InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Not So Young Anymore ❯ Chapter Three, A Whole New World; Aladdin ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a few stuffed animals and a wonderful fan that keeps me semi-cool during this burning weather. So how can you think I own the wonderful works InuYasha and YuYu Hakusho? Are you insane? No, I thought not. So don't sue me!

 

HBWD's Corner: Dude… I love you ALL! Thank you so much for the wonderfully kind words! They made me sooo happy! :D

 

A few more months have passed and Shippou is going through some changes. In all the fanfic's I read they never really go into Shippou's changes when he shifts from baby fox to adult fox. I reeeally love the way I have him change. I haven't seen anyone do it this way, so hopefully you guys will like it! (worries lip) And we see more into Shippou and Hiei's relationship, and Hiei's thoughts on the others in the group. I think it's cute, the way he interacts with the others! (giggles)

 

Anyhoo, here's the next chapter! Hope you guys like it! (excited squeal)

 

-+-+-+ Three +-+-+-

 

Hiei watched her silently. She had been sitting in that position for the past three hours, next to that hentai houshi. Neither moved an inch. They just sat there.

 

Shippou was chattering his ear off like usual, the little youkai only half listening.

 

He was pissed at the kitsune. And Shippou knew why too.

 

He had grown again. The fox was leaving him in the dust when it came to the height department. Already he was nearly taller than Kagome's elbow. And his ears were doing a funny thing.

 

Hiei remembered, about a month ago, when the whole growth spurt thing had started, that a single red hair had poked from the tip of Shippou's left ear. The fox was leaning on his elbows next to the little spitfire, once again talking none stop. He was like a twist-up toy that someone had set in overdrive.

 

It wasn't that Hiei didn't like Shippou. Oh no, the fox was the closest thing he had to a brother, ever. No, he just needed to know when to shut up, and stop bragging.

 

Like right now. That would be nice.

 

But back to his original thought, though, Hiei stared at the fox's long, long ears. They were standing straight up, against his temples, a fine red fur coating the pointed flesh. He could see a few strings of skin connecting the ear to the side of his head. He knew what was going on. Shippou was loosing his baby ears and gaining his adult ears.

 

Foxes were so weird.

 

And his feet were changing too. They laid flat on the ground, though they still held some semblance to their original paw-like state. There were small patches of hair loss on his feet, showing tanned skin underneath.

 

Hiei turned his attention to Shippou's tail. It was going through some changes too, like the rest of the damned kitsune. It had lengthened and barely dragged the ground now. It was turning a brilliant red; a few patches of cream scattered here and there. The very tip was still that off-white color.

 

“—tening to me? Hiei! You didn't answer my question. Did you zone out again?” Shippou tilted his head to look at the diminutive youkai.

 

Hiei snorted. He would never admit he had zoned out, like the stupid fox thought. “Hn.” Was all the answer the kit would get.

 

Shippou gave the fire demon a coy grin. “You know, your starting to sound kinda like a miffed InuYasha when you do that. Only you don't do that annoying `Feh' thing Yasha does.” His tail curled lazily behind him.

 

Hiei's eyes narrowed at the taller youkai. “I am nothing like that hanyou, fox.” He growled.

 

Said kit shrugged lazily. “Just saying what I think again…” He paused and smirked at Hiei. “Chibi-chan.” He rolled away when the snarling spitfire launched himself at his brother-like friend.

 

The small demon folded his arms over his chest and glared up at Shippou. His eyes barely reached the fox's hip, which was cocked out in a taunting way. “Oh, come on now! Don't get mad at me! You practically scream `Call-Me-Chibi'! Admit it!”

 

Hiei wrapped his small hand around his katana's hilt threateningly.

 

The fox knew not to push too hard. Hiei's ego was very precious to him. He remembered when he had to look up at the fire demon, back then when Hiei had started to travel with them, nearly six months ago. And as he recalled, the fire demon didn't tease him on his stature. Probably because he knew what it was like to be teased about his height.

 

“Am I going to have to wake Kagome-sama from her meditation to quiet you two down?” Miroku's silky voice questioned.

 

Shippou's tail stopped moving. “No, Miroku-sama. We'll be quiet.” He sat down and pulled his small storage of seeds from the base of his neck. He always occupied himself with his plant manipulation, growing and expanding his control over the greenery.

 

Hiei plopped himself next to the distracted fox and pulled his sword from its sheath. He stared at the rusted blade before untying the cloth that held the sheath on his shoulder. Because of his small size, Hiei was unable to hold the katana the way it was suppose to be—on his hip—so he kept it slung on his back with a black cloth, which doubled as a cleaning cloth. Sango had done her best to save the blade, getting rid of most of the corrosive substance, but he still needed to let the sword go to a sword smith and have it professionally remade.

 

The young fire demon liked that Sango girl. She was one of those no-nonsense type of people who kept that hentai in line and away from Kagome. She was a sad girl, though. Well, he guessed he would be sad too if he had his little brother die in his arms. And she still woke up the next day and fought her way through everything to do what was needed. The tajiya was really inspiring.

 

That and she was one hell of a swords women and had started teaching the basics of sword handling to him. He guessed that's why he liked her.

 

Miroku was okay, when you took away his wandering hands and suggestive comments that only Kagome seemed to get. He was a strong fighter and a very wise and caring man. He had also started teaching the fire youkai a few basics on the staff. Hiei didn't like it much but he guessed if the need ever arose he would be prepared to fight with a stick of wood instead of his sword.

 

InuYasha, on the other hand, was someone that grated on the spitfire's nerves. He constantly fought with Kagome, yelling at her for some of the pettiest things. Hiei knew that was the hanyou's demented way of flirting, but geeze. Think before you bitch, dipshit.

 

The halfling was strong, Hiei would give him that, and that fang-like sword was pretty sweet. But other than that, Hiei didn't like him much, even though they had similar pasts… Kind of. He wouldn't say that InuYasha was annoying (because he was) but he had that voice that… well… it just grated on Hiei's already frayed nerves.

 

Hiei turned his attention back to his foxy friend. He scowled in jealousy. The fire demon hated that Shippou knew how to control his element so well. Hiei hadn't been able to make even a tiny spark since he had left the bandits. Even when he was with them his fire didn't come up. He was worried. Maybes something's wrong with me. He though, mentally panicking. I don't even know when fire demons are suppose to get their fire powers! Maybe I'm not late; I just haven't matured enough to make a full flame. Hiei trailed of with a deeper frown. I'll talk to Sango-san. Maybe she can tell me what a normal fire demon's powers are at my age.

 

With that thought in mind Hiei stood up, sheathed his sword and tied it on his back before making his way over to the Head Miko's hut in her village.

 

He had neutral feelings towards Lady Kaede. She was nice, but smelled like death.

 

The village itself, he didn't like. To many ningens for his tastes. It deluded the sweeter scent of the forests around them.

 

Hiei paused in the middle of the dirt path and watched Sango continue to polish her boomerang weapon. Gathering his courage, and forcing down his pride, the little fire youkai walked silently over to the tajiya. She looked up at him in surprise.

 

“Hiei-kun. What brings you over here? Kagome-chan is with Houshi-sama at the moment, meditating, if that's who you're looking for.” Sango smiled warmly at him.

 

The little youkai shook his head. “I'm not looking for Kagome. I wanted to talk to you… About… Fi—“ He paused and swallowed down his pride more. This was harder than he had initially though. “I want to know everything you can tell me on fire demons.”

 

Sango blinked in surprise. “Oh.” Was all she said. She nodded her head and stood up, taking Hiraikotsou with her. She set the large curved bone against the inside corner of the small hut and sat beside the dying embers. “Well… What do you want to know first of all?” Sango patted her thigh like Kagome did. Hiei crawled in and settled himself against her leg, looking up at her with his bright, wide almond shaped eyes.

 

“Where do fire demons originate?” He asked. It was the first question that had popped in his head. He didn't know where it came from; he had had his main question on the tip of his tongue, only for it to be shoved to the side and that one to jump out his mouth. “Weren't dragons the first fire demons?”

 

She smiled softly at him. “Well, my father said that fire demons came from dragons. He told me this really cool story about fire demons and there origins. Do you want to hear it?” Hiei nodded eagerly. She could see the child-like curiosity dancing in his burgundy orbs. “Okay. Hopefully I can tell it as well as my father.

 

“ `Thousands of years ago, when only four types of demons roamed the earth, a dragon thought it would be fun to fight with another, to see who was stronger. He challenged his best friend, another fire breather, to a battle. The two fought and slashed and clawed and scorched each other for many, many days. The dragons continued to fight until one day, under the blazing sun, which was directly over them, their fire connected.

 

“ `No one knows why it happened, or even how it occurred, but something, or someone, came out of the fire's blazing flames. A demon made of pure fire, able to breathe, create and control what the dragons held dear.

 

“ `Angered that someone had interrupted their fight, the dragons turned on the fire demon and tried to burn her to a crisp. But Amaterasu (1) was to strong for them, and given power by the burning sun, overpowered the dragons and ascended to the gods, taking the place as the rightful Sun Goddess.' ” Hiei's abnormally large eyes widened further.

 

“The first fire demon was the sun goddess?” He rasped. Sango nodded her head.

 

“Anything else you want to hear?” She asked him.

 

Hiei pondered a moment before finally collecting his wits and blurted out his original question. “When do fire demons get their fire power?”

 

The tajiya chewed her bottom lip in though. “Ano… father told me a long time ago that fire demons usually get their powers a few days after birth. Granted, it is usually weak and uncontrolled, they do spout small flames now and then. Why do you ask, Hiei-kun?” He was quiet for a while and Sango wondered if he had zoned out, which was common for young children to let their minds wander. When he spoke, her heart broke for him.

 

“I… I haven't…” He sighed angrily. “I haven't been able to conjure a flame since I was with the bandits… or, after I killed them… Does that make me a fire-dead youkai? Did I loose all my flames when I burnt those ningens?” He stared imploringly at the brunette. She could see the hope in his eyes, hope she knew she could crush with her next words.

 

“Well, maybe you're a late bloomer. It is said that some youkai who don't get their powers in the first few years of their life, but later in life and are some of the strongest because their youki had so much time to accumulate and mass together.” Hiei didn't seem pleased at her words at all.

 

“Yeah, or they get blown up because of the energy overload.” He snorted and leaned against her leg again.

 

Sango carded her fingers through his hair when an idea struck her. “Hiei-kun… I think I may know how you can see if you still have your fire youki.” She stood up and smiled down at him. “I'll be right back, we need to tell everyone so we can leave early tomorrow morning.” With that said, Sango left the hut quickly.

 

Hiei stared dumbfounded at the place the slayer had occupied for a moment before shaking his head. He wondered what the girl could be talking about. Is she going to have Miroku examine my youki?

 

He waited patiently for the tajiya to come back. She did, after half an hour.

 

InuYasha held the hut's flap open for Sango and Kagome before stepping in front of Miroku and stalking his way into the hut. He leaned against the wall opposite where the youkai was seated and watched everyone else settle in.

 

Hiei zipped over to Kagome and settled in her lap. She giggled and cuddled him softly.

 

When everyone was settled, the tajiya looked at the rest of the group. “Do any of you know why I called you here?”

 

The hanyou grunted to get everyone's attention. “Yeah, you have something you wanted to tell us. Get on with it, Sango.”

 

She sighed softly. “Okay, calm down, InuYasha. I got you all here because of Hiei.” The inu-tachi turned curious eyes onto the young fire youkai. “He needs a better weapon.” She stated, making the little demon blink in surprise. He was so sure Sango would spill the beans and tell everyone about his shortcomings.

 

His respect for her rose another notch.

 

“Then lets get him one.” InuYasha stated. “It can't be that hard, the gaki can get one of the villager's sword, right?”

 

Sango shook her head. “No, InuYasha. He needs a sword that can grow with his strength. He needs a youkai katana, like your Tessaiga. Something that only he can wield and force his power through.” The half-breed shrugged his shoulders.

 

“Who'll make a sword like that for tha squirt?” InuYasha stared at Sango curiously. The rest of the group, Hiei included, gazed at the tajiya silently.

 

“Toutousai.”

 

-+-+-+- End Three -+-+-+-

 

HBWD's Corner: Well, it's not as long as my other chapters, but I'm pretty happy with it. (shrugs) Hopefully you'll catch on as to why Sango-chan wants to go to Toutousai (grins) It's not that hard. Just think of what element he uses. Lol.

 

(1) Okay, I know this description is different then the Japanese legend of how Amaterasu was made, but go along with it, okay? (on hands and knees begging) And after this, Amaterasu won't be mentioned anymore. Just a little add in to make Lil Hiei be more egotistical of his kind. (shrug) Thinking your flames are possibly descended from the Sun Goddesses is a kind of ego boost, lol. xD

 

Preview of Next Chapter:

The annoyed youkai growled up at him. “I don't know! Those damned bandits found me fifty years ago! Let me go, houshi-baka!” Hiei squirmed in Miroku's rough hold.

 

He let the child go, who instantly raced over to Kagome and grabbed at his katana threateningly. Miroku's bright, glittering, plum-colored eyes stared unseeingly at the wall in front of him. “It's not possible! Someone like him shouldn't even exist…” His dark orbs instantly locked with the tiny youkai's. “How did you survive, Hiei-kun? Y-you shouldn't even be alive…”

 

“Miroku-sama! What's wrong?” Kagome cuddled the miniscule boy tightly, pressing his pale face in her bosom.

 

Translations: hentai - pervert/sex obsessed; houshi - monk; youkai - demon; kitsune - fox; hanyou -