Youko: This is oh so very exciting. After so many days of not posting here I am… Throws arms up into superstar position. …….. Crickets chirp in background. … Um… everyone was supposed to be all happy…um….oh well.

Yuskue: You're so full of yourself.

Youko: It was just wishful thinking. Oh and by the way this chapter is dedicated to Single Rose.

Hiei: Can we start the story now.

Youko: All right sure thing. Drum roll plz… Drum roll

And here is another exciting installment to Alw-----

Kurama: Aren't we forgetting a few things. Like I don't know… the disclaimer and showin' the love to the reviewers?

Youko: I hadn't forgotten you silly, I just like to keep you on your toes. I never forget that sort of thing.

Gets suspicious looks from all the cast members…

Youko: Okokok stop lookin at me like that. So just maybe I forgot the disclaimer, but I would never forget my WONDERFUL reviewers. So here we go.

Single Rose: As I said before this chapter is dedicated to you. You may be asking why and its because that without you this chapter would still not be done. When I talk to you about all the stories your working on and how often you update it just makes me wanna work on my own stories. Like you've been my motivation. And even if you don't realize it you've given me so many great ideas to put in my stories just by reading what you've done. So yeah after this mushy moment, thanx a million, you're the coolest 7th grader I know!

And to every one else who reviewed thank you so much for you comments and criticisms, you've given me loads of good ideas and for that your wonderful and I hope you like the next chapter!

Alrighty, now to Genkai for her version of the disclaimer.

Genkai: The dimwit doesn't own us, and never will. That's that, now read the story you idiots

Youko: Don't call them that…. they can't be idiots b/c their reading my story. So there. Is everyone ready? Here we go the next installment to Always So Close To Me.

" Why hasn't he woken up yet:

" Kurama would you please clam down, your distracting me."

Our Favorite Youko was hovering above Keiko, following her around the temple, giving her "20 Questions." Tears were still visible on his face although he had stopped crying. If he had on Eyeliner it would be streaming down all over his face. I suppose it's a good thing he wasn't.

It would have been funny…if the situation weren't so horrible… for Kurama at least.

The team of detectives had crossed successfully into the N. The fox cradling the bleeding Fire baby in his arms. As their luck would have it, Yukina was in the temple yard as they approached.

At the sight of her fading brother she dropped the flowerpot she was holing and raced inside to get Genkai.

Hiei was taken inside and placed on a mat. Without losing any time, Genkai and Yukina set to work on mending the Demon's torn body.

While they were working, Yuskue ran and got Keiko to help with the gangs minor wounds.

Now after an hour and a half of tedious healing, the master and ice maiden had done all they could, and Keiko had gone to prepare them some tea.

" But Keiko, they had healed him…shouldn't he be awake?"

" I don't know Kurama… and for the LAST time, I can't pour tea with you hanging over me every second. If you want answers I suggest you consult the doctors."

With those words of Wisdom, the human girl shooed the demon out of the kitchen.

Kurama made his was into the room where the rest of the team, plus Genkai and Yukina were sitting. Before he slid back the door he could here voices murmuring softly from the inside. If he had been in a better mood the Youko would have tried to listen in on their conversation.

As the door opened the voices stopped and all four faces turned to look at him.

I wish they would make it less obvious that they were talking about Hiei and me.

The graceful fox walked to his place at the table and sat down on the floor, all eyes were on him, just waiting. When the silence became more than he could bare he spoke.

" So why hasn't he woken up?"

Keiko was walking around the table pouring tea for everyone…except Yuskue, she made him pour his all by himself.

" He needs time to recover his energy Kurama, you should know that." The elderly woman's voice was a sharp contrast to the redhead sitting across from her.

He just continued to stare at her as she sipped her tea.

" But I want—"

I don't think I should tell them how much I want him back, it will make me look weak. Not that all the crying I did made me look manly.

" We know you want him back Kurama," How did she know that?

"But try to keep your reasoning…you've taken care of him plenty of times when he slept for days to recover his energy. And I'm sure you'd do the same thing in his situation."

" Well, what would he do if he was in my situation? Just sit there and not care?"

The proud demon could feel the tears welling up in his eyes for yet another time. Just thinking about Hiei's wounded body made his heart ache, but thinking about how much Hiei didn't love him was ten times as painful.

And the last thing he was going to do would be to show that big of a weakness in front of his teammates.

So he picked himself up off the floor and walked over to the door, trying to keep his flaming hair in his face to hide the tears.

" Please excuse me."

As the door slid closed again Yuskue looked at his teacher.

" I wonder why hes acting so out of character."

" Love makes you act and think differently Yuskue, that just the way love is."

" So I guess he really likes the guy."

" For once you assume right Kuawbara."

This was the 9th time that Kurama and looked into that mirror. He had his hands placed on either side of the sink, leaning over it, looking at his delicate features in the piece of glass.

His eyes were red and puffy from all the silent crying he had been doing.

Slowly he brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes, only making them redder.

" Damn it Hiei! Why are you doing this to me?"

The demon faced his back to the wall and slid down it until he was sitting on the floor, knees up agents his chest, hugging them.

" I would never do this to you, never in a million years."

All he could do was shake his head back and forth until someone knocked on the bathroom door.

" Kurama are you OK, you've been locked in there for ten minutes."

" Hai Yukina, I'm all right."

As he spoke those words he slid back the door and walked passed the ice maiden, not looking in her eyes.

I just need to get some sleep…

Kurama walked down the hall to his room, passing Yuskue and Kuawbara, dodging questioning looks from each of them.

As gracefully as always, the silver Youko slid in-between the sheets and laid his head on the pillow, meeting a troubled sleep.

The first thing that came to the fire demon's mind when he awoke was the vision of Kurama leaning forward to kiss him, those green pools glimmering with passion that wouldn't be fulfilled.

The next thing he though of was the pounding sensation in his head. To Hiei it seemed as if his brain was trying to beat its way out of his skull.

Fuck my head hurts

He brought his hands up to his head as he studied the room he was in,

How did—how did I get here? Let's see…there was the battle. And the demon, and oh yeah I got stabbed. Then something about "oh God no…its all up to him…"… Kurama, crazy fox.

Then for some strange reason the Koorime felt the sudden urge to see what the Kitsune was doing, he couldn't explain it; it was just a feeling that he had to obey.

He carefully lifted himself off the floor, taking special note to the wound in his stomach.

He slid the bedroom door open and quietly made his way down the hall wondering which room the Fox was in/

The first room he came to was Genkai's, but who was in the second? Could it be Kurama?

Hiei slid the door open and—

Holy damn fucking shit! What the Hell…

The Koorime had opened the door to see his sister lying asleep on the floor, angelic face glimmering in the moonlight. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was the figure lying about 5 feet away….Kuawbara. And for Hiei 3 rooms away wouldn't be far enough, so there's no way 5 feet would be all right.

His arm began to smoke slightly as his anger rose…

Damn that bastard to mother---

" Hiei…"

What…?

Hiei's head whipped around and the smoking on his arm abruptly stopped.

It was barely more that a whisper, but the fire demons ears picked up a soft alto voice speaking his name.

He expected to meet the Youko's eyes, but he was still alone in the dark hallway.

"Hiei…"

The voice seemed troubled now, and almost sad. Slowly following the voice the fire demon made his way down the hall to the last room on the left.

Hiei lifted his hand to the sliding door and stopped. For some reason he was debating about going in, as if it was a sacred ground he had no right to intrude on. He just stood there for a moment until he heard a quite moan from behind the door.

Ah what the hell…

And he slid back the door…..

Oh…

Kurama was lying on his mat, covers twisted around his leith form. His brilliant red main of hair was knotted, tangled and matted to his face with what looked to be a mixture of sweat and tears.

As the koorime looked on, the Youko thrashed in his sleep, clutching the sheets for dear life, face twisting in pain.

Slightly shocked, Hiei made his way over to the Youko and kneeled down beside him. The violent part of the dream seemed to be over, and the redhead just laid there, crying softly in his sleep.

While the small demon sat there, he felt the urge to touch the fox's face. Without thinking twice about it the fire demon lightly traced the outline of Kurama's smooth face with his hand

Instinctively, the Youko leaned his face into the slight touch, and the crying slowly ceased.

Hiei felt a small smile reach his face and the satisfaction of easing Kurama's pain flooded his body. With his satisfaction he flitted from the room, not wanting to wake the sleeping demon.

Maybe I do love him…

It may have been just his imagination, but Kurama swore he had felt a light touch on his face.

Could it have been Hiei?

The fire demon was the only person in the temple that could have disappeared fast enough to not be seen when the Youko opened his eyes to see who had caressed his face.

The silver fox's hand reached up and touched the place where he knew the touch had been…

But he doesn't love me, not like that anyway.

And with a sigh he rolled over and fell back to sleep.

The next morning, the Youko got ready to face the day as he always would. He went into the bathroom and took a shower to fully wake him up, then he put on his outfit for the day and dried his hair, combing it repeatedly to make sure it was as silky as ever.

After washing his face he made his way down he hall trying not to think about the dream he had experienced the night before;

He had been standing in a hallway where the air was a thick dark red color. The kitsune could sense something was wrong, the atmosphere was all screwed up. Then through the fog a well-toned figure began to take form. From the outline one could see the well-muscled body, one arm lifted to a downward diagonal, hand curled around a long smooth sword.

Sensing trouble the red head shifted into his Youko form and immediately his keen eyes pierced through the darkness and honed in on the figure.

It was Hiei…

His normally almond colored eyes were blood red and glimmered with a deadly passion. As he drew closer Kurama's blood ran cold, Hiei wasn't walking toward some unseen adversary, but was making his way toward the Youko.

When they were only a few feet apart a small smile curled on the fire demon's lips.

"I was wondering when you would have the nerve to show up."

"Hiei I don't know what you're talking about."

" Pst…. don't give the that bull shit Kurama. You know damn well why you're here."

The Youko raised his hands…

"Honestly Hiei I have no idea…"

"Shut you mouth Kurama, or do I have to shut it for you?"

With those words the demon ran his sword through Kurama's middle. The kitsune gasped in pain and reached his hand up to the blade as the fire demon pushed it further into the fox's body. As the metal slid into his body, Kurama morphed into his human form and fell to the floor, the tang of the sword covered with his own blood.

As he gasped for breath he managed to ask Hiei what he had done to deserve this.

"Hn. You honestly have no idea? You stole me away from the one person I ever loved thinking I would fall for you. And now I've lost her, never to get her back and its all your fault!"

"Hiei I'm…..sorry."

The last word was barely more than a whisper as red flooded his eyes and the last thing he saw was Hiei's maddening smile looking him in the face…

God, that was a fucked up dream….

Kurama rubbed his face for the final time before slinging back the door that led into the sitting room where the others were waiting.

They were all sitting in a circle talking amongst them selves…although the conversation seemed to be centered around one person sitting to the far left….

A short, black clad fire demon named Hiei.

Kurama had a sharp intake of breath as his heart froze. The Kitsune just stood there in the doorway, one hand still resting on the doorframe.

All eyes turned to him and he tried to smile, but his face was frozen and his eyes glued to the small demon avoiding his gaze.

"Good morning Kurama"

"Yes, Good morning to you as well Genkai."

As he spoke he made his way over to the circle of people and sat directly across from Hiei, never taking his eyes off of him.

"Glad to see your awake Hiei."

The Youko had his normal air of superiority, not wanting to show the excitement and fear that filled him.

"Hn."

"Is that all you can say to me? Just Hn? Come on Hiei look at me."

Cautiously the ruby eyes cast their gaze upon Kurama and the Youko's eyes widened. Hiei's eyes were different…they were the color of blood, just as they were during his dream the night before.

Oh God…

Everyone in the room was silent simply observing the reunion of the two, waiting for someone to speak.

Kurama slowly began to shake his head, images of his dream replaying in his mind.

He saw Hiei's long sword and could feel it as it pushed its way into his body, ripping and tearing at his flesh. He looked up into his eyes…the same blood red and dangerous eyes that were staring at his from across the table. And as he closed his emerald orbs he saw the wicked smile Hiei sent him as his vision blurred and he died.

"No"

It was little more than a whisper, but everyone in the room picked up the sadness in his voice, the desperation and the love.

Slowly he opened his eyes and looked into the fire demon's fiery depths as the tears swelled up once more.

For the second time, the proud Youko Kurama had left the room, trying to cover the tears that were flowing down his pale cheeks.

What the…

All Hiei had done was look at him and the demon had left the room.

" Did I do something?"

"I beliveve Hiei," The old woman said as she sipped her tea, " That Kurama feels you don't love him."

"Well, I don't."

The fire demon stated it mater-of-factly and crossed his arms in front of himself.

"You don't, do you?"

Genkai just raised her cup to her mouth and peered at Hiei over its rim.

"Yes I…,"

Was he really certain he didn't love Kurama? The way he felt when he eased the Kitsune's pain was something that he had only experienced with his sister. And yet the emotion was different, it was warmer and for once in his life made him feel whole. Was this the way love felt? And if so he had to do something before he lost his chance with Kurama forever.

"Well Hiei, do you?"

Yuskue's abrupt question made him realize he was still sitting on the floor staring off into space.

"Hn."

And with that the Koorime stood up and walked out of the room.

"I suppose we'll take that as a "Yes I love him"." Genkai stated as she finished off the rest of her tea.

When Hiei slid open the door to Kurama's room the Kitsune was lying face down on his mat, shaking slightly.

" Kurama…"

The redhead looked up through his hair and at the sight of the fire demon turned his face back down.

"Please just go away Hiei."

Hiei debated his options. He could either walk over to Kurama and figure out what was bothering him or the half-breed could just simply walk out of the room and pretend like he felt nothing for the Kitsune, and hope things would go back to normal.

He decided on the first option.

After taking a deep breath the Koorime made his way over to the somber fox and kneeled down beside him. The Youko didn't look up but Hiei could see his body tense up when he felt the fire demon sit down.

"Kurama….Kurama?"

Hiei's only reply was silence. Clearly the usually talkative fox was going to have to be persuaded. But such an act would mean that the usually quiet Koorime would be doing most of the talking.

For Kurama it was worth it.

"Fox….care to um…tell me whats wrong?"

Slowly the red head lifted his face and looked at Hiei with sad pain filled eyes.

"I c-can't"

"Come on Kurama, tell me what's bothering you."

The Youko seemed to be considering something for a moment, suddenly deciding against it.

"I'll sound s-stupid if I t-tell you.

"That's not a very good answer fox, tell me."

Kurama tilted his head slightly, causing some of his tear drenched locks to fall over his face.

Kurama sat in thought as Hiei continued to stare at him.

The Kitsune thought back to the day, months ago, when he was just about to tell Hiei how much he loved the small demon. That day he hesitated on his choice and almost lost his beloved demon for good. He was not going to make the same mistake twice.

"Hiei, I felt that…I f-felt that you didn't love me."

He felt his confidence returning…

"Now before you say anything I just wanted you to know that I've loved you for a long time and I've never been so sure of anything in my life and no matter what you say I will still love you."

Kurama closed his eyes and braced him self for the let down he was sure was going to happen.

"Kurama," The kitsune winced, "How could you ever think that?"

I knew it! He doesn't--- .wait a second…

The Youko cracked open one eye and looked at the Korrime suspiciously.

"What?"

"You hear me the first time Kitsune, I'm not going to repeat me self."

"But, but I thought you hated me."

Hiei tilted his head slightly and looked into Kurama's deep green pools…

"How did you come up with that idea?"

On an impulse the fire demon brought his hand up to Kurama's face, and gently touched his tear stained cheek, just as he had the night before. And just as before Kurama closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

Hiei rubbed his thumb along his face and Kurama softly breathed in.

"So I did feel someone touch my face last night."

"Hn. I heard all he noise you were making and it just seemed like a good idea."

Kurama couldn't believe that Hiei had done such a caring thing for him. Overwhelmed with emotion he closed his eyes and leaned forward, just as he had done in Moruko's palace.

Except for this time, he met more that air.

Youko: Ok another chapter finished! I hope everyone liked it, im not really good with mushy stuff. So yeah PLEASE read and review!

Yuskue: When the next chapter gonna be finished?

Youko: Soon, very soon young grasshopper, patients is a vertue…..