~*~*~*~*~ Chapter 11~*~*~*~*~

The sun had been set for quite sometime before Kurama at last returned home. He opened his door to a dark and empty house and stepped in from the winter's cold. He blindly searched for a light switch to illuminate the room and then made way to the kitchen.

Kurama wasted no time in locating the teakettle and filling it with water. He'd made tea so many times the procedure was ingrained in his memory. He went through the motions mechanically. Soon ,his thoughts began to wander. Leaving the teakettle on the stove, his mind retreated back to the occurrences of the day.

After the incident at the coffee house Kurama had never left Botan's side. He never strayed far from her. He was protecting her. The action was instinctive. He felt, some how, it was his duty too. At first, all he did was ask questions concerning her health. Was she alright? Did she need anything?

Botan had merely smiled and chided him playfully, "I'm fine, Kurama. He just made an unexpected move."

Kurama nodded and kept any further queries to himself. Shame stirred with in him for being overly concerned. It was really a trivial matter. And yet why did it vex him so?

In fact, as he recounted the day's events, he found the reason he'd felt many of his emotions a mystery. When Botan had mentioned she was going out, he'd felt a very strange tinge of jealousy. At the time it hadn't occurred to him that the feeling was strange. It had just suddenly came to him and it seemed natural that it should.

Perhaps he would have realized what he was feeling if the feeling of jealousy hadn't been quickly replaced with surprise. He hadn't expected Keiko to act so strangely at Botan going out. Even stranger still that she'd actually been right to follow them. Had Keiko known that Hakuma would do something? But how? He was almost positive she'd never met Hakuma. So why had she insisted on following Botan?

He ran his hand through his hair wistfully. It was a mystery that Kurama may never be able to solve. He would ask her but he imagined she'd just give him another ridiculous answer. He didn't bother to dwell on that particular mystery and moved on.

But perhaps the most perplexing of all was how he had reacted when Hakuma had...Moved so close to Botan. A mixture of emotions gripped him all at once, tearing him in a hundred different directions.

The first was the constant feeling of jealousy. Jealousy that was fueled by the newly developed hate towards Hakuma. Then shock. After shock was a feeling that filled Kurama with a horrible sense of guilt. He'd felt anger. But this anger hadn't been directed at Hakuma but at Botan.

He'd been angry with Botan? As he saw Hakuma move in thoughts such as Why doesn't she move away? Slap him? Do something! had raced through his mind. Kurama would have screamed then had his shock not prevented him from doing so.

The probably the smallest feeling was the one that prevailed in the end. When watching Hakuma concern had taken a back seat to the stronger emotions with louder voices. But when he'd seen Botan fall concern surfaced itself so suddenly that Kurama had hardly time to think. One minute he'd been paralyzed with shock, the next minute he'd caught Botan and was glaring angrily at Hakuma.

Hakuma had been most fortunate that Kurama had had Botan in his arms at that moment, for with all the rage broiling within him Kurama was liable to snap.

After Hakuma's flight, they'd promptly decided to take Botan home. Surprisingly enough, Botan never asked why they'd "somehow" appeared at the coffee house. She'd been too grateful, he supposed. Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

The high-pitched whistle of the tea kettle brought him sharply from his stream of thought. Kurama grudgingly shut the stove of and went in search of a tea cup. Upon locating one, Kurama strode over to the pantry and removed a tea bag from its box. He dropped the bag into his cup, careful to drape the string over the rim. He took up the tea kettle and let the hot water join the tea bag in the cup. A long wisp of steam wafted upward.

He'd heard somewhere, that when the steam went exactly straight up, it was good luck. Kurama smiled with amusement. What strange superstitions humans had. He pulled open the draw in which he kept all his utensils and withdrew a spoon and stirred instinctively.

Still stirring, Kurama found a seat at the counter at drank the tea from his cup thoughtfully.

So, the question was: Why had he felt these things?

He tipped the cup forward and saw his reflection caught in the cup. As he gazed into the tea's brown, translucent surface, a knot tied itself in his stomach. The thought struck him that he might already know why. It was on the tip of his tongue, floating just out of his reach.

Suddenly, Kurama noticed that his reflection was not alone.

"It's not polite to sneak up on people, Hiei," Kurama commented before taking a sip.

"Are you really that dense?"

Kurama set his cup on the table whirled around to face the fire demon, eyebrows furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

Hiei fixed him in one of his ice-cold stares, "I'd always assumed you were smarter than this, Kurama."

All Kurama could do was stare blankly at Hiei with a baffled expression.

Hiei rolled his eyes with a superior air, "You've been living with these humans far too long."

"What are you talking about?" A slightly offensive tone was taking his voice. Kurama did not appreciate having his intelligence insulted.

"I see no reason why I should tell you, if you're such an idiot that you can't figure it out for yourself," Hiei sneered.

Kurama arched his eyebrow suspiciously, "Figure what out?"

The fire demon's eyes pierced into him meaningfully. Kurama said and turned back to his tea. He lifted the spoon off the table with every intention to stir. The tea really didn't need stirring, just the familiar movement would help him think, but as he lifted the spoon he froze suddenly, leaving the spoon hovering over the cup.

There it was. Right there in front of him as plain as day. It was simple. Why had it never occurred to him before? Why hadn't he realized?

The spoon slipped from his fingers at went clattering into the tea cup, splashing the hot liquid everywhere, but Kurama didn't notice.

The edge of Hiei's mouth twitched upward in what could have been a half-smile.

Kurama sat there gaping a look of disbelief on his face, "I...I...I love her..." he gasped in barely more than a whisper.

Hiei nodded resolutely, "So you're not as dense as I thought."

Kurama didn't hear him, he was far too astonished to hear anything. He slouched forward and held his head in his hands, "What am I going to do?"

"Hn," Hiei frowned considerably, "Baka! Tell her!"

Kurama looked up at him in surprise.

"Yes," he began weakly, "I'll tell her."

~*~*~*~*~

Ha!!! I updated! Hooray! Huzzah! And now I shall run away because I don't want to be stoned for ending it there.

I apologize for this chapter being incredibly, horrendously short. But an update's an update, as I always say. *dodges the stones being thrown at her*

And I'd also like to apologize for any OOC-ness on Hiei's part. I tried, I really did. But Hiei's incredibly hard to figure out. He's very complex, don't cha know.

Argh!!! Next update will be so soon it'll make you're head spin!

That was a lie, but I'm okay with that.