(3-17-05) Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everyone!
Thank you for your reviews, and a special thank you to the people who wished me a happy birthday. :D
I have 256 reviews as of right now. I love you all (in that... friend sorta way)
Since the Lord of the Rings is mentioned in this chapter, I suppose I should disclaim ownership and association.
I have nothing to do with the Lord of the Rings. I own the soundtracks. That's it.
This freakin' thing takes out my dividers, so I gotta use this damned horizontal ruler thing to divide scenes! I don't even know where all it's supposed to go! Evil, stupid QuickEdit.
Okay, Kayrana, I accept the titleof first or second ruler of random-randomness! Jeesh!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...
"It's hard for a girl to go through school, you know, when every single human female in the school hates her because she's friends with you," Shadow said as she received yet another dirty look for walking through the hall with Kurama. "I feel very disliked."
"Not everyone hates you because you're friends with me. Some hate you because you're so close to Hiei... Others hate you because you're close to both of us..."
"Thanks, fox. Thanks a lot."
"What! Then there's those who are jealous because you're beautiful, jealous because you're smart, jealous because you're smart, beautiful, friends with me, and friends with Hiei"
Shadow slapped her hand over his mouth, stopping him.
"I appreciate the compliments, but in contest, they aren't really very flattering."
"Context, Shadow," he corrected, prying her hand away.
"Shut up!"
They stepped into Health, taking their seats in the back of the room. Eclipse was not with them, for when her parents had returned home and found out about her very short prison stay, they'd forbidden her from leaving the house for fear that perhaps she'd get arrested for good next time. To hopefully prevent another prison stay, her parents had searched her room for: drugs, porn, anything combustable, pictures of boys, notes from boys, notes from girls, pictures of girls, anything dealing with love, crime, sex, death, or paranormal; books with more then 665 pages, staffs of the devil, pitchforks, sharp things, anything that could be huffed (i.e. cheese in a can, under-the-sink cleaning products, etc), weapons of mass destruction, weapons of minor destruction, dogs, cats, boys, Satan, Americans, rappers, anything made in China, and video games that did not involve the main character skipping around throwing flower petals. Then they chained her door shut, barred her windows, and brought in only balanced, healthy meals three times a day.
Upon entering the room, Shadow received death glares from every Shuuichi Minamino fan in the entire room.
"Is it just me, or have I gotten a lot more evil looks today than every day so far this year combined?" she said quietly as she settled herself next to Kurama.
"I did notice you've been getting dirty looks much more frequently..."
"School sucks."
The tardy bell rang and Etsuko-sensei hurried into the room. "Good afternoon class! How is everyone?"
Silence.
"Did anybody have any experiences Health-related over the weekend? Anything dealing with what we've been discussing?"
And instantly, the entire class turned around and looked directly at Shadow. Etsuko-sensei looked at her curiously.
"Shadow-san?"
"I didn't do anything over the weekend," she said, horrified. "I slept almost all of Saturday and what little of Sunday I wasn't asleep, I was fighting street gangs on the bad side of town with flaming toothpicks!"
The loathing glares intensified. Even Kurama shifted uncomfortably, being so close to the subject of such hatred.
"That's not what everybody around school is saying," one boy towards the front of the room announced. "Rumor is, Shadow had sex with the gym teacher!"
Shadow's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Then she snapped her teeth shut and narrowed her eyes hatefully. "Whoever started that rumor is full of it."
"My friend said she overheard you telling Eclipse on Friday," another girl said.
Kurama put his hand on Shadow's arm to calm her. Etsuko-sensei was smiling kindly.
"It's okay, Shadow-san. If you're embarrassed, don't be. Sex is"
"I'M A VIRGIN, LADY! And if I'd had sex with a friggin' gym teacher who's twice my age, I certainly wouldn't be announcing it in public!"
"Very well, then. We'll move on, but if you ever want to talk about your sex life, remember I'm always here."
Shadow snorted. "I'm not. I'm outta here. Assholes. You're all assholes." She got up and paused behind Kurama. "Except you, Shuuichi." She kissed his cheek before continuing out of the room. Kurama turned slightly red as the gazes turned on him, then extremely abruptly jumped up and ran out of the room. The door slammed behind him.
"Shadow!" he snapped. She was only a few feet ahead of him, so she paused for him to catch up. "What the hell was that for?"
She shrugged. "Felt like it. You know the bitch in me is always looking for ways to piss people off, even when it could result in my own death."
"Well that's stupid," he snapped. "Now you're doomed for sure. I'd bet everybody in the school is going to gang up on you after school today."
"I'll whoop 'em."
"I know! That's the problem!"
"Why's it a problem? What the fuck! So you're on their side now?"
"No, Shadow... It's because you're not allowed to seem out of the ordinary!"
"I know martial arts. There's people in the world who know martial arts."
"But a sixteen-year-old girl shouldn't be able to take on an entire school population!"
"Then I'll recruit your and Hiei's help."
"Shadow!"
"What?"
Kurama sighed and leaned against the wall, rubbing his temples. "This is all Yusuke's fault, you know. He had to go and say you couldn't survive in school. He just HAD to say it!"
"Yeah. Blame him. I'm going to the gym." She spun and left. Kurama watched her go, then snapped his brain into action and ran after her.
"You can't go to the gym!"
"I am."
"But that's even more suspicious! You've got to work to get rid of the rumor, not reinforce it!"
"Rumors don't really bother me. I was just being overdramatic back there."
Kurama sighed as they took the turn into the gym. "What if everyone in here heard the rumor too?"
"Then they heard the rumor. They'll harass us, we'll yell at them, Hiei can give them all detention, the world will continue to turn."
Indeed, it seemed everyone in Hiei's gym classes had all heard the rumor. They'd been smart enough not to ridicule him about it (at least, most of them had), but when Shadow walked into the gym, all activity seemed to pause for a heartbeat, and when it continued, it was slowereveryone was watching them. Shadow didn't care. She marched right over to Hiei.
"Hiei! There's a rumor going around the school that we had sex! Who started it?"
The fire demon's eyes widened a bit. "How do you expect me to know?"
"You're smart."
Hiei sighed. "Yeah, people have been acting oddly, I heard some whispers about it... Why aren't you in class?"
"Because people in there all told the health teacher I had sex with you, so then she was all like, trying to counsel me on my sex life. I told her I'm a virgin, and complained about you being twice my age, of course I didn't have sex with you! Pfft! What're they thinking?"
"She was a little overdramatic," Kurama muttered. "Just a tad."
Hiei opened his mouth to speak, then noticed half the gym class had stopped whatever they'd been doing to stare at him. He glared. "STOP STARING! Staring does not in any way strain the body!"
"Unless you stare long enough your eyes dry up, then you have to strain to see for the rest of your life," Shadow muttered. Hiei ignored her.
"Get back to work!" They did, but it was still the calmer, slower, quieter work of people all cooperating on listening in on a private conversation. Hiei sighed. "Have I mentioned how much I hate this job?"
"Hey, well, aren't you starting at the prison tonight?"
Hiei nodded. "I've had a few people mention that to me... I expected rumors about that, but I don't know who the hell would start a rumor about us having sex. Unless it was Ryu."
"He wouldn't do that!" Shadow said. "He's a nice kid."
"He's a ningen."
"So?"
"So he's a ningen. I don't like them," Hiei said flatly. Kurama smiled.
"Yet you associate with them on a daily basis..."
"Not my choice, fox."
"So... How exactly is this job thing going to go?"
Hiei shrugged. "I have to be there at ten, and I get off at six in the morning."
"That doesn't leave a whole lot of time for sleep," Kurama pointed out.
"No shit, Captain Obvious. I'll sleep after I get home from here."
"What about when the soccer team has practice? Aren't those two hours long?"
"Around there."
"So by the time you're done with that, you've got a little more than four hours before you have to go back to work."
Hiei nodded. "So?"
"Is that really good for you? I mean, I know you're strong and everything, but that could take its toll on even you, Hiei."
"Shut up, Kurama. I can function for a week on no sleep whatsoever. Four hours is plenty."
"And where does eating fit into this? And bathing and social time?"
"Social time." Shadow snorted. "What's that? Hiei doesn't have social time."
Kurama frowned. "What do you call the time he spends with you?"
"Not social time."
"Does it matter what it's called?" Hiei asked. "Point is, I won't have much of it. That concerns you, fox?"
"Yeah."
"I'll still have weekends. Why does it concern you so much?"
"Well, now that... y'know. You're gonna go off and never be around each other."
"I could hang out with him in the middle of the night at the police station or where ever the hell he'll be," Shadow said, shrugging.
"I don't think they like people hanging out at police stations."
"They can deal with it. I'll tell them I have to because my counselor is worried I don't have enough time around my good friend Hiei what with him having two jobs and all..."
"I still don't think"
"It doesn't matter," Hiei said flatly. Both of them silenced instantly. "We'll work it out. Thing is, I'm not in prison anymore, I've got two asshole bosses, and what compensation am I getting for all this?"
"Money," Kurama said, shrugging.
"Sex?" Shadow offered questioningly. Hiei snorted.
"Good one, Shadow. You know that's the word every person in this gym is just waiting to hear. Now they're listening even more raptly than before."
"I know. That's why I said it out loud."
Kurama and Hiei both looked a little confused. They just nodded. "Right. Whatever."
"I wonder if they'd hear me if I said I wanted to brutally murder principal Yamashita."
"Of course they would. I did."
Shadow bit her lip as Yamashita's voice echoed across the gym. "Damned timing." Hiei snorted.
"Jaganshi, you have detention to serve tonight with Tayama. He does not have a class next period and is requesting you are sent to his room early. I trust she will not miss anything she can't make up in here, Jaganshi?"
"No." Hiei looked past Yamashita at his still and silent class. "GET BACK TO WORK! I CAN FLUNK YOU ALL, YOU KNOW!"
They instantly busied themselves with whatever they'd been doing.
"What are you doing in here, Minamino?" Yamashita snapped. "I know Jaganshi is skipping class and she'll make up double the work she missed, but you? What are you doing?"
"Apparently I'm also skipping class, sir," Kurama muttered.
"Detention. Go to the office."
Kurama's eyebrow twitched, but he said nothing as he turned and walked away, elegant still in his annoyance. It's got to be difficult to be so perfect all the time... Perhaps it just comes to him naturally, though.
All the fangirls in the class instantly went into an uproar, rushing to Kurama and swarming around him, trying to stop him and argue that Yamashita was being unfair, all of them offering to go beat him down or at least try to plead his case. Kurama, in his characteristic Shuuichi Minamino way, managed to assure them that he would take the punishment without complaint; it was his duty, of coursehe'd committed the misdemeanor, he'd take the punishment for it. Then, with overdramatic valiance, he squared his shoulders and walked from the gym in such a way that caused most of the girls to swoon at his 'bravery'. Shadow and Hiei watched, right eyes twitching in unison. Yamashita frowned a bit.
"He's our prize student..." he reminded himself, sighing.
"Yeah! And you just gave him detention!" Shadow snapped. "Does that not give you any sense of wrongdoing? No guilt will fester in your dark little heart as you lay alone in bed tonight? Won't it plague you for the rest of your life? Will you not lie tossing and turning at night, knowing you gave the top student and most beloved boy in Mieou High a detention? You're a turrible person, Utemaro Yamashita, and you should be ashamed of yourself! Turrible! Absolutely awful." Shadow crossed her arms and turned her back with a hmph! "Turrible. I just can't believe it. I'm... I'm so lost for words! I am aghast at your nerve! Turrible. TURRIBLE!"
"Go to detention!" Yamashita snapped. "Minamino's just the same as anyone else when he breaks the rules!"
"But he taught here!"
"Go to Tayama-sensei's classroom."
"But I have like, twenty minutes!"
"NOW."
Shadow frowned. "Won't he be pissed at me for interrupting his class?"
"Go. I'm sure he'll find something for you to do to stay out of his way."
The girl's frown deepened. "Fine. Ass. Bye Hiei, see you after school."
"Last game of the year is today," Hiei said. Shadow swore again.
"So, what time? Seven?"
Hiei shrugged. "Probably earlier than that. It's at four."
Shadow nodded. "Okay. Well then, I'm off to do whatever Tayama wills me to!" She skipped away, pushing through the still-congregated Shuuichi Minamino Fanclub of Jaganshi-sensei's Current Physical Education Teaching Session.
"You, Jaganshi."
Hiei looked up at him, looking most inhospitable.
"I need to speak to you in private."
"What about?"
"I said in private. You have an office, don't you?"
"Yes. I suppose you want to go there?"
Yamashita glared. Hiei sighed and led the way. Once in his office with the door shut, he turned back to the principal.
"What do you want?"
The man looked furious. "How the hell did you get off a prison sentence?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ryobe pressed charges!"
"Ryobe...?" He pretended to think. "I'm drawing a blank. Who's Ryobe?"
"The man you nearly murdered!"
Hiei blinked and told the biggest lie in the world. "I've never murdered anyone in my life."
"I don't care! How did you get off a prison sentence!"
"I told you I have contacts all over the city. I told you you'd regret calling the cops. To intensify that, I had to share a cell overnight with a bisexual man who is obsessed with a good friend of mine."
Yamashita didn't look like he cared in the least. "I'm going to look you up, Jaganshi. I want to know why the hell you can go from being fourteen to thirty in two years. I want to know how you can dodge a prison sentence like the one Ryobe was sure to get you. I want to know why you think you're so much better than me and continue insulting me when I'm your superior and I could have you fired."
"Only ningen society makes you my superior, Yamashita."
God, how he hated ningens.
"Neither you nor your little Ryobe friend is my superior."
They were so arrogant, so stupid.
"And I know you want to expose me for what I am."
This part was going to hurt.
"Let me tell you, Yamashita. I'm just a human, like you and your friend and every student in this school."
Ouch. Oh, God, he felt icky now.
"I don't know what you think I am, what you think I'm hiding, but you're wrong. I'm not hiding anything."
At least, nothing Yamashita needed to know.
The principal glared, eyes wide and face red with fury.
"You will regret this all, Jaganshi. Once I find out the truth, you will regret it," he growled. Then he turned and tore open Hiei's office door. It slammed into the rubber stop on the wall and bounced back, shutting behind him. Everybody in the gym class witnessed principal Yamashita's furious exit from the gymnasium, and a few minutes later, they witnessed Hiei oh-so-calmly saunter out of the locker room, hands in his pockets and not looking in the least bit concerned that he'd just royally pissed off his boss.
Let him try to find out anything about me, he thought, climbing up the bleachers and sitting at the top. He'll only find out what Koenma put in the ningen records. He rather abruptly realized he had no idea what Koenma had put in the ningen records. Perhaps he should find out, so if Yamashita interrogated him, he would know what was going on. This job was proving to be a lot less pleasant than he'd expected (and that was saying a lothe hadn't been planning on a pleasant job here to start with).
Shadow sauntered into Tayama's classroom without knocking, right in the middle of his lecture. When he rounded on her to shout, she simply said, "Yamashita sent me. What am I doing?"
"Sit in the back. Wait until I'm done."
She obeyed, and sat at one of the back lab tables with her chin resting on her arms until the bell rang. Tayama stalked back to her and pointed to a stack of... things... in a sink.
"My upper classes had lab today," he said. "There is a very specific procedure for cleaning the dissection materials. It is posted above the sinks. I expect every single object in every sink in here to be cleaned to my satisfaction. Get to work."
And so, Shadow did. It seemed all she'd done in detention since the beginning of the year was clean (whether it be bathrooms, floors, offices, classrooms, desks, or every TV screen and computer monitor in the building) and do extra bookwork. Neither of these activities much displeased her. If she didn't get something done in class, she did it in detention. If she got everything done, she had a list of extra work from all her teachers. She could pick and choose the extra work for the classes she needed extra credit most in. Being as she didn't really need it in any class, she picked what she found most entertaining or what gave her the most leisure.
Yamashita came into the detention room (which was a dim and most unpleasant roomalmost like a prisonhousing one window that was usually covered by a dark curtain, its own personal bathroom, a large table at which she was rarely the only one seated, and absolutely no decorations on the walls) every twenty minutes. Already in the first couple months of school she'd gained the amazing ability to sleep with her eyes open for eighteen-minute intervals. All she needed now was to be able to write comprehensible Japanese in her sleep and she'd be all set to sleep through detentions for the rest of the year. Having tried the writing in her sleep thing a couple times and coming out with a paper scribbled in something only she could read, she'd written something about the secret of the universe having something to do with chocolate-covered cherries, an acid trip, and a rather deadly recipe for vodka. Upon hearing this "secret of the universe," Kurama had pleaded with her to never, ever attempt to write in her sleep again. It was only later he wondered how she had jurisdiction over the act of writing, but not the words she wrote, in her sleep.
And so, Shadow scrubbed the guts off the dissection trays. Trying to identify the creature these parts had come from had quickly been an idea she'd discarded, and instead she'd taken to singing the ancient Neanderthal equivalent of 'Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.' It wasn't the best choice to sing, as they hadn't had the clearest language in the world, and Tayama threatened her with more detentions if she continued with her spouting of "musical obseneties."
Meanwhile, Yamashita, being majorly pissed off, was flipping out on our dearly beloved fox-boy in his office."YOU'RE OUR STAR PUPIL! HOW COULD YOU SKIP CLASS? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SET AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER STUDENTS! DON'T EXPECT ANY LENIENCE IN THIS MATTER JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE THE FAMOUS SHUUICHI MINAMINO!"
"I don't, sir. I do have a question, though, if you'd be so kind as to answer it."
"What!"
"What'd Hiei do to tick you off so bad, sir? Because I know it was him. Was he flaunting his superiority again?"
"GET OUT OF MY OFFICE! YOU HAVE DETENTION! I TRUST YOU KNOW WHERE TO GO?"
"Yes sir." Kurama turned and left, looking absolutely solemn, but Yamashita missed his smirk and the slight chuckle as he shut the principal's office door. He went to the detention room at the last bell like a good little boy and sat amongst the delinquents there. Youko was stirring in the back of his head, happy with his little defiance.
"Now why don't you do that more often, Shuuichi?" the fox questioned. Kurama chuckled mentally.
"You know why, Youko. Now please, If I'm going to be in detention, I might as well act like I'm studying."
"You can act while we talk."
"What are we going to talk about, Youko?"
The fox had no answer at first. He just sighed. Then he said, "How about you and Eclipse?"
Kurama's eyes narrowed. His face was hidden by his hand, his head bowed over his math book and his fingers in his hair, forehead resting on the heel of his hand. Youko was smirking.
"Struck a nerve?"
"Eclipse and I are not together, Youko. You know it as well as I."
"But you want to be, don't you?"
"Eclipse is an interesting character, to be sure. She's not exactly my type, however."
"Then what is your type, Shuuichi? Really, I can't believe you're letting little old me keep you from having a sex life."
"Shut up."
The fox sighed. "Very well, very well. You don't want to talk about it. What shall we talk about, then?"
"How about nothing?"
"How about Shadow and Hiei? Or are you uncomfortable discussing their relationship too?"
"Their relationship is none of our business."
"So how long do you figure it'll be before Hiei takes her? I mean, it'll obviously happen eventually. She managed to make him feel love." A shudder from the fox. "I give them six months, at the most. What about you?"
"Youko"
"You're no fun."
"Hiei respects her. If she's not ready, he won't force her."
"What if she is ready?"
"Shut up."
Avenue of discussion closed. Youko stirred, but retreated back into the darker depths of Shuuichi Minamino's mind to sulk in the corner when he could get no further reaction from the boy.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Shadow had taken to singing campfire songs while scrubbing the smellier dissection trays. She was almost through with them. Tayama hadn't left the room more than twice the entire time. He'd been grading papers and rearranging his cabinets and hovering over her shoulder since the beginning of the final period of the day. It was really quite annoying, but Shadow, being the diligent worker she was, didn't let it get her down. She just sang her songs (usually annoying things like nursery rhymes in other languages...) and cleaned her dissection trays, and the world kept turning, and downstairs, Kurama continued reading his math book.
At home, Eclipse was sitting on her bed, looking around at her mess of a bedroom.
Everything was where it belonged.
It turned out she did have a floor in her room. The window was shut against the autumn wind, the curtains were tied back, the floor was so clean a person's reflection could be seen in it. It made her shudder, but her mother had done this to her room and if she reorganized it her own way instantly afterwards, she wouldn't just miss this last soccer game of the season, she would never play soccer again just because she spent twenty minutes or so in prison and messed up her room after her parents' very thorough search.
So, she left the room organized how her mother had put it. It was terrible. Her manga was all arranged by color, her clothes were folded in her dresser and hanging in her closet, her desk had neat stacks of papers and books instead of its customary state of what Eclipse called 'disorganized organization', and her cat's nest of papers was now crammed in a box in the basement. It was enough to make her cry. However, her 100 CDs and bookshelf full of manga consoled her, and she spent the next three days grounded, blasting music and rereading every single manga on her shelf.
Her parents had also insisted she start eating healthier. Therefore, she was fed fruits and vegetables at every meal, breads and crackers and milk and healthy things like that. She was banned from chocolate and sugar and soda and things that were not in her mother's diet book. It made her want to throw herself off a bridge. However, she didn't, because lucky her had a cell phone with which she called her friends every day of her imprisonment.
The girls' soccer team lost horribly their last game of the season without Eclipse's help. Hiei yelled at them all, then strolled away, not really caring a great deal. He was finally through with this godforsaken soccer stuff. By the next year, they'd have a new coach. So, he walked on towards the bleachers, where rather abruptly, a certain female friend of his jumped down from above and landed in front of him. Rather than jumping or looking startled, he simply smiled at her.
"Hello. Detention go well?"
"Exceptionally. I'm probably going to get a big ol' failing grade in Tayama's class for royally pissing him off."
"How?"
"Song and dance, my good man. It annoys everybody!"
"What were you doing?"
"I was cleaning dissection trays," she said, shrugging.
"I thought I smelled something nasty."
"Yeah. Well I was cleaning the dissection trays, singing children's songs and dancing on occasion... I thoroughly enjoyed it, except now my hands are all pruny, but I think Tayama really hated it."
"Well then, mission complete, right?"
"Yep!"
Hiei chuckled. "You're horrible."
"What? You like pissing off Yamashita, I like pissing off everyone I can."
"It's not like I hadn't noticed, Shadow."
"Yes, well, c'mon. You going home?"
"Not like I've got anywhere else to go."
They turned and headed to the parking lot, in which Shadow's motorcycle was parked. Hiei had gotten better about riding on a motorcycle with her, as long as she didn't do too much traffic-dodging, speeding, and illegal fun things like that. So he willingly got on the bike, neither of them wearing any more protective gear than leather jackets and gloves.
They arrived home shortly after, slightly startled to see lights on in several windows. Shadow put the motorcycle around the back of the house where she kept it, and entered through the back door with Hiei in the lead. It wasn't as if they were worried about burglars or criminals quartering themselves in the house; it practically had its own mind about such things when it was alone (it was the DOom. Definitely the DOom). They just happened to go in that way.
Walking into the living room, Hiei was slightly surprised to see Yusuke and Kuwabara sprawled on the couch watching TV. The two teens looked up, smiles lighting their faces.
"Hey!" Yusuke said, getting up. "You're home!"
"Yeah..."
"Haven't seen you in weeks! How's life?"
Hiei was a bit confused, thus cautious. "Why're you being so... friendly?"
"Do I have to have a reason to be friendly around my friends? I haven't even talked to you guys for several weeks! Keiko's been forcing me to go to school every day, do my homework every day, you guys have been going to school every day... No time. But I managed to get away from homework today, and now I'm here!"
"Congratulations," Shadow said dryly.
"So how's school?" Yusuke asked.
"Marvelous!" She brightened up. "Detention every day just gives me more time to piss off various teachers! There's no in-between for most teachers, either they love me or they hate me. They all know me. I feel so special! The principal wants both me and Hiei dead..."
"Nah, he just wants to expose my secrets," Hiei corrected, smirking. "I'm taking a shower, I've got to wash off all the grimy lies I told him." He shuddered and walked away. Yusuke blinked, confused.
"Hey... Since when did he care if he lied?" Kuwabara asked.
"Since he told the principal he was just a ningen like all the rest of us. I wasn't there, unfortunately, but he told me."
"Oh... So how're you guys doing?"
"We're dandy, Yusuke," Shadow replied, plopping down in her sacred fluffy reclining chair. "Hiei's got a second job."
"What?"
"Yeah. At the prison. He's a cop now."
"What!"
"But only at night. Don't say 'what' again."
"Why?"
"Long story..."
"Uh..."
"He'll explain it."
"O...kay..."
"So how've you guys been?"
"I'm overworked," Yusuke said. "We're just lucky Koenma hasn't needed us for a mission lately. I don't doubt Keiko would still insist I got all my homework done even if I was off saving the city from giant green things with tentacles..."
Shadow chuckled. "Yeah, well... I haven't missed a day of school yet, and I still have an A average despite my detentions. They don't lower grades for detention."
"Good thing for you, too."
"Yes."
"So how's Eclipse?"
"She was in prison for twenty minutes and her parents won't let her leave her house now."
"What? She gonna be home-schooled?"
"Nah, when she's oh-so-obedient for a few days, they'll let her out. The soccer team lost their game cuz of her, though."
"Um... Boo?"
And so they sat and socialized for a little while. When Hiei got out of the shower, he got on the computer and researched... himself... to find out what exactly Yamashita would find out if he went through with his threats.
At about nine-thirty, Hiei headed for the door. Shadow saw and hurriedly got up, running to him.
"You leaving?"
Hiei nodded. "Walking."
"Sure you don't want me to take you? That way you could stay here longer."
"It's alright."
"It won't take you half an hour to walk there."
"I know."
"Why're you leaving so early?"
"I want to get there early. Kyoukan is an ass, but I have a chance to keep him from hating me like Yamashita does. Stupid ningens."
Shadow smiled. "You've adjusted well to Ningenkai life, Hiei."
"It's nothing I'm proud of," he said. Her smile faltered a bit, and she leaned down and kissed him.
"Thank you. Now get," she said, pointing to the door. Hiei, a small smile on his face, left. Yusuke, who had witnessed the entire scene, walked into the room.
"That was rather... untactful, you know."
Shadow blinked. "What do you know about tact, perv?"
"What's that supposed to mean!"
"Nevermind. What were you saying?"
"How you just tell him to 'get.' You could say something nicer, like, 'Now you should be going' or something."
"What do you care how I talk to him?"
"Well, I just figured, y'know, you two kiss, then you tell him to 'get.' It's a little contradictory."
"I'm Miss Contradiction. What do you expect?"
"Not much."
"Hey! Wait a second, you were watching us kiss?"
"Yep. Wait, no! I mean, no, no I wasn't!"
Shadow frowned. "Why?"
"I... er... Well, Kurama said something..."
"Argh! Stupid fox."
"You, uh... You're actually a couple now? I mean, you're over the whole denial thing?"
"There never was denial, on my part, Yusuke. I was just too immature to deal with serious things like love and long-term relationships. All the kissing and touching and hugging between me and Hiei previous to last week was more or less just goofing around. It wasn't from love, it was for fun."
"For fun... Y'know, that makes you sound like a prostitute."
"Yusuke!"
"What? You kiss for fun? It makes me wonder what else you did for fun!"
"Oh, you mean like sex? Yes, Yusuke, Hiei and I had sex every night for the pure hell of it, but it was just for pleasure and sexual satisfaction, not because we gave a shit about each others' emotions," Shadow said sarcastically. Then she rolled her eyes. "Honestly! Men are so stupid!"
"And yet you love them."
"I love one. The rest of them are just around for my amusement. I particularly enjoy watching them as they hang by their wrists in a dungeon and have pain wards attached to their skin and can do nothing about it but scream until their throats are raw and they can't breathe any longer."
Yusuke stared. "And... um... Who have you ever done this to?"
"A various number of people. Yes. Not Hiei, though. Never Hiei. Hiei's my precious." She grinned evilly. "I should start acting all creepy like the split-personality guy on the Lord of the Rings movies... Cling to Hiei and call him 'my precious' in a hissy creepy voice... Start referring to myself as 'we' and call Kurama 'Master.'"
"Why Kurama?"
"Because I'm not about to call you Master."
Yusuke sighed. "Darn."
Shadow snorted. She looked at the door, then sighed and went back into the living room. There, she paused, blinked, then burst into (fake) tears, hugging Kuwabara.
"My little Hiei's all grown up!" she bawled. "It's like sending him off to his first day of school!"
Kuwabara was rather startled and had no idea of what to say to this, so he just stood there and let the girl (fake) cry against his chest. Yusuke stared. Finally, her (fake) tears ebbed and she looked up at Kuwabara.
"Eek! Ew, I was just hugging you!" She twitched and walked away.
The streets were dark, and if Hiei had been a ningen, he was sure he'd be fearing getting mugged or shot every time he passed a dark alleyway. Since he wasn't a ningen, he wasn't fearing it, yet he was still on guard, and as luck had it, a man stepped out of a dark alley shortly after Hiei passed it, and began following the little demon. After establishing that yes, the idiot was following him and not just coincidentally going the same direction, Hiei stopped.
"What do you want?" he asked, not turning to face the man. There was no spoken answer. The man ran at Hiei, knife out. Hiei easily dodged and punched him. As the man lay on the ground, he repeated his question. Again, no answer. The stubborn fool got up and attempted another attack, again to no success. His scarf, hat, and sunglasses kept Hiei from identifying him by sight, but he took one whiff of the man's scent before laughing.
"So, did you uncover my secrets, Yamashita?" he said, plucking the knife from the still man's hand. "Or did you just decide that killing me would be easier?"
The man got up and backed away from Hiei a bit as the little demon twirled the knife between his fingers.
"I don't know what you're talking about," the masked man said. Hiei chuckled at his 'disguised' voice, holding the knife still and looking at the blade.
"You were gonna kill me with this?"
"Shut up! Give that back!"
"It's a kitchen knife or something! If you're going to kill somebody on the street, at least do it with a street weapon."
"Shut up, Jaganshi!"
"Ah. So you're admitting you're Yamashita."
The man glared, then turned and ran. Hiei chuckled, then flung the knife. It embedded itself in a boarded-up door just as Yamashita ran past it. By the time he'd turned, Hiei was gone.
Walking into the police station with a smirk on his face, Hiei got a few funny looks, but one guy commented.
"What's got you in such a good mood, Hiei?"
"The principal of Mieou High just tried to kill me, I think."
"What!"
"You heard me. He didn't have a prayer, so he ran."
"But why are you smiling about it!"
"I just think it's really funny. The guy hates my guts, and he keeps threatening to 'discover my secrets' or some shit, but instead he tries to kill me. I just think that's really amusing."
"Um... Sure..."
Shaking his head, Hiei went over to Kyoukan's door and knocked. The police captain called him in and he went.
"Ah, yes. Jaganshi. You're a bit early."
"I'd be earlier, but I had to deal with a little issue that arose on the way here."
"Oh? Anything I'd like to hear about?"
"Somebody tried to attack me... I think it was Utemaro Yamashita. He knew my name and sounded a helluva lot like him... Not to mention he's plotting my murder anyway..."
"Oh?" Kyoukan seemed only mildly interested. Hiei said nothing. "Well, welcome to the force. You won't be seeing any action the first week of duty, unless we really need you. You'll be staying here and reading the handbook, taking tests on it, et cetera..."
Hiei raised an eyebrow. "So you hired me knowing I knew nothing about being a police officer, and now that I'm on duty, you're gonna make me read the handbook?"
"Yes. Unless we need you as backup or something. Also, I need your measurements for a uniform. I doubt we have any your size."
An insult to his stature. Being used to this, Hiei made no smart remark.
"Go find Shina. She'll take your measurements."
"Shina?"
"Yes. She's in charge of such things. She's probably at your desk anyway. She'll deliver your handbook for you as well."
"Great."
"Yes. Now beat it."
Again, Hiei exerted control over his smart remarks and hatred for authority (especially ningen authority), and he simply turned and left the office. Unsure exactly where 'his desk' was, he just surveyed the room for a minute before a woman beckoned to him. He went to her.
"You're Hiei Jaganshi?" she asked.
"Yes."
"I'm Shina Ketsueki." She whipped out a tape measure from her back pocket. "I'll measure you for a uniform, but you probably won't get it for a couple weeks, so you'll just have to wear casual clothes with this badge." She pulled out a badge and a name tag from her back pocket with a flourish and held them up, then handed them to Hiei. "Now..."
Grabbing a pen, she moved Hiei to stand in an empty space of floor in front of his desk and started taking his measurements. Although quite annoyed and uncomfortable with the lady's proximity, Hiei just stood still, a most displeased look on his face. While taking his measurements, Shina had been filling out a paper with a chart on it. Now she picked this up, patted Hiei on the head, remarking, "How did such a little guy get on the police force?", then walked away. She returned a moment later and pressed a book against Hiei's chest.
"You have a week to read this, you'll take an exam on it next Monday. If you don't pass, you won't be a real full-fledged law enforcement officer. However, you will still work for Kyoukan-san due to your little deal. So, I suggest you pass, because that contract you signed worked for either one."
"I didn't get to read that contract," Hiei snapped.
"Your loss, dear," she said. "By the way, how old are you?"
"Thirty." Or at least I was... Several decades ago, maybe?
"Thirty? Really! You look twenty, at the most."
"Why, because I'm short?"
"No, you just look young. In the face. Yes, you're short, but... You just look young. Really, you could be even younger than twenty."
"Okay. Point being?"
Shina didn't seem to be brought down in the least by his curt answers. "You're a teacher?"
"Yeah."
She nodded, looking thoughtful. "Well, that's interesting. Now, I really must be going... Things to do, people to see. Read your handbook, we expect nothing more of you until you pass the exam. Which I'm sure a dashing and intelligent young man such as yourself will be able to do, no problem. I'm willing to bet money that you'll pass with flying colors."
"Well I'm glad you have such confidence in me when you just met me," Hiei said, brushing past her and going to his desk to sit down. Propping his feet up, he effectively ended the conversation by opening the handbook and pretending to read. The second the lady left, he tossed the book on his desk and stared at it. The guy in the desk nearest his spoke up.
"You might as well read it, Hiei-san. You can't make it go into your brain just by staring at it."
"You'd be surprised," Hiei muttered under his breath. Raising his voice, he said, "I know. I'm just thinking."
"Oh yeah? About what?"
Damn ningens and their small talk. "Nothin'."
"You sure?" He grinned. "Sure you aren't thinking of that pretty girl that seemed so concerned about you when you were in prison the other day?"
Hiei snorted. "I keep my personal life and my work life separate, thank you."
The guy smiled. "Sure, okay. So what was that you were saying when you came in here? About the principal of Mieou High?"
"I work at the high school, okay?"
"Yeah, you're the gym teacher. My daughter told me some stuff about you."
"Oh really? I'd be interested to know what, but that's for another time."
"If you work at the school, though, why would he want you dead?"
"Because... I'm better than him... I confuse him, and he suspects I have deep dark secrets... Probably just because I have red eyes and insult him all the time. So he wants me dead... He wants Shadow dead too, probably, but I'm not worried."
"What? You mean that girl? You're not worried that the principal of the high school might try to kill your friend?"
Hiei shook his head. "She can defend herself against a martial artist. Yamashita isn't exactly the most physically fit person in the world, and he doesn't know martial arts. He can go ahead and try to kill her with his little kitchen knife. She'll be fine. But I doubt he will. Not while she's in the house."
"But he might."
"Well then you can arrest him and I'll be happy." Hiei picked up the handbook he was supposed to be reading. "Anything else?"
"My daughter says some interesting things about you."
"Not surprising."
"She said there's a rumor going around that you're in a relationship with Shadow."
"Yeah, I heard that rumor. Though it was a little more specific than that..."
"And?"
"It's crap."
"She says you pick kids and make an example of them in class."
"Nope."
"Why would she tell me this stuff unless it's true?"
"I don't know," Hiei said, propping his feet up on the desk against and starting to read the handbook. "I'm used to being disliked." Conversation closed. Go away, Mr. Guy At The Next Desk. The officer got the message and went back to work.
And so, this is how the week went. There were no further murder attempts, Eclipse got to go to school on Thursday, Yamashita threw sour looks at Hiei, Kurama, and the two girls whenever possible (yes, Kurama too). That was just during the day. At night, Hiei sat at his desk reading his little police manual and running errands for Kyoukan. Shadow slept (all by herself. Doesn't that make you sad?), Kurama slept, Eclipse slept, and Yamashita most definitely did not toss and turn for having given Kurama detention on Monday; he did, however, stay up late sometimes plotting things, researching people, law, and weapons, and basking in his own twisted sense of righteousness... Aren't you glad you don't have an asshole principal like him?
Saturday, Hiei came home at six in the morning and found Shadow awake and waiting for him. He looked at her curiously, not saying anything. She hugged him.
"You haven't slept all week," she whispered in his ear.
"I know," he answered. "That's the extent of my plans for the weekend."
Shadow smiled, stepping back and letting go of him. "Good. I was all set to drag you upstairs and drug you, but if you're going to make it easy..."
Hiei merely raised an eyebrow. Shadow shrugged. "What? Demon or not, sleep deprivation is bad for you."
"Were you up all night, or did you get up early to be up when I got home?" Hiei asked, ignoring her.
"I stayed up."
"I see."
There was a short pause. "Hungry?"
"Anything but ramen," Hiei said.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch... Actually it'd make more sense to call Shadow's house the ranch, since that's where the... um... well, anyway... And it wouldn't really be back at the ranch, either, considering as how this hasn't been a setting in this chapter yet, but... well, yes, so meanwhile, in Reikai... Koenma was stamping papers.
Do you wonder if Koenma sleeps? Well, he does, but then who takes over for him at night? It's a great mystery of the otherworld... Sorry, that just came to me.
Stamp, stamp, stamp... There hadn't been missions for ages. Koenma was starting to get extremely bored. Was it wrong, he wondered, to wish for some demon invasion or tournament or for something to threaten one of his tantei's lives, just to spice things up a bit? Yes, there was the occasional raving lunatic serial murderer to sentence to eternal damnation, and that was kind of fun sometimes, but that was short-lived fun, and after that, it was back to routine. Stamp, stamp, stamp.
"But stamping is very important!" he recalled George telling him. Yes. Stamping is very important. He didn't even know what all these papers were. He could have been stamping lunch orders for all he knew. Perhaps if he had some sort of distraction, something to keep his mind off the monotony, he reasoned, then perhaps he wouldn't be so bored. Somebody to talk to! A pet rock! Something!
However, he just had to keep stamping. If he had a distraction, he might not do it right. 'Well you know what?' he said to himself. 'I'm tired of stamping!'
Switching on the giant screen in his office, he decided to check in on all his tantei and their friends, and all known demon activity and approved demon residents of living world. First things first, he changed to watch Yusuke. It was easy to see that, unless the boy decided to start talking in his sleep, Yusuke would prove unentertaining. Switch to Kuwabara. Also asleep. Shizuru? Reading and smoking. Keiko... making breakfast.
"Boring!" Koenma whined. Perhaps Kurama would be mixing some deadly Makai plants again like he'd grown fond of doing. Switching the screen to Kurama's bedroom (if only they knew how Koenma passed time when he was bored...), he saw it was... empty. "Empty?"
The garden outside was also empty. Nobody occupied any of the upstairs rooms. Switching downstairs, he found Kurama sitting at the table sipping tea, looking to be in deep thought. Typical, and once again, boring. Stupid fox. For once he wished Youko would rear his head and go on some kind of lust-driven rampage that ended with him getting somebody (perhaps Shadow?) laid and having to be banished to the Makai. Then, driven by fury, Hiei would follow him there and they'd have a huge fight to the death! At least it would put change in the redundant lifestyle Koenma had been forced to adopt since their last major mission. What was he thinking, anyway? Hiei and Shadow weren't mates, so Hiei would have no reason to attack the thief if he went and screwed the girl. That didn't mean he wouldn't, but the fire demon was more rational... And Koenma had his suspicions that, though Hiei'd grown closer to the tantei and especially Shadow, he still held onto his loner nature and wouldn't much care if Youko took the girl.
Sighing, Koenma checked in on Yukina and Genkai at the temple. Meditating and drinking tea. Darn people! Did they all lead utterly boring and uneventful lives? Weren't they driven to the verge of insanity at this rate? What was wrong with them? Couldn't somebody at least be having a spar? Perhaps he could lecture them on how their strength was deteriorating in these long periods of rest lately, and put them on a rigorous training schedule. But no, they just sat at home and drank tea! Couldn't somebody be doing something illegal or at least worthy of his appearance? He realized it was six thirty in the morning on a Saturday, but come on!
Another sigh, and he changed the channel to Eclipse's bedroom. Wow, something different!
The room, although cleaner than the last time he'd seen it, was still a royal mess, and Eclipse was sitting at the foot of her bed, several crinkled issues of a weekly gaming magazine lying open around her as she sat on her pillow, playing some violent video game. Her headphones, though plugged into her stereo, were clearly on very loud, and Koenma could almost make out the words to the song she was listening to. In addition to this, the fighting game she was playing was turned up loud as well (though surely not loud enough to be heard over the headphones blaring music at what was surely an unhealthy level), and Koenma chuckled a bit as he watched her kick some ninja ass.
Now if only she could do stuff like that, she'd be officially on the Reikai Tantei team, not just an assistant, he mused. However, as if his thought cursed her, at that precise moment her opponent pulled off some wacky thing with his katana, and down went Eclipse's character, bleeding on the ground. The girl bit her lip, then let out a string of obseneties under her breath. The 'Game Over' screen popped up, and Eclipse glared, then flopped back on her bed. Her headphone cord pulled taut, then popped out of the stereo. The music exploded in the speakers of Koenma's screen. He let out a screech and fell off his chair. A shout and nearly simultaneous quiet, as well as the sudden absence of his remote control, had him standing on his desk in a second.
"Botan!" he squawked.
"Koenma! What are you doing!" the ferrygirl cried, staring at the muted screen as Eclipse scrabbled to silence her blaring music. A split second after she'd turned the volume down to minimum and let out a sigh of relief, her parents and little brother burst into the room. Koenma snatched the remote from Botan and turned the volume back on.
"Eclipse! What is going on here! What is this mess!" the girl's father shouted.
"What is this!" her mother snapped, grabbing an empty Dorito bag and a flattened Mello Yello can off the floor.
"Eclipse is in trouble!" her brother said in a sing-song voice.
"Keiji!" all three snapped (though Eclipse with a bit more anger).
"You're gonna get grounded again and your boyfriend will have to bring all your homework, and you two can sit up here and make out like you did on Tuesday!"
"You little bastard!" Eclipse snapped, lunging off her bed and dodging her father's attempt to catch her as she passed him. Her mother had one hand over her mouth, appalled at her daughter's use of language. The girl paid no attention, darting down the hall and reaching Keiji's door before he could close it. She forced her way in and Keiji ran to his bed, jumping up on it and acting like he was going to hit her, then dropping and curling up in a little ball for his elder sister to hit as she pleased. And that's what she did.
"I never knew Eclipse had a younger brother," Koenma mused.
"How can she be so cruel!" Botan wailed. "He's just a little kid! She's half demon! That's not fair!"
"Life isn't fair, Botan," the demigod reminded her. "Just look at me, stuck up here stamping papers all the time."
"Weren't you supposed to have all those papers stamped by eight? Looks like you've got a lot of work to do, Koenma sir."
Koenma pouted and the blue-haired girl snatched his remote, switching the channel over her shoulder without paying attention to what. She continued lecturing, but he stared, slack-jawed, over her shoulder. After a second, she noticed and turned. Her jaw fell also.
"I was gonna check in on them next..." he muttered, staring at Hiei and Shadow on the screen.
"Since when did they become so close...?" Botan asked. "Last time I saw them together, they flatly denied any relationship."
"I know... This clearly needs my immediate attention," Koenma said, transforming into his teenage form.
"Koenma sir! You can't go down there now!"
"Why not?"
"And interrupt them? It looks like Hiei's finally embracing emotion! And don't you agree he needs a loving companion? I think he and Shadow are a wonderful pair!"
"Shadow is hardly loving, last time I checked," Koenma snapped. "He's probably just using her for pleasure, and then he'll deny it all."
"Koenma! Hiei's not like that! Besides, they aren't doing anything objectionable!"
"Kissing!"
"Is kissing objectionable?"
"Yes!"
"Why is kissing objectionable!"
"It's Hiei!"
"SO?"
"Hiei doesn't kiss, it's against his nature!"
"What do you know? Hiei's a very sensitive person inside! He just doesn't show it because he's afraid!"
"Hiei? Sensitive? Afraid? Ha!"
"Koenma!"
"I'm going! Good-bye!"
"Ko-enma!"
Poof.
Now we can say 'meanwhile, back at the ranch.' But it's more like the bedroom. Anyway...
The doorbell rang. Hiei, lying on top of Shadow, stopped their kiss upon hearing the sound.
"If it's important, they'll come back," Shadow said, pulling Hiei back down until their lips met. The bell rang again, then a third time, but no more after that. Hiei smirked and deepened their kiss.
"Hey!"
Both fire demons nearly bit off their own tongues (or rather, each other's...) as Koenma, without a bit of warning, appeared in the room. Hiei sat upright instantly, straddling Shadow, and sent a death glare at the teen.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he snarled furiously. Koenma was not ruffled by his disposition (actually, he was mortally terrified of it, but hid it. Does that classify?).
"I need to have a discussion with you, Hiei. It's very important, and cannot wait. Come with me."
"Haven't you ever heard of invasion of privacy?" Shadow snapped. "You just pop in here like that, we could've been having sex!"
Hiei put his hand over Shadow's mouth. Koenma paled a bit at her words. Good think he'd changed the channel when he had, he thought, and not a little bit later, or he might have invaded on that act.
"She has a point, though," Hiei said.
"I rang the doorbell first. It's not my fault you people don't know how to drag yourselves apart and answer your door," Koenma said, attempting to sound angry instead of shaky.
"What do you want?" the fire demon continued.
"I need to talk to you. Preferably in private."
"It's private here. Talk."
"Without Shadow. Reikai?"
Hiei groaned, annoyed. "What the hell is so important and secretive that you can't talk about it in front of her? She's not going to go off and tell anyone."
"Hiei," Koenma said firmly. Debate closed. Annoyed, Hiei squeezed Shadow's hand a bit and got up.
"Stupid Koenma," he muttered, grabbing his boots and putting them on, then snatching up a single white belt (wow! only one this time!) and threading it through the loops on his pants. Koenma couldn't help but wonder why so much of Hiei's attire was in Shadow's bedroom, but he kept the thought to himself.
"Why Reikai?" Hiei asked, clothed and cloaked in about a minute and a half.
"It's private," Koenma said. "Besides, Shadow probably has this entire house bugged and set up with security cameras."
And just like that, poof! They were in Koenma's office in Reikai. Botan was still standing there. The screen still displayed Shadow's bedroom.
"That was one hell of a thing to do, Koenma," Botan reprimanded. Hiei looked up at the screen.
"Hey! What the hell? Were you spying on us?" he snapped. Botan pointed at Koenma. Hiei rounded on him. "What exactly is this little discussion you want to have with me?"
"It's about you and Shadow. Your relationship."
"I think it's wonderful, Hiei," Botan assured him, touching his arm. "Don't pay attention to Koenma, he's just jealous." She glared at Koenma, then strode out of the office.
"What about our relationship? I've been getting harassed about it all week for about sixteen hours a day. Am I gonna get crap from you, too?"
"How far have you gone?"
"We haven't done anything lately that we haven't done before. We've both had our pants on the entire time. Happy? Oh, wait, okay, so she's been in the pool in one of her skimpy bikinis, but that didn't go anywhere. That wasn't recently. Anything else?"
"I'm not sure about the rules for halfbreeds and purebloods mating, but I believe if you have a child, I'll have to insist both you, Shadow, and your child return to Makai. It's already a high risk with you having permanent residence in Ningenkai. Not to mention Karasu wandering around..."
"He's currently in prison, and it's entirely your fault he's in Ningenkai. You brought him back."
Koenma frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well he didn't come back to life on his own, Koenma."
The toddler turned slightly red in the cheeks. "Anyway, that's not why you're here! I want to know about your relationship with Shadow. Do you have any plans for children?"
"No!"
"Do you have any plans to commit the act that puts babies in the bellies of women?"
"You mean sex? No, we have no plans for sex."
"But it's your choice, as the male, when you will, isn't it?"
"No."
"No! You mean it's Shadow's choice?"
"No."
"Then whose is it? Kurama's?"
"Gods, no!"
"Well?"
"We'll know when the time is right. She's only sixteen. She's still a baby by most demon standards."
Koenma sighed. "Well, when you decide you're going to get her laid, tell me. I'll need to find out if there's anything mentioned about halfbreed/pureblood reproduction."
"What? Tell you? Are you nuts! You think I'm just gonna call you up and say, 'Hey, Koenma, me and Shadow are going to go have sex now, alright?' If that's what you think, you're delusional! My sex life isn't your business, toddler!"
"Hey! I'm older than you!"
"Like that matters. Can I go home now? I haven't slept for a week."
"Why not?"
"You spy on me at all the wrong times... If you'd been paying attention anytime in the past two weeks, you'd know that I'm working night shift at the police station in addition to teaching at Kurama's high school."
"What? You're working at the police station!"
"Yes."
"You can't do that!"
"I can't not. I signed a contract."
"Why?"
And so, with a sigh, Hiei explained the events leading up to his stay in prison. Shadow, meanwhile, paced her bedroom, then flopped down in bed and lay there in her skimpy pajamas (yeah, she wears the shorty shorts and spaghetti strap belly shirt even in winter) waiting for Hiei. Kurama continued sitting at his kitchen table, drinking tea. Eclipse was sentenced to running on the treadmill under her mother's supervision until she'd burned about five pounds that she didn't need to lose. Keiji often came through the room and laughed at her, causing her to speed up. After several hours, she was so mad at Keiji that she sped the treadmill all the way up and ran it until the motor exploded. The world kept turning. She was sentenced to cleaning the house.
And finally, 10 billion years later after a nuclear World War destroyed humanity and a second ice age destroyed all other life excepting cockroaches and similar things, like Goku, Koenma, pissed off yet satisfied with Hiei's story, sent him home. He plopped down on Shadow's bed next to her sleeping form and smiled a bit. Reaching over, he tickled her stomach. She woke up instantly and let out a squeal.
"Hiei!" she yelped. He grinned wider.
"Ticklish?"
"No!"
A smirk. "I think you are."
Shadow shook her head vigorously. "Nope!"
Hiei quickly proved her a liar by tickling her mercilessly, reducing her to a squirming, twitching girl lying on her bed squealing with laughter.
"Stop it!" she laughed, tears streaming down her face. Being the thousandth time she'd pleaded for this, she didn't expect him to obey, and she wasn't sure she really wanted him to (though asphyxiation at this point was a realistic possibility). However, he did. He stopped and sat back, the look on his face somewhere betwen a smirk and a genuine smile. Shadow managed to relax and lay there panting for breath, her face permanently molded into a smile.
"Aishite'ru," he said. Shadow nodded, trying to gain enough breath to speak.
"Aishite'ru," she replied finally. "C'mon... I'm tired."
"Sleep. Right," Hiei said. He picked her up and lay her on the bed with her head on the pillows next to him. Though you may not believe it, going to bed at nearly 7:30 in the morning had no effect on either of them. They slept like babies through Saturday and most of Sunday.
The end...
Not. Hahaha... Don't you wish it was?
Well don't you? Aren't you tired of me and my fifteen page chapters? I think one chapter is thirty pages... I don't remember which one... Dread me and my written wrath. DREAD! MUWAHAHAHAHA!
Dread my illustrated wrath too, but I don't inflict that on people much...
-Shadow J.-