Lone Wolf: Chapter 2. Thank you to my six reviewers. (A lot more than I expected. Thank you, thank you, thank you!) No Touya x Yukina in this chapter, so don't get your hopes up. There will be eventually. A much longer chapter (I hope.) Chapter 1 came out too short.
Chapter 2: Icy Shopping
Yukina awoke early the next morning, having agreed to being ready to leave by ten. She had called Keiko the night before and the brunette had enthusiastically agreed on taking the ice apparition shopping. Yukina had thanked Keiko hundreds upon thousands of times. She was truly grateful.
Yukina had gotten dressed and eaten her breakfast. She glanced at the clock. 9:30. Keiko would be there soon. The ice maiden decided to wait for her outside. The sun was shining, but because of the wind it was cold. Yukina noticed this, but it didn't affect her. The only thing causing her to return inside to grab a jacket was that she was a demon in Ningenkai; she had to blend in with the crowd and not attract unwanted attention.
Keiko arrived, along with Yusuke, at ten to ten. He had come along only because he didn't want to be stuck with Botan. The ferry girl really enjoyed getting on his nerves. It had all started simple enough; Yusuke was walking to Keiko's house; he didn't know that she was going to go shopping with Yukina. He was intercepted by Botan, who was bored out of her mind. He concluded that people weren't dying this particular day. Quite a stupid conclusion, but of course, this is Yusuke, not Kurama. Botan started to follow Yusuke, talking the entire time. It was quite irritating. He had told her he was going on a date with Keiko. She finally left him alone, but not until after she saw the couple off.
Yukina didn't question Yusuke; she greeted him as if expecting him to come. The three walked to the mall, cold as it was. "So, Yukina, why are you going shopping?" Yusuke asked as they walked. "Oh!" Yukina said in surprise. "Leave her alone and stop being so nosy," Keiko told him. The look on his face showed that he wanted to ask why but he kept his mouth shut; Keiko hit hard. "Fine," he answered instead. The rest of the walk was quiet.
Finally reaching the mall, Keiko was somehow able to find a shop where they sold cloaks and jackets. Much to the girls' delight, nearly half of the store was filled with cloaks. There were plenty of choices, blues, greens, and reds. Whites, blacks, oranges, yellows, purples. The list went on and on. The racks were like rainbows. Most of the cloaks were similar to Hiei's, others distastefully frilly.
Keiko pulled out a turquoise cloak that matched Yukina's hair. The collar part, like Hiei's, was white. Yukina studied it, but eventually decided against it. Keiko put the turquoise cloak back on the rack and looked through the other cloaks. After going through half a dozen, including a red, a blue, and a purple, they finally settled on a white and black cloak. It was the exact inverse of Hiei's, all white with a black scarf. (A/N: Well, it looks like a scarf. No one's really sure what it is.)
The three went to the 'check out counter' to pay for the cloak. Keiko had conveniently forgotten her wallet, forcing Yusuke to have to pay the expenses. It was his own fault; he told Botan they were going on a date and a date usually meant the male would pay. The spirit detective didn't argue. His worst fear, after all, was Keiko's wrath.
Yusuke went off to the video game store while the girls looked around various other stores. It was a long walk from Genkai's temple and to walk all that way just for a cloak, they agreed, just wasn't worth it. It was about 11:30 when they split up; they would all meet at the food court at half past noon.
Accessories, jewelry, clothes, handbags, stuffed animals. How Keiko and Yukina managed to go to so many stores in only an hour was incredible. It wasn't like they ran; they strolled about the mall, chatting away, only entering stores whose windows contained items of interest. Making their way to the food court, Keiko held a bag holding a white T-shirt and Yukina held the bag holding her cloak and a bag with a stuffed animal, a wolf to be precise. Yusuke had given them money. The girls ended up waiting ten minutes for Yusuke who had lost track of time. He carried nothing in his hands, a signal for the girls to make him carry their things. It was a signal for Keiko anyway and she insisted that he carried Yukina's as well. After eating, Keiko and Yusuke returned the ice apparition to Genkai's temple.
After Yusuke and Keiko left, Yukina sought out Genkai. She found the older woman in the living room, sipping her tea. "Genkai-san?" she called. "What?" Genkai responded. "Do you know where I can find Hiei-san?" Yukina asked. Genkai glanced at the clock. 2:30. "Check the park. He should be dozing in one of the larger oaks," she replied. "Arigatou!" Yukina said, bowing. She left the temple.
Yukina walked to the park. It wasn't as far as the mall, but it was in the opposite direction. She had left her jacket at the temple. She walked at a comfortable pace; it was still early. Twenty minutes later, Yukina reached her destination. Ten minutes after that, she found the fire demon.
Hiei jumped down from the tree. "What?" he asked his twin. "Anou...I was wondering if you could teach me how to wield a sword...anou..." she stuttered. "Why?" his face remained blank. Yukina had expected this and had already formulated her answer, "I don't want someone like Tarukane to use my tear gems for money." Hiei thought it over. She had to learn how to take care of herself sometime, didn't she? "Fine."
Yukina's face lit up; Hiei had agreed. He smiled to himself. She was happy; that was all he wanted. "Do you have a sword?" the fire demon asked. "Iie," Yukina answered. "Come then," he said, walking away. She followed.
"Where are we going?" Yukina wondered. "Kurama's." (A/N: Hiei has to keep spare swords somewhere. He doesn't have a permanent home and I doubt he'd carry them everywhere. So let's just say they're at Kurama's since he respects the kitsune.) "Oh. You leave your spare swords there?" she asked, trying to make conversation. The silence made her nervous. "Where else could I leave them?" he replied. Had this been anyone but Yukina, he would have ignored the question.
Ten minutes later, they reached the Minamino residence. Hiei rung the door bell. The window to Kurama's room was closed, so they couldn't get in that way. Luckily, Kurama answered the door. "Hello Hiei, Yukina. What brings you two here?" he greeted. "I need a sword," Hiei said walking past the red haired boy. "Konnichiwa Kurama-san," Yukina returned the greeting, much more politely than Hiei. She then followed the demon who unbeknownst to her, was her brother. Grabbing a sword, Hiei tossed it to Yukina, and they left, Yukina calling out goodbye to Kurama.
Lone Wolf: I'll update once a month because I'm trying to keep up three stories. Gomen if it's a bit long, but you'll just have to wait. If you're not sure of any of the meanings of the Japanese words, just ask me in your review. I'll see my readers in about month, maybe less. Ja ne.
