Here is my second chapter for this month as promised! I feel so awesome, although I am super tired too, and my eyelids kept on wanting to shut as I wrote the last bits of this.

XXX

Chapter 21

"Wouldn't a nice day like this be better spent somewhere else doing other things than watching me read a book? I'm not going to start reading it out loud to you ya know, so you don't have to wait there as if you're expecting me to."

After a moment, a rustling came from one of the bushier trees nearby, making the uppermost branches move jaggedly, and a person fell out of the canopy, landing neatly on their feet. He looked up at Kurama, as if expecting an explanation for something. Kurama eventually glanced over, and saw the familiar head of spiky hair with reddish colored eyes.

"I know that I didn't apply for the job of reading out loud to kids at any point in time, so why were you there Hiei?"

Hiei looked up at Kurama with a small little smile that was quickly slathered over with a smirk.

"Congratulations. You passed the test."

"I'm guessing it involved the fact that there was nobody around this morning?"

"It did, although I must admit, everyone did a pretty good job of evacuating the building before you woke up."

Kurama plucked a leaf from the tree she was in and used it as a temporary bookmark in her novel. Then she got into a better position to look at Hiei from where she was.

"What kind of test was I given that required everyone to empty themselves out of the building? Especially one that was given to me without my knowledge?"

"A simple one really. It was to see the level of trust that I could place in you, like having you not run away when you think that no one is watching, or when there would be no one to stop you."

Kurama looked at him with slight disbelief.

"You really think that I would break our agreement as soon as I got the chance? It doesn't matter what it is if I've made an agreement with someone, fair and square, I will not break it even under the worst situations."

Hiei looked at her solemnly, assessing her words for any hint of falsity that might be carried in them. Then her spoke.

"What you say seems to be true. Although, you will still be watched at times because of the fact that you are my toy. Now come along, I want you to do something for me.

I wonder what he's going to have me do this time. Last time it was to help him gain advantage of a deal and then to have me parade myself around the building in that outfit he made me wear. I hope it's nothing horrible. Great, way to make yourself nervous Kurama.

Kurama, holding her book in hand, bounded off branches in the tree to reach the grassy ground, and a wind was now starting to stream through the quiet forest pulled at her hair and forced it behind her shoulders like bright red flag. The vivid color even more stunning at the points where the light filtering through the tree canopies blazed through her hair.

Up ahead, it was doing the same thing with Hiei's hair as well. As he walked slowly back to the base, his hair in the sun revealed colors of gold and silver as they shined on through his black spikes. She caught up to him, then walking slightly behind him as a sign of not being an equal to him in this territory. Kurama didn't say anything, and neither did he, as they walked through the meadow to a different door than the one that she usually used to get in and out.

Now a bit curious, she followed him into a hallway that she had never traversed before, though it soon turned into one that she knew a bit better. They then entered the huge room that contained the maze of shelves and a kitchen in the midst of the labyrinth.

Hiei POV (Don't forget that Kurama will be a male from Hiei's perspective because he doesn't know that Kurama is a girl!)

When he had led Kurama into Yusuke's domain, he could see the look of confusion dawning on his face from the corner of his eye, and that made him feel even more smug than he already felt. Messing with his toy was fun. Hiei calmly walked the paths of the culinary network and reached the secret entrance of the kitchen, sliding it open as though it were he himself who resided there.

Kurama, who was now as puzzled as Hiei had ever seen him, finally spoke up.

"Why have you taken me to the kitchen?"

Hiei gave him a grin. "I brought you here so that you can make something for me to eat. I haven't eaten since breakfast after all, since I've been watching you all morning."

Kurama became a bit flustered, and Hiei could totally see the cogs in his brain spinning frantically as he figured out what to do.

From watching footage of him while in here, I know that he can't cook, but I also know that Yusuke has shown him how to make some basic things, so he should be able to make something for me that is at least edible. Having him get all nervous like this is kinda fun though. This is a toy that won't get bored playing with, I just know it.

While Hiei got settled in the comfortable chair in the corner, Kurama bustled about the kitchen in a panicky manner, trying to act like he knew what he was doing well and that he wouldn't make any mistakes. From places around the room, he had so far gathered bread, butter, and cheddar cheese. The makings of a grilled cheese sandwich.

Oh good, something fairly basic, he shouldn't be able to mess this up, at least not very badly if he does.

The pan was heated, stuff was done with the butter, cheese, and bread, and now it was cooking on the skillet. Kurama, spatula in hand, watching it intently as though it were one of those giant spiders that had managed to get in your room and you were debating the best way to get rid of it. Then he flipped it like it would bite him if he didn't do it fast enough. Hiei stifled a low chuckle at that, but sharp eared Kurama managed to pick it up anyways.

"Why are you laughing at me?" He asked ludicrously, turning his attention completely away from the sandwich on the pan to stare at Hiei for an answer.

"You're acting like that sandwich is a giant spider on the wall that you don't know what to do with for fear it will bite you or something."

Kurama's cheeks puffed out in irritation at that comment. "I am not! I'm just being careful so that something bad doesn't happen to it!"

"Don't worry Kurama, sandwiches are things that people like us eat. If anything, it would be more scared of you than you would be of it. If you don't make any sudden movements, I think that it won't try to cause you any harm." Hiei said, with sarcasm lacing every word thickly, like honey on a honeycomb.

A tendril of smoke snaked up beside Kurama's frustrated face, the smell quickly reaching his nose in the close proximity it was in with him. He spun around, terrified, to find that one half of the grilled cheese was now burned to a layer of nice, black, charcoal. He turned off the stove, took the pan off the burner after he scooped up the no-longer-a-sandwich-really and dropped it on a prepared plate with a clatter, and slumped against the counter with a groan.

"I'll never be able to cook anything well at this rate." He moaned pitifully, hands pressed up to his forehead, and now sitting with his back against the oven door.

Hiei elegantly got up from his chair and walked over to the plate with the failed lunch on it. Grabbing the entree from the dish, he then bit into it with an incredibly large crunching noise that was heard clearly throughout the room. Kurama looked up swiftly at the noise, alarm clearly seen in his face.

"Eh?! You're eating it!?" Kurama began attempting to take away the abomination of a grilled cheese away from Hiei. "Stop it! Don't eat any more of it! What if you get sick?"

Hiei grimaced at the taste of the burned section, his sharp, white teeth working hard to chew the hard, black bits into sizes that could actually be swallowed without causing any damage to his throat. After some difficulty, and Kurama staring at him flabbergastedly, he managed to force it down.

Man, I didn't know that a grilled cheese sandwich could be messed up this easily, and in fact, it's the worst one I've ever had! How the hell did he manage to ruin this simple dish and turn it into this?!

Charred food still in hand, Hiei stuffed it into Kurama's open trap. "If I get sick, it means you will get sick too. You made this. I'm not going down alone in this, so eat at least a bite. DO IT."

His victim's face showed vexation, but took the inedible thing from him and finished biting off what had been shoved ruthlessly into his mouth.

XXX

So there you go. I probably would've gone a bit farther, but I was too tired to continue. Because of that, I decided to give you what I created whether I wanted to add more on or not, so that you all could read the chapter all the sooner! I actually wrote the first third of this in English and Math today because I was done with everything else, so that was kinda fun.

Until next time,

BlackFoxGun