Chapter 19: New Occurrences

It was the first day of the new school year. Sakura and Kura were sitting on the front lawn, chatting lightly with each other. They had been at the school for about an hour and they still didn't know why they'd let the house so early. Kurama wasn't even ready to yet, but that was okay. Jin was in the Demon World with Touya. It is not as though he had anything else to do since Sakura was at school for the whole day. Hiei was probably sleeping. Kura could not tell what he was up to anymore. He was becoming slightly unpredictable as their lives grew and moved on. Briar was waiting for Kurama because she was definitely not at school. If she were at the school, she would be pestering them to go ahead and start on their class work and whatnot. (Like that was going to happen.)

Kura and Sakura were in the middle of a random laughing fit. Some of the girls from their (Different) classes and started a conversation with each of them. They would glance at each other every now-and-then with looks of S.O.S.

"… and, I, like, saw this gorgeous guy the other day!" Taila said. Taila was the most girlish, annoying, and most guy-obsessed girl in Sakura's grade. "Oh! Wait! It was Kurama!" She looked at Kura.

Sakura just wanted to ball up her fist and hit Taila in the face, but she restrained herself. "You know," she started through her teeth. "Maybe you should think about whose brother you're talking about. I mean, I'm sure Kura could kick your--"

"Sakura! C'mon! We've gotta go!" Kura said, intentionally interrupting her friend. She pulled her off the ground. "Sorry girls! I have to go! See you in class!" Kura said to her "friends" while she pulled Sakura away.

"Thank you!" Sakura released a sigh.

"No problem! Let's get somewhere where no one will bother us!" Kura and Sakura began walking down the hallway. It was not long before Kura started to complain. "I really hate this uniform! I always have and I always will!"

Sakura laughed. Granted, the senior class' uniforms were… different from the other grades. Everyday of this school year, Kura would have to put on an extremely short skirt and a rather uncomfortable shirt. Also granted, the shirt was more comfortable than the skirt. "I'm sorry… but!" Sakura started to grin. "I bet Hiei loves it!"

Kura's jaw dropped as she hit Sakura in the upper arm. "Shut up, Sakura!"

Soon after they traveled to the sector of the school where their classes were, the first bell rang. Sakura went to her class where Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kayko were waiting for her. Yusuke was ready to goof around. To his surprise, Sakura was ready to get back at everything he was going to do.

Kura traveled into her classroom where her brother, who she had not spoken to in about 2 weeks, and Briar were waiting for her, along with the rest of the class.

After what seemed like forever, it was time for lunch. As usual, the group met up for lunch. This time, they decided to eat in Sakura's classroom. Luckily, they were the only ones there.

Briar sat down beside of Kurama who was across from his sister and Sakura. Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kayko sat close by. Briar nudged Kurama in the side and gave him a look. He tried to ignore her, but she nudged him again. He cleared his throat. "Kura…?"

Kura stopped talking to Sakura and slowly looked at Kura with a weird look on her face. "Um… Yeah?" Why is he talking--- Oh! I see how it is. Briar is making him. She rolled her eyes once.

Kurama spoke once more. "We really need to talk."

Sakura looked at her sister. She knew what Briar was doing. She was making Kurama talk to his sister.

"Do we have to right now?" Kura asked.

"No. I would prefer after school. If that's okay with you."

Kura thought for a moment. "Sure. Why not?" Then, she went back to talking with Sakura.

All-of-a-sudden, a piece of flying sandwich meat landed right in front of Sakura on the desk. She narrowed her eyes at Yusuke who was laughing hysterically. "You're gonna get it, Urameshi. You just wait."

"Sakura!" Briar started to warn. "Don't get detention on the first day of school."

Sakura grinned to her sister. "Oh… I'll try."

They all finished their food and conversations just before the bell rang for them to return to class.

After school, the group met outside the entrance into the schoolyard. Yusuke, Kayko, and Kuwabara decided to head on home, so they waved good-bye to Kurama, Kura, and Briar. The only one who was not present was Sakura.

"Where is she?" Kura asked as she pulled her skirt down a little to make it seem longer.

Briar shrugged. "She's probably got detention."

"Shall we go?" Kurama asked, putting his hand on his sister's shoulder.

"I'll wait for Sakura. Don't worry. See you two at home." She exchanged kisses with Kurama and then went back inside to wait for her sister.

The two siblings walked down the sidewalk in silence for about five minutes. Kura was impatient today, Kurama could tell.

"Okay! I'm here. What do you want to talk about?" She asked.

"We need to talk about what happened about two weeks ago." Kurama corrected her.

"…" She looked at him. "Okay."

"Look," He sighed. "I'm sorry. I had to do it. You just don't know where I'm coming from."

"Um.. Your point?" She asked. "I'm grown up now."

"I know."

"Then why don't you just let the fact that you once had to take care of me go? You really don't have to anymore. I have myself and I have Hiei… I also have Sakura."

"Kura!" Kurama sighed again. "I just don't want you to screw up your relationship with Hiei because you're so happy with him."

"Thanks for your concern. Maybe you need to get laid. Then you'd be more relaxed."

"Kura!" He said in surprise to what she had just said. "I really don't want to talk about that with you, nor with anyone else."

"What?" Kura said with a grin. She looked up and noticed that they were home. "Thank the Lord! I have tons of homework!" She said, talking about her bag full of homework assignments.

"We don't have that much homework." He answered.

"I know, but I'm sure I'll have to help Sakura with hers!" She joked as they walked inside. Kura looked around. "No one's here."

"Briar-chan nor Sakura aren't here." Kurama closed the door.

Kura ran into her bedroom and dropped her bag on the floor just before she jumped onto the bed, where Hiei was just sitting up. She "landed" in his lap. "Hiya stranger!" She kissed him once.

"Well," He looked her over once. "Nice outfit." He grinned and kissed her forehead.

"How was your day?"

"Boring. Yours?"

"Umm…. About the same." She grinned. "But Kurama and I are back on good terms. I think."

"Well, that's good, I guess." Hiei started to climb out of the bed only after making sure Kura wasn't going to fall out of the bed. "Was school 'fun'?"

"I guess. Sakura and I were accosted by a bunch of girlie-girls before school started."

"That's what you get when you go to school early." He teased as he opened the window to feel the warm breeze rush around his body. He took a deep breath. "You shouldn't be in school. It's a beautifully serene day, but you had to be stuck in that cement confinement."

Kura couldn't help but laugh at his "serious talk". She sat on the bed, holding her stomach and giggled. "Oh, come on, Hiei! It's not that bad!"

Hiei turned around slowly to look at her. She was so adorable when she laughed and smiled. He leaned against the windowsill and crossed his arms over his chest lightly, smiling. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah! Actually, it's quite enjoyable. At least it gives me something to do." Her giggling ceased.

He cleared his throat as though to ask, "What was that almost derogatory comment about?"

She stared at him for a moment then bit her lip. "Oh! That's not what I meant, Hiei! You know I'm never bored when I hang out with you. I just get bored when I'm alone. That's all I meant." She fixed her skirt to where nothing was being revealed. "I mean, c'mon! We always have… fun together, right?" She looked at him with her sparkling green eyes.

He nodded, agreeing with her. He watched as she stood up and started to come towards him. He continued to smile. "You know… We should go somewhere."

"Where? I still have to do homework." Kura asked as she stood beside of him at the window, and looked out.

"Somewhere." Hiei replied as he took her hand in his.

"Seriously! I have homework I have to finish, Hiei! I don't want to start the school year off horribly! Do you know how bad that would be to my reputation as one of the top students at the school?" Kura said, seeming rather worried more about school than him at the moment.

"So, do you desire for me to just leave you alone until your next vacation from that horrible, revolting facility?" He dropped her hand and started towards the door.

"No! That's not at all what I want! I just need to get things in order for school then we can hang out!" She quickly ran over to him. She clutched his right arm in hopes to prevent him from escaping her company. "You know that I love you… but, I need to finish my schoolwork everyday before I do things… anything. That includes hanging out with Sakura, or Kurama or you… Okay?" She refused to let go of his arm.

He sighed, though he didn't really agree with her decision inside. He agreed to "chill out" until she was done with her homework.

She kissed him on the cheek before letting his arm go free. "I love you." She reminded him.

"Yeah. I love you, too." He half grunted as he climbed onto the bed to relax and stare at the ceiling.

Not soon after, Sakura and Briar showed up.

"We're here!" Sakura had to announce to everyone, though there were only about 3 people there when they arrived.

"Sakura! The whole Spirit World can hear you… from here." Briar informed her sister. Briar kicked off her shoes and then headed towards Kurama's room. She knocked on the door which was ajar. She peeked in and saw Kurama asleep. Apparently, he'd made an attempt to do his homework but fell asleep. "Aw. Kurama-chan! Wake up!" She called, shaking him gently.

Kurama opened his eyes a little and looked at Briar. "Did I--- did I fall asleep?" He asked as he sat up and was greeted with a kiss.

"Yep! But, I'm home now! You won't have to be bored!"

"I wasn't really bored… I was just exhausted already." He stood up.

"I'm sorry! It is hard; the first day of school. It'll get easier! You know that!"

Sakura bounced into Kura's room where she only found Hiei. He was resting on his back and staring at the blank ceiling. Sakura thought Hiei might've pissed Kura off. She felt obligated to ask, "How did you piss her off, and where did she go?"

He sat up and narrowed his crimson eyes at her. "Why do you assume that I pissed her off? What if she's out, on an exploration of some sort for that stupid educational facility Monster which now has complete dominion over her time and mind?" He seemed to grow angry with each statement he made to Sakura.

Sakura stepped back, giving him some room to breath. "Uh… I was just kidding… Kind of." She whispered the 'kind of' to herself but received another glare from Hiei. "So," The light bulb went off in her head. "You're jealous of the fact that Kura is going to spend most of her time at School and working on schoolwork, rather than spending her time with you… Aren't you, Hiei?" She started to grin. "Aw! The Hiei-kins is jealous!"

"Get out of my presence in less than 10 seconds or I'll summon my dragon-" By the time he said 'my dragon', Sakura was already out of the room and yelling, "Hiei-kins is jealous!" For everyone to hear.

Kura had taken some of her school work, in a folder, to the park, along with a small blanket to sit on. She had decided having Hiei around would only break her concentration. At least it would if they were in the same room. She hadn't bothered changing out of her uniform before leaving the house. She walked into the park where the serenity was thick and enjoyable. Kura smiled and then sighed. Thank The Spirit World! Somewhere where I won't have any distractions! She had already spotted where she was going to sit: under a fully-bloomed Sakura Tree.

She spread out her blanket. Before sitting down, she felt the same energy she'd felt twice before: once at the Imperial Palace at New Year's, and then again at the park a few weeks before now. Shit. If she's here again… I'm going to go off.

"Go ahead. Blow your top. It's not like it's going to matter. Someone like you would never be able to defeat me." The dark voice of Nadare was heard from above.

Kura looked up and narrowed her eyes. "What's your deal? I've never even met you before! Now, you're all 'I'm going to stalk Kura and scare her out of being with Hiei, who's my supposed brother'! What the hell!" Kura shot her mouth off. Her words just sort of escaped her mouth. She didn't have any control over it. She'd had enough of being stalked from the shadows for now reasons known to her.

Nadare's sinister laugh ran through Kura's ears as the threatening demon teleported to stand in front of her. She firmly stared into Kura's eyes. "You honestly think that had any effect on me? Your non-menacing words and unthreatening looks don't have any affect over me what-so-ever." She scanned Kura once, from the feet up to her head. "You're not exactly what I think Tomboe would choose for a life partner…"

Kura looked at her with a confused look. "Tomboe?- You're not talking about Hiei-chan, are you? If you are… that's a rather dim-witted nickname for him." Her smart ass remarks kept flying.

Nadare laughed. "Like I said… Your words have no influence over me. So just stop."

Kura shook her head. "You're awful. If Hiei is your brother, as you say… then you wouldn't be shadowing me. You'd be letting him live happily… You'd leave me alone.- What's so special about me?"

Nadare looked at her as she contemplated her questions. "It's just the fact that he's my brother. I don't want anything to hurt him… and that includes you."

"What about Yukina?"

"What about her? I've already had a talk with Touya… many times." She rested her hands in her pockets.

"… Then why just shadow me?" Kura asked. She wanted to know why this Nadare was haunting her. "Hiei's happy-"
"Exactly. He's happy. Every happy story has a bad ending, just like every bad story has a happy ending. For every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction, dear."

Kura folded her arms across her chest. "Your point?- Look… I can guarantee that our story won't end badly.- I'm not one to let good things get away." She started to sit down on the blanket to commence on her homework.

Nadare watched as the careless yet genuine soul sat down. She rolled her eyes as Kura started writing letters on the paper atop the book. "You really are set on concluding this chapter of your life and opening another one with my brother, aren't you?"

"Um.. Yeah! That's what I've been trying to tell you this whole time." Kura answered with out looking up at her.

Nadare sighed, uneasy and angered.

"You're not a very happy person, are you?" Kura questioned, trying to further her information about this mysterious one who claims to be Hiei's older sister.

"Hmph." Nadare teleported back onto the tree branch above Kura. "Happiness is only a weakness harnessed by those who believe feelings are an authentic entity."

Kura giggled.

"What are you snickering about?" Nadare snidely asked.

Kura continued to write information on the piece of paper. "Nothing." She answered solemnly.

Nadare settled herself into a comfortable resting position with her back against the tree. She crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. "I'm surprised you haven't run away in fear, you easily-frightened, weak-minded schoolgirl."

"You know," Kura began as she shut the book and threw it down beside of her. "You're not as vile and as insulting as you think you are… At least, not to me."

"Not anymore? Because, if I do recall, you were quite petrified the last few times I've made a small appearance."

"Who wouldn't be? You were trying to threaten me!" Kura looked up at her. "All you need is happiness. Which means you probably need to find someone… a life partner."

"Hn." a slight laugh and she opened her eyes. "A 'life partner' isn't anything I'm worried about. Trust me.-- Why am I even having this conversation with you? Why I am still in this disgusting world, anyway?"

"If you feel that way… then go back to the Demon World." Kura suggested. "Besides, maybe you just want to make sure I'm right for your so-called brother, unless you're lying."

"Why would I lie about something as serious as a sibling?"

Kura giggled and then answered in a fan girl-esque voice, "Maybe you just want my Hiei-chan aaaaaaall to yourself!"

I think a piece of my brain just broke off. Nadare rolled her eyes. The sounds of just about everything located in the Human World pissed her off. She wanted to kill every being and such from the dreaded place. "You're impossible."

Those key words made a piece of Kura believe that she really was Hiei's older, never fore-mentioned sister. She giggled again. "You sound just like him." She rose to her feet and began gathering her things. "Well, I think I've spent quite enough time here.- Could you try and not follow me around anymore? It's really creepy."

"Hn." She growled, then teleported somewhere, most likely the Demon World.

Kura shook her head. "What a most odd person…" She thought to herself. Just as she bending down to collect her things into her arms, Hiei's voice tapped into her mind.

Where are you?

Oh, Hiei! I was just at the park. I'm coming home right now! She headed towards the entrance/exit with a smile on her face.

Well, Sakura began to blame me for your rather quick disappearance. She thought I pissed you off… again.

She giggled out loud. 'Again'? You haven't made me mad in… a while!

Yes, well… You are coming home right now, right?

Yes. Of course. I was just… uh… She paused for a moment. She tried to decide if she should tell Hiei about her run-in with Nadare. She remembered that Hiei most likely had no knowledge about her.

You were just what?

I was just doing some of my homework!

Oh… And, you couldn't do that here?

Well, I could… but, I really needed somewhere quite to go… and the Park is beautiful this time of year!- I was doing an assignment for English.

Okay. I believe you. Just hurry and get back here… Sakura has insisted on jumping up and down on your bed.

WHAT? Oh! That's not cool! It was so neat!
He laughed, and she could hear it. No. It wasn't.

Okay. I lied! But, shoosh! I'll see you in a few minutes!

The night went rather slowly. Dinner time came, and they had all made Hiei go out to eat with them. They went to the newest restaurant in town and received one of the most delicious meals they'd had in a long time. When they returned home, Kura and Kurama (for some reason) were the only ones with unfinished homework assignments.

"Hey, bro'?" Kura called from the living room floor, where she had tons of papers spread out. "Can you help me? I'm so lost on this assignment right now.."

So, Kurama waltzed over. Luckily, it was the same assignment he was stuck on. The only possible conclusion: call upon Briar, since she was done with all of her homework. Unfortunately, Briar didn't have that assignment… She had done it before school and refused to help them since they were the "Top Two Members" of the class. Though this was torture, it was an easy assignment. Briar had concluded that the two were just over-thinking it. "Just relax and think, but don't think too hard!" She reminded them as she exited to sit on the balcony, under the stars.

Sakura was in Kura's room, playing Kura's Playstation 2. At the moment, she was in the middle of Kingdom Hearts and wasn't looking to come out any time soon. Hiei had been forced out and onto the roof since he didn't care at all about hearing Sakura play a humanistic, annoying "games". It's not as though he minded being on the roof, though. It was therapeutic.

After Kura and Kurama had finally figured out their witty yet puzzling assignment, and had finished the rest of their homework, everyone headed to bed. Hiei wasn't exactly ready to go to bed, but Kura was and she told him in the nicest way possible. "I'm tired and I need sleep." He wasn't disappointed, but he only half understood. He hated the fact that Kura had to go to school during the day, do homework in the afternoons and into the night, and then sleep. It was like washing your hair: lather, rinse, repeat. He rolled over, kissed her goodnight and then fell asleep.

The next few weeks were rather repetitive. Sakura had been found, every night, playing Kingdom Hearts in Kura's room. One night, Briar screamed at her and scared poor Sakura half to death!

Finally, the weeks ran by and they arrived at the first week-long break of the school year.

"Finally! A break! Woo! All this school stuff's got me all… discombobulated!" Sakura told Kura, as they walked home from school that Friday.

"Sakura… It's only been a month of school." She reminded her black-haired friend as they stopped to wait for the crosswalk light to change in favor of the pedestrians.

"Yeah! But it's been a long month! I haven't seen Jin, but three times! Thanks to all of this schoolwork and having to stay in the Human World tons… I barely get to see him!"

"You'll live!"

"No, I won't! At least Hiei has no other place to go! You get to see him all the time." Sakura joked.

Kura nudged her in her side just before the crosswalk light turned green for them. "Let's just get home! We can go out to eat! Yay!"

"I'm starving!" Sakura confessed.

"You're always starving!"

"… So?" She whined, just joking around of course.

"Goofball!" Kura said, then she noticed that they were almost home. "RACE TIME!" She yelled as she quickly darted to the door, ultimately beating Sakura there by forever. She jumped up and down. "Yay! I win!"

Sakura pushed past her and into the apartment. "You cheated."

Kura followed her inside, giggling. She kicked off her shoes. "Sakura. You'll live."

"Yeah, Sa'! You'll live!" Jin's voice was heard from the living room. Sakura immediately jumped into his lap.

"Yaaaay! You came!" They exchanged kisses.

"Aw! How cute!" Kura teased as she then headed towards her room.

"Don't get too comfortable with him in there." Kurama warned from the kitchen where he and Briar looked pretty comfortable in their own dream world.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll try not to!" Kura told him with out really paying attention to him. She was more focused on getting to Hiei. She burst into the room and greeted him. "Hiya stranger!"

"You're home earlier." That must've been his greeting to her.

"Hmph. Isn't that a lovely way of greeting me."

He grinned. "…"

"Okay.- Yes. I'm home earlier, only because Sakura and I couldn't wait to get home. We left the school as soon as we found each other!"

"I'm proud. No conversations with any of your human boyfriends?" Hiei joked as he walked over and placed a kiss on her lips.

She playfully punched him lightly in the stomach. "Dupe."

"Hey now! No need to be so hostile." He pulled her to his chest.

"I can be hostile if I want to!" She argued back, without any opposition to his force.

"Hey," Hiei began to pitch one of his propositions to her. "Why don't we quickly and quietly escape and head out on a small expedition of our own?"

"Well that would be a good idea, but I think Kurama has something planned for us all. He told me not to get comfortable." She answered, pulling away from him to head to her closet. She heard him sigh heavily, and she knew exactly what that sigh was about. "I know we haven't had much time together lately, but I promise that we'll spend the majority of the week together, okay?" She pitched her own idea to him as she went through some clothes she wanted to change into.

"Hn. Fine." He sounded sour.

"No reason to be grouchy and sour, mister!" She told him, dragging out a red tank top and blue jeans. She made eye contact with him and then began pushing him out the door. "I have to change. I'll be right out!"

"You don't usually care if I'm in here when you changed." He commented just before she shut the door.

"I do now!" She joked. She quickly changed out of her wretched school uniform and into her more comfortable tank top and pants. After she was situated in her clothes, she emerged from the room. Hiei knew she wasn't aware of where he was. He quickly picked her up, off her feet. She screamed out of surprise. He carried her into the living room where everyone else was waiting for them, primarily. He put her down and smiled.

"Well, glad to see you two haven't begun your fighting rituals… yet." Briar said with a rather jocular grin upon her face.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, where are we going?"

"Out." Kurama sharply answered.

"Very funny."

"That's all he told us!" Jin and Sakura answered from the couch. Sakura had apparently changed out of her uniform as well.

Kura narrowed his eyes at Kurama. "It'd better not be anywhere stupid."

"Just relax. You'll have fun." Kurama and Briar assured them.

Indeed, they did have a wonderful time! They attended a rather wonderful dinner and then were set free in the arcade downtown. Kura and Sakura played DDR for quite a while. Kurama and Briar sat with Jin and Hiei. The two seemed quite bored during the conversations of which Kurama and Briar were having with each other.
Thank the Spirit World that Yusuke and everyone hadn't shown up yet. Sakura thought as Kura and herself headed towards the table. She'd thought too soon. There they were: Yusuke and Kuwabara. Yusuke was already hard at work on bothering Hiei. Kura quickly ran over and shooed him away.

"Yusuke! Come on! Leave him alone." She stuck out her tongue.

"Come on, Kura! Loosen up! We're gonna have a paaarty!" Yusuke waved over a waiter and ordered drinks for everyone.

Kura looked at Sakura who was practically drooling at the mouth. She shook her head then looked to Hiei. She then remembered the time when Yusuke had forced Hiei to drink quite a large amount of alcohol, and how drunk Hiei had gotten. "Hiei? No drinking, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me. That stuff was disgusting."

"Kurama?" Kura turned to her brother. "You guys are in charge of taking care of Sakura if she gets drunk. I had to last time, remember?"

"Yes. We remembered that night quite well." Kurama grinned and sipped his tea. "You're not going to get drunk, are you?"

"Uh.. No. You're the only one who knows what makes me 'tipsy'! No one better know, Kurama." Kura warned him.

Hiei rolled his eyes. "I think you're going to end up getting drunk, Kura."

After twenty minutes, Yusuke and Kuwabara were quite drunk already. Apparently, Briar and Kurama weren't paying attention like they should've been. That was a bad move on their part. Sakura was on her 8th Bahama Mama. Kura was sitting there, watching them. Hiei was regretting even coming with the group tonight. He sat with his arm around Kura's waist.

Kura was starting to loosen up, for an unknown reason. She'd drank before, yes; but she'd only been drunk once in her life, and her brother was the only one who knew why. Granted, Kura hoped Kurama hadn't told a soul or she'd have to kill him. Yusuke ordered yet another round of drinks for everyone and Kura started to protest. "I think we should stop and go home."

Yusuke grinned and walked over to her. He sat down a glass full of dark liquid of an unknown substance. "C'mon, Kura! Loosenupalittle!" His words were slurring together.

Kurama and Briar sat at the end of the table, watching them all. Briar looked to Hiei who was giving Yusuke a rather furious glare. She turned to Kurama to say, "I don't think Hiei's going to be a happy camper tonight."

Kurama nodded, agreeing with her. "I think Jin and Sakura will be rather… optimistic tonight." He said, referring to the fact they'd consumed quite a bit of alcohol.

Kura shook her head at Yusuke. "I don't want anymore."
From across the table, Sakura was grinning. "Oh, come on, Kura!- Drink it. Drink it. Drink it.." She had Jin, Kuwabara, Yusuke and herself trying to compel Kura to drink the drink.

She looked to Hiei and shrugged. "Sorry." She apologized for how she would probably be acting later on because as soon as she took a inhalation of the drink's smell… she knew what it was.

Hiei rolled his eyes shut. "Here we go.-- I know how she's going to act later…"

Kura picked up the drink and then found herself drinking it rather fast. The drunk 4 cheered. She shook her head. I can't believe they have a bar jointed with the arcade anyway…

Two hours afterward, there was no telling who was the drunkest. Hiei, of course, was the only one at the end of the table who wasn't smashed. Kura was, to everyone surprise. Kurama and Briar stood up and began to rushed everyone out of the place. They made sure Yusuke and Kuwabara ended up home, safely, before heading back to the apartment.

"I think I'll take Jin and Sakura back our house. I'm sure Kuronue will be happy to 'punish' them in the morning. I'll try not to be too terribly late! I love you!" Briar and Kurama exchanged kisses and then Briar took the two numbskulls to the house in the Demon World.

Kurama looked back and saw Hiei trying his best to keep Kura on her own two feet. She was quite out of it. Kurama had to stop himself from laughing. It wasn't a funny matter, but it was at the same time. "Do you need any help, Hiei?"

He grumbled something that came out to be, "No. She's my responsibility. I can handle it."

"She is my sister-"

"Well, she is my lover." He pointed out, as Kura spontaneously jumped onto his back. He mumbled to himself and then remained silent.

"You don't have to take care of her all the time, you know." Kurama went on.

"Yes. I do." Was all Hiei could argue with.

Kurama shrugged. "Suit yourself." He thought to himself for a few moments, just as they arrived at the apartment's entrance. He thought about how Kura was feeling and what would ensue this night. He could hear Kura stumbling up the stairs. When he turned around, he saw Hiei holding her sides from behind her, trying to guide her safely up the stairs. "Do you need-"

"No! I'm fine. Just move." Hiei commanded, stopping Kurama from asking the rest of the question. He pushed past Kurama after he opened the door. He still held onto Kura's waist, guiding her through the house and into her room.

Kurama shut the door and sighed to himself. Hiei will be having a time tonight. He went into his room and shut the door. He figured out that Briar would, most likely, be staying with Sakura and Jin to make sure the two had been put to bed and sleeping soundlessly.

Kura was overcome by a wave of uncontrollable giggles as Hiei tried to convince her she needed to sleep. She was intoxicated and trying to fight against his words. He sat her on the edge of the bed to try and remove her shoes and socks. He was successful in that. "Hiei…" She began slowly, looking at him with drowsy eyes. He looked up at her. " I don't want to go to sleep…" She tried to seduce him though she was drunk.

"No offense, Kura-chan," Hiei pushed her off of him gently. "But you're drunk and you need to go to sleep." He kissed her forehead.

Kura ran her free hand up Hiei's side and then rested it on the side of his neck. "C'mon… We haven't had much time together all week…"

He took her hand. "No. You need sleep. We'll have plenty of time to spend with each other over the week. Please…" He tried to gently assist her find her way under the covers."

Kura whined as she crawled under the covers, loosely. "You're… mean…" She mumbled with a slightly slurred accent as her head hit the pillow.

Hiei sighed. It's not that I don't want to… It's just wrong. It's almost like taking advantage of her. He removed his boots and then his shirt. He climbed into the bed after turning the lights off. He kissed her neck and then locked his arms around her and pulled her closer. She was already sleeping, thank the Spirit World. Thank God. I didn't want to seem as though I'm taking advantage of her in this state. It would be wrong.

It was good to know that Hiei was way different than he was before. In his old lifetime, he would've done whatever he wanted, but Kura had changed him over the years. It really wasn't just Kura. Everyone had helped him change, too. Kurama and Briar had influenced him on the matter of telling Kura how he felt. Kurama also helped with the patience Hiei was slowly gaining. Though she had put him through hell most of the time, Sakura had shown him that he should try to loosen up and have fun since herself and Kura always found a way to giggle over something or make a bad situation into an enjoyable one.

The Next Morning

Sakura woke up under three layers of blankets which were tightly binding her to the bed. She shook her head and tried to wiggle her way out. There was no use: she was definitely tucked into bed tight as a sailor's knot. She whimpered and then started to call out for help. "HELP ME, DAMMIT! SOMEONE!" A pain rushed through her head. "Ow! Dammit!"

Briar quickly ran upstairs to stand in the door and nonchalantly stand there. "Well, well, well! If it isn't sleepy head." She grinned as she received a glare from her little sister. "What have you learned?"

Sakura continued to keep her narrowed eyes on her sister. "I didn't learn anything because there was nothing to learn!"

"Sakura…" Briar said with an empty threat residing in her words. "What did you learn about drinking?"

Sakura sighed. "Fine!- I learned to never make my friends drink."

"And?"

"I also learned to never drink more than 3 drinks when I'm out with my friends." Sakura sighed again. You suck, Briar. Your day will come.

"Alright. Would you like to get up now? I'm sure Jin is ready for you to pounce on him." Briar walked over and un-tucked Sakura from the bed.

Sakura jumped up and headed out of the room. "Pft. You're mean." She then stopped just before stepping out of the door and looked back at Briar. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Well, someone had to baby-sit you and Kuronue wasn't going to pay you guys any mind. If I had left you two with him… who knows what you'd be doing." Briar grinned again.

"Hey! Jin and I aren't like--" She cut herself and then presumed walking across the hall, into the guest bedroom of the house. She saw Jin sleeping soundlessly. She smirked, started to run at him, and then jumped onto the bed, immediately waking Jin up.

"What tha hell!" He jerked straight up and opened his eyes to find Sakura smiling at him.

"Morning!" She giggled and then greeted him with a kiss.

"Mornin'…" He answered, then yawned. "How long 'ave you been awake?"

"Um.. About 3 minutes!- Hey! How come you weren't bound to the bed like I was?"
Jin shrugged and the stretched his arms out. "I guess ya sis' jus' didn' think ya were trustable when drunk."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot. Love you, too, Jin." Sakura climbed off the bed. "I think we should get back to the Human World, ya know! We've gotta see how Kura's night went." Sakura winked, jocularly.

Jin rolled his eyes and climbed out of bed with her. He walked over and kissed her on the lips. He took her hand in his and then the two headed down to where Kuronue and Briar were sitting in the living room, quietly.

As always, Kuronue was sitting in what he now called his chair. Briar was sitting on the couch. As soon as she saw the two lovebirds, Briar grinned and pointed them out to Kuronue. "And here come the two sleeping-late lovebirds. They're fully refreshed and ready for a full day of nonsense as always."

"Shut up you." Sakura warned her sister.

"Where are you going, dear sister?" Kuronue asked with his normal baleful tone.

"Back to the Human World to see how Kura is after her eventful night." Sakura reported as she started to put her shoes back on.

"You go on ahead… I think I'll stay 'ere." Jin told her then exchanged kisses with her again. He headed back upstairs to take a shower.

"Yes… Her night was eventful, wasn't it?"

Sakura giggled as she stood up straight. "Of course it was! That was the first time I ever saw her drunk! It was interesting!"

"It was interesting because you and Yusuke made it interesting." Briar pointed out.

Sakura giggled once more. "You've got that right!" Then, she plopped down on the couch. "Woo! No school for a week!"

"You still have to chill out on what ever you have planned for the week, Sakura."
"Why? We don't have to 'chill' out on our plans! It's break! We'll have fun and not worry!"

"We?" Briar questioned.

"Kura and I." She answered simply.

"Kura and Hiei shall be spending time together."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her sister. "I'm sure Hiei will be hanging out with us, too."

Briar shrugged and then left the room, walking into the kitchen humming to herself.

Sakura looked right at Kuronue and a smirk began to grow on her face.

Kuronue sensed his sister's eyes falling on him and looked to her. "No. Don't even think about it."

She retreated to sit with her back on the couch and pouted. "You're no fun."

Kuronue shut his eyes again. "I know. That's my purpose: to be 'no fun'."

"Damn you."

At the Apartment

Kurama had been awake for about an hour when he heard the first sign of movement in Kura's room. I bet Hiei is awaking. Kurama thought as he stopped by the room and peeked inside through the ajar door. He saw His sister in Hiei's arms, both were sleeping soundlessly. Maybe they were just adjusting their positions. He pulled the door completely shut. Hopefully, nothing bad occurred after they went into her room. He began to return to his room. He had no idea of what he was going to do.