Chapter Five- Gender and Relationship

Kurama buried himself in his work to avoid reflecting on his feelings about Hiei; however when he had to wait for a document to come up on the screen, his thoughts turned to Hiei.

The revelation of his gender change had been a bit of a surprise as he wasn't sure if it would affect him. Clearly, it did and Kurama personally thought it was interesting. He had also known that Hiei needed to be male again, not trapped as a woman. The solution had been easy to achieve and resulted in Hiei able to change between genders when he wanted. But, he won't do it, he thought. He probably felt weak as a woman…and he probably was. Clearly, the solution to that is to train as a woman in order to be stronger and Hiei loves training. Perhaps, I will suggest that to him when I next see him. The document came up and Kurama returned to work, unaware that he was being watched.

Hiei sat in the tree, watching Kurama work. The fox was unaware of Hiei's presence and the fire demon chalked it up to his ability to conceal his energy. Of course, a closed window also keeps him from smelling me, he thought. So, he sat there, watching Kurama and thinking of what he planned to say tonight.

He would discuss his new relationship with Kurama, to learn what attracted Kurama to him, and tell Kurama what drew him to the redhead. After that, they would discuss his gender change ability. He needed to know if Kurama now preferred his female form. He had said that Hiei was lovely. I need to know. He moved closer and knocked on the glass. He saw Kurama look up and over and a friendly smile appeared as he got up, went to the window, and opened it.

"Hiei, this is a nice surprise. I was not expecting you so soon," he said as he let Hiei in.

"We need to talk. Really talk."

"All right." Kurama sat on the bed as Hiei took off his boots and joined him. "What is on your mind?"

"Our relationship for one. What drew you to me?"

"A lot of things, actually. I admire your fighting skills and the ruthless way that you fight. I also knew that you be compassionate particularly with those you call friends and especially with your sister. I had hoped your compassion with me was love."

Hiei smirked. "Funny. That is exactly what drew me to you. Your skills and way of fighting and also your compassion. Hn. I used to think compassion was a weakness but I have come to realize that it can be a strength."

"I didn't realize that until I became human. Mother was a large part of that realization. She raised me with love and compassion and I took those traits to hear and emulated it. It is indeed the strength you found it to be."

"You really love me, then."

"I truly do."

"My male form or my female one?" he asked quietly. The moment of truth, he thought.

"Your male one," Kurama said without hesitation. "I loved you for two months before today. It had been a pleasant surprise to see you female. I regard that side of you as something to increase my love for you. I prefer your male form to your female one." Kurama smiled. "You were convinced that I preferred your female side to your male on, am I correct?"

"I did."

"Hiei, it was you yourself that I love. You are special and I accept all that you are. If you ended up being human temporarily, I would still love you."

Hiei shuddered slightly. "Me, human? God, Kurama, don't say things like that."

Kurama chuckled slightly. "It is not bad being human. The human race has many endearing qualities and some of those is what helps them to survive."

"Survival is something I completely understand." Hiei inched closer to Kurama.

"Every living this understands survival." Kurama paused before saying, "Hiei, what is it about your female side that you dislike?"

Hiei fell silent as he gathered his thoughts on the matter. "Well," he finally said. "There was the feel of my body. It felt wrong and strange as well. I was feeling and displaying emotions more than I usually do which is usually never. I was strong but not my usual strength and I was using ice powers instead of fire. Overall, I felt weak and vulnerable."

"I see. Well, allow me to address each point. Naturally, your body would feel wrong and strange as it was a shape wholly unfamiliar to you. I would feel the same way if I suddenly became female. The flood of emotions is intense as men are not accustomed to showing them much. Your strength being less than what it usually is to be expected as you were using a different set of powers. I find it interesting that you have access to two powers. One for each form. Now, you felt weak and vulnerable. There is a way to fix that: Training."

"Training?" Hiei asked, his interest piqued.

"Yes. You could go somewhere isolated, change to female, and practice your powers and do general training exercises."

"I love training, but when I was female, my hormones caused my interest in training to drop. I ended up gardening and fixing tea and dinner."

"I did not know that, but as this would be a voluntary change, you should be able to train without a loss of interest."

"Voluntary. Yes, that would probably make all the difference. I will train in strengthening my ice powers and my general strength."

"Good to hear."

"Yes. You know, I could grow used to my body if I change more often and not just for training."

Kurama blinked, now noticing how close Hiei was to him. "Hiei, what are you suggesting?"

Hiei gave a sly smile before he began to flicker and change. In a matter of seconds, Hiei sat beside Kurama as his woman self. The redhead stared at her. "Hiei?" he said, confused.

"I thought I would give you a closer look at this body and a look at my ice powers."

"Hiei, I am honored. Let us start with your powers."

Hiei held up a hand palm up and willed her power to come. A ball of ice like last time appeared. Kurama stared at it and gently put a finger on it but then jerked it back. "That's cold," he said.

"Really? I don't think so," Hiei teased as she vanished the ball.

"Well, naturally," Kurama said. "And not bad for a beginner."

"I think some of my training helped with that."

"That makes sense." Kurama put a hand on Hiei's cheek, feeling softer skin. His hand moved up to the hair and then down it, finding the hair to feel soft and silky. His eyes roved over the curves and shape of the body before him.

Hiei smirked at his actions. "Like what you see, Fox?" she teased. "It's okay if you do."

"I do like it, but I prefer you as a man."

Hiei gently pushed Kurama onto his back and smiled down at him. "I am well aware of that but I'd like to sleep with you as a woman."

"I have no objections," he said as Hiei slid to one side and snuggled up against him and was soon asleep, content in her love for Kurama and her new ability that she intended to use.

The End