A Christmas for Hiei

Kurama and Hiei were walking to Yusuke's house. Kurama was acting as Hiei's personal tour guide of the area, that's been newly decorated with Christmas lights and bells that go off when you walk past them or under them; snowmen and women that have been built by children during the day with a bonus of a snow fort for protection, but all the white soldiers and snowy best friends are abandoned at night, left to fend for themselves from older boys that patrol the streets looking for trouble of even the smallest kind.

Hiei's eyes were darting everywhere looking at all the lights and random decorations on doors like large red and white socks, or berry and toy covered wreaths. He can also hear many strange things he's never heard before when visiting the city, bells that burst into ear-splitting music, people singings, bells jangling in the hands of humans with pots at their sides and they're ringing them calling for attention.

Hiei was more than ready to offer his brand of attention if they didn't hurry and arrive at the spirit detective's home, because all the new and very loud sounds are starting to get on his nerves.

"What's so funny?" he asked Kurama who, so suddenly, started laughing after looking over their shoulder.

"Nothing Hiei, just relax-..." He answered part of the way, then decided to let Hiei in on the joke. "It's just.. for someone who moves so quickly and stealthily, you're leaving quite a noticeable trail."

Confused, Hiei stopped and looked over his shoulder, seeing the footprints his feet were leaving in the snow, very deep, deep enough that it's revealing concrete; which is really something compared to Kurama's hardly dented path.

"...Feh, what do I care? It's probably the added body heat from the Darkness Flame." Hiei answered, walking on.

Changing subjects-- now that there is actual room for a conversation to happen-- considering they've been silent since leaving Kurama's house twenty minutes ago, he said offhandedly.

"This human holiday you speak of sounds like a waste of time and money." The youkai placed his hands in his pockets, adding. "How can anyone relax with all those lights in their faces, shining against you like a Deer caught in sunlight."

"Or a silhouette in a window sill?" Kurama threw in with humor in his voice.

Hiei stopped, mentally gasping. 'Does he know?' Hiei ceased his movement while Kurama walked on by. He couldn't believe that all those times he'd parked himself outside of Kurama's window, the kitsune had actually noticed him there!

Kurama paused as well, and looked over his shoulder to see what Hiei was doing, then turned to face his youkai friend completely to say. "At least that's what I call the leaves and branches the moon shadow-puppets against the curtains." His smile was so honest, but he closed his eyes to hide the fact that he knew Hiei was there every time.

A thin smile came across Hiei's face as he walked back into step with the crafty red head. Kurama's either lying to him, or he simply doesn't care.

"Yusuke's house should be right up ahead." Kurama was saying, as they neared their destination for the night.

"I really don't see why we-..."

"Ah!" Kurama gasped, shaking his head from the impact.

"What's that matter?" Hiei asked looking his friend over. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," replied Kurama with a smile. "It appears to be nothing more than snow."

Hiei grumbled when hearing a laugh that could only belong to one person... Yusuke.

The spirit detective peeked from around a tree, laughing fiendishly as he pats another snowball for the launching. This one has got Hiei's name on it.

"Hey Hiei, don't be mad!" Yusuke called from his hiding place. "You should cool off a little!"

With that, he came from around the tree he was poorly hidden behind, hurling a snowball at the fire demon who just stood there watching it fly towards him. It burnt up into nothing but water when it neared his heat wall, then evaporated into steam.

"What's gotten into you, Yusuke?" Hiei demanded to know.

He got his answer from Kurama, when getting dragged behind a tree to hide with him.

Peeking from around the tree, he replied. "It looks as if we're in the middle of a snowball fight."

"A what?" Hiei mused over the word.

"Hey, don't think that dinky little tree will save you from me!" Kuwabara shouted. Leaping over a brick wall, with hands occupied with a snowball the size of his head, he war called, "Yaaahhhh!" as it left his hands and sailed off in Kurama and Hiei's direction.

The kitsune was laughing joyfully as he moved out of the way from the oncoming attack, but Hiei simply backed away from the tree completely.

"I'm not getting involved in this stupid game." He stated.

"Aww, he's just afraid he'll lose!" Yusuke said, revealing himself to the fire demon.

Hiei grunted in anger and sped himself behind Yusuke who turned in shock.

"Gah!" the spirit detective jumped back in surprise.

"I don't lose." Hiei was saying and the tree shook heavily from the shock of when Hiei hit it on his way over, causing the every leaf and branch to dump the snow they accumulated onto Yusuke's head.

"Ah!"

Kuwabara's laughter was the first heard, along with a low chuckle from Kurama.

"He got you that time, Urameshi!" came his lover's scratchy voice.

"Yes, and I've got you Kuwabara," Kurama threw a snowball just as big as the one Kuwabara had in the first place at him, nailing the teen in the ear.

"Heeey!" he shouted brushing it off; digging into his ear to remove what went in, he then looked about for a larger amount of snow.

Hiei had long sense sat himself up in the tree over Kurama's head, as though he were watching his back in secret, while the snowball fight went on. The three took splats of snow to the back, ears, face-on, legs, even their feet and rears!

Yusuke came from his hiding place with his hands up in defense from any on coming snow. "Okay you guys, we better go inside before my mom tears up about me freezing to death." He laughed at the visual of comment.

'Finally.' Hiei thought, hopping down from the tree walking beside Kurama; who was brushing snow from his hair.

More than anything Hiei wanted to reach up and help him, but that would be too bold, and what would Kurama think?

As if the kitsune had heard his thoughts, he turned and looked at him with a smile. "Care to help me?" he asked casually. "I can't see behind my head as you can."

Hiei gulped at the thought but vacantly brushed the snow from his friend's hair.

"Thank you," Kurama said, adding, "and thank you for watching my back up there."

With that statement said, Hiei stopped brushing snow from the long red hair and turned his head away. "Hn. I wasn't watching any part of you, I was merely a spectator of that dumb game." The fire demon walked away from him to the head of the group.

Kurama sighed inwardly. 'Either you're going to tell me,' he thought, 'or I'm going to have to be a bit more obvious to you that it's all right.' Catching up to Yusuke and Kuwabara he spoke casually with them about what they were fighting over and who'd won the snowball fight.

"Then there's just one way to settle this," Kuwabara was saying.

In Yusuke's house, he held a controller up and announced. "Video gaamess!"

He and Yusuke waited for the game to fire up.

The players took their positions. Two large men wearing nothing but mawashi's around their bodies to cover up their-- nether regions-- bend over and slap at the dirt beneath them.

"Frooom the Eeeeast, Fukimo Hiramatsu!" The video game announcer was saying, "And froom the Weest Yoshikoo Fushiimi!" There was a pause before he called. "Sumo!"

Yusuke and Kuwabara were grunting and groaning as though they were the ones in the ring.

'Idiots.' Hiei mentally declared watching them.

Kurama had his attention on the television, but from the side of his eye he watched Hiei.

After an hour of sumo wrestling: Yusuke won six over four times to Kuwabara, but lost six over two times to Kurama, who won only four of the six times with Kuwabara, they changed games to something a little more sane.

"Nobody picks Fulgore but me." Yusuke said, obviously wanting to mark his territory.

"Alright then," Kuwabara was saying not letting his loving rival call all the shots. "Nobody picks Orchid but me." He smiled at the busty, tonfa baring woman in fighter stance.

"Like anybody'd fight ya for her." Yusuke joked getting pushed in the shoulder.

"Okay the rules are anythi-..." As Yusuke explained the rules; in the background, Kurama turned to his fire demon friend.

"Would you like a turn Hiei, watching must be a little boring for you."

Hiei was startled by the sudden question. He'd honestly thought he was going to slip out the back and just head off anyplace else if this 'gaming' thing kept up.

"Yeah, we can have teams," Yusuke said in attempt to get the disgruntled male into the game as well.

Hiei disagreed to any participation, and sat himself deeper into the couch, as if he were trying to shrink away into it to be ignored. Kurama's heart sank, he wanted Hiei to be a part of them more than anyone, but the youkai seemed to pull further away when it came to anything other than fighting. How could he break him out of it?

As the matches went on, they screamed at the tops of their lungs arguing unfair playing or illegal moves. Kurama acted as referee to the two of them, until the next match started and pulled them back from the argument and into the game. Hiei had been watching every match with his own unknown interest, and he'd gotten off the couch getting a bit closer for a better look.

Chief Thunder and Sabrewolf were on the screen in this match, he just did his flying mohawk move knocking Sabrewolf into the air, then as he came back down he spun him into a corner taking the move into a killer combo,

"You stupid wolf, get out of the corner!" Hiei shouted at the character as he watched the creature beaten into a finishing move proclaimed as Ultra.

Yusuke laughed. "I thought you didn't wanna play?" he was saying.

Hiei grumbled and stood up. "How much longer do we have to stay here?" he pointed out more than asked.

"What's wrong?" Yusuke asked.

"Nothing is wrong, I just can't take sitting here watching you three act like idiots."

Kurama sensed that Hiei was obviously getting agitated with the entire situation, so he stood to leave as well.

"Hiei's right, we should be going. Thank you for inviting us over, Yusuke." He moved to the door with Hiei following.

Over his shoulder Hiei says to the two. "Yes, let's not do it again."

The two walk out the door after Kurama waved good bye to them.

"Man, that guy's got issues." Kuwabara was saying, while he helped Yusuke clean up the game set.

"You're heading home too?" the spirit detective asked his lover.

"Not if you don't want me to." He answered standing and stretching out his bones with a yawn. "I mean," he got closer to Yusuke's face. "I could always stay over, baby."

Yusuke burst into laughter to the thought of that. "If that's the case, then you've got a better chance at killing Tuguro, then hoppin' in bed with me."

Outside.

Kurama and Hiei are walking along the streets silently. The sound of carolers was heard in the background along with the crunching of snow under their feet.

'Time to be obvious,' thought Kurama.

Watching Kuwabara and Yusuke-- even when they aren't being romantic-- always stirs the kistune's emotions; the more human ones, anyway. His demon half on the other hand remained disinterested in anything.

"Would you like to stay over at my house Hiei? My mother can make us some hot chocolate."

"I don't think so, I should be getting back."

"Oh." Silence. "Maybe you could stay for a little while, to warm yourself?" Hiei just glared at him, but Kurama merely smiled the words away. "Silly me, I guess not."

"Stupid you, you guessed right." With that Hiei disappeared leaving the kitsune alone. But Kurama is smiling all the same.

"I know you want to be with me, even if you won't admit to it."

His green colored eyes have already spotted his emotional investment sitting in the window of his bedroom once he'd gotten home, but he ignored him. He ate dinner, brushed his teeth then bathed, hung out with his younger brother for a bit, listened to some classical piano, then turned in for bed with a smile on his face as he thought Hiei.

Having left the window open, he took comfort in knowing that Hiei would come inside when he was sure he'd fallen asleep. From there Hiei would lie on the loveseat in his bedroom, resting if he needed it, or he'd simply sit on the bed watching him sleep.