Fate: So here it is. I'm sorry, I had a hellish weekend, and it's not over yet. I kind of haven't done my homework either. But I wanted to write instead, and so I did! Behold the first of many gratuitous shower scenes!
Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi-sempai! Mwahaha!
Hiei sat cross-legged in the tree, nonchalantly staring in through the window off to his left. Meanwhile, Kurama was standing under the shower tap, hands scrubbing through his hair in an effort to rake the blood out. Pinkish water streamed down his skin as he tilted his head up, eyes closed, and just stood there, shivering under the cold stream. Kurama shook his head violently, blood clots coming loose from his hair and flopping into the drain.
His eyes opened and he tangled his hands in his hair, tugging at the red strands. It looked like a bad dye job was washing out, except for the fact that his hair was staying the same dark, arterial red.
He haltingly raised one bloody hand up to his face, staring at it, his eyes going wide as his breathing became slow and erratic. His mouth opened involuntarily, his tongue sliding over his teeth.
Kurama's eyes closed as he made a soft purring noise in the back of his throat, licking desperately at his hand, then shifting to the other one, scouring the blood from his skin.
So the human-lover's still got some demon in him, Hiei thought. Better than none.
He reflected back on Kurama's panicked questioning in the alleyway. I suppose it's to be expected that he's drinking the blood...he must be trying to become more of a demon. Idiot. He rolled his eyes, then went back to studying Kurama.
Really, it was all to study the human muscular structure. It would be useful when dismembering Kuwabara.
"Oi, Kurama, you alive in there?" Yusuke yelled.
Kurama opened his eyes. "Yes, sorry...the blood's kind of stuck in my hair."
"Ew. Thanks for the update," Yusuke said. "Need anything?"
"No," Kurama called, finally giving up on his hair and stepping out of the shower. "Well, yes. Do you have a hairbrush?"
Pause. "Maybe...? Keiko! Do you have a hairbrush?"
Kurama slumped to the ground, scrubbing at his hair with a convenient towel and grimacing as it turned reddish with blood. "Stupid stuff...just won't come out..." he grumbled, throwing the towel to the floor and collecting his clothes.
"Yusuke!" Keiko this time. Kurama finished tugging on his clothes and wandered out, still fighting with his hair. "Oh! Kurama-kun[*]! Did…did you want a hairbrush?"
Kurama blinked. "Oh. Yes, if it's no trouble."
"None at all," Keiko reassured him, digging through her briefcase and unearthing a hairbrush. "C'mon. Let's go sit down. Yusuke's being useless today." Her face darkened as she led Kurama out of Hiei's view.
The trees rustled as Hiei quickly changed positions to keep an eye on the proceedings inside. He didn't want to bother using his Jagan for something so small.
"I'm having Yusuke clean his room. You're to be congratulated for getting as far as you did without being eaten by small green fuzzy monsters with one eye and seven legs," Keiko announced as she put Kurama on the couch.
"It's the demon in me. They saw it and ran screaming," Kurama murmured bitterly.
Keiko sighed and sat next to the redhead. "Listen, you," she said. "Demon, human, whatever. You're one of the nicest people I know. And I'm very sorry about your mum. Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?"
Hiei snorted. His response would have been something along the lines of "Yes, go away,", but no, not Kurama. Kurama had to go and say, "Do you know what happened to those meds the doctors gave me?"
"I'll go see if Yusuke's found them. I'll be right back," Keiko said, getting up and making for the door.
"Wait!" Kurama twisted towards her. "Can…can you also ask Yusuke what I need to do for the police? He…seems like he should know."
Keiko looked sulky. "Of course he would." Her face brightened. "But of course I will," she added.
"…Thank you, Keiko-chan," Kurama said, looking relieved.
"Any time," she replied with a smile. She hurried out of the room, leaving Kurama huddled on the couch, staring blankly at the TV.
Hiei debated throwing something at the window and telling the fox to snap out of it, but he decided against it mainly because Yusuke and his squeaky bint were still running around and might decide to investigate.
And that would require annoying explanations.
Hiei hated explanations with a burning, fiery passion. This was mainly because they required speaking in coherent sentences without the use of noncommittal monosyllables. He wasn't really a fan of doing things like that.
So he simply sat there in the shadow of the branches, staring at a point on the fox's forehead and wondering why Kurama didn't even seem to notice that someone was watching him.
*
Kurama rested his chin in one hand, staring at his reflection in the TV screen and wondering why he didn't seem to care that someone had been watching him ever since he'd woken up an hour before.
He felt for the remote with one hand and flicked the TV on, sick of looking at himself. Even if someone else was doing it didn't mean that he had to, too. His mum had taught him that, though it had mainly applied to fads in the past —
He shut his eyes abruptly, muscles tensed as he tried to drive those thoughts from his brain. When he opened his eyes, an infomercial was showing for weeding gutters without killing yourself.
Kurama nearly burst out laughing. Death was just everywhere these days. It clung to one and didn't let go.
Pity, that.
"What on earth?" Keiko asked as she walked back into the room. "Yusuke's gotten stuck in the closet, so it may be a while before you get an answer to your other question. However, I found your meds. Do you want them now?"
Kurama shook his head. "I'll wait until I can talk to Yusuke." He began flipping channels rather aimlessly as Keiko sat back down next to him.
"Do you want anything to eat?" Keiko inquired.
Kurama shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
"I understand."
After about another half-hour of TV, Yusuke finally staggered back into the room. "I have triumphed!"
Keiko looked up at him, but Kurama didn't move. He simply asked, "What do the police want me to do?"
Yusuke flopped down next to Keiko. "Well, they want a statement from you, and they want another medical and psychiatric evaluation, since you're under eighteen."
Kurama almost smiled. "Am I really?"
"As far as they know, you're under eighteen," Yusuke corrected himself. "They want to make sure that you're all right, and if there's anyone you can stay with."
"I can live by myself," Kurama replied, looking perplexed.
"You know they'll be opposed to that, though," Yusuke reasoned. "Wasn't…your mother dating someone?"
Kurama nodded shortly. "Yes. Yes, she was. I…don't think I can stay with them, though. I…owe my mother a debt that I can never pay. I stole her child and replaced it with myself. I…don't owe them anything. But I would like to stay in her house."
Yusuke nodded. "Well, you might be able to…you know…convince them that you are eighteen and such. Or something," he added.
"Yusuke!" Keiko said angrily.
"Aw, come on, Keiko…"
"Is there anything else?" Kurama inquired, neatly defusing the argument before it started.
"Well, they might want evidence from you at the trial," Yusuke said wisely.
"Yusuke, you need to stop watching bad cop shows," Keiko said angrily. "They'll tell him if they want that stuff. They'll call us here if they want anything else."
Kurama nodded slowly. "Okay." He looked at Keiko. "I think I want to go to sleep now."
Keiko nodded. "Of course. You don't have to sleep on a pile of manga anymore, so why don't you go to Yusuke's room now that it's clean enough?"
"I don't want to impose…"
"You're not," Yusuke replied. "And what's wrong with my manga?"
"It's people like you who live in their parent's basement with live-sized action figures and girlie pinups their entire lives!" Keiko said irritably as the pair of them led Kurama down the hall.
"Don't tell me you don't read manga!"
"Icha Icha Paradise?! I wouldn't call that manga!"
"…shit. Keiko, you really weren't supposed to see that. Or comment on it. And it's healthier than – "
"No more!"
"Ah. Heh. Heh. Yes. About that. So. Uh. Kurama?"
"Yes, Yusuke?"
"...uh."
"You're useless!" Keiko yelled, booting Yusuke out into the hallway.
Kurama fought down a snicker. "Can you wake me in time for school tomorrow?"
"You're not going," Keiko told him severely. "We'll get it fixed up for you somehow, but you're not going. You need your rest, and you need to sleep off the shock as best you can. It's not only something mental that's happened to you, but it's physical too."
Kurama nodded. "I see."
Keiko handed over two pills from a paper envelope. "I'll put these somewhere where they won't get lost, eaten by rabid dustbunnies, or taken by Atsoko by accident."
"That's a good plan," Kurama agreed, swallowing the capsules and grimacing.
"Sleep well," Keiko said, sliding the door shut.
Kurama took two steps forward and collapsed on the futon, hands over his head in an effort to block out everything but blank oblivion.
the next morning
"Yusukeeeee! You need to go to school!"
"Kurama's not going."
"His mother died! Of course he's not going! Your mother is asleep on the couch! You're not even wearing your uniform!"
"I never wear my uniform."
"Yusukeeeee!"
"Who's gonna stay here and keep an eye on Kurama? My mum? Kuwabara?"
"…well…"
"Look, I need to stay here so Kurama's not alone if he wakes up before I get back."
"But – "
"You have cram school and everything, so you won't get back until later anyway. Look, Keiko, you can do me a favour at school and make sure that Kuwabara knows what's going on and doesn't do anything stupid like running back here in the middle of the day. I'd tell him myself but he's always with those other guys. They'll go away if you want to talk to him."
"Well…"
"Pleeeeeeease?"
"Okay, okay, fine, Yusuke…but I'm bringing you home some work, and if I get in trouble, you're so losing all your cigarettes for a week!"
"Yeah, yeah," Yusuke said dismissively as Keiko left. "Whew," he added, settling down in one of the chairs and picking up the remote.
*
Hiei had gotten tired of being rained on and was now sitting in a corner of Yusuke's room, watching Kurama. It wasn't like he hadn't done anything like this before or anything.
His eyes flicked to the clock for the millionth time. It had been nearly five hours since he'd woken up to discover Yusuke lazing about watching TV, some older lady still asleep on the couch, and Kurama dead to the world in that formerly messy room. The fox still wasn't waking up, either.
The door slid open with reasonable decorum, considering that it was Yusuke opening the door. "Kurama?"
"Mff." Kurama opened one eye, then slowly sat up. "I'm awake. I've just been…lying here," he said wryly.
"You want coffee?" Yusuke asked.
Kurama nodded. "Please."
"It'll be ready when you're out of the shower," Yusuke said, noting the way Kurama was examining his hair and the look of distaste on the youko's face. He then quietly closed the door again, though not without a quick, unnoticed glance at a particular corner of his room. There definitely was not a pile of black clothes there last night.
Hiei kept watching as Kurama unwound himself from the sheets and wandered out of the room, then got to his feet and stretched. "Damn," he muttered as he looked at the clock, then reached over and picked up a book with a most decidedly blank cover. He flipped through it, his eyes widening. "What…the…hell…?" he asked the universe at large after about five minutes of fascinated perusal.
"Oh, is that what Keiko-chan was talking about?" Kurama asked from the door. He blinked at Hiei, then looked out the window. "Ah. It's raining."
"Hn," Hiei offered.
Kurama nodded. It was right about then that Hiei dragged his nose out of the book and started wondering if just possibly there was some magic that forced characters to come to life in the form of recently showered, red-haired, towel-clad fox demons.
Maybe there was something to be said for the Ningenkai after all.
Hiei decided to make a strategic retreat, and sauntered out of the room and into the kitchen.
"You want coffee?" Yusuke asked without missing a beat.
Hiei blinked. "Fine. What the hell is this?" he asked, handing Yusuke the book.
"Something you should never tell Keiko that I have," Yusuke replied, pushing coffee over to him. "Are you here for a reason, or is this your version of being friendly?"
"It's raining," Hiei said simply.
Yusuke stared at him. "And?"
"…"
"Ooookay. I'll stop asking questions now," Yusuke announced, lighting a cigarette and inhaling thoughtfully.
"About what, that book?" Kurama inquired, padding out into the kitchen and finger-combing his hair out. Wet, it easily hung to his hips. "I don't know, from the look of it, Keiko-chan just might be intrigued."
"You two scare me sometimes," Yusuke muttered. "Here. Coffee."
Kurama accepted the mug and stared at it. "Thank you. How do you go about arranging funeral ceremonies here?"
Yusuke blinked at the sudden change of topic. "I…um…talk to the guy your mother was dating? I don't know. I missed that part of my own."
Kurama smiled wryly. "May I use your phone? I don't know where my cell phone is."
Yusuke nodded. "Knock yourself out."
Hiei quietly nursed his coffee during Kurama's absence, while Yusuke went through five cups and two cigarettes.
The front door banged open as Keiko stumbled out of her shoes and dropped her briefcase on the floor. "I'm back," she gasped. "Did Kuwabara drop by?"
Yusuke nodded, quickly concealing the book on the table. "He was here a couple of hours ago. His sister called and told him to come home, though."
"How's Kurama?" Keiko inquired.
"Awake," Yusuke said carefully.
"And – oh my God," Keiko said, finally beholding Hiei. "You scared me!"
"…" Hiei rolled his eyes and went back to his coffee.
"So where is Kurama?" Keiko inquired.
"I'm here," Kurama said. He looked deathly pale, and his eyes were reddened. "He's already got it all arranged, but he was glad I called so we could get some things set that he wasn't sure about, but…it's all set for tomorrow evening."
"What is?" Keiko asked, looking confused.
Kurama smiled vaguely. "Her memorial."
Fluffy: [*] Since we've never seen Kurama and Keiko interact, we don't know if they use honorifics on each other or not. We're assuming that they do, as both of them are relatively polite people. Oh, and the Icha Icha Paradise reference? We couldn't resist. And for those of you who don't get it, go read 'Taikou'. Please?
HieiLovesBotan: Uh. Please don't die?
DarkAutumn: Yeah, I am rather beating him up, aren't I? ^^;;
LishaVilla: Wow! Thanks for the crit! I'm basing Botan's strength on her work with a bat in the Saint Beasts arc, but yes, Kurama really is out of it. Sorry! He should improve once he stops wibbling so much.
Arayal: I hope you stay anyways, and thank you!
Liviana: Doesn't it, though?
Henrika: Heh. I thought about something like that, I admit…oh, and it's before she married Hatanaka, but not that much before. I would have made it after, but I didn't know enough about his stepfather and brother to feel comfortable making him such a major character…so this does alter things somewhat. ^^;;
firedragongirl: O_O That sounds uncomfortable.
Schizothief: Yay, 9.5! And he probably could use a cookie or two. Or twenty. ^^;;
SweetMisery: Yup. Futon.
Duel: ^_^ That made me happy. But you can do better!
