Authors Notes: People wanted me to continue this, so I will. NOT because you people asked, mind, but because I feel the intense need to write the best In Character Yu Yu Hakusho fan fiction I can and this is the only plotline I can truly think of right now.
Just a slight warning: I'm listening to the CD 'Great Melinko' by ICP while writing this. So it might be a bit darker, but nothing worse then normal.
Disclaimer: I don't own it. You all know that.
~*~*~
The morning was a beautiful one indeed. Birds were darting back and forth along the cement streets, chirping so proudly even the infamous fire demon would've had his heart warmed.
If he wasn't just waking up in a bedroom not his own. Not that he had his own, mind, but still, it was unnerving. Without languid movements, the narrowed eyes shot open, his spine still straight as a board on the soft mattress. His chest didn't rise or fall anymore then normal, but his small gasps of air gave way to his shock. His heart pounded furiously against the strong bones of his ribcage, fingers and toes tingling with the new supply of blood.
The sunlight was twinkling into the room between the blinds, the comforter heavy on the light demon. His minute hand moved from under the blanket, pushing away the feather-filled thing from his body, muscles under his bandaged arm clenching and relaxing steadily. His belt was still tied; obviously his host didn't see fit to undo his pants.
Good.
After a second of scanning the tidy yet homey room, the demon classified it as Kurama's place; a friends home, therefore his for the scouting. Oh, it wasn't like he'd never been inside the room before to discuss battles tactics or spend the night if the night was being particularly rude to its outside dwellers, but it was the first time Kurama hadn't been in the room with him.
At first, Hiei had regarded the foxs watchful eyes as distrust, like the demon would try to steal one of his ningen appliances. But, after a time, he came to learn that while the expression in Kuramas eyes wasn't distrust, but friendly care, he also realized that the only reason the kitsune had stayed within the room with him was to make sure the surly demon didn't leave without a proper farewell nor would he hurt himself. The redhead didn't have to tell the delicately formed fighter this in words; he came to the conclusion himself. The rest had come in small actions, such as free food and kind conversation.
Speaking of food…He plucked himself up from the bed, bare feet brushing against the compressed carpet of Shuuichis room, toes flexing against the warmth radiating from those strands. His ears twitched slightly, hearing a soft humming come from below him--probably the redhead himself cooking some sort of food for his friend and himself. Agile as a cat, Hiei moved from the room to the kitchen, closing the doors with such ease that they were hardly heard by human ears, his body nothing but a blur of tan and black.
Kurama, however, didn't seem surprised at his friends' sudden appearance. He was dressed in a dark blue, three-fourth shirt and slightly baggy jeans. His locks were tied back with a spare piece of crimson cloth, slender fingers wrapped around a utensil. The object in question was flipping baking pieces of dough—Pancakes, Hiei recalled—into the air and catching them with experts ease.
"Good morning, Hiei."
The demon didn't not notice the use of his name; it made him wince inwardly. The kitsune always made a point to say his name when first speaking to him. It was flattering in some ways; reminding him that he wasn't forgotten, but in other ways it was annoying. Hiei knew that Kurama wouldn't ever really forget him, so why keep reminding him?
"Mmn." The noise was met with a small smile from the cooking youko, the slim form of the well-muscled man slipping into a chair, the hard wood comforting under him. It was like a tree, but smoother.
"Sleep well?"
There was silence but he replied with a curt nod, crimson eyes trained on the light blue and green patterns of the tablecloth before him. Minute fingers played slightly with a frayed edge, listening to the gentle sounds of the dough cooking and allowing the smell to waft pleasantly into him. The scent filled his lungs with a revitalizing feeling; releasing the smells made a soft shudder run up the spine of the demon.
"I hope you're hungry. I made enough food for three. I though Mother was going to stay and eat with us, but she wanted to go eat brunch with a few friends of hers." The conversational tone had a small ring of pleased companionship, but Hiei merely lifted his chin to gaze, under his bangs, at the ningen kitsune serving him. The cakes piled about four times on top of one another; Hiei applied a generous serving of sweet-tasting syrup onto their well-baked orifices. Kurama simply smiled, seating himself across from his company, pouring his own maple syrup over his breakfast.
"Yukina-chan came by while you were asleep."
That caused the demon to look up from his meal, eyes widened curiously with half a pancake fallen limply on his chin. His jaw was still working at it however; Hiei knew how to eat while doing other things.
"She was worried about her elder brother. She had a rather nasty dream last night and went looking for you to tell about it." An eyebrow arched as he ate a piece gently, making sure to swallow before speaking again, "The girl truly has no idea you're her brother. If I was still completely youko, I would laugh…" He sighed and rubbed a temple with two fingers, his other hand, cutting up the pancake before him. "Anyway, she couldn't find you and came here to see if I knew where you were. When I explained to her you were asleep, she told me to ask if you would visit the temple later today to speak with her. When are you going to tell her, Hiei?"
The slightly accusing emerald gaze met, unflinchingly, a startled pair of red. Under the pancake, Hieis mouth twisted into a slight sneer, coming to a halt before he finished the food. Once the first of the five was devoured, he spoke in harsh tones to his host, "I can't."
"She won't reject you." As slow as he ate, Kurama was, somehow, on his second pancake, face clear and calm. Hiei felt the muscle under his eyebrows twitch in clear annoyance at the bold claim flying from the kitsunes lips. Upon seeing this, Kurama shook his head, eating another pancake. "Never mind, Hiei. Forget I said anything to you about it."
Hiei grew even more silent within the confines of his soul, intent on finishing his food. Kurama only watched him, toying with his food. He had lost his appetite.
~*~*~
"STOPPIT! STOPPIT!" The screams came from a hoarse throat, ripped out with violence. There were tears mingled within, pale arms reaching for the small being.
Crimson eyes opened slowly, lashes thick in his childhood. Chubby fists flailed at the screams of his mother, ears hurting at the weight of her shrieks. Hands, cruel and hard, grasped his flesh, blood softening the nails somewhat. His mouth opened, spewing cries of his own to match his mothers' lungs.
Where was his sleep-mate?? Where was the cool presence that melded with his flames within the sleep-time?? Screams still flew from him as his life-giver dissolved into sobs, her own fingers clawing at the blood-splattered sheets of her bed. Another second, he heard another cry, that of a female. His sleep-mate!
Her own bawls met with his, their vocals matching with a perfect chord that startled their life-givers tormentors. Crimson eyes were in her head, too, opened wide and frantic at her sleep-mates, reaching for him. Their tie was being strained, they were being pulled apart by a tormentor; a part of them severed.
The boy of the two screamed angrily at the parting of his sleep-mate and him, wisps of black and silver strands coating his perfect skull. A cold, cold voice spoke. He didn't understand the meaning of the words, but his mothers' shrill scream of terror made him wail as well. He knew he was going to be hurt—never his sleep-mate. She was too much like their life-giver. "Throw the Forbidden Child."
The cold was piercing at his skin as he was carried out, small body still coated in birthing fluid carried form the sleep-time, crimson as his eyes and clear as water, all at the same time. It was like a coat against the freeze although his own internal self helped with the cold.
Far behind him, he could hear the screams and wails of his sleep-mate and life-giver, both mentally screaming out the same, single word the boy-child was. "NO!"
Then there was a whistling wind and the boy-child fell.
~*~*~
Kuramas eyes slammed open with a force that would've shocked anyone else. The screams of the trio still rang painfully in his human ears, a shrill sliver of fear snaking down his spine at the memory.
"H…Hiei? You still here?" Hopefully the waver in his voice that he heard wasn't shown in his actual voice to his minute friend. Hiei, however, noted the slight stutter, but didn't comment on it. He was seated in the cool breeze of Kuramas balcony, thick flame-shaped brush of hair waving gently in the wind.
His face half-turned, eyes semi-wide for the narrowed oculars, lips parted in vague curiosity. "Mm? What is it?"
Kurama opened his mouth to speak but the emotional pain once flashed through him, causing him to shake his head. If it was truly a memory of Hiei', then he didn't want to remind his friend of his past. "Nothing. Just a meaningless dream is all."
"Do you often dream of that partner of yours? The one who died."
"Kuro—" Kurama stopped himself, forcing the name not to be spoken. Instead, he turned the questioning onto Hiei as he stood and moved out to his friend. The night was crisp and clear, giving a sensitive light to the second day Hiei had chosen not to leave. "Why do you ask?"
There was a gentle whistle of wind for a moment before Hiei spoke, head shaking only slightly. "Nothing."
"He was my friend. I didn't have many back then… So, yes… I often think of him." He was quiet for a scant second, a gentle smile playing over his lips. "He was a very good friend." Kurama caught Hieis patented look and snorted out a small grin. "Yes, Hiei. He and I were lovers."
The fire demons eyes widened only 1/8 of what it was originally, shoulder muscles tensing at the confession from the one he somehow managed to call 'friend'. "I didn't ask that."
"Yes you did. With your eyes." Kurama leaned on the rails of his balcony, eyelids falling over his green eyes languidly, letting his chin relax onto the wedges of his elbows. "I don't mind anyway…It's not like I keep anything secret."
"You're vain." Despite the words, the comment wasn't rude. Hiei was merely pointing out a long-buried fact from the depths of his 'conversation' bin. In all actuality, he liked knowing more about the kitsune. As other bared their soul to him, Kurama very rarely gave them a piece of himself in return, wanting none to know the 'man behind the mask' so to speak. While he offered support and care, very few tales were ever told of his past life as a kitsune, unless they involved his deceased partner.
"I know I am." His chin tilted slightly, giving his friend a smile. "Look at the body I'm in now. Shiori would've had a daughter if Kuramas soul hadn't invaded her body so rudely. That's why I'm so damn pretty." The swear word was spoken eloquently from the kitsune, in an almost wistful voice. "But his pride wouldn't allow him to grow up as a woman, so the youko changed the gender, although not soon enough to keep the 'pretty' genes in check."
"Mm. You couldn't be Kurama without the prettiness." There was a slight smirk of amusement on the demons lips at his comment, the gentle banter cheering his soul almost as much as the clear night and feel of his black clothing washing against his skin in the breeze.
"Glad to think you find my plight funny, Hiei." The amusement resided within Kuramas voice as well.
~*~*~
I fell like sleeping now. I hope I got them somewhat in character…sigh.