Chapter 5: More fun in the self-proclaimed Winter Wonderland

After about half an hour of snow ball fighting between Kura, Sakura, and Hiei ((unbelievable...)), everyone met back in the front yard of the cabin.

"So.. did everyone have fun?" Briar asked, smirking.

"0o0. Y'mean besides the fact that Hiei was actually participating in our "childish acts of game playing"? Yeah! It was great!" Sakura answered, laughing at Hiei from the inside.

Hiei glared at her and told her, through her very small mind, Look you small-minded brat, if you don't cut it out, I shall assist you in removing your head and every other limb connected to your body. Got that?

Sakura's smile vanished. She gulped as she nodded furiously at Hiei.

Kura looked at her friend, who looked like she had just seen a ghost of someone like Kuwabara, or someone worse (is there is any one worse than Kuwabara). "What's up?" She asked, very much confused. She looked from Sakura to Hiei over and over again, trying to figure out what was going on that she had failed to pick up on.

"n-n-n-n-nothing, Kura. I'm fine. No one's threatening anyone through their small and feeble minds!" Sakura "accidentally"said.

Kura turned to Hiei and hit him on his upper arm.

"What the hell-" He said, as he clenched the area where Kura had hit him.

"You need to be nicer! We were just trying to have a little fun! There's nothing wrong with that! And there's nothing wrong with you having something to do within the fun. Alright?" She said, her hands on her hips and looking him straight in the eyes.

Hiei was at a lose for words. He stood there for a moment, with a blank expression, then he rolled his eyes, returning to his normal self. He returned his hands to his pant pockets and stood with his back against the nearest tree. '

Kura rolled her eyes after glaring at him for a few moments.

"C'mon. He's always been a party-pooper, Kura." Sakura said, then she added.

"We'll just have to get him drunk or something and really see how much fun he can have!" Then the two girls giggled.

"DRUNK? BEER! WHERE!" Yusuke said, as soon as he heard the word "drunk" come from Sakura's mouth.

"Down Uncle Yu Yu!" Kura said, laughing.

Yusuke glared. "Fine then. There shall be no drinking and games for you."

"I was just kidding!" "yeah. Honestly Unc'... She was just kidding!" Sakura added, as the two girls smiled innocently.

"Besides.. I can't get drunk! HA! Gotcha there!" Kura stuck out her tongue. "The only way for you to get drunk is" Kurama started, but Kura jumped on him to stop him.

"Don't say it!" Kura pleaded.

"Then be good..." Kurama warned. Kura got off him with a blank face.

"Kura..." Sakura poked her friend in the side.

"Heh. I know." Kura said, smirking widely at her best friend.

"Can we just go inside now!" Sakura asked, shivering.

"Yeah. Sure. You know, you could've went in before if you wanted..." Briar revealed.

"Oh, now you tell me!" Sakura glared, then she stomped up the steps and into the house, Kura behind her also dragging Hiei.

"Why do I have to come, woman?" Hiei growled.

"Because... you just do!" She said, assertively, as she shut the door.

Sakura, Kura and Hiei were soon joined by Yusuke and then Touya and Jin. After an hour or so, Rinku and Chu also joined in.

All of them were upstairs, of course, in Sakura and Kura's room, having fun. Sakura and Yusuke had brought up a table and everyone was now playing poker. Yusuke, unfortunately, was the dealer, and he was drunk. Sakura and Jin were drunk too. As well as... Chu.

"Idiots." Hiei muttered, as he looked at the laughing, drunken idiots.

"Hey. I remember that night when you were a drunken idiot too!" Kura reminded him.

"It wasn't my fault! That block head of a spirit detective chugged it down my throat!" Hiei fought back.

"HA! I can't believe you for one minute!" Kura said, smirking.

Hiei folded his arms over his chest and started pouting. He, then, heard Kura start to giggle.

She then ruffled Hiei's hair as she said, "Y'know I'm just kiddin', right Hiei?"

"Hn. Somehow I doubt that most of the times." He told her.

"Hehe..." Kura smiled, as she stood in front of him. "C'mon..." She grabbed his wrist and pulled him off of the bed and over to the poker table. "You, and Touya," She started, momentarily providing a glare for Touya, then looking back to Hiei. "Can help me get these drunken idiots to where they're supposed to be..." She told him, with a meaningful look on her face. Hiei sighed a sigh of annoyance at her and then said, "FINE."

Kura and Hiei each took one person, even though they could probably carry two if they had to, and started down the stairs to the person's room. "Yusuke, Jin, and Chu are in the same room. Now... we just have to lug Chu down here, and we're good!" Kura said, as she laid Yusuke on his bed. Hiei laid Jin on his bed and, without a word, he started back upstairs to get Chu. Kura followed him, then she stayed up in her room, with Sakura, Rinku and Touya. Half of the room were drunken pin-heads and the other half wasn't drunk at all. Sakura was tucked very tightly into her bed, and I mean VERY TIGHTLY! She couldn't move, which was good. Kura and Touya went down stairs. While they were walking on the 2nd floor they found Hiei coming out of the "Drunk" room.

"Are they sleeping?" Kura inquired.

"Yes, they're sleeping. They were drunk, what else would they be doing?"

"Whatever you would let them do. -You don't care about the three of them, do you?" Touya started.

"DON'T START!" Kura called off the fight before it could properly happen. She sighed, annoyed. "You two are impossible!" Kura said, as Touya and Hiei followed her down the stairs and they ventured into the living room, where Briar and Kurama were, along with Kayko.

Kurama looked at Kura and questioned her, "What were you all doing up there?"

"well" Kura started, as she sat down calmly.

Hiei sat in the window sill and closed his eyes and voiced, "We were fooling around, you know; drinking and kissing and participating in giant Orgies with each other." He smirked, being sarcastic.

Kura giggled silently as she looked at her brother, who was rolling his eyes at Hiei, and Briar, who was looking at Hiei and saying,

"Now, now Hiei, we were just asking what you all were doing. No need to be so smart.."

Hiei opened one eye and looked at her then shut his eye again, mumbling.

"Well... Everyone was drinking.. You know, Uncle Yu-Yu, Chu, Sakura, and Jin are all sleeping soundly in their beds, tightly tucked in. And Rinku, he fell asleep a few hours ago so I put him in the back room ((the room that is practically a glass room, but there are curtains. It's a room that looks out over the backyard and there's a couch that folds out into a bed. It's really just a place for people or lovers to sit and talk and enjoy the view)) so he wouldn't be disturbed." Kura said from the chair in front of Briar and Kurama. Kayko sat in the kitchen, reading something.

"Wow, Kura," Briar started. "I must admit, you've acted quite like a mother tonight. My compliments." Kurama nodded in agreement.

"Wow.. thanks." Kura said, surprised to get any compliments from the "lover" of her brother who she didn't exactly care for that much because of what she was to her brother. She fainlty smiled at Briar, who smiled back as she turned to Kurama.

"So... Would you like to go on a walk now? Just the two of us?" Kurama stood up, "Sure. Why not.Kura, Hiei, Touya.. We'll be back, so watch over the rest of them. Alright?" Kura nodded, Hiei didn't move nor say anything and Touya just said, "Sure". Kurama helped Briar off of the couch and then the two put on their coats and shoes and stuff and then left the house, for a walk in the snow.

Kurama and Briar walked in silence for a little while. Apparently, they were enjoying that fresh air they had barely gotten earlier seeing how they had to watch over everyone on their previous walk. After a little while, Briar sighed, her breath being visible in the chilled air. "You know, your sister, I think, is growing up more and more each day that I don't talk to her..." She said, unsure of whether she really should have said that or not. Kurama smiled and put his arm around her shoulders.

"No. I think that if you give her time, she'll grow to love you like a sister..."

"Oh, I don't know about that, Kurama. She... she acts like she hates me when she loves you, Sakura and everyone else that I know... I just don't know what to do about her..."

"It's okay... Just give her time... Remember how it took her almost forever to even love the idea of living in the human world, full time?"

Briar giggled a little. "Yeah. I do. We had such a hard time getting her to stay in the Human World... But, apparently she loves it now."

"And, I know that she loves everyone that helped her. Without everyone's help, who knows where she could be. She could be dead or something, and I know that none of us could've forgiven any of us if she was dead. I mean, you love her right? Like a sister? Am I correct?" Kurama said.

"Heh.. Yeah. She's always at our house, with Sakura mainly. But, I guess I do love that kid, even if she doesn't exactly like me at all..."

"Time, Briar-chan. Time." Kurama said, taking his arm from around her shoulders and putting his hand in hers, weaving their fingers together.

"I know..." Briar said, in a quiet voice as they continued to walk.