A/N: Your reviews have been wonderful, thanks! Sorry, sleep is essential to us fanfic writers. I'd love to email everyone whenever I update but I don't have the time. I hope you'll add me to your author's alert list if you're that into the story. I've got plenty of people on mine. : ) On with the fic!
Driven by Instinct, Guided to Love
Chapter Three: Out of Lust or Love?
Heavy panting was heard as the fire demon looming over the frightened ferry girl repeatedly lapped at the bleeding wound he'd left on the juncture of her neck and left shoulder. Every once in a while he would pause to transfer more of his youki into the bite mark or to dig his fangs back into the soft flesh, drawing out more of her delectable essence.
A claiming mark...Botan breathed...he bit me and now we're mates. This was completely unexpected to say the absolute least! Despite the unbelievable events that we're taking place the blue-haired woman tried to get a hold of herself. To assess the situation and think of some calm rational way to deal with it. Forget calm and rational! I've got a fire demon with raging hormones ON TOP OF ME!!!
With a contented sigh that sounded somewhere between a moan and a soft growl the half koorime allowed the wound to heal so that only a reddened scar remained. It was permanent so he hadn't anything to worry. Try as she might Botan would NEVER be able to make the scar fade. The truly remarkable thing about claiming marks was that they were life long. Nothing short of the marker's death could remove it. Even if by some cruel chance the area was burned or gouged it would reform once the skin grew back.
"My onna..." Hiei smiled triumphantly against her trembling chin, "...mine forever."
He...doesn't sound like himself. she realized, It's almost like he's being driven to do this subconsciously or something.
"Hiei!" she tried, "Please, stop this now! Don't you realize what you've done?!"
Looking up he placed a small bite on the edge of her jaw, "I know exactly what I've done koi. I've made you mine." Pushing himself forward with his elbows he tilted his head back and jerked the white scarf away.
Botan watched it fall to the floor, her bright magenta eyes widening when she felt most his weight momentarily lift off of her then saw his long black robe land on top of it. Looking up she gulped, noticing that Hiei had jerked the torn sleeve of his light blue top down over his shoulder exposing a rather suggestive area of his neck and left shoulder to the panicking female.
Smirking down at her with longing crimson eyes he repeated in an erotically husky tone, "I've made you mine onna. Now it's time you made me yours!"
Botan's irises and pupils nearly shrank out of existence upon hearing that. "H-Hiei! I-I...well you...you...can't just expect me to...what in the world?! I can't do THAT!"
Hiei's smirk rapidly turned into a snarling frown. "And why not?!" he snapped obviously displeased with her answer.
Sweating nervously Botan wracked her brain for an explanation that wouldn't get her throat ripped apart. "I-I just...well we were never that close and...Hiei don't kill me! I had NO IDEA that you liked me this way! Honestly I didn't, I swear!"
Leaning down so that his blazing red eyes and a few stray ebony strands of his bangs were all that the terrified woman could see he spoke; "Well now you know onna. I've always had a certain unexplainable fascination with you. For years I stayed back, trying to distance myself from you. But threatening you, demeaning you, scoffing and even throwing all of your incessant kindness and friendly efforts back in your face, nothing worked. And now..." he chuckled darkly, rather at himself or the ferry girl it was difficult to tell, "...now you've gone and worn me down. You've somehow slipped through my defenses and wormed your way into my very soul."
Her breaths became sharp and ragged. With each word he spoke the fire demon was drawing his mouth that much nearer to her own. The more aroused he became the stronger he grew. He had managed to grasp both her struggling arms in one hand. This left him a free hand which he ran down her side, sending shivers down her spine. By the time he'd finished his confession his free hand was tucked behind her head.
In a single fluid motion he grabbed the hair tie from her ponytail and slung it across the room, watching with hungry delight as her powder blue hair spilled over the lavender pillowcase and flowed like silken ribbons through his parted clawed fingers. "You're past my barriers now onna. An undeniable part of my soul. And I assure you," he chuckled again, "that once you're in, there's no way out."
Before she could utter a sound of surprise the fire demon had pressed his lips tightly against her own. The tender rows of pinkish flesh were already starting to bruise under his demanding onslaught. Forcefully he slid his tongue past her lips and ran it over the roof of her mouth, the inside of her cheeks, before finally finding her own tongue and waging an easy battle for dominance.
Botan was so shocked she couldn't think, couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but lay there and feel...feel all that he was doing to her, feel the heat from his breath and the warmth of his tongue, and utterly helpless to resist.
His extreme lower abdomen was grinding against her body in highly suggestive ways. This caused a most embarrassing reaction for the already quivering ferry girl. She felt a heat develop far in the depths of her own body and shut her eyes tightly in a futile attempt to block out all that was going on around and within her.
Hiei PLEASE don't do this! she pleaded telepathically, I know something's wrong. We'll fix this—somehow—you've just got to get a grip on yourself so we can work this out before it's too late!
Fortunately for her Hiei's Jagan Eye had been active ever since his trip over to her apartment. Unfortunately for her, her pleas were falling on deaf ears. Hn, baka onna, it's already too late. You're mine now, and before this night is over you will make me yours!
With that they broke apart, Hiei giving 'his onna' time to breathe. As she gasped for air he watched her with confusion evident in his glowing scarlet eyes.
I don't understand. Why won't she give in? Why won't she accept me as her mate?! the more he contemplated her outright refusal to mark him the angrier the short fire youkai became. Perhaps...perhaps I simply haven't impressed her enough. I'll just have to prove to her that I'm a strong and suitable mate. Then she'll mark me and willingly bare my kodomo.
Botan watched breathlessly as some sort of inner debate took place in the hazed mind of the lusty black and white haired demon. With the Jagan Eye he possessed the ability to read her thoughts and send her telepathic messages and images. She only wished that she had such ability. At best all she could do was scream out a desperate thought in her mind and only hope that Hiei's Jagan Eye would pick it up. In this case it was easier for her to communicate with him because he had his third eye locked onto her mental wavelength.
"Hiei," she said softly, "I-I'm not sure what's come over you. But I promise to do my best to help." Trying to remain calm and focused as his blood red orbs centered in on her while she continued, "If...if you'd just let me up we could call Kurama or Koenma and-"
The ferry girl screamed out in pain when Hiei's clawed fingers suddenly tightened around her pinned wrists. His crimson eyes blazed with intense fury and a deep throated growl echoed off the walls. "Leave the kitsune and the thumb-sucking brat OUT OF THIS!"
Hiei's warning and harsh reaction alarmed Botan greatly, he'd never been a stranger to threatening but he'd never taken it this far before! "H-Hiei I'm sorry!"
His heart wrenched when her saw her cringe and turn her head away from him. Tears of fright spilled from her thick black lashes and ran over her pillowcase. Mentally cursing he found some small shred of his normal self. For a moment he was able to cling to his sanity. He actually felt remorse for scaring the 'baka onna' so badly.
Releasing her injured wrists he brought his hands to either side of her face and turned her head towards him. "Onna..." he wore an unusual pained expression, "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I-I don't know what came over me."
In lieu of a response she stared at him a few brief seconds then hugged him close, burying her face against his chest, letting her head rest in the curve of his neck, and sobbed piteously.
Hiei you baka youkai! he berated himself; See what you've done now! You've made the ferry onna cry! What was I thinking?!
Her tears subsided sooner than he'd expected and she pulled away with a reddened, tear-stained face. He gingerly wiped her eyes dry with his finger feeling awful about being the cause of her sorrow.
Sniffling a bit now she managed to give him a small smile. "Thanks Hiei, I'm so grateful you came back to your senses."
"Hn, don't thank me onna," he frowned, looking down at her collar bone, "I was the one who got you this upset. I was the one who lost my temper, tackled you, and..."
She stiffened as his gaze traveled up along her collar bone right to the juncture between her neck and shoulder. She felt his fingers softly brush against the claiming mark. The seriousness of what had just happened loomed over them both like a dark foreboding storm cloud. This wasn't over, the mark was there now. It was a permanent reminder of what had just happened. It would tempt the eager fire demon to no end. His youki emanated from the area as an announcement to all that Botan was his.
"Baka onna," he murmured, "you should've hit me."
"I would have," Botan admitted with downcast eyes, "but, my bat was under my pillow and you had my wrists pinned above my head."
Hiei snatched her hands and scanned her bruised wrists with increasing guilt. He had hurt her, marked her, doomed her. "Botan..."
Her eyes widened, "What?"
Meeting her gaze he muttered, "Botan...I-I swear, I had no control over this. It was, I completely lost myself to my youkai desires I-"
"You, said my name." she beamed.
Hiei looked a bit taken aback that she was so amazed by such a simple acknowledgement. "Uh....yes, Botan. Isn't that what the detective and the other girls are always calling you?"
Oh great, now he had gotten her name wrong! And on his very first time of calling it to her face! Wait...that was it! "Botan," he repeated, this WAS the first time that he'd ever used it when speaking to her! That must have been why she was so overjoyed! Hn, human girls sure were easy to please.
Before another word could be exchanged a loud beeping noise arose from the right pocket of Botan's black over shirt.
"Um," the ferry girl blushed, "do you mind? I—uh—have to take this call."
His own cheeks reddening Hiei fake coughed and pushed himself off of her. Scooting to the far end of the bed so that he wouldn't be seen by the caller he watched as Botan sat up at the headboard then flipped open her communication mirror.
"Um, hello Koenma sir," she greeted really playing up the cheer and tugging her collar up near her neck so that her boss wouldn't see the claiming mark. She heard a faint growl from Hiei but he quickly turned away with a blush when she glanced over her shoulder.
"Ah Botan! There you are!" Koenma exclaimed, "I was trying to catch you before you left Reikai but I guess you were afraid of putting in more overtime with these darn cases. Can't say I blame you, the paperwork here is murder!"
"Ahaha...yes Lord Koenma sir, is there something you needed to tell me?" she asked, growing nervous when she noticed Hiei staring intently at her from the far corner of the bed. His scarlet orbs were starting to get that unnerving, hazed over look from before.
"Well yes actually," the tiny ruler continued, "it seems we've got a bit of a situation on our hands here. And the problem lies in our own ranks if you can believe that!"
"Koenma sir, enough with the small talk. Can't we just cut to the chase?!" Botan hastily inquired while trying to maintain her cheerful façade. Hiei's breathing had become a bit erratic as he turned his upper body to fully face her now. She could almost swear she saw a bit of drool spill over his bottom lip. That unexplainable fire below her waist was starting to flare up again as well, signaling to her that things were about to get 'complicated' again very soon...
Eyeing the ferry girl suspiciously for a moment the bureaucratic ruler of Reikai finally shrugged it off and continued, "It's like this: since the beginning of the Koorime race, ice maidens have always borne twin girls on their hundredth birthday. It's sort of their individual mating season—only—without the mating. And Ayame has recently come across a rather disturbing bit of information on our friend Hiei, the half koorime."
Gulping Botan already had a pretty good idea of what her ferry girl friend had found. She desperately swatted the frustrated youkai's hand away. He seemed intent on pulling the black collar away from her claiming mark. Luckily she managed to keep him off screen. "S-so Koenma, don't keep me in suspense. W-what did you find out?"
Leaning closer to his screen Koenma's eyes narrowed into thin slits as his young countenance took on a serious, secretive air. "Hiei, as it turns out, is ninety-nine years of age."
Botan let out a yelp when one of Hiei' clawed hands crept up and gave her right breast a rather tight squeeze. Fortunately Koenma only had a shoulders up view of the panicking girl.
"Um Botan..." Koenma arched an eyebrow, "is everything okay? You're behaving rather strangely today."
"Oh n-nothing's wrong Koenma sir. OW!" poor Botan tried desperately to keep up the normalcy act while prying a certain horny fire demon's sharp claws away from her chest. "E-everything's just peachy here. I'm here, alone, just resting and—EEP!! That's it!"
WHAP!!!
Koenma winced at the loud slap that resounded over the communicator. "Uh Botan?"
"FINE!" she flashed a triumphant tooth revealing grin. "Everything's just fine on this end sir. Now what was it you were going to say?"
Tugging at his collar Koenma decided he would never understand girls, especially not bubbly ferry girls like Botan. "Well to make a long story short, Hiei will be driven by his koorime instincts to create offspring on his hundredth birthday. And since he is a male and does not possess the ability to reproduce asexually he will most likely seek out a mate and obtain children through her."
The ruler of Spirit World watched in stupor as the image of the blue-haired ferry girl on his screen started to twitch and whimper. This was getting weird.
"Y-you don't say...hundredth birthday huh?" Botan stammered, well THIS explained a lot. "And when exactly is Hiei's next birthday?"
Sighing Koenma replied, "Just two short days from now I'm afraid."
"O-oh, how nice. I'll have to remember to get him a card." and with that she promptly fainted.
Koenma fell out of his chair when he saw two running sneakers fly up into view. FAINTED?! What on Earth would make her do a thing like that?!
As the pint sized toddler struggled back up into his large swirling desk chair he was greeted by the sound of deep menacing laughter. He'd heard that laugh somewhere before...
Mahogany eyes tripling in size Koenma began to panic, "H-HIEI?! What the heck are YOU doing in Botan's apartment?!"
A smug reply came through the increasing static and fuzz. "Hn, I just thought I'd celebrate my birthday early."
With that the connection was severed leaving Koenma staring at a blank screen. His left eyebrow twitching and his pacifier rolling about on his desk having falling from his dropped jaw. Oh boy, I'm in trouble for this one!
Somewhere in the middle of the Yusuke's hometown...
"Hehe...I'm so glad you agreed to come spend the day with me my little snow bunny!" an orange-haired young man exclaimed.
He was happily following a green-haired beauty down the sidewalk while carting a large pile of boxes with shopping bags hanging from either arm.
"Oh it was very nice of you to invite me Kazuma," Yukina turned and smiled warmly at him. This made the man melt into a pile of mush; there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to be the object of her attention.
"Well nothing's too good for my girl." he boasted, "Nope; nothing makes me feel better than treatin' my ice queen to a day on the town."
Just before she turned back around he caught a faint glimpse of a worried frown etched upon her usually bright and optimistic features.
"Hey, Yukina my sweet, what's wrong?" he inquired, increasing his pace so that he was walking right beside her now.
"Oh I'm sorry Kazuma," she tried to plaster on the smile again, "I am happy to be here with you. It's just—well—I'm afraid I've had a lot on my mind lately."
"Like what?" Kuwabara persisted.
Looking away with a shameful expression she stopped to stare at her reflection in a shop window. "I don't know Kazuma....I-"
"Aw c'mon baby!" he begged, "There's nothing you can't tell your super strong lover boy hero!"
Giggling slightly at his antics she resumed her walk back to the side street where her companion had parked. It was a short distance and when they arrived Kuwabara quickly shuffled the merchandise around in his arms so that he could unlock and open the passenger's door for Yukina. With a small bow she thanked him and sat down buckling her seat belt while he put the items in the trunk.
He's been so nice to me. she thought as she watched him in the rearview mirror. He had managed to organize all the bags and packages so that they'd fit in the trunk yet he couldn't get the lid to stay shut. I-I'm not sure why but I really feel bad having to tell him that in just two short days I'll be a mother-to-be and he'll...will he still want to spend so much time with me?
A solitary tear trailed down her cheek and fell to the floorboard as she contemplated the possibility of losing her dearest friend in the world because of her koorime heritage. She would have to reproduce, it wasn't her choice. Her body would do exactly what it was made to do, bare children, female twins. She felt so helpless and alone...none of the others had any children yet. Even Keiko and Yusuke weren't expecting. Of course they'd only been married for about half a year and according to what she'd learned of humans that wasn't too long not to bear young.
The sound of a car door opening and closing snapped her attention back to her outing with Kazuma. Sitting up straight she flashed him a grin then focused her eyes straight ahead waiting for the car to be started.
After a few moments of remaining motionless her gaze traveled curiously to her companion. Kuwabara was staring her floorboard. Looking down she gasped. There—at her feet—was a glaringly obvious telltale sign that she had been crying.
Curse these tear gems! she thought.
"Yukina," Kuwabara began softly, moving to place a hand over her shoulder, "if something's wrong, please tell me. I can't stand to see you so unhappy."
Struggling to hold back tears she buried her face in her hands. "Oh Kazuma! I want to tell you! I really do! But—but I'm afraid! I'm afraid that you won't want to be with me anymore if you find out..."
"Find out what?!" Kuwabara asked alarmed, he was terrified that she was going to say that she had some incurable life-threatening disease, or that she would have to go away forever back to the floating island, or that...Oh no! She's got a boyfriend?!
"...that I'm...going to be a mother!" she finished with a heavy sob.
The orange-haired man's eyes nearly popped completely out of his head. A mother? Well...that's really kinda worse than already having a boyfriend. Wonder who the father's supposed to be?
Despite this crushing blow he still felt obligated to comfort his coveted ice maiden. "Yukina, it's...okay. I-I understand."
"You do?" she asked hopefully as he gently patted her shoulder.
He nodded, "Yeah."
Her mood instantly brightened and she leaned over, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her crimson eyes shone with unbridled joy. "Kazuma! I'm so glad! I was so foolish not to tell you sooner!"
Smiling sadly he spoke in what he hoped was a supportive tone, "Aw, ya know ya can always tell me anything. B-But," he removed his hand from her back and balled it into a tight fist, "if he ever hurts you, and I mean EVER, I swear I'll make him BEG for death!"
"Huh?" Yukina pulled away and stared up at him in confusion, "What are you talking about Kazuma? Him who?"
"Ya know, that guy that you...um...the one whose kids you're havin'." he blushed at having to explain.
She tried to hold it in, she really did, but poor sweet Yukina couldn't help but burst into laughter at Kuwabara's naivety concerning Koorime.
Now it was Kuwabara's turn to be baffled. "Um, hey! Yukina I'm glad you're not crying anymore or anything but you really should be takin' this whole mom thing a bit more seriously."
"Ka-Kazuma!" she squealed between bouts of laughter, "I-I'm SORRY!" tears were rolling down her face as she thought of what she would have to explain. "I-I'm not having any man's baby!"
Kuwabara raised an eyebrow. Uh...nope! Don't even go there Kazuma! his sister's voice threatened in his mind...it may have been his conscience but it sounded an awful lot like his big sister.
Wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her sweater she continued, "I'm a Koorime right?"
"Right..." he nodded slowly.
"Well, hehe, Koorime don't mate and um...reproduce the way humans and even most demons do." she managed.
"Okay..."
"In fact, we kind of have offspring all on our own. Twin girls, on our hundredth birthday." she only hoped this was sinking in.
Kuwabara stared at her silently, blinking a few times, trying to digest this new information. "So...you're sayin' that on your next birthday you're gonna make your own babies?"
"Yep." she nodded, happy that she wouldn't have to go through this again.
"And you'll get pregnant all on your own?!" he seemed utterly dumbfounded by this.
"Mm-hmm." she blushed a bit embarrassed. Maybe she would have to explain again.
"...whoa." he gasped.
Sweat dropping Yukina tried to keep smiling while she attempted to decipher what was going on in that strange head of his.
Finally he spoke, clasping both her hands in his. "Never fear my love! For I—Kazuma Kuwabara—man of honor, huge muscles, and integrity shall volunteer myself as devoted husband to you and loving father to our children!"
Now it was Yukina who wore the look of complete shock. "W-what?"
"That's right my angel!" he continued, "You won't have to raise those darling girls alone. I promise to remain by your side and give them a father and all the wonderful luxuries they deserve!"
"That's very kind of you Kazuma but-"
"And I'll do it all, because of my undying love for you my sweet." he finished grandly with a bow.
Oh my goodness, she wondered, is he serious?!
Amanda/Artiste: Once again, please review. The power of sleep deprivation compels me to keep writing when inspired and then sleep follows cause my creative mind is FINALLY worn out enough to rest. FYI there WILL be a LEMON next chapter! Plus, Kuwabara has just two days to prove to Yukina that he's serious about the whole "devoted husband and loving father" thing. Will he succeed? And what's a knee-high ruler to do? Why call in someone else to handle the problem of course! That's all next time on Yu Yu Hakusho (fanfiction chapter)!
