Chapter Eight- End of an Era

"You told Kuwabara and he told Yukina," Hiei groused as he sat on Kurama's window sill.

"Yes. She deserves to know at last and I could not tell her, however Kazuma could as he was human."

"Hn." Hiei gave a smirk. "It must have been a shock for him when you told him."

"Actually, he figured it out before I said it. He thought on and off about the Dark Tournament part where Yukina came in and, in particular, your reaction whenever she was mentioned and how antisocial you were when she was around."

"I wouldn't say antisocial."

"Oh?" Kurama raised an eyebrow.

Hiei rolled his eyes. "All right, I am but only because I've always been alone and I'm not looking for pity. I liked being alone."

"Well, that is over now. You have a sister who knows you're her brother and she will want to see you more often."

"I could do that. There are years we could share with each other. I would like to hear about her life before she got kidnapped."

"Why did you not while you were there?"

"Well, I wanted to confront you about telling Kuwabara and Yukina said he was coming."

"Ah," Kurama said. He doesn't know that Kazuma is human and demon now. He cannot kill Kazuma for telling as he had been human when he told Yukina. He probably should know, but I will consult with Kazuma about it before I tell. Kurama was about to embark on another topic when he smelled fox and wood smoke; a smell he had identified off his boyfriend when they kissed last night. Shortly after smelling him, Kazuma walked in saying, "Kurama, I- oh, hey Hiei."

The fire demon's eyes narrowed at the energy that was slightly leaking off the taller boy. "Demon energy? Why am I sensing demon energy from you?"

"Because I'm human and demon now."

"Hn. You may want to work on concealing it."

"Yeah. I'll do that."

"Kazuma, what were you about to say?"

"Yukina doesn't love me still. She said I missed the rest of her talk with Keiko. She said that if I had been a full demon when she was rescued, then we could have been together. I felt angry and frustrated upon hearing all this. I wasn't aware of my energy glowing and when Yukina briefly touched my arm, her palm got burned."

"What!?" Hiei hissed. "You hurt her?"

The accusatory tone in Hiei's voice riled Kuwabara up. His energy glowed again a little redder than before as he glared at Hiei. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Kazuma, calm down!" Kurama exclaimed, slightly alarmed at what he was seeing. Once Kuwabara had calmed down, Kurama continued. "It is clear that your power is connected to your emotions, anger especially. You will need to get control over your anger and your power."

"I had thought there was a connection between my power and my emotions. Thanks for confirming that. I clearly need to control both."

"Let's start with concealing the energy. You will need to change for that."

Hiei blinked as Kuwabara's skin paled and waist-length red hair appeared along with fox ears and a tail. A fox. Makes sense as Kurama is a fox. Hn, Kuwabara makes a good-looking demon and he's a fire one like me. He watched as Kurama coached him to control his energy more so than he used to do when he was human.

"Good, good," Kurama said as the leaking energy was pulled in and concealed. "Now, about the emotions…"

"Unconscious control will come in time," Hiei spoke up. "He just needs to consciously control it for a few months."

"Months? I was thinking years," Kuwabara admitted, opening his eyes which had been closed during the energy control.

"It would be for those not trained in harnessing their energy. Those with fire abilities need to train harder than those who only need a few weeks. I would be willing to provide a few pointers."

"Uh, thanks Hiei. I tried to use my power before I knew what it was on a seed and I turned it to ash."

Hiei actually chuckled. "Oh, a few pointers is all you need. Your power is strong for a beginner. Also, you're a good-looking fox."

"Shizuru, I'm back," he called as he came in and went to the kitchen where he had heard pots clattering around. He found Shizuru shifting pots and pans around until she pulled out a wok. "Hi, baby bro. How's Operation Demon coming along?"

"Operation Demon? Funny sis, real funny."

"Really, though. How's it going?"

"Better than Kurama thought. He finished both of them last night."

"Did they work?"

"Oh, yeah. Perfectly. Look." He changed forms and he saw admiration in Shizuru's eyes even as she gaped at him.

"Kazuma," she said in awe.

"I know. I look good, huh?"

Shizuru came closer and reached out a hand to run her fingers through his hair and then up to feel an ear before looking into his brown eyes. "I admit you look good and I'm also a little jealous. Not that I want to be a demon, no offense."

"None taken."

"So, what demon aspects do you have?"

"Well, the form of course and no heartbeat plus demon energy."

"You plan to be in demon form in the house?"

"Yeah, if that's okay."

"Of course it is." Shizuru went to the fridge and got out the ingredients for dinner. Kuwabara gathered a couple of knives and soon the sounds of chopping and sizzling filled the air. "Did you see Yukina today?"

"I did and it didn't work out. It turns out I missed the rest of the conversation. Yukina would have loved me if I had been born a full demon. I was a bit angry when I heard that and I accidentally burned her palm when she touched my arm."

"Burned…? How…?"

"I'm a fire fox, sis." He held up a hand palm up, concentrated, and a brief tongue of flame appeared. "I'm going to practice using it and Hiei offered to give me some pointers."

"That's all great Kazuma and I'm sorry Yukina still doesn't love you."

Kuwabara gave a dismissive wave of his hand as he went back to chopping. "It's okay. We are still friends and I'll still visit her. I'll probably be human though, unless she asks."

Shizuru nodded as she returned to the stove. Her brother was now human and demon, the latter a fire fox. Yukina was now just a friend and all of Kuwabara's love was for Kurama, who was just like him. He belongs to two worlds now and will learn and discover the powers and abilities of his new demon nature. I will share in his joy as he tells me all he learns.

The End