Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ When You Finally Find One ❯ In Which We Confront a Spy and, More Importantly, Buy Man-Catcher Dresses ( Chapter 4 )

When You Finally Find One

By Elbereth in April

Chapter 4: In Which We Confront a Spy and, More Importantly, Buy Man-Catcher Dresses

Kurama rounded the last bend in the stairs and found the door to the roof. Locked. Fortunately, he had been a thief, and he quickly picked the lock. Then he burst through the door and looked around.

A girl oni with silver hair stood at the far edge of the roof, a lavender-haired boy on either side of her. He walked over to stand in between them.

"Ah, the other one. You must be Kurama," she purred, smiling at him. "You're all so handsome! Must be my lucky day."

"I don't know about lucky," Trunks returned. "What are you doing following us?"

Her eyes widened with injured innocence. "Following? Me, following you?"

"Give up the act, onna," Trunks sneered.

"Well, you could at least be polite!" She crossed her arms and pouted.

The kitsune sighed, then stepped forward and smiled charmingly. "My name is Kurama. How did you know? What is your name?"

She smiled again, brightening. "Everyone knows about the Youko Kurama! Well. . . not everyone, but I have good contacts. You can call me Sue."

"I'm pleased to meet you." He bowed.

She giggled. "I've enjoyed meeting you, but I have to go now. You wouldn't know where Hiei is?"

All three looked confused. "Are you a friend of Hiei's? We thought you worked for Sensei," Mirai blurted.

"I work for a man--demon--named Gurkin," she replied. "He's destined to take over the Makai some day. And I'll be there when it happens. It's a small step from bodyguard to wife and Queen."

"Um. . . yeah."

"So you are a friend of Hiei's?" Kurama repeated dubiously.

"Actually, he doesn't know me. But I've heard you used to be partners. I thought maybe I'd get a chance to meet him, too." She smiled. She had dimples.

"We still are partners," Kurama snapped. "Only. . . we don't live in the same place. . ."

"I'm his partner, too," Mirai put in, feeling slighted.

"So he is around here somewhere?"

"I don't think he'd like us to volunteer that information. He's not very social," Kurama said. Mirai nodded.

"Ah, well. You can't blame a gal for wanting to meet him. Ta ta!"

"Wait a minute! You still haven't explained what you're doing here or why you were watching us!" Trunks protested.

"Oh, haven't I? Well, I was just out for a stroll when I picked up your auras and came to check it out."

"A stroll? In Ningenkai?" Kurama laughed incredulously.

"Yes, well. . ." She tilted her head down, then looked up at them through lowered eyelashes. "I have a lover here."

"Human?"

She nodded. "How else could I keep it secret from my boss? I can't very well be his Queen if he thinks I'm some sort of loose woman, now can I?"

The 3 boys looked at each other, confused again.

She grinned. "Ta ta!" She leapt off the roof, pulling some device from her cloak as she fell, then disappeared with a pop and a blip.

They had run to the ledge to watch. When she was gone, they turned to each other again. "I don't think that went well," Mirai confessed.

"Do you think she'll go look for Hiei?"

"I don't know. . ."

_________ __________

"We may need party clothes," I argued, eyeing a little black dress. "You never know."

"Come to think of it, I could use a new dress," Shizuru spoke up with a strange laugh. "Come on, Bura." She pulled a silky red number off the rack and headed for the changing room. I followed her, clutching the black. It wasn't long before Marron came after us with a shimmery light blue one in her hand. I smiled.

Behind us, I heard Pan grumble, "I wouldn't get myself all made up to impress a boy."

"No, who would?" Then, "Um, excuse me, but I may need this for strategical advantage." And Keiko was hurrying after us.

Pan's eyes narrowed. "Strategical advantage, huh?" She grabbed something off the rack and stomped off in our wake.

Two bewildered men stared at each other behind us, then sighed again and settled down to wait.

________ ________

Crystal (aka Sue) let out a deep breath. That had been close! She'd had to think fast to come up with that make-believe story about a lover. And they'd bought it! As if she could ever desire anybody else besides Gurkin. . . That part about bodyguard to Queen was true. . .

She shook her head. That was beside the point. She couldn't let her thoughts wander. She'd made her escape via Itsuki's handy portal-opener; now back to business!

__________ ___________

We stood before the long three-way mirror in the ladies' dressing room--Pan, Marron, Keiko, Shizuru, and I. We were decked out in high style. And--to be immodest--we looked darn good.

"These, girls, are what I like to call man-catcher dresses," I said, smiling widely.

They smiled back.

"I've got money; I suggest we splurge."

"When will we wear them?" Keiko asked.

"Trust me, I will think of something."

Marron giggled. "She always does."

I hit her lightly on the shoulder. "That was for fun. I'm serious now. I have a man and a mission."

"Is that what you were doing, flirting with Hiei?" Keiko asked, eyes big. "With Hiei?"

I looked at her. "Why not Hiei?"

"He's just always so cold and angry."

"I like them that way. Apparently." I pushed my hair back and thought that over. "I like them mysterious and troubled. That way I can soothe them." Yes, that sounded better.

"Brooding and dangerous," Pan provided.

"Yes." I smoothed the sides of the dress down, contemplating the mirror again. Deep black, snug on the top, flared skirt, reaching mid-thigh. Oh yeah. "Keiko likes them dangerous, too."

Keiko blushed but looked amazingly unruffled.

"What about you, Shizuru?" Marron asked.

"I like them nice, rich, strong, and successful."

"Hmm. . . That's a lot to ask of one guy. Is there anybody around here who would fit that bill?" Keiko asked. Pan, Marron, and I exchanged glances. I knew who immediately came to my mind: my brother. But surely she wasn't thinking of him?

"I have a few ideas," Shizuru replied with a smug smile.

She was! A strange surge of protectiveness came over me as I debated whether this girl I barely knew was good enough for my brother. She did seem to be remarkably wise, and he needed all the steadying down he could get. I shrugged. I would just have to get to know her better, and in the meantime, if she could distract Trunks, and Yukina could distract Mirai, I could concentrate on Hiei.

"We'd better get back to the boys," Pan advised. "They don't like waiting in clothing stores."

"Too true."

We went to get changed.

___________ ___________

To Itsuki's surprise, he found himself liking Gurkin. While Sensei napped in the bedroom, he and Gurkin had been talking.

"I can never sleep anymore," Gurkin sighed, looking out the window. "I used to be able to, when I was working for Yomi. I don't know what happened. Stress, I suppose. The pressures of leadership. It's hard being evil. Everyone assumes we spend all our time in self-gratification, but let me assure you, this is not the case. We have to be disciplined. We have to be hard-working. How else can we become strong enough to crush everyone in our path? How else can we maintain abject fear in the hearts of our minions and subjects, once we've achieved absolute tyranny?"

Itsuki nodded. "I understand."

Gurkin turned and looked at him. "You do?"

"Uh huh."

His eyes dewed up, he felt truly touched. "Ah, a kindred spirit!"

"Can't Crystal help you sleep?"

Gurkin sighed again. "She bought me this." He rummaged around in the bag he'd brought with him from the Makai. He pulled out a small, square device.

"An alarm clock?"

"No, no, look. It's like a radio. It plays," he read from the box, "Sounds to Sleep By. It can be programmed to Ocean, Waterfall, Rain Forest, White Noise, Crickets, Thunder Storm. . . the list goes on." He handed it to Itsuki.

Itsuki examined it. "Hmm. But it doesn't help?"

Gurkin shook his head sadly. "It just annoys me."

Poor Gurkin, Itsuki thought. "Maybe I can come up with something."

Gurkin's face lit up. "Could you?"

"I'll do my best."

"In the meantime, I shall drink some warm milk, pull all the shades, and retire to the guest bedroom. I shall play Water Fall and read Machievelli. Not that any of that will help. Send Crystal in when she returns."

Itsuki nodded. He would take a nap soon as well, but first he would concentrate on his new friend's problem.

_________ ________

We were just winding down with our shopping. We stood in front of an ornate fountain done in blue tile. It was large and round, with a centerpiece that reached up over six feet of basins in alternating sizes; quite impressive, really. I watched it while Goten whined.

"Aren't we done yet?"

"Yes, fine, we're done," Marron threw up her hands, looking thoroughly exasperated with him.

"Good!" His whole face lit up with such pure and innocent joy it was hard to stay annoyed with him. "Before we go I want to look at the Toys R Us!"

Shizuru started laughing. "You're as bad as my ni-chan. I suppose we could let you go, as your reward for all this `girlie' shopping."

"What about you, Hiei?" Pan asked him, amused.

"Hn."

"He means toys are for children and he's above such things," I interpreted at their confused looks.

"Oh."

He looked at me, then pointed down the hall. Four stores back we'd passed "Johansen's Knives." I grinned.

So Goten was happily looking at Transformers with a reluctant Marron, Shizuru, and Keiko. Pan and I had tagged along with Hiei to the knife store, where he was staring with undisguised longing at a black dragon-handled katana, I was admiring a Celtic dagger, and Pan was checking over the Swiss army knives.

The three of us jumped when we felt a strange, ominous ki.

"Demon," said Hiei.

"Where?"

Hiei didn't answer, he just headed out. Pan and I hurridly followed. We traced the ki to a girl sitting on a bench by the fountain, eating bite-sized peanut butter cookies. She had silver hair covered by a cream sunhat, a cream sleeveless T-shirt, black pants, and boots. Her eyes were silver and so were her long nails. For a moment I thought she had s silver belt, then I realized it was a tail. Saiyans can spot these things.

"Who are you?" Pan demanded of her.

She licked cookie crumbs off her fingers and stood up. "Who are you?" she questioned back. "I'm just sitting here minding my own business and you accost me."

"You're a demon." Hiei's hand was on the hilt of his sword.

She blinked at him, then smiled. "Ah. You're Hiei."

He scowled. "One more time, who are you?"

"Call me Sue. I just came from Kurama. He has a message for you."

We glanced at each other, then back to the girl. "Well, what is it?"

"He thinks he and Trunks are being spied on by the enemy."

Hiei tightened his grip on his sword.

"Something about this girl put me off, but I wasn't sure what. "What does he expect us to do about it?"

She shrugged. "Just be careful."

"Kurama never mentioned any friends named Sue."

She laughed. "He's 1,000 years old! Do you think you know all his friends? Have you told him all your secrets, Hiei?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in the Makai?" I asked, frowning at her.

She grinned and picked up her paper bag of cookies. "I just wanted to do some shopping."

She ran to the other side of the fountain as Hiei was drawing his blade. Pan chased after her. I went around the other way, and Hiei jumped over the top. We all met up on the other side, but she was gone.

_________ ___________

Crystal strolled into Sensei's hide-out, well-pleased with herself. She always enjoyed meeting new people. True, she doubted that her employer or his friends had wanted her to actually interact with anyone, but it was more fun that way. And she'd kept them off-balance long enough to escape each time. She'd always been a good liar. And she'd gathered the necessary information.

"Hiei is definitely in the Ningenkai," she reported once they were all gathered in the living room. "So are the two Saiyans."

"Two?" Itsuki raised his eyebrows.

"Two purple-haired guys with Kurama at the library. Two ningen girls with Hiei at the mall."

Sensei propped his elbows on the back of Itsuki's chair. "Probably Keiko and Botan."

"Where were the other two? Yusuke and Kuwabara?"

Crystal shrugged. "Not there."

"I'm sure they're around," Gurkin stated, leaning back on the couch and crossing his arms behind his head.

"Well then, it's time to devise the next step in our plan."

---------------- -------------

"Yusuke!"

"Hey, Botan! What are you doing in this neighborhood?"

"I just picked up a couple souls," she replied. Kuwabara shuddered.

She floated on her oar in front of the boys, smiling at them. "I haven't seen you in awhile. What's happening?"

"Sensui, that's who's happening. Hiei told you guys about that, right?"

She grimaced. "Yes."

"We're patrolling. Nothing will get past the ever-vigilant eye of the Great Kuwabara Kazuma!"

"Riiiight."

"It's time to meet back up with the others by now, though," Yusuke said, looking at his watch.

"Oh, can I come? I want to say hi to everyone!"

"Of course you can! Since when have you needed an invitation?"

"Well. . . things are a little different now. Lord Enma still wants to kill you, and your team is sort of disbanded. . ."

Yusuke and Kuwabara immediately looked depressed, and Botan was sorry she'd answered. "But you've always ignored official rules," she added quickly. "Since when have you needed anyone's say-so to be Team Urameshi? You guys are a great team and great fighters, and Lord Enma can't change that!"

"That's right!" Kuwabara perked up. "We are the champions of Ningenkai! We shall protect our new friends from harm and help them get home! We shall defeat all our enemies!"

Yusuke grinned. Botan applauded. Then she looked confused. "Friends? What new friends?"

"Ah, you haven't heard the whole story. Well, we'll tell you as we go. . ."