For Love of a "Pet"
Chapter Eight
"Kurama's where?" Kuwabara frowned as he sat down in a chair at Yusuke's apartment. Hiei and Yusuke were both there, and the fire demon had just given his report.
Hiei rolled his eyes. "I don't have time to deal with your stupidity. Kurama's at a girl's house recuperating."
"Recuperating. Right." Yusuke smirked. "I'm sure that's what he's doing."
"He's in fox form, so yes, he is doing exactly that," the koorime stated. "She doesn't know he's a demon."
"Fox form?" the carrot-top repeated, looking completely confused. "He has a fox form?"
'Idiot.' Hiei mentally groaned. He hated dealing with the stupid human. "That question does not deserve an answer," he retorted coolly.
"Hey! It was a good question!" the bearer of the spirit sword protested.
Yusuke shook his head. "Why would Hiei say Kurama is in fox form if he doesn't have a fox form?"
"Ah..." Kuwabara looked completely dumbfounded, emphasis on the dumb.
"Just when I think you can't become any more pathetic..." Snorting, Hiei began to walk off, heading towards the front door.
"Hey! Where are you going? You can't just walk away from me!" the tall human shouted.
"I can walk away from you, and where I go is none of your business," the fire demon retorted. "I have matters to attend to." He glared at Kuwabara, a ghost of a smile on his face. Without another word, he ran off.
Yusuke blinked, a little surprised. "He looked almost happy." He turned to glance at the carrot-top. "Kuwabara?"
"Yeah? What is it?" Kuwabara stood up.
"Okay, you're still alive, so he's not happy about killing you," the raven-haired spirit detective commented. "And you're at the top of his hit list, so I doubt he killed anyone else."
"What are you hinting at, Urameshi?" he demanded to know.
"Simple. Something's up with Hiei."
Hiei arrived at the restaurant ten minutes before five. The building was huge, easily able to hold a crowd of 500. A few people sat at a bar along one wall, and the other few hundred humans and demons filled the tables. Waiters and waitresses bustled around the room, trying to keep up with their duties. Quite a few failed. Around twenty people were standing around, waiting to be seated. Cassie was nowhere in sight.
Rolling his red eyes skyward, he made his way over to the hostess's stand. He quickly found out that there would be a two-hour wait for a table. Since he did not feel patient, he opted for sitting at the bar.
A the fire demon headed towards the bar, a girl dressed all in black and wearing black make-up stopped him. Her black hair just barely brushed her shoulders, hanging straight and limp, and her brown eyes gazed down at him.
"Hey, you can join me at my table if you want," she offered. "People like us have to stick together after all."
Hiei gave her a look that would have frozen a flame. 'Annoying human. I am nothing like her. We only dress in the same color. That is the only similarity.'
The girl seemed to understand the message, because she nodded and walked away.
He mentally shrugged and went to sit at the bar where he decided to patiently wait for Cassie.
Cassie walked into the restaurant at five exactly, dressed in a pair of leather sandals, black jeans mini shorts, and a emerald green tank-top. She looked around for Hiei, but she couldn't spot him anywhere. She was unable to see over so many heads. 'I hate being short sometimes.' Gently chewing on her bottom lip, she continued to search for him with her eyes. She was forced to manually search for him, because she couldn't sense him. There were too many other demons in the room for her to pick out Hiei.
Looking around the room, she saw families, couples, and groups of guys and girls, both mixed and not. Giving a soft sigh, she frowned at her surroundings. 'Where is he? Could he have stood me up? He'd better not have.' She crossed her arms over her chest and continued to survey the room.
A man walked up to her, dressed in a pair of plain blue jeans, a white shirt, and tennis shoes. His dark blond hair was cropped short, leaving his clean face open for inspection. If she had been looking for a stranger to talk to, she would have approached him; however, she was looking for Hiei, her date.
"Do you have a map?" he asked, tone flirtatious. "Because I just got lost in your eyes."
"No." Cassie shook her head. "Sorry, but I guess you'll just have to stay lost." She turned away, only to feel someone tap her on the shoulder. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she turned back around. "Yes?" she asked him.
"Could I have your number?" the blonde man wanted to know.
"No." She briefly glared at him before once again spinning around. Someone touched her shoulder again, and she glanced over her shoulder to see the same guy. "Yes?" She sounded irritated.
"Would you like to sit at my table? We could get to know each other better," he offered.
Cassie shook her head. "No," she told him, hoping that third time would be the charm and he would leave her alone. Without waiting for him to say something else, she took a few steps away from him.
When someone tapped her shoulder once again, she turned around and prepared herself to yell at the idiot who couldn't seem to understand the simple two-letter word.
"Dammit. Now see here..." Cassie drifted off when she saw who had touched her. It was a man dressed all in black with black hair and red eyes. She smiled. "Oh, it's you Hiei. I thought it was someone else."
"Obviously," Hiei replied dryly. He had seen the guy bothering her, and he hadn't liked it; however, he was pleased that she had given the guy the cold shoulder. She was a loyal person, which was a good thing, especially in his book. "We have seats at the bar."
"Oh, okay." She nodded her head in understanding. "I completely forgot how busy this place is, so I didn't make reservations. Sorry about that."
He shrugged. "It's not important." With that said, he led her over to where he had been sitting. Cassie sat down on an empty barstool next to him.
Moments later, they had both placed their orders and had begun talking. They discussed whatever came to mind, and she even told him a little about her life.
"You already know I work for MARS," she stated. "But I don't know what you do." Throughout their discussion, she had noticed that Hiei tended to be a little closed-mouthed about his life.
"I work for Koenma," Hiei told her, voice neutral.
Cassie about choked on the water she had been sipping. "Wow." She blinked a few times. 'That was unexpected. I never thought he would work for that guy.'
"What exactly do you do for... MARS?" he inquired, changing the subject a little.
"I tour zoos and such, checking to make sure the animals are happy and healthy." She shrugged. "I also design clothes as a side job."
Hiei raised an eyebrow at that. 'She's a clothes designer? How strange. I don't know what I expected her to say, but that wasn't it.'
They received their food at that moment, so their conversation slowed a little. The food was excellent, and they both tried each other's dishes. Then, they ordered dessert.
"So, Hiei, I remember you having a sword the first time we met," Cassie began to say. "How often do you practice with that thing?"
'She automatically assumes that I know how to use it. Good. She's definitely intelligent. Most people would have asked if I could use it,' Hiei thought. "At least once a day," he answered. "Except for lately."
"Could you teach me how to use one? I've never had the chance to learn." She smiled at him.
"I don't-" He cut himself off when a man walked up and tapped Cassie on the shoulder.
Cassie glared up at the male for interrupting their conversation. "Yes?"
The man pushed some of his earlobe-length bangs out of his brown eyes. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind giving me your name and number. I'd love to get to know you better."
"No."
"Would you rather skip that and just go see a movie with me?" the brown-eyed male asked.
"Can't you see I'm talking to a guy? Doesn't that give you a hint that I'm on a date?" she retorted while Hiei growled. "Do I have to kiss him or something to get that point across?!" She briefly rolled her eyes, and before either of the men could say anything, she pulled Hiei into a quick but deep kiss. When she broke away from the kiss, she glared at the man. "There. Do you understand my situation now?"
His eyes became wide as he held up his hands in an innocent gesture. "Sorry. Sorry. I'm going." Being true to his word, he left.
The fire demon studied Cassie for a moment. "I think you can do better," he stated.
"Huh?" She blinked a few times.
"The kiss," he answered. "It wasn't as good as the last one."
Cassie briefly smiled. "Well then, I'll just have to try again." She leaned over and pressed her lips to his, quickly opening her mouth to allow his tongue to enter. Fire spread through her body as their tongues fought for dominance, and she couldn't help but give Hiei a sensual smile when he pulled away.
"Better?" she asked.
He nodded his head. "Yes."
A man tapped Hiei on the shoulder. "Onsh you're done witsh her, can I have a go?" a drunk man asked, his words slurring.
Cassie waited no time to slap the man. "Get a life."
"That would be a no," Hiei stated, a smirk on his face. 'The girl has spirit and a willingness to protect herself. She doesn't ask me to do something for her; she does it herself. I respect her for that.'
She sighed as she caught the bartender shaking his head out of the corner of her eye. "How about we eat our dessert and then get out of here?" she inquired as their ice-cream arrived.
"Sure." He took a bite of his dessert and instantly knew that Cassie had been telling the truth. Ye Olde San Francisco did have the best ice-cream.
"I'm off Tuesday, so if you want to get together again on that day, we can," Cassie informed her date as she began eating her chocolate sundae.
He considered the question for a moment. "Where and when?" was all he had to ask.
"How about at my house a little after noon? I was thinking of us going on a walk." She quickly finished off her ice-cream.
Hiei demolished his dessert. "I'll be there."
CotA: I am really sorry for taking so long to update, and I know that this chapter is shorter than usual. It's late at night, I'm tired, and I want to get some sleep. I typed up most of this near midnight, so you people better be happy. *yawns* I'm going back to bed now. The review responses are below.
Rei Akita: Geez, you're demanding. I'm trying to get this chappies out as fast as I can. Really I am.
Dark_angel2288: Intereting twist? What was?
sam: Oh, okay. I wasn't sure who you were referring to. I do know that Cassie and Hiei move a little fast, but hey. It's not as bad as some relationships I've seen in real life.
Kittykat89: Thanks
passerby: I will update asap.
Yanou: I understand moving. it's hectic. *sighs* I hate having to move.
PWA: Yeah, two sentences. Not much, huh?
Rose Jade: Ummm... I think this answered your question about other YYH characters being in this.
Bijin-chan: Yes, that does seem to be the way with dreams... especially his.
Luraia Soul: I am having fun writing this.
