I shalst warn all you loyal readers now...essence of a HieiXYusuke thing here...only on Hiei's part, though. Kurama ish being a bad boy...and Hiei's wandering eyes will get him in trouble.....

DISCLAIMER: I do not own YYH...so stop bugging me about it...

Chapter 2

"Hiei...?" The Spirit Detective's voice trailed off as the fiercely aggravated youkai glared at him.

"What?!" Snapped the youkai, resting his weary mind as he sat on a park bench, making sure his back didn't even so much as such the chipped paint of the back. Yusuke Urameshi looked on, titling his head slightly. He noticed Hiei's left eye, a blackened ring surrounding it. The bruise gently cradled the youkai's scarlet eye. "What are you staring at?!" He snarled, shielding both the bruise and his emotions.

"Where'd ya get the black eye?" Yusuke stepped forward slightly, only to be pushed back by Hiei.

Like the demon he was, he growled viciously. "It's no business of yours, human." He kicked up rocks as he walked away from the tediously persistent ningen who didn't know when to give him. The last few weeks had been worse for him. The whippings had become hourly instead of daily, the marks etched into his back and around his wrists. The thorns dug deeply, the blood trickling down the youkai's arms. His lover enjoyed his pain, laughing sadistically when the crimson consumed his arm. He never understood it, why his koibito enjoyed his pain so much. Hiei only remembered one person who loved blood and pain as much as Kurama did...but that was forgotten, his memory tarnished with the torment and anguish that resided in his heart.

Walking on further, he reached the busy, buzzing city. What he didn't know was he was being trailed.

"Dammit, Hiei!" Slamming Hiei against the hard siding of a building, he pinned both arms to the cold siding. "Let me help you! That's what friends do!" The Spirit Detective was abnormally aggressive, as Hiei looked deeply into his chestnut eyes, seeing the serene sincerity he longed for. The kindness in compassion he once saw in his lover had vanished, and he saw it resurrected in Yusuke's reckless eyes.

"Yusuke..." In a slight whimper, Hiei's body felt weak under the human's hands.

With a sharp look in his eyes, Yusuke seemed to snicker. "You can't keep your emotions bottled up forever, shorty. One of these days, you will open up." Winking, Yusuke releasing the trembling youkai. "I know it..." Jamming his hands into his jean pocket, he walked off, only being watched by the mesmerized Hiei.

"Yusuke...." He whispered, noticing how the tight jeans curved gently around Yusuke's hips. Was love forming between the youkai and the human? No, of course not. Hiei had what he wanted, or did he?

Turning suddenly, Yusuke pointed an extended hand at Hiei, his fingers forming the well known and feared Spirit Gun. "Hey, Hiei!" He called, Hiei only slightly raising his steadily blushing face. "You better lighten up, or..." Pausing, he grinned, motioning the Spirit Gun firing off a shot. "Bang..." Laughing sharply, Yusuke waved as he left. Hiei touched his cheek, feeling the fire inside boil.

"No, you have what you want." He told himself, walking down the calmed streets. "Even though Yusuke doesn't whip you like he does." He pondered what life would be like if Kurama was more like Yusuke. Shaking these thoughts out of his head, he returned to the place he called home. Shuuichi's home. Shuuichi no longer resided there. Kurama was the only inhabitant. This was the house that the demons built, a prison for Hiei to feel the pain and disparity of a million mournful cries of the long since dead. Plopping down on the sofa, Hiei sighed deeply, looking around the brightly colored walls of the quaint home.

"Oh, Hiei...come upstairs, please..." In the sweetly sedative voice, Kurama called from upstairs, his voice echoing slightly. Turing his head, the youkai quivered, looking at the clock plastered on the wall. He was supposed to be back at noon, but the mischievous clock struck 1PM. He was late, and the punishment was one to be feared. "HIEI!" The voice hissed, being followed by a door slam, the sound of bare feet trudging down the carpet, and the lashing of the whip the youkai feared so. "Didn't you hear me calling?" The crimson haired youko interrogated the demon, pushing the demon to the floor.

"Yes, I heard you, and I'm sorry Kurama, but I just...." The lashing of the whip shushed him.

"So, you were ignoring me?"

"No, Kurama. Of course not!"

"SILENCE!" The whip cracked, coming down across Hiei's back as he shrieked in pain. "Get upstairs now...."

And, like a good boy, he trotted up the stairs, the blood seeping through the coat that covered his back. Kurama saw something in Hiei's eyes that wasn't there before. Suspicious, he followed up after Hiei, hoping he could blind the wandering eyes of his whipping boy. Pushing Hiei onto the awaiting bed, Kurama closed the door behind him, Hiei's scream of pain echoing into the afternoon sky.