Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Coming Clean ❯ Recovery ( Chapter 9 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: This story was written by me, mhmartini, for enjoyment purposes only. All characters taken from a show/series/book/etc. are property of their respective creators; I am only borrowing them. Original characters are mine. The storyline is mine. I am making no money from this endeavor. The only �profit� involved is the joy of writing and the reviews of my readers. No copyright infringement is intended.

Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 07.21.2004 | Updated On: 06.03.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Completed

The nurses brought Kurama's dinner in and set it on his bedside tray. The kitsune had absolutely no appetite, however. He lay back on his pillows, trying to ignore the pain all through his body. Hiei watched with concern as his best friend suffered. Finally, on the brink of desperation, he did something he had never done before. He asked for help.

Slipping into the bathroom adjacent to Kurama's room, he slid the ward off his Jagan. Using the third eye to amplify his own telepathic abilities, he called to Yukina. 'Yukina, can you hear me?' Yukina, being his sister, had her own telepathic abilities. Although they were far weaker than Hiei's, she immediately heard his call.

'It's Hiei,' he continued. 'Kurama is in really bad shape. I know you are unhappy with him right now, but please...as a favor to a friend, please come heal him.' Hiei heard no reply from the ice maiden. Giving up, he returned to sit by his poor fox.

In the garden by the temple, Yukina had heard every word of Hiei's thoughts. She was upset that the kitsune would hide her brother's identity from her, but she hated to see suffering. She had stopped Hiei from killing Tarukane, who had tortured her. If she could beg for that much mercy for one who deserved none, how could she allow her friend to suffer? Miserably, she considered her priorities.

She had many reasons to search for her brother, and the fox could give her no reasons why she should be kept from her goal. Then again, Kurama was far older and wiser than she considered herself, and he always had a reason for his actions. Confused, Yukina watched the birds hopping around, pecking the ground. "What should I do?" she whispered to no one in particular.

After they had finished eating, Shiori returned to the hospital to visit her son, and her husband returned home. His son Shuuichi-kun would be getting home from his friend's house soon, and the boy was a bit young to be left alone at night. When Shiori entered the room, she was very upset by the distress her son was in.

Hiei was sitting by his bedside, talking to him softly. The red head's pale face was covered in perspiration. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing with his mouth open. There were still several hours until he could be given more pain medicine, and the new nurse had made it clear that she was not one to bend the rules, even with the doctor's permission. On the verge of tears, Shiori sat beside the bed and tried to offer he son some comfort with her presence.

About thirty minutes later a small figure entered the room. She made her way to the bed, and appraised the boy within. Shiori looked at the visitor curiously. She had never seen this girl before. She was very petite and dressed very conservatively in a blue kimono. Something about her crimson eyes seemed quite familiar though. Before the bewildered woman could ask any questions, the girl reached out and placed her hands on Kurama's arm. Almost immediately the kitsune's breathing became deeper and more even. His tightened face relaxed. Tension seemed to drain from his whole body. He opened his eyes and looked at the apparition beside him.

"Yukina?" he asked, startled to see the ice maiden after their last conversation. Yukina looked him square in the face.

"I cannot let my friend suffer for my own, selfish reasons. I do not know why you refuse to reveal my brother to me, but I will trust that there is a reason. I respect your loyalty to him. Please, Kurama, respect my decision to continue my search. I will find him, with or without your help." Her voice was not cold; quite the contrary, it was warm and friendly. But beneath it was a tone that left no doubt that she would continue her quest with all her heart.

Kurama licked his lips and replied, "Thank you, Yukina. I am sorry. If I were able, I would tell you. But I cannot." Kurama did notice that the ice maiden had not healed him fully; he would still require quite a bit of time to regain his health completely, but the pain was gone now.

Shiori just watched this whole exchange, flabbergasted. She had no idea who this girl was, what her connection to Kurama was, or who this brother they were talking about could be. Not wanting to be rude, but desiring an explanation, she cleared her throat. Yukina looked up, startled. "Oh, excuse me! My name is Yukina." Shiori nodded.

"I am Shiori, Shuuichi's mother. You... healed him?"

"Not entirely, but I have taken away the pain, and he will recover much faster now." Shiori smiled in gratitude.

She realized that this tiny little girl must be a demon as well. Curious, she tried to phrase her questions so as not to offend anyone. "Thank you so very much. Um, what you were talking about before you... what were you just talking about? And if you don't mind my asking, what, um, type of apparition are you?"

Yukina smiled. "I am a koorime, an ice apparition. Before I was referring to my twin brother, actually my half brother. He was cast off our floating island when we were but a few days old. I have been searching for him for some time, but he chooses to hide himself from me. Kurama knows who he is, but will not tell me."

Kurama winced at this statement. Trying to get his mother to coax him to share this information was a low blow, and one he hardly expected from the demure girl beside him.

Shiori looked at Yukina questioningly. "Cast off your floating island? How? Why?"

Yukina continued to explain. "Our island floats many miles above the land of Makai. We are usually very isolated, and shun other demons. All Koorime are female, and reproduce without mates, and thus we keep our bloodlines pure, and ensure that all babies are born female. My mother, however, took a mate. That is how she had twins. While I am full blooded koorime, my brother is half koorime, only half ice demon."

"Half ice demon?" the older woman repeated. At this Shiori recalled Hiei's response to her questions in the hospital waiting room...

...."Then tell me something about yourself." The small hiyoukai was shocked by her persistence. He turned to look at her.

"I am half fire demon, half ice demon," he answered, and then fell silent...

At this recollection her eyes swiftly darted to Hiei. He had a wide-eyed look on his face, and seemed oblivious to everything but the story unfolding before him. Looking back at the ice maiden, Shiori nodded to her to continue her tale; Yukina had not noticed the glance. "When he was born male, he was immediately shunned by all of the Koorime. In their fear and hatred, they threw him off the side of the island to die on the ground far below. Somehow, he survived. And now I am looking for him."

Shiori also recalled Hiei's reaction in the elevator...

...Hiei gave a strangled cry and flung himself backwards against the corner, grabbing the support rails until his knuckles were white. Shiori, shocked by his reaction, reached out instinctively and gathered the demon into an embrace. "It's okay, Hiei, we're almost at the lobby," she murmured. Hiei sank to a sitting position on the floor, shaking. Shiori knelt with him, never letting go.

"Just like then... they threw me... I fell..." he muttered through ashen lips...

Shiori just looked at the demoness before her, and said, "Well, I wish you luck. Thank you for helping my son." Yukina nodded. With one last imploring look at Kurama, she turned and left the room.

After Yukina had departed, Kurama looked to his friend. "Hiei?" he asked hesitantly, not wanting to say anymore in front of his mother. Shiori had already deduced the truth, however.

"It's you, isn't it, Hiei?" she asked gently. Hiei turned his wide eyes to the human before him. With a start, Shiori realized why Yukina's eyes had seemed so familiar; they looked exactly like Hiei's.

Hiei wasn't sure why he wanted to admit his secret to this ningen before him, but he felt he could trust her. Silently he nodded his head.

"Why won't you tell her?" Shiori prompted gently

"Many reasons." Finding himself actually wanting to let out what he had been hiding, Hiei began to talk about a subject he had kept bottled up for as long as he could recall. "If I tell her, I will lose my Jagan, or would have if Shigure were still alive." At Shiori's completely confused expression, Hiei explained, "I was not born with a Jagan. I had this implanted specifically to aid my search for my sister. The surgeon who performed the procedure, Shigure, told me that if I ever told her who I am, he would reclaim the Jagan. I also do not wish to dishonor her."

"How could you do that?" Shiori asked.

"I have done many things to survive that she could not understand. I am tainted by my very birth, and my life has been tainted as well. She is pure, and does not need me to corrupt her life."

Shiori's heart almost broke when she heard this. Suddenly all the demon's coldness and abrasive attitude made perfect sense. "I think you should tell her," she said softly.

"Hn. That's what the fox keeps telling me." Hiei said in a tone that left no doubt that he would not tell his sister anything.

No sooner had this comment been uttered, than said fox decided it was time to change the subject. "Where is that tray they brought in? I'm starving," Kurama said. With a relieved smile, Shiori wheeled the bedside stand over and uncovered her son's dinner. The kitsune tore into his food with a voracious appetite.

As the evening progressed, Kurama's spirits rose, and he smiled more than he had since entering the hospital. The nurse was amazed when she came in to check on him. Since he was no longer uncomfortable, the doctor discontinued his pain medication.

Elsewhere, the rest of the spirit detective group made ready to go retrieve Botan in the morning. Yusuke sat on the floor in Keiko's bedroom. He dreaded having to tell her that he had to leave on yet another mission. In the past, he had always just gone. Now that their relationship had "progressed," he felt it was important to tell her. He also wanted to share it with her.

"Yusuke, what is it?" her voice interrupted his thoughts. "You said on the phone that it was important, but you've been sitting on my floor for ten minutes saying nothing."

Yusuke smiled as he looked at her. "I was just thinking," he started. Before she could ask any questions, he continued, "I have a new mission. I have to leave first thing in the morning, and I'm not sure how long this one will be."

Keiko stared at the boy in front of her for a few minutes before she asked, "Why are you telling me? You never told me before."

Yusuke drew a breath and put one hand behind his head, scratching his neck. "It seemed...right to tell you. You always got mad when I used to take off without a word, and that was before we..." Yusuke blushed, and averted his eyes. "Um, it just felt right to tell you, to share this with you."

Keiko smiled at the change that had come over Yusuke. Since their night in the cave together, he had called her regularly, usually just to say hello and see how she was. But even though he was much more attentive to her, some things would never change. His missions were among those things.

"Yusuke, I know you have to go, but please be careful." Recalling their meeting in the woods during the Dark Tournament, she added with a smile, "If you die, I swear, I'll kill you."

Yusuke smiled up at her. "Okay, it's a deal," he said, rising from the floor to sit beside her on the bed. "When did you say your parents were getting home?" he asked provocatively.

"Not until at least midnight," she replied, in an equally seductive tone, leaning towards him. As their lips met, Keiko pushed Yusuke backwards onto the bed. Yusuke yielded to her, thinking to himself how ironic this was. He had faced demons and monsters so powerful and frightening that most humans would go insane from the terror. To each of these he stood tall, never bending, always winning. Yet here, with her, the one person he trusted the most, he was like a bowl of Jell-O. All these thoughts fled his mind when he felt soft hands work their way under his shirt.

In his room, Kuwabara was laying out his clothing for the next day and preparing to go to sleep. "Going to bed already? It's not like Mom and Dad are here to make you mind your bedtime, Baby Bro," a voice came from the doorway, accompanied by a puff of smoke.

"We're going to get Botan tomorrow, Sis, and I want to be ready. And how many times have I asked you not to do that in my room! If you want to kill yourself in the rest of the house, that's fine. But leave the air in my room clean!" the tall boy responded, fanning the air to dissipate the cloud Shizuru and her cigarette had brought.

"Sheesh, some people are so touchy! I guess you're more scared than even I gave you credit for," she jibed.

"I am not scared! No second rate, dishonorable, spineless, coward of a demon stands a chance against the mighty Kazuma Kuwabara!"

Shizuru's derisive looked changed to one of sisterly concern, one that was very rarely seen on the brunette. "Look, Kazuma, really, be careful tomorrow. These demons he has working for him are pretty freaky. They don't feel right. It's like they're actually very tiny and insignificant, but something has pumped them up, making them much stronger and much more dangerous than they ever could be on their own. Don't go and die on me." With this brief show of concern, the elder Kuwabara sibling left her brother to continue his preparations.

In the hospital, the pleasant nurse with the hot chocolate was back on shift that night. She was very happy to see Kurama was feeling so much better. When visiting hours ended, she allowed Shiori and Hiei to stay with the red head. After all, the doctor had said that the patient was not to be left alone. Shiori fell asleep relatively early in the evening, curled into a ball on her chair. The demons, however, were wide-awake.

"You need to rest, Fox," Hiei said softly.

"I've done nothing but sleep for days now! I want to stay awake. I'm bored, though," Kurama answered. Hiei shifted from his chair to sit on the bed next to his kitsune. Kurama smiled, as he leaned his head to the side, and rested it gently on Hiei's shoulder. "I hope they'll release me soon. I want to go home," he said softly.

Hiei turned to look his fox in the face. Feeling the smaller demon shift, Kurama looked up at Hiei. These movements brought their faces within an inch of each other. Kurama could feel Hiei's breath on his face. Falling into the crimson eyes of his beloved, the rest of the world seemed to fade away. Entranced, he could not move.

Hiei looked into Kurama's deep green eyes, trying to determine exactly what he found there. Many people felt Kurama's eyes were very expressive, betraying his emotions to those around him. Hiei knew better. The fox's eyes WERE expressive, expressing exactly what the clever kitsune wished to display. Those same warm eyes could also become cold as ice, revealing the murderous side of the demon within. Kurama was too crafty and wise to allow anything to betray him.

Tonight, all Hiei saw in the green depths was an openness. Although not as old and experienced as Kurama, Hiei's telepathic abilities sensed that the fox was open and unguarded with him. This trust was a great relief to the small demon, who was used to being feared and reviled. After a moment, Hiei leaned forward and softly pressed his lips to Kurama's.

Upon contact, the kitsune was freed from his immobility, and pressed back. Taking control, Kurama slid his tongue against Hiei's closed lips, silently asking permission to enter. Hiei, completely inexperienced in any form of intimate physical contact, had no idea what the crazy red head was doing. Luckily, the wet tongue startled the fire demon enough that his lips parted slightly. Kurama quickly deepened their kiss.

Caught off guard, Hiei's immediate reaction was to pull back, but only slightly, not enough to break the kiss. Kurama felt Hiei tense and move back, and quickly stopped his progression. After a few seconds, the fire demon realized that he had enjoyed the brief encounter, and pressed forward harder, asking for more. The hiyoukai was a fast learner, and caught on quickly. Eagerly, the two began to explore this new aspect of their contact, wrapping their arms (or in Kurama's case, his unbandaged arm) around each other.

As the night grew deeper, Hiei finally put and end to their oral tryst. "Fox," he began breathily. "You need to rest now."

Kurama smiled at Hiei seductively. "I..." kiss "...don't... kiss "...want..." kiss "...to." As Kurama leaned in to punctuate his sentence with another kiss, Hiei leaned back.

"Fox, I'm serious. You need to rest so you can recover." Hiei leaned slowly in towards Kurama's lips. Kurama tilted his head, anticipating the contact. As he was about to touch the kitsune's lips, Hiei whispered, "I mean it." and got up off the bed, leaving behind a very disappointed red head. Resuming his seat in the chair, the fire demon smirked at the pouting youko before him.

"Fine," Kurama said. He shifted in his bed slightly, so he was facing somewhat away from the fire demon (he couldn't turn completely, due to the bulky bandages on his chest and arm) and laid his head into his pillow with an exaggerated sigh.

Despite his protestations, Kurama really was tired. Wanting to prove Hiei wrong, he fought sleep. He felt a hand begin gently stroking his hair. The soft, repetitive touch lulled him into a light sleep which quickly deepened, and lasted through the night. Hiei smiled at Kurama's back as he reached out to touch the thick red hair. Stroking lightly, he watched as the fox's breathing became more relaxed, and finally settled into a deep, even pattern. He continued to pet Kurama's hair all night, enjoying any contact he could have with his beloved.

Mr. and Mrs. Yukimura returned home close to two in the morning. Cleaning their restaurant, and taking inventory, and preparing the food order for the next day had taken considerably longer than usual. On her way to their bedroom, Mrs. Yukimura was surprised to see a sliver of light shining out from under her daughter's door. Silently she opened to door to extinguish the lamp, but stopped short at what she saw within.

Keiko was sleeping in her bed. Her bare back was exposed to the door. The covers draped low across her bare hips. The sheet had slid up from the bottom of the bed, leaving her bare legs exposed from the mid-thigh down, clearly entwined with another pair of bare legs. Keiko's head and arm rested on a bare chest next to her, a chest that was attached to none other than a sleeping Yusuke Urameshi.

Mr. Yukimura was on his way to their bedroom, when he saw his wife standing, frozen in the hallway, staring into their daughter's bedroom. Coming up behind her, he looked over her shoulder. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?" split the calm quiet of the night.