Winter's Rose, Epilogue
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"Class, I'd like to introduce you to our new exchange student, Moors Aislin. Be nice." The teens filling the numerous desks fall silent as a petite but stunning pale-haired and pale-skinned girl walks in, wearing the winter version of the girls' uniform despite it being nearly ninety degrees outside. Light-turquoise eyes framed by two streaks of vermilion scan the room casually, then alight on a certain crimson-haired boy sitting near the back smiling like crazy. Stepping up beside the teacher, the girl bows politely and smiles cutely--making every other boy in the classroom melt.
"Konnichiwa, minna-san. I'm Aislin and it's very nice to meet you." Everyone choruses various hellos back, and the teacher once more cheerfully waves them all quiet again.
"Okay, okay. I need someone to show our newbie the ropes around school; any volunteers?" Numerous hands shoot up, but Aislin only smiles and taps lightly on the teacher's shoulder, whispering something to him when he bends down to listen. He straightens up and gives her a knowing smile before looking back at the class; specifically, the ecstatic Kurama. "All right, change in plans. Since Aislin here already knows our resident genius Suichi, he's been volunteered." The other boys of the class groan in dismay as Suichi stands and beckons her over to the conveniently-empty seat beside him, which she happily sits in and smiles at him as the teacher begins his lecture.
"What are you doing here?" he whispers to her as the teacher talks on.
"I'll tell you later, 'Suichi'," she replies with a wink. Grinning happily, the two turn their attention to the man drawing intricate diagrams up on the chalkboard.
===
"Koenma figured this'd be a better idea than him trying to catch me all the time," Aislin tells him during lunch, the two having somehow escaped his fanclub and her new one by hiding up on the roof and locking the access door behind them. "And since I get to be with you almost every day without constantly having to make excuses, I'm not complaining!"
"So you're going to pretend to be human, like I am?" Grinning, he swipes the bite of sushi she'd been about to eat and swallows with an appreciative grin. "Mm, you're a good cook as always."
"Meanie." The koorime sticks her tongue out and manages to get a bite of her own lunch without another attempt from the fox to steal it. "This form takes a lot of energy for me to maintain, I'll have you know," she informs him grumpily and wagging her chopsticks scoldingly under his nose. "No food stealing or I'm gonna bite ya."
"Noted," Kurama laughs. "Are you living in the Ningenkai now or still in the cottage?"
"Still in the cottage," she sighs. "Botan gives me a ride to the portal every morning."
"When is she picking you up?"
"Oh, whenever I give her a call." And the white-haired girl holds up a familiar looking device: a com-pact, otherwise known as a little communicator that looks like a makeup compact but with an image screen and signal-pad instead of mirror and powder. "Heh-heh, I'm gonna make some trouble for Yusuke. Wanna watch?" Nodding in agreement, he scoots closer so that he can hear better as she punches in some random-seeming combination on the dial-pad and holds the 'pact up. In the few days since she's been awake, her personality has once more bloomed into the mischievous sprite that he remembers instead of remaining the ice-cold Queen of Thieves she had been during her last match with Yusuke.
"'Lo?" Yusuke's image pops up, looking startled. "Oh, hey. What's up?"
"Is Keiko-san with you?"
"Huh? Yeah, why?" Giving Kurama one of the most wicked grins he's ever seen from her, she molds her expression into one of pouting displeasure and pins Yusuke with her best 'outraged female' look.
"'Cause you promised me you'd take me to the movies last night and you never showed up!"
"What?" comes a furious voice from offscreen, and the confused Yusuke has no chance to defend himself before Keiko whacks him hard on the head. Instantly the com-pact is yanked from his fingers and a pissed Keiko glares from the screen, her face turning to confusion at the sight of a laughing Aislin and Kurama, leaning against each other with the koorime's mirror bouncing up and down.
"Eh, heh-heh-heh, gomenasai, Keiko-san," Aislin giggles, straightening up and beaming at the human girl. "I felt like getting someone into trouble and Yusuke was the best bet. Lemme see what he looks like, will ya?" Smiling in understanding, Keiko angles the viewscreen to show Yusuke sprawled on the roof of his school with a dizzy expression and large lump on his head. Aislin and Kurama break into fresh peals of laughter, a couple of green tear gems pinging onto the roof beside the koorime and glinting in the afternoon sunlight.
The bell chooses that point to ring, and Aislin hastily snaps the com-pact closed, scarfing the rest of her lunch and grabbing the few tear gems while Kurama picks the access door open again. Still grinning crazily the two pelt down the narrow stairs in a playful race, Kurama telling his slender companion that there is someone he wants her to meet after school.
===
"Kurama, are you sure about this?" Aislin asks as they approach his human home, the koorime having already deduced who the person is that her beloved wants her to meet. Kurama keeps his reply to a simple reassuring smile as he leads her up the walk and to the front door, opening it with a cheerful 'tadaima!'.
"Okaeri!" a woman's voice calls back, and Aislin gulps hard as a middle-aged woman with long black hair comes into view, drying her hands on a dishtowel and smiling serenely. "Suichi, I'm glad you're--" she catches sight of the slender girl peeking from behind her son and that smile grows warmer if such a thing is possible. "Well, Suichi! Who's this pretty young thing you're hiding? Come here and let me take a look at you, dear!" Shyly the koorime steps out from behind the taller boy and bows respectfully.
"Hello, Mrs. Minamino. I'm Aislin, and it's a great pleasure to meet you."
"Mom, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend," Kurama beams, wrapping a muscular arm around the slender 'girl's' shoulders with a possessive air. "Aislin, as you guessed, this is my mother, Shiori Minamino." Shiori simply smiles at Aislin--who is by this point blushing a brilliant shade of pink--and chuckles.
"It's very nice to meet you, dear. But what about that charming young man you keep bringing home, Suichi?" Kurama's turn to blush, but he's rescued from trying to frame a tactful answer by a new arrival.
"We're trying to figure out if she'll have to share," Hiei says from behind Kurama, who shies a bit but turns his head to look over his shoulder with a grin.
"Sensible Hiei," Aislin approves, "you remembered not to sneak up on me."
The kajihenge rubs the side of his head with a small lopsided smile. "After the last time? Heck, no." Aislin raises an eyebrow at him. 'Heck?' The spiky-haired boy tilts his head in the direction of Shiori and the sea-green eyes alight in understanding.
"What did you do to him, Aislin-san?" The human woman inquires in mild curiosity, and Aislin chokes on her laughter while Hiei turns bright red.
"Um, I'd really rather not say. I'm just going to admit she's got one heck of a right hook and leave it at that."
"Uh-huh." Shiori's face is knowing, but she refrains from abusing poor Hiei's pride further and gestures for her son's guests to come into the house proper. But before they get more than a few feet a rambunctious bundle of energy rushes past them, making Aislin squeak and jump closer to Kurama in order to avoid getting knocked over.
"Suiichi!" Shiori scolds, and the bundle resolves into a younger boy with jet-black hair and a cheerful smile. "Apologize to your brother and his friends! You know better to run in the house."
"Sorry," the boy says sheepishly, and Aislin lets her nerves calm before smiling at him.
"It's okay, you just startled me, is all."
"Not the safest idea," Hiei mumbles as the voice of experience. The young boy glances in startlement at the petite female as if unbelieving that this scrap of a pretty girl could do anything to the boy that radiates 'bad-ass' but shrugs and makes a sketchy sort of bow before resuming his activity.
"Bye, Mom! I'm headin' to the arcade with some of my friends! I'll be back by dinner!"
"Take a sweater!" Shiori calls back with the boy giving her a wordless affirmative as he heads out the door. Shiori smiles after the youngster with motherly exasperation and turns back to her son and his guests.
About ten minutes later they are safely ensconced in Kurama's room upstairs, with the door slightly ajar in deference to the red-haired boy's mother's decorum. As soon as the sound of the human woman's footsteps had faded from all three's hearing, Aislin turns to Hiei with her fox ears out and flat. "You promised me, Hiei Jaganshi!" she growls warningly, only to be firmly rebuffed with his reply.
"I promised I wouldn't chase Yoko." Despite the lack of the Void, all three can sense the nuances put on the silver fox's name. "I didn't say anything about Kurama or Suichi."
"Fuck. You're right." She drops onto the neatly made bed with little grace and regards the two with no little unhappiness, ears disappearing once again. "What do we do now? I don't need any senses to know you two are linked pretty firmly, as you are to me, Kurama." His imploring look reminds her. "Sorry; Suichi."
"Right now I'm curious about Koenma. You aren't running, and he isn't chasing." Hiei takes his accustomed perch on the open window's sill with one knee drawn up to his chest. "What have you two agreed on?"
Aislin snickers and glances furtively around. Apparently satisfied, she answers him. "The child-king hasn't figured out the loop-hole yet. I agreed to three centuries of sentencing on parole. I never said I'd serve all of it."
Both males just laugh or snort according to their natures, and relax. "So you go to school with me now, as part of your parole, ne?" Kurama questions in an attempt to confirm, and she nods.
"Ne. I still have to process the occasional employee, but he mostly saves me for Spirit Detectives. I am curious as to why your application didn't ring any of my mental bells, Suichi. Hiei's application was sent and approved last year, but not yours."
Kurama shrugs. "Koenma might have been using my human name for it for all I know. Anything is possible."
The two elemental apparitions sigh in agreement, by this point having taken up nearly identical poses without any awareness that they have done so. They look at each other, notice, grin lopsidedly and shrug before turning their combined attention back to Kurama, who looks mildly unsettled. "It's uncanny the way you two do that, I'll have you know."
"That's why we call each other 'mirror'." The two make a face at each other, having spoken in unison unintentionally.
"It's always been like this," Aislin admits, relaxing into a full-body sprawl on the fluffy quilt. "Ever since I can remember, we've had this weird link."
"The Greeks had an interesting definition of soul mate," Hiei adds from the windowsill, about as sprawled as he ever gets, "that was literally about two people sharing halves of the same soul. Too similar for lovers, not different enough to be enemies."
"Perhaps the Jagans have had some influence on that." Hiei stares at Aislin.
"You have a Jagan??" Aislin looks embarrassed.
"In my full form I do. I don't have control over it yet. But I'm working on it!" she adds defensively as two startled looks are aimed her way. "It's hard!" Hiei just stares at her in disbelief and she squirms. "Okay, fine. I don't care about having a Jagan, that's why I haven't tried messing with it much. It doesn't affect my abilities, and it doesn't do much more than let me travel to the Void for some R&R. And I've had it for ages without it doing anything else, so why bother now?"
"You and I are going to be having a good long training session before too long," Hiei mildly threatens. "A Jagan is not something to be ignored."
"Bite me, porcupine head."
"That's my job," Kurama counters, and both stare at him like he's crazy before starting to laugh.
"Suichi no baka!" Aislin giggles helplessly, curled on her side with her hands over her head, sprawled in a curve like a cat. Or a particularly lazy fox. When the laughter stops, the three share looks of understanding and sigh as one. "Guess I am gonna hafta share," Aislin mumbles dispiritedly. "So much for that idea." Neither male bother questioning her as to what 'that idea' entailed--knowing her, they already have a pretty good guess.
"Beloved, what is done is done, and cannot be undone." Kurama sighs again and joins her on the bed, gesturing for Hiei to join them, which he does. The three are now comfortably curled around each other, Kurama in the middle with the two elementals on either side. "We'll have to work something out, is all. At least long enough for me to get through college without biting each other's heads off."
"And without stomping on each other's feelings while we're at it," Hiei adds quietly, the others nodding in agreement. Kurama lets out a particularly heavy sigh and rubs a hand over his face.
"I never thought I would be foolish enough to fall in love with two people at once."
"Baka," the two mutter, but there is no heat or anger, only exasperated affection. "What did you just tell us?" Aislin demands, poking his ribs on the right side.
"Hn," Hiei affirms, poking his left. Chuckling, the fox-ningen ruffles both of their hair and gets to his feet, smiling wryly.
"Ganging up is not allowed, so there." He gets an idea and his long hair starts fluffing up with pleasure at the thought, a grin suddenly making Aislin and Hiei wary. "Come on, you two. I know for a fact neither of you have ever had ice cream, and there's a nice little shop a couple blocks away. My treat."
"Sugar?" Aislin asks hopefully, and Hiei groans.
"Kitsune no baka! You of all people know what happens when she eats too much sugar."
"Too late now," Kurama says impishly, "offer's already been made. You interested or not?"
"Bet I can eat more than you can, porcupine head," Aislin dares, bouncing to her feet and practically dancing towards the door.
"You wish!" Hiei counters, leaping to his own feet and half-tackling her so that she doesn't get a head start on him. "Come on, Suichi! Come and reap the fruits of your idea!"
"Oh, dear," Kurama laughs, and follows them out. All of them smile as they stumble their way downstairs and out the front door into the sunlight, secure in the knowledge that whatever the future would bring, they'd face it together, and not alone. Never again would they be alone. And it might take a long time, but they would find a way for all three to be content and satisfied, no matter what. Kurama's emerald eyes gleam with thoughts of the family he might get a chance to have this time as the two shorter apparitions--entangled in a walking wrestling match that seems to involve a lot of pouncing, pushing, pulling, and laughter--turn to look back at him, faces alight with pure, undiluted joy. Aislin's grin gets hopeful at a sudden thought.
"Hey, koishii! Does ice-cream come in chocolate??"
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The End. I hope you enjoyed it, everyone!
Ne: right/yes
