Kuso kuso kuso kuso kuso... He hated losing control like that. He hated the idea that after so many years of training he still could slip off a tree branch so clumsily as that. He hated being clumsy in front of others, especially those particular others. And more than anything else, he hated that stupid miserable brainless ugly obnoxious bastard that was trying to corrupt his innocent little sister! KUSO!!!!!!

"Hiei-san!" Yukina exclaimed, her sweet face beaming with joy. "You came! I'm so glad you could make it!"

Oh please, don't look at me like that... Hiei glared away, all his muscles toughening in solid rock under his black cloak.

"Oi Hiei!" Yusuke saluted. "Sneaking on us like always, huh?"

Botan tried hard not to laugh at the Fire Demon's furious scowl. "Now that worked a lot faster than my whistle... Why didn't I think about that when Yusuke was kidnapped?"

"What are you doing here, shrimp?" Kuwabara snarled. "No one invited you."

Kurama noticed Hiei's muscles tensing even more, and he winced himself. No, Hiei hadn't been invited. The small youkai was there, sitting right on his lap, and as Yusuke implied, he had probably been watching them from the treetop for a long time. Because his proud Youko/ningen lover didn't invite him to spend Valentine's together. Thank Inari he understands nothing about Valentine's traditions in Ningenkai... It had suddenly dawned on him that Hiei might feel rejected if he knew he hadn't been invited to a lovers holiday.

Shizuru smiled at the lovely sight of the angry little demon blushing and fuming in Kurama's lap, the redhead visibly having trouble to keep his emotions in check. "Why didn't I bring my camera?" she murmured to herself.

Bowing lightly to greet the newcomer, Keiko fought to keep a pleasant grin on her face just as before. It wasn't that she didn't like Hiei. Sure, he wasn't amiable as Kurama, and could be pretty scary sometimes. She had even had a few nightmares about him back in Yusuke's first months as a Reikai Tantei. But the aloof youkai always kept safe distance from her and everybody else, and she trusted Yusuke's judgement of characters: if he said Hiei was a good and valuable friend, then that was exactly what he was.

However, among all her supernatural friends, Hiei was the most... alien to her. All others fit naturally in her world of normal people living normal lives - or as normal as she could manage - and she could easily forget about their peculiar origins and nature. But not Hiei. There was nothing ordinary about him: appearance, voice, clothing, attitude... He was a constant reminder of that dangerous universe that had seduced her husband and that was forever beyond her grasp.

"You're too late this time, Hiei," Yusuke snickered. "Kuwabara already got all the sweets."

Botan and Shizuru, getting the double meaning in Yusuke's pun, let out an amused chortle. But the level of strain charging Hiei's body and aura made Kurama too uneasy to join the good-natured mockery of their friends. The Fire Demon seemed very close to burst everything around him to ashes. Out of the others' sight, the Youko fondled Hiei's chubby hand over the bandages, trying to calm him down.

But the hand abruptly vanished from under his, as the youkai blurred away from his lap to materialize right in the center of the circle the seven friends had seated in. He stood up very erect and still, glaring down at Kuwabara.

"You petty low-life ningen," he hissed, his eyes two erupting volcanoes. "How dare you?"

Kuwabara stared up at the furious demon, crossing his arms in a disdainful gesture. "Sorry, shrimp. You're late. It's done already."

Hiei's eyebrows disappeared under the bandanna, his shocked face shifting from Kuwabara to Yukina and back to Kuwabara, then back to Yukina once more, measuring her up and down, as if trying to find any difference in her semblance. "What you mean, done already?" he stuttered, his lips trembling, a ghastly suspicion forming in his mind. "You didn't... please tell me you didn't, Yukina."

The Koorime paled, terrified that she had disappointed Hiei. She began a shuddering apology, when Hiei grabbed Kuwabara's collar and brought the boy's head to face closely his most dreadful scowl. "How could you?" he snarled. "You disgusting pig, I'm gonna kill you for that!" He should have never left his sister in the Ningenkai, should have never trusted that human pervert with a delicate helpless child like Yukina. The idea of those big gawky hands on her... Dozens of very painful forms of murder played though his mind.

But if Hiei imagined the human would be scared, he was in for a surprise. A very disconcerting one.

Kuwabara showed him the tongue.

"If you wanted your share, you should have come sooner," he chided.

It was kind of a miracle that Hiei didn't explode in flames at that. "What... Did... You... SAY????"

"The cookies," Yusuke managed to say over his hysterical laughter. "He's... oh my... he's talking... *cough cough*... about the cookies... oh my stomach..."

"What's with you guys and those cookies?" Keiko muttered. It sure sounded a lame excuse for them to get so inflamed about.

"Hiei-san, I'm really sorry," Yukina moaned. "I didn't know you were coming. But I promise to bake a batch just for you."

And now Kuwabara was deeply scared. "Er... that's not necessary, Yukina-san. Hiei probably won't be staying for long, ne?" he asked hopefully. Why would a beauty like Yukina be so kind to a bully like Hiei, he still couldn't figure out.

Hiei let go of Kazuma's collar, shutting his eyes tight in a big effort to cope with the brutal relief, raving annoyance and vicious urge of silencing Urameshi's mocking laugh the hard way. At least Yukina was still untouched.

Kurama saw his lover's cheeks go quickly from dead pale to crimson red, and he risked reaching out and grabbing the hem of his cloak, pulling him to sit between him and Shizuru. "Calm down, Hiei," he whispered. "Remember that Yukina-chan always gets upset when you lose hold of your temper." That was nasty emotional blackmail, but if it kept the Jaganshi from rolling in the grass punching Kuwabara in defense of Yukina's honor, so be it.

The youkai's small hands trembled visibly. "He didn't," he sighed. "Thank all the gods, he didn't."

Kurama winced. Hiei was definitely disturbed about this. He always claimed that a Forbidden Child had nothing to thank any god about.

Shizuru leaned over to murmur in Hiei's ear. "You're giving my brother too much credit. It took a whole year before he had the guts to ask her out on a date."

He glared at her by the corner of the eye, but said nothing.

"Hiei, you know Kuwabara-kun would never harm Yukina-chan in any way," the Youko scolded. "And he's very attached to the old traditions and values of Ningenkai."

"No kidding," Shizuru snorted, pulling a cigarette from her jacket's pocket. "He was so troubled about who he should ask her hand to, but she said there was no one, since her long lost brother isn't around." Her tone was as mischievous as her smile. "Light it for me, sugar?"

Kurama braced himself for a furious remark, and was left openmouthed when it didn't come and the Fire Demon actually lighted her cigarette with a swift pat of his finger. "I thought you endorsed this farce," Hiei said icily.

"Oh, you were listening before, that's right," she remembered. "I do endorse it. I really can't think of another two people who look cuter together. Present company excluded, of course," she added as an afterthought, glancing quickly to Kurama.

Oh jeez, Kurama blushed. Hiei didn't flinch.

"My point is," Shizuru continued, "if you wish to say something about who can and who cannot marry Yukina, you'll have to clear it out what gives you the right to do it."

Kurama grinned. Apparently Hiei would have to deal with more than one nasty blackmailer today.

In the other side of the circle, Kazuma was threatening to beat Yusuke to a pulp if he didn't tell him what he was laughing so hard about. Urameshi lay down on his side in the grass, almost in fetal position, hands clasping his aching belly and tears running down his cheeks, his chortle far from over. Trying to distract the betrothed ones from figuring out the secret motivations under Hiei's fury, Botan held Yukina's hands and complimented her for the impending nuptials.

"You're gonna be such a beautiful bride! Where are you planning to stage the ceremony?"

Yukina hesitantly turned her attention from the still grumpy Hiei, who now kept a low-voice conversation with Shizuru, too low for her to hear any words. "I talked to Genkai-shihan," she told Botan. "She insisted that the service should be performed in her temple."

"Oh what a wonderful idea," Keiko exclaimed. "Inside or in the gardens?"

"The gardens!" Botan said excitedly. "Must be in the gardens, close to the lake behind the house. We can decorate that small bridge with flowers and bows and lanterns, so the bride can cross elegantly to meet her handsome groom," she went on dreamingly.

"What handsome groom?" Yusuke frowned. "I thought she was marrying Kuwabara..." The handsome groom immediately jumped over Yusuke's neck, now very willing to strangle him.

"We should put floating candles on the water too," Keiko suggested, ignoring the boys' tussle.

"Keiko, that colored paper arrangement you had hanging from the door in your wedding," Yukina said, "do you think I could have one like that too? It would look beautiful in the arch past the stairway."

Keiko smiled fondly in remembrance. "Sure, that was a gift from my old friend Midori. I'll ask her to make one for you, she'll be delighted, and she's really very talented."

"Did you choose your gown already?" Botan queried.

Yukina nodded proudly. "I'm already finishing the embroidering of my kimono..."

"And we must think about the feast, too," Keiko noted.

Botan laughed, pointing at the brawling boys. "With those two, we better make the biggest wedding cake of the three worlds!"

Hiei watched the animated chitchat among the three girls, utterly stupefied. He could barely recognize his twin sister anymore. Even if he never allowed himself to get too close from her, he used to think that in some essential pre-matter level they were still as intimate as only two beings that had shared the same womb could be. But only now he noticed that Yukina had dropped the "-san" when she addressed the girls. There was some sort of hidden communication at work there, right in front of him, something he couldn't quite grasp.

He couldn't believe his eyes and ears. She seemed so happy, so excited... so unconcerned. Even if she had somehow fallen bewitched by Kuwabara's... charms... whatever they were... was it possible that she actually held no second thoughts? Hiei could understand the bewitching part very well. Miserably well. But he had lots of second thoughts. And third thoughts, fourth thoughts, fifth thoughts... He was about to repent and conclude that he had made an horrible mistake every time he rested his eyes on Kurama's amazingly charming figure - even if only to shrug any regrets away to a dark corner of his mind at the first smile of the beguiling Youko.

But he was weak. His blood was weak, his spirit was weak. Nothing like Yukina. He had always been so sure Yukina would never permit the ugly and dirty world he lived in to claim her. She was better than that. He had been so sure that she would never make his same mistakes, never commit his same atrocities, never be swallowed by mundane delusions. And know... How could she be so calm? Didn't she know what marrying Kuwabara meant?

And right in the middle of this last thought, he froze.

"Shizuru," he called, his voice a hoarse whisper.

The girl puffed out the smoke lazily. "Yeah?"

"Why do you think they look cute together?"

She smiled broadly. "You kidding? Look at them."

He was looking, alright. At little Yukina discussing how many layers should have the wedding cake, and at big Kuwabara rubbing Urameshi's face against the ground. "Tell me."

"You know, Kazu is not exactly very practical when it comes to women," Shizuru snickered. "He expects them to be perfect princesses, beautiful and helpless, virtuous, generous, affectionate... and always in desperate need of him."

Hiei snorted, remembering the priceless occasions he was able to witness the interaction between Kuwabara and Mukuro. Poor ningen.

"I always worried that he would either spend his whole life alone and disappointed," she continued, "or being manipulated by some clever bitch. But Yukina is the perfect match for him. She's everything he expects and for some strange reason she genuinely likes the knight in shining armor he tries to be. I'm really sorry, Hiei. It's gonna happen, there's no way around it. Should I start calling you 'little brother'?"

She waited for the raging outburst, or at least one of his contemptuous snorts, but nothing came, as Hiei plummeted into wild turbulent thoughts. Gazing at the Koorime, distantly hearing her prattling with the girls, he tried to see her as if he never knew her. There was a lot about her that he knew because of the long time he passed watching her from afar; and another lot of subtle elements he understood naturally, through a mystical sense of familiarity that ignored the years they had lived apart. What he wanted now was to see her as if they were now meeting for the very first time, and meet the Yukina the others knew and he didn't.

And he saw her. The flawless embodiment of sweetness and naiveté.

He frowned. Of course he saw her like that sometimes too. Lots of times. Perhaps most of the time, he shyly admitted. But then, she was his little sister, and after so much teasing from Mukuro and Kurama, he finally recognized that he was a little bit overprotective. Just a tiny bit.

However, he knew Yukina had a hard edge as well. Hidden deep inside, buried under countless layers of warm smiles and beaming gazes, an ice dagger slept. An undeniable heritage marked her core, and his. The koorime accepted her as one of her own. In some ways she was, in several others she wasn't. Being a Forbidden Child, Hiei knew precisely what Yukina should have been, and in which ways she was not.

Apparently he was the only one who saw the Koorime in her. It could be a frightening vision sometimes, and he could hardly blame anyone for focusing only on her outer countenance of kindness and innocence. Or for trying so hard to keep that innocence unharmed.

Clenching his hands into fists, Hiei breathed in deeply. It was a long shot, he was quite aware. But if there was any possibility...

"Kuwabara."

Hiei didn't raise his voice. Nevertheless the call, calmly uttered in his usual low deep voice, instantly silenced his seven companions, who seemed to be bracing themselves for an earthquake.

"I heard you and Yukina are getting married," the Jaganshi spoke slowly. "Congratulations."

Kurama gasped. Shizuru choked with the smoke of her cigarette. Botan's chin hanged in shock, very unattractively. Yusuke stick a finger in his ear to clean the cerumen, since he clearly had a hearing problem. Keiko sighed in relief; she never saw much sense in Hiei and Kuwabara's constant bickering anyway. Yukina smiled.

"You mean that?" Kuwabara asked suspiciously. And a little disappointedly. He was looking forward to the chance of rubbing his superiority on the shrimp's conceited nose.

The youkai nodded. "I know you've been waiting for this for very long."

Kazuma blushed, scratching the back of his neck. "Ah... that's truth," he offered a brief bashful smile to the Ice Maiden.

"I'm sure you two just can't wait to get married," Hiei suggested with a lopsided grin.

Kuwabara sneaked his hand to hold Yukina's in a tender grasp. "I would marry her right now if I could." Yukina fondled his arm in return.

"The power of love, ne?" Hiei winked.

The others watched that dialogue in bewilderment, turning their heads from one to another in synchronized moves, as if witnessing a bizarre tennis match.

"And you probably made lots of plans to the future already," Hiei spoke, his voice so pleasant and agreeable.

"Of course!" Kuwabara affirmed vehemently. "Marriage is a serious commitment. I would never take it lightly."

"So you have everything planned already?" the youkai went on. "Where you're gonna live for example..."

Kuwabara faltered. "Well, not yet, but I'm taking Yukina-san to see some places tomorrow. I want her to decide."

But if someone imagined Hiei would get advantage of the boy's hesitation to start an argument, it didn't happen. "I'm sure you'll find a beautiful place," Hiei soothed.

Yukina bowed her head in the demon's direction, thanking him.

"Only the best for Yukina-san," Kuwabara promised. "We'll have the finest home in Tokyo."

Hiei agreed. "A nice cozy house..."

"A big house with a beautiful garden," the boy dreamed.

"With leafy trees where the birds can nestle," Hiei added.

"You will like that, ne?" Kazuma asked the girl, whose smile brightened up even more.

"A large yard where the children can play..." the youkai continued.

Kuwabara reveled with the idea. "The biggest yard with a swing and a see-saw!"

Yukina turned to look at Hiei.

He returned her gaze, though he still talked to Kuwabara. "I'm sure Yukina will give you beautiful daughters..."

"Oh, sweet lovable daughters, with her mother's angelic eyes," Kazuma fancied.

Yukina smiled fondly.

"And lots of sons," Hiei finished, an evil grin distorting his face.

"Dozens of sons!" Kazuma exclaimed enthusiastically.

Yukina paled. Then blushed. Then paled again and took a small hand to her lips. "Sons?" she squeaked.

Kuwabara gulped regretfully. "Ahn... Doesn't have to be dozens," he laughed nervously. "Maybe just one or two. Or three."

"But to have sons I would have to... we would..." Yukina's eyes became alarmingly wide.

Hiei closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. He knew it. He just knew it. That damn ningen couldn't even play straight with his sister.

"Yukina?" Keiko called worriedly. The small Koorime looked pale like a ghost. "What is it? Are you okay?"

Kurama cursed under his breath. He should have thought of that. He had thought of that, when Kuwabara started to show the first symptoms of infatuation to a thoroughly oblivious Yukina. But he comfortably assumed that one of the girls would eventually take charge of explaining the birds and bees to the Koorime. Or rather, that the birds and bees were quite popular in Ningenkai, to the point of being a must in a love relationship, much on the contrary of her homeland's customs. And once assumed he had nothing to do about it, he completely forgot the issue. Oh Inari, Hiei must be absolutely pissed now...

The Fire Demon rested immobile with his eyes firmly shut, his eyebrows knitted under the bandanna. Yukina stood up and crossed to his side, kneeling next to him. "Hiei-san?" She then pronounced a word Kurama had never heard before, in a shy distressed whisper.

Hiei recognized the word from an ancient demonic language, long forgotten for almost everyone in Makai, but still used by the koorime in rituals and spells. He dimly wondered why she imagined he would know that language too. Maybe she was just too nervous.

The word literally meant 'the rotten degrading touch'. The koorime definition of sex.

Hiei nodded somberly. "For all I know, humans consider it an obligation in a marriage," he whispered back, frank but soothingly. "And one of the ningen males' biggest pride is having many sons."

She joined her hands over her bosom, in shock. "Are you sure, Hiei-san?" she breathed.

He opened his eyes and looked at her fearful beautiful face, his heart shrinking miserably. He was making his sister cry again... "Ask Kurama, okay?" he murmured softly.

Yukina turned anxious eyes to the redhead, who sighed in sincere regret. "I'm sorry, Yukina-chan. It is expected that you and Kuwabara-kun..." He dropped his shoulders bitterly. "I thought you knew."

Shizuru heard the whole talking and didn't get a thing. "What's the trouble, Yukina? You don't wanna have children?" That would be a serious problem... Kazuma was definitely a family guy.

Yukina shook her head, signaling that that wasn't the problem, but couldn't make herself explain. She stood up once more and faced Kuwabara, who was glaring darkly at Hiei. If there was something disturbing Yukina, he betted it was the shrimp's fault. "Yukina-san..."

"Kazuma-san, please forgive me," she pleaded. "I don't think I can accept your proposal."

Poor Kazuma took the news as a sword slashing through his soul. "What?!" he murmured.

"What?!" Keiko yelled. "But Yukina..." And suddenly she couldn't get hold of herself anymore. She glared at Hiei with full force. "Now what did you do, youkai?"

The Fire Demon remained still, arms crossed, eyes closed, scowling at the universe. Yusuke looked around disoriented. "Oi, easy, Keiko." Whatever was going on, he wasn't quite sure it should be blamed on Hiei. "Yukina, you're not serious, are you?" Of course she was, it was not the kind of subject one would kid around, specially not her. But he truly hoped that this was just some practical joke she or Hiei or both were pulling at Kuwabara's spent. Which was highly improbable.

"Would you quit protecting him?" Keiko snapped at her husband. Yusuke had become unbearably defensive of that little monster in the past year. Friend or not friend, Hiei had no right to interfere in Yukina's life like that.

Botan stood up and held Yukina's hands in dismay. "Please... Let's talk about this, ne? I should have explained it sooner..." she trailed off, embarrassed.

I guess no one wanted to ruin the illusion, Kurama mused. Yukina was such a utopian character with her straightforward, unquestioning and easily given affection. There seemed to be not a single hint of selfishness in the way she related to people, no secret agenda behind her tender smiles. Like an angel whose wings no one wished to cut.

"Yukina-san..." Kuwabara's taut voice was heartbreaking. "Why?"

Unwilling to face the boy's anguish, the Koorime lowered her head, her aqua hair casting shadows over her tightly closed eyes. Her darkened face, the rigid lines of her tense chin, the lips compressed in a tight line... Kurama gasped. He never noticed how much the twins looked alike before. That was a perfect imitation of Hiei's most gloomy scowl...

"I'm so sorry," Yukina apologized. "Please don't hate me, Kazuma-san. But I don't know if I can fit in your world."

That made as much sense to Kuwabara as an Eskimo buying an air conditioner. Yukina was his world. "Yukina-san, wait a second," he stammered. "There must be some misunderstanding here."

But to Yukina the misunderstanding had been finally disclosed. "I'm really sorry," she repeated. "I need time to think." Quickly wiping her eyes of threatening tears, she ran away.

"Yukina-san, wait!" Kuwabara was on his feet in a second, running after her. "Yukina-san!"

Repented and upset, Botan sobbed. A comforting hand rested on her shoulder, and she turned to see Shizuru gazing down at her. "It's okay," the brunette consoled her. "Kazu is very stubborn, he won't give up easily."

Botan leaned on her embrace, remembering the last time Shizuru had encouraged her like that. But then, after Genkai's death in the Ankoku Bujutsukai, the human girl was able to perceive with her psychic powers the reasons behind the ferrygirl's distress, and Botan felt the truth behind the soothing words. Now she had the distinct impression that Shizuru was expressing nothing beyond a wishful thinking.

Keiko rushed to the girls' side, petting Botan's arm. "Don't cry, Botan. This is not your fault," she stated, glowering again at Hiei, who still sat motionless on the grass beside Kurama.

The Jaganshi eyed her blankly, not saying a word.

"That was a dirty move, Hiei," Kurama reprimanded him with a sigh.

"Dirty?!" The accusation brought the youkai back from the separated dimension he appeared to have spent the last confused minutes. "You are the dirty ones here, all of you. You're trying to make Yukina part of this stupid world and its lewd traditions. You could at least tell her exactly what is expected of her, instead of seducing her with flamboyant gowns, tons of flowers, overweening vows and gigantic cakes."

"You're being totally unfair here," Keiko protested. "Yukina and I have been talking about marriage since Yusuke and I announced our engagement a year ago. All we girls have. I explained the whole human ritual for her, answered all her questions. She didn't think any of our traditions is stupid or lewd."

"Did you really tell her about marriage?" Hiei challenged her, getting on his feet. "Did you tell her about what really happens after the rites? About what's expected of a wife once she takes the vows? Did you tell her about real life? Or you just convinced her she would look terrific in a fancy dress surrounded by flowers and candles?"

"Hiei," Yusuke came to stand beside Keiko, a subtle warning in his low voice. "Don't talk to my wife like that," he asked. Then, dreading the idea of a confrontation between them, he added softly, "Please."

The youkai gazed up at Yusuke in bitter silence. He remembered too well the first and last time he had harmed Keiko, and the doleful consequences. They had become teammates and good friends afterwards, but Hiei had no doubt whatsoever that antagonizing the ningen girl was the fastest way to turn their friendship swiftly into dust.

Ignoring her husband's intervention, Keiko approached Hiei brandishing an accusing finger. "You wanna tell me about real life?" She snapped. "What do you kids know about it? None of you can live one single day without getting yourselves in a stupid quarrel with demons, ogres, monsters, witches or whatever magic creatures you find in your way - and you always manage to find dozens of them. You have no responsibility! You're nothing but a bunch of kids, thirsty for adventure, crazy to kick everyone out of your way, just to prove your boldness." She jabbed the finger against Hiei's chest. "Specially you. You don't even care about having a real life. You just keep jumping dimensions, showing up now, disappearing the next second, dragging Yusuke to another of your childish fights."

Yusuke blinked. A bunch of kids? Childish fights? How did he got mixed up in that thing? "Wait a second, Keiko..."

Hiei cut him off, opening the front of his black cloak in a blunt move. "You say this is not real?"

They all shifted to a position where they could see the youkai's bare chest, stricken by dozens of scars, a thick bandage fastened around his right shoulder. Yusuke guessed the scars and the fresh wound were both recent but also from different occasions, knowing how fast the Jaganshi's body usually healed.

"This is my daily real life," Hiei growled. "Not the dull safe routine of waking-up, brushing-teeth, going-to-work that you call 'normal'. Every single day not only I have to defend my life and my territory, but I also have to patrol the boundaries between our worlds so they will be kept safely apart, making sure your dull normal life won't be ruined by some other magic monster like me. That is my responsibility."

"Then you're not doing much of a job of it," she countered disdainfully. "Because I'm through with dang demons messing up with my life."

Running out of his patience, he stabbed the forefinger in Urameshi's direction. "You are married to a dang demon! Look around you! There are six people here: three demons, one psychic human, a Reikai emissary and you. Who would you say is the outsider here? What about the only one that can't tell the difference between an oni and a youkai?"

"Quit it, Hiei," Yusuke grasped the short demon's shoulder and dragged him away from Keiko, gently but firmly. "I can understand why you would be mad at Kuwabara. Sort of. But Keiko has nothing to do with it."

Botan moved to where Yusuke had stood, holding Keiko in a comforting half-embrace. "Please calm down, Keiko. None of you mean any of that, ne?"

Kurama moaned under his breath. That quarrel felt unreal because of the contenders involved in it - who would ever guess that Hiei and Keiko even had a common subject to quarrel about? But the Youko thought of them like two guns misfiring at the same time. All it took was putting Yusuke at the end of Keiko's stabbing finger, then Kurama himself at the target of Hiei's indignation, and all arguments would sound much more comprehendible. The girl wanted a normal human husband; the demon wanted a normal youko lover. And they were both frustrated.

Seeing Hiei and Yusuke tensely facing each other, Kurama noticed with surprise that despite their apparently hostile stance, none of them was projecting ki. On the contrary, they seemed to have securely locked their energy inside.

Hiei looked up at Yusuke solemnly. "Yusuke... we talked about this already."

The boy frowned, not understanding.

"In Daiichibara," the youkai reminded him.

Yusuke winced. That was the name of Hiei's own territory inside Mukuro's realms, where the two of them had had their last serious fight eight months before. When Yusuke promised himself that he would never seriously fight Hiei again.

"I told you I respect your choices," the youkai continued. "Up to some point, I even understand them. But Yukina is being draggled to a choice she can't make."

"She did make a choice," Urameshi replied. "You might not like her decision, but you have to respect it as you respect mine. Kuwabara proposed, she said yes."

"But now she said no," Hiei riposted.

"Because you started to confuse the poor girl's mind!" Keiko protested.

Yusuke stepped between them, unwilling to witness more of their squabble. But Hiei's answer was calm and deliberate. "Did I? And what did I say that confused her so much? Can you tell me?"

Keiko blinked. She opened her mouth to snap something, but nothing came out.

Hiei faced her for a while, turning then to Shizuru when no answer was voiced. "What about you? Do you know why Yukina ran off like that?"

Shizuru almost jumped at his call, surprised that anyone would ask for her guess on the matter. "No, I don't. I just suppose that there's something about giving birth to sons that means more for her than for us. Are you going to clarify it?"

"Why don't you ask her? Or rather, why did you never ask her?" Hiei rearranged his cloak and scarf, his eyes still firmly focused on her.

She shrugged. "I guess the subject never came out."

He snorted. "Really? What about you?" he asked Botan. "You girls became such fast friends. Haven't you been talking about marriage for a whole year?" he nodded at Keiko, remembering her previous statement.

Botan nodded nervously. "Well, yes... but..."

"And children were never mentioned?"

"Sometimes..." She bit her lip. "But I always changed the subject quickly whenever it happened."

Keiko and Shizuru exchanged a suspicious glance. Now that the ferrygirl mentioned, they could easily remember a few dozen times when someone referred to having children around Yukina, and Botan would readily step in with a silly tale about Koenma and George, or clumsily drop a cup of tea in her dress...

"Why?" Hiei asked her dryly.

Sweat drops sliding down her brow, Botan whispered - although everybody heard her loud and clear -, "I thought those things weren't supposed to be talked about! You told us not to! And you even threatened us!"

Hiei frowned. "That's not what I told you not to tell her."

"It's the same topic, ne?" she retorted.

Hiei groaned something unintelligible and stepped away from them all.

"Really, I'm tired of that enigmatic conversation of yours," Keiko griped to Yusuke. "Would you mind telling me what they're talking about?"

Urameshi grimaced ruefully. "I'm not sure." He suspected it was something related to the koorime taboos, but what he knew about them wasn't enough to clear up the issue there. More than ever he regretted having returned Hiei's file to Koenma before he had finished reading it.

He glanced at Kurama, the only one left more or less unscathed by the Fire Demon's fury by now. The Youko observed Hiei closely, wrinkled lines crossing his brow under the red fringe. For whatever it was worth, it seemed not even Hiei's best friend was getting the whole grasp of the situation.

"You know nothing," the Jaganshi muttered. "None of you. You know nothing about the koorime, their bodies, their culture, their values, you didn't even stop to think if they are compatible with humans or not."

"It's not the first time a youkai marries a human," Yusuke reminded him. "That's exactly what I did, you know."

"And how much did you think about it? I know you, Yusuke, and I know how much of actual thinking is involved when you make a decision."

"Who cares?" Yusuke snapped. "I've been with Keiko all my life. I married her and everything turned out just fine and we're very happy!"

Kurama eyed him with a curious smile. Fine and happy... I thought we would be through with this game by now, my friend...

"Yeah, right," Hiei snorted. "What about fifty years from now? When you'll still look exactly like you look today, and your wife will be looking like that?" He pointed to a bench near the lake, where a seventy-and-so-year-old lady fed the pigeons with breadcrumbs. "How much thought did you put on that?"

Keiko paled miserably, seeing the white dwindling hair, the trembling movements of the hand, the age marking the flesh with wrinkles and creases... Yusuke was taut and somber, noticeably avoiding her look.

"You won't probably look as cute together as you do now," Hiei continued, then scowled at Shizuru. "Maybe being a cute couple is not a good enough reason to get married, you know."

Shizuru dropped her cigarette, stepping on it. "Point taken," she conceded, her face an unreadable mask.

Kurama stepped in, moving to Hiei's side. "You're being too cruel," he whispered.

"That's reality, Fox," the youkai stated. "Not me. Youkai and ningen have joined and procreated since the birth of our worlds, and I'm not one to say anything against it. But there's always a price. You don't wanna think about it, none of you. But in time, you will deal with it, either you want it or not."

He paused, his throat aching by the long argument. His anger was fading now, leaving just bitterness and fatigue behind. A thick veil of silence closed around them all.

"And that's your problem, not mine," he concluded, turning to leave. "But you tried to trick Yukina into your world without letting her know the cost. I can't accept that. Or forgive it."

Surprisingly, he didn't blur out like he always did. He simply walked away, in light noiseless steps.

Leaving five flabbergasted people behind.

Keiko was the first to break the paralyzing spell Hiei seemed to have cast upon them, kneeling down to pack plates and bowls back in the picnic baskets. Her gestures were cold and deliberate, her jaw line taut in spleen.

"Keiko..." Yusuke tried to approach her, hesitantly.

"Yukina left her things behind," she cut him off dryly. "Will you take them back, Shizuru?"

Botan rushed to help her folding the blankets.

Yusuke watched his wife, absorbed with the way her hands moved, the color of her hair, the smoothness of her skin, trying to picture her a couple of decades from then... He glanced at Kurama, hoping for a soothing word from his more experienced friend, but the redhead was still staring after Hiei, a grim scowl in his face.

Out of reflex, Shizuru pulled out another cigarette. Seems I have to light this one on my own, she grinned in scorn. But when she took out her old gold lighter, she paused in mid-action, staring hard at the engraving: the initials W.S. in western-European letters. There's always a price...

"Shizuru?"

The girl blinked off the woolgathering, raising her eyes to see Keiko standing before her, handing her Yukina's basket. "Oh, sure, I'll take it back. I guess I should catch up with Kazu anyway," she muttered absentmindedly. "Who knows what he might do to prove his undying love to Yukina..."

Yusuke passed his arm around Keiko's shoulder. "Let's go home, ne?"

Keiko shrugged the caring touch off, taking a couple of steps away from him. "I have things to do. Take this home, will ya?" She dropped her own basket in his hands and turned to leave. "I'll see you tonight. Ja, minna!"

The others barely had time to reply, as Keiko was forthwith out of hearing reach. Yusuke cursed under his breath. This was trouble. Serious trouble.

"I guess I should be on my way too," Botan commented, summoning her oar. Shizuru looked around them, a bit distressed. The ferrygirl seemed to have forgotten that she was currently visible to living beings. Luckily no one was watching.

"Will you give me a ride?" Urameshi asked her.

Botan arched her eyebrows. "To your home? I'm not heading that way, but..."

"No," the boy corrected her. "Reikai."

She frowned, but nodded her agreement.

"Watch out, you two," Kurama chided. "We're in public."

Botan groaned. She was always forgetting. "Come on, Yusuke," she urged him, heading for a bunch of tall trees from where they could lift up unnoticeably. "Dewa mata!"

Yusuke waved a quick goodbye and followed her, leaving Shizuru and Kurama alone under the tree shade.

"Looks it's up to us to fix this," Kurama muttered.

"Us?" Shizuru echoed in surprise.

"What choice we got?" he retorted. "You talk to Yukina-chan while I try to put some sense into Hiei's thick head."

"And what should I say to her? I have no idea of what's going on here." She shoved both cigarette and lighter back in her pocket. "For all I know the 'thick head' might be right and this wedding thing is really a terrible idea after all."

"Don't you wanna see your brother happy?" the Youko questioned.

"At any cost?" she countered. "I don't think so. If Yukina has legitimate reasons to withdraw from the engagement... Has she?"

Kurama huffed. To his thinking, no. There were fewer things more ridiculous and incomprehensible for a Youko than the Koorime moral code.

Just as his previous caution in not eating the last cookie of the jar might seem hysterical to others. Not to mention what his mating habits would look like to his human family if they ever found out about it...

So maybe his fiery certainty that Yukina was wrong and that Hiei was being a jerk didn't count too much. Maybe there was nothing there to be done except going home and pray for the best, whatever 'the best' was.

Yeah, right, he snorted.

"Kurama," Shizuru called him out of his musings.

"Yes?"

"Be careful, okay? You're stepping on tricky ground here."

He eyed her, puzzled.

She discreetly pointed to the direction where Hiei had disappeared. "I mean, if you really think you should try to... fix this," she clarified. "You don't want your Valentine's Day completely ruined, do you?"

Kurama grimaced, pushing his hands in his pockets. "Isn't it already?"

July 8^th, 2000

Chapter Two - The Glacier's Peaks
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