SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! I had so moany projests due and they were all assigned by the evil history teacher, Mr. Jones. I CAN'T STAND HIM! Enjoy the chappie!
Tawainai spread himself across the dew covered grass that morning; Juri still asleep from coming home a little later then normal. The dog raised his head a little and looked at the rose bush that he was found in. It wasn't so long ago. I was so close… Freedom was within my grasp.
Why, Mistress Juri, did you have to find me? If you hadn't noticed me, Master Gouta wouldn't have known about you, and I would have been able to get the rest of my pack out of his merciless control. The dog rolled on his back to look at the sky. Blue Jays flew overhead making various patterns in the air as if they were in a ballet. I always envied you birds. Especially through the window. Always free to go wherever you wish and never worrying about being grounded.
Tawainai relaxed a little and felt his doggish form fade little by little. He closed his eyes and allowed the morning do its work. The sun still shown a little through his eyelids and the chirping of birds filled his now shrunken and human ears; taking in the air though his nose and out his mouth. When he opened his eyes again, he was Tai, an average looking 10 year old boy. He jumped up on his feet and brushed the bugs that were crawling on his white silk pants.
"I can't go out in public looking like this," Tai said as he looked over his attire. "I don't understand why humans are the way they are with the 'latest fashion trends'." He walked to the neighbor's house and circled it until he saw what he was looking for. An open window leading to a young boy's room; this was all he needed. "How convenient. Who leaves a window open for a theif?" Tai quietly hopped through the window and landed with a soft 'thump.' He looked at the sleeping boy, with his blanket halfway off the bed and his loud snoring practically shaking the posters on his walls.
"Ack, this room stinks! I'm glad I transformed into this human stage. My canine senses would have me passed out!" Tai quickly picked up an orange shirt and a pair of jeans before heading toward the window. "This place is a pigsty. I guess I do owe you for the loan." With rapid speed, Tai put away all the dirty clothes and rearranged all the toys so at least the floor was visible. "Since I only took two things, I'll only do two things for you." With that, the demon jumped out of the room before an astonished mother would come and question the organized room from a clueless boy.
Tai quickly changed behind Juri's house and hid his clothes in the rosebush out in the back. "She'll think I had run away, and that would make her sad. I don't want to hurt my mistress, but if Master Gouta tries to find me here, he'll find her." He quickly took his clothes out of the rosebush and looked for any clues to say that he was here. Nothing. "I have to go before-"
"Tawainai! Where are you? It's Saturday, so I get to spend the whole day with you!" Tai scampered to the other house and hid behind the trashcans. He watched Juri step outside in only her oversized shirt that covered her boxer shorts. "I hope you're not mad about how I've been leaving you at home this whole week. That's why I want to make it up to you! Come on out, boy!"
Tai felt his foot take a step closer toward his mistress. My canine instincts are taking control! I can't risk Mistress Juri being found by Master Gouta! At least have me save one person I care about! But his body didn't listen. His heart didn't listen. With tears forming in his chocolate eyes, he bent over and changed to his dog form. When his transformation was complete, he crawled through the trashcans and ran to Juri. "There you are! I'm sorry I was so bad, Tawainai! Today is all about you, so I'm taking you out. This will be like… um, an official first date together! So let's go get ready!"
Juri locked the front door as usual and looked at her little puppy looking eager to get out of the house, but something about the way he looked at her made her worry. "Don't worry, boy. I won't put a leash on you. I have one in my pocket in case a police man comes by though. Let's go have some fun!" She jogged beside him with blue and white sweats and a light blue wind breaker. No one else was out in their neighborhood to greet them a 'good morning' so Juri greeted all the trees and flowers as they passed. It was like the first time she had found Tai; her voice brought life to everything.
"Let's go to the beach, Tawainai. I think the sea air will do you good," Juri laughed. The puppy barked excitedly and relaxed a bit. Today is going to be a good day, and no one should ruin it for my mistress! They jogged through the park, up and down hills, and beside the main road. The distance didn't bother them a bit, and the people started to wake up.
Tawainai started to run around Juri and playfully nip at her ankles. "Oh, so you wanna play, do ya? Ok, here I come!" She chased him across the shore and around the pier, laughing at the frightened sea gulls and the receding tide that her puppy always hastily retreated from. "One day, I'll teach you to swim in the pond at home!" But there little chase ended earlier then they wanted. Juri had spotted Kurama and Hiei on the rooftop of on one the stores nearby the pier. They didn't show any signs of noticing her so she hid behind one of the pillars supporting the pier and used her trained ears to listen in on their conversation.
Hiei stood on the rail of the roof and looked out at the ocean as the sun was starting to show through the clouds. Kurama and he were told to meet up with Yuske and Kuwabara here for their next mission since one of the orges accidentally started a fire in Koenma's office while trying to make a copy of a paper. It wasn't his fault that the copy machine was used so much that it decided to blow up. But the reason didn't matter to any of them.
Since Yuske and Kuwabara were always late, Hiei wanted to talk with Kurama about last night. Kurama joined him looking out at the ocean, but instead of standing on the rail, he leaned on it. "There is something on your mind, Hiei?" Hiei remained silent and didn't break his stare at the ocean. Kurama didn't react to the cold silence but instead continued to look at the waters.
But Kurama tried again. "You shouldn't take something like this so personally you know. I mean, you don't even like Juri so why are you so mad?" Hiei snorted at him and kept on staring. He would try to make this as difficult for the fox as much as he could. "You shouldn't act so immature about it," Kurama said, "If you do like her, then you should tell me to keep my distance." Then a idea came to his mind. "Since she is a female demon, the rights of claiming her as a mate is free to all male demons" Kurama was smiling inside. He was determined to get Hiei to confess his feelings and was willing to annoy him as much as possible.
"If you can recall, Yuske's school already made a fan club for her so that means a whole line of competition for you. But most likely she would want one of them to be her companion since you lack compassion for others. What girl in their right mind would want a ruthless demon to hold on to and-"
"Shut up, Fox. Nothing you just said concerns me." Hiei suppressed a growl. "I do not care if stupid humans want to compete for a wench like her. As I have always stated, she is not worth the effort. She isn't even worth keeping an eye on." Hiei jumped down from the rail and planted himself a little far from Kurama. "I will not be your amusement!"
"Fine, then. I guess you won't mind that I claim her for my own," Kurama simply said. Before he even blinked, Hiei's sword was against his neck. "I never said that she was up for the market," Hiei's icy voice hung in the air. "She is not to be touched and we are to make sure of that." After he put away his katana, Yuske, Kuwabara, and Boton appeared. Kurama's cool facade never left him and he chuckled inside.
"Man, you two are always early!" said Yuske. He was in a bad mood again. "Why is it that every time I feel like I have a chance to relax, there is always a demon on the loose?" Everyone was used to his complaining now so they thought noting of what he just said.
"Everyone, we got a big one this time," said Boton. "This next assignment is going to be tough. One of King Emma's prized possessions, the Eternal Elixir, has been stolen. A big shot demon named Mau has it. He is the head of the Makai black market and we believe that he will put the elixir in his stock."
Hiei and Kurama wore serious looks on their faces after the description of the demon; Yuske had changed from complaining to excited. "All right! Another bad guy to take down. This will be so easy that I won't have to cancel my date with Keiko!" Kuwabara has his usual confused look on his face. "Boton, what's so important about this elixir?"
"It's a special elixir that has the same properties with the Fountain of Youth, but has some small differences. If a certain demon drinks that, his body will receive powers that would be even too great for King Emma himself. We discovered that there is a demon who is the perfect candidate for that because he is the only one left of his kind. Apparently he loves to look for things on the black market and is a regular customer of Mau. If he were to get his hands on it, then that would be the end of the world situation."
Yuske cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Enough talk. Let's get this mission over with. I wanna pound someone in the face right now." Boton sighed and opened a portal in front of them. "Make sure you remember to bring back to elixir!" she called after them as they stepped though the portal one by one. As Hiei was about to go in, he heard a thought whisper something to his head. Beware of Master Gouta. The voice left as soon as it had come. Hiei told himself to remember this when he returns and disappeared through the portal.
