Disclaimer: I don't own the characters! I don't own the story! I don't own the Pepsi company! ...Damn, now I'm depressed!
AN Hey all! This chapter was actually supposed to go up last night, on All'Hallows Eve, but to tell the truth, it was only a page long. Hehe, sorry about that. But now it's done, and there can be much rejoicing! *crickets chirp* Or not... anyway, enjoy the chapter, and say "Welcome" (read: throw rotten vegetables) to Gouki, our stupid youki. *sighs*
BTW: I'm sorry that I made Kurama seem girly. It wasn't intentional, I was trying to make him 'playful', like Youko's are supposed to be. Hope I tuned it down enough to be non-girly. Also.... WARNING! OOC-Hiei alert. A bit of AU-ness as well.
===
Chapter 3
Sweet-Snow Is A No-No
"His name is Gouki," Hiei explained around his dish of "sweet-snow". For some reason, the demon loved the dish of frozen milk and sugar. Hiei usually hated things that were cold. And he tended to avoid things that were partly frozen.
If you excluded his sister - and now sweet-snow.
But Kurama didn't dare point this out, Hiei's emotional bursts were scary. He must have learned that from the Thieves, because *Kurama* wasn't like that. Not like that at all.
"Anyway," Hiei said, digging his spoon into his third tub of ice-cream, this time Black Cheery Chunk. "He's a Soul Eating Demon, but he should be able to take the blame if something goes wrong with the plan. You'll met him later tonight."
Kurama nodded, still astounded that Hiei loved ice-cream so much, but also depressed about his mother's illness. The mirror was the only way to save her life now, he knew. There was no other way, and he owed her for stealing her son. "Right after we go to see 'Kassan," he agreed. "I want you to meet her..." He trailed off, not finishing his sentence.
Hiei quirked a thoughtful brow. "She's that Ningen in the hospital that smells kind of like you?" He asked, voice now muffled because the Youkai was attempting to lick the inside of the empty ice-cream tub. He reappeared with a bit of cream on the tip of his nose.
Kurama chuckled and moved to wipe it off with a handy napkin. "Yes," he said. "She's my human mother."
Hiei nodded before looking around the kitchen. "Do you have any more sweet-snow?" He asked hopefully. His expression fell when the red haired boy across from his shook his head.
"Come on," Kurama said standing up and holding his hand out to his little demon. "Let's get you cleaned up and then we can go and visit 'Kassan."
The spiky haired fire-demon sighed but allowed himself to be pulled into the bathroom so he could wash his hands, face and hair clean of sweet-snow. Kurama made sure he completed his task by baring the door until he pronounced Hiei clean. The Youko then forced Hiei to change his clothes into a formal looking black kimono with yellow trim they had stolen during their outing that morning. But all the while, the playful gleam in Kurama's eyes seemed a little subdued, and his smile was a bit forced.
"Perfect!" Kurama announced, taking Hiei's hand and tugging him out of his bedroom and out of the house. He locked the front door and continued walking with his 'baby' trailing behind him. "You'll love her Hiei, she's the sweetest Ningen I've ever met. A little eccentric, but nice all the same."
"Hn."
Kurama grinned, well on his way to decoding Hiei's hn's. That particular 'Hn' meant that Hiei was unsure but willing to be in the same room as her. He might even tolerate looking at her, and just maybe he would allow her to talk to him.
"You'll be fine." Kurama soothed. "Trust me."
"Hn!"
Translation: "no idiot in their right mind would trust you!"
===
"You see," Kurama said after they had left the hospital a little later that afternoon. "It wasn't so bad."
Hiei shot him a look while trying to fluff his hair back up. Kurama was getting good at reading his looks as well. This one said, "that crazy ningen spent two hours trying to make my hair lie flat! My scalp hurts! She also insisted on knitting me booties! My feet might be warmer, but that doesn't mean I like them! They're pink for Inari's sake!" The look subsided and Hiei returned to his task to fluffing his hair.
Kurama laughed softly and bent down to dangle his hair just in front of Hiei's nose. The soft strands tickled the tip of said nose and Kurama straightened, tossing his hair back to where it belonged. Then, he stepped back as Hiei first glowered and then sneezed. "Ah-che!"
POOF!!
"AW!!"
Well, that hadn't changed in four hundred years. Hiei looked so adorably confused at that moment, wondering what had just happened to him. And why his hair had fluffed when he sneezed. It probably meant that he had never sneezed in all his four hundred years after he was stolen, which confused Kurama as to how his hair stayed spiked even after he washed it. Then he remembered. Hiei sometimes sneezed in his sleep, especially after he had had a bath. That was another thing to trap the Youko in the snare of cuteness. He couldn't help it! Hiei's sneezes were so cute!
"Let's get some dinner," Kurama said, shaking himself free of Hiei's spell. "I know this great place-"
"Sweet-snow?" Hiei interrupted, thinking that maybe he could use this new sneeze-attack to his advantage.
"No." Kurama said without missing a beat. "But anyway, after dinner, we can go meet Gouki. Where is he supposed to be?"
"The park." Hiei muttered, annoyed because his chance at sweet-snow had been shot down so quickly. So, he tried again.
"Ah-che!"
POOF!
"AW!!"
"Sweet-snow?"
"NO!"
Hiei pouted and Kurama's eyes lit up with renewed playfulness. "Let's have a picnic at the park!" He cried, taking Hiei's hand and stringing the poor demon along behind him. And this is how Hiei ended up being tied down to a blanket by vines being force-fed vegetables.
"Stupid tomatoes!" Hiei screamed, torching another one in Kurama's face. It exploded in a sticky mess. "I won't eat it! You can't make me!"
After dinner, Hiei was forced into an infant swing and pushed until his dinner threatened to come up on Kurama's precious pink clothing. Gouki found them just after Kurama helped steady Hiei from his ride on the Merry-Go-Round. He didn't know Hiei knew so many ways to threaten somebody. Everybody else in the park had ran for their lives, not wanting to bear the burn of Hiei's wrath. (1)
They didn't stop to consider they might actually end up nursing third degree burns.
It was when the Koukonki appeared that Hiei and Kurama turned serious. Kurama had to prove once again that he was the legendary thief, Youko Kurama, but it was worth it. They got to work, planning exactly what to do. First, they had to somehow disable the wards in and around the Reikai Palace. Then, distract the guards enough to get to the Kings Vault, which held the treasures they were after. It was decided that Hiei would somehow steal a map of the palace, Gouki would pretend he didn't exist, and Kurama would, well, be Kurama and try to figure the best way to get through all the wards placed around the palace.
"Okay," Gouki said, scratching his head rather stupidly, trying to get the plan straight. "What was the point of me being in this alliance?"
"So you can scare all the Oni with your ugly face." Kurama said sweetly.
Hiei rolled his eyes.
Gouki scowled but deicided he liked living so didn't comment.
"Okay," Hiei said, standing up and nodding for the other two to do so as well. "I'll get the map and we'll meet back here next week for another meeting."
Kurama smiled sadly. Gouki nodded stupidly.
"Sounds good Hiei, I think that I'll-"
"That's Hiei-sama." Kurama interrupted. "That's what you shall call him."
"Why?" The Koukonki asked, scratching one of his horns in confusion.
"Because if you don't, I'll kill you." Kurama threatened calmly, pulling his rose from his hair and thrusting it out into his Rose Whip. The best weapon he had found in the Ningenkai. Not to say there weren't others, but he thought the rose was the best. A beautiful flower, but covered with thorns. Perfect.
"Eh..." Gouki eyed the whip nervously, remembering his earlier decision about wanting to live. "I'll see you two next week... Hiei-sama... Youko-sama..." He bowed and zipped away.
Once he was out of hearing range, Hiei turned to Kurama with a demonic glint in his eyes. Which was only logical, seeing as he was a demon.
"I WANT SWEET-SNOW" He bellowed.
Kurama groaned and began walking home.
"SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET-SNOWWWWWWWW!" Hiei screached, tugging on his school uniform and being dragged along. Just Kurama's luck, his shirt ripped.
Great, now he had to go and steal a new one. And the protection on those pink school uniforms was intense! Stupid Fire-Youkai. Kurama continued walking, highly mindful to staying in the shadows, for you never knew when the horde of rabid females might attack. They were scary.
And all the while Kurama walked, Hiei continued to scream for his precious sweet-snow. It was going to be a long week.
===
(1) Um, sorry about the horrible pun. It came out on accident.
Kurama: why did you have to bring sweet-snow into this? *falls to knees in mental anguish*
Hiei: I WANT SWEET-SNOW!
Kurama: WHY ME?! What did I do in a past life to deserve this?
Reviews are gold, make me rich!
Choices for next time:
1) They (Hiei, Kurama and Gouki) steal the artifacts.
2) Another meeting in which Kurama scares Gouki ****less.
3) HELLO YUSUKE!
.
AN Hey all! This chapter was actually supposed to go up last night, on All'Hallows Eve, but to tell the truth, it was only a page long. Hehe, sorry about that. But now it's done, and there can be much rejoicing! *crickets chirp* Or not... anyway, enjoy the chapter, and say "Welcome" (read: throw rotten vegetables) to Gouki, our stupid youki. *sighs*
BTW: I'm sorry that I made Kurama seem girly. It wasn't intentional, I was trying to make him 'playful', like Youko's are supposed to be. Hope I tuned it down enough to be non-girly. Also.... WARNING! OOC-Hiei alert. A bit of AU-ness as well.
===
Chapter 3
Sweet-Snow Is A No-No
"His name is Gouki," Hiei explained around his dish of "sweet-snow". For some reason, the demon loved the dish of frozen milk and sugar. Hiei usually hated things that were cold. And he tended to avoid things that were partly frozen.
If you excluded his sister - and now sweet-snow.
But Kurama didn't dare point this out, Hiei's emotional bursts were scary. He must have learned that from the Thieves, because *Kurama* wasn't like that. Not like that at all.
"Anyway," Hiei said, digging his spoon into his third tub of ice-cream, this time Black Cheery Chunk. "He's a Soul Eating Demon, but he should be able to take the blame if something goes wrong with the plan. You'll met him later tonight."
Kurama nodded, still astounded that Hiei loved ice-cream so much, but also depressed about his mother's illness. The mirror was the only way to save her life now, he knew. There was no other way, and he owed her for stealing her son. "Right after we go to see 'Kassan," he agreed. "I want you to meet her..." He trailed off, not finishing his sentence.
Hiei quirked a thoughtful brow. "She's that Ningen in the hospital that smells kind of like you?" He asked, voice now muffled because the Youkai was attempting to lick the inside of the empty ice-cream tub. He reappeared with a bit of cream on the tip of his nose.
Kurama chuckled and moved to wipe it off with a handy napkin. "Yes," he said. "She's my human mother."
Hiei nodded before looking around the kitchen. "Do you have any more sweet-snow?" He asked hopefully. His expression fell when the red haired boy across from his shook his head.
"Come on," Kurama said standing up and holding his hand out to his little demon. "Let's get you cleaned up and then we can go and visit 'Kassan."
The spiky haired fire-demon sighed but allowed himself to be pulled into the bathroom so he could wash his hands, face and hair clean of sweet-snow. Kurama made sure he completed his task by baring the door until he pronounced Hiei clean. The Youko then forced Hiei to change his clothes into a formal looking black kimono with yellow trim they had stolen during their outing that morning. But all the while, the playful gleam in Kurama's eyes seemed a little subdued, and his smile was a bit forced.
"Perfect!" Kurama announced, taking Hiei's hand and tugging him out of his bedroom and out of the house. He locked the front door and continued walking with his 'baby' trailing behind him. "You'll love her Hiei, she's the sweetest Ningen I've ever met. A little eccentric, but nice all the same."
"Hn."
Kurama grinned, well on his way to decoding Hiei's hn's. That particular 'Hn' meant that Hiei was unsure but willing to be in the same room as her. He might even tolerate looking at her, and just maybe he would allow her to talk to him.
"You'll be fine." Kurama soothed. "Trust me."
"Hn!"
Translation: "no idiot in their right mind would trust you!"
===
"You see," Kurama said after they had left the hospital a little later that afternoon. "It wasn't so bad."
Hiei shot him a look while trying to fluff his hair back up. Kurama was getting good at reading his looks as well. This one said, "that crazy ningen spent two hours trying to make my hair lie flat! My scalp hurts! She also insisted on knitting me booties! My feet might be warmer, but that doesn't mean I like them! They're pink for Inari's sake!" The look subsided and Hiei returned to his task to fluffing his hair.
Kurama laughed softly and bent down to dangle his hair just in front of Hiei's nose. The soft strands tickled the tip of said nose and Kurama straightened, tossing his hair back to where it belonged. Then, he stepped back as Hiei first glowered and then sneezed. "Ah-che!"
POOF!!
"AW!!"
Well, that hadn't changed in four hundred years. Hiei looked so adorably confused at that moment, wondering what had just happened to him. And why his hair had fluffed when he sneezed. It probably meant that he had never sneezed in all his four hundred years after he was stolen, which confused Kurama as to how his hair stayed spiked even after he washed it. Then he remembered. Hiei sometimes sneezed in his sleep, especially after he had had a bath. That was another thing to trap the Youko in the snare of cuteness. He couldn't help it! Hiei's sneezes were so cute!
"Let's get some dinner," Kurama said, shaking himself free of Hiei's spell. "I know this great place-"
"Sweet-snow?" Hiei interrupted, thinking that maybe he could use this new sneeze-attack to his advantage.
"No." Kurama said without missing a beat. "But anyway, after dinner, we can go meet Gouki. Where is he supposed to be?"
"The park." Hiei muttered, annoyed because his chance at sweet-snow had been shot down so quickly. So, he tried again.
"Ah-che!"
POOF!
"AW!!"
"Sweet-snow?"
"NO!"
Hiei pouted and Kurama's eyes lit up with renewed playfulness. "Let's have a picnic at the park!" He cried, taking Hiei's hand and stringing the poor demon along behind him. And this is how Hiei ended up being tied down to a blanket by vines being force-fed vegetables.
"Stupid tomatoes!" Hiei screamed, torching another one in Kurama's face. It exploded in a sticky mess. "I won't eat it! You can't make me!"
After dinner, Hiei was forced into an infant swing and pushed until his dinner threatened to come up on Kurama's precious pink clothing. Gouki found them just after Kurama helped steady Hiei from his ride on the Merry-Go-Round. He didn't know Hiei knew so many ways to threaten somebody. Everybody else in the park had ran for their lives, not wanting to bear the burn of Hiei's wrath. (1)
They didn't stop to consider they might actually end up nursing third degree burns.
It was when the Koukonki appeared that Hiei and Kurama turned serious. Kurama had to prove once again that he was the legendary thief, Youko Kurama, but it was worth it. They got to work, planning exactly what to do. First, they had to somehow disable the wards in and around the Reikai Palace. Then, distract the guards enough to get to the Kings Vault, which held the treasures they were after. It was decided that Hiei would somehow steal a map of the palace, Gouki would pretend he didn't exist, and Kurama would, well, be Kurama and try to figure the best way to get through all the wards placed around the palace.
"Okay," Gouki said, scratching his head rather stupidly, trying to get the plan straight. "What was the point of me being in this alliance?"
"So you can scare all the Oni with your ugly face." Kurama said sweetly.
Hiei rolled his eyes.
Gouki scowled but deicided he liked living so didn't comment.
"Okay," Hiei said, standing up and nodding for the other two to do so as well. "I'll get the map and we'll meet back here next week for another meeting."
Kurama smiled sadly. Gouki nodded stupidly.
"Sounds good Hiei, I think that I'll-"
"That's Hiei-sama." Kurama interrupted. "That's what you shall call him."
"Why?" The Koukonki asked, scratching one of his horns in confusion.
"Because if you don't, I'll kill you." Kurama threatened calmly, pulling his rose from his hair and thrusting it out into his Rose Whip. The best weapon he had found in the Ningenkai. Not to say there weren't others, but he thought the rose was the best. A beautiful flower, but covered with thorns. Perfect.
"Eh..." Gouki eyed the whip nervously, remembering his earlier decision about wanting to live. "I'll see you two next week... Hiei-sama... Youko-sama..." He bowed and zipped away.
Once he was out of hearing range, Hiei turned to Kurama with a demonic glint in his eyes. Which was only logical, seeing as he was a demon.
"I WANT SWEET-SNOW" He bellowed.
Kurama groaned and began walking home.
"SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET-SNOWWWWWWWW!" Hiei screached, tugging on his school uniform and being dragged along. Just Kurama's luck, his shirt ripped.
Great, now he had to go and steal a new one. And the protection on those pink school uniforms was intense! Stupid Fire-Youkai. Kurama continued walking, highly mindful to staying in the shadows, for you never knew when the horde of rabid females might attack. They were scary.
And all the while Kurama walked, Hiei continued to scream for his precious sweet-snow. It was going to be a long week.
===
(1) Um, sorry about the horrible pun. It came out on accident.
Kurama: why did you have to bring sweet-snow into this? *falls to knees in mental anguish*
Hiei: I WANT SWEET-SNOW!
Kurama: WHY ME?! What did I do in a past life to deserve this?
Reviews are gold, make me rich!
Choices for next time:
1) They (Hiei, Kurama and Gouki) steal the artifacts.
2) Another meeting in which Kurama scares Gouki ****less.
3) HELLO YUSUKE!
.