Authors Note: First and foremost, everyone give a HUGE thanks to my new beta reader (and personal friend) Maccabre! She beta red this story for me last night so you could read it today! Secondly, I want to give a huge thank you to my reviews and an even huger apology for being latter with this update than I EVER intended. Life get's crazy when you least expect it, it seems, and it took me a while to find the time to complete this chapter. Hopefully, though, the stripping you all seemed to want to badly will be a decent apology? One last thing I want to mention is a little sentence near the end of the chapter. It may not make a great deal of sense as to why A) it's disturbing Kurama so much and B) why it's there in the first place, but it will make a good deal of sense in the future of this story. Chapter four is nearly complete, and with any luck I will have it posted tonight or tomorrow morning-I'm aiming for tonight, since I want to give you guys a double update if at all possible.

Chapter three:
Synchronicity

"Good. Now, strip."
While Hiei's lips have sunken in a scowl, I am unable to wipe the smile off my face. I am both surprised and delighted at how swiftly he complies, however begrudgingly, and in the back of my mind I wonder if perhaps Yusuke was onto something after all. "This is ridiculous…" I shrug my shoulders, seemingly impassive, save for the coy smile which simply refuses to leave my lips "It is a necessity."

With an indignant 'Hn', his scarf falls, and my lips twitch upwards another third of an inch. He tugs at his cloak, pulling it off at a noticeably slower pace than the normal single-movement unveils. Ether he is taunting me, or embarrassed and prolonging the inevitable…

"The pant's too." I quip, Hiei having paused after disposing of his shirt, earning myself a glare from his blood colored eyes. I notice more than ever how many belts adorn his waste. With each one he removes, the next seems to go that much slower. Now I know he's taunting me. It will be a cold day in hell before Hiei admits to it but the evidence is literally staring me in the face, and seconds later the final belt is removed and leather drops, evidence no longer the only thing in un-obscured view. So, the old adage is true after all; big things do come in small, or should I say short, packages.

"I fail to see the point of this human tradition." My eyes focus in on Hiei's face as he speaks and I move quickly, very well aware of the position we are in. I am not about to stand there and gawk and frighten Hiei away. Besides, measuring someone requires touching them. Standing behind him, I smooth my hand over the small of his back. He bristles at the touch and looks at me from over his shoulder, his eyes clear and unquestioning, though it is a question that he states "What are you doing?"

"I told you," I murmur smoothly, drawing my hand back across the imaginary line on his back before wrapping the tape measure around his chest "I need to measure you for a tuxedo. The tape measure is cold; I don't want to give you a shock." It's a flawed lie and I know this, but I have not the self control to care. I jot down the size quickly, and once done, smooth my hand out from his shoulder blade to forearm, lifting his arm gently as I repeat the process over again. He is still tense, and by the time I move onto his right arm, his eyes are away from me to the horizon.

"Foolish…" I hear him grumble, and my eyes tear away from the slope of his hips to the back of his head "Excuse me?"
"The detective, this 'tuxedo', the human custom of matrimony. They should mate and be done with it." I stare at him, surprised not by his frank remarks, but his initiation of a conversation. After being apart for over a year, I had expected our meeting to be tense, or at the very least, rigidly awkward. Instead, it feels as if everything was falling into place. "For humans, a wedding is equivalent to the mating bond. It is how they proclaim their unity to each other, and the friends and family around them."

"That is idiotic." Hiei retorts with a huff "The bond is meant to be shared between mates, not to be flaunted as a spectacle." I pause in my work considering his words, my hand resting just above his left hip. This is a surprisingly intimate subject for Hiei to discuss so openly. "It is tradition, as normal to them as the concept of mating is to you and I. If you were to explain that process to any human, they would most likely think it barbaric." I feel his eyes shift to me while I speak, and draw my hands back to scribble something on my notepad because of it, returning my hands only when I am sure I can focus again.

"The wedding is symbolic, an announcement that two souls have started a new life together. Rings are exchanged, as an outward mark of this bond. Anything more intimate is reserved for the bride and groom when they are alone, on the wedding night."

"You're even more sentimental than when I left you last, Kurama. Like a love sick-" My smile falters, for a fraction of a moment, and tightening the tape measure around his waist with a jarring pull, I draw out a grunt from Hiei's lips, cutting him off. A half hearted apology leaves me as I take down his numbers, ignoring his scowl, and lower myself to a crouch to measure the width of his thighs. I move just as slowly as Hiei had, the difference being there is much more to measure than there was to discard.

"Yusuke told you with whom you are to walk down the aisle with, I trust?" Hiei glances at me, an eye brow raised, and I sigh. Of course not, you had to make this even harder on me, didn't you Yusuke? "It is customary for the bride and groom to have friends as participants in the ceremony. At the weddings start, we are to walk the bridesmaids down the aisle…Yukina will be walking down with you."
After countless debates, it had just panned out that way. Botan and I, Yukina and Hiei, and Shizuru with Kuwabara; we all wondered how Hiei would react, but agreed that it could not be worse than allowing Kuwabara to walk the ice maiden down himself. "Yukina is involved in this?" He said it almost bitterly, as if it were some deplorable crime, something unworthy of his sister to touch. "She was delighted, when Keiko asked her. It is something normally bestowed upon only the dearest of friends." In the back of my mind I doubt whether or not Hiei truly understands what is to take place that day, if he has some sort of mass bonding orgy pictured in his head. Inwardly, I groan. This is not the sort of thing I need crawling around my mind while I am crouched inches away from Hiei's crotch.

"I am sure she will be happy to see you Hiei." I assure, sliding my hand up his left thigh, daringly high, secretly enjoying the feel of his flesh under my finger tips "She misses you." I miss you…
Hiei seems indignant now, I must have overstepped my bounds, and before I can move on to what is mournfully the last measurement, he snaps "Are you finished yet?" Knowing my luck has run out, I quickly take the last numbers and jot them down as I nod, rising to my feet.

Hiei, grumbling something under his breath turns and quickly begins to dress, denying me any further gawking. Inwardly, I sigh, mourning the loss of the beauty before me. That may very well be as far with Hiei as I ever go. Stashing my notepad into the tote, I slither my hand around for a while, looking busy and giving Hiei plenty of time to dress while my eyes are occupied. "In a few days, I will have your tuxedo ready." Hopeful, I raise my eyes to see Hiei, once again in full garb, standing before me with his arms crossed over his chest and head tilted to the side. His eyes are no longer clear, but clouded with thought, looking not at but through me. Have I upset him so by just a simple statement regarding his sister?

"The wedding is in January, so rehearsal will be sometime in early December, I believe. If you could, would you drop by my place before then? To try on your suite, make sure it fits." I smile slightly, hopefully, and watch as red eyes focus on me and on the thoughts invisible to sight. Hiei regards me in silence, and I simply wait for his reply, the wind lapping once more at my hair. "If I find the time for it…" Vague though it is, my heart lightens and smile brightens at Hiei's reply, and zipping the bag in my hand, I sling it over my shoulder, extracting my notepad one last time and ripping a piece of paper it from its bind "Here."

His noise scrunches as he takes the note from me, and I watch as his stare intensifies and brows knot in attempt to decipher its meaning. I bring a coiled hand to my mouth in attempt to stifle turning laughter, but a breeze of the sound escapes me before I manage, and Hiei's eyes dart to me in a death glare "It is the address of my apartment." He seems insulted by this, but says nothing and stashes the paper under his cloak, body posed for departure even as he speaks "You left that human of yours alone? Remind me to check later and see if Hell has indeed frozen over."

My brows arch in surprise at his statement, my face void of emotion as I study him. Was that Hiei's attempt at humor? "I'm in the process of moving, actually, but by the time you visit that will be my address. It's rented out in my name, I need only move the rest of my stuff in…" I cannot very well stay at mother's house forever, and even if she frets over the move now, I know at some point she will be pleased with it, this way. Besides, my complex is near enough for visits, and I have already promised to come to dinner at least once during the week "She has her husband and step-son to keep her company."

Who do you have then, Kurama?

My head jerks at the comment, a whisper of the mind, but Hiei remains passive-his expression only changing once my gaze remains in length "What?" My mouth parts, but I am unsure what, how to answer. That statement was spoken in thought, fed into my mind by the same Jagan concealed by cloth…or else, an illusion of mine alone "Fox."
"…Sorry, I was…my mind was elsewhere." Hiei's eyes narrow, but I make for retreat before either of us can say anything more. Hiei won't come after me, and for once, that fact grants me comfort. It is disturbing to think I could conjure such realistic words in my own mind-and for the first time in recent history-I want to be alone.