Ningenkai, a place of wonders? Or... a place of horrors?
Alright, I've finally out of that horrible writer's block to produce more
"one shot" YYH fanfics. Okay okay! That epic drained me of my ideas! This
one has um... humor [all of Siew Lee's readers yelled a collective
"HUH?!"], and yaoi. =) Somehow, I'm feeling overly happy nowadays. ^_^;;
AND this has slight yaoi implications.
P/S Shunsuke, I don't think you can call me an emotional terrorist anymore.
:p
Siew Lee
[wsiewlee@tm.net.my]
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Ningenkai: A Place Of Wonders
A Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfic by W. Siew Lee
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A lone figure sat quietly at the windowsill. His ruby red eyes
stared at the dark and empty road, waiting. Forever waiting for his
fox to come back from a party. He was in Ningenkai now... He needed
a break from Makai, a break from Mukuro's orders.
A door gave a soft creak, immediately alerting the small
youkai. Intent eyes gazed at the door, expecting to see a lovely face
peeking in. Another soft creak and a slight click, the door was
closed again.
"Hiei, see what I've bought for you?" a gentle voice spoke in
the semi-darkness.
Hiei acknowledged Kurama, reaching out his hand to hold the
small container. He peeled back the lid and the sweet aroma of the
cheese cake floated enchantingly before Hiei's nose. He took a sniff
and turned to look into Kurama's emerald green eyes.
There in Kurama's eyes he saw a gleam, a mischievous glint.
Hiei shot him a puzzled look, but received no direct response from Kurama.
"What's that?" asked Hiei softly, slowly relaxing despite the
alien scent that permeated the room.
"It's a piece of cheese cake," smiled Kurama, grasping Hiei's
hands and slowly bringing the container up to Hiei's mouth.
"What is a 'cheese cake'?" asked Hiei. His nose twitching a
little as he sniffed at the strange food that Kurama gave him. The
dairy scent of the cake was thick and luscious, making Hiei feel
drunk.
Kurama grinned and bit a small piece off the entire chunk. He
closed his eyes luxuriously, taking in the delicious taste that slid
effortlessly down his throat.
Hiei, seeing Kurama eating the Ningen food, also bit a small
piece off. Cautiously, he chewed the cake and a burst of different
flavors raced down his body. Sweet, sour and salty, but again, it was
Kurama's heart that counted. Again, he took another bite, this time
a bigger mouthful. Hiei really relished the taste.
Ningenkai was good, wasn't it? Here, enjoying Ningen food with
his fox, these were more than he had ever hoped for in the beginning.
"Hiei, you have crumbs sticking onto your lips," laughed
Kurama, looking straight at Hiei's face.
Hiei reached up a sleeve to wipe them away but was immediately
stopped by Kurama.
"Let me..." murmured Kurama, sealing his lips onto Hiei's, once
again tasting the salty tang of the cake through Hiei's soft lips.
The two figures slid under the covers, relishing the comfort of
each other... Belonging eternally to each other, till death did they
part.
"Till death do us part..." a muffled voice echoed lowly.
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"Where are you going?" growled Hiei, awakened by Kurama's
gentle push at his side. He blinked open an eye and found himself
staring straight into Kurama's face. The green eyes looked back at
him, the glint there unmistakably cheerful and joyous.
"I don't think you would want to go with me..." answered Kurama
lazily, stretching languidly on the bed.
Hiei gave Kurama a strange look. "Why?" he asked curiously.
"Do you really want to go?" asked Kurama in return.
"Just don't go to Reikai, that's it. That toddler gives me
the feeling to char him straight to Makai..." replied Hiei, giving
Kurama a confident answer. "Besides, I want to see Ningenkai without
having to hide here and there."
"Alright, let's go then," agreed Kurama as he dragged all the
bedclothes off Hiei with a pull. Hiei shivered at the sudden cold air
that met his naked skin. In a flash, he stood before Kurama and bent
down to pick up his clothes that were scattered across the floor.
Just as Hiei was pulling up his pants, Kurama ran up and
dragged them down again. "What are you doing, stupid fox?" shouted
Hiei, giving Kurama a deadly glare.
"Nothing. Why don't you try some other clothes than that same
old black tank top and funny trousers?" asked Kurama, grinning
widely. Quickly, he walked over to his wardrobe and pulled open two
drawers full of different colored and styled clothes.
"Do I really have to wear all these stupid Ningen clothes?"
"Do you want to go?"
Hiei grumbled something under his breath and began sifting
through the huge mountain of shorts, T-shirts, pants and shirts. Hiei
picked up a light pink tank top and stared at it. Kurama erupted into
peals of laughter when Hiei actually placed it against his chest.
"Hiei, you looked so... um... kawaii!"
Hiei's face contorted into a displeased facial expression. He
threw the tank top away to the side and began looking again at the
clothes.
"What's this? I always see you wearing this..." muttered Hiei,
holding up a piece of triangular black cloth. Alright, it was a pair
of briefs but Hiei was there looking as if it were about to chop off
his head or something.
"Hiei, I think you better wear one too. I don't want you to be
dragged off to the nearest police station for flashing..." pointed
out Kurama, persuading Hiei to get into the pair of briefs.
"I could easily blast them into ashes if they were to touch me
or anything," snapped Hiei.
"Hiei..." coaxed Kurama softly. Hiei's heart softened when he
saw that look on Kurama's face.
"Alright, whatever..." muttered Hiei as he got into the briefs.
"It's loose, Kurama," complained Hiei, fingering the already-small
waistline.
"It's better than nothing!" replied Kurama and held up a pair
of navy blue Bermudas. Without much consideration, he flung it to
Hiei with the youkai catching it deftly.
Putting it on, Hiei hunted around for a shirt and found one he
liked. A black shirt...
Kurama sighed. "Hiei, do you want to look nice? If yes, try
this." He threw Hiei a white, body fitting, round necked shirt with a
little black rabbit head sewn on the pocket.
Hiei glanced at both articles but at last decided on the white
shirt. *Besides Kurama said I will look presentable in this, right?
And I hate rabbits...* muttered Hiei secretly. Without any more
consideration, he pulled on the tight shirt that outlined his torso
perfectly.
"Okay, you look perfect!" exclaimed Kurama, jumping up in
excitement. "Wait, we need to do something about the bandage covering
your Jagan..."
Kurama glanced around the room and saw a cute red baseball cap.
"There," assured Kurama as he placed the cap onto Hiei's head. Hiei
felt the cap in confusion... Stupid Ningen clothes...
"Kurama, get dressed," said Hiei curtly and jumped back onto
the windowsill. Kurama blushed and went into the adjoining bathroom
for a quick wash. After five minutes, he emerged from the bathroom,
feeling and smelling all fresh. Quickly, he selected a forest green
polo shirt with matching beige pants.
"Hiei, let's go now," said Kurama as he lifted the fire youkai
by the waist and set him down on the floor.
"I *know* how to walk, kitsune," snapped Hiei and strolled out
of the room imprudently and tied his katana around him.
"What are you doing? You can't bring this thing out!" yelled
Kurama in shock, untying the string that bound the katana to Hiei.
"Why? We might meet a youkai on the way!"
"No, unless you want to be in the police station."
Kurama took the katana and threw it on his bed in the room.
Hiei grumbled something about police stations being stupid and
other incoherent things. Without looking back, Hiei walked out.
Kurama smiled and closed the door after him.
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"Where are we going?" asked Hiei. The two of them were walking
down the street passing blocks and blocks of houses and shops.
"First, we are going to a nearby caf� to have breakfast,"
answered Kurama, walking faster and holding Hiei's hand.
"Hn," came the reply.
The pleasant ringing of the doorbell greeted them as they
stepping into the pleasantly cool interior of the chic shop house.
This caf� used to be one of Kurama's favorite hangouts with his
classmates; the very place where nearly all socializing activities
were held.
Kurama went straight to a remote corner of caf� and slid onto a
wooden chair. Hiei also sat down gingerly on the opposite chair,
keeping his hands down below the table surface. The fresh smell of
newly baked bread filled the eatery, inducing instant growling of
empty stomachs. Hiei looked at the funnily dressed people behind the
counter curiously, his stomach rumbling loudly in response.
A young and sexy waitress soon came to jot down their orders.
Her skirt flipped a little because of the draft created by the
ceiling fan, showing bits of lace here and there.
In a throaty voice, she asked for their orders. "Hello
Minamino-san... Long time no see... Any orders?" Handing Kurama a
menu book, she batted her eyelashes at him, hoping for him to look at
her for at least a second. Alright, even a split second would do.
"Hm..." Kurama thumbed through the menu, trying to decide on
*something* to eat. "Er... I would like a cup of coffee and a swiss
roll please. Hiei, what would you like to eat?" said Kurama,
directing the last part of the sentence to Hiei.
Hiei shot Kurama a blurred look as he stared pointlessly at the
weird looking Ningen words scribbled across the whole menu booklet.
"Huh?"
"Er... I also want a glass of orange juice and um... ginger
bread," ordered Kurama quickly.
The girl wrote the orders down with her pen and gazed at
Kurama, a blush slowly creeping up her cheeks. "See ya..." called
out the waitress in a flirty way and blew him a kiss. "By the way,
cute brother you have."
Meanwhile, Hiei's eyes were growing wider and wider when he saw
the girl batting her eyelashes at his koibito... *His* koibito... He
was already seething when she blew *his* koibito a kiss and she even
called him, Hiei - the Forbidden Child of Makai, *cute*.
"Cool down, Hiei..." whispered Kurama over the table, seeing
Hiei's fuming red face. Hiei swallowed and gave the waitress one last
glare before focusing his sight back on Kurama. *I want to fry
her...* thought Hiei mentally.
After ten minutes, the food arrived. The whole agenda went
without any glitches except when Hiei accidentally overheated
Kurama's cup of coffee, but things wouldn't end that easily...
"Hello, Shuichi-san!" a few female voices shouted at once.
Kurama nearly choked on his coffee when he heard the call. "Shit..."
whispered Kurama silently. Three girls dressed in mini tees and
miniskirts flopped down next to Kurama and Hiei, thus filling up the
other three seats at the table.
"Eating with your friend here?" asked one of the girls, her
hair dyed a lavender color.
"Yes... Let me introduce. Hiei, this is Riyu, Ami and Himoe.
Riyu, Ami and Himoe, this is Hiei..." introduced Kurama weakly.
*Please... Please Inari-sama... Please don't let them flirt with
Hiei...* prayed Kurama endlessly.
But Kurama's prayers weren't answered.
"Hiei-san... You have such a nice body..." purred one of the
girls, grabbing Hiei's chest with such a force that he had to stop
swallowing his food. Another even kissed Hiei on the cheek with a
wet smooch.
"Hiei-san... Which school are you from?"
"Hiei-san... When can we meet again?"
"Hiei-san... What a nice T-shirt you have, can you give it to
me?"
The three girls endlessly asked Hiei questions and smothered
him with their bodies as they tried to get closer to him. Hiei was
there, quietly smoldering away inside.
"Go away," snapped Hiei, pushing one of the girls aside but his
warning went unheeded.
"Go away!" snarled Hiei fiercely, this time getting really
serious and irritated. Kurama shook his head slowly and looked
away, not daring enough to watch what followed next.
"C'mon Hiei-san... I still have many questions to ask y..."
"Boosh!" A trail of flame burst through the coffee shop,
shattering glass panes in rapid succession.
"Kami-sama..." mumbled a few pedestrians as they began to
gather around the dying fire. Minutes later, a red hair boy together
with a short and slim boy walked out of the shop house.
"Sorry! I think he overdid your hair!" yelled the red hair boy
as both of them walked down the street.
All they could hear were three screams of rage.
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It was ten in the morning, the sun was shining brightly
lighting up the entire town. Pedestrians scurried past them
hurriedly, taking almost no notice of the duo. Kurama sat down on a
bench just outside a recreational park. Hiei also sat down, but was
careful by not sitting too close to Kurama. Besides he didn't want
trouble, right?
For the first time in his life, Hiei was there, sitting
comfortably in Ningenkai and enjoying the sweet morning air. Slowly,
he went into a trance-like sleep with Kurama by his side.
Drowsing peacefully with his beloved fox...
"HIEI!" yelled two voices suddenly, shocking Hiei and Kurama
out of their wits. Those voices sounded awfully familiar and one
glance proved the truth. It was Yusuke and Kuwabara together with
Yukina and Keiko.
"Er... hi Yusuke and Kazuma... um... Hi Keiko-san and Yukina-
san," greeted Kurama, standing up in a huff. "Where are you guys
going?"
"We are going to newly launched the Sega City in the Ichikun
shopping complex... You wanna go?" invited Yusuke, giving Kurama a
playful punch on the arm.
"What?! Is that shrimp going with you too?" snickered Kuwabara
evilly, giving Hiei a smirk.
"Hiei?"
Hiei gave a grunt and stood up also.
"Let me see how am I going to torture that shrimp..." grinned
Kuwabara and rubbed his hands. Yukina gave him a nudge, keeping him
quiet.
"Shut up, moron," warned Yusuke thus walking further away with
Keiko by his side.
Kurama and Hiei ran up to catch up with him. In a whisper, Hiei
asked Kurama, "What is Sega City?"
"It's a place full of virtual reality games to play and lots of
fun guaranteed," answered Kurama back in an equally low whisper.
"Hn."
***
The beeping and crashing sounds of arcade games rang throughout
the whole basement where the entrance of 'Sega City' was located. An
irritating electronic voice greeted them, "Welcome to Sega City. I am
your tour guide, please fasten your seat belts for a virtual tour..."
Kurama and the entire gang got into the small cab which was adjoined
to many other cabs with a train head in front.
Suddenly, the whole room plunged into darkness. That voice
boomed out again this time in a menacing tone, "Let the horror
begin..."
Hiei rolled his eyes, what could be more horrifying than his
Kokuryuuha? The cab started moving and they passed through a long and
winding tunnel. Weird sounds started to echo in their ears and
impromptu *supposedly* youkai roars were emitted into the air.
There was a ghastly silence after the sounds passed and the cab
stopped moving. "Some advance tour..." grumbled Yusuke. Hiei was
there, wearing a bored expression on his face. Unknowingly, a hand
reached out to touch his face gently... The texture was rough and
prickly...
"Stop that, stupid kitsune," growled Hiei but the touching
didn't subside, instead, it started to tousle his spiky hair!
Hiei turned his head sideways, expecting to see Kurama's
slender fingers caressing him... "Kuso..." cursed Hiei as he found
himself staring into a badly decomposed face wrapped with bits of
old bandages here and there... Soon, screams of other female
voices in long train were heard and Hiei thought he heard a crunching
sound of youkai eating their prey...
Calmly, he shouted, "Youkai attacks!" Yusuke and Kurama were
immediately alerted but without warning, a burst of flames lit up the
entire room for a split second before choked coughs were heard. A
burnt smell and a human voice cursing Hiei drifted up to their five
senses.
"Cool effects!" a young voice shouted at the brilliant fire
display. "Sega City rules!"
"Fine, Hiei. You did it again. That was only a worker dressed
up as a mummy to scare visitors," sighed Kurama, sitting down on his
seat again. Hiei rolled his eyes and looked away. Stupid Ningen, why
bother to scare each other? Did they really enjoy being scared?
Hiei smiled a secret smile, he had plans.
"Baka shrimp, don't you know you are supposed to be scared?"
laughed Kuwabara insanely when the cab started moving again. Hiei
began feeling self conscious all of a sudden when he overheard the
passengers behind whispering about the 'youkai attack' shout he
yelled.
*Stupid Ningen,* muttered Hiei, he didn't quite care to listen
after that.
Eventually, the cab came to the final halt with a slight lurch.
The whole group got down slightly shakily without the exception of
Hiei. The trip was devastating enough, with the fire youkai blowing
up a couple of walls and a huge amount of artificial youkai who
picked the wrong target... Fine, but Kurama dragged Hiei away first
with the rest... If the maintainers were ever to find out the actual
source of the *strange* explosions, Kurama might as well go back to
being a thief from Makai... Even if he dug out everything from his
bank account, he still couldn't afford to pay for the damages Hiei
created.
"What next?" asked Kuwabara, eager to get Hiei into trouble.
"Let's go for a snack!" suggested Keiko, holding Yusuke's hand
and pointing with it to an ice-cream stall nearby.
The stall was decorated delightfully with red and white ribbons
draped artfully over the entire counter. On the wall opposite the
counter, there was a huge screen painted with pictures of delicious
ice-cream of every flavor imaginable and their respective prices
plastered all them.
One picture had a banana split colored on it while another had
a sundae painted on it.
Kurama walked towards the counter and ordered six cones of
ice-cream, chocolate flavor. The man there smiled and started rolling
balls of ice-cream before balancing each on one wafer cone.
Kurama thanked the man and walked back to the group. Yusuke
and Kuwabara grabbed one first without thinking while Kurama gave
Keiko and Yukina one each. At last, he presented Hiei with one.
"Hiei, yours," said Kurama, handing him the cone.
"Ice-cream?" asked Hiei as he studied the cone. The top was
covered by a ball of brownish looking stuff. Cautiously, Hiei stuck
out his tongue like others and licked it. *Eewww...* was Hiei's first
reaction when the icy draught caught him by surprise but he was
reluctant to show it because Kuwabara was standing nearby... *I'll
never let that stupid moron laugh at me,* thought Hiei as he braved
another bite. The taste was sweet, slightly on the bitter side...
A nebula of flavors exploded in his mouth...
"How is it?" asked Kuwabara teasingly, knowing Hiei hadn't
tasted ice-cream before this.
Hiei looked away, refusing to answer Kuwabara's question and
licked on the melting goo silently. *But hey! It is beginning to
taste... nice now...* thought Hiei as he began to lick at it with
more enjoyment. The word *nice* wasn't in Hiei's vocabulary but
still...
"I want some more," voiced Hiei when he finished the entire
cone. Kurama smiled and gave him one hundred yen. "Just go to the
man behind the counter there and ask him for ice-cream. After that,
give him this," advised Kurama and pressed the money into Hiei's
palm. Soon, Kurama turned back and resumed talking with Yusuke and
the rest.
Hiei, seeing Kurama's reaction, had no choice but to take
the money and walk over to the counter.
"Ice-cream," growled Hiei at the man.
***
"Hiei... Hiei-san..." screamed Yukina weakly and pointed a
trembling finger at the fire youkai.
Kurama had a bad feeling about this... Quickly the whole gang
adverted their attention to the ice-cream stall... What did they see?
A small youkai dressed in a white top and navy blue Bermudas
crouching down on top of the counter next to the man, holding a small
dagger pressed dangerously at the man's neck.
"I said I want more!" snarled Hiei menacingly at the man, his
dagger precariously scraping against the man's skin.
At last, satisfied, Hiei balanced the cone with at least five
balls of ice-cream stacked neatly on top of each other and jumped
down from the counter. Throwing the money that Kurama give him, Hiei
strode away. "Hey you! Why 100..." yelled the man after him but after
receiving a fierce look from Hiei, the man shriveled and hid behind
the counter machine fearing for his life.
"Hiei..." was all Kurama could say.
Hiei threw him a puzzled glance but didn't ask Kurama any
questions.
"Kurama, you save money this way..." chided Keiko, laughing.
"Why don't we go over to the games?" suggested Kuwabara, eager
to make Hiei humiliated... Hearing the loud blaring rock music from
the amplifiers strategically placed, Kuwabara began making his way
towards the game stalls.
"Try this, shrimp," said Kuwabara, handing Hiei seven darts as
he paid for two persons' fare at the dart throwing booth.
"Hn," answered Hiei, looking at the mini arrows that Kuwabara
pressed into his hand. Naturally, Kuwabara started first, hurling
the darts towards the board pinned about ten feet away.
"Yes! Bull's eye!" shouted Kuwabara when the score appeared
on the L.E.D screen above.
"Moron," muttered Hiei and in a flash, the darts whizzed past
Kuwabara's head and landed on the board, splitting the seven darts
that Kuwabara threw neatly into halves.
Kuwabara's eyes widened when the score screen began flashing
red and yellow lights, indicating Hiei had won himself 100 points.
"Hey kid, no sweat there. I can do better!" exclaimed Kuwabara,
already fuming at the baka scoreboard. *So great for a stupid
koorime...*
"I think we can collect a prize from the redemption counter,
right?" questioned Kurama, looking at the long strip of tokens that
Hiei easily won. The whole group soon hurried to the redemption
counter and Hiei showed his tokens.
"Congratulations, a pink bunny for you!" the middle age woman
there said and gave Hiei a big stuffed rabbit with large shining
eyes. It even had a lopsided goofy grin.
"Haha! Suits you, stupid shrimp!" laughed Kuwabara with tears
already streaming down his face.
Offended, Hiei threw the pink bunny at Kurama and stomped off.
"Hiei!" shouted Kurama after him while Kuwabara also stopped
laughing.
"KOKURYUUHA!!!" a deep voice shouted and a huge black dragon
emerged out of nowhere and ate up the dart throwing stall in a blink.
Suddenly, there was a loud applause from the onlookers around
the stall and some kids were even blowing wolf whistles at the
explosion. Kurama ran over to the origin of black dragon but found
no one... Hiei was... gone.
Feeling upset, Kurama walked back to the group sadly... He knew
that Hiei wouldn't show himself unless he wanted to... but he didn't
know that he would be hurt so easily. He stared at the pink bunny
aimlessly and touched its velvety nose.
"Goodbye, Hiei," whispered Kurama softly.
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Stressed out, Kurama staggered up the stairs of his house and
walked into his room. The house was dark and quiet, for his entire
family had gone out for some dinner function at a nearby hotel.
Knowing that they wouldn't be back before midnight, Kurama came back
without ringing the door or even calling for anybody on his way.
Kurama hugged the bunny and threw it on the bed.
In the dark, he slowly undressed. The lamp switch was only an
arm's reach away but Kurama was simply too tired to flick it on. He
flopped onto the bed, feeling burned out before a voice growled in
the dark, "Get off me, stupid fox!"
"Hiei?" mumbled Kurama, touching a warm body lying next to him.
"Shut up, I want to sleep," came the answer.
"Are you still angry with Kazuma and me?"
No answer, but Kurama took it for a no. If a 'yes', Hiei
wouldn't be sleeping here anymore. Kurama decided to have a bit of
fun with his fire youkai. Caressing the slender body frame beside
him, he asked, "Want to have the pink bunny back?"
"Woosh!" Kurama pulled back his hand quickly and the remains of
the pink bunny lay there on the floor.
"Maybe not..." said Kurama as he resumed holding the fire
youkai.
"Kurama, when are you bringing back the next piece of cheese
c...?"
Hiei didn't quite get to finish the sentence as the youko had
since kissed him deeply on his lips, silencing him.
Things and incidents could be so strange, yet so familiar...
but not to one certain fire youkai. In his mind, Ningenkai was indeed
a place of wonders. A place of wonders with his fox eternally.
"For one thing, I hate rabbits," a deep voice muttered as a
fitting T-shirt went flying across the room before hitting the
wall...
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Copyright reserved 1998 W. Siew Lee
All standard YYH disclaimers apply to this fanfic.
E-mail: Siew Lee [wsiewlee@tm.net.my]
URL: http://members.xoom.com/hiei
UIN: #14025577
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