Hello everyone....all my dear peoples......(shrugs) yeah, it's been awhile....um, everyone who wants this fic to continue give a big thanks to rosin-sniffer who sent me a review like, a week or so ago and made me remember this fic was still on here waiting to be worked on some more. (holds up hands) What can I say, I'm human. This chapter was written awhile ago, and I seem to have misplaced the first part, so....I apologize in advance if it isn't entirely coherent.......I'll try my best. Oh, and thank Anica too for proofing, now that she's a big tough college student(rolls eyes) (mouths: who doesn't even have time to get online and roleplay with me anymore!!!!!!) (takes deep breath) ok.
Review Responses:
Robin Autumn- well, ok then. Oh, and I like your OLO, and I'm going to start using it myself. (beams) I agree with you about the serious/humorous thing. What's odd is my poems are generally morbid.....and my stories aren't serious....(shrugs) Whatever. I'd like it very much if you wanted to check out those (my poems) on , under my penname fairyfeet. Enjoy the chapter.
Fire Sidoni- thx, enjoy this one 2.
Kurama and Hiei's lover- here ya go
netta1029- well, Hiei's better for slapstick humor, Kurama's better for...erm.....higher level intellectual humor? I guess? Don't worry, a really funny one for him especially is planned. Not for a while though, so keep reading. Oh, and very relieved you like ch. 6, I worried about people's reactions....
Maki-sama- I rather thought so too....to be honest, that idea was Jocasta's...I reread what I'd typed and went, 'heh heh...good one...where'd that come from?'
tbris-glad you like it
jus kita- sanku very mooch. (makes poor attempt at accent because is getting bored with normal one.)
Shadow Jaganshi- well well well, thx, for all your reviews, I truly enjoyed reading them. I like to think it's improving as I go...you know, seasoning with age? Like wine? sorta? Honestly, I blush when I read the first couple because they seem to lack so much compared to later ones.
What2callmyself- Glad to see you back! Drop in a/g soon!
rosin-sniffer-(makes confused face) ...the penname? u've got me confused...anyway, um, I'm sure you can write like that...the trick is to read a bunch of well done work and THEN write your own....because then you automatically try and copy it....(shrugs) that's the only advice that I have.
Shameless Review Begging Spot: yes, I am bringing back this part! It seemed to work fairly well the last time I tried it. pretty pretty pretty PLEASE review everyone? I love reading them.......I even reply to each one personally....or I try to....(makes cute face) You know you wanna....(trails off) ok, enough of that. story time.
Next Morning
Hiei and Kurama walked along in companionable silence. Neither felt the need to say anything, especially after all the emotions and words spent the night before. So content were they to stroll to play practice each lost in their own thought, Botan's arrival was less than welcome, although Kurama hid this better then Hiei.
"What IS it, baka ferry girl?" He snarled, folding his arms firmly across his chest and scowling fiercely at the intruder. Hn. Does she have nothing better to do than show up at inconvenient moments and spread good cheer?
Kurama hid a smile at the two of them as Botan pouted at the reaction she had received.
"Why are you always in such a bad mood, Grumpy Bear?" she teased, reaching out as though to poke him in the ribs, and then pulling back as if thinking better of it. "Smile! It hasn't killed anyone else yet, it won't kill you!"
Hiei's expression could have frozen a regular human walking by had they got in the way of it, and he turned swiftly and walked off without another word. Kurama raised an eyebrow at Botan indulgently as the girl wilted visibly.
"That wasn't, perhaps, your wisest of comments," he remarked calmly, amusement showing in his voice.
"I know," Botan sighed. "I just wish he'd cheer up every once in a while. He's always so negative; how can he live like that?" She looked at Kurama helplessly and he smiled and patted her arm once before setting off to follow Hiei's footsteps, Botan falling in next to him.
Poor ferry girl, she can't stand it when people aren't cheerful and having fun. It probably results from being surrounded by death by the time. Death usually isn't a welcomed thing. You either give in to that atmosphere and turn bitter and resentful or you remain stubbornly cheerful to spite it. No wonder she's always so eager to accompany us on our missions. "He is happy, a lot more than he would like to admit, Kurama said comfortingly. Even to himself. "So he doesn't."
"Where is my Juliet?" The director shouted. They had arrived, and late it appeared. "We have to get to work; we don't have forever! Time is slipping past even as we speak! This is going to be an absolutely breathtaking performance, and we are going to be proud of it!" He had broken down to his sister about how badly things were progressing the night before and she had lent him a self-help book that told him the first step to fix the problem was to inject inspiring words into it and the people around you. And to do it enough that you believed them. He himself was doubtful of this tactic's potential for success, but figured after the last practice it definitely couldn't hurt. It didn't seem to be working, however.....
"I don't know if I'd go that far," Yusuke said, grinning, next to the directors ear. "It might be breathtaking, but not because it's really good....or something to be proud of...maybe you should try for one out of three. That's not to bad, that's like...." he paused while he scrunched his forehead in deep though, as though this would help, and announced loudly, "45!" Everyone around him stared in disbelief, and Kurama made a mental note to have Keiko go over percents with him once she got better. It seemed she'd caught a cold and stayed home sick today.
"Juliet!" The director bellowed, reddening in either fear that Yusuke was right, or annoyance that he was not rehearsing. He wasn't entirely sure which one.
"Here," Kurama said calmly, rubbing his ears discreetly.
"And my Friar? Where is my Friar?" He asked, not lowering his volume one bit, Kurama noted somewhat sourly. The director turned away and stomped off in search of the Friar, who appeared to have no other name, at least not in Japanese, leaving Kurama to go up on the stage by himself. Vaguely he wondered where Hiei had got to.
( I was wondering that as well.) Youko purred from somewhere inside his head. ( Just where has that lovely little morsel disappeared to this time?) he licked his lips lasciviously. Kurama closed his eyes in defeat. It really was too much to expect, he supposed, that Youko would leave him alone...even in his own head he was never alone. He wondered if this might be what people with schizophrenia felt like.
((Hello, Youko. It would seem that Hiei and the Friar had a bit of a discussion about you the other day.))
(Oh really?) Youko stretched, feigning indifference. ( Did they say anything I want to hear?)
((That you were a two faced, violent, uncaring, horrible, despicable person)) Kurama said passionately.
(Aw, how sweet. I didn't know you cared,) Youko drawled sarcastically. (Glad to know I'm so highly thought of.)
Kurama snorted. ((if you wanted to be highly thought of, I think a slight change in attitude and moral standing is in order.))
(Oh please,) Youko snorted dismissively, flicking his tail. Kurama imagined he could feel the tip tickle the inside of his head, by his ear. He resisted the urge to reach up and scratch. ( Don't tell me we're going to have this boring talk again. I have no problem with who I am, thank you very much. And no guilt over my actions, I might add.)
((Of course you don't,)) Kurama thought back viciously. ((You save that all for ME, don't you? Why ever would the great Youko Kurama regret anything HE had done?))
Youko paused at the vindictive tone in Kurama's voice. (What?)
((How on EARTH can you sit here in MY head, and think thoughts like THAT about HIEI, when you so thoughtfully gave ME your memories about what you did? You're a despicable censored again for my peace of mind.))
Youko paused, considering. (Oh....you mean about that? Well, this suits my character, don't you think? I didn't care then, why would I care now?)
Kurama glared at him, seething inside. He flashed back on his and the Friar's discussion of the day before. "There are some things friends shouldn't know...." Yes, there WERE some things friends shouldn't know. Some things no one should know. And it was just like Youko to leave him with the memories of these things and then sit there and drool over the very person they were about and leave Kurama to deal with the guilt of it. He sighed. It didn't matter. Youko saw no wrong in it, or in what he had done...or been planning to do. Personal morals was just a phrase to him, meaningless.
(If you're QUITE done philosophizing about my moral status.....) Youko drawled.
((I'm done. I don't know why I even wasted my time on you.))
(Oh, ow...that stung! Oh no! Kurama, don't be like this! You can't mean that!) Youko wailed loudly, grabbing at hid heart in mock hurt, and twisting his body into a tangled mess of limbs on the floor of Kurama's mind. Just how and why there was a floor in there Kurama would have to speculate on later.
Hiei waited awhile, safe in the wings behind a large box of props that had yet to be moved to a better place because the roof leaked everywhere else they tried to put it, and watched the kitsune's face as he went through yet another inner battle with himself. Youko and Kurama often got into disagreements about things, and Youko's seductive nature was not lost on Hiei, who knew one of his favorite games was to make dirty suggestions to him when Kurama was speaking to someone he wished to impress or speaking in front of the class, just to see his reaction. Kurama always threw a temper tantrum later in private with only Hiei to see. Hiei never said, but secretly enjoyed these tantrums....it was relieving to see that even Kurama could loose his cool. Without them, it would have been easy to think of him as perfect, inhuman even. And even though he technically WAS inhuman, Hiei still found that image Kurama projected extremely irritating. Even more so because he almost wanted to believe it. But this argument must've been especially wearing, because the fox looked worn out over something. Hiei sighed mentally and figured he should probably step in and save him before he tried to knock himself out like he had the other day in an effort to shut Youko up. He walked over and hit Kurama very hard in the stomach.
Kurama gasped at the sudden unexpected attack, and doubled over. It hadn't hurt near that much, but it gave him the chance to subtly reach into the secret pocket sewn into the inside of his jacket for his seeds. Straightening, he held onto his front, as though hurting from the hit. It HAD stung, but he was going to ignore that. Looking around, his gaze dropped onto Hiei. He looked in utter bewilderment at the smaller demon who stood quite calmly with his hands behind his back. It had to have been him who punched him.
"Hiei? what..."
"Hn. Baka fox. You're getting lazy and leaving your guard down. You better hope you don't get killed the next time you're in the makai." With that, Hiei turned around and walked off. Kurama stared after him for a minute before smiling slightly and releasing the seeds back into his pocket. Leave it to Hiei to get someone's attention by hitting them.
(Doesn't look as though he suffered too much from the great harm I supposedly did him,) Youko muttered. Kurama stiffened, then let the comment go.
Just then a voice broke through all thoughts, and Kurama turned to see what was going on at the other end of the stage.
"What scene this is?" the Friar asked, staring at his script. "This is making no senses."
"The DEATH scene!" the director hollered before sitting down and taking a great gulp of water. The book had also suggested meditation, but he figured this was as close as he was going to get. He counted to 10 before swallowing.
"Why you say so loud? I not deaf." The Friar looked at him, puzzled.
"Then DO it," came the reply, and he shrugged and turned to the appropriate page just as Dude ambled up to him and peered over his shoulder.
"Dude, like, I totally almost skipped practice today. I didn't know you'd left. Why didn't you wake me?"
The Friar looked at him and sighed. His patience was being tested by God. There was no other explanation for his having been saddled with someone so annoying yet likeable. He glanced over as Yusuke wandered up in time to hear this.
"Man, do you guys like, live together?" he asked incredulously.
"We are sharers of a space," the Friar said primly.
"Man, the Friar and I are like, one and the same," Dude told Yusuke happily. "We're, like, learning about the stars."
Yusuke watched Dude warily for a minute before looking back to the Friar.
"Uh huh," he said dryly. "I bet living with him's a trip," he added, leaning over to whisper in the Friars ear. the Friar looked over at Dude, who had wandered over to study the heater set into the wall near by. The stage could get incredibly cold at times, especially once winter started, and even more especially when it was not working properly, as was currently the case.
"I am enduring my trial," he said by way of reply.
"Yeah,"Yusuke muttered, unconvinced. "Still, though, " he added, watching Dude pry the lid off the control panel, "he's a cool guy and everything."
The Friar shuddered. "He is unto me like a hornet up a horse's nose."
Yusuke watched the Friar for a minute after this pronouncement, then looked back at Dude.
"I have no idea what that means," Yusuke finally admitted. "But it sounded deep."
"I am man of many deepnesses," the Friar responded, before falling silent. Yusuke was about to respond to this when a loud shriek echoed around the room, loud enough and shrill enough to rival that of Brittany's adoring Juliet siren. Everyone winced, and turned to see what in all the three worlds could produce a sound like that.
It was Botan.
More to the point, it was Botan running around the room shrieking about a bee in her hair. Keiko and Kuwabara were following her around the room, trying to stop her from running herself off the stage or into one of the boxes of props that were stacked everywhere while water damaged closets were being cleaned out. Keiko had her shoe in hand, apparently to swat the menace, and Kuwabara had a bucket of water, for Lord only knows what purpose.
"EEEEEIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!" Botan shrieked again, running faster and flailing her arms frantically. "Get it off get it off get it off MEEEEEE!!!" She rounded the ladder propped up against on column that was parked in the middle of the stage and careened wildly back the other way, Keiko close on her heels.
"Botan! Slow down! Just stand there and I'll get it for you!" she wailed, quickly getting out of breath from all this unexpected action.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Kuwabara hollered. "I'll drown it!"
Ah, Thought Yusuke. So that's what the bucket's for.
"KUUUURRAAAMMMMAAAA!!!!" Botan wailed, turning again, and coming full tilt into the owner of the name she'd just called. They both went down with an audible "ooph," and rolled together off the edge of the stage. Keiko's eyes widened to the size of rice bowls and she hurried to the edge to see what had become of her friends. Kuwabara followed close behind.
"Botan!" Keiko moaned, looking down on the pair below. A muffled groan answered her and then, after a minute of something fairly close to silence, Kurama's soft alto came drifting up.
"I think it's dead, Botan. The poor insect didn't know what hit it."
There was another long pause, while everyone else got bored enough to come over and peer down over the side as well. They lined up and looked down as one unit. Botan was sprawled on her back with her pink kimono flipped up a little past her knees and hair much disarrayed. She looked out of breath and surprised. Kurama lay directly under her, on his stomach, they're backs touching, looking probably, Hiei thought, as flat as he felt. Their hair was spread out together all around them, a contrasting sea of blue and red.
Hiei knelt down and cocked an eyebrow at Kurama. "I suppose you were prepared for that attack too," he said. Kurama turned his face toward him and looked very much as thought he were considering giving Hiei a rather derogatory hand gesture.
"Where's the bee?" Keiko asked, hesitantly. It didn't seem as though Kurama was currently in the best of moods. Kurama turned his face the other way and nodded to a smear on the floor next to them. Botan looked over to where he'd indicated, shrieked again, and jumped up, plowing smack into the side of the stage and falling down again. She quickly scooted away on her rear, and scuttled up the stairs and clung to Keiko.
Kurama picked himself up with much more grace and carefully followed. Hiei watched him make his way up. Stupid fox.
(Ye-oowww....) Youko muttered, rubbing his backside. (I felt that one. Took me clean off my feet when you pitched over the edge.) Kurama elected to ignore both him, and the pair of disdainful red eyes fixed upon him. He instead came over to where Botan stood, shaking, and clutching Keiko's sleeve, sniffling.
"Are you alright, Botan?" he inquired. Botan shook her head no.
"She's had this major fear of bees ever since she was a child and got stung on the throat and they discovered she was allergic," Keiko informed them all. "She nearly died because no one knew what it was that had stung her. No one expected a ningen insect to have such a violent reaction with her."
"Is ok. In my home country, bees are much larger," the Friar said comfortingly. "Over in there, they are deadly." Botan "eep"ed and clung to Keiko some more, and Yusuke bonked the Friar on the head.
"Idiot! You don't tell a girl that! especially not when she's hysterical!" he snapped. Both girls stiffened.
"What exactly do you mean by that extremely sexist statement, Yusuke Uremeshi?!?!" Keiko demanded, putting her non-occupied fist on hip.
"That is much painful. God does not condone unnecessary violence against another fellow follower. He spit upon them like a lamb onto salt," the Friar said, rubbing his head.
"Yusuke, I'm sorry if I seem a little hysterical to you, but what if it had been YOU that almost died because of one! How would YOU feel about them??" Botan demanded. Kurama opened his mouth to say something but was cut short.
"Hello? Earth to Botan, I DID die, remember? You were the one who annoyed the heck out of my spirit while I was waiting on her to kiss me back to life!" Yusuke shouted angrily, pointing at Keiko, who reddened.
"Don't think for one minute that I don't sometimes regret doing that, Uremeshi," she told him, sniffing."You are such an insufferable--"
"Really! You should have a bit more understanding than this, especially since you know what it's like!" Botan snapped.
"Do you see ME running away from cars anytime one gets near me? Do you?" Yusuke demanded.
"I think I am going to have a sit down," the Friar told the air next to him. "My head is spinning like a very fast spinning train thing." He wandered off. No one noticed. They should have.
"Yusuke! You are so insensitive!"
"I was standing up for you! What're you doing getting all on my back for?" Yusuke demanded hotly.
"If you aren't going to do so nicely, then don't at all!" Keiko snapped.
"Yes. We don't need you to help us," Botan agreed, both of them now standing inches away from Yusuke and looking very intimidating indeed. Yusuke gulped and looked around for some help.
"Kurama," he said desperately. "You saw what happened, who do you side with--"
Before Kurama could form an answer, even before Yusuke could really finish his question, a loud explosion shot through the air, followed by a rush of hot steam and foul smelling gas.
"We're under attack! We're under attack! Everyone duck and cover!" Kuwabara yelled, running over, scooping both Keiko and Botan into his arms, and running into the nearest closet. Kurama and Hiei had immediately dropped to one knee, heads ducked down arms up, sword and seed drawn, watching the direction of the explosion tensely, searching for any movement. Keiko and Botan shrieked from inside the closet.
"Kuwabara, you put us down!"
Omg, omg.....we're gonna die! Botan, we're gonna die!"
Yusuke and Dude had been nearer the direction of the explosion than the rest and had been knocked back on their rears, where they now lay, stunned momentarily. Yusuke stared groggily at the cloud of steam.
"Lookit, Krwam'a," he muttered, one eye dropping closed. "The demon's got a robe." He passed out, Dude right with him, both dropping into the field of dreams.
The director had stormed over to stop the yelling match of a minute before and was now currently pushing his way out of the other closet where he'd apparently been thrown and was stomping toward Hiei and Kurama angrily.
"What have I said about bringing weapons to practice? Someone could get HURT!" he yelled, waving his arms wildly at Hiei, who gave him his best, "what-on-earth-are-you-doing-sharing-my-planet" look. The director stopped--all of them did-- hearing a wheezing sound coming from the middle of the steam cloud.
"Kurama." Hiei's voice was low and tense. "Do you hear that? It sounds like the demon Zabanephanee."
"I heard, Hiei......I can't see anything. Can you?"
Hiei shook his head mutely. "No ki either," he noted, watching the steam, eyes narrowed to slits.
"Could have it hidden," Kurama mused, peering closer. He stopped. "I see it."
"Where, kitsune?" Hiei spared a quick glance over at his partner, and then went back to searching.
"There. It's not a very big demon....rather short and squat."
"That could mean it IS--" Hiei started, but Kurama shook his head.
"He's in jail right now. Sentenced to 500 years. Got caught on a menial rape and torture charge on a lesser demon over 175 years ago. He's not out yet."
"How can you be sure?" Hiei didn't bother to speculate on how the fox knew all this. He knew it would lead nowhere.
"He and Youko were loose contacts. If he were to get out, the first thing he'd do would be to come to me. He's weak and scared--needs someone bigger and badder to hide behind." Kurama fell silent as the figure started walking forward, tightening his grip on his seeds. He didn't dare bring out his rose whip in public.
Hiei tensed slightly too, preparing to leap and perform the killing stroke. If it wasn't the demon he thought it was, then it was best to kill now and ask questions, such as who he was, later.
"Hold it--" the Director started to say, but was cut off as both demons lunged simultaneously and attacked the shadow.
There was another loud "ooph." A silence rang out, every bit as loud as Botan's scream of earlier. A brief scuffle, and then the mist moved as three figures stumbled out, two holding onto a very bedraggled middle one.
It was Hiei, Kurama....and the Friar.
"What place is this? One cannot sit on boxes without finding himself about to enter next world? Is very wrong country!" the Friar said, sounding bewildered and indignant.
"What on earth?" the director wondered.
"It wasn't a box," Kurama sounded amused.
"The fool sat on the broken heater. It's exploded," Hiei snapped, jerking his arm away and straightening his cloak with an air of wounded dignity. He had thought it was a real challenge, a powerful demon.....the steam and smell of sulfur gas fit the description of a few.....but no. It had been a mere ningen. And Kurama had stopped him from slaughtering the hapless thing. He ground his teeth together.
The director sighed, and rubbed his temples again viciously. Another practice gone down the drain. "We've been meaning to get that fixed," he said. "But no one seemed to know what was wrong with it. They said to leave it and they would come back soon and take it apart and look at it."
"I think it's been taken apart then," Yusuke declared. He and Dude had recovered from their hit, and Yusuke had wandered back into the mist to inspect what was left of the heater. Dude stood, staring incredulously.
"Dude! Do you like, KNOW what this is?" They all shook their heads mutely. "This is, like, ANCIENT. I haven't seen this model in years! It's, like, a Mortley 4.5, with steam combustion powered antifreeze, and ball-bearing rotator column. They stopped making these back in, like, the 70's.....they had a tendency to let the circuitry spring get wrung too tight, and it plugged up the engine. See, these babies run on half electricity and half steam power. It was part of the government's new tries at conserving energy. They had some good ideas, but technology just wasn't on their side, man. The steam chute got clogged on this one, and the spring rusted right out of place. There was nowhere for anything go, so it kept building up pressure. It's amazing that it didn't take out this whole half of the building when it went. The gauge says it was sitting at, like, around 500 jubes......That's enough to lift a small elephant off the ground!"
Everyone just stood there, looking at Dude in amazement. Kurama slowly blinked himself out of his daze, tentatively walked over and inspected the mess.
"He's right," Kurama said, dazed. "I thought all of these had been removed and destroyed a long time ago. They've been illegal for over twenty years. This is probably the last one of its kind....It's incredible that it lasted this long. The general life expectancy for them was around three to four years."
There was silence. Then Youko smacked Kurama on the inside of his head. (Dork!) he snarled. Hiei looked at Kurama as though he were very much wanting to do the same thing, but had far to much dignity.
"What on Earth are you two nerds babbling about?' Yusuke demanded. "Why do you know about this? Neither of you had even been born when this happened!"
((Actually, I found out about it in my last days as you, Youko. You did the research on it. I pulled that from your memory. We were going to see if there were any possibilities for designing an appropriate punishment for any who trespassed into our territory.)) Kurama answered smoothly. Youko's eye twitched.
(You're still a dork.)
"HEY! Somebody out there! Can we come out yet?!?!" Botan's voice sailed out of the closet. Everyone blinked, having forgotten about the three people still inside. Kurama went over and unlocked the door. The three came spilling out, looking green.
"Man, I don't ever wanna be in small spaces again!" Kuwabara declared, bending at the waist and taking deep loud breaths to calm himself. "I felt like I was going to pass out or something."
"Oh my.....It really smells out here," Keiko gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth.
"So, director dude, are we done for today?" Yusuke asked curiously."I mean, we can hardly see with all this fog."
The director himself moaned and nodded weakly, giving in. "Yeah....go on and get lost, all of you," he said, slumping in his seat.
"That's a very wise idea," Kurama said, looking around. "Because that gas is sulfur nitrous. It's a by-product of the chemical reaction in the heater when pressure builds up to high. It's terribly poisonous in large doses." Everyone looked at him, and then moved as one to the door.
"Ice cream time!" Yusuke announced, sailing out and laughing.
"Dude! Like, wait for me!" Dude hollered, and scrambled out after him. Everyone else exited right on their heels. Kurama looked down at Hiei.
"Ready to go?' he asked, smiling. "We can go have ice cream with the others."
"Hn. No chance, fox. You have sweet snow at your house as well," Hiei told him, and strolled out, arms clasped firmly behind his back, chin up, dignity rolling off him in waves. Kurama smiled at his back, and turned to the director. The director opened one eye at him and waved tiredly.
"I'll be along in a minute," he sighed. Kurama shrugged and followed Hiei out the door to his house. He was happy. This play was turning out to be even more interesting than he'd originally thought.
A/N: That's it. (pants) By the way, if you're wondering about some of the stuff Youko said, it's in Anica's story "Cracks in the Mask." Our stories are in kind of the same timeline, so...if you're curious, go check hers out. Later, review please!