-1I would like to thank my first ever reviewer (you know who you are)! Another author on this site offered her reviewers cookies, so if I had any cookies and could magically transport them through the internet, you would have LOTS of cookies! THANK YOU!!
And I don't own YYH, nor will I in the future, I'm fairly certain, so consider this my disclaimers for all remaining chapters I have yet to write.
Mae rose in the morning, shivering and alone. She cast around for Kurama, but he was nowhere to be found.
Puzzling over his absence, she dressed and ate a quick breakfast before he finally emerged from the forest, looking grim.
The minute he saw her, he turned away and busied himself with packing up camp.
She raised an eyebrow, but helped Ruki fold their sheet without reply, assuming he was just having a bad day.
But Mae began to grow concerned when he stayed as far away from her on the journey that afternoon as possible, rather than walking at her side as usual.
Later, when she asked him questions and tried to begin conversations, he would respond with only 'yes' or no', and eventually, his scowl deepened to the point where Mae got upset and refused to talk to him as well, which came as a relief to him.
When the group stopped to make lunch, Mae decided to take action.
Waiting until his back was turned, and thus, his guard was down, she seized his wrist and pulled him off into the forest unseen.
"Mae-" he protested wearily.
"No. We're going to discuss this," Mae said patiently, pulling him persistently along.
"There isn't anything to-" he argued stubbornly.
"Yes there is!" Mae declared, coming to a clearing and dropping his hand. "What is your problem?" she demanded, turning on him like a predator does particularly rebellious prey; like it's personal.
Kurama glowered at her, then in one swift move, tugged her to him by her collar and pressed his lips to hers in a searing kiss.
He pulled back after a moment, his eyes a deep forest green, "That's what's wrong!" he rasped, panting.
He turned on his heel and walked a few paces away to put some distance between them, lest he lose control and kiss her again. Or more.
Mae took a wobbly step forward and sucked in a slow breath, as if taking a drag on a cigarette. A few more steps. She was facing him.
"I don't see anything wrong with it," she whispered huskily. She stood on tiptoe and captured his face for another kiss. He smelled glorious.
He sighed and returned it, surrendering to the affection he'd harbored secretly for too long. Reveling in the silk of her skin under his hands.
Meanwhile, hiding in a nearby shrub, a demon spied greedily on the two reunited lovers.
"Well, well, if mother hasn't found a new distraction…" a deep, pondering voice poised, amused, "must've been lonely without my father," he chuckled.
His father, the king of thieves Youko Kurama, had obviously died valiantly, fighting till the end, just as he, Kuri, would somedayAllhe wanted was to be like his long-lost father.
And he would be the minute he seized control of the underworld. All he had left to do before all came crumbling down for the good-guys was to defeat the team that the joke Koenma had sent to stop him. Even his mommy was on board. He spat scornfully on the soil beside him. "Bitch…"
Mae pulled back suddenly and stood very still. "Did you hear that?"
"I didn't hear anything," Kurama shook his head.
"Hmm…odd…" she frowned, still uneasy, "We should head back before the others worry."
Kurama nodded and took her hand before leading the way out of the foliage.
Kuri laughed wickedly. "You'll be the first to go, mother-dearest. You and your new pet."
Back at camp, Ruki was boiling some tea.
Yusuke and Kuwabara were playing football with a knotted up shirt, while Hiei sat near the fire sharpening his sword.
Ruki bent down to pluck the kettle off the coals, when the shirt (which they had dipped in the nearby river to make heavier) hit her square in the chest, startling her, and causing her to jump and spill the boiling water down her front.
She cried out in agony, her nerves jumping and sizzling up and down her ribs.
Hiei looked up immediately, and was at her side in seconds. He quickly saw what had happened. Casting the most disapproving glare he had in his power to Yusuke and Kuwabara, who were looking shocked and pale, he took the shaking girl by the shoulders and led her to a nearby log to sit on. "Take off your shirt before it sticks to your skin," he ordered gruffly.
Ruki, though gasping in pain, managed to swat him soundly upside the head. "No!"
Hiei, never being one for patience, decided to take things into his own hands. Catching a fistful of white cotton t-shirt in his fist, he yanked it up and over her head. "I've dealt with burns before, fool. You need to dress it, or it won't heal," he told her, some of the bitterness dropping out of his voice when he saw the angry red splash on her creamy skin.
Her face was even redder, he also noticed. If he hadn't saw that face, he wouldn't have had to look, but he couldn't help himself. It's like people who come out of their houses to look at a person being lifted into an ambulance. He glimpsed her lacy black bra, and a portion of what was being contained within, and felt his mouth go dry.
He quickly turned away so she wouldn't see him drooling at her, and threw off his cloak.
Her eyes widened. "What are you doing?" she asked in panic, thinking only the worst. Except she wasn't sure if she thought it was the worst or the best…
He looked at her deliberately, annoyed, as he tore the cloth around the hem and dipped it in chilled water at the river. He returned and pulled her nearer him by her elbows, wrapping the black once-cloak around her ribs and waist carefully.
Ruki tried to slow her heart, which was ticking away at a good five thousand miles per hour, in vain. Her face was still tinted crimson, and her chin was trembling (and not out of pain or tears).
Hiei noticed her distress, and assumed it was agony that drove her to such discomfort. "If you don't calm yourself, these burns might bleed, and won't heal as quickly," he attempted, not sure how to go about comforting someone, never having had use for such things before now.
She looked at him blankly.
He sighed. "Stay still and take deep breaths, little idiot," he clarified.
She nodded, but she wasn't very efficient at taking orders, and continued to shake and hyperventilate. Instead, she lingered on the 'little idiot' comment, and how his voice had softened when he'd spoken it.
She couldn't help it. Her skin burned everywhere he touched her. It distracted her from the aching skin he was wrapping. His fire was a pleasant one.
He wrapped his arms around her to reach her spine, where the fabric ended, to tie a knot, then regretted it. He found his face not an inch from hers. And all he wanted to do, with every fiber of his being, was to touch that lush mouth. To feel its softness beneath his skin.
Her breathing became ragged, and her eyes were half-lidded.
"Ruki!" a voice cried from behind them.
They both leapt up in the air, putting as much distance as possible between them.
Mae and Kurama were looking at the pair suspiciously, amused.
"What have you been up to?" Mae sneered.
"Keeping busy, I see," Kurama added.
Hiei growled. "I was dressing the burns she acquired thanks to those two blockheads."
Mae blinked and frowned. "What?"
"We were just playing football, and the ball slipped and hit Ruki, and she spilt her tea," Kuwabara explained quickly, obviously suffering immense guilt.
"How bad is it, Ruki?" Kurama asked, concerned.
"Not that bad. I'm kind of numb right now," Ruki said hoarsely.
"Well, snuggling does that to people," Mae grinned.
Mae's eyes grew huge. "We were not snuggling! Hiei was WRAPPING SOMETHING COLD AROUND THE BURNS!" she cried.
Kurama and Mae just coughed.
"I'm serious!" Ruki insisted.
"If you say so, sis," Mae smiled.
Her sister narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Hey, where were you two?"
That shut them up.
"What are you talking about?" Kurama asked calmly. His years of thieving had made him a pretty skillful liar, but not talented enough to fool Ruki-dar.
"I noticed the both of you missing this afternoon. I looked for you," she added for Mae.
"Just clearing up a few things," Kurama answered with a small smile, which Mae mirrored.
Ruki blinked, astonished at the look in the fox's eyes, and decided to drop it.
"I'll leave you to finish where I left off," Hiei muttered to Mae, pointing to her sister's back where the bandage was still untied, and flitting off to a nearby tree, passing Yusuke and Kuwabara on the way and purposely glaring heavily at the two of them.
They shuddered.