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

Hiei followed me down the path to my parents' front door, his presence helping to calm my nerves. I stopped on the front steps, my hand poised to turn the doorknob, and forced myself to relax. A hand pressed against my lower back and Hiei's breath felt hot against my ear. "Open it, Shyle," he instructed.

"Right," I mumbled, praying my nerves didn't leak into my voice. I gripped the knob and pushed the door open, stepping inside. Hiei followed me, pulling the door shut behind him.

Slipping off my flats, I called, "We're here."

My dad appeared in the doorway to his office, a smile spreading across his face. "Perfectly on time," he said, glancing at his watch. "You're mother was hoping you would be late."

"Why?" I asked, moving forward and wrapping him in a hug. His arms tightened around me, giving me a brief squeeze.

"She was running late coming home from work and only just started cooking." My dad released me and turned his attention to Hiei, who had shed his shoes and was watching us greet one another. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Um, well, yeah…" I trailed off, not entirely sure how to proceed. How does one go about introducing their parents to their boyfriend?

Hiei came forward, sparing me any further confusion. "My name is Hiei Jaganshi and I am dating your daughter."

My dad froze, staring uncomprehendingly at the hand Hiei had extended. Slowly he reached out and took hold of Hiei's hand, shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you, Hiei." Letting go of Hiei's hand, my father turned his gaze to me. "Your mother is in the kitchen, Shy. Why don't you go see if she needs your help with anything? I'll take Hiei into the living room." He strode quickly to the door that led to the living room and disappeared through it.

I smiled at my dad's flustered behavior. Shaking my head, I glanced at Hiei. "Thanks for introducing yourself."

"Hn, it wasn't hard. Go see your mother."

"You're okay with being one on one with my dad?"

He nodded and turned toward the living room door. Something about the way his shoulders were set seemed to belie his apparent calm. Knowing he was a big boy and could handle himself, I headed for the kitchen and my mother. Without Hiei, I would need to explain that I had brought my boyfriend on my own.

The idea was daunting.

"Hi, Mom," I greeted, seeing her standing at the sink, filling a pot with water.

She glanced over her shoulder at me and smiled. "Hello, Shy. Where's your friend?"

"Um, Hiei's with Dad in the living room." A crock pot sat on the counter and I moved toward it under the pretense of checking its contents. Truly, I was trying to buy myself time, trying to figure out how to explain that I was dating my supposed 'friend'.

My mother turned around completely, wiping her hands on her apron. "I hope that spaghetti sauce comes out right. Your father told you what we were having, didn't he?"

"Yep. I'm sure everything will be perfect," I assured her.

She nodded and picked up the pot, walking toward the stove. "Did you say your friend's name was Hiei?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Wasn't that the name of one of the demons that accompanied you here last time?" she asked, setting the pot down and lighting the burner. She seemed distracted by her cooking and I decided there wouldn't be a better time to tell her about Hiei.

"Yeah, actually, it's the same guy. Hiei and I are, um… well, we're dating."

"Oh, is that so?" She turned to face me once again and laughed lightly. "It's interesting that you would say that since you assured me you would never date either of the two that accompanied you."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "At the time, I had thought for sure that I wouldn't."

"What changed?"

"Everything," I said, blushing faintly.

"I take it you're serious about this boy. After all, you wouldn't have brought him here if you weren't. Would you mind setting the table?"

"Sure." I started for the cabinet that contained the plates and tried to figure out how to answer her. "I guess you could say that we're serious."

"You guess?"

"Mhmm." Carrying the plates to the table, I said, "I think we should wait until Hiei and Dad are here before I explain. It's kind of complicated."

"Why don't you call them in here? You can explain while we finish preparing."

I nodded and headed toward the living room door. Sticking my head into the room, I caught my dad's attention. "Could you guys come into the kitchen?" My dad seemed relieved when he stood up. He was probably glad that he didn't have to be alone with Hiei anymore. He had never needed to learn how to deal with boyfriends before and I could tell he was uncomfortable. I fought back laughter at the idea of him trying to intimidate Hiei.

Once the two men had taken seats at the kitchen table, my mother spoke up. "Shy said that she wanted you two to be here for her explanation."

"Of what?" my dad asked, toying with the silverware I had just placed on the table.

"Mom asked if I was serious about Hiei," I said, glancing at the fire demon, "and I am, but there's more that we need to explain. See, Hiei is a demon and the demon version of dating is different than ours. For one thing, they call it courting not dating."

"Courting?" my dad muttered, staring hard at the fork in his hands.

"That sounds romantic," my mother said, pouring a box of noodles into the boiling pot of water. "I believe that's what it was called in medieval times."

I frowned and waited to see if they were going to interrupt again. "Can I talk now?" I asked, my impatience leaking into my voice.

"Oh, sorry," my mother apologized. "Please continue."

I opened my mouth to speak, but realized that I didn't know what to say. How did I explain that Hiei intended to mate me, to make me his for the rest of our lives? Hiei saw that I was floundering and stepped in just as he had earlier.

"Unlike humans, demons court one another with one of two purposes in mind. More often than not, the purpose is simply that of having a partner for bedding purposes." My dad blanched visibly at Hiei's blunt words, but my mom remained unfazed. "In this case, that is not my goal. I seek to make Shyle my mate, my life partner."

"You want to marry her?" My dad had to swallow hard in order to get the words out.

"No. I want to mate her."

"Which means what?" my mother asked calmly.

Hiei glanced at me, silently asking me to explain. "Um, demon matings are more permanent than marriage. They can't be revoked. In other words, there is no such thing as divorce."

"How can you be sure that you want to… mate Shyle after such a short time?" My dad was clearly flustered, but he forced himself to continue. "Most men take years, or at the very least months, to decide that they want to propose and that is not for something permanent. A marriage can be broken if the need arises."

Hiei met my dad's gaze squarely. "Your daughter possesses qualities that I have been looking for my entire life." I smiled at Hiei, touched by what he had said.

"You haven't become mates yet, have you?" my mother asked, her back turned as she slid a tray of garlic bread into the oven.

I blushed. She didn't realize exactly what her question entailed. In essence, we had just been asked if we had slept together. Hiei caught my eye, a smirk gracing his features, and said, "No, we are not yet mated. Though I am sure that I want Shyle to be my mate, she is not decided. I am giving her as much time as she requires to make her choice."

"That sounds very gentlemanly of you," my mother said.

My dad cleared his throat. "I believe that's enough about that." He finally put the fork down and turned his eyes to me. "So, Shy, when is the wedding?"

"What?" I asked in alarm, nearly dropping the glasses in my hands.

"Kuwabara and Yukina's wedding? Isn't it coming up?" My dad didn't seem to understand why his question had caught me so off guard.

"Oh, right. Yes, it's in three weeks." I set the glasses of water down on the table, breathing a sigh of relief. Hiei sat stiffly in his seat, his hands clenched in his lap, and I barely stopped myself from laughing at him. I didn't understand why he didn't like that Kuwabara was going to be Yukina's husband. I couldn't think of someone who could possibly be better for the ice apparition.

"Dinner's ready," my mother said, stepping back from the stove. "Bring your plates up and serve yourself."

I grabbed two plates, one for myself and one for my mom, and headed for the stove. Handing her a plate, I picked up the spoon that sat in the spaghetti pot and placed a large scoop on my plate. I took a two pieces of garlic bread and moved down the counter to the crock pot. After taking some sauce, I sat down at the table and waited for the others to take seats.

Dinner was far less awkward than the beginning of the evening had been. My parents filled me in on what had happened in the few weeks since I'd seen them and I told them that we had moved back into the city. Hiei spoke when appropriate, but for the most part remained quiet.

I helped clean up after dinner and my parents walked us to the door. "It was nice to meet you, Hiei," my mother said. Hiei froze in surprise when she stepped forward and wrapped him in a brief hug. "I hope you and Shyle are happy." Releasing him, she turned to me and hugged me as well.

My dad extended a hand to Hiei, who shook it once. I could tell that the fire demon was more comfortable shaking hands than hugging. Satisfied that he had said farewell to Hiei properly, my dad turned to me and pulled me into a hug. "Love you, Shy. Drive safely."

"Love you too. Love you, Mom. I'll see you guys soon."

My mother smiled and held the door open for Hiei and me. "I would hope so," she said, smiling warmly. "I love you."

The door shut behind us and we started toward my car. "That went decently well," I muttered. Hiei smirked, but didn't reply. We settled into our seats in my car and I started the engine. "You really weren't nervous?" I asked as I backed out of the driveway.

He remained silent, gazing out the window. I frowned, trying to figure out why he wasn't talking, and then I remembered what I had observed when he walked into the living room. "You were nervous!" I exclaimed, struck by the realization. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"If you had known I was nervous, your own nerves would have increased."

"True."

"Hn."

"If you keep that up, you'll wear a hole in the floor within the first week of living here," I said, watching as Kuwabara paced across the living room floor. He had found a suitable apartment after five days of searching, but the doubts had set in almost as soon as he had paid the first month's rent.

What if Yukina didn't like it? What if he could have found a cheaper place? What if it was too small? What if it was too big?

The ridiculousness of it all had begun to drive me insane, but I'd answered his questions with the patience of a saint. Yukina would like anything Kuwabara picked out and he knew it. Money wasn't an issue since Yusuke paid for all of Kuwabara's expenses. The hanyou claimed it was the least he could do for his best friend.

As for the questions about the apartment's size, I'd simply glared at him. Maybe I was hanging around with Hiei too much.

"Besides, even if you're not worried about your brand new wood floors, Yusuke is going to kick your ass if you don't help him bring the boxes up."

That finally got Kuwabara's attention and, cursing, he redirected himself toward the door. I watched him leave and rolled my eyes at his strange behavior. Turning up volume on the boom box that sat on the kitchen counter, I began to load the dishwasher with the brand new dishes Yusuke had brought up a few minutes earlier.

I was in charge of opening boxes, while Yusuke and Kuwabara unloaded the moving van. Hiei and Kurama were off training for the day and Keiko was working, which meant that the three of us would be alone until Hiei came to bring me home.

I finished loading the dishwasher just as Yusuke appeared in the apartment's doorway, a large box preventing me from seeing his face. It shouldn't have been surprising that he could carry what was no doubt an incredibly heavy box, but it was still strange.

He set the box down and glanced at me. "I've decided that we need to do something to lower Kuwabara's stress levels."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, coming around the counter and picking up the scissors that lay on the table. Quickly slitting the tape that help the box closed, I pulled back the top flaps and looked inside it to see that it contained a television. A very nice, expensive television.

"The guy needs to relax. He's got his knickers in a twist and it's driving me crazy."

"His knickers in a twist? Who the hell even says that?"

Yusuke made a face and leaned over the box. "You like this? I bought it for him as a consolation gift."

"A consolation gift for what?" I asked, deciding to ignore the fact that Yusuke had made up a new reason for gift giving.

"He's getting married. The poor sucker will never be free again."

I snorted. "Oh, yeah, because you wouldn't jump at the opportunity to be married to Keiko."

He shrugged and turned toward the door. "Leave that there. We don't need you breaking Kuwabara's consolation gift."

He left and I glanced around the apartment. We'd already finished most of the unpacking and the major furniture had been delivered. Kuwabara would be living on his own for the first time and all of the furniture was brand new. Almost everything was, for that matter.

It took nearly three more hours for us to finish the job that we had started at eight that morning. Exhausted, I dropped into a seat on the couch in the living room. Kuwabara threw himself onto the loveseat and Yusuke lay down on the couch, his head in my lap.

He grinned up at me. "So what's up?"

"There is so much wrong with you," I informed him, shaking my head sadly.

Acting as though he hadn't heard me, Yusuke looked around the room and proclaimed, "We did a pretty damn good job if you ask me."

"No one did," Kuwabara muttered. He stared up at the ceiling, tapping his fingers on his knee restlessly.

"You need to relax," I said, attempting to think of a way to distract him. "Why are you so stressed in the first place? Is it just the wedding?"

He sighed and nodded unhappily. "What if Yukina ends up hating me for trapping her in this marriage and in a mating?"

"What are you talking about? Yukina loves you and wants to be with you. You just have wedding jitters, they'll pass." I watched him, trying to figure out what had caused these nerves. Kuwabara was the strongest believer in love that I had ever met. How could he be this worried?

"Shy's right," Yusuke said, finally sounding serious. "You and Yukina are perfect for each other. Everyone sees it."

Kuwabara sighed and stilled his fingers, staring across the room. "You guys are right. I know that, but it doesn't make me feel any better." He sighed and shook his head, forcing a smile onto his face. "I'm sure this will pass."

"Heck yeah, it will," Yusuke half-yelled, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

I stared at him. "Are you okay?"

"Of course, I am. Why would you ask that?"

"Because you're acting weird. Or, well, weirder than usual." He shot me a dirty look and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting like a baby. I puffed out my cheeks and crossed my eyes, which caused him to burst out laughing.

"Now who's acting weird?"

Ignoring Yusuke's question, I asked, "What would you two say to everyone going to that amusement park that opened up a few weeks ago and spending the day there? It would be fun and relaxing."

"That's perfect," Yusuke said, grinning. "I knew we kept you around for a reason, Shy. That superior noggin of yours comes in handy."

"You need so much help," I muttered. Turning my attention to Kuwabara, I asked, "So, do you like the idea?"

"Yeah, it sounds like it could be fun."

"Exactly." Yusuke beamed at him, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "I'll get Keiko to close the diner for a day and we can all drive down there. It's like a forty minute car ride, right? That's not even that bad."

I rolled my eyes at Yusuke's childish excitement, glancing at Kuwabara. "You just need to relax, to stop thinking about this so much. Everything is going to work out, okay?"

He nodded and smiled. I was relieved to see that this time around the smile was genuine. "Alright, alright, Shy. I get it," he said. His entire mood seemed to be shifting, the gloom and doom feelings of the last few minutes disappearing.

With a whoop, Yusuke stood up and moved to the kitchen. He returned a few seconds later, the boom box in hand. "Who's up for music and cards?" he asked, plugging in the boom box and returning to his seat on the couch.

Chuckling, Kuwabara stood up and took a seat on the side of the coffee table opposite the couch. Producing a deck of cards out of the back pocket of his jeans, Yusuke started shuffling. "Three-way war?"

"Sure," I answered, slipping off the couch onto the floor. Yusuke joined me a second later as he began to deal. "Alright, so when are we going to go to the amusement park?"

"A weekday is probably best," Kuwabara said, picking up his cards and flipping over the top one.

"How about next Tuesday?" Yusuke asked. I raised an eyebrow at his random choice. "What?" he demanded.

"What made you pick Tuesday?"

"It's a weekday, isn't it?" He glared at me and took the cards he had just won.

"Okay, so Tuesday it is," Kuwabara said, preventing an argument from breaking out.

"Works for me," I agreed.

Spluttering, Yusuke slammed his hand down on the table. "Why don't you give him a hard time?"

"Because I like him," I stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh, really? You like him? I see how it is, Iraheta."

"Took you long enough."

AN: I'm not sure how I feel about the last half of this chapter. Kuwabara's nerves were necessary, but they messed with the group's usual dynamic. The whole scene was annoying and difficult to write. I hope that it wasn't as frustrating to read.

You may have noticed that time is moving faster than it had in the past. I needed to get things moving. Obivously this story isn't simply about Shyle and Hiei getting together and we're starting to move toward the climax. The shit will probably hit the fan somewhere in the next ten chapters, so you have that to look forward to.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys rock. I got the twenty reviews I was looking for, which was exciting. Two more reviews and this story will have two hundred total. When I started this, I never thought I would get that many!