Same warnings and disclaimers from last time apply.
++
Kurama, in his silver youko aspect, waited for her just beyond consciousness. He lifted his head slightly, regarding her with his deep golden eyes, expression serious, but not cold. Yukina hadn't forgotten that demons, especially ones as powerful as Kurama and Hiei, were adept at communicating through dreams. The aforementioned Reikai Tantei members also happened to be telepathic, but their current states probably inhibited such means.
"At least I can talk to you this way," he said with a heavy sigh, confirming Yukina's suspicions on being unable to speak telepathically. He ran a hand through his long silver hair, sighing again. "Hello, Yukina. I sincerely apologize for putting you through this…and were Yusuke not completely out cold, he would be here as well."
Yukina nodded. "It's all right, Kurama-san. You weren't expecting this to happen."
"No, I wasn't, especially to such a state as I'm in. If it hadn't been for Nadiel and Lis, I would most likely be a child like Yusuke and the others."
She frowned, giving him a suspicious look. "Nadiel and Lis?"
"As Botan already told you, it's a long story. And I'm sure it'll get longer, depending on the luck she and Koenma-sama are having with Kuwabara and Hiei. Hopefully Koenma-sama is getting his just rewards for putting us on such an assignment."
"Is there anything I can do to help out, Kurama-san? I can't help but feel kind of useless. I mean, you and Yusuke are so much older than me, and I don't want to offend either of you by acting like your babysitter…" she trailed off, an embarrassed flush creeping across her cheeks. Here she was, little Yukina, talking it up with the infamous and dangerously handsome Youko Kurama, the selfsame fox who was practically doing backflips for a dish of strawberry ice cream not too long ago.
He smiled sincerely. "What you're doing for us is plenty helpful. I think that for now, there's little else you can do for us. Just continue doing what you have been, and when Botan and Koenma-sama arrive tomorrow, we'll see what happens."
"All right, Kurama-san."
The handsome youko kissed her forehead. "You know, Hiei is very proud of the wonderful young woman you're becoming, Yukina. If he could see you now, I think he'd be quite pleased."
"Thank you, Kurama-san. And at least there's one good thing about all of this baby stuff…at least Genkai is in Kyoto, so she can't make fun of you."
"Yusuke is very grateful for that. Good night, Yukina. Get some sleep, I have a feeling that one of us will be waking you up bright and early tomorrow."
++
Meanwhile, in the Reikai, George was in hysterics. He came bolting into the Great Koenma's office, bellowing at the top of his ogre lungs, the hem of his tiger-striped loincloth still smoldering a little. Koenma, hard at work pushing papers, wrinkled his nose.
"Aw jeez, George, I thought I made this clear! There's a no smoking policy in here!"
The ogre licked his fingers and put out the small fire that had re-ignited where the fabric was smoking. "Koenma-sama, can't you do something about Hiei?!"
"What do you want me to do? I very well can't leave the office, I've got too much work and besides all that, I've got to find the freaking antidote before more of my Reikai Tantei units end up like this," the high-strung toddler complained.
George's eyes rolled back. "But Sir, he's a nightmare! He's already lit the drapes on fire, and he managed to stab two other ogres with a pair of Safety Scissors! Safety Scissors!"
"Well whose fault is that? You know kids shouldn't play with scissors. As long as none of you idiots try and mess with the bandages covering his dragon, you should be all set."
Another ogre came flying into the office, holding a squirming toddler in black out at arms' length.
"Koenma-sama, this little Jaganshi brat won't stay put! He's disrupting everything! Three months' worth of paperwork that we just finished getting in order is now a shredded mess! Begging your pardon, but isn't this kid your responsibility?"
The irate half-koorime managed to lean over and sink his tiny fangs into the ogre's arm. He howled in pain and dropped him. Koenma vaulted over the desk, changing into his teenaged form and catching him before he hit the ground. Because chances were, had Hiei taken that nosedive, the office would've suddenly become hotter than a Hibachi on the Fourth of July.
"All right, that's it!" Koenma shouted. "I'll take him to Genkai's temple and leave him with Yukina. We're supposed to see her in the morning anyways, so why not stop by a little early?"
The two ogres nodded. "Sounds like an excellent plan, Koenma-sama."
The brunette young man sighed. "Why did she have to give me Hiei? I wanted Kurama. He might be a little hyperactive, but he's well-mannered, at least."
++
And in the Reikai ferry-girls' bunks, the other pilots were having the time of their lives playing with young Kuwabara. Botan had gratefully tossed him off to the other half-dozen girls, who were just as eager to take him. Of course, Kuwabara was sitting smugly among the lot of them, looking like the cat who was accidentally locked in an aviary.
"You best watch yourselves," Botan warned them. "He thinks himself to be quite the lady-killer."
One of the girls, Yuri, laughed. "Him? Botan, he looks like he could hardly kill a piece of cereal!"
The blue-haired young woman shook her head. "That's because he doesn't dare make a move on any of you. Kuwabara here happens to be the boyfriend of Jaganshi Hiei's sister Yukina. And Hiei has made it explicitly clear that if Kuwabara makes his sister cry, he'd 'cut the balls off that damn ningen,' as he so eloquently put it."
"Stupid Hiei," Kuwabara added, scrunching up his face.
There was a light tap on the door. "Botan?"
She jumped to her feet, all of the girls taking on horror-stricken faces. Hisses of, 'oh shit, it's the boss' reverberated through the bunkhouse. Botan swung the door open, revealing her superior in his teenage form, trying very hard to hold onto a kicking fire demon.
"Koenma-sama…to what do I owe this pleasure?" she asked, slapping on a perfectly fake grin.
"I can't stand another minute with Hiei, so I'm taking him to Yukina."
"But Koenma-sama, she already has Yusuke and Kurama to watch out for. You can't possibly throw Hiei at her as well!" Botan protested.
"I can and I will. He may be invaluable to the team, but he's a pain in my ass! He's completely wrecked a good majority of the place, and none of the ogres want anything to do with him. I hate to do this to Yukina, but if I don't get rid of him, I'll never get any work done, and if I don't get any work done, my dad will kill me. And I can't leave him with you and Kuwabara, because…"
Kuwabara took one look at Hiei and started screaming at the top of his lungs.
"They hate each other," Botan finished. "All right. But she's not going to be happy about this."
++
Yukina did not appreciate having to be woken out of a sound sleep. And it wasn't even a gentle nudge awake, either. It was Koenma throwing Hiei onto her bed, sputtering an apology (half of which she didn't even hear) and running off again. It wasn't until Hiei had started shrieking that she jolted awake.
"YOU'RE ALL GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" she cried in frustration as Hiei's wailing in turn caused Yusuke to start bellowing in the next room. And, not to be outdone, Kurama poked his head out from the nest of blankets he'd burrowed into and began a warbling howl as well. At least there were no neighbors around to complain about the noise.
"Now cut that out, Hiei!" she demanded sharply. The half-koorime glared at her from under his white bandana, which was far too big for him and constantly fell over one eye…and it wasn't his Jagan, either. Yukina growled in frustration, getting up to check on Yusuke.
The Reikai Tantei stopped his furious yelling as soon as she stepped in the doorway. She sighed, picking him up out of the laundry basket and brought him into her own room.
"Dumb Hiei. 'S too early," he muttered, snuggling against Yukina.
"I agree. And when you get back to normal, you can do me the honor of threatening Koenma-sama with your Rei Gun for dumping him on me. It's three in the morning, for the love of the gods, and I'm too young to be dealing with this sort of mess."
The bedroom had exploded into a small-scale pandemonium as Yukina walked through the doorway. Hiei was running around on the bed, trying very hard to stomp on a lump snaking its way around under the covers. Fangs bared and growling, Hiei was getting very frustrated at the fact that the squeaking lump refused to stay put and be properly squished.
"Hiei, stop!" his sister demanded. "You're going to crush Kurama!"
Hiei paused mid-stomp. He seemed so startled by this…either his sister's commanding tone of voice or the fact that he almost squashed his best friend and potential lover…that he promptly fell over. Kurama let out a terrified squeal and bolted from the covers, streaking out of the room in a flash of silver.
"Thank you very much, 'nii-chan. I really appreciate the animosity you've managed to generate in less than five minutes."
Now, the small portion of Hiei's brain that was still functioning at full capacity realized damn well that he'd just pissed off his sister, his sweet, gentle, loving sister, and absolutely petrified the one person he trusted above anyone else. That same small portion felt miserable about doing so. But the rest of his mind, the part that wasn't working with a full deck, didn't seem to care that much. Yukina put Yusuke down on the bed and exchanged him for the growling youkai, pursing her lips moodily.
"Come on, you need to apologize to Kurama-san before he hates you for the rest of his life…and from what we both know about a youko, that's a very long time," she sighed, padding into the hallway. Hiei tried to bite her, but Yukina's eyes flashed warningly, the air in the corridor becoming suddenly much colder. Her brother grumbled and gave up.
There was no sign of the little kitsune so far, so wherever he was, he'd hidden himself well. But in his haste to get away from Hiei, he'd run straight through a rice-paper screen, tearing the flimsy cover in one of the screen squares. Yukina pushed the door to Genkai's training dojo open, light creating a broad shaft that illumined the rack of wooden practice swords. A quaking bundle of silver was trying desperately not to be seen behind them.
"Ha, so there you are!" Yukina cried triumphantly. "Come on out, I promise Hiei will behave now. Come on, Kurama-san. It's all right now."
The tiny youko didn't move an inch, letting out a warbling whimper of utter fear. The black-clad youkai infant's severe expression softened.
"Fox?" he called softly, sounding shamed.
Kurama peeked out from the swords, ducking back behind them.
"Fox," Hiei repeated, this time more insistently. "C'mon, fox."
Yukina set Hiei down, nudging him towards the rack. Hiei stumbled, glaring over his shoulder at her before toddling towards the shuddering kit. For a moment, his former maturity and intelligence flashed across his young features as he flexed bandaged fingers in Kurama's general direction.
"Sorry, Kurama," he mumbled. "Love you."
He stumbled out slowly, golden eyes peering at him distrustfully. Hiei looked like he would genuinely burst into tears, simply standing there on wavering feet, waiting to see if he'd gained back his best friend's trust. Kurama whimpered again.
"Love you, silly fox."
The little kitsune pounced, knocking Hiei to the ground and nuzzling him, practically purring. Yukina sighed, thankful that yet another crisis had been averted for the time being. She shepherded her charges back into the bedroom, where Yusuke was out cold once again, and they all fell into a deep and dreamless sleep for the remaining few hours before it would be time to get back up again.
++
TO BE CONTINUED…