"C'mon, I'll show you." She said, disappearing around the corner, prompting
the others to follow.
For anyone else, wandering through a thronged marketplace on a shopping trip
with the Angel of Death would be mind-bogglingly surreal. For the Reikai Tante,
however, it was par for the course. They were looking for birthday presents for
Hinageshi, whose hundredth birthday was coming up in the next couple of weeks.
Botan led them to a small, recently-opened shop half a block away and
pointed triumphantly to the display in the window. "Check this out!"
"Dolls?" Kuwabara asked, puzzled at Botan's excitement.
"Kuwabara, look at that!" Kurama said, gripping Kuwabara's shoulder and
indicating a figurine.
Among the traditional dolls in their brightly-patterned kimonos, a perfect
replica of Yukina and Kuwabara cuddling on a couch smiled gently at each other.
To its right, a white kitsune leaned insolently on its stand, examining a bit of
jewelry that had to have been stolen. Jin was making a face at them from behind
a disgusted-looking Touya, and Koenma sat imperiously at his desk. Yuusuke,
Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei gave each other a long look and pushed open the door.
Inside was more of the same; beautifully constructed emperors, empresses,
geishas, samurai, and more lined the shelves and display tables, and scattered
among them were far more familiar figures.
"You get the feeling that someone we know runs this place?" Yuusuke said,
jerking his thumb at a figurine of the Harlequin, complete with pie and rubber
chicken.
"Very likely." Hiei replied, examining a replica of the Piper, "Weenie here
doesn't show up in human folklore."
"Nor do we." Kurama agreed, taking a doll that looked just like Hiei off a
shelf.
"Good afternoon, sirs and madame," a familiar voice came from the back of
the shop, "may I help you with anything?"
The newcomer was as unusual as his merchandise. He was taller than Kuwabara
and very strong in an understated sort of way; muscled like a dancer instead of
a weightlifter. He was also an albino: Ice-pale skin and shoulder-length hair so
white that it gleamed like silver, pulled back in a ponytail. A grey eyepatch
obscured his left eye while the right one gleamed large and brilliantly red. He
dressed in bleached jeans and a pale blue tank top; his face was completely
expressionless. There was a peculiar grace to his movements- it was almost like
watching a computer generated image. He held in his hands another couple of
dolls, one of Kurama in a gilded-peony tunic, and one of Botan on her oar.
"Vanguard?!" Yuusuke said. "What are you doing here?"
"What does it look like?" Van said with a smile that looked faintly alien on
him. "I'm making and selling dolls for a living. Do you like them?"
"They're magnificent!" Botan said, fascinated by her portrait. "You're very
good."
"Thank you. I like to do fine work once in a while, especially of those whom
I know." Van replied pleasantly.
"That still doesn't tell us just why you're here, Van," Yuusuke said, "You
never do anything without a reason."
"Quite true." Van admitted as Hiei, attracted by the fancy fabric of its
tunic, picked up the Kurama doll. "To be honest, I didn't mean to come here at
all. I went out one night to fix the roof of my bunker during the tail-end of
High Tide and the whole Land collapsed right under me. I landed about a mile
offshore of Tokyo and decided to try out a human shape for a while. I needed a
vacation anyway."
"So you opened a doll shop." Kuwabara sounded unimpressed, even as he picked
the Yukina doll out of the window display.
Van shrugged. "I needed something innocuous to do, and this was perfect. By
the way, I do expect you to pay for those. As a human, I have special needs, you
know."
"Sunscreen?" Yuusuke smirked.
Van shook his head. "Rent, taxes, and motor oil. All right, so I'm still
mostly a machine. Some things just don't translate."
Their discussion was interrupted when Botan let out a piercing shriek. "Van!
You actually made a Hunter doll?! What were you thinking?"
Sure enough, looming menacingly among a display of ninja dolls was a
twelve-inch-tall figurine of the Hunter. It looked far too real for comfort,
even for something made out of harmless cloth and porcelain.
"Believe it or not, that creature had its good points, so I made myself a
copy." Van replied uneasily. "Even though, I think I made it too lifelike.
Nobody will buy it, so it's become sort of a watchdog. Every morning I find it
in a different place around the shop."
The Spirit Detectives stared fearfully at the spooky little thing. "So,"
Yuusuke said, half-jokingly, "has it caught anything yet?"
"I'm not sure." Van said, not joking at all. "Last Tuesday, I found the back
door jimmied off its hinges. Inside, most of the displays had been messed up,
and there were a lot of bloodstained rags on the floor. Come to think of it,
there was a blood trail leading back out of the back door too, and Hunter here
was out in the middle of the floor with a bit of rag clutched in its fist. I
never did find the burglar."
Kuwabara swallowed hard. "Remind me never to come in here without
permission."
"All right. Now, did you want to purchase anything?"
In the end, Botan purchased a lovely geisha for Hinageshi, Kuwabara bought
the Yukina-and Kuwabara set piece -much to Hiei's disgust-, and Kurama bought
the two dolls he and Hiei had picked out. On their way out, some of Kurama's
classmates passed by and saw the Kurama doll clutched in Hiei's fist. "Oh,
look!" One of them cried, "A doll of Shuuichi! Kawaii!! Who made that?"
"Van did." Hiei muttered as they crowded around him for a better look. "In
that shop."
"I have got to have one!" Another young lady declared, and led the pack into
Van's store, where they bullied the hapless robot into making them some dolls,
too.
"You're a popular man, Kurama." Botan teased.
"I'm taken." Kurama replied stiffly, putting an arm around Hiei.
"Stupid fox." Hiei sniffed, right on cue, and watched the play of light on
the pieces of a broken bottle with a strange intensity.
Later, Kurama noted to himself that anything shiny was catching Hiei's eye.
Formerly, the only things that did so were either necessary to his survival or
valuable treasures belonging to someone else. It had recently gone way beyond
that; anything shiny or sparkly was attracting him now, and he was hoarding
whatever he found. Mixed in with the usual pilfered gold, silver, jewels, and
wristwatches were broken glass, hand mirrors, the chromed chains off of
someone's jacket, tinfoil, and fake jewelry of all kinds. As time went on,
Kuwabara's wristwatch often got stolen two or three times a day, but that was
probably just for spite. The stuff kept turning up in the damndest places, too;
Kurama had found Hiei's treasure troves stuck under the bed, in the closet, in
the sofa, behind the refrigerator, in his coat pockets, behind the toilet, et
cetera. It was getting worse all the time, too. Hiei kept buzzing in and out of
Kurama's new apartment all the time, stopping in only long enough to drop
another bundle of stuff before chasing back out again. When Hinageshi's birthday
party rolled around, Kurama and the others, who had also noticed Hiei's newest
bad habit, had to keep a very close watch on Hiei to make sure that he didn't
run off with Hinageshi's presents.
Two days after the party, Kurama invited Van, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara over for
lunch and some serious discussion; something was definitely wrong with Hiei.
This was immediately evident when they arrived, for the little black-clad fire
demon was clambering in through the window, wearing a shirt that jingled when he
moved. "It's gotten worse, I see," Van said as Hiei began stuffing his pelf
under the rug, "he doesn't even bother to hide what he's doing any more."
Hiei stayed only long enough to snarf down all the cookies before he bounced
out the window again and disappeared.
"I'm thinking about taking him to Genkai," Kurama said, pouring tea, "maybe
she'll know what's up with him."
"Only if you can catch him." Yuusuke remarked.
"Keep an eye out for my watch, will you? I think he stole it again."
Kuwabara complained, holding up his empty wrist. "Rotten little twerp's got a
bad case of kleptomania."
Hiei hopped back in through the window, stashed his stuff, and was gone
again.
Van sipped his tea thoughtfully. "How long has this been going on?"
"Since we visited your shop for the first time." Kurama replied, "About
three and a half weeks."
"And this happens not too long after you get back from that wild fling in
the Shattered Lands. Huh." Van muttered, turning the teacup around in his hands.
"Does he still have that dragon with him?"
Yuusuke snorted. "He's threatened to use it on Kuwabara often enough. Yeah,
he's still got it."
Van considered this silently for a moment, face blank. "I need to talk to
him. If I'm right, there could be trouble."
Kurama sat straight up, casting a worried look at the window. "What kind of
trouble?"
Hiei jumped back in through the window, stuffed a load of trash and treasure
into Van's hip pocket, and dove out again.
Van fished through the junk and handed Kuwabara's wristwatch back to its
owner. "Something along the lines of Godzilla on a rampage, perhaps. Was it my
imagination, or was something moving under the wrappings on his arm?"
"I didn't notice." Kuwabara said, buckling his watch back on. "Did any of
you guys see anything?"
They shook their heads. "Pay attention on the next pass." Kurama suggested.
Five minutes later, Hiei came back, and everyone saw the serpentine form
twitching beneath the bandage on his arm.
"Oh, not again!" Yuusuke complained. "Last time was bad enough."
Kurama tried to grab Hiei when he next dropped in, but the little firebaby
wriggled like a snake, escaping with ease. The second attempt didn't go any
better- Yuusuke was roundly punted for his trouble, and the third attempt was a
disaster. Kuwabara managed to knock Hiei to the floor and sit on his head. This,
of course, prompted Hiei to bite Kuwabara on the ass. Spitting furiously, the
fire demon dove back out the window while Kuwabara clutched his butt and
screamed.
"Mind if I try?" Van asked.
"Go ahead." Yuusuke grunted, rubbing his shins where Hiei had kicked him.
"Itai!" Kuwabara groaned.
Van reached into his shirt and pulled out a treasure. It was a palm-sized
oval of star opal, charged with positive ki so that it glowed enchantingly with
shifting colors. The moment Hiei popped back in through the window, he dropped
his latest haul on the floor in a glittering heap, eyes riveted to the gem. In a
flash, he zipped over and tried to grab it. Only one problem with this: Van's
hand was well above Hiei's reach. Hiei began jumping up and down, going "Gimme!
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" like any small child.
Kuwabara nearly burst a gut holding in his laughter.
Van let him have it and he dropped down onto the floor, gazing into the
depths of the stone and making little crooning noises. Van then knelt down
beside him and extended one of his long, clawlike blades and carefully slit the
wrappings off of Hiei's arm- and uncovered something of a surprise. The long,
thin dragon tattoo that had graced Hiei's arm since the Ankoku Bujutskai had
become active, twisting and twining around Hiei's wrist like a young boa
constrictor. As they watched, it slid up over Hiei's hand to peer at the gem he
held, a tiny black dragon inspecting its loot.
"Ah." Van said, sitting back on his haunches. "That explains a great deal."
"What's happening to him?" Kurama demanded.
"Kemuri needs a date." Van replied calmly.
"What?!" Kurama sputtered.
"Let me put it like this: When you went through High Tide to rescue Kuronue,
you were exposed to a great deal of very powerful forces; namely, those
responsible for getting the breeding season started. This did not bother you
guys all that much, since both humans and Yokai are pretty much always in
season. Dragons go by strict cycles. Kemuri's cycles have been slowed by his
bond to Hiei, but all that Hubward radiation has changed that. He needs to mate,
and the sooner, the better."
"Then what is all this thievery about?" Yuusuke asked as Kurama began to
bristle furiously.
"The greater dragons attract mates in two ways. They either strut their
stuff in front of the females, or try to impress them by amassing huge hoards of
treasure. Rather like magpies, in fact. Since there aren't any females to strut
for here, he's settled for making Hiei hoard anything sparkly."
Kurama was openly furious now. "And what happens if Kemuri does not get a
mate?" He asked in a dangerous tone of voice.
"He'll either go mad and have Hiei screw everything in sight, or he'll go
mad and level the entire city." Van informed him. "Maybe both. Kemuri is still
young enough for that kind of overreaction, I think."
"Oh, no, he won't!" Kurama snarled. "Hiei is mine!"
The little dragon looked peevishly up from the jewel and hissed menacingly
at Kurama, who was completely undaunted.
"Mine!" Kurama insisted.
"Hiss!" Kemuri shot back.
"Mine!"
"Hiss!"
"Mine!"
"Hiss!"
"Your mama was an Icedrake!" Kurama shouted.
"Hiss!" Kemuri said, shocked.
"And your father was a conventional freezer!"
"Hiss! Hiss hiss growl hiss snort!"
"Yes, my mother was a bitch, you miserable little iguana reject!"
"SSSSssssssss!! Hiss farch yah fizz!"
"And, yes, I am a stinking cur! I am a fox, after all. You'll have to come
up with better insults than that, you malodorous strip of crocodile leavings!
Hiei is MINE!!"
"Hiss!"
Van, Kuwabara, and Yuusuke watched this searing argument with some chagrin.
"Children." Van groaned, rubbing his head. "Why am I always saddled with
children? And Kurama's the most mature of 'em. Oh, well. Kuwabara, does Kurama
keep a bucket in the house?"
"I dunno." Kuwabara said.
"Go find out." Van directed him. "And when you do find it, bring it back
full of water."
Kuwabara wandered out of the room, and returned a few minutes later with a
sloshing bucket. Van took it and neatly inundated the argument in front of them.
"Hey!" Kurama protested, shaking water out of his eyes.
"Hiss!" Kemuri squealed in disgust.
Hiei never even noticed.
"That is quite enough." Van said with carefully controlled irritation.
"Arguing like this will get you nothing other than another sloshing -with ice,
next time!"
Both Kurama and Kemuri gave Van a poisonous glare, which he ignored.
"It is still June, and there is a valley in the Reikai's Mountains of
Morning where dragons often come to find mates in this month. I suggest we sate
Kemuri's desires before something permanent happens to someone."
"Nobody messes with Hiei but ME." Kurama growled, glaring at the dragon.
"The dragons aren't interested in the firebaby, Kurama." Van said wearily.
"He's too little for that kind of nonsense anyway. Now come! I wasn't kidding
about the ice."
"I'm gonna get you for this, Van." Kurama said, wringing out his hair. "What
have you to say about this, Hiei?"
Hiei glanced up from his stone. "What? Oooo." He crooned, looking back into
the shifting colors.
"Aw, man..." Kurama groaned, "I'm losing my lover to a lizard."
Van moved forward to pick up Hiei (since the little guy wasn't going
anywhere under his own power), but Kuwabara stopped him. "Hold on, Van, I've
gotta try this." With that, he plucked the star opal out of Hiei's clutches and
held it up as far as he could reach.
In a flash, Hiei was on his feet and jumping for the jewel, going "Gimme!
Gimme! Gimme!" Just like before.
"I don't think you should be doing that, Kuwabara." Yuusuke warned him.
"Why not?" Kuwabara asked, grinning in amusement. "Van managed just fine,
and- Aaaaiiiieeeeee!!!"
Hiei had just kicked Kuwabara soundly in the nuts. Kuwabara dropped the gem
and curled into a tight knot on the rug, whimpering. Hiei sniffed in disgust,
recovered his treasure, and started gazing into it again.
"Van managed because he doesn't have anything that can be kicked." Yuusuke
said conversationally.
Van inspected the groaning teenager with growing concern. "Hmm. Yuusuke, do
you happen to have some of that green salve that Yukina makes?"
The sun had just reached its zenith over the mighty peaks of the Mountains
of Morning when they arrived, and they did not come to an empty valley! Huge
female dragons perched attentively on every rock and ridge large enough to bear
their weight, and massive males competed for their attentions everywhere else.
The bellows of these impressive beasts echoed off of the surrounding mountains,
causing avalanches that filled the background with their rumbling. There was an
astonishing variety as well; long sinuous Eastern Wyrms, batwinged Wyverns, big
Western dragons with their brightly-patterned scales, even a delicate-looking
dragon with butterfly wings.
"Hey, Kemuri," Yuusuke said after taking all of this in, "have a look at
that!"
Kemuri took one look at the selection of females and left Hiei's arm so fast
he nearly left skid marks, attaining his true form as he did so.
Even Kurama had to give a long, drawn-out whistle of admiration; Kemuri was
a splendid beast. A huge, powerfully-built Eastern Wyrm, clad in absolutely
pitch-black scales that gleamed with a faint sapphire overtone, crowned with a
flowing mane of gleaming dark hair. Deep ruby-colored eyes glared out of a
fierce and finely sculpted head, and dark flame trickled from his jaws as he
announced his presence to the other dragons with a shattering bellow. Needless
to say, the eyes of every she-dragon in the valley were on him.
"Im-friggin'-pressive!" Kuwabara breathed.
Van had been right; the dragons weren't interested in puny humans, so our
heroes were free to settle themselves onto a flat-topped boulder to watch the
show. "So," Kurama ventured, "what are Kemuri's chances?"
"They look good." Van replied. "He's mature and healthy, and there's a
marvellous selection of females today."
"Five bucks says he gets the blue one." Yuusuke said with a smile.
"Naah." Kuwabara wasn't impressed. "That golden one, maybe."
"The green Wyvern with the white stripes is quite an attractive beast as
well." Van suggested. "And that orange creature with the butterfly wings is
graceful."
"No way." Kuwabara said flatly, getting into the occasion. "Kemuri would
smush her. Ten bucks says that purple one with the jewelled scales is the one."
"You're on."
Kurama was smoldering inwardly. Here they were, making bets on his lover's
future, without even considering how Hiei might feel about it. Who knew what
would happen when Kemuri actually made the choice? Would Hiei be dragged off,
body and soul, forever lost in the recesses of the mountains? Kemuri was so
twined together with Hiei's spirit as to make them inseparable. Would this event
tear them apart? That kind of thing could cause irreparable damage to a person.
"Hiei, what do you think about all this?" He asked, desperation coloring his
voice.
"What? Oooo."
"Never mind." Kurama sighed.
Not long after that, something momentous happened. Deep shadow fell over the
valley for a moment as something blocked out the sun. Something immense was
circling in for a landing.
"All bets are off." Yuusuke said, and the others had to agree.
Stunned silence vibrated over the valley as the biggest dragon they had ever
seen touched down lightly in the middle of the lek. She paused briefly for
maximum effect, head held high, wings slightly spread. She was clad from proud,
wedge-shaped head to slender tail-tip in blood-scarlet feathers that seemed to
glow in the sunlight, her conformation was lithely perfect, and her attitude was
imperial. Gleaming amber eyes surveyed the crowd critically -nothing but the
very best would suit Her! At last that critical gaze rested upon Kemuri, who was
watching her with his jaw hanging open in awe. She then strode, no, swaggered
over to the black dragon, sized him up, and then sat on him, roaring brazenly at
the other females to tell them that this one was Hers.
"Magnificent!" Van enthused. "I don't think I've ever seen a Greater
Northern Feathered dragon of that size before! Absolutely magnificent. Note the
depth of the chest, the strength in the flanks, the length of the wings. I bet
she flames with the best of 'em, too."
Assured that no other female was going to dispute her claim on Kemuri, the
red she-dragon picked him up in her claws and dragged him off to a different
valley for some privacy. Kurama glanced uneasily at Hiei, but the fire demon did
not so much as twitch an eyebrow at the abduction of his dragon.
"Hiei and his dragon are very alike," Kuwabara noted, "They both seem to
attract big redheads."
Kurama gave him a sour look. "You're really pushing it today, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Kuwabara grinned ruefully, and then shot a wary look at Kurama. "You
aren't going to kick me, are you?"
There was a small jingling noise as Hiei dropped his star opal. There was a
very odd expression on his face. "K-Kurama...?" He stammered, voice gone all
funny.
"What is it, Hiei?" Kurama turned quickly to his lover.
"Kurama..."
"What?"
"Kurama... I need to... I need..."
"What? What?!"
"Kurama, right now!!"
Hiei lunged forward, caught Kurama by the sidelocks, and dragged the
startled Kitsune over to a handy shrub. The sound of ripping cloth and certain
X-rated noises emanated from within after a few minutes
.
Van, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara watched the shaking bush in amazed silence for a
little while, and then politely averted their eyes. "We might as well build a
fire, since I brought marshmallows." Van said, picking up a stick. "We'll be
waiting a while, since dragons like to take their time with this sort of thing."
The sun was getting low on the horizon when Hiei, slightly tousled but fully
clothed, stalked out of the bush, sat down by the fire, and began gobbling the
marshmallows. Kurama followed not long after, a little torn and walking stiffly,
and wearing a big silly grin on his face. His expression was that of one who has
just had his brains screwed out. "Wow." He muttered, accepting a toasted
marshmallow from Yuusuke, "We have got to do this more often!"
Hiei might have given a growl at this point, but it was hard to tell. It's
difficult to sound menacing when your mouth is full.
By the time they'd run out of marshmallows to toast, Hiei had crawled into
Kurama's lap, buzzing like a kitten full of milk, and long shadows stretched
away from a breathtaking sunset. A movement to the left of them attracted their
attention; Kemuri was coming back. He came crawling over the ridges, exhausted
but happy, and wearing Kurama's silly grin. Hiei shifted a bit in his sleep as
the dragon reduced himself wearily back into a long tattoo on the firebaby's
arm. Wordlessly, Van tore a strip off the hem of his shirt and wrapped the arm
up again, even though the Kokuryuuha wouldn't be too hard to control until it
recovered from its exertions.
"I believe our work here is done." Yuusuke said with a yawn, sitting up and
scratching his back. "Let's go home. Coming, Kurama? Kurama? Oh, damn, he's gone
to sleep too."
"I'll drop them off back at the apartment." Van reassured him, gently
lifting the lovers up off the stone. "C'mon, get up Kuwabara. I can't carry all
three of you without something disastrous happening."
Kuwabara protested, saying he wanted another five minutes, but the others
insisted.
They landed without incident on the familiar pavement of their neighborhood,
and Yuusuke and Kuwabara went home. Van took a shortcut back to Kurama's
apartment, where he laid the sleeping pair down on the bed and gently tucked
them in. They shifted in their sleep as he did so, wrapping arms about one
another and purring softly.
Van stroked their hair affectionaltely and turned to leave. "I think I will
keep an eye on this pairing." He murmured very softly to himself. "Who knows?
Perhaps this time, something will come of it. They certainly make a beautiful
couple."
With that, he left for his own place, leaving his friends to their dreams.