OMG! I live for you people! ::gives lots of hugs and kisses:: Very interesting theory and kinda close to what I meant for the title to mean. Chica, chica! Alright, I'm a little excited, as you can see. Here's chappie six!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or its characters.

Kurama's Question

-Kurama-

"What's that?" Hiei asked, pointing at an unlabeled can on Kurama's counter.

"Hearts of palm." Kurama had his back to Hiei, who was sitting on the window ledge in the kitchenette of Kurama's apartment. Kurama could see Hiei nod out of the corner of his eye.

"Makin' a salad?" Hiei asked curiously.

"Oh, no, not tonight. Oh, this?" Kurama picked up the can and tossed it in the garbage. "I don't usually use it, just the can to help with the dough. It's a little old now, though." Hiei nodded again.

"Well, if you did use it, you could put it in a salad." How on earth did Hiei know what hearts of palm was...and how to use it? Kurama turned to him. Hiei looked up at him. "What?" Hiei asked. Kurama smiled and shook his head, turning his attention back to his dough. "You're making a dessert, aren't you?" Hiei asked.

"Yes," Kurama said slowly.

"Is it something sweet?" Kurama turned to face the eager demon. "What?" Hiei asked again.

"I'm making beggar's purses."

"Mmm," Hiei said. Then he looked confused about something. "You're using dough?" he asked, as if he didn't like the fact that Kurama was using dough.

"Yes..." Kurama said even slower than before. "Why?" Hiei shrugged.

"Nothing."

"No, what," Kurama said, turning to him fully and folding his arms. "I want to know." Hiei shrugged several times as he spoke.

"It's just that...uh...I don't know." Then he lowered his voice. "S'posed to use crepes..." he murmured.

"What was that?" Kurama asked, looking at Hiei closely. "I've made baked apples before and no one's had a problem with it." Hiei looked up at him, his face light with amusement. He smirked.

"That's because they don't know what a beggar's purse is." Kurama's face scrunched in a failed attempt to act mad at Hiei.

"I have it in my mind to just push you right out that window."

"Shut up," Hiei said with a chuckle. "And make your baked apples." Kurama turned around quickly and balled up his dough.

"No. I'm making something different now."

"Something with chocolate!" Hiei exclaimed hurriedly. Kurama laughed at him.

"Alright, Hiei, I'll make something with chocolate." Kurama could almost feel Hiei's delight at that.

After dinner, or dessert, rather, Kurama packed his overnight bag. Hiei watched him, following him from the bathroom to the bedroom, and then to the living room and then back to the bathroom and then to the bedroom again before Kurama settled down on his bed. Hiei sat down next to his bag. Kurama zipped up the bag and turned to Hiei.

"Are you going to stay in the apartment, Hiei?" Hiei shrugged and started to kick his feet.

"Why?"

"Because I want to know."

"Yes. I have some snooping to do." Kurama chuckled lowly.

"I don't know what you think you'll find." Hiei had a mischievous look about him. Kurama shook his head at him and stood up, lifting his bag and resting the strap on his shoulder. As he did so, the phone rang. He went over to it and answered it.

"Hey, I'm here," Kuwabara said.

"Alright, I'll be right down." Kurama hung up the phone. "I'll be back tomorrow morning, Hiei. Don't blow the place up." Kurama made his way to the front door. Hiei followed and watched Kurama reach for the door knob.

"Kitsune?" Kurama turned to him. Hiei grabbed him by the sides of his hair to pull him down to him, but Kurama leaned down as he did it. Hiei kissed him on the forehead and then went over to the couch and sat down. He turned on the TV. "See you tomorrow." Kurama smirked at him and left the apartment, heading outside to get to Kuwabara, who was waiting for him in Shizuru's car.

"We could have just walked," Kurama said, climbing inside.

"Yeah, well, what are you gonna do?" Kuwabara said nonchalantly. He took off down the street, in no time arriving at his apartment building.

- Later that evening -

"I think this was one of my best ideas," Yusuke said, digging in a bowl for a chip.

"Yeah, especially since you made it at my house," Kuwabara said. Yusuke chuckled and dipped his chip in the French onion dip. "Yuck, Urameshi, no double dips!" Kurama laughed at them.

"That was a fresh chip," Yusuke said defensively and popped it in his mouth.

"Yeah," Kuwabara said disagreeably. Botan was sitting by the radio painting Keiko's toenails and Kurama was sitting next to them. She looked up at Kurama, still chuckling at something Keiko had told her.

"Kurama-kun," Botan said, closing the bottle of nail polish.

"Yes?" Kurama asked, turning his attention away from the guys.

"How would you like to go on a date tomorrow?" she asked him. Keiko giggled. Kurama's eyes widened.

"Botan, I told you not to," he said. She laughed at him, waving a hand and pressing the other up to her mouth.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," she sad. "Her name is Meara and she's awfully sweet. Kurama lowered his eyebrows and shook his head at her.

"I guess I should have known better..." he began.

"That's a yes!" Botan exclaimed and she and Keiko gave each other a high five.

"No, it isn't!" Kurama said hurriedly.

"Relax, Kurama," Keiko said. "You act like she's asking you on a case instead of on a date."

"You look like a deer caught in headlights, it's no big deal," Botan said. "Just hang out with her a few times... She's a ningen, so it's nothing permanent."

"But...I'm not lonely anymore," Kurama said. Botan gave him a look like she didn't believe him. Kurama turned to Kuwabara. "Kuwabara, tell them how I'm no longer lonely."

"Lonely as a squid on a stick," Kuwabara ratted. Kurama's mouth stood agape.

"Thank you, Kuwa-kun," Botan said, grinning triumphantly at him.

"When this is all over, every single last one of you will have unreliable credibility," Kurama muttered. Botan patted Kurama's hair teasingly.

"Just do it," she said, and stood up and went towards the table where the snacks were set up. "Hey, don't hog all the chips, Kuwabara!" Kurama turned away from her, though he was still smiling. Keiko's glance caught his attention. She was grinning at him.

"Don't worry," she said. "She's really nice. And quiet. You'll like her." Kurama nodded.

"You girls are something else," he said, shaking his head. Keiko smiled again, looking reflective.

"Must be nice to have your own apartment, though. Even if it does feel lonely sometimes. Your okaasan called my folks earl—"

"What did she say?" Kurama asked eagerly. Keiko giggled a little.

"You must really miss her. She misses you, too. She really wants you to visit."

"I would kill to see her again," Kurama said, not meaning to make it sound so menacing. Keiko nodded.

"I know how you feel," she said. Her eyes traveled up, looking behind Kurama. "Botan, when can I get up?" she asked. Kurama figured this would be a good time to slip away from the group for a moment. He patted Keiko on her shoulder as he stood.

He walked towards the hall to get to Kuwabara's bedroom. Stepping inside, he carefully shut the door behind him. He flipped on the light and went over to the bed. A small tan and white furred kitten had been laying at the foot on the bed, and as Kurama sat down next to it, it perked its head up. Kurama smiled at it.

It got up and stretched, walking its way over to Kurama and rubbing it's head on his thigh. Once it had enough, it put its front paws on Kurama's thigh and looked up at him expectantly. Kurama petted it and it purred. He smiled again. Maybe he would get a pet one day. Somehow he figured that if he had any kind of permanent company, a pet such as Kuwabara's kitten would be just right.

He looked up suddenly, by instinct, thinking he felt someone near. Just as he was about to look down, the door opened. It was Yusuke.

"Hey," he said, closing the door and going over to Kurama.

"Oh, hello, Yusuke."

"How's it going?" he asked, sitting next to him. Yusuke looked down at the tiny kitten. "Hey, Ashi." Ashi perked up again and stretched her legs out so that they pressed up against Yusuke.

"Why are you in here? Is it too loud for you?"

"No," Kurama said slowly. "I can handle the volume of the music just fine." What made Yusuke think that would bother him? It was strange that when he talked to people, especially his friends, that they took a somewhat serious and caring tone with him. Why were they acting that way? Worried about his loneliness, worried that he couldn't handle anything that wasn't slow paced, clean and calm, worried that he was going through things because of the situation with his mother. Sure his human form looked timid and somewhat weak, but that was just a cover for his inner Youko. His...inner...Youko.

Ashi walked over Kurama's thighs, looking for a little more attention. She stood on her hind legs and pawed at Kurama's chest. Kurama picked her up and held her in his arms close to his chest. He petted her again.

"You alright?" Yusuke asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"You look a little pale. And your eyes..." Inner Youko Kurama kept thinking. He shook his head.

"Just a minor regression. I'll be fine." Yusuke chuckled, pulling away playfully.

"I'm not in any danger, am I?" he asked, feigning fear. Kurama shook his head with a smile.

"Don't be silly," he said.

"Good. I don't think Kuwabara would like that too much, but then again it's Kuwabara, so..." Yusuke shrugged. Then he chuckled again. "Just as long as you're okay," he said, going over to the door. "Come back soon, or else Keiko and Botan will really get worried and send you to the altar with that girl." He closed the door behind him after he left. Kurama sighed.

He wasn't really lonely. He had plenty of company, especially now that Hiei stayed for longer periods of time. Did he...look like he needed to be consulted on everything? He sure didn't feel like making his "problems" everyone else's but...how much of his "problems" were reflected in his eyes?

Kuwabara always knew when even the slightest thing was bothering him, and so, somehow, did Botan. They were both bound to tell Yusuke, and Yusuke just had to tell Keiko. Well, they could be worried if they wanted to be. He just wished he would stop, if he had done so previously, giving them fuel to feed their worries.

"Am I lonely, Ashi?" Kurama asked the kitten, lifting it so that he could look her in the face. She licked her nose a few times and yawned, stretching again. She reminded him of Kuwabara. "Nah," he said, setting her down on the bed next to him. He stood up and left the room.

"Oh, hey, Kurama, tie this up for me...?" Shizuru asked, turning her back to him and moving her hair over one shoulder. Her bedroom was right across the hall from Kuwabara's and she was standing in the frame of it, acting hurried. Kurama proceeded to tie up the back of her dress, which was a deep red and quite revealing.

"You have a date?" Kurama asked, working on the second set of ties.

"Yeah," she said. She paused to take her cigarette from her mouth, blowing the smoke out through her nose. "Handsome little devil, I'll tell you that much." Kurama smiled, finishing the third set of ties.

"There you are," he said.

"Thanks," she said, heading back into her room. She reached for some shoes. "You're handy, you know that? The girl at the store took forever to tie this thing up...and she worked there!" Kurama chuckled lowly. She strapped her shoes up quickly and stood, going over to her vanity and brushing her hair. Shizuru hadn't really changed that much over the years; most things about her stayed the same. It wasn't often that she was dressed up that way. The man she was referring to must've been someone special. "How do I look?" she asked Kurama, modeling for him by doing a quick spin.

"Stunning," he said with a smile. She nodded.

"Damn straight," she said, making Kurama chuckle a little again. She reached for her purse. "Tell bro I'll be home sometime after he leaves. I'm going out back and I'm at the theater if he asks."

"Dressed like that?" Kurama asked. She winked at him with a mischievous smirk as she passed him. He nodded to her as she closed the door.

"I'll be sure to tell him," he said, watching Shizuru make her way to the back of the apartment.

"Music down by one, alright!" she said, closing the door behind her. Kurama went back into the living room, joining his friends again.

This one was pretty short, but the gist of the point of it's in there:: sings:: Re-view, review, review, review! Re-view...re-view! ::clears throats because of all of the cracking:: Alright I promise I won't sing anymore. Next chapter's pretty short, too, but wait until you see chappie eight! Oh, and one more thing... please review.

J3