Part Twenty-Two: Trouble
It is evening before Kuwabara ventures from the room to call Shizuru. Luckily, no one has returned yet so he doesn't have to face their knowledge of him skipping school. He dials his home and waits. "Hello?" Shizuru asks.
"Hey, sis, it's me," Kuwabara answers hoping that she doesn't start yelling.
"I got a call that you didn't come to school today, Kazuma. Did something come up?"
"Yes, Yusuke pissed me off and I almost turned into a demon in the Ningenkai. I had to come back here."
"You could have called me earlier."
"I was…sleeping."
"All afternoon?"
"Umm…yeah."
"Kazuma, why do I get the feeling that you aren't telling me something?"
"Ani and I are…dating."
"Way to go, little brother! I am so happy for you."
"Yeah, well, Yusuke is probably not too happy about this."
"Well, he can get over it. Is there a reason that you have been sleeping?"
"Could I not answer that?"
"Nope. I want the details, baby-bro."
"I came back and Ani was…well, let's just say Ani with a heightened libido is the reason I have been sleeping all day."
"You were in bed with Ani?"
"You could say that."
"Can I have a bit more information then that?"
"No! You are not going to hear of my sex-life, Shizuru!"
"Oh, come on, baby-brother, it can't be that embarrassing!"
"It's not embarrassing! Actually it was very enjoyable but that is NOT the point. What Ani and I do is NONE of your business."
Shizuru chuckles. "You'll eventually tell me. You always do."
"Whatever. I was just calling to make sure you knew I was still alive."
"Obviously. So about your demon form, what do you look like?"
"I am not quite sure. All I know is that I have violet-eyes, fangs, and heightened senses."
"So that's how you knew.'
"Yes, I smelled it. It was very pleasant, might I add…well, that is none of your business."
"All right. You should come home for a little bit but I am not about to drag you from your boyfriend. If Yusuke comes over there be ready for a fight."
"You had better believe that I would be ready for a fight. I'll probably end up ripping his throat out."
"Kazuma!"
"I'm being serious here. I have this deep need to kill him every time he says something about Ani."
"Just keep as calm as you can and behave yourself. Your lover is pregnant."
"He's the horny one, Shizuru." He just hears her laugh before he hangs up. After he hangs the phone up, he hears the front door open. He walks to the foyer and finds Yoko, Kuronue, and Karasu walking in. Each is carrying bags and one of the little ones. "Wow, you guys have been busy."
"Yes, well the little ones are going to take a lot of work and there is no reason we can't prepare for Ani and Itsuki's little ones," Yoko says, "Have they stopped by? They left this morning to collect their things and move into the empty third wing."
"I am not sure," Kuwabara answers hoping that they hadn't. If they had…well, hopefully they would be discreet enough not to say a word.
"Nope, we hadn't returned," a voice calls from outside, "Itsuki wanted to…play."
"Shinobu!" Ituski yells furiously from behind him, "That is not something you speak about in public!" The teal-haired Yaminade walks in with a bag glaring at his lover. Shinobu chuckles.
"Sorry, Itsuki. It was a lot more polite than what Kazuya wanted to say about it," the dark haired man apologizes. From the crimson color Itsuki turns, it is obvious just who "played" with the golden-eyed demon. Kuwabara chuckles at his expression and Itsuki turns towards him.
"You might think it's funny now but just you wait until he gets horny," the demon remarks. Kuwabara tries, and fails to hide his own blush.
"What is this? Kuwabara, did something happen this afternoon?" Yoko asks.
"No, this morning," Kuwabara admits.
"What do you mean this morning?"
"Yusuke pissed me off and I almost completely turned into a demon in the middle of the street and since I was really tempted to rip Yusuke's jugular, I decided to return here. Ani was sitting in the windowsill looking outside and when I came in and he turned to face me, well, I sensed something. I think you can take the rest from there."
"You had sex with my brother?" Oto asks walking in from the back of the house. Kuwabara looks at him.
"Yes," he answers.
"Where is he?"
"Still sleeping."
"That's why he kept taking trips to the bathroom," Kuronue interjects helpfully, "He didn't want to tell Kuwabara because he feared forcing him into doing something he would later regret."
"That would be something my brother would do," Oto comments.
"So, you almost completed your transformation in the Ningenkai? That isn't good. You might need to stay in the Makai until you have finished and can retain your human appearance better," Yoko remarks.
"I don't know how long that will take and I am not returning for a few months after my children are born. I might not even finish my transformation until the children are born."
"Then it might be time to sever all human ties," the silver-haired kitsune says softly. Kuwabara looks at him. "I mean that you can still call Shizuru but you should stay here in the Makai."
"You have a point. I am going to have to stay here eventually anyway so I guess this as good a time as any. I don't think I have much at home I am going to miss…not since Eikichi was put to sleep. That was rather difficult. It's kind of funny that the thing that hurts worse is not going through Sensui and another Tournament, it was having to put my cat to sleep."
"A testament to your humanity," Yoko answers.
"Or just me being absolutely pathetic."
"You are not pathetic, Kazuma," Ani says from the stairs. The demon yawns as he walks down.
"Well, good evening, brother, feeling rested?" Oto teases.
"Yes…a little bit. Where's Bui? Please don't tell me that you left him unconscious at the arena."
"Actually, Bui took off a few hours ago without telling me where he was going. I am not too sure where he went but it was quite sudden."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean around lunch time, he suddenly got this rather strange expression, apologized for having to leave unexpectedly and took off before I could require as to what needed his immediate attention."
"Okay, that is…interesting. Since when does Bui have something so pressing that he doesn't finish a training session with you?"
Kuwabara turns his attention from Ani to Karasu who looks slightly disturbed. The violet-eyed demon looks at Yoko. "You might want to check on Hiei," he says softly.
"What?" the silver-haired fox asks.
"You might want to check on Hiei. That is the only reason I can think of that he would leave that fast," Karasu responds. Yoko raises an eyebrow.
"Just do it, fox!"
"Okay, okay, jeez, you're pushy, bomb-wielder," the fox grumbles as he picks up the phone and dials Genkai's number. He waits for a few minutes wondering why no one has answered. When an automated message states that the phone has been temporarily disconnected, he grows alarmed and hangs up the phone. "No one picked up."
"I'll go to her temple," Kuwabara says, "You have your hands full."
"Are you sure?" Yoko asks.
"Yes, yes I am."
"I'm going with him," Oto says calmly noticing the look on his brother's face. Kuwabara goes to argue but he also sees Ani's expression and realizes that the demon won't let him go anywhere unless he feels he's adequately protected.
"Let's go then,' Kuwabara says heading out the door. He is hoping that maybe Genkai had forgotten to pay the phone bill but something tells him that it is not that simple.
Both quickly head out of the portal in an alley and race out onto the streets. Neither bother to apologize to the pedestrians they shove out of their path. They make it to the temple within ten minutes…well, what was left of the temple. Both quickly peruse the grounds looking for either Genkai or Hiei. The charred rubble scattered revealed that a fight had obviously broken out. "Dammit, where is everyone?" Kuwabara growls as their search is rendered fruitless.
"They have either been burned alive or have been captured," Oto answers surveying the damage, "I would just like to know where the hell Bui is at." As he says this, a glint of metal catches his attention and he walks over. Reaching down, he lifts up the part of a blade. He knows the style well enough to realize what it's from. "Bui was here. Obviously there was a struggle. I can only surmise that anyone here was kidnapped. I just wonder what the purpose for such a thing could be…and I hope that the bodies of those captured don't turn up on our doorstep for no other reason than demonic cruelty."
"As do I," Kuwabara murmurs, "As do I."