It was hot in the greenhouse; muggy. It was hot outside, too, but the added moisture from the spray hoses and the light scent of the bags of fertilizer that lined the walls only made it worse.

"Kurama…"

"Don't whine, kitten, I am nearly finished."

He certainly didn't look finished. Humming quietly under his breath as he leisurely browsed through the aisles of plants, Kurama seemed as if he were on some wonderful tour, rather than shopping in a crowded and muggy shopping center.

Yusuke stuck out his lower lip in a pout – a gesture he had recently picked up after he learned that Kurama found it irresistible. (Hiei had actually been the one to inform him of this. "He likes cute," he had stated dryly, eyes completely emotionless. Yusuke had been reluctant to succumb to 'cute,' but Hiei was quick to point out the futility of resisting a weapon in his arsenal that could be so very effective.)

Unfortunately, Kurama was completely engrossed in the plants, and the gesture was lost on him. Yusuke only tried it a moment more before his pride got the better of him. Giving in, the youth sucked his lip back in and chanced a quick glance around to make sure that no one else noticed the unmanly cuteness.

An old lady smiled warmly at him, and he quickly looked away.

"Ku-ra-ma!"

The redhead only glanced at him long enough for a disapproving look before retuning to his shopping.

Yusuke wished he had stayed at home with Hiei.

Dressed in white jeans and a sheer white button down, his hair tied up in a high, sleek ponytail, Kurama was absolutely beautiful. Yusuke had jumped at the invitation to go out with him, wanting to spend some time alone with him. He had been trying to get time alone ever since they had returned home; it was the only way he could see to make everything all right. Hiei agreed that it was a good idea, and tried to help however he could, but Yusuke should have known better when Hiei had only laughed at the invitation to go plant shopping with their lover.

The weeks since the lovers' return to the human world had been as fragile as glass. Good, happy even, but even the sweetest of moments had carried with them the undercurrent of unease.

Something was still wrong. They all knew it, they were all afraid of it, but no one was willing to talk about it.

It would just take some time for them all to adjust, Yusuke told himself shakily.

It was just…

There was something…something wrong with Kurama. He just wasn't himself.

He wasn't the youko either.

He and Hiei had discussed it, of course. This change was most likely just the result of the human and demon aspects of his personality melding together at last. There was most likely also lingering guilt and trauma over the things he had been forced to endure during their stint in Demon World.

Whatever the causes, there was no changing the fact that something about Kurama had changed; that he was hiding things from his lovers, or at least forgetting to mention them to them.

Since their return, Yusuke had not once seen Kurama looking anything but perfect. He was beautiful, and Yusuke loved him dearly, but he sorely missed coming down to breakfast to find him in reading glasses and messy hair. Gone were the days of discovering him in the greenhouse with dirt smudged on his nose and clothes.

He was beautiful when he was perfect, but he was breathtaking when he wasn't. Seeing a man so controlled looking even the slightest bit disheveled had been too sexy for words.

The only time now he even caught a glimpse of the "old" Kurama was after sex, when the man was sweaty and smiling and too tired to think about how he looked or whether or not anyone else could tell what he was thinking and how much he cared.

Those times never lasted long. As soon as he had recovered, Kurama was always out of bed and headed straight to the shower. There was no talking him out of it, no convincing him to stay and snuggle – unless he could manage to trip him back into bed for another bout of hot sticky demon sex until they all fell into an exhausted sleep. Even then he usually got up sometime in the middle of the night to fix himself.

In any case, the chance to enjoy seeing Kurama even the slightest bit fussed, messy, or disorganized had become a rare thing.

Sighing – he really hated to make a spectacle of himself in public – Yusuke did the only thing he knew was a sure-fire way to get the attention of the fox.

He slid up against Kurama, wrapping his arms around him from behind and pressing his lips against the back of the other demon's neck.

Kurama grew very still before melting back into his embrace. Yusuke tended to let the others take the more dominant roles – having discovered that, at least in this aspect of his life, it felt good to surrender – but it wasn't as if he hadn't been the one to initiate anything before.

"Y…Yusuke?" the redhead asked, pleasantly surprised.

"How much longer?" he purred.

"Just a little…" the fox hesitated. "Unless…unless you believe yourself incapable of waiting. In that case I may be forced to leave a tad earlier than expected…Are we facing such a situation, my dear?"

"Mmmmm…maybe…" he teased, pressing against him. "You have lots and lots of plants at home, don't you?"

"But I wanted to do some restocking. Our time away has had ill effects on my greenhouse, I fear." Kurama's voice was a quiet murmur and a touch breathy. He definitely had his weakness. "But I suppose I do not have to get it all today."

"No; I suppose not."

Kurama at last caught on. He turned to Yusuke with a low growl, eyes gone dark and deep with emotion.

"Bad kitty."

Yusuke smirked, purposefully bearing the small, sharp eyetooth fangs that had grown in after his transformation.

"Caught me."

The growl grew slightly louder. New, slightly animalistic tendencies were one new change in his lover that Yusuke really enjoyed.

Catching his waist in his hands, Kurama turned them, slamming Yusuke against the counter and rattling the pots that rested on it.

One of the pots fell over and Yusuke's hand accidentally brushed against the leaves.

An aromatic scent filled the air.

Yusuke blacked out.

"Yusuke?"

Heavy…floaty. He felt so good, so right. Lazy yet wild. He wanted to dance and he wanted to sleep. He wanted to fuck.

"Yusuke?"

The voice calling him sounded so worried, so…

He forced his eyes open, smiling dopily at the sight of Kurama leaning above him.

"Heeeeeeey foxy."

"My dear, are you all right?"

"Are we in the car?"

"Yusuke?"

Giggling, he slumped over into his lover's lap.

"Catnip."

Hiei's eyes were still doubtful as he glared at the form asleep on the bed, curled into a tight little ball.

"Catnip?"

Kurama crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, eyes also locked on the form on the bed.

"He came in contact with it at the store and went wild," he stated, thinking about the bloody scratch marks now marring his arms and back. "I barely managed to get him out before the ambulance arrived."

Hiei snorted.

"That would have been a mess."

"Indeed."

"Is he all right?"

"He will be; he just needs to sleep it off."

Hiei glanced at him sharply and Kurama raised his eyebrows innocently.

"What?"

"I know that tone of voice, fox."

"What tone of voice?"

"That's your 'I'm plotting something devious and sneaky' tone of voice," the small demon answered. "And that's your 'I'm about to have one hell of a good time' expression. What are you plotting?"

He couldn't help but to smile.

Kurama was at the verge of giving up.

One day while Yusuke and Hiei were distracted with a sparring session, Kurama had returned to the store to "finish shopping."

He had made it a point to pick up some catnip, and had it growing in a corner of his garden near the back – where Yusuke was unlikely to notice on one of his visits.

First he had experimented with tea. Ever since the detective had moved into his home Kurama had been forcing him to drink herbal teas in the morning, for his health, of course. Perhaps before, when Kurama had not had his youko instincts so near in the forefront of his mind, he would have hesitated…even discarded…the idea of drugging his new lover.

But the youko didn't care about ethics; only about having a good time. It was purely the influence of his human raising that kept the fox careful enough to prevent hurting the kitty. Every move Kurama made was perfectly planned; he would not rush.

Having Yusuke drink the tea had had no other affect other then a slight buzz when the young demon smelt it. Drinking the tea himself had caused Yusuke to stick to his side like glue – so closely that there had been no room for any kind of…athletic activity. In fact, Yusuke hadn't seemed interested in sex at all that day – he had only wanted to stay near Kurama's side, rubbing his face against his neck.

Next Kurama had attempted using the catnip to make an oil.

That had led to something so wild and dangerous that even his youko instincts were wary of trying it again.

Kurama was reluctant to continue his experiments for much longer. Yusuke was sure to begin to suspect soon.

Perhaps lotion…or some type of cologne…

"He's going to be pissed when he finds out you're trying to manipulate him."

Kurama resisted the urge to jump in surprise at the sound of the dry, dismissive voice. Hiei had been sneaking up on him for years, and showing signs that he had succeeded in startling him only made the small demon more impossible than usual.

"You can't honestly think it's going to work."

He had been forced to tell Hiei of his idea, despite his better judgment. The dark little imp had refused to leave him alone until he did.

"He isn't an experiment."

"No," Kurama sighed, "He isn't. But I want to see if I can do it."

Silence.

Reluctantly Kurama turned to face his lover, sighing in resignation at the expression on the small warrior's face.

"He'll enjoy it. We will, too. Once I figure it out."

"We don't need help, fox."

"That isn't what I…"

Hiei's glare intensified. Kurama suspected that, more than anything else, he hated the idea of anyone suggesting anything could make what they had better.

Whatever Hiei saw in Kurama's own expression, though, changed his mind about trying to talk him out of his plan.

"It isn't the method," he sighed at last. "It's the amount you're using."

"Yusuke is a demon now…a full demon, by everything I've seen."

"A single leaf is enough to drive the normal housecat into temporary insanity." Hiei stated, not bothering to offer just how he knew that. "Merely brushing up against the plant in the store caused a huge reaction in our kitten. You're over-thinking things. Try something with a little less. A lot less."

"Hiei?"

A scowl.

"You…you need to watch yourself, fox. Don't become careless with things we care about. You've fused your personalities; don't allow one to dominate."

He turned on his heel and left.

Reluctantly, Kurama approached to tell Yusuke about his experiments.

And found that the cat already knew.

"Hiei?"

"Nah;" Yusuke didn't even bother to look up from the movie he was watching. "I kind of figured it out when I smelt you bring the stuff into the house."

"But…"

Silence between them as he searched for words. Vibrant, cheesy music from Yusuke's movie filled the room; some man singing in a slightly high voice about being poor all his life.

"You wanna use it like a…like some kind of…of whatchamacallit. You know, those things that make people horny. Like oysters or chocolate." Yusuke looked at him at last, lips lightly quirked. "Only I can't have chocolate, because it's poisonous for cats, and the thing about oysters is only an urban legend."

"I didn't mean it to be an insulting insinuation," Kurama was quick to assure him. "We don't need help; I just thought it would be fun."

"I'm glad you finally told me, instead of sneaking around."

Kurama was helpless; he had no choice but to return Yusuke's smile.

"Come sit with me a while," the cat suggested. "You might like this movie."

"I'm not much for musicals."

"I'm not either; but this is frickin hilarious."

Yusuke's eyes were so warm, his smile playful. Kurama was reminded of the fact that the kitten loved him – something he had tried not to think too much about since returning to human world.

He moved to sit down next to his youngest lover.

Yusuke actually snuggled close.

"You smell good. You've been working with that stuff today, haven't you?"

"A bit. I washed my hands before coming to speak with you though."

"It's a nice smell."

"Where's the fox?"

Yusuke looked up from his movie with a lopsided grin.

"He had to leave."

"Leave?"

"The movie scared him."

Hiei blinked, then entered further into the room to glance at the television set.

"What is that?"

"Little Shop of Horrors; it's an old movie my ma and I used to watch before…you know. Kurama freaked out when the guy fed the plant his own blood. When it started eating people, Kurama had to leave."

Yusuke continued to smirk.

"You knew it would bother him, didn't you?"

"That's why I rented the movie."

A snort.

"You've been spending too much time around me, kitten. You're becoming evil."

He laughed, moving over so that Hiei had room to sit next to him. Several moments passed in silence.

"I'm going to memorize all the songs." Yusuke confided at last.

Hiei couldn't help but to laugh.

To Be Continued

So, there it is. A nice, kind of fluffy little transition chapter. At this point, I'm mostly trying to decide how much of the original to keep the same. I keep going back and forth between wanting to keep the crossovers and wanting to find another alternative. Any suggestions for crossovers are appreciated…though there's no guarantee I'll be familiar with/like those suggested. Still, it never hurts to try.

Response to Unsigned Reviews:

hanahanachan – thank you; and sorry the update took so long!

kit-kit – thankies!

Abi – I think they're happy about it, too…

BballAnimeLover89 – sorry this took so long…

Thanks everyone! Hope to see you next time!