Hiei awoke groggily to the sounds of birds singing all around him, and the sensation that he might be sick. Apparently, he had slept wrong, too, because his back was hurting. Just like the birds, he was currently residing in a tree, where he had decided to spend the night. Most likely, the tree branch had been cutting into his back or something.

Actually, he thought, as he dropped agilely to the ground, I feel awful. What did I eat last night?

Not really thinking about what he was doing, Hiei shook his hair out of his face, then realized something. Since when had his hair fallen into his face? He slowly got to his feet and set off for town. Most of the city was still sleeping, and the sun was still rising. Hiei stalked amongst the buildings until he finally caught his reflection in one. His mouth fell open in shock.

It looked like his body hadn't changed much, but what was wrong with his face? His hair? Instead of sticking up like usual, his hair was now shoulder-length, hanging in spiky black locks around his face, but without bangs. He still looked pissed off, but his features were more feminine. That was the only way to describe it. What was going on here?

Suddenly, a horrible thought struck him. Hiei skirted around the building and into a dark alley between them, trying to ignore the dull but persistent pain in his stomach. During the Dark Tournament that ended a few days ago, he had suffered much worse; they all had. But it was still annoying. It felt a little like gas, but not exactly. Before he could lose his courage, he threw off his cloak, tugged out the waistband of his pants, and...

Noticing what exactly was there, and what wasn't there, a growl of frustration and fury escaped Hiei's throat, one that was slightly higher-pitched than usual. There was no question that he would kill whoever (or whatever) did this to him. But first, he set off for Kurama's.

...

Not much was visible of Shuichi Minamino, a.k.a. Kurama, as he slept soundly on Sunday morning. Just a tangle of long, auburn hair, and one of his hands clutching a red sham pillow, embroidered with a pink rose design.

Kurama was a morning person, and he rose not long after the sun did. But when he sat up with a yawn, something seemed…different. Like he'd gained weight. In fact, when he put his hand to his chest, he realized he'd developed a blob of fat there. Two, actually.

Oh no! Kurama bolted upright in bed. What if he'd worked himself too hard at the Dark Tournament, and he'd been asleep for days, like Yusuke had after his training, and therefore had gained a ton of weight due to not exercising? But he must have been asleep for a much longer time. What had happened to his family? To his friends? To his grades?

Wait a minute...that couldn't be right. The calendar on Kurama's bedside table proved that this had not been hibernation. And for another, no other part of his body was fat. There was a higher proportion of fat to muscle in his body now. But he was still toned, still in good shape. Wondering what it could be this time, he hoisted himself out of bed and looked into his full-length mirror. What he saw caused him to let out a rather feminine shriek.

There in the mirror was a girl, a redheaded girl with huge, emerald-green eyes, about five-foot-six, wearing nothing but a pair of ill-fitting pajama pants and an expression of complete and utter shock. Worse than that, Kurama realized that something very important was missing. Heart beating out of his chest, he kicked off the pajama pants just to make sure. They were far too tight around the hips and thighs, but they were so long he could have tripped on them.

Yes, that was certainly a woman's body. 100%. Her face wasn't too different—maybe the shape of the jaw had softened a little—and her hair had remained exactly the same. But she wasn't Shuichi Minamino. She looked like his sister, maybe, if he'd had one. This body was completely different. Decent-sized breasts, a slim waist, wider hips. In fact, he now had a nearly perfect hourglass figure. This wasn't the first time Kurama had to get used to a new body, but which was worse? Being a human male baby, or a human female teenager, albeit quite a well-developed one?

Well, the obvious advantage to the latter situation was that this time, Kurama had retained control over his basic motor skills and bodily functions. But it was still the same bad feeling as last time. Almost sixteen years ago now, he'd looked in the mirror and been disgusted by what he saw. The King of Thieves, reduced to a revolting human child. But now…well, he certainly was not a child this time, that much was clear, he thought as he slowly ran one hand down the side of his body, the other reaching up to touch one of the breasts—

"Enjoying yourself, Kurama?"

"Hiei!" Kurama shrieked, as the various plants in his room snaked around to cover him, just in time. "My goodness, a little privacy, please?"

Examining him briefly, Kurama could see that his old friend, currently perched on the windowsill, had been changed too, except that (perhaps because he was small) he hadn't gotten much of a figure. His clothes still fit right, anyway. His hair and face were unmistakably a girl's, though, and he was missing the white scarf around his neck. Most importantly, he looked ready to kill.

"I'm serious," said Hiei. "It happened to you, too, huh?"

"I-I suppose so," Kurama replied, glad for an excuse to look away from the full-length mirror, but now he had to look at a female version of Hiei, which was almost as disturbing as a female version of himself.

"Any idea who did it?"

"Unfortunately, no." Kurama shook his head. "I've heard of people leaving the Dark Tournament with strange afflictions before this, though. This isn't something that normally happens, in the Makai or anywhere else—but I suppose it very well could…"

"Great! Just great!" said Hiei. "Just a gigantic amount of spectators and combatants alike, most of whom are already dead."

"Yes, it's going to be pretty hard to find whoever did this." Kurama glanced sideways at his friend. "What happened to your scarf?"

"Never mind that." Hiei glared at Kurama, then added, "Can I take a shower here?"

"Well, I was going to take one, but since I don't have school today, it can wait," Kurama replied. "Go on. Just don't use all the hot water."

Kurama watched Hiei stalk across the bedroom floor. Thinking back, he didn't think he'd ever seen Hiei this livid. The fire demon even kicked some plants out of his path, and when one of them aggressively grabbed onto his wrist in retaliation, he actually went for his sword until Kurama sent out a leafy vine to stop him.

"Hey! Give that back!" Hiei shouted, as the vine wrapped itself around the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of Hiei's grasp.

"You're not getting this back until you keep your temper, Hiei," said Kurama seriously, sprawled out on his bed, but surrounded by plants so that nobody could see anything. It was a little irritating that he had to support the front half of his body with his elbows when he lay on his stomach, to accommodate the breasts, so he lay on his back, where they just kind of flopped to either side.

"I SAID GIVE IT BACK!" Hiei howled, but Kurama sent out another rose vine as a warning, and Hiei stepped back.

"Hiei, you know I don't want to fight you," said Kurama. "But I also don't want you slicing someone to pieces in a fit of rage."

"I hate you!" Hiei's now-feminine voice came out like a screech. He was so angry, he was shaking. "I thought you were on my side!"

Kurama bit his lip, feeling awful, as he watched his friend turn around and head for the window again.

"I'm leaving!" Hiei shouted. "I can do just fine without you!"

"Oh, Hiei, come on!"

Kurama grabbed a huge bathrobe out of his closet, one that had even been long on him when he was his normal self, and threw it on, trying not to trip over the hem. The plants parted to let him through, and he stopped Hiei before he could pounce from the bed onto the windowsill.

"I'm going off to kill whoever did this to me, and you can't stop me, Kurama," said Hiei, wrenching his arm free of Kurama's grasp. "If you won't give me back my sword, I'll just resort to other means of killing him."

Hiei rubbed his right arm meaningfully.

"Listen, Hiei, we will find whoever did this to us," said Kurama, making sure to keep his voice calm. "They will die begging us for mercy and choking on their own blood and tears. But won't it be better if we do it as a team?"

Kurama was surprised that his words worked. Hiei's muscles relaxed, and when he looked up, his eyes looked a little misty. But he put his head down again before Kurama could make sure.

"You know I like a swifter kill than that," he said quietly, smiling a little.

"Then that's why I need you as my partner-in-crime," Kurama replied. "To reign in my brutal side. Here's your sword back. I'm sorry I took it."

"Oh…thanks." Hiei took it in his hands, but set it down on the bedspread instead of sheathing it. "I guess I can keep it out here. I won't need it in the shower."

"Not unless some crazy person with a knife is waiting behind the curtain to stab you to death," joked Kurama, referencing a movie he'd seen once.

"Huh?" said Hiei.

"Never mind," said Kurama.

When Hiei was in the bathroom and the shower water was running, Kurama faced his first female problem: that is, a closet full of clothes, yet nothing to wear. He knew everything would fit the same way—too small in some places, too big in others. These things on his chest would need some support. And there was no way he was going to wear his mother's clothes. I can't find anything that fits, he thought to himself. Hiei sure is lucky.

…

Hiei was most certainly not lucky. So disgusting, he thought, that there was blood all over the shower floor, and it wouldn't stop. Kurama didn't need to worry about him using up all the hot water, because at the same time he was in the shower, he was trying to clean his scarf, and he needed cold water for that. How much was this condition going to hinder him? Of course he had bled profusely before, but this time the pain he was feeling wasn't the same place the blood was coming from. That was new.

Kurama's many hair products were stacked up on the shower shelf, but Hiei couldn't reach them. As a girl, he was even shorter than he had been before, probably four-foot-seven or so. His cloak covered his ankles now. Kurama was shorter, too, but there was still a huge height difference between them.

Hiei's scarf eventually washed clean, though very wet, and he tossed it out onto the floor so it could dry, then turned the water hot, wondering if he should have apologized to Kurama. He felt like slitting the throat of anyone who looked at him funny, and he probably would have if Kurama hadn't stopped him. Then there was a knock at the door.

"Are you okay in there, Hiei?" It was Kurama, and his voice (female, now) was gentle. "You've been showering for over an hour."

Hiei weighed his options.

"Kurama?" Hiei turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, so that they could hear each other better. He reached for a nearby towel and started to dry himself off.

"What is it?"

"You know how we're girls now? In girls' bodies, I mean?"

"Yes."

"Well…" Hiei sighed, tying his headband on. "You...you aren't...menstruating, are you?"

Kurama gasped audibly. "Why? Are you?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Oh, my gosh."

"What are we going to do?" Hiei asked.

"I can get my mother up here," Kurama offered.

"No! Are you crazy?" Hiei snapped. "Don't you think she'll notice a difference?"

"She won't," said Kurama. "She's already been up here. Nobody else seems to have noticed we've changed."

"So you mean, everyone thinks we were always girls?" asked Hiei.

"Yes, which solves one problem," said Kurama. "Now will you please just get me get my mom, so we can solve another?"

"If you tell anyone, fox, you're roadkill."

"Look, Hiei, you don't have to be embarrassed," Kurama called through the door. "It's a perfectly normal process."

There was no time for a rebuttal, as that was when they heard Shiori, Kurama's human mother, making her way upstairs. "Is everything all right up there?"

"Hiei just got her period, and she won't come out of the bathroom," Kurama said promptly. "So no, not really."

"Roadkill!" Hiei screeched.

…

Kurama was no longer feeling so disturbed by his new feminine body. Sure, he might not have any clothes that fit, but Hiei had it way worse. How on Earth will my mother react to this? Kurama watched her knock on the door, put her ear to it, then knock again. It felt strange, at best, to use a female pronoun with Hiei, but he had no choice, or his poor mother would get suspicious. Hiding his double life from her was hard work.

"Hiei?" Shiori called. She knew who Kurama was talking about, because they had met before. "Is this your first time?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK?!" came Hiei's voice from the bathroom.

"Don't yell at her, Hiei, she's just trying to help," Kurama said strictly.

"That's right, I'm here to help," said Shiori. "Just open the door, please."

There was silence, until finally the door opened. It was kind of sad to see Hiei, stepping gingerly out into the hallway, covered in his cloak, but missing his pants and shoes. The white scarf was around his neck again, but it was sopping wet.

"I-I think I messed up your bathroom a little," he muttered, looking down at his feet. Kurama swear he saw his friend's bottom lip tremble, which had never happened before, and he wanted to comfort him. But he didn't, because Hiei didn't really like to be comforted. Kurama knew that the best way to repay his mother's kindness wasn't just to protect her from his enemies, or even to save her life; those things were important, but the best thing he could ever do was spread that kindness around, and help someone the way she had helped him. But the best way to help Hiei wasn't to smother him with the love and affection he had so far missed in life; that would only scare him away.

Unfortunately, Kurama hadn't mentioned that to his mother.

"Not to worry, dear," she said, pulling Hiei in for a rib-crushing hug, which he didn't return. "This is a happy occasion—the beginning of all the privileges and responsibilities of womanhood."

Distinctly, Kurama heard Hiei groan.

"Shuichi, just wait in your room while I take care of her," ordered Shiori, "and if it's all right with her parents, perhaps we can have her over tonight, and I can serve her a special meal."

While his mother tended to Hiei, Kurama headed back into his room, still wearing his oversized bathrobe, which was probably designed for someone who weighed four hundred pounds but was over six feet tall. His shoes didn't fit, but his socks did, and after he put his socks on, he got to work pinning the hem of his robe up with safety pins, then tying a colorful sash around his waist. There! That didn't look so bad. Sort of a makeshift kimono. The only problem was the big breasts, which he still wasn't sure how to accommodate, and he'd have to obtain a girl's school uniform by tomorrow.

Once he had his kimono on, trying to ignore the sensation of breasts weighing heavily on his chest, he decided to do some studying. Since he was one of those freaks who did his weekend homework on Friday evenings, he had nothing school-related on Sunday morning, but there was nothing stopping him from reading more of his textbooks and making notes on the future chapters. School was something he had always liked a lot about the human world.

Kurama had already read through one chapter of his Biology textbook and was starting in on its successor when Hiei entered the room again.

"Are you all right, Hiei?" he asked a little tentatively.

"No, I am not," Hiei grouched, sitting down on the bed. "That was humiliating."

"What happened?"

"I just hated having her fussing over me like that," Hiei replied. By now, he was dressed again in his shirt and pants, with his cloak and scarf next to him on the bed. The scarf was dry, too. "This is miserable, and she thinks it's so great."

"Does it hurt?" Kurama asked curiously.

"My stomach and my back," Hiei answered. "And as if that wasn't bad enough, I have to wear this stupid thing that feels for all the world like a diaper for the next three to seven days. Your mother gave me a whole pack."

"By the way, how do you suppose the other two are dealing with this?" Kurama asked, casting around for a change of subject.

"You think they got switched, too?" said Hiei, looking up at him.

"It stands to reason," Kurama replied. "Yusuke often sleeps over at Kuwabara's house on Saturday nights while his mother is out drinking, so if we head over there, we can check."

"I don't have high hopes," Hiei said darkly, and Kurama silently agreed.