Chapter 13 Hangover

Hiei was sitting in Genkai's main room, listening to the others complain about their hangovers while Genkai served lunch but his thoughts were elsewhere. For starters, Yukina could barely look at him, and he at her. He had no idea what to do. Maybe if he ignored what had happened, they would resume things as normal. Hiei needed to talk to Kurama about this. Then there was Mîra… she was still passed out when Hiei woke up. If she remembered what had transpired between them the previous night things would be more difficult than they already were. Her sweet scent was still in his nose, her irresistible taste in his mouth, the electricity in her touch lingered in his skin and it was driving him crazy.

A part of him wanted to grab her and kiss her again, hoping that by being sober it would wash his desires from her but he had a nagging feeling that it would only make things worse. The biggest problem was that the desire he felt to kiss her sober was only an excuse to do it again, since he actually liked the sensations that aroused from his intimacy with her. Annoyed at himself for allowing such petty emotions to sweep him, he tried to focus on the rice in front of him.

"Thank Kami your parents are watching Ryuji," Yusuke moaned to Keiko who was frowning down at him.

"I told you, you can't drink like you used to Yusuke," his wife sighed as she poured him more hot tea.

"My headache isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Boton chirped. The room glared at her and she laughed nervously.

"That's because Kurama shoved a gallon of water down your throat before you passed out," Kuwabara grumbled, looking ill himself.

Hiei grew bored of the complaints and his thoughts wandered again to the newfound emotions that had awakened in him. He wasn't used to not knowing how his emotions should be. He knew himself, his body, and he had learned to react to things a certain way. Hiei liked his distance, it allowed him to observe and make assessments. As a result, he had few people he cared to interact with on a regular basis and he was content with this. When he was with Kurama, he knew to expect to be surprised. With Mukuro he expected contentment and harmless banter. But with Mîra he was unable to control any of his actions.

He could blame it on the alcohol but deep down Hiei seriously wondered if he would have felt the uncontrollable urges if he was sober, especially since his lusty desires for her had not tapered like he hoped they would. That only confused him more as he tried to piece together how he had come to feel carnally for her. Apparently throwing a woman, a previous enemy aside, into his daily life interrupted anything and everything the way his body used to behave and how he expected it to behave. But it had to be more than that, after all he worked with Mukuro daily for a few years. During all that time he had never felt any lustful desires towards her, their relationship was purely platonic.

"So what did we do last night?" Boton asked. She was leaning against Kurama who was sipping on some tea.

"I don't know but there is a large pounding in my head," Yukina said, pouting slightly. She was sitting next to Kuwabara who jumped up and cried,

"Yukina-chan! I shall take care of you with some aspirin!"

"It doesn't work on demons, fool," Hiei said irritably. He had already tried that to no avail, not that he liked taking human medicine anyway. Kuwabara shot him a look silently and Hiei knew he was still trying to figure out why exactly Yukina had been calling him niicahn. Genkai handed Yukina another warm tea which seemed to be the only remedy that worked for Hiei at the current moment. He didn't know where reasoning he used to take that much alcohol came from but he wasn't ever doing it again.

"I'm pretty sure Shizuru went home with that guy she met…" Boton said thoughtfully, ignoring the shocked look on Kuwabara's face. "But we took way too many shots at the first club!"

"Hah! You're telling me. Ancestors, I feel awful," a voice sighed.

Hiei didn't have to glance behind him to know that Mîra was awake. She moved over to the open spot next to him, her white hair brushing his shoulder as she sat down. He caught her eyeing him for a moment before she took the tea and food Genkai offered.

"You humans know how to make alcohol with a kick!" She exclaimed before taking a sip of the tea.

"Of course! Hahaha!" Boton said cackling. "So we went to the first club and then…" Her gazed snapped to Mîra. "You got us kicked out of the club!" She pointed her finger accusingly at Mîra who wagged her finger while she drank her tea.

When she finished drinking she said, "I got myself and Shizuru kicked out of the club for kicking that guy across the room. You got kicked out for trying to dance on the bar." Yukina and Keiko laughed as Boton laughed nervously while Kurama shook his head.

"What did we do next? It's a little fuzzy," Yukina said frowning.

There was a silence until Mîra and Boton exclaimed at the same time, "The park!"

Keiko immediately flushed red and Yukina laughed. "Oh yes, you all went swimming!"

Yusuke grinned mischievously at his wife, "Keiko… you went skinny dipping and you didn't tell me?" She responded with a slap to Yusuke's face while Kuwabara looked at Yukina shocked.

"You too Yukina-chan?" Kuwabara asked, mortified.

"No," she responded sweetly. He looked relieved until she followed, "They said I made the water too cold so I had to stay out." Her stared at her shocked while everyone else laughed.

"Looks like Shizuru and I did a good job last night," Mîra said grinning. Hiei noticed that she was making a point not to look at him which led him to believe she probably remembered. Great.

"I can't believe you two ran around a part of the lake and back. You two nearly got us in serious trouble!" Keiko complained and Mîra grinned triumphantly.

"Boton dared us to! And it's not my fault that Shizuru is slow and caught the cops attention."

"That's why the cops were there?" Kuwabara exclaimed. Everyone began talking over each other, the girls about how they knew and Kuwabara and Kurama trying to get more details.

"Woah-woah! Hang on a sec!" Yusuke said, spreading his arms, cutting off everyone. He eyed the girls suspiciously. "You went streaking?"

"Nope, just Shizuru and I," Mîra said simply as she took a bite of her food.

Hiei chocked on his tea and stared at his wife in shock. She noticed the look on his face and shrugged her shoulders. "What? I've always wanted too and Boton dared us to do it and I do not back out of dares, ever."

"They went skinny dipping and streaking…" Yusuke said slowly. His face then reared in anger towards Hiei, "And we missed it!"

"Tch, how is that my fault?" Hiei said.

"You were the one tracking them!" Instantly each girls gaze snapped onto Hiei and they looked angry. Hiei may not know much about women, but he knew enough that if he didn't say the right thing, he had to get out of the room before any of them could pounce. Thinking about it again, Mîra would probably be the only one who wouldn't be afraid to go after him. Tch, stupid humans.

"You saw all of us naked?" Boton roared.

He glared at her and her anger dissolved immediately and she sat down clutching Kurama's arm. "No, I focused on one of you. I didn't see anyone naked." These girls were so obnoxious but they seemed diffused and no one asked who he kept an eye on. If he hadn't seen Mîra naked then he was obviously looking at Yukina. There was a silence before Boton picked the conversation back up again.

"Hm, after we got away from the cops we went to the next club where we ran into you guys," Boton said thoughtfully. "I don't remember much after that."

"Me neither," Mîra said thoughtfully.

There was another silence before Keiko spoke, "Well at least we didn't have a camera. I don't even want to know what could have been uploaded to the internet!"

"Actually, Shizuru-san did have a camera," Yukina said sweetly and Keiko paled while Yusuke, Boton, and Mîra laughed loudly.

"Well, either way, last night totally ruled!" Boton exclaimed excitedly.

"I'll second that," Mîra said. Out of the corner of his eye Hiei saw her pull back her hair into a low ponytail, exposing her shoulders and collarbone quite tastefully… Hiei snapped his attention back to the rest of the group.

"We should do it again!" Yukina said and Kuwabara looked at her shocked and began crying out about how she had become corrupted but no one was really paying attention. Instead, they seemed to focus their gaze on Mîra who was eating breakfast, their gazes unnoticed so far. Keiko had a wry smile on her face while Yusuke was grinning wolfishly. Boton was covering her mouth, presumably trying not to laugh and Kurama looked slightly amused.

Mîra looked up from her food, eyeing them slowly. "What?"

Hiei saw Yukina about to say something but Kuwabara whispered something into her ear. She turned up to him, confused and whispered something to him and he whispered back. Her face then flushed red and she looked down at the ground embarrassed.

"So, Mîra, you and Hiei got back before any of us did last night," Yusuke said slyly, a wolfish grin on his face.

Hiei's face immediately flushed red. Oh no, he had to stop this now.

"And?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well, I'm just wondering if that is a bruise or," he paused and leaned forward and winked, "something else."

She turned to Hiei confused while Yusuke and Kuwabara burst into laughter. Hiei's eyes widened when he saw what they were talking about. In the crook of her neck was a large purple mark on her skin. He averted his eyes from her, embarrassed. Shit, he must have kissed her neck a little too hard the previous night…

"That isn't funny!" Keiko yelled, whacking Yusuke.

"Yeah!" Boton said. She stood and hit Kuwabara on the head while Yukina sat next to him confused.

"What the hell is going on?" Mîra snapped angrily.

"Just come with us," Boton said and she and Keiko pulled Mîra back into the rooms.

When they were gone, Yusuke and Kuwabara burst into laughter. Hiei looked over at Kurama who had a wry smile on his face.

"Way to go Hiei! I didn't know you had it in you, man!" Yusuke howled.

Hiei glared at Yusuke furiously before darting out of the room. He needed to get away from there, get some air, and clear his head. Hiei jumped up, intending to land on tree branch when another smacked him in the head. Loosing balance and falling on his back, he swore, remembering that he was still taller than usual.

He lay on his back looking up at the sky, not really wanting to move. He was tired of hitting his head and his mind was reeling. The previous night was… well… he couldn't say he didn't like it. He actually liked it a lot but it was just lust. He saw her once as an attractive woman and now he couldn't seem to see her any differently but what he felt last night was lust. He had felt it before, a long time ago, but then again it wasn't nearly as strong as the previous night.

Hiei frowned as he pondered his feelings. Sure, he cared about her wellbeing and if she was content but he didn't care for her. Did he? He shook off the question, of course he didn't. He was sure she didn't care for him either, even if she cared about him. To Hiei, there was a difference. If Kurama were here he would probably ask, why does there need to be a difference? He stared disgruntled at the sky. Tch, if he could predict the fox's questions on his own then he knew they were spending too much time together.

A presence neared him and he sat up and slowly pulled himself to his feet. Kurama was standing before him, his hands in his jeans pockets while staring at him with his all-knowing face. "We are all heading out, Hiei. Mîra is in your room, in case you wanted to know."

Hiei stared at his friend uncertain. Kurama walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, you know. There are things you can't help, attraction is one of them."

"It was just lust," Hiei scowled and Kurama raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"Are you sure?"

Hiei didn't respond for a moment. "What makes you so sure it isn't?" he asked coolly.

Kurama leaned against a tree and looked up at the sky. "The way you looked at her when she was fighting back in Hideki's hideout." He paused before continuing, "I had never seen that look on your face before. After all these years and you managed to surprise me," he chuckled.

Hiei slipped his hands in his pockets. How was he looking at her? Due to Yusuke's reaction, he thought it was a rather lecherous look, which was quite unlike him. But what did Kurama see?

Kurama looked over at him and chuckled. "You looked at her in awe. Not the terrified kind, but the wondrous kind. It was as though you were seeing her in a completely new light."

Hiei wasn't sure what to think. He had seen her differently but he didn't think it was like that…

"Hiei, you shouldn't think things through on your own. Just go talk to her, it might help," Kurama suggested. Hiei glared at him but before he could talk Kurama said, "Hiei, relationships are a two way street, it doesn't do either party any good to work through things alone."

He then left quietly and Hiei frowned. The fox had a point, as usual. He went back over to the temple and walked onto the overhang towards where the outside door to their room was. He saw her sitting adjacent to the walkway, leaning against one of the posts, thinking. She had changed into a regular pair of jeans and a fitted white tanktop and her hair was in a single braid, resting over her shoulder. The mark he had left on her seemed less bold than it had before but he could see the dark mark clearly against her pale skin.

She didn't acknowledge him as he walked over to her but she brought up her legs so her knees were pointed in the air, leaving him room to sit. He sat down across from her and she shifted again, letting one of her legs dangle over the edge of the overhang while resting her arm on her propped up knee. Hiei noticed that she had replaced the hoops in her ears with studs. Her ears twitched as a gentle breeze passed them and he caught her sweet scent in the wind. Her eyes stared out pensively and her pink lips were settled in a complacent look. Even in the simplest of clothing, she was alluring.

The quiet between them held solidly and Hiei's anxiety was calmed by the still but comfortable silence. He usually wasn't this calm around the woman, in fact he was usually the opposite, and the feeling was nice. He wouldn't have gone so far as to say that she was soothing him or that there was contentment between them but he was at peace. A part of him told him he was being ridiculous, that finding solace in this woman was foolish and absurd. The other part of his mind said to shut up and just enjoy the moment. So that's what he did.

"Was it hot?"

His gaze refocused and he narrowed his eyes at her. What the hell did that mean?

She looked at him, and he expected her to be angry but he face looked rather peaceful and slightly amused. He frowned, she had asked the question because she was genuinely curious.

"Because, I mean, this," she said pointing to the mark on her neck, "phew, it must have been to have received something like this."

He blushed and looked away from her, not wanting to answer.

"I don't really remember what happened after we left the club. I know I threw up but beyond that…" She let her voice trail off and Hiei glanced at her as he tried to make his sudden nervousness not apparent as he spoke.

"We didn't… um, you know," He mumbled. Um? Um? Hiei wanted to punch himself for sounding so stupid. He had never said that word before! Kami, this woman…

"What? Oh, of course we didn't. I knew that."

He looked at her, slightly confused and she said, "Well I remember that I threw up which is a major turn off, and I was completely clothed when I woke up." She raised an eyebrow at him. "You've never had drunk sex before have you?"

"Hn," he growled and he snapped his gaze away from her.

"Not a word," He heard her sigh. Out of the corner of his eye he watched her lean her head back against the post and she looked up at the sky again.

"You know, I really wanted to resent you for the rest of my life."

Her tone wasn't angry, rather it was contemplative. He decided to sneak a look at her and he saw her staring off in the distance, a small wistful smile on her face.

"When I was a little girl, I imagined falling in love at first sight with a tall, dark haired elf, have the most beautiful wedding known to anyone and we would live happily ever after." She chuckled and Hiei didn't say anything. It would be easier that way.

"Obviously I grew out of the whole love at first sight thing, but the wedding…" she sighed deeply and Hiei felt the twinge of guilt he first had when they had first started living together. But something stronger stirred in him, and he narrowed his eyes as he said,

"I'm not sorry for marrying you."

She looked at him, bewildered for a moment before smiling softly. "Of course not. I would have done the same thing. I didn't mean to imply… It's just that, I can't help but not like you."

Hiei's eyes widened as he stared into her resigned ones. She… what?

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not saying I'm in love with you or anything," she scoffed rolling her eyes. "But, I always thought I knew what I was looking for," she continued, her voice softer. "And I hit a… rough patch before the war. I escaped into the war as a result and I thought of nothing else. I was a blind soldier wanting to escape into something I was good at." She eyed him slyly and said, "I was really good at it."

"But when I met you, you were just…. Your eyes…" Her words trailed off and she looked at him with a nostalgic awe. "They were so fierce. None of the other generals I had encountered carried the same ferociousness and arrogance that you did that day. I was intrigued and I knew I just had to fight you. I didn't think I'd win but I'd put up a hell of a fight to say the least. I was surprised initially when you declined my offer for a one on one match but then I realized you wanted to kill us all.

"It must have been easier for you, elves aren't like demons. We are more like humans when it comes to intellect and growth. But demons come in vastly wide ranges of intelligence and strength. The field made sense for the battle you wanted. I had the most forces after receiving reinforcements." Her eyes looked haunted now but he didn't say anything, he regretted none of the decisions he made from the war.

"I didn't fight Mukuro and Yomi personally, I knew I would lose. I had no interest to either. Their eyes were cold and dark. But you, the fight I had with you was something I had never experienced before. It was like I had known you for a long time without knowing you at all."

She turned back to him and her eyes studied his face, her visage serious until she broke into a bright smile and said, "Your eyes are really pretty, you know that?"

He just stared at her, speechless. No one had ever complimented his eyes before, not that he ever cared what anyone thought about his eyes… the eyes of his mother and sister. They were the only connection to the mother who loved him to the point of death and she thought they were pretty. He didn't know how to respond to her, he could only stare at her as she laughed prettily.

"You don't talk to girls much do you?" She asked.

"Hn," he said.

She laughed again and said, "How many times do we have to go over this? You can't use an expression as a word!"

Normally, he would have found this to be irritating. She always had to say something when he used his usual expression. No one else did, which is why he should have found her reprimand irritating. He didn't. Instead he found it to be… comforting. It was something that they shared and secretly, after hearing her laugh, he liked it.

"Tch, will you ever get bored of chastising me, woman?" He glared at her but she grinned.

"Never," she said her lavender eyes twinkling. Kami, her eyes were beautiful.

There was a pause before she spoke again, her expression changing. "Anyway, it was your eyes that did me in, I think. They're so dark, deep, and powerful." He watched her as she looked at him lustily and his eyes narrowed. Her expression was one he had seen before many times on demons he had defeated or killed, she was power hungry.

"You were strong, fiery, and you so happened to have a dragon. I couldn't help but be intrigued by you. I've always been attracted to power. Not money or sex, but real power that comes from strength of the body, mind, and heart. I think that's why I worked so hard in my studies to prepare to be Queen. The thought of being in charge of a whole country used to send shivers down my spine."

Her voice flowed past him smoothly, her eyes staring were haughtily now and he felt his heartbeat quicken. He swallowed, struggling to keep the rising urges inside of him contained. How in Kami's name was she doing that? Frustrated, Hiei felt she could just flip a switch that turned him into an idiot.

She closed her eyes and her face went blank, as though she was trying to calm herself down. She leaned back and to Hiei's relief she looked upward at the sky again.

"Ah, it's a good thing I was never an Angulóce Tae. I would have been consumed." She glanced down to him and continued, "After we were wed, I was battling with hatred and that intrigue. But the intrigue won. That and you were so nice to me. Well, maybe nice isn't the right word. More like, dutiful. That probably softened me up too."

There was another silence before she turned her head towards him and asked,

"Do you think I'm attractive? Not in a sexual way, just, well when you look at me normally."

Hiei didn't want to answer, partially because he didn't know what to say. So he asked, "Do you find me attractive?"

This time, it was her turn to blush and look away. Hiei smirked, satisfied at her response. Inside he was surprised after his initial reaction. He liked knowing she thought he was attractive and he liked hearing it even more. That was new.

"I, well… I always thought you were pretty good looking even though I usually don't find shorter men attractive. Last night, however… I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep my hands off you. It wasn't because you were suddenly tall either. Well maybe that was a small part, but seeing you sitting there so satisfied and arrogant at seeing the shock in my face…" She let the words trail off before turning to him, a playful smirk on her face. "So now it's your turn to answer."

"Tch, what do you think?" He snapped, blushing terribly. He did however enjoy the innocent blush that crossed her surprised face. They sat in silence for a moment, both of them slightly embarrassed, before she turned to him, glaring. Or at least sternly, she was still blushing too terribly to really work up a threatening look.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you sneaking into my potions, not to mention my workspace. I am not happy about that. If you've touched anything in there I promise you will not like life for the next few days."

He stared at her evenly. "Tch, why bother holding your insufferable temper?" He knew that when she brought the hellfire on him, she never hesitated. But this time, she sighed, and smiled wistfully.

"And miss out on Maria and Claudia chiding you as well? I don't think so," she joked. The humor in her face disappeared as she continued, "Honestly I'm too hungover. And," she stared into his eyes, "I'm tired. Really tired."

Hiei was tired too. He was tired of trying to figure her out. He was tired of being on edge with her emotionally. He was tired of the underlying strain between them. The only time he truly wasn't tired with her was when they were sparring. The hunger in them to fight, to win was the only thing that brought him peace around her, at least when he wasn't momentarily distracted by her body. But how did he fix it? How could he find enough common ground with her emotionally? She still made off hand comments about disliking him. He didn't dislike her but he wasn't fully comfortable around her either.

"You know something?" She sat up on her knees and took his right hand in her hands. He looked up at her surprised as she brought his hand to her cheek. Her face was soft and cool underneath his warm rough hands and if his face wasn't completely red by this point then he didn't know what else could possibly put him in this state of confusion, embarrassment, contentment, and shock.

He expected her to say something but instead she closed her eyes and began to sing softly. As she began to glow the dragon on his arm stirred. His watched, shocked, as a smaller version of Koku slithered off his arm and draped itself around her neck. She continued to sing and the dragon rubbed her muzzle against her face. Hiei found the scene… cute. Kami, she was turning him into an idiot and now making him use stupid words?

Still… she looked really happy and Hiei couldn't help but feel (not that any of his recent emotions he could help) content knowing that she wasn't miserable anymore. She stopped singing and smiled at him gently.

"You know something, Herven?" The way she said the last word, it was so tender so... affectionate. Hiei's heart beat quickened as he stared at her, entranced by the shining, soft look on her face.

"I give up," she said simply.

She… gave up? Gave up disliking him. Gave up trying to fight him and herself. She wasn't surrendering, she was acknowledging that what she was struggling against was foolish because her discontent against him didn't really exist. If it did, it was because he took her from her home and was small. He doubted that resentment would ever go away but he was okay with that. But if she was giving up, what did that mean for him?

Mîra stood, his hand slipping from her cheek. He watched her, intrigued and curious as she spoke. "I've been a really bad Princess lately and an even worse wife. My father would be ashamed. I'll do better from now on, I promise!" She said, her eyes brimming with determination. She looked down at him for acknowledgement, and Hiei stood up. She continued talking, Koku darting up to her head.

"I need to start hosting guests properly, start up a garden, and oh! There has to be a library somewhere in the fortress and-"

"Queen," Hiei said, looking at her evenly.

She stopped talking and looked at him, shocked and confused. "What?" she asked.

"Tch, I thought you were smarter than this. I'm a King so that makes you a Queen," Hiei said locking his eyes on hers.

Suddenly her arms were around his neck and he stepped back to keep his balance. He placed his hands on her back and gingerly slid them across so his arms enveloped her. He inhaled deeply, bathing in her wonderful scent. Kami this woman drove him crazy but at least she was his. That was worth something, right?

She moved her arms as she brought her head evenly with his, and Hiei was lost in her eyes. He closed his eyes as he leaned in to close the gap between them when he felt an odd tingling sensation throughout his body. He felt her step back, out of his arms and he snapped his eyes open to see the curves of her bosom staring back.

He blinked and then looked up at her and she was staring back at him, bewildered. Then she started to laugh and Hiei realized that the potion had just worn off, reverting him back to his wonderful, shorter height. He then frowned, irritated. Of course it would wear off, just as they were about to-

"Haha, don't look so smug! Hurry up and change! I want to go grab some lunch and ice cream before we head back home," Mîra said, cutting off his thoughts and opening the sliding door.

Hiei was sure something had changed between them and it was for the better. He didn't know where he stood with her emotionally, but he could like a woman who not only enjoyed sweet snow but who refused to let go of his hand on the walk there.