What2callmyself: I haven't made up my mind whether Karasu should return or not but as for where Hiei is… he DIED!!! No, I'm kidding, Hiei's fine.

Kute Anime Kitty: I always love how Yusuke keeps blowing up the science lab. I'm surprised he hasn't blown up the school at this point by accident! Poor Kurama for always having him as a partner though…

Raging Lion: You see, as for the school thing I have that too but I just zone out during class and work on my stories then! Hm, I wonder why my grades are bad though…? There must be some mistake!

Niana Kuonji: I thought it would be a nice twist to have Genkai as the gym teacher instead of Toguro but that was funny with the marshmallow!

Chapter Eleven: You're barking up the wrong tree

After school, Kurama found himself standing outside in the school courtyard looking for people he knew to invite to Yusuke's party. He had already run into Kuwabara who was more than willing to go but there was still one other person Kurama had in mind to invite…

"Hey Hiei!" Touya's cool voice jarred Kurama out of his reverie.

Searching for Touya, Kurama found him standing at the foot of a tall tree in the courtyard. Jin and him were gazing up into the tree, calling Hiei's name. Curiously, the redhead couldn't help but inch closer to eavesdrop.

"Hiei!" Touya snapped. "Stop pretending to be asleep up there!"

"It'd be best to be doing what Touya tells ya before he gets really mad and knocks the whole damn tree down! Imagine trying to explain that one to the teachers." Jin folded his arms behind his head.

"Shuuichi was looking for you today." Touya added slyly.

"Is that so?" Hiei questioned while sounding very bored.

"I never thought I'd say this Hiei but you're acting like a coward, avoiding Shuuichi like this." Jin pointed out. "After all, he went into a mad fit while trying to find ya!"

"Actually Jin, you're over exaggerating, my friend." Touya reasoned.

"So? Why should this matter to me?" Hiei scoffed from one of the higher branches in the tree.

When Jin heard this, he practically exploded. "Damn your pride, Hiei! I swear sometimes you're so-"

"Excuse me." Kurama piped up from behind.

"GYAH!!!" Touya and Jin jumped back from Kurama in surprise.

"Sorry to startle you." Kurama apologized. "But there will be a party at Yusuke's apartment as soon as he gets out of detention this afternoon and you're invited."

"Oh! Oh! Oh! A party! We should go, Touya!" An ecstatic Jin bounced up and down.

"Sounds like fun." Touya mused. "You should come too, Hiei."

"Hah, I've got better ways to waste my time." Hiei sneered and leaped from the tree. "I'll have to decline the offer." He muttered and started to walk away at a fast pace.

"Hiei, wait!" The redhead hurried after the smaller boy.

They were just out of earshot of Touya and Jin before Kurama caught up to him and grabbed Hiei's arm.

"Wait, Hiei. We need to talk."

"Just what do we need to discuss, Shuuichi?" Hiei demanded through gritted teeth, making Kurama wince.

"Listen," Kurama began slowly. "I had a lot to think about last night and I came to the conclusion…"

Hiei averted his blood red eyes from Kurama's emerald green ones, expecting the worst.

"I've come to care about you a great deal." Kurama admitted. "More so than as 'just a friend'…"

The smaller boy's crimson eyes widened in shock and hesitantly, Hiei looked up into Kurama's smiling and reassuring face.

"The day I was over at your house you told me you weren't gay." Hiei pointed out, skeptically.

It was now Kurama's turn to avert his gaze. "I lied…"

From the tree in the courtyard, Touya and Jin watched their friend talk with Kurama.

"Perfect match if I ever saw one." Jin grinned.

Touya laughed and leaned against the trunk of the tree. "I agree…"

The two of them watched with interest as Kurama leaned down and briefly kissed Hiei. As a joke, Touya covered Jin's eyes, muttering, "This isn't for your virgin eyes to see."

"That's not funny, Touya. And you know damn well I'm not a virgin." Jin grumbled. "Now let me see! I wanna watch!"

Jin threw Touya's hands off of his eyes just as Kurama and Hiei were approaching. Glancing at each other, Touya and Jin both got the same idea and Jin exclaimed, "Oh Touya! I love you so much!"

"You're my everything, Jin!" Touya exclaimed back and they jumped into each other's arms and started pretending that they were making out.

"Cut it out or I will seriously cut off your heads!" Hiei shouted.

"Hey guys!" Yusuke waved and strode over. "Let's head on over to my apartment and get cocked!" He came to a dead stop. "What are Touya and Jin doing…?"

"Acting like fools… let's go." Hiei muttered.

"Whatever you say, Hiei." Yusuke shrugged and they all walked over to Yusuke's apartment talking casually.

Kuwabara was standing at the door on the second floor, waiting to be let in and Hiei wished the stupid oaf would accidentally fall off the balcony or something.

"The door's unlocked so you can let yourself in unless you plan on standing there like a dumb ass all evening!" Yusuke taunted Kuwabara.

"Shaddap, Urameshi!" Kuwabara barked. "It's not good manners to just walk into someone's house without permission anyway."

"Are you sure this is okay, Yusuke?" Kurama asked hesitantly. "Do you think Atsuko will mind?"

"Aw, c'mon. She's a friggin' lush so she's probably drinking to her heart's content in a bar somewhere." Yusuke led them all inside. "All right! Let's get this party started!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Gack! Gomen nasai! I still haven't gotten to the party thing at all yet! But I do have a little secret to tell you all. Someone Kurama knows will be showing up and making things harder on our little couple.