A/N: Hooray for me, I listen to reviewers! First of all, I would like to let everyone know how happy and grateful I am for all your support and reviews! I have recently made my goal of 150 reviews on one story!! ^__^ I'm so happy! Secondly, part of the first scene in this chapter was quite unplanned at first, though reading my reviews spawned the basic idea. I've fulfilled a request of sorts, though in my own way. I do think this will be the last of that plotline, though, so enjoy it while you have it! ^_~
Chapter 10: This Is Why We Don't Get Drunk And Dance On Bar Tops Scene 1: AirborneBefore they even arrived in Spirit World, Botan knew that the boys were in no shape for a lecture. She had been able to keep Kurama steady on her oar by her arm around his waist —even with his arms stretching straight out and his yelling "I'm flying!" Hiei, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely. He kept whooping and yelling unintelligible sounds as she flew higher and higher towards the portal to ReiKai. He had fallen off the end of the oar more than once, Botan having to turn around and speed straight for the ground just to catch him in time.
After the third time, she stopped on top of a building and tied his belts to the last stick part of the oar, before it panned out at the end. However, after a few more minutes of flying, even though the white bands were still firmly fastened to the wood, there was significantly less weight pulling on the oar as they climbed. It was almost unperceivable—especially with Kurama's hollering—due to Hiei's small size, but Botan glanced back to find him gone once again. She stared at the empty pants in shock as they flapped in the wind. Finally registering that the demon was gone, she sighed in exasperation and turned around once more to re-gather him. She zoomed downward, carefully held Kurama to her, and searched for Hiei's falling body.
She realized with startling clarity then that if Hiei's pants were still tied to her oar, they were no longer on his body. Botan's eyes widened, then squinted almost shut as she thought of the possible sights she could be subjected to. "Kurama!" she yelled in front of her above the whistling wind in her ears, "Quick! Look, do you see Hiei anywhere?"
"I'm flying!"
"Kurama! This is important! Look for Hiei!!" she yelled again.
Kurama only repeated his new favorite phrase and completely ignored her instructions. Botan quickly opened her eyes, forcing herself to look for the small retreating form of Hiei. She found him quickly, and was quite relieved to see a pair of boxers around his waist and legs. Unfortunately, by this time his pants had found themselves loose from the oar, and had flown off.
Steadying her oar, she reached out with one arm, wrapped it around the other youkai's waist, and placed him in front of Kurama, forcing the redhead to keep an eye on him. This finally stopped his falling, but not his incessant hollering. Botan was getting concerned; drunk or not, this was HIEI. She had no clue how much they'd had to drink, and could get no intelligent answer out of either of them right then. They would have to sleep it off before they could do anything.
And so when Botan finally made it to ReiKai with her two charges, she headed straight for her room, bypassing Koenma's office completely. Hiei was passed out by that time, so she set him on the floor in the corner of her room. She figured he was used to trees, so a bed wouldn't be necessary for him. On the contrary, Kurama was conscious, though still quite drunk. Her oar gone, Botan had a hard time keeping him on his feet without falling herself.
"Come on, Kurama, work with me here… left foot, right foot… walk straight!" she tried to instruct him, easing her way towards the bed, but the demon would have none of it, and only repeated everything she said, while stumbling.
He chuckled at his own clumsiness; then started singing. Not just any song, however, he started singing the song that never ends. And he didn't show any signs of stopping by himself as he began spinning in a circle in the middle of Botan's bedroom.
"Ohh!" Botan had had just about enough of Kurama's foolishness, and walked over to stand beside him. She waited until his spinning brought him around to face her then grabbed both sides of his waist firmly. His whirling stopped and he blinked in surprise, looking a bit dizzy at the sudden stop in motion; but he didn't stop singing. "Kurama!" she tried to get him to stop by sheer whining ability, but it didn't appear to phase the youko in the slightest.
"…Yes it goes on and on my friend…"
Patience gone, Botan took one hand from Kurama's waist, cupped it behind his head, and pulled him towards her to kiss him. She could tell that at the moment this surprised him, as it took several moments for him to stop humming the song against her mouth and return the kiss.
He did return it, however, and wrapped his arms around her waist, puling her against him, while deepening the kiss. It was quickly becoming clear that Kurama's sobriety was no longer the point of the exercise. Nevertheless, just as it seemed he was possibly close to normal, he pulled away and hugged her, laying his head on her shoulder.
"…Kurama?" Botan said hesitantly. "Everything ok?"
He didn't answer, and his arms slid down from her waist… and fell limp at his sides, his head sitting heavily on her shoulder. The rest of his body leaned its weight against Botan as she held her arms around him. The alcohol had finally gotten to him; he'd passed out. With a sigh, she helped him over to lie on the bed. She debated a moment before walking to the other side and crawling in near him. At least that way she could keep an eye on him until he woke up. They'd both likely have horrible hangovers when they came to, but—pain or not—they'd still have to face Koenma. Botan draped an arm protectively over Kurama's waist, deciding to take a short nap as well while they all awaited the summons.
Scene 2: ReiKaiThe demi-god's mouth had stood open for over an hour. A line of drool had made itself a part of his visage by dangling out of the side of his mouth. His eyes were still wide with shock and disbelief. The view screen had been turned off twenty minutes earlier.
George, the ruler's faithful oni, was getting more nervous by the second, wringing his hands rather obsessively. "Uh… Koenma, sir? …The screen has been off for quite a while now; you can look away now, sir…" he tried to keep the nervous worry out of his voice, but, as always, failed miserably. George sounded as panicked as he did everyday.
Finally, after blue fingers had been waved and snapped in front of his face several times, Koenma blinked and seemed to come back. "Ogre!" he yelled, smacking the apprehensive oni's hand away. "What do you think you're doing?"
George stammered, unsure what to say to the angry toddler. "I, uh… but… Sir, you'd been staring at the screen for a long time, and it's off now, Sir…" He wisely backed up a step or two.
"Oh…" Koenma looked at the view screen as if he hadn't been staring at it for an hour. "Of course it is… I knew that, ogre, now watch yourself or you'll pay with spanking."
The oni's eyes grew wide and he pressed his hands together in a frightened plea. "Oh, please, Koenma, Sir… anything but spankings!"
"Stop it, ogre, you're embarrassing yourself. Now get me something to drink, my throat is dry…" Koenma finally sat back against his pillowed chair, arms crossed, eyes closed tightly as he did when he had a headache.
Knowing that Koenma's headaches were often dangerous to those around him, George opted not to mention the reason for his master's dry throat, and quickly scampered off with a "yes, Koenma, sir" to get a drink for him.
He had not been gone 20 seconds when a cry came from the office behind him. "Ogre!" the toddler was very impatient as a rule, and worse when he didn't feel his best. George hurried back to the room with a large glass of tea and a sweet biscuit, hoping to take the edge off of Koenma's mood. It worked as he'd hoped it would; the tea calmed Koenma's throat, the biscuit assuaged his appetite for the moment… However, neither affected his anger more than as a brief delay on the inevitable.
"Where's Botan, ogre? And why hasn't she reported in to me yet?" Koenma seemed quite eager to yell at the two reckless demons.
"She should have been back by now, sir, do you want me to find her?" After receiving quite an impatient yell from his boss, George quickly ran out of the office in search of the ferry girl and the delinquent demons.
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Drums.
A hammer, perhaps.
It was like a thunder-shock was running through his brain with every pound. Whatever was making that repulsive noise would have to pay for it. Dearly.
Hiei opened his eyes, preparing to kill whatever vile creature chose to injure his head in such a manner. But instead of seeing a beast to fight, he saw pink… lots… of pink… He immediately felt repulsed. Where in the hells did he end up last night? He let his eyes clear, and was startled at the scene before him. The ferry girl and the fox were cuddled up on a bed nearby. He began to wonder with desperation what had transpired the night before. At least what had happened before they arrived at what he could only guess was Botan's bedroom. He had no desire to know what went on after they had gotten there.
The horrible pounding rang through his fragile head again, and he could now recognize that it was someone knocking on the door—someone who didn't have long to live. He drew his katana.
As he was heading towards the door, however, Botan finally stirred on the bed, blinking and sitting up in response to the knock. "Mmm… who is it?" she yawned out sleepily. With another blink, her sleep-sanded eyes focused on Hiei… brandishing his sword and looking quite angry, "…Hiei… What are you doing?" she asked, trying to remain calm, but sounding nervous despite her effort.
Hiei paused long enough to look at her, glare at her, and she quickly stood up. "Whoever is pounding on the door is going to die," he said in his scarily calm, threatening tone of voice. That particular tone almost always scared the wits out of Botan… and that moment was certainly no exception. He started for the door again, and she quickly intercepted him, opening the door in front of him to protect whatever poor person was on the other side.
George stood in the hallway, still apprehensively wringing his hands, eyes darting about. Those fearful eyes settled on the fire demon's blade, and widened to the size of saucer plates. "Uhh…" he stammered, having lost his delicate train of thought with the impending threat.
Botan sighed. She knew why the oni was there; Koenma had summoned Kurama and Hiei to his office. She cringed inwardly at how horribly she knew it would go. Since the oni hadn't moved a muscle nor yet spoken a proper word, she decided to relieve him of his official burden. "Koenma has asked for Kurama and Hiei, right?" At the mention of his name, the diminutive apparition growled and pointed his sword menacingly at the oni outside the door.
Trying to avoid looking directly at Hiei, George managed, "Well… y-yes… he asked for you, but wanted to find them as well." He acted as if it was his hide sacrificed if Koenma's orders weren't fulfilled. In actual fact, due to spanking punishments, it was. When Botan nodded, his shoulders sagged slightly in relief, and he rushed off to inform his master.
Before Hiei could think of following him, Botan slammed the door shut. "For goodness' sake, Hiei," she scolded sternly, "put that thing away!"
"Hn," was the only reply the small demon deigned to offer, glaring at her, but seeing no point in keeping the katana ready now. Sheathing the sword, he glanced at his unconscious friend. "What happened last night, onna?" he demanded.
Walking over to the bedside with a sigh, Botan answered, "Nothing more than the two of you acting like children." She shook Kurama's shoulder gently, trying to wake him. "Kurama? A-are you awake?"
The only real response she received was a sleepy groan as the kitsune turned onto his back and squinted his eyes closed tighter against the brighter light of day.
Hiei scoffed and gave his trademark hn. "Get up, fox. The mighty Koenma has asked to see us," he sneered, the word "mighty" said as sarcastically as Hiei probably ever said a word in his life.
Kurama groaned once more, then forced himself to sit up, rubbing his temples. It took him a bleary moment or two to realize that his arms, back, chest and stomach were, in fact, exposed to the room. His face took on a startled expression, and he looked around, trying to spot where his shirt possibly could have been. Not finding it, he looked back at Botan with a bit of an embarrassed flush to his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Botan… What happened to my shirt?" His question confirmed Hiei's concern that he wasn't the only one who had no memory of the previous night's events.
Botan sighed and Kurama stood, if only to be out of her bed. "It's a very long story, boys, and I'm afraid it'd be better, actually, when you face Lord Koenma, if you DON'T remember what went on."
They nodded, and Kurama looked to Hiei, though the sight stopped any comment he had in mind, "Hiei…" he began, amused, "I've lost a shirt, but you've lost more than that…" he covered his mouth with his hand to hide his chuckle, though it didn't do much good as Botan giggled a little nervously.
"What do you mean, baka fox…" he looked down, and saw that he was clad only in his black boxers. His eyes widened in surprise. "….How…"
Botan pressed the tips of her index fingers together, trying to look innocent. "It happened on the ride to Spirit World… they fell odd…" she stopped when Hiei's eyes narrowed. "Well, they were tied to the oar, because you kept falling off of it, but you… fell out of them, really, and by the time I got you, they were gone."
"Hn."
"Hiei, do try to be a bit more understanding; we were drunk… I think…"
The ferry girl nodded. "Yes, you were. Very. Now Koenma is expecting you two, and I really think we ought not to make him wait long!" With that said, she started herding them both towards the door, shirt or no shirt, pants or not pants.
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Upon reaching the doors to Koenma's office, Botan beckoned the boys to wait outside, and poked her head inside to check on the toddler's mood. When her boss screamed, "GET IN HERE!" at the sight of her bouncing blue hair, Botan jumped and quickly opened the door, allowing Hiei and Kurama inside, and then followed them.
Koenma sat at his desk, arms still crossed, eyes closed against a headache, not having touched his current cup of tea. When the two demons approached him, he opened his eyes to look at them. This, of course, immediately resulted in a cry of surprise that both were shirtless, and Hiei pant-less. "What in the world did the two of you DO?!" Botan started to answer for them, and the demi-god promptly silenced her.
After a few moments of pained silence, Kurama finally found his voice, though his eyes never left their focus on the floor. "To be honest, Koenma, I do not have any memory of most of the night's events," he admitted.
Hiei was not so penitently studying the cloud colored floor tiles, though he was not looking Koenma in the eyes, either. He seemed to have taken a liking to silently glaring at the air in front of his face.
Koenma floated up to stand on the desktop, whether for a more imposing appearance or simply to view the others closer to eye level was unclear. "You don't remember?" he questioned, volume and tone of voice gaining a near shrill quality with the last word. His face was again red with anger, and even in so short a form, many would have been intimidated by his presence at that moment.
"No, Koenma. Not a thing," though his voice did not quaver, Kurama was clearly a bit nervous about the entire situation.
"I expected more from you, Kurama, than a drunken binge party…. At some human bar!" Koenma admonished, too upset to find his words fluidly. He sat down on the desk to hold his head once more; taking on the plaintive voice he favored so often when he got himself into trouble. "I have to fix this before my dad finds out… I can't let two demons run free, and apparently I can't trust them at all to have any sense about them…" he continued muttering to himself, each half insult eliciting a growl from Hiei.
Ever calm even through his anxiety, Kurama spoke up softly, "What do you intend to do with us, Koenma?" He finally met the ruler's eyes with his own, unable to inject the same placidity into their depths.
There was a length of awkward silence before Koenma addressed the fox's question. "Well," he began, gradually gaining self-assurance as he spoke, "If you two would keep a steady attitude I still think jobs are necessary. But since you've botched every chance I've given you so far, I'm not going to let you choose your own method of employment this time around. In fact," he took on a haughtier, knowing tone, "Your new jobs will serve as half-punishment for your untrustworthy behavior."
Both demons focused on Koenma then, more than a little nervous over the prospect of Koenma picking their jobs. "Hn," Hiei sneered, "So what are they."
"Yours, Hiei, will be," he thought for a moment, "tending to the elderly at a nearby nursing home." Hiei's eyes widened in disbelief and shock, but before he could say a word in protest, Koenma cut him off. "Kurama, yours will be working with a lumber company just outside of town. I don't want to hear another word out of the two of you and you'll both start at the beginning of the week." He motioned Botan to take the two shocked demons out of the office as he sat back down on his cushioned chair. The toddler watched them leave with a sigh. "I can't take much more of this, ogre… They better not mess up this time."
Poor naïve Koenma sat in his chair and tried to shut out the pressures of the living world and take a peaceful nap.
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A/N: Sorry this took me so long, but it hurt to type this up even with the cast off and pain medication @__@. Owwwwieee!!! __' Hope you forgive me for the delay, and that this satisfies everyone for the moment. The next chapter is over half finished, though none of it is typed, and we're approaching finals week… ICK!!
Ok, thanks for reading!!! As it hurts to type and I'm drowsy from the meds, I'll just say THANK YOU to all of my reviewers, and respond individually next time.
-Draith
