The years after

A/N: I wrote this about the same time as Akisame, but well for some reason I wrote Akisame first lol. I hope you like this as much as I hated putting all the little parts together ^_^

Disclaimer: don't own, its Fanfiction!

Hiei's P.O.V

"Hiei please go, I told Kurama and Yusuke that you'd meet them there!"

Yukina only used that tone when she really wanted me to do something for her...But I'd never been to a human festival before. Plenty of shrines but no festivals and for good reason damn it all!

"Please Hiei! They haven't seen you in two years!"

Well Kurama hadn't for six months...but really why would they want to see me? I knew what they said behind my back even on the best of days. But then again I couldn't say no to my sister, she'd kill me for it or give me that lost puppy dog face that would kill me just as much as her not talking to me for weeks on end.

"Alright, alright I'll go."

She hugged me and pulled me to one of the backrooms, handing me a dark blue yukata she made her way out of the room so I could change, really how did I get myself into these kind of things? Leaving the room she smiled at me;

"Is it alright?"

I nodded, I really hadn't wore a yukata before so it was a little odd...

"They'll wait for you by the Torii alright?"

Nodding I turned and took off, I really wasn't sure if I could deal with all the humans that were going to be there, what if it got to be too much for me to handle? Before I knew it I was there and I went to stand next to the Torii so that I wouldn't be in anyone's way, I wondered how long it would take the others to get here?

"Hey Kuwabara! You heading to your stall?"

Kuwabara? I knew the voice that called out the last name, how did you forget the moron that kept hitting on you? One of Kuwabara's friends seemed to have what Kurama referred to as a 'soft spot' whatever the hell he meant by that... So did that mean they were already here? Had they forgotten that Yukina said she'd send me along? I scanned the crowd and got a glimpse of Kuwabara, he'd changed but his aura was the same. I rushed forward, so many people were between us! I caught snatches of him as he wove his way through the crowd, I gasped as I ended up out of the crowd and saw trees. Had he made his way to the other side of the festival? No way I could have lost him like that! I was faster then any of them so how could I have lost Kuwabara like that?

Kuwabara, Kazuma's P.O.V

I waved at Kirishima as I left him behind his stall and headed in the direction of my own stall through the trees to the other side of the temple;

"Let Go!"

I froze, Hiei? surly I was imagining it...walking towards the scuffle I stopped, the sight of two demons struggling together, it was Hiei but not the way I remembered him! He was still smaller than the other but no longer as short as I remembered him, he was about the same height as Yusuke now. The pug ugly grasped Hiei's delicate looking wrist but Hiei's other hand was on the demon's forearm, he'd scorch the bastard.

"Let me go!"

Hiei shouted, the other was reaching with its other hand towards the slit in Hiei's Yukata, I wouldn't allow that kind of behavior! I rushed forward and collided with the moron who dared to attack Hiei, said demon pulled out a blade;

"Back off stupid!"

Shouting at me wouldn't help this moron!I snorted and darted forward calling my blade to me, before the demon could even hit me I slashed him neatly in half, he disappeared in a rush of smoke and wind. I turned to Hiei who seemed surprised to see me. Reeling in my energy I walked to his side.

"Are you alright Hiei?"

He nodded and rather unlike himself or at least the one I had known and he meekly said;

"Kuwabara?"

I smiled, he wasn't the only one to change after all. I wasn't in that awkward teen stage I had been last time we had seen each other.

"I think we've know each other long enough that you could call me Kazuma."

He blushed and pulled away from the tree he'd been pinned to.

"Thanks...Kazuma."

A jolt of pleasure raced down my spine, how long had I wanted my first name to pass his lips? I noticed that not only had he grown taller his hair no longer defied gravity, it was now waist length.

Hiei's P.O.V

I shifted, Kuwabara was maybe six feet now, his hair was longer just like my own, I could tell because even though he pulled it into a ponytail it still draped over his shoulder. Had two years changed Yusuke and Kurama as drastically? Kuwabara was wearing a Yukata too, but it had leaves on the bottom and it was greenish.

"I'm surprised to see you, Yukina force you here?"

I nodded and let out a sigh. How was it a surprise if she told them she'd get me to come here?

"She begged me to."

He smiled which set my heart to beat faster...He'd never smiled like that before...or at least not at me.

"Where is she at?"

I started, oh well I should have clarified... and didn't he know she couldn't come out this far? Being pregnant did that to people after all;

"At the temple...I was going to meet Kurama and Yusuke."

I barely caught his flinch. What in the world?

"Ah, would you like to hang out with me till they arrive?"

Till? He made it sound like he wouldn't 'hang out' with them. Had something happened that made them not as keen with each other? Kurama hadn't mentioned anything unusual about Kuwabara or Yusuke for that matter...was there some kind of disagreement?

"Kazuma... what's going on between you and them?"

He flinched even worse this time;

"Ah, well I kind of left Tokyo without telling them where I was going."

Really? But why?

"I thought you were friends with them?"

He nodded;

"I just needed to find myself..."

There had to be more...my sister!

"You left because Yukina found someone?"

He turned red;

"Something like that."

What did that mean?

"Uh, anyway...where were you going to meet them?"

Why the sudden change in topic? My sister and her husband? Or was there something else, someone else?

"The Torii, and don't change the subject, When was the last time you saw them?"

His eyes gave away that I wouldn't like the answer he would give me, but why separate for the others if he was upset? Why not ask for their help, at least ask for Kurama's help anyway I doubt Yusuke would be much help.

"Two years."

Ok now why hadn't Kurama said anything to me? He knew I could find Kuwabara the quickest, had there been an argument? I didn't think that they would, I knew Kuwabara had a temper, after all he had been so angry with us for leaving him to go to the makai. But I belonged there, it may not have been a happy place for me but it was home...It always would be.

"Come on."

Kazuma's P.O.V

"Hiei?"

I watched Hiei's face as we heard Kurama's voice, watched it turn to surprise and then delight. Or rather how close to delight as he could get, which was a bit more than before, he'd really opened up since I last saw him. He'd actually enjoyed looking at all the stalls as we wandered to the Torii. As we looked towards where Kurama's voice had come from the crowed parted allowing us to see Kurama, and for him to see that I was with Hiei.

"?"

I frowned, great. That meant that Yusuke was nearby then. Kurama led us out of the crowd of people;

"Yukina told us you'd changed Hiei, but I didn't expect this much, you've grown quite a lot since I last saw you!"

Hiei snorted at Kurama's words;

"Yes well the last time you saw me was before my birthday, didn't you notice yukina's changed just as much as me or have you not seen her as long as you haven't seen me?"

Kurama smiled;

"I saw her, I guess it just didn't occur to me that you would change so much in so little time. Same for you too Kuwabara, it's been awhile since we last met hasn't it."

I knew it for what it was, a question of where I had been and of how I had been. I hadn't talked to them for two years I must have worried them at first till I sent the first letter to my father and sister...

"True. How have you been Kurama?"

He smiled softly;

"I would have been a lot better if I had not worried so much about you, Yusuke went traveling not long after we found that you'd left without a word to anyone. He came back recently and Yukina thought it would be a great time to get most of us together again. I guess her wish to have the old team together worked out perfectly."

And god If I didn't feel like a complete twat for doing that to them, but I had my reasons...Hiei seemed a little more surprised this time around, after all I hadn't told him I hadn't spoken to them in those two years.

"Nothing for two years Kazuma?"

I flinched a little at Hiei's tone, he seemed really angry with me about this for some reason and Kurama seemed to realize that I had told Hiei. Because if Kurama had told him he would have known that I hadn't sent any word to them;

"No Hiei not a peep from him, the only reason we knew he was alive was the letters he sent to his family."

I bit my lower lip;

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Sorry my ass! Not a word, a single god damn word for two years! How do you think we were going to act when we finally found your sorry ass?"

I turned to find myself looking down on Yusuke, who looked like he was about to kick my ass like old times.

"Yusuke not now please."

He looked frustrated and mad as a rattle snake, I really didn't want to have this confrontation here in public, after all how would people react to Yusuke's Demonic side?

"How about now you bastard!"

I growled frustrated about as much as him... of having met this way;

"How about not."

With that I turned and walked away, maybe another day, not today but certainly another. I had a stall to run anyway, and the twins were probably wondering where I was already.