A little bit more than six months later, nearly three months since their last rendezvous, Hiei and Kurama were both at the temple, where an engagement party was being held for Yusuke and Keiko.
Kurama saw Hiei and nodded. Hiei, on the other hand, stalked up to the other man, a hand already gripping the hilt of his katana. "You fucking bitch," Hiei hissed.
"Excuse me?" Kurama asked, entirely taken aback.
"One reason, Kurama," Hiei snapped. "Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now."
"How about the fact that I have no idea what the hell you're talking about?" Kurama snapped back, his voice getting slightly louder to due to anger.
"I'm gaining weight." Hiei said loudly, drawing the stares of everyone around them. "My joints ache, and I constantly feel nauseous, with the possible exception of when I'm eating ridiculous combinations of food, such as pickles and sweet snow." Hiei was shouting.
"And how the hell is any of that my fault, much less my problem?" Kurama shouted back, losing his cool for the first time in a long while.
"You were the only one there," Hiei snapped. "You're the only one it could have been. This parasite is all your damn fault."
Kurama froze as he tried to process the overall combination of Hiei's words. And there was only one plausible explanation. Except the explanation wasn't plausible at all. "Parasite?" he finally whispered. "Pickles and ice cream?"
"Parasite," Hiei verified bitterly. "Pickles and sweet fucking snow."
The quietness the conversation had taken on bewildered the others who had stopped what they were doing to watch the fight. After Hiei's comment, Yusuke muttered to the others, "If I didn't know better, I'd swear they were both women PMSing." At the same moment, Keiko and Shizuru hit him on the head.
A moment later, Hiei repeated, "Parasite. And it's all your damn fault."
"My fault?" Kurama objected angrily, the volume of his voice rising again. "You're the one who initiated the whole thing. How the hell was I supposed to know that could happen? This is more your fault than mine. At least I know what my body is capable of."
Yusuke, Keiko, Shizuru, Kuwabara, Yukina and Botan watched in confusion as the accusations flew back and forth.
"How the hell was I supposed to know?" Hiei snapped. "I'm the only son who ever survived. There is no fricking precedent for this."
"Well is it too much of a stretch to think that you would have that capability?" Kurama snapped, his anger at the situation overriding his conscious desire to remain calm. "Koorimes have the ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually. Why not you too, Hiei? Explain that to me."
"How the hell do you think I even figured out what was going on?" Hiei shouted back, losing his temper. "And I'm not one of them, damn it. I hate—" Hiei broke off, suddenly aware everyone else was in the room. He looked at each of them a moment, eyes lingering on Yukina a second longer than the others. Then, his voice dead and threatening, he said, "Kurama. I need to discuss some things with you. Outside. Privately. Now." He turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. Kurama followed him, scowling.
The others glanced at each other. "What the hell is going on?" Yusuke demanded of the room. "What did Kurama mean by his spiel about reproducing? And how is any of this related at all? Much less to pickles and ice cream?"
Before anyone answered any of Yusuke's questions, Kuwabara looked at Yukina and asked, "Kurama said something about Koorimes. That is your people, Yukina. Do you know what's going on?"
Yukina shook her head, looking troubled. "No." She spoke quietly, but everyone listened. "He mentioned that we reproduce asexually, but that we can reproduce sexually, however inadvisable that may be. I do not understand."
Yusuke and Botan shuffled their feet nervously, uncomfortable with how close the conversation was to Hiei and Yukina's relationship. Shizuru blew out smoke, thinking over what she'd heard. Finally she said, appearing almost uninterested, "What I gather from all of this is that Yukina's brother is Hiei, and he is suffering from a… parasitic infection he contracted from Kurama."
Yukina and Kuwabara were in shock, stunned by the mere thought of Hiei being Yukina's brother. Botan was surprised. Yusuke and Keiko looked bewildered. Keiko said, "But Shizuru, Hiei's a… he can't… he's not… is he?"
Shizuru shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that demons don't work quite the same way as humans, Keiko. Genkai was my tutor for a while, before I proved to her that I don't have enough drive for that kind of thing. And she told me about this kind of thing."
"What kind of thing?" Yusuke demanded and the same time Kuwabara asked, "Shorty is my Yukina's brother?"
Shizuru rolled her eyes. Everyone ignored Kuwabara. To Yusuke, Botan just said, "You'll probably see soon enough."
Yusuke shrugged, then asked again, "But how is pickles and ice cream related to this at all?"
Shizuru looked at Keiko, who sighed and said, "Yusuke, that would be the… parasite speaking."
A look of strong disgust crosses Yusuke's face. "If that's one of the symptoms, I pass. Remind me to stay away from Kurama."
Keiko rolled her eyes. "Yusuke, you don't need to worry. You're… immune."
"How do you know?" Yusuke asked suspiciously.
"It wouldn't be able to get through your thick skull," Keiko snapped.
Outside, Kurama and Hiei were still bickering over who was to blame, but Kurama was running out of energy. His anger was at the situation, not at Hiei. And as he began to accept what was happening, his rage diminished. Then Hiei said, "And no matter how true it may be, why'd you have to bring up Koorimes? I knew that was the issue. That's the only reason I even know what's going on in the first place. But you didn't have to say it. Not all of them are as stupid as Urameshi and Kuwabara. They're going to figure it out."
Kurama took a deep breath, then apologized. "I'm sorry, Hiei. I wasn't thinking." He hesitated then asked, "What are we going to do about… it?"
"We?" Hiei whispered. That was not what he had been expecting. He had come there expecting to tell Kurama then leave and deal with the parasite himself.
Kurama grimaced. "As you so loudly pointed out, it's my parasite as much as it is yours." Hiei nodded, but he didn't say anything. Hesitantly, Kurama suggested, "The only… logical solution is to abort."
"No," Hiei answered immediately. "No one can know."
"A human doctor—" Kurama began.
"—could do nothing," Hiei finished. "I'm a man, Kurama. This… condition is rare in the demon plane. And I'm not going to involve demon doctors in this. No one can know. And I am not going to risk my life trying to perform a home abortion."
"Then what do you propose we do?" Kurama asked. "I'd suggest alcohol and drugs, but you're not a fan of either, and neither would guarantee the termination of the pregnancy."
Hiei hissed, but at which of his words, Kurama couldn't tell. But Kurama did notice that one of Hiei's hands was gripping his katana so tightly his knuckles had turned white. What interested Kurama more, however, was Hiei's other hand. Of its own accord, it had moved to hover in front of his abdomen in an unmistakably protective manner.
Hiei's body, without his conscious consent, was doing its best to protect its offspring. Seeing this, taking into account Hiei's demands, Kurama said the last thing Hiei was expecting. "We could keep it."
Hiei was so startled he let go of his sword. "And do what with it?" he demanded.
"I don't know," snapped Kurama. "Raise it ourselves, put it up for adoption, I don't care. We can figure that out later. Hell, we could throw the thing off a cliff as far as I'm concerned."
Hiei flinched slightly at Kurama's last words, once again instinctively shielding the child inside him from the fox's rage. But all he said was, "How does this keep people from discovering the truth, Kurama? People are going to notice when I start swelling up like an overinflated balloon."
"Well… once you start… showing, you can go into seclusion," Kurama said quietly. "I can do your border patrol in Makai. I highly doubt Mukuro will care who's doing the rounds as long as they get done and she isn't forced to do them herself."
Hiei nodded and sat down on the steps. Placing his head in his hands, Hiei moaned, "How the hell did I get myself into this mess?"
"Pleasure sometimes comes at a price," Kurama muttered, sitting down next to him. Hiei glared until Kurama finished, "but never before have I seen the price set so high." Kurama reached up and pulled on of Hiei's hands away from his face. Gripping the fire demon's hand in his own, Kurama promised, "This is as much my fault as it is yours. I'll stick it out with you, Hiei. Everything will work out."
Hiei sat in silence, staring at their hands. "Thanks, fox," he finally said.
Kurama nodded and stood. "Shall we go inside then? We'll have to deal with them sooner or later." Hiei scowled but nodded and allowed Kurama to pull him to his feet. Once he was on his feet, neither of them let go for a few moments. Then Kurama stepped back, slightly pink. "We should go inside," he said hurriedly, walking away and leaving Hiei alone on the porch.
Hiei followed him after only a few moments. When he reentered the temple, everyone was already staring at Kurama, obviously awaiting an explanation. Hiei watched a moment, but before he could say anything, Kurama said, his voice strong and sure, "I am a carrier of a parasite. About fifty percent of people are immune. If I'm careful I can avoid infecting the others. I simply got a bit careless. Of course, Hiei knew I am a carrier, so he is partially to be blamed as well, especially considering everything suggested he was immune." Hiei snorted. Of course the fox found a way to split the blame.
But Kurama saw the looks on Keiko, Shizuru and Botan's faces. Their mouths were twisted into something between a knowing grin and a disapproving frown. Kurama's guess was that the disapproval was at his lying to them. Then Yukina spoke up. "Shizuru says you're my brother, Hiei." Hiei didn't answer. "Hiei?" she asked.
"How in hell did Shizuru figure it out?" Hiei demanded, glaring at Kurama.
Shizuru rolled her eyes. "You two screaming at each other was enough," Shizuru explained. "And it revealed a lot more than that." Her eyes glinted in Kurama's direction, verifying Kurama's instinct that Shizuru, at the very least, had it all figured out.
"Wonderful," Hiei muttered. He turned to Yukina, "Yes, I'm your brother. I didn't tell you because I wasn't supposed to according to the agreement I made in order to obtain my evil eye. After I was released from that bond, I did not tell you because you were better off not knowing. Are you happy?"
Yukina stared at him for a moment, then threw her arms around his neck. "Yes, Hiei, very." Hiei was frozen in place unsure what to do. When she finally let him go, she said, "I'm going to go make lunch."
"I'll help you, my dearest Yukina!" Kuwabara said valiantly, almost shouting. She giggled and allowed him to follow her.
"Yusuke," Keiko said slowly, "could you go get me a drink, please?" Yusuke shrugged and walked toward the kitchen.
Almost immediately, the three women turned on Kurama and Hiei. Under their gaze, Kurama moved slightly to the left, so that he was standing closer to Hiei. He unconsciously took on a defensive stance next to the man carrying his child. Then Shizuru delivered the ultimatum. "If the two of you abort the pregnancy, if the two of you kill that baby, we will kill both of you."
Kurama and Hiei stared at them dumbfounded. "What?" Kurama finally asked.
Botan shook her head. "You cannot kill the baby," she repeated.
"What I do or don't do with my body is none of your business," Hiei snapped, angered by their attempts to control him.
Shizuru took a threatening step toward him. "If I must, I will tell Yukina, Hiei. Can you imagine how heartbroken she would be if she found out you took away what could be her only opportunity to be an aunt?"
Kurama could see Hiei shaking with rage. He put a hand on Hiei's shoulder and told the three women in front of him, "I don't care how you figured it out. No one can know. We already decided to let it live. We probably won't keep it, but we will let it live."
Keiko grinned at Shizuru. "I think I can live with that." Botan was all smiles.
Shizuru just nodded in response. "For now."
"Congratulations," Hiei spat at Keiko. "Pass that along to Urameshi." He turned on his heel and left.
Kurama nodded. "I second that, but without the anger." He turned and followed Hiei out the door. Hiei was standing on the porch, staring up at the sky. Kurama stood next to him for a while, then asked, "Do you want to come over tonight, Hiei? I can meet you at Shiori's." When Hiei didn't respond, Kurama added, "I'll stop and get you some pickles and ice cream on the way home."
Kurama heard Hiei snort. "Okay, fox, you've convinced me. I'll see you in a while." Hiei flew away into the night.
