***Disclaimer*** ha! I remembered my disclaimer this time! I don't own yyh, so stop trying to sue me! *sticks out tongue* NYAH! eep! *runs away from murderous men in black suits and sunglasses*
I want to thank ~Keaira~ because she gave me my first, and very *kind*, review. Thanks Keaira-chan!
^_^
Ningenkai--
Yukina sat under the Great Tree; listening to and playing with the birds that lived there, humming a quiet little tune to herself. It must be so wonderful to be a bird here at the Temple! To live so free and happily--
She stopped, looking around.
What was-- There! There it was again!
"Hello? Genkai-sama? Is that you?" No reply. But I *know* I felt ki. Someone *hiding* their ki.
Again, "Hello? I know someone's here; I can feel your ki." Still no reply, but she felt another brush of an almost-familiar ki.
One more try, "Hello? Please come out, whoever this is, you're scaring me." As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt the ki again. Only this time it felt...scrambled and *pained*, and the person suddenly stopped masking it. "Oh! --"
--A black shape dropped to the ground 4 feet to her right--
"I'm sorry Hiei-san; I didn't recognize your ki! How have you been--"
--And bowed.
"--these past...two...years. Hiei-san?"
"I apologize, Yukina, I didn't mean to frighten you." He answered in his deep, timbre voice, sounding remorseful.
"Oh! That's quite all right, Hiei-san! I just couldn't tell who you were since you were masking your ki. Why did you do that? You know you're always welcome here at the Temple."
He raised up out of the bow, "I--"
He stopped suddenly, and they both turned toward the Temple entrance at the same time, it was beautiful, almost poetic, how the twins moved in unison. Yukina looked on expectantly, but Hiei looked on in panic.
"How wonderful!" Yukina exclaimed, "Kurama-san is here now! It's just like the reunion at the beach!"
Kurama emerged over the steps of the main entrance, paused, looked around, and spotted Yukina. He smiled and waved, "Konichiwa, Yukina! How are you today?" He asked as he began to move towards her.
"I'm fine, Kurama-san, I'm just talking to-" She turned to gesture to Hiei, but he was gone, leaving no trace of ki. "-To..." The only sound that greeted her was the singing birds.
"To who?" Kurama stopped beside her, smile waning a bit.
Where'd he go? *Why'd* he go? Did he leave because of Kurama-san? But that's ridiculous, Kurama-san is Hiei-san's best friend! He wouldn't run from him...would he? Did something happen?
"Yukina, daijoubu?" She's completely spaced out.
"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm just talking to...the birds. Feeding them, and playing with them like I do," she said. She still sounded like she wasn't quite with Kurama yet.
Kurama smiled again, "You're such a kind person, Yukina-chan. Is there anything you need before I start on the gardens?"
"Ah, no thank-you, Kurama-san. I'm just fine here."
"Well I'm off, but before I go--" A huge sunflower appeared in his hand, "--here, to feed the birds with."
She snapped out of her thoughts at once. "Thank-you Kurama-san! Sunflower seeds are their favorite food, arigatou."
He chuckled, "Your welcome. If you need anything, I'll be in the eastern gardens today. Ja!" He left, heading around the temple to get to the gardens.
Yukina watched him go, then felt around for Hiei's ki once again. Nothing. He really left, but *why*?
---
Genkai watched the exchange from all three from a side door in the Temple, and chuckled to herself. Those two just keep dancing around one another. That must have really confused poor Yukina.
"Oi! OBAASAN!" Yuusuke called from inside. He was sitting on a mat, stripped to the waist, and covered with sweat and small wounds. His hair was wild and a roll of bandages and a bottle of salve lay next to him. "Are you gonna fix this damage you've done to me or what?!"
"Stop your whining, boy! That was just a warm-up! The day's training hasn't even begun!" She yelled, turning to go back inside and heal him. [For the sake of the reader's sanity, I won't clarify what Genkai put Yuusuke through in his training.]
Yuusuke looked incredulously at her for a moment, and then over-dramatically collapsed onto the mat. "'Basan, if evil youkai don't kill me, YOU WILL."
Genkai snorted and went to 'fix the damage' she'd caused.
---
Hiei finally stopped running and leaned against a tree, since his legs would no longer support him. He had no idea where he was, and he didn't care; he was far, far away from the Temple and that was all that mattered.
K'so! Why did *he* have to show up, of all people?! He'd been hoping he could stop by, visit Yukina, and then leave to one of his old keeps to hide out from Mukuro for awhile, without being disturbed. But he wasn't even able to say a decent hello to her before he was interrupted. *Damn* that Fox!
::But how could Kurama have known you were going to be there?:: A nagging voice asked him, which Hiei instantly recognized as his conscience, and instantly ignored. The voice persisted. ::You've never been to visit before now. He's probably been going to the Temple regularly ever since you left, you could feel Yuusuke there too, everyone probably has been keeping in touch via the Temple. Everyone that is, except *you*::
Shut up.
::It's been two years. *TWO YEARS*. You spent almost your whole life looking for her, and once you found her, what did you do? You *left* and never came back or sent word.::
Damn it, I *said* SHUT UP.
::But Kurama visited her, Yuusuke visited her, and you *know* Kuwabara visited her. I bet she's given up on finding her brother--::
"SHUT UP!!" Hiei roared, black flames bursting into a fiery aura around him. The tree he'd been leaning against disintegrated and he tumbled to the ground in a fiery, black heap. Cursing his own foolish carelessness, he got back to his feet, and dusted the ash from himself. While slowly gaining his composure back, he mentally began to set his plans.
I can't go back to the Temple now, not while *he's* there. I'll just have to wait until nightfall; he should be gone by then. He checked the sky. That won't be for at least another 3 hours, that's more than enough time to get things in order. He flitted away to complete his errands.
---
Kurama stood in the middle of the eastern gardens with a look of concentration on his face. His school jacket and bag lay discarded on the outside edge of the garden, the sleeves to his white shirt were rolled up, and his wild red hair blew about his face, dancing in the breeze. He closed his eyes, knelt, and pressed his hands to the moist earth.
A moment passed and then the barren ground erupted in color, flowers of every kind blooming all over. Willows and Sakura's grew from the ground into full bloom, ferns snaked through the flowerbeds, and the sweet, heavy aromas of wild Makai flowers filled the air.
Kurama stood up, a bit shakily, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Growing the instant gardens took no time at all, but they did require a LOT of ki, and the work left him drained for about a day and a half afterwards. But it's worth it, he thought to himself, looking around. Proud of his work, he grabbed his jacket, and went to say goodbye to Genkai and Yukina.
When he got back to the Temple, Genkai had already left with Yuusuke for more training, but Yukina was inside making tea. "Yukina, I've finished with the Eastern gardens, so I'm leaving now. I'll see you in two days."
"Did it drain your ki again, Kurama-san?" Yukina asked worriedly.
"Yes, but it's nothing I haven't experienced before. I'll be fine, don't worry," he assured her.
"Oh, well at least stay for a cup of tea, it'll help you recover more quickly."
"Arigatou, Yukina-chan."
But a cup of tea quickly turned into chatting, which then evolved into an all-engrossing conversation. Before either of them knew it, they'd drunk a pot of tea, the sun was going down, and Genkai was dragging Yuusuke back to the Temple. She dumped him by the door, and removed her shoes, and went inside for some tea. Yuusuke just groaned and lay where she dropped him, face down on the floor.
"Kurama," the wise sage began, "I thought you'd have left by now, the sun is going down."
"Nani?!" He checked his watch, "Inari! IhavetogothanksfortheteaYukinabye!" Stepping over Yuusuke, he dashed out the door, putting his shoes on as he ran across the grounds.
K'so, I left my bag in the gardens, I have to go back.
By the time he'd run back to the gardens, caught his breath, got his bag, and made it back to the front gates, the sun had long since set.
Running down the steps in the dark is suicide, I'm gonna have to take it slow. Besides, I'm late for dinner anyway.
Taking his time, Kurama made his way down the steps. Just as he neared the bottom, he spied a dark figure approaching. No one comes to the Temple this late...
Cautiously, he backed up until he was in a convenient shadow, masked his ki, and drew a rose from his hair. The wards hadn't alerted him to an intruder, they probably needed replacing, and that meant that no one in the Temple knew of the intruder's presence. He couldn't feel a ki signature from the figure, and that meant they were a strong enough demon to mask their ki completely. Kurama had to defend the others until they were aware.
Whoever it is, they're going to have to pass through that patch of moonlight to get here, and then I'll see who it is. Kurama thought to himself.
The intruder was in no hurry, either. He/she/it moved slowly, almost cautiously, up the steps, as if knowing that Kurama was there, hiding in wait for them.
Just a little closer...
But the figure stopped just short of the patch of light.
K'so!
Kurama then heard an unmistakable sound: the sound of a sword being drawn.
They know I'm here--But before he could finish the thought, the figure launched into action.
Kurama dodged the blow and flicked his wrist, "Rose Whip!" He then unleashed the mask on his ki to let the intruder know just how powerful he was, and lurched forward to initiate his own attack.
Both he and the figure froze. Kurama gulped, the tip of a *very* sharp katana aimed directly over his throat. The intruder had cut his rose whip in half, and attacked again before Kurama could even blink. Kurama then noticed two very important things:
1) Now both he and the intruder stood in the patch of moonlight.
2) The intruder was, "HIEI?!"
I want to thank ~Keaira~ because she gave me my first, and very *kind*, review. Thanks Keaira-chan!
^_^
Ningenkai--
Yukina sat under the Great Tree; listening to and playing with the birds that lived there, humming a quiet little tune to herself. It must be so wonderful to be a bird here at the Temple! To live so free and happily--
She stopped, looking around.
What was-- There! There it was again!
"Hello? Genkai-sama? Is that you?" No reply. But I *know* I felt ki. Someone *hiding* their ki.
Again, "Hello? I know someone's here; I can feel your ki." Still no reply, but she felt another brush of an almost-familiar ki.
One more try, "Hello? Please come out, whoever this is, you're scaring me." As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt the ki again. Only this time it felt...scrambled and *pained*, and the person suddenly stopped masking it. "Oh! --"
--A black shape dropped to the ground 4 feet to her right--
"I'm sorry Hiei-san; I didn't recognize your ki! How have you been--"
--And bowed.
"--these past...two...years. Hiei-san?"
"I apologize, Yukina, I didn't mean to frighten you." He answered in his deep, timbre voice, sounding remorseful.
"Oh! That's quite all right, Hiei-san! I just couldn't tell who you were since you were masking your ki. Why did you do that? You know you're always welcome here at the Temple."
He raised up out of the bow, "I--"
He stopped suddenly, and they both turned toward the Temple entrance at the same time, it was beautiful, almost poetic, how the twins moved in unison. Yukina looked on expectantly, but Hiei looked on in panic.
"How wonderful!" Yukina exclaimed, "Kurama-san is here now! It's just like the reunion at the beach!"
Kurama emerged over the steps of the main entrance, paused, looked around, and spotted Yukina. He smiled and waved, "Konichiwa, Yukina! How are you today?" He asked as he began to move towards her.
"I'm fine, Kurama-san, I'm just talking to-" She turned to gesture to Hiei, but he was gone, leaving no trace of ki. "-To..." The only sound that greeted her was the singing birds.
"To who?" Kurama stopped beside her, smile waning a bit.
Where'd he go? *Why'd* he go? Did he leave because of Kurama-san? But that's ridiculous, Kurama-san is Hiei-san's best friend! He wouldn't run from him...would he? Did something happen?
"Yukina, daijoubu?" She's completely spaced out.
"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm just talking to...the birds. Feeding them, and playing with them like I do," she said. She still sounded like she wasn't quite with Kurama yet.
Kurama smiled again, "You're such a kind person, Yukina-chan. Is there anything you need before I start on the gardens?"
"Ah, no thank-you, Kurama-san. I'm just fine here."
"Well I'm off, but before I go--" A huge sunflower appeared in his hand, "--here, to feed the birds with."
She snapped out of her thoughts at once. "Thank-you Kurama-san! Sunflower seeds are their favorite food, arigatou."
He chuckled, "Your welcome. If you need anything, I'll be in the eastern gardens today. Ja!" He left, heading around the temple to get to the gardens.
Yukina watched him go, then felt around for Hiei's ki once again. Nothing. He really left, but *why*?
---
Genkai watched the exchange from all three from a side door in the Temple, and chuckled to herself. Those two just keep dancing around one another. That must have really confused poor Yukina.
"Oi! OBAASAN!" Yuusuke called from inside. He was sitting on a mat, stripped to the waist, and covered with sweat and small wounds. His hair was wild and a roll of bandages and a bottle of salve lay next to him. "Are you gonna fix this damage you've done to me or what?!"
"Stop your whining, boy! That was just a warm-up! The day's training hasn't even begun!" She yelled, turning to go back inside and heal him. [For the sake of the reader's sanity, I won't clarify what Genkai put Yuusuke through in his training.]
Yuusuke looked incredulously at her for a moment, and then over-dramatically collapsed onto the mat. "'Basan, if evil youkai don't kill me, YOU WILL."
Genkai snorted and went to 'fix the damage' she'd caused.
---
Hiei finally stopped running and leaned against a tree, since his legs would no longer support him. He had no idea where he was, and he didn't care; he was far, far away from the Temple and that was all that mattered.
K'so! Why did *he* have to show up, of all people?! He'd been hoping he could stop by, visit Yukina, and then leave to one of his old keeps to hide out from Mukuro for awhile, without being disturbed. But he wasn't even able to say a decent hello to her before he was interrupted. *Damn* that Fox!
::But how could Kurama have known you were going to be there?:: A nagging voice asked him, which Hiei instantly recognized as his conscience, and instantly ignored. The voice persisted. ::You've never been to visit before now. He's probably been going to the Temple regularly ever since you left, you could feel Yuusuke there too, everyone probably has been keeping in touch via the Temple. Everyone that is, except *you*::
Shut up.
::It's been two years. *TWO YEARS*. You spent almost your whole life looking for her, and once you found her, what did you do? You *left* and never came back or sent word.::
Damn it, I *said* SHUT UP.
::But Kurama visited her, Yuusuke visited her, and you *know* Kuwabara visited her. I bet she's given up on finding her brother--::
"SHUT UP!!" Hiei roared, black flames bursting into a fiery aura around him. The tree he'd been leaning against disintegrated and he tumbled to the ground in a fiery, black heap. Cursing his own foolish carelessness, he got back to his feet, and dusted the ash from himself. While slowly gaining his composure back, he mentally began to set his plans.
I can't go back to the Temple now, not while *he's* there. I'll just have to wait until nightfall; he should be gone by then. He checked the sky. That won't be for at least another 3 hours, that's more than enough time to get things in order. He flitted away to complete his errands.
---
Kurama stood in the middle of the eastern gardens with a look of concentration on his face. His school jacket and bag lay discarded on the outside edge of the garden, the sleeves to his white shirt were rolled up, and his wild red hair blew about his face, dancing in the breeze. He closed his eyes, knelt, and pressed his hands to the moist earth.
A moment passed and then the barren ground erupted in color, flowers of every kind blooming all over. Willows and Sakura's grew from the ground into full bloom, ferns snaked through the flowerbeds, and the sweet, heavy aromas of wild Makai flowers filled the air.
Kurama stood up, a bit shakily, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Growing the instant gardens took no time at all, but they did require a LOT of ki, and the work left him drained for about a day and a half afterwards. But it's worth it, he thought to himself, looking around. Proud of his work, he grabbed his jacket, and went to say goodbye to Genkai and Yukina.
When he got back to the Temple, Genkai had already left with Yuusuke for more training, but Yukina was inside making tea. "Yukina, I've finished with the Eastern gardens, so I'm leaving now. I'll see you in two days."
"Did it drain your ki again, Kurama-san?" Yukina asked worriedly.
"Yes, but it's nothing I haven't experienced before. I'll be fine, don't worry," he assured her.
"Oh, well at least stay for a cup of tea, it'll help you recover more quickly."
"Arigatou, Yukina-chan."
But a cup of tea quickly turned into chatting, which then evolved into an all-engrossing conversation. Before either of them knew it, they'd drunk a pot of tea, the sun was going down, and Genkai was dragging Yuusuke back to the Temple. She dumped him by the door, and removed her shoes, and went inside for some tea. Yuusuke just groaned and lay where she dropped him, face down on the floor.
"Kurama," the wise sage began, "I thought you'd have left by now, the sun is going down."
"Nani?!" He checked his watch, "Inari! IhavetogothanksfortheteaYukinabye!" Stepping over Yuusuke, he dashed out the door, putting his shoes on as he ran across the grounds.
K'so, I left my bag in the gardens, I have to go back.
By the time he'd run back to the gardens, caught his breath, got his bag, and made it back to the front gates, the sun had long since set.
Running down the steps in the dark is suicide, I'm gonna have to take it slow. Besides, I'm late for dinner anyway.
Taking his time, Kurama made his way down the steps. Just as he neared the bottom, he spied a dark figure approaching. No one comes to the Temple this late...
Cautiously, he backed up until he was in a convenient shadow, masked his ki, and drew a rose from his hair. The wards hadn't alerted him to an intruder, they probably needed replacing, and that meant that no one in the Temple knew of the intruder's presence. He couldn't feel a ki signature from the figure, and that meant they were a strong enough demon to mask their ki completely. Kurama had to defend the others until they were aware.
Whoever it is, they're going to have to pass through that patch of moonlight to get here, and then I'll see who it is. Kurama thought to himself.
The intruder was in no hurry, either. He/she/it moved slowly, almost cautiously, up the steps, as if knowing that Kurama was there, hiding in wait for them.
Just a little closer...
But the figure stopped just short of the patch of light.
K'so!
Kurama then heard an unmistakable sound: the sound of a sword being drawn.
They know I'm here--But before he could finish the thought, the figure launched into action.
Kurama dodged the blow and flicked his wrist, "Rose Whip!" He then unleashed the mask on his ki to let the intruder know just how powerful he was, and lurched forward to initiate his own attack.
Both he and the figure froze. Kurama gulped, the tip of a *very* sharp katana aimed directly over his throat. The intruder had cut his rose whip in half, and attacked again before Kurama could even blink. Kurama then noticed two very important things:
1) Now both he and the intruder stood in the patch of moonlight.
2) The intruder was, "HIEI?!"