Chapter 18: Thanks

Rai looked around. Where could he be?

"What are you doing?" A voice came from behind her. She jumped halfway out of her skin. She turned only to see Hiei.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that?" She half-shouted.

"Hn." Hiei continued walking past her. She looked after him for a moment. Then she followed him. He stopped at a window seat and looked out the window. She sat next to him.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously.

"What does it look like? Why'd you follow me?" He didn't even turn to look at her.

"I just wanted to say thank you."

"Thank you for what?" He turned to look at her. She surprised him with a peck on the lips.

"Thank you for coming after me." She said smiling. Hiei looked at her for a moment, considering her. Then he did something that Rai had never suspected in a hundred years.

He pulled her into his arms and gave a passionate kiss on the lips. Startled, she was about to pull away, but didn't. He quickly let go of her and turned away quickly, about to walk away.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." He apologized. Another thing she had never expected from him.

Rai looked at him and grabbed his arm, "You should be! Now turn around and I'll give you payback." She demanded. He did so, to her slight surprise. Now it was her turn to do the surprising. She gave Hiei another kiss on the lips. They sat there, at the window seat, kissing, when a noise caught their attention. They quickly separated, but it was too late.

Kuwabara had walked into the room, and now his jaw had practically fallen to the ground. He was stuttering.

"I suggest running Kuwabara." Rai offered. Hiei had drawn his katana from, seemingly, nowhere, and was extremely mad. Kuwabara took the advice. Hiei ran after him.

She stood up. "I hope Hiei doesn't kill Kuwabara. Better go after him to make sure." And chased after the poor, unfortunate teenager that had walked in on them.

Kuwabara had fled to Yasu's room. Yusuke, Kurama, and Yasu were still there.

"Don't let them kill me!" He said, hiding behind Yasu's bed.

"What's going on, Kuwabara? Who's going to kill you?" Kurama asked politely.

"Hiei and Rai!"

"What did you do? Why would Rai want to kill you? I can understand Hiei, but Rai?" Kurama asked thoughtfully.

"I walked in the room and saw Hiei kissing Rai in the window seat."

Everyone was quiet. This was something they have never heard of. Suddenly the door burst open. Hiei was standing there, he had the look of death in his crimson eyes.

"Where is that idiot?" He asked angrily. Yusuke suddenly grinned.

"So you were kissing Rai? Way to go! Was she a good kisser? How far did you go before Kuwabara walked in on you guys?" Yusuke teased.

Just then Rai walked in the room. "Hello everyone… Why is everyone staring at me? Do I have something on my face?" She said puzzled.

Hiei glared at her and walked out of the room. Rai was still puzzled. "Would someone mind to tell me what is going on?"

Yasu suddenly smirked, "A little something called poetic justice. Good payback on the unwitting Kuwabara's part."

Rai's face fell and went red. "What? I didn't tell anyone that you were kissing Kurama!" She paused and covered her mouth, "Oops. I just did."

Both girls' and Kurama's faces went a bright shade of red. Yusuke looked like he was having the time of his life. Kuwabara peeked out from his hiding spot.

"Is he gone?"

"Yeah, Hiei's gone." Rai said looking at the door.

"Okay." He fully emerged from his spot, "So why were you kissing Hiei?"

Rai's face went red again, Yusuke's grin got even wider.

"So how long were you two kissing, huh?" Yusuke prompted along, "Do you think Hiei is a good kisser."

Rai had turned ten red shades deeper. "Um, uh, I'll just go now. Bye!" She bolted out the door before anyone could stop her. She stopped underneath a tree. She was panted as though she ran a thousand miles.

"Never… Want… To Go… Through that… Again." She said panting.

"Neither do I." A voice came from above her. She looked up.

"Ah, Hiei. Nice to see you. I'm guessing you didn't like Yusuke's questioning. That boy has a strange mind." She jumped up, "It was getting a little crazy there. Oh well. That was a great first kiss." She said smiling.

Hiei nearly fell out of the tree in surprise. "You've never kissed someone before?"

"Nope. I was too busy working with Yasu to even think about guys." She said smiling, "Have you ever kissed a girl before me?"

"No." Hiei's face with blank from emotion.

"Great, just what I wanted to hear!" Rai said smiling. Suddenly her face showed some mark of sadness.

"What's wrong?" Hiei asked, it wasn't usual for her to be sad. He didn't like seeing her sad either. It made him feel terrible. Like he had failed in doing something important.

"Oh nothing. I was just wondering on how my family is doing. It's hard to be away from them, but I'd much rather stay here with you." Her face switched back into its smile. She leaned against him and immediately fell asleep.

Hiei looked at her in surprise. She had fallen asleep so quickly. He thought about carrying her to her bed, but stopped himself. This was nice, she looked so peaceful when she was asleep. Unlike when she was awake and perky. He looked up to see the sun was setting. The day had passed quickly.