10-Jan-2002
Seasons of Ice and Fire
A Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfic by Nixers and bonnejeanne
Contact: nixerchan@aol.com and bonnejeanne@yahoo.com
Warnings: yaoi, some lemon
Disclaimer: YuYuHakusho characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners. Our stuff is ours. No money being made here.
NOTES: Just a few tidbits of information for those who haven't seen YYH, or didn't catch all the details while concentrating on the Chinese/English subs (no small feat!). In this time, three major things have occurred that we use... Kurama has rediscovered his Youko form through the the Fruit of the Past Life (yet in the Sensui Arc and the last tournament, Kurama seems to call and banish it at will), Hiei had just barely mastered the Black Dragon and is currently looking for a way to return to the Makai.
These parts deal entirely with the interplay and relationship between Kurama and Hiei, so there are a few holes that are in the works for a patch up. ::grins:: I'm sure you'll know 'em when you see 'em.
Kokuryuuha: Black Dragon Wave
Kourime: Ice Demon
Makai: Demon world
Ningen: Human (ningenkai, of course, is the human world)
Reikai: Spirit World
Youki(Ki): The spiritual power surrounding a demon
Youko: Demon fox
Zense no Mi: Fruit of the Past Life
Time: Set between the Dark Martial Arts Tournament and the Sensui Arc ...
Part One: Fall
It was cold. The air had a nip in it that smelled of fall. There was almost a sense of dry leaves moving somewhere beyond immediate perception, swirling and moving on. There was light, but it was the dim, flickering light of a fire, and the oocasional pop of sap releasing from a less-aged piece of fuel. There was a surface, not too hard, and something resting across his limbs, something soft.
Dancing tremulously on the edge of awareness and simply sliding back into the rejuvenating hibernation, Hiei took all of this in with a growing sense of disorientation. There was the warm leaden feeling in all of his muscles from exhaustion that denied him easy movement. With his youki still so dangerously low, he couldn't force it, either. As it was, he set about forcing his eyes open with a single-minded determination, blinking once, then twice before being able to settle on the task of focusing as well.
A blurry shape moved over him, into his line of vision. It slowly resolved into a face, framed by red tresses, and wide, vivid green eyes looking down at him with a calm expression.
"Stay still," the voice matched the expression.
"K'rama," Hiei mumbled, red eyes sliding shut again. "Che' Bossy fox."
A soft chuckle sufficed for a reply. "One day you are going to outsmart yourself so thoroughly even a clever fox won't be able to fix it."
"Went fine 'nough," the Kourime replied, this time only bothering to open one eye, relaxing again now that the company had been identified. Calling the Kokuryuuha back without it taking a kill or absorbing it was difficult, but he'd managed it... he was pretty sure he did anyway... after half an hour.
A scent wafted across his senses as Kurama moved away and then returned holding something in his hand. A cup of some kind. Sliding his free arm under Hiei's neck, he lifted the dark one slightly and brought the cup to his lips. The spicy scent was strong and tickled his nose.
With what would have, in better times, been a good glare at the red-head for the treatment, Hiei drank what was offered nevertheless, one hand half rising into the air in an attempt to hold the cup himself. Pulling back after a moment, the fire demon muttered something that might have, with some creativity, been a thanks. More coherently, he asked, "How did you get here?"
Setting the cup down, the kitsune looked at Hiei and his expression became a little more serious. "How? I felt the disturbance. Your rune chain leaks. I managed to get to you ahead of others. I've obscured the traces but don't deceive yourself, there will be inquiries. Finding you at the source would have been more than the proof needed to put you in a *very* deep hole for a *very* long time."
Red eyes darted to the side as distaste was shown clearly across Hiei's face. "Koenma's incompetent," he muttered, as if that was enough to counter the kitsune's calm analysis. Eyes narrowing, Kurama could feel a brief flare of angry youki from the fire demon. "I'll kill that damned merchant. Was supposed to hold twice that," he growled.
Wrinkling his nose, the red-head favored him with a little green-eyed warning. "Don't ruffle your fur at me, whoever you're mad at. As if a merchant of any kind would be knowledgeable about the Kokuryuuha. Perhaps you need more sleep, for a clearer head," he ended, mildly enough. Having eased Hiei down again after the drink, Kurama hadn't actually slipped his arm from under the other. His fingers seemed to brush idly through dark hair in a brief, light touch.
The simple, familiar gesture caused a brief wide-eyed look at Kurama, before the open expression shut down into a more familiar peevishness. Pulling himself up to rest on his elbows with some obvious effort Hiei muttered, "Don't lecture me." Glancing at Kurama sideways as another thought occurred to him, "You're in just as much danger of outsmarting yourself, fox. If 'inquirers' found you here as well..." He paused a little half smirk across his face. "I wonder if they'd send Yuusuke after us. Interesting."
Kurama shook his head. "After you. If caught, I won't run any more. And you are right -- if in poor taste. Helping you would get me in trouble." Unexpectedly, he smiled. "Well, you have your idea of a risk worth taking, I have mine."
"Hn," was the only response. Hiei gave Kurama an almost blank look before pushing himself up the rest of the way, one unsteady hand reaching for and finding the cup the kitsune had set aside. Taking another long drink from it, he glanced back at Kurama. "What is it?"
"A restorative." As Hiei sat up, Kurama leaned back on his arm, watching, from his seat on the edge of the small cot. The room was bare, and rough, but neat, one of two rooms in a tiny cabin surrounded by thick woods. It was not a place Hiei had ever been before.
Finishing off the drink with a few determined gulps, Hiei turned slightly on the cot, both to face Kurama and to use the wall adjacent to it as support. Looking from the neat bandage that had been retied around his marked arm to the cup still held in on hand, he frown slightly. "Why are you bothering?"
Wide green eyes gazed back unblinkingly. "Would you prefer I didn't?"
A little startled by the return question, Hiei shook his head slightly.
Something like relief flickered briefly through the green gaze. "Good," he said, then smiled. "Maybe the reason is that I don't want to wait a thousand years to see you again."
The fire demon carefully crossed his arms. Smirking again, he replied, "You're assuming they could catch me again."
Kurama met the smirk with a calm, but slightly shadowed look. "I try to assume nothing where you are concerned," he said softly. "But given your penchant for self-destructiveness, it's at least a possibility."
A scowl drew together thin black eyebrows below Hiei's warded headband. "I don't see how everyone thinks you're so polite," Hiei returned, a little petulantly. Pushing himself up slightly from where he'd slid down the wall, he continued. "Half of your fights is just you playing with the bastard. Worse than I am."
The red-head shrugged. "How should I know why others think as they do? What you call playing, I call learning. But it doesn't matter, if you want to think of it that way." He smiled an almost affectionate expression. "Worse than you are... I suppose that must be terrible indeed, then."
Hiei, this time, managed a decent glare, trying to decide whether it was worth taking offense to. He let it go with a loud sigh and, "Baka kitsune."
The smile widened fractionally. "Grumpy firebrand," Kurama murmured in return. "Unless you are in a big hurry to go somewhere, you might relax. It's safer to stay here for the moment, than move around in the woods while investigators may still be looking."
At the words, Hiei scanned the room, his fingers itched to uncover the jagan to look himself. A frustration welled up at not being able to do even that. "So, we haven't moved far then?" he asked, slumping fractionally and eyes sliding half closed as his body obeyed the reasonable words despite his mind's protests.
"Less that mile, I didn't have time to get farther. The cabin is luck," Kurama added. With an inaudible sigh, he sat up and took the cup, moving into the one other room, returning a few minutes later. "Can you eat? I can prepare something if you are up to it."
The slight involuntary scowl that had appeared when the kitsune had left cleared as easily. "Don't bother. I'm fine." Clearly uncomfortable with being at such a disadvantage, the Kourime broke his gaze away from a green-eyed one. "How long has it been?"
"Almost two days," the red-head answered, a slight frown of concern appearing as he spoke. With a less concerned air, "And if you don't want to eat that's fine. I am going to. But I need to leave for a little while beforehand."
Hiei barely heard anything after Kurama's initial answer. A mixture of disorientation, confusion and raw disbelief took its place. It shouldn't have taken that long to recover. Not two days anyway. Trying to think back to the end of the mental battle with the black dragon only came up with blurry memories of exhaustion and faint triumph, but by that point, he wasn't sure who's feeling was what. Pulling his attention forcibly back to the here and now, he frown again deeply, eyes closing completely again. "Suit yourself."
A soft sigh might have been from the wind outside. Light steps moved away and a cabin door opened and shut.
At the slam of the door, red eyes snapped back open with some alarm before he shook his head, resolutely closing them again and letting himself sink back into sleep.
The next thing that summoned consciousness was the scent of food cooking. The light was less, indicating that night had fallen, deepening the already shadowed area under the shelter of the trees. The firelight made a greater contrast, a figure kneeling next to it, performing some task.
Moving slowly, Hiei got to his feet carefully, padding across the room on bare feet. Half of him was pleased at the recovery while another was beginning to worry. Wordlessly, he moved to Kurama's side, sitting down gracelessly, as closely as he could to the fire.
The red-head looked up, greeting him with a slight smile. He took the metal plate he was working over and pushed it in front of Hiei. On it was the cooked meat of a rabbit, neatly jointed. Another was still over the small fire, under the simple cabin chimney, on a spit made from a peeled branch.
Hiei stared at the proffered meal a moment, remembering his earlier words. Of the battle of hunger and pride, his stomach won out. He picked up the rabbit meat with both hands and ate quickly without care for any audience.
The expression of approval by the other went unnoticed which was probably just as well. Kurama pulled the second rabbit on its spit out of the fire and began stripping the meat from the bones with his fingers, eating daintily but with a healthy appetite.
Carefully licking his fingers clean of any stray morsel of meat, the fire demon leaned back with a purr-like growl. "Sometimes the ningenkai isn't that bad," he confessed, the warm contentment drawing out the statement more than any conscious thought. With a thought of a certain orange-haired man, he suddenly scowled and amended, "If you remove the ningen anyway."
The kitsune chuckled softly, finishing his meal efficiently and piling the bones on the metal plate with Hiei's. "If it were left up to you, I doubt there would be demons left in the Makai as well. Empty worlds for Hiei to play in. Boring, but less offensive, hmm?"
"Hn," Hiei replied, jerking his head to one side. "Boring? Not likely," he said, with a shrug he turned his attention back to the metal plate between them, searching for neglected scraps. "Besides, I wouldn't want them emptied, just remove the rubbish."
Kurama licked his fingers, managing to make it look neat rather than rude. "Yes.. but who makes up the rubbish..." he commented. "I seem to find myself in that category on a number of lists these days."
Finding a bone to clean, he gave Kurama a sharp-toothed grin around the morsel. "I can't help what other people think," he paraphrased. With a shrug, he tossed the now bare bone to the metal plate. "I'll leave the philosophy to someone who wants it."
The red-head smiled and curled his legs under him. He stared at the fire for a few moments and then glanced at Hiei. "Do you think you'll be able to travel in the morning?"
Hiei shrugged slightly. "Probably. How far?"
"I didn't really have a destination in mind. You seemed anxious to leave earlier, is all." Kurama stretched. "I actually like it here."
Hiei frowned slightly. "Doesn't matter to me. I don't have anywhere to go."
The red-head studied Hiei for a moment or two. "Can't get back through?"
The frown deepened before the dark one turned away to look at the fire. "I'll find a way," he replied. With a smirk he added, "If I don't recover faster than I've been, power level might not be a problem any more."
The kitsune frowned. Then he got to his feet with graceful swiftness. From a corner of the room he lifted a large brass pot and placed it on the floor a little way from, but next to, the fire demon. "Know what that is? What it's for? If so, use it. I'll be right back," he said, gathering the plate up from the floor. Then he went to the door of the small cabin and disappeared out of it, the opening letting a sudden burst of cold into the room and a few snowflakes.
Idly batting at the floating ice irritably, the fire demon glanced at the brass pot a moment, his sensitive nose catching a lingering scent. With disdain he stood and walked away from both it and the fire, more steadily than he'd approached. Standing in the doorframe instead, he scanned the landscape outside, pulling a little power to bring up his body temperature, and melting the light frost that had built up on the ground immediately outside.
Kurama appeared from around the side of the cabin, stepping lightly on the fresh snow. A branch of something with dark green leaves dangled from his hand, and he swirled it almost absently behind him, wiping out the faint trace of his passage. His figure was hard to see in the darkness, but a glimmer of luminescence made his eyes shine for a few seconds when they focused on Hiei in the doorway.
Noticing the other's gaze, the Kourime's own eyes widened slightly, and he tried to flit backwards, too fast to be caught eavesdropping, and only made it halfway there before his youkai gave out, dropping him on the ground with an explosive curse from the diminutive demon.
Trying to cover for it quickly he scowled at teh kitsune across the darkness. "I thought humans were supposed to be cleaner than that."
The red-head moved around Hiei, ignoring the question, lifted the basin, and moved back outside, disappearing around the cabin. He returned a few moments later with the brass object which had been emptied and rinsed with snow.
"These are not ideal conditions for such things," he commented, returning the pot to a corner. "The arrangement is rough but it works." He closed the door, stepping over to the fire for a moment. "That gives us a direction for travel, then," he murmured. "Back to where there is human plumbing."
"Something they got right at least," Hiei groused, picking himself up and walking across the cabin to where a window had been sealed against the inoccupancy and the coming winter. A few rough jerks had the canvas down and the Kourime comfortably seated in the sill.
After a moment, Hiei tossed Kurama a speculative look. "Whatever you say, you seem rather eager to travel yourself."
Kurama threw Hiei a look over his shoulder, green eyes carrying an unidentifiable emotion. "Do I?" he said mildly. A shrug and a return of attention to the fire.
"Hn," the other remarked. Frowning a moment at the kitsune, he turned back to the window, watching the new flakes fall. "Abysmal season," he stated, hopping down from his perch restlessly.
The kitsune threw another look over his shoulder. "It's not much fun cooped up in here," he agreed. "But out there, it's quite beautiful. I like the woods at night."
"The woods are fine," Hiei agreed. Looking into the other room, then back around the main one with a curious expression. "One bed." He paused, looking at Kurama over his shoulder. "Where have you been sleeping?"
Another quick look, and back to the fire. "Beside you," the answer was soft. "Forgive me for not taking the floor but friendship only goes so far."
"Baka kitsune," the comment was almost inaudible to even Kurama's sharp ears. Hiei shrugged without turning back around. "Sleep where you want," was the curt statement before the smaller demon disappeared into the other room.
The red-head stayed where he was for a long time. Finally he banked the fire down enough to keep it from needing attention, and padded silently to the door of the room Hiei had disappeared into. He didn't need light to see clearly in the darkness, and he paused, seeking the figure of the dark one.
He found Hiei sitting on the far end of the cot, knees tucked against him and wrapped lazily by his arms. Two half closed red eyes watched the kitsune steadily. "1000 years old, 2000 maybe," he said, putting an estimate on the kitsune. With a shrug his closed his eye's effectively near disappearing from sight. "I figure you got so far along just by confusing your opponents to death."
Kurama smiled almost in spite himself. "Good guesses," he said softly. He moved silently into the room. "Both right and wrong." He sighed almost silently, looking down at the figure tucked into that compact position. Then he reached out slowly and his fingertips brushed dark hair ever so lightly.
The eyes opened again quickly registering the same wide confusion as earlier that day. Unexpectedly, soft laughter came from the dark one's direction. "So are you to be the death of me as well?"
"Not by any choice of mine," the kitsune answered quietly. "Does it bother you?"
Instead of answering, the red eyes blinked once before closing again. "I'm not taking the floor either," he said.
"Does it bother you?" the repeat was whispered, perhaps to hide the faint note of pleading that might have been detectable in true speech. Another light touch feathered against the fire demon's cheek almost too briefly to be felt.
"Bossy fox," Hiei growled turning his face slightly, though not away. "If it did, I'd have left by now."
"Ah," it was just a breath of sound. After a moment, Kurama sat on the other side of the cot. "Yes, I suppose you would do that, at the least," he said, a hint of a laugh and something else present in the sound. "I suppose it must seem funny," he said, reaching out to circle Hiei's left wrist with his fingers. "But this... this body is very young..."
Hiei raised his head at that, unconsciously uncurling a bit as he stared at where Kurama's hand gripped his arm. Contact was a strange enough thing, it wasn't as if anyone got close enough. He had decided in select instances he liked it. Eyes flicking back up to Kurama he asked, "Nani ga...?" letting the sentence trail off unfinished, not quite sure what he was asking himself.
The red-head pulled Hiei's hand gently away from where it was curled around his knees. For a moment he simply held it in his own, palm up, gazing down into it in the darkness as if there was something to see. Then he bent down and sniffed it delicately, then pressed his lips to the skin. They lifted, ever so slightly, and moved, pressing against the pulsepoint at the wrist, lips parting for a quick swipe of tongue, and a momentary pressure of teeth, not biting, just pressing the flesh for an instant. Then the kitsune lifted his head, keeping his eyes down, breathing a little deeper.
Hiei had jolted upright, jerking his hand back to him. In the darkness he stared at his wrist, trying to make sense of it. After a few, long, motionless moments Hiei looked back up at the kitsune, then held out his hand again, palm up.
At the offering, green eyes lifted and opened wide, reflecting that momentary luminescence in the dim room. He took Hiei's hand in his own, again just holding it for a moment. Then lifted it to his cheek, turning into the palm and nuzzling it gently. His breath was coming a little faster, and a tension, almost a trembling seemed to steal into a body being held very still.
Watching, studying the other, Hiei leaned forward a bit, brushing past Kurama's cheek into the locks of red hair, a mimicry of the gesture Kurama had done to him, After a few moments the other smiled slightly. "I think I understand." Not taking his hand away, he balanced on his free hand and knees for a moment, long enough to slide next to the red haired fox. He wrapped both arms around the other to sink his fingers into the main of red, leaning against the kitsune. "Nice."
Kurama watched Hiei's actions with an unblinking gaze. His lids dropped as he felt the other's hands move into his hair and he moved a little into the touch. His mouth opened a bit and then he leaned slowly forward, pressing his lips against the fire demon's mouth.
The other froze, tensing completely, before the fingers in Kurama's hair curled. Eyes still half open, he tried something else, opening his mouth, tasting the other's lips like Kurama had done to his inner wrist. He pulled back quickly after that, releasing his grip on the other's long tresses. "Hn. A fox that tastes like a rabbit," he commented with a slight smirk.
An unexpected laugh answered the comment. The green eyes lidded for a moment and then opened again. "Only at first," he said softly. Reaching up, he caressed the side of Hiei's face, tracing the curves of cheekbone and brow, down to jawline and neck. He leaned forward again, still slowly, and nuzzled cheek, then neck, breathing the scent deeply. "You smell like fire and spice."
Staring down at the taller boy, Hiei blinked a few times, not quite finding anything important about his scent, but liking the warm touches. With slightly reluctant hands, his found Kurama's shoulders. "At first, you said," Hiei began. "What else are you supposed to taste like?"
"Find out," the kitsune said softly. With one hand still touching his neck, he curved the fingers into Hiei's thick hair and leaned up, pressing his lips to the other's once more. He parted them, coaxing Hiei's tongue to enter his mouth, sucking it gently and moving his own around it in a slow twining.
Hiei's eyelids slid shut, taking in the sensation and the odd pleasure that came with it. His hands shifting sliding back up around the other boy as the Kourime's explorations became more aggressive and insistent. He pulled himself up a little taller, having the other tilt back a little to continue the kiss. When he finally broke away, he sat back on his heels, licking his own lips thoughtfully. "You're right. No rabbit. This was better."
Kurama smiled, tilting his head slightly as he watched Hiei. "You taste good, too," he murmured. He took one of Hiei's hands and lifted it to his mouth, this time licking the fingertips rather than the palm. "Hiei..."
Approaching almost as slowly as the other had to him, Hiei slid forward again. His fingers undid the high collar of Kurama's shirt. Studiously not looking up again, he ran his fingers from jawline to collarbone, following the vein lightly, before nuzzling the same line with his face. Experimentally, his tongue flicked out, taking a brief taste of the skin, feeling the fast, rhythmic thud of the blood below it.
The kitsune sighed softly and his head fell back a little, as if offering himself. Still holding the one hand he'd captured, he sucked two fingers into his mouth, nibbling them gently. His chest moved as his breath came more rapidly, and his skin began to take on a soft flush.
The fire demon puled back with a sharp inhalation of air, distracted from his own explorations by the wet heat and hints of sharpness surrounding his finger tips. Looking at the red-head with dilated eyes, he asked, "What are you doing?" Inwardly irritated at himself for the strange tone of his own voice.
Kurama closed his eyes and pulled the fingers slowly, in fact reluctantly, out of his mouth. Wide green eyes opened, fixing on Hiei's face. He breathed for a moment, then answered softly, with a combination of heat and hesitance, "I want you..."
Hiei watched the other cautiously for a moment. With lightning speed his mind ran quickly back over everything in the past minutes, finding nothing unpleasant, or even anything he particularly wanted to stop. Returning his gaze to the kitsune he said, "Fine," then paused a moment. "Show me."
A smile stole over the kitsune's face and he nodded. He reached up one-handed and finished unbuttoning the tunic, shrugging it off. The he stood beside the cot and removed the rest of his clothing, naked in the dim room, looking down unselfconsciously for a moment. He sat down next to Hiei again, curling his feet under him on the cot, and reached out, placing his fingers against the fire demon's chest. His touch trailed across Hiei's body, lingering, but moving downward.
As the other's fingers brushed the junction of the Kourime's legs, Hiei jerked, falling halfway backwards with a startled curse. From a dull, hazy ache had come a sudden pleasure that verged on the edge of pain.
At the sudden reaction, Kurama froze, tilting his head. "Stop, Hiei?" he asked softly, trying to master his own surging of heat/fear/desire. This body's appetites were gentler, but urgent, and he'd little enough experience in controlling them, a thing he'd rarely troubled himself to do in his former life.
Hiei seemed to give the question some consideration before shaking his head. Sitting back upright again, the darker one's brow furrowed in concentration before his eyes showed something that looked suspiciously like mischief mixed with a mess of other, less easily read emotions. His right hand reached out with incredible speed, stopping to rest lightly at the edge of the other man's naked thigh before he lightly drew a cloth wrapped palm across his lap, watching Kurama's face intently.
Green eyes closed at the sudden touch, and Kurama's mouth opened, in a silent cry. The flesh Hiei encountered was not flaccid, but firm and alive, hot to the touch and velvet-coated. It seemed to angle upwards as if seeking his palm. The kitsune's eyes opened wide and fastened on Hiei's, and they almost seemed to be filled with green fire.
The look stopped the fire demon for a moment, having seen something with a similar edge directed at him once before. An angry Kurama was not one he wanted to deal with again. Feeling, more than seeing, that it was something different, he decided to push his luck, taking the opened mouth as an invitation to claim it, even as his hand slid back, blindly, to try a longer exploration.
He was met with a hungry answer, Kurama's hand sliding around the back of his neck while the other slid inside the waist of Hiei's dark pants, seeking and finding with a knowing touch. Something seemed to ignite and build quickly between them as tongues met and bodies tensed in pleasure and an increasing need.
Hiei's left hand had come up and gripped Kurama's shoulder tightly, that handhold seemingly the only support for the fire demon as he had half curled against the kitsune's bare skin, and wide, red eyes staring sightlessly off to the side. There was an unconscious warmth coming off of the smaller demon, no longer muffled by his clothes or wards and he moved now more by instinct than by deliberation.
The red-head purred softly, the sound coming from somewhere between his throat and chest. He slid his hand out of Hiei's clothing in order to begin peeling it off. Watching the unfocused expression on the little demon, he bent and nuzzled the curve between Hiei's neck and his shoulder, even as the kitsune's hands finished divesting the other of clothes. The heat coming from Hiei's skin felt good and Kurama slid his longer form alongside the other on the narrow cot, curling around him a bit.
Letting his fingers drift along the now bare skin, Kurama traced a line from the fire demon's knee, along one thigh, lightly around the most heated flesh that seemed to rise like a sword preparing to strike. Circling it again, the kitsune bent and licked across one nipple, as if tasting something intoxicating.
The renewed, doubled sensations had pulled Hiei out of the daze he'd fallen into in his encounter with the first fire he couldn't control. Both hands now sought for purchase as his body arched of its own, seeking out this. "K'rama," he gasped, his voice nearly as fuzzy as it had been waking up. A sense of panic began to build in the smaller demon, the fingers on the kitsune's shoulders pressing deep indentations into pale skin as the other fought for some purchase, breath or even just some mastery of himself again.
The hard grip suddenly became a push as the fire demon tried to get his feet under him.
As soon as the red-head sensed the feeling of panic from the dark one, he lifted his head, tilting it questioningly. When the push came, he moved back quickly, giving the other room to move, sitting up with eyes wide, red mane a bit fluffed with excitement, but a sudden sense of impending regret hovering somewhere close by.
"Hiei-chan?" he called softly, watching the fire demon attentively as his body protested the sudden loss of warmth and the cessation of the rising wave of pleasurable stimulation.
Hiei had hardly heard the question, as attention almost completely focused inward after he'd gotten into something of a crouch on the precarious surface of the cot. The Kourime's rapid breathing gradually slowed, but his hands were curled tightly enough to draw blood from his palms. Vaguely realizing that the other would want an answer or at least and explanation, the fire demon shook his head, swallowing. "Too much," he said, breathlessly.
Kurama pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around them and resting his chin on top. "Gomen..." he said softly. His eyes fixed on the tightly curled palms, as his nose twitched, scenting the blood. There it was... regret. "Rest... I'll go."
The quiet apology caused a glance, heavy with confusion, back at the kitsune. Hiei pushed it off as just another thing he didn't comprehend about the fox spirit. As Kurama continued it turned wary. "Where?"
"Out... away," the red-head murmured. "I'd stay but it's harder right now." His head tilted a little. "This is new to you, isn't it?"
The other sat back down, hands curling to look at the damage done to his unprotected hand with dispassionate eyes. The answer Kurama got was an almost imperceptible shrug. "Hn," he said, recovered in timber, "A little different from pawing my hair."
Kurama blinked. "Yes, I guess so," he murmured, laughing softly, but the laugh had a tinge of sorrow in it. "I should have realized. Hontou-ni moushiwake-gozaimasen." The red-head uncurled and stood, bending to pick up discarded clothing negligently. Then he frowned and let it fall, swaying towards the door to the outside.
The abrupt, almost odd shift was enough to immediately snap the fire demon's attention back to Kurama. He'd spent enough time watching the red haired enigma... Scowling himself, he snatched up his own pants and belts, with a quick casting for his katana. With another curse at his own deficiency for not being able to open up his senses well enough, he moved quietly after, stopping in the shadow of the doorframe.
Sensing the fire demon behind him, the kitsune paused and looked over one bare shoulder. "Nani?"
Hiei raised an eyebrow, gaze quickly shifting from the clothes in the room behind him, to the kitsune, to the weather beginning to pick up outside of the window. "You're not leaving like that?"
Turning back to the door, Kurama murmured, "I need to run... I can't stay here. It's too strong..."
Hiei crossed his arms over his chest and repeated, "Like that?" His scowl deepened. Unable to find the right phrasing for anything else his simply met green eyes challengingly.
Those eyes flashed, and something moved out of them, less an image and more a sensation of night and cold and wind and darkness, of running, on two legs, or was it four? Running through the cold and dark as if being chased by something hot and hungry, something he must stay ahead of, something that felt like a need that started as a whisper of emotion and grew into something wild.
The green eyes blinked and the sensation was gone. "What do you want, dark brother? If I stay, I might come closer. If it displeases you, we fight."
Hiei blinked once then his eyes narrowed. The hiss of steel being drawn was accompanied by a smirk. Holding it steady for a few moments, he threw it. The katana hurtled past the kitsune -- missing his bare skin by inches -- and imbedded itself behind him, through the door and the wall beside it at a deep angle. The fine blade quivered in the wood for a moment before stilling.
Not waiting for a reaction, Hiei turned back. "I'll take it out in the morning," he said quietly. "Deal with it."
Kurama turned to the fire demon, eyes flashing. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to bed," Hiei stated flatly, as if it were obvious. He paused, half obscured by the unlit room beyond. His shoulders moved in a shrug. "If you still want to fight, I'll be a better opponent in the morning."
"Hiei no baka!" Kurama hissed. "I don't want..." He closed his mouth over whatever was next. Backing up to the now-pinned door, he slid down with it at his back and curled up into a ball. Tucking his head so that the red mane shielded his face, he stayed, tense enough to vibrate, but with every appearance of ignoring the fire demon from that moment.
The fire demon seemed unperturbed. He disappeared again into the other room, returning again, fully clothed in black, and with a bundle easily recognizable as Kurama's school uniform. Dropping it at Kurama's feet, he turned towards the ebbing fire and embers in the fireplace. "Is this what made you want to do... that?" he asked, one hand made a negligent gesture towards the door to the other room. "Or something else?"
There was silence and then something muffled. Then without raising his head, the kitsune said, "You made me want to do 'that'."
Hiei watched Kurama for a moment, absorbing the statement. "Then what's this?"
Another muffled sound, then, "What?" with more than a hint of ragged frustration.
Irritation and concern went unseen by Kurama. "Fine," Hiei said, the statement absolutely without any taint of emotion. Kurama could feel a sudden surge of warmth as the fire burst to life again, the renewed crackle almost covering the Kourime's footfalls.
Kurama lifted his head just enough to flicker a glance through his red locks. He sighed, the low sound almost a soft groan, and then said very clearly, "Is it so hard to understand? I didn't want to stop. I still want you. Haven't you ever wanted anyone, Hiei-chan?"
"So you want to kill yourself instead?" Hiei said, looking over his shoulder.
Kurama laughed softly. "Is that what you think? It wouldn't be the first night I've run the woods in my skin."
Hiei walked over to the kitsune, staring down at the red-head for a few long moments. With some hesitation he looked at his inner wrist, the same determined concentration before the same hand wrapped around the hilt of the katana and pulled it roughly out of the wood. "Do what you want," he said, using his warded hand to brush the splinters off of the blade.
The red-head uncurled and came to his feet in one fluid motion, before Hiei could even take a step back. "So you'd care to keep me safe..." he said, not quite making it a question. "You didn't answer. Have you ever wanted... someone?"
Hiei frowned, eyes sweeping up the other's body to meet emerald eyes. Turning away sharply, Kurama almost missed the mumbled reply, "Not until today."
Kurama reached out, fingers lightly brushing the nape of Hiei's neck as he moved away. "What did I do wrong?" he breathed, fighting with sudden hope.
"Nothing," Hiei replied. He couldn't explain any further. As far as he knew it was like drowning. It was something he had to get control over first.
The touch returned, he only had to take a step to be free of it. This time the touch settled on the bundle of muscle and nerves, kneading it lightly. "So reckless with youki," the kitsune murmured. "And so cautious with love."
The tension beneath his fingers was almost as stubborn as the fire demon. Hiei glanced back unsure whether to move or not. "So is it the opposite, fox, with someone so controlled with their youki?"
There was a soft laugh in answer. "Maybe it is," Kurama said softly. "It's... different. I told you this body is young. It's been... a long time since I've felt things this way. So long I'm not sure I ever did."
After a moment, Hiei sat down, turning in the gesture to half face the fox spirit. The move broke the contact without moving away at all. Looking up at the other, he shrugged slightly. "So now what?"
Sitting on his heels, facing the fire demon, Kurama met him eye to eye. "I don't know. You should sleep. I can wait, if I haven't ruined it."
"Baka," the fire demon said a slight smile crossing his face before he stood up and started for the other room.
Kurama did not follow him to the room, and only a quiet opening and closing of the door gave any clue to his actions.
It was hours later, in a still darkness before predawn, when Hiei stirred from his drowse enough to be conscious of movement in the room. A moment later something soft brushed against his side, leaving a scent of cold and the light touch of a few melting snowflakes as a smaller than human body curled up against him. Silvery white fur and a pair of gleaming eyes glowed up at him, a triangular muzzle opening in a quick yawn, snapping silently shut. The gleaming eyes closed and the fox tucked its head against his arm and slept.
Twin slivers of red were the only indication that the fire demon was conscious of the quiet, cold entry. As the fox drifted to sleep, small, nimble fingers found the fur at his neck and scratched lazily before Hiei returned to his nap.
Kurama stretched sleepily, arm tightening reflexively around the warm solid body beside him before his eyes even opened. He was drowsing in a dream that was full of scent and texture, nuzzling the soft hair and remarkably smooth skin with pleasure and awakening passion. Yawning with a soft snap, he opened his eyes to survey his surroundings.
He found Hiei sprawled out next to him, only half caught by his unconscious embrace. One hand was draped over large, closed eyes to block out the morning light filtering in from the other room, the other caught between himself and the kitsune, fingers curled loosely against bare skin.
The slight rustle of movement beside him caused one unfocused eye to take in a blur of red, snort slightly and curl deeper against the other's side.
Kurama's face took on an expression somewhat tender and protective and he gathered the fire demon to him, stroking his dark hair gently. For a little while, he simply watched the other sleep, as he'd been doing for the two days before the other had woken for the first time. Letting his eyes travel over a pale shoulder, down a bandaged arm, across slender fingers like steel, along a powerful breadth of chest, dipping along a flat stomach and sliding over fabric covered torso and limbs visualizing what was beneath in slow, exquisite detail. It warmed his body but he stayed still and relaxed. Eyes returning at last to a well-formed, stubborn little mouth he wanted to taste again.
Senses recovering from an excess of sleep, the subtle variations in the familiar feeling of Kurama drew the firedemon's attention through the hazy half recognition of that state somewhere between dreaming and awake. The feeling of the repetitive, soothing touch in his hair, and the occasional spike and decline of a feeling unfamiliar and warm from the other demon, caused the mouth that the kitsune was watching to set into a hard line.
Without opening his eyes, Hiei's face pinched into a slight scowl, "What is it?" he asked indistinctly. The idea of being awake so early wasn't particularly appealing. He preferred irregular naps whenever he felt like it, not following some human cycle of things, it was more the morning light and the half rested feeling that put the growl in his voice more than anything picked up in the other's mixed youki.
Kurama smiled, the tone doing nothing to put him off. He nodded to himself. "Feeling better," he murmured. "What is what, hmmm? Haven't you slept enough?"
"Was fine yesterday," Hiei insisted, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand before trying to crack them open again. "And if I knew what what was, I wouldn't have asked."
The red-head laughed. "Reading fire demon minds is not one of my talents," he mentioned. "Although it might simplify things on occasion."
"It's not all that it's cracked up to be," Hiei said, a vague gesture towards his headband and a slight shrug. "Most people are insanely boring in their own head."
Kurama tilted his head. "Most people don't interest me," he answered. Gazing down, he felt the warm flush ripple through his body and sighed. "You are incredibly tempting."
The second unfamiliar spike caused the small demon's eyes to flash over the other, looking for some obvious difference. Finding a most obvious, backed by the sighed phrase, Hiei's eyes widened then closed, trying to push down on an answering reaction. Feeling a heat beneath the skin of his face, he turned around suddenly on the cot, resuming his comfortable curl with his back to the room's other occupant.
Another soft chuckle tickled his ears, as warm breath moved against the back of his neck. "I'm coming to believe you are an innocent," the kitsune murmured, sliding an arm around the curled body. Warm, soft lips touched the back of Hiei's neck. "That's almost as good as an invitation if you weren't."
The minute flare of warmth and shiver through the wiry frame could only have been picked up at Kurama's proximity. Even with Hiei's expression hidden, the reply was definitely a growl, "I'll keep that in mind."
Watching the little fire demon, Kurama mused thoughtfully for a moment, and then ran fingertips slowly down the other's back, curving in at the small, and back out, cupping the double curve.
Regarding the touch along his back under the same type of petting as Kurama's hands in his hair, the Koorumi actually relaxed unto the slow gesture until the hands settled. The afterimage wasn't even visible. Less than a tenth of a second later, the fire demon was crouched, upright and facing Kurama, on the other side of the cot.
Wide green eyes regarded him without any real reaction, only a slight nod. "Gomen nasai," Kurama said calmly, and slipped off the cot, moving gracefully into the other room and beginning to dress from the small pile of clothes that had been left there the night before.
Watching Kurama for a moment, Hiei found his own tank top from where it had fallen on the floor, and overcoat and white scarf folded on a small wooden shelf across the room. Returning his katana to his belt, safely hidden beneath the folds of his cloak, he walked back in to the other room, regarding Kurama as he finished dressing himself, and working to appear unruffled.
"Short of George, I don't think I'd ever met anyone who apologizes more than you do lately," Hiei said, then flickered his gaze towards the slashed door. "We going?"
"Yes," the red-head replied. Green eyes regarded the little demon unwinkingly. "You are going to burn for me one day," he said calmly. "When it happens, don't waste it on anyone else."
Hiei return the unwavering green gaze a little wildly. The expression shuttered as he moved past the fox to the door. "Bossy," he said distinctly, yanking the door open.
The kitsune nodded amiably. "Aa." He followed the little demon out into the white world beyond.
THE END OF PART 1