A/N: Man y'all turned OUT for the last chapter. Thank you so much! All of your reviews were so amazing and I laughed at quite a few of them. I'm delighted so many of you are enjoying this story! I hope you guys keep enjoying!
"Is that really safe?" Kurama asked Victoria, standing under the cover the pontoon at her side as she steered the boat along the surface of the lake. His attention alternated between focusing on how she operated the maritime vehicle and the fact that Hiei was perched on the front strip of the boat, beyond the little gate meant to keep them all aboard.
"He can swim, it's fine." Victoria shushed the redhead.
"Hiei can't swim." He responded dully, as if this were a common fact she should have known. "Why do you think he uses that floatation device?"
Victoria blinked, closed her eyes, and inhaled slowly. "Hiei! Put on a fucking life jacket."
He didn't even acknowledge that she'd spoken. Even from where she sat she could see the white streaks slathered over his back and shoulders, proof he'd allowed Kurama to put sunscreen on him before he'd donned his tank top. Through sheer rigorous effort on Victoria's part, Hiei had managed to dodge blistering and had gone through the worst of the peeling process fairly quickly. Ever since he'd gone through enough sunscreen to drown a small child.
Victoria stopped the boat without warning, the loss of acceleration wasn't so pronounced that Hiei went teetering off the front of the boat, but it was enough for him to shoot her a withering glare.
"Life jacket. Now." She demanded, pointing to the pile of them thrown haphazardly by the side entry.
He narrowed his eyes further, arms crossed across his chest. She smirked, opened the throttle for just second and cut it off again. Hiei wobbled, having to grab the gate for balance.
"Fucking bitch! Stop that!" Hiei snarled at her.
"Life. Jacket." Victoria one again signed the word and then pointed to them. "Now, Hiei."
Kurama raised his eyebrows as Hiei visibly tensed then huffed, hopping over the jacket to grab one of the provided safety apparatuses. With jerky movements he shoved his arms through the holes and worked the claps closed. Tossing his hands in the air to demonstrate his annoyed compliance, he stared at her.
"You're hopeless, you goof." Victoria muttered, sighing as she left the controls to walk over to him. She tugged on the straps to make sure the vest fit him properly. "It won't work if it's not snug."
Hiei endured her fussing for a few seconds before pushing her hands away and glaring at her, his arms crossed over his chest. Can we go now?
Yes.
He groused as he hopped back to the front of the boat and sat down to enjoy the feel of the wind through his hair.
The trip to Grams didn't take too long, other than their mid-lake pit stop. It was way faster to go by boat than driving all the way around the massive body of water. Victoria had warned the boys to be on their best behavior before they docked next to another pontoon, one of three tied to the pier outside Gram's house.
The building stood with its main floor at ground level and the bottom floor cut out of the hill the house perched on. Large windows and sliding glass doors lined the lake-facing walls. A wrap around porch on the upper level was decorated with potted plants and outdoor seating. The porch created an overhang for the bottom story, allotting for shade to fall over two more outdoor tables with seating. A large grill set into an outdoor bar, built with bricks, took up a decent hunk of the space. Concrete paths wound through the large yard, palmettos standing tall and mixed in with magnolia trees. Flower beds full of thriving greenery edged the concrete floor of the bottom porch.
Now they stood in the mudroom of the upper story, greeted by the old grey haired woman and the sounds of a dozen voices muffled from below them. Children yelled in the yard, running around freely and barefoot.
"You remembered to lock the laundry room, right?" Victoria asked.
Grams offered her a smile. "Sweetie, you aren't dealing with children you know."
"Could've fooled me." Victoria muttered shooting Hiei a glare. "That one tried to eat fucking laundry detergent the other day."
"Maybe he wanted to clean his mouth after the lizard." Grams offered with a laugh. Kurama chuckled at her joke too, and Hiei glowered at both of them.
"Just…lock the door." Victoria sighed heavily then spun to face to the two men who had accompanied her. "You two listen here. There will be no accosting the other people here. No raising a hand to the kids Hiei, even if they touch you first. You're free to wander, but you will not go into locked room. Eat what's out. Don't make demands." She signed the rules as she spoke them. Then, to Hiei specifically she said. "I told Grams you don't like crowds, you can go hide out in the guest room if you get antsy and need a break."
"I'll show you where it is, baby." Grams twined her arm around Hiei's and pulled him away from the mudroom further into the upper level.
He griped in Japanese the whole time, under his breath, but went with her. There was no way he was going to turn this woman's ire against him again. Last time she'd settled for making him sit down but who knew the extent of her power? With almost pleading eyes he turned to gaze at Victoria and Kurama, the redhead waving at him with a cheeky grin.
"Your job is to keep him in your sight at all times today." Victoria glanced up at Kurama. "I don't want him having an episode here. There'll be kids, y'know."
"So you mentioned several times." He replied smoothly. "Hiei has never raised his hand to a child that I've seen."
"Yeah, well, you'd never seen him with a sunburn before either." She pointed out quietly. "Look, some of my family can be…well, overwhelming to newcomers. You'll probably want to stick near my dad and his wife's family."
"Your father?" Kurama blinked in surprise. "You haven't mentioned him before. I had assumed you didn't have one."
She didn't respond, just walked toward a door that revealed a downward flight of stairs when she opened it. He left her to disappear to the lower level, going to find Hiei and Grams. He found them in one of the guest rooms. Grams was chattering away to the shorter man, who looked like he was in physical pain enduring her company.
"Grams, perhaps we should join the others?" Kurama interrupted her in the middle of explaining where exactly the bedding had come from.
Grams, Victoria and Bethany sat around the downstairs kitchen table. Bethany, a southern belle to her core with her blonde hair teased into an updo, sipped on her Bud Light and glanced out the sliding doors to the kids in the yard. Her daughter, Ashland, was the youngest of the children at four years old. A chubby little thing with golden ringlets and big blue eyes just like her momma. Her eyes roved over Hiei outside by himself, seen through the glass doors, and then the scene inside.
Victoria watched her with some reservation. Bethany was decent enough people. Won Miss Camden two years in a row when they were younger and was the leader of the school debate team and decathalon. A beautiful, intelligent young woman. Under different circumstances, Victoria guessed they might've been friends.
Instead she hated her. It was well hidden but it was always there.
Because Bethany was the daughter Victoria's father had always wanted. A normal, beautiful, successful girl who wore matching sweaters for Christmas photos and sent out thank you notes on time. It wasn't the woman's fault. It really wasn't. But Victoria couldn't help the bitter resentment that welled up whenever she saw her step-sister and her perfect family.
They'd been at the Sunday party for over an hour and her father still hadn't even greeted her. Victoria sipped her bourbon with more control than she knew she could exert.
Maybe Kurama and Hiei were training her patience for the better.
"That man is finer than frog's hair." Bethany nodded toward Kurama as he talked with Big Pop and a few of the other men near the pool table by the bar, eyebrows lifted. "Guarantee you he's fruitier than blackberry cobbler."
"He's a sweetheart." Victoria commented lightly, trying to hide her amusement. "Smart as a whip too."
"How'd you meet them again?"
"We just bumped into each other. Old friends from my college days." Victoria planted the seeds of the lie, as true as anything her step-sister would believe.
"That other one though, he seems like something else, I'll tell you what. Why's he so quiet? Is he, you know, touched?" Bethany gestured to her head, and possibly the brain within, but Victoria got distracted by the height of her hair. Grams left the table to head to the ornate bar lining the inner wall.
"Hiei just doesn't speak English but that man is gonna give me grey hair. I swear it. I tried to get him to learn but I'd have better luck teaching a dog to count."
"I believe it."
Grams walked over and brandished a bottle of bourbon, filling Victoria's glass with a little more leeway than usual. "You need another Bud, Beth honey? They're cold in the cooler."
"I'm on my way." The other woman retreated back into the house.
Grams came to sit beside Victoria once more, her eyes watching Hiei and Kurama just the same. With her silver hair and wizened blue eyes framed with crinkling skin she smiled.
"You've got yourself an uphill battle with those two."
"You're telling me." Victoria huffed. "This is the craziest thing that ever happened to me and the quarterback asked me to prom over the homecoming queen."
She sipped her bourbon and Grams followed suit.
"They're good boys though."
"The best, I'm sure of it."
"You tell those boys to treat you right. I'd hate to have pull out grandmamma's old book." Grams teased but the threat never lost its meaning, even with her smile.
"That's some old world shit, Grams. Thought we didn't talk about it." Victoria laughed. "You're going to scare the mundies."
"Don't call them that. Like us or not, they're your family." Grams chided. "Gifts or not, we're blood."
"Blood is only so thick." Victoria polished off her drink. "I've lost enough of it to know."
"I want some time with them." Grams gestured toward the men dispersed around the room, watching them carefully. "I want to see what they are about."
Victoria pursed her lips, ready to deny the other woman. Instead, she merely nodded, but made sure to frown about it. She'd positioned herself to keep an eye on both Hiei and Kurama with ease. Just in case.
"You're going to get wrinkles making that face."
"No sense putting off the inevitable."
Grams laughed again, nodding.
Hiei stared at the children as they screeched and ran and played. He glowered at the obnoxious amount of noise they were making, doing his best to avoid contact with any of the other party goers. Victoria had seemed uncomfortable with coming here. She'd tried to talk her way out of it, once again citing the presence of house guests but apparently Grams was having none of it. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on the glass top table furthest away from the bustle of the gathering.
So far two middle-aged women had spoken to him, running their hands down his back and arms until Victoria pulled them away. Their tones had rung of compliments but it was all in that nonsensical English. He understood a few words now but not much more.
He had asked Kurama to interpret one phrase though, because Victoria had uttered it with such disdain he just had to know what it meant.
Vodka Aunts. Apparently, family members prone to bouts of alcoholism at family gatherings. Given the state of this particular family, Hiei couldn't blame anyone for needing to drink.
His eyes peeled open as he heard the ungodly shrill cry of one of the children. The smallest one. A little female child with round cheeks, large eyes, and a head burdened with light colored curls. He glared at her as she wiped at her eyes, large tears already falling down the curve of her red cheeks.
"Y-y-your me-mean!" She yelled at one of the larger children, a boy as she cried.
"You're such a baby." He scoffed down at her, hands on his hips. "You can't play with us because you're too small."
"I can too play!" She stomped her foot, fists at her sides despite her tears. "I'm telling!"
"Go ahead tattletale. We'll never play with you again." He grinned at her and it was a malicious expression. "Hey, you can play with us if you eat this."
He held up a worm that wiggled and curled in his two-finger fold.
"I'm not eating that!" The little girl yelled at him. "You're gross!"
"Guess you can't play then." His laughter grew worse as she started to cry harder. "Ashland's such a crybaby."
The boy stilled and Ashland hiccupped, her glistening blue eyes trailing up the figure that had robbed the laughter from the boy's throat. Hiei gave a warning squeeze, his fingers in the boy's hair as he palmed the child's head. When the boy cautiously turned to stare at him, he was met with a cold crimson glare.
A sweat broke out on the child's forehead as he stared at Hiei, who never relented in his harsh expression.
"I was just joking." The boy dropped the worm and swallowed. Hiei squeeze once more, a slight flex of his fingers that promised worse. "I'll say I'm sorry okay! I'm sorry Ashland! It was a joke."
"O-Okay." Ashland sniffled. Using her arm to wipe at her running nose.
Hiei grimaced at the disgusting display. Humans. Seriously. No matter what dimension he was in they were the same. But he released the male child's head and watched the boy trip over himself in his rush to rejoin the others as far from Hiei as possible. That earned a smirk. At least someone had the sense to be afraid of him.
Crimson eyes widened as a weight tackled his left leg. He looked down to stare with bewilderment at the little girl as she wrapped her arms around his leg, beaming up at him with a display of teeth he assumed was meant to be friendly and not a challenge. Blinking down at her he raised his eyebrows then narrowed his eyes.
Let go.
She didn't.
Pursing his lips, he pried the child's arms from around him, not appreciating the way her snot rubbed against his bare legs in his swim shorts. Victoria had bought them for him since he spent so much time on the lake and he'd worn them when she'd mentioned they'd take the boat. He regretted that decision now.
"Thank you!" She beamed up at him still. "You're nice!"
Nice? Him? Hardly. Hiei just didn't like watching meaningless torture if it wasn't in the pursuit of greater strength. So he crouched. If the child was going to endure, she should at least be able to defend herself, a skill humans neglected to instill in their children.
Hiei silently took the little girl's hand in his own and shaped it into a suitable fist. And then he pressed it to his palm, narrowing his eyes slightly. Ashland tipped her head to the side and then grinned at him, throwing a lackluster punch against his raised hand. Hiei sighed, forlorn. This was no good. Humans were just too weak to look after themselves. And this child's parents obviously weren't attentive enough to notice.
He bent down and picked her up, holding her out at arm's length to assess her for a moment.
In his world, children who couldn't survive on their own simply didn't. He glanced at the lake. Then behind him to the house. After a moment of consideration he set her back down on the ground and crouched to be at her eye level.
Come to me weakling. He signed to her, eyes slightly narrowed. She tilted her head and he sighed again.
Then she grinned and took his hand and started tugging on his arm until he followed her, stooped over by the significant height difference. What a strange sensation, he can't say he'd ever really been in this position before.
"Momma, momma my friend made stupid Darren stop teasing me!" Ashland yelled, hauling Hiei behind her.
How had her grip strength increased so much? He made a face as he tried to his pull his hand back but she wouldn't let him go.
"His name is Hiei, Ashland. Be polite." Bethany smiled at her child. "Are you ready to eat?"
"I want to eat with Uncle Hiei!" Ashland demanded.
Hiei paled at the mere thought of it. And yet, ten minutes later the child was poised on his lap and they were sharing a plate her mother had made for the two of them. Ashland shoved food into his mouth even when he was still chewing but he found that no matter what face he made she didn't relent. Eventually he just chose to endure. If he did anything aggressive Victoria would lose her mind.
Plus, it wasn't the worst thing.
The creature was, in a way, appealing. Small. Harmless. Yet full of personality. And unlike all the others at this gathering of idiots, she smiled at him. It shouldn't have mattered but it did. Plus, with he around he got twice as much dessert.
"Hey, watch out mister or you'll find yourself as our new babysitter." A man with light brown hair laughed, clapping a hand on Hiei's shoulder. "Ashland doesn't take to people that easily you know."
Hiei stared back at him dully, shrugged the hand off, and then cautiously accepted the carrot stick the child pointed at his face.
Victoria had to hide in the bathroom so Hiei couldn't see her doubled over with laughter at the ridiculousness of it all.
"I'll admit that when you said vine this isn't what I imagined." Kurama stared at the small rectangular screen. He really needed more time to investigate these smart phones. They seemed useful.
"It's funny, right?" The teenager, Chad as he called himself, declared. "Yeah, there are a million of these on YouTube."
"YouTube?" Kurama asked, accepted the phone as it was handed to him. He tentatively tapped on another image next to the title Best of Vine Compilation.
"Yeah, you know, for videos." Chad stared at him. "Have you never used YouTube before? Do they not have that in…uh…"
"Japan." Kurama supplied and then frowned. "I suppose I just haven't gone out of my way to be exposed to it."
It was a flimsy lie but the boy seemed to accept it after a second, shrugging.
"Yeah, well, everything is on YouTube. Funny videos, tutorials, vlogs, you know, everything."
"Vlog?" The redhead blinked.
"Yeah, like, a video diary or something."
"Interesting. How useful." Kurama muttered in awe. So much information was so readily available in this world. If he had the capacity to research subjects this thoroughly during his tenure as a Spirit Detective with Yusuke he'd have been able to save them all time and grief on several occasions. He smirked.
Kaito was going to be livid that he had gotten the chance to use such a system. They kept in touch over the years, loosely, as Kurama enjoyed discussing all manner of subjects with the other man.
The phone buzzed and Kurama nearly dropped it, fearing he'd done something to break the device.
"Hey, you ever used Snapchat?" Chad asked, taking the phone and explaining the app after checking his messages. He turned the front facing camera on and showed Kurama how to use the different filters.
Kurama choked when he got to one that placed fox ears atop his head. He asked Chad how to save the photo so he could send it to Victoria. The boy showed him. A few seconds later they heard Victoria laugh from the kitchen.
"You're a self-indulgent dork K-drama!" She called, unseen.
"Do you have these applications?" He asked her, handing the phone back to its rightful owner and rounding the kitchen to smile at her. "They are amusing. I understand why everyone has their noses buried in their devices."
"Yeah, they are pretty entertaining." She agreed and tossed him her phone. "Knock yourself out. Maybe we'll be able to get you a prepaid phone or something so you can have your own."
"Is that a possibility?" His eyes lit up.
Victoria stared at him, unable to deny him when he looked so genuinely excited. "Yeah, Kurama, I can make it happen."
Then the redhead turned to Hiei, staring at the small child poised on his lap. "Hiei, are you aware there's a child feeding you?"
Hiei ignored him and set Ashland on the ground. She ran off, back outside and he sighed, sure she was about to find herself in the same trouble. He turned to Kurama with a glare only to receive a smartelic smile.
Victoria leaned against the kitchen counter, a cup of sweet tea in her hand. She watched the two men, then as Big Pop came over and engaged Kurama in another conversation about what the redhead wanted to do with his future. Grams shushed her husband, telling him to stop harassing the young man and to let him enjoy his youth.
This wasn't the disaster Victoria had expected it to be.
They didn't get home until the sun had almost set. As Victoria moored the pontoon to the first cleat, Hiei watched as she did so, she reflected on what a strange success the day had been. When she turned to start the second she stopped.
Hiei was mimicking her movements at a much slower, uneasy pace. After a few minutes he looked over at her, his hands going still.
"You've got it." She offered him a thumbs up and then started to walk away, leaving him to finish the job he started.
Hiei was behind her a moment later, then in front. Again tomorrow?
He nodded toward the pontoon and she turned to look at it over her shoulder. You want to go to Grams again?
No. Boat. Tomorrow. He shook his head.
"Oh." Victoria blinked then smiled. Yeah, we can go out again tomorrow.
He left her behind then, after nodding, and made his way after Kurama who had already gone into the house. Hank ran out the back door toward her, excited his people were home again. When the dog's nose bumped Hiei's hand, the dark haired man just offered him a single passing pat without breaking his stride.
Victoria stopped walking, standing on the lawn while assessing her house and thinking about the occupants inside while Hank loped around her. With a chuckle she started moving again, Hank trotting behind her.
What a life she had. Shame it was bound to come to an end.