Hiei, who we all know would not let a little thing like falling down a mountain take his life, was now nervously entering the office of Lord Koenma. It was unusual for Hiei to be nervous, but he had just made a very important decision concerning his future... and now had to let his superior know.
Kurama had been taken to Spirit World as well, so his injuries could be treated. Hiei had stayed in solitude for hours thinking everything over, and was finally ready. He stepped into the room and saw the person sitting in the desk chair had it turned towards the wall. This was better for him, he would not have to make any eye contact while he announced his resignation.
"Koenma... right now I don't care if you send me back to prison for it, but I'm leaving this alliance." He said firmly, and continued without waiting for an answer. "I... don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me." He looked down at the floor and felt slightly ashamed, he was not used to showing the feelings he hid under his cold and indifferent shield. He now patiently awaited Koenma's reply, but none came. Instead of receiving a response, the large chair began to slowly turn around.
"Sorry to hear that you're leaving," the redhead said with a smug grin.
"Ku- Kurama..." he stuttered, shocked to see him there. He was covered in bandages and had new clothes on, but there he was nonetheless.
"Why have you developed a sudden interest in leaving our group?" he asked, standing from the chair and rounding the desk to stand before Hiei.
"I already said..." he hissed, hiding away any of the sensitivity he had just allowed to show.
"There's no need to worry about me, if that's it," Kurama said. "I'm perfectly alright now, the doctors here in Spirit World are very efficient."
Hiei stared at the bandages on Kurama's face and hands and wondered how many more were hidden under his clothing. He could also tell that the fox was still in some pain by the stiff way he was standing. Despite it all though, he still wore a smile on his handsome face.
"Fine..." was all he managed to say, even though his head was crammed full of thoughts and questions. "I'll see you later."
"Oh, Hiei," Kurama called as the Jaganshi began walking out of the room. Hiei stopped by kept his back to Kurama.
"After all we've been through in the past few days, perhaps you'd like to come to my house and relax. I'd like you to meet Shiori properly."
"Your mother?" He turned and asked. Kurama nodded.
Hiei did not answer but instead of making a snide remark, he smiled slightly.
"I'll be waiting for you tomorrow evening then. Mother and I will prepare something special for supper." Kurama said, beaming. Hiei made a sound of approval and departed in the blink of an eye. The redhead seated himself back in Koenma's throne and stared fondly at the spot where Hiei had just been standing. He wondered how Hiei would handle eating supper in a human household and chuckled slightly. He leaned back and thought of the following day with a fond anticipation, wondering what he would cook for his little fire demon.
It was late afternoon on the day Kurama had returned to his home in the human world. He had tried to hide his injuries from his mother the best he could, claiming he had fallen during gym class at school. He had not actually attended school in the past two days, but Shiori believed his story. He sometimes felt rather guilty, having to hide his true self from her, but he was always as honest as he possibly could be without raising any suspicions.
At the moment, though, the only thing on his mind was making sure supper was ready on time, knowing Hiei could arrive at any second. He hurried back and forth throughout the kitchen gathering serving plates and putting the finishing touches on the meal he had prepared. Shiori giggled slightly watching her normally calm son moving around so frantically. He then dropped one of the plates he had been holding on the tile floor and it shattered to pieces.
"Forgive me, mother..." He said, when Shiori paused from her task of setting the table to help him clean up the broken dish.
"This friend of yours must be very important," she said, not minding the shattered plate at all. "I've never seen you act so flustered, Shuuichi."
"I just want to make a good impression..." he confessed, blushing slightly. They had just finished discarding the remains of the broken plate when the doorbell rang. For a split second Kurama seemed panicked, dinner was not even ready to be served yet.
"You go get the door," Shiori said, placing a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "I'll finish up in here."
"Thank you, mother," he said gratefully, kissing her on the cheek and exiting the kitchen. When he opened the front door, there was Hiei, eyeing a rose bush suspiciously. He had donned human clothes, Kurama was not even going to bother asking where he had gotten them, but he had to admit that the fire demon looked rather nice in his tight fitting jeans.
"I'm not accustomed to using the doorbell," Hiei mumbled, stepping inside and wandering through the living room without taking his shoes off.
"It's proper to remove your shoes at the front door," Kurama instructed. Hiei glared at him momentarily but then set his sneakers carefully on the doormat. After this, he continued walking through the living room, picking up random objects from their resting places, examining them, and setting them back down. He wondered why humans insisted on keeping so many useless knick-knacks in their homes, but instead said,
"Erm... nice house."
"Thank you," Kurama said, the side of his mouth twitching, as he was smiling so broadly his mouth would most likely ache later.
"Shuuichi, dinner's ready!" called Shiori some inside the kitchen.
"Are you ready to eat?" Kurama asked Hiei.
"Why not," he said, shrugging and following Kurama into the kitchen. The red head approached Shiori so he could introduce the two of them. Hiei felt slightly bitter looking up at her, as even most women he knew were taller than he was.
"Mother, this is Hiei," Kurama announced, still grinning.
"You're the boy who came looking for Shuuichi the other day," she said, remembering their brief encounter at the front door. "It's lovely to see you again," she continued, bowing to him politely. Hiei was not exactly sure what to say and instead looked over at the food on the table, sniffing deeply to determine what had been prepared. "You must be hungry," Shiori said, pulling out a chair for him.
"Don't worry about that, mother, I'll get it," Kurama said, pulling out a chair for Shiori and seating her. When he turned to seat Hiei he saw that the little Jaganshi had already sat down and begun eating. Kurama slapped him on the hand, making him drop his food and then sat down.
"Oh my..." Shiori giggled quietly.
Hiei narrowed his eyes at Kurama but then simply raised an eyebrow and watched as Kurama and Shiori said the customary "Itadakimasu" before beginning to eat. Hiei had never eaten in a human home before and was not quiet sure what was going on, but assumed now was the time to eat. He proceeded to dive into his food like a rabid animal, not having eaten anything the day before. He could not deny that the human food Kurama had prepared was delicious compared to the crude things he had grown up eating in Demon World. He downed an entire helping and was starting on his second when Shiori asked,
"Hiei, do you go to Shuuichi's school?"
He paused his feeding frenzy and wiped his mouth off with a napkin that was lying next to his dinner plate.
"I'm... out of school." He said. It was not a complete lie, considering he had never actually been to one.
"So you must be older than Shuuichi," Shiori said.
"You could say that..." Kurama said a bit nervously, worried his mother might ask a question Hiei could not easily answer.
Shiori was not exactly sure what her son had meant by his last comment, but just assumed it must have something to do with Hiei's height.
"How old are you, Hiei?" She continued her questions one might expect during a first meeting.
"Old," was all that Hiei said in reply.
"I'm sure you think that now, but someday you'll look back on your youth and wonder where it all went," she said, then sighing fondly, thinking of days gone by.
Hiei glanced at Kurama with a look that asked "What is she talking about?", but Kurama did nothing except smile awkwardly. They talked about random subjects throughout the rest of the meal, Hiei not saying much, but listening quiet closely. He was trying to decide whether he liked this woman or not, and by the time he finally decided that he did, dinner was over.
"I'll clean everything up, mother," Kurama said to Shiori when she started clearing her place.
"But I thought you would rather go have fun with your friend," she replied.
"Don't worry, tomorrow is Saturday, we have all night to enjoy ourselves, right Hiei?"
Hiei, who had been peering curiously inside the toaster looked up suddenly and said, "Er... right."
Shiori made her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, saying she was just going to read for a while before bed, so the boys would have the house to themselves. Kurama gathered up all the dishes and began washing them throughly while Hiei poked and prodded at the appliances on the counter. Kurama watched, amused, knowing he had been inside Yusuke's house several times but must not have spent a great deal of time in the kitchen.
"Enjoying yourself?" He asked playfully.
"Not really," replied Hiei, glaring menacingly at the oven door that had just slammed shut on his finger. Kurama sighed as he finished putting the dishes away.
"I told Shiori you were spending the night, if that's alright," he said.
"I am?" Hiei asked.
"If you like."
Hiei shrugged and left the kitchen, apparently not caring either way, though Kurama wished he would. They spent the rest of the evening watching old horror movies, Hiei yelling furiously at an obviously fake three-eyed monster and Kurama hushing him, worrying he would wake Shiori up.
Around midnight, they ascended the stairs to Kurama's bedroom, which was absolutely filled with potted plants of every type. Some were quite larger than normal and bloomed in abnormal colors, Kurama had no doubt used his spirit energy to help them along. Then Hiei noted that, like the mountain cabin, there was only one bed, though slightly larger than last time. His heart skipped a beat but he made sure not to display any outward emotion.
Kurama began undressing in front of him, Hiei tried not to watch and got the impression that the fox was trying to tease him, but then cursed himself, thinking that couldn't possibly be so. Kurama had now changed into a set of green silk pajamas.
"Do you need something to wear to bed?" He asked.
"No." Hiei removed his shirt, socks, and headband instead and sat down on the corner of the bed. Kurama had started brushing his hair, very slowly Hiei noted. He watched for what seemed like an excruciatingly long amount of time, until Kurama finally set his hairbrush down and climbed into bed. Hiei did the same, but felt slightly uncomfortable being in the same bed as the redhead once again.
"Did you enjoy dinner?" Kurama asked once they had settled under the covers.
"I guess..."
Hiei felt his heart starting to beat harder with each second had passed, the hard shell he kept around himself seemed to be crumbling pathetically. Why did he feel so strongly for the green eyed boy staring back at him? He knew it was meaningless, knew it was wrong... or at least that is what he tried to tell himself.
Kurama reached out unexpectedly and began to lightly touch the lid over his Jagan eye.
"I've always been curious, what does it feel like?" he asked.
"It feels... normal to me, I've had it for so long." He opened it now, revealing the purple iris underneath, and looked at Kurama. An eye which saw not only the body, but the spirit, the mind, even the soul, looked at the fox deeply and carefully. Kurama waited, knowing Hiei could see every thought he was thinking, wondering what would happen.
Hiei opened his normal pair of red eyes and closed the Jagan. Their gazes locked on each other. The fire demon had never been this near to anyone... ever. Now, on top of all his current confusion, he knew Kurama's desires. He could not decide whether it was good or bad, to know the feelings were... mutual.
Kurama suddenly began moving towards him, slowly but directly. He had the urge to flee, to dive out the open window and vanish into the night, but did not. The red haired boy was inches from him now, Hiei could feel his breath. Kurama threaded his fingers through the Jaganshi's silky black hair and tipped his head to the side. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, as their lips met, and the next thing Hiei knew, they were kissing deeply.
All apprehension was cast aside, as was all clothing. The fire demon's fangs moved down their partner's neck, kissing and biting him at the same time. They pressed closer than ever before, their sweat mixing together. Green eyes were glazed over, their owner overcome by complete and utter ecstacy. The comforter had slipped to the floor long ago, and it was just the two, joined as one. The bed was littered with tear gems, and long red hair that had been so carefully brushed was now in tangles, weaving in and out of fingers. Their bodies were heating up, the hot sweat lubricating the movement between them. The heated rhythm was like a silent symphony. For the little demon, every sensation was new, the joy, the pain, the feeling of another's skin touching his own. The mix of excitement and fear was nearly unbearable. He gripped the sheets tightly, most likely ripping them but not caring. He was afraid. The urge he felt now though, was uncontrollable. All thoughts were pushed away, allowing him to taste the sweetness of the moment.
For the youko, this was also new, but he had been experiencing intimacy his whole human life, and the event was not quite as earthshattering. What came next was, however. The fox's toes clenched tightly and he gasped when overtaken by a sudden rush of undescribable pleasure that had been building up deep inside him. Every flower bud in the room suddenly burst open into a blossom and seed pods exploded, causing a cloud of white tufts to fill the room. The Jaganshi was shaking, exhausted, the redhead's strong arms still clutching him tightly. The moans that had rang out just moments before where replaced by ragged panting. The white balls of fuzz attached to the seeds dancing in the air settled onto the fire demon's sweat drenched back and formed a fluffy blanket on his skin. His partner brushed them aside, smiling fondly up at the little Jaganshi.
"I hope we haven't woken Shiori...." the redhead whispered breathlessly.
"Shut up," Hiei hissed, and kissed him again.