The Bishonen and the Beast
chapter 2
by Cresent Star
Six weeks later...
Kurama couldn't quite say he hated the koorime/beast's castle, but he couldn't say that was he very happy about being there either. In short, he hardly knew what to think of it.
The beast was relatively civil to his 'guest' most of the time, leaving him alone most of the day to go do whatever it was he usually did in the day. Kurama had the distinct feeling that it involved hacking people to itty bitty little pieces but said nothing about it, lest the beast got the idea of sharpening his katana on his neck.
To be honest, the beast was a rather nice beast to be with for company if you could ignore his lengthy silences.
Kurama decided he quite liked him.
Despite all this, Kurama still wished he was allowed to go home to see his family members, even if his sisters were just about the brattiest two people one could ever hope not to meet. He was thinking deeply on this one day, while he was giving the rosebushes a trim. So engrossed in thinking was he that he didn't notice a small black clothed creature hop down in front of him.
"AHHHH!! WHAT THE--oh, Hiei, it's you."
"Hn, cut the crap, what's up?"
"Um, nothing..."
"I hate liars. It makes me want to cut their tongues." he touched the glinting edge of the katana for emphasis.
"Since you put it that way..." Kurama eyed the same precision edge nervously. It didn't pay to mess with Hiei.
"Yes?"
"It's my family," Kurama admitted. "I kinda miss them. Father may drink a lot, but it's only because he has problems with business deals sometimes," Kurama paused. "Or so he tells me."
"My elder sisters boss me around all the time, but they are still my kin. As the old saying goes, blood is thicker than water."
"Heh," the other smirked, still fingering his katana, "tell me about it."
That certainly affirmed Kurama's suspicions on what he usually did most of the day. Hastily, he brushed that topic aside.
"The thing is, I'd just like to see them all again, just once. Is that to much to ask?"
"Umm... yes."
"Hiei!"
"Hn, I could tell you didn't like it here. Fine, go ahead."
"Hiei, be reasonable, it's not that I don't like it here, I just need to go back for a visit. You took me away so suddenly I had no chance to say good bye."
"I am being reasonable." the beast was sulking, obviously.
"Are to."
"Are not"
"Are to!"
"Are not!"
Just before it turned into a full fledged hissy fit, Hiei gave in.
"Oh... alright..." he shoved his hands into his pockets and fished about for moment. He found what he was looking for and dropped it into Kurama's hand.
"Here, take it."
"Hiei, I already told you I'm not going to marry you!" Kurama exclaimed. The proffered ring was just a simple gold band engraved with nothing else but a common design.
"That's not what it's for, idiot!"
"Then what in hell is it for?!" he couldn't help feel slightly disappointed. After all, very few people were able to resist him.
The beast fished around his pocket some more and came up with a crumpled and stained instruction leaflet.
"Ah! Here it is!" Hiei squinted at the small print.
"What does it say?"
"It says that you have to come back within three days or something bad will happen."
"For example...?"
"Just something really bad!" the beast didn't seem to want to broach that subject. "Don't take it off. If you want to see me, all you have to do is twist the ring and look in a mirror."
"Way cool! Where did you get this thing?"
"Flea market somewhere. It cost a dime."
** ** **
Kurama packed his new clothes into a small overnight bag. He was only going to be away three days at most, so it was pointless to bring back more than what he needed.
He looked at the ring he was wearing thoughtfully.
*Maybe it doesn't work.* he mused.
*How do you know?* a small voice asked. *Try it out.*
He followed the instructions the beast gave him and looked into the full length mirror in a corner of the room.
At first the images appeared vague, but they slowly coalesced into the shiny, wet surface of bath tiles.
Hiei was there too, disrobing himself wearily, his clothes once more having taken the brunt of a messy battle.
*Oh my!* *gasp* *blush*
Kurama found it slightly difficult to tear his eyes away from the stunning imagery.
*blush* *giggle*...
** ** **
"Kurama!!! What are you doing here?" Kuwabara was overjoyed to see his son. "WAAAAAHHHH!!! I THOUGHT I'D NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN!!! WAAAHHH!!!"
"Umm.. yes," Kurama said, peeling his over-enthusiastic father's arms from around his waist.
His sisters were a little less than pleased on his return since the number of their suitors shot to a record high while he was away. They were even more pissed when they saw him clothed in obviously expensive (not to mention obviously Chinese) attire.
However, the two Wicked Sisters(tm) put on a reasonably good show of being happy for him.
"Kurama-chan! It's so nice to see that you're okay!" she had a big, fake smile pasted over her face. Add batting eye lashes to that and you have a killer formula of deceit.
"Where have you been?" demanded Keiko, "Where did you get the clothes?"
"Yeah!"
"*sigh* Long story..." Kurama began telling them the whole story from the beginning.
To say that his family was amazed and didn't believe him would be an understatement. Not that they doubted the existence of the koorime, oh no, they believed that part. It was the part about the koorime being so generous that they didn't believe...
"Get outta town! The little runt asked you to *marry* him? For real? *After* he found out you were a boy?!"
"Well... yes."
Kuwabara sat back. He was going to take a little while to digest that piece of information. It seemed rather clear that this news had permanently immobilized some of his brain cells.
"He also said that something really bad would happen if I didn't return within three days."
"Really?" now this caught Keiko's attention.. She immediately assumed that whatever the 'really bad thing' was, it would happen to her brother.
"Yeah, it was really weird. He seemed awful touchy on the subject, " Kurama mused, never suspecting for one moment what his sly older sister had in mind.
"Oh well, I'm sure you'll be back by then." Keiko said easily. "You run along and take a bath or something. Botan and I still have to... uhh... wash the dishes! Yeah, that's right.."
"But Keiko we never wa--!" Botan started to whine but was cut off by Keiko clapping a hand over her mouth. She was shortly dragged into the kitchen amid plenty of kicking.
Kurama shrugged and headed up the stairs.
** ** **
The next morning at breakfast, Botan spotted the trinket on his finger. Due to her air headed-ness, it wasn't actually a big mystery how she missed it the night before.
"Now where did you get that? Don't tell me! That little creep gave it to you!"
"He is not a little creep! He gave me this ring so I could see him whenever I want." Kurama regretted mentioning that immediately.
"Real magic? Show me! Show me! Show me! Show me!" Botan wheezed.
"I don't know if that's really a good idea..." he was remembering the last time he'd tried using the ring.
"Do it, " Keiko threatened, waving a frying pan over his head.
"Eek! Okay! Okay... Keiko, you can put that down now..."
Kurama hoped desperately that the ring wouldn't catch Hiei in the bathroom again.
To his enormous relief, the mirror revealed Hiei perching a tree instead of the toilet seat, scanning his territory for unwelcome visitors. Not that visitors were actually welcomed anyway.
"Eeeew! That's him?"
"Yup."
Keiko and Botan stared at the green skinned demon speechlessly, then made faces.
"Glad I don't have to marry him." Keiko muttered.
"Don't think too much on it Kurama, " Botan cooed in a most ingratiating manner. "I made this lemonade just for you. Have a little and try to forget."
"Uh, I'm not really thirsty right now, so I think I'll save it fo--!"
Kurama didn't get the last words of his sentence out as Botan grabbed him by the nose and poured the liquid that didn't look too much like lemonade down his throat.
"*cough**cough**sputter**sputter*!"
Five seconds later, the Magic Sleep Potion(tm) Botan had filched from the town's sensei, Genkai, began to take effect.
** ** **
"Rise and shine! Zippety doo da, zippety yay... my oh my what a wonderful day.."
Kurama awoke to the most terrible singing ever to have been suffered by anyone. There was a hideous headache pounding at his temples, but it was unclear whether it was caused by the after effects of the Magic Sleep Potion(tm) or the horrible singing. The horrible singing was thankfully out in the hall way, but it was steadily approaching. Something nagged at him at the back of his mind. It was something important he had to do....
At this moment, Kuwabara burst in, good cheer written all over his face. "Gooooood morning!" He crowed. Kurama remembered what he was supposed to do.
"Father! What day is it? How long have I been asleep??"
"Mr. Blue Bird on my shoulder...o/~.."
"Father, quit singing and tell me!"
Kuwabara paused.
"I dunno, you've been out for..." he counted his fingers, " ... two days. Say, what did you eat?"
"That's not important right now.! I have to get back to the koorime's castle pronto or there's going to be trouble! Please father, lend me the car!"
"Now Kurama, you know you haven't got your license yet, and it's dangerous to for some one as young as you to drive."
"Just lend me the damned car!!"
"Alright, but I expect you to be a responsible young man--"
Kurama was already out the door. Kuwabara bellowed at him from the window.
"There had better not be any scratches on that!!!"
** ** **
Kurama reached the koorime's castle in the late afternoon, after getting lost and having to stop and ask for directions three times.
The castle seemed strangely desolate, much more gloomy than it usually was. Not that he was expecting the castle to get up and say a cheery "Hi!" to him. What he was expecting however, was the fire demon leaping on him and snapping at him because of his lateness.
Things were too still, though one couldn't say that the birds had stopped singing since there were no birds to begin with. Nope, it was just his six sense bugging him, as if tapping him on the shoulder and saying, "I'm not going to say what it is, but something's really wrong here."
His sixth sense was never wrong.
*Could something have happened to Hiei? Good grief, it must be my fault! I shouldn't have come back so late!*
After much debate over what to do, Kurama finally hit upon the bright idea of using the ring Hiei had given him to find the little fire demon. He spotted a mirror (out of convenience) up the hall.
The images in the mirror shook him a little-- Hiei was writhing on the floor, moaning in pain.
Thank heavens he recognised the part of the castle Hiei was in. It was unfortunately, quite far away from where he was at that moment. He did the only thing he could do.
He gathered up his heels and ran like hell.
** ** **
Sweat poured off Hiei's brow as he fought to remain conscious against the searing pain tearing away at his sides. It was pretty much like having a hot poker pressed hard to the left and right of your ribcage, only raised to the seventeenth power.
*Where's Kurama?* he thought, *He said he'd come back, why hasn't he--*
The darkness finally conquered his mind, cutting off his thoughts abruptly.
Kurama knew beyond doubt that the unmoving figure of Hiei he saw meant that 'something really bad' had happened.
"It's my fault, isn't it?" he asked aloud, gathering his 'friend's' still form in his arms tightly.
Hiei barely managed to crack open an eye (fortunately, not that Jagan) and mumbled softly, "You came back. Hn. About damned time too."
"Hiei! I'm sorry I was so late!"
"You're here now, aren't you? That counts." Hiei grimaced, holding his left side. "You're in pain!"
"I'm dying, you idiot."
"What??? Why?"
"Not important. Will you marry me?"
"Uhh... umm...er..."
"I knew you wouldn't agree..."
"Alright! Yes, I'll marry you!"
"Thanks Kurama. That was just what I needed to hear."
"Huh?"
(Corny Special Effects Alert!)
Billowy clouds of noxious black smoke rolled over the room, wrapping Hiei up in some sort of cocoon, blotting out nearly everything in the room and nearly causing Kurama to have a severe attack of asthma.
"Hiei! *cough**ack**wheeze* What in heck is going on?!"
"I'm back, tougher than ever, that's what."
The smoke effect began to fade away some what.
"Hiei?!"
"Yup, believe it or not, it's me."
"You're...you're... you're HOT!"
Kurama immediately glomped himself to the now gorgeous, well muscled and in short, very desirable Hiei.
"You see, " he started to explain, "Madam Train-Wreck-for-a-Face *ahem* I mean, Mukuro, cursed me in my Maijin form just because I didn't want to wash her car after I took it out for a spin."
"Poor you, " Kurama cooed, trying hard to pay attention to what Hiei was saying. He was actually too busy cuddling him to listen.
"So," continued Hiei, "I was to stay in that form until someone was willing to marry me. Either that or wash her damned car for a month."
"And you rathered staying in that form than washing her car?" Kurama asked in disbelief.
Hiei shrugged. "Have you seen the size of her car? Anyway, we're married now."
"Don't tell me you didn't mean it when you said you wanted to marry me!" If Hiei was just trying to get rid of the spell... shucks, he had such a great bod too...
"I never said that."
"Oh that's good then, " Kurama piped. He grinned slyly. Hiei didn't know what happened after he saw the red head leap and wrestle him to the ground with a triumphant cry.
** ** **
Around three hours later, Hiei sat up, or tried too. He slumped back in exhaustion.
"So, koibito," Kurama said, seemingly unfazed by the passion they shared during the aforementioned three hours, "When are we going home to tell my family the good news?"
"As soon as.. I don't feel so... tired."
"Looks like we won't be going back for a *long* time."
*POUNCE!*
"!!!!"
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~~Owari~~
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Well, did you like it or did you hate it? You hated it???? *sigh* You win some and you lose some. Feel free to mail me at cresent_star@hotmail.com if you want to give your C&C. Yes, that includes things that sound like "That sucked!"....
Cresent Star(c) 1998
(like anyone would want to copy it...)