Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Never have, never will.

I stood at my window, staring out at the rain. The walk to the train station was going to be incredibly enjoyable.

Not.

Sighing, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and turned toward the door. We were leaving early and I'd decided not to go for a run, not that I would have in the rain. Still in my pajamas, I slipped out into the hallway and started for the bathroom. Keiko emerged from the room just as I reached the door.

"Hey," I said, grabbing her arm. "Are we dressing comfy?"

"You were thinking that too? Good, that means I don't have to convince you," she answered, smiling at me. "Although," she added, with an evil twinkle in her eye, "if you go like that, I don't really want to be seen with you."

"Ha ha ha, you're hilarious," I stated, emphasizing each word, lacing them with sarcasm. "These are my pajamas, you jerk."

"And that hairstyle?"

"Is called bed-head. Now, shove off and get out of my way." I pushed past her, snickering at the indignant noise she made. "That was called being rude, you like?"

"Oh yes, it was wonderful."

"Awesome," I said, grinning at her. I moved to shut the door, but she reached out and stopped me, splaying her hand against the wood. "What?"

"You saw that is was raining?"

"Yeah."

"What would you say to hitching a ride to the train station?"

"I'd say that would be pretty great. Why?" I asked.

"Well, I was thinking that we could ask the guys to run us there." When I raised an eyebrow, Keiko continued, "Yusuke and the others run incredibly fast. You've seen Hiei, right? He's the fastest, but the others are pretty good too. We'd be there much faster than if we walked." She raised an eyebrow suggestively and waited for a response.

"Sure. Works for me."

"Okay, I'll tell Yusuke."

Giving her a thumbs up, I closed the door and set to work getting ready for the day. Leaving the bathroom ten minutes later, I almost slammed into Kuwabara.

"Morning, Shy," he said, raising a hand to cover a yawn. "Keiko said that we're running you to the train station. Want me to carry you?"

"Actually, I think I'm good."

"What?" he asked, clearly confused. "How the hell are you getting there then?"

"You'll see," I said with a wink. Frowning at me, Kuwabara moved into the bathroom and closed the door. Laughing, I headed down the hall toward Hiei's room. Wishing that I wasn't in my pajamas, I knocked on his door and said, "Hiei? It's Shyle. Can I come in?"

"In the future you do not need to knock." Oh yeah, because I was going to risk seeing him doing who knows what. With my luck, the one time I didn't knock would be the time that he was completely naked. And while the sight wouldn't be all that bad, I would be way too mortified to truly appreciate it. Shaking my head, I opened the door and leaned against the doorframe.

My eyes widened when I saw that Hiei was in the process of getting dressed. I'd seen him shirtless before, but he was lacking more than a shirt. He stepping into a pair of jeans and pulled them up, turning to face me as he pulled up the zipper. I swallowed hard and tried to remember what I had wanted to ask him.

"Well, what is it?" he asked. How was he so comfortable with so little clothes on? Granted I'd been fine in only my sports bra, but that had been for a reason. Hiei was just plain lacking clothes.

Watching as he turned and grabbed a belt off his bed, I slipped into the room and closed the door behind me. "Would you be willing to carry me to the train station?" I tried not to stare at Hiei's chest when he turned back around and eyed me questioningly. "Keiko suggested that you guys run us to the station in order to stay as dry as possible. I figured you would prefer that you carried me rather than Kuwabara."

"You were right," Hiei answered as he tugged a shirt over his head.

"Does that mean you'll carry me?"

"Yes."

"Okay," I said, smiling at him. "Well, I'm going to go get dressed and, um, I'll see you in a little while." I was in the process of turning around and opening the door when Hiei wrapped his arms around my waist. Twisting around to face him, I raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Smirking, he leaned down to quickly kiss me on the lips. Was this our new way of saying goodbye? Because it wasn't the best way to get me to leave. When Hiei pulled away, I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes, allowing his warmth to envelope me.

"Just so you know, I'm probably going to sleep on the train. If you don't want to be my pillow, I suggest reconsidering our seating arrangements."

"I'll be fine," Hiei answered, easing away from me. "Go get dressed."

"Yes, sir," I said, grinning and give him a quick salute. Giggling at the vaguely annoyed expression that crossed his face, I darted out into the hallway and returned to my room.

Our group had congregated in the foyer not even twenty minutes later. I couldn't help but be amazed at how quickly everyone had gotten ready. We had one bathroom for six people, but there had been no issues getting in to it. In fact, at no point did anyone even have to wait outside the bathroom.

"This is the Shyle I know," Yusuke said, slinging his arm around my shoulders. He made a big show of looking me up and down, studying my outfit. "All those skirts were starting to freak me out."

"Shove it, Yusuke," I muttered, jerking out from under his arm. He chuckled, clearly pleased with himself. I was wearing a pair of dark jean shorts and a red sweatshirt over a simple t-shirt, but it didn't really matter. Keiko was dressed similarly, though she wore pants rather than shorts. "We agreed to dress comfortably and that's what I did."

"Yeah, yeah, if you say so."

"I do say so."

Kuwabara rolled his eyes and interrupted our petty argument. "I still don't understand how you're getting to the train station, Shy."

I hesitated a fraction of a second, trying to figure out how best to explain that Hiei would be carrying me. But it seemed that I took too long for Hiei's liking because he took it upon himself to enlighten the others. "I'm carrying her."

"What?" Yusuke and Kuwabara asked in unison. Keiko stared at me in dumbstruck silence for a few long seconds, before a cunning little smile crept onto her face. I was going to have a lot of explaining to do today.

"You heard him," I answered. "Hiei is going to carry me."

Yusuke studied the two of us, apparently thinking over what he had just learned. The humor left his eyes and he stared Hiei down seriously. I guess I wasn't the only one who had some explaining to do. I could only hope that Yusuke would remember what I had told him the day before. The less he interfered, the better. Hiei wanted a lasting, serious relationship and I wouldn't know if one was possible if other people were always influencing him.

"Are we ready?" I asked. When no one made a move to show that we weren't, I added, "Let's go." I opened the front door and stepped outside, the rest of our group on my heels.

Yusuke swung Keiko up into his arms, settling her so that he could carry her bridal style, and looked at me and Hiei. "Well, are you going to carry her or not?"

"Hn," Hiei answered, narrowing his eyes at the hanyou. "Would you rather be carried like that or on my back?" he asked me.

"You mean like piggyback? I'd prefer that." He nodded and turned his back to me, crouching down so that I could wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.

"Hold on tight, babe," Yusuke told Keiko. A second later he was out running through the rain, heading in the direction of the train station. Kuwabara and Kurama followed him, darting out from under the protection of the shrine's overhang.

"Are you ready?" Hiei asked.

"Give me a second," I answered. I unclasped my hands and reached up to pull my hood over my head, tugging the drawstrings tight. Once again wrapping my arms around his neck, I said, "Okay, I'm good."

Hiei gripped the underside of my thighs and, in a perfect imitation of Yusuke, said, "Hold on tight, babe." My laughter caught in my throat when Hiei jumped off the porch and started running. Holy shit, he was fast. I squeezed my eyes shut and hugged my legs tightly around his waist.

I knew when we caught up to and passed the others thanks to the indignant squawk Kuwabara made. Smiling, I opened my eyes and risked a glance over my shoulder to see the others running together in a tight cluster. In no time at all we were so far ahead of them that I could no longer see their little group. Looking forward I saw that we had already reached the train station. Hiei slowed to a stop and allowed me to jump down from his back.

We waited for the others beneath a large tree that protected us from most of the rain. "You're nauseatingly fast," I muttered.

"Hn."

"Do you think they were surprised?"

"By what?"

"The fact that we're dating," I elaborated.

"Yusuke and the idiot certainly were."

"The idiot?" I asked, laughing. "You mean Kuwabara?"

"Yes."

"I should call him that," I said, knowing that it would piss Kuwabara off.

Hiei only smirked.

I slept most of the train ride, resting my head on Hiei's shoulder. The fire demon shook me awake as the train pulled into the station in the city. Covering a yawn with one hand, I sat up straighter and glanced around. "We're here?"

"Where else would we be?" Yusuke asked sarcastically. I shot him a dirty look and stood up, following Hiei off the train and into the station. Keiko joined me and smiled at the guys.

"Alright, this is where we part ways," she said, linking arms with me. "Are you listening to Shy's thoughts?" she asked Hiei.

"Hn."

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Keiko replied, turning the two of us around and pulling me toward the exit. "So what's the plan?"

"We take the bus to my apartment building and pick up my car. From there we go wherever we want. Personally I think we should go to the movies and then get lunch, but I'm up for other options."

"Nope, that sounds good to me. You have your car keys?"

"Of course," I answered, fishing my keys out of my sweatshirt's front pocket and dangling them in front of Keiko's face. We waited under the station's overhang until a bus came and then took it to my apartment building. It was pouring when the bus came to a stop and we bolted toward my car, laughing as we became drenched.

"Open the door, Shy," Keiko said, trying to open the passenger side door.

"I'm trying," I responded, as the doors finally unlocked.

"Don't you have an 'unlock' button on your key," Keiko demanded as she slid into her seat and pulled the door shut.

"I do, but it was funner trying to open the door manually."

"The proper way to say that would be 'more fun,'" Keiko said.

"Get out of my car," I snapped, shooting her a mock glare.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"You can't be serious."

Grinning, I put the key into the ignition and started the car. "I'm not." Shifting into reverse, I backed out of my spot and glanced at Keiko. "Would you please get my CDs out of the glove compartment? This day will not be complete without music."

She took out my stack of CDs as I pulled out into traffic. "What do you want to listen to?"

"Pick one. I have faith in your judgment."

"That's brave."

"What can I say, I'm trusting."

"Maybe overly so," Keiko added. "So, we're guy free. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I'm sure you have questions about Hiei."

"Yeah, I do. Um, what is with that?"

"I thought you'd be happy."

"I am, I guess, but I'm still confused. Mind explaining how you two got together."

"You can thank Genkai. It's pretty much all thanks to her." In answer to Keiko's unspoken question, I added, "The first day at the shrine she asked Hiei to watch over me while I was on my runs. In the beginning, we didn't exactly get along, but eventually we came to an agreement of sorts."

"And that agreement is… what?"

"We ask one another questions about whatever we want."

"And you always answer truthfully."

"I do and, as far as I can tell, so does he."

"Interesting. How did that evolve into a relationship?" she asked.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure, but it did and that's all that mattered."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Since yesterday morning," I answered. "He kissed me the day before he disappeared, but we argued and we didn't fix things until yesterday."

"What did you argue about?"

"He wanted to keep us a secret, but I didn't."

"What made him change his mind?"

"He's really serious about this, serious as in me being his potential mate. So I guess he decided that secrecy wasn't important enough to prevent him from courting me."

"Are you ready to get mated?" Keiko asked. "I've told you about my issues with the idea of mating Yusuke. Are you sure you won't have issues too?"

"No, but that's the point of courting. We aren't going to seal the deal tomorrow. I need to get to know him, really know him. Matings are permanent and I'm not going to rush into one." Stopping at a red light, I glanced at Keiko. "I don't really know Hiei and until I do, I'm not going to make my decision."

"Alright, alright," she said, holding up her hands in surrender. "No need to get so defensive."

"Sorry," I said with a grin. "I just hate when people get all judgmental on me."

"Understandable," Keiko replied and let the topic drop. She changed subjects easily, asking me what movie she thought we should go see.

What I'd said to Keiko was true. Hiei seemed set on this whole mating thing and I knew that he was courting me with the intention of a lifetime relationship, but I wasn't ready to jump the gun and commit to him. I wanted to date him for how ever long felt necessary before becoming his mate.

Realizing that the fire demon could hear every thought I had, I shoved the topic of matings from my mind and focused on Keiko. This was supposed to be a girls' day. I could worry about Hiei later.

"He's not as good looking as Daisuke, but he'll do," Keiko said, watching our waiter disappear into the kitchen. We'd chosen to eat lunch at a small restaurant that we always used to come to during high school. Most of the staff had changed, but the menu remained almost exactly as it had been when we used be regulars.

I scanned the menu to see what I wanted. "Speaking of Daisuke, I'm pretty sure that he made Hiei jealous," I said, unable to prevent myself from giggling when I remembered all of the growling that I'd heard during that dinner.

As soon as we'd entered the restaurant, I'd asked Hiei to give us a half hour so I knew it was safe to discuss the fire demon. "Really?" Keiko asked. "I didn't think it was possible for Hiei to be jealous. He's always struck me as the type that is too confident to care."

"I disagree."

"You would," Keiko said, closing her menu and laying it down on the table.

"I think he's going to be really possessive and overprotective, which I have to admit is kind of sexy."

"You find that sexy?" Keiko asked, shaking her head in disagreement. "That would annoy me."

"Which is why you're with Yusuke?" The hanyou got angry whenever a guy he didn't know got within twenty feet of Keiko. "That makes no sense."

"Oh, don't worry. Yusuke drives me insane."

"Are you ready to order?" Startled, I glanced up at our waiter, who was watching us expectantly.

"Uh, yeah," I answered, quickly telling him my choice and handing him my menu. Keiko laughed at me and told him her order. Smiling at each of us, he accepted Keiko's menu and left, heading off to his next table.

"What were we talking about?" Keiko inquired

"Boyfriends."

"Ah, right. So, is Hiei a good kisser?"

"What?"

"Is Hiei a good kisser?"

"Um, yeah, I guess."

"That wasn't very confident," Keiko observed.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "He's very good. So good that I have a feeling that I suck in comparison."

"I love your confidence."

"Seriously though, my experience sucks compared to his. He's had three serious relationships and I've had none. I'd bet money that he's had a bunch of flings too. I mean, have you seen him? He probably has girls throwing themselves at him every day in the Makai." Not to mention a few guys, considering the fact that he was bisexual.

"Yeah, but he chose you," Keiko said."

"Still. You're lucky. You and Yusuke had all your firsts together. Your first kiss, your first date, your first… well you know."

"Are you trying to hint at the fact that Yusuke and I have slept together."

"Yes, exactly. I'm sure Hiei's slept with people before, probably numerous people. It's going to be awkward as all hell to tell him that I'm a virgin."

"Actually, Yusuke told me once that demons can tell if a female is a virgin or not. It has something to do with your smell. The point is, in all likelihood Hiei already knows that you haven't slept with anyone and he clearly doesn't care. I bet it makes him happy, thinking that he'll be your first." She stopped talking, studying me for a second. "But I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. You're already thinking about sleeping with Hiei? Isn't it a little early for that?"

"Not if he's already thinking about being mates."

"You, my friend, are in over your head."

"You, my friend, aren't helpful."

The rest of our day passed quickly. Keiko and I hadn't been spending as much time with one another as we used to and it was nice to have some alone time with her. After lunch we went shopping, having more fun running between stores and trying not to get wet than actually browsing through the stores.

When we finally met with the guys at the train station we were both tired, but thoroughly content. The guys on the other hand didn't seem quite as happy about their day. In fact, Yusuke vowed that he would never again act as our bodyguard, not if it was going to be so incredibly boring. I assured him that we wouldn't mind if he stopped being so freaking overprotective.

In return, I received an impressively dirty look.

AN: I had a rather interesting experience this weekend that stole a bunch of my writing time. My dad and I got stuck out in the middle of a lake on our JetSkis in the middle of a thunderstorm. We ended up beaching our JetSkis at a girls' summer camp and avoiding the rain in their equipment barn, while all the little girls stared at us. Then we spent the next hour making our way back to the marina where we dock our JetSkis, trying not to catch up to the storm. It was kind of fun, but not exactly something I want to do ever again.

Anyway, thanks for all the awesome reviews I received. You guys rock. Tell me what you thought of this chapter, 'kay?