Title: Forbidden Love

Author: Sapphire-Amethyst

S.A.: Okay… This is going to be a long and senseless one…

Shurei: Riiight… You made us wait for nothing!

S.A.: dog ears droop Gomenasai!

Hiei: Hmph. Wimp.

S.A.: I am not a wimp! growls

Hiei: Hn.

Kurogame: S.A. doesn't own YYH. She only owns Airin.

Chapter 7: A Trip to the Mall

After they had reached the perimeter of the temple, Hiei put his female companion on the ground and they both walked back to the main building of the temple, Hiei being a little too fast and Airin trying to keep up with him. When they opened the door, they saw the whole group either standing or sitting there, waiting for them. Airin noticed a new but strangely familiar boy added to the others. He had brown hair that lay flat on his head, and on his mouth was a something blue and circular. Airin stared at this blue object until she was snapped back to reality by the new boy's greeting.

This boy stepped forward and greeted Airin, "Hello. You must be Airin."

"Umm…Yes…" Airin couldn't tear her eyes off of his pacifier, curious to know what it was and what it does. The teenager smiled, "I'm Koenma." He held out a hand and Airin stared at it, not knowing what to do.

Koenma blinked and dropped his hand. "Do you know what a handshake is?" he asked kindly and the girl shook her head.

"She's got amnesia, remember?" Yusuke said.

"Oh, yes, yes…" For a teenager, Koenma was bit too mature, in Airin's opinion. No one else in the group acted like him. But then, no one had the same personality.

"All right!" Botan exclaimed, bouncing over to where Airin was. "I thought you said you were going to get her for a short time?" she asked, looking at the boy to whom the question was directed. Hiei only glared at her, giving her a Do-that-again-and-I'll-kill-you look. Botan immediately grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of her head, and turned back to Airin, examining her clothes which were only a large white t-shirt and maong shorts that covered half her thighs. Botan frowned, "That won't work. Come on." She got hold of Airin's right arm and dragged her to the latter's room. Hiei, who was watching the two girls' retreating backs, was strongly reminded of Yukina, who was as innocent as Airin, and who was beside the one he called "baka."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Nope…Nah…Definitely not!" Botan kept repeating these words as she looked through Airin's closet, which contained only a few clothes Keiko had brought. Airin was standing at the side, confused, as she watched Botan look through her borrowed clothes.

"Umm…" Airin uttered. "Is there something wrong with my clothes?"

Botan immediately straightened up and turned her head, her eyes wide. A moment passed before she slapped her hand on her forehead. "I forgot!" she cried out, then smiled sheepishly at Airin. "Let's see…Well, to start off, Airin, we have proper clothing for particular situations. We wear gowns and other formal clothes on special occasions—"

"What occasions?" Airin interrupted. "And what are gowns?"

Botan blinked, then shook her head. "I can't explain it now. The mall is a bit far, you know, and we'll be taking a bit of a long walk. Anyway, as I said, there are particular clothes for particular situations. Plus, we have to wear proper clothing so we'll look good. When we go out, we don't wear clothes that we wear at home; we wear more fashionable clothes. And your current clothes, my dear, isn't appropriate for outside clothing." Botan looked back at the closet and shook her head. "They won't all do," she sighed. "We'll have to buy you better ones."

"When you say 'buy,' what do you do?" Airin asked.

"We give a given amount of something called money to someone so we could get to take what we want," Botan answered, feeling strange about explaining this thing. "We usually do this deal in a shop. A mall is a group of shops. That's where we'll go."

"Can…money be exhausted?" Airin asked timidly.

"Yes, and everybody should have much. It's a big problem if one doesn't have much money since he won't be able to meet his needs."

Airin grew shocked. "Oh my…Then please don't bother yourself about me! I won't go if it'll just give you trouble!"

"No, no! It doesn't matter!" Botan waved Airin's statement away, gesturing that it shouldn't matter. "We don't mind!"

"But…" Airin trailed off, sensing that there was someone by the door. She turned around, opened the door, and saw Kurama smiling at her. "Oh, hello…" she greeted, and Kurama's smile widened a little.

"Hi," Kurama answered, giving a little wave. "We were just curious about what's taking you so long."

"Gomen!" Botan covered her mouth with her hand, immediately going out of the room, Airin following right behind her. As they walked back to the others, Kurama fell in step with Airin. They watched as Botan quickly disappeared down the stairs.

There was silence as the two slowly walked, Airin being shy around another person she had talked only once to.

"Airin, don't be shy around us," Kurama finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"Huh?" Airin looked up at the red-haired boy, who was taller than her, for she had almost the same height as Hiei. Kurama looked down at her, smiling.

"You shouldn't be shy, Airin," Kurama reiterated. "We welcome people here, and we have no problem treating them like family."

"But I'm just a visitor…a burden, to be exact."

"No, you aren't. You're a visitor who needs help. Not a burden. And as long as you are here, you 'll be a friend, or family, not a visitor. All right?"

Airin stared at her new friend and immediately felt warmth in his emerald eyes, making her smile warmly, too. "All right."

They finally reached the others and Kurama immediately felt a pair of eyes on him. His smile widened some more as he telepathically talked to a person. Her voice is very beautiful to hear, you know.

So what? Hiei's voice answered.

Then why are you watching me?

Hmph.

Hey, Hiei?

Nanda?

Why are Yusuke and Kuwabara smirking at you?

Hiei looked at the two ningens, turned to himself, and realized he was still wet; his running through the forest took only a second that the wind wasn't even able to evaporate the little amount of water. A drop of water kept dripping from his bangs every minute, and it must have been noticed by the spirit detective and the baka.

"Say a word and you'll be six feet under," Hiei hissed, quietly but enough for the two to hear. Yusuke and Kuwabara, who were just beside him, averted their gazes but began to snigger. Fortunately, no one seemed to take notice, except Hiei and Kurama.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Airin didn't get it as they walked down the pavement after getting off a large, black vehicle with the words "Taxi" perched on top, together with Yusuke and the others. People were giving her strange looks, but some men were looking downward at her direction. She grew so insecure she had been looking down her legs to see nothing.

As she looked down at her legs for the tenth time, Kurama, who was beside her, finally whispered, "Don't mind them."

Airin blinked, her head bowed, still walking, until she bumped into Kuwabara, who had stopped along with the others. The force of the bump made her fall backwards, but a hand pushed her back to her balance. Airin looked around to see Hiei behind her, looking at her expressionlessly.

Kuwabara had felt her. He turned around and scratched the back of his head, grinning nervously. "Oh, gomenasai, Airin. Didn't get to warn you."

Airin nodded, smiling, but didn't take off her eyes from Hiei's, who was now looking at another direction.

"A-arigatou…" she muttered, slowly turning back to the front, waiting for any response from the black-clothed boy behind her. She lifted her head to see a very big and wide building in front of them, across the wide street. It was then she was able to be more conscious and observed the group.

Keiko and Botan were talking with each other ahead of them, Keiko a bit calm and Botan very lively. Yusuke and Kuwabara were still bickering, before Airin had bumped into him, up to now, after she did. Yukina, who was on the other side of Kurama, was still wearing her kimono and still quiet, smiling at the surroundings. After observing them, she turned to the building and observed it more carefully. It had heavily dark-tinted windows with beautifully lettered words on them. Attached on places on the walls were large pictures with either men or women with cute postures and words above, below, or beside them. Some even had sentences Airin liked to read, making her like the objects.

The group moved again, crossing the street, entered the mall's outside entrance, and into the glass doors, together with other people who were also bustling inside. Airin felt a strong hand grasp her right arm and she looked down to see Hiei's hand. "Don't get lost," Hiei muttered loud enough for her to hear and let go.

Airin looked around the inside of the mall and was amazed by the brightness and colorfulness of the shops. There were shops of bags, of clothes, and of many more. What attracted her most, though, was a loud and dark place at the right side of a fountain. Crowds of people with ages ranging from kids to teens were bustling inside, cheering for someone in their midsts. Airin saw unoccupied seats in front of something that looked like big screens with images moving in them. Attached to these screens were buttons and sticks. They felt exciting and Airin wanted to try them. She looked at the label above the entrance and read, "Arcade." Hiei glanced at her quickly.

The group stopped beside a mountain and Yusuke spoke up. "Okay, guys, Kuwabara and I'll go to the arcade. Anyone else wanna come with us?"

"Yusuke…?" Airin piped quietly, blushing at the sight that everybody turned to her. "Are you talking about that?" She pointed at the place she wanted to see.

"Yup. Wanna come?" Yusuke asked. Airin nodded. The girls stared.

"But, Airin, we were going to get you some clothes!" Botan cried.

"Oh come, on, Botan!" Yusuke answered. "That's what she wants!"

"Okay," Keiko interrupted. "We'll get her her clothes and after that we'll take her here. Deal?"

"Deal!"

"Where would you go, Kurama?" Airin asked the red-haired beside her.

"Me? To the bookstore, I guess," Kurama smiled. "Koenma's going with me. After that maybe we'll join Yusuke and Kuwabara at the arcade."

"Hiei?" Airin turned to the black-haired, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Don't worry. He just doesn't like to be here. He may be on the roof or something," Kurama answered.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

S.A.: There…

Hiei: Senseless…

Shurei: Oo

Kurogame: But long…

S.A.: Please R&R… Oh, and by the way, this is a HieiOC pairing! Don't you guys imply things on your head that Kurama, in any way, can like Airin more than a friend, all right?