The cure

A/N: Hey you all! Thanks soooo much for reviewing! I still can't believe people like this... Anyways, if Yusuke was behaving badly in the last chapter, this one is gonna make you wanna kick his ass all the way to jupiter! But it'll all work out in the end.

~*~

Hiei sat on the edge of the table, feeling very self-conscious. His slender fingers draping under the wooden surface, he leaned his weight only partially on his backside and observed his former enemy. Yusuke was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, the kitchen light caressing his round shoulders. It was getting dark outside. Yusuke bent down in front of the oven and looked in, a broad grin spreading on his face. He looked at Hiei, his brown eyes warm, smiling. Hiei's gut tightened at that look.

"About ready, let's give it a few more minutes to get real crispy," he said and straightened up to his full height. The single, lonely lamp swung weakly on the ceiling in resistance, trying to shine some light past Yusuke's tall, broad, athletic form that left the jaganshi in restless darkness. Ever since that kiss four days ago, Hiei had been, albeit not admitting it to himself, more alert than usual. They hadn't spoken much, apart from the most basic small talk from the detective's end. The yokai felt like anything might happen, and stayed prepared every day and night. Nothing in Yusuke's behaviour hinted that he was going to do it again, but one could never be too prepared. So Hiei had waited, first in anxiety, then in uncertainty, and now just in sheer impatience.

"Alright, perfect!" Yusuke had taken the sizzling, glistening, red-hot pizza out of the oven. A most delicious scent drifted in the kitchen, and Hiei shifted aside, making room for their dinner. Yusuke got a pie slicer and pressed it down, a crack sounding when it penetrated the crust. He cut it into 8 pieces and went to the closet to get something. Hiei hoisted a slice with his right hand and took a small bite. He felt something hot rolling down his jaw, throat and chest and looked down as Yusuke's words slowly sunk in.

"Better get plates, the cheese is so greasy it'll mess everything up." The onyx-haired teen turned around with two plates and stared at the sight. Hiei observed the oil trail down his body, and absent-mindedly wiped his jaw with the back of his left wrist. Then his eyes grew wide as he realised the oil was soaking through his bandage and stared at it. Yusuke set the plates down and rushed to him, picking a napkin from the table.

"Here, let me," he said and wiped the oil off Hiei's chin. Then he folded the paper and wiped the throat as well, sweeping it over the collarbone. His eyes followed the trail down to where it disappeared under the shirt. Glancing at Hiei, he set the napkin aside and started to open the first button. Hiei's face heated up and he glanced at Yusuke. Their eyes met and the yokai looked down again quickly. The third button was open and now the spirit detective was working on the last one. Yusuke knew he wasn't supposed to feel like there was something erotic about this, that he was just cleaning Hiei up, but he couldn't help but stir at the sight. He brushed his hands feather-lightly over Hiei's shoulders, the shirt sliding down and revealing the compact, toned upper body completely.

Ignoring his fastening breath, Yusuke picked up the napkin and swiped it down Hiei's chest, over his stomach, 'I can do this, I can do this, I can do this...', and down to where the ivory skin was cut off by black fabric. Yusuke stared at the line, the velvet in his eyes darkening and softening, and he looked at Hiei. The fire demon was breathing noticeably faster; his eyes staring straight back into Yusuke's, the shadow failing in hiding his flush. Slowly, ever so slowly, Yusuke leaned closer to Hiei, never looking away. And despite of how badly Hiei wanted to look away, he couldn't. The eye contact didn't break until Yusuke's heavy lids slid closed and his lips whispered over Hiei's, the demon's hot breath intoxicating him.

Their mouths worshipping one another, Yusuke's hand rose slowly, his fingertips ghosting up the planes of smooth skin, curving over Hiei's shoulder and draping behind the neck. Hiei's right hand rose aimlessly to tighten around the front of Urameshi's shirt as their kiss deepened. Time started to blur away.

~Riinnnngggggg~

Yusuke and Hiei started at the violent sound, and stared at each other in bewilderment. It took them a few seconds to realise it was the doorbell. Letting out a low, barely contained groan, the Reikai Tantei leader straightened up and walked in the hallway. He yanked the door open.

"What?" he asked rudely before seeing who it was. Kurama and Kuwabara looked slightly surprised at Yusuke's tone. The spirit detective immediately changed his demeanour.

"Oh, hi guys! What's up?" he asked, trying to sound his usual, confident self. Kuwa's face took on a put-off tone. "What's up? What's up with you? Trying to get voted out of the neighbourhood, man?" he asked, crossing his arms. Yusuke's brows knitted together. "I was just in the middle of something, don't get a wedgie," he muttered and stood aside, letting the redheads in. Kurama observed the interiors of the house briefly; he and Kuwabara had been here before. The fox demon turned to Yusuke.

"Is Hiei's arm doing any better?" he asked quietly, not knowing where the fire apparition was at the moment. Yusuke seemed to blush for no reason and leaned against the wall, trying to look casual. "Yeah, it's healing pretty fast, a lot faster anyway than with other methods," he said. Kurama's emerald eyes fell on the floor, an intensely concentrated look on his fair face. After having made sure none of Koenma's little spies were present at the moment, he looked at Yusuke again, his eyes a shade harder.

"Where did you get whatever you're using on him?" he asked. Yusuke looked away casually.

"From this guy," he threw, not the slightest intent to reveal the information. Kurama glanced at the kitchen door. "From the Makai?" A nod. Kurama's brows furrowed in concern. "Are you sure it's safe for demons? If you bought it for yourself, it might-"

"I didn't buy it for myself," Yusuke cut off, looking Kurama in the eyes again, "Now, I've kept him waiting for long enough. You guys want pizza or what?" And with that, Yusuke made it clear the conversation was over and walked away. Kazuma and Kurama followed him silently.

~*~

Hiei had begun to close his shirt the second he had heard the voices of his team-mates. He hadn't noticed to put the buttons in their respective holes, though, which earned him two rather interested looks when the rest of the team came in. Kurama smiled mysteriously.

"Hello. How's the recovery process?" he asked, which gained a sneer from the yokai. "Nnh," Hiei confirmed. Yusuke took out two extra plates. "It's gotta be your lucky day," he said to Kurama and Kuwabara, "There's enough pizza to go around, plus me and Hiei were gonna watch a kung fu movie-marathon." Yusuke's unnoticed gaze lingered on Hiei for a split of a second before he went to get beer from the fridge for Kuwabara and himself. Until a few minutes ago, the movie marathon had, indeed, been their plan for tonight, but he couldn't help wondering how the night would've turned out if his team-mates hadn't shown up...

Hiei was the last to enter the bed/living room. Kuwabara had made the armchair his, and the yoko had sat on the floor Indian style. Yusuke, sprawled casually on the futon, flipped through the channels until finally finding the right one, and set the remote aside, pulling his other pillow against the wall on his left. He smiled at Hiei and sat a bowl of ice cream on the mattress next to him. The fire demon hadn't realised the detective had gotten him some; then again, maybe it would be better if he didn't eat any more pizza. It could get quite... messy, after all. Hiei went and sat on Yusuke's left side, taking the bowl on his lap, and leaned against the pillow whilst Yusuke held it up for him. Urameshi didn't move his arm away.

The first film had begun a while ago. Hiei didn't find it particularly interesting; everything he saw was like a watered-down version of their fights. Watered-down a million times. He had no idea why the others liked it, but if the detective enjoyed this, Hiei could sit there quietly, at least for a while. He decided to focus his attention on his treat instead, the only alternative being Yusuke and that wasn't really a good idea. The ice cream was vanilla, coated with still warm chocolate sauce. Hiei, not supposed to move his left arm yet, took the spoon in his right hand. The bowl was freezing his lap, and he decided it would be more pleasant to hold it up instead of eating it. Now, of course, he couldn't operate the spoon. After a while, Yusuke turned to look at him.

He observed Hiei's arm, then the other, and set his plate aside. He grabbed the spoon and scooped some dessert and sauce on it, lifting it up. Hiei stared at it with wide eyes, his cheeks darkening. "Well?" Yusuke asked, "Don't you want to eat it before it melts?" Hiei could feel Kurama and Kuwabara look at him, and swallowed hard. He leaned forwards and took the ice cream in his mouth, letting Yusuke pull the spoon out. The dark-haired teen had to stifle a moan as Hiei's pink tongue darted out suddenly to give the back of the spoon a lick, thinking how glorious it would be if that spoon was an extension of him instead. Yusuke shook his head quickly. He had to stop thinking about things like that.

"More," Hiei asked quietly, gaining Yusuke's attention again. The rest of the room faded away as Yusuke kept feeding Hiei small bites, the two looking into each other's eyes, somewhere in a whole other place. Kurama stared at the sight for a while, looking slightly surprised, and glanced at Kuwabara, who looked outright stunned. Soon his expression changed, however.

"Taste good?" Kuwa asked lightly, his smile innocent on the surface, but hiding a million tones that one could interpret as innuendos. Hiei cast the redhead a glare, but the treat did, in fact, taste too good for him to stop eating and insult the human, so he just closed his eyes and took in another spoonful. Kuwabara cocked a ginger brow high and gave the yoko a look. Kurama grinned and shrugged, turning to watch the movie. After a while Kazuma gave up and did the same.

~*~

Later, much later, outside of the Urameshi residence, a human youth and a demon were making their way home.

"Whatever he's giving him, I want the same stuff!"

"Oh, stop it, Kuwa."

~*~

Fine, dark eyebrows furrowed tiredly. Hiei opened his eyes and looked at the black TV screen. Kitsune and Kuwabara had gone away; the room was quiet and dark. He heard the even breathing of his former opponent, more so, he felt it. Yusuke's strong, warm chest rose and sunk evenly, Hiei's head resting on it like it was a pillow. Hiei lifted his head slowly and immediately felt the tenseness in his muscles. 'How long have we lied here?' As the weight of his head disappeared, Yusuke started and velvety chocolate eyes creaked open. "Nhh, Hiei?" he mumbled sleepily before his eyes landed on the fire demon and softened. "Hi." Hiei stared at him.

"The others went home. Didn't want to wake you up. Guess kung fu isn't your thing, huh?" he chuckled lowly and stretched his neck by tilting his head to the side. The room was a deep, dark shade of blue. Hiei and Yusuke were still sitting. The koorime couldn't even remember leaning against the detective and falling asleep. He had always thought only people with faith in the world were able to do that. Yusuke took Hiei's hand in his, rubbing the back of the palm with his thumb.

"Guess it's time to check on your wound," he mumbled and straightened up, groaning a bit in exhaustion. He reached to his bedside lamp and flicked the light on, taking Hiei's arm again and starting to open the bandage carefully. Hiei was surprised at how well his injury had healed; the skin, if swollen, was closed, though the colour was an uneven black-purple. Yusuke observed Hiei's stunned expression. The thought that the fire demon always looked so much younger like that crossed his mind. He had wanted to ask Hiei something for a while now, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Shortly after Hiei had dosed off, Kuwabara and Kurama had begun talking to Yusuke -they weren't that into the movie marathon in the end, but they wanted to wait until Hiei wasn't listening.

They had discussed their next mission, Koenma's orders and what had been happening while Urameshi and Hiei had been gone from the scene for almost a week. It had all caused a seed of uneasiness to sprout within Yusuke, and his grip around Hiei's shoulder had tightened subconsciously. Part of him wished the yokai wouldn't heal for a long time -he didn't want Hiei to leave. But the more his team-mates talked, the harder reality came crashing down on him. It would only be a matter of a very short time before things would go back to normal again, and he would get to see Hiei only on missions. And Kuwabara's half-hearted teasing about how well Hiei seemed to like it in Yusuke's armpit didn't exactly help.

Yusuke bit the tip of his tongue. There had to be a way for him to ask without sounding suspicious.

"Hiei? What are you going to do after your arm heals completely?" he asked, looking into auburn orbs that quickly rose to meet his eyes. For a restless heartbeat, they felt like they could read each other's minds, but then Hiei pressed his gaze on his arm again firmly.

"Kill demons," he said flatly. Yusuke nodded, "Obviously." A thick silence landed between them like a curtain. It would have been so easy to brush aside and truly see what the other was feeling, but neither made a move. Hiei kept his eyes on the arm, and soon Yusuke's brown orbs landed on it as well. The dark purple seemed to scream at him, mock him. Yusuke knew he had brought this on himself, that it was all his fault. He could have gone a million other ways. He could've let someone else take care of Hiei's arm. He could've taken care of it, but avoid Hiei all the time. He could've bought a guest mattress. Could have, could have, and could have. But he didn't, and now here he was, hating himself, feeling like an absolute fool. Suffocating in his own awkward inability to just tell Hiei.

Yusuke got up and walked to the fireplace swiftly, picking the clay pot up. He swallowed hard, but the painful lump in his throat was there to stay, perhaps for good. He took a deep, inaudible breath, and after making sure his facial features were smooth, returned to Hiei. He sat and begun to tend to the arm silently. Hiei watched him under his bangs. He felt the change in Yusuke's demeanour, but couldn't understand what could have caused it. It was like they were on a whole other planet compared to the mood before Kurama and Kazuma arrived. Hiei watched silently as Urameshi closed the bind and went to wash up. Hiei crawled under the blanket and waited, still, rigid. Breathing was suddenly harder. Yusuke came back, flipped the light off, stepped on the futon from the end of the bed, and slid to his place without touching Hiei.

The cool, aloof silence settled in after a spiritless "g'night", and the jaganshi stared at the dark ceiling. Wondering where he had gone wrong.

To be continued...