Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Yu Yu Hakusho or any person from any other show/comic/story that appears in here. Everyone who is not from the Yu Yu Hakusho Anime/Manga in this chapter is mine (except Bowen). Tsukiko is the only character created solely for the purpose of this story.
A/N: I realized while going through the C2's, that there are no KuramaKuronue C2's. I think I'm going to make one if I can find a name. Let me know via review or e-mail if you would be willing to help or if you have a name since I am absolute shit at figuring out names. The only one I can come up with now is "For the love of a Bat" or something along those lines.
Warnings: BL, a ton of dialogue, probable swearing (I really don't remember), and explanations. Have fun.
Last time on First Impressions Can Be Changed:
"As nice as the whole reunion is, we've got company. Your type of company actually." Hiei said quietly. Sure enough, around the corner came a winged man who looked no older than seventeen.
I heard voices from around the corner, two were familiar and the third was oddly comforting to hear. It sounded almost like his voice, only softer and quieter. It was almost as though he was a girl. What a frightening thought. Anyways, I went around the corner, only to see twice the amount of people I expected.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I'm walking and talking. Especially if I died twenty-odd years ago. Don't worry, it will all be explained in due time. Anyways, back on track. Out of the six people standing in the hallway, I knew only two immediately. Tsukiko-dono and Kimi-chan, the others were completely new faces. Or so I thought. There was a red haired man (though he looked rather feminine) accompanied by a short, dark haired man, and a tall man with light brown hair accompanied by a girl with dark hair and a long coat of leather.
The short man, I soon realized, was the Forbidden Child, Hiei Jaganshi. The one accompanying him looked up and I saw his face. The very visage that plagues my dreams and fantasies, though I'm sure that you did not need to hear that. The only differences were that his ears were now human and located to either side of his skull and that his eyes were no longer their beautiful, molten gold colour, but rather a deep shade of green. His jaw dropped in shock just as I froze.
Tsukiko just looked between us and burst out laughing, breaking the tension. The girl in the leather coat joined in, as did Kimi. Soon the brunette man began chuckling too. His jaw returned to its proper position and I moved towards the six of them. "Ku- Kuronue?" He asked. I nodded and he took a few steps forward before leaping on me and tackling me to the ground, grinning his ears off.
"It's good to see you too," I grinned back at him and hugged him. "What's with the new look?" He looked blankly at me before what I was asking registered.
Kurama rolled off Kuronue and kneeled next to him. He blushed and turned away. "I- I was afraid to pass on," he began softly, "I thought that if I passed on I would never get the chance to see you again as I knew you were alive, somewhere. The bond never took my soul during the five years after your supposed death. So I assumed that you were still alive," he paused and smiled at the floor, "apparently I assumed right."
"Of course you did." Kuronue murmured, sitting up to relieve the pressure on his wings. "So, what have you been up to prior to your parole?" Kurama turned back to Kuronue, his eyes wide with surprise.
"You knew about it?" he gasped
"How couldn't I? She's the brat's sister!" Kuronue shot back, grinning at his long-lost partner. "I just don't know the details of what happened prior to your parole."
"Since those two are so wrapped up in each other, would you three like something to drink while you're here?" Kimi asked politely, ignoring the friendly banter turning into sexual innuendo.
Hiei shrugged as Blodwyn and Bowen both agreed. Blodwyn more heartily than Bowen.
The four of them followed Kimi through winding corridors, eventually arriving at a kitchen. They sat down as she shuffled over to start making tea.
"So, what's the deal with those two?" Blodwyn asked, voicing what the others would not.
Kimi opened her mouth to begin explaining but caught herself. "It's their business, but I'll let you know what they wouldn't mind you hearing. Twenty-two years ago when Kuronue, the one with the wings, was caught in a bamboo trap and killed. He sent a message to Tsukiko-sama telling her that he was going to find a body to inhabit in ningenkai and that he was going to remain there until he was able to return to his normal body. . . "
We both just stared at the floor in a rather awkward silence. What exactly does one say to one's lover whom one has not seen for twenty-two years? "C'mon," Kuronue pushed himself off the floor and extended his hand to me. "Let's find somewhere more comfortable to sit."
We walked down the hallway and into a dimly lit room. Kuronue flicked a switch and the room was revealed to be a plain sitting room. "How –" I began but he cut me off, placing his fingertips on my lips in a too familiar gesture.
"I guess I should owe you an explanation for scaring the crap out of you. That, and you probably want to know how I got out of that trap." I nodded silently, too eager to hear his explanation to reply properly.
"I decided that I didn't want to die so I wrenched my soul from my body, much how you did apparently, and contacted Tsukiko that I was going to find a body to host my soul until I gathered enough strength to return to my original body. I ended up in London, where I ran into a woman. Only she just so happened to be about one or two months pregnant since I got stuck in her and lost consciousness for about eight or nine months.
"Next thing I know is that my "mother" is coddling me all the time and it drove me crazy. She was a single mother, apparently since there was no one else who lived in the house with us. About five years after I was reborn, I remember being taken to an orphanage and being told something about how my mother was never going to return and some shit like that. My guess is that she died leaving me with nowhere to go. Since I had no emotional ties, I left the orphanage to return to Makai and to Tsukiko. About this time, I heard rumours around the castle that you had died." Kuronue looked at me, grinning slightly.
"As much as I would like to say those rumours were just that, they were true. I was dead to all in Makai. I had been for about the previous year. The rumours were stemmed from the reports of one of the SDF hunters killing me. After that, I found myself in a similar predicament to you, only that my human mother never died. Eventually, I came to appreciate her so when I was able to take back my form, I couldn't do it. She had grown on me so I was stuck between going home and staying with her and making sure that she remained happy." I laughed softly. "The rumours of me going soft are probably truer than you would want to think."
He laughed at me, his grin was the exact same as I remembered. "Just outwardly. The rumours that I've heard almost match what I've always seen of you in private. You're becoming much less apathetic around others apparently." I blush lightly, grinning all the while. He pulled me into a tight hug, whispering, "I've missed you. I've missed you so much."
"So that's what happened, any other details are theirs to share." Kimi finished as she poured the tea.
"What I don't get is how those two both came up with the same idea without ever having spoken about that theory," Blodwyn began. "I mean-"
Tsukiko cut her off, "Those two were intent on cheating death. They figured that if they could swindle a merchant or a noble out of their possessions, then they could cheat death. That method was probably was one of their theories. Who knows how many others they had."
"I believe that we're being talked about, as I kept sneezing," said Kuronue's voice from near the door, receiving a smirk and a nod from Kurama.
Everyone, except Hiei, turned and saw Kurama standing in the doorway with Kuronue's arm wound around his waist. "I would suggest that we return to Ningenkai as I only told Yukina and Koenma that we were leaving. Botan and Yusuke are probably frantic by now," Kurama paused. "At least, Botan probably is."
Hiei scoffed and muttered something that sounded like 'Figures, the baka onna.' then slid off the stool he was sitting on, moving towards the door.
Kurama smiled knowingly as Hiei stalked past them, glaring at the floor. As the others filed out the door, Kuronue asked a quick question. "What's up with the forbidden one?"
Kurama sighed and whispered back, "I believe that he has a slight infatuation with figuring out the thought patterns of a certain ferry girl. At least, that's what he claims. I think it goes deeper than just her thoughts though."
"So the forbidden one has a crush on a deity of death? That's priceless." Kuronue snickered as he walked after Kurama and the others. (1)
They bade good-bye to Kimi at the garden gates and Tsukiko created a portal for them to go back to the Ningenkai. Once back in Japan, they parted with Blodwyn and Bowen and went on their way back to the temple. Kuronue had explained that he could revert to his human body for short periods. He had also explained that he had augmented the body in his depression so that it looked like a wingless version of him, only in human clothes and with rounded ears.
They arrived at the temple eventually and Kuronue ended up just staring at how the place seemed so holy, but yôkai could live there. The group began the hike up the stairs only to find that when they reached the top a flying pink and blue thing tackled them
"Where were you three?" Botan looked over and saw Kuronue. "Who's he?" Kurama blushed lightly and mumbled something under his breath as he guided Kuronue inside, leaving the explanation to Tsukiko.
"So who was that?" Botan asked again, blinking confusedly at the two remaining.
"Kuronue. It appears that the fox's boy-toy didn't die after all." Hiei offered as he shrugged and followed the other two into the house. (2)
Botan stared after him for a moment as what he said sunk into her mind. "Kurama? Boy-toy? WHAT! Since when was Kurama -? Never mind, apparently longer than I've known him." She sighed and began to laugh. "I bet a lot of girls will be disappointed once they figure this out."
Alright now. It's been two months since I've updated so I'll give you guys a treat. That was the new chapter. Sorry for its shortness, but I was rather starved for inspiration and it has a lot of explanations so please, if you skipped any monologues, please read them. Just a few notes about lines in this.
1. My Kuronue has an odd sense of humour. What can I say? Anyways, this is MAJOR in how this is going to play out in regards to romance.
2. What? I couldn't help but have Hiei use the word "boy-toy" to describe someone. I was debating this one so much since I wasn't sure if I wanted Kuronue or Kurama to be uke.
Also, I would like to thank you four people who have this on your favourites. But this brings up a pet peeve of mine. If you're going to put this on your favourites, then at least review once. That's all I ask.
Since we are no longer able to respond to reviews in here, I'll start a Live Journal that I'll try to keep updates on the progress of chapters and the review responses. I'll also be posting some stuff about whatever other stories that I'm working on. www. livejournal. Com (backslash) aiiro(underscore)bara