Hiei tightened his grip on Kagome as he jumped up into the trees and started sprinting from one branch to another. Moments ago, he had faced a half demon. Moments ago, the half demon was going after Kagome. Moments ago, Kagome told Hiei not to kill it…

He felt himself growl with anger inside. Firstly, she told him, ordered him more likely, not to kill the half demon. Hiei hated to be ordered and bossed around. Who did this Kagome chick think she was? And not only that, but he actually listened to her. Where the hell did that come from?

Jumping back down to the ground, he ran pass the streets, dodging the cars whizzing by. He should've stayed back there. He wanted to slice the half demons' head off, and he would kill Kagome shortly after. He smirked as the thought of Kagome begging for her life as Hiei raised his katana over his head. She would beg and order him to stop, and then down the blade would go…

"Hiei! Watch out!"

Hiei snapped out of his daydream and found a truck speeding towards them. He easily ran to the left and dodged the truck. There was a tug down at his side, and he looked down at Kagome to see her wiggling.

"Let me go! Let me go right now!" she screamed, trying to pry herself out of Hiei's arms. Hiei shrugged and let go of her. Kagome's eyes widened as she fell back and hit the ground, butt first. Hiei stopped running and looked back at her with a smirk on his face and a hint of glee in his eyes. Kagome skidded to a halt and she immediately stood up, patting her bottom.

"Ow ow ow! My ass!" she hissed in pain as she touched a couple sore spots. Kagome jumped up and down holding onto her bottom, crying out cuss words and saying how bad it burned. She then stopped jumping around to glare up at Hiei. With one hand, she pointed her finger at him and shook it with anger. "You…! You…!"

"—Asked me to let you go," Hiei finished coolly, his smirk still intact. It was certainly entertaining—watching Kagome fall on her ass and then jump around like a crazy chimpanzee. Boy, did she look like a bigger baka than Hiei already thought her as. His smirk grew as he watched her with her mouth slightly open, dumbfounded clearly written all over her face. A moment of silence passed before Kagome finally stood up straight and patted the dirt off of her outfit before crossing her arms and hissing, "You didn't have to drop me so hard on the ground, baka. You should've placed me down on my feet, not my ass." She turned her head to the opposite side and she seemed to have made an irritated sound. Hiei shrugged and 'Hned'.

"I probably should of, that was rude of me. Where are my manners?" Hiei said. Kagome's eyes widened and turned her head to face him. What the? Was he for real? She opened her mouth to say something, but Hiei turned his back to her. He turned his head to the side and said, "But I don't care. I don't like you. And I have no manners." He turned his head forward and started to walk away.

If Kagome wasn't dumbfounded before, she certainly was now. She was also very pissed off. 'How dare he?!' She thought angrily, her eyes narrowed on the fire demon. 'Ugh! I hate him!' She screamed inside her mind. Fuming, she looked around her for a weapon--something powerful that could inflict a lot of pain. She looked down and spotted a big rock; it was probably the size of Kuwabara's fist. All right, so it wasn't something powerful that could inflict a lot of pain, but she was desperate for something. If she didn't act now, he would be gone. So she bent down, snatched the rock up into her hand, and stood back up. She looked at Hiei and noticed he was a bit too far for her to hit him. Maybe she could get him, if she pulled back far enough…no, maybe she could chase after him and then chunk the rock right at the back of his head…yeah. 'Yeah!' Kagome thought with an evil smirk. 'Better take another rock…just in case…' She quickly grabbed another fist-sized rock and started running after Hiei. Kagome surely thought he would turn around and wonder why she was running, but he continued walking at a slow pace.

"Take this!" Kagome cried as she came to an abrupt halt and pulled back her throwing arm. Taking aim, she bit down her lower lip and forced her arm forward quickly. She let go of the rock. The rock sped forward right towards Hiei's head. 'Yes!' thought Kagome gleefully, but her happy thoughts halted as Hiei disappeared and the rock flew down to the ground. "What?" Kagome said aloud. The next thing she knew, she was thrown up against a car. She gasped and arched her back after she smashed hard against the side view mirror. She heard glass hitting the ground and then an alarm roaring in her ears. She hissed and doubled over, rubbing her spine with one hand and dropping the other rock from the other. It was already bad enough that she had injuries there from when she left Kurama's house before. Now she felt blood trickling down from the wounds. She looked up, expecting to find Hiei in front of her, but there was no one around her. "Hiei?" she called as she straightened herself up. She heard yells from over the car alarm. Damn it. They sounded pretty mad. 'Better get out of here,' she thought bitterly to herself, Hiei still on her mind with that cocky little smirk of his. She looked up the street and spotted Hiei sprinting to Kurama's apartment that was at the end of the block. Hiei. That bastard.

"Hello there, Hiei, where's Kagome?" Kurama asked the fire demon as he made his way inside the house from the kitchen window. Hiei shrugged and jumped down to the ground. Suddenly there was banging on Kurama's front door. "That must be her or the boys," he said before standing up from his chair. He stretched his arms out as he walked to the front door, and when he turned the knob, the door slammed open and in jumped Kagome. She tripped over the rug and smacked into Kurama. The slam was hard enough to knock Kurama down to the ground, Kagome falling after him. She slammed onto him and Kurama groaned. Ouch, he landed pretty hard on his back. He shut his eyes and held back another groan. That was going to really hurt in the morning. He heard a gasp from Kagome and felt her move around on him. "Oh my-Kurama! I'm so sorry! Really, I am. I didn't mean to bump into you and then send you to the ground! It's just that, Hiei—he, and then the alarm, and then the angry yells, and,"

"It's alright, Kagome, really," Kurama said, interrupting her and rubbing the back of his head and looking down at Kagome. She was sitting on his waist, her legs on either side of him and her hands on his hips. She leaned forward and looked down at him with her eyes filled with worry. "Are you sure, Kurama? I really am sorry, I really didn't mean to,"

"Yes, yes, Kagome, I understand, it's fine. Now although you look comfortable, would you be so kind as to getting off of me and continue this conversation in the kitchen? I am making tea, and it seems as though the water is done." Kagome stopped talking immediately and looked down. She was practically—Kagome jumped up off of him before the rest of her thought crossed her mind. Her face instantly turned as red as Kurama's hair and she turned her face as Kurama stood up. He arched his back, a couple cracks and pops were heard, and then he doubled over with a sigh of relief. "Ah, that's better," he said, looking up at Kagome with a smile. She looked at him and then quickly looked down, her blush growing darker. How embarrassing was that, to be sitting on top of Kurama; her legs tightly up against his thighs, her hands all over his hips…

Whoa, where did that come from?

Kagome shook her head in annoyance. She had never thought that way before. What made that appear in her mind? Sure, there have been times when she was sitting on Inuyasha like that, but those thoughts never appeared. 'I'm losing it,' she thought gloomily, running a hand through her jet-black hair.

"Kagome, the tea's ready. Would you like a cup?" Kurama called from the kitchen.

"Yes, that would be lovely, Kurama. Thank you," she replied.

"Hn, we have something to discuss, fox," Hiei said as Kagome made her way into the kitchen. "There was a half demon who tried to attack us at the girl's home."

"'The girl' has a name, you know. It's Kagome," stated Kagome, taking her cup of tea from Kurama. She smiled as if to say thank you, and Kurama nodded. Kurama then turned his attention to Hiei as he stirred his tea with a spoon. Hiei pretended not to have seen or heard Kagome as he watched Kurama, waiting for a response. Kurama took a breath and sipped a little of the hot liquid from his cup, his eyes darting from Hiei to Kagome. He sighed in relief as he placed the cup down on the counter. Kurama turned and faced Kagome. "Kagome, do you happen to know why this demon attacked you?"

Kagome opened her mouth, but neither words nor sounds came through. Should she tell them about Inuyasha just yet? She couldn't even think of Inuyasha without her eyes filling up with tears; how was she supposed to talk about him? The images of Inuyasha and Kikyo raced through her mind once again. She shut her eyes and bit her bottom lip.

"Kagome?" Kurama asked with worry. There were tears forming in her eyes before she shut them, he was sure of it. He stepped forward, but Kagome held up her hand to stop him and touched her back with her other hand.

"Sorry, it's the wound on my back. Could I go clean up first before we have this discussion?" Kagome asked. Kurama stepped back and nodded slowly. "Yes, the bathroom is down the hall, to your left. I'll go get you some towels and leave them by the door." Kagome nodded and walked out before either of them saw the tears fall down her cheeks.