The Sea Prince
Chapter 13
Alo guys, wassup? I'll tell you what; its the 1 year anerversity of this story, whoo hoo! It may not be done yet, but whatever, u guys have stuck with me until the end, and I'm really happy about it . Join me afterwards to sing a birthday song for this fic.
So we've reached the plot, sweet! I got many good replies from you all last time, and I'm rather happy. I know some of you are thinking 'Its about F-ing time' and I will agree. The 2 are together, so lets hope for some action.
One last note before I send out this story. I have finally got an editor! She hasn't made an acount yet, but I want you all to know that I really apreciat her doing this for me. In fact, she may be the whip needed that will get me writing faster, lets hope so.
Without any adew, lets go
mrrow, I'm a kitty. no just kidding, lets go.
It was a very white room.
That was the first thing Kurama noticed when he opened his blurry eyes. Shaking his head, he tried blinked out the sleep that was stuck in his eyes. When his vision finally cleared he tiredly sat up and looked around the room. 'Where in the world am I?' he questioned himself as he saw many books and a desk in the room. He was sitting on a bed with a tiny stool and an equally sized cabinet beside him, which had only 2 drawers. There was a vase filled with flowers on the cabinet and a glass of water with some writing equipment beside it.
"I see you're awake, little Shu-chan!" a voice said and Kurama brightened up and turned to face Youko, who was sitting on the small stool right beside his bed in his crab form. Kurama called out his name but his eyes widened when no sound came out of his mouth. He tried yelling again but only air came out and he became highly confused.
"Shuichi, calm down and listen." Youko tried to say but when Kurama turned to him and pulled his legs off the side of the bed, once he saw them he jumped.
'LEGS- Wait a bed, where's the water? What happened? Where am I?' Kurama looked around and he started breathing heavily. He was confused, and starting to become scared.
Youko sighed and he quickly held his breath when he turned into his merman form and grabbed the cup of water next to him. When he was a crab, he had no gills so he could breath out of water, however when he was a merman it was a different story. He couldn't breathe unless he was entirely wet. Quickly he dumped the water over the prince's head before turning back into his smaller form. "SHUICHI! Get a grip on yourself." He demanded and Shuichi seemed to calm down with the water on him. As Kurama took deep breaths, he started to remember the events that happened the day before.
Yomi's destruction, his journey through the squid, the deal with Karasu; 'that's right, I'm human now… that's why I can't talk.'He thought and he turned to Youko. At first Kurama looked at Youko as if the crab had grown 2 heads, but very slowly, the shock vanished, and a big grin slowly crept onto the prince's face. When he was done, he scooped the crab up and would have been shouting loudly if he had a voice. 'My god Youko, I'm a land walker now, this is so cool. I never thought this would work, yes! I LOVE THIS! ITS SO AWESOME!'
"Hey, Shuichi stop it, this isn't the time to celebrate right now." Youko said but the red headed prince was too happy to listen and kept hugging and swinging him around. Getting slightly annoyed at the boy's behavior, Youko got his claw ready and snapped down on Kurama's thumb making the prince jump. Youko let go when Kurama swung his hand and landed on a tiny cabinet with pencils and other things on top of it. "Shuichi, calm down and listen to me, this is not the time to be celebrating." He said and Kurama put his thumb in his mouth, sucking on the blood.
'This is a new sensation… Usually the blood always went up and spread around me in the water. This is the first time I saw the blood just go down in a trail. How amazing,' Kurama thought.
"Shuichi, this is very important, so listen up." Youko said, getting the prince's attention again. "You have gotten us in the most troublesome situation ever created. Apparently you've sold your voice in a deal, you've got 7 days until your time is up and you become a slave, and the only way to avoid that fate is to make an antisocial fire demon with a heart of ice fall in love with you." Kurama nodded every time Youko made a point. "Do you even have a plan?" At that one, Kurama shook his head.
"I see… You are an IDIOT!" He yelled and every thing he could throw, he did at the prince and the boy jump slightly. He grabbed a pillow to block the erasers and pencils coming at him. The crab was so angry that he picked up the cup he had earlier and threw it at the prince. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO THINK AHEAD, BUT NO ONE LISTENS TO ME, NOBODY!" He yelled and Kurama looked from behind his pillow to the desk to see that the crab was panting and out of breath.
Kurama stared at the small form for a while before slowly reaching over, and scooping him up and held him to his chest. 'I'm sorry Youko…I made you worry; please forgive me Youko, I'm so sorry.'He said, and tried reaching out to Youko in his mind, waiting for an answer.
'You should be dope!' Youko said more calmly then before. The price smiled and held the crab out so they could look at each other. 'But Shuichi, I can't completely blame you on everything. You're head wasn't exactly in one piece after Yomi destroyed your haven, and with the trip through the tunnel with just those brown things and the eels; it must have scared you senseless."
'Actually Youko, I was alone on that trip. The eels abandoned me part way in. The things that really unhooked me were Karasu's words…and a creature that was near his room.' Kurama said and Youko tilted his head in confusion.
"What creature?" Youko asked and Shuichi shuddered.
'Something… with cuts and gashes all over its body… he tried to warn me to leave, but he did it so desperately that I got the wrong idea and almost thought he was attacking me. But the sea demon had a bigger influence on me then the creature did.' Thinking about something that the sea demon had mentioned, Kurama suddenly looked away from Youko; 'he may actually…hate you.' Karasu's words repeated in his mind, he couldn't even look at the white crab anymore.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Youko asked with a slight hint of anger in his voice. Kurama looked confused at first; he hadn't sent a telepathic message to him. Then realization hit him. "That's right kid, I've been entering your mind, and might I say whoever said that will die." Youko said making Kurama sighed.
'Did you…know what the sea queen…?'Kurama tried to think of the right words to ask Youko, but Youko already understood and nodded. He did know what happened between Queen Luka and Kurama
"I did."
'Then why didn't you ever do something? Why did you never tell anyone? I was always getting tortured by her, yet you knew and didn't do anything!' Kurama almost yelled at him. The crab didn't do anything at first. Then slowly, without saying anything, he looked over to where the vase holding flowers was (he didn't throw that because he was too tiny and it was heavy.).
"Do you mind getting me wet; I wish to talk to you in my other form with this kind of conversation." Kurama glared at him, but he did put him on the table and grabbed the vase; pouring a little bit of water on the crab. Without saying much else, Youko glowed a bit, transforming into his merman form one more time. He was completely drenched, but even so, he grabbed Shuichi by the shoulders and brought him into a hug. "I'm sorry, but there was nothing else I could do."
Shuichi's eyes opened in shock and he tried to struggle against the older and taller merman, but after a while, he gaveup. "I confronted her about it after the second time it happened to when you were five; she warned me to keep my mouth shut or she'd kill you." Kurama's eyes widened in surprised and his grip on Youkotightened. "I knew that she would keep her word, so there was nothing I could do to save you without killing her. So I told her this, and I quote: if you ever kill him or mortally wound him in any way, then I will kill her, even though someone would kill me afterwards: end quote. However when I wanted to treat your injuries, she told me to leave them or she'd hurt you more frequently." Kurama fell onto him, his head resting on the merman's wet chest.
'You only wanted to save me…to keep me alive even if I was hurt.'Kurama said to him, without using his meager telepathic ability. Youko nodded while putting a hand on the boys head. He felt something hit his chest and he looked down and gasped in surprise. Round tears dropped from Shuichi's face, each turning into a circle like tear, like water you could hold. Youko gathered them with his free hand and quickly wiped the rest away from the boy's face.
"Don't cry Shuichi, it makes me feel worse…and gives me a slight urge to comfortyou." He said with a raised brow. Kurama wiped away the last of his tears and glared at him.
'I have no idea what you mean, but I believe your mind is what the humans call 'in the gutter.''Youko laughed and ruffled his hair.
"Yes it is." Kurama glared a bit more before trying and (this time) succeeding to move away from the pointy eared merman.
"But Kurama, I want you to consider stopping this deal before it's too late." Youko continued far more seriously and Kurama looked shocked at the merman.
"Listen to me Shuichi; you don't know what you've gotten yourself into. You don't even know about the vendetta that Karasu wants. Didn't you find it strange that he would help you so willingly, when the idiotic king who banished and transformed him is your father? That you are an heir to the entire ocean? That includes all the water in the world; lakes, seas- everything! Even the rain could be under your control, along with hale and snow." Kurama nodded.
'I know and I asked him why he would help me. His answer was he wanted to make Yomimad; in fact it sounded a lot like an answer you would give. I tried to see if there was any other reason, but I saw none. However…he did have a strange glint in his eyes sometimes, and he was really pissed at Yomi when I think back on it. Now I believe there might be more going on then just this deal we've made.'Youko nodded. 'But even so, I don't want to stop this deal we've made.'
"What?" He yelled and glared. "Shuichi; I'm telling you now that Karasu does haveplans, and they do involve you. He's not going to make Yomimad by making you human; he's pissing him off when you become his slave." Kurama looked confused and Youko continued. "That's what he wanted if you lose the deal right? I know because I know this demon is far more disgusting then anything you have witnessed. Tell me Shuichi, have you ever heard of rape?" He asked and Kurama crossed his legs to think about it.
He himself heard that demons and humans did it frequently, but he hardly ever heard of that happening under the ocean. There was the case that happened every 70 years or so, but those mermen or mermaids were given the worst kinds of torture later and then killed. With that thought, Kurama shivered and nodded.
"Good that you know, but let me tell you that may be what Karasu plans to do to you." Youko said and Kurama turned white as marble. The thought of rape was disgusting enough, but the thought of it happening to himself was terrifying; especially since Kurama wasn't even of age yet. "But mere physical pleasure is probably not just what he wants; Kurama, please change your mind. Return to the sea, get rid of your legs for your fins. Deals can be undone if the circumstances are too high, just tell him you quit and he'll have no choice but to turn you back." Youko said, making Kurama think it over.
The tension was higher then before now that he knew what the demon wanted. His skin still hadn't turned back to its normal shade as he thought about it; trembling, he thought about it. If he got his fins back now he would still never be able to look his brothers in the eye. If he gaveup now, he wouldn't even use his water power, because he'd feel so pathetic. This is because he gave up without even trying. He also thought about Hiei, and realization dawned on him.
'This is my only chance to get to know Hiei… as weird as this sounds I don't think I would ever be the same if I just gave up. I have to do this, or I could never face anyone, not even Kuwabara-san."Kurama thought sadly.
'Youko, I won't give up right now.' He told the merman and he looked strait into the older beings eyes.
Youkogawked and wanted to tell him to give up, that there was more to life then Hiei- but the look in Kurama's eyes stopped him. Kurama was determined to go through with all this, whether he won or lost; Youko knew he couldn't shake him now. 'I guess there's no choice…' He thought sadly and looked away for a moment.
"All right Shuichi I give up… you win… we're staying. However-" He shouted the last word at the prince to stop Kurama from celebrating. "I am staying with you at ALL times, and you will let me help. You will not question my methods and you will visit the ocean often. You will also not question any knowledge I show of the human and demon cultures which I will show. I will explain everything tomorrow WHEN we go to the ocean." He said and Kurama looked at him suspiciously.
'…You're hiding something from me.'he thought to him and Youko nodded.
"I am, but I will reveal everything tomorrow, so don't worry about it." He told the prince who slightly glared at him. "We have to go Kurama, that idiotic carp will wait for us there. Also, I can tell you everything else which I promised I would tell you both!" He sounded annoyed at the thought of telling the carp anything, but he unfortunately had too. He felt that the carp would do something stupid if he didn't tell him. 'Well…more stupid then usual.'
"Alright Shuichi, we have one more thing we must work on before we do anything." Youko said and Kurama looked interested. "It's time you learn how to actually walk."
Yomi paced in his chambers (swim back and forth kind of pace... anime thing!). He was growing restless and worried, especially since his youngest son hadn't returned home at all since the incident. As he swam back and forth, checking the window every so often as if hoping to catch a glimpse of Kurama swimming by; his wife, Queen Luka stared from her thrown with a slight smile on her face. She had been watching him do this for an hour after he told her what happened. She herself could not be more thrilled. This was her chance to permanently ruin the prince, just as she had planned long ago when her mate had shared a bed with that woman.
"Relax my love; he deserved that kind of punishment. He disobeyed you and damaged your lovely hands with that attack of his. Face it my mate, he disserved a form of punishment." She said as she had moved over to him and held his hand to her face. She kissed the gash that was on them, as if trying to make the pain from the whip dissapear. The shard whip was a new attack that Kurama had made to be quick and painful: Yomi was lucky that he was able to keep his hand after such an attack.
"But I hadn't given him a chance to explain, Luka, I was horrible. I destroyed his precious possessions, his escape route when life got too hard, I mocked him and forced tears out of his pure eyes…I'm a monster." He said and he closed his eyes and tried to regain control of himself. "He tried to talk, he tried to speak to me, but I hadn't listened. I wish I never entered the carps mind. Now I don't even have the heart to summon Youko. For even the fox demon has been a better father then I have." He said. His thoughts were jumbled together so much that he kept listing the regrets that he had, all revolved around his son. Luka watched with sad eyes, but in her mind they were rolling as she sighed in annoyance.
"Lord Yomi, as I said before; you have done nothing wrong. All our other sons have turned out fine, even Jin, and we had to send him to Ireland for his constant disobedence. My love, you can not blame yourself for how this child turned out when his blood is so … different and impure. He was also raised by that mermaid, Shiori who is the exact opposite of normal. With her unusual strength and all she must have brought him up wrongly. What could you have done to save a child who was raised so wrongly in the first years of his life?" She told him and he went over to his desk and pulled out a picture and showed it to her.
"…How could this child be raised wrong when he looked so happy, Luka?" He said sharply. The picture was a woman with brown hair, cuddling her 4 year old child who had flaming red hair. The child itself had the greatest smile, which could even melt hearts of ice. "How could she have been a bad mother?" Luca however, had a heart of fire and resentment, all focused around the brunet who had stolen her mate's heart.
"Spoiled probably, how do I know what runs through the mind of the whelp. But listen to me now Yomi." She spoke harshly, gaining the lord's attention. "This child is different then the rest; he breaks rules without much thought, allows himself to be drawn in by humans and demons without thought of his or others safety. He could bring destruction to our race if our kind is ever discovered; what is wrong with opening his eyes? The sea and land are enemies, never to unite, or coexist together. You have told your son many times, yet he refuses to listen and then starts talking to a demon! What have you done wrong besides put him in his place? He is your son, so make him listen and use him as an example for oursons. The ones who actually have respect and dignity! Forget about that runt!" She said and Yomi looked surprised.
"How dare you call our son-"
"WHO'S SON! He's not mine, he's yours!" She yelled back at him angrily, and he moved back from her for a moment, his mate became very terrifying when she was mad. "He's your son, which you had with that freak of a woman!"
"DO NOT SPEAK BAD ABOUT HER-"
"I'LL SPEAK ANY WAY I WISH ABOUT SOMEONE WHO BEDDED WITH MY MATE! You have cheated on me, slept with someone else and then accepted the child without any regrets until now. What's more is that you treat my children differently; you even sent my oldest far away. It's like you'd rather abandon ours over hers! Then you give him more attention, as if my babies are inferior, when that child is a fucking half blood!" Yomi's eyes raised and the water around him swirled in anger, but Luka was also powerful and sheltered herself with a shield. "Jin disobeyed a law when he was younger and much less frequently then the bastard, and you had no regrets when you sent him away, all the way to Ireland waters! Yet you weep in grief by just destroying that child's toys!"
"Jin is more understanding then Shuichi, and older. He knew why I sent him and I knew it was a place that would suit him. He even had to miss Shuichi's first arrival and had to wait a year to see him, but he seemed fine. Jin is an entire different case then Shuichi."
"Wrong Yomi, what is different? Just because of blood? No, you are favoring him Yomi and I find that disgusting." With that, her shield left her and Yomi calmed down the tides he made. "Go ahead and spoil the child and hide the news from your children. It's not like I would be surprised, after all; you tell everything else to them." She said and she swam to the door, but just as she was about to leave, she heard something and turned to Yomi.
"I said you're right, our sons have a right to know. I will tell them tonight." The 2 stared at each other for a minute before the queen nodded and left the room. When the door closed she was smiling evilly and close to laughing. 'Everything is going according to plan.'
"One and two, one and two! Excellent job Shuichi, you have mastered the art of walking." Youko said happily. He had already transformed back into a crab and watched Kurama walk. Although the prince was wearing nothing but a large button up shirt that reached his knees, he found it comfortable to walk in. Though he would prefer what the human's call 'pants,' especially after his embarrassment when he tried to stand the first time. He had fallen right on his face, allowing Youko to see his nicely formed rear when his shirt went up. Not that Youko minded, in fact he was in a rather joyful mood as he taught the prince the basics and had even held his hand to help him balance before turning back into his smaller form. 'Today is a good day!'
The small crab was also surprised at how fast Kurama learned to walk. He had expected the prince to struggle for 30 minutes before they got anywhere, but it only took 5 before Kurama could walk around the room without clinging to the walls (though he did use it to stable himself when he almost fell a few times) and then another 5 minutes later, he was walking perfectly, as if he had been doing it his whole life. Youko had also taught him how to properly get up from laying and sitting positions in case he fell. Now he was telling the prince to start standing on one leg. 'He's a fast learner, and has adapted to walking using his graceful techniques. He looks like he could be a dancer from the way he walks... but he may get tired easily if he goes on too long, so he should be careful.'
Kurama couldn't stand on his foot any longer before falling down again, and he quickly covered himself to make sure Youko didn't see his butt or length again. He blushed when Youko started laughing.
"Relax kit- I mean kid! It's not like I haven't seen it before," he said making the prince blush even deeper before he got up. Youko smiled and told him what he thought, "Your walking is fine, but due to the fact that your legs are new, I suggest you stop walking if you get too tired. Your balance is okay, since you could stay on 1 foot for thirty seconds, but fell after it. Try catching yourself next time Shu-chan, and other then that you're fine. Though once we find a larger room we should practice your running." Kurama nodded and smiled happily.
'Is there anything else I should work on Youko? Does my style of walking look weird?"Kurama asked telepathically before sitting on the bed again. Youko smiled from inside of his shell.
'Far from weird my precious prince,' Youko thought with a smirk, partly thinking that Kurama had really sexy legs and a great walk to match.
"No, its fine Shuichi don't worry about it. We'll work on it more tonight." He said and Kurama smiled and nodded. The young sea prince was about to say something else but stopped when he heard a click. Getting up, he looked around the curtains that separated his bed and the door across from it and saw a young girl with aqua blue hair come in. The girl gasped when she saw him and ran over.
"No sir, please don't stand, you should recover your strength more," she said and ran over to push him down onto the bed. He looked confused but noticed other people coming in after her. However he didn't get a good look before he landed on the bed and was forced to lay down by the young girl who covered him with the blanket again.
Yukina smiled down at the boy, happy that he seemed to be feeling better. 'Though he does seem to be a bit frazzled and confused; I should probably explain what happened.'
"I'm so glad you're okay now, when I first saw you your legs they were causing you such discomfort. Then I learned with master Genkai that your muscles were extremely clenched, as if you have used them too much; like if you ran for hours on end. We don't understand how you made them like that, but master Genkai has soothed them. But we want you to stretch them from now on, every night before bed and when you wake up in the morning."
Kurama seemed to edge away from her and looked even more confused then before. As he looked at her face, his eyebrows started to come together, as if in thought. Yukina looked confused. "Oh I'm sorry; I'm Yukina the healer of the castle! And behind me is Master Genkai, she did most of the work, but I healed the cuts on your back." She said and Kurama spared the old lady in the back a glance before bowing. He also bowed to Yukina before staring at her face again.
'Is it my imagination or does she look just like-'
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're a fool who just loves a woman's body and nothing else? If that's the case then just leave before I get any reports and have to kill you." A gruff voice told him and Kurama whipped his head to the speaker. Standing there was the man he had fallen for, and the person who he traded his voice to be with.
'-Hiei!'
"Hey calm down runt, nothings wrong with staring." A taller teen said and he put his elbow on Hiei's head, as if using it for an arm rest. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you kid, my names Yusuke, Yusuke Urameshi. I'm a prince," he said and Kurama felt like laughing but decided against it when Hiei started glaring and punching the idiot's arm off his head. Not forgetting his manners, he nodded his head lightly in a bow.
That small bow caught both Hiei's and Yusuke's attention, but they didn't say anything about it. 'That was how other princes or princesses are supposed to bow to each other, not a commoner to a royal member style.' Hiei thought and he looked at the red head.
"Dimwit, stop being an idiot and act more formal. Right now he's probably thinking that you're a joke!" the old lady barked from the corner, and Kurama subconsciously held his right arm with his left hand as turned away.
Yusuke glared at the old woman but he stopped when he heard someone coming. Curious, he turned around to see who it was. His eyes widened when he saw Mukuro coming, her soft footsteps were hardly noticeable at first, but became drums when the others saw her and became quiet. Genkai gave a deep bow while Hiei only nodded his head and slanted his shoulders, Yusuke did the same.
The tall woman walked past her heir and prince from Tourin, Yusuke's future territory. As she turned and walked past the curtain that hid her from view, Yukina gasped and bowed deeply, not raising her head. When Mukuro looked at the red head, he seemed surprised, but he took a quick glimpse of Yusuke and Hiei from the corner of his eye before bowing too.
"…Were you taught to bow like that?" The woman asked with a raised brow, and Kurama looked up and nodded, looking her straight in the eyes. "That is interesting, I would like to hear more about you during dinner, please wear something formal for the occasion. You will sit across from my heir, Hiei the Jaganshi." She said and Kurama's eyes widened and Hiei glared. "You seemed surprized young one, but trust me; its only formal. Besides, I would like to discuss something with you." She said to Kurama.
"What, why should I have to look at a fool?" Hiei said annoyed but Yusuke backed Mukuro up.
"She's right Hiei, listen to what your mum says."
"She's not my mom, detective!" He said angrily.
"Then boss, either way this will be great. In fact, tell us about yourself. That way...um...we can get to know you better," Yusuke said cheerfully and without thinking. Hiei glared even more at the idiotic comment and grabbed Yusuke by the hair, dragging him off while ignoring the others protests in pain.
"Excuse us!"
Kurama watched his love drag the idiot away, and a sweat drop appeared behind his head. When they went behind the curtains though his thoughts trailed away. Nervously, he started rubbing his arm as he thought about his new problem.
'Now I'm in trouble; how do you explain that you're a merman from the sea who's actually a prince without sounding insane! Obviously I'll have to think something up that doesn't sound too far fetched, while staying as close to the truth as possible. Especially since I'm not always such a great lier.' He thought calculatingly, completely ignoant to the conversation with Hiei and Yusuke near by.
Hiei was talking to Yusuke in angered whispers. "I'm going to kill you! What the hell are you thinking detective." Hiei hissed and Yusuke smirked in return.
"You told me the guy you remember has green eyes and red hair. God damn it he has the same traits, he might be who you're looking for." He said and Hiei glared again.
"The dreams become fuzzy after an hour or so and I can't remember what he looks like, and after you hit me on that fateful day, I lost most of my memories of his looks. The eyes and hair are pretty much it. Even in my dreams he remains a mystery."
"More the reason, so lets take a look at this guy, he may be the key to your lover boy."
Hiei's glare was more terrifying then before as he looked at the human. "I. Do. Not. Love!" He said, pronouncing each syllable as if they could kill.
"Whatever, just agree you idiot." Yusuke said and the conversation was cut short when the queen spoke.
"Enough everyone, I will agree with Yusuke, and I something that I would like you to accept, child." Her normal and glass eye turned to Kurama and a smirk grew on her face. "Would you be willing to accept a job?" Kurama's eyes widened and he thought about it.
It would cut into his time with Hiei and planning, he also had no idea what kind of job that he could do without talking. However he would spend time with Hiei at the dinner table, which was an honor (or so he read). Weighing the pros and cons Kurama pointed to a piece of paper that Yukina was holding, while he grabbed a pen that was still on his bed from Youko's tantrum earlier.
Yukina's eyes widened before giving it to him and he paused before writing. 'Hiei has seen my hand writing, but I don't think now would be the best time to reveal who I am. So I should print." He thought as he wrote down some words, they were a bit shaky, but readable. He scowled at his work. 'I prefer writing rather then printing these types of letters.'
Mukuro took the paper from his hands when she knew he was finished and read it over once.
May I ask what the job is first?
Mukuro raised a brow at him again. "I'll tell you at dinner, you can decide then. However you haven't said a word since you awoke and I must know the reason, now."
Kurama lowered his eyes for a second, and then put a hand on his throat and opened his mouth. He seemed calm as he mouthed 2 words; 'I can't.'
Mukuro gave him a calculating look before turning. "That's fine but make sure to get a note book as soon as you can so people can understand what you want. I will not let you roam alone with no means of communication, and most importantly; I will kill you with my bare hands if I find out that you are faking this." She said and Kurama held her gaze before nodding. "Good, now if you excuse me, I have important things to deal with." She said and turned and left and Genkai who followed behind her.
Hiei glared at her as she walked away and Yukina sighed. He looked back and forth between the two and as Kurama watched the two, he couldn't help but think that they looked alike.
"What are you looking at?" Hiei asked and Kurama looked for some paper which Yukina was happy to get for him.
"I'm sorry sir, but I have to leave for a moment to get you some pants, and then I'll call for Keiko to send you to her room." Kurama nodded and waited until she left the room to look at Yusuke. Smiling, he held up the piece of paper and Yusuke turned red slightly.
Are you really a prince? You seem really…laid back.
"Of course I'm a prince; what made you think I wasn't?" He asked and Kurama just waved his hands, as if trying to say no reason, but silently he was writimg over 20 reasons on a piece of paper; Hiei just huffed.
"There are so many reasons it's impossible to number." Hiei said and Yusuke glared at him. Kurama nodded and Yusuke glared back at him. Kurama smiled and pushed the light blankets off of him and swinging his legs over the bed, he stood up. Yusuke glared when he walked over and passed him a folded piece of paper the red head had been writing in, and snatched it. As he opened it up, he gapped at the piece of paper. Written it was all the reasons Kurama had put down on why he thought he was a clown more then a prince, their were even words that he thought described Yusuke, and put them in alphabetical order. Yusuke raised his head and looked at the smiling redhead.
"Okay buddy, if you insist on calling me a 'non chary' blah blah etcetera; then how about I kick your ass in return." As he yelled the last words, he aimed a powerful punch at Kurama who had to bend back in time to avoid it, but had to jump backwards when another came soon after. Kurama tried to protest by calling things out, but no sound came as he figured out earlier. He was having trouble dodging it all and had almost lost his balance many times but had caught himself at the last minute.
Yusuke smiled and aimed one last punch ay the man's stomach, but Kurama saw this and without thinking of consequences, grabbed Yusuke's wrist and pulled it behind him causing Yusuke to fall forward. As Kurama turned his body sideways, he made the prince tumble in front of him. Before the prince could block, Kurama elbowed him in the face, throwing the raven head backwards into the wall. Kurama on the other hand, had his footing all mixed up and fell backwards and hit his head on the cabinet.
Yusuke landed next to Hiei, making slight cracks in the wall as he hit and slid down onto his butt. Yusuke looked up in shock at the redhead who was crouched on his knees while he rubbed his head. He winced as he rubbed, all the hair that once stayed behind his head, now fell on his shoulders where his side locks were. Hiei watched, looking emotionless as ever, but in his mind he was shocked. Not only had Kurama dodged all of Yusuke's hits, but had even caught one and hit him in return.
'Even though Yusuke was holding back, that is nothing to take lightly. I will find the source of your power and then I will fight you." Hiei thought with another smirk crossing his face. However his brows furrowed when the redhead's eyes widened and he jumped up and hit the desk again. Looking down, Hiei saw a small white crab with its claws snapped onto Kurama's hand.
Kurama was too busy paying attention to his head to notice the angry crab that had fallen off the cabinet when he collided. Having fallen from such a height and distance only to see Kurama act so rash had pissed him off. Now he had to burn off some steam. Kurama would have yipped, if he had a voice, when the sharp pinchers clamped down on his finger again.
Yusuke also saw Kurama jump and they looked down, the 2 princes saw a tiny white crab attached to the redhead's finger, which looked angry if that was possible for a crab. As they looked at it they both got a weird feeling. Passing it off as confusion, the same thoughts crossed their minds; 'Where did that thing come from.'
When Youko let go Kurama put his newly bleeding finger in his mouth, while the crab turned and stared at Yusuke and Hiei. 'It's the short one I'll have to convince, but maybe the other can help as well. He seems just as interested in Shuichi and maybe I could use him to help me make Hiei fall for Shuichi. I only have a week so I'll have to work hard; so let the match making begin.' He thought with a gleam in his golden eyes. Both Yusuke and Hiei felt a chill as they saw it.
Kurama meanwhile glared at the crab and was starting to get angry, something that didn't happen that often. Taking a deep breath in and releasing it, he relaxed slightly. Looking down at the crab, he glared at him before grabbing him by the pinchers and raising him in the air. 'You jerk! What was that for it hurt,' Kurama yelled at the crab in his mind and getting the crab even more annoyed.
'Shut up Shuichi, I'm trying to figure something out.' He said and Kurama lowered his head for a moment so the bangs covered his face, Yusuke and Hiei looked confused, having no idea what was happening between the 2.
'The redhead looked mad though,' Yusuke thought and Hiei was looking at Kurama's hands. He noticed the cuts on his thumb matched the one on his other finger.
'That crab did that earlier.'He concluded and decided to ask the needed question. "What the hell is that crab doing here?" He said and when Kurama looked up he saw a glint of mischief in his eyes. Afterwards he closed his eyes, and his smile turned into a really happy one, and you could almost see a pink aura surround him. Putting the crab down on the cabinet again and stepping back, he used the pen in his hand and wrote on the palm of his hand. He continued smiling as he showed the 2;
He's my pet!
There was a bunch of snapping and they turned to the crab that kept clapping his pincherss as if in angry protest. Looking between the two, Yusuke had to laugh as he stood up. "It's not a thing you can teach to role over and sit; but what the heck. What ever floats your boat is fine with me." He said and slapped the redhead on the back. Kurama gave him a weird and disbelieving look. "What," he asked. Kurama touched the bruise on his cheek and Hiei's eyes lowered.
'What's this feeling? Whatever, its merely an inconvenience' he thought looking away.
'Believe what you wish young lord.' Hiei's eyes snapped open and his Jagan cracked open to see who intruded his mind, only to find nothing but him, Yusuke and Kurama in the room. After finding no other youkai around, he looked back at Yusuke and Kurama.
"Oh I get it now! Nah, I'm not mad about the hit earlier, though it was a pretty good one. And you didn't even use spirit energy on me. You must be pretty strong, even with your skinny arms." The man said and Kurama slightly glared. It was then that they heard the door slam, and the 2 froze.
"YUSUKE YOU JERK!" The said prince and Kurama froze and looked around to see a very angry brown headed girl at the door. Kurama heard the raven head beside him gulp before stuttering a name.
"K-Keiko when did you get here; I didn't sense you come in." He asked nervously before the girl walked up to him while glaring. Kurama went under the boy's arm and to the wall as the woman approached. If there was one thing he did not want to be a part of, it was a girls rage in a lovers quarrel.
"I just walked in! I can't believe you would be so rude to someone who's been unconscious for a few hours! HOW COULD YOU BE SUCH A JERK?" She yelled and Yusuke got angry as well.
"HEY! Don't yell at me, I was actually complimenting him in case you didn't notice! We just got into a fight a while ago, and I decided to compliment him." He said and Keiko held his gaze.
"You just said he had skinny arms! I know he may look a little thin but you still shouldn't say that!" She said and Yusuke laughed.
"Come on Keiko he looks like a pussy."
"YUSUKE," Keiko yelled angrily.
'I'm really starting to get pissed off, and why are these two fighting about me anyway?' Kurama thought and eyed Hiei who was busy rolling his eyes. 'Judging by his expression this must happen a lot.' Sighing, he grabbed a piece of paper off a desk, making sure nothing was written on it. He heard a loud slapping noise and looked up for a moment to see the girl completely red in the face and the prince on the ground with a hand print on his face. 'What did I miss?'
'An act of a pervert, just ignore them and give them the note.' He heard Youko say and he just did what he said. He was getting use to the crab coming in and out of his mind at will. Calmly he walked over to Keiko, stepping on the man in the process and handed her the note. Her eyes widened as she looked at him and took it.
I do not mean to be rude, but may I ask who you are and why you came here?
Keiko smiled warmly at him and then answered his question. "My name is Yukimura Keiko, and I work here as a maid for the palace. I also consider baby sitting that idiot down there as part of my job though." She said with a laugh and Kurama smiled.
'It seems like no one respects him as a prince here.' He thought calmly, not really caring. The same thing happened to Jin as well in his palace, the only difference was that Jin wanted it that way and laughed with everyone. That was his care free nature, and Kurama believed Jin and Yusuke would get along well.
"Also, I'm here to give you some cloths and bring you to your room. Yukina would have done it but she heard that someone was getting a fever and decide to ask me to do it instead." She explained and Kurama smiled and nodded as she gave him some cloths. He then got on the bed and closed the curtains around him, he may not have been modest about his chest, but he would never allow himself to be completely naked in front of someone. That would be embarrassing and improper (in truth he was actually modest about being naked).
Kurama started unbuttoning his shirt first, taking it off fully, he then took a moment to study his body completely for the first time. His scales on his arms were gone now; in their place was a tiny amount of hair that covered him, all blending into his rather pale skin nicely. When he looked at his back, he noticed that the cuts were gone, nothing was there that could have indicated years of abuse at all, there weren't even scratches. When he looked down farther, he blushed.
'So that's why humans and demons wear pants and skirts, they don't have special pouch we merpeople have to cover themselves properly. So they improvise.' He thought as he grabbed the pants. He stopped though when he saw boxers under it and he picked them up. '…Is this "the underwear" I heard about in a book? I guess I should try it.' He thought and put them on first before the pants. Smiling, he moved his legs enjoying the comfortable fabric against them. Normally, any type of clothing underwater was tight and sticky, so it wouldn't slow you down underwater. However the human cloths seemed light and soft. Rubbing against skin rather then stick to it, Kurama enjoyed the change and opened the curtain before putting his shirt back on.
Keiko blushed and stepped back as he opened the curtain. Kurama was always stunning, but since he showed off his bare chest, the first thing anyone could do was blush. Except for Hiei, but even his eyes widened a fraction. '…He looks…NO shut up!'
"Put on your shirt!" Hiei said gruffly and threw a pull on shirt to the redhead who caught it easily.
'Stop denying yourself, you can at least admit he looks nice, at least to yourself.' Hiei looked around again and glared.
'Who are you?' He waited for an answer, and after a while one came.
'I'm no one of importance. As for yourself, Hiei, you shouldn't lie to yourself it's unhealthy. Besides, what harm could come from admitting that someone is good looking?'
Hiei looked at Kurama again now that he had his shirt on; he was smiling with Yusuke and Keiko as they scolded him about wearing a shirt, while he just waved them off. Hiei sighed and looked away repeating the words in his head that the voice just told him. 'Is it…so bad…?'
Kurama turned to him and smiled, forcing the prince to sigh. 'Fine, he isn't… ugly!'
Kurama was led to his room by Keiko as he learned about the castle. She told him about its history, where some rooms were forbidden to enter, about the power balance between the human governments and the Makai lords, and about on coming events.
"-So other then a ball coming up tomorrow, there won't be anything happening for a while. You might be asked to help decorate but chances are you shouldn't be asked to do much. Any other questions?" She asked and Kurama nodded and started writing but she stopped him. "Um, sorry but we're at your room now; why don't you ask Yusuke about the rest when you eat with them, okay?" She asked. The young man seemed to be excited about something. Then again, after waking up in the middle of nowhere, he must have been curious about everything and especially of those who took him in.
Kurama seemed to understand, and began to write on the paper he brought with him and showed it to her.
Sorry for the trouble, its just that I've never been in a palace like this before.
"Oh its no trouble, it's just that I'm not use to answering so many questions. Personally there are some things I don't even know about this place, so I'll have to brush up on learning more before I can answer all of your questions." She said while smiling and using the bedroom key to open the door to his room. Kurama's eyes opened wide when he saw it.
The bed was large, about a queen's size bed, with white blankets covering it. There were 3 pillows, 2 on each side of the bed that took up its width, and 1 on top of them in the middle. It was actually a rather decent room, with a closet and a cabinet, most likely with cloths inside. On the left side with the furniture, was a rather large curtain with a window behind it; Kurama was curious about what the view would look like.
Keiko grabbed his arm, commanding him to walk over to a small door on the opposite side of the room, away from the cloths and to a door that was all by itself. Opening it, Kurama saw a toilet, a rather large bathtub in the middle of the ground, with an interesting type of shower, one with a rather large head in the center of the tub.
"Ah, my bathroom is bigger." Keiko said with a smile. Kurama looked at her with a face full of shock, confusion and overwhelment. Keiko knew his question right away. "Oh don't worry about the room, the reason its large is because you'll be expected to do hard work. Also lots of people share rooms here, or like to visit each other during breaks and such; you know, for adult situations and just to hang out. The rooms are large in comparison to most rooms for maids and palace workers, but since Mukuro forces us to do harder things, she gives us a nice room in return, as a hope that we'll stay. Personally I've been working here since I was little, allowing me to get use to the loads of chores she makes us do." Kurama slowly nodded and fell on his bed, still overwhelmed. "Don't worry about it too much, but there are some rules we're expected to follow. 1.) You have to keep it clean and tidy at all times, so make sure you make your bed; you also have to strip it once a week. 2.) Keep the bathroom clean, and don't drip water everywhere. 3.) If you stay up late, you have to be quiet; you're not aloud to wake anyone up, even your lover. 4.) If you want to put your room in any type of style, you have to do it yourself and inform the person in charge of you. You also have to get Mukuro or Hiei's permission. All the other rules are on this sheet of paper that I'll give to you now."
Kurama took the paper from her hand as she gave it to him and read it over. 'There are quite a few rules; I suppose I should hang this up somewhere where I won't forget.' He decided and looked up at her again with a smile. He lowered his head in a bow, as thanks for helping him and Keiko smiled and blew it off with her hand.
"Its okay you don't need to thank me. Just be good at work and follow the rules, if you don't my butt's going to be hulled as well." Kurama nodded and Keiko walked out the door with a smile. When she was gone he walked to the curtains and pulled them aside, he gasped at what he saw.
There wasn't windows, but rather glass doors which had silver handles on each one. Outside lead to a small balcony with the loveliest view Kurama could've seen for his first glimpse of the human world.
He opened the doors and stepped out of his new room to lean on the balcony. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the air around him, a scent that didn't involve any type of sea water or salt for the first time. 'This is so peaceful, if only I could stay here forever.' He thought, dreamily opening his eyes. Before him was a sight that could steal anyone away. There was a small cove where he could see part of the beach, possibly were he washed up on and where he left his notes. But mostly he saw deep green forests with trees and hills and in the distance he could see a large mountain with snow and some trees. Looking on his right, he could see buildings in the distance which probably indicated a small town. 'It would be nice if Hiei and I could go there…'
After a minute of gazing, he quickly remembered the crab in his pocket and took him out and placed him on the ledge. "It's about time Shuichi; what took you so long!" The crab said and Kurama smiled and pointed behind the crab who faced him. When Youko turned around, his jaw dropped at the sight. They stayed like that for a while before Youko heard some shuffling beside him and he looked over to see the sea prince swing his legs over the baluster. He then sat down; swinging his legs with a childish smile on his face, enjoying the breeze from the wind.
"Shuichi, get back on your feet! The last thing we'd want right now is suspicion. Not to mention if you fall then you're going to DIE!" He shouted the last word but Kurama shrugged.
'Then I won't fall, problem soved. Besides ths is how I usually sit on a balcony at home, it's the most comfortable, and you get to feel the tide- I mean breeze better…' He told Youko, making the older fox sigh.
"Fine, but get in here anyway. I want you to take a bath before dinner, and since people prefer hair to be dry on land, we best to start now. It will take your hair a while to dry after all given its length." Youko explained and Kurama pouted and got back onto the balcony, almost falling over in the process. After he caught himself, he walked back over to Youko who was still talking. "Also Shuichi, since this is your first bath, I'll take it upon myself to watch you, and make sure you don't hurt yourself. In other words I'm taking it with you." Kurama who had picked up the crab and was walking through his room towards his bathroom stopped in mid step and dropped the crab onto the ground.
'YOU JUST WANT TO SEE ME NAKED YOU PERVERT!' Kurama yelled in embarrassment and Youko protested.
"I do not, I want to help you. Besides we use to take baths together all the time, what's the difference now?" The crab asked with a smile and Kurama didn't answer, he just kept looking at the crab in suspicion. "See, no response, now I'll go fix your bath; come in when you're ready." He said happily and Kurama stared after him as he went into the bathroom.
Kurama kept staring for a while, formulating a plan. After a few minutes, he heard the water start and the sound of something being filled. 'I guess I should go in now.' With that, he started taking off his shirt, but not before reaching into the bathroom and grabbing a towel.
Youko waited in anticipation as he relaxed in the tub. The water was hardly warm, and was almost ice cold, but Youko did this because he wasn't sure if Shuichi's body would react well in hot water. When he heard the door creek open, he turned around with a smile. "Hello Shuichi, I hope you enjoy the water, I hope the temperature is-" Youko's jaw dropped as he saw Shuichi. He had walked in completely naked…except for the fact that he had a towel around his waist. Without saying a word (not that he could) Kurama walked over to the bath and sat in with Youko, not taking the towel off for a second. Since it was a large tub, the 2 could've shared and not even touch each other, so Kurama stayed close to his side.
"…You live to annoy me sometimes, don't you?" Youko asked and Shuichi glared.
'I knew you just wanted to see my body, pervert!' With a sigh and a pout, Youko didn't comment and grabbed the sponge that was on the side, and started putting soap on it. He didn't say a word as he helped bathe the young prince.
'This water is really warm, how nice!' Kurama thought happily, ignoring Youko's disappointment
'This'll be a long week!' Youko thought as Kurama smiled from the attention.
wheeee, r we ready? good and a 1 and a 2 and-
Happy birthday 2 you,
You got good reviews.
You may take forver
But we love you for sure
Happy birthday Sea prince, I hope you get many gifts, also known as reviews. Whoo-hoo (hint hint.)