A/N: Here I am… it's been FOREVER! Gomen nasai! Here is the 9th installment of FFF, and, as the name implies, our favorite bishies will have an encounter with alcohol coming up. I'm only warning you of this now, because TECHNICALLY, this implies underage drinking. I am NOT condoning this, and I firmly believe in upholding the law… 9 out of 100 times anyway… heh. I'm not sure what Japan's drinking laws are, but if human Kurama were in the US at 16 he couldn't drink, so, yeah… Draith did NOT tell her readers they could drink at a young age, officer! And making a fake ID or whatever is still wrong, just to re-clarify… (Review responses at the end….)
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I don't own ANYTHING… Especially not anything that is mentioned in this chapter, no sir, I don't. *Fights off greedy little disclaimer gnomes that wanted to do the talking for her* Eh heh… there may be a gnome for every need, but sometimes they are just pushy!
Chapter 9: Demons and Alcohol
Scene 1: Urameshi Residence
"No way!" came the yell through the bathroom door at the Urameshi house. Yuusuke had laughed in Botan's face when she had come to him and asked him to follow Hiei around. He hadn't taken her seriously then, but now he was getting slightly annoyed.
Botan whined in an exasperated loss of patience, stamping her floor on the floor outside the closed door. "Oh, come ON, you big baby, you've had enough vacation already!" Botan called through the door. "Now get out here and help out!"
Muffled and garbled due to the fact that he was brushing his teeth, Yuusuke replied, "ENOUGH, Botan, you said it yourself, I'm on vacation!" The sink faucet could be heard running as Yuusuke attempted once more to tune the ferry girl out and stop her bothering.
"Ohhhh!" Botan balled up her fists in her frustration. She knew Yuusuke marched to the beat of his own drummer, doing things his way ultimately, but she couldn't believe he was being this difficult. With a 'hmph' in her throat, Botan finally put forth her last-ditch effort and opened the door to the bathroom, just as the sink was shut off inside. Flinging it back, she barged on in, ready to make her last case loudly enough for him to finally agree.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Botan, as she hadn't greeted him in person yet that day, Yuusuke was dressed only in a pair of light blue boxers as he stood by the sink. As the door swung in, he recoiled in surprise, his eyes wide. "Hey!! Botan!!" he yelled, backing up a few steps as she walked in, looking ready to smack him.
It took her a moment, but when Botan finally noticed the spirit detective's lack of attire, she instantly turned red and stopped in her tracks. "I…"
"…Well don't just STAND there!"
Botan shook her head to clear it, closing her eyes tightly, and turned even redder at her shocked staring at Yuusuke. "I'm sorry… enjoy your vacation, Yuusuke!" she rattled off as fast as possible. She then quickly grabbed hold of the doorknob, turning around and yanking the door closed behind her. Stopping in the hallway to collect herself, Botan took a deep breath and let it out. "Well THAT was different…" She then sighed, realizing that she now had no one to follow Hiei. She didn't dare send Kuwabara, as that could turn out dangerous at best.
Realizing she was still standing outside the bathroom door, Botan quickly headed down the short hall and out the front door. "I'll just have to find him myself, I suppose…" she spoke to the air as she walked down the sidewalk. She smiled, suddenly remembering she was meeting Kurama later on. Hiei would have to wait to be checked up on until after. Producing her oar and flying off to get ready, Botan just hoped he didn't cause any trouble before then.
Scene 2: Hiei's Work
Kurama held back a slight cough in his throat as Hiei and he entered the smoky interior of the bar. The haze was so thick in the air that the fox found it difficult just to take steady breaths. He glanced over at Hiei as they headed for a table. It seemed the fire demon was having no trouble with the murky atmosphere. "Figures," he thought to himself. Kurama sighed, setting his breathing level to a shallow intake to adapt to the room's pall.
As they settled on the hard, wooden chairs, the proper human part of Kurama screamed at him inside; he chastised himself for being inside a bar when he was still five years under the legal drinking age. Of course, the flipside of the inner-thoughts coin was Youko. Kurama found his youkai consciousness congratulating him on finally getting out for once in his life, and urged him to have some fun. His mind bounced between the two, as if his ultimate choice and opinion was being tossed like a beach ball back and forth between the angel on his one shoulder, and the devil on the other. Kurama closed his eyes, taking as deep a breath as he dared, and reopened them to calmly take in his surroundings. For the moment, at least, the little devil had won.
There were booths along three of the walls of the main room: the one the door was set in, and the two adjacent sides. Tables of varying sizes littered the floor that stretched between the front wall and the front of the bar. The bar itself, curving and wide, stretched nearly the length of the back wall, ceasing only for the cornered ends to allow enough room for stools. Behind the bar were a couple feet of walking space, and then shelves upon shelves of glasses, bottles, and other supplies for maintaining customers' drinking. Two doors led back from the wall behind the bar. As it swung open to accommodate the entrance of a bartender, Kurama could see that one lead to a back kitchen. The other stayed closed as far as he could see, and he assumed it lead out to the back of the building.
Hiei sat back in his chair, popping a cashew from the center bowl on the table into his mouth. He watched his friend's surveillance of the room, amused. When the fox's attention finally focused back on his own table, Hiei smirked at him. "What do you think, Kurama?" he took another few nuts from the bowl, waiting for his friend to give his opinion.
"Well," the redhead began, "It's a nice building, Hiei, for what it is." He paused, seeming curious, then spoke the question that had been on his mind since they had spotted the bar earlier. "Hiei…" the fire demon simply raised a dark eyebrow, popping a cashew, so Kurama continued, "how, with the human ID card that Koenma gave you, were you able to secure a job at a bar?"
That question only made Hiei smirk wider. Looking and sounding smug, Hiei reached into the folds of his cloak, pulling out the card and handing it to Kurama. "Take a close look at it again, fox…"
Kurama did as he was directed, and glanced over the information on the card.
Hiei Bubbles Sex: M H: 4'10" (without hair) Age: 16
Handing the card back across the table, Kurama shook his head, "It's the same as it was, Hiei. What did you expect me to see?"
Smirking slightly once more, Hiei pushed the card across the tabletop again. "Try it again, Kurama," he said quietly, his voice having a mischievous quality to it. As he did, there was the faintest violet glow from under his bandanna.
Raising his eyebrow, Kurama took the card in his hand and held it in front of him, looking over the stats again. Just as he was about to complain of repeated viewing, the card seemed to go a little blurry in his hand. After a moment, the numbers became clear again, showing him as "Hiei Tokama," 22 years old. Kurama chuckled a bit at the name change, though he didn't comment on it, merely nodded and handed the card back for the last time. "Nice trick, Hiei."
Hiei retrieved the card and tucked it away back inside the folds of his cloak. "It works well enough on the weak minds of these humans," he said, then smirked impishly at his friend. "Though it worked quickly on someone so supposedly intelligent as you, didn't it, Kurama…" he finished, sounding amused.
Kurama blinked, surprised by Hiei's quick witted insult. Hiei was by no means stupid, but hardly displayed any type of humor at all. He shook his head and chuckled, letting the comment go. At this point it was better to let the ribbing slide of his back than let Hiei have the satisfaction of seeing him annoyed. He decided instead to change the subject. "So, you start tonight?" he asked casually, plucking a nut from the bowl Hiei had nearly depleted by now.
Hiei paused, giving his friend a look for taking one of the last few nuts, and slid the bowl to his side of the table to prevent the offence from recurring. Kurama shook his head at the move, but Hiei ignored him and continued to eat his cashews. "And you should too…" he let the invitation hang, looking at Kurama with an amused expression.
The suggestion surprised Kurama, and his ruddy eyebrows shot up in question. "Oh?" he asked, less intrigued than curious about what Hiei was planning. "I should what…" He watched as the fire demon finished off the rest of the nuts and leaned back in his chair.
"You should start here tonight, as well, Kurama. You know you need to get out more… and I can change your naming card as well, the same way."
Kurama blinked. He had not expected Hiei to come right out and ask him to work here. He hadn't, in fact, expected him to ask that at all. Even so, he considered it a moment. It IS illegal, I suppose… though part of me is much more than old enough to pass for legal… Hiei just watched him think, patiently confident that his friend would agree. Kurama frowned. What would mother think of my working here?
Hiei snorted. "Give it a rest, fox. Time to stop being your mother's boy, and do what you want." Had Kurama been looking, he would have seen the Jagan glowing softly under Hiei's bandanna. "Think about it, Kurama… if you're here, then you can see to it that I don't get into the kind of trouble you'd expect… Don't you think that'd be a wise decision?" He was trying to trick his friend, and was succeeding since Kurama wasn't paying attention enough to guard against it.
Kurama's voice was slightly distant, having the quality of one in deep thought; it was a common tone of one being manipulated through telepathy. "Yes, I suppose that would be useful. Perhaps it would work out if I did… make good money, after all…" his voice trailed off, as Hiei made sure that he was thoroughly convinced that he should work at the bar. When the fox's eyes and attention finally started to focus back on where he was, he shook his head slightly, clearing it of confusion as Hiei released his mind very gently, assuring that his influence went undetected.
"Decided, then?"
"Hmn?" Kurama looked at him, seeming to finally realize where he was again. "Yes, I think it should be a good enough plan, Hiei."
"Good," he responded, standing up. "Then we'll talk to my employer…"
Scene 3: The ParkSmall children had been playing about the park for a while; people had been in and out all day. Botan sat on the bench, legs crossed comfortably, waiting as she had for an hour now for Kurama to arrive. She was sure she had the time right, though sometimes the busyness of her duties caused time to fly or slow on a whim. She sighed. No, this time she was right; Kurama was late.
Kurama was never late. It was one of the million little things she loved about him. He was punctual, a perfectly timed guest, always arriving on time for any event or meeting. If he was late, it was cause for worry. And things going as they had lately, by the time he was an hour and a half late, Botan was getting very worried. She finally gave up on waiting, and headed off to try to find him.
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She first tried the high school, thinking he perhaps got waylaid with extra assignments and class work to make up for his absences. But floating around and looking in each window only told her that he had gone from there at the regular time, no doubt, as no students were still in the building. Where could he BE?
Botan sighed and turned around to fly off in the direction of Kurama's house. Maybe he had forgotten, she thought with a bit of disappointment. But that wasn't like him… he wouldn't forget HER, would he? No.
She was at his house in short time and dropped into the tree lightly, trying to be as stealthy as possible so no one would see her in the air. She put away her oar and walked out on the strong branch that led by Kurama's window. She peered inside, looking first to his desk; it was empty. Then his chair, and closet; there was no one there. Maybe he was sick. She checked the bed, but it was made perfectly as Kurama always did every morning. She sighed again and wondered where he could be. "I suppose I could ask Koenma to look… He'd be able to at least see where he is…" she said aloud, retrieving her oar once more and flying out of the tree into the air. She flew high up out of sight and opened a portal to Spirit World, spiraling through. For a moment, she entertained the thought that perhaps she might not want to know where Kurama was. She quickly dismissed it, though. She trusted him. He wouldn't be doing anything to jeopardize their relationship.
Would he?
Scene 4: Back at the barThe manager of the bar had nearly immediately hired Kurama. His looks were sure to bring more business and he was promised to be a good worker. What a combination for attracting customers; the brooding dark bad-boy image of Hiei, plus the pretty-boy nice guy persona of Kurama. Business would boom. Not just any business, either, girls would come in. The manager grinned to himself. There would be more girls in the bar than ever with these two on board and working the crowd. He just had to teach them how to tend the bar correctly. The short one had been quick enough to pick up on the actual workings of the pulleys and which drinks were which, but his people skills were severely lacking.
The redhead, on the other hand, was a natural at relating to the patrons. It wasn't long before he had people piling their troubles on his slender shoulders. It got so bad, that the boy had come to his boss for advice on how to get the customers to leave him alone and just drink. The manager had simply told him to take a drink himself when the drunks bothered him.
That was the problem. That was how it had started. Once the idea had worked for relaxing Kurama, the manager, Nakuno, had tried to salvage what little there was of Hiei's manners, and had told him to take a drink or two. The hope had been that this would merely take the edge off of his abrasive personality. Instead… Well, it took the edge off, all right.
With their outlooks changed, the boys were much more charismatic in their bartending. That added to the predicted rush of females to the place made for an interesting combination. Though Nakuno himself had been at the bar to handle the rush, he was not getting anything more than a trickle of customers, and those were mostly old men at that. All of the women, of any age, made sure to find a spot at the counter to catch one of the new tender's attentions. After about an hour of this, most of the men had left the bar, leaving it full of half-soused fawning females ogling the new employees. In fact, the only males that were left were either ones that were a bit questionable, or ones that had actually hit on Nakuno before.
That's when the fateful words were spoken. Having seen one of the new tenders taking a drink to calm himself, one of the more smashed young ladies called out, "You guys should have a drinking contest!" No sooner were the words out of her slurring mouth, than the entire place erupted into an overwhelming clamor of agreement. Every last drunken patron wanted to see Hiei and Kurama challenge each other to a drinking contest.
Hiei smirked and seemed quite intrigued by the idea, though Kurama looked unsure. The redhead looked to Nakuno in question. The manager merely shrugged and told him that it was his decision. Nakuno could handle the bar by himself, especially if everyone was paying attention to them. He usually wouldn't let his workers do this, but if a bar full of drunken women wanted something, the wise choice was to acquiesce. So he did; and so did Kurama, much to Hiei's confident delight.
Everyone in the bar gathered around one of the central tables as Hiei and Kurama sat down facing each other, Hiei with his back to the end of the bar. Nakuno brought out a platter of shot glasses, and a couple bottles of sake from behind the counter. It was difficult for the manager to get through the tight throng of female bodies packed around the table where the two boys sat, though it was not the worst experience of his life… He set the tray on the table, filling as many shots as he could to prepare before the crowd pushed him back away from them. They were chanting for the two to start.
At Hiei's gesture, Kurama took the first shot. He lifted the small glass, laden with sake, off of the table, slowly raising it to his lips; then he paused—whether for effect or uncertainty, it was unclear—but finally drank the contents of the glass, coughing a little. Giggles erupted from many of the girls, and Hiei snickered. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Kurama defended, "It has been a while since I've had a drink." The statement was certainly true enough; he hadn't had an alcoholic beverage since he'd been human. This body had never tasted sake.
In challenge and match, Hiei downed his shot with no visible effect. He smirked at Kurama, ego clearly boosted by his immediate advantage in tolerance. The game went on much the same way for quite a while, and for too many shots. Kurama slowly warmed up to the drink, though it was clear he was drunk before long. Hiei seemed to stay perfectly sober, a fact that confused Kurama, and even Nakuno. He had had just as many shots as Kurama, and even a pro would be at least buzzed by then, but not Hiei. The small fire demon was knocking back shot after shot, to the delight of the crowd. He reveled in the attention. Though, to his annoyance, Kurama was receiving just as much attention for getting drunk as he was for staying sober. Hiei was mad. It seemed after that that he finally seemed to be affected by the alcohol. Indeed, after merely three more shots, he was almost as plastered as the fox. Normally this would have fostered some curiosity in Kurama's calculating mind, but too much sake had clearly dulled his mind and perhaps even his common sense.
After just one more round, Kurama fell off his chair, signally the match over, and Hiei, even drunk as he was, the victor. He grinned at the applause he was getting. Hiei was plastered.
Scene 5: ReiKaiBotan burst into Koenma's office, not even bothering to knock, the wind from the flung-open door causing papers the fly off the demi-god's desk like so many scared off pigeons. Any other time she would have stopped to apologize and maybe even help him clean up. Instead, she marched right up to his desk, hands on her hips. "I can't find him ANYWHERE!" she exclaimed in an excited tone. Her face was not one of happiness. In the time between the living world and her arrival at ReiKai, Botan's worry had grown exponentially.
Koenma, just recovering from an anguished cry at his papers being intermingled and messed up, whimpered and held his head, muttering a calming counting exercise. When finished, his amber eyes found Botan's pink ones, clearly displaying both his exhaustion and annoyance. "Who are you trying to find that's important enough to barge in here like a parade of elephants?!" he asked, voice and tone going from incredulous to near hysterical by the time the short sentence was spoken.
Botan let out an exasperated sigh, not seeming too phased by Koenma's yelling in her own upset frame of mind. "Kurama! I looked everywhere, he's just not THERE!" The ferry girl's voice matched her employer's for hysterics.
"Calm down, Botan! I'll look for Kurama if you need to find him, now pick up these papers!!"
Botan blinked at the yell, startled out of her upset tirade. "Oh… ok," she said more softly, gathering up the fallen papers from the floor while Koenma grabbed his remote and started flipping through the channels that Kurama was normally found on. Botan straightened, smoothing her kimono, and looked at the screen. "Oh, I already tried all of those, Koenma, sir!" she said plaintively. "He's not at any of them, and his school is closed by now."
Koenma ignored her and continued to look through the channels' pictures on display. "Hmm…" he started looking through random places in the town, knowing Hiei couldn't go farther than the city limits, and Kurama might be with him, if he could be found nowhere else. "He wouldn't be anywhere near people, that wouldn't make sense…" he muttered. His flicking brought him past businesses in town. He checked McDonald's just to be safe, but there had been no one there since the fire. "Hmm. Wal-Mart… he wouldn't, Kurama's not allowed back," flick, "The Park? No, not there, either…" flick, "Where could they be?" flick, "No, that's just two rejects from the Village People dancing on a bar top…" he continued flicking.
Botan blinked at the screen. "Koenma, sir, wait… go back!" She thought something was familiar about the bar.
"What? Fine… Which part?" he flicked backwards, stopping when Botan yelled. They both peered at the screen as two obviously drunk men were dancing on the counter at a bar. No… not just two drunks… Hiei and Kurama! "What?! Botan! You were supposed to keep an eye on those two! You let them get DRUNK!" Koenma yelled at her, mouth staying open, unable to take unbelieving eyes from the crazy, drunk demons.
"I… I'm… sorry?" Botan had no clue what to say. She'd never seen either one of them like that. Kurama hadn't had a drink in his entire human life, and Hiei was always painfully sober.
The toddler finally snapped himself out of his shock and looked at Botan. "Well? What are you sitting here for? Go get them!!"
Scene 6: The BarMusic had been flowing from the jukebox for the past hour, girls squealing, dancing, fawning; and two demons were the objects of all attention. They were perched atop the counter, dancing to an old disco song, completely drunk. Nakuno was behind the bar, serving a drink here and there to any patron that wasn't already wasted beyond comprehension. Any would-be customer that had tried to enter the bar in the last forty-five minutes either got scared off, or simply couldn't find their way through the mass of female bodies packing the floor of the bar. Several people had gotten lost; Nakuno had seen them come in, had not seen them leave, but could not see them anywhere. It was as if the crowd had actually swallowed them up. The thought was nearly frightening.
Nakuno shook off the worry and continued serving drinks, as a new uproar surged through the masses. A few girls close to the bar had started shouting for the boys to take off their shirts. As soon as the suggestion was voiced, more and more girls picked it up until the entire room erupted into a chant once again. "Shirt! Shirt! Shirt! Shirt!" They got louder with every cry, each word spoken with more intensity, more wild abandon. What seemed an impossibly packed group in front of the "stage" they'd made of the counter became even more crammed as the girls in the back crowded forward to see the action.
Kurama and Hiei looked at each other, swaying a bit as they stopped dancing. Hiei blinked, trying to keep his eyes in focus as he steadied himself by holding onto the top of Nakuno's head. "Whatever you want to do, fox," he slurred, "I don't care…" Nakuno had to hold Hiei up as he had started to fall from the bar.
Kurama shook his head to clear it, nearly falling forward onto a mass of adoring fans. His voice was as bad off or worse than Hiei's as he responded, "Eh, sure… why not?" and shrugged. If Hiei thought Kurama was off in the morning, it was nothing compared to the youko when drunk. He chuckled slightly, laughing more than he intended due to reduced control over such things.
Hearing the two assents, the girls squealed and screeched happily. They crowded ever closer as Hiei, then Kurama, slowly—due to their drunken state of low motor control more than a conscious intent to tease—pulled their shirts over their heads. Dozens of hands raised into the air tried to grab not only the shirts, but the boys they came from as well.
In the midst of the melee for a pair of shirts, the door to the bar opened, allowing yet another female presence inside. This one was different, however, and as the boys on the bar slung and whirled the shirts over their heads, Botan's eyes widened. "What in the world…" then she spotted Kurama's shirtless upper body, and before she could catch herself, stared. When she finally got back to her senses, she blushed. She'd seen Hiei without a shirt before, everyone who'd seen him fight had, but impressive as his physique was, this first sight of Kurama shirtless surprised her to embarrassment. Over her initial shock, she made a desperate line through the thick crowd of girls for the front of the bar. Her jealousy was rising by the step; she didn't' want any of them seeing her boyfriend like that.
As Botan made her way over, Kurama and Hiei seemed to have decided they should throw their shirts to their loving audience and see what happened when the were caught. Hiei had already tossed his, seeming quite entertained by the 10-15 girls that dove at, around, and over each other to get at the piece of clothing… that was then ripped to shreds. Most of the girls who had grabbed for it did actually get a piece for themselves, which only made them more manic. They wanted Kurama's too.
Seeing the attention Hiei got from his shirt-flinging escapade, Kurama smirked a lop-sided, drunken smirk, and tossed his shirt into the moving, pushing throng. Of course, he never expected the girl to catch the shirt would be his girlfriend. He grinned at the uproar from his shirt being thrown, not seeming to have noticed Botan's appearance yet. He couldn't, however, ignore the yell that came from only a few rows back in the crowd.
"KURAMA!" Even over the din of the room, Botan's more than scolding reproach was quite loud when it reached Kurama's ears. He was certainly startled to have heard his real name in a building full of human girls, and, in his shock, lost his footing on the bar, tumbling forward into the crowd… or so he would have, if Botan hadn't appeared out of it, floating on her oar, to catch him. All of the drunken girls stopped their clamor, not believing that someone was actually flying in the room. They looked on with wide eyes and dropped jaws. Botan hooked an arm around Kurama's waist and set him in front of her, then grabbed Hiei by the belt and stuck him over the oar behind her with a yelled order to hold on.
Nakuno stood behind the counter in a state of incredulous shock. This night had been different from the start, sure… but a blue-haired girl flying on an oar in his bar? That was a bit more than he was willing to swallow. Most of his patrons became quite subdued as they all watched the girl fly off with the two new bartenders. Their entertainment was gone, but he knew they'd all have a whopper of a tale to tell… That is, if anyone would believe the story from a drunk girl.
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A/N: WHEW… x_X @_@ That took SO bloody long to type up… and I know it took me… eek… like, four months to write… ___ I'm so sorry! I hope this will get me forgiven, please review as a token of good will? Thanks! I love you guys!!!
Kuroya: Thank you SO much! I seriously think that is about the best compliment I could receive when it comes to writing fan fiction. You're the best!! *glomps*
FreekothePenguin: *giggles* those are incredibly hilarious suggestions… If I didn't have it all planned out, I might consider it!!
l-Steph-Chan-l: Sorry… but I think the K-B fluffiness is played out in this fic. I wasn't intending it to be a romance story for those two, I merely had them coupled as a side factor, not plotline. Sorry to everyone this upsets. If you really want one, I may try to fit something in during the next chapter, ok? Gomen!
Angel: I love angry mobs! Woo-hoo!
ChibiLuver: Yes, I know I did… I've gone evil…
James- Yes you have, Hun, it's great! ^__^
…Oy. Next time, Gadget! …Or, the non-geek way to say goodbye… Bye!
-Draith
