A/N: I can't say I remember writing much of Shizuru before, it's been a real treat though. I hope guys like my interpretation of her, maybe I'll even write more of her in the future. Hiei was also a lot of fun to write, trapped by all the kittens, his weakness alas. Botan and Miki tag teaming him into a real softie. One more installment to go and that'll be a wrap folks!

VIII - Pt.2

Hiei went to Kuwabara's house to see Yukina about a troublesome problem he'd been having. He wouldn't normally have gone to the Kuwabara residence for obvious reasons but he couldn't find Yukina anywhere else and, unfortunately, she seemed to have an odd attachment to the younger of the Kuwabara children.

Hiei entered the house through an open window in the upstairs level of the home. The room was, for lack of a better term, a complete wreck. Strewn about nearly all parts of the bedroom, discarded clothes lay in unwashed heaps. This had to be Kuwabara's room, Hiei concluded in displeasure.

The room was empty of people and therefore of no use to him. Stepping around the piles of cloth, Hiei did his best to avoid them but alas some of the garments managed to attach themselves to his feet. Hiei shook them off in disgust.

Wandering down the hallway Hiei made his travel brief, flitting from one room to the next, peaking in quickly before moving on.

The kitchen was where he ended his search, not because he found what he was looking for but rather because he found something else of interest. Lying in the corner of the kitchen, Kuwabara's mewling pet lay on her side, four small creatures of a similar manner squirmed at her exposed belly. Hiei approached them cautiously. From what he'd observed over the years these creatures were harmless but he didn't take any chances, he'd seen the fury of some demoness' when a stranger approached their young.

One of the smaller creature's seemed quite curious about Hiei's approach and it placed it's paws on the edge of the box, catapulting itself up and over the edge. Hiei didn't know why he did it but for some reason he reached out and caught the squirming creature in the palm of his hand. It looked up at him with an almost smile and mewled in delight.

Hiei crouched and set the pet on the ground, his crimson eyes following it with mild amusement as it brushed itself against his leg, emitting a strange growl of pleasure. Reaching down tentatively Hiei dragged his fingers along the creature's small back, a small smile sparking to his lips went the creature leaned into his touch. Sort of like Botan when he touched her shoulder during the night.

At some point Hiei had settled himself into a sitting position, allowing the small creatures to roam his lap while their mother looked on with a watchful but lazy eye. He stiffened when the patio door slid open but the small creatures on his lap prevented him from flickering away.

"Oh it's you," The elder Kuwabara sibling muttered as she set the groceries down on the kitchen table, a level of indifference ringing in her tone. Not the typical reaction Hiei's presence invoked but wholly he wasn't really all that surprised, "You're not murdering the kittens or something sick right?"

A fair question when you evaluated the track record of the demon sitting on her floor. Still, the question didn't hold much sway, more like she was questioning him about the weather, like she knew that even he could never do something so despicable.

"Hn. These things are too pathetic and weak to bother with." Hiei growled disgruntled, hunching his shoulders as if trying to hide the enjoyment he'd been experiencing moments before with the… kittens as Shizuru had named them.

"So what're you doing here anyhow? Aren't you supposed to be off with the ferry girl or something? I never would have figured you for the kitten watching type," Shizuru asked as she busied herself with putting away the groceries, a cigarette resting easily in her lips.

"I was looking for Yukina…" Hiei admitted slowly, watching as the kitten's left his lap one by one, returning to their mother's belly. All save the small kitten who had first approached him. This one curled up in his lap and closed it's eyes contently, "I had questions for her."

"Oh yeah, my little bro's girl… What'd you want to ask her?" Shizuru raised a brow, pausing to look at the gruff youkai. The deadly demon seemed almost out of place with an innocent kitten sleeping in his lap. She would have laughed but she knew the demon wouldn't have found it as amusing as she did.

"Hn." Hiei grunted but said nothing for several minutes, staring down at the ground and the sleeping creature in his lap. Normally he wouldn't even have considered telling this ningen his plight but her indifference to everything almost seemed to lure his thoughts from him.

"Botan…" He broke the silence abruptly, "She wants… one of these, things."

He took the creature in his hands and held it toward Shizuru as though to demonstrate numbly the source of his trouble. Shizuru nodded.

"Yeah, ferry girl mentioned something about that." Shizuru nodded, putting a hand on her hip and watching as Hiei brought the kitten back his lap, petting it almost absent mindedly. Thoughtfully she puffed on her cigarette, watching the youkai as he behaved so well with the kitten. "Look kid, those kitten's need a home. Kazuma wants to keep them all but we don't have enough room for them. Why don't you take that one home to Botan? It's taken a real liking to you."

Hiei rose his brows in surprise, looking down at the creature with a calculating gaze.

"Take it home to Botan. She'll know how to look after it. Just make sure you don't lose it or anything. Kazuma would never forgive me and I'd have to kick your ass." Shizuru concluded with a small 'hn' of her own. Clearly not afraid of the demon even though she'd seen what the demon was capable of many times over.

Hiei didn't respond with actual words but when he rose Hiei gathered the kitten into his hand, cupping it carefully as he walked toward the door. Looking back briefly Hiei gave Shizuru a small nod before leaving the Kuwabara residence, a small mewling creature in his possession. Perhaps it wasn't a good decision, perhaps Botan wouldn't even like the thing but Hiei brought it with him none the less. He liked the way it purred in his hand.

- TBC -

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