Seven Days In A Week I




Beginnings

[Takes place between 'Fire & Ice' and 'Ashes']




Kurama must have been drunk, Hiei surmised after a restless night of pondering. 
There was no way in all the Makai would that fox be interested in him like 
*that* - after all, friends…comrades, his mind stressed, don't suddenly turn 
around one day and declare that they would like to be…umm…lovers. *He* had 
certainly never thought of Kurama in that way… 
Therefore, Kurama must have been drunk, either that, or insanity had taken a 
firm grip over his friend's mind. Ripping out a piece of bark from his perch on 
the tree, Hiei wondered if maybe, just maybe, he might have misunderstood 
Kurama's intentions. Perhaps, the fox hadn't quite meant what he thought he 
meant. 
Sure, a little voice in the back of his mind drawled dryly, what did *you* think 
his intentions were when he stuck his tongue down your throat. 
Therein lay the problem - he hadn't been thinking; his lightning reflexes, his 
survival instincts…everything had shut down when the fox kissed him there on the 
roof. For the first time in his life, he had just…froze. Completely. Laid there 
like a total idiot while that damned kitsune took advantage of him. 
Unconsciously growling, Hiei ripped off another piece of bark - if only Kurama 
hadn't kissed him a second time. Once, he could explain away as an aberration, a 
mistake - the heat of the moment. After all, hadn't they just barely survived a 
deadly encounter with an ice dragon together? *Twice* however, meant that Kurama 
hadn't been joking when he had said that he wanted to be more than just friends… 

Stripping the branch naked, Hiei wondered what he was supposed to do - pretend 
like nothing had happened, or consider the terrifying possibility that the fox 
might have actually been serious about it. For a moment, the fire demon allowed 
himself to contemplate that - Kurama; ally, friend and…more? 
Letting his eyes drift over to where the others were seated, he found that flash 
of red and green with an unerring ease born of practice. Strange, why had he 
never noticed that he automatically sought out the fox whenever his eyes 
wandered? 
Kurama was laughing at something that Keiko had said, probably a ningen joke 
that he wouldn't understand. Those emerald eyes were flashing with a mixture of 
mirth and mischief…he's beautiful…Before he'd met Kurama, Hiei had always 
thought of humans as clumsy, overgrown fools - rather like Kuwabara - but the 
fox had ruined his picture of a stereotypical ningen. 
At first, he had attributed it to the youko soul inside Minamino Shuuichi's 
form, but after seeing Youko Kurama in action, Hiei was honest enough to admit 
to himself that without the human side of himself, Kurama just wouldn't 
be…Kurama. 
Surreptitiously watching him - he didn't want to give that fox the impression 
that he cared enough to even *consider* that ridiculous proposition - Hiei 
confessed to himself that he was indeed tempted… 
His eyes dropped to Kurama's mouth; suddenly bringing back the memory of That 
Kiss, the warmth of another body pressed up against his, that odd, wonderful, 
tingly feeling… 
Squirming slightly on his branch, the fire demon flushed uncomfortably and 
glared down at the tips of his boots. His mind had come to a perfectly 
acceptable decision - he was going to ignore Kurama's offer, pretend like it had 
never happened, return to that nice, comfortable friendship that he had always 
relied on and forget about the entire thing completely… 
Now, if he could only convince the rest of him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Hiei was watching him and trying to look like he wasn't…it was cute. 
Hiding a grin behind one hand, Kurama wondered how Hiei would react if he 
realized that he was being stalked and hunted down by his best friend. Probably 
run screaming in the other direction. Which was why Kurama was playing this game 
very carefully - if he moved too fast, he would scare the fire demon off, but if 
he moved too slowly, he would be giving Hiei enough time to reinforce his 
emotional barriers, and Kurama didn't want that…oh, no. 
He wanted Hiei to go into this with all three eyes wide open. Kurama wasn't 
going to risk their friendship on anything less than that - Hiei had to make his 
decision because *he* wanted to, and not out of any misguided sense of loyalty. 
*That* would be worse than losing him altogether. 
Sighing, Kurama realized he could no longer feel the fire demon's gaze on him. 
He wanted Hiei to hurry up… 
He wanted Hiei. Period. 




Part Two




It wasn't working. 
Sandwiched neatly between the hard, unyielding wall and Kurama's slender form, 
Hiei fixed his glare on an unfortunate light fixture in the far corner of the 
coffee shop, trying desperately not to think of anything…certainly not of that 
damned fox who was probably enjoying tormenting him like this. It didn't make 
any sense, he had sat in this seat next to Kurama hundreds of times before…what 
was so different about this time? 
*He* was different. The awareness that lingered in his mind ever since that 
night wouldn't go away - when Kurama had kissed him, he had taken their 
relationship an irrevocable step forward, and now, no matter how much Hiei might 
wish it otherwise, they could no longer turn back to the comfortable friendship 
they once had. 
" Hey, shrimp!" Kuwabara's loud voice shook him from his thoughts. 
Gratefully for the distraction, though he didn't show it, Hiei fixed the taller 
human with a cold glower. He hadn't quite accepted the truth that Kuwabara was 
intent on pursuing his Koorime twin - the urge to rip out his heart when he gave 
Yukina one of those sappy, love-struck looks was still pretty strong. 
" Hn." 
" Move in," the human ordered brusquely. " Yukina-san doesn't have a seat." 
Half-turning, Kurama gave Hiei a look that smoldered dangerously in his 
brilliant green eyes. Luckily, the others didn't see it - Kuwabara was helping 
Yukina into the space that had opened up next to him while Yuusuke and Keiko 
were arguing about his schoolwork. Swallowing, the fire demon flattened himself 
as close as possible to the wall as the half-youko slid right up next to him 
until they were pressed together from shoulder to hip. 
Hiei was starting to feel *very* uncomfortable. 
" Hiei-chan," Kurama whispered into his ear, " are you alright? You look a 
little…flushed." 
" Don't call me that." Why had his voice come out so…weak? 
" Why not? I think you're cute." 
Had Kurama just called him, an upper A-class youkai with a infamous reputation 
in the Makai, 'cute'? Hiei wasn't sure if he'd just been insulted or flattered. 
His first reaction was to snarl an insult in reply, but that was quickly 
smothered by an embarrassing urge to blush. Instead, he settled for scowling 
furiously at the grinning kitsune. 
" Anyway," Kurama drawled as turned away, casually flicking open the menu with 
one hand. " What's good here?" 
The others quickly got into a friendly debate over what to order. As 
recommendations and personal insults flew back and forth across the table, the 
half-youko leaned back in his seat, and incidentally, closer to the fuming fire 
demon. 
" What about you, Hiei? What do *you* want?" he asked in a perfectly casual 
voice. 
You, he nearly said before he bit down on his tongue. That would be one mistake 
he wasn't going to make - the last thing he needed in his life right now was to 
get involved with Kurama; just like that damned youko to want to complicate a 
entirely acceptable friendship. 
" Whatever," he muttered. 
" Well, tell me when you make up your mind," he answered in such a way that made 
Shizuru lift one eyebrow in curiosity. " I think I'll have the prawns," he 
announced needlessly to the others. 
" Sure, Shuuichi-san," Kuwabara's older sister murmured. " Got to keep up your 
strength, ne? Thinking of taking up some extra-curricular activities?" 
Keiko giggled, even Yukina flushed somewhat at her audacity. 
It suddenly dawned on the previously clueless fire demon what the weeks of 
meaningfully looks from his twin sister and the other human females were all 
about… 
They knew. 
" Huh?" Yuusuke asked, puzzled. Seated opposite from him, Kuwabara had the same 
confused look of someone who hadn't caught the punchline of a funny joke. 
Well, maybe not all of them - that was something at least. 
" Actually, I am," Kurama answered her back easily. " Astronomy - the study of 
heavenly bodies and the exploration of uncharted territories. What do you think 
about that? Should I start slowly, or just throw myself straight in?" 
Shizuru almost blushed. 
Almost. 




Part Three




Kurama loved spring. 
Maybe it was his youko soul that enjoyed experiencing the renewal of life in 
that infinite cycle of Nature; or maybe it was just part of his human side to be 
thankful for an end to the cold, wintry days of endless night. Whatever it was, 
nothing touched him more than the first touch of new life; a glimpse of green in 
the melting snow and the scent of newly-blossomed flowers. 
Letting his senses spread out, the half-youko slowed down to a leisurely stroll. 
There was all the time in the world for this… 
A flash of dark youki brought a soft smile to his lips - it seemed that he would 
have company for today. Hiei had carefully avoided him since that little 
lunchtime incident yesterday - he wasn't sure if he had pushed the fire demon 
just a step too far. Apparently not… 
" Kurama," he greeted when he dropped out of a nearby tree. There was a 
unrelenting expression in his crimson eyes that Kurama had never seen before - 
like he had come to a decision, and wasn't going to budge from it for all the 
gold in the Makai. 
Without another word of warning, the half-youko suddenly found his arms full of 
Hiei's slender, compact frame - the fire demon gave him a look so hot, he was 
amazed that it didn't set the grass on fire. 
" Hiei - mmmpphff." Whatever he was going to say was lost as Hiei lunged upwards 
to crush his mouth against his own in a passionate, if rather, clumsy kiss. 
Caught off guard, Kurama stumbled backwards, landing heavily on the ground. 
Pressing his advantage, Hiei didn't even break the kiss as they both fell onto 
the grassy lawn, still damp from the morning dew. Kurama could feel the tautness 
in his body, like a string stretched to breaking point, could feel him bracing 
himself for the rejection that he knew was going to follow. 
You should know better than that…. 
Parting his lips, the half-youko deliberately deepened the kiss, letting his 
arms entwine themselves around his small waist. With a soft moan, the tension 
drained out of Hiei's form and he sighed into Kurama's mouth, allowing the kiss 
to become slow, leisurely…all the time in the world… 
After awhile, Kurama registered the feel of a small hand creeping up under his 
shirt, stroking the sensitive flesh, raising goosebumps wherever it ventured. 
Oh, that felt very good…but not yet, not until he asked him… 
Breaking the kiss, Kurama looked down at his flushed face with a faint smile. He 
had to ask this - *needed* to know… " What do you want, Hiei?" 
Confusion momentarily replaced the burning look in his eyes. Frowning, Hiei 
replied, " You." Reaching for him again, he paused, suddenly uncertain, when the 
half-youko held up a hand against his chest. " Did I do something wrong?" 
" No," he whispered, " you did everything right… What do you *really* want, 
Hiei?" 
" What do you mean?" 
" If I said that I love you…" his voice trailed off when he saw the expression 
on the fire demon's face. He could feel the cold seeping into his body…ashes; 
and it had nothing to do with the wet grass or the chill morning air. " Hiei?" 
That was one major tactical error, you overconfident idiot…
Not meeting his eyes, the fire demon rolled off and got stiffly to his feet. 
" Hiei?" He caught the youkai's arm. " What's wrong?" 
Kurama had never seen the fire demon look at him so coldly, not even when they 
first met and Hiei had been trying to kill him. Those emotional barriers he had 
spent a lifetime reinforcing were back and appeared as insurmountable as ever. 
" *Do* you love me?" he asked in an odd detached voice. 
The half-youko stared up at him, those beautiful emerald eyes bright with 
suppressed emotion. His fingers tightened around Hiei's wrist, knowing that his 
answer would somehow drive him further away, but unable to lie… 
" Yes." 
Hiei shook off his hand. 
Giving him a half-anguished look, Hiei slowly backed away from Kurama - his eyes 
never leaving the fox's face…conveying the silent message that Kurama had 
somehow betrayed him by falling in love. Biting his lower lip, Kurama let him 
leave, his heart breaking with each step that the fire demon took… 
In a blur of black, Hiei disappeared into the cold morning. 
This isn't over yet, Kurama promised himself silently.