Kurama wandered through the maze of people selling things looking for anything shiny and pretty to snag as he absentmindedly searched with the tribble in hand. The purring led him to a woman who was going through a pile of bowls. She was covered in dark stripes like a King Cheetah, and when he came near, glanced up.
He stopped fairly far away from her and held up his tribble to show her what he was thinking.
She waved a hand for him to come over.
He did so after getting the invitation, but still kept a little of a distance from her, "Hello, my name's Kurama. It seems our tribbles are purring."
"It seems so, I'm Asagi." She smiled and continued going through the bowls after a moment.
Kurama watched her sort through her treasure hunt, and slowly approached a little closer so he could see the selection. "Are you alright if we're marked?"
"That's fine." She squatted down and get a selection of five bowls out, looking them over, "Hm."
She had a nice ass. It was complimented by her strong legs. He got a good view as she squatted and he enjoyed it, stepping close enough that the incessant purring stopped as they were marked.
She glanced at him and smiled, "Sorry, I really need a new bowl."
"What for?"
"It got knocked off the table."
"What're you planning on using it for?"
"Food."
"Like salads or stir fries or liquid foods?" He looked across the table examining the possibilities.
"All of the above. These seem to be the best ones." She shrugged.
He examined the ones she'd narrowed it down to, "Well if you want general food, you should go with the third one, but if you really want, I have money."
"You're new here, aren't you?"
"Yes. Why, do they not use money here?"
"Rarely." She shrugged and picked up the third bowl, examining it, "Hm." She stood and bartered with the vendor for a few minutes before she turned to him and smiled. She had her tribble in a sash on her waist, "So Kurama," she tipped her head, "How long have you been here?"
"Somewhere between twelve and seven hours." He smiled.
She laughed, "Oh, you need a place to stay, you can bunk with me, I have plenty of space."
"I have a friend here too. He's gone off to find someone else in the market. His tribble was purring."
"Mm, well, maybe he'll get lucky." She brushed her dark hair back, "Do you need something from the market?"
He shrugged, "I haven't the slightest."
"Alright, when do you need to meet up with your friend?"
"Sometime soon. I was just enjoying the market. What's the most expensive thing I can buy with money that people would want to barter for?"
She considered it, "Jewelry."
"Ah, well I've already got that." He had seen a few nice pieces walking through the market, not that he was going to pull them out until the vendors were changed, but he did have a good selection. The market was so busy it was as easy as breathing for him to pilfer things.
"Things like that," she shrugged, "Anything is fair game really, we're all stuck here so we figure it out."
Kurama smiled at her warning. It was too late for that, but no one would call him on it once they figured out who he was. A dread built in his stomach. "Do you have somewhere isolated?" the redhead asked softly. If he could change now, people could start recognizing him for who he was rather than identifying Shuichi as Youko Kurama.
"Uh, fields, and homes. We can go to my place."
"Is it close?"
"Very close," she offered her hand to him. He took it and followed the girl to her house. It was a modest building a couple blocks out from the market. When they entered, it was quiet inside, and cool.
"This is nice." Kurama smiled, "Can I use the bathroom? I need to change."
"Of course, make yourself comfortable. We're sort of marked," She freed her tribble from the sash and set it on the table.
Kurama nodded and found the bathroom after a couple of doors, slipping inside. He powered up, and changed into his true form, his hair growing out, and ears and tail becoming obvious the higher he pushed his limits. When he finally was transformed, he felt the rush of his past, all the reminders of who he was, and his strong blood lust feeding at his soul. He relaxed, breathing slowly as he centered himself again, then stepped out with a smile, "Thank you."
Asagi jumped a little when she saw him, "Oh, wow."
He laughed and swished his tail, showing off, "Like that?"
She laughed too, "Oh you're so gorgeous." She flushed, "Wow."
"Thank you." He stepped forward and extended his hand, "Youko Kurama."
She took his hand, frowning, "The Youko Kurama?"
He nodded.
"Wow." She blinked up at him, "I don't know what to say."
"Shall we go find my friend then?" Her silence wasn't promising, but it was understandable for him. He didn't give up hope that easily. The first girl had just been too much of a brain dead child, this one had more potential.
"Alright," She nodded, retrieving her tribble, "Well, I never thought I'd actually meet Youko Kurama, let alone get marked to him," she laughed and shook her head, offering her hand to him.
He took it to escort her, "My friend played a prank on us. Not the friend we're meeting, but another one. We're meeting up with Hiei."
"What a vicious prank," She shook her head.
"Well he's been saying for years that we should go fall in love." Kurama sighed heavily, vowing his revenge on Yusuke with every step. "He's a good kid. A bit naive, but he has a sound heart."
"That's good," She sighed, "Hopefully you get off quickly. I hate to sound like this, or make it awkward but I do hope I come with you."
He smiled, "I understand. It's not awkward." They spotted Hiei and his blonde standing at the edge of town. "Ah, it looks like he's found his match."
When they got up to them Hiei chuckled, "Decided to come out, Youko?"
"It was the only sensible thing to do," Kurama replied with a smile, "I mean, it's not like I can keep it a secret, and I do want to protect Shuichi."
"You got yourself a woman too," Hiei nodded and sighed.
"Trisha," Asagi smiled, "Enjoying your new toy?"
"I think I'm starting to see who he is actually," Trisha replied, folding her arms over her chest to size Hiei up.
"Is that good or bad?"
"You've got the dragon on your arm, don't you?" She asked pointing at his bandaged hand.
"Guilty as charged." Hiei nodded.
"Hm." she tipped her head the other way, examining him again, "Well I never thought I'd be dating you."
"This is Youko Kurama." Asagi offered.
"I gathered that, Asagi." Trisha nodded, looking him over. "Quite the catch."
Hiei chuckled, "If our stupid tribbles purred together we'd be out of here by now Fox. But we might have some fun."
"Oh, I think we could practice resonating our souls Hiei," Kurama grinned and slowly drew his eyes over the little man.
"Oh no you don't. He's my mark, you've got your own," Trisha huffed at him, but didn't move to intercept or block him.
Hiei straightened up and smirked, "Let's have fun first."
"Well then, shall we go somewhere less, exposed?" Kurama asked looking about. "Asagi here has a very nice home."
"I have a pan to make." Trisha reminded Hiei pointedly.
Hiei sighed, "She has a pan to make."
"Then her place?" He asked Asagi.
"Sure, why not?" Asagi shrugged, smiling up at him.
"If I'm going to be feeding four people I need some extra food." Trisha commented, but started back towards town to lead the way.
"I can feed myself Trisha." Asagi offered.
"I can grow vegetables and things as well. I'm sure we can accommodate what you need."
Trisha looked over her shoulder at the two of them for a little while, but nodded, "Alright, we can do that." She led them back to her house, but entered through the lower downstairs back door into another empty studio space with a bathroom cut out of a corner, along with a kitchen on the same wall. She had the rest of the place set up for seating and comfort, with some of the area filled with storage and metalworking equipment, but most of that was upstairs.
Trisha examined the three of them when they entered and nodded, "Make yourselves comfortable. Is there anything I can get you to drink?" She asked, heading for the cupboards in the kitchen area.
"Water," Hiei followed after her.
"I second that," Kurama called, staying with Asagi near the door.
Asagi glanced up at him for a moment, "If you wouldn't mind, I'd also love a glass of water."
Trisha brought three glasses of water over to a table and then grabbed a pitcher of it, and a cup for herself, sitting down, "Well don't just stand there, come on," She encouraged.
"She's sort of impatient Hiei," Kurama strolled over to the table to sit with his friend.
"Yeah, she is." Hiei agreed, "What about your woman?"
Asagi made a huffing noise as she took her seat.
"She's patient, I think. I haven't seen evidence on the contrary."
"Patience is a good thing." Asagi murmured behind the lip of her glass.
"Yes, it is," Kurama agreed.
"So, Asagi, how's business?"
"Oh, it's business. I'm trying to see if feeding specific things will affect tribble colors at all, like make them multi-colored, not much success."
"Well feeding them poison did not turn them green, I'll tell you that."
"I got one to turn brown and white, but he was a little on the small side for whatever reason, I'm trying to bulk him up."
"Nice."
"What do you do with them?" Kurama asked.
"I make clothes out of them." Asagi shrugged, "Or things like that, you know, get enough of them and make a rug, or a blanket."
"Nice." Kurama smiled, "I didn't expect that."
"They're pretty warm if you get enough of them," Asagi chuckled. "Plus, you can shave them and spin the fur."
"What does a shaven tribble look like?"
"A tan oval ball thing," She laughed, "I can show you."
"Later."
Trisha stood, "Well, now that you're all settled in, I've got some work to do." She smiled, "I'll be back to chat later." She headed for the stairs.
"Do I have to follow?" Hiei asked skeptically.
"No, the house is small enough around that you won't have an issue," Trisha told him halfway up the stairs, then vanished the rest of the way.
Hiei sighed and leaned against the table, "Fox, how are we getting out of this one?"
"We're going to just have to follow the rules Hiei, fall in love."
"She killed tribbles by poisoning them."
"And yet she's still here, isn't she?"
"I wonder if I can burn them," Hiei set his tribble on the table and snapped his fingers, creating a flame. He tried to catch the fur on fire, but it wouldn't set. He grumbled and put the flame away, "Can we drown them?" He glanced at the pitcher.
Kurama put his hand over Hiei's, "If you kill it, another will replace it Hiei. They're on this island because they almost overthrew Demon World. You're not going to be able to solve this problem when thousands of other demons couldn't."
"But how will it find me? If I drown it, it might also kill the babies."
Kurama pulled out his tribble and set it on the table, "They've got a hive mind Hiei, they are in constant communication with one another. You can't get out of this."
Hiei dunked the tribble into the pitcher. It floated to the surface, pushing his hand up with a barrier. Hiei growled and tried to shove it down, but couldn't because of the barrier. The tribble started shaking, and his hand slipped through it as it shrunk, and popped out of the pitcher, along with ten other tribbles that littered the table.
Hiei growled and grabbed the nearest one, chucking it at the wall, making it squeak, and fall to the floor, "Now which one is mine?"
"Whichever one decides to make the barrier to prevent you from leaving it," Kurama shrugged.
Hiei started smashing them with his fist. It wasn't an effective way to kill them, as most of them just squeaked and bounced back, but four of them died, making twenty four tribbles on the table as the dead ones gave birth.
Asagi picked up the dead ones and stashed them away in her sash with a chuckle, "Keep going Hiei," she cheered.
Hiei swept them all off and growled, "I hate this place."
"Yeah, I know, just stuff one in your pocket and ignore it."
Hiei grabbed one off the floor and stuffed it in his pocket, ignoring Asagi as she got up to collect the live tribbles in her sash, stuffing hers in her shirt.
"Are you done trying Hiei?"
"I almost feel bad for killing it, Fox." Hiei took the corpse of the dead one out of the pitcher and set it on the table.
Kurama chuckled, "I'm not surprised."
"So, I ruined our water," Hiei put the wet fluff near Asagi, who set it aside.
"Yup."
"Do you think you can fall in love with a cheetah?"
"Sure, why couldn't I? It seems silly to think I couldn't fall in love with someone."
Asagi chuckled, "Can you fall in love with Trisha?"
Hiei shrugged.
"The real question is can you fall in love with Youko Kurama?"
"I don't see how I couldn't."
"Good answer. So what do you know about Trisha? Are you two close?"
"No. She's a bit of a smith obviously, not the most successful, but her stuff works."
"Is she well-liked in the village?"
"Somewhat. She steals a lot."
"Doesn't everyone? I mean, outside of here it's standard practice, if you can get away with it."
"That's true. I don't really talk to Trisha much besides selling her furs on occasion, or tribble meat."
"So tell me about yourself," Kurama encouraged.
Asagi shrugged, "What would you like to know?"
"I don't know, what's your specialty off Tribble?"
"My specialty was living?" She laughed, "I took care of plants, had a small shop."
"What did you sell?"
"Seeds, vegetables to eat, herbs, you know," she shrugged.
Kurama nodded, "That sounds nice. Do you have siblings?"
"I had a few siblings, don't know what happened to them though." She sighed, "I lived in a village for a long time, moved a little ways away and made my shop, then got stuck here."
"Are you worried about the safety of your shop?"
"It's been years, it's probably gone."
"What's the average time people spend here?"
"Oh, fifty years?"
Kurama didn't breathe for a minute. He coughed when his body caught up with his mind, "Fifty years? Wow, that's, we were told maybe one and a half."
She laughed, "No, most of the time people are stuck here for years, unless you're really lucky." She frowned, "Sorry, I just, didn't mean to laugh, but a year and a half?"
He sighed, "That's a long time."
"Well, you might be lucky," Asagi shrugged, "Your little friend seems pretty willing, and I'm pretty willing."
Kurama glanced at Hiei, then her. He sighed again and leaned back in his chair.
"Fox, if I stay here fifty years I will kill myself." Hiei informed him.
"Me too."
"We need to get out."
Kurama nodded, "Even if I have to teach you how to control your soul."
"Yes, so, do you want to mess around with this woman or just try to get out together?"
Kurama sighed, "I wouldn't mind having a romantic interest Hiei, some new blood to our group, a chance for kids," he shrugged.
"Fine, but if you take a year I won't give you a choice."
"Oh? And how are you going to do that?" Kurama challenged.
Asagi chuckled as she watched them, petting one of the baby tribbles, "You two are both so, interesting to watch."
Hiei shot a glare her way and looked at Kurama, "I'll find a way to kill them or get you away from them so we can both get out."
"We'll get out of here Hiei, it just might not be very quickly."
"You have Shuichi still."
"Yeah, and I can make another Shuichi too, if I need to, but I don't want to. I'd rather try playing by the rules, see what it comes up with, and slip out of here with someone I'm close to."
"Hn." Hiei grunted, "If you need more tribbles Asagi, I'll kill them for you."
"Thank you."
Trisha came down the stairs and over to the table to sit, "So, anything happen while I was gone?"
"I murdered my tribble and ruined the pitcher water." Hiei commented.
"Oh."
"He gave me like thirty tribbles," Asagi laughed.
"A little stressed?" She got up and replaced the pitcher of water, then downed her cup of water and refilled it with fresh water.
"I want out." Hiei huffed.
"I do too."
Hiei sighed and leaned against the table, "Is there anyway to get rid of tribbles completely?"
She shook her head, "I've been trying my whole time here. I even tried to knock it out, but, it just died and the babies caught me. Once you hit the outer ring, you're stopped no matter what."
"Hn."
"Hiei, do you want to try something? I've got a challenge I like to run with people I'm marked with."
"What?"
"Well since we can't fight," she shrugged, "I made an obstacle course."
Hiei perked up, "Take me to it."
Trisha smiled, "Alright." She headed upstairs with him, and touched her hearth before moving out onto the roof. She pointed around the different rooftops, "The course looks simple, but it's actually somewhat complicated to complete." She pulled out a sutra pad and placed it on the chimney, and around the rooftops she'd pointed out, fire spouted out and created guidelines. "You just have to follow the path, and not get hit. There are some spots that will spit out fire at you."
"Hn, alright," Hiei nodded and discarded his cloak, "How fast are you?"
"I'm not, exceptionally fast, but I'm not slow. We stay on opposite sides." She cracked her knuckles.
"Good, don't get me trapped."
"That's why it's an obstacle course," she ran forward not giving him time to think and jumped for the next roof. If he didn't follow, she'd fall. Hiei bolted after her. She kept up for the first hundred feet, but after that, Hiei could feel the pull barrier starting to form as he tried to block obstacles. As he made a jump, the barrier came up and he smacked into it, and when she got closer, it fell and he went with it, down between two buildings. He tried to grab at the wall and catch himself, but just managed to make it worse when he smacked his head against the wall and continued down limp. She managed to catch him before he hit the road, but it was a narrow reach.
Kurama gasped when they came back to her home, Hiei bloody in her arms, "I-I-he, he was-"
"Hush, just, get him somewhere he can lay," Kurama quickly followed her up the stairs. It only took a few minutes to wrap up the wounds with her supplies.
Hiei woke up half an hour later, sitting up slowly, frowning as he looked about, "Ow, what happened?" He asked quietly.
"You, were going too fast and fell off a building." Trisha huffed angrily.
"What?" Hiei frowned and propped himself up better, wincing, "Ah, who are you?"
Trisha frowned, "I'm Trisha, we're marked."
"What? What's marked?"
She held up her tribble necklace.
"What's that?"
Trisha glanced at Kurama, and sat beside him, "Maybe you should get some sleep."
"My head hurts, bad," Hiei touched his head, gently feeling at his forehead, grimacing.
"He might have a concussion, he shouldn't be sleeping if he does."
"Who are you?" Hiei asked Kurama.
"Who are you?" Kurama returned softly.
Hiei frowned, "I don't know. Who am I?"
Kurama sighed as well, "You, are Hiei."
"Hiei?"
"Yes."
"Who are you?"
"Kurama."
Hiei frowned and rubbed at his head, "I don't know you."
"Then how do I know you?"
Hiei sighed and tried to get up, but he stopped, "How did falling down do this much damage?"
"You smacked your head against a wall."
"And you have a Jagan."
"Is that what I felt? Damn, it hurts," Hiei rolled back onto the bed and groaned, "I feel like someone is stabbing me in the head."
Kurama sighed, "I might be able to help that." He vanished back downstairs.
Trisha stood, "I'm sorry Hiei, this is my fault. I challenged you to a skills contest and you were hurt doing that."
"Well thanks," Hiei grumbled.
She frowned, "We're stuck on an island trying to find someone we can love in order to get off the island, it is a way to test how good someone is before we get too deep into it."
"Huh." Hiei sighed, "Do I love you?"
"No, not yet."
"Hn. Well," He frowned.
"We're trying to see if we can fall in love." She frowned, "Though after what happened, I'm not sure what to think. This is the first time someone's fallen by moving too fast for me to keep up with them."
"Am I really that fast?" Hiei frowned.
Trisha chuckled and gave him a soft smile, "I'm not as fast as you."
Kurama glanced between the two feeling uncomfortable. He recognized that smile. It was one Shiori had given him before, but he had never expected to see it on a woman, let alone a woman who was looking at Hiei. It wasn't, respect, so much as caring. Not love, but, something in between love and caring. He never really nailed it down exactly.
Hiei chuckled too and winced, "Can I go back to sleep?"
Kurama nodded, "Yes, I'd suggest it. Trisha, seeing as you can't leave him too far, I'm assuming he'll be safe for the night?"
"Yes, I'll keep an eye on him. You go see if you can't find some love with that Asagi girl. I'll get in touch if he needs you again."
Hiei glanced up, "Were we good friends Kurama?"
"Very Hiei, very. I'll be back tomorrow to help you start remembering, but first, your Jagan needs to heal." Kurama reached down and stroked Hiei's bangs, "It'll be alright Dragon, you'll get through this and I'll be right there with you."
Hiei smiled up at him with a softer smile than usual and nodded.
"Goodnight Hiei."
"Goodnight Kurama."
Kurama left the two of them alone.
Kurama packed a lunch for himself and Asagi as he waited for her to wake up. Usually, it didn't take her long once he started moving around in her domain, but today she seemed to be sleeping in.
Eventually she made her way out of her bedroom yawning, "Morning," she offered as she came into the living room.
"Good morning Asagi. How did you sleep?" He finished packing their supplies and tied the bag shut tight.
"Alright," She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest, blinking as she woke up, "You think maybe we could not go over and see Hiei today?"
"Why? What brought this on?" He asked sharply.
"I'd like to spend some time with you."
"Oh! Oh, I suppose, well. Hm. I told him yesterday I'd be over in the morning, but we could leave early. He's mostly regained his attitude. The rest should come as he thinks about his history."
Asagi sighed, "Maybe we could stop by and tell them we're going to be doing stuff today?"
"I-I suppose we could do that, yes."
"I understand Hiei is your friend and you care about him, but, you also have a bigger issue here," she poked a nearby tribble.
Kurama sighed and nodded, "I suppose. I mean, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving until he was ready to leave too."
"How long will that take?"
"I don't know," he shook his head, "He seems to be getting along with Trisha well, but that could change once he gets his memories back in full."
"I'd like to get off this island," Asagi sighed, "Maybe you should just try and bond with Hiei."
Kurama sighed again and took a seat at Asagi's table, "We were laying side by side when we woke up. If we were going to bond, we would have done it then."
"If you start having romantic thoughts about someone your tribble will start to understand you have feelings for them and mark you."
"Look, if you're not comfortable with my friendship with Hiei then we won't work out. Hiei is my partner, and I'm very close to him. I'm always very close to my partners and if you were to be my mate, then I'd be close to you too."
"I'm not uncomfortable with your friendship, I'd like to get off this stupid island with someone I love and I can't spend anytime with you to see if I love you."
"And we'll fix that, we will! I'm not rejecting your idea for telling them that we're doing other things today, I just, need to re-plan what I was considering. I didn't realize that you wanted to try this right now. I was focused on Hiei and I can see that now."
"I don't want to spend another fifty years here, so I'll get dressed and we'll go stop by tell them and hang out," with that, Asagi disappeared back into her bedroom. She reappeared dressed and alert, heading out the door.
Kurama followed, having put away the supplies they'd need to stay over at Trisha's for the day. Instead, just as Asagi suggested, they were brief, and left again. "So," Kurama offered when they finally got out the door, "What would you like to do?"
"Well, we could go for a walk?"
"Ok. Anywhere in particular?"
She shook her head.
"Why don't you show me around town?"
"Alright."
Kurama waited, making a sweeping gesture, "After you. I can't very well show myself around town."
Asagi chuckled and started away from the house, "What would you like to see first? The boring parts or the exciting parts?"
"Let's do the boring first so we can strike up a good conversation." Kurama followed at her side taking her lead.
Asagi nodded and started towards the rest of the houses, "I don't think I ever showed you how many people we do have in this little village," she gestured to the buildings.
"How is it you came to reside in this particular village?"
"It has the largest market, so the furs sell pretty well."
"How did you get your house?"
"It may have been a combination of trade and threat," She chuckled.
He did as well. "How many people are still in the village who were here when you joined it?"
She whistled, "A lot, I've seen a few couples leave, but most of them are still here."
"So really, the deeper you are on the island, the longer people stick around. It must be because of how little new blood gets this far in."
"Sort of, yeah. The closer you are to the border the newer the blood, but sometimes you get some new people deep in because they're curious."
Kurama studied the people who were beginning to pause and whisper out their windows, "It seems like that should be the other way around. If what we were told is true, then the people on the edge have the highest rate of success getting off the island."
"They do and they don't. In a way, the deeper you are in, and the longer you are in, allows you to develop feelings for people you didn't have when you first came in."
"But, if the newest people who come in are your only chances for success, because you've already pilfered the rest of the island's possibilities, then wouldn't you want to remain on the edge so new blood coming in would be quickly accessible and you could get to them before someone else?"
"Yeah. I used to hang out near the edge, but after awhile I just gave up and holed myself up here."
"So then, the farther into the island, the less hope they feel of getting off."
She nodded, "The deeper, the more depressed. Most of us just hang in there for that chance we might get off, but we all know deep down we'll probably be stuck here for eternity."
Kurama sighed, "Well, don't lose hope Asagi. It is possible to get off the island after being stuck on it for a while."
"If you say so."
"It is." They reached the end of a street and a mass of women were standing there gawking from behind the corner of a building. Kurama glared at them. "Great."
Asagi chuckled, "Just show your tribble doesn't like them." She took his arm.
"But they'll know I'm already paired with you, won't they?"
"Exactly, but still,"
"But tribbles don't respond when you're already paired."
She sighed, "That's true. Let's just hope they don't get violent."
"How?"
"Competition is hard here," Asagi murmured, "I've had my share of women and men try to run me off people, and I've done the same."
Kurama brought Asagi over to the group and placed her in front of himself, with his hands on his shoulders. He addressed them. "I am currently courting this woman. If I get a whiff that any of you have so much as looked at her wrong, or challenged her for that right, then I will despise all of you irrefutably, which means, I'll hate your guts forever and ever and I'm never going to want anything to do with any of you. Do I make myself clear?"
Several of their heads bobbed.
"Good. Just one of you could fuck it up for all of you, so keep an eye on one another, I do not want to be fought over like someone's property." he snapped viciously at the lot of them. "It is my choice who I want to court! Tribbles be damned!" With that, he turned, looping his arm with Asagi's, and strode away.
Asagi chuckled, "That was impressive."
He sighed heavily, "I really don't like being a prize."
"No?" She glanced up at him.
"The first time I came here, I was just looked at as a sexual object. They fought over me, tried to wager who could give me the best sex, basically decided among themselves who got a shot at me, and in the end, I did fall for the one they chose as a winner. It was disgusting, honestly."
"You were here before?" She paused.
Kurama sighed heavily and paused as well. He looked at her for a while, considering what to say, but nodded, "Yes. A long time ago. A long, long time ago. Nearly three millennia ago."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Asagi frowned, "What happened?"
"To the one I left with?" He sighed and dragged her along to keep walking, "Well, we left, we loved each other, we had kids, a life; then I got bored. I started branching out, I lost interest, and she lost interest. We fell out of love. Our kids grew, moved out, moved on, and we just, never saw each other again. I don't know if she's alive or not, or if any of our kids lived. I didn't keep up with them, just like I don't keep up with my demon parents," he shrugged. "It's the cycle I suppose. Spirit foxes aren't really attached to family units after the first hundred years. We need, a partner, someone we're close to, like Hiei is for me, but it doesn't have to be sexual."
"That makes me extremely skeptical as to how long you'd stay with me."
He laughed, "I suppose you should be. I'd say it would probably be a good three or four hundred years at least." He shrugged. "It depends on a lot of new variables actually. I had a human mother, human love, hell, a human life, and that's changed a lot of the ways I think."
Asagi paused and took his hands, looking up at him, "I think you should try to get off with Hiei."
Kurama held her hands in return and stared into her eyes, "But I'm not sexually attracted to Hiei. He's tiny and young."
"You can become attracted to him if you think about it."
"Can I? How do you know I'm gay at all? I might dislike the idea of there being two penises in a bed."
"You don't seem like you'd be against it."
He chuckled, "Regardless of what I can be attracted to, I think of Hiei more as a sibling than a sexual partner. Sure, I could change that, but right now, I have you. I don't have to."
Asagi sighed, "I don't know."
"Asagi, if you, if you don't want to be with me, then that's okay, but you need to know that four hundred years is a long time to stay in love with someone."
"It is." She agreed.
"And it's not like I'd end it like a contract, it would be a mutual separation if that was what happened. If it didn't, then I wouldn't leave. I just, I have experience with this. I tend to change partners every one to four hundred years or so."
Asagi sighed again, "Yeah?"
"Yeah. It's been about a forty years since Hiei and I have been together in our partnership."
"That's not long."
"No, it's not, but we've already had our breaks in the past. Hiei's a quiet soul."
"He seems like it."
"So, Asagi, what do you think? Do you still think we could match up?"
She sighed, "Maybe, probably."
"Maybe is good enough for them, it might as well be for us too."
She smiled softly and nodded.
"Let's go find something exciting." he let out his best playful grin.
Asagi considered it, "Something exciting? Well, we got some dancers?"
"Is that the exciting part of the tour? Dancers?" He frowned, disappointed.
"Well, I've been here so long the exciting parts have become normal," She laughed, "But the exciting part doesn't have to be out in town," She winked at him.
He grinned, "I like the way you think."
She tapped his shoulder and darted a few feet, "Come on," she grinned.
He followed her eagerly at a jog.
