You Owe Me One

You Owe Me One

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
-Old saying

Dressed in a pristine pressed white shirt, tie, and dark pants, Kurama methodically went about his morning routine of cooking breakfast.  The kitchen, while small, was well suited to the tasks at hand, more than capable of providing for a party of several people, and he was currently cracking two eggs over a hot frying pan of butter.  The white orbs neatly separated, their thin shells forming countless little lines as they shattered into tiny shrapnel, then dropping their gooey contents into the pan to sizzle and turn white, the yolk standing out like the sun in an old cartoon.  Not wasting a second, Kurama took a condiment shaker from a cupboard and began to sprinkle careful amounts of salt onto them, the tiny specks of flavor like snow to the microscopic world.

“How typical of Hiei to miss a meal with me.  I have no doubt he will arrive later to tend to our nightly ritual.” Kurama thought.  It certainly was true, for Hiei was not prone to socializing or eating unless his system deemed it necessary.  “As for my other resident, I hope she will be awake in time for breakfast.”

The sound of an alarm clock further away in the apartment told him that she most certainly would not miss breakfast, and Kurama felt a smile creep across his face, although it vanished as quickly as it had arrived when he heard an audible crashing sound.  One of these days, he was going to have to talk to her about not striking the alarm clock to shut it off.  At least she hadn’t broken it again.  Well, this time, anyway.

Kurama turned to regard the girl he had taken in quite literally off of his doorstep those thirteen years ago as she walked into the room.  People said time flew, but when you were a demon, it absolutely blazed past you in ways astronomers on the hunt for the ever elusive comets felt.  One moment it was there, the next it was not.  It was hard to believe that those years ago she had been just a small baby in a basket, looking up at him and his lover with those large, fascinated eyes of hers.  Who would have thought Kurama would have turned out to be a caretaker, and eventually, an adoptive father?  It was almost preposterous, this young man who had done so much in his lifetime-two lifetimes, if you counted his reign of terror in Demon World as Youko Kurama-and even if you said he had settled down in Human World, it still wasn’t much to go on.

But maybe it wasn’t entirely impossible.  Kurama had been very reluctant to the idea, of course, only wanting to keep the child until her parents had been located, and Hiei had initially wanted nothing to do with her, thinking his chosen one had been doing something behind his back, but as with so many movies on television, the child had grown on Kurama, and he had more or less come to love her as his own.  Hiei had come around too, although in a decidedly different way.  It had been rather befitting of a soap opera, the way the two of them had bickered over how best the child should be brought up, and the specifics need not be mentioned for the sake of debate (or lack, thereof), but Silvana had turned out healthy, happy, and intelligent under both of their wings.

“Good morning, Papa!” Silvana greeted, dressed in her fandango and orange striped pajamas.  The smell of fried eggs and soy sauce wafted through the apartment, causing Silvana’s mouth to water.  “Before you ask, I got all my homework done last night, so I’m all set for school.” said the adolescent as she took her seat at the table.

Kurama gave her a warm glance as he slid the eggs onto a pair of plates, already having rice balls and toast with jam on them.  “Good morning, Silvana.  You certainly are on top of things today.  I hope you also remembered to study for your math exam today?”  Kurama gave her an inquisitive look as he carried the two plates of food to the table.

“Of course I did!  Why wouldn’t I?” Silvana asked.  She immediately began wolfing down her food-although maybe wolfing wasn’t the correct term, given her fox tail and ears.  “You’ve taught me all sorts of stuff for this many years, so of course I’m going to study!”

Kurama, eating at a much slower pace, reached over and pet the girl on the head.  “That’s a good girl.  You have been enjoying school so far?”

Silvana shrugged her shoulders as she slurped a floppy piece of egg white into her mouth for chewing.  “It’s alright, I guess.  It was a lot more fun when you were teaching me.  A lot of the stuff I’m learning I already know about.”  She grinned, displaying a combination of human teeth and sharp fox fangs, lightly stained by eggs and crumbs.  “But you know me: I’m gonna keep on top of things.”

Kurama sipped coffee as he ate with his adopted child.  “That’s the spirit, Silvana.  You keep working hard like this, and I’m sure you’ll have a promising future.”  He thought to himself, “And here I thought it would be easy to see my eventual offspring grow out of the nest.  I really have adapted to being Shuichi.”  This reflection did not come without a mixture of both mild sadness and mild pride.

Silvana was already finished with her breakfast and was now drinking the last of the glass of orange juice Kurama had left her.  Smacking her lips, the cordovan haired girl began to clear her plate.  “I’ll be home at the regular time, Papa.  If something comes up, I’ll call you.  Not that anything will.”  She began to rinse out her plate, glass, and utensils in the small sink.  “I just hope Oniisan won’t follow me like he always does.”

Now Kurama couldn’t help but give voice to several ill-timed snickers behind his tightly sealed lips (and they had to be tightly sealed for the sake of not upsetting her).  Ever since they had started to integrate Silvana into human society outside of their little gaggle of friends, Hiei had taken to following her throughout Tokyo, watching her like some predatory bird to ensure that no harm came to her.  Kurama more than had mixed feelings on this matter, on one hand silently praising the fire demon for keeping Silvana out of trouble, but another part of him wishing Hiei would let her experience human culture on her own.  She wasn’t the scrap of an infant they knew anymore.  She could fend for herself (for the most part, that was), and she wasn’t the type to get in trouble… most of the time.  Silvana cause a ruckus?  Well, no child was perfect!

“Your school clothes are-”

“I know where they are, Papa.  I can’t be late!”  Silvana was already scurrying back to her room to get dressed for the day ahead.

“Don’t forget to make your tail and ears invisible!” Kurama called after her.

****

For anyone going to school, time is divided into three sections: arrival, waiting, and leaving.  During the arrival period, outerwear is put away in favor of the neatly pressed uniform and seats are taken for the chosen class, followed by taking out the necessary study materials.  Pencils, pens, papers, laptops, textbooks, whatever is needed comes out.  After that comes the waiting period in which the hands of the clock begin their monotonous journey of the circle until they reach the next period, and during that time, the brain attempts to absorb every detail that is spewed out of the mouth from the orator at the front of the class.  Instinct works in symmetry with the thought and memory faculties to prompt us to answer a question posed, or to ask a question if something is not understood.  All the while, the brain is dictating to the hands to write down information.  At last, the leaving period comes, and everything is gathered up into the schoolbag to carry the body to the next period or out of the building entirely, depending on the time and situation.

This system may seem rather monotonous, but it is actually a sort of natural coping mechanism that more or less lets the mind cope with the long hours and difficult flow of school life.  In between the teachers, the classmates, the mental and physical exercise, it all adds up to something that puts stress on the mind, even if the subjects are enjoyable and friends are made.  Nobody can deny that it is enjoyable to leave school and head to an arcade or the warm sanctity of home, and the fact that it eventually ends is above all else kept at the front as a reminder that something different, if not outright good, is waiting.

Clad in a bole colored blazer with a light green necktie tucked into it, a checked skirt that came down just past her knees on her lower torso, Silvana was making her way home after a long day at school, her schoolbag swinging in her right hand.  Some of her courses had been alright, namely Math and English, and Phys. Ed. had been tolerable, but she found History and Biology boring to the core, not to mention her Biology teacher had nearly bitten her head off when she had almost nodded off during his lecture on marine life.  So she had closed her eyes and lain her head down in her textbook, so what?  She had been paying attention to him!  Was it her fault the guy had such a monotone voice except when he was yelling or snapping his fingers in front of people’s faces?

On the plus side, Silvana was confident that she had aced her Math exam.  She had been studying hard all the previous several nights for it, and she wanted to make her father proud.  The material had been easy for her, and she was sure that she would be at least in the top ten when grades came around.

Silvana stopped walking and made sure nobody was looking all of a sudden.  Closing her eyes, she began to dig into the depths of her mind and scan the surrounding area for any signs of Hiei’s thoughts.  Knowing him, he was probably spying on her right now, not wanting her to fall down and scrape her ankle or something.  When she had been much younger, she had actually enjoyed Hiei being so protective of her, but now that she was older it was starting to annoy her.  Couldn’t the guy realize she could make it on her own?

The surrounding areas held a thousand thoughts of a thousand voices-men, women, children-all coming in a thousand tones, but she couldn’t hear her big brother anywhere.  Panting for breath, Silvana shut off her telepathy and leaned against a wall to rest.  That had been physically draining.  Even now, reading people’s thoughts took a lot out of her, let alone doing it to multiple people!  Anything for this little break, though.

Ducking into a nearby alleyway, Silvana opened her school bag and took out what she had been concealing the whole time: a plastic baggie with several cigarettes and a lighter.  Holding one up to her mouth, she flicked the lighter several times, then, upon getting a proper flame, lit the tip of the nicotine stick and began to puff on it, coughing several times as she did.

“Kami-sama, Papa would kill me if he found out about this.” Silvana thought as she smoked.  She hacked one more time to clear her throat before taking another drag on the cigarette.  “So would Hiei-oniisan.  I’ll have to take a shower when I get back home and put my school clothes in the laundry.  If I’m lucky, they won’t smell me until I’m clean.”

“The hell are you doing, kid?” asked a familiar voice.

Silvana sucked breath in shock, causing her to inhale so much smoke it nearly went to her stomach.  She gagged and wheezed for breath, coughing violently as she doubled over, clutching her stomach and dropping the cigarette on the ground where the intruder casually stomped it out.  Silvana felt tears of sickness well up in her eyes as she choked out the last of the smoke, and she found herself looking up into the eyes of a former Spirit Detective turned Human World detective.

“Un… Uncle… Ur-“

“Don’t say it, kid.” said Yusuke Urameshi.

****

The tears were still rolling down Silvana’s face as Yusuke helped the girl stand on her feet.  She was still coughing to the point where she was nearly doubled over, and Yusuke had to swat her on the back for two minutes before she finally stopped.  Even after she stopped coughing, Silvana still had red eyes, and her voice was hoarse from the coughing, not to mention she stank of smoke, even to Yusuke.  It probably didn’t help that Yusuke had been smoking earlier, and his clothes also bore a distinct odor.

“What are you doing in here, kid?  You sneaking something you shouldn’t?”  Yusuke had never called Silvana by her full name, always referring to her as ‘kid’ or ‘kiddo’.  The closest he came was calling her ‘Sil’ and that was when he was being deathly serious with her.  “Do your folks even know you aren’t home right now?”  He gave Silvana a look that said he knew something was fishy.

“Uncle Urameshi, cut me a break!” Silvana rasped.  “I was just…!  That is…!  Jeez, I’d expect this from Hiei-oniisan, but you-!  Shouldn’t you be scoping out one of the districts right now?  You’re a cop, aren’t you?”

“Damn right, but I just so happened to be cruising this neighborhood and I thought I’d drop by and pay you a visit.”  For once, Yusuke was ignoring the fact that Silvana was calling him ‘Uncle’.  It always annoyed him.  “You wanna explain why you’re smoking, or you want me to tell your folks why you’re late?”  Yusuke flashed Silvana his teeth-more effective than his badge ever could be in this situation-to show he was serious.

Silvana looked positively horrified.  “No!  Please don’t tell Papa or Onissan about what I was doing!  I wouldn’t be able to sit for the rest of the week!”  Silvana instinctively reached back to cover her rear end.  She looked up at Yusuke with an expression of pleading, her eyes prostrate with misery at the prospect of such a thing.  “Uncle Urameshi, please keep it a secret!  If I get caught I’m dead!”

Yusuke crossed his arms.  He already knew how to deal with this.  “Relax kiddo; I’m not gonna rat you out to Kurama and Hiei.  You’re going home with me, but I’m no squealer.”

Silvana looked hopeful at that.  “What are you gonna do, Uncle-“

“But I might not if you don’t stop calling me Uncle!”  Yusuke motioned for the young teen to follow him out of the alley.  “You’ll find out once we get there, kid.  Hiei’s not the only one who knows which buttons to press.  Besides, you’re not the only one who smoked at that age.”

Silvana glanced up at Yusuke as she stepped after him, staying close to him.  “You smoked too?  Is that why-?”

“Don’t push it, kiddo.”

****

The detective and the girl arrived at Kurama’s later than Silvana should have, and sure enough, a rather peeved Kurama was waiting for them, along with a very angry Hiei.  Despite having Yusuke with her, Silvana shrunk away from their glances, Kurama’s one being of solemn concern, and Hiei’s glance that of cold anger, quite a contrast to his fire abilities.  She was absolutely sure that she was getting a trip over one of their laps, maybe both, and whatever Yusuke was planning it wouldn’t work!  Why hadn’t she just gone home?

“H… hello, Papa, Oniisan.” Silvana greeted.  Her voice was barely a whisper.  She dared not meet their gaze.

“Care to explain why you’re late, girl?” Hiei demanded, already going toward them.  His crimson eyes were locked on SIlvana like a pair of angry hornets, and every bit as menacing.  “You show up late, you don’t even call us on that blasted machine, and you worried us to no end.”

“Oniisan, I can explain!”

Both Hiei and Kurama suddenly began to sniff the air.  Was that… was that smoke they detected in the apartment?  Why was it radiating from Silvana as well as Yusuke?  Oh, who were they kidding, they knew the answer to that!  They had covered this issue with her before, and yet she continued to break it.  She had taken to this habit after observing some of the other members of her school.  This wouldn’t be tolerated, of course!  Two pairs of eyes, one emerald green, the other crimson, were on Silvana now, neither of them friendly.

Silvana flinched.  “It’s not what you think.”

“You have fifteen seconds.”  Hiei looked up at Yusuke.  “You.  Leave.  This doesn’t concern you.”

“I am inclined to agree, Yusuke.  As much as I appreciate bringing Silvana back to us, we need to sort out this trouble by ourselves.” Kurama said icily.

“Actually, it does involve me, guys.”  Yusuke replied.  As the two older demons looked at him with an expression of wonder at his audacity, the dark haired male said, “I was cruising around the city and I saw the kid on the way.  I said hi, and we sorta talked for awhile.  Just to show her I’m not a total jerk, I showed her the inside of my car.  That’s why she smells like a… like smoke.”  He had almost sworn in front of their child, something they would gladly flay him alive for.  “You know me, guys.  I had a cigarette in my car.  Sorry if she stinks.”  Yusuke Urameshi apologizing?  Surely there had to be a planetary alignment!

Kurama and Hiei remained silent for maybe a full minute before they turned to look at Silvana.  Kurama spoke first.  “This is true, Silvana?”  His tone was much gentler now, as was his gaze.

Silvana, already catching on, nodded her head.

“Then I guess we owe you an apology, Silvana.  I am sorry for thinking you would disobey us.”  Kurama gave the girl a warm hug, something which made her giggle.  “Just be sure to call next time you see your Uncle, okay?”

“For the millionth time, I’m not her fucking Un-!”

Yusuke was suddenly faced with an image of a gigantic white fox with multiple tails, long claws, and very bright, golden eyes.  Naturally, he chose to close his mouth at that point.

****

Whistling to herself and feeling quite chipper, Silvana was making her way home from school again.  The past few days had been uneventful, but also enjoyable, as she had gone home straight from school and stuck to her schedule.  Hiei had even stopped prowling the city to keep an eye on her, although she was certain that had been because of Kurama’s influence.  Of course, there was all the stress of homework and such, but Kurama always helped her here and there, and she was an intelligent girl, so everything worked out.

There was the alley in which she had stopped.  Silvana almost ducked into it, but chose not to this time around.  Okay, so she wasn’t a flat out smoker, but she was definitely the type to experiment with them.  It was really more of a closet rebellion thing.  What kid didn’t want to break the bonds of parenting at some point?  You sort of had to, or they’d never let you grow up.

Not today, though.  Silvana didn’t want to hurt her father or adoptive brother’s feelings, and she had a big assignment due for her mythology class.  That was easily her favorite class, and why pass up something you enjoyed?

Just as she was about to leave, Yusuke came walking through the crowd and pulled on her arm.

“Hey, Sil’.”

Silvana felt her muscles tense.  What had she done to get Yusuke to call her Sil’?

“You and I have some unfinished business to take care of.” Yusuke said, leading the girl into the alley.  “You got off easy last time, you know that?”

“Yeah!  Thanks for helping me, Uncle Urameshi.  I owe you one.” Silvana said, feeling very anxious as Yusuke began to lead her to a large set of boxes.

“Damn right you owe me, Sil’.  Now you’re gonna pay your debt for smoking.”  As Yusuke sat down on the boxes, he pushed down on Silvana’s back and began to push her across his lap.

“What the hell are you doing?!  I thought you were helping me!  You kept me from being punished!” Silvana shouted.  Her fear was giving way to terror as she realized just what was going to happen.

“I saved you from being punished by Kurama and Hiei, Sil’.” Yusuke said as he began to lift up the back of her uniform skirt.  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t do anything.  If you wanna be my niece, then I’ve gotta teach you right from wrong, don’t I?”  He began to raise up his hand.

Silvana gave a bitter sigh.  How typical of him!

Sometimes you just can’t win.
-Old Saying

The End