Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ I'll Die Before I Say, "I Love You" ❯ Foxes Can Be So Annoying ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Yu Yu Hakusho, but sadly, I don't. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. But if he wanted to give the ownership to me then yay!

 

CK: ^^ Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since I've done a new story, but my computer had been acting funky for a while and because of that, Word wasn't working. >< But I'm here now!

 

Some of you may be wondering about my `Yasha story. Well…I need to redo it since I ran into problems. So I already have the plot in mind, just need to write it up. Anyway, a few warnings you should know about this story:

 

Yaoi (no duh), AR (alternate reality), cursing, some nudity (later), violence, death, and probably some other stuff. Oh and this is set in Makai before Hiei got the Jagan and before Yoko Kurama “died”.

 

^^; That was a long ramble. Enjoy the story!

 

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Chapter One: Foxes Can Be So Annoying

 

It was raining. The water poured down with seemingly no end in sight, battering leaves with droplets and drenching anyone unfortunate enough to not find shelter. He had known it was going to rain hours earlier, when it became slightly overcast and the smell of ozone increased. So he had chosen a tree branch as his perch to wait out the rain and the water from the leaves naturally streamed around him to make a protective bubble. He leaned against the trunk of the tree as a sword lay across his lap, one hand on the hilt from quick drawing.

 

He had no intention of leaving the tree until the rain stopped. Even though his eyes were closed, he was still awake and very aware of his surroundings. One eye opened to reveal a ruby orb when there was a sound of branches breaking. There was a flash of silver followed by forty or so demons. His other eye opened and he turned a little to get a better look at what had captured those demon's attentions. In the middle of the clearing, not too far from where he was, was a person in a white outfit. The flash of silver he saw must have been the person's hair and upon looking closer he could make out silver fox ears.

 

`This should be interesting.' He settled against the trunk and waited. “Just who do you think you are, coming into our camp and stealing our most precious item?!” One demon screeched, pointing a claw at the fox angrily. “Those who steal from us, don't leave unhurt, you got that fox-boy?” A different demon asked, looking just as angry as the first. The fox chuckled, calmly brushing his hair over his shoulder as if they were having a civil conversation.

 

“You don't honestly think you will be able to harm me do you? I happen to be in a good mood at the moment so if you run now I won't kill you.” His voice was dark and sultry, the voice of a man who could command many and expected those commands to followed precisely. “Just who does this guy think he is?' One demon asked the group. “Just another overly cocky bastard that thinks he can defeat us with his pretty-boy looks!” The first demon snarled.

 

“Let's show him what happens when someone pisses the Gunlung Tribe off!” The second demon said, getting a cheer from the crowd. The crowd of demons surged forward, yelling as they readied their attack. The fox sighed softly and moved a hand up into his hair. The demons jumped forward at the same time, their claws and fangs still looking sharp despite the pouring rain. In three slashes it was over. The fox ended up far away from the pile of dead bodies, not a single drop of blood or mud on his body. The fox turned his head until he could look up at him in the tree. “Did you enjoy my performance?” The fox asked.

 

Red eyes stared calmly at him. The rain slowly began to stop and he dropped out of the tree to land quietly on the ground. “I take it you aren't going to talk to me.” The fox said. “…” He replied. The fox sighed again; normally he wouldn't bother anyone, but it was rare when someone captured his attention like this person had. “At the very least you could tell me your name.” The fox said, wringing out his hair.

 

“I give my name to no one.” He said. A flicker of annoyance showed in the other's eyes and the fox was hard-pressed not to smile. Finally, a conversation! “So you can speak. For a moment I believed you to be deaf or mute.” The fox said with a smile. He wasn't even bothered by the fact that the flicker of annoyance had shown up again.

 

“I see no point in talking when my blade will suffice.” He said, He put his sword next to his hip and turned to walk off. He had wasted enough time as it was because of the rain, now was the time to do some training. “Not all battles can be beaten with just brute strength.” The fox said. He had just begun walking when he heard the fox's words. He looked over his shoulder and annoyance made his eyes a shade darker.

 

“And just what do you really know of true battles, of fighting where your life is on the line? To sleep with one eye open and to be constantly alert, knowing that only death will await you if you do not. I doubt you have any weapons other than that flower.” He said, gesturing at the fox's rose whip that was draped over a shoulder. “Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? That sword is the only weapon you have as well.” The fox said. “I have other weapons.” He replied. Here the fox smiled.

 

“As do I. It seems that in the end, it really comes down to which one of us is the better fighter. And there's only way to solve that and that's by the two of us fighting.” The fox concluded, his golden eyes twinkling. He looked at the fox for a few seconds before turning around and saying, “No.” He then began to walk off again.

 

“That's all right, I can understand if you're afraid.” He stopped again as the fox's words reached his ears. No! He would not let the fox's words get the better of him! “I suppose I would be frightened too if I watched forty or so demons be slain in only three moves.” He growled low in his throat and clenched his teeth.

 

He was stronger than this! “Those demons were weak. I am not.” Why was he even answering the fox? At least he didn't give the other the satisfaction of turning around. That would mean he was actually talking to him. The fox obviously ignored what he said by his next comment,

 

“Do you even know how to wield that sword? Or are you carrying it around to look tough?” That was too deep a blow to his pride and his honor. As he turned around and began to walk back, the smiled wickedly in his head. Later he would have to apologize for his behavior-yeah, right-, but when was the last time he had something this fun? …Damn.

 

He couldn't even remember at the moment. The other removed his cloak, revealing a blue shirt covering up a well-built body. “I will show you first-hand what I can do with this sword. You brought this upon yourself and I will not regret killing you.” He said, removing his sword from its sheath. The blade caught in the light of the setting sun, painting it a dull orange.

 

He moved himself into a fighting position and prepared himself. Not a second later he disappeared to reappear right in front of the fox, slashing at his neck; it was obvious he wanted a short fight. His sword met air instead of flesh and he twisted to avoid a strike from the fix's whip. He landed on his feet only to back flip away from another attack. “You can do better than that can't you?” The fox asked.

 

For the moment the swordsman was on the defensive and the fox attacked again, only to get an after-image. The fox looked around carefully and his eyes twitched a little. He suddenly jumped back as the other appeared in front of him and slashed at his chest. It left a shallow wound on his body but it was enough to make him bleed a little.

 

The fox offered the other a smile. “You're the first person to wound me in a while, even if it is just a little scratch.” The other snorted and began to attack again. As their fight continued, they began to increase their speed until they were no more than blurs in the clearing. Occasionally a sword or the whip cut a tree and there would be one or two droplets of blood.

 

He jumped backwards to dodge another attack from the fox's rose whip and accidentally tripped over a tree root. Something wrapped around his ankle and he was flipped-upside down, looking at a smirking fox. “If you hadn't have tripped, I might not have won.” The fox said, still smirking. “Let go of me.” He said, his eyes narrowing into a glare. “No, I don't think I will. It's rare when something other than treasure interests me as much as you have so I think I'll keep you with me for a while.” The fox said.

 

If his eyes weren't a dark red before, they were now. He had held onto his sword the entire time and now swung it to cut him free of whatever had wrapped around his ankles. He then felt two things: one being his sword hand being grabbed, stopping his attempt to free himself and two being a fist that hit his stomach so hard he had no doubt in his mind some organs were bruised.

 

He tried to remain conscious even as darkness crept into his vision, but there was a weird flower near his face now (like he didn't have enough to deal with). One thing was certain: the second he woke up again the fox was dead. Ruby orbs were concealed when his eyes closed and the fox waited until he was sure the other was truly unconscious before putting the sword back in its sheath with same hand that had been holding onto his wrist and the flower moved away from the other's face.

 

He relaxed his other hand while pulling it out of the other's stomach at the same time, ears twitching as he heard organs trying to move back into place. He would have to check and make sure he didn't do too much damage later. The fox looked at the unconscious swordsman for a moment before the vines that held his ankles released him. The fox caught the swordsman, wondering whether or not he should really take him along. On the one hand, if he left him here, there was a chance some other demons might try to take a bite out of him.

 

On the other hand, it would be nice if he got a chance to talk with this person longer without having any interruptions (or fights). And his skill as a swordsman could come in handy. Satisfied with his decision, he gave a slight nod of approval and began to walk for home.

 

Running crossed his mind for a moment, but he didn't feel like moving fast enough to do so. Besides, walking would give him a chance to think of a few more reasons why he picked up something extra from his mission. The fox frowned slightly as he remembered who was waiting for him when he got back. It was going to be a long discussion.

 

---

 

It turned out that he couldn't make good on his threat on killing the fox since he was nowhere to be seen. His head buzzed, his ears rang a little and his stomach made it hurt to breathe. `Three broken ribs and some internal bleeding'. He thought, assessing the damage. After that was done he mentally berated himself from being so foolish. He should have paid better attention to his surroundings, instead of letting his anger get the better of him. He shouldn't have gotten angry in the first place. It wasn't like the fox was the first person or thing to annoy him.

 

Now that he had realized his mistakes during the fight, there was no point in dwelling on it anymore. His goal was clear: investigate the area around him and escape. It took only one try to sit up and get to his feet, although he did wince once or twice when a broken rib was moved. He glanced around the room to discover that the room he was in had no windows, two bookshelves completely empty, and a door with an impressive-looking seal on it. His hand immediately went to grab his sword, only to feel air. He cursed again, this time verbally, as he looked around for his sword.

 

It wasn't in the room and that only made him more annoyed. But that's what got him in here in the first place, so that feeling quickly died. It seemed the only thing he could do at the moment was wait and plan out different ways to escape. It seemed like he didn't have to wait too long; an hour later and the tenth escape plan made, the door was unlocked and opened, revealing the fox. He noted that the other had a frown on his face for half a second before it became a smile.

 

The fox closed the door and walked over to a chair the swordsman hadn't noticed before. “You shouldn't be moving with broken ribs.' The fox said. “…” “I didn't come here to talk about that anyway. First things first, I should tell you my name: it's Yoko Kurama. Will you tell me yours?” Kurama asked.

 

The swordsman didn't answer. An amused smile formed on Kurama's face. “Well, if you don't tell me your name, then I'll just have to give you one. I could call you Moki, or Sunao, or maybe-“ “Hiei.” The other said, cutting Kurama off. “All right then Hiei. Now I suppose you're wondering where your sword is?” Kurama asked.

 

Hiei didn't respond and Kurama mentally sighed. It seemed that this was going to be a one-sided conversation. “It will be returned to you once I'm sure you won't attack me.” Kurama said. “Then you are a fool.” Hiei replied.

 

Kurama gave a half-shrug, saying, “Your feelings may change in a month.” “You plan to keep me here for a month?” Hiei asked. “Yes, but after the month is over if you do not wish to stay here then you may leave. Once you are completely healed then I won't mind if you decide to explore.” Kurama said. He got up to walk over to the bed and sat down, motioning for Hiei to do the same.

 

Hiei looked at him for a moment before sitting down, making sure there was plenty of space between them. When Kurama's arm reached towards him, Hiei grabbed it and looked at Kurama. “I just want to see how bad it is.” Kurama said.

 

“I don't need your help.” Hiei said. “I never said you did, but I'd feel better if I know your ribs weren't puncturing anything important.” Kurama replied. Hiei waited for a minute or two before letting go of Kurama's wrist. “Try anything and I'll cut your hand off.” Kurama smiled and lightly pressed on Hiei's side.

 

Hiei gave a slight twitch as pain went through his side. He began to focus on something else as Kurama inspected the rest of injuries. The first thing he noticed was Kurama's ears flicking every three seconds and after watching them for a little bit he associated the movement with annoyance. His eyes wandered around the room again, much slower than he had before. When he really thought about it, the room wasn't that bad. He had been in worse places before and aside from the locked door, it was kind of nice.

 

Hiei stopped following that train of thought and moved to something else. It wasn't like he was planning to stay here anyway; once the month was over he would be gone and if he got out sooner, so much the better. Something white moved in the corner of his vision and he focused his eyes on it to see a tail. Hiei didn't remember Kurama with a tail before so he watched it for a while, his eyes following it as it swayed back and forth.

 

He twitched again as Kurama's hands pressed on a particularly painful rib. “I suppose the question of, `Does that hurt?'” Kurama said, chuckling. “I can handle pain.” Hiei replied. “I'm sure you can. Let me go get something…” Kurama trailed off as he got off the bed to go get something. Hiei almost frowned as he realized that he was acutely aware of the loss of heat that came with Kurama's hands being gone.

 

He turned his head to see where Kurama went and noticed that Kurama's tail had wrapped around his waist. It didn't take Kurama too long to grab what he wanted and he went back to his original spot on the bed. In his hand was a container made of clay with a lid on it and once Kurama removed the lid Hiei really did frown. “And just what do you plan to do with that?” Hiei asked. “It's going to go on your side where that rib is. It's a pain reliever. I need you to take your shirt off though.” Kurama said.

 

Hiei reached down to grab the hem of his shirt and pulled it off, putting it next to him on the bed. He watched Kurama's tail again as he felt Kurama put that gunk on his body. His skin tingled a little and he actually did feel a little better. At least now it didn't hurt to breathe. Kurama chuckled softly as he noticed that Hiei was watching his tail.

 

He focused back on the task at hand, making sure that the balm was rubbed in all the way. For someone who fought with a sword, he didn't have too many scars. There were a few bruises, a few caused by him, on Hiei's body, but they were fading. His ears drooped a little once he had finished, but he made them straighten up again. Kurama looked at Hiei again to see he was still watching his tail. “I didn't know my tail could be that interesting to you Hiei.” Kurama said.

 

Hiei looked away from Kurama's tail and into the fox's amber eyes. “I was wondering how much pain it would cause if I ripped it out.” Hiei said. “Why would you want to do something like that?” Kurama asked. “Hn.” Hiei answered, putting his shirt back on. Kurama tried his best not to smile as he got off the bed. “Try not to move around too much unless you want to start hurting again. Someone will come by later with food and the bath is over there.” Kurama said, pointing behind Hiei.

 

“I'm not a child.” Hiei said. Kurama only smiled and slipped out the door. Hiei frowned for a moment before looking behind him. There was, in fact, a door but he knew there had been a bookcase there before. Actually, now that he looked around again, the room had changed a little. There was now enough floor space for him to do some training and the other bookshelf was gone as well. Hiei smirked and got off the bed, determined to exercise before he took a bath, broken ribs or not.

 

---

 

Kurama added a few more drops of water to the plant, watching as it grew about three inches. “You know it's not nice to lurk in doorways Kuronue.” Kurama said, still watching the plant. “But lurking is my specialty.” Kuronue replied with a chuckle. He walked over to Kurama and peered at the plant. “Is this cute-and-cuddly plant or a bite-your-face-off plant?” Kuronue asked.

 

Kurama looked at him and raised a brow. “Right…vicious plant.” Kuronue said. “You haven't come to argue with me again have you? My headache just went away.” Kurama said. “No, I can see you're dead-set on keeping your little…pet. Besides, I've gotten enough bruises from you today.” Kuronue answered, sitting up on the table with the plant. “He's not my pet.” Kurama said.

He lifted up one of the plant's leaves and looked at it for a moment before setting it down. “If you say so.” Kuronue said. He reached put with one finger towards the plant, only to jerk it back when the plant tried to bite him. Kurama chuckled and moved onto a different plant. “So if you get tired of him, can I have him?” Kuronue asked.

 

Kurama moved one plant into the sunlight and another into the shadows. “No.” Kurama replied, moving onto yet another plant. “Why not? You have enough plants to keep you busy. That or the heists we pull off. You're practically in love with these plants anyway.” Kuronue said, mumbling the last part. “Did you have anything important to tell me Kuro?” Kurama asked. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes glowed slightly.

 

Kuro chuckled and adjusted his hat, purple eyes filled with amusement. “Okay, I get it: don't mess with a fox and his plants. And I did, but now you've gone and hurt my feelings.” Kuro said, doing an exaggeration of sadness. Kurama rolled his eyes and threw a bit of dirt at Kuro. “Hey! Watch the face!” Kuro said, batting the dirt away. “Grow up then. What was it that you wanted to say?” Kurama said.

 

“You remember that one dude with the beady eyes and nervous twitch. His boss wanted us to do a job for him and now we don't normally work for other people, but he's willing to pay a lot of money if we do it.” Kuronue said. “So what did you tell him?” Kurama asked. “I told him to tell his boss we'd think about it, and if we were interested we would meet with him. So what do you think?” Kuronue asked, looking over at Kurama.

 

Kurama looked at one of his plants as he thought about it. “Two weeks. We'll meet with him in two weeks.” Kurama said. `Okay, I'll get one of the messengers on that. I need to go anyway; I've got a date with a blue-haired woman.” Kuronue said, heading for the door. Kurama rolled his eyes again and finished up what he was doing. Sometimes he thought that Kuronue needed to focus less on women and more on work, but whatever made his friend happy…Kurama sighed and reached up to touch one of his ears.

 

It was a little sore, probably because he had been overworking himself. Kurama brought his hand back down and decided a bath was in order. Maybe he'd stay in the water long enough to fall asleep. He left his plant room and closed the door, making sure to lock it. Kurama turned to go right towards his room, but paused for a moment. A second later he went left instead, tail swishing as he went. He stopped in front of a door and waved his hand, the spell showing the inside of the room without unlocking the door. Inside Hiei was doing a form that involved punches and kicks.

 

He winced when a rib was jostled the wrong way and Kurama shook his head. Didn't he tell him not to move around too much? Still, Hiei did look good. Kurama's eyes were completely trained on Hiei's body, the way his muscles tightened or relaxed depending on what his body he was using. Sweat trailed down Hiei's body and Kurama watched one bead slide down the swordsman's stomach and beneath the waistband of his pants.

 

Kurama finally realized what he was doing and quickly waved his hand, making the image fade away. Even as he walked back to his room, he couldn't remove the image of Hiei's body out of his head. His ears flickered in annoyance as he slid down into the warm water of his bath. It wasn't like he wasn't used to being attracted to people, male or female. And with Kuronue flirting with him when he wasn't busy with his many girlfriends, he wasn't the least bit confused about sex or inexperienced at it. Kurama sighed and gently rubbed his ears, sinking until it was below his nose.

 

His hair floated out in front of him and Kurama closed his eyes. His head tipped back a little to rest against the ledge and after a minute or two he sat up, grabbing a square of soap that smelled like cloves. Twenty minutes later Kurama was back in his room with everything dry save for his hair. He yawned and stretched on his bed, his hair covering most of his naked body. He probably should get up and put some clothes on, but the bed was so comfy.

 

Kurama sighed softly and sat up, walking towards a tall dresser. He pulled out a cream-colored outfit and put it on, returning back to the bed. The thought of checking on Hiei crossed his mind, but Kurama let it drift away. He could check on Hiei tomorrow morning and make sure he was healing correctly.

 

He knew that his original reason for caring for Hiei was to help with his injuries, but it was slowly turning more into an excuse to touch Hiei's body. Kurama yawned and closed his eyes while his mind went through everything he would have to do tomorrow. He finally fell asleep thinking about a poisonous yellow plant.

 

---

 

Hiei's internal clock it was around early morning. He blinked and sat up in his bed, noting that his ribs didn't hurt as much. Hiei looked to his right to see a plate with some slices of meat and eggs (although what animal laid the eggs, Hiei wasn't sure he wanted to know), along with a bowl of what looked like oatmeal. He walked over to the table where the food was placed and briefly wondered if it was poisoned. That would be stupid though: why poison him now when they could have killed him earlier? Hiei snorted at his own thought and picked up a slice of meat.

 

In two quick bites it was gone and Hiei sat down in front of the table, making quick work of the rest of the meat and eggs. He drank from the glass of water he hadn't noticed there before and was about to start in on the oatmeal when the door opened. Red eyes met gold and Hiei resumed eating his meal, not caring that Kurama had closed the door to sit down on his bed. “At the very least you could say hello.” Kurama said. He crossed his legs and Hiei `hn'ed in response. Hiei finished eating and turned around to look at Kurama. “I don't require a babysitter, nor a nursemaid so you can stop checking on me.” Hiei said.

 

“I only came to check on your ribs.” Kurama replied, getting off the bed. “My ribs are fine.” Hiei retorted, getting up as well. “They may be, but I'd like to check anyway. Come sit.” Kurama said, gesturing at the bed. Hiei didn't move. “It's either that or my plants will hold you up.” Kurama said. “They can try.” Hiei said. He gave Kurama a venomous glare, but walked over to the bed and sat down, glaring all the while. Kurama covered his smile with a hand while he pressed on Hiei's side, noting that he didn't twitch at all.

 

“Well, it appears that you've healed enough to you're not in any pain. As long as you don't overdo yourself, I'll let you wander around.” Kurama said. Hiei didn't answer and the fox looked down to see what the problem was. Was Hiei…was he pouting? Kurama couldn't help it: he started laughing. “What's so funny?” Hiei asked, his `pout' fading. Kurama turned around as he continued to laugh. “Nothing,” Kurama answered. He finally got himself under control and walked over to the door, pressing his hand on it.

 

The spell on the door quickly shrank until it was a blue seed and dropped into Kurama's hand. “I removed the spell from the door. Try not to get lost.” Kurama said. He looked back over his shoulder to glance at Hiei. The swordsman had crossed his legs and was glaring at the wall to his right, a `pout' on his face. “Hiei.” Kurama said, trying to get the other's attention. Ruby orbs flickered towards Kurama.

 

“Kawaii.” Kurama teased, leaving the room. Not a moment too soon either because a knife was embedded into the door where Kurama's head had been. Once Hiei was sure Kurama was gone he got up and pulled the knife out of the door. He tossed it onto the table and opened the door, stepping outside.

 

The door closed behind him and he looked around. He spent a few minutes memorizing the area behind him and noticed that the hallway had both windows and other hallways leading god-knows-where. The smell of food teased his nose and he turned in the direction it.

 

He wasn't hungry anymore, but he could use another glass of water. Besides, it would make a better map if he started from the kitchen and worked his way outward. With his plan in mind, Hiei began to follow the smell looking out of a window every so often. Thirty minutes later Hiei found himself outside of the kitchen and confidant that he could make his way back to his room without getting lost. Hiei went in to get a glass of water, came out, and decided to turn right as he continued walking.

 

From his wandering, he came to the conclusion that there were at lest fifteen rooms with twenty servants, leaving five on hand to do other tasks. Hiei still had yet to find Kurama's room, but he wasn't too bothered by it. What did bother him a little was that he hadn't found his sword. Which probably meant that it was in Kurama's room. Hiei looked out a window to see that the sun had gone down a little and if he were to guess it'd probably be around mid-afternoon. He explored for a little bit longer before making his way back to his room.

 

Hiei wasn't surprised to see new food on the table, but he mildly surprised to see his cloak on the bed. He picked it up and put it on, returning his attention back to the food. Hiei was out wandering again by the time he finished eating. He turned a corner only to run into someone. Hiei jumped back a little and immediately glared at the person that had run into him. “Must you always greet me like that?' Kurama asked, leaning against the wall.

 

“You should watch where you're going.” Hiei replied. Kurama used his hand to stifle a yawn and looked at Hiei with a sleepy expression. “You'll have to forgive me, I just woke up a few minutes ago. It seems my partner thought I should sleep in for the day.” Kurama said, yawning again. “I see you found your cloak.” Kurama said. “I wonder if I'll find my sword as well.” Hiei replied, his glare gone. “Maybe. You may it find it faster if you're good.” Kurama said.

 

He yawned and swayed a little, bumping into Hiei by accident. Hiei shoved him away and Kurama chuckled, leaning against the wall again. “You're not that tired, so stop acting like it.” Hiei said. Kurama chuckled again and stood upright, the sleepy expression gone. “Your words wound me Hiei. With that attitude, you'll never get your sword back.” Kurama said. “Hn.” Hiei replied. “So we're back to that again are we? I suppose it's better than silence.” Kurama said.

 

“If you have nothing else to say to me, then I`m leaving.” Hiei replied, turning to go. “Actually I wanted to show you something.” Kurama said. Hiei paused and looked at Kurama again. “What?” Hiei asked. “Follow me and find out.” Kurama answered, turning around and walking off. Curious, Hiei followed Kurama, making sure to keep track of where he was going.

 

Hiei was beginning to wonder how much farther they were going to walk when Kurama stopped in front of a door. He opened it and walked inside, Hiei not too far behind him. The door closed behind Hiei and he looked around to see a very extensive library. The rows of bookshelves looked like they went on forever and every bookshelf were crammed to the brink with books. “This is what you wanted to show me? Books?” Hiei asked. Kurama smiled and sat down in a chair.

 

“You're the only other person who knows about this library. I like to come here when I want some peace and quiet. Or just to do some reading. I'm certain that if you go look around you'll find at least one book that interests you.” Kurama said, tail around his waist. “What happened to the previous owners of the books?” Hiei asked. It hadn't taken him too long to figure out t hat most of the things in this place were stolen.

 

“Nothing, as long as they didn't get in my way. I can't say the same for the guards.” Kurama replied. Hiei looked at Kurama for a few more seconds before walking down an aisle. Kurama watched Hiei look at a few book titles before getting up to find a book of his own. Five minutes later found Hiei staring up at a book on the top shelf.

He could jump and get it, but he found that jumping aggravated his wounds a little. Well staring at it wasn't going to get it down and there was no way in hell that he was climbing the shelf, so jumping it was. Hiei moved himself into a jumping position when the book dislodged itself from the shelf. Hiei watched as a vine wrapped around the book and brought it down towards him.

 

He got it from the vine and the plant lightly tapped him on the forehead, like he was a child getting a slight punishment. Hiei batted the vine away and it disappeared back into the shelf. He set the book on the rest of his growing stack and picked them all up, thinking darkly about foxes and plants.

 

Kurama was sitting down reading a book when Hiei returned with his stack of books. Kurama glanced up and tried not to chuckle as he saw that the books were way over his head. “You don't plan to read all those at once do you?” Kurama asked.

 

Hiei walked over to the table and set his books down. “If I feel like it.” Hiei said, a ghost of a smirk on his face. “So you can do something other than glare and say `Hn'.” Kurama's eyes were on the book as he said this. Hiei sat in a chair away from Kurama and picked up the book on the top of the stack, a tome in purple binding with the word `Jagan' etched on the cover in black.

 

He opened it up and noticed that the book was still in good condition, there weren't any dusty or cracked/ripped pages. Hiei looked at Kurama from the corner of his eye and even though the fox's attention was still on the book, Hiei could see the smirk on his face. Hiei focused back on the book and began to read the first page. Since there weren't any windows-surprisingly enough-, Hiei wasn't exactly sure what time it was.

 

It had to be several hours later because he was starting to feel tired while he tried to look at a drawing in the book. The words were starting to blur so he memorized the page he as on and closed the book. He turned to look at Kurama only to find that the other had already fallen asleep, his arms used as a pillow for his head.

 

Hiei noticed that even while Kurama was asleep, his tail still continued to move, slowly swishing back and forth. Kurama was wearing a different outfit than Hiei normally saw him in, this one being a silver with golden flowers on it. Hiei could hear the soft rustle of cloth as Kurama inhaled and exhaled and see which places the fabric clung to his skin. Kurama turned in his sleep so that his face was towards Hiei, pink lips slightly parted open. Some of Kurama's hair fell onto his face and Hiei's hand reached out to brush it away. He stopped an inch away and shook Kurama's shoulder instead. It took a few more shakes to wake Kurama up but he finally did. “Hm?” Kurama asked.

 

He raised his head an even more hair fell onto his face. “You fell asleep.” Hiei stated, removing his hand from Kurama's shoulder. Kurama nodded and stood up. “You're more than welcome to borrow those books as long as you keep them in good condition and return them eventually.” Kurama said. Hiei have a slight nod and picked up his stack of books. They both went their separate ways once they left the library and Hiei somehow managed to open the door, setting the books on the table.

 

After exercise and a bath, Hiei was trying to sleep in his bed, but it wasn't going too well. The image of Kurama sleeping wouldn't leave his mind, no matter how many times he tried to think of something else. Hiei turned onto side and opened his eyes, looking at the wall. A strand of his hair tickled his ear and brushed it away.

 

He was suddenly reminded of when he had reached out to brush Kurama's hair and he wondered what would have happened if he had gone through with that motion, if Kurama would have woke up or not. Hiei sighed softly and turned over, going back to sleep.

 

---

 

CK: Okay, I know that Hiei and Kurama may be a little OOC, but I did my best! Besides, if they were 100% in character, I doubt there'd be anyway for us to do yaoi fanfics. XD

 

Reviews would be lovely!