YYH belongs to Togashi Yoshihiro etc... Some of these characters belong
to me, though... (as if anyone else would want them...)

Rhionae
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3226/rreikai.html


Winter Pearls - Part 2

Roses always grew in Kireina's garden; no matter the season or the
weather, there would constantly be at least one to lend its colour -
normally blood red or pure white, but occasionally otherwise.  The
sapphire blue rose that was ensconced by her door definitely fell into
the 'otherwise' category.  Kalei laughed softly as she caught Hikari
gazing with raised eyebrows at the peculiar plant.

"Kireina has a very green thumb," she informed them with a smile as she
pressed the doorbell.  Kazuya simply blinked before ignoring the blue
rose.

/After finding out that you're descended from a koorime, I suppose a
blue rose isn't much to be excited about. Although he did seem impressed
by my light globe.../

"So, who exactly is this Kireina anyway?" he demanded loudly; Kalei
hushed him swiftly.

"She works for Reikai investigating any problems that might come up."

"The spiritual world?' Hikari inquired softly.

"Does that mean she hunts down slimy ghosts and foul smelling monsters
and sucks them into ectoplasmic vacuum cleaner containment units?"
Kazuya wanted to know eagerly.  Kalei stared at him; Hikari shrugged.

"He watches too much late-night TriD," she explained to the youkai, who
raised one eyebrow quizzically.

"Sort of," she told Kazuya in reply.  "Not normally that messy, though. 
At least, not on the good days.  The pay's not exactly great, either,"
she muttered under her breath.  "Anyway, could you please keep your
voices down while we're here?  Kireina's father is quite elderly, and I
don't want to startle him unduly."

Both Kuwabaras nodded, recent family experience having already initiated
them into the manner in which to act around failing elders.  Kalei
sighed as she gave up on waiting for Kireina and unlocked the door,
ushering both of her charges inside.  The house was still and silent,
the windows shut, the curtains closed.  The fragrance of roses was the
only hint of life to be found.

"Should we be in here if she's not at home?" Kazuya whispered uneasily
into the gloom.

"She won't be far away," Kalei assured him.  "She doesn't like leaving
him alone too long.  Wait here," she instructed, directing them into a
sitting room and activating the lighting system.  "I'll just be a
minute."

Leaving them alone together, Kazuya looking somewhat awkward, she made
her way to the back room of the house.  Kireina had added it on several
years before when it became obvious that her father was starting to have
difficulties in managing the stairs up to his original room.  It had
been a great blow to him to have to move from the place that held so
many memories for him, a blow that Kireina had tried to soften by
creating this new room overlooking his beloved roses.

/It will take much more than that to console him now,/ Kalei thought
sadly.  /I doubt they're much more than a blur to him now, but I hope
that their scent can comfort him a little.../

She opened the door quietly to check to see if he was awake.  /No sense
in disturbing him unnecessarily./  He was half-lying, half-sitting on
the bed, propped up by a myriad of pillows; his face was turned towards
her with eyes closed as though in slumber.  He shifted slightly as she
watched, a small frown forming as his eyes fluttered open.  The emerald
green eyes of his youth now glazed by opaque film, he gazed more towards
the door than towards her.

"Kurama, it's me," she said quietly.  "Kalei."

"Ah," he sighed, closing his eyes once ore and reaching out with one
unsteady hand.  She moved forward, gently clasping it in her own. 
"Don't ever grow old," he advised in careful speech, a rueful smile
playing around his lips.  "I'm more helpless than a baby.  They, at
least, can scream."

She brushed her fingers through his sparse white hair, stroking softly,
comforting wordlessly.

"Are the black ones ready yet?" he asked, suddenly opening his eyes, his
voice a little firmer.

"No, not yet," Kalei replied, concealing her confusion.

Kurama sighed, sinking back into the pillows.  "Hiei will want to see
them when they bloom..."

/Of course, the roses./  She bit her lip at the mention of the
jaganshi's name.

Kurama's mumbling slowly trailed off into silence.  Kalei remained by
his side for a few more minutes before carefully releasing his hand and
turning to leave.

"Is it time yet, Botan?"  

The hoarse question stopped her in her tracks.  "No," she repeated
softly, eyes closed against the threat of tears.  "Not yet."

A sigh stirred the air behind her.

"Sleep well, Kurama."  She opened her eyes to gaze directly into a pair
of deep blue pools of sorrow that mirrored her own eyes.  Kireina stood
aside to let her pass, then shut the door quietly behind them both.

"He was asking for Yusuke and Keiko yesterday," Kireina stated.  "He
thought I was Shiori the day before that."

"He's lived a long life for a human."

"Indeed.  Perhaps too long."

"Perhaps."

Kireina lead the way back to the sitting room, where the Kuwabaras were
waiting.  Kalei, confronted with a view of the other woman's flame-red
hair found herself reminiscing.

/He was so vibrant back then.  They all were.../  She tugged at a lock
of her own sky-blue hair, twirling it around two fingers.  /Now
Kuwabara's gone, and Kurama will soon join him.  There are times when I
hate having human friends./

She frowned.  "What about Hiei?"

Kireina shrugged, the few lines creasing her face deepening as her
expression tightened.  "He still won't come near."  The clipped tones
warned Kalei against pursuing the matter further.

/Unfortunately, Hiei is part of the reason I'm here...  How can I be
delicate about this?/

Introducing Hikari and Kazuya to Kireina - or rather, reintroducing them
as Kireina had met them both when they were very young - provided
momentary distraction from thoughts of the fire demon.  Hikari's dark
eyes were lit with hope as she greeted the older woman in her quiet
voice.  Kazua's gaze showed a somewhat _different_ form of
appreciation.  Kalei smiled, throwing her arm around the boy's neck and
drawing his head down toward her mouth.

"She's old enough to be your grandmother, you know," she whispered in
his ear.  His eyes flickered towards her, startled.

"No way!"  Kalei simply laughed, while Kireina mock-scowled at her. 

"Now you've gone and given it away.  How am I ever supposed to get a
date with a cute guy when you keep telling them how old I am?  Some
mother _you_ are!"

Kalei's laughter was not at all quashed by her daughter's light-hearted
complaints - especially as Kazuya's expression wavered between pride at
being flattered by a beautiful woman and embarrassment that she was
several times his age.

"Mother?" he managed, after several attempts , eyes darting between the
two.

"It's a long story," Kalei shrugged.  "Nothing you need to know about." 
Kazuya's face contradicted that statement, but he wasn't permitted the
opportunity to inquire further.

"You were at Great-Grandfather's funeral," Hikari observed quietly;
Kireina nodded soberly, the air becoming somber once more.

"Yukina's disappeared," Kalei informed Kireina, deciding at last to take
the direct approach.  "The children are concerned for her.  Would it be
possible for you to find out if she's okay?"

Kireina's expression was slightly troubled.  "Koenma just called for me
to come in," she said worriedly.  "It might well be about Yukina.  If
not, I'll definitely take some time to look into the matter."

"Thanks, Pretty."

"Mama!" Kalei laughed once more at her daughter's indignant chastisement
for using her childhood nickname, but quieted as Kireina's eyes
flickered in the direction of the back room.

"Don't worry; I'll stay with him," Kalei assured her, receiving a small
smile of gratitude in reply.

"Then I'd better get going..."

"Hey!  What about us?" Kazuya complained.  "We want to go with you!"

"Too bad."  Kalei grasped the tall boy firmly by his upper arms and
steered him out the door, Hikari following behind more obediently.  "The
two of you are going home to your parents, before they think the two of
_you_ are missing as well!"

Kazuya protested loudly as she shut the door in his face.  Kalei opened
it again just long enough to reprimand him, warning him against
disturbing an old man, before promptly closing it again.

"You really _do_ have a way with people," Kireina commented
sardonically.

"Would you rather they tried following you to Reikai?  Or to Makai,
even?"

Kireina shrugged.  "I'm surprised their parents haven't tagged them
both."

"They did," her mother informed her, a half-smile on her lips.  "Hikari
broke the tag code a dozen or so times before they gave up."

"How precocious."

"Indeed."  Kalei hesitated for a moment before pursing her final
concern.  "And Hiei?"

Kireina's blue eyes were steady in their gaze.  "I'll see."  She bid her
mother farewell, leaving her to tend her ailing father.  Yet it was not
Kurama's worn countenance that worried away at the edges of her mind,
but a pair of dark eyes deep enough to drown in...

***

It's something I can't explain, although I've tried a few times, when I
thought it was worth the effort.  It often isn't, but the rare times
when it is somehow compensate for the others, permitting me the precious
sensation of being understood.

People generally have a hard time attempting to comprehend my deeds, my
manner, my ways - even I did at first.  Teenagers often feel that they
are misunderstood, myself especially - but when the glimmerings of
understanding dawned I grossly twisted them to light the path I wished
for and not that upon which I actually trod.  As so many before me, I
fell into the trap of believing that I knew more than anyone else the
best course of action to take, with the gift the gods gave to me as my
justification.

I should have known better than to assume such value in the eyes of the
gods.  I am a moral, lacking the all-encompassing vision the gods are
said to possess.  I see only a fraction of what they perceive, and
comprehend even less.  It was no simple 'gift' which awoke in me during
my youth, though naive as I was, that was how I accepted it, as no more
than my due.  

In my family such gifts bore legendary status.  As a child I had dreamed
of such abilities being at my beck and call.  Great-Grandfather and his
sister were both suspected of being privileged with such powers; but
Kuwabara Shizuru died before I was born, and while her brother lived, my
own powers remained mostly dormant.

It's to my regret that they didn't stay that way forever; or rather, I
regret that I didn't know enough about them to act in such a way as to
preserve those I loved, to protect those I love.

But then, this isn't a fairy tale.

**********
Rhionae
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3226/rreikai.html