Chapter 39

Kuwabara's New Crush

Riku slowly opened his eyes as the sun shined through his window. He was about to go back to sleep when a loud crash echoed through the house. The sounds of Hiei and Nami going at it again could be heard. Riku sighed and got out of bed. This is gonna be a long day he thought. He got dressed and went to see what it was about this time.

He entered the living room and saw Hiei and Nami glaring at each other. You could see sparks flying between them. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sitting nervously on the couch. Riku decided to just stay at the living room entrance.

"Listen fire shrimp, I'm using the tub first, got it?" Nami growled. "Oh no, the tub's mine" Hiei growled back. "You two don't need us so we'll just be leaving" Yusuke said. He and Kuwabara started to get up. "SIT DOWN" Nami yelled. "Yes ma'am" they both said as they hurriedly sat back on the couch.

"Oh Riku" Yukina said as she walked up to Riku. "Yes my love" he said as he turned around. "Why don't we start where we left off yesterday" she said as she walked into his room. He followed her in.

"I'm going first" Nami roared. "No I am" Hiei roared back. "I'll fight you for it" she said. "Your on" Hiei replied. They both walked out of the house.

"Phew" Yusuke said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Nami is beyond scary when she's mad" Kuwabara said. "Though not as scary as Keiko" Yusuke said. Right when he said that a hand slammed into his face. He turned around rubbing his check and saw Keiko glaring at him. "How dare you Yusuke" she said as she stomped to the kitchen. "Wait up Keiko" Yusuke said.

"Good morning everyone" Botan said cheerfully. She stopped in front of Riku's door when she heard moaning. She let out and eep when two arms wrapped around her waist. "Good morning" Kurama said huskily. She turned around and gave him a good morning kiss. "Sleep well?" she asked. "Not really" he replied. "Why's that?" "Cause Hiei kept mumbling Nami's name in his sleep" he said. "Nami was mumbling about Hiei in her sleep" she replied.

At that moment Nami walked into the room. "I'll be taking a bath and no one better disturb me" she said as she headed for the bathroom. Hiei walked in with a few bruises and cuts on his face. "Hiei, you're a mess" Kurama said. "Hn" Hiei replied. "Let's check those wounds" Kurama said. "I'll get Yukina to heal them" Botan said. She walked to Riku's door and knocked. "We need Yukina" she said. The door swung open and a glaring Riku stood there. He wasn't wearing a shirt. "Yukina will be unavailable for the next thirty minutes" he said before slamming the door. Botan just stood there blushing madly.

Kurama shook his head and led Hiei to their room. He pulled a first aid kit from his bag and went to work. Hiei winced as Kurama cleaned the cuts. "Hiei, you mind answering me something?" Kurama asked. "Hn" Hiei replied. "I'll take that as a go ahead. Why were you mumbling Nami's name in your sleep?" Kurama asked. Hiei's eyes widened a little. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "Don't play dumb with me" Kurama replied. Hiei sighed in defeat. "Alright I was dreaming about Nami" he said. "Was it a Nami torture dream" Kurama asked. "Since when did a torture dream begin with her and me in a hot spring with her wearing nothing but one of those g-string things" Hiei replied. "You mean you dreamed about the two of you…" Hiei nodded. Kurama decided to leave it at that. "Don't you dare tell anyone or I'll say how many times I see you fantasizing about Keiko" Hiei growled. Kurama's eyes widened a little. "And don't get me started on the times I see you moaning my sister's name" Hiei added angrily. Kurama blushed and continued to clean Hiei's wounds. "I never knew you were such a playboy" Hiei said mockingly.

In the girl's room, Nami was getting dressed. "Hey Nami" Maya said from the bed. "What?" said Nami. "Were you dreaming about Hiei last night" she asked. Nami froze. "No" she said. "Oh really. Then why did I hear you saying 'Oh Hiei, I'm at your mercy' in your sleep?" Maya asked. Nami blushed and rushed out the door. "Those two do look cute together" Maya said as she headed for the living room.

A few hours later

The gang was relaxing at the top of the hill that overlooked Riku's village. Hiei and Nami were doing their best to avoid each other by sitting in different trees. Botan, Keiko, Maya, and Yukina were playing the cloud game. Yusuke, Kurama, and Riku had started a game of poker. Rogato was sleeping under a tree. Kuwabara was playing 'Count the Blades of Grass.' "Fifteen, sixteen, hey a caterpillar. Where was I?" he said.

Suddenly the sound of panicking birds filled the air. Riku stood up and looked toward the forest. Dozens of birds were trying to fly away from something. "Looks like trouble" he said. A blur shot out of the forest and slammed into Riku. With a grunt he fell on his back.

He groaned and sat up. He felt someone throw its arms around his neck. "I've missed you so much Riku" a girl's voice said. He opened his eyes and looked at the intruder. On his lap was a girl who looked to be in her mid-teens. She was 5 foot 8 in height. She had waist length silver hair and blue eyes. On the top of her head were two fuzzy ears (Just like Inuyasha's). Sticking out of her pants was a silver bushy tail. She wore a red tank top, a red skirt, and sandals.

"Do I know you?" Riku asked. "I can't believe you forgot me. I've only been away for three years" she replied. Riku's eyes widened. "Crystal?!" he said. "You do remember" she said happily. Riku smiled and returned the hug. "Oh my god" Maya said happily. Crystal looked up. With a squeal she and Maya jumped into each other's arms. "It's been such a drag at home sine you left" Maya said. "I bet" Crystal replied. "Hey there squirt" Rogato said as he ruffled her hair. "I see you haven't changed" she said as she hugged Rogato.

"Uh Riku, who's she?" Yukina asked. "Oh sorry. Guys this is Crystal. Crystal these are my friends Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Nami, Botan, Keiko, Kurama, and my girlfriend Yukina" he said. "You finally got a girl" Crystal said.

"Just who is this Crystal girl" Kurama asked. "I guess you could call her my adopted sister" Riku said. "Adopted sister?" said Botan. "Yep" Crystal said. "I'm lost" Yusuke said. "I'll all happened about five years ago" Riku said.

Flashback

A twelve-year-old Riku quietly walked through the forest. He stayed alert in case of trouble. Where's a good deer when you need one he thought.

The sound off crying reached his ears. He followed the sound. It led him to a clearing. Near the center was a girl around his age. She was lying on the ground and looked pretty beaten up. She had silver hair that had twigs and leaves stuck in it. He saw a tail and knew she was a wolf demon. Riku approached her slowly.

"Are you okay?" he asked. The girl looked up at him and started to back away. "Please, don't hurt me" she said with fear in her voice. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you" Riku said as he kneeled next to her. "What are you doing out here all alone? Shouldn't you be with your pack?" he asked. The girl broke down crying on his chest. "They left me here. All because I was different" she cried.

He looked at her and noticed two ears at the top of her head. Then it hit him. She's half dog demon he thought. Wolf and dog demons were mortal enemies. In North America there was a war between the two for control of the land. For centuries the dogs ruled the land. They demanded that all inhabitants of their kingdoms swear allegiance to them. All demons did except one, the wolf demons. Wolf demons will only take orders from their pack leaders. If you were a pack leader you bow to no one. Most dogs supported the Demon King during his invasion. After the Demon King's defeat the Devil Wolf led a rebellion and most of the dogs were wiped out. The survivors either went into hiding or fled. Since then, the wolves have ruled over North America.

"Shh, stop crying. Your safe now" Riku said. The girl slowly calmed down. "Can I live with you?" she asked. "I'll see what I can do" Riku replied. "Thank you" the girl said. "What's your name" Riku asked. "Crystal" she replied. "I'm Riku. Come on, lets get you cleaned up" he said as he picked her up. He ran toward his village.

He rushed through his village and entered his house. "Riku, you never said anything about bringing company" Hitomi said. "I found her in the woods" Riku replied. "Abandoned huh?" she said. Riku nodded. Hitomi walked over to them and looked at the girl cradled in Riku's arms. "Don't be afraid, you're in safe hands" she said. Crystal gave a weak smile. "Maya" Hitomi called out. A ten-year-old Maya came rushing in. "What is it mom?" she asked. "You mind sharing your room?" she asked. "With who?" Maya said. "Her" Hitomi said pointing to Crystal as Riku set her down on the couch. "Sure mom" Maya said as she walked up to the new comer. "I'm Maya, what's your name?" she asked. "It's Crystal" she replied. "That a lovely name" Hitomi said. "Thanks my mother gave it to me" she said. "Come on" Maya said as she took Crystal's hand and pulled her to her room.

Minutes later they returned. Crystal was cleaned up and wearing a red kimono with a white sash. Kovu and Rogato were now in the room. "So this is Crystal" Kovu said. Crystal bowed her head to him. "You say you found her in the woods bro?" Rogato asked. Riku nodded. "Why would her pack just abandon her?" Maya asked. "It's because I'm half dog" Crystal said. "Well, this pack is more accepting than others. Your welcome to stay" Kovu said. Crystal instantly brightened up. "Really?" she said. Kovu smiled and nodded. "If you want you can be part of our family. Maya needs another girl in the house" he said. This caused Maya to brighten up. "Maya, introduce her to the rest of the pack. Be home in time for dinner" Kovu said as he got up. Maya nodded. "You'll love it here" Maya said as she pulled Crystal out of the house.

"Hold on" Crystal said as she pulled her hand from Maya's grasp. She walked over to Riku and hugged him. "Thank you so much" she said. "Don't mention it" Riku said. Crystal smiled and followed Maya out.

End Flashback

"I've been a part of this pack since. And it's all thanks to Riku" Crystal said. "Why didn't I meet you before?" Yukina asked. "I've been traveling around the world for the past three years" she replied. "You have to tell us about it" Maya said. "There's plenty of time" Crystal said.

This whole time Kuwabara had been staring at her. His heart was beating faster and he was sweating. I think I'm in love he thought. Yusuke noticed the way Kuwabara was staring at her. He elbowed Kurama and Botan and pointed to Kuwabara. "Looks like someone has a new crush" Botan whispered.

"Let's head back to the house. Mom's got a surprise for you" Riku said. They all headed back the house. Kuwabara and Rogato stayed behind. "You can come out of your trance" Rogato said. Kuwabara snapped back to reality. "Sorry" he said blushing. Rogato shook his head and headed for his house. Kuwabara ran to catch up with the others.

When they arrived someone was waiting. "Damien?" Riku said das he walked in. "Been awhile hasn't it" said Damien. "Hello Damien" Crystal said a little nervously. "So your back from your trip" Damien said. She nodded. "What have you been up to" Maya asked. "Well I just got back from my honeymoon" Damien said. Crystal froze. "Your married?" she said. "Yep, I met this nice human when I visited the city" he replied. "Congratulations. I gotta get changed" she said as she headed for Maya's room.

After a few minutes of talking the girls headed for their room. They entered and found Crystal crying on Maya's bed. Maya rushed to her and comforted her. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this but we just couldn't reach you" Maya said. "What's wrong?" Yukina asked. "You see, Crystal's had this huge crush on Damien sine she was thirteen but she was to shy to tell him" Maya replied. The other girls, including Nami, helped to comfort her. They eventually calmed her down enough to eat lunch with them.

Later that night, after dinner

"Man those rolls were delicious" Yusuke said as he patted his stomach. "If only fire pig over there didn't try and hog them" Nami said motioning to Hiei. During dinner, everyone did his or her best to get as many rolls as possible. They were like vultures fighting over meat.

By now Crystal had become friends with each of the girls and the guys, except Hiei. Kuwabara made her laugh a lot. She had snuck out to the hill and sat down. I can't really blame Damien. It's not like he knew how I felt. If only I wasn't so shy she thought.

What she didn't know was that someone had followed her. "Nice view" Kuwabara said from behind her. She turned around and saw him standing with his hands in his pockets and a goofy grin on his face. She smiled at him. "What brings you up here?" she asked. "I thought you might want this" he said. He pulled out on of Hitomi's famous rolls. It was wrapped in plastic. "I saw that you weren't able to get on and saved it for you" he said. "You didn't have to do that for me" she said. "I figured you should have it since you haven't tried one in a long time" he said.  He handed it to her. She took a bit out of it. "Mmm, I forgot how great these are. Thank you so much" she said. Kuwabara smiled at her reaction. "I'm sorry about the Damien thing. I know how it feels" he said. "You do?' she asked. "I feel in love with Yukina the instant I saw her. But by the time I told her how I felt she'd fallen for Riku" he said. "You're right, you do know what I'm going through" she said.

They sat in silence for a while. "So your half dog demon" Kuwabara said. "Yep, and believe it or not, I love cats. Most dogs chase them but I prefer to hug em" she said. Perfect Kuwabara thought. "Well I'd better head back. I have to be up early for Riku's training session" she said. "Riku trains you?" Kuwabara asked. "Uh huh" she said. She ran back to the house.

"You don't waist time do you?" Riku said from a tree. Kuwabara nearly wet his pants. "Don't scare me like that" he said. "Sorry" Riku said as he sat next to him. "How much did you see? "Kuwabara asked nervously. "I planned to comfort her but you seem to have beaten me to it. So I watched from the beginning" Riku replied. Kuwabara looked very nervous. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you for hitting on her. But wait a while. She needs time to get over Damien. It may only take a few days though. She'll be back to her cheerful self in no time" Riku said. "What kind of girl is she?" Kuwabara asked. "She's very determined and loyal to her friends and family. She nearly died saving me from a Dark Moon ambush. She loves animals especially puppies and kittens. She'll love Eikachi. And she's an awesome fighter" Riku said.

"I like her ears" Kuwabara said. "Everyone likes them" Riku replied. "I haven't felt like this since Yukina" "I'm sure Crystal will be happy with a guy like you. Just don't rush it. But just to let you know, you have my approval" Riku said as he stood up. He wind morphed back home.

So that's Kuwabara's girl, a half wolf, half dog demon who's Riku's adopted sister. Next chapter, Riku's new brother is born. Review please.