Bedtime ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This story was inspired, believe it or not, by the Paul Simon song, 'St. Judy's Comet', which is a lullaby to his son. It's a terribly sweet song and not quite fit for youkai bedtimes -- but hey, us moody artistes get inspired by the weirdest things. If you have the chance, listen to the words of the song, and maybe you'll see what I saw when I heard it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hiei watched impassively, refusing to interfere, as Kinme summoned the Black Dragon. With a roar that belied his tender years Kinme launched the Dragon directly at Kurama; the demonic beast struck its target perfectly. Kurama staggered, fell to his knees. He made a choking, gurgling sound, clapped his hands to his chest. His eyes rolled back in his head; he fell backward on the grass, arms above his head, twitching once before lying perfectly still. Kinme pounced gleefully on the prone form, tugging viciously at Kurama's fuzzy ears. "I win!" he shrieked. "I win! I win!" Kurama reached up with one arm and rolled, pinning Kinme to the ground beside him. "You win an award," he assured the boy, sitting up, "for being the loudest, most hyperactive, most obnoxious child in the entire Makai -- and the Ningenkai, as well, no doubt." Kinme beamed at him, Hiei's own sharp-toothed smile. "What do I get?" the boy wondered. Kurama snorted. "How about," he began, pulling Kinme into his lap, "this?" He trapped the tiny youkai between his knees, his hands on either side of Kinme's head, and began kissing the little face all over. Kinme howled, struggling. Kurama laughed, and finally let him go. Kinme stumbled, rolled several times, then stood, and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "Time was," Kurama told him with a smile, "your father didn't want me to do that to him, either." Kinme scowled. Hiei had had enough of watching their play, and dropped down between them. Kinme sped toward him, latched on to his legs, grinned up at him. Rumpling his son's hair with one hand, Hiei turned to Kurama. "Still don't," he assured the youko. Kurama winked, stretched his arms over his head. "Right," he yawned. "C'mere and lemme prove you wrong." Hiei sat down, let Kinme crawl up to his shoulders and wrap chubby arms around his neck. Kurama stretched out on the grass, closed his eyes, yawned again. He blinked sleepily. "On second thought," he said with a third yawn, "he's worn me out." "Fuu," Hiei said, keeping a straight face. "Time was it would take a hell of a lot more than that to wear you out." "You deal with the little monster," Kurama growled, eyes half- closed. "I tried my best to tire him out, and it only got him more wound up, and now I'm beat." Hiei grinned. Kurama curled up, wrapped his tail around himself, and fell asleep in seconds. Hiei pulled Kinme down into his lap. "So," he said solemnly, "what'd you do while I was gone?" "Blasted him," Kinme informed him. "With the Koku Ryu Ha." "Ah," Hiei nodded. "You must be tired, after that." Kinme shook his head. "Oh," Hiei continued. "It tires me out. It takes a lot of you-ki to summon and control it." "I'm very powerful," Kinme told him, nodding wisely. Hiei bit down on a smile. "Powerful or not," he said, "you do need to sleep." "Not tired," Kinme informed him, blinking rapidly. "Touchan, where did you go?" "I had to see someone," Hiei told him. "What do you think would help you get to sleep?" "Not tired," Kinme repeated. "Who'd you have to see?" "No one you know," Hiei said, smoothing Kinme's wild black hair. "Was it Yuusuke?" "You know him, don't you?" Hiei pointed out. "I said it was no one you know." "Who was it?" Hiei sighed, and stood, carrying Kinme a short distance away, so as not to disturb Kurama. Kinme wrapped his legs around Hiei's waist, and his arms around Hiei's neck. "It was Yukina." "Who's she?" "She's Koorimei. She lives in the Ningenkai, with Kuwabara." "Why?" "I couldn't tell you." "Has she ever seen me?" "Just after you were born." "Why?" "Because she wanted to see you, that's why." "Why?" Hiei looked down at his son, into the slanted golden eyes. He didn't for one second believe that Kinme was unaware of how annoying his questioning could be. "Because she was the one who helped me figure out that I could have you, that's why. Because most people have to come from girls, that's why I didn't know. And that's something you'll find out when you're older, because I don't have any intention of telling you now, because I just don't want to." He glared, daring his son to continue his line of questioning. Kinme watched him a moment, then put his head on Hiei's shoulder. Hiei hefted him slightly; Kinme was small and light, very much like him. "Saa," Hiei said, walking slowly. "What do you think could help you to sleep?" "Not tired," Kinme mumbled against his shoulder. "Want to run with me?" Kinme perked up; Hiei allowed himself a small smile. Kurama played thousands of games with Kinme, climbed rocks and trees with him, even allowed Kinme to 'kill' him on an almost daily basis; but Hiei took secret pleasure in the fact that Kinme's favourite activity was running with him. He set Kinme on his feet, and they both crouched, as though starting a race. "Ready?" Hiei asked, looking down at his son. "Uhn," Kinme nodded, eyes sparkling with excitement. "Go!" Hiei grinned, and deliberately gave Kinme a half-second's headstart. Then he sped after his son. The Makai night stood still. That was how the world seemed when they ran; he knew that anyone they passed would see nothing. For each of them, only the other existed; for each of them, only the other served as proof that anything else was alive in the Makai. Hiei moved in front of Kinme, ran backward, teasing. Kinme concentrated, put on a burst of speed. "Come on," Hiei coaxed him. "You can go a little faster." Years of training and effort would increase Kinme's speed exponentially; even at his age, he was swifter than many adults in the Makai. But for now, Hiei was faster -- Kinme stopped, suddenly, to catch his breath. Hiei skidded, his heels digging into the dirt, and trotted back to where his son stood. "Nan da, Kinme," he wondered, keeping a straight face. "I'm gonna be fast as you," Kinme informed him, panting, "when I get older." "Of course you will," Hiei said, grinning, crouching in front of him. He wiped sweat from Kinme's face, pushed the tousled black hair from his forehead. "But for now you're just a little brat, and I'm faster." He scooped up Kinme and began trotting back the way they'd come. "Touchan," Kinme said, once his breathing had slowed, "what's the Ningenkai like?" "The people there are weak, for the most part," Hiei told him, not slowing his pace. "Do they have stars like we do?" Kinme wondered, tilting his head back and looking up at them. "Uhn," Hiei replied. "Do they have grass like we do?" "Uhn." "Do they have lots of youko like touchan?" Hiei sighed. "No. They don't have any youko." "How come touchan said he used to live in the Ningenkai?" "Because he did." "Why?" He could see Kurama curled up where they'd left him, sound asleep, his tail curled around him. Hiei slowed down, stopped, sat a short distance away, set Kinme in his lap. "Kurama used to live in a Human body," Hiei told him softly. "Why?" "Sh. It's a long story." "Can you tell me?" Kinme whispered, loudly. "Not tonight." Kinme stood in Hiei's lap and clapped his hands on either side of Hiei's face. "Tell me," he intoned in his little-boy voice. "Or what?" Hiei wondered, narrowing his eyes. Kinme grinned wickedly and planted a wet kiss on Hiei's mouth. Hiei shoved him away; Kinme giggled. "You've been hanging around Kurama too much," he growled. Kinme crawled up into his lap again. "Touchan," he said, pleading, "tell me about touchan when he was in the Ningenkai." Hiei wrapped his arms around his son, and stroked his hair. "He said that he found you there. How come you were there?" "Looking for him," Hiei told him. "Sit still, here." Kinme curled up, resting his cheek against Hiei's chest. "I'll tell you a shorter story, all right? And tomorrow Kurama can tell you about when he was in the Ningenkai." "Uhn." "And you try to get to sleep." "Not tired," Kinme assured him, biting down on a yawn. "Right. You just try to sleep, anyhow, and maybe you will." "Not tired." Hiei shook his head and shifted his knees, arranging Kinme on his lap. "Once upon a time," he began, stroking Kinme's soft hair, "there was a boy named Yuusuke -- " "I know Yuusuke," Kinme grinned. "No, this was an idiotic Human boy named Yuusuke, not the youkai." "Oh." Hiei smiled to himself, and continued the story. Before he got to the part in which the now-dead idiotic Yuusuke had to possess the body of the idiotic Kuwabara, in order to communicate with a Human girl, Kinme was starting to doze. Hiei shifted Kinme slightly; his son was warm and sleepy, and protested the movement. "Not tired," he mumbled, struggling to open his eyes. "I know," Hiei assured him, and continued the story. Just as the idiotic Yuusuke -- now resurrected -- had begun his training under a famous martial arts master, Kinme's little head drooped. Hiei fell silent, still petting Kinme's hair. In a few moments, the tiny body was completely relaxed. In one fluid movement, Hiei stood up, holding Kinme close to him, and walked softly across the grass to where Kurama was sleeping. The youko opened his eyes, glanced up at them, flicked his ears back and forth. "Is he asleep?" he asked, in a low voice. "Uhn," Hiei nodded, sitting down beside him, laying Kinme out on the grass between them. Kurama sat up, stretched his arms, rubbed his ears with his palms. "How'd you do it? I ran circles with him for hours while you were gone, and I still couldn't tire him out." Hiei smirked, smoothing Kinme's fine hair, wondering where that had come from; he put a hand to his own coarse mop and looked sideways at Kurama. "Well?" "I bored him to sleep," Hiei told him with a grin, "by talking about Yuusuke." Kurama sat back on his heels, blinking. He snorted. He snickered. He bit his tongue and winced. He stood up, reached over Kinme, grabbed Hiei's shoulders and pulled him forward, kissing him soundly. "You are evil," he whispered into Hiei's ear. They looked down at Kinme. Hiei stepped over Kinme and lay down with Kurama. They made love quietly on the grass under the stars and fell asleep in one another's arms, and when they woke in the morning, Kinme had wedged himself between them, still sleeping. The Makai was peaceful, for the moment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contents of this page and its design (such as it is) are (c) 1997 Katrina Somers. YYH and its characters are (c) Togashi Yoshihiro and Jump Comics and Studio Pierrot.