Hiei was confused when Yusuke met them with Keiko the next day as they left their classroom to go to lunch. Shuichi knew why he was there, though.

"You must've skipped class to get here so quick," Hiei told him. Yusuke's class was some distance away from theirs.

Keiko frowned at Yusuke.

"It was art," he grumbled, striding along beside them with his hands in his pockets. "Such a waste of time."

Keiko shook her head. "While it isn't the most useful of subjects," she admitted, "you still shouldn't skip it, Yusuke."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mum," he muttered.

They passed Shishi in the hall with several of his friends but he ignored them. It seemed they were too big a group for him to mess with. Kuwabara joined them just before they got to the cafeteria, panting.

"What happened to you, man?" Yusuke asked.

"Teacher asked me to take some books to the library for him," Kuwabara said, an irritated frown on his face. "Why did he have to do it at lunchtime, anyway?"

"Yeah, can't miss that disgusting cafeteria food, huh, Kuwabara?" Yusuke teased.

Kuwabara balled his hands into fists. Hiei halted, making sure Shuichi was well out of the way if the boys got into a scuffle.

"Shut up, Urameshi," Kuwabara snapped.

"Oh, look, there's Yukina," Keiko said suddenly, her voice laced with false brightness. Hiei shot her a confused look. He couldn't see Yukina anywhere. He quickly realised what she was doing, however, when Kuwabara's expression shifted from angry to love-struck in record time.

"Where?" he asked, searching the cafeteria for her.

"She's not here yet, idiot," Hiei told him. Kuwabara's face fell and he gave Keiko a hurt look. She did look a bit sheepish but Hiei thought that on the whole, she was unrepentant. Yusuke was smirking. Hiei elbowed him, warning him without words to keep silent. If he opened his mouth, no doubt another fight would start.

Everyone took their seats, Yukina and Botan joining them just after they sat down.

"What's everyone doing on the weekend?" Yusuke asked.

"Studying," Keiko said. "With Yukina and Botan."

The other girls nodded in agreement.

"Me, too," Shuichi agreed.

"Boring," Yusuke declared. "I'm going to the arcade."

"Yusuke, you have a test next week," Keiko reminded him.

"It's not 'till Thursday," Yusuke protested.

Keiko sighed, giving up.

"What about you, Hiei?" Shuichi asked him.

"Don't know," Hiei shrugged. "Probably studying as well."

Yusuke threw up his hands. "You're all boring," he said. "Hey, Kuwabara, you'll come with me, right?"

"Yeah. I can come on Saturday," Kuwabara said, "But I have to study on Sunday."

"Great," Yusuke said. "The rest of you squares can just drown in your books."

Shuichi laughed quietly at the other boy's attitude. He thought that Yusuke wasn't the sort of person he'd ever expected to be friends with but he liked the other boy despite that.

-0-

Hiei stretched out on his bed glad that the week was over. Shuichi entered the room and set his bag on his desk.

"Hiei?" he asked as he shrugged out of his jacket and put it on the back of his chair.

"Over here on the bed," Hiei muttered.

Shuichi turned and walked to Hiei's bed, sitting down on it. His hand quickly found Hiei's arm. To Hiei's surprise, he then crawled on top of him, straddling him.

"Hey," Hiei protested, but without much feeling. He found he liked the sight of the redhead sitting on top of him. The top few buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing a tantalizing view of his chest. His hair was loose and some of it fell forward over his shoulders. He ran his hands over Hiei's chest, fingers playing with the buttons of his shirt. He began undoing them slowly, one by one.

Hiei liked to watch the other boy's expressions when he was with him. There was something arousing about knowing that he could observe Shuichi but Shuichi had no idea what expression was on his own face.

When he tired of Shuichi playing with his shirt, he reached up and tugged on the redhead's shirt, pulling him down for a kiss. Shuichi offered no resistance. His mouth tasted of cherry chapstick. Hiei found he liked the taste.

He was so lost in devouring Shuichi's mouth that it took him some time to realise that Shuichi was grinding his hips against him in a rhythm that was sending jolts of pleasure through Hiei.

When Shuichi pulled back a little, a moan escaped Hiei's lips. Shuichi's green eyes were hazed with pleasure and his lips were parted as he panted. Hiei kissed him again, burying his hands in Shuichi's long red hair. He thought that he could stay here in this moment forever.

Then Shuichi shifted, his hand moving to undo the button of Hiei's pants. Hiei's breath hitched. He pushed Shuichi off him.

Shuichi let out a startled cry as he rolled off Hiei. Hiei scrambled off the bed. Shuichi sat up, resting his weight on one arm.

"What?" he asked, confused and hurt. "i thought…"

Hiei took several deep breaths, leaning on his desk chair for support. "I'm sorry. I… It was just too fast, okay?"

"Too fast?" Shuichi frowned. "I thought it was what you wanted."

"Well, it's not that I don't want it, it's just…" Hiei didn't really know how to explain it. "I'm not ready," he finally said. "I mean, we've only been together for a couple of days."

"I'm sorry," Shuichi said quietly. "it's just… my ex-boyfriend and I… Well…"

Hiei scowled. He didn't like hearing that Shuichi had an ex. But rather than pursue that repulsive subject he asked, "You've done this before? I mean, you've had sex before?" He felt incredibly awkward and embarrassed asking that question.

"Yes," Shuichi admitted. "I guess we did take it too fast. I didn't realise that you were inexperienced. The way you kissed me…"

Hiei shook his head, even though he knew the redhead wouldn't see it. He sat back on the bed. Shuichi edged away from him and Hiei felt a pang of guilt.

"I really like you," he said, in an attempt to soften the blow. "I'm just not ready to take things that far yet."

"I understand," Shuichi said. His head was lowered, his hair hiding his face.

In an attempt to change the subject, Hiei asked, "So what happened with you and your ex, anyway? Why did you break up?"

Shuichi's head shot up. "We didn't break up," he snapped.

Hiei's eyes widened. "But you said he was your ex," he reminded Shuichi.

"He died," Shuichi muttered, lips turned downward into a frown. His eyes glistened and he wiped at them angrily.

Oh, shit, Hiei thought, wishing he could take his question back. It was too late now. He had been stupid to ask it in the first place.

"I'm sorry," he said, touching Shuichi's arm. He flinched. "How did he die?"

Shuichi abruptly stood up and crossed the room to his own bed. "I don't want to talk about it," he said, not turning around to face Hiei.

"Okay," Hiei said. He knew better than to press for information. His curiosity had led him to take it too far already. Shuichi was obviously upset enough as it was. The evening had started out so well, but as usual, Hiei had ruined it. He sighed, wishing he could start over. Maybe Shuichi would feel better in the morning and things could go back to being how they were before.