Chapter 20: Surprises, Surprises

Saturday and Sunday passed by rather fast. Hiei and Kura had been spending their quality time together. Jin and Sakura had been causing trouble at Chu's and Rinku's place. Kurama and Briar had taken a weekend trip to the Spirit World to hang out with Botan and Koenma. They'd even stayed their over night at the Imperial Palace.

It was already mid day and Kura was just now rolling out of bed. Her hair was messed up a little with a few knots, but nothing that a brush couldn't fix. She walked out of her room and looked for Hiei, but she couldn't find him. She walked into the bathroom and saw a sticky note stuck to the mirror. It read: I'll be in the Demon World. -Hiei. Kura shook her head. "That demon…" She ran back into her room to change and then emerged again with more appropriate clothes on (a t-shirt and pants). She made sure to grab the keys and then locked the door behind her. She started towards the Demon World.

"Hey Jin! Let's go and harass my sister and Kurama!" Sakura randomly said. They were on the way out of the door of "Kuronue's" home. Before Jin could answer her, she felt a weird energy. "Do you feel that?"

Jin nodded and then looked around. Kuronue came up behind them at the door. "Go on, guys. It's safe. There's nothing to worry about it."

Sakura looked at him for a moment then nodded. "See ya, oniisan!" Sakura returned to smiling and then herself and Jin started to head for the Spirit World.

"Why are we goin' to harass your sister?"

"Because I have nothing better to do." Sakura dragged him away from the house and towards the Spirit World.

To everyone's surprise, Briar and Kurama were actually getting ready to arrive at Kurama's apartment. They unlocked the door and walked inside. "I wonder where your sister and mine are!" Briar said. Then, the light bulb went off in her head. "How about we go and take a… nap?" She grinned and kissed Kurama on the lips once. "Hmm?"

Kurama, enjoying the thought, had to decline. "I think we should just sit and talk… about anything."

"Aww. Are you worried about your sister again?" Briar kissed his forehead.

"Not really.-- I think we should talk about Nadare."

Briar sat down on the couch, then Kurama sat beside of her. "What about her?"

"I believe she's been shadowing Kura again."

"Oh. Is that a bad thing?" She seemed rather oblivious to the facts.

"Well, I believe the two had a rather interesting talk to the other day. I assume Kura got to her a little more than anyone else has ever."

"Hmm… Maybe your sister just decided not to take her crap anymore."

Kurama took into consideration Briar's theory. He shrugged, "Maybe so." He put his arms around her and they sat together, talking.

On her way through the Demon World, Kura had seen a few things she'd thought she'd never have to witness again in her life. She saw some C-class demons feeding upon a dead Human who'd seemed to have accidentally wandered into the world. She'd seen huge puddles of blood. She'd passed dead nature as she headed towards the more tranquil region of the Demon World. There was the clearing where Kura loved to sit and think. She'd mustered to look in the clearing for Hiei. Turns out, she had figured out the correct location of Hiei. "Hiei-chan!" She called as she walked to him in the middle of the clearing. She threw her arms around him from behind and kissed his neck. "What are we doing here?"

"I thought we'd go somewhere together." He answered.

"Like where?" She asked as she came to stand in front of him with his hand in her own two.

Hiei nonchalantly shrugged. "I don't want to ruin any surprise if there is one." He grinned and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Oooh! A surprise, you say!" Kura giggled. The gears in her head were turning as she tried to think of what exactly it was Hiei had planned for them? "Do you wanna let me in on this little surprise of yours?"

Hiei looked into her eyes and shook his head with a straight face.

"Okay, then I'm just staying here!" Kura sat down on the grass and folded her arms at her chest. She closed her eyes and sat in front of him.

Hiei looked down at her then sat down behind her with his legs spread where he could sit closer to her. He rested his hands on her shoulders then began to massage her lightly.

Feeling her muscles loosen, she dropped her arms into her lap and a relaxed smile grew onto her face. "Okay, okay! I'll go with you!" She caved in. She slowly laid back, forcing Hiei to lay back at an angle, also. He held himself up as Kura laid back on him.

"Good." He kissed the top of her head. "Then let's go."

She climbed to her feet. "What a way to ruin the moment!" She joked.

Hiei kept looking at her from his position on the ground. He grinned and then climbed to his feet. He swiftly placed a kiss on her lips and then slipped his hand into hers. "Let's go."

"Alright!" She agreed. They began walking through the Demon World together, hand-in-hand.

On the way to their destination, Kura and Hiei had walked into some rather interesting conversations with each other. At one point, Kura had Hiei laughing more than normal. She had brought up how herself and Kyo had once been best friends, and then she'd brought up how he had and still has a crush on her. Hiei had found this funny because he 1) hated Humans, 2) didn't exactly like Kyo, and 3) he'd found it funny that Kura and this orange-headed moron were once 'best friends'. Silly, yes; but funny.

They'd been walking for some time now. Kura was getting anxious. "Will you pleeeeeaaaaase tell me where we're going?" Right as she finished her sentence, Hiei stopped walking and turned to her. With her emerald green eyes, Kura looked up at the Imperial Palace. "We're in the Spirit World…" She said. "… why?"

Hiei sighed. "You'll see once we get inside." He started to lead her toward the Palace.

Inside the Palace, Sakura and Jin were waiting in one of the rooms. "I wish they'd hurry up!" Sakura pouted.

Jin chuckled. "Oh, Sa'. It'll be okay! They'll 'urry up an' get 'ere!"

"Yeah, well.. Hiei's so slow sometimes! I wonder why he just doesn't tap into his 'awesome power source of doom' and use his 'ninja fast skills' to get places quicker!" She exclaimed, maybe over-exaggerating some of Hiei's skills… maybe.

A moment later, the door to the room opened and in walked Hiei and Kura. Kura looked rather disappointed in Hiei. "I thought we were going somewhere! Some place we haven't been before." Kura let go of Hiei's hand and took a seat in the car beside of Sakura.

"Well! It's good to see you too, Kura!" Sakura smiled.

"Sorry, Sa'! Hiei has slightly disappointed me."

Sakura exchanged looks with Hiei and Jin then looked back to her dissatisfied friend. "Oh… Don't be so sure, Kura-kins!"

Hiei sighed once more, rather annoyed at the moment. Why can't they be anywhere on time when I need them to be? He asked himself, concerning Kurama and Briar.

Kura identified the devious tone in Sakura's words. This made her rather suspicious. "Why? What do you know?"

"I know nothing." The black haired demon grinned.

There was a knock on the door and Kura rushed to get it, but Hiei arrived there first.

"Like I said, why can't Hiei use his ninja fast skills in times of need!" Sakura asked herself under her breath.

Hiei opened the door and revealed Kurama and Briar.

"Hello, Hiei-kins!" Briar greeted him, accompanying her words with a large grin.

"Hiei." Kurama nodded.

"Kurama? Briar? What are you guys doing here?" Kura questioned their presence.

"Just be quiet and enjoy this, okay, Kura-chan?" Hiei requested just before he left the room.

Kura looked to her friends and her brother. She was utterly confused. "What is up? What's he got up his sleeve?" No matter how many questions she asked, none of her friends would answer her. She finally gave up after five minutes of bugging everyone in the room. She sat down again and pouted.

Sakura finally started to giggle at Kura. "You're so bakana sometimes!"

Kura stopped pouting and giggled. "I know! Thaaaaat's me!"

Briar and Kurama shook their heads with smiles on their faces.

"Imoto… Don't be so anxious." Kurama warned his sister.

"But I like being anxious! It's fun!"

"Yeah! I agree!" Sakura threw in, dumbfounded.

"Sakura!" Briar sent her an empty threat through a glare.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

Around ten minutes later, Kurama looked at his watch and 'decided' it was time to leave the room. They ALL left. Kura still felt rather annoyed because no one would tell her what was going on. All the way down the hallway, Kura had her arms crossed over her chest, glowering. As soon as they arrived at the Imperial Ball Room, Kura asked once more, "What the hell are we doing here!" Just as the word "here" came out of her mouth, Hiei came out of the room. He nodded for everyone but Briar and Kura to go inside. He looked to Briar and asked, "Did you get it?"

Briar grinned and nodded. She snapped her fingers ((much like Botan would)) and a bag appeared on the ground in front of Kura.

"Remind me to pay you later." Hiei told her.

"Don't worry! I will!- Well, see you two in a few minutes!" Briar entered into the Ball Room, leaving the two lovers together.

Kura looked to Hiei then back to the bag in front of her. "What is this?"

"One part of the surprise." Hiei smiled softly. "Good ahead… Open it."

Kura stared at Hiei for a moment, silent and still. Then she bent down and pulled out a rather beautiful black dress. She stood up and looked at with astounded eyes. It was strapless. It looked to go to Kura's knees. It was just overall beautiful. She was speechless.

"Do you like it?" Hiei asked in high hopes that Kura wasn't going to hit him or anything.

"No! I love it!" She smiled brightly. "But what's it for?"

Hiei felt he should tell her the surprise he had in store, but he also thought it would be better to keep his mouth shut for a little long. "Go get changed and you'll see…"

Before heading back to the previous room, she placed a rather deep, passionate kiss on Hiei's lips. She giggled and then left Hiei waiting.

Before Hiei knew it, Kura was in her dress and looking lovely. He held out his hand for her to take, and as she did, they headed into the Ball Room where Kurama, Briar, Sakura, Jin, Touya, and Yukina were waiting. Koenma was in his touché, suave teenage form in front of everyone.

"Hiei… This isn't-----" Kura looked at him and went silent for a moment. "… Is it?"

"Surprise." He whispered and then began leading her down the aisle.

This was a huge surprise INDEED, one that she was the only one to NOT know about…. Well, Yusuke and Kuwabara don't count. Hiei didn't want them to come because they'd never let him live this day down. Though, Yusuke and Kuwabara probably WONT let him live this day down even though they weren't there to witness it.

The ceremony was cute, as Briar would say. Afterwards, everyone gathered back in the Human World at Kurama's apartment. As they all sat in the living room, Briar and Sakura mustered up an idea: "Why don't we all have dinner together!" Briar called out.

Kura had just walked back into the room because she had to change. She down beside of Hiei on the floor. "That sounds like a good idea!"

"Yeah. Touya and I don't have to be anywhere tonight." Yukina answered for herself and the other ice apparition.

"And Jin and I don't have any plans, really!" Sakura giggled.

Jin nodded. "Aye!"

"Alright! That's settled! Dinner it is!" Briar said triumphantly.

Kurama nodded then threw in his own two cents. "No drinking this time." His eyes floated to his sister-in-law.

Sakura grinned, trying to be coy and as though she was innocent. "Hai!" She waved to Kurama.

"That means you, Sa'." He announced.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it." Sakura sunk back into the chair.

Hiei rolled his eyes. He was married, his new wife was happy, and that's all he cared about. Why can't I just stay here while they go out to eat? I've done what I've been delaying… Now, why can't they let us be?

"Hiei?" Kura interrupted his thought. She noticed something was lying on his mind. "Are you okay?"

He looked into her green eyes. He placed his hand on hers and smiled. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He leaned to her and placed a kiss on her lips.

"So," She cleared her throat. "you're going to dinner with us… right?"

He thought for a second then nodded. "Of course. I won't leave you alone, Kura-chan."
Around that time everyone heard Sakura yell out, "AWWW! Look at the cuteness between them!" And everyone awed. Kura blushed and threw a pillow at Sakura. It missed. "Muwahaha! You missed, K-kins!"

"Pft. Whatever, Sa'! Whatever! I'll get you later! You can count on that!" She grinned.

"So, where are we going to eat?" Briar asked everyone in general.

Kura and Hiei shrugged. "It's up to you guys." Kura told them. She never liked being put on the spot to make decisions like that.

"What about that new place in town? The one in front of the movie theater? I heard their service is wonderful and the cuisine is superb." Kurama threw in his insight.

"Sounds lovely!" Briar agreed rather quickly while everyone else nodded. "We should've went there last night when we were thinking about dinner." She added once she thought to herself for a moment.

"Yes, well…" Kurama chuckled. "I was rather tired. Sorry."

"'Tis okay."

While Briar and Kurama were making small talk, Kura and Hiei were whispering back and forth with each other. Sakura noticed this and started to pick on Kura. "Oooooh! What ish Kura-chan and Hiei-kins secretly planning? A romantic night, eh?"

Kura blushed and she narrowed her eyes at Sakura. "Sakura! I'm sooooooo gonna get you at dinner!"

"Yeah, well.. No drinking!" She warned, but Kurama started to add something after her.

"Actually, Kura and Hiei are allowed to drink."

"WHAT!" Sakura's mouth dropped open. "NOT FAIR!" She yelled.

"Well It's a special occasion for them." Kurama argued with her.

Kura and Hiei looked at each other and shrugged. "I think I learned my lesson last time I--"

Hiei cut her off. "I don't know. Actually I'd kind of like to see you like you were---"

Kura put her hand over his mouth. "You! Shoosh!"

Everyone already knew what he was getting at. They all laughed. Kura's cheeks turned a deep shade of red. Hiei gazed at her beautiful face and smiled. He pulled her closed to him and brushed her lips with his. She giggled. "Cute." She replied in a soft tone.

"Thanks." He knew he couldn't do too many things around anyone else, for he had a reputation as a formidable badass who never grew soft towards anyone. Yusuke and Kuwabara expected Hiei to not even care about the ladies much less their feelings. Some didn't even consider Hiei to be isolated from everyone at every moment of the day.

Kurama kept his eyes on his sister and his friend. True, he enjoyed his sister being happy. Lately, he'd come to the conclusion that his sister needed to be happy. She'd practically been forced to live with him and then, just a few weeks ago, he'd tried to keep Hiei and herself from each other on the grounds of the unmarried status. There was still a portion of him which didn't like the fact that his sister was married and getting ready to go into her own life sooner than he could know. His big brother complex was still present.

Holding back his tongue, Kurama turned to gaze at Briar who seemed to have noticed that her husband was spacing out. "Are you okay?" She asked him.

He showed his normal, charming smile and nodded. "I'm fine." He quickly turned his attention back to Kura and Hiei. He cleared his throat then asked, "So, you two, how does it feel?"

Hiei and Kura exchanged glances and smiles then looked to Kurama. Kura answered with, "It doesn't really feel that different… It just makes things more special from now on." Hiei nodded, agreeing.

Sakura and Jin "ooooohed" and laughed.

Kura thought it was cute, and Hiei was slightly annoyed.

"Well," Kurama stood up. "Shall we head off to dinner to celebrate yet another successful wedding?"

"Aye!" Kura and Sakura answered, jumping right up from their seats. Sakura jokingly hit Jin on the head right before he was to rise to his feet. "I'll get you, Sa'." He grinned and rose successful to his feet.

Kurama helped Briar out of her seat and slipped his arms around her waist. He brushed her lips with his and brought a smile to his face. "I love you."

"'Love you, too, Kurama-chan!" Briar smiled, taking his hand in her own. She lead him to the door.

Sakura got that gleam in her eyes, as though she was about to do something asinine. She jumped on Jin's back, giggling, and kissed him on the cheek. "Yaah!"

Jin shook his head and pacified Sakura by consenting to carrying her to the restaurant, or at least until he got tired of carrying her on his back. "Fine. Fine. You win!"

"Yay! Thanks, babe!" Sakura said into his ear while they left Kura and Hiei in the house.

"Hey! Kura! Lock the door!" Kurama yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

Kura looked to Hiei. He wasn't smiling. He was sitting there with his gaze upon the carpet. She reached up with her right hand and brushed his cheek, enticing him to look up at her. She tried to make her smile as bright as she could. "Cheer up, Hiei-chan! It's only dinner. It can't be that bad.- All aside, we normally have fun! How can we not?" Giggling, she took his hand and started to head towards the door. Hiei walked out the door before her because Kura had to lock the door.

They joined up the group. They stayed towards the back with Yukina and Touya. To Kura's surprise, Hiei and Touya were able to hold a civilized conversation with each other. Herself and Yukina had decided to talk amongst themselves.

"So, Kura," Yukina began in her naturally charming and cute tone. "How does it really feel to finally be married to the man you truly love?" She had to add a giggle at the end.

Kura blushed as she answered her friend's question. "Honestly…? It feels great! There's no pressure from Kurama anymore, it seems.- I'm just glad that Hiei wanted this and actually surprised me with it! I had no clue as to what we were in the Spirit World for!"

"It was a rather big surprise to us all, actually. When Hiei came to Touya and myself and asked us to come for the 'surprise', I was taken aback! It didn't seem like the Hiei I knew… but it was adorable." Yukina admitted.

Kura sighed and gazed at Hiei up ahead with Touya. "Yeah, he's changed a lot… I just hope he didn't change for me. Years ago, I fell in love with the Hiei who was a formidable badass. He never seemed to enjoy other people's company. I don't know why, but I fell in love with him from the first insult he gave me!" Kura laughed like a little school girl.

"That's so cute, Kura!" Yukina giggled with her.

Up ahead, Sakura kept looking back at her best friend and the other three of her friends who refused to walk with everyone else, apparently. She saw her best friend giggling and smiling with Yukina. Inside, she was a little jealous. She turned around and faced the same direction as Jin. She was still being carried on his back. "I hate this…" She grumbled.

"Hate wha', Sakura?" Jin felt compelled to ask.

"Kura hasn't been spending much time with me lately!" She pouted.

"C'mon, Sa'.." Jin was truly understanding when it came down to… er… everything! "… She's been really busy lately."

"She's forgotten me!"

"No. Trust me! I know she hasn't forgotten you! How could you? You're her best friend!- Just don't worry about anything. Everything will chill out in a few days."

Sakura sighed. "Yeah. I hope so." She closed her eyes to rest them all the way to the restaurant.

In the middle of dinner, Kura noticed that Sakura hadn't said anything to her. She felt rather bad, and as though she'd done something to cause Sakura to act like this. She cleared her throat and- from across the table- got Sakura's attention. "Do you and Jin want to hang out with Hiei and I later? I don't think I can go to sleep so easily tonight!"

Sakura shrugged. "Sure." She answered, then just went back to talking to everyone but Kura. It wasn't that she was mad, she just felt… as though she was getting in the way.

Kura could hear Sakura's thoughts. True, it was rude to spy and rude to listen in on anyone's thoughts or words, but Kura was so bent on trying to find out why Sakura was acting the way she was. "Sakura?" She got her friend's attention again. They made ye contact. "You're not in the way of anything, just to let you know… I'm sorry if I seem to be ignoring you, but I'm not… Life's been rather--"

"Busy.- I know." Sakura's tone softened a little. "Sorry for being a jerk."
"Sorry for not hanging out with you more!" Kura apologized.

"It's okay… We'll hang out tonight." Sakura confirmed.

"Good." Kura smiled. Thank God! I don't know what I would've done if Sakura just stopped talking to me all together.

The rest of dinner was rather nice. No fights of any sort. Nothing but pleasant conversation. Sakura noticed that Hiei and Kura mainly talked to each other. She wasn't the only one to notice it, everyone else did. They all exchanged looks and thought it was "cute". On the walk home, the two were inseparable. Holding hands, kissing, cuddling as they walked (you know what I'm talking about! Don't make me sound like a dumbass). Sakura had taken the opportunity to snap pictures with her camera. Hiei was rather angry but only for a split second before he started being sweet with Kura again.

"Hey, Sa'?" Jin smirked. "Are ya gonna black mail 'im sometime?"

Sakura smirked with him. "Who knows! I just might have to!"

Hiei tried to threaten her but Kura would always do something to distract him from it.

Sakura gave a thumbs up to Kura since she kept her from receiving any more threats from Hiei. She could've handled it, but it was too cute to see Kura and Hiei acting that way.

When they arrived back at the apartment, Yukina and Touya said their goodbyes and went on their way to Touya's home (which he shared with Rinku, Chu, and Jin). Sakura, Jin, Hiei, and Kura ended up in the back yard of the apartment, where there was a swing set. Kura and Sakura each sat in one swing each while Jin and Hiei pushed them. It was fun, of course! Cute and fun. They tried to make plans for the week, but they couldn't cease laughing or having fun to clarify the plans.

"Whatever happens will happen when it wants to!" Kura reminded them just before a chase, tickle fight commenced.
­­­­­­­­­­

Note from the Author:
Oh, wow! The twentieth chapter is finished! Okay, okay! I admit it… it's not as long as some of the others, but hey! At least we've gotten this far! How impressive, eh? Anyway… this chapter would've been longer but the wonderfulness of Animazement interfered with my 'work' (I.E. Working on this fanfic)! I believe we all had fun at the Convention! . More soon!