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Part 2 Chapter Seven: Displaced anger, correctly placed fear

POV: Hiei

He came to me as I was eating the soup he had prepared with a strange look on his face. "What?" I asked him.

Yusuke opened his mouth but no sound came out.

"Well…?"

"K-Kurama's back!" he stammered.

"How… when?" I stood up too fast and spilled soup all over myself. "Shit!"

"Forget about it, Hiei. They're coming over right now!"

"They? As in the baka as well?"

"The baka saved Kurama's life while we were busy caught up in our stupid fights."

"Don't blame this on me."

"I'm not. I'm just saying that Kurama wouldn't have come back without Kuwabara. So don't call him a baka anymore. He was smarter then us because he knew how to wake Kurama up from his catatonic state."

"And how, pray tell, did he do it?"

"He un-broke Kurama's heart and gave him a reason to live. The way I did for you when I told you I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Did he also confuse the hell out of Kurama with his cryptic love?"

"Kuwabara's love is never cryptic. Mine wasn't either. You just needed to ask the right questions." The doorbell rang. "I'll get it."

I followed Yusuke into the living room where he greeted our friends and let them in. "It's great to see you, Kurama," he said. "I'm so glad you're better."

Kuwabara helped Kurama out of his jacket with a fond smile, Kurama smiled back in a shy way.

"I'm glad that I am better as well," said Kurama.

"You look thin," Yusuke said.

"Just give him some of your cooking, Urameshi," said Kuwabara. "He won't be able to stop eating it."

Yusuke laughed. "Come on," said Yusuke. "My cooking isn't that great."

"Yeah," said Kuwabara. "It's awesome. Besides, you put butter in everything, he'll gain the weight back in no time."

"Okay. Let's go to the kitchen, I've got some soup ready."

"The soup that Hiei is wearing?" asked Kurama. "Because it smells delicious."

I growled at him and stalked off to the kitchen. They all followed and watched as I cleaned up the soup that had spilled. "Why are all of you staring at me?" I asked.

"Because you never clean up after yourself," said Yusuke. He took out some bowls and ladled some soup for the other two. "Do you want some more?" he asked me.

"I've had enough of your soup for one day," I replied tersely. "I'm going upstairs to change." I walked upstairs and heard Kuwabara and Kurama laugh at something Yusuke said.

I shouldn't have been so cross with him, I thought. I still can't seem to sort out these feelings.

I pulled on a new outfit and headed back downstairs. They all looked so happy in the kitchen together that I almost didn't want to interrupt, but I walked in anyway. "I'm sorry," I said to Yusuke. "I shouldn't have been annoyed over something so minor."

"No problem, Hiei," said Yusuke. "We all get pissed for no reason."

"That doesn't give me the right to be so rude."

"I'll just let it drop right here."

"That was weird," said Kuwabara. "I've never heard Shorty apologize before."

"It is demoralizing not to call me by my name, idiot," I snapped. "And wipe that stupid look off your face."

"Sorry, Hiei," said Kuwabara. "I just thought you were used to it by now."

"I thought you had learned better than to call me names by now. I suppose we were both wrong."

"What has gotten into you, Hiei?" Kurama asked, slightly shocked. "You should show a little more respect to the man who saved my life."

That stung. "Yusuke saved your life just as much as that oaf did. Maybe more-so because you wouldn't have a body to go back to even if Kuwabara mended your broken heart had Yusuke not thrown you over into the other dimension. I'm amazed you managed to lose yourself so completely. I couldn't stand looking at you for your weakness." Shut up! Shut up right now and stop hurting people!! "I… I didn't mean that. I'm sorry."

Kurama started blinking really fast. "It's alright… I understand."

"Bullshit!" yelled Yusuke. "Hiei, that so was not cool. I can't believe you could even say that to KURAMA of all people. What's the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong… I'll just go now…"

Yusuke was suddenly behind me holding me to his chest. "You can't just walk out of this, Hiei. We need to talk out your feelings. Why are you so angry with Kurama?"

I sighed and leaned back into Yusuke's arms. "It isn't so much that I am angry with Kurama. I'm just upset that I couldn't be of more help to him. And the human was. I mean, Kuwabara was. As his partner, I should have been there for him."

"Visiting me while I was… unwell did me a world of good, Hiei," said Kurama. "I thought I had nothing to come back to so I decided not to. But when you came to visit me and spoke to me even though you thought it was stupid, I could still feel that you were there. You were there speaking to me as if I were normal."

"It wasn't enough."

"He was a lot more active since that day," said Kuwabara. "Especially when I mentioned you. You did plenty. You were just scared. We all were. It's okay."

Yusuke released me and I stood up straight. I wished he hadn't let me go. He seemed to sense that because he rubbed my shoulders and let his hands linger on them for a moment. "Thank you," I said quietly. "And to Kurama; thank you for coming back."

Kurama smiled. "You're welcome," he said with conviction. He turned to Kuwabara. "I suppose we should be heading home. I have a lot of business to attend to from while I was away. Kazuma, are you ready?"

"Yeah," he said, "we'll see you guys later." He gave Yusuke a meaningful look.

"I'm sorry," I said once the door was shut behind our friends. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"I'm not mad. It's really okay. If Kurama had cried, I might be upset but as it stands… You did the right thing trying to make it right. And I think Kurama knows it."

"I'm feeling tired, I think I will go to bed."

"I'll be up as soon as I get the dishwasher loaded."

I headed upstairs, slipped into my pajamas and under the covers to wait for Yusuke. It wasn't a long wait. I was grateful for that.

He crawled under the blankets and ruffled my hair. I couldn't help but smile. I was slightly ticklish on my scalp. Or perhaps 'ticklish' is the wrong word. It made me feel warm all over and as if I wanted him to touch me more.

I curled my body around his and rested my head on his chest. He held me with one arm and stroked my hair with the other. When he does that I get so sleepy. I fell asleep right away.

Another chapter written and beta-d. I hope you enjoyed. PLEASE REVIEW!!