A/N: Yup, alive and kicking. And writing again too, aparently. I apologize in advance for this chapter. You'll see what I mean--lots of characters fighting for monologue time.

Please review with your opinions. I promised myself I'd never turn into one of those people who begs shamelessly for attention, but then again I also promised to update this story once a week. We all see how that turned out. Review responses dropped for the last chapter, and I'm wondering why. Enlighten me, please. Anyone.


Chapter 7

She liked parties. They amused her, when so little else did. Well, nowadays anyway. It used to be that a simple bird or tiny mouse could interest her for hours. But she had gotten a taste of real freedom, of life—and now hungered for more. The attention had become an addiction. Cages were not to her liking at all, even the ones without bars or locks. So she was glad Kurama was having a party.

"Miss Yukina?"

They were all very respectful and polite, but not at all accommodating. Her business was no longer her own; it had become theirs. She sometimes couldn't even remember why she had acquiesced in the first place…but then images of the small dark-haired man would flood her face. The brother she could not find. But they could. And they would, they said, if she continued to pay them.

"Here they are." She sighed, stretching out a pale hand and dropping several slightly paler colored gems into his hand.

The dark haired man stowed them away in a pocket, the face directed towards her impassive as always. She could never tell where he was looking from behind the sunglasses he wore. It disturbed her. But in the end, she reminded herself, it would all be worth it. He had been hinting for some time now that Kurama was the key to her brother's whereabouts. And tonight he would have a party, and she would be one step closer to her goal.


Someone was following him. Hiei pushed through the noisy, chattering crowd in the hallway, desperate for a moment's quiet. He had never seen so many people try to crowd into one place at the same time! Casting a furtive glance over his shoulder, he glimpsed a flash of red hair and white tunic melting into the crowd once again. That was the third time, and Hiei had purposefully been choosing a random path through the mansion in order to make sure. Yes, he had a tail.

He was still staring over his shoulder in irritation when he smacked into Kurama. There was a semi-awkward pause as the two of them stared at each other. Kurama's expression was unreadable as always, but Hiei could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he remembered the scenario in Kurama's room, and what exactly he had wanted to do to the other man.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Kurama inquired, more out of politeness it seemed rather than interest. So Hiei gave the response that question deserved.

"No."

Kurama winced slightly, a hand going to his forehead as if he had a migraine. "Sorry."

Hiei shrugged. He had other fish to fry. As in, find out why the hell he was being followed. So he asked.

Then it was Kurama's turn to shrug, and begin walking in the opposite direction. He tossed a reply over his shoulder. "You can never be too careful."

Hiei glowered at his retreating back. Then he put the exchange out of his mind and turned back toward the gathering of people. Most were human, although there was the occasional demon mixed into the crowd. At one point a whole group of them entered—quite loudly. They would be trouble once they'd had enough to drink, but otherwise virtually harmless. His escape plan didn't seem to need alterations.

Just as he was beginning to turn and walk away, an incredulous voice called out his name. Hiei whirled, quick as a flash, and stopped dead as he found himself staring into a pair of very familiar brown eyes.

"Yusuke?"


Kurama was bored. He detested parties, especially rowdy ones. A loud crash and several raised and panicked voices from another room only solidified the feeling. He spared a thought to hope they hadn't broken the Greek vase, and then returned to contemplating Hiei. There was a rather intriguing puzzle. He wanted many things from the man—and only one of those things did not require physical contact. But that was beside the point.

It was interesting to view his reaction to the party situation. And, even through the noise and crowds, he had managed to discover his tracker. Apparently, too many human targets had made Jin overconfident. He would need a lesson, and soon.

Growing increasingly restless, Kurama rose from the chair he had previously been occupying and strode purposefully toward the hallway where he had left Hiei. Things needed to be sorted out, and quickly. He stopped short upon glimpsing the tableau in the hall.

Hiei stood still as a statue, staring in shock at a dark haired man before him, who seemed to be equally startled. "Yusuke?"

The dark haired man "Yusuke" grinned suddenly, reaching out a hand and smacking Hiei on the shoulder. The affectionate gesture surprised Kurama. How did they know each other? He could tell from Yusuke's uniform that he was an officer. When had they met? More importantly, were they lovers?

A strong, unfamiliar emotion raced through his veins. Jealousy. He wondered briefly if his face had turned green. However, they were speaking again. He paused his train of thought to listen.

"…broke up about a week and a half ago," Yusuke was saying, "She gave me her ultimatum: either buckle down and marry her, or let her get the hell away from me." He shrugged, "So I let her go."

Kurama thought Hiei looked faintly pleased. There was a slight pause, and then Yusuke asked,

"What are you doing here anyway?" Hiei's eyes took on an ambivalent look. He's going to tell, Kurama realized suddenly. This had to stop. Kurama, pasting a pleasant smile on his face, stepped into the light of the hallway.

"Good evening officer," he greeted the other man politely, giving Hiei a slight nod. Hiei looked surprised for a minute, but quickly arranged his face into the customary expression of bored irritation.

"Hey," Yusuke greeted cheerfully, "You must be Kurama. Master of the house and all. Nice to meet you." He extended a hand.

Kurama forced himself to take it. They shook briefly, and Kurama turned to Hiei, effectively shutting Yusuke out of the conversation, and said the first thing that came to mind, "His name is Jin, and he's still in training."

Both Hiei and Yusuke stared. Kurama felt like an idiot—a rare occurrence—until comprehension began to dawn on Hiei's face.

"You mean my stalker?" A small, vicious smile hovered on his lips, "Are you giving me permission to deal out punishment?"

Yusuke continued to stare blankly. "You've got a stalker?"

"In a way," Hiei answered absently, eyes still locked on Kurama. Yusuke glanced between the two of them, and an idea seemed to form in his mind. He grinned deviously.

"I'd better deal with the guy, Hiei, or you'll kill him by accident. Actually, whether or not it would really be accidental is debatable." Yusuke sounded incredibly amused, "Just point him out to me."

"Red hair, horns, fangs, light eyes," Kurama said quickly, trying hard to ignore the rush of relief he felt as Yusuke turned to leave, "Hard to miss."

That left Kurama once again alone with Hiei, who was regarding him curiously as he asked, "What was that all about?"

Kurama said nothing. Hiei raised an eyebrow, waiting. So Kurama gave him an answer. He advanced quickly, shoving Hiei back against the wall into the shadows. He tilted the smaller man's face up and kissed him roughly, trying to convey his message. He was delighted when Hiei responded in kind, winding his fingers into Kurama's long, red hair and parting his lips. The noise he made sent chills all through Kurama's body, and he shivered, pressing their bodies closer together.

"Ahem."

Kurama jerked away from Hiei, clenching his fists in annoyance. Hiei slipped out from behind him and beat a hasty retreat down the hallway without a second glance. Kurama gazed after him for a moment before turning a livid gaze on the man who had interrupted them.

"Is there something I can do for you?" he asked tightly.

The other man smirked and pushed his sunglasses up on his nose. "The better question would be to ask what I could do for you. I thought you might like to know I brought the girl. You seem to know her brother well enough," here he smirked, "to keep them away from each other for now. Just some advice."

Kurama's expression turned contemplative. "You brought her with you?"

The man with the sunglasses snorted and reversed direction. "She came. And she'll be looking for you soon enough."

Kurama shifted uneasily. Somehow, that last statement had seemed slightly ominous.


Yusuke grinned widely as he pushed through the crowd. So Hiei had finally found himself a lover. It had to have been obvious if even a casual bystander like himself had picked up on it. There had been so much sexual tension between them Yusuke was sure he could have sliced through it with a knife. It was stifling. The crowds in the doorway were not much better, either.

He pushed through them in annoyance, completely ignoring the furious looks he was receiving from the people whose feet he was stepping on. Well, they should have been wearing open toed shoes with heels that high. It was ridiculous.

Scanning the throng of people, he determined that the one he was seeking was definitely not standing by the door. Time to try another room. He barreled through a cluster of scantily dressed women and barged into another room filled with chattering guests. The older ones held expensive looking glasses of champagne, while the younger ones tossed around cans of soda. Three boys at the end of the room were frantically trying to piece together what looked like a shattered vase, and blaming it all on each other.

Suddenly, he honed in on a tall figure standing near the middle of the room, looking frustrated. That was his man. Yusuke sized him up as he approached, taking in the muscles and the quick blue eyes.

"Hey," he greeted, still grinning like a shark, "Looking for someone?"

The redhead glanced over, looked him up and down, then smirked back, his whole posture screaming his eagerness for a fight. "Maybe. What's it teh you?"

"Why don't we settle this somewhere else?" Yusuke suggested.

"Not backin' down, are ya?" he teased, eyes glowing.

"Hell no!" Yusuke snorted, "But there'd be more room outside to move. Meet you in five. Front gates."

"Ya got yerself a deal."

Yusuke smiled to himself as he turned away. Problem solved. Now all he could do was hope Hiei had just as much luck finding the answers to his own dilemmas.


Hiei, in fact, was not having much luck with that. He had stealthily made his way back up the stairs and was seated in a chair outside his room. For some reason he didn't want to go back inside just yet.

He felt like a fool, falling for Kurama like that. There was no way they could ever work anything out. Because they lived in separate worlds that had just happened to collide. Soon, however, they would bounce back apart and where would that leave him? Alone again.

Growling incoherently to himself, he got to his feet and pulled open the door, slamming it shut. He should have known better than to get himself emotionally involved like that again. It just went to show how much self control he really lacked.

Someone was in the room. She turned around quickly, bowing in apology. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…" her voice trailed off. His heart stopped.

"Yukina."


Closing notes: I hope I didn't overdo Jin's accent. I dunno. I write the way I speak, so if I were reading this aloud the accent would make more sense. Also, I've gotten some comments that said this chapter was both confusing and annoying. I'm sorry. The only excuse I have is that it was also necessary. Below are some FAQs...

Q & A

Q: What the hell? Yukina?

Yep. She's a big part of Hiei's past.

Q: And what's the deal with Yusuke? Why's he back in the story.

To make Kurama jealous, so he would finally make a move. Duh. And because I just like him.

Q: And Jin??

Uhhh...well, I have a plan for him too. Yeah.

Now for my personal favorite...

Q: Why do you suck so much?

(-goes into a corner and cries-)

These questions from my lovely readers who see the chapters weeks before they're posted, and make revisions. Love you guys.

Love all reviewers too, on principle.