Fond Memories
by Morgan D.
~*~
Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, Fuji TV and Jump Comics, but its amazing characters are simply too cute to be left alone. I'm making no money from this, just lots of friends who are just as crazy as I am, or even worse - that is enough reward for me.
Shounen Ai.
To Curruira ("Eu não conheci o outro mundo por querer!")
~*~
Part Two
Youko Kurama started, widening his golden eyes, crouching down in his hiding behind the thorny bushes. He shook his head, blinking the sleepiness away. Why am I that tired? I can't believe I dozed off in the middle of a hunt! Luckily, his prey hadn't got away in that moment of distraction.
He put a hand on the ground before him, supporting his weight in a steadier balance, ready to jump as soon as the Makai rabbit moved just a little closer. The fluffy animal munched some leaves a few meters away, its greenish-gray fur rippling contentedly, long black ears twitching in quick fidgety movements. It seemed to know that its sharp teeth and tiny claws wouldn't save it from a bigger, smarter predator.
Silently, Kurama waited for the tiny rabbit to come closer, evaluating the fat flesh of its back, mentally running the list of possible herbs and spices that would fit the salty strong meat. His mouth watering in expectation, he suppressed a frustrated sigh when the critter turned away, moving to snatch a leaf in a farther bush.
Perhaps I should change strategies, Kurama grinned, thinking about using his ki to grow the bush branches to trap the rabbit. He wouldn't have as much fun as he had had so far, lurking his prey and just following his kitsune instincts. Kurama thought of hunting as more than a daily necessity. There was a sacred ritual to it, one that demanded patience and practice, and offered delightful proximity to Inari and the forces of nature. But I've got to eat sometime...
He felt the rush of youki a millisecond before the dark blur crossed his field of vision. A loud thump and a metallic tickling crashed down right in front of him as a tiny body, slightly larger than the Makai rabbit, came smashing the bush.
Kurama grunted. Where did this come from? Why didn't I feel the youki before?
No time to bother with answers, if he still wanted to catch dinner. He jumped over that strange dark thing at his feet, flexing vigorous muscles, arching his slender figure through the air, sticking his nails into the tender fur and flesh, drawing thick gushes of blood. The end came too quick to the Youko's taste - if felt somewhat anticlimactic. You made your best, little one, Kurama complimented. But I'm hungry.
He stood up, bringing the dead rabbit up to his left shoulder, smiling tightly to himself. His dinner had almost slipped away, scared by that sudden noisy intervention. Kurama didn't appreciate having his hunting ritual disturbed; a civilized being wouldn't have dared to interfere in such a precious moment. He turned curiously to the bush.
"Gimme back," the bush screamed in a hoarse yelping voice.
The Youko almost jumped at the words. He had thought he had competed over the rabbit with an animal predator with slight youki, or some irrational low-class demon. What the hell...?
A tiny dirty figure rose from among the foliage, and Kurama wondered why he wasn't sensing any ki anymore. It was an unbelievably short demon, dressed in damp, soiled rags, a raw string holding ridiculously large trousers at place. A greenish cloth covered the top of his head, tied very tightly by a firm knot behind his left ear. Around his neck was a thin tissue string, probably carrying some kind of pendant that disappeared behind that faded carmine poor excuse for a shirt. Tiny shoeless feet with large metal rings around his ankles held the raw-boned body on the toes, eagerly trying to give it a taller, broader, more threatening look, nonetheless barely reaching Kurama's knee.
"Gimme my rabbit," the little creature repeated.
The Youko arched an eyebrow, twitching his pointed furry ears in amusement. "Your rabbit?"
"Been huntin' for hours," complained the dwarfed demon. "Twas my prey."
Hours? That couldn't be true. The Youko had been lurking there for quite some time himself. Either the runt was largely overstating his efforts or Kurama had failed shamefully in detecting the alien demonic energy nearby. "Move faster next time, dwarf," Kurama argued. "You wouldn't have caught it anyway, even if I weren't here." What a pathetic creature...
Kurama turned away and started to leave, when he sensed the same rush of youki erupting at his back. Spinning to face the dwarf again, the Youko adopted a defensive stance, wondering how that miserable feeble demon with a failing ki could think he would present any menace to him.
But the reaction came already too late, as a fist-sized rock crashed against Kurama's cheek.
The dwarf smirked. "Givit to me, ya scum," said that weird voice, high-pitched tones tinged by deep hoarseness.
Kurama brushed slender fingers against his wounded face. The stoning had drawn blood. "You're that eager to die, dwarf?" the Youko hissed, offering the other a tight grin.
"My rabbit!" cried the youkai.
Kurama pretended to examine the carcass's rough fur. "If your name's written here somewhere I'll hand it to you. What's your name, runt?"
The dwarf flinched, biting hard his lower lip. He became very silent, staring angrily at the imposing Youko, all his limbs visibly stiff in sore tension.
Kurama dropped the carcass on the ground beside his feet. "You want it that badly, come and get it."
The youkai didn't move at all, looking dead rigid and detached, unconcerned by Kurama's stance, larger built and stronger, steadier ki. His small dirty face remained completely expressionless, as if never touched by any emotion. Even his breath had been reduced to an alarmingly slow pace, the fabric of his shirt barely rising as he sucked air in.
Youko Kurama waited. As minutes passed and the dwarf gave no sign of attacking, he wondered if that weird creature had just dozed off standing on his feet and with eyes open. Kurama sensed no youki, none at all, but even across the five meters that separated them he could feel the other's glacial gaze burning his skin.
This dwarf's not dangerous... he mused. If he couldn't catch one silly rabbit, there's no way he can threaten me. Still Kurama felt uneasy. There was something strange about that runt. Usually anger and fear would increase a youkai's ki, like a power shield ready for battle. But this guy... I sense nothing.
Several minutes passed and the demon still stood like a lifeless sculpture, his only unblinking glare denouncing his non-submission to the stronger Youko. However, Kurama started to get tired of that game. The cut on his cheek had already dried and begun to heal, and so did his contempt about being so naively attacked.
This guy's nothing, he said to himself, shaking off his uneasiness. He reached down to get the rabbit, resting it again on his shoulder and turning to leave. As a farewell Kurama snorted disdainfully, although very attentive to any change in his adversary's attitude.
The youki flow struck Kurama's senses at lightening speed, snapping his mind into full attention. He was stunned at the speed with which the attack was engaged. But this time the dwarf moved too slowly. With a short jump ahead Kurama avoided the lancing body aimed at his back.
However, despite his quick reaction, the Youko was unable to totally evade the youkai's reach, as he found himself being pulled back by his tail. The carcass of the rabbit fell on the ground a few feet away.
Turning to face the dwarf, Kurama tried to release his tail, in vain. The small youkai held it painfully tight, crouching down at his feet, offering a smug grin.
"Rabbit," was the single-worded request.
How impertinent! "Let it go, runt." Now that he could see closer, Kurama noticed that the strange demon had blood-red eyes, astoundingly deep and old, and all sort of bruises on his face. A bump in the forehead, partially covered by the green cloth; a deep cut on the chin; purple marks on his left cheek; swollen lips. "You're playing with the wrong guy here. Let go offf-- Aaaarrgh!"
Kurama was mystified. The creepy little bastard bit him. The Youko stared in shock at his tail, now crushed between tiny yet very sharp fangs, thin trails of thick blood sliding down the dwarf's chin.
"How dare you?" The yelled words were barely audible beneath the mad wild punches Kurama pounded the youkai with. In no time the dwarf's head and body were but a mass of cuts and bruises, and Kurama's fists were stained with the other's blood.
The dwarf would do nothing to defend himself besides raising his arms in an useless effort to shield his head from the Youko's fury and strength. Still, he wouldn't let go of Kurama's tail, clenching his teeth as tight as he could.
Kurama pulled back, still slapping and kicking and punching, taking care to drag him away from the dead rabbit. But the dwarf's desperate bite didn't wane any even as he was hauled along with the Youko.
But as Kurama continued to step back, his eyes widened in surprise. The youkai's feet slowly left the ground, and he seemed to float in the air, his body as taut as a wood stick, a few palms over the soil. What?!
Only then did Kurama notice the thin metal cable connecting the rings around the dwarf's ankles to a tree forty feet away . It was a cable made of amazingly strong material despite its thinness, commonly used by Makai hunters to fasten their hounds. Better than ordinary ropes, that kind of leash allowed the animals to run at their full speed without rendering their owners any risk of losing them.
"Hounds" was actually a generalization, since Makai hunters would use any kind of irrational, ferocious, minimally tamable beast. But it was the first time Kurama ever saw that sort of restraining collar used on a youkai.
His tail was really aching now, not only from the deep bite that was oozing lots of blood, but also from the effort of holding the dwarf's weight up. Kurama was perplexed with the demon's persistence. Even battered to a pulp, his carmine tee shirt dripping thick red blood, his small dirty feet painfully blue and swollen, he just wouldn't give up, bravely sustaining his weight in the air by ankles and teeth.
Brute force won't work here, he concluded. It was time to try another approach.
Without warning Kurama jumped over the dwarf, bringing both of them down with a rib-breaking impact. The youkai's nape crashed hard against the rocky soil, and he raised his arms again to protect his face from Kurama's punches, never diminishing the pressure of his fangs in the furry tail.
It was the opening the Youko was waiting for. Straddling the thin body, he ran his slender fingers to the demon's sides... and tickled.
The dwarf's red eyes almost popped out from their sockets. He lowered his arms to guard the parts exposed to that unexpected assault, but all he managed was to imprison Kurama's hands close to his vulnerable flesh, the menacing fingertips still able to perpetrate the horrible torture. His diminutive body contorted, jerked, twitched in spasms, desperately trying to escape the teasing tickling, but firmly clutched down by the Youko's heavier built.
Even so, he did hold on... for about three minutes. Youko Kurama, who considered himself the best tickler in Makai, was almost giving up to that weird dwarf's pluck when at last his tail was spilled out from that swollen mouth to open space to a wild husky laughter.
"Ssss-stop!" The frail words sounded hurt and ashamed, even enveloped by the mad giggling. "Don't! Ya... ahnnn... can't... no..."
But now Youko Kurama was enjoying himself. Hoisting his tail away from the dwarf's reach, he continued the furious tickling until the small demon started to pant in anguish, unable to breathe. Only then did Kurama grab the other's wrists and let his own weight fall hard on the tiny body, immobilizing him completely. The silver mane fell over them like a silky veil, hindering the dwarf from seeing anything apart from the triumphant gaze above him.
"You're lucky, runt. At least you'll have a happy death."
The dwarf painstakingly restored his breathing to an even pace, glaring daggers, but otherwise not offering any more resistance. Kurama winced. Their faces were only a few centimeters apart and he could see every single bruise in that injured face. The dwarf stank terribly, sweat and blood spread all over his cheeks and chin, and the Youko felt his gauzy clothes getting damp with that same concoction where his body touched the youkai's.
In his blind fury, Kurama had hurt the other badly. "Don't worry, I'm putting you out of your misery," he whispered, unsure if he was still saying it in anger, or mercy.
"So whatcha wait for, scum?" the dwarf challenged.
"You are eager to die, aren't you?" Kurama frowned. So bold... yet so weak. He's good masking his ki, but nothing more.
"Yar smell's disgustin'."
The Youko almost laughed. "My smell?! You seem to have spent a whole year in a sty!"
"Two," the dwarf corrected indifferently. "Still ya smell worse. Ya killin' me or not?"
Kurama hesitated. Two years living in a sty? Being imprisoned, maybe even used, as a mere hound? Any Youko would be eager to die after such humiliation. But no Youko would be so puny to allow to be treated like that... "I'm doing you a favor, runt. What's the point of living like this, like a beast?"
The dwarf's eyes were dry and distant. Just waiting.
"Maybe you'll get luckier in your next life," Kurama suggested, amazed at his own sincerity. He found himself truly hoping for a better fate to that ridiculous creature that had challenged him so insolently.
"I am if don't smell yar stink."
The Youko chuckled. "Oh my... you do have balls, don't you?" As the youkai shivered, Kurama chuckled louder, letting go of one of his hands to reach down and palm the dwarf's crotch. "Petty insect, you think you have huge balls, don't you?"
The dwarf flinched under the Youko's teasing grip, but a lot less than Kurama had expected. And it took a moment until Kurama realized that he wasn't palming exactly what he had expected either.
The red eyes kept staring up, old and glacial. But the face framing that tired look wasn't old at all. Bruised and bumped as it was, that pale skin was too soft, too smooth... the little hand Kurama was holding against the ground... the weird way of talking... the size of the demon... and now the evidence the Youko could sense beneath the fabric of those large dirty pants...
Kurama gasped in shock. "Inari-sama... You're just a baby!!!"
The kid's eyes narrowed, and he used the free hand to slap the Youko's cheek hard. "I'm no baby! Ya kill me or don't?"
Kurama grabbed the other's hand and pinned it down, trying to figure how old that child was. It was difficult to guess without knowing his species, but he couldn't be older than... four? Inari... this is a baby...
The boldest, meanest, strongest baby he had ever heard about.
"Shuddup, ya stinky fox," the kid growled threateningly. "Shut yar stinky mouth or I... I..."
"You what, baby?"
The infant hesitated for a while, but soon a new idea brightened his face with the most impish smile. "I piss on yar dress."
Kurama blinked, watching that broad defiant grin formed by the swollen lips of the child. The confident grin of one who knew that would never be beaten.
The Youko couldn't stand it anymore. Letting go of the kid, he sat back on the ground... and laughed. He laughed loud and hard until his stomach ached so much that he couldn't breath, and tears ran don his face. "Baby... you're priceless..." Then he lied on his side, arms holding his belly, completely taken by the mad laughter.
Heavily insulted, the kid staggered towards the Youko, too injured to stand up straight. "Ya askin' for it, Fox."
Kurama raised his eyes to see the diminutive boy brandishing a tiny fist at him... and laughed even more. "Inari... I'm so scared..."
The kid was furious now. Taking advantage of the Youko's position, he moved closer to the tall demon's rear.
He kicked Kurama's ass with all his strength.
The yelp of pain and surprise from the Youko offered but a brief taste of victory to the boy. Soon he felt his small body being hauled harshly to the silver-haired fox's lap. "Don't try my patience, baby," Kurama warned. "I still think that killing a weak creature like you might be an act of mercy."
"I'm no baby!" the kid shouted, squirming in vain to get free from Kurama's hold. "Ya talk lots and do nothing. If ya gonna kill, just kill."
"You're no baby?" the Youko grinned. "You're a big guy? Then let me tell you one thing: if a guy wants to die, he should do it all by himself, instead of bothering others with his blood."
A slight sense of déjà vu nudged the back of Kurama's mind. Where did I hear that before?
"If ya don't kill, let go and gimme my rabbit!"
"You know who I am, baby?"
"A fox that stink, talk lots, act stupid and stole my rabbit!"
"I am Youko Kurama."
The solemn announcement failed to make any impression on the kid. "Hn. Stupid Fox."
Once again the vague sensation of familiarity hit Kurama. "I'm the oldest of my kind. I have lived for so long, longer than this forest around us, longer that you can imagine. I was already a strong demon at the time the Makai and Ningenkai were one sole world. There is still a mountain in the Human World named after me. And you think you're a match for me, baby?"
"I can be," said the boy stubbornly.
"What's your name, baby?"
Just as before, that question made the boy tense and somber, silencing his complaints.
Kurama fingered the shackles on the kid's ankles. "Those who put this on you. How do they call you?"
"They don't."
"What?"
"They say, "give name to a hound and it thinks it's someone." But I'm no baby," the child muttered.
What a nice policy, Kurama mused bitterly. "So you're no one."
The boy glared at the Youko, but said nothing.
"That's what you are, nothing, no one," Kurama repeated, getting on his feet while holding the child by the back of his collar several feet over the ground. "That's all you're gonna be for as long as you live like this, begging of strangers to be freed from your misery. If you're bold enough to torment me, then you should have the guts to take your life in your own hands and take it to where you wish to be, rather than just wait for your leash to be pulled around."
Kurama didn't expect that a kid so young would understand what he was saying, but to his surprise his little aggressor was quiet and attentive, hanging passively from the Youko's grip. "I confess I pity you," Kurama sighed. "What chance do you have in Makai, if you can't even catch a single rabbit after hours of hunting?"
"Damn leash made me fall," the boy groaned.
The Youko was wondering about that. "And who's the imbecile who owns you? Binding a hound by the feet?! You must stumble on that cable all the time!"
"Twas on my neck before. They changed so I don't die."
Kurama frowned, trying to make sense of that bit of information. With the leash attached to a collar, he could use it to hang himself... Had he tried? An infant seriously considering suicide? "What were you thinking, baby? You really thought you could beat me? Or were you expecting an act of charity?"
"Was hungry," the boy replied simply. But he didn't offer Kurama huge tear-stricken eyes, didn't pout, didn't pose as a poor helpless child. He crossed his small arms on his chest and glowered oddly at the Youko, very zealous of his pride. Definitely not expecting any charity.
"You have a long way to go before rivaling my strength, silly baby. When you learn to run faster than thought, to stand as firm and solid as a rock, to summon enough youki to shine brighter than the sun, to move as silently as a shadow, then you may start to think about challenging me." He dropped the kid on the ground, more or less gently, and stepped away, moving towards the spot where he had left the rabbit's carcass.
Examining his catch in the ground, Kurama thought about leaving it to the boy. If not the whole animal, perhaps a small portion. The front legs? I never liked them much anyway... But soon he gave up the idea, gathering his prey and hanging it over his shoulder. "One ordinary day in Makai, baby," he commented. "You go out hunting and come home empty-handed, because someone was smarter, faster and stronger than you. You wanna survive, then learn your lesson."
"I'll getcha, Fox," the boy promised. "Ya'll be my prey."
Kurama smiled. "Before that, earn a name."
"I have a name," the child retorted sadly, for the first time really looking like a child. "Just don't like it."
The youko shrugged. "Then earn a better one. A big name to a big guy," he added with a snicker.
The boy's demeanor recovered the hard edge instantly, once again giving him the appearance of an old wicked dwarf. "Like yars?" he snorted.
"Why not?" Kurama chortled. "Who knows, if a puny thing like you manages to survive, you might actually deserve having the name of a mountain... You might call yourself... Arashi. Or Otowa." He turned his back on the angry kid and laughed, starting his way back to his own camp. "What about Pompon? Kannabe? Takao? Hiei?"
"Hiei?" echoed the boy's hoarse high-pitched voice.
The déjà vu feeling again... now stronger and annoying, buzzing painfully inside his skull. A squeaking whistle cut through his ears in a desperate wail, making him sick to his stomach. Kurama closed his eyes against the storming swirl of liquid colors that seemed to gush from his brow, right from its center, causing the worst headache he had felt in centuries.
Nonetheless, Kurama sensed the burning shapes slowly beginning to solidify around him, as his mind was enveloped in soft amber light, a delicious perfume of pine and cherry flowing up to his nostrils.
The nausea receded, and soon he found himself very relaxed and warm... and protected. Kurama smiled. Long before opening his eyes he knew where he was.
Lying on his bed in the Kubikukuri Hotel, with his head nestled on Hiei's lap.
"Kurama?"
The call sounded so soft... so different of the infant's voice... Feeling tired and comfortable, the Youko didn't move.
"Kurama, I know you're awake."
"Hiei..."
The nausea returned. And this time it had nothing to do with the side effects of the use of the Jagan. "Hiei?"
Opening his eyes, he gazed up at the Fire Demon's face... and cringed. "Inari-sama... I... I didn't mean..."
"Are you ready to sit up straight again, or were you just getting comfortable?"
Hiei's tone was dry, but not totally unfriendly. Realizing he was still lying on the youkai's lap, Kurama rolled out of the bed, fighting a wave of dizziness as he got on his feet. "That was you?"
"Hn."
Kurama tried to find the kid's features in his friend's familiar face, and soon small similarities began to form an horrendous picture in his mind. The crimson eyes, deep and old; the tiny pointed nose; the slender neck; the thin expressive eyebrows.
Bold, mean and strong.
Hiei.
"I remembered the boy," Kurama told him. "I never forgot that day. But I didn't recognize you. You had that green cloth covering your hair... and your ki signature..."
"...changed after the implant of the Jagan," the youkai informed him. "You changed much more than I did, though."
The redhead didn't know what to say. "Did you always know it was me... the same who... I mean..."
Hiei shook his head. "Not really. When I came to Ningenkai I heard about this guy named Kurama who cloaked his demon identity behind a human guise and acted in Yatsude's area. I was half expecting to find the same wicked Youko... I was looking forward the chance of showing him how much I had grown."
Kurama felt terrible. And when he had to refrain from replying with a pun about Hiei's growing, he felt a lot worse. What kind of monster am I?
"So I tracked you down," the youkai continued, stretching his legs on the bed and toying with Kurama's comb. "If you were that Youko, it would be fun to see you again. And if you were Yatsude's thug and had anything to do with Yukina's disappearance, so much the better."
No wonder he jumped over me so furiously, Kurama mused.
"But then I found this," Hiei continued, fingering one of Kurama's long red strands that had been caught in the comb's teeth. "And it wasn't even nearly this long about that time. You were completely different, a pretty young boy about my height, with red hair and huge sad eyes. Your ki had changed too. And you didn't recognize me. So I wasn't sure until I got to see you here, when Uraura Shima's kekkai wore off. There was only one thing that was the same with you and the Youko I met."
"What?"
"You were still treating me like an equal in a weird way."
Kurama almost choked. "An equal?!" Inari... what I did to him...
"In a weird way," Hiei repeated with a smirk.
"And you call me nuts!"
The youkai chuckled. "Okay, I admit you were a little too rough to make me have fond memories of you," Hiei winked.
The redhead eyed the laughing demon before him, surprised at seeing him so at ease. "You are nuts, Jaganshi..."
"Kurama, when I attacked you here in Ningenkai, why did you use that leaf as a sword to fight me?"
The Youko shrugged, sitting back on the bed. "You appeared with a katana, so..."
"Get real, Kurama! If you're gonna give me a lame excuse, at least use one you can convince yourself with."
Kurama brought his legs up, close to his chest, using the movement to gain some time to answer. "I'm not sure if I can give you a better one. It was sort of instinctive. I saw the katana coming my way, then I summoned that leaf."
"Don't tell me the great Kurama had no brilliant plan in his mind..."
"I didn't. Except for leading you away from crowded areas..."
"...and from your girlfriend," Hiei added with a wicked grin.
"And from Maya," Kurama confirmed, not bothering to correct the youkai's assumption. "I didn't know who you were. I had to find out."
"So you stuck your abilities to my level until you got your answers."
"I told you, Hiei, I didn't win. This body was too young to summon my ki properly. If you weren't wounded... Anyway, who wounded you? I know it wasn't me. I could barely get near you, at the speed you were going."
"The bastard who told me about you."
"Who?"
"Hedoki."
Kurama gaped. "Hedoki? He worked for Yatsude."
"I know that now," the youkai moaned.
The Youko shook his head in dismay. "That was so stupid, Hiei! Why didn't you wait until you healed before attacking me?"
"You really need to ask that?" Hiei snorted.
No. Kurama understood quite well why Hiei couldn't have waited. At the time the youkai feared that Yatsude had made Yukina one of his victims... and the fiend used to eat his victims alive. "Still... it was a reckless thing to do," the redhead muttered.
The Jaganshi smirked again. "You're worried that you might have killed me?"
"You should have been worried," Kurama riposted.
"Didn't have to. You never use more power to defeat an enemy than the strictly necessary." The essence to Kurama's beautiful and unpractical fights. "That didn't change from the Youko I met."
Kurama felt a guilty lump forming in his throat. "I used far more than the strictly necessary... back then." The poor little kid... his little injured face glaring daggers... his little arms trying to shield the little body from the punches of a Youko five times his size... If Kaasan learns I did something that cruel, she'll never talk to me again...
"Kurama?"
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you use your plants?"
"You mean... that first time in Makai?"
Hiei nodded. "That wasn't a beautiful fight... beating and tickling..."
Oh my... The tickles. If Kurama knew his friend as well as he thought, his pride had crumbled to dust for being defeated by tickles.
"You could have gotten rid of me so much faster and with so much more class with one of your plants," Hiei confessed.
The redhead bit his lip. He remembered having wondered about that too, while he cooked the rabbit that night. "I don't know. I was so furious. I couldn't believe you, throwing rocks, biting my tail... I wanted to smash you with my hands."
Hiei tilted his head. "You changed a lot. I never saw you that angry after that. Not even when Roto threatened to kill your mother."
"I wasn't like that either," Kurama murmured. "I was never like that. I don't know what happened to me. When you bit my tail, my temperature raised a hundred degrees, and I was seeing red, my mouth was foaming... I wanted to cut you in a thousand pieces."
The Fire Demon smiled proudly. "Thanks."
The Youko stood up, pulling his damp hair back, visibly upset. "Hiei, I'm sorry."
"Why? You said you remembered the encounter."
"Well, yes, but..."
"Did you feel guilty about it before?"
Reluctantly, Kurama admitted that he never thought much about that incident until now. He lowered his eyes, the only answer he felt up to offer.
"One ordinary day in Makai," Hiei shrugged. "I've seen worse. I bet you did too."
Only difference is that now I know it was you. Kurama looked out through the large window, trying to picture all the possibilities, if he could just go back in time and change the past...
Hiei seemed to have read his thoughts. "It's done, Kurama. It doesn't matter anymore."
"How can you say that?"
"We wanted the same thing. We fought. You won. What else could you have done?"
"I could have freed you," Kurama exclaimed. "Fed you. Healed you, cleaned you. Given you a chance."
"You gave me a chance," Hiei grinned. "A better one than if you have just took pity on me."
Kurama knew what the Fire Demon meant. Hiei was a survivor. He might have never become so strong if he had been adopted by a merciful Youko. "Still... I should have at least left the rabbit to you."
"Oh quit that silly ningen morality!" the youkai protested angrily. "That's why I didn't want to tell you. I knew you'd start looking at me like this."
"Like what?"
"The way you look a beggar in the street. It's sickening."
"Hiei..."
"Do I look like a beggar? Do I look like someone to be pitied?"
"No."
"Then cut that nonsense about what you should or shouldn't have done," said Hiei. "Honestly, Kurama, if we could go back in time, I wish you would act exactly the way you did."
And a little belatedly the Youko understood the thanking note behind the little demon's attitude. I baptized you. In more than one way. Kurama would need time to accept the idea, to find a way to deal with the whole issue and with that ugly image he was picturing of himself now. But already he started to feel the seeds of pride blooming secretly in his heart. Hiei... you built the fighter named Hiei... because of me.
The redhead sat on the low windowsill, rubbing his hands on his knees in a nervous gesture. "I can't believe you're so cool about it. You said you wanted to show me how much you have grown."
"I did."
So true. That little flimsy infant must have gone a long way to become the Black Dragon Master that Kurama knew. "Is that enough for you?"
"If we fight again, you won't mock me," said the youkai, coming to stand before his friend. "And this time you'll have to put all your strength in the battle to face me as an equal. Must be an uncomfortable thought for you."
As they were, they had approximately the same height. "It is."
"Then I'm satisfied. For now," Hiei added as an afterthought.
Unable to keep hard feelings, even when he should, the redhead mused. You earned a name and my respect... but... "I still owe you."
Hiei's eyes gazed straight inside Kurama's emerald irises. "No debt," he stated softly. "No compensations. No rematches."
Kurama smiled bitterly.
But Hiei was not over. Stepping so close to the Youko that their noses were just an inch from touching, he murmured, "No regrets."
The sandstorm was gone. And between the two friends there was no door anymore, only a wide-open passageway. The question now was, would any of them be bold enough to cross it?
Kurama was still probing the ground. Opening his arms, he brought the Fire Demon to a strong warm hug.
And for many years to come, Kurama would wonder if that had been the worst mistake that he had made in all his past lives.
Hiei responded to the embrace instantly, letting his arms envelop the larger body in a lazy spiraling caress. Resting his cheek on Kurama's shoulder, he closed every inch of space between their chests, wrapping the two of them in his tepid aura.
The Youko panicked. Hiei's hug felt fluid and passionate, like a wave of hot perfumed water. The little demon didn't seem to have any bones! The gentle feeling of being held and protected, the scent of pine and cherry from the spiky black hair... Kurama remembered those freezing mornings of winter, when his bed felt so warm and comfortable, and his sheets and covers swathed him so lusciously as if they didn't want him to get up...
Hugging Hiei was better.
Kurama felt they were touching everywhere. And his response to such a caress could be only one thing.
Oh no... not now!
If Hiei noticed the taut volume growing between them - and it was hard to believe he could miss it, glued to Kurama as he was - he gave no sign. He just stayed there, breathing softly, his youki flowing mildly from his body to his friend's.
"Hiei...?"
"There's a good thing in all this, you know."
The youko gulped. "What?"
"You smell a lot better now."
Kurama breathed in deeply. "You too."
They kept hugging in silence, minutes drifting swiftly in their private dimension. The redhead wondered about the boy's solemn promise, "I'll getcha, Fox. Ya'll be my prey."
Was this what you had in mind? Kurama was dying to put that little demon in his pocket and take him home, to find out exactly how much he had grown. You're sick, Youko.
But still he didn't want to disturb that rare moment, and was terribly disappointed when he heard Keiko's voice coming from the next room, crying out in a vain attempt to wake Yusuke and Kuwabara, so they could join her and the girls in a promenade at the beach. Hiei gently disengaged from the embrace, knowing that Yukina and the other girls would be knocking on their door in a few seconds.
"I'm curious," Kurama commented in a whisper.
"About what?"
"Are you still ticklish?"
Hiei scowled, his usual self back in place. "If you cherish your life, you won't try to find out."
~*~ owari ~*~
October 8th, 2000
Full confession: this fic was greatly inspired by WhiteCat's "Name Game" and Sandy Youko's "The Last Night at the Kubikukuri Hotel", two classics of the YYH Fanfiction and obligatory reading to all YYH fans who have no quarrels with shounen ai/yaoi.
Fond Memories was the first fic I ever tried to write: I started it around May 1999... so I took one year and five months to finish it... But I did finish it, ne? So there's still hope for me, I guess...
This story is part of the Eien no Hakusho timeline.