Kurama 1/2
Chapter 6
By Kristin Huntsman
-chapter 6, part 1-
"Come on!" Hairspray said, grabbing Kurama's arm. "Let's go!"
Kurama sighed and allowed herself to be dragged along. <How did I allow myself to get talked into this, again? Oh yeah - Kaasan wanted us to get out of the house for the day, and Hairspray had made plans with Keiko and Botan to go to the mall, and we met up with Shizuru here....> She sighed as they entered what seemed like the billionth store.
"This is nice," Hairspray said, letting go of Kurama suddenly, and fingering a blue spill of silky fabric. Kurama blinked, then realized that they'd entered a woman's clothing store. <Not another one....>
"What is it, Kurama-kun?" Keiko asked from next to her.
"I'm beginning to understand Yuusuke's attitude," Kurama replied. "How can you girls _like_ going into all these stores and not buying anything? There's no purpose to it!"
"But there is," Keiko replied, moving to look at a dress that was colored in several subtle shades of pink and lavender. "We can't afford most of these, but we can pretend. Didn't you ever like playing dress-up?"
"Oh, look at this!" Shizuru exclaimed suddenly, interrupting Kurama's negative reply. Kurama glanced at the dress she was holding out in front of her. It was pretty enough, she guessed, all emerald green and silky. She looked away, around the rest of the shop. Dresses in every imaginable hue and style covered the walls and aisles.
"Don't you think that it would look good on Kurama?" Botan asked the other three.
"WHAT?!" Kurama demanded, turning back to look at her.
Shizuru stepped up and held the dress up against her, examining the fit with a critical eye. "It's just your size," she pronounced. "Come on, let's find a fitting room."
"NO!" Kurama said stubbornly. "I am NOT wearing that dress!"
"Is there a problem?" the saleslady asked, stepping up to them.
"No," Shizuru said. "We do need a fitting room, though, as well as some... personal items for this young lady."
"As you wish," the young woman said. "Please follow me...." She turned and started walking off. The four of them followed her, Shizuru still holding the dress.
"Shizuru..." Kurama said in a low voice. "I'm going to get you for this."
"Whatever for?" Shizuru asked innocently. "It's only a dress."
Kurama blinked. She had a point. "It's a DRESS," she insisted nonetheless. "I am a _guy_, remember?"
"Uh-huh." Shizuru looked doubtfully and pointedly at Kurama's chest.
"What will you be needing, Miss?" the saleslady asked.
"I don't... know," Kurama said, after a stern look from Shizuru.
"Everything," Shizuru said.
"Very good," the saleslady said, bowing politely, and turning to leave.
"How did I let you talk me into this?" Kurama muttered, as Shizuru helped her unbutton her shirt.
"I think you'll look pretty in this dress," Keiko said. "Why should you be ashamed of being a girl?"
"I've spent my entire life as a guy, why should I have to enjoy being a girl?" Kurama asked, slightly embarassed as the four girls critically examined her form.
"But you look beautiful as a girl," Hairspray said softly, in Chinese. Kurama paused, blushing slightly.
"Speak Japanese when we're around others," she replied in Chinese. "It's more polite."
"Miss," the saleslady said, knocking on the door.
"Thank you," Botan said, opening the door and accepting the small stack of undergarments from her. The saleslady bowed and walked back out to the front of the store. "Come on, take it all off," she told Kurama.
More than slightly embarassed, Kurama hastily took off the rest of her clothes and quickly reached for the top item on the pile of underclothes. "What the--?!" she asked, holding the pair of French-cut panties out in front of her.
"Just put them on, Kurama-kun," Shizuru soothed. "They don't feel as strange as they look."
"I hope so," Kurama said, bending over and stepping into them. She stood up and pulled them on. Shizuru was right, she found; after a few seconds, they didn't seem strange at all. They were actually comfortable, fitting better on this body than what she had been wearing before. "What next?" she asked, reaching for the next item from the pile.
It was a bra.
"NO!" she said firmly, holding it at arm's length. "I am NOT wearing this!"
"Yes, you are," Shizuru said, taking it from her and fastening it around her body, just under her chest. "Stop arguing. You've gotten this far."
"This is a BRA, Shizuru," Kurama explained, even as Shizuru guided her arms through the straps. "This is GIRLS' clothing."
"You ARE a girl," Shizuru explained. "And a young woman needs support for her chest. Don't worry about it, okay? It's just something that you need to wear when you're female."
"But--" Kurama protested. She sighed and shook her head in resignation. "All right. What next?"
"Pantyhose!" Botan said cheerfully, holding them out.
"Oh no..." Kurama groaned. She took them and held them out in front of her. "Do I have to?"
Keiko and Botan looked at each other and nodded. "Yes!" they said in unison.
"It's an ensemble look, Shuuichi," Hairspray explained. "It won't look right without them."
"If I have to..." Kurama sighed. She sat down on the small bench and resignedly started pulling the lingerie on.
"Not like that, like this," Shizuru explained, showing her how to roll the hose up her legs. "You'll snag them."
"I have a feeling I'm going to resent that I ever fell into that spring," Kurama muttered as she stood and finished pulling them up to her waist. She slid the dress on as Shizuru handed it to her, and went to look at herself in the mirror, absently fastening the gold clasps at the collar.
"Here, don't forget these," Botan said, handing Kurama a pair of green slippers. She slid the soft leather shoes onto her feet, and looked up.
Her reflection looked back at her, a stunning girl in a green Chinese-cut silk dress, trimmed with gold. Kurama swallowed as she noted how the soft fabric clung to her body, revealing every line and curve. The slits up the sides reached to her hips. She moved her leg a little, and saw how the pantyhose helped to define the smooth lines, just as the bra supported and caressed her chest. The high collar was the only thing that belied the sheer sensuousness of the dress.
"Is that... me?" she asked quietly.
"Kurama, you look wonderful," Shizuru said softly. "Now if we could just do something about your hair...." She fingered a scarlet curl.
"You are _not_ doing anything to my hair, Shizuru!" Kurama said, turning to look at her. "It is staying long, and it is staying down!"
Shizuru shrugged philosophically. "Oh well," she said.
"So you've gotten me into this dress," Kurama said, turning back to her reflection. "Is there anything else you wanted to do to me today?"
"I guess not," Shizuru said regretfully.
"What did you want to do with the dress, Shuuichi?" Hairspray asked in Chinese.
"You're talking in Chinese again," she responded.
"I don't want them to know what I'm asking," she replied. "Or, at least, you don't."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"This dress looks very pretty on you," she answered. "You look very beautiful in clothing like this."
Kurama paused for a split second as she absorbed what Hairspray had just implied. Then, for some reason, she wondered what Hiei would think of the dress on her. "It doesn't matter," she replied in Chinese. "It costs too much, anyway." She sighed and started to unfasten the clasps. She pulled the dress over her head and removed the rest of the girls' underclothing. She quickly got back into her own clothing, and headed for the door of the dressing room.
"I'll carry those," Botan said, taking the pile of clothes from her.
"No, it's okay," Kurama insisted, reaching for them. Botan moved them out of reach.
"You want these, don't you?" she asked in a low whisper.
"What are you talking about?" Kurama asked back.
"You're a girl, Kurama-kun," Botan explained. "I've been reading up about those springs since we got back, and part of falling into them is that your mind _may_ begin to function partially as whatever you're cursed to be. Yours is, isn't it?"
Kurama paused. That might explain something, actually. She had liked how she felt while wearing that dress. And she had liked how she looked in it. "It only happens while I'm a girl, right?" she asked.
"Yes," Botan answered. "So, did you want this dress or not?"
"Why does it matter?" Kurama asked.
"Koenma-sama licensed me to get a Reikai Gold Card," Botan explained. "Accepted worlds-wide at all places. I don't have a credit limit, and they get the bills. Consider this a gift for helping Yuusuke out so much."
Kurama smiled, suddenly amused by the thought of Koenma being stuck with all of Botan's shopping bills. "Well... okay," she said. "But only this once."
Botan smiled and disappeared, supposedly off to find the sales desk and purchase the items.
Kurama sighed as she set the package on her bed. Then she headed down the hall, towards the bathroom. She quickly stripped out of her clothes and placed them in the clothes basket. Stepping into the room, she set the bucket under the faucet, and turned the water on to hot. She tested it with her finger as it slowly filled the container. She wanted hot, but not too hot. She didn't relish the idea of boiling herself. When it was full enough, and the water was warm enough, she stood, holding her hair out of the way, and poured it over her body.
The change came and went so quickly that he didn't even have time to analyze how it felt. But he was himself again, and could think more clearly about why he'd allowed Botan to buy that dress for him. Her. Whatever. He sighed and picked up one of the large towels that was folded over the rack, and started to dry himself off.
<You are seriously losing it,> he thought. <Botan bought a _dress_ for you, for Kamisama's sake!> He thought about what his reflection had looked like, and the nebulous thoughts he'd had, concerning what Hairspray and Hiei would think about it. <Well... it's only a dress,> he thought. <If you'd gotten spiked heels, _then_ I'd know that you were losing it. So... you're not totally insane yet.> Shaking his head, he hung the towel back on the rack to dry, and stepped out to the outer room, grabbing his clothes back out of the basket and putting them on.
He walked down the hall and back into his room and regarded the small bundle on the bed with suspicion. <It won't bite me... but... what do I do with it?> Sighing, he sat down and opened it. The green silk of the dress glowed faintly in the sunlight, living and warm. He picked it up and held it before him.
Sighing in resignation, he moved to his closet and found an empty hanger. He deliberately placed it at the very back. If he needed it, he knew where it was. In the meantime, he didn't want anyone to find it. He picked up the remaining items on the bed - the panties, bra, slippers, and nylon hose. He moved to his dresser and buried them in the very back of one of the drawers. These, too, did not need to be found. He paused as he closed the drawer, his hand still on the handle. For some reason, he had a picture in his mind of what Hiei's reaction would be if he ever actually wore these clothes.
He smiled, shook his head, and moved away. He had a meeting to keep with Yuusuke.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Yuusuke muttered, glancing around the roof of the school nervously. No one was in sight.
"Oh, come on," Kurama said lightly, setting down a bucket of cold water. "You'll probably love flying."
"Pu!" Pu agreed, fluttering his ears so that he settled down to land on Yuusuke's head.
"What do you know about it?" Yuusuke asked sourly, plucking Puu off his head with one hand. "You just flap your ears."
"Pu...." the downy blue creature cooed sadly.
"Shouldn't you be with Keiko?" Yuusuke demanded. "I thought I gave you to her."
"Pu...." the little creature agreed even more sadly.
"You shouldn't harrass Puu so much, Yuusuke," Kurama said, coming over and taking him from Yuusuke's grip. "He is your soul, after all."
"Yeah, well, I didn't want him," Yuusuke said, glaring at the bird-thing. "And he can't even stay with Keiko like I tell him to."
"Pu!" Pu said defensively, settling on Kurama's head. Kurama gave a soft laugh.
"Well, ready?" he asked Yuusuke, picking up the water again.
Yuusuke took a deep breath and let it out. "Yeah, I guess so," he told Kurama. Kurama smiled and threw the water on him.
The world grew suddenly larger as Yuusuke instantly transformed into a falcon. He shook his head and flapped his wings, shaking the water off.
"Here," Kurama said, bending down and extending an arm. Yuusuke looked up at him, then down again. After a few seconds, he figured out how to get onto Kurama's arm, where he hung on for dear life.
"Ite!" Kurama said. "You have talons, Yuusuke. They hurt."
<Gomen,> Yuusuke mentally apologized, relaxing his tense grip somewhat.
"That's better," Kurama said, standing up slowly and moving away from Yuusuke's pile of discarded clothes. Yuusuke looked at him somewhat curiously. He hadn't spent much time in this bird's body, and wasn't quite used to it. It was weird... he couldn't see straight ahead, but he could see perfectly what was on either side of him. And things looked different, too. The way Kurama looked suddenly seemed absolutely hilarious, though Yuusuke couldn't figure out why.
Yuusuke cocked his head upwards, examining Pu with a sudden new interest. Pu didn't really look much at all like a bird, he decided. If anything, he resembled a stuffed animal. But he was the closest thing to a bird that Yuusuke had ever seen flying or given a second thought to.
Pu was looking back at Yuusuke with the same interest, like Yuusuke was a new toy or something. <Stupid bird,> Yuusuke thought. <Why the hell did that egg have to hatch into something that looks like you? I mean, why can't my soul look a little cooler or something?>
"Ready to try, Yuusuke?" Kurama asked, breaking Yuusuke's train of thoughts. "I can't give any personal experience about being a bird, but I know a little about flying."
Yuusuke gave a questioning noise and looked expectantly at Kurama.
"You want to fly with the breeze," Kurama explained. "Gliding is easier than continually flapping your wings, and if you want to climb in altitude, go against the breeze." He paused, and his serious face lightened. "You're a peregrine falcon in this body, which means a few things. You're not that big, but you're fast. _Very_ fast. Peregrines have been clocked at over 120 miles per hour. Peregrines are also predators, and more or less at the top of the food chain. If you had to choose a cursed spring to fall into, I don't think you could have done much better." Kurama smiled.
Yuusuke nodded his head and spread his wings, getting ready to take off. "On three?" Kurama asked. Yuusuke nodded again in agreement.
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three!" As Kurama lifted his arm upwards, Yuusuke opened his wings and beat them furiously, moving quickly upwards. He cocked his head downwards momentarily, and saw Kurama looking up at him. If Yuusuke could have laughed, he would have. He turned his attention back to the skies.
The wide open skies. Freedom.
How incredible.
<I love flying!> Yuusuke thought wildly, instinctively performing a loop-the-loop.
Kurama chuckled softly, watching Yuusuke show his evident delight in the pure sensation of flight. Sitting down against the wall, he pulled a book out of his pocket and began to read.
Falcons are among the most beautiful and noble creatures that roam the skies. Peregrines, in particular, are spectacular for their black-and-white beauty, and their comparitive rarity. Though they make their nests in practically every known country, they are not often seen.
Kurama smiled to himself. <Well, now Tokyo has at least one peregrine falcon to her credit,> he thought, looking up to where Yuusuke's bird form was performing swoops and circles that seemed to defy the very laws of physics. <Though I doubt he'll ever nest.>
In ancient Egypt, the peregrine was highly revered, and was often accorded the same dignity given to nobles and cats, being mummified upon its death. The Egyptians' sentiments towards this noble bird may best be seen in their belief that it represented an eternal rebirth, immortality, and freedom.
Kurama repressed a cold shiver of prescience as it ran down his spine. <Rebirth... but whose?>
He kept reading.
Yuusuke shrieked in delight. He felt like he could never get his fill of flying. But he'd been flying for a good half-hour, and was beginning to get a little bit tired, and a little hungry. Time to turn back.
Yuusuke performed a 180 degree turn at 65 miles per hour.
Then, suddenly, he spotted prey.
His falcon instincts told him that the fleeing pigeon was definitely food, and then totally took over.
Yuusuke gave chase to the soft gray pigeon, and quickly caught up with it. His claw closed around it, and his talon pierced through its chest to the heart.
Yuusuke's mind came back with a shock at that.
<What--?!> was his first thought.
<Oh God, I killed it!> was his second.
<No....>
Yuusuke sped back to Sarayashiki. Kurama would know what to do. He always did.
And in his claw, Yuusuke clutched a dying pigeon.
Kurama looked up at a bird's shriek, and saw Yuusuke quickly approaching the school. Carrying something in his left claw. <Something's wrong,> Kurama thought, standing up as Yuusuke flew over the fence. <What did he do?>
Kurama extended his hands as Yuusuke came to an abrupt halt, hovering over them. Yuusuke opened his claws, and the bloody corpse of a pigeon fell into Kurama's hands. He looked at it as Yuusuke settled onto his forearm. "You did this?" he murmured, looking up at Yuusuke.
Yuusuke's eyes were so full of shock and remorse that Kurama didn't need to hear an answer.
The pigeon stirred weakly in Kurama's hands. "She's not dead," he said softly. "But she will be if we don't hurry." Deciding, he gently set the bird down on the pavement, and moved with Yuusuke over to where the thermos of hot water was standing on the ground. Yuusuke obediently hopped off his arm as Kurama opened the thermos. He poured the water over Yuusuke.
"What do we do with it?" Yuusuke gasped, standing up.
"You get dressed, then we take it to a good vet I know of who's near here. While he's patching her up, we can talk."
"Gotcha." Yuusuke turned away and started pulling on his clothes in what had to be record time. In seconds, they were clattering down the stairs.
Yuusuke sat miserably while Kurama explained to the vet that the pigeon had been injured, and asked if he could take a look at it.
"I can't believe that I did that," he murmured as Kurama sat down beside him. "It was like one minute I was fine, then - wham! - I wasn't me anymore. I was going to kill it to eat it, and now because of me, some little bird is going to innocently die."
"It's not going to die," Kurama reassured him. "Seishirou-sensei is very good; he'll fix her."
"What the hell happened to me?" Yuusuke murmured.
"You became a falcon for a minute," Kurama said, laying a reassuring hand on Yuusuke's shoulder. "The springs sometimes have that effect, Botan says. You just have to be a little more careful."
"You mean there's a reason?" Yuusuke asked. "I'm not going crazy?"
"Not in the least," Kurama said laughingly. "It's happening to me too, a little."
"Nani?!" Yuusuke turned sharply to look at Kurama. "You're not serious?!"
Kurama shrugged. "Just some things don't bother me as much as they used to when I'm in that body."
"Like what?"
"Shizuru got me into a dress during a shopping expedition today," Kurama replied. "And while I was wearing it, it didn't seem wrong at all."
Yuusuke tried to read Kurama's eyes, but they were turned away from him. "This is permanent?" he asked.
Kurama shrugged again. "Probably as permanent as the curses," he answered. "Unless a cure can be found, we're probably going to have to live like this for quite some time."
Yuusuke sighed, and they sat for several seconds in contemplative silence. Finally he asked, "So I spend the rest of my life eating pigeons while you go around in drag and Kuwabara gets hooked on carrot cake?"
Kurama gave him a look for a long second, and Yuusuke returned it until neither of them could stand the serious expressions any more and they both burst out laughing.
See, Sandy's not the only one who can do research! And here you all thought I picked Yuusuke's cursed spring completely randomly! HA! I defy you! Oh, and I have to thank Rika for finding the particular _Tokyo Babylon_ reference I asked her for, as I'd forgotten it. Arigato, Rika-san! And, now, after posting this, I have to go get ready for school... ugh. I hope everyone else who's being forced to participate in the travesty known as the first day of school today is as excited about it as I am. :(
And here it is, the long-awaited (hey, let me have my little fantasies) part 2 of chapter 6 of Kurama 1/2!
Kurama 1/2
-chapter 6, part 2-
by Kristin HuntsmanHairspray nervously tugged at her dress and looked in the mirror once more. She looked all right, she supposed, but she still wanted to be sure. She hesitantly turned away and walked to the door of her room. She paused, her hand on the doorknob. Then she shook her head and moved out into the hall and down the stairs. She was being ridiculous. This was only a date, right? Even if it was her first date with her husband.
She froze for half a second as she saw him standing before the front door, dressed in a sharp black jacket, a white dress shirt and dark trousers, holding a bouquet of pink roses. She continued down the stairs, walking lightly over to him, trying to hide her nervousness.
"You look nice," he said, extending the flowers towards her. "These are for you."
"Thank you," she said, accepting them. "You look nice, too." She bent her head over the flowers and inhaled. She was surprised at the rich, heady fragrance; most flower stands sold roses with little to no scent, and these definitely weren't from the gardens. She inhaled again.
"You like them?" Shuuichi asked, smiling as he saw her reaction.
"They're wonderful," she repied. "Where did you get them?"
"My secret," he replied. "Shall we go?"
"Let me just put these in something," she said, moving off towards the kitchen to get a vase and some water. Shiori stepped out of the kitchen, intercepting her and taking the flowers from her.
"The two of you go and have a good time," Shiori said, shooing them towards the door. "I'll take care of these."
"Hai, Kaasan," Shuuichi replied, getting Hairspray's coat from the closet and helping her into it. Hairspray smiled as he opened the door for her and took her arm as they walked down the path. He opened the gate for her, and took her arm again as they walked away from the house.
Shiori smiled, watching her son and his fiancee walk off into the night. The two of them looked so nice together. Then she went back into the house and closed the door behind her, leaving the night to lovers.
Kurama looked appreciatively around the restaurant. He'd never been here before, but he'd heard that it had a good atmosphere and better food, and so far what he'd heard had been right. The prices were a little high, but he had quite a bit in his savings account, thanks to his habit of getting summer and after-school jobs and saving most of what he earned. He looked across the table at Hairspray and tried to think of something to say.
"You look beautiful in that dress," he said honestly. She did; the high collar was flattering to her figure, as was the blue dress's general habit of clinging very close to her skin.
"Thank you," she replied. "My grandmother made it for me."
"Do you miss your family, Hairspray?" he asked. "I know you like being here in Japan, but surely you miss your mother and father?"
"My mother died when I was very little," she replied softly, looking down. "My father works in Hong Kong, and rarely came home to see me."
"I'm sorry," he said, reaching his hand across the table to rest it on top of hers. "I didn't know."
"It's all right," she said, smiling brightly at him. "My mother is probably happier wherever she is. I don't even remember her. And I barely even know my father. I only have my grandmother left who really cares about me."
"And you're not bitter at all," he said softly.
"Why?" she asked. "It happens. Besides, I had my plants, my schoolwork, my friends...."
"You really were lonely, weren't you?" he asked.
"I guess so," Hairspray asked, slipping back into Chinese for a second. "But what about you?" She smiled. "You must have had a wonderful childhood."
"I guess so," Kurama replied. "My father died when I was very young, so I don't really remember him, but I always had Kaasan. I went to school, had lots of friends. Just basically the story of any Japanese child."
"Except you're not just any Japanese child," she said adoringly. "You're wonderful."
"Not really," Kurama replied, shaking his head softly as he thought of his faults. And especially of his biggest secret, the one he had no intention of telling her for a while yet, anyways. "I'm nowhere near perfect, Hairspray, and I wish you'd stop insisting that I am."
"But you are," she insisted. "What's wrong with me thinking so?"
"Because you'll be let down one day," he answered.
"No, I won't," she replied confidently. Further discussion was prevented by the arrival of their food.
The music was just loud enough to fill the body with a pounding rythm and the insatiable need to move, to express the music, to dance. It throbbed in and out of conciousness, this desire, teasing, taunting, until it became overwhelming, and you knew nothing more than what you were doing at the second, obeying the music like a slave its master. But rather than imprisoning, the music became freedom, pure wings of delight and laughter and adrenaline.
It was, all in all, a damn fine workout, and more fun than fighting, Kurama mused. Certainly more sociable.
He looked at Hairspray as she twisted with the music, laughing delightedly as they matched styles and movements in a game that would almost seem childish, except for the overwhelming influence of the sound and people surrounding them, playing the game on their own. The changing lights in the dance club caught at the golden halo of Hairspray's hair, some flattering, some less so. Her eyes were dilated in the darkness, but Kurama could still see their blue-violet color clearly. His guess had apparently been right; Hairspray loved dancing.
<Not that I hate it, either,> he thought, catching her hand and twirling her around. <It's a good way to spend the evening.>
"Well, now, for the last song of the evening, let's have a slow tune," the DJ said as the song ended. "Guys, grab your ladies and hold them tight for a blast from the past. Here it is... In the Still of the Night, from the Five Satins."
The wild beat of the music was suddenly replaced by a low, slow tune, and Kurama and Hairspray moved naturally into the embrace of a slow dance. "This's been a wonderful evening, Shuuichi-san," she said softly. "Arigato."
Kurama smiled. "You're welcome," he replied. "I've had a good time, too. You're a good dancer."
"That's my line!" she protested, smiling. "Thank you again."
Kurama smiled as Hairspray closed her door to go to bed. It had indeed been a good evening: dinner and dancing had proved to be fun. He quite liked Hairspray, he realized. Her personality lived up to her intelligence. He still wasn't sure about spending the rest of his life with her, though. The rest of his human life, anyway.
Kurama wandered back to his room and sat down on his bed. He was too awake to go to sleep, even if it was after eleven. <No school tomorrow,> he thought. <What can I do until I get tired?> Thinking, he moved over to the closet and pulled out a hanger, slipping his jacket off and onto it. As he hung it back up, a faint glimmer of green caught his eye. He paused, and for some reason, reached for the silken dress.
He moved back over to his bed and sat down, still regarding it. He glanced over at the dresser where he'd buried the accoutriments. "I can't believe I'm considering this," he murmured, even as he set the dress down on the bed and made his way to the bathroom. "Maybe I _am_ crazy...."
Within five minutes, Kurama was female, dry, and dressed to kill. Studying her reflection in the mirror, she shook her head, causing red strands of hair to fly all over the place, then settle back into their original silken patterns. She quietly turned off the lights and slipped out the window, knowing exactly who she was looking for, if not where he was.
Hiei woke himself up softly, staring at the moon. He slept in sporadic fits, usually, and tonight was no different. It came from many years of having to watch his back, to be aware and ready to fight even while he slept.
<Chi!> Hiei swore mentally as he heard a soft noise, his hand automatically touching his sword hilt.
"Hiei?"
<Kurama?> Hiei thought, relaxing as the familiar soft voice registered. "What are you doing here?" he asked, looking around for her.
"Wondering if you'd like to have some fun," Kurama replied as Hiei spotted her sitting on a branch a few feet away and above him.
Hiei repressed the sharp "yes!" response that came up in him. <She's having a bad effect on me,> he thought sourly. <I gotta fight this.>
"Like what?" he inquired.
"Oh, I don't know... just go around. Walk, talk...." Kurama's voice trailed off.
Hiei considered. "Maybe...." he replied, but stopped at the sudden sound of a roll of thunder. "Tell me that isn't what I think it is," he asked Kurama.
"No such luck," Kurama replied as cold rain lightly began to drizzle down on them.
<Shit!> Hiei thought as he shrank out of his clothes. He mentally cursed the stupid weather for ruining his chance to... talk with Kurama. Glaring up at the heavens, his annoyance only slightly increased when Kurama started to laugh softly at his predicament.
Kurama and Hiei slipped in silently through the half-opened window. "Come on," Kurama whispered, closing it behind them. The rain still pattered on the roof, and water dripped from the two of them onto the floor. Kurama set the pile of Hiei's clothes and his sword down on the floor. "Let's find some hot water." Hiei nodded and followed her downstairs to the kitchen.
Kurama found a tea kettle in the darkness and filled it from the sink. She placed it on the stove and turned on one of the burners.
Nothing happened.
"What the--?" she asked, bending to look closer at it. She turned to look at the microwave clock. Which was dark. She sighed and shut off the stove. "The power's out," she reported to Hiei.
<Wonderful,> he thought. "Mrowl?" he asked, moving suggestively towards the sink.
"No," Kurama said, shaking her head. "The water heater would be out, too. We'll just have to wait until the electricity comes back on."
Hiei mentally grumbled to himself about the utter stupidity of humans and all their fallible inventions. Kurama shrugged and asked, "What do you expect _me_ to do about it?" She sneezed, and said, "Come on. We're both soaking wet and freezing. Let's go dry off."
Hiei shrugged - or a cat's equivilant of it - and followed her again. They stopped to get some towels from a storage closet, then went back to Kurama's room. Hiei looked quickly away as Kurama began to remove her dress.
Kurama closed the door behind herself and set the towels on top of her bed. Her hands wandered absently to the clasps of her Chinese dress, but she paused as she saw the black cat turn away. A small smile crept to her lips as vague thoughts coalesced into something more solid.
She paused before she acted on them, though, thinking it through. Hiei was very easy for her to tease, because she knew him so well, but she'd been careful to never take it too far before. Would this cross the line? <... No,> she decided. And she _wanted_ to do this. Maybe a little too much.
<I can't believe that I'm getting turned on by the idea of doing a strip-tease for him,> she thought, looking at Hiei. But she was; she felt a queasy warmth between her legs and in her belly, and her nipples felt definitely tighter against the silk of her dress. <Oh, what the hell. You only live once. Or twice.>
"Hiei," she said softly. "Hiei, look at me."
Hiei turned at the sound of Kurama's voice and stared unbelievingly. <No, I don't believe it. He can't be doing this to me.> Kurama smiled and slowly nodded, her hands unfastening the last clasp on her dress. The wet silk fell into a pile around her feet. She stepped out of it, towards him, and slipped off her shoes. <Kurama, you bastard, I'll get you for this--> But he couldn't look away.
Kurama stood before him in a bra, panties, and... pantyhose? That must have been why her legs had looked so nice, not that they didn't anyway.... Hiei wanted to smack himself upside the head for that thought, but doing so was just as hard as it sounded while in a cat's body. He watched as she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of the pantyhose and drew them down her legs, delicately stepping out of them and dropping them on top of the dress.
"You like?" she asked Hiei, stepping closer. Hiei hissed, his cat eyes seeing her silky pink underwear perfectly in the dark. The strange thing was, he wasn't sure if he was hissing because she'd gone this far, or because she was still wearing those last two items.
"Would you like me to take the rest off, too?" she asked, her hand smoothing the left strap of her bra off her shoulder. He didn't reply, and she smiled, her other arm crossing her chest to remove the right strap. After a brief second, she slipped her arms out of the straps entirely and let one hand rest just underneath her breasts while the other moved to her back, unfastening the bra altogether. It fell, and she caught it easily, depositing it on the small pile of clothes behind her.
Hiei stared. Perfect creamy-white breasts, tipped with pink rosebuds. If he'd been in his own body, he'd have been blushing right now, no matter how passive he tried to be. As it was, all the blood rushing to his head was making him feel a little dizzy. Kurama smiled more broadly at him and removed her last piece of clothing.
When the panties fell from Kurama's hand onto the pile, and she stood totally naked before him, it was all Hiei could do to stare, entranced. Now he knew that the pictures he'd had of her in his dreams hadn't done her justice. Her legs were much longer, and more muscular, though the lines were just as smooth. Where they joined at the top, there was an area covered by small red curls. He almost did blush, cat body or no, from the thought of what lay under them.
"What do you think?" Kurama asked, stepping closer and kneeling before him. Hiei looked up, past her flat stomach, over her breasts, her smooth shoulders, until he finally reached her face.
It was too much. He mrowled plaintively as he blacked out.
Kurama didn't quite believe it. Hiei had fainted. <Either I'm very built, or he can't take much,> she thought, amused. She picked him up and placed him on top of one of the towels on her bed. She wound another around her hair, and a third towel dried her body.
As she pulled on a set of men's pyjamas, several sizes too big for her in this body, she glanced thoughtfully at the unconcious cat. She smiled to herself and picked up a fine-toothed comb from her dresser.
Hiei woke up to what seemed the most pleasurable of all possible sensations. Someone was lightly running fingers all over his body, soothing itches that he hadn't even known he had. He wiggled in pleasure, his claws unconciously extending and retracting into the soft surface below them.
"Glad to see you're awake," a throaty voice said. He twisted, startled, and saw Kurama-chan above him, a towel wound around her hair. He looked back and saw that the fingers running over his back were actually a comb running through his now drier fur.
"You liked that, didn't you?" Kurama chuckled. "Just relax and enjoy it, okay? There's no one here to see you except me, and I won't tell anyone if you won't tell anyone that I did a strip-tease for you."
Hiei glared up at her, _really_ wishing that he could talk like this, he had half a dozen things on his mind that he'd _love_ to lay on Kurama-- His angry musings were interrupted as the comb ran down his back again, followed by a warm wave of pleasure. He mrowled in contentment before he knew what he was doing.
Kurama chuckled lightly and kept the comb running over Hiei. He closed his eyes as the waves kept washing over him, and slowly felt a deep throbbing begin in his chest. He nearly opened his eyes again. This was unexpected. But - it, too, felt good. He didn't want it to stop.
"Do you realize that you're actually _purring_?" Kurama asked him. Hiei felt a mild annoyance at this, but was too content to stop. Kurama laughed softly again, and Hiei wondered for the thousandth time since they'd met if Kurama was telepathic.
Kurama smiled. There was just _something_ about a purring cat, even if it was Hiei. She shook her head and set the comb down, continuing her motions with gentle strokes of her hand. With the other, she released the towel around her hair, dropping it on the floor. She fingered her hair. It was still damp.
"When I had short hair at least it dried easily," she said ruefully. "But I suppose I'd look odd as a girl if I had a boy's haircut." Hiei didn't even answer with a "mrowl," and she wondered if he'd gone to sleep. "You still awake?" He moved a little in her lap. "Okay, I just wanted to say thank you for the nice evening."
"Mrowl," Hiei replied sleepily. Kurama smiled.
"I'm tired, too," she said, standing and cradling him to her chest. "C'mon, let's get some sleep." She pulled back the covers and got under them, placing him next to her. Hiei curled up into a small ball beside her pillow. Kurama smiled and shook her head. She closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep, listening to the sounds made by the rain on the roof and the purring cat.
Shiori smiled, looking at the three young people arranged around the breakfast table. It was nice to have a full house. Hairspray, Shuuichi, and Shuuichi's friend Hiei were all sipping down miso soup as part of their breakfast. Shiori smiled, remembering the explanation Shuuichi had given her for Hiei's appearance as she and the black cat were heading towards the bathroom.
"I went out for a walk after Hairspray and I got back last night, and ran into Hiei," the redheaded girl had explained. "We got caught in the rain, and the power was out when we got back. I invited Hiei to stay over. I hope you don't mind?"
"Not at all," Shiori had replied. "You know your friends are welcome to stay over anytime."
Shuuichi and Hiei had turned back into their real bodies, and Hiei was currently borrowing some clothes from Shuuichi, while his tumbled in the dryer.
Shuuichi had insisted that a reluctant Hiei stay for breakfast before he left. Shiori wondered momentarily where Hiei lived; Shuuichi had never told her.
"I'll get it," Shuuichi said, standing up as the doorbell rang, breaking into Shiori's train of thought. She took another sip of her miso soup as he left, and noted that she'd made it a little too thick.
Shuuichi came back in a few seconds, leading a middle-aged man and a young woman who vaugely resembled him. "This is Tsukiko Ryoto-san, and his daughter Mieiko-san," Shuuichi said, looking slightly puzzled. "They say they have business with you, Kaasan."
"Ryoto!" Shiori said, standing up. This was a very pleasant surprise. "It's been a long time!"
"Ahh, so it has, Shiori-san," Ryoto replied, lightly embracing her. "I haven't seen you since... Keiichi's funeral."
"A sad day," Shiori murmured, remembering the day she'd buried her husband. "But we are reunited on a happier occasion, I hope?" she asked, looking up into his face. "Nothing has happened to Kyoko, I hope?"
"No, Kyoko is fine," he replied, laying her fears to rest. "She sends her best wishes, and regrets that she was unable to make this trip to visit you."
"Please, be seated," Shiori said, indicating the empty spaces around the table. "Have you eaten yet? Let me fetch you something to eat...."
"I'll do it, Minamino-san," Hairspray interrupted, standing up and bowing politely to all assembled before rushing off to the kitchen. Shiori smiled in her direction as she, Ryoto, and Mieiko sat down.
"If I am not being forward, what position does the girl hold in your household?" Ryoto asked. Shiori frowned a little at the odd note in his voice.
"Hairspray is my son's fiancee," she replied cautiously. "Why do you ask, Ryoto?"
Ryoto paled before her eyes. "May Buddha be merciful," he murmured, then recovered. "The reason I have made this trip to visit you, after so many years, Minamino-san," he said, addressing her more formally, "is that when they were mere infants, your late husband and I agreed that our children should be engaged to one another."
Do wa diddy diddy dum diddy do... I don't know Japanese oldies, so I picked one of my favorite slow dance songs. Hope you enjoy the complication that I've just thrown into Kurama's already complicated life... and the next chapter gets even worse. Heeheehee.... poor Red. I _promise_ that I will explain all in the next chapter... especially Kurama's strange urges and new view of his relationship with Hiei. And, even though this is the most *mildly* etchi piece I've ever written, to make it count for the drinking game: I APOLOGIZE!!! Forgive me, Kamisama!