The Search For A Mate
Chapter 54
Hiei made arrangements for the computers to be taken to Rayna's office before heading downstairs. It was almost ten and he knew everyone would be gathered downstairs for another round of waiting. Yusuke and Kuwabara had gone on ahead while he spoke to the servants. He ordered another cold buffet to be set up in the waiting room. Himura had told him this part of the procedure would take a while as well.
Hiei walked into the room where the others waited. He crossed the room to Rayna and gave her a kiss. "I had everything taken to your office. Is that ok?" She nodded. "Yes. I left instructions with the techs. They'll see to setting everything up. I told them to concentrate on my office and the meeting room, but after they are done there they will set up yours in your office." He sighed. "I guess with your plans for Alaric's entry into the technical age I am really going to have to learn to operate that stupid ningen device aren't I?" She giggled. "It won't be so bad. You'll see. Once you learn you'll wonder how you ever did without it." "Hn." He pulled her into his arms and settled in for the long wait.
Himura was explaining what he was doing to the techs that were once again present. Mukuro had smirked when he told her that the healer would be unnecessary this time. "I guess that means that whatever you're going to do isn't life threatening anyway." He had refused to tell her anything about the procedure claiming it was a surprise. One he hoped she would like.
He rolled a vat over to the table. He had allowed her to sit for now. He would start with her arm. She wrinkled her nose at the disgusting blob of … something he had pulled out of the vat. If flesh could melt without being incinerated, it would look like this, she thought. Himura dropped it on a worktable with a splat. He began to roll it and knead it like bread dough.
She was beyond curious now. "What is that disgusting mess, and what does it have to do with me?" He smiled over his shoulder. "This is your skin." She couldn't believe her ears. "My what?" "After my father died, I continued to work on his designs. There have been many advances in medicine since he died. In the field of plastic surgery especially." She didn't understand and told him so. He chuckled. "Humans are very vain creatures. They are also very cruel to those they see as less than perfect. The medical community has come up with many ways to repair or disguise those injuries which leave behind scars or disfigurements."
He brought over the blob he had been working with. "Your cybernetics were a result of human desire to replace lost limbs with artificial one that functioned as normally as possible. This…" He held it out for her to touch. "This is a latex and silicon blend that once I fit it to your cybernetics will make your limbs appear more real." She reached out to poke the blob. It gave and her finger pushed in as if it were skin. She pulled her finger away and it returned to its original shape. She stroked it. It felt fleshy.
She looked up at Himura. "So your saying that once you are done, I will look normal? No one will be able to see the metal?" He nodded smiling at her. She frowned. "What about my face and my eye?" "Those too. Your new eye is the same shape and color as your natural eye. It even has an eyelid. All will be covered by the artificial skin. When I am done, no one who didn't know you before will ever guess that these aren't the limbs you were born with." She nodded, contemplating what that would mean for her in the future.
Across the hall the mood was not as somber as it had been the last time. Himura had told them there was no risk to Mukuro involved with this part of the procedure. The food on the buffet was actually being eaten today. They were even laughing and joking this time. The only one missing was Yukina. She had remained upstairs with her new son. Kuwabara disappeared at regular intervals so that he could check on his family.
Hiei sat down next to Rayna again. He handed a plate to her and began to eat from the other one he held. They had talked a great deal while they waited. He had held her in his arms and fed the child his ki. He was content. There wasn't much he could do to further their relationship while the others were present. Nothing but use the quiet time to plan.
Hiei closed his eyes. He wasn't getting anywhere trying to plan time with her. A gift perhaps? Something special. Christmas was coming up in less than two months. She seemed to enjoy human celebrations. Well this one was the biggest. He had already started acquiring gifts for all of his nieces and nephews. He would have gifts for his friends too. He had to find something out of the ordinary. Something that would tell her how he felt. Something she couldn't doubt.
Flowers were fleeting. It had to be something enduring. Something she could enjoy for a very long time. Jewelry? No. He had already given her a ring. Kurama was always giving Beth jewelry as gifts. But Rayna was more practical than Beth. Not that it was a bad thing. Just different. But it did make it harder to settle on a perfect gift. She had just bought a new computer. Not that he knew enough about those things to make the attempt anyway. Keiko had been quite pleased when Yusuke had given her a new car. No. Rayna couldn't drive. Neither could he.
A ningen vacation? Kurama was always taking Beth somewhere. He should know. He had done his share of the babysitting for them over the years. While Rayna would probably enjoy that, he had no idea how to pull it off. The ningen way to get there, a place to stay, what to do once they got there. Even if he got Kurama to help, its not like the fox could go with them to oversee all the things that Hiei didn't know. Not a good idea. In fact, probably a recipe for disaster of the highest order.
His thoughts were interrupted when Rayna began talking about the child. "We should begin thinking about names, don't you think? We only have three months. That's not a lot of time. Your heir should have something proud and masculine if it's a male. Something equally proud, though more feminine if it's a female." "Hn. Shouldn't we just wait the month it will take to find out which it will be in stead of wasting our time planning a name that won't be used?" Rayna shook her head. "Have you ever daydreamed about anything?" "No." She sighed. "I thought not."
"Ok. We'll wait to choose a name. We will need to get the baby's room ready at home. I know there is an army of servants here just waiting for the order and to be told which room it will be. But at home, we will need furniture and other baby things. I'd prefer not to wait until I get too fat to shop." Hiei tightened his arms around her. "You will cease your babbling. You will not get fat. I will do a little shopping with you when we go home." Satisfied she had managed to get him to volunteer to take her shopping, Rayna snuggled into his warmth.
He nuzzled her hair knowing full well he had just been manipulated. As long as the manipulation was innocent he would let her get away with it. It was something that all the girls did. With the exception of Yukina of course. The oaf was so besotted that it didn't matter what it was. If Yukina asked him to do it, he would do it. The oaf, as Yusuke was fond of saying, was so whipped. He should count himself extremely lucky that Yukina was not the type of woman who would take advantage of that.
He thought about the shopping trip. He wondered how much would be needed to turn the extra bedroom into their child's room. His eyes roamed the room as he thought once again on what to get as the perfect Christmas gift for Rayna. He let the possibilities come and go for the next few hours. Rayna had dozed off in his arms when it came to him. He examined the advantages and disadvantages of the gift. The advantages far outweighed the disadvantages. He looked down at her and smiled. It was perfect. After she received his gift, she could not doubt that he loved her. He would need a little help though. He smirked. He had come to depend on Kurama entirely too much over the years. He was fortunate that the fox always had his back.
All conversation in the room stopped when the door across the hall opened. Himura came out. He closed the door behind him and walked into the waiting room. He held up a hand once the questions started. "She is getting dressed. You may see her in a moment. It is over. It was a complete success in my opinion. You may offer yours when she is through dressing." He found a chair against a far wall and sat down. He wanted to see their reactions when they saw the new Mukuro.
He didn't have long to wait because Mukuro was impatient to see those reactions as well. She had spent considerable time in front of the mirror examining the artificial skin he had applied to the cybernetic limbs. It blended with her natural skin once he had applied pigment to it. With her clothes on, she could not tell any difference at all. Only without them could she tell where the natural skin ended and the artificial began. There was only a faint line on her face. It looked to be a long healed scar, nothing more. She was very pleased and had told him so.
Now that she stood at the door, she was nervous. None of these people, her family, had ever seen anything but her cybernetics. They had been in place long before she met them. What would they think? She inhaled and exhaled slowly a couple of times. She couldn't put it off forever, so she squared her shoulders and opened the door. She walked into the waiting room that was now in awed silence. The silence was broken by Kaishou as he grabbed her in a hug. "Aunt Mukuro! You're so pretty."
That broke the ice. Everyone gathered around to ask her how she felt. Did she like her new look? Did she think she would have a hard time getting used to it? All the while Himura sat observing. He was quite satisfied with his work. She was a beautiful woman and she deserved this second chance to let others see her that way too. His father had told him a little of her past. So tragic. She deserved some happiness. He was glad to have a hand in giving it to her.
Hiei was having similar thoughts. He was probably the only one present who knew her full past. She had shared hers with him when she learned of his. Her past was as dark and painful as his own. No one but him knew that her injuries had been self inflicted to avoid her father's abuse. She thought that if she was ugly that he would leave her alone. She had endured so much. He hoped that she had learned, as he had, that not all families were like that. No. There were no families like that. Families were like the others present in this room. Mukuro's biological sire was only that. Her sire. He had no right to be called a father.
Fathers were like Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Yomi. And he hoped his name could be added to that list once his child was born. He had excellent examples in his friends and he wanted to be the kind of father they were. Mukuro deserved to be happy. He had been observing her closely since he learned of her illness. If she allowed it, he believed that there was someone who would jump at the chance to make her happy. Seeing her smile as she talked with the others, he believed that Himura had already made a very good start.
Hiei ordered a celebration dinner. They had much to celebrate. Mukuro would be fine. Her new cybernetics would last for a very long time. Yukina had given birth to a healthy and powerful son. Kurama announced that he and Yomi had come to an agreement on the contract negotiations. Shura and Tara were officially betrothed and the ceremony would be held in a few days. Though the mating would not take place for several years yet. Until Tara was old enough. Beth's kit was due in less than two weeks. He and Rayna had Alaric's new heir on the way. And he believed he was at least making progress in his relationship. It was a good day.
In another part of the Makai, someone else was not having a good day. "Damn it. I knew that bitch wasn't capable of handling things. She fucked up a simple kill. Only she would be stupid enough to lead the Reikai Tantei straight to the fucking camp." He was pacing. "Raizen's upstart was supposed to be dead. It would be a simple matter after that to get to the others. Now most of our men are dead or rotting in that fool Enki's prison. She was a good lay, but apparently that's all she was good at."
He stopped pacing as one of his men entered his tent. The light from the opening illuminated the formerly pacing man. He was tall with chiseled features and close-cropped green hair. "Ganatsu san, one of the scouts has returned." "Send him in." The man opened the flap and allowed another to enter. He bowed and left the two men to talk. "What have you learned Atsuo?" The man bowed. "A great deal, Ambassador." Ganatsu snarled. "Don't call me that. Both of Enki's ambassadors are missing. The only thing preventing us from being declared dead is that our mates are still alive." From the far side of the tent another voice added his thoughts. "Don't remind me. I wish there was some way I could off the bitch without dying myself." They shared a laugh over that.
Ganatsu turned back to his scout. "What do you have for us?" "Mukuro will live. The jaganshi and his mate have a child on the way. His sister has birthed a child with powerful reiki. And you will really not like the last bit of news." "I don't like anything you've told me so far, so let's have the rest." The scout shifted his eyes nervously. "Youko Kurama and Yomi have announced the formal betrothal of their children." There was a crash as Ganatsu upended the table in front of him, scattering everything on it. "So the fucking Reikai Tantei will eventually control the entire Makai if we don't stop them. Gather what's left of our men. We will meet in two day's time. That should be sufficient to call in our scouts from even the furthest reaches of the three territories." Atsuo bowed and left.
Ganatsu began to pace again. "What do we do now, Okuza? We have lost our army. It will take years to replace our numbers. After the Reikai Tantei declared such a decisive victory, it will deter a great many from siding against them." Okuza sipped his drink in contemplation. "It would have been much simpler if we had just openly led our rebellion. Instead of entrusting it to your whore. Ambition is one thing, and gods know she had that in abundance. But ambition is nothing without the brains to go with it."
Ganatsu stiffened. "Insulting a dead woman will not gain us anything. We need a plan now." Okuza smiled. It was a twisted, evil smile. "I have applied to someone who can supply us with mercenaries that will make up for our lack of numbers. I expect his answer any day now." "Who would that be?" Okuza sipped his drink unconcerned. "You will see. All in good time." Ganatsu nodded at his friend in the shadows of the tent. "You have never failed me. I will be patient a while longer." He headed out of the tent. "But only a while."
To be continued….
