Hello all! I hope you're having a lovely day, just as I am! Today I give you a piece featuring a couple I've adored for years, but never wrote anything for. I'm proud to give you this and I hope you enjoy what it's inside!

Disclaimer: Togashiiiii, give me your fandom... Meh, dun own it.

Defiance

They argued. They toiled. They couldn't see eye to eye.

Literally.

But Kuwabara sensed something about the height challenged fire demon that no one else could pick up on. Even Kurama didn't understand it entirely until the carrot top had turned in that evening.

"He may act tough and give off the attitude that he could care less about the rest of us, but I know deep inside he's sad." Kuwabara said as the fox played gently with the curls atop his head.

Never taking his eyes away from the text he was reading, but also maintaining a steady action in soothing his lover's frequent twitches, Kurama sighed in reply. "I've known Hiei for many years now, but I've never noticed any residual sadness about him. He's embittered because of his past. You do remember the story, don't you?"

Kazuma shifted a bit, propping his chin up on the slim amount of cushion left in Kurama's desk chair. "Yeah, but I'm tellin' you, Kurama – he's sad. I know he is."

"What proof do you have?" Kurama asked, turning a page calmly, never missing a beat.

"…I heard him crying once."

The circular motion stopped and Kurama's pencil dropped. Could it be so, or had his lover just imagined the occurrence? "Are you certain it was him and not someone else nearby?"

"I'm positive it was him because I was with him when it happened." When Kurama couldn't respond, Kuwabara only assumed he needed to continue. "It was sometime last week. He had stopped by Urameshi's for his usual check in on Yukina, and I happened to be there, too. Well, I caught him outside just as he was leaving…"

"Leaving just because I'm arriving, ya little punk?"

"Shut up, fool. My business here is finished, so I'm returning to my obligations back in my world."

"You call congratulating your sister on her pregnancy business? You're colder than I thought, Hiei."

"…He went really quiet for a little while. I guess I hit a sensitive nerve or something, but I'd never seen him so bristled before. One minute he looked like he could kill me, then the next he seemed like he couldn't even raise his fist…"

"You should be happy for her, Hiei. She's trying to change the ways of your people because she regrets what happened to you."

"…That's just it. She's doing it for me… Damn it, she shouldn't have to!"

"Will you shut up and get over yourself already? You've been brooding about your past for the last six years that I've known you. It's getting old, man."

"Bastard, I have the right to-"

"The right to constantly complain about being alive? Man, if you hate yourself so much, go commit suicide then. Stop making the rest of us listen to your drama."

Kurama had gone back to petting Kuwabara's hair softly, but forgot about his assignment, focusing intently on his lover's storytelling. "I'm impressed, Kazuma. No one except Mukuro has stood up to Hiei in such a way for fear of being cut down."

"To tell the honest truth…" Kuwabara went on, his eyes turning down to the floor in shame. "I felt bad after I said that to him. Like I'd broken his spirit, even his pride."

"Sorry Hiei, that wasn't my place to say. You've been through a lot, I know, and… well, I guess I'm trying to say that because of the way you live, I've grown to respect you. A lot. You're like a brother to me and I care about your life, so I don't want you to throw it away when you've got a lot to live for. Besides, you might be the favorite uncle of the several Yukina's baby has to choose from."

A gentle, even flow through his hair had become loving caresses along his cheek and neck as Kuwabara concluded the story. "And then he just… broke down. It was hard to watch him fall apart like that."

Kurama whimpered a bit in confirmation, his hand moving fluidly over skin to communicate his thoughts and feelings. "Hiei has struggled for years with his place in the world. I tried to help him find the correct path, but it would seem the one he rivaled the most found a way to direct him far better than I ever could."

Kuwabara shifted again, bringing his gaze up to meet the fox's clear, though steadily clouding eyes. "Ironic, huh? He's got this huge wall of steel and flames put up to warn others of his skills, but I think that's a wall just like Urameshi's. He built it to protect himself from his emotions."

"Then it would seem when Yusuke gave his life against Sensui that we only saw a fraction of what Hiei could really do when driven over the edge…" Kurama commented, hooking his arm just so, granting Kuwabara the comfort to lean into him as if he were an adjustable pillow. "In fact, it only scratched the surface."

"Heh, yep. Besides Mukuro, Yukina is Hiei's first love. He'll do anything for her…" Kuwabara had snuggled into his lover's embrace, his own fingers tracing the delicate bone lines of Kurama's perfect hand.

"Out of curiosity," Kurama started, shutting his text to focus only on the man resting loosely in his arms. "Did Hiei say anything further to you after that?"

Kuwabara smiled and closed his eyes. "Yep… but I'm not telling you."

"Not a damn word of this to anybody, including your fox for a boyfriend. I can still kill you whenever I feel like it."

"I wouldn't have you any other way, Hiei."

Yes, I squeezed in my infamous Yusuke x Yukina hintage. lol Please leave a review if you liked - I do enjoy bringing you my work on a regular basis, and thus I also love your feedback! Thanks for your time!