The Consequences of Power

Warning: If my character poitrayals don't always follow the exact guidelines
of the anime, it's because I would rather put creative input into them than be
totally boring. ^_^ of course, I do try and make them fit for the most part.
Sometimes it takes a couple of chapters for things to make sense. Patience, my
friends. Oh yeah, drugs in this one.

Disclaimer: It wasn't me. It must have been Hiei.

To my lovely devoted two reviewers: * offers cookies * You guys rock! Now I'd best get to typing, because I've been threatened with boiling butter! O.O Eep.

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Things slowly began to settle down. Hiei's bruises were starting to heal, and
Kurama was getting used to having to share the shower when Kurama decided it was
high time for Hiei to get out of the house. She'd been sitting, brooding, on
the couch for the past few days. Kurama had tried apologizing, making fancy
meals, and even offering up his favorite silks to appease her, but he suspected
the real problem was that Hiei had realized fully that she was fully dependant
on the help of others.

"Hiei! It's time for you to get real clothes," he declared one morning after
walking into the living room to find Hiei safety-pinning up one of his pairs of
jeans while struggling with sleeves that were entirely to long. Hiei looked up
at him solemnly, blinking her ruby red eyes.

"Are these clothes not real?" she asked quietly, pinching the fabric between
her fingers questioningly. Kurama bit his lip to stifle a laugh. He grabbed
her hand and pulled her up.

"They are real enough. But that's not actually the problem. The problem is
that they are neither your size, nor women's clothes. You need like, a bra.
And panties. And shoes," he said, holding up his fingers as he listed the
items. Hiei's eyes got wide.

"What, exactly, is a bra?" she asked, tilting her head. Kurama smiled as her
long hair fell to one side with the tilt. He had finally convinced her to brush
it, and it was almost to her knees.

"It's a, um... a harness--for your breasts. It's supposed to... um... hold
them up, I guess," he scratched his head, blushing a little. He had never
really thought too much about it. Hiei nodded a bit, pulling her breasts up
experimentally.

"Won't that be expensive?" she asked, looking down at her bare feet. Kurama
shrugged.

"Shiori sends me plenty of money. It just means no new vibrators or bed sets
for this month. And I no longer have a girlfriend to impress, so I guess I can
hold off on that, can't I?"
He frowned a bit at the thought, then shrugged. Hiei didn't notice the frown.

Kurama held out a pair of his own shoes, which were way too big.

"Just try and keep these on your feet while we're out, until we get some
smaller ones. Oh--and we're going to meet up with my friend Evil at the mall."
eadeeaded for the door.

"Evil?" Hiei questioned, slipping her dainty feet into the gigantic shoes.
Kurama grinned.

"Evil Kevin. Americans are so fun!"

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Tall. Round. Bearded. Evil. Cloaked in black, Evil looked quite Evil. Hiei
stared up at him. He was tall compared to Kurama. Which meant he practically
towered above her. When he held out his hand, she wasn't certain what he was
about to do. Then he took her hand and bent nearly double to kiss it, his
moustach tickling it in a funny way. Then he nibbled lightly on it, causing her
face to flush with embarrasment. He grinned, speaking his strange language at
her. She looked at Kurama.

"He says it's his pleasure to meet you. Don't worry, he's like a gigantic
teddy bear," Kurama said, smiling at her. She nodded and looked back up at him.

"Tell him his moustach tickles," she said, watching his face as Kurama
translated. He threw back his head and let lose a bellowing laugh before
scooping Hiei up and giving her a great bear hug. He set her down, still
laughing. Kurama beconned them on, leading them through the crowded store.
Kurama had called it a mall, something like a great market full of every usefull
and useless thing you could ever imagine. Her neck craned this way and that,
taking in the crowds of people, the lights and signs, the smells, the
merchandise. It was crazy. She could easily imagine getting lost in here.
With Kurama on her right and Evil on her left, she didn't feel at all
intimidated by the hundreds of strangers all around her.

There was something about Evil, she could already tell, that made her feel he
was a great guy to have on your side. He suddenly stopped and started pointing
excitedly at a store. The windows displayed weapons veryvery type, katanas,
long swords, bastard swords, short swords, maces, axes, halberds, everything.
He was talking quite excitedly, and Hiei herself was practically drooling. She
started to follow Evil into the store, as though in a magnetic pull, when Kurama
grabbed them both and hauled them away, back on their course, alternating
between languages with 'no! no! no! no! no!". Hiei noted that he was definately
stronger than she'd given him credit for. She pouted tud turned her head back
to the store, bidding a silent farewell to the beautiful katana in the window.
Evil caught her eye and winked. She grinned.

They were both still putting on their best pouts when Kurama selected the shop
for them. It was some sort of women only shop, full of clothes and shoes and
color. Hiei bumped into a woman and paused to excuse herself. Kurama had to
double back and grab her away from where she was curiously poking the plastic
human. They headed first for the bra section, which contained the silliest
articles of clothing Hiei had ever seen. They looked around, at a loss as to
what to do. Evil helpfully started grabbing the biggest ones and holding them
up to his chest, asking their opinion, and if it was, Kurama translated, 'him'.
A sales woman rescued them from their giggle-fits. She addressed Hiei, speaking
english, and she looked at Kurama, lost. Kurama quickly shook the woman's hand
and introduced himself, explaining that Hiei spoke no english, and that none of
them knew anything about women's clothing. The woman nodded and pulled out some
cloth tape, beconning for Hiei to follow and for the boys to stay put, or better
yet, get out of the store while they shopped. Hiei looked back at them, hoping
they wouldn't leave. They seemed perfectly content to play with the women's
clothing, Evil making a fool of himself, and Kurama trying to contain his
giggles.

The woman took Hiei into a small room and motioned for her to strip, which she
did cautiously. The woman's eyes widened at all of the scars covering the
girl's otherwise perfect pale skin. She shook her head, wondering what could
possibly cause all of that harm. She quickly set to wrapping the measuring tape
around Hiei's body in different areas, writing the results down on a notepad in
her pocket. Hiei blushed when she measured her bust, and then her innergh. gh.
Soon the woman was motioning for her to stay put, and left the room. Hiei sat
hunched slightly, naked still.

When the woman returned after about ten minutes, she had her arms full of
clothing, and several pairs of shoes dangling from her fingers by their laces.
Hiei tried on all manners of clothing, mostly black, cream, and red colors.
When she'd tried everything on, they had a pile of clothes they liked, and one they did not. The woman handed her one set, taking the tags off and holding on to them. Hiei quickly dressed, grabbing the good pile and setting Kurama's clothes on top. The woman shook her head and took the pile, pushing Hiei out the door.

Kurama and Evil stood there, staring. Hiei blushed and looked around at the older woman, confused. She stood before them in a long, formfitting black dress, with a silver band around the waist and a band at the top. The top of the dress had only one band, the other side swooping down to display a good bit of cleavage and the top of one breast, circling around under her arm. Her breasts were held up by the built in bra. The dress showed every curve of her body. The outfit was finished with strappy black heels that showed off her small, finely boned feet.

"Beautiful," Kurama breathed. Evil nodded, unable to understand the word, but certainly understanding the tone. Hiei's face matched her eyes as she looked at her feet. The saleswoman handed the boys the clothes and the handful of tags and disappeared. Kurama paid for the clothes with a wince. It was a little more expensive than he'd hoped.

When they made it back to Kurama's Malibu, he opened the door for Hiei. She blushed again and slipped inside. Kurama looked at her as he started the car.

"We're gonna head to Evil's, ok?" he asked, pulling out of the spot. Hiei shrugged slightly, looking curiously out the window as they drove to another side of town.


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"Is this drink like the drinks in your fridge?" Hiei asked curiously, looking in Evil's fridge at a row of brown bottles. Kurama laughed and reached over hre shoulder to grab one for himself.

"Not quite as good. But decent," he replied as she grabbed one for herself.

"Do you have a knife?" she asked, looking around for something to open the bottle with. Kurama raised his eyebrow.

"What for?"

"To open this bottle," she replied, holding it up. Kurama grinned and pulled out his keychain, popping open his own drink with a strange tool, and then hers. She smiled apreciatively and took a sip.

"This one is better," she stated. Kurama translated to Evil. After a moment, Kurama turned back to her.

"Amber Boch is a more girly beer than Guiness," he stated, as if it made all the sense in the world. Hiei blinked and frowned. What were they trying to say?

They sat drinking on Evil's bed for a while, Evil playing with some sort of spices. When he'd wrapped them up in a peice of paper he lit it. Hiei blinked at it and tilted her head curiously. When Kurama passed it to her, she took it, looking at him strangely.

"Puff puff pass, Hiei. The international language," he took it from her and demonstrated how to hit it, then passed it back to her. She hit it carefully and started to choke on the thick smoke in her lungs. She quickly passed it back to Evil, glaring between coughs at the grinning men. They continued to pass it around, and it became easier with each hit. Soon she was staring at them dazedly, her eyes feeling heavy. Kurama was saying something to her, and she nodded vaguely in reply, not paying attention. She was really sleepy. She lay her head in Kurama's lap, wriggling to get comforatable as she curled up on the bed. He stared down at her for a moment before starting to stroke her hair.

"You lucky son of a bitch," Evil commented as she began to purr in her sleep.