Hiei was perched on the roof of a building, half paying attention to
Shadow, who was in an office building across the street, trying to buy a
house. He was watching her through the window, and luckily the real estate
guy's back was to the window because if he saw him up on the roof, the man
would think Hiei was some suicidal lunatic and call the cops to get him
down.
For a week, Hiei had been following Shadow. He preferred to watch her through his normal eyes, because it was a lot easier. He didn't make much of an effort to hide from her since she knew he was watching, and every time she saw him she waved. Then of course he had to vanish because several people nearby always looked in the direction she waved and it would do him little good to have people see him on the edge of the roof of a 10 story high building.
Since Shadow hadn't gotten a house yet, she had been staying with Kurama. They seemed to be friends already, probably just because of the fox pup Shadow had given him. That was fine for Hiei, because he could trust Kurama to keep an eye on her while he went off and slept in a tree or whatever he did in his free time.
Because of this, Hiei happened to be at Kurama's house when an inspector guy came along. (Like, one of those law enforcement people. Not police, but they're like, with the children's section or whatever and all that to make sure kids are being treated fairly and they're all in school or whatever? Like... I don't know what they are. But one of them came along inspecting houses and whatever.)
Shiori Minamino happened to not be home, so Kurama, Shadow, and Hiei were all at Kurama's house alone when the doorbell rang. Kurama answered it to see some guy standing at the door, dressed in a suit and holding a briefcase.
"Can I help you?" Kurama asked. Shadow and Hiei stayed in the living room, hoping the guy would just go away.
"Hello. Is this the Minamino residence?" the man asked.
"Well, I'm fairly sure that's what it says on the gate, and unless my last name changed without my knowing about it, that's what it still says," Kurama said sarcastically. "Yes, this is the Minamino residence."
"May I come in?" the man asked.
Kurama glanced back at Shadow and Hiei, who were sitting on the couch watching him.
"Who are you?" Kurama asked.
"I'm with the Prevention of Child Abuse (???) Office," the man said, showing Kurama a badge. Kurama inspected it for a second, having a fair amount of experience in fake IDs, and he discovered that this one was real. "So may I come in young man?" the PCA officer asked.
"Um... My mother isn't home right now..." Kurama said. He was fairly sure and alsmost positive that for this guy to find Shadow and Hiei wouldn't be a good thing.
"That's okay. I just want to ask you some questions and look around your house a bit. This is an unannounced search and inspection," the man said.
"Yes, quite unannounced... Um... Well..."
"I don't have all day. You don't have anything to hide, do you?"
"Well, no..."
"Then why can't I come in?"
"I never said you couldn't..."
"You never said I could."
"I guess I didn't."
"May I come in, then?" The man sounded impatient.
Kurama stood there with a huge argument going on in his head. A little demon popped up on his left shoulder, and it looked a heck of a lot like a chibi Youko... Actually it was an exact replica of Youko, except it was only about four inches tall... Then a tiny replica of chibi Shuuichi Kurama appeared on his right shoulder with a little halo above his head. Of course, only Kurama saw these two...
(WARNING: This will get slightly confusing and very strange...)
'He has no business coming in your house! Punch him!' Youko said.
'But that's not legal. He'll get thrown in jail for that,' Shuichi said.
'Who cares?! This bozo can't come in!' Youko snapped.
'Just let him in, Kurama. Maybe he won't notice Shadow and Hiei,' Shuichi said.
'Are you nuts?! Do you think he's blind or something?!' Youko yelled at the angel Shuichi.
'We can't have him breaking laws!' Shuichi replied calmly.
'Who cares if he breaks laws?'
'Well obviously you don't, Youko,' Shuichi said snottily.
'Don't get that tone with me, young man! I could whip your ass in less than a minute!!!' Youko threatened.
'Anytime, fox boy,' Shuichi said calmly.
'Guys!!! Hello, you're supposed to be helping me out here, not arguing and killing each other!' Kurama thought.
'Sorry, Kurama,' Shuichi said. Youko just glared and kicked some dust off Kurama's shoulder.
'Back to the argument,' Kurama said.
'Punch him out,' Shuichi said, obviously having changed his mind at some point.
'What?!'
'That's right. Knock him out. You obviously can't let him find out about Shadow and Hiei, and the only way of keeping that from happening is to punch him out,' Shuichi said calmly.
'That's not right! I'm supposed to tell him to punch him out, not you! You're the angel, idiot!' Youko yelled.
'Oh, I forgot... Yes, well you simply can't solve this one, Kurama. Tell him it's a bad time and close the door in his face.'
'He'll get suspicious!' Kurama said (or rather he thought it.)
'Yes, well let him get suspicious. It's not like you have anything to hide.'
'Yes he does you fool! They're sitting in there on the couch!' Youko growled.
'Oh. Well you'll be rid of him for the time being and you'll be able to get rid of them for when he comes back,' Shuichi said.
'He'll probably stake out the house... That's how those lousy stupid officials are... Then he'll sue me for child abuse or something when he finds out I was hiding two unschooled, homeless teenagers,' Kurama thought.
'Well, I can't help you out anymore. Youko is the one with the thousand year old brain with all the wisdom and that,' Shuichi said. He started walking away but Youko jumped across onto Kurama's right shoulder and caught him. They started fighting on his shoulder.
"Damn. They're no help at all," Kurama said out loud.
"Excuse me? Who aren't help?" the officer asked. He was still standing in front of Kurama, who had been standing with his mouth hanging open a little bit and his eyes going back and forth between looking at his left should and his right shoulder, completely zoned out of the real world as his two identities stood on his shoulders. Now they were both on his right shoulder, creating giant murderous plants and the like, trying to rip each other to pieces. Annoyed with the noises they were making, Kurama brushed them off his shoulder and they fell, but before they hit the ground, they vanished.
"Hm? Oh, I was talking to myself," Kurama said absently.
"Oh. Well, may I come in? I think I deserve it. I've been waiting patiently for ten minutes, but soon I'll get annoyed and assume you have something to hide and force my way in. And it shouldn't be all that hard to get past you," the man said.
"Fine... Come in, then." Kurama stood aside and let the man come in. The first thing the guy saw was Shadow and Hiei sitting on the couch.
"Who are they?" the guy asked Kurama.
"My friends."
"Why are they here?"
"Because I want them here."
"Oh. How old are you?" the man asked Shadow.
"Fourteen," she answered.
"What school do you go to?"
"School?"
"Yes, school. You know, the thing you go to so you can sit in a classroom all day and learn about stuff?" the man said suspiciously.
At this point, Kurama was completely freaked out, because he knew that since Shadow didn't go to school, and if she told the guy that she didn't, she'd be put in school. And so would Hiei.
"I don't go to school."
'Crap! Koenma will not approve of this,' Kurama thought.
"You don't? How about you two?" the man asked, looking at Hiei and Kurama.
"I don't go to school, and don't think that you can make me," Hiei said.
The man ignored Hiei's 'don't think you can make me' and looked at Kurama.
"I go to school. I'm in Mieou (???) High School," Kurama said.
"Well, that's where these two will end up, then. Where can I contact your parents?" the man asked Hiei and Shadow.
"I haven't got any parents," Shadow said.
"Neither do I," Hiei said.
"What about your guardian?"
Shadow pointed at Hiei and Kurama. Hiei looked slightly surprised, but he shrugged.
"I don't need a guardian," he said.
"How old are you?"
"That's none of your business."
"You look high school age. I'll get you both put in school, but until then, you're both coming with me until we find you suitable guardians," the man said.
"I HAVE A GUARDIAN!!!" Shadow said extremely loudly.
"You're fourteen, and this boy is no older. Your guardian---"
"Actually, I am older. I'm fifteen," Kurama said.
"That's not old enough. You're still living with your parents, therefore you cannot be a legal guardian unless these are your children by birth," the man said.
"Which we aren't," Shadow finished, then added under her breath, "Thank god for that."
"Where have you been living all your life without parents?" the man asked.
"Trees," Hiei said.
"I won't tell you how I lived because I'm sure it's probably against some of your laws," Shadow said absentmindedly, staring off into space.
Now you can imagine by this point Kurama was pretty freaked out. He was sitting in a chair, holding his head in his hands like he had a horrible headache, occasionally looking up at Shadow and Hiei with a freaked out look on his face, kinda like he was gonna cry, then he went back to hiding his face when the inspector asked the next question.
"Come with me," the inspector said, walking to the door. Shadow and Hiei made no signs of moving. They stared at the guy like he was nuts.
"I don't go where people tell me to, mister," Hiei said.
"Well that's not going to be very good when you get put in school, kid," the man said.
"I'm not a kid."
"Yes you are, you look like you're about fourteen or something," the man said. He grabbed Hiei and Shadow by their wrists and somehow managed to drag them out the door and throw them into the back seat of his car.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"WHAT!?" Koenma screeched.
Kurama had gone straight to Yusuke after that little PCA Officer incident, and they both went to Koenma and explained. Now they were wincing as Koenma screamed at the both of them, especially Kurama, for letting something happen to Shadow.
"Well at least Hiei is with her..." Kurama said nervously.
"WHAT GOOD WILL THAT DO??? IF SHE DOES ANYTHING IN A SCHOOL, EVEN IF HIEI IS WITH HER IT'LL STILL DRAW TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO THEM BOTH!!!" Koenma screamed. Kurama flinched, while Yusuke stood with his fingers in his ears to block out the screaming.
"Well it's not like I can do anything about it now, and I couldn't do anything about it when the guy was there, either! What did you expect me to do?! Beat him up? If anybody was gonna beat him up, Hiei would have, and he didn't! So why should I?!" Kurama said, almost yelling. "Besides, the guy said he'd put them in Mieou High, which is my school so I can still watch them! I don't see why you need to get so mad about it!!!"
"JUST THE FACT THAT YOU LET THIS HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE MAKES ME MAD!!! YOU'RE USUALLY THE ONLY ONE WHO I CAN TRUST TO NOT SCREW THINGS UP, BECAUSE YOU ARE DEFINITALY THE MOST COMPETENT OF THESE IDIOT DETECTIVES, BUT NOW YOU WENT AND SCREWED THIS UP!!!" Koenma screamed.
"STOP SHOUTING!!!" Yusuke and Kurama yelled at the same time, sending Koenma spinning away into the wall behind him. Once he got up, they all stood there in complete silence for a few minutes, trying to get rid of the ringing in their ears. Kurama stood blinking for two minutes straight with the strangest expression on his face, like he was really, really confused about something. He probably couldn't hear anything. With his fox senses, everything was a lot worse to him, rememer?
"Okay... Well all I can tell you is that you better keep track of those two if they're going to be forced to be in your school," Koenma said.
"Thank god they're not in my school. I don't think Kuwabara would be very happy to have Hiei in his school and possibly in some of his classes," Yusuke muttered.
"Well, you two can go now..." Koenma said.
"I think I've gone deaf," Kurama muttered to Yusuke on the way out. "He really needs some anger management classes..."
"I HEARD THAT, FOX BOY!!!" Koenma screamed, throwing a rubber stamp at Kurama.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The PCA Officer found Hiei and Shadow an adoptive mother, who surprisingly turned out to be Kurama's mother! Gee, wow, I wonder how that ended up like that... So Shadow and Hiei live with Kurama now. Yay, aren't they lucky.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It's Hiei and Shadow's first day at Mieou High! Hiei managed to twist the principal's mind enough to get himself and Shadow into all the same classes and almost all of Kurama's classes too. Shadow took Hiei's last name for lack of having her own, but officially on all the papers, both of them have the last name Minamino, since that's Shiori's last name and she adopted them...
On their first day of school, Kurama had to wake up Shadow and Hiei and practically drag them out of bed. They all walked to school together and got there late, thanks to Hiei... Wretched little complaining fire demon... (Oops, did I actually say that? How horrible of me...) Lucky for them, since they were with Kurama, and he's top student in his school and all the teachers love him, they let them slip by without detention. Yay!
First period, the three of them had biology. When they got there, their teacher stopped Hiei and Shadow and waited until all the class was there and the bell had rang before she introduced them to the class.
"Class, this is Shadow and Hiei Minamino," the teacher said. Hiei rolled his eyes, because he didn't particularly like having Kurama's last name. "They're new, so be nice. But don't underestimate them, because they are Shuuichi's new brother and sister." The class moaned, hearing the fondness in the teacher's voice when she said Shuuichi. She turned to Hiei and Shadow. "Why don't you sit beside your brother so he can help you if you need it?" Hiei flinched at being called Kurama's brother. He hadn't even been in school for a day, or even an hour, and he already hated it. Shadow, Kurama, and himself were all just playing some stupid game. They weren't related, but they had to act like it, and that was especially hard for Hiei, who had gone years knowing Kurama as a friend, not a brother. Now he was stuck living in his house and going by his last name.
'I knew I was way better off in the Makai,' Hiei thought as he sat down on Kurama's right. Shadow plopped down in the seat on Kurama's left and they started class.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So how did you like your first day of school?" Kurama asked. They were walking home together with their bags full of homework and books.
Hiei groaned at the thought of the day. He remembered all the times he cursed in his mind for having to be introduced to the class as 'Hiei Minamino,' and he knew the teachers would expect Kurama-level intelligence from him and Shadow.
"It sucked. Big time," Hiei said, annoyed. "I don't think I'll like being your brother."
Kurama blinked. "Well I didn't expect you to. You're just lucky I could convince my mother to adopt you, because if I hadn't, you'd probably be with some old hag who carries around a rolled-up newspaper to beat her kids over the head with!"
"Or even worse, some little old lady who can't take care of herself and would need you to help her do everything. Everything, Hiei," Shadow said. Hiei shuddered at the thought of living with some old hag. It was bad enough living with his best friend...
"Okay, so being my best friend's adopted brother is better than having to be some useless old hag's servant, but I still don't like it," Hiei said.
"Ha ha. Live with it," Kurama said. "So what did you think of school, Shadow?"
"Hmm. Teachers are too bossy, we have way too much homework, and all those girls who kept following you around and giggling were very annoying... What's the deal with them, anywho?" Shadow said.
"Um... Well, they're kind of like my fan club. They follow me around, watch me, giggle over me, but none of them ever talk to me, and once, one of them passed out when I looked at her... They're anorexic, they're preppy, and there's nothing about them I like, most of them have the IQ of an over- radiated mashed potatoe, and they have a heart attack when they break a nail or when their lipstick smears..." Kurama said absentmindedly, counting off on his fingers how many malfunctions they had. "There's more... I just can't quite remember at the moment."
"Well, that's gotta suck," Shadow said.
"It does."
"Look out, Hiei, you're probably next," Shadow said. "Before you know it, you'll have tons of little twits following you around and trying to get you to look at them."
"Damn," Hiei said.
"Yeah, you probably will," Kurama said.
When they got home, Shadow and Hiei sat in the living room and got started on their wretched homework, getting extremely frustrated at points and breaking their pencils. Hiei often just vanished out the window and came back a few minutes later looking a lot calmer. Shadow got kind of suspicious until she saw that his knuckles were all red and bloody and she realized he had gone out and punched various inanimate objects (such as trees, sidewalks, and brick walls).
Kurama, on the other hand, went to his room, finished his homework in less than an hour, then came downstairs, only to be pounced on by Shadow for help on homework, which she was only half done with. Hiei had given up on homework a long time before, (at about the point he got a bunch of splinters in his knuckles from punching a tree and sat for more than fifteen minutes with tweezers, pulling them out, and then bandaging his hands) and he was lying on the couch sleeping.
"Hiei, get up and do your homework," Kurama said, jabbing Hiei in the chest to wake him up. The little demon opened one eye and glared at Kurama, who still had Shadow hanging onto his arm to make sure he didn't leave without helping her on her homework.
"Go away," Hiei said, closing his eye.
"Do your homework," Kurama said.
"Yeah, do your homework so that Kurama will stop telling you to and he'll help me with mine," Shadow said, pointing at Hiei accusingly. Hiei opened both his eyes and sat up, yawning.
"At this rate it will take you until two in the morning to get done," Kurama said.
"Now you're acting like an annoying mother or soebody who sits and nags all day. 'Do your homework. Mow the lawn. Fix me dinner. Nag nag nag'," Hiei mocked.
"Hey, that's just a little overboard. I never asked you to fix dinner or mow the lawn," Kurama said.
"Just shut up and do your homework, Hiei. You wouldn't need nagged if you would just listen the first time," Shadow said, throwing a crinkled up paper at Hiei. It hit him in the shoulder and bounced off and rolled across the floor, ending up beside Shadow again. She picked it up and threw it again.
"Come on, Kurama. Hiei's a twit and he won't do his homework and he'll fail miserably and never graduate school and be stuck in school for the rest of his life," Shadow said. Hiei looked at her with a look of horror on his face.
"Fine, I'll do the stupid homework," Hiei muttered.
For a week, Hiei had been following Shadow. He preferred to watch her through his normal eyes, because it was a lot easier. He didn't make much of an effort to hide from her since she knew he was watching, and every time she saw him she waved. Then of course he had to vanish because several people nearby always looked in the direction she waved and it would do him little good to have people see him on the edge of the roof of a 10 story high building.
Since Shadow hadn't gotten a house yet, she had been staying with Kurama. They seemed to be friends already, probably just because of the fox pup Shadow had given him. That was fine for Hiei, because he could trust Kurama to keep an eye on her while he went off and slept in a tree or whatever he did in his free time.
Because of this, Hiei happened to be at Kurama's house when an inspector guy came along. (Like, one of those law enforcement people. Not police, but they're like, with the children's section or whatever and all that to make sure kids are being treated fairly and they're all in school or whatever? Like... I don't know what they are. But one of them came along inspecting houses and whatever.)
Shiori Minamino happened to not be home, so Kurama, Shadow, and Hiei were all at Kurama's house alone when the doorbell rang. Kurama answered it to see some guy standing at the door, dressed in a suit and holding a briefcase.
"Can I help you?" Kurama asked. Shadow and Hiei stayed in the living room, hoping the guy would just go away.
"Hello. Is this the Minamino residence?" the man asked.
"Well, I'm fairly sure that's what it says on the gate, and unless my last name changed without my knowing about it, that's what it still says," Kurama said sarcastically. "Yes, this is the Minamino residence."
"May I come in?" the man asked.
Kurama glanced back at Shadow and Hiei, who were sitting on the couch watching him.
"Who are you?" Kurama asked.
"I'm with the Prevention of Child Abuse (???) Office," the man said, showing Kurama a badge. Kurama inspected it for a second, having a fair amount of experience in fake IDs, and he discovered that this one was real. "So may I come in young man?" the PCA officer asked.
"Um... My mother isn't home right now..." Kurama said. He was fairly sure and alsmost positive that for this guy to find Shadow and Hiei wouldn't be a good thing.
"That's okay. I just want to ask you some questions and look around your house a bit. This is an unannounced search and inspection," the man said.
"Yes, quite unannounced... Um... Well..."
"I don't have all day. You don't have anything to hide, do you?"
"Well, no..."
"Then why can't I come in?"
"I never said you couldn't..."
"You never said I could."
"I guess I didn't."
"May I come in, then?" The man sounded impatient.
Kurama stood there with a huge argument going on in his head. A little demon popped up on his left shoulder, and it looked a heck of a lot like a chibi Youko... Actually it was an exact replica of Youko, except it was only about four inches tall... Then a tiny replica of chibi Shuuichi Kurama appeared on his right shoulder with a little halo above his head. Of course, only Kurama saw these two...
(WARNING: This will get slightly confusing and very strange...)
'He has no business coming in your house! Punch him!' Youko said.
'But that's not legal. He'll get thrown in jail for that,' Shuichi said.
'Who cares?! This bozo can't come in!' Youko snapped.
'Just let him in, Kurama. Maybe he won't notice Shadow and Hiei,' Shuichi said.
'Are you nuts?! Do you think he's blind or something?!' Youko yelled at the angel Shuichi.
'We can't have him breaking laws!' Shuichi replied calmly.
'Who cares if he breaks laws?'
'Well obviously you don't, Youko,' Shuichi said snottily.
'Don't get that tone with me, young man! I could whip your ass in less than a minute!!!' Youko threatened.
'Anytime, fox boy,' Shuichi said calmly.
'Guys!!! Hello, you're supposed to be helping me out here, not arguing and killing each other!' Kurama thought.
'Sorry, Kurama,' Shuichi said. Youko just glared and kicked some dust off Kurama's shoulder.
'Back to the argument,' Kurama said.
'Punch him out,' Shuichi said, obviously having changed his mind at some point.
'What?!'
'That's right. Knock him out. You obviously can't let him find out about Shadow and Hiei, and the only way of keeping that from happening is to punch him out,' Shuichi said calmly.
'That's not right! I'm supposed to tell him to punch him out, not you! You're the angel, idiot!' Youko yelled.
'Oh, I forgot... Yes, well you simply can't solve this one, Kurama. Tell him it's a bad time and close the door in his face.'
'He'll get suspicious!' Kurama said (or rather he thought it.)
'Yes, well let him get suspicious. It's not like you have anything to hide.'
'Yes he does you fool! They're sitting in there on the couch!' Youko growled.
'Oh. Well you'll be rid of him for the time being and you'll be able to get rid of them for when he comes back,' Shuichi said.
'He'll probably stake out the house... That's how those lousy stupid officials are... Then he'll sue me for child abuse or something when he finds out I was hiding two unschooled, homeless teenagers,' Kurama thought.
'Well, I can't help you out anymore. Youko is the one with the thousand year old brain with all the wisdom and that,' Shuichi said. He started walking away but Youko jumped across onto Kurama's right shoulder and caught him. They started fighting on his shoulder.
"Damn. They're no help at all," Kurama said out loud.
"Excuse me? Who aren't help?" the officer asked. He was still standing in front of Kurama, who had been standing with his mouth hanging open a little bit and his eyes going back and forth between looking at his left should and his right shoulder, completely zoned out of the real world as his two identities stood on his shoulders. Now they were both on his right shoulder, creating giant murderous plants and the like, trying to rip each other to pieces. Annoyed with the noises they were making, Kurama brushed them off his shoulder and they fell, but before they hit the ground, they vanished.
"Hm? Oh, I was talking to myself," Kurama said absently.
"Oh. Well, may I come in? I think I deserve it. I've been waiting patiently for ten minutes, but soon I'll get annoyed and assume you have something to hide and force my way in. And it shouldn't be all that hard to get past you," the man said.
"Fine... Come in, then." Kurama stood aside and let the man come in. The first thing the guy saw was Shadow and Hiei sitting on the couch.
"Who are they?" the guy asked Kurama.
"My friends."
"Why are they here?"
"Because I want them here."
"Oh. How old are you?" the man asked Shadow.
"Fourteen," she answered.
"What school do you go to?"
"School?"
"Yes, school. You know, the thing you go to so you can sit in a classroom all day and learn about stuff?" the man said suspiciously.
At this point, Kurama was completely freaked out, because he knew that since Shadow didn't go to school, and if she told the guy that she didn't, she'd be put in school. And so would Hiei.
"I don't go to school."
'Crap! Koenma will not approve of this,' Kurama thought.
"You don't? How about you two?" the man asked, looking at Hiei and Kurama.
"I don't go to school, and don't think that you can make me," Hiei said.
The man ignored Hiei's 'don't think you can make me' and looked at Kurama.
"I go to school. I'm in Mieou (???) High School," Kurama said.
"Well, that's where these two will end up, then. Where can I contact your parents?" the man asked Hiei and Shadow.
"I haven't got any parents," Shadow said.
"Neither do I," Hiei said.
"What about your guardian?"
Shadow pointed at Hiei and Kurama. Hiei looked slightly surprised, but he shrugged.
"I don't need a guardian," he said.
"How old are you?"
"That's none of your business."
"You look high school age. I'll get you both put in school, but until then, you're both coming with me until we find you suitable guardians," the man said.
"I HAVE A GUARDIAN!!!" Shadow said extremely loudly.
"You're fourteen, and this boy is no older. Your guardian---"
"Actually, I am older. I'm fifteen," Kurama said.
"That's not old enough. You're still living with your parents, therefore you cannot be a legal guardian unless these are your children by birth," the man said.
"Which we aren't," Shadow finished, then added under her breath, "Thank god for that."
"Where have you been living all your life without parents?" the man asked.
"Trees," Hiei said.
"I won't tell you how I lived because I'm sure it's probably against some of your laws," Shadow said absentmindedly, staring off into space.
Now you can imagine by this point Kurama was pretty freaked out. He was sitting in a chair, holding his head in his hands like he had a horrible headache, occasionally looking up at Shadow and Hiei with a freaked out look on his face, kinda like he was gonna cry, then he went back to hiding his face when the inspector asked the next question.
"Come with me," the inspector said, walking to the door. Shadow and Hiei made no signs of moving. They stared at the guy like he was nuts.
"I don't go where people tell me to, mister," Hiei said.
"Well that's not going to be very good when you get put in school, kid," the man said.
"I'm not a kid."
"Yes you are, you look like you're about fourteen or something," the man said. He grabbed Hiei and Shadow by their wrists and somehow managed to drag them out the door and throw them into the back seat of his car.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"WHAT!?" Koenma screeched.
Kurama had gone straight to Yusuke after that little PCA Officer incident, and they both went to Koenma and explained. Now they were wincing as Koenma screamed at the both of them, especially Kurama, for letting something happen to Shadow.
"Well at least Hiei is with her..." Kurama said nervously.
"WHAT GOOD WILL THAT DO??? IF SHE DOES ANYTHING IN A SCHOOL, EVEN IF HIEI IS WITH HER IT'LL STILL DRAW TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO THEM BOTH!!!" Koenma screamed. Kurama flinched, while Yusuke stood with his fingers in his ears to block out the screaming.
"Well it's not like I can do anything about it now, and I couldn't do anything about it when the guy was there, either! What did you expect me to do?! Beat him up? If anybody was gonna beat him up, Hiei would have, and he didn't! So why should I?!" Kurama said, almost yelling. "Besides, the guy said he'd put them in Mieou High, which is my school so I can still watch them! I don't see why you need to get so mad about it!!!"
"JUST THE FACT THAT YOU LET THIS HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE MAKES ME MAD!!! YOU'RE USUALLY THE ONLY ONE WHO I CAN TRUST TO NOT SCREW THINGS UP, BECAUSE YOU ARE DEFINITALY THE MOST COMPETENT OF THESE IDIOT DETECTIVES, BUT NOW YOU WENT AND SCREWED THIS UP!!!" Koenma screamed.
"STOP SHOUTING!!!" Yusuke and Kurama yelled at the same time, sending Koenma spinning away into the wall behind him. Once he got up, they all stood there in complete silence for a few minutes, trying to get rid of the ringing in their ears. Kurama stood blinking for two minutes straight with the strangest expression on his face, like he was really, really confused about something. He probably couldn't hear anything. With his fox senses, everything was a lot worse to him, rememer?
"Okay... Well all I can tell you is that you better keep track of those two if they're going to be forced to be in your school," Koenma said.
"Thank god they're not in my school. I don't think Kuwabara would be very happy to have Hiei in his school and possibly in some of his classes," Yusuke muttered.
"Well, you two can go now..." Koenma said.
"I think I've gone deaf," Kurama muttered to Yusuke on the way out. "He really needs some anger management classes..."
"I HEARD THAT, FOX BOY!!!" Koenma screamed, throwing a rubber stamp at Kurama.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The PCA Officer found Hiei and Shadow an adoptive mother, who surprisingly turned out to be Kurama's mother! Gee, wow, I wonder how that ended up like that... So Shadow and Hiei live with Kurama now. Yay, aren't they lucky.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It's Hiei and Shadow's first day at Mieou High! Hiei managed to twist the principal's mind enough to get himself and Shadow into all the same classes and almost all of Kurama's classes too. Shadow took Hiei's last name for lack of having her own, but officially on all the papers, both of them have the last name Minamino, since that's Shiori's last name and she adopted them...
On their first day of school, Kurama had to wake up Shadow and Hiei and practically drag them out of bed. They all walked to school together and got there late, thanks to Hiei... Wretched little complaining fire demon... (Oops, did I actually say that? How horrible of me...) Lucky for them, since they were with Kurama, and he's top student in his school and all the teachers love him, they let them slip by without detention. Yay!
First period, the three of them had biology. When they got there, their teacher stopped Hiei and Shadow and waited until all the class was there and the bell had rang before she introduced them to the class.
"Class, this is Shadow and Hiei Minamino," the teacher said. Hiei rolled his eyes, because he didn't particularly like having Kurama's last name. "They're new, so be nice. But don't underestimate them, because they are Shuuichi's new brother and sister." The class moaned, hearing the fondness in the teacher's voice when she said Shuuichi. She turned to Hiei and Shadow. "Why don't you sit beside your brother so he can help you if you need it?" Hiei flinched at being called Kurama's brother. He hadn't even been in school for a day, or even an hour, and he already hated it. Shadow, Kurama, and himself were all just playing some stupid game. They weren't related, but they had to act like it, and that was especially hard for Hiei, who had gone years knowing Kurama as a friend, not a brother. Now he was stuck living in his house and going by his last name.
'I knew I was way better off in the Makai,' Hiei thought as he sat down on Kurama's right. Shadow plopped down in the seat on Kurama's left and they started class.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So how did you like your first day of school?" Kurama asked. They were walking home together with their bags full of homework and books.
Hiei groaned at the thought of the day. He remembered all the times he cursed in his mind for having to be introduced to the class as 'Hiei Minamino,' and he knew the teachers would expect Kurama-level intelligence from him and Shadow.
"It sucked. Big time," Hiei said, annoyed. "I don't think I'll like being your brother."
Kurama blinked. "Well I didn't expect you to. You're just lucky I could convince my mother to adopt you, because if I hadn't, you'd probably be with some old hag who carries around a rolled-up newspaper to beat her kids over the head with!"
"Or even worse, some little old lady who can't take care of herself and would need you to help her do everything. Everything, Hiei," Shadow said. Hiei shuddered at the thought of living with some old hag. It was bad enough living with his best friend...
"Okay, so being my best friend's adopted brother is better than having to be some useless old hag's servant, but I still don't like it," Hiei said.
"Ha ha. Live with it," Kurama said. "So what did you think of school, Shadow?"
"Hmm. Teachers are too bossy, we have way too much homework, and all those girls who kept following you around and giggling were very annoying... What's the deal with them, anywho?" Shadow said.
"Um... Well, they're kind of like my fan club. They follow me around, watch me, giggle over me, but none of them ever talk to me, and once, one of them passed out when I looked at her... They're anorexic, they're preppy, and there's nothing about them I like, most of them have the IQ of an over- radiated mashed potatoe, and they have a heart attack when they break a nail or when their lipstick smears..." Kurama said absentmindedly, counting off on his fingers how many malfunctions they had. "There's more... I just can't quite remember at the moment."
"Well, that's gotta suck," Shadow said.
"It does."
"Look out, Hiei, you're probably next," Shadow said. "Before you know it, you'll have tons of little twits following you around and trying to get you to look at them."
"Damn," Hiei said.
"Yeah, you probably will," Kurama said.
When they got home, Shadow and Hiei sat in the living room and got started on their wretched homework, getting extremely frustrated at points and breaking their pencils. Hiei often just vanished out the window and came back a few minutes later looking a lot calmer. Shadow got kind of suspicious until she saw that his knuckles were all red and bloody and she realized he had gone out and punched various inanimate objects (such as trees, sidewalks, and brick walls).
Kurama, on the other hand, went to his room, finished his homework in less than an hour, then came downstairs, only to be pounced on by Shadow for help on homework, which she was only half done with. Hiei had given up on homework a long time before, (at about the point he got a bunch of splinters in his knuckles from punching a tree and sat for more than fifteen minutes with tweezers, pulling them out, and then bandaging his hands) and he was lying on the couch sleeping.
"Hiei, get up and do your homework," Kurama said, jabbing Hiei in the chest to wake him up. The little demon opened one eye and glared at Kurama, who still had Shadow hanging onto his arm to make sure he didn't leave without helping her on her homework.
"Go away," Hiei said, closing his eye.
"Do your homework," Kurama said.
"Yeah, do your homework so that Kurama will stop telling you to and he'll help me with mine," Shadow said, pointing at Hiei accusingly. Hiei opened both his eyes and sat up, yawning.
"At this rate it will take you until two in the morning to get done," Kurama said.
"Now you're acting like an annoying mother or soebody who sits and nags all day. 'Do your homework. Mow the lawn. Fix me dinner. Nag nag nag'," Hiei mocked.
"Hey, that's just a little overboard. I never asked you to fix dinner or mow the lawn," Kurama said.
"Just shut up and do your homework, Hiei. You wouldn't need nagged if you would just listen the first time," Shadow said, throwing a crinkled up paper at Hiei. It hit him in the shoulder and bounced off and rolled across the floor, ending up beside Shadow again. She picked it up and threw it again.
"Come on, Kurama. Hiei's a twit and he won't do his homework and he'll fail miserably and never graduate school and be stuck in school for the rest of his life," Shadow said. Hiei looked at her with a look of horror on his face.
"Fine, I'll do the stupid homework," Hiei muttered.
