Disclaimer: see previous chapters.

"You know what I always say. It's not a good party unless someone ends up on the floor." This is a quote from Yusuke in the anime and I fell in love with it so I just had to use it. I can't actually remember the exact episode or who he said it to, but it was during the Three Kings story arc.

Comforting Heat

Chapter 13

Kurama immediately noticed the difference in Yusuke. He seemed relaxed and happy and there was no sign of the inner turmoil that filled him the last time he saw him. The fire demon seemed a bit on edge though. Now why is that? I would think he would be happy Yusuke is happy again.

Then Kurama saw it and everything suddenly made sense. He watched as Yusuke came out of the kitchen and handed Hiei his drink, the fire demon's hand lingering over the toushin's, a knowing smile being exchanged. So, Hiei acted on his crush. Good for him.

Kurama winced as Yoko made his opinion known of Yusuke's and Hiei's and apparent new relationship. He brought a hand up to his temple and tried to rub the pain away, unaware of being observed.

"Kurama?"

He looked up and offered Hiei a sheepish smile. "I'm fine, Hiei. And from what I see so is Yusuke. Whatever you did worked well."

Hiei came to stand at Kurama's side, his voice low. "Is Yoko causing you trouble?"

"He's just acting like a kit."

"You're in pain."

"It's nothing I'm not used to. But thanks for your concern." Kurama saw the concern in the crimson eyes and he found it made him uncomfortable and he couldn't stop the blush from appearing. Why is he looking at me like that? Does he honestly care about my well being? "So…..do my keen eyes deceive me or are you and Yusuke more than just friends now?"

"Hmph." Hiei turned away from Kurama and took a sip of his tea, his eyes immediately finding Yusuke who was intently staring at them from across the room even as he carried on a conversation with the oblivious Kuwabara. Gods that moron is dense. Why, Yukina? Why him!

"Hiei?" A hand on his shoulder brought his attention back to the redhead next to him. Kurama leaned in to Hiei's ear and whispered. "I'm happy for you. And you should be happy for me. I have someone too."

Hiei turned his head quickly without thinking of how close Kurama already was and when they were face to face, their noses were touching. The fire demon was shocked into place, but he recovered when he felt cool fingertips on his cheek. He stepped back and narrowed his eyes.

"Back off, Yoko. I'm talking with Kurama."

Green eyes glinted and an icy voice washed over him. "I am Kurama, Hiei, and don't you ever forget that." The sharp, threatening features melted away to reveal the sweeter side of the young ningen man and his quiet voice once again sounded. "But I'm so sick of hearing about that 'sweet young man'. He may be great in bed, but the rest of him is boring as hell. No personality. But you on the other hand…." Kurama stepped into Hiei, closing the gap between them. "….there's nothing boring about you, Hiei."

"Enough, fox."

"Hardly."

"Hiei? Is everything ok?"

Hiei didn't turn towards the sound of Yusuke's voice, knowing that would give Yoko the advantage. But Kurama did turn to smile his vulpine smile at their former teammate.

"Of course, Yusuke. I was just congratulating Hiei. I always thought you two were perfect for each other. I'm happy for you both."

Yusuke didn't like the way the green eyes glittered and he knew Kurama was lying to him because of Hiei's guarded stance.

Kurama turned back to Hiei and whispered. "When you get bored with your new toy and you want to have some real fun, come see me, Hiei. I promise you won't regret it."

"Yusuke? What the hell is Kurama talking about?"

Yusuke patted Kuwabara on the back and looked over at Hiei who just gave the barest of nods. "Um, well, Hiei and I are together now. That's one of the reasons for this little shindig. Not that it was going to be an announcement or anything. The real announcement is that I'm going to live in the Makai fulltime."

"What! With Hiei!"

"Sort of. He still works for Mukuro and will be away for whatever it requires and I'll be taking up residence in one of his fortresses. I'm going to---"

"One of his fortresses?" Kuwabara looked over at Hiei, wide-eyed and a little scared. "Who the hell are you, shrimp?"

"I'm the brother of the demon you wish to marry, you insignificant ningen. And although I promised Yukina I wouldn't kill you, I didn't say anything about maiming you. Perhaps your presence would be bearable if you lost your tongue and couldn't speak."

"Eeep! Sorry man! What I meant to say was, how rich are you?"

"I live a comfortable life."

"So, Yusuke, are you like Hiei's wife now?"

Yusuke choked on the soda he was trying to swallow while Kurama burst out laughing and Hiei smiled a wicked smile.

"What the hell kind of question is that! And you stop smiling like that!"

"I'm just asking because Hiei is really bossy and you're going to be living in his house. You sound like the wife to me."

"The proper term is uke, right, Yusuke?"

"Shut up, Kurama!"

"'Uke'? Is that some sort of Makai term?"

Yusuke turned back to his best friend, face red and mouth opening and closing like a fish, unable to figure out how to explain himself out of the mess.

It took Yusuke, Kurama and several stick drawings to explain to Kuwabara the terms "seme" and "uke" while Hiei had distracted his sister in the kitchen. It took even longer for Kuwabara to start breathing again. Once he was breathing normally, he gave Yusuke a hug and then went to speak with Hiei. The fire demon just stood there, arms crossed, waiting for whatever stupid comment the redhead would say.

"Now we're even. Take care of him, shrimp."

Wide crimson eyes stared after the ningen as he rejoined Yukina on the sofa. He was still in shock when Yusuke came up to him and nudged his shoulder with his own. He jerked his head to the side, giving Yusuke a surprise of his own.

"Hey, what's going on? You're awfully jumpy."

Hiei just scoffed and took a sip of Yusuke's drink as the toushin dragged him back to the others, which, by the end of the night, included Botan, Shizuru and Genkai. Everyone supported his decision to live in the Makai and surprisingly none of them seemed too uncomfortable or shocked at his new relationship with Hiei. Because as Shizuru said, "We've all seen too much freaky shit to have something like a few gay friends shock us. Next time, Yusuke, try a little harder."

Yusuke had been surprised at how much of a good sport Hiei was about telling people of their new relationship. Although he had a sneaking suspicion part of Hiei's good mood was from the teasing Yusuke suffered throughout the night. If he heard one more "wife" joke somebody would have been blasted into the Makai.

Everyone had a great time and there was lots of laughter. But there was one thing that bothered Yusuke about the evening. Kurama hadn't seemed to be his usual self. He was much….louder than usual, making off-color comments, instead of his normal witty remarks. He also seemed to gravitate towards Hiei which, for some reason Yusuke could not place, bothered him.

"So what was that all about with Kurama? I know he was lying. What were you guys really talking about?"

The party had ended about an hour ago and Yusuke and Hiei had just sat down after cleaning up after everyone. Yusuke was lying on the sofa, his head resting in Hiei's lap.

"I was talking to Yoko."

"Yoko?"

"Yes. The soul of the kitsune still lives with Kurama's ningen body."

"So it's not a split personality thing, it's a double soul thing? Why hasn't he told anyone?"

"Yoko isn't exactly someone you want to introduce to your friends. He's everything the legends say."

"So what did he want to talk to you about?"

Hiei looked down at Yusuke and a small smile broke his emotionless façade. He stroked the hair back and was thankful Yusuke stopped using that awful hair gel. He actually had soft hair and Hiei preferred it when it fell around his face.

"He told me he was available should I get bored with you."

"What!"

Yusuke sat upright, his amber eyes flashing gold and it gave Hiei's heart a jolt. He's jealous.

"Calm down." He pulled Yusuke back down and continued to comb through his hair with his fingers. "Obviously I'm not going to take him up on it. Besides, this isn't the first time he's made such an offer."

"But why did you have that look on your face?"

"He caught me off guard because he took over mid-conversation with Kurama. Yoko is not to be trusted. If you're ever confronted with him, don't believe a word he says and never take your eyes off of him. He may not be as powerful as you, but he's dangerous, Yusuke."

"Well, what about Kurama? Should we do something?"

"I've asked him to speak with Koenma, but Kurama is not weak, Yusuke. He has handled the fox very well."

"I'll take your word for it. I just hope he knows when to ask for help. Kurama has always taken so much on himself."

Yusuke closed his eyes and let his concern for Kurama slip away as he reveled in Hiei's gentle attention. The fire demon looked down upon the happy toushin and let his eyes roam over his face. Long lashes, smooth pale skin, thin pink lips. Suddenly the brow furrowed and Yusuke emitted a small whine.

"Hey, why'd you stop?"

He opened his eyes to see Hiei staring at him. And he could read the crimson eyes very clearly. Without faltering from the appreciative gaze, Yusuke got up and hooked a hand behind Hiei's neck, pulling him forward for a kiss. The gentle kiss quickly turned into a deep, hungry kiss as Yusuke maneuvered himself onto Hiei's lap, straddling his legs, both his hands now in Hiei's hair as he guided the fire demon's head back fully.

Hiei's hands slowly slid up Yusuke's thighs and eventually he wrapped the toushin in a bear hug and pushed off, sending Yusuke back onto the sofa, burying him. This gave the fire demon the opportunity to feast upon Yusuke's neck.

Yusuke let a small growl loose as he felt sharp fangs graze his exposed neck. He pulled Hiei's shirt up and over his head, tossing the garment over their heads and bringing his hands back to the burning flesh of the fire demon.

"Yusuke…do you value this shirt?"

"Huh, n-no…?"

In Yusuke's daze he tried to answer Hiei's question but his barely coherent response was cut off as Hiei ripped the shirt from his chest and trailed a wet tongue over his chest. Yusuke let out a gasp as Hiei's mouth began to pay special attention to one nipple as his fingers pinched the other.

"Oh gods, Hiei…."

"Calm down, Yusuke. We're just playing."

"Playing?" Yusuke raised his head to see Hiei's wicked grin around his nipple. "Like hell we're playing."

The toushin grabbed Hiei's shoulders and pushed him up so they were both sitting on the sofa now. Yusuke attacked Hiei's lips as his hands went down to unfasten the fire demon's pants.

"Yusuke, no."

"Yes."

'You'll get hurt."

"You know what I always say. It's not a good party unless someone ends up on the floor. Now shut up and kiss me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yusuke slowly became aware of his surroundings. The void of sleep receded, allowing light to penetrate the blackness. After he registered that it was light outside, he cracked his eyelids ever so slowly to reveal familiar, yet inappropriate surroundings. Am I lying on the living room floor?

A few clearing blinks confirmed his whereabouts. As he stared at the space beneath his sofa and marveled at how clean it was, the previous night's events came crashing back. Hiei. Yusuke smiled and rolled over, expecting to see the fire demon lying next to him, but instead he found an empty and cold space.

"Was it just a dream?"

"Those burns would indicate otherwise."

Yusuke turned towards the deep voice and saw Hiei walking towards him, a bowl and bandages in hand. Yusuke sat up and winced as he pushed the covers off his body to reveal that parts of his abdomen and thighs and chest were covered in minor burns. Hiei kneeled down next to Yusuke and leaned in, capturing the toushin's lips in a tender kiss.

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

Hiei raised a mocking eyebrow. "You don't sound too convincing."

Yusuke watched Hiei as he pulled a small bottle from his pocket and sprinkled some powder in the bowl of water. Then he dipped the bandages in the water and began to wrap them around Yusuke's abdomen.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? You're hurt. This medicine will help the burns heal faster."

"Oh."

Yusuke smiled as he watched Hiei gently bandage his burns. The cool, damp strips felt good against his reddened and sensitive skin. "Wait." Hiei stopped his ministrations and looked up at Yusuke. "Why can't I just go to Yukina to heal the burns? I mean, don't get me wrong, you make a great nurse, Hiei. But wouldn't it be faster to just go see Yukina?"

Hiei sighed and put the piece of bandage back in the bowl. "It's one thing for people to know we're together. It's another to ask my sister to heal your wounds after we have sex."

"So I'm just supposed to live with having burns for the rest of my life!"

Hiei's eyes widened at Yusuke's outburst and the toushin was on his feet, stomping off down the hallway. For his part, Hiei sat there, lost in thought, not hearing a single thing the toushin was bellowing from the back of the house. The rest of his life? Is he serious? I believed him when he said he loved me, but….does he really want to be mates? I didn't think he was that serious. I thought…

"Hiei? Helloooo….." Yusuke had returned to the living room dressed in a pair of pants wondering why Hiei hadn't followed him back to the bedroom or responded to him at all. But when he reentered the living room to find out what was going on with the quiet fire demon he stopped dead in his tracks and gazed in horror.

"What the hell happened! I was only gone for a minute!"

Hiei's thoughts were interrupted at Yusuke's yelling and he blinked himself free of his thoughts and stood to face Yusuke. "What are you yelling about?"

"That!" Yusuke pointed at the other side of the living room. "Why does it look like a bomb went off in here! What did you do, Hiei!"

Hiei smirked and sat down on the arm of the slightly charred sofa, arms crossed, head bowed. "Not 'what' Yusuke. Who. And the answer is you."

"Me! I did this!"

"It was your fault, yes. You were the one that insisted we have sex. I just wanted to fool around."

"This…..this is what happens when you have sex? You destroy entire living rooms!"

Hiei sighed, his good mood and patience quickly vanishing. "Now maybe you understand why I didn't want to get involved. Our first time together and you're angry and hurt and bitching about some ugly ningen furniture."

"Hiei, I…." Yusuke hung his head and took a long, deep breath, and slowly released it before walking over to Hiei and hugging the fire demon fiercely. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm being a total asshole. Forgive me?"

"Depends. Does forgiveness include breakfast?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yusuke placed a plate of steaming French toast, bacon and toast in front of Hiei and placed a quick kiss on the top of the fire demon's head before sitting down at the table across from him. They started eating in silence. Once Yusuke had something in his stomach, he was prepared to talk about the happenings of last night.

"Ok, all whining and bitching aside……what happened last night?"

"I was foolish and let you have your way." Yusuke smiled and Hiei just scoffed before taking another bite of food. "Obviously I held back. I also managed to put a small barrier up at the last minute to contain most of the damage, but that takes energy and concentration." He eyed Yusuke, a devilish smirk curving his lips. "Both of which were being used up rather quickly."

"So that's what you were mumbling about. I couldn't understand what you were saying so I just thought you were enjoying yourself so much you forgot how to speak."

"Idiot."

Yusuke drank his juice and studied the fire demon over his glass. He's always on guard, holding back, protecting. I wonder…..does he ever truly enjoy himself anymore?

"Um, Hiei?" Crimson eyes met his and he swallowed hard. "Did you…..I mean, was it……?" Yusuke took a deep breath and just started to blurt out every thought that was in his head. "Did you enjoy yourself? I mean, I know you hold back and you're trying to stay in control but part of the pleasure is not being in control and----"

Yusuke's rambling was cut off by Hiei's laughter. He could count on his fingers the number of times he'd heard Hiei laugh. It wasn't as deep as his voice but it still vibrated through your body. He felt his cheeks getting warm the longer Hiei laughed.

"Yusuke….thank you."

"F-for what?"

"For worrying about me." Hiei saw Yusuke's face relax, but his body was still tense and he could tell that he was still worried about the answer to his initial question. Hiei got up and went to stand next to Yusuke, his hands immediately finding purchase in the toushin's hair. He leaned in and spoke against Yusuke's lips.

"Never doubt that you give me great pleasure, Yusuke."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took Hiei and Yusuke two months to get their relationship in proper working order. After Hiei put the proper wards in place within his fortress, he and Yusuke were free to truly become lovers. Although Yusuke still worried that Hiei would never let himself truly go, he was happy with their life. They fell into a nice rhythm with each taking care of their own business, but coming together to lead a life together as well.

Hiei had made it clear to the oni of the fortress that Yusuke was in fact his mate and should be treated with the same respect as himself. Yusuke smiled as he thought of this fact, his fingers absently rubbing the puncture marks on his neck. We're really together. We belong to each other.

Suddenly Yusuke found himself landing hard on the floor, pinned by the very creature he was daydreaming about.

"Hiei! You bastard!"

Hiei smiled and gave Yusuke a quick kiss.

"That's what you get for leaving your guard down."

"But I'm at home! If I'm not safe in this fortress, then I'm not safe anywhere."

"You'll never be safe from me, Yusuke."

Hiei gazed down at the petulant toushin and he couldn't hold back. Without warning he sunk his fangs into the same spot he had three days ago. Yusuke gasped but didn't fight back, letting the pain, followed by the intense pleasure, course through him.

"Hiei…." He felt a tongue lapping at the newly opened wound and he sighed. "I love you."

Hiei leaned up and looked into the half lidded golden orbs of his toushin. Yes. Mine. He belongs to me and no other. And I to him.

"Aishiteru, Yusuke."

To be continued….