By Die Before I Wake
(Please also read the Update.)
Hiei sat against the door of the car with his arms folded. He looked out of the window boredly and watched the scenery pass by. Tree. Tree. Fire hydrant. Mailbox. Woman with a toy poodle. He sighed. Why do I have to come on these stupid little trips? he thought.
“Are you alright, Hiei?” Kurama asked, looking back at him and then back at the road.
“I know you don’t like coming on these trips, but Koenma recommended taking you shopping, to arcades, and such to build up your people skills. And possibly to find something you enjoy besides constantly training and getting injured.”
“Whatever.”
“Geez, Hiei. Hey, Kurama, how about we take him right to Hot Topic for clothes?” Yusuke asked. “He’ll feel right at home there with all of the other emo kids.”
“Yeah. Then we can get him some Marilyn Manson, My Chemical Romance, and other emo music to put on that iPod he never opened.”
“...” Hiei didn’t reply. He continued to look blankly out of the window.
“Will you two please stop?” Kurama asked. “Just...leave him alone. It’s bad enough for him that he has to come. You know how he can’t stand either of you two, Botan, Keiko, or Shizuru.”
“What does he have against my sister?” Kuwabara shouted.
“Her smoking habit. The scent of that disgusting smoke on her clothes, her person, and even the air around her makes me want to vomit until I die,” Hiei snapped. “Not to mention the fact that she’s related to you.”
“How does that bother you?!”
“Kuwabara, Hiei isn’t human, remember?” Yusuke asked. “His senses are stronger than ours. It’s no wonder he’s always at least ten feet away from your sister. She does smoke a lot.”
“Can you just drop me off here so I can walk back?” Hiei asked.
“No. But Yusuke did have a good idea. You could use clothes. All you have are a few pairs of pants, shirts, and boxers. Some new shoes would work as well.”
Hiei growled to himself almost inaudibly before turning back to the window. Why me? I don’t even know how the hell to use that iPod thing they gave me. It took me months to figure out that “laptop” and the “Internet”. Are they trying to turn me into one of them? Is this all some sort of game for Koenma? To tame a demon and turn it into one of his “dogs”, as those in the Makai called all of the Spirit Detectives?
Kurama pulled the car into a parking space and turned the engine off. All four boys got out of the car and began walking to meet the girls at the front door of the mall. For the sake of Hiei’s delicate nose, Shizuru wasn’t there. Hiei lagged behind a bit, looking down at his feet as he walked. I can’t believe we’re coming here again. Why the hell did they call this place a mall? There are no humans getting torn to shreds by demons or animals. Only a bunch of shops and places to eat... What a stupid world this is...
“Are you okay, Hiei-Sama?” Yukina asked when he finally caught up to everyone else. He shrugged his reply and looked out to the parking lot.
“He’s fine. He just hates it here,” Yusuke said.
“I don’t need clothes or shoes. I’m fine with what I have,” Hiei said, looking over to Kurama. “So can I just go home?”
“Hiei, in the past four years that you’ve been here, you’ve grown taller, and your clothes are beginning to get shorter for you. Wouldn’t you prefer something that will fit you better?” Botan asked.
Hiei shrugged again. As much as he hated to admit it... she was right. He was now about two or three inches away from being the same height as Kurama, meaning that he was slightly taller than Yusuke. For the first team physical that Koenma had so graciously required, the three other members of Team Urameshi were more than surprised to find out that demons weren’t fully grown until the age of one hundred. Seeing as Yukina had never had a child because of the Koorime one hundred year cycle, none of them had a clue as to how much longer Hiei had left to reach his full size. He still never said anything about his age.
“Well, let’s go then. We can take you into Hot Topic, Journeys, Spencer’s, and Nirvana’s closet for clothes,” Keiko said brightly.
“Whatever...” Hiei said. “It’s not like I have a choice, anyway.”
“Come on, there’s bound to be something you’ll like in those stores,” Botan said to Hiei.
“And how do you know that?” the fire apparition asked.
“Because the girls are terrified of those places,” Yusuke said, laughing. “The music scares them, and they got nightmares from the ‘Happy Tree Friends’ DVD I got there.”
“Really? Maybe those stores are more interesting than I thought,” Hiei said, raising an eyebrow.
