Yuusuke yawned. Light was just beginning to show in the Makai woods they were walking almost aimlessly through. The shining dew on the grass made the rubber of his tennis shoes squeak and he offered an annoyed look every time. The morning cold was still settled, though, and made him shift in his jean jacket. He yawned again and sent a pine-cone flying with the tip of his shoe. It was a lazy effort, but considering his strength, the thing shattered with ease against the trunk of a tree. It was early, and cold enough that they could see their breath. Birds were awake and chirping low and long.
"Quit it, Urameshi," Kuwabara said groggily, squinting for a moment in the morning light. Yuusuke shoved his hands into his pockets and gave his friend a look.
"I'm bored as hell," he said, holding back a shiver. Hair ungreased, his excuse having been that it was "way too early".
Kuwabara stopped walking to hunch over tiredly. "Yeah, well, I'm having a hard enough time concentrating without you kicking things," the teen said, scratching his head. "What are we supposed to be looking for again?"
"No clue," Yuusuke yawned for the third time. He turned to look back at Kurama and Hiei, who had been silent the moment they entered the woods. He stopped next to Kuwabara.
"You guys wanna join us or are you going to stay back there and talk shit?" the Spirit Detective called, grinning a little at his teammates. The moment they'd gotten there, the two had been lagging in the back.
Kurama pushed some hair behind his ear and gave a quick glance to the shorter of the Tantei before they caught up with the two.
"Sorry," he said, smiling at Yuusuke. "We were focusing our energy on our current case, which I see you've already forgotten."
Kuwabara laughed nervously. "I was so tired, I don't think I really heard anything Koenma said.
Koenma gave a sideways glare to Jorge and snapped at him to quit fidgeting and fetch Botan.
"I know this is short notice," he began, pushing a stack of papers away. Kuwabara was in his pajamas and Yuusuke was looking less than excited. Kurama, however, was giving full attention.
"There is no immediate threat, but I need—"
"—If it's not that big of a deal, then why did you call us here at four in the morning?" Yuusuke interrupted. Koenma's eyebrow ticked.
"Would you just listen to me! Though it may not be an iimmediate/i danger to anyone, if we don't take care of it now, it could get worse."
He sat back in his chair and opened one eye to glare.
"There is a low-level demon who has come across a stolen artifact. I need you to get it back."
Yuusuke made a face. "So we're looking for a guy with a marble?"
Kurama sighed. "Unless Koenma was lying to us, then yes, Yuusuke. A marble."
"How the hell are we supposed to find this thing?" the detective asked, stretching his arms.
Hiei was staying quiet, looking off to the side as if he weren't even there. In truth, he didn't know why they needed him in the first place. Kurama had found him before sunrise, and said that they had a case.
"Case, Kurama? Koenma said we were/i alli on break," the hi-youkai had snapped lazily, staring at the horizon from the rooftop of an old office building. Kurama moved to stand beside him.
"Things come up. They always do. You know that," the fox said calmly. "So will you help us?"
Hiei barely blinked.
"Fine."
In all honesty, Kurama had expected it to have been a lot harder to convince his companion. He wondered if the demon had gotten bored of having nothing to do in the peaceful months that had gone by. Just what did the Forbidden Child do when he was stuck in a Ningenkai city for so long? Aside from visiting the Minamino home at late hours to—
"We need to split up," Hiei spoke suddenly, nearly startling the rest of the group. His eyes were closed, annoyed.
Kurama nodded, though was curious. "Agreed. We can cover more ground."
Yuusuke groaned. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered, making a motion to Kuwabara. "The sooner we find this bastard, the sooner I can get some sleep."
"Tch, you have it easy. I've actually been studying for my tests this week," Kuwabara followed after his friend.
Kurama waved to the two. "Remember to alert Botan to any new information with your mirror," he called after them. He turned back to face Hiei and gave a coy smile.
"What are you looking at?" the fire demon flashed his eyes. Kurama continued walking before responding.
"Nothing," he said. "You usually never initiate a plan. That's all."
Hiei scoffed and followed behind lazily. Either he had become just as bored as the detective, or he just didn't give a shit.
"I couldn't stand their annoying whining," he said simply.
Kurama almost laughed. "Oh," he uttered. "I was sure you just wanted to be alone with me."
A scowl had flashed across Hiei's expression but before he could open his mouth to snap a retort, he found his back to a tree and Kurama's hands firmly on his waist.
"Kurama," he growled, a warning. The fox only smirked and put his lips just by the koorime's jaw. He slid one hand up and gripped the cloak. To further aggravate the smaller demon, he said nothing, and began kissing his neck. He could've sworn he heard the other make a sound, but he thought maybe it was his imagination.
The fire demon put two hands to Kurama's chest and pushed him away with a caution that was surprising.
"You don't want to?" Kurama asked, letting his hand slide down unthreateningly. Hiei narrowed his eyes.
"Not here."
"Then where?"
Hiei stared. Not what he had meant.
"Nowhere. We're on a case."
Kurama brushed his fingers by Hiei's ear and touched his hair. "They can handle it by themselves. Koenma only wanted us here to keep them awake."
Hiei turned his head away as Kurama moved in again. Red eyes went to slits as the plant-wielder's skillful hands ran down chest and back. The shorter demon arched and Kurama could feel the bumps of his spine.
"Kurama," he said again, this time through breath.
The fox connected their lips swiftly, freeing his hands to help Hiei slip out of his cloak. The kiss was broken only momentarily, and Kurama's hand went straight to the ridiculous belts the Jaganshi wore, and unbuckled them all with a few quick clicks. The shirt was torn at the sleeve as it was pulled off, but thankfully Hiei was too distracted to notice.
Kurama lifted him, one hand holding under his thigh to assure that both legs were around him. Hiei gripped shoulders and hid his face by his companion's neck the first time his bare back was shoved against rough bark.
By the end of the hour, the skin had become red with welts and in a few places where broken, miniscule amounts of blood had trailed down.
As the red-headed demon pulled small leaves from his hair and straightened his clothes, he heard a soft beeping noise and reached into his pocket.
The mirror blipped and Botan's pink eyes appeared on the screen before she moved back.
"Finally, someone answers! How is it going?" she asked, voice coming in high static every other word.
Kurama cut his eyes to Hiei to make sure he wasn't visible to the ferry girl as he buckled the numerous belts on his pants.
"No luck," he said. "We decided to split up to cover more ground."
Botan was quiet for a moment.
"I've been trying to contact Yuusuke for ten minutes," she said, worry in her face.
The pair raced through the woods, flanking each other. Rose-whip out and katana unsheathed, they kept their eyes, ears and senses open to anything as they followed the detective and ginger's ki signatures. So far, Kurama could sense no danger but this could very well lead to a trap.
As they closed in on the two, Hiei nearly came to a speeding crash into a tree.
"YOU DUMBASS!"
"WHY AM I THE DUMB ONE?!"
They stared. Yuusuke pushed Kuwabara's face into the dirt before the tables turned, and soon they were both kicking the shit out of each other and shouting. The most noticeable of this scene was that both fighters were covered in dirt and several trees seemed to have been blasted into dust around them.
"We would've gotten a lead if you hadn't scared her away!"
"It wasn't my fault, Urameshi!"
"Oh, right! Like she would've been okay telling us shit with you staring at her like a pervert!"
"Well maybe she wouldn't have tried to blow us up if you hadn't threatened her, tough guy!"
"She had a weapon! You would've gotten your ass killed if I hadn't grabbed you out of the way!"
Kurama flipped open the mirror, eyes closed in repressed displeasure.
"Everything's fine, Botan. I'll contact you upon any news."
He shut it before she had the chance to respond, and sighed exasperatedly. Hiei gave him a look.
"It was your idea to split up, Hiei," Kurama said, knowing well what the hi-youkai was thinking.
"I know that," he spat.
Kurama rolled his eyes and approached his other two teammates. Once he'd gotten them to calm down and explain, he suggested they take a breather and have something to eat. Being Kurama, he was prepared with food.
They sat on the fallen trees, quiet now. Hiei refused to eat and had made himself comfortable up in a tree.
"So why is shorty here anyway? Koenma didn't call him to the meeting," Kuwabara said before biting into a neatly cut sandwich.
Kurama gave an innocent laugh.
"I thought we could use the extra help."
He was thankful that Hiei was asleep and hadn't heard that. Inari knows how he would react if he was able to gather that Kurama had planned this from the start.