Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Par Tout Autre Nom ❯ Safety in Solitude ( Chapter 14 )

Disclaimers: Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho belong respectively to Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi.

A/N: -chuckle- Ah yes, the question I should have expected… the unfamiliar spellings. Sorry, but I'm generally a bit of an anime/manga purist, and the Americanization of little unnecessary things tends to annoy me. Original manga hiragana translates to the romanji that I use, but given the difficulty our language has of properly pronouncing various sounds, names and words get butchered when they're retranslated. Personally, I like the sound of things the way they were at first cut, so… -shrugs- I know it's kinda silly, but it's an old habit I can't shake after all those classes. -giggling- Blame it on Yamada-sensei. ^__~ As for the plot questions, you don't really think I'll give up any spoilers, do you? Can't be adequately evil if I settle out nerves before it reaches that point of the story.

And as ever, I have to thank you all for your reviews. I'm a bit floored that I've been getting so many responses telling me how much they love my story. -blushes and giggles- I have at least three addicts and Sylvannastar sent me the most beautiful email with a surprise! And I wonder if I should be silly and give Gravidy something special for being number 100… -uber glomps all around- It's…all very unexpected, but thank you so much. I really do adore you all.

~*~*~*~

By Any Other Name

~Safety in Solitude~

The ride home was as uneventful as one would expect considering Shippou had refused to ride back with Shinju, instead piling into the already cramped backseat of Sesshoumaru's car. He spent most of the lengthy ride half on top of Kagome while the silent taiyoukai kept one arm loosely around her waist even though his full attention seemed focused on his open laptop. Souta had watched over his sister as unobtrusively as possible from his own place flattened against the door, unable to restrain his amusement at the… enthusiasm the kitsune was showing in her company.

Sesshoumaru had forcefully calmed him down once, managing to look just as domineering and coldly sophisticated in his human guise as he had when Souta had first seen him last night. He never raised his voice, never cracked that stoic expression for more than a split second at a time when he was highly amused by something Souta had done.

More than once he'd found himself looking back and laughing at his childish idea that Inuyasha was the most impressive creature that existed in modern Japan, that particular thought having fallen out of his head the moment he'd entered the study to find this youkai looming against the open shoji. Not that he thought any less of his longtime idol, he just had a much healthier respect for the hanyou's imposing older brother.

It was strange to see him without the distinct markings, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes as he watched Kagome slide her fingers through the midnight black hair with a mournful expression. She really does have an unhealthy obsession with his hair, Souta turned to look out the window as they pulled up the drive that would lead them to the living quarters behind Shinju's temple.

Still running just as hyper as Kagome remembered, Shippou was the first one bounding out when the car stopped, crawling over Souta to do it and making a big show of taking in a deep breath of air, "Ah… Nothing like the feel of that weird holy tingle first thing in the morning."

He'd barely started to turn back towards his fellow riders when a shakujou almost identical to Miroku's came down on top of his head, making him yip like a wounded puppy for a moment while Kaze sighed and ordered impassively, "Be more respectful, Shippou."

"Why did you have to turn out boring and serious?" he lamented, rubbing his head and making his eyes as bit and liquid as possible while the others exited the two cars at a more leisurely pace.

"You and Shinju have turned out silly enough for the entire family," Kaze snorted, walking past him and reaching into the car after Souta scrambled out. "There must be balance in the universe somewhere or Okaa-sama's head would explode."

"She dealt with more than this for a lot longer and she turned out fine," Shippou protested when Sesshoumaru handed her out to the waiting hands to be steadied before he could emerge to handle it himself.

"Comparatively speaking," Kaze's violet eyes sparked with wicked amusement while his expression stayed perfectly bland.

"Check the grounds, Takashima," Sesshoumaru interrupted when he saw the kitsune open his mouth to start an argument. "Make sure that nothing has tried to get in while we have been occupied elsewhere."

Shippou set his jaw, but deflated and nodded obediently, "Yes, sir."

Kaze chuckled when the kitsune stomped off, reaching out to grip Souta's forearm and pull him towards the temple, "Sesshoumaru-sama would like a moment alone."

Souta watched with a blank sort of confusion as Shinju and Ankoji bowed, the latter embracing Kagome tightly before treating him to the same and getting back into the car with Jaken. Shinju murmured something quietly that earned him a smack over the head through the open window, chuckling and humming to himself as he trailed behind his cousin and uncle.

Sesshoumaru waited until Shinju pulled the shoji closed behind them, Jaken starting the car and driving a few feet away until they were standing in relative solitude, "Do not fool yourself into believing you are completely restored after a single night."

Kagome ran her fingers back through her hair in nervous gesture, nodding in agreement, "I know."

His eyes slanted up to the screen when he saw it slide open just enough for Souta to peek through, expression anxious and concerned, sighing as he took a step closer to her until she had to crane her neck to look up at him, "You will teach your brother that I am the only creature you are allowed to stay with privately. My patience for unnecessary spying is even less now than it was in the past."

"I warned you that he has a complex," Kagome offered with a hint of sadness creeping into her eyes. "He's afraid I'll disappear."

Souta's hand tightened when that hopelessly beautiful "human" who made his sister smile so dazzlingly again cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up before bending to press a kiss to her forehead. Inuyasha's half-brother…the head of their- of our family, he corrected his thoughts in a hurry as he recalled the implacable instructions he'd received on his first meeting with Sesshoumaru.

Never in his life had he known a creature as direct as the taiyoukai, glancing at the kitsune walking slowly into his range of vision, along the edge of the temple grounds and every so often sparking with unnatural blue flame. Shippou turned when he felt eyes on him, grinning wide enough that Souta could practically see all his teeth, and waving for a moment while her little brother mulled over just what his sister had gotten herself into.

*"I see her in you," Sesshoumaru's eyes never blinked, expression never changed, and Souta squirmed where he sat across from the unfamiliar faces. "I thought the two of you looked dissimilar to each other?"

"I… grew into it," Souta offered, unsure about why that comment seemed to demand an answer from him. "Our hair gets darker when we get older," he felt like an idiot saying something so mundane, but he didn't know what else to do to fill the awkward silence, glancing at Shinju for support. "We both took after our father."

He leaned back, eyes wide in alarm at the smile that ghosted across the youkai's features before he informed him, "I am aware of this, boy, just as I am aware of everything that involves my family."

"What does our family have to do with yours?" he asked in genuine confusion.

Shinju's hand squeezed his uncle's shoulder, watching Shippou grin and Sesshoumaru reach up to touch that symbol again before the taiyoukai answered, "The Higurashi family has belonged to this Sesshoumaru since the miko swore her allegiance in Sengoku Jidai. Such promises are not made lightly… or will you refuse to honor the oath of your family…?"*

Souta looked over at Kagome again, still amazed that she behaved so casually and affectionately to a man who barely spoke beyond passing out his orders with all the arrogance of a damiyo, or even an emperor. Yet, no matter what Sesshoumaru said or did, his sister stayed perfectly unaffected by his frigid moods. On the contrary, she was practically glowing with health after the night she'd spent gods only knew where inside the formidable house with only him for company.

Maybe that's what annoys me…Souta blew out a sigh, sticking his tongue out at Shippou when he noticed the knowing look on his face. Not twenty-four hours and she's sparkling more than anything I managed in a year, and he seems to be a complete asshole. Why is it always the bad tempered ones that make her so comfortable?

"This a temporary reprieve only, miko," Sesshoumaru was informing her in that same `question me and die' tone Souta had had more than enough of already, purposefully speaking loud enough for his voice to carry. "If my schedule for the week was not already so chaotic, I would not be allowing you to got back to your duties in this human temple yet."

"I'm not going to dissolve just because you can't see me," Kagome rolled her eyes, rising up on tiptoe to be able to reach high enough to brush that silky hair out of his face, letting her fingertip trace the shape of his hidden crescent once before she lowered herself back down. "I haven't gotten attacked in almost two years. Look at me, Sesshoumaru-sama, I'm all shiny and glowing!"

"You are not `glowing' enough, and you are entirely too thin," he informed her haughtily, but didn't more away from her lingering touch. He lapsed into silence, but his eyes locked onto her own, speaking the warning to her soul that he didn't voice out of respect for their ignorant audience, Do not take such foolish chances with your powers again.

Kagome slanted her eyes guiltily away from his face to think how to word her answer before she turned back to him and slid her arms around his waist to muffle her whispered promise from human ears, "I promised that it wouldn't happen, Sesshoumaru-sama, and I don't give my word lightly. I'll be fine until you can come for me again."

"You will not enjoy the punishment such disobedience would earn you," Sesshoumaru rested a hand on her hip, lightly pressing a claw over where he knew her worst scar remained. "Takashima and Kaze have asked to stay for a time, and I have decided to allow it until their professions require attention. Do not make them call me, miko."

Her lips kicked up, squeezing him tight before she leaned back to look up into his eyes, picking up the warmth that was so well hidden behind his expert mask, "I'll call you first if anything happens."

Sesshoumaru gave her a single nod, his claws trailing on her skin below the hem of her shirt where no one could see and bending down to whisper in her ear, "Kaze is just as lonely as Shinju, Kagome, and strangely enough, just as alone in his own mind. Handle it."

Kagome's eyebrows kicked up at the command, slanting a look back towards the temple for a short moment of contemplation before she spoke back just as softly, "He's from Kyuuei, isn't he?"

"Handle it," he repeated, pressing a claw to the back of her neck until her eyes slipped closed, watching the tension melt out of her muscles with satisfaction. "He has your pride."

"What a nice way of telling me this is going to give me a migraine," Kagome muttered with a faint edge of irritation.

"You elected to mingle your blood with the monk of your own free will, miko," Sesshoumaru reminded her. "Do not complain now that you find yourself responsible for your current offspring."

"I love you too."

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow kicked up in that terribly arrogant motion yet again, straightening his spine while she reached up to straighten the simple violet tie as though she'd done such a thing a million times before, "So long as your adoration remains in the appropriate direction."

"You and Inuyasha could have warned me that inus were the most jealous youkai to ever exist," Kagome brushed her hands over his suit, straightening nonexistent wrinkles and helplessly admiring even this appearance. "His behavior would have made more sense to me if someone had seen fit to teach me all these annoying little bits."

Sesshoumaru snorted quietly, "You could have seen fit to ask."

"Turn around so I can braid your hair," she ignored that remark, waiting for him to do as she `asked' and present his back to her, separating the impossibly soft strands and weaving it in and out expertly. "And you know what I meant."

"Indeed."

"You're obviously feeling particularly full of yourself this morning," Kagome held the end of the thick braid with one hand and reached up to pull out a strand of her own hair, looping it around the chosen spot several times before tying it into a knot.

"My most disruptive loose end has been located and returned to the family," Sesshoumaru turned again when she tossed the braid over his shoulder, giving her a questioning look when he noticed just what she'd used to secure it.

"You never know," she shrugged to play it off, sighing and looking back over the peace of the deceptively large courtyard. "You have work, don't you?"

"My, my… one would think you believed you could brush this Sesshoumaru off with such a redirection," he taunted lightly, but dipped his head in a single nod. "However, you are correct. I have my duties and you have your own."

"What do you want me to teach them?" Kagome followed his gaze to Shippou and around to where they both knew Souta was trying to pretend he wasn't eavesdropping.

"History, miko," Sesshoumaru turned an amused look down on her, violet eyes flashing gold before they settled back to the darker shade. "Teach them with a participant's voice instead of a words from a paper… I will not accept any of mine to be unprepared for the threats that are sure to rise with your reappearance."

Kagome nodded, reaching over to squeeze his hand more for her own comfort than any indication he needed the touch, "I understand."

"One last thing."

Kagome blinked, brows arching in silent inquiry as she met his eyes and waited.

"Do not agree to bare any more children simply because your soul is mistuned to respond favorably to that distasteful question," Sesshoumaru pressed a finger to the hollow of her throat, waiting for that command to click in her mind and flood her cheeks with color before he turned and walked away.

~*~*~*~

`Sorry, we were in China… remember?' Youko shrugged when Kurama turned the question inward, eyeing the papers spread out on the floor of Yuusuke's guest room. `There were some interesting rumors for things and-`

"I wasn't in Japan to say how much of this is fact or fiction," Kurama tuned out the long dissertation of the thefts that had followed Youko's vacation to the continent, frowning up at Hiei as the hybrid paced back and forth with a frown. "I always thought it was a little too over the top to believe."

"One little trinket that grants absolute power," Yuusuke scoffed in disgust at the idea, resting his back against the wall and randomly picking up a page to scan the contents. "Definitely myth material."

"But what does it have to do with what's happening now?" Kurama voiced the question for Hiei, knowing he wanted badly to rant and restraining himself for his pride given their present company. "It's from Feudal Japan, how would it reflect on the present?"

"Assuming it's actually more than the ramblings of a scared human trying to explain a high-level youkai," Hiei muttered irritably, perching himself on the windowsill before he gave into the urge to start crawling around on the floor just like Yuusuke and Kurama in his search for explanations.

`Legitimate concern,' Youko pointed out. `Humans in that time were paranoid and prone to embellishing things they couldn't explain or kill. The best stories bring the best audiences, after all.'

"This says it's an `accounting from the monk present at the vanishing of the jewel,'" Yuusuke sighed and set the page aside to reach for another and keep reading. "Why is all this worded so strangely?"

"To discourage idiots from reading more than the first few pages," Hiei observed under his breath, well aware they could still hear him and inwardly snickering when Yuusuke started to get up only to be restrained by the impatient kitsune.

"Either it's just a harmless story or Hiei's right and it's purposefully written to look harmless," Kurama turned a glare over his shoulder. "This whole thing is in pieces, and that usually means there's something important that we need to find to have it start making sense. But we're not going to find it if you two stop every five minutes to fight because you're getting frustrated!"

In other words, if we won't let you leave to hunt down your `lover,' you aren't going to let us entertain ourselves by going a few rounds? Hiei inserted dryly.

Damn straight, Kurama absently flipped his hair back over his shoulder in a graceful motion.

Being horny is not an excuse to make us muck through this alone, Hiei sighed and turned to look out the window, willing that damn car to pass by again so he could follow it and take a more direct path to getting an explanation.

`If we weren't here, it wouldn't get done,' Youko snorted, bored to death and fidgeting impatiently at the thought of his poor lover in the hands of some unknown dog, being forced to submit to-

That's kinky even for you, Hiei interrupted the new line of mental images, trying unsuccessfully to restrain his laughter. Although now that I think of it, I should have pegged you for the bondage type from the start… plant vines and whips, you know.

`We're concerned for our lover!' Youko protested heatedly, a growl rising in his throat at the gleam in the hybrid's eyes. `Dogs are known for their obsession with domination!'

There wasn't a dog in that particular fantasy, Hiei's lips quirked just enough for Kurama to see it. That was all organic bondage and a silver kitsune spirit.

Youko gave every impression that if his nose turned up any higher, he would have fallen over backwards, `What's the point in using unfeeling materials when you're enjoying your lovers? Besides, I have control of them that way and I can make them looser or move or-'

And dogs are obsessed with domination? Hiei folded his arms behind his head and full out grinned, not even bothered by the suspicious look that crossed Yuusuke at the uncommon expression.

`You're getting a taste of the "organic bondage" if you don't shut up,' Youko pushed at the edges of Kurama's mind in annoyance, dying to smack their friend over the head for being so amused at his expense.

I think I'll kiss her if she's the conservative type, Hiei had to turn his face aside before he actually started laughing at the way Kurama's expression had set into a determined, bland expression. She'll be my new favorite person if she makes your sex life miserable.

`We're going to kill him,' Youko's eyebrow twitched.

Eventually, Kurama agreed, shooting him one more black scowl before purposefully turning back to focus on the legend and the loose pages with miko history. "I'm more curious as to why Koenma's sudden interest in miko lore," he turned the topic down a more serious path.

Hiei sighed and let his attention return to the less amusing problem, "The bloodlines were supposed to have thinned down over time, supposedly not enough to even register to Rekai's instruments."

`Nothing like the old days,' Youko let out a low whistle, bring their memories of random encounters to the surface to refresh Kurama's experience. `They were dangerous to be close to… and most of them were so mean, even when I was the most handsome thing they'd ever seen.'

You were still a youkai, Hiei reminded him. Miko and youkai do not mix.

It's probably not even an issue anymore, Kurama sighed and reached up to rub his temples to try and dispel his growing headache. Since there are so few who believe in youkai, and even less who think of miko the way they were revered before the barriers.

"It can't be a coincidence that he sent us out to find that freak at the same time he's reading up on this legend and mikos," Yuusuke repeated the thought beating around in all their heads, his voice slightly rough with his aggravation at not being able to pinpoint just what connected the one act with the other. "Nothing in here talks about Musou-"

"What about Naraku?" Hiei turned his head reaching up to push his chin until he felt the satisfying pop and the stiffness leaving his neck. "Koenma said he was a by-product of that youkai-" That bastard… he avoided our questions by answering us in ways that would get us asking different ones.

He's gotten sneakier, Kurama agreed, watching Yuusuke's eyes move over the page and stop.

"Here… it says Naraku used corrupted shards of- shards?" he started looking around at the other pages. "I thought it was only one jewel."

"Worry about that later," Kurama held up a hand to stop him, pointing back at the page. "What else does it say?"

Yuusuke swore but nodded and found his place again before he did his best to summarize the odd writing, "He took on illusions to kill the miko responsible for purifying and destroying the jewel."

Mikos again, Hiei's eyes narrowed. They seem to play a large role in the legend of the Shikon-no-Tama.

`Especially for a youkai artifact,' Youko agreed, listening to Yuusuke's reading to pick out the important pieces and file them away. `Damn… now I wish I hadn't been busy. Or that Hiei wasn't so young.'

Hiei nearly choked, making sure Yuusuke was occupied before he turned to scowl at him, You asshole! Don't make me sound like a child!

Well, it was before your time, wasn't it? Kurama gave him his best innocent expression, completely ruined by the wicked glint in his eyes. Youko was already at least a hundred…

"Holy shit…" Yuusuke's whisper had them instantly forgetting what had promised to be a particularly nasty battle of insults, leaning forward to look over his shoulder and try to find what had stopped him so completely. "It's like… déjà vu," he pointed to the spot. "Naraku was obsessed with `tainting' the miko's purity."

Just like Musou and his ideas of touching Midoriko, Hiei shook his head, taking up a new perch on the bed beside Yuusuke's head to read along.

"If Koenma wasn't being so close-mouthed about the whole goddamned thing we'd probably-" Yuusuke cut himself off, pushing away from the wall abruptly and brows snapping down in a scowl as he stared down in disbelief at what he'd just found, "Oh…"

Hiei perked up, twisting to pin him with a hard glare, "Oh?"

Yuusuke held the page out when Hiei and Kurama leaned forward to stare at it as well, pointing down at the bottom where he'd read the next piece of disturbing information, "The legend says Midoriko's the one who created it, from her own soul."

Musou came from Naraku… both obsessed with mikos who were directly connected to the Shikon-no-Tama, Kurama ground his teeth together as the pieces refused to make themselves fit into a smooth picture. Suddenly Koenma is being secretive and researching the jewel and mikos.

They recorded a flash of energy that felt like Midoriko, Hiei added and sat back. "Something from this legend has appeared in our time."

"If he's trying to keep anyone youkai out of it, it sounds like the jewel thing," Yuusuke pointed out, tossing the pages down when the rest proved to be just random bits of information. "But doesn't that mean they know if it really exists and works the way the legend says?"

"Maybe," Kurama tilted his head to think it over. "It might just be that they're suspicious and don't want to risk it if the Shikon-no-Tama is real and does enhance youkai powers."

"Koenma is a paranoid little prick," Yuusuke agreed and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the uncomfortable kink. "Definitely the type to panic and over-react if he thought there could be any truth in a legend like this."

"And afraid to let us look since we're youkai," Kurama nodded. This is giving me a headache.

"So we're still no closer to figuring out exactly what's going on," Yuusuke ground the heels of his hands against his eyes for a moment before he stood up. "Except for knowing what legend he's freaking out about now."

"Where are you going?" Hiei's eyebrows rose when Yuusuke turned and opened the door to leave.

"I'm gonna call Keiko," he glanced back at them, keeping his voice low in favor of his napping sons. "I gave her those pictures a couple days ago… I think I'll ask her to keep an eye out while we do some more digging."

Youko was suddenly completely focused on their mostly human leader, "You're going to ask Keiko to keep an eye out for the girl in the pictures?"

"Why not?" Yuusuke shrugged. "It can't hurt to have one more set of eyes watching for her, and she's not really the blending in type of person."

Unless you're going by auras, Hiei added sourly.

"I'd ask Kurabara too, but he left me a message that Takeharuka is calling all the department heads in town in for a big meeting and he'll be unavailable for a while," he informed them, watching as they predictably frowned in unison, thoughts and suspicions whirling in their eyes. "Look, I don't like it either, but let's start with trying to find this girl they kidnapped. She can probably answer more of our questions about him."

`After we've made the baby,' Youko whispered to Kurama, affecting an innocent air when he stiffened. `If Keiko finds her, we have to remember to dig something out of our collection to give her for her birthday.'

Agreed, Kurama shifted slightly, his gaze sharp and coldly calculating as he watched Yuusuke close the door and dig out his cell phone.

Hiei's sigh dragged his attention away from trying to hear when was being said and back around to the pages the hybrid was sorting through, "Mikos and a stupid bauble they pretend can make any youkai a god."

"You're not even a little bit curious?" Kurama blinked and settled Youko down absently, promising him they would get out and start looking for her trail as soon as they'd finished with the matter of the legend. "Maybe it's true. Maybe it really was a stupid bauble that made this Naraku person so powerful, and maybe it was all a miko's fault."
"And maybe a monk got hungry and made up a bullshit story so idiot humans would give him food to keep telling it," Hiei returned, drumming his fingers on the bed as he tried to read between the lines of the legend. "There's no reason for a miko to create something so dangerous, or so specifically designed to enhance a youkai. They were our enemies."

"Everyone seems to have one or two in their lines who likes to break the rules," Kurama reached back into his hair to pull out his favorite rose, puzzling over the disjointed information while he idly toyed with the stem. "This miko might have liked our kind more than her own."

`Who could blame her? Mikos were so cocky,' Youko huffed out his own opinion. `Only have sex with humans… how boring is that?'

Hiei was staring at Kurama in disbelief, "You propositioned a miko?"

"We were curious," Youko's voice overlapped Kurama's when he spoke, eyes flashing gold before they settled back to green. "Supposedly it's a holy experience, brings one closer to the gods or something."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard," Hiei rolled his eyes.

`It's true! All the humans in older times would kill for the chance to participate in those rituals,' Youko seethed at having his word questioned. `Humans still have records of them now, they just don't practice them.'

Breaks your heart, doesn't it? Hiei snorted.

`What I feel when I think of that comes from a bit lower, Hiei,' Youko curved their lips up in a wicked grin that only widened when the hybrid made a face.

There are times that it pains me to think of the way your empty kitsune head works when I recall the stories of your exploits, Hiei scanned back to the part about Midoriko creating the jewel at the sacrifice of her own life.

`I don't have to be boring to be the best,' Youko preened, not put off in the slightest at knowing both Kurama and Hiei were trying to ignore him. `I know how to enjoy my downtime.'

It'll be a damn miracle if this girl doesn't strangle you with a pillowcase in an hour, Hiei predicted in a bland tone, frowning at the lack of names for the miko in the time frame with the Naraku creature. And that's only if you can get her away from `Big Dog.'

Kurama's eyes darkened at the suggestion, all signs of relaxation gone as he sat up and let the growl vibrate in his throat, "When, Hiei, not if."

"Keiko!!" Yuusuke's shout snapped them out of their staring contest, turning their attention to the closed door and barely noticing they rose to their feet when he continued. "Don't hang-! DAMMIT!"

This can't be good news, Hiei stepped forward to find out where that yell had come from and why, glancing back to make sure Kurama had closed the door on their ill-gotten goods.

Shouting out his wife's name in that tone of voice immediately after he told us he was going to tell her to look for my lover? Kurama let out a snort of laughter that had little to do with amusement. Your powers of intuition must be getting better with age.

Keep that up, Kurama, and I'll take out an advertisement in a newspaper under the alternative lifestyles, Hiei gave out that threat casually.

`I always suspected he was reading those…'

What better way to understand the mind of a kitsune? he shot back over his shoulder, smirking as his eyes gleamed in the dim hallway. I had to find something that could compete with your particular level of perversity.

`That's just impolite,' Youko's eyes narrowed.

I'll say- Kurama opened his mouth to respond when Youko interrupted again.

`No human could possibly compete with my level of perversity,' he sounded mortally offended by the very thought such a thing were possible, and Hiei was instantly snickering at the way Kurama's cheeks went visibly red.

"I hate you both," Kurama growled and stalked past the amused hybrid tagging along behind him, wishing at the moment that he could escape the kitsune in his mind the same way.