Chapter 29

The final chapter

Warm fingers ghosted softly over Kurama's abdomen causing him to smile, his eyes opening slowly to greet the day. Hiei was knelt by his side on the small bed carefully examining him, his red eyes missing nothing as he checked for any trace of the razor thin scars that had until today marred his fox's perfect form. Kurama would never have believed the yokai capable of such gentle and caring ministrations had he not been treated to them continuously over the past month during his recuperation.

Having fully expected Hiei to hold him to his promise of making their new found relationship "official" the moment they crossed back into the ningen world, Kurama was startled when the fire demon insisted on getting his lover back to complete health first. It was a choice that he had been entirely dedicated to, occasional heavy petting sessions excluded and the kitsune found him even more remarkable for it. Of course that much honor made him want to pounce the smaller man all the more.

"Do I finally live up to your expectations?" Kurama asked winking suggestively. Hiei just rolled his eyes.

"If that had been the issue I would have taken you the moment we arrived," he replied. Kurama's smile widened.

"Well, as the scars have healed and disappeared, just as promised you could always take me now," the red head offered shifting himself into a sitting position. Hiei leaned in and captured his eager lips in a smooth practiced kiss breaking away far sooner then Kurama would have liked. He grinned at the kitsune's pouting expression.

"Not now Fox, what would your mother say?" Hiei teased standing and backing toward the closet.

"My mother?" Kurama looked baffled a moment then he too heard the soft sound of Shiori's footsteps on the stairs, "Damn."

Hiei grinned wolfishly at him and gently slid the closet door closed, hiding within as a soft knock at the bedroom door broke off Kurama's chance at protesting.

"Shuichi, are you awake?"

"Yes Mother, please come in," Kurama called, ignoring the soft chuckle from his closet.

"Good morning Dear, how are you feeling today?" Shiori asked as she entered the room. Her eyes scanning around quickly before falling on her son. Kurama couldn't help but wonder if she suspected something.

"I'm fine Mother, did you need help with something?" Kurama asked pushing himself up out of the bed so he could pull on a shirt. His mother didn't usually come wake him on weekends.

"Oh, no Dear, you needn't get up, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be going out tonight, that nice man from my office asked to take me to dinner. You're always saying I need to take more time for myself," Shiori blushed as if afraid of offending him.

"That's wonderful Mother, I hope you have a good time," Kurama was honestly happy for her.

He had put he through so much this past month. When he never called and didn't return on time from his "school visit" she had been frantic. All Kurama could offer her was a sketchy mugging story and that he'd been in the hospital for days before he woke. He had never fully explained why he'd called Hiei to bring him home or why the police never contacted him about the attack. He hated to worry her and since he'd been back she'd been even more concerned about him then usual.

Shiori misread his expression and bit her lip nervously.

"Are you sure you'll be alright alone? Perhaps I should postpone," she said.

"Mother, I'll be fine. Maybe I'll get one of my friends to come keep me company, if that's alright," Kurama offered. Shiori relaxed immediately.

"That would be nice, do you think Hiei is busy tonight?" she asked. Kurama had to fight the blush that threatened to overtake his face. He'd been having similar thoughts, but for very different reasons then his mother. At least he hoped she didn't guess at his intentions. Sometimes he wondered.

"That's an excellent idea Mother, I'll ask him to stop by."

Shiori moved towards the door, still smiling at her son.

"I'll be leaving to run some errands soon, will you be alright for lunch?"

Kurama hide his surprise at the late hour. How long had he been laying there while Hiei tended him? So easy to lose track of time lately.

"Yes Mother, please have a nice time on your date this evening," Kurama answered as she closed the door.

He listened as she descended the stairs before he turned back toward the closet. Hiei was standing there with his arms crossed and a smug smile.

"I hear you'll be all alone tonight Kurama," he said.

"You must have missed something then," Kurama winked, "My mother thinks you'll be here to keep me company, you know how much I hate lying to her."

"What if I had other plans?"

"You'll have to cancel them I suppose, my plans for tonight override yours."

"And just what do you have planned Fox?"

"My scars have healed, I believe that means you'll no longer be opposed to putting a little stress on my body."

"There will be nothing 'little' about it, but if we are going to spend the whole evening having sex we should take care of something else first," Hiei moved quickly to the window.

"What are you talking about?" Kurama asked frowning. He had a fleeting image in his head of Hiei going to the store to buy condoms. The idea was ludicrous on so many levels, but he couldn't imagine what else the fire demon might think would require their attention beforehand.

"I'll meet you outside," Hiei said, he stole a quick glance out the now open window then dropped to the ground.

Cursing silently Kurama got dressed and slipped downstairs. Shiori had already left fortunately so he wouldn't have to explain where he was going in such a hurry. Since he didn't know, he was glad to avoid that conversation.

As promised Hiei was waiting for him by the sidewalk.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Kurama asked as he fell into step beside his friend.

"Currently we are going to the train station, from there you'll see," Hiei replied.

Kurama knew the only time Hiei bothered with the train station was when they went to Genkai's temple, but he couldn't imagine why they would be going there today. Suddenly feeling guilty Kurama realized that Hiei probably hadn't been to visit Yukina since before their trip to the Makai. Of course he could have easily gone during the day while Kurama was in school, but perhaps he'd wanted company. Scolding himself for not offering sooner Kurama resolved to be more intuitive in the future so that Hiei wouldn't have to go so long without visiting his sister.

Yukina had just finished raking the leaves from the path when a sudden breeze shifted through the tree tops sending more spiraling down at her. She held her small hand out and caught a stray leaf smiling at it before dropping it on the top of the pile. Feeling an aura approaching she turned and her smile grew as Hiei and Kurama came walking up the path. She set the rake aside and rushed to greet them.

"Hiei San! I'm so glad to see you back so soon," Yukina gushed pausing to dust her kimono gently.

Kurama puzzled over the "so soon" part momentarily before Yukina's eyes brightened at the sight of him.

"And Kurama San, what a wonderful surprise, Master Genkai and I have missed you the past weeks," she said.

Kurama greeted her warmly keeping an apprehensive eye on the fire demon at his side. If Hiei had been by recently what reason could he have for postponing their plans for a visit? Perhaps he just missed Yukina?

"Kurama and I are going for a walk," Hiei said, nodding at the girl.

"I expected you might, will you be joining us for dinner after?" she asked brightly.

"If Kurama wishes," Hiei replied turning toward his mate. Kurama looked utterly confused for a moment before recovering himself enough to answer.

"Certainly, if you're sure we wouldn't be imposing on you."

"Not at all, I'll let Genkai know," Yukina said, she turned and walked back toward the temple.

Before Kurama could ask Hiei grabbed his hand and began leading him away from the path and the temple, into the forest. Kurama felt his excitement grow slightly, perhaps Hiei was just looking for a more exotic venue for their plans.

Kali dodged evenly and took a quick swipe at her opponent. He was faster then she expected and that pleased her greatly. Dropping down she spun her foot at the back of his knee, catching him this time. He flailed wildly a moment before regaining his balance and charging.

The battle had been going back and forth like this for several minutes by now and Clayton was growing bored. The tree stump he was sitting on had grown uncomfortable and now that he no longer had a tail to cushion him he felt fidgety. Spotting movement from behind the cabin he stood and took a few steps to the side to get a clearer view.

"Hiei!" Clayton yelled excitedly as he broke into a sprint toward his favorite yokai.

"Kid," Hiei acknowledged, "Kali here?"

"Sparring," Clay said pointing toward the front of the small house.

"Wolf!" Hiei called.

"Ooof," Kali yelped as something solid connected with her, "Hey no fair I was distracted."

"Still counts, I win that one," another voice answered.

"I'll let you have one, only cuz you'll never get another," Kali replied her voice growing louder as she came around the house with Varden at her heels.

"Hey Hiei, come to take her down a notch again? Gods knows she could use the reality check," Varden grinned, Kali shoved him playfully on his good side. What was left of his other arm was wrapped tightly across his chest.

"Don't expect Hiei to fight all your battles Vard," Kali scolded, "What's up Hiei, isn't he well enough for visitors yet?"

"Actually," Hiei motioned behind him as Kurama entered the cluster.

"Kurama!" Clayton cheered rushing forward to hug the bewildered kitsune. Kali smiled suddenly looking a little embarrassed for not realizing he was there sooner.

"Hey Kurama, good to see you back on your feet again," Varden said reaching with his good arm to pat the red head on the shoulder.

"It's good to see you too, all of you, what are you doing here?" Kurama asked looking them over, his eyes pausing on the house behind them.

"We live here now," Clay chirped excitedly, his words coming so fast Kurama had to concentrate to keep up.

"Mal's cleaning stuff up back home and he wanted to have eyes on this side of the portal so he sent Kali since she's been living here and I got to come so I could train and learn to be human and Varden's here cuz some people are still a little mad at him for working for Brogan, but it wasn't his fault, not all of it. Anyway I'm going to go to school next year, if I can get used to the weird clothes and not changing forms all the time cuz I can do that now. There's no more tribe since the shard broke, now everyone is Ookami."

"Take it easy squirt, there is plenty of time to tell him all about it later," Varden laughed, rustling the younger wolf's hair.

"Come on kid, lets see if you've been practicing what I showed you," Hiei said turning to walk back to the front of the cabin.

"I've been practicing, tell him Varden," Clay insisted following. Varden smiled warmly at Kali.

"I'll keep an eye on them," he said winking at her as he made his way to the sparring area.

Kurama glanced over and met Kali's eyes. She was inspecting him closely, checking for any sign of residual harm.

"I'm fine," he assured her, "Hiei has been a bit over protective in keeping me at home so long, really I've felt fine since three days after we got back."

"Last time he was here I threatened to pay you a visit if he didn't bring you by soon," she said.

"Has he been by often?" Kurama asked, suddenly realizing where Hiei must have been spending all his free time.

"Nearly every day, its been nice, well what I mean is he's still a jerk most of the time, but he keeps Vard's mind off of things. Mine too I guess," she admitted.

"How are you?" Kurama asked, honestly curious.

"I'm... I'm doing better. I still feel stupid for what I let happen, but I think things will be all right now. "

She moved and sat cross legged in the grass. Kurama dropped down beside her resting his hand over hers.

"That burden is no longer yours to carry Kali, or is it Kahli again?

"Just Kali, I've no reason to hide who I am anymore," she said.

"So, its over then? You're not banished anymore?"

"Malcolm's the alpha now, he says I'm welcome home anytime," she said.

"I'm happy to hear that, I know how much it hurt you to be away before."

"Yeah, now I'm away by choice, funny how things turn out."

"What happened after we left? I'm sorry we didn't stay to help sort things out," Kurama said.

"There wasn't much you could've done, it was mostly politics and clean up anyway. Botan came in and started clearing out the trapped souls, except Brogan's of course. Jervis and I endorsed Malcolm for Alpha and since there were no objections it was a quick decision. Varden finally woke up and I decided to take Genkai up on her offer of moving here."

"How is Varden?" Kurama asked. Kali sighed and glanced wearily toward where the guys were messing around.

"He's as good as he's likely to get. He'll never use that arm again, Mal almost took it off, but Varden begged him not to."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you," Kurama said.

"It's fine, I just worry too much. More then he does actually," she smirked.

"He's got you now, men are surprisingly adaptable when they have what they want."

Kali chuckled softly, "I suppose that explains Hiei as well then."

"What do you mean?"

"Promise not to be offended?"

"I'll try."

"Well, it's nothing really, you and Hiei are together now right?"

Kurama felt the blush creeping into his face once more. It wasn't often he had to deal with this and twice in one day was ridiculous. Something about the way she was grinning made him worry.

"Yes, Hiei and I are a couple now," he said slowly watching her for any sign of disapproval. While it wasn't uncommon in the Makai to have same sex partners he knew some humans still found it distasteful and while that didn't change how he felt about the little fire demon he didn't like the idea of his new-old friend finding fault with his life so quickly.

"Like I said, it's nothing I just kinda expected you to smell a bit differently the next time I saw you," she said.

"Differently like?" He paused then remembered their encounter at the river when she had mistaken him for Hiei because of the scent of the fire demons....Kurama laughed loudly. Suddenly he understood why Hiei had wanted to come here before their lovemaking session. Even if they showered after the wolves would all know exactly what they had been up to.

"Not mad?" she asked.

"Flattered actually, do you think we're at it like rabbits?"

"Everyday he's out here sparring with us, any man who needs to train that much is seriously holding back elsewhere. Then today he shows up looking as content as can be. Made me think he finally got what he wanted."

"We've been waiting until I was healed," Kurama said winking at her.

"Speaking of people finally hooking up," Kali said trying to shake away naughty thoughts about her friends.

"Are you going to tell me about you and Varden?" Kurama asked, his eyes dancing mischievously. Now it was Kali's turn to fight back a blush. She shoved him playfully.

"I wasn't talking about me."

"Oh? Who else?"

"Malcolm and Trina are getting married next month. Turns out they've been seeing each other for years, just didn't want anyone telling Brogan. You and Hiei are both invited of course."

"I'd be honored."

"I'll let them know."

There was a scuffling from the front of the cabin, followed by an angry howl of protest from Clayton.

"That's cheating!"

"There are no rules in fighting except survival, you should have been watching that side," Hiei countered. Varden hopped up from the stump to calm the situation.

"Alright guys," Varden said, grabbing hold of Clayton, "break it up, we don't want to keep Yukina and Genkai waiting on us again."

"Are you guys having dinner at the temple?" Kali asked hopefully, standing so Varden could slide his arm around her.

"Of course, lead the way," Kurama said taking Hiei's hand.

Clayton transformed and rushed ahead with Kali and Varden following, still in their human forms. Hiei moved to fall in behind them, but Kurama held him there until the others had moved past the trees.

"Why didn't you tell me the wolves were here?" Kurama asked.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Clearly not."

Hiei rolled his eyes impatiently, "I wanted to surprise you and to make sure I could trust myself not to kill Kali before you found out she was here."

"Hiei I don't want you to think you have to do all this for me. I don't want you to change just to make me happy," Kurama offered, his face betraying none of the anguish he felt at the choice. Hiei would come first, he could deal with anything else so long as he had his lover by his side.

"Actually she isn't so terrible now that she's not causing you to take insane risks and nearly get killed."

"You're really okay with this then?"

"Fox, whatever makes you happy makes me happy. Besides if they live here it will be easier to keep you safe when you come visit them."

Kurama leaned in and kissed him deeply, pulling the smaller man's body against his own.

"Thank you Hiei," he whispered, "For you, for everything."

"If you get this excited over me being nice to Kali I can't wait to see how grateful you are when I give you what you really want later," Hiei grinned.

"Is it later yet?"

The cab ride home was nearly unbearable. Despite leaving right after dinner, before the plates had even been cleared, they couldn't get home fast enough for Kurama. He and Hiei had been casting sly glances at each other all night. Casually touching each other whenever they thought it would go unnoticed. Naturally they were fooling nobody, but the social foreplay had put both of them in the mood for much more erotic things.

The left the lights out as they entered the house and made their way directly to Kurama's room running up the stairs. Kurama shut the door quickly, locking it, though nobody else was home. He turned to make a joke about it to Hiei, but the words died on his tongue.

The lithe fire demon was stark naked standing at the foot of the bed. Kurama wondered if Hiei had simply ignited his clothes and burned them off, since not enough time had passed for anything else.

"Come here Fox," Hiei said, holding out his hand.

Kurama shook the surprise from his expression and slowly made his way toward his mate, numbly unbuttoning his shirt as he walked. He reached Hiei with two buttons still intact. The yokai snapped them off as he tore the shirt away, pulling Kurama down to meet his lips.

As their mouths moved together, Kurama's mind filled with lustful images. Wondering how this would play out he started to move Hiei toward the bed, but the shorter man surprised him spinning to the side and forcing the red head to fall backwards.

His pants were dealt with in the same manner as his shirt, followed by his boxers. Hiei smiled to himself as he surveyed the naked kitsune.

"Enjoying the view?" Kurama asked stretching out on the bed.

"Immensely," Hiei replied.

"Care to join me?"

"No rush Fox, we've got all evening," Hiei said sliding his hand along the red head's leg.

"Mmmmm, what about tomorrow and the next day?"

"Well if you're not too tired after this, we'll see what we can fit in," Hiei grinned wickedly and nuzzled his mate.

Kurama leaned his head back and sighed as Hiei went to work. The sensations being delivered were exquisite, despite the yokai's teasing intentions.

If he had any idea how things would play out, the effect of decisions from his past influencing not only his love life, but the lives of those around him it was hard for Kurama to think he would have done anything differently. As Hiei's mouth closed warmly around him it was hard to think at all.

Falling backwards into bliss, Kurama had no time for regret.

A/N: Thank you all for reading.