A/N: Here's my slightly belated Valentine's Day fanfic for Naphatarie Rose. I do hope you enjoy it! (And I'll say right now that the title really has nothing to do with the story. I'm not good with titles, so I just sort of compiled a few things said on CNN Headline News. So, credit to them, I guess.)
Happy Valentine's Day!
Dedicated Enthusiasts of Dangerous Temptation:
When does a little become too much?
That was the question Kuwabara was asking himself as he stood around and mingled with a herd of Keiko's girl friends. Although Kuwabara was, in his opinion, making plenty of witty, interesting conversation, the girls were just nodding along and looking distracted. Was he not engaging, he thought? Oh well. If he became truly ignored, he could always look for Yukina; she would always listen to him, with a smile on her face.
But back to the initial question.
Kuwabara wasn't an avid consumer of intoxicating beverages, but he was that night. And although he felt only a little dizzy, he wasn't sure when he should have stopped. No—there was so reason to stop the fun yet. The party hadn't even gotten started (practically).
"…so the woman at the drug store said that I should have tied the leash in a different knot. I did learn a valuable lesson, I guess, but I still wish I hadn't lost the guy's dog." Kuwabara looked up from his fancy, recently shinned shoes to find that he was alone and talking to no one. He let out a defeated sigh. Those girls just weren't as concentrated as Yukina.
"Hey Kuwabara," said an excited Yusuke rushing over to his best pal, "taking advantage of the food table?"
"Sort of," Kazuma answered in a tone that suggested he might not be in his best of moods.
"What's wrong with you?" Yusuke asked accusingly.
"Well, I've been standing around here for hours since this party started and Yukina hasn't shown up yet. She said she was coming! She promised she was!"
"Hey, don't worry. She says she's going to try and drag Hiei along with her. That'll take some extra time."
"I guess you're right." Kuwabara lifted his head and scanned the room, his spirit raised slightly. "Who else is coming?"
"Well, my mother's here, so are Keiko's parents…" Yusuke thought for a moment. "…Keiko's friends…" He took a few more seconds to think. "And the rest of the gang should be here soon. That's about it."
"Okay. Well, tell me if Yukina comes; I have to use the bathroom." Kuwabara beamed happily as he skipped off.
-
"Hiiiiieeeeeiii…!" Yukina struggled to say as she attempted to drag her brother into the building that Yusuke was holding his party in. "You promised you'd go to the party!"
"I didn't say I'd stay!" Hiei tried to pull out of Yukina's grip, but found his sister to be remarkably strong.
The two siblings commenced in playing tug-of-war with Hiei's arm. The battle was fierce, and although Hiei knew he could win at any time, he also figured it would result in Yukina losing a limb. He wanted to avoid that.
On and on they fought.
By this time, Yukina was nearly on her knees trying to heave Hiei through the door. Her brother was able to turn himself around, but he still couldn't break away.
Luckily, just as the combatants were about to go mad, the fight was settled by a quick and friendly tap on either shoulder by a neutral passerby.
"What kind of game are you two playing?" Kurama asked.
"Hiei promised he'd come to the party with me, but now he's trying to get out of it!"
"Is that so?"
-
"Kuwabara! Yukina's here!"
Kuwabara immediately fled from the restroom and skidded into the other room to see Yukina standing beside a smiling Kurama who was holding a very irritated Hiei in his arms.
"Hi Yukina!" Kuwabara chirped, quickly grabbing Yukina's arm and walking her away.
Kurama lowered Hiei to his feet.
"Why did you do that, Fox?" Hiei grumbled.
"You shouldn't break promises to your sister," Kurama chuckled.
"I didn't."
Kurama nodded patronizingly.
"So, can you believe Yusuke and Keiko are finally getting married?"
"Yes," Hiei grunted indifferently.
Kurama sighed.
-
A couple hours had passed, and Kurama had requested Yukina's help in getting Hiei in more of a partying mood, so Kuwabara was sadly left to the food/drink table, and continued in his earlier activities.
Kazuma looked over the entire room. He saw Yusuke and Keiko dancing away to some kind of strange music from the 40s; he saw Keiko's friends trying to snag whatever cute guy they could find; he saw Yukina and Kurama taking turns to try to teach an unwilling Hiei to dance; and he saw the same thing right next to it. That was odd.
Kuwabara looked down at his glass. Maybe he'd been drinking too much. Well, taking all precautions, he figured he would make his toast to the future bride and groom right then, before he got drunk or something.
-
"My goodness, Yusuke!" Keiko screamed in disgust as her and her fiancé were cleaning up the thick layer of slop and gold-coloured foil after the guests had left. "That was the most vulgar thing I've ever heard! And AS A TOAST TO US AND OUR FUTURE!"
"Well, he was kind of—"
"There's no excuse for that!"
Yusuke sighed to himself and tied up his fifth bag of collected party trash as Keiko continued to rant about Kuwabara's less than pleasing toast.
-
Hiei sat uncomfortably on a large, light green coloured sofa. He fidgeted a bit while looking at his surroundings. Kurama and Yukina had been upstairs for a long time now, so he was left waiting.
About an hour after Hiei, Kurama and Yukina had arrived at Yusuke and Keiko's engagement party, Kuwabara decided to erupted in a loud, obnoxious speech. And to add to the already frighteningly insulting things said to the future bride and groom, Kuwabara, for some reason, decided to embarrass Yukina more than anyone could believe.
Hiei would have taught that Kuwabara a much deserved lesson if Kurama hadn't dragged him off along with a hysterical Yukina.
Kurama took both Hiei and Yukina home with him, and 'offered' for them to spend the night there, since Yukina had become so worked up over Kuwabara's hurtful words. Hiei didn't really understand why he was there, though.
"Hiei?" Kurama called, as he made his way down the stairs. The fire youkai looked over.
"How is she?"
Kurama smiled. "She's feeling much better. She'll be spending the night up in my room, though, so I figured you and I would sleep down here."
"Do I have to stay?" Hiei grunted.
"No," Kurama answered cheerfully, smiling as if to add: unless you're not a heartless bastard.
Hiei crossed his legs as Kurama took a seat next to him on the sofa.
The two shared a few moments of comfortable silence before Kurama stood again, and left to get them both pillows, blankets, and whatever else they needed to sleep comfortably.
Kurama looked at the neatly stacked blankets before him with one question on his mind: which blanket should he bring for Hiei. Was Hiei more of a floral type? Or maybe just a solid baby blue type? Or perhaps… solid pink?
He pondered over the facts.
Hiei never appeared as very happy, which would lead Kurama to believe that the pink was out. Pink was often a very cheerful colour. On the other hand, blue was a sad colour. He didn't entirely believe Hiei was a sad person either. What was left?
"Floral…" Kurama mumbled.
Flowers were very pretty. Was Hiei pretty? No. That wasn't the right word.
"Cute," Kurama uttered, chuckling.
But flowers weren't exactly 'cute'. Unless of course they were those delightfully amusing cartoon flowers with the smiling faces that sang those adorable melodies. But the blanket in question had none of the sort.
Blue could also be happy, but in a way that was less sappy compared to pink. It was depressed a little, but was strong enough to look past it. Blue could be a good choice.
Pink, of course, was cute. Kurama had already confirmed Hiei's being cute. Pink was a sensitive colour, too. Hiei was awfully gruff on the outside, but deep within himself, Kurama was sure Hiei had a sensitive heart. When one sleeps, they're more in touch with their heart, aren't they? That would make pink the perfect choice.
Floral. What about floral? Kurama couldn't rule the flowery pattern out yet. Flowers are plants, plants are alive, and Hiei was alive. Well, there was something. The flowers were complex, though. Even the simplest daisy was… intricate.
"Oh, gray," Kurama said to himself as laid eyes on a gray blanket hidden behind the others.
He quickly grabbed it and carried it back with everything else.
Hiei had long been analyzing the room, and was plagued with the thought of where exactly Kurama expected him to sleep. The sofa was really the only place Hiei imagined would be comfortable. With that being so, Kurama probably wanted the spot for himself. There were a couple of chairs. Although they were nicely padded, no one naturally slept sitting up. And the floor was hard and cold.
-Wait, Hiei didn't mind sleeping while he sat up.
"Here's your blanket, Hiei," his friend said kindly, handing the small youkai the warm, gray-colored coverlet.
Hiei took it and rested it on his lap.
"Where do you want me to sleep, Fox?"
Kurama scanned the room.
"Well, you could just stay where you are, if you'd like."
Hiei was a little surprised. The sofa was the most prized of all living-room sleeping possibilities. Any sane person who valued their sleep would want it for themselves. Kurama valued his sleep, and he was definitely sane—or… or was he?
Hiei watched as Kurama cleared a few things off the coffee table, which included a copy of some intelligent magazine; the cover featured some sort of illustration. Kurama took a brief look at it and immediately followed the glance with a laugh.
Yep. He was sane.
"On the sofa?" Hiei questioned.
"Yes," Kurama replied, a hint of suspicion in his voice. Hiei didn't often ask such obvious questions.
"Where are you going to sleep, then?" Hiei asked.
Kurama thought for a moment.
"The floor."
Hiei was utterly confused. Kurama was going to give him the warm, cushioned sofa, while he took the cold, stiff floor. Something about that made Hiei feel… funny.
"Are you all right, Hiei?" Kurama asked as he moved over closer to Hiei.
"Yeah," Hiei said, snatching a pillow and putting it under his head as he laid down on the sofa.
The redhead smiled and sat beside Hiei's legs.
"You know," Kurama started, laying out his own blanket on the floor beneath the sofa, "I think you could be a pretty good dancer if you practiced a bit more."
Hiei's response was a short grunt, coated with annoyance and a hint of embarrassment.
Defiantly cute, Kurama thought as he turned off the light and slid down onto the floor where he planned to sleep.
The fox draped his own blanket over himself and gently rested his head on a soft pillow. Hiei watched intently, which Kurama found a bit strange when he caught the youkai's visual stream.
"Yes, Hiei?" Kurama said, taking Hiei's stare as a request to ask a question.
"Are you really going to sleep on the floor?"
Kurama hesitated to answer as he considered why that mattered.
"I am."
Hiei looked away. "All right, then."
The redhead turned on his side, facing away from Hiei. Something seemed to be bothering him. Perhaps it was his sister, Kurama suggested to himself. He concluded on the idea, and with easing his nerves, closed his eyes and tried to relax.
Hiei, however, didn't have a clue as to what was bothering him. Well, actually, the sofa was a little too warm, cozy and comfortable. In fact, the blanket was a little too pleasant. And the pillow fit and supported his neck and head too well. Not to mention the scent of flowers filling the room was far too lovely, and the sound of occasionally chirping crickets mixed with Kurama's sweet, contented breathing was just a little too delightful.
That had to be it.
Hiei slowly sat up and threw off his coverings. It was obvious that the only way to fix this problem was to sleep on the floor.
On the floor, it wouldn't be nearly as warm and comfortable, and if he didn't use the blanket, it wouldn't be pleasant at all! And if he were closer to Kurama, his breathing would probably be more annoying, and his scent would be too overpowering to be relaxing.
There was the perfect solution.
Hiei decided on the perfect way to go about getting to the floor without waking Kurama. First, he would sneak off the sofa as quietly as he could. If he were to just leap off quickly, Kurama would surely notice. Then he'd settle down on the other side of him, without having made a peep. It was fool-proof.
Hiei lowered his foot to the ground, instantly stepping on Kurama's leg.
"Hiei, what are you doing?" Kurama asked sleepily, rolling over to look at his friend.
"I'm going to sleep on the floor."
'The floor', Kurama thought. That's what he seemed to have an issue with before. It had to still be bothering him.
"Is it because of your sister?" Kurama queried.
Hiei wasn't exactly sure what Kurama meant.
"Yes," the little youkai answered.
"Well, don't worry," Kurama assured him, sitting up himself. "She's already feeling better about it herself, and Kuwabara didn't mean to be so crude. I'm sure he'll apologize as soon as he gets the chance."
"Okay," Hiei mumbled, continuing with his plan.
"You're still going to sleep on the floor?" Kurama persisted, feeling as confused as he looked.
"Yeah." Hiei noted the confused look on Kurama's face. Maybe he needed an explanation. "I can't fall asleep on the sofa."
"Oh," Kurama laughed, "I thought Yukina's hurt feelings were bothering you."
"No… I'll deal with that idiot later," Hiei said, referring to Kuwabara.
Kurama shook his head in amusement.
"You're incorrigible," he laughed.
Hiei shrugged off Kurama's words as he strode around his friend and sat beside him.
The youkai propped his pillow beneath his head and squirmed a bit until he found the best possible position. Unfortunately for Hiei, though, the best possible position on the floor wasn't nearly as comfortable as the worst possible position on the sofa. His back was already sore and he hadn't even been lying there for three minutes.
Hiei unconsciously let a groan escape him.
Kurama popped an eye open and observed Hiei roll in discomfort.
"Hiei…" Kurama sighed in amusement.
The half koorime ignored Kurama for a moment, but soon turned to face the former youko, offering a slight look of delight.
"This is better," Hiei said, pausing for a moment, "than the sofa."
Kurama smiled at his friend affectionately. "You're never going to be able to sleep there, either."
Hiei grunted, while his foxy friend decided to better satisfy his guest's sleeping needs.
Kurama reached out in front of him, wrapped both arms around Hiei's waist and gently pulled him onto the blanket he had laid down as help to soften the floor.
Hiei squirmed in Kurama's hold, disapproving of the physical contact. But within a few seconds, he came to the realization that the place Kurama had moved him to was significantly more… acceptable. As soon as his struggled ceased, Kurama blanketed him as well, and brought him closer to share his pillow.
"Better?" Kurama asked, his arms still holding Hiei tightly.
Although the blanket Kurama had laid out was comfortable, it still wasn't nearly as comfy as the sofa. Their coverings were still warm, pleasant, but it was less so. And as Hiei suspected, Kurama's scent was stronger, being so close to him. But it was more refreshing than anything.
It was comfortable, yet extremely… uncomfortable.
"Kurama…?" Hiei asked nervously. "What are you doing?"
The redhead laughed softly, and in doing so, Hiei felt Kurama's breath on his neck, and became a bit more unsettled by it.
"Trying to help you sleep," he replied gently.
Hiei took a second to better adjust himself to the contours of his companion, and soon as he found perfect alignment and became a bit tired, he half-yawned, much to his distress, "It's not helping."
The fact that he was teetering on the border of slumber and wakefulness didn't please Hiei at all. Finding Kurama's hold so soothing was frightening, to say the least, and that Kurama seemed to enjoy it.
Nevertheless, it was late, Hiei's mind was shot from all the day's activities/festivities, and if it was going to be anyone embracing him as he slept, better it be Kurama.
So the fox soon found Hiei finally relaxed, softly breathing into his shirt.
Too cute, Kurama thought to himself, closing his own eyes.
-
It was exactly 6:31am—or so the blinking clock read, and Yukina was desperately trying to shut up the beeping alarm, to no avail. She'd simply tried everything, pushed every button. But nothing proved to be the proper way to make it stop. Would the madness of the beeping never stop?
In her final attempt to silence the contraption, Yukina ripped the power cord from the electrical outlet; it worked.
Yukina smiled, pleased to free her ears of the horrible screeching of the alarm.
The girl turned her head to peer outside of Kurama's bedroom window, seeing that it was a beautiful, sunny Monday morning, only without the sun and the beauty. Actually, it looked like rain.
Well, Yukina supposed that was good, since Kurama had mentioned that he liked rainy days.
With that thought hurriedly being swept from her mind with the realization that her brother was probably awake by now, she quickly scurried to get downstairs.
-
At around 6: 20am, the small fire youkai opened his eyes to the sight of a new day, which looked a lot like Kurama's shirt. Remembering all of what occurred the night before in his half asleep daze, Hiei closed his eyes again and nestled himself closer to the fox…. But then the other half of him woke up, remembering nothing at all of having fallen asleep next to/with/on Kurama. With that, Hiei jolted away from his friend, waking him up in the process.
"Good morning, Hiei," Kurama greeted, smiling flirtatiously at his startled friend.
Hiei merely stared at Kurama in response.
"Don't act surprised, Hiei," Kurama chuckled.
"Why not?" Hiei asked accusingly.
Kurama had no answer.
"Well… what are you distraught over, anyway?" he questioned.
Hiei had no answer.
The two both took the other's inability to answer questions as a sign that there actually was absolutely nothing wrong.
"So," Kurama started, getting up off the floor, "would you like some breakfast?"
Hiei seemed to be in thought.
Kurama stretched a bit.
Hiei continued to think, the confusion of what was going on still lingering around him like a dense fog.
Kurama, now feeling more awake, took to simply looking out towards his friend and his haze, until it became too much and he broke the silence. "…Hiei?"
"What?" Hiei snapped.
"Breakfast?"
Hiei seemed to be in thought.
Kurama sighed and approached the smaller demon.
"Do you want anything?" he asked in a soft, alluring tone.
Hiei blushed and found himself unable to reply.
For the past week or so, Hiei had noticed Kurama becoming much more friendly with him. Well, not so much friendly as familiar. And forget familiar, Kurama seemed to be reading his mind. But forget that because what was worse was that Kurama knew Hiei wouldn't try to put a stop to it.
The youkai drew in a deep breath and turned his head, unable to put up with the fox's penetrating gaze.
"No," Hiei answered sternly, regaining composure.
"All right," Kurama said, accepting the answer more than Hiei expected.
Hiei thought for a moment about why Kurama was still staring at him, and, feeling unsure, backed away from his friend more so.
The youko drew in a deep breath and turned his head, unable to put up with the little demon's timidity. He casually ran his fingers through his hair and further advanced on Hiei.
"I don't think Yukina will be down for a while, Hiei." Kurama smirked. "What would you like to do before she comes down?"
Hiei looked around the room aimlessly, stopping a couple times when his eyes met Kurama.
"I don't care," Hiei mumbled, quickly trying to walk around Kurama and get away to the sofa, but Kurama took his arm and held him back.
All at once Hiei was drawn into Kurama, and a kiss softly enveloped his lips.
—Hiei was stunned. This was totally a violation of personal space! It was extreme, unauthorized contact and he would not stand for it! So he kissed back.
-
Yukina made her way into the living room, smiling sweetly for all—Hiei and Kurama—to see. But what she saw was more interesting than even her own smile. There they were, her brother wrapped in an embrace and kissing the redhead, not seeming to mind it in the slightest.
Oh! This was more exciting than Godzilla! Her brother, her brother, had sought love in none other than Kurama, the one person she believed knew how to properly take care of Hiei. That was good news. And adorable news at that. Goodness, and it certainly was news.
She hid out of their sight and called to them, as though she was just coming down from Kurama's room, "Hiei, Kurama? Are you two… awake?"
The two boys quickly parted from each other, and retained a believable distance from each other.
Yukina hurried in again.
"Good morning." Yukina beamed.
"Good morning." Kurama smiled cheerfully.
"Good morning." Hiei shifted around like a drunken squirrel.
There was a long pause in the fluent conversation.
Yukina broke the silence. "Kurama, would you mind if I made breakfast for the three of us?"
"Of course not. That would be a joy," Kurama said kindly, leading Yukina into the kitchen.
As the fox gave Yukina a brief tour of the kitchen, Hiei found himself in a daze. Something about what had happened in the past few minutes didn't set well with him.
Maybe it was all the love.
Hiei shuddered.
As Kurama emerge from the kitchen, he called back to Yukina, "If you have any questions, I'll be up in my room getting dressed!"
Good, Hiei thought, I'll have a few minutes to think this out.
Unfortunately for Hiei's muse, Kurama decided to drag the puppy-eyed demon along with him.
"Kurama!" Hiei protested, trying to squirm out of his grasp, "I don't want to see you dress!"
"Don't worry," Kurama said, opening his bedroom door, "you won't see anything of the sort."
Hiei felt relieved, but he still didn't want to be there.
Kurama released Hiei then, guiding him to his bed and motioning for him to make himself comfortable.
"But you did," Kurama started, sitting next to the youkai, "kiss me back." Hiei wasn't sure how to respond. "And as I recall, we were interrupted." Now Hiei was just nervous. "So my question to you is: do you want to finish?"
That was a hard question, and with no lifelines in stalk, there had to be some thought put into the answer. It would be best to go over the checklist that should be used when answering any question.
Does this question insult you? No, Hiei decided. It seemed fair enough.
Will answering this question have an impressionable effect on your life/well-being? Yes, Hiei thought, most defiantly.
Do you wish to kiss the person asking this question? Oh, yes, Hiei concluded.
Is this question's answer going to affect anyone other than yourself? Probably not, Hiei thought. Except Kurama, anyway.
Is this question one you're able to answer? Sure.
—Hold on, wait… Number three on the question checklist was actually the question in… question.
Hiei looked up at Kurama, a half-confused expression on his face. Kurama returned him a firm stare; he was serious.
"Well… I guess I—" Hiei's speaking the word 'guess' immediately brought on Kurama's lips again.
-
Yukina gracefully danced her way through the kitchen as she prepared the breakfast. Oh, the scent of love was in the air! Which was entirely true, since Kurama's house seemed to smell of roses and cinnamon and everything pleasant. And the aura of love was in the air as well!
"Lovely," Yukina giggled, turning on the stove.
But all this thought of love was a little upsetting; Kazuma had said some awful things to her. And after she was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe…
Yukina was too worked up to realize that she had pushed the bread back in the toaster at least four times. Needless to say, it was rather burnt.
Yukina sniffed, trying to hold back tears. The smell of love had been replaced by the smell of burning toast, and the aura of love was now just a lot of smoke.
Yukina coughed and ran out of the kitchen, just as the fire alarm was set off by all the over-cooked toast fumes.
-
"What's that noise?" Hiei asked, pushing Kurama away. The fox listened for a moment, then hurriedly got himself off of the smaller demon.
"I'll go downstairs and make sure Yukina's all right," Kurama said, sounding a little panicked.
"Why? Do you think she's hurt?" Hiei asked, quickly getting on his feet.
"Oh, no. She probably just burnt something in the kitchen. I'm sure it's not that bad."
Hiei didn't look convinced.
"It's all right, Hiei, I'll handle it. Besides, you're not wearing pants."
Hiei nodded and let Kurama leave, then began to redress himself.
That got way out of hand, Hiei thought, shaking his head in self-disapproval.
Kurama seemed to be taking his sweet time down there, so Hiei looked around the room for something interesting. The only thing that caught his eye was a large stack of paper residing on Kurama's nightstand. It had numbers on it and interesting pictures. Hiei grabbed it without hesitation.
"Hm," Hiei hummed to himself, inspecting what he found to be a page-a-day-calendar.
In large, pink numbers and letters it read 'February 14th', then below it said: 'Saint Valentine's Day'. There was also a cute little picture of a cat playing with a ball of yarn that, strangely enough, was heart-shaped, along side it a quote reading: 'Love is a most beautiful gem to be pawned for little money'.
That was odd.
Within a few seconds, Kurama reentered the room, bringing a waft of smoke along with him.
"Oh… you're dressed," Kurama said in disappointment.
Hiei turned to him. "What happened down there?"
"Yukina went toaster-happy," Kurama answered nonchalantly, dusting himself off.
"Oh… so… she's okay?" Hiei tried to mask his concern.
Kurama smiled and walked up to Hiei, draping his arms over him. "Yes."
Kurama, being located directly above Hiei's shoulder, couldn't help but look over it to see the calendar in the half koorime's hands.
"What's 'Valentine's Day'?" Hiei asked, pointing to the cat.
"Well, some believe this day to be when birds choose their mates," Kurama started, holding Hiei closely. "Or to commemorate Saint Valentine, who may or may not have started some of the tings associated with Valentine's Day."
"Like?"
"Giving notes to someone you love or admire, or just expressing your love for someone."
"Humans have a holiday for everything," Hiei mumbled.
"Indeed," Kurama laughed. "But what you'd be most interested in concerning Valentine's Day would be, as with most, the gifts involved."
"Gifts, eh?" Kurama nodded. "What kinds of gifts?"
"Oh, flowers, jewelry, candy, stuffed animals…"
"Humans stuff animals?" Hiei asked in curiosity, surprise and disapproval.
"No, no… well, yes but—"
"That's insane."
Kurama merely nodded in agreement. He himself never entirely 'got' the idea of stuffed animals. But they were sort of cute, and huggable—like Hiei. That was appealing.
Yes, Kurama thought, squeezing and cuddling his adorable little bundle, Hiei was exactly like a giant stuffed animal.
Of course, Hiei didn't much like being treated as a teddy bear, and slowly inched away from his companion.
Yukina soon popped her head in.
"Uhh, umm, Kurama, if you're not, uhm, busy, could you maybe…"
"Just a minute, Hiei," Kurama said, meeting Yukina outside the door.
As soon as Kurama left his sight, Hiei's mind began to tick.
Was it coincidence that Kurama took Hiei on Valentine's Day, or did he plan it that way? He wasn't sure. Whatever happened, it was sudden, and that sense of shock would probably linger around for a while. That was a tad daunting, indeed. But maybe when the disbelief faded into belief, it would prove to be 'love'.
Hiei sighed. He should have noticed Kurama's obvious behavior before. It was more than clear that the fox had some kind of interest in him.
-
"Kurama, the breakfast didn't turn out very well," Yukina apologized. "I'm just a little troubled."
"That's all right. I don't think Hiei was hungry anyway."
Yukina smiled, letting loose a little giggle. Kurama returned the joyous expression, and the two shared a little laugh at Hiei's expense rather than Yukina's.
"So… you love my brother?"
Kurama was taken completely off guard and nearly began to look around to find out who had just spoken. But calm quickly found him and nested in his mind.
"Yes but… why do you ask—why do you know to ask?" A trail of sweat trickled down Kurama's forehead.
"I saw you kissing him earlier today," Yukina whispered. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Hiei."
"Oh," Kurama stuttered, blushing.
"And after seeing that, I started to think… I don't know you very well. I mean, I've always known you cared for Hiei but, I would like to know more about you before you and Hiei get really close. Not th-that I don't approve or any—"
"I understand," Kurama said, smiling. "Why don't you and I go out today. It will help to clear your mind, and I'm sure Hiei wouldn't mind being left alone. I think he has a lot to think about…."
"Okay, then!" Yukina chirped. "You can tell Hiei we're going, and I'll go clean up the mess I made in the kitchen."
-
After a long process of thinking, Hiei decided that he could do worse than Kurama, much worse. Actually, Kurama was the best thing to ever happen to him, so this was down-right a blessed event.
He cared about Kurama, immensely.
"Hiei," Kurama said, opening the door to his room and stepping in, "I wanted to tell you that Yukina and I are going to go out for a while today."
"Why?" Hiei asked bluntly.
"Heh… Well, I have some shopping to do, and she needs to get her mind off of last night. So, while we're away, I want you to make yourself completely at home."
Hiei fidgeted a little, not exactly knowing what Kurama was inviting him to do.
"Just help yourself to anything," Kurama said softly.
Hiei blushed a little. Kurama's tone was too kind and too sweet.
Kurama smiled, and slowly turned away.
"Goodbye," Hiei said awkwardly.
-
Kurama and Yukina enjoyed a long drive to the nearest mall, the whole trip spent talking of Hiei and anything else that came to mind. They both found each other's company quite enjoyable.
"Oh! Kurama!" Yukina called excitedly, after they had arrived at their destination and begun to look around the mall. "You should get Hiei one of these!"
Kurama came over to take a look at what Yukina found.
"Oh," Kurama said, "it's one of those places to make teddy bears."
"Yes," Yukina giggled.
Well, Hiei had been curious about stuffed animals, perhaps this would be a good way to explain them to him.
-
Hiei had been alone at Kurama's house for nearly an hour, and was finding many was to entertain himself. For one, he had found a box of Poptarts. Not to mention that he found a show called 'The Incredible Hulk' on TV. It made for a very enjoyable experience.
"Idiot," Hiei mumbled to himself, "that guy just puts up with all the crap people are giving him—"
Hiei's thought was interrupted by the ringing of Kurama's telephone.
He wasn't sure if he should answer it. It was Kurama's house, so it was probably someone calling for Kurama, and Kurama wasn't even there so what would be the point? Although… what if it were Kurama trying to call for him? It could be something urgent. And, of course, Kurama did say for Hiei to 'make himself at home'. If this was his house, then he would defiantly answer the phone.
Hiei hesitantly put down the box of Poptarts and walked over to the phone. He put his hand on it and slowly, very slowly, brought it to his ear.
"Hello…?" Hiei waited for the person on the other end to respond.
"Hello—hey… who's this?" It almost sounded like…
"Just my luck," Hiei grumbled. "Expect a flower and you get a wasp."
Even Hiei was confused by what he just said.
"Are you calling me a WASP? Or… or a FLOWER? Oh, wait, this is HIEI."
"If you have something to say then get it out quickly. I don't wish to speak with you longer than I have to."
"What are you doing at Kurama's house?"
"Nothing," Hiei groaned.
"Then can I talk to Kurama?"
"He isn't here."
"…Does Kurama know you're at his house?"
"YES. Now what do you want?"
"Well, I was going to ask Kurama if he knew where Yukina was, since he left with her last night… but I guess you're even better when it comes to trying to find Yukina. Do you know where she is?"
"She's at the mall."
"Okay, great. Which mall?"
"I don't know," Hiei said impatiently.
"Aww… well, umm, maybe you could help me."
"I'm not liking your chances."
"Come on! I… I know I must of hurt Yukina last night, and I wanted to apologize and make it up to her…"
Hiei, as much as he hated to think it, knew Yukina was upset over what had happened. If he helped Kuwabara, maybe he could help Yukina.
"Fine," Hiei grunted.
Kuwabara was silent for a few moments, shocked.
"R-r-really?"
"Just tell me what you want to do before I change my mind."
"Well, I- I was thinking of maybe surprising her with a party for Valentine's Day or something."
"Surprising her? You mean when she gets back from the mall?"
"Yeah, that would be perfect!"
Hiei had thrown upon his shoulders another dilemma. In order to help Yukina, he would have to throw a party in Kurama's house. He wasn't sure if Kurama would want that. Although…
"Then come down to my house right away. We don't have that much time."
"But-… but isn't that Kurama's house?"
"Yes."
"O… kay."
-
"Kurama, Hiei's going to love this!" Yukina squealed, hugging the bear they'd made for her brother tightly.
"I'm not sure if 'love' would be the right word, but I think he'll appreciate the pirate faerie combination."
The both of them took another look at the bear, who wore an eye patch, a skull-patterned bandana, a faerie get-up, wings, and held a sword.
It was truly perfect.
"Well, Kurama, do you think we should be getting back? Hiei must be awfully bored."
Kurama laughed. "I think you're right."
-
After Kuwabara had arrived at Hiei's—Kurama's—house, the two frantically began to work away. Well, if you asked Hiei, he was doing most of the work. He had to clean the place, set up everything, blow up balloons, and all Kuwabara had to do was phone people to get them to come.
"Okay, I have the guest list now," Kuwabara declared, hanging up the phone.
"Who's coming?" Hiei asked, tying the last balloon.
"Yusuke, Keiko, my old buddies, some people Yusuke said he'd invite, some people Keiko said she'd invite, Botan and… some people Botan said she'd invite."
Hiei didn't like the sound of how many people that could involve.
"All right. But they better hurry up and get here. Kurama and Yukina will be back soon."
"Okay. But… what're we going to do before then? We already set up everything."
-
Kurama and Yukina had finally made it home, carrying with them a bounty of things for their sweethearts.
"I think Kazuma will like his bear, too," Yukina gigged, holding up the boxer/dancer bear.
"I'm sure he will," Kurama laughed, opening the door to his house.
Both Yukina and Kurama stared out at the strange sight before them.
Hiei and Kuwabara were sitting on the sofa, surrounded by pink balloons, eating Poptarts and watching 'The Incredible Hulk' on TV.
"K-Kazuma?" Yukina cried out in surprised.
"YUKINA?" Kuwabara quickly rose to his feet. "I'M SO SORRY YUKINA PLEASE FORGIVE ME," he sobbed.
"Of course I will, Kazuma!" Yukina said, rushing over to the much taller boy.
"Oh Yukina, thank you," he said, slowly reaching out to embrace the small girl.
His hug was blocked by something soft and cuddly.
Kuwabara looked up at the bear.
"It's for you!" She smiled.
As Yukina showed the bear to Kazuma, Kurama decided to slink around the two to get to Hiei.
"It seems you faired well while I was gone," Kurama said, a bit mockingly. Hiei rolled his eyes. "Oh, and I got you this," Kurama said, handing Hiei the pirate/faerie bear.
Hiei gawked at it.
"It's… soft," he remarked, putting both hands on the small bear, giving it a squeeze.
Kurama erupted in laughter at the sight.
Yukina and Kuwabara turned their heads in the laughing redhead's direction. Hiei glared at them, and they quickly went back to their own business.
"I love you, Hiei," Kurama whispered, sliding his arm around the youkai's waist.
Hiei blushed and tried to get away, embarrassed to have his sister and that oaf so close by. Of course, Kurama was too persistent and excited to let him get away that easily.
"And what do you have to say, Hiei?" Kurama smirked, using his hands to fondle his love's most sensitive areas. Hiei protested loudly, a little too loudly perhaps.
Kuwabara looked over, a little curious about the noise. And just as he was about to question, the front door swung open, revealing a large crowd of people, that which included Yusuke and Botan, who were particularly fascinated with the interesting sight of Kurama huddled over and groping a teddy bear wielding Hiei.
But then they noticed Yukina.
"Happy Valentine's Day!" everyone yelled in unison, pretending that they all hadn't arrived late.
The part then began. Kuwabara took to making sure Yukina didn't go off somewhere and leave him to get drunk and insult everyone, Yusuke and Botan avidly searched the house for Hiei and Kurama to ask about the sight they'd witnessed earlier, and Keiko mingled.
The mingling went well, and Kuwabara managed to entertain Yukina, but Yusuke and Botan had no luck at all in their hunt, since Hiei and Kurama had quickly escaped to a locked bedroom, Poptarts and bounties of candy in arm.
-
"So, what's up with that green colour?" Kurama asked, his voiced muffled a bit with trying to talk and hold a Poptart in his mouth at the same time as he pointed at the Hulk on TV.
"What's wrong with green?" Hiei asked in a rather snarky tone.
"Nothing… I just find the colour-change a little amusing."
Hiei glared at his fox. "I like it. He's a hulk, that's what colour he should be."
Kurama chuckled.
"Oh. We're out of MMs," Kurama said, crumbling up an empty bag.
"No. We still have the crispy kind," Hiei said, holding up a bag.
"Those don't count," Kurama said in disapproval.
"Why not?" Hiei scorned.
"They're not at all substantial—"
"HIIIIEEII? KURRRAMAAAA?" the two demons heard being called from nearby. They quickly muted the volume on the TV and moved away from the door.
"They're not any less satisfying than plain MMs," Hiei whispered.
"But why have plain why you can have peanut or almond?" Kurama whispered back.
"You think too much," Hiei insulted, quietly.
Kurama leaned over and planted an affectionate kiss on the youkai's cheek.
"Here," Hiei said, reaching into a bag he'd brought up with him, "I got you these when we went to the store to get balloons and all that crap." Hiei handed Kurama a beautiful assortment of pink and red roses.
Kurama happily sighed a surprised yet delighted 'aww', then hungrily attacked a surprised yet delighted Hiei.
…'aww'.
-End