~Once Burned~

Konichiwa! And yeah, it's still the afternoon as I post this, so I can use that greeting. Here it is, chapter 6! A few things before I get on with things:
I'm going on vacation for a week. I'm leaving Saturday morning and I'll be back the morning of the 5th of June. Until then, this is the last post you're going to get. I'll update as soon as I'm back, so don't worry, I'm not gonna quit writing!
Another thing; light lemon in this chapter. If you don't like that, it should be pretty easy to avoid. Just skip it or something, I guess.
On with the fic!

“Shuuichi?”

Kurama froze in the process of putting away groceries. He knew that tone. When Shiori used that tone of voice it meant she had sensed that something was wrong, and she would not leave him alone until he had somehow thwarted her anxieties. Times like these usually called for a well-thought-out lie. He placed a mask of mild curiosity upon his features and turned. “Yes, Mother? What is it?”

She gazed at him with such love and worry that it almost made him falter. If only she knew how close he came to telling her everything whenever she did that! He froze his mask in place and waited expectantly.

“Lately, you’ve seemed so distracted,” she told him, “Is something the matter?”

He shook his head, his red hair swishing. “Nothing’s the matter. I’ve simply been thinking about my future.” Which was true, to a point. He had been thinking about Hiei, and their future together, but she did not need to know that. Let her think he was referring to college.

Shiori’s countenance became stern. “I know when something is troubling my son, Shuuichi. Why don’t you think you can confide in me? Do you not trust me?”

Pain pricked at the kitsune’s heart. She had never outright accused him of lying to her, but he had always suspected she knew that he did. Now he had confirmation, and he wondered how many other times she had known he was lying and not said a word, just smiled and let him have his way, trusting that he would come to her with the truth eventually. There was so much he could never tell her, and that was his dilemma. For how could he lie without hurting her, and how could he tell her the truth without hurting her more? Was it possible to tell her part of the truth? Maybe if he left out the details she would still be satisfied. He could think of no other way to handle the situation.

“I trust you, Mother,” he answered, letting go of his mask for once, “I’m sorry. I’m just not used to confiding in people. I’ve been dealing with some complicated emotions as of late.”

“What sort of emotions?” she asked, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.

He sighed. /’Here goes nothing,’ as they say./ “I’ve discovered strong feelings for someone.”

The woman’s dark eyes widened. “Shuuichi, that’s wonderful! Now I know why you didn’t tell me sooner. Boys your age are so shy about telling their parents they’re in love. When will I meet her?”

Kurama felt his face heat. He hadn’t thought he would ever *blush* about anything; he was normally too collected for that. “I’m not sure if you’ll ever meet the person I love,” he admitted, “You see, I’ve told them how I feel, but I don’t know for certain how things will work out. Also, that person is very hesitant about meeting new people—”

//Kurama, we need to talk.//

A jolt of shock ran up the fox-boy’s spine as he recognized the voice in his mind. Hiei rarely used his jagan to speak to people; there was always too much risk that the person whose mind he invaded would be able to trace the link back and invade his mind in return. //Hiei, this is sort of a bad time. I’m trying to explain you to Mother without revealing too much.//

He could sense Hiei’s surprise through the connection. //That’s what we need to talk about, actually. Where are you right now?//

//The kitchen. Mother’s here too.//

A long pause, and then Hiei ‘spoke’ again. //Kurama…how much do you think that woman cares for you?//

//A great deal, I imagine.//

The fire demon’s agitation was obvious even from wherever he currently was. //Do you think she’d accept that you love me, if she didn’t know what I was?//

An uncomfortable feeling welled up inside the redhead as he thought about the implications of that question. Surely she would accept Hiei as his friend, but he had no idea at all what she would think of her precious son being in love with another male. Human ideas were rather prejudiced like that. //I don’t know, Hiei,// he replied, //I know she loves me, and likely will no matter what, but I doubt she would be at ease with my making such a choice. She doesn’t even know you, and that makes it even more complicated.//

From the long silence that followed, Kurama got the impression that he had just struck out *hard.* His heart sank, and he waited with growing unease for his love to answer him.

//Do you think she’d accept your decision better if she knew me first?//

Kurama tried not to jump at the suddenness with which the fire demon answered at last. Did Hiei actually want Shiori to accept him? //It might help some. Why, what are you—//

He nearly leapt right out of his skin when with a ‘crack’ of displaced air, a short, spiky-haired apparition suddenly materialized inside the kitchen, near the entrance to the living room. Luckily, Shiori’s back was to him, so she did not see him appear. She heard the noise, however, and turned to discern its cause.

“Oh my,” she exclaimed, “Are you one of Shuuichi’s friends?”

Hiei snorted a little at Kurama’s human name, but did not correct her. “My name is Hiei, and yes, I am one of his friends. I stopped by for a visit.”

Kurama restrained himself from slapping his hand to his forehead in exasperation. When would Hiei ever stop being the rash one of the group?[1] Yusuke could be just as impulsive and more, but at least he listened to the voice of reason sometimes. The Koorime-boy never bothered, he just did whatever seemed logical to him at the time. He liked going directly from point A to point B, and damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! This, the fox firmly believed, had been a reckless move. Now he would have to explain things to his mother, and quickly, before she tried to be too friendly to the fire demon and ended up getting burned (literally or figuratively).

“I’m sorry for not telling you he’d be coming,” he told Shiori, “I suppose it must have slipped my mind.”

“That’s fine, Shuuichi, just remember to give me some warning next time, all right?” She looked Hiei over, trying to figure out what sort of person he might be. “You said your name was Hiei? How unusual. How did you meet each other?”

“Shuuichi,” and he stressed the name only slightly, “Tutored me for a few months. I was having trouble in school.”

Amazed at how the short demon could lie with such a straight face (that ability rivaled his own for sure), Kurama immediately began formulating the rest of the story in his head, in case his mother asked him for details.

Mother’s intuition can be very strong, and Shiori had picked up on a few things during all of this. First, the way her son had avoided the use of gender pronouns when telling her that he was in love with someone. Second, the way a kind of energy seemed to pass between this young-looking stranger with the deep voice and her child. She was neither blind nor dense, and she could feel that these two were quite close. Friends? It was possible, but a suspicion had begun to grow in her thoughts. She told herself that she would not address or acknowledge it until she had more insight into their relationship.

She turned to her son. “It was kind of you to help him with his schooling. And you became friends during that?”

“Yes,” he answered, smiling a genuine smile, “We’ve been through a great deal together, along with two other friends of ours from a different school. Hiei can be difficult sometimes, but we get along.”

The woman laughed softly at the way the shorter boy scowled at the light jab. It was rare that Shuuichi teased anyone, and it warmed her to see him with a friend at last. He had been a lonely boy growing up, and she had worried that he would never make any lasting companionships.

The mood in the room seemed to relax significantly the more they all talked. Kurama blessed his luck that things were going well so far. Hiei wasn’t getting annoyed with “the ningen female” for asking questions, and Shiori didn’t appear to suspect anything. The kitsune busied himself with putting away the items he had bought while he was out, keeping one eye on the fire apparition and his mother just in case.

“Well,” Hiei announced finally, “I’d better go. I have things to take care of at home.”

“It was a pleasure meeting you,” Shiori replied, “Will you be coming by again soon?”

“I’d like that.”

The black-haired demon turned and walked out of the kitchen and through the living room to the front door. With a lifting of one hand to Kurama as a goodbye, he was gone. It was the first time the redhead had ever seen him use the proper exit, rather than a window or a back door. Kurama sensed Hiei’s youki flash to the back of the house, then up to his bedroom window. There it stayed, and he knew the other was waiting for him.

“I’m going to go to my room now,” he told his mother, “I think I’ll get some more work in before lunch.”

She embraced him warmly. “You work so hard. I just know you’ll get into that college you want. Your brother looks up to you, you know.”

Kurama smiled at the thought of his step-sibling. The boy depended on him, and he was determined to set a good academic example. Currently, the younger teen was taking summer school courses, so that he would have a head start on high school once he got in.

/I just hope he doesn’t take after me too much./ the reincarnated fox demon thought. An image of his step-brother wielding a rose whip almost made him laugh aloud. No, it wouldn’t do for the boy to take after him *that* much at all.

He went up to his room and sure enough, Hiei was waiting in the tree outside, and he opened the window to let him in.

“How do you think it went?” the smaller demon asked.

“She likes you,” Kurama assured him, “I’m sure the two of you will get along fine. Someday, I might even be able to tell her how I feel about you.”

“About that,” Hiei said, frowning, “You *are* going to tell her eventually, right? You can’t expect us to work out if I’m always having to hide from her. I won’t do that, fox. I won’t commit to someone who’s ashamed of me.”

Hands slightly roughened from grasping the rose whip came up to softly hold the fire youkai’s face between them. “Hiei, listen to me,” Kurama implored, “She’s my mother, and she means everything to me, but so do you. I will tell her, but not until the time is right. I can’t choose between you, and it isn’t fair to ask me to do that. Please, have faith in me and give me time. Can you do that?”

Hiei glanced away. “Hn. All right, but I’m not a patient person. I’m not going to wait on you forever.”

“I don’t expect you to.” Kurama paused, then tilted Hiei’s chin up so that those dark-red eyes were focused on him again. “So…does this mean you want us to work out?” he asked.

“Baka,” the fire demon snapped, “I never said that.” But his words lacked conviction, and Kurama knew that whether he had said it or not, that was what he had meant.

/I think you love me too, Hiei./ he though, green eyes dancing, /You just don’t know it yet./

He leaned down and brushed his lips over his diminutive love’s. Hiei did nothing to discourage him, and Kurama kissed him more deeply. Small hands fisted in the kitsune’s shirt as he slid his fingers into thick, black hair, and just to be cheeky Kurama licked along the underside of the shorter male’s upper lip. Hiei did not bite him for that; rather, he gave a barely perceptible shiver and tightened his grip on Kurama’s shirt.

The sensation was not as ticklish as the other one had been, and Hiei was almost certain he liked it. He pressed his mouth a little harder against Kurama’s, silently demanding more. The fox complied, and he shivered again. Yes, definitely categorized on the “nice feelings” list.

A hand wandered down from his hair to stroke up and down his back. He stiffened when that hand caressed down even further before meandering back up, but in retrospect that felt nice too, and he did not reprimand the kitsune. He felt a chuckle vibrate through the redhead’s chest, most likely because he was being so jumpy. His eyes narrowed at the mild mockery, and then he *did* bite Kurama, catching the fox’s lower lip between his sharp teeth. Kurama yelped and pulled away so fast that his foot slipped and he fell, unwittingly taking both of them to the floor.

Hiei grunted as he landed on top of the taller male. When he looked down at Kurama, the kitsune just flashed him an impertinent smile, and leaned up to kiss him again. That warmth and solidity beneath Hiei was better than he could have imagined it would be, and he allowed himself to relax into the arms that wrapped around him and drew him down.

Hands traced invisible patterns over his body, and his eyelids drooped as his skin warmed and tingled. A soft, strange sound burst from his throat when Kurama’s knee pressed against the place between his thighs. The kitsune broke the kiss and nuzzled the underside of his jaw, and another sound like the first escaped him when Kurama nibbled at his neck. His own reactions both intrigued Hiei and made him nervous; everything was new, and so different from any of his previous life experiences.

Kurama leisurely rubbed his knee against the front of the Koorime halfbreed’s pants, watching as Hiei’s breathing turned harsher and the small demon’s face became flushed. “How are you feeling,” he murmured, “Do you want me to stop?” Mind, it wasn’t really fair to ask that while fondling him, but when had Youko Kurama ever played fair?

Hiei’s mind was awhirl with the novelty of his current circumstances, and could not answer the question. Did he want Kurama to stop? What a ridiculous notion! He couldn’t even get his lungs to work properly, what gave the fox the idea that even if he’d *wanted* to, he could have put a stop to this? He managed to shake his head, but that was the most coherency he was capable of.

His eyes widened when the kitsune rolled them over. Now he was staring up into intense, emerald pools, made darker than normal with desire. The redhead took his mouth in a dominating kiss unlike any previous one, and Hiei lost all rational thought. The air was hot between them, Kurama’s weight pressed him down, that mouth plundered his own, and if it didn’t stop or something else didn’t happen soon he was going to pass out, he just knew it....

A sharp moan suddenly escaped him as the taller demon stroked him firmly through the cloth of his black pants. He didn’t understand why his body was reacting to Kurama’s touch the way it was, but he wasn’t about to ask stupid questions at a moment like this. It felt strange and a little frightening, but most of all it felt good, and he squirmed beneath the fox-boy, wanting more. He nearly choked when Kurama leaned down and breathed hot air over the place he was touching, then lightly pressed his tongue against it through the fabric. *That* was definitely new.

Kurama knew he was pushing it, but he had received no discouragement thus far, and until he did he was not about to stop. He managed somehow to get Hiei out of his ankle-length, black cloak and white scarf, admiring as he did so the well-toned shoulders and arms that were normally concealed by the heavy garment. The average demon would always mistake Hiei’s smallness for weakness, and that demon would always be wrong. Of course, the average demon would never see Hiei this way, a fact which delighted the fox to think of.

/I wonder if he knows he’s physically much stronger than I am?/ Kurama mused as he pushed up the black, sleeveless shirt the fire demon wore.

He moved up and flicked his tongue against a taut nipple, secretly loving the way Hiei’s lips parted in an inaudible gasp. When he took the nub in his mouth and sucked gently, the crimson-eyed demon nearly arched off the floor, and hands came up to take an almost painful grip on Kurama’s shoulders. So sensitive, the fox thought, it was obvious he had never been touched in such a way.

His hand went down to the four or so belts Hiei always seemed to wear, and the question of “why so many?” crossed his mind, but he did not ask. Meaningless conversation would ruin the moment. Hiei made no move to halt his actions as he undid the white belts one by one. Kurama had to wonder whether he even noticed. Not that it mattered; he’d notice soon enough.

Sudden exposure to the cool air of the room was all the warning Hiei received before he was engulfed in searing wetness. His mind short-circuited, and for a minute he could not even comprehend what had happened. Then Kurama swallowed around him, and a harsh cry exploded from his throat. All at once he no longer knew what to do with his hands, but he felt as though he should do something from the way they twitched, and he ended up digging his nails into the floor with a sense of supreme urgency.

The carpet rubbing against his bare skin as he moved felt rough in his hypersensitive state, a vivid contrast to the feel of Kurama’s tongue lapping softly at his length. The fox scraped teeth lightly over it and he jerked, his head snapping to the side and his bangs falling in his eyes, damp with perspiration. Why was it so hot? Wasn’t he a fire demon? How on earth was Kurama doing this to him? He could barely breathe all over again; his chest heaved and his breath came only in sharp gasps. Something frantic and almost painful but still far from it was coiling inside of his lower belly, and he tried to speak, tried to stop the kitsune; he was unsure and unprepared, but it wouldn’t be stopped and the words wouldn’t come so he had no choice but to let it happen.

Kurama took him to the root and sucked hard, and Hiei’s eyes went the size of saucers an instant before they squeezed shut, and he let out a broken gasp like the kitsune had never heard before and especially never from him. Hiei shuddered and his body went rigid just as that sound escaped him, and Kurama pulled back a little as a jet of bittersweet fluid filled his mouth. The reincarnated demon fox pondered for a few seconds what he should do with it, then realized that he couldn’t very well spit it out on his bedroom floor, and swallowed. It wasn’t something he did often, but Hiei’s taste was not unpleasant, so it didn’t bother him to do so now. His own arousal was aching from watching the Koorime-boy writhe, but he ignored it. This had been about pleasing his little lover, not about satisfying himself.

Hiei kept his eyes tightly shut, his lungs slowly returning to their normal state of “inhale, exhale.” He hadn’t realized how much tension was in his limbs until they went limp, his arms and legs sliding bonelessly out straight on the floor. He was still panting softly, much to his chagrin, but as he cooled off that too lessened and went away. Tired, he was so tired now, and he still wasn’t one-hundred percent certain what had happened. All right, well obviously the fox had done something absolutely incredible to him with his mouth, but other than that Hiei was basically clueless. His reactions, that feeling at the end, he understood none of it aside from that A) it had felt heinously good, and B) he wouldn’t really mind it happening again sometime soon. But not right now; he didn’t think his exhausted body could take it.

Kurama chuckled a little at the sleepy expression on the small demon’s face. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“Hn.” was all the fire apparition could manage, which just made the fox laugh some more. Hiei felt his face heat (an amazing feat, considering he was fairly sure all the blood had drained out of his upper body over the course of that). “Shut up,” he muttered, “Don’t laugh at me.”

“I’m sorry,” Kurama replied, a smile still tugging at his lips, “It’s only that when you’re like this, I can see why anyone might say you were cute.”

Hiei’s blush intensified. Where did the baka kitsune get off telling him he was “cute,” anyway? He glared—unconvincingly—at the fox, but it was impossible to stay angry when his entire self was humming with an odd, pleasant warmth in the aftermath of recent events. Oh, to hell with it, he decided. It had felt good, hadn’t it? So there was no reason to complain.

“I’ll get you for this later.” he grouched, closing his eyes again and not protesting when Kurama wrapped his arms around him and hugged him.

“Oh? Did I go too fast for you?” the kitsune queried, a note of genuine worry in his voice alongside the mischief.

The fire demon smirked and buried his face in soft, red hair. “Yes. But I won’t get mad, fox, I’ll just get even.” /Once I know more about what you just did to me, that is. I’ll definitely pay you back then. It will be worth the research to watch you squirm./

Kurama did a remarkable impression of Hiei’s own, habitual snort. “I’d enjoy watching you try. I’m a fox; we’re not gotten back so easily.”

“Kurama.”

“Yes, Hiei?”

“Shut up.”

The shorter demon kissed him, nipping lightly at his lip before pulling away. Kurama brushed slightly-damp black hair out of his beloved’s eyes. “I love you, Hiei.”

Hiei gazed back at him, his countenance unreadable. “I know.”

And it was enough. With time, Hiei would answer with a confession of his own, Kurama knew. For now, however, it was enough to know that the fire demon believed him and trusted him. It was all the fox needed right there, right then.

Later, as he was dressing himself again, Hiei realized that he had no idea when he had decided to believe Kurama’s claim of love. Upon introspection he realized that he just knew it was true. He trusted Kurama more than anyone else, and that trust was what allowed him to believe the words the kitsune had said. Satisfied, he cast one, small smile[2] at the redhead’s back as Kurama gathered up his school things to begin working; then he laid down on the fox-boy’s bed and proceeded to take a nap. He was safe here, and would sleep peacefully.




[1] Hell *yes* Hiei can be rash! Does anyone else remember the whole incident with taboo words when he went and yelled "Hot!" just to prove Kaitou's powers didn't work on him? And it turned out they actually did work on him....Anyway, he's just about as stupid as Yusuke sometimes when it comes to thinking things through.

[2]I can personally attest to seeing Hiei smile. I'm not sure where in the series I saw it (blah, I sound lame!), but it was definately in there! Thanks everyone for your patience, and I hope you all liked what you read. :)
P.S., did I do a good job of using more imagery? Let me know what you thought, please!