Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Halos and Horns ❯ Halos and Horns ( One-Shot )

Disclaimer: I hold no rights to Yu Yu Hakusho in anyway.

A/N: I have been working on this fic for over five months, and I have finally finished it. I hope everyone enjoys the fruits of my labors.

Halos and Horns

"I'm sure mom. I have a huge test to study for. You don't have to worry about me. I'm sure all my friends will be calling at least twice a day to check on me," Keiko told her mother as her father packed the last of the luggage into the family car for an extended weekend.

"I suppose you're right, dear. You are old enough to stay on your own now. We still worry about you though," Keiko's mother replied as her husband came up to stand next to her.

Keiko glanced at the clock that hung on the wall next to the door, and then looked back at her parents. "If you're going to get to Aunt Jurii's before dinner, you should probably get going," she told her parents.

Keiko's father looked at his watch then placed his hand on his wife's arm. "She's right. We need to leave. Keiko, you have both our cell phone numbers, and your aunt's house and cell numbers, right," he asked, checking one last time, though he knew she had the list since he had made about a dozen copies and left them all over the house for her.

"Yep," Keiko said with a smile, holding the piece of paper with the numbers listed on it up for her parents to see. "Give my love to Aunt Jurii," she told them as they hugged her goodbye. "I love you both," she told her parents as they got in the car and drove away.

Closing the door, Keiko turned to look at her family's noodle shop from where she stood at the side door, thankful it would be closed while her parents were away. After making certain that she had locked the door, Keiko made the short trek up to her room and sat down at her desk to study, not noticing the snow that began to fall outside her bedroom window.

~*~

Kuwabara's spirit sword sliced through another demon as he and the other three spirit detectives battled against a seemingly endless stream of demons. Having a quick second to glance around at his teammates, he checked on their progress towards the large black tower that stood ominously in front of them.

Yusuke was to Kuwabara's right, punching and kicking his way through the demons, obviously saving the majority of his spirit energy for the final battle. Hiei, the closest of the four to the tower, was slicing through any demon that came his way with his katana. Kurama followed closely behind Hiei, making certain none of the excess demons tried to attack his partner from behind.

Kuwabara quickly motioned to Yusuke, and together they ran the few yards that separated the two pairs, catching up just in time to help Kurama fight off a group of more than thirty demons that jumped him.

The three of them quickly dispersed of the attacking demons and hurried to join Hiei by the entrance of the tower. The rejoined group of four headed into the tower, running towards the stairs that were just inside the door. Kurama, the last to enter, looked out the doorway behind him and noticed the snow that was beginning to fall furiously outside.

~*~

Hiei and Kurama sat on the bloody floor, leaning against the crumbling wall as they watched a panting Yusuke and Kuwabara collapse onto the floor next to the now dead demon warlord. Yusuke flopped onto his back so he could breathe better, while Kuwabara rolled onto his stomach, his head turned to the side so he could view his companions. All four shivered as a cold wind blew in threw the crumbling walls.

"Were we not suppose to bring him back alive," Kurama asked, nodding his head in the direction of the dead body.

Yusuke shrugged as well as he could while laying down. "Only if he didn't put up too much of a fight," he said, his voice somewhat slurred from his exhaustion.

"Is it just me, or is it getting cold," Kuwabara mumbled as yet another cold wind blew through the room. "It's times like these that I miss my jacket. Why did that demon guy have to rip it to shreds," he whined.

"'Cause he was trying to rip you to shreds and you dodged," Yusuke said matter-of-factly.

"Oh yea," Kuwabara mumbled.

Yusuke looked at the sky through the huge hole in the ceiling that had been made by a few deflected energy blasts, and noticed the heavy snowfall and the dark black clouds that the snow fell from. He idly wondered if it was snowing back home. It probably was. Before they had left, he had caught sight of the weather forecast and it had been calling for a few inches of snow over the weekend. At least, Yusuke assumed it was the weekend by now.

~*~

<p>Keiko finally took a break from studying so she could get something to eat and noticed the snow while she waited for her water to boil so she could make herself some ramen and tea.

"Wow, it's snowing," Keiko whispered as she walked to the kitchen window and looked out at the snow covered world. 'Geez, there's got to be at least six inches out there already. And it doesn't look like it's going to be letting up anytime soon,' she thought while looking up at the heavy clouds that blocked the stars and moon from her sight.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her tea kettle whistling. Turning from the window, Keiko walked back over to the stove, turning off the burner as she pulled the kettle from the still hot burner. She poured part of the water into her tea cup and the rest into her instant ramen container.

She moved her stuff to the table and sat down facing the large window in the dining room so she could watch the snow fall. It really was beautiful, but it also made her worry a bit. Keiko just hoped her parents had made it to her aunts house before it had started snowing too bad.

~*~

A while later, the group of guys made their way out of the crumbling tower, Yusuke and Kuwabara both staggering from the severity of their injuries.

After walking in the snowstorm for over an hour, the injured humans had to stop and take a break. The heavy snow fall was making it difficult for the group to make their way down the path they had followed to get there in the first place. As Yusuke and Kuwabara plopped down on the ground to rest, wincing when their wounds were jarred, Yusuke looked up at Hiei.

"Hey, Hiei, can you do me a favor," Yusuke asked as he fought to keep his balance sitting up.

"Hn," was the fire demons only answer.

"Could you go to Keiko's and check on her, let her know I'm all right? Watch her until I get back? Her parents were going to visit some relative, but Keiko told me she was going to stay," Yusuke said before he slumped over, passed out from exhaustion.

Kurama and Hiei looked to the other injured member of their group and noticed that he was out cold as well.

"So, are you going to go," Kurama asked, his eyes still watchful of his two injured friends.

"Hn," was all that Kurama heard before the fire demon disappeared into the snow.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," Kurama said with a slight smirk. He knew before Hiei said anything that he would go and check on Keiko. The fire demon would allow his aura to flare slightly around the human girl, warning off any weaker demons in the surrounding area. Kurama had even noticed Hiei following Keiko to school on occasion.

Smiling and shaking his head, he took off his jacket and used it to cover Kuwabara's bare upper body. At least Yusuke had managed to keep his jacket semi-intact.

~*~

Keiko placed her dirty dishes in the sink and ran some warm water over them, making a mental note to herself to wash them after she ate breakfast in the morning. A quick glance at the clock in the hall told her that she still had a few more hours to study before her favorite TV show came on. She walked back to her room and sat down at her desk, deciding to take a break from studying, and started working on her homework.

A while later, the doorbell going off startled Keiko out of her studying haze. Glancing at the clock on her desk as she stood up told her it had been longer than just the short while she had thought it had been. Quickly running downstairs, before whoever had interrupted her studies left, she went to the door and looked through the peephole, quite surprised to see Hiei standing there with a rather irritated look on this face.

'I thought he was more of a window person,' she thought as she unlocked the door to let him in.

"Hello Hiei. Can I help you with something," she asked, using the door to shield part of her body from the freezing cold winds.

"I thought you humans were supposed to have better manners," Hiei said as he shook a couple inches of snow from his hair.

Smiling sheepishly, Keiko backed up a step, opening the door further, and let the fire demon inside. "I'm sorry," she said as she quickly shut the door, relocking it. "So is there something I can help you with??" Worry began to fill her. What if something had happened to Yusuke on their mission and he was there to tell her the bad news? He certainly had a bit of a grim reaper look to him.

"Yusuke sent me to check on you," Hiei told her as he walked in a bit further before remembering the odd custom humans had of removing their shoes when entering a house. Stooping to remove his boots, he felt her eyes watching him intently.

"So Yusuke is okay," she asked, her voice hopeful.

"Hn." Hiei kicked off his boots then looked at his dripping cloak.

Keiko finally noticed Hiei's soaked form. "Oh my. Let's get you upstairs so you can dry off," she said as she ushered him towards the stairs. "You must be freezing," Keiko exclaimed as her hand came into contact with the wet cloak.

"Hn."

"Here, give me your cloak and I'll toss it in the dryer for you," she said as she led him into the family room. She took his dripping cloak from his outstretched hand and headed towards the laundry room, glad that there was a sink in there for her to wring the soaked material out in.

When she re-entered the family room with a towel in one hand and a warm fuzzy blanket in the other, Hiei was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back resting against the front of the couch. But what interested her the most was his seemingly dry appearance. When his piercing eyes landed on her, she fidgeted a bit before moving towards him once again.

"I thought you'd be wet, so I brought you a towel to dry off with," she said as she held the towel out to him a bit.

Refraining from snorting at her foolishness, he took the proffered towel. "My hair is still wet," Hiei told her at the confused look she sent him.

"Oh," Keiko said as she put the blanket on the couch and sat down on the floor next to the fire demon. "Are you hungry? I could make you something to eat. It's probably been a while since you've had anything to eat," she said.

Hiei shook his head. "No, that won't be necessary. I'm not hungry," he said as he draped the towel over his head and began drying his wet hair.

Keiko noticed that he had left his bandana on while drying his hair and thought it odd. He wouldn't be able to dry all of his hair with the white bandana still tied around his head. She was about to mention something about it when he pulled the fuzzy white towel from his head, his hair sticking out at odd angles.

Keiko looked away from him, not wanting to seem rude by staring at Hiei's now messy hair. "So, uh, I know Yusuke is okay. You know I'm okay, so after your cloak is dry, you can go tell Yusuke that I'm okay," Keiko said nervously.

"Not quite. I will be remaining here until Kurama and the others return. The storm has been getting worse and I will not leave you here alone," Hiei told her as he leaned back against the couch.

"Oh. Well, how long should it take them to get back," Keiko questioned, wondering how long she would have the fire demon in her home.

"It depends on if Kurama heals some of their wounds," Hiei replied, curious about his own chattiness with the human girl. This was even more than he spoke with the kitsune.

"Oh," was all Keiko said as she pulled the blanket off the couch and cuddled the warm blanket to her body. 'Gee, it's cold in here. I guess I didn't notice that it was getting colder while I was studying,' Keiko thought as she contemplated wrapping the blanket around her own shoulders. Finally giving in to the cold, she wrapped the warm and fuzzy blanket around her shoulders, tucking her legs underneath her so they would stay warm as well.

"Oh, man. It feels like the heat went out," Keiko said as she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders tighter.

"Hn, I suppose you would think it is cold in here," Hiei snorted out. With a sigh, he picked up the human next to him and sat her in his lap, then release a bit of his energy in the form of heat towards the girl. He watched in amusement as the girl's face began to color a deep red at the rather inappropriate position they were sitting in.

"Hiei, you jerk," Keiko screamed, reaching out to smack the fire demon in much the same manner that she would when angry with Yusuke, only this time, her wrist was caught before her hand came into contact with anything other than air. When she looked at his face, she was surprised to see a good deal of anger there, and instantly realized her mistake.

"Do not presume to think I will take the same abuse from you that the Spirit Detective does," Hiei warned her, dropping her hand from his grasp.

"You know, I could have just gone and put some warmer clothes on. You didn't have to toss me in your lap the first chance you got," Keiko growled out as she got off Hiei's lap, dropping the blanket she'd had around her shoulders, and then stormed down the hallway, leaving Hiei sitting on the floor with a scowl on his face.

Hiei crossed his arms over his chest as he scowled in the direction the girl had run off in. "Hn," he snorted as he turned his head away, but his eyes still drifted towards the empty hallway she had disappeared down. Then the memory of her attempting to slap him made him jerk his eyes away.

'She must be crazy if she thought I would just let her slap me like that. I will not submit myself to a woman like the Spirit Detective does. Hn. I am not weak like that. That stupid girl.' The thoughts ran through Hiei's mind, distracting him so that he didn't notice when Keiko re-entered the room.

Keiko walked back into the room and saw Hiei sitting where she had left him. She sighed and lowered her head. He had just been trying help her by keeping her warm and she had tried to smack him, something she should have known he wouldn't have allowed her to do.

After she had stormed out of the room, she had gone to her room and got changed, then went to her closet and grabbed a large blanket. By then she had calmed down and was ready to apologize to the fire demon. A quick check on the thermostat had told her it was definitely getting colder in the apartment.

Now she was sitting down next to him once again, the large blanket setting on the couch behind her, waiting to be acknowledged.

Finally getting irritated with him, she growled. "I hate being ignored," Keiko said as she got up to leave once again.

Hiei reached up before she was out of reach and grabbed her wrist, pulling her into his lap. He grabbed the blanket on the couch and wrapped it around the both of them. "If you wanted to be acknowledged, you should have said something rather than just sitting there waiting for me to say something. For all I could have known, you might have just wanted to sit here in silence. So quit with the attitude," Hiei growled as he wrapped his hands that held the blanket around her body.

Keiko shook with anger at being back in Hiei's lap without being asked. She was about to move to get off his lap, sticking a foot out from underneath the blanket, and realized how cold it really was in her home, and how nice it felt to be sitting in Hiei's arm, leaning against his chest. Tucking her foot back underneath the blanket, she looked around for the blanket she had brought out before. Spotting it on the floor next to Hiei, she snuck an arm out from under the blanket and grabbed it, placing it over her body.

"Uh, I wanted to apologize for yelling at you, and trying to hit you," Keiko said quietly, looking down at the blanket that covered her lap.

"Hn. Apology accepted," Hiei said as he tried to ignore the way her soft body felt pressed against his own, tried to not think of other, more pleasurable ways, that she could be pressed against him.

"You're really warm," Keiko murmured as she relaxed against his chest.

"I am a fire demon. I can release portions of my energy as heat," Hiei told her as he wrapped his arms around her a bit tighter. "My body also has a higher temperature than normal."

"Oh. I bet that comes in handy when it's cold out," Keiko said as she started leaning back against Hiei some.

"I guess it would. But I don't notice the cold anyway, so it doesn't bother me," Hiei told her, leaning his head back against the couch.

They sat in silence for a while, both watching as more and more of their breaths became visible on the chilling air of the living room. Gradually, Keiko curled into a small ball on Hiei's lap, resting her head against his shoulder as she tried to stay warm. Hiei merely wrapped the blankets around them more tightly and released a small amount of energy in the form of heat directly at Keiko, hoping to keep her warm.

"This isn't going to work," they both said at the same time.

"I'm not going to be able to sleep here, like this," Keiko said as she once again moved around on Hiei's lap.

Hiei felt her soft curves move around on his lap, inadvertently rubbing against his manhood, causing it to harden slightly. Gritting his teeth, trying to control his instincts, which were currently telling him of a very fun way to stay warm for the both of them, Hiei nodded.

"With the way the temperature has been dropping, I won't be able to keep you warm all night. I was just in a massive battle not four hours ago. Do you have anywhere else we could move to," Hiei asked.

Keiko thought for a moment, then nodded, a blush appearing on her cheeks. "Yes. We could, uh, go to my room," Keiko squeaked out in embarrassment. "And we still have electricity, so I could plug in my electric blanket my aunt sent me," she said as she moved to get off Hiei's lap.

Before she could get off his lap, Hiei stood up with her in his arms, both of them still wrapped in the blankets. "Which way to your room," he asked as he headed down the same hallway she had disappeared down earlier.

Following Keiko's directions, a pointed finger at a closed door, Hiei quickly made his way to her room, grabbing some blankets out of the hall closet on the way. Once they got to the room, Hiei shut the door, and set Keiko down so she could go get her electric blanket while he pulled the everything but the sheets off her bed. Keiko came back from the closet with a blue, fuzzy blanket and some cords in her hands. She spread it over her bed and went to plug it in while Hiei began piling the other blankets onto of the bed.

Keiko prepared to get into the bed after setting the electric blanket to max so that it would be nice and warm. She kicked off her slippers and socks and moved to get into the bed, but was stopped by Hiei.

"You'll be warmer if you take your clothes off," Hiei told her, his hands crossed over his chest.

Keiko looked at him completely astonished. And mortified. "Are you crazy? I'm not getting naked and into a bed with you. I don't care how cold it is," she yelled at him. "Besides, I'm cold enough as it is. I'll just get colder if I take my clothes off."

Hiei shook his head at her. "If you were to put on your coat and go outside until you were so cold you could hardly move and came in to warm up, but left your coat on, the heat would have to travel through the coat, warming it up first, before it could reach you, let alone do you any good. The same applies here. You say your cold, which means so are your clothes. The heat will have to go through your clothes before it can do you any good," he told her.

Keiko looked at him disbelievingly for a while longer, then blushed as her mind realized that what he said was the truth. "Fine," Keiko huffed. "But I'm not taking my panties or bra off, and you have to turn around," she told him, her arms crossed over her chest to hide her hard nipples. She didn't even want to think about if it was because of the cold or the excitement she felt at the prospect of having to share her bed with the feisty fire demon.

Hiei snorted as he turned around, but realized he was now facing a full length mirror that he could watch her every move in. His eyes watched as she turned around, her back facing him, so she couldn't see him watching her in the mirror. He watched as she first pulled her sweater off, dropping it on the floor next to her, leaving her upper body covered only by her lacy bra.

Keiko hooked her thumbs in the waist band of her pants, sliding the material down past her hips, letting them drop, and then kicking them away from her. She pulled her socks off and tossed them on the growing pile of her clothes, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the fire demon wasn't peaking at her, but all she saw was his back, and then quickly scrambled into the bed, luxuriating in the warmth of the electric blanket.

"Alright, you can look," Keiko said as she barely peeked her head above the covers. "And, could you turn off the lights," she asked, jerking her head in the direction of the light switch on her wall.

She watched as Hiei took a step towards the wall, and then everything went dark. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust, and by the time her eyes adjusted, she felt the covers move and the bed dipped a little from the weight of another person being added to it. Keiko squeaked when she felt a bare knee brush against her leg.

Hiei felt Keiko stiffen slightly when he slipped under the covers, and then heard her squeak when his knee accidentally brushed against her thigh. He nearly smirked at her actions, knowing before the end of the night, they would be much closer than that.

"Keiko, you know, if we're going to stay warm tonight, we will have to be closer than this," Hiei said, gesturing to the large space between them. "And I'm sure it's not comfortable balancing on the edge of the bed like you are."

Keiko sighed and watched Hiei with a wary eye as she thought what he said over. "You're not going to try anything are you," she asked hesitantly.

Hiei snorted at the absurdity of her question. "I would not lower myself to do something like tÌmt."

Keiko snorted and turned her back to Hiei, nearly falling out of the bed in the process. "What? Humans aren't your style? They why are you here," she angrily asked him, not giving him time to answer between her questions.

Hiei growled at her words and attitude. He gripped her shoulders, turning her back over to face him, her body pressed against his as he held her in place. "That is not what I was talking about. I meant I would not lower myself to taking a woman against her will," he growled out. "I have no problems with you."

"What about the rest of the human race," Keiko asked as se tried to get out of his grasp.

"I don't like some of them," Hiei told her, not letting her move away from him, liking the feel of her body pressed against his.

Keiko reluctantly stopped trying to get away from Hiei. "So why do you like me," she asked, burrowing deep under the blankets, the heat from the electric blanket warming her up quickly.

Hiei snorted, but looked at Keiko and saw her watching him, waiting for an answer. "You're strong-willed. Most humans just do whatever they are told to, showing a weak spirit. Others have no concept of hygiene," Hiei said, snuggling against Keiko some.

"So you like me cause I hit Yusuke, but you got upset when I tried to slap you earlier. That makes sense," Keiko said sarcastically.

"The Spirit Detective might let you get away with it, but I am not one to be controlled by a woman. Besides, if you didn't want to be in my lap, you could have just gotten off. And I was trying to help you, anyway," Hiei told her with a snort, his arms moving to wrap around Keiko's waist.

"You could have said something to me about it first, instead of just scooping me up and dumping me in your lap. Then I wouldn't have tried to hit you," Keiko said, her hands moving to rest on his shoulders as she snuggled up against him, their legs rubbing against each other.

"That did not occur to me. I suppose I should have thought of that," Hiei said, but then smirked. "But you have to admit that my lap was much warmer than the floor," he said, a cocky grin spreading across his features.

"Jerk," Keiko muttered as she snuggled against his shoulder.

Hiei smirked, his hands running up and down her sides. "Besides, I thought you human women liked to be swept off your feet," he said, but didn't receive a response. He raised a hand to her face, hooking a finger under her chin, and made her look up at him.

They stared at each other for a moment, their lips drawing closer, their eyes locked onto each other. Their lips came into contact with each other and both sets of eyes closed as Hiei took control of the kiss. But he made sure not to overwhelm Keiko, taking his sweet time as his lips massaged hers. His hand stayed on her chin while his other hand rubbed her side.

Hiei pulled back some, nibbling on Keiko's lower lip a moment before he pulled completely away. He opened his eyes to look at her and found her gazing right back at him. Not knowing what to do or say, he remained silent, not moving.

"You kissed me," Keiko said in a bit of a daze.

"You kissed me back," Hiei replied. His hand that was resting on her chin moved to brush a few strands of hair out of her eyes. "Do you want me to stop," he asked with his hand resting on her cheek, his thumb brushing over her lips.

"No," whispered Keiko, shaking her head.

Hiei nodded, then leaned in again, replacing his thumb with his lips. His hand on her side slipped around to her back, pulling her closer, as his tongue darted out of his mouth to brush teasingly over her lips. His hand on her back moved to her butt, squeezing gently, which caused Keiko to open her mouth in a surprised gasp. Hiei's tongue slipped out of his mouth once more and swept into Keiko's mouth, tasting deeply of her flavor.

Keiko pulled back almost immediately, a glare directed at Hiei, though her eyes still looked a little glazed over. "Your hand is on my butt," she growled at him.

Hiei cocked an eyebrow at her as he fought the urge to smile at her. "Yea, and," he asked as he squeezed her butt again.

Keiko growled at the fire demon and shoved his shoulder, sending him rolling onto his back, but Hiei didn't let go of her and pulled her on top of him. Keiko ended up straddling his hips, and she felt just how aroused Hiei was at the moment. A dark blush spreading across her cheeks, Keiko tried to move off his lap, but stopped when he shook his head.

"Are you uncomfortable like this," Hiei asked, sliding his hand from her butt to her waist, his hand that had been on her cheek now resting on her shoulder.

"Kind of," Keiko said, looking away from Hiei, her eyes scanning over his naked chest, making her blush even more.

Hiei took hold of her shoulders and rolled them over, so that he was on top, and raised himself up on his elbows, lifting most of his weight off of her. "Is this better," he asked.

Keiko looked up at him shyly, a blush brightly coloring her cheeks, and nodded. "A little better," she said. "But, um, I've never done anything like this," she confessed, looking off to the side.

Hiei shook his head at her, even though she wouldn't see the action. Raising a hand to her cheek, he turned her head to look at him once more. "Didn't I already say I wouldn't force myself on anyone? That includes you. If you want me to stop, all you have to do is tell me," he told her, his thumb brushing against the corner of her mouth as he talked.

"But, uh, wouldn't it be painful for you," Keiko asked, blushing. "You know, to stop part way through or something."

Hiei wanted to laugh at her innocence. "Yes, but I don't want you to feel pressured to continue just because of that. I can handle the pain," he told her, a small smile trickling onto his features.

Keiko nodded and relaxed against him some, feeling comforted by his words and his tender actions. Her hands trailed up his arms and around his neck, pulling him down to her.

Hiei understood what she wanted and moved to close the distance remaining between their lips, pleased that her mouth opened immediately to him. His tongue darted out of his mouth and swept into hers. A pleased groan escaped Hiei as her tongue brushed against his tentatively before he pulled his tongue from her mouth, trying to coax her tongue into his mouth. He felt her hesitate, so his tongue slid back into her mouth.

Their tongues collided in her mouth as Keiko gained more confidence with each groan that escaped Hiei. Her hands slid down his back, stopping at the fire demon's waist, where they met with the waist band of his boxers. Her fingers played with the skin just above the elastic and she would have smiled if her mouth had not been occupied otherwise when she felt a shiver run through his body.

Pulling her head away a bit to get some air, she looked at him, looking as if she had a question she wanted to ask, but she wasn't sure about it. After a moments contemplation, during which she caught her breath, she barely nodded at looked Hiei in the eye.

"What color are they?? Your boxers, I mean," she asked, her blush darkening yet again, but she held his gaze.

Hiei smirked at her. "You really wanna know," he asked and his smirk grew when she nodded.

Keiko felt Hiei wiggle around for a moment and then he reached deep under the blankets and fished for something for a moment before removing his hand from underneath the covers. She saw some kind of dark material in his hand, but she couldn't quite make it out in the moonlight. Then he handed it to her and she suddenly realized what all the wiggling had been about.

Hiei had taken off his boxers and handed them to her!

Suppressing the urge to scream and throw them away, she looked at them, trying to determine their color in the darkness of the room. "You could've just told me," she muttered under her breath as she continued to look at the material. Finally getting frustrated with the lack of light, she tossed the boxers off her bed, in some random direction, leaving them to, hopefully, be found the next morning.

"I'll look at them in the morning," Keiko told Hiei, barely seeing the arched eyebrow on his face in the dark.

Hiei smirked at Keiko, suddenly getting an idea. "So, what color are yours," he asked, running a finger along her skin just above her panties.

Keiko raised an eyebrow at him, but smirked none-the-less. Instead of lifting her hips for Hiei to remove her panties, she sat up some, her chest pressed against his, as she reached behind herself and unclasped her bra. As she leaned back to lay upon the bed once more, she crossed her arms over her chest, her hands going to the shoulder straps and slowly pulling them down her arms.

Hiei smiled at her when the bra was completely off, his finger on her stomach trailing up her body, between her breasts, and up to her neck. "Beautiful, simply beautiful," he murmured as he leaned down. He stopped short when a soft material was thrust in his face.

"You wanted to know what color they were," she said with a shy smile, handing him the material. "It's a matching set."

Hiei took the slightly silky material from her with a curious look. With his enhanced demon sight, he could see just fine in the dark, and he looked over the light blue bra, noticing white patches that were probably suppose to be clouds.

He looked her in the eye and, with a smirk in place, tossed the bra out of the bed and onto the floor. "Nice, but I like this matching set better," Hiei said as his head dropped down to her breast, taking her right nipple into his mouth, his hand coming up to massage her other breast in time with his mouth.

Keiko moaned at the dual assault on her senses, arching her back into him as she raised a hand to his head to hold him in place. Her modesty had practically flown out the window when his lips and tongue began teasing her nipple, the sensitive nub now caught between his teeth as he gently nipped it, causing shudders to run down her spine.

Hiei moved to her other breast, giving the left the same treatment he had given the other. With one final suck, he let the pliant flesh drop from his mouth with a slight plop and kissed his way up to her neck. Finding her pulse point with his lips, he suckled the skin there, smirking at her pleasured moan. After a minute more, he eased up and looked up at her, taking in her appearance. Her skin slightly wet with a fine sheen of perspiration; the red mark on her neck where he had been suckling; the dusty rose tips of her breasts still wet with his saliva.

She was absolutely exquisite. Feeling the urge to further his exploration of her body, the lust driven fire demon dipped his head one more, taking possession of her lips once again as his hands began to wander in a more southern direction. His fingers massaged her flesh as they travelled down her stomach, eliciting small moans from Keiko. Hiei's right hand found the waistband of her panties and started to tug them down, but was stopped by her hand on his wrist.

Releasing her lips, Hiei lifted his head some and looked at Keiko, but before he could open his mouth to say anything, her other hand came up to press her right index finger to his lips.

"If I'm going to lose my last piece of covering, so are you," Keiko told him firmly. She watched as a confused look crossed his features.

Parting his lips, Hiei sucked her finger into his mouth for a moment, enjoying the slightly shocked and embarrassed look that covered her face before he released her finger to respond to her statement. "What do you mean," asked the confused fire demon.

Keiko said nothing; only removed her hands from his body, much to Hiei's disappointment. That is, until he felt her fingers tracing the edge of his white bandana.

Understanding what she wanted, Hiei nodded his consent and felt her fingers slide around to the back of his head to meet at the knot that secured the material in place. A few quick tugs, and he felt the strip of material loosen around his head. He watched the white fabric float down to rest beside Keiko's head.

"Wow," Keiko breathed, her hands running through his hair, then over his forehead, and around his Jagan. Her fingers continued their path, tracing down his nose, and then traced around his lip. "Beautiful," she whispered, staring at his Jagan.

Keiko trailed her hands up to the back of his neck and pulled down slightly as she leaned up, closing most of the distance that separated them. Another tug on his neck got Hiei to lower his head the rest of the way.

Hiei's hands once again trailed down her torso, massaging her flesh, mentally marking the spots that made her squirm. His hands reached the waistband of her panties and he began to slowly pull them down, this time with no objections from Keiko. Between the two of them, they got her panties off and managed to toss them out of the bed with the rest of their clothes.

Hiei gently nudged Keiko's legs apart and settled between them comfortably. His mouth dropped to her right breast again, taking the nipple into his mouth to be teased, his right hand coming up to roll her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger. His other hand rested on her hip, his fingers massaging her flesh, slowly moving down and in on her leg, until his fingers were brushing over her lower lips, feeling her wetness.

Keiko groaned in pleasure as she was bombarded by sensation. She couldn't believe how good he was making her feel. Her hands slid to his back, her nails raking over his skin as she pulled her hands up to his shoulders. She held onto his shoulders as he began kissing his way down her stomach, feeling his other hand leave the juncture of her thighs to come up and tend to her abandoned breast. Keiko gasped loudly, her hands moving to the back of his head and clenching his hair in her fingers as his lips touched her womanhood, his tongue darting out to scrape over a particularly sensitive spot.

Hiei smirked as he dragged his tongue over her again, holding Keiko down as she tried to squirm, either away from his teasing tongue, or closer for more contact. Either way, Hiei didn't care. He had her right where he wanted her, and he was going to keep her there. His tongue snaked further out of his mouth, applying more pressure to her sensitive flesh. Hiei kept up the lazy pace for a full five minutes before he gave her lower lips one final kiss, releasing her hips, and crawled his way up her body, his hips settling comfortably between her legs.

"Hiei, please," Keiko breathed out, opening her eyes to stare at the demon that hovered over her. Her hands slid up his arms and around his neck, trying to pull him closer. "Please," she whispered, lifting her head off of the pillow, towards Hiei.

"Please what," Hiei teased, leaning down a bit, but not enough to cause their lips to touched.

Keiko blushed as she realized Hiei wanted her to tell him what she wanted. But she couldn't do that. After a moment of thought, she knew what she could do. With a growl of frustration and determination, she slid her hand from his neck, down his back, to his butt, and grabbed, pulling Hiei forward by his rear end.

"Impatient aren't we," Hiei murmured against Keiko's cheek. Suddenly getting serious, he pulled back a bit to look Keiko in the eye. "You do know that this will be painful for you," he asked, his red eyes glowing with concern in the darkness under the blankets.

Keiko nodded shyly. "I know. And I still want to be with you," she told him, watching the two glowing orbs.

"What about the spirit detective," Hiei asked, hating bringing up the one subject that would probably stop their activities, but he wanted to know that he would be the only one in her mind. He didn't want to just be some physical replacement for a human that wouldn't give her what she wanted.

"What about Yusuke? There is nothing between him and I. He has made that clear several times," Keiko replied, closing her eyes and shaking her head once before opening them again to watching the softly glowing embers that hung above her face. "Right now, I want no other than you. Please," she said softly, her hands on his body pulling them closer together.

Hiei wanted to smile as he peeked into her mind, and saw no memories of Yusuke present. Instead, all he saw a few replays of his fights from the dark tournament and he could sense her concern for him as he took a blow or just by the sight of his opponent. Just as he was about to pull from her mind, he saw what had to be a dream or a fantasy of hers; Keiko moaning in pleasure as he buried his shaft within her womanhood.

Hiei was suddenly pulled back to reality by a hand on his cheek, a concerned voice calling his name. He looked down to see Keiko leaning up on one elbow, her other hand raised to his face.

"Hiei, are you alright," Keiko asked, her concern rising the longer it took the fire demon to respond to her.

<p>"Yea, I'm just fine," Hiei replied, leaning forward and capturing Keiko's lips in a passionate kiss. He lowered her back down to the once again and slid a hand down her body to rest on her left hip as his other hand smoothed down her stomach, coming to a stop at the juncture of her thighs. His fingers quickly took up the task of pleasuring while his lips kept her distracted.

Keiko was surprised by Hiei's actions. `First, he spaces out, and then when he came back to reality, he starts … kissing me … like …' Keiko couldn't keep her thoughts straight with the way Hiei was kissing her and what his fingers were doing to her. Not really caring any longer, she completely relaxed into her bed, returning his kiss with everything she had. Her arms came up to wrap around his body, one settling just below his waist, her hand resting just above his butt, and the other stopped around his neck, her fingers moving to play in his hair.

Hiei could sense she was close to orgasm, and wanted Keiko to get some pleasure out of this experience. His thumb took over the manipulation of her clit while he moved two fingers to her opening and slowly worked them in, massaging her walls. In a matter of seconds, Keiko was climaxing around Hiei's fingers, her loud moans being muffled by his mouth over hers.

While Keiko was still in orgasmic bliss, Hiei replaced his hand at her womanhood with the tip of his manhood and began pressing forward, hoping to get the pain over as soon as possible. He felt the resistance of her hymen, and with one swift thrust, broke through the barrier.

As he entered her to the hilt, his right hand moved to rest on her lower abdomen as he tried to lessen the pain for her with his moderate healing powers. His other hand held onto her hip, preventing any movement on her part that would cause any unnecessary pain for her. Hiei's eyes were trained on Keiko's face, and he knew that she had definitely felt some pain from the initial intrusion. A feeling of guilt welled up inside him as he watched tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

`Damnit,' Hiei cursed his lack of training as far as his healing abilities went. Turning his attention to Keiko once more as she tried to shift away from him some, he lowered his body to rest more fully upon her own, never moving his hand on her abdomen.

"I'm sorry. I have caused you pain," Hiei whispered against her neck. "But if you try to move, it will only make it worse," he told her, his voice solemn.

Keiko took a few deep breaths, trying to collect her scattered thoughts. After a moment's rest, she realized that the pain wasn't as bad as the other girls at school had made it out to be.

Leaning up a bit, she tried to turn her head to look at Hiei, but found his head buried in the crook of her neck. "It doesn't hurt as bad as I thought it would," she whispered, her hands moving to his back. One hand rubbed up and down his spine while the other moved up to the base of his neck to gently rub circles there.

Hiei grunted. "I'm relieving some of the pain, so it doesn't hurt as much for you," he told her, lifting his head to watch her reaction.

Keiko smiled up at him appreciatively, her hand on his neck gently pulling him down as she leaned up to place a kiss on his lips. "Thank you, Hiei," she whispered as she relaxed on the bed again. Getting curious, she shifted her hips up towards him slightly, gasping at the sensations the small movement caused.

Hiei leaned down and captured her lips, sucking on her bottom lip before plunging his tongue into her mouth. At the same time, he pulled out of her slick heat until only his tip remained inside her folds, nearly groaning at the sweet friction, before driving his hips forward, burying his length once again. Hiei started a steady rhythm of long, deep thrusts, his hand over her abdomen flexing every so often from the restraint it took to keep it there. He moved his hand from her hip to rest slightly above her shoulder so he could maintain his balance.

Keiko moaned slightly into the kiss as the movement of Hiei's hips caused his pelvis to grate over her clit. Thrusting her hips up as much as his hand on her abdomen would allow her to move, Keiko sought to increase the pleasurable friction. She moved her hand from his back to his butt, gripping the taunt cheek in her hand.

Hiei broke the kiss and trailed his lips along her jaw line, to her neck, suckling on the supple flesh he found there. He picked up the pace, sensing Keiko was getting pleasure from this, and he wanted her to cum once more before he reached his end. He dropped his head to her chest, once again taking a nipple into his mouth, remembering where the most sensitive flesh was and attacking it with vigor.

Keiko moaned once again, but this time, her vocalization wasn't muffled by her fire demon lover. She could feel the same sensation building in her lower abdomen that had preceded her previous climax. Her hand on Hiei's butt cheek tightened as he sped up once again. It seemed that every so often, the fire demon would change the angle of his thrusts, going just a bit deeper, rubbing over her clit a bit more. Every move he made caused her more pleasure.

Hiei groaned Keiko's legs slipped around his waist, seeming to pull him deeper with each thrust. He felt her inner walls constricting with each thrust and knew she was close to her orgasm. Switching to her other nipple and balancing himself better, Hiei moved his hand from the bed to between her thighs and flicked his forefinger over her clit in rhythm with his thrusts.

Hiei trailed his mouth from Keiko's breast up to her shoulder, nipping gently at the flesh as he went, his fangs lengthening in preparation of marking her as his mate. His mouth slightly hovered over her shoulder, his tongue occasionally snaking out to lick at her skin, as his fangs lightly scraped at her flesh, but not enough to break the skin. Not yet.

Keiko loudly moaned as she felt her orgasm coming to a crest, and just before she screamed out her climax, her eyes fixed on Hiei's shoulder, and so did her mouth, muffling her pleasure filled scream. Her haze filled mind had one moment of clarity and she just hoped none of the neighbors heard them. But then her clarity was lost as she felt her teeth pierce Hiei's shoulder and her mouth fill with blood, which only seemed to amplify the intensity of her orgasm.

Hiei growled as Keiko's inner walls rhythmically massaged his length in her climax, losing all control over his own peak. With one final deep thrust, he released his seed deep in her womb. At the same time, he plunged his fangs into her shoulder, stifling the animalistic roar that would have escaped him otherwise. The fact that Keiko's mouth was in a similar position on his shoulder was not lost on the fire demon either.

Spent for the time being, Hiei collapsed on top of Keiko, knowing she would be able to handle his weight for a short period of time before he would need to move. With his hand still centered over her lower abdomen, still relieving some of the pain for her, Hiei pulled his length from her slick folds before he relaxed completely. His fangs shrunk back to their normal size and he pulled his hand from between them. Noticing a small trickle of blood still escaping the wound on her neck, he leaned back down and cleaned her shoulder up.

After her mind cleared from her orgasm, Keiko pulled her teeth from Hiei's shoulder, wondering how she had managed to break his skin. Between the sweet taste in her mouth and the blood still surrounding the wound on his shoulder, Keiko was compelled to clean up his wound for Hiei.

They both remained silent as they cleaned the blood from their bites. Keiko's arms twined around Hiei's torso, holding him on top of her as she licked her lips, looking once again like she had something to say, but wasn't quite sure how to say it.

Finally, "You bit me. Does that mean you're a vampire or something," Keiko asked, almost feeling stupid for asking such a weird question.

Hiei almost wanted to laugh. "You bit me first. Does that mean you are a vampire," he question, a smirk in his voice as he turned her own question on her.

"What? No, of course not. I'm a human. I don't know why I bit you," Keiko rambled, not sure what to think of her biting him.

This time, Hiei did chuckle. "Relax. I bit you to mark you as my mate. Your biting me and cleaning the wound afterwards shows your acceptance of me," he explained to her in a calm voice.

Keiko's mouth formed a slight `o' shape as she thought over what he had said. "But I didn't know you were going to bite me," she told him, sounding completely confused.

Hiei shrugged as he nuzzled into her neck some, casually licking the skin there. "Doesn't matter. All it means is that you accept me. I never said that it meant you accepted me as your mate. That is all up to you," he explained, occasionally licking at her pulse point on her neck.

"Oh," Keiko breathed as she thought over his words, his tongue becoming very distracting. "What would happen if I didn't accept you as my mate," she asked curiously.

Hiei's mood dropped a bit at her question. Did it mean she didn't want him as her mate? Did she regret what they just did? There was only one way to find out. Well, for him, there were really two ways to find out, but he didn't want to probe her mind. "The wounds would heal and we would speak of this night to no one," he told her, his voice calm and level.

"And what would happen if I decided that I love you, and want to be with you forever, and would like it very much if you were my mate," Keiko asked, a slight grin creeping onto her features.

Hiei jerked his head up to look at Keiko, definitely not expecting her to say anything like that after her previous question. "Do you really mean that," he asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

Keiko shrugged at him, the grin still curving her lips upwards. "What would happen," she asked again.

"The wounds would heal, leaving behind a mark that represents our bond, and you would live as long as me so that we could be together," he told her, waiting for what she would do.

Keiko smiled brilliantly up at Hiei and snaked her arms around his neck, slightly tugging him towards her. "I like that second option better. Being together for as long as we live is something I look forward to," she said just before she raised herself up and caught his lips in a kiss.

Hiei leaned down, deepening the kiss as his heart swelled. She wanted to be with him. Not some other baka. Just him. Then he remembered her first question and pulled away. "It's not nice to tease a demon in love," he growled before he took possession of her lips once again, his tongue plunging into her mouth and twining with hers.

They separated a few minutes later for breath, both of them panting from the intensity of the kiss. They watched each other in the dark as they caught their breath, each admiring the others qualities.

"In love, huh," Keiko asked, anxious to hear him say the exact words.

Hiei nodded, knowing what she was after. "I love you," he told her, leaning down to place a chaste kiss on her lips before pulling away to watch her.

"I love you, too," Keiko told him, pulling him down for a kiss, only to have it interrupted by her yawning. After a short bought of giggles, she looked up at him sheepishly. "But you wore me out," she said tiredly, snuggling up against him some, even though he was on top of her.

Hiei rolled them to their sides, his back to her bedroom door so that he could protect her from any intruders that might come, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, tucking her head under his chin, as his top leg draped over her legs. "Then get some sleep, love. We will talk more after you wake up," he instructed her, placing a kiss on the crown of her head.

Keiko nodded into his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling them closer together as she drifted off to sleep.

Hiei watched her sleep for a while, amazed that she had accepted him, but he would have to inform her of what would happen now that they were mates. He would have to file some paperwork with Koenma, but he would worry about that later. The stupid toddler could go eat his diaper for all Hiei cared at the moment. After a few minutes of watching Keiko sleep, Hiei drifted off into a light sleep, pushing all concerns away for later.

~*~

The next morning, Yusuke used his key to unlock the side door to Keiko's and ushered Kuwabara and Kurama inside before closing the door and locking it behind them. They shook the snow from their hair and jackets while taking their shoes off. Coats, scarves, and hats were also removed and hung on a nearby heat rack with a heater close by.

"Man, why is it so cold in here," Yusuke complained as they walked a bit further into the house. Then, as if hit over the head with the answer, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh no. The heat must have went out last night. I hope Keiko's alright," he said as he bolted towards the stairs that would lead to the Yukimura residence, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Relax Yusuke. Hiei was here with her. I doubt he would have let anything happen to her," Kurama said in his normal soothing voice.

"I'm still going to make sure she's alright," the hot-headed spirit detective said as he shook the hand off and headed up the stairs.

Kurama and Kuwabara looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him at a slightly more relaxed pace. Kurama knew that Hiei wouldn't have let any harm come to the young woman and Kuwabara was still too injured to move with any great speed. When they reached the top entrance way to the upstairs apartment, they found Yusuke walking down a hall towards the back of the apartment.

`Stupid girl. Where is she at? She better be alright. Maybe she had enough sense to go to a neighbors and just forgot to leave a note,' Yusuke thought glumly as he made his way towards her bedroom. He also knew that if she was in there, he would probably get hit a few times for going into her bedroom without permission. Not that the knowledge stopped his forward movements any.

Yusuke reached the door to Keiko's room and tossed it open, barely registering the lump under the mass of blankets on Keiko's bed before he heard a hissing sound, followed abruptly by a loud thump rather close to his head. Turning his head to look at the wall next to the doorway, that he stood in, he came eye to blade with a very familiar looking katana. Then Yusuke realized that if it had been a just a little bit to the left, it would be sticking out of his head instead of the wall.

"Get out, Spirit Detective," Hiei growled out from underneath the blankets.

"What? Hiei? What the hell are you doing here? In Keiko's bedroom? In her BED," Yusuke demanded as he took a few more steps into the room. He felt a hard object hit him in the head, and then heard it clatter on the floor. Looking down at his feet, Yusuke saw the sheath to the sword that was currently sticking out of the wall behind him.

"I said get out," Hiei growled once again, this time poking his head out from under the covers to glare at the spirit detective.

Hiei had been happily curled up with his new mate in her bed, watching her sleep, when he sensed the fox downstairs. He could also sense the baka and the spirit detective with him, and hoped that the fox had enough sense to get the other two leave them alone for a while longer. But, obviously true to nature, the spirit detective had brushed aside anything that Kurama had said and came barging up here.

Hiei had placed a gentle kiss on the black flame mark on his mate's shoulder, smiling slightly when he saw a few blue highlights still forming on her skin, and reached to the other side of the bed where he had placed his katana the night before, well within an arms reach. When the door had been thrown open, he quickly unsheathed his katana and threw at the wall right beside where he knew the spirit detectives head would be, hoping he would get the hint. And in case he hadn't, Hiei had growled at him to get out.

Now, after having hit him in the head with his sheath, repeating his order, and glaring at him for a full five minutes, the spirit detective was still standing in the room, gaping at the bed. Hiei knew he wasn't staring at Keiko, because he had made sure she was still completely under the blankets and out of sight.

"Where is Keiko," Yusuke demanded, returning the fire demons glare.

Hiei smirked at him. "I ate her. Now get out," he growled, knowing full well the double meaning of what he had said, and turned back onto his side to hopefully return to watching his mate.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean," Yusuke practically screamed.

"What is going on," a feminine voice, sounding suspiciously like Keiko's groaned out from underneath the covers. The blankets were gradually tugged down a short way, revealing Keiko's sleep mused hair and groggy eyes. "Yusuke, what are you doing in my room," she demanded, though it wasn't as fierce as it would have been without the yawn in the middle.

"Wait, Hiei said he ate you," Yusuke said, completely bewildered by now.

Keiko snickered for a moment. "He did," she told him, a bright blush spreading across her cheeks, "a few times."

Hiei spotted his boxers on the floor within reaching distance from the bed, and grabbed them, slipping them on under the covers on the bed. He swung his legs out from under the covers and was up and head towards Yusuke in a matter of seconds, stopping only to grab his sheath from the floor. He pushed the spirit detective backwards, until he was standing just outside the door, and after yanking his katana from the wall, slammed the door in the young spirit detectives face.

"Go away," Hiei growled at him through the door before he turned towards the bed, sheathing his sword as he went.

When Hiei reached the bed once again, he leaned down and placed a gentle, chaste kiss on Keiko's lips before crawling back onto the cushy surface. "You need more rest. I woke you up entirely too many times last night," he told her, snuggling back into the warmth the bed and his mate provided.

Keiko giggled a bit. "I'm fine, Hiei. At least for now. Besides, I know Yusuke, and he won't leave until he knows what's going on here. And I'm sure Kuwabara is with him," she told him, trying to scoot out of the bed.

"And Kurama," Hiei spoke up. At his mate's confused look, he elaborated. "Kurama is here as well. I don't know why they all had to come so early," he grumbled. "Yusuke and the baka should hardly be able to move yet, let alone make it over here and cause so much trouble."

"You said they weren't hurt that badly," Keiko scolded.

Hiei shrugged. "They weren't. But they were hurt enough that they should at least have a few bandages and still be in bed, sleeping off the wounds," he explained. "And you're not going anywhere," he told Keiko, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her back to him. "You need more sleep," he ordered.

Keiko rolled her eyes. "I'll sleep later. Right now, I want to go say hello to my friends," she told him as she wiggled to get away.

"Promise," Hiei asked, suddenly turning very solemn as he looked her in the eyes.

Keiko smiled at him. "I'm not as weak as you may think. I can afford to lose a little sleep once in a while," she told him, bringing a hand to his cheek. She leaned forward and their lips met in a tender kiss before Keiko pulled away. "I promise, my love," she said. "Besides, I think it would be best if we told them we are mates now, so that Yusuke doesn't think we're just screwing around," she added.

Hiei sighed, and nodded his head as he let her go. "Fine," he grumbled as he crawled from the bed once more and went about finding the rest of his clothes, grumbling about the stupid demon from the mission that had destroyed his tank top. He turned to face the bed once more when he heard a giggle from the bed.

"Your boxers are cute," Keiko said between giggles as she watched the slightly iridescent blue flames shimmer with Hiei's movements.

Hiei looked down at his black boxers, and saw the shimmering blue flames. He had forgotten those were there. Turning once again to find his clothes, he kept his other senses trained on his mate as she got out of the bed and moved to one of the standing chests that were against the walls. He heard the grating sound of wood on wood as she opened some drawers to pull some clothing out.

After he had his pants back on, he turned to watch Keiko, with his socks in hand. He couldn't put them back on because they were frozen solid. He could warm them up and dry them himself, but her dryer sounded like it would do a much better job of it. Which reminded him; his cloak was still in her dryer.

A slight rustle of fabric drew his full attention to his mate, who was currently putting on a bra, her panties already covering her beautiful flower from him. He noticed that she was once again wearing a matching set, this one a dark blue with gold stars and a quarter moon with a face in the middle. He smiled appreciatively at the way the panties clung to her behind, but was drawn from his musings when Keiko turned to face him, a sweater poised and ready to go over her head when she spotted him watching her.

"Aren't you going to put your socks on," she asked as she finished slipping the sweater over her head.

"They're frozen," he replied, frowning slightly when she pulled on a pair of sweatpants.

"Oh," she said as she bent to pull some socks on. "Want me to toss them in the dryer for you," she asked, grabbing her brush from the top of her dresser and quickly running it through her hair to get out all the knots.

"That would be nice," Hiei responded, watching her move, soaking up the way the sun shimmered in her hair.

"Okay. Could you grab a blanket or two and I'll go toss these in the dryer," she said, stepping up to him and grabbing his socks from his hands. She tossed her brush back onto the top of her dresser, grabbed a couple blankets herself, and headed out the door.

Hiei shook his head at her retreating back before turning back to the bed and grabbing some blankets, as well as his katana. She wanted them for the others because she thought they would be cold. He didn't even need to enter her mind to know that. He entered the family room just in time to see her figure going down the same hallway she had gone down the previous night to dry his cloak.

Hiei turned to the other males in the room, watching Yusuke and Kuwabara fight over the one of the two blankets Keiko had brought for them, since Kurama had already grabbed one while they weren't looking. With a slight growl, he tossed two of the three blankets he carried, keeping one for himself and Keiko. He didn't need one, but she would. It was too cold for a normal human in this house. Hiei watched the two spirit detectives stop fighting as the two new blankets fell on their heads.

"Hello, Hiei. How are you," Kurama asked as the fire demon sat at the opposite end of the couch as the fox.

"Hn," he grunted in response, waiting, rather impatiently for his mate to come back.

"Hiei, be nice," Keiko said as she entered the room, carrying his black cloak in her hands. She handed it to him and watched as he stood, tossed it over his shoulders, and secured it in a matter of seconds before sitting back down.

"Thank you," he whispered in her ear as he pulled her down onto the couch next to him and made sure she was covered well by the blanket.

By that time, Yusuke and Kuwabara had stopped fighting and had sat down, wrapped in blankets, in two chairs across from the couch.

"Alright, I want to know what's going on. Why did I find you two in bed together," Yusuke demanded, directing his attention towards Keiko.

Hiei growled at the spirit detective's tone. "Do not talk to my mate that way," he told him.

Kurama was surprised. The fire demon certainly did work fast. "Mate? Hiei, you do know you'll have to file paperwork with Koenma-sama since Keiko is a human," he asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair as they seemed to scoot closer to one another on the couch.

"Yes, I know that. I'm not a baka like those two," Hiei said, jerking his thumb in the direction of the two human males that were sitting with wide open eyes and wider open mouths.

"I thought you would know, but I still wanted to remind you," Kurama said, a knowing glint in his eyes. "So, Keiko, what are you going to do while the heat is out," he asked, turning his attention to the human female that sat next to him.

"I don't really know. I was hoping it would be back on by now, but it's not," she said, a little worried that she would have to call a professional to fix whatever was wrong.

"Well, why don't you and Hiei come stay at my house for a few days? At least until your parents get back and can get it fixed," Kurama offered. "Besides, my mother is out of town visiting some relatives as well, and I would enjoy the company."

"Uh, I don't really know. What do you think Hiei," Keiko asked, looking at her mate. She leaned closer so she could whisper in his ear, and said, "At least that way you wouldn't have to worry about me getting too cold or sick."

"Yes, that'll be fine," Hiei said, sending an appreciative glance at Kurama over Keiko's head.

"Wait. I still don't get what's going on," Kuwabara mumbled, half conscious.

Kurama shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Kuwabara," he told him. "Yusuke, we should probably take him back to Genkai's so she can finish healing him. Or at the very least, take him home so he can rest."

Yusuke nodded, his eyes still trained on Hiei and Keiko as they cuddled closer together. "Yea, we should get the baka somewhere that he can rest," Yusuke agreed as he stood up, still wrapped in a pink fuzzy blanket.

"Alright then," Kurama said as he too stood up, wrapped in a black blanket with a picture of a tiger printed on it. "Hiei, why don't you and Keiko come over to my place in a few hours, and that will give Yusuke and myself some time to take care of Kuwabara," Kurama suggested, looking at the fire demon.

"That's fine, Fox," Hiei grunted.

"Keiko, do you mind if we take this blanket to keep Kuwabara warm," Kurama asked, pointing to the periwinkle blue blanket wrapped around a passed out Kuwabara.

"Oh, yes, that fine. Will he be alright," she asked, noticing that he was no longer conscious.

Yusuke grunted. "He's taken worse beatings from me. He just didn't let himself rest enough cause of the cold. Don't worry, we'll get him home, and Shizuru will take care of him," Yusuke assured her.

Keiko nodded, and saw the three boys off, locking the door behind them. She turned to her mate, who was standing behind her, and walked up to him, wrapping her arms, and subsequently her blanket around his shoulders.

Hiei grunted as she pressed her body up against his and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Back to bed for you," he told her as he picked her up and raced up the stairs and into her room. He smiled wickedly as he tossed her onto the bed, jumping after her, enjoying the sound of her laughter.

"Hiei, be careful. You're going to break my bed," she scolded, swatting at his shoulder playfully. "I am not going to explain to my parents when they get home why I need a new one, because someone broke this one."

Hiei grinned at her. "Well, I do know of a more pleasurable way to break your bed than just tossing you on it," Hiei said, smirking at her as she blushed.

"Hiei, no, I'm sorry, I can't. I know you healed the pain some, but it's still too painful," Keiko told him, looking down and blushing.

Hiei shook his head at her and reached a hand out to cup her chin, pulling her gaze up to his. "I know. I won't pressure you to do anything you're not ready to do," he told her, leaning forward to press his lips to hers in a chaste kiss, before pulling back to watch her blush yet again.

"How do you know I hurt still," she asked, looking into his eyes, waiting for her response.

"There are a few different reasons," he told her, pulling back the blankets. "Hop under the blankets so you don't get cold, and we can talk, okay." He watched her get under the covers and tucked her in, then laid down beside her on top of the blankets.

"First off, because I'm already a telepath, I can go into anyone's mind and find anything that I want to. But that's not what I did. I know because of our bond as mates. Since I am a telepath, our bond allows me, and you after you get some practice in, to know what you are feeling, and even some of your thoughts," Hiei explained. He turned to see her reaction to this, even if he was receiving almost constant emotional feeds from her.

"So I could almost read your mind if I wanted to," Keiko asked, looking over at the fire demon, waiting for a response.

"Somewhat. After some training, you'll be able to sense my moods, know what I'm feeling, if I'm in pain. You might even be able to get some stray thoughts. Even without our bond, I would be able to penetrate your mind and see clear distinct images of your memories, fantasies, thoughts, anything," he told her, wondering what she would think of his powers.

"Oh. I guess that would come in handy sometimes. Like in a fight or something," she said, thinking out loud a bit.

"No. I actually hardly use my telepathy. Sometimes, when I'm bored, I'll wander around and see what people around me are thinking, but it's usually mindless dribble," Hiei explained further.

Keiko nodded as she turned towards Hiei a bit, slowly drifting off to sleep. "Hiei, will you keep me warm while I take a nap," she asked, cuddling closer to his warmth.

"Of course," Hiei said, turning to face Keiko, draping an arm and leg over her body so that he could transfer some of his heat to her. `I guess she doesn't care about my telepathy that much. I think I can be happy with her,' Hiei thought as he tucked her head under his chin.

~*~

A few hours later, Keiko woke up feeling very refreshed and comfortable. She opened her eyes and was met with a black clad chest. Glancing up, she was met with the sleeping face of her mate. She watched him sleep for a while, but noticed that his cloak had come undone in his sleep. Keiko moved to close it, but stopped short when she saw a dark blue flame with black highlights marring his skin over the spot where she had bit him the previous night. She stared at it for a few minutes, her fingers moving to trace over the small tattoo-like mark.

"It's our mating mark," Hiei said, startling Keiko and making her jump. He opened his eyes to look his mate, a small smirk playing about his lips. "You have one as well," he told her, his fingers brushing over the spot where he knew her mark to be under her clothing.

Keiko looked down to where is hand was, curious about what her own mark looked like. "Oh," she breathed, raising her eyes back to his. "I'm not going to get pregnant from last night, am I," Keiko asked out of the blue.

Hiei shook his head. "No. You don't have to worry about that. I can control the level of potency when I release. You won't get pregnant until we want to," he explained.

"Good," Keiko said, smiling at her mate.

"Come on. You should pack some clothes and then we should head over to Kurama's," Hiei told her, moving to stand up from the bed. "And call your parents, and let them know where you will be."

Keiko nodded as she stood up. Stretching, she went to her dresser and began pulling out clothes she would need until her parents got back. She went to her closet and grabbed an old backpack that she could just carry over her shoulder, instead of using her suitcase, which would be more of a pain in the butt to carry.

Hiei sat on the bed and watched as Keiko packed everything away into the bag. Then he watched her disappear out into the hall, only to reappear with several things that he could only guess she had gotten from the bathroom. He watched as those items went into the bag as well. Hiei held back a chuckle as he watched her stand in the middle of the room and tick things off on her fingers.

"I think I have everything I need, but I still need to call my parents," Keiko said as she paced about in a small circle in her room.

She went over to her phone and picked it up, glancing at the notepad by it for her aunt's phone number. Quickly dialing the numbers, she waited for someone to pick up. "Hello, Aunt Jurii … I'm doing fine, and you … Wonderful. I was wonder if I could talk to Mom or Dad … Okay, thanks … Hi, Mom … Everything is fine. Well, not everything. The heat went out and I wanted to let you and Dad know that I'm going to stay at a friends house until you get back … They already said it was fine … You know my friends, Mom. None of them would let me stay here with the heat out … You don't have to worry about me … Yes, I'll make sure I check in everyday … Alright … Bai bai."

Keiko turned to Hiei with a smile. "Alright, everything is set. We should get going to Kurama's now. After we get there, I can make you both some dinner," she told him.

Hiei nodded and hopped off her bed, grabbing her bag with all her clothes in it and tossing it over his shoulder. "Let's go then," he told her, grabbing his katana and slipping it into place at his waist as he watched her grab another bag. "What in there," he asked, pointing to the bag that was slung over her own shoulder.

"My school books. I need to study for a test and I was hoping maybe Kurama could help me study some," Keiko said as she headed out the door, flicking off any and all lights that she came across that were on. "Oh, your socks," Keiko said as she headed towards the laundry room. When she came back, she held Hiei's socks in her hands.

Hiei slipped his socks on, and then they headed downstairs. Hiei held her other bag while she put her shoes, coat, hat, and scarf on, and then set them down to put his own boots on.

They walked to Kurama's in silence, just enjoying each other's company. Once they arrived there, Hiei used the spare key that he knew they kept in a flower pot that was beside the door, even though there was no flower and it was the middle of winter. Replacing the key, they entered the house, taking off their outer wear before entering the house further.

"Are you sure it's alright that we come in here without knocking," Keiko asked as she followed Hiei through the house.

"Yes. I come in here all the time. Kurama has a spare room that he keeps ready for me for when the weather is really bad," Hiei told her as they headed up the stairs. "Besides, I think he's busy," he added with a bit of a snort.

"What do you mean," Keiko asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Hiei, Keiko, I didn't expect you two to get here so soon," Kurama said as he rushed out of his room, shutting his door behind him before they could see inside.

Keiko nearly balked when she noticed that Kurama was shirtless, and the button was undone on his pants. Instead, she turned away, blushing profusely.

Hiei snorted. "You should have just stayed in there, Fox. You reek of sex," he said as he turned towards his usual room.

"Hey, Kurama, why'd you …" Yusuke trailed off as he popped his head out of Kurama's door behind him. "Oh, hi Hiei, Keiko, he said, stepping out of the room, and closing the door behind him as well.

Keiko nearly sighed in relief when she saw that Yusuke was at least fully dressed. "Hi," she squeaked out.

"Hey, why did you two run …" Botan said as she opened the door behind the two boys and came to a screeching halt when she saw the extra pair in the hallway. "Oh, hello you two," Botan said, pulling the blanket around her body more securely.

"Needed the company, huh Fox," Hiei smirked as he directed Keiko to his usual room.

"Well, that was awkward," Botan said as the boys ushered her back into the room they had all exited from.

Hiei shook his head at their antics as he and his mate entered their new, temporary room.

~*~

A few hours later, Hiei and Keiko lay panting, snuggled under the blankets, a fine sheen of sweat covering them both. Hiei draped his leg over hers as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Well, I guess I wasn't too sore after all," Keiko chuckled into Hiei's chest.

Hiei grunted, pressing his lips to the crown of her head in a sweet kiss. After a moments silence, he spoke up again. "I love you," he told her, conviction showing clearly in his voice.

"I love you, too," Keiko said into his chest. "Will you stay with me always," she asked, looking up into his eyes, waiting for his answer.

"Always and forever, my love," Hiei answered, lowering his head to her hers, and covering her lips with his.

`I've finally found love.'

The End