Title: Matsuri
Rating: K+
Category: General
Sub-category: Humor
Warnings: Some OOC-ness
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated
Summary: Hiei attempted to catch a goldfish at a festival. One shot.
Disclaimer: Yuu Yuu Hakusho and characters are copyright to Yushihiro Togashi and Studio Pierrot. I own nothing.
AN: Hiei and Kurama are strictly friends in this story, nothing implied otherwise. You may make it to be something else entirely at your own discretion. I got the festival description from the anime I watched, so it should be accurate. Most are held nearby shrines, from what I understand. I have no idea if inarizushi is sold at a festival. I had this wicked image of Hiei trying to catch the goldfish with the paper nets they provide when I was watching Invader From Hell the fourth time and the story came about. Matsuri means festival.
It was a festival of sorts, from what he could see from his perch on top of the apartment building. An entire street had been closed off from traffic. There were stalls set up on both sides of the street, selling trinkets, food, drinks and other things; some offered games for children to win prizes, mostly a silly stuffed animal or a plastic toy. Bright lights and lanterns adorned the street, from one pole to another, leading all the way up the shrine. Parents, children, teenagers, couples all milled around among themselves, dressed in traditional kimono or contemporary clothes. Everyone looked happy, smiling and laughing, seemingly unaware of anything else but to enjoy themselves at the moment.
If a demon attack them now, they probably won't realize it until too late. Silly, weak humans, he thought distastefully. He leapt off his perch, landing in an alleyway that lead out to the brightly lit street. If anyone noticed the oddly dressed, rather short boy, no one said anything. As if by instinct, the crowd allowed him to pass through them, like the Red Sea parting for Moses. All the better or he would have resort to burning them to crisp.
He heard it before he saw it. He stopped, eyes widened just a bit then narrowed to a disdainful glare at the object of his sight.
The fox was joining the ningen in their silly celebration. He was dressed the part as well, in a traditional kimono, haori and hakama. Split-toed socks and sandals completed the outfit. He was laughing quietly at something his mother was saying, ignoring her fond exasperation directed at him. The human woman was dressed in a violet kimono with the colour deepening to almost dark blue at the hem. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, tied with a violet ribbon. She looked happy, contend.
"Shuu-chan," she said.
"Ah, gomen, Kaasan." Kurama smiled at her, mischief clear in his eyes. She smiled at him.
"You're almost impossible, you know that?" She gave a fond shake of her head, moving to another stall.
The fox's eyes twinkled merrily at her as he followed her to the stall.
Ch'. The fox had grown soft and foolish. It was to be expected. Letting a woman – a ningen, no less – tying you down in the human world.
"Konban wa, Hiei."
Nani? The half-Koorime looked up to see the aforementioned person looking down at him with open amusement in those green eyes. Kurama's hands were tucked in the sleeves of his haori, and he stood with a friendly, open stance. The corner of his mouth was quirked up slightly.
"Aren't you supposed to enjoy such a ridiculous activity with your mother, fox?" he said instead.
"Kaasan is perfectly capable of enjoying herself without my tagging along." Kurama smirked. "Enjoying yourself?"
"Ch'! It's utterly meaningless." Hiei followed as Kurama turned away and began walking down the street, expertly weaving through the crowd. "There's no point in it all, congregating yourselves all in one place."
"But it's a lot of fun."
"If a demon attacks, I hardly doubt anyone would realize it. They're too engrossed with themselves to notice anything out of the ordinary." Hiei snorted once more.
"Like you, perhaps?" Kurama shot him an amused expression which Hiei returned with a full blown glare. If the wind changes ... he thought wryly. "Since you are here, I assume the Mukuro has release you from your prison?"
"Mukuro does not keep me prisoner," said Hiei stiffly. "I come and go as I please, as long I perform to her expectation."
The word 'perform' turned into many naughty thoughts in Kurama's head, thoughts that would have Yuusuke go running and screaming about his eyes. "I see," he murmured.
The half-Koorime noticed the look, though and growled in annoyance. "Fox, get your mind out of the gutter!"
"Hai, hai." Kurama resumed walking in a leisurely pace, Hiei tagging along. "Mukuro gave you some time off, did she?"
"Hn." It was likely 'Yes' or 'Stupid fox'. Whichever way, it was an answer and Kurama was going to take it.
A particular stall caught Kurama's attention, and he stopped, causing the half-Koorime to nearly bump into him. He could hear the demon swear behind him but he ignored it as he stepped away from the flow of the crowd towards the stall.
There were a handful of families and a couple there, all trying their luck and their best at winning the prize. Gleeful laughter and encouragement were heard from the parents and the boyfriend of the girl.
"Goldfish!" Hiei couldn't stop the exclamation from his mouth, couldn't stop the widening of his eyes as well. If Kuwabara were here, he would have taken advantage of the demon's boggled expression.
"I think my face was exactly like yours when Kaasan showed this to me the first time," said Kurama's low, amused tone. "It was such a silly thing to do but it was fun, too. Come on, why don't you try it?"
"I'm allowed to eat it, right?"
Kurama barely managed to stop the look of horror on his face. "No! You can keep it ... or give it to Mukuro. I'm sure she'll like it."
"Why would Mukuro want a fish?" Hiei now looked simply puzzled. "She's got those ugly Makai birds as pets."
"That's not the point." Kurama's tone had taken on slight exasperation as he pushed the resisting demon towards the tank. "You're here to have fun."
Hiei soon found himself with a stick that had a loophole at the end which was covered by a piece of round paper. He was supposed to catch the fish with this flimsy object? No wonder none of those people caught one. The water was going to make the paper soft and coupled with the fish's weight, the soggy paper would tear. He glared. Beside him, Kurama had taken place next to a girl of six in human years. The fox didn't seem bothered by the contraption in his hand or if he did, he said nothing of it.
The first strike splashed water up into his face and shirt, leaving him dripping wet and the ripped paper net. His scowl intensified. This was a total ripoff to those gullible humans. Anyone can see that you can't scoop, much less catch those fish with something like that. He was going to say it to the fox only to blinked in amazement.
Kurama had not only caught one squirming goldfish in his paper net but had managed not to rip the paper as well.
"Wha – ? How – ?" he sputtered indignantly.
The fox gave him an indulgent smile as the man held out a clear plastic bag with water for Kurama to drop his goldfish into. The top was tied up with rubber band and Kurama now had a bag of goldfish in hand.
"Matte!" Hiei scowled. "One more time!"
"Hiei ... " Kurama barely keep the laughter out of his voice as he watched the half-Koorime tried to scoop up the fish and failed. Tried being the word. More like jabbing downward with the paper net and getting soaked. "I can get you one if you wish."
"No!" the demon bit out, a murderous expression on his face at his failed attempt. "I will get a fish myself and roast it and eat it!"
Audible gasps told him the children had heard, and all were looking at him with identical horror-stricken expressions, much like the fox's minutes ago.
"He's just venting," Kurama said soothingly to them. "Don't worry. He won't eat the fish."
The expressions abated from their small faces, replaced by relief. Kurama let out a breath, feeling relieved himself. He thanked the gods that Hiei hadn't lost it to the point of burning the stall down, yet. He turned his attention back to the aforementioned person trying to catch the slippery fish. At Hiei's sixth attempt, he finally got the fish and he triumphantly displayed it to the kids and Kurama, like a trophy he had just won.
"Omedetou, Hiei," he said with a half-smirk.
"Hn."
The entire evening was spent with Hiei trying his hand at some of the games, winning himself a ridiculously large stuffed bear – it was blue, for Enma's sake! – and trying an assortment of snacks some which he made a face to.He was duly relieved that there was no 'nat-toe' served here. The last fiasco with the pungent beans made him shuddered involuntarily 1. Kurama was digging into the inarizushi with relish, enjoying himself immensely; the goldfish and a stuffed frog in one arm (he'd won that in the shooting game).
The cotton candy was not bad, a tad too sweet for his taste (Kurama seemed to enjoy the fluffiness), and the fireworks were ... nice. Being surrounded by ningen didn't annoy him too much. All in all, it was a nice end to a nice evening but he wasn't going to say that to the fox. Kurama would never let him live it down and would drag him to every festival in this blasted place.
"Shuu-chan!"
They looked up to see Shiori standing by the row of lanterns. She had a small package in her hand and a warm smile on her face at the sight of her son.
"Hn. Looks like the ningen woman wants to go home," remarked Hiei blandly.
"It's late. Did you enjoy yourself?" Kurama asked with a wicked grin as they walked towards Shiori who waited patiently.
"Hn." This was probably 'Stupid fox'. Then, "I'll be going."
"Oh, was that Hiei-san?" Shiori asked as she watched the short boy disappeared into the crowd.
"Hai, Kaasan." Kurama smiled. "I think he enjoyed himself, although he didn't say it."
"I'm glad you both had fun." Her eyes fell on the goldfish. "I see you haven't lost your touch."
"I hope it will last longer than a month this time," laughed Kurama, as they both headed their way home.
"What on earth is that?" asked a the demon. She was half-mecha and half-humanoid. She emphasised her point by poking a sharp nail at the plastic bag. It contained a small goldfish swimming around inside aimlessly.
Hiei was more relieved that the plastic bag hadn't burst from her poking. "It's a goldfish."
"I know that. But where did you get it?" Mukuro continued to study the fish.
"Some festival those ningen seemed to love celebrating. You win the goldfish if you can catch it with that stupid contraption they called a net. It was made out of paper." A pause after the comment. "Do you ... like it?"
Mukuro turned to face him, a beam on her face. "I do! It's such a cute gift, and the bear, too. Thank you."
"Hn." She translated it into 'Whatever' but the smile remained on her face.
Owari.
1 The nattou incident is from my other YYH story, Nattou.