Chapter VIII: Regret Without Knowing
It had been a few months since the news of Kuwabara and Yukina's baby and there was celebration in the air. Kuwabara had since moved into Genkai's temple to be closer to her and Yukina's belly swelled more with the passing of each day. Also having moved in to be closer to the baby was Hiei, who watched over his sister night and day and acted as her personal servant, bringing her anything and everything she asked for, no matter how stupid it sounded to him. Kurama could hardly contain himself, so happy was he to see the siblings getting along so well. Yukina seemed to have gotten over her crush on Hiei and was acting the way a normal sister should. Yuusuke had gone back to school and soon after, Keiko learned she too was to have a baby. Kuwabara graduated from his biker gang and had started working for Genkai as a sort-of groundkeeper. This was repayment for allowing him to stay with her.
The baby's growth was rapid and the months sped by for the happy couple. Soon, it was time and everyone crowded around the get a glimpse of the new life. Yukina was very tired, falling asleep almost immediately after giving birth to her son, a chubby little redhead with crimson eyes they called Pon. He was a happy child and never cried for very long, even after Genkai had slapped him to check if his lungs worked properly. There didn't seem to be any problems, that is, until the messages started arriving.
"Yukina-chan, there's an arrow in that tree." Kuwabara, Yukina and Pon were out for their morning walk around the lake when the oaf noticed something strange about the oak tree they usually found Hiei sleeping in. Yukina moved a little closer and inspected it. There was a letter attached to it. She pulled it off and showed it to her husband, the imbecile. "Anata, look at this." Unrolling the scroll, they discovered that the note was in a language known only to Yukina's people. It was a letter from Yukina's aunt, who congratulated her on her marriage and her baby, then went on to small talk subjects such as the weather in the Ice Realm, who else had just given birth and so on. The letter ended with 'I hope to see you and your beautiful family soon.' Kuwabara thought it was a nice sentiment but Yukina regarded it with an unmistakable sense of terror. The redheaded numbskull turned to her, seeing her shaking with fear. Pon slept away peacefully in Yukina's backpack, unaware of the world. Yukina turned around and walked slowly back to the temple, Kuwabara at her heels. "Um, Yukina-chan….What happened? I thought you were on good terms with the Koorime." Yukina nodded. "Yes, Anata…I am, but…" Kuwabara looked at her. "Yes? You what?" Yukina looked down. "I didn't tell her I was getting married or having a baby." Kuwabara's eyes grew wide. "What? Then…how did she find out?" Yukina looked down at the note. "She hasn't. This isn't my aunt's handwriting." The couple's eyes turned to their baby. Pon yawned sleepily and snuggled down deeper into the backpack.
As soon as they'd returned to the temple, Yukina and Kuwabara called an emergency meeting, ushering everyone out into the main courtyard. "Okay, so why we woke all ya up is this. Yukina got a letter from someone pretending to be her aunt from the Ice Realm. He knows about the wedding and about Pon so we all have to be careful." Yuusuke saluted him half-heartedly and turned to go back inside. Hiei moved to stand nearer to his sister. "He won't touch you, Yukina-chan. I'll make sure of it." The warrior said, an evil grin on his face. Yukina smiled and embraced him. "Thank you, Onii-san. I don't think we need to worry just yet. This might just be someone's idea of a joke." Hiei shook his head. "Maybe but I still want you protected until we find out." Yukina said nothing, just inclined her head in a silent agreement. Hiei turned on his heel and walked off, probably to find Kurama. As soon as her half-brother's footsteps had faded, Yukina turned to her new husband and they embraced each other, their new baby in between. "I hope to hell you're right, Yukina-chan, that is this someone's idea of a joke. I really do." Yukina was silent, but there was no mistaking the trail of tears that flowed down her cheeks.
Kurama was sitting alone in his room, pouring over a book called "A Great And Terrible Beauty" when Hiei walked in. "Hiei, is everything alright? I heard something about…" Kurama was unable to finish his sentence as Hiei's lips closed over his own and his lover gravitated into his arms. They laid back together, wrapped in a knot and Hiei kissed and kissed Kurama until he fell asleep. Kurama shifted a bit, curling Hiei into his shoulder, and started rubbing his back. Hiei's eyes opened sleepily and he looked up. "Kurama, I think Yukina-chan is in danger." Kurama cocked his head. "What happened?" Hiei retold what he knew and, when he was finished, Kurama kissed his forehead. "It's alright. I'm sure someone's just trying to scare her." Hiei shook his head. "I'm not so sure of that, Kurama. This whole thing smells kind of…fishy. It reeks of revenge, to be specific." Kurama cocked his head. "Revenge?" Hiei nodded. "I think this is someone you and I have fucked with. I think he's trying to get back at us." Kurama sat up. "At us? Why us? Who could it be?" Hiei sat up too, albeit a bit sluggishly. "Could be Gouki. I know we messed with his head a bit too harshly." Kurama shrugged. "It might be, but, from what I hear, he's rotting away in a Spirit World prison cell." Hiei shook his head. "Haven't seen it lately, have you? He's escaped. More to a point we care about, they found a notebook with the words 'Kill List' under his bed and guess who's names were at the top of the first page under the numbers 1 and 2?" Kurama sighed. "Well, I hate to say I told you so but I did tell you not to bully him too badly." Hiei pulled away from Kurama's slack embrace. "You tied his shoelaces together, then dangled a child in front of him tied to a stick!" His eyes were wide in surprise. "You got him drunk and told him there was an elementary school across the street so he'd run out into traffic and get hit by that semi-truck." Kurama countered, leaning Hiei back on the bed. "You told him if he ate his toenails, a human foot would grow in his stomach!!" Hiei said, slapping Kurama across the face. "Asshole!" Kurama yanked Hiei's arms up and held them over his head by his wrists. "Bastard!" Their voices were growing louder with every insult thrown and it was starting to worry the rest of the household. Kurama lunged forward, knocking his forehead into Hiei's with the force of his passion and the two began kissing desperately, tongues running over lips and teeth, both struggling for dominance. When the final act was completed and the two lovers lay panting beneath the sheets, they were still insulting each other, slinging hateful slurs back and forth until, consumed by ecstatic exhaustion, they collapsed.