Child of the Night

by LadyClassical

After one drunken night with Kurama, Hiei starts developing some weird symptoms. He manages to hide his "illness" from Mukuro by escaping into the forest and living alone, but when his symptoms suddenly go from annoying to painful, he knows he has to go to Kurama for help. Little does he know he's in labor and Kurama's the father! Mpreg, surprise pregnancy, semi-graphic birth, DLDR

Ever since the Makai Tournament, Hiei had been living with Mukuro, working the patrol for her in exchange for free room and board. She let him go to Ningenkai and visit his friends, or even just wander off by himself, as long as he always came back to do his duties. The patrol job had quickly become monotonous, but Hiei did it anyway, because, well, it was his job.

On November 21, Hiei and Yukina's birthday, the twins spent the day with their friends, and Yukina had a lovely birthday party. Later on that evening, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei went to a bar and got more than a little tipsy. As in, they got totally sloshed.

Kuwabara and Yusuke went home, but unbeknownst to anyone but them, Hiei and Kurama were the ultimate example of the phrase, What sobriety conceals, alcohol reveals. Before either of them knew what they were doing, they had taken a cab home to Kurama's apartment and headed for the bedroom, tearing each other's clothes off, kissing, enjoying each other's bodies, and finally Hiei, a virgin prior to this escapade, felt the warm wetness of Kurama's seed enter his body. The next morning, they'd both woken up with hangovers and neither ever mentioned it again.

But a few weeks after his birthday, Hiei seemed to come down with some strange symptoms. He felt nauseous and tired all the time, along with headaches, constipation, and a few other gross symptoms he didn't really care to discuss with anyone. He didn't know how Mukuro would take it. What if she fired him? So as the days went by, he continued to tend to his patrol duties, trying to ignore the fact that he felt like crap.

"I just got word from Lord Mukuro," said one of the demons on Hiei's team, one bright December morning. "Some drunk humans have accidentally fallen into one of the portals. We have to get them out."

Hiei had been assigned to morning patrol for a few weeks now. Recently he had been getting sick in the mornings, but he couldn't let anyone know.

"Hold on," he groaned, hoping the fresh air would relieve the sick feeling in his stomach. "I need to take a leak."

"But that's the fifth time today!" one of his colleagues complained. "And it's not even noon!"

"Well, what d'you want me to do, wet my pants?!" Hiei snapped. That was another issue he'd been experiencing. These days, every little thing seemed to piss him off. Of course, he'd never been a cheerful person to begin with, but this was just ridiculous.

"Are you sure you're okay, man?" one of the demons whispered to Hiei once he got back. "Have you gotten that checked out? My brother had the same issue and—"

"That's none of your business," Hiei hissed. "Just forget it, okay?"

When the crew stopped for lunch, for some reason, all the different food smells were enough to make Hiei spend the lunch breaks throwing up into the bushes instead of actually eating. And only a few days later, he was called into Mukuro's chambers.

"Hiei," she said. "Are you feeling all right?"

"What do you mean?" Hiei mumbled, worrying that if he opened his mouth any more, he would throw up all over the floor.

"One of the patrolmen said he spotted you throwing up during lunchtime," she replied. "In fact, all of them have reported that you haven't seemed like yourself recently. Is there something I should know?"

"I'm really fine," Hiei insisted, though he was feeling dizzy now as well as sick. Maybe between his constant vomiting and overly active bladder, he was becoming dehydrated. "Those idiots just don't know what they're talking about."

Hiei could tell by the way her jaw tightened that she knew he wasn't being truthful, and he felt the smallest ripple of fear.

"Okay, just let me take some time off, then, and I'll come back better than—"

Oh no. Not now, please not now!

But it was too late. Hiei was on his hands and knees in a second, barfing onto Mukuro's stone floor.

"That's it, Hiei, you're in no shape to do your duties," she told him sharply, pulling him up by his armpits. He felt completely disgusting and pathetic. "I'll give you the time off, and I don't want to see you back until you're well again. Understand?"

Hiei just nodded, and before the evening was out, he was back in the forest again, trying and failing to calm his stomach, wondering what was wrong with him.

It didn't happen as soon as Hiei hoped. He thought he would be better and back to working his job in a couple of weeks at most. But the sickness didn't go away until the new year began, and even then, he couldn't go back, because he had bigger issues. His hair got thin, his skin got bad, his mood swings were insane, and most of all, he was gaining a lot of weight. There was a little everywhere—his face, his arms, his ass—but most of all, it was in his chest and stomach. His chest felt tender, and as the months went by, he felt strange in his stomach, almost like something was moving inside him. He figured it was gas, since he did seem to be way too gassy these days.

Things got even worse when the weather got warm. Being a fire demon, Hiei normally liked the hot weather, but for some reason, the heat was bothering him this year. It was horrible because he had so much fat on him now that he could barely move, and he was always sweaty and angry. At times he cried over nothing at all, or over everything. By the time July drew to a close, he was having weird cramps every so often. They didn't feel like gas, and they usually went away if he moved around a little or used the bathroom. He got used to them, figuring they were just another symptom of this weird illness he'd been dealing with since December.

But one blisteringly hot August morning, the pains didn't go away.

Hiei tried everything. He tried to take a walk, he used the bathroom, he had a snack, he took a bath in the creek, but everything he did only seemed to make the pains worse. By the time night was falling, Hiei knew he needed help. Mukuro had told him not to go back to her until he was better, and even then, for a demon of her caliber, her healing powers were surprisingly rudimentary. He would need to go to someone who knew what they were doing. And even though his own sister was studying in healing, the first person to come to Hiei's mind was Kurama. He would have gone to Kurama earlier, but he didn't want the fox-demon fussing over him, and he thought he'd get better on his own…but now, he needed to forget his pride.

Thankfully, due to his job, Hiei knew where all the nearby portals were, and his patrol ID card got him past the guards without any questions. By now he was getting regular pains about ten minutes apart, each lasting for thirty seconds or so, even though it seemed like a lot longer than that. Mukuro had arranged for him to have a debit card, with an allowance of human money every month, and he was free to use it however he wanted in Ningenkai as long as it was legal and he didn't go over the limit. So he used it to pay for cab fare to Kurama's apartment, trying his best to hide his groans of misery from the driver.

What was this? Was it simply horrible gas? Or did he need to have surgery or something? What if he had some kind of demon curse on him and he was going to die? Hiei usually let himself into Kurama's apartment through the window, but that was impossible to do in his condition, and he didn't know another way to get in. So he just sent out a telepathic signal, hoping beyond hope that Kurama could hear it: Kurama! It's Hiei! Please, please help!

Just as he finished the thought, more pain tore through his not-so-small body, bringing him to his knees as tears stung his eyes, and a scream of agony and fear escaped his lips.

…

Kurama was used to Hiei showing up intermittently, but he hadn't seen or heard from his friend since Hiei's birthday—the night they slept together, as he would forever remember it. He'd been drunk, so he barely did remember it, but he figured Hiei was avoiding him because of their one-night-stand. That was understandable, and Kurama knew Hiei well enough not to push it.

Until, that is, he heard Hiei's message from outside, followed by a scream.

It was strange that Hiei didn't simply come through the window as he normally would, but Kurama didn't hesitate to make his way downstairs, because that scream sounded desperate. He even took the stairs because he didn't want to wait for the elevator.

"Hiei!" he called, charging into the lobby, past the fountain and reception desk, and finally to the outdoors. "Hiei, where are you?"

There was no verbal answer, but Kurama could hear the sounds of his friend in pain. And once he did find Hiei, he knew instantly what was going on. The scent was all over him. And it wasn't just his smell; he was on his knees, face screwed up in pain, his normally-loose cloak now skin-tight, with a huge belly and female-appearing breasts to top it off.

Hiei was going to give birth—and, from the looks of it, pretty soon.

"Kurama," Hiei gasped, several tear gems crystallizing and landing on the sidewalk. "My—my stomach hurts. Really bad."

"It's okay, Hiei, you're safe now," said Kurama, his voice as gentle and even as he could manage. His heart was practically beating out of his chest, but he knew he had to stay calm for Hiei and the child. At first, his only intention was to pick Hiei up and help him up to the apartment, but before he knew it, Hiei had broken down in his arms.

"It—it hurts, Kurama," he sobbed, his pregnant form trembling. "I-I think I'm dying."

"No, you're not, Hiei, you're safe," Kurama repeated, throwing Hiei's arm over his shoulders. "I'm going to help you. Can you walk?"

"When…when it's not hurting…I can." Hiei swallowed, and Kurama helped him to the elevators. At least he looked dry "down there," which meant his water hadn't broken yet. On the ride up to Kurama's apartment on the seventh floor, Hiei didn't have another contraction, but he still seemed panicked.

"Just hold my hand and take deep breaths," Kurama soothed, his hand in Hiei's.

Mercifully, the elevator ride ended soon, and they seemed to be fine until Kurama was unlocking the apartment's front door, when Hiei let out another scream and collapsed.

"Hiei, it's okay," said Kurama, dropping to the ground and holding Hiei's hand again. "It's okay. You're going to be okay."

Mentally timing the contraction, Kurama found that it lasted for about a minute. That meant things were getting serious and that they needed to get into the apartment before the baby was born right out here in the hallway. Kurama wasn't taking Hiei to the hospital because one, a human hospital wouldn't know what to do with a pregnant man, and two, demons didn't normally give birth in hospitals anyway. Now was not the time to try to force Hiei to conform to the human way of life.

This whole time, Kurama had been thinking not just about the birth, but also whose baby this might be, and he had a pretty good idea. It was mid-August, which meant Hiei must have gotten pregnant sometime late in the fall. On his birthday, for example. And unless Hiei had been sleeping with some other guy around the same time, which was unlikely, there was only one person who could have fathered this child.

Hiei is having MY baby, Kurama thought, feeling tears in his eyes. Of course, he would have helped Hiei no matter who the father was, but upon coming to the conclusion that this was his baby, he felt happy. Of all the seeds he'd planted in people over the years, the seed of life was certainly the best one. He very much liked the idea of Hiei having his baby, and his only regret was that he hadn't gotten to know the baby better before it was born.

Kurama ushered Hiei to the couch and helped him lay down on his side. Overheated, Hiei removed his cloak, making him look even more pregnant than before. As much as Kurama wanted to interact with the baby, and to give Hiei comforting hugs and kisses, he knew he couldn't. They weren't in a formal relationship, and things like that were off-limits. But at least they could talk.

"Squeeze my hand when it hurts, okay?" Kurama said gently, kneeling next to Hiei and setting a cold washcloth on the laboring demon's sweaty forehead. "Now, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Tell you…tell you…what?" Hiei panted, his chest heaving as he took Kurama's hand.

"That you were pregnant, Hiei."

"But I'm not—ahhhhhhhh!" Hiei's sentence ended in a deafening howl of pain. Kurama held his hand, feeling his bones coming close to cracking when Hiei squeezed. Kurama waited for it to end, counting another sixty seconds in his head. Hiei was getting there, but his waters were still intact. When the pain subsided, he wiped his nose with his free hand and repeated, "I'm not pregnant."

Oh, so that was what it was…Hiei didn't even know what was happening to him. It wouldn't be easy to calm him down after he heard the truth. But surely his coworkers and Mukuro would have seen the signs, wouldn't they?

"What about Mukuro?" Kurama asked. "Didn't she have anything to say about your condition?"

"In December, when I started feeling bad…" Hiei sniffed, this time wiping his eyes. "She told me not to come back until I felt better."

Kurama tried to suppress the anger that suddenly flared inside him. It was just as he had always suspected. Mukuro didn't look after Hiei properly. He had come to her, sick, and she had simply banished him. Not only that, but she apparently hadn't even been able to recognize the early signs of pregnancy. Perhaps she couldn't have detected it by his smell that early on…but if she noticed that he was sick, she should at least taken the possibility of a pregnancy into account.

"So you've been on your own this whole time?" said Kurama, pushing Hiei's bangs back. They were soaked in sweat. "When Mukuro made you leave, why didn't you come to me? I could have helped."

"I didn't…I didn't want you…to worry." Hiei's words were still coming out in breathy gasps. "But Kurama…I can't be…"

"Hiei, do you remember your birthday?" Kurama asked. "Do you remember what we did?"

Hiei's crimson eyes grew wide for a moment, but then they squeezed shut as the pregnant demon let out another sort of moan/scream combination, loud and primal. This was to be expected; when demons were in labor, they tended to be very vocal, even more so than humans. The contraction lasted sixty-five seconds, and even afterwards, Hiei's breathing was shallow, his eyes full of fear.

"Kurama, I'm telling you, I'm not pregnant!" he cried. "That's not what this is!"

"I can smell it all over you, Hiei," said Kurama, giving Hiei's hand a squeeze, though one that was much gentler than those he had received so far. "But you're going to be fine, I promise."

"Are you crazy?!" Hiei cried, yanking his hand out of Kurama's grip and somehow pulling himself upwards. "How can I be fine?! Even if I was pregnant, which I'm definitely not—"

But Hiei never got to finish his sentence, for that was when his water broke. Kurama could see the wet stain of amniotic fluid on the back of the pregnant demon's black pants. Hiei blanched.

"You were right, YOU WERE RIGHT, I'M IN LABO—AHHHHHH, OW, OW, MY BACK!" Hiei's words escalated into more screaming as he was hit like a truck by his first post-waters contraction. From what Kurama had heard, they were much stronger after that.

Hiei spent the entire contraction screaming at the top of his lungs. Now, not only was he in pain, but he seemed to be having a panic attack, too, as well as some newfound back labor. As soon as the pain receded, this contraction being a full eighty seconds long, Hiei fell back onto the couch, sobbing hysterically as he clutched his rock-hard belly.

"Kurama, my back," he moaned. "It's my back."

"This is difficult for you, Hiei, I know, but I can help you," said Kurama, making sure to keep his voice calm as he rubbed Hiei's back. "Before I got this human body, I used to be the commander of an entire group of bandits, remember? Don't you think some of my subordinates, both male and female, have given birth? I was even there when my demon mother had her second and third litters, and a few of my own littermates had children, too."

"I can't have a litter," Hiei moaned.

"You're not the same type of demon as I was, Hiei," Kurama reminded him. "Your kind rarely has more than one at a time. Now, I just need you to—"

"Even…even one baby…" Hiei didn't even appear to be listening to Kurama anymore. "I can't have a baby, Kurama, I just can't! I don't want a baby, I can't, I c—ahhhhhh!"

Now that Hiei's water was broken, the pains seemed to be much longer, stronger, and closer together. Kurama could tell that the baby was coming very soon, and if he wanted to make the birth easier on Hiei, he had to calm him down.

"I'm aware that this isn't what you expected, Hiei," Kurama continued softly, running his fingers through his friend's spiky, sweat-soaked black hair. "But what we have to focus on now is the birth, okay? We can figure out what to do with the baby after it's born. But for now, you're just going to have to trust me. Can you do that?"

"I don't know." Hiei's voice came out as a whimper.

"Remember," said Kurama, taking Hiei's hand again and giving it a stroke, "this is my baby, too. I won't let anything happen to either of you."

"Kurama, am I…am I really having your baby?" Hiei asked, tears sparkling in his eyes.

"Well, did you sleep with anyone else last fall?"

"I've never slept with anyone else, period."

"Then it looks like I'm your man." Kurama smiled and gave Hiei a kiss, completely forgetting his previously-imposed limits. He desperately wanted to tell Hiei how happy he was about this, but there was a chance Hiei didn't feel the same way, and he didn't need stress. What he needed was to feel safe and calm, to ease the delivery of his baby. "Come on. Remember to squeeze my hand."

I'm going to be a father, Kurama thought, as Hiei howled in agony and nearly crushed his hand. I'm going to be a father very soon…

"Kurama," Hiei gasped out, once the contraction was over. "I-I don't know anything about birth. What do I do?"

"The thing is, your body does a lot of the work for you, but there are some things you can do to make it easier." Kurama pursed his lips and stood up. "Here…take my hands."

Hiei reached out, and Kurama pulled him up, nearly doubling over at the weight. Hiei used to be so lean and muscular; the large belly looked out-of-place, though not in a bad way. It was actually kind of cute. And then there was the fact that Kurama was the one who had given Hiei that belly to begin with, filling him up with his life seeds while Hiei grew heavy with their child over the months…Kurama shook his head to get rid of that sort of thought. That wasn't what they needed right now.

"Okay, now what?" said Hiei.

"Let's just walk around a little," said Kurama. "Gravity will help get the baby down and out. Just let me know if you're hungry or thirsty, or if you need to use the bathroom. Okay?"

Hiei nodded, and Kurama helped him walk around the living room a few times, pausing when he had contractions, timing their length and the space in between. On average, they were ninety seconds long, with less than a minute in between, and from what Kurama could tell, they were extremely painful. Kurama got Hiei some healthy snacks and water to give him some strength for the birth, and helped him through the pain.

After a few hours at his baby daddy's house, Hiei was on his hands and knees, groaning in pain, when he got a certain look of panic on his face.

"Kurama!" he cried. "I need to use the bathroom!"

"One or two?" Kurama said warily, using all his strength to hoist Hiei back up.

"Two! HURRY!" Hiei screeched.

That got Kurama moving quick. Hiei needed some help getting his pants off and sitting down, and for some reason, he didn't seem to want to be alone.

"Ahh, Kurama, this hurts too," Hiei moaned. "I feel weird…"

"Would you like me to rub your back?" Kurama asked, remembering that Hiei had back labor. Hiei nodded, so Kurama wet his hands with warm water and began massaging Hiei's bare back while the pregnant demon labored over the toilet, emitting not screams but lower-pitched moans this time. Kurama could only imagine the horrible pain that his friend must be currently experiencing.

"Owww," said Hiei, his moaning getting significantly louder. "Kurama…!"

"Relax, Hiei, just let it out," said Kurama calmly, as he continued to rub Hiei's back through the contraction. He was beginning to suspect that Hiei did not, in fact, need to take a dump at all, and the real reason he was feeling this pressure was because the baby was ready to come out. After all, he would be using the same muscles, and for a male demon, it came out of the exact same opening. But how to bring that up without freaking Hiei out again? Maybe it was ultimately Hiei's choice in the end, but Kurama didn't particularly want his baby being born over the toilet, however clean he kept it.

"KURAMA, MY BACK!" It was almost as if Hiei had become a different person, one who had completely lost control. "MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP!"

"It's going to stop," Kurama reassured him, still keeping his voice gentle and even. "And you can help it stop even quicker, okay? Stay upright and move your hips. The baby will come faster that way."

Kurama moved around to the front so Hiei could grab onto his shoulders, and he did as he was asked, his legs in a squatting position, keeping his hips moving. His surprisingly sharp nails were digging into Kurama's shoulders, but he lifted himself up off the toilet and hung onto Kurama for balance, his cheek flat against the fox-demon's chest.

"There, that's perfect, Hiei," Kurama said softly, giving the laboring demon a quick peck on the head. "You're doing great."

Hiei moaned his way through another contraction, but then he was insisting to be put back on the toilet again.

"I told you, Kurama, I have to go! I mean it!" he shouted, holding his belly.

"Hiei, I'm not sure that's what it is," said Kurama. "I think it's time for you to push the baby out. That's why you feel so much pressure down there."

"DO YOU WANT ME SHITTING MYSELF ALL OVER THE FLOOR?!" Hiei hollered at the top of his lungs. Kurama was surprised the neighbors hadn't come knocking yet.

"Well, you might, Hiei," he said. "But I think it will be more comfortable for you out in the living room or the bedroom. Trust me on this one."

Hiei still complained that he'd have an accident, but his tune seemed to have changed by the time he and Kurama reached the living room. Still completely naked, he slipped himself out of Kurama's arms and fell to the floor in a hands-and-knees position with a deep, loud moan. Kurama knew then that it really was time, and he grabbed some towels from the kitchen, setting one aside for the baby and placing the others underneath Hiei, to keep his body fluids from getting all over the rug. And then it was time for Kurama to stand back, shut up, and let Mother Nature perform her beautiful work.

Kurama could tell Hiei was already pushing the new baby out, because the sounds he was making weren't just from pain, they were from exertion, guttural, proactive and coming from deep inside him. He was sweating, his face was tomato-red, his eyes were squeezed shut tight, and his nails dug into the floor, all overshadowed by the constant plethora of sounds that escaped his mouth.

Throughout the entire birth, Kurama was watching carefully and silently, waiting for some sign of the child's head. He knew it was crowning when he heard Hiei's demonic scream. Kurama didn't see the point in mentioning it, because he was sure Hiei already knew.

As the baby's head crowned, Kurama was surprised by how far Hiei could stretch, and impressed by just how much pain he was able to take. Hiei was leaning on his elbows now, screaming in pain, and when Kurama looked at the baby's progress, he could see a patch of wet hair, right there in between Hiei's legs.

"Hiei," he said when the contraction ended, the first time either of them had spoken since Hiei had begun pushing. "Hiei, feel. The baby has a full head of hair."

"It—it does?" Hiei's voice was breathy and unusually high, but he reached his hand back to touch the baby's head, an expression of utter disbelief on his sweaty face. "Oh, wow…What color is it, Kurama?"

"Red," Kurama said, giving him a soft smile. "Now everyone else will know it's mine, too."

"R-Really? Really…" Hiei's look of disbelief turned to a sort of laugh, leaving Kurama to wonder if Hiei would want people to know that he, Kurama, was the father of the baby. Certainly, everyone would know they had slept together, even if it was only once. But it wasn't long before another contraction had come and Hiei was pushing through the pain again, working on getting the baby's head out. It was awfully big, and Kurama was a little worried then that Hiei would tear. It wouldn't be the end of the world if he did, because of Kurama's medical knowledge, but it would be best if it didn't happen at all.

"Hiei, do you need some help?" he asked tentatively. "You know…so you don't tear."

"W-What d'you mean?!"

"Well, the baby's head is sometimes too big, and…" Kurama swallowed, wondering what to say next, but Hiei's scream of terror showed that he'd heard all he needed to know.

"You mean it can rip my ass open?!" Hiei screeched.

"Hiei, calm down, it's more likely to happen if your muscles are tense," Kurama insisted, setting his hand on Hiei's shoulder, though Hiei shook it off. "I can stitch you up if you do. But—"

Kurama's voice was drowned out by Hiei's next contraction, leaving Kurama to simply assess the situation. The baby's head was coming out, which meant Hiei's labor was almost over, but it also meant that if he pushed too hard, and the baby's head was too big, they might have an injury on their hands. Kurama waited for Hiei to have another break before he spoke again, still noting that the baby's head seemed to have made a small amount of progress.

"I can make a small, controlled incision instead," he offered. "That way you won't have a tear, but the baby will have more room to get through."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Hiei screamed.

"No, and I know what I'm doing here, Hiei," Kurama told him. "I just want you to be safe. So are you okay with…" Kurama cleared his throat. "With me touching you down there?"

"I don't think now is really the time for that, Kurama!" Hiei protested, his face turning even redder than before.

"Not that kind of touching," said Kurama. "Just…here. I'll show you."

Hiei didn't protest, so Kurama moved around back and looped two fingers through Hiei's opening as gently as he could, his fingers brushing the still-emerging head, so that he was helping just a little bit with the stretching.

"Okay, next time you have to push, try to do it a little less hard," Kurama instructed. When that happened, Kurama used his fingers to ease the stretching, all while reminding Hiei, "Gently, gently, careful…good!"

Hiei groaned, finished with another contraction. Every time the baby inched forward, it seemed to go back in a little, in a sort of two-steps-forward, one-step-back kind of situation. It made Kurama hopeful, but it seemed to frustrate Hiei.

"It—it won't stay out!" Hiei grunted. "It won't fit!"

"Yes, it will, Hiei, I promise," said Kurama. "Your body knows what to do."

The process took some time, but the baby inched its way out, causing a lot of screaming and swearing on Hiei's part, and Kurama couldn't help but be a little fascinated. It was surreal; this morning, he had woken up and gone to work just as he always did, only to find out that evening that he was going to become a father. Even if Hiei did go back to Makai, there was still something—someone—that would connect them forever, a part of each of them, yet still its own unique person. Hiei seemed so relieved when the baby's head finally popped out, along with some blood and other fluids that made Kurama glad he'd thought to put the towel down.

"All right, Hiei," said Kurama. "Now you just have to get the baby's shoulders out—"

"The shoulders are out?" Hiei panted, with his knees and elbows still on the rug.

"No, you just have to get the shoulders out and then you're done," Kurama clarified. "Do you want to catch the baby?"

"Isn't that your job?" said Hiei weakly.

"Well, if you want it to be," Kurama replied, but Hiei didn't answer, just went into another push, so Kurama grabbed the towel and waited, his hands gently supporting the baby's head.

True, the baby was a youkai, so it technically wouldn't be hurt if Hiei simply let it drop to the ground. But it seemed ceremonial, in a way, that one of them should catch it. Hiei was still as loud as ever; whether it was from pain, exertion, adrenaline, or simply relief that this was almost over, Kurama did not know.

"Good, Hiei, good!" Kurama encouraged, feeling excited himself as Hiei continued the tricky work of getting the baby's shoulders out. One…just one more, and they'd be done. "Come on, you're so close…you can do it—"

"SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Hiei hollered suddenly, his foot knocking Kurama away with a surprising amount of force. In one fluid movement, he'd gotten up to kneel, his legs spread, and with one big, final push, the redheaded baby dropped into his waiting hand.

He did it, Kurama thought, feeling tears touch his eyes at the scene unfolding before him. Hiei fell onto his back, the crying infant on his chest, marveling at the newborn in happiness and disbelief. He really did it.

Kurama wanted desperately to hold the baby, but he knew better than to try and grab for it, or to even make any sudden movements around Hiei, until mother and baby had finished their initial bonding. Hiei was still much more in instinct mode than he looked, and Kurama decided he would rather not take his chances with a demon's protective instincts. Immediately after a demon gave birth, the new baby was to stay with the mother until the mother was ready to let go (certain ice maiden elders hadn't seen the truth of that until it was too late). Sometimes that was after the baby had nursed, sometimes it was after the placenta had been delivered, sometimes it was after a nap, sometimes it was a full day or two. But the fact remained that the little one was staying put in Hiei's arms until he was ready for someone else to hold it.

"Hiei," Kurama said, unable to hold back a smile. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Huh?" Hiei looked up, as if he had completely forgotten Kurama was even there; it was certainly possible that he had. He lifted the baby up to check, then set the little one back down on his chest, giving Kurama a peaceful smile. "Girl."

"So we have a daughter," said Kurama softly. "Well done, Hiei."

"She's cute," Hiei replied, and Kurama watched as a single tear left one of his eyes. Before it hit the ground, it crystallized and turned into a stone, but not the yellow ones Hiei cried normally. It was a blue Hiruseki stone, just like the ones Hiei and Yukina had been given by their mother, the ones that all Koorime women (and Hiei, apparently) cried for their children. It was truly a wonderful sight.

"Not just cute, Hiei," Kurama told him, hearing his voice break. "She's beautiful."

"I know." Hiei closed his eyes and smiled as the baby continued to cry, her very loud wails echoing off the walls of Kurama's small apartment. But Kurama didn't mind the sound, because it meant she was alive and breathing. His own baby girl…and with Hiei…If he thought he loved Hiei before, he now knew it for sure. His heart seemed to overflow at the scene: Hiei was in tears now too, and he was rubbing the baby's back as she still stayed warming on his chest.

"Do you want to sit up?" Kurama asked tentatively. Hiei nodded, so Kurama helped him to lean against the side of the couch in a sitting position, then handed him the clean towel, so he could swaddle the baby in it. Hiei delivered the afterbirth not long after, but he was so wrapped up in his new baby that he didn't even seem to notice.

"Kurama, look," he said, seconds after the bloody mess had slid out of him and onto another towel. By now, the baby had stopped crying. "Look, she has your eyes, too. I hoped she would."

"You hoped?" said Kurama with a small laugh. "In the few hours leading up to her birth, you had time to not only consider what she would look like, but decide on what you wanted?"

"It helped with the pain." Hiei shrugged. "When you told me she had red hair, and I got to feel her head…that kind of changed it for me. After that, I mostly got through the labor by picturing what she'd look like. It helps. When I got the Jagan implant, one of the ways I got through the pain was by remembering why I was getting it."

"Mind over matter," Kurama agreed. "That does make sense. But still, I was hoping she would have some traits of yours, too."

"She does," said Hiei, and his smile grew wider. "Hold her, and you'll find out."

"Well, before I hold her, the cord will have to be cut," Kurama reminded him. "And we'll have to do something about the afterbirth."

"What's afterbirth?" Hiei asked casually, still focused on the baby.

"It's that bloody thing on the towel," Kurama said, pointing.

"Oh." Hiei's eyes widened. "Gross."

"Let me just take care of the cord, and I'll just dump it, okay?" said Kurama. "And then I can hold her. I'm wondering what this trait of hers is that I can't see until she's in my arms."

"It's because you don't see it," Hiei replied. "You feel it."

Kurama was a little mystified as to what this trait should be, and he was eager to find out. So he produced a small, needle-like blade of grass, along with some longer, softer whisps, for cutting the cord and clamping it. In other words, his plants served as his medical tools, as they often did. He made sure to start gently, letting Hiei hold the baby's body while he did the work.

"All right," he said. "Ready?"

"Will she be hurt if you cut it?" Hiei asked nervously, looking down at the umbilical cord.

"No, she'll feel no pain, and neither will you," Kurama reassured him. "Now, hold her still, and I'll be careful with her."

"How do you know how to do this?" said Hiei, as he watched Kurama cutting and clamping the baby's cord. "It seems complicated to me."

"I told you, Hiei, I've helped other demons give birth over the years," Kurama replied serenely. "I've learned how to be a productive support person. And, well, I was hoping that someday I would get to do this for my own child."

"Well, now you do," said Hiei. "So do you want to hold her or not? You may be in for a pleasant surprise."

"Are you sure you want to let someone else hold her already?" asked Kurama, hesitating. Again, it was never a good idea to get in the way of a demon's protective instincts.

"I'm sure." Hiei carefully held the baby out to Kurama, and he took her in his arms—only to find that she was hot to the touch! Kurama couldn't help but smile. The baby was just like Hiei.

"It's like holding a heating pad," Kurama remarked. "I suppose that means she has your powers."

"Yes, a child of fire," Hiei said proudly.

Kurama stared down at the baby girl, a decent-sized baby, likely full-term, with vibrant red hair and emerald-green eyes just like his, but so warm, as a baby fire demon should be. She smelled like birth, fresh and new. His eyes filled with tears as she reached up one tiny hand to grab at the long red hair that fell in her face, and when he reached his hand out to brush her cheek, she seemed to lean into the touch. Even Kurama's genius mind was having trouble still processing the fact that he now had a beautiful baby girl, despite the fact that she was right there in his arms. He knew he had already fallen in love.

"Hiei," he said with a sniff. "What shall we name her?"

"How should I know?" said Hiei. "I didn't even know I was pregnant until she was about to be born! I didn't have any time to plan names."

"Do you want to hear mine, then?" Kurama asked. "I have a few ideas."

Hiei snorted. "I thought you'd take a much longer time to pick out names than the time it took for her to be born."

"Well, actually, if you must know…" Kurama felt his wet cheeks turn a little hot. "I've had our children's names picked out for a few years now. I didn't know if it would ever happen, especially not in this manner, but…well, just in case."

"You're unbelievable." Hiei laughed. "In fact, I bet you had a plan for this whole thing, didn't you? Not just the names of our kids, but me giving birth, everything."

"That's me, a plan for every eventuality," Kurama admitted. "So…would you like to hear them?"

"Sure."

"Well, for a boy, Fuji, like the mountain, and for a girl…" Kurama smiled down at the cooing little baby in his arms. "Moriko. It means 'forest child.'"

"Hmm…maybe if she was going to have powers like yours," Hiei replied. "But it doesn't seem right for a fire-baby, does it?"

"No, I suppose not…" Kurama bit his lip, thinking, but that was when he heard Hiei again—

"Look at that," said Hiei, pointing outside, where the apartment and town nearby were coated in a blanket of darkness. "I've always found night and the darkness to be calming, and considering she was born in the middle of the night…" Hiei paused and smiled. "Yuroko. Child of the night."

"I think that's perfect," said Kurama, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Hi there, Yuroko…I'm your daddy."

"Can I—can I hold her again?" Hiei asked, reaching out his arms. "I-I think…I don't know. I just got a weird feeling all of a sudden…like it's time to hold her."

"That's your instincts, Hiei, telling you when she needs you," said Kurama, walking over and setting little Yuroko in Hiei's arms again. And sure enough, the second she was returned to him, she snuggled into his arms contentedly, as if she wanted nothing more than to stay there for the rest of her life. Hiei reached out his hand to brush away some bangs that had fallen into her eyes, but Kurama heard him gasp when she wrapped her whole tiny, soft hand around his calloused index finger. Hiei looked so shocked, and Yuroko looked so sweet, that Kurama wasn't surprised when he tasted salty tears in his mouth. Perhaps he could have a plan for the birth, and think of some names ahead of time, but he could never anticipated the love and joy that filled his heart every time he looked at Hiei and the baby he had brought into the world. He sat next to Hiei, leaning against the couch, so that both could admire their new daughter.

"Um, Kurama?" Hiei turned his head up a minute to look at the fox-demon. "I-I'm glad I came to you. I was really scared…and we both probably would have died if you hadn't been there."

"You would have been okay," Kurama told him. "You might have been in for a surprise, but you were the one who did the work, Hiei, and you were the one who gave her life, whether I was here or not. Besides…" Kurama gestured to the baby. "Once you saw her…I think you would have headed straight here anyway."

"And there's nobody else I would want to be her dad," Hiei admitted. "She seemed happy when you were holding her."

"Speaking of that, I think I know why she wanted to be back with you," said Kurama. "See how she's moving her lips like that? It means she's hungry."

"Oh! But…" Hiei looked a little nervous all of a sudden. "I'm not sure I can…"

"You can, Hiei," said Kurama, "but if you don't want to, I could probably make her some sort of tonic and feed her with a bottle. It's up to you."

"No, no, I…I want to do it." Hiei shook his head. "I just didn't think this was how I would be spending my evening, that's all."

"Well, let me know if you need help," said Kurama, remembering that Hiei hadn't been nursed as a baby.

"Yeah, I-I do, can you hold her still, maybe?" said Hiei, flustered. "I don't know how to do this, I mean, do I hold her at an angle, or…?"

"I think you just have to get a good latch," said Kurama, trying to position the baby while Hiei fumbled around with one of his newly-grown, fully-functioning breasts. They were already leaking demon milk—different than a human's milk, it was thick, sticky, and dark purple in color, and although Kurama couldn't remember what it tasted like himself, he knew demon milk was said to be sour, like lemon juice. Finally, between the two of them, they somehow got Yuroko latched and breastfeeding. Hiei seemed a little surprised at the sensation.

"Hmm…this feels weird," he said, looking a little more relaxed as he leaned his head back on the side of the couch. "But it feels good, too."

Kurama smiled, but then he remembered something that made his once-happy heart fall to the ground.

"There's still one question left," he said with a sigh. "What are we going to do with her?"

"Do with her?" Hiei looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"We weren't planning to have a baby, Hiei, and neither of us even knew about it until the day she was born," Kurama reminded him. "We haven't thought at all about where she would fit into our lives. I said it myself, to focus on the birth and decide on her fate after. The birth is over, so now it's time to make the decision."

"Well…" Hiei looked down at Yuroko, then up at Kurama. "What do you think we should do?"

"I know what I want to do, Hiei," Kurama said sadly, "but I can't ask it of you. It's not fair."

"Don't be dumb," said Hiei impatiently. "Try me."

"Ideally, I'd like her to live with me full-time," Kurama said. "But like I said, that's not fair of me. I know you would want her too. And she needs you. I just hope Mukuro is okay with me visiting her there. Or with you being away to take her to visit me."

"Oh yeah…Mukuro." Hiei looked back down again at Yuroko, still nursing as peacefully as ever. "Her fortress is no place for a baby."

It's no place for you, either, was what Kurama was thinking, but he didn't say it. What he said was, "May I take her, then? If she can't live with you, I'll be more than happy to take her in. You can visit anytime, of course…"

"That's not what I mean." Hiei shook his head. "I meant…maybe Yuroko and I can live here with you instead."

"Oh, no, Hiei, you don't have to—"

"I know," Hiei interrupted. Kurama was a little startled by the firmness of his tone. "It's what I want to do. If I have somewhere else to stay, I don't have to do my patrol job anymore. And if I'm going to live with someone, it should be the father of my baby. Besides, I don't think Mukuro likes babies all that much."

"True, she never did seem like the nurturing type," Kurama agreed. "Of course you can live with me, Hiei. I think that sounds wonderful. Just one thing."

"What's that?"

"Next time something seems wrong, come directly to me, all right?" said Kurama. "That way, this sort of situation can be avoided."

"That sounds fair," said Hiei with a yawn. "You know, feeding her makes me sort of sleepy."

"You both will probably end up asleep," Kurama told Hiei, smiling and running one hand through the fire demon's hair. "After you're done there, I can get the both of you to bed."

"Okay," said Hiei, closing his eyes. "Oh, and Kurama?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"No, thank you, Hiei," Kurama replied, giving Hiei a little kiss on the cheek. "For being so strong, and so brave, and bringing such a beautiful little girl into the world. I love you."

"I love you, too," whispered Hiei as he leaned his head on Kurama's shoulder and closed his eyes, both of them ready to start their new life together and love their new baby, come what may.

-end-