Catse: I made this chapter to be specifically funny. I hope you like it. I had gotten the idea for it from my brother, whom insisted it would be funny if Hiei went to a mall. Well...this is what I think would happen. Enjoy!
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Disclaimer: YYH isn't mine, although sometimes I get to believing it is... When I'm dreaming.
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Hiei was still dozing in another tree when he watched Sutamina Nohara walk out of Koenma's palace into the garden.
She had a bag slung over her shoulder and she looked a little more cheerful than she had before.
When she noticed Hiei up in the tree, she smiled up at him and stopped below him.
"Hello. Your name is Hiei right?"
"Hn."
"Would you know where Botan is? I was wanting to go to the mall today to...you know...get my mind off of things..."
Hiei didn't reply.
He knew where Botan was...where she usually was in Koenma's office discussing missions and souls and things.
The reason was that he could take her to the human world, and he was debating whether he should tell her Botan's location, or take her himself.
"Hello? You still alive up there?" She asked him sarcastically, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. "I'd like to go today."
"I'll take you." He mumbled, jumping down from the tree.
"You know how to get there." There was a quick nod and a glare, and a moment later, a portal had opened and Hiei had pressed the human girl to the other side.
"Thanks." She replied. "Hey! How about you come with me to the mall? It would be fun right?"
Mall...?
What was a Mall...?
"What's wrong? Don't like malls?" she asked, looking mischievous.
"Hn. I have no business in a mall." Hiei replied, glaring another direction.
"Do you know what a mall is?"
"Hn."
"I thought so. It's a large complex of stores and shops, meant for a shopper's delight. I was wondering if you'd go with me because I don't want to be alone. That and I'm sure you're the only one there to protect me."
Hiei stared at her a moment, as if asking "Why?"
She understood his confusion and answered him back:
"The other two, Kuwabara and Kurama, have school today. It is a Wednsday you know."
She smiled.
She was actually smiling.
Hiei guessed she was trying to appear like she had gotten past her depression, but really she hadn't.
Her grandfather must have meant a lot to her.
"Hn. I will go with you to this mall. But only once." He mumbled, landing next to her.
"Oh really! Thank you!" she acknowledged, hugging him.
Second bodily contact he had had with her, but he didn't let her know that.
Why was it getting to hugs? He hated hugs...or didn't he?
Now he was beginning to confuse himself, and he really didn't like that.
It had freaked the hell out of him the first time when he had hugged her, and he wasn't sure if he liked it when she hugged him back.
Then again, warmth was always good...
Suta led him to the large complex called the mall, chatting the entire time about news, events, dreams, wishes, and who knows what else.
Hiei found himself lost in whatever it was she was talking about.
He didn't understand many of the terms she used, like this cellular phone she said she wanted to get, and this television in which humans were forced to act as other people.
What was the use of a television?
Just sit on the side walk, and watch the humans as they pass.
Isn't that enough human drama for you?
"Ah! There it is! We made it!" she announced happily, pointing to the tall building.
It was at least two stories high, a huge place, with many people going in and out of the large glass doors in the front.
"Come on! This is gonna be fun! I've got some cash that I've been saving for a good trip here, and I figured now was the time to use it!" she grabbed Hiei's hand and dragged him into the mall.
He forced himself not to blush...but he knew he was.
She was holding his hand!
Holding it like they were...like they were buddies or even closer than that!
He would never understand humans.
They went to several clothing stores, in which Hiei couldn't tell what was worn where and why anyone would want to buy such a revealing sort of shirt as the one he noticed on the mannequins in some of the windows.
She constantly searched for t-shirts, jeans, and whatever else caught her fancy.
Then she tried several outfits on, bought a couple, including a hat she continued to wear through the mall.
When she had looked around enough, she offered for her and Hiei to get a bite to eat at the Food Court.
Now that was a mad house!
So many humans, big and small running around with trays of food, sitting in scattered tables, and talking so much that you couldn't hear anything else if you wanted to.
Not even your own thoughts...
Why was the mall so much fun to humans when it seemed such a misery?
"Hey, there's a Dairy Queen! Come on! I'll get you some steak fingers!" and she giggled as she pulled him along to a line.
Steak fingers...?
What the hell was that?
He knew the steak part, but why were they called fingers?
They had ordered and received their food, and Suta had managed to find them a small table in the corner of the Food Court, where they wouldn't be overwhelmed by the constant chatter and movement of people as they went by.
Hiei pulled out one of the steak fingers and looked it over, wondering what kind of meat it was.
"What's up?" Suta asked, dipping hers in gravy and taking a bite where the gravy was.
"What kind of meat is this?" Hiei actually asked!
With out feeling embarrassed or anything.
Funny...it was easy around her...she always seemed to understand...
"I'd expect it's cow." Suta replied, taking a sip of her soft drink.
"Cow? But why are they called fingers? Cows don't have fingers." He replied, dipping the steak in gravy as he had seen her do.
"Because it's made into strips that look like fingers. So it was given the cute name Steak Fingers. Kind of like a Hot Dog. A Hot Dog isn't a dog, nor does it have any in it, but it's just a cute name to make it for noticeable on the market." She answered, taking another bite of her food.
"And this?" Hiei asked, holding a French fry up.
"Oh that, nothing but a French fry. It's a potato that's been sliced up and fried in grease. It's very good, especially with salt and ketchup." She returned, taking a bite from her fries.
Hiei did the same, and when he went to take a drink of the soda, he half- near freaked out.
The stuff bubbled, like a potion he was being tricked into drinking!
"What the hell—!" he hollered, but Suta pulled him back into the chair before he could do anything they would regret.
"Calm down. It's only a coke. They're supposed to bubble like that. It's a trend with drinks these days. Go on, take a sip."
Hiei glared at the drink with suspicion, but she knew more of the world than he did, and so he figured that one little sip couldn't poison him enough.
He was surprised by the thing she called coke!
It felt interesting on his tongue as it bubbled by, and the drink itself was sweet and refreshing.
He might actually get to liking human food and drink.
When they had finished the meal, Suta asked Hiei a question that had been burning her for a while:
"Hiei? You don't know a lot about humans do you?"
"Hn." He replied, trying not to look obvious.
That only told him that she was correct.
"So you're a demon right?" she asked, walking down on of the hallways.
"Hn."
"Don't you ever answer with anything different?"
"No."
"Oh well...Hey, if you would let me, I could teach you about the human world. What do you say...?"
Teach him about the human world...?
What would he reply...?
He had a short interest for the creatures...and had already declared a liking for their strange food...
Then again, if he learned more about them, he could understand more of what it was that was so interesting to them...what kept them working so hard even when they were beaten and sick.
Hiei nodded his approval, and Suta began to giggle and explain everything she knew to him.
It was a pack load of information, and it taught him a lot.
He now knew what a cellular phone was, and why television was so popular.
He found out more about why people did such things as force themselves to work when they didn't need to, and how they tried to exercise even when they hated it.
The human world was a complicated place, and it would have taken longer than a year to fully explain it to him in detail, but what Suta did explain, helped Hiei a lot.
"Hey! A clothing store! Come on, I'll show you the latest fashions for men!" she announced, dragging Hiei into the store.
"Now let's see. From what I can tell of your outfit, you favor black, loose clothing you can fight in, and shoes that you can run in. Wait there a moment!" Suta disappeared behind the rows and displays of clothes, to return with a small stack. "Here. Go try this stuff on in the dressing room!" she announced, showing him to one of the stalls.
Hiei entered and dropped the clothes on the seat, wondering how it was possible she could order him around like that.
Then again, he was curious to what he would look like in human clothing.
The first item was a black t-shirt, long sleeves, no real design on the front.
Just plain black...
He pulled his shirt off and put that one on.
It sagged against his chest loosely, and Hiei couldn't help but move his arms around to see how well he could work with the outfit.
It seemed okay to use.
Next was a pair of what looked like pants.
They had large bottoms to them, not like the ones he wore that closed in around the middle of the shin and hung tight.
He took his usual pants off to replace them with the others.
They seemed loose, but fit snugly around his waist.
He jumped in the stall, and watched in amazement as the jeans fluttered with him, never denying him any sort of action with his legs.
The last two items he figured were shoes of some sort.
They had a thick rubber base, a decoration of white and black along the sides, and what looked like laces on the front to tighten them up.
He put the shoes on, and worked with the laces until he figured they were tight enough to keep the foot wear on, and stomped the floor to see how they worked.
They were amazingly lighter than his slippers, and had a greater grab of the ground than they did too.
They could also probably cause some damage if he decided to kick anyone.
Fully dressed in new clothing, he stepped out of the dressing room.
"Oh!" Suta began, staring at him.
Hiei wondered what it was that seemed so interesting to her.
Was it that the clothing looked bad on him?
He noticed a mirror on the outside of the dressing room door and took a look at himself.
He seemed just like the other humans that walked by, except for his sharp gravity defying hair and the white star like design in it.
Other than that, he blended well.
"That outfit fits you so well Hiei!" she giggled, tugging on the sleeves of the shirt.
So she liked the outfit?
He couldn't help but admit that he liked it too.
It was loose, interesting, and he could move around in it without any sort of restraint whatsoever.
"Do you like the clothing?" Hiei nodded to her question.
"Okay, I'll buy it for you. Come on, I'm sure they'll allow you to walk out of the store wearing them once they're purchased."
They paid for the clothes at the counter, in which the cash register found it a little funny to scan up the price tags while Hiei still wore the clothes.
Once paid for, Hiei retrieved his old outfit and put it in a bag, to walk out of the store looking like a human.
He was surprised again by the good grip of the tennis shoes, as Suta called them, and found himself running around to no where just to try them out.
Suta would giggle all the while, thinking it funny how a being acted when he got his first pair of tennis.
Before they walked out of the mall, Suta convinced him to the return to the food court so that they could get some ice-cream at Dairy Queen.
Hiei wasn't sure what ice-cream was, and so he curiously watched the attendants behind the counter fix up whatever Suta had ordered and hand it to them.
The stuff was in a small plastic cup, with a sort of brownish cream on the inside and a topping of some white puffy stuff that defied the laws of gravity with its layered appearance.
A straw stuck out of this thing called ice-cream, and Hiei found himself taking a curious sip.
The stuff was strong and cold, causing his tongue to freeze up upon contact.
The stuff tasted a little strange though...and so he asked what the flavor was.
"Well, they call it a Moolatte at Dairy Queen. It's ice-cream with the light addition of coffee and French Vanilla. I love these things! Buy them all the time when I can!"
Hiei stared at the drink another moment, and took another sip.
Before they were out of the mall, Hiei found himself full of energy, and ended up running circles around Suta just to burn it off.
He had never felt such a strong boost of energy before in his life, and he figured that if there was anytime he needed any energy for a fight he would buy one of these drinks and he wouldn't possibly loose!
Suta laughed all the while, thinking it cute how Hiei was so energetic.
She also found that he was very talkative when he was hyper too, asking about the age limits of humans, powers or abilities, emotions, anything they actually knew...then about technology and history...and who knows what else.
Suta and Hiei talked and talked, even after they had re-entered the portal to spirit world.
They sat under a tree most of the afternoon, him asking questions, and she answering them to the best of her ability.
Then the conversation turned to her asking questions about the demon world and him answering.
They didn't suspect the audience watching them.
Kurama, Kuwabara, and Botan stood in a window in the kitchen of Koenma's palace staring in amazement at the energetic Hiei and Suta.
Botan continued to giggle, while Kuwabara and Kurama started discussing what it was that had made Hiei so comfortably hyper.
"What did she do to him? This isn't Hiei!" Kuwabara began, staring at the koorime as he talked vividly of the world he grew up in.
"I agree. I've never seen Hiei so relaxed as this." Kurama added, staring at the two as well.
"Hey guys, what's up?" The heard a voice from the doorway say. It seemed as if Yusuke had returned to the spirit world, happy because he and Keiko had made up their differences.
He was ready for the mission of protecting this girl, Sutamina Nohara.
"Yusuke, take a look out the window and tell me if you recognize the people outside." Botan told him, with a smile.
Yusuke shrugged and stepped to the window looking outside. He too was surprised.
"Is that Hiei?!" he half-near shouted, but Kuwabara covered his mouth to keep him quiet. "Ssshhh. Yes it is." Kurama replied.
"What the hell is he doing wearing those clothes? And why the hell does he look so hyper! I've never seen him talk so much in my life!"
"I know, that's why we are watching them. It seems Suta has an impact on Hiei far greater than any of us." Kurama acknowledged.
"No kidding."
"I think it's cute! Suta needed someone to talk to and Hiei needed someone he could relax around." Botan added, giggling.
"Yeah, but I never thought Hiei would be so...I don't know...like that...It's crazy!" Kuwabara added, looking confused.
Kurama nodded and continued to stare out the window.
The two continued to talk even after the sun had set and the fire flies came out to the play.
Then Suta spent her time chasing them around, and laughed as Hiei managed to snatch one from the air.
"It's so small! And cute!" she acknowledged after they had put the firefly in a jar. "I wish that I could glow like that!"
"Why?" Hiei asked, looking confused.
He had managed to calm down from his hyper fit earlier, and now he had returned to his normal self.
"I don't know. The fact that you can light someone's way and help them out of a trap could be one reason. I just love the way fireflies look so brilliant and beautiful in the dark. Like they're leading us out of darkness."
"Humans are so creative." Hiei acknowledged, smiling gently.
It was funny how close he had gotten to Suta in such little time.
She was nothing like he had expected a human to be.
He figured all humans were stupid creatures with a mind of their own only until another had taken over it.
Yet Suta seemed different.
She was smart, witty, gentle, and kind.
She could see through the shells others hid themselves behind and bring them out, to enjoy the warm sunshine that was her personality.
Hiei had before vowed that no one...no one would get close!
And yet, she had gotten through his shell and pulled him from his solitary ways.
He found himself wanting to be close to her...and yet he was reminded of the reputation he had...of the history he had left behind.
He was a murderer trying to be a friend of a saint, a pure beautiful saint...
He couldn't...
He couldn't tell her of the things he had done...of the people he had killed with out a care for them or their families...
He promised he'd never tell her, and hoped he'd never have to.
"But demons are creative too Hiei." Suta said with a tender smile. "They just need to be given the chance."
Hiei was surprised when she stepped up to him and handed him the jar with the fire fly in it. He stared at the little bug, and how it seemed to glow in an out, like it was trying to figure out where to shine it's light. Creative...was he creative...?
"Well...it's getting late Hiei. I guess I'll see you tomorrow okay. Goodnight." Suta acknowledged with a yawn. How should Hiei reply? He had never heard anyone actually say goodnight to him before, so he had never learned to reply. He shoved the jar back into her hands.
"...um...Good night..."
He replied, jumping up into a tree to hide his blush.
Suta smiled and walked into the kitchen, now empty of the curious watchers from earlier.
She made her way to her room, and fell asleep on the bed, smiling once again at having found a new friend.
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Catse: What do you think? A little too sentimental, or funny enough? Oh well, this was only one of the chapters I had an idea for, and so I wrote it out. I hope I'm not moving them along too quickly. This isn't going to be a long story, really short compared to what I usually write, so enjoy! Ja Ne.