Love for Hiei Part 18: Dinner and a Wedding Night
Not long after we all entered our cabins, we began getting ready for dinner. As I put on a nice shirt and pants, I looked out to the balcony to see that the ship had left port.
"Hey, Keiko, check it out. The ship's leaving."
"How long again until we reach Alaska?"
"We'll have a day at sea, then we'll reach Juneau the following day."
"I wonder what there is to do there? Do you know if a shore excursion is reserved for us in Juneau?"
"Not sure. After dinner, we'll stop by the Shore Excursion deck to find out."
I smirked as I saw the nice dress Keiko was wearing, which was a strapless black dress that went to just below her knees. Her hair was in curls, provided by the curler she brought with her. She wore no makeup, but who was I to complain? Keiko was my wife now, and she looked good with or without makeup.
"You look great, Keiko. I mean that."
"Thanks, Yusuke. You clean up pretty nicely yourself."
We exited our room to see Hiei and Mai waiting just outside their cabin. Hiei, like myself, wasn't fond of suits and decided to wear a nice shirt and pants like I did. Like Keiko, Mai wore a dress. Mai's dress was a white dress with two straps that rested on her shoulders and fell to her ankles. Judging from how Hiei was looking at her, I could tell he liked what he saw. Mai saw us and smiled.
"There you guys are. We're ready to go."
"Cool. Let's eat."
"Oh, Yusuke. We ate at the reception just hours ago."
"So? From what I hear, cruise ships provide some of the best food ever. Just ask Hiei and Mai, Keiko. They ate cruise ship food before."
Mai nodded and Hiei smirked.
"It was good, I admit, but I haven't had anything yet that makes Kurama's cooking pale in comparison."
"Good point."
Luckily the Crown Grill wasn't crowded, so we were all seated at a table for four near the window, which had a good view of the Pacific Ocean.
Mai's POV:
After we sat down, menus were delivered to us. There was a vast selection to choose from, which made it even more difficult to pick one I really wanted. I felt a hand on my knee and smirked at Hiei, who was smirking back at me.
"Anything yet?"
"Not yet. I have a couple of ideas, though. The lobster tail with garlic mashed potatoes or the scallops, grilled shrimp, and crab leg platter. They both sound good."
Keiko agreed with my opinion and smiled.
"Thanks for helping me decide, Mai. I'm going for that platter you just mentioned."
"At least someone knows what they want."
Yusuke had simply decided on the one-pound crab leg plate with coleslaw and Hiei decided on the lobster tail with the potatoes. The waitress smiled at me as I looked up at her.
"I'll also have the lobster tail with the garlic mashed potatoes, please. And also bring out a bottle of red wine out for us, if you could."
"Of course. I'll be right out with your wine and some biscuits with butter."
After she left, Keiko smiled at me.
"Do you think Yusuke and I will like the food?"
"I hope so. The food we had on the Golden Princess was really tasty."
The wine and biscuits were soon delivered, and we snacked on them as we enjoyed the view of the ocean. Yusuke poured wine into our glasses and put an arm around Keiko while holding up his own glass. Hiei did the same with me, and the rest of us had our glasses raised, as well.
"I just want to propose a toast to all of us here. We were once a group of four people in a bigger group of friends, and now look at us. I married Keiko, my closest friend, and Hiei married, Mai, his closest friend. Now after a double wedding, we're all enjoying a double honeymoon aboard a cruise ship, which Hiei is to be given credit for. To friends."
We all toasted our glasses and drank the wine, which tasted quite good. I excused myself to the ladies room, with Keiko right behind me. I had brought our hair brushes in my bag, and we brushed our hair. Keiko turned to me with a smile.
"How does it feel to be married, Mai?"
"It's actually hard to describe it."
"I know what you mean. There are a lot of emotions you feel, and you're not sure of which word would be the right one to use."
After using the restroom and washing our hands, we walked back to the table. My communicator vibrated, and Keiko and I saw Yukina's face, stained with tears.
"Yukina ,what's wrong?"
"It's Kazuma. He and I were walking around a park in the Human World when...a punk in a sports car..."
Keiko's eyes widened as Yukina's eyes filled up with more tears.
"Yukina, tell us what happened."
"There was a drive-by shooting. Kazuma was helping a couple scared kids find their parents when he was shot. Several others were randomly shot, too. Two more adults and one 7-year old girl were shot, and they all just left for the hospital."
My heart began beating faster as I heard these news.
"Is Kuwabara's wound serious?"
"I...I don't know. They just left with him and the other victims. I wanted to let you know as soon as possible."
"Okay. Thanks for telling us, Yukina."
After her face disappeared, Keiko looked to the table, where our food had just been delivered.
"How will we tell Yusuke? Kuwabara is his best friend."
"We just tell the truth, Keiko. That's the only thing we can do."
We sat down with solemn faces, and Hiei immediately knew something was wrong. He put a hand on my shoulder and looked at me closely.
"Mai?"
"We...just got a call from Yukina on my communicator. There...was a drive-by shooting at a park where Yukina and Kuwabara were on an outing."
Yusuke stopped eating and looked at me closely, eyes narrowed.
"How are they?"
"Yukina managed to avoid getting shot, but Kuwabara wasn't so lucky. He was helping a couple of scared kids find their parents with he, a 7-year old girl that he was helping, and two other adults were shot."
Hiei breathed a sigh of relief at hearing Yukina was fine, but Yusuke didn't like the idea of his best friend getting shot.
"Did Yukina say the wound was serious?"
"She wasn't sure. They had just taken the victims to the hospital, and she wasn't able to get a good look at him before he left."
Yusuke didn't say another word, and neither did we as we finished our food.
Yusuke's POV:
Soon after dinner, we retired to our cabins to think over what had happened. As soon as Keiko and I entered our cabin and shut the door, I clenched a fist and punched the wall, luckily not leaving a mark. As small tears fell down my face, Keiko sat me down on the bed next to her and tried wiping the tears away.
"He'll be fine, Yusuke. Remember how he survived that attack by Toguro? He'll survive this, too."
"We don't know how serious his wound is, Keiko. For all we know, that bullet could've hit something vital."
Keiko said nothing more as I held her closely, trying to make sense out of it. She comfortingly rubbed my back, which helped stop the tears. She took my face in her hands and looked me in the eye.
"Yusuke Urameshi, crying about this won't help Kuwabara get better. Don't forget that he has survived much worse than this before. You guys are two of the toughest guys out there, and nothing stopped you from getting up if you were knocked down. All we can do is hope that he'll make it, not think of the worst case scenario."
Feeling better, I put my hands on her and smiled.
"Thanks, Keiko. That helps a lot."
"You know I'm always here to help, Yusuke."
Before she could say another word, I kissed her like I hadn't before. She immediately began kissing me back, and we shared our first night together as husband and wife.
Hiei's POV:
After Mai and I got into bed, I began thinking of what could've happened to Yukina today. She could've been a fatality in the shooting that happened but to my relief, she wasn't. Mai looked at me as she rested her head on my chest.
"Hopefully, none of the injuries are serious."
"Although Kuwabara is annoying and irritating at times, he is a valuable member of our team...and a good friend. He's also good to my sister."
"He's survived worse than this before, hasn't he?"
"He has had a few brushes with death,yes."
"I have a feeling that none of the wounds on the victims were fatal."
I smirked at her optimism and brushed hair out of her face.
"We can worry about that tomorrow. Right now, I believe I have an appointment with my mate-to-be."
Mai looked at me nervously and I smiled, placing a hand on her face.
"The marking process will be a bit painful, but it'll be worth it, Mai. It won't pain you for too long, I promise."
"I trust you, Hiei. It's just I never did anything like this before, and it makes me nervous."
"I haven't done this before, either, Mai. Just relax."
As I felt her body relax, I laid my body on top of hers and smirked.
"No turning back now, Mai."
She smirked back at me and placed her hands on my shoulders.
"I suppose not."
She kissed me, and I kissed her back. As we spent our first night together as husband and wife, I marked her as mine. While we were married in the human sense, a demon is bound to a woman when he has marked her as his. She had flinched at the sudden pain she felt, but I kissed the new mark, which helped her relax some more. We fell asleep that night, happy to have had this time alone together and hoping Kuwabara makes it through the night.
That's a wrap for part 18. Yusuke, Keiko, Hiei and Mai enjoy a nice dinner with an oceanview, but their happiness was interrupted when Yukina tells Mai and Keiko something that shocks not only them, but Yusuke and Hiei to the core: a drive-by shooting occurred in the Human World that resulted in four people being shot, including Kuwabara. Part 19 will be in Yukina's POV the following day as she and the others pay Kuwabara a visit in the hospital. Also in part 19, Yukina gets a hold of her brother to tell him the conditions of Kuwabara and the other victims. Stay tuned to see what happens