Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Slight Problem ❯ Long Night pt. 1 ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Okay, here's chapter thirteen!!
I own nothing but my own characters, Natalie and Lisa.




With Kurama's help, Lisa had managed to finish putting away her clothes. She only had a couple of formal clothes that she had hung up in the closet (she didn't didn't think she'd ever wind up wearing them, but you never really could tell). Kurama then helped her pick up her room some since Kuwabara and Shizuru, although they weren't as bad as Atsuko, weren't exactly the best housekeepers in the world.
Lisa's room was rather sparse. All there was was a bed and a small dresser with a mirror. Once the kitsune and herself were satisfied with the cleanliness of her room, Kurama smiled at her.
“Well, I would stay, but I should head back to my apartment now. I haven't had a chance to call my mother since I've been in Rekai for the past few days.”
She smiled at him. “That's okay. I can handle things now. But thank you for everything that you've done for me these past few days,” she said, turning a little red as she rubbed the back of her head. “I would have been an absolute wreck without you.”
Kurama continued to smile at her and, sweeping his hand through his hair, he brought forth a seed. Using his power, he revealed that it was the seed of a red rose. He briefly smelled it delicately, and handed it to her. “A little something to help brighten up your room. And the pleasure was mine, there is no need to thank me. You are quite good company, actually.” His smile turned into a slight smirk when the girl before him turned bright red.
She's just adorable, Red, Youko purred. I would love to see just how far down that blush of hers can go.
Although Kurama silently had to agree, he said nothing. He gave Lisa a small bow, and turned to leave her room, saying a brief goodbye to Kuwabara and Shizuru as he left their home.

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Natalie was back in her room, flipping through a mystery novel that she had found on one of the shelves in the living room. Yusuke was currently on the phone talking quietly with Keiko. He hung up and stepped into the girls room, giving her a smile.
“Hey, Keiko asked me to come down to her family's restaurant and have some lunch with her. You wanna come?”
She considered. “Maybe I could visit for a little bit, but I think she wants to spend some one on one time with you. You did just get back from a mission after all. I'll just stay long enough to explain a few more things to her, and then I'll go exploring.”
Yusuke shrugged. “Sure. Let's head out before Mom goes on another one of her escapades.”
Natalie cast a glance at Atsuko, who was already chugging back her booze and had a goofy grin on her face. Deciding she didn't really want to see what she had in mind for tonight, she nodded and got up to follow the Spirit Detective.
They reached the restaurant in about twenty minutes, the two of them having light conversation on the way. Yusuke made sure to point out all of his and Kuwabara's favorite hang outs... especially the arcades.
When they got there, they saw Keiko sitting at one of the tables, nursing a soda. Her mother and father were behind the counter, getting ready to close up for the day.
Mr. Yukimura looked up with a smile. “Well, hello, Yusuke! It's been a while!” His smile faltered a little when he saw the unfamiliar girl walk in behind him. “Who's your friend?”
Yusuke smiled broadly. “Hey there, Mr. Yukimura! This is Natalie. She just moved into town with a friend of hers but because of some... unforeseeable circumstances, the two of them are homeless for now.. Mom offered to let her stay at our place. Don't worry, there's nothin' happening between the two of us,” he said, wanting to put Keiko's dad's mind at rest before he could think to accuse the boy of cheating on his daughter.
Keiko got up with a smile that faltered only slightly when she saw Yusuke had brought Natalie with him. “Hi Yusuke! Hi Natalie!”
The young witch smiled at Keiko. “Hi! Nice to see you again! Don't worry, I'm just going to visit for a few minutes, and then I'm off. I'm not really eager to see how bad Atsuko can be when she gets going.”
The girl seemed to be a little relieved to hear this, wanting to spend some time alone with her fiance. She smiled at the two of them pleasantly and motioned for them to sit down. Mr. Yukimura came up to them a moment later, holding three bowls of noodles. The three of them immediately started to munch down and engaged in a few moments of small talk until the parents went into the back of the shop to do up the dishes.
Keiko looked at Natalie. “So... how exactly does that dimensional travel stuff work, anyway? I mean... how is it possible that I'm portrayed as a cartoon character in your world?”
Natalie grinned and nodded, carefully explaining to Keiko about all the different realms and how her astral projection worked. She also explained exactly why she and her friend were now stuck here in their realm. Yusuke listened just as raptly as Keiko did. Even though he had heard the explanation before, sometimes he needed to hear something twice to make sure he understood it fully.
Keiko blinked when she was done. “So... the shows that we watch on TV now in OUR world also have a dimension all on their own?”
Natalie nodded with a grin on her face. “Yup, that's right. You can gain access to them through astral projection, though if I ever decide to use that technique to dimensionally travel again, I'll make damn sure to check the Akashic first.”
The girl seemed to be deep in thought for a moment and then she shuddered. “Oh, Kami... that's actually rather scary...”
Natalie blinked and looked at her. “Scary how?”
The girl blushed a little and rubbed the back of her head. “Well, it might seem silly to you, but... I was just thinking of some of the children's shows that we have in this world. For instance, there's this one in our world called Teletubbies...” (AN: I don't own it and don't WANT to own it!!!)
The witch immediately roared with laughter. “Oh my GOD!! You have that show here too?!” Natalie briefly imagined astral projecting to that world and winding up trapped there and let out a horrified shudder. Then she blinked and started to giggle. “Okay, I have to ask... Do you guys have a show called Southpark in this dimension?” (AN: Do not own!)
Yusuke immediately grinned broadly. “'Oh my God! They killed Kenny!' 'You bastards!'” He cracked up.
“What's really scary is that me and Lisa might exist in that realm somewhere, with those beady little eyes and those floppy heads...”
Keiko looked at her in surprise. “You're Canadians?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yup. We're Canucks.” Then she quickly finished off her noodles and got up. “Well, I'm going to explore the neighborhood and leave you two lovebirds alone. I'm sure you want to catch up with each other, seeing as how Yusuke's been gone for the past few days.”
The detective's girlfriend gave her a relieved smile and nodded eagerly.
Yusuke blinked. “Oh, hold up for a sec, Nat'!” He dug into his pockets and came up with a set of keys. “So you can get back into the apartment. I'm not sure if I'll be back tonight.” He grinned a little lewdly at Keiko. “As you said, we have some 'catching up' to do.”
Keiko turned bright red. Then she blinked herself and looked at Natalie. “Are you sure you want to go exploring on your own? There's some pretty big jerks out there...”
Yusuke snorted. “I saw her take on Hiei. She'll be fine.”
The girl blinked again, this time in surprise, but decided to question the two of them about that one later. She gave Natalie a smile. “Well, it was nice to see you again! Have a good night!”
Natalie nodded to her. “It was nice to see you too, Keiko. Have fun tonight!” She gave the two of them a somewhat lewd wink of her own and then sauntered out of the restaurant.
The sun was setting by now and the air was cooler than earlier. Natalie took in a deep breath and couldn't help it when her nose wrinkled. Although Edmonton hadn't exactly had clean air, she was pretty sure Tokyo had her home city beat when it came to air pollution. She couldn't imagine how bad it must smell to Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke if she found the smell to be unpleasant.
Other than the smell in the air, the evening was beautiful and she could see the first stars of the night starting to poke their way through the encroaching darkness. She saw the moon rising in the east and saw it was in its first quarter.
She made her way down the street and saw a couple of other businesses that were closing up for the night. She spotted a sign advertising a park not too far from where she was now and decided to make her way there.
It took her fifteen minutes to reach the park and she sat down on one of the benches with a small sigh. It was completely dark now, and her only source of light came from a street lamp that was above the bench she was now seated on. She felt better now that she was in a more natural setting, even though she could still hear the sounds of traffic going down the city streets.
She sat there trying not to think for a few long moments, when a familiar voice broke her out of her boredom.
“Natalie? What are you doing here?”
Blinking, she looked up and smiled when she saw Kurama looking down at her, his eyes questioning.
“Hey, Kurama. Atsuko was going on another one of her escapades, so Yusuke invited me to have ramen with him and Keiko at her parents noodle shop. I visited with them for a few minutes and then headed out to do some exploring. I'm not too eager to head back yet and see just how bad Atsuko can get when she gets drinking.”
He sat next to her on the bench. “Why did you not stay with Yusuke and Keiko?”
Her smile turned into a smirk. “They made it pretty evident that they had... plans tonight, if you get my meaning. Yusuke's staying the night at Keiko's place, so I might wind up having their apartment to myself the night... if Atsuko decides to go bar hopping, that is.”
He offered her a gentle smile. “Well, I was on my way home. I just finished helping Lisa get settled in. Would you like to join me? I could make up something for you to drink... unless you'd prefer to stay here in the park...”
She smiled and rolled her eyes. “Stay here and be bored out of my mind for half of the night? No thanks. I'll take your place any day!”
His smile widened slightly. “Very well. My home is not far from here. Just follow me.”
It turned out that Kurama's home was just a ten minute walk from the park. He lived in a nicely sized apartment. Although it was only a two bedroom, the living room and kitchen were spacious. Something that set his place off from others slightly was the large assortment of plants that seemed to sit on every shelf. She also saw out on the balcony, that he had a small garden. The ones on the balcony all seemed normal enough, but several inside the house itself were unlike anything she had seen before.
She looked a little warily from Kurama to one of the plants which eerily resembled a large venus flytrap, only significantly more dangerous looking. Its leaves shuddered slightly when she approached to get a better look at it and she cast a cautious glance at the kitsune. “Um... none of your plants are going to try eating me, are they?”
He gave her a smirk. “Not while I'm here. They just need a little time to get used to your aura. Once you come over enough, they will grow accustomed to your presence.” He headed over to the kitchen, motioning for Natalie to follow him. She sat down at the table as he went to the counter and started growing some of his plants. “What would you like? Some tea?”
She shrugged. “I've only tried tea once before, but I'm willing to give it another shot.”
He smiled at her pleasantly. “I'll make you a brew that is favored by both me and my mother. It also has the property of helping to restore reiki.”
A moment later she was sipping the tea, smiling an instant later in pleasant surprise. The flavor was unlike anything she had come across before, but was definitely a welcome change. She felt her insides warm and guessed it was a side effect of the tea.
“Hey, this stuff is good! A far cry better than the stuff introduced to me by... my mom...”
When she trailed off, Kurama looked at her in concern once more and saw a far off expression on her formerly cheery face. He took his own helping of tea and sat across from her at the table.
“Natalie... do you want to talk about it?” he asked gently.
“No,” she said a little too quickly. “I'm fine.”
“You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me,” Kurama said evenly. “Lisa told me that you took it upon yourself to take care of your parents because your father was aged and your mother had several medical problems. I know you must be worried about them.”
Natalie made a mental note to staple her friends mouth shut the next chance she had. “You're right, but worrying about them won't help them.”
Kurama considered. “Perhaps you could use astral projection to check on them. You may not be able to interact with them, but you might at least find out if they're all right or not...”
She shook her head. “Believe me, it's tempting, but I can't. It would become far too addictive. And besides that... if they're not doing all right...” She sighed heavily. “It would just make me feel even worse than I already...” She cut herself off.
Kurama looked at her downcast expression and decided it would be for the best if he didn't push the issue right now. Natalie was obviously feeling far worse about the situation than she had originally let on, and he didn't want to contribute to her mental and emotional anguish by pushing the matter.
He didn't notice that Youko was being unusually quiet.
He reached out and gently took hold of Natalie's right hand, much to the girls surprise. He gave it a gentle squeeze and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. “I will not push the matter. Shall we discuss something else then?”
She smiled with relief and nodded. “I would appreciate that very much.” She took another sip of her tea and sighed as another surge of warmth spread through her.
Kurama nodded and removed his hand from hers. He was about to bring up an entirely different subject when Youko finally made his presence known to him once again.
The avatar stiffened slightly when he could almost see Youko's grin. I know an interesting way to get her out of this melancholy mood... and for us to have some fun while we're at it...
Youko, what are you thinking? Suichi asked warily, but he didn't receive a verbal response.
Instead he suddenly found himself struggling to maintain control of his own body as Youko lunged forward to take full control.
Natalie jumped slightly and her head jerked up, sensing the change.
Kurama gripped his head, his red hair bleeding silver, and claws replacing his fingernails. His eyes were glowing a bright red.
“Natalie! I... don't know what his intentions are! Be careful!” he managed to get out before he was completely taken over.
The girl got to her feet and stared in shock, unable to tear her eyes away from the transformation as it took place. Her heart was pounding as she watched Kurama grow to seven feet in height, and saw the silver ears grow out the top of his head. Then she saw his clothes shimmer to be replaced by Youko's own silver clothes, and saw the fluffy tail sprout from his tailbone.
Then his golden eyes met her blue-green and she froze in shock as she saw the unmistakable lust reflected in them.
“Y-Youko!! What are you doing?” she asked, unable to keep a slight quiver from her voice at his sudden appearance. She hadn't seen much of him in the series and really didn't know what to expect from a face to face meeting with the infamous thief.
He cut the distance between them in half with only a couple of steps. “Is it not obvious, my little ningen?” he purred gently.
Feeling a tinge of fear building up in her mind, Natalie took a step back. She had no way to fight against a demon of his caliber, she knew, and right now she was surrounded by plants. She was sure that retreat wasn't an option for her at the moment.
As if to confirm this, one of the plants behind her shuddered as if in warning and she quickly took a step forward, afraid of what would happen if she got too close to it. She felt panic come forward when she bumped into Youko and suddenly found herself being pulled off her feet and right up against him with one arm, while the other hand plunged into her hair and pulled her face forward to meet his. His lips met hers with such force it was painful, his tongue plunging into her mouth instantly. His grip on her didn't loosen, even as she pressed her hands against his chest in an effort to pull away from him.
When he didn't budge at all, panic reared fully in her mind and she struggled against him harder, now desperate to dislodge him from her.
Then both suddenly became aware of a loud growl coming from their right.
“Get your hands off of her, Fox,” Hiei ground out, sword held in his hand. “You know her history and this is scaring her more than anything else!”
Youko finally released the woman in his arms and she stumbled back, letting out a shaky sigh of relief. A mischevious grin was on Youko's face as he regarded Hiei. The koorime looked far from being amused. “Why, Hiei. I had no idea you were so attached to her...”
Natalie looked between the two demons. While Youko looked rather smug, Hiei's expression was murderous. She decided it would be for the best if she made a hasty retreat.
“Suichi, if you can hear me, thank you for the tea, but I'm going now, so bye!” she said in a rush and shot out the door, moving as quickly as her legs could carry her.
Hiei scowled at the kitsune. “Pull a stunt like that again and I'll kill you!”
Youko grinned ferally. “Is it possible you like that onna, Hiei?” he asked easily, seemingly unconcerned with his threats.
Hiei growled low in his chest. “Don't test me. This is your only warning. If you want the other onna, then she's all yours, but Natalie doesn't need your mind games and bullshit. Goodnight.” He was out the window again before the fox could blink.
Satisfied, Youko retreated, giving his avatar control once more.
Youko!! Are you trying to get me KILLED?! What the hell were you thinking, pulling something like that?! Suichi demanded, livid.
Come now, red... I'm surprised that you didn't sense our little firecracker outside the window watching us in the first place. And I have a distinct feeling that he wasn't here to see US. After hearing what happened between him and Natalie last night, I just had to see what would happen. You didn't honestly think I was actually going to do anything to her, did you?
Don't you EVER do something like that again! He said flatly. I do not have a death wish!
Youko said nothing, although Suichi could almost see the self satisfied smirk on his face in his mind's eye.

Natalie took in a deep breath when she was a block away from Kurama's apartment and sighed in relief. She made a mental note to warn Lisa about Youko's obvious perversion and to make sure she knew it wasn't merely the product of the fanfiction writers from their realm.
She reached up to touch her lips which were now swollen and more than a little sore from the kitsune's rough treatment. She scowled and started walking down the sidewalk once again. If she hadn't been at risk of being devoured by a deadly plant, she would have punched him.
Besides, what the fuck had brought that on in the first place? Not that Youko wasn't absolutely sexy in his own right, but she wasn't interested in pursuing a relationship with him, that was for sure!
Her thoughts were cut short when two men stepped out of an alley in front of her, blocking her path. The men looked to be in their late twenties to early thirties and were dressed like over-aged punks. She sighed inwardly when she heard the pathetic attempt of two more trying to sneak up behind her. She carefully positioned herself so she could keep an eye on all four of them, looking more than just a little annoyed at these morons.
“Don't you guys have anything better to do with your nights?” she asked, not bothering to hide her exasperation.
The apparent ringleader grinned at her lewdly. What's better than this? Come along nice and quiet and you won't get hurt, beautiful.”
Natalie looked from one to the other, a small smile coming to her face. “You know what? I'm actually happy you guys came to me tonight.”
The four of them grinned broadly as they started closing in on her position. “Ah! That's the attitude! You little ladies really love this kinda thing, don't ya? You were hoping to be picked up by some real men!”
She let out a sharp laugh hearing this. “Yeah, sure, if you say so. My man has to have some essential equipment.” She pointedly eyed their nether regions, a smirk coming to her face. “And you four don't even come close to my standards.” She cracked her knuckles and her smirk grew. “I'm happy you guys came to me because I really need to beat the royal fuck out of someone and you gave me a very good reason to.”
Before any of them could blink, Natalie shot toward the closest man and slammed her fist into his gut. The man bowled forward and she delivered a roundhouse kick that sent him flying a good twenty feet away, before she was grabbed from behind by a larger opponent. She easily did a shoulder throw, slamming him into the ground with all her strength. She heard a harsh crack when he made contact with the ground. She turned to the third man and made her way forward.
Only to stop in her tracks when she heard the unmistakable sound of someone cocking a gun right behind her. Natalie's eyes widened and she turned slowly, seeing the ringleader pointing the nuzzle of a large gun directly at her. He was scowling at her, but then it turned into a sneer.
“Quite a little fighter you are, girlie... but let's see if you can dodge a bullet.”
When she heard the gun go off, she thought for sure she was about to go on a permanent astral journey, but was shocked when she found herself being set down on shaky legs by Hiei. Then the little demon vanished from sight and her remaining attackers both fell unconscious to the ground.
Natalie breathed and enormous sigh of relief. This is the first time I've actually been relieved to have a stalker, she thought. Then another thought came to her. Saved TWICE by Hiei in under a half hour. That's GOT to be a new record. He must really think I'm pathetic now.
That thought just made her more frustrated than ever and she growled. “Okay, that does it! I don't care if Atsuko's dancing in her underwear and singing show tunes! I'm going back to Yusuke's place before anything else happens!” She started off down the street with a slight huff before she felt someone grab her wrist in an iron hold.
Looking back in surprise, she saw Hiei standing there, his jagan exposed. He was looking off toward Yusuke's place, his face set in a contemplative frown. Then, to Natalie's surprise, he got a what-the-fuck expression on his face.
Curious in spite of herself, she had to ask. “What's up?”
His face turned mildly disgusted as he replaced the headband over his third eye and regarded her steadily. “Atsuko invited a friend over. At first I wasn't sure if it was a man or a woman. I'm pretty sure Yusuke's mother is not prone to mating with other female's, so I'm guessing it's a man dressed as a woman. And they are currently on YOUR bed.”
Natalie wanted to be shocked, surprised and angry, but she just moaned and started to think aloud. “Okay, scratch Yusuke's. I'm NOT going back to Kurama's place after the stunt Youko pulled, Kuwabara's place is filled and I'm not interested in hearing Yusuke and Keiko going at it. I haven't been introduced to anyone else yet so...” She sighed. “Guess I'll just curl up on a park bench for the night.” She was about to head to the park where she had met Kurama earlier that evening, but then realized that Hiei still had a hold of her wrist.
“You're not sleeping in a park by yourself after what almost happened to you, onna. You're staying with me tonight.” Not giving her a chance to voice her objectsion, the next thing she knew, Hiei had her in his arms and was jumping from tree to tree, roof to roof, heading for the outskirts of the city at a blinding speed.
The suddenness of this action caused Natalie to let out a screech and her arms flew around Hiei's shoulders, her face burying itself in the crook of his neck. She tried to ignore the feel of his body against hers, the faint scent of pine she smelled coming from him, the wonderful heat his body gave off, with little success.

Okay, the next chapter's gonna be Hiei's POV since he left the group and explaining how he wound up at Kurama's apartment in the first place. Not to mention, the time he spends with Natalie ^_^ Please Read and Review!!!