The cure

A/N: Hi! Well, um, this a Yusuke/Hiei fic, and pretty romantic, sorta… And sorry if there are any mistakes.

Disclaimer: Believe it or not, I don’t own YYH! What a shocker, huh?

Warning: yaoi, possibly lemon

~*~

In the distant horizon, the Makai sun was slowly gathering its strength. The first, weak rays of light were trying to pierce the dark blue mist that hovered over the land. Here and there, they managed to slice their way through, warning the night to retrieve and submit to its more powerful master. But the planes that carried further than the demon eye could see, remained still and unmoved by this, cold, dark and mysterious. The time would come, very soon, for the night to give in, but it was yet to come. Demons, spawns of all breed, continued to hunt and kill before that glorious red-hot wave would blaze over the land and drive them in their hide-aways. In a quiet, small dwelling, near the edge of the Makai, four creatures had fulfilled this task for tonight, unaware of the approaching morning.

That sight each and every one of them had grown weary off ages ago.

The white, glowing figure jumped down on the ground from a tree close by, and started to dim, until he had reached his mortal form, blending in the shady vegetation. Kurama walked to the dark yokai sitting on a rock and slid his hands in his pockets.

“Is it bad?” came his quiet question, to which the shorter male nearly snorted. “It’s nothing. An insect scratch,” Hiei said in distaste, observing the injury on his bare arm. The flesh was cut deep by the monster’s claw just moments before its meaningless life had come to an end. Hiei rested his arm on his knee casually, feeling a sharp sting of pain burning his skin, but his pale face remained still, not the slightest muscle twitching. There was no pain of body he could not take. They heard the rustle of leaves as another team-member approached them and turned to look. Yusuke was the bloodiest of them all, purple slush dripping down his half-naked chest and splashed over his right cheek, as he had delivered the final jab in the demon’s heart.

“How’s the arm?” he asked lowly, wiping the slime off his face with the back of his palm as he came to them. Fine, dark eyebrows angled down in awakening irritation.

“It’s nothing, just a scratch,” Hiei demeaned coolly, turning to look at the broad-shouldered redhead walking to them.

“Looks bad to me. Maybe you should show it to Koenma,” Kuwabara said, his pale hand reaching to touch the side of the wound. Hiei stood up and glared at him, balling his fists. It caused the pain in his injured arm to jab his consciousness hard and violently, and he had to turn away from the others.

“If you want to go fish for sympathy, knock yourself out. A little spirit energy and I’m as good as new,” he spat and jumped on a branch. “You report to him. Tell him everything went according to plan.” And in less than a split second, his back had disappeared in the night. Kurama turned to Yusuke and Kuwabara, a slightly disappointed look on his face. “Did you get injuries?” he asked them, to which the humans shook their heads curtly. The fox demon sighed and tightened the scarf around his tunika.

“Very well then, let’s go,” he said quietly and started walking in the woods.

“Kurama,” Yusuke said suddenly, and both redheads stopped, noticing the Reikai Tantei leader hadn’t moved. “You go ahead. I think I’ll check on him, just to make sure,” the black-haired teen said, and after a short moment of looking thoughtful, Kurama nodded. The woods swallowed their hiding shadows as they split up.

~*~

The air in Yusuke’s lungs burned him painfully with every breath he sucked in, but he kept running, his pace never slowing down. He had a clear signal; he could see the energy spike caused by Hiei’s body quickly diminishing. The fire apparition had gotten far, but he was slowing down, and his energy was flickering up and down like a strobe light. Yusuke added haste to his steps, knowing that the early hour and high spirit energy would not keep all demons away that had smelled Hiei’s blood by now. Even though he was tired himself, Hiei and Kurama had, as usual, done most of the work. Yusuke had stopped slashing his way through the dense vegetation with his ki, so Hiei wouldn’t notice he was in such a hurry to find the yokai.

Yusuke jumped over a fallen trunk and tore his way through a small opening in the dense tree line. He had reached the waterfalls, and saw a small, dark figure sitting by the pond. Narrow eyes shone brightly in the dark.

“What are you doing here?” came the low growl. Yusuke tried to even his breath and balled his fists, raising his ki violently high for a heartbeat. A death guarantee to anyone in the Makai who dared too close to him. After the initial surprise, Hiei’s expression darkened.

“How noble. Go help someone who needs it,” he growled and turned his back on the taller teen. Yusuke knelt beside him. Hiei had been healing his arm with little success, and they both knew it was draining him out. That didn’t stop him from trying. Yusuke’s dark chocolate eyes observed the flesh, and his hand landed on Hiei’s shoulder abruptly. He didn’t want to start an argument, so he had phrased his words carefully on the way here.

“You’re wasting your energy. I have something much better at home. It’ll fix this in a few days,” he said, standing up, “Come on, let’s go. You don’t want Koenma to order you to rest while we work, do you?” He saw he had hit a nerve with his last comment. Hiei glared at the ground for a long time, as Yusuke stood by him silently. Finally, the smaller male stood up with a grunt and started to walk in the direction of the nearest exit of the Makai. A small smile on his lips, Yusuke followed.

~*~

“You can make yourself at home,” Yusuke said as he opened the window of his new home and let Hiei in the combined bed/living room. The apparition halted by the windowsill and observed the space. He hadn’t known Urameshi had moved, which had caused him some confusion as they had neared the suburbs and gone in a strange direction. It was a small, cosy dojo with a little backyard, the last in the line of a row of similar dojos. It was a very quiet little area, five minutes to the forest from the house. Hiei hopped down on the wooden floor and closed the window with his good arm. The room was messy, with empty beer bottles and instant soba cups lying around, not even to mention clothes. There was a wide one-person futon against the left wall, a fireplace in the corner, a large armchair in front of it, and TV and stereos on the right wall. A most distasteful sense of decoration, where practicality came before beauty.

Yusuke came back from the other room, having changed into loose, dark sweatpants and a T-shirt. He was carrying a little jar in his hand. Putting it on the TV table, he went to start a fire. Hiei took a few steps closer, glancing at the jar. It didn’t look like anything he had seen before in Kurama’s or Yusuke’s homes. It almost looked like something torn straight out of a rural village, a little clay pot with a cork lid. Dusting his pants, Yusuke got up and turned to Hiei. He saw the look directed to the medicine and his lips curled up.

“Don’t worry, I won’t poison you,” he promised and picked up the jar, walking to the bed. He sat and looked at the yokai expectantly, patting the mattress next to him once. Hiei shifted his weight unnoticeably; he wasn’t sure why, but something in Yusuke’s dark, velvety eyes made him a little nervous. There was something mysterious in them, even though it would be invisible to the untrained observer. Hiei swallowed hard and walked to the bed, sitting down hesitantly. The detective started to uncoil the remaining shreds of fabric around Hiei’s torso, revealing the pale skin slowly. It was like a canvas the cool moonlight and sizzling fire were battling to paint on.

Hiei looked away from Yusuke, pressing his ruby eyes on the floor. He couldn’t understand why his cheeks felt so warm all of a sudden. ‘Must be the fireplace,’ he thought. The demon heard the lid pop open and saw from the corner of his eyes how his former enemy took some kind of white cream out of the jar with two fingers. The lotion was instantly numbing, and Yusuke couldn’t feel his fingers anymore. It had to be so, otherwise it would hurt too much to apply on skin. He had purchased it from a demon a while ago, behind Koenma’s busy back, of course, and it had cost him quite a bit. He had grown sick and tired of worrying himself sick and tired, so in the end, it had been worth its price. He started to rub the cream on the wound gently, and the surprise was visible on Hiei’s face. The cream felt cool, and moments after it started to tingle warmly. The fire was burning full-force by now.

Yusuke took Hiei’s hand in his and put it on his knee, straightening the arm. Hiei’s alert eyes followed the movements of Yusuke’s fingers, rubbing his arm up and down, and when he looked up their eyes met. A slight shade of scarlet tinting his cheeks, Hiei looked away quickly, not wanting his team-mate to see his state. The fire demon hadn’t thought things would be like this, or he would’ve surely stayed in the Makai and died. Hiei had never let anyone tend to him, and now he remember why. Yusuke progressed carefully, almost delicately, in a way Hiei was sure wasn’t even possible, treating every inch of damaged flesh like it was precious, deeply concentrated in his work. The yokai’s breathing sped up slightly, and he tried his damnest to calm it down; his bare chest would give him away instantly.

Hiei stole a glance at Urameshi. There was the slightest of frowns on his forehead, creating a line between his dark, defined eyebrows. Hiei followed the exotic hairline, a few narrow strands on the loose cutting the continuum of flawless, tanned skin drastically. He wondered briefly what would happen if he raised a hand and swiped them back against the silky sleek hair. Suddenly Hiei’s mouth felt dry and he licked his lips quickly, diverting his attention from Yusuke’s handsome face. When he saw the detective’s fingers working his skin with ease, his gaze travelled up the arms, lean muscles flexing slightly under smooth skin. Even though Yusuke’s T-shirt wasn’t as tight as his tank top, it still wasn’t enough to hide the athleticism of his broad, firm body. It held confidence only a fighter’s temple could.

And yet, at the moment, Yusuke was tending to Hiei’s wound with utmost care and… tenderness.

“There, all done,” the teen said and brought the fire apparition out of his musings with a jerk. Hiei saw a transparent layer had formed over the area Yusuke had been rubbing. The human got up and went in the bathroom, returning soon with a roll of bandages. He started rolling it around the wound, and Hiei still felt no pain. It was amazing, considering how it stung earlier. The wound slowly disappeared behind the white fabric, and Yusuke tied it up.

“Now you’ve got matching arms,” he murmured, looking Hiei in the eyes, and the demon couldn’t help that vulnerable feeling from returning again and looked away quickly, blushing slightly. He thanked Kami the moonlight shone directly on his face, making it blue. Yusuke went to throw a few more logs in the fire.

“I’m gonna have to replace that bandage and reapply twice a day to keep up with that stuff. I should change it early in the morning… Do you wanna stay here?” he asked, hands in his pockets and leaning against the outer side of the fireplace. Hiei’s heart skipped a beat that was followed by a few very fast ones to make up for it. The sheets felt cool under his palms all of a sudden. He looked around the room and realised something.

“This is the only bed,” he said, his own words sounding obscene to him for some reason. The other corner of Yusuke’s lips turned up barely.

“Well, it’s pretty big in case you haven’t noticed. Plenty of room for two,” he said. Hiei didn’t hear any suggestive undertone in his team-mate’s voice, which, of course, he shouldn’t even expect, and nodded curtly. Yusuke smiled and went to his wardrobe, pulling a large, white T-shirt out of it.

“You can borrow this,” he said and threw the garment at Hiei who caught it with his good arm. Then he pulled his shirt off and dropped his pants on the ground, leaving him in a pair of black, tight boxers, and Hiei looked away quickly. He pulled the shirt on; it was like a tent to him, probably too large for Yusuke even. The raven-haired demon pulled the covers aside and slid between the cool sheets, an absurd feeling washing over him. He was actually staying over at Urameshi’s. He heard the sharp hissing sounds as the spirit detective threw some water over the fire and it died. It was followed by the soft steps of Yusuke walking to the bedside and sitting down. Yusuke pulled the blanket up and slid under it, flat against Hiei’s side, waiting for the other to scoop over to the wall. He balanced his weight by putting a hand on Hiei’s other side, nearly hovering above the smaller male. Hiei looked up into Yusuke’s dark, brown orbs and swallowed hard.

“I’d rather be on this side,” he announced quietly. Yusuke smiled and nodded.

“Alright,” he said and moved over Hiei, his warm, firm body accidentally brushing against the yokai’s. Hiei had to bite the tip of his tongue, eyes widening; he hadn’t expected a sensation like this. He wanted to feel it again, but decided to push those thoughts out of his mind. The sheets rustled as Yusuke made himself comfortable.

“Night,” he mumbled, even though he knew Hiei wouldn’t answer. Silence fell in the room as Hiei stared at the roof with wide eyes. He knew he wouldn’t get any sleep tonight.

To be continued…