Roses and Regrets
Roses and Regrets
Chapter 52
"We have to decide on a gift." Keiko said. "We can come up with wedding gifts later. We have lots of time. But we need an engagement gift for tonight." Yusuke grinned. "I still like my idea." Keiko blushed and punched his arm. "I said no. You pervert." Yukina looked up innocently. "Kazuma, what are edible undies?" Kuwabara turned red. "Never mind. I might tell you in a few years."
Yukina shrugged. Maybe Genkai would tell her. "We want to get them something they would both enjoy, right?" The others nodded. "We could get them symphony tickets." Yusuke frowned. "That's boring. Course the fox likes boring." Keiko smiled. "That's it. I heard Beth playing a CD of classical music. It makes sense that they would at least like the same music. What do you think, Kuwabara?"
"Yeah. I've heard Kurama listen to that highbrow stuff before. And that's what most of the stuff at his apartment is. I think they'd like that." "Good. That's settled. Let's find a ticket outlet and see what we can get." Keiko led the way to the information booth at the mall entrance.
Several hours later, the group was back at the temple. The girls got started on dinner and the guys started hanging decorations. The two bottles of champagne were chilling. Everything was going as planned. The envelope with the engagement present sat on the table with a big bow on it.
They had gotten tickets to the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Some famous Japanese pianist was a guest. They were told they had been lucky. The performance had been sold out for a while and these tickets were returned unclaimed. They were pretty good seats too.
The soft pop of a portal opening got their attention as Koenma and Botan stepped out. Yusuke called. "Hey guys. You're just in time for the engagement party." Botan squealed and looked at her boss. "Oh, sir. Can we stay for a while? Please?" He looked back at his assistant and sighed. "You know I still have a lot of paperwork to do. I still have to process the wolf demon who killed my officer." "I'll help. Pretty please!"
"All right. But just for a while." "Yay! Keiko, can I help?" She followed Keiko back to the kitchen. Yusuke sat down on the couch. "Have a seat. You came with info didn't you?" Kuwabara sat down also. "Yeah. I heard you say you got the wolf demon." Koenma sat down across from them. Genkai joined them.
"Yes. We found the assassin. When Botan finished her investigation, there were only two left on the list of possible choices. It didn't take long to find the guilty party. The SDF took him down after a lengthy fight." Keiko brought him a cup of tea. "Thank you, Keiko." He took a sip. "Russ hired him to shadow Jerry. He had instructions to silence him if the need arose."
Yusuke nodded. "Ok. So where does that leave us?" Koenma took another sip of his tea. "My agent in America has found out who is responsible for Beth's father's death. Working with the local police, they found evidence of the sabotage in the man's apartment and a large deposit made to his bank account drawn on Russ's personal account. They have all the evidence they need to arrest the man. Russ of course will remain a fugitive they will never find. They have also dropped all charges against Beth."
"Damn, Koenma. That's the best engagement present you could have gotten them." Yusuke said. "Unfortunately, they have to find the man before they can arrest him. He's here in Japan somewhere." He took another sip. "They have traced his bank card activity to Tokyo. The information is being transferred to the Tokyo police. I believe he will be arrested soon. Where are Beth and Kurama anyway?"
Genkai answered him. "He took her on a picnic. They should be back any time now." Koenma nodded. "This case is now officially over. Hiei can go back to border patrol as soon as he's ready." Yusuke scratched his head. "Ah, can you keep this open a little longer? Or maybe give us another one?" Koenma chuckled. "I thought you'd be only too glad to sever your connection to the Reikai again."
"Well, you see…. We have this little problem and we kind of need Hiei's help." "What is it, Yusuke? What have you done?" He glared at Koenma. "Why do you always think it's me? For your information, binky breath, Kurama's the one that fucked up this time." Koenma sighed. "Ok. Tell me what you need Hiei for." "Well, Youko slept with Beth and he hasn't mated her yet, and well…"
Koenma was on his feet. "Of all the stupid….." He started pacing. "And I thought he was the only one of you with any sense. What was he thinking?" Genkai snorted. "Obviously he wasn't thinking at the time. At least not with the head on his shoulders." Yusuke snickered. "Grandma, that was cold." "Well that explains why you need Hiei. I'll see what I can do about getting his leave extended."
Damn this is a pain in the ass, Carl thought. When he had followed her here the first time, he didn't know she'd end up living here. At least it was out of the way. Plenty of nothing around to witness his plans and with the amount of time it took anyone to get here, he had more than enough time to get away after. He sat in his tree waiting. They would have to come back this way. He was patient. He heard a noise and raised the scope to zero in on his target.
Kurama and Beth walked back up the path. They were laughing. "Yukina told me that Kuwabara kissed her for the first time last night." "Really? After all these years it was their first?" "Um hm. She had never been kissed before. She is so innocent to be so much older than me." "Well she has led a very sheltered life." "I guess that's why Hiei is so protective of her isn't it?" "Yes. That's part of it."
"I don't understand why he doesn't tell her." "He thinks he's not worthy." She turned wide eyes to him. "Oh that's a load of bull. He's a good man. How could he think that?" "You don't know his past." She snorted. "No, but I know the now. And so does she. His past is just that. It has no place in the now. Other than that it helped shape who he is."
He stopped and raised a hand to stroke her cheek. "You are an understanding woman." She nuzzled his hand. "I only understand that if all men were judged solely on their past, then we wouldn't be here together. We are all a product of our past. We learn from it if we're lucky." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
A flash of light caught Beth's eye. It reminded her of when her father had taken her hunting. She looked up at the trees and recognition dawned as the sun glinted off the barrel again. She turned to Kurama with a scream and grabbed him in a tight hug. The sound of the shot echoed in the stillness of the forest.
To be continued….
