A/N Wow! Over a hundred reviews!! Thanks! 8-D Yes Yukina was a bit OOC, then again, how the heck are we supposed to know how she'd act in that situation?! Anyway, I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying the story. I doubt I'll do any Kuwabara/Yukina lemons just because—well—there are some places where even MY imagination dare not tread.

Driven by Instinct, Guided to Love

Chapter Six: Too Much Information!

RING!

Keiko hurried in from the kitchen with a dish rag in one hand and picked up the phone. No sooner had she held it to her ear than a male voice exclaimed loudly-

"HEY URAMESHI! I AM THE MAN!!"

"What?" Keiko asked.

"Huh?" the speaker seemed puzzled too.

Sighing Keiko began her traditional greeting, "Hello, Urameshi residence, Keiko speaking. How may I help you?"

"Oh...hehe...hi Keiko." the speaker laughed nervously, "This is Kuwabara. Is Urameshi home?"

Rolling her eyes Keiko started off down the hallway with the cordless phone in tow, "He's still in bed. He came home grumbling about Koenma and his dumb meddling before conking out. Hold on, I'll get him for you."

Kuwabara winced at the sound of a door being kicked open followed by a loud, "YUSUKE!! TELEPHONE! GET UP ALEADY!!"

Next came a few muttered swears from Yusuke, a powerhouse slap from Keiko, and finally a grumpy answer, "Hello? What is it?"

"Urameshi?" Kuwabara ventured.

"Yeah yeah, what do you want?" Yusuke yawned.

Clearing his throat Kuwabara repeated ecstatically, "I AM THE MAN!!"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Yusuke demanded tiredly.

"You heard me Urameshi," Kuwabara stated proudly, "I'm the man! The man of love!"

"Is this about some kinda twisted dream you had? Cause if it is...keep that garbage to yourself!" Yusuke made a sour face unwilling to contemplate all the emotionally scarring things Kuwabara could brag about fantasizing.

"Oh ha ha very funny," Kuwabara replied sarcastically, "Look Yukina and I have finally declared our love for one another and-"

"And that's it?!" Yusuke snapped, "You called to tell me about how you mindlessly flirted with her again? That's old news you idiot!"

"But this time it's different!" Kuwabara insisted.

"How?!" Yusuke rolled his eyes.

"Well—it's different because we—uh—well ya see we-" Kuwabara stammered.

"Spit it out will ya?!"

"We made love! Okay Urameshi! We made love! Are ya happy now?!" he blurted out.

There was a loud bang on the other line, signaling that a very stunned spirit detective had just dropped the phone.

"Hello?"

It took a moment for Yusuke to collect himself. Kuwabara was a dead man, and he didn't even know why!

"K-Kuwabara?" he swallowed his nervousness and grabbed the phone. I've gotta be the first one he's told. That baka would wanna rub it in my face first that he finally got the girl.

"Hehe," Kuwabara chuckled naively thinking that Yusuke was in awe of his manly prowess with the ladies, "man I knew you'd be speechless!"

"Oh get over yourself you moron!" Yusuke snapped, "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

"Uh yeah, I've won the favor of my lady love and now she and I are gonna be an item. Oh! And that's not even the best part! Wait til ya hear this!"

Oh great, Yusuke rolled his eyes, his frown sagging further, more good news from Mr. RIP.

"By this time tomorrow Yukina and I are gonna be parents!" the orange haired man boasted.

Yusuke fell off the bed head first, "WHAT?!"

Well if he wasn't dead before he's kindling now for sure! the spirit detective concluded. "You're such a big dope Kuwabara don't you realize Hiei's gonna incinerate you?!"

"Huh?" Kuwabara obviously still wasn't in on the big secret, oh boy. "Why the heck would Shorty care?"

"Well-" Yusuke paused, Kuwabara's fate was sealed, why jump into the fire with him?

"Oh I get it," Kuwabara exclaimed, "You think Hiei's gonna fry me because he won't think I'm good enough for Yukina! Since she's a demon and I'm a weak-minded human and all."

"Uh...yes?" part of Yusuke felt bad for concealing the truth but another part (the dominant one) told him it was best to just leave Kuwabara to his ignorant bliss, however short lived it was sure to be.

"Look don't worry about what the shrimp says." Kuwabara assured him, "Yukina and I are in love so he's just gonna have to deal with it."

"I hope so." Yusuke murmured, "For your sake."

"Anyways I gotta go, my lady and I are off to book a chapel."

This just keeps getting better. Yusuke sighed to himself, "Let me guess, you wanna make this an official human marriage too?"

"Yep! Just like you and Keiko." Kuwabara answered, the sound of jingling keys signaled he was already on his way out. "Well I gotta go Urameshi. I'll call ya back when we find a nice place to hold the ceremony."

"See ya," Yusuke waited until he heard the click from the other end of the line before slumping back down onto the bed and staring up at the ceiling in deep thought. "I hate the Koorime's stupid reproduction instincts." he finally grumbled.


After the table incident at her apartment Botan had wasted no time in forcing Hiei to replace her table and haul the new one all the way upstairs for her. And it figured, the elevator was out of order.

Hiei muttered curses under his breath the whole way up while Botan ran ahead to unlock the door. This was NOT how he'd planned on spending the day.

The blue haired girl opened the door and spun around with a irrepressible smile on her face. Hiei looked so--well--peeved! It actually was rather amusing to see the sour faced fire demon hunched over carting a large box on his back.

"What are you smiling at?" he demanded when he reached the door.

"Your expression is priceless." she giggled. "C'mon, you slide the box in from your side and I'll guide it through the door."

"Hn."

His mood only worsened when he learned that the blasted thing would have to be assembled. "How the hell am I supposed to follow these instructions?!" he yelled, "You have eighteen different types of screws, six lengths of nails, and a twenty page instruction manual that comes in every language except Japanese!!"

"Oh Hiei," Botan tsked, "don't get so worked up, we'll have this put together in no time. And when we do it will only be used for eating off of!"

"Hn, we'll be all day trying to assemble this mess." he huffed.

"Well maybe next time you'll think twice before breaking my furniture." she retorted sticking out her tongue.

"Fine," he smirked, "if you prefer we can always use the floor."

Shooting him a glare she pulled a small toolbox out from the cabinet under her sink. "And with your lack of self control mister we'd wind up breaking the table of the tenant downstairs!"

RING!

Botan handed the toolbox to Hiei before grabbing to phone hanging on the adjacent wall. "Hello?"

"Hello? Botan?" came a soft spoken female's voice. "This is Yukina."

"Oh hi there sweetie!" Botan smiled warmly, "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine Botan." Yukina replied sweetly, "How are you?"

Tossing a glance over her shoulder at Hiei who was pulling tools from the toolbox and staring at them quizzically Botan shrugged, "Same as ever. You sound a bit staticy. Are you on a cell phone?"

"Yes," Yukina's voice faltered, as if she was a bit nervous about what she was going to say next. "Kazuma and I are looking at chapels."

BAM!

In a split second the ferry girl's knees had turned to jello. Hiei rushed over to see what was wrong.

"Botan?" Yukina asked worriedly.

Keeping the phone pressed tightly against her ear in hopes that Hiei wouldn't hear her Botan waved to him dismissively and tried to laugh it off. "No, I'm all right. Don't worry silly. I'm just a bit clumsy today is all."

Raising an eyebrow Hiei helped her to her feet and stood staring her down for a moment before reluctantly returning to the unassembled table in the middle of the floor. Botan sighed inwardly in relief. That was a close one. And she could still feel Hiei's attentive gaze upon her as she tried to reassure Yukina that she was fine.

"I just took a little tumble there. I'm sorry," she apologized. "Please, go on..."

"Well you see, I'm a Koorime and that means-"

"Oh that's right!" Botan blurted with a snap of her fingers, "It's the same for you. I can't believe that just slipped my mind."

Yukina's eyes widened, "Um...does this mean you know about my becoming a mother tomorrow?"

"Of course silly," Botan beamed, "I--uh--keep up with these things?"

"Oh."

"Now how does that tie into-" Botan paused and glanced back at Hiei who seemed preoccupied with the instruction manual, "-what you said earlier?"

"About the chapel? Kazuma and I are getting married Botan." Yukina stated simply, "He proposed to me, I accepted, and we're already mated by Makai tradition. He wants to be mates by ningen law too."

"Ehehe, how wonderful." Botan felt her stomach lurch, when Hiei found out about this all Hell was sure to break loose. "So when were you planning on doing this?"

"As soon as possible." Yukina answered, "I have less than a day left before I become pregnant. And Kazuma keeps insisting on making an 'honest woman' out of me. What does that mean?"

"It means he wants you to be married before your kids come along." Botan whispered, her bright magenta eyes darting between Hiei and the receiver.

"Why are you whispering?" the koorime inquired. She certainly is acting very strange today.

"N-No reason," the ferry girl lied, "so you'll call before you tie the knot?" I really hope Hiei doesn't know what that means!

"You mean before we get married?" Yukina guessed, "Of course. Oh and Botan?"

"Yes?"

"I know this is unlikely, but if you should see Hiei, would you please give him the news for me?" Yukina pleaded.

Botan felt a huge sweat drop slide down the back of her head, "I-"

"I know he may not come." Yukina admitted, "But I would be very honored if decided to. He's always been very protective of me and he really seems to care about my wishes. He's...well...he's like a brother to me."

Aw, Botan sighed happily, that's so sweet. And she doesn't even know how right she is. "Alright dear," she promised, "If I see him, I'll be sure to tell him for you."

"Thank you Botan," Yukina beamed, "I'd better go. I think Kazuma still needs to call Kurama."

"Okay, take care!" Botan bid her good-bye and hung up the phone.

No sooner had she turned around then she was confronted by a very suspicious fire youkai.

"Well," he demanded, "what was that all about?"

"W-What do you mean?" she stammered with a forced grin.

"Something was said that made you collapse." he stated firmly, "What was it? And who were you talking to?"

"Now that's private Hiei." she insisted, "And I told you, I just stumbled. It's nothing."

Crimson eyes narrowed as he took a step closer. "Don't lie to me onna. I want to know what's going on and I want to know now."

Botan gulped when he reached up and yanked his headband away. His Jagan Eye started to glow red, indicating that he was using it to pry into her mind. He was getting his answers, one way or another.

Eep! He's reading my thoughts! she panicked, What'll I do?!

Putting on her kitty face she held her hands up like paws and said innocently, "Honestly Hiei you've got to learn to stop being so suspicious. It's not like I can go prowling through your mind every time you refuse to tell me something. Can't a girl keep any secrets?"

The Jagan glowed brighter.

Sweating visibly she decided to try a more desperate approach. A few days ago this would have never crossed her mind. But things were different now. She and Hiei were mates. And that created a whole new option for getting herself out of trouble.

Still in her kitty pose she quickly pounced on the unsuspecting demon causing him to topple over backwards with her on top.

"Oof!" he grunted as he hit the floor and had the wind knocked out of him. This broke his concentration which made his Jagan Eye cease to function.

"Meow," Botan purred playfully batting at his bangs.

Arching an eyebrow Hiei studied her quizzically. "Onna..."

Silencing his inquiries with a kiss Botan decided she could live without a dining room table for a few more hours. Anything to keep Hiei distracted and extend Kuwabara's lifespan. Yukina would call back soon and then she'd have to spill the beans. Maybe she could manage to keep the ice maiden's marriage a secret until she'd gotten Hiei to the chapel?

Whoever knew that love would be so complicated? she wondered. But Hiei proved to be quite a distraction as well. A few more minutes of his eager responses to her teasing and she'd forgotten all about the phone call. And as morning became noon they both found themselves lost in the depths of passion.


RING!

"My," said a rather collected male voice, "the phone certainly seems to be ringing off the hook today."

Taking the cordless phone off one of the smaller tables in his living room Kurama barely got to begin his greeting, "Hel-"

"Kurama!" interrupted an agitated female's voice.

"Ah Shizuru," he smiled knowingly, "what can I do for you?"

"That idiot brother of mine has gone and signed his death warrant!" she fumed.

"I assume that you're referring to his engagement to Yukina."

"Yeah, I guess he already gave you a call huh?"

"Just a few minutes ago." he confirmed.

"Well he's a dead man." she sighed in annoyance, "Once Hiei finds out he'll either burn him alive or run him through with that miniaturized sword of his."

Kurama just laughed light heartedly, "I'm not so sure. I believe that Hiei will be most unhappy about this but he is still very dedicated to his sister's happiness."

"So you think he'll spare Kuwabara just to make Yukina happy?" she asked, not really daring to hope for such a fortunate outcome.

"I believe it to be highly possible." Kurama assured her, "I've often mused about how ironic it would be for the two to become in-laws. And Hiei--rather he'll admit it or not--has developed somewhat of a grudging respect for your brother."

"You may be right," Shizuru felt a bit more relaxed now, talking to Kurama always did have a way of calming her nerves. "It's just that Hiei isn't a big fan of the human race. And Kuwabara doesn't stop to consider the consequences before he goes around bragging about love and Yukina. I didn't put so much time into raising him just to have him go and get himself killed."

"Things will work out for the best." Kurama's voice remained calm and confident. "And we'll all be present for the ceremony to make sure of it."

"So you know for sure that Hiei's coming?"

"Kuwabara said that Yukina had gotten in touch with Botan," he answered, "she'll probably bring Hiei along with her."

The brunette paused to ponder this, "Why would Botan be bringing Hiei?"

"Well um-" Kurama had done something a bit unlike himself, he'd gone and let the cat out of the bag.

"Spill it fox boy." Shizuru ordered in a tone that was not to be disobeyed.

Sighing the redhead complied, knowing that she was trustworthy. "I must ask you to keep this in strict confidence for now. You see Hiei is affected by the Koorime reproductive instincts too, only...he must seek out a mate."

"Oh boy," Shizuru fought back a laugh, "and Botan's the lucky girl?"

"I assure you it was consensual."

"So the gang's gonna have three married girls, two of them pregnant?" Shizuru mused, "Makes me feel like the odd one out."

Kurama felt his cheeks grow hot and knew that a deep blush had spread over his face.

Noticing his silence she decided to tease him for a minute, "Well there's Genkai. Yeah, she and I can spend the rest of our lives alone rocking out in front of the temple with about ninety cats or so for companionship."

The normally suave and collected kitsune was at a loss for words. Several emotions were swirling around inside him right now: guilt, uneasiness, embarrassment, and...longing?

Basking in the tense silence she'd caused Shizuru decided to throw him a bone, "Okay Kurama, you can stop with the awkward silence. Why don't you just give me a lift to the chapel when they call back?"

"Um...al-alright." he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Women could certainly be mischievous creatures, when they put their sly little minds to it. And this one in particular had a knack for catching the great Yoko Kurama off guard.

"Great," she grinned, "I'll go get ready. See you then."

"Okay."

With a smirk she added, "It's a date."

Click.

With his face redder than his hair Kurama hung up the phone and sat the book he'd been reading aside. After a few seconds of staring off into space with a look of surprise and embarrassment on his face he sighed. How does she do this?


Amanda/Artiste: Ah the story that proves that there's someone out there for everyone, at least in the world of Yu Yu Hakusho. Next Chapter: A wedding, an angry fire demon, a confused groom, and one big surprise! Why not surprise me with some more reviews? ::kitty face:: Please? Meow!