• 1-Fate's Recompense
• 2-Chapter 2
• 3-Chapter 3
• 4-Chapter 4
• 5-Chapter 5

WhiteCourtain: Yeah, sorry we haven’t updated in so long… It’s no wonder you forgot about this story!

GoodLuckMotherFuckers: Thank you! We are glad you enjoy it!

OOO

Yusuke didn’t know how it happened. Wait… Scratch that. He knew exactly how it happened. Given, the experience was rather hot, steamy and quite pleasurable… But that’s not the point, damn it all! Once again, Urameshi Yusuke had fucked things up, literally this time. Keiko, known to the outside world as the polite, sensitive housewife who always kept her mischievous husband in line, had turned into a planning, scheming… There just were not words to describe the woman’s behavior.

Well, perhaps her recent actions could be best described as those of most men’s dream wives. She always wanted to play hanky-panky these days whenever they had at least five minutes alone together. Because of the dreaded “baby fever” (Yusuke shivered), Yusuke found himself becoming increasingly paranoid. He had taken a leaf from Hiei’s and Kurama’s books—sniffing his food (not for poison, but aphrodisiacs), glancing around the corners of hallways, jumping at small noises… Just general paranoia.

He had been so careful! He really had, but Crafty Keiko had pounced (literally) at the moment he had least expected it…

o

Yusuke sighed as he fumbled for the keys in his pocket, finally locating the correct one and lifting it to the lock on his house door. There was no time. He could never have blocked such an attack. He never stood a chance…

The key reached for the lock, but never made it, as the door swung open. He hadn’t even registered the shock before a hand snatched up a hefty portion of his shirt in an iron grip, reeling him into the darkness…

…Darkness where lips crashed upon his, and his troubles were swept into a corner of his mind labeled ‘temporarily forgotten’. His shirt was being forcibly removed, and a hand was… What the-- When had he lost his pants? The lips returned to his. Oh well… Sure Kurama was acting suspiciously out of character, the world was probably ending, but the hot, naked body pressing so closely against his felt so damn good.

“Keiko,” he heard himself whisper in his ambusher’s ear.

He shivered at the sound of her desperate moans as he ran his hands over her silky skin, kissing down her neck and collar bone until he finally latched onto a soft, pink nipple to suck. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him impossibly closer, begging for more of him, calling out his name in that pretty voice of hers as he finally decided to comply with her wishes…

“Yusuke… Yusuke…”

o

“Yusuke?”

“Huh? What?” The detective stuttered, coming back to the world of now. Not the darkness of the living room with that hot body pressed against—

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Kurama asked.

“Of course I know what you just said!” Yusuke said.

“… That’s not what I asked,” Kurama sighed.

“Yusuke-san,” Yukina said, bringing him to smile at her, as did all who looked into her kind eyes. “Are you sure you’re alright? You look a little flushed,” she said, placing her hand on his forehead.

“I doubt it’s any ailment that you can help with, Yukina,” Kurama assured her, hiding his amusement behind a cough.

“Well alright then,” she giggled. “I’ll put on some tea though.”

“So Keiko’s really…?” Kuwabara asked, as soon as Yukina was out of earshot.

Yusuke muttered an unintelligible affirmative.

“It was bound to happen sooner or later, Yusuke,” Kurama said. “You know you want children too.”

Yusuke glanced up at Kurama who gave a slight laugh and smile. How long had it been since the kitsune had let his eyes light up even a little like they did now? Kurama had lost a lot of color in the past couple of weeks, and outside of missions no one had seen him since the warehouse incident four weeks ago. The fox seemed so on edge these days, and with a much shorter fuse.

“Awwww, soon there’ll be little Keiko’s and Yusuke’s running around!” Kuwabara said, clearly more excited than Yusuke felt he should be at the information.

While Kurama had faded into a dreary character, Kuwabara had become goofier than they ever imagined he could be. Ever since Yukina had agreed to start dating him two weeks, twenty-two hours and seven minutes ago, the man hadn’t stopped grinning. Yusuke was really beginning to think that it might be a health issue, a serious one that Kuwabara should consult his doctor about.

So, between Sir Doom-and-Gloom and Mr. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Yusuke was not getting the best of advice.

“I just don’t have a good feeling about all of this,” Yusuke muttered, his stomach churning.

Kurama met his eyes, and suddenly Yusuke saw all of the anxiety and uneasiness reflected in the emerald pools.

“I know what you mean,” Kuwabara said with a shiver, looking more serious than they had seen him in the past weeks.

One unanswered question hung in the air…

…What did all of this mean?

OOO

IN MAKAI… BECAUSE SURELY WE HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN ABOUT HIEI…

Hiei awoke to the feel of something cool on his forehead. Soon he could hear voices, though they were indistinct and sounded far away, as if everything around him were taking place at the other end of a long tunnel.

“…Who he is?” one voice murmured.

“…not poisoned… together…” another blurry voice said.

“…iei…” a third voice said.

Why was none of this making sense? Hiei couldn’t hear anything, and catching little pieces was not helping. He was no longer sure if he was hearing the words and voices in the right order. Eventually, Hiei decided to give up and try to go back to sleep. However, just at that moment…

“…check…” said the soft voice, if it could be called soft as warped as it sounded.

The hands that had just touched the supposed rag on his forehead dropped to Hiei’s stomach where they began to press and prod. Alarms went off in his head telling him that he had to wake up, and fast!

Hiei’s eyes snapped open, heart pounding in his ears, as he attempted to sit up and snatch the stranger’s hands away. Two larger hands moved to push him back down on whatever he had been laying on while the voices, still blurry, began talking to him now. The only protest he could manage was a slurred, “Wha…?” as the hands continued to poke and prod.

Suddenly the world sped up back to normal, and his vision returned in a rush of color. The first thing he saw in front of him was a hand holding up two fingers. The first voice he heard clearly was that of the accursed sexually confused man.

“Hiei? Hiei, how many fingers do you see?” the man asked.

“Get your hands out of my face!” Hiei snapped, smacking the hand away as he moved to sit up again.

Two larger hands put him back in place, and Hiei sought out the owner (to cause him bodily injury for holding him down). Did nobody understand that he had to protect his child?

“Stay put. We are checking the child for injury,” the man said calmly.

His voice was just as dull as his appearance. This man was humanoid, and appeared to be some sort of dog demon. His colors were faded like a picture that has been left out in the sun for too long, and his features seemed weathered.

“Truthfully, I’m surprised you got out alive,” the man said to Ardat as if he hadn’t just been restraining Hiei. “The spider’s web was one of the largest I’ve seen.”

‘Spider’s web?’ Hiei thought.

As if the man had heard Hiei’s thoughts, he said to Hiei, “Yes, you are especially fortunate to be alive. We found the spider’s youki link that had been attached behind your ear.”

‘But when did he do that?’ Hiei thought. Then he remembered brushing off all of those little spiders when he had entered the doorway… Just another way in which he had been careless.

“The child is fine,” announced a female voice.

This woman was also a dog demon, and though she seemed to be about the same age as the man, she did not appear nearly so worn out.

“Also very fortunate,” the man said. “Pregnant youkai are a delicacy among the arachnids, though I’m not sure I’ve seen one of your kind before.”

It took a few silent seconds of Hiei glaring at him before the man figured out that Hiei was not going to answer his implied questions. With a sigh the man sat back in his chair. There was silence; the only other sounds were those coming from the fire that had been lit, along with the bubbling of something in a large pot that the woman was now tending to. Now that Hiei could see clearly, he realized that he was lying on a small bed set against a wall of a small room. A quick glance out the window told him that he was upstairs somewhere, and the lines of smoke rising in the moonlight showed that they were in a small village.

“Where’re you headed?” the man asked, still staring inquisitively at Hiei with his sienna eyes.

When Hiei didn’t answer, the man sighed again. Hiei decided to sit up now that he was unrestrained.

“How about we start off with introductions?” the woman said with a kind smile. When no one answered, she laughed a little. “My name is Aya,” and when no one continued the conversation, “…This is my mate, Ino.”

Even their names seemed as dull and simple as they were… This was going to be a long night.

Ino merely grunted at the mention of his name.

“I’m Ardat,” the sexually confused man said, clearly trying to help the woman out. Everyone looked expectantly at Hiei, who didn’t answer…

…So Ardat took it upon himself to answer for the smaller youkai. “This is Hiei,” he said, only to be faced with a smoldering glare for ‘helping out’.

Ino smirked, sensing the tension between the two. “These are dangerous times to be starting a family.”

“Well,” Ardat said awkwardly, “this wasn’t exactly a part of the plan…”

“You weren’t exactly a part of the plan,” Hiei snapped. “Or any of my plans for that matter,” he muttered.

“Ah, I think I see where this is leading,” Ino said, his smirk growing. “Did one night of passion create a little problem? How cliché.”

Aya, seeing the rage that Hiei seemed about to unleash upon the other two men, stepped in with a bowl of soup, handing it to Hiei.

“I’m afraid it’s not the best, but it won’t make you sick at least,” she said, serving more bowls of soup before sitting on the bed beside Hiei.

Hiei sniffed the soup before taking a tiny sip of it. Aya was right when she said that this soup was not really that good. In fact, it was so bland that it could almost be considered water with noodles. However, he noticed that it didn’t make him sick as a lot of things seemed to do to him lately, so he ate without complaint.

“So which way are you heading?” Aya asked.

Ardat shrugged. He would say, but he didn’t know. So far, it looked like he was going wherever Hiei went, and Hiei was heading over here, then over there, and every other fucking direction.

Hiei paused before he answered, “Hisawa.”

Ino nodded, “You’re not very far, then. We just came from there two days ago.”

“It’s one of the more stable territories,” Aya nodded. “Are you going there to settle?”

“Perhaps,” Hiei answered.

‘Thank the gods!’ Ardat thought, having a mini dance of victory in his head.

“We are on our way to Gandara,” Aya said.

Beside him Ardat could feel Hiei tense.

“It would be a much better place to raise a child,” she said. “If you would like to come…”

“I’ve seen Gandara,” Hiei replied quickly. “It is not a place I wish to visit again.”

Aya opened her mouth to ask him another question when Ino cut her off.

“Aya,” Ino said. “Do not meddle in other’s business.”

“Forgive me,” she said, bowing her head a little with an apologetic smile. “I got a little nosey.”

Another moment of silence followed, only broken by the clinking of silverware on bowls.

“If you do decide to stay in Hisawa, talk to my sister Ayame,” Aya said, smiling a little brighter this time. “She lives there, and she can probably get you a great deal on a house.”

Hiei nodded, but continued to eat the last of the soup. A house… He knew that he would eventually have to choose a permanent dwelling, but the thought hadn’t really sunk in. The concept was foreign to him. Growing up, the band of thieves who raised him did technically have a permanent base, but the time spent there was so little that it felt little more than just another campsite. As a child Hiei had not really experienced such luxuries as electricity, which was quite common in most small towns and villages now.

“When you set out again, maybe you two should stay closer together,” Ino said, setting down his now empty bowl.

Ardat immediately began choking, nearly falling from his chair. Hiei didn’t say anything, but his glare made it clear that he did not approve of the idea.

“If you think there’re a lot of demons tracking you right now, just think about how bad it will be only one month from now,” Ino continued seriously. “Even settling in one area will not keep them away completely. I would tell you to consider a mating ritual”—Ardat began choking again—“but judging from your attitudes towards each other, you two are clearly not compatible candidates for such a thing.”

Aya patted Ardat’s back to relieve the choking fit, and Ardat set his bowl aside lest Ino make any other… insinuating comments.

Hiei growled, “If you are insinuating that I am not capable of protecting myself—”

“I do not doubt what you are capable of,” Ino said calmly, though his eyes had developed a sharp edge. “I was merely making a suggestion that I think you had better consider.” He turned to look out the window as he said quietly, “These are dangerous times.”

The rest of the company followed his gaze to see the mountains looming above them at the edge of the town. It was only then that Hiei realized how far away those same mountains had been when he had stopped at the temple. Now they were no more than a few miles away. How far, exactly, had Ardat carried him? Did he meet Ino and Aya when he got to the town, or did he run into them on the way there? His thoughts were broken as he saw the mass of clouds that floated high above the mountains…

…Somewhere hidden in the mass of clouds lie Hyouga, the floating glacier.

“’Ice River Country?’” Ardat asked.

Hiei blinked in surprise, and looked at him. Had he just said that last part aloud?

“Hyouga is a floating island covered in ice,” Aya explained quietly. “The Ice Maidens live there, completely isolated from the world below and from all men.”

Ardat nodded, though he did not completely understand. There would be time to ask more questions later that Hiei would likely be able to answer… that is, if Hiei answered his questions at all.

“Those storm clouds aren’t normal for this time of year,” Ino said grimly, still staring out of the window. “Something’s got the Koorime all riled up.”

As if to accent Ino’s statement, a long arm of lighting branched forth from the billowing clouds, lighting up the entire sky.

“Hiei-san,” Aya said, placing a hand on his leg lightly from where she was seated.

He met her eyes to let her know he was listening.

“Hisawa may be relatively safe, but it really would be best if you and Ardat stuck together at least until you reach Hisawa,” she said with pleading eyes. Despite what Ino had said earlier about not meddling, he did not stop her now.

“What’s going on in the territory below Hyouga?” Ardat asked.

“Many things,” Aya said uncertainly.

“For one, the Koorime are coming down in larger groups to trade in Koorishi,” Ino said. “It used to be that they would come in pairs, or the older ones would come alone. Then all of a sudden they started traveling in groups of at least five.”

“To make matters worse, they’ve become even more intolerant of men,” Aya added.

“They weren’t intolerant before?” Hiei muttered.

Ino smirked a little, and said, “Yes, but now they have started killing any man that they have not already scheduled to trade with, and many groups request a female to represent the male trader.”

“That’s excessive,” Ardat murmured.

“That’s the Koorime,” Ino said.

“I do not know how they will react to your… condition,” Aya said softly to Hiei, “but I urge you not to linger there.”

“Hn, I never planned to,” Hiei replied, looking back out of the window. “I have no business with them.”

“Why do you think they’re paranoid all of a sudden?” Ardat wondered.

“Not sure,” Ino shrugged. “But we have heard rumors…”

“Supposedly a few ice maidens have disappeared in the last several months,” Aya told them.

“People disappear in the Makai all the time,” Ardat said.

“But, you see, this is abnormal for the ice maidens,” Ino said, leaning back in his chair. “They believe they have a reason to be on guard. Someone’s obviously abducting and/or killing ice maidens and they believe it’s been the same person every time these last several months.”

Ardat narrowed his eyes.

“Yet again, these are rumors,” Ino said, with a wave of his hand. “We overheard one of the elders that we traded with the other day telling another that they suspected a cursed child they threw over the cliffs long ago had likely survived and is now preparing to seek his revenge upon them.”

“Cursed child?” Ardat asked, not noticing Hiei go rigid beside him.

“It’s not surprising that most who have never been near Koorishi have not heard of the Forbidden Children,” Ino said, folding his hands. “They are, after all, killed immediately after birth.”

“Why?” asked Ardat sadly.

“For being male,” Aya replied quietly.

Ardat decided not to ask the many more questions that he had.

“Where did you get this information?” Hiei asked, barely keeping the anger from slipping into his voice.

“Our trade route goes by there every year, and we used to see this girl,” Aya said.

Hiei tensed, his anger freezing over.

“Her name was Yukina,” she said, smiling at the memory. “She claimed to be looking for her brother, though she could not describe him to us because she had never seen him herself. She’s the one who told us the story.”

Hiei mentally sighed, ‘This world is just too small sometimes.’

“It’s very unlikely that her brother survived if the elders disposed of him like she said,” Ino huffed, rolling his eyes.

“It’s okay to hope, Ino,” Aya said, smiling at the memory of Yukina, just as everyone who meets Yukina does.

“Then maybe it’s Yukina’s brother that’s causing this trouble,” Ino said. “If that’s the case, then that girl had better hope that she doesn’t meet him.”

Hiei’s shoulders relaxed and he leaned against the headboard at the statement. Somehow those words were soothing, not for their meaning but because they were familiar. He could deal with words of hatred or fear. It was the unfamiliar statements of love and family that he could not process. Such things were too strange and complicated for his liking… not to mention dangerous.

Dangerous to him…dangerous to her…

…And now, dangerous to his child.

A clatter of pots startled him from his thoughts, and he turned to see the two dog demons packing up their belongings.

“We’ll be heading out now. We were actually supposed to have left several hours ago,” Ino said gruffly, swinging a large pack up onto his back, Aya soon copying his actions. He then stepped over to Ardat, handing him a folded map. “This will show you the safest routes in the area used by traders. Some of the old passes are not really used much anymore since all the spiders were chased into those territories a couple of years ago.”

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Aya gasped, stepping over to Hiei while digging in her pockets. Finally, she produced a small leather packet which she handed to him. “If you eat a pinch of this every morning, you will stop getting sick. The recipe’s inside,” she said, giving him a sympathetic smile. “It will go away eventually, I promise.”

Hiei only nodded, uncomfortable under her kind gaze. The two demons began to leave, but as they reached the door, Hiei spoke.

“You never saw me.”

“Of course not,” Ino agreed.

“Why? What if we’re asked?” Aya asked.

“No one must know of this,” Hiei replied, a threat glinting in the depths of his red eyes.

“But—“ Aya began, before Ino cut her off.

“We never saw you,” Ino said firmly. “Either of you.”

With that, the two demons made their exit, Ino gently guiding Aya to follow him.

OOO

THAT NIGHT…

Hiei had just settled into his comfy covers, all snuggly in his bed, with not a care in the world for now—

Ardat nudged Hiei again.

‘Oh, for the love of…’

“What the hell do you want?” Hiei asked, cracking a tired eye open to glare death upon the intruder of his rest…and he had been so close to sleep too…

“There’s only one bed,” Ardat said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Hiei sat up a little and gave the room a precursory glance over, then said, “Yes, it does appear that way doesn’t it? You have impeccable observational skills.”

He then proceeded to flump back down into his cushy mattress with a sigh, and pulled his blankets up a little higher to keep out the night’s chill…It was getting colder, wasn’t it…

A shove alerted him that Captain Obvious wasn’t done pursuing his ‘campaign for comfort’.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” Hiei asked, right eye twitching.

Another shove.

“Move over,” Ardat whined, shoving Hiei a little harder.

With a huff, Hiei sat up and glared at Ardat with bloodshot eyes.

“No, I don’t think I will. I think you’ll be just fine, sleeping on the floor,” Hiei said matter-of-factly.

A pause.

“But… but the floor’s cold…and diiiiiirrrty,” Ardat whined further, with a crinkle in his nose, reminding Hiei of a petulant child.

In fact, Hiei was reminded of a particular incident he had seen in a toy store in which a little girl had thrown a tantrum in the middle of the isle when her father had refused to buy her a specific doll.

Now, most people would feel pity for this cold, tired man shivering at his bedside, but not Hiei. No, he would not be swayed by Ardat’s pathetic attempts to weasel his way into Hiei’s bedcovers once more. He knew this tactic well. In fact, he had used it himself on occasion… ‘Fools,’ he thought with a reminiscent grin.

Ardat continued to give him the kicked puppy look.

“You know I would feel a lot more sorry for you if it had not taken me more effort than I think it should have just to sit up. I don’t know… Maybe it has something to do with the fetus growing in my newly discovered UTERUS!” Hiei replied to the look, his words quickly ascending into a shout.

He then proceeded to turn over and burrow further into his pillows than he had before.

…

“You didn’t know you had a uterus?”

“Alright! That’s it! Out! Outoutoutout!” Hiei bellowed, rising and shoving Ardat towards the door.

“But where will I sleep?” Ardat asked, eyes wide in disbelief.

“I don’t particularly care! Sleep on the ground!” Hiei raged, tossing the man-child into the hallway.

Hiei posed in the doorway, ready to slam it on Ardat’s nose.

Ardat opened his big mouth, “So… does that mean that you didn’t realize you have a vajay-jay?”

Hiei pursed his lips, slamming the door close, hearing a satisfying thump and yelp.

A muffled voice emerged from behind the door, “So we’re leaving at first light then?”

“He’s like a curse,” Hiei muttered to himself while dead-bolting the door. He returned to his bed, sinking into the mattress with a heavy sigh. “What in the three worlds did I do to deserve this?”

Ironically enough, the victory mattress refused to grant him his desperate wish to sleep. The muffled monologue continued from beyond the door late into the night.

OOO

Pages: 11