Rainy Days: A Conclusion

By Tione

Disclaimer: I own YYH. Seriously.

A/N: I feel wistful. This is the last chapter. Hence the title. =^^= There is no excuse for how late this is.

Italics indicate the mind speak of Hiei and Kurama.

Why do I always get myself into these kinds of situations? I'm an innocent person. I smile at bums on the street, avoid hitting deer, kill demons for the good of humanity…

Maybe I should be a dear and explain.

Akira is sitting on my lap, strangling me with the deed she calls a hug, Kuwabara and Yusuke have seen it fit to play videogames obliviously, Hiei is eating all of the ice cream from a tub 'Kaasan brought up here while mumbling contentedly in my mind…

Pleasant. I know.

"Oh, Suuichi, here's your present!" She handed me a small box that fit in the palm of my hand. It was wrapped with gaudy pink paper covered with hearts. A garish rose colored bow was plopped on top, almost bigger than the box itself.

It was a ring.

I smiled weakly, thanked her, and set it off to the side. Having noticed the spectacle, the two gamers turned around, giving me two packages.

Kuwabara's gift was a plastic rose that lit up and spoke when I touched it. Its mechanical voice squeaked, "Stop, demon scum!"

"I had Shizuru doctor it up. I doubted you wanted a rose that proclaimed my love for you," he gumbled, grinning at me. I thanked him as well, a bit more sincerely than I did Akira, and set it on my desk.

Yusuke gave me a lazy smile and handed me a box. The wrapping paper had little foxes decorating it. They were dancing, sleeping, eating, and generally looking cute.

Geez, that's girly, Hiei muttered to me. I stiffened, turned around, and gave him a look. "It is not! It's cute!"

He snorted and coughed, which sound suspiciously like "cough-girly boy-cough." I shot him another glare™ (which didn't work seeing as it originates from Hiei) and turned back to the others.

They were looking at me funny.

Instead of commenting, I merely opened the present. That venture revealed a box. Well, a box is good, isn't it? Usually there is something else inside of the box. Unless Yusuke really meant to give me a box, which isn't entirely unbelievable. We are talking about the person that gave his girlfriend tissue paper for her birthday.

…

I opened the box. I wish I hadn't.

Akira gasped, managing to look very indignant. ("That is, like, so gross! Like, my virgin eyes are, like, *burning*!") Yusuke sniggered, way too amused at my suffering for his own good. Kuwabara was pointedly not looking and I'd bet Yusuke told him what it was beforehand.

I carefully lifted the garment from the Victoria's Secret box.

A black g-string.

"EWWWWWWWW!" I scream-, I mean shouted. Screaming is another highly undignified thing for a fox to do, according to the insane Youko inhabiting me. Apparently screaming is okay to do when a rabid fangirl is going to "eat" you. Then it is okay and also highly sought after by any and all fox demons of the world. But, then again, he doesn't exactly have all the lights on in his head.

I dropped the piece of clothing back into the Box From Hell, threw it quickly into my closet and slammed the door shut, as if it were animate and highly dangerous.

"I would thank you," I told him, panting in fright, "but that was just nasty."

He gave me a smug smile, apparently pleased about the reaction he elicited from me. I glared back.

What was that? Hiei asked innocently.

You _don't_ want to know.

Silence reigned for a few moments.

It was coming. I couldn't stop it. It was bubbling up in my throat and tickling the insides of my mouth until I couldn't hold it in.

I giggled.

It soon turned into a full-blown laugh. In fact, I was laughing so hard no sound could escape my mouth. It wasn't long before everyone else joined in, save Hiei who was still working on the tub of "sweet snow."

"That was… pretty-y… fu-" I gasped out between peals of laughter.

When everyone was calmed down, Yusuke pulled The Devil to her feet, Kuwabara following closely behind. "Come on. Hiei needs to give Kurama his present." She followed docilely.

"Hey, like, who is Kurama?"

The door clicked shut behind them and we were left in silence.

Hiei had abandoned the tub and it lay discarded on the floor, presumably empty. I walked over and picked it up, setting it on the desk. Inadvertently, it hit my little rose.

"Stop, demon scum!"

I chuckled and sat down on the end of the bed where Hiei was seated. His mouth was quirked up into a smile. We endured another companionable quiet, each to their own thoughts. Inevitably, mine took me back to The Incident.

I had many incidents. But we're talking about The Incident. The day in the cave with the rock and the rain. That Incident was the whole reason that I came to like rain.

Hiei, ironically, was the first one to speak. "So what's with this whole talking mind to mind thing?" He shot me a quick look.

"I have no idea," I answered truthfully. A sudden though struck me and I smiled coyly. "Maybe it has to do with my rose whip being better than your sword."

Hiei wrinkled his nose in response. "Is not." Feeling lazy, all I did was give him the motherly "I-know-this-isn't-true-but-I'll-tolerate-it-anyway" smile.

It started to rain lightly and the soft pitter patter of the rain against the roof and window was comforting.

I noticed Hiei staring at me. His eyes, usually intense, were dark and turbulent. Blood orbs flecked with slices of wine, cutting into my soul.

"Oh, to hell with it," he muttered, more to himself than anything. "Kurama, I love you."

I smiled sweetly at him and gave him a "duh!" look.

Really, fire demons can be so dense sometimes.

I feel vaguely sad. This is the end. I might write an alternate ending because this one is a little… I dunno, sappy? ^^; The alternate one will probably be even sappier. Well, this is my final good-bye. I hope you enjoyed Rainy Days.