Chapter Four: Downtime

Kurama and Hana's conversation only really ended when the carriage stopped in front of the okiya. Hana noticed a hint of disappointment in his face and smiled.

"Why Kurama," she said to him, "Is that disappointment I see in your face?"

"Another end to another fruitless afternoon," he sighed, coming down from the rickshaw to help Hana down. "I'm a little disappointed that we didn't find anything."

"Hopefully, Yusuke and Hiei will have more answers," Hana reassured him, taking his hand as they went through the motions of a gentleman helping a defenceless young lady alight from her carriage. Kurama watched Hana walking back towards the apartment. Yusuke was right. He did prefer her without all of the garb of the geisha. Before she went completely inside, Hana paused and turned to Kurama.

"It wasn't completely fruitless, Kurama," she said to him. "I should say we both had quite the productive afternoon."

"Until next time then," he said, giving her a slight bow. Hana returned the favour before completely turning her head and going back upstairs. The rickshaw had left when Hana caught a whiff of blood. Kuwabara's spilled blood. Rushing upstairs, Hana saw Hiei bent over Kuwabara's fallen form, pressing hard against his stomach to stop the bleeding, yelling at him for being an idiot.

Hana found herself frozen at the spot. If she took another step...Oh God, she thought to herself. He's bleeding. It would be such a shame to let the fresh blood go to waste, won't it? And Hiei wouldn't care. Oh god that smells amazing. It would be too easy. She wondered when she had last tasted sweet, succulent human blood, blood that would fill her and satisfy her. Didn't she deserve it, after all her hard work? After wo many years of being so deprived, there it was. A chance, a sliver of her only desire. All that separated her from that was a fire demon whom she knew would only be too happy to part with Kuwabara.

"Don't just stand there, you idiot!" Hiei exclaimed, seeing Hana at the entryway. "Get help!"

This snapped Hana right back into the moment, and she nodded, throwing off the heaviest of her clothes and leapt through the window, running straight to Kurama and Yusuke's place just as Kurama's carriage arrived. The youko spotted her and immediately asked what was wrong.

"Someone attacked Kuwabara," she said, still forcing herself to focus. She could still smell him. "Hiei found him. I can't go back there, I'll snap-"

"Hana," Kurama said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Get Yusuke and Botan. I'll go to Hiei."

Then she was gone.

Hours later, Kurama found Hana standing by a small pond within Genkai's compound. Botan's powers had been limited, and they needed Yukina's assistance and immediately brought Kuwabara to her. Kurama noticed Hana's absence when they had all started crowding inside the room, especially after Shizuru and Keiko arrived.

"How is he?" Hana asked before Kurama came five feet of her. He smiled and stood next to her by the pond. "He's healing quite nicely," he said. "Yukina did a fine job."

Hana said nothing, simply staring intently at the pond. Kurama could sense something was up and asked her what was on her mind.

"Kuwabara got hurt because of me," she said in a voice so soft that Kurama was surprised he could still hear her. "Everyone in the hanamachi knows that it is my home. It would make sense that the attack was meant for me, and not to him."

"But why would anyone want to hurt a geisha?" Kurama asked. Hana sighed softly. She wished she knew. She wished she would have been the one to have received the attack, and not Kuwabara. They stood there for a while, mulling over their own thoughts when Hana suddenly turned around and said, "Yusuke."

Kurama turned as well, and spotted him approaching a good ten feet away. Yusuke gave them a wave as he got closer.

"Kuwabara just woke up," Yusuke said. "Took him five seconds to realize that the wonder twins saved his life. It was so funny, I didn't know of he was going to laugh or cry."

Yusuke suddenly paused when he saw Kurama's green eyes grow wide. He wondered why Kurama was giving him such a look when he realized what he had just said. "Oh sh-"

"Hiei and Yukina...are twins?" Hana asked curiously, furrowing her eyebrows, as of trying to imagine the resemblance. The eyes were a dead giveaway, if you thought about it, but other than that...who would have thought? "Does Kuwabara not know?"

"He does not, and neither should you," a voice suddenly spoke. Hana did not seem surprised to see Hiei out of the shadows of a nearby tree. "Urameshi. I didn't realize that my secret was so hard to keep."

"I'm sorry Hiei, it just slipped out," Yusuke immediately said laughing uncomfortably.

"This would not be so awkward had you already told her who you really are," Kurama pointed out calmly, as if Hiei glaring bloody murder was an everyday thing for him. Hiei didn't even want to hear it as he pointed his blade at Hana's neck.

"You keep your mouth shut, bloodsucker. I am, after all, a fire demon," he said icily before he withdrew his blade and flitted away. Kurama chuckled.

"I think he likes you," he said towards Hana, who smiled.

"But seriously, Hana. Don't tell anyone. Especially not Kuwabara," Yusuke said, throwing Kurama a look that seemed to be looking for some sympathy. Hana was just about to ask why when the door behind them burst open to reveal Kuwabara looking as fit as ever, prancing around and calling Yukina's name.

"The power of love has saved me!" he declared. "Oh Yukina, you're a perfect angel!"

"Oh dear," Hana said, smiling, quite forgetting that she had contemplated drinking Kuwabara's blood only moments ago. She found it sweet, the way Kuwabara doted on Yukina. Her husband might have been the same, only that it was almost impossible for her to remember. Botan soon arrived, having seen Kuwabara's not so lamenting lamentations.

"I guess its safe to assume that he's all better now," she said, floating steadily by their heads on a thin oar. "Right, I should let Koenma know. You guys deserve some rest for now."

Hana almost sighed in relief. She quite liked Genkai's temple. It seemed so serene and soothing. And she felt that at the very least, the boys needed a break. Kurama had mentioned during Yomi's party that he had missed his mother. Maybe now was the perfect time to see her.

"Hey Hana," Yusuke suddenly said. "Since were staying here a while, I'll let you meet Keiko. She's not all bad, after you get your first slap in the face." Yusuke then proceeded to pull Hana away from Kurama who did not protest and simply watched them. This should be interesting.

Much, much later, everyone convened in the Yukimura Ramen shop, lost in chatter and good companionship. Even Hana was getting along with the others like she had always been part of the gang. It had been quite difficult at first, Keiko and Yukina weren't used to talking to a vampire or a geisha before, much less someone who was so deeply involved in…whatever it was the guys were doing. Even Hana was uncomfortable, not knowing how to deal with these kinds of situations. That was, until someone (they weren't exactly who anymore) suggested they go shopping. Hana and Keiko were the first to voice their agreement to the idea, and quickly bonded over clothing styles, idols and such.

"I didn't know that you even knew how to speak girl," Yusuke teased as they all walked through the street market that was nearby. He got whacked in the head for that, and was forced to carry all of Keiko's purchases. Even Shizuru gave in and bought a new scarf, which Yukina thought looked pretty on her. Kuwabara had spotted an adorable lace handkerchief and bought it for Yukina under the guise of thanking her for saving his life.

"Oh Kazuma," Yukina said, blushing. "You didn't have to."

"I insist," Kuwabara said, making Hana giggle and think that Kuwabara was actually better with women than Yusuke was. While the others went towards a booth selling all kinds of plastic masks and fans, Kurama followed Hana into a paper lantern shop, where she picked up a cylindrical, green lantern and observed it carefully before setting it back down. Then she looked up at something before giving a tiny laugh.

"Look Kurama," she said, knowing that he had been right behind her, "sakura."

Kurama turned his eyes up, where indeed, there was a white paper lantern with cherry blossoms painted expertly on it. The shop owner lit it up and it looked ten times more gorgeous than it already had.

"Are you going to buy it?" Kurama inquired, as Hana continued to look up at it. She sighed. "I would if I could. But something that special deserves a home."

Kurama was debating whether he should say something comforting to her when Hana called the shop owner's attention and pointed to the lantern. "I'd like one, please."

Once the lantern was handed over to her and paid for, she placed it into Kurama's hands, while the youko only looked at her in confusion.
"For your mom when you visit her," she said. "I'm sure she misses you a lot."

Kurama smiled and accepted the gift, thinking that it was thoughtful of Hana to remember his mother. As they left the booth to look for the others, he asked her more about her life.

"What do you remember of being a human?"

"Quite a lot," she said with a wistful smile as they walked past beautifully lit booths and shops. "Although most of my human memories are really hazy, like they weren't really mine to begin with. I'm from Seoul, apparently. I've told you that I had a husband, and I remember that we were both happily married for a time. We even had a son. My husband was away months at a time, and I clearly remember always feeling alone, so I frequently left the house during the evenings to take walks. I met a man during one of my walks. He was tall and gorgeous, and had the most brilliant eyes I had ever laid eyes on. I let him accompany me into the deeper areas of the park. I was so charmed by him that I didn't even realize that it was getting darker, more secluded. I don't even remember how it happened, or why, the next thing I knew was the presence of my husband. I could smell him, and it drove me crazy."

"Stop," Kurama suddenly said, placing a hand on her arm. "You don't have to tell me this part of the story."

She chuckled softly and looked up. "Well, the good news is, I still have direct living, breathing descendants. They're still in Korea, and I try to drop in once or twice, when I can."
Kurama noticed that her face had changed at this point. She seemed proud, happy that she still had something to hold on to in the Human World.

"You should visit them," he suggested, putting his hands into his pockets. "Seoul shouldn't be such a stretch from here."

She seemed to consider the suggestion, but kept her eyes up in the sky. Behind them, the others left the night market and suggested they all go to the Ramen shop. Kurama held up his lantern to the light and smiled. His mother would really like it.

- End of Chapter Four-