Disclaimer: my mother is more freaked about my applying and getting into college than I am, and it's very irritating.

Fall

Wish I was too dead to care
If indeed I cared at all
Never had a voice to protest
So you fed me shit to digest

—Stone Sour, "Bother"

Chapter Two: The Roles We Play

"Hello?" Kurama asked cheerfully. Hiei frowned at the sudden change in his demeanor.

"Oh, yes," the conversation continued, "I'm doing all right, and—yes, I'm certain I'm all right…yes, yes! Goodness, it's just such a surprise to hear from you after all this time."

His frustration growing as Kurama refused to speak the caller's name, Hiei wondered if Kurama had another phone he could listen in on. Judging from the small size of the apartment, that was highly unlikely, but one could hope.

"Come over?" Kurama said suddenly, sounding a just a bit frantic. "Here? Now?" A small pause, then: "Well…I suppose you could… Yes, we do have a lot of catching up to do, don't we?"

Hiei raised an eyebrow and sat on the bed, staring at Kurama evenly. Someone was coming over, someone who he could afford to introduce Hiei to. Hopefully it wouldn't be another love-struck child like Miyuki; Hiei wasn't sure he could handle another of those without fleeing or setting something on fire. Or both. Yes, maybe both would be good.

"Very well then," Kurama was saying. "See you."

Hiei stood, a little restless, and walked over to Kurama. Tapping his shoulder, he prompted the redhead to turn and smile (rather falsely, Hiei thought with some resentment), tilting his head as though to ask "What is it?" Hiei met this with an even glare and refused to answer. He thought it clear enough what he wanted; if Kurama was going to be difficult, things might have to get a touch bloody.

Sure enough, Kurama nodded knowingly and said, "We're going to have a visitor in a few minutes. If you're highly opposed, you might want to sit outside until he's gone."

"Yes, I understood that much," Hiei said slowly, "but what I wondered was who that visitor might be."

"You'll see soon enough," Kurama said cryptically. Hiei gritted his teeth inside his mouth but didn't give any outward signs of stress, so Kurama merely smiled some more and went about putting back all the things he had taken out to put in his bag (which he also put away). Bustling around so diligently, Kurama nearly missed the knock on the door several minutes later, jerking up in surprise as he heard the sharp rapping. Hiei went over to the window and put one foot on the sill, prepared to leave at a moment's notice. Something about the figure outside in the hall…felt familiar, but it wouldn't be Kuwabara (who had moved out of his house some time ago and was living near Genkai's temple, where Yukina lived), or Kurama would have warned Hiei to leave. Yûsuke? Maybe, but this familiar feeling was a little too weak for that. Certainly not Koenma or Botan, who did not have actual spirit energy. Absolutely not Genkai, who would have had a more formal conversation with Kurama on the phone. Kaito? Yanagisawa? Was Kurama still in contact, even, with anyone from those days?

Meanwhile, Kurama had opened the door (much to Hiei's chagrin, he hadn't noticed) and let in none other than Urameshi Yûsuke.

"Yûsuke?" Hiei couldn't help but mutter. The retiree in question looked over at Hiei and waved.

"Hey, Hiei! This is a surprise, I didn't expect you to be here!"

Turning around, Hiei sat on the sill and stared ahead blankly. Accustomed to this antisocial behavior, even after so many years, Yûsuke merely smiled and turned to Kurama. They began to chatter away and Hiei tuned them out in favor of listening to his own thoughts.

So if that call was any evidence, Yûsuke and Kurama hadn't been in contact much since the end of the mission. Much as Hiei suspected, Kurama wasn't giving updates on his condition to the other team members, and in fact Hiei was only up to date because of his infrequent visits. The question was not so much "Why?" as it was "Why now?" Had Yûsuke been in the area and finally sensed Hiei's presence? Was Koenma keeping tabs on him? Was it mere coincidence? No, it couldn't be, that was just too strange. So then why that day? Why that hour, even, or that minute? Yûsuke couldn't have waited?

That was another thing. Yûsuke wouldn't simply call Kurama out of the blue, would he? There had to be something he wanted to say or to do, something that made the most sense if done now. Was it something related to Hiei? Unlikely. Makai? Ningenkai? Reikai? Koenma? No, the only reason Koenma would contact Yûsuke to get to Kurama would be for a mission, and Yûsuke was not only retired, but re-retired. He would never accept something like that. Though, Hiei pondered, that explained the low energy he had felt. If Yûsuke was out of practice, his energy levels would be lower than what Hiei was used to.

A hand was waving in front of Hiei's face as he was jarred back to reality.

"Still in there?" Yûsuke asked jokingly. "Kurama and I were just talking about the last six years; seems you've been making some visits to Ningenkai and not seeing me!"

Hiei nodded mutely and Yûsuke trailed off with an awkward laugh. Hiei instantly perceived it as a prelude to some sort of bad news, but he wouldn't let either of his friends know that. Not quite yet.

"So, rather than take offense at that, I have arrived with some good news!"

"You're finally going to give up polluting Makai with your fanciful tournaments?" Hiei asked idly, although it was a pointless guess; both Yûsuke and Kurama knew that Hiei, much like the rest of the demons, approved of the tournaments and attempted to win them every year.

Yûsuke shook his head with a small chuckle. "Not quite. But you were close—it is about Makai."

Hiei and Kurama exchanged "looks"—Kurama's of gentle comfort, Hiei's of panicked urgency. Watching this silent exchange, Yûsuke tried to withdraw himself from their respective lines of sight and pretend he was temporarily absent. It didn't work very well.

"What about Makai?" Hiei asked with quiet apprehension, his gaze still on Kurama. Kurama, meanwhile, altered his own expression to perplexed innocence as he watched Hiei look at him. How the fox ever managed to look innocent, Hiei wasn't sure, but he did it rather well.

"I heard through the grapevine—" Yûsuke began, but Hiei cut him off at once.

"From who?" he asked bitingly. Koenma must have had something to do with this, he absolutely must have. Hiei would kill the little godling.

"That's not important. The important—"

"From who?"

Yûsuke shifted uncomfortably and fiddled with his hands a little. Hiei frowned at his resistance, which only made Yûsuke wilt more. After another moment, he blurted out an answer.

"Koenma told me you were going to Makai."

Kurama began to speak, possibly to confirm Yûsuke's suspicions, and Hiei promptly slapped his hand over the fox's mouth. If Yûsuke knew, Yûsuke would want to come, and Hiei didn't want anyone who wasn't necessary (which is to say, anyone other than Kurama and himself) tagging along.

"And?" he said snappishly. Yûsuke smiled, waving his hands casually as if to dismiss the statement entirely. He seemed to understand that this was a delicate issue, and for that Hiei was grateful. Maybe Yûsuke would let things lie and anticipate Hiei's response before it had to be made.

"I just thought, you know," Yûsuke said with a light laugh, "for old times' sake, we could go together!"

Hiei's glare was absolutely venomous. Yûsuke felt himself wilting, but tried to keep his smile plastered in place anyway. He was nowhere near Kurama's skill level and it showed. Hiei felt a little twinge of pity for the former detective, but not enough to change his actions or his expression. Kurama tried to remove Hiei's hand from his mouth, but despite the lack of grip, Hiei was staying firm. Kurama contemplated licking Hiei's palm, but that only worked on young children and obsessive teenagers, really.

"Old times' sake," Hiei said disbelievingly. Yûsuke nodded a little more weakly than he had before, smile faltering for a moment.

"I take it you object," he said, his voice cracking. Hiei nodded slowly, his eyes locked in one place and the rest of his body never moving.

"I'll…just be going then," Yûsuke said in a rush, but Hiei was waiting for him, blocking the door. Yûsuke jerked his hand back, startled, and visibly began sweating.

"Did Koenma put you up to this visit?" Hiei asked in an icy voice. Yûsuke shook his head at once, too quickly for Hiei's liking. Suspicious…

"He did," Hiei accused. Yûsuke continued shaking his head and Hiei smacked him, stopping the action. Putting a hand to his new wound (if you could call it that), Yûsuke looked a little hurt. Hiei had to refrain from rolling his eyes.

"You're denying much too effusively," Hiei explained. "You've clearly got something to hide, and while I admit you've been overanxious this whole visit, you haven't exactly been so…physical."

With another, weaker smile, Yûsuke dropped his shoulders in a defeated way and squinted his eyes just slightly. "Was I really so obvious?" he asked as though this were all a funny misunderstanding. Hiei did not seem to share this view, but nodded in response.

"If Koenma is keeping tabs on Kurama," he said authoritatively, "tell him to fuck off and keep his presence out of where it's not wanted. If he's keeping tabs on me, tell him to start having some more fun with his life while it lasts."

Yûsuke smiled, saluted, and winked. Hiei raised an eyebrow at this display and folded his arms across his chest; out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kurama sit on the bed and hoped he would stay there silently. In his condition, he just might say something to convince Yûsuke to go against Hiei's orders and invite himself along on their trip. He couldn't see how much Hiei didn't want any followers on this venture? "Dazed and confused" just had to be parts of this case of "insane," didn't they?

"See you!" Yûsuke said cheerily, seemingly relieved of some daunting task. Hiei wondered at how concerned Koenma had been with sending Yûsuke along and how freely Yûsuke was accepting his failure. That was quite unlike either of them…Koenma knew not to meddle in demon affairs, and Hiei thought it pretty clear he didn't want to be watched. A paranoid part of him was certain Yûsuke would continue trying to come, but an arrogant part was convinced that he had been forceful and intimidating enough that Yûsuke would not bother him again.

Trying to put that out of his mind, Hiei turned back to Kurama and made sure to look stern, even going so far as to put his hands on his hips. "Leave all your things here," he said firmly, "and let's get going."

"Oh, but I can't," Kurama said airily. "I must call Mother and tell her I'll be gone for awhile."

Frustrated, Hiei slapped his hand to his face and pointed to the phone rigidly. "Do it quickly," he said. "Take no more time than you absolutely need."

Happily, Kurama walked over to the phone and picked it up, dialing slowly with one hand as he held the receiver with the other. Hiei contemplated frying the whole contraption when Kurama was finished, for all the trouble it had caused him in merely a few hours, but reasoned that Kurama would only buy a new one. This one was rather aesthetically pleasing, anyway. No sense in an unnecessary replacement.

Oh, but he wanted to torch it so much…

"Mother?" Kurama was saying, his smile half faked, half genuine. Hiei marveled briefly at the mix, eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Yes, I'm well," Kurama said. "…worry? Don't be worrying about me…I know…yes, Mother…"

Hiei wondered if Shiori knew of Kurama's insanity. She might have tried to get him some human help, for all the good it would do. That is to say, none, of course, but humans were odd creatures. If "help" made them feel better about…something, then Hiei could hardly stop them all from getting it.

"Now? Oh, Mother, I—"

Guessing that Shiori was asking to come over just then, Hiei frantically waved his arms and shook his head no. Kurama cocked his head, looking altogether confused, and turning away from Hiei to face the wall.

"—I'm sorry…no, I wish I could see you, but that's the reason I called…you see, an old friend of mine—Hiei, you've met him a few times—recently came into town and he's invited me on a once-in-a-lifetime trip that I simply can't turn down."

Impressive, Hiei thought. Kurama was keeping his head to some degree.

"Yes, I miss you too…I love you too, Mother, but there's no getting around this priceless journey! …where? What do you mean, 'where'?"

She wanted to know where they would be going, did she? Time to see if Kurama's façade was really intact. Hiei waited with baited breath, prepared to disconnect the phone at once if need be.

"Oh, yes, where is the trip to…well, you see, it's not so much the destination as it is what we'll be doing once we get there. …I'm sure to you it would sound rather droll—oh, if you insist, if you insist. We'll simply be seeing yet another of our—well, yes, Mother, you could call her a friend."

You would be deathly wrong, Hiei thought, but you could call Miru a friend. Kurama was doing well so far, but Hiei kept his fingers over the telephone's cradle to disconnect it. He didn't trust the fox or the direction this conversation seemed to be going.

"Of course my friend is here now! Do you think I would simply meet him at the station?" Kurama laughed with a hint of nervousness. Panic began to rise in Hiei's gut. Now what did Shiori want?

"He's…not very sociable," Kurama improvised, Hiei thought somewhat obviously. "I don't know if he'd want—well, I'll ask him…"

Putting his over the receiver's mouthpiece, Kurama lowered his voice to a whisper.

"She wants to talk to you," he said to Hiei. "It might seem suspicious if you don't."

Hiei shook his head quickly. Shiori had met him on two or three occasions; she knew he was not what one might call a "social animal." He had never spoken to her on the phone, either, and Kurama had given him a light pardon as it was. He didn't feel like offering more elaborate excuses than Kurama had and that was surely what Shiori would ask of him. Still, Kurama made doe eyes and tilted his head slightly, putting his hands in a prayer positions over the phone, begging a nonverbal "Please?"

Hiei shook his head again. He was awfully stubborn when he wanted to be (which was, of course, most of the time).

Kurama pouted for a second and went back to the phone.

"I'm sorry, Mother," he said in a vaguely disappointed voice, "but my friend—" Hiei noticed but did not react to the subtle inflection "—is being his usual stubborn self. There's absolutely no shaking him. …yes, I swear, it's quite irritating, happening so often as it does…yes, Mother, I'll call you when I get back. …no, no, there won't be any guarantee I'd be around to get the phone, and these message machines are so unreliable."

Hiei looked only the tiniest bit anxious. Kurama's excuses were becoming less and less convincing, even to him, and he knew less about the reliability of the machines than Shiori had to. She might see through his ploy if their chatter didn't end soon. Trying to convey this to the fox with much gesturing and hand-waving, Hiei pointed to the phone's cradle with fierce jabs and mouthed the words "Hang up soon." Kurama nodded dismissively.

"Oh, you know, we'll be so busy, and what with the time differences and whatnot, I don't know how easy it would be for me to find the time to call! …oh, certainly, I'll try. Yes, I promise—no, I haven't given up on a family! …ours or my own. No, Mother. …yes, all right, then. I'll be seeing you."

To Hiei's great and secret relief, Kurama finally hung up.

"Well, then!" Kurama said with a small amount of glee in his voice. "Let's be going, shall we?"

Too startled by the sudden tangent (though Hiei figured he should be, or at least try to be, used to them), Hiei paused, his mouth slack. Kurama took this as an initiative and grabbed Hiei's hand, pulling him to his feet and shuffling around with his other hand in an open drawer.

The noise snapped Hiei out of his brief reverie. "What are you doing?" he asked, nervous for the answer. Kurama looked back with a winning smile and Hiei became more anxious.

"Looking for my communication compact, of course!" he said brightly. Hiei raised an eyebrow. Kurama didn't have a communication compact; Botan had given one to Yûsuke, but that was all. Unless Koenma had given one to Kurama after their return from the last trip five years ago…it must be a sort of monitoring device. Maybe Kurama had been instructed to contact Koenma with certain regularity.

"Don't do that," Hiei said, tugging back on Kurama's hand (as it still grasped his own).

Kurama turned, confusion evident on his features. "Why ever not?"

"I don't want Koenma to know about this trip, if at all possible," Hiei said. "If he should find out once we're gone, I can't stop him, but I would like to keep this private. I don't want anyone interfering and he would surely make this a mission, sending Yûsuke and Kuwabara along to follow us."

"But," Kurama said slowly, "Yûsuke would never go. He has re-retired himself, you know that."

Hiei shook his head. "I think that there is a chance he would come out of retirement for you, if it was for only one mission. I don't want to risk it."

Hiei really did fear that Koenma would try to get himself involved, and he really did want this trip to stay between himself and the crazy fox. He would admit to liking Yûsuke and even being a little fond of Kuwabara, and trusting them both, but he remembered the last time and all the complications caused by certain people walking in on certain other people at certain times…yes, things were best this way.

Pondering Hiei's reasoning for a minute, Kurama shook his head a few times and looked down.

"How would we get there, though?" he asked, sounding oddly disappointed. Hiei waved him off.

"I can arrange for a portal easily," he said. "Don't worry about that. Let's just go, then, what do you say?"

Kurama nodded, his eye bright and childishly excited.

"Let's go!"


The "certain people walking in on certain other people at certain times" is a reference to the chapters 25 and 26 in "Balance," in which Yûsuke and Kuwabara walk within earshot of Hiei and Kurama just in time to hear Hiei tell Kurama that he loves him. It creates complications, shall we say, which can be named accountable for most of the romance in either that story or this one.