" That proves it," Keiko whispered to Yusuke, "Hiei loves Kurama back." Yusuke just nodded in agreement.

After a few moments of laughter from the kitsune, he managed to get a hold of the small dragon and held him arm's length. Hiei just looked back calmly, his energy seeming to calm down. From the other side of the room Yukina approached and stood next to Kurama, watching the small figure in his hands.

" Can I hold him?" The Koorime asked softly. Nodding, Kurama placed Hiei in Yukina's hands- careful not to hurt him. In return he received a happy cheep before the dragon crawled up to Yukina's shoulder- nuzzling her affectionately. Yukina giggled at the tiny touch on her cheek.

" Hey!!" Kuwabara protested. " Get away from my girl!!" Running over, he grabbed Hiei roughly and held him to his face as he glared at him- or at least his version of a glare. Hiei cheeped. Then he blew a large spout of fire right in Kuwabara's face, and landed on the ground sharply as the oaf yelled in pain.

" Kuwabara! " Yukina cried as she helped him up, using her powers to heal his burnt face. " Are you alright?" With a nod from Kuwabara, she smiled and finished healing his wounds.

The rest of the group rushed over to Hiei as soon as they heard that Kuwabara was alright.

" Why'd you do that Hiei? That was totally uncalled for!" Keiko shouted at him. The little dragon got up from the floor and looked up at the crowd surrounding him.

" He didn't do anything wrong!!" Keiko added more furiously this time.

Hiei's anger grew and he cheeped back quickly and furiously back at Keiko. If only they could understand cheep. His anger rose and he flew up to Keiko, hovering about one and half feet from her. His furious cheeps continued even louder than before.

" Hiei! Be quiet for a moment please!" Kurama shouted over the cheeping dragon. Cheeps stopped. Hiei turned and flew to the kitsune, and he curiously cheeped. "You know we can't understand you now, right?" Negative nod. Another cheep. "It's pointless to yell at Keiko if she has no idea what you're saying."

Hiei's little red eyes widened as another red poof of smoke erupted from him. Everyone covered their eyes from the smoke, and when it was safe to open their eyes, they found Hiei - human form- sitting on the ground, rubbing his head painfully.

" Hiei!!" They - quite amazingly- shouted at once. Yukina and Kuwabara now joined the group - Kuwabara being fully healed.

" So he's back to normal now?" Kuwabara asked. Eyes turned to him.

" No Kuwabara, Hiei's been turned into a piece of ham…"

Slowly, Hiei stood up from the wood floor and opened his eyes carefully. "… ow…. Kurama?"

" Yes Hiei?' Kurama said as he came closer to him to see if he was alright.

" Don't ever do that again…" came a soft and pain filled reply.

" Alright. I have a question though. What just happened to you?" the kitsune asked. The room became silent as everyone waited for the reply to their exact question.

" Okay…um.. whenever somebody hugs me-or stuff like that- I get turned into that thingy…ow.. and I get a migraine after. I'll be leaving now…" Hiei stood and walked toward the wooden doors.

" WAIT!!!" Kurama ran up to him and grabbed his arm. " Don't go yet Hiei. I mean we can give you something for your migraine. You'll feel better.." Hiei gave the kitsune a tired look and heaved a sigh.

" Fine.. just don't talk too loud." Kurama's face glowed with joy at the words and he slowly walked Hiei to the couch- still holding the fire demon's arm.

" I knew he'd stay if Kurama asked." Yusuke whispered to Keiko beside him quietly.

Making the youkai sit on the soft couch, Kurama sat beside him quietly.

" Maybe we should go now…" Keiko suggested to Yusuke softly with the Spirit Detective nodding in agreement.

" Well! I think that Keiko and I will be leaving now, why don't you come to Kuwabara?" Yusuke said as he and his girlfriend turned to leave. With a sigh, the oaf gave his long farewells to Yukina and joined the two as they left with their gifts from the party.

All that were left were Hiei, Kurama, Yukina, and Genkai.

" I'm going to retreat for the night, so, Good Night." the elder said as she turned to her quarters. With a wave, Yukina left for bed as well, and only the two demons were left by themselves in the living room.

Kurama shot Hiei a smile. " Are you feeling better now?"

" Yeah." Hiei said, looking up at Kurama after a while.

" So Hiei, why do you change into that creature? What happened?"

The shorter demon sighed and turned his eyes back to the wooden floor. "Well, about a year ago, I encountered a very deranged wizard demon. He was about to run away, but before he did, he cast a stupid spell on me. I could tell he was quite obessed with that nigen 'fairy tale' crap. His spell was that I'll turn into that stupid thing until I receive a kiss from my true love. Quite sappy."

Kurama watched the demon speak the tale silently.

What if I'm his true love? Probably not. Maybe….oh well, let's just give it a try and see if it works.

" Hiei?"

The Koorime looked up at him tiredly. "yea?"

"Um. Well, I've been meaning to tell you this for some time…."

The tension in the room rose.

" I like you. Well actually I love you. And, I know I'm probably not going to be your true love- I just wanted to make sure I wasn't. You know, so I don't have to worry about it or anything….." the kitsune rambled on with nerves keeping him from looking into those ruby eyes that watched him.

"What exactly are you saying…?"

( Hiei really doesn't know much when it comes to this stuff.)

Kurama sighed and paused for a few long moments. Finally, he gazed back down into those ruby orbs and smiled. He couldn't help it. He leaned in slowly.

"May I kiss you?"

Hiei's eyes widened slightly at the question.

He- He wants to kiss….m-me..?

"Just softly."

"Just like this."

The fox closed the gap between their lips and softly kissed him. Kurama couldn't have imagined a more perfect kiss. The taste was soft and sweet - better than he had imagined.

Hiei felt Kurama's lips on his own in a beautiful, warm kiss. He was startled at first, he found his body slowly melt into it a little. It was so sweet that he wished it would never end…

Kurama broke the contact.

"May I?"

" You really didn't give me much option there." Hiei said with a tiny smile on his lips. There was another tense pause.

"Did it work?" Hiei asked no one in particular.

"We'll just have to see.." The kitsune said as he caught the unsuspecting demon in a warm, cuddling embrace. The youkai melted into it and sighed at the warmth. (Being a fire demon and all.)

They stayed in their peaceful bliss for minutes on end.

" I guess it worked."

" I guess so…"

Kurama knelt his chin on Hiei's shoulder softly.

"Does this mean you love me back?"

" Guess."

Kurama smiled and nuzzled the fire demon's neck a little suggestively. He watched as the light from the fireplace bounced off Hiei's flawless neck. He drew closer and lovingly nipped the soft skin.

Five minutes later

The fox pulled Hiei's waist closer to his body - locking their lips in a passionate kiss. He ran his hands slowly down the Koorime's back as they kissed - slowl lowering them both to lay on the couch. He broke the kiss.

" Are you glad it worked?" he asked in a whisper as he straddled over his love.

Hiei let out a genuine smile. One that no one had ever witnessed on his face before- and Kurama was mesmerized by the beauty of it.

"What's wrong?" Hiei asked as he noticed the look on the kitsune's face.

Kurama knocked himself out of his trance.

"Nothing….. Nothing…" He lowered himself over the youkai and kissed him once again - with more passion than ever before.

That black brush and mirror became very useful……………