Adult-FanFiction.org : YuYu Hakusho

Patron	By : jessara40k Category: Yuyu Hakusho > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 4400 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuYu Hakusho, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Patron
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-note
- 11
- 12
- 13
Disclaimer: If I owned Yu Yu Hakusho Kurama would
be the one who kept on getting his clothes torn to pieces during fight scenes.
Since we rarely get a glimpse of skin from him I guess I don't own it.

Asuka
wasn�t too certain where the nearest stream was, but she vaguely remembered
passing one during her single excursion into the forest, during the game she
played with Youko, and so started running in the direction she thought she
could find it.

�Here,
Asuka, Shuuichi-sama, this is where the streams are.� Youko�s mental sketch map
showing where the streams were told Asuka that she�d been going in entirely the
wrong direction and hit her hard enough that she fell to her knees. But she
could muster the will to show proper courtesy to her superior in their Patron�s
harem.

�Thank
you Youko.� And she turned to make her way to the nearest stream instead,
climbing into the trees when she could without leaving obvious markings, and
envying the other two for their ability to manipulate plants to do this without
leaving any sign.

When
she reached the first stream she was still in the treetops, and she crawled out
along a large branch that hung over the stream, jumping down into the stream as
soon as it started to creak. Upstream, or down? There were more rocks upstream,
and she could see that there was a wide, shallow rock shelf just in her line of
vision upstream, whereas downstream the banks were all of mud, and bound to
show her tracks. Upstream it was then. She shifted into fox form as she made
her way against the current, calling on the infra spectrum of the light to dry
the water from her fur and from where she�d let it drip onto the rock shelf. A
quick illusion to hide her second tail...and only then did she remember to
suppress her ki, praying that she hadn�t left it too late. She didn�t want to
be the reason they lost, or only drew, it would give Youko a chance to mock
her, even if he�d never taken such chances before. Her mouth lolled open in a
vulpine grin and she tried something different, altering the light that
reflected from her to make it seem as if she was mostly a brownish red, with
some redder markings at the end of her visible tail and at two paws, a paler
underbelly and a black mask around her eyes, muzzle and more black at one paw.

She
hesitated at the edge of the rock shelf, glancing around to see if there was
any way to get off it without leaving tracks, but eventually she concluded
trying to get to the top of the trees would leave too much of a sign. And foxes
didn�t normally jump among the tree tops, not normal foxes anyway. The best she
could do was pick her way over the other rocks near the stream, until she
couldn�t any longer and had to run where she�d leave a trail. Shuuichi had told
her to hide, but she�d feel far too vulnerable cowering in a den
somewhere...and the bastards who�d enslaved her had taken her from her
temporary den as well. She didn�t like the idea of disobeying any four-tail,
let alone the one who owned her, but...she could argue that she was hiding by
looking and acting exactly like a normal fox would, couldn�t she?

That
still meant being cautious, foxes were not the top predator in any
ecosystem, so she began making her way through the forest, taking all the cover
she could. She got hungry after a while, she wasn�t sure how long, but she
started to hunt, catching a few mice and eating them raw. It wasn�t as if she�d
never eaten her meat raw before, and it would certainly be suspicious if she
cooked them.

She�d
just caught one mouse when Hiei ran past her, she froze, in near-instinctive
fear, the way any animal would at something that moved so fast. She wasn�t
sure, but she thought he might have actually looked at her, and brushed
her off as a mere animal. But...there�d been something about his attitude that
said he was having some sort of problem, so she began searching for a spot she
could take humanoid form to check the time without leaving dangerous trails.

It
took her a while, but she found a rock large enough to perch on in both forms,
and there wasn�t anyone close enough to spot her. Still, she wove an illusion
to hide herself totally before she risked shifting to humanoid form and taking
a quick look at her watch. She still had just under half an hour to go. If she
made a point of making her way back to the temple cautiously...as long
as she stayed in the forest for the full five hours. She was a bit lost too,
but she was pretty sure what direction she needed to go in, so she started
moving, keeping to the cover. Her artificial colouring was a lot better for
hiding than the black was at least, she�d chosen it for how common it was, but
the most common colouring gave the best camouflage after all.

She
had enough time sense to know when half an hour had passed even if she did lose
track when she was doing something like hunting, where you had to lack
awareness of how time was passing to do well. She wasn�t quite to the forest�s
edge when time was up, but she still wasn�t going to risk being spotted, so she
took the extra time to get back to the temple without being noticed, relying on
a straight run once she got out of the forest.

She
was still the first of the evaders to get back, although Yuusuke, Kuwabara and
Hiei were there Shuuichi and Youko were not. Asuka decided to wait in
fox form, so that she could show her master what she�d learned to do, but she
stopped trying to suppress her ki and wondered absently if Hiei would recognise her. Apparently not. It
didn�t matter, but the humans seemed surprised by her appearance, Yuusuke even
thought she was a normal fox it seemed.

~~~()~~~

Youko
knew that time was up, but he�d been hunting a bit, and he�d had one of his
plants store the meat, so first he had to recover it. Then he could just get
back to the temple...he didn�t need to hide now, the others couldn�t win
or force a draw by taking him to the temple after their time limit had passed.

He
was the last one there, but he presented the three rabbits he�d caught to
Yukina first, before turning his attention to his master, Genkai-shihan and the
others. Even if Asuka looked weird with her illusion of being a mostly brown
normal fox - did that mean she�d gained her third tail in today�s exercise?

�Asuka,
drop the illusion and take your humanoid form.� Youko�s drew a hissing breath
of surprise when he saw Asuka momentarily take the two tailed fox form she�d
always possessed before returning to humanoid form. �That was an impressive
trick. How did you do it?�

�I...you
know that my element�s light. I�ve been studying the scientific basis as well
as what Genkai-shihan has been teaching me in how to use it.� Asuka�s eyes were
cast down, and she glanced at Genkai-shihan as she spoke, almost looking for
approval. �As she recommended. And I�ve learned how to shift the wavelength a
bit, enough to change something�s colour, without using true illusion.� A way of working
around her limitations, when Youko hadn�t even thought of using the illusion he
was supposed to have mastered, because it was such a new skill, yet Asuka�s
skills with light were equally new. �Hiei actually looked at me and dismissed
me because of my disguise.�

�Well
done. Did you end up chasing many of our decoys?�

�The
Dimwit brought one back here, then it disappeared. The one of you.�
Genkai-shihan laughed at that. Youko couldn�t blame her, he�d set the illusions
to seem to explode and leave gobbets of meat all around just before they
dissipated, it had to have been funny.

�Hey,
what was I supposed to think? When we caught up to the illusions another nine
illusions appeared and they split up. Kuwabara and Hiei were fooled too.�

�But
I know you�d split up by the last half hour Yuusuke-san.� They looked surprised
at that, but only Hiei came to the obvious conclusion.

�Who
did you see?�

�You
actually.� And that was enough to set the humans laughing. �A good disguise,
especially since I was acting like a normal fox.�

�If
I�d used my
Jagan...�

�You�d
have been able to see through how we suppressed our ki, yes. I decided it was
best to gamble that you wouldn�t be using your Jagan much, and that when you
were our ki would be shielded by the ki of everything around us. Also, I knew
that it takes a fair bit of your focus to use the Jagan, as well as power that
you might not have wanted to expend when you were facing two plant manipulators
in a forest of dangerous plants. Do you know what Asuka was doing when you
passed her?� Youko watched how the fire demon responded to his Patron�s veiled
criticism, surprisingly well really, he seemed to note it for future use and
consider the question carefully.

�No.
If I saw her then I dismissed it and filtered it out of my memory.�

�Kuwabara
saw through the illusion I was using to hide my extra tails when I was hunting.�
Youko had only thought of even doing that because his Patron had suggested it
for Asuka. �I suppose my colouring must have been a give away, but he followed the
illusion of myself that I created as a decoy.� He was speaking a bit out of
turn, but it would distract from Hiei�s embarrassment at not noticing Asuka.

�What
did you do to make the illusion seem more tempting than you were?�
Genkai-shihan was willing enough to focus on what techniques he�d used rather
than what Hiei had missed and Shuuichi looked interested as well.

�I
used a rain of rose petals to block his physical sight, and used one illusion
to hide myself in a hollow. I also created two illusions of myself in fox form
without ki signatures to act as distractions, and set them running along the
ground. The final illusion was of my humanoid form, with a simulation of my ki
signature and I had that retreat through the trees, using my powers to aid the
retreat.�

�An
imaginative way of distracting attention from your real location, but still,
Asuka did better, as she couldn�t be recognised at all, and I�m a bit disappointed you
didn�t think of doing the same as she did.� Youko preened under the slight
praise from his master, and noted that Asuka was doing the same thing, even as
he pressed his ears back against his skull at the subsequent criticism. �On the
other hand I�m the only one who didn�t even see one of our opponents, so I don�t
know how well my disguise would have worked.�

�So
you didn�t actually find any of the foxes, Dimwit.�

�We
split up after we thought I�d got Kurama. You saw me bring him back,
then I went looking for them again. I don�t have the sort of senses those two
have, you know that.�

�Then
you shouldn�t have split up, or you should have met back up with one of them.�
Yuusuke couldn�t argue with Genkai-shihan�s critique, and she had something
equally relevant to say to everyone who�d been playing. And she had a
suggestion for what they should each practice, from her advice for Hiei to try
to gain more skill in using his Jagan on the move to her detailed plan to
improve Yuusuke�s senses.

~~~()~~~

�Have
you managed to create those other people you promised me for this community?�
Youko hadn�t expected his master to bring him here when he fell asleep, they
hadn�t been using the dreamscape much recently after all.

�No,
not yet. And there�s other things I need to do.� He�d put them in stasis,
instead of allowing them to �develop� without him, because it was so
incomplete.

�Hmm.
What do you need that I can provide?� He�d expected that he would be the
only one responsible for creating this little area of the dreamscape, so for
Shuuichi to offer his
expertise in making this world...

�I�ve
already created most of the buildings for this community, but we need some
farms spread out throughout the forest, farms and other dwellings. Can you do
that as you feel appropriate please?� He�d made the houses and temples, but he
needed to add a blacksmith�s, a few small shops of some sort and an inn,
however small, as well as possibly a warehouse.

�Should
I try to have them fit in with the style of building here?� Looking around
Youko
realised
that he�d built the houses here in the same style as the temples, a result of
unconscious influence.

�Please,
if you could.� Youko frowned, it would be easier to age some of the already
existing �people� to get a more realistic demographic than to create more older
people, but it wouldn�t be easier to change the gender of half than to
create a new set of six �originals� and make another hundred or so copies. �Including
the houses here we need to be able to home around three hundred people close
enough to come for the rituals...so within half a days travel, however you
think fit.�

�If
you�re creating additional buildings here then you need to remember to add a
stable then...big enough for say thirty horses and five wagons.�

�Yes
Shuuichi-sama.� Youko thought it might need more room than that, he�d focused
on the religion and not paid as much attention in designing the community
itself, but then it didn�t need to be that realistic and he could adjust it at
any time he needed to. He didn�t expect his master to kiss him before going off
to create the scattered part of the community.

Then
he lost himself in creating the new people he needed, and adjusting the ones
already formed, until he�d produced a set of six interrelated �clans� with
smaller family groupings set up inside each clan and apprentice (and full)
priests drawn from each clan. The priesthood would need some form of support
other than tithing, so he added a school to the temple compound as well as a
few beehives, a small, no, a mid-sized distillery and a herb garden, one
focused on medicinal herbs, indicating that the priests were also the healers
as well as the teachers.

Businesses
now...he could attach the stable to the temple, something else for the priests
to do, since they couldn�t all be attendants to the avatars. And besides
since it was a religious ritual that had people gathering all on the same day,
not that that was unusual in early societies...

But
the inn should have a stable attached as well, albeit a smaller stable. How big
should he make the inn though? Three stories, no two would do plus an attic.
The ground floor would need an office, a large common room/bar...with a way to
get down to the basement storage and get wine and beer up as well, and a
kitchen of course. Adding a bathroom and internal toilet would be easiest on
the ground floor, and it would be desirable. About ten separate rooms on the
upper floor, then fifteen in the attic, for the workers, or cheaper rooms if
needed, and of course people would be allowed to sleep in the common room if they
couldn�t even afford one of those rooms. It wouldn�t be a problem, having a
room, even having a bed to yourself when you slept was a luxury not that
long ago. Youko�d never been high enough ranked to have his own room when he�d
been kept in a harem, but he�d gotten used to that luxury after he made a name
for himself as a thief.

The
community didn�t need a warehouse, there were already cellars large enough for
people to store what they needed in each house, but he did build a small
storehouse attached to the single village store adding living quarters over the
store. Finally he had the smith�s to do, he�d always have work available,
shoeing horses if nothing else, and making or mending plows and such. Iron
mining would be external to the culture since Youko didn�t know what was
involved in mining iron too clearly. He wasn�t really that clear on smithing
either, but he could give the smith what little he did know and set up an
accelerated trial and error system to make him into a real smith. For that
matter he could do that now - or at least once he�d set up the naming
parameters for this culture and created a �program� within the dream assigned
everyone names within those parameters.

Simple...Two
or three syllables as forenames, stick to the syllables indicated by hiragana
or katakana, but eliminate certain combinations and require one or two other
combinations...select three or four endings that always indicate male personal
names, another three or four that always indicate female and two that can be
either. Select six clan names...add the option of familial names within the
clan? No that wasn�t necessary, but set a prohibition against recycling a personal name inside the clan.
He�d just finished designing the naming program when Shuuichi returned.

�I
might have gone a little overboard in creating those farms you asked for
my silver rose.�

�How
many people do you need in total then? I can always create more, but I�d rather
name them all at once. I�ve just finished designing a program that should do
that for me you see.�

�I�m
not entirely sure. Will the program keep if we leave this as it is?�

�Oh,
yes, of course.�

�Good,
you can finish it off later. I want to talk to you now.� That was enough to
terrify Youko, it usually meant he was in trouble. �Don�t look so worried. I�m
not angry at you.� Shuuichi laughed at Youko�s reaction, but the reassurance
was all that mattered. �Kaasan wants me to talk to you about how you�re going
to be added to our family register. Which option would you prefer? No matter
what you�ll be recorded with Akari as your personal name, but do you want to
keep the Youko clan name as well as mine?�

�Please,
yes. It�s the only connection I still have to them...� Youko hadn�t expected
the raw pain that came out in that confession, or the way his Patron gathered
him into his arms.

�Then
tell Kaasan that tomorrow. She doesn�t want to hear it from me.� Then Shuuichi
kissed him, ever so gently and moved them to another setting, a large, soft bed
filled with cushions.

~~~()~~~

Youko
frowned as he looked into his clothing chest, Shiori-sama had ordered him to
wear a yukata today, but he wasn�t sure which she�d prefer. She hadn�t seen the
amber yukata with the silver roses yet, and he had some hair ornaments to suit
that outfit as well, the hair pins and combs Shiori had once commented on
seeing so often. He picked out a series of subtle brown shades to paint his
eyes with, and his amber lipstick, as well as some amber nail polish and wore the
entwined foxes necklace. He�d asked his Patron to alter his control of the
collar and cuffs that marked him as a concubine, so that instead of them only
being apparent to youkai senses in the Makai, and then in their basic form,
they could sometimes take the jewellery settings most of his previous Patrons had
enjoyed seeing on him. Shuuichi had laughed and done as he asked, even allowing
Youko the choice of which jewellery settings were apparent to human senses, giving
a set of five options for each cuff and for the collar. They were still only
apparent to anything beyond human senses in the Makai, an option which was
usually only used if a Patron didn�t want to advertise that he had a concubine
with him for some reason. But now at least his wrists didn�t have to look as
bare as they usually did, even if none of the jewellery options for his collar
would look quite right. He shifted all his cuffs to simple amber circles,
elegant enough to please Shiori-sama he thought, but looking expensive enough
to reflect well on Shuuichi.

Finally
he put the thought of fussing more over his appearance firmly away from his
mind. He looked as perfect an image of a traditional woman was he was going to
look, and any further worry would just be an effort to delay the time he�d need
to set off to visit Shiori-sama. He paused to fasten his geta on then locked
the door behind him. Admittedly in a way it was an unneeded precaution since
their wards were so specifically attuned to them, and the
apartment building had guards despite it being in a good
neighbourhood,
so Shuuichi could justify charging more. But always locking the door when no
one was in was something explainable to the humans, and it made it a bit less
likely that any humans would run afoul of the wards. He didn�t even want to
think about what the Reikai would do if that happened, they usually issued
execution orders on any demon living in the human world responsible for the
death of a human. At least if they could catch the demon in question, no matter
what the circumstances were. Of course they didn�t care what happened to any
human stupid enough to get himself killed in the Makai.

He�d
got halfway to Shiori-sama�s house while he was thinking about that, not really
paying attention to his surroundings, but he wasn�t blinded enough by his
thoughts not to notice when a man was beginning to stalk him. He let the idiot
think that he wasn�t aware of what he was doing while he considered his
options; there was still a bit too much of an audience for him to use his powers,
but there was one mostly deserted alley he could cut through. That would have
the benefit of ensuring he was attacked at a time of his choosing, and let him
deal with the man without risking damage to his outfit. Besides, even if he
made a point of staying where there were a lot of people, he couldn�t be
certain the human wouldn�t try to grab him anyway, or that anyone would dare
intervene. Humans tended not to intervene a lot of the time, because they were
scared that they�d be hurt themselves, whereas demons didn�t intervene because
they had no reason to bother...actually human thinking and demon thinking on
aiding a stranger or casual acquaintance were pretty similar. He wouldn�t share
that conclusion with anyone but Shuuichi, Asuka or possibly Hiei he resolved as
he took the alley he intended to use for his own little ambush, lifting the hem
of his yukata to keep it clean. There were enough weeds in the alley that he
wouldn�t even need to resort to the seeds he kept stored in his hair, and that
would keep him from even mussing his hair, and if he wasn�t attacked
before he left the alley Youko was going to bind the man anyway.

He
needn�t have worried about the human having the brains to realise he was being lured, as
soon as they were out of easy view from the street they�d just left he tried to
grab hold of Youko by the shoulder. Any youkai had good enough ki-senses to
detect when he was about to be attacked, and the bindweed nearest them lived up
to its name, binding the human helplessly against the fence. Youko glanced back
at him coldly, considering whether it would be a good idea to use a drug to
make him forget what had just happened, or if he was likely to edit it out of
his memory anyway.

He
concluded that even if the man didn�t edit this out of his memory it wouldn�t
be believed so it wasn�t worth risking messing up his hair by drugging him.
Instead he just knocked the man out with a fist to the head, then let him fall
to the ground as the bindweed returned to its original state. He made a point
of checking the man�s pulse, without messing up his yukata, and since it was
strong and steady he knew he was in the clear so far as hurting a human went,
but still, it would be a good idea to phone someone and report a version of
this.

~~~()~~~

Shiori
felt as if she was meddling too much in her son�s life, almost as if she was
trying to arrange a marriage for him, even though she�d always felt that was
inappropriate in these times. She firmly reminded herself that Shuuichi had asked
her to add Akari to the family register before she was transferred to the
Hatanake family register, so all she was doing by having Akari perform the
engagement tea ceremony for him was reminding him of his human heritage.

There
was something wrong, she could tell from the way Akari held herself when she
arrived, not that her discomfort could be seen on her face. Akari removed her
geta with the incredible grace she�d learned was so characteristic of her son�s
chosen lover, the grace she�d grown used to seeing in her son. Most of her jewellery was familiar, but the
amber bands at her wrists and ankles were new, almost matching the amber
yukata. Shiori wanted to help, but she couldn�t say anything unless Akari asked
her for help.

�I
don�t think I�ve seen that yukata before, is it another of my son�s choices?�

�Yes,
he sometimes calls me his silver rose.� She was blushing faintly, but Shiori
could see how the yukata was appropriate for that nickname.

�Oh,
is that why he chose that particular pattern?�

�No,
it...Shuuichi-sama likes making jokes that only make sense if you know certain
secrets, and I always used a rose as a weapon before I died, so...� There was
something about her reaction when she mentioned using roses as a weapon...

�You
only used roses as a weapon?�

�No,
but they were always my favourite plant to use as a weapon, and the only plant I
really reshaped to use as a weapon, instead of just directing their growth.�
From the look on Akari�s face...

�I
don�t really want to know more, do I?�

�No
Kaasan, I do not believe that you do.� She arranged herself gracefully on her
knees in front of the table Shiori had set up to test her, without saying any
more.

�I
always wanted to see my son get married properly, but I won�t, will I?�

�I
doubt it, not unless Shuuichi-sama decides to go through with the form of a
wedding to please you. And even that would be unlikely unless he chose a
consort, rather than just keeping his concubines and giving us, or me at least,
the protection of his name.� Shiori couldn�t understand some of Akari�s
attitudes, and she wasn�t sure whether to attribute it to her age, or to her
demonic nature. But this gave her an excuse to change the subject.

�Speaking
of names, have you decided which option you�d prefer for when we add you to the
family register? Do you want to keep Youko as a second personal name?�

�Please,
Shuuichi-sama has approved of that and I don�t want to lose my last link to my
clan.� Shiori realised that she hadn�t even thought about that, about how she�d
lost all of her kin when she was young and that this might have made her feel
as if she was deserting them or something.

�I
understand, I don�t want to deprive you of that.� She wished that Akari wasn�t quite
so dependent on her son�s approval, but that was most certainly one of the
demon things Shiori would never understand. The reference to consort, as
opposed to concubine seemed to be one of those things as well, but perhaps she
could learn to understand that at least. �What did you mean when you
mentioned Shuuichi taking a consort rather than a concubine?�

�It
is a difference in status and level of commitment. A good analogy would
be samurai in a way, at least I think so. A consort would be the equivalent of
his wife in many ways, while a concubine or courtesan would be equivalent to a
geisha contracted to serve him exclusively and prostitutes and whores in the
Makai are equivalent to geisha who aren�t contracted exclusively, that or
untrained whores. It isn�t exact, but it is good enough. And both concubines
and courtesans can be dismissed by their Patron, while a consort is for life,
and always submissive to his or her lord.�

�Her
lord, so a female demon can�t have a consort?� It sounded as if the Makai was
very much behind the human world socially, although the existence of concubines
should have already cued Shiori in to that.

�Oh,
no, of course she can if she�s powerful enough. I�ve had female Patrons before,
while I was just a one-tail, the term I�ve translated as lord is gender neutral
in the original language. Some races of demons have pretty severe gender
imbalances, the Koorime for example are exclusively female, at least in
appearance, asexual might be a better term in many ways.� Shiori noticed how
demurely she was sitting, hands folded in her lap, except for when she hid her
smile at Shiori�s suggestion of sexism in the demon world behind her hand.

�What
of kitsune then?�

�I
cannot say for certain about birth rate, but I would estimate about 60% female
kitsune in the population, although even male kitsune look feminine in human
form.� And that was a reminder she didn�t really need of Akari�s true nature,
even if Shiori did have to agree that her son had always looked rather effeminate.

�I
want you to perform the tea ceremony for an engagement.� And that was enough to
make Akari smile, without trying to hide it.

�Yes
Kaasan.� Shiori watched as Akari went through the ritual flawlessly, probably
better than Shiori could have done it herself she had to admit. But she still
looked at Shiori uncertainly, waiting for approval.

�That
was perfect. On Friday could you bring an appropriate Ikebana for that ritual
as well?�

�That
will not be a problem Kaasan. We�ve covered arrangements for special occasions
fairly recently in our class, and I can always ask Fujimiya-sensei for advice
if I need to.� She blushed, bowing her head. �If I might ask, are you intending
for me to perform this for Shuuichi-sama?�

�Yes,
why? Do you think he�ll object?�

�More
likely he will take it as a sign that you approve of his choice to take me as
his concubine and give me the protection of his name.�

~~~()~~~
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