A/N: Prepare yourselves! OOC!Hiei and… wtf-ness! REALLY SHORT CHAPTER! Enjoy…? Review!

PS – For those of you keeping track of my personal life, I finally got a job. I work at the library now. Yay for me! Money is good. n.n

22. The Kitsune Returns and Truth or Dare

The inside of the tree house was covered in plants. There were green plants, blue plants, purple plants, and pink plants with silver spots. There were some shrubs with long tentacles sprouting from it, and there were plants with teeth. A fox demon was sitting on the ground where a thick, vine-like plant was covering a chair. Shizuru looked to her left and saw a large plant with a mouth-like structure in the middle of it. Something was caught in the mouth, and it looked suspiciously like Hiei…

"What… is going on here…?" Shizuru asked slowly.

The fox demon replied, "Having a party."

Shizuru looked over at the plant with Hiei caught in it and asked, "What is Hiei doing?"

The fox demon smiled. "We were playing truth or dare, so I dared him to make out with the plant and he got his head stuck in it."

Shizuru nodded, her eyebrows raised dangerously high. "I see…" she said. "And you're Youko Kurama right?" she asked, nodding at the fox demon. "That Spirit Fox thing from the Dark Tournament?"

"That's me," said Youko.

"Where's the normal Kurama?" Shizuru asked.

"He's… temporarily unavailable…" Youko said, smirking.

At that moment, Hiei finally unstuck his head from the plant. The plant growled ferociously, and it drooled on the floor. Hiei wiped the plant's saliva from his face and turned to look at Shizuru. Caught by surprise, he blushed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked demandingly.

"Uh… well…" Shizuru remembered why she had come there - to tell Hiei that she loved him. Casting a sideways glance at Youko Kurama, she stumbled, "Um…"; she didn't want to tell Hiei how she felt with him watching… "Um…"

"What is it?" Hiei asked, slightly agitated.

Shizuru changed the subject. "Why is Kurama in his Youko form?"

Hiei stared awkwardly at Shizuru. She was avoiding his question… I wonder what she really came here for… he thought.

"Remember the other day when Genkai transformed at school?" Youko asked.

Shizuru nodded.

"Well, she had taken a potion to make her young for a week, and Hiei somehow got his hands on it and gave it to me. Since Youko is Suichi's 'younger' form, I am him for now," Youko said.

"For how long?" asked Shizuru.

"I don't know," said Youko. "Couple days maybe. There wasn't much left in the potion when Hiei gave it to me."

Shizuru turned to Hiei. "Why'd you give him the potion in the first place?" she asked.

"I wanted to see what it would do."

"So you gave it to Kurama."

"…Yeah…"

"You should've given it to Kazuma. Then maybe he could've reverted back to being nonexistent and I could be left alone from the bumbling airhead." Shizuru was still fuming from earlier that morning.

Hiei facefaulted. Why didn't I think of that?

Youko Kurama interrupted. "While you're here, do you want to play Truth or Dare with us?"

Shizuru hesitated. She really didn't want to get her head stuck in a plant like Hiei did… She would just stick to truth. "Sure," she answered.

"So… truth or dare?" Hiei asked, frowning at how easily he had been convinced to play such a stupid ningen game with Youko Kurama.

"Truth," Shizuru answered.

"Who do you love?" What an odd question… Why the hell do I care…?

Shizuru froze. Her heart suddenly sped up and felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. Both boys were staring intently at her, not wanting to miss the ultimate confession. Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of Shizuru's face. Her palms began sweating and shaking as she thought about just ditching the two of them. Telling Hiei she loved him with only him around to listen would be bad enough, but having Youko Kurama listen in as well? What if he told everyone? Youko was a thief and had a bad record in the Makai…. Could he be trusted? She looked at the fox demon's face. Youko was so poker-faced; she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Could she tell them?

Just do it and get it over with, she thought. She took a deep breath, stared Hiei in the eye and answered, "You, Hiei."

NEXT TIME: CONFESSION AFTERMATH AND TRUTH!

Reviewer Responses!

Red Kitsune Flames: Hiei in a tree random? Seriously, I thought that was the norm for Hiei's dwelling places… Where the hell DOES he go every night, anyway? Ah well! Thanks for the review!

Princess Random: And that was not my last cliffhanger. There will be more. That's funny, your boyfriend has to compete… I'm still pleasantly single, and making my bishies compete with each other… XP If a YYH character were real and I could meet him, I would pick Kurama! I love him! Or maybe Yusuke… He would fit better with my personality (Kurama would probably be really freaked out if I told him what kind of fanfics I've written in the past…) Thanks for the review!

evilchik: Well, it's never mentioned, but when Hiei's treehouse is not covered in Youko Kurama's plants, it is mostly bare. It has a wooden bed, a wooden table, and a small, college-dorm-sized refrigerator with acorns in it. n.n Lmao, thousands of pictures of Yukina in there… That's like… creepy incest stalking! Then again… that would make a good fanfic… Don't give me bad ideas! Thanks for the review!

Fruit is NOT a Dessert: You know, I never thought of Shizuru having to get through the Hiei-sized door… Hmm, I suppose she would have to crawl… Or duck or something… Good question! Thanks for the review!

Deus X Machina: Poor, desparate Kuwabara… I feel bad for him. I'm so cruel to him in my fics… :sigh: Oh well. Thanks for the review!

Kitsune of Darkness: I've always loved toasters as kitchen appliances, and Shizuru beating on her brother with one was too good an opportunity to pass up. Then again, I am also fond of microwaves and coffee makers… n.n Thanks for the review!

fallentears666: That's okay. I don't know many supporters of the Hiei x Shizuru relationship anyway… I'm so alone in that world… T.T Oh well. Thanks for the review!

Sami Kurama's Stalker: Well then I hope you enjoyed the random Youko Kurama plot twist thrown in. I love that fox, he just had to make a cameo… Yay for the new marker! n.n And of course I love long reviews – they're my favorite. Unless they're those long reviews that say "suck suck suck suck suck flame flame flame" for about five and a half pages… :sigh: Thanks for the review!

hieifan123: I know, I'm sorry, all of these chapters are painfully short. T.T Forgive me? I was young back when I wrote this – not at all the slightly-more-educated-yet-equally-naïve child I am now… /drama I had fun having Shizuru beat her brother with a toaster. :D Thanks for the review!

Kitsune Chic: I'm honored to go on a favorite quotes list and be used as immortal words:gives long speech about: And I'd like to thank my mom, my dad, my stuffed platypus… XD Thanks for the review!

RoseAngeI: Did this count as having Kurama in it? I love Kurama too. He's my favorite main character. n.n I wuvles him. Thanks for the review!

Takara Taji: Making excuses is a skill that has been passed down the crazykitsune line for generations… whoops, wrong show:sweatdrop: Lol, I love cliffies too. They are my friends… unless other people write them, exactly. Aww, I wish I had been a hardcore yaoi fan when I wrote this, otherwise I would've paired up Kuwabara with a dude… Damn… lol, well, thanks for the review!

Moomoogirl1: Thanks for the review!

heartluv: I know, poor Kuwabara, so unloved… :moment of silence:moment of silence over: But I'm not him, so, lucky me… Or unlucky… :glances at phone warily, praying it doesn't ring…: Long story there… O.o; Anyway, thanks for the review! Hope you had fun on your vacation!

--crazykitsune17--