| Category: Anime, Yu Yu Hakusho, Yaoi, TWT(timeline-what-timeline) Warnings: shonen ai, fluff, humor Pairings: Kurama+Hiei/H+K Author: Arigatomina Email: arigatomina@hotmail.com Website/Complete Archive: http://www.oocities.org/arigatomina Japanese=English terms: youkai=demon, kitsune=fox, shonen ai=boy love, youki=demon energy, baka=idiot, hentai=pervert, oi=hey Glossary of Terms: http://www.oocities.org/arigatomina_animeinfo/index.html Indebted Part 4 The voice in the kitchen was getting louder with each passing second, and Hiei glowered at the tabletop in front of him. Warmth snuffled close to his neck, but he paid it little attention. His hands had fallen to the dark reddish brown petals surrounding the vase, pushing them into odd patterns. It was either that, or tap his fingers on the table, and he refused to resort to any visible signs of his impatience. Surely it couldn’t be *that* hard to explain what was going on. Yusuke just didn’t know how to talk to females. “Why would I joke about something like this?” Yusuke cried, his brown eyes wide as he stared at the phone. “No, I don’t mean a youko, I’m talking about a kitsune – a fox! Yes, a fox. It’s not stupid! He has a tail and everything.” Yusuke groaned, rubbing a hand over his slicked-back hair. “Yes, I *know* his youko form has a tail. But he’s tiny, and he’s not humanoid. He’s a fox! You know? He looks like a gray mix between a cat and a dog, a *fox*. Yes. That’s right. That’s what I’ve been trying to say. He fits in my hand.” Kuwabara blinked worriedly when his friend’s face took on an odd pinkish tint, and he leaned against the counter. He had a feeling it was better not to ask what was being said on the other side of that telephone. His sister wasn’t easy to talk to when she thought a person was playing with her. A garbled groan escaped Yusuke’s lips, and the boy jerked his head back against the wall, nearly hard enough to cause a crack. “That’s not what I meant and you know it! You are so perverted!” Yusuke glared at Kuwabara, a bead of sweat forming on his temple. “Look, just call the rest of the girls and get over here. We...” His eyebrow twitched, and he could feel the blood rushing to his face. “Yeah, Shizuru, I’m sure he’ll fit in your hand, too. Thanks for that image. Right. Bye.” Blue eyes blinked at him, and Yusuke tossed his hands in the air, almost hitting Kuwabara with the phone. “Your sister just accused me of...of...” Kuwabara blinked big eyes at him, and Yusuke glowered, turning to slam the phone down. “She’s so disgusting.” “What did she say?” Kuwabara asked, his stomach twisting as he wondered if he really wanted to know. Yusuke sneered, and he shook his head. “Never mind. I told you she had a thing for Kurama, though, didn’t I?” “Yeah,” Yusuke grimaced, “but you didn’t say she was a perv.” A faint blush made it to Kuwabara’s cheeks, and the orange-haired teen winced. “Eh...” He shook his head, turning toward the table, and paused suddenly. There was something very odd happening over there, and he raised a hand, one finger directing Yusuke’s gaze to Hiei. His voice dropped to a whisper, and he frowned. “What’s he doing...?” Since he’d been sufficiently distracted by Shizuru’s uncalled-for talk of Kurama’s ‘size,’ Yusuke hadn’t thought to keep an eye on Hiei. Now he blinked, frowning as well. The black-haired youkai was sitting close to the table, the vase of dead roses in front of him. The dried petal that had littered the tabletop when they came in were in a pile to Hiei’s right, and the jaganshi was shaking a rose over the pile. Tapping the dead flower against his right palm, Hiei knocked every last petal off the rose. Yusuke’s raised an eyebrow at Kuwabara, and they both moved to stand across the table from the occupied demon. “What are you doing?” Yusuke asked, not hiding his doubtful expression when red eyes flicked upward to lock on him. Hiei stared for a second, his hand pausing over the pile of petals. “They’re dead,” he said succinctly. His gaze fell back to the petal-less flower, and he lifted it to his shoulder. Tilting his head, he looked down at bright golden eyes. The kitsune sniffed at the dead stem, fresh white petals blooming to replace the ones Hiei had knocked off. “Wow,” Yusuke said, sitting down across from Hiei, “that’s neat.” Kuwabara was still sending Hiei odd looks, but the tall ningen sat as well. With a quick smirk, Yusuke shook his head at the kitsune’s interested face. “I knew he had to have kept some of his abilities, if he made that nest outside. But that’s pretty good for a baby, right?” “Hn.” The little fox was looking far too proud of itself, and Hiei glowered when soft fur brushed his neck. Shaking the dark petals off another of the dead flowers, he leaned his head away from that playful cheek. The kitsune was standing on his shoulder, and it ceased that annoyingly soft rubbing when he pushed the rose under its nose. Another pretty white rose met with the vase. Kuwabara watched for a while, but by the time Hiei had gone through half of the roses, he was starting to feel a little doubt. The kitsune barely seemed to brush its nose against the flowers before they bloomed, but surely it took energy to make the plants grow. Hiei was working with two hands now, tapping petals off with one hand, and lifting empty stems with the other. Shooting a glance at Yusuke, Kuwabara finally shifted against the table. “Won’t he get worn out doing that?” he asked, his voice holding a tiny bit of suspicion. Hiei smirked. “Oi!” The kitsune leaned forward for the next flower, and Hiei moved his hand away from that outstretched nose. Sure enough, the moment the dead flower touched the table, the fox hopped down after it. If there was one thing he knew about Kurama, it was that the youko disliked dead roses. He didn’t have to look to hand the flowers down to the kitsune, and Hiei rolled his eyes at Kuwabara. “This is his skill,” he reminded the ningen, including Yusuke in his derogatory gaze. “In his current state, this is exercise, nothing more.” “I get it,” Yusuke snorted, shooting Hiei a mocking glare. “So he won’t get lazy, right?” Black eyebrows twitched down beneath the youkai’s white headband, and Yusuke sighed. “He’s only going to be like that for a few weeks at most. Why don’t you let him enjoy himself? How many of us get to relive our childhoods?” Red eyes abruptly narrowed, the glare making him blink in surprise. A few terse seconds passed before Hiei dropped his gaze, his jaw loosening slowly. “You think I’m forcing him to do this?” he drawled, his glare easing when the kit pressed against his empty hand. Snatching up the three remaining roses, he smacked them on his palm until the petals showered over the growing pile. “He *is* enjoying himself.” Yusuke looked down at the silver-gray fox, watching its twitching tail as it circled the three roses. “Ah.” Hiei had dropped his hands on the table, and the kit was pushing the stems, separating the dead flowers. Those little ears were certainly forward. And it didn’t look to be tired. But he knew Kurama used youki to change his plants into weapons. How much youki did Hiei consider ‘exercise?’ Despite the youkai’s certainty, Yusuke was glad there were only three of those roses left. Hiei watched as the fox crouched over first one, then another of the roses, white petals forming quicker than with the others. Small golden eyes turned up to him, and he picked up the flowers, placing them in the vase with the others. He waited for the last one, but the kitsune was still staring up at him, something about its flicking tail making him raise an eyebrow. For a moment, he was sure the rotten thing would jump on him, and he blinked when its fur ruffled visibly. Hiei’s eyes widened when the pile of dark petals moved, the youki much higher than he’d estimated. Within a few seconds those formerly dead bits of plant were attached to the final stem, forming one of the biggest, darkest roses he’d ever seen. If the kitsune hadn’t seemed so smug, Hiei might have smirked. “That’s so cool,” Yusuke said, his eyes wide. “Does he know any other tricks?” A soft laugh made him smile at Kuwabara, and he shrugged. “I hardly ever get to see Kurama playing with his plants.” “It’s like watching a talent show,” Kuwabara smirked, shooting a quick glance at the tail-waving fox. “I wish Shizuru was here with her camera.” “No,” Yusuke drawled, “he hasn’t done anything embarrassing enough to blackmail him for. He’s just messing with his roses-“ The kit moved, and Yusuke’s mouth closed sharply, his eyes wide. The little fox’s shoulders were hunched, the effort obvious as it took the heavy stem in its mouth. “What...” Kuwabara’s mouth dropped open, and he wasn’t sure if he should laugh or blush. “Oi...” Though Hiei’s first instinct was to scowl in confusion, all it took was one look at Yusuke’s expression to know what the fox was doing. It was embarrassing him. Hiei’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and he frowned at the little kit, looking from that large rose in its mouth to those bright golden eyes. That fluffy tail was wrapped around the kitsune’s feet, tapered face tilted up at him, and he had the distinct impression it was smiling around that bright green stem. The fingers of his right hand twitched. There was no way he’d take that flower and become the butt of some stupid ningen joke he didn’t understand. He just knew he was missing something. The baka’s face was going a telling shade of pink. Swallowing back a dangerous need to giggle, Yusuke took a deep breath. “Why don’t you take that, Hiei,” he said slowly, keeping his voice sober. “It looks too heavy for him. Wouldn’t want him falling off the table and into your lap.” Red eyes snapped up to him, and Yusuke failed to keep his lips from twitching. “Don’t want a repeat performance of that, ne?” “Ch’.” With a dull glare for Yusuke’s reminder, Hiei took the large flower. The fox’s tail flew away from its feet for a second before wrapping around them again, and he sniffed at those bright eyes. He still felt like something was going on, but the large rose did look interesting in the middle of all the smaller white ones. Pushing the vase back to its place in the middle of the table, Hiei shot a quick look at Kuwabara. The color had faded back to a more normal shade, and he relaxed a little. Then he looked back at the fox and frowned to see its drooping ears. “What?” Yusuke sighed, chewing on his tongue to keep from saying anything that would send Hiei off. It was obvious to him that the kitsune hadn’t meant the youkai to put the rose with the others, but Hiei wouldn’t get that. The anti-social demon had probably never been given a rose in his life. “Maybe he’s tired now,” Yusuke teased, smirking when Hiei glowered at him, “after *exercising* so much.” “I bet he’s hungry,” Kuwabara said, leaning back in his chair. He felt as if he’d just witnessed something he shouldn’t have seen, but he couldn’t quite say what. After all, Kurama was just a baby showing off his abilities for his chosen parent. His lips pursed a bit, and Kuwabara nodded sharply. That was all it was. Too much time with his hentai sister was rubbing off on his mind. “Shizuru’s coming right over, isn’t she?” Yusuke nodded absentmindedly, and Kuwabara pushed the teen’s shoulder. “And the others?” “Eh?” Blinking, Yusuke turned his attention back to Kuwabara. “The others? Oh, the girls. Yeah, she’s going to get them all over here. Don’t worry. After they pet and fuss over Kurama, they’ll want to feed him until he sleeps, then play with his hair. That’s how girls are.” “I don’t think we should let Shizuru touch Kurama’s hair,” Kuwabara muttered, his lips curling into a distasteful sneer. “Not if she was saying bad things on the phone earlier.” “Actually,” Yusuke smirked, “she was acting like *we* were the ones doing ‘bad’ things. She really is sick, you know.” A flicker of movement caught his eyes, and Yusuke smiled when he saw the kitsune curling up on Hiei’s shoulder. The black-haired youkai was sitting with his eyes closed, arms folded over his chest as the kit made itself comfortable in his white scarf. “I just hope Kurama doesn’t fall asleep before they get here. If he scratches Keiko, she’ll probably hit me.” Kuwabara snickered, leaning back in his chair. “And what would she do if he bit her?” he taunted, his pale blue eyes sparkling merrily. Wincing, Yusuke looked over at the fox, watching those bright golden eyes. “Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen...” * * * TBC Post a review Back Next Past reviews Back to YYH Fanfiction Home |