A/N:  I know, I'm a horrible person.  I don't deserve to live!  I've deprived whoever actually wants to read this story their chapter updates!  Sorry, everyone, I know this took LONGER than forever, but I've had issues with college.  It thinks it should swallow me whole into its dark, sinking abyss of doom.  I disagree.  We've had heated arguments.  I wrote this chapter; I won.  Don't shoot me for it being short!!  .

Disclaimer:  I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.  If I did, Kuronue would be in the series, and Hiei would always have the voice of the Japanese voice actor from the second movie… *dies thinking about the awesome not-deep voice*   …and be shirtless.  Every episode.  Every scene.  Ahem.

Chapter 8:  Hiei's News

Scene 1:  Minamino Residence

     The sun had barely risen over the horizon, sending small shafts of golden light through the window, when Hiei climbed through it and into Kurama's room.  The fire demon sat in the desk chair opposite the bed, for the moment patient enough to wait for his friend to awaken on his own.

     When this failed to happen even after several minutes of silence, however, Hiei began to get bored of listening to his friend breathe.  Removing his headband and concentrating the powers of his Jagan eye once more, he focused his energy and control of telepathy on the sleeping kitsune's mind.  Out of a sense of morbid curiosity, plus Hiei's generally devious and mischievous nature as well, he made Kurama imagine and believe that he was not, in fact, asleep in bed at home, but instead out with Botan. 

     Immediately, the redheaded boy smiled peacefully in his slumber.  He murmured something to his dreamt-up girlfriend, and smiled again, moving his arms out while on his side, as if he were reaching to embrace her. 

     Hiei snickered inwardly so as not to wake Kurama, but was so far thoroughly entertained and amused at his friend's mind.  Finally, after letting his comrade believe that he was actually kissing the ferry girl, Hiei reluctantly let his entertainment go, and released Kurama's mind. 

     Due to the sudden exit from his dream world, and release of pressure on his mind, Kurama woke up the instant Hiei let him go.  Blinking a few times to get his eyesight back to normal from the sandiness of sleep, he sat up and rubbed his eyes a bit groggily.  "Hiei?" he croaked, voice still gravelly from sleep.

     Hiei kept his features completely innocent by blanking his expression as he always did.  "Hn… good morning, fox," he said to his sleepy friend.  He continued to sit there, waiting for Kurama to fully wake up and be capable of actual conversation.  As eloquent and together as Kurama is and seems when around people and wide awake, it was amazing how different he was when still at home and half asleep.  It was almost as if his intelligence and coherence were simply not there first thing in the morning.  Hiei found this fact quite entertaining, and he made sure to be around for the event often, usually making the most out of it.

     "Hmm," was all the bleary-eyed Kurama could conjure for a return greeting.  He pushed back his sheets and carefully stood up, moving slowly enough to not make himself dizzy.  "Be right back…" he mumbled as he made his way with heavy, stumbling steps to the bathroom to wake himself up. 

     Hiei snickered quietly, thoroughly amused at his friend's lethargic manner.  While waiting for the fix to make his amazing daily transformation, the curious fire demon began rooting through Kurama's desk drawer, not looking for anything in particular.  He scoffed lightly, thinking to himself how freakishly neat his friend really was.  Every drawer was in perfect organization, each section categorized and arranged accordingly.  Hiei didn't know of a use for half of the school supplies contained in several drawers, but he could still appreciate the fact that they didn't need to be so perfectly allocated in their storage spaces.

     Smirking evilly, he began randomly moving items from drawer to drawer, completely destroying Kurama's organization, hoping only to see the kitsune's face when he noticed the upheaval. Hearing the door open in the hallway, he quickly closed the newly configured drawer, and folded his arms, appearing innocently bored in the chair.  As he had suspected, Kurama came back into his room a moment after the door had opened. 

     The redhead appeared now as everyone usually saw him: hair in perfect array; school uniform pressed and neat, devoid of wrinkles; and, finally, looking completely awake and aware.  He looked over at Hiei, and raised an eyebrow at him.  "What were you doing before I came back?" he asked with a tone of light amusement, yet still managing to sound like a school teacher scolding a student who was fooling around in class.

     Hiei blinked back at him and said innocently, adding an element of annoyance to his voice, "Nothing, kitsune, I've merely been sitting here waiting for you."

     Kurama shook his head, obviously not believing Hiei's 'innocent' reply, but knowing it wasn't worth it to argue; plus the fire demon was entertaining when trying to get away with snooping.  He walked over to the other side of his desk, retrieving his pre-packed school bag and placing it on his shoulder.  "I have to leave soon," he began, "Was there any specific reason for your stopping by besides a good morning?"  He knew Hiei had done something or messed with something while he had been out of the room, but that discovery would have to wait until later, or Kurama would be late for school.  And Shuiichi Minamino was never later for school.

     A smug smirk grew on Hiei's face, his crimson eyes lighting up with impish amusement.  "Yes," he replied, "there was a reason, fox."  Pausing just long enough to catch an exasperatedly impatient look cross his calm friend's features, Hiei continued, "I got a job."

     Kurama's eyes widened slightly, ruddy eyebrows rising in surprise.  "Really… should I even ask where?"  It was clear from the boy's tone that he suspected Hiei to be causing trouble, no matter where the fire demon had selected as his new location of employment.

     With a now mischievous smirk, Hiei shook his head, replying, "You're going to be late, kitsune, I'll tell you after your school."  Before Kurama could get out a word of protest, Hiei was out the window in a flash, leaving behind the echo of a taunting snicker.

     Kurama let out a long-suffering sigh and left his room, heading out of his house and to school, wondering where in the world Hiei could possibly have picked to work.

Scene 2:  ReiKai

     "Koenma, sir, do you think it was wise to let Hiei choose his own work after that whole fiasco with MacDonald's?" Botan asked her boss, a look of concern on her face.  It had been less than a week since the toddler had given the two demons such a heavy berating, but apparently the jaganshi had already found employment; and hadn't told anyone what it was yet.

     "How should I know, Botan?" Koenma responded, a little irked at being questioned, "I'm only in charge of Spirit World, it's not like I have intelligence…" the sarcasm in his voice was a bit uncharacteristic of Koenma, showing that he, too, was a bit worried for everyone's safety with this new development.  He took a drink of his tea, reveling in the moment of peace and quiet that it provided him, then looked back at the anxious ferry girl.  "Cheer up, Botan," he began, sounding much happier, "I'm sure it can't end up any worse than last time…"

     At that, they both sighed and sweat dropped, realizing as soon as it was said that that was wishful thinking.  Of course it could be worse.  With Hiei, one just never knew.  Besides the fact that Kurama rook three days to fully recover from the exhaustion of energy caused by Hiei's tirade at Wal-Mart.  Botan was still worried about him, as he usually wasn't one to stay down for long.  She suddenly had an idea.  Putting it to voice, she asked, "Koenma, sir, couldn't we get Yuusuke to follow Hiei around?  Make sure he's not getting into any more trouble?"  She looked hopefully at the demi-god, trying to avert any possible disasters.

     Koenma held his head in his hands, letting out a whiny sigh.  "I can't do that, you know how much Yuusuke would complain if I took his vacation away just to baby-sit Hiei!" he said, "I can't take that another time!"  He groaned and finished his tea.  "Besides, that demon's out getting a job so he CAN stay out of trouble, I can't afford to be wrong about that, this idea's already crashed once, if it fails," he paused for effect, now looking grimly serious, "My dad's going to KILL me!" he whimpered and groaned again, holding his head on desk with his hands once more.

     "Eh-heh…" was all Botan supplied as she wasn't a bit surprised at Koenma's outburst.  The palace certainly was frequented by his whiny cries.  She took a seat on the side of the desk, deciding to wait out the waves of frustration and worry that her boss now floated through.  She sighed, hoping silently that whatever Hiei did with this new job of his, it had nothing to do with Kurama, and got no one else hurt.  Botan couldn't stand the thought of someone she cared for getting hurt, and she'd seen too much of that lately.

     Hiei had better stay away from Kurama THIS time, she thought, feeling enough resolution to personally make her hope come true.

Scene 3:  Meio High School

     Kurama checked the clock on the wall for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last five minutes. He sighed once more; cursing how slowly the day was going. He already had a bag full of make-up assignments due to several days' absences; which were in turn due to Hiei's outburst.

His teacher droned on in the front of the classroom, lecturing on something that Kurama was sure had to be important; but his attention was completely lost in thought. Halfway through his long glare at the clock's slow-moving hands, his teacher had walked up to his desk and stood in front of him, casting an imposing shadow across the boy's features. Noticing the lack of light, Kurama took his attention finally from spacing out and turned his head slowly to face his teacher, looking up as innocently as possible.

"I suppose you think my lecture too long, Mr. Minamino?" he said, his booming voice strict even without its volume being raised.

Kurama smiled his purposefully charming and disarming smile, and shook his head with a gentle swing, bowing his neck slightly in a gesture of respect. "Of course not, Mr. Tatsuna, gomen nasai, it will not happen again," he said in his soft, nearly hypnotic tone.

"Hmm, it had better not," the teacher responded, giving the redhead a reprimanding look, but ultimately turning back to the front of the classroom, letting Kurama go without any more admonitions. He continued his lecture; and, more discreetly now, Kurama continued to ignore everything his professor said.

     "Just a couple more hours," he thought.  With a sigh, he watched the clock once more.  He couldn't wait to find out what Hiei had chosen for work, even though the very idea worried him.  Kurama suddenly smiled, remembering that Botan was meeting him at his house later.  He had something positive to look forward to after school as well.

     Thinking more happily now, he actually focused on the lecture and began taking a few perfectly scribed notes.  Maybe the day could go by a little faster that way, even with his bag of assignments for later.  He just had to make it through two more classes without getting into any MORE trouble…

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Minamino Residence  [later]

     Hiei waited balanced in the tree outside Kurama's window, concealing himself behind the leaves.  He was beginning to get quite impatient for his friend to return home from his school.  It was a relatively quiet neighborhood, good for a peaceful residence, but not allowing the fire demon many chances for entertainment during his wait.  Even so, he had not refrained from messing with the minds of any small children or adults that happened to walk unsuspectingly near his perch.  He had had his most fun with a young boy who had gone by while walking his dog.  The child was most likely scarred for life… Hiei snickered quite sinisterly at the memory.

     "What's so funny, Hiei?" came a smooth voiced query from the ground beneath Hiei's chosen branch. 

     Hiei had been enough caught up in his evil little reverie that he hadn't noticed his friend's arrival from down the sidewalk, where he had last felt his energy approaching.  He nearly jumped at the sudden sound, though keeping enough control over himself not to lose his stability in the tree.  "Hn… go inside and I'll tell you, fox," he snapped, standing on his branch nimbly and hopping through Kurama's open bedroom window.

     Kurama just sighed, used to Hiei's obsession for suspense.  He headed for the door.  At least now he would find out what job Hiei had chosen for himself.  Walking inside and up the stairs, Kurama just hoped it wasn't too bad.

     He opened the door to his bedroom and walked inside, spotting Hiei sitting calmly on his inner windowsill, arms crossed, yet looking patient for once.  Setting down his school bag, Kurama turned to face his friend, crossing his arms as well.  "Alright, Hiei, I'm here.  Tell me," he demanded, voice tempered as always.  He stood his ground and waited, watching the self-satisfied smirk creep across Hiei's face.

     "What I was laughing at?  Or what job I got…"

     Kurama didn't falter or even blink, calmly and evenly replying, "Your job, Hiei."

     Hiei's smirk widened.  He was clearly proud of himself.  "It's better if I show you, Kurama.  You up for a walk?" he asked, sounding nearly mocking in his amusement.

     Kurama sighed, keeping his arms folded over his chest, though impatiently drumming his fingers on his arm.  Kurama rarely showed clear signs of anxiety; and Hiei was enjoying watching every moment of it.  "Why not just tell me, and get it over with?"

     Hiei just shrugged ever so slightly, and favored his friend with a casual "hn" before standing and climbing out the window once more.  From outside, in the tree, he called back, "Are you coming?"

     Figuring he'd never know unless he followed Hiei's lead, Kurama nodded and proceeded out the window after the fire demon, who was already on the ground and making his way towards town at a steady pace.  Landing gracefully on the ground from his jump out of the tree, Kurama walked after him, keeping good enough track of Hiei's spirit energy to follow him even that far behind. 

     When Kurama finally did catch up with Hiei, the fire demon was standing on the sidewalk, looking incredibly smug.  With a look at the establishment, Kurama raised an eyebrow and let out a small chuckle.  "This place?  Are you sure that's a wise decision, Hiei?"

     Scowling a little in defense, Hiei snorted.  "It's a perfectly fine decision, Kurama.  I notice you haven't even MADE a choice yet…" he let the sentence hang, hoping to make his point clear enough for Kurama to take the bait.

     His eyes still trailing over the outside of the building, Kurama sighed, "I know, Hiei."

     Hiei's scowl deepened as Kurama passed over the comment without a single nibble.  "Hn… at least come inside and look around, I start tonight."

     The redhead nodded, deciding to at least give his friend that much, and the two of them walked inside the building.

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A/N:  Ok, I'm convinced I've turned evil… I made a chapter for you guys, and I didn't ever let you know what the job was!  I feel so ashamed… and yet, so elated… Gah.

James:  I've crossed you over, Hun… You're evil now, accept it; you're better off anyhow.

Fine… I hope to have more of this story up for you all as soon as hum- well, Elvenly possible.  ^__^ Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

-Draith