Marriage by Law : Italian Food
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Keep on leaving them. Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, it's been really hard to find inspiration for this story. So... here it goes. Please Review!
I
Mukuro felt her entire aura tremble.
"How can we... I can't—"
"You can't be serious!" The demon turned toward the ferry girl. Botan was kneeling on the ground by Hiei's side. "You're the most powerful demon out there! You have endless energy!"
She was right. But... the endless energy came from anger. At first, before Mukuro met Hiei, she had always been angry at her father. That abusive piece of filth—
Ba-dum.
A pulse of power flowed through her. Her single eye opened as the power faded as her thoughts returned to normal.
"Botan, I need something around my wrists."
"What?"
"Anything! Bracelets, hair ties, anything—!"
"Hair ties. Got it." The ferry girl's bleeding hands shook as she pulled them from her pockets, sliding them over the demon's skinny wrists. "Okay."
Mukuro didn't hear her. As soon as the elastic bands rubbed against the raw skin that was caused by the shackles... those horrible shackles, her eyes glazed over. The snow melted around them as raw power coursed through the demon.
But she could see.
She could see the army waiting for her. A misunderstanding taken too far.
Ba-dum.
"Stay here and heal."
Ba-dum.
"You can't go! How can you keep them still enough to explain everything?"
Ba-dum.
Mukuro's lips pulled back into a wolfish smile, her aura glowing blood.
Ba-dum.
"Leave it to me."
With that, Mukuro charged.
II
Koenma felt every part of him shrink when he saw the former part-Ruler of Makai disappear.
"Steady..." His hand was up. "Steady..."
Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara were motionless. The ex-spirit detective's eyes slid over to Kurama.
"Pst! Kurama." The kitsune returned his gaze. "What do you think she's going to do?"
The fox looked out over the snow covered valley.
"I don't know." He began to take the rose out of his hair. "All we can do is wait."
III
Botan closed her eyes, her hands over Hiei's chest. Kami... help me. Give me your strength. Her aura turned white, her hair beginning to float up into the air as the breeze began to circle them. Please... lend me your energy. The energy of the earth, spirit, and my own soul...
Hiei's chest rose, as if to meet the white magic that flowed from her fingers.
"Mm..." The ferry girl smiled as Hiei's eyes fluttered open, his mouth sagging open. "Onna..."
His voice was thick and moist, like blood was leaking into his windpipe. Botan tried to smile for him, but found it quite difficult as the white magic was starting to wear away her nerves.
"Sh... it's going to be okay."
Hiei bit his lip, Botan's hand gliding over his chest, leaving trails of her blood behind. Botan panted, slowing her breathing to a painfully lethargic pace. Her eyes glazed over, staring off at nothing as she brought herself into a place of meditation.
Enma... lend me your power and take from me my pain.
In that final prayer, the entire area flashed pure white as the ferry girl's scream rose into the air.
IV
Mukuro appeared in front of the Prince of Hell, her hair singed. She licked her lips, and without much thought, the Dividing Space sprang up. Koenma tried to step forward, but quickly cut his nose against the line of pure energy.
"Good morning, gentleman." Her voice was hoarse with excitement. She hadn't had a thrill like this for too long... "I take it you came here to subdue the beast that was trying to harm the beautiful, innocent ferry girl." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Koenma... you of all people should wait these things out... making sure that you have all the details right."
Her brown eye sparked with the former power and madness that she had once harnessed Makai with. It swept over Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara, sending chills down all of their spines. Her pointed teeth were exposed at this, her pink tongue running over them.
"It seemed apparent to me, Mukuro that you were planning to—"
"Silence!" The demon held her hand up, and more stands of energy appeared around the Prince, further limiting his movements. She smelled the fear emit from the 'baka' otherwise known as Kuwabara. Kurama's cool green eyes were trained on her at all times, never flinching away from her power. "This law... this preposterous law... should not have involved my Second in Command in the first place."
Her robes blew in the wind, and Hiei's close friend, Kurama Shuiichi, finally decided to speak.
"The law also should not have involved Botan. Or me, Yusuke, or Kuwabara. But it happened. There is nothing that we can do about it now, Mukuro, unless we decide to murder our spouses or kill ourselves."
Koenma let out a squeak at the 'murder our spouses' and the fox's face fell, realizing his (possible) deadly mistake.
"I know, Mr. Shuiichi." Her long nails dragged on her lower lip. She was the epitome of seduction and sin as her eye slowly scanned over him. "I thought of killing the ferry girl myself. With my very own hands."
"You bi—"
With a slight narrowing of Mukuro's eyes, a myriad of tiny energy lines zigzagged across Koenma's mouth, forcing him to stay silent or risk slicing his pretty lips off.
"No need for vulgarities, Koenma." Her calm exterior frightened the Rekai soldiers. That calculating coolness that hit-men had, not minding when they got their hands dirty with blood. "I changed my mind. I'm not going to kill your precious ferry girl."
Yusuke, the son of Raizen, was glaring at her, the same way a boy would glare at his mother who decided to cut his curfew.
"Then what are you going to do?"
Mukuro thought for a long while.
"Actually, in all honesty, I'd love to get to know her." She chuckled darkly. "I imagine that we could be great friends." The demon looked over the men. She closed her eyes. "But... I'm afraid that with all of you around, that would make it increasingly inconvenient for me."
Her eyes still closed, the ground below the ex-Rekai Tentei, Koenma, and other soldiers began to disappear.
V
Hiei's eyes were wide, staring up at what used to be the ferry onna. His ferry onna.
Her blue hair was floating up towards the sky, as if she were underwater. Her body was glowing white from every point, skin, clothes, eyes, mouth, nose, everywhere. Her lips opened wide, fogs of her breath leaving them. His crimson eyes looked down to see his wounds were rapidly healing themselves.
A chocked sob brought his attention back to Botan. Her face twisted in agony, her throat constricting. Desperate pants and mewls came from her voice box. It was the sounds of a dying woman.
His body was pulled up by the sheer force of her white magic as the very last of his muscle tears, bloody bones, and nerves returning to the state that they were once in. Normal. Healthy.
The light vanished in one colossal pulse, the ferry girl slumping forward onto his chest, her eyes still open and her breathing becoming labored as she merely tried to catch her breath.
VI
Mukuro's lips twitched as she opened a portal beneath the men. It swirled, lapping at their feet.
"This will bring you back to Rekai." She waved, her red lips pulled back into a charming smile. "Bon voyage."
Kurama's face never stirred, but his heartbeat did pick up its pace quite quickly. Kuwabara openly began to try and slow his quickening breaths. Yusuke and Koenma glared at her as they were thrown into the portal and away from Botan's house. Hiei's house. Their house.
The demon turned, sealing off the portal and removing the Dividing Space from the area. She turned and began to walk back to where she had last left Hiei and Botan. The demon saw the ferry girl passed out across her Second in Command's chest, but as she looked closer, Botan was not unconscious. Merely exhausted.
Hiei was slowly getting up, making sure not to knock the girl roughly off of him. His eyes met Mukuro's, and his frown deepened.
"That wasn't necessary."
He was lugging the girl into his arms, carrying her like a man could carry a bride. How ironic.
"It wouldn't have happened if you had just told me."
"I was preoccupied with other matters."
"Like your wife?"
She received no answer, only his harsh glare. The two demons made their way to the house, the ferry girl sighing in his arms, still unable to form words. To come to defend her husband. To insert her say in this matter.
Hiei opened the door, letting Mukuro inside first. He paused, watching his Master step inside the modest abode before he too entered, closing the door behind him.
VII
"Here. Drink this." Botan turned her head away, but Mukuro quickly caught the ferry girl's chin. "Drink it."
Hiei was sipping some tea that his Master made, watching as she gave the same mixture to Botan. The ferry girl sat up, her body beginning to move slowly under Mukuro's care.
"Thank you..." Her pink eyes closed as she smiled. "See... you've still got it."
The fire demon almost had to do a double-take when he saw Mukuro's face fall, her eyes softening as she pulled Botan up, getting her to get her legs back. His Master didn't say anything, just shifting her weight and tossing her arm around the demon's shoulder.
Hiei suddenly felt an odd pressure in his chest. He put down the cup of tea, frowning as his entire body seemed to be slowly turning to stone.
Before he could open his mouth, he was already falling. His arm reached out, but his eyes were filling with darkness before he even hit the ground.
VIII
Botan whipped her neck around when she heard the cup shatter on the wooden floor. Her pink eyes settled on her husband, who was currently lying on the floor, not stirring.
"Mukuro—"
"Don't worry about him." Mukuro's hand turned her head around. "You used a lot of white magic on him. His body is just going to adjust from being revived so quickly. He'll be fine." Botan knew she was lying. By the way her eye narrowed and the corner of her mouth dipped ever so slightly, the ferry girl was sure that Mukuro was lying. She would bet her soul on it. But... but she was hanging from her shoulder. Her legs were, for the moment, dead, so she was in no position to start a fight and/or interrogation. "Tell me, do you like Italian food?"
"What?"
"Do. You. Like. Italian. Food?" The ferry girl nodded, her head in the clouds at Mukuro's strange questions and seemingly new personality. Well, then again, Botan really didn't know her all that well. "Good. I love it. It's one of the few things that ningens really got right, if you don't mind me saying so."
"Of course not." They were in the kitchen now, Mukuro propping the ferry girl up on the counter, her slowly recovering legs dangling over the edge. "Do you need any help?"
"No. I've got it." Mukuro closed her eye, swaying as her nostrils flared slightly, air silently filling her lungs. "Ah, you do have oregano." She moved about the kitchen her eyes still closed as she opened drawers and removed ingredients. "Paprika. Butter. Pasta. Basil leaves. Botan, you never told me that you were a cook."
The hair ties on her wrist were gone. She was back to... was this normal?
"I haven't told you a lot of things."
Mukuro's single eye opened, a pile of food in front of her. She began to chop, dice, and stir, operating the pots, pans, burners, and utensils like she had been under Wolfgang Puck's training.
"Yeah. Haven't we all?" Her demonic energy flared up, making the water come to an instant boil. "Well, do you want to start or should I?"
The ferry girl swung her legs, shaking the feeling back into them.
"I'm sorry that you... didn't know."
"It was a loss, true, but I'm over that now."
Okay... what do you want me to say?
"Hiei... he really shouldn't have been involved, so I'm s—"
"It wasn't your choice, it was Koenma's doing."
Botan frowned, becoming increasingly frustrated. Mukuro obviously wanted her to say something, but the ferry girl was not guessing correctly.
"Then..." Her voice failed her. Her heart was clenched painfully, but she pushed down the feeling to vomit and cry at the same time. No one liked a crybaby. "Then it's me." Mukuro was silent, stirring the vodka sauce. "I know I'm not strong like Yusuke. I can't win against Kurama when it comes to mind games. I'm certainly don't have a wonderful personality that suits Hiei. Or anyone, for that matter. I'm an air head. A ferry girl." Again, Mukuro remained quiet. "I know that I don't even stand a chance to meet your standards."
The wooden spoon stirred the sauce, the demon lifting it out of the pot to taste it.
"Delicious." She didn't smile. "You don't. I'm glad that you know."
Botan flashed a sad smile, leaning against the cabinet.
"That makes one of us."
Mukuro dumped the spaghetti into a drainer, steam raising up, rinsing over her face.
"What would you rather have: the truth or ignorance that allows you to remain happy?"
"The truth, of course."
"Good."
Blue hair was tugged on as the ferry girl began to get increasingly brave, but then again, it could be the side-effects of the adrenalin that still remained in her body.
"Who would have been the ideal mate for Hiei?"
Mukuro was sprinkling in the oregano. Dashes of butter, vodka sauce. Oh, it was going to be a fantastic meal, anyone could see.
"Someone who loves him." She was stirring around the noodles, evening everything out. "I... I would have loved him. I would have cared for him... we could have ruled Makai together." Mukuro poured herself some wine. "I love him."
Botan's eyes were trained on the ground. Mukuro's voice was defeated and tired. She sounded like an old woman who was fighting cancer. She held the tone of someone who had the fondest dreams, the greatest plans, and the devotion that would please any man. But... now all that meant nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"I know."
Mukuro slopped the pasta onto a plate.
"What do you know, Botan?" She spat her name like venom. "You're unaware of what love is."
The demon locked eyes with Botan.
"I may lack that knowledge, but one day I might find it."
"With Hiei? Doubt it."
"Maybe. Maybe someone else."
The sound of metal hitting the plate echoed throughout the room. Mukuro took one of Botan's kitchen knives, and in seconds had the ferry girl pressed into the cabinets, the shining steel pressed up against her throat.
"You better hope not." Botan couldn't even choke, the knife too close to allow any movement except shallow breaths. "If you cheat on him... no matter how fake this marriage is, I will hunt you down." Her brown eye was not wrinkled in a frown full of malice. In fact, her voice was not hissing and spitting. Mukuro was quite calm. In fact, one might say, a bit sad. "If you are going to find love at all it will be with Hiei Jaganshi, understand?"
Not having much choice in the matter, Botan nodded.
"Y-yes."
Mukuro backed off, setting the knife on the counter. She pulled Botan down, helping her to the table, lowering her to the chair. She gave her the plate, and quickly made up her own, sitting across from her. Botan stared at her dish, slowly lifting the fork and swirling spaghetti around it. Her heart was beating too fast to allow her to do much of anything else except spin that pasta around. And around, and around.
"Besides... it's not like you're that bad." Mukuro chewed her food, swallowing before continuing. "He was right, you know." Botan could only look up as Mukuro shook her head, amused at something that sparkled the nostalgic past. "You really are skilled at white magic, the best out there."
Botan lifted up the fork, sliding the pasta into her mouth.
Her pink eyes widened, the taste outrageous as it settled on her tongue.
Wow... it really is delicious.
IX
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Please read. Funny, I finish this chapter when I'm having a really bad day... hm. Well, anyway, I'm listening to the Bohemian Rhapsody. It's amazing. Anyway, please review! I love to hear from you? Did you like this better/believe the situations? I hope so. Please review.
-mia
p.s. The Ba-dum isn't a heart beat, it's power/energy. Just an fyi.