Part II
By Windlily
* * *
Hiei was dozing in the middle branches of one of the ancient trees that shadowed the back garden of Genkai's Temple. This was his favorite perch in the whole area because he could sit and watch Yukina unobserved. His sister had taken over tending the garden and seemed to love messing around with the plants as much as Kurama. And she would sing when she thought no one was around. Simple little tunes that wove the bird songs together or just a random series of notes that made her smile. It was lovely. He was fascinated by his twin and could not imagine how she could have tolerated sharing the close quarters of their mother's womb with him. She was such an amazing creature. She took the world in with wide and wondering eyes, still believing the best of everyone and everything even after her horrible abuse. She was everything he was not and for that one thing and that thing only, he thanked the Gods.
He had dozed off just after sunset when Yukina had gone in and now the hushed whisper of voices snapped him awake. He relaxed a little. The tones were unthreatening and familiar. Yuusuke and Keiko heading for the little hidden nook between the trunk of his tree and the wall. They had been coming here more and more often and it was starting to become annoying. He had almost fallen out of the tree the first time they had discovered the little hideaway. He had leaned forwards trying to figure out why they were mashing their faces together like that and overbalanced a bit and had to make himself very small in the shadows as Yuusuke glared up at the rustle of leaves. Much to his relief, Keiko had distracted him with what he now knew was called a 'kiss'. He didn't remember what Kurama had said he'd told him THAT night but he had listened carefully when Yuusuke and Kuwabara had exchanged what he was sure were very exaggerated tales.
Hiei closed his eyes, determined to ignore them. It was his tree after all, he had been here first and damned if he was going to vacate it just because two humans had decided they were going to kiss and drool all over each other under it. He now considered Yuusuke's attentions to Keiko an absolute waste of time. The purpose of this exercise was to procreate. Yuusuke and Keiko had been going at it for months now and she still wasn't pregnant. Maybe she was barren. He frowned as a blur of memory flashed through his mind, chaotic impressions of heat and pleasure...and Kurama. He shook his head a little to dispel them. That had to have been a dream spawned by those damned drinks. It had to be! Nothing could feel that good. And besides, why would Kurama wish to attempt to procreate with him? That made no sense at all.
Something...a tension in the air caused him to glance down. He blinked, surprised. The embrace was familiar, that they were both naked was not. They moved apart and Hiei blinked again and his Jagon opened as he studied the scene below him. The thing that marked Yuusuke as male was so swollen that it was enormous and stiff. It looked very painful and Hiei winced inwardly as Keiko reached to touch it. Instead of the flinch of pain he was expecting, Yuusuke actually seemed to enjoy it. A lot, if the colors of his aura were to be believed. Then...if anybody had been there to see him they would have told him he had done an excellent impression of his sister's wide-eyed astonishment. He had never, ever had the inkling that two bodies could fit together like that. And at the end, Yuusuke's aura had gone berserk.
He scowled as he reached up to rub the throb behind his scrunched shut third eye. The couple was long gone but the headache promised to linger for quite a bit longer. The Jagon was still dazzled by Yuusuke's reaction to whatever he had done to Keiko. Or what Keiko had done to him. He still wasn't sure what had happened. It certainly hadn't looked very comfortable but they both had seemed to enjoy it. Though Yuusuke much more that Keiko. He grumbled and hissed at an owl who mistook him for a shadow and landed on his branch. It launched with silent wings and a startled 'hoo-hoo'. He wanted to know what was going on and could only think of one source he could ask to explain it to him who would not go into fits of laughter at his ignorance. At least he'd better not...
It was bliss. He had really needed to get away. Sometimes being Minamino Shuichi was more than he could stand. But after an afternoon in the Tokyo Botanical Gardens the Youko and Human parts of him would once again reach a truce. He often wondered what was going to happen to that human part of him when this body died and he went back to his Youko form full time. Would it stay with him, like a habit? Or would he wake the cold, selfish creature he had been?
*Carefree! And happy!* the Youko part of him snarled.
He soothed it as he took another deep breath. His steps hesitated a little as he sorted the scents, identifying each one. What was that? He lifted his eyebrows as a breeze sprang up and blew more of that sweet smell into his face. Foxbane? The human part of him commanded turn and run as far and fast as possible. The youko part of him wanted to find the source of that mouth-watering scent as quickly as possible.
*No! No!* he screamed at his youko self as his body turned of it's own volition and headed off the path.
The youko part laughed and the human was lost in the overwhelming desire to find those flowers. He was going to lick the pollen out of each one of them, then he was going to just wallow in them for a while. A long while.
Hiei wondered a little at Kurama's goofy grin as his friend turned off the path and slid into the wilder underbrush without so much as a whisper of disturbed vegetation. That bothered him a little. Normally when Kurama went into 'sneak mode' there was a good reason for it. Normally a very dangerous good reason. But that expression was not at all threatened. Hiei changed course to follow and within ten meters felt his skin prickle. There was something with a lot of Power here, close. He hung back a little, every sense alert as Kurama continued to weave his way through the forest below him like a ghost. A glade opened before them carpeted with small, amethyst colored flowers. Kurama gathered himself and leapt. Somewhere in that arc, he changed and a silver fox landed in the middle of the flowers leaving a trail of discarded clothing to flutter down.
Hiei perched and watched with a scowl as Kurama bounced in a chaotic pattern from one part of the glade and one flower to another, pausing only long enough to poke his nose into each lily-shaped blossom. Then with a huge sigh, the fox tucked his front paws and flopped half onto his side and scooted himself along with his back feet, crushing some of the delicate plants and releasing a sickenly sweet smell. What in hell was he doing? Kurama swapped sides and squashed another swathe, then rolled onto his back and wiggled. There was a prismed flare of light, an invisibility spell being released, and Hiei got his first look at the author of the power in the area.
It was a female Youko, her long hair and the fur of her tail and ears a golden blonde. She looked young, but then again, Kurama in his Youko form looked young and he was ancient. She slammed a smallish, bottomless bamboo trap over the prone silver Youko with a, "Hah! Gotcha'!"
Hiei waited for Kurama to escape and couldn't believe it when the fox form of his friend just kept wallowing, totally unconcerned that he'd been captured. And the possessive smile on the female Youko's face as she leaned forward to watch Kurama through the bamboo bars raised his hackles. He dropped noiselessly out of the tree to land with his boot tips just shy of the cage. The female Youko let out a startled yip and leapt backwards a good fifteen meters. Hiei reached down and picked up the cage by one corner. He narrowed his eyes but didn't wince as the wards scalded his hand, adding the smell of burned flesh to the nauseating aroma of the flowers. He tossed it away as the female Youko narrowed topaz colored eyes at him and put her hands on her hips. Hiei felt a chill run through him, one that a creature such as she should not rate. Hiei kept all three of his eyes on her as he prodded Kurama gently in the side with the toe of one boot.
"Kurama, get the hell out of here!" he hissed.
"What are you doing here!" she demanded.
Kurama seemed to focus, finally, and managed to get up onto his paws. Hiei just fixed her with his best 'don't screw with me' stare as Kurama staggered away. It didn't seem to intimidate her in the slightest. Well, he could fix that. She glanced beyond him and giggled. He risked a fast glance and growled in disbelief. Kurama was busy running in a tight circle, trying to catch one of his tails. He blinked in reaction to Kurama's high and pain-filled yelp as he finally managed to latch onto one. Kurama let go of that tail and started a dizzying spin in the opposite direction, going after a different one. He drew his sword as the female tried to flank him and moved to put himself in front of Kurama.
"Come on," Hiei bid with a venom filled smile.
She backed off and pouted prettily at him. There was a boom of thunder that vibrated his teeth and a hard wind whipped whipped through the glade, tangling her hair. One ear flicked, then she shrugged and the wind was gone. She gave Hiei a small, secret smile.
"I'll get him eventually, you know. But for now, he's all yours."
She blew him a kiss as she swirled out of existence in a sparkle of golden twinkles and he twitched as the whisper of cold lips brushed against his cheek.
*He's mine? What the hell does that mean?*
He kept his sword up and at the ready as he scanned the area, but the power was fading fast. The flowers around him dissipated, taking most of that horrid smell with them, leaving only grass. Only when the last taint of it was gone did he sheath his sword and dared look at the damage to underside of his throbbing hand.
*Shit. Why do I do these things?* he wondered at himself as he glared down past the blackened and charred skin of his fingers and at the Youko who was now curled up between his feet with his nose buried under his second tail, sound asleep and reeking of those flowers.
He nudged Kurama with his toe again and his glare turned into a full fledged scowl as the body moved limply against his prodding. He squatted down and almost gagged at the smell of the flowers that clung to the Youko's fur. He stood up rapidly and retreated a step. An evil gleam came into his eyes as he focused on the burble of water. He picked Kurama up by the scruff of his neck and held him down-wind and at arms length as he stalked for the stream. He had to follow it a slight distance to find what he was looking for. The shallow stream ran into and out of a small pool which had been created by human hands and held six fat carp. Yes, this would do nicely. He dunked the fox and swished him around under the surface for a moment then brought him back up. Kurama sputtered and thrashed weakly, then went limp again.
Hiei wrinkled his nose and clamped down on his stomach as he brought the Youko's face up to his own. He still stank.
"Kurama! WAKE UP!" he bellowed into the fox's face.
That earned him the barest crack of one eyelid and a glimpse of the honey-colored iris under it.
::yummmm...:: whispered in his head and the Youko's red tongue darted out to lick him on the end of the nose.
Then that eye slid shut and the mental touch was gone.
"Kurama!"
Hiei gave him a few firm shakes, but could not rouse the Youko again. He moved Kurama back out of nose range as he debated what to do. Well, Kurama had taken care of him enough times after he'd released the Kokuryuuha, he could return the favor, just this once. But first off he had to get that smell off of him. He changed hands, his damaged fingers were up to keeping a firm grip on the scruff of Kurama's neck but not much else. Then he dunked the Youko back in, careful to keep his head above the water, and scrubbed his fingers through his fur. He lifted a very sodden and bedraggled Kurama out and brought him near and took a tentative sniff. Kurama went back into the pond and Hiei went over him again. This time he was tolerable. The smell still lingered, but it wasn't overpowering. He headed back for the glade still holding Kurama by the scruff of the neck and at arms length because now he was dripping wet.
A stiff, chill wind had come up as he'd washed Kurama, the Spring storm that was hovering getting ready to release it's fury soon. Hiei put Kurama down in the grass, then went to collect the Youko's cast off clothing. Well, most of them. He was not going to chase after the socks that the wind was playing with. He wadded them up and cursed as he had to use his bad hand to tie the shirt around them to get them into a carryable bundle. He took it back to were the Youko lay and frowned.
Because of what he was, Hiei had never been cold. If anybody had been there to explain to him that if you dunked a warm blooded creature repeatedly into a stream fed by snow melt-off and then left it exposed to a cold wind it's core temperature would plummet, he would have stared at them in incomprehension. But he did know that shivering meant that someone felt cold. And he had watched his humans enough that he had figured out that the harder and faster the shudders, the colder they felt. Kurama was feeling very, very cold. He put the bundle of clothes down and unbuttoned the top half of his coat, then gathered Kurama up and stuffed him down the front of his shirt, tails first and buttoned his coat back up. That also solved the problem of how he was going to carry the Youko and have his good hand free just in case something or someone decided to take a whack at him. He tucked the bundle under the arm with the damaged hand and flicked off into the branches, on the way to take Kurama home.
The storm announced it's intentions against him with a snarl of thunder. It was one of those full of lightnings and treacherous winds that drove the rain in horizontal sheets and whipped and twisted branches. By the time Hiei reached Kurama's house he was a sodden as the Youko he carried. He crouched on a swaying branch in the tree outside Kurama's window and pushed the bandana up to scan the house. The woman wasn't there, which was the first break in the foul luck he'd had all day. He opened the window and climbed over the sill.
The first thing Kurama became aware of as he drifted up out pleasure filled dreams was the sensation of extremely wet and ruffled fur. It was an unpleasant shock and he voiced his displeasure, loudly.
::I'm WET!::
"So Am I," Hiei's voice snarled back at him.
The next thing Kurama became aware of was that he couldn't move. His whole body was unresponsive. He fought the instinctual panic of feeling trapped and realized Hiei's scent was all around him. That implied a degree of safety and he relaxed a little. He also discovered that though he couldn't move, he could feel, acutely. He was very conscious of the discomfort of his wet fur, most of which was ruffled the wrong way.
There was another scent, very faint and sweet. Even as faint as it was, it still made his mouth water. Foxbane. He'd come across a wild growth of Foxbane in full flower, he remembered that. But how had that Makai plant gotten into the Ningenkai? He thanked every deity he could think of that Hiei had been following him. If he hadn't...he shuddered mentally. Foxbane was narcotic and slow acting poison all in one pretty package. It trapped the Youko in pleasure and sweet dreams, paralyzed for the hour the flowers needed to recharge their pollen, then the youko would repeat the pattern until enough poison was in it's system to kill it. It took no more than four doses, and then the Foxbane would have it's meal.
He had another unpleasant shock as fingers closed on the scruff of his neck just as he figured out that he must be in Hiei's shirt and pulled him out.
::Put Me BACK!:: he demanded as the chill air instantly found it's way through his damp fur.
Hiei held him up to eye level and fixed the still limp fox with a glare.
"Stop screwing around. Change."
::Can't,:: Kurama glared back.
"Why?"
::The flowers. They mess up Youko powers.::
"Is that why you're all limp?"
::Yes,:: there was embarrassment in the Youko's voice.
"How long will you be this way?" Hiei asked as he put Kurama on the floor out of range of the puddle that was seeping from the bundle of clothes and his waterlogged coat.
::'Till it wears off.::
"And just how long will that take?" Hiei added acidly as he finished getting out of his wet clothing, dropping his shirt and pants onto the top of the pile.
Kurama took in Hiei's natural state with a repressed sigh of appreciation and annoyance. Of course this opportunity would have to come when he was helpless to do anything about it. He closed his eyes and concentrated.
::Did anything move?::
"One of your ears twitched."
Kurama's mental sigh was frustrated. ::A while still. Hiei, I'm cold and very wet. Would you mind getting a towel and drying me off? Please?::
Much to his surprise, Hiei picked him up carefully and held him against the warmth of his chest as he padded to the bathroom. Hiei wrapped him in one of the towels and set him on the counter then took another and went over himself with a quick efficiency, ending with a fast and furious toweling of his wiry hair which even the fury of the storm hadn't been able to flatten. Even after that toweling, it was still in place. Amazing. Then he picked up Kurama and sat them both on the floor. Kurama managed a feeble yelp since he couldn't scream as Hiei repeated the fast and furious part on his drug sensitized body. He was still somewhat dazed as Hiei unwrapped him and it took him a second to place the look on Hiei's face. It was definitely amused.
::What?:: Kurama managed to get out as the daze slipped into definite discomfort.
"You're all fluffed up like a scared cat!"
Then the amusement fled to be replaced with a scowl as Kurama whined softly.
"What?"
::My fur! It's all ruffled and standing on end and it's driving me CRAZY!!!::
The distress in Kurama's mind touch and the tone of his whine made Hiei do something that he would never have let himself do under any other circumstances. He ran the fingers of his good hand through the Youko's fur and began combing it back into place. It was incredibly soft and felt wonderful as it slid through his fingers. He had always wondered what Kurama's fur would feel like to pet.
Kurama sighed in relief, and pleasure, and relaxed.
Hiei blinked in mid stroke as Kurama changed. His fingers were now in red hair as soft as Youko fur.
::uuum...don't stop!!!:: Kurama half purred/half pleaded, then frowned as he realized his mind touch hadn't...touched.
That meant he had changed back into his human shape. He opened his eyes and gazed up at Hiei who was looking at something with a strange expression.
"Kurama, why are you like that?" Hiei sounded truly puzzled.
"Like what?" Kurama wondered back.
"All swollen and hard," Hiei answered as he leaned and stretched to touch, innocent in his curiosity.
Kurama jerked like he'd been hit by lightning as he connected. Hiei flicked his hand away, still puzzled. Kurama had responded like he'd been hurt but his aura had flared with pleasure colors. It just didn't make sense!
Kurama gritted his teeth as he teetered on the edge of mind-exploding pleasure. Gods! Now he knew why Foxbane was forbidden to the Clans. That one touch had just about sent him over the edge. He took a deep breath as the sensation faded into something he could deal with and opened his eyes once more. The expression on Hiei's face was for once unguarded and Kurama thought he saw concern there. He stifled a growl of frustration. This was definitely not the way he had planned on explaining the ways of sex to Hiei.
"It's called an erection, Hiei. Males get them when they are sexually aroused," Kurama's voice was low and husky as he replied.
Hiei figured it was from forcing it to work around the paralysis that held the Youko as he blinked and puzzled over that last bit. Why was Kurama sexually aroused? That didn't make any sense either. There was no female here. Well, now that he had broached the subject, he might as well find out all he could.
"You're aroused? Why?"
"What you were doing to my fur felt very, very nice."
Hiei's fingers came out of Kurama's hair and he felt a flash of guilt. He hadn't meant to do that to Kurama. He was surprised that something so simple could create that reaction in his friend. And surprised at this strange feeling that he couldn't quite figure out. It had something to do with the fact that he HAD created that reaction. And he couldn't quite figure out how to ask the next question. It wasn't really what you did with it. He had seen that. It was why? So he settled on the one that had been troubling him the most.
"Does it hurt?"
Kurama barely managed to repress his chuckle. "No. In fact, exactly the opposite. When a male's member it like this, gentle," and he stressed that word, "stimulation of any kind feels better than anything you can imagine."
He sighed and closed his eyes as Hiei scowled. Here he was, with his head pillowed in Hiei's naked lap and helpless. So close and yet so far away. He worked very hard on trying to get anything to move.
Hiei mulled that over. Well, that explained it. Better than anything he could imagine? Well, that had to be an exaggeration. Now that he had an answer, time to move on to other business. Like that female Youko.
"Who was that Lady Youko?"
"What Lady Youko?" Kurama echoed, not paying much attention.
He'd gotten his toes to wiggle. Now for the fingers.
"The one who had you in a cage back there in those flowers," Hiei elaborated in an unconcerned tone.
Kurama tensed and forgot about fingers and toes as that registered. "What are you talking about, Hiei?"
An amused gleam came into Hiei's eyes and the barest touch of a smile turned one side of his mouth. Kurama didn't remember!
"She was very pretty. Prettier than you! And Gold colored. Another of your old enemies?
Kurama's eyes narrowed. "Golden? Hiei, are you sure?"
Hiei gave him his best 'why am I surrounded by idiots' expression.
"Did she touch you?" There was true fear in Kurama's voice and panic in his eyes as one of his hands moved slowly and closed on Hiei's wrist.
"No. Why?"
The adrenaline surge left in the rush of relief and a wave of weakness and drowsiness swept in to take it's place. Kurama tried to fight it off. The chances he got to be alone with Hiei were few and far between. He was not going to go to sleep now.
"Who is she?" Hiei demanded as Kurama's eyes slid shut and his head got very heavy in his lap.
"Someone I hope you won't met again for a very, very long time," Kurama mumbled back.
Hiei's eyebrows came together and he reached down and tugged firmly on a bit of red hair.
"Hn."
Asleep again. Hiei lifted Kurama's head and slid out from under him, then with a bit of tugging and a few curse laden grunts, got him up and settled over his shoulder.