A/N: Hello everybody! Just another warning: the next few chapters will be torture for Kurama fans. I'm sorry, but he's the only one that I could use as the victim. Don't get me wrong, I love Kurama (I practically cried when he was fighting Team Masho) He's going to suffer from a minor lapse in intelligence and reason. I'll try to keep him as in character as I can. THANX 4 ALL THE POSITIVE REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: This is General Monty here, leader of the monties and head minion of DarkMoonGoddess, also future Queeness of the Universe. I have a proclamation from her majesty: She does not own Yu Yu Hakusho! When her plans to take over the universe finally succeed, THEN she will own Yu Yu Hakusho! *hears snickers from the audience* She does not own it now, or Hiei, or Kurama! If you attempt to sue, her army of monties and assassins will come after you! J/k!
Random Monty: GET ON WITH THE FIC!!!!
Random Monty2: The character, Kai, and the plot of this fic, and all events that happen in it, are the sole properties of DarkMoonGoddess! Do not make her angry! *friends come in to verify this*
~*~*~*~ CHAPTER 3~*~*~*~
"Come on, Kai, it'll be fun!" Boton said enthusiastically as she shifted through endless dresses.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Kai responded half-heartedly, picking up random objects and inspecting them. "Who are you going with?"
"Nobody, really," Boton answered. "You?"
"Same."
Giggling, Boton asked, "What about Kurama?"
Kai growled. "How many times do I have to tell you? There is nothing like that between me and Kurama. We're just friends!" she protested.
"Yeah right!"
"Think what you want." It was true. Boton was constantly asking her about Kurama, and the answer was always the same. Kurama was attractive, certainly, (and being a she-demon Kai had no problems admitting this to herself) but she only wanted friendship.
"And what about Hiei?" Shizuru asked slyly, sneaking up behind them.
Kai wasn't fazed. "Same thing." Boton and Shizuru looked at her strangely then let the matter drop.
This statement wasn't exactly true. Kai reluctantly conceded, only to herself, that she had a *little* crush on the short fire youkai. However, she was convinced it was a brief infatuation, nothing more, even though he did have the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen on a demon.
Kai first realized this important bit of information about herself last Friday when she had tackled him for teasing her about the ice cream incident. She made a mental note to herself to avoid all physical contact after that. She didn't want to go thinking those thoughts again.
"Is she okay?" Keiko whispered uncertainly to Boton.
"I guess so; she just spaced out," Boton answered. "Did Yusuke ask you yet?"
"No, but I'm going with him anyway."
"Oh."
"What about you, Shizuru?'
"I'm not going."
They moved on, leaving Kai to herself. She had a vague idea of what she was looking for, so she set out to find it as quickly as she could. After about another half an hour, she found it. Muttering about absurd ningen prices, Kai left the store to find the other girls.
Two weeks passed fairly fast, with the humans teaching the non-human apparitions the art of cosmetics.
The afternoon of the party, the only sound coming from Kurama's room what the scraping of a knife being whetted against a stone and a few low voices.
"They're all treating this like a game," Kai was saying. "Not that that's entirely a bad thing, but we have to be prepared. As far as I'm concerned, this is a mission like all the others."
"That's right," Kurama said. Hiei nodded silent agreement.
"This idea was a very good one, Kurama," Kai said, finishing the last blade and testing it with her thumb. She gave a satisfied smile when it drew a thin trickle of blood. "I was wondering if we were going to be armed. You obviously won't be bothered, but Hiei and I can't exactly hide a katana."
"Hn," from Hiei.
"I'll go give these to the others, then." Kai walked out the door.
"Oooh, what are you doing, Kai? You only have an hour and you still aren't dressed!" Boton exclaimed.
"What are those for?" Keiko asked cautiously, looking at the knives in Kai's hand.
"Have any of you held one of these before?"
Silent shakes responded.
"Then these won't be much help if you get in trouble, but they're something."
Kai distributed the paper-thin blades out among the girls who were attending the party that night. Keiko, Boton, Yukina, and herself. She paused in front of Yukina. "I know you don't want to use this, and I hope you won't have to, but take it anyway." In the short time that she had known her, Kai had taken a genuine liking to Yukina, Hiei's younger sister, who disliked hurting anything.
"Alright girls, you can have fun, but remember, this is a mission, so any information will be useful."
"But how do we get information?" Keiko asked doubtfully.
"Any way you want. But, use your assets if you have to, all of them."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Flirting! You know, a few questions placed carefully here and there, appear interested, and, with any luck, they will be spilling secrets like there's no tomorrow."
The other girls looked scandalized.
"If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to. Eavesdropping is another good idea. Have fun, but remember, we're on a mission!"
A/N: Bear with me; I have to describe clothes now!
Kai was dressed in a more American variant of the traditional Japanese kimono, a beautiful crimson color that *happened* to match Hiei's eyes very well. It was tight, with short sleeves and a high neck. She wore elbow length black gloves to hide the few scars on her lower arms, which would look unladylike and raise a few uncomfortable questions. Her hair was down, and she had dyed it dark blond, as her natural hair color was strange for humans. She had even managed to cover up the black spiked tips.
Kai mastered the art of cosmetics very quickly (nearly everyone suspected her of prior experience) and manipulated blue eyeliner and bronze shadow to make her now completely green eyes more alluring. The gold and pink tinge on her normally pale lips went well with her outfit without making her look blatant. All in all, she looked like a very pretty, very normal, young human.
Yukina was wearing a white kimono with a light blue sash (?). Her pretty mint hair was down and floated in wisps across her face. Hiei felt compelled to punch Kuwabara when he saw the way he was looking at his sister, but Kurama and Kai restrained him.
Keiko was wearing an attractive light blue color with a shorter skirt than the other girls were. Yusuke was very pleased to say that she was his date.
A/N: I'm kinda indifferent to Keiko, don't really like her, don't really hate her, so that's why I don't spend a lot of time on her.
Boton didn't vary from her traditional blue and pink kimono, but she had used some blue eyeshadow and pulled her hair (which was now dyed black) into an elegant bun.
The guys were all wearing black tuxedos and looked very fine indeed. (Kuwabara is excluded. There is nothing anyone can do for him. He will always be ugly and Hiei and Kurama will always be extremely good looking). Hiei looked disgruntled and it was obvious that Kurama was forced to…persuade him to dress up. They were ready to go.
Instead of being greeted at the door, the group slipped in the back way, and began mingling with the human crowd. Kai slipped up to the first likely looking subject, a young man who did not appear at all sure of himself.
"Hey," she said softly.
He looked up, startled and nervous. "H-Hey," he stammered.
"Enjoying the party?" she asked, keeping her voice soft, and raising it an octave higher than usual.
"Yes, thank you. And you?" He asked, recovering somewhat.
"Yes, very much. So tell me about yourself."
Keiko and Yusuke revolved slowly on the dance floor, discreetly spying on the other couples there.
Kuwabara nervously approached Yukina to ask her to dance. When she accepted, Hiei had to be restrained by Kurama, who managed to disentangle himself from the group of drooling girls.
"We're not getting anywhere," Hiei hissed viciously to Kurama, who had to agree.
"Talk to as many people as you can," Kurama suggested.
"Hn."
A few hours passed uneventfully, Yukina left, saying she was tired. Kai decided to take a break from questioning people and walk outside.
Kai spotted Hiei standing off to one side, halfway hidden by the bushes. She casually walked over to him. "Found out anything?" she asked in a low voice.
"I found that ningen girls are empty-headed and like spiky black hair," he said, annoyed. "I don't know how Kurama stands it."
Kai snickered, trying to muffle the sound. "I'm sure they're not all like that," she said, not sounding at all sure. "I found a whole lot of b/s about the stock market and how these people are planning to make their fortune with it."
"But there is a demon here."
"You feel it too.'
"Hai."
"I can't locate the source of the energy signal though," she said, fingering the edge of the smooth knife blade.
"Where's that baka when you need him?"
Kai, of course, knew exactly who Hiei was talking about. "I can guess."
They found Kuwabara sitting in the middle of a circle of teenage girls, telling them a heroic story of how he saved a lot of people from a terrible death. The girls all appeared very impressed. "Ooh, but how did you do it?"
"Have they no shame?" Kai asked through her teeth.
Hiei simply shrugged.
They hauled him away from the crowd. "Time to go!" Kai whispered.
"What's up?"
Kai tool a deep breath patiently. She could see why Hiei was always annoyed with Kuwabara. "We are here looking for a demon. We think we can sense him here, but we do not know where. Or did you forget we were on a mission and not think to use your spirit awareness to locate him?"
Kuwabara looked a little sheepish but recovered. "Uh, of course I know there's a demon here! Huh, you'd have to be pretty stupid not to know."
"Where is he?" Hiei asked.
"Uh, he's uh, somewhere over there," Kuwabara said, gesturing vaguely over to where every single other person attending the party was standing.
Neither Hiei nor Kai was gifted with an extraordinary amount of patience, and what little they possessed was running out fast.
"Grrrrrrrrr! Then go find Yusuke and tell him to look to!"
"Huh, another shrimp with a temper. Just what I need," Kuwabara muttered as he walked away.
"How do you think Kurama's fairing?"
~*~
A pair of ice-blue eyes was fixed on one figure standing alone out on the veranda. That had to be him. There was no mistaking that red hair and those brilliant green eyes. She gathered her courage and walked over to him.
"Hello."
"Hello," he replied automatically. He did a double take. Her waist length hair was a thick, silky black that was almost blue. Her creamy white skin seemed to glow with moonlight. She had full, red lips and a pink tinge in her cheeks that gave the suggestion of always faintly blushing. Her large blue eyes sparkled like sapphires.
She was tall; her eyes were level with Kurama's. She was shapely and had a fine figure. She wore a simple black dress that was incredibly flattering.
"What's your name?" Kurama asked.
"Lantur. Yours?" Even her voice was enchanting.
"K-er-Shuuichi." Why had he almost said Kurama? He never said it before…that name just seemed more natural around her…
"Pleasure." Unlike everyone else here, she seemed genuinely pleased. "Shuuichi, I mean to be serious. I feel a strange presence around you. Am I correct in assuming that you are not human?"
"You have excellent spirit awareness," Kurama said, hiding his surprise. "You are correct: My right name is Kurama; I am a kitsune demon." Whether or not he should have said that he didn't know, and for once, he didn't care. "Pardon me, but I don't believe you are human either."
Lantur smiled a dazzling smile. "You're very intelligent, Kurama. Few could have guessed that. I too am a kitsune demon."
"Is Lantur your true name?"
She smiled again, softer this time. "It is. Kurama, can I trust you?"
Kurama hesitated, then replied, "Yes."
"Then I need to talk to you. Privately." She gently took his arm and led him away down to a more secluded place.
~ * ~ * ~
Hiei and Kai walked onto the veranda just in time to see Kurama disappear down the path with a strange girl. He didn't seem to be resisting, which was highly unusual to say the least.
"Now what do you suppose that's all about?" Kai asked Hiei.
He shrugged in response. "Kurama usually avoids girls," he said. Kai also shrugged, and they moved on.
~ * ~ * ~
Elsewhere, Yusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara (who had joined them), weren't having much better luck. Everyone they talked to seem to be an ordinary human, and no one looked remotely like a demon.
"But demons may be able to look like whatever they want. Remember Rando," Yusuke reminded them.
"Who?" Keiko inquired.
"Nobody," Yusuke said quickly.
Out of boredom, Yusuke was more than a little tempted by the offerings of champagne that the passed. Keiko stopped him with the death glare that was her specialty, angrily reminding him that he was underage.
Yusuke and Kuwabara scowled when they saw Hiei and Kai approaching, with crystal wine glasses filled with amber liquid.
"Hey, why do they get some," Kuwabara whined.
"We should be allowed too!" Yusuke said. "After all, I'm the team leader!"
"We're not underage," Kai said. "And this stuff doesn't affect demons the way it does you humans."
"Where is that baka kitsune?" They all looked around. Kurama was nowhere in sight.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Kurama, for the first time in his incredibly long life, felt himself enchanted by the dark beauty of the kitsune Lantur. He was increasingly aware of her gentle touch in his hand, and the way her perfect hips occasionally brushed against his body.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked, as if in a dream.
"This." Suddenly she was passionately kissing him, her warm body pressing against his. Kurama gave in to the inevitable and took her into his arms, her perfect shape supple and willing. Reluctantly he broke away.
"Why…"
"I need your help," she whispered. "I knew I could trust you."
"But…"
She pressed a finger to his lips. "Sometimes you have to trust impulses."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
DMG: DID I JUST WRITE THAT?!?!?! I have definitely been reading too many Piers Anthony books… That last scene was short, I know, but it's my first ever love scene!!!! *halfhearted cheers* PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
