Although Hiei still hadn't found himself brave enough (or, as he saw it, stupid enough) to tell Kurama how he really felt, all of a sudden he had no problem showing Kurama how he felt. And he felt wonderful. When it came to love, Hiei thought it was something he would never truly get to experience. If he encountered the concept, he had always felt awkward, flustered, embarrassed, nervous, and sometimes even shy. Where had that gone? It seemed to have evaporated, replaced by something Hiei had never felt before.

It was something light and airy, something that made his heart pound, his lips curve into a smile, his fingers and toes tingle, his stomach flutter, and—most surprising of all—it was something that made laughter well up deep inside him and bubble out as if from a hot spring. And the laughter didn't empty him; it filled him up, as if he had just finished a nice warm mug of hot chocolate.

The day after the Christmas Ball, Hiei and Kurama went on a real date, which went miraculously well. Yukina, while beaming ecstatically, would jokingly say, "Hiei's got it bad," while Kuwabara seemed dumbfounded at the 180 in Hiei's demeanor. Kurama came over almost every day, and when he didn't, he and Hiei would pass the time passionately making out in the back room of his store, although they still hadn't done anything below the neck. Hiei wanted to spend as much time with Kurama as possible before he had to leave Kosetsu. And the truth was, he never would have put it that way before. He had been so reluctant to stay in this town to begin with, yet now…Hiei knew he had to leave, but sometimes he thought he didn't want to.

Things were going absolutely wonderfully in Kosetsu now, and Hiei didn't see how anything could possibly burst his happy balloon—until one day, less than a week before Christmas, he went to Kurama's shop to make out with him again, and what he saw was an instant mood-killer.

Going out of business. Everything must go. 90% off everything…

Hiei's heart, just seconds ago a weightless cloud, dropped like a stone to his feet. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. Hiei had known that this shop was struggling, of course, but deep down, he'd always believed that Kurama would find a way to get the money paid off, a way to get the company making money again. He never thought this would actually happen.

For a moment, Hiei hesitated, wondering if he should just go home, but maybe Kurama really needed him. So he swallowed hard, and headed into the shop.

"Kurama?" said Hiei softly.

There was no response for a moment, but then Kurama walked into sight, his emerald-green eyes downcast. It certainly looked like he had lost sleep over this, and maybe some weight, too. Hiei felt terrible. That composed, confident, attractive man was now gone, replaced by one who looked desperate, helpless, and, well, like someone who was losing his livelihood and was going to have to file for bankruptcy.

"Good afternoon, Hiei," he said in a falsely cheery voice.

"I-I…" Hiei looked around the store, still unable to believe it. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Kurama muttered. "There's nothing you could have done to prevent it."

"But you don't deserve this," Hiei said angrily, wishing there was something, anything, that he could do. "If only the bank was under different management…"

"It wouldn't have made much of a difference," Kurama finished morosely. "The truth is, although perhaps a different bank manager might help me out by extending my deadline, or even giving me more loans, it wouldn't fix the problem."

"So what?! So what?!" Hiei fumed, slamming his fist down on the counter. "Yomi is doing this on purpose! He thinks he loves you, but he doesn't! He doesn't want you to be happy. He wants you to suffer because you refused his advances. That's not real love! Just because you rejected that bitter asshole—why was it Kuronue? Why couldn't Yomi have taken a goddamn dirt nap instead?"

Hiei realized just then that if that had been the case, he wouldn't have been doing these loving sorts of things with Kurama, but he didn't even care about that right now. All he wanted was for Kurama to be able to save his business, and for Yomi to get off his back. Couldn't Kurama see that Yomi didn't care about the money? All that bastard wanted was to make Kurama miserable, whether it happened to be in line with the bank policy or not.

"There are times I've wondered that, too, Hiei." Kurama sighed. "Especially because if he was still here, I wouldn't be going out of business to begin with."

Yes, that was right. Hiei remembered another conversation they'd had, not so long ago.

"You're going to be okay, Kurama," said Hiei. "I'm sure you'll find a way to turn things around before your deadline."

"Thank you, Hiei," Kurama said, "but the truth is, I don't have a lot of business sense. The reason I was valuable to the company was because I was the one with the green thumb. I grew all the plants and made all the products. But there's no point in being able to make and grow things if you can't sell them. Kuronue was always the brains behind that."

"Kurama," said Hiei, "if you don't mind telling me…How did Kuronue die?"

Hiei expected Kurama to say that it was none of his business and that yes, he did mind telling, but he didn't. Instead, he stayed silent a moment, then came out from behind the counter to stand next to Hiei.

"It happened one sunny afternoon, years ago, a few days before we were supposed to have our wedding…" Kurama swallowed. "We were on a rock-climbing trip, and we'd just reached a cliff when Kuronue's pendant—he always wore this pendant he really liked—got snagged by a tree branch and broke. It landed way too close to the edge of the cliff. I told him to leave it, but he said, 'I need it!' Then his foot slipped, and, well…"

"Oh," Hiei said quietly, wishing he could think of something more.

"I couldn't save him, Hiei," said Kurama, staring down at the ground. "I tried to go after him, to stop him, but I wasn't quick enough. His death was ruled an accident, and nobody blamed me but, well, me."

"And you shouldn't blame yourself for that, Kurama," said Hiei earnestly. "An accident is no one's fault."

"That's what they said." Kurama sighed. "But it doesn't help."

"Do…do you want me to stay with you here?" Hiei asked finally.

"No, I'll manage," said Kurama, and Hiei could tell he wanted to be left alone, even if he was too polite to say so. "Yukina is probably waiting for you back home."

"I'm really sorry," said Hiei, looking around the shop. "I wish there was something I could do about all of this."

"I know, Hiei," Kurama replied. "But there isn't."

Hiei thought about it all the way home, and he came to a conclusion—Kurama was wrong. There was something Hiei could do. All it would take were some emails, some phone calls, and some skilled corporate lawyers.

…

"Kurama! Kurama!"

Hiei didn't think he would feel happy or excited as he rushed into a store that was going out of business, but he was, because he had something very important tucked into his business suit, something that would solve all of Kurama's problems.

"Is that you, Hiei?" Kurama came out of the back room again, holding an interesting-looking plant Hiei didn't recognize. "What are you so happy about?"

"I have something to help save your business!" said Hiei cheerfully. "Take a look at this."

Kurama raised his eyebrows and watched as Hiei retrieved the new business contract and set it down on the counter.

"What is this?" he said slowly.

"It's a contract," Hiei told him. "I spoke with some lawyers and my boss, and we came up with this investment contract. All you have to do is sign, and we'll give you the money you need to pay back the bank and save your business."

But Kurama was already reading over the contact. When he was through, he lowered the paper to stare directly into Hiei's eyes.

"What did I tell you about investments, Hiei?" he said softly.

"I-I know, you said you didn't want to find an investor," Hiei quickly acknowledged. "But this is a really good deal."

"It's 70-30, in favor of the investors," Kurama observed. "You call that a good deal?"

"Okay, maybe it isn't the best deal," Hiei admitted, "but you need it!"

"I most certainly do not need it, Hiei." Kurama set the contract down on the counter in obvious disgust. "I can't believe you would write a contract like this without telling me. Is that what this whole thing was about? You were trying to get close to me so you could get your investment?"

"Wha—no!" Hiei said frantically. "I didn't do it for me! I just did it to help you!"

"Help?" Kurama picked up the contract and held it out to Hiei again. "I think you've helped quite enough today, Hiei. Tell your boss I said no."

"You're being ridiculous!" Hiei shot back, suddenly feeling a surge of anger, though he wasn't quite sure why. "You were right when you said you didn't have any business sense! You're still clinging to your stupid vision from all those years ago—what, you think your Kuronue would have just let the business die so it could be all his?"

Kurama's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I know he wouldn't have signed something like this."

"Then what? What would he have done?" Hiei shouted, but he didn't wait for an answer. "You know what? I don't even care! Go right ahead and file for bankruptcy, what do I care? You're just like this whole idiot town, you know that? You think you're going to find all that money on an envelope in the street? You think you'll win the lottery? You think some Christmas miracle is going to come along and save the day? Well, it WON'T, because they DON'T EXIST! That's not the way the world works! It's all a bunch of shit, and until you realize that, you'll stay right where you are."

Hiei took a great, shuddering breath, giving Kurama a glare, and turned around.

"I'll see myself out," he said, and left.