The phone rang, rudely waking me from my peaceful sleep. My dislike for the device was severely bordering on hatred. I don't know how humans can stand those things. I heard Kurama's voice from the living room. The conversation didn't last long only a minute or two. A moment later I heard his footsteps coming toward the room. "Good, you're awake," he said as he entered the room. "You slept well I hope," "Very well," I assured him. "Until that wretched device woke me," Kurama chuckled. " Yusuke just called," he informed me as he sat down on the bed beside me. "He wanted to know if we wanted to get together tonight. I told him we'd get back to him on that ," "When did they leave?" I asked. An amused grin spread across his handsome face. "Quite sometime ago," he answered. "It's nearly noon," He then leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "Get dressed and we'll go to that restaurant down the street you like and have lunch," he said. "Another date?" I asked. "If you want it to be," he answered as he stood. "I'll wait for you in the living room," With that he left the room, letting me have some privacy to get ready for the day.
As promised we had lunch at the nearby restaurant, then went to the movies. We ended up spending what was left of the day out on our date. It was nice being with my fox away from the flower shop and our friends but as they say all good things come to an end.
We returned home to find Yusuke and Kuwabara waiting for us outside the shop. "Where have you two been all day?" Kuwabara cried. "We've been trying to reach you for hours," "Don't tell me the toddler has come up with another assignment for us," I said as Kurama led the way to the back entrance. "Nope, this is actually good news," Yusuke responded. "Yeah, we're gonna be famous rock stars," Kuwabara chimed in. "An executive from one of the big record companies called earlier today," Yusuke said as Kurama unlocked the door and we headed upstairs to our apartment. "He saw us at the battle of the bands contest and he wants us to sign with his label," "What was your response?" Kurama asked as he unlocked the door and we entered the apartment. "I told him I'd talk it over with you guys and get back to him in the morning,"
Kurama gave him an approving nod as we sat down in the living room. "I don't know why you just didn't say yes Urameshi," Kuwabara grumbled. "That guy wanted to make us famous," "Think about it for a second Kuwabara," Yusuke responded. "Hiei and Kurama are in on this too. You know how the media is with famous people, getting into their business and all, they might not want to be bothered with that," Kurama nodded. "Yes, that is one problem," he agreed. "After all curiosity is one of man's most predictable forces," "That curiosity could lead to trouble if we're around long enough for them to start wondering why Kurama and I have seemingly stopped aging," I added. " Then there's always the chance they'll start digging into our pasts and I'm sure they'll find it interesting that I don't exist in this world's records,"
Kuwabara looked crestfallen and for once I was tempted to feel sorry for him. "If we're to do this, it will take careful planning," Kurama said. "If we were to do this Hiei and I could not stay in the spotlight long," "We would need to ensure that Kurama and I can vanish without question," I said.
A thoughtful expression crossed the raven haired detective's face for a moment. "You know, after all the stuff we've done for Koenma, I think it's time we call in a favor," Yusuke suggested. "If there's anyone who could pull off such a trick he'd know how," Kurama looked hopeful, and I'm sure my skepticism showed, despite my attempt to conceal it. "You talk to him Yusuke and see if there's anything he can do to help, otherwise we will have to decline," Kurama said. Yusuke nodded. "I'll call you guys later and let you know," He said. Kurama and I nodded and with that we parted ways.
Three Years Later…
"Can I open my eyes yet?" I asked. "Not yet," Kurama answered as he continued leading me by the hand. I disliked being blindfolded and led by the hand like a child, but for my fox I tolerated it. Finally we stopped and I felt Kurama's hands upon the tie of the blindfold. "Alright Love," he said as the blindfold fell away. "You can open your eyes now," I opened my eyes and they widened at the view before me. Lush green grass as far as the eye could see. Just ahead lay a river flowing down to a lake at the bottom of the hill. Beyond the river lay a cave covered in morning glory vines that crept all the way up the length of the majestic oak that towered beside it.
A thick growth of trees surrounded the clearing leaving the way we came in as the only way in or out. "Amazing," I murmured. "Glad you like it Love," Kurama said. "I used to come here when I wanted to be alone," he informed me. "You're the first person I've ever brought here," I turned to face him and was not surprised to see the sliver haired fox standing in place of the red haired youth I'd left with. He smiled and took my hand.
We headed to the lake where Kurama selected a spot on the bank in the shade of the towering pine trees and laid out a large picnic blanket. He sat down upon it and held out his arms to me, beckoning me to join him. Without hesitation I did just that. Kurama pulled me close to him. "Can you believe we've been together three years already?" he asked. "Yes," I answered. "What I can't believe is that we actually evaded the media," Kurama chuckled. "Yes, who knew we'd become so popular?" he responded. "I just hope we can make our permanent escape without flaw,"
"Before we made our plans for our return had you even thought about coming back?" I asked. "Yes," he answered. "To tell you the truth I've felt a little lost since mother died," "There's nothing left for me in the Makai," he confessed. "…and honestly I don't know what I'll do once we return for good. I won't go back to being the Legendary Bandit, especially since Koemna's sure to keep an eye on us both," "… and the only thing that binds me to the human world is my friendship with Yusuke and Kuwabara,"
I wasn't sure what to say to that. Truth be told, I wasn't sure what I'd do once we went back for good either. I didn't want to go back to being Mukuro's heir, but perhaps there was something else the both of us were qualified to do. A few of her advisors weren't as good with strategies and tactics as Kurama, and with my Jagan it would be easy to discover those who were unloyal to her. I decided to suggest the idea to Kurama later. That talk could wait, for now we would celebrate our special day.
I leaned upward and kissed him lovingly, wrapping my arms around his neck. He eagerly returned the kiss as I swiftly placed a necklace around his neck. I'd asked Mukuro to have one of her goldsmiths forge it for me and deliver it to Genkai's temple where I'd picked it up. "Happy anniversary Fox," I said softly as we broke away from the kiss. He touched the cold metal against his chest. "It's beautiful," he said as he stroked the polished gold with his fingers. "I'm glad you like it," I said. "I love it," he corrected then gave me another gentle kiss.
"Now that you've given me your gift, I can give you something I've wanted to for so long," he said softly. "And what might that be?" I asked as I settled onto his lap. Kurama smiled and reached into his shirt pocket. He fished something out but kept it concealed in his hand. He laid his closed palm in my lap and slowly lifted each finger one by one to reveal a gold ring.
I blinked in confusion. " When a human chooses a mate, it is customary for one to give the chosen the gift of a gold ring," he explained. "if the gift is accepted they are betrothed until the ceremony officially uniting them as mates can be performed," "Hiei, will you …be my mate…?" My eyes widened in surprise. I certainly hadn't expected this. I could hear his heart pounding wildly in the quiet of our surroundings. He was nervous.
"Of course I will," I said in answer to his question. I held out my hand for him to slide the ring onto my finger. "This is your last chance to back out of this relationship you know," he said. "Once I put this ring on you it's final," I smirked. "You aren't getting rid of me that easily Fox," I responded. "…Besides, shouldn't I be the one saying those words to you? Are you truly sure you want the Forbidden Child?" Kurama smiled devilishly. "You should know me well enough by now to know that what is forbidden has always been difficult for me to resist," he said. "…and by far you have been the most tempting…and most difficult to resist,"
His lips claimed mine as the ring was slipped onto my finger. "So, when's the ceremony?" I asked once we'd broken this kiss. "We can have the wedding whenever you wish love," he answered. "…after that comes another human tradition I think you may like… the honeymoon," I looked at him with a questioning expression. He smiled. "I'll tell you later Love," he said. "Let's eat," I smiled back and watched as my soon to be mate opened the picnic basket and began to set out the food we'd brought along. I could hardly believe that soon, I was going to belong to the gorgeous creature with me, and he to me. Neither of us knew what lay ahead of us once our time in the human world was through but we knew that'd whatever came we would face it together.
Author's Note: That's it for this story folks, but I'll have another tale for you next week. This one will be the next of my series entitled Homecoming. Until next time,
- Yami Yue