"Hn. Go away."

Kurama grinned at the bad-tempered response. Hiei was definitely getting to used to lazing about in bed. He thought back to the aftermath of their battle.

Kuwabara, Yuusuke and Botan had been in the living room, getting some well deserved healing. Kurama had gone into his room to pick up some extra clothing for the other two since they were staying over for the night. Botan had announced that she was leaving as soon she was done to make her reports, and Hiei... Well.. Hiei was Hiei. He was probably sleeping off the effects of Kokuryuuha someplace else.

So it was a great surprise when he saw Hiei perched on the windowsill, re-wrapping his arm with new wards.

"Hiei! What are you doing here?" Kurama exclaimed, shutting the door closed and hurrying towards the koorime.

Hiei shot him a glare and muttered, "I need a vacation."

"What??"

"A vacation. I need a vacation." Hiei slid down from the windowsill and promptly landed on his face.

Kurama wasn't quick enough to catch him, but was able to prevent a possible concussion. He made sure Hiei was all right and found him asleep. He looked around in confusion, then picked up Hiei and laid him on his bed. He smiled unwillingly at the picture Hiei presented. Bloody, battered and cut, his clothing barely on his body, his hair a tangled mess... He made quite a contrast to the pristine white sheets on Kurama's bed. Kurama gently pulled the covers over the prone body, checked to make sure he was still breathing, then left the room quietly.

He chuckled in remembrance. When he had re-appeared a few hours later to check on Hiei, he'd found Hiei sprawled across the bed, face buried in a pillow, his left arm hanging off the bed, and all the covers kicked off. He remembered smiling indulgently when Hiei gave a loud groan and turned over to lie on his back. That smile disappeared when he'd seen the bloodstains, dirt and other unmentionable nastiness that Hiei's face had left on his pillow case.

Kurama grinned as he walked away from the guest room door. He laughed softly, remembering Kuwabara's story.

The day after beating Yokosu, Kuwabara went to the market to pick up some food for dinner. Hiei had appeared out of nowhere and walked with him. Kuwabara had begun with his normal loud mouthed spouting but he quickly ran out of gas when Hiei refused to respond. When they passed by the park and the resident food and balloon vendors, Kuwabara looked down to find Hiei gone.

It wasn't more than a few minutes when Hiei reappeared, two ice cream cones in his hands. He had wordlessly shoved a double scoop chocolate ice-cream cone into Kuwabara's hand, had growled "Don't drop it, I know you like this," then disappeared.

When he came back home, Kuwabara had incoherently rambled on about that strange little event, and how Hiei had enjoyed vanilla ice cream while he had been.. well.. sick.. and.. Kuwabara stuttered to a halt, then muttered, "Hiei's not all bad, is he?". He'd blushed red enough to clash horribly with his hair, then threatened Kurama with certain death if he ever mentioned that little story to anyone.

"Besides," Kuwabara had continued, "Hiei would kill me if he knew I told you about that."

Kurama entered the kitchen and began to put away the food. He would wait for Hiei to wake up so they could eat together. Tonight would be the last night Hiei would stay, since Hiei knew that Kurama's mother would be home from vacation tommorow evening. He sighed. Though he missed his mother, having Hiei around was nice. Hiei was definitely taking the idea of "vacation" to heart, Kurama sighed with exasperation. Hiei had been sleeping in and eating enough to feed a small family. Yet... It was nice that Hiei had felt secure enough, comfortable enough to stay here.

He gave a happy sigh and was wrapping up the last of the food when he felt a familiar ki behind him. "Hiei," he began, then stopped.

Hiei held out a gigantic bouquet; roses of different shades that created a rainbow swirl of color against Hiei's black tunic. "Take it, I know you like these." Hiei grunted.

Wordlessly, Kurama reached out to take the flowers, inhaling the sweet scent that filled the room. He turned away, to reach for a pitcher, the only thing large enough to hold the bouquet. Then he noticed that the stems were cut oddly, raggedly. He stared harder at the flowers, then began to laugh.

"Did you steal these, like you did with Kuwabara's ice cream cone?" Kurama teased.

"Hn." Hiei's eyes narrowed. "Kuwabara told you about the ice cream?"

"Well..." Kurama hedged, then decided that offense was the best defense. "I hope the neighbors won't notice how you hacked at their bushes." Kurama smiled. Then he murmured, "Thank you Hiei. They're beautiful." He placed them into the pitcher and put the flowers on the table.

"Are you hungry?" Kurama asked, even as he began to pull out dishes from the refrigerator.

"Hn." Hiei came towards the table and reached for a red rose. "You know..." Hiei stopped, discomfited. He stared at the dark-red flower, thinking hard.

"..Yes?" Kurama looked over his shoulder to find Hiei trying to stare a hole through the rose. He turned back around to fix dinner.

"I didn't really forget you, you know, when I lost my memory."

Kurama paused, then started heating the food. He waited for Hiei to continue.

Hiei twirled the rose between his fingers. "I guess it was nice being a kid for a little bit. But this is who I am. And you're stupid if you think I'd ever really forget you." Kurama whirled around, staring at Hiei with shocked eyes. He nearly dropped the curry on the floor when he saw Hiei smile at him; A full fledged smile of affection. "Idiot." Hiei announced, "Let's eat. I'm hungry."

Kurama nodded, unable to say a word. A smile broke out on his own face when Hiei handed him the red rose. Kurama took hold of the raggedly cut stem, tucked it into his hair and sat down for dinner. Then he laughed out loud, the sound a silvery melody that twined with the scent of stolen roses.