Chapter 21: Swings, Water Balloons, and a Movie

The Human World was rather quiet tonight. Sakura and Kura were the first two to notice as they were swinging on the swings in the Park. Hiei was now "resting" in a tree just beside of the swing set. Jin was lying on his back in the grass, looking up at the starry night's sky.

"You know," Sakura started on about the quiet, awkward feeling. "It sort of feels like something's gonna go wrong."

Kura shrugged. "I hope nothing goes wrong."

From the tree, Hiei sat comfortably and kept his keen senses on the lookout for anything which might pose a threat.

Kura looked up and giggled. "C'mon Hiei! Nothing's going happen! I doubt anything in the Human World is going to happen."

He looked down at her. "You don't know that for sure."

"Oh! Be optimistic for once, Hiei-chan!" She smiled from her swing. Her hair was tucked behind her ears but it didn't help when she'd swing back-and-forth due to her moving through the air.

Hiei shook his head then when back to being the security man.

"Oye. Jus' le' 'im do wha' 'e wan's." Jin threw in his two cents about Hiei.

Sakura just giggled. "Funny. Jin? I don't think Hiei even listens to anyone anymore. He does what he wishes anyway!"

"Sure he does! No one owns him!" Kura replied.

"No, but.. I've got plenty of pictures of him so I own his soul!" Sakura laughed. She stopped herself from swinging by digging her heels into the sand below them. She had to let that comment "slip" because it was in her nature. She glanced up at Jin as he chuckled along and shook his head.

Kura giggled as well. She glanced up at Hiei again who was looking down at her once more. If I can't have your soul… that means I have to die now! She relayed her thought to him via telekinesis. Of course she was only joking.

Hiei let out a small laugh then went back to looking at the stars. He'd given up at keeping watch over the perimeter.

"It's a beautiful night, huh?" Kura questioned him.

Sakura got a gleam in her eye. A plan formulated in mind. She leapt off the swing and went to lay with Jin in the grass. They cuddled and gazed up at the starry blanket above them.

Hiei nodded. "It is."

"It's a good night to be outside…" She stopped the swing and rose to her feet. ".. to be with the one you love." She swayed from side to side a couple of times before she looked up to the branch where Hiei sat. Quickly, she climbed to the branch, With her beautiful green eyes, she made eye contact with his crimson eyes. "Hiya stranger!" She smiled.

Hiei grinned, shaking his head and offered her a place to sit in his lap.

The couple got comfortable quickly and began chatting. Sakura and Jin were making jokes and chatting from their spot in the grass. They must've been comfortable, or they hadn't really moved from their cuddle-y spot.

A top a building just outside the barriers of the park, Nadare and Kuronue stood in solemn darkness. They were watching Kura and Hiei. Nadare wasn't exactly welcoming to the fact that her brother was being so overly brusque with Kura. Kuronue could sense how Nadare was feeling by just standing her presence. "You really should relax, Nadare." He tried. "He's doing what he wants to do. He has his own life. It's not as though he's been living with you and he just ran off and get married with out permission."

Rather annoyed, Nadare turned to him and narrowed her eyes. "You're an idiot, Kuronue. Why did I even bother asking you to come?"
"Maybe…" He began, his voice was rather charming and soothing. "… you wanted to be with someone on this considerably beautiful night."

"You jerk. Why would I want that?"

"Come now… You're not as bad ass as you think. There's a heart in there under your rough, tough exterior." He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, revealing her face underneath the stars. "There.. Now I can see your beau--"

Nadare flinched and moved about half of an inch away from him. "Don't touch me."

"Why?"

"I'm not going to end up like everyone else. I'm not going to let my so-called heart take hold of-" Before she could finish her sentence, Kuronue grabbed her face and pressed his lips against hers. She didn't exactly object. When Kuronue pulled away, he brushed her cheek with her hand.

"You didn't object, you know." He pointed out. "So, your heart already has a hold on you. You just don't want to admit it."

Nadare searched his eyes for tricks or schemes he might've been hiding. There were none. She shook her head and turned back to look at her brother and Kura in the tree. "Honestly, I don't like her."

"Why is that?" Kuronue stood beside of her, playing with a piece of her hair.

"She's too… human-like."

"Oh. Who isn't anymore?" He chuckled. "I just think you don't want someone so perfect for your brother to get to him and change him. Well it's too late for that. The Hiei you see before you now is the one who's changed over the years thanks to Kura, Sakura, Jin, Touya, Kurama, Briar, Yukina, and everyone else."

Nadare closed her eyes. "Yes. It's too late to save him."

Kuronue chuckled lightly. "There was never any danger to save him from."

"Perhaps you're right." Nadare turned to leave.
"Are you ever going to talk to Hiei?" Kuronue followed her.

She shrugged. "Maybe."

The two disappeared into the night.

Jin started tickling Sakura. Sakura jumped up and tagged him. ".. You're it!" She began running from him. He jumped to his feet and pursued her.

Kura caught a glimpse of the two. She giggled. "Funny."

"What?" Hiei asked.

"Just Sakura and Jin." She looked at him.

"Oh." Was his only verbal response. He rested his arm over her legs and the other was around her back to make sure she wouldn't fall.

"'Oh'? You're grumpy tonight. Aren't you?"

"No. Not grumpy. I'm just tired…"

"From doing what?"

He smirked, thinking of a very inappropriate response. That wasn't like Hiei at all. He must've thought pretty loud for Kura had hit him lightly on the arm. "shut up!" She warned through laughs. "That was totally uncalled for!"

"No. It wasn't."

"Aye! It was!" She argued, then gave up a moment later. She pressed her lips against his. "I love you." She said once she started to pull away.

He pulled her closer and kissed her neck a couple times. "I love you too."

Kura smiled as she looked up at the moon. Her mind was well into the thinking mood at this point. "Where do you want to live?"

"What do you mean? It's not up to me. You can choose." He had never even thought about. Before the two had gotten married, he had only been thinking about making sure he was going to spend the rest of his life with this girl. Now, all he thought about was Kura. No matter what he was doing. He could be sleeping but he was dreaming of Kura.

"Hiei! Come on! Where do you want to live?" She was annoyed with him, but she sounded that way. Kura didn't want to make it seem like she was in control in their marriage. She wanted equality. She wanted Hiei to give his two cents about things which involved both of them.

He sat in silence for a moment, trying to conjure a place he might want to live. She shrugged after a moment. "It's up to you."

She blinked and sighed, wishing she didn't have to make the decision as to where they lived by themselves. "The Demon world. How's that?"

"Are you sure you want to live there?"

She looked at him, unbelievingly. "Why? Do you not want to?"

"It's not that."
"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing. I just want to make sure the Demon World is the place you want to live." He held her close to his chest.

"Okay.- This time next year…. We'll be living in the Demon World." She giggled. She rested her hands on the one arm of Hiei's which was resting over her upper legs. As she thought to herself about eh future, she lightly stroked Hiei's arm with her fingertips.

He scanned her mind with his Jagan eye which was concealed under his bandanna. As soon as he found what he was looking for, he spoke. "How many children do you want?"

Her smile grew softer and she closed her eyes. "I'm not sure. What did you have in mind?" She felt him shrug. "I want at least two. One boy and one girl."

"You wouldn't be upset if we had more, right?"

"Of course not!" Her eyes popped open. "That might be fun! Maybe even better than having just two!"

Hiei nodded and started to kiss her neck again.

"You know…" She began, softly. She was enjoying every single kiss from him. ".. I don't think many things will change between us in the future."

"Really?" He stopped to look up at her face.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't want anything to change because the way you and I are right now has made me the happiest I've ever been!"

"Uh huh…" He nodded, apparently wanting to hear more.

"It's true.- When you up and left all those years ago, I became so lonely, sour, and bitchy! Now, I'm so happy you're here!" She ran her fingers down his arm and squeezed his hand once her hand arrived there. "Do you--" Her voice became flirty as she changed topics. "-- still have that nifty, tattoo-looking thing on your arm?- I can't remember?"

He glanced at her, with a smirk on his face. "You'd think you'd know since you've seen me shirtless so many times."

Kura's mouth fell open. "Oh, my God Hiei! Shut up!" She was afraid that Sakura and Jin might've heard Hiei's thwarting comment about her. They would never let her live it down.

"What? They can't hear me." Hiei told her. At the moment, he cared very little about anything Sakura had to tease him about. "Besides, the things everyone else says doesn't matter."

"Huh?- Wait… everything everyone says does matter!" She defended.

He shook his head. "I'll just stay quiet."

"No!" Her tone changed to sweet and cute. "Don't do that! If you do, Kura-chan will be lonely!"

Hiei gave her a look of question. She'd never really spoken in 3rd person about herself before, and Hiei didn't like it at all. He shook his head again. "If you ever do that again, I'll make sure you never find me. Ever." He stared at her as she made a cute face at him, then he started to grin. He couldn't help himself.

"Aw! Look at Hiei-chan's smile!" She poked him in the side though it was un-phasing to him. "Why aren't you ticklish? It's not as fun!"

"Of course it's fun. I get to attack you and you can't do anything about it." He moved the hand which was resting on Kura's Back to her side. He looked into her eyes and sat still for a moment before he squeezed her side lightly but enough to make her squeal.

She jumped a little also. She felt herself start to fall off of Hiei's lap then Hiei quickly moved to catch her. Her heart nearly skipped a beat but she was safe, which was good. "Thanks." She placed a long kiss on his lips.

He finished off the elongated kiss with a "No problem" and then jumped down to the ground. He let Kura down to stand. They exchanged glances. "Now what?"

Kura looked around for Sakura or Jin but fund no sign of either of them. "I don't know. It would be rather…. bad if we showed up at the apartment with out them."

Hiei slipped his hand into hers and weaved his fingers between hers. They began walking due to Hiei pulling Kura. "I doubt they're still here."

"Why do you say that"

"For one: there's no aura from either of them…"

Kura bit her lip. "Oh. Heh. True."

"And, two: we were in that tree for way too long. They've already planned something." Hiei nodded, already assuring her of Sakura and Jin's mysterious and jocular minds.

"Yes, but what are they planning?"

"I guess we'll find out when we get back to the apartment." Hiei told her as they exited the park.

"You know," Sakura said as she came back with another roll of toilet paper and some more shaving cream from the bathroom. "I doubt Kura will think this is very funny."

"Yeah.. But we both do!" Jin said, spraying the shaving cream on Kura's bed.

Sakura threw the toilet paper on the floor. She heard the door open. "Shit! Quick! Put the cover back on the bed!" She threw the roll down and then herself and Jin got out of Kura's room.

Kura and Hiei met up with them just as they were exiting the room. "What were you two doing in there?" Kura asked.

"Nothing disgusting I presume." Hiei said, narrowing his eyes at Sakura.

"Hiei… Shut up." Sakura threw her small comeback at him.

"We were jus' hangin' ou' in ya room, Kura." Jin grabbed Sakura's hand. "We've gotta be goin'! See you guys tomorrow!" The two quickly left, heading to the Demon World.

Kura and Hiei walked into the room. Hiei flipped the light switch on. The light came on and they sat their eyes on a toilet-papered room. Kura's jaw fell open. Kurama and Briar were walking past her room when they stopped to look inside.

"Kura?" Kurama was flabbergasted also. "Do you care to explain as to why the interior of your room is covered in toilet paper?"

Briar tried to hold in her laughs. "Kura-kins? Did Sakura have something to do with this?"

Kura looked around her room and nodded. She started to walking amongst the sea of white tissue paper. Hiei stood by the door.

Briar and Kurama exchanged looks.

Kurama wanted to warn Kura about the bed. "Hey, imoto?"

Kura was a little annoyed. "Yes?"

"You might want to check your bed for anything… foamy."

Kura looked at him for a moment then rushed to her bed. She pealed back the blankets and saw the mass of shaving cream spread in her bed. "HOLY SHIT! I'm going to kill her!" She was a little more than just mad at the moment.

Hiei noticed her rather enraged look in her eye. "Kura-chan. Just calm down. It was just a joke."

"It went a little far, Hiei!"

"He's right, Kura." Kurama said. "Just let it slid."

"I'm not cleaning it up." She said. "I wont."

"Then.." Hiei walked over to put his arms around her. "We'll go and stay with them tonight. They can come and clean it up in the morning."

Kurama and Briar shrugged.
"I'm sure Kuronue wouldn't mind." Briar threw in. Oh, but what about Nadare? I think she'll be staying with him tonight… Oh well! Jo-Jo will just have to make it work!

Kura rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll get some of my clothes and I'll be out in a minute."

Hiei, Kurama, and Briar left Kura to her lonesome. They went and sat down in the living room.

"So," Kurama started his regular questioning of Hiei. "How was your time with Kura?"

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Fun. Why?"

Kurama shrugged. He was quite nosey when it came to his sister. "What did you two do?"

"Kura went to swing on the swing set in the park and I relaxed in a tree. We weren't doing anything you would deem wayward." He added.

"You guys went to the park?" Briar asked, trying to be an active part of the conversation.

"Yeah. Why is that such a big surprise?" Hiei sounded rather annoyed with all of the questions.

"It's not. We were just asking…" Briar assured him.

"Hn." He growled as he rolled his eyes.

Kurama looked to Briar once more before he spoke to Hiei again. "So, Hiei… How's life?"

Hiei looked the fox over a couple times. "What are you playing at? Why so many questions?"

Kurama shrugged. He was assuming the part of the innocent. "I'm just making sure I keep up with everyone…"

Kura walked out of her room with some clothes in a messenger bag. "Kurama… Why are you pestering Hiei-kins again?"

"I'm not…" Kurama defended. "I was just trying to have a conversation with him."

Kura rolled her eyes. "Okay… Well, we're going to leave now. We'll see you two in the morning."

"Oh. Trust me… We might not be the only ones you see in the morning!" Briar sang, enticing them to ask more questions but they ignored her. It's going to be funny when the family gets here tomorrow!

"Bai guys!" Kura and Hiei headed to Kuronue's.

Kuronue had to sleep through Sakura and Kura chasing each other around the inside and outside of the house in the Demon World. It was a surprise he got any sleep at all. Jin sat on the roof most of the night, being entertained by his wife and her best friend. Hiei, on the other hand, decided to hang out in a tree. For some odd reason, he liked the idea of sleeping in a tree… It was funny.

Kuronue rose to his feet as soon as he opened his eyes to see the bright sunlight falling through his bedroom window. He stretched out his arms, full span, and then headed downstairs to see how many of the misfits he was supposed to be "babysitting" were awake. Also, he wanted to see how much damage they had caused. I do think I'll make Sakura clean it up… He sighed and yawned as his foot hit the carpet at the end of the steps. He scanned the hallway- nothing was out of place. He moved into the kitchen and living room. Nothing was out of place.

He did notice that the door leading to the side yard was open. He walked over to glance outside. He observed Hiei standing out in the yard. Kuronue wondered to himself what the demon could be doing, but it only looked as though he was enjoying the quiet morning to himself.

Kuronue stepped out into the yard and wandered over to where Hiei stood. "For the Demon World, this morning is actually pretty enjoyable."

… And the peace is disturbed. Hiei sighed, clearly annoyed with Kuronue's presence. "Yes. It is if no one's talking."

Kuronue wasn't one to take low blows such as that. "Oh. Come now, Hiei… Why so hostile? You should enjoy the time you have to yourself. Once you have children with Kura… you'll barely have any alone time.."

"Are you trying to scare me? If you are…" He narrowed his eyes to him. "It's not working at all."

Kuronue grinned. "I'm not trying to do anything. I'm just alerting you. Time's change…"

Hiei rolled his eyes and looked off into the distance.

Kuronue laughed inside, but held a silent grin on his face. "So, how is the married life?" He hadn't thought about how many times his brother-in-law had been asking the fire Demon that, but who cared? Kuronue was just making an attempt at a conversation.

Hiei's fist clenched in his pocket. He bit his tongue and tried to watch what he said. "It's… wonderful…" He said tightly.

Kuronue looked him over through the side of his eyes. "No complications?"
"Besides everyone pestering me with questions about it… no."

Kuronue laughed slightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to further the annoyance you already had."

Hiei kept quiet for a moment. He turned to go back into the house and then he saw a dark figure moving slowly in the trees. "Who's that?" He questioned. He assumed it was someone for Kuronue.

He turned and glanced at the fore-mentioned figure. It's Nadare. Unsure as to what to say, he blurted, "That's no one. Don't worry about it." His plan of trying to get Hiei to question him no further was foiled by Kura stepping outside, half asleep. Shit. She's going to sense Nadare and then say something to Hiei.

"Hiei-chan?" She called, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Do you feel that?"

Hiei looked back to Kuronue before he answered Kura. The look in his eyes said: "If you know something you'd better speak up now." Kuronue was barely phased on the outside, but he was rather worried on the inside. Hiei started towards Kura slowly but then stopped when he realized she was walking towards him. "I felt it. Also, I see it." He answered.

Kura looked at the surroundings. She saw Hiei, then Kuronue, then she looked to the trees and saw the outline of the figure. That figure was exerting so much energy. It was a well-recognized energy, too. "It's her…" Kura whispered.

"Who?" Hiei asked. He was oblivious. This energy seemed somewhat familiar to him, but not familiar enough for him to identify it. "Who is it?"

Kuronue looked to Nadare, who was watching them from the shadows. She was now still. He grinned and then called out to her. "You can come out… Nadare."

"Who?" Hiei wanted to know who they were talking about. He watched as the dark being moved out of the shadows and towards them.

From the window above the yard, Sakura and Jin watched the group. "This should be most interesting." Sakura got out.
Jin nodded, agreeing with her comment. "Hopefully, no one will end up physically hurt." He threw in, as he pulled Sakura close to him.

"I hope not!" She smiled, taking his hand in her own and continuing to watch out of the window.

Nadare arrived at their spot. She had a rather smug grin on her face as she sat her eyes on Kura. Kuronue put his arm around Nadare's shoulders and stroked her hair. "Hiei… This is Nadare…" He glanced at the fire demon. "… She's your older sister.."

Hiei had naught a clue as to what he should do for only a moment, then he rolled his eyes. "Is this some kind of pathetic joke?"

Kura put her hand in his to catch his attention. "It's not a joke." She told him in a reassuring tone.

Hiei didn't bother looking back to her; he kept her eyes on this Nadare being. "I have one sister… I don't need some unwanted unknown coming into my life and telling me that she's my onēsan." He replied.

Nadare couldn't help but laugh at his cold response. "You honestly think that your little okusan is lying to you?" She felt the need to be a smart ass coming.

Hiei clenched his fist. "Don't you dare bring her into this."

"She's already involved in this." Nadare revealed.

Kura bit her lip and squeezed Hiei's hand.

Kuronue continued to stroke Nadare's hair. "Aye. She's been involved longer than you have, Hiei."

Hiei looked to Kura, trying to figure out why she never told him. "Kura..? Why didn't you say anything?"

She couldn't look at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't think…"

Hiei turned back to Nadare and Kuronue. "What do you want, if you are my onēsan. I've never heard of you so why should I believe you at all?"

Kura squeezed his hand again. "Hiei! Don't! She is your onēsan! Just leave it at that!"

Nadare couldn't hold back her laughter. She was laughing at Kura. "Awww! Is Kura-kins scared again? How sweet…"

Kuronue shook his head. "Come, Nadare… be nice."

Hiei turned and began walking back to the house, with Kura following.

"Kowai, Hiei?" Nadare dared to ask, fearlessly.

The fire demon stopped, a grin beckoning on his face. "I'd never be scared of someone like you."

Kuronue held Nadare to his chest. "Just let them go… There's no need to fight." He relayed into her ear.

Nadare listened but only because she didn't want to deal with Kura anymore. "You were right… He has changed."

Sakura and Jin ran downstairs to meet their friends. "Kura! Hiei! Good morning!" Sakura tried to brighten the room, but that didn't work for Hiei. He let Kura's hand fall to her side and he fell back into the chair. He grumbled to himself for a second.

"Morning, Sakura! Morning, Jin!" Kura smiled, trying her best to be as happy as she could despite the recent events.

"How are you guys this morning?" Sakura asked, being aware that Hiei might have a slight attitude all day.

Jin went into the kitchen to get something to drink and eat.

"Uh…" Kura hesitantly laughed. "We're doing alright! We're alive!- How about you guys?"

"I'm fully rested after our rather active night!" She grinned. "I don't really have to clean up your room, do I?" She tried to pout and get her way out of it.

"Of course you do!" Kura said. She was smiling but she was one-hundred percent serious. "You should probably go and get on that!"

Sakura frowned. "Oh. Alright!" She looked into the kitchen at Jin who was eating a banana and drinking some milk. "Come on, Jin-chan! We've gotta go and clean up!"

"COMING!" He got out just as he stuffed the rest of the fruit into his mouth then he rushed off behind Sakura. They were both fully dressed and totally awake. They left Kura and Hiei at Kuronue's.

Kura looked to Hiei and bit her lip. "Sorry for not telling you. I thought about it… but I didn't think Briar wanted me to tell you."

He closed his eyes. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

To her, he sounded as though he didn't want to talk about it. She sighed. "I think I'm going to head home, also. I think you should co-"

"I'll be there in a little while." He interrupted her.

"Oh…. Okay." She nodded. She kissed him on the forehead then went upstairs to change right quick. When she came back down, she briefly told him "I love you" and then left for the Human World.

Nadare and Kuronue stayed outside for a while. Kuronue had talked Nadare into going for a short walk. They didn't want to bother Hiei anymore, though Nadare rather enjoyed it. She thought it was slightly harsh of her to piss Hiei off by insulting his okusan, but she didn't feel bad.

Sakura and Jin arrived at Kurama's apartment and immediately began cleaning up the mess of toilet paper and shaving cream in Kura's room.

"We don't have that much to clean up!" Sakura grinned. Then, she snapped her fingers and the mess vanished.
"Glad someone besides Botan has that ability." Jin let her jump onto his back. They then left Kura's room to discover Kura, herself, sitting in the living room with Kurama and Briar.

"Hello, you two!" Briar greeted them with a smile.

"What are you scheming?" Sakura questioned her sister.

"Uh…" The blond smirked. "Nothing harmful!"

Kurama cleared his throat. "We will be having some visitors."

"Really! Who?" Kura sat up, energetically.

Briar shook her finger at her. "You won't know until they get here!"

"Damn you!" Sakura pouted from Jin's back.

Kura giggled. "It'll still be fun, right?" She wanted to have fun today since her morning started out bad.

It wasn't long before the guests arrived. Sakura and Kura rushed from their video game to answer the door. They opened the door and a little blond boy jumped at them and hugged their necks. "Momiji!" The two girls squealed with happiness.

"Hiya!" He smiled back as he let them go. He started towards Kurama and Briar.

"Kyo! Haru!" Kura called as she smiled. She hugged them both.

"Yuki! And, Hiro-chan is here too!" Sakura hugged Yuki then messed up Hiro's hair a little.

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

"Oh… Shigure's here, too." Sakura announced, not so enthusiastic.

Shigure grinned as he stepped into the house. He started to be dramatic, "Oh! You've hurt me deeply, young Sakura!"

"Oh! Shut up already!" Kyo demanded. "I've had enough of your damn bellyaching already."

Kura giggled. "Kyo! Be nice!"

Kyo's cheeks glowed red.

"So, how is everyone?" Briar asked the group. "How was the trip?"
"It was okay. It would've been better with out Shigure's complaining." Yuki answered.

Kyo sat down on the couch. Haru joined him. Momiji went around the house, examining every room.

"You guys didn't have any trouble finding the place, did you?" Kurama asked, pertaining to the Sohmas's journey to the apartment.

"Of course we didn't. Hatori drove us." Kyo answered.

"Hey! I could've safely driven!" Shigure plead, in his own defense.

Hiro laughed. "No. You couldn't have. We would've crashed before leaving the grounds."

Haru, Kura, and Sakura laughed. "Awww! Hiro! You're still a smart ass!" Kura joked. "That's so cute!"

Hiro narrowed his eyes to her. "Shut up."

"If you're gonna always be that way… You're gonna turn into another Kyo!" Sakura said, grinning.

Kyo and Hiro narrowed their eyes to her. She held up a peace sign with her first two fingers.

Kyo rolled his eyes and then Kura came to sit between him and Haru. He smiled a little.

"Hiya, guys!" Kura smiled. "How are you two?" She asked both Haru and Kyo.

Haru grinned and answered truthfully. "I'm wonderful. School's even more fun since the curse was lifted!"

"Aww! That's good to know." Kura laughed. "You haven't been getting into any trouble with the girls, have you, Haru?" She lightly punched him on the arm.

His grin deepened. "Of course not!"

Kura turned to Kyo. She looked into his eyes for a moment. "And What about you? You haven't been getting into any trouble involving girls have you?"

Kyo shook his head. He couldn't help but chuckle a little. "- Where's your significant other at the moment?"

"Oh…" Kura looked around. "I'm not sure, actually! I think he's still--- uh… at the park…"

Sakura looked to Jin then to Kura. "Uh.. Where'd Momiji go?"

Everyone shrugged.

Sakura went into Kura's room and found Momiji. He was passed out on Kura's bed. Sakura giggled and then left the room. "When was the last time Momiji slept?" She asked Yuki.

"Well…" He thought for a moment. "I don't think he's had any sleep since yesterday morning."

"Well, he's sleeping in Kura's room right now."

"Is he really?" Kura thought it was cute. "Kawaii!" She giggled.

Kyo and Haru looked at her like she was crazy. Just as they looked at Kura, Hiei "poofed" into the room. He made eye contact with Kyo and instantly became annoyed.

"Hiei! So glad you could grace us with your presence today!" Briar welcomed him.

"Hn." He growled, his hands resting in his pant pockets.

Kura's smile grew. She looked happier now that Hiei was there. "Hiya stranger!" She stood up and hugged his neck. "Glad you could join us!"

"Yeah…" He mumbled. It wasn't exactly a response she was looking for, but it passed. He kept his eyes on the Orange Top.

Kyo closed his eyes and sat with his arms crossed over his chest.

Haru looked to him. In one glance, he could tell that Kyo was jealous and he wasn't going to let him get away with being quiet. "Aww. Is little Kyo-Kyo jealous? We can't have that! Oh, no!" He got Kyo in a headlock.

Kyo tried to get out of the headlock by pushing Haru away from him. Finally, it worked.

Sakura was laughing rather hard at them. "Haru! Give him a break!" She got out, between her laughs.

Briar, Kurama, and Shigure wandered out to the balcony to catch up with each other.

Briar began with, "Wow. Kyo hasn't changed that much from when he was younger, has he?" She had a grin on her face. She leaned over the railing and looked out at the few blocks she could see from her position.

Shigure knew what she was talking about and he agreed. "Aye. He hasn't. It's odd, though."

"How so?" Briar turned around and looked at him.

"You'd think he would've given up on her when he heard she was taken a few months ago. " Shigure added on.

Kurama listened to what they were talking about. Granted, it was about his sister, but he only knew little about the situation. He sat in the chair and quietly listened.

Sakura sat there for a few moments, in the tension between Kyo and Hiei. She waited for Kura to start a conversation which would ease the tension.

"Hiei… You remember Hatsuharu, right?" Kura tried to talk to him.

Hiei nodded.

"I think you two have a lot in common." Once more, she tried to get Hiei's eyes off of Kyo. Finally, she hit him on his upper arm; it got his attention quick. "Are you gonna just sit there, staring at my friend like you're going to kill him? Or are you gonna loosen up and relax a little?"

Sakura bit her lip. Uh oh! That can't be good! Hiei's gonna be pissy all day now! She looked to Hiro who looked like he wanted to see a fight break out. "C'mon Hiro! Let's go get Momiji-chan up!" She dragged him into Kura's room.

Haru looked to Kyo. "You know," He muttered to his cousin. "You could be helping the situation a little bit."

"And, how do you suppose I do that?" Kyo narrowed his eyes at him.

"How about not being an ass!" Haru hit him on the head.

"Damn you, Haru." Kyo rubbed his head.

Hiei sat down against the wall and closed his eyes. This is utterly ludicrous.

Kura rolled her eyes in frustration. "Anyway…" She turned to Haru and Kyo. "How was the trip up here?"

"Oh. You know! It was utterly horrible because of Shigure's annoying complaints." Haru chuckled.

"It was fine… Considering the fore-mentioned annoyance." Kyo confirmed.

"Ah. That's good."

About that time, Momiji, Sakura, and Hiro burst into the room. Well, it was more like Sakura and Momiji bursting into the room; Hiro just followed behind them. "Hey, guys! We should play a game!"

"What type of game?" Kura asked, very intrigued by her friend's idea.

Sakura and Momiji exchanged the "Trouble Makers' Glance" as it was come to be known as. "We were thinking something along the lines of Hide-and-Seek with Water Balloons."

"Ooooh!" Kura's eyes lit up. "Water balloons?- Sounds fun! You know what would make it even better?"

"What?" Sakura and Momiji's eyes lit up also.

"If we waited until a little later, just before dark! That way.. We'll have half of the game in sunlight and then half in the dark!" Kura giggled. She was into this whole idea of a water balloon fight while playing Hide-and-Seek. She looked to Hiei who instantly thought (loudly) "NO". She shook her head. "Oh, no, Mister! You are going to participate."

Hiei didn't like playing games. He never did. He didn't want to play this odd game, but he decided he'd participate just to please Kura.

"Yay!" Momiji glomped Kura. "oh! And Kyo's gonna play, too!" Momiji declared.

"What! YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Kyo retrained himself pummeling his younger cousin. "Fine. I'll play."

"Yay!" Momiji danced around in a circle.

"Good!" Kura and Sakura declared.

"Haru? Are you gonna play, too?" Sakura had hoped that he would. It would make the game all the more interesting.

"Sure! Why not!" Haru nodded. "It sounds fun enough."

"Oh! Trust me! It will be!" Sakura had that mysterious gleam in her eye as she looked at Hiei, then to Kyo, and then back to Kura. "So… Kura, Kyo, Momiji, and me will go ahead and fill up the water balloons!" Sakura allowed Momiji to jump on her back and she took him outside. Kura and Kyo soon followed them.

On the way down the steps, the light bulb atop Kura's head went off. She grinned then jumped on Kyo's back. "Thanks for the ride, Kyo-Kyo!"

Thank God for Kyo's good balance. He was able to keep going down the stairs with out falling, all with Kura on his back. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. I'll get you one day!" He threatened. He carried her to the backyard of the apartment where Momiji and Sakura had a 5 gallon plastic tub and about 300 empty, flat water balloons. Kura jumped off Kyo's back with a smile then waltzed over to the tub.

"Ready to fill 'em up?" Sakura asked.

"Aye! I am! But it might take us a while!" Kura replied.

"Oh. No. It won't. You see, you're going to go next door to use Nao's WATER faucet!" Sakura knew that Kura didn't exactly like to talk to Nao after school hours because, well, Nao has a crush on Kura and he tried something once. It had upset Kura greatly. Granted it had happened about a year and a half ago, Kura still held a small grudge against him.

Kura rolled her eyes and whined. "Why me? Why can't you do it?"

"Because! He'll tell me 'no'!" Sakura grinned as she started to fill up some of the balloons.

"I'll go with you." Kyo offered to Kura, noting her discomfort with the given situation. "I mean, if you want me to."

Kura thought for a moment then smiled to him. "Nah! It's okay. I think I can conquer this small quest." She took the extra plastic tub and four hand-fulls of empty water balloons and headed towards Nao's apartment which was just behind the fence. She found the three loose boards along the fencing and pushed them so she could get through. She saw Nao on his balcony and put on a smile. "Hey Nao!" She waved as she put the tub down on the grass.

"Oh. Hey, Kura-chan. What's up?" He leaned over the balcony's railing to see her.

"Nothing really. My friend and I are going to do something later and we need to fill up these balloons with water. I was wondering if I could use you faucet?" She answered and asked nicely.

"Sure! Why not! I'll help you if you'd like me to." He offered.

"No thanks! I'm good." She thanked him and then picked up the bucket to take it over to the faucet under the window.

As Kura was filling up her balloons, Kyo, Momiji, and Sakura were attempting to do the same in the yard. Momiji was supposed to be filling them up, as was Sakura, and Kyo was supposed to be tying them. As long as Sakura and Momiji couldn't really fill up the balloons with out bursting a couple every five seconds, Kyo wouldn't be tying any.

Kyo stood in front of the two and watched them. They were rather entertaining. If one balloon had a hole in it, they would throw it at the other one, then giggle. Kyo had to admit, this afternoon would be a rather interestingly fun one.

Kura could feel Nao's eyes on her but she made nothing of it. She continued to fill up the balloons, tie them, then lay them in the tub. It only took her thirty minutes to fill up 150 balloons. When she was done, she looked up to Nao (who was still watching her) and smiled. "Thanks a ton! You don't know how much time you saved us." She picked up the tub and headed towards the fence.

Nao started to speak, stopping her from leaving just yet. "No problem! What exactly are you guys doing with those?"

"Oh.. Well, we're going to have a water balloon fight sort of." She giggled. "It's a long story!"

Nao laughed a little. "Oh. Sounds fun.- What are you up to for the rest of the week?"

"Um.." Kura felt a certain question coming up one of which she didn't want to face. She found it useless to think up some random, lame excuse to give him. She decided to just tell him straight up. "Look, Nao… You're really nice and everything, but I can't go out with you. Ever. I'm… already taken.."

The look on the young boy's face was of pure let-down. "You're already taken? By who?"

"You don't know him." She replied then she started to move the loose fence boards so she could return to the yard. "Sorry!- I'll see you later!" Then she disappeared. She saw Momiji and Sakura soaking wet as she returned to them. "Kyo? What happened to them?" She asked the only other dry one.

He shrugged. "Let's just say that they can't fill up water balloons." He told her over their giggling.

Sakura and Momiji finally finished off the last of the balloons and then helped Kyo tie them. "Kura! You're done! Yaaay!" Momiji pointed out to his counterpart Sakura.

"Woah! That was fast!" Sakura told her friend.

"Yeah… Well.. I worked fast. Nao kept watching me and I found it rather disturbing, but I didn't say anything." Kura grinned. "It wasn't hard, but you two apparently found a way for it to be."

Sakura and Momiji giggled with each other as Kyo rolled his eyes and sighed. "At least they didn't get me wet."

"They'll get you tonight! Don't be too optimistic!" Kura warned him as she hten started to go inside.

Kyo narrowed his eyes to his cousin and Sakura. They were smirking widely. Just to be extra cautious, Kyo decided to follow Kura inside. "I'm not staying out here. I'm not gonna be an open target for them before the real game even starts." He exclaimed, holding open the door for her.

"That's probably a good idea!" Kura agreed as she stepped into the air conditioned room. "Oooh! It feels WONDERFUL in here!" She couldn't help but giggle. She looked to the window where Hiei sat. She shook her head. Why can't he just act normal for once? He knows I love him… I'm not going to be with anyone else but him! She thought while she ventured over to him. She climbed into the window to sit in front of him. "… How are you now?"

Hiei looked at her. "I'm… not as pissy." He admitted. "I'm sorry. I was just jealous. I'm always going to be jealous when it comes to you." He closed his eyes for a moment then he opened them to look out of the window.

"While that is sweet, Hiei… You don't have to be jealous. I love you. I'll always be with you." She assured him. She rested her hand on his knee closest to the window. "I trust you Hiei. I don't think I have to worry about any other girls." She smiled. "So… don't you trust me with other guys?"

Hiei sighed and nodded. "I do. I just don't trust the other guys."

"I just think that you don't trust Kyo. You let me go to school everyday, where tonsof guys are." She had to giggle a little bit. "Hiei… Just don't worry. Kyo knows he can't do anything and he knows how to stop himself! Trust me on this one! I know him."

Hiei listened to her words and then smiled. "So.." He sat up, his face closer to hers now. "About this morning.." He was referring to his run-in with Nadare.

"Oh.. Um.. Maybe you should talk to Briar and Kurama about that!"

Sakura walked into the house and went into Kura's room. "I'm gonna borrow some of your clothes, okay, Kura?"

Kura called back, "Okay! But none of my nice clothes!"

"okay!" Sakura agreed. A few moments later she returned in blue jean shorts and a black t-shirt. "Aaaah!" She sighed. "That's better! Clean, dry clothes!"

Momiji stood near the door, trying to figure out what he should do about his wet clothes. Yuki stood up and went to help him remove his wet shirt. "As for your pants, Momiji," Yuki said. "I have no clue what you're going to do.."

"He could always borrow a pair of my old pants…" Kura offered from the window. "I think they're just right for him." She got up and went to retrieve the pants.

"Good. You wont have to walk around in wet clothes all night." Yuki told Momiji.

"Hey! It's not my fault that I got all wet!" He told his older cousin just as Kura was walking back into the room with a pair of her black stretchy pants. "Here ya go, Momiji!"

"Thanks Kura!" Momiji hugged her briefly then ran into the bathroom to change into the pants.

"Okay…" Kura turned to jokingly warn everyone else who would be participating in the game later on. "No one else shall be wearing my clothes if you get all wet later!"

Kyo chuckled. "I doubt the rest of us could fit in your clothes, tiny one."

"Are you callin' me short?"

"Kind of. I'm also saying you're tiny in the waist." He added.

Kura rolled her eyes. "Okay.. Whatevs!"

Hiei rolled his eyes, but in a 'Wow, she's a dork, but cute' way.

"Is anyone else hungry?" Kura walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator then asked everyone in the house.

"I'm not." Hiei said, still looking out the window. A moment later, he stood up and walked out to the balcony with Kurama, Briar, and Shigure.

Kyo leaned on the countertop. "I'm good."

Yuki and Sakura sat down in the living room. Sakura sat down beside Jin who was sleeping. She poked his side. "Wakey wakey!" She told him as he opened his eyes. He smiled, lazily, and wrapped his arms around her.

Momiji bounced back into the living room, pestering Hiro near the tv.

Kura shrugged. She took out some fruit salad and then proceeded to grab a fork from the silverware drawer. "Yummy!" She said as she poked at a piece of strawberry.

It was around 4:45 in the afternoon when everyone began to get ready for the "game". Kura and Sakura changed into some comfortable clothes which were more suitable for the 'wet weather' they were getting ready to create.

Kura and Sakura were wearing their swimsuits underneath shirts and shorts they were wearing. Hiei was only wearing his normal black pants, which Kura found funny. She tried to tell him, "You're going to get soaked, Hiei. Why don't you just wear shorts?" But he refused to listen to her. Kyo and Yuki were wearing their gym shorts from school. Momiji, of course, still had on Kura's pants. Apparently, he was planning to take part in the water war with them on. Haru was wearing his gym shorts, also. Jin just wore his usual outfit.

"Hey, guys? Any of you gonna play?" Kura asked Kurama, Briar, Shigure, and Hiro as they got comfortable on the balcony over the backyard. They all grinned and shook their heads. They were ready to watch and be entertained. For kicks, Briar got out the video camera and the CD player. She hooked up the CD player to play an array of hits by Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper. Once the music was up and going, she set up the video camera.

"Are you going to embarrass them later with that?" Kurama asked.

Briar grinned. "Of course I am!"

"Oh!" Shigure laughed. "I want a copy too!"

"Okiday!" Briar smiled. She focused in on the group as they were congregating on the lawn.

"Alright! Who's on whose team?" Momiji started, then he stopped. "Wait! Who are the team captains!"

"Why don't we play every man/woman for themselves? That makes it much easier!" Sakura added. "Oh. Let's just knock out the Hide-And-Seek part and just have a water balloon fight! Teehee…" She giggled.

"Alrighty! That sounds like a better plan!" Kura agreed.

Hiei stood beside of her. He didn't particularly care about what type of "game" they were going to play. He wanted to be doing just about anything else instead of this right now.

Kura nudged him in the side. "Cheer up! Smile!" She commanded in a pleasing tone. "Don't be the rain that ruins our parade!"

"Fine." He cracked a small smile for her.

"Alrighty!" Kura picked up a bunch of balloons and ran out into the yard. "The only two who are allowed to hit each other in the face are Hiei and Kyo!" She grinned. "Let's go!" She threw the first balloon and it hit Hiei on the top of his head. The water ran down his face and neck then his chest and back. He picked up a balloon and started after her, but Haru and Sakura launched a double attack on him and got him. Kyo and Momiji started to douse each other with the balloons also, then moved onto everyone else.

It was easy to hit your target easily in the light, but now that it began to grow dark, there was only the moonlight to help each of them find their victims. They'd only used about half of the water balloons by now, which means there's still around 150 ready to be fired. All of those on the balcony were mystified and definitely entertained with their friends/family.

"Oh! I'd better turn the camera on night vision." Briar grinned.

"Dear," Kurama started, grinning also. "You're planning something aren't you?"

"Now, now, Kurama! The things I do don't always have to have a reason behind them! Nor do they always play a part in future embarrassing of our siblings!" She reassured him with a kiss.

Shigure and Hiro sat in the other two chairs and made jokes about everything around them. Hiro was actually having a good time. )

Sakura had found a hiding spot behind the biggest tree in the backyard. She was trying to keep her ears and eyes out for any clue of someone being around her. She thought she'd heard someone about two feet away, directly in front of her, so she threw a balloon. It popped on the fence. Oh shit! That might've given me away! She stood still.

Funny enough, Hiei was sitting on the tree branch directly above her. He dropped three balloons simultaneously onto her head then moved to a higher branch once she started to yell.

"Damn you to hell! Whoever just got me three times in a row is going to get it!" She pouted for a moment then she definitely heard someone a few feet away on the other side of the tree. She quietly snuck out from behind the huge tree and launched a balloon toward the being. SPLASH. She hit someone… Haru.

He turned around and warned her. "Sakura? Was that you? You're gonna get it!" He charged in her direction but he was hit on the top of his head by a balloon from the tree; it was Hiei again. "Dammit!" Haru still thought it was Sakura.

Kyo, Kura, Yuki ,and Momiji were dueling it out while Jin floated above them in the air, dropping balloons randomly as he felt the need. Usually, he dropped one atop one of their heads.

"Kyo! You're gonna get it!" Momiji warned as he threw another balloon in hopes to hit his older cousin, which it did. It hit him right in the stomach.

Kyo felt the balloon burst on his stomach and he launched one of his own. Then he launched a quick one on Yuki.

Kura was giggling as she launched one at Kyo then felt one hit her on the head. "JIN!" She growled. Then she felt one hit her in the stomach. "KYO!" She growled again.

She could hear Jin laughing his ass off in the air above her. She could hear Kyo walking toward her and chuckling. "Oh no! You're not gonna get me again!" She readied herself for an attack of water balloons, but what she got was Kyo throwing him over her shoulder and racing over to where the sprinkler was set up and running. She felt the cold water hit the lower half of her body and then Kyo turned around to where the cold water was hitting her face. She was practically drowning. "Dammit, Kyo! Lemme go!"

Hiei heard his wife's voice and then used his Jagan to see what was happening. What he saw made him grow with jealousy. Then he remembered his small talk with Kura earlier. He had to trust her and her faith in Orange Top. He teleported to the other side of the sprinkler and began launching balloons on them both, mainly Kyo.

"Hey! Knock it off! Is that Sakura?" Kura kept her eyes closed as she tried to keep the water out of them.

Kyo stood there, taking the balloon hits. "Dammit all! I really shouldn't have agreed to join this game."

"If you can't take the heat.." Hiei said, victoriously. "Don't play the game.."

Kura giggled.

Kyo sighed. "Damn you." He muttered.

Finally, it was 9:15 PM, and Briar turned the outside light on. Momiji, Jin, and Sakura were already sitting on the grass, trying to either dry themselves off or just take a break. Kyo, Kura, and Hiei were all grinning and laughing. "Hm.." Briar thought aloud. "That's interesting."

"What?" Shigure and Kurama stood up to look.

"Well, well, well. They can get along." Kurama concluded.

Shigure laughed. "Ah. Love amongst friends!"

Briar shook her head as she turned off the video camera. "You know… In a few years, I'm going to make sure they see this tape."

"I'm sure it will be quite interesting to see how they all react to their entertaining childish behavior." Kurama assured her just before he walked into the house. Briar and Shigure followed him, leaving the younger ones to themselves outside.

"That was soooooooo much fun!" Sakura declared. Everyone agreed with her. They all began migrating inside to change their clothes. Sakura tried to open the door and found that it was locked. She tried banging on it a couple of times, but her sister- on the other side- stood their laughing and grinning. "Briar! Open this gorram door now!"

Everyone else stood outside, soaked to the bone.

Kura started to shiver as a slight breeze blew on the group. "Christ! It's cold!" She exclaimed. Hiei pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her. Though he might be sodden also, he was still warmer than the air. Kura smiled. "Thanks Hiei." She turned her head and kissed him once.

Kyo and Haru weren't really cold, more like agitated. They wanted inside so they could change into their dry clothes. Momiji didn't seem to care he was still wrapped up in his normal hyper attitude. Apparently, Jin had taken it upon himself to dry off by flying around for a few moments then landed beside of Sakura as she yelled at her sister from the outside.

"Sakura? Do you--- Oh. Never mind." Kura giggled. You'd think one would realize that the front door would be open… Or my window. Oh! My window! She thought the realized she usually always kept her window open. She unwrapped herself from Hiei's arms then took his hand in her own. "Come on." She whispered as they walked off of the balcony, down the stairs, and to the front yard where the sakura tree was, outside of Kura's open bedroom window. She grinned to Hiei. "I doubt Sakura will think about my open window…" She said then she started to climb into the tree.

Hiei nodded. "I doubt anyone else will think about it either." He added, then climbing up slowly behind her.

Kura arrived at the branch closest to the window and quickly climbed into her room. A few seconds later, Hiei followed behind her. "Alright.. Now, to get out of these soaking wet clothes!" Kura exclaimed, grabbing some dry underwear, a dry bra, then a pair of pants and a tank top. "You have clean clothes right?" She asked Hiei when she returned from her closest.

".. Yeah…" He looked at her like she was stupid. Her lack of the inevitable was cute and it made him smile. He started to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?"

"Last time you changed, you wanted me to leave. Remember?" He stopped walking and made eye contact with her.

She grinned and rolled her eyes. "Hiei… It doesn't matter to me if you see me change or not." She took off her wet black t-shirt to wear she was wearing her bikini top.

Hiei rolled his eyes and then left the room, shutting the door after getting a dry pair of pants to change into in the bathroom.

Kurama noticed that Hiei was walking across the hall and informed Briar. "You see. My sister does use her head some times." He exclaimed.

Briar giggled. "That was hilarious, Kurama." Then she returned to watching Sakura throw a hell fit outside. "This is utterly hilarious. If she'd use her head, then she'd know to go to the front door or Kura's window." She said the everyone in the room.

Kura totally changed into her dry attire and then walked into the living room to stand with everyone else. "Um… Do you think she's figured it out yet?" She asked Shigure and Kurama.

Shigure shook his head. "No offense to anyone, but Sakura isn't exactly the smartest."

"I think Kyo's figured it out.." Kurama noted aloud as he watched Kyo walk off the balcony, down the stairs, and into the darkness to the side of the apartment.

The next moment, Kyo walked in through the front door. He shook his head furiously, trying to get some of the water out of the orange mess atop his head. "Don't worry. They're no where close to realizing that the front door's unlocked. Well, everyone except Haru." He'd said that everyone except Haru was far from figuring out because Haru had followed him and was now trying to get some water out of his hair too.

Hiei entered the room, now in a pair of black pants which looked more like "lounge around" pants than his normal pair of pants. He made eye contact with Kyo and then walked over to Kura, sliding his arm around her waist. "What have we here? A buch of monkeys behind the glass?"

Kura nudged him in the side. "Hiei! Though it may be factual, we must be nice to them."

Hiei's grin widened. He placed a kiss on Kura's temple ad then walked over to the couch, taking a seat on the furthest end and then lounging out with his feet up on the couch too.

Kyo went to change, then when he exited the bathroom, Haru went to do the same.

Finally, Briar gave up and let her sister, Momiji, and Jin inside the apartmet through the balcony door.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her sister. "You're so getting hurt next time we all do something together." She warned.

Kura laughed. "You know, Sakura… You could've just used the front door! I mean, Kyo and Haru did!"

Sakura's jaw dropped then she hit herself on her head. "Ah! I knew something was fishy about Kyo and Haru leaving the deck!"

Hiei laughed from the couch.

"Hey!" Sakura shot him a look. "You! Shoosh!"

Hiei shook his head. "Kura and I just used her window. It's constantly open, if you forgot." He closed his eyes, seeming rather comfortable on the couch.

Kura giggled at their small "argument". Then, she offered Sakura a place to change. "My room's free."

Sakura nodded. "Thankies!" She skipped into Kura's room and changed within about 5 seconds. She came back out and smiled. "So! What's next?"

Briar sighed. You'd think my sister wouldn't have any energy left after that! She walked over and sat down in the chair by the window. "Don't you ever just want to go to sleep, Sakura?"

"Sleep? Why would I want to go to sleep?"

"Well… You've had a rather eventful day." Briar pointed out.

"So? When ahs that ever stopped me?" Sakura asked. Jin laughed behind her. Everyone knew Sakura only slept whenever she had nothing better to do or she was drunk to no end.

"Do you want me to get the tranquilizers?" Kura joked as she joined Hiei on the couch, climbing into his lap.

"No. That's quiet okay, Kura." Briar refused her offer through laughs. "Well, I'm going to bed. I've had quite enough of today. Heh.-- Before I go.. What about the sleeping arrangements?"

"What do you mean sleeping arrangements?" Sakura asked, not fully aware of the Sohma's spending the night.

"Uh.. Sakura?" Yuki cleared his throat. "We're staying the night."

"Oh!" Sakura smiled her dorky, 'I'm retarded' grin. "Teehee! Sowwy!"

Momiji started jumping up and down. "Let's all watch a movie!" He suggested.

"Yeah!" Sakura joined in. "That's a great idea! And I know just what we should watch!"

Kura knew what Sakura had in mind. She couldn't object to the idea for sh absolutely loved "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children". "Hey, Sakura! It's on my bookshelf!"

"Thankies!" Sakura rushed into Kura's room, got the DVD, and then started to put it into the DVD player.

"Okay.. I'll let Sakura get the sleeping bags for everyone. Night, guys!" Briar told them just before she went into Kurama's room.

"Night, Kura.- Good night everyone." Kurama told his sister, then his gang. "Oh. Shigure? You can sleep in the extra room if you'd like."

"Good! I don't think I can be asleep in a room full of hoodlums!" He joked as he went to go to sleep in the extra room.

"Thank God! He's gone!" Kyo exclaimed as he sat down on the sleeping bag Sakura laid out for him.

"Yeah. I was getting sick of him." Hiro replied as he was already laying down, getting comfortable in the sleeping bag beside of Kyo.

Momiji would be sleeping on the other side of Hiro. "Come on you guys! Shigure's not as bad as you guys make him out to be!" Momiji settled down in his sleeping bag.

Sakura placed Haru on the other side of Kyo, then Yuki beside of Haru. She grinned as she sat in the same chair as Jin with a blanket over them. She took the DVD remote and made sure everyone was ready to watch the movie. "Oh. Shit. Hey… Kura?"

"What, Sa'?" Kura looked at her.

"Could you get up and get the lights?"
"Why me? Why can't you?"

"… Because I had to get the sleeping bags for everyone." Sakura grinned.

"Ugh!" Kura sighed then stood up. She went over to the light switch, turned off the lights, and then got back into the position she was with Hiei on the couch.

"Alright! Let's watch one of the best movies ever!" Sakura hit the PLAY button and everyone began watching the film.

It had only been about 10 minutes into the film and Kura was giggling every time Kadaj showed up on the screen. Kyo and Haru told her that she was crazy. "What?" She started to reply. "I love Kadaj! Well, not the way that I love my Hiei-chan!" She kissed him on the cheek. Then everyone settled down again.

The movie was mostly over, but there were still a few minutes left. As soon as Cloud was shot, Kura and Sakura started crying. Hiei and Jin looked at each other. Jin asked, "How come they never do that with us?"

"Maybe it's because neither of you have been shot!" Sakura pointed out.

Jin laughed and continued watching the movie.

Hiei chuckled and pulled Kura closer to him.

They finished the movie, and then turned off the TV to doze off. In the morning, the Sohma's would be going home and everything would return to "normal" for everyone else. They were only half way through their week-long break, then they'd return to school.