Kurama was at home, on the roof in its small greenhouse; going over his own plants and herbs to see which one would be best on the table near the door. His mother was resting in her own room. For someone her age, she tired too easy. Was too frail.
Hiei stole into his room through the window, flustered. The breeze that followed Hiei in stirred up the dried herbs on his desk, much to his annoyance. Mixing the wrong ones could be deadly. They would have to be burned should he risk using them.
"And what brings-" Kurama began, but Hiei interrupted him.
"I need you to kill someone," he rushed out. Before Kurama could even get another word, Hiei told him everything about the green boy and Nanashi and the fight he had with her in the park. "... the green's boy's left the city. She delayed me long enough that he got away. You need to go after him. Put him down."
Kurama looked on Hiei in shock. If Nanashi had not attacked him, that 'green boy' would not have been to get away. Hiei would have killed him, in interest to protect someone else from taking Nanashi away from him. As territorial with a lover as any demon would be. He would have killed the boy, violating his parole in the Human World; there by sending Kurama to prison with him. It was a terrifying prospect.
"You would have killed him," Kurama breathed out, half not believing his own words. The anger dwelling inside of him boiled over. For the sake of his resting mother, should she hear him, he kept his voice down, but let his temper out in the firmness of his voice. "You would have killed him!" The shorter demon looked up at him in his own shock. "You would have ruined everything!" He looked around the room at his plants and herbs, eyes resting on the ones he was looking at to help his mother's dwindling energy. "You would have ruined everything I've built for myself here. I would be taken away from my mother-" he paused, trying to keep control of temper. "All because some stupid, naive boy came along. A boy that she could have easily handled herself. And you would have killed him!"
"He wanted to attack her-"
"She can protect herself. You've seen her take on a demon before. A human boy would be no match."
"He wanted to take her-"
"You don't need to kill him for it! You don't want her anymore anyway. Not after she attacked you."
"You can kill him then!" Hiei's voice was too loud.
"Keep your voice down. My mother is sleeping," Kurama softened his tone to keep himself and the demon in front of him calm. "I'm not going after the boy. After the sight of you, he'll never come anywhere near her or this city for the rest of his life. Besides, she could have handled the boy on her own. She could have handled a weak demon on her own. But you wouldn't know that because you refuse to help train her. You just exhaust her instead because you're bored."
"I seen enough today to know how reckless and stupid she is when she fights. If she died, the green boy would have never gotten her. I could have just let her die when she was stupid en-"
Kurama heard the threat against Nanashi in his words. If he did not pursue the boy, then he would go after her instead. "She's mine now," Kurama rushed out, a bold, but calculated move. "You don't want her anymore, so she's mine now." Hiei had made it clear after she attacked him, that he did not want her anymore. In the Demon World, if a demon wants to claim another without mate claiming them, they could do so; a pre-claim. Unlike a mate claim, which was permanent, a pre-claim could be temporary and easily broken off. While Kurama had burned off his arousal for her, he made the claim to keep her safe for the time being. He would not even have to touch her for it.
"You don't even want her," Hiei hissed out. The sight of him was all livid and bristling.
Calmly, Kurama drew his hands behind his back and questioned, "I thought you did not want her anymore. Why can I not have her? I have slept with her before. You were there." Hiei's right hand slipped to his sword's hilt as he took up a defensive stance. Without Kurama moving an inch, the doors to the green house banged closed and then where covered with vines. With feigned casualness, Kurama glanced down at the wind strewn herbs, picked up a safe handful of them in his left hand, and held them out in front of him. "It was very dangerous to mix these dried plants up. You did that when you carelessly opened the door. In the wrong mix, they can be deadly. In water, on the skin, even inhaled too deeply," he bluffed. He let his own threat hang in the air. Hiei straightened his back stiffly, one eye on the handful of herbs. His hand clenched up and slide from his sword. Without another move, the doors opened with a slow creak. The smaller demon stole out of through the open doors. Kurama heaved a sigh of relief that that had not come to a fight. It would have been an unpredictable outcome.
In a rush, Kurama gathered up the mixed up herbs, burning them up quickly. He locked the greenhouse doors and summoned plants within the doors and walls to protect the contents within. After checking on his mother, who still sleeping, he scribbled a quick note saying he was out visiting a friend. Then he himself left the house then, heading towards the poorer side of town where Nanashi and Yusuke lived.
The trip seemed to take longer than usual. When he finally arrived at their apartment, Yusuke answered the door with Kuwabara. The idea of them being there complicated things. Nanashi appeared from the door of her bedroom. She looked awful; bruised, beaten, and worn out. There was a small fire in her eyes behind the wounded, nervous look her face wore.
After as brief as possible, partly true explanation of what happened, including a lie that established a fake relationship between the two of them, Kurama found himself finally alone with Nanashi in her room. At her window sill, he sowed two seeds on the bottom corners. The plants within the seeds would grow and attack should anyone, demon or otherwise, attempt to enter through the window and harm her. Inwardly he realized that this was going to be a complicated endeavor, but a worthwhile one because her actions kept him free.
