Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Bugs ❯ Bugs - Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

A/N-I know it has been forever since I updated, I'm sorry about that. I'll try to keep the updates coming faster, but no promises. For story and life updates, check out my livejournal, www.livejournal.com/users/mhmartini.

PS- I apologize for theblank chapter that appeared when I originally tried to post this. Ithink mm didn't like me yesterday...

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from YYH. Duh. Shonen ai, yaoi, etc. int his story.

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When Kurama awoke he instinctively stretched and turned onto his side to cuddle up to his mate. Groping around the empty space on the bed next to him, he opened his eyes. The previous night's events returned vividly to his still groggy mind. Raising his gaze, he saw Hiei sitting on the windowsill in the same position as he had been last night, still staring out the window.

"Good morning, Love." the fox said softly. Hiei only nodded in response. "Did you sleep?" Kurama pressed.

"Some." the obviously displeased hiyoukai replied.

Dropping his attempts at conversation, Kurama arose and began to dress. Hiei was already clothed for the day, and made no move to stand, or even acknowledge his mate.

"Hiei, are you angry with me?" the kitsune asked tentatively.

In response, the fire demon finally tore his gaze from the scenery outside and looked at the red head before him.

"No,Kurama, I am not angry with you; you have done nothing to anger me."

"Then why are you acting so sullen?" Kurama inquired, taking a few steps closer to his beloved.

"Frustrated." was the only answer offered.

With a sigh, Kurama reached out and put his hands on Hiei's shoulders. "I am, too, Love. But three more days, and we'll be back to normal." he murmured, drawing the petite form to his chest. Hiei turned to accept the embrace, looping his arms loosely around the fox's waist and leaning towards the taller boy. Loud, thudding footsteps in the hallway interrupted the hug before it really even began.

"Shuuichi! Hiei!" came an all to familiar,young voice, as the door swung open wide, revealing Kurama sitting in the chair at the desk, and Hiei perched on the windowsill, shoulders slumped, staring outside again. "Mom and Dad want us all to go out again today." Shuuichi-kun announced merrily.

"We'll be down in just a moment, Shuu-kun." Kurama replied. With a jubilant nod, the boy took off out the door, thudding back down the hallway and down the stairs.

"Don't ningen children go to school?" Hiei asked in a disgusted tone, never looking away from the window.

"It's summer break." the fox answered in a monotone voice.

"Doesn't its father work?" the youkai continued.

"He took vacation this week and next week. I don't think he wants his son alone in our house." Kurama answered.

Hiei nodded in acknowledgment, and continued his forlorn staring out the window. After a few silent minutes, Kurama wordlessly arose and quietly walked downstairs.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Hatanaka looked over at him. "Where's Hiei?" the man asked. Kurama merely pointed up at the bedroom door. "Well, tell him to come down here, we want to get going. We're going to visit some places that your mother and I frequent, I doubt you are familiar with them." Kurama smiled weakly and thought to himself, `translation: no one will recognize you and Hiei as a couple, so don't flaunt.'

"I doubt Hiei is in the mood to go out again today." the red head said softly.

"Nonsense." Hatanaka replied. Turning to face the bedroom door, he took a large breath and yelled, "Come on, Hiei! We're waiting for you!" Kurama shuddered as the deep voice reverberated off the hallway walls. He knew that his fire demon was not going to be happy about being summoned like that. After a few minutes, the bedroom door opened. Hiei slowly walked out, pulling the door closed behind him. He did not look at anyone, just walked down the stairs and out the front door.

"I think he's ready to go." Kurama commented drily, as he, too, headed outside.

Twenty minutes later, the entire group was walking into a diner for breakfast. The waitress obviously recognized Hatanaka and Shiori. Hatanaka briefly introduce the rest of his entourage. "This is my son, Shuuichi-kun, and Shiori's son, Shuuichi. That's Hiei, Shuuichi's friend." The waitress nodded politely, and led them all to a large booth. Following the trend of the demons' luck this week, they ended up sitting with Shuuichi-kun between them.

Breakfast was actually not too bad of an experience for Kurama. He made polite small talk with his stepfather, and carefully diverted Shuu-kun's attention away from Hiei. The hiyoukai was pouting. He sat in silence, staring out the window. He ate nothing, drank nothing, and would not respond to any attempts at conversation. When the meal was over, the group left and went to several shops that Shiori preferred.

Around noon, Hatanaka suggested that they stop for lunch at a cafe he often went to for lunch during work. After a relatively low-key morning, Kurama was just about to count his blessings. Until lunch began, that is.

The waiter immediately noticed the attractive red head. He wasted no time in snatching up the table, even though it was not in his section. The overzealous young man found every excuse possible to come to their table, and tried several times to make conversation with Kurama. Each time the waiter paid him extra attention, Hatanaka would glare at his stepson. Hiei would glare at the waiter, his hand drifting dangerously close to his concealed katana. The last straw was towards the end of the uncomfortable meal, when Shuu-kun said, loudly enough for his father to hear, "You better watch it, Shuuichi, that waiter has the hots for you."

At this, Hatanaka nearly choked, spitting his coffee all over the table. Before the older man could gather enough breath to speak, Kurama interjected smoothly, "A waste of his time, to be sure. I have no interest in him, whatsoever." Shuuichi-kun just blew this comment off, but his father did not miss the meaningful glance the kitsune gave to his lover. Nor did Hiei's small smirk go unnoticed. By the time they arose to leave, Hatanaka was positively fuming.

They group spent the afternoon shopping some more. Hatanaka kept an overbearing eye on his stepson, scrutinizing every move the boy made, and reading into every word he said. By the time they were ready to discuss dinner, Kurama had followed Hiei's example of saying nothing, and staring off into the distance.

"Let's go to the new restaurant in town." Shiori suggested. Her husband nodded. Hiei just looked away.

"I'm not hungry." he stated flatly, folding his arms across his chest.

"But, Hiei, you haven't eaten a bite all day." Shiori protested.

Kurama seized this opportunity. "I'm not hungry, either, Mother. Why don't the three of you go enjoy a nice, leisurely dinner, and we'll go home and fix something there. I need to tidy up a bit around the house, anyway."

Shiori looked at her son dubiously. "Are you sure you aren't hungry?" she asked.

"Positive." Kurama replied brightly. If this worked, he and Hiei would have a few hours to themselves. Hiei had caught on almost immediately, and nodded his agreement.

A single sentence dashed their hopes to pieces. "I'm not hungry either, why don't you and Dad go together, like a date?" Shuuichi-kun voiced.

Hatanaka practically jumped out of his skin at this notion. "No, no! We'll all go out together!" he said in a decisive tone. He not only wanted to keep an eye on the two lovebirds, he outright refused to leave his son alone with them. He was even more concerned than usual because already today, Shuuichi-kun had referred to the waiter hitting on Kurama, and to a date between him and his wife. Romance was clearly on the young man's mind, and Hatanaka was taking no chances.

"I am not going out to eat." Hiei stated calmly, leaving no room for argument.

"Well, the three of you are not going to be left home alone." Hatanaka countered. The two glared at each other.

"What if Shuu-kun goes to a friend's house?" Shiori suggested, before the conflict escalated. "I'm sure that he's feeling some cabin fever, being locked up with us all the time, and not having his video games." Hatanaka seemed to consider this for a moment. The idea had merit. He wanted to scrutinize the young couple, but the idea of dinner, just him and his wife, while his son was safely away from the demons' influence was just too appealing.

"I suppose. But it's late, I doubt anyone would appreciate such a late, unexpected addition to their dinner table."

"Hey, Dad, what if I invite over a friend or two? We could get some pizza and watch some movies." Shuu-kun interjected.

Hatanaka considered again, not asking his stepson what he thought of inviting a few teenage boys over to his house. Finally, he concluded that Kurama and Hiei would have their hands full with the kids, and would not be able to sneak off together. "Sure, Shuu-kun. That's a great idea."

Kurama glanced at Hiei. So much for their few hours without interruption. But, the fox was determined to make this work.

After an hour, Hatanaka and Shiori were preparing to leave. Two of Shuuichi-kun's friends had arrived, and the pizza would be there shortly. Shiori hugged her son before she left. "Thank you for being so patient." she whispered. "I know you wanted some time to yourselves. I'm sorry it didn't work out that way."

Kurama smiled as he hugged her back. "I know, you tried to help. But I think that backfired a bit." he said very softly.

As the hug broke up, Hatanaka fixed his stepson with a glare. "We will be back in a few hours." The tone was unreadable; it was either a warning or a threat. Kurama just nodded, and closed the door behind them as they left.

"Well." he began, addressing the three, slightly hyper boys in front of him. "Why don't you guys head into the living room and select a movie or two? I'll bring some snacks, and the pizza will be here momentarily." The three nodded.

"Hey, Shuu-kun, that's the great Shuuichi Minamino? My sister goes to his school, and she never shuts up about him. I don't see what's so great." one of the guests said softly.

"Oh, he's awesome. He and Hiei live here, with no parents." Shuu-kun replied, stressing the last part. His friend's were impressed by this, to the teenagers/preteen, the idea of living with no parents was the ultimate in cool.

"I bet Ryu, that really cool guy, would be so jealous. He'd finally know that someone was cooler than him." one friend commented.

"Hey, let's call him and invite him over. My sister has his sister's number, which is also his number, since they aren't cool enough to live without parents." the oterh suggested.

"Hey, yeah!" Shuu-kun agreed. "But I don't know if Shuuichi and Hiei would like it if we just brought more people over without asking."

The first friend thought for a moment. "Who do you ask if you can invite someone over?" he prompted.

"My Mom and Dad." Shuu-kun answered immediately.

"Is this their house?" the friend continued.

"No..." Shuu-kun responded, suspiciously.

"Then no problem! You don't have to ask them because it's not their house! Problem solved!" the friend concluded.

"I don't think it works that way." Shuu-kun responded, just as Kurama brought in a tray with tons of snack food on it.

"Shuuichi? Can we call a friend and invite him over, too?" Shuu-kun asked.

"Sure, I guess." Kurama answered. "I'll be upstairs, just call if you need anything. I would prefer guests to stay downstairs. Okay?"

The three nodded, and Kurama walked upstairs to join Hiei, who had retreated to their bedroom much earlier to avoid the ningen young.

"Wow, he really is cool." the two guests agreed, as soon as Kurama was out of sight.

Without wasting a minute, the one friend had called his sister, gotten the phone number, and the trio called the cool kid, Ryu.

"Yeah, what ya want?" Ryu answered rudely when his mother put him on the phone.

Shuu-kun took a deep breath. "It's Shuuichi Hatanaka. I, we, um, my friends and me, are at my brother Shuuichi Minamino's house. We're watching some movies, and thought you'd like to come over, too."

"Why would I want to come over and hang out with losers like you dorks?" Ryu snipped.

"Oh, no reason...except that Shuuichi is the coolest kid in his high school because he lives here, in his own house, with no parents."

"Yeah, whateve...wait, did you say Shuuichi Minamino? The guy my sister won't shut up about? And no parents? What's the address?"

Excitedly, the boys gave the address to Ryu, and eagerly awaited his arrival. Finally, they would be among the `cool ones' at their school.

When the pizza arrived, the three nearly trampled each other to answer the door, thinking it was Ryu.

As the beddoor closed, Kurama turned to face his mate. "Well, they should be busy for at least an hour and a half with the first movie. Whatever shall we do to pass the time?" he wondered aloud. The innocent look he had given Hiei turned to a fiery, passion filled gaze, as he leapt nimbly onto the bed, and began to ravish Hiei's thin neck with kisses.

When the doorbell rang again, the three kids rushed to open the door, completely unprepared for what they would find. Ryu strode in, shouldering past them rudely with a superior attitude. His older sister followed him in, looking all over for a glimpse of the great Shuuichi Minamino. Behind her were about sixteen on Ryu's friends and followers. When Ryu had spread the word that he was having a party with no parents, no one declined to attend. The herd crowded in.

Shuu-kun looked around the group uncertainly. "Um, Ryu, I thought you would be coming alone."

"No way, dork. Just `cause you found a cool place doesn't make you three bozos cool. I hang out with my cool friends." he retorted, opening the pizza box and taking a slice.

"This isn't what we had in mind." one of Shuu-kun's friends said meekly.

"It's not about you, loser. It's about Ryu." one of the cool lackeys countered. The three boys just looked at each other. They had the feeling they had just made a big mistake.

Kurama pressed his bare chest against Hiei's desperately. They both wanted, needed each other badly. Their lips had met immediately after their shirts had been removed, and had not parted since, except for the occasional gasp. Kurama had slid Hiei's pants off, and Hiei was working on removing those of his kitsune when a loud sound from downstairs broke them apart.

"What the hell?" Hiei exclaimed. The noise was the stereo, turned to full volume, blaring out some punk station. The song was too loud, and the lyrics were impossible to discern, except for the frequent use of foul language, which was highly discernible. Somehow, amidst the offensive noise, the two demons heard soft footsteps approaching their door. Hiei quickly rolled off the bed, grabbing his pants and concealing himself behind the bed. Kurama turned to face the door. His pants were still on, but the button was undone. With a slight sweat, no shirt, and bare feet, he looked incredibly alluring when the door opened.

Shuko was a girl in his class at school. She was not terribly smart, and had a bit of a reputation for being rather forward with her affections. She was a member in good standing of the Shuuichi Minamino fan club, and she was the last person Kurama expected to see walking into his bedroom.

"Shuuichi?" she asked as she entered, her eyes adjusting slowly to the dimmed light. "There you are!" she exclaimed, looking at him, and taking a few steps forward. Kurama immediately sprang up off the bed, and took a few steps back.

"Shuko? What are you, um, what brings you here?" he asked, stepping back again as she advanced again.

"My brother was invited by your brother, and I thought I would walk him over. My, you are looking good tonight." she practically purred at the red head before her, her eyes roving mercilessly over his half clothed form.

Meanwhile, behind the bed, Hiei quickly wriggled back into his pants and shirt, and snuck a peek around the side of the bed. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or growl. He wanted to laugh at the predicament his mate was in. The kitsune was far too polite for his own good, he would never just throw the girl out. At the same time, the half koorime wanted to growl, and rip the throat out of anyone with the audacity to advance upon his mate.

Kurama backed up until his back touched the wall. At this, Shuko reached out and touched his bare chest with her hand. "Shuuichi, you're all alone up here. I could keep you company. I promise you won't be bored." With this, she reached out her other hand to caress his skin, and leaned in to kiss him. In a swift, barely perceptible movement, Shuko found herself pressing her body seductively into the wall. Kurama stood about seven feet behind her.

"As tempting as that is, I must decline." he said politely. A huge CRASH downstairs drew his attention away from his `guest'. He turned and ran out the door to the railing to look down into his living room. He immediately regretting even bothering to look.

There were about twenty people too many in his house. He could not see the source of the crash from where he stood. Trying to maintain his calm, he practically flew down the steps to find his stepbrother.

Shuko stood in the hallway, overlooking the huge mess her brother and his fiends had made. A figure appeared beside her, catching her off guard. Hiei, fully clothed, looked over the railing as well. The demon took a deep breath to control the murderous rage that flooded his senses. A voice to his side distracted him. "Who are you?" the ningen girl asked him.

Hiei did not bother to answer her. He just turned to leave. Shuko didn't really care that she had been blown off. She muttered to herself happily. "Now that I know where he lives, I'll come here every day until he sees how much I love him, and then he'll be mine." she plotted aloud. Hiei turned and approached her again. Reaching up, he pulled the ward off his Jagan. Quickly he entered her mind. She was a follower, and easily controlled, so he quickly implanted the idea that once she left this house, she would forget where it is and who lived here. It was similar to posthypnotic suggestion. Satisfied that she would not be bothering his fox again, he turned to do the same service to the crowd below.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Kurama could see into the kitchen, and easily determined the source of the crashing sound. The refrigerator lay on its side. A puddle of spilled milk, eggs, juice, etc. was creeping its way across the floor. The occupants of the kitchen were oblivious to the mess, and the smell of sake was strong from that direction. Kurama felt his demonic temper beginning to rise, but kept it in check, at least until he found Shuuichi-kun. Some thudding from the direction of the laundry room caught his attention. He crept in to investigate.

The door to the small powder room was closed, and there was a chair hooked under the doorknob. The thudding was someone, or several someones, pounding on the door from the inside. No light was coming through the bottom of the door. Kurama quickly went to the door and removed the chair. He opened the door, and Shuuichi-kun and his two friends practically spilled out of the tiny room onto him. Al three were hoarse from calling for help, and had tears streaming down their faces. Looking up, Kurama noticed that the single light in the bathroom was smashed; the glass cover, the light bulb, everything was shattered. Kurama drew his stepbrother into his arms. "What happened, Shuu-kun? How did you three get locked in there?" he asked. Although he was physically supporting the boy, his tone held an icy quality.

In a torrent of sobs, hiccoughs, and words, the story eventually came out. The three had invited one boy, Ryu, to come over, as they had asked permission to do. Ryu showed up with all these other people. They had asked him to leave, and he pushed them around a bit, and started drinking. When they finally got up the courage to demand that he left, he and a few of his cronies had shoved them into the tiny bathroom, smashed the light, and locked the door, leaving them in total darkness. Some time after this had happened, they had heard the stereo turn on. Kurama's expression was unreadable as they told him this. He told the to stay in the laundry room, and he got up and went back into the living room. While he was with the three boys, he had felt Hiei's mind brush his own, and he knew the demon was doing some damage control. Kurama arose to face the unwanted visitors, and to throw them out.

Resolutely, he walked to the stereo and turned it off. At the loss of their `music', the partygoers turned towards him and groaned. One boy, who seemed to have the respect of those present, strode forward and reached out to turn the noise back on. Kurama caught his hand deftly before he could reach the knob. "Who are you?" the kitsune asked coldly.

"Who am I?" the boy repeated, incredulously, looking at his cohorts with an amused expression. "I'm Ryu, and this is MY party. Who the hell are you?" he retorted.

"I am Shuuichi, and this is my house." Kurama replied in a soft, yet commanding tone.

"Ooooooh." Ryu taunted. "Nice place. We like it, and we may want to stay awhile." he said saucily, ripping his hand from Kurama's grasp.

"I do not think that would be a good idea." Kurama returned. "I think it would be better for you, and all of your friends to leave this house and never return."

At this, Ryu made a rude gesture at the red head before him, and turned to take a drink of sake from a jug sitting on the table near him. As he tilted his head to take a sip, he found only his empty hand before his face. Kurama stood before him still, but the sake had somehow ended up in the fox's hands instead. "I don't believe you understood me. Get. Out."

Ryu glared at the older boy before him. In a swift movement, he threw a punch at Kurama's face. With a small sigh, the kitsune gracefully sidestepped. The short altercation ended with Ryu leaned backwards, his arm held firmly behind his back in a chicken wing, and Kurama's free arm encircling the younger boy's neck. "Do I need to repeat myself?" Kurama asked. Ryu, unable to speak due to the choke hold, managed to shake his head ever so slightly.

Kurama released the boy, who immediately dropped into a bow before him and apologized. Satisfied, Kurama turned to leave. Ryu looked up, a malicious glare on his face, and sprang back onto his feet, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small, but effective, gun and took aim at the back of Kurama's head. Before he could even twitch his trigger finger, two things happened. "Rose Whip!" was heard, and the gun fell into several tiny pieces at the punk's feet. A black blur also careened through the throng of people to stop in front of the boy. A small figure was holding Ryu back against the wall, and held a gleaming katana poised at the delinquent's neck.

"You like weapons?" Hiei asked in a hate-filled tone. Ryu shook his head fearfully, but stopped immediately when he felt the steel biting into his flesh. "They're not so fun when your enemy is holding them, are they?" the hiyoukai asked pointedly. "Be assured, if you, or any of your friends, ever set foot near this house again, you will become closely acquainted with the edge of my blade. Now, get out."

Hiei released the boy, who fled through the crowd and out the door, a large wet spot clearly visible in his pants. At their `hero's' noble departure, the rest of the uninvited guests began to file out the door. Finally they were all gone.

Kurama looked around his trashed house and sighed. "I hope they don't get any ideas about coming back." he muttered.

Hiei smirked. "Even if they do, it's difficult to return to a house you cannot remember." Kurama smiled at the demon beside him.

"Why did you bother?" he asked.

"It was fun. It's a type of revenge that, technically, is not illegal under Reikai or Makai law; I didn't kill anyone." Hiei said, his tone nonchalant. Kurama just continued smiling.

The front door opened, and two humans walked in. Shiori put her hand over her mouth when she saw the state of the house. Hatanaka's mouth dropped open, and he looked around the living room in shock. When his gaze met the kitchen, he practically fell over.

"What the hell happened?" he asked in a subdued tone. When he saw his stepson standing in the middle of the living room, shirtless, with his pants unbuttoned, and Hiei next to him, the older man immediately scanned the area for his son. "Where is Shuu-kun?" he practically hissed.

The laundry room door opened slowly, and a scared face peeked out. "Shuuichi? Can we come out yet?" Shuu-kun's terrified voice called. Hatanaka ran over and opened the door, to reveal three scared boys, with tear stains down their faces. He gathered his son into his arms. "It's alright, Son, I'm here now." Turning towards Kurama, he gave the red head the most hateful glare he could; even Shiori took a step back at his expression. "You boys run upstairs and get cleaned up. I'll take you home in just a moment." he said gently. The three kids ran up to Shuuichi's room, closing the door behind them.

"What the hell did you do to them?" Hatanaka asked, advancing on Kurama.

"Nothing. They..." the kitsune started, but Hatanaka cut him off.

"You locked three young boys in a laundry room so you two could have some, some, wild party/orgy thing?"

"What? No! Nothing of the sort happene...." Kurama sputtered. His blood was still boiling from the punk who had thrashed his house and threatened his life, and his stepfather accusing him without reason was not helping. He could also feel Hiei's energy rising as the smaller demon experienced the same feeling.

"I leave you alone for two hours with my child and his friends, and you traumatize them like this? You are a sick bastard, Shuuichi." Hatanaka spat, raising his hand.

"Kazuya!" Shiori's voice cut through the room, her anger evident. "Before you insult my son, you should allow him to explain what happened. Now, put your hand down." she directed. Hatanaka complied, still glaring at Kurama.

The kitsune sighed, and quickly recapped the highlights of the evening, leaving out the boys' captivity in the bathroom and the gun. "So, you not only failed to watch over my son for two hours, you allowed underage drinking, allowed the party to get out of hand, and allowed my son to be traumatized along with two of his friends. Why did you allow another friend to come over? I gave permission for two friends to be invited. Why do you insist on disobeying me?"

"Disobeying? This is my house! I can invite over as many or as few people as I choose!" Kurama blurted out. Hatanaka began to stand, to advance on the red head again, but Shiori grasped his arm.

"Sit down, Kazuya." she ordered. He did, glaring at Kurama the whole time. The fox returned his glare.

"Shuuichi, what is that on the floor?" Shiori asked, seeing some black pieces of metal on the carpet in the living room.

After a few moments of silence, Hiei finally replied. "It is some ningen device the boy who caused this mess pointed at Kurama." he replied.

Shiori walked over to examine it, and felt sick when she realized it had been a gun. "Shuuichi! Are you alright? And Hiei?" she asked frantically. The concern in his mother's voice caused Kurama to stop glaring at his stepfather, and go to her side.

"Yes, Mother. We are fine." he said. She wrapped her arms around him, and held him close.

Hatanaka walked over and examined the pieces on the floor as well. "So, you allowed liquor and firearms into your house. No wonder my son is so upset."

Kurama tensed visibly, and said stiffly, "Shuuichi-kun and his friends did not witness the conflict. That is why I asked them to stay in the laundry room while I ejected the trespassers; it was for their protection."

A soft sob from the closed bedroom upstairs caught all of their attention, and Shiori gave Kurama a last squeeze before she left to check on the boys.

"So, then, if you `protected them' so well, why are the three of them upstairs crying right now?" Hatanaka spat, before he went upstairs to join his wife in consoling his son and the others.

Kurama shook his head, and went into the laundry room. He came back with a bucket and a mop, and began to clean up his destroyed kitchen. After he filled the bucket part way with water, he began to lift it out of the sink, but dropped in on the floor. He raised his hands to cover his face. Hiei was at his side immediately. The fire demon reached out and took his lover's hands.

"Kurama, it's alright....Fox, you're shaking." Kurama was shaking. For all his strength and composure, he was falling apart inside. His family was the only thing that could tear him up like this. The past several days had been hell, what with his stepfather breathing down his neck, his stepbrother constantly pestering him, and the one time he and Hiei actually had some quality time together, his mother had walked in on them. This week was getting to him, badly. When his stepfather had raised his hand earlier...Kurama doubted he could have restrained himself from striking the human back if his mother had not intervened.

"I'm sorry, Hiei. I'm just not myself tonight." Kurama whispered.

"It's okay, Fox. You need to relax. I've never seen you get this upset from just words before." Hiei hugged his mate closer to him. "Go upstairs, get changed, put on something comfortable. We'll get this place cleaned up together, okay?" he crooned. Kurama nodded, and got up to get changed. It was going to be a long night.

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A/N- I hope you liked it, it ended up being much longer then I had intended, but I didn't feel like breaking it into two separate chapters. This whole story is planned out completely. A few of the suggestions in the reveiws I have gotten are close to the marl, but I have a distince course that this story will take. I hope you all find it as interesting to read as I am finding it is to write! Please review!

PS-I have no idea what Hatanaka was like in the manga, and he only appeared for about thirty seconds total in the anime. I am making him out to be a real jerk because it furthers my story, but he may have been really nice. I imagine Shiori would not have married him if he were not. Please do not take my version of him as the truth; it is my own creation, even if the character himself is not mine.

Thank you to my reviewers. Unfortunately, I cannot list you all right now because mm.org will not let me access my reviews to get your names! For some reason, they (mm.org) also insist that I do not accept reviews from anonymous persons not registered with mm.org. This is incorrect! I do accept all reviews, at least that is how I set up my account. My guess is that they (mm.org) are either having difficulties right now, or doing maintenance. I will list reviewers next chapter, provided they allow me to access them. If they give you static about leaving me a review, please go to my profile and e-mail me. Thank you so much.