Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used here, with the exception of Cian. This is also rated M for all the smut that will eventually come. This is also yaoi, which means lots of boy on boy action. You have been warned!

CHAPTER ONE: A MEETING OF FRIENDS

Kurama flopped on his bed and buried his face in the softness of his pillow to muffle the scream of frustration that ripped out of his throat. There would be no need to worry Yusuke, who waited downstairs, ready to pounce on him and ask him about every intimate detail of his life. Kurama summoned the last of his strength and pulled himself together, forced his jumbled thoughts to be coherent. It simply wouldn't due to lose his mind now. Kurama moved in to the bathroom and gazed at himself in the mirror. Everything appeared the same, so why did everything feel so different? Kurama shrugged it off as he made his way downstairs to his waiting guest.

Yusuke grinned. "So fox-boy… Do you have any plans with Hiei tonight? We saw him over at the temple and he told the hag that he was spending the week with you." His eyes gazed around the otherwise empty house. "Did he run off already?"

Kurama sighed. "No, he said that he was going to the market to pick up groceries for me. He was oddly insistent on it in fact." Emerald orbs gazed straight through Yusuke's front. "What's going on?"

Yusuke gaped at him with an open mouth. "Are you that thick that you don't realize what day it is? Seriously Kurama…"

"It's Friday."

"Yeah," Yusuke said with a roll of his eyes. "And what date is it?"

Kurama's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no…"

Yusuke gave a mischievous grin. "Oh yes. I can't believe the shrimp was actually smart enough to outwit the great Yoko Kurama." He snickered. "Wait till you see what's coming! I bet you're going to die of a heart attack." He wrapped an arm around Kurama's shoulders, not at all discouraged when it was shrugged off. "Anyways, I was assigned with getting you out of the house for awhile. The shrimp will kill me if I don't."

"Where are we going?" Kurama questioned. He raised an eyebrow at the annoyed look that Yusuke gave him. "Well, I do need to know what to wear. I can't go out wearing what I wore to work."

"Hmm… Wear something sexy."

Kurama trudged up the stairs and back in to his bedroom. He glanced at the bed but resisted screaming again. That'd come later. His thoughts raced as he shuffled through the slim selection of 'sexy' clothes that were in his arsenal of clothes. Of all things when shopping for a wardrobe, sexy had not been in his thoughts. This day was dreaded, one to be ignored rather than celebrated. "What does it matter if I'm another year older?" Kurama murmured to himself as he changed from his jeans and white button up shirt to leather pants and a black tee-shirt. Both hugged his figure and Kurama knew that the tee-shirt would ride up if he danced to expose a line of stomach. He placed his hair in a high ponytail and wandered back downstairs.

Before he could protest, he was dragged out of the house. He didn't even have enough time to lock the door before Yusuke was pushing him in to the passenger's seat of a car and hopping around to drive. The drive wasn't long and then they parked. Kurama followed Yusuke across the street and in to a booming club. Kurama cringed at the thought of having person after person rub their bodies against his in a sensual dance. Half the time, he didn't touch himself as intimately as some of the dance partners in the past had.

Three shots of whiskey later, the dance floor wasn't looking so bad. Another shot of whiskey, and Yusuke wasn't looking so bad either. Kurama leaned over and draped an arm over his friend's shoulders. "I don't drink often," Kurama yelled over the noise. "I think I'm getting drunk." He laughed at that before sauntering on to the dance floor. Yusuke just shook his head at the crazy fox.

Kurama leaned and swayed to the beat of the music, found himself dancing in a way that he never thought possible. Dancing the way he would have danced if he was here dancing with him. As if on cue, strong arms wrapped around his waist and fingers trailed their way up the bare expanse of stomach Kurama had exposed. The fox turned, almost expecting to see crimson eyes glaring at him. Instead, Kurama had to look up to meet blue eyes so pale that they looked as if they had been carved from ice.

"The name is Cian," the man yelled over the noise. His hands ghosted down Kurama's lithe body and rested at his hips. "Care for a dance?"

Kurama's lips twisted in to a smile. "I'm Kurama," he called back before turning around again and continuing to dance, this time with hands wandering over his figure and guiding his hips in to a movement that matched the beat.

Cian leaned down and whispered in his ear. "You're a fox."

Kurama smirked and arched his back, purposely grinding his backside in to his partner's groin. "You would not be the first to say that."

Cian laughed. "No, I don't mean that you're playing hard to get. I mean that you are a fox. A fox demon, correct?"

Kurama's movements stopped all at once. He froze. "What are you then?"

Another bout of laughter. "I prefer to keep you guessing, fox." He slipped a piece of paper in Kurama's back pocket before he walked away and allowed himself to be engulfed by the crowd.

Kurama watched his retreating back before fishing the paper out of his pocket and gazing at the phone numbers. He made his way back to Yusuke. "Are you done getting me drunk?" he questioned. "Shall we make our way back to the inevitable torture that awaits me at home?"

Yusuke just sighed and led the way back to the car. He drove home, almost keeping his temper in check. Almost. "You could show a little bit of appreciation you know?!"

Kurama glanced at him before staring out the window. "Yusuke, I think you've misunderstood me. I'm grateful to have friends that want to celebrate such a trivial thing as my birthday. I'm happy that you all care. However, I want the day itself to be ignored. You'll soon discover why."

The house was crowded when they arrived, though the lights were out. The attempt at surprise was futile, really, but Kurama was a better actor than most gave him credit for. He mingled with guests as he wandered through the crowd, always with a smile planted firmly on his face. No one would ever guess. The smile turned genuine when he escaped to the kitchen where his entire group of friends lay in wait for him. Hiei, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Yukina, and Keiko all stood in a circle chatting, though Hiei was more or less just standing there. All eyes turned to him as he walked in.

Kurama put his hands on his hips in a playful manner. "Now, just who is going to clean up this mess?" he teased. "And half these people I don't know. Who was in charge of the guest list?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara smiled sheepishly. "Well," Kuwa stared. "We just sorta took your class schedule…"

"Bribed the secretary in to giving us the a list of everyone who was in the same college classes as you…" Yusuke muttered.

"And then went down the list," Kuwa finished.

Kurama laughed. "Then you're in charge of getting them out. I appreciate the effort everyone, but I'd rather just have a close gathering with my best friends." His eyes sparkled as he smiled.

Hiei found himself intoxicated by those green depths. "Fox, stay in here and let the oafs sort out their own mess. I told them you didn't want anything extravagant."

The others in the group shot each other glances and rolls of the eye before wandering out to break up the party that had really begun only a few minutes after Kurama had left the house. Kurama moved further in to the kitchen and leaned against the counter, turning that smile on to his best friend.

"Thank you Hiei, for attending. I know how much you hate being surrounded by a large number of humans." Kurama's voice was soft, contemplative. "You didn't have to come."

Hiei's eyes were hard as rock as he turned his crimson glare on to the fox before him. "There was no way I was going to miss this day. You have a promise to uphold fox, and I won't let you forget it."

Kurama opened his mouth to protest but closed it without a word as Yukina came wandering in. She melted his anger with a graceful smile. "The house is all cleared out now Kurama. The boys are cleaning up most of the mess." She grabbed his arm. "Now, go to the living room and wait for me to bring out your cake. I made it myself."

Kurama gave her a kiss on the cheek. "So sweet of you Yukina. Thank you." He shot Hiei a glare before going out to the living room. A quick scan of the room told him that nothing was broken, missing, or stained. Good. The way that his friends scampered out of the room braced him for what was to come.

Moments later, the group came out. Yukina balanced a cake. Yusuke was clinging to paper plates and plastic forks that he set down upon the table. Last of all came Kuwabara, balancing a tower of gifts. The group circled to him and he thanked the gods that he was spared the torture of them singing to him. Especially Yusuke. The cake was cut and served. All the while, the group chatted away. Hiei, as usual, stayed silent as he watched the fox. He watched how his body remained tense almost as if he was poised for a fight. He watched how the others didn't seem to notice that his smiles and his happiness were all fake. Hiei didn't doubt that Kurama enjoyed their company and was happy to see them. No. He was just too distracted trying to figure out a way out of a deal he made. It annoyed Hiei, put him on edge.

Kurama finally managed to eat his cake past the nervous lump in his throat and then a present was thrown at him. He caught it with one hand and looked up to glare at the giver.

Yusuke stuck out his tongue like a child. "Open it."

Kurama did and was pleasantly surprised to find a small box of seeds. As he examined them, he found he could name them all, recognize all the rarity that was before him. "Yusuke," he gasped. "I've been searching for some of these seeds for years. Thank you."

He set the box of seeds down gently before launching himself at his friend and hugging him. Yusuke patted him once on the head before shoving him back on to the couch. "Yeah, yeah. It was nothing," he grumbled. "Keiko found one."

The woman at Yusuke's side giggled a little at that. "Well, it just dropped out of nowhere and landed in my coffee. Yusuke recognized it right away."

Yukina came out with something behind her back. A wind chime made of stained white glass and tiny tear gems. Kurama gasped. "Oh Yukina, this is lovely." He smiled up at her. "This must have cost you many hours of work."

"I had help at the temple," Yukina smiled in her usual grace. "Happy birthday Kurama."

"The hag didn't want to tell her that she helped," Yusuke muttered. "Probably thought it'd ruin her reputation or something."

Kuwabara's gift was a delicate watch that fitted Kurama's personality, style, and small wrist. He too, received many thanks. He just shrugged and said that it was the least he could do.

All eyes turned on to Hiei. As the green orbs locked on to him as well, he shifted in his seat. "Kurama, I couldn't think of what to get you."

Kurama smiled. "Really Hiei, don't worry about it. This is too much already."

Hiei silenced him with a glare. "You didn't let me finish fox. So I went to your ningen mother, got roped in to drinking a pot of tea by myself, and then she gave me the information I wanted. She told me that you wanted this." He tossed the fox a book and watched as his face lit up.

Kurama's eyes brightened as he gazed down at an ancient copy of his favorite book. It was old, first edition, and the pages were yellow around the edges with age. It was perfect. "Hiei, I love it."

An hour later, the party broke apart and all that was left was Kurama and Hiei. For once, nagging Yusuke had paid off in the end. The house was just as clean as he had left it in. Unfortunately, this was the one time he didn't want his nagging to pay off. Now, there was no distraction to delay what was to come.

Kurama felt like screaming again but instead he rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. When he turned, he met a pair of crimson eyes. "Hiei…"

"It's time for you to keep your promise fox," Hiei growled as he neared the fox.

Okay, so I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I know that not a lot went on, but it all leads up to more action. So, please review as you deem necessary, and try to at least be decent. Also, a reminder: I'm not just writing for the hell of it. I'm writing for you guys too.