Kurama didn't see Hiei for the rest of the day. But, he didn't look for him either. They had both been taken off guard by Kuwabara's sudden entrance, and it only showed them how easily their secret could be discovered. Kurama could not be selfish when it came down to it, and Hiei was more than happy to prove that he had been right. The youko grumbled under his breath, laying back on his bed with his hands behind his head. He guessed the youkai would show up sooner or later, so he had better not press the matter. Like he had said before, Hiei was very hard to find when he did not want to be found.

As he stared at the ceiling, Kurama heard Yukina's voice down the hall, along with a knocking on someone else's door. He heard a muffled response from the occupant of the room —Yusuke— and heard the door open and shut. Kurama sat up in bed, walking over to his door and poking his head out into the hallway. The ice apparition was knocking on Kuwabara's door now, and she turned as she heard Kurama's door open.

"We're going to get dinner ready, and Genkai-sensei wanted everyone down in the kitchen," she told him, watching him nod before turning to a groggy-looking Kuwabara.

Kurama made his way down to the kitchen, seeing Yusuke, Keiko, Genkai, and Hiei already assembled. Hiei met his eyes for a moment, but then looked away after a moment's hesitation.

"So, we're only waiting for Kuwabara and Yukina, then," Genkai said. She looked over Kurama's shoulder to see the aforementioned coming down the stairs. "Ah, never mind."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "What exactly are we doing down here, Grandma?" he asked.

"We're going to get food prepared. There are seven of us now in this house, and one person alone cannot make food enough for all of us, at least not without a lot of work to handle alone on their shoulders. So we're going to see if any of you boys are any good at something other then beating people up," she said.

"I don't want to eat anything Yusuke makes," Keiko said immediately, poking the Spirit Detective in the ribs. "I doubt it will come out good. Or even as food for that matter..."

Yusuke frowned at her. "I doubt you should eat at all; your ass is getting too fat."

Keiko flushed, and she smacked him across the face, leaving a hand-shaped mark on his cheek. "Yusuke, you jerk!"

Kurama chuckled quietly to himself, hiding a smile behind his hand as Hiei rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath and looking away.

"Dimwit! Leave her alone and pay attention!" Genkai snapped, glaring daggers at him.

Yusuke flinched, rubbing his cheek as he fell silent.

"Anyway, now that the dimwit is done interrupting—"she glared at Yusuke again, making him take a step behind Keiko "—I can continue. We have more than enough raw food for everyone, but the task is getting it prepared and edible. Because I'm afraid of what you'll do to this kitchen, I'll be sitting outside." She looked at Keiko and Yukina. "I'll be counting on the both of you to keep an eye on them," she said, jerking her thumb at the boys.

Keiko and Yukina giggled and nodded, watching Genkai leave the room, shaking her head.

The pair already knew what was in the kitchen, and what was to be prepared, so they told the boys this information and began to set to work, turning on a gas stove and bringing out pots, pans, and other various kitchen items, most the boys had never seen before.

"So, we just have to cook these things, right?" Kuwabara asked, looking at the raw ingredients. He was most likely a sheltered, ignorant child who had never seen food until after it was prepared.

"To put it simply, yes," Keiko said, picking up a chef's knife and taking it to a row of carrots.

Hiei rolled his eyes, reaching out and taking hold of a skinny salmon, making a perplexed face when it went limp in his hands. "Well this can't be too difficult," he muttered. "Why bother with the stove anyway, when it's so much easier—"

Kurama moved to stop him from making the inevitable horrible mistake, but he didn't move fast enough.

"—this way," he finished, flame erupting from his hand and turning the once-limp fish into a bent piece of charcoal. It dissipated into a small cloud of black powder, which drifted lazily to the floor. Hiei watched it, blinking a few times, not knowing what it was that he did wrong.

"Your fire is too strong to cook it, Hiei," Kurama said with a sigh. "You just..." he let out a small laugh. "Killed it even more..."

Upon seeing the incident, Keiko charged over to Hiei, still wielding her chef's knife, her eyes narrowing. "We don't need you setting all of the food on fire, Hiei!" she snapped. She slapped the knife on a table and turned him around, shoving him out of the door with a puzzled look on his face, not really struggling to stay in the kitchen. "Now stay out!" she shouted, slamming the door behind him. Hiei sweatdropped.

"Pointless nonsense," he grumbled, walking away from the door and outside where he could sense Genkai's aura. "Shouldn't have been in there in the first place."

Genkai turned as the door opened, and the youkai was met with a puzzled expression. "So, you were the first victim? Shame, I was expecting it to be Kuwabara," she said with a sigh. Then, hearing the door creak again, she peered around Hiei, seeing the aforementioned stalk outside with his hands rammed into his pockets. "Well, not to be disappointed, I guess."

"I'm not that useless," Kuwabara grumbled, staring at his feet as he rubbed at the ground with them.

"Hn," Hiei grunted, deciding against a biting remark. He wasn't one to talk at that moment; he had turned a salmon into dust... "Admit it, Kuwabara, neither one of us is useful when it comes to cooking."

On a reflex, Kuwabara seized up his shoulders and stood up straight, glaring down at Hiei. "Spea—"Kuwabara paused, and quickly deflated. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The next to come out from the doorway was Yusuke, brushing some flower off of the front of his shirt. He may have lasted longer than his teammates, but he still ended up out on the porch with Genkai. Kurama and the girls were busy inside cooking for everyone. Then, after another ten minutes, the youko stepped outside.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at him, eyes widening in surprise. "You got kicked out?" Kuwabara asked.

Kurama shook his head, unrolling his sleeves. "No, I helped make some bread, but I didn't know what to do after that, so instead of blindly trudging forward—"a slight smile rose to his lips "—I admitted defeat and decided to come outside."

"At least one of you decided to use their brains," Genkai snapped, looking at Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei in turn. The first two looked a little ashamed, and perhaps a little uncomfortable, while Hiei let out a little "Hn," in reply.

The woman turned to Kurama. "Do you know when the food will be ready?"

"The girls said in about an hour."

"All right, the lot of you can go do whatever your little hearts may desire for the next hour, but be ready to come for food. This is your last meal before training tomorrow morning, not to mention the last night for some time that you'll be able to relax, so make the most of it," she told them eyeing each one of them in turn. "So I mean get plenty of sleep."

Kurama looked away from Genkai, a slight flush creeping to his face. He had been thinking of something other than rest, and she seemed to make her comment pointedly at him.

Yusuke and Kuwabara muttered something to each other about going to go play cards, walking off towards the sitting room. Kurama turned to Hiei, just in time to meet his eyes before the youkai disappeared in a black blur. He let out a low sigh; even though he might be accustomed to Hiei disappearing all of the time, it didn't mean he had to like not being able to walk with him instead of running into him when the youkai deemed it suitable.

"Don't take it personally," Genkai muttered, turning and walking off after the two boys, perhaps to play cards as well, though highly doubtful.

Kurama had a sneaking suspicion that she knew a lot more than she let on, but decided to leave it be; he could trust her not to tell the others.

He began to go back inside, but was interrupted by a hand on his arm. Kurama glanced over his shoulder, glad to see Hiei peering back up at him. "I thought you left."

"I went up to the roof for a moment to wait for the others to go inside," he replied, taking his hand away from the youko. "I didn't want to seem suspicious."

Smiling, glad that Hiei seemed to be putting a bit more effort into this strange relationship, he bent down and slipped one hand behind the youkai's neck, moving to kiss him. He stepped away.

"Not here," Hiei said quietly, glancing towards the temple. "What if one of them came outside?"

Kurama straightened with a small sigh, but did not protest. "All right, I see your point."

Hiei touched his arm again. "Come on, I want to show you something," he said, starting to walk towards the forest.

Kurama obliged, walking alongside him. "It's much nicer actually being able to walk with you, Hiei," he said after a moment, now halfway to the line of trees. "You disappear rather often."

"Hn," Hiei grunted looking away for a moment. "If it bothers you that much... then perhaps I will stop doing that so often."

Kurama smiled. He was starting to break down the walls Hiei had set up around his heart, or at least was managing a small passage that he alone could pass through. A few months ago, Hiei would have never been this ready to change; at least not for someone else. His heart had been buried deep inside of his chest, and the youko was beginning to dig it up, letting a small bit of light finally reach it.

"Thank you, Hiei," Kurama said gently, and as they passed into the forest, he reached out and took Hiei's hand, intertwining their fingers.

Slightly surprised at first, the youkai looked down at their joined hands, and curled his slack digits around Kurama's. He had seen Yusuke and Keiko hold hands, not to mention a great number of human couples, and some demon ones as well, but he had never done this before. He had not had a hand to hold as a child, nor the hand of a mate to hold as a mature demon; until now. It felt as though tiny wings were fluttering inside of his chest; a queer feeling that was both awkward, yet pleasant at the same time.

"So where are we going?" Kurama asked, curious.

The words drew Hiei out of his daze, and his eyes refocused. He looked ahead of them to make sure they were headed in the right direction. "You'll see," he said, a small tease of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he glanced up at Kurama.

They walked for a few more minutes, traveling a short distance into the forest, enough so that they could not see Genaki's temple through the gaps in the trees any longer. Soon, they came upon a break in the trees, and Hiei led the youko out into a small meadow. Sprigs of flowers bloomed up among the grass, along with a sakura tree rooted in the center of the circular glen. The pink blossoms littered the grass around the tree, filling the air with a sweet scent. A smile lit up Kurama's face as he gazed about, releasing Hiei's hand and walking up to the sakura tree. He placed his palm against the smooth wood, looking around him at the flowers. The youko turned back to look at the fire demon, smiling even brighter then before.

"Hiei, how did you...? You've never done anything like this before," he said, his face expressing his pleased surprise.

"I found this place while I was surveying the area. I thought that you would enjoy it," Hiei said, glancing away awkwardly.

Kurama stepped away from the sakura tree, walking up to the youkai. He bent down, curling his hands around the back of his neck and pulling Hiei's face towards his own. He did not crush against him, but tenderly brushed his lips against his, kissing him gently. Hiei could feel far more affection in this kiss than he had from their earlier encounter, and he felt any awkwardness melt away as he wrapped his arms around Kurama's neck, pulling himself closer. He might have been able to express his emotions this way, but he stumbled over the words that Kurama seemed to want from him. He had hoped that taking the youko to this place he had found had expressed something that he could not form into words; something that he wasn't sure how to act upon or deal with.

Kurama pulled Hiei back onto the grass, laying back on the ground, the youkai on top of him. He was straddling the youko, and when he pulled back from the tender kiss, his face was flushed as he looked down at Kurama.

"Thank you so much, Hiei. This means so much to me that you showed me this place," he murmured, pushing his torso up with his arms stretched behind him.

"I was hoping that you would like it," Hiei said. Even though his face was red, this time he did not look away. Noticing this, Kurama's smile brightened even more.

"Yes, very much so."

The youkai looked down at Kurama, his blood-red eyes meeting shining emerald ones. They just watched each other for a moment, until Hiei had to look away. "Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked, resting a hand against the youko's chest.

"I was just waiting," he replied.

"Waiting? For what?" he asked, looking back at Kurama.

"For you to do something."

"I don't know what you mean, Kurama."

"Kiss me," he said, staring at Hiei with his beautiful green eyes; eyes that made Hiei's heart pound as he looked at them.

"What?"

"Kiss me," he repeated. "You still haven't kissed me, Hiei."

"Yes I have," Hiei said, frowning. "What would you call what happened just a moment ago?"

"No, I mean..." Kurama paused. "I have kissed you, and you have kissed back. But you haven't kissed me. What I'm trying to say is, is that I want you to start the kiss." A slight flush rose to his cheeks, mirrored on Hiei's face as well.

"W-what?" the youkai stuttered, his eyes widening. "You want me to-? Kurama, I-" Hiei shook his head, leaning to slide off of Kurama. He felt overwhelmed and dizzy, and he shook his head again, as though to clear it.

Shifting to one side to place his weight on one arm, Kurama reached out and grasped Hiei's wrist, meeting his blood-red eyes as the fire demon turned to look back at him. "Is it such a difficult request?"

Hiei met those emerald eyes once again, and forced himself to settle down once more on Kurama's stomach. "I don't understand why you want me to do this," Hiei muttered, frustrated and embarrassed.

Kurama had to remember exactly what was going on with Hiei at that point, and looked away, a small sigh escaping his lips.

Hiei looked sown at Kurama, his eyes narrowing at the sound of his sigh. The youkai rose to his feet, the red-head reaching up to latch onto his wrist again, a puzzled look on his face as Hiei jerked his hand away.

"Hiei—?"

"Why are you expecting so much from me?!" he demanded, watching Kurama rise to his feet, fists clenched at his sides as he took a step back towards the sakura tree. "You think that I'll be able to react the way you want me to, and that I'll know what you want me to do. I don't, Kurama! I don't understand!" His voice sounded desperate as he shouted at the youko. "I don't understand any of this; I don't even know myself anymore!"

Kurama approached Hiei, who had his back to the sakura tree. He wound his fingers in the front of his black clothing, lifting him from the ground and pressing his back against the tree. He kissed him, forcing his lips apart as he slipped his tongue into the youkai's mouth. Hiei tried to fight it at first —trying to get away— but he soon became lost in the kiss, surrounded by Kurama's affection and passion. When the youko pulled away —still holding Hiei against the tree— the fire demon was panting.

"Did you understand that?" Kurama breathed, emerald eyes fixing on crimson, not with anger or frustration, but with hope.

"Yes," he replied quietly. "I understand."

"I want to make sure that you understand how I feel about you, Hiei. I care very deeply for you, and I hope you feel the same," he murmured, lowering him back to the ground.

Hiei looked away. "I don't know how I feel."

"Do you enjoy being with me?" Kurama coaxed.

"Yes."

"Do you like my arms around you?" he asked, slipping his arms behind him.

"Yes..."

Kurama lowered his face so that it was even with Hiei's, and the youkai could feel his breath on his lips. "And what about kissing you?"

Instead of allowing Hiei to answer, Kurama kissed him; a light feathery kiss that made Hiei yearn for more. When they parted, their eyes met; scanning shades of emerald. After that brief moment, the youkai pressed their lips together, making Kurama smile against his mouth. After deepening their kiss and then finally parting, Hiei smirked at the dazed look on the youko's face.

"Happy?" Hiei asked, licking his lips.

"Yes," Kurama replied, pulling the youkai into an embrace. "I'll help you learn to love, Hiei, I promise."

Hiei stared over the shoulder his chin rested upon, glancing at Kurama's red hair as he placed a hand on the youko's back. His bandaged arm remained hanging at his side. Crimson eyes carrying a deep sadness, Hiei only knew that he did not want to disappoint Kurama, but knew that he had never loved, nor had been loved, until now. He did not know if he was capable of returning the emotions that the youko was offering him, but he did know that he had to try —for his sake.

When Kurama pulled away from him, Hiei banished the sadness from his face, and replaced his expression with his usual one of casual nonchalance.

Kurama smiled. "You're very high maintenance, you know that?"

Hiei raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest.

The youko laughed, patting his shoulder. "I'm just kidding, Hiei! No need to give me that sour look!"

"Hn," he grunted, frowning at him and walking past him.

"Oh, Hiei!" Kurama said, following him. "I was kidding!"

Hiei ignored him, though the youko couldn't see the small smile on his face.

"Hiei, I take it back! It was a joke!"