Serendipity was on her side, and Reikaze did not appear. The pain faded, slowly, leaving her weak and trembling. She would never get up out of the bed, if this sort of thing continued happening. It made her afraid to sleep, sometimes.

She took a deep breath, rolled to her side, drew her knees to her chest, and closed her eyes. In a moment she opened her eyes again and began reciting the spell she'd been practising, from this bed, for years.

Sooner or later she would get it right.

Kurama stared back at him. "You're saying you don't remember it," he said, "because you made yourself believe it never happened?"

"Right."

"How?"

"It's a meditative technique. You concentrate, force yourself to remember something else. Eventually the new memories will be the real ones, for you. It's a little more complicated than that," he amended, "but that's the gist of it."

"What did you replace -- that -- with?" Kurama wondered.

"Nothing," Hiei sighed. "That's why she was able to trigger the real memories." His head hurt. He felt a little queasy. He wanted to be alone, to sit still in concentration, to wipe away his memories of that time, with Reikaze. Maybe he would replace them with new ones of Kurama, he mused; but no, he decided, he hadn't met Kurama then, and it would fall apart as easily as this one had. He would have to think of something else.

"You need to get to work," he said, finally, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm going to stay with you," Kurama declared. "Hiei, you can't just suppress your memories, no matter how awful they are. You need to deal with them properly -- "

"Kurama," he said irritably, looking up, "you don't know what you're talking about. I _can_ do it, and I intend to, as soon as you've gone." Kurama frowned, hurt. Hiei ground his teeth. "And don't give me those damned puppy-dog eyes," he snapped.

Kurama stood up, stepped off his futon, and crossed the room to where his clothing for the day had been laid out. Silently, he began to dress. Hiei sighed, and hung his head. It had been a long time since he'd upset Kurama, and he found that he didn't much like the feeling anymore.

Was he getting that soft, that emotional? Damned Humans, he growled to himself. They were more insidious than any youkai; they got under your skin and were impossible to purge.

Kurama walked quietly, his feet encased in light socks, to the bath room. Hiei heard him fuss about in there for a moment; then he returned to the bedroom and sat down, and picked up his hairbrush. Hiei got to his feet and crossed the room and plucked the brush from Kurama's hands.

"Here," he said quietly. "Let me." Kurama made no protest, only folded his hands in his lap and bowed his head. Hiei drew the brush gently through Kurama's hair, taking care not to pull, though Kurama's hair rarely tangled. Even, rhythmic strokes, from the scalp to the very ends of the hair; he counted. There were supposed to be a hundred. By forty, Kurama took a deep breath. Hiei paused. Kurama exhaled. Hiei resumed brushing.

"Your hair is getting really long," he noted, running his fingers through it.

"Hiei," Kurama said, "I don't care how mad you get at me. I'm not going to work today. My stepfather's not there and no one will miss me." Hiei half-smiled, behind Kurama's hair.

"Whatever," he said, keeping his tone neutral. Kurama stood up, turned, gathered Hiei to him. His lips found Hiei's, his tongue probed gently at his teeth, demanding entry. Hiei parted his jaw slightly, let Kurama lick the inside of his mouth. He closed his eyes, felt his pulse quicken -- out of nervousness, out of excitement. _This_ feeling he was learning to like.

"Shuuichi?" Hiei started, inhaled through his nose, tried to pull away. Kurama held him tighter, ran his fingers through his hair, cupped Hiei's head in his palm, crushed their mouths together. Kurama lifted his head, suddenly, startling Hiei.

"Hai, 'kaasan," he called out. "I'll be right there." He hooked an ankle around Hiei's, pushed him to the floor, straddled him and pinned his shoulders. Hiei watched him, his tongue darting out to lick his lips.

"You will wait for me, here," Kurama informed him, dropping his head to bite his neck. Hiei suppressed a shiver. "I'll leave for work, as usual, and then I'll climb back in through the window."

"Then what?"

"Then we can stay here, or we can go out. It'll be easy enough to avoid anyone who might see us."

"What if your stepfather finds out?" Hiei pointed out.

"You're worth getting into trouble, once in my life." Kurama stood swiftly and left the room. Hiei sat up, drew the back of his hand over his mouth. He smirked, and dressed quickly, and perched on the windowsill, waiting.

She sent a few spies into the Ningenkai and into the Makai, to find out what they could about him, and waited for them to return. She headed to Juei's room, in the meantime, to see what Hiei's daughter was up to.

"Not sure," Yuusuke replied. "She's fairly powerful, from what I can gather. The little girl's at least an A-class. She can project herself from the Makai into the Ningenkai." Kazuma sweated slightly, shifted his daughter in his arms. She opened her jaws to bite him. He slapped her, gently, cringing inwardly even as he did so; he hated disciplining her but knew that he had to. She turned wide eyes on him, Yukina's eyes -- Yukina's _face_ -- and his guts turned to jelly. He kissed her nose, and turned back to Yuusuke.

"That's scary," he mused, "that Hiei would have a kid. I honestly didn't think he was old enough. Or that -- well, who'd want him?" Yuusuke laughed.

"He'd say the same about you," he grinned. "Especially -- " He halted, flushed.

"Especially Yukina," Kazuma finished for him, quietly. "I know." Yuusuke looked down at his feet. "Ja, is he gonna keep the kid for himself or is he gonna let the mother keep raising her?"

"I'm not sure," Yuusuke frowned. "He didn't seem too attached to her -- the little girl, I mean -- her name is Juei. She seems awfully bent on him acknowledging her as his daughter, though. You know what it's like to try and talk to Hiei," he finished ruefully. Kazuma grinned.

"You might want to practise on a few brick walls," he said, only half-joking.

"Precisely. Listen, I've got to get back to the shop and help Keiko out -- I just dropped by to say hello and tell you the news."

"Say hello to Keiko from all of us. We might come down to the shop and see you, if someone behaves herself and warrants a day out, ne?" Kazuma winked at his daughter. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. "Feh," he snorted affectionately, "now you're just brownnosing." She giggled. He waved farewell to Yuusuke and headed inside.

Yukina looked up as he entered, and smiled; her smile faded in a moment. "Is Yuusuke-san not coming in?" she wondered.

"He just stopped by for a second," Kazuma replied. "He's gone back to the shop. He had a little bit of news -- " She perked up, delighted. "Hiei has a daughter, I guess." Yukina blinked. "It's a long story, and Yuusuke doesn't know it all, but that's what he told me." Yukina blinked again.

"A...daughter?" she asked.

"Uhn."

"But -- he -- I -- " She frowned.

"Nan da?"

"He -- came to me to find out -- about -- " She flushed. "About his reproduction. He's not entirely sure about his paternal heritage, you see, and he wanted to know if -- well, if being my twin, his reproduction was anything similar to mine." Kazuma bristled, defensive.

"And?"

"And I found out that he -- can produce children on his own, the way I can, though he's got to have someone to carry them for him."

"So?"

"Well, he can only produce male children," she finished. "That's what I found out."

"How'd you find out?" he demanded. Yukina put her hand on his arm and smiled sweetly at him.

"Just using my healing techniques," she said. It's easy enough to find things out that way." He relented, and bowed his head apologetically. Yukina stood on tiptoes, face turned up to him for a kiss, and he obliged her, giddy. Their daughter pushed jealously between them.

Reikaze smiled and petted the tiny demon in her lap. "You've done well," she told him. It cringed, afraid of her touch, with good cause.

The youko was trapped in the Human body, she had learned, though he could transform to his youko-form at will -- unless the Human had been drained of you-ki. He commanded plants, on both the Human and the Demonic planes. Interesting.

This would be easy.

Hiei had been silent all morning, and Kurama had not pushed him to talk. He merely lay beside his lover, the fingers of one hand laced through the fingers of Hiei's, and his other hand petting Hiei's hair, slowly. Hiei lay with his eyes closed, face turned up to the ceiling.

Kurama kissed his ear, softly. Hiei tilted his head. Kurama stopped stroking his hair and slipped his arm around Hiei's slender middle. Hiei's hand slid up and over his own, though he did not open his eyes.

"Marry me," Kurama said. Hiei snorted. "I'm serious," Kurama told him. "I want you to marry me."

"I can't marry you," Hiei pointed out. "They don't let males marry one another in the Ningenkai."

"Then we'll get married in the Makai," Kurama shrugged, kissing his ear, his cheek, leaning up to kiss his mouth. "Say yes."

"Baka," Hiei said instead.

"Say yes," Kurama teased, sliding his leg up and over Hiei's. He kissed him again, was pleased to feel Hiei respond eagerly. "Say yes," he murmured against Hiei's lips. "Say you'll marry me."

"Baka," Hiei repeated, barely suppressing laughter. Delighted, Kurama continued his gentle assault, slipping his fingers up under Hiei's shirt and tickling his skin. Hiei squirmed.

"Marry me," Kurama pestered, affecting a whine. "Marry meeeee." Hiei finally gave in, his laughter low and rough, a sound to which both of them were unaccustomed. Kurama pulled back, smiled down at the little youkai.

"I'll marry you," Hiei told him, grabbing his sidelocks and pulling him down for another kiss, "just to shut you up."

"Good enough for me," Kurama teased as their lips touched, and then his spine buckled in pain, and as he felt his you-ki swiftly drained he opened his mouth to cry out but could make no sound.