyes were narrow and slanted, and they were sky blue. Her ears were pointed, and she liked to wear orange lip gloss or lipstick or whatever it was, I never really found out. But it was orange. Her favored outfit consisted of a very short burgundy dress and black capri pants. This is important, because the dress had a diamond-shaped hole hin the chest, revealing whatever clevage she felt the need to show off. I thought it looked trashy at first, but I learned that it had a purpose: She kept a small pouch of seeds, money, and other little necesities tucked away in there, and the hole was for easy access to the bag. Of course, at any time, she was prone to decide she wanted to change her look. After the first year of our partnership, she always wore the crystal neckalce that I'll explain later. Usually, she tucked it into her shirt or dress, so it wouldn't be damaged. The fact that I knew her so well and she was rather...brazen as far as I went, it sort of detroyed the goddess-like image she liked to project of herself. But I do recall when we first slept near to each other. It was in a small space, a few feet between trees in the forest. I was feeling fairly troubled about our training. I felt that I was making no progress. Apparently, however, sipping mango juice and watching a Youko jump from tree to tree and swing from vine to vine took more out of one than I would have thought. I deduced this when Kireihana fell dead asleep in about two minutes. Seeing Kireihana asleep meant seeing her not talking, which meant seeing her not yelling at me for once. And then, I noticed something. When she wasn't yelling at me, she was quite pretty. I specifically use the word, "pretty" because it fits in a way its synonyms do not. I couldn't place my finger on it then, but now I know the kind of pretty she was. She was pretty like Christmas day at the Minamino house. The house is a mess, with gifts and wrapping paper everywhere, relatives you haven't seen all year are having awkward conversations with you, and dinner won't be ready for another three hours, but it's one of the best days of the year. She was pretty like my (or anyone else's) big sister when cleaning. Her hair was sort of messy, and pulled back in a ponytail, and she was wearing a ratty old shirt, and she was sweating bullets. And yet, she sort of glowed, humming to herself as she wiped down things around the room. Of course, I couldn't make that clear a connection at the time. But I did know she was making me think of Kuri-neesan. It was then, as luck would have it, that Kireihana got up to go to the bathroom. Being as astute as she was, she noticed that I was looking at her.
"Something wrong, Kurama?"
"No, nothing. It's just...you sort of reminded me of my sister just then."
"Sister, huh?"
"Mmm-hmm." I chuckled.
"What'chu laughing about?"
"Nothing. Go relieve yourself." Kireihana rolled her eyes and left. It took her only about two minutes to come back. She laid down next to me again, her back to me.
"Goodnight." I smiled softly.
"Goodnight, 'neechan."