Part 15
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Hiei-chan and Yahiko exchanged another round of dirty looks. Kurama sighed. This had gone far enough.

"Excuse us for a moment," Kurama said, bowing to Sano and the others. He turned to Hiei-chan. A tic was fast developing beneath his left eye.

Hiei-chan gulped. He had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to enjoy the next few moments. He tried to back away, veeerry slowly. Kurama gave him a quelling look, picked him up, and walked off.

"Hiei, we need to talk."

* * * * *

Sanosuke bonked Yahiko on the head.

"Itte! What do you think you're doing, bakayaro!" He glared up at his taller friend.

"If that brat flames this place again, it's gonna be all your fault, runt."

"NANI?!!" If looks could kill, Sano would have been skewered and roasted on a spit right about now.

"Think about it. That demon's just a kid, right?" Sano looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah, so what?" Yahiko asked, rubbing at his sore head.

Sano rolled his eyes. "And just what do you think kids *do* when they get scolded?"

Yahiko scowled. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Use what little brain you've got, baka."

"Why you-"

Kenshin tuned out his friends' bickering, mulling over what Sano had said. He went over his own memories of childhood. Whenever his master had scolded him, he'd usually-

"Masaka!"

Pushing past Sano and Yahiko, who were now down to exchanging insults on each other's possible ancestry, Kenshin ran after Kurama and Hiei.

* * * * *

Kenshin skidded to a halt, braced himself, and tapped Kurama on the shoulder.

"Hai?" Kurama looked up in mid-scold, a questioning look in his eyes.

Kenshin leaned over and whispered into his ear. "Are you sure you should be doing that? Scolding him, I mean." Kenshin gave Hiei-chan a nervous look. "He might get upset again." He shuddered at the image that idea brought to mind.

Kurama stared at him in surprise. "Hiei would never hurt me."

"I was thinking more of him destroying what's left of the city, actually."

"Oh." Kurama gave their surroundings a guilty look. "I'm sorry about that. He really didn't mean to burn down your city, you know."

"Oh?" Kenshin's eyes were skeptical.

"Honto." Kurama sighed and gently ruffled Hiei-chan's spiky hair. "He was just trying to protect me, that's all."

Hiei-chan purred and leaned closer towards Kurama's stroking fingers. He was strangely happy, even though Kurama-chan had scolded him again. It felt good, to know someone cared enough to try and make him a better person.

"Anyway," Kurama continued, picking Hiei-chan up once more. "It won't happen again."

Kenshin gave him a dubious look. "Honto?"

He nodded. "He'll behave, won't you, Hiei?"

Hiei-chan snuggled against Kurama, enjoying the warmth of his friend's body. "Hai."

Kurama smiled, cuddling him closer. "See?"

"Aah."

"We'd best be going," Kurama said, looking up at the darkening sky. "It's getting pretty late."

Kenshin caught at his arm, stopping him. "Do you two have a place to spend the night?"

"We *were* going to put up at one of these inns..." he glanced around them ruefully. "So much for that idea."

Kenshin took a deep breath. He was probably going to regret this, but-

"Would you like to stay with us?"