Disclaimer: I do not own 'Yu Yu Hakusho' or any of its characters.
Pen Name: sarahh86
CHAPTER FOUR
Relli lay awake in her room as the clock ticked towards midnight. It had been hours and she still couldn't sleep. Finally she gave up and pushed her loose strands of lavender hair out of the way and stared out of her window. This was her method of thinking.
Why do I feel this way? she asked herself. Why do I get this strange feeling every time I think about Kurama?
She got up out of bed and stared at the sky. The sky was overcast and there was nothing but a black fog in the clouds. Relli sighed.
She shivered as she thought of Kurama's strong body as he wrapped her around this afternoon. The sole memory of it made her shake with a fire that burned in her heart.
Why are you thinking about him Relli? Why do you keep thinking of his arms around you? she wondered. She closed her eyes and she remembered the closeness of his face that first time his Youko demon had grabbed her. She remembered how his lips had been just inches away from hers.
She groaned and shook her head. Damn it! She growled as she remembered why she kept thinking about him. It was useless to try and hide it. His voice, his face, his freaking personality were all contributing to this aching feeling that she felt inside her heart. She was head over heels in love with Kurama and she didn't want to be.
She had tried to hide it. She had tried to numb it, but sometimes it overtook her, like now. It was especially hard to hide her deep affection for him when he was right in front of her but somehow she managed. She didn't want to be in love with him. He was too pure, too polite, and too dangerous for her, a human, to be attracted to a demon but she couldn't help what she felt.
She shook her head and tried to clear her mind. Better get some sleep or Botan is going to start worrying about me. She already gets on my case enough. She thought and laid back down on her bed.
The next morning Botan took them to Spirit World crash summary of how to handle their next mission and then returned them back to the Human World.
At home, Kurama was preparing the meal since Relli couldn't cook to save her life and Relli was preparing the ingredients. She tossed him everything he needed and started to stir the frying pan when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get the door." Relli said and went to open the door. She found herself face to face with a gray-haired, brown-eyed woman who looked maybe twice her age who was carrying a small bundle in her arms.
The woman blinked. "Oh-I'm sorry…I must have the wrong house…" She started to mumble incoherent words under her breath. "He must have moved but why wouldn't he tell me? I'm his mother!"
Relli suddenly realized that this must be Kurama's mother. "Oh if you're looking for Suichi then he's inside."
She woman stared at her. "He is?" Relli nodded.
"Mother! Why this is a surprise!" Kurama said, as he wiped his hands on a towel and came to the door.
"Suichi dear who is this young girl? Is she your girlfriend?"
For the first time in all of the time Kurama had known her she blushed. The color was warm and inviting on her skin. Kurama couldn't help but notice and for a minute his mother's questions hung in the air.
Both his mother and Relli turned to look at him when he wouldn't answer. He blinked until he could remember his mother's question.
"No mother she's just a friend living here." Kurama answered as he led his mom inside.
"What a shame. She looks like such a nice girl." she mused.
Relli tried not to show her emotions and failed. She smiled a slight smile and quickly covered it up. It was too late, Kurama and his mother had already noticed.
She extended her hand to the older woman. "My name is Relli Darau, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"My name is Shiori Minamino and it's a pleasure to meet you too Realeza." she answered.
Relli blinked and glared at Kurama. "You told me that-"
"Oh dear it's fairly easy to guess if you know a bit about culture. Don't blame Suichi, he didn't tell me a word." Shiori insisted.
Relli calmed down and surveyed the woman carefully. She was sharp and witty for a woman her age. This was the only bit of past that Relli knew about Kurama. He had told her about his Youko demon and that had been it for the most part. She knew his father had died some time ago and that he had to steal a precious artifact from the Demon World to cure his mother but as far as things went, that was all.
He had told her straight out that if she wanted to know all about his past all she had to do as was but she didn't feel right doing so. It was his business and his only.
Shiori cocked her head to look at Relli better.
She has a kind spirit. Shiori realized with a start. Although her exterior seemed rough and withdrawn inside she was just a simple woman who had too much distrust in her heart.
Poor girl. She must have had a lot of men hurt her in her life if she doesn't trust my Suichi, Shiori mused.
"Well mother I won't let you come in here without giving you good food or rest so what do you want mother?"
His mother laughed softly and signaled the bundle in her arms. "I'm not the only one in need of a little attention Suichi." she said.
It was only then that Kurama noticed that his human mother was carrying a child in her arms.
His face crumpled in surprise and shock. "Mother-I…what-why…?"
"Oh dear it's sort of difficult to explain." she started, switching the baby to her other side. The baby was heavy for a newborn.
All this time Realeza was looking at the newborn child without stop. It was a girl with pale skin and lavender hair, very much like hers. She was asleep so she couldn't tell what color her eyes were but Relli guessed they were green…like Kurama's.
"I can take the girl if she's too heavy for you." Relli suggested, but it came out more as a plea. She wanted to hold that baby in her arms as if it were hers.
Shiori glanced at Relli and instantly realized this and handed the baby girl over to her instantly.
Relli held the sleeping girl close to her and pressed her cheek to the baby's soft truffle of hair. In that split second Relli realized two things.
One, that she never had anybody to care for her like her mother did and that she was completely alone in this world. She didn't have anybody to protect and there was no reason for her existence. The only thing that was keeping her alive was her Spirit Energy and Koenma's insistence on the secret that she kept. That was the first reason.
The second was that she wanted somebody to depend on her. This child was another ray of sunshine into her moonlit night. Kurama had shone a ray of sunshine by maintaining that trust that she didn't give him. Kurama trusted her so much with everything and he was polite. Any other man would have given up on her indifference but not him, not him. She loved him so much that it didn't make any sense. And she wanted this tiny newborn girl to love her because she had truly never known love. It had been something that her mother and father had felt for her, but it was such a long time ago that Relli had long ago forgotten what love felt like.
For a moment she couldn't breathe at remembering the way her mother and father had loved her before they had died. It was something that she cherished those pure few memories for. They were the only ones that actually meant something to her. They were very unlike her time in her aunt and uncle's house, the trip to the Spirit World, and her stay at the asylum.
"She looks like an angel." Relli whispered as she gently carried the sleeping child.
Kurama was absolutely breathtaken by the sight. (Sorry, is breathtaken a word?) The way Realeza carried that child made his heart break, because he knew that he could never give her a child like that, or rather wouldn't. Demons were strictly prohibited from interacting with humans in that way. Raizen had slipped up with Atsuko and therefore was killed for his actions. He didn't want to end up dead, although if he spent a night with her it would very well be worth it.
His mind froze as he suddenly realized what he had been thinking.
A little naughty are we? That's usually what I should be thinking of her not you…
Kurama stifled a mental groan realizing that his Youko demon was back, crowding his thoughts as usual, just waiting for a chance in which he could take over.
Be quiet Kurama instructed.
You would like that wouldn't you? No, of course I'm not going to be quiet. I'm always going to be here whether you like it or not and since you're thinking these indecent thoughts I thought it might be a good thing that you let me out.
That's not going to happen.
We'll see. For now I'm going to leave you alone but if I catch you with those kinds of thoughts again you'll have to fight me for control. Farewell Kurama…
Shiori looked at the maternal way Relli carried the little girl and smiled. "Her name is Runo, and she isn't named after her mother in case you were wondering."
"Luckily." Relli muttered under her breath.
"So-how did you end up with her?" Kurama asked, as he sat on the couch with his arms folded across his chest.
"Well my neighbor ended up pregnant and told me that she didn't want the baby and that she was going to abort it. I convinced her to give it to me instead and I took it as soon as it was born. She and her husband wanted no children and they moved into Kyoto as soon as Runo was born. The only thing her mother did was set up the adoption papers for the adoptive parents."
"But I happen to know that you can't possibly adopt a child unless you have a foster parent pair." Relli interjected. She had a tiny bit of experience with foster parents.
"This is why she told me to choose parents for her. She said she trusted my good judgment and that I would choose good parents for little Runo."
"Well who did you choose, mother?" Kurama asked.
Shiori laughed. "I guess your smart side is being used up by the university. Of course I'm planning on choosing you as the father!"
Kurama's eyes went wide and so did Relli's. The idea of Kurama as a parent made her feel even more affection towards him. If she ever got the mental courage to keep the promise of telling him about her past, she'd tell him that she loved him as well. She would kill two birds with one shot.
Kurama's mind was a frenzy of mixed emotions. On one side he was completely against his mother's outrageous plan. In a little over a month he would graduate as a psychiatrist and he would…try to pursue his career if Botan gave the Spirit Detective thing a rest for a while. He was lying to himself though. Botan wouldn't give the Spirit Detective thing a rest because of the contract he had signed a while ago. He had agreed in a contract to Koenma saying that he would be the Spirit Detective for twenty years. That was a long time and he couldn't care for a child, even if she was an adorable little human creature.
On the other side was the chance of having a good excuse to quit the contract. Surely Botan wouldn't dare argue with this. Koenma might be he wasn't a cold hearted monster. He would have to understand that he simply wouldn't be able to fulfill those twenty years with a child on his hands. But even better was a chance to finally have something that would keep Realeza with him.
He had an idea but he wasn't sure of how Relli would react.
Go ahead his demon urged. Now you have a good reason to keep her here…
And for the first time in his life, Kurama actually listened to his inner Youko demon.
"How about if Relli becomes the mother?"
Relli turned to him with her eyes wide. "You want m-me to be Runo's mom?"
"Well I think it's a good idea." Shiori told her.
For a moment nobody spoke.
Relli swallowed hard and her voice was a little weak. "But-but I can't. I'm only twenty-three years old and I'm-I mean I just can't I…"
Kurama glanced at Relli and felt bad for letting his want overwhelm him. She didn't have to be a mother if she didn't want to. Surely his mother could give Runo to a good family, but just not them… They weren't ready, they were too young, and they had affairs with the Spirit and Demon Worlds. A human pair would be better for Runo.
"I doubt that any one of us is completely ready for parenthood, mother. I think it best that you give Runo to a good family that wants her. I'm going to be busy in the next couple of years and I cannot care for a newborn child that isn't even mine. I'm sorry."
Shiori bit her lip. She had wanted her soon to take care of Runo since he was truly the only person she trusted enough with her. Obviously he wasn't ready to be a father and Shiori understood that.
She stood up and sighed. "Well I guess I was a bit naïve to think that forcing a child on you would help you out. I'm sorry Suichi dear." Then she extended her arms for the child that Realeza still held.
Realeza took one last look at Runo's sleeping, angelic face and gave her back to Shiori.
"I'll come back soon dear and in the meantime I'll look for a good family for Runo." was Shiori's parting comment.
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"It's good to see you Hiei. You too Mukuro." Kurama greeted the pair as they walked into Kurama's living room.
"Good to see you again Kurama," Mukuro turned to face Relli and shot her a smile. "Hello Relli."
Relli looked up from her book and nodded her head politely to Hiei and Mukuro. "It's a pleasure to see you two again."
Hiei rammed his hands inside of his usual black cloak. "So what was so important that you had to drag me here?"
Kurama stiffened. "Well it's a very…delicate issue." He turned every so slightly to Murkuro and she understood what he wanted.
"Relli I think they're about to have men talk so it's better if we get out of here."
Relli couldn't help herself and smiled, wondering what was so embarrassing to Kurama to not have him say it in front of regular women.
They left without another glance back.
"Hiei, before I tell you my uttermost secret you have to promise me not to laugh."
"Have I ever laughed?" he retorted, making himself comfortable on the sofa across from his fox demon friend.
Kurama chuckled. "Not that I've seen but still-just in case."
Hiei sighed. "Very well, I promise not to laugh. Now tell me."
Kurama made his voice go two octaves lower so that neither Relli nor Mukuro could hear. "I'm thinking of becoming a father."
Hiei started at his best friend in utter surprise. He must have misunderstood. Kurama wanted to be a father? He wanted to have a child on his hands? Had he gone insane?
Kurama noticed when Hiei's lips twitched, struggling to contain a bark of laughter.
"You promised." Kurama reminded him and that was enough to contain the laughter threatening to come out.
"I'll tell you exactly what I think of what you just said. I think you're insane. You, the Youko Fox Demon wants to be a parent of a child? Didn't you once say that I'd never see the day when you became a father?" Hiei made it sound like Kurama was too important to step down and be a dad.
"Well everybody has a change of opinion. Aren't you the one who said you'd never fall in love?"
Hiei shrugged. That was before he had met Mukuro, before he had found his true meaning in life. "So how did you change your opinion?" he asked.
A faint blush trickled over his face as he remembered the caring way Realeza had carried Runo. The ache in his heart was too overwhelming when he saw how it truly hurt her to give Runo back to his mother. He wanted her to have that maternal look in her eyes for the rest of her life.
His life was nothing compared to the obvious happiness that Relli felt when she carried that tiny creature. He would happily endure ten Runos if it made her happy. Truthfully, down in the deepest part of his heart, he did want to be Runo's father because it meant that Relli would most certainly be the mother and it gave him a good reason for her to stay for the rest of her life with Kurama. He was selfish and he knew it but he still wanted to have Runo as a daughter.
Hiei glanced at his friend. In all his life he had never seen Kurama so happy. Ever since Relli had come to live with him as his Spirit Detective Assistant he had seemed more cheerful, more pleasant, more caring, and more-in love.
Hiei's eyes went wide as he realized why Kurama seemed more happy and uplifted. This idiot fell in love with Relli! he thought to himself.
"I changed my opinion because-because I thought that it would…" Kurama trailed off as he saw his friend's perceptive glance and sighed. "It's no use lying is it?"
"You don't know what I'm thinking and I'm not even sure if I'm right so please, clear it up for me will you?"
Kurama sighed again and looked at Hiei straight in the eyes. "I'm in love with Relli."
Somehow it was different from saying it in his head, to saying it aloud.
Kurama felt slightly embarrassed when he said it, feeling that it sounded too much like a bad romance novel.
Hiei thought differently. The way Kurama said that he loved Relli was enough to make him think that Kurama would never let her go. It had been the same way for him with Mukuro. One second she was just a regular girl with that strange orange hair and the next, she was Hiei's entire world and he realized that he loved her orange hair. Love made people complete idiots but it also made people truly see, and that was the most pure gift that anybody could discover.
"Well…I guess I was right." Hiei stood up and stared down at his friend. "Does she feel the same? Does she trust you?"
Kurama winced. "I wish I knew if she felt the same way Hiei I really do but I'm not a mind reader. As for trusting me, she trusts no one at all, not even me."
Hiei closed his eyes and shook his head. "Then tell her, before you go insane trying to figure out if she loves you or not."
So here's my fourth chapter and I hope you liked it. Please review