Kurama walked back to Aratani, Yusuke, and Kuwabara alone.

"Sakura?" Aratani asked tentatively. "Are you all right?"

"I don't mean to be rude, Aratani…" Kurama set one hand on her shoulder. "But can I take a rain check for tonight's lesson?"

"Of course," Aratani replied with a sad smile. "My parents probably want me home for dinner soon anyway. Have a good night, Sakura."

"You too," said Kurama, even though he didn't think he was going to have a very good night at all. What he wanted was a good training session with both Hiei and Aratani, but obviously, that was not going to happen. Worse, now he was alone with Yusuke and Kuwabara, neither of whom he suspected would be any help in this situation.

"C'mon, Urameshi, let's go," said Kuwabara quietly, gesturing for Yusuke to follow him. Yusuke silently nodded, and they headed to their respective homes for the night. When Kurama went inside the house, he felt shaky inside, like he was going to fall apart.

"Good evening, Sakura," called Shiori. "Did you have a good day, dear?"

"Yes," said Kurama, trying to make his voice sound as normal as possible as he curled up on the couch. His mom was fixing dinner, but he wasn't hungry at all. How could he have done this to Hiei? They had been best friends for over two years now. Everyone saw them as inseparable. Hiei, accustomed to a lifetime of rejections, surely thought Kurama had ditched him for Aratani…but that couldn't be any further from the truth. Aratani was a nice girl and Kurama really liked her, but he would never choose her over Hiei. Besides, was it so outlandish to want both of them to be part of his life at the same time?

Kurama's thoughts were interrupted by his mom draping a heavy blanket around his shoulders, then slipping a throw pillow under his head. She walked around the couch and set a steaming mug of hot chocolate on the coffee table.

"Thank you, Mother," said Kurama miserably.

Shiori placed one hand on her son's shoulder and asked, "Sakura, what's wrong?"

There was something about the way she said it that made Kurama's eyes water and his bottom lip tremble. He longed to pour his heart out to her, but somehow, the words wouldn't come. So he said, "Nothing."

"Sakura, it's all right," said Shiori. "You don't always have to be strong. Especially around your mother."

"I-I…b-b-breakup," Kurama spit out finally, and, as if some sort of plug had been pulled, he collapsed into tears. His mother scooped him up without another word and let him bawl in her arms for the longest time, just like he was a baby. But he was too sad to feel like one, and anyway, society never seemed to judge girls and women as harshly for crying, so he might as well take advantage of it.

"Oh, honey," Shiori said, her arms wrapped around him. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend."

"I-I-I d-don't," sobbed Kurama.

"I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I mean, I didn't know about the relationship."

"N-No," said Kurama, finally managing to pull himself together enough to explain. "I-I mean…I had a friend breakup. With Hiei."

"Oh, I see." Shiori passed Kurama a box of tissues, and he blew his nose. "I've had a few friend breakups in my day. In some ways, it's even worse than a romantic breakup, because the person you'd normally go to for comfort is the person who's made you upset in the first place. And I know how much Hiei meant to you."

"Yes, exactly," said Kurama, blotting at his eyes. "I thought we'd be together forever. I never pictured it ending."

"You never do," Shiori replied. "That's a big part of why it hurts."

"But it was the way we fought," Kurama told her, looking down at his lap as she hugged him again. "I said some really hurtful things I wish I hadn't. So did Hiei, but it was such an awful fight."

"So who did the breaking up?" Shiori asked, confused.

"Both of us, I suppose. But it was a mistake."

…

Hiei was not very deep in the woods. He was on the edge, the moon shining brightly behind him. His crimson eyes narrowed, surveying the city with distaste. What wouldn't he give to leave this horrible world, to finally go back home? He just didn't understand humans, the way they lived their lives, and he didn't think he ever would. But since Kurama had spent "years in shadow," as he put it, he too understood how different Makai and Ningenkai really were. Feeling like an outsider all the time wasn't always easy, and Kurama had managed to make his world just a little less lonely.

But now Kurama had abandoned him. Abandoned him for a human girl.

Maybe the two of them really were parting ways, and Hiei would just have to get past it, get over it. But he couldn't believe how difficult that seemed. How much this fight stung. Whenever something happened, a best friend's job was just to be there. But what were you supposed to do when the person you would normally go to help was the one causing the problem?

That's just what you get for going to people for help in the first place, Hiei reminded himself.

Kurama was the first person who had done something kind for Hiei without ever asking anything in return. He was the first person who had asked him what his name was.

You never told me your name. I won't forget it.

It's Kurama.

Hiei felt saltwater welling up in his eyes. When he shut them, one tear fell, the stone landing in his hand. He closed his fist around it, and without allowing himself a closer look, he chucked it as far away as he could. It appeared he would be sleeping in this tree tonight.

…

Kurama spent the rest of his night through bouts of tears, looking through a scrapbook he made called My Friend Hiei, filled with pictures and souvenirs of their friendship over the years. They had been so close that everything Kurama saw reminded him of Hiei. That very window, which Hiei had climbed in and out of so many times; this very bed, in which he slept for four hours after Kurama had saved his life; this very home and family, which Hiei enjoyed so much, even if he never said it…

The next day, Wednesday, Kurama was almost tempted to stay home from school, and while he was sure his mother would have allowed it, he knew he couldn't interrupt his education. Before he left for school, Shiori gave him some tissues to keep in his messenger bag, and told him to soak his eyes in cold water so they wouldn't look red and puffy. When he finally left the house, he noticed something shiny sitting on the ground in front of the house.

It was a yellow tear gem.

Kurama picked it up and tucked it safely in his messenger bag, feeling his own eyes fill with hot tears all over again. It was bad enough that he was upset, but the realization that he had hurt Hiei enough to drive him to tears made it worst of all.