"Neither."
Koenma threw up his arms in frustration while Yusuke and Kuwabara smacked their foreheads. Kurama sweat-dropped and Hiei just rolled his eyes.
"I should have expected that answer." Hiei mused at the smirking dragon.
Naiya's smirk widened when Koenma glared at her and started yelling.
"Which part of two options don't you understand!"
Naiya gave him an indifferent glance. "Those were idiotic options and you knew it. You honestly think I will abandon the demons who accepted me, even though it was probably just for my power?"
"And I sure as hell am not going to give my life for them." Naiya continued in a monotone voice.
Koenma seethed. Why does he have to take care of cases like this!
"Fine!" Koenma gritted his teeth. "You're under probation. While you're on probation, you will stay in Ningenkai. You're forbidden to return to Makai and you have to have at least one of the Spirit Detectives constantly with you. If you make any attempts to escape or attack, you'll find yourself thrown into prison."
"Joy." Came the sarcastic comment as Naiya rolled her eyes. Her arm moved slightly forward before hiding itself behind her back. Inwardly, she started laughing at how easy it is to taunt the young lord.
"I mean it!" Koenma yelled out before stomping out of the room, leaving a portal behind him. Next time, he is definitely going to use his 'cool teenager form' when dealing with criminals. People just don't seem take him seriously when he's a toddler, what with the pacifier and all. Speaking of pacifiers…
The odd group just stands there for a few moments, Hiei and Naiya smirking while Kurama giving a small smile.
"Naiya! Give me back my pacifier!"
"Now what?" Yusuke muttered, surveying Naiya and making the dragon very uncomfortable. "Where is she going to stay?"
"Maybe grandma will allow her to stay" Yusuke murmured absent-mindedly.
"No way, Urameshi! What if she harms Yukina!" Kuwabara immediately protested.
Naiya smirked. "Your big, ugly friend is right, detective. I'm a criminal after all…" She trailed off, sliding one finger across her dagger.
"Fine, bad idea" Yusuke sulked. "How about your place Kurama?"
"I'm sorry Yusuke. After Takanaka(?) and Shuichi moved in, there isn't much space at my place."
"Damn, Kuwabara?"
"I still want to live, thank you very much." The little dragon gave an amused snort at his reply.
Yusuke frowned and thought about the situation. Naiya can't stay with him either, not with his drunken mother. That leaves Hiei. And if he remembered correctly, Koenma had given Hiei an apartment some time ago…
Kuwabara and Kurama reached that conclusion as well and Hiei suddenly found three pairs of eyes staring in his direction.
"Don't even think about it." He growled and looked away.
"No way." Naiya spoke up the same time Hiei spoke. There is no way she is staying with him.
"Come on, Hiei. You're the only one she can stay with!" Yusuke yelled, frustrated.
"I rather live in the streets then live with that bastard!" Naiya spat angrily.
"Hn. Thank god." Hiei growled and smirked when Naiya glared at him.
"Arrogant, annoying, infuriating- Argh!" Naiya growled in her mind.
"Fine, you know what?" Yusuke continued impatiently. "Since you refuse to let her live in your apartment and she refuse to live with you, instead opting to live in the streets, both of you can live out in the streets."
Hiei shot a glare at the detective. Who the hell does he think he is, ordering him about? Not to mention his sentence doesn't make any sense at all.
"There problem solved. Goodbye." Yusuke finished and walked off.
"Damn, Keiko is going to kill me for being late for-" His thoughts paused as he spared a glance at the tall tower clock in the distance. "An hour. Joy."
"I have to get home. Goodbye Naiya, Hiei, Kuwabara." Kurama smiled slightly before walking off.
"Me too, bye shrimps" Kuwabara said vaguely before walking off.
For a moment, both of them stared after the leaving figures. After a minute, they slowly looked at each other before scowling simultaneously.
"Hn." Naiya growled and leaned against a tree, looking off in a distance and completely ignoring the figure next to her.
Hiei twitched slightly at her word, if that can actually be called a word. He ignored her as well and stared into the opposite direction Naiya is staring at.
Silence.
"Stop looking at me, damn ningen!"
Hiei fought the urge to laugh as a young teenage girl gave Naiya one last wary look before hurrying off. Reaching over, he flicked a dark, pointed ear.
"Hide these, idiot"
"…Oh…"
Naiya blushed slightly in embarrassment before her dragon ears disappear together with her tail. To cover up her embarrassment, she growled and smacked away Hiei's hand, which was still outstretched. Scowling at the smirk he gave her, she sullenly resumed her position against the tree.
"…Are we seriously going to stand out here the whole day?" Naiya snapped out after a few minutes. Patience had never been her strong point.
Hiei gave her a brief glance before straightening up. Without warning, he took off, a smirk creeping over his features as he watch her tried to keep up.
"Show-off." Naiya muttered under her breath as she increased her speed to match his.
Within a few minutes, they were in front of the apartment Koenma had given Hiei. The young ruler had given it to him after Hiei had helped him solved an especially difficult case. Although the chances of the fire apparition actually using the apartment is slim to none.
Naiya's golden eyes glanced around as she stepped in. It's not a big place, but it's not exactly small either, just enough for a person to live in.
The apartment consists of a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom. Naiya strolled into the kitchen, taking in the apartment as Hiei sat indifferently at the window in the living room.
Hiei watched amusedly from his seat as Naiya stared warily at the kitchen appliances. He choked back a laugh when Naiya opened the refrigerator, yelped as the cold air gushed out, then slammed it shut, glaring at it maliciously.
Scowling, Naiya walked out of the kitchen, muttering all the time about 'damn ningen contraptions'.
"The hell does this thing works?" Her face showed how annoyed she was as Naiya poked at the television set.
"Hn. Figure it out yourself."
"Asshole."
"Bitch." The fire apparition immediately retaliated.
Naiya scowled and made a rude gesture towards the fire apparition. Her scowl heightened when he ignored her and stared out at the setting sun.
Lying down on the couch, her golden eyes bored holes into Hiei's back. After a while, she gave up trying to make a hole in the fire apparition with her eyes and turned her eyes towards the ceiling instead.
"This probation is going to be hell with him…"
Crimson eyes opened slightly as he heard a slight sound coming towards him. His hand edged slightly towards his katana, causing the incoming figure to stop suddenly and hold their breath.
Pretending to be asleep, Hiei relaxed his hand, although near enough to his katana to whip it out in a second.
He almost jumped in shock when he felt a few fingers touched the side of his face slightly. Through his minutely opened eyes, he saw the sleek black hair and the golden eyes of the figure.
"God damn it…" The figure whispered softly, careful not to wake the seemingly asleep fire apparition. Her voice rose slightly, but still soft, and anger poured through it. "Damn it, Hiei!"
Slight annoyance went through Hiei's mind. Did she seriously just come here to curse at him?
As he was about to drop his façade and get even with her, he heard a half sob, half cry emitted from the figure. The fingers on his face trembled slightly.
"Why did you leave?" The dragon continued her rant softly. Her voice came out choked and pained. "Or never mind that…"
"Why didn't you come back?"
"Why!" Her eyes flashed with hurt as she half whispered and half yelled at the apparently sleeping figure.
Hiei shifted uncomfortably. The figure gasped and quickly pulled her hand away. Backing a few steps away, she quickly hurried out of the fire apparition's view, fearing that she had woken him up.
Hiei quickly assumed back his sleeping façade. Disappointment rose in his heart when she didn't return, yet, he heard a wretched cry came from the direction she went off in.
Guilt and longing flooded through him. Assuming she had really went off, he reached one hand up and traced where the little dragon had laid her fingers on. The skin felt warm and his crimson eyes opened slowly, filled with sadness. He absent-mindedly wished her hand were still on him, her touch still there.
It just felt so right…
(?) - Simple explanation. I have no info on his stepfather except this name from Lectaelf. As she isn't sure on the name either, I added the '?'. If anyone knows the correct name, just inform me, I'll change it.
A/N: I'm sure all of you knew that I'm sorry for updating so slowly. So let's just skip that part. Wondering, how do you readers find Naiya? Am I making her too powerful, too weak etc…?
A big thanks to all reviewers. As usual, I'll try my best to get the next update up as soon as possible.
-Lene