"About us," Kurama's hands reached up from the depths of the bush and pulled Hiei back down in. Hiei steamed .. literally ... the red eyes burning in their socket, turning the heated glare down to Kurama as he was hoisted down into the bush.
"Now Hiei," Kurama scolded him, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "You promised you wouldn't get upset!"
"Upset? UPSET??? Who the hell's upset?? I'M FURIOUS!!!" he boomed.
Kurama smiled .. yet another one of those heart melting smiles... that seemed to have little to no effect on the yokai ... "Don't worry. I didn't tell Yusuke the intimate details."
Hiei squeaked, amazingly, wiggling as he hovered over Kurama. He looked down deep into those impossibly green eyes. "Who else knows?"
"Oh ... just Kuwabara."
"KUWABARA!!!!!!!!!!!!" the deep voice screamed, attempting to leap from the bush to enact his revenge. Instead, he crashed back into the leafy depths, scattering dirt and brush into the air. He balled his fists and closed his eyes, resisting the urge to rip the bush to shreds and go after yet another park fountain to calm his rage.
His arms quivered under the strain, and he reached out with amazing speed, bounding a fist into the ground, sending rocks, dirt and dust belching up from the bush.
Kurama reached down under Hiei's tiny body and fished around in his pocket, picking out telephone tokens. "I gotta go call the others."
"NO! No way am I gonna ... "
Kurama shook his head. "They'll want to know you're alive, too! And besides ... you said you'd do ANYTHING to make up for putting me through hell!" Kurama's smile faded suddenly as the green eyes filled with sorrow again, staring up into the burning eyes above him. He reached up in an attempt to hide a sob and hugged Hiei close to him, closing his eyes tight and burring his face in the rough, spiky hair.
On Kurama's frantic request, the group gathered at his apartment in such short notice... quite a bizarre request. And to top it off, he asked that they all brought food for dinner. Kurama refused to give details as to the reason for the sudden meeting, but he emphasized that it was extremely important.
So they gathered ... and they waited quietly and without many words for Kurama to show up, fearing that they would hear bad news. Fearing that perhaps Kurama had given up all chances of his continuing life in Ningenkai.
The evening sun shone brilliantly on the table as they all sipped quietly at their tea.
Kurama's head suddenly poked eagerly around the door frame. "Oh good, you're all here!" and he disappeared again, quicker than he had first surfaced.
Keiko leaned over on Yusuke's shoulder. "Seems a bit perky, ne?"
Kurama stepped into the room, appearing to drag something with him, just out of sight. He lurched back and forth, turning to play tug-of-war with some unseen force. "Oi! Lemme go!" It growled. Kurama gave a good, hard tug ...
... and Hiei came stumbling into view, crashing into Kurama, nearly plowing him into the wall.
"HHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!" The room screamed collectively.
Reunion's were held for the next hour, fussing all over Hiei's sudden return from being thought dead. Even Kuwabara seemed somehow happy to see his worst enemy back in the flesh, though he denied it with every breath he had.
Hiei groaned and growled time after time as the girls all hugged and kissed him, fussing over his return ... and the rest all quizzed him about the supposed 'death'. It went on for hours before the group finally decided to settle down and have dinner.
Soon, the dishes pile high in Kurama's sink and dessert was passed around ... as was the fourth bottle of sake. It went surprisingly fast ... but no one seemed to notice or care as Kurama got up every ten minutes to warm another carafe.
Everyone still had their wits about them ... well, almost everyone! Yusuke was swiftly becoming drunk, wobbling back and forth in place as he laughed at the stories. Kuwabara was passed out ... he had been for about 20 minutes, snoring away as his head lay on the table, Yukina stroking his back.
Only Hiei sat quietly, not joining in the conversations. He hated being with the group, hated being around Kuwabara, hated being social ... hated just about everything.
He sat silently, sipping at his sake quickly. It tasted funny ... tasted sour, and it bit at his tongue and throat. But he couldn't put the stuff down!
He finished the cup off ... that would make it, what? ... cup number 20? ... and he set the cup on the table.
Kurama reached down beside him and took up the carafe, absently pouring Hiei another cup as he listened to Keiko tell embarrassing and degrading stories about Yusuke.
Hiei took the cup up immediately and began sipping.
"...and ... *gasp* .... and ... " Keiko crashed over backwards off her cushion in hysterics, throwing her feet up in the air. Beside her feet, hunched over, Yusuke sat beet-red, glaring down into his cup of sake.
"It wasn't THAT funny," he grumbled. One by one, members of the table began to bust up respectively ... and Hiei continued on at the sake cup.
Kuwabara stirred and raised his head, smooshing the features of his face into odd looking clay-shapes ... and the table busted up again. "Ow, my head!" he whined. "Got any aspirin, Kurama?"
"Drink some water," Yukina said, thrusting the water pitcher at him.
... and Hiei's sake cup set down gently on the table ...
... Kurama refilled as the table grew silent again, thinking up more stories.
Hiei sipped. "heh ... heh heh ... " he laughed silently, watching the wine swirl in the cup, a large, fang-loaded grin on his face as he held the drink in both hands.
All eyes stared at the little youkai with rosy cheeks.
Kurama smiled down to the little figure. "Hiei, how much sake have you had?"
The youkai said nothing, but sipped away quickly, almost humming in between sips.
"Hiei... are you drunk?"
Hiei turned his head sharply, leaving his vision behind him in a swirl. The little head bobbled back and forth as he tried to regain his balance, beginning to tip over.
Kurama reached out and steadied him quickly, Yusuke and Kuwabara busting out across the low table from them ... followed by Keiko and the rest. Even Kurama began laughing loudly.
Hiei glanced cautious red eyes around the room. "Whatss ... sso funny ... " he groggled, his speech slurred, sipping at the cup.
The hysterics grew.
Kurama reached over and wrapped an arm around the little shoulders. "Maybe we should all call it a night," he said, taking up the carafe. In a jerk, Hiei's little hand yanked the pitcher from Kurama's hand ... and the laughter turned to a dull roar.
Hiei snorted and lowered the carafe to pour, missing his cup by a good foot. The sake slopped onto the table and dribbled onto the cushion ...
Yusuke hit the floor in a loud THUD, holding his stomach as he turned purple, convulsing as he laughed like a maniac.
"Here," Kurama coaxed, trying to keep a straight face. He took the pitcher and poured the rest into the cup. "No more, Okay?"
Hiei glared at him and downed the cup quickly, finishing off the strange, ningen liquid and thrusting the cup at Kurama.
"Hiei, you're drunk," he said, taking a hold of the cup.
"Am not!" he growled, nearly toppling over backwards off his cushion.
Kurama wrestled the cup from the strong hands. "You're DRUNK!" he emphasized.
"AM NOT!!" Hiei yelled, trying to jerk the cup back into his possession.
Something clattered in the hall, drawing Koenma's attention. Except for Hiei and Kurama, who were in a full battle over control of Hiei's sake cup, the group all turned eyes to see a small shuriken rolled in and bounced up into the air. It hovered, suspended over the table, spinning like buzz saw for about 10 seconds before dropping to embed itself tightly into the center of the wooden table.
Hiei and Kurama suddenly stopped fighting, turning their eyes to the metal object stuck firmly in the table.
"Oh no, not again," Kuwabara groaned, clunking his head down on to the table.
"Oh yeah!" Hiei suddenly realized, nabbing the cup from Kurama. "Forgot ta tell ya."
"Forgot to tell me WHAT?" Kurama said calmly, snatching the cup back. Hiei reached over to nab the cup again ... and like two fighting children, Kurama and Hiei began a tug-of-war over the cup, jerking it back and forth between the two of them.
"But if Yo-mawari's back in Ningenkai ... " Yusuke pondered. ".. then that mean's Hiei never defeated him!"
"You mean we have to go through all that again?" Koenma shuttered.
"Oh, I defeated him," Hiei slurred, trying to pull Kurama and the cup over into his territory. "His power'ss ..." he grunted, and narrowed his red eyes at Kurama "... MINE!!" he gave one last tug and Kurama flew off the cushion, crashing into a pile on top of Hiei.
Keiko took a wok in hand, grasping the handle tightly as a tall, slim figureframed the doorway beyond.