'Now, just how do you know all of this...?'
'Let's just say it's woman's intuition for now.'
****
Morning came all too soon. The floor littered with flower petals and Hiei's scent still strong on the sheets were the only evidence of the previous night's encounter, the Jaganshi was gone.
"Unable to face the morning after..." Kurama sighed. He dressed and showered quickly, cleaned his room and was out of the house before Shiori had even awoken. It was warm outside, though the sun had just barely risen. Spring was over and summer was in full bloom.
Somewhere in the heavily leafed trees, the little fire demon observed his partner's activities as the morning progressed. Kurama strolled through the park and into town, sensing a presence but not bothering to investigate, knowing he was in no danger. After buying a small bouquet around eight, he reached Kyo's home and was greeted by the overemotional and ecstatic girl before he could present her with it. This was the first she had seen him since his abduction and she could not contain her relief to see him healthy with her own eyes. Hiei glared seeing her fling her arms around Kurama and resisted the urge to pounce. Hadn't he finally claimed Kurama as his?
"Hn." He left.
Of course, things could never be so simple. Kurama was mostly human, after all, and humans just refuse to do things the simple way.
At breakfast, Kurama divulged his entire secret to Kyo, and explained in horrifying detail what had happened the previous day. She quickly lost her appetite, but hung on his every word, amazed at what she was hearing. She was tempted to believe that meeting the red haired boy and all his strange acquaintances was a dream, but no matter how many times she pinched herself, there she was. Obviously, this outlandish story of demons and spirits was the honest truth.
"So if you love him, why not just tell him that?" She asked when Kurama had finished, stirring her tea.
"Hiei is not exactly an easy person to confess your love to..." He sighed.
"Well, he obviously likes you too," she said, blushing, recalling Kurama's vivid retelling of the night's encounter.
"Yes, but I fear if I'm too open I may push him away." Kurama glanced out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the fire demon and wondering when he had stopped his pursuit. "He's lived a life devoid of affection, from both family and lovers. I have no idea how he must be handling things."
"I've never known anybody who had such a hard time dealing with a thing like love. Love should be a happy thing, not something to suffer over," Kyo replied.
"Hiei would have to admit his emotions exist before being able to deal with them."
"A rose..."
Kurama turned his gaze from the window and looked up. Kyo was smiling.
"That's what you need to do, give him a rose."
Kurama laughed slightly. "I'm not sure Hiei is the type that would accept a simple bouquet."
"A rose is a symbol of love," she said, clasping her hands together and sighing dreamily. "Cut him a rose from your garden, he'll understand."
"A demon's idea of romance may be a bit different from yours, Kyo," he said, pushing the idea to the back of his mind for the time being.
"Oh no!" She said suddenly, noting the time. "I need to get going, Kurama. I'll see you tomorrow though." Kurama nodded and they hugged quickly before she raced out the door and down the sidewalk. As she hurried off, pigtails flailing behind her, she never noticed the sulking Jaganshi in a tree high above.
"Damn you, Kurama... Why do you make me feel this way?"
"They're called Calypso," the child prince Koenma announced from his throne.
"Not a very intimidating name..." Hiei scoffed. He and Kurama were together in the office for their briefing, but had failed to make eye contact or speak to each other so far.
"It's an acronym, standing for 'Certain Apocalypse: Liberated Yokai Political Separatists Organization'," he continued, shuffling through papers on his desk on the information that had been gathered. "They're been forming a presence in the human world slowly over the past few years, so discreetly though, that they're flown under the radar and we have nearly no knowledge of what they're up to. Apparently they're raising an army of demons to take over earth and throw the controlling forces of the three worlds out of power, hence the name, Certain Apocalypse."
"The end of the world as we know it," Kurama said grimly.
"Correct," replied Koenma. "The base you destroyed was not their main headquarters. The number of demon sightings on earth as actually increased since Kurama's rescue last week. Compared to the demons they have under their control though... Tsumetai was just a low class flunky."
"So what are you trying to say, that we have no chance of succeeding?" Hiei snapped.
"Not at all, what we plan on doing is destroying the powers controlling this demon uprising and hopefully the entire organization will fall apart."
"Destroy the head and the rest of the beast will die," Kurama mused.
"The only problem is finding the group or person in charge. I've got a huge section of my staff doing field research right now, but Calypso has kept everything so hush-hush, it's hard to find a demon who's willing or able to divulge any information." Koenma leaned forward on his desk, sucking his pacifier and pouting.
"We're aiming for an all out infiltration of the organization in one week, we just have to find out the location before then..." He said, sitting up again and leaning back in his throne, regaining his professionalism.
"You're setting rather high goals, aren't you?" Kurama asked.
"If those no good ogres working for me don't find the location of the main headquarters within the week's time, believe me, heads will roll. I'm hoping the deadline will make everyone work harder and faster," Koenma said firmly. For a baby, he could be a ruthless boss at times.
"Well anyway, that's really all the information I have for you right now. Relay it to Yusuke and Kuwabara immediately, and when the week is up, Botan will contact you and let you know if we're ready to attack. All you four have to do is be prepared."
"That sounds simple enough," Kurama said.
"And if you're NOT ready in a week?" Hiei said, glaring down at his superior.
"I don't know!" Koenma wailed, pounding his fists on the desk. "Just go along with it for now! With so little information, this is the best plan I could come up with!"
"Idiot..." Hiei mumbled under his breath.
"I'm going to go take a nap now," Koenma announced, hopping down from his chair and walking towards the exit. "And don't worry, we'll make the deadline. Isn't that right!?" He yelled at a random ogre walking innocently down the hallway.
"Uh, yes, Lord Koenma!" The ogre shouted, running off as quickly as possible to find more work to do.
The door slammed behind the small prince and Kurama and Hiei were left alone. The redhead perched on the edge of the large desk and smiled fondly at Hiei, who was glaring off into a corner.
"Nothing to say?" He asked sweetly, flipping his hair over his shoulder.
"What would you like me to say?" he huffed, finally looking at Kurama.
"I noticed you were following me this morning on my way to see Kyo," he said.
"How observant of you," Hiei grumbled, sitting down on the other side of Koenma's desk.
Kurama slid over to him, placing one hand lighting on the Jaganshi's shoulder and speaking breathily into his ear.
"It's a strange coincidence, Koenma has set the date of our battle for a week from now, and I just happen to have this week off from school as well."
Hiei did not move, but glanced nervously over at the grinning Youko at his side.
"And why is that important...?"
Kurama could sense Hiei's body heat rising and see a blush creeping onto his childlike face. It made him very satisfied that his flirtatious behavior could make the stoic demon become so vulnerable.
"I was wondering if you'd like to spend this week of free time with me," he said.
"At your house?" He asked, turning to face him at last, and raising one black eyebrow.
"Shiori won't mind if I have a friend stay for vacation. In fact, she'll be thrilled to be able to spend more time with you," he said, his chin resting on Hiei's shoulder by now. "She's quite fond of you already, you know."
"How wonderful that I have your mother's approval to see you," he said sarcastically.
Kurama smiled, quite comfortable with the closeness of the current situation. Hiei was not, however, his fists were clenched so tightly with nervousness that his nails were digging into his palms. It was taking nearly every ounce of his self control to keep from pouncing or running or screaming, one of the three. Why did Kurama have to toy with him like this, didn't he realize his playfulness was driving him quietly insane?
"So will you stay?" The fox asked, leaning away from Hiei when he suddenly realized how uneasy he was making him. "A soft bed is more comfortable than a hard tree, I'd say."
"You're asking me to spend seven days as a human, you know."
"I've spent sixteen years as a human, and it's not as horrible as you make it out to be," Kurama said.
Hiei sighed and looked at the floor. If Kurama could spend so long trapped in such a fragile body, surely he had the strength to live among mankind for a week.
"Set another place at dinner," he said, and had vanished from the room before Kurama's green eyes could blink. He smiled contentedly and rose to leave, wondering excitedly how their relationship would develop over the next several days.
****
'Who do they think they are!? Using my desk as a love seat?'
'Oh please, sir, get over yourself.'
'But I just had a new finish put on it...'
****
Day One~~
Shiori approached the front door and opened it upon hearing the bell. There stood Hiei on the front walk, in a different outfit from last time. He looked quite presentable in human clothes, in fact, wherever he was getting them....
"Hiei, its so nice to see you again," she said cheerfully. "You left so early the other day I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Shuuichi is upstairs in his room, by the way."
"Thank you," Hiei said, stepping inside and remembering to remove his shoes. He placed them carefully by the door as Shiori closed it behind him.
"It's been quite a while since we had a guest stay with us. It'll be nice having another friendly face to greet each morning," she said.
Hiei made his way up the stairs, wondering just what she found so friendly about his face. He peeked through the door to Kurama's bedroom and found him sitting at his desk, focused on the book he was reading.
"You're here early," he said happily, without looking up.
"What are you reading?" The Jaganshi asked, peering over Kurama's shoulder.
"It's homework, quite a boring piece of literature actually." He closed the book and set it down on the surface of the desk, standing to face Hiei. "But we all must do well our part. I wouldn't want to disappoint mother by losing my rank as top student."
"Why do you care, anyway?" He asked, sitting lightly on the corner of the bed.
"It's not as if it's a challenge to earn high marks in a human high school," Kurama said, moving beside him. "Besides, mother has very high hopes for me."
"You're really planning on staying here?"
"I doubt I would be welcome if I tried to live in the demon world once again," he said, reaching onto the night stand and proceeding to tie his hair back with the ribbon he had grabbed from it. "I'd like to make the best of the time I have left here, anyway..."
Hiei blinked, realizing for the first time the mortality Kurama was faced with. Humans lived such painfully short lives, and the thought of his only true friend growing old and dying in less than a century did not sit well with him.
"Can't you just find another body..."
"I was a selfish thief when I entered the body of the woman I now call my mother. But after growing to love her and the life she has provided for me... I've accepted that when this body dies, my time is finally over." He said calmly, not a hint of sadness or regret in his voice. "In an ideal situation, I wouldn't mind returning to my old form and living another millennia, but I believe that is simply not meant to be."
"You accept your fate very easily," Hiei said solemnly.
"Does the thought of life without me sadden you?" Kurama asked bluntly.
The fire demon turned to lock eyes with him. His expression was kind, he was not trying to put him on the spot or dig for answers, he was only asking, innocently and purely if he would be missed by the one that was most dear to him.
"I think you know the answer to that already," he said, standing from the bed and walking across the room.
Kurama closed his eyes and smiled. It would not be easy for the Jaganshi to confess his true feelings, no matter how much they were overwhelming him.
"Mother is planning on taking us both out for dinner," he said, changing the subject.
"Out where?"
"I'll take it you've never been in a restaurant before?" Kurama asked, always amused by Hiei's complete cluelessness when it came to human culture.
"Obviously not."
"I'll do my best to guide you through it," the redhead replied.
That evening, as a special treat, Shiori took the two boys out to a moderately fancy, but not overly expensive restaurant. Kurama did all of Hiei's ordering for him, doing his best to pick out something he thought his friend would enjoy. He and Shiori chatted endlessly while they waited for their meals to arrive, Hiei listening intently the whole time. He wanted to observe and learn as much as he possibly could about life in the human world, as to not make a fool of himself or end up in any awkward situations during the next week.
The soup of the evening arrived soon, but when placed before him, Hiei grabbed both sides of the bowl and was about to bring the entire thing to his mouth and drink it.
"Use your soup spoon..." Kurama whispered.
The demon stared down at the assorted pieces of silverware laying before him until Kurama picked up the correct spoon and placed it in his hand.
"Just try to do as I do," he said softly, hoping Shiori would not pay much attention to Hiei's lack of fine dining knowledge.
"You have a very interesting hairstyle, Hiei," Shiori said while sipping her soup. "I keep telling Shuuichi he should cut his since he's getting older now, but he insists on keeping it long."
"Mother, we've been over this a hundred times," Kurama laughed, elbowing Hiei roughly in the side when he spotted him wiping his mouth on his shirt sleeve. He narrowed his eyes at the grinning redhead and obligingly grabbed his napkin.
"Are you planning on attending a university?" Shiori asked him. Hiei did not understand why but she appeared to be exceedingly interested in everything he had to say.
"No," he answered, finishing off his soup. "I have... other interests."
"That's right, Shuuichi's told me you're a martial artist," she said, smiling. He nodded, slowly, in response, and supposed in human terms that was correct enough.
"Maybe you could open your own dojo. Who knows, you may even be famous some day," she said, laughing slightly and Kurama joining in.
"He'll probably be embarrassed for me to say this but, Shuuichi has been talking about you nearly nonstop ever since he first mentioned your visit."
"Mother..."
Hiei glanced beside him and noticed Kurama was blushing slightly. Though it was a trivial and human thing to do, for that moment he was nothing more than a teenager being embarrassed by his mother. The Jaganshi found this reaction to be quite funny, in fact, and actually started to smile.
"You two must be very fond of each other, I think," Shiori said, causing Kurama to blush even more furiously. Fortunately, though, their meals arrived at that time and all three were saved the trouble of making conversation as they dug happily into their long awaited food.
That evening, Hiei sat on the windowsill of Kurama's room while the redhead slept comfortably in his bed. He stared out at the summer night, the moon was shining so brightly it lit up the world as if it were day. Even the fire demon could not help but admire the simplistic beauty.
"I guess it's not so bad..." he thought, studying the landscape of the human world displayed before him.
An even more beautiful sight lay slumbering peacefully in the bed below him, though. Kurama looked completely innocent and harmless when he was sleeping, and Hiei noticed a faint smile on his lips. He must have been having pleasant dreams, and the Jaganshi silently hoped they were of him. He crouched down on the edge of the bed, leaning over as stealthily as possible to steal a small kiss. Kurama thankfully did not stir, and Hiei then exited through the window to go sleep in a tree.
****
'What's up with him and trees? Is it some kind of fetish?'
'I... don't know, sir.'
****
Day Two~~
Hiei was awoken abruptly the next morning by something fluffy hitting him in the face. He blinked and looked down at the lawn below him, Kurama was standing there smirking with his hair tied up in a bun and an apron over his clothes.
"Well good morning," he said, grinning up at the demon in the tree.
"What is this?" Hiei snarled, holding up the object Kurama had hurled at him like it was some kind of disease infested animal.
"A feather duster," Kurama announced. "Monday is cleaning day, and as a temporary resident of this house, I expect you to help." He then hung another apron he had been carrying with him on the lowest branch of the tree and strolled back inside the house.
Hiei leapt down, bringing the feather duster with him. He picked up the apron and growled.
"Pink..."
Inside, Shiori was vacuuming the carpet in the living room and Kurama was watering potted plants by the window.
"I am NOT wearing this," Hiei snarled, flinging the pink apron at Kurama, who caught it with one hand, his other hand never leaving the plants he was sprinkling with water.
"But I thought it would complement your otherwise black attire quite nicely," he joked.
"That would be mine," Shiori said, stepping away from the vacuum and grabbing her apron, batting Kurama playfully on the back of the head.
"You don't really have to help of course," Shiori said, setting the apron down and moving back to her vacuum. He normally would have agreed completely and stormed off, never envisioning himself doing something as foolish as house work. For some reason, though, watching Kurama contentedly watering his plants made it seem so much less foolish.
"What do you need me to do," he said, holding up the feather duster and looking to Shiori for instructions. Kurama smiled out the window as Shiori set Hiei to work dusting the entire house.
"I'll have a big breakfast ready for you two if you do a good job!" Shiori promised, as she walked into the kitchen to clean and then prepare their food. Hiei appeared to quicken the pace of his dusting from the lazy strokes of a moment before. The word 'breakfast' had suddenly reminded him how hungry he was. Having a hot meal prepared for him instead of having to find one himself was actually something he had been looking forward to lately.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like the apron?" Kurama teased. "The feather duster is just begging for something to go with it."
"Don't push it, Kurama..." He growled, smacking him with the duster as he walked by. That had actually been a harder hit than he had intended it to be, but Kurama did not seem to mind.
Within an hour, the house was spotless and the scent of breakfast was wafting in from the kitchen. The two boys proceeded to put all the cleaning items away and when asked to return the Electrolux to the closet, Hiei looked frustratedly around the living room for ten minutes until Kurama grabbed the vacuum cleaner that was sitting right in front of him and dragged it to the closet, laughing the entire time. Hiei then threw an armful of dustpans and brooms at the green eyed boy, knocking him face first into the back of the closet.
When he had righted himself, he was not upset at all. He only laughed, quite loudly in fact. His red hair was grey with dust and his bun had nearly fallen out. Hiei stared with utter confusion until Kurama grabbed his wrist and pulled him down onto the floor.
"You never cease to amuse me," he said, smiling fondly.
"What are you talking about..." Hiei mumbled, their closeness making him uneasy.
"Nevermind," Kurama said, still smiling. He stood and dusted himself off. "We should go and get breakfast before it becomes cold. Let me just brush my hair first..." he said, wandering off to his bedroom. Hiei would have much rather sat on the floor and waited for him to return, but the scent of the food in the kitchen was far too enticing. He padded silently across the house and peeked through the entryway, Shiori was sitting there sipping some tea.
"Don't be shy, there's plenty to eat," she said without opening her eyes. He blinked, wondering how she could have sensed him standing there, but then remembered what Kurama had referred to as 'mother's intuition'.
He sat and began helping himself to food, remembering his table manners by now. Shiori sat her teacup down gently on the table and smiled as she watched him eat.
"I'm very glad you've come to stay with us for vacation," she said. "Shuuichi is well liked at school but I worry he doesn't have many close friends. Actually, I sometimes feel there's a lot he doesn't tell me about himself."
"If you only knew..." Hiei thought.
"Do you still live with your family?" She asked.
"No, I'm on my own," he said. He was true enough, he did not have much of a family to live with, of course.
"What do your parents think of you living alone at such a young age?" She said, since as far as she knew, he was only a few years older than her teenage son.
"They..." he stopped, and thought over what he was going to say. "Aren't around anymore," he finished.
"Oh...." Her smiled faded and she was suddenly filled with much remorse. "I've been raising Shuuichi on my own since he was a baby, so he also knows the feeling of growing up without a parent." She took him by surprise then, by reaching her hand over and placing it on top of his own. "But I hope you have at least some family to go to."
"I have a sister," he said, without thinking. Yukina was his only living relative, and it saddened him deeply to have to watch her always from afar. He did not express it openly, of course, but it was obvious to anyone who had spent time with him how much he truly cared for his sister. "I don't see her very often, unfortunately..." he added.
"You should spend more time with her," Shiori said, patting him lightly on the hand and smiling once again. He looked at her kind face, and for some reason felt a strong liking for this woman. Perhaps it was because she gave off the aura of everything that was motherhood, and he had never had the benefit of knowing his own mother. Kurama loved her after all, and he in turn could not help but feel affection for Shiori.
****
'Brotherly love, it's so beautiful...'
'You mean motherly love, sir.'
'No, I'm talking about Hiei's love for Yukina!'
'But what about Shiori's love for Kurama?'
'Forget that, what about Kurama's love for Hiei!?'
'That's a different thing entirely...'
****