Fire and Ice

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After carelessly tossing the magic filled hand mirror in her giant backpack which Sango had Kohaku holding for her at Kaede's, Kagome dropped the oversized bag at the foot of her bed to forget about until she needed to re-pack it. Kagome sank down gratefully into the warm folds of her comforter and sighed in pleasure. "Ah! So soft!" she moaned in pure delight.

Kurama ushered the others out of her room, eager for some time alone with his miko. Hiei had disappeared right after leaving the well house to places unknown, though it may have had something to do with Botan's hurried whispered message and the resulting red faced jaganashi. He puzzled over that and decided to torment it out of the fire demon at a later date.

With Kagome's casual acceptance of Shuuichi and Youko, Kurama was finding himself slipping more and more into the teasing prankish side of his fox portion and the less rational decisions of his human half. Kurama was suddenly becoming a lot more fun...and a lot more dangerous...

Botan had to be physically pushed from the room and Kurama found himself doing just that when not so long ago, he would have never presumed to do something so rude.

She struggled until the end and he had to shut the door on her as she tried to shove her way back in the room. "Well," she huffed from outside the door, "That was not very nice."

Kurama leaned against the door and could just imagine the finger the blue haired girl was now waving in a scolding manner at the blank door. He closed his eyes at the mental picture and sighed heavily.

When the sound of her footsteps faded away, Kagome raised an eyebrow at her fox turned human and waited for him to explain his odd behavior. She waited for a very short time before he pounced. "Ooof!" she exclaimed as the bed bounced her dangerously close to the edge. She laughed good-natured and grasped Kurama's convenient arms for support.

Drawing her as close as he could without violating the house rules, he buried his face into her long dark hair and breathed in the scent. She giggled and whopped him softly in the shoulder. He grinned and breathed in her ear with a heated breath. The giggling abruptly stopped as she became suddenly serious and tense.

"Kurama, what are you doing?" she asked in a breathy voice she had trouble recognizing as her own.

"Enjoying have you close and safe," he answered promptly and with enough finesse to keep himself out of a self-dug hole. He was rewarded by the feel of her relaxing against him and let out a breath in appreciation.

"Hm, good answer," she teased. "But..."

He frowned down at her and loved watching the way her eyes sparkled with amusement. "But?" he prompted.

"Your eyes are gold again..."

After a stunned silence, Kurama laughed and pulled her into a tight hug.

Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back. With a pretty yawn, she released him to turn her attentions to the extra pillow on her bed. Tucking the fluffy edge under her chin, she scooted back until she was resting against him. "Will you stay with me until I'm asleep?" she requested.

"I'll stay as long as you want me..."

"Then you'd be here forever," she teased.

"I can only hope," he agreed and rubbed her back soothingly. "Kagome?"

"Hmm?"

"What did that wolf say to make you so happy?"

"Kouga? Well, he said he would always be there for me..." she felt him frown at her back and reached behind her to take his hand. "As a friend." she clarified. "And he gave me something."

"What?"

"His shards." she answered simply. "He game me the two pieces he had to put with the rest of the jewel..."

Kurama thought heavily on this and pulled the large chunk of jewel he had hidden in his hair with his seeds and pressed it between their entwined fingers. She let it stay there, where they could both feel its magic pulse in pure waves between them. She shifted her grip so that she could add the other pieces with her free hand and fused them in their joined grasp.

Kurama felt a wave of magic, unlike any he had ever felt before, sweep through them and smiled when he realized that it was the essence of Kagome herself, making the jewel into something as pure as she was...

"Kurama." she said sleepily. "Tomorrow, will you bring Hiei here?"

"Of course," he automatically agreed. Then his kitsune curiosity demanded more information. "Why?"

"To train myself. Hiei said he's teach me to use a sword..." she muttered. "Where do you think he went in such a hurry?"

Kurama thought this through and puzzled over Hiei's odd behavior. "He may have gone to see Yukina..."it was the only thing that made any sense to the kitsune.

"Kuwabara's girlfriend? Won't he be mad if Hiei's looking for her?" Kagome asked innocently.

Kurama smiled and ran his fingers through his hair in distraction. "No, see Yukina is..." Kurama didn't know if it was his place to tell Kagome about Hiei's relationship to the ice apparition but he did not like keeping any more information form Kagome as he could help. He wanted to be completely honest and open with her from now on.

Sighing, he stroked her hair and tried to think of a way to achieve both telling her and not telling her.

"Is it something that Hiei should be the one to tell me?" she asked him in understanding. At his hesitant nod, Kagome shrugged and pressed a kiss to Kurama's mouth. "Okay," she accepted easily and snuggled back into her living blanket. She yawned again gripping her pillow with one small fist "Just ask him to come tomorrow?" she requested and fell asleep in the next breath

"Yes, Kagome, I'll bring him." Kurama settled himself in and waited for the nightmares that were sure to follow her into this time. When he said he'd be there for her when she needed him, he had meant it in every sense...

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The morning dawned with a maximum of fuss, fighting the rolling storm clouds for a chance to shed it's warm rays on the earth. Hiei stood proudly in the gloom and watched his sister feeding her birds like she did every morning. He knew that he should tell her of his arrival, but he couldn't resist the temptation to follow the habits he had accumulated since discovering her. She was smiling like always, in that gentle patient way of hers. In many ways, she was the exact opposite of who he was.

Even without his jagon eye, Hiei was able to sense each emotion that Yukina was feeling. The fact that they were twins just strengthened the bond between them. He paused when he felt another energy rushing up the shrine stairs and then scowled in displeasure.

"Yukina, my love!" a very irksome voice sent Hiei to twitching.

With a sigh he watched his sister turn to smile at the human striding toward her. Her quieter greeting was lost on the wind but Hiei knew enough to realize that his genteel sister has a strange liking for the one male that Hiei would gladly send to the slowest and most painful death he could think of...Part of Hiei's great dislike of Kuwabara Kuzuma was Yukina's interest in him. It just seemed that as soon as he found her, he had to share her time with the un-evolved human

He growled when the orange haired oaf held her hands in such a familiar manner, not liking the implication of Yukina allowing such contact.

Hiei decided that enough was enough and dropped from the tree he was watching them from. Yukina sensed his energy as soon as he allowed his barriers to drop and grinned in satisfaction when she abruptly pulled from the other boy's grasp to run into his arms.

Kuwabara stared with his mouth open in shock as his Yukina threw herself at HIEI! The smaller demon that had plagued his life since they had met was hugging his woman! Kuwabara couldn't help but feel hurt. He never got that type of greeting form the woman that he loved with all of his heart. The fire demon was smiling at him in that condescending way that sent Kuwabara into a natural fighting mode.

Standing there, arms empty and a strange tension in the air, Kuwabara pondered what he should do. While he was thinking, Yukina spoke up, startling the tall human into mobility.

"Oh, Hiei! I am glad that you are back! Can you stay for a while? I was so worried for you!" she tightened her hold on her brother, forgetting her suitor's presence completely. "I was so lonely by myself..."

Kuwabara frowned at that. He knew that he had been busy with cases and had not had time to visit in a few weeks, but he had called her occasionally... that she was lonely here by herself had not occurred to him. He realized that he should have found a way to be there for her no matter what and berated himself for giving her too much time to herself, or in this case, with Hiei.

Hiei dropped a small chaste kiss on her forehead and grinned when Kuwabara's jaw dropped even lower in shock. "I can stay for a time," he agreed.

Her answering smile was reward enough to send Hiei into a contented relaxed moment.

"Yukina?" Kuwabara questioned, the hurt evident in his tone.

"Oh!" Yukina turned back around to face her first visitor. "Kazuma-kun, I'm sorry about spoiling your plans, but I would like to spend the day with my brother, since he only just returned," she explained with a concerned smile.

"I- sure...wait...BROTHER?" Kuwabara blinked in frustration at the pair. He knew that Yukina had been looking for her twin for a long time now, but never had he even considered...It was too much. "Yukina what do you mean? That's HIEI!"

She giggled and took Kuwabara's hand in hers with out letting Hiei go with the other one. "I know. I only just found out myself."

Kuwabara glared at the shorter man and found a certain satisfaction on the koorime's face that had never been there before. There was a gentle love in the fire demon's eyes that spoke volumes to the sensitive human. Kuwabara took a step back and tilted his head to the side to look at the two of them together. What he saw made him gasp in shock. How had he not seen it before? There were unexplained similarities between the two that pointed to the relationship they had as well as a common thread in their energies that he should never have missed. "Your brother..." he mimicked and stepped back again, confusion on his face.

"Kuzuma?" Yukina asked in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I-" he turned around to walk away. "I need to think..."

Hiei snorted at the futility in that and watched in sadistic satisfaction as the human left. When Yukina turned her saddened eyes to his, he faltered and frowned..Damn it! She liked that useless human...he couldn't just let the idiot hurt her by walking away. "He'll be back," he assured the girl at his side. I'll make sure of that. With narrowed crimson eyes, he considered that he would have to put his dislike for the boy aside for her sake and strangely, couldn't make himself regret that decision. Even if he ended up with Kuwabara as family, as long as he made Yukina happy...this is what loving family is about.

He was torn from his musings by another familiar aura that was approaching from behind him. Kurama's distinctive patterns were growing steadily stronger as he got nearer to the shrine. With a sigh, Hiei turned to meet this new visitor and watched as the stronger heat from the summer sun burned away the gathering storm that has threatened to spill over its burden of water earlier that morning.

Kurama calmly walked up to his friend and twisted his mouth in a smirk at the frowning couple.

So he has told her.

Apparently.

It's about time. I wonder what pushed him that final step...

"Kurama," Yukina greeted him with the same warmth that she shared with everyone and reminded him of Kagome's zest for life. He smiled at her and kissed the back of her fingers in a thoroughly disarming manner.

Hiei growled angrily and hissed out at the fox who was making his sister blush prettily. Kagome was waiting for him and he was blatantly flirting with another girl...Hiei considered attacking the fox but was stopped by the kitsune's words.

"Welcome to the family, Yukina." Kurama smiled, but it was a friendly smile with no hint of Yuko's hinted lusts.

Hiei relaxed and grunted a greeting to the red head. "Hn,"

Yukina smacked Hiei in the arm lightly and hissed "be polite!" before grinning back at the familiar friend. "Thank you, Kurama."

"I am glad that he finally got the nerve to face you...it was becoming embarrassing watching him pine away alone." Kurama taunted the fire apparition jokingly and shook his head. Yukina just smiled wider and tightened her grip in the brother she still feared would vanish on her with out a warning.

"What are you doing here, fox?" Hiei sighed, trying to direct the other demon's attention away from his admittedly pitiful past attempts to talk to his sister.

"Kagome was wanting to see you today. She asked me to come and find you. Can you spare her the time?" he asked aware of the koorime's recent reunion.

Hiei was about to tell the fox that his day was already taken when Yukina spoke up again. It was a rather bold move on her part, she usually said little and nothing ever forceful. "Of course he'll come. Kazuma has told me about her. I would like to meet her too..." she hesitated and continued shyly. "Do you think she would mind? Kazuma said she was really nice..."

Hiei glanced at his sisters bent head in surprise and realized that she wasn't kidding when she said she was lonely. She was here all hours, allowed company when one of the team decided to drop by and visit and Boton was her only girl friend and was generally too busy to be here for any length of time.

Kurama nodded in understanding, his eyes soft and compassionate. "I am sure she would love to meet you," Kurama smiled. "I remember her even saying as much."

"Hn," Hiei agreed and nodded his consent. "When?"

"She never said....she probably meant as soon as possible, but she needs to rest...Perhaps in a few hours? She is too impatient with her healing."

"Is she hurt?" Yukina asked in concern.

"No," Kurama assured her. "She's just tired. Shall we meet at the shrine in a few hours?"

Hiei agreed and waved the kitsune away before steering his sister back inside.

"Do you think she'll like me?" Yukina asked him excitedly.

Hiei smirked and wondered what the two would get into when they met and found himself looking forward into helping them become friends. "I know she will. You have a lot in common."

More then I realized...Hiei smiled genuinely and ushered Yukina to a seat where they could have some time to talk before meeting with the others.

The sun glared down on the earth, heating it mercilessly after it broke through the final clouds that had upstaged it's rising a few hours prior. The rain had disappeared leaving a rainbow in the haze left over. It seemed to hang over the world like an omen of good fortune...getting fanciful, Hiei snorted and ignored the sight in favor of focusing on Yukina's smiling face.

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Kurama was almost back to the Sunset shrine when a portal opened in front of him and found himself staring at Botan's peeved face. "Come on," she shoved him into the hole that she had punched into the barrier and ignored his protests.

Kurama found himself in familiar territory and suddenly understood how Yusuke felt when Koenma pulled him away from Keiko's presence. Tempted to growl out "What do you want, toddler?" Kurama bit his lip and waited for the spirit ruler to talk.

"Ah, Kurma! It's good to see you back. You got Kagome and healed her, I hear. Good, good," the spirit realm prince waved a pudgy hang contentedly. "At least something is going right."

Kurama said nothing, sure that if given the chance, Youko would be cussing his boss in very unseemly manner.

The hard look in his eyes was not missed by the reikai prince so he hurried his message up. "Well, I called you here to tell you that you have a mission separate from the others...I want you to take care of Kagome. Your top priority is to keep her safe. This will take precedence over any other orders you are given, understand?"

Kurama narrowed his eyes at his boss.

I already knew that, Youko sneered. As her mate, that is only natural.

We are not mated to her yet, Shuuichi pointed out.

A matter of time only, Youko pointed out. The commitment is already there.

Koenma sighed and pressed on. "Yusuke has orders to prepare you to go and find that last shard here in modern times. When will Kagome be ready?"

At that, Kurama did growl at this employer and snarled angrily, "She has only just returned from an ordeal. I will not allow her to be placed in danger until she is prepared for it."

"But-"

"I am following the order you just gave me, sir. Her health is more important then that damned shard!" Kurama towered over the small ruler and glared with golden eyes.

Koenma blinked and bit his pacifier. "Right... how long?" he persisted. "The barrier," he reminded the fox heavily of the other problems that he was juggling.

"A few weeks."

"Weeks?!" Koenma squeaked and then sighed at the unmoving countenance of his smartest detective. "Fine..."

Kurama nodded and turned to Botan who was hovering in the background. Wordlessly, she opened the portal back up and followed him through. When they were standing at the base of the shrine steps again, she sighed and stared at the well house. "Sorry. I tried to tell him that she wasn't ready..."

"It's okay. Besides, now I have a valid reason to ignore his more idiotic pronouncements if they put her in danger." Youko grinned in satisfaction from Kurama's face.

She smiled and pushed him lightly in the back. "Go on, she's waiting for you."

Waving once, he leapt up the stairs and to his future mate. Botan smiled at his exuberance and wondered at the changes she saw in all her companions. Add one miko in the mix and everything changes...she snuck a look over her shoulder and took off for the well before Koenma could stop her and demand that she do some other job to fill her time...if she didn't know better, she'd say her boss was jealous...

The blue light wrapped around her lovingly and she sang lightly to herself as she went is search of her hanyou...

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well, all the action will start in the next update! The final hunt is on! Thank you to all the reviewers and I hope to hear from you soon!